Jack's Jargon

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, the Lethbridge Hurricanes were a team surrounded by question marks. Just one short week later some questions still remain, but the quantity has decreased and the urgency to answer some of those questions has significantly subsided.

First thing first, the move to pick up Radim Valchar from Portland is exactly where the team needed to start. In hockey circles good GM’s must be able to buy low and sell high. Rich Preston did exactly that in making his first two trades this week. The Winter Hawks were forced to move Valchar for two reasons. First, the team is very high on their two young imports Nino Niederreiter (17) and Jacob Berglund (18). Second, with Kurtis Mucha electing to return to Portland as opposed to going to Springfield and battle for a job with the Edmonton Oilers American Hockey league affiliate, the Hawks still have four overagers with the club even with Valchar out of the picture. Valchar has been a very good Winter Hawk for two seasons. He more than doubled his goal scoring output last year (21) compared to the 9 times he scored during his rookie season. Valchar has World Junior Championship experience with the Czech Republic and had the teams 5th best +/- at the 2009 event. GM / Head Coach Mike Johnston feels his team can be right in the mix this year in the Western Conference. In that case, you don’t give a player of Valchars stature away to one of those teams you may need to square off against in an early round playoff matchup. Teams knew Portland needed to make moves and were not in a real position of strength. Enter Rich Preston. Unlike a number of other clubs he had open spots for 20 year olds and was an eager buyer in the market place. A conditional 6th round draft pick is darn good for a player that instantaneously makes the Hurricane forward group better.

The Valchar deal paved the way for the Hurricanes to immediately address their most pressing need. The current defence core needed to be bolstered. Brennan Yadlowski returning adds a solid veteran presence on the back end but that alone wasn’t quite enough. The most marketable asset on this hockey club was Kyle Beach. He is a sure fire impact player in this league. Maybe not every night does he enthrall the home fans, but when on he is an elite Western Leaguer. Spokane was looking for that impact presence. Beach is a precious commodity and the price was not a cheap one. Lethbridge added a true shut down defender that is a reliable first pass rearguard that will help instill a calming presence to an inexperienced defense core. Some offensive ability, but Reddington makes the Hurricanes shots against total improve by 5 to 8 a night instantaneously (compared to what we saw last weekend). Landon Oslanski (D) is a WHL rookie with considerable upside, who is coming off of a very good Midget ‘AAA’ season with Sherwood Park - the second best team in the province last year. Oslanski is a winner and had a lot to do with his teams 2008-09 success.

Time now to sit back and see if these moves can pay immediate dividends starting this weekend in Red Deer and Swift Current.

Fred Jack is the Hurricanes Colour Analyst on CJOC radio broadcasts. He'll be providing a few of his thoughts here on the blog throughout the course of the season.