I do a bit of contacting teams, but I would say about 75% of the contracts I negotiate were either by a club contacting me, or me calling a GM or coach that I have successfully worked with in the past. Most times I prefer to work with clubs that I have had good experiences with in the past because I can be confident that the player will get exactly what he is promised, and he will have a great experience with the club both on and off the ice," Imonti said
"A lot of the North American players coming to Europe are doing so to progress their careers, but at the same time want a life experience that will remember long after their hockey careers are finished. If I can make their experience a good one, it will make my life much easier and will also gain me quite a few client referrals along the way."
Imonti continued;
"The hardest part I feel is finding the client, not the team. I like to work with players who not only possess excellent talents, but I also feel that excellent character is a necessity in any client I represent. I would much rather work with a player that is going to impress the club both on and off the ice by not only his skills but his work ethic and his ability to be a good citizen. I would rather have this than a top calibre player that might be a problem in the locker room or get into trouble off the ice. It is more of a headache for me to deal with players who impact their club negatively, than it is to deal with players I can confidently say will be a great addition to a hockey club on and off the ice," Imonti said
"I am also big on loyalty, every client I represent is signed to a representation contract that allows my agency exclusive representation rights. I feel that if a player is willing to make a commitment to me, I should devote 100% of my efforts towards finding them the perfect team for their situation. I don’t feel that it is fair to me or my other clients if I am committing time to a player that is unwilling to make a formal commitment to myself or my agency," Imonti said
"I have clients like Lou Dickenson that I have represented since my first year in the agency business, and he has been a very loyal client for almost five years now and I make it a point to give him my absolute best effort when placing him because he has been so committed to me for so long. Unfortunately, this isn't a common practice among all agents and there are certain agents who claim they represent whoever will accept them as a friend on Facebook or MySpace. I think this is a terrible practice and will only hurt the clients and agent's reputation in the long run."
Life isn’t always plain sailing for an agent though. Lots of things can crop up off the ice and cause issues between players and clubs. As most hockey fans know, players are usually ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ and very rarely stay around for more than a season or two. Loyalty is a big word and a central feature in Imonti’s vocabulary.
"Like I said before, I am big on loyalty. When I was in France I had an opportunity to transfer to a club in the UK but chose not to because my French club had taken great care of me. I think I would have enjoyed the UK more than France, but at the end of the day I made a commitment to a club and I didn't want to go back on my word. I have only had players break contracts several times and each time it was very difficult for me. The only time I can condone this happening is if the situation they are in was grossly misrepresented when they signed with the club (e.g: inadequate living conditions, trouble collecting pay, etc.) or if they are legitimately unhappy in their situation. If this is the case I always discuss the situation with the club prior to asking for a player's release," Imonti said
"A final situation that I could see as acceptable was if a player was offered a significant amount of money to leave their current club. Many of these players are only able to play for a short period of time and have bills to pay back home. Would I be OK with a guy leaving a team for an extra $50 a month? No. But many times top players are offered ridiculous amounts of money to sign with a club who is making a playoff push," Imonti said
"If it is a great opportunity for a player, rarely will a team hold them back. There are very few situations I could deem acceptable for a player committing to a team and not showing up though. I would be severely embarrassed if one of my clients did that."
Recently a client of Imonti’s agency, 37hockey, had a deal in place to sign for the Telford Tigers in the EPL but at last minute pulled out and left the Tigers with just days to find a replacement before the signing deadline. Imonti and his associates and partners were quick to remove this player from their books as they felt his actions cast a bad image on their company.
So where does the future go from here for Imonti and hockey agents in general? It is possible that players will become more and more motivated by other things other than the love of the game and could end up playing for reasons known only to themselves. Imonti wants to go all the way to the top, but making sure he leaves and honest and clear trail behind him