PR - Hurricanes

CALGARY HURRICANES RE-TOOL FOR UPCOMING SEASON


As season's go by, so do many heroes from the Hurricanes years of great
hockey. Last season's unbelievable run that took them to their 3rd TFHL
Cup Championship and Game 7 was remarkable and exciting for the entire
city of Calgary. "People love hockey in this city and it showed
throughout the playoffs. They want winners here." said GM Derek Major.

In a big move at the draft day tables GM Derek Major traded Markus
Naslund to the divisional rivals the Saints. "I think moving Markus was
such a big move and I am sure it will go down as one of the riskiest.
But the fact is that it is hard to have a guy carrying 10% of the salary
cap on any team and we didn't want to do that. We have a lot of great
players coming up through the ranks and we wanted to keep building on
our youth movement."

The Hurricanes are doing just that. The new first line on the
Hurricanes are all former draft picks of the team including Alexander
Sundstrom, Alexander Svitov, and Jason King. Both Alex's were drafted
in the first round while King was a sleeper pick out of the late 2nd
round. "We've drafted well and we are starting to see the results up
front."

TRAINING CAMP: NEW FACES

As the GM mentioned players coming up the ranks, it is no coincidence
that there will be 3 rookies playing for the Hurricanes. Kim Johansson,
the Hurricanes first round pick this season, will make his debut.
Michael Grabner who spent time between the Baracuda's and Hurricane's
looks to secure a full time spot. Finally, Kenneth McArdle will look to
improve on his outstanding first season with the Baracuda's by carrying
it over to the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes also added forward Ryan Getzlaf to the fold as part of
the top 6 edition. He is expected to play alongside Martin Cibak and
Maxim Afinogenov.

AGED LINE WINE: DEFENSE

One thing is for sure, the Hurricanes defense is not getting any
younger. The average age of the backend is 33 years. "This is really
all part of the evolution plan of this team. We have 4 good young
defensemen on the farm who should be ready to go in the next few seasons
as our older guys retire. We're well set up for this." said GM Derek Major.

The defense will not change from last season but the 4 youngsters may
get a chance to grab a few games. Ryan Parent, Andy Rogers, Badass
Jack, and Frank Redliker are all primed to joined the big club in the
near future.

GOALTENDING DUEL

It's official. Ilya Bryzgalov versus Brian Boucher. Two great
goaltenders will square off for the top job with the Hurricanes. Coach
Crawford believes the team will rotate until one or the other gets hot
enough to go on long stretches. "We've got two pretty good goaltenders
this season. Brian is a class act and realizes he needs to improve over
last season. His GAA was always upwards of 3 goals, and we need better
than that. We expect Ilya to be just as competitive and come in here to
challenge for the top spot as well.

In the wings Cory Schneider continues to harness his skills on the farm
as he waits to one day become the face of the goaltending world in Calgary.



Calgary Sun 2007