Falcons wheel and deal (updated with comments from Sailors, Kilty B’s)

The St. Catharines Falcons have added Port Colborne captain Dylan Pergentile in a three-player deal with the Sailors. Photo by: BILL POTRECZ

Christmas came a few days early for Tyler Bielby.

The general manager/coach of the St. Catharines Falcons pulled off two blockbuster trades Friday, acquiring four players from two teams.

The Falcons are sending forwards Ben Smith, Owen King, Chris Reid and Michael Colavecchia to the Hamilton Kilty B’s for forward Tanner Hunt and a player development fee.

The Falcons then sent a player development fee to the Port Colborne Sailors for forwards Dylan Pergentile, Nathan Kelly and Grayson Gare.

“Our thought process, as we get closer to the trade deadline, is we had an opportunity to add some experience, some strength to our lineup, with some players who we think can really help improve our club,” Bielby said. “We had that opportunity and we had to take a deep dive and see where we’re at. We’ve been through playoff runs before and having some maturity and experience and strength in your lineup is important and it just so happens all these boys can play on both sides of the puck.”

Pergentile, who was captain of the Sailors, is a 20-year-old Grimsby native who has 15 goals and 29 points in 30 games.

Kelly, a 20-year-old Smithville native, is a skilled forward who has five goals and 21 points in 18 games this season.

Gare, who hails from Buffalo, is an effective grinder who plays with an edge and can also put the puck in the net as evidenced by his eight goals this season.

Hunt, a 6-foot-4 Oakville native and younger brother of Falcons forward Tyler Hunt, has four goals, 12 points and 46 minutes in penalties for the Kilty B’s.

While excited about the newcomers, Bielby said it wasn’t easy to part with the four players.

“The four young men who are leaving our dressing room are going to be greatly missed by the whole organization, their teammates in particular,” he said. “We wish them the best and think they are going to bring a lot of value to Hamilton and their organization.”

Hamilton president and general manager Mike Spadafora explained the deal from him club’s point of view.

“We are excited to add these four players to our roster, we believe they will make an immediate impact to our club. We have been moving in the right direction with our team play over the past few weeks and we have just made our team even stronger,” he said.

Pergentile, Gare and Tanner Hunt will be in the lineup tonight when the Falcons host Pelham. Kelly is serving a one-game suspension.

The Sailors have been mired in a slump and are only one point ahead of Pelham for fifth place.

“Things haven’t really been going our way the last few months so my feeling was something had to happen,” Port Colborne general manager/coach Scott Barnes said. “These are kids that have been with me for three years and I have a good relationship with all three. I’ve had constant communication with them over the season and it got to the point where they were looking for an opportunity. 

“My thing was keeping them all together if I was going to move them. I wanted them to be able to go to the same team and St. Catharines was able to accommodate that.”

Barnes said the deal will permit him to use some of his younger players on a more consistent basis.

“We’ve had three forwards scratched every game,” he said. “What this does is give a little bit more of an opportunity for some guys to play consistently. We’ve had some guys in an out of the lineup and deserving to be playing. 

“I think it’s going to change the identity of our team which we definitely need at the moment. I think it’s a win for both sides.”

Barnes also hinted more changes could be on the way.

“Obviously there are going to be other things happening down the pipeline,” he said.

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