Wings Acquire Forward AJ Shannon and Goaltender Brandon Miller
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Eastern Division leading Philadelphia
Wings have acquired left-handed forward A.J. Shannon from the Minnesota Swarm
and goaltender Brandon Miller from the Chicago Shamrox according to General
Manager Lindsay Sanderson. The acquisitions were part of two trades that sent
Wings’ forwards Dan Marohl and Keith Cromwell to the Swarm and goaltender Matt
Roik and defenseman Brad Self to Chicago.
"AJ Shannon is a proven scorer that will add
much needed depth to our offense on the left side," said General Manager Lindsay
Sanderson. "In the case of Miller, we had the opportunity to add another number
one goalie to our camp and could not pass that up, especially not knowing what
will happen with Blazer (Rob Blasdell) since we claimed him from Arizona in the
dispersal draft and he would have to return when Arizona resumes play in 2009.
The coaching staff and I knew we needed to increase our depth and this move adds
two big pieces to the puzzle."
The Swarm traded forward Mike Hominuck and a
first round pick in the 2008 NLL Entry Draft to the Edmonton Rush in exchange
for Shannon. Minnesota then traded Shannon to the Wings for Cromwell and Marohl.
The Wings traded Roik, defenseman Brad Self, a
first round pick in the 2009 Entry Draft, and their second round pick in the
2010 Entry Draft to Chicago in exchange for Miller and the Shamrox second pick
in the 2008 Entry Draft. Self has spent the past two seasons on the Wings’
hold-out list due to commitments playing hockey in Germany.
Practice squad player Matt
Eckerl
was also added to the Wings 23-man roster.
Shannon, a fifth-year forward, has scored 22
points (11G, 11A) in seven games in Edmonton this season. In his previous four
seasons, three with Buffalo, he scored 112 points (53G, 59A) in 50 games played.
The 6’, 213-pound Whitby, ON native missed the first ten games of the 2007
season recovering from an off-season knee injury after being acquired by the
Rush on June 28, 2006 from the Buffalo Bandits. Shannon, a University of
Virginia graduate, led the Cavaliers to the 2003 NCAA Championship in 2003 as
well as the 2000 and 2004 ACC Titles.
Miller, has a 71% save percentage and a 17.04
goals against average in seven games for the Shamrox this season. The eighth
year goaltender was chosen by Chicago in the 2006 NLL Expansion Draft from San
Jose. He has seen 2,031 minutes of career playing time and has 1,282 career
saves.
