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Posted on 11/15/2005 4:52:42 PM PST by buccaneer81
Nov 15, 7:16 PM EST
Blue Jackets Acquire All-Star Fedorov
By RUSTY MILLER AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired six-time All-Star center Sergei Fedorov on Tuesday from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for forward Tyler Wright, rookie defenseman Francois Beauchemin and a fifth-round pick in 2006.
The 35-year-old Fedorov had one assist in five games this season for Anaheim, his second with the Mighty Ducks after 13 seasons with Detroit. He recently returned from a groin injury that sidelined him for 13 games.
Columbus general manager and president Doug MacLean had been sorting through trades for the past few weeks, but said he was unwilling to part with any of the Blue Jackets' young talent. Columbus is last in the NHL with 34 goals.
MacLean likened the acquisition of Fedorov to the free-agent signing this summer of defenseman Adam Foote, a mainstay of Colorado's Stanley Cup teams.
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"The point of the deal is similar to our signing of Adam Foote," MacLean said. "We have a lot of young players, a lot of young kids with a lot of talent. We're adding a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a Hart winner, who still has a tremendous skill level and is excited to play. He'll be a terrific addition."
MacLean said he had scouted Fedorov in two games over the weekend. Fedorov is flying to Columbus on Tuesday night and is expected to be in uniform when the Blue Jackets play St. Louis on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.
Columbus had expected to contend for a postseason berth for the first time in the franchise's five-year existence, but is off to a 5-13-0 start. With 10 points, the Blue Jackets are next to last in the Western Conference.
Fedorov has 431 goals and 589 assists in 15 seasons in the NHL. The speedy Russian had a career-high 56 goals for the Red Wings in 1993-94, when he won the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP.
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Fedorov will make $6.08 million this season and each of the next two. The Mighty Ducks will gain room under the new NHL salary cap.
"He is an expensive player, but we feel good about it," MacLean said.
The Blue Jackets had been seeking a veteran center to play with 21-year-old star Rick Nash when he is finally healthy. Nash missed most of the preseason with a high ankle sprain, then sprained his knee and is out until mid-December.
Nash tied Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk for most goals (41) in 2003-04 season, becoming the youngest player to lead the league.
The 32-year-old Wright had four assists in 18 games this season for Columbus, and the 25-year-old Beauchemin had two assists in 11 games.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Please ping the hockey list.
hockey ping
HOCKEY PING!
ouch....could you imagine a line with Vyborny Fedorov and Nash?
look out LOL....
That is, of course, hoping that Federov isn't as fragile as he has appeared to be so far this year.
It doesn't seem like Anaheim got much for Federov other than some salary cap room. Then again, he is 35 years old and may be past his prime. Still, I think Columbus got the better of this deal.
This is kinda like buying a $200 Synergy for your third line winger. I'm not sure it will make a huge difference for the Jackets.
Meanwhile, my home-state Wild do absolutely nothing. Just one reason I watch the Avalanche on NHL Center Ice whenever they're on.
BTW --- The fact that Sidney Crosby is getting all the press while Alexander Ovechkin has been vitually ignored by comparison is a complete joke. Ovechkin is the complete player. He's great on the power play, he's great on the penalty kill, he forechecks, he backchecks, he throws the body, he dishes the puck, he scores, he can change the complexion of a game .... all with nowhere near the supporting cast that Crosby has.
I was at the Caps game last night. Ovechkin was awesome as usual. Game tieing goal and the goal in the shootout. He also took a hard fall into the boards crashing the net and hit is head hard on the boards. But he got up and did not miss a shift.
On OLN they were theorizing that the reason for the trade was personality conflict. Apparently when Anaheim's GM as GM somewhere else Sergie's brother (or cousin or some such relationship) played there and was openly critical of the GM. Word is that from the moment he took over in Anaheim Sergie was on the trading block he was just waiting for the right deal.
Interesting. This is not the right reason to trade a player like Federov. But given that my local professional hockey team is playing Anaheim tonight and Anaheim is in the same division, I'm delighted with the trade. :)
Yep.. I watched it last night. I had a chance to go, but I coach a high school team (this is our opening week) and a youth travel team (Bantam A) so I was pretty busy. Ovechkin is clearly a more complete player than Crosby, and he's doing all of the little things... away from the puck that you don't see others doing. Crosby has a supporting cast that is far superior, and I don't think he's as effective.
Freep mail/ping airborne or Hat-Trick if you want on or off the Hockey Ping List.
Hey Hat-trick have you figured out how to watch the Avs yet? I get to see Altitude here and the play-by-play guy just LOVES to say "John Michael Liles".
Sometimes he accidently just says "Liles" and then quickly corrects himself and says "John Michael Liles". It always cracks me up.
The play-by-play guy with Chicago sounds like he ought to be announcing a Cubs game.
Center Ice rocks ...
Flyers - Pens tonight!
LET'S GO PENS!!
i would like to be on the hockey pings.
Still haven't convinced Mrs. H-T to let us get the dish. That's the only way I'll get regular coverage. Headed to the hometown for Christmas, so will probably be at the Pepsi Center for the Dec 28th game vs. the LA Kings. Making do for my hockey "fixes" with the NCAA D1 season tickets and periodic visits to watch our local (new) AHL team. Went a couple of weeks ago, and saw a great game. We had a penalty-shot, regulation hat trick, and a shoot out. Fans definitely got our money's worth.
you are added
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