Three events
sparked the huge trade occurring yesterday, Thursday, March 5th. First,
Kris Belan was promoted by his mother team the LA Kings to the AHL Manchester
Monarchs. Second, the Bulls were swept by the Las Vegas Wranglers and Third,
the ECHL trade deadline looms ahead on March 7th.
Belan was
like the Bulls superglue. He held the team’s offense together when he was on
the ice, while never forgetting to check the defense. He had the most penalty minutes,
but most of the time kept the thoughtless ones to a minimum. Belan is a smart
player and this is what will take him to great places. When the Bulls lost him,
a huge void in the team could not be filled by anyone present.
This was made
painfully aware in the two Las Vegas games. The offense was sluggish and penalties
overtook everything else.
The window
is closing quickly for trades to happen. Tomorrow is the last day. There are 13
games left in the regular season for the team. Add to this that San Francisco
is only slightly ahead of Bakersfield by eight points, and it’s easy to see our
eighth (and last) position in the playoffs is tenuous.
The Bulls
traded four players yesterday to the Utah Grizzlies for three of their top
players. One of the Bulls players traded, Jordan Clendenning, was very popular
with the fans and he will be missed by many. Let me say that I do understand it’s
very hard to lose a player that you like. The fans go see them play every home
game. They get pictures taken with them; maybe talk to them a bit after the
game or at a social event. And the players are cool people!
However,
something had to be done, and if you take a look at the numbers of the three
new players, they are exciting. Kory Falite, Mark Isherwood and Ian Shultz
should bring some good energy to the Bulls lines.
The upcoming
series with Alaska starting tonight should make all Bulls fans aware that the
team needs to play better than they did against the Wranglers. Let’s hope this latest round of trades brings
the Bulls success and leads us straight into the playoffs!
Tonight,
Friday and Saturday the Bulls play the Alaska Aces at the Cow Palace. Sunday,
the Bulls play Las Vegas at the Cow Palace.
Thursday is
Bulls Weekly at Pedro’s Cantina at 6pm!
GO BULLS!
