MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com-DENVER – The Colorado Mammoth announced today a trade for the rights to goalie Chris Levis of the Calgary Roughnecks.  In exchange, the Roughnecks received the Mammoth’s 2011 second-round entry draft selection.  Colorado has also signed veteran forward Chris Gill.

Levis and Gill are no strangers to Denver, having each played for the Mammoth in past seasons. Following a year with the Edmonton Rush, Levis stayed in Alberta and began this season with Calgary.

“Familiarity played a big role in him coming here,” said Steve Govett, the Mammoth’s president, general manager and interim head coach.  “I know him well and he knows the team well.  Any time you make a mid-season trade like this, it helps when you don’t have to go through introducing him to a new team and a new system.”

The left-handed goalie from Windsor, Ontario will look to shore up a goaltending tandem with current Mammoth goalie Andrew Leyshon, as a young Mammoth squad works to better position itself in the West Division standings.
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 “Chris brings a more veteran presence on the bench,” explained Govett.  “In the goal, he plays a different style than Andy Leyshon, so it will help in showing opposing offenses a different look when switching goalies.  Chris’s experience is the number one strength that he brings to this team.”

In 2009, Levis logged 596 minutes between the pipes for the Rush with an 11.27 goals against average and a 775 save percentage.

Gill replaced injured captain John Gallant on the 23-man roster.  The Mammoth has placed Gallant on the injured reserve list following successful surgery to repair the broken bone in his hand.  Gill, who played for the Mammoth in three of the last four seasons including the 2009 campaign, has scored 337 goals and recorded 219 assists in his NLL career.

Govett feels that Colorado has a good amount of young defensive depth, which allowed the Mammoth to replace a defenseman with a forward on the roster.DENVER – The Colorado Mammoth announced today a trade for the rights to goalie Chris Levis of the Calgary Roughnecks.