- Traded Lance Tabin and Braeden Johnson to Battlefords for '94 forward Justin Lund (Stars AAA) and '93 forward Michael Sagen (Regina Pats).
- Flipped Michael Sagen to Melville for a player to be named later.
- Acquired '92 defenceman Zane Morin from La Ronge for futures.
Also, Brandon forward (and the brother of Sanfred King) Wheaton King was re-assigned to the Klippers yesterday and will be joining the team.
A busy day!
Rockie Zinger's comments:
On Zane Morin
He's a guy that La Ronge didn't want to part with. He brings some size. The reports we got on him is he makes a good first pass, doesn't panic under pressure and he's got good character. It's a move that allows us to have a kid that could play three more years. We needed to get a little more depth on our back end.On dealing Lance Tabin
Lance Tabin's going to be a hard guy to replace. Unfortunately, due to the 20-year-old limit, we were over the limit and we were kicking tires. Zane's not going to come in and replace Lance and that's not what he was brought in for. He gives us a little more flexibility as an organization going forward.On Justin Lund
Justin Lund is playing for Battleford's AAA team. He's fifth in scoring on that team. Big body, very high academic marks, fits into the mold and the educational area that we're going to start to focus on in the organization. He aspires to get a scholarship and every report we had is right now, it could be a bit of a tough season in Battleford with coaching changes. From talking to Ken Pearson, they had a conversation with the kid and he's focused on coming in and playing Junior A next year. We expect he'll work hard next year.On getting Wheaton King from Brandon
Wheaton's a big body that can play either the wing or centre. He's 6'3", skates well, big body, good hands and isn't afraid to mix it up. The versatility with him being able to play the wing and also down the middle gives you options. He's got some offensive upside, he had 11 points in the WHL. Some people might say, well, only 11 points, but he wasn't being used in a scoring role in the Western League and there is some offensive upside. We see him fitting in nicely with our group of forwards.On Ryan Benn's decision to leave
It was very tough. Ryan came in at 3 pm and made it clear that he hadn't lost the passion for hockey. He really has a passion for hockey and he could see the writing that there wasn't going to be a lot of minutes for him. As much as he loved the guys and the community and the organization, he loved playing more. If he couldn't do it here he wanted to move on and do it somewhere else. It was a tough moment for Ryan and for the Klipper organization. You never want to see a player at that age have to make a decision like that. He's a really good kid and he wants to play the game of hockey.
(Ryan will return home to Spruce Grove to play for the Junior B Regals the rest of the season)
Satisfied with the deadline acquisitions?
We have to be satisfied with them because there's no looking back. We preach to our boys that you always want to strive to pursue excellence and be the best you can be. The decisions that were made as an organization, we hope it gives the guys still in that locker room the best possible opportunity to have a long playoff drive and experience some success. It's time to get at it.
Getting Wheaton King is a huge addition.. But why let Johnson go?? Could you imagine having 2 1992's that were last cuts of the dub? Morin is good. That a nice acquisition.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck Ryan. Kick some butt in Spruce Grove!!!
ReplyDeletethe loss of benn is shocking i thought he was really stepping his play up this year he was a hard working player never quit, i hope to see him in a white blue and green jersey again sometime good luck benny. i was also very surprised we traded tabin as well i thought he was having a very good year he was a versitile d-man but to both of the guys good luck.
ReplyDeleteRyan Benn oozes class! I aggree with the post regarding his possible return. Would be great to have him back. The WHL teams should communicate better with the SJHL teams to let them know that certain players may be reassigned. Taking nothing away from Spencer Braaten but had the Klippers known that Braeden Johnson was maybe coming back they might not have made that trade, the 20 year old situation would have been different. I feel based on the same trade deadline the Klippers added a 20 yr old, traded one away, had one player (a solid one at that) leave, trade away an exciting 18 year old because they had no space. Just think the two leagues should try to figure out a bit better system.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to all the players the rest of the way!
I agree with the comments about Benny and wish him nothing but the best. I was sad to hear the news about him leaving. He's a great kid, wears his heart on his sleeve out there and has done everything asked of him the last two years. He worked hard to move up the depth chart and I think he would have been a huge part of this team next year. He's got a ton of skill but found it tough to get enough minutes to really do much with it.
ReplyDeleteTo the last commenter, I know Ryan wasn't aware that Johnson would be dealt when he made his request. I touched base with him late last night and he said he would have been on the outside looking in anyway though. It's too bad.
Well it's tuf on players at this time of year and especially with a contender. This team has been better than most I see around with staying pat with the players they have brought along.Kudo's to the past and present, to bad for Tabs and Benny good guys-well liked-good luck to them.Klips will be close to going all the way, and not like Yorkton/Melfort will be in it again next year. Good Organization
ReplyDeleteTo bad for Benn/Tabs going and Johnson coming he wanted to be here. Sh t happens and players sometimes have to look at the situation and suck it up and quit running home cause they want more ice. Next years club is looking good so the guys that have quit bye bye.
ReplyDeleteRyan has done absolutely everything asked of him from both Larry and Rocky. Choosing not to drink when others on the team do and still not get the ice, not fair. I wish him all the best and would love to see him come back and wear the jersey again. I think sometimes people forget that these are boys who just love the sport. I'd take this one over many others who seem to get every break out there and not appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteTo the last poster you are a complete moron why don't you shut your stupid mouth you have no idea what is going on you stupid prick
ReplyDeleteWow There's intelligence for you. I think we know who the moron really is. Josh why let dimwits like this post. He should be erased along with his post. Although i'm quite impressed he managed to use a number of 2 syllable words. Hope i didn't use to many long words for him.
ReplyDeleteWow, someone touched a nerve.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the post at 5:48. It's too bad Benny left- and it's really too bad that the current coach hasn't even given any thanks to Ryan or any well wishes for his future. Although, I guess that shouldn't come as a shock from a coach who doesn't even have the decency to let his player know he's been traded - it must suck for a player (Tabin) to find out he's been traded, not through the coach, but only when he checks online.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster saying that Benn ran home. Maybe it looks like that to you, but guess what, players come here to play hockey. Benn was one of the most popular guy around and did everything he could for Kindersley. No one in that room questions his decision. All the best Benny, we will miss you. I am sure you will find success with anything you do.
ReplyDeleteTo 8:21: I think it went without saying that Rockie wished him the best. You could tell it bothered him. As for Lance, if anyone owes him an apology, it is myself and/or Brenden, not the organization. We each posted the trade briefly (me on twitter, him on his blog) before taking it down. It seems Lance saw one or both of those postings before they were removed. That was a case of us jumping the gun.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you guys did apologize to him. You should never have posted that until you got the OK from Rockie. Lance deserved to be the first one to know.
ReplyDeleteJosh, I don't think you (or Brenden) should have to apologize for posting the trade or try to cover for Rockie/the organization. That's Rockie's or the organizations responsibility to call the player, and that could have been done immediately.
ReplyDelete4:10: Yes, I did. 5:37: The team has a policy not to break that kind of news to a player late at night, to do it in the morning instead.
ReplyDeleteDid that policy just come in since Rockie became coach?? Because I'm pretty sure MANY players over the years have been called late in the evening/late at night - they all know when trade deadline is, and I guarantee they would have been waiting for possible news. Either way, what's done is done.
ReplyDelete