Foppa

I'm going to do my best impersonation of a Leaf/Ranger fan* and say that if Peter Forsberg is able to make a comeback and play in the NHL this season, the Thrashers should sign him to a one year contract.

Much like Cam Neely and Bobby Orr, Foppa was once the best player in the NHL but nagging injuries have threatened to end his career far earlier than anyone would like. A lesser man would have hung them up five years ago. Foppa is a tough SOB and a man who loves hockey too much to let blinding pain keep him off the ice.

In addition, he's a man who has previously stated that Philips Arena is his favorite place to play. He loves our home rink. Let's give him 41 regular season games here.

As a member of the Avalanche, Foppa turned all the players around him into forces in their own rights, and has shown that he is a great teacher of young talent. See Hejduk, Milan; Drury, Chris; Deadmarsh, Adam.

Imagine the possible line combinations. Early in the season, when he's still getting his wheels back, he could play third line minutes mentoring young stars-to-be like Evander Kane or Tim Stapleton. Then, once he's back up to speed, John Anderson could roll these forward lines:

Kovy--Foppa--Antro
Kozy--White--Little
Party--Pevs--Army
Thor--Slats--Bolts

WHEN (not if) Foppa gets hurt, you can move Pevs up to the top line, have Marty the Party play center on line 3 and bring up an able body from Chicago.

I submit to you that's not just a playoff team, but a third-round playoff team. Of course signing Foppa for one year isn't going to be much evidence to the Czar that the team is on the right track for the long haul, but it would help improve the team's overall image around the league and help convince free agents to give us a more thorough look in the future.


*- It's not that good of an impersonation. A real Leaf/Ranger fan would say that Foppa OBVIOUSLY WANTS to come to our team and it's a foregone conclusion that it will happen.