CANMORE – The Canmore Eagles welcomed back defenceman Ryan Nolan and goaltender Matthew Kieper at the trade deadline, two familiar faces in the locker room that will strengthen the defensive zone.
Having suited up for the local Junior A hockey club previously, the pair were reassigned to Canmore from their Western Hockey League (WHL) teams, respectively.
After the acquisitions, the local club dealt rookie goaltender John MacPherson to the Golden Rockets of the KIJHL for future considerations at the Jan. 9 trade deadline.
“I think it gives us a real solid back end – goaltenders and defence out,” said Andrew Milne, head coach and general manager of the Eagles, of the newest additions.
“We talk about it a lot; you win championships with D, so we’re going to be very comfortable with that back end once we get everyone in the lineup.”
Nolan had two points in 16 games with the Kamloops Blazers this season. The 20-year-old blueliner from Calgary, who has been on three WHL teams, played 37 games for the club last season, scoring three goals and eight points.
Kieper had a record of 5-2-1 on the Swift Current Broncos before being sent down to Canmore. In November, the 19-year-old netminder from Winnipeg played four games for the Eagles, before he was traded in a different deal from the Blazers to the Broncos.
With the addition of Kieper, the team levels up in experience between the pipes and gives a solid improvement behind No. 1 option Matthew Malin.
Kieper said he is happy to return to the club.
“I’m thankful for the coaching staff wanting me to come back and play for them this second half and I’m excited to be playing in front of all the Eagles fans,” said Kieper.
With three goalies, MacPherson, 18, became the odd man out and was traded so the Eagles could have their roster at the 25-player maximum. MacPherson went 3-7-1 with the Eagles, with a .865 save percentage.
Throughout the season, the Eagles have fallen back on defence when scoring has run dry.
With new formats for the regular season and playoffs, where more travel and additional back-to-backs have come up, the Eagles’ newest pick-ups provide depth in those defensive spots for the long haul.
“The travel could add up,” said Milne. “The amount of games played in back-to-back scenarios was going to be hard on some of our top guys, so for us, it just gave us depth and … We added two pretty good pieces to the puzzle without having to give anything up and I think that was a big part of what it is.”
The top 14 teams will qualify for the 2023-24 AJHL playoffs, tentatively starting March 8. What’s different is every team is now playing in one conference, as opposed to two (north, south), with the top-seeded team playing the bottom-seeded team, and so forth.
The top two seeded-teams will have a first-round bye.
The Eagles currently sit 12th.
The local club's next game is Wednesday (Jan. 17) at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre against the Grande Prairie Storm. Pick drop is 7 p.m.
