New Mailing Addresses

With Canada West teams packing up their locker rooms after their seasons come to an end, new opportunities will be sought by players who are chasing their hockey dreams still. I fully endorse these players looking for their next shot at climbing the ladder, those opportunities often come in places one may not expect. To aid in my following of who is going where, I've been scouring the ECHL and SPHL transaction list to see which players have been signed and we got a couple of updates today that involved neither the ECHL nor the SPHL. Who went where? Let's find out!

We'll start with a guy who was already making inroads in the ECHL as he's off to a new location to continue his career. Tyler Kirkup, who was playing with the ECHL's Reading Royals, had seven goals and eight assists in 43 ECHL games this season. His seventh goal was scored on February 9 while shorthanded in a 4-3 loss to the Norfolk Admirals. It seemed like Tyler was contributing nicely for the Royals based on his role on the team.

Three days later, this announcement hit the transaction list.

Nothing was given in terms of details as to why Kirkup was suspended and removed from the roster, but it seems the Royals and Kirkup came to some sort of agreement to terminate the deal he had signed in the summer to rejoin the Royals. Nevertheless, the news above meant that Kirkup was now a free agent and could sign elsewhere.

Nine days later, Kirkup arrived in Coventry, England where he had signed with the Coventry Blaze for the remainder of the season! As we know, another former Royals player landed in Great Britain a couple of weeks ago, so it seems that the EIHL is the place to be for former Reading Royals! Jokes aside, it's good to see Kirkup land with a solid team as the Blaze have nearly clinched an EIHL playoff spot as they sit in fifth-place with 50 points! The Blaze are 16-12-6-6 this season, but they certainly can use some help on their penalty kill as they sit in the bottom-half of the league at 77.44%. As seen above, Kirkup was playing on the penalty-killing units in Reading, so he should be able to help there if he's assigned to kill penalties.

Tyler will have a few days to get settled into life in Coventry as the Blaze don't play again until February 25 at home against Sheffield, so he'll be able to shake off the jet leg, get his skating legs under him, and get into the Blaze lineup where he can contribute moving forward. The Steelers are in third-place - eleven points ahead of Coventry - so the Blaze will need Kirkup at his best for this weekend. His speed, his gritty play, and his going to the high-traffic areas will be well-suited for the EIHL, and I suspect Tyler will quickly become a fan favourite in Coventry due to his effort on the ice and his personality off it. Tyler Kirkup, in my opinion, is a great addition for the Blaze! Keep an eye on #9 for the remainder of this EIHL season!

The other big signing that didn't show up on an ECHL or SPHL transaction page was a move by the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. The Griffins are struggling this season at 21-24-2-2 as they sit in sixth-place in the AHL's Central Division. They're 12 points back of fourth-place Rockford, so they need a big push in their final 23 games if they're going to make the playoffs. Being the lowest-scoring team in the division and one of the lowest in the AHL, it's pretty clear that the Griffins need to score more often if they're going to make things interesting down the stretch.

The Griffins addressed that need today by signing one of the highest-scoring players in Canada West over the last two season as they inked Mount Royal Cougars forward Riley Sawchuk to a professional tryout for the remainder of this season and to a standard player's contract for the 2023-24 season. Sawchuk comes to Grand Rapids after playing two seasons at Mount Royal where he scored 35 goals and added 52 assists in 47 games in Canada West, and that successful U SPORTS career came after he played four seasons in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans and Edmonton Oil Kings where his stats improved year after year.

There is no doubt that the Griffins are getting an incredibly gifted forward who finds the back of the net by using speed, skill, and getting to loose pucks, but he doesn't shy away from playing the defensive side of the puck either. He'll be a welcome addition to a Griffins team whose top goal-scorer in Joel L'Esperance has just 16 goals this season. If nothing else, Sawchuk may find himself as a top-six forward if he can find his scoring touch in the AHL. If that were to happen, it's not like the Detroit Red Wings can't use another solid scorer either. If he wants an opportunity to skate in "The Show", Sawchuk is standing before it.

Riley has a couple of days to get himself acclimated to the Griffins' systems as they're hosting the Chicago Wolves on Friday and Saturday who trail the Griffins by one point in the standings. In other words, the Griffins really need to take four points off the Wolves this season to help their climb up the standings, and it seems like Sawchuk, wearing #90, will be in the lineup this weekend if everything goes well. Heck, maybe we'll have a bit of a Canada West reunion as well as former Alberta Golden Bears netminder Zach Sawchenko plays for Chicago!

Their mailing addresses have changed, but there's no doubt that both Coventry and Grand Rapids are getting quality players who will make them better both on and off the ice. I wish Tyler Kirkup nothing but success as he carves a path in the EIHL with the Coventry Blaze, and I hope to see Riley Sawchuk lighting lamps and having a ton of success in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

They say that hockey will take you places. Two of those places are Coventry, England and Grand Rapids, Michigan as Kirkup and Sawchuk continue to write their hockey stories!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!