Tigers move captain to Wellington, hand Reeve the “C”

Newly appointed captain of the Aurora Tigers Jonathan Balah asked to be moved and the club, dealt their talisman to the Wellington Dukes for cash and future considerations.

“He wanted to be moved to a more established team. Because we want what's best for every player and family, we traded him to the top team,” said Team Governor and General Manager Jim Thomson.

“I'll never hold a kid or a family back. When he asked to be moved, we had a trade with Wellington.”

The Tigers wish Balah nothing but the best in his final year of eligibility in Junior A.

Thomson will be in touch with Wellington Dukes' General Manager Rob Ridgley throughout the season to discuss a player in return for this transaction.

Following the deal, head coach Greg Johnston upgraded 19-year-old Kingston, ON native Luc Reeve from Assistant Captain to Captain for the upcoming season.

“Greg had a relationship with Luc in Collingwood when he was the coach there. Luc played for him. Greg knows Luc well and he knows that he is all in and all in to win,” Thomson said.

“He's a pure leader by his work ethic. He comes to practice he comes to play. He's got focus on getting a scholarship and when Jonathan was traded for Greg, that was his pick.”

Reeve said it is an amazing honour to wear the “C” for the Tigers this year.

“I was extremely happy when they told me I would be getting the C it's a great honour to be representing our team and our organization,” Reeve wrote.

“I definitely like leading by example and my work ethic on and off the ice and hope it will cause the teams to rise too pushing mine more with it.

Newcomers this offseason Hollander Thompson and Ty Roberts will be assistant captains along with Cael Cavallin and Tommy Kloepfer.

With this announcement, this becomes the third time this offseason the Tigers have named a Captain.

By Robert Belardi