KELOWNA – A veteran player with the Kelowna Rockets will be lacing up his skates for another team.
The Rockets have moved forward Riley Stadel to the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for a 5th round pick in 2018.
Stadel was in his 5th full season with the Kelowna team, having played 270 games while scoring 29 goals and 76 assists for 105 points to compliment 298 penalty minutes.
Also Friday, the Rockets traded forward Jordan Borstmayer to the Vancouver Giants and acquired forward Reid Gardiner from the Prince Albert Raiders.
“Because of the acquisition of another 20 year old, we had to make room to get back down to three,” said Rockets general manager Bruce Hamilton. “This was an extremely tough decision for us. Riley has been a heart and soul guy for us for a long time now. He epitomizes what a good guy and a great teammate is. He has impeccable character and this is a significant loss. It won’t be easy news for his teammates to hear.”
Gardiner has been playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the A.H.L., notching 3 goals and 3 assists in 26 games, after playing the previous four seasons with the Raiders.
“We had an opportunity to acquire one of the league’s best scorers over the last few seasons,” said Hamilton. He’s excited about the opportunity to play for a competitive team with high end teammates and with his brother Erik. For us he brings something we’ve been missing in that he’s a pure shooter.It was a big price to pay but we feel we owe it to our fans to compete again this year.”
Gardiner is expected to be in the line-up Saturday when the Rockets host the Kamloops Blazers.