Tuesday stuff

Bunch of notes from the last few days....

Prince George has fired their coach, Drew Schoneck, after G.M. Dallas Thompson decided the team wasn't improving as much as he'd like to see. The Cougars started the season 6-1 but are 4-17-0-1 in the last 22 games since then.

If anyone expected more of the 6-1 and less of the 4-17-0-1 team this season, it's worth noting that the 6 wins to start the year came against Seattle (2), Chilliwack (3), and Prince Albert (1). All bottom-third teams, basically. Fact of the matter is, the Cougars are rebuilding and don't have that much talent, and some of that responsibility has to fall on Thompson's shoulders at some point....how long has he been in charge? And how many good seasons have they had in those years?

Of course, Thompson has the job in P.G. for life though....

To happier news, Spokane named Justin McCrae their captain yesterday, which means he has now been the captain of two WHL teams since he was the Blades' captain until the trade last year which sent him to Spokane. I'm sure there have been other players who have captained more than one team, I just can't think of one off the top of my head right now.

The Hitmen held their Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday and the fur was flying as the team collected 22,722 stuffed animals, some of which the players took to the local children's hospital yesterday. The total is a few thousand less than they got last year, which means we're now in a Teddy recession as well as an economic one. Or should I say we're in a bear market?

The roster of players invited to try out for Canada's World Juniors team should be announced any day now, possibly as early as today. Watch Hockey Canada's website for the announcement.

Maybe some more stats stuff later today if I have time, or maybe later this week. I'm working on some things anyway. Also working on some lists of WHL prospects who will be playing at the big Macs Midget tournament in Calgary after Christmas, for anyone who wants to follow that big tournament again. But that won't come until after the official Macs team list is released on December 10th.