The Estevan Bruins sent a surprise into the SJHL world today, shipping 19-year-old defenceman Austin Yano to the Kindersley Klippers for 19-year-old defenceman Brett Blatz.
Yano had a stellar rookie season last year, logging roughly 25 minutes a night for the Bruins while leading all SJHL rookie defencemen in scoring. He has struggled greatly this year though, managing only seven points through 23 games so far.
Blatz is a player I'm pretty familiar with from my time covering the Klippers. He's a big, physical defenceman, at 6'3", 205 pounds, and he looks to have a bit of offensive upside as well with 10 points in 26 games this year. The Klippers wanted Blatz to play for them when he was 17, but he opted to head back for his last year of midget with Beardy's.
Here's what Keith Cassidy had to say this afternoon:
"Blatz is somebody we're looking toward giving us some size on defence. I think that rounds out our guys very nicely. We were looking for somebody - the way we've gone about piecing our defence together - to have a little more size and grit in our own zone. In order to get something, you have to give something up. That was the price. We were certainly hesitant to do that because Yano does have a lot of promise, but at the end of the day, we feel this is a good deal for both teams."
Asked why Yano seemed to regress this year, Cassidy implied that he didn't put in the effort to improve his game.
"A lot of times you have players who have very good rookie seasons and just anticipate that that's going to continue throughout their career. In order to get to the top, you gotta keep bettering yourself and working at it. I think a lot of times players forget that and rest on what they know. We're looking for guys that are continually trying to prove themselves and I think Brett can do that."
I put a call in to Austin earlier - if I hear back, I'll update this post.
Speaking personally, it seemed evident that Yano's attitude had changed a bit from last year. It did seem as if he took last year's success for granted a bit, and that obviously affected his play. We just didn't see the Yano from last year, and that has been one of many reasons for the Bruins' failure to date - he was expected to build on what he did last year, and instead he took a step back.
I am surprised that the return wasn't bigger. Like I said, I do like Blatz a lot and he should be a great addition - but if Yano had been traded in the midst of his rookie campaign, I'm sure the return would have been bigger. I guess that indicates that other teams had been keeping a close eye on him this year.
This is the kind of deal that shakes up a team. Yano was a core guy in the dressing room, seemed to be well-liked, and this should send a message to any complacent players that they could be the next one gone. I really believe that's been a big part of the issue this year - too many players not taking it seriously enough, and maybe not being pushed hard enough. I've thought to myself many times this year after a Bruin loss that some players don't look like they're taking it "hard enough", if you know what I mean. You don't want to run a prison camp, but at the same time, losing is not supposed to be fun, and my observation has been that a lot of players just carry on as if nothing happened.
I guess my point is that this team has enough talent on paper, but is the motivation there? Are they being challenged enough? They certainly have not responded to adversity well so far. They've dug a deep, deep hole, and unless something changes soon, they will be fighting just to get into the playoffs, and we could see big changes - bigger than this.
A lot of fans are jaded from past disappointing seasons from so-called good teams, and I don't blame them one bit, because this looks like the exact same thing again.
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Among other Dec. 1 moves, the Bruins added centre Alex Cote from the Summerside Western Capitals in PEI. Cote is a 20-year-old who spent last season with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Q, putting up 14 points in 43 games. He has 19 points in 25 games with the Caps this year.
Ironically, I went to dozens of Western Caps games when I was a kid, living about 20 minutes from Summerside. I still have their souvenir program from 1997-98, the year after they won the RBC Cup.
It looks like Cote will be expected to be a replacement for Dustin Jesseau. Acquired only three weeks ago, it seems Jesseau felt the SJHL was too physical for him. He asked the Bruins to move him. As it turns out, he was released and will probably be heading back to the NOJHL.
"He certainly came out here and worked hard and I think he felt the style of play in the league didn't fit into his best interests," said Cassidy.
