BCHL, Coastal Conference, COVID-19, editorial, Interior Conference, NCAA

Revisiting the Henri Schreifels trade

Written by Clifford Hofferd on

 

Recently, the Victoria Grizzlies announced that former player Henri Schreifels is rejoining the team. He previously played for the Grizzlies during the 2018-19 season and 2019-20 season.

Schreifels committed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last year but because of COVID-19, the Engineers men’s hockey team cancelled its season.

He rejoins a Grizzlies team dealing with several departures. It’s something I elaborated on in talking about Victoria’s recruits for next season.

With Schreifels coming back, I wanted to look at how he joined the Grizzlies. This article’s inspiration comes from another one on BCHLNetwork by Brieann Knorr exploring how Matt Kowalski joined the Vernon Vipers.

Another inspiration is videos made by Steve Dangle where he details famous National Hockey League trade trees for Sportsnet’s YouTube channel. Without further ado, let’s begin with Schreifels entering the BC Hockey League.

On Jan. 26, 2018, the Penticton Vees announced Schreifels had committed to play for them. He was playing for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks U18 AAA team at the time.  The Agoura Hills, California product finished the 2017-18 season with 26 goals and 30 assists in 36 games.

Trade 1: Penticton to Alberni Valley

Schreifels only played three games for the Vees to start the 2018-19 season before being part of a pretty big trade. On Sept. 28, 2018, Penticton traded Schreifels, forward Ryan Miotto, and future considerations to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for forward Andre Ghantous.

Before resuming Schreifels’ path, I want to talk about the other players in this trade. Andre Ghantous played 38 games for the Vees in 2018-19 and had 10 goals and 19 assists.

Ghantous was committed to the Northern Michigan University Wildcats men’s ice hockey program in Marquette, Michigan, and is now into his sophomore season.

As for Miotto, he played 49 games for the Bulldogs before aging out of the league as a 20-year-old. In those 49 games, he had 20 goals and 37 assists.

Miotto then headed to Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he currently plays for the Golden Griffins men’s ice hockey team.

Trade 2: Alberni Valley to Victoria

After playing three games for the Bulldogs, Schreifels was traded again. On Oct. 18th, 2018, the Victoria Grizzlies acquired Schreifels for future considerations.

Schreifels played the remainder of the 2018-19 season with the Grizzlies. In 38 games, he had six goals and nine assists. In 15 playoff games, he added two goals and four assists. The following season saw the point totals improve even more.

In 56 games during the 2019-20 season, Schreifels had 24 goals and 21 assists. In Jan. 2020,  Henri committed to RPI and was set to start playing for the Engineers this past September.

Acquiring Schreifels early in the 2018-19 season was huge for the Grizzlies. His point production improved dramatically during the following year. Having him back helps a Grizzlies team that lost Cody Monds to the US Hockey League. Monds was second in league scoring during the extended training camp last fall.

During the 2019-20 season, Schreifels was the Grizzlies’ second-highest point scorer behind Monds. He’s a  welcome insertion into the lineup, joining Alex DiPaolo and Ellis Rickwood as the Grizzlies’ top offensive producers.

Trade aftermath

In my opinion, the Grizzlies are the winners of these trades. Both Penticton and Alberni Valley only had limited time with Schreifels before they traded him. Miotto and the Bulldogs made the playoffs in 2018-19 but were swept in round one by Victoria.

Ghantous and the Vees made the playoffs as number one in the Interior Divison. However, they were upset by the wildcard Cowichan Valley Capitals in six games.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies will have parts of three seasons with Schreifels. If COVID-19 hadn’t happened, then Schreifels’ 2019-20 season alone was more than worth it to trade for him.