Pavel Kubina wasnt eager to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the veteran defenseman knew a move was coming.
Lightning GM Steve Yzerman called Kubina into his office and told him flat out: The team wanted to trade him. Yzerman requested Kubina take some time to brainstorm a list of five teams hed be OK to depart Tampa forbut things moved so fast, Kubina never had a chance to provide such a list.
He packed up his locker on Sunday and headed for Philadelphia, emotional but fully cognizant of how things in the NHL work; it is a business, after all.
I got drafted by Tampa Bay and I won a Stanley Cup over there so that team is always going to be special for me, he said. But when I had the phone call and I heard that this team the Flyers wants me, I heard that this was a great organization. This team has always been one of the top teams in the league. Im 34-years-old and its a great opportunity to play for a team like that.
Kubina participated in his first Flyers practice Monday morning at Skate Zone. He worked a little bit alongside Matt Carle, whom he will likely be paired with in his Flyers debut Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets.
Even before he learned he would be moving to Philadelphia, Kubina was friendly with a few of the Flyers. Hes known Jaromir Jagr for a while, he said, and Jagr was a big proponent of his coming to the team (see story). Hes also friends with Jakub Voracek.
That said, he still had a tough time leaving the city that had been his home for a substantial amount of time. He had two separate stints on the Lightning, parts of 10 seasons in total.
NHL
Its hard because you make friends on a team and you play with some guys for years.Its always hard to leave that friendship and everything else behind.
The Flyers newest defenseman will have to wait a while before exploring his new hometownthe Flyers took off for Winnipeg immediately after Mondays practice, and wont play again at home until March 1 (see story). But that might be a good thing.
It could help, because players spend more time together on the road, Coach Peter Laviolette said. They go to dinner, they hang out, they go to breakfast together. So theres no question that they spend more time together.
And time together, it seems, is exactly what Kubina is after.
He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, but certainly gave the impression on Monday that hes not one to want to move around. Hes married and has a young daughter, and as long as he fits in well enough in a Flyers uniform, hed like to stay beyond this spring.
I would like to stick around, thats for sure, he said. I never was the type of guy who likes to test the water. If I play well for this team and they want me, I dont have to go anywhere and test the water. Thats the way I am.
The Flyers acquired Kubina just two days after picking up another defenseman who had to leave a team hed been with for a while, ex-Star Nick Grossman. Together, the pair adds some much-needed size and strength to the teams defense. Goaltending has been the obvious target on the Flyers as of late, but without Chris Pronger, the defense has faltered, too.
Laviolette pointed to Kubinas 6-foot-4 frame immediately when asked what the new defenseman brings to the team.
Hes a big, hulking type guy that provides a presence back there, Laviolette said. He plays with a little bit of an edge. Hes got a big shot on the back end, a right-handed shot. Thats something different to our back unit. We dont have any right-handed defenseman back there.
Laviolette also pointed to Kubinas experiencehes been in the league since 1998 and has won a Stanley Cup beforeas a benefit to the Flyers.
As for Kubina, hes simply set on helping out in any way he can.
Im trying to bring whatever this teams going to need from me, he said. If its penalty killing or power play or playing against the top guys on the opposition. Whatever the team needs, Ill be there for this team and Ill try to do my best every game.
E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com