Dustin Byfuglien gets dragged into political fight

As if things weren’t going badly enough for Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfgulien right now, he’s being dragged into the middle of a political battle between the provinces of Quebec and Manitoba. Quebec Premier Francois Legault is not very pleased with his counterpart in Manitoba for attempting to lure public sector workers away from his province to take jobs there. While speaking to the media about it, Legault decided to take a jab at the province of Manitoba over Winnipeg’s situation with Byfuglien.

"I think this money would have been better spent on French services in Manitoba," Legault said. "I think [Premier Brian] Pallister must work to keep his own people in Manitoba like Dustin Byfuglien with the Jets."

Just in case you don’t know the full details, Byfuglien decided to skip Winnipeg’s training camp in September and hasn’t played for the team yet this season. Byfuglien’s camp claims it’s all related to an ankle injury suffered last season and made worse in the playoffs. The team states Byfuglien told them he was going to retire. In the meantime, he’s been suspended without pay and the whole thing is going to arbitration to decide who has to pay for Byfuglien’s recent ankle surgery and whether he should be getting paid by the team while he recuperates from his procedure. A messy situation all around!

Legault’s snarky remark just adds fuel to the fire when it comes to the now rocky relationship between Byfuglien and the Winnipeg Jets. It was recently stated by Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman that serious questions are being raised over whether the Jets would want him back should be decide to return to the NHL, while there’s a possibility that Byfuglien might decide he wants to get back to playing but has no interest in doing so for Winnipeg. In the meantime, perhaps politicians should stick to politics and leave hockey talk for people like us. Just a thought.