Michael Garnett is a goalkeeper from Canada, who plays for the Chelyabinsk club Tractor. In 2015, they did not renew the contract, and the hockey player left the team. In this article we will briefly talk about this athlete, as well as tell about the reasons for his departure.
Career
Michael Garnett began his career (photo below) in 1999 in the North American minor league. At the NHL draft in 2001, the club chose the Atlanta Threshers club. However, the athlete could really prove himself only in the 2005/06 season. At this time, the leading goalkeepers of the club were injured, and Michael played 24 matches in the NHL.
In 2007, Garnett as a free agent joined the Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik. And after a season, the athlete became part of the HC MVD. In 2010, he won silver medals with this team . In May 2011, Garnett signed a contract with the Tractor Club (Chelyabinsk). True, he did not play there very long.
Care
In April 2015, the four-year era of the 32-year-old Canadian hockey player in Tractor ended. Michael Garnett said goodbye to the team and left. Prior to this, the athlete sold his turbocharged Golf and moved out of a two-room apartment in an elite residential complex. The hockey player went to New York to his girlfriend Stephanie.
While Michael does not know who he will play in the future. The media slipped information that soon the athlete could return to the NHL. But it was an April Fool’s joke. For Garnett, the priority is the KHL. Although the hockey player is ready to play in the Swiss League for good money, although it is less prestigious.
Reasons for leaving
Michael Garnett left the Tractor without much standing ovation. On the contrary, Andrei Nikolishin (head coach) well “pissed off” the goalkeeper in the end. And he did it publicly. Nikolishin was dissatisfied with Garnett’s game and considered his attitude to his work unprofessional. Most likely, under this definition, Andrei meant the goalkeeper overweight that he had because of his love for Mexican cuisine and hamburgers. Although the athlete was always in good shape and periodically boasted a relief press in front of the players of his team.
The more real reason Michael Garnett left and Tractor is because of his high salary. There are no official data, but according to rumors, the hockey player received about 70 million rubles a year. Due to the economic crisis, the club management simply could not pay the goalkeeper 10% of their own budget.
Hockey degradation
Of course, there were game reasons. Despite the injury received at the beginning of the season, Michael Garnett played the regular season well. Its reliability coefficient amounted to almost 93%. The athlete gave five crazy “salvations”, and at the end of the year he was recognized as the best goalkeeper of the KHL.
And then Michael Garnett dipped. In a series of matches with Sibir, the goalkeeper dropped to 88%, which is a rather low indicator. The athlete missed just ridiculous washers and more and more often the coach put him on the bench.
Hockey experts confidently state that Michael is among the five best KHL goalkeepers in his best shape. In such conditions, Garnett played two years ago. Now the athlete is far from the peak of his capabilities.
Media
When Michael Garnett Slovan left Tractor, the team lost not only the star player. She lost the main media asset. After all, the hockey sweater of this athlete went at auction for 90 thousand rubles. And the Garnett fans were ready to stand in line for an autograph of their idol for hours.
Russian fans called him Misha. The athlete bribed with his openness. Garnett was registered in almost all social networks and regularly appeared. He fished, sold hamburgers, visited autistic children, read fairy tales to them, played the guitar, etc.
Also, everyone considered Michael the golden voice of Tractor. For four years spent in Chelyabinsk, the athlete visited every karaoke bar. Local party-goers still remember seeing off to Riga's Dynamo Kyle Wilson. All Canadians then took the stage. And while the hero of the occasion drank a bottle of whiskey with grief, Garnett sang for him the hit “Gangsta Paradise”. And Michael never forgot the text and did not go astray.