Condors shake up roster with pair of trades
| Thursday, Jan 12 2012 11:16 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jan 12 2012 11:16 PM
The re-tooling of the Bakersfield Condors continued Thursday as the team traded forwards Michael Gergen and Mathew Sisca for a trio of players.
The Condors received rookie defenseman Ryan Annesley and rookie forward Evan Trupp from Cincinnati for Sisca and future considerations. Gergen was dealt to Idaho for second-year forward Aaron Lewadniuk.
The moves, along with one more expected in the next day or two, wrap up a busy week for Condors coach Matt O’Dette, who added forward Alex Hudson and defenseman Josh Van Dyk to the team late last week and traded forward Matt Marquardt.
“I don’t want guys on pins and needles,” O’Dette said of his team, which has seen numerous trades and accusations since Dec. 1. “There’s no more trades on the horizon right now.”
O’Dette conceded the costant roster changes “have been a distraction” but noted “it’s pro hockey. It’s part of your job. Trades happen.
“In our minds we have been improving our personnel. Now it’s back to getting everybody playing the right way.”
Sisca, a rookie center, was second on the Condors in scoring with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) and led the team in plus/minus at plus-eight. Gergen, one of only two returning players from last season, was just cleared to play after missing 13 games due to a concussion. He had 10 points (four goals, six games).
“The guys we moved are good players,” O’Dette said. “The guys we are getting are good players. The guys we moved weren’t helping us win, plain and simple. It’s little things, in-room things, chemistry things, culture things that didn’t fit and that’s major in my eyes.
“It’s not like they were bad guys, but it’s a puzzle and those guys are good pieces but not in our puzzle. You don’t want to see guys go but were excited for the guys coming in.”
Both Annesley and Trupp played in 20 games for Cincinnati where they were caught up in a numbers game, O’Dette said.
“(Cincinnati) has two affiliations and more (two-way) contracts than any other team in the league,” O’Dette said. “It’s a revolving door there and these guys weren’t always in the lineup.”
Annesley served as captain at Niagara University last season and had one goal and six assists for Cincinnati. Trupp, a former University of North Dakota stand out, had two goals and 10 assists for Cincinnati.
“Annesley was a guy I was hard after in the summertime, every team in the league was,” O’Dette said. “He can skate and move the puck. We needed to improve the mobility and skill level of our defense and he certainly does that.”
Trupp had 41 points (17 goals and 24 assists) in 44 games for UND as a senior.
“He’s ultra skilled,”O’Dette said. “He’s a dynamic player and with the departure of Gergen and Marquardt we had a hole on the left side. He’s another young player who is going to blossom for us.”
Lewadniuk had 31 points as a rookie with Ontario last season and was fourth in scoring for Idaho with 13 points (seven goals, six assists).
“He had a great season as a rookie with 17 goals and I’m not sure he fit in at Idaho,” O’Dette said. “He’s not flashy skills wise but works hard. He mixes it up, is gritty and is great in the room.”
Annesley and Lewadniuk are expected to be in tonight’s lineup. Trupp is driving to Bakersfield.
