Calgary lowest in desirability for UFAs?

[saillias]

Originally Posted by $ven27

^^^Yup, as I see it the only attraction we have to UFA's are ones from Western Canada ( Knight, Galiardi, Jaybo). Even when were winning, I can't see us being a highly sought after spot unless the player is from Western Canada originally, like Bouwmeester was.

Pfft still doing better than Montreal, who's own hometown Quebec born guys don't even want to sign there.

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by saillias

Pfft still doing better than Montreal, who's own hometown Quebec born guys don't even want to sign there.

Because the pressure for them is so huge, I wouldn't wanna play there if I was from Quebec. Briere did just sign there too.

[icecube]

I don't agree with everything he writes, but for me Justin Bourne is the most enjoyable read in the entire business right now. Maybe Elliot Friedman edges him out.

He's got a unique perspective, having played a fairly high level of hockey. He's also the most candid and down to earth of any guy out there right now. People who are knocking him are missing out on great material. He's a must follow on twitter.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by icecube

I don't agree with everything he writes, but for me Justin Bourne is the most enjoyable read in the entire business right now. Maybe Elliot Friedman edges him out.

He's got a unique perspective, having played a fairly high level of hockey. He's also the most candid and down to earth of any guy out there right now. People who are knocking him are missing out on great material. He's a must follow on twitter.

I find the way he writes is too much like a teenager. The substance is good and he is knowledgeable but his writing style is too grating.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by $ven27

^^^Yup, as I see it the only attraction we have to UFA's are ones from Western Canada ( Knight, Galiardi, Jaybo). Even when were winning, I can't see us being a highly sought after spot unless the player is from Western Canada originally, like Bouwmeester was.

.... yeah don't forget Dennis Wideman who was born in Forest Lawn and Hudler who grew up in Dover. and i'm pretty sure Cevrenka was a Temple kid.

[djsFlames]

####ing Montreal.

I'm so glad they were nowhere near Drouin at the draft. Hope he never goes there in his career either, just as Lecavalier never will (yet it was some foregone conclusion..)

[BurningSteel]

uhm? I know one reason

http://lindstrom.ca/flamesplayoffs/americanevil.html

NSFW

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

.... yeah don't forget Dennis Wideman who was born in Forest Lawn and Hudler who grew up in Dover. and i'm pretty sure Cevrenka was a Temple kid.

Neither of those guys were highly sought after, and Cervenka was trying to prove himself and Calgary gave him the best option to do so (or so it seemed). Not to mention both Wideman and Hudler are overpaid.

[Locke]

Yeah, and who exactly has been winning the UFA sweepstakes lately? Anyone else want to sign someone for 8 years for maximum dollars?

No free agent is worth the money being shelled out.

[Northendzone]

all this debate over one man's opinion..........give the tax situation here, we should really rank above wpg (and i am originally from wpg).

dumb list is dumb.......

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I love when things like this come out, the debate is awesome. End of the day, you can't really get to the bottom of it or come out with the right answer. As best as I can tell from my limited contact with anyone who might have an educated opinion on this, Calgary, when only looking at the city itself, is not on the top of players lists for top destinations, but it's also no where near the bottom. It's a nice place that has pro's and con's that will have various impacts to players looking for their next home, but nothing that makes it one of the most desirable spots, and nothing that makes it close to the bottom either. It also seems like the Flames certainly don't have a bad reputation for the way they treat their players, the Flames on a whole are a very classy organization.

On ice is huge. This is a team that has missed the playoffs now for years in a row, and only just jumped into a rebuild last year, with limited prospects threatening to make the jump. That in itself will cause the Flames to be close to the lowest on the appeal radar for any UFA. This team doesn't look anywhere near ready to compete, probably appears from the outside to be the team the furthest away from competing out of any in the NHL, so why would a UFA of value commit big time here at this point? I would be seriously questioning the motivations of any that did. We are going to have to build from the ground up (good thing) before any good UFA really wants a part of this org, I'd say the ranking of 30th is likely very close to correct.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Neither of those guys were highly sought after, and Cervenka was trying to prove himself and Calgary gave him the best option to do so (or so it seemed). Not to mention both Wideman and Hudler are overpaid.

Nice deflection! overpaid.... i doubt it. They were UFAs after all.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Neither of those guys were highly sought after, and Cervenka was trying to prove himself and Calgary gave him the best option to do so (or so it seemed). Not to mention both Wideman and Hudler are overpaid.

I disagree on Wideman, as compared to Streit, especially.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

I find the way he writes is too much like a teenager. The substance is good and he is knowledgeable but his writing style is too grating.

I think that'll develop with time. He has some pieces that hint at it, but yeah a lot of it is still lacking that maturity. For a typical blog post I actually kind of like how light he writes, it makes it easy to take in as a quick distraction.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, and who exactly has been winning the UFA sweepstakes lately? Anyone else want to sign someone for 8 years for maximum dollars?

No free agent is worth the money being shelled out.

Suter would have been worth the Max possible for 7 years. Nobody since Chara before him comes even close to worth their contract

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Nice deflection! overpaid.... i doubt it. They were UFAs after all.

Neither Wideman or Hudler were the the prize of July 1st, hardly a deflection. Hudler maybe not, but Wideman definitely is overpaid.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Neither Wideman or Hudler were the the prize of July 1st, hardly a deflection. Hudler maybe not, but Wideman definitely is overpaid.

I don't actually agree with your entire stance, but I do agree, Wideman, Hudler and Cervenka don't really sell the "Calgary can entice sought after UFAs" position. Hudler and Wideman, who I like, were B list UFAs IMO. Cervenka wasn't even an NHL player and picked the sport he thought he had the best chance of getting ice time.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by $ven27

Neither Wideman or Hudler were the the prize of July 1st, hardly a deflection. Hudler maybe not, but Wideman definitely is overpaid.

No you said that NO free agents outside of Western Canada would want to come here. Well there were 3 from last year. but deflect deflect!

Maybe you should go research what other UFA dmen sign for before calling Wideman overpaid.

[$ven27]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

I don't actually agree with your entire stance, but I do agree, Wideman, Hudler and Cervenka don't really sell the "Calgary can entice sought after UFAs" position. Hudler and Wideman, who I like, were B list UFAs IMO. Cervenka wasn't even an NHL player and picked the sport he thought he had the best chance of getting ice time.

Exactly, which was my entire point. Bouwmeester is the last prize of July 1st to land in Canada in general in a while, so it's not just Calgary either.

[cannon7]

The only UFAs I was remotely interested were in their mid-20s. But at the same time I wouldn't want to take ice-time away from our youngsters.