How to Talk Your Way Out of a Job:
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"I don't like it and I'm ticked off. If the team wasn't winning or I wasn't doing my job, I would have no problem with this. I've done nothing but work my butt off for this team. They said I wasn't being punished, but it sure does feel like punishment to me. I'm not the type of player who is happy just to be here and collect a paycheck."
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- New Jersey Devils' rookie Mike Danton, after being scratched for a game in October.
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"Mike is the type of guy who'll go through the end boards for you. If you start messing with his head, you might lose him. To me, this is opening up a can of worms I don't know they want to open up. You'd think with a 3-0 record this team would want to keep harmony. They're inviting problems. I'm shocked. I know the type of player Mike is. He's not the type of player who wants to sit around. He was fighting to get more than eight minutes of ice time and now this happens."
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- Danton's agent, David Frost, chimes in.
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"I'm not aware of any problem."
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- Devils' General Manager Lou Lamoriello, when told of Danton's complaint.
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"I say what I feel I have to say. I'm 22. I make my own decisions. There haven't been any repercussions since. We kind of left that behind us and moved on. I don't even think about it now."
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- Danton again, on November 22.
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"It was a combination of different things. It's just a decision. I don't need a reason. It's obvious there are a lot of extenuating things that transpired."
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- Lamoriello again, after cutting Danton from the team on November 29.
(Sources: Newark Star-Ledger, Faceoff.com)
