Draft pick charts, updated

Got an email from a reader yesterday, wondering what bantam draft picks each team has in their possession for possible trading, with the deadline approaching and whatnot.

So, based on what has been reported in trades, etc, this is what I have come up with - the number of picks in each of the first 10 rounds that each team in the league has in the 2011 and 2012 drafts.

The 2011 draft:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Brandon	1	0	1	1	3	0	1	2	1	1
Calgary	1	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
Chilliwack	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Edmonton	1	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	1	1
Everett	1	0	0	1	0	1	2	1	1	1
Kamloops	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Kelowna	1	1	1	0	3	1	1	1	1	1
Kootenay	2	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
Lethbridge	2	2	1	0	1	1	0	2	1	1
Medicine Hat	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Moose Jaw	1	4	1	0	0	3	1	1	1	1
Portland	1	1	1	1	2	0	1	1	1	1
Prince Albert	1	0	1	3	0	0	2	1	1	1
Prince George	1	0	1	1	0	2	0	2	1	1
Red Deer	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Regina	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	1
Saskatoon	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	0	1	1
Seattle	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	1	1
Spokane	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1	1
Swift Current	1	1	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	1
Tri-City	0	1	0	3	0	1	0	1	1	1
Vancouver	0	3	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1

And the 2012 draft:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Brandon	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Calgary	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Chilliwack	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1
Edmonton	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Everett	1	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	1	1
Kamloops	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Kelowna	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	0	1	1
Kootenay	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Lethbridge	1	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	1	1
Medicine Hat	1	1	1	0	1	2	2	1	1	1
Moose Jaw	1	1	2	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
Portland	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Prince Albert	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	1	1	1
Prince George	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1
Red Deer	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
Regina	1	2	0	1	2	1	0	1	1	1
Saskatoon	1	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1
Seattle	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	1	1	1
Spokane	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1
Swift Current	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1
Tri-City	1	0	2	1	0	1	1	2	1	1
Vancouver	1	1	0	1	1	0	2	1	1	1

Corrections are welcome, if you have any. And if you have questions about which picks teams own and how they may have acquired/lost certain picks, just ask (either in the comments or in e-mail) and I'll give you what details I have.

I don't guarantee that this is accurate, as it is only based on reported details of trades and is no doubt missing some tranfers of "conditional" picks, etc. But it should be reasonably accurate, in the early rounds anyway.

First cuts

Team Canada released nine players this morning, and five of them were from the WHL. Gone are WHL forwards Brad Ross, Brendan Gallagher, Linden Vey, and Ryan Howse, and defenceman Brayden McNabb.

Full cuts can be found here.

There's now 31 players remaining to compete for 22 spots, so there will be 9 more cuts made tomorrow morning after the exhibition game tonight against a Canadian university all-star team.

Of the remaining 31 players, 13 are from the WHL: goaltender Calvin Pickard, defencemen Tyson Barrie, Jared Cowen, Ryan Murray, and Mark Pysyk, and forwards Carter Ashton, Brett Connolly, Cody Eakin, Curtis Hamilton, Quintin Howden, Ryan Johansen, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Brayden Schenn.

There are 17 forwards, 10 defencemen, and 4 goaltenders remaining in camp, so the final cuts will be two goalies, 2 or 3 defencemen, and 4 or 5 forwards - the forward/defencemen numbers depend on whether they go with 7D-13F or 8D-12F. Usually Canada goes with 7D & 13F so I would look for that to be the case again.

As returning players, Schenn and Cowen are locks for the team and probably won't even play tonight in the exhibition game. Usually 8 or 9 "safe" players are given the final exhibition game off while the coaches analyze the remaining players.....

First blockbuster of the season is in....

The first major, major trade of the trade deadline run-up is in, and once again Carter Ashton is involved. Last year one of the first big pre-deadline deals saw him move from Lethbridge to Regina, and now he is on the move again, from Regina to Tri-City.

Ashton and a 2012 3rd round pick go from Regina to Tri-City for forwards Nils Moser and Tanner Olstad, a 2011 first round pick, and 2012 2nd and 5th round picks.

For the Ams, they just paid a big price to acquire one of the top players available and take a big step towards competing with Portland in the West.

For Regina, the deal recoups the first round pick they gave up to get Ashton and also gives them some other younger players and picks to use as building blocks.

So now that the first domino has tumbled, who's next to act? Which buyers now need to keep pace with the Ams? Who else is a seller besides Regina and (almost certainly) Calgary?

Thursday notes

Trade to report today, Lethbridge has dealt 18 year old forward Mark Reners to Vancouver for a 2012 5th round bantam pick. Seems like a decent pickup for the Giants since Reners was a first round pick in 2007.

Getting a 5th round pick for Reners makes Lethbridge's 2006 trade of Colton Yellow Horn look even worse....the pick the Canes used on Reners was their principal return from Tri-City for Yellow Horn, who scored 88 goals in two seasons for the Americans. Reners didn't even make it to 88 games with the Hurricanes.

One other thing to mention today; three of the four western provinces have announced their rosters for the 2011 Canada Winter Games, which goes in February in Nova Scotia. The mens's hockey portion of the tournament is restricted to 15 year olds (born in 1995) so there is no effect on WHL rosters for this tournament, but many of the WHL's best 15 year old prospects will be taking part in the tournament. The Alberta, B.C., and Manitoba rosters, with WHL affiliations:

Alberta:
G Eric Comrie - Tri-City - 2010 1st rd
G Brett Zarowny - Prince George - 2010 3rd rd
D Braiden Doucette - Moose Jaw - 2010 4th rd
D Mason Geertsen - Edmonton - 2010 1st rd
D Jared Hauf - Seattle - 2010 1st rd
D Spencer Jensen - Medicine Hat - 2010 1st rd
D Keegan Kanzig - Chilliwack - 2010 1st rd
D Jesse Lees - Kelowna - 2010 1st rd
D Josh Morrissey - Prince Albert - 2010 1st rd
F Tyson Baillie - Kelowna - 2010 3rd rd
F Cole Benson - Edmonton - 2010 9th rd
F Greg Chase - Calgary - 2010 1st rd
F Ryan Chynoweth - Everett - 2010 2nd rd
F Jaedon Descheneau - Kootenay - 2010 3rd rd
F Nelson Gadoury - Edmonton - 2010 5th rd
F Morgan Klimchuk - Regina - 2010 1st rd
F Jay Merkley - Lethbridge - 2010 1st rd
F Luke Philp - Kootenay - 2010 3rd rd
F Cole Ully - Kamloops - 2010 2nd rd
F Torrin White - Moose Jaw - 2010 1st rd

B.C.:
G Tristan Jarry - Edmonton - 2010 3rd rd
G Jackson Whistle - Vancouver - 2010 4th rd
D Dylan Bowen - no WHL affiliation
D Kyle Burroughs - Regina - 2010 3rd rd
D Josh Connolly - Kamloops - 2010 3rd rd
D Macoy Erkamps - Lethbridge - 2010 2nd rd
D Ayrton Nikkel - Saskatoon - 2010 2nd rd
D Shea Theodore - Seattle - 2010 3rd rd
F Luke Bertolucci - Edmonton - 2010 10th rd
F Brennan Clark - Chilliwack - 2010 7th rd
F Steen Cooper - Portland - 2010 4th rd
F Brett Harris - Regina - 2010 5th rd
F Luke Harrison - Chilliwack - 2010 3rd rd
F Jackson Houck - Vancouver - 2010 3rd rd
F Curtis Lazar - Edmonton - 2010 1st rd
F Matthew Needham - Kamloops - 2010 1st rd
F Nicolas Petan - Portland - 2010 1st rd
F Brandon Potomak - Moose Jaw - 2010 2nd rd
F Sam Reinhart - Kootenay - 2010 1st rd
F Cole Sanford - Medicine Hat - 2010 6th rd

Manitoba:
G Alex Moodie - Saskatoon - 2010 5th rd
G Justin Paulic - Moose Jaw - 2010 8th rd
D Dylan Betteridge - no WHL affiliation
D Denis Bosc - Swift Current - 2010 6th rd
D Madison Bowey - Kelowna - 2010 2nd rd
D Garrett Bruce - Brandon - listed player
D Kevin Pochuk - Red Deer - 2010 5th rd
D Bradley Reichardt - Saskatoon - listed player
D Paul Stoykewych - Portland - 2010 2nd rd
F Drake Bodie - Saskatoon - 2010 7th rd
F Daylon Creasy - Calgary - 2010 5th rd
F Kurt Keats - Moose Jaw - 2010 5th rd
F Remi Laurencelle - Lethbridge - 2010 8th rd
F Taeron Lewis - Tri-City - 2010 7th rd
F Braydon MacDonald - Moose Jaw - 2010 6th rd
F Geordie Maguire - Everett - 2010 5th rd
F Jonathon Martin - Kootenay - 2010 7th rd
F Derek Mulvena - no WHL affiliation
F Christian Stockl - Saskatoon - 2010 4th rd
F Nick Zajac - Saskatoon - 2010 8th rd

15 of the 22 2010 first round bantam picks are already named to the tournament. Of the remaining 7, five of them are from Saskatchewan and so they could/should be included when the SHA names its team. The other two (defenceman Dillon Heatherington from Alberta - Swift Current's pick - and forward Anthony Ast from B.C. - Vancouver's pick) are not named to their provinces' teams.

One of the discussions being generated by these selections revolves around the naming of Eric Comrie to the Alberta team. Comrie was born in Edmonton but has lived the last several years in California, where the family moved. I'm not sure why he remains eligible for the Alberta team, unless his family still has a home in Edmonton too and that somehow counts. Comrie hasn't played minor hockey in Alberta for several years though, to the best of my knowledge anyway. So should he still be named to the team, whether he's technically eligible or not? There's probably little question that he is the best '95 goalie out there who is "from Alberta", but isn't the real point that he doesn't live there anymore? Thoughts?

Two trades tonight

Two deals in the WHL tonight, both of them involving the Tri-City Americans and - coincidentally - both spelling bad news for Tri-City players named Zach.

In the first deal, the Ams have dealt '93 forward prospect Zach McPhee to the Everett Silvertips for 19 year old defenceman Paul Sohor. McPhee started the year in the Tri-Cities but was reassigned after 8 games. Sohor also started the year in Everett but had gone home to wait for a trade after being unhappy with his ice time in Everett.

In the second deal, Tri-City resolved their overage problem by trading overage defenceman Zach Stebner to the Kelowna Rockets. The Americans also sent the Rockets a 2011 7th round bantam pick, and in return they get a 2011 4th round pick and a 2012 8th round pick from the Rockets.

The deal gave the Rockets four overage players, and they have solved that problem by releasing 20 year old defenceman Brendan Wall.

For the Americans, they only acquired Stebner six weeks ago from the Hitmen, and gave up a 3rd round pick in that deal. They only got a 4th round pick in return, and they had to swap a 7th for an 8th in order to get that 4th rounder too. So, clearly the Ams take a bit of a loss on the Stebner deals when all is said and done. I'm guessing they may not have expected Neal Prokop to be able to return and play as an overager this year?

USA WJC camp roster named

USA Hockey has named the 29 players invited to try out for their 22-player World Junior team today. Camp roster can be found here

There are only two WHLers on the invitation list - forwards Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Mitch Callahan of the Kelowna Rockets. Tyler Pitlick of the Tigers was not invited.

There's a huge number of WHL list players invited as well though:

F Nick Bjugstad (Everett)
F Chris Brown (Calgary)
D Justin Faulk (Tri-City)
D Derek Forbort (Everett)
F Rocco Grimaldi (Portland)
D Nick Leddy (Tri-City)
F Brock Nelson (Tri-City)
F Matt Nieto (Tri-City)
D Philip Samuelsson (Edmonton)
F Drew Shore (Chilliwack)
F Jason Zucker (Seattle)

Those guys are all NCAA players (or AHL, in Leddy's case) though and we'll probably never see them in the WHL....

Monday notes

Two big bits of news this afternoon...

First, Rogers Sportsnet has announced their schedule of CHL games that they'll carry this winter. You can find the complete schedule here but the short of it is that there's only 5 WHL games on the list of 18 regular season games they're going to cover from now through the end of the season.

Of course they will add some playoff games and also cover the entire Memorial Cup as always, but only five WHL games - and only one of those is being covered nationally, the rest are all Sportsnet West regional games - is really giving short shrift to the juniors. Just once it would be nice to see a major network take a real interest in the CHL.

The WHL games they're showing are:

Jan 11: Prince George at Vancouver
Feb 16: Medicine Hat at Saskatoon
Feb 23: Kootenay at Red Deer
Feb 28: Calgary at Edmonton
Mar 13: Red Deer at Calgary

Only the March 13 game is on the national network and shown coast-to-coast.

The other bit of news is a huge one for USA hockey fans, as USA Hockey announced today that four players currently in the pros have been released to play for USA at the World Juniors. They are forwards Kyle Palmieri, Jeremy Morin, and Jerry D'Amigo (who I somehow missed on my list of eligible players in the pros from last week), and defenceman Nick Leddy. So far, only defenceman Cam Fowler has not been released to the USA squad and since he's one of the leading ice-time getters on the Anaheim Ducks, it's pretty unlikely that he's going to be released anyway.

Certainly a big boost for Team USA as they look to defend their gold medal from last year.

USA Hockey will announce the full roster of players invited to their tryout camp tomorrow morning.

The lineup for Schenn forms to the right

L.A Kings beat writer Rich Hammond is saying on his L.A. Kings Insider blog that the Kings are about to return Brayden Schenn to the Brandon Wheat Kings, probably tomorrow.

But, in all probability, Schenn is unlikely to play more than a couple more games for the Wheat Kings in his career. For starters, Hockey Canada is going to jump all over this and name Schenn to the World Junior team about two seconds after his reassignment from the NHL is official. That will keep Schenn out of the WHL from December 12 through January 5 at least.

Then, the WHL trade deadline comes January 10, just a few days after the WJCs wrap up. I think the smart money would have to be on the Wheat Kings dealing Schenn to a contender by that deadline date. Brandon gave up a number of high picks and prospects last season in their moves to beef up for the Memorial Cup run, and moving Schenn would almost certainly allow them to recoup those picks and prospects, plus more. A guy like Schenn would probably fetch the Wheaties, at a minimum, a first round bantam pick and either a blue-chip 16/17 year old or a second high pick.

And in the total fantasy speculation world, here's something to chew on. I know this will never happen, but it's an interesting idea anyway - back in 05-06, three of the best prospects for the bantam draft were a trio of forwards from Saskatoon who were all good friends and had been playing together for years in minor hockey - Schenn, Carter Ashton, and Jimmy Bubnick. All three of them were picked in the first round of that bantam draft and have gone on to varying degrees of success in the WHL. Coincidentally, all three of them are now playing for teams who are not contenders this season and who are probably very to somewhat willing to deal those players. Wouldn't it be something if one contender acquired all three and reunited the friends to finish their WHL careers?

And another twist - a good friend of those three is another Saskatoon '91-born player and 2006 first round bantam pick, defenceman Jared Cowen of the Chiefs. He also played with those guys during his minor hockey days....and if the Chiefs decide they aren't going to get out of the Western Conference playoffs alive this year - what with Portland there and all - maybe Cowen could be on the block as well.

And while we're dreaming, maybe the team that acquires all four of these players could be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference - their hometown Saskatoon Blades. The Blades have all their bantam picks plus a fair bit of young talent on their roster and protected list to offer up.

But it'll never happen.

One other note to mention this afternoon - Spokane defenceman Garrett Leedahl retired yesterday after consulting with doctors about his concussion problems of the last couple years.

Holiday departures

With World Junior camp rosters being named now, I've put together a list of the roster players that each current WHL team is looking at being without due to WJCs and the U-17 Challenge.

Players named to U-17 rosters are final....they're definitely away from December 29th through January 4th.

Players named to WJC camps need to make their country's team first in order to take part in the tournament, which runs December 26th through January 5th. Those players will need to attend selection camps, which start in mid-December. Canada's camp is December 12 - 15, so players who make Team Canada will be gone from their WHL clubs from December 12 though January 5 at least.

Brandon Wheat Kings:

Mark Mieritz (F): WJC II - Denmark (this is the B-pool WJCs and goes Dec 12 - 18 in Slovenia)

Ryan Pulock (D): World U-17 - Western

Tyrel Seaman (F): World U-17 - Western

Calgary Hitmen:

Chase Clayton (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Juraj Holly (G): WJC - Slovakia (camp)
Keaton Lubin (D): World U-17 - Pacific
Robert Trzonkowski (F): World U-17 - Pacific

Chilliwack Bruins:

Steven Hodges (F): World U-17 - Pacific

Roman Horak (F): WJC - Czech Republic (camp)

Ryan Howse (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Brandon Magee (F): World U-17 - Pacific

Robin Soudek (F): WJC - Czech Republic (camp)

Edmonton Oil Kings:
Marek Hrbas (D): WJC - Czech Republic (camp)
Kristian Pelss (F): WJC-II - Latvia (this is the B-pool WJCs and goes Dec 13 - 19 in Belarus)

Mark Pysyk (D): WJC - Canada (camp)
Griffin Reinhart (D): World U-17 - Pacific

Everett Silvertips:

Jari Erricson (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Ryan Murray (D): WJC - Canada (camp)
Nicholas Walters (D): World U-17 - Pacific

Kamloops Blazers:

Dalibor Bortnak (F): WJC - Slovakia (camp)
Brady Gaudet (D): World U-17 - Western

Bernhard Keil (F): WJC - Germany (camp)

Logan McVeigh (F): World U-17 - Western

Kelowna Rockets:

Tyson Barrie (D): WJC - Canada (camp)
Colton Heffley (F): World U-17 - Western
Gal Koren (F): WJC II - Slovenia (this is the B-pool WJCs and goes Dec 12 - 18 in Slovenia)
Damon Severson (D): World U-17 - Western
Andreas Stene (F): WJC - Norway (no camp, Stene has been named to the roster)

Kootenay Ice:

Brayden McNabb (D): WJC - Canada (camp)

Medicine Hat Tigers:

Hunter Shinkaruk (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Linden Vey (F): WJC - Canada (camp)

Moose Jaw Warriors:

Brayden Cuthbert (F): World U-17 - Western

Antonin Honejsek (F): WJC - Czech Republic (camp)

Quinton Howden (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Morgan Rielly (D): World U-17 - Pacific

Portland Winterhawks:

Sven Bartschi (F): WJC - Switzerland (camp)
Ryan Johansen (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Brendan Leipsic (F): World U-17 - Western
Nino Niederreiter (F): WJC - Switzerland (camp)
Derrick Pouliot (D): World U-17 - Western
Brad Ross (F): WJC - Canada (camp)

Prince Albert Raiders:

Shane Danyluk (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Mike Winther (F): World U-17 - Pacific

Prince George Cougars:

Troy Bourke (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Brett Connolly (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Martin Marincin (D): WJC - Slovakia (camp)
Josh Smith (D): World U-17 - Pacific

Red Deer Rebels:

Matt Dumba (D): World U-17 - Pacific
Lucas Grayson (D): World U-17 - Pacific
Andrej Kudrna (F): WJC - Slovakia (camp)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (F): WJC - Canada (camp)

Regina Pats:

Carter Ashton (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Chandler Stephanson (F): World U-17 - Western

Saskatoon Blades:

Levi Bews (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Curtis Hamilton (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Ryan Olsen (F): World U-17 - Pacific

Seattle Thunderbirds:

Justin Hickman (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Marcel Noebels (F): WJC - Germany (camp)
Calvin Pickard (G): WJC - Canada (camp)
Dave Sutter (D): WJC - Switzerland (camp)

Spokane Chiefs:

Jared Cowen (D): WJC - Canada (camp)
Reid Gow (D): World U-17 - Western

Swift Current Broncos:

Cody Eakin (F): WJC - Canada (camp)
Shea Howorko (F): World U-17 - Western

Tri-City Americans:

Chris Driedger (G): World U-17 - Western

Vancouver Giants:

Matt Bellerive (F): World U-17 - Pacific
Brendan Gallagher (F): WJC - Canada (camp)

David Musil (D): WJC - Czech Republic (camp)

USA Hockey will announce their tryout camp invites on December 7. The camp takes place December 16 to 23. Emerson Etem of Medicine Hat should be a lock to get an invite to try out, and his Tiger teammate Tyler Pitlick could have a shot as well. Colin Jacobs of Seattle and Shane McColgan of Kelowna are good up-and-coming USA Hockey prospects but they're also only 17 so maybe they have to wait until next year since this is usually an 18/19 year old tournament. How about Tyler Maxwell of Everett, could he get an invite?

I have not found Denmark's roster for the B-pool tournament Dec 12 - 18 in Slovenia, but I would certainly think that the Danes would be interested in having Prince Albert's Sebastien Svendsen play for them in that tournament. They have already invited Brandon's Mark Mieritz.

No camp rosters announced yet (that I've seen anyway) for the Finns, Russians, or Swedes. Not sure that there's any WHLers that they will be interested in though?

Scum of the earth report

An appalling story out of Montreal today....apparently somebody broke into Pat Burns' widow's car following his funeral yesterday, and stole quite a bit of stuff, from signed NHL team jerseys right down to a suitcase of his clothes.

Not just that it was Burns, it's the principle; who steals from the dead - on the day of the funeral even?

Wouldn't bother me one bit if, after the cops catch this guy, if he tripped and fell down the stairs at the police station. Three or four flights of them perhaps. You know how dangerous those stairs can be....

WJC eligibles in the NHL

Another comment on the World Juniors, while we're on the subject here....there are 17 players who are eligible to play in this tournament who are currently playing in the NHL or AHL and have not (to date anyway) been released by their NHL club to play in the tournament. They are:

Canada (8):
F Kyle Clifford (Los Angeles)
F Matt Duchene (Colorado)
F Taylor Hall (Edmonton)
F Evander Kane (Atlanta)
F Ryan O'Reilly (Colorado)
F Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles)
F Tyler Seguin (Boston)
F Jeff Skinner (Carolina)

Russia (1):
F Alexander Burmistrov (Atlanta)

Sweden (4):
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Phoenix - AHL)
F Jacob Josefson (New Jersey)
G Robin Lehner (Ottawa - AHL)
F Magnus Paajarvi (Edmonton)

USA (4):
D Cam Fowler (Anaheim)
D Nick Leddy (Chicago - AHL)
F Jeremy Morin (Chicago - AHL)
F Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim - AHL)

17 players....that's just short of one full WJC roster's worth of the world's best U-20 players who will not (or possibly not) be in this year's tournament. How much better would the tournament be with these 17 players in it? I mean, Canada could fill almost three forward lines with guys who are currently in the NHL. And USA's best defenceman won't be there either since he's in the NHL.

In the case of the five guys who are currently in the AHL, I can see no reason why their NHL clubs wouldn't release them for the three weeks to play in this tournament. I've not seen a lot of AHL hockey but the calibre of play at the World Juniors (in the big games anyway) has got to be better than some sleepy midseason AHL games.

Canadian World Junior camp named

Hockey Canada named the players invited to try out for the Canadian World Junior team today.

Excellent showing by the WHL this year - there are WHLers amongst the total players invited - 11 of 23 forwards, 5 of 12 defencemen, and 1 of 4 goaltenders. There is certain to be a strong WHL flavor on the final roster, with 17 of 39 total invitees from the WHL.

Complete roster at the link above. WHLers invited are:

G Calvin Pickard (Seattle)
D Tyson Barrie (Kelowna)
D Jared Cowen (Spokane)
D Brayden McNabb (Kootenay)
D Ryan Murray (Everett)
D Mark Pysyk (Edmonton)
F Carter Ashton (Regina)
F Brett Connolly (Prince George)
F Cody Eakin (Swift Current)
F Brendan Gallagher (Vancouver)
F Curtis Hamilton (Saskatoon)
F Quinton Howden (Moose Jaw)
F Ryan Howse (Chilliwack)
F Ryan Johansen (Portland)
F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer)
F Brad Ross (Portland)
F Linden Vey (Medicine Hat)

Also, D Dylan Olsen is a Medicine Hat list player who is playing NCAA, while forward Jaden Schwartz is a Tri-Cities list player who is also playing NCAA.

Only three 17 year old players were invited to what is usually an 18/19 year olds tournament - Ryan Murray and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the WHL were two of those three 17 year olds. They might be in tough to make the team since Canada has taken very few 16 & 17 year olds over the years, but you never know.

Brayden Schenn of the Wheat Kings was not named to the camp as he has not been released to the tournament by the Los Angeles Kings. If the Kings do decide to release him before camp starts, you can be sure he'll be added to the roster. Of all the eligible players who are currently in the NHL, you'd have to think that Schenn is the most likely to be released to play for Canada, since L.A. doesn't seem to have much use for him in the NHL right now.

Three WHLers to Swiss WJC team

The preliminary rosters for World Junior team camps are starting to come out these days. Latest to announce their roster is the Swiss team, and they have a good WHL flavour, with three WHLers amongst the 28 players named to the camp.

The players are forwards Nino Niederreiter and Sven Bartschi, both of Portland, and defenceman Dave Sutter of the Thunderbirds.

Six players will need to be cut from the 28 player list but you'd have to think Niederreiter and Bartschi are locks to make the team, and Sutter should have a decent chance at the Swiss team as well.

Canada will announce their camp roster tomorrow.

Notes

Tri-City will add another overager to its roster tonight, as veteran forward Neal Prokop makes his return from a badly broken leg he suffered back in March.

Prokop gives the Americans four overagers (the current three are forward Kruise Reddick and defencemen Tyler Schmidt and Zak Stebner), and they now have two weeks to make a decision on which three to keep and move out the fourth guy. Portland is the only team in the league with room to add an overager, but there are probably other teams who would consider any of those four guys above to be an upgrade over somebody currently on their roster....

And another overage note, Vancouver acquired forward Brendan Rowinski from Moose Jaw two weeks ago but he has still not played a game for the Giants because the Giants doctors have not cleared him to return from his knee injury. Just one catch there - Rowinski played two games for Moose Jaw before the trade. So, it would appear that Moose Jaw's doctors felt his knee was ready to play, but Vancouver's see things differently. Funny how opinion on medical issues can vary from doctor to doctor, isn't it.

One last thing, I was unaware it had been quite so long, but news reports from the Calgary/Edmonton game last night say that the Hitmen's win was their 16th consecutive win over the Oil Kings, a streak that includes a 4 game playoff sweep in 2009. Edmonton has not beaten the Hitmen since September 20, 2008. Are there any other teams out there that have similar (and active) consecutive-wins streaks against one opponent?

(And Edmonton plays Calgary again tonight at home, so they can end the streak with a win...or Calgary will push it to 17 with a win)

Friday night

Interesting tidbit I just read - the Hitmen and Wheat Kings play tonight in Brandon in their first meeting since Brandon beat Calgary in the Memorial Cup semi-final back in May. But of the 38 players who played in that game, only 15 will play tonight - 7 for Calgary and 8 for Brandon. That's some significant turnover these two teams have had....

The game is on Shaw and if the Hitmen lose, it will be their 13th consecutive loss, which will set a new franchise record. The 1995-96 expansion edition of the team lost 12 in a row twice that year.

Rockets/Raiders deal

Trade to report this morning, Kelowna has dealt 18 year old defenceman Antoine Corbin to the Prince Albert Raiders for a 2012 3rd round bantam pick.

Corbin was kind of the odd man out in Kelowna, having been passed on the depth chart there by other players. The move should give him a chance to play some more minutes than he has been thus far.

Pacific roster

British Columbia and Alberta named their 11 players each that make up Team Pacific for the World U-17s today. Unlike the Team Western roster, Pacific has only 2 players out of 22 who are not in the WHL this year. The roster, with WHL affiliation where needed:


Goaltenders:
Devon Fordyce - UFA Bisons (AMHL) - property of Prince George Cougars
Mackenzie Skapski - Ridge Meadows Flames (PIJHL) - property of Kootenay Ice

Defencemen:
Matt Dumba - Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Lucas Grayson - Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Keaton Lubin - Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Morgan Reilly - Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Griffin Reinhart - Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
Joshua Smith - Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Nicholas Walters - Everett Silvertips (WHL)

Forwards:
Matt Bellerive - Vancouver Giants (WHL)
Levi Bews - Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
Troy Bourke - Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Chase Clayton - Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Shane Danyluk - Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
Jari Erricson - Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Justin Hickman - Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
Steven Hodges - Chilliwack Bruins (WHL)
Brandon Magee - Chilliwack Bruins (WHL)
Ryan Olsen - Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
Hunter Shinkaruk - Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
Robert Trzonkowski - Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Mike Winther - Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

So combining Western and Pacific together, the number of 16 year olds each WHL team will be missing for that week after Christmas:

Calgary: 3

Brandon: 2 (plus 2 other non-roster prospects)

Everett: 2 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Prince George: 2 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Saskatoon: 2 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Chilliwack: 2

Kamloops: 2

Kelowna: 2

Moose Jaw: 2

Portland: 2

Prince Albert: 2

Red Deer: 2

Regina: 1 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Swift Current: 1 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Tri-City: 1 (plus 1 other non-roster prospect)

Edmonton: 1

Medicine Hat: 1

Seattle: 1

Spokane: 1

Vancouver: 1

Kootenay: 0 (2 other non-roster prospects though)

Lethbridge: 0 (1 other non-roster prospect though)

Hitmen/Warriors big deal

After 12 straight losses in Calgary, you knew something had to change, and tonight it did. The Hitmen and Warriors have swung a five-player deal, with the Hitmen sending forwards Cody Beach and Mackenzie Royer to the Warriors for forwards Nathan MacMaster and Danny Gayle, and goaltender Brandon Glover.

All five players involved in the deal are 1992's, or 18 year olds.

With the deal, the Hitmen now have three goaltenders, so something is probably going to happen in the next few days involving either Michael Snider or Juraj Holly. Neither one has been particularly impressive this year so it's hard to say who is more likely to stay. Snider can come back next year as an overager so maybe they keep him for that reason, but on the other hand Holly is hard to move in the league due to his import status so maybe they keep him because of that. We'll see.

Tuesday stuff

Bunch of notes this morning....

First, Red Deer and Regina swung a trade yesterday, the Pats sending 18 year old goalie Dawson Guhle to the Rebels for 18 year old forward Lane Scheidl. The move cleared up the Pats' three-goalie logjam and created one in Red Deer, which the Rebels promptly resolved by assigning 16 year old backup Bolton Pouliot back to AAA midget in Calgary.

If nothing else, it's a move by the Rebels that shows their intention of competing for a title this season. Now they have an older backup with 30+ games experience, in the event that starter Darcy Kuemper goes down.

With Regina resolving their situation, only one team in the league still has three goaltenders on the roster now, and that is Swift Current.

Still with Red Deer and Swift Current goaltenders, - or former Rebels and Broncos goaltenders anyway - the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic recently added overage goalie Morgan Clark to their roster. Clark played four years in the WHL for Red Deer, Swift Current, and Prince George before becoming a victim of the overage numbers in Prince George last month. With the addition of Clark, the QMJHL now has three former WHL goalies playing as overagers there - Jacob DeSerres and Andrew Hayes being the other two. The QMJHL is also using three former OHL goalies as well....but some people used to think the QMJHL was a goalie factory and anglophone kids were inferior at that position....look who's taking the jobs of those "superior" QMJHL goalies these days.

The WHL has ruled on that hit by Vancouver's Wes Vannieuwenheuizen last week (see below). The verdict is a 7 game suspension, which seems a little light to me. I would have liked to see a few more games, maybe an even 10, but we'll live with 7.

One thing is for sure though, the league cannot ever go back to 2 or 3 game suspensions for serious hits from behind again....those days have to be long gone. There is still a lack of respect being shown to opponents by some players in the league (and in all leagues, to be fair) and I think at this point, only tougher discipline is going to make some players realize that there are certain points in a game where you don't need to make a hit - or can ease up on a hit - on a vulnerable opponent. "Finishing your check" be damned, if the guy is in a bad position then you don't hit him if you can help it. Next time it might be you in that bad position.

Lastly, the Saskatchewan and Manitoba hockey associations yesterday named their 11 players each who will make up "Team Western" for the annual World U-17 Hockey Challenge which starts December 29 in Winnipeg and Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.

Here's the roster, with WHL affiliation for the players not in the WHL right now:


Goaltenders:
Andy Desautels - Regina Pat Canadians (SMAAAHL) - property of Everett Silvertips
Chris Driedger - Tri City Americans (WHL)

Defencemen:
Brady Gaudet - Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Reid Gow - Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
Justin Hamonic - Winnipeg Wild (MMHL) - property of Tri-City Americans
Landon Peel - Swan Valley Stampeders (MJHL) - property of Regina Pats
Derrick Pouliot - Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Ryan Pulock - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Damon Severson - Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Forwards:
Daniel Asham - Winnipeg Wild (MMHL) - property of Brandon Wheat Kings
Bryaden Cuthbert - Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
Brendan Harms - Portage Terriers (MJHL) - property of Brandon Wheat Kings
Colton Heffley - Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
Shea Howorko - Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Jared Iron - Beardy’s Blackhawks (SMAAAHL) - property of Kootenay Ice
Brendan Leipsic - Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Logan McVeigh - Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Sutton Olson - Southwest Cougars (MMHL) - property of Swift Current Broncos
Tyrel Seaman - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Chandler Stephanson - Regina Pats (WHL)
Brett Stovin - Interlake Lightning (MMHL) - property of Saskatoon Blades
Jaimen Yakubowski - Beardy’s Blackhawks (SMAAAHL) - property of Lethbridge Hurricanes

British Columbia and Alberta, who combine to form Team Pacific for the tournament, should announce their rosters any day now.

Another big suspension coming up?

No sooner does Tri-City's Brendan Shinnimin return from his 12 game suspension this weekend, than the league may have another double-digit suspension on its hands.

Watch this video of a hit by Vancouver's Wes Vannieuwenhuizen on Chilliwack's Robin Soudek last night. You can't really see what happens until about the 1:40 mark of the video, but that is a brutal, vicious hit from behind by Vannieuwenhuizen. I don't see how the league can give Shinnimin 12 games for his hit on Josh Nicholls (entirely deserved, IMO) and not give Vannieuwenhuizen something similar for this hit.

Soudek is extremely fortunate he suffered "only" a concussion on the play, since it could have been far worse when you look at how he hit the boards and how hard.

When are players going to learn to have more respect for their opponents on the ice?

Reminder tonight

Just a reminder that tonight's game between Portland and Saskatoon is on Shaw in Canada...if you don't have other plans, are able to watch this game and don't, you might as well turn in your WHL fan card right now.

• Portland is #1 overall in the league and the hottest team in the league, riding a 10-0 streak into the game. 

• Saskatoon is #3 overall in the league, only 1 point behind Kootenay. So there's a better-than-usual chance that this game could be a preview of the 2010-11 WHL Finals.

• Saskatoon is going to wear what might be the dumbest looking uniforms the WHL has seen since Cooperalls went extinct.

• Shannon Tweed is going to perform the ceremonial faceoff. Lock up your sons.

• Tweed's husband Gene Simmons will be in attendance. Lock up your daughters.

• depending on who you talk to, Simmons may or may not do something really stupid between periods. If he goes through with it, maybe Shaw will skip the talking heads between periods and show it...

What more could you possibly want out of a game?

And another deal

Looks like Moose Jaw didn't need any more time to make their overage decision after all - they dealt forward Brendan Rowinski to Vancouver this afternoon for a 2012 3rd round pick and a 2013 6th round pick.

The Giants now have four overagers, since they already have McNaught, Cunningham, and MacKay, so there must be another move afoot here....probably not until McNaught is off the injured list though.

Warriors-Blades deal

Trade this afternoon, Moose Jaw has sent 18 year old defenceman Connor Cox to the Blades for a 2011 2nd round bantam pick.

A trade that makes sense for both teams, I think....Moose Jaw is making way for wunderkid Morgan Rielly to get even more playing time, and they get a valuable high pick back in return that they can use as bait if they decide to load up come January. Saskatoon gets a 2-year veteran defenceman to add to a defence group that has only two players with more than 1 year of experience.

Moose Jaw still needs to move an overager in the next 8 days as well, so another deal coming there soon.

NHL All-Star changes

I was reading the sports news tonight when this NHL story caught my eye.

Basically, it sounds like the NHL is about to change the format of their All-Star game, with the changes to be in effect for this season already. Fans will vote on six starters like always, but NHL brass will pick the other 36 players. From those 42 players, two captains will be chosen, and those captains will proceed to pick their teams from the player pool, one at a time.

Of course, this scenario is completely familiar to anyone who ever played on a frozen pond - or even a sandlot ball diamond, soccer field, or playground half-court - anywhere in the world. Two captains - the two best players, biggest players, whatever - pick teams and you play. Which is what makes this idea kinda cool, when you think about it. We've all been there, and probably at some point, most of us have been picked first....and we've also been somebody's tag-along kid brother, getting picked last. I can't wait to watch these NHLers staring at the ground and shuffling their feet as it gets down to the last few players up for grabs.

Boy, am I dating myself by referencing this.....but who will be the NHL's "Albert"?

Monday notes

Couple notes this morning....

First, Moose Jaw got overage forward Brendan Rowinski back from the injury list on the weekend, which means the Warriors now have four overage players on their roster - goaltender Thomas Heemskerk and forwards Rowinski, Dylan Hood, and Spencer Edwards. If I am not mistaken, the rules give the Warriors two weeks to make a decision on which three to keep. So, By November 20th they must either trade or release one of those four. Heemskerk is the #1 goalie there and his backup - Brandon Stone - has 90 minutes of career WHL experience so it seems very unlikely that Heemskerk is going anywhere. The three forwards, it's probably a toss-up....Edwards is the team captain which you would think might protect him a bit, but I guess anything can happen.

The other note, I got an email from a reader about the Hitmen's poor start to the season. After being 4-4 after 8 games, the Hitmen have now lost 9 in a row and are dead-last in the league at 4-13 - a .235 pace. Anyway, I was asked whether I thought they would still make the playoffs; I know I never made any predictions here on the blog but back in training camp I figured the Hitmen would be in 7th-8th-9th by season's end. In other words, scrapping for one of the last playoff spots.

Well, it's now November and regardless of what I might have thought before, it is looking very bad for the team with the WHL's longest streak of consecutive years in the playoffs (the last time the Hitmen missed the postseason was 1996-97). Last season you needed 78 points to make the playoffs in the Eastern conference. If we assume that number is true again this year, then the Hitmen need 70 points in their last 55 games to get into the playoffs. That requires them to play .636 hockey from now through the end of the season in order to make the playoffs. You don't have to be an expert on anything to realize the extreme improbability of a team that is .235 after 17 games - and at their best point were only .500 this season - suddenly playing .636 for 55 games.

As the saying goes, you can't win the title at the start of the season - but you can sure lose it.

I don't think anyone else in the league is in the same boat as Calgary quite yet - nobody else is more than 4 points out of a playoff spot in their conference at the moment anyway.

The report of my death was an exaggeration

I am back....apologies for going so long between posts but I've been extremely busy in my "real" life the last few weeks and haven't had much free time to do this. I can't promise that I'm going to be updating every day from here on but the frequency should probably be a lot closer to what it used to be.

Just one note for today - I see Edmonton and Kamloops swapped goalies yesterday, the Oil Kings getting 19 year old Jon Groenheyde and the Blazers getting 18 year old Cam Lanigan. The deal means that Kamloops is now using two veteran goalies who were not on the team at the start of training camp.

Which makes me think - is there any team in the league whose goaltending has been more unsettled in recent years than Kamloops? It seems (to me anyway) that ever since Devan Dubnyk left for the pros, that the Blazers have had a steady stream of goalies running through their dressing room in the search for that night-in, night-out starter that every team covets. Every team has some periods of uncertainty at the position but it just seems to me like Kamloops' has gone on for quite a few years now.

That being said though, I like this trade for the Blazers. Having seen Lanigan a bit over the last couple years, I think he's a very promising goalie and I'm not sure why Edmonton gave up on him. Yeah, he was struggling this year....but he did play very well last year and even got himself an NHL camp invite from it. For giving up on that potential, the Oil Kings get Groenheyde, who at 19 and after 2-plus years in the WHL, still hasn't proven that he is more than a backup calibre goaltender. He has good nights and bad nights and has just been consistently inconsistent so far in his career. Edmonton already had that in Lanigan, only Lanigan is younger and theoretically has more upside, more room to improve. So I don't get this trade from Edmonton's POV.

Deadline day

Today is overage deadline day - teams must declare their three overagers by 3pm Calgary time and after that there will be a "draft" to allow teams around the league to pick up the players who have been released.

We have one trade already this morning - Calgary has sent overage defenceman Zak Stebner to Tri-Cities for a 2011 3rd round bantam pick. The Americans' next game is on Tuesday when Calgary is in Tri-Cities to play them, so Stebner's first game for the Ams will be against his old team.

That move gets Calgary down to 3 overagers, but bumps Tri-Cities up to five, so the Ams will be making two more moves in the next 3 hours for sure. The only other teams that need to make moves today are Chilliwack (must move one of goaltender Lucas Gore, defencemen Jeff Einhorn and Brandon Manning, or forward Shayne Neigum) and Kootenay (must move one of goaltender Todd Mathews or forwards Steele Boomer, Matt Fraser, and Kevin King.)

UPDATE: Tri-City has gotten down to the limit by releasing forward Mike Brown and goaltender Alex Pechurskiy. They also released 18 year old import defenceman Nikita Kardashev, so at the moment they have zero imports.

Brown and Pechurskiy will be available in the overage draft later this afternoon.....right now only Kamloops is eligible to claim players in that draft so they'll have their pick of who they want.

UPDATE #2: Kootenay has waived goaltender Todd Mathews, and Chilliwack waived forward Shayne Neigum.

Kamloops then claimed Neigum, and that's the end of the day's festivities. Mathews, Mike Brown, and Alex Pechurskiy are free agents now.

James is going to jail again.....we hope

Good news about a bad situation this morning; the Winnipeg police have finished their investigation into Theoren Fleury's allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Graham James while playing for the St. James Canadians Jr A team in the mid-80s. As a result of the investigation, a Canada-wide warrant has been issued for James' arrest.

As of 4 months ago, James was known to be living in Guadalajara, Mexico, so I imagine Canada will have to ask Mexico to extradite him if he is to stand trial in Canada on the Fleury charges.

Hopefully the Canadian courts get it right this time. James' 1997 trial was one of the worst travesties of justice I have ever heard about in this country - he pled guilty to 350 counts of sexual assault (which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years) and for that was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. For 350 admitted sexual assaults, he served less than four days in prison for each one.

The article also says that at least three other men have either approached the police in Manitoba and Calgary about James, or are considering doing so. Hopefully this all adds up to James spending a long stretch in the big house when all is said and done.

Tuesday stuff

The WHL has made its' decision on Tri-City forward Brendan Shinnimin, and the verdict is a 12 game suspension for his dirty hit on Saskatoon's Josh Nicholls. Personally I think the league got it right, this is just about the right length of time IMO. Hopefully this signals a move by the WHL towards longer suspensions for the cheapest, dirtiest plays.

Now, catching up on what has happened over the (Canadian anyway) long weekend....

Regina and Swift Current made two trades on Friday that worked out to actually be one trade: first the Pats traded 19 year old forward Killian Hutt to the Broncos for a 6th round bantam pick. Hours later, the Pats sent that pick back to the Broncos for 18 year old import forward Juraj Roznik. So essentially it was Hutt for Roznik, done as two trades for the same draft pick.

The reason for the two trades? The Pats already had two imports and couldn't acquire Roznik until they moved one out, which they did by sending 19 year old forward Hampus Gustafsson to Brandon for a 2013 6th round pick. This deal happened between the Hutt deal and the Roznik deal and allowed the Roznik deal to take place.

Few more moves were made in the overage department, including two by Brandon. First the Wheat Kings traded overage defenceman Mark Schneider to Regina for 18 year old forward Dominik Favreau, and then the Wheat Kings got down to their final three overagers by waiving goaltender Jake DeSerres.

The acquisition of Schneider by Regina gets the Pats up to three overagers and means the only team in the league not at 3 (or more) right now is Kamloops.

As for DeSerres, he was picked up later in the day by the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. Not a bad arrangement for DeSerres since Saint John is one of the better teams in that league and he'll get a chance to take another team to the Memorial Cup. It just shows the depth of overagers in the WHL this year though, that a goalie of DeSerres' abilities cannot stick in the WHL. He is better than the goaltenders some WHL teams have right now....just not significantly better enough to make anyone want to also sacrifice one of their other overagers in return.

Two other overagers were released over the weekend as well - Prince George waived goaltender Morgan Clark, and Calgary waived defenceman Kyle Aschim. The Hitmen could have waited with Aschim since he is still rehabbing a shoulder injury and doesn't count against their overager limit until he is ready to play, but he clearly wasn't going to be in their top three and probably doesn't have any trade value in this overage market, so no point in waiting any longer I guess.

Also, overage forward Neal Prokop has rejoined the Tri-City Americans as he rehabs a broken leg he suffered last season. This gives the Ams five overagers now, although Prokop does not count until he's ready to play of course.

Two other veterans reassigned over the weekend too - Everett's D. Jay McGrath and Regina's Tyler Borstmayer, both of them headed to the Saskatchewan Junior A ranks. Not sure if this is the end for McGrath with Everett, but I think Borstmayer may have a chance to get back with the Pats next season if he gets some playing time this year in Jr A.

And lastly, I have to concede that there might not be any season predictions coming from me this year....there is just so much going on for me right now that I barely have time to update the blog at all, let alone time to write any kind of serious predictions. And the longer I wait, the less point there is in doing it at all, right....so I guess I could just do a quick first-to-last order prediction for each division, with no writeups, or I could just do nothing at all.

Friday notes

Bunch of moves to note yesterday in the league...

Vancouver resolved their 3-goalie logjam by sending 18 year old Derek Tendler to the Swift Current Broncos for a 2011 6th round bantam pick. That leaves the Giants with 19 year old Mark Segal and 17 year old Brendan Jensen as their goalies this year. Tendler's acquisition puts the Broncos into a similar 3-goalie pickle though, as they already had overager Mark Friesen and 17 year old rookie Austin Smith as their goalies. So now what do they do? Friesen's numbers are not very good through his first six starts (1 win, 3.82 GAA, .876 sv%) and there are some good forward and defencemen overage options out there if they want to let go of Friesen and go with a Tendler-Smith goalie tandem. On the other hand, Tendler is on his 3rd team in the last 9 months and is the owner of a career 4.30 GAA and .859 sv% over 13 games, so there's a lot of doubt that he's starting material. That probably means Smith is going down to Jr A and they use a Friesen-Tendler combo. Guess we'll see.

In other goalie news, Saskatoon reassigned 17 year old Adam Iwan, which means they're going with overager Steven Stanford and 19 year old Adam Morrison this year. Should Morrison be signed by the Philadelphia Flyers - who drafted him in the 3rd round in 2009 and gave him a long stay at camp this fall - then the Blades would be looking at having two rookie goaltenders next year. Barring trades of course.

Two overage notes as well, the main one being a trade between Prince George and Everett that sees overage forward Parker Stanfield heading from the Cougars to the Silvertips for a 2012 6th round bantam pick. That move gets the Cougars down to 4 overagers and gets the Silvertips up to the limit of 3. Only Regina and Kamloops still have openings to add an overager now without also having to move one out. Overage deadline is one week from today.

Two other overage notes as Kelowna has waived overage tough guy Tyler Matheson, a move which gets them down to three. I don't think there will be any takers for Matheson, so he is probably headed back to the BCHL to play Junior A. Portland has also released overage forward Liam Darragh, who was trying to get back into the league after previous stints in Chilliwack and Swift Current. Guess that didn't work out and now he is probably headed for the BCHL as well.

And one more deal from Wednesday which I had not mentioned until now; Prince George and Regina swapped 19 year old defencemen in a straight-up deal, the Pats getting Art Bidlevskii and the Cougars getting Cody Carlson. Kind of a deal intended to help both teams address specific needs since the players are quite different - Carlson is a smallish offensive-minded defenceman while Bidlevskii is your tough stay at home type.

One more thing I have to comment on as well; Tri-City forward Brendan Shinnimin has been suspended indefinitely, pending a WHL ruling on his brutal hit from behind on Saskatoon forward Josh Nicholls on Wednesday night. WHL fans with long memories may agree with me that this hit is not very different in appearance from a 1987 hit by Troy Edwards of the Warriors on Brad Hornung of the Pats - forward going to the net, gets a shove from the defender, flies headfirst into the boards behind the net. Except that Nicholls will be OK, while we all know the outcome of the Hornung hit. That is how close many of these serious hits from behind are to becoming tragedies.

I don't think there was any intent to injure on Shinnimin's part; you'd like to think that there is very little actual "intent to injure" anywhere in hockey. But what it was, was reckless and careless and there is far too much of that in the game today, and it's not getting better.

If this were the OHL, based on the punishments they have handed down for serious cheap shots over the last few years, I think Shinnimin would be looking at a suspension in the 10-20 game range for that hit. The WHL, unfortunately, hasn't taken that hard line yet (how long will we have to wait for that to start, I wonder) and so I suspect that what they give Shinnimin will probably be around 5 games, maybe 6 or 7. I would be very surprised if he got more, and not surprised at all (sadly) if he got less. The WHL really needs to start lowering the boom on these reckless plays before somebody else gets seriously hurt....because the players are not getting the message right now.

Roster breakdowns

Some food for thought - here's the breakdown of current team rosters across the league, with the total number of players on the roster, the average height (in inches), weight (in pounds) and age of the players, the number of rookies and imports, and the number of players in each age group from 16 to 20.

	Total	Ht	Wt	Age	Rook.	Imp.	16	17	18	19	20
Brandon Wheat Kings	29	72.59	187.52	18.07	16	1	3	7	9	5	5
Calgary Hitmen	27	73.41	190.59	18.22	9	2	3	5	7	7	5
Chilliwack Bruins	24	71.92	181.96	18.13	7	2	2	5	9	4	4
Edmonton Oil Kings	25	72.04	185.68	17.88	9	2	2	9	7	4	3
Everett Silvertips	25	72.16	186.44	18.08	9	2	2	6	7	8	2
Kamloops Blazers	24	72.67	189.25	18.04	6	2	3	4	8	7	2
Kelowna Rockets	25	72.24	184.16	18.16	7	2	2	6	7	6	4
Kootenay Ice	25	73.12	190.72	18.28	6	0	0	7	8	6	4
Lethbridge Hurricanes	24	72.50	188.25	18.17	6	2	1	6	8	6	3
Medicine Hat Tigers	23	72.48	183.52	18.22	8	2	1	6	6	7	3
Moose Jaw Warriors	24	72.58	186.88	17.92	9	2	3	7	7	3	4
Portland Winterhawks	26	73.58	190.38	18.12	7	2	3	3	12	4	4
Prince Albert Raiders	24	72.08	185.96	18.17	9	2	2	6	5	8	3
Prince George Cougars	27	72.52	191.37	18.04	10	2	3	6	10	3	5
Red Deer Rebels	26	72.88	185.46	18.00	8	2	3	7	7	5	4
Regina Pats	27	71.48	180.52	18.07	10	2	2	6	9	8	2
Saskatoon Blades	25	73.00	188.16	17.76	11	2	4	9	4	5	3
Seattle Thunderbirds	25	73.64	197.24	18.00	8	2	2	6	10	4	3
Spokane Chiefs	26	72.35	190.88	18.08	8	2	1	9	6	7	3
Swift Current Broncos	26	72.50	187.00	18.12	8	3	1	9	5	8	3
Tri-City Americans	27	71.74	185.93	18.04	10	2	4	5	8	6	4
Vancouver Giants	26	72.31	185.92	18.04	8	1	2	7	8	6	3

Things we learn from this:

 - Seattle is the tallest team in the league at an average of 73.64 inches. Portland (73.58) and Calgary (73.41) are close behind. 

 - Regina is the shortest team at an average of 71.48 inches. Tri-City (71.74) and Chilliwack (71.92) are the only other teams that average under six feet tall.

 - Seattle is also the heaviest team, at 197.2 pounds. It's not even close, as 2nd place is Prince George at 191.37, a good 6 pounds back. That's a huge gap.

 - heaviest player in the league is Spokane's Cole Hamblin at 245 pounds, followed by Seattle's Austin Baecker at 242 pounds. Lightest player is Medicine Hat's Garry Valk at 140 pounds. I don't really want to see Valk get hit in the corner by Hamblin.

 - oldest team is Kootenay at 18.28 years. Youngest is Saskatoon at 17.76 years. One thing to keep in mind with the average ages though is that teams with more than 3 overagers (like Calgary, who have 5 and come in 2nd oldest overall at 18.22 years) will see their ages drop when they get down to the limit of 3.

 - Brandon has 16 rookies (!!!). Kamloops, Kootenay, and Lethbridge only have six.

Two more moves

And two more moves this morning....

First, Red Deer has resolved their overage numbers problem by waiving forward Brad Haber. The writing was probably on the wall for him for a while now since he hadn't dressed for any of Red Deer's first five games.

Second, Lethbridge has traded 19 year old defenceman Brennan Yadlowski to Everett for a 2011 2nd round bantam pick and a 2012 5th round bantam pick. A 2nd AND a 5th round pick would seem a bit high to me for Yadlowski but I guess when you figure he'll play next year as an overager too, it's a reasonable price.

More player movement

Few more notes from the last couple days....

Vancouver is now down to one import after 19 year old forward Casper Carning informed the team that he was returning home to Sweden. Carning apparently wasn't fitting in very well with Don Hay's program and as a 19 year old he probably saw the writing on the wall as far as his future in the league when he wasn't able to crack the top couple lines on the Giants.

If the Giants care to replace Carning's import spot, only Swift Current has three imports right now but Tri-City could be another trading partner if the Giants want to wait a few weeks. Russian defenceman Nikita Nesterov is still awaiting the paperwork to join the Americans; once he does the Ams will also have three imports.

And a couple more overage moves too, both involving the Prince George Cougars. Two days ago the Cougars acquired forward/defenceman Sena Acolatse from Saskatoon for a 3rd round bantam pick, which gave the Cougars four overagers and got the Blades down to their required three.

Yesterday, the Cougars landed yet another overager and this one comes from the NCAA ranks. Forward Taylor Stefishen has left Ohio State to join the Cougars lineup, which means the Cougars now have five overagers. You'd have to think that Stefishen and Acolatse are pretty safe bets to take two of the final three spots; the 3rd spot likely comes down to either forward James Dobrowolski or goaltender Morgan Clark, which means it doesn't look very good for forward Parker Stanfield.

Dobrowolski is an alternate captain, which might make his spot a little safer than Clark's, except that the Cougars only have two goalies so they'd have to find another one before they could get rid of Clark. There are still eight teams in the league (Brandon, Chilliwack, Kootenay, Portland, Regina, Saskatoon, Tri-City, and Vancouver) who are carrying more than 2 goalies so there's no shortage of potential trading partners if the Cougars want to go that direction.....depending on how much they want to give up, they may even be able to get a new #1 goalie from one of those teams if they don't think Priestner is that guy.

The pick the Cougars gave up to Swift Current for Morgan Clark was a conditional pick, so they probably get it back if they decide not to keep him - no cost to them in that case.

The overage deadline is 9 days away now (October 14) and there are three teams with five overagers (Brandon, Calgary, Prince George), seven teams with four overagers (Chilliwack, Kelowna, Kootenay, Moose Jaw, Portland, Red Deer, and Tri-City), and three teams with only two overagers and room to add one more (Everett, Kamloops, and Regina).

Kyle Aschim (Calgary) and Brendan Rowinski (Moose Jaw) are injured right now and so the deadline does not apply to them....their teams will have the option of keeping them or moving them when they come off the injured list, whenever that is. Still a minimum of 11 overage players that have to be trimmed from rosters, and at least 8 of them will be out of the WHL in the next 9 days.

Blades cut two

The Saskatoon Blades with two moves today: overage forward Jeremy Boyer and 18 year old rookie defenceman Jesse Williamson are gone. Boyer has been placed on waivers, while Williamson has been reassigned to Bonnyville of the AJHL.

The Blades are now down to four overagers. Sena Acolatse, Steven Stanford, Marek Viedensky, and Teigan Zahn.

Two-spotters

Something I noticed while going over the rosters this morning....right now it is shaping up that there will be no less than five "two-spot" (overage import) players in the league this year:

Misha Fisenko in Calgary
Igor Revenko in Prince Albert
Marek Viedensky in Saskatoon
Stepan Novotny in Swift Current
Alex Pechurski in Tri-Cities

Seems to me like not that long ago you'd be hard-pressed to find even one of those two-spot players in the league. Last year, for example, there were two (Kytnar and Kundratek).

What's the reason behind this? I think it's pretty safe to say that the overall quality of import players in the league has declined quite a bit in the last five years, so is that resulting in more teams being willing to try to wring one more year out of the few good ones they do get? Is the overall quality of overage players down as well, to the point where teams are more willing to use two designated spots on one player?

Other ideas?

2010-11 Rosters

Anyone who has info that I'm missing can pass it on to me, either through the comments or through e-mailing me - the address is over there on the side. Corrections are welcome! This list is a collaborative effort of myself and my readers and always has been.....

Brandon Wheat Kings:

Goaltenders (4): Corbin Boes (17), Jacob DeSerres (20), Liam Liston (17), Ty Rimmer (18)
Defencemen (10): Darren Bestland (20), Jordan Fransoo (17), Spencer Galbraith (17), Rene Hunter (17), Kyle Krzyzaniak (18), Brodie Melnychuk (19), Ryley Miller (18), Ryan Pulock (16),  Eric Roy (16), Mark Schneider (20)
Forwards (15): Paul Ciarelli (19), Mike Ferland (18), Jon Gaudet (18), Scott Glennie (19), Wheaton King (18), Jens Meilleur (17), Mark Mieritz (19), Brayden Schenn (19), Tyrel Seaman (16), Jesse Sinatynski (18), Mark Stone (18), Jason Swyripa (17), David Toews (20), Brenden Walker (18), Shayne Wiebe (20)
At NHL camp: Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles)
Notes: Five overagers in camp
Last Updated: October 5

Calgary Hitmen:
Goaltenders (2): Juraj Holly (19), Michael Snider (19)
Defencemen (10): Kyle Aschim (20), Carter Berg (18), Peter Kosterman (17), Keaton Lubin (16), Matt MacKenzie (19), Jaynen Rissling (17), Alex Roach (17), Kyle Schmidt (17), Zak Stebner (20), Ben Wilson (19)
Forwards (15): Cody Beach (18), Jimmy Bubnick (19), Trevor Cheek (18), Chase Clayton (16), Tyler Fiddler (20), Misha Fisenko (20), Kris Foucault (20), Justin Kirsch (18), John Lawrence (18), Riley Reinbolt (19), Mackenzie Royer (18), Brendan Santini (17), Simon Skrudland (19), Cody Sylvester (18), Robert Trzonkowski (16)
Notes: Five overagers in camp.
Last Updated: September 29


Chilliwack Bruins:
Goaltenders (3): Braden Gamble (19), Lucas Gore (20), Cole Holowenko (17)
Defencemen (7): Jeff Einhorn (20), Zach Habscheid (18), Brandon Manning (20), Jesse Pauls (18), Tyler Stahl (18), Mitch Topping (17), Jesse Zgraggen (17)
Forwards (14): Chris Collins (18), Jamie Crooks (18), Mike Forsyth (18), Steven Hodges (16), Roman Horak (19), Ryan Howse (19), Brandon Magee (16), Dylan McKinlay (18), Shayne Neigum (20), Brendan Persley (17), Robin Soudek (19), Kevin Sundher (18), Tim Traber (17), Blair Wentworth (18)
Last Updated: September 29


Edmonton Oil Kings:
Goaltenders (2): Laurent Brossoit (17), Cam Lanigan (18)
Defencemen (8): Ryan Dech (17), Marek Hrbas (17), Braeden Laroque (18), Keegan Lowe (17), Jesse Pearson (19), Mark Pysyk (18), Griffin Reinhart (16), Adrian Van De Mosselaer (20)
Forwards (15): Cameron Abney (19), Travis Ewanyk (17), T.J. Foster (18), Jordan Hickmott (20), Josh Lazowski (19), Stephane Legault (17), Mitch Moroz (16), Kristian Pells (18), Mike Piluso (20), Rhett Rachinski (19), Michael St.Croix (17), David Stephens (17), Colton Stephenson (18), Klarc Wilson (17), Dylan Wruck (18)
Last Update: September 27

Everett Silvertips:
Goaltenders (2): Luke Siemens (18), Kent Simpson (18)
Defencemen (8): Evan Morden (17), Ryan Murray (17), Rasmus Rissanen (19), Paul Sohor (19), Chad Suer (20), Alex Theriau (18), Nicholas Walters (16), Brennan Yadlowski (19)
Forwards (15): Josh Birkholz (19), Clayton Cumiskey (20), Campbell Elynuik (18), Jari Erricson (16), Landon Ferraro (19), Cody Fowlie (18), Tyler Giebel (17), Manraj Hayer (17), Jesse Huhtala (17), Scott MacDonald (19), Tyler Maxwell (19), Markus McCrea (18), D.Jay McGrath (18), Kellan Tochkin (19), Josh Winquist (17)
Last Update: October 5

Kamloops Blazers:
Goaltenders (2): Jeff Bosch (20), Jon Groenheyde (19)
Defencemen (8): Josh Caron (19), Corey Fienhage (20), Brady Gaudet (16), Tyler Hansen (17), Austin Madaisky (18), Bronson Maschmeyer (19), Linden Saip (19), Brandon Underwood (18)
Forwards (14): J.T. Barnett (18), Dalibor Bortnak (19), Jordan DePape (18), Ryan Hanes (18), Bernhard Keil (18), J.C. Lipon (17), Lyndon Martell (17), Logan McVeigh (16), Brendan Ranford (18), Chase Schaber (19), Colin Smith (17), Chase Souto (16), Jake Trask (19), Dylan Willick (18)
Last Update: September 29

Kelowna Rockets:
Goaltenders (2): Adam Brown (19), Jordan Cooke (17)
Defencemen (8): Tyson Barrie (19), Mitchell Chapman (18), Antoine Corbin (18), Colton Jobke (18), Mackenzie Johnston (17), Damon Severson (16), Kevin Smith (19), Brendon Wall (20)
Forwards (15): Max Adolph (18), Jessey Astles (17), Evan Bloodoff (20), Brett Bulmer (18), Mitchell Callahan (19), Cody Chikie (19), Zach Franko (17), Gal Koren (18), Spencer Main (18), Tyler Matheson (20), Shane McColgan (17), Jason Siebert (16), Colton Sissons (17), Andreas Stene (19), Geordie Wudrick (20)
Notes: Four overagers in camp
Last Updated: September 27

Kootenay Ice:
Goaltenders (3): Nathan Lieuwen (19), Todd Mathews (20), Brett Teskey (17)
Defencemen (7): Jagger Dirk (17), Joey Leach (18), James Martin (19), Brayden McNabb (19), John Neibrandt (18), Luke Paulsen (18), Hayden Rintoul (19)
Forwards (15): Joe Antilla (19), Erik Benoit (17), Ryan Bloom (17), Steele Boomer (20), Drew Czerwonka (18), Matt Fraser (20), Brendan Hurley (17), Jesse Ismond (19), Kevin King (20), Christian Magnus (18), Brock Montgomery (18), Elgin Pearce (18), Max Reinhart (18), Adam Rossignol (17), Jarett Zentner (17)
Notes: Four overagers in camp
Last Updated: September 29

Lethbridge Hurricanes:
Goaltenders (2): Brandon Anderson (18), Dylan Tait (19)
Defencemen (7): Brandyn Hulit (17), Reid Jackson (17), Daniel Johnston (18), Cason Machacek (19), Landon Oslanski (18), Mike Reddington (20), Derek Ryckman (18)
Forwards (15): Jacob Berglund (19), Cam Braes (19), Austin Fyten (19), Graham Hood (18), Alex Kuvaev (17), Mitch Maxwell (20), Russell Maxwell (16), Ryon Moser (18), Brady Ramsey (17), Mark Reners (17), Max Ross (20), Michael Sofillas (17), Brody Sutter (19), Neil Tarnasky (18), Phillip Tot (17)
Last Updated: October 5

Medicine Hat Tigers:
Goaltenders (2): Tyler Bunz (18), Deven Dubyk (19)
Defencemen (7): Dylan Busenius (17), Thomas Carr (20), Jace Coyle (20), Matthew Konan (19), Scott McKay (18), Sebastien Owuya (19), Patrik Parkonen (17)
Forwards (14): Dylan Bredo (17), Sam Dezman (19), Emerson Etem (18), Cole Grbavac (19), Wacey Hamilton (20), Ryan Harrison (18), Kale Kessy (18), Boston Leier (17), Reid Petryk (17), Tyler Pitlick (19), Hunter Shinkaruk (16), Curtis Valk (17), Linden Vey (19), Vahe Zakaryan (18)
Last Update: September 30


Moose Jaw Warriors:
Goaltenders (2): Thomas Heemskerk (20), Brandon Stone (17)
Defencemen (7): Collin Bowman (19), Connor Cox (18), Joel Edmundson (17), Dallas Ehrhardt (18), Kendall McFaull (18), Dylan McIlrath (18), Morgan Rielly (16)
Forwards (15): Brayden Cuthbert (16), Spencer Edwards (20), Sam Fioretti (17), Danny Gayle (18), Matt Grant (17), Michal Hlinka (17), Antonin Honejsek (19), Dylan Hood (20), Quinton Howden (18), A.J. Johnson (16), Joey Kornelsen (17), Nathan MacMaster (18), Jesse Paradis (19), Brendan Rowinski (20), Jordan Wyton (17)
Notes: Four overagers in camp

Last Update: September 28

Portland Winterhawks:

Goaltenders: (3): Mac Carruth (18), Ian Curtis (20), Keith Hamilton (18)

Defencemen: (7): Taylor Aronson (19), Josh Hanson (16), Joe Morrow (18), Brett Ponich (19), Derrick Pouliot (16), Troy Rutkowski (18), Tyler Wotherspoon (17)

Forwards: (16): Sven Bartschi (18), Spencer Bennett (20), Riley Boychuk (19), Teal Burns (18), Liam Darragh (20), Oliver Gabriel (19), Ryan Johansen (18), Tayler Jordan (20), Gasper Kopitar (18), Brendan Leipsic (16), Nino Niederreiter (18), Taylor Peters (18), Ty Rattie (17), Brad Ross (18), Seth Swenson (17), Jason Trott (18)

At NHL camp: Nino Niederreiter (NY Islanders)
Notes: Four overagers in camp
Last Update: September 29

Prince Albert Raiders:
Goaltenders (2): Jamie Tucker (19), Eric Williams (17)
Defencemen (9): Mathew Berry-Lamontagna (17), James Bettauer (19), Austin Bourhis (18), Ryan Button (19), Nathan Deck (20), Emerson Hrynyk (18), Jordan Rowley (20), Harrison Ruopp (17), Tyler Yaworski (18)
Forwards (14): Brock Balson (17), Austin Connor (18), Shane Danyluk (16), Todd Fiddler (17), Andrew Herle (19), Brandon Herrod (19), Marc MacKenzie (17), Justin Maylan (19), Mark McNeill (17), Jonathon Parker (19), Tyler Paslawski (18), Igor Revenko (20), Sebastian Svendsen (19), Mike Winther (16)
Last Update: September 24

Prince George Cougars:
Goaltenders (2): Morgan Clark (20), James Priestner (19)
Defencemen (7): Art Bidlevskii (19), Mattia Bortolotto (17), Jesse Forsberg (17), Dan Gibb (18), Martin Marincin (18), Shane Pilling (17), Josh Smith (16)

Forwards (18): Sena Acolatse (20), Spencer Asuchak (19), Caleb Belter (17), Troy Bourke (16), Nick Buonassisi (18), Brett Connolly (18), James Dobrowolski (20), Wilson Dumais (17), Greg Fraser (18), Brock Hirsche (18), Charles Inglis (18), Taylor Makin (18), Carter Rigby (16), Brandon Scholten (18), Parker Stanfield (20), Taylor Stefishen (20), Tayler Thompson (17), Jaroslav Vlach (18)
Notes: Five overagers in camp

Last Update: October 5

Red Deer Rebels:
Goaltenders (2): Darcy Kuemper (20), Bolton Pouliot (16)
Defencemen (10): Colin Archer (20), Aaron Borejko (19), Brad Deagle (18), Matt Dumba (16), Lucas Grayson (16), Brad Haber (20), Alex Petrovic (18), Matt Pufahl (17), Justin Weller (19), Simon Witt (18)
Forwards (14): Josh Cowen (19), Turner Elson (18), Brett Ferguson (20), Byron Froese (19), Adam Kambeitz (18), Andrej Kudrna (19), Colton Mayor (17), Locke Muller (17), Tyson Ness (17), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (17), John Persson (18), Chad Robinson (17), Lane Scheidl (18), Daulton Siwak (17)
Notes: Four overagers in camp

Last Update: October 3

Regina Pats:
Goaltenders (3): Dawson Guhle (18), Matt Hewitt (18), Damien Ketlo (19)
Defencemen (9): Myles Bell (17), Ricard Blidstrand (18), Tyler Borstmayer (17), Cody Carlson (19), Brandon Davidson (19), Tyler Pavkovich (17), Landon Peel (16), Travis Sparrow (19), Mitch Spooner (18)
Forwards (15): Carter Ashton (19), Dominick Favreau (18), Thomas Frazee (20), Hampus Gustafsson (19), Killian Hutt (19), Mikael Jung (18), Garrett Mitchell (19), Dane Muench (18), Trent Ouellete (17), Colin Reddin (20), Andrew Rieder (18), Michael Sagen (17), Chandler Stephenson (16), Dyson Stevenson (17), Jordan Weal (18)
Last Update: September 28

Saskatoon Blades:
Goaltenders (3): Adam Iwan (17), Adam Morrison (19), Steven Stanford (20)
Defencemen (8): Darren Dietz (17), Stefan Elliott (19), Tyler Kiziuk (18), Duncan Siemens (17), Tommy Stipancik (16), Dalton Thrower (17), Davis Vandane (18), Teigan Zahn (20)
Forwards (14): Brent Benson (17), Levi Bews (16), Austin Daae (17), Darian Dziurzynski (19), Alex Elliott (17), Curt Gogol (19), Curtis Hamilton (19), Braeden Johnson (18), Josh Nicholls (18), Ryan Olsen (16), Brett Stovin (16), Matej Stransky (17), Lukas Sutter (17), Marek Viedensky (20)
Last Update: October 2

Seattle Thunderbirds:
Goaltenders (2): Calvin Pickard (18), Michael Salmon (18)
Defencemen (9): Travis Bobbee (20), Ryan Aasman (18), Austin Baecker (18), Erik Bonsor (19), Brenden Dillon (20), Erik Fleming (18), Austin Frank (17), Scott Ramsay (19), Dave Sutter (18)
Forwards (14): Tyler Alos (17), Jacob Doty (17), Mitch Elliot (17), Burke Gallimore (19), Justin Hickman (16), Colin Jacobs (17), Luke Lockhart (18), Chance Lund (18), Marcel Noebels (18), Brendan Rouse (18), Connor Sanvido (17), Travis Toomey (20), Branden Troock (16), Charles Wells (19)
Last Update: September 28

Spokane Chiefs:
Goaltenders (2): Mac Engel (17), James Reid (20)

Defencemen (9): Corbin Baldwin (19), Jared Cowen (19), Reid Gow (16), Cole Hamblin (17), Brenden Kichton (18), Garrett Leedahl (19), Bruin McDonald (18), Tanner Mort (17), Tyler Vanscourt (18)

Forwards (15): Mike Aviani (17), Anthony Bardaro (18), Brady Brassart (17), T.C. Cratsenberg (18), Blake Gal (18), Mitch Holmberg (17), Tyler Johnson (20), Marek Kalus (17), Steven Kuhn (19), Levko Koper (20), Matt Marantz (19), Brendan Mangone (17), Kenton Miller (19), Dominik Uher (18), Collin Valcourt (17)
Last Update: October 2

Swift Current Broncos:
Goaltenders (2): Mark Friesen (20), Austin Smith (17)
Defencemen (8): Graeme Craig (17), Jordan Evans (18), Matt Franczyk (17), Tanner Muth (17), Richard Nedomlel (17), Joel Rogers (19), Reece Scarlett (17), Kyle Verdino (19)
Forwards (16): Andy Blanke (18), Brandon Bruce (17), Josh Derko (17), Justin Dowling (20), Cody Eakin (19), Lucas Froese (18), Brad Hoban (19), Shea Howorko (16), Adam Lowry (17), Stepan Novotny (20), Jordan Peddle (19), Juraj Rosnik (18), Brenden Silvester (19), Andrew Sullivan (18), Taylor Vause (19), Dillon Wagner (19)
Notes: Three imports in camp

Last Update: September 23

Tri-City Americans:
Goaltenders (3): Chris Driedger (16), Drew Owsley (19), Alex Pechurskiy (20)
Defencemen (8): Drydn Dow (18), Sam Grist (17), Riley Guenther (16), Spencer Humphries (18), Nikita Kardashev (18), Tyler Schmidt (20), Brock Sutherland (19), Zach Yuen (17)
Forwards (16): Mike Brown (20), David Conrad (19), Justin Feser (18), Patrick Holland (18), Adam Hughesman (19), Brooks Macek (18), Zach McPhee (17), Jordan Messier (18), Marcus Messier (16), Max Moline (17), Nils Moser (17), Tanner Olstad (18), Connor Rankin (16), Kruise Reddick (20), Brendan Shinnimin (19), Mason Wilgosh (19)
Notes: Four overagers in camp

Last Update: September 27

Vancouver Giants:
Goaltenders (3): Brendan Jensen (17), Mark Segal (19), Derek Tendler (18)

Defencemen (8): Luke Fenske (17), Tyler Hart (18), Zach Hodder (17), Neil Manning (19), David Musil (17), Dalton Reum (18), Tanner Sohn (19), Wes Vannieuwenhuizen (18)

Forwards (15): Matt Bellerive (16), Michael Burns (19), Nathan Burns (17), Craig Cunningham (20), Cain Franson (17), Brendan Gallagher (18), James Henry (19), Greg Lamoureux (18), Brett Lyon (19), Matt Mackay (20), Jordan Martinook (18), Randy McNaught (20), Conner Redmond (18), Dalton Sward (16), Marek Tvrdon (17)
Last Update: October 4

Another overage move

Looks like the Tigers have made their overage decisions - Medicine Hat TV station CHAT is reporting that the Tigers are looking to move forward Joey Frazer.

This means the Tigers will go with forward Wacey Hamilton and defencemen Jace Coyle and Thomas Carr as their three overagers.

Still 76 overagers left on league rosters though and only 66 total spots available. Three teams have openings (Everett, Kamloops, Regina) but that still means a number of good players are not going to have places to play in the league this year.

Wednesday notes

Bunch of stuff today....first, several overager notes from around the league:

Two overage goaltenders, Andrew Hayes of Brandon and Kraymer Barnstable of Red Deer, have seen their tenures with those teams come to an end. Hayes has been "designated for assignment" by Brandon, which is another way of saying they're trying to trade him, while Barnstable has been waived by Red Deer, which means he's free to go wherever he wants.

I would think both of these guys are probably headed for Junior A to finish their careers. Hayes had some good numbers in Brandon but there's a glut of overage goalies in the league already (still 12 O/A goalies on league rosters even without counting Hayes or Barnstable) and a glut of overagers in general. I'm not sure anyone is going to have room for him.

Brandon still has another overage goalie too, Jacob DeSerres, and if the fact that Brandon used Liam Liston and Ty Rimmer in their first two games means anything, it doesn't look very good for DeSerres either. It almost looks like Brandon is trying to get a feel for whether the rookie goalies can handle the load this year which would allow them to not have to use an overage spot on a goaltender.

In other overage news, Portland's Luke Walker signed a 3-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche yesterday, and with that news you can probably take it to the bank that he's not coming back to the WHL. Not too many NHL-signed kids come back as overagers.

And in a slightly surprising move today, the Calgary Hitmen got overage import forward Misha Fisenko back after his minor pro tryout in the CHL didn't work out. Fisenko's addition leaves the Hitmen with five overagers, although Kyle Aschim remains on the injured list so right now they'll only have to make one move before the October 15 deadline. The Hitmen previously only had one import, goaltender Juraj Holly, so Fisenko's addition does not cause them any import problems. After scoring only 3 goals in two games last weekend, they'll probably welcome his offence back.

One other non-overage roster note today, Vancouver Giants rookie forward R.J. Reed has left the team and returned home to play in the AJHL. No reason given for Reed's departure but he did not get much playing time in the first few games of the season so as an 18 year old, perhaps he was unhappy about that situation.

MacKenzie moved

The Marc MacKenzie versus the Raiders saga is over as quickly as it began - the Raiders have dealt MacKenzie to the Chilliwack Bruins for a 2011 12th round bantam pick.

If all they could get for him was a 12th round pick (which is next to nothing), it would appear his value around the league was not quite as high as I had thought it was. But, he'll get a chance in Chilliwack to prove he was worth more consideration than what he thought he was getting from Prince Albert.