It was a busy week for the Estevan Bruins, as the club added two more players to its 2014 recruiting class and made a trade.
On June 4, the Bruins dealt defenceman Kyle Bird to the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for future considerations.
Bird, 19, played in 41 games for the Bruins last season, amassing one goal and three assists, as well as 43 penalty minutes. He also played in 10 playoff games, with one assist.
He had been acquired from the Melville Millionaires just before the regular season began.
Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said the move was made to make room for rookie rearguards coming in, including Josh Rieger and Cody Durdle, who were signed last week.
"We've got some real good defencemen coming down the pipeline, and with an overabundance of '95-born guys, we had to make some room," said Lewgood.
"He was the guy who was going to bring a little bit of return and had an opportunity to go play for a good program in Dauphin."
On Saturday, the Bruins signed goaltender Tyler Gutenberg to a Hockey Canada playing card.
Gutenberg, 18, will back up Brett Lewchuk in the Estevan crease next season. The Brandon native posted stellar numbers for the midget AAA Wheat Kings last year, with a 2.10 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 25 games.
Lewchuk was strong in backup duties last season behind starter Matt Gibney, and Lewgood said he hopes to see that play out again with Gutenberg.
"That's the plan. We plan to have our backup goalie pushing our starter every year and that makes a good recipe. We believe Gutenberg can do that, and we believe he can play now. He'll give Lewchuk that boost that he needs," said the coach.
"He stops pucks. It's as simple as that. A high percentage of pucks stay out of the net, and he's a good, quality teammate."
On Sunday, the Bruins brought their number of recruits to five with the signing of left winger Joey Ogden.
The 18-year-old American comes from the famed Honeybaked hockey program in Detroit, where he played on the under-18 team last year, scoring 23 points in 26 games.
Lewgood said Ogden turned in an impressive showing at the team's spring camp in April.
"He was on our radar before spring camp. Bringing him in for spring camp was more of a formality, getting him comfortable and selling our program on him, rather than vice-versa. His skill level was among the top two or three in camp and coming out of the Honeybaked program, we know he's going to be a good hockey player and a well-rounded guy."
The Bruins have greatly expanded their scouting operations in the United States recently, and that is starting to bear some fruit with the acquisition of Ogden.
"It's a competitive market in Saskatchewan and throughout Canada," said Lewgood. "If you can develop an edge on your opponents by looking elsewhere, then you have to take it."
