CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms with winger Kris Versteeg on a three-year deal, the club announced Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Lethbridge native had an impressive rookie campaign, leading allfirst-year pros with 31 assists while ranking second with 53 points. He was fourth among rookies with 22 goals earning him a nominationfor the 2009 Calder Trophy.`Kris' tremendous rookie season was a big reason the team wasable to go as far as it did,' Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon said in a statement. `He is part of a core of young players that is going to make this franchise successful for a long time.'
Versteeg, who was named to the NHL's All-Rookie Team, finished third in the league with seven short-handed points, which included four short-handed markers, tying a franchise record by a rookie. He also recorded the first-ever goal at Wrigley Field when hescored 3:24 into the Winter Classic 2009 on Jan. 1 against Detroit, finishing the game with two points. The deal is reported to be 9 million over those 3-seasons.
(The Canadian Press)
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Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Monday, 6 July 2009
New G.M. Preston Gets Down to Business
Rich Preston settles into his new job this week with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Preston, was announced last Tuesday as the team's new General Manager and Head Coach. Over the the course of the next few weeks he'll be a busy guy. As he told local media recently his first order of business is to hire a Director of Player Personnel. He'll likely need an Assistant G.M., maybe another person on the bench with himself and Matt Kabayama, and a Director of Scouting too. It is possible I guess that the people Preston hires could perform dual roles, cutting back on the number of staff.
It'll be interesting as well to see if the new G.M. is a wheeler and dealer. I would assume that some trades will be made over the course of the next few weeks leading up to training camp in late August as Preston will have identified by then what type of players he wants to build this team around.
Having Preston as both General Manager and Coach I think is a good thing. It gives him a look-see at both the on-ice and off-ice side of the organization and enables him to put his stamp on things. I also don't expect things to happen overnight. Fans are going to have to give Preston some time to build this team to where he wants it. It would think though that he'll want to put together a competitive team before the puck drops in September. That's why finding the right people to fill those positions I mentioned earlier is so critical for Preston at this early stage in the game.
I'm taking some time off next week, but I will still be blogging here if the occasional Hurricanes story breaks or the organization has some information to pass along.
Just my thoughts for today.
Pat
Preston, was announced last Tuesday as the team's new General Manager and Head Coach. Over the the course of the next few weeks he'll be a busy guy. As he told local media recently his first order of business is to hire a Director of Player Personnel. He'll likely need an Assistant G.M., maybe another person on the bench with himself and Matt Kabayama, and a Director of Scouting too. It is possible I guess that the people Preston hires could perform dual roles, cutting back on the number of staff.
It'll be interesting as well to see if the new G.M. is a wheeler and dealer. I would assume that some trades will be made over the course of the next few weeks leading up to training camp in late August as Preston will have identified by then what type of players he wants to build this team around.
Having Preston as both General Manager and Coach I think is a good thing. It gives him a look-see at both the on-ice and off-ice side of the organization and enables him to put his stamp on things. I also don't expect things to happen overnight. Fans are going to have to give Preston some time to build this team to where he wants it. It would think though that he'll want to put together a competitive team before the puck drops in September. That's why finding the right people to fill those positions I mentioned earlier is so critical for Preston at this early stage in the game.
I'm taking some time off next week, but I will still be blogging here if the occasional Hurricanes story breaks or the organization has some information to pass along.
Just my thoughts for today.
Pat
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