There were no fewer than 13 trades during the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Although none of them directly impacted Carolina, Caniacs everywhere let out a roar when Phoenix and Florida announced their trade very early on. Olli Jokinen, who is extremely unpopular in Raleigh (this may be an understatement) will be going to the Coyotes while defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton will be in Sunrise come fall.
RBH has never been a fan of Olli Jokinen, so we will shed no tears. He has been a bit of a Cane killa, racking up a ton of points against Carolina. More than that, though, he's been a general nuisance. Aside from having some really disturbing facial hair that makes him look like a child molester, he's been a loudmouth in the press. Along with Jacques Martin, he's been the one who says bad things about Carolina in the papers. At the end of the 06-07 season, he "guaranteed" a victory against Carolina in a meaningless game, and Carolina took great joy in showing him where to stick it.
During the IIHF World Champoinships this spring, Jokinen cheapshotted USA (and Carolina Hurricanes) defenseman Tim Gleason, knocking Timmy out of the Finland-USA game.
There were a ton of other trades on Friday, but most of them involved picks only. There will probably be more on Saturday, including some name-brand players.
Rounds 2-7 will be Saturday, beginning at 10:00am eastern time, and will be broadcast on the NHL Network.
All we can say about this is "Good riddance!"
Good riddance!
Showing posts with label Coyotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coyotes. Show all posts
Friday, June 20, 2008
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Former Canes on the move
On Wednesday, the Islanders signed Josef (aka "Big Joe", aka "the Czech Condor", aka "Joe, Lord of Evil") Vasicek to a one year deal valued at $750,000.
After leading the Hurricanes in 2004 with 19 goals (sad, isn't it?), Joe was never the same. He didn't play during the lockout, which messed up his ability to become an UFA, and he evidently sat around eating Cheetos and drinking Yoohoo. >>EDIT<< -- He played well in the Czech Republic during lockout, but hurt his UFA eligibility by not re-signing with Carolina >>END EDIT<< At any rate, he wasn't exactly in "playing form" when the 2006 season commenced. He spent the better part of that season injured, and was scratched for most of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and he ended up with just nine (4/5) points in 23 regular season games. If I remember correctly, four of those points came in one night.
After getting his name etched on the Cup, JoVa was traded toKansas City Hamilton Nashville straight up for Scott Walker. It was an amazing coup for Carolina, and it left the Nashville natives scratching their collective head. When Vasicek failed to click into place in the Music City, he was traded back to Carolina for Eric Belanger. Belanger was then shifted to Atlanta 24 hours later for defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski.
Again, Vasicek failed to accomplish anything, scoring nine points (2/7) in 25 games with Carolina. All told, Vasicek scored 22 points (6/16) in 63 games split between the Preds and Canes.
This summer, he was never given a qualifying sheet by the Canes and was reportedly close to signing with a Russian Superleague team.
Although I have picked on Vasicek for being too big, slow and dumb for his own good, I like him and I hope he does well. It might be good for him to be in the presence of some fellow Czechs. He and Isles' defenseman Radek Martinek are actually from the same tiny Czech town. Oh the fun they'll have!
The two of them will, of course, be holding Miro Satan's (Slovak) jock, but the lot of them will be speaking in Czech, and that will make Big Joe happy.
In other former Canes news, Kevyn Adams and Radim Vrbata were traded for each other. Last season, Adams scored 12(3/9) for the Canes/Coyotes while Vrbata scored 41 (14/27) points for the Blackhawks. Adams brings some veteran leadership qualities to the table, but I think the 'Hawks gave up too much. Meanwhile, the 'Yotes are getting younger and younger. By getting rid of Adams, they now have only two players over the age of 30, and their average age is 27.9.
Good luck to all of these former Canes in their new surroundings!
After leading the Hurricanes in 2004 with 19 goals (sad, isn't it?), Joe was never the same. He didn't play during the lockout, which messed up his ability to become an UFA, and he evidently sat around eating Cheetos and drinking Yoohoo. >>EDIT<< -- He played well in the Czech Republic during lockout, but hurt his UFA eligibility by not re-signing with Carolina >>END EDIT<< At any rate, he wasn't exactly in "playing form" when the 2006 season commenced. He spent the better part of that season injured, and was scratched for most of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and he ended up with just nine (4/5) points in 23 regular season games. If I remember correctly, four of those points came in one night.
After getting his name etched on the Cup, JoVa was traded to
Again, Vasicek failed to accomplish anything, scoring nine points (2/7) in 25 games with Carolina. All told, Vasicek scored 22 points (6/16) in 63 games split between the Preds and Canes.
This summer, he was never given a qualifying sheet by the Canes and was reportedly close to signing with a Russian Superleague team.
Although I have picked on Vasicek for being too big, slow and dumb for his own good, I like him and I hope he does well. It might be good for him to be in the presence of some fellow Czechs. He and Isles' defenseman Radek Martinek are actually from the same tiny Czech town. Oh the fun they'll have!
The two of them will, of course, be holding Miro Satan's (Slovak) jock, but the lot of them will be speaking in Czech, and that will make Big Joe happy.
In other former Canes news, Kevyn Adams and Radim Vrbata were traded for each other. Last season, Adams scored 12(3/9) for the Canes/Coyotes while Vrbata scored 41 (14/27) points for the Blackhawks. Adams brings some veteran leadership qualities to the table, but I think the 'Hawks gave up too much. Meanwhile, the 'Yotes are getting younger and younger. By getting rid of Adams, they now have only two players over the age of 30, and their average age is 27.9.
Good luck to all of these former Canes in their new surroundings!
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