Interview With Athan Iannucci

One On One....

Kevin M. Neibauer caught up with former Wings superstar, Athan Iannucci. The Washington Stealth forward returned to Philadelphia for the first time since being traded a few seasons ago.

Iannucci, spoke candidly about his team's peformance, returning to Philadelphia and filled us in on what caused his trade. In a LaxPhilly exclusive, One on One...

KMN-Your first trip back to Philly...your thoughts?
AI-"Just getting off the plane, I said, I remember this place. I liked this city, I had a lot of fun here. Good memories.."


KMN-"The trade....care to talk about what generated it?"
AI-"It was a little personality conflict between myself and John Mouradian. He was the GM and we didn't along too well. When he made himself head coach and GM, I wasn't really surprised when it happened. "


KMN- A lot of speculation went around, so let me ask, "Was there a rift between you and Geoff Snider?"
AI-"I don't know, I Think we're both competitors and we both get a little bit fired up in the heat of battle.

There was definately times when we got at each other a bit. But, overall, I have respect for him and I like think he has some respect for me. It was a love/hate relationship at times but, I think he is a good player and I wish him luck."


KMN-"Getting back to Mouradian, any idea why you and him didn't get along?"
AI- "Uh...no comment...actually, there were some things that happened that maybe some other people would say, ok.. I just didn't agree with the morality or philosophy of the situation and I chose to speak up. Sometimes being that guy doesn't work out in your favor, but I stand by what I said."

KMN-"Mouradian was upset in the press conference. He feels that your team was gooning it up."
AI-"He's an emotional guy, it's an emotional game. They had some players on their team that were taking dives, a couple dirty shots. A game like lacrosse or hockey, where's there fighting, sometimes you gotta answer the bell if you are gonna play that way. Like I said, its an emotional game, that happens sometimes.
Crowd loves it, classic Philly."


KMN-"After the fracas, Matty Roik came in, what was going on with that?
AI-"You don't know things are going to go, right. Our goaltender has been playing well, we wanted to keep him out of the penalty box and keep him from getting in trouble."


KMN- "That's a big win for your team..."
AI-"Absolutely, its like our fourth win a row, building confidence. We don't want to looking to string wins together at the end of the year...let's get them now."

Thank You to Athan Iannucci and the Washington Stealth for their cooperation.