Chatham Maroons Get Ekblad

Although there isn’t ice in Chatham’s Memorial Arena yet, it doesn’t mean the staff of the Chatham Maroons aren’t working to prepare for next season.

After holding their mini-camp in May and committing to local players, the Chatham Maroons made another roster change this week by trading veteran Troy Cox to the Leamington Flyers for goaltender Darien Ekblad.

Cox, who is a 20-year-old, suffered a serious lower body injury last season which held him to only 21 regular season games where he scored 5 goals, added 4 assists and compiled 57 penalty minutes. In four Junior B seasons, Cox hasn’t played more than 33 games, including a low of three two seasons ago.

After finishing with a 19-27-5 and missing the playoffs, the Maroons were looking to upgrade in net and Darien Ekblad offers that. Last season, Ekblad split the starting role in Leamington collecting a 14-8-1-1 record and receiving the Roy Caley Award as a co-recipient for the league’s lowest goals against average (3.09).

The trade sends Ekblad, who is property of the Plymouth Whalers, to Chatham, who were in need of at least one goaltender heading into the season, as well as financial considerations, in exchange for Cox.

Ekblad’s younger brother Aaron, was the OHL and CHL’s rookie of the year playing for the Barrie Colts after receiving exceptional status last year to enter the OHL a season early.