Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Rodeo Roy Back In The Saddle


Former Lethbridge Hurricanes G.M. 'Rodeo' Roy Stasiuk is back in the hockey game, hired on by the Toronto Maple Leafs as a western Canadian scout.

Stasiuk was let go in what I think was a odd and poor decision by the board of directors in one of Canada's windiest cities this off season, and yes I still think the decision blows.

But the 'Canes loss is the Leafs gain as Stasiuk knows talent. He was the head scout for the Kootenay Ice during the team's best years where they made it to atleast the western conference semi-final from 1999-2003, and won the franchises only Memorial Cup in 2002.

Stasiuk was the brains behind players like Steve McCarthy, Jarret Stoll, Marek Svatos, and Dan Blackburn who were all great WHLers and some of whom have gone on to very good NHL careers as well.

Toronto has only selected one WHL player in the last 3 drafts (Luke Schenn, 5th overall, 2008) and when you factor in Junior A, have only grabbed 4 kids total west of Ontario in the same time frame. Something tells me Rodeo Roy will be changing that.

1 comment:

JWE said...

Sure, he was (and will continue to be) a great scout, but his behaviour in the office/rink in a GM role was poor...Im glad he left this city BUT hopes he succeeds with the Leafs.