Wednesday news

Canada took on Russia again today in Ufa in game 2 of the "Super Series", winning this one 3-0 on goals from Kyle Turris, Stefan Legein, and David Perron. Jonathan Bernier got the shutout in net. Canada leads the series 2-0 now and with four of the remaining six games to be in Canada, should probably come out with the edge in the end. But, is it just me or does it not seem like nobody really cares about this tournament? Most of the people I know who are hockey fans (and there are some real fanatics in there) are following the tournament, but only casually, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of concern whether Canada wins or loses the thing. Far cry from the World Juniors, Olympics, or pretty well any competition that actually matters.

The WHL season starts for "real" tonight with the first exhibition game. Moose Jaw will make the trek north for a clash with the Raiders. Next action after this comes on Friday when the Everett tournament (featuring Everett, Chilliwack, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, and Vancouver) kicks off. Edmonton also hosts a tournament on the weekend (starts Saturday with Edmonton, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Prince George, and Swift Current), while Tri-Cities has a tournament next weekend which features the five U.S. division teams. All told there are 63 exhibition games on the schedule this year, wrapping up on September 15. The regular season starts September 20.

The Oil Kings did some serious cutting last night, and it looks like veteran WHL goalie Tommy Tartaglione was one of the victims. His name no longer appears on the roster. Other cuts with prior WHL experience were Tyler Halliday, Ryan Sawka, and Brayden Nargang.

And still with the Oil Kings, a good story here about prospect Craig McCallum's journey to the WHL.

Pats p-b-p guy Rod Pedersen reports in his blog that Pats tough guy and overage candidate Myles Stoesz may have broken his jaw after a stick in the mouth yesterday. That could put a crimp in his plans to land a job in the Atlanta Thrashers system if he isn't able to fight at their training camp next week. Which may be a good thing for the Pats if he ends up being returned to the WHL as a result.

Also from Pedersen, Pats sniper Jordan Eberle was injured on a hit from 19 year old camp hopeful Ian Clark. The hit must have been questionable since Clark had to fight Josh Elder right afterwards. I wonder if it's any coincidence that Clark was one of five players cut later in the day. 'Cause we all know a sure way to impress the brass of the team you're trying out for is to cheap shot their marquee player.

The University of Saskatoon Huskies have signed up some recent WHL grads for next season. Joining the Huskies are forwards Steve Gillen (Spokane, Moose Jaw) and Casey Lee (Kamloops, Kootenay), defenceman Jesse Zetariuk (Red Deer, Moose Jaw, Everett), and goaltender Andrew Leslie (Swift Current, Red Deer, Moose Jaw).

Chilliwack general manager Darrell May discusses his team's top five prospects.

Profile of top Pats defence prospect Curtis Kulchar, who is no stranger to winning after back-to-back Canadian midget titles with the Prince Albert Mintos.

Overview of Saskatoon Blades camp, which gets started tomorrow.

The Broncos made some cuts yesterday and are now down to just 29 players in camp. Getting close to the final roster there. I have 28 names for them.....maybe somebody else knows who the 29th is? Should be a forward. Here's what I have for them:

Forwards: Brad Bienvenu (90), Kyle Bortis (88), Mike Brown (90), Justin Dowling (90), Cody Eakin (91), Kris Foucalt (90), Philip Gervais (90), Brad Hoban (91), Brady Leavold (87), Christian Magnus (92), Levi Nelson (88), Zack Smith (88), David Stieler (88), Matt Tassone (89), Grant Toulmin (89), Dale Weise (88), Geordie Wudrick (90)
Defencemen: Derek Claffey (89), Eric Doyle (89), R.J. LaRochelle (87), Spencer McAvoy (88), Ryan Molle (89), Paul Postma (89), Joel Rogers (91), Michael Wilson (87)
Goaltenders: Ian Curtis (90), Chad Ketting (91), Travis Yonkman (88)

One of Seattle's prized offseason acquisitions, NHL first rounder Jim O'Brien, has yet to take part on the ice in camp for them as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery in April. Word is that he may not be ready to play until November. Thanks to T-Bird fan Jon Whiting for that tidbit.

Tri-Cities lost one of its better prospects today when '90 forward Joe Colborne committed to Denver University. The 6'3" Colborne had 48 points in 53 games in the AJHL last year as a 16 year old and is considered one of the best 1990 prospects from Alberta.

King overthrown: Lethbridge has a writeup on their camp on their site, and missing from the list of overage candidates is that of defenceman Randy King. No idea what happened to him. Without King, the overage spots are set there with Farmanara, Dietrich, and Knudsen. Not the strongest group of O/A's in the league so don't be surprised to see one of those spots upgraded IMO.