Greyhounds swing a pair of big trades

The Soo Greyhounds went off season shopping on Monday and pulled off a couple of major deals.

The following press release was distributed by the team this morning:

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HOUNDS MAKE TWO BLOCKBUSTER DEALS

The Soo Greyhounds made two major trades today, with the Guelph Storm and the Belleville Bulls.

In the deal with the Guelph the Hounds re-acquire 20 year-old RC/RW RYAN KITCHEN in exchange for Guelph's 6th Round pick in the 2006 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.

Kitchen played for the Hounds during the 2002-2003 season, before being traded to the Oshawa Generals in exchange for goaltender Kevin Druce, and left-winger Matt Maccarone. Druce went on to make the OHL all-star team that played in the Canada-Russia Challenge, in his only year with the Hounds.

Kitchen lasted only half a season in Oshawa before being traded to Guelph at the 2004 trade deadline. With the Storm, Kitchen made key contributions at both ends of the ice in helping Guelph to the 2004 Ontario Hockey League Championship.

As a 19-year old this past season with the Storm, Kitchen played in 61 games tallying 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. Kitchen plagued the Hounds throughout this past year scoring 3 goals in 4 games, two of which were game winners.

Kitchen is a speedy and versatile player who has the ability to play both centre and the wing. Ryan has developed into a solid OHL player at both ends of the ice. Ryan will fill one of the Hounds three overage positions for 2005-2006 season.

Hounds General Manager Dave Torrie, who coincidently traded Kitchen in one of his first acts after being names General Manager in 2003, was happy to get the opportunity to bring Ryan back to Sault Ste. Marie.

" It was incredibly tough for me to deal Ryan a few years back, because we definitely knew he had a lot of potential, but we also desperately needed a goaltender at the time", said Torrie. " This year when the opportunity arose to bring Ryan back to Sault Ste. Marie, we jumped at it because we know Ryan not only will help offensively and in our own end, but also in our locker room and community. He's a great kid, and we're more than happy to bring him back to the Soo."

In the second deal, the Hound receive 19 year old RW CODY THORNTON, in exchange for RW ANDREW GIBBONS and SSM's 6th round pick in the 2006 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection.

Thornton is a five foot, ten inch Right Winger, who has averaged 22 goals a year, over the past two seasons with Belleville. Thornton was Belleville's third round selection in the 2002 OHL Priority Selection, and will join the Hounds for his fourth OHL season.

A native of Embro, Ontario, Thornton is a speedy winger who posses outstanding offensive prowess, and is a feisty competitor. This past season Thornton scored 23 goals and assisted on 23 others, for a total of 46 points. Cody also has 67 penalty minutes this season.

Cody's hockey bloodlines are very deep and rich as his 1st cousin Scott Thornton played for the Bulls, and currently plays for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. A second cousin to Cody is none other than Soo Greyhounds great, Joe Thornton.

Gibbons, a 19 year old, was acquired by the Hounds this past January, and struggled to adjust to the Hounds system after two seasons in Oshawa. In 17 games with the Hounds, Gibbons was able to register 2 goals and 5 assists, to go along with 20 penalty minutes. The trade will reunite Gibbons with his former coach in Oshawa, George Burnett who took over the helm of the Bulls prior to last season.

Hounds GM Dave Torrie was hesitant to deal Gibbons, as he and the coaching staff felt that given time he could become a solid contributor with the Hounds, but that Thornton was too good to pass up.

"It was very difficult to part with Andrew as he worked very hard for us last season, and had some trouble with injuries, but when you get a player of Cody Thornton's stature in return in makes it a lot easier. We feel that Cody will join our team and continue to improve, helping us in a big way on offense."

Thornton has scored 21 and 23 goals respectively over the past two seasons. An improvement the Hounds hope will continue through this season, and into the future.

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