By Ryan Pinder /
The BCHL’s trade deadline has come and gone. With a shortage of teams looking to sell players, the Jan. 10 event would have been a total snoozer if not for the Spruce Kings throwing a Boxing Day style liquidation
Prince George.
The top team in the BCHL emerges from the deadline as most improved, which is a scary thought considering they had just four regulation losses when the deadline passed.
With two teams ranked in the top three in the nation, and three clubs named in the CJHL Top 20 the Interior looks like the toughest division in Canada. After the passing of the trade deadline it looks even stronger.
Vernon Vipers
The top team in the BCHL has added another couple weapons for the stretch run. F - Sahir Gill (‘92), who spurned the Vipers this Summer and bolted to the Chicago Steel of the USHL, is now back in the Okanagan to help the Vipers in their quest for back-to-back National Championships. The snakes now have the deepest group of forwards in the country. Amid the soap opera feel of the Gill saga, the Vipers also added disgruntled Chilliwack power forward F - David Robinson (‘89).
Penticton Vees
Losing F - Taylor Peters (‘92) back to Portland was a big blow to the Vees down the middle, as F - Eric Filiou’s (‘89) battle with mono has left them with few healthy pivots. Desperately needing another forward, the Vees grabbed 20-year-old F - Andrew Pickering to bolster their roster heading into the playoffs. Pickering has been extremely productive in his three year BCHL career despite playing the last three seasons on losing squads. Andrew has 84 career points in 116 career BCHL games.
Westside Warriors
Amid their best statistical season in franchise history, the Warriors elected to sit on the sidelines on trade deadline day. You can’t blame rookie GM and Head Coach Darren Yopyk either. With F - Greyson Downing (‘92) and F - Tyler Krause (‘91) expected back in the line-up by the beginning of February the Warriors will be adding two talented forwards very soon. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for D - Michael Quinn (‘90) whom will need a long playoff run to make a return to the Warriors line-up.
Salmon Arm Silverbacks
D - Kyle Peden (‘89) joins the Silverbacks from a dreadful Drayton Valley Club that hasn’t done much winning in his two years there. The solid all around defenceman will surely be happy at the opportunity to collect wins (the Thunder only had seven victories last year), and the gorillas add more depth to a young back end that is improving as the season continues. Salmon Arm finds itself an island in the Interior Conference nearly out of the third place race, way up on fifth spot.
Quesnel Millionaires
In a message to their long-suffering fan base the Mills didn’t shop any of their veterans at the deadline. Glen Watson’s first year has been a success, with the club set to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. With most of the tinkering done in the Fall, Quesnel is now without question the class of the Cariboo. If only the club could get more consistency from G – Kirby Halcrow (‘91), who was a member of Team Canada West in November, but has struggled since.
Merritt Centennials
Luke Pierce has stabilized the Cents since taking over coaching and managing duties from the brothers Forsythe. Pierce also granted F - Andrew Pickering (‘89) his wish to play for a contender in his final BCHL season moving him to Penticton in exchange for unknown quantity F – Sam Gemmell (‘90) who was playing at ASU before playing a pair of games early in the new year. The Cents should make the playoffs, but will struggle if their road
woes continue.
Trail Smoke Eaters
After a horrid start to the campaign, the Smokies have rounded into form in 2010. The additions of F - Michael Betz (‘92), F - Steve Oursov (90), and D - Taylor Swaffield (‘89) have given the team much needed depth. Should D - Graeme Strukoff (‘91) return from injury, the Smokies will have eight natural defenders on the team, which should ease the goaltending load. One glaring issue in Trail is the penalty kill, where the Smokies are only better than the lowly T-wolves.
Prince George Spruce Kings
P.G. brass Eddy Dempsey and Mike Hawes held all the cards at the Jan. 10 trade deadline. With the Spruce Kings mired in a ten-game losing streak, acquiring talent for the 2010/2011 season was the order of the day. Prince George moved F – Brooks Robinson (‘89), D – Wes McLeod (‘90), F - Marcus Watson (’89), and G - Steve Papciuk (‘90) to teams in the AJHL, while D – Justin Fillion (‘89) was moved to Surrey. 2010/2011 is now the focus up North.
Williams Lake Timberwolves
D - Riley Sweeney (‘92) was a coveted player at the trade deadline and the T-wolves rookie assistant GM Brandon Wright managed to parley him into some cash and a player for next season. The disaster in Billy’s Pond this year sees the club last in the BCHL in goals for, points, road wins and penalty kill percentage. The team is second to last in goals against, and power play. Perhaps making the playoffs shouldn’t have been a publicly stated goal at the beginning of the season. |