Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Vees Beef Up Blue-Line

Press Release

PENTICTON, BC–The Penticton Vees Jr. ‘A’ Hockey Club is pleased to announce the  acquisition of defenseman Chris Rygus (93) as part of a four-team trade Tuesday morning.

As part of the multi-team transaction, the Vees ended up acquiring Rygus from the Coquitlam Express. Rygus first had his playing rights traded by the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the Victoria Grizzlies for fellow defenseman Zach Urban (93).

The Grizzlies then flipped Rygus to the Coquitlam Express for the rights to goaltender and former Vee Nic Renyard (94). The Express as mentioned, then turned around and shipped Rygus to the Vees for future considerations.

Vees Head Coach and General Manager Fred Harbinson says Rygus’ value isn’t just measured on the stat sheet, “Chris brings a wealth of experience to our hockey team; the last 3 years Chris has pushed his teams to play important playoff games in April-May.  Chris adds size, toughness and skill; our team definitely became harder to play against with this acquisition.”

Rygus, 19, just completed his third season of Jr. ‘A’ hockey with the Nanaimo Clippers. The 6’3 rear-guard picked up six goals and 21 points in 55 games, to go along with 88 penalty-minutes. Rygus also scored once in five games at the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) in April; the Clippers were the host team for the inaugural event.

Vees fans might be familiar with the Mississauga, Ontario native, as Rygus did play for the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Hockey League prior to joining the Clippers last season. The Slammers were the Vees opponent in the 2012 RBC Cup Final in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Rygus chipped in with 14 points in 41 games for Woodstock in the regular season and played in all of their 25 playoff games, as part of their run to the National Junior ‘A’ Championship tournament.

Rygus will bring plenty of experience and a decorated career with him to Penticton. Rygus has played in over a 160 games at the Jr. ‘A’ level and has participated in the Telus Cup (National Major Midget Championship), Fred Page Cup (East Regional) and Dudley Hewitt Cup (Central Regional), to go along with his RBC and Western Canada Cup appearances.

The entire Vees organization would like to welcome Chris to Penticton and the South Okanagan. Chris and the Vees will open the 2013-2014 season on September 6th in Chilliwack against the Victoria Grizzlies, as part of the BCHL Showcase tournament. 

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)

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