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Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Thunder GM not worried about holes on roster
Bob Strumm, who has only six players under contract, says he has plenty of options available to him.
By Kevin Iole
Review-Journal
Bob Strumm has been through this before. For that matter, so has Bob Bourne.
The Las Vegas Thunder general manager and coach, respectively, are nearly starting from scratch to build their team, much as they did in 1993 when Bourne was an assistant coach and the Thunder was preparing for its inaugural season.
Las Vegas has only six players under contract for the 1998-99 season -- goaltender Konstantin Simchuk, defensemen Keith McCambridge and Alex Alexeev and forwards Patrice Lefebvre, Joe Day and Russ Romaniuk -- but neither Strumm nor Bourne seems concerned. The Thunder opens training camp in September.
"I'm not worried in the slightest," Bourne said. "The response I'm hearing has been good, and I think we're going to be able to put a strong team on the ice."
The Thunder expects to get three to five players from its affiliation agreement with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes and perhaps as many as three others from other NHL teams.
Strumm said the Thunder has talked to the agent for left wing Andrei Vasilyev, who played last season for Long Beach. Vasilyev has scored numerous key goals against the Thunder through the years with Denver, Utah and Long Beach in the International Hockey League, but he might be difficult to acquire.
Long Beach reserves the right to match IHL contract offers, and it seems unlikely the Dogs would allow Vasilyev to sign with a team in their division. An option for the Thunder is to work a deal with an NHL club to acquire his minor-league rights, and the Thunder has broached that subject with the Coyotes.
"He's a hell of a player, and he's killed us so many times, it would be nice to have him on our side for a change," Strumm said. "But there are too many variables. Who knows what's going to happen?"
One thing that won't happen for the Thunder will be the return of Jesse Belanger. The team's No. 1 center last year, Belanger signed a one-year, two-way contract with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. If he doesn't make the Lightning, he will be assigned to the Cleveland Lumberjacks, with whom the Lightning recently developed an affiliation.
Strumm blasted Belanger for a lack of output during last season's playoffs, which Belanger said ensured that he would never return to the Thunder.
"Strummer talked about me in the papers, and I didn't think it was fair or right," Belanger said. "I was coming back from a pretty serious injury. I was out eight weeks. It was really tough for me, and it didn't help for him to be talking about me in the papers like he did. I know I didn't play like I could in the playoffs, but I tried. That never happened to me before, and I don't want it to happen again."
Strumm said he isn't interested in re-signing Belanger, adding that there are only a few players from last year's 33-39-10 team who are still unsigned that he wants. Strumm said he is continuing to attempt to bring back right wing Trent McCleary and defensemen Jason Mansoff and Eric Ricard.
Las Vegas also lost left wing Barry Potomski, who signed with the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, but Strumm said he likes the way things are shaping up.
"I've got about 20 balls in the air that I'm juggling," he said. "If I could catch six or seven of them, I think we'll have a real strong, competitive team."
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