The-James Hockey League

Long Road to the Cup

by Kamloops Knights on Sun Feb-26 2023 14:30 worth $3,013,500.00 (2009 words)

Last season, the Kamloops Knights organization had it's best year since inception back in Season 30.  The Knights themselves made it to the Cup semi-finals before losing to Ottawa 4 games to 2.  On the farm, Regina went to the finals and won for the first farm cup ever. The off-season was long and many wondered what Kamloops would do or not do, so this is a recap of those actions.
Playoff hero's in Kamloops this season were:
-Taylor McSween: 19 playoff points after a relatively quiet 33 point season.  McSween led the team towards the cup and is going to be around as the Assistant Captain for a long time.
-Dmitri McDavid: Established himself further with another close to 40 point season and 8 goals during the playoffs as the resident sniper.
-Darrell Buinitsky: Steady defensively, he had 201 checks just in playoffs alone.  Buinitsky is part of the D-core with Siklenka, Commodore and Stephan.
McSween was quoted about the season in this recent interview "I felt great during the playoffs.  We really came together as a team and I thought that we made improvements from other years."  When asked about losing to Ottawa with former Knights such as Lamper, Hentunen and Rasmussen among others, McSween said this.
"Yeah I'll admit it sucks.  Whenever you lose it sucks.  I felt like those guys wanted to stick it to the organization a little bit after they were traded away.  I know I felt that way when Calgary moved me.  I don't want to worry about that now, I'd rather focus on the next season."
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After the success of the season, Pezel and Cosco set to work fine-tuning the roster.  Spoiler alert, they did not take it easy and sit back on their success.
The first move saw high-chem defenseman, MacSweyn moved along with a prospect for a 3rd round pick (Moose Jaw).  Pezel briefly commented on the move.
"Yeah, we felt MacSweyn played extremely well for us but it was time to open up a roster spot for Gaustad, Cormier or even a farm player.  We need spaces to develop our guys and it was the right time to do that.  I also like the high 3rd pick.  In that spot, we will likely shoot for the fences and take a high-risk, high-return player there."
Another move to Halifax to clear roster space was high-chem center Carbonneau moved for a trio of prospects, who were also traded away.  Krysow was moved for Federov, a player with a JR history with #2 overall prospect, Tatryn.  Cosco commented on the trade.
"It took a few moves but we ended up with a great farm defenseman in Federov.  He had 40 points with Tatryn in JR and we are super excited to play them together this season in Regina."
Carbonneau leaves a hole up front that will be filled by either Andrews or Nosek this season.  Pezel and Cosco needed to open up their roster once again for youth to come into the system. 
The next big deal was the move of Clay Despres, a 26 year old player with some great and some mediocre seasons.  Despres came into the playoffs down 3 to 0 and Kamloops came back the next 2 games with him in.  Ottawa could be thanking the Knights if Despres improves them. Pezel said this:
"You never want to see a guy come back and stick it to you, but we needed to move a Left wing and Ottawa offered us value for him.  We are extremely deep at Left wing and that was the guy they wanted.  Getting back a 1st and a 3rd will obviously help us moving foward, so it was a useful trade."
A massive trade that brought in yet another star defenseman to back Dan McCarthy happened next.  Kamloops moved two 1sts and a third, along with star prospect, Williamson, in a blockbuster deal for Matiss Greer.  Greer brings them a two-way defenseman capable of putting up 400+ checks a year along with 40 point potential.  Greer is going to play with the young Superstar, Poul Stephan, as part of a third line that is usually their highest scoring.  Captain Joni Siklenka on the deal:
"We moved a lot of quality futures today, but picking up Greer is amazing.  He is just so dominant as a defenseman in this league and hopefully he is going to push us closer to that cup."
The Knights moved on from Harry Potter the Magical Magician and also pulled off another blockbuster with Mount Pearl. Cosco on the deal:
"Lyle Radley was a guy we had our eye on for a while.  He played with Thain Kadri, who we also got from Mount Pearl.  We are planning a line with Radley, Kadri, Stephan and Greer this season.  We had to move two good prospects and a 1st, but our time to compete is now."
Maple Ridge was the next blockbuster, with the goalie prospect picked up in the Carbonneau deal moved along with a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th for Top 50 24 year old winger, Bulat Petiot.  Petiot is a young Superstar who will fill the spot left by Clay Despres.  He makes alot of cash after Kamloops offered him a 7 year extension at 7 million a year.
Pezel: "Once again, we upgraded our team with a young, talented winger.  Petiot projects to be one of the top 5 guys in the league within a couple of years and this was a no-brainer.  We traded youth for success now, and that is totally what we need to do.  We are not satisfied with 4th overall, we want the Cup in Kamloops"
As the season changed over, former 1st round pick, Garth Lahache, who never quite cracked the pro retired to become a coach.  Lahache was part of Kamloops' first draft prospect group from their inception.  Lahache was famous for his point production in junior with insane point totals, but he was unable to translate it to the Pro league.
Lahache: "I was happy to retire a Knight.  I know that most people view me as a disapointment overall, but I was happy to play so many seasons in Regina"
Kamloops continued a flurry of trading moving another chem defensman in Washburn for a 5th before moving player John Pezel for a one-season loan to Halifax for a 2nd.  Pezel will feature this season on Halifax's pro team, which is exciting for the young prospect and will give him valuable pro experience that he wouldn't be able to get in Kamloops because of the cup run.
The Knights then made a very controversial trade with Calgary, which gave them some backlash when they moved 4 1st round picks along with a 2nd for two 1sts and a 3rd. The S50 1st was the major reason for the deal and Assistant Manager, Rob Cosco, spoke about the deal.
"You have to take risks sometimes to win.  Safety does not win you anything here.  Kelowna's pick is usually a top 3 one and we are happy to give up some later prospects for a shot at a Game-Breaker."  Cosco defended the one-sided trade with his argument that it's quality over quantity.
Kamloops then doubled-down by moving star Regina Lw, Alf Mandich along with some veterans and 25 year old Rw, Erlends Pop for a Kelowna 1st (4th overall).  With that pick, the Knights took the 18 year old top sniper, Barrett Alatalo.  Pezel spoke on behalf of the pick:
"Alatalo somehow fell to us at 4th and we have already been getting calls on him.  He is a pure goal-scorer, a sniper who is so deceptive with his shot.  He is going to play on Regina right away on the 2nd line with Kuralt to give us some goal-scoring there.  We are very pleased with the pick."
Aside from Trading, Kamloops was also able to pick the smaller, playmaking winger, Ernar Featherstone.  Featherstone dropped in the draft rankings last minute and was sitting there in the 3rd round.
Pezel: "Alot of our potential choices were taken, but Featherstone was somehow still there.  He passes and sees the game at a high level.  He will compete for a roster spot or go back down to junior."
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Here are the projected lines for Pro with Commentary with General Manager Pezel
Line 1 :  Center - McSween            LW- Muckalt  RW- McDavid/MacDonald   D- Gaustad/Picketts   D - Commodore
Line 2:   Center - Andrews/Nosek   LW - Petiot    RW - Rizzuto                       D- Siklenka                 D - Buinitsky
Line 3:   Center - Weibe                  LW - Kadri     RW - Radley                        D-Greer                      D - Stephan
Comments: Andrews or Nosek are always flexible anywhere.  MacDonald is close to a shot at pro if not this year than next.  Gaudstad has a chance to make it, Picketts is safely ready if needed, but even Cormier or Chartier may challenge here for a job.
 
Here are the projected lines for Farm with Commentary with Assistant General Manager Cosco 
Line 1 :  Center - Kukkonen            LW- Salo                                 RW-  Tatyrn                         D- Federov                  D - Shishkanov
Line 2:   Center - Kuralt                  LW - Fortunus/Featherstone    RW - Alatalo/Lumme           D- Bodnar                   D - Leroux
Line 3:   Center - Suikkannen         LW - Foley                               RW - MacDonald                 D-Chartier                   D - Shinkaretsky
Comments: Line 3 is our most productive line, so we are trying to get stronger wingers for Kuralt on line 2.  With the loss of Williamson, Pezel and Mandich, line 1 is totally reconstructed, with only Shishkanov returning.  Taryrn, Salo, Kukkonen and Federov are high point players who will get a chance to play together.
 
Training Camps this season will go to veteran 22 year olds, players who have been earmarked for possible 5 camps this season:
Shuikkannen, Shinkaretskey, Chartier, MacDonald and Campeau.  Pre-season will determine who gets the camps as all of the choices have performed well on the farm.
 
Kamloops is not planning on making any big trades in the near future, and the goal-tending situation is as follows:
Rob Cosco: "We are going to be sending 1 or 2 players to a special training camp before the main camp.  There are 5 players in the running and they have been told about the opportunity.  Kasper Campeau has been to many of these before and he has benefitted greatly.  Speaking of goaltenders, McCarthy is firmly established as the #1 and Campeau will be the top farm goalie this year and will move up as backup the following season.  Bartos will remain as the Regina backup for this season.  We are currently going to Free Agency for our Pro backup after the trade of Joren Brown and we may draft a prospect goalie this season or next."
When fans were consulted about the moves, feelings about the next season and drafting here is what some had to say.
Fan 1: "I've been a fan since Season 30, I love the Knights and I was proud to see us go so far last year.  I went to tons of playoff games and I love the drafting of Alatalo."
Fan 2: "The only season I have watched is this one.  I became a fan watching Taylor McSween dominate in the playoffs and bought a jersey of his.  Good luck Knights!"
Fan 3: "I really didn't like the Rasmussen trade.  That guy was a fan favourite and we made a mistake there.  I am also skeptical of trading away MacSweyn and Carbonneau.  Those guys were a huge part of our chemistry last season and I would expect us to fall down the standings this year because of it."
Fan 4: "I had a weird interaction with Cosco when I was in a youth camp, that's all I'll say, but I am a Regina fan overall and I'm so excited for Salo, Tatyrn and Kukkonen I bought season tickets."
Fan 5: "McCarthy is my favourite player and I also love Campeau too.  I'm a young fan but I will hope that this team wins the cup. Go Knights!"
Fan 6: "I think Pezel should be fired for all of these trades.  He moves people all over the place and we never win.  I want my money back!"

Media Articles

Moosejaw Playoff Bound....W/ Cameron Briggs - Jun-16-2023 - MJB
MooseJaw over the years...... W/Cameron Briggs - Mar-12-2023 - MJB
Long Road to the Cup - Feb-26-2023 - KAM

Media Articles

Moosejaw Playoff Bound....W/ Cameron Briggs - Jun-16-2023 - MJB
MooseJaw over the years...... W/Cameron Briggs - Mar-12-2023 - MJB
Long Road to the Cup - Feb-26-2023 - KAM

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