With training camps in various leagues starting to open, one team in the Western Hockey League is going to start the season with one less player on the roster.
According to a release on the team’s official website, Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Ryan Pilon has left the organization due to personal reasons.
“Ryan came to me this week and told me that at this time he has lost his passion to play hockey and will be leaving the team,” Brandon Coach and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon stated on the website. “We had a number of discussions, but his final decision was that this was what he felt he needed to do.”
The 19-year old Pilon was a fifth-round selection of the New York Islanders in this past June’s NHL Draft. He scored 139 points in 193 career games in the WHL. The upcoming season was set to be his third year with the Wheat Kings.
With Pilon leaving the game, Islanders GM Garth Snow has to be extremely disappointed. Not only for the fact that he lost a prospect, but because he traded up into the fifth round this year to get him, ultimately losing more players.
This is a developing story. More as it becomes available.
