No people are not descending on Vegas because of the Las Vegas Wranglers. Though you have to admit, for an ECHL team, they put together some really cool marketing ideas. The thing is with the age of twitter, or the overabundance of it, you know exactly which people are in Vegas. That is the fun and the problem with social marketing sites these days. Everyone is there and everyone wants to let you know that they are there. Admittedly Las Vegas is a very nice place to meet people. Add in the fact that there is so much to do and really there is not much point in sleeping a whole lot. Why would you, after all?
Now the NHL Awards are on Versus tomorrow starting at 7:30pm in the States and well be televised and streamed all over Canada on various outlets for your pleasure. Yes I am sure the parties are nice and everything and the social interaction is probably great too. For some reason, I am more focused on the FA Frenzy that is upcoming and what impact it will have on the draft. There is the BUT ladies and gentlemen and it is a big one. For the first year in many, it almost feels like I can overlook the NHL Awards and just go straight to the NHL Draft, at least in my mind.
Just look at all the craziness last night caused by one little Jason Spezza rumor started on a couple sites. Thankfully cooler heads prevailed and at least for now, Spezza is still an Ottawa Senator. However, you have a feeling that something will eventually get done. When is that eventually going to become a reality? I am not sure. Your guess is as good as mine. Windows are closing faster than every before because it is just one day till the Awards, three days till the draft and just nine days until the FA Frenzy. If you have that feeling that it all feels like every single thing is being compressed, you are not very far off at all.
Even today, there is the release of the schedule. Some get a bit overexcited about this. For me, its just to see who we are going to be playing and to be thankful there is no compressed schedule this year. Thank god! By the way, that release comes in Noon, just in time for NHL Live. Obviously the boys will go over it heavily. Honestly I will defer to them. It is a bit early to be thinking about the schedule because most teams are going to look a bit different a month or so from now than they do at this very moment.
I did come across a very amusing short piece by Adrian Dater this morning that has some Vegas Lines that you may not quite expect. They are all right HERE. Personally the Brian Burke one with the odds is very funny but I am surprised there is nothing there about a certainly rumor monger and odds some of his trades come true. Oh wait, there are sites for that. I do apologize. I would even also like to point out that quite a few people have skipped the NHL Awards entirely and are in Los Angeles for the Draft. Sometimes choices need to be made as we all know.
Speaking of choices, if you are on Twitter this morning, according to TSN’s Bob MacKenzie, the Blackhawks are so up against the cap that they cannot even make qualifying offers to some of their guys. The first victim may be Andrew Ladd and the BC native may just end up in BC, playing for Vancouver. That whole strange bedfellows thing would have new meaning with Ryan Kesler. Then again this happens frequently, it is hockey after all.
As many have said, the fairly weak UFA pool is going to make this week a really crazy one indeed. You could expect 35-40 moves when all is said and done before July 1st. At first it sounded crazy but the reality is it could really occur. So its real simple, get ready for the induction announcements coming later today and we may add a little to the fire when the time is right. In the meantime, enjoy the rumor mill and those #WTFtraderequests too.
