While one local junior A hockey player is coming home to Langley, another is leaving.
The Langley Rivermen continue their off-season roster shuffle as they ready for the drop of the puck for the 2012/13 BCHL season.
The most recent move is the acquisition of Jakob Reichert from the Merritt Centennials.
Going the other way is another Langley product, Austin Plevy, as well as Surrey’s Sebastien Pare. Both are forwards.
Reichert said he was excited when he found out about the trade.
“I grew up in Langley and watched the Langley organizations very closely, like the Langley Hornets, the Langley Chiefs, and am just so excited to play in my hometown,” he said.
“I was pretty surprised to hear I was traded, but I had a feeling it could happen and when I heard I was going to Langley, I was so pumped because I have heard nothing but good things about the organization.”
Reichert is a a six-foot-four 230-pound power forward who turns 19 in September.
He had 14 goals and 27 points last season in 58 games for Merritt, as well as six assists in nine playoff games.
Plevy, who turns 18 in November, has 13 goals and 43 points in 58 games for the Rivermen.
Plevy has already secured an NCAA scholarship to Merrimack College.
Pare had six goals and 14 points in 59 games, his first full BCHL season.
Prior to playing in the BCHL, Reichert won a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League championship as a rookie 16-year-old with the Revelstoke Grizzlies in 2010.
Rivermen head coach and general manger Bobby Henderson has had his eye on Reichert for awhile.
“We attempted to get him, but the timing wasn’t right at the time,” Henderson said.
“But we got him now we are thrilled to have him.
“Jakob fills a need for us up front and overall is a character kid that is a leader and has pro potential written all over him.”
