Colorado Mammoth Message Board

Hey Steve,

So I have to hear it from the man.

Can you give us a "play by play" of this whole thing? Was Gait's only playing option in the NY area? Do the Mammoth intend to keep his number in the Rafters?

Personally, i think you did VERY good. (assuming that the answer to question 2 is yes). I feel like the mammoth got a whole lot of goodies for pretty much nothing.

Well its an interesting story...

Regy Thorpe called me a few weeks ago and asked permission to speak with Gary Gait about playing in Rochester. I honestly thought he was kidding and made a few jokes, when I finally realized he wasn't kidding I granted permission for him to speak with him.

In the NLL when a player retires he is automatically placed on the retired list, if that player is eligible for unrestricted free agency because of age and length of service he must make his reinstatement request prior to the Aug. 1 Franchise Player designation deadline for the upcoming season in order to retain his free agency. If he requests reinstatement after the Aug. 1 deadline then he is not eligible for Unrestricted Free Agency until the following season. This allowed us in this case to retain Gary's rights.

Gary and Regy met in Syracuse and discussed his return, both of them called me afterwards and suggested that they would like to move forward. After taking a weekend to think about what we would require to make the deal. And considering what Gary has meant to this franchise and its fans, his icon status and the fact that the possibility exists that Rochester might come into Pepsi Center led by Gait in the 2009 championship game. I came back with a requirement of at least two first round draft picks in the 2009 draft. Rochester owns their own, Toronto's and Edmonton's first round picks next year so I knew that they had some surplus.

Rochester has set their sights on this coming draft for some very talented former Six Nation junior players and are excited to bring them into their organization next year so were reluctant to part with multiple draft picks in 09. They requested that we take 09 and 10 first rounders, I countered with, if we are waiting then it has to be sweetened.

From there we had some healthy give and take on who the player would be and then the potential of moving the picks to 2010 and 2011. The entire process has taken about three weeks to finalize but we finally completed the paperwork and approvals yesterday.

I have spoken with Gary extensively throughout the process. We remain best friends and I wish him all the best, I think he's nuts, but I wish him well. There was no possibility of him ever playing in Colorado again, and we feel comfortable that our current re-tooling will bring years of future success to the Mammoth organization. Even on his movement to another organization Gary ultimately has contributed to our future, the two first round draft picks coupled with our own will become very valuable in two very rich drafts in the next two years.

Andrew Potter is a very intriguing player, drafted by Rochester last season 14th overall as a 19 year old, he played little for the Knighthawks on their veteran laden squad. This young man still has another year of junior lacrosse in Canada after this NLL season. A left handed offensive threat, he has great hands and decent size and speed. All signs point to him developing into a very valuable asset for the future.

Andrew and the draft picks allows us to develop a young core for the future, while maintaining a solid focus on winning today. Looking at our current roster we now have 19 of our 28 signed players that are 26 years old or under.

We are excited to come to camp with players that our fans won't recognize at first but may become household Mammoth names very quickly, like Dan Carey and Jamie Shewchuk did in the last 3 seasons. Watch out for Forsythe, Safarik, Kimenar, Ward, Crompton, Potter, LLord and Danowski. Not all of them will be in the opening day lineup, but all of them bring an exciting element to camp that we are looking forward to seeing.

If you all remember the summer before the 2006 season we were being written off by all the pundits, it seems that we are there again and excited to prove them all wrong.

Farewell to Gary, but let's bring on the 2009 NLL season!!!

SG

Steve,

Thank for the insight!!!

One Question though...



Which 2009 Pick of Rochester did the Mammoth get?

Mr. Govett

If by chance, Mr. Gait feels it necessary to return the Harley Davidson that was gifted to him at the Championship Ceremony, I would gladly accept it.

Perhaps you could also arrange for me to ride this bike with my other Brothers on the Harley's before the games?

Just a thought Sir.

I too wish Mr. Gait success in his future endeavors.

HarleyDude

thanks for the story.
what will happen with his number in the can?

I think his number should be removed. He retired of his own free will and is now changing his mind. He has turned his back on this franchise and all of the fans that supported him for many years and now we should return the favor.

Petty... party of 1. You pissed that Foreman came out of retirement too, Twice? Maybe we should remove all his records since he is nothing but a liar.

_________________
No one's taller than
the last man standing.

ThatÂ’s one way to look at it! Another way to look at it is to understand what he has done for this franchise! He was apart of our championship season, coached and was a great ambassador to this city, team and community. He obviously wasnÂ’t going to play for us again like Mr. Govett stated! He asked Steve, which is a good friend of his, to allow him to play for another team, which he did. In return we are going to become a better team with what weÂ’ve received for him rather that just holding on to his rights. Either way you look at it we are getting something for nothing and he is still benefiting the team. I donÂ’t blame him for wanting to play again. I think he has and is conducting himself as a complete professional and I would love to see his number stay in the rafters!

i can understand the bitternes. but gait did soo many things for this team. his other commitments prevent him from playing with colorado. but he still wants to play and this is a great way for him to do it. if we remove his number from the roster it should be because he did not retier with us, not because we are returning the favor of something he "did" to us.

Who are you and what did you do with CMB?

_________________
No one's taller than
the last man standing.

We acquired Rochester's picks in both years.

I anticipate that his number will remain in the rafters, the retirement of his jersey was in recognition of what he did for this franchise while he was here. I think vindictively removing his number would somehow suggest that his legacy here is tarnished. He was instrumental in launching this franchise to the level of success that we have enjoyed for the past 6 seasons, our appreciation of that cannot be measured.

I do think, however, that if we ever play Rochester here, we may remove it for that game.

SG

Not that is just funny.....

_________________
No one's taller than
the last man standing.

Mr. Govett, I think that removing his number from the rafters if, and when, he plays here again is the best way to handle the situation. Rochester picking up Gait is a "Hail Mary" to save their season since Grant is out all year with his knee injury.

If Gary does ever have to play the Mammoth can we make sure the "2 Minutes for touching Gary" penalty is no longer in the rule book?

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Who has the Mic? A Doosh!

If that happens, instead of just taking it down we should have a banner dropping ceremony before face off

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2006 NLL CHAMPIONS!!!!

that would be funny.

As the season is now going on; this trade looks better and better.

So I wonder what college stud we are going to get out of this.

Well, that still remains to be seen.

Rochester may not be playing well, but Potter has yet to play, and draft picks are never a guarantee.

If the Mammoth get the #1 pick and are able to get Zach Greer, it will be huge. He is one of the top prospects in years and will be an immediate star in the league.

Greer and Danowski together again would be down right scary for the other teams! Danowski was the feeder and greer was the scorer at Duke, those two were incredible together!

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Trust me, you'll have a good time.