AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 19
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Mellanby 99 percent retired
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s exit day here in Duluth, a little earlier than the Thrashers might have hoped. Players have been filing in to get a physical, meet with Don and Bob, sign some autographs, then conduct interviews with the media. Scott Mellanby obviously drew the most attention, and he said he was 99 percent sure he would retire. When asked what would bring him back, he said nothing.
The only thing holding him up may be semantics.
“I don’t really know how it works,” he said.
He said he’ll talk to his agent and file the necessary paperwork, but still didn’t want to say 100 percent so close to the end of the season.
It seemed like every player had some question about whether or not they’d be back. There’s only eight guys on the current roster under contract for next season, so you have the potential for some serious roster turnover going into next season.
While chatting with guys like Pascal Dupuis, Eric Belanger and Jon Sim, it was evident they wanted to come back. Keith Tkachuk didn’t rule anything out, but seemed a little more non-committal with his “you never know” comment. But it’s a longshot. He did say it wasn’t automatic that he’s returning to St. Louis to play, although he was getting Mapquest directions to his St. Louis home to return to his wife and kids.
I’ll update more later in the comments, Don Waddell and Bob Hartley are due to speak here shortly.
