Dan Falloon
The Fort Frances Lakers are going to have to pull together 50 points of offence—and fast.
The Lakers were busy at the SIJHL trading deadline Sunday night, trading top scorer Colton Kennedy and defenceman Conner Foster in separate deals.
Kennedy, who led the Lakers (and sat fourth in the SIJHL overall) with 24 goals and 26 assists, was shipped to the Melville Millionaires of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
The Millionaires sport a 13-14-2 record—good for fifth place in the six-team Sherwood Conference.
They lead the Estevan Bruins by five points for the conference’s final playoff spot.
“We had been talking with Colton for some time about possibly moving on to help his hockey career and possibly have a shot about moving to a team that’ll go a little bit further in the playoffs,” said Lakers’ head coach and GM Wayne Strachan.
“He was maybe a little surprised where he was going, and the shock of getting traded even though he knew it was going to happen.”
Strachan knew what he was giving up in Kennedy, who joined the former Fort Frances Jr. Sabres last November from the Winnipeg South Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and remained here when the Sabres morphed into the Lakers.
“We’re losing our leader, our top point-getter,” conceded Strachan.
In return, the Lakers received defenceman Sean Gallagher, an unnamed forward who had not decided yet whether he’ll report to Fort Frances, and future considerations.
If the forward does not report, the Lakers will receive a different player from the Millionaires next season.
“The reason why we did it [made the trade] was we got finances to help the team,” Strachan noted. “We got a forward that, hopefully, has the ability to put points up.
“He’s young, so we’ll have him for two more years past this year, if everything goes well.”
Gallagher didn’t remain a Laker for long as the team then flipped him to the Campbellton Tigers of the Maritime Junior ‘A’ Hockey League for future considerations.
The Lakers also made a trade within the league, sending Foster and future considerations to the Dryden Ice Dogs in exchange for forward Matt Caulfield and defenceman Brett Williams.
The Ice Dogs, in second place with a 26-5-4 record, find themselves eight points back of the league-leading Fort William North Stars.
Foster had paced the Lakers’ attack from the back end, tallying a goal and nine assists to lead all Fort Frances defenders.
Caulfield, meanwhile, notched six goals and 10 assists with the Ice Dogs in a checking role.
Williams, a stay-at-home defender, has a single assist on the year.
“The deal we thought came our way was getting a younger player in Brett Williams that’s going to come in and be a defensive defenceman that brings some feistiness,” noted Strachan.
“[As for] Matt Caulfield, we’re hoping he can come in and take on a big role. He’s definitely got junior experience.
“He’s a player we’ve looked at for some time now and he’s a big, strong kid, good skater,” added Strachan. “We just think that he has the potential to put more points up than being a role player like he was being played in Dryden.
“It’s an opportunity for Conner to go to one of the top teams,” Strachan remarked. “He will be missed.”
While the deals will sting the Lakers in the short-term, Strachan predicts they’ll be beneficial for the team down the road.
“In the long run, I think it’ll work out all right for us,” he said.
