Did I miss anything?
So after the Stanley Cup finals ended, I decided to take a little vacation to NYC, thinking that I would be back for the draft, so I probably wouldn't miss too much in the hockey world (or at least in regards to the Flames anyway)...
Apparently I was mistaken, so here are my thoughts on what has transpired over the last couple of weeks (and I'll start with the most current)...
Flames acquire Adrian Aucoin from the Chicago Blackhawks for Andrei Zyuzin
Now a lot of people are going to point to Aucoin's miniscule point production (16 points) and abysmal plus/minus rating (-22) while he was in the windy city making $4 million (not to mention the injury woes). But I think some of that has to do with the team around him, and to the guy between the pipes (to some extent, as Khabibulin wasn't playing at 100% all season). I think that Aucoin is one of those players that needs a change of scenery (even though he wasn't in Chicago that long) and he has played under Mike Keenan (which I will address further down) before...
Besides, if all we had to give up to get him was Andrea Susan, then that's just the sprinkles on top of the ice cream sundae. We all knew that Stuart wasn't going to stick around and the chances of resigning Hammer after the season he just had were looking slimmer. Getting a top pairing defenceman was a necessity, and I think Aucoin should fill the roll very well...
And I think that coming in knowing that he'll be playing for a contender will do wonders for his morale, considering where he's been playing for most of his career...
Flames resign David Moss
I honestly can't beleive that the Flames signed him on again for such a cheap one year deal ($575,000). I would have expected upwards of at least $800,000 for a guy that played his heart out last season. Of course, I'm sure that getting the chance to play for a solid team in a fairly substantial role (I'm assuming that Calgary won't be resigning a lot of the deadweight and Moss will get second line minutes at least half the time) would make him more inclined to take a bit of a hometown discount (let's just hope that he doesn't get screwed over by it like Ference did)...
Flames sign prospects Krahn, Germyn, and Peters
Resigning the top two playoff scorers from the Knights was a bit of a no-brainer, but I'm a little curious at the signing of Krahn. With the way that McElhinney played for the Knights last season and with Lelande Irving coming in from the WHL, I had thought that Krahn would be let go. Of course, I have a feeling that McElhinney will probably be left to tutor Irving in the Quad Cities next year and Krahn will now be brought in to take the place of Jamie Mclennan...
Flames hire Mike Keenan as new coach
This one actually caught me by surprise last week, although I think we all knew that Playfair wasn't going to be the man behind the bench next season (although he will be staying on in an associate role, which is where he probably should have stayed in the first place). And of course I found out when I was out with a bunch of buddies that don't follow hockey too closely (of course, they are all from Toronto, so in a way I can't really blame them). Which is a frustrating thing when something like this happens and you just want to get some thoughts and opinions on it...
I like the move. Sure Iron Mike has a history of being a little tough on players, but he also has a history with Darryl Sutter (and some of the players, which could be a bad thing for Huselius). I think that with the team that Sutter has put together, the toughness issue shouldn't be a problem. I know Keenan hasn't done much of anything since he guided the Rangers to the Cup, but he hasn't really had a whole lot to work with since then either. I also think that he'll have enough respect for the management team above him, that he won't be butting heads with anyone and he'll probably be pretty happy with the team that has fallen to him...
But if Keenan starts doing the goalie juggling that he used to, I may have to alter my position...
Flames farm team moves from Omaha to the Quad Cities
Now to be honest on this one, it doesn't really affect me that much as to where the farm team plays (unless they want to move into the Southern Ontario area, which I would be all over). Although it is a little sad to see them leave Nebraska, which seemed to welcome the team and came up with a pretty cool logo. But I'm sure that the Quad Cities (which I couldn't name off if my life depended on it), were missing hockey since the Mallards left a couple years ago...
Ducks win the Stanley Cup
Well, I guess I should at least acknowledge it...
