The head coach and general manager of the St. Albert Steel is confident the fledgling Alberta Junior Hockey League franchise will turn its season around after trading away the team's captain, top scorer and best defenceman.
"We certainly haven't written off this year. We've still got some pretty good hockey players in our line-up and we're going to make a push to still make the playoffs," said Greg Parks, bench boss of the last-place 5-24-2 Steel. "There are still some pretty good hockey players on this team and I think we'll surprise some people. We still think we can win some hockey games."
Gone are three 20-year-olds: right-winger Taylor Fraser, centre John Baird and defenceman Jordan Abt.
All-star centre Reed Linaker, 20, is also expected to be traded before the January roster freeze deadline. He has a scholarship next season to play for the Penn State Nittany Lions.
"Not all the 20-year-olds, but some of them had said if possible they would like an opportunity somewhere else, especially a couple of the guys without scholarships. They would like an opportunity to maybe go to the second or third round of the playoffs and get a little more exposure. They've all been really good for us so we accommodated them," Parks said. "To keep all these 20-year-olds and lose three straight in the playoffs and get no return, that's not fair to us and most importantly it's not fair to the player.
"We've also won only five games with those guys in the line-up, too."
Multi-player deals
Fraser was sent to the AJHL champion Spruce Grove Saints in exchange for forward Dallas Smith, 18, and the AJHL rights to defenceman Jarrett Brown of the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings.
Baird and Abt were shipped to the Drayton Valley Thunder in separate transactions.
In exchange for Baird, the Steel received defenceman Conrad Szydlowski, 19, and future considerations.
Abt was traded for forward Nick Lamoureux, 18, the AJHL rights to forward Trace Elson with the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders and future considerations.
"We've got a really strong base of young players here and we've added to it. We got some pretty good return, not only this year but next year as well," Parks said. "It's also a good time for a lot of these kids. It's almost like an audition. They can show us what they've got this year and set things up for next year as well. It should be an exciting time for a lot of them."
Fraser had 11 goals and 24 points in 30 games in his first season as the Steel's captain. The career totals for the St. Albert product were 68 goals and 139 points in 205 games. Last season as the team's MVP he tallied 35 goals, including 14 on the power play, and 67 points in 59 games.
"It's been a frustrating year for Taylor. As our captain and as a local guy, the way things have gone he's put a lot of pressure on himself and it seemed like some days he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was taking it pretty hard," Parks said.
Fraser scored in his first game with the Saints, ranked second in the Canadian Junior Hockey League as the AJHL's top team at 26-2-4.
"Taylor is a guy without a scholarship right now and we felt we owed it to him to put him in a really good situation. Spruce has had some good success the last couple of years and it will be a great fit for him," Parks said. "Taylor deserves the opportunity. He's done everything that we've asked of him. He's been great for us. He's been here for four years. He was our captain and really respected in the room and respected by the coaching staff too."
Baird led the Steel with 14 goals and 29 points in 28 games. Abt was the Steel's top scoring defenceman with four goals and 12 points in 27 games in his third season in St. Albert. The recipient of the Steel's most outstanding defenceman award last season also earned rookie of the year honours in 2010.
In Steel's 4-2 loss Tuesday in Drayton Valley, Baird had one goal and two assists and Abt also picked up an assist.
"They're both good kids, which makes it even harder to trade them, but it's part of the business. They understand that and were both good about it," Parks said. "The return we got is very good so it makes it a little bit easier I guess to make those trades."
Promising prospects
Lamoureux registered an assist in his first Steel game against the Thunder. The Fort Saskatchewan product had two goals and one assist in 20 games as an AJHL rookie in Drayton Valley.
"Lamoureux, as well as Smith, both have a lot of offensive upside. They're going to be given a little more opportunity here to show what they can do," Parks said.
Smith was the centrepiece of the Fraser deal. The Beaumont resident had five goals and four assists in 25 games as a first-year Saint.
"Brown is also arguably one of the better defenceman in the midget league right now so he'll be coming in next year," Parks said. "Elson is a local kid we're really excited to have. He's going to be a big part of the future moving forward."
After the loss in Drayton Valley the Steel trailed the seventh-place Grande Prairie Storm by 13 points for the last playoff spot in the north division.
The Steel was also winless in seven games going into Friday's home tilt against the Canmore Eagles. The score was unavailable at press time.
"It's just not one area that is the issue. One night it's the power play. One night it's the PK. One night it's five on five. One night it's the goaltending. One night it's the defensive play in general," Parks said. "The big thing is just attitude. They're young kids and confidence is such a powerful thing. If we string a couple of wins together it would be a totally different attitude."
In Drayton Valley the Steel were outshot 27-6 in the first period and 52-20 overall by the sixth-place Thunder (15-14-2). Mitch Loose's third goal in three games and rookie Cole Linaker scored for the slumping Steel.
"It was pretty typical of our season. We got outshot badly in the first but going into the third it's still 2-1. We seem to find a way to keep games close but we can't find a way to win them right now and we've still got close to 30 games to figure that out," Parks said.
Tonight the Steel visit the Camrose Kodiaks at 7:30 p.m. The next home game is Sunday against the Bonnyville Pontiacs at 2 p.m.
Tuesday the Steel play the Thunder in Drayton Valley at 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: The Steel picked up Western Hockey League netminder Tanner Kovacs from the Lethbridge Hurricanes to help shore up the AJHL's worst defensive team. Kovacs won the Bill Ranford Trophy as the Alberta Midget AAA Hockey League's top netminder in 2011 with the Raiders.
The status of 19-year-old Ty Swabb (3-11-2, 4.04 GAA and .901 save percentage) and 20-year-old Rhys Hadfield (2-13, 4.69 GAA and .869 save percentage) with the Steel was unclear going into the weekend.
