Brady Calla was assigned from the Rochester Americans to the Florida Everblades last week due to no room on the roster for him here in Rochester. Calla appeared in four games with the Everblades and now according to Woody Wommack he’s in some sort of hockey purgatory and on an Olympic break vacation. Here’s what he wrote in the Naples Daily News:
I got a lot of emails over the last few days wondering exactly what was going on with Everblades forward Brady Calla. He was assigned to the Everblades last week by Rochester, appeared in four games and was then called all the way up to the Florida Panthers.
Of course, the Panthers are on the Olympic break, so Calla is essentially stuck in hockey purgatory. He can’t play or even practice for the Everblades, he can’t go back to Rochester and the Panthers aren’t doing a whole lot right now. Basically, it means that Calla will be in Estero working out on his own and when the Olympic break ends he’ll be reassigned to the Everblades and be eligible to play again.
Maybe there was potential that he was going to be involved in a trade of some sort but the trade fell through? An odd move if you asked me.
Holly Gunning did a Q&A with Calla recently for Hockey’s Future, here’s a quick excerpt followed by the link:
HF: So do you anticipate that when the Olympics are over you’ll go back up?
BC: It’s kind of up in the air. It also has a lot to do with injuries, especially in Florida. If there’s a lot of injuries in Florida, they’re going to need bodies in Roch, so therefore I’ll go and hopefully fill the line-up and be able to play a lot there. If not, I’m pretty sure I would stay here and work on my development. Either way I’m excited to do whatever they have planned for me. All I want to do is play and try to get better.HF: You seem to have a much better attitude about this than most guys would.
BC: You know, it’s hard. I don’t think I’m any different than the other guy. I do get down, I get upset. I’d way rather be in Rochester, but if I’m not going to be able to play in Rochester, get the correct amount of ice time, being down here’s not a negative thing. Good coach, good players, good city, great fans. No matter where I’ve been in my career, I always try to make it a positive situation. If I can get better – they said two weeks, maybe it’s going to be the rest of the season – I might get better here. Hopefully it works out for me.
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/11864/qa_with_brady_calla/
It seems to me this guys attitude is a good thing, he may not be the best but at least he has an upside attitude!
You know what they say in these interviews amounts to little more than blowing smoke, right? Having talked to reassigned players, personally and off the record, over the years, I can tell you they think it sucks. Naturally so. I mean, why wouldn’t they want to play at the highest levels. It is nice that they build up the organization, fans, city and all that but I think it’d be hilarious if one of them, just once, said what he really thought of being sent down.
heh.. yea I know it’s all blowing smoke. Being sent down obviously sucks but it says a lot about a player when they’re able to perform and not pout like many do.