GWMHL

Archive for October, 2016|Monthly archive page

History Repeating: This Ain’t the River Rats’ First Rebuild Rodeo

In Special Features, WVR on October 7, 2016 at 7:58 pm

When the West Virginia River Rats shipped out stars Sidney Crosby, Brent Burns, and Henrik Lundqvist (along with core players like Eric Staal, Dan Hamhuis, and Jason Chimera) in September it shook the very foundations of the league. But it wasn’t the first time GM Jim Connell decided to blow the whole thing up.

A little bit of backstory. In late 2003, the Bristol River Rats were a competitive team, but a heartbreaking loss to South Carolina in the Gump Cup Final put the franchise in a bind. With an aging core, the team was in no man’s land; not quite strong enough to win it all, yet too talented to replenish with top-flight draft picks.

So, before the 2003-04 season even started, the team acted, shipping out scorers Peter Bondra and Alex Mogilny. At the mid-season trade deadline, the ax fell on Mark Recchi and Nicklas Lidstrom. Despite all this, the Rats finished atop the Sawchuk East with a 43-26-16 record — only to be swept by Ice Harbor in the first round of the playoffs.

Any lingering doubts were erased. The GM acted. Along with a massive trade that sent superstar defender Scott Niedermayer to the rival Storm, the Rats dealt away all their top scorers: Jaromir Jagr (coming off a 40-goal year), Alexei Yashin, Ray Whitney, Tony Amonte… even Bobby Holik. Between September 14 and October 19, 2014, the the team made 14 trades and jettisoned basically every veteran on the squad.

When the dust settled, the River Rats had amassed six first round picks and four second rounders: 10 picks in the top 30. With them, they drafted:

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5 Earth-Shaking Deals of the Off-Season

In Uncategorized on October 3, 2016 at 9:48 am

It was an active trade season for Gump GMs, with many minor deals (see them all here) and several huge ones.

What the always-active Boston Banshees had in sheer volume, the West Virginia River Rats made up for with impact. Unloading core players was a risky gamble, but one the Rats needed to make. And, as you’ll see, several of those moves could have a lasting effect on the GWMHL.

5) Charleston trades Jaromir Jagr, Rick Nash, and a ’16 4th rounder (which Charleston would eventually reacquire) for Jason Zucker, Luke Schenn, and a ’16 3rd (Nick Paul)

Mere moments after Baltimore capped off its championship run, the Boston Banshees stepped back into the limelight. Jagr and Nash don’t exactly make Boston younger, but they solidify the Banshees’ top six in a big way — and, of course, the move paved the way for an epic series of Boston deals to come.

4) Boston trades Max Pacioretty and a ’17 2nd rounder to El Dorado for a ’16 1st (Matt Murray) and ’16 2nd (Radek Faksa)

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