stuff upcoming

i've been away a bit but now i'm back... of course, i'm thinking there's not a whole lot to write about, currently, but here's some stuff i'm looking forward to talking about in the next month or so:

1. the abbotsford heat logo
apparently the new baby flames' logo was supposed to be unveiled almost two weeks ago... it seems it may have infringed on an existing logo (atlanta flames, perhaps ?? miami heat, maybe ??) and has been scrapped. i would imagine the team wants to show off/sell/promote their new jerseys ASAP, so i would presume we'll see the final design shortly.

2. the draft
kent has been talking a bit about the potential future flames, considering the low first-round position the team currently holds. with all the dough tied up in current salaries, and sutter's propensity for draft-day deals, i fully expect to see a major transactiom occuring on june 26th... it's very close to being the year that the team deals their captain, and i wouldn't be remotely surprised to see one of the "core group" guys dealt in the next few weeks. i have read and re-read the al coates quotes on the niewendyk-for-iginla trade, and i realize that this franchise is on the brink of that kind of team-changing move. the guys i consider "hands off" are no longer; even those with no-movement clauses could agree to be dealt: any of iginla, phaneuf, and kiprusoff could go, with the more likely players changing colours being sarich, vandermeer, and langkow. i would be far more surprised to see any of the "good value" players change hands; nystrom, bourque, glenX, moss, gio, or any of the "high potential" babies (backlund, negrin, aulie, pelech, irving, wahl). like i've said in previous posts, i would be BEYOND surprised to see jokinen change hands this summer, as his return (lombo, prust, 1st rounder) is too high for a GM to send him off after a mere forty days... it would be admitting fault, and i certainly don't see darryl effin' sutter being the guy to make that deal... i also envision regehr as the captain-in-waiting, and i don't see him getting sent away either.

3. prospect camp
as any longtime hitthepost reader should know, july's prospect development camp is largely my favorite time of year... to me, there is nothing better than shacking up in a cold rink, during calgary's hottest months, to check out the team's futures... this year there will be no boyd, vandergulik, palin, or greentree, but it will be nice to have a look at the other kids; pelech, negrin, aulie, irving, backlund, wahl, nemisz, and armstrong (among others). it usually starts the monday after stampede, which puts it somewhere around july 13th. i. can't. wait.... :)

over and out for now.