Busy Flames land Q-C power forward, ink Prust, ‘Vandy’
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By Craig DeVrieze | Friday, July 04, 2008 |
Depending on his disposition, the fast and the furious could describe Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter these days.
On the second day of NHL free agency, Sutter remained a busy man re-signing Flames free agent defensemen Mark Giordano and Jim VanderMeer, adding free-agent forward Curtis Glencross and re-inking Quad-City Flames forwards Brandon Prust and David Van der Gulik, both who will bid for jobs with the big club in the coming months.
Sutter also signed Vandermeer’s brother Pete, a heavyweight forward who finished second in the American Hockey League in penalty minutes with San Antonio last year.
Sutter left little doubt the 6-foot, 210-pound Pete Vandermeer, one of the AHL’s all-time penalty minute leaders after 13 seasons, is destined for the Quad-Cities next season.
“We signed Pete Vandermeer to be a role model for our young players in the Quad-Cities,’’ he said in a release. “It is important to have character people like Pete in the organization.’’
Time — and Calgary training camp — will tell as to who else winds up with the Triple-A club.
Q-C coach Ryan McGill said Pete Vandermeer’s signing may or may not be an indication that Prust, who played the enforcer role with the minor-league Flames last season, is headed for a promotion.
Prust, a fourth-year pro, had 10 goals and 27 assists during the inaugural Q-C season and led the team in penalty minutes with 248. Over three AHL seasons, Prust collected 753 penalty minutes while scoring 39 goals and dishing 51 assists.
McGill said Vandermeer either could be a replacement or a complement to Prust at power forward.
“Whether Brandon is in the NHL or with us, this gives us more toughness and it takes the burden off of him,’’ said McGill. “Pete Vandermeer is a legitimate AHL heavyweight. Brandon is probably a middleweight.’’
Too, Calgary’s forward ranks are getting crowded.
The Flames added former Blackhawk Rene Bourque in a trade on Tuesday after obtaining probable Q-C-bound forward Kyle Greentree in a swap a day earlier.
With the addition of Glencross, who scored 16 goals and dished 10 assists in 71 games for Columbus and Edmonton last year, the fight for spots on the last two big-league lines could be fierce, with several potential scorers sure to trickle down to the Quad-Cities.
The Flames also on Wednesday signed Ryan Wilson, a rookie free-agent defenseman who likely will contend for a Q-C roster spot in the fall.
“It looks like they are putting us together and loading the top team with good guys, too,’’ said McGill. “You don’t know for sure who you will be getting.’’
Van der Gulik, a third-year pro, could be a big-league candidate as well. He was the Q-C crew’s fourth-leading scorer, a spot ahead of Prust, with 19 goals and 23 assists, last year. He also played a key role in the team’s high-ranking penalty kill.
Still to be signed off last year’s Q-C roster are three restricted free-agents, forwards Tomi Maki and Cam Cunning and defenseman Adam Pardy, all who received qualifying offers last week.
Likely gone are forwards Derek Couture and Ryan Donally. Neither received an offer and became unrestricted free agents on Tuesday.
“That’s how you make room for other guys,’’ McGill said. “That’s the nature of hockey.’’
Not necessarily out of the picture, the Q-C coach stressed, is Grant Stevenson, an unrestricted free agent who led the Q-C Flames in scoring with 30 goals and 43 assists last year.
“Grant Stevenson for sure is on the radar still,’’ said McGill. “But can we come to terms? Time will tell.’’
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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