NLL Announces Blockbuster Trade

[Sonny]

July 24, 2007 -- A blockbuster trade was made official today by the National Lacrosse League, involving three teams, six players, draft picks and future considerations. The Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks and Philadelphia Wings completed the transaction, which involves Taylor Wray, Ian Llord, Steve Dietrich, Kyle Couling, Sean Greenhalgh and Jason Crosbie. The players involved in the deal have combined for one league MVP award, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, two Goaltender of the Year Awards, a championship game MVP Award, one Rookie of the Year Award, a Sportsmanship Award, two All-Rookie Team honors and five All-Pro honors.

The Calgary Roughnecks have traded defenseman Taylor Wray to the Philadelphia Wings, and they traded their first round selection in the 2007 Entry Draft and their second round selection in the 2008 Entry Draft to the Buffalo Bandits. The Buffalo Bandits have traded goaltender Steve Dietrich and defenseman Kyle Couling to the Calgary Roughnecks and they traded forward Jason Crosbie and other conditional considerations to the Philadelphia Wings, who have traded forwarded Sean Greenhalgh to the Buffalo Bandits and defenseman Ian Llord to the Calgary Roughnecks.

Steve Dietrich, who will join the Roughnecks, is the most decorated amongst the players involved in the deal. Dietrich, who played the last six seasons of his 15 year career with the Bandits, was the 2006 NLL MVP, a four time All-Pro and a two time Goaltender of the Year Award recipient. Dietrich won a championship in 1997 with the Rochester Knighthawks and was the Championship Game MVP that season. Dietrich however only played 431 minutes in 2007 and recorded a 5-2 record while recovering from a knee injury. He played over 800 minutes in his 2006 MVP season.

Taylor Wray heads to Philadelphia from Calgary. Wray was the 2004 NLL Rookie of the Year, a co-winner of the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year Award and earned First Team All-Pro honors that season. He has played 55 games in four seasons with the Roughnecks and won a championship in 2004. Wray had served as Assistant Captain for the Roughnecks.

Sean Greenhalgh heads to Buffalo after leading Philadelphia in scoring in each of his first two NLL seasons. Greenhalgh was the reciepiant of the league's Sportsmanship Award in 2006 and was a member of 2006 NLL All-Rookie Team.

Jason Crosbie heads to Philadelphia after playing five of his seven NLL seasons with the Buffalo Bandits. Crosbie has 113 goals in 96 career games.

Kyle Couling has played his entire career with the Buffalo Bandits, which includes eight seasons and 113 regular season games. The veteran heads to Calgary after collecting 77 loose balls last season. Couling has 515 career loose balls.

Ian Llord joins the Roughnecks after playing his rookie season in Philadelphia. Llord, a defenseman, was the fifth overall pick in the 2006 Entry Draft, taken by the Wings. Llord played 11 games for Philadelphia in 2007.

"Taylor (Wray) is a franchise-type player, which is evident from his actions and awards that he's won," said Wings General Manager Lindsay Sanderson. "We were very high on both Sean (Greenhalgh) and Ian (Llord), but feel that Taylor is just a better fit with our current needs."

In Summary:

The Buffalo Bandits have received forward Sean Greenhalgh from Philadelphia and they have received Calgary's first round selection in the 2007 Entry Draft, and Calgary's second round selection in the 2008 Entry Draft.

The Calgary Roughnecks have received goaltender Steve Dietrich and defenseman Kyle Couling from Buffalo and defenseman Ian Llord from Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Wings have received defenseman Taylor Wray from Calgary and forward Jason Crosbie, plus other conditional considerations from the Bandits.