Oh say can you see......the relegation round?

With the USA's 5-2 loss this afternoon for the Czechs, the much hyped Canada-USA New Years Eve game tomorrow night is now meaningless. Regardless of the outcome of that game, Canada will win the pool and get a bye through the quarterfinals, while USA will finish 4th and miss the medal round altogether. USA will actually have to compete in the relegation round with the likes of Denmark and Latvia just to keep their spot in the Tier I world juniors next year.

While the USA is naturally going to prevail in the relegation round and probably finish 7th, it's a shock to many that 7th place is now their best possible finish after just three games played at the tournament. In fact, USA was the pre-tournament gold medal pick of at least a couple "experts" that I read.

What went so wrong?

(And YES, I know that if the Danes beat the Finns tonight then USA still has a chance at the medals. However.....we all know that ain't going to happen.)

A sad anniversary

On the afternoon of December 30, 1986 the Swift Current Broncos bus went off the road and crashed in poor weather en route to a road game in Regina. Four players - Brent Ruff, Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, and Chris Mantyka - died in the crash. Today is the 25th anniversary of that accident, which is surely one of the darkest moments in the history of the WHL.

Take a minute (or more!) from your day today to remember the accident, the players that died, and the ones who survived but have had to deal with the effects for a quarter century now.

In the aftermath of the accident, the Broncos retired the numbers of the four players, and the league named its Player of the Year trophy the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy after them.

On a brighter note, the crash also gave life to one of the WHL's most emotional GOOD stories ever as well. Just a year and a half after the accident, the Broncos won the 1989 Memorial Cup with a roster that included six players from the team involved in the bus crash: Dan Lambert, Sheldon Kennedy, Trevor Kruger, Peter Soberlak, Tim Tisdale, and Bob Wilkie.

Another Macs update

List of all scorers at the Macs with more than 4 points after day four today (not counting the two late games):

Braden Oleksyn (Beardy's Blackhawks): 4-5-4-9-6 (Calgary (2011 3rd rd bantam pick))

Brett Boehm (Beardy's Blackhawks): 4-3-6-9-4 (Calgary (listed player))

Elliott Peterson (Beardy's Blackhawks): 4-1-8-9-8 (Calgary (2010 11th rd bantam pick))

Michael Statchuk (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-3-5-8-2 

Kyler Hehn (St. Albert Raiders): 4-2-6-8-0 (Brandon (2010 7th rd bantam pick))

Brandon Tkachuk (Calgary Flames): 3-0-8-8-4 

Mitch Amatto (Calgary Flames): 3-4-3-7-2 

Jace Hennig (Vancouver NE Chiefs): 3-4-2-6-0 (Calgary (listed player))

Riley Whittingham (Calgary Northstars): 2-3-3-6-2 (Spokane (2010 3rd rd bantam pick))

Ahmed Gimbatov (Russia Severstal/Locomotiv): 4-3-3-6-4 

Denis Buhaltsev (Russia Severstal/Locomotiv): 4-2-4-6-0 

Tanner MacMaster (Calgary Buffaloes): 3-1-5-6-0 (Spokane (2011 1st rd bantam pick))

Adam Rockwood (Vancouver NE Chiefs): 3-0-6-6-0 (Medicine Hat (listed player))

Thomas Foster (St. Albert Raiders): 4-5-0-5-0 (Vancouver (2011 1st rd bantam pick))

Darek Hejcman (Pirati Chomutov): 3-3-2-5-6 

Carson Stadnyk (Saskatoon Contacts): 3-3-2-5-0 (Everett (2010 8th rd bantam pick))

John Edwardh (Calgary Buffaloes): 3-3-2-5-0 (Seattle (2010 7th rd bantam pick))

Trace Elson (St. Albert Raiders): 4-3-2-5-10 (Red Deer (listed player))

Jason Duret (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-3-2-5-2 

Adam Fauchoux (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-3-2-5-14 

Matt Anholt (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-3-2-5-2 

Mitchell Friesen (Valley West Hawks): 3-2-3-5-2 (Kamloops (2011 4th rd bantam pick))

Chad Coulombe (Edmonton SSAC): 3-2-3-5-0 

Justin White (Vancouver NW Giants): 3-2-3-5-0 

Joe Serpico (Calgary Flames): 3-2-3-5-2 

Stephen Doane (Calgary Royals): 3-1-4-5-0 

Taylor Allan (Calgary Royals): 3-1-4-5-0 

Ryan Duret (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-1-4-5-0 (Calgary (2011 6th rd bantam pick))

Miles Warkentine (Prince Albert Mintos): 4-0-5-5-0 (Moose Jaw (2011 1st rd bantam pick))

WJC calculations

Just crunching the numbers here after Canada's win over the Czech Republic tonight coupled with USA's loss to Finland this afternoon...

If we assume that both Canada and Finland will beat Denmark in regulation time (which seems like a safe assumption to make), then the only way Canada does NOT win the round-robin pool is if:

 - USA beats the Czech Republic in regulation on Friday
 - Finland does NOT beat the Czech Republic in regulation on Saturday afternoon
 - USA beats Canada in regulation on Saturday night

All three of those things MUST happen for USA to take first place in the pool. So in other words, there's a decent possibility that the hyped New Years Eve game between Canada and USA will be meaningless.

If the Finns beat the Czechs in regulation that afternoon (which is a good possibility), then USA would have to beat Canada by 6 goals in order to get first place. And you know that isn't likely going to happen. So while the USA coaches and players were putting on a brave face after today's loss, the reality is that the loss may already have caused them to give up control of their own fate in the round-robin.

Macs update

A quick look here at how the WHL prospects are faring at the Macs midget tournament after two days....

The top scorers among the WHL prospects:  (stats are GP-G-A-PTS-PIM)



Riley Whittingham (Calgary Northstars): 2-3-3-6-2 (Spokane (2010 3rd rd bantam pick))
Braden Oleksyn (Beardy's Blackhawks): 2-3-1-4-4 (Calgary (2011 3rd rd bantam pick))
Griffin Mumby (Calgary Flames): 1-1-3-4-0 (Regina (2011 3rd rd bantam pick))
Tanner MacMaster (Calgary Buffaloes): 2-1-3-4-0 (Spokane (2011 1st rd bantam pick))
Elliott Peterson (Beardy's Blackhawks): 2-0-4-4-2 (Calgary (2010 11th rd bantam pick))
Thomas Foster (St. Albert Raiders): 2-3-0-3-0 (Vancouver (2011 1st rd bantam pick))
Carson Stadnyk (Saskatoon Contacts): 2-2-1-3-0 (Everett (2010 8th rd bantam pick))
Cameron Gotaas (Sherwood Park Kings): 2-2-1-3-2 (Medicine Hat (2010 8th rd bantam pick))
Kyle Krabben (Calgary Buffaloes): 2-1-2-3-2 (Kootenay (2010 6th rd bantam pick))
Joel Topping (Red Deer Optimist Rebels): 2-1-2-3-2 (Lethbridge (2010 2nd rd bantam pick))
Bobby Zinkan (Calgary Northstars): 2-1-2-3-2 (Swift Current (2010 4th rd bantam pick))
Brett Boehm (Beardy's Blackhawks): 2-0-3-3-2 (Calgary (listed player))
Brycen Martin (Calgary Buffaloes): 2-0-3-3-2 (Swift Current (2011 1st rd bantam pick))

Deadline countdown starts...

The WHL's Christmas trade freeze was lifted today and the Chiefs and Raiders promptly hooked up on a 4 player deal.

Spokane sends 19 year old forward Anthony Bardaro and 18 year old goaltender Luke Lee-Knight to Prince Albert for 18 year old goaltender Eric Williams and 18 year old forward Todd Fiddler. The deal looks to me like Spokane shoring up their goaltending by getting a potential #1 goalie in Williams, while the Raiders add Bardaro's offence.

As a side note, Lee-Knight started the season in Prince Albert and now returns there in his 2nd trade of the season. He was earlier traded from the Raiders to the Chiefs for Tyler Vanscourt....

Counting WHL Alumni in the NHL

A few weeks ago I came across a debate among some WHL fans about which WHL club had been most successful at putting its players into the NHL. I thought this was something worth exploring, but quickly had to abandon the idea of doing any kind of an all-time count because it was simply too much work to go back 40+ years.

So, I settled for determining which WHL franchises had the most alumni playing in the NHL right now. I've taken the current NHL rosters (as they are found on NHL.com) and calculated which WHL club, if any, each NHLer played for. Here are the results - some of them surprising, some not.

# of alumni in the NHL by WHL franchise:

Red Deer: 17
Portland: 15
Kelowna, Moose Jaw: 14
Medicine Hat: 13
Calgary: 12
Prince George, Saskatoon: 11
Brandon: 10
Kamloops, Vancouver: 9
Spokane, Tri-City: 7
Lethbridge, Regina, Swift Current: 6
Prince Albert: 5
Kootenay, Seattle: 4
Everett: 2
Edmonton, Victoria: 1

And the team-by-team listing of the actual players, with their current NHL club:

Red Deer (17): Colby Armstrong (Toronto), Arron Asham (Pittsburgh), Martin Erat (Nashville), Colin Fraser (Los Angeles), Boyd Gordon (Phoenix), Martin Hanzal (Phoenix), Blair Jones (Tampa Bay), Steve MacIntyre (Pittsburgh), Derek Meech (Winnipeg), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton), Dion Phaneuf (Toronto), James Reimer (Toronto), Brandon Sutter (Carolina), Jim Vandermeer (San Jose), Kris Versteeg (Florida), Cam Ward (Carolina), Jeff Woywitka (NY Rangers)

Portland (15): Braydon Coburn (Philadelphia), Brandon Dubinsky (NY Rangers), Andrew Ference (Boston), Paul Gaustad (Buffalo), Jannik Hansen (Vancouver), Marian Hossa (Chicago), Ryan Johansen (Columbus), Jason Labarbera (Phoenix), Frazer McLaren (San Jose), Cody McLeod (Colorado), Brenden Morrow (Dallas), Scott Nichol (St. Louis), Nino Niederreiter (NY Islanders), Michael Sauer (NY Rangers), Luca Sbisa (Anaheim)

Kelowna (14): Mikael Backlund (Calgary), Jamie Benn (Dallas), Blake Comeau (Calgary), Alexander Edler (Vancouver), Vernon Fiddler (Dallas), Josh Gorges (Montreal), Scott Hannan (Calgary), Duncan Keith (Chicago), Chuck Kobasew (Colorado), Travis Moen (Montreal), Tyler Myers (Buffalo), Luke Schenn (Toronto), Sheldon Souray (Dallas), Shea Weber (Nashville)

Moose Jaw (14): Johnny Boychuk (Boston), Kyle Brodziak (Minnesota), Troy Brouwer (Washington), Brett Carson (Calgary), Keaton Ellerby (Florida), Deryk Engelland (Pittsburgh), Tomas Fleischmann (Florida), Travis Hamonic (NY Islanders), Blair Jones (Tampa Bay), Pavel Kubina (Tampa Bay), Brooks Laich (Washington), Frazer McLaren (San Jose), Aaron Rome (Vancouver), Ryan Smyth (Edmonton)

Medicine Hat (13): Cam Barker (Edmonton), Jay Bouwmeester (Calgary), Jason Chimera (Washington), Derek Dorsett (Columbus), Tyler Ennis (Buffalo), Vernon Fiddler (Dallas), Darren Helm (Detroit), Joffrey Lupul (Toronto), Clarke MacArthur (Toronto), Steve MacIntyre (Pittsburgh), Kris Russell (St. Louis), Michael Sauer (NY Rangers), David Schlemko (Phoenix)

Calgary (12): Karl Alzner (Washington), Johnny Boychuk (Boston), Brett Carson (Calgary), Justin Falk (Minnesota), T.J. Galiardi (Colorado), Ryan Getzlaf (Anaheim), Darcy Hordichuk (Edmonton), Andrew Ladd (Winnipeg), Jeff Schultz (Washington), Jerred Smithson (Nashville), Brad Stuart (Detroit), Ryan White (Montreal)

Prince George (11): Blair Betts (Philadelphia), Eric Brewer (Tampa Bay), Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg), Zdeno Chara (Boston), Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay), Dan Hamhuis (Vancouver), Trent Hunter (Los Angeles), Chris Mason (Winnipeg), Devin Setoguchi (Minnesota), Sheldon Souray (Dallas), Dana Tyrell (Tampa Bay)

Saskatoon (11): Stefan Elliott (Colorado), Martin Erat (Nashville), Colton Gillies (Minnesota), Mike Green (Washington), Darcy Hordichuk (Edmonton), Steve MacIntyre (Pittsburgh), Warren Peters (Minnesota), Aaron Rome (Vancouver), Cory Sarich (Calgary), Brayden Schenn (Philadelphia), Devin Setoguchi (Minnesota)

Brandon (10): Keith Aulie (Toronto), Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg), Jason Chimera (Washington), Erik Christensen (NY Rangers), Eric Fehr (Winnipeg), Travis Hamonic (NY Islanders), Josh Harding (Minnesota), Ryan Reaves (St. Louis), Brayden Schenn (Philadelphia), Jordin Tootoo (Nashville)

Kamloops (9): Erik Christensen (NY Rangers), Shane Doan (Phoenix), Devan Dubnyk (Edmonton), Keaton Ellerby (Florida), Jarome Iginla (Calgary), Colton Orr (Toronto), Robyn Regehr (Buffalo), Scottie Upshall (Florida), Kris Versteeg (Florida)

Vancouver (9): Jonathon Blum (Nashville), Mark Fistric (Dallas), Cody Franson (Toronto), Evander Kane (Winnipeg), Andrew Ladd (Winnipeg), Milan Lucic (Boston), Andrej Meszaros (Philadelphia), Michal Repik (Florida), Tomas Vincour (Dallas)

Spokane (7): Drayson Bowman (Carolina), Jared Cowen (Ottawa), Justin Falk (Minnesota), Michael Grabner (NY Islanders), Jason Labarbera (Phoenix), Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota), Ray Whitney (Phoenix)

Tri-City (7): Brian Boucher (Carolina), Scott Gomez (Montreal), Jason Labarbera (Phoenix), Daymond Langkow (Phoenix), Carey Price (Montreal), Sheldon Souray (Dallas), Clayton Stoner (Minnesota)

Lethbridge (6): Tomas Kopecky (Florida), Chris Phillips (Ottawa), Bryce Salvador (New Jersey), Luca Sbisa (Anaheim), Brent Seabrook (Chicago), Kris Versteeg (Florida)

Regina (6): Jordan Eberle (Edmonton), Josh Harding (Minnesota), Barret Jackman (St. Louis), Derek Morris (Phoenix), Colton Orr (Toronto), Brad Stuart (Detroit)

Swift Current (6): Colton Orr (Toronto), Aaron Rome (Vancouver), Michal Rozsival (Phoenix), Zack Smith (Ottawa), Dale Weise (Vancouver), Ian White (Detroit)

Prince Albert (5): Kyle Chipchura (Phoenix), Scott Hartnell (Philadelphia), Steve MacIntyre (Pittsburgh), Chris Phillips (Ottawa), Nick Schultz (Minnesota)

Kootenay (4): Brayden McNabb (Buffalo), Roman Polak (St. Louis), Aaron Rome (Vancouver), Jarret Stoll (Los Angeles)

Seattle (4): Brooks Laich (Washington), Patrick Marleau (San Jose), Cory Sarich (Calgary), Nate Thompson (Tampa Bay)

Everett (2): Leland Irving (Calgary), Peter Mueller (Colorado)

Edmonton (1): Tomas Vincour (Dallas)

Victoria (1): Roman Horak (Calgary)

Couple notes:

 - Remember that these are FRANCHISE counts. So the Kootenay count includes players who may only have played with the Edmonton Ice, the Victoria count includes Chilliwack players, etc.

 - Players who played for more than one WHL team are credited to each franchise they played for - so one given NHLer may be counting in 2 or more WHL team totals. 

 - And lastly, this is a snapshot in time only. Obviously there are many other WHL alumni who are currently in the AHL and who may even have played games in the NHL this season, but they are not currently on NHL rosters TODAY and therefore they aren't counting in these totals. 

Couple notes on things that stood out to me....

Generally I think most WHL clubs' position on the list was not too surprising to me. Teams with a history of success (or at least success 5-15 years ago, when most current NHLers were junior-aged) are near the top while teams with less history of success (or just less history, period, in the cases of Edmonton and Victoria, etc) are near the bottom.

I found interesting, however, the fairly high placing of a team like Prince George, which is not a club which has had a great deal of success on the ice over the last 15 years - they've only been above .500 six times in the last 15 years. But yet they seem to be doing well at producing NHL-calibre talents. 

Then there's Everett who, despite a fairly successful product on the ice for most of their 8 years in the league, have only put 2 alumni onto current NHL rosters - and one of those actually only got called up 2 weeks ago. Yes, they have only been around for 8 years, not 30 or 40 like some of these teams. But compare them to Vancouver, who have only been around 10 years - just 2 more years than Everett - but who have managed 9 NHLers. 

Same goes for Kootenay - on the ice they have been one of the most consistently good franchises in the entire WHL for quite a while. But yet, only 4 NHLers.

Anyways, enjoy.....comments welcome as always of course....

Macs Midget tournament lineups

The folks who run the annual Macs midget tournament (one of the biggest AAA midget tournaments around) have released their team lineup for this year's tournament which, as always, runs December 26 through January 1 in Calgary.

This year's tournament will probably get overshadowed a little (or a lot) by the World Juniors which are also in Calgary and Edmonton at the same time. If you are interested in following your team's prospects in this year's Macs tourney though, the Macs website is linked earlier in this post and they'll have game summaries there as the tournament progresses.

And to help you know which prospects your team has in the tournament, here's the list of WHL prospects in this year's tournament, by midget team. I've given the player name, his position and birth year, the WHL team owning his rights, and how the team acquired the player's rights.

If I've missed a player or messed up some info on a player, corrections are most welcome of course....

Beardy's (Duck Lake, SK) Blackhawks:
Brett Boehm (F-94) - Calgary (listed player)
Brett Lewchuk (G-95) - Spokane (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Braden Oleksyn (F-96) - Calgary (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Elliott Peterson (F-95) - Calgary (2010 11th rd bantam pick)
Ryan Pilon (D-96) - Lethbridge (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Landon Robin (F-94) - Edmonton (trade with Vancouver)

Calgary Buffaloes:
John Edwardh (F-95) - Seattle (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Kyle Krabben (D-95) - Kootenay (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Tanner Macmaster (F-96) - Spokane (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Brycen Martin (D-96) - Swift Current (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Alex Mowbray (F-96) - Medicine Hat (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Brayden Point (F-96) - Moose Jaw (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Coleman Vollrath (G-95) - Victoria (2010 3rd rd bantam pick)
Andrew Weich (D-95) - Everett (2010 11th rd bantam pick)

Calgary Flames:
Jackson Elynuik (F-95) - Kootenay (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Kurt Hildebrand (F-95) - Spokane (listed player)
Jeremy Mcintosh (D-95) - Spokane (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Griffin Mumby (D-96) - Regina (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Sam Young (F-96) - Medicine Hat (listed player)

Calgary Northstars:
Clint Filbrandt (D-95) - Tri-City (2010 10th rd bantam pick)
Chad Labelle (F-95) - Medicine Hat (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Justin Myles (G-95) - Seattle (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Cade Owad (F-95) - Spokane (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Ben Thomas (D-96) - Calgary (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Riley Whittingham (F-95) - Spokane (2010 3rd rd bantam pick)
Bobby Zinken (D-95) - Swift Current (2010 4th rd bantam pick)

Calgary Royals:
Mitch Collett (F-95) - Brandon (2010 10th rd bantam pick)
Corey Dambrauskas (D-96) - Spokane (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Reid Duke (F-96) - Lethbridge (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Matthew Gelinas (F-95) - Swift Current (2010 8th rd bantam pick)

Cariboo (Prince George, BC) Cougars:
Michael Bell (F-96) - Victoria (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Ryan Forbes (F-95) - Kelowna (2010 11th rd bantam pick)
Ryan Gagnon (D-96) - Victoria (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Raymond Grewal (D-95) - Prince George (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Brett Harris (F-95) - Regina (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Jake LeBrun (F-95) - Vancouver (listed player)
Kenny Nordstrom (D-96) - Regina (2011 10th rd bantam pick)
Tyler Povelofskie (F-96) - Kelowna (listed player)

Edmonton South Side Athletic Club (SSAC):
Erik Donald (F-96) - Regina (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Aaron Irving (D-96) - Edmonton (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Nakeh Lamothe (F-95) - Spokane (2010 4th rd bantam pick)
Devin McAndrews (F-95) - Medicine Hat (listed player)
Bryar Ortynski (F-96) - Regina (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Jordan Papirny (G-96) - Brandon (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Zach Peterson (D-96) - Portland (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
John Quenneville (F-96) - Brandon (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Tristin Reimer (F-95) - Regina (listed player)
Riley Simpson (F-96) - Edmonton (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Ben Sowa (F-96) - Prince George (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Daniel Wedman (D-95) - Spokane (listed player)

Fort Saskatchewan Rangers:
McKenzie Busenius (D-95) - Saskatoon (2010 10th rd bantam pick)
Josh Sinatynski (F-95) - Swift Current (2010 4th rd bantam pick)
Dylan Stang (F-95) - Saskatoon (listed player)

Greater Vancouver Canadiens:
Arwin Atwal (D-95) - Vancouver (trade with Prince Albert)
Shaun Dosanjh (D-96) - Vancouver (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Shane Kumar (D-95) - Prince George (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Josh Murphy (F-96) - Seattle (listed player)
Tyler Sandhu (F-96) - Portland (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Christopher Tai (G-95) - Lethbridge (listed player)
Mitchell Walter (F-96) - Edmonton (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)

Leduc Oil Kings:
Brandon Hickey (D-96) - Tri-City (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Brennan Hunker (D-95) - Medicine Hat (2010 2nd rd bantam pick)
Cole MacDonald (D-95) - Everett (listed player)
Doug Morris (F-95) - Kootenay (listed player)
Kord Pankewicz (F-96) - Brandon (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Macklin Pichonsky (D-95) - Saskatoon (listed player)
Evan Polei (F-96) - Saskatoon (2011 11th rd bantam pick)
Jody Sick (F-95) - Prince Albert (listed player)
Jacob Williamson (F-95) - Red Deer (listed player)
Brett Zarowny (G-95) - Prince George (2010 3rd rd bantam pick)

Okanagan (Kelowna) Rockets:
Parker Bowles (F-95) - Tri-City (listed player)
Mackenzie Ferner (F-95) - Kamloops (2010 8th rd bantam pick)
Justin Marreck (F-96) - Tri-City (listed player)
Michael Mceachern (D-96) - Medicine Hat (2011 7th rd bantam pick)

Prince Albert Mintos:
Tanner Burgardt (G-95) - Regina (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Ryan Duret (F-96) - Calgary (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Jordan Harris (D-96) - Prince George (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Bryton Sayers (D-96) - Lethbridge (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Miles Warkentine (F-96) - Moose Jaw (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Lance Yaremchuk (F-96) - Prince Albert (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Cody Young (F-96) - Saskatoon (2011 12th rd bantam pick)

Red Deer Rebels:
Stefan Danielson (D-95) - Swift Current (listed player)
Kolton Dixon (D-95) - Victoria (listed player)
Scott Ferguson (F-95) - Red Deer (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Scott Feser (F-95) - Red Deer (2010 8th rd bantam pick)
Logan Fisher (F-95) - Victoria (listed player)
Kirk Johnson (D-95) - Moose Jaw (listed player)
Ty Mappin (F-96) - Everett (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Joel Topping (D-95) - Lethbridge (2010 2nd rd bantam pick)
Matt Zentner (G-95) - Prince Albert (2010 10th rd bantam pick)

Saskatoon Blazers:
Carter Amson (F-96) - Lethbridge (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Robert Cameron (D-95) - Edmonton (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Connor Gay (F-95) - Regina (listed player)
Brendan Hopkins (F-94) - Swift Current (listed player)
Wyatt Johnson (F-95) - Medicine Hat (listed player)
Conner Kortko (F-95) - Saskatoon (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Collin Shirley (F-96) - Kootenay (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Chris Thorimbert (F-95) - Lethbridge (2010 10th rd bantam pick)
Daniel Wapple (G-95) - Moose Jaw (2010 4th rd bantam pick)

Saskatoon Contacts:
Austin Calladine (F-95) - Calgary (2010 2nd rd bantam pick)
Rourke Chartier (F-96) - Kelowna (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Reid Gardiner (F-96) - Prince Albert (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Austin Glover (F-96) - Kelowna (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Ross Hnidy (D-96) - Saskatoon (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Dawson Leedahl (F-96) - Everett (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Vukie Mpofu (D-96) - Red Deer (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Nelson Nogier (D-96) - Saskatoon (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Kolten Olynek (F-96) - Lethbridge (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)
Rylan Parenteau (G-96) - Prince Albert (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Branden Scheidl (D-95) - Lethbridge (trade with Portland)
Rod Southam (F-96) - Red Deer (2011 6th rd bantam pick)
Carson Stadnyk (F-95) - Everett (2010 8th rd bantam pick)
Josh Uhrich (F-96) - Moose Jaw (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)

Two other members of the Contacts will not be at the Macs as they will be playing for Team Western at the World U-17 Challenge at the time instead:

Colby Harmsworth (D-95) - Calgary (2010 3rd rd bantam pick)
Mack Shields (G-95) - Calgary (2010 4th rd bantam pick)


Sherwood Park Kings:
Dallas Bergstrom (D-95) - Red Deer (listed player)
Ben Carroll (D-95) - Edmonton (listed player)
Taylor Cooper (F-95) - Brandon (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Tyler Fuhr (G-95) - Brandon (2010 4th rd bantam pick)
Cameron Gotaas (F-95) - Medicine Hat (2010 8th rd bantam pick)
Clayton Kirichenko (D-96) - Saskatoon (2011 7th rd bantam pick)
Trevor Martin (G-96) - Spokane (2011 9th rd bantam pick)
Tyler Morrison (D-95) - Vancouver (listed player)
Linden Penner (F-95) - Saskatoon (2010 10th rd bantam pick)
Brett Pollock (F-96) - Edmonton (2011 5th rd bantam pick)
Joseph Tombasco (D-96) - Medicine Hat (listed player)
Jesse Wood-Schatz (F-95) - Kootenay (2010 5th rd bantam pick)

St. Albert Raiders:
Sebastien Auray (F-95) - Prince Albert (2010 9th rd bantam pick)
Landon Bow (G-95) - Swift Current (2010 4th rd bantam pick)
Tyler Dea (D-95) - Prince Albert (2010 6th rd bantam pick)
Trace Elson (F-94) - Red Deer (listed player)
Thomas Foster (F-96) - Vancouver (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Kyler Hehn (F-95) - Brandon (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Wyatt Hoflin (G-95) - Kootenay (2010 2nd rd bantam pick)
Kevin Miller (F-94) - Prince Albert (listed player)
Tyler Mrkonjic (F-96) - Tri-City (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Ty Stanton (D-95) - Medicine Hat (2010 2nd rd bantam pick)

Tisdale Trojans:
J.J. Coleshaw (F-94) - Regina (listed player)
Rylan Freed (F-96) - Kamloops (2011 5th rd bantam pick)
Brayden Gelsinger (F-95) - Kamloops (listed player)
Wyatt Hinson (F-96) - Saskatoon (2011 10th rd bantam pick)
Ty McLean (F-95) - Regina (2010 5th rd bantam pick)
Jordan Ross (F-96) - Seattle (2011 9th rd bantam pick)

UFA (Strathmore, AB) Bisons:
Markson Bechtold (F-96) - Spokane (2011 3rd rd bantam pick)
Jake Dube (F-96) - Kootenay (2011 5th rd bantam pick)
Conner Bleackley (F-96) - Red Deer (2011 1st rd bantam pick)
Lenny Hackman (D-95) - Lethbridge (2010 9th rd bantam pick)
Tyler Haiste (D-94) - Swift Current (listed player)
Tyler Wong (F-96) - Lethbridge (2011 5th rd bantam pick)

Valley West Hawks:
Latrell Charleson (D-95) - Moose Jaw (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Mitch Friesen (F-96) - Kamloops (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Jordan Klimek (D-95) - Tri-City (listed player)
Spencer Meyer (D-96) - Prince Albert (2011 4th rd bantam pick)
Kyle Raymond (F-96) - Everett (2011 7th rd bantam pick)
Ryan Rensby (F-96) - Everett (2011 10th rd bantam pick)
Jerret Smith (D-95) - Seattle (listed player)

Vancouver Northeast Chiefs:
Victor Dombrovskiy (D-96) - Swift Current (2011 8th rd bantam pick)
Jace Hennig (F-95) - Calgary (listed player)
Adam Rockwood (F-95) - Medicine Hat (listed player)
Dalton Yorke (D-96) - Kelowna (listed player)

Vancouver Northwest Giants:
Joseph Carvalho (D-95) - Prince George (2010 4th rd bantam pick)
Brandon Delgrosso (F-96) - Moose Jaw (2011 9th rd bantam pick)
Braden Krogfoss (G-95) - Kamloops (2010 7th rd bantam pick)
Josh Thrower (D-96) - Calgary (2011 2nd rd bantam pick)

There will also be three teams at the tournament from outside of the WHL's drawing area: the York-Simcoe (Ontario) Express, plus KLH Chomutov from the Czech Republic and HK Severstal from Russia.

Just to put this the kind of talent in this tournament in perspective, the following current WHLers played in the Macs just last year: Austin Adam, Daniel Asham, Anthony Ast, Kohl Bauml, Cole Benson, Madison Bowey, Travis Brown, Mason Burr, Kyle Burroughs, Connor Chartier, Greg Chase, Dakota Conroy, Scott Cooke, Daniel Cotton, Trevor Cox, Jaedon Descheneau, Kayle Doetzel, Braiden Doucette, Tanner Eberle, Macoy Erkamps, Jarrett Fontaine, Devon Fordyce, Alex Forsberg, Jason Fram, Mason Geertsen, Riley Guenther, Shayne Gwinner, Justin Hamonic, Carter Hansen, Luke Harrison, Jayden Hart, Jared Hauf, Dillon Heatherington, Darian Henry, Jackson Houck, Jeff Hubic, Tristan Jarry, Tyler King-Cunningham, Morgan Klimchuk, Tanner Kovacs, Brett Kulak, Sawyer Lange, Jesse Lees, Taylor Leier, Craig Leverton, Tyler Lewington, Trent Lofthouse, Luke Mahura, Marc McCoy, Sam Mckechnie, Jay Merkley, Cory Millette, Tanner Moar, Mitchell Moroz, Josh Morrissey, Ayrton Nikkel, Blake Orban, Nicolas Petan, Bolton Pouliot, Carter Proft, Jared Rathjen, Sam Reinhart, Ashton Sautner, Jordan Tkatch, Adam Todd, Spencer Tremblay, Cole Ully, Austin Vetterl, Spencer Wand, Jamal Watson, Cole Wedman, Torrin White, Chase Witala, Jaimen Yakubowski......and I'm sure I missed a few.

Players in the tournament this year, by WHL club:

Lethbridge: 11
Medicine Hat: 11
Spokane: 11
Saskatoon: 11
Regina: 10
Prince Albert: 9
Swift Current: 9
Calgary: 8
Red Deer: 8
Brandon: 7
Edmonton: 7
Everett: 7
Moose Jaw: 7
Kootenay: 7
Prince George: 6
Tri-City: 6
Kamloops: 5
Kelowna: 5
Seattle: 5
Vancouver: 5
Victoria: 5
Portland: 2

Canadian World Junior team picked

Team Canada made its final cuts from the 35 players remaining in camp this morning. Gone are six more WHLers: goaltender Tyler Bunz (Medicine Hat), defencemen Joe Morrow (Portland) and Alex Petrovic (Red Deer), and forwards Brett Bulmer (Kelowna), Ty Rattie (Portand) and Brad Ross (Portland).

The final roster can be found here. Of the 22 players, 10 are from the OHL, five from the WHL, four from the QMJHL, one from the NCAA, and two from the NHL. (The two NHL players are one each originally from the WHL and OHL)

The five WHLers on the team are:

F Quinton Howden (Moose Jaw)
F Brendan Gallagher (Vancouver)
D Ryan Murray (Everett)
D Mark Pysyk (Edmonton)
F Mark Stone (Brandon)


And of course F Brett Connolly is a Prince George Cougar grad on loan to Canada from the NHL. The NCAA player, F Jaden Schwartz, is also a WHL prospect (Tri-City) though he has never played in the WHL and probably won't.

Fleury vs. Hickey

Montreal Gazette columnist Pat Hickey touched off a firestorm yesterday when he penned a piece in his newspaper which was critical of some comments that Theoren Fleury has made recently regarding the Canadian justice system's light treatment of Graham James. You really should read what Hickey wrote for yourself, but paraphrasing the most controversial thing Hickey wrote, he called Fleury an "enabler" for allowing James to be the coach and G.M. of the Calgary Hitmen during the time that Fleury was part-owner of the team.

Seeing James around the Hitmen players in 1995-96 so bothered Sheldon Kennedy that it was a major reason that Kennedy went to the police. Hickey seems to feel that because Fleury did not also go to the police, that his inactions make Fleury an "enabler".

Fleury's response to Hickey's column was to call for Hickey to be fired. Other voices have joined in on that call, and I understand that Hickey and the Gazette have been deluged with letters, e-mails, and comments, not much of it in support of Hickey.

I certainly understand Hickey's sentiments. It is difficult to understand why any right-thinking person in Fleury's position would do nothing and allow James to remain in charge of teenage boys when he KNOWS what James does to some teenage boys. But here's the catch: Fleury was a sexual abuse victim with the serious emotional turmoil in his life that often comes with that victimization. While it's easy for me (or Hickey) to say that Fleury should not have allowed James to be involved with the Hitmen, we are not sexual abuse victims. We do not have the slightest clue how Fleury felt, or why he did or didn't do anything back then. I think Fleury is entitled to the benefit of the doubt.

To put this another way, think of the cases of the men who were sexually abused as boys by members of the Catholic Church but who didn't come forward for many years. Are those men "enablers" for doing nothing for years while new victims were being abused? Or is someone who was abused by a schoolteacher an "enabler" if they wait 20 years to come forward while their abuser keeps teaching children? I wonder if Hickey would write an article calling these people "enablers" as well? I doubt it. 

Should Hickey be fired for his column, as some people (including Fleury) have suggested? No, of course not. Should he retract his "enabler" statement and apologize? Absolutely.

Your thoughts?

Canada cuts

Team Canada made seven cuts from its 42 player WJC tryout roster this morning, and those sevens cuts spelled bad news for five WHLers.

Gone from the camp are forwards Michael Ferland (Brandon), Mark NcNeill (Prince Albert) and Max Reinhart (Kootenay), plus defencemen Matt Dumba (Red Deer) and Brendan Kichton (Spokane). There are still 11 WHLers among the 35 players remaining in camp.

The final 13 cuts are expected to be made tomorrow morning following an exhibition game tonight against a team of players from the University of Calgary and University of Lethbridge. Lot of ex-WHLers on those two university teams as well, BTW.

With Dumba's departure, Canada will now be made up only of 18 & 19 year old players. Dumba was the only 17 year old in the camp.

Rebels goaltending change

The Red Deer Rebels suffered a significant blow today as it turns out that #1 goaltender, import Patrik Bartosak, will not be out for just the 2-6 weeks with an "upper body injury" as first thought. Instead, Bartosak is headed for surgery and is done for the season. The team does not seem to have confirmed this officially, but on his Twitter account Bartosak said he is done for the year.

The Rebels have replaced Bartosak as their #1 goalie by adding former Tiger and Warrior goaltender Devan Dubyk - as you might recall, Dubyk was the backup for the Tigers for the last two years before being released during training camp. The Warriors picked him up but also released him after a couple of games. Now he is back in the WHL with the Rebels.

There's a catch though - Dubyk is an overager, and the Rebels already had three - defencemen Justin Weller and Aaron Borejko and forward Josh Cowen. So, one of those three guys is going to lose his spot on the Rebels in a trickle-down effect here.

Cowen and Borejko are currently injured so for right now I assume the Rebels have placed one of the two on the injured list and thus avoid having to release anyone right away. But when all four guys are healthy, somebody is going to have to go.

Players away after Christmas (updated)

By my count, there are now as many as 56 WHL roster players who stand to be away from their WHL clubs for a stretch of time in December/January:

Brandon:
Alessio Bertaggia (Switzerland - WJC) (*)
Ayrton Nikkel (Pacific - U-17)
Mark Stone (Canada - WJC)

Calgary:
Greg Chase (Pacific - U-17)
Victor Rask (Sweden - WJC)

Edmonton:
Mason Geertsen (Pacific - U-17)
Martin Gernat (Slovakia - WJC) (*)
Tristan Jarry (Pacific - U-17)
Curtis Lazar (Pacific - U-17)
Kristians Pelss (Latvia - WJC)
Mark Pysyk (Canada - WJC)

Everett:
Vladimir Dolnik (Slovakia - WJC) (*)
Austin Lotz (Western - U-17)
Ryan Murray (Canada - WJC)

Kamloops:
Marek Hrbas (Czech Republic - WJC)
Matt Needham (Pacific - U-17)

Kelowna:
Tyson Baillie (Pacific - U-17)
Madison Bowey (Western - U-17)
Jesse Lees (Pacific - U-17)
Filip Vasko (Slovakia - WJC) (*)

Kootenay:
Jaedon Descheneau (Pacific - U-17)
Jonathan Martin (Western - U-17)
Sam Reinhart (Pacific - U-17)
Spencer Wand (Western - U-17)

Lethbridge:
Macoy Erkamps (Pacific - U-17)
Craig Leverton (Western - U-17)
Jay Merkley (Pacific - U-17)

Medicine Hat:
Emerson Etem (USA - WJC) (*)

Moose Jaw:
Carter Hansen (Western - U-17)
Quinton Howden (Canada - WJC)
Torrin White (Pacific - U-17)

Portland:
Sven Bartschi (Switzerland - WJC) (*)
Nicolas Petan (Pacific - U-17)

Prince Albert:
Jonas Knutsen (Norway - WJC b-pool)
Josh Morrissey (Pacific - U-17)

Prince George:
Jarrett Fontaine (Western - U-17)
Alex Forsberg (Western - U-17)
Martin Marincin (Slovakia - WJC) (*)
Jordan Tkatch (Western - U-17)
Chase Witala (Pacific - U-17)

Red Deer:
Kayle Doetzel (Western - U-17)
Cory Millette (Western - U-17)

Regina:
Kyle Burroughs (Pacific - U-17)
Morgan Klimchuk (Pacific - U-17)

Saskatoon:
Andrey Makarov (Russia - WJC)
Nick Zajac (Western - U-17)

Seattle:
Marcel Noebels (Germany - WJC b-pool)
Dave Sutter (Switzerland - WJC) (*)

Spokane:
Dominik Uher (Czech Republic - WJC)

Tri-City:
Eric Comrie (Pacific - U-17)

Vancouver:
Anthony Ast (Pacific - U-17)
Brendan Gallagher (Canada - WJC)
Jackson Houck (Pacific - U-17)
David Musil (Czech Republic - WJC)
Marek Tvrdon (Slovakia - WJC) (*)

Victoria:
Keegan Kanzig (Pacific - U-17)

 (*) represents a player whose participation in the tournament is still subject to making the team in a selection camp.

The only team not affected by potential absences is Swift Current.

If all these players made their respective national teams (which of course wont happen, but we're playing "what-if" here), that's close to three full rosters of the WHL's best players who will be gone from the league for a week (U-17 Challenge players) to four weeks (WJC players). That's 12% of the players in the league!

UPDATE: I have removed the WHL players cut by Team Canada from the list above.

Two players added to Canadian WJC roster

A big boost for Canada's World Junior team this morning as two of the eight NHLers who are eligible for the team were released to play in the tournament by their NHL teams. Joining the Canadian camp (and all but certainly guaranteed spots on the team) are forwards Brett Connolly of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Devante Smith-Pelly of the Anaheim Ducks.

It's obviously going to make the Canadian team better to get back two players who are currently good enough to be holding down jobs in the NHL. (Connolly is also a veteran of last year's Canadian team, bringing the number of such players on the roster up to four.) There are still six other Canadian 18 or 19 year olds in the NHL who are eligible to play on the team but who have not been released and are not expected to be: Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers), Erik Gudbranson (Florida Panthers), Ryan Johansen (Columbus Blue Jackets), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers), Tyler Seguin (Boston Bruins) and Jeff Skinner (Carolina Hurricanes).

From the WHL perspective, if you're the Prince George Cougars or a fan of theirs, the release of Connolly to play at the WJCs might give you a glimmer of hope of seeing him back in the WHL later. The fact that Tampa feels that he is expendable enough to loan to the Canadian junior team for a month means there's a possibility that come the end of the tournament in early January, that the Lightning might think the best step for Connolly's development is to finish the season in junior. So if you're a Cougar fan who wants Connolly back in your lineup, now would be a good time for you to root for the Lightning to get hot - because the better they play without him, the more likely they are to conclude that they can do without him for the rest of the season.

Of course, given Prince George's low position in the standings, it is far more likely that, if Connolly DOES return to the WHL, he'll immediately be flipped to a contender at the January trade deadline. But we're getting very far ahead of ourselves already.....

Graham James pleads guilty

Convicted sexual predator Graham James is due to appear in a Winnipeg court today to enter a plea on the charges that he sexually abused former WHLer and NHLer Theo Fleury while coaching Fleury in junior hockey in the early 1980's.

In a post on his blog this morning, Fleury has a statement which appears to indicate that he has been informed that James will plead guilty to the charges, and that James will do so as part of a plea bargain agreement which will result in him being sentenced to 14 months in jail.

14 months? That's it? If this is true, the typically weak Canadian justice system fails another sexual assault victim, and another high-profile one at that. Keeping in mind that inmates become eligible for parole in Canada after serving just one third of their sentence, James could conceivably spend only four and a half months actually in a jail cell for what he did to Theo Fleury.

USA, Sweden World Junior rosters

Two more bits of World Junior-related news with WHL connections.

First, Sweden has released their 23 player roster for the tournament. There is one WHLer on the team, forward Victor Rask of the Calgary Hitmen. Three other players playing in the CHL are also on the team, all from the OHL.

Rosters are only allowed to be 22 players so the Swedes will have to take one name off that list before the tournament begins on Boxing Day. Since they have three goalies listed, it seems safe to assume they will be dropping one of the goalies.

Second, USA Hockey has released a 29 player shortlist for their WJC entry. They will need to pare seven names off that list to get to their final roster - though the 29 players includes one goalie who is already listed as the "emergency backup" and a defenceman who is currently in the NHL, so it seems they may actually only have 27 players to consider right now.

One WHLer on the shortlist, Medicine Hat forward Emerson Etem, whose spot on the team should be a lock since he's a returning player from last year. Oh yeah, and because he's kinda good too. That always helps.

There are also five other players on the list whose rights are owned by WHL teams, even though they aren't currently playing in the WHL: Nick Bjugstad (Everett), Justin Faulk (Tri-City), Derek Forbort (Everett), Seth Jones (Everett) and Jason Zucker (Seattle)