Capitals Trade Tomas Fleischmann for Avs Defenseman Scott Hannan

Looks like Santa might have come a bit early for the oodles of Caps fans who've been wishing for a stay at home defenseman - the perfect piece to fill in the missing holes that were so evident in last year's premature playoff exit. Today the team announced they have acquired defenseman Scott Hannan from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Tomas Fleischmann. On a team loaded with offensive prowess, Flash was one of the go-to guys during the regular season, netting 23 goals and 28 assists last season. Unfortunately, his scoring touch seemed to disappear in the off-season, much to the dismay of his followers. We wish Flash well in his new mountain digs and will see him again when the Avs and Caps meet at Verizon Center next Saturday.

Scott Hannan, 31, is an 11-year NHL veteran who has played for Colorado and the San Jose Sharks. The 6’1”, 225-pound defensive defenseman has played 775 career games, recording 30 goals, 150 assists, 456 penalty minutes and a +22 rating. This season Hannan has six assists and a +1 rating while playing all 23 games for the Avalanche.


He has played at least 71 games in each of his 11 pro seasons, including 97.2% of the games since he made the NHL full-time in 2000-01. He has averaged 18:37 of ice time per game this season and 22:02 per game in the course of his career. His teams have made the playoffs eight times in 10 seasons prior to this one, playing a total of 73 playoff games.

A first-round pick of the Sharks, 23rd overall, in the 1997 Entry Draft, Hannan broke into the league after an all-star career with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League. He was a teammate of current Capital and everyone's favorite grinder, Matt Bradley, with the Sharks and signed with Colorado as a free agent on July 1, 2007. Let's give a hearty welcome to Mr. Hannan and show him how it's done in our hockey town!

And on a totally unrelated note, to the dirtbags who broke into Pat Burns' widow's car shortly after the hockey legend was laid to rest, shame on you. Hockey Mom joins the legions of hockey fans worldwide in hoping for your speedy arrest!