CURTIS MURPHY SENT TO NASHVILLE AND PETER SMREK SENT TO OTTAWA IN THREE-TEAM TRADE



SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Houston Aeros President and General Manager Dave Barr announced today that the Minnesota Wild (National Hockey League) have acquired left wing Chris Bala from the Ottawa Senators in a three-team trade involving the Nashville Predators and the Ottawa Senators. As part of the trade, Minnesota traded defenseman Curtis Murphy to Nashville and defenseman Peter Smrek was traded by Nashville to Ottawa.



Bala, 24 (9/24/78), registered 24 points (6-18=24) in 51 games with the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2002-03 campaign. He notched seven points (2-5=7) in 14 playoff games. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound left wing was named to the AHL All-Star Team in his first professional season scoring 21 goals and 37 points with Grand Rapids in 2001-02. The Alexandria, Virginia-native also appeared in six NHL contests with Ottawa during the 2001-02 campaign. Bala made his NHL debut on March 27, 2002, against the New York Islanders and recorded his first NHL point, an assist, against Carolina on April 2, 2002.



He collected 99 points (45-54=99) in 123 games during a four-year collegiate career at Harvard University. Ottawa originally selected Bala in the second round (58th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft.



Murphy played two seasons with the Aeros and was named the winner of the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s Outstanding Defenseman following the 2002-03 regular season. He played in 197 consecutive games for Houston, including playoffs and regular season, over the past two years and participated in the AHL All-Star Game both seasons.



CHRIS BALA’S CAREER STATISTICS

Regular Season Playoffs

Season Team League GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM

1997-98 Harvard ECAC 33 16 14 30 23 -- -- -- -- --

1998-99 Harvard ECAC 28 5 10 15 16 -- -- -- -- --

1999-00 Harvard ECAC 30 10 14 24 18 -- -- -- -- --

2000-01 Harvard ECAC 32 14 16 30 24 -- -- -- -- --

2001-02 Grand Rapids AHL 70 21 16 37 9 4 0 1 1 8

Ottawa NHL 6 0 1 1 0 -- -- -- -- --

2002-03 Binghampton AHL 51 6 18 24 20 14 2 5 7 4

NHL TOTALS 6 0 1 1 0



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