Konopka not happy with Lemieux's comments
ZENON KONOPKA, Islanders
Center
Contract: UFA this summer, $600,000 cap hit
The fourth-liner could be in demand by contending teams looking for depth and toughness. He leads the NHL in penalty minutes and has 19 fights. More importantly, he's one of the best face-off men in the league. He's in the top six statistically, and only four centers have won more shorthanded faceoffs. He's already been linked to the Canucks in at least one report.
With a bargain cap hit and a contract that expires this summer, his value is high for a player of his caliber. If Isles GM Garth Snow is inclined to a move him, Konopka should fetch a nice return. A mid-round pick is not out of the question.
Credit: Jim McIsaac
OTTAWA - Zenon Konopka said he is dead serious about taking down the Mario Lemieux poster from his wall in the home where he grew up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Konopka fired back at his childhood idol Monday after Lemieux blasted the league for being too lenient on the Islanders in the wake of Friday night's slugfest at Nassau Coliseum.
"I was not impressed," Konopka told Newsday. "I think it's tough for someone in his position and what he's meant to the game on and off the ice to not look at it from both sides.
"We've lost over 350 man- games and we're doing everything we can to win games and protect our players. I think it's unfair for a statement like that. No one wanted things to get to that point [Friday], but we've got to take care of our own."
Although the NHL suspended two Islanders - Trevor Gillies for nine games, Matt Martin for four - and fined the organization $100,000, Penguins co-owner Lemieux was furious.
He called the fight-filled contest a "travesty" and a "sideshow" and questioned whether he wants to remain in the NHL after what he perceived was light punishment for the Isles.
Many people who took issue with Lemieux's statement noted that the Penguins' roster features serial offender Matt Cooke, generally viewed as one of the dirtiest players in the game.
"I really have a hard time seeing where he's coming from," Konopka said. "Here are the facts. Matt Cooke is on his hockey team. The Penguins are in the top one or two with fights . It's not like they're a bunch of altar boys sitting on the bench there."
Konopka told Newsday on Sunday he was particularly bothered by the harsh penalty assessed to Islanders enforcer Gillies, whose elbow left the Penguins' Eric Tangradi with concussion-like symptoms.
"We're upset with Trevor Gillies' suspension. He has a wife and two kids and he's spent the majority of his time in the AHL and ECHL. Me and [Gillies] understand what it's like to play for $300 a week after taxes," Konopka said. "For them to take [$24,193.53] away from him was not right. I think Mario needs to take a better review of what's going on with his team and around the league."Konopka said he is not the only one irked by Lemieux's statement. "Our whole locker room is disappointed," he said. "Everyone in the room respected him so much as a player and as an owner . . . it's tough."
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