Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton will fly into Kelowna with three happy Team Canada members tomorrow morning at K-I-A. The questions is....will Mikael Backlund be on that flight too? I will share the details on this blog when I get them. The plane lands in Kelowna at around 11 am Tuesday morning. For the time being here is a blog posting from Calgary.http://blog.canoe.ca/flames/2009/01/05/backlund_to_sing_o_canada
9 comments:
I'll be at the airport this am. I'll post as soon as I hear anything and I can find a wifi connection.
I read on one of the other sites that Blacklund is a smoker and that's why he's been struggling this year. Is there any truth to that? If so, I hope he doesn't get any of the Rockets hooked on tobacco.
Lots of Hockey players smoke, actually. Dion Phaneuf, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Sergei Zubov all smoke. (Just to name a few)
But that could explain why Kipper's performance has continued to drop for years now.
Backlund was playing Div.2 in Sweden, and not seeing the ice a lot according to my sources. If Calgary signs him he will play where Sutter tells him. Obviously he would play a lot here, Lukas would be sent home, and then you are looking at goaltending and a mature d man. Gotta feel for the guys that are going to sit but that's life in the WHL. Trade deadline on the 10th.
Backlund signed with the Flames on May 2nd 2008
Yeah, Backlund is already signed.
And I've been hearing a lot of rumors saying Kelowna is after Yonkman (G) and Dudas (Overage D) from Swift Current. Not sure what we would have to give up, but considering Dudas hasn't played a game for Swift Current this year, I'd say his value isn't through the roof.
My only fear with Dudas is his health issues. He's always been hurt. I hear he's a quality defenseman, but I'd hate to see the Rockets give up a lot and then see Dudas spending the majority of his time on the trainers table.
High risk, high reward. Dudas is the type of player, who when healthy, can be a dominant force with his size.
Assuming Backlund comes, I wouldn't mind one bit if the Rocket's parted with Novotny instead of Matejka. Novotny's value is higher, and he would bring in more at the deadline.
But the player who I'd love to see in a Rocket's jersey would be Bhungal from Chilliwack. He's a big body who can play in front of net on the powerplay, sticks up for his teammates and will be a force come playoffs. (Remember Lucic?)
I can only imagine Bhungal in front of the net on the powerplay with Benn and Backlund on the outside getting shots off.
But Dudas, Yonkman and Bhungal are all overagers. I would be willing to swap Molle for Dudas in a deal with Swift Current.
Benn - Backlund - Bhungal (OA)
Almond - Long - Callahan
Bloodoff - McMillan - Bloodoff
Paradis - Hood - St. Denis
Main
Myers, Barrie, Bowman, Molle, Dowzak (OA), Verdino, Gogol and Boreyko on defense.
Yonkman (OA) and Brown in the net.
Delicious.
From another blog:
Garth MacBeth, who keeps an eye on the European scene for us, has an update on the Mikael Backlund situation:
“Västerås' website is reporting today that Mikael Backlund is staying
in Canada. The article says that the Calgary Flames informed the club around lunchtime in Sweden today (which would be around 4 a.m. Calgary time, 6 a.m. Ottawa time) that they have recalled Backlund from assignment to Västerås. It also goes on to quote Backlund after Monday night's game: ‘I will learn (Tuesday) from Calgary where they want me to
play.’ ”
It is expected that Backlund, 19, a world-class forward who played for Sweden at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa, will be joining the Kelowna Rockets.
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