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According to Canes media relations guru Mike Sundheim, it's about ten steps between the home and visiting locker rooms at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Adam Hall, the newest Hurricane, will make that short journey tonight to face his now-former team at his now-former home rink after the Canes picked him up on waivers from Tampa Bay this afternoon.
Hall, who at age 32 immediately becomes the oldest forward on the Hurricanes' roster, is just what the Canes were looking for when GM Jim Rutherford said earlier in the week that they were searching for a third- or fourth-line forward who brought a physical edge to his game and was defensively responsible. A winger by trade, Hall nonetheless has led the Lightning in faceoff winning percentage at 56.2% this season, and in 2010-11 he led the Lightning with 152 hits while playing all 82 games.
Hall will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and earns a salary of $650,000 on his one-year deal he signed before the lockout. With only 19 games remaining, the Canes will be responsible for a little less than a quarter of that total.
The release from the team is posted below.
HURRICANES ACQUIRE ADAM HALL ON WAIVERS
Veteran forward eligible to play for Carolina tonight against Tampa Bay
RALEIGH, NC – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired forward Adam Hall on waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hall is eligible to play for Carolina tonight against his former team in Tampa Bay.
Hall, 32, has appeared in 20 games for the Lightning this season, registering four assists. TheKalamazoo, MI, native ranks first among Lightning skaters in face-off winning percentage (56.4%) and tied for third on the team in penalty minutes (23). Originally selected by the Nashville Predators in the second round, 52nd overall, of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, Hall (6’2", 212 lbs.) has totaled 65 goals, 82 assists (147 points) and 259 penalty minutes in 585 career NHL games with Nashville, the New York Rangers, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. He has appeared in 49 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Predators, Wild, Penguins and Lightning, totaling seven goals, six assists (13 points) and 25 penalty minutes.