Bringing back Olli Jokinen is a huge gamble to say the least. The TSN panel covering free agent frenzy on July 1 was speechless when word broke Darryl Sutter was working on signing Jokinen. Calgary was speechless too. Tanguay back at $1.7 million wasn't a bad deal, only one year and it's cheap. He had decent chemistry with Iginla, but needed to shoot the puck more and could have added a bit of toughness.
But Jokinen was a colossal failure. I'm probably overkilling Jokinens stay right now, but he really was not that great. He did put up a decent amount of points, but for a player that was so good only a few years ago, much more was expected. The only good thing about having him back is that it's at a significant pay cut—$3 million a year. But why not save the cap space and bring in someone else? Someone who hasn't already failed as a Flame?
As a Flame's fan, Sutter better not be done. This current team is mediocre at best. I'd say a lower seed first round exit.
The only hope is that with a line of Tanguay, Iginla and Jokinen, is that Jokinen will start shooting the puck more. That's when Jokinen was playing his best hockey. Not when he wa ...
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Article written by Derrick Lightfoot
Olli Jokinen Free Agent Signing: A Flames Fan Perspective
July 4th, 2010 by Derrick Lightfoot Leave a reply »
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