This is posted on the Vipers website:
Vipers Acquire Sleeth from Kanata Lasers
June 26, 2019
Vernon, BC: The Vernon Vipers have swung a deal with the Kanata Lasers of the CCHL to acquire 20 year old Connor Sleeth in exchange for Tyler Ho, Will Dow-Kenny, the Junior A playing rights to Coleton Bilodeau and future considerations.
Sleeth, from Markham Ontario, spent the last two seasons with the Kanata Lasers. This past season he finished 3rd in league scoring with 33 goals and 39 assists.
“Connor will add a veteran presence to the club,” says Head Coach and GM of the Vipers Jason McKee. “He clearly has a nose for the net and knows how to finish. We are extremely excited to have Connor in the fold.”
“I’m very excited to be joining a great organization with a great coach and players in Vernon,” says Sleeth. “Hopefully this season, we can build on a great playoff run the Vipers had last season and bring a BCHL and national championship to Vernon.”
Sleeth is looking to build off a good season last year and commit to a strong Division 1 program.
The Vipers would like to thank Coleton, Will and Tyler for their contributions and wish them luck in the future and welcome Connor to Vernon.
Connor Sleeth's Player Profile:
Tyler Ho's Player Profile:
Will Dow-Kenny's Player Profile:
Coleton Bilodeau's Player Profile:
11 comments:
Wow! This has to be one of the biggest blockbuster trades the Vipers have pulled off in year's. Off the top of my head I can't remember the last blockbuster trade the Vipers made.
Did the Snakes give up too much in this deal? My first thought's were the Vipers gave up three player's and future considerations for a 20 yr old forward. Other then his stat's I don't know much of anything on Connor Sleeth. Judging by his stats, it looks like the Snakes seemed to have landed that top goal scorer-elite player the team has been missing the past few seasons. I would say Thomas Aldworth is the last goal scorer-elite player the Vipers had. Vernon struggled last year scoring goals, especially the first half of the season. It seemed like scoring two or maybe three goals at most was all the Vipers could muster from game to game.
I liked all three former Vipers that were traded. But all three were average at best and player's like that can be found at almost anytime in a hockey season. Tyler Ho played hard, worked hard and competed but didn't put up a lot of points. Will Dow-Kenny was recently acquired at the trade deadline in January and didn't see a lot of ice time in the regular season and maybe a game or two in the playoffs, but looked like a young promising defenceman. Vernon product Coleton Bilodeau improved last year and was bound for a big year this coming season. Bilodeau didn't put up a lot of numbers, but come on in the second half of the regular season and playoffs. Played hard, battled and competed, was physical at times and scored some timely goals for the Vipers. At the end of the day I think all three of these young men were expendable, especially if your getting a high end player in return.
Viper fans haven't seen this much off season news since the days of Troy Mick and Mike Vandekamp. The Vipers have been busy this summer and I don't think are done just yet. Will Jason McKee and the Vipers make more moves before training camp?
With the players who have a chance at returning from last season, the six new recruits and some newly acquired players, Here is a look at the Vipers 2019-20 roster.
Forwards
Connor Marritt
Ben Helgeson
Logan Cash
Brett Fudger
Matt Kowalski
JoJo Tanaka-Campbell
Ben Sanderson
Connor Sleeth
Nick Cherkowski
Cameron MacDonald
Elan Bar-Lev-Wise
Defence
Landon Fuller
Ryan MacLean
Trey Taylor
Nicholas Kent
Christian Felton
Brendan Kim
Jack Judson
Keigo Hachisuka
Goaltenders
Bradley Cooper
Max Palaga
Yes, a shocker. It is already shaping up as an interesting year for Viper fans. I am excited to see what the final roster will look like. McKee appears to be adding a lot of players with impressive statistics but it will be interesting to see if they can all play together successfully. It is sometimes hard to keep everyone, especially the higher end players, happy with ice time. All teams need the Tyler Ho type of players, ones who work hard, grind it out & are a general pain to play against. Time will tell, looking forward to seeing the season already.
Here is a question for you VDHF. How Does McKee have such an intimate knowledge of last years players? How does he know that he didn't give up too much in this trade? Did he scout a lot of last years games or has he watched a lot of game tapes? How does he know it was a good decision to return Palaga or to make Marritt captain? With no coaches/GM left from last year how does he know his returning players so well & what they each bring to the game? McKee is not only new to Vernon but also new to the BCHL. Owner John Glen must be helping a lot. I do think all of the decisions are excellent so far. Bring on the season!!!
I agree with you your comments. My sources told me in late April Jason McKee was going to be the new head coach/GM weeks before the deal was finished. I was told McKee was at most if not every home playoff game, hanging around John Glen and the Vipers, watching the playoffs. So it sounds to me like the new owners/Vipers had their new coach in mind well before the season/playoffs were even over. How many playoff games did McKee watch? I don't know. Even if he watched four or five games, is this enough to name your captain and pull off trades? Who knows. I'm sure McKee has been in contact with the new owners and probably sat down or at least had some phone calls with some of the players from last year. Is this enough info and scouting news to be making trades? Probably not but at the end of the day, he's the new coach/GM and can do whatever he wants as long as the Vipers/ownership approves. I'm guessing he wouldn't just make a trade or bring in a new player, without making some phone calls and doing his homework. McKee has a very good junior hockey coaching resume. Are the Vipers done making moves? Or will we see more roster moves-trades before training camp?
Please tell me this isn't surprising to you all - het Glens and McKee have had a long standing hockey relationship. There are going to be many more moves - Ferners boys can't be too happy...
I wouldn't be surprised if Bilodeau, Dow-Kenny, and Ho all wind up back out west on other BCHL teams. Ho has a WHL history and is only 19 so he might go back there. Dow Kenny is from the lower mainland and played for Chilliwack so that's a natural fit. Bilodeau should be picked up by any Interior team.
John Glen makes the moves on this team not the GM!Your roster is INCORRECT. The Vipers own the bchl playing rights to those players, that does not mean that they are coming back. I know for a fact several of them won't be coming back. Bilodeau was one returning.Would you want to play for an owner who pouted when the team won the interior division?
It is widely known that the coach for this season was determined well before Christmas.The new owner(s) hamstrung Ferner and company all season long.Mr Glen should have named himself GM if he wanted to run the team. Probably why he isn't involved in the family car business anymore. I wish the team luck but I have a strong feeling that Mr Glen will run this team into the ground within a few years.....
No where have I said these players from last year's team were returning. I listed the players from last year's team that are possible at returning. I have sources that gave me the list of players that are eligible to return, I did not say my list of players were returning. Of course not everyone return's. There are off season trades, kids move on to the Western Hockey League and others quit hockey or go back to school. I gave a list of the kids who could possibly return, I didn't say they were all returning. The Glen's are the owners of the Vipers and can do what they want with the team, it's there team. Do I agree no, but what they do with their team is out of our control. I'm just a fan like everyone else.
VDHF you are correct. You listed the players from last years team who are eligible to return. Every year there are a few who chose not to come back as situations change for them, scholarships, etc. There may be even more this year with Mark & Kevin gone as there was a loyalty to them. With the recruiting that we have seen so far I am sure there will also be some trades of returning players. The new coach/GM will want to create "his team" as quickly as possible instead of working with someone else's players.
Lots of changes this coming year. I look forward to this season but hope that owner John Glen can "keep his hands off the steering wheel". It appears that he has hired a very knowledgeable & competent coach/GM in Jason McKee I just hope he allows him to do his job. Last year Mark was handcuffed by decisions made for him. I know Mark did not recruit all of the numerous WHL players who passed through Vernon before ultimately returning to the WHL, thus burning cards. Duncan Wray was a very good owner in that he allowed the "hockey people" to make the hockey decisions. With that usually came success. "A business owner can make any decision they want but a good owner will allow his people to do their jobs". We will see.
V.D.H.F....Perhaps you can shed some light on the comment of “WHL Burning Cards”. If the player leaves for the WHL, do the Vipers get the player card back ? Do the Vipers also retain the players “Rights” should he play JR A again...ie Max Palaga ?
If Mark Ferber was handcuffed by decisions other than his own, I certainly hope Viper ownership keeps whomever was responsible for player decisions around in order to assist Jason McKee. Last time I looked the Vipers were playing in the league finals.
If a player leaves the Vipers or any other team in the league for the Western Hockey League, the Vipers/or any other team in the league still holds their Junior A rights. And the same goes for the Western Hockey League. For example, The Everett Silvertips still hold the rights to Max Palaga. If the Silvertips trade his rights, Palaga has the right to leave the Vipers for a second time and go back to the Western Hockey League. Many many years ago the Kelowna Rockets assigned Stewart Thiessen to the Vipers in 2003. Thiessen finished the season with the Vipers before the Rockets traded his rights to Everett the following season. Thiessen went to Everett and then back to the Vipers before the Silvertips traded Thiessen to the Vancouver Giants. The Vipers traded his rights to Surrey. That season Thiessen ended up in Surrey with the Eagles.
I heard through out the season last year John Glen was majorly involved in the team and the roster and was the "guy" bringing in all the kids from the Western Hockey League. Most of those kids stayed for a while before jumping back to the WHL. These were rumors I heard, I have no idea if they are true.
John Glen was a scout with the Vancouver Giants for a long time, so he knows the Western Hockey League and probably has some connections. John's son played in Spruce Grove when Jason McKee was the coach of the Saints. John was also involved with the Saints more in a volunteer role, but the two know each other very well. I heard when the Glens bought the team last year, John was heavily involved with the Vipers on and off the ice. In the office, in the dressing room and so on. Viper fans were use to Duncan Wray, who sat back as a fan and watched the games as a fan, allowing his coaching and scouting staff to run the hockey team and make the decisions themselves. It sounds like John wants to be more hands on, and involved with the team on and off the ice.
I know most Viper fans don't like this, but like it or not, this is his team and he can do whatever he wants and there's nothing we can do about it. Some Viper fans don't like the new ownership, but in their first season, who went to the league finals?
Towards the end of the regular season, John was on the radio saying he has gone to the City wanting changes and upgrades done to Kal Tire Place. I have heard John has lots of ideas but has been struggling dealing with the City.
Myself as a long time dedicated fan, Im very excited for the up coming season with the new coach, new recruits/players and overall look of the team so far.
Let's clear this up again. When a player joins a team, a registration card is used. When he leaves the team, the team does NOT get another card. Teams get a fixed number of cards at the beginning of the year and it's up to the team to use them wisely. Last year it was, I believe, 32 cards. A team can have 23 players on their roster, so that means they can have 9 players leave and 9 others replace them during the year.
I have heard rumours that the number of cards was going to increase to 45 for this year. Seems a big high.
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