The Thunder Bay Storm and Hartford Whalers made a major deadline
trade yesterday. Thunder Bay sent Arthur Rhodes and the 5th pick overall
in the amateur draft to Hartford in exchange for pitching ace Kevin
Brown. When asked about the fact that they withdrew their picks from the
trading block, Storm GM Gouldson replied: "I know I said that we
wouldn't trade those picks but you don't get many chances to pick up a
player of Kevin Brown's stature. We think we have a marquee player
here.". Brown is currently on the DL, therefore the trade will be
completed as soon as he gets back to health. He should be ready in about
another 10 days. Hartford will take the 5th pick today, but Rhodes will
only be sent over once Brown is ready. When asked about what they were
giving up in the trade Gouldson said: "Rhodes is a solid pitcher but not
a 'real' starter. He's basically a reliever with endurance. He's got a
helluva an arm though. We wish him luck on returning to Hartford. As for
the pick, we realize that it's a high pick and that you can get
considerable talent with it, but we also have #1 and #8 picks, so we
aren't too worried." Thunder Bay now has a terrific mix of All Star
veterans and talented youngsters, all the while building for the future,
maybe as soon as next year...
