Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Forget tonight's game, I want to talk about Owen Nolan and Krys Kolanos

So, Flames host the Coyotes tonight, trying to get back on track, Bertuzzi sucks, Kiprusoff will play his thousandth consecutive game, maybe Robyn Regehr and/or Matthew Lombardi will get back in the lineup, Daniel Carcillo will probably fight Brandon Prust, good times.

Actual analysis/previews can be found here and here and here.

What I REALLY want to talk about is this minor piece of news.

The Minnesota Wild on Monday placed right wing Owen Nolan on injured reserve with a lower body injury ... In a corresponding move, the Wild recalled center Krys Kolanos from Houston of the American Hockey League. Kolanos, 27, has seven goals and one assist in seven games with Houston this season.

Nolan's "lower-body" ailment will keep him out for more than a week, and I think probably comes as a surprise to nobody. What it really makes me think is the Flames were lucky to get a full year out of the guy in 07-08.

On the flipside of that story, the Wild have called up another guy the Flames owned rights to last year in Kolanos, who stands out in my mind for all the wrong reasons. When I saw the Quad City Flames play in Toronto last year against the Marlies, he looked like a guy with big leagues skills and an elementary school head. No effort, no determination, no urgency. He has seven goals in seven games for Houston of the AHL this year — which, I suppose, isn't that surprising considering his skill level and cup of coffee in the NHL.

So, I'm guessing his tenure under Jacques Lemaire will be short, and will leave Doug Risebrough wishing he had signed Jamie Lundmark instead. Leaving the Wild with not one, but two sloppy seconds from the Flames, sort of a reverse Sutter manoeuvre I'm quite pleased about.

Also, up until researching this stunning piece of bloggery, I was unaware that the Wild have a player named Cal Clutterbuck. How could I miss that? Clutterbuck!

2 comments:

Kent W. said...

Clutterbuck was actually a guy I thought the Flames might draft awhile ago.

Ms. Conduct said...

Yay that they didn't. He's as awesome as his name. The Wild org is lucky to have Cal.

Kolanos has been playing on a whole different level in Houston, but I can see where it might not translate up to the big club. I guess we'll see while Olden is out.