Hurricanes and Rockets Make Four Player Trade
Created: Jan 8, 2004

Lethbridge, Alberta – The Lethbridge Hurricanes have completed a trade with the 2004 Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets. The Hurricanes have acquired 18 year-old forward Mark Olafson and 19 year-old import forward Joni Lindlof in exchange for 19 year-old forward DJ King and 19 year-old import forward Patrik Valcak.

Olafson has five goals, ten assists and 15 penalty minutes in 41 games. The product of Winnipeg, Manitoba is in his second WHL campaign. In his rookie season he tallied four goals and eight assists in 50 games.

Lindlof has two goals, eight assists and 26 penalty minutes in 40 games. The native of Tampere, Finland had 11 goals and 21 assists in 70 games last season.

DJ King began his WHL career with the Hurricanes in the 2001-2002 season. The rugged forward racked up 33 goals ,42 assists and 345 penalty minutes in the 155 games he played as a Hurricane. The Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan product was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the fifth round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Patrik Valcak was the third round selection of the Boston Bruins in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. The 19 year-old from Ostrava, Czech Republic has two goals and nine assists in 35 games.

“DJ has been a big part of our organization for the past three years and has been a leader both on and off the ice. This is an excellent opportunity for him to further his path to professional hockey ” said Hurricanes GM Darren Stocker. “We are getting a young power forward in Olafson who will have an immediate impact in our lineup. It’s also a good trade for the two European players who will get a fresh start in new cities and organizations”, added Stocker.

from www.whl.ca

Looks pretty good from a Rockets standpoint, lots of talk about King and him being a tough, physical guy.

inZaner

He is a good up and comer, but King is tougher and has put up more points.

Valcak for Lindlof looks like a wash, maybe Valcak with 11 points in 35 games and being 3rd round pick by Bruins can pick up his game.

I think the euros are just a wash, both underacheiving. To deal Lindlof away we had to take one of theirs, and I think Valcak could turn it around if put on a decent scoring line.

inZaner

have to look at how players perform after a trade. The Brandon Kamloops trade did nothing but good for all the players...all underachieving on their old clubs, are now playing awesome for their new clubs

I think it is unfair to refer to BOTH of our players as "a wash". It's true that Lindlof wasn't giving his best at every game for a very long time, but Blanar is stepping up his play, especially in the last few games. For the longest time, Blanar was a healthy scratch while the team tested their rookies like Howarth and Ray. Now that he has played a few more games, we should see him show his potential.
I think Blanar shows some real promise in that he isn't afraid to mix it up (after all, fighting is not something that most Euros are known for). Not only is he a popular player among the team-members, but he's got a lot of enthusiasm and a big heart. Hopefully he and Valcak will take the rest of this season to show that they are going to be valuable assets to our team.