Aloe Dear - Veteran Presence

[Renomitsu 930]

A Sit-Down With Aloe Dear - Free Agency & Warsaw's Future

 

 

“Free agency didn’t go so hot, huh?”

 

“No. Free agency kind of didn’t go at all.”

 

Just a couple of days before the deadline to sign or extend pending free agents, Aloe elected to go against her previously stated career aspirations in favor of loyalty to a team that had gotten her to where she was. Indeed, she’d been very public about testing free agency in the majors even shortly after being drafted to her minor league team, the Houston Bulls. And in spite of an errant announcement suggesting she’d be leaving for free agency at the end of Season 75 – an instance where she still had a year left on her deal – she never even saw a second’s worth of the open market.

 

“It was important to me that Warsaw has a degree of continuity; I had and have full confidence that the management of the Predators will continue to advocate strongly for its players and do what is best for the organization,” she commented at a presser shortly following her re-signing. “The organization has moved heaven and earth to ensure that I will feel comfortable here, and I am happy to say that it has continued to make a positive impression on me.”

 

The organization recently came under fire for its decision to trade assets for the rights to longtime teammate Venus Thightrap, who elected against signing an extension with Warsaw and signed with Helsinki in short order. The cost? Two second round and two third round selections in the upcoming drafts.

 

“I was pretty excited to see Venus in the building,” Dear commented, “but ultimately our career goals differed and she was well within her rights not to sign here. I’m disappointed, of course, but ultimately this is an organization that has done well and retained a great majority of its core players. I'm confident about our future going forward and can rest well knowing that we’ll right the ship; after all, we were part of the championship series only a week or two ago, were we not?”

 

As with any team centered around a couple of specific seasons’ worth of players, Warsaw has leaped headfirst into cap trouble – as signing several players even at their minimum as all of their salaries ascend with TPE eventually comes to a head. But Warsaw now finds themselves without a second-line center after being turned away by a handful of other free agents and the retirement of former second-line center Dagmar Havlova.

 

“It’s a tricky spot we’re in, though I’d hardly say it’s a bad one,” Aloe said, smiling. “It would be a pretty boring league if everyone improved linearly. The main difference? I’m expected to help lead this team rather than just adjusting to league life alone; I plan on helping this team be successful, and that will continue by whatever means I find ‘right’ on the ice.”