Usually when a team makes a deadline day deal for a player and said player’s acquisition backfires worse than that time your college roommate microwaved his chicken sandwich with the wrapper still on (true story!) said team usually doesn’t bring back said catastrophic player a few months later through free agency. When you acquire a star player and that player doesn’t perform. You don’t bring him back. End of story.
Imagine the Rangers trading away Wade Redden and then bringing him back. That would induce a reaction from the fanbase somewhere between mass suicide and full on armageddon.
So, if you’re a coherent person, you probably agree with everything I’ve said so far. Well then. You clearly aren’t on Darryl Sutter’s plane of existence. Sutter made some moves today that can only be described as completely and totally mentally unstable. Or he just wants to get fired. I’m not really sure which.
The Flames, if you recall, had a rather EPIC FAIL of a season last year. On January 5th, they were third in the West and leading the Northwest division. They then did a complete faceplant losing 11 of 12 on their way to finishing 10th in the conference including some desperation trade deadline moves. So, let’s keep in mind that this is already a franchise that is probably considering restructuring and find a direction after getting pimp-slapped by the second half of the regular season.
Fast forward to today. It all started off innocently enough. Sutter brought back Alex Tanguay for a year at a shade under $2 million. Whatever. Tanguay played two seasons in Calgary a few years ago, the first was a point per game masterpiece and the second was far from that. Coincidentally, the second year Tanguay was in Calgary was also the first year Mike Keenan coached the team. That’s all you really need to know to explain the drop off. This deal would all be well and good if it wasn’t for Tanguay getting a no trade clause. I don’t know how push came to shove, but if at any point Tanguay’s agent told Sutter that his client wouldn’t sign without a NTC… And Sutter, at some point, obviously agreed to it… Whew. Giving a guy coming back to town who is on a one-year deal to basically prove himself again to the League a NTC? Alright, not insane. Just kinda bizarre. Really, super, bizarre.
But wait, there’s more!
You remember Olli Jokinen, right? Headcase who also failed epically along with the Flames this season and was shipped off at the deadline? Well…
HE’S BAAAACCCKKK!
Two years at three million per. Cue fanbase reaction somewhere between mass suicide and armageddon (fellow Bloguin Flames blog the 4th Line is taking the latter approach).
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