And he and his agent are voicing all their displeasure on Twitter, of course! You see, as Eamonn wrote yesterday, the Hawks were toeing the line between re-signing Martin Havlat or going balls out and picking up back-to-back All-Star Marian Hossa from Detroit.

The Hawks went in the latter direction, signed Hossa to a 12-year deal, and Havlat was left out in the cold. He signed with the Wild yesterday instead — a deal worth $30 million over six years. The Minnesota fans showed him love, so he dropped this on his Twitter.

Excited to be in Minny where I was welcomed and appreciated by management. The real story about what happened in Chicago to come out.

The real story? Do tell.

There’s something to be said for loyalty and honor.

Have we entered into a Lord of the Rings novel?

Havlat’s agent, Allan Walsh, seems to have told that real story on Twitter:

Havlat received multi year offers from several teams…except Chicago. After 3 months of negotiating a long term contract, Chicago would …

Later:

After 3 months of negotiating a long term contract, Chicago would not offer anything more than a 1 year deal. So much for taking care of the team MVP

So yeah, according to Havlat’s agent, the Hawks were negotiating a longer-term deal with his client all along, but when actual free agency hit, the Hawks retreated, and put a hard sale on for Hossa. I suppose you can’t blame Havlat or his agent for their reactions.

Sports are a business, sure, and athletes have to keep that in mind. But when you expect one thing from a club you’ve worked hard for, and all of a sudden you’re swept under the rug, it’s never a good feeling.