I'm taking off for the next 4-5 days so there won't be any blog updates in that time. Shouldn't be much hockey news in the next few days anyway due to the roster freezes in effect.
World Juniors start Boxing Day, as does the Macs Midget tournament here in Calgary, and the WHL trade deadline will be only two weeks away when the freeze lifts on Saturday so there will be the run-up to that to watch too.
Safe and happy holidays to everyone.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
ECHL loses another team
Just three weeks after the ECHL's August Lynx ceased operations in midseason, the league has lost another team. The Fresno Falcons shut things down yesterday, throwing another 20-some players out of work three days before Christmas.
Only two ex-WHLers affected, according to the team roster at ECHL.com. Both are former Spokane Chiefs: Judd Blackwater and Adam Hobson. Also of note on the roster is former #2 overall bantam pick Dan Bertram, who spurned the Giants and the WHL for the NCAA.
Really makes you wonder how many other ECHL teams are teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy as well, when two have already failed in midseason. A lot of that league's teams are not located in strong hockey markets and fan support cannot be counted on even in good times in some of those places.
Only two ex-WHLers affected, according to the team roster at ECHL.com. Both are former Spokane Chiefs: Judd Blackwater and Adam Hobson. Also of note on the roster is former #2 overall bantam pick Dan Bertram, who spurned the Giants and the WHL for the NCAA.
Really makes you wonder how many other ECHL teams are teetering on the precipice of bankruptcy as well, when two have already failed in midseason. A lot of that league's teams are not located in strong hockey markets and fan support cannot be counted on even in good times in some of those places.
Monday, December 22, 2008
B-pools over
The two B-pool World Junior tournaments wrapped up on the weekend. Biggest news from the WHL point of view is that Spokane's Stefan Ulmer lead his Austrian team to an 8-3 thumping of Denmark in the deciding game of the B group tournament, which means Austria has earned promotion to the A-pool with Canada, USA, Sweden, Russia, etc, for next year. Ulmer is only 18 so he'll still be eligible to take part next year with Austria. He lead the Austrians in scoring with 11 points and a +12 in five games.....next highest scorer on the team had nine points.
In the A group, Igor Revenko of the Raiders and his Belarussian teammates lost a heartbreaker, 2-1 to Switzerland in the deciding game of that group. So Belarus stays in the B-pool for next year while Switzerland will move up and rejoin the A-pool along with Austria. Revenko tied for the scoring lead on Belarus with 11 points (5g-6a) in five games.
Calgary's Bostjan Golicic and his teammates from Slovenia finished 4th in that group, so they also stay in the B-pool for next year. Golicic had four points (all assists) in five games.
Hungary and Estonia were the two teams relegated to the C-pool for next year, where they will face hockey powerhouses like Romania, Serbia, Korea, Spain, and Mexico.
In the A group, Igor Revenko of the Raiders and his Belarussian teammates lost a heartbreaker, 2-1 to Switzerland in the deciding game of that group. So Belarus stays in the B-pool for next year while Switzerland will move up and rejoin the A-pool along with Austria. Revenko tied for the scoring lead on Belarus with 11 points (5g-6a) in five games.
Calgary's Bostjan Golicic and his teammates from Slovenia finished 4th in that group, so they also stay in the B-pool for next year. Golicic had four points (all assists) in five games.
Hungary and Estonia were the two teams relegated to the C-pool for next year, where they will face hockey powerhouses like Romania, Serbia, Korea, Spain, and Mexico.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Tyrell done
I see the Cougars' Dana Tyrell wrecked his knee in the Canada-Sweden exhibition game on Friday night and will be out for five months at least. That ends his hockey season and thus his WHL career as well, since he has signed an NHL contract and will be turning pro next year.
You don't have to think about it very long to know how G.M. Dallas Thompson and the Prince George Cougars probably feel about this.....the Cougars weren't going anywhere this season but Tyrell was a very attractive trade target for a number of contending teams at the trade deadline just three weeks away. The Cougars likely could have swapped Tyrell to a contender for some important pieces to help their rebuilding process. But that's all gone now....the Cougars will get nothing for Tyrell and won't even be able to have him in their lineup to help salvage what's left of the season either. All this for an injury not even suffered while playing for the Cougars.
You don't have to think about it very long to know how G.M. Dallas Thompson and the Prince George Cougars probably feel about this.....the Cougars weren't going anywhere this season but Tyrell was a very attractive trade target for a number of contending teams at the trade deadline just three weeks away. The Cougars likely could have swapped Tyrell to a contender for some important pieces to help their rebuilding process. But that's all gone now....the Cougars will get nothing for Tyrell and won't even be able to have him in their lineup to help salvage what's left of the season either. All this for an injury not even suffered while playing for the Cougars.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Sundin signs
I trust everyone was finally able to sleep last night, now that they know where Mats Sundin is headed this season. Sundin signed a one year deal with the Canucks yesterday after missing the first two and a half months of the season trying to decide whether $10 million a year was better than $5 million a year.
Of course he is being hailed as the saviour in Vancouver, the missing piece needed to complete the the Canucks' 39-year march towards their first Stanley Cup. But consider this: Sundin has been in the NHL for 17 seasons, and in that time he has played 83 playoff games. That's about five games per season on average. In those 17 years, his teams have missed the playoffs eight times and gone out in the first round four times. He has gotten out of the first round just five times. Ever. And four of those five times he failed to play past the second round.
I think he's going to fit in just fine in Vancouver.
Of course he is being hailed as the saviour in Vancouver, the missing piece needed to complete the the Canucks' 39-year march towards their first Stanley Cup. But consider this: Sundin has been in the NHL for 17 seasons, and in that time he has played 83 playoff games. That's about five games per season on average. In those 17 years, his teams have missed the playoffs eight times and gone out in the first round four times. He has gotten out of the first round just five times. Ever. And four of those five times he failed to play past the second round.
I think he's going to fit in just fine in Vancouver.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Burke's feelings hurt
Brian Burke's ego, which is so large it orbits the planet like a second moon, is feeling a little worse for wear today. Seems Burke's nose is out of joint after he was snubbed by the Canucks from the invite list to Trevor Linden's jersey retirement night last night.
Burke considers himself a big Linden fan and a good pal of Lindens. Perhaps some reading material would help Burke understand the situation better.
Burke considers himself a big Linden fan and a good pal of Lindens. Perhaps some reading material would help Burke understand the situation better.
Backlund to the Rockets?
One more bit of news today, but it's a doozy. According to a story in a Swedish newspaper, top NHL prospect Mikael Backlund has been threatened with dismissal from his Swedish Elite league team if he doesn't perform well at the upcoming WJCs.
Now, Backlund was the star for the Swedes at the WJCs last year and is thought by the Calgary Flames (who picked him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft) to be very close to NHL-ready, so there's no reason to believe he can't be a dominant player for the Swedes again. He & Oscar Moller should team up to score a lot of points for the Swedes in Ottawa. But the threat is an interesting one, especially with Flames G.M. Darryl Sutter pointing out that there's other places they can find for Backlund to play.
Like, maybe, Kelowna. The Rockets picked Backlund in the 2007 import draft and still own his rights. Wouldn't that be a huge bonus for the Rockets.....they'd have to get rid of one of their two current imports to make room for Backlund but I don't think they'd have a problem parting with Lukas Matejka in order to make room for a 1.5 point per game player like Backlund should be.
Or....the Hitmen have an open import spot, maybe the Flames would like to see Backlund playing under their noses in Calgary. In that case, the Rockets should be able to extort a pretty decent price from the Hitmen for Backlund's rights. Could be interesting.
Now, Backlund was the star for the Swedes at the WJCs last year and is thought by the Calgary Flames (who picked him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft) to be very close to NHL-ready, so there's no reason to believe he can't be a dominant player for the Swedes again. He & Oscar Moller should team up to score a lot of points for the Swedes in Ottawa. But the threat is an interesting one, especially with Flames G.M. Darryl Sutter pointing out that there's other places they can find for Backlund to play.
Like, maybe, Kelowna. The Rockets picked Backlund in the 2007 import draft and still own his rights. Wouldn't that be a huge bonus for the Rockets.....they'd have to get rid of one of their two current imports to make room for Backlund but I don't think they'd have a problem parting with Lukas Matejka in order to make room for a 1.5 point per game player like Backlund should be.
Or....the Hitmen have an open import spot, maybe the Flames would like to see Backlund playing under their noses in Calgary. In that case, the Rockets should be able to extort a pretty decent price from the Hitmen for Backlund's rights. Could be interesting.
Top Prospects rosters
Just had this sent to me by a reader....looks like the Top Prospects invite list.....
Forwards:
Defencemen:
Goaltenders:
Forwards:
| Carter Ashton | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL) |
| Taylor Beck | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| Jimmy Bubnick | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| Jordan Caron | Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL) |
| Matt Duchene | Brampton Battalion (OHL) |
| Cody Eakin | Swift Current Broncos (WHL) |
| Landon Ferraro | Red Deer Rebels (WHL) |
| David Gilbert | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| Scott Glennie | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| Michal Hlinka | Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) |
| Peter Holland | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| Alex Hutchings | Barrie Colts (OHL) |
| Nazem Kadri | London Knights (OHL) |
| Evander Kane | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| Zack Kassian | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| Levko Koper | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| Michael Latta | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| Andrej Nestrasil | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) |
| Ryan O'Reilly | Erie Otters (OHL) |
| Philippe Paradis | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
| Brayden Schenn | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| John Tavares | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| Tomas Vincour | Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) |
| Ethan Werek | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |
Defencemen:
| Tyson Barrie | Kelowna Rockets (WHL) |
| Jared Cowen | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| Calvin de Haan | Oshawa Generals (OHL) |
| Simon Després | Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) |
| Taylor Doherty | Kingston Frontenacs (OHL) |
| Stefan Elliott | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| Ryan Ellis | Windsor Spitfires (OHL) |
| Éric Gélinas | Lewsiton MAINEiacs (QMJHL) |
| Tommi Kivisto | Red Deer Rebels (WHL) |
| Dmitry Kulikov | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| Brayden McNabb | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| Charles-Olivier Roussel | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
Goaltenders:
| Nathan Lieuwen | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| Edward Pasquale | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| Olivier Roy | Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) |
| Scott Stajcer | Owen Sound Attack (OHL) |
Thursday news
The WHL is on its Christmas break starting today....games resume on the 27th. A roster freeze also goes into effect tomorrow and remains in place until Boxing Day, so there will be no trades or other player movement until after Christmas at least. Which means WHL news is going to pretty much stop for the next ten days.
For players attending the World Juniors, the trade freeze will be extended to the conclusion of the World Juniors on January 5, preventing them from having to deal with the distraction of being traded in the WHL while trying to win a medal for their country. Great move if you ask me. Remember last year when the London Knights stupidly traded Canadian goalie Steve Mason in the middle of the tournament....why is it necessary to trade these kids while they're still at the WJCs, they can't play for their new CHL teams until they finish at the WJCs anyway.
And the CHL Top Prospects game rosters will be released sometime this morning. This year's game goes January 14 in Oshawa, Ontario.
For players attending the World Juniors, the trade freeze will be extended to the conclusion of the World Juniors on January 5, preventing them from having to deal with the distraction of being traded in the WHL while trying to win a medal for their country. Great move if you ask me. Remember last year when the London Knights stupidly traded Canadian goalie Steve Mason in the middle of the tournament....why is it necessary to trade these kids while they're still at the WJCs, they can't play for their new CHL teams until they finish at the WJCs anyway.
And the CHL Top Prospects game rosters will be released sometime this morning. This year's game goes January 14 in Oshawa, Ontario.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
B-pool WJC updates
Three WHLers are currently in action at the two B-pool World Junior tournaments which are going on right now in Denmark and Switzerland. At the group A tournament in Switzerland, Prince Albert's Igor Revenko is playing for Belarus while Calgary's Bostjan Golicic is playing for Slovenia. You can follow that tournament at this link. Meanwhile, at the group B tournament in Denmark, Spokane's Stefan Ulmer is playing for the Austrians. You can follow that tournament at this link.
The winner of each of the two B-pool tournaments earns promotion to the main WJC tournament next year with the big dogs like Canada, USA, Sweden, Russia, etc.
In the A group, it's shaping up as a battle between Switzerland (who shocked many by being relegated last year in the first place) and Belarus, who are both 3-0 so far in the tournament. Revenko has four points (2g-2a) and a +5 with no PIM in the three wins so far. Slovenia took themselves out of the running in that tournament early with a loss to France in the opening game, although the Slovenes did later lay a 22-2 beating on the Estonians in what has to be one of the most one-sided thrashings at any serious level of hockey this year. For Slovenia, Golicic has one assist and 31 PIM in the three games. For a guy good enough to play major junior (which I'm sure at least some of his Slovene teammates are not), you'd think Golicic might have more than one point, especially considering they scored 22 goals in one game.
The Belarussians and Swiss meet in the last game of the tournament on Saturday and assuming both still have perfect records at that point, then that game will determine which country gets promoted next year.
In the B group, Ulmer & Austria are tied with Denmark and Norway at 2-0 after two games of the round-robin for everyone. Ulmer is leading Austria in scoring with five points (1g-4a) and a +6 in those two games.
The eventual winner of the pool will be one of those three teams....I would personally favor host Denmark (they do have NHL first round pick Lars Eller playing for them - imagine if they also had Mikkel Bodker instead of him being with Phoenix) but an Austrian win wouldn't surprise me either.
The winner of each of the two B-pool tournaments earns promotion to the main WJC tournament next year with the big dogs like Canada, USA, Sweden, Russia, etc.
In the A group, it's shaping up as a battle between Switzerland (who shocked many by being relegated last year in the first place) and Belarus, who are both 3-0 so far in the tournament. Revenko has four points (2g-2a) and a +5 with no PIM in the three wins so far. Slovenia took themselves out of the running in that tournament early with a loss to France in the opening game, although the Slovenes did later lay a 22-2 beating on the Estonians in what has to be one of the most one-sided thrashings at any serious level of hockey this year. For Slovenia, Golicic has one assist and 31 PIM in the three games. For a guy good enough to play major junior (which I'm sure at least some of his Slovene teammates are not), you'd think Golicic might have more than one point, especially considering they scored 22 goals in one game.
The Belarussians and Swiss meet in the last game of the tournament on Saturday and assuming both still have perfect records at that point, then that game will determine which country gets promoted next year.
In the B group, Ulmer & Austria are tied with Denmark and Norway at 2-0 after two games of the round-robin for everyone. Ulmer is leading Austria in scoring with five points (1g-4a) and a +6 in those two games.
The eventual winner of the pool will be one of those three teams....I would personally favor host Denmark (they do have NHL first round pick Lars Eller playing for them - imagine if they also had Mikkel Bodker instead of him being with Phoenix) but an Austrian win wouldn't surprise me either.
Team Canada streak update
I've been notified by Jay Stewart of the Spokane Chiefs that the Chiefs had a 7-year streak of having a player on Team Canada back in the 90's:
1994- Bryan McCabe
1995- Bryan McCabe
1996- Jason Podollan
1997- Hugh Hamilton, Trent Whitfield
1998- Brad Ference
1999- Brad Ference
2000- Kyle Rossiter
They also had Pat Falloon in 1991 and Steve Junker in 1992 so only the lack of a player in 1993 keeps this from being a 10 year streak instead of 7.
After Rossiter in 2000, the Chiefs have not had a player on Team Canada since then until Dustin Tokarski made it this year.
So, the bar (as we know it) is now seven years.....any WHL team beat that?
1994- Bryan McCabe
1995- Bryan McCabe
1996- Jason Podollan
1997- Hugh Hamilton, Trent Whitfield
1998- Brad Ference
1999- Brad Ference
2000- Kyle Rossiter
They also had Pat Falloon in 1991 and Steve Junker in 1992 so only the lack of a player in 1993 keeps this from being a 10 year streak instead of 7.
After Rossiter in 2000, the Chiefs have not had a player on Team Canada since then until Dustin Tokarski made it this year.
So, the bar (as we know it) is now seven years.....any WHL team beat that?
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Team Canada streak
According to a press release from the Calgary Hitmen, with Brett Sonne making the Canadian junior team, the Hitmen have now put a player on the Canadian team for six straight years:
2008-09: Sonne
2007-08: Karl Alzner
2006-07: Karl Alzner
2005-06: Justin Pogge
2004-05: Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd
2003-04: Ryan Getzlaf
Has any WHL team had a longer streak than that? This would be extremely time-consuming for me to look up, so I'm hoping fans of the individual teams out there might know if their team has a streak longer than this....
2008-09: Sonne
2007-08: Karl Alzner
2006-07: Karl Alzner
2005-06: Justin Pogge
2004-05: Ryan Getzlaf, Andrew Ladd
2003-04: Ryan Getzlaf
Has any WHL team had a longer streak than that? This would be extremely time-consuming for me to look up, so I'm hoping fans of the individual teams out there might know if their team has a streak longer than this....
Monday, December 15, 2008
More Team Canada
More WHL accolades from the Canadian World Junior camp - Seattle's Thomas Hickey was named the captain of the team. Zach Boychuk is one of the alternate captains.
And the reason for taking 8 d-men and no extra forwards may be known; according to TSN's Bob MacKenzie, defenceman Ryan Ellis is a disaster in his own zone and is on the team for his exceptional powerplay QB abilities only. So they took 7 other, defensively competent, defencemen so they'd have a full complement of blueliners without having to put Ellis out on defence.
In my mind, this is complete BS that with the number of talented kids that got sent home, that Canada would keep a one-trick pony who's only going to play 6-8 minutes a game on the powerplay. They sent home some good well-rounded defencemen and extremely talented forwards so that they could keep Ellis; he better make the Canadian PP the best in the tournament and score a bushelful of points to justify this selection.
And the reason for taking 8 d-men and no extra forwards may be known; according to TSN's Bob MacKenzie, defenceman Ryan Ellis is a disaster in his own zone and is on the team for his exceptional powerplay QB abilities only. So they took 7 other, defensively competent, defencemen so they'd have a full complement of blueliners without having to put Ellis out on defence.
In my mind, this is complete BS that with the number of talented kids that got sent home, that Canada would keep a one-trick pony who's only going to play 6-8 minutes a game on the powerplay. They sent home some good well-rounded defencemen and extremely talented forwards so that they could keep Ellis; he better make the Canadian PP the best in the tournament and score a bushelful of points to justify this selection.
Team Canada roster named
Hockey Canada named their roster today for the World Junior Championship tournament in Ottawa after Christmas.
12 WHLers among the 22 players on the team, so the western boys rule the team again. Six from the OHL, three from the QMJHL, and one from the NCAA round out the team. Both goalies are from the WHL, as well as four of the eight defencemen and six of the 12 forwards, so the WHL is very well represented at every position.
Only one 17 year old made the team, OHL defenceman Ryan Ellis. 13 of the other 21 players are 19 years old, and 8 players are 18 years old.
Interesting to see that Canada decided to go with 8 defencemen and 12 forwards rather than the 7 defencemen and 13 forwards they have used pretty much every year up til now. They must have some concerns about the defence if they want to be dressing four pairings every game. But, of the guys they have, there's 4 NHL first-round picks there and 2 second-round picks so there's some pretty big talents there. And Ellis is going to be a first-rounder next June too so you could say there's 5 first round picks on the blueline. What's to worry about?
12 WHLers among the 22 players on the team, so the western boys rule the team again. Six from the OHL, three from the QMJHL, and one from the NCAA round out the team. Both goalies are from the WHL, as well as four of the eight defencemen and six of the 12 forwards, so the WHL is very well represented at every position.
Only one 17 year old made the team, OHL defenceman Ryan Ellis. 13 of the other 21 players are 19 years old, and 8 players are 18 years old.
Interesting to see that Canada decided to go with 8 defencemen and 12 forwards rather than the 7 defencemen and 13 forwards they have used pretty much every year up til now. They must have some concerns about the defence if they want to be dressing four pairings every game. But, of the guys they have, there's 4 NHL first-round picks there and 2 second-round picks so there's some pretty big talents there. And Ellis is going to be a first-rounder next June too so you could say there's 5 first round picks on the blueline. What's to worry about?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ice get a goalie
Kootenay has filled their vacant backup goalie position this morning by acquiring 18 year old Todd Mathews from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Mathews had started the season in Moose Jaw but lost his job there when the Tribe acquired Jeff Bosch. He was acquired by Lethbridge shortly thereafter but remained in the SJHL rather than joining the Canes.
The deal today is Mathews and a 2009 or 2010 7th round pick from Lethbridge to the Ice for a 2009 or 2010 5th round pick. So, not a really high price paid....basically the Ice drop down two rounds in whichever draft the picks are swapped. Surprisingly low considering the price the Hurricanes paid to get Mathews from Moose Jaw was Cody Smuk.
This is the 2nd time this season though that the Hurricanes have traded a goalie to a division rival who were in need of one. Earlier this year they dealt Torrie Jung to Edmonton, a move which, in light of Jung's strong play for the Oil Kings so far, is maybe not be a deal that was in the best interests of the Hurricanes.
One other bit of news on the WHL site caught my eye too - Prince George has added Jeff Battah as an assistant coach. Battah comes to the Cougars from the AJHL, where he was the coach and G.M. of the Drayton Valley Thunder until, well.....yesterday, when he quit to take the WHL job. I wonder how Thunder fans feel about losing their head coach and G.M. in midseason. So that he can be a mere assistant coach on one of the Dub's worst teams, to boot.
Although, given that the Thunder were an AJHL-worst .186 team when Battah left, maybe there's actually much rejoicing in Drayton Valley today.....
The deal today is Mathews and a 2009 or 2010 7th round pick from Lethbridge to the Ice for a 2009 or 2010 5th round pick. So, not a really high price paid....basically the Ice drop down two rounds in whichever draft the picks are swapped. Surprisingly low considering the price the Hurricanes paid to get Mathews from Moose Jaw was Cody Smuk.
This is the 2nd time this season though that the Hurricanes have traded a goalie to a division rival who were in need of one. Earlier this year they dealt Torrie Jung to Edmonton, a move which, in light of Jung's strong play for the Oil Kings so far, is maybe not be a deal that was in the best interests of the Hurricanes.
One other bit of news on the WHL site caught my eye too - Prince George has added Jeff Battah as an assistant coach. Battah comes to the Cougars from the AJHL, where he was the coach and G.M. of the Drayton Valley Thunder until, well.....yesterday, when he quit to take the WHL job. I wonder how Thunder fans feel about losing their head coach and G.M. in midseason. So that he can be a mere assistant coach on one of the Dub's worst teams, to boot.
Although, given that the Thunder were an AJHL-worst .186 team when Battah left, maybe there's actually much rejoicing in Drayton Valley today.....
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Macs midget lineup
The Mac's Midget tournament folks unveiled their team lineup today, and for the first time in as long as anyone can remember, it will be an all-western Canadian lineup. All 25 teams are from B.C., Alberta, and Saskatchewan. No American teams, no European teams. Apparently the Russian team that was so successful last year, Severstal, abruptly pulled out of the tournament last week.
The tournament, held in Calgary from Dec 26 to Jan 1 every year, is widely regarded as one of the best AAA midget tournaments in the world....but you have to wonder if that reputation won't start to take a beating soon if they can't bring in top American and European competition to challenge the top western Canadian teams anymore.
But, for WHL fans, having all 25 teams be from western Canada means there will be more WHL prospects in the tournament than ever before. So without further ado, here's who WHL fans can expect to see in this year's tournament:
Beardy's Blackhawks
TJ Constant, RW-93 (Prince Albert - listed player)
Todd Fiddler, C-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 3rd rd)
Jesse Forsberg, D-93 (Prince George - 2008 1st rd)
Matthew Hildebrandt, C-93 (Regina - 2008 7th rd)
Braeden Laroque, D-92 (Edmonton - 2007 5th rd)
Zane Morin, D-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 8th rd)
Kyle Schmidt, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 3rd rd)
Dylan Smith, RW-92 (Everett - listed player)
Dylan Wruck, C-92 (Edmonton - listed player)
Calgary Buffaloes:
Samuel Brittain, G-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Chris Collins, C-92 (Chilliwack - 2007 4th rd)
Austin Frank, D-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 5th rd)
Peter Kosterman, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 1st rd)
Greg Lamoureux, C-92 (Vancouver - 2007 3rd rd)
Joel Lowry, LW-91 (Red Deer - listed player)
Matt Maleschuk, D-92 (Portland - 2007 5th rd)
Ryan Moser, C-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 10th rd)
Phil Tot, C-93 (Lethbridge - 2008 1st rd)
Calgary Flames:
Myles Bell, D-93 (Regina - 2008 1st rd)
Cole Cheveldave, G-93 (Spokane - listed player)
Michael Forsyth, C-92 (Medicine Hat - 2007 8th rd)
Danny Gayle, LW-92 (Moose Jaw - listed player)
Zachary Rassell, RW-92 (Portland - 2007 6th rd)
Calgary Northstars:
Ken Cameron, G-93 (Vancouver - listed player)
Dallas Ehrhardt, D-92 (Brandon - 2007 4th rd)
Brendan Santini, RW-93 (Calgary - 2008 5th rd)
Andrew Sullivan, C-92 (Swift Current - 2007 7th rd)
Calgary Royals:
Jacob Edwards, G-92 (Prince Albert - 2007 6th rd)
Campbell Elynuik, C-92 (Everett - 2007 7th rd)
Tanner Muth, D-93 (Seattle - 2008 2nd rd)
Simon Skrudland, C-91 (Kootenay - 2006 3rd rd)
Cariboo Cougars:
Brett Bulmer, RW-92 (Kelowna - 2007 11th rd)
Clayton Chingee, RW-93 (Swift Current - 2008 9th rd)
Mitch Elliot, LW-93 (Seattle - 2008 5th rd)
Dan Gibb, D-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Michael King, D-93 (Kootenay - 2008 3rd rd)
Tim Traber, RW-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 3rd rd)
Edmonton CAC:
Preston Amundson, C-93 (Swift Current - 2008 7th rd)
Michael Berry, D-93 (Everett - 2008 4th rd)
Nathan Burns, LW-93 (Vancouver - 2008 7th rd)
Josh Middleton, D-92 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Jaynen Rissling, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 6th rd)
Chris Sharkey, G-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 12th rd)
Colin Smith, C-93 (Kamloops - 2008 1st rd)
Edmonton SSAC:
Caleb Belter, RW-93 (Prince George - 2008 2nd rd)
Dylan Bredo, LW-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 2nd rd)
Mark McNeill, C-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 1st rd)
Dillon Simpson, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 8th rd)
Greater Vancouver Canadians:
Manraj Hayer, C-93 (Everett - listed player)
Spencer Humphries, D-92 (Tri-City - listed player)
Jesse Siemens, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 5th rd)
Zac Yuen, D-93 (Tri-City - 2008 1st rd)
Lethbridge Y's Men:
Keyler Bruce, RW-92 (Red Deer - listed player)
Tyler Hansen, D-93 (Kamloops - 2008 3rd rd)
Brock Hirsche, C-92 (Prince George - 2007 2nd rd)
Patrick Holland, RW-92 (Tri-City - 2007 6th rd)
Dillon Houghton, LW-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Taylor Makin, LW-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Shane Pilling, D-93 (Prince George - 2008 4th rd)
Mark Reners, RW-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 1st rd)
Lukas Sutter, C-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 2nd rd)
Alex Wakaluk, G-93 (Lethbridge - 2008 9th rd)
Moose Jaw Warriors:
Denin Boesch, D-93 (Edmonton - 2008 8th rd)
Mitch Boucher, D-92 (Everett - 2007 7th rd)
Tanner Clark, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 3rd rd)
Austin Daae, LW-93 (Calgary - 2008 10th rd)
Troy Gasper, C-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 9th rd)
Matthew Gibney, G-93 (Chilliwack - listed player)
Brayden Holloway, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 3rd rd)
Brock Montgomery, C-92 (Kootenay - listed player)
Ryan Murray, D-93 (Everett - 2008 1st rd)
Travis Sparrow, D-91 (Regina - 2006 7th rd)
Dyson Stevenson, C-93 (Regina - 2008 5th rd)
Zane Weal, C-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 8th rd)
Notre Dame Hounds:
Brent Benson, C-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 1st rd)
Trevor Cameron, C-92 (Chilliwack - listed player)
Lucas Froese, C-92 (Regina - 2007 11th rd)
Drew George, RW-91 (Regina - listed player)
Zach Hodder, D-93 (Vancouver - 2008 1st rd)
Daniel Lee, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 4th rd)
Nils Moser, RW-93 (Tri-City - 2008 2nd rd)
Jesse Pauls, D-92 (Tri-City - listed player)
Okanagan Rockets:
Austin Baecker, D-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 11th rd)
Cody Beach, RW-92 (Calgary - 2007 3rd rd)
Max Mowat, D-93 (Kamloops - listed player)
Brett Mulcahy, C-93 (Everett - listed player)
Red Deer Optimist Rebels:
Justin Faux, LW-92 (Prince George - 2007 9th rd)
Justin Krabben, D-91 (Prince George - listed player)
Cameron Maclise, RW-92 (Edmonton - 2007 9th rd)
Luke Madill, D-92 (Spokane - 2007 4th rd)
Brady Poulsen, D-92 (Kelowna - 2007 6th rd)
Michael Salmon, G-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Daulton Siwak, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 2nd rd)
Mitch Topping, D-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 1st rd)
Saskatoon Blazers:
Tanner Dusyk, RW-92 (Red Deer - 2007 9th rd)
Braeden Johnson, RW-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 4th rd)
Neil Landry, C-92 (Kamloops - 2007 5th rd)
Boston Leier, LW-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 3rd rd)
Spencer Mault, LW-92 (Kootenay - 2007 11th rd)
Jesse Mireau, LW-91 (Red Deer - listed player)
Josh Roach, D-92 (Chilliwack - 2007 9th rd)
Matt Saunderson, D-93 (Portland - 2008 7th rd)
Lane Scheidl, C-92 (Vancouver - 2007 3rd rd)
Logan Sproule, D-93 (Edmonton - 2008 5th rd)
Beau Stewart, C-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 2nd rd)
Josh Thorimbert, G-92 (Kamloops - 2007 3rd rd)
Saskatoon Contacts:
Max Adolph, C-92 (Kelowna - 2007 4th rd)
Drew Burko, D-93 (Spokane - 2008 9th rd)
Gregory Kost, D-93 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Jonathan Lashyn, D-92 (Swift Current - listed player)
Kendall McFaull, D-93 (Moose Jaw - 2007 4th rd)
D.Jay McGrath, C-92 (Everett - 2007 3rd rd)
Jesse Mychan, LW-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 10th rd)
Robbie Newton, RW-93 (Seattle - 2008 4th rd)
Matthew Pufahl, D-93 (Red Deer - 2008 4th rd)
Warren Shymko, G-92 (Tri-City - 2007 5th rd)
Sherwood Park Kings:
Dylan Busenius, D-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 1st rd)
Adam Clark, G-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 4th rd)
Dawson Guhle, G-92 (Regina - listed player)
Mitch Holmberg, RW-93 (Spokane - 2008 1st rd)
Paul Lamoureux, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 8th rd)
Landon Oslanski, D-92 (Spokane - 2007 3rd rd)
Reece Scarlett, D-93 (Swift Current - 2008 1st rd)
Duncan Siemens, D-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 1st rd)
Nathan Smith, RW-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 3rd rd)
South Island Thunderbirds:
Brandon Glover, G-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 6th rd)
St. Albert Raiders:
Travis Ewanyk, C-93 (Edmonton - 2008 3rd rd)
Tyler Hart, D-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Bryton Mills, LW-92 (Kootenay - listed player)
Patrick Terris, G-91 (Edmonton - listed player)
Joshua Winquist, LW-93 (Everett - 2008 3rd rd)
Tisdale Trojans:
Tyler Borstmeyer, D-93 (Regina - 2008 2nd rd)
Austin Bourhis, D-92 (Edmonton - listed player)
Spencer Crow, RW-93 (Vancouver - 2008 4th rd)
Wilson Dumais, C-93 (Prince George - listed player)
Shay Folden, C-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 7th rd)
Dustin Skilliter, LW-93 (Calgary - 2008 9th rd)
Zach Walker, D-93 (Seattle - 2008 5th rd)
UFA Bisons:
Nolan Marshall, LW-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 9th rd)
Steven Phee, C-92 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Ty Rattie, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 1st rd)
Dylan Schellenberg, D-93 (Kootenay - 2008 8th rd)
Alexandre Sirad, G-91 (Swift Current - listed player)
Jason Swyripa, C-93 (Brandon - 2008 2nd rd)
Valley West Hawks:
Mark Barden, C-93 (Tri-City - 2008 9th rd)
Laurent Brossoit, G-93 (Edmonton - 2008 2nd rd)
Jay Deo, G-92 (Vancouver - 2007 11th rd)
Stefan Gonzales, D-92 (Kamloops - 2007 6th rd)
Colton Mackie, LW-93 (Tri-City - listed player)
Josh Monk, D-92 (Tri-City - 2007 4th rd)
Adam Rossignol, C-93 (Kootenay - 2008 7th rd)
Jamie Russell, RW-92 (Kelowna - listed player)
Tyler Wotherspoon, D-93 (Portland - 2008 2nd rd)
Vancouver NE Chiefs:
Jessey Astles, RW-93 (Kelowna - 2008 6th rd)
Jordan Beveridge, D-93 (Kamloops - 2008 2nd rd)
Justin Lachance, RW-92 (Seattle - 2007 7th rd)
Kiefer Rivington, D-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 5th rd)
Connor Sanvido, C-93 (Seattle - 2008 1st rd)
Vancouver NW Giants:
Michael Aviani, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 5th rd)
Brady Brassart, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 2nd rd)
Jared Eng, D-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Eric Kerluck, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 5th rd)
Joey LaLaeggia, D-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Victor Newell, D-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 6th rd)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 1st rd)
Colton Sissons, RW-93 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Dalton Thrower, D-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 2nd rd)
Eric Williams, G-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 4th rd)
Yorkton Harvest:
Devon McMullen, D-93 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
John Neibrandt, D-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Andre Parker, C-93 (Vancouver - 2008 4th rd)
Zachary Rakochy, G-93 (Red Deer - listed player)
Riley Storzuk, LW-92 (Regina - listed player)
Tayler Thompson, RW-93 (Portland - 2008 9th rd)
Davis Vandane, D-92 (Prince George - listed player)
It's a pretty good lineup.....18 of the 22 WHL first-round bantam picks in 2008 will be there. Only Brandon's (Klarc Wilson, with Edmonton Knights of Columbus, not invited), Edmonton's (Michael St. Croix, from Manitoba), Kelowna's (Shane McColgan, from California), and Kootenay's (Brendan Hurley, with Fort Saskatchewan, not invited) are not there from the 2008 first round class. One 2007 first round pick (Lethbridge's Mark Reners) is there also.
14 of the 2008 2nd rounders are there as well, so that's 32 of the top 44 picks from last year's bantam draft, all in one tournament and going head-to-head. There's going to be a lot of future WHL stars from that group.
Best team to watch if you want to see WHL prospects? Probably the Sherwood Park Kings, who are in first place in the Alberta Midget league and have four 2008 first rounders on their team.
The Macs website is here: www.macstournament.ab.ca for anyone who wants to follow the tournament....I expect to get out to my usual 5-10 games and may have notes on the tournament here on the blog as it progresses as well....
Prospects in the tournament by WHL affiliation:
Saskatoon: 12
Prince George, Vancouver: 11
Medicine Hat: 10
Edmonton, Everett, Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Regina, Tri-City: 9
Kelowna, Portland, Spokane: 8
Calgary, Chilliwack, Kamloops, Kootenay: 7
Prince Albert, Seattle, Swift Current: 6
Lethbridge: 5
Brandon: 2
The tournament, held in Calgary from Dec 26 to Jan 1 every year, is widely regarded as one of the best AAA midget tournaments in the world....but you have to wonder if that reputation won't start to take a beating soon if they can't bring in top American and European competition to challenge the top western Canadian teams anymore.
But, for WHL fans, having all 25 teams be from western Canada means there will be more WHL prospects in the tournament than ever before. So without further ado, here's who WHL fans can expect to see in this year's tournament:
Beardy's Blackhawks
TJ Constant, RW-93 (Prince Albert - listed player)
Todd Fiddler, C-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 3rd rd)
Jesse Forsberg, D-93 (Prince George - 2008 1st rd)
Matthew Hildebrandt, C-93 (Regina - 2008 7th rd)
Braeden Laroque, D-92 (Edmonton - 2007 5th rd)
Zane Morin, D-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 8th rd)
Kyle Schmidt, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 3rd rd)
Dylan Smith, RW-92 (Everett - listed player)
Dylan Wruck, C-92 (Edmonton - listed player)
Calgary Buffaloes:
Samuel Brittain, G-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Chris Collins, C-92 (Chilliwack - 2007 4th rd)
Austin Frank, D-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 5th rd)
Peter Kosterman, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 1st rd)
Greg Lamoureux, C-92 (Vancouver - 2007 3rd rd)
Joel Lowry, LW-91 (Red Deer - listed player)
Matt Maleschuk, D-92 (Portland - 2007 5th rd)
Ryan Moser, C-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 10th rd)
Phil Tot, C-93 (Lethbridge - 2008 1st rd)
Calgary Flames:
Myles Bell, D-93 (Regina - 2008 1st rd)
Cole Cheveldave, G-93 (Spokane - listed player)
Michael Forsyth, C-92 (Medicine Hat - 2007 8th rd)
Danny Gayle, LW-92 (Moose Jaw - listed player)
Zachary Rassell, RW-92 (Portland - 2007 6th rd)
Calgary Northstars:
Ken Cameron, G-93 (Vancouver - listed player)
Dallas Ehrhardt, D-92 (Brandon - 2007 4th rd)
Brendan Santini, RW-93 (Calgary - 2008 5th rd)
Andrew Sullivan, C-92 (Swift Current - 2007 7th rd)
Calgary Royals:
Jacob Edwards, G-92 (Prince Albert - 2007 6th rd)
Campbell Elynuik, C-92 (Everett - 2007 7th rd)
Tanner Muth, D-93 (Seattle - 2008 2nd rd)
Simon Skrudland, C-91 (Kootenay - 2006 3rd rd)
Cariboo Cougars:
Brett Bulmer, RW-92 (Kelowna - 2007 11th rd)
Clayton Chingee, RW-93 (Swift Current - 2008 9th rd)
Mitch Elliot, LW-93 (Seattle - 2008 5th rd)
Dan Gibb, D-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Michael King, D-93 (Kootenay - 2008 3rd rd)
Tim Traber, RW-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 3rd rd)
Edmonton CAC:
Preston Amundson, C-93 (Swift Current - 2008 7th rd)
Michael Berry, D-93 (Everett - 2008 4th rd)
Nathan Burns, LW-93 (Vancouver - 2008 7th rd)
Josh Middleton, D-92 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Jaynen Rissling, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 6th rd)
Chris Sharkey, G-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 12th rd)
Colin Smith, C-93 (Kamloops - 2008 1st rd)
Edmonton SSAC:
Caleb Belter, RW-93 (Prince George - 2008 2nd rd)
Dylan Bredo, LW-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 2nd rd)
Mark McNeill, C-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 1st rd)
Dillon Simpson, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 8th rd)
Greater Vancouver Canadians:
Manraj Hayer, C-93 (Everett - listed player)
Spencer Humphries, D-92 (Tri-City - listed player)
Jesse Siemens, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 5th rd)
Zac Yuen, D-93 (Tri-City - 2008 1st rd)
Lethbridge Y's Men:
Keyler Bruce, RW-92 (Red Deer - listed player)
Tyler Hansen, D-93 (Kamloops - 2008 3rd rd)
Brock Hirsche, C-92 (Prince George - 2007 2nd rd)
Patrick Holland, RW-92 (Tri-City - 2007 6th rd)
Dillon Houghton, LW-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Taylor Makin, LW-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Shane Pilling, D-93 (Prince George - 2008 4th rd)
Mark Reners, RW-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 1st rd)
Lukas Sutter, C-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 2nd rd)
Alex Wakaluk, G-93 (Lethbridge - 2008 9th rd)
Moose Jaw Warriors:
Denin Boesch, D-93 (Edmonton - 2008 8th rd)
Mitch Boucher, D-92 (Everett - 2007 7th rd)
Tanner Clark, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 3rd rd)
Austin Daae, LW-93 (Calgary - 2008 10th rd)
Troy Gasper, C-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 9th rd)
Matthew Gibney, G-93 (Chilliwack - listed player)
Brayden Holloway, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 3rd rd)
Brock Montgomery, C-92 (Kootenay - listed player)
Ryan Murray, D-93 (Everett - 2008 1st rd)
Travis Sparrow, D-91 (Regina - 2006 7th rd)
Dyson Stevenson, C-93 (Regina - 2008 5th rd)
Zane Weal, C-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 8th rd)
Notre Dame Hounds:
Brent Benson, C-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 1st rd)
Trevor Cameron, C-92 (Chilliwack - listed player)
Lucas Froese, C-92 (Regina - 2007 11th rd)
Drew George, RW-91 (Regina - listed player)
Zach Hodder, D-93 (Vancouver - 2008 1st rd)
Daniel Lee, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 4th rd)
Nils Moser, RW-93 (Tri-City - 2008 2nd rd)
Jesse Pauls, D-92 (Tri-City - listed player)
Okanagan Rockets:
Austin Baecker, D-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 11th rd)
Cody Beach, RW-92 (Calgary - 2007 3rd rd)
Max Mowat, D-93 (Kamloops - listed player)
Brett Mulcahy, C-93 (Everett - listed player)
Red Deer Optimist Rebels:
Justin Faux, LW-92 (Prince George - 2007 9th rd)
Justin Krabben, D-91 (Prince George - listed player)
Cameron Maclise, RW-92 (Edmonton - 2007 9th rd)
Luke Madill, D-92 (Spokane - 2007 4th rd)
Brady Poulsen, D-92 (Kelowna - 2007 6th rd)
Michael Salmon, G-92 (Prince George - listed player)
Daulton Siwak, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 2nd rd)
Mitch Topping, D-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 1st rd)
Saskatoon Blazers:
Tanner Dusyk, RW-92 (Red Deer - 2007 9th rd)
Braeden Johnson, RW-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 4th rd)
Neil Landry, C-92 (Kamloops - 2007 5th rd)
Boston Leier, LW-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 3rd rd)
Spencer Mault, LW-92 (Kootenay - 2007 11th rd)
Jesse Mireau, LW-91 (Red Deer - listed player)
Josh Roach, D-92 (Chilliwack - 2007 9th rd)
Matt Saunderson, D-93 (Portland - 2008 7th rd)
Lane Scheidl, C-92 (Vancouver - 2007 3rd rd)
Logan Sproule, D-93 (Edmonton - 2008 5th rd)
Beau Stewart, C-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 2nd rd)
Josh Thorimbert, G-92 (Kamloops - 2007 3rd rd)
Saskatoon Contacts:
Max Adolph, C-92 (Kelowna - 2007 4th rd)
Drew Burko, D-93 (Spokane - 2008 9th rd)
Gregory Kost, D-93 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Jonathan Lashyn, D-92 (Swift Current - listed player)
Kendall McFaull, D-93 (Moose Jaw - 2007 4th rd)
D.Jay McGrath, C-92 (Everett - 2007 3rd rd)
Jesse Mychan, LW-92 (Saskatoon - 2007 10th rd)
Robbie Newton, RW-93 (Seattle - 2008 4th rd)
Matthew Pufahl, D-93 (Red Deer - 2008 4th rd)
Warren Shymko, G-92 (Tri-City - 2007 5th rd)
Sherwood Park Kings:
Dylan Busenius, D-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 1st rd)
Adam Clark, G-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 4th rd)
Dawson Guhle, G-92 (Regina - listed player)
Mitch Holmberg, RW-93 (Spokane - 2008 1st rd)
Paul Lamoureux, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 8th rd)
Landon Oslanski, D-92 (Spokane - 2007 3rd rd)
Reece Scarlett, D-93 (Swift Current - 2008 1st rd)
Duncan Siemens, D-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 1st rd)
Nathan Smith, RW-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 3rd rd)
South Island Thunderbirds:
Brandon Glover, G-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 6th rd)
St. Albert Raiders:
Travis Ewanyk, C-93 (Edmonton - 2008 3rd rd)
Tyler Hart, D-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Bryton Mills, LW-92 (Kootenay - listed player)
Patrick Terris, G-91 (Edmonton - listed player)
Joshua Winquist, LW-93 (Everett - 2008 3rd rd)
Tisdale Trojans:
Tyler Borstmeyer, D-93 (Regina - 2008 2nd rd)
Austin Bourhis, D-92 (Edmonton - listed player)
Spencer Crow, RW-93 (Vancouver - 2008 4th rd)
Wilson Dumais, C-93 (Prince George - listed player)
Shay Folden, C-93 (Chilliwack - 2008 7th rd)
Dustin Skilliter, LW-93 (Calgary - 2008 9th rd)
Zach Walker, D-93 (Seattle - 2008 5th rd)
UFA Bisons:
Nolan Marshall, LW-92 (Moose Jaw - 2007 9th rd)
Steven Phee, C-92 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Ty Rattie, LW-93 (Portland - 2008 1st rd)
Dylan Schellenberg, D-93 (Kootenay - 2008 8th rd)
Alexandre Sirad, G-91 (Swift Current - listed player)
Jason Swyripa, C-93 (Brandon - 2008 2nd rd)
Valley West Hawks:
Mark Barden, C-93 (Tri-City - 2008 9th rd)
Laurent Brossoit, G-93 (Edmonton - 2008 2nd rd)
Jay Deo, G-92 (Vancouver - 2007 11th rd)
Stefan Gonzales, D-92 (Kamloops - 2007 6th rd)
Colton Mackie, LW-93 (Tri-City - listed player)
Josh Monk, D-92 (Tri-City - 2007 4th rd)
Adam Rossignol, C-93 (Kootenay - 2008 7th rd)
Jamie Russell, RW-92 (Kelowna - listed player)
Tyler Wotherspoon, D-93 (Portland - 2008 2nd rd)
Vancouver NE Chiefs:
Jessey Astles, RW-93 (Kelowna - 2008 6th rd)
Jordan Beveridge, D-93 (Kamloops - 2008 2nd rd)
Justin Lachance, RW-92 (Seattle - 2007 7th rd)
Kiefer Rivington, D-93 (Moose Jaw - 2008 5th rd)
Connor Sanvido, C-93 (Seattle - 2008 1st rd)
Vancouver NW Giants:
Michael Aviani, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 5th rd)
Brady Brassart, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 2nd rd)
Jared Eng, D-92 (Vancouver - listed player)
Eric Kerluck, C-93 (Spokane - 2008 5th rd)
Joey LaLaeggia, D-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Victor Newell, D-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 6th rd)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C-93 (Red Deer - 2008 1st rd)
Colton Sissons, RW-93 (Saskatoon - listed player)
Dalton Thrower, D-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 2nd rd)
Eric Williams, G-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 4th rd)
Yorkton Harvest:
Devon McMullen, D-93 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
John Neibrandt, D-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Andre Parker, C-93 (Vancouver - 2008 4th rd)
Zachary Rakochy, G-93 (Red Deer - listed player)
Riley Storzuk, LW-92 (Regina - listed player)
Tayler Thompson, RW-93 (Portland - 2008 9th rd)
Davis Vandane, D-92 (Prince George - listed player)
It's a pretty good lineup.....18 of the 22 WHL first-round bantam picks in 2008 will be there. Only Brandon's (Klarc Wilson, with Edmonton Knights of Columbus, not invited), Edmonton's (Michael St. Croix, from Manitoba), Kelowna's (Shane McColgan, from California), and Kootenay's (Brendan Hurley, with Fort Saskatchewan, not invited) are not there from the 2008 first round class. One 2007 first round pick (Lethbridge's Mark Reners) is there also.
14 of the 2008 2nd rounders are there as well, so that's 32 of the top 44 picks from last year's bantam draft, all in one tournament and going head-to-head. There's going to be a lot of future WHL stars from that group.
Best team to watch if you want to see WHL prospects? Probably the Sherwood Park Kings, who are in first place in the Alberta Midget league and have four 2008 first rounders on their team.
The Macs website is here: www.macstournament.ab.ca for anyone who wants to follow the tournament....I expect to get out to my usual 5-10 games and may have notes on the tournament here on the blog as it progresses as well....
Prospects in the tournament by WHL affiliation:
Saskatoon: 12
Prince George, Vancouver: 11
Medicine Hat: 10
Edmonton, Everett, Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Regina, Tri-City: 9
Kelowna, Portland, Spokane: 8
Calgary, Chilliwack, Kamloops, Kootenay: 7
Prince Albert, Seattle, Swift Current: 6
Lethbridge: 5
Brandon: 2
Monday, December 8, 2008
Monday notes
Couple things today....
First, a position (goaltending) that seemed like a pillar of strength for the Kootenay Ice just two months ago is in tatters today after Thomas Heemskerk quit the team and went home. It boggles the mind of most of us fans that a kid with so much talent and potential would throw away his chance to play at this level but I guess if he's not happy, then this is the best decision for him.
So instead of having three starter-quality WHL goalies - Heemskerk, Nathan Lieuwen, and Kris Lazaruk - like they did back in September, today the Ice have only Lieuwen and are scrambling to find somebody to play backup. There is nobody on their protected list who is ready to play at this level so the Ice will have to either make a trade or add a currently unlisted goalie to their list from somewhere. Tri-City still has three goalies on their roster so perhaps there's a potential trading partner there if the Americans are willing to part with either Drew Owsley or Brett Martyniak. Martyniak actually hasn't seen the ice in a game this season yet, if you can believe that.
More likely the Ice will go after a WHL-experienced goalie who's not currently in the WHL. Jeff Bromley has some ideas on his blog about who it might be. I think Birch or Aime might be the best choices since neither of them is currently WHL property and so they could both be had for free, provided they're willing to leave their Jr A teams and join the Ice. Mathews (Lethbridge), Barnstable (Everett) and Esposito (Prince Albert) are all property of WHL teams and so the Ice would have to make a trade to acquire them. Their current teams might not want to part with them either if they're counting on those guys either in the future or as insurance against an injury to one of their current goalies.
Other options I would toss out there are former Bronco and Cougar goalie Ian Curtis, now property of the Portland Winter Hawks; Joel Danyluk, who had a brief stint with Prince George and remains their property but isn't currently on their roster; Dalyn Flette, who seems to be the odd man out in Edmonton, although he is currently injured; and Alex Wright, who has played with Medicine Hat in the past and also been part of Prince George's organization, he is currently Spokane Chief property. Guess we'll see what happens.
The other note for today is a tip of the cap to the Lethbridge Hurricanes organization, who put their entire team on the bus after a home game on Friday night and drove them up to Calgary so they could all attend the funeral of former teammate Michael Maniago on Saturday morning. After the funeral the team got back on the bus and drove up to Edmonton for their game against the Oil Kings on Saturday night. I imagine the Canes put their players up in a hotel in Calgary on Friday night, incurring a not-insignificant expense they would not normally have had, so that the players could attend the funeral. Class move, good on them.
First, a position (goaltending) that seemed like a pillar of strength for the Kootenay Ice just two months ago is in tatters today after Thomas Heemskerk quit the team and went home. It boggles the mind of most of us fans that a kid with so much talent and potential would throw away his chance to play at this level but I guess if he's not happy, then this is the best decision for him.
So instead of having three starter-quality WHL goalies - Heemskerk, Nathan Lieuwen, and Kris Lazaruk - like they did back in September, today the Ice have only Lieuwen and are scrambling to find somebody to play backup. There is nobody on their protected list who is ready to play at this level so the Ice will have to either make a trade or add a currently unlisted goalie to their list from somewhere. Tri-City still has three goalies on their roster so perhaps there's a potential trading partner there if the Americans are willing to part with either Drew Owsley or Brett Martyniak. Martyniak actually hasn't seen the ice in a game this season yet, if you can believe that.
More likely the Ice will go after a WHL-experienced goalie who's not currently in the WHL. Jeff Bromley has some ideas on his blog about who it might be. I think Birch or Aime might be the best choices since neither of them is currently WHL property and so they could both be had for free, provided they're willing to leave their Jr A teams and join the Ice. Mathews (Lethbridge), Barnstable (Everett) and Esposito (Prince Albert) are all property of WHL teams and so the Ice would have to make a trade to acquire them. Their current teams might not want to part with them either if they're counting on those guys either in the future or as insurance against an injury to one of their current goalies.
Other options I would toss out there are former Bronco and Cougar goalie Ian Curtis, now property of the Portland Winter Hawks; Joel Danyluk, who had a brief stint with Prince George and remains their property but isn't currently on their roster; Dalyn Flette, who seems to be the odd man out in Edmonton, although he is currently injured; and Alex Wright, who has played with Medicine Hat in the past and also been part of Prince George's organization, he is currently Spokane Chief property. Guess we'll see what happens.
The other note for today is a tip of the cap to the Lethbridge Hurricanes organization, who put their entire team on the bus after a home game on Friday night and drove them up to Calgary so they could all attend the funeral of former teammate Michael Maniago on Saturday morning. After the funeral the team got back on the bus and drove up to Edmonton for their game against the Oil Kings on Saturday night. I imagine the Canes put their players up in a hotel in Calgary on Friday night, incurring a not-insignificant expense they would not normally have had, so that the players could attend the funeral. Class move, good on them.
Friday, December 5, 2008
WJC and U-17 absences
With most of the rosters or selection camp rosters for the various World Junior teams and U-17 Challenge teams having been announced, I thought I'd put together a list of which WHL teams are looking at missing which players.
Players in bold are definitely selected to those teams. Players not in bold are subject to selection camps for those teams first.
Brandon: Keith Aulie (Canada - WJC), Matt Calvert (Canada - WJC), Brayden Schenn (Canada - WJC), Mark Stone (Western - U-17's)
Calgary: Austin Madaisky (Pacific - U-17's), Brett Sonne (Canada - WJC)
Chilliwack: Carter Berg (Western - U-17's), Kevin Sundher (Pacific - U-17's)
Edmonton: Mark Pysyk (Pacific - U-17's), Tomas Vincour (Czech Republic - WJC)
Everett: Kent Simpson (Pacific - U-17's)
Kamloops: Brendan Ranford (Pacific - U-17's), Michal Siska (Slovakia - WJC)
Kelowna: Jamie Benn (Canada - WJC), Tyler Myers (Canada - WJC), Stepan Novotny (Czech Republic - WJC)
Kootenay: Drew Czerwonka (Western - U-17's), Max Reinhart (Pacific - U-17's)
Lethbridge: Zach Boychuk (Canada - WJC), Alex Theriau (Pacific - U-17's)
Medicine Hat: Tyler Ennis (Canada - WJC), Tomas Kundratek (Czech Republic - WJC), Zdenek Okal (Czech Republic - WJC)
Moose Jaw: Connor Cox (Pacific - U-17's), Travis Hamonic (Canada - WJC), Quinton Howden (Western - U-17's), Tomas Karpov (Czech Republic - WJC), Nathan MacMaster (Pacific - U-17's), Dylan McIlrath (Western - U-17's)
Portland: Keith Hamilton (Pacific - U-17's), Brad Ross (Pacific - U-17's), Troy Rutkowski (Pacific - U-17's), Radim Valchar (Czech Republic - WJC)
Prince Albert: Ryan Harrison (Pacific - U-17's), Igor Revenko (Belarus- b-pool WJC),
Prince George: Brett Connolly (Pacific - U-17's), Dana Tyrell (Canada - WJC), Marek Viedensky (Slovakia - WJC)
Red Deer: Tommi Kivisto (Finland - WJC), Alex Petrovic (Pacific - U-17's)
Regina: Rudolph Cerveny (Czech Republic - WJC), Jordan Eberle (Canada - WJC), Dominick Favreau (Western - U-17's), Colten Teubert (Canada - WJC), Jordan Weal (Pacific - U-17's)
Saskatoon: Charles Inglis (Western - U-17's), Milan Kytnar (Slovakia - WJC), Josh Nicholls (Pacific - U-17's), Jyri Niemi (Finland - WJC)
Seattle: Thomas Hickey (Canada - WJC), Chance Lund (Pacific - U-17's), Jim O'Brien (USA - WJC), Calvin Pickard (Western - U-17's)
Spokane: Drayson Bowman (USA - WJC), Blake Gal (Pacific - U-17's), Tyler Johnson (USA - WJC), Jared Spurgeon (Canada - WJC), Dustin Tokarski (Canada - WJC), Stefan Ulmer (Austria - b-pool WJC), Mitch Wahl (USA - WJC)
Swift Current: Christian Magnus (Western - U-17's)
Tri-City: Justin Feser (Pacific - U-17's), Brooks Macek (Western - U-17's), Chet Pickard (Canada - WJC)
Vancouver: Jonathan Blum (USA - WJC), Brendon Gallagher (Pacific - U-17's), Evander Kane (Canada - WJC), Tyson Sexsmith (Canada - WJC)
One other player who I'm not sure about yet is Calgary's Bostjan Golicic, who will probably be going to play for Slovenia at the B-pool World Juniors like he has the last two years. I just can't find a roster for Slovenia.
Spokane's roster is going to be decimated after Christmas with all those players away, especially if Spurgeon and Tokarski make the Canadian team. And some people actually wanted Jared Cowen there too....did they want the Chiefs to ice a midget team for the post-Christmas games? :)
Players in bold are definitely selected to those teams. Players not in bold are subject to selection camps for those teams first.
Brandon: Keith Aulie (Canada - WJC), Matt Calvert (Canada - WJC), Brayden Schenn (Canada - WJC), Mark Stone (Western - U-17's)
Calgary: Austin Madaisky (Pacific - U-17's), Brett Sonne (Canada - WJC)
Chilliwack: Carter Berg (Western - U-17's), Kevin Sundher (Pacific - U-17's)
Edmonton: Mark Pysyk (Pacific - U-17's), Tomas Vincour (Czech Republic - WJC)
Everett: Kent Simpson (Pacific - U-17's)
Kamloops: Brendan Ranford (Pacific - U-17's), Michal Siska (Slovakia - WJC)
Kelowna: Jamie Benn (Canada - WJC), Tyler Myers (Canada - WJC), Stepan Novotny (Czech Republic - WJC)
Kootenay: Drew Czerwonka (Western - U-17's), Max Reinhart (Pacific - U-17's)
Lethbridge: Zach Boychuk (Canada - WJC), Alex Theriau (Pacific - U-17's)
Medicine Hat: Tyler Ennis (Canada - WJC), Tomas Kundratek (Czech Republic - WJC), Zdenek Okal (Czech Republic - WJC)
Moose Jaw: Connor Cox (Pacific - U-17's), Travis Hamonic (Canada - WJC), Quinton Howden (Western - U-17's), Tomas Karpov (Czech Republic - WJC), Nathan MacMaster (Pacific - U-17's), Dylan McIlrath (Western - U-17's)
Portland: Keith Hamilton (Pacific - U-17's), Brad Ross (Pacific - U-17's), Troy Rutkowski (Pacific - U-17's), Radim Valchar (Czech Republic - WJC)
Prince Albert: Ryan Harrison (Pacific - U-17's), Igor Revenko (Belarus- b-pool WJC),
Prince George: Brett Connolly (Pacific - U-17's), Dana Tyrell (Canada - WJC), Marek Viedensky (Slovakia - WJC)
Red Deer: Tommi Kivisto (Finland - WJC), Alex Petrovic (Pacific - U-17's)
Regina: Rudolph Cerveny (Czech Republic - WJC), Jordan Eberle (Canada - WJC), Dominick Favreau (Western - U-17's), Colten Teubert (Canada - WJC), Jordan Weal (Pacific - U-17's)
Saskatoon: Charles Inglis (Western - U-17's), Milan Kytnar (Slovakia - WJC), Josh Nicholls (Pacific - U-17's), Jyri Niemi (Finland - WJC)
Seattle: Thomas Hickey (Canada - WJC), Chance Lund (Pacific - U-17's), Jim O'Brien (USA - WJC), Calvin Pickard (Western - U-17's)
Spokane: Drayson Bowman (USA - WJC), Blake Gal (Pacific - U-17's), Tyler Johnson (USA - WJC), Jared Spurgeon (Canada - WJC), Dustin Tokarski (Canada - WJC), Stefan Ulmer (Austria - b-pool WJC), Mitch Wahl (USA - WJC)
Swift Current: Christian Magnus (Western - U-17's)
Tri-City: Justin Feser (Pacific - U-17's), Brooks Macek (Western - U-17's), Chet Pickard (Canada - WJC)
Vancouver: Jonathan Blum (USA - WJC), Brendon Gallagher (Pacific - U-17's), Evander Kane (Canada - WJC), Tyson Sexsmith (Canada - WJC)
One other player who I'm not sure about yet is Calgary's Bostjan Golicic, who will probably be going to play for Slovenia at the B-pool World Juniors like he has the last two years. I just can't find a roster for Slovenia.
Spokane's roster is going to be decimated after Christmas with all those players away, especially if Spurgeon and Tokarski make the Canadian team. And some people actually wanted Jared Cowen there too....did they want the Chiefs to ice a midget team for the post-Christmas games? :)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Maniago obituary
For anyone who is interested....
The obituary for former WHL goalie Michael Maniago is in the Calgary Herald today. There is a guestbook attached to the obituary, if there's any WHL fans out there who want to share a "Manny" memory or just some words of comfort for the family.
The obituary for former WHL goalie Michael Maniago is in the Calgary Herald today. There is a guestbook attached to the obituary, if there's any WHL fans out there who want to share a "Manny" memory or just some words of comfort for the family.
WJC invites announced
Hockey Canada has invited 38 players to the World Junior tryout camp. Roster is here.
Three of the four goalies are WHLers, so at least one of the goalies on the final team will be from the WHL. 6 of 14 defencemen are WHLers and one more is a WHL prospect playing in the NCAA. 9 of 20 forwards are WHLers and one more is a WHL prospect in the NCAA. So all told, the WHL is going to be well represented on this year's WJC team, I think.
Three of the four goalies are WHLers, so at least one of the goalies on the final team will be from the WHL. 6 of 14 defencemen are WHLers and one more is a WHL prospect playing in the NCAA. 9 of 20 forwards are WHLers and one more is a WHL prospect in the NCAA. So all told, the WHL is going to be well represented on this year's WJC team, I think.
Wednesday notes
I get the info for a lot of these notes from other sources. Guess that makes these notes sloppy seconds.
Hockey Canada will announce the players invited to the World Junior tryout camp this morning at about 10:00 MST. You can check Hockey Canada's website for the list around that time.
In the ECHL, the Augusta Lynx team folded yesterday, 18 games into the season. The league says all the players on the team are now free agents. Presumably this excludes players who are on NHL or AHL contracts and only on loan to the Lynx; those players will have their parent team find them a new place to play. A quick scan of the Lynx roster reveals a few ex-WHLers who may or may not be affected. Justin Keller, Cody Blanshan, Mike Brodeur, Riku Helenius. Helenius is on an NHL deal so he'll be placed somewhere else by the Lightning. The others....they might have to start making some phone calls.
About the Avery/Phaneuf thing....Sean Avery is an attention-starved idiot. But I'm not telling you anything every hockey fan doesn't already know. If Avery had just sat on that comment and said it to Phaneuf on the ice instead, everything would have been fine with the league and he might have even got Phaneuf to take a penalty. But instead he waits until the cameras are on and the microphones are in his face, and then says something publicly that the league can't ignore. It's locker room talk and on-ice trash talk and that's where it has to stay, not be played out in front of the cameras.
Remember when Georges Laraque claimed Avery directed a racial insult at him? The league couldn't prove it. Remember when the Leafs claimed he made fun of Jason Blake's cancer? The league couldn't prove it. Well, the league can prove it this time.
Hockey Canada will announce the players invited to the World Junior tryout camp this morning at about 10:00 MST. You can check Hockey Canada's website for the list around that time.
In the ECHL, the Augusta Lynx team folded yesterday, 18 games into the season. The league says all the players on the team are now free agents. Presumably this excludes players who are on NHL or AHL contracts and only on loan to the Lynx; those players will have their parent team find them a new place to play. A quick scan of the Lynx roster reveals a few ex-WHLers who may or may not be affected. Justin Keller, Cody Blanshan, Mike Brodeur, Riku Helenius. Helenius is on an NHL deal so he'll be placed somewhere else by the Lightning. The others....they might have to start making some phone calls.
About the Avery/Phaneuf thing....Sean Avery is an attention-starved idiot. But I'm not telling you anything every hockey fan doesn't already know. If Avery had just sat on that comment and said it to Phaneuf on the ice instead, everything would have been fine with the league and he might have even got Phaneuf to take a penalty. But instead he waits until the cameras are on and the microphones are in his face, and then says something publicly that the league can't ignore. It's locker room talk and on-ice trash talk and that's where it has to stay, not be played out in front of the cameras.
Remember when Georges Laraque claimed Avery directed a racial insult at him? The league couldn't prove it. Remember when the Leafs claimed he made fun of Jason Blake's cancer? The league couldn't prove it. Well, the league can prove it this time.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Juniors in the NHL
Just thinking about the potential World Junior rosters here and it occurred to me that there's a lot of potential WJC talent in the NHL right now that we might not see at the WJC's in Ottawa. By my count, there are 14 players currently in the NHL who are still eligible to play the World Juniors:
Canada:
Josh Bailey (NY Islanders)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles)
Sam Gagner (Edmonton)
Colton Gillies (Minnesota)
Luke Schenn (Toronto)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay)
Brandon Sutter (Carolina)
Kyle Turris (Phoenix)
USA:
Zach Bogosian (Atlanta)
Sweden:
Oscar Moller (Los Angeles)
Czech Republic:
Jakub Voracek (Columbus)
Russia:
Nikita Filatov (Columbus) - actually in Syracuse (AHL) at the moment
Switzerland: (Switzerland is in the B-pool WJCs Dec 14-20, not the A-pool)
Luca Sbisa (Philadelphia)
Denmark: (Denmark is in the B-pool WJCs Dec 15-21, not the A-pool)
Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix)
I'd say there's no chance of Sbisa or Boedker being released by their teams since those guys are playing regular shifts for their NHL clubs, and because it's the B-pool where the calibre of hockey is far, far below the NHL.
USA isn't going to get Bogosian because he has a broken leg. And Moller, Voracek, Doughty, Gagner, Schenn, and Sutter aren't going anywhere because they are playing regular shifts for the NHL teams. Stamkos won't play for Canada because he skipped Canada's summer camp this year and by Hockey Canada's rules that makes him ineligible for the main tournament.
That leaves Bailey, Gillies, Turris, and Filatov as the only players with a chance to be released....and I'd say the chances of Bailey or Turris getting loaned to Team Canada are pretty slim. So Gillies might be the only one of the 8 Canadian teenagers in the NHL to be freed up to play at the World Juniors.
Canada:
Josh Bailey (NY Islanders)
Drew Doughty (Los Angeles)
Sam Gagner (Edmonton)
Colton Gillies (Minnesota)
Luke Schenn (Toronto)
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay)
Brandon Sutter (Carolina)
Kyle Turris (Phoenix)
USA:
Zach Bogosian (Atlanta)
Sweden:
Oscar Moller (Los Angeles)
Czech Republic:
Jakub Voracek (Columbus)
Russia:
Nikita Filatov (Columbus) - actually in Syracuse (AHL) at the moment
Switzerland: (Switzerland is in the B-pool WJCs Dec 14-20, not the A-pool)
Luca Sbisa (Philadelphia)
Denmark: (Denmark is in the B-pool WJCs Dec 15-21, not the A-pool)
Mikkel Boedker (Phoenix)
I'd say there's no chance of Sbisa or Boedker being released by their teams since those guys are playing regular shifts for their NHL clubs, and because it's the B-pool where the calibre of hockey is far, far below the NHL.
USA isn't going to get Bogosian because he has a broken leg. And Moller, Voracek, Doughty, Gagner, Schenn, and Sutter aren't going anywhere because they are playing regular shifts for the NHL teams. Stamkos won't play for Canada because he skipped Canada's summer camp this year and by Hockey Canada's rules that makes him ineligible for the main tournament.
That leaves Bailey, Gillies, Turris, and Filatov as the only players with a chance to be released....and I'd say the chances of Bailey or Turris getting loaned to Team Canada are pretty slim. So Gillies might be the only one of the 8 Canadian teenagers in the NHL to be freed up to play at the World Juniors.
Tuesday stuff
Bunch of notes from the last few days....
Prince George has fired their coach, Drew Schoneck, after G.M. Dallas Thompson decided the team wasn't improving as much as he'd like to see. The Cougars started the season 6-1 but are 4-17-0-1 in the last 22 games since then.
If anyone expected more of the 6-1 and less of the 4-17-0-1 team this season, it's worth noting that the 6 wins to start the year came against Seattle (2), Chilliwack (3), and Prince Albert (1). All bottom-third teams, basically. Fact of the matter is, the Cougars are rebuilding and don't have that much talent, and some of that responsibility has to fall on Thompson's shoulders at some point....how long has he been in charge? And how many good seasons have they had in those years?
Of course, Thompson has the job in P.G. for life though....
To happier news, Spokane named Justin McCrae their captain yesterday, which means he has now been the captain of two WHL teams since he was the Blades' captain until the trade last year which sent him to Spokane. I'm sure there have been other players who have captained more than one team, I just can't think of one off the top of my head right now.
The Hitmen held their Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday and the fur was flying as the team collected 22,722 stuffed animals, some of which the players took to the local children's hospital yesterday. The total is a few thousand less than they got last year, which means we're now in a Teddy recession as well as an economic one. Or should I say we're in a bear market?
The roster of players invited to try out for Canada's World Juniors team should be announced any day now, possibly as early as today. Watch Hockey Canada's website for the announcement.
Maybe some more stats stuff later today if I have time, or maybe later this week. I'm working on some things anyway. Also working on some lists of WHL prospects who will be playing at the big Macs Midget tournament in Calgary after Christmas, for anyone who wants to follow that big tournament again. But that won't come until after the official Macs team list is released on December 10th.
Prince George has fired their coach, Drew Schoneck, after G.M. Dallas Thompson decided the team wasn't improving as much as he'd like to see. The Cougars started the season 6-1 but are 4-17-0-1 in the last 22 games since then.
If anyone expected more of the 6-1 and less of the 4-17-0-1 team this season, it's worth noting that the 6 wins to start the year came against Seattle (2), Chilliwack (3), and Prince Albert (1). All bottom-third teams, basically. Fact of the matter is, the Cougars are rebuilding and don't have that much talent, and some of that responsibility has to fall on Thompson's shoulders at some point....how long has he been in charge? And how many good seasons have they had in those years?
Of course, Thompson has the job in P.G. for life though....
To happier news, Spokane named Justin McCrae their captain yesterday, which means he has now been the captain of two WHL teams since he was the Blades' captain until the trade last year which sent him to Spokane. I'm sure there have been other players who have captained more than one team, I just can't think of one off the top of my head right now.
The Hitmen held their Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday and the fur was flying as the team collected 22,722 stuffed animals, some of which the players took to the local children's hospital yesterday. The total is a few thousand less than they got last year, which means we're now in a Teddy recession as well as an economic one. Or should I say we're in a bear market?
The roster of players invited to try out for Canada's World Juniors team should be announced any day now, possibly as early as today. Watch Hockey Canada's website for the announcement.
Maybe some more stats stuff later today if I have time, or maybe later this week. I'm working on some things anyway. Also working on some lists of WHL prospects who will be playing at the big Macs Midget tournament in Calgary after Christmas, for anyone who wants to follow that big tournament again. But that won't come until after the official Macs team list is released on December 10th.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Ex-WHLer dead
Tragic news for WHL fans, as apparently former Blazer and Hurricane goaltender Michael Maniago was killed last night in a car accident in Calgary, allegedly caused by a drunk driver. Maniago was just 20 years old and had opted to leave the WHL this year to concentrate on his schooling.
Calgary news station piece on the crash is here. Calgary police news release is here.
The name of the deceased has not been confirmed to be Maniago but Bruce Luebke (link on the left) has it on his blog and I have heard from another source as well that it was Maniago. Very unfortunate...
Calgary news station piece on the crash is here. Calgary police news release is here.
The name of the deceased has not been confirmed to be Maniago but Bruce Luebke (link on the left) has it on his blog and I have heard from another source as well that it was Maniago. Very unfortunate...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Rockets ink pick
The Rockets have signed 2008 first-round bantam pick Shane McColgan to a WHL education contract and he will make his WHL debut next month.
This avoids the sticky situation for the Rockets that they find themselves in with 2007 first round pick Luke Moffatt, who appears to have shunned the WHL in favour of the NCAA route.
This avoids the sticky situation for the Rockets that they find themselves in with 2007 first round pick Luke Moffatt, who appears to have shunned the WHL in favour of the NCAA route.
Thursday stuffing
Not much "stuff" to report today, but there will surely be some "stuffing". Happy Turkey Day to the readers of this blog south of the 49th....for those of you north of the border like me, get back to work....
Only note from yesterday was the CHL-Russia game which saw the WHL all-stars beat the touring Russian Jr B squad 5-0. Did the Russians even have one serious scoring chance in the entire game? I don't think so. If this truly is two-thirds of the Russian World Junior team like some people have said, then I think the Russians need to worry about relegation to the World Junior B-pool for 2009-10 because that team was dominated by a WHL team which only featured maybe 6 or 7 players who'll be on the eventual Canadian WJC team. That Russian team would have no chance against the full Canadian WJC team. Or the American team, or the Swedes, or the Finns, or the Czechs. In truth, if there's more than 2 or 3 players off this team on the eventual Russian WJC team, I'd be shocked. Again, why do we play these games?
Almost forgot to mention that Karl Alzner made his NHL debut last night for the Capitals after being called up from the AHL earlier in the day. The thing that makes this noteworthy is that Alzner led all Capitals defencemen in ice time in the game and was 2nd on the team only to Ovechkin. When was the last time a guy making his NHL debut almost led his team in ice time?
Only note from yesterday was the CHL-Russia game which saw the WHL all-stars beat the touring Russian Jr B squad 5-0. Did the Russians even have one serious scoring chance in the entire game? I don't think so. If this truly is two-thirds of the Russian World Junior team like some people have said, then I think the Russians need to worry about relegation to the World Junior B-pool for 2009-10 because that team was dominated by a WHL team which only featured maybe 6 or 7 players who'll be on the eventual Canadian WJC team. That Russian team would have no chance against the full Canadian WJC team. Or the American team, or the Swedes, or the Finns, or the Czechs. In truth, if there's more than 2 or 3 players off this team on the eventual Russian WJC team, I'd be shocked. Again, why do we play these games?
Almost forgot to mention that Karl Alzner made his NHL debut last night for the Capitals after being called up from the AHL earlier in the day. The thing that makes this noteworthy is that Alzner led all Capitals defencemen in ice time in the game and was 2nd on the team only to Ovechkin. When was the last time a guy making his NHL debut almost led his team in ice time?
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday thoughts
Slow news week for WHL fans since there's only one WHL game Monday - Thursday this week due to the pointless CHL-Russia games.
So, let's turn our attention today to Moose Jaw, where the bickering continues over the building (or not building, more accurately) of their new rink. Flashback to June 16, where Moose Jaw city council voted to build a new arena for the 2010-11 season, with a project manager to be hired by August 1 and to start construction by December 1.
Well, December 1 is less than a week away and there appears to be no start of construction in sight in Moose Jaw. If they had started construction five months ago on June 17th, they'd have the excavation done and most of the concrete poured by now. Instead, it's more plebiscites, more threats, more bickering. I really don't care what they do.....just make a decision one way or the other and either get some shovels in the ground or let the WHL start looking for a new home for the team. One or the other.
So, let's turn our attention today to Moose Jaw, where the bickering continues over the building (or not building, more accurately) of their new rink. Flashback to June 16, where Moose Jaw city council voted to build a new arena for the 2010-11 season, with a project manager to be hired by August 1 and to start construction by December 1.
Well, December 1 is less than a week away and there appears to be no start of construction in sight in Moose Jaw. If they had started construction five months ago on June 17th, they'd have the excavation done and most of the concrete poured by now. Instead, it's more plebiscites, more threats, more bickering. I really don't care what they do.....just make a decision one way or the other and either get some shovels in the ground or let the WHL start looking for a new home for the team. One or the other.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday notes
Been away for a few days, which is why no posts.....
I see Scott Gabriel has declined to join the Regina Pats after they claimed him on waivers from the Winter Hawks. Apparently Gabriel just wants to stay at home in Edmonton and play for the Jr A Sherwood Park Crusaders in the AJHL. Can't really blame the guy I guess, he has played his entire junior career so far away from home up until now, and if he's not really a good pro candidate then continued higher exposure the WHL offers probably doesn't matter to him. Better to stay close to home, play in front of family and friends every night, etc.....something he probably didn't get to do much of playing in Portland. Might even be able to start classes at the University of Alberta too, etc.
And I hear Jadon Potter of the Bruins broke some vertebrae in his neck in an incident on the weekend which saw him slide headfirst into the boards. 6-8 weeks in a hard neck brace and no guarantee he can play hockey again. This is certainly one of the most serious injuries we've seen in the WHL in several years (thankfully!) and you never like to see kids get hurt like that. Bumps and bruises and sprains are part of the game but broken necks, that's horrible stuff. Hopefully Potter makes a full recovery and IS able to resume his career (if he wants to).
And a QMJHL note now, we go back to the "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" file again and more stupidity from the Patrick Roy family. This time it's younger son Frederick, who has been suspended 15 games for cross-checking an opponent in the face on Friday night in a QMJHL game. You can see the incident here. This is hockey's first family of dirtbags....never mind whether they're good hockey players or not, they're clearly all prone to loss of self-control on the ice. The older brother, Jonathan, is already facing criminal charges stemming from the brawl last spring and now there's some suggestion that Frederick could get hit with a charge over this incident too. Daddy must be so proud of the boys.
As an aside, I notice none of Roy's victim (Vincent Bourgeois)'s teammates came to his aid as the little weasel skated away like nothing happened after the incident. Thank the QMJHL's new rules on brawling for that....in the old days, Frederick Roy would have been eating through a straw for six weeks after the opposition got through with him and he'd never do such a thing again. I'm NOT a proponent of uncontrolled brawling and such idiocy in the game, but there has to be some leeway given for the players to police themselves in such incidents.
I see Scott Gabriel has declined to join the Regina Pats after they claimed him on waivers from the Winter Hawks. Apparently Gabriel just wants to stay at home in Edmonton and play for the Jr A Sherwood Park Crusaders in the AJHL. Can't really blame the guy I guess, he has played his entire junior career so far away from home up until now, and if he's not really a good pro candidate then continued higher exposure the WHL offers probably doesn't matter to him. Better to stay close to home, play in front of family and friends every night, etc.....something he probably didn't get to do much of playing in Portland. Might even be able to start classes at the University of Alberta too, etc.
And I hear Jadon Potter of the Bruins broke some vertebrae in his neck in an incident on the weekend which saw him slide headfirst into the boards. 6-8 weeks in a hard neck brace and no guarantee he can play hockey again. This is certainly one of the most serious injuries we've seen in the WHL in several years (thankfully!) and you never like to see kids get hurt like that. Bumps and bruises and sprains are part of the game but broken necks, that's horrible stuff. Hopefully Potter makes a full recovery and IS able to resume his career (if he wants to).
And a QMJHL note now, we go back to the "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" file again and more stupidity from the Patrick Roy family. This time it's younger son Frederick, who has been suspended 15 games for cross-checking an opponent in the face on Friday night in a QMJHL game. You can see the incident here. This is hockey's first family of dirtbags....never mind whether they're good hockey players or not, they're clearly all prone to loss of self-control on the ice. The older brother, Jonathan, is already facing criminal charges stemming from the brawl last spring and now there's some suggestion that Frederick could get hit with a charge over this incident too. Daddy must be so proud of the boys.
As an aside, I notice none of Roy's victim (Vincent Bourgeois)'s teammates came to his aid as the little weasel skated away like nothing happened after the incident. Thank the QMJHL's new rules on brawling for that....in the old days, Frederick Roy would have been eating through a straw for six weeks after the opposition got through with him and he'd never do such a thing again. I'm NOT a proponent of uncontrolled brawling and such idiocy in the game, but there has to be some leeway given for the players to police themselves in such incidents.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
50 G's
Was playing around with the stats yesterday, looking at the league's leading goal scorers and such, and I realized that there are no less than six players this season who are currently on pace to score 50 goals:
(GPG = Goals Per Game; Rem. = games remaining; Proj. = Projected final total)
Now, some of these guys are only on pace for exactly 50 so they need to keep up their current pace for the rest of the season to hit the magic mark - something that some of them will no doubt not be able to do. Plus there's injuries, possible World Junior invites, etc, all things which will conspire to keep some of these guys from achieving 50. But you have to think Benn looks pretty good right about now, he's on pace for almost 70. He can slip a bit off that pace and still hit 50.
The WHL has not seen a 50 goal scorer the past two seasons. The last WHLer to score 50 goals was the Rockets' Justin Keller in 2005-06, when he got 51.
| GP | G | GPG | Rem. | Proj. | ||
| Jamie Benn | Kelowna Rockets | 20 | 20 | 1.00 | 49 | 69 |
| Dana Tyrell | Prince George Cougars | 22 | 17 | 0.77 | 48 | 54 |
| Joel Broda | Moose Jaw Warriors | 20 | 15 | 0.75 | 50 | 53 |
| Evander Kane | Vancouver Giants | 21 | 15 | 0.71 | 51 | 51 |
| Brandon Kozun | Calgary Hitmen | 26 | 18 | 0.69 | 46 | 50 |
| Jordan Eberle | Regina Pats | 24 | 17 | 0.71 | 46 | 50 |
(GPG = Goals Per Game; Rem. = games remaining; Proj. = Projected final total)
Now, some of these guys are only on pace for exactly 50 so they need to keep up their current pace for the rest of the season to hit the magic mark - something that some of them will no doubt not be able to do. Plus there's injuries, possible World Junior invites, etc, all things which will conspire to keep some of these guys from achieving 50. But you have to think Benn looks pretty good right about now, he's on pace for almost 70. He can slip a bit off that pace and still hit 50.
The WHL has not seen a 50 goal scorer the past two seasons. The last WHLer to score 50 goals was the Rockets' Justin Keller in 2005-06, when he got 51.
Wednesday note
One note today big news out of Speedy Creek, where it looks like the Broncos are going to get pushed out of their building in the first round next season, 2009-10.
The Credit Union i-Plex is being taken over by the Ford World Women's Curling Championships from March 20-29, 2010, and that should be right around the time of the first round of the WHL playoffs. Looking at a calendar, I'd bet the 09-10 season will see its playoffs start on Friday March 19th, and will want to be wrapped up by March 30 or 31, to start the 2nd round on Friday April 2nd. So since the curling ice needs to go in a few days before the event starts, basically there are no possible home playoff dates for the Broncos in that period. So the first round of the playoffs for the Broncos wouldn't just have to have a funky schedule, it would have to be held somewhere else. Period.
Of course, the Broncos need to MAKE the playoffs in 09-10 first before we really worry about this but it's a significant issue for them if it happens....I mean, it's playoffs and they're looking at losing home ice advantage by probably having to play their "home" games in a neutral site, possibly at the home rink of one of the Eastern division teams who do miss the playoffs. The last time I remember a team actually having to play at a neutral site in the playoffs was when Prince Albert had to play some home playoff games in Saskatoon in 1998-99 because the Air Canada Cup was in their building.
But, this is the price the Broncos have to pay for having wanted their facility upgraded. The city of Swift Current fixed up the rink and now they want to put some marquee events in it, things which will bring money into the city. Can't blame the city for wanting to do that. I guess the only question would be why the curling event can't be held one week earlier, which would allow the Broncos to just finish the regular season on the road and have their building back for the playoffs.
The Credit Union i-Plex is being taken over by the Ford World Women's Curling Championships from March 20-29, 2010, and that should be right around the time of the first round of the WHL playoffs. Looking at a calendar, I'd bet the 09-10 season will see its playoffs start on Friday March 19th, and will want to be wrapped up by March 30 or 31, to start the 2nd round on Friday April 2nd. So since the curling ice needs to go in a few days before the event starts, basically there are no possible home playoff dates for the Broncos in that period. So the first round of the playoffs for the Broncos wouldn't just have to have a funky schedule, it would have to be held somewhere else. Period.
Of course, the Broncos need to MAKE the playoffs in 09-10 first before we really worry about this but it's a significant issue for them if it happens....I mean, it's playoffs and they're looking at losing home ice advantage by probably having to play their "home" games in a neutral site, possibly at the home rink of one of the Eastern division teams who do miss the playoffs. The last time I remember a team actually having to play at a neutral site in the playoffs was when Prince Albert had to play some home playoff games in Saskatoon in 1998-99 because the Air Canada Cup was in their building.
But, this is the price the Broncos have to pay for having wanted their facility upgraded. The city of Swift Current fixed up the rink and now they want to put some marquee events in it, things which will bring money into the city. Can't blame the city for wanting to do that. I guess the only question would be why the curling event can't be held one week earlier, which would allow the Broncos to just finish the regular season on the road and have their building back for the playoffs.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Two player moves
Couple player moves this morning to mention.....first, the Kamloops Blazers have filled their overage hole through the return of Brady Calla from the AHL. This is obviously a pretty significant addition to get a player of Calla's calibre back unexpectedly.
I wonder if the Blazers will now owe Moose Jaw something extra for the Calla-for-Ellerby trade last year. After all, Calla's back in the WHL as an overage and Ellerby is not, and sometimes these trades have clauses attached to them that provide for additional compensation if one player plays as an overage. Guess we'll see.
The other move is that the Raiders have added Cole Penner back to their lineup after he was cut during the preseason for lack of comittment. Penner was the 4th overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft but so far has yet to make much of a mark at the WHL level, mostly due to the off-ice problems he has had. This is probably his last kick at the can with the Raiders. With the AJHL's Brooks Bandits so far this year, he had 12 points and 107 PIM in 16 games.
I wonder if the Blazers will now owe Moose Jaw something extra for the Calla-for-Ellerby trade last year. After all, Calla's back in the WHL as an overage and Ellerby is not, and sometimes these trades have clauses attached to them that provide for additional compensation if one player plays as an overage. Guess we'll see.
The other move is that the Raiders have added Cole Penner back to their lineup after he was cut during the preseason for lack of comittment. Penner was the 4th overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft but so far has yet to make much of a mark at the WHL level, mostly due to the off-ice problems he has had. This is probably his last kick at the can with the Raiders. With the AJHL's Brooks Bandits so far this year, he had 12 points and 107 PIM in 16 games.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Screening the goaltender
A new screening-the-goalie tactic that nobody really wants to see coming to the hockey rink near them anytime soon.....
....or any other sport either, for that matter......
....or any other sport either, for that matter......
Monday stuff
Slow day today.....only one bit of news caught my eye really and that was that the Rebels assigned 16 year old defenceman Kevin Woodyatt to a midget team in Arizona.
Yes, Arizona. Of course, that's where he is from, although he played midget last year at Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. This year the Rebels had tried to assign him to the local AAA midget team in Red Deer, but I guess his presence on that team caused some controversy since he wasn't from the Red Deer midgets' usual drawing area, and thus his presence on the team was costing a local player a spot. It wasn't an issue last year in Notre Dame since that's a boarding school with kids from all over the place, but it was an issue this year. And I think everyone can certainly see where the Red Deer folks who had a problem with this are coming from too. I can't say I disagree with them.
So, now he's back in Arizona where presumably the calibre of hockey is a fair bit below what he'd be playing at in Red Deer AAA. Probably not what he needs at this point in his career. I guess the whole point of this post is, why don't the Rebels just keep the kid on their WHL roster? He has already played a few games for them this year and they only have 23 players on their roster, with only two other 16 year olds. Why not keep him around in the WHL, even if he only gets into 30 games and practices with the club every day, that has to be better than what he'll be playing at home.
Yes, Arizona. Of course, that's where he is from, although he played midget last year at Notre Dame in Saskatchewan. This year the Rebels had tried to assign him to the local AAA midget team in Red Deer, but I guess his presence on that team caused some controversy since he wasn't from the Red Deer midgets' usual drawing area, and thus his presence on the team was costing a local player a spot. It wasn't an issue last year in Notre Dame since that's a boarding school with kids from all over the place, but it was an issue this year. And I think everyone can certainly see where the Red Deer folks who had a problem with this are coming from too. I can't say I disagree with them.
So, now he's back in Arizona where presumably the calibre of hockey is a fair bit below what he'd be playing at in Red Deer AAA. Probably not what he needs at this point in his career. I guess the whole point of this post is, why don't the Rebels just keep the kid on their WHL roster? He has already played a few games for them this year and they only have 23 players on their roster, with only two other 16 year olds. Why not keep him around in the WHL, even if he only gets into 30 games and practices with the club every day, that has to be better than what he'll be playing at home.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Friday notes
Stuff for today....
The changes keep on coming in Portland, with two players added and two players deleted yesterday. Gone are 18 year old rookie forward Ryan Anderson - who got into just 6 games this season for the Hawks - and overage forward Matt Schmermund. With Schmermund's departure, the Hawks now have zero overagers on their roster. Obviously they are planning to play the heck out of the kids and hope it yields dividends down the road.
The two new players are a pair of forwards, 17 year old Sawyer Mick and 19 year old Jonathan Milhouse. Mick is the younger brother of former Winter Hawk star (and former WHL coach) Troy Mick. Yes, younger brother. There's 22 years difference in their ages but they are apparently brothers. Milhouse is no stranger to the WHL, he had a 35-game cup of coffee three years ago with the Everett Silvertips. Milhouse leaves the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies, where he was assured of a shot at the Royal Bank Cup (since they're the hosts) to join a Hawks team which probably isn't going to contend for a title until some time after his WHL career is over. Kind of the exact opposite route that Evan Pighin chose to take.
In other player news on the left coast, Seattle has inked their 2008 4th round bantam pick, Texas forward Colin Jacobs, to a WHL education deal. This is a pretty significant signing for the Birds since Jacobs was considered a first round talent - maybe even top-ten - in the draft but he dropped so low because of questions about whether he wanted to take the WHL route. For the Birds to have signed him means they basically now have two first round-calibre players from that draft.
The Russian roster for the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge series has been named and as we've come to expect, has more dogs than the local pound. Nobody has ever heard of most of those players and nobody will ever hear of most of them again. Every year Canada trots out 60-70 of their best 16-19 year olds for this tournament and every year Russia trots out two or three players who eventually play at the WJCs for them plus 18-20 guys who couldn't play Jr B in this country. Why, oh why, do we keep playing this stupid tournament? Let's go back to CHL all-star games.
Lastly, I saw in the notes for tonight's Calgary-Brandon game that the Stone brothers, Calgary's Michael and Brandon's Mark, will face each other for the first time in the WHL tonight. Nothing new there since dozens of brother combinations have played in the WHL over the years. But it made me curious what other brother combinations are playing in the WHL this year, so I looked it up....I believe there are 9 sets this year:
Evan & Lucas Bloodoff (both with Kelowna)
Collin & Drayson Bowman (Kelowna & Spokane)
Brett & Clarke Breitkreuz (Edmonton & Regina)
Blake & Taylor Gal (Spokane & Medicine Hat)
Calvin & Chet Pickard (Seattle & Tri-City)
Brad & Nick Ross (Portland & Kamloops)
Mark & Michael Stone (Brandon & Calgary)
Cody & Dustin Sylvester (Calgary & Kootenay)
Corey & Dana Tyrell (both Prince George)
The changes keep on coming in Portland, with two players added and two players deleted yesterday. Gone are 18 year old rookie forward Ryan Anderson - who got into just 6 games this season for the Hawks - and overage forward Matt Schmermund. With Schmermund's departure, the Hawks now have zero overagers on their roster. Obviously they are planning to play the heck out of the kids and hope it yields dividends down the road.
The two new players are a pair of forwards, 17 year old Sawyer Mick and 19 year old Jonathan Milhouse. Mick is the younger brother of former Winter Hawk star (and former WHL coach) Troy Mick. Yes, younger brother. There's 22 years difference in their ages but they are apparently brothers. Milhouse is no stranger to the WHL, he had a 35-game cup of coffee three years ago with the Everett Silvertips. Milhouse leaves the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies, where he was assured of a shot at the Royal Bank Cup (since they're the hosts) to join a Hawks team which probably isn't going to contend for a title until some time after his WHL career is over. Kind of the exact opposite route that Evan Pighin chose to take.
In other player news on the left coast, Seattle has inked their 2008 4th round bantam pick, Texas forward Colin Jacobs, to a WHL education deal. This is a pretty significant signing for the Birds since Jacobs was considered a first round talent - maybe even top-ten - in the draft but he dropped so low because of questions about whether he wanted to take the WHL route. For the Birds to have signed him means they basically now have two first round-calibre players from that draft.
The Russian roster for the 2008 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge series has been named and as we've come to expect, has more dogs than the local pound. Nobody has ever heard of most of those players and nobody will ever hear of most of them again. Every year Canada trots out 60-70 of their best 16-19 year olds for this tournament and every year Russia trots out two or three players who eventually play at the WJCs for them plus 18-20 guys who couldn't play Jr B in this country. Why, oh why, do we keep playing this stupid tournament? Let's go back to CHL all-star games.
Lastly, I saw in the notes for tonight's Calgary-Brandon game that the Stone brothers, Calgary's Michael and Brandon's Mark, will face each other for the first time in the WHL tonight. Nothing new there since dozens of brother combinations have played in the WHL over the years. But it made me curious what other brother combinations are playing in the WHL this year, so I looked it up....I believe there are 9 sets this year:
Evan & Lucas Bloodoff (both with Kelowna)
Collin & Drayson Bowman (Kelowna & Spokane)
Brett & Clarke Breitkreuz (Edmonton & Regina)
Blake & Taylor Gal (Spokane & Medicine Hat)
Calvin & Chet Pickard (Seattle & Tri-City)
Brad & Nick Ross (Portland & Kamloops)
Mark & Michael Stone (Brandon & Calgary)
Cody & Dustin Sylvester (Calgary & Kootenay)
Corey & Dana Tyrell (both Prince George)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Running with Gregg's idea
....or more accurately, Bill Motiuk's idea. On Gregg Drinnan's blog today, he details Motiuk's idea for a different points system for wins and losses in hockey, graded on whether the game was decided in regulation, overtime, or a shootout. If you haven't read the article already, read it now before reading the rest of this post because you won't understand the rest of this post otherwise.
What I've done is re-worked the current WHL standings to use Motiuk's proposed system, just to see how things would be different. First, the current standings the way the WHL does it now:
(I've ranked the teams by win% in order to eliminate variance in games played)
And now, the way the standings would look using Motiuk's idea:
The last column, "Shift", is the number of places up or down in the overall standings that the team would move from their current position if Motiuk's system was used. So the biggest beneficiary of this system would be Kelowna, who are 4 positions better using this method, while the biggest drop is Kootenay, who drop four places.
A quick explanation about the winning % calculation too since you can see the winning percentage is different in the second method. I have calculated winning % in Motiuk's method as a "points percentage", the same as it is in the current standings. It's not a reflection on the number of games a team actually wins, but rather the percentage of possible points they actually get. Each game is worth three points maximum so a team that has played 20 games could have a maximum of 60 points. Thus, they would need 30 points to be a .500 team and so on.
I'm off to recalculate last year's final standings now using this method. I'll post those results later this afternoon when I'm done.
UPDATE: I've redone last year's final standings using Motiuk's idea...
Last year's final standings the way the WHL counts it up:
And the final standings they way they would be using Motiuk's system:
Seattle would gain the most, being three positions higher in the standings. Regina would lose the most, being three positions lower. Tri-City would not have been first overall, they would have been third and Vancouver would have been #1.
But would any of the playoff matchups last year have been affected? As it was we had:
Calgary vs. Moose Jaw
Regina vs. Swift Current
Lethbridge vs. Brandon
Medicine Hat vs. Kootenay
Tri-City vs. Kamloops
Vancouver vs. Chilliwack
Spokane vs. Everett
Seattle vs. Kelowna
With the alternate system, we would have seen:
Calgary vs. Moose Jaw
Brandon vs. Swift Current
Lethbridge vs. Kootenay
Medicine Hat vs. Regina
Vancouver vs. Kamloops
Spokane vs. Chilliwack
Tri-City vs. Kelowna
Seattle vs. Everett
So the matchups would have been completely different. Only #1 vs. #8 in the Eastern conference, Calgary vs Moose Jaw, would have remained the same. Most notable is that not only would Regina not have been the #2 seed, they wouldn't even have had home ice advantage in the first round.
An interesting proposal, for sure. Thoughts?
What I've done is re-worked the current WHL standings to use Motiuk's proposed system, just to see how things would be different. First, the current standings the way the WHL does it now:
(I've ranked the teams by win% in order to eliminate variance in games played)
| GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | Win % | ||
| 1 | Vancouver Giants | 19 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 0.868 |
| 2 | Calgary Hitmen | 24 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 0.812 |
| 3 | Spokane Chiefs | 20 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 0.725 |
| 4 | Tri-City Americans | 21 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 0.714 |
| 5 | Saskatoon Blades | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 0.705 |
| 6 | Swift Current Broncos | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0.636 |
| 7 | Brandon Wheat Kings | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0.625 |
| 7 | Regina Pats | 24 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 30 | 0.625 |
| 9 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 22 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 26 | 0.591 |
| 10 | Kelowna Rockets | 21 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0.571 |
| 11 | Everett Silvertips | 21 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0.548 |
| 12 | Kootenay Ice | 24 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 0.521 |
| 13 | Prince Albert Raiders | 25 | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0.520 |
| 14 | Kamloops Blazers | 23 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 0.500 |
| 15 | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 20 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 0.475 |
| 16 | Edmonton Oil Kings | 24 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 0.438 |
| 17 | Prince George Cougars | 22 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 0.432 |
| 18 | Chilliwack Bruins | 21 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 0.405 |
| 18 | Seattle Thunderbirds | 21 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 0.405 |
| 20 | Red Deer Rebels | 25 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 0.380 |
| 21 | Moose Jaw Warriors | 20 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.325 |
| 22 | Portland Winter Hawks | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0.263 |
And now, the way the standings would look using Motiuk's idea:
| GP | W | OTW | SOW | L | PTS | Win % | Shift | ||
| 1 | Vancouver Giants | 19 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 45 | 0.789 | 0 |
| 2 | Calgary Hitmen | 24 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 53 | 0.736 | 0 |
| 3 | Saskatoon Blades | 22 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 41 | 0.621 | 2 |
| 4 | Spokane Chiefs | 20 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 37 | 0.617 | -1 |
| 5 | Swift Current Broncos | 22 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 39 | 0.591 | 1 |
| 6 | Kelowna Rockets | 21 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 36 | 0.571 | 4 |
| 7 | Tri-City Americans | 21 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 34 | 0.540 | -3 |
| 8 | Brandon Wheat Kings | 20 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 0.533 | -1 |
| 9 | Regina Pats | 24 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 35 | 0.486 | -2 |
| 10 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 22 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 31 | 0.470 | -1 |
| 11 | Everett Silvertips | 21 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 26 | 0.413 | 0 |
| 12 | Prince Albert Raiders | 25 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 30 | 0.400 | 1 |
| 12 | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 20 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 24 | 0.400 | 2 |
| 14 | Kamloops Blazers | 23 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 27 | 0.391 | 0 |
| 15 | Prince George Cougars | 22 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 24 | 0.364 | 2 |
| 16 | Edmonton Oil Kings | 24 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 24 | 0.333 | 0 |
| 16 | Kootenay Ice | 24 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 24 | 0.333 | -4 |
| 18 | Seattle Thunderbirds | 21 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 17 | 0.270 | 0 |
| 19 | Moose Jaw Warriors | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 16 | 0.267 | 2 |
| 20 | Portland Winter Hawks | 19 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 0.246 | 2 |
| 21 | Chilliwack Bruins | 21 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 0.238 | -3 |
| 22 | Red Deer Rebels | 25 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 16 | 0.213 | -2 |
The last column, "Shift", is the number of places up or down in the overall standings that the team would move from their current position if Motiuk's system was used. So the biggest beneficiary of this system would be Kelowna, who are 4 positions better using this method, while the biggest drop is Kootenay, who drop four places.
A quick explanation about the winning % calculation too since you can see the winning percentage is different in the second method. I have calculated winning % in Motiuk's method as a "points percentage", the same as it is in the current standings. It's not a reflection on the number of games a team actually wins, but rather the percentage of possible points they actually get. Each game is worth three points maximum so a team that has played 20 games could have a maximum of 60 points. Thus, they would need 30 points to be a .500 team and so on.
I'm off to recalculate last year's final standings now using this method. I'll post those results later this afternoon when I'm done.
UPDATE: I've redone last year's final standings using Motiuk's idea...
Last year's final standings the way the WHL counts it up:
| GP | W | L | OTL | SOL | PTS | Win % | ||
| 1 | Tri-City Americans | 72 | 52 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 108 | 0.750 |
| 2 | Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 50 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 107 | 0.743 |
| 3 | Vancouver Giants | 72 | 49 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 106 | 0.736 |
| 4 | Calgary Hitmen | 72 | 47 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 99 | 0.688 |
| 5 | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 45 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 96 | 0.667 |
| 6 | Regina Pats | 72 | 44 | 22 | 4 | 2 | 94 | 0.653 |
| 7 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 43 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 93 | 0.646 |
| 8 | Kootenay Ice | 72 | 42 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 92 | 0.639 |
| 9 | Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 42 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 91 | 0.632 |
| 10 | Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 42 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 90 | 0.625 |
| 11 | Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 41 | 24 | 1 | 6 | 89 | 0.618 |
| 12 | Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 37 | 21 | 6 | 8 | 88 | 0.611 |
| 13 | Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 38 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 84 | 0.583 |
| 14 | Everett Silvertips | 72 | 39 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 81 | 0.562 |
| 15 | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 29 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 67 | 0.465 |
| 16 | Chilliwack Bruins | 72 | 28 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 65 | 0.451 |
| 17 | Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 27 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 58 | 0.403 |
| 18 | Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 26 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 0.396 |
| 19 | Edmonton Oil Kings | 72 | 22 | 39 | 4 | 7 | 55 | 0.382 |
| 20 | Prince George Cougars | 72 | 20 | 48 | 1 | 3 | 44 | 0.306 |
| 21 | Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 18 | 47 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 0.299 |
| 22 | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 11 | 58 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 0.174 |
And the final standings they way they would be using Motiuk's system:
| GP | W | OTW | SOW | L | PTS | Win % | Shift | ||
| 1 | Vancouver Giants | 72 | 44 | 3 | 2 | 23 | 140 | 0.648 | 2 |
| 2 | Spokane Chiefs | 72 | 44 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 139 | 0.644 | 0 |
| 3 | Tri-City Americans | 72 | 41 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 139 | 0.644 | -2 |
| 4 | Calgary Hitmen | 72 | 41 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 132 | 0.611 | 0 |
| 5 | Lethbridge Hurricanes | 72 | 38 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 123 | 0.569 | 0 |
| 6 | Seattle Thunderbirds | 72 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 121 | 0.560 | 3 |
| 7 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 72 | 35 | 5 | 3 | 29 | 118 | 0.546 | 0 |
| 8 | Brandon Wheat Kings | 72 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 117 | 0.542 | 2 |
| 9 | Regina Pats | 72 | 32 | 5 | 7 | 28 | 113 | 0.523 | -3 |
| 10 | Kootenay Ice | 72 | 31 | 6 | 5 | 30 | 110 | 0.509 | -2 |
| 11 | Swift Current Broncos | 72 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 108 | 0.500 | 0 |
| 12 | Everett Silvertips | 72 | 29 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 103 | 0.477 | 2 |
| 13 | Kelowna Rockets | 72 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 34 | 100 | 0.463 | 0 |
| 14 | Moose Jaw Warriors | 72 | 28 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 97 | 0.449 | -2 |
| 15 | Saskatoon Blades | 72 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 43 | 78 | 0.361 | 0 |
| 16 | Chilliwack Bruins | 72 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 44 | 75 | 0.347 | 0 |
| 17 | Kamloops Blazers | 72 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 45 | 72 | 0.333 | 0 |
| 17 | Prince Albert Raiders | 72 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 46 | 72 | 0.333 | 1 |
| 19 | Edmonton Oil Kings | 72 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 50 | 58 | 0.269 | 0 |
| 20 | Prince George Cougars | 72 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 52 | 55 | 0.255 | 0 |
| 21 | Red Deer Rebels | 72 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 43 | 0.199 | 0 |
| 22 | Portland Winter Hawks | 72 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 61 | 29 | 0.134 | 0 |
Seattle would gain the most, being three positions higher in the standings. Regina would lose the most, being three positions lower. Tri-City would not have been first overall, they would have been third and Vancouver would have been #1.
But would any of the playoff matchups last year have been affected? As it was we had:
Calgary vs. Moose Jaw
Regina vs. Swift Current
Lethbridge vs. Brandon
Medicine Hat vs. Kootenay
Tri-City vs. Kamloops
Vancouver vs. Chilliwack
Spokane vs. Everett
Seattle vs. Kelowna
With the alternate system, we would have seen:
Calgary vs. Moose Jaw
Brandon vs. Swift Current
Lethbridge vs. Kootenay
Medicine Hat vs. Regina
Vancouver vs. Kamloops
Spokane vs. Chilliwack
Tri-City vs. Kelowna
Seattle vs. Everett
So the matchups would have been completely different. Only #1 vs. #8 in the Eastern conference, Calgary vs Moose Jaw, would have remained the same. Most notable is that not only would Regina not have been the #2 seed, they wouldn't even have had home ice advantage in the first round.
An interesting proposal, for sure. Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)