Braves knocked down 7-2
The Jan. 10 CCHL trade deadline is going, going and soon to be gone.
JONATHON BRODIE/ THE RECORDER AND TIMES Brockville Braves Brett Van Stralen over and teammate Tre Folkes goes under Carleton Place Canadians Ryker Killins in Friday’s game at the Memorial Centre.The holidays season has already past, but the song that might best describe the Braves at the transaction cutoff would be Silent Night.
Saturday at 9 p.m. is the official deadline.
The Braves only have room for one player and this year teams aren’t really selling much, said Braves general manager Adam Gibson. With 10 of the league’s 12 teams making the playoffs, as to the CCHL’s new post-season format, most clubs are looking to acquire instead of dump.
“It’s not the big sell we’ve had in the past years,” Gibson said, adding other teams have been calling him to inquire about his players. “We have one spot available and we’re just trying to decide which way to go with it, just trying to survey the landscape of the trade market.”
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The idea for a fifth-place team, in a six-club division, making a move that wouldn’t cause much noise, if any at all, wouldn’t necessarily be considered wise in most cases, but the Braves are sticking to their guns.
Brockville made most of their acquisitions, and maybe their bed, in October and November.
The idea was to deal with the expected lumps that come with building chemistry sooner rather than later at the trade deadline in the last one-third of the season.
“A lot of people were worried at the start when we did all the moves, but we had an idea what we were doing and we knew that it was just going to take some time to get back where we were and that’s where I think we’re starting to get back to now,” Gibson said.
The Braves have taken their lumps. Brockville has picked up a respectable seven losses in their last 15 games since bringing in their latest player, on Nov. 19.
Brockville is taking lumps now. The Braves were pounded 7-2 at the Memorial Centre on Friday by the Carleton Place Canadians – the CCHL’s best team.
The Braves are probably going to take a few more lumps. Their next four games are against the league’s top-three teams – Carelton Place, Pembroke Lumber Kings and Ottawa Jr. Senators.
The hiccups could be a lot worse. The Braves had an 1-7-1-1 in the 10 the previous games headed into Nov. 19.
So did the early changes work? Is the lack of movement at the trade deadline a good idea? It might be a few months before that latter question is answered.
“I don’t want to go in there and tear that up again. That’s why we just want to make a small adjustment, maybe fill another hole that we may see we have and do it in a way that we don’t change whole heck of a lot with that dressing room,” Gibson said. “I think we can make a pretty good run with what we have, the guys just have to buy into the coaching staff and put all their effort on the ice.”
The Braves will travel to Carleton Place to take on
