Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

By Shane Clausing

road trip

Storm begin three game road trip in Drayton Valley

Jan 10, 2020 | 8:04 AM

The Grande Prairie Storm embark on a three-game-in-three-day road trip tonight in Drayton Valley against the Thunder.

The Storm will play back to back games against Drayton Valley on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, they’ll make the drive to Sherwood Park to face the first-place Crusaders.

The Storm are coming off a weekend split that saw them fall 4-3 to Drumheller last Friday, and defeat Olds 4-2 on Saturday.

Interim Head Coach Ryan Aasman says he’s liked what he’s seen in practice this week and the team is ready to get things going.

“I think we had a really good week buying into a game plan to execute this weekend. I thought Thursday was a good practice in terms of intensity and prep. We’re currently in the middle of a playoff series that we’re kind of creating for ourselves. The series tied 1-1 and were going on the road to play games three, four and five, that was our mentality all week in practice. We expect the intensity and energy level to be really high on Friday and expect nothing less than two points from ourselves.”

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The Storm will have some new faces inserted into the lineup this weekend.

With the cJHL trade deadline set for 3:00 p.m. Friday, the team made some moves over the last couple of days.

On Wednesday, the team swung a deal with the Canmore Eagles. The Storm sent Lukas Jirousek and Zachary Cunningham to the Eagles in exchange for Carter Coles, Max Giangulano, and future considerations.

Coles is in his fourth season as a defenseman in the AJHL. He has spent his entire career with the Eagles. He has 10 points in 37 games this season.

Giangualano, a center, has spent three seasons in the AJHL. Last year, he had a breakout year for the Eagles with 44 points in 54 games. This season he has slowed down, registering 14 points in 35 games.

Coach Aasman spoke highly about the new additions.

“Max is a proven goal scorer in the league. He had 26 goals last year, he’s a dynamic forward that plays with speed, but most importantly he’s got a very high compete level. We’re excited to add him into our already deep forward group.”

“Coles on the back end gives us a lot of stability. He’s a steady, mobile d-man that could make a really good first pass. He’s got a really good active stick and should play a really quiet game for us and eat up some big minutes. We’re really excited about the add.”

Both players are expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Thunder.

On Thursday, the Storm made another move by adding Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman Jack Zayat.

Zayat, a Calgary native, appeared in 11 career games for the Wheat Kings and never registered a point.

Prior to his stop in Brandon, he spent time with the Calgary Buffaloes of the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League. He registered 20 points in 31 games on route to winning an AMHL (Alberta Midget Hockey League) championship last season. He also played eight games for the Okotoks Oilers last season.

When asked if the Storm are done for the trade deadline, Aasman said he thinks there could be a little bit more action.

“I think we’ll see moving forward what’s available, I think you’re always open and always a little active in the market, but if an opportunity presents itself, I think we’ll exercise it.”

Puck drop for tonight’s game is 7:00 p.m. in Drayton Valley.