It's All Cats For Chaulk

If there's one thing that this blog celebrates, it's seeing players who we were lucky enough to see play for western Canadian universities advance to higher levels of hockey. Another graduate was confirmed on an ECHL roster today as the man to the left, Conner Chaulk of the Regina Cougars, will now be known as Conner Chaulk of the Trois-Rivières Lions! Chaulk signed a one-year deal earlier in the summer on June 22, but he was skating in Laval's camp as recently as this week. With Laval making cuts, it was expected that Chaulk would be returned to Trois-Rivières for the start of the ECHL season this Friday.

Announced today by the club, former Regina Cougars captain Conner Chaulk would indeed start the season on the Lions' roster! While Chaulk took an 18-game detour through the EIHL with the Coventry Blaze last season, there were rumours of him returning to play for the Lions this season for a full ECHL campaign. It appears that he'll have a shot at impressing Montreal Canadiens' brass with the Lions and, when needed, the AHL's Laval Rocket!

"Conner is a complete center player who can win important face-offs and thus help our production," general manager Marc-André Bergeron said after Chaulk's signing in June. Having had the privilege of watching him play for the Couagrs for three seasons, that might be the least one can say about Conner Chaulk. The shifty forward really came into his own as one of the main scoring threats for the University of Regina, and he was often on the ice in key situations for the Cougars.

While it was disappointing to see Chaulk cut from the Laval Rocket camp last week, it only meant that he would follow the St. Lawrence River northeast to the city of Trois-Rivières where he'd get to play this season. He'll still need to show the same traits he did with Regina - hard work, a knack for scoring, and a dogged determination in gaining puck possession - but the opportunity to work through the Canadiens' system will be there if Chaulk can put together a solid season.

What may hurt the Lions is that they lost some solid talent over the summer as players opted to play elsewhere or retire. Anthony Nellis, Olivier Archambault, Alexis D'Aoust, and Shawn St-Amant all ended up in Europe where bigger days were found, and former Dinos forward Tim Vanstone opted to take a job in Alberta as a marketing analyst with a pipeline company. Add in Peter Abbandonato and Olivier Galipeau signing on with Laval, and the talent pool in Trois-Rivières needed restocking.

Chaulk will have an opportunity to step into an offensive role based on the vacancies that the Lions have, and that should prove beneficial for both Chaulk and the Lions if he continues to show the same offensive flair that he did in Regina. As we know with most professional opportunties, it will be up to Chaulk to make the most of this one, but he always had that knack of making the most of any inch given in university by turning it into a mile. I'll be keeping an eye on Chaulk this season to see if he can do that again at the ECHL level.

Congratulations to Conner Chaulk on finding a roster sport with the ECHL's Trois-Rivières Lions this season as he begins his North American professional hockey career!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!