The Neepawa Natives acquired veteran goaltender Jordan Washburn from the Portage Terriers for the protected player rights of 17 year old Brent Wold and a highly coveted 6th round draft pick in the 2010 MJHL draft.

 

Washburn had just 4 losses in 17 starts for Portage, after arriving mid way through the season from Melfort of the SJHL, where he toiled for almost two years.

 

Natives coach Bryant Perrier says that losing Wold was a heavy price to pay, but was realistic about the need for further depth in the goaltending situation.

 

"Last season, we had two young guys who battled hard to help us have a good season," he said. "Today, we ensured that we have a true veteran presence in our organization's goaltending position. It will now be up to all goalies at camp to determine how it will all play out."

 

Washburn is heading into his third year of junior a hockey and has a Telus Cup National Championship to his credit.

 

The Natives, who also have the highly capable 18 year old Ryan Bembridge (10-5 in 2009-2010) on their roster, believe they have the makings of having a strong team for the 2010-2011 season.

 

According to Perrier, the staff was determined to go go into the new season with goaltending being a strength.

 

The most important factor of the position, according to the coach, is "the battle level and compete level of the person who stands in the net."

 

"Jordan Washburn will bring the compete level up because that is what his strength is."

 

"He won over 70 percent of his games last season," Perrier continued. "He is going to up the ante in the pursuit of the number one job."

The coach was clear that all camp goalies will receive a fair shot at the position.

 

"It is a performance based positon," he said. "We have the ability to have outstanding goaltending this season and we expect our guys to really push each other for the starting job."

 

"Jordan has absolutely no problem competing for the starter's job," Perrier said. "His attitude is great and he said that he wants to have to earn it because it makes everyone better."

 

In Brent Wold, Portage receives a highly skilled forward who has the makings of being a dominant player in the league.

 

Arguably the best player in Manitoba Midget AAA last season, Wold is a smooth and highly skilled player with a great attitude.

 

"Brent Wold is a guy who could be a huge name MJHL," Perrier said. "Portage insisted on Brent and we made the move. It's tough."

 

Coach Perrier says that moving a player like Wold is difficult, but moving a player to Portage is less difficult.

 

"Brent Wold is moving to a great organization which has a great coach in Blake Spiller. You hate to move a player, but you always feel good about putting a guy in a place like Portage because they are great people."

 

Despite the heavy price of Wold and a 6th round pick (first round where all protected zones are open) Perrier is pleased with the deal, and the last week's developments.

 

"You don't try to win a deal. You try to make your team better. In the past two weeks we have picked up arguably the best two way forward in the league (Jordan Hebert) who also scored close to 30 goals, a skilled defenceman (Justin Slobozian) and now a goalie who wins over 70 percent of his starts."

 

And while the two deals have included list players and draft picks, Perrier is clear that the future is still very much a priority.

 

"We have moved some draft picks and made some moves from our protected player list, but we have been very careful to build for the future. Our draft this weekend (held May 30th in Winnipeg) will be exceptional for us, because we have made some very good deals to get extra picks."

 

"We are also really focused on this organization becoming strong for many years. We have stockpiled draft picks for months to be able to make these deals and we have added many 1994 born players to our list. We are also in the position of coming out of this week's draft with a great group of young players."

 

All of which bodes well for the future, says the coach.

 

"We are still one of the youngest teams in the league. We have experienced young guys and some great rookies coming in. But, in the heart of our organization with our protected player list and draft picks is where we are most pleased. We are always building for the future. These moves are the result of the depth we have toward our future."