Rumors Swirling

[JiriHrdina]

Exclusive report - The Twin City Times has learned that Minnesota Wild GM Grant Farhall was seen this evening in Edmonton where he is rumored to be on the verge of a major deal with the Oilers. Speculation is the deal could include up to 3 players from both teams, with some major names involved.

Stay tuned...

[Sylvanfan]

After back to back losses the Oilers conducted team examinations today. Tyrant GM Sylvanfan and his side kick Bobby Stick em Schmautz have determined who's of the right mind set for this team and who isn't. Looking for what is required to make the Oilers a contender for now, and for the foreseeable future. The team held a practice where players were brought onto the ice on an individual basis wearing only helmets, gloves, skates and combination long underwear suits (because who wants to stare at dudes wearing only ginch). Players were than placed in a cage the size of a faceoff circle while Sylvanfan and Schmautzy chased them around swinging sticks at them. The excercise was used to determine mental and physical toughness of the players. The tyrranical duo then held a closed door meeting to determine who was tough enough, who was too weak, and who was too tough for the Oilers. Stay tuned...things could be interesting....

[JiriHrdina]

The rumored deal between the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers has indeed come to fruition – and it’s a big one!

Heading to The Chuck are former Wild captain Matthias Ohlund, young blueliner Dan Hamhuis, and forward Matthew Lombardi. Heading to the Twin Cities are offensive minded defenseman Brian Rafalski, the rough and tumble Scott Hannan and skilled forward Ales Hemsky. Cash and an exchange of picks were also involved in the deal.

Wild GM Grant Farhall explained the rationale behind the deal:

“The success of our forwards has been based on having a balanced attack across our top 2 lines, as opposed to one or two superstar players. We wanted to build a similar defense. Brian gives us an offensive guy that will allow our powerplay to remain effective. But the key was really getting Scotty Hannan. We hate playing this guy, so we figured we might as well go out and get him. Ales is a young player that we think has tremendous upside and can play with limited pressure on our fourth line for the time being. Yes – we gave up 3 quality players, however we think we are a more balanced team after this deal”.

Ohlund is the big name heading to Edmonton. When acquired by Minnesota many felt he would be a long-term cornerstone of the team. This was reinforced when Ohlund was named captain of the Wild shortly after. However, once awarded the C, Ohlund struggled and rumors have spread that Farhall and Ohlund were privately feuding. Claims that Farhall denies.

The Wild also immediately announced that assistance captain Willie Mitchell has been named the club’s new captain. Brendan Morrison will still wear an “A” alongside new assistant captain Marty Lapointe.

The new players are not expected to be in the lineup for tomorrow’s game against the Flyers.

[HelloHockeyFans]