The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres will sport a new look as they host the Schreiber Diesels this weekend, with forwards Steven Sus and Chris Sinclair joining the team from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Both were traded for future considerations shortly before the roster deadline last Saturday night.
The Sabres also acquired defenceman Tyler Hodges from the Kindersley Klippers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in exchange for forward Matt York.
The move for Sus—a 5’9” junior veteran who compiled two goals and five assists in 31 games this season with the Beausejour Blades—was on the wish list of many local hockey fans and fills a number of holes for the Sabres, head coach and general manager Wayne Strachan said.
“He brings leadership, he brings a lot of smarts and savvy to the on-ice play, and it’s what the team needed—a 20-year-old who can come in and lead, lead us not only by example but in the locker-room, too,” Strachan remarked.
Many local hockey fans will remember Sus’ stints with the Muskies and Borderland Thunder. He netted 13 goals and 10 assists in the Thunder’s last operating season in 2004-05, along with a goal in the SIJHL playoffs.
The year before, Sus won his second-consecutive Barney Maher Trophy for most valuable player and his place in Muskie history after scoring more than 90 points in 55 games.
Sus said he was “pretty excited” to be back playing in front of a Fort Frances crowd. “That’s what I wanted, so hopefully it works out and everything goes good.”
Sus skated with the team Monday morning after spending the last week away from the rink, and said his first impression of the Sabres was a positive one.
“I know a few of the guys, and a couple guys I don’t know, but they seem pretty nice,” he said.
The veteran had fallen out of favour with the Blades, and had seen his playing time dwindle this season, but Strachan said Sus will “make an immediate impact and play on one of the top lines” with the Sabres.
Also joining the Sabres was 5’5” Sinclair from the Dauphin Kings. Sinclair, whose hometown is listed alternately as Fort Frances and Kenora, probably is best-known to local fans from his time as a small, speedy scorer with the Kenora Thistles.
Strachan said he foresees the 19-year-old Sinclair filling the gap created by trading York, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, despite his small stature.
“He’s very fast, probably even faster than Matt was,” Strachan said. “Matt’s more power, but Chris is a little more finesse and has a little skill, is good with the puck.”
The trade came both from a request for the Edmonton-raised York to move closer to home, and trading from depth.
The Sabres have two of the league’s top 10 goal scorers in Quinn Amiel and Alessio Tomassetti, but have allowed 107 goals—more than anyone else in the SIJHL except for the Marathon Renegades (135).
In the blueliner Hodges, a Medicine Hat, Alta. native, the Sabres are looking to gain another strong body to plug up a porous defence. Strachan said the 18-year-old should get chances to flourish in Fort Frances that he didn’t have in Kindersley.
“He just wasn’t playing as much out there because of his age. Once he gets here, I’ll believe he’ll take the role of a Brock Owen or he’ll be one of our top three ‘D,’” Strachan said.
“He skates well, he sets up with the puck, and we’ll probably look at him to be one of our power-play specialists on the point, and I think once he gets the ice time we need, he’ll turn out to be a big key for us.”
The Sabres are hoping to not only get better but also younger with the moves. Both Hodges and Sinclair are 18- and 19-year-olds respectively, meaning they each have years of junior eligibility ahead of them.
“We want to not only obviously finish fourth [in the SIJHL] . . . but build so that we do have a pretty strong core of players next year,” Strachan stressed.
Lost in the shuffle was forward Ray Pressacco.
Pressacco—the Sabres’ first-ever signing—languished on the scoresheet, earning just a goal and an assist in 15 games this season. He was released in lieu of the three new forwards joining the team.
Pressacco will return to his native British Columbia with the Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
At least two deals were still in discussion at time of press pending final approval and notification of players involved in each transaction.
Strachan admitted his first deadline with the Sabres was a bit overwhelming—the trade for Sinclair was made just 15 minutes before the midnight deadline Saturday night.
“It was definitely busy. Hectic. I didn’t think it would be so much time on the phone or computer,” said Strachan.
“In saying that, I guess it was a little bit of fun, too, talking to the different people and getting their opinion, trying to work something out that helps both teams in the long run.”
He added it was a bit of luck that the Sabres didn’t have a regular slate of games over the weekend. “Might’ve had a cell phone on the bench,” he chuckled.
Strachan said all four newcomers will be ready for the team’s weekend homestand against the Schreiber Diesels.
The deadline was not junior hockey’s final trade deadline for the season, but the first cut-off date when teams need to whittle their rosters down to a final 25 players.
While the date is not the last chance for teams to make a trade, it is far more difficult for teams to make sweeping changes after Dec. 1.
The final trade deadline, which comes Jan. 10, will see teams finalize their 23-player rosters in time for the playoffs.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
