DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Fighting Saints stayed active in the USHL trade market today, and did so with a recent swapping partner. Dubuque acquired defenseman Desmond Bergin from the Tri-City Storm in exchange for affiliate list defenseman Garrett Cecere, just one day after blue-liner Tyler Amburgey came from the Storm to the Fighting Saints in a separate deal.
Bergin, a 6'0, 190 pound native of Natick, Massachusetts, will be placed on the Fighting Saints affiliate list as he rehabilitates a lower-body injury. Fighting Saints Head Coach Jim Montgomery said that Bergin will miss at least three weeks with the injury, but he is expected to be a main contributor once he is healthy.
"Desmond Bergin is someone who is going to chew up a lot of minutes on both special teams and at five-on-five play," Montgomery said. "He's an excellent skater, he's a very competitive player, and he is very intelligent - his hockey sense on the ice both defensively and offensively has come highly recommended."
Bergin, who is committed to Harvard University, has played in fifteen games for the Storm this year, contributing five assists and adding six penalty minutes and a +1 rating to the Storm, who are battling for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
To acquire Bergin, the Fighting Saints parted ways with Garrett Cecere, an affiliate list defenseman who had played six games with the Fighting Saints this season. The Colorado College commit contributed an assist in his time with the Fighting Saints.
"Garrett Cecere is a wonderful young man, and he is going to be a great hockey player in this league for the next couple of years," said Montgomery. "We felt that we needed to shore up our D-corps and really add to our depth there. To do that, you have to give up something, and we had to give up a big part of our future."
This week's pair of trades with the Storm have allowed Montgomery to remake the defense, and looks forward to be able to rely on the wealth of talent that is assembled along the blue line.
"We have more experience back there, we have more depth, and we have quality depth," he said. "We have nine defensemen who can all play at the USHL level, and we're excited to see who is going to take ownership and want to be the leaders back there."
