The Okotoks Oilers addressed a sudden shortage of healthy defencemen and surplus of goalies with a pair of transactions this week.
The Junior A Oilers acquired defenceman Dylan Schellenberg from the British Columbia Hockey League’s Port Alberni Bulldogs for future considerations and shipped rookie goalie Devin Green to the Lloydminster Bobcats, also for futures.
Okotoks head coach and general manager James Poole said the Schellenberg acquisition resulted from a string of injuries to the Oilers’ defence corps. Alternate captain Jordan Swenson is out until January with a lacerated left leg, suffered last week when he was inadvertently stepped on by a Calgary Canuck, while Max Mowat is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.
“We had to fill a hole there with only five healthy bodies,” Poole said. “Schellenberg has played in the league, has experience and a bit of toughness and that’s something we can add on our backend.”
Poole said the newest member of the Oilers’ talented blueline brings a new wrinkle to the group.
“He’s a guy that is a little bit different from what we have right now,” Poole said. “He gets the puck, makes simple plays and tries to be a physical presence at the net front and in the defensive zone down low.”
Okotoks marks the third stop this season alone for the 19-year-old blueliner.
Schellenberg started the season with the Camrose Kodiaks and was jettisoned to Port Alberni where he only suited up for one game before being moved to the Oilers.
“It definitely wears on you,” said the nomadic Schellenberg. “It’s an experience traveling all over the place, meeting all the new boys and everything like that, but it’s part of the lifestyle and you’ve just got to put up with it.”
The Calgary native, a three-year member of the Drumheller Dragons before stops with Saskatchewan’s Estevan Bruins, the Kodiaks and Bulldogs, has suited up for just three games this season.
“It’s tough when you have been in and out (of the lineup) and waiting by the phone and trying to figure stuff out, thinking, ‘Is the call going to come now?’” Schellenberg said. “Right now I just want to get back at it and help this team as much as I can.”
The stay-at-home blueliner’s acquisition was preceded by Green’s move to the North Division’s Bobcats on Nov. 7.
Despite the tenuous position as part of a three-goalie platoon with the Oilers, Green said he was caught off guard by the news of being traded.
“It was a little bit of a surprise, but there’s not much you can do,” said Green of the first time he’s ever been traded. “It’s different, but you just have to put it behind you and go to the new team.”
Green, who posted a 2-3-1 record in his two months with the Oilers, said he greatly enjoyed his stint with the green-and-gold.
“The guys on the team were great, everyone was easy to get along with and the atmosphere in the room was good too,” he said.
The Lloydminster Bobcat netminder said he’s looking forward to greener pastures in the north.
“It’s almost like a fresh start so I’m just going to go about it and prove myself this year,” he said. “From what they’ve told me they’re looking forward to having me up here as a guy who can compete for starts this season and be their number one guy next year.”
Poole said Green was the odd man out in Okotoks due to his development not quite being at the level of 20-year-old netminder Keith Hamilton and second-year Oiler Jared D’Amico.
“Ultimately we saw that Jared and Keith were definitely ahead in terms of where they are right now,” Poole said. “And looking big picture having two (1994 born) goalies wasn’t a long-term solution.”
The market for goalies dictated the Oilers would have a hard time pulling off a player-for-player deal, said Poole.
“We look at Devin as having a ton of potential and once we made a decision on the way we wanted to go we just wanted to make sure we found him a place to play,” he said. “That was priority number one.”
The Oilers’ general manager said the competition in the crease between D’Amico and Hamilton is a good thing for his hockey team. All D’Amico has done since Hamilton was brought aboard is pull off three consecutive wins, while stopping 87 of the 90 shots he’s faced.
“When we brought in Keith I’m sure (D’Amico) wasn’t too pleased when that happened,” Poole said. “But I will give him credit, he’s definitely responded and been outstanding since we brought in Keith and the results show that.”
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