On the Flames …
- Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun: Flames GM Brad Treliving thinks it’s too early to start thinking about packing in the season and trading veterans like Jiri Hudler and Dennis Wideman.
“We have under-performed. We will look tirelessly to correct it, but we don’t do things just for the sake of doing things — not if it hurts us long term. Right now our results are unacceptable, and we need to find a way to be better.”
Treliving has been getting more call of late after their slow start.
“Oh, yeah … you get a whole lot more friends,” Treliving said. “I don’t know if they’re trying to cheer me up or throw me an anchor as we’re sinking. Emotion can be a dangerous thing in our business. You usually make poor decisions and you’re not in a good position when things are going like this. Am I aggressively trying to improve ourselves? I do that every day. But when you are in the position we are, you can do things that can have long-term implications.
“We’re banging on every door we can, but we can’t mortgage the future.”
On the Sharks …
- Kevin Kurz of CSN Bay Area: (mailbag) The Sharks are lacking depth, especially on the third line. It falls on management, and they should be nervous as it may cost them their jobs if the Sharks don’t make the playoffs.
On the Penguins …
- Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: A source confirmed earlier this week that the Penguins have no immediate plans to return rookie Daniel Sprong back to junior. He has played in eight games so far.
“I’ve just tried to take it day by day and just keep working hard,” he said. “Just try to learn as much as I can while I’m here.
“You still never know. I just have to keep going.”
If he passing the 10 game mark and burns a year of his entry level contract, the next number to watch is 40 games played. Once he hits 40 games, unrestricted free agency comes a year sooner.
