Derek Osik made a good impression in his first Chilliwack Chiefs action, scoring twice in a three-game weekend road trip.The 18 year old forward was signed late last week after being released by the Vernon Vipers.Vernon had to cut the Massachusetts native loose because they had too many imports, and Chiefs head coach Jason Tatarnic moved quickly to sign him.“Vernon was nice to us, allowing Derek to come skate with us and let us take a look at him at practice,” Coach T said.Osik scored a goal in his Chiefs debut Friday, in a 6-1 whomping of the Nanaimo Clippers.He tallied another Saturday in a 3-1 win over Cowichan Valley.“New guys seem to always score in their first game, but he carried that on into the second game as well,” said Tatarnic, who missed the weekend road trip for a recruiting trip to Ontario. “I talked to (associate coach) Kyle (Adams) and he was happy with him.”“Derek and (Josh) Borynec) and (Nolan) Zweep did a great job of getting the puck into the offensive zone, keeping it there and creating some chances.”An injury to Anthony Vincent factors into Osik’s arrival. A knee ailment has the Connecticut speedster undergoing surgery and relegated to the sidelines for who knows how long.“Anthony’s type of injury can take a really long time or it can take a short time, so we really don’t know his status for the rest of this season,” Tatarnic said. “Derek steps into the lineup and he skates well, has good hands and vision and he’s a smart player.”“He’s the right age and I believe if we can get a number of good 18 year olds in this year and develop them, it’s only going to make us that much better next year.”In the last month Tatarnic has added three 18 year olds (Borynec, Osik and Justin Dixson) who could factor in next year as the Chiefs host the RBC Cup.See chilliwackchiefs.net

Chilliwack Progress