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Lightning: one player has already requested a trade because of the Gators

 Manuel Sperandio-Lemay
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Lightning: one player has already requested a trade because of the Gators

In the NHL, it’s not uncommon for players to request a trade to warmer markets. This is (among other reasons) why markets like Tampa Bay, Sunrise and Los Angeles, to name but a few, are often popular destinations for players.

In the case of Florida, there’s also the lower tax rate.

That said, while many guys like to go and play in these hot regions, it’s not necessarily for everyone either. In a recent video released by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team’s two founders, Phil Esposito and Henry Paul, discussed the case of Anatoli Semenov.

Seminov spent a few years in the NHL in the 1990s, and he wasn’t a bad player. That said, after just 13 games in Tampa Bay (he’d landed there because he’d been selected by the club in the expansion draft) in 1992, he was traded after requesting a trade for a simple reason: his wife thought it was too hot, but she was also terrified of alligators.

Our colleagues at HabsolumentFan found out recently.

Semenov and his wife had arrived from Russia and spent the previous three years in Edmonton. Clearly, his wife was used to colder climates, and more importantly, she wasn’t a big alligator fan.

She’d seen one near their home in Florida, and it obviously affected her quite a bit.

Semenov was eventually sent to Vancouver, where alligators are much rarer. The following year, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim claimed him in the expansion draft, then the Russian player made stops in Philadelphia and Buffalo (interspersed with a return to Anaheim) before retiring.

That said, it’s a pretty funny story, and clearly, Esposito and Paul are laughing about it today. I guess they didn’t expect to have to trade a player so quickly for such a reason, but in the end, it makes for a great story to tell years later.


In bursts

– This is Alex Newhook’s sister.

– That’s right.

– Mark Anton Wahlberg signs his entry-level contract in Buffalo.

– Beautiful reading on this July 14.

– It’s going to get a lot of attention over the next few weeks.

– Oops.

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