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Three out, three in as Chilliwack Chiefs shuffle roster

Jesse Lansdell, Robert Jacobson and David Jankowski are ex-Chiefs after a flurry of weekend transactions by Chiefs GM Jason Tatarnic.
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Chilliwack Chiefs forward Kale Kane is thwarted on a penalty shot attempt by Vernon netminder Cole Demers during a Saturday night BCHL clash at Prospera Centre.

Jason Tatarnic added three new faces to the Chilliwack Chiefs during a busy weekend of wheeling and dealing.The Chiefs general manager signed forward Justin Dixson and goaltender Brendan Barry and traded for forward Josh Borynec.Forward Jesse Lansdell and goalie Robert Jacobson were dealt away, but Tatarnic said the dominos started falling with the release of unhappy forward David Jankowski.“He wanted more ice time and a bigger role and he requested a trade,” Tatarnic said. “With his departure I started looking for forwards, and Dixson was available.”The 18 year old California kid was a player Tatarnic looked at in the summer. Dixson had six assists in 27 games for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm last season.“He’s a guy we really wanted and a few BCHL teams were targeting before he decided to go back to the USHL,” Tatarnic said. BCHL teams are only allowed six imports, and Dixson would have put them at seven.Tatarnic needed to jettison one of Anthony Vincent, Jake Smith, Aaron O’Neill, Davis Bunz, Colin Bernard or Robert Jacobson.“Jacobson’s a good goalie, but for the amount of time he was playing and how good (starting netminder Mark) Sinclair’s been, we figured ‘why not move the American goalie?’” Tatarnic said.Tatarnic had his eye on Borynec, an 18 year old forward with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Bonnyville Pontiacs.He was told Jacobson alone wouldn’t get it done, but Jacobson and a defenceman would. So Tatarnic knocked on the door of the Vernon Vipers.He sent physical forward Jesse Lansdell to Vernon for blueliner Mitchell Oliver and immediately flipped Oliver to Bonnyville for Borynec.To replace Jacobson, he signed Barry, who has played previously for the Vipers, Penticton Vees and Nanaimo Clippers.“And that’s how it all went down,” Tatarnic said with a grin.In Dixson and Borynec, the coach believes he’s got two players who can help now and contribute to an RBC Cup run next season.“We felt if we could grab a really good 18 year old forward who can help us this year and possibly be back net year, that’s just smart,” Tatarnic said. “We want to be a very fast, high tempo team and both of these guys bring that.”“If this is the type of team we’re going to be, we’re all in.”Dixson, who has an NCAA hockey commitment to the University of Massachusetts, collected an assist in his Saturday night Chiefs debut.He set up Kohen Olischefski for one of Chilliwack’s many goals in a 7-2 win.“He’s a very smart player, very intelligent, can skate, has good vision and protects the puck well,” Tatarnic said. “He was a very offensive player when he was younger and sometimes kids like that go to the USHL and they’re not put in an offensive role.”“They have to learn to play the game a different way and it takes time, but  by nature he’s an offensive guy and our team likes to think offence, so this is a good spot for him.”Borynec had five points in eight games for Bonnyville this year and had 18 points in 36 games last season.Like Dixson, Tatarnic feels Borynec will benefit from having some freedom he might not have had with the Pontiacs.“Their coaches played him a lot and they were very high on Josh, but Bonnyville is a very structured team defensively and offensively and they thought he’d benefit coming here and having a bit more offensive freedom.”“Sometimes a fresh start is good for someone.”



Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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