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Throwback Thursday: This week in 2006, Edmonton Oilers acquire Jaroslav Spack, Dick Tarnstrom
By Zach Laing
Jan 28, 2021, 16:14 ESTUpdated: Jan 28, 2021, 16:28 EST
Welcome back to another edition of Throwback Thursday!
This week in 2006 (Jan. 26), the Edmonton Oilers acquired defenceman Jaroslav Spacek and Dick Tarnstrom to solidify their defence ahead of a playoff run.
Spacek came into Edmonton and the 31-year-old was nothing short of a stud. In 31 regular-season games to close the campaign, he scored five goals and 19 points before adding another 14 points in 24 playoff games.
Tarnstrom, meanwhile, played in 22 regular-season games scoring four points, before tallying two points in 12 playoff games.
“We’ve added, what we think, are two pretty good defencemen,” assistant GM Scott Howson told then Edmonton Sun scribe and current OilersNation writer Robin Brownlee in a Los Angeles hotel after the deals. “We have eight (defencemen) here. We think we have eight good ones.”
For Spacek, the Oilers moved unsigned prospect Tony Salmelainen, who only played 57 games for Chicago, while Edmonton traded Jani Rita and Cory Cross to the Penguins for Tarnstrom.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.
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