The Leafs have signed miniature skill forward Tony Salmelainen. Not a giant of a man, after going from Chicago to Montreal in the Samsonov trade, the Canadiens cut him after about 12 seconds because at 5'9, he outright would have been the tallest player on the team. That would have thrown the team size curve way off for those guys, and they would have had to order a new sweater (size M), and then they'd have to raise the top of the Bell Center doorways, and that's just so much more hassle for Bob Gainey.
So we have him on a one year, two-way deal which means that he'll challenge B. Battaglia and B. Deveraux for a forth line depth job. At worst he'll be a great call-up when, as usual, we go down with 1,000 man games to injury. He'll be a dependable, super-fast guy whose seen NHL games. Can't be bad.
The original report I heard on Salmelainen was that he's got crazy skills but is a bit soft; perfect for the Euro game, but not the NHL. Now I'm seeing that he has a surprising insanity streak, as evidenced by this report from Finland:
Oooooo-k. So he's nuts, what of it? Take it up with him and you'll obviously get a garbage can in the head. The little twerp can fight too, and I look sooo forward to seeing a feather-weight division death match when he kicks the life out of fellow little-person Mike Comrie.
The gold helmet he's wearing is for the most points on the team or something. It makes him look like Mordred from Excalibur:
Friday, August 31
Leafs Sign Salmalaane...Salmalini...Salmonienien... a New Guy!
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3 comments:
Originally an Oiler draft pick (in case you didn't know), MacT liked him a bit because the play doesn't die with him. He's pretty decent cycling the puck down low, the problem is his size and strength hurt him in the old NHL 'cos it was so easy to knock him off the puck. We dealt him to Chicago for Spacek. He's super quick (typical Oiler), doesn't have super skill (again, typical Oiler), not a great finisher (ahem...nevermind) but should be a nice complimentary guy for you. Might be useful if you can teach him to kill penalties. He generates a lot of scoring chances with his speed, but he just can't finish enough of them,
Going on what Moose said (mistake number 1) if he cycles down low...put him on with Wellwood and Sundin....let Sundin finish. Or fucking Darcy cross crease...?
while i will admit i'm only a slightly better judge of talent than john ferguson, let me put it this way - if he's playing on your top two lines, have the boys go ahead and book the vacations early...he's an nhl calibre player though...geez training camp opens next week...fucks it's a long summer when you miss the playoffs!
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