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LVShark · 02-17-2014, 09:20 PM

Hello everyone, and thank you for coming out today. The Hamilton Steelhawks have been a busy team the last couple of days. First, it was announced that General Manager Roman Schultz was fired.Yet later it appeared as though Schultz would remain General Manager due to the fact the Steelhawks made two trades prior to the S17 SHL Entry Draft. Hamilton and West Kendall made a 1 for 1 swap by trading goaltenders James Reimer and Urijah Winnfield, and just hours later again made a move acquiring draft picks number 9 and 18 for the teams 6th overall pick. However, the team had one final move left to be announced which would be the most shocking of all.

Roman Schultz had entered the room and made his way to the podium in front of a room full of reporters. Without any delay or hesitation, he began to speak.

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“First I would like to thank the entire Hamilton Steelhawks organization for giving me the opportunity to be the General Manager of such an amazing franchise. It has been an amazing experience, but I feel my time has come to step down from the position. I feel as though it is in the best interest of the team as myself. I would like to thank Joe McKeil for handing me the reins a couple of seasons ago after working as his co-partner for some time. It was an amazing experience to get to be apart of, and I certainly will miss it. It was not an easy decision to make. As a matter of fact, it took quite some time to be able to finally reach a final decision, but after much thought I feel this is what’s right.

With all of that being said, I would like to introduce everyone to the new General Managers of the Hamilton Steelhawks organization. Please welcome James Blaine and Jordan Hall.

As an organization we feel as though Blaine and Hall will make a great Managing duo. James Blaine will be taking over as General Manager, and Jordan Hall will be his Co-partner in the front office.”

James Blaine made his way to the microphone.

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<span style='color:blue'>“Hello everybody, thank you all for coming on short notice. I’d like to start of by saying what an honor it is to be picked for this position. When I first was contacted about the job I couldn’t even believe it. To be named a successor to Joe McKeil and Roman Schultz is such an amazing honor. In my mind, I feel as though these are two of the best General Managers to ever be in the SHL. It will be very hard to fill their shoes, but I am up to the task, and I have an amazing partner to help the team, as well as myself, along the way. Jordan Hall has proved he is an elite manager with his previous experience in the SMJHL with the Vancouver Whalers. Together we will make sure this team stays as competitive as possible, and we have our sights set on winning a SHL Championship.”

After the brief statement from Mr. Blaine, they opened the floor for questioning.

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“Blaine, what are your plans for the team?”

“Well first and foremost is to be a competitive team every season. With our current star-studded roster, I feel as though we are definite favorites to win a Challenge Cup. We were able to keep all the major pieces of our S16 roster in place, and we just added a star goaltender in Urijah Winnfield, I feel like we can go all the way this season. We definitely have the tools to do so.”

“Is it true that the Winnfield trade was your idea?”

“Well I can’t take full credit for it. Roman and I had been talking for a couple hours about some possible moves. We knew we should try to get an upgrade in net so we began looking around the league and seeing who was available, and when we crossed Winnfield, I knew he was our guy. It was a great trade for us because we made a 1 for 1 trade, and got what we feel is an upgrade in net. Obviously it was hard to finalize the deal and lose a guy like Reimer, but at the end of the day this is a business, and you have to do what’s best for the team.”

“What makes Winnfield so much better than Reimer?”

“Well, we feel as though Winnfield brings a much better work ethic. You can see the drive in him that makes him want to get better and better everyday. I’ve spent time scouting him, and watching tapes of his games. We like the way he plays, and we feel that his style will help the team. Another major perk is that not many goalies are as vocal as Winnfield in the locker room. He’s the type of guy that will step up and take charge when things aren’t going right. He’s a great player, and an even better goaltender.”

“Will Hamilton be making anymore moves before the season?”

“At this point and time no. We like the way our team looks for the upcoming season a lot, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be looking for ways to continue to grow and get better. If we find a deal that makes us better as a team then of course we are going to seriously look into it. We plan on being competitors, and we aren’t going to make any moves that weaken us.”

“What are your thoughts on the recent draft?”

“I believe we got 3 amazing players this season. We were excited to see Magnus Jakobsen available at #9, and we believe he will be a star in no time. As an organization, we feel that he has all the tools to develop into an elite player. In the second round we managed to pick up two more great players in Volker Bayer-Holtby as well as Kevin Griffin. We gained a young defensive prospect who will soon make the transition into the SHL. Also we got a solid young goalie in Kevin Griffin who will take a few more seasons to develop, but we feel he will turn into a star as well. We have high hopes for these 3 young men, and we believe they are all up to the task of training and becoming better."

I'll now be answering any questions you guys may have

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Cuffy · 02-17-2014, 09:31 PM

wat? i missed a lot in 4 days

Schultzy · 02-17-2014, 09:32 PM

Congratulations to Blaine and Hall. You're going to make a terrific duo of GMs and Hamilton is in very capable hands. I have the highest respect and appreciation for you both and I know Hamilton's best days are ahead.

I wish you both the very best. Now let's go get that Cup!

Towel