Selanne, Giordano, Ponikarovsky, Foligno
Last night and throughout the day, GM Poelker of the Spurs had several phone calls with GM Michael Gilman of the Havana Moon, who was 'hunkered down' with Fidel in their war room. After Gilman's announcement to the league that UFAs Teemu Selanne & Brendan Shanahan were available, Poelker and the Spurs management decided to see what it would take. Realizing the Spurs could only afford one of them, and that even one was stretching the budget, it was decided to target Selanne.
In the end, about an hour before the trade deadline, GM Gilman & Fidel received the deal they ultimately asked for. Heading to Havana and the Moon are port siders Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nick Foligno for right winger Teemu Selanne and blueliner Mark Giordano. Upon being informed of the deal Selanne said, "I'm happy to be going to Denver. I hope I can help them in their quest for the Cup! I hear that I'll probably be playing with Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth, that's going to be fun!"
GM Poelker said, "We're more than happy to bring Teemu to Denver. While we hated to part with Pony and the youngster Foligno, we couldn't pass up adding Teemu and his firepower to the Spurs lineup. Coach Q and Captain Joe were involved in evaluating all the offers. Their opinions played a major part in the decision along with the scouting staff. Teemu is correct, he will be playing on the 2nd line with Joe and Ryan. We hope to bring the CCHL Cup to Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region this year!"
Poelker added that after a few deals leading up to the trade deadline, most notably those of the defending CCHL Champion Dayton Musicmen, that a deal had to be made to stay in contention. He feels that adding Selanne definitely addresses that.
Dasher Notes
Selanne will be in the Spurs lineup for the next game on Wednesday night at the Coliseum against Linz.
CuJo (Curtis Joseph) was waived to make roster room for Giordano. Fidel wanted Giordano included so it was agreed to accept him in the deal. Have to keep 'ol Fidel happy! Poelker is also sending Fidel a box of his favorite cigars.
CuJo, if he's not claimed by another team, has been offered a new contract to stay with the oranization as a roving goalie coach to tutor the organization's younger netminders. Most notably Macdonald, Bacashihua,
Beauchemin and Ehelechner.
No comments:
Post a Comment