The sitting AJHL Rookie of the Year and both a league MVP and Top Goaltender award contender Cole Cheveldave will be leaving Drumheller for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
Cheveldave, 17, of Calgary, was the starting goalie for most of the season and ended it with 16 wins 20 loses, a .917 save percentage, and a 2.9 goals against average.
Cheveldave was on the Blazer’s protected list since September.
“He wanted to play in Drumheller. I think his plan all along was to move onto the next level whenever that opportunity presented itself, and was the right opportunity,” said Price.
The Dragons held their second spring camp of the season in Cochrane over the Easter weekend, auditioning for two goalie spots since Garret Beckwith is now over the AJHL age bracket.
Price said he isn’t worried about the time to find two qualified goalies for next season.
When Cheveldave joined the league, he was behind Beckwith and Andy Williams, both 20 year old netminders who were expected to play the lion’s share of minutes.
“He passed both of them, playing the majority of the minutes and becoming the best goalie in the league. People forget that a first year player can come in and have a tremendous amount of success,” he said. “There’s the chance to have even more success than Cole did.”
