Pittsburgh shipped Ryan Whitney to Anaheim today in exchange for Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi. This makes it pretty clear that Whitney's absence in Pitt's game against the Islanders because of a 'family situation in Boston' clearly meant 'He went to Boston to meet up with the Ducks who play there tonight.'
I'm a Whitney fan. He's a BU alum who I got to see play his first seasons pro in Wilkes-Barre. He's awesome when he wants to be, but he hasn't been the same recently. Blame it on the foot surgery, whatever. I think it's because they took his biffles Matt Murley and Colby Armstrong away from him. He's probably still dealing with that emotionally.
(I'm joking of course ... sort of.)
One cool thing about this trade: Eric Tangradi (as mentioned in this previous post) played hockey for Wyoming Seminary in Kingston, PA. Kingston is right next to Wilkes-Barre, so it's very possible he'll head back to familiar territory if he sees time with the Baby Pens.
We'll see how this pans out. Pittsburgh gets rid of another guy that was originally part of their foundation. It's pretty sad if you ask me. But it is what it is.
Edit: Well, I'm officially a jerk. Whitney was actually in Boston for his mother who was undergoing brain surgery for removal of a tumor. I feel awful, but I know I wasn't the only one that thought it was a huge coincidence he was in Boston when the Ducks were. Prayers for Mrs. Whitney. Get well soon!
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4 comments:
hey now, to be fair, he went home because his mother was having a brain tumor removed.
I'm not sure how i feel about it, i've been hearing rumors that he was going to tampa for st. louis, i'd rather have him than kunitz, i hope kunitz pans out. I think whitney will flourish in anaheim, he can learn from neidermeyer provided he doesn't get traded!
I just saw the brain tumor thing. I'm gonna put a little edit in here. But prior to knowing that, it was a HUGE coincidence that he was in Boston, you know? Legit thought there.
I think Tangradi is the even bigger upside of this trade. He's pretty sick.
i dunno, kunitz is playing well, and bylsma has them in the playoffs right now, two huge wins without sid. here's the real question, is bylsma, the next budreuax? (sp)
Bylsma certainly has turned things around a bit since he's been behind the bench. I'm curious to see how much of that is him vs. the players responding to the change in general. I like Bylsma a lot, but I was pretty sure he wasn't ready for an NHL job. Maybe I'm being proven wrong!
The difference between him and Boudreau is that Boudreau was a minor league coach for a long, long time before he got his chance. Bylsma was a a head coach for a few months. But the general idea is there - minor league coach comes up and changes things around. I also think the Caps were worse off when Boudreau took charge. I suppose not by much though.
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