The local papers here are already starting to jokingly refer to Raleigh as "South Calgary".
After already signing former Calgary Flames forwards Cory Stillman and Jason Allison, Hurricanes GM Norm Donovan looked north once again and signed veteran defenceman Roman Hamrlik from the talented Calgary squad. Hamrlik, who scored 32 points last season, was signed away from a team who have already added Sergei Zubov, Andreas Lilja and Ruslan Salei this off season.
"It certainly was a consideration," admitted Hamrlik, "They've made quite a few changes in Calgary so when the opportunity presented itself I thought it might be time to move in a different direction. The Calgary organization was first class though - there is no ill will."
Although the pilfering of 3 free agents from the same team seems unusual, Donovan states there is method to his madness. "Calgary finished first in their division, 2nd in their conference and went to game 7 in the Stanley Cup finals. We wanted to bring in guys who had that experience and winning attitude that hopefully will spread to the rest of the team and make us that much more competitive."
The free agent train from Calgary may not even be finished. Rumours abound that Carolina has made substantial offers to both Markus Naslund and Richard Zednik in the hopes that one or both could round out their top 6. Will the lure of familiar faces be enough to land even more top talent? Only time will tell.