Jamie Mountain
The injury bug has bitten the Fort Frances Lakers of late and on Saturday the team made a move to help lessen the sting.
The Lakers signed defenceman Kiernan Bailey, who will immediately fill a hole on the team’s blue-line after Jarrett Blaase suffered an upper-body injury in Friday’s 6-2 road win over the Dryden GM Ice Dogs.
“The first is we only have six [defencemen] on the roster before Kiernan joining us,” Strachan said of the reasons for signing Bailey, a White Rock, B.C. native.
“We feel we need to add more skill to our backend and feel Kiernan fills that void. He is a strong skater and puck-mover.”
Bailey, 18, suited up in 28 games for the Valley West Giants (BCMML) last year in which he registered four goals and seven assists.
He then was held pointless in two playoff games.
Bailey was slated to make his Lakers’ debut last night against the host Thief River Falls Norskies, with that outcome not known at press time.
“We need to get to know him a lot better, but we feel he fits into our style of play well,” lauded Strachan.
“He has a strong skill set and good mobility. He will be expected to grow every day and hopefully help our power play out.
“With Blaase down right now, he will get an immediate opportunity to step in and get playing,” he added.
