The long awaited saga of Ondrej Palat's stay with the Fort Erie Falcons came to an end on Sunday.
The Falcons sent Palat and fourth line center Mark Letestu to Rejkjavik for Claude Giroux, Andrej Sekera and a third-round draft pick in 2019.
In being dealt to Rejkjavik, Palat returns to the place where he has had the most success in the CCHL after failed stops in both Sudbury and Fort Erie this season.
"Sometimes things just don't work out for whatever reason. I didn't play well here and when I didn't play good, they didn't play me. It'll be good to go back to the Puffin and contribute there. I was comfortable there and it's good to be going to a familiar place rather than living in a hotel" said Palat as he left the Falcons' practice arena Sunday morning.
Falcons GM Matt Young echoed the same sentiments as Palat when discussing the left winger's time in Fort Erie.
"Listen, he didn't play well. Something didn't click here. He was a good soldier and tried hard, but it just didn't work. When it was apparent that it wasn't going to work, we wanted to get him back to where he was comfortable before. It was an easy deal to work out with Chris (REK GM Wolter) today" answered Young.
Young continued to address the trade.
"We're excited to get Claude and Andrej. Both have been Falcons before. Claude was around for our run to the finals for a few years there and knows how to win. He'll likely finish the year on the fourth line and we have begun to talk to him about a move to left wing next season so he can play in our top nine forward group."
"He's open to it, so that's a great start" concluded Young on the topic of Giroux.
As for Sekera, Fort Erie is excited to have him aboard and he should get significant minutes on the power play to help improve a component of the Falcons game that has struggled all year.
"He's a nice luxury to have. He can play in all situations but should help our power play, which is really why we got him" added Young
While it's unknown who will come out of the lineup, word around the league is that the Falcons have let other teams know Petry is available for a pick or prospect. If that's true, it sounds like the team has already decided the lineup change that will result from this transaction.
The Falcons are back in action tomorrow night as they host Las Vegas for the first time this season.
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