CANMORE – A new face is joining the Canmore Eagles.
The local Junior A hockey club traded forward Mason Bueckert to the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in exchange for forward Hunter Burgeson and a player development fee.
Bueckert requested to be traded to his home province and due to playing rights, a deal had to be made with La Ronge, which "handcuffed" the Eagles in the transaction.
"Saskatchewan has a different system than Alberta ... [La Ronge] drafted him first overall and so if he's to play in Saskatchewan his rights belong to them," said Andrew Milne, Eagles general manager and head coach. "So although we had his Hockey Canada rights, his Saskatchewan rights belong to La Ronge, so if he goes back there he has to go to La Ronge."
Bueckert was in his first season in Canmore and scored six goals and 11 points In 21 games.
The trade brings Burgeson to town, a 19-year-old product of Airdrie, who will suit up for his third Junior A team this season. The Eagles say he is committed to the club.
Burgeson started the campaign with the Bonnyville Pontiacs, but was traded after one game to the Ice Wolves where he scored four goals and seven points in 10 games. While in La Ronge, the forward was sidelined with a broken hand, which has since healed.
Last season, Burgeson played for the Beaver Valley NiteHawks of the KIJHL, scoring 19 goals and 36 points in 41 games.
"We thought this is a guy who's kind of gone through a lot and is willing to do anything to play hockey and that's the kind of guy we want to bring into our program, so that is a big part of why we did it," said Milne.
"He's pretty excited from the deal we made that he's coming back here. The fact that he went up there and put in his time was a big motivation for us to try and get him as quickly as we could."
With the latest transaction, the Eagles have now completed five trades since August as the club has tinkered with its roster.
Canmore is 10-12-1-2 after 25 games. On Saturday (Nov. 19), the club snapped a six-game losing streak after defeating the Okotoks Oilers 4-2.
"I talked our guys we needed to play desperate hockey and get out of this little funk we're in," said Milne. "We got off to a good start and played pretty hard and held on late in the game when they put a good surge on us, and blocked a ton of shots and kept it to the outside. I think we played really desperate and got the win."
The Eagles' next game is Friday (Nov. 25) when Canmore-raised Evan McFeeters and his Sherwood Park Crusaders visit town. Burgeson is projected to debut against the Crusaders.
Eagles defenceman Ryan Nolan, who's been sidelined since mid-October with a shoulder injury, is also projected to return to the lineup Friday.
Puck drop is 7 p.m.
