St. Marys Lincolns added some “forward line depth” last week when they acquired Lambton Shores Predators’ captain Dave Hutchinson in a straight cash deal.
The 20-year-old Londoner, who is 6 ft., 4 inches and 230 lbs., is a left winger who spent most of two seasons with the Preds.
“We needed some size up front to replace (Jamie) Commerford, and Dave will also provide some toughness and a little goal scoring,” Lincs’ GM Warren Nye told the Journal Argus.
Commerford, third in Lincolns’ team scoring, suffered a serious shoulder injury in late November and the 19-year-old Londoner undergoes season-ending surgery on Jan. 22.
Hutchinson attended St. Marys’ training camp two years ago. In 78 WOHC games with Sarnia and Lambton Shores during the past two seasons, Hutchinson has picked up 306 penalty minutes.
This season, he had four goals, 17 points, and 114 penalty minutes in 29 games with the last-place Predators.
Lincs used their last import card on Hutchinson, who played his first two games with St. Marys this past weekend. “We need his physical presence,” coach Merlin Malinowski added.

•Lincolns’ newest player is Jimin Kim, acquired for cash at Sunday’s Jan. 10 signing deadline.
The 17-year-old Londoner is a non-import to the Lincs because he was a member of their Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League affiliate, the Lucan Irish, last season.
This season, the 5 ft., 11 inch, 187 lb. centre-right winger has been playing with Mississauga Chargers of the Provincial Tier II Jr. A League, where he had six goals, 17 points and 21 penalty minutes in 39 games.
Kim, who attended Lincolns’ training camp two years ago, is returning to school in London. “He’s a good addition,” coach Malinowski said Sunday.
He was expected to be in the St. Marys line-up last night (Tuesday) against the Nationals.

•Lincs are “not interested” in the new Premier Junior Hockey League, proposed by the OHA, GM Nye says.
The target is to have a minimum 16 teams start play next fall, and 24 teams the following season. It’s an OHA-driven initative that’s “been on the go for over two years,” Western Conference convener Bill Weir told the Journal Argus last Friday.
There is a $25,000 league fee to apply. Nye says teams would need a budget of $300,000 to $400,000 to operate annually in the Premier League.
“The teams that are privately owned in the Greater Toronto area are the teams that should be interested,” Nye said. “And to my understanding, none of the 36 (Provincial) Tier 2 Jr. A teams have applied.”
Waterloo and Cambridge from the GOJHL’s Midwestern Conference have apparently expressed interest, he said.

•Lincolns’ Stephen Heming is goalie-of-the-month for December in the Western Conference.
Heming, 19, went 4-1 last month. His only loss (4-1) was in London against the first-place Nationals.
After this past weekend, the 19-year-old Newmarket native was 8-1 since joining the Lincs in late November. He had a 1.56 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
Heming was honoured before last Friday’s game. Conference convener Bill Weir, of London, made the on-ice presentation.

•Last Friday night, the struggling Leamington Flyers were without three of their top players—all sitting out requesting trades to another WOHC team (rumoured to be Chatham).
One of the those players was captain and defenceman Steve Kruk, an American, whom the Lincolns recently inquired about. He apparently wasn’t interested in coming to St. Marys.

•Lincs improved their home-ice record to 14-2-1 with Friday’s 7-0 victory over Leamington. It was also their first shutout win this season.
They are 15-2-1 in their last 18 games, dating back to Oct. 30.

•St. Marys winger Ian McIntosh suffered a concussion in Saturday’s game in Strathroy and will miss a couple of games.

•Lincolns played a physical game against the Rockets, but also kept their composure, Anthony Soboczynski said at practice Sunday.
“We capitalized on our special teams, we played a full 60 minutes and Heming played an amazing game for us,” the team captain said.

•Second-year defenceman Tyler Bryson and rookie forward Sean Consitt will represent the Lincs in the 2009-10 GOJHL Prospects Game next Monday, Jan. 18 in Fort Erie.
Bryson and Consitt, both 17, will suit up for Team White, a squad comprised of players from the Western and Midwestern conferences. Bryson hails from Exeter and Consitt from Hensall.
Team Black will be stocked with skaters from the Golden Horseshoe and Midwestern conferences.
To be selected to play in this game, players must be born in 1991 or later, and still have NCAA eligibility.
Bryson and Consitt are two of 13 players chosen from the Western Conference. Four of their teammates for this Prospects game are from the Stratford Cullitons.