Couple veteran WHL defencemen released yesterday.....Lethbridge cut loose Lucas Alexiuk, while Portland released Lee Morrow.
Alexiuk is a former Winter Hawk too, and with the release of these two, that means that five of the seven d-men on the early-season Winter Hawks roster from last year are now out of the WHL. Ty Ariss was cut earlier this fall by Moose Jaw, while Bo Montgomery voluntarily left the WHL over the summer and Todd Panchyson didn't make it through last year with the Hawks. The reason the Hawks gave up 35, 40, 50 shots every night last year becomes a little clearer with the passage of time, doesn't it?
The two remaining defencemen from last year's team are Scott Gabriel and Brett Ponich....
Couple WHLers signed NHL contracts yesterday; Philadelphia inked their 2008 first round draft pick, Lethbridge defenceman Luca Sbisa, while Hitmen goalie Martin Jones earned a three year deal from the L.A. Kings off a free agent tryout there. Jones was subsequently returned to the Hitmen (he played for them last night) while Sbisa is still in Philly. And Spokane got Trevor Glass back from his AHL tryout too.
So to update, the WHLers remaining at pro camps now are:
Chilliwack: Oscar Moller (L.A.)
Everett: Kyle Beach (Chicago)
Kelowna: Tysen Dowzak (Hartford-AHL), Luke Schenn (Toronto)
Lethbridge: Zach Boychuk (Carolina), Mitch Fadden (Norfolk - AHL), Luca Sbisa (Philadelphia)
Moose Jaw: Jordan Knackstedt (Providence-AHL)
Red Deer: Brandon Sutter (Carolina)
Saskatoon: Colton Gillies (Minnesota)
Seattle: Thomas Hickey (L.A.)
Spokane: Justin Falk (Minnesota)
I think we'll eventually see Moller, Beach, Dowzak, Boychuk, Sbisa, and Hickey back in the WHL. The rest....not so sure.
3 comments:
Not a current WHLer, but former Silvertip Dan Gendur signed with Vancouver yesterday. Awesome for a guy that played 4th-line minutes for Prince George and was undrafted and unknown through his 18-y.-o. season. Talk about a turn-around after coming to Everett...
-- Andy Head
Well he always had very good speed and some decent talent. Sometimes all these kids need to is to be given a chance.
Speed is the name of the game now.
This is way off topic but as for 20 year olds that may be on the move. Looks for Calgary to send one and maybe two of them to Chilliwack.
I'm thinking the Bruins would have a lot of interest in Dan Spence as they have Gore and Friesen on the roster currently and could use an upgrade. Also with the lack of scoring punch, Duval could fit in nicely. They do have room for 2, so who knows!
Post a Comment