Tuesday notes

Few things this morning...

Interesting trade yesterday as the Saskatoon Blades shipped 18 year old forward Charles Inglis to the Prince George Cougars for a 2011 2nd round bantam pick. Inglis was the 4th overall pick in the 2007 draft but hasn't quite developed into the player the Blades hoped he would be. Coupled with some off-ice issues that finally got him sent home from Blades camp a few days earlier, it looks like he ran Blades G.M. Lorne Molleken out of patience.

This is probably one of those deals where there will be a clear winner and loser apparent in time. Either Inglis is going to clean up his act with a fresh start and become the player he could be (in which case a 2nd round pick for him looks pretty good), or he's going to continue down his current path and make this a trade the Cougars will wish they hadn't made. If P.G. has another poor year this year, that 2nd round pick is going to be awfully close to a first rounder in the draft order.

Still with Prince George, veteran defenceman Kurt Torbohm elected to leave the team yesterday. Torbohm supposedly is undecided on whether to continue his hockey career; in either case his decision drops the Cougars down to the required three overagers, meaning the three that remain are probably safe at this point.

Another veteran was cut yesterday, Seattle releasing 18 year old forward Brennan Tutt. Tutt barely played as a rookie last year before suffering a serious elbow injury that required surgery and ended his season. Not many veterans cut from WHL camps so far this season but as we get closer to the season starting and the tough decisions have to be made, there will be more....

Lastly, the new-look WHL websites are supposed to be unveiled tomorrow. As I understand it, this is going to be a CHL-wide thing, with all team sites from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL following a common template for a similar look and feel.