The Surrey Eagles have acquired forward Chase Stevenson from the West Kelowna Warriors in exchange for defenceman Cory Babichuk. Stevenson, 19, has scored 22 goals and 43 points over the course of his 76-game BCHL career. He is committed to play NCAA division I hockey for the University of New Hampshire for the 2019-20 season.
“We are excited to acquire an experienced forward in Chase Stevenson,” Eagles head coach Brandon West said in a statement to SurreyEagles.ca. “He will be a key contributor to our offence and is a player I’m very familiar with. We felt this would be a good trade for both teams as both players are quality young men.”
West served as an assistant coach with the Warriors before leaving for the interior division rival Salmon Arm Silverbacks in 2012.
The Eagles are looking to restore some offence to the top of their lineup after losing forwards Desi Burgart and Jeff Stewart to Quinnipiac and Colgate University. Johnny Wesley, who scored 37 goals for the Eagles last season, is also moving on to Windsor University after finishing his final year of junior eligibility. This is a big opportunity for Stevenson, a West Kelowna native, who will be looked at to shoulder some of the offensive load.
The Eagles would also like to thank Cory Babichuk for his time with the organization, West added “We thank Cory for all his efforts and contributions to our team over the two seasons and with him all the best in West Kelowna.”
The 2018-19 BCHL regular season schedule has been released with the Eagles opening their season at home against the Coquitlam Express on Friday, September 7th. Tickets are available now.
Keep checking SurreyEagles.ca for all of the latest news and transactions as the summer continues and we get closer to training camp in August!
