* Balej, a native of Slovakia and the 78th overall selection in the 2000 Entry Draft, has scored 25 goals with 33 assists in 55 games for the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs in this, his second pro season after playing junior hockey with Portland of the WHL. He is expected to join the Rangers upon completion of his visa requirements.
Good sounds like we'll get a chance to see him. It's always fun watching a hungry young player.
As a habs fan it pains me to see Josef go. This guy already has NHL speed and NHL shots. As posted by montreal in the other topic, if his offensive awareness keeps on improving at the same rate they've been improving since he got a regular shift in hamilton, he should crack the NHL soon and he will at worse become a berezin type player, and at best, who knows...
It would be nice to see Lundmark-Balej-Ortmeyer line but as our 2nd line not fourth. Please don't put Balej with Messier or Nedved!!! I think Lundy and Balej could develop some chemistry and put in some goals!!!
It would be nice to see Lundmark-Balej-Ortmeyer line but as our 2nd line not fourth. Please don't put Balej with Messier or Nedved!!! I think Lundy and Balej could develop some chemistry and put in some goals!!!
I would rather see Balej - Lundmark - Jagr with Ortmeyer moving to the right of Holik and Rucinsky (until he is traded)
I would rather see Balej - Lundmark - Jagr with Ortmeyer moving to the right of Holik and Rucinsky (until he is traded)
yes that would be nice to see but with Jagr stating that he loves having Holik as his center, that would never happen. But then again neither would my proposed line!!
Rucinsky-Holik-Jagr - You can make an argument to change it, but what the heck.
Lundmark-Nedved-Balej - You know Nedved isnt gonna play 4th line. I know Balej with Jagr sounds fun, but do you really want to change a 22 yr olds position?
Simon-Messier-Barnaby - Continue to showcase all 3 for potential trade
Lacatoure-Ortmeyer-Wiseman (pretty much anyone but Hlavac!!)
Rucinsky-Holik-Jagr - You can make an argument to change it, but what the heck.
Lundmark-Nedved-Balej - You know Nedved isnt gonna play 4th line. I know Balej with Jagr sounds fun, but do you really want to change a 22 yr olds position?
Simon-Messier-Barnaby - Continue to showcase all 3 for potential trade
Lacatoure-Ortmeyer-Wiseman (pretty much anyone but Hlavac!!)
All reports are that Balej plays both wings and as a right handed shot playing left wing would give him more angles to shoot at.
Will Balej be playing a regular shift right now with the Rangers?
Wow! Looks like the dawn of a new era for Rangers fans. Good for you! Soon, you won't be the laughingstock of the NHL anymore. Think maybe they're going to stockpile their draft picks and try to come out with a Ovechkin/Crosby deal? That would be huge.
Anyway, if I were you, I'd be very excited about Balej! He is among the top scorers in the AHL (despite an NHL call-up) only behind players with 2-3 more years of pro experience. Very flashy, speedy. In the AHL all-star skills competition, he recorded a lap time that was faster than some of the NHL all-stars! Has stepped up his game big time this season. I hope to see him do well, even with a conference rival!
I'm really glad to see Jo-Bal get the call for you guys. I'd been hoping Gainey would give him the call over Dagenais for a while now. Balej has speed to burn as others have posted, and his puck handling abilities are also great. He's scored some beautiful goals down on the farm this year, and it's only a matter of time before he gains the confidence and experience to do it at the NHL level. I honestly believe this deal will look foolish in a few years when Kovalev is long gone from Montreal and Balej is a consistant 20-30 goal scorer in the league.
