Couple Kamloops notes tonight....
Firstoff, they have made a trade with Lethbridge. The Hurricanes get a 2008 2nd round bantam pick from the Blazers in return for '89 goalie Justin Leclerc.
From the Lethbridge point of view, the deal clears up the logjam they had in net with Leclerc, Michael Maniago (an ex-Blazer), and new Finnish import Juha Metsola. For the Blazers, this certainly makes their goalie and overage situations more interesting. Before the deal it had seemed pretty certain that Dustin Butler would have a job as the starting goalie (and thus an overage spot) and would be backed up by a rookie prospect, likely 16 year old James Priestner. Now, well.....not so certain since Leclerc comes with past experience as a #1 goalie. They could now opt to make Leclerc the starter and move Butler out in favour of another overager like defenceman Ryan White. Or, if Priestner looks like he's not ready yet, they can go with a Butler-Leclerc tandem. Decisions, decisions.
Second news item? Oh, nothing much, just that the Blazers were sold tonight. Fresh off of Gregg's blog, the shareholders voted 151-43 tonight in favour of selling the team to the group fronted by Vancouver businessman Tom Gagliardi, but which includes former Blazers legends Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor in a 40% role.
The second bid on the table for the team - the one from James Priestner's dad in Edmonton - was not considered. The sale still needs approval from the league's board of governors before being official.
Since the new owners have not exactly given coach/GM Dean Clark a resounding vote of confidence in the past, Clark's job security probably just became a little shakier.
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