Bill writes:
>...the money would be waiting for him when he got to the pros.  However, if
>he were to do that, there would always be the chance that he might not play
>as well during his senior season -- or worse, that he might be seriously
>injured -- and his pro career would suffer.  This happened several years ago
>to RPI's John Carter, who, after the Engineers' NC$$ championship in 1985,
>elected to return for his senior season while some of his teammates
>(including Darren Puppa and Adam Oates) went pro early.  As I recall, Carter
>injured his knee, and his potential (and market value) as a pro dropped like
>a rock.
 
Bill & I must be on the same wavelength (scary, isn't it), because I thought
of Carter immediately too.  I think I've told the Carter story in detail on
here before, but Bill has the essential details correct.  A big reason why
Carter returned to school was that no one in his family had graduated from
college before; also, I think he quietly hoped to increase his market value
even more (although "rumors" (take that as you will) had his total offer from
Boston approaching a more-than-respectable $1 million).
 
Then, he suffered a potentially career-ending injury at Yale when a defenseman
refused to fall for his patented move where he'd push the puck one way and hop
around the defender.  He was hit low with a shoulder right into the kneecap,
flew into the air and landed on the ice - ouch.  Imagine his reaction when
the first doctor to examine him told him he'd never play hockey again!  Let's
just say he was not a very happy camper.  The 2nd doctor took a look,
pronounced the first doctor "a quack", and with rehabilitation Carter was
back playing for the Engineers in a month.
 
And it was no surprise, then, that when he received an offer from Boston
right after RPI's season ended, in the final semester of his senior year,
that Carter put his John Hancock on the dotted line and got to Boston as fast
as he could.  BTW, I believe he was the last Bruin to wear #8 before Neely;
he wore #8 for the last few games of the year after signing and I seem to
recall Neely being acquired summer of 86 or so.
 
Oh yes, that deal Carter signed including bonus was worth a little over
$400,000 (two-way) over 3 yrs.  Still pretty good - but not a million dollars.
 
A good comparison to Zmolek is Tony Amonte, who passed up a guaranteed spot on
the 1992 team to sign with the Rangers.  The point Bill makes about the
money and it not necessarily being a greed factor is a good one - I know
Carter and Amonte both took a large chunk of their pay and gave it right
back to their families.  It sure would be nice to get to play for Team USA,
and to those of us who never will, we'd be more than ecstatic just to put
on that uniform once and never play the game again.  But to the players who
are looking at big money, it is a completely different perspective, and I
can't say as I fault any of them for choosing to sign and take the money
while it's there.  The same goes for players who leave college early to
turn pro.  I really hoped to see Amonte play alongside McEachern in France
this year, but I couldn't argue with his decision.
 
 
- mike