Friday 15 May 2015

WHL Trade: Captain Watson Dealt to Seattle

The Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club announced on Friday that they have acquired overage forward Cory Millette and a fifth round draft pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam draft from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for Captain Jamal Watson. 

Millette, who is from Storthoaks, Saskatchewan, scored 47 points (24g-23a) while appearing in 71 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades last seasonHe scored five points (2g-3a) in six playoff games with the Thunderbirds this past spring. The 5’10”, 194-pound forward has played in 238 career WHL games with the T-birds, Raiders, Blades and Red Deer Rebels scoring a total of 121 points (60g-61a). 

Hurricanes General Manager, Peter Anholt, says Millette is a smart player, “Cory is one of those players that has really good hockey sense. He has some offensive ability around the net. I kind of compare him to [Tomas] Holmstrom of Detroit; his skating isn’t the best, but he makes up for it with his hockey sense. He’ll be a good add for us.”

Watson, who hails from Calgary, Alberta, was named the 24thCaptain in franchise history last year and set career highs in goals (26), assists (28) and points (56) while appearing in 66 games. During his four years with the Hurricanes, Watson appeared in 270 games which ranks him tied for seventh in franchise history. He was also tied for 26th in franchise history with 69 goals, 39th in assists with 79, and 34th in career points with 148. 

Anholt says trading the Captain was a difficult decision, “It was really hard. He’s played here four years and he was a real good warrior for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. It’s tough, he was our Captain but it’s maybe time for him to move on and moving to the Western Conference it will be kind of a fresh start for Watty.”

The Hurricanes still have two open overage spots heading into the 2015-2016 hockey season.

(From Hurricanes Media Relations)

4 comments:

  1. First and foremost. Watson was and always will be a Hurricane. The kid, and yes he is still a kid, has given his all for 4 full seasons to a brutal Hockey organization. He never complained or WALKED OUT ON THE CANES. For that alone he deserves a medal.

    I would love to have seen how his career would have turned out if he were a Rocket or a Wheat King etc. I would bet the farm he would have been drafted by an NHL club long ago. The fact he was a Cane for the last 4 years has been a massive detriment to his hockey career.

    I wish him nothing but the best and I hope this change works out for Jamal because for once, he really deserves a fair shake in the WHL. This league owes him at least that much.

    The WHL is always bragging about how they are the best development league in the World blah blah. Well try to convince the last 60 or 70 players that went through the Hurricanes slaughterhouse how that worked out for them Robison!!!

    And some people wonder why Jordy Bellerive has not signed on with the team yet.

    canesrock

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  2. Wish Jamaal all the best in Seattle. I don't like this trade from a Hurricane standpoint. They lose speed and size. I realize Jamaal isn't the most physical player in the league, but his speed helps him play important minutes on the PP and PK. If Millet's skating is described by Anholt as "not the best", I hope he uses his "instincts" to his advantage. He's been traded 4 times, so he hasn't overly impressed any of the previous 3 teams enough to keep him.

    All the best to Jamal in his final year in the Dub. He's been a REAL character player for a terrible organization.

    LaRon

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    1. La Ron..Just because a player gets traded several times does not mean he did not impress the teams that traded him . Examples= Gretzky [3 times] Messier, and a whole lot more in all leagues. Trades are made in the hope it helps both teams . If a player is no good he has no value to any team , and becomes untradeable.

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  3. I'm not replying to anyone who doesn't put their name to their posts. I stand by what I said............

    LaRon

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