NORTHEAST 鈥� At the national trade deadline both the Nipawin Hawks and the Melfort Mustangs swung deals that could make their lineups even stronger.
The Hawks made trades on Jan. 10 for two defencemen to solidify their blue line. It was also announced that Nipawin D-man Cole Beamin had been called up to the Western Hockey League鈥檚 Prince George Cougars for the remainder of the season.
鈥淲e really like the roster,鈥� Nipawin head coach Doug Johnson said. 鈥淚s it perfect? No, but we have a lot of pieces that are very exciting and talented. Our team speed and structure is outstanding and the group is very fun to work with. They compete and try to get better every day.鈥�
Last week the Hawks went 1-2 and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The team leads the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League with a 28-12-1-1 record. As of Sunday, the defending SJHL champion鈥檚 58 standings points were three more than second-place Kindersley鈥檚 55.
On deadline day, Mustangs added a skilled forward. They also picked up a goaltender after they learned that second-year man Hunter Arps had a long-term injury.
The Mustangs won one and lost two games last week. At 25-13-2-0, they had 52 points and sat fourth in the SJHL. Melfort has fallen in four of its last five games and are 4-5-1-0 in its last 10.
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Melfort Trades
With Arps going to be out for a while, the Mustangs acquired 19-year-old goalie Noah Giesbrecht from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League鈥檚 OCN Blizzard for a player development fee. The Langley, B.C. product had played in 35 games for the Blizzard and posted a 3.23 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. He will form a tandem with fellow B.C. product Shawn Parkinson, who is 12-4-1 since coming to Melfort earlier this season.
Twenty-year-old forward George King is expected to bring some scoring punch to the Mustangs. Melfort got him from the MJHL鈥檚 Dauphin Kings for future considerations. King has not played since November, but he posted seven goals and 12 points in 17 games. Originally from Calgary, the experienced King is now with his eleventh team in the Junior A, Junior B, and major junior ranks. He played most of last season in the WHL.
With two players coming in, the Mustangs moved 19-year-old forward Chase Anderson on to his hometown Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He had nine points in 23 games this season. On their website, the Mustangs said Anderson was a great ambassador for the team and thanked him for the work he put into the team and community.
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Nipawin Moves
The 17-year-old Beamin had two goals and three points for the Hawks before his permanent call-up to the Cougars. Beamin was a second-round draft pick, 32nd overall, by Prince George in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. As well as Beamin, 18-year-old blue liner Andrew Smiley, a Calgarian who had seven points in 29 games, departed.
In their place come 19-year-old Zach Ziegler and 20-yer-old Walker Cote from the AJHL. Ziegler was obtained for Smiley, while the Hawks got Cote in exchange for future considerations.
鈥淲alker and Zach really help upgrade our D and provide us with a lot of leadership and experience,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淲alker should help out with our defensive and physical game, while Zach will be a big addition to our PP and transition game.鈥�
From White City, Ziegler is familiar with the Hawks. He played two games as an affiliated player in 2016-2017 before playing in Lloydminster. He had a goal and 15 assists in 26 games this season for the Bobcats.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Cote had 121 penalty minutes in 37 games this season for the Grande Prairie Storm after accumulating 159 in 53 contests last season. He had a goal and nine points for the Storm before last week鈥檚 trade.
