Monday, January 09, 2006

Spirit deal Whitely to Bulls, get Berard

New Saginaw Spirit forward Ryan Berard

The Belleville Bulls and Saginaw Spirit completed a two-player trade on Monday, the day before the OHL trade deadline.

Heading to Belleville is second-year defenceman Steven Whitely and Saginaw’s third-round pick in May's OHL Priority Selection. In return, the Bulls send third-year forward Ryan Berard and Brampton’s fifth-round pick in May to the Spirit.

“Ryan is a big, strong, right shot forward who has good skating skills,” said Spirit head coach and general manager Bob Mancini. “I look forward to him contributing to our offense immediately.”

Whitely (below), who split his rookie season with the Spirit and the Toronto St. Michael’s Majors, has five assists and 69 penalty minutes in 32 games with Saginaw this season. He was originally selected by the Majors in the 14th round of the 2003 OHL Priority Selection.

Berard, the Bulls second-round pick in 2003, has eight goals and 22 points in 39 games this season. In 173 career games with the Bulls, Berard has scored 22 goals and added 35 assists for 57 points while accumulating 72 penalty minutes.

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