Coyotes Sign Jovanovski to Five Year Dea

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Michael Barnett announced that the Coyotes have signed defenseman Ed Jovanovski to a 5-year contract. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jovanovski has played the past 7 seasons with Vancouver, during which he competed in 3 NHL All-Star Games (2001, 2002, & 2003). The native of Windsor, Ontario led Canucks' defensemen in scoring for 3 consecutive seasons from 2000-01 through 2002-03 & was honored with the Walter "Babe" Pratt Award as the Canucks' top defenseman in each of those campaigns. In 2001-02, he ranked 2nd among NHL defensemen with 17 goals & set career highs in both goals & points (48). Jovanovski ranks 5th in Canucks' history in scoring among defensemen with 234 points with the club.

Jovanovski was named to Team Canada's 2006 Winter Olympics squad in December, but was unable to participate due to a groin injury that caused him to miss a total of 38 NHL games with the Canucks last season. It would have been his 2nd Olympic Games as Jovanovski won a gold medal with Team Canada in 2002 in Salt Lake City. His impressive resume of international competition also includes helping Team Canada win the World Cup of Hockey in 2004 & he was a member of Canada's silver medal-winning 1996 World Cup team. Additionally, he won a gold medal at the 2004 World Championships & a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships with Team Canada.

"He was the player we wanted," said Coyotes Managing Partner-Head Coach Wayne Gretzky. "This is huge for our franchise."

"I'm excited about being a part of this organization, & playing for Wayne Gretzky," said Jovanovski. "I really respect the group of players that they have assembled. The Coyotes are commited to winning right now & I wanted to be a part of it."

Jovanovski, who turned 30-years-old on Monday, posted 8-25-33 & 58 penalty minutes (PIM) in 44 games with Vancouver last season. He ranked 11th among NHL defensemen in points per game at .75 (minimum 10 games played) in 2005-06. After playing in just 2 games in over 3 months due to his groin injury, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound blueliner returned to the Canucks' lineup for the final 5 contests of the season, registering 2-3-5 including the game-winning overtime goal in his 1st game back on Apr. 8th versus Calgary.