TRI-CITY ACQUIRES BEN FOSTER AT DEADLINE

Press Release

 KEARNEY, Neb. – The Tri-City Storm were active at the trade deadline late Wednesday night and made multiple moves, one of which brought forward Ben Foster from the Muskegon Lumberjacks to Kearney.

In exchange for Foster and future considerations, the Storm parted ways with defenseman Josh McArdle and their seventh round pick in the upcoming 2013 draft.

Foster has appeared in 43 games for the Lumberjacks this season and has scored 14 goals and eight assists. Three of his goals have been of the game-winning variety, and he has also landed 96 shots on goal.

A Darien, Conn. native, Foster is six feet tall and weighs 187 pounds. He is playing in his first USHL season and is committed to play college hockey at Princeton University.

While McArdle was in his second season with the Storm, injuries plagued him throughout the year. The defenseman only appeared in 19 games, assisting on three goals. The Roscoe, Ill. native played a total of 64 contests in a Storm uniform, totaling one goal and seven assists.

In order to trim the roster down to 23 players, Tri-City also traded forward Tim Lappin to the Waterloo Black Hawks in exchange for a fifth round pick in this summer’s draft.

Lappin was also in his second season in Kearney and scored five goals and four assists for the Storm this season while playing in 37 games. The St. Charles, Ill. product had a Storm career that spanned 88 games, scoring 11 goals and 13 assists along with 152 career penalty minutes.

In addition to the trades with Muskegon and Waterloo, the Storm have activated defenseman Eli May from injured reserve and have placed defenseman Ryan Ivey on the 1994 affiliate list.

May is expected to return to the lineup this weekend after having been sidelined with an injury since Dec. 1, while Ivey has suffered a season ending injury and will not return to the lineup until next year.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)