[Dion]

Why Tambellini chose Calgary

So while Adam Tambellini noted he chose Calgary over the team which held his WHL rights, Portland, because the Hitmen are leading the Eastern Conference, he had another big reason.

“There’s a level of (familiarity) here,” he explained. “My best friend is on the team in Greg Chase. We’ve been buddies since we’ve been 13 years old. . . . I can’t really be happier with the route I chose.”

“It was more of a hockey decision for myself,” Tambellini explained. “Me and my family sat down and we really looked at the situation there. I’m looking to play a lot of games and play a lot of minutes. My choice to come to Calgary was pretty simple after finding that out.”

So he told UND he was leaving on Tuesday night, woke up on Wednesday, packed up his gear and drove across the border to Winnipeg where he caught a flight to Saskatoon just in time for the game.

Moore on the trade

Not long after waking up, Tambellini got on the phone with Calgary GM Mike Moore.

“When we closed the deal, he was in North Dakota (Wednesday) morning,” Moore told Hitmen radio broadcaster Sportsnet 960 after the first intermission. “He went down to the rink, grabbed his sticks and skates and he texted me and said, ‘can I play tonight?’

“We hadn’t even had a flight booked yet, the deal wasn’t closed yet. So I said ‘if we can get you here in time and you can get your gear and we can get to the rink . . . then absolutely.’

“That’s what you want — a guy who’s confident. So here he is. I know he’s had a sub and that’s about it this afternoon. He’s working on nerves and adrenalin. He’s only going to get better as he settles in.”

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...021/story.html