The Detroit Red Wings wanted to keep defenseman Radim Simek in the organization. His point of view, though, was that he didn’t want to keep on riding buses.
“It is true,” Simek told Czech website iSport of the offer from the Red Wings. “It was a two-way contract with a guarantee of a lot of money, which was around the minimum amount in the NHL. But it wasn’t worth the money to me anymore.”
Detroit Red Wings’ pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) D Radim Šimek has signed a three-year contract with Liberec (ELH), beginning next season (2024-25).#LGRW
(📷: Nicolas Carrillo) pic.twitter.com/K2CyH7od2S
— Around The Horn Hockey (@ATHornHockey) June 14, 2024
Instead, the 32-year-old Czech defenseman was opting to defy the theory that you can’t go home again. Simek made the choice to sign in his homeland to play for the Liberec Tigers in the Czech Extraliga. It’s the same team he left seven seasons ago to join the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.
Simek Finished Last Season With Griffins
His reasoning for giving up on North American hockey was simple. Simek was getting the feeling that North American hockey was giving up on him.
Last season, the Sharks were assigning him to the AHL San Jose Barracuda, where he would serve as team captain. It was the first taste of minor pro hockey in four years for Simek, who’s seen duty in 209 NHL games.
Following a trade-deadline move to the Red Wings, Simek would finish out the 2023-24 season playing in the AHL for the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s top farm club. He’d suit up for nine regular-season and eight Calder Cup playoff games in Grand Rapids.
Get to know our new Griffin, Radim Simek! #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/MmiulBtuV9
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) March 22, 2024
The thought of riding the buses again this season simply wasn’t appealing to Simek.
“I didn’t see a real future there,” Simek said of the North American pro game. “I would keep flying around the farm, take the bus eight hours round trip. At the age of thirty-two, I didn’t want to go through this anymore. I have other priorities.
“My wife and I are expecting the birth of our second child in October. For me to spend time on the bus and my wife was at home with two daughters, one of them a newborn . . . so I just said no to this.”
