OK so first Calgary signs Tanguay, who was good riddance not long ago, and wasn't the prolific offensive threat we had hoped, nor much of playmaker for Iggy. Now we bring back Olli Jokinen at a cost of $6 M over two seasons... What is Sutter trying to do - recapture the glory days of 2007? Oh wait, the Flames didn't do much then either...
Meanwhile Ottawa signs Gonchar, Vancouver signs Hamhuis, Atlanta signs Mason, Pens sign Martin and Michalek, NYR signs Biron as a backup to Lundquist (!) - Why does it feel like the Flames are the poor cousin yet again?
Can't say I'm too excited to watch the return of retreads we were supposedly glad to be rid of before...
10 comments:
Is Phaneuf coming back??
I have a different perspective than the one you outline.
First, it was Tanguay who previously requested a trade out of town as he had had enough of Mike Keenan's garbage. By all accounts Flames mgt really liked the guy, his work ethic and the way he played the tough minutes against the opposing teams top line - and came out ahead (his Corsi ratings from his time as a Flame are all very good to excellent - and his competition was always the toughest). He had a terrible time since the Flames finding a good fit, until finally bombing out in Tampa Bay. At $1.7M for one season he is a nice addition and I for one hope he gets time as Iggy's center again.
The Jokinen deal is a bit of surprise, but I am still not bothered by it. The knock on him was that he was way overpriced at $5.5M a season to be putting up the numbers that he did. Again though, Flames mgt really likes his work ethic (Sutter routinely praised him in the press about it), and he is a solid fit on the 2nd line (where can be a shooter), rather than the first where he and Iginla duplicated too many talents without complimenting each other.
At a $3M cap hit and signed for two years, he is a very reasonable pick up.
It wasn't the Savard trade I was hoping for, but it does round the forward unit out without breaking the bank and gives the Flames a lot of depth at all positions.
Add in that Sutter just dealt a career minor league guy in Jaffray (age 29) for Logan MacMillan (4th overall in 2007), and you can tell he hasn't completely lost his mind yet.
Now if only we had any kind of farm team or prospects...
Well the pundits are calling for a Tanguay-Jokinen-Iggy line. I hope not.
So got NHL 10 yet for XBox? Need some live opponents!
No NHL 10 yet - but I'm working on it!
lol a good post i saw on another forum...
Sutter's master plan:
1. Let's trade Jokinen so we can get Kotalik's 3 million two year contract
2. Now, let's buyout Kotalik
3. Now, let's re-sign Jokinen
4. ?????????
5. Profit!
and another i wanted to add
OMG
What a cluster*** in Calgary. Disaster. Trades Lombardi and a 1st rounder for Jokinen. Lombardi is now a solid 2nd line offensive centre. In this draft Cgy had no picks till the third round. They let Cammileri go cuz they think Jokinen will lead them to the promised land. Cammileri shoots out the lights in Montreal. Jokinen fizzles and is traded for Kotalik. Kotalik is bought out at the end of the year and the Flames eat the cost. Flames re-acquire jokinen who flamed out the last time he was in town. Calgary is set to finish out of the playoffs again. Sutter is hard against the salary cap with no room to maneuver. They still do not have a centre to dish the puck to poor Iggy. The only players on their team with trade value have no trade clauses. Sutter will continue to be the GM despite the disastrous moves.
Holy *******
The TSN guys were speechless; I've never seen them do that, all they could say was, that the move was "unique." Bob Mackenzie kept saying that it is one of the most strange deals he'd ever seen, Bob Mackenzie for god's sake, the level headed, most trusted man in hockey reporting.
Even the Tanguay deal was a surprise and maybe not the best deal but it pales in comparison to the Jokinen deal.
From the Scourge's post:
"Sutter's master plan:
1. Let's trade Jokinen so we can get Kotalik's 3 million two year contract
2. Now, let's buyout Kotalik
3. Now, let's re-sign Jokinen
4. ?????????
5. Profit!"
Collect underpants indeed.
Cam, no matter how much you back Sutter here they are NOT going to hire you. Put the Kool-Aid down and return your brain to the upright position.
From espn.com's Day 1 Free Agency grades:
Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay to Flames
Honestly, we don't know exactly where to begin with the insane asylum that has become the Calgary Flames' front office. Jokinen was such a negative force last season, GM Darryl Sutter unloaded him on the New York Rangers as part of a massive personnel overhaul that still left the Flames short of the playoffs. Apparently after losing all the game tape from Jokinen's time with the Flames and Rangers, Sutter ended up bringing back the chronic underachiever for another kick at the can. That must have made captain Jarome Iginla's day. The only good thing is Sutter will waste less money this time around, inking Jokinen to a two-year deal worth $6 million (about half the money he made last time around).
The shocking return of Jokinen came just hours after Sutter brought another erstwhile Flame, Alex Tanguay, back into the fold. True, Tanguay did have a career-best 81 points with the Flames in 2006-07, but we're guessing Sutter failed to come up with any game film showing Tanguay in action since. How else do you explain Tanguay's one-year deal worth $1.7 million and the no-trade clause that came with it? Who else gives a no-trade clause to a "sniper" with a combined 44 goals in the past three seasons? Uh, one guess.
Flames fan and blogger Ryan Lambert of @twolinepass
has a great series of tweets as the Jokinen news begins to break:
don't you do it, sutter.
about 23 hours ago via web
well. i don't usually swear on here, but in this case i feel it's warranted: what in the tapdancing fuck are you doing, darryl sutter?
about 23 hours ago via web
i just opened my blinds on the off chance that it would help a sniper on a nearby rooftop trying to get a perfect shot to put one in my head
about 23 hours ago via web
yknow what's gonna be fun? NOT WATCHING THE FLAMES NEXT YEAR :suicide:
about 22 hours ago via web
i'm trying to decide how best to properly convey my emotions right now. i think the killdozer guy had the right idea.
about 22 hours ago via web
please, don't misconstrue me saying "not watching the flames next year" as me saying i won't watch. i will and it'll be 82 games of torture.
about 22 hours ago via web
question: do GMs ever have to go through team-mandated physicals? you'd think one would have found that darryl sutter is literally retarded.
about 22 hours ago via web
my brainnnnnnnnnnn RT @DarrenDreger Sutter told Olli he shouldn't have traded him.
about 21 hours ago via web
best news all day. jesus h christ RT @DarrenDreger Flames say they're done for the night.
about 18 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to DarrenDreger
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Oh you nattering nabobs of negativity!
Here's the thing, the Flames needed a top six winger, preferably a playmaker - re-enter Alex Tanguay. He was buried on the depth chart in Tampa Bay and never got his groove on there. He comes CHEAP at $1.7M a year. Was there another winger with his ability and price-tag out there? No.
In the case of Jokinen they were looking for a pivot with speed and scoring ability, and hopefully some size. Arnott goes to Jersey which took him out of the mix. Sutter kicked the tires on Spezza (too pricey) and Savard (wouldn't wave his NTC), Who is left? Jokinen also comes cheap and is a known commodity, if Sutter had signed a 6'3" pivot with 60 point ability for $3M a year fans would be doing cartwheels. Identity the player as Jokinen and everybody loses their nut.
I don't deny that Sutter made a mistake with the Jokinen trade last year - in fact I have already written that it was the single biggest WTF trade he's made. It made sense at no level as Kotalik's contract was actually worse than Jokinen's and we didn't re-sign Higgins.
So Jokinen fills a need, comes cheap, and his departure was considered a mistake by Sutter - hence he is brought back.
As for Iginla and crew, they LOVED the guy and unlike Phaneuf, they were unhappy to see him go.
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