To the surprise of mill......err....nobody, the Edmonton Oilers made official today that #1 overall pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will NOT be returned to the Red Deer Rebels.
This is a blow to the Rebels, who with Nugent-Hopkins in their lineup may have been the team to beat in the WHL's Eastern Conference. Without him, they're probably just one of several teams with a chance there now. It's also obviously a blow to the Canadian World Junior team, where Nugent-Hopkins joins the list of elite talents who never suited up for Canada at that tournament.
And of course WHL fans in general get deprived of watching the best two years of this amazing player's junior career, so we all lose on that. But watching him with the Oilers so far, it's really hard to make an argument that he doesn't belong there - and that's one of the major purposes of the WHL, after all - to prepare kids for the NHL. He's ready to move on.
Friday, October 28, 2011
More on Neepawa
More news on the Neepawa Natives hazing incident this morning...
First, the assistant coach who was reportedly in the dressing room during the hazing quit his position with the team last night. I think this is a positive move, because having him around the seven players he failed to stand up for is not a good move for anyone. I question though why the team itself didn't dismiss him immediately after the league issued its report on the incident.
Second, the team says the player who lodged the complaint will be traded to another MJHL team, at his request. The team and the league are working on facilitating the move as quickly as possible, which indeed is probably the best thing for all parties involved.
Third, in the same article, a University of Manitoba law professor gives a good analysis of whether or not what happened was the criminal offence of sexual assault. I know my first reaction upon hearing what was inflicted upon these players was "how is this NOT sexual assault?", and I'm sure many others asked the same question. Because then you really have to ask yourself whether a 1 - 5 game suspension from the MJHL is adequate punishment for something which gets other people 1 - 5 years in the slammer. But the professor points out that the players involved may have "consented" to what was done to them by not refusing to take part.
In any case, the police are investigating and I sincerely hope that if they feel they can make a case against any of the players involved, that they do lay charges. Having some offenders sent to jail for this stuff would send a very powerful warning against this kind of behavior happening again in the future somewhere.
And lastly, but definitely not least, it seems the local Neepawa community is sticking up for the victims - starting with the local radio station announcing that it will refuse to carry advertising for the team AND refuse to even mention the team on its airwaves until the team publicly apologizes to the victimized players and dismisses the two involved coaches. Obviously one of the coaches has already quit, so that second request is halfway completed.
The news in that last paragraph is awesome to hear, because IMO the actions of the team do not show they are taking this incident seriously enough. Making the victim apologize to the team for lodging a complaint??? Not dismissing the assistant coach ASAP??? Why are the ringleaders of the hazing still on the team, are these the kind of people the team wants representing them??? So many questions about how the team has handled this, so it's nice to see the community - essentially the team's own supporters - are going to help hold people accountable.
And one more note - I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to Neate Sager's blog for all the links to the articles I linked above.....he has some good analysis of the whole incident there on his blog if you want to pop over and read it.
UPDATE: the MJHL announced this morning that they are re-opening their investigation into the incident, due to "several players recanting their earlier testimony". We'll see what comes of this....
First, the assistant coach who was reportedly in the dressing room during the hazing quit his position with the team last night. I think this is a positive move, because having him around the seven players he failed to stand up for is not a good move for anyone. I question though why the team itself didn't dismiss him immediately after the league issued its report on the incident.
Second, the team says the player who lodged the complaint will be traded to another MJHL team, at his request. The team and the league are working on facilitating the move as quickly as possible, which indeed is probably the best thing for all parties involved.
Third, in the same article, a University of Manitoba law professor gives a good analysis of whether or not what happened was the criminal offence of sexual assault. I know my first reaction upon hearing what was inflicted upon these players was "how is this NOT sexual assault?", and I'm sure many others asked the same question. Because then you really have to ask yourself whether a 1 - 5 game suspension from the MJHL is adequate punishment for something which gets other people 1 - 5 years in the slammer. But the professor points out that the players involved may have "consented" to what was done to them by not refusing to take part.
In any case, the police are investigating and I sincerely hope that if they feel they can make a case against any of the players involved, that they do lay charges. Having some offenders sent to jail for this stuff would send a very powerful warning against this kind of behavior happening again in the future somewhere.
And lastly, but definitely not least, it seems the local Neepawa community is sticking up for the victims - starting with the local radio station announcing that it will refuse to carry advertising for the team AND refuse to even mention the team on its airwaves until the team publicly apologizes to the victimized players and dismisses the two involved coaches. Obviously one of the coaches has already quit, so that second request is halfway completed.
The news in that last paragraph is awesome to hear, because IMO the actions of the team do not show they are taking this incident seriously enough. Making the victim apologize to the team for lodging a complaint??? Not dismissing the assistant coach ASAP??? Why are the ringleaders of the hazing still on the team, are these the kind of people the team wants representing them??? So many questions about how the team has handled this, so it's nice to see the community - essentially the team's own supporters - are going to help hold people accountable.
And one more note - I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to Neate Sager's blog for all the links to the articles I linked above.....he has some good analysis of the whole incident there on his blog if you want to pop over and read it.
UPDATE: the MJHL announced this morning that they are re-opening their investigation into the incident, due to "several players recanting their earlier testimony". We'll see what comes of this....
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Hazing back in the headlines
Hazing in hockey is back in the headlines this week after an incident in late September involving seven rookie members of the Manitoba Jr A Neepawa Natives resulted in one of the players lodging a complaint against the team.
The MJHL launched an investigation of the incident, and upon the conclusion of the investigation the league suspended 16 players on the team (basically every member of the team except for the victimized players) for between 1 to 5 games apiece, fined the team $5,000 and suspended the head coach for 2 games (though he was apparently unaware the hazing was going on) and an assistant coach (who was in the room) for 5 games.
More details of exactly what transpired can be found in this CBC article, and this Winnipeg Free Press piece.
It's not pretty.
Hazing has long been a "dirty little secret" associated with team sports at all kinds of levels - the kind of thing that happened behind closed doors and was seldom spoken about. Once again though, we're forced to confront this kind of depravity that sometimes goes on.
I think most folks would agree that some level of harmless, light-hearted fun is a good thing in building team cohesion. But there is a line across which it's no longer harmless and light-hearted; I think intuitively we all know where that line is. NHL teams frequently hold "rookie dinners" where the team goes to a restaurant for an extravagant meal, which the team's rookies get stuck with the bill for. Some Major League Baseball teams have a tradition of having their rookies wear some kind of silly costume during a travel day. These are probably good examples of harmless and light-hearted. The kind of degradation, complete with homoerotic undertones, that we see in the Neepawa incident is not. And this is 2011, not 1951 - everyone involved in that incident knew it was unacceptable behavior but did it anyway. And this needs to be punished appropriately - to drive home the point, yet again, that this is unacceptable.
So is the MJHL's punishment severe enough? What do you think?
The MJHL launched an investigation of the incident, and upon the conclusion of the investigation the league suspended 16 players on the team (basically every member of the team except for the victimized players) for between 1 to 5 games apiece, fined the team $5,000 and suspended the head coach for 2 games (though he was apparently unaware the hazing was going on) and an assistant coach (who was in the room) for 5 games.
More details of exactly what transpired can be found in this CBC article, and this Winnipeg Free Press piece.
It's not pretty.
Hazing has long been a "dirty little secret" associated with team sports at all kinds of levels - the kind of thing that happened behind closed doors and was seldom spoken about. Once again though, we're forced to confront this kind of depravity that sometimes goes on.
I think most folks would agree that some level of harmless, light-hearted fun is a good thing in building team cohesion. But there is a line across which it's no longer harmless and light-hearted; I think intuitively we all know where that line is. NHL teams frequently hold "rookie dinners" where the team goes to a restaurant for an extravagant meal, which the team's rookies get stuck with the bill for. Some Major League Baseball teams have a tradition of having their rookies wear some kind of silly costume during a travel day. These are probably good examples of harmless and light-hearted. The kind of degradation, complete with homoerotic undertones, that we see in the Neepawa incident is not. And this is 2011, not 1951 - everyone involved in that incident knew it was unacceptable behavior but did it anyway. And this needs to be punished appropriately - to drive home the point, yet again, that this is unacceptable.
So is the MJHL's punishment severe enough? What do you think?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
And another deal
No sooner do I finish the post about the Cgy-MJ deal, than there is another one announced: Seattle sends 19 year old defenceman Erik Fleming to Swift Current for a conditional 2012 bantam pick. I'm going to guess that the pick depends on how much Fleming plays for the Broncos.
Fleming was Seattle's first round bantam pick at one time but obviously hasn't quite lived up to that promise. Here he'll get a fresh start with the Broncos.
Fleming was Seattle's first round bantam pick at one time but obviously hasn't quite lived up to that promise. Here he'll get a fresh start with the Broncos.
Warriors/Hitmen swap
Calgary and Moose Jaw make a 2-for-2 (plus a pick) trade this afternoon: the Hitmen send overage forward Kenton Miller and 19 year old forward Justin Kirsch to the Warriors, and in return the Warriors send overage defenceman Collin Bowman, 18 year old forward Joey Kornelsen, and a 2012 4th round bantam pick to the Hitmen.
I'm a little unsure about this deal from the Warriors standpoint. They had a glut of defencemen and had to move one, I get that - and Bowman is a great fit in Calgary, who really need a puck moving, powerplay QB kind of guy on their defence. But Kenton Miller is a pretty average overager (remember Calgary got him for free on waivers in the summer) who probably wouldn't crack the overage trios on a number of teams in the league. So the only key player the Warriors are getting in the deal is Kirsch - who could probably score 30 goals each of this season and next.
For that the Warriors gave up a pretty good defenceman in Bowman, a 4th round pick, AND Kornelsen - who is a former 2nd round bantam pick who seems on the cusp of realizing some of that potential?
I'm a little unsure about this deal from the Warriors standpoint. They had a glut of defencemen and had to move one, I get that - and Bowman is a great fit in Calgary, who really need a puck moving, powerplay QB kind of guy on their defence. But Kenton Miller is a pretty average overager (remember Calgary got him for free on waivers in the summer) who probably wouldn't crack the overage trios on a number of teams in the league. So the only key player the Warriors are getting in the deal is Kirsch - who could probably score 30 goals each of this season and next.
For that the Warriors gave up a pretty good defenceman in Bowman, a 4th round pick, AND Kornelsen - who is a former 2nd round bantam pick who seems on the cusp of realizing some of that potential?
Monday, October 24, 2011
Overage swap
Medicine Hat and Prince Albert have swapped overagers this morning, with the Tigers sending forward Kellan Tochkin to Prince Albert and the Raiders sending defenceman James Bettauer and a 2013 6th round pick to the Tigers.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Connor retires
Bit of a twist to that Giants-Raiders trade from Monday - Austin Connor has elected to retire from hockey rather than report to the Giants.
As a result, Prince Albert has given Vancouver a 2013 4th round bantam pick as compensation. That deal is now Tyler Hart and Teal Burns from Vancouver to Prince Albert for Arvin Atwal and a 2013 4th round pick.
As a result, Prince Albert has given Vancouver a 2013 4th round bantam pick as compensation. That deal is now Tyler Hart and Teal Burns from Vancouver to Prince Albert for Arvin Atwal and a 2013 4th round pick.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
More trades
Three more trades yesterday:
- the biggest deal saw Vancouver send 19 year old defenceman Tyler Hart and 19 year old forward Teal Burns to the Prince Albert Raiders in return for 19 year old forward Austin Connor and 16 year old defenceman Arvin Atwal.
- Red Deer traded 17 year old defenceman Lucas Grayson to Everett for a 2012 4th round bantam pick.
- Regina sent 19 year old forward Campbell Elynuik to Prince George for a conditional 6th round pick in 2012. I imagine the condition requires Elynuik to remain in the WHL past a certain point this year.
Notes on these deals:
- the first deal is Vancouver getting bigger and tougher. Connor is a big boy with some pugilistic experience who is going to Vancouver to look out for some of their smaller players. For the Raiders, Hart and Burns add depth to their team although neither is going to be a top line player.
- second deal is Red Deer clearing their glut of defencemen. Everett benefits by getting a promising young defencemen at a reasonable price.
- Elynuik deal is his 2nd trade this season, he was earlier moved from Everett to Regina. Didn't fit in in Regina I guess - I believe there was some concern among the coaches there over some foolish penalties Elynuik was taking. Maybe they got tired of waiting for a 19 year old to get their message.
One other move too, the Raiders have released 17 year old import defenceman Kristaps Bazevics and added 18 year old import forward Michal Hlinka. Hlinka played 45 games in the WHL last year for Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, and was released by the Raiders prior to the import draft in order to make room for the selection of Bazevics. Obviously they're not thrilled with that exchange (they've only dressed Bazevics in 2 of their 12 games this year) and are able to reverse it now since nobody else has picked up Hlinka in the interim.
- the biggest deal saw Vancouver send 19 year old defenceman Tyler Hart and 19 year old forward Teal Burns to the Prince Albert Raiders in return for 19 year old forward Austin Connor and 16 year old defenceman Arvin Atwal.
- Red Deer traded 17 year old defenceman Lucas Grayson to Everett for a 2012 4th round bantam pick.
- Regina sent 19 year old forward Campbell Elynuik to Prince George for a conditional 6th round pick in 2012. I imagine the condition requires Elynuik to remain in the WHL past a certain point this year.
Notes on these deals:
- the first deal is Vancouver getting bigger and tougher. Connor is a big boy with some pugilistic experience who is going to Vancouver to look out for some of their smaller players. For the Raiders, Hart and Burns add depth to their team although neither is going to be a top line player.
- second deal is Red Deer clearing their glut of defencemen. Everett benefits by getting a promising young defencemen at a reasonable price.
- Elynuik deal is his 2nd trade this season, he was earlier moved from Everett to Regina. Didn't fit in in Regina I guess - I believe there was some concern among the coaches there over some foolish penalties Elynuik was taking. Maybe they got tired of waiting for a 19 year old to get their message.
One other move too, the Raiders have released 17 year old import defenceman Kristaps Bazevics and added 18 year old import forward Michal Hlinka. Hlinka played 45 games in the WHL last year for Moose Jaw and Prince Albert, and was released by the Raiders prior to the import draft in order to make room for the selection of Bazevics. Obviously they're not thrilled with that exchange (they've only dressed Bazevics in 2 of their 12 games this year) and are able to reverse it now since nobody else has picked up Hlinka in the interim.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Hurricanes fans: buy a program
Four trades in the WHL yesterday, including three involving the Lethbridge Hurricanes as the 'Canes conducted a mini-makeover just one month into the season.
First, the Hurricanes dealt '92 defenceman Derek Ryckman to the Tri-City Americans for a 2012 4th round bantam pick.
They followed that up by trading '92 goaltender Brandon Anderson and their 2012 3rd and 6th round bantam picks to the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for '93 goaltender Liam Liston and '93 defenceman Spencer Galbraith.
Then in their third deal of the day, they sent '93 defenceman Reid Jackson and a 2012 5th round bantam pick to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for '92 forward Nick Buonassisi.
The fourth deal, which somehow did not include Lethbridge, might have been the biggest deal of the day in the long term: Saskatoon traded overage forward Darian Dziurzynski to Brandon in exchange for a 2012 2nd round bantam pick, a 2013 2nd round bantam pick, and a 2014 3rd round bantam pick.
Now some thoughts on these deals....
First, the Dziurzynski deal. I admit my first thought when I heard this one was "three high picks for Darian Dziurzynski???". But then when you think about it some more, it's maybe not quite so bad because after all, Dziurzynski is one of the best combinations of skill and toughness in the WHL right now. He can beat you with a goal and he can beat you with his fists too. So you have to expect to pay a price for a guy like that. But even with all that said, the price seems very high - two 2nd round picks and a 3rd round pick. We all laughed when a deal like this happened in reverse last year - Schenn from Brandon to Saskatoon for a boatload of prospects and picks. Obviously Dziurzynski is no Schenn and that's why the haul is smaller but it's still IMO way too much to be giving up for Dziurzynski. It's not unusual to pay a 2nd or 3rd round pick for a good quality overager in the league but two 2nds and a 3rd?
Definitely for the Blades, this deal goes a long way towards offsetting the painful long-term impact of the Schenn deal. They gave up their first round picks in 2010, 2011, and 2012 in that deal but now they just got back two of Brandon's 2nd round picks - and at least they now have two 2nd round picks in 2012 even though they don't have a first.
The other big deal also involved Brandon and saw them pick up goaltender Brandon Anderson, who I figured several weeks ago was probably on his way out of Lethbridge after the Damian Ketlo acquisition. This is kind of an intriguing deal though because it doesn't really resolve either team's goaltending situations IMO. Lethbridge's problem was that they had three goalies. Well, they still have three goalies now and Liston is going to want to play more than he did in Brandon and not back up Ketlo. And can't forget Tanner Kovacs is still there as well. As for Brandon, they had a decent tandem going on there with Corbin Boes starting and Liston backing him up. Anderson is an upgrade on Liston but Anderson isn't going to Brandon to be the backup which means he's going to take a lot of Boes' starts. How does Boes feel about that after getting off to a good start?
I like the acquisition of Galbraith by the Hurricanes though. He's a feisty kid, maybe TOO feisty and needs to tone it down a bit, but he can be an effective player in the league.
For Lethbridge though.....three deals see them move out two d-men and a goalie and a bunch of picks and get back a d-man, a goalie and a forward. However, I don't see them being any better today than they were yesterday. They gave up the best goalie (Anderson) and the best defenceman (Ryckman) in the deals IMO so unless Buonassisi is the answer to their problems.....which I don't think he is.....then I'm not sure why all these deals were made.
Incidentally, even after all their trades the Canes still have Tayler Balog even though he's sitting at home and not playing anywhere. At one time Balog was considered a pretty good prospect and was a key player in the first Carter Ashton deal. Point a game player in midget last year as a 16 year old....what's the holdup here, play him or trade him?
First, the Hurricanes dealt '92 defenceman Derek Ryckman to the Tri-City Americans for a 2012 4th round bantam pick.
They followed that up by trading '92 goaltender Brandon Anderson and their 2012 3rd and 6th round bantam picks to the Brandon Wheat Kings in exchange for '93 goaltender Liam Liston and '93 defenceman Spencer Galbraith.
Then in their third deal of the day, they sent '93 defenceman Reid Jackson and a 2012 5th round bantam pick to the Prince George Cougars in exchange for '92 forward Nick Buonassisi.
The fourth deal, which somehow did not include Lethbridge, might have been the biggest deal of the day in the long term: Saskatoon traded overage forward Darian Dziurzynski to Brandon in exchange for a 2012 2nd round bantam pick, a 2013 2nd round bantam pick, and a 2014 3rd round bantam pick.
Now some thoughts on these deals....
First, the Dziurzynski deal. I admit my first thought when I heard this one was "three high picks for Darian Dziurzynski???". But then when you think about it some more, it's maybe not quite so bad because after all, Dziurzynski is one of the best combinations of skill and toughness in the WHL right now. He can beat you with a goal and he can beat you with his fists too. So you have to expect to pay a price for a guy like that. But even with all that said, the price seems very high - two 2nd round picks and a 3rd round pick. We all laughed when a deal like this happened in reverse last year - Schenn from Brandon to Saskatoon for a boatload of prospects and picks. Obviously Dziurzynski is no Schenn and that's why the haul is smaller but it's still IMO way too much to be giving up for Dziurzynski. It's not unusual to pay a 2nd or 3rd round pick for a good quality overager in the league but two 2nds and a 3rd?
Definitely for the Blades, this deal goes a long way towards offsetting the painful long-term impact of the Schenn deal. They gave up their first round picks in 2010, 2011, and 2012 in that deal but now they just got back two of Brandon's 2nd round picks - and at least they now have two 2nd round picks in 2012 even though they don't have a first.
The other big deal also involved Brandon and saw them pick up goaltender Brandon Anderson, who I figured several weeks ago was probably on his way out of Lethbridge after the Damian Ketlo acquisition. This is kind of an intriguing deal though because it doesn't really resolve either team's goaltending situations IMO. Lethbridge's problem was that they had three goalies. Well, they still have three goalies now and Liston is going to want to play more than he did in Brandon and not back up Ketlo. And can't forget Tanner Kovacs is still there as well. As for Brandon, they had a decent tandem going on there with Corbin Boes starting and Liston backing him up. Anderson is an upgrade on Liston but Anderson isn't going to Brandon to be the backup which means he's going to take a lot of Boes' starts. How does Boes feel about that after getting off to a good start?
I like the acquisition of Galbraith by the Hurricanes though. He's a feisty kid, maybe TOO feisty and needs to tone it down a bit, but he can be an effective player in the league.
For Lethbridge though.....three deals see them move out two d-men and a goalie and a bunch of picks and get back a d-man, a goalie and a forward. However, I don't see them being any better today than they were yesterday. They gave up the best goalie (Anderson) and the best defenceman (Ryckman) in the deals IMO so unless Buonassisi is the answer to their problems.....which I don't think he is.....then I'm not sure why all these deals were made.
Incidentally, even after all their trades the Canes still have Tayler Balog even though he's sitting at home and not playing anywhere. At one time Balog was considered a pretty good prospect and was a key player in the first Carter Ashton deal. Point a game player in midget last year as a 16 year old....what's the holdup here, play him or trade him?
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Pats-Hurricanes trade
Lethbridge resolved their overage situation today by dealing forward Matt Marantz to the Regina Pats for a 2013 4th round bantam pick. Regina had an open overage spot and so were able to make this deal without having to move out anyone else.
Marantz was only a Hurricane for two weeks, having been acquired from Spokane for a 2012 4th round pick back in late September.
I have to confess to some head-scratching about what Lethbridge is doing with their overagers here. Why even acquire Marantz - creating the overage logjam in the first place - if you weren't sure he could be one of your three guys? They brought him in for two weeks, sat out another overager they gave up a good pick for - goalie Damian Ketlo - for six games so that Marantz could play, then trade him away again.
What if nobody had wanted to trade for Marantz? Then tomorrow the Canes would have released him and gotten nothing for that 4th round pick, while the Pats could have claimed him for free.
Meanwhile, they are now using an overage spot on a goalie who hasn't played in over two weeks and who would seem, on paper anyway, to be a backup to 19 year old Brandon Anderson. And there's still a 17 year old 3rd goalie in the picture too, Tanner Kovacs.
These Hurricanes moves are just not making a lot of sense to me.
Marantz was only a Hurricane for two weeks, having been acquired from Spokane for a 2012 4th round pick back in late September.
I have to confess to some head-scratching about what Lethbridge is doing with their overagers here. Why even acquire Marantz - creating the overage logjam in the first place - if you weren't sure he could be one of your three guys? They brought him in for two weeks, sat out another overager they gave up a good pick for - goalie Damian Ketlo - for six games so that Marantz could play, then trade him away again.
What if nobody had wanted to trade for Marantz? Then tomorrow the Canes would have released him and gotten nothing for that 4th round pick, while the Pats could have claimed him for free.
Meanwhile, they are now using an overage spot on a goalie who hasn't played in over two weeks and who would seem, on paper anyway, to be a backup to 19 year old Brandon Anderson. And there's still a 17 year old 3rd goalie in the picture too, Tanner Kovacs.
These Hurricanes moves are just not making a lot of sense to me.
Wednesday notes
Today's the day: late this afternoon the WHL will announce which of three teams: Kelowna, Red Deer, and Saskatoon - has been chosen to host the 2013 Memorial Cup. In time-honored tradition, that team will immediately begin trading their 19 year olds and adding good 17 & 18 year old players in order to ensure they have a top team next year.
OK, maybe the changes won't start quite so soon. But there's no doubt that knowing who is hosting the Memorial Cup changes some teams' approaches to both next season and this current season. Obviously the biggest effect is on the team hosting the Cup, which now has to make every effort to ensure they have a team worthy of being in the tournament when the big date arrives. But it also affects other teams in the league - as a simple example, if you're a team in the opposite conference from the host team, it potentially just got 25% easier to qualify to play in the tournament.
Of course nobody builds a team with "lose in the WHL final to the Memorial Cup hosts and get the back door entry into the Cup" as their goal. But it's a nice consolation prize if you can't win the league title. Something worth pursuing for sure.
For what it's worth, my money is on Red Deer or Saskatoon to win the hosting privileges. Kelowna hosted the Cup just 8 years ago and I think that is far too recent to be awarding them the Cup again - not when there's 10-15 other deserving teams in the league that have not hosted it in that time.
If I had to pick one.....I'd bet on Red Deer getting it.
Also, tomorrow is the league roster deadline and two teams - Lethbridge and Swift Current - are still over the three overager limit and will have to make a move in the next 24+ hours. Saskatoon also has too many overagers but since one of theirs (Darian Dziurzynski) recently returned from the pros, the Blades will get an extension on the deadline, up to two weeks from the date Dziurzynski came back to them.
OK, maybe the changes won't start quite so soon. But there's no doubt that knowing who is hosting the Memorial Cup changes some teams' approaches to both next season and this current season. Obviously the biggest effect is on the team hosting the Cup, which now has to make every effort to ensure they have a team worthy of being in the tournament when the big date arrives. But it also affects other teams in the league - as a simple example, if you're a team in the opposite conference from the host team, it potentially just got 25% easier to qualify to play in the tournament.
Of course nobody builds a team with "lose in the WHL final to the Memorial Cup hosts and get the back door entry into the Cup" as their goal. But it's a nice consolation prize if you can't win the league title. Something worth pursuing for sure.
For what it's worth, my money is on Red Deer or Saskatoon to win the hosting privileges. Kelowna hosted the Cup just 8 years ago and I think that is far too recent to be awarding them the Cup again - not when there's 10-15 other deserving teams in the league that have not hosted it in that time.
If I had to pick one.....I'd bet on Red Deer getting it.
Also, tomorrow is the league roster deadline and two teams - Lethbridge and Swift Current - are still over the three overager limit and will have to make a move in the next 24+ hours. Saskatoon also has too many overagers but since one of theirs (Darian Dziurzynski) recently returned from the pros, the Blades will get an extension on the deadline, up to two weeks from the date Dziurzynski came back to them.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Roster rundowns
Next Thursday, October 13, is overage deadline day in the WHL. All teams must be down to three (or fewer) overage players that day, as well as be down to 25 (or fewer) total players on their active roster.
With that in mind, here's a quick look at the status of all the teams and what moves they may have to make in the next week:
Brandon: 24 total players and only 2 overagers, they're fine. They can even add another overager if they want without having to adjust anything else.
Calgary: the Hitmen have 26 players and 5 overagers on their roster. Something will have to be done with the two extra overagers, which of course will also bring the total roster down to 24. Complicating matters is that one overager, defenceman Ben Wilson, is still on an AHL tryout with Lake Erie; I believe he doesn't count towards Calgary's roster until (if) he returns from the pros, at which time they will have two weeks to make a move. Calgary's other overager-odd-man-out would appear likely to be goaltender Mike Snider, as the team is still carrying three goaltenders. Releasing/trading Snider would resolve that issue.
Edmonton: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. 25 number includes Travis Ewanyk, who is on long-term injured list.
Everett: 26 skaters and 3 overagers, although I believe forward Manraj Hayer is on the long-term injured list and does not count towards the roster right now. So technically they have 25 and they're fine.
Kamloops: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed.
Kelowna: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. 25 includes Jason Siebert, who is on long-term injured list.
Kootenay: have 23 skaters and 3 overagers, so they're good
Lethbridge: 27 skaters and 4 overagers, and that's with injured overage forward Austin Fyten and suspended forward Tayler Balog already subtracted from the roster. If you want to count Balog, it's 28. Clearly there are several moves coming from the windy city in the next week - at least 1 overager and 1 or 2 other players have to move out.
Medicine Hat: 24 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Moose Jaw: 26 skaters, so at least one skater will have to be moved out unless Quinton Howdon's injury is sufficient that he gets placed on the injured list.
Portland: 27 skaters, but two (Johansen and Niederreiter) are in the NHL and don't count until they return (IF they return), plus Pearce Eviston is on the injured list and doesn't count either. So they're actually A-OK. They also only have two overagers on the roster now that Riley Boychuk appears to be not coming back, so they can add another overager if they choose.
Prince Albert: 24 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Prince George: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. The 25 includes Brett Connolly, who is in the NHL and doesn't actually count though, so they have 24.
Red Deer: 26 skaters but Nugent-Hopkins is in the NHL and doesn't count. They're fine.
Regina: 24 skaters and only 2 overagers, so they could add another overager. They may also be waiting/hoping for Garrett Mitchell to be returned from Washington's AHL camp to fill that overage spot though.
Saskatoon: 25 skaters, but 4 overagers. The Blades will have to move out one of their four overage forwards in the next week. Could possibly still get Curtis Hamilton back from the AHL as well which would give them another overager, though they would then have 2 weeks to sort it out.
Seattle: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Spokane: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Swift Current: 25 skaters, but four are overagers. With new goalie Jon Groenheyde seemingly safe, the Broncos will be moving one of their three overage forwards this week, I would think.
Tri-City: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Vancouver: have 27 skaters BUT Connor Redmond is on long-term injured list and I think Neil Manning may be on it now too as his injury status is now "one month+", so those two probably don't count and bring the Giants down to 25.
Victoria: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. Could still get Curt Gogol back from the AHL too though he is signed.
For all the teams that don't have to make moves, that's not to say they won't, of course. Most teams do not carry 25 (or even 24) players throughout the season so there will still be some cuts from many of those teams. They just don't have that deadline right now.
With that in mind, here's a quick look at the status of all the teams and what moves they may have to make in the next week:
Brandon: 24 total players and only 2 overagers, they're fine. They can even add another overager if they want without having to adjust anything else.
Calgary: the Hitmen have 26 players and 5 overagers on their roster. Something will have to be done with the two extra overagers, which of course will also bring the total roster down to 24. Complicating matters is that one overager, defenceman Ben Wilson, is still on an AHL tryout with Lake Erie; I believe he doesn't count towards Calgary's roster until (if) he returns from the pros, at which time they will have two weeks to make a move. Calgary's other overager-odd-man-out would appear likely to be goaltender Mike Snider, as the team is still carrying three goaltenders. Releasing/trading Snider would resolve that issue.
Edmonton: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. 25 number includes Travis Ewanyk, who is on long-term injured list.
Everett: 26 skaters and 3 overagers, although I believe forward Manraj Hayer is on the long-term injured list and does not count towards the roster right now. So technically they have 25 and they're fine.
Kamloops: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed.
Kelowna: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. 25 includes Jason Siebert, who is on long-term injured list.
Kootenay: have 23 skaters and 3 overagers, so they're good
Lethbridge: 27 skaters and 4 overagers, and that's with injured overage forward Austin Fyten and suspended forward Tayler Balog already subtracted from the roster. If you want to count Balog, it's 28. Clearly there are several moves coming from the windy city in the next week - at least 1 overager and 1 or 2 other players have to move out.
Medicine Hat: 24 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Moose Jaw: 26 skaters, so at least one skater will have to be moved out unless Quinton Howdon's injury is sufficient that he gets placed on the injured list.
Portland: 27 skaters, but two (Johansen and Niederreiter) are in the NHL and don't count until they return (IF they return), plus Pearce Eviston is on the injured list and doesn't count either. So they're actually A-OK. They also only have two overagers on the roster now that Riley Boychuk appears to be not coming back, so they can add another overager if they choose.
Prince Albert: 24 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Prince George: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. The 25 includes Brett Connolly, who is in the NHL and doesn't actually count though, so they have 24.
Red Deer: 26 skaters but Nugent-Hopkins is in the NHL and doesn't count. They're fine.
Regina: 24 skaters and only 2 overagers, so they could add another overager. They may also be waiting/hoping for Garrett Mitchell to be returned from Washington's AHL camp to fill that overage spot though.
Saskatoon: 25 skaters, but 4 overagers. The Blades will have to move out one of their four overage forwards in the next week. Could possibly still get Curtis Hamilton back from the AHL as well which would give them another overager, though they would then have 2 weeks to sort it out.
Seattle: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Spokane: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Swift Current: 25 skaters, but four are overagers. With new goalie Jon Groenheyde seemingly safe, the Broncos will be moving one of their three overage forwards this week, I would think.
Tri-City: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here.
Vancouver: have 27 skaters BUT Connor Redmond is on long-term injured list and I think Neil Manning may be on it now too as his injury status is now "one month+", so those two probably don't count and bring the Giants down to 25.
Victoria: 25 skaters and 3 overagers, no moves needed here. Could still get Curt Gogol back from the AHL too though he is signed.
For all the teams that don't have to make moves, that's not to say they won't, of course. Most teams do not carry 25 (or even 24) players throughout the season so there will still be some cuts from many of those teams. They just don't have that deadline right now.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Fyten out
Bad news from the Lethbridge Hurricanes today, as it turns out overage forward Austin Fyten will need surgery on his injured knee and will be out of the lineup for at least six months.
Six months takes us to early April, which means that he won't be able to return until probably the 2nd round of the playoffs at the earliest, and therefore it is quite likely that Fyten's WHL career is over. Unfortunate for him for sure.
With the loss of Fyten, Lethbridge now has only four overagers on their roster and not five.
Six months takes us to early April, which means that he won't be able to return until probably the 2nd round of the playoffs at the earliest, and therefore it is quite likely that Fyten's WHL career is over. Unfortunate for him for sure.
With the loss of Fyten, Lethbridge now has only four overagers on their roster and not five.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Musical goalies
Two trades in the WHL this morning, both involving goaltenders. One trade yesterday, also involving a goaltender. And two veteran goaltenders released yesterday too. It's been a busy 24 hours for the members of the fraternity of masked men.
First yesterday's deal: Everett sent 19 year old goaltender Luke Siemens to Moose Jaw in exchange for 18 year old forward Matt Grant, and Moose Jaw's 2012 and 2013 3rd round bantam picks. Grant is currently in the BCHL this year after spending last season in Moose Jaw; it is not known whether he will be joining Everett right away or at all.
Following the trade, Moose Jaw released overage goaltender Devan Dubyk plus last year's backup goalie, 18 year old Brandon Stone - meaning they're going with Siemens and 17 year old rookie Spencer Tremblay now.
Today's first deal saw Edmonton trade overage goaltender Jon Groenheyde to Swift Current for overage forward Jordan Peddle.
And the 2nd deal today, a big one, sees Vancouver trade 18 year old defenceman Zach Hodder (who went home last week to await a trade) plus overage forward Michael Burns and a 2013 4th round pick, to Saskatoon for overage goaltender Adam Morrison and 17 year old forward Levi Bews.
Some thoughts on all these moves:
- Everett had two 19 year old goalies and something had to give there, so the move of Siemens is not a surprise. And even if Grant never plays for them, they did pretty well in getting two 3rd round picks for a 19 year old who has never been a #1 goalie before and has only 1300 minutes in the league.
- For Moose Jaw, obviously they think Siemens is the answer to their goalie situation, since they promptly got rid of the only other two goalies on their roster with any WHL experience.
- Edmonton had to move Groenheyde since their goalie of the future (and present) is 18 year old Laurent Brossoit. Getting Peddle gives them another veteran up front to help out while Travis Ewanyk is out with his injury.
- for Swift Current, picking up Groenheyde addresses their starting goaltender position which was left wide open when import goalie Steffan Soberg bolted back home late in camp. Either 18 year old Austin Smith or 17 year old Steven Myland just lost their spot in the league though but that's the business.
- Swift still has four overagers though so moving out Peddle didn't solve that problem. Assuming Groenheyde is safe there, one of Taylor Vause, Brad Hoban, or Dillon Wagner is still to be moved out in the next 10 days.
- for Vancouver, getting Morrison resolves their goaltending situation. Funny enough, they were also left in the lurch by problems with an import goalie not reporting. Question in Vancouver now is which of 18 year old Brendan Jensen or 16 year old Jackson Whistle gets cut to make room in the crease for Morrison. Whistle has decent numbers so far this year while Jensen's numbers are horrible, but on the other hand, Whistle might be better off playing many more minutes in midget. We'll see what they do there.
- for Saskatoon, getting Hodder gives them more depth on defence, where they were a little lacking in experienced guys. Moving Morrison though means that the Blades currently only have one goaltender on the roster, so I would look for them to recall 17 year old Adam Todd ASAP from the BCHL, unless they have something else in the works to add another goalie.
First yesterday's deal: Everett sent 19 year old goaltender Luke Siemens to Moose Jaw in exchange for 18 year old forward Matt Grant, and Moose Jaw's 2012 and 2013 3rd round bantam picks. Grant is currently in the BCHL this year after spending last season in Moose Jaw; it is not known whether he will be joining Everett right away or at all.
Following the trade, Moose Jaw released overage goaltender Devan Dubyk plus last year's backup goalie, 18 year old Brandon Stone - meaning they're going with Siemens and 17 year old rookie Spencer Tremblay now.
Today's first deal saw Edmonton trade overage goaltender Jon Groenheyde to Swift Current for overage forward Jordan Peddle.
And the 2nd deal today, a big one, sees Vancouver trade 18 year old defenceman Zach Hodder (who went home last week to await a trade) plus overage forward Michael Burns and a 2013 4th round pick, to Saskatoon for overage goaltender Adam Morrison and 17 year old forward Levi Bews.
Some thoughts on all these moves:
- Everett had two 19 year old goalies and something had to give there, so the move of Siemens is not a surprise. And even if Grant never plays for them, they did pretty well in getting two 3rd round picks for a 19 year old who has never been a #1 goalie before and has only 1300 minutes in the league.
- For Moose Jaw, obviously they think Siemens is the answer to their goalie situation, since they promptly got rid of the only other two goalies on their roster with any WHL experience.
- Edmonton had to move Groenheyde since their goalie of the future (and present) is 18 year old Laurent Brossoit. Getting Peddle gives them another veteran up front to help out while Travis Ewanyk is out with his injury.
- for Swift Current, picking up Groenheyde addresses their starting goaltender position which was left wide open when import goalie Steffan Soberg bolted back home late in camp. Either 18 year old Austin Smith or 17 year old Steven Myland just lost their spot in the league though but that's the business.
- Swift still has four overagers though so moving out Peddle didn't solve that problem. Assuming Groenheyde is safe there, one of Taylor Vause, Brad Hoban, or Dillon Wagner is still to be moved out in the next 10 days.
- for Vancouver, getting Morrison resolves their goaltending situation. Funny enough, they were also left in the lurch by problems with an import goalie not reporting. Question in Vancouver now is which of 18 year old Brendan Jensen or 16 year old Jackson Whistle gets cut to make room in the crease for Morrison. Whistle has decent numbers so far this year while Jensen's numbers are horrible, but on the other hand, Whistle might be better off playing many more minutes in midget. We'll see what they do there.
- for Saskatoon, getting Hodder gives them more depth on defence, where they were a little lacking in experienced guys. Moving Morrison though means that the Blades currently only have one goaltender on the roster, so I would look for them to recall 17 year old Adam Todd ASAP from the BCHL, unless they have something else in the works to add another goalie.
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