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We are glad to report that the inaugural season for the Seattle Freeze will be during the 2002-2003 season. They will be in the Western Conference, in the Pacific Division with teams like the: Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, and their newest rival the Vancouver Canucks. Here is a quote from Todd Bertuzzi, former left wing of the Vancouver Canucks on how he stands on going back to Vancouver; "I look forward to playing them. It will be an emotional night for me as we open our season on the road in the 'Garage' (General Motors Place, Vancouver, BC, Canada). I will expect to hear a lot of boo's towards me, but as far as I'm concerned I loved playing for them. The people around me were great, I will miss the organization very much, but I feel as though I have found a home here in Seattle. This is the right team for me."
The Freeze have built themselves around a lot of young and old talent. ESPN's Barry Melrose and Darren Pang have both estimated the Freeze to finish in the top 5 of the Western Conference and should get at least as far as the second round in the playoffs. "This team should be breaking expansion records left and right." CBC hockey analyst Don Cherry said.
Expect the Freeze in the middle of the year to be looking for younger faster talent so that they will give their veterans plenty of extra rest for the playoffs stretch when they are needed. They already have such players in their minor league affiliates such as: Kyle Calder, a go in the corner get the puck and score guy; Jason Spezza, one of the fastest rookies in the league; Vincent Lecavilier, a 4 year veteran who has not yet reached his peak but when he does he will be one of the greatest players in the league; Darcy Tucker, a player who will get in your head and put the garbage in; and Glenn Metropolitan, who centered Jagr's line down the playoff stretch last year with the abscence of Adam Oates to the Philadelphia Flyers and is clearly one of the hardest working players in the leauge.
Look for the Freeze to play a defensive minded game, they will go in the corners for the puck, and will give and take hits. This is why general manager Will Hagerman chose Brian Sutter, former Chicago Blackhawks head coach, to take over. "After I saw what he did with the Chicago Blackhawks franchise I knew this was our man, getting them into the playoffs his first year after they hadn't been there for 4 years straight and the 25 point increase in just one season was fantastic." Said Will Hagerman, who then had to decide along with owner Brad Hardy who was going to help Sutter behind the bench. They decided on former Canucks coach Marc Crawford for the job. With these two behind the bench there was almost no difficulty on signing free agents. Players and coaches around the league knew that this was going to be a good team from the start and not a normal expansion team with poor leadership and shopping for cheap players that will take 10 years to develop then retire without a Stanley Cup. The Freeze got a lot of great players for under what the players wanted and because of the way the team was built by GM Will Hagerman they will stay under the salary cap.
Well, we here in Seattle are very happy to have an NHL team back in our city, so we welcome the Seattle Freeze with enthusiasm. So come on out to the Starbucks Center and support your Seattle Freeze!!! |
