BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi Sea Wolves coach and director of hockey operations Bob Woods announced today that the team has acquired defenseman Nic Bilotto (buh-LAHT-toh) in a trade on deadline day with the Charlotte Checkers for defenseman Andrei Lupandin (AHWN-dray lew-PAHN-dihn).
Bilotto, 25, is currently playing for the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. The 6-foot-2 and 215-pound Bilotto has tallied three goals, 10 points, a plus/minus of +3 and 26 penalty minutes in 15 games with Springfield this season. The native of Montreal, Quebec also appeared in 49 games with Charlotte registering seven goals, 28 points, a plus/minus of +13 and 66 penalty minutes. Bilotto was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round, 149th overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.
Lupandin, 26, played in 34 games with Mississippi picking up six goals, 21 points, a plus/minus of +1 and 25 penalty minutes. A native of Kharkiv, Ukraine signed with the Sea Wolves as a free agent on October 5, 2003. The 5-foot-10 and 190-pound Lupandin is in his fifth full season of professional hockey.
�It was tough to give up Lupandin,� said Woods. �He�s been playing great, especially of late. But you have to give up something, to get something and we wanted to get bigger on the blueline. Bilotto addresses that area of concern, but we�re not sure when he will join us.�
Mississippi begins a three-game road swing at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow against the Louisiana IceGators at Cajundome in Lafayette. Listen live at 6:50 p.m. starting with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com. The Sea Wolves next home game is at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, March 26 versus Louisiana at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Keesler Federal Credit Union has sponsored 2-for-1 military night for the game. The broadcast starts at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com.
Tickets for the game against Louisiana can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 594-3707 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Season tickets for 2004-05 are on sale now! Discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are also available for this season by calling (228) 275-WOLF.
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