Trade yesterday, as Spokane sends defenceman Patrick Kozyra to Medicine Hat for a 2008 5th round pick. How the heck did Medicine Hat have a picture of him in a Tigers jersey so quick, to put on that release? That can't be Kozyra in the pic, can it? Doesn't look like a Photoshopped pic either. Not a bad deal for Spokane all around though, they only paid a 6th rounder for Kozyra when they acquired him from Red Deer in the summer. 5th rounder is an upgrade.
UPDATE: Not mentioned in the Tigers release, but mentioned in the Chiefs release on this deal is that (in an apparently separate deal) the Chiefs also send the rights to Andrew MacWilliam to the Tigers for future considerations. MacWilliam was the Chiefs' 9th round pick in 2005 and is currently playing Jr A in the AJHL. He is a very good prospect (played with numerous WHLers on the Alberta team at the 2007 Canada Winter Games) but I believe he is pursuing the NCAA route. Any return on this deal for the Chiefs is probably conditional on the Tigers being able to persuade MacWilliam to take the WHL route instead.
Giants defenceman Jon Blum has family in the path of the wildfires burning in California right now. I imagine some of the other California kids in the WHL are similarily affected....hopefully everyone comes out OK and nobody gets hurt.
Good article on Everett sniper-pest Kyle Beach in the Everett paper today. Love him or hate him, the kid is a well-rounded package of skill, size, and toughness. It's interesting though that he was left off the list of players who will represent the WHL in the CHL-Russia thing....the tournament is a tuneup for potential invitees to the Canadian World Junior camp, and that is usually a thing for 18 & 19 year olds, while Beach is still just 17. But, they did invite 17 year old Pats sniper Jordan Eberle to play against Russia, so top younger players do get asked. Eberle is actually leading the WHL in scoring at the moment but Beach is in 3rd so he's not far off. I would guess that Beach's undisciplined style is going to hurt him when it comes to chances to play in the big international tournaments, since Beach's style of hockey plays very poorly in the eyes of European referees. He has to learn to play a more emotionally controlled game if he's going to be the best player he can be.
Couple potential Ice scoops from Jeff Bromley's blog today - Jeff says the Ice have picked up 18 year old former Pat and Rocket forward Jason MacDonald, who was dropped by the Rockets earlier this year after coming over from Regina as part of the big six-player trade last season. The other tidbit is the possibility that the Montreal Canadiens may return Ryan Russell to the Ice to play his overage season in the WHL. Russell has gotten into only two games this season with the Habs' AHL affiliate in Hamilton.
From the NHL last night, I haven't seen this much blood on the ice after a good fight in a long time. Two ex-WHLers (both ex-Cougars actually) going at it in a good clean fight but Chara lands that one awesome punch that re-broke Koci's nose and turned on the red faucet. Koci broke his nose two days ago fighting Toronto's Wade Belak (another ex-dubber there!) but was willing to go with Chara just two days later. Got to give him credit for guts but he'd better lay off the fighting for a while and let it heal.
Not hockey related, but still sports: the NLL provides a shining example of how not to manage a professional (and I use that term VERY loosely here) sports league. For those who don't follow lacrosse, the NLL announced two weeks ago that they were cancelling their 07-08 season after failing to come to an agreement with their players on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The league told their teams that they could release any booked arena dates, etc. But negotiations continued behind the scenes and yesterday the two sides strike a deal which saves the 07-08 season (which starts in December). Oh, wait....but teams like New York (which play in MSG) and Boston (an expansion team this year) might have to be dormant this year because they can't get their arena dates back now. What a bunch of clowns run this thing. Not to mention how they've jerked around all their fans, casually manipulating them as part of the negotiations with the players. George Johnson of the Calgary Herald nails it this morning.
5 comments:
It's a photoshop job. Click and look closely at the area near the neck and the grey-white background. Too much contrast between the black and the lighter colour.
Good job by whomever did it, though.
CA/MJ
You might take a minute to review Beach's recent penalty minutes. Someone is getting through to him about discipline, a little bit at a time.
RG
Everett, WA
Beach is doing a lot better. At the game on Friday night against the Brandon Wheatkings, they were trying their hardest to get Kyle going - they were highsticking and slamming him all over the place. But he never took the bait. Last year, he would've killed them! He's a LOT more disciplined this year. I think he's learned that the best revenge is to score and win the game!
But he leads the league in PIM! You guys say he has begun playing more disciplined....what would his PIM totals look like if he were "still" undisciplined???
Come on.....nobody who leads the league in penalty minutes can be called a disciplined player. He has put his team shorthanded 13 times this year, or once per game on average. I'd be willing to bet he leads the league at that too.
Yes, teams target him....but why do they do that? Because he has shown in the past that he will retaliate and that he can be gotten off his game. He has a long way to go before he gets to the combination of skill and aggression that will make him the best player he can be.
My only point is that he has improved. Last five games he has averaged 3.4 minutes per game in the box, down from 5.4 minutes per game in his first nine games of the season. Still room for improvement.
RG
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