Wheaton King is no longer a Wheat King; the Brandon Wheat Kings assigned the 17 year old King to a Jr A club over the weekend. I would think he'll be back next year to try to make the team again.....but if not, he certainly had one of the most memorable names to play in this league. It wouldn't even have been noteworthy if he had played for any other team though.
The Kootenay Ice have added 16 year old defenceman Jagger Dirk to their roster for the remainder of the season. Dirk, who had been playing in the BCHL up to this point this year, is the son of former NHL defenceman Robert Dirk. That makes two former Vancouver Canucks defencemen whose kids now play for the Ice, as Ice forward Max Reinhart is the son of former NHLer Paul Reinhart. I thought perhaps their dads may have been teammates on the Canucks at one point, but it turns out they missed each other by one year there. Paul Reinhart retired after 89-90 and Robert Dirk didn't join the Canucks until 90-91.
Chilliwack has added 18 year old forward Brett Miller, who is on his third team this season and fourth team of his career after being a first round bantam pick of Regina in 2006. He started this year with Red Deer - where he finished last year - but was cut in training camp. Then he joined Everett, where he played 2 games before being reassigned to Jr A. Now he is back for another kick at the WHL with the Bruins. I don't know if this is his last chance to make the WHL but that proverbial final kick at the cat has to be coming up soon.
Now for the departures; Prince George has sent home 18 year old forward Robbie Ciolfi for off-ice disciplinary and school-related reasons.
And two players - Regina's Alex Pym and Chilliwack's David Robinson - left their teams of their own accord yesterday, citing a lack of desire to continue playing hockey. This follows at least two other players that I know of who quit their team earlier this season for the same reasons - Edmonton's Henrik Tervonen and Kieran Friesen.
I know a lot of us might find these departures hard to believe - after all, most of us never came close to being able to play at this level of hockey and would give a body appendage to have had the chance. But take a minute and think about the demands that are placed on these kids, who are still teenagers. School, hockey, friends, off-ice team commitments, etc - and many of them are hundreds or thousands of miles from their families, their main support network. I think it's more amazing that more kids don't quit.
How many of us adults really love our jobs and how many of us do it only because we need a steady paycheque? I'm sure there's some of us who really do love our jobs, some who only do it for the money, and some who are a little of both. These players are the same way....some of them really love playing hockey and some are a little less in love with it. There's nothing wrong with that.
That concludes my Dr. Phil moment. I'm updating the stats database so look for some stats on the current season to be posted later today.....
4 comments:
The mind games these teenagers are subjected to is unbelievable. Those not having been involved with the league in one way or another would not understand. I'm really surprised many more players don't just walk away and say "I've had enough of this crap".
O.T.S.S....Only the Strong Survive!!!
Robbie Ciolfi is 18 and should have graduated high school last June. What's up there? I really have a hard time believing that Ciolfi is the problem in PG. PG signs and dispatches so many more kids than other teams seem to. I think parents should be very wary.
I don't know what the deal was with Ciolfi, but I know some teams have team rules which require players who have graduated high school to enroll in some form of college courses, even if it's only part time.
Perhaps that was the situation here with Ciolfi. Or perhaps he did not graduate high school last year and was working towards that this year....lots of possibilities.
Prince George's problem IMO is that their prospect pool is rather thin. You can see that in the number of castoffs they have from other teams - probably half their roster is players who were available for free or dirt cheap from other teams. I do not think that is a recipe for success when you have to keep bringing in castoffs and projects from other teams. And the fact that they have to do so is because they do not have the homegrown prospects to fill those roster spots.
Hopefully some new faces on the scouting staff, which started last year, can help them restock their protected list with some WHL-calibre talent and they can get out of the basement in a year or two.
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