Cross border to Kam River
About half of the roster of the Kam River Fighting Walleye of the Superior International Jr. Hockey League is made up of local players from the Thunder Bay area. But Fighting Walleye general manager Kevin McCallum and his hockey operations staff have also gone across the Prairies and into British Columbia to recruit players to Kam River. And at the recent junior hockey trade deadline, McCallum and the Fighting Walleye added three American-born skaters.
The three American players were all acquired from teams in other Canadian Jr. Hockey Leagues.
18-year old defenceman Max McNeil was obtained by Kam River from the Waywayseecappo Wolverines of the Manitoba Jr. Hockey League in a cash transaction.
And 19-year old forwards Logan Gallaher and Anthony Oviedo were both snagged by the Fighting Walleye from the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League in another cash deal.
McNeil is from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Gallaher and Oviedo are both California products and graduates of the Anaheim Junior Ducks AAA program.
McCallum, as the Kam River GM, noted how the Fighting Walleye — which is in first place in the SIJHL standings with 45 points from a record of 22-3-1 — came to acquire the trio at the CJHL trade deadline.
“When (McNeil) became available, we watched video of him and immediately knew we wanted to bring him in. I’m happy we were able to get the deal done,” McCallum said of the 5-foot-10, 175 pound McNeil, who played high school hockey in Wisconsin prior to moving up to junior A hockey in Canada this season.
“As for making the move to bring in Oviedo and Gallaher, we believe they add depth and skill that we need to make a major push in our league and hopefully beyond,” said McCallum. “Gallaher brings us size and toughness with skill that we believe we needed while Oviedo is another big piece of our puzzle to add depth.”