Chiefs/Bruins Trade

[Tipped Off]

Chiefs Acquire Lenoski
12/28/06 - Western Hockey League (WHL) Spokane Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs have acquired 20-year-old defenseman Stephane Lenoski and a sixth round bantam draft selection in 2007 in exchange for 18- year-old defenseman Matt McCue.

"Stephane has been Chilliwack's top defenseman all year. He is a player who is able to play in all situations and has a wealth of experience in the WHL," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "We are very excited as this move improves our team."

Lenoski is in his fourth season in the WHL spending the previous three with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Lenoski was acquired by Chilliwack in the 2006 WHL Expansion draft. Through 35 games this season Lenoski has already set career highs with four goals and 20 points. In his last six games, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has two goals, seven points and is a +4.

The acquisition of Lenoski gives Spokane four overage players, one over the maximum allowed by the WHL. The rights to defenseman Corey Courchene can be transferred to a WHL Team that does not have a full compliment of 20-year-olds.

McCue appeared in four games earlier this season and scored one goal and two points. The Cochrane, AB native played in 84 career games in Spokane with seven goals, 20 points and 164 penalty minutes.

Lenoski is expected to join the team this weekend when they play a home-and-home series with the Tri- City Americans. Saturday night, Spokane will host Tri-City at 7:00 and then the Chiefs will travel to Kennewick for their Annual New Year's Eve game on Sunday night.

[Beaner]

Nice move by both sides, Spokane gets something for a player who left the team, and Chilliwack picks up the rights to a good young defenseman.

Question is, will McCue report to Chilliwack?

[Jimmypop316]

anyone give us some info on Lenoski?

[Tipped Off]

The article doesn't say the Bruins are getting anyone's rights. It says they get McCue and a 6th round bantam pick. It goes on to say ...

"The acquisition of Lenoski gives Spokane four overage players, one over the maximum allowed by the WHL. The rights to defenseman Corey Courchene can be transferred to a WHL Team that does not have a full compliment of 20-year-olds. "


that team may, or may not be, the Bruins. Who else has a 20 YO slot open?

[SectionNDeserter]

that team may, or may not be, the Bruins. Who else has a 20 YO slot open?The Giants

[Beaner]

The article doesn't say the Bruins are getting anyone's rights. It says they get McCue and a 6th round bantam pick. It goes on to say ...

"The acquisition of Lenoski gives Spokane four overage players, one over the maximum allowed by the WHL. The rights to defenseman Corey Courchene can be transferred to a WHL Team that does not have a full compliment of 20-year-olds. "


that team may, or may not be, the Bruins. Who else has a 20 YO slot open?

the good young defenseman I was talking about was McCue. bad wording on my part.

As too Courchene, I believe he goes into a waiver draft, so the last place team in the dub gets first crack at him and so on down the line.

[HAF]

The Am's have an overage spot open as Scurko has been dropped from the protected player list.

[Tipped Off]

Do they have a limited time to trade his rights or, because they are in violation, do they have to waive his rights immediately?

[Beaner]

Do they have a limited time to trade his rights or, because they are in violation, do they have to waive his rights immediately?

I am not sure to be honest.

But I would have to think that they would have to drop him as soon as they picked up Lenoski, to make room on their roster. Maybe they get 24 hours to make a deal, but what kind of deal can they really make? A late late draft pick maybe?

And looking at their roster Courchene is no longer on it and the Trade is posted by the WHL main site.

They may be able to get around this since Courchene is on the Injured list.

[Gerg]

anyone give us some info on Lenoski?
He was one of the better offensive defensemen on the Bruins, I hadn't seen him play in a while, but he was good on the rush, good at leading the play. It's a shame that he had to be dealt away.

Now for your return. What kind of guy is McCue? I'm under the impression that he's a physical guy who can put the puck in the net from time to time? Am I right, or is there more?

[chiefs20167]

Now for your return. What kind of guy is McCue? I'm under the impression that he's a physical guy who can put the puck in the net from time to time? Am I right, or is there more?

You got it right. McCue didn't really stand out but he was a presence in the blue line.


There was a post earlier that said Chilliwack got McCue and a draft pick. The way I read it, the Chiefs go the draft pick. Did I read it wrong?

[LifelongChiefsFan]

You got it right. McCue didn't really stand out but he was a presence in the blue line.


There was a post earlier that said Chilliwack got McCue and a draft pick. The way I read it, the Chiefs go the draft pick. Did I read it wrong?

That pretty much sums it up. McCue also has a pretty heavy shot, although not the most accurate, and did get some decent PP time while with the Chiefs. As for the draft pick, Spokane gets a 2007 6th round bantam pick from Chilliwack, according to the original article, so you read it correctly.

[Jimmypop316]

Chiefs arrive in town, face Tri-City Saturday night

The Spokane Chiefs, new and old, found their way back to Spokane on Friday.

The team bus arrived in the early afternoon at the Spokane Arena with the coaches and most players after a 13-hour drive from Prince George. Spokane returned having won both games against the Cougars.

Coach Bill Peters went home ill with the flu, but assistant coach Steve Pleau stayed behind to meet the newest Chief, Stephane Lenoski.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Jared Cowen and his family were met at the airport by a pair of Chiefs and their billets as they arrived from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Tonight, the Chiefs will reunite and take the ice against rival Tri-City in the first game of a home-and-home weekend matchup. The teams enter the weekend tied in the U.S. Division standings, making the points crucial.

Both teams will be missing players who are participating at the world junior hockey championships in Sweden. The Americans are without goalie Carey Price (Canada) and defenseman Juraj Valach (Slovokia). Spokane is missing defenseman Sean Zimmerman (USA).

So, for the Chiefs, the arrival of two blue liners was a welcome sight. Lenoski and Cowen will jump right into action.

Cowen can only play in five Western Hockey League regular-season games as a 15-year-old. The WHL’s No. 1 overall pick will play two of those games this weekend as he makes his debut.

Lenoski, 20, was acquired on Thursday from Chilliwack. He and his family spent 10 hours driving from there on Friday. In a twist of irony, he has a roster spot with the Chiefs at the expense of a former teammate.

Lenoski and Corey Courchene played together in Brandon for three seasons before each found themselves with new teams to start the year. Courchene, 20, had to be released by the Chiefs after they acquired Lenoski. WHL teams can have only three “overage” players.

“It’s kind of tough, I haven’t talked to him yet,” said Lenoski. “What’s happened is nothing you can do anything about. It’s just the way hockey is sometimes.”

On the other hand, Lenoski said he’s excited about coming to a franchise which is in the thick of a division race. Expansion Chilliwack is in last place in the B.C. Division, but is battling Kelowna for a playoff berth.

“Spokane is having a great season,” said Lenoski. “It’s exciting to be able to come to a team that’s competing and be given a chance to make an impact in your last year.”

Lenoski was given a key role on the Bruins, matching up against the opposing team’s top lines and playing on the power play and penalty kill. He ranks 19th among WHL defenseman in scoring with 4 goals and 16 assists.

He said he had no reservations about coming to Spokane, having heard former Chief Myles Stoesz continually sing its praises while the two were teammates in Chilliwack.

“We used to bug him about it, because he loved it so much,” Lenoski said with a smile.

==

Thats pretty awesome if you ask me. No one wanted Stoesz to leave, and its good to see he felt the same. Good to know that if we get anymore Chilliwack players they will be glad to play here because of him, haha.

God I'm excited for tonights game.

[Monster]

You guys got a beauty in Lenoski. Great skater and calming presence. He was one of my favorite players and I am sad to see him go, but excited for him to be going to a contender.
Thanks for all your effort Stephane.

[BruinsFan19]

Lenoski's great. His comments in the Chilliwack paper were a total class act.

Bruins trade Lenoski for Spokane defender


By Dan Kinvig
Black Press
Dec 29 2006

There’s no better place for a player who’s looking for a fresh start than an expansion team.

And if Matt McCue, the newest member of the Chilliwack Bruins, is looking for a lesson on how to take advantage of that opportunity, he should put in a phone call to the man he was traded for on Thursday. Stephane Lenoski, whom the Bruins shipped to the Spokane Chiefs along with a sixth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft in exchange for McCue, might be the poster boy for the career-boosting effects of playing for an expansion squad.

Lenoski was a workhorse for the Bruins after being plucked off the Brandon Wheat Kings’ roster in the expansion draft in the summer, soaking up all the power play time he could handle and exceeding his career high in points with 20 in just 35 games. Just as importantly, Lenoski emerged as a team leader who enjoyed every second of his four-month stay in Chilliwack.

In fact, Lenoski sounded downright disappointed on Thursday morning, despite the fact that he’s going from a Bruins squad that sits 12 games below the .500 mark to a Spokane club that’s five games over .500 and looks like a lock to make the playoffs.

“In the hockey world stuff like this happens, and you’ve just got to deal with it,” Lenoski said. “I was excited to be here from Day 1 – there’s nothing better than joining a new team. I had plenty of opportunities, and I got to take a leadership role. They treated us like professionals here, like men. It’s as great a place to play as there is in the Dub.”

The deal was a simple case of math for the Bruins, who are clearly in build-for-the-future mode – the 20-year-old Lenoski is finishing his final year of junior hockey, while the 18-year-old McCue already has two Western Hockey League seasons under his belt and is eligible to return for two more.

“We wanted to get a bit younger,” Bruins general manager Darrell May said. “(McCue) has got experience, and he’s a big, strong guy on the back end with a real heavy shot from the point, which is something that we were lacking. We think that he can help us now, and also in the future.”

McCue, a six-foot-five, 201-pound blueliner, has 20 points and 164 penalty minutes in 84 career WHL games. He and the Chiefs parted ways early in the season after the defenceman asked for a trade. In the interim, the Cochrane, Alberta native suited up for nine games with the Junior A Canmore Eagles, notching four assists.

“They (the Chiefs) basically gave me a garbage bag and told me to leave,” McCue said, recounting his side of the story. “They were playing the younger guys over the vets, and I thought I was earning my ice time the best I could, and I was still sitting out.”

McCue couldn’t be happier to be back in the WHL, and he knows that he’ll have every opportunity to make an impact, much like Lenoski did.

“I’m really excited,” said McCue, who played with Bruins tough guy Myles Stoesz in Spokane. “I’m ready to get back and get going.”

As for Lenoski, he’s taking plenty of memories with him as he leaves Chilliwack. Perhaps his best moment came on opening night, when his first-period tally stood up as the game-winner in the Bruins’ WHL debut against the Kelowna Rockets. But as much as he treasured the wins, Lenoski said he’ll also treasure the losses – even the soul-sapping 11-game losing skid early in the season.

“I think going through that is going to help me out down the road,” he said. “We were pretty down in the dumps at one point, and just to come out of it and know you can turn your season around is great. When things start going downhill, I’m going to stay positive no matter what.”

“I believe very strongly in the guys,” Lenoski added. “I think there’s a lot of character in that room, and I believe they can make the playoffs.”