Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Mils' Blueline Won't Include Wasylyshen, Kachur

(20-year-old defenseman Derek Wasylyshen will head to University this season, rather than finish off his Junior 'A' career in Melville)

A team that looks pretty promising on paper will be down two 20-year-old defenseman before they even start.

Melville Millionaires' Head Coach/GM Jamie Fiesel says Winnipeg product Derek Wasylyshen, after a one and a half seasons in Melville, will start his post secondary schooling this fall, instead of completing his Junior eligibility with the Millionaires.

"It's disappointing but we have to respect his decision. He fought with it all summer long, and then a couple weeks ago called me and said, 'Feez, I'm going to school.' It's a loss for us for sure, I was really happy with our group of vets and still am. It opens up another opportunity for a defenseman to make our hockey club. Tyson Newell might go back to defense after finishing last season at forward, and we do have a couple of young guys we're pretty excited about, depending what happens with them in the WHL."

Fiesel's also known for a while now, that they won't be seeing fellow 20-year-old defenseman Klay Kachur. Kachur was acquired from the BCHL's Powell River Kings, in exchange for 18-year-old Jordan Paddock. Paddock was sent to BC due to family reasons (his family moved to B.C. because of work). But Kachur, a product of Lanigan, SK, requested a trade back to B.C., despite the Mils' brand new rink being located roughly two hours from his hometown.

"He's going to have to wait to be honest. I have to see what we need, which looks like a defenseman now. If someone wants to step up and give me a 3-4 defenseman, then I'll make a trade. If not, we'll wait. My responsibility is the Melville Millionaires, we think we have a good, returning group of guys, so it'll have to be someone who can play for us. It's an unfortunate decision by Klay, but one he'll have to live with and one we have to deal with."

Despite the two overagers choosing not to report to Melville for 2011/2012, the Mils still have a good number of returnees on the backend.

(91) Lee Christensen
(91) Tyson Newell
(91) Bob Pond
(92) Tyler Bird
(92) Jared Williamson
--------
(94) Devan Fafard (WHL-Sasaktoon)
(94) Jeff Hubic (WHL- Kootenay)

The Millionaires, and the Yorkton Terriers open up Main Camp on Friday, September 2nd.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

they are lucky to have Christensen, other than that the defense is average at best.

Anonymous said...

Coming from the BCHL where scholarships to Div 1 schools are plentiful, rinks are routinely sold out, and not to mention the quality of play is much higher, why would Kachur want to come to Melville or even the SJ? The difference between these two leagues is night and day.

Craig Stein said...

BC's a great league, but check how many of those Div 1's are American-born players.

Anonymous said...

And check how many of those players have a scholarship before playing in the BCHL, or have already talked and nearly committed before playing in the BCHL.

The SJHL is the premier Junior 'A' Hockey league in Canada where all teams can win on any given night.

Anonymous said...

Routinely sold out rinks? I would double check that if I were you.

Anonymous said...

Premier Junior A league. I don't know what its like out East, but the SJ is trailing the AJ and BC along with the MJ as far as I'm concerned.

Wayne

Anonymous said...

Many rinks average over 1,000 per game.. go to Notre Dame, Estevan, even Melville and youll be lucky to see a couple hundred.

Anonymous said...

Any truth to the rumour that three or four teams are on the verge of perhaps collapsing? I heard that last week in Melville.

Anonymous said...

FF and Nip for sure. ND? Melf?

Anonymous said...

the sad part is Melville will have a new 1500 seat rink and only 500 (maybe) will show up for the games. I drove from Yorkton quite a few times last year to watch the Mils and couldnt believe at 730pm there were MAYBE 350 people in the rink.

Anonymous said...

I think a major problem is the SJHL's mandatory ticket pricing system.. in many of these small towns people aren't willing to dish out 12-15 dollars per adult to take their kids to a game where they will inevitably want snacks, souvenirs, etc.. turns a family outing into a pretty expensive night.. lower ticket prices would bring out more people, spending more money.. I think this would especially hold true in a community such as La Ronge.

Anonymous said...

I personally think the problem is that all the good players want to play elsewhere. Flanagan in Kindersley wanted a Div 1 scholarship and Lichtenwald in Nipawin probly wants one too so he has gone to USHL. Guys from other leagues don't want to come here because they know this league isn;t close to what it was a decade ago. Teams are losing money, people are staying home because the quality of the game isn't great. That equates to people no matter the venue not wanting to pay $$$ until playoffs. Face it folks, the league is dying and has become number 4 amongst the Jr A leagues in the West.

Anonymous said...

GO TERRIERS!!!!!