Monday notes

Three notes from the WHL this morning....

First, overage forward Blair Macaulay has apparently declined to join the Portland Winter Hawks, who picked him up in the overage draft last Thursday after Tri-City was forced to release him. I'm not sure why (I mean, who WOULDN'T want to play for the Hawks?) or what Macaulay's plans are (drop down to Jr A, hope the Hawks trade his rights, etc) but it's another kick in the teeth for the Portland franchise.

And on top of that, Hawks forward Chris Francis has left the team. Again, no idea why or what his plans are, but he had just one point in eight games this year so he clearly wasn't having a good season.

And the third note is that Hockey Canada has upheld the WHL's suspension of Evan Pighin, and ordered the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies to stop using Pighin until the dispute between the two leagues can be resolved. The issue will be heard today at Hockey Canada meetings in Ottawa, after which a decision may be made which will resolve things one way or another. My gut feeling is that Pighin is going to be ordered to get his release from the WHL before he can play in the BCHL, which means he's going to have to tuck his tail between his legs and go back to Chilliwack. We'll see.