Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
In the interviews that were posted about Vegas last summer, they spoke about the importance of having Engelland and his wife available after the expansion draft for the other guys and their wives to contact about the various little things of living in Las Vegas (best neighbourhoods, best schools, things like that).
The team had people on staff to help out, but it was nice for the players and their families to have another hockey family available who knows the area. Someone made a joke about the Engellands acting as Concierges for the new players.
That was why they felt it was important to claim Engelland in the expansion draft and get him signed right away rather than waiting the week and a half to just sign him on July 1.
Sure, that may have been different had the Flames had someone more exciting available, but we all knew that the timing of the expansion worked out well for the Flames this time. In two or three years, with Seattle, they probably won't be so lucky.
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This is the thing, the way Vegas has gone about treating their players they have developed a really tight knit sense of community around the team and its paying huge dividends.
These guys arent just a collection of unwanted castoffs, they're like a family now and they're going to war for each other.
Thats what you need in the playoffs.