Farm Team Shuffle

Do you think Pouliot's snickering to himself a little today, knowing that hot shot Krys Kolanos, who took his job just a couple of weeks ago up in Minnesota, is headed back to the minors with him?

But maybe not so much, knowing on the flip side that Peter Olvecky got the call to replace Kolanos.

All in all, it's a shifting of minor leaguers that I can't argue with. Olvecky has had a good season and really found his niche as a gritty playmaker supporting Locke, Rosa, Schultz, and Kolanos. He's hustled his buns off and done what was asked of him and didn't home to Europe in a snit when he was sent down after camp, unlike SOME people. He's earned this cuppa and I couldn't be more delighted for him.

And I couldn't be more delighted to get Krys back. The ice seems little bigger when he's on it and it will be VERY interesting to see if he and Pouliot could possibly get some chemistry. I know... I'm reaching, but if you've seen them both play in person, in the AHL, you understand what I'm talking about. What AHL defensemen pairing is going to shut BOTH of those guys down if they're out together? And it's not like doing that would put all our scorers on one line. There's still Locke, Schultz, and Rosa.

It will be interesting to see if those guys miss Olvecky though.

Some folks have said, "Why not Locke?" Russo sheds some light on that:

Speaking of unlocked, Corey Locke isn’t. He’s having a great offensive season down in Houston and just starred in the All-Star Game, yet he’s not getting a sniff yet. From what I’ve heard from people inside the organization at times, Locke, who once starred in junior with a fella named Matt Foy, is super-skilled but has a tendency to score goals at both ends of the rink if you catch my drift. His size is also a bit of an issue.

I actually haven't had an issue with Locker's defensive play, considering his skill set and size. I'd love for him to get a shot, just to yay or nay the questions about whether he's got the skill to overcome his size limitations. He's clearly got a special nose for the net.

But he is a whispy little thing, for sure. Still, he can take abuse and keep going without a flinch, and he's adapted pretty well to find ways to deal with his size and even make it an asset. He can carve through defensemen pretty handily and is so quick, they don't have a chance. But those are AHL d-men... and quality of defense is the biggest difference between the NHL and AHL.

Anyway, always good to have a little mid-week excitement and pot stirring to make sure everyone is awake.

Of course, the thing I didn't mention is that Kolanos is actually having to go through waivers to get sent to Houston. Someone COULD pick him up. If I'm a GM with an offensively challenged team that plays with less emphasis on the center being a third d-man, maybe I look at that. He really is instant offense... just add ice.