It has been a quiet week on the ice but a very busy one off the ice for the Swan Valley Stampeders.
The team first announced that hometown star Josh Tripp is taking over as head coach after starting the season with the Parkland U-18 Rangers. The Stampeders and Barry Wolff mutually parted ways last month, and Tripp will fill the void for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
He will make his head coaching debut in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) on Friday night when Swan Valley plays Niverville on the road.
Ahead of hitting the road for a pair of games this weekend, the Stampeders announced three trades, the biggest of which includes Will Munro.
Trade #1:
Munro, who played the past two years with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL) returned to his hometown team this season and posted three goals and seven points in 10 games. He was traded to the Melfort Mustangs of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).
The defending SJHL champion Mustangs lead the Sherwood Division with 11 wins in 14 games and they're second place overall, just a single point behind Weyburn. There will now be a Swan River connection on the Mustangs as Bo Eisner is also on the team.
In return, the Stampeders welcome Jake Giacobbo to the team. He had two goals in seven games this year with Melfort.
Trade #2:
Swan Valley then dealt Ty Easton to the Selkirk Steelers in exchange for a player development fee.
Easton had one goal and 60 penalty minutes in 16 games with Swan Valley this year.
Swan Valley had this to say after the trade.
"We want to thank Ty Easton for his contributions to the Stampeders and wish him the best of luck moving forward with his new team,"
Trade #3:
Swan Valley brought in 18-year-old defenceman Gavin Bartha.
Bartha comes from the Olds Grizzlys of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), where he had one assist in 12 games this season. Last year, he had eight goals and 36 assists in 44 games with the Okanagan Rockets U-18 AAA team.
The Stampeders sent a player development fee in exchange.
Stamp Tips:
- In Niverville Friday, Portage Saturday;
- Return home on Wednesday to host Dauphin in the first all-Parkland battle of the season at 12:30;
- The roster now includes two goalies, eight defencemen, 17 forwards; and
- Parkland region players include Tavyn Boychuk, Carter Zalischuk, Trace Langan, and Andrew Pidskalny.
