The Alberni Valley Bulldogs made a few big moves ahead of the Wednesday, Jan. 10 trade deadline.
The Bulldogs announced last week that they had dealt team captain Ryan Steele, completing a trade with the West Kelowna Warriors for defenceman Spencer Hora and future considerations.
They followed this up by trading another member of the Bulldogs’ leadership crew, sending defenceman Connor Welsh to the Trail Smoke Eaters in return for future considerations and signing defenceman Lucas Patton from the VIJHL’s Nanaimo Buccaneers.
The Bulldogs have named veteran defenceman Mitch Oliver their new captain, while Tyler Vanuden and James Orban will join Cole Poliziani as assisant captains.
The new-look Bulldogs took the ice on Friday, Jan. 12 in Victoria to take on the Grizzlies. Despite the return of forwards Julian Benner and Michael Sacco, who had each been out with long-term injuries, the Bulldogs were shut out 3-0 on the road.
The team returned home on Saturday, Jan. 13 for their first matchup against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and came away with a 5-4 win.
The entire game was a back-and-forth battle, but the Bulldogs pulled away with the win. Forward Paul Selleck became the first Bulldog this season to pick up a hat trick and was named the game’s first star.
The Bulldogs announced on Thursday, Jan. 11 that forward Liam Lytton and defenceman Ezra Paddock will miss the remainder of the season due to injury. Assistant captain Orban will also be missing some time, as it was announced Thursday that he is serving a six-game suspension for a blow to the head major on Jan. 7.
