The Storm have added some Peace Country talent to their lineup, a small speedster and a rugged defenceman at the Jan. 10 trade deadline.
Peace River's Tyrell Boucher has signed with the team. He played his fifth game in the AJHL on Wednesday after toiling with the Grande Prairie Bantam and Midget AAA Storm over the last four years.
The 17-year-old stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 165 pounds.
” I had the opportunity to coach Tyrell last season with the Midget AAA Storm. Tyrell played against every team’s top line night in and night out. Tyrell is a very evasive and makes things look easy when he’s out there. He started the season for us as an affiliate, but with his recent play he left us no choice but to put him in a Storm jersey full time.”
The team also traded forward Zach McNeil and future considerations to the Calgary Canucks for 5-foot-7, 150 pound forward Connor Blake, who has five goals so far this season.
“Connor was someone who we definitely had an eye on,” said Keillor. “He does things at high speed and plays an intelligent game. I coached against Connor last season and he was one of the best players in Midget AAA and was tough to maintain every time we played them.”
Blake had five goals and eight assists in 27 games in his first year of Junior A hockey with the Canucks.
“I had the opportunity to coach Connor in Bantam AAA in Calgary when we went to the provincial championship with fellow teammate Jason Wenzel. One thing you can’t put enough value on is character and Connor is the type of person we want playing here.”
The 20-year-old McNeill had played 30 games with the Storm this year with 11 goals and 12 assists.
“Zach did a great job while he was here. He had an opportunity to be close to home to finish his junior career and we wish him all the best in his future.”
The team also picked up 1999 defenceman Cameron MacPhee, who is from Edmonton.
“Cameron comes to us from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. We felt we needed to bolster our defensive core especially now in January when injuries and the wear and tear of the long season is upon us. Cam is a strong, big body player, and prides himself on his defensive game.”
The 6-foot-1, 183 pound rearguard had no goals and an assist in 12 games in the WHL this year.
Boucher played on Wednesday and Blake and MacPhee are expected to be in the lineup on Friday against the Bobcats.