Boston Cannons GM Kevin Barney went one on one with us about trading for Stephen Berger from the New York Lizards.
1. How long have you been working on this move? The idea and talks started about a week or 2 ago when NY showed interest in Steve Mock. Coach Tucker and I agreed when he took over that we had the talent on this team to turn it around, but we’ve been exploring options for weeks now to make us a better team. While we have won 3 in a row, we are still 1 game under .500 and have to continue to play better each week and win the next game in front of us. We have a tough stretch of games coming up against Charlotte, Chesapeake and Hamilton and we wanted to make sure we had the depth and players to be in the position each week to be successful.
2. What does Berger bring to the team? Stephen is a dynamic, high energy player who has been a great player in this league for several years. We are in the middle of a grinding MLL season, and with that depth is key to success. He adds great depth at midfield for us, while being someone we are confident can execute and produce. His ability to dodge and be a threat around the crease off-ball will add more options to our offense. He is a competitor who wants to win and do whatever he can to help this team succeed.
3. In such a tight race this year is it hard to make moves? Yes, the way the standings are now, every team wants to get better, but you don’t want to give up too much or disrupt the chemistry of your team. With every team still fighting for a spot at Champ Weekend no one wanted to give up top talent and all the negotiations were difficult to come up with deals that both sides could see short and long term benefit from. Coach Spallina and I spent more time on the phone yesterday trying to work out this deal than any other trade I have completed.
4. In the other trade, what does Ricky Pages bring to the team? Berger is obviously going to garner a lot of the headlines, but I am just as excited about picking up Ricky Pages this week. Ricky is an athletic, high energy, physical player. He is also a great locker room guy who lives in Boston. We have depth at LSM, but we have also seen injury and scheduling force us to play several different line-ups at defense. Ricky is another proven MLL player who if called upon we have 100% confidence that he can help our team win.
