The team recently announced a deal has been reached with Ladd at five years, $22 million dollars. This is very good news for the team and good signs of things to come for the Jets. He passed on the opportunity to sign a one-year contract and test unrestricted free agency next summer. While this might be appealing to some, Ladd appears to want roots.
For one thing, he's getting married later this month. Second, he's been traded away from two Stanley Cup teams in his career. He won with Carolina and again with Chicago. The Atlantpegs is just his third team, but kinda fourth since the move of the franchise involves pretty much the same adjustments of moving from say Chicago to Atlanta.
It's still somewhat surprising that he would choose a long-term contract instead of the free agency. At least, to some it's surprising. To Laddy Boy: "Looking at the big picture, I was in a great situation with the organization in terms of my role with the team. It never really crossed my mind to go that route. I wanted to get a long-term deal done pretty much all the way along."
Apparently he went to Winnipeg recently and really liked what he saw.
Now, it is not official that Ladd will be retained as Captain of the team, he sure thinks he will, althought Ladd admits it's ultimately not his decision. That will come from Coach Noel. The two had a good talk, but things need to settle down a little.
I think Ladd should retain the "C". That was one problem with the Thrashers. The lack of consistant leadership. The lack of a real face of the organization. Sure, you had Kovalchuk for years, but he really didn't want to be Captain, and he really didn't act like one even when he wore it.
Other teams have that immediate face recognition, that symbolic icon skating around on the ice that just imbodies the team. I mean, you mention the name and images of a certain team jump to mind. Eric Staal, Jarome Iginla, Nicklas Lidstrom, Shane Doan, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Sedin, or Vincent Lecavalier. I see Hurricanes, Flames, Red Wings, Coyotes, Penguins, Captials, Canuks, and Lightning instantly.
The Thrashers were around for 11 years and had 8 different Captains. 8! And they went an entire season without one, so that's really 8 captains in 10 seasons. Where's the leadership on the team? Only Shawn McEachern and Scott Mellanby held the Captain spot for two years. Here's the list of Atlanta Thrashers Captains:
1. Kelly Buchberger, 1999–2000
2. Steve Staios, 2000–01
3. Ray Ferraro, 2001–02
4. Shawn McEachern, 2002–04
No captain, 2004–05 (Lockout)
5. Scott Mellanby, 2005–07
6. Bobby Holik, 2007–08
No captain, 2008–09
7. Ilya Kovalchuk, 2009–10
8. Andrew Ladd, 2010–11
See what I mean? Ridiculous. I think Winnipeg needs to name a Captain quickly, someone who will be there for years to come, and stick with this person even in the face of adversity should the team struggle on the ice. Ladd is the ideal candidate. Assuming he doesn't do something monstrously attrocious, he should be given that patch. Even if it's not Ladd, make it someone who will be there for a while. Please! I'm sick of the rotating door of Captains in this franchise.
The Jets have have made some moves since landing in Winnipeg regarding free agency. They picked up three forwards and three defencemen. During the first weekend of free agency (starting July 1), the Jets agreed to terms with three defencemen, Derek Meech, Randy Jones & Mark Flood, and three forwards, Aaron Gagnon, Tanner Glass & Rick Rypien.
Some interesting notes: Derek Meech is a Winnipeg native, so they have a home-grown hero to root for. Sorta. Meech did play most of his games with Grand Rapids in the AHL, so we'll see if he makes it in the big leagues anytime soon.
Randy Jones played in 61 games for the Lightning last season, so we may see him. He picked up 13 points (1g, 12a). He has a total of 326 career NHL games and 31 Playoff games.
Mark Flood is another "feel good for the locals" story. He played 63 games in Manitoba last season with 40 points (11g, 29a). He knows the building, the fans, that sorta thing that the veterans from Atlanta won't know. So I expect him to be on the opening day roster simply because he can be an assest with more than just on-ice performance. Actually, very much with on ice performance. "Watch out for pucks behind the net. The ice gets really hard there for some reason and they skid around really fast, a lot faster than most rinks."
Aaron Gagnon will likely play in St. John's to start since he only racked up 19 games with Dallas last year, assisting with two goals.
Tanner Glass might come to the big dance at MTS Center. He played in 73 games with Vancouver getting 10 points (3g, 7a) and 72 penalty minutes. He has 24 Playoff Games under his belt, 20 of those coming in the 2011 run.
Rick Rypien appeared in nine games last season with the Vancouver Canucks where he collected an assist and 31 penalty minutes. In total, he has played in 119 career games in the NHL with the Canucks from 2005 to 2011 where he has scored 16 points (9g, 7a) and 226 penalty minutes. So he's scrappy. Rypien has also played in 17 career Stanley Cup playoff games where he has collected three assists and 47 penalty minutes. Yeah. Scrappy. He too might have a home crowd advantage since Rypien also played in 11 games last season with the Manitoba Moose where he collected two assists and nine penalty minutes. He has played in a total of 116 games in the AHL, all with Manitoba from 2004 to 2011. In that span, Rypien has scored 39 points (16g, 23a) and collected 252 penalty minutes.
Speaking of Manitoba and Vancouver and St. John's, here's what's happening with the AHL. The Canucks new farm team is the old Thrashers farm team, the Chicago Wolves.
Why didn't the Jets keep the Wolves you might ask? Well, as part of the agreement, if Winnipeg got an NHL franchise, the AHL Manitoba Moose would move to St. John's and be the affiliate for the NHL team. That leaves the old dancing partner for the Moose (the Canucks) without a buddy and the Wolves out too. Natural pairing. Like being forced to play with that weird kid on your team in gym class because he was the only choice left. (I was that weird kid.)
Another interesting note, the new St. John's team is likely to be named the Ice Caps. CBC learned the domain name and registration was done for that name earlier in June. That is a horrible name. I'm sorry, but something better next time please. I loved the Moose! That's awesome. And a kickin' logo to boot.
If you want more on the team, there's not much to say. They have a temporary website: ahlisback.com for now with not a lot going on there. I'm waiting for the Winnipeg Jets website to look better with team logos and such. Right now, it's still NHL sheild and decor.
I'll leave you now. By the way, did you catch the possessive words for the Jets? "my Jets" Intentional. This is still my team, it's just unfortunate they no longer play in my city. I won't point it out any more, nor will I constantly dwell on the Thrashers and such, but I just wanted to clear things up if you were curious.
TTFN
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