Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Hamonic trade and Neal signing. Just absolutely awful in every way.
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Truly awful.
I remember watching James Neal in the first couple preseason games of the 18-19 season and I said to myself, we’re in trouble. Hated him all season long, not one good stretch. It was astounding to me that he could con NHL teams into thinking he was worth more than a million bucks. Slow, lazy, no hockey sense, terrible mobility, couldn’t pivot, couldn’t turn, couldn’t take a pass in stride, handled the puck like a grenade, muffin shots, bad attitude, indifferent in his end of the ice. Just a completely useless plug. Thank goodness the Flames got Lucic out of James “Bad Deal” Neal. Looch’s terrible contract may still haunt the Flames today, but at least he doesn’t hurt the team.
Don’t have quite the same disdain for the Hamonic trade. But I do remember giving the stink eye to the acquisition price. Very expensive at the time of the trade and even more expensive now that we can look bad at it. Good community guy, plenty of intangibles, but not worth the cap hit or the assets. He was a pretty mediocre oft-injured #4 defenseman. I will say, Dobson and Kyrou would look great in Flames colors today.