Post by ds on Sept 25, 2009 16:13:50 GMT -5
Surprise! Surprise!
By David Biskup.
Sept 25th '09
This year has brought a few surprises. Some of these surprises are making General Managers very happy while some are driving their General Mangers nuts. I am going to try to point out a few to everyone. First I will start off with one from my team and then move on to a few other teams in the league.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Baltimore Blades
38GP, 45G, 26A, 71P
What an unbelievable season Pierre-Marc Bouchard is having in the farm system of the Baltimore Blades with the Washington Capitals. Bouchard was brought in to the Baltimore organization early in the season via trade with the St. Louis Blues. The management wants to ease this rising star into the professional league slowly as to assure full development to the player. Look for Bouchard to play a major role for the Blades down the final stretch of the season and well into the play-offs. Baltimore is looking to go deep and depth will be a major reason for that success.
Joffry Lupul - Calgary Flames
48GP, 39G, 36A, 75P
Another farm player playing to his full potential. Its going to be exciting in Calgary when they decide to call up this rising star to the pro league. I would not be surprised to see this season ending with a few more games played in Calgary by Lupul, maybe even playing his way to a full time roster spot heading in to the playoffs. Atlanta looks poised for a good cup run, and much like the Blades, depth in all roster positions will make their quest easier. The Albuquerque Isotopes will be the only ones upset with that move.
Houston Aeros (14-27-6)
Personally, the way General Manager Montgomery began the off-season, signing a hand full of very skilled veteran players, I though that this team would be better than it is in the standings. The team currently sits dead-last in the league, with no real signs of getting out of that position. Rumour has it that one (or more) of these veterans have asked for a trade, but the names of these players have not been released. Can anyone blame them? I can. These guys were given a lot of money, they were given the best possible line-mates to improve all season, they were even given a new coach (Ted Nolan was fired). But “Iron” Mike Keenan has only been able to tred water with this team, with a below .500 record since taking over. What would not surprise me is a trade deadline sell-off, allowing for the management to look things over in the off-season, and re-think their plan of attack. It might be a good time to see how well the younger players do, after-all, what else do they have to lose?
Dallas Americans (27-12-8)
At one point this season…Okay, nearly the first quarter of this season, the Dallas Americans were unbeatable. The team couldn’t do anything wrong, they seemed to be able to score at will, and the puck looked the size of a beach ball to goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. It was such a great start that most every other team in the league was calling the start “lucky” mainly due to the lack of “star-power” the line-up the team had dressed each night. But this team was winning by playing a hard, full 60 minutes each night. The team has cooled off quite a bit, going only a few games over .500 in their last 20, but its still enough to fight for the top record in the league. However, they have three teams breathing down their necks (Blades, Knights, Whalers) but with several games in hand, the Americans could run away with the conference title.
There are probably a thousand more surprises in this league, but these are the one I wanted to focus on for this article. It would be great to see if any other GM’s in this league had a few “surprise” of their own they would like to share.
By David Biskup.
Sept 25th '09
This year has brought a few surprises. Some of these surprises are making General Managers very happy while some are driving their General Mangers nuts. I am going to try to point out a few to everyone. First I will start off with one from my team and then move on to a few other teams in the league.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Baltimore Blades
38GP, 45G, 26A, 71P
What an unbelievable season Pierre-Marc Bouchard is having in the farm system of the Baltimore Blades with the Washington Capitals. Bouchard was brought in to the Baltimore organization early in the season via trade with the St. Louis Blues. The management wants to ease this rising star into the professional league slowly as to assure full development to the player. Look for Bouchard to play a major role for the Blades down the final stretch of the season and well into the play-offs. Baltimore is looking to go deep and depth will be a major reason for that success.
Joffry Lupul - Calgary Flames
48GP, 39G, 36A, 75P
Another farm player playing to his full potential. Its going to be exciting in Calgary when they decide to call up this rising star to the pro league. I would not be surprised to see this season ending with a few more games played in Calgary by Lupul, maybe even playing his way to a full time roster spot heading in to the playoffs. Atlanta looks poised for a good cup run, and much like the Blades, depth in all roster positions will make their quest easier. The Albuquerque Isotopes will be the only ones upset with that move.
Houston Aeros (14-27-6)
Personally, the way General Manager Montgomery began the off-season, signing a hand full of very skilled veteran players, I though that this team would be better than it is in the standings. The team currently sits dead-last in the league, with no real signs of getting out of that position. Rumour has it that one (or more) of these veterans have asked for a trade, but the names of these players have not been released. Can anyone blame them? I can. These guys were given a lot of money, they were given the best possible line-mates to improve all season, they were even given a new coach (Ted Nolan was fired). But “Iron” Mike Keenan has only been able to tred water with this team, with a below .500 record since taking over. What would not surprise me is a trade deadline sell-off, allowing for the management to look things over in the off-season, and re-think their plan of attack. It might be a good time to see how well the younger players do, after-all, what else do they have to lose?
Dallas Americans (27-12-8)
At one point this season…Okay, nearly the first quarter of this season, the Dallas Americans were unbeatable. The team couldn’t do anything wrong, they seemed to be able to score at will, and the puck looked the size of a beach ball to goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. It was such a great start that most every other team in the league was calling the start “lucky” mainly due to the lack of “star-power” the line-up the team had dressed each night. But this team was winning by playing a hard, full 60 minutes each night. The team has cooled off quite a bit, going only a few games over .500 in their last 20, but its still enough to fight for the top record in the league. However, they have three teams breathing down their necks (Blades, Knights, Whalers) but with several games in hand, the Americans could run away with the conference title.
There are probably a thousand more surprises in this league, but these are the one I wanted to focus on for this article. It would be great to see if any other GM’s in this league had a few “surprise” of their own they would like to share.