The trade deadline has come and gone for another season and once again GM John Kenny was a busy man. The team made 4 deals on the verge of the seasons trade freeze. To start, The Barbarians packed up long time 4th line RW Jody Hull and aging veteran Paul Ranheim as well as some undisclosed cash to the Tignish Aces. In exchange St. John recieved "Hall of Fame" bound left winger Luc Robitaille and RW Ed Courtney. Rumours were that these players were not happy trying to sign with Tignish, rumours are also that GM John Kenny has no intention of even oferring these two players a contract. In another minor deal with Tignish, the Barbarians sent recently acquired Brian Benning for cash. The Barbarians also went out and acquired veteran D-man Eric Weinrich from the Shediac Smurfs for cash.
The last of the Barbarian deals to look at was what some consider to be the biggest impact deal for the team all season. The Barbarians sent "$25,000,000" man Viktor Kozlov, Farm leaguer Martin St. Louis, St. John first rounder this season, Harcourts first rounder this season and undisclosed cash to the Bathurst Titan. In exchange for Eric Lindros, Sheldon Souray, RIV S9 Rnd2 and SOU S9 Rnd2. This deal saw recently dealt Souray be reunited with the KV Ragers farm team and brought Eric, brother or Brett to the organization where it is rumoured they will play together on a line next season. When asked about this move, GM Kenny responded " We had not wanted to deal Sheldon initially,and I told him, he would be back, and as for Eric Lindros, our team lacked some chemistry and I thought brothers could only help he situation."
On the free agent front Kenny had a few more things to say. He went on "We have struck a deal with Jason York early this morning, and are happy to say he will be with the organization a long time." A few ruomours were flying around the clubhouse this morning about another working relation problem with Kenny and one of his players, this time Darrin Kimble. Kenny told us this " I do not take being told how to do MY job well by a player, especially one who refuses to sign a contract reasonably. Darrin was concerned on how I am running the organization and I told him if he did not like it, to leave! Then Darrin told me he was going to stick it out and complete his contractual obligations, so I told him he would be filling them in KV, he was demoted today!" Darrin Kimble could not be reached to comment on this disagreement, but once again, Kenny gets his way, we just hope his way gives the team the playoff berth they deserve.
-- Jim McKenzie
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