Eagles Add Three

For immediate release: July 19, 2013

Left to right: Austin Edwards, Bo Didur, Chris Seto

Surrey, BC - The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club is pleased to announce that defenseman Austin Edwards ('95), forward Chris Seto ('97) and goaltender Bo Didur ('97) have committed to play for the team, beginning in the 2013-2014 season.

"We're very excited that these three players have decided to play for us next season," said Eagles President, Head Coach and GM Peter Schaefer. "Austin is a really good puck moving defenseman while Chris is a skilled forward that had a great camp for us last year. Bo was very well liked by our previous goalie Michael Santaguida and had a great record last year as well. They're all great additions."

Edwards, an Abbotsford native, appeared in eight regular season games and nine playoff games with the Abbotsford Pilots of the PIJHL in the 2012-2013 season. The 18-year-old had seven points in the regular season and six points in the post-season. Edwards has appeared in two BCHL games as well, suiting up for the Chilliwack Chiefs in the 2011-2012 season.

"I'm really excited," said Edwards. "I've heard that the coaching staff is great. The Eagles have been a great team in the past, and with them coming off a berth in the RBC Cup, it'll be exciting to go there and play with guys who experienced that run."

Seto spent the 2012-2013 season with the Cloverdale Colts Midget AAA team. The 16-year-old was a third round selection of the Kelowna Rockets in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft. Seto, who is a Surrey native, also practiced with the Eagles throughout last season.

"It will be a great experience to play in the BCHL," said Seto. "I wanted to play for the Eagles because I'm from Surrey, and practicing with the team last year really helped me a lot with my development. I'm really looking forward to it."

Didur, who hails from West Vancouver, played for the Vancouver Northwest Giants in the BC Major Midget League last year. The 16-year-old net minder was part of the Giants squad that went to the Pacific Regional Finals before falling to the eventual Telus Cup Champion Red Deer Optimist Chiefs.

"I'm really honoured to be given an opportunity to play for such a respected team in the BCHL," said Didur. "What the team accomplished last year was pretty amazing, and we hope to do what they did last year again this coming season."

The Eagles would like to welcome Didur, Seto and Edwards to the organization.

Eagles Acquire Pilton from Victoria

For immediate release: July 17, 2013

Surrey, BC - The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club announced on Wednesday that the team has acquired defenseman Kade Pilton ('94) and future considerations from the Victoria Grizzlies in exchange for forward Stefan Burzan ('94).

"We hope that getting a big body on the back end that can skate and has some experience will help us this coming season," said Eagles President, Head Coach and GM Peter Schaefer of Pilton. "We hope he can be a nice compliment to some of our smaller puck moving defensemen."

Pilton split the 2012-2013 season with the Regina Pats of the WHL and the Grizzlies. The Parksville native put up three points in 27 games in Regina before appearing in 12 regular season games with Victoria, tallying five points. Pilton had two points in six playoff games with the Grizzlies who lost to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in the Island Division Final.

Burzan, who hails from Surrey, played 51 regular season games for the Eagles last year, scoring six goals and 10 assists. In the post-season, he appeared in 19 games during Surrey's run to the RBC Cup Semi-Final, posting two points. Burzan has also spent time in the WHL as he appeared in two games for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2011-2012 season.

The Eagles would like to welcome Kade to the organization while wishing Stefan all the best in his future endeavours.

Eagles Trade For Pair of Twins

For immediate release: July 8, 2013

Left to right: Jonah Renouf, Nathan Renouf,
Patrick Chore, Eric Chore

Surrey, BC - The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club announced on Monday that the team has acquired forwards Jonah Renouf ('94), Nathan Renouf ('94), Patrick Chore ('93) and Eric Chore ('93) from the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in exchange for goaltender Glenn Ferguson ('94), the playing rights to Devon Toews ('94), Michael Santaguida ('93) and Michael Stenerson ('93) and future considerations.

"We've lost some forwards from last year's team to NCAA schools, so we're excited to be acquiring some great skill guys who have put up great numbers in Ontario," said Eagles President, General Manager and Head Coach Peter Schaefer. "We hope they'll help out our power play as well, and we're very excited to have these young men join our organization."

The Renouf brothers hail from Mississauga, Ontario. Jonah finished second in OJHL scoring in the 2012-2013 season with 29 goals and 65 assists in 53 games while Nathan was sixth in league scoring, tallying 21 goals and 56 assists in 54 games. In the playoffs, the Renoufs combined for 11 points in six games as the Blades were eliminated by the North York Rangers in the first round. Both brothers have committed to attend Quinnipiac University for the 2014-2015 season.

The Chores are Kelowna natives who will return to their home province to play for the Eagles. Both brothers spent time with the North Okanagan Knights of the KIJHL for parts of two seasons from 2010-2012 and both had stints in the BCHL before heading to Ontario to start the 2012-2013 season. Patrick played 37 games for the Prince George Spruce Kings in 2011-2012 while Eric has suited up in 10 BCHL games split between the Spruce Kings and the Vernon Vipers.

Ferguson heads to Ontario after appearing in nine games for the Birds in the 2012-2013 season, posting a record of 4-5-0. While their playing rights have been transferred, Stenerson, Toews and Santaguida have all completed their junior careers and will be starting at NCAA schools in the fall.

The Eagles would like to welcome Jonah, Nathan, Patrick and Eric to the organization while wishing Glenn the best of luck in his future endeavours.

Adam Tambellini Interview: July 3, 2013

I caught up with former Eagles forward and New York Rangers draft pick Adam Tambellini to talk about the NHL Entry Draft this past Sunday where he was selected 65th overall by the Blueshirts.

Tambellini Goes to the Rangers

For immediate release: June 30, 2013

Surrey, BC - The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club is pleased to announce that forward Adam Tambellini has been selected in the third round of today's NHL Entry Draft in Newark, New Jersey by the New York Rangers with the 65th overall pick.

"It's very exciting as an organization when you have a player drafted," said Eagles President, General Manager and Head Coach Peter Schaefer. "Adam had a great year personally and a great year for us as a team. We're all incredibly excited for him to be going to the Big Apple. To play in New York City at Madison Square Garden will be really special for him, and I'm sure he's going to have a great career with the Rangers."

Tambellini joined the Eagles at the BCHL trade deadline this past January and was a key part of Surrey's run to the Fred Page Cup, Western Canada Cup and RBC Cup Semi-Final. In his 16 regular season games in Surrey, Tambellini tallied an impressive 14 goals and 12 assists. He continued his strong play throughout Surrey's post-season run, putting up 28 points in 27 games. To cap off his playoff performance, Tambellini was named the Top Forward at the RBC Cup in Summerside, PEI last month. The 18-year-old is set to attend the University of North Dakota in the fall.

The Eagles would like to congratulate Tambellini on this impressive accomplishment.

Eagles Partner With Semiahmoo Minor Hockey

For immediate release: June 27, 2013

Ian Maguire of SMHA and Peter Schaefer

Surrey, BC - The Surrey Eagles Hockey Club is pleased to announce that the team is joining together in a partnership with the Semiahmoo Minor Hockey Association.

The agreement will feature many benefits for both the Birds and SMHA. Eagles players will mentor minor hockey teams during the upcoming season and participate in their practices while Peter Schaefer and the Eagles' coaching staff will mentor and host clinics.

"We're excited as an organization to be partnering with Semiahmoo Minor Hockey and becoming more involved in the community," said Eagles President, General Manager and Head Coach Peter Schaefer. "With 1,000 members in the minor hockey association, our players and staff are looking forward to working with the SMHA to help impact the lives of these young hockey players in a positive way."

Off the ice, the two organizations will co-host fundraising events while both sides will also have the chance to enter into joint sponsorship opportunities. In addition, the Eagles will provide all members of the minor hockey association with a 25 per cent discount on season tickets, and the SMHA will receive 25 per cent of the revenue from every season ticket sold to one of its members.

"Semiahmoo Minor Hockey is delighted to be partnering with the Surrey Eagles this coming season," said SMHA President Ian Maguire. "This is a natural partnership within our community and provides an ideal avenue for our budding hockey stars to interact and learn from the best hockey talent in our community. We look forward to working closely with Peter Schaefer and the entire Surrey Eagles organization."

Eagles 2013-2014 Schedule Released

The BCHL released its schedule for the 2013-2014 regular season on Monday, and I just wanted to post a couple of quick thoughts on some key games for the Eagles in the upcoming season.

After the two games at the Showcase in Chilliwack against West Kelowna and Vernon on September 6th and 7th, the Birds will open up at home on September 13th against the Langley Rivermen. This will also mark the night that the Eagles raise their Fred Page Cup and Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup banners and look back on the success of the 2012-2013 campaign for one last time. Definitely a date to circle on your calendar.

While the Birds didn't have to make an out-of-town trip until the middle of October last year, the Surrey club will get over to the island just two weeks into the season as they'll visit Alberni Valley for a rematch of the Coastal Conference Final on September 21st before playing in Duncan against the Cowichan Valley Capitals the next night.

We already knew that the Birds would face the Vernon Vipers at the BCHL Showcase, but a weird scheduling quirk has the out-of-conference opponents going head-to-head three times in the first month of the season as the Eagles will have a home-and-home series with the 2014 RBC Cup hosts on September 27th and 28th.

This year, the BCHL decided to add two games to its schedule, meaning the Birds will play a total of 58 games. Those two extra games will be made up of divisional match-ups. Much like last year, Surrey will play each of its divisional opponents eight times with the exception of the Chilliwack Chiefs and Coquitlam Express who they will play nine times each. The Express will visit the South Surrey Arena five times while the Birds will head to Chilliwack five times. However, Surrey won't get a crack at its big rival from the valley until October 26th at Prospera Centre. The Chiefs will make their first visit to Surrey on November 8th.

We'll have to wait until December to get a rematch of the Fred Page Cup Final as the Eagles will return to the South Okanagan Events Centre for the first time since Adam Tambellini's double overtime winner in Game 6 on December 7th to face Penticton. The Vees will make their lone trip to the SSA on February 8th.

Surrey will conclude the regular season with a three-game Island Division road trip when they'll visit Powell River, Nanaimo and Victoria on February 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively.

The Eagles' longest stretch of games away from home comes in late November and early December when they'll visit Coquitlam, West Kelowna, Penticton and Langley consecutively.

Surrey's longest home stand -- also four games -- will be split up by the December break with the Eagles hosting Nanaimo, Coquitlam and Prince George before Christmas before returning after the holidays to play Chilliwack on December 28th.

See the full Eagles schedule by clicking here.

See the BCHL's Press Release by clicking here.