Friday's happenings

The Spokane Chiefs made a couple of roster moves Friday, reassigning F Burke Gallimore and F David Conrad, both 16. Gallimore will play midget AAA in Edmonton, while Conrad went home to Manitoba to await assignment. Gallimore was the 23rd player taken in the 2006 bantam draft, while Conrad went 57th overall. . . . The Chiefs, who are 5-0 in preseason, are down to 24 players, including three goaltenders and eight defencemen.

The Brandon Wheat Kings have acquired RW Matt Lowry, 19, from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a 2008 sixth-round bantam draft pick. Lowry, 6-foot-0 and 185 pounds, is from Neepawa, which is located just a few slapshots north of Brandon. He had 22 points, including 10 goals, and 42 penalty minutes in 63 games with the WHL-champion Tigers last season. . . . Lowry brings some age and experience to a team that will be a bit younger than the one Brandon fans watched last season. . . . The Wheat Kings’ roster now is at 26. . . .

D Brock Cornish, whom the Portland Winter Hawks acquired on Aug. 29 from the Tri-City Americans, is done for the season. He dislocated a shoulder for the fourth time last weekend and will need surgery. Portland surrendered a 2008 third-round bantam pick to acquire Cornish, who chose not to report to Tri-City's camp. . . . And now we know why the Winter Hawks traded for D Todd Panchyshon on Tuesday. They gave the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 2008 sixth-round pick for Panchyshon, 19, who also has had tours of duty with the Kootenay Ice and Saskatoon Blades. . . .

Drew Wilson, the radio voice of the Prince Albert Raiders, informs me that he will be calling tonight’s game against the Saskatoon Blades from Lloydminster on 900 CKBI and on-line at 900CKBI.com and raiderhockey.com. “We are taking a chance and it could be an adventure from a rink we have never visited before,” he notes. “But sometimes that’s what live radio is all about.” . . . Morley Jaeger, the original voice of the Raiders, would have done the same thing. And until then, you know the score. . . .

Drew Schoneck, the head coach of the Prince George Cougars, has admitted that some teams are kicking the tires in an attempt to see if D Ty Wishart, the 16th pick in the 2006 NHL draft, is available. “We’ve had a few casual conversations from people trying to get Wishart,” Schoneck told Prince George Citizen sports editor Jim Swanson, “but we're not doing that until later on, if at all." Wishart, who played for Canada in the recent whipping of Russia, has signed with the San Jose Sharks. . . . Opposing teams can start by offering up a 2008 first-round draft pick, which is part of what the Cougars gave up a year ago to acquire RW Devin Setoguchi from the Saskatoon Blades. . . .

WHL commissioner Ron Robison is spending Friday in Saskatoon where he was honoured as one of the University of Saskatchewan’s 100 Alumni of Influence. It’s all part of the U of S’s Centennial Celebration. Robison played hockey and coached at the U of S. . . . Also honoured was former WHL head coach Dave King. . . . The U of S's selection committee had more than 120,000 grads from which to choose. . . .

The Moose Jaw Warriors may be heading down a road that will lead them to having two California goaltenders on their roster, something that almost certainly would be a WHL first. They cut G Kevin Jebson, 18, from Surrey, leaving them with 20-year-old veterans Joey Perricone and Kurt Jory, along with Todd Matthews. Perricone is believed to have the inside track on the starter’s role, with Matthews almost certain to be the backup. Perricone is from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., while Matthews, 17, played last season for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings. . . . You may recall the WHL teams gathering in the Anaheim area in the spring of 2006 for a special camp and draft of U.S. players. The Warriors got Matthews’ rights from that draft. . . . The Warriors also cut D Tyler Miller, 16, who is from Prince George, as they got their roster down to 25. . . .

The Red Deer Rebels have assigned D Justin Weller, 16, to the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. He is from Daysland, Alta.