CANMORE – Four Canmore Eagles are continuing their Alberta Junior A Hockey League seasons on new teams.
Goalie Devin Chapman, 20, and forward Carter Myrol, 18, will play for the Grande Prairie Storm, and defencemen Drae Gardiner, 20, and Dylan Witzke, 19, are headed to the Whitecourt Wolverines following the Feb. 25 trade and transfer deadline.
"I talked to a lot of my buddies on the team in Canmore and I just said, 'I just want to play hockey this year and that's all it is,' " said Gardiner. "I'm not looking to go anywhere, I want to come back, but as of right now, I just want to play hockey."
This week, the league announced its return to action starting March 12, in which a four-week schedule was released with game-play exclusively on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The league will revisit scheduling in early April.
For both north division teams, the Wolverines first game back is against the Drayton Valley Thunder on March 12 at 7 p.m. The next day, the Storm take on the Thunder at 7 p.m.
The conditions of the Eagles players' transfers include that their rights return to the Eagles in 2021-22, following the local club opting out of this season large in part due to a lack of billets.
"It was definitely a pretty crappy feeling," said Gardiner. "I've become super close to the boys on the team. I consider them all brothers, and when I found out we weren't going to be able to go back it really sucked," said Gardiner.
Th Whitecourt Wolverines have added two players via loan from the @canmoreeagles
— Whitecourt Wolverines (@WolverinesJrA) February 23, 2021
Dylan Witzke and Drae Gardiner will be joining the club for the 2020-2021 season.
Full story here: https://t.co/yOjGyrH8no pic.twitter.com/YeQHlkeNB3
As a free agent and with the league's impending return, the valuable experience of the blueline veteran caught the eye of rival squads quickly.
"[Wolverines head coach and general manager Shawn Martin] told me with my experience, the past three years on the junior level and WHL, he really wants me to come in and help those younger guys out," said Gardiner.
"He wants me to play a lot of offensive minutes and a lot of defensive minutes and I'm OK with that. I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
In a press release, Martin said: “With where our roster was at, we needed to add a couple of [D-man] to the lineup, obviously to be able to add two experienced players of their calibre we are thrilled."
In two games this season, Gardiner didn't put up any offensive numbers on the scoreboard. Witzke had one assist.
A defensive partner hasn't be assigned to Gardiner, but Eagles teammate Witzke is a top candidate as the duo's styles "mesh well together."
In the hunt for top goalie status in Grande Prairie, Chapman will compete against Joe Howe, a transferred goalie from the Coquitlam Express of the BCHL.
On joining the Storm, the 20-year-old goalie said additional game time as an older junior athlete is important for exposure to scouts from post-secondary institutes.
He talked the decision over with the Eagles before committing, and added it was a sombre conclusion to the season for the organization.
"I feel bad for some of the guys who aren't going to get to play this year, especially the 20 year olds. It really sucks for them," said Chapman. "I'm glad it worked out for me, being able to go somewhere still, but it was definitely disappointing for all the guys."
In his only start of the season, Chapman picked up a win and has a .923 save percentage.
Along with the Eagles, the Lloydminster Bobcats opted out of the restart due to public health restrictions of the Saskatchewan government. The border city team's arena is in Saskatchewan.
On Monday (March 1), on top of announcing its return to play, the league added that no positive COVID-19 results came back during the first round of testing.
Out of 13 teams, 367 players and staff were tested.
