Now You're Gone

These days in professional sports, players rarely spend their entire careers with one team. Whether it's for performance or salary reasons, there is much more player movement nowadays. And if you're a fan of a particular team, you may become attached to certain players but you also know at any time that they can be traded or leave as free agents.

I discovered this at a fairly young age when my favorite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, started trading away its best players. In the mid- to late 1970s, the Leafs had a strong core of good young players with Darryl Sittler, Borje Salming, Lanny McDonald, Ian Turnbull and Mike Palmateer. They didn't quite have enough to make it past the semi-finals, but they were seemingly a team on the rise. But GM Punch Imlach began feuding with captain Sittler and started trading away the players he was close to, including McDonald in late 1979. Eventually Sittler waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to the Flyers and the Leafs descended into sheer awfulness for pretty much the entire 1980s.

Another favorite player of mine, Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle, was dealt away today to the Boston Bruins for picks and a prospect. The trade was no surprise; Kaberle's been the subject of trade rumors for years as the Leafs have struggled to win games since the lockout in 2004. Kaberle had been with the Leafs since the '98-'99 season, a slick skater who quarterbacked the power play and always put up good numbers. He wasn't very physical, but he was a premier player for the Leafs his entire career.

Unfortunately, GM Brian Burke has been looking to deal him for the last few years and has come close a few times, but Kaberle wouldn't waive his no-trade clause. This year, he had enough and agreed to be traded to the Bruins; he's an unrestricted free agent after the season and probably wouldn't have re-signed with the Leafs. They got a decent return for him, but it's still a bummer to see him on another team, especially the B's, whom Kaberle helped the Leafs defeat Tuesday night.

I felt similar pangs of depression when the Jays traded away ace pitcher Roy Halladay after the 2009 season; Halladay was another player who spent his entire career in Toronto and was one of the best pitchers in the game. But it was another case of getting something in return for him before he left as a free agent.

It's part of the game. During the 2007-2008 season, Leafs captain Mats Sundin refused to waive his no-trade clause to allow the Leafs to get something for him before he became a free agent. Instead, he sat out the first half of the following season before signing with Vancouver and retiring after the season. He had played 13 seasons with the Leafs and had been one of their best players ever. It was a crappy way to go out. Kaberle saw that and decided he didn't want the same thing to happen to him, so he consented to the trade.

Tonight, he played in his first game as a Bruin, which Boston won 4-2 over Ottawa. He didn't have any points, but he kept the puck moving on the power play, which eventually led to the game winner by Dennis Seidenberg. It was strange to see him in a Boston uniform. It'll take a while to get used to that. But unlike the Boston fans who lustily boo most players who leave, I'll root Kaberle on, like I do for Halladay and other faves of mine who leave my teams. I rooted for Sittler on the Flyers, McDonald on the Rockies and Flames, Carlos Delgado on the Marlins and Mets, and many others who moved on. It's part of the game, and I understand that.