One of junior hockey’s most intriguing deals was finalized on Tuesday.
The Windsor Spitfires and Guelph Storm hooked up on a three player, nine draft pick blockbuster whose undertones were an even bigger storyline than its sheer volume. It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last, but when a father trades his son, the storyline garners attention.
Windsor co-owner and general manager Warren Rychel cashed in his biggest assets by dealing son Kerby and 19-year-old defender Nick Ebert to Guelph in exchange for forward Brody Milne and a cache of picks, including a staggering five second-round picks (with the potential of becoming six if Ebert plays one game as an overage next season).
With this trade, life imitated art — namely a popular commercial.
Like when the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning parted ways a year and a half ago, this parting was influenced largely due to the circumstances. The Spitfires were left without much future following the stripping of draft picks in the summer of 2012 due to violating the league’s recruitment and benefit policy.
Proceeding down a path where the meager draft picks limited their trade possibilities this season, putting their future at risk was something the organization just wasn’t able to do.
“The next three years would have been desolation,” Spitfires co-owner and head coach Bob Boughner told the Windsor Star. “There would have been nothing in bank. This allowed us to address weaknesses and have assets.”
Although the Spitfires were hot after a slow start, the reality is that they wouldn’t have had the ability to compete with the London Knights, Erie Otters and Guelph Storm in a frenzied trade market, let alone in what should be a playoff season for the ages.
This deal had been rumoured for weeks. Both teams denied it as late as Monday, the day before it became a reality.
Where there was smoke, there was certainly fire. However, the rumour mill churned out Tampa Bay first-rounder Slater Koekkoek, not Ebert. Ebert’s inclusion and Koekkoek’s omission could have been the final hurdle to overcome.
Guelph Mercury reporter Tony Saxon, who took some heat for reporting Koekkoek as part of the deal, explained the inner workings of the deal and how he reported it. Storm GM Mike Kelly explained to Saxon just how dynamic is the player he acquired.
“I think he is the premier power forward in the league,” Kelly said. “Sometimes you get that without the scoring touch, but over the last three years he’s been the highest scoring player in the league bar-none. That’s a pretty nice combination.”
Koekkoek remains in Windsor, though for now his future is in question. It would make a lot of sense for the Spitfires to continue cashing in on assets like him and 19-year-old forward Brady Vail by trading them, but the Spits aren’t publically declaring themselves sellers. Koekkoek was rumoured to only welcome a trade to MasterCard Memorial Cup host London, a notion his camp is denying.
There’s a lot left to determine before the OHL’s Jan. 10 trade deadline, including the future of Kitchener Rangers forward Radek Faksa.
HOCKEY CANADA CAMP ANNOUNCED, DEALT BLOW
Canada’s world junior team is already taking shape with a surprisingly small camp roster of 25 named on Monday. Only three players will be cut this time around as the Canadian contingent looks to return to the medal platform after missing out last year for the first time in 15 years.
Only three players will be cut from camp, a much smaller number than has been the norm. A summer tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., along with the Subway Super Series in late Nov., put Hockey Canada brass in as good a position as possible to cherry pick the roster.
Only one National Hockey League player was loaned to camp, former Red Deer Rebels captain Mathew Dumba who played under Canada’s head coach Brent Sutter in Red Deer prior to joining the Wild. Two forwards and one defenceman will be cut during camp, which begins on Thursday and concludes on Sunday in Toronto.
There are three returnees from last year’s tournament (four if counting Charles Hudon, who made the team but missed the tournament due to injury). Jonathan Drouin, who figures to be a huge part of this year’s team, had a rough week. First, he took a knee-on-knee on Thursday.
He recovered from it quickly enough to put his world junior aspirations in more peril, when on Friday Drouin took a hit from behind by Quebec’s Adam Erne.
Drouin suffered a possible concussion on the Erne hit, Mooseheads GM Cam Russell told the Chronicle Herald’s Willy Palov. What this means for Drouin and his eligibility for Canada’s world junior team remains in question heading into Thursday’s camp.
Hockey Canada opted to bring returnee Griffin Reinhart to camp in spite of the fact he still has a three game suspension remaining to be served after a suspension in last year’s tournament.
Only two goalies were named to camp: Jake Paterson and Zachary Fucale. Paterson made last year’s team as the third-string goalie and did not play, but is pegged as the starter heading into camp.
As is always the case, there were some surprising omissions, notably Max Domi and Darnell Nurse. Not so, says Sportsnet’s Gare Joyce.
Goaltending will continue to be a focal point for Canada after some letdowns from the position in previous tournaments. The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle delved deep into the heart of the debate, showing how countries like Sweden, Finland and the United States continue producing quality goaltenders while Canada is falling behind.
PATS FOR SALE?
One of the Western Hockey League’s premier franchises continues being rumoured as a landing spot for a new ownership group. Former NHLer Nevin Markwart, a former Regina Pat, was in attendance for a Pats game the previous weekend. Markwart has made his interest in purchasing the team from Russ Parker known, even if the team isn’t officially for sale.
“What I would say is this: In order to have a buyer you have to have a seller,” Markwart told the Regina Leader-Post’s Greg Harder.
“When the time comes that the Parker family is selling, I know there is a very community-minded group here in Regina that would want to have a discussion. There are a number of Regina-based hockey people who have been my friends my whole life that could do a terrific job with the hockey side of the business.”
The Pats have often been rumoured for sale in previous years. The story notes Parker, among other sources, have said a sale in ownership wouldn’t happen until the off-season.
There may never be a better time than now for Parker to sell the team. The iconic franchise hasn’t had much success on the ice, and even missed the playoffs when Jordan Eberle and Colten Teubert starred as 19-year-olds in their final year of junior. The price, which the story notes is an obstacle in discussions, has likely escalated after Jack Brodsky sold the Saskatoon Blades in late Aug. for around $9-million.
Often times, a sale in ownership can breathe new life into an organization with good examples in London, Windsor, Portland and Kamloops.
STRAY LINKS
– Just in time for the holidays, the Edmonton Oil Kings have a satirical Christmas special:
– The Plymouth Whalers, meanwhile, had their ugly Christmas sweater picture.
– The Buffalo Sabres are still contemplating whether they will send Mikhail Grigorenko to represent Russia at the world juniors.
– Meanwhile, there were some surprising omissions from the Russian roster, writes Yahoo’s Andrey Osadchenko.
– Spokane Chiefs forward Liam Stewart, the son of rock star Rod Stewart and supermodel Rachel Hunter, will represent Great Britain at the world juniors.
– Stewart’s teammates, meanwhile, got in a full line brawl against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday:
– Among the feel good stories is Josh Anderson, who went from undrafted in the OHL to being named to Canada’s selection camp roster in a few short years.