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.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
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"?
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, November 8, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, November 5, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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.
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, October 12, 2010
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.
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, October 8, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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.
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?
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
Portland Winterhawks:
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)
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
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)
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
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
Vancouver Giants:
Goaltenders (3): Brendan Jensen (17), Mark Segal (19), Derek Tendler (18)
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
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
Notes: Five overagers in camp
Last Update: October 5
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
Last Update: October 2
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
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.
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, September 29, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, September 27, 2010
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.
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.
Monday musings
Few things this morning, after the opening weekend of the season....
Anyone surprised with the state of the league after the opening weekend? I'm not sure that two games (one for some teams) is enough to be worth making any kind of comments on at all, but I'm very surprised to see Edmonton beaten as badly as they were by Red Deer. In two games, the Oil Kings were outscored 12-2. I think we all knew Red Deer was going to be improved this year but I thought Edmonton changed coaches for the purpose of giving their team a new direction as well. 12 goals against in two games is not a good start on a "new direction".
Also, Ryan Howse has five goals in two games, meaning he's on pace for 180 goals this year. There are probably close to 180 skaters in the league who will not score 5 goals in total this season.
Two weeks ago, 17 year old Marc MacKenzie was the toast of the Raiders after bloodying an intruder he caught in his billets' house. Today, MacKenzie is estranged from the Raiders and at home hoping the team will trade him. There are some not-so-flattering things said about Raiders coach/GM Bruno Campese in the article, but there are two sides to every story so let's wait to hear Campese's version of events before we draw any conclusions here.
I suspect there are a number of teams that would be interested in acquiring MacKenzie's services though, so if the Raiders decide to trade him, they will probably have some offers.
NHL roster cutdowns continue and most WHL teams now have all their players back. By my calculations, the only players - who are possible or likely to return in the first place - who are still away are:
Anyone surprised with the state of the league after the opening weekend? I'm not sure that two games (one for some teams) is enough to be worth making any kind of comments on at all, but I'm very surprised to see Edmonton beaten as badly as they were by Red Deer. In two games, the Oil Kings were outscored 12-2. I think we all knew Red Deer was going to be improved this year but I thought Edmonton changed coaches for the purpose of giving their team a new direction as well. 12 goals against in two games is not a good start on a "new direction".
Also, Ryan Howse has five goals in two games, meaning he's on pace for 180 goals this year. There are probably close to 180 skaters in the league who will not score 5 goals in total this season.
Two weeks ago, 17 year old Marc MacKenzie was the toast of the Raiders after bloodying an intruder he caught in his billets' house. Today, MacKenzie is estranged from the Raiders and at home hoping the team will trade him. There are some not-so-flattering things said about Raiders coach/GM Bruno Campese in the article, but there are two sides to every story so let's wait to hear Campese's version of events before we draw any conclusions here.
I suspect there are a number of teams that would be interested in acquiring MacKenzie's services though, so if the Raiders decide to trade him, they will probably have some offers.
NHL roster cutdowns continue and most WHL teams now have all their players back. By my calculations, the only players - who are possible or likely to return in the first place - who are still away are:
- Brayden Schenn, Brandon (at L.A. Kings camp)
- Brayden McNabb, Kootenay (at Buffalo Sabres camp)
- Quinton Howden, Moose Jaw (at Florida Panthers camp)
- Oliver Gabriel, Portland (at Columbus Blue Jackets camp)
- Ryan Johansen, Portland (at Columbus Blue Jackets camp)
- Nino Niederreiter, Portland (at NY Islanders camp)
- Luke Walker, Portland (at Colorado Avalanche camp)
- Adam Morrison, Saskatoon (at Philadelphia Flyers camp)
- Jared Cowen, Spokane (at Ottawa Senators camp)
- Cody Eakin, Swift Current (at Washington Capitals camp)
Just my guesses at the status of the missing players anyway....
And lastly, there is a new free monthly WHL-focused publication out there, from the website DubNation. Lots of good articles about the league, so if you haven't checked it out yet, you should do so. It's free, after all.
Friday, September 24, 2010
And another trade
Another trade tonight, this one announced after the early games ended. Vancouver has acquired overage forward Randy McNaught from Saskatoon for a 2011 5th round pick.
McNaught might be the best heavyweight fighter in the WHL - if it's not Josh Caron of the Blazers of course. Those two will get to face each other plenty this season after this deal. Makes you wonder if the presence of Caron just up the road is what prompted Vancouver to make this trade and use a valuable overage spot on a guy who isn't going to contribute a whole lot with the gloves on.
McNaught might be the best heavyweight fighter in the WHL - if it's not Josh Caron of the Blazers of course. Those two will get to face each other plenty this season after this deal. Makes you wonder if the presence of Caron just up the road is what prompted Vancouver to make this trade and use a valuable overage spot on a guy who isn't going to contribute a whole lot with the gloves on.
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