And a third bit of news today, this one a link cobbled from the Pipeline Show's blog (link over there on the right). The University of Minnesota announced today that '91 forward Josh Birkholz has left the program. Birkholz, a 2009 3rd round pick of the NHL's Florida Panthers, was about to be suspended by the school for unspecified rules violations, and apparently has opted to leave school instead.
His WHL rights are held by the Everett Silvertips, so we should probably expect him to land there, in the absence of him signing of an NHL contract with the Panthers anytime soon.
The Gophers are also likely losing defenceman Nick Leddy, who is apparently on the verge of signing with the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. Leddy's WHL rights are owned by the Tri-City Americans, so his situation might also bear watching from a WHL fan perspective. From all accounts out of Chicago though the Hawks think Leddy is very close to being NHL ready so perhaps he ends up in the AHL instead of the WHL, if he doesn't make the Chicago roster. We'll see.
BTW, this is the 1000th post on this blog.....personally I'm kind of surprised to have made it this long without losing interest. I still enjoy blabbing about the WHL though....
10 comments:
Keep up the great work Alan, Your the best junior blog out there by far
Here's to a thousand more!
If Leddy is a 1991 born (19 year old by hockey age) how can he play in the AHL..I thought you ha dto be 20????
That rule only applies to players drafted from the CHL. It's part of the player development agreement between the NHL and CHL.
Since Leddy was not drafted from the CHL, the rule doesn't apply to him and the Blackhawks can put him in the AHL if they want. The AHL doesn't have any rules against players under age 20 and in fact there have been lots of them. The age rule doesn't apply to players drafted from Europe either so absolutely nothing stops an NHL team from signing their 18 year old Swedish/Finnish/Russian first round pick and plunking him into the AHL.
congrats..love what youare doing
a chl drafted player? they just have to be not signed (chl), right? say an american is drafted in the chl, never signs, plays ncaa and leaves. he's eligable to play ahl, right? why wouldn't he be?
sorry, that last one was me and i meant to include this: I love the blog! keep up the good work. very enjoyable.
Drafted FROM the CHL, not BY the CHL.
ie, players drafted by NHL teams who are playing in the CHL at the time they are drafted.
Congratulations Alan! This blog is a wealth of information and a joy to read.
good work dude, i just found your blog yesterday and I`m stoked for WHL this year and being able to play as CHL teams in NHL 11 this year. Cheers!
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