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The Penticton Vees haven‘t let the defence rest in recent weeks.
Penticton signed a pair of blueliners for the 2009-10 B.C. Hockey League season, dealt another to complete a trade to the Burnaby Express and had another commit to the WHL‘s Kelowna Rockets.
On the incoming side of the ledger, the Vees added towering rearguards Luke Curadi and Isaac MacLeod to the mix of players who will check into Penticton for the opening of training camp Aug. 24 at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
The 1991-born Curadi is a highly regarded prospect who was also being courted by Lincoln, Neb. of the United States Hockey League. Curadi, listed by Central Scouting for the upcoming NHL entry draft, starred with the Hartford Junior Wolf Pack of the Atlantic Junior Hockey League.
At six-foot-six and 245 pounds, Curadi offers the size and toughness the Vees lacked on the blueline in their playoff loss to Vernon.
“Luke brings a different dimension to our back end,” said Vees general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson. “We‘re very happy he chose to come to Penticton.”
Curadi is hoping to earn a U.S. college scholarship and though he has two seasons of junior eligibility, he could end up leaving the Vees after one season.
MacLeod, born in 1992, played three games with the Vees as an affiliated player last season. The six-foot-four, 200-pounder helped his hometown Nelson Leafs capture the Kootenay International Junior B Hockey League championship.
MacLeod tallied six goals and 24 points with the Leafs. His older brother, Alex, played with the Vees for two seasons before finishing his junior career with the Camrose Kodiaks.
“He‘s another big body, he plays with a bit of an edge, and he also skates well and has an offensive flair to his game,” said Harbinson. “Isaac got better and better in the few games we called him up. He‘s only 17 and going into his first year of junior A, so we‘re going to have to work with him a bit.”
Harbinson said the Vees always like to recruit players who know how to win – something MacLeod did a lot of last season in Nelson.
“He‘s already being recruited by some of the big schools like Denver, New Hampshire, Boston University, Boston College,” said Harbinson.
Curadi and MacLeod have both been signed to junior A cards. Each team is allotted a maximum of 35 cards at the start of the season.
Departing from the Vees will be Matt Ridley and Colton Jobke.
Ridley, son of former NHL‘er Mike Ridley, played 15 games in 2008-09 for the Vees, collecting three goals, six points and six penalty minutes before going down with a season-ending concussion. Ridley, six-foot-two and 210 pounds, had been acquired earlier in the season from the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
The 1990-born Ridley was sent to Burnaby along with F Brad Reid to complete the trade-deadline deal that brought sniper Brodie Reid to Penticton. Brodie Reid has since been shipped to the Nanaimo Clippers for F Eric Filiou.
There had been some question whether Ridley would be able to play this season after the head injury.
“Matt has a lot of talent,” said Harbinson. “For his sake, we hope he gets healthy again, and we both agreed a fresh start in Burnaby would be the best thing for him.”
The Vees anticipated losing the talented 1992-born Jobke to Kelowna. The five-foot-11, 165-pounder from Tsawwassen logged three goals, 11 points and 11 PIM in his rookie season with Penticton.
“Colton and his family were really up front with us on the situation and he is obviously going to one of the best major junior programs in the country,” said Harbinson. “We‘re proud to be able to develop players whether they‘re moving on to playing at the college and university, minor pro or major junior levels.”
The Vees, meanwhile, have finalized their slate of pre-season games. Penticton will travel to Trail where they will play games against the BCHL‘s Trail Smoke Eaters and the Alberta league‘s Brooks Bandits.
Penticton will then play home-and-home sets against Interior Conference rivals Merritt Centennials and Westside Warriors.
The BCHL regular season commences Sept. 11, with the schedule expected to be released shortly.
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