| Subject: Saskatoon in a Fleury of Activity |
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Saskatoon Sun
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Date Posted: 14:44:12 12/04/02 Wed
The busy off-season continued for the Saskatoon Silos, as they made a number of roster moves that are part of the on-going process of revamping the team's lineup.
The significant arrival to the "Paris of the Prairies" is free agent signee Theoron Fleury, the right wing who played previously for the Victoria Totems. Victoria had offered Fleury a 4-year, $19.2 million deal, but Silos' GM Ken McKenna boldly offered the winger a 2-year deal worth $21 million, a deal that Victoria chose not to beat and that Fleury could not refuse. Saskatoon will pay Theoren a base salary of $7 million for each season, with a signing bonus of $7 million paid out this season.
The signing of Fleury comes on the heels of trades that brought Pavel Bure and Alexei Zhamnov to Saskatoon, acquisitions that certainly send the message that the Silos intend to go for a championship sooner rather than later. Not surprisingly, it was announced that there would be a slight hike in ticket prices for the 2003 season, but the activity that has taken place at the box office over the past 48 hours seems to indicate that Saskatoonians are quite pleased with the Silos' new arrivals.
The additions of Bure and Fleury will force GM McKenna to make some room for the two players under the team salary cap, with some of those moves already having taken place.
The Silos have released 3 players from their Prince Albert farm club, including 2 players that spent time in Saskatoon last season. Gone are goaltender Jeff Hackett, and defensemen Cale Hulse and James Patrick. Other moves made to deal with the bulging salary cap include the demotions of right wing Dallas Drake and defenseman Pascal Trepanier to Prince Albert.
The signing of Fleury brought smiles to the faces of GM McKenna, as well as to the man who will guide the on-ice fortunes of the Silos, coach Bob Hartley. "What coach wouldn't want to have the chance to coach talent like that of Bure, Fleury, Yashin and all the other fine players on our roster", said an obviously giddy head coach. "We should have an opportunity to ice two dangerous offensive lines, and we'll have the solid defense and goaltending needed to protect a lead".
Although he is obviously pleased with how this off-season has gone, the GM still thinks there is work to do with the current lineup. "I think our team is far more dangerous offensively than it was last season, but there is still work to be done", said McKenna. "We need to complete the roster depth on this team, and we'll need to do so with a limited amount of cap space".
There may be more roster spots to fill if any of the remaining free agents are lured away by other teams. That could mean more trades, or more work in the free agent market. But there is little question that the Silos are a much better hockey club heading into the 2003 season than they were prior to last season.
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