And that about covers it.
Seriously though, I’m not mocking the Cats here. At all. Simply wasn’t a sensible deal to be made.
After victories in their past two games and what appears – from an outsider’s view – that a renewed sense of purpose and cohesion has taken hold in the dressing room, this has been a fantastic week for the organization in theory and practice. So far, so good at this early stage. Behold:
- Soon-to-be unrestricted free agent forward Sean Bergenheim (a guy many around here liked a lot) was moved to Minnesota on Tuesday, fulfilling his own request to be traded as ice time wasn’t going to be coming via the Gallant bench.
- Another probable UFA, this time in the guise of Tomas Fleischmann, was peddled to Anaheim Saturday. No question Flash has made terrific strides this season in his overall three-zone play, but the O-zone stuff was lacking when desperately needed from a guy in which goals are expected.
Both were moved via a variety of upcoming draft picks. Which was the case as well with the one player acquired throughout the deadline season on Thursday, Jaromir Jagr. He’s only played two games with Florida (“Had a practice with the club yet, Jags?”) but 9 GF by the Cats (including Jagr’s opener Sunday vs Tampa Bay, busting a personal goal drought of 10 games stretching to New Jersey) seems a rather significant improvement considering Florida notched all of 11 goals during the past nine contests. So yeah, there’s that.
So Dale stood firm, confident in his roster going forward, wherever that may lead. We all continue pining for another scorer, but management believes he comes from within. Tallon did not sell off a single asset, nor move a player generally not considered to be part of the plan beyond this season. Of course, Tomas Kopecky and Scottie Upshall remain headed for free agency in July, and apparently the cost of moving them was prohibitive, but no one can accuse them of not showing up on game nights. Both have fans for all the right reasons (Kopy a defensive forward & Uppy being the resident pest), and Florida could do a lot worse than either keeping them or selling low.
What we saw over the last two games is generally what we’ll see for the next 19, on paper. And that ain’t too bad at all.
One last thing: While we generally keep the language on this community of the G-rated sort (does that rating even exist any longer?) we’re enormous fans of Cap’n Willie today more than usual, who repped the Cats – publicly – in a way few if any have done so in the past.
We’ll give DT the final word…
Happy?
| Yep…future wasn’t sold, postseason remains within reach | 142 |
| Nope…scoring still woefully lacking | 13 |