Saturday, December 26, 2009

Strome Waived

Deitsch back; McLeod and Jubinville placed on Injured Reserve

There's hardly any surprises left to be had this season. If Dan Wildfong needs to make a change, he will. There's no doubt that Anders Strome was a big pick up for the 2009-10 roster. There's also no doubt that Strome, 28, did not live up to expectations thus far. In 12 games played, Strome put up six points (5 G, 1 A, -4), including a power play goal and two game winning goals.

The 12 games played was probably a factor. Had he played all 27 games, things may have been different. But Strome had a non-hockey related injury to his foot at the beginning of the season and was on injured reserve from October 17th through November 25th. A long time to be out during a difficult stretch for the Brahmas.

Strome was one of my favorite players in 2007-08. We kept in touch while he was playing in Europe. There was a chance that he would be back in time to play with the Brahmas at the end of last season and through the playoffs, but the timing didn't work out. I'm sorry to see him go. But I'm not sorry to see him go when it comes to Dan making the moves he has to make in order to make this team a contender in the playoffs. The Brahmas have to make every effort to retain that cup and sometimes that means making the difficult decisions. I don't envy Dan for having to make the call. But I respect it.

As Dan said in William Wilkerson's article in Friday's Star-Telegram, "We’re still not where we need to be. We are still a work in progress."

As for Strome, he'll land on his skates in another town. He's a talented player and has a lot of hockey left to play.

Other roster moves announced today include the return of Jason Deitsch, who has been out on Injured Reserve for a month (shoulder). Justin Kinnunen has been activated from his league approved leave. Kevin McLeod and Lee Jubinville have been placed on 14-day Injured Reserve. McLeod took an elbow to the head and Jubinville caught a puck on the cheekbone last week during the series in Arizona.

Photo Credit: Robert Keith

1 comment:

Old Bull said...

More surprises to come!