Fighting Falcons Busy at Trade Deadline
February 7, 2014 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Port Huron Fighting Falcons News Release
PORT HURON, MI - The Port Huron Fighting Falcons, proud members of the North American Hockey League, today announced a pair of trades made at the NAHL's trade deadline. In three separate moves, the team has acquired defenseman Jake McNamara, forward Eliot Tisdale and a 2014-15 tender in exchange for defensemen Jeremy Briscoe and Joey Lindberg, and a 3rd round draft pick.
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Port Huron sent a 3rd round pick in the 2014 NAHL Draft to the Corpus Christi IceRays in exchange for Jake McNamara. McNamara is a 1995 birth-year defenseman who has appeared in 21 games this season with the IceRays and the Amarillo Bulls. A Grand Rapids, MI native, McNamara has two assists so far this season.
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"Jake is a strong, physical defenseman with a left-handed shot who isn't afraid to drop the gloves when need be," said Fighting Falcons Head Coach and General Manager Michael Gershon. "With the moves we made today we were looking to shorten our bench a bit heading into the stretch run, and Jake is a player that helps us do that through the rest of this year as well as the future as he has two years of junior eligibility left."
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The team has also traded defenseman Joey Lindberg to the Brookings Blizzard for Eliot Tisdale. Port Huron will be the fourth and final stop in Tisdale's NAHL career, as the 1993 birth-year forward has spent time with the Jamestown Ironmen and the Janesville Jets before his time with Brookings. The Mars, PA native has 14 points on seven goals and seven assists in 93 career NAHL games. Tisdale scored a goal and an assist in seven games against the Fighting Falcons last season.
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Lindberg ranked sixth among Fighting Falcons defensemen with nine points on a goal and eight assists in 22 games this year.
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"It was tough to part ways with Joey, and we've been really happy with his play for us this season, but we felt like this move helps us get better for a playoff run while also putting Joey in a position to get some playing time that hasn't always been available with us," Gershon said.
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"Eliot is a player we saw quite a bit last season when he was with Jamestown, and is a player who was a much bigger part of their run to the Robertson Cup tournament than his stat line implies," Gershon added. "He's a player who brings veteran leadership on the ice as well as playoff experience. If you look at the other division leaders in the league, we have fewer 93 birth-year players than any of them, and this move helps our balance in that respect."
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The Fighting Falcons also traded Jeremy Briscoe to the Lone Star Brahmas in exchange for a 2014-15 tender. Briscoe, who was selected in the 2nd round of the 2013 NAHL Draft was the youngest player on Port Huron's roster.
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"Jeremy is a player who has a huge upside and someone we all agree will have an impact in this league for a long time," Gershon said. "Lone Star is a team that is rebuilding with younger players and we felt like that was a better situation for Jeremy in terms of playing time, which is something that we just were not going to be able to guarantee here this year.
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"Joey and Jeremy have both been great kids from day one here in Port Huron, and we obviously wish them nothing but the best moving forward. Brookings and Lone Star are getting great players on the ice and great kids in the community as well. We're looking forward to bringing Jake and Eliot in as we move closer to our goal of bringing the Robertson Cup to Port Huron," Gershon said.
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McNamara and Tisdale will likely see their first action in a Fighting Falcons sweater next weekend, when the team hosts the Springfield Jr. Blues. The Fighting Falcons play a road series against the Janesville Jets this weekend. Tisdale is expected to meet up with the team in Janesville, but likely will not suit up.
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Tickets to any Fighting Falcons home game are available at the McMorran Arena Box Office, starting at just $7 for seniors, students and military. For more information, call the team's front office at (810) 966-3800.
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