Driven partially by necessity but also by design, the New Westminster Salmonbellies stocked its cupboard last week through some fishing of a different sort.
While nearly all their Western Lacrosse Association rivals were casting their nets in the Junior draft local waters, New West reached over the Rockies and inked three free agent Alberta junior graduates, and claimed the rights to one of the game's biggest up-and-coming stars.
Coming westward are Austin Jerhoff, Tory Tremblay and Sean Tyrrell, all seasoned junior talent with legitimate chances at earning positions with the 2017 Salmonbellies.
While trades to acquire veterans Kevin Crowley, Brett Mydske and Joel McCready reduced their chances at the WLA draft table, New West general
manager Dan Richardson said the three Albertans were on their radar nonetheless.
“We always want to have youth pushing the envelope so to speak, so there’s no chance of complacency,” said Richardson. "It's looking like we'll have five-to-eight new bodies in the lineup, including a couple of impact ones."
Whether or not any of the Albertan players develop into the 'impact variety,' Richardson was pleased to secure their rights.
"We knew we had these kids coming out, so going into the (junior) draft with fewer picks didn't worry us."
The club had just four selections in the annual graduating B.C. junior draft – and only one in the top 40 – so thinking outside the box was required.
Team alumnus Dave Matheson provided some valuable intel when it came to the Alberta talent pool.
“(Matheson) has lived in Calgary and put us on to these players,” said Richardson of the 1970s era 'Bellie. “He coached them in bantam and midget, so when he came out here a few years ago for the midget nationals, he asked us if he could use the (Salmonbellies) dressing room for his team... Apparently the kids were in awe with the heritage and ambience.”
Jerhoff, at 6-foot-2, is a quick-strike playmaker on the rightside who is attending Lynn University in Florida. A film student at Capilano University, Tremblay plays the transitional defensive position, while Tyrrell is an aggressive sniper, having been one of the Alberta junior circuit’s top scorers with Okotoks.
Only 5-foot-8, Tyrrell brings big skills to the floor, and is currently a captain at UMass-Lowell in Boston.
"Dave has known them since bantam, midget and he says their character is incredible... I've talked with them three-to-four times and told them we're not handing them the keys, but they'll have an opportunity to make the team. They're pretty excited."
At the draft table last Thursday with the 10th overall selection, acquired a few weeks earlier in a trade with Nanaimo, the ’Bellies reached even further east and chose Chris Cloutier of Kitchener, who played half a season with the Coquitlam Adanacs in 2015. In seven playoff games that year, the leftsided shooter counted a league-high 23 goals, and finished his stint on the west coast with 48 goals in 15 games.
“In our books, if he was a western kid, (Cloutier) was the best player in the draft,” said Richardson.
A junior at the University of North Carolina, Cloutier could be another impact addition, but Richardson said his arrival isn't expected anytime soon, if at all.
"(Cloutier) is a big talented player, a big body like (recent Burnaby Lakers acquisition Mark) Matthews," he noted. "It was a gamble but we thought let's try it. If he comes out, great."
He scored the overtime winner for North Carolina in the NCAA Div. 1 championship final last year.
New West also selected Nanaimo’s Jake Latin, at 41st, Delta’s Brett Andersen, at 48th, and Burnaby’s Kyle Heiling with the 55th pick.
Now, with most of the off-season heavylifting completed, the club will spend the next few months focusing on the fiscal side, like renewing sponsorships and selling more tickets, said Richardson.
New West launches the 2017 on May 25 when the Nanaimo Timbermen come to Queen's Park Arena.
