Tuesday, April 3, 2012

TIGERS' KONAN SIGNS WITH NHL'S FLYERS

Press Release

Medicine Hat, AB - Matt Konan is having quite the final season of his WHL career. The Tustin, California native set career highs in games played (72), goals (9), assists (45) and points (54). His point total placed him ninth among WHL defencemen and brought about attention from NHL scouts. His agent has been busy all season long and today Konan signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.

"It's been pretty nerve racking. I sat down with my agent and we decided that Philly was the best fit. I'm really happy and excited right now. I'm sitting on top of the world," stated Konan. "I'm honoured to have signed a contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. There is a lot of history within the organization and they're orange and black just like the Tigers, so that's a bonus."

He joins a Flyer team that has a deep blue-line featuring Chris Pronger, Kimmo Timonen, Pavel Kubina, Andrej Meszaros, Matt Carle and WHL alumni Braydon Coburn.

"They're a great organization that is filled with lots of high end talent. I've looked up to Chris Pronger and modeled my game after his. He's a big body with a long stick and he plays a physical style of hockey and I see myself in a similar light," said Konan.

He joined the Tigers as a 16 year old and played 42 games as a rookie. Since then he's become only the seventh player in team history to play over 300 regular season games (301) and has amassed 107 points (19 goals and 88 assists) over that time. The contract marks a major milestone in his career but Konan is still determined to add one more thing to his resume before the end of his junior career, a WHL Championship.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

No comments: