By Adrian Nieoczym /
The sputtering Kelowna Rockets needed something to shake them up. So management went out and traded away their leading scorer.
The Rockets shipped 19-year-old Czech forward Stepan Novotny, along with his 14 goals and 25 points in 23 games, to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for 19-year-old
Geordie Wudrick.
Wudrick scored 35 goals and 57 points last season. This year, he had eight goals and 14 points in 24 games for the Broncos and has added two goals and three points in his first three games for the Rockets. Also going to the Broncos was prospect Tanner Clark.
While Novotny’s scoring was up significantly this season, his play had tapered off since his red-hot start, which included a five-point night in the first game. And when he isn’t scoring goals, weaknesses in other parts of his game become magnified.
“Stepan scored some goals but there’s two ends of the rink here and his defensive end was average,” said Rockets president and general manager, Bruce Hamilton, who added Novotny had gotten into the habit of holding onto the puck too long rather than trying to set up his line mates.
Wudrick should be able to replace most of Novotny’s scoring.
“He’ll score goals. He had 35 goals last year,” said Hamilton. “He’ll go to areas to score goals too, that we weren’t getting before.”
Wudrick brings a couple of commodities the Rockets have been lacking this season: size and a left-handed shot, which has been particularly missed on the powerplay.
“He’s a big body, he’ll go in and protect the puck in the corners,” said Rockets assistant captain, Brandon McMillan, who is familiar with Wudrick from their minor hockey days in the Lower Mainland. “And he’s got a great shot.”
Kelowna’s head coach, Ryan Huska, likes the grit that goes with Wudrick’s scoring ability. “He’s a guy who has touch around the net and as I said, I think the one thing that we’re looking for out of him is that compete factor along walls to make sure he’s willing to go get pucks and be involved physically,” said Huska. “He’s a talented player and I think the more comfortable that he gets, I think the better he’s going to be.”
Wudrick is listed at 6-3 and 208 pounds. The Los Angeles Kings third round pick described himself as a “power forward with skill who likes to get to the net.”
“I love scoring goals,” he said. “I’ve got to shoot the puck on the powerplay, get to the net five-on-five and just shoot the puck and shoot it hard.”
He added however, that Kelowna’s coaching staff has been sure to emphasize his defensive responsibilities. “I’ve got to be able to block shots and get the puck out of our zone.”
Wudrick said he was surprised to find out he had been traded but is thrilled the Rockets wanted him.
“It’s a big time trade they made obviously, giving up their top scorer for me and I’m just really proud and honoured to be a part of this organization,” he said. |