June 24, 2000; the day Roberto Luongo should have been a Calgary Flame

                I felt like a kid in a candy store. It was June 23, 2000, Calgary Alberta for the NHL expansion draft & entry draft. I was a 23-year-old sports writer, mixed in with the who’s who of hockey. Whether I was sitting behind the great Bryan Kilrea, or conducting an interview with Calgary Flames GM Craig Button with Bruce Dowbiggin.

            I was in cowtown covering a local hockey product by the name of Jarret Stoll, at the time Stoll was projected to go in the middle-late 1rst rounder. I used Stoll being drafted as an excuse to go, and imagine my surprise when the NHL accepted my application for media access.  Stoll was eventually drafted by the Calgary Flames 46^th overall, but 2 years later re-entered the draft after not being signed by the Flames.

                Day 1 of the draft was the expansion draft where the Minnesota Wild & Columbus Blue Jackets picked their unclaimed players. Got my nervousness out of the way that day and got me primed and ready to go for day 2 and oh what a day it would be.

Isles GM Mike Milbury stole the show on 24^th.

It was day 2 when business picked up. Mike Milbury (then Islanders GM) made it known to anyone and everyone that former first rounder Roberto Luongo was available, mainly because he was going to draft Rick Dipetro first overall. Rumors were going around of several teams were in the mix to grab Luongo only 21-years-old then. The big rumor going around was the Calgary Flames were going to step and finally grab their “franchise goalie”.

                Nobody was surprised as the draft starts that commissioner Gary Betman “has a trade to announce”.  He then said the New York Islanders trade Roberto Luongo & with forward Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers in exchange for wingers Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. Everyone was shocked first that he got back as little as he did, and that the Panthers stepped up and managed to pull this trade off. Can you imagine how bad Florida would have been if they did not make this trade. Luongo was rock solid for six seasons in Florida, Jokinen scored 188 goals in 7 seasons including (4 – 30 goal season).  On the other hand Kvasha was a bust, scoring 51 goals in 4 seasons with the Islanders; Parrish was more productive scoring 118 goals in 5 seasons. Dipetro was taken first, in front of Dany Heatley & Marian Gaborik.

                When I spoke with Button after draft, he did say he was involved in trade discussions with Milbury. He then said he would not move 1 player that Milbury insisted be a part of the deal. The player that Button would not part with was rumored to be Valeri Bure. Can one imagine what could have happened if the Luongo had been dealt to the Flames, unreal. One year later to the day, Button traded Bure & Jason Wiemer to Florida for Rob Niedermayer and a 2^nd round draft pick (Andrei Medvedev).

                On June 24^th, 2000 Milbury made two other moves, in hopes to reshape his struggling team. He traded former first round picks Eric Brewer, Josh Green & 2^nd rounder (Brad Winchester) for Roman Hamirlik. He then traded Kevin Weekes, Kristian Kudroc & another 2^nd rounder for Tampa Bay’s 5^th overall pick (Raffi Torres). Neither of these moves proved to make a difference, if anything set them back a year or two.

                Those moves are the very reason how one general managers poor decisions can stall the growth of an organization.  What could have occurred if the Islanders kept Luongo, Jokinen and Brewer, might they be a steady team making the playoffs more frequently?  Subsequently neither Milbury nor Button has been hired for a GM’s job since then.