BERGENHEIM’S TOUGH DECISION
Changed agents to continue his NHL career
5:25 pm - When first approached, Sean Bergenheim said he didn’t want to talk about it.
He didn’t want to get into his decision to change representatives this summer before signing a new two-year deal with the Islanders. Mark Gandler, his former agent, had battled Garth Snow for a contract in the summer of 2006 and negotiations ended with Bergenheim signing in Russia. When that didn’t work out, he played in the Swedish Elite League.
A year later, Bergenheim signed a one-way deal with the Islanders – the same contract he turned down in 2006. When the 24-year old sensed negotiations were not proceeding smoothly this summer, he changed agents. Seemingly within minutes, the Islanders signed Bergenheim to a two-year deal.
After his initial “I really don’t want to talk about it,” Bergenheim looked off to the distance and thought about it a little longer.
“No, I do want to say something. What I want people to know is that my former agent (Mark Gandler) did a very good job for me,” said Bergenheim. “I don’t want anyone to think otherwise. He was good to me. He was very nice. I appreciated everything he did for me.
“It just became obvious there was a problem (between Gandler and Islanders brass). It wasn’t getting any better. It was not an easy decision, but I had to do what was right so my career wasn’t affected. Again, I did not make the change because I was unhappy with my representation.”
As difficult as it was for him, Bergenheim took control of the situation. As fans of this game, one of the great pleasures is watching the development of young talents on the ice. But sometimes it is just as rewarding to see their maturation away from the playing surface.
8 Responses to BERGENHEIM’S TOUGH DECISION
Changed agents to continue his NHL career
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Jesse D (aka jessedlovesnyi) says:
I think it’s just because of the problem created between Gandler and the Isles because of Yashin
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MiKe says:
I’m most excited and hopeful to see this kid become a solid NHLer and stay long term with NYI. Amen.
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Rick says:
Bergie definitely matured on & off the ice, and he did the right thing by not throwing Gandler under the bus. But Gandler is the problem here – the fact that Bergie even had to choose between his agent or the NHL is ludicrous. Gandler seems to have forgotten that he works for Bergie, not the other way around. If Bergie says get a deal done with the Islanders because that’s where I want to play, then Gandler absolutely needs to follow through with that, not play some insane ego game with Chuckles & Garth that he knows going into he has no chance of winning.
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Travelchic59 says:
I am just so happy that Bergie is back in an Islander uniform. I think he has real potential. Everything else is water under the bridge. Time to move forward.
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Please tell him I said Hi and look foward to seeing him soon. He knows I was pulling for him all along. As I think many of us who watched him grow in Bridgeport did.
Now… if we can just get them to sell Bergenheim T-shirts on the concourse… I’ll shut up.
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DB says:
People who are aware of Gandler’s tactics know that he is a very good agent to have if you are a player. In fact, you can’t ask for a better agent. The problem is that once he’s done negotiating, the team hates him so much that it leads to major problems in future negotiations.
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Darren says:
I’m not sure that makes him a “very good agent” then?
I know, it’s true sometimes we forget just how young some of these guys are.