After months of searching for a veteran defenceman to compliment their young group, the Swift Current Broncos have found their man.
They've added 19-year-old Stephen Shmoorkoff from the Edmonton Oil Kings in a deal for prospect goalie Alec Dillon and a 4th round WHL Bantam Draft.
Mark Lamb Interview“A veteran D, a 94 D we've been looking for pretty much right from the start of the season to fill in and compliment our young group,” said Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb. “We were happy to get it done.”
Shmoorkoff is pointless and -1 in 16 games this season. He had a goal and 3 assists in 34 games as an 18-year-old WHL rookie last season as the Oil Kings finished first in the Eastern Conference and lost to Portland in the league final.
“He's a very physical player that's come from a winning organization,” Lamb said. “All the things that we hear about him he's a real team first guy (and) a very simple player.”
The Edmonton native measures 6' tall and 197lbs. He spent his 17-year-old season with the AJHL's Sherwood Park Crusaders where he put up 5 points and 144 penalty minutes in 41 games.
“He was caught in a numbers game (in Edmonton),” Lamb said. “They've got a couple of 94s, they've got a 93 D and they have to play some of their young guys. Hopefully he can come in here and be a solid veteran for us.”
The Broncos have not had a single defenceman older than 18 this season until the deal to add Shmoorkoff. They will work him into the lineup to see where he might fit.
“Hopefully he's a really solid penalty killer,” Lamb said. “That we can play as a penalty killer, last minute of games and situations like that.”
He also provides insurance for the Broncos should they lose both members of their top pairing to their respective World Junior teams. Dillon Heatherington and Julius Honka are on the radar for Canada and Finland.
“Both have consideration for the World Junior so we just didn't want to get caught with being short,” Lamb said. “Even if they're not (Shmoorkoff) will come in and fill a good role for us.”
Swift Current picked Dillon in the 5th round of the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft. He has since chosen to play Junior A in Victoria and has committed to RIP in the NCAA.
“He was a goaltender that we really liked,” Lamb noted. “But he wasn't going to end up coming here.”
The 6'6 Dillon has a 9-2-2 record for the Victoria Grizzlies with a 2.49 goals against average and 0.917 save percentage. If he plays for Edmonton the Broncos will receive a draft pick from Edmonton as compensation.
Shmoorkoff should be in the lineup on Friday as the Broncos host Calgary. It's their first game after six days off to recover from what had been a very busy schedule.
“That's something a little bit different than having a game, a day off and another game or two games in a row and now practice time,” Lamb added. “We had some injuries that hopefully are coming around. We've had some sickness that is hopefully coming around. We just had some good practice time. You go through a couple of days you wake up and think you are going to play again... I don't think we've had that all year this much time off.”
Swift Current isn't expecting any of Dakota Odgers, Coda Gordon or Justin Spagrud back from injury against Calgary. Lamb did not that Odgers is very close, while the other two are a ways away.
The Hitmen are the only team to hold two wins over the Broncos so far this season. They also eliminated Swift Current from the playoffs last season.
The Broncos come into the game with the best home record in the WHL.
You can hear the game live on The Eagle 94.1 FM starting with our pre-game show at 6:30pm.
Fri, Apr 26, 7:00 PM
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