I'm just going to post the trades I can find information for here with links and very brief commentary. We can leave futher anlysis to a later date and perhaps to more well informed people. This week on Mountain FM's Overtime I intend to seek out the movers and shakers in the BCHL to talk about the deals they made and get a sense of what that means for the playoff race.
Jan 6, 2008: The Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the BCHL acquire the playing rights of Bryan Gillis (88)(G) from the Antigonish Bulldogs of the MJAHL in exchange for future consideratio
ns.Click here for the Silverbacks press release. Gillis is a terrific goaltender who stole the show at the World Jr A Hockey Challenge in Trail and Nelson this past fall. He's a big upgrade for Salmon Arm and could be the difference in a series against the other top teams in the Interior. Looked very solid in the 5-1 win over Trail.
Jan 7, 2008: The Victoria Grizzlies Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Grant Toulmin (89)(F) to the Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for the release from the Spruce Kings and click here for Victoria's release. I don't really understand the move to be honest. Toulmin is at the right age to fit into Victoria's plans for an RBC run next year. With 26 points in 37 games he seemed to be playing quite well as an 18 year old. You would think he'd be among the team's top scorers next year. Big forward who should help the Spruce Kings as they make a run for the playoffs. Victoria says the player they'll get from Prince George is the key to the deal for next year, so we'll have to wait and see who that ends up being.
Jan 8, 2008: The Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey Club acquires the playing rights of Kevin Koopman (88)(D) from the Merritt Centennials Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for the release from Merritt. Check out my part 1 of my post for more thoughts on this deal. Koopman fills a giant hole for the Smokies. Hard to know how good a deal it is for Merritt until we find out what player they'll get.
Jan 9, 2008: The Merritt Centennials Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Jorday Zalba (88)(F) to the Victoria Grizzlies Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for the release from Victoria. Merritt's says the same thing it did about Koopman essentially. Zalba is an Island boy and Victoria's release indicates he'll be helping them get to the playoffs this year. However, Zalba is still only 19 and could be back for their RBC run next year. Whatever they are giving up to get Zalba must be less than they are getting from Prince George for Toulmin.
Jan 9, 2008: The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Andrew Hammond (88)(G) to the Vernon Vipers Hockey Club in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for the release from Vernon. After losing their goaltender to college, the Vipers had to do something. They apparently were looking at a couple of Jr B goaltenders, but ultimately got Hammond from Surrey. Hammond's numbers are pretty good. He's a rookie in the BCHL, but a 19 year old rookie. An 89.90 save percentage is pretty solid. It'll at least provide good competition for Gore. I don't think Hammond stacks up to the goaltending Penticton, Westside or Salmon Arm has though.
Jan 9, 2008: The Quesnel Millionaires Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Chris Baker (87)(F) to the Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL in exchange for the playing rights of Thomas Kala (89)(F).
Click here for the release from Quesnel. Kala is a 5'8, 160lbs forward who played Jr B hockey in Victoria last season. He's apparently a very quick skater and should help Quesnel down the road. Baker was just going to play out the rest of the season and the Millionaires are almost sure not going to be contenders this year. They make the move without improving their competitors. Quesnel also released Darryl Gagnon to Fernie of the KIJHL.
That's it so far for trades posted on the BCHL website. However, other deals were announced by the teams themselves.
Jan 10, 2008: The Cowichan Valley Capitals Hockey Club tranfer the playing rights of Clinton Pettapiece (87)(F) to the Westside Warriors Hockey Club in exchange for the playing rights of Alex Gellert (89)(F) and future considerations.
Click here for the release from Westside. I'm hearing that the future considerations Westside will give up are going to be very significant. How can we properly judge this deal without knowing just how significant they'll be? I guess first by saying that the Warriors just added one of the top scorers in the entire league. Westside has the third lowest goals against in the league. However, their scoring is right in the middle of the pack. With Pettapiece coming in and Arduin returning soon from injury, that's bound to change. The Warriors are in second place without Arduin and Pettapiece. Their addition could easily take them to the next level. Gellert isn't a huge loss to a contending team, but they also sent Chris Shudo to Mellville of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in order to make a 20 year old slot available. Shudo wasn't an all-star, but it is a loss from the roster. In terms of this year's roster the Warriors have only had to give up Santiago, Gellert and Shudo to get Pettapiece and Arduin. That is a very significant upgrade. The Warriors are likely the most improved team after the deadline.
Jan 10, 2008: The Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Chris Santiago (89)(F) to the Victoria Grizzlies Hockey Club in exchange for the playing rights of Chris Markiewicz (88)(D).
Click here for the release from Victoria. Markiewicz refused to report to Trail and was shipped to Alberta. Santiago was the immediate return in the David Arduin trade. More on the deal in Part 1 of this post.
Jan 10, 2008: The Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Chris Markiewicz (88)(D) to the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in exchange for future considerations.
Again there's more information in the earlier post. An unfortunately rushed move, but could turn into something nice for next season.
Jan 10, 2008: The Vernon Vipers Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Patrick Raley (89)(D) to the Trail Smoke Eaters in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for Vernon's release. More info in the earlier post. Vernon picked up a couple of former WHL defencemen at the deadline and sent Raley to a situation where he'd have a chance to play. Trail gets a D they needed after Markiewicz refused to report.
Jan 10, 2008: The Vernon Vipers Hockey Club acquire the playing rights of Kevin Kraus (89)(D) from the Tri City Americans of the Western Hockey League and of Justin Palazzo (89)(D) from the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League.
Click here for Vernon's release. Palazzo had 4 points in 37 WHL games this year with Vancouver and Prince Albert. He was a -5 with 56 penalty minutes. He's also 6'4 and 202lbs. A big guy with WHL experience. Kevin Kraus had 5 points in 21 games with Tri-City. He is also a big guy at 6'2 and 202lbs. They should add some size and experience to Vernon's blue line. However, it doesn't look like either guy is much of a point producer.
Jan 10, 2008: The Surrey Eagles acquire the playing rights of Tommy Tartaglione (88)(G) from the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League.
No official release yet but he's listed on Surrey's BCHL roster. Tartaglione has been with three different WHL teams in three season. He's never posted a save percentage about .900 and his G.A.A. went from 2.15 with Vancouver two years ago to 3.59 this year in Prince George. That being said, a .894 save percentage in the WHL is a decent number and should mean that he's an upgrade over Hammond in Surrey. We'll see how that goes. This is obviously a big step for Trataglione as he's 19 and doesn't have much more time to prove himself as a starter that can lead a team.
Jan 10, 2008: The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club have acquired the playing rights of Morgan MacLean (88)(F) from the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in exchange for future considerations.
Click here for the Spruce Kings' release. MacLean played most of the year with the Prince George Cougars in the WHL so this is a natural move. He scored 10 points in 30 games with the Cougars, but likely wouldn't have returned to the WHL as a 20 year old so he may be with the Spruce Kings for next year as well.
Jan 10, 2008: The Prince George Spruce Kings Hockey Club have transfered the playing rights of Ryan deVries (87)(D) to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations.
deVries is very good defenceman at the Junior A level and his departure will certainly hurt the Spruce Kings. He's scoring at a very impressive 0.8 points per game clip from the blue line. However, they're a team that will finish no better than 5th in the Interior and it makes sense to try and get some value out of a top end 20 year old when you're building for the future. Smokies fans will like seeing deVries go as they fight with PG for 5th, but won't like seeing PG bolster their forwards with MacLean and Toulmin.
January 10th, 2008: The Merritt Centennials Hockey Club have acquired the playing rights of Jordan Wilkins (90)(D) from the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League.
Click here for Merritt's release. Wilkins is a hulking 6'4 and 210lbs. He had a goal in 30 games this year and another goal in 25 games last year with the Ice. Seems to have developped more of an edge this year by jumping his penalty minutes from 5 to 32. I would imagine he's just looking to get some playing time before returning to the WHL next year, and with all the rumoured departures from Merritt there will certainly be lots of playing time for him. If he does stick around next year, a player that size could certainly do some damage in Merrit's rink.
January 10th, 2008: The Merritt Centennials Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Eric Ruud (87)(F) to the Weyburn Red Wings of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in exchange for future considerations.
No release yet but click here to see the SJHL transactions. Ruud just killed the Smoke Eaters when they played Merritt. He really jump started his junior career when he moved to the Cents earlier this year. He's been absolutely terrific there in a situation that allowed him to play a lot of minutes in key situations. Ruud went from posting numbers like 0.7 points per game to 1.6 points per game this year. If he reports to Weyburn he'll get a chance to play for one of the better teams in that league and prove himself in a competative situation. Good luck to him.
I've heard about several departures from Merritt at and around the deadline. However, there's nothing official on their website or any other site I can find. Until I get official word I'll just have to leave the speculation to other people. However, I can say it's going to be a pretty bare bones and youthful roster in Merritt the rest of the way. Certainly an opportunity for their young guys to get some significant ice time and kind of a baptism by fire.
Am I missing anything? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the list. What do you think about the big trades? What teams improved the most and what teams didn't do enough? Any and all thoughts are welcome. I'll continue to update as more trades come in.
EDIT: More deals...
Jan 10, 2008: The Burnaby Express Hockey Club of the BCHL acquire the playing rights of Tim Holloway (88)(F) from the Drayton Valley Thunder of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations.
Holloway a lot of BCHL experience. He'll add a veteran pressence to Langley. Described as a guy who won't put up a ton of points, but he'll do a solid job and give you solid minutes in key games.
Jan 10, 2008: The Salmon Arm SilverBacks of the BCHL tranfer the playing rights of Graeme Gordon (89) (G) to the Merritt Centennials of the BCHL in exchange for future considerations.
With Brian Gillis coming in to stat for Salmon Arm, it looks like Gordon was the odd man out. Neither Mainprize or McConnell played for Merritt last night in their 5-3 loss to Prince George. If they're gone from Merritt that means Gordon can come in and be the starter there. I'm sure he'll see a lot of rubber, anyway.
Jan 10, 2008: The Langley Chiefs Hockey Club of the BCHL acquire the playing rights of Russell Laforest from the Antiganish Bulldogs of the MJAHL in exchange for future considerations.
Laforest appears to be another veteran role player. Langley adding some experience at the deadline, but it doesn't look like much scoring.
Jan 10, 2008: The Quesnel Millionaires Hockey Club of the BCHL transfers the playing rights of Lee Pagee (87)(F) to the Camore Eagles Hockey Club of the AJHL in exchange for future considerations.
Pagee is certainly a big loss for the Mills, but with them on the outside of the playoff picture at the moment it's probably better for him.Jan 10, 2008: The Merritt Centennials Hockey Club of the BCHL transfers the playing rights of Johnny Mahovlich (89)(D) to the Olds Grizzlies Hockey Club of the AJHL in exchange for the playing rights of Adam Grier (89)(F) and future considerations
Jan 10, 2008: The Westside Warriors Hockey Club transfer the playing rights of Chris Shudo (87)(F) to the Mellville Millionairs in exchange for future considerations.
I had heard rumours that Shudo wouldn't report, but he apparently made his debut there this weekend. Good luck to him!
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