The Flin Flon Bombers’ crease is less crowded as of July 29. Out goes netminder Gabriel Waked, and in comes an 18-year-old centre from the BCHL.
The deal will send Waked to the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters in exchange for 18 year old forward Bryce Anderson and a player development fee.
It’s the second time in 2019 the Bombers have sent a goalie packing out west. Waked joined the team shortly before the January 10 deadline after a flurry of moves sent then-Bomber starter Pierce Diamond to the Cowichan Valley Capitals in B.C., leaving a spot in the Bomber crease for Waked.
Waked played 14 regular season games for the Bombers after coming to Flin Flon, racking up a 3.36 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .894. The 20-year-old goalie from St-Bruno-de- Montarville, Que. turned it on in the playoffs, honing his numbers to a 2.51 GAA and a .922 save percentage in nine games. Waked was named the team’s playoff MVP for his sterling efforts in the crease.
In return for Waked, the Bombers receive Anderson, a 5-foot-9, 159 pound centre from Whitehorse, Yukon. In his first full season of junior A last season, Anderson tallied 14 points in 49 games, adding a goal in five playoff matchups.
Before heading to junior A, Anderson played the 2017-18 season with the Yale Hockey Academy, an Abbotsford, B.C.-based prep school in the prestigious Canadian Sport Schools Hockey League (CSSHL). In that league, Anderson racked up 69 points in 35 games, including 51 assists. In 2015, Anderson also suited up for Team Yukon at the Canada Winter Games as an underage player, finishing the five-game tournament with two assists. Anderson joined fellow underager Dylan Cozens, who was selected in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres, on the team.
Anderson has three seasons of junior A eligibility remaining.
During his time in Trail, Anderson played with forward Owen Ozar, an undersized 19-year-old forward who the Bombers selected in 2015 with the team’s first-ever
SJHL bantam draft selection. Ozar played only one regular season game with Flin Flon before flying the coop.
