Complete Trade Deadline Recap; Q and A with Dane Crowley

Well, another WHL trade deadline has come and gone . . . and again the Broncos are right in the mix, and perhaps made the biggest deal on deadline day.

In case you missed it the Broncos have traded 19 year-old defenseman Dane Crowley, 16 year-old prospect Jordan Mistelbacher and a conditional draft pick to Everett for 17 year-old defenseman Eric Doyle.

From an outside perspective it appears we gave up a lot. I think Dane Crowley is a super defenseman and great team guy. He has made leaps and bounds in a year. To think, he was basically discarded by the Saskatoon Blades at last year's deadline. He then has a great 2nd half with the Broncos, gets drafted by Tampa Bay and now was on every contenders "want list" on deadline day. Good for you Dane, great year. The Broncos also believe he will be playing pro hockey next season somewhere in the Tampa Bay system. That's where the conditional pick comes in. If Crowley is back in the WHL next season then the trade goes as is. If he turns pro, the Broncos will have to give up a 3rd round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. I chatted with Dane moments after he was told of the deal. Safe to say he was rocked by the news. More on that later in the Q and A with Dane Crowley below.

The Broncos decided to hold on to goaltender Kyle Moir after the right deal didn't materialize. A deal to Prince George was speculated at the last minute, but the Broncos decided to hold on to Moir and ride him now all the way to the end. There was a lot of speculation he would end up going to Vancouver but the deadline offer wasn't good enough. Now, he'll finish his career here and have a great chance to break Jeff Calvert's record for most games played ever in the WHL as a goaltender.

Here's a recap of all the details and my opinion on a few:

-- The Western Hockey League has announced the transactions from the Trade deadline on Monday, January 10, 2007.A total of 13 transactions were made involving 24 players and 13 Bantam Draft selections.Here are the transactions from Monday's trade deadline:-

The Tri-City Americans traded D Ryan Gillen to the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft.- Looks like Calgary adds some size to their back-end. 6'7" Gillen will provide that. Gillen became expendable after the Americans acquired Roman Tesliuk from Kamloops and T.J. Fast from Denver College.


The Calgary Hitmen traded Michael Hengen to the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2007 Bantam Draft.- Can you believe that? Michael Hengen has now played for five teams in a year! Swift Current, Saskatoon, Chilliwack, Calgary and now Moose Jaw. Wow, that has to be some sort of a record!

The Moose Jaw Warriors traded F Andre Herman to the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2007 Bantam Draft.- Seattle picks up a veteran forward.

The Spokane Chiefs traded D Dan Mercer to the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for D Curtis Kelner.- Swap of d-men. Change of scenery for both.

The Kelowna Rockets traded F Craig Cuthbert to the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a 4th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft.- The Kelowna Rockets just didn't get the production from the Swift Current kid. Cuthbert, a former 1st round bantam pick gets closer to home and should fit in well with the Blades young group.

The Prince Albert Raiders traded D A.J. Thelen to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for D John Flatters and D Nathan Deck.- The Giants never did upgrade their goaltending so I guess the next best thing was to upgrade their defense. Maybe their plan is to not allow any shots on goal. It's quite conceivable considering the defensive core they now have.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes traded F Michael Wuchterl and a 5th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft to the Vancouver Giants in exchange for F Kyle Lamb and a 4th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft.- The Giants had to make room for the extra 20 year old in A.J. Thelen.

The Tri-City Americans traded D Nicholaus Knudsen and a 6th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for D Mitch McColm and an 8th round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft.- It appears to be a routine swap of defensemen.

The Chilliwack Bruins traded F Myles Stoesz to the Regina Pats in exchange for D Brayden Metz.- The Pats add some toughness to help protect some of their smaller forwards.

The Portland Winter Hawks traded F Robert Klinkhammer to the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for F Teegan Moore and a 2nd round pick in the 2007 Bantam Draft.- Brandon gets a little more offense with Klinkhammer but they never did get that defenseman they were hoping to get at the deadline.

The Saskatoon Blades traded F Michael MacAngus and their 3rd and 5th round picks in the 2007 Bantam Draft to the Regina Pats in exchange for F Derek Hulak and a 4th round pick in the 2007 Bantam Draft.- This trade was made to get Hulak home for personal reasons.

The Portland Winter Hawks traded F Sasha Golin to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for F Matt Schmermund. - Kamloops adds a veteran forward to help their stretch run.

There's a breakdown of all the deadline deals.

As I said earlier, I had a chance to talk to Dane Crowley before he left the team for good this afternoon. Here's a transcript of our conversation.

JK: First of all Dane, you're no stranger to the trade deadline. What was your reaction to today's trade?
DC: (voice quivering) Not again, that's what I thought. I didn't want to leave this place, I love Swift Current, I like the fans, the players, coaching and a they've shipped me off to Everett so I just want to make the most of this opportunity.

JK: Tell me how you heard the news, or when you were told?
DC: I was at the rink, I was in the training room . . . and Deano came up to me and said "Crow I need to see you" and I thought, not again. He came in and said this is the best opportunity for me. So hopefully it comes through.

JK: Everett is a team with a lot of talent. You've seen them first hand. No doubt this is a great chance for you to go deep into the playoffs and make an impression.
DC: definitely, um, we'll see what happens. I'm not concentrated on that right now but more of how I'm going to get there and stuff. We'll see what happens.

JK: Obviously you were the guy that everyone wanted. How does that make you feel?
DC: It's good that everyone wants me, I think last year when I got the call (to come to Swift Current) I was devastated, but they (Saskatoon) told me it's not a bad thing to be traded, at least somebody wants you and it's true so hopefully I go there (Everett) and they play me.

JK: What has the reaction been from your family?
DC: They are supportive. My dad was pretty pumped I'm going to Everett, you know my mom was speechless. My girlfriend is pretty upset because it's an extra couple hundred dollars for a plane ticket, (laughing), but they are supportive and excited I'm going to a WHL championship contender.

JK: When it comes to next year, the Broncos think you very well might be playing pro hockey instead of playing out your final year of junior hockey. For you to finish this year and sign a contract, is that your goal?
DC: Yeah well, Deano told me that part of the reason they traded me was for an opportunity for me to play for Constantine's pro style of a team and for a pro-type coach. The Broncos also talked to the Tampa Bay Lightning and they said that more than likely I won't be back to junior next year and sign a contract this summer so, I guess they are building for next year so they needed to ship me out.

JK: What a year, you've come a long ways. You were pretty much discarded from Saskatoon and all of a sudden here you are a year later, the reigning Broncos defenseman of the year and now a crack at the WHL championship. You must look back and say what a year it's been for you.
DC: Exactly, and getting drafted and the Bronco defenseman of the year and now this trade to Everett so, things are going good.

Your thoughts Bronco fans?