Where has the Stanley Cup been for the last few days. The answer is Montana and California.. As the grand tour began, Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, fittingly, had the first go at it and took it to Yosemite National Park in California over the weekend. From there, it went to Whitefish, Montana on Tuesday with Assistant Coach, Doug Houda. More than 1000 people lined up in Whitefish to view the cup.
The Winnipeg Jets re-signed their captain today. Andrew Ladd signed a 5 year, 22 million dollar contract to stay put. Good on Andrew, but a little pricey based on what he has done so far. It could turn out to be a great move though if he continues to develop. The team really needed to sign him on so many levels. One big knock on Winnipeg was that no one wanted to play there, let alone stay. This signing represents that the opposite may in fact be the truth.
In other news, the Jets also signed forwards Aaron Gagnon and Rick Rypien as free agents. These would be considered as additional depth moves.
My other team made a few moves today as well. The Boston Bruins have had some addition and subtraction happenings over the past few days. Tomas Kaberle has left, signing a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes. This was expected and not entirely a bad thing for the team. To partially compensate they have signed Joe Corvo in a trade with Carolina. Michael Ryder has also left, signing a deal with the Dallas Stars.
I wrote a post yesterday in which I decided to follow the Australian Ice Hockey League. In said post (pretty good English eh?) I placed a poll to determine which team I would be following and would do some posts on that team and hopefully follow them all the way to a championship run. I am certain it will not be as exciting as the Bruins run, but it is better than nothing.
The poll results are in and, after a whopping 17 votes in total, and 6 for the winner, we will be paying rapt attention to the fortunes of the Gold Coast Blue Tongues. a catchy name if I have ever heard one. Apparently it is named after a lizard that has a blue tongue that is common in this part of Australia. Go figure. A good choice as well as an ex-Bruin once played for them, Rob Zamuner. I believe he even played for Team Canada once in the Olympics.
I will be doing a couple of posts between now and their next game (They only play on weekends, so the games won’t interfere with their jobs, I guess) and will focus on some team history and go over their roster. We will also take a closer look at their upcoming opponent. The Blue Tongues (kind of rolls off the tongue doesn’t it) are currently in 4th place in the league. The regular season ends on August 28th, followed by their playoffs.
To give us an idea on the league, I have attached a video about the Blue Tongues. It reminds me of playing in rec hockey in Martensville, Saskatchewan.
I know. It is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, maybe we should track the Australian Ice Hockey League. Yes, it exists. I have the proof right here.
Now all we have to do is pick a team to support. I am thinking a poll would work. If this is any kind of fun, I’ll do some stories on the team that wins. If not, then to the trash hahahaha.
The draft is done, the team is named, the uniform and logo are being worked on. I would think that 95% of the world is happy that the Winnipeg Jets is the name chosen. A lot of history in that name and it would have been a shame to name them anything else..
Free Agent season opened on July 1 and the Jets did not exactly make a splash. Having said that, there really wasn’t anything there to make a splash with. Better to save the cash, see what you have in the fall and move towards next year with the youngsters already in the system. The goaltending is in good hands, the young defence is in great shape and signing a big name forward would have been a waste at this point. Lets face it, Brad Richards would have been an interesting pick up, but in reality, he would have added nothing to the team. One other point to make is that Winnipeg will not be playing in the East in 2012-13. The style of play in the West has some subtle differences, so it is a smart play to stay the course and work towards signing Western style players next year.
The 2 signed so far are decent depth players, which we are lacking and in fact, of all the Canucks in the playoffs, Tanner Glass was one of the few who impressed me. Yes, his type of player is common, and yes, he will never be an all-star, but how many Canadian kids with heart do the Jets have at this point. He will do well on the 4th line and was cheap. Derek Meech is a solid AHL defenceman who is reaching the age where he could easily become a solid NHL player. He is also a hometown guy which is always a plus. He will make the team and will be a decent contributor.
Of the guys that are left, Teemu Selane is an obvious choice. A link to the past could be a path to the future. Signing him is pretty much a no-brainer.
Late Breaking, the Jets have just signed defenceman Randy Jones. He last played with Tampa Bay Lightning, but missed the playoffs with an ankle injury. Another solid, but not spectacular signing.
A Jamie Langenbrunner or John Madden type of veteran would also be a reasonable pick up at this point as a veteran leader and bridge to the future, but only at the right price.
