Blackhawks Acquire Handzus For Calder

[Thrillhouse]

General Manager Dale Tallon announced this afternoon that the Blackhawks have acquired center Michal Handzus from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for left wing Kyle Calder.

“In Michal Handzus, we were able to acquire a big, strong center who is an excellent two-way player,” said Tallon. “We felt we needed a big centerman to play against other big centers in the Western Conference. We also feel that Michal is a guy who will be able to get the puck to Martin Havlat. We feel that a line of Martin Havlat, Michal Handzus, and Tuomo Ruttu is a pretty good line. In the off-season we identified the center position as one we needed to strengthen and we feel we have addressed that need.”

Handzus, 29, stands at 6.05 and weighs in at 217 pounds. Last season, he played in 73 games for Philadelphia scoring 11 goals while adding 33 assists for 44 points with 38 minutes in penalties. Handzus logged 18:28 minutes per game for the Flyers and took many face-offs in key situations. In fact, he was the leading face-off man for the Flyers winning 53.2% of his draws to rank 18th in the NHL. He also appeared in 6 playoff games for the Flyers posting 2 assists.

A native of the Czechosolvakia, Handzus was originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues as their 3rd choice (101st overall) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He broke into the NHL with St. Louis in the 1998-99 season appearing in 66 games scoring 4 goals and 16 points.

After two and a half seasons in St. Louis, Handzus was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes along with Ladislav Nagy, Jeff Taffe, and a first round pick for Keith Tkachuk on March 13, 2001. Handzus played two seasons in Phoenix before being traded to Philadelphia along with Robert Esche for Brian Boucher and a third round pick on June 12, 2002.

Handzus has scored 20+ goals three times in his NHL career including a career-high 25 goals in the 1999-2000 season with St. Louis. He also has recorded 20+ assists five times including a career-high 38 assists in 2003-04 with Philadelphia.

In his NHL career, Handzus has appeared in 509 games scoring 112 goals while adding 180 assists for 292 points. He has scored 19 career power play goals, 11 career shorthanded goals, and 20 career game winning goals. In playoff competition, Handzus has appeared in 60 career games scoring 7 goals while adding 18 assists for 25 points. He also has a 52.1% career face-off winning percentage.

Handzus has a wealth of experience in International competition. He represented Slovakia in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games appearing in two games and scoring 1 goal. He also helped Team Slovakia to their first ever Gold Medal in the IIHF World Championships in Sweden also in 2002. He has represented Team Slovakia at the World Championships twice ( 2000 and 2002) and at the World Junior Championships twice (1996 and 1997).

Kyle Calder, 27, was the Blackhawks’ 7th choice (130th overall) in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Last season, he played in 79 games scoring 26 goals while adding 33 assists for 59 points with 52 penalty minutes. His 26 goals and 59 points were career highs.

In his NHL career, Calder has appeared in 359 games scoring 85 goals and adding 125 assists for 210 points. He has appeared in 5 career playoff games scoring 2 goals with 2 penalty minutes.

In International competition, Calder was a member of Team Canada in the 1999 World Junior Championships and captured a Silver Medal. He also played for Team Canada on two World Championship Teams (2002 and 2003) capturing a Gold Medal in 2003.

[Orr=God]

damn i was hearing that the rangers were gonna get calder for montoya. this is a very solid trade for the flyers although their toughness takes another hit as handzus is a big guy who can handle himself. still calder is a very prolific scorer and will only get better if given the chance to play with forsberg. this may signal the end for gagne and the flyers

[BGDDYKWL]

Wow. What the HELL has this team become. You trade your biggest, most physical forward (God that's sad when Handzus holds that title) for a guy who's 170 pounds. Handzus was arguably their best player last year, was very effective defensively, will score nearly as much as Calder, and makes nearly a million less. I hope this doesn't happen. I may not watch a single Flyers game this year. !!!!!!!!

[Thrillhouse]

I'm curious what OLLBLUEEYZ thinks. Good trade for both teams. Chicago had NO centermen! Sucks losing Calder but gotta give up something to get it.

[JKidd]

Good trade for both teams. Like Millhouse said, the Hawks get a desperately needed centerman, and the Purse Swingers pick up a very good young winger that is just hitting his stride.

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by jkidd

Good trade for both teams. Like Millhouse said, the Hawks get a desperately needed centerman, and the Purse Swingers pick up a very good young winger that is just hitting his stride.

Who's Millhouse?

[JKidd]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

Who's Millhouse?

Duh

[Thrillhouse]

Originally Posted by jkidd

Duh

Ha! That should be my avatar!

[JKidd]

Originally Posted by Thrillhouse

Ha! That should be my avatar!

I cant remember that video game though...

The one Bart stole... what the hell was the title? Bloodrain or something?

[bengino]

Originally Posted by jkidd

I cant remember that video game though...

The one Bart stole... what the hell was the title? Bloodrain or something?

that would be Bonestorm


great trade btw, i like that one very much, i'd take Handzus in a flash.

[Chychrun]

Originally Posted by BGDDYKWL

Wow. What the HELL has this team become. You trade your biggest, most physical forward (God that's sad when Handzus holds that title) for a guy who's 170 pounds. Handzus was arguably their best player last year, was very effective defensively, will score nearly as much as Calder, and makes nearly a million less. I hope this doesn't happen. I may not watch a single Flyers game this year. !!!!!!!!

have to disagree, this is a nice trade. Calder is younger, faster and a nice scorer.. playing with guys like Forsberg and Carter will make him a 30 goal scorer next season.

Handzus was far from tough out there.. so we lose nothing there.

and we had a zillion centers and needed more scoring on the wings, i like it.

[JKidd]

Originally Posted by bengino

that would be Bonestorm


great trade btw, i like that one very much, i'd take Handzus in a flash.

Thanks. I couldnt remember that title for the life of me...

[DaleHunter32]

think Bobby Clarke got away with a fast one here boys, Zus isn't exactly a tough guy on the ice, i think he's more of a panty waste. Mean while philly only adds 800K to their cap and get a better player, great trade for the flyers..... the hawks should have at least told philly to throw a prospect or a pick in

They weren't exactly dead if they didn't get a center: Smoke, Ruutuu (if healthy), Arkhipov, Holmqvist... so does all this mean Zus is going to be their #1 center?

[Blouin]

Good trade for both teams. Expect the flyers to look for size up front.

[nsh03]

I'd like to have seen us maybe get a prospect or draft pick out of this deal, because while it does help us, IMO Philly got the better of it. A line of Ruutu-Handzus-Havlat like Tallon said will be a very good top line, but we really have nothing beyond that now unless some of the younger players step up. We're making some bigger moves this offseason, but I don't think the Hawks are all that much stronger than last year at this point. We just have a flashy top line now.