Experienced Junior hockey fans recognize the strategy.
Successful junior hockey teams across the country have been using it for a while now.
Why? Because it works!!!
In leagues where players regularly come and go, entering the league at age 16 or 17 and graduating at 20 one of the keys to building a successful franchise and winning team is to maximize your assets.
How do you they do that?
They do that by setting up their team to take a run for the championship in a certain year. Some call it a 3 year plan, sometimes it becomes a 4 or 5 year plan.
Here is how it works:
Step 1: Teams will choose the year they want to compete for the championship.
Step 2: They will try to acquire players that will mature in that year.
Step 3: If they are in the lower half of the standings before the trading deadline, they will trade away some of their star players to teams in the upper half of the standings in order to acquire top quality rookies that will mature in the year that they will make a run for it.
Step 4: In a year or two when they are competing for the championship they will add top players from the teams in the lower part of the standings in exchange for their future stars.
This is the strategy that we witnessed Jason Brooks and the Guelph Storm use when they traded away Thomas McCollum last year.
Veteran Dan Mohle now a Cyclone
And that is the strategy Guelph Hurricanes GM Matt Mullin used when he traded two of their top players in Forwards Ken Rolph (1989 birth year) and leading scorer Dan Mohle (also 1989 birth year) to the Listowel Cyclones for two rookie Forwards Blair Goss (1992 birth year), Jake Weidner (also 1992 birth year) and Future considerations.
According to Mullin, “Not only did we give Ken and Dan a chance to compete for the Sutherland Cup, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add 2 quality kids that will set us up nicely for the next couple of years.”
Blair Goss played the last 2 years with the Fergus Devils (Jr. C), scoring 76 pts. in 79 games, but is a big power forward 6’0″ 205 lbs. He was Listowel’s first star, scoring 2 goals in his last game.
According to the Listowel Cyclones website, “Blair Goss lead the Cyclones scoring attack with two solid strikes and did his best to help his team win with timely scoring and an energetic effort. The Fergus native is just getting his game back on track after suffering a broken ankle in summer lacrosse action.”
Jake Weidner (6’2″ 175) played AAA Midget in Grey-Bruce and is described as an excellent face-off guy and penalty kill expert.
Here was the description of how he played in his last game as a Cyclone, “Rookie forward Jake Weidner who put in another solid game on the PK and in the face – off circle. Make no mistake hockey fans; this young forward will be a dandy player in this league for seasons to come.”
And the best part is that instead of watching two senior players graduate in the next few months, we will be able to watch these two players develop over the next few seasons.
Now that is what I call maximizing your assets.
*Note: You can see the new players Thursday night (Dec. 3rd) when the Hurricanes host the league leading Brantford Golden Eagles at the Sleeman Centre. Game time 7:45 pm.
You won’t have to wait too long to see Dan Mohle and Ken Rolph as the Listowel Cyclones play the Hurricanes in a home and home series. Friday night in Listowel and Saturday Dec. 5th in Guelph. Game time at the Sleeman Centre is 7:30 pm and remember Saturday night is “Kids Get in Free Night”, where 4 kids can get in free with every paid Adult admission.
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