Rockets add veteran goaltender

The Kelowna Rockets, a preseason pick to go deep, very deep, into the playoffs, made a big, big move Saturday. They have acquired G Kris Lazaruk, 20, from the Kootenay Ice, giving up a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft.
Lazaruk, who is from Edmonton, was the odd-man out in Cranbrook where he was one of four 20-year-olds, the others being D Ian Barteaux, RW Andrew Bailey and D Eric Frere.
Lazaruk played the last three seasons in Kootenay, making 108 appearances. Last season, he had a 2.90 GAA and a .910 save percentage. His departure leaves the Ice with goaltenders Thomas Heemskerk, an 18-year-old from Chilliwack, and Nathan Lieuwen, 17, from Abbotsford, B.C.
In Kelowna, Lazaruk joins veteran Torrie Jung, 19, and freshman Adam Brown, who turns 17 on Oct. 12, in a crowded crease. Jung returned late in the week from a stint in camp with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning which selected him in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2007 draft. Brown, from Yorba Linda, Calif., is the son of Newell Brown, a former pro defenceman who now is on the coaching staff of the Anaheim Ducks.
The Rockets are expected to move Jung and keep Brown backing up Lazaruk.
Lazaruk and D Tysen Dowzak are the only 20-year-olds on the Rockets' roster, so there still is room for one more to be added.