Search MLN: WWW MLN Sports Zone

 

 

 

Significant CHL Swap
All-Stars switch teams, as Ice Bats, Scorpions engineer 5-player swap.

Jonathan Roybal
MinorLeagueNews.com

01.28.04 -- The New Mexico Scorpions and the Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League [CHL] have made a blockbuster trade that will shake up the rosters of both clubs as they prepare to make their respective playoff runs.

The Scorpions will receive All-Star defenseman Daniel Tetrault (pronounced TEH-troh) and forward Shawn Legault (Leh-GOH) from the Ice Bats in exchange for All-Star center Chris Richards, defenseman Arturs Kupaks and the rights to forward Josh Tymchak.

Jeff Greenlaw, Ice Bats Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations is hopeful the move will provide a spark to his sputtering team.

"We felt like our hockey club was underachieving and changes had to be made," said Greenlaw. "We owe it to our organization and our fans to improve the team, and could no longer sit by and watch the team struggle. Hopefully, the new blood will be a positive for our hockey club."

In his fifth professional season, Chris Richards currently ranks sixth in league scoring with 17 goals and 38 assists in 42 games. The 28-year-old native of Cornwall, Ontario represented the Scorpions in the CHL All-Star Game the last two seasons.

Arturs Kupaks has spent the past two seasons with New Mexico, ranking fifth among league defensemen with 56 points in 62 games last year, and appearing in the CHL All-Star Game in Oklahoma City. This season, the 30-year old from Riga, Latvia ranks among the top 15 defensemen in the CHL with 24 points in 42 games.

Josh Tymchak, 29, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is in his sixth professional season, recording 111 penalty minutes in 29 games before leaving the Scorpions in January for personal reasons.

"Our fans should remember both Chris Richards and Arturs Kupaks as players that were thorns in our side in the playoffs last year," Coach Greenlaw said.

"Chris is among the leading scorers in the league. He's a tremendous playmaker, gritty, a great face-off man and a great leader. When he became available, he was the number-one guy on our list."

"Kupaks is another guy that's an offensive threat every time he touches the puck," Greenlaw added. "Their system has changed a little bit, and he's become more of a two-way player for them this year. But he put up 56 points for them two years ago and was an All-Star. I would expect these two very skilled players to help kick-start our offense, and help bring some of our guys out of offensive slumps."

The additions of Richards and Kupaks came at a high price for the Ice Bats.

Daniel Tetrault, 24, recently appeared in his third All-Star Game in four professional seasons and was named the 2002 CHL Outstanding Defenseman.

The 6-foot, 210-pound native of La Broquerie, Manitoba leads Ice Bats defensemen with nine goals and 23 points this season. Tetrault also played 34 games for the Bridgeport (Conn.) Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League between 2001 and 2003.

Shawn Legault, 26, is one of the toughest customers in the Central Hockey League and can do his share offensively as well.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound native of Legal, Alberta is second in the CHL with 208 penalty minutes. This season with the Ice Bats, Legault has nine goals, 19 points and is third on the team with a +9 plus/minus rating. Last season, he had a career high 13 goals and 27 points to go with 251 penalty minutes in just 40 games.

It is apparent that Coach Greenlaw has much respect and plenty of praise for the former Ice Bats.

"It's with a heavy heart that we trade both players," Greenlaw said. "We gave up two quality individuals that we didn't want to deal, but you have to give something to get something. [Tetrault] played well for us after a slow start and he's a far better player than he's shown this year. A change may do well for him."

"Shawn, I've known for a long time," Greenlaw said. "He's the toughest guy in the league in my books. He works extremely hard and is a very intense player. No one wants to win more than Shawn, and he's shown some frustration this year. Bottom line is, teams that aren't winning have to make changes."

Scorpions Head Coach/Assistant General Manager Bill McDonald also had reservations about the swap, but felt it was in the best interest of his team.

"This is a trade that is going to help the Scorpions now and in the future," said McDonald. "We needed more size both up front and on defense and Daniel and Shawn should give us that. It's tough to see guys that have been part of this organization for a long time like Chris and Arturs go, but we felt we had to make this deal to give ourselves the best chance to compete for a championship this season."