Trade to report today, Lethbridge has dealt 18 year old forward Mark Reners to Vancouver for a 2012 5th round bantam pick. Seems like a decent pickup for the Giants since Reners was a first round pick in 2007.
Getting a 5th round pick for Reners makes Lethbridge's 2006 trade of Colton Yellow Horn look even worse....the pick the Canes used on Reners was their principal return from Tri-City for Yellow Horn, who scored 88 goals in two seasons for the Americans. Reners didn't even make it to 88 games with the Hurricanes.
One other thing to mention today; three of the four western provinces have announced their rosters for the 2011 Canada Winter Games, which goes in February in Nova Scotia. The mens's hockey portion of the tournament is restricted to 15 year olds (born in 1995) so there is no effect on WHL rosters for this tournament, but many of the WHL's best 15 year old prospects will be taking part in the tournament. The Alberta, B.C., and Manitoba rosters, with WHL affiliations:
Alberta:
G Eric Comrie - Tri-City - 2010 1st rd
G Brett Zarowny - Prince George - 2010 3rd rd
D Braiden Doucette - Moose Jaw - 2010 4th rd
D Mason Geertsen - Edmonton - 2010 1st rd
D Jared Hauf - Seattle - 2010 1st rd
D Spencer Jensen - Medicine Hat - 2010 1st rd
D Keegan Kanzig - Chilliwack - 2010 1st rd
D Jesse Lees - Kelowna - 2010 1st rd
D Josh Morrissey - Prince Albert - 2010 1st rd
F Tyson Baillie - Kelowna - 2010 3rd rd
F Cole Benson - Edmonton - 2010 9th rd
F Greg Chase - Calgary - 2010 1st rd
F Ryan Chynoweth - Everett - 2010 2nd rd
F Jaedon Descheneau - Kootenay - 2010 3rd rd
F Nelson Gadoury - Edmonton - 2010 5th rd
F Morgan Klimchuk - Regina - 2010 1st rd
F Jay Merkley - Lethbridge - 2010 1st rd
F Luke Philp - Kootenay - 2010 3rd rd
F Cole Ully - Kamloops - 2010 2nd rd
F Torrin White - Moose Jaw - 2010 1st rd
B.C.:
G Tristan Jarry - Edmonton - 2010 3rd rd
G Jackson Whistle - Vancouver - 2010 4th rd
D Dylan Bowen - no WHL affiliation
D Kyle Burroughs - Regina - 2010 3rd rd
D Josh Connolly - Kamloops - 2010 3rd rd
D Macoy Erkamps - Lethbridge - 2010 2nd rd
D Ayrton Nikkel - Saskatoon - 2010 2nd rd
D Shea Theodore - Seattle - 2010 3rd rd
F Luke Bertolucci - Edmonton - 2010 10th rd
F Brennan Clark - Chilliwack - 2010 7th rd
F Steen Cooper - Portland - 2010 4th rd
F Brett Harris - Regina - 2010 5th rd
F Luke Harrison - Chilliwack - 2010 3rd rd
F Jackson Houck - Vancouver - 2010 3rd rd
F Curtis Lazar - Edmonton - 2010 1st rd
F Matthew Needham - Kamloops - 2010 1st rd
F Nicolas Petan - Portland - 2010 1st rd
F Brandon Potomak - Moose Jaw - 2010 2nd rd
F Sam Reinhart - Kootenay - 2010 1st rd
F Cole Sanford - Medicine Hat - 2010 6th rd
Manitoba:
G Alex Moodie - Saskatoon - 2010 5th rd
G Justin Paulic - Moose Jaw - 2010 8th rd
D Dylan Betteridge - no WHL affiliation
D Denis Bosc - Swift Current - 2010 6th rd
D Madison Bowey - Kelowna - 2010 2nd rd
D Garrett Bruce - Brandon - listed player
D Kevin Pochuk - Red Deer - 2010 5th rd
D Bradley Reichardt - Saskatoon - listed player
D Paul Stoykewych - Portland - 2010 2nd rd
F Drake Bodie - Saskatoon - 2010 7th rd
F Daylon Creasy - Calgary - 2010 5th rd
F Kurt Keats - Moose Jaw - 2010 5th rd
F Remi Laurencelle - Lethbridge - 2010 8th rd
F Taeron Lewis - Tri-City - 2010 7th rd
F Braydon MacDonald - Moose Jaw - 2010 6th rd
F Geordie Maguire - Everett - 2010 5th rd
F Jonathon Martin - Kootenay - 2010 7th rd
F Derek Mulvena - no WHL affiliation
F Christian Stockl - Saskatoon - 2010 4th rd
F Nick Zajac - Saskatoon - 2010 8th rd
15 of the 22 2010 first round bantam picks are already named to the tournament. Of the remaining 7, five of them are from Saskatchewan and so they could/should be included when the SHA names its team. The other two (defenceman Dillon Heatherington from Alberta - Swift Current's pick - and forward Anthony Ast from B.C. - Vancouver's pick) are not named to their provinces' teams.
One of the discussions being generated by these selections revolves around the naming of Eric Comrie to the Alberta team. Comrie was born in Edmonton but has lived the last several years in California, where the family moved. I'm not sure why he remains eligible for the Alberta team, unless his family still has a home in Edmonton too and that somehow counts. Comrie hasn't played minor hockey in Alberta for several years though, to the best of my knowledge anyway. So should he still be named to the team, whether he's technically eligible or not? There's probably little question that he is the best '95 goalie out there who is "from Alberta", but isn't the real point that he doesn't live there anymore? Thoughts?
12 comments:
Totally agree! It would be nice if Hockey Alberta focused on developing the players who live and play here. This sets a bad precedent and shows a lack of leadership and integrity on HA's part. I wonder if HA has passed Comrie's situation by Alberta's Chef de Mission for the CWGs? This is not a low profile player you can slip past the other provinces... somebody's going to ask some questions sooner or later.
Anthony Ast never tried out for the team so it was impossible for him to make it. His team decided not to try out as they were hosting Western Canadians 10 days after the tryouts and didn't want to risk the chance of not being able to compete in Western's.
You have Dylan Bowen listed with no affiliation... is he not the same one that was drafted by Portland in the 7th round?
Yes, that is the same Dylan Bowen who was drafted by Portland in the 7th round in 2010.
But, Portland has dropped him from their protected list and currently nobody owns his rights.
As far as Comrie goes, I haven't seen the rules about eligibility for the CWGs. But I assume that Hockey Alberta would not have named a player to the team who was not (at least technically and legally) eligible to play for them. So I would assume that there is nothing in the rules to prevent them from putting him on the team.
To me the issue is more whether they SHOULD do it just because they can. Comrie (or his parents anyway) made a choice to leave Alberta and live elsewhere. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a free country, but I personally think Hockey Alberta should be focusing their attention on bettering the players who are still here in this province.
Let's face it... Hockey Alberta is a joke! What a slap in the face to all the other Alberta born players who have participated and competed at the highest level. Who have made it to the selection level, to be told FU we have no balls to say no to an influential sugar daddy who sells crappy furniture on credit!
HA you should be ashamed. You caved in to political pressure and failed at just doing the right thing!
Hockey USA thanks you!
An unbelievable call by Hockey Alberta to name Comrie to the team. He isn't a part of any minor hockey team in Alberta as he plays in LA with the U16 Midget Selects.
How can he be eligible with HockeyCAnada's residency rules? Ryan Chynoweth - who grew up in Cranbrook through CMHA - had to move with his mother to Lethbridge to play Bantam and Midget there.
As I understand it, Comrie still meets the residency requirement because his father (who is very wealthy, as we all know) still owns a home in Edmonton even though the family lives primarily in Los Angeles now.
The issue IMO is still whether they should be abiding only by the letter of the law, or by the spirit of the law. I think clearly the SPIRIT of the rule is that the player should be physically resident in Alberta, not just "own a residence".
The door was left open when he was allowed to participate in the Alberta Cup last spring. The comment that this may not meet the "spirit" of the Elite Development program is valid. I would be upset if my kid was the #3-ranked Goaltender, as Comrie has been playing in LA for several years.
HOWEVER, is there a difference than a kid from BC going to Notre Dame for a few years and returning back to Lotusland each spring to try out for provincial teams? And please make no mistake - this kid is definitely talented enough to make this team. Pop's wealth likely was the reason he was eligible my maintaining a residence here, but the kid's ability should not be questioned.
The CWG eligibilty rules are on the CWG website as part of the Hockey Technical Package. After reading it I have a hard time seeing how Comrie meets the letter of the rules, never mind the intent. Either way it SHOULD NOT happen. Bad decision by Hockey Alberta to give away 50% of their goalie development spots.
There is a difference between Comrie and a BC player going to Notre Dame. Presumably the parents don't move to Wilcox, Sask with him.
Oh, I don't think anyone is questioning whether he's good enough to be on the team. He was the first goalie picked in the bantam draft last year so that alone should silence any doubters about whether he belongs in a tournament for elite '95s.
I do think this is different from the Notre Dame example though. In your Notre Dame case, the parents aren't just maintaining a residence in B.C., they are actually living there while their kid goes to a boarding school in Saskatchewan.
If Bill Comrie was actually living in Edmonton while the kid went to school and played hockey in L.A. during the winters, this wouldn't be an issue since clearly the kid's primary place of residence would still be in Alberta. But that's not the case and I think that's the issue - the parents' primary residence during the hockey season is not in Alberta.
Well said Alan.... it's just a very bad decision by Hockey Alberta. Semantics aside, HA needed to demonstrate some level of loyalty to the number three "Albertan".
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