Portion of Russo's Blog About José

From Mike Russo's blog tonight:

Theodore was great talking about Harding as you can see in the main story, but he loved his one year in Minnesota. After not signing until Oct. 1 a year ago despite a successful regular season in Washington, Theodore wasn't messing around this time.

He knows how easy it is to get shut out of the NHL as a goalie. Only 60 jobs, and a few openings. So when six calls came from teams early Friday, he pounced. In January, before his shutout against Pittsburgh, Theodore called me over for a long conversation about Florida. He asked me about the neighborhoods in Boca Raton -- my hometown -- and every single detail about the organization.

You could see the wheels were churning in his head. He wanted to still be a No. 1 and he knew Tomas Vokoun may very well be gone. So that's why I had been predicting for some time Theodore to Florida. It was "tops on my list, so when they called, it happened quick. It was an easy decision.

"I think it'll be pretty easy to adjust to going to practice in shorts in December. Enjoy your fur coats and parkas," he said with a laugh.


Then here was the bit more in his main story he  mentioned:

So the Wild jumped on Harding before free agency began, and Theodore became the first Wild free agent to sign elsewhere. Theodore, who plans to retire in Boca Raton, Fla., signed a two-year, $3 million deal with the Panthers -- a team he had been eyeing since January.

He was ecstatic for Harding, saying: "Hards had probably the worst injury a goalie could get at the worst timing. I feel he would have played, this year he probably would be a No. 1 somewhere. Now he'll come back strong. It's a great signing for Minnesota, especially at that money. It's a great bargain.