Jay Bouwmeester News: Pro Sports Daily

Comment

March 2

Calgary Sun

"One hot rumour had Jay Bouwmeester packing his bags for Philadelphia. Some speculated the smooth-skating defenceman was on his way to Vancouver. Others figured he was headed home to Edmonton or even ticketed for Toronto. "Nobody likes hearing that stuff," Bouwmeester recalled Monday. "Although every year it's the same thing, so I guess you kind of get used to it." It won't be Bouwmeester's name at the centre of the rumour mill this time. Now in the first season of a five-year deal with the Calgary Flames, Bouwmeester can be pretty certain he's staying put at Wednesday's NHL trade deadline."

Bouw's focused on Flames' foes, not old friends

Comment

February 5

Calgary Herald

"Jay Bouwmeester would like to tell you how special it's going to be returning to Florida to play a National Hockey League game tonight, but he's got too many other things on his mind. "I haven't really thought about it a whole lot," said the 26-year-old, first-year defenceman with the Calgary Flames, "because we have some things here that are kind of preoccupying things." Bouwmeester, nonetheless, will be marking his first game back in his old stomping grounds when the Flames pair off against the Panthers tonight at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. It was only 57 regular season games ago that the Flames landed the six-foot-four, 214-pounder in a deal that saw Jordan Leopold go the ..."

Look Who's Back: Jay Bouwmeester in South Florida

Comment

February 5

Miami Herald

columnist George Richards

"Not much going on right now, what with GM Randy Sexton in Rochester and the Panthers not playing for a few days. The big news around town is the return of Jay Bouwmeester. 'Big Bo' returns to the BankAtlantic Center on Friday night for the first time since he played his final game there with the Panthers on April 11, 2009. Bouwmeester refused to sign a long-term deal with the Panthers and, in June, was traded to Calgary where he almost immediately signed a five-year pact with the Flames. One of the reasons Bouwmeester wanted out of Florida was because of the lack of passion that exists for hockey in the sunny south. In Calgary, the hockey team is the biggest thing going. Teammates in ..."

Jay Bouwmeester's return to Florida is treated as low key

Comment

February 5

Miami Herald

"Jay Bouwmeester returns to the BankAtlantic Center on Friday night for the first time since he played his final game there with the Panthers on April 11, 2009. Bouwmeester refused to sign a long-term deal with the Panthers and in June was traded to Calgary, where he almost immediately signed a five-year contract. One of the reasons Bouwmeester wanted out of Florida was because of the lack of passion that exists for hockey in the sunny South. In Calgary, the hockey team is the biggest thing going. Teammates in Florida weren't exactly surprised when he left after seven years with the franchise. ``I'm used to playing with him, not against him, but when the game starts, that's out the door,'' ..."

Bouwmeester makes return to South Florida

Comment

February 5

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"In his usual low-key manner, Jay Bouwmeester isn't making much of his return. Friday night will mark the Flames defenseman's first regular-season game against the Panthers, who picked him in the 2002 draft and were forced to trade him at the 2009 draft when it was inevitable he was going to leave. "It's one game and we're not there for very long, so I don't foresee it being any big deal — from this end, anyway," Bouwmeester said by phone Tuesday from Calgary, Alberta, where he faced the Panthers in an exhibition in September. This reunion was supposed to include former Panthers captain Olli Jokinen, traded to the Coyotes at the 2008 draft, but he was dealt again late Monday from the Flames ..."

Split burns Jay once more

Comment

January 14

Calgary Sun

"Jay Bouwmeester has seen this movie before, but he couldn't stop the sequel from being created. When the Calgary Flames blueliner was with the Florida Panthers, Sidney Crosby went through him and then-teammate Ruslan Salei on a rush to score a goal that was featured in commercials. In the opening minutes last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins star did it again, this time splitting Bouwmeester and Mark Giordano before scoring on goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. The opening goal in a 3-1 Penguins win at the Saddledome was a thing of beauty, but Bouwmeester doesn't want to see a replay. "That is certainly my fault," said Bouwmeester. "That's my guy, and you can't let anyone do that, certainly not a guy ..."

Jay pumped for Pens

Comment

January 13

Calgary Sun

"Jay Bouwmeester is big enough to admit it. He's been victimized by Sidney Crosby's talents. "There's a commercial where he was shown splitting the defence," Bouwmeester said of a goal Crosby scored against the Florida Panthers a few seasons ago. "That was me." At that time, Bouwmeester was used to facing Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins four times in a season. Tonight's clash at the Saddledome between the Penguins and Flames is a one-shot deal this season, so you could sense the excitement among the team. "These games are fun. You don't see these teams that much and they have some guys people here don't see much. It should be interesting," Bouwmeester said. "I don't know if ..."

Praise for J-Bo loud and clear

Comment

October 28

Calgary Sun

"Despite how quiet and soft-spoken Jay Bouwmeester can be, Cory Sarich hears him out on the ice. Bouwmeester gives a heads-up when needed and calls for passes. "Just loud enough you can hear it," Sarich said with a grin. As long as it works, it's fine. Besides, it's not like Sarich will complain about his defence partner. Ten games into the season, Bouwmeester is delivering what the Flames were hoping for when they acquired him at the draft and signed him to a long-term contract just before he became an unrestricted free agent. And Sarich, after years of facing Bouwmeester as a rival while they were part of the Battle of Florida, is benefiting greatly from having him as a partner. "He makes ..."

Bouwmeester comes home again

Comment

October 4

Edmonton Journal

"Jay Bouwmeester grew up in Edmonton, but he didn't have a glossy poster of an earlier Bo (Mironov) on his bedroom wall and didn't hang around the Edmonton Oilers dressing room hoping Dave Manson walked by so he could get his autograph on a scrap of paper. He wouldn't have known Gary Suter from Brent Sutter, either. The Calgary Flames? Just the team down the road. The Battle of Alberta was his schoolteacher father Dan's uncivil war, so you can excuse the son if he wasn't carried away psychologically on Saturday night because he was in the hated red jersey for his first time playing in a league game in Edmonton. Sacrilege? Nah. "I've been asked the question a lot (about the Battle of ..."

Jay Bouwmeester adjusting to intense spotlight

Comment

August 28

Toronto Sun

"In the category of be careful what you wish for, may we present Jay Bouwmeester. The hottest potential unrestricted free agent to not hit the open market had the opportunity to pick almost any team in the NHL to play for this season. Wanting to pull on a sweater in a city where hockey really mattered, he chose the Calgary Flames. In a preview of what he can expect during the playoffs -- a concept foreign to him while patrolling the blueline for the Florida Panthers for six seasons -- he's had to fight his way through a hallway full of media, flashing cameras and microphones pressed inches from his lips during the Olympic orientation camp at the Saddledome. "This is different, because ..."

Bouwmeester revels in shot at double delight

Comment

August 23

Calgary Herald

"He wanted to win. He wanted to contend for the Stanley Cup. So the fact that Jay Bouwmeester is now part of one of the strongest bluelines in the National Hockey League and will play alongside two other potential members of Team Canada's 2010 defence with the Calgary Flames — Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr — is just a bonus. But he's not about to start complaining. "I guess making the decision (to leave Florida), that really wasn't the first thing on your mind," said Bouwmeester. "You make these decisions as a long-term thing. "Obviously, here the Flames have a pretty good team. And usually, when the team is successful that kind of reflects on everyone else. If that's the case, that's ..."

Take a Bouw, Darryl

Comment

July 1

Calgary Herald

"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 ..."

Flames sign Bouwmeester

Comment

July 1

Calgary Herald

"Jay Bouwmeester is coming home. Sort of. The Edmonton native signed a multi-year deal Tuesday with the Calgary Flames. "Jay is one of the most complete defenseman in the game, and we are very pleased to have reached an agreement that will make him an important component of the Calgary Flames success," general manager Darryl Sutter said in a news release. "We identified Jay as the priority player where we were going to focus our money. We wanted an opportunity a few days in advance of the deadline, and that's why we made the move we did this past weekend." On Saturday, the Flames acquired the negotiating rights to Bouwmeester for the negotiating rights to Jordan Leopold and a third-round ..."

Boumeester Agrees to five-year deal with Flames

Comment

July 1

TSN.ca

"Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter made the most of his opportunity to negotiate with Jay Bouwmeester. The defenceman avoided unrestricted free agency by agreeing to a five-year deal worth $6.6 million per year against the salary cap on Tuesday night. The Flames acquired the rights of the 25-year from the Florida Panthers on Saturday at the NHL Draft for the rights to blueliner Jordan Leopold and a third round pick (67th overall), which the Panthers used to select right winger Josh Birkholz. "Jay is one of the most complete defenseman in the game, and we are very pleased to have reached an agreement that will make him an important component of the Calgary Flames success," said ..."

Calgary perfect for strong, silent Bouwmeester, says former coach

Comment

June 30

Calgary Herald

"This scenario, according to Rick Carriere, is worth a chuckle or two. Sitting down for contract "talks" Monday afternoon in Edmonton were two famously tight-lipped parties--Calgary Flames boss Darryl Sutter (notorious for being a gruff dude of few words) and Jay Bouwmeester (a polite young fellow with a well-known shy streak). "Imagine the conversation," Carriere--a family friend of the Bouwmeesters, a current coworker of Jay's father Dan, a former coach of Jay with the Medicine Hat Tigers--was saying. He then laughs. "It wouldn't be much. 'Yup' . . . 'Yup' . . . 'Yup' . . . 'OK' . . . 'What do you think?' . . . 'Yup' . . . 'Don't know' . . . 'Yup.' " Of course, the Flames and their fans ..."

Jay the missing Oiler link?

Comment

June 29

Edmonton Sun

"Today, Darryl Sutter will likely be in Edmonton to talk to Jay Bouwmeester and his Edmonton-based agent Bryon Baltimore. It's bad enough that the Calgary Flames already have two of the greatest NHL players ever to be produced out of the Edmonton area in future Hall of Famers Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf, but to add Bouwmeester would be really rubbing the cowpies in the face of the franchise. Maybe that's all this is, a chance to do just that. NO. 1 UFA PRIZE When the Flames sent disposable impeding free agent Jordan Leopold and a third-round pick to Florida in Saturday's second day of the NHL Entry Draft, they bought themselves three days to try to convince the Panther who becomes the ..."

Flames to start talks with Bouwmeester

Comment

June 29

Calgary Herald

"Today, for the very first time, the Calgary Flames brass will sit down with Jay Bouwmeester to talk turkey. Face to face. The negotiations, which are slated to take place in Edmonton, figure to be intriguing. "It'll be good to hear what they have to say," Bouwmeester said Sunday evening from Edmonton, his home town. "I've never (been in this situation before), so it's kind of an interesting process. I'm hoping to listen . . . and discuss some things." By Wednesday at 10 a.m., the star defenceman, a pending unrestricted free agent, is eligible to entertain offers from every team in the National Hockey League. Till that time, though, only the Flames can chat to him. Bouwmeester, however, ..."

Panthers trade defenseman Jay Bouwmeester

Comment

June 29

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"Jay Bouwmeester never did come right out and say he didn't want a future with the Panthers. He mostly stayed silent, and when forced to address the issue, the shy defenseman mumbled vague, non-committal responses. But everyone, including Panthers' management, knew for some time he wanted to leave. So while they filed it away in a bottom drawer, assistant general manager Randy Sexton said, the Panthers kept the list of teams Bouwmeester's agent gave them about 18 months ago. It had Calgary, just a three-hour drive south of Bouwmeester's hometown, "right at the very top." With just days left to make a deal, that's where the Panthers traded Bouwmeester on Saturday morning, sending him to the ..."

Bouwmeester, Prust traded to Calgary

Comment

June 27

Calgary Herald

"The Florida Panthers have traded soon-to-be unrestricted free agent defenceman Jay Bouwmeester to the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenceman Jordan Leopold and a third-round (67th) draft choice. The deal was announced immediately before the New York Islanders made their first selection in the second round of the NHL entry draft at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday. With Bouwmeester and Chris Pronger both traded, the market for Toronto's Tomas Kaberle should intensify. Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke said he did not expect to move the puck-moving defenceman this weekend. But that could now change."

Panthers trade Bouwmeester's rights to Flames

Comment

June 27

TSN.ca

"Jay Bouwmeester's days in Florida are over. The Panthers have traded the 25-year-old star defenceman's rights to the Calgary Flames for blueliner Jordan Leopold and a third round pick. Despite trade rumours that swirled around him on deadline day, Bouwmeester, 25, remained in Florida, playing out the final year of his contract, which allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent at season's end. The native of Edmonton, Alberta played his entire six-year career with the Panthers after being selected third overall by the club in 2002. He had 15 goals and 27 assists in 82 games this season."