Hounds and Rayz Complete Trade; Jason Baird Heads to Y-Town
The Youngstown SteelHounds and the Corpus Christi Rayz made a trade on Friday that sent scoring star Jason Baird to the Hounds in exchange for forward Chris Shaffer and future considerations. Baird will add to an already potent offense that currently has the best record in the CHL at 11-0-1. He is expected to be in the line-up for the first time as a SteelHound on Saturday night in Texas.
Baird, 27, has played in 338 career professional games averaging over a point a game with 123 goals and 223 assists. He also accumulated 921 penalty minutes over his six-plus year career. The Cayuga, Ontario native played junior hockey in Erie, Pennsylvania (the OHL’s Erie Otters) just 90 miles from Youngstown. Last season with Corpus Christi, the 6-1, 205-pound forward had 61 points (16-45=61) in 61 games and recorded nine points (3-6=9) in 12 playoff games. In his career, Baird has dressed in 28 post-season games scoring 10 goals with 14 assists. His best all-around season came with the Rayz during 2004-05 when he scored a career-high 30 goals with 44 assists and a career-high 222 penalty minutes. Along with Corpus Christi, Baird has played for the Indianapolis Ice (CHL) and the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL).
Shaffer, 27, is in his third professional season and in 116 career games he has amassed 25 goals and 30 assists with 151 penalty minutes. The Dryden, Ontario native has two assists in six career playoff games. The 5-11, 195-pound forward played his college hockey at Lakehead University where he scored 42 goals and 52 assists in 77 career games
Youngstown plays in Mississippi tonight and will look to extend their point streak to 13 straight games to start the season. The Rayz are in Rio Grande Valley on Saturday night.