Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.
If there's a silver lining to rooting for a bad team in a given season, it's that you always have a solid shot of winning the draft lottery and getting the No. 1 overall pick to find that franchise-changing superstar. Penguins and Blackhawks fans, for example, were rewarded for watching quite a few years of really bad hockey (Dick Tarnstrom was the leading scorer for the Penguins at one point - enough said), by ending up with Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, among others.
The holy grails for bottom-dwellers this season are Canadian prodigy John Tavares, and Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman. If you're a Thrashers fan, for example, and they manage to hold their current spot as the worst team in the league, you're guaranteed one of those guys in the offseason. So, you've got that going for you.
But what if you're a team that's so bad, so hopeless, and so out of it that they're going to finish near the bottom of the league next season, as well? Well, in that case, you would probably looking ahead to Windsor Spitfires forward Taylor Hall.
Chris Pope over at The Good Point introduces us to Hall, and also calls attention to the fact Tavares, currently playing for the Oshawa Generals, could be joining Hall in Windsor via trade.
ECHL Team Suspends Operations: The Augusta Lynx Are No More
I'm fortunate enough to have a pair of ECHL teams within an hours drive of my house (Wheeling Nailers and Johnstown Chiefs) and for some reason, I've never taken advantage of this opportunity to take in affordable minor league hockey. Frankly, as a hockey fan, I feel kind of dirty for not going to a Chiefs game, seeing as how they still play in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena that was home to everyone's favorite hockey movie, Slap Shot. I know, I'm not doing my part. Perhaps I need to get up there this season.
I mention this because this week, the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL, have suspended operations and "voluntarily relinquished their membership back to the league." Translation: The Augusta Lynx have folded in the middle of the season. It's the second sports team to cease operations this week, after the WNBA's Houston Comets shut their doors for good on Monday.
All players currently playing for the Lynx will become unrestricted free agents. Prior to this season, the Lynx became the ECHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and had three Lightning prospects skating in their lineup this season.
Signings and Promotions
... Remember the legion of doom? The line of Eric Lindros, John Leclair and Mikael Renberg that caused havoc for the Philadelphia Flyers in the mid-1990's? Great line, nice nickname. Lindros and Leclair are now out of hockey entirely, while the third member of that group, Renberg, has signed a deal with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Elite League. The 36-year old Renberg last played in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2003-04 season, picking up 12 goals and 25 points in 59 games.
... The Edmonton Oilers have called up prospect Rob Schremp. Schremp is best known for his ridiculous stick-handling abilities and shootout exploits, while also needing a map and a compass (and perhaps a GPS device) to find his way to the defensive zone. And even then he has trouble finding it. He had 1 goal and 17 assists in the American Hockey League thus far, playing for the Springfield Falcons. Schremp has played in only three NHL games in his career, registering zero points.
Signings and Promotions
... Remember the legion of doom? The line of Eric Lindros, John Leclair and Mikael Renberg that caused havoc for the Philadelphia Flyers in the mid-1990's? Great line, nice nickname. Lindros and Leclair are now out of hockey entirely, while the third member of that group, Renberg, has signed a deal with Skelleftea AIK of the Swedish Elite League. The 36-year old Renberg last played in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2003-04 season, picking up 12 goals and 25 points in 59 games.
... The Edmonton Oilers have called up prospect Rob Schremp. Schremp is best known for his ridiculous stick-handling abilities and shootout exploits, while also needing a map and a compass (and perhaps a GPS device) to find his way to the defensive zone. And even then he has trouble finding it. He had 1 goal and 17 assists in the American Hockey League thus far, playing for the Springfield Falcons. Schremp has played in only three NHL games in his career, registering zero points.
