(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Opening Night, 2001. Hurricanes v. Rangers at home. The score was 3-1 ‘Canes at that point, when Josef Vasicek and Vladimir Malakhov got into it behind the Hurricanes’ net and traded a couple punches. Now, I don’t know why, but when they showed Joe’s angry grill in the jumbotron (after the linesmen broke it up) I swear I saw a pair of horns poking out from under his helmet. This reminded me for some reason of a dear friend of mine from the UK who was always jokingly referred to by mutual acquaintances of ours as “Bob, Lord of Evil”. Now Bob was on the tall side, but no athlete was he (anymore), having been about 20ish years retired from being on Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorism unit. But every time I thought of that fight, I thought of dear ol’ Bob (Lord of Evil).
So, Smilin’ Joe Vasicek became Joe, Lord of Evil.
Today Joe, Lord of Evil got traded to Nashville for Scott Walker. Some of the fans on the scout.com boards are bitching about the trade–mostly because of who we got. Clearly, those people haven’t bothered watching the Predators if they think Walks is no good. Walks is a competitor who’ll leave it all on the ice and who can score from time to time (and he can chuck knuckles when he has to, which should please all the mouthbreathing retards that just want to see fights).
In other Hurricanes-related news, the Sightless Eye Clan got a blast from the past when they signed Shane Willis to a one-year deal. Now, in my opinion Shane didn’t exactly get a fair shake from Chairman Mo when he was here. Shane was an offense-oriented guy in a system that was not exactly offense-friendly, and the Great Helmsman didn’t really like him much because of that–the fans, however, loved him (in his first game back as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Shane got a rousing ovation when he scored on the ‘Canes–he was that popular here).
A clean (though envelope-pushing) center-ice hit from Scott Stevens (good riddance) during the 2001 playoffs and a flagrant elbow from Bryan Marchment in November of 2001 set Shane back several paces, and after he was traded away he spent the last few years toiling in the minors and in Europe. This signing is probably Shane’s last best hope for an NHL career–and I think he might fare better this time, playing in a system for which he’s far better suited.
I’ve always been a big Scott Walker fan and I think we’ve upgraded big time for a fraction of the price. The difference in their contracts is approximately 200K, give or take.
I like this trade a lot.
Oh, I like it too–I mean, I like Joe and all, but when he pulled a vanishing act during the Finals I knew he was toast. That we got Walker (another player I like a lot) for him is gravy.
I just thought that JimR would wait until after the season started to pull the trigger, that’s all.
A flippin steal! You guys just might repeat…Godamnit!
We shall see.
This, dear Acid Queen, did not come out of nowhere. The writing has been on the wall since before he even got hurt.
I think this is a good trade. Walker won’t be Matt Cullen, but I think we’ll like him. A lot.
And bravo for getting Shane Willis. $450k is a great price on him.
Mmmmm….yesandno.
I think it came from out of nowhere, because Nashville was the least-likely trading partner and it seemed like Joe would at least be given through preseason to show something.
But I’ve always liked Walks, so ’s all good.
Walker won’t be Matt Cullen? No, he’ll be better than Cullen, if he doesn’t get hurt
Walker is definitely an upgrade based on Joe’s inability to play up to his size. We get a whole lot of grit and a guy who fits the Hurricanes persona much better than Joe does. I like this trade alot and it just might help to ease the disappointment of seeing Cullen go.
Shane Willis….hmmmm. Guess he’s a depth guy who gives us some scoring punch in Albany and could be a useful call up. Good luck to him as I’m sure he’ll get a good look in training camp. It has always saddened me to see the way his career tanked after the two concussions.