How you know you have a good GM

Answer: He will only sign year-to-year contracts. This is the sign of someone who knows he can get another job in the NHL and doesn't want to be tied down to a bad situation. He doesn't ask for a long-term deal when he's on a crest.

From the Tennessean:

Predators General Manager David Poile said Friday he's agreed to a new one-year contract through June of 2010.

Last summer, Poile decided to sign year-to-year contracts as a safeguard against unforeseen circumstances like ownership change. His current contract would have expired this June.

Poile's name had come up in speculation regarding the vacant Minnesota Wild general manager's position...

Poile was GM of the Washington Capitals before he came to Nashville. He's done amazing things with the amount of payroll he's given by Nashville. Their coaching staff and scouts have a fantastic reputation around the league.
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Prospects the Thrashers have and haven't talked to for the 2009 draft

I'm at the U18 World Championships, and when I interview players, I generally ask which NHL teams they've talked to. It's not always a good gauge of which teams are the most interested, since some wait to talk to a guy so as not to tip their hand, but it is a good gauge of how much general interest there is in a player. So that's why I ask.

But in the process, I've been able to come up with a list of players that the Thrashers have talked to. Add to that knowledge of Kane from a news report, and my knowledge of Holland, Beck and Latta from my OHL trip and we have a list. I'll update it as I talk to more players.

Have talked to:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (first-rounder)
Evander Kane (first-rounder)
Carl Klingberg (second rounder)
Anton Lander (third rounder?)
Peter Holland
Taylor Beck
Michael Latta

Have not talked to:
Simon Bertilsson
Robin Lehner
William Wrenn - he said he's done surveys from teams but not talked to them.
Toni Rajala
Chris Lynch


Oliver Ekman-Larsson with Klingberg behind him.

Gladiators, start your mustaches

Last night in Charlotte, the Gladiators clinched a playoff spot. The players had already decided more than a week ago that they would all have mustaches for the playoffs after Matt Siddall brought one back from Chicago. Adam Berti got a jump on things last weekend, and has been showing off his plentiful lip hair:

Kaleniecki has his going, as do Southern, Youngclaus and Turner. Mason has a beard that can be converted. Jeff Pyle is ready for playoffs year-round.

After the clinch I asked alternate captain Andy Brandt, who has some scruff going, "time to get the mustache, huh?" He said "some guys have them already and the guys who don't better get started. There are a couple guys who are sparse up top there. Mine personally comes in red, so that's not too attractive."

The first-round home games are Thursday, Friday, Sunday, April 16, 17 and 19.
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Dr. Stuart fixed knee of top prospect

Dr. Michael Stuart, father of Colin and Mark Stuart, performed knee surgery on one of the top prospects for the 2009 draft, Jared Cowen. Dr. Stuart works at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minneapolis, and was previously the team doctor for the US national junior team.

“Our team has its own surgeon, but my agent recommended Dr. Stuart because he has a lot of experience performing the surgery," Cowen said. "We wanted to pick a guy who NHL teams know. I expect there will be questions about the injury and the surgery at the NHL combine, so I don’t think it will hurt that many of the teams know about Dr. Stuart.”

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Marks to Blades as assistant coach

John Marks, who lost his coaching job when the ECHL Augusta Lynx went under, has a new gig. He's going to assist Malcolm Cameron coaching the league-leading Florida Everblades (who the Gwinnett Gladiators will likely meet in the first round of the playoffs).

From the press release:

“I wanted to look at the possibility of having an assistant coach for this year’s playoff run,” Cameron said. “Once the decision was made to bring someone on board, I thought of John immediately..."

Translation: We have a lot of talent but I've lost my team.

I think you'll see Marks become the lynchpin here. He's a real heart and soul kind of coach, something that the Everblades don't have a lot of right now. This move makes Florida stronger for sure.
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Vannelli's comeback

Well, this could have been predicted. Mike Vannelli, who quit hockey after being assigned to the ECHL Wheeling Nailers at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, has developed the itch to play again. He's over in Germany right now as an insurance player for the Dusseldorf EG Metro Stars in the DEL.

I was reading an article about how the Las Vegas Wranglers could be sold, and it mentioned that they had suited up a pharmaceutical salesman this year. I thought, I wonder how our favorite medical device salesman is doing? So I Googled him.

Vannelli signed with the German team at the very end of January, but has only played in one game so far. The team is coached by Canadian Lance Nethery, and also features former Gophers Chris Harrington and Evan Kaufmann. Vannelli said he had been training on the ice every day, and I think he said he's been coaching high school.

He told a German newspaper that he came to Germany because if he stayed in North America, he'd have to swtich between teams, and he didn't want to do that. Read: he'd be sent to the ECHL.
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HF on Atlanta-trained Landon Ferraro

Former Thrasher Ray Ferraro's son Landon is eligible for the 2009 draft, and quite highly rated in fact. Hockey's Future did a feature on Landon, and I made sure we asked him about the time he spent playing travel hockey in Atlanta while his dad was playing here. Those were his formative years.

..."In Atlanta I was a bit older so I could actually figure some stuff out. Just seeing where my hockey league [in Atlanta] started from and the fanbase for the Thrashers to where it ended when we left in ’02, it grew tremendously.”

Ferraro began playing competitive hockey while based in Georgia but explained that in order to get enough teams into one league, the boundaries were extremely stretched.

“My league was the whole south-east of the United States,” he smiled, “So I was playing and every other weekend we were on the road and we’d go to Tennessee or North and South Carolina or Florida.”

Another former Thrasher has a son eligible for this draft -- Bjorn Krupp, who also learned to play hockey in Atlanta. He is considered a long shot in the draft though. He has his father's size, but perhaps not his skill.
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