Photo – The Eagles have traded third-year defenceman Ashton McLeod to the Humboldt Broncos of the SJHL. (photo coutesy of Julie Wilson)
With a record of 5-5 after their first 10 games of this year’s Alberta Junior Hockey League season, the Canmore Eagles have made a move to shake up their roster as they have signed 18 year-defenceman Kevin Wolf and dealt 20-year-old defenceman Ashton McLeod to the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League for future considerations.
Wolf, a native of Cuomo, Minnesota, has spent the past two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League playing in 50 games, picking up one goal and three assists. At 6’6 and 200 lbs, Wolf should add some size and muscle to the Eagle’s defence.
“Wolf has a similar story to that of Griffin Mumby, who we picked up earlier this fall from the Regina Pats,” said Eagle’s Head Coach and General Manager Andrew Milne. “He just wasn’t getting the ice time in the WHL that he needed to help his overall development. Like Mumby, he should see a lot more ice time here and this will allow him to develop his skills.”
“I just wanted to come to a hockey club that wanted me and who would provide me with the opportunity to continue to play hockey and improve as a player,” said Wolf, who played his Bantam hockey in Chicago, Illinois. “Seattle called around looking for a spot for me and then Andrew and I talked on the phone and I decided to come to Canmore. I’ve never been here before, but it sure looks like a nice place to play hockey. I look forward to getting to know my teammates and hopefully help this team win some hockey games.”
The Canmore Eagles would like to thank Ashton McLeod for his hard work and dedication while a member of the Eagles.
“It’s very difficult to trade away a guy like Ashton,” said Milne. “Ashton gave us everything he had, 100% of the time, and was extremely well liked by his team-mates. But as a 20-year-old, you start getting into the numbers game and we made the move to replace a 20-year-old with an 18-year-old who hopefully will be with us for the next three seasons. We would like to wish Ashton the best of luck going forward.”
The Eagles will play a game in Calgary on Tuesday Oct. 7 against the Canucks, before returning to Canmore for a pair of home weekend games against the Brooks Bandits (Friday, October 10) and the Fort McMurray Oil Barons on Saturday (Oct. 11).