CHECKERS MAKE MOVES 

The Charlotte Checkers, currently the New York Rangers ECHL affiliate, made a pair of moves with former Rangers General Manager and current owner of the Johnstown Chiefs, Neil Smith and acquired defenseman Trevor Hendrikx and forward Mike Bartlett in exchange for future considerations General Manager and Head Coach Derek Wilkinson announced today.

It’s the trade deadline in the ECHL season. Wednesday the Checkers added a strong puck moving defenseman as the Hartford Wolf Pack reassigned David Urquhart to Charlotte.

Hendrikx, 24, has six goals, 19 assists and 164 penalty minutes in 43 games with Johnstown this season. He ranks second in penalty minutes among all ECHL defensemen behind T.J. Reynolds and his 25 points leads all Chiefs blueliners. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Ontario native has 28 goals, 63 assists and 567 penalty minutes in 205 career ECHL games. “Trevor is a guy we’ve been after for a while,” Checkers’ general manager and head coach Derek Wilkinson said. “He’s a real rugged, tough, stay-at-home physical defenseman. He certainly makes guys pay the price to play. So he’s someone we feel will hopefully be a good addition to our lineup.”

Wilkinson also likes the sandpaper aspect of Hendrikx’s game. “When the games get tougher and harder, he’s the kind of guy we think will be harder to play against. He’s a warrior and blocks a lot of shots and we feel we needed a little bit more of that; to get tougher down low and in front of our net come crunch time. We’re happy we were able to get a guy like him.”

T.J. Reynolds, the only person with more penalty minutes than Hendrikx, is currently our for the next couple of weeks with an undisclosed injury. “Having Trevor will help off set that loss as well.” The GM/Head Coach said.

Putting  Reynolds and Hendrikx out there together will be quite the intimidating duo. “That’s kind of the idea,” Wilkinson said with a laugh. “We really want to make sure we have that physical presence out there on the back end.”

Hendrikx played five seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes prior to becoming a professional. He was drafted twice by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets – once in 2003 and again in 2005. In 2005-06, Hendrikx helped the Petes to an OHL championship. 

Bartlett, 25, is currently with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters and has five goals and four assists in 30 games. He began the season in Johnstown where he notched 10 goals and 15 assists in 30 games before being loaned to Lake Erie in late December. 

The 6-foot, 190-pound winger is in his third professional season and played four years at the collegiate level with Notre Dame. 

“(Barlett)’s in Lake Erie and was more of a chance on our end. He added an option to us though we’re not really sure what his plans are or Lake Erie’s plans are.” Wilkinson said. “He’s playing well for them. Basically we wanted him as an option. We’re not banking on him coming any time soon. Right now (Barlett)’s an American League player and that’s where he’s going to stay. But with callups and injuries you never know where someone is going to be.”

In terms of what he brings to the table, Wilkinson likes what he sees. “He’s a great player with great speed and a right handed shot; which we lack. He brings that element of speed and grit and a scoring touch at our level. So if we have the option to add him to our playoff roster we certainly will.”

Wilkinson added, “As many options as we were able to aquire we wanted to get.”  

Urquhart, 25, began the 2008-09 season with the Checkers and registered five assists in seven games. He was then called up the Wolf Pack and added six goals and eight assists in 54 games. 

In 49 games in Hartford this season, the native of Thorold, Ontario has four assists and 34 penalty minutes. 

“He’s a great kid first and foremost. We had him a bit last year.  With (Julien) Brouilette going up there (to Hartford) and (Jared) Nightingale also being up there, David was sort of the odd-man out. I think more or less of anything it’s to get him ice time. I don’t know how long we’ll have him, but he’s a great skater, moves the puck and competes real hard. He’ll definitely help offset the loss of Brouilette. He played (Thursday) night and he played real well. He’s a great addition for us.” 

Prior to joining the professional ranks, Urquhart played four seasons at McGill University in Montreal where he notched 13 goals and 57 assists in 86 games while helping the Redmen to the OUA Queen’s Cup Championship in 2007-08 – his senior year.

Wilkinson then added that players like Derek Couture, (Hartford), or Kenny Roche (Providence), Matt Ford or Randy Rowe (both with Lake Erie) could return to Charlotte. “Anybody still in the American League can still come and play for us. Our playoff roster isn’t due until the Monday after our season ends”