The Seattle Thunderbirds announced Wednesday that the team has acquired forward Blake Bargar from the Victoria Royals in exchange for defenseman Anthony Bishop.
Bargar, a native of Torrance, California was drafted in 2013 by the Moose Jaw Warriors where he played two seasons. He was traded to the Victoria Royals last season and played in 61 games registering six goals and four assists for 10 points. In five playoff games last season Bargar had no points and was a minus one. In 180 career games, Bargar, has scored 7 goals and 10 assists for 17 career points.
Last season was Bishop’s first and only season with the T-Birds where he played in 66 games as both a forward and defenseman. He scored two goals and five assists for seven points. During the postseason Bishop played in 11 games for Seattle where he didn’t register a point but finished with a plus one.
Seattle acquired Bishop last season from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for goalie Logan Flodell. At first, it looked as if the T-Birds got the short end of the stick due to Flodell’s early season success.
However, as the season went on, Bishop’s game definitely improved. He matured on the ice and you could tell by the way he was playing. He became a better skater and a better puck handler. With his improved play, Bishop gave his coaches no choice but to dress him as a seventh defenseman instead of dressing a 12th forward for a number of games down the stretch.
This season Seattle will see the departures of forwards Mathew Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar, Scott Eansor, and Alexander True. There is no question that the T-Birds were going to be short handed up front. The addition of Bargar brings in a veteran player, and a natural forward. Sending Bishop to Victoria will give him more opportunity to play at his natural position of defense.
This is simply a good hockey trade as both teams will benefit from this deal. Victoria gets a solid, versatile defenseman who can play in any role, and Seattle gets a veteran forward to fill some of the holes they have up front.
