PR - Hurricanes

NO CHRIS PRONGER? No Problem. NO MARKUS NASLUND? No Problem.

The Calgary Hurricanes have found a way to transform aging players into
youthful surprises. Over the past several seasons the Hurricanes have
traded away players
such as Bill Guerin, Chris Pronger, and Markus Naslund. All players who
have been all-stars and leaders within their statistical categories.

"I think its just a matter of knowing when its time to move on. We
would have loved to keep all of these guys but when they start earning 8
million dollars plus, its time to move on. Chris signed for around $9
million dollars when we did the sign and trade deal. Markus is no
different, we moved him because he ended up with a deal that paid 9.6
million dollars. I have a hard time paying anyone 25% of my salary
cap." said GM Derek Major.

When Chris Pronger was traded the Hurricanes brought back guys like Wade
Redden and Maxim Afinogenov. That edition of the Hurricanes minus Chris
Pronger came within a win of the franchises second TFHL Championship.
"Wade is a cornerstone on defense with Bryan Mccabe, and Maxim has fit
in real well with Shawn Bates. Last season Maxim played great with
Shawn and Martin Cibak, this season he is excelling with Ryan Getzlaf."

Speaking of Getzlaf. This past off-season the Hurricanes moved their
sniper Markus Naslund and Matthew Lombardi for Ryan Getzlaf and Ilya
Bryzgalov. Getzlaf is having a career year and Bryzgalov has one of the
best Goals Against averages in the TFHL. Getzlaf is 22 and Bryzgalov is
in his prime at 28. Lombardi is leading the Saints in scoring with 72
points, even when he was considered the toss in with Naslund. Some get
away and some don't.

"We keep adding more depth and keep improving our team. The trick to
building a team is to fill your holes, we've managed to do a lot of that
over the last few seasons to keep up with retirement and free agency."
said GM Derek Major.


Calgary Sun