Trade Deadline Day (Pickering and Rumours)

EDIT: Sorry for the misunderstanding last night gang I typed Merritt instead of Vernon when talking about David Robinson. Hopefully that didn't cause anyone to spit out their coffee this morning.

It's like Christmas for a hockey fan... what new player will be under the tree today? I think Trail opened their gift early.

As I hear any juice on the trade deadline front I'll do my best to pass it on to you throughout the day. You can also check out the link to the BCHL transactions page if you want to keep track of when any deals become "official" before midnight tomorrow.

Many teams have made some moves already. I think there's slim to no chance that Trail will do anything more after the addition of veteran defenceman Taylor Swaffied. I'd be shocked if they did. However, the phone will continue to ring. No GM is going to refuse to listen. If Coach and GM Jim Ingram is blown away I'm sure he'll make any move that he believes will help the club. I simply doubt that any are coming given the current roster situation.

So far the biggest "deadline" move in my view has been Vernon's addition of David Robinson. We've also seen Prince George add veteran goaltender Andrew Walsh from Langley for defenceman Brendan Nadolny. Quesnel got into the act again (they've been busy all season) by picking up Justin Hogan from Williams Lake for futures. That's another nice depth move by the Mills who have heavily improved their forward group over the last month or so.

As for any rumours... the first concrete rumour comes from Brian's Making Cents blog. If you read what he writes there it certainly sounds like Andrew Pickering is either on the "wire" or has been traded already. I know Cents Coach and GM Luke Pierce told me he didn't plan on selling off his older players. Will this be a hockey deal? I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

I think it's also pretty clear Prince George is going to be very busy tomorrow. Ed Dempsey's phone is going to be ringing off the hook. The big questions to me are not if PG makes some deals but when, where and how many. I'd say given their age and obvious talent that Wade McLeod and Sam Muchalla would bring the most return. They're both off to school next season, but they're also both 19 year olds who could jump onto any roster no matter how many 89s they had. McLeod to me is more likely to move than Muchalle as Sam is a hometown guy and the Captain.

In a small move that involves a local KIJHL club, Williams Lake has allowed Darren Tarasoff to return to the Castlegar Rebels. The Castlegar native had 3 goals and 8 assists with the Timberwolves. He's the second former WL rookie to rejoin his former KIJHL recently as Dane Rupert is now back with Nelson. I wonder if the Timberwolves are going to have trouble fielding a whole roster for the rest of the season.

There is a ton of talk and I'm sure every GM will be very busy right up until midnight. Good luck to them all.