This was in the Montreal Gazette Newspaper:Montreal Canadiens' Metropolit has no regrets
Gritty centre will carry fond memories of Montreal with him to Switzerland
By DAVE STUBBS, The Gazette August 5, 2010
MONTREAL - "No more chipping the puck in when I get to centre ice," departing Canadien Glen Metropolit was saying through his laughter. "I can actually carry it and make a play!"
The popular, well-travelled centre-man is setting sail again, last week having signed a two-year contract with EV Zug in Switzerland's 12-team National A League.
It's a return to that tiny country, in fact. Metropolit earned league MVP honours for winning the scoring title while leading HC Lugano to the 2005-06 championship, arriving there from two seasons with Jokerit Helsinki.
"It's a great opportunity for me and my family," he said this week, preparing to drive with his wife, Michlyn, and three young children to near Atlanta, from where he'll fly next week to Switzerland.
"It came to the point that I could stick around and probably get a one-year deal here, but what for? ... I'm leaving the NHL as a Montreal Canadien. What more can I say? I've been blessed with all the teams I've played for and all the people I've met."
Swiss-league salaries are not disclosed, but figure that Metropolit will do better with Zug, tax-free and with many perks, than he did with the Canadiens, Quebec taxes having gutted his $1-million contract of last season.
Good luck finding anyone in hockey who'll say a bad word about the lion-hearted Metropolit, 36, who has played 407 regular-season games for seven NHL teams since he arrived in the league with Washington in 1999-2000 as an undrafted free agent.
He's the consummate pro -a keep-things-loose, forever buoyant sparkplug who will skate through the boards if that's his role. And he can be productive, given some ice -his 10 power-play goals last season tied for the team lead with Brian Gionta; his 16 goals overall were an NHL career high.
"I feel like I've won the lottery," he said with typical glee after practice one day last season, refusing to grouse about having just been busted from the first line to the fourth.
You saw Metro's joy in the hours before the Dec. 4 centennial game, chasing Canadiens legends around the Bell Centre like a boy to collect their autographs, and at a full-house open practice in the fall when he brought the arena roof down, vaporizing four targets with as many pucks to win a precision-shooting contest.
He worked furiously to recover from a late-season shoulder injury to return for the playoffs -"I probably rushed it back, but you want to be part of the war with the guys," he said -yet he was given little duty, used more than 10 minutes only once in his 16 postseason games, seven times for less than six minutes.
Metropolit understands the cap-tight Canadiens' decision to cut him adrift this summer, even if he calls it "pretty frustrating" that general manager Pierre Gauthier told him before July 1 that he'd not be offered a new contract.
"It seems like teams forget about the intangibles you need to have a good club," he said. "I think a lot of GMs don't have the pulse of the dressing room. I see that as an important thing.
"But I see what they're thinking, too. This is a business. They have young kids in the system, they can give them the minutes and groom them."
The February acquisition of the now-departed Dominic Moore cut deeply into Metro's ice time, though picking up Moore "gave our team a much better look that helped us," he said.
"But it got to the point where I was thinking: 'Am I on the power play now? Should I just hop on the ice?' It didn't really know what was going on, (coaches) didn't talk to me about it and I didn't want to ruffle feathers. I just wanted to do my part if I was called on."
Metropolit's agent, Larry Kelly, suggested to him this summer that he might have to wait awhile for a contract offer, teams wringing every penny out of a dollar.
"I finally thought: 'Why am I hanging around? Why am I doing this?' " Metropolit said. "When I was in the minors, I only wanted to play in the NHL. But at my age and the minutes I finally was playing last season, it wasn't fair to the team or myself."
He had often crossed paths in the minors and in roller-hockey with Doug Shedden, now head coach of EV Zug. The team includes a familiar face in Paul DiPietro, a former Canadien, and equally appealing was Zug's third-place finish last season, just four points out of first.
"Hopefully," he said, "I can add a different dimension
and win a Swiss championship again. I can go over there, play 20 minutes a night, not worry about being traded and enjoy hockey."
The change of scenery is nothing new for Michlyn, who has packed and moved the couple and a growing family an estimated 60 times around the minors, NHL and Europe since she met Metropolit in Florida in 1996.
Last month, she told her husband "you deserve better" than to warm an NHL bench. They considered the Swiss experience for children Alivia, 8, Max, 6, and Esther, almost 4, and the excellent education system. Already, the kids are studying photos, eager to begin skiing and tobogganing.
It's another huge change, in culture and address, for a family that knows little else. Metropolit views it all philosophically and, of course, with contagious enthusiasm.
"I had a great year and I feel
good leaving the NHL as I am," he said. "It's not my fault I'm not playing in the league any more, I got squeezed out a bit.
"I wish everybody could experience being a Canadien. It's something special, that's for sure, and I've been all over the place."
Metro's family will join him in Switzerland mid-month, the 50-game season starting on Sept. 10. He'd have gathered the clan for a going-away photo if the kids weren't in camp and their lives weren't now in boxes.
"I was thinking about waiting around to see what kind of deal I could get here," he said. "But school starts late August so we decided: 'Let's just do it. Let's enjoy it.'
"I'll be home every night. We're a short flight from Greece, a short drive to Austria. This'll be great for the kids. And I can kind of kick back a bit, enjoy life, not be so stressed out that I'll bring the game home. I'll be playing a lot and if I do, I'll produce."
Metropolit leaves Montreal with not a single regret, his 110 games with the Canadiens more than he played with any other NHL club.
"It's a good team, with a good group of guys," he said. "I'm kind of sad not being a part of it, but I'm also old enough to know that leaving is part of the game."
He has sent text messages to his now former teammates, wishing them well. And the motto of his life was something he thought was worth sharing with them all:
"Things don't just happen," Metro suggested. "You have to make them happen."
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