AHL has its benefits
Jun 3, 2005 15:00:54 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on Jun 3, 2005 15:00:54 GMT -5
AHL has its benefits
By ERIC DUHATSCHEK
Friday, June 3, 2005 Updated at 12:35 PM EDT
Once, in the 2001-02 season, Brad Larsen made it as far as the Stanley Cup semi-finals, playing for a Colorado Avalanche team that included Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.
Injuries in the next three seasons limited his National Hockey League exposure and eventually, the Avalanche lost him on waivers to the Atlanta Thrashers just before the 2004 trading deadline.
Larsen is typical of the players with a reasonable NHL pedigree who spent the year playing in the American Hockey League this season, awaiting the end of a lockout that continues to spin on, despite all the vague hopes that it'll be settled soon.
After enduring an injury-filled 2003-04 season, the last thing Larsen needed was to sit at home and spend a year on the sidelines during the lockout. So when the AHL's Chicago Wolves called his agent over the summer and invited him to sign a minor-league contract, it didn't take long for him to say yes.
"I definitely wanted to play because last year, I had a lot of injuries," said Larsen, in an interview, "and it worked out for me because obviously, it's Atlanta's system, so they were willing to go along."
- tinyurl.com/a3gyq
By ERIC DUHATSCHEK
Friday, June 3, 2005 Updated at 12:35 PM EDT
Once, in the 2001-02 season, Brad Larsen made it as far as the Stanley Cup semi-finals, playing for a Colorado Avalanche team that included Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.
Injuries in the next three seasons limited his National Hockey League exposure and eventually, the Avalanche lost him on waivers to the Atlanta Thrashers just before the 2004 trading deadline.
Larsen is typical of the players with a reasonable NHL pedigree who spent the year playing in the American Hockey League this season, awaiting the end of a lockout that continues to spin on, despite all the vague hopes that it'll be settled soon.
After enduring an injury-filled 2003-04 season, the last thing Larsen needed was to sit at home and spend a year on the sidelines during the lockout. So when the AHL's Chicago Wolves called his agent over the summer and invited him to sign a minor-league contract, it didn't take long for him to say yes.
"I definitely wanted to play because last year, I had a lot of injuries," said Larsen, in an interview, "and it worked out for me because obviously, it's Atlanta's system, so they were willing to go along."
- tinyurl.com/a3gyq