Two big trades shook up the roster of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals last week as the team traded away captain Wyatt Meiers and leading goal scorer Kyle Wade.
Late Wednesday last week, the Generals made a deal to send Meiers to the Nanaimo Buccaneers for “future considerations.”
According to general manager Lou Gravel, trading the team captain at this point in the season was more to do with off-ice issues than it was with the on-ice performance.
“There were off-ice issues that were more important to the team,” Gravel said. “We want a positive dressing room and we, the staff, felt it was better for the team and Wyatt to move on. A captain that is on board, then off, then back on — it’s not healthy for a hockey team. We want players here that want to play for the Oceanside Generals, plain and simple.”
When asked if he was content with the roster going forward, Gravel said that there could still be a few more additions to the team.
“We may add a couple more, we want the right players,” Gravel said. “We want players that want to be here, that want to play here. We traded our captain because we wanted to make the Generals better.”
It was only 24 hours later that the Generals pulled the trigger on another deal, sending their leading goal scorer, Kyle Wade, to the Comox Valley Glacier Kings in return for goaltender Riley Mathieson. Mathieson joins Austin Caktas and David Anderson at the goaltending position, leaving the Generals with a crowded crease going forward.
“We didn’t want to trade Wade,” Gravel said. “He’s a great kid and a good player. We would have lost him due to reasons that have to do with where he lives (Comox) and where he goes to school. We took the best deal we could get instead of losing him for nothing.”
