"Obviously, Darryl Sutter must have the damnedest aptitude for time management.
A two-day window, 48 hours, to sign the most enticing free-agent defenceman in this, the summer of 2009, before the rest of the National Hockey League could break down Jay Bouwmeester's door waving all manner of enticements?
C'mon. Stop it. Be serious. Didn't seem remotely possible.
After all, today the bidding would've begun in earnest. Started a frenzy.
Jay Bouwmeester at auction?
The magnitude of that particular transaction should've been handled by Sotheby's or Christie's. To bid on an item that sought after, be prepared to bring your wallet and hold your nerve. But before the man holding the gavel could holler, "going once, going twice . . . . , '' he'd already been sold.
To the Calgary Flames, for a reported $33 million.
Astonishing at it might seem, Sutter probably even underpaid.
In the hockey market, understand, Jay Bouwmeester's a Picasso or a Rodin. These types of players don't simply drop out of the sky and into your lap: A 25-year-old stud defenceman stuck in the bright and balmy, but still deadened hockey market of south Florida, who, you get the feeling, has yet to unearth the full might of his vast potential. A star who, in a nurturing environment, could be a super-duper-star.
Why, they're rarer than photos of Darryl Sutter smiling.
The addition of Bouwmeester now provides the Flames with a Big Three --including Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf--the envy of any organization around. This acquisition undoubtedly means adios to UFA Adrian Aucoin, and leaves the Flames' blueline also manned by battle-scarred old warrior Cory Sarich and the handy Mark Giordano. If Sutter can get the young and improving Adam Pardy re-signed, it's a very solid group.
As Tuesday dragged on, and the lethal injection of Sutter Silence permeated the air like a gas leak, the reasonable assumption was that Bouwmeester and his agent Bryon Baltimore had politely listened to Calgary's offer, smiled indulgently, fully intending to wait for the anticipated flood of offers to roll in after 10 a. m. MST today and then get back to the Flames later in the week. Or not.
Instead, at 7 p. m., like a clap of thunder, rampant speculation turned into fact.
In the wake of a fourth consecutive first-round playoff exit, the firing of coach Mike Keenan and the dismantling of the assistant coaching staff, Sutter pinpointed a renewed commitment to defensive hockey as the main area of concern. Well, he certainly has gone a long way in addressing the issue. And in short order.
So whatever anyone's opinion of his rather brusque manner and unrepentant belief in self, you've certainly got to hand it to the Jolly Rancher. This is quite the coup. With scant little time to make his pitch, he nailed the sale.
When it was announced he'd traded a third-round draft pick and the expendable Jordan Leopold for the rights to exclusive negotiations with Bouwmeester at the NHL entry draft in Montreal, it seemed a long-shot, at best, that he could pull if off.
In the final analysis, he brought in one of the game's top young rear-guards for Leopold and a third-round (67th) overall pick, which the Panthers used to select right-winger Josh Birkholz.
Guys have been put in the lock-up for less audacious thefts. As it turns out, he should be wearing a mask and carrying a bag marked SWAG."
