One would think that the flashing lights of Las Vegas and the desert climate would be enough to draw anyone with a heartbeat.
But uprooting your life to play for a National Hockey League expansion team makes for uneasy times, regardless of an inviting destination like Sin City.
As a forward for the St. Louis Blues during the 1998 and 2000 expansion drafts, Craig Conroy was on the team’s protected list both times. But his teammates Blair Atcheynum (Nashville) and Scott Pellerin (Minnesota) weren’t, and left those summers to join the newest NHL teams in the loop.