Thursday, February 07, 2008

Flames dig deep for Dion


He’s a solid force on the Calgary blue line and he’ll be that way for another six years.

Dion Phaneuf and the Calgary Flames have come to terms on a contract extension, that it is said will provide the hard hitting Phaneuf with six and a half million dollars a year.

He was one of the last names of Darryl Sutters to do list, after high profile contracts were provided to Jarome Iginla, Robyn Regehr and Miikka Kiprusoff, all of whom will be wearing Flames red until at least 2013.

Keeping Phaneuf in the fold secures a good portion of that core group of Flames now and more importantly keeps one of the top defencemen in the league in Calgary.

In his three years with Calgary, Phaneuf has become a fan favourite and feared competitor thanks to his crushing body checks and creative play, a two time representative of the Flames at the all star game, its thought that he would have been a much in demand asset for any of the other 29 teams.

The Flames who have begun to finally find their groove with new head coach Mike Keenan, are poised to once again make some noise in the playoff run.

With the distractions of key employee relations now out of the way, the Flames will be able to concentrate on their hockey, well compensated as it now seems to be.


Globe and Mail--Flames lock up Phaneuf
Winnipeg Sun--Flames sitting pretty

No comments: