Friday, April 27, 2012

Rivermen Add Butcher & Dombrovskiy

Press Release

Township of Langley, BC, Wednesday, April 25, 2012: The Langley Rivermen Junior “A” Hockey Club continues to add young talent to its roster. The franchise announced a pair of signings for the upcoming 2012-2013 season:

Viktor Dombrovskiy, Defenseman, 16 years old (born 1996): Viktor will make his way to the Rivermen with just a short drive from his hometown of Coquitlam, BC. He is a young defenseman that played in the BC Major Midget League last season for the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs and recorded one goal and eight assists in twenty-four games played.

Head Coach Bobby Henderson felt they could not pass up the opportunity to sign this young player,

“Viktor came to our camp last season and was very impressive at just 15 years old and we definitely kept an eye on him throughout the year,” Henderson said, “he was just recently at our prospects camp as well and has really improved his overall game”.

Viktor is a 5’10”, 170 pound defensemen and is a player that was a hot commodity around the league,

“We are fortunate to have him on board with us as he was Coquitlam’s first pick in the BCHL affiliate draft last season,” Henderson continued. “and the cherry on top is that he is just a clean cut kid that is very smart and will be a treat to have.”

Ben Butcher, Forward, 17 years old (born 1995): Ben hails from Bellingham, Washington, but played last season with the Pursuit of Excellence U-18 program, which is based out of Kelowna, BC. He was able to rack up eight goals and fourteen assists in forty-two games played. Ben is a big forward at 6’2”, 190 pounds, who Associate Head Coach Jordan Emmerson feels will have a bright future in the BCHL,

“Ben is a big kid that has improved in all areas in the last two seasons and is continuing to develop,” Emmerson said, “he skates very well and has a good skill set to go along with a very creative mind.”

Ben has a familiar last name in the Lower Mainland hockey community as his father Garth had a long NHL career spent mostly with the Vancouver Canucks. Ben’s older brother Matt was a BCHL stand out as well, spending three seasons with the Chilliwack Chiefs (where he was named Coastal Conference MVP in 2006) before being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round.

“We have watched Ben very closely in the past and he made a strong impression on us at our prospects camp and felt we could not let him get away,” said Emmerson, “he is still very young at 17 years old and we feel the sky is the limit for him.”

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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