Shield revels in championship afterglow
by Allyson Snelling
April 9th, 2009 at 12:56PM November 30th, 2011 6:30PM
General manager Gord Carey said it takes that long to build a team that can achieve a first-place finish in a Jr. A league. He believes the Shield hockey club is a respected, top-quality organization.
“We ran a consistent, clean operation and the kids like it here,†Carey said in an interview Monday morning. “The town accepted them, our fan base was great and our billet people have been excellent. It made all the difference that half of our players wanted to come back after last year.â€
Building a team from the ground up started in Year 1 with players like Jesse Goheen, Dylan Coté and Chris Vandertas, the team’s captain.
After a dismal first season, the Shield had the advantage of early round draft picks.
The team’s first round draft pick was Minnesota forward Travis Saltz, who was the leading point scorer for the Shield in the 2008-09 season, with 41 goals and 55 assists for 96 points in 41 regular season games. Saltz added another 26 points during the playoff round and was awarded the league’s Norm Clark Award for best forward.