Several months ago, Sheldon Souray had a falling out with the Edmonton Oilers and General Manager Steve Tambellini. The conflict was so immense in fact that the Oilers spent the entire summer trying to dump the former three time All-Star and ordered him not to come to Training Camp. Unfortunately for Edmonton, there weren’t many teams who were interested in an aging 34 year old defenseman who is still owed $4.5 million over the next two years and has a cap hit of $5.4 mil.
To make matters worse, Souray also dealt with injury problems last year as he suited up for only 37 games. Um, go ahead and blame Jerome Iginla for that one.
After placing Souray on waivers twice and still finding no takers, the Oilers ended the drama this past Wednesday by loaning Souray to the Hershey Bears.
While Souray didn’t answer any questions about his issues in Edmonton during his nine minute presser, he did seem extremely positive about his new digs:
“It’s been a long few months of kind of being in turmoil with my situation,” Souray said. “For me, it’s like a fresh start. I feel kind of re-energized. It’s going to take a little bit to show that on the ice and get back into that top game form. I just feel like a lot of the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.
“I look at coming here as a positive thing for me to get in this environment, in a winning environment, in a structured and healthy environment, and just start a new kind of chapter in my life. I’m grateful for the opportunity that Hershey is providing. We’ll see what happens.”
Check out the entire press conference above and get to know your newest Hershey Bear, Sheldon Souray.
S/T to Kyle for the Video.
