While Vernon Vipers captain Patrick McGillis and defenceman, Luke Juha are out of the Vipers lineup due to injuries the Vipers had to fill the void bringing in and signing forwards, Peter McMullen and Brendan Persley. With the BCHL card deadline looming (Thursday) the Vipers have to re-sign-add McGillis and Juha back to the Vipers roster wich ment two players had to be traded. The first trade came Sunday when the Vipers sent second year Viper forward, Marcus Basara, rookie forward, Connor Hartley and future considerations to the AJHL Okotoks Oilers for Oilers captain and leading scorer, Ben Gamache. Yesterday the Vipers then sent rookie forward, Alex Hagen to the Surrey Eagles for future considerations.
Im not surprised to see Alex Hagen shipped out for just future considerations. Hagen who looked good during the Vipers training camp and pre-season schedule never really followed through into the BCHL regular season. Hagen who scored lots during the pre-season didnt really stand out in the regular season. Hagen and Hartley are two Viper recruits that never lasted the full season. I was expecting alot more from Hagen, for a kid who has some wheels and at times some scoring touch Hagen just never really got his game going in a Viper uniform. Lets hope a move to Surrey will help Alex pick up his game and make him a better hockey player. All the best in Surrey Alex!
With the Vipers now back at a 21 man roster it will be interesting to see if Jason Williamson pulls off any more trades before Thursday's BCHL card deadline. Ive said it a few times now and I think the Vipers need to add-bring in atleast two veteran defenceman. Vernon has a young blueline and needs some veteran experience to bolster the teams backend. Will we see a move before Thursday? Only time will tell.
Thanks for mentioning that Hagan was hurt right after the season began (missed two weeks) and had an IV in his arm for 8 days due to an infection in his leg! No wonder he never got going. Its obvious he wasnt happy being buried in the lineup with no chance of breaking the set lineup ahead of him. Changes were made to get the team a little older and experienced but playing two lines for the majority of games will not get you far.
ReplyDeleteYes Alex Hagen was hurt-injured early to start the season and missed a few weeks due to his injury. I totally forgot. Im sure this is why he may have got off to a bit of a slow start, but even the last month or so he just hasnt produced much offensively. I wish Alex all the best with the Eagles.
ReplyDeleteanResponse...actually Hagan was never given the chance. The coaching staff had players with less skill in front of him that actually made more mistakes but were given the nod despite the outcome of the games. Something had to change. This team to this point has too many passengers. Hope they can get out of the ditch.
ReplyDeleteTrading a healthy player with lots of potential to forge forward with a lineup of injured players is not at all smart. Alex did have a less than stellar month; however, he was not getting the opportunity to play. I agree with the gentleman's previous post, and trading in hopes of sparking a fire is so transparent, and shows the hockey insiders that the coaching staff is now resorting to smoke and mirrors rather re-examining their players skill-sets and changing things around to give skilled players more opportunity and shelving the highly touted players. And bad job on your part for saying he hasn't lived up to... For a semi professional journalist, you should give all sides of the story about players situation, if it is true abut Hagen's injury. These players are trying so hard to achieve higher levels (college scholarships) and to have a so called journalist basically throw a player under the bus for coaching inadequacies is reprehensible. You sir should be ashamed of yourself.
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