Nano's letter to the fans

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Paolo Nano announced his retirement yesterday which he knew was coming as he's in his 8th season but it still doesn't make it any easier.  He scored the game winning goal in the first game after his retirement announcement  and appears to be fired up for the final cup run of his career.  We asked Nano share his thoughts about his career and time in Moscow. Here is his letter to the fans. 

 

  I've loved my time here in Moscow,  I played with some great teammates over the years and it's been amazing to see the growth of the team over the last couple of seasons.  We've always been an exciting team to watch even in the early expansion years with entertaining high scoring games. Win or lose we entertain the fans but hopefully this season will end with a win.   Moscow has seen some huge developments the last season or two and now we are ready to contend. I think we have a great chance to win the cup this year and that would be the ultimate way to cap off my career.   I've been to the finals once with Helsinki early in my career and that ended on the bitter taste of defeat. I will share that experience with the guys here and hope it will help motivate the guys to give it their all.  

 

There are two moments in my career that stand out to me. 

 

The first is making it to the finals with Helsinki. eventhough we didn't win its still an accomplishment to make it that far, just sucks to not win it.   Some players may go there whole career without an appearance so I'm happy I at least got there once.

 

Another great moment was signing back with Moscow as a free agent after the disaster with New York.   I should have chosen to sign with Moscow from the beginning as I thoroughly enjoyed my first stint there.  I had narrowed down my options to Moscow and New York and although I love it here I had decided to sign with New York as it would give me a better chance of winning the cup.  I asked the GM before signing the deal if they had the cap space as they appeared to be right up against it and he said they did. It turned out they weren't cap compliant for vets so my contract was voided almost a quarter in to the season.  To be honest I think that was a stupid rule and there should have been just one simple salary cap. Once the contract was voided I was so happy that Moscow was still interested in me. That season ended up being my best offensive season. I had one more point the following season but that was with 14 more games played.   Now that I look back at the whole episode now that I'm at at the end of my career I think it was the best thing that could happen to me. New York didn't win and I got to play with a great organization. 

 

I also want to say a huge thank you to all the menace fans.   You've motivated me to bring my best every single game with your passion.   Let's win the cup for you guys and then I can retire to a villa in Tuscany. 

Arrivederci Moscow, 

Paolo Nano 

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