The North Bay Battalion made one minor league deal today at the OHL trade deadline as they sent the rights to Kyle Locke and a 12th round conditional pick in 2018 to the Hamilton Bulldogs for Maurizio Colella.
The 6'0", 188 pound forward has 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points for the Bulldogs this season.
Despite only three goals on the year, Mark Seidel, Chief Scout with North American Central Scouting, calls Colella a player who came into the league with some offensive upside.
“In his two years in the League, he hasn't taken the next step yet. He handles the puck pretty well and has shown to be a bit of a tweener, in that he isn't overly big and he has translated the offensive skills that he has. He has taken pride in the defensive side of the game.”
Locke, who played 46 games with the Troops, has been playing Jr. A hockey this season with the OJHL's Aurora Tigers where he has 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 38 games this season.
Colella, played two seasons with the Bulls before the franchise was relocated to Hamilton for this season. In 117 OHL games, he has six goals and 10 assists for 16 points with 40 penalty minutes. He played three playoff games last year without registering a point.
“He adds depth to our forward group,” said Stan Butler, Battalion director of hockey operations and head coach.
“He’s a solid, good two-way player who has experience playing in the league.”
Colella was in transit home for the night and expected to be in North Bay for practice Tuesday.
“I’m hoping to bring energy and play a solid two-way game,” he said by telephone. “I also hope to chip in on some offence and make a strong playoff push.”
Said Colella: “I’m really excited to be joining a great club and I’m excited to get started.”
The acquisition of Colella brings the Battalion roster to 23, made up of 14 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders.
So with that minor deal, it appears the North Bay Battalion will forge ahead with their current roster.
Rumours were swirling for the past month about potential destinations for Battalion stars Michael Amadio, Kyle Wood and Jake Smith.
Smith was officially pulled off the trade market on Friday, January 8th, which was the overage trade deadline.
Now all three high profile Battalion players will once again hope to be part of a decent playoff run in 2016.
If you recall, Stan Butler was very busy this time last year as he acquired both Ryan Moutrey from Saginaw and Ryan Kujawinski from Kingston in two separate deals before the 2015 deadline as they helped the Troops get to the Eastern Conference Final.
Other significant deadline deals include:
Meantime, the Sudbury Wolves made a deal today sending Chad Heffernan to the London Knights for a 2016 4th round pick.
The biggest trade of the day involved the Saginaw Spirit and the Barrie Colts. The Colts acquired forward Dylan Sadowy and defenceman Gregory DiTomaso for defenceman Rocky Kaura a BAR 2nd '16, 2nd '19, 2nd '20, 2nd '21, BAR 3rd '17, BAR 3rd '18, KGN 4th '16, BAR 4th '18, BAR 5th '20 in the deadline day's blockbuster deal.
The Colts also acquired Keigan Goetz from the Greyhounds for a 2nd round and a 6th round pick.
The Guelph Storm sent the rights to St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri to the Kitchener Rangers for a pair of 2nd round picks.
For all the deals go to: http://ontariohockeyleague.com/page/media-notes
