LW Garrett Robinson, 19, may never play another game of hockey, but he will spend this season with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Robinson suffered multiple injuries, including a severe head injury, in a car crash on Oct. 22. He ended up in a coma and at one point was given 48 hours to live. So the fact that he is even on the ice with his Warriors teammates at camp is something of a miracle. “The skating came naturally and that was the easiest part,” Robinson said Friday at a press conference after skating in his first practice. “My hands felt awkward. I still need to work on my stickhandling and shooting. I was just happy to be out there.” While Robinson will skate with the Warriors and shoot on goaltenders, he doesn’t have medical clearance to take part in any contact drills or scrimmages. . . .
D Myles Rumsey, a Winnipeg native who played with the Swift Current Broncos, has used up his WHL eligibility and will play at the U of Manitoba this season. . . .
On Thursday, the Victoria Times-Colonist reported: “Victoria Grizzlies general manager Jackson Penney said there was no truth to the rumour that Grizzlies head coach Rick Lanz had been hired as a scout by the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche.” . . . By that evening, Lanz was gone. The veteran BCHL coach has joined the Avalanche; Penney will serve as GM/head coach of the Grizzlies. . . .
Has there ever been a season in which there was so much coaching movement in the month of August? . . .
Vancouver Giants F Evander Kane, 16, is expected to miss at least the first week of camp with mononucleosis. . . . Also missing from Vancouver’s camp is G Blaine Neufeld, 20. The Vancouver Province reports that he is expected to play junior A in Manitoba. . . . F Ben Otto, 15, is too young to play for the Giants this season -- he was an 11th-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft -- but he’s getting a look-see in camp. He is the son of former Calgary Flames centre Joel Otto, who told The Province that his son hasn’t ruled out going the college route. . . .
The expansion Edmonton Oil Kings are allowed five 20-year-olds in their first season. When camp breaks, D Lyon Messier hopes that he is one of them. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder is the son of, yes, Mark Messier, who won five Stanley Cups in Edmonton. Lyon played last season with the NAHL’s Texas Tornado. . . .
F Ryan White, 16, didn’t show up in the Everett Silvertips’ camp; instead, he’ll play midget AAA in Colorado. That means there won’t be three players with that name in the WHL this season. The other two Ryan Whites play in Kamloops and Calgary. . . .
D Mark Schneider isn’t expected to play a game for perhaps eight weeks after suffering a dislocated wrist while skating with Kamloops Blazers veterans and some pros on Friday. Schneider had his left wrist popped back into place -- it was a little more painful than that, I’m thinking -- and was released from hospital late Friday night. Schneider, the son of former Brandon Wheat Kings captain Ken Schneider, turns 17 in November and was expected to challenge for a spot on the blue line. . . . G Justin Leclerc, 18, who was acquired by the Blazers from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Thursday, arrived in Kamloops on Saturday evening and will be on the ice Sunday when main camp opens.