Vipers land Cyr at trade deadline after Walchuk leaves
By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star
Published: January 13, 2012
Reeling after three straight losses, and with an unexpected roster spot to fill, Vernon Vipers’ head coach/GM Jason Williamson made the most of his B.C. Hockey League trade deadline options Tuesday.
With forward Dylan Walchuk’s shocking announcement that morning he was leaving to play with the WHL Spokane Chiefs, Williamson scrambled to acquire veteran forward Colton Cyr from the Nanaimo Clippers. To get the deal done, Williamson plucked 1991-born forward Clayton Chessa from the Trail Smoke Eaters for future considerations, and then sent him to Nanaimo for Cyr, 20.
Cyr, who captained the Clippers last season under former head coach Bill Bestwick (Vernon’s Trevor Fitzgerald is captain of Mike Vandekamp’s squad this season), will be in the lineup when the fifth-place Vipers (17-16-1-2) visit the Merritt Centennials (21-10-2-5) tonight at Nicola Valley Arena.
Vernon hosts the surging Coquitlam Express (21-12-2-2) Saturday night at Wesbild Centre, followed by a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee against the third-place Prince George Spruce Kings (19-13-2-3).
“Colton Cyr’s a guy that’s going to come in here and be an honest player,” said Williamson. “He’s been around, he’s been another captain, and every report we get, he’s just a good heart-and-soul kid and that’s what we need right now.”
Cyr, who spent his entire BCHL career with his hometown Clippers, has nine goals and five assists and 37 penalty minutes in 29 games this season. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder has 90 points in 202 career games.
“I thought if I was going to be traded it would have been earlier in the year,” Cyr told the Morning Star as he drove from the coast Wednesday afternoon. “It was kind of getting late (Tuesday) and I was getting the feeling everything was done, but obviously it wasn’t.
“It’s kind of mixed feelings. I didn’t feel like I was playing as much as maybe I thought I’d earned. Obviously, that’s not in my hands, but now that things are said and done I’m excited to be moving on.
“It’s too bad because I’ve got a lot of friends I’m leaving behind, but it’s out of my hands. It’ll be nice to play away from home and play for a team that’s expected to win every night.”
Williamson looked at other trade options, and at what some of his Interior rivals were up to, but decided to stand pat.
“Did I want to get in on some of that? Ya probably, but at what cost? There were some other things that were out there that were available, but the price was too high.
“Things haven’t went our way in the last little bit, but I like our players when our team is healthy and I’m going to stick by our guys.
Williamson was disappointed by Walchuk’s rapid departure, especially considering he had just traded forward Peter McMullen to the Langley Rivermen on the weekend to clear roster space.
Walchuk, a McBride, B.C. product, had a goal and five assists in six games since returning to Vernon from the NCAA Division 1 Northern Michigan Wildcats. When he first announced he wanted to return to junior A, Williamson says he urged him to stay in college before eventually allowing him back.
“I asked them (Walchuk and his father) to commit to us and they said they would, and after six games they practically quit on us,” said Williamson. “It was a tough day yesterday when he came into the office eight hours before the deadline and said he was going to leave.
“Maybe it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be for Dylan, but he’s got to make the players around him better and that’s partially your character, and he’s looking for the easy way out.
“He was a good player for us in the past and he’s done a lot for us, but the team has done a lot for him too.”
According to a Vipers’ press release, academics were a factor in Walchuk’s decision to pursue the WHL route. He could not be reached for comment before the Morning Star’s Thursday press deadline.
Said Chiefs’ GM Tim Speltz, on the team’s website: “Dylan is a very competitive and complete player. We are excited that he has chosen this route to fulfill his goal to become a professional hockey player. His skill and determination will complement our group of forwards.”
SNAKE BITES: Cyr is the nephew of former NHLer Paul Cyr, who racked up 241 points and 623 penalty minutes in 470 career games with the Sabres, Rangers and Whalers in the 1980s. Paul, also a former Clipper (1979-80), was selected ninth overall in the 1982 Entry Draft... McMullen, a New Jersey native, had three goals and four assists in 22 games with the Snakes... The Victoria Grizzlies were the league’s big sellers at the deadline, shipping star forwards Wade Murphy (Penticton Vees), Mike Moran (AJHL Spruce Grove Saints) and Jarryd Ten Vaanholt (Spruce Kings).
No comments:
Post a Comment