SPRUCE GROVE, AB (October 3, 2014) – The Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League have signed 1995-born defenceman Tyler Dea (St. Albert, AB), the team announced today.
The 6’4”, 205-lb defenceman returns to the Junior A team for which he played at the start of the 2012-13 season, where Dea dressed in 7 games as an Oil Baron, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist in that span.
“Tyler brings a different element than what we have right now,” said Oil Barons head coach and general manager Curtis Hunt. “He’s a big body back there, and his role for probably the last three or four years has been that stay-at-home, stabilizing force. He’s going to protect leads in the last minute, be a penalty killer, and block shots; I think he’s really going to help the youth in our lineup continue to develop in different areas of their game, because he brings those different elements.”
“We’re really excited to get him back. We know he was a Baron once; he’s familiar with it, and now with all of the new changes, he was pretty excited last night when we met.”
Dea had most recently been with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, having played 2 games in the WHL this past season, and 35 games split between the Blades and the Prince Albert Raiders last year.
The Barons also announced today the release of 1994-born forward Adam Wilcox (Alpharetta, GA).
“That’s a tough one,” said Hunt. “Adam’s a real quality kid, and from an organizational standpoint we’re appreciative of what he gave us as a player and in the community. It becomes numbers, and a bit of a two-headed monster; he counts under the American tag, and he counts as an overage tag, and with overage players becoming more and more available, we had to part ways.”
“We’re looking for a place for him right now, and we wish him the best of luck.”
Wilcox had played in 79 career regular season games with the MOB over three seasons, scoring 7 goals and 9 assists, with 103 penalty minutes. He added 1 goal and 2 assists in 22 career playoff games, with 13 penalty minutes.
Dea is expected to make his 2014-15 Oil Barons debut tonight in Spruce Grove when the MOB takes on the Spruce Grove Saints on the road at 7 PM at the Grant Fuhr Arena.
The game can be heard on the Barons’ official broadcaster, KAOS 91.1, starting at 6:45 PM.
Tickets are on sale for the MOB’s next home game against the Lloydminster Bobcats on Tuesday at 7:30 PM. They are available at the Casman Centre box office, by phone at 780 743 5509, or online at tickets.oilbarons.com.