Wednesday's over . . .

When the Tri-City Americans were in Kamloops on Oct. 21, GM Bob Tory was concerned about his team's depth, or lack of same, on defence — they were carrying only six defencemen. Tory moved Wednesday to solve that problem by acquiring D Scott Maetche, 19, from the Calgary Hitmen for a 2009 conditional seventh-round bantam draft pick. Maetche, the 58th pick in the 2004 bantam draft when he was taken by the Moose Jaw Warriors, played with the Chilliwack Bruins in 2006-07 and split last season between the Bruins and the AJHL's Grande Prairie Storm. He is from Lacombe, Alta. “With only six defencemen on our roster and, a shortage of experienced D-men in the league, it was important that we make a deal,” Tory said in a statement. . . . And you can watch for "a shortage of D-men in the league" to become a recurring theme. Everyone, it seems, is looking for experienced defencemen and such players are going to carry a high price tag.
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LW Ondrej Roman, 19, has been removed from the Spokane Chiefs' roster. He is playing in his native Czech Republic while apparently awaiting his release so that he can return to the Chiefs for whom he played the previous two seasons. "We have an import spot available for Ondrej if he returns to Spokane," Chiefs GM Tim Speltz said in a release. "There is no immediate timeline for his return so we're going to remove him from the roster." Roman has five points in 16 games with Viktovice HC. In 142 games over two seasons with the Chiefs, he had 109 points. He led the Chiefs in playoff scoring, with 21 points, in their Memorial Cup run last spring.
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JUST NOTES: The Lethbridge Hurricanes have been told by the Philadelphia Flyers that Luca Sbisa, an 18-year-old Swiss defenceman, won’t be coming back to the WHL. Last season, as a freshman, he had 33 points in 62 games with the Hurricanes and then was the 19th selection in the NHL's 2008 draft. Sbisa joins D Luke Schenn of the Kelowna Rockets, who turns 19 on Nov. 2, and F Oscar Moller, 19, of the Chilliwack Bruins as ‘underage’ players in the NHL. Schenn, the fifth pick in the NHL’s 2008 draft, is with the Toronto Maple Leafs, while Moller, the 52nd pick in 2007, is with the Los Angeles Kings. . . . LW Jamie Benn of the Kelowna Rockets is the Boston Pizza CHL player of the week after picking up nine points, including five goals, in three games. Benn, 19, was selected by the Dallas Stars in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL draft. . . . The sinking economy has taken a bite out of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, who have laid off 10 employees. . . . Three players who had quit the Portland Winter Hawks over the last while were back at practice on Wednesday. That would be D Brock Cornish, F Chris Francis and F Tayler Jordan. . . . For lots more on the Portland situation, check out Jason Vondersmith’s stories on the Portland Tribune’s website right here.
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The CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 for this week, as selected by an anonymous panel of NHL scouts (team, last week, number of weeks in rankings):
1. Windsor Spitfires (15-1-0-0) 1 7
2. Moncton Wildcats (14-0-2-0) 3 6
3. Calgary Hitmen (13-3-0-0) 6 2
4. Vancouver Giants (10-0-0-3) 7 5
5. Quebec Remparts (12-2-0-1) 2 4
6. London Knights (10-3-0-1) 8 4
7. Shawinigan Cataractes (13-4-0-0) 9 4
8. Spokane Chiefs (9-2-0-3) 4 7
9. Guelph Storm (10-5-0-1) 10 5
10. Drummondville Voltigeurs (12-3-0-2) — 5
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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Vancouver, F Gary Nunn broke a 3-3 tie at 10:37 of the third period to give the Giants a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Giants (11-0-0-3) are the only team in the CHL not to have lost in regulation time to this point in the season. They have won four straight. . . . The Americans (10-4-0-1) had won five of six. . . . The victory was the 399th of Vancouver head coach Don Hay’s WHL coaching career. . . . Vancouver had a 40-22 edge in shots but trailed 2-1 and 3-2 at the intermissions. . . . F Andrej Kudrna pulled Vancouver into a 3-3 tie with his seventh goal at 8:07 of the third. . . . Giants C Evander Kane picked up one assist to run his points streak to 14 games.
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In Saskatoon, F Chris Langkow scored the winner in the third period as the Blades got past the Calgary Hitmen, 3-2. . . . .The Blades (12-5-1-0) were playing their second game in an 11-game homestand. . . . The Hitmen (13-4-1-0) had won six of seven. . . . Langkow gave the Blades a 3-1 lead at 10:34 of the third. Calgary answered that less than a minute later when F Kyle Bortis struck on the PP. . . . G Martin Jones stopped 29 shots for Calgary. . . . Saskatoon’s Braden Holtby made 22 saves. . . . D Stefan Elliott had a goal, his seventh, and an assist for Saskatoon. . . . The game was twice delayed by shattered panes of glass, something that now has happened four times this month in Credit Union Centre. . . . Saskatoon C Travis Toomey (left arm) left in the second period. Calgary D Keith Seabrook was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct on the play. He also scrapped with Saskatoon LW Adam Chorneyko after the hit.
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In Regina, F Colton Teubert and F Rudolf Cerveny had two goals apiece to led the Pats to a 7-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Pats (9-5-1-2) have won three in a row, scoring 20 goals in the process. They are 6-1-1-2 at home. . . . The Warriors have lost four in a row. . . . The Warriors actually scored the game’s first goal, with F Jason Bast getting his sixth at 17:32 of the first, only to have Regina come back with five in a row. . . . F Jordan Eberle got his 11th goal for the Pats — he has a seven-game point streak going — and teammate Matt Strueby notched his 13th. . . . Regina G Linden Rowat stopped 31 shots to improve his record to 4-0-1-1. . . . F Brett Leffler had three assists for Regina. . . . Moose Jaw was without D Travis Hamonic (undisclosed injury). . . . Regina has twice beaten Moose Jaw 7-3 this season, with both games played in the Queen City. Going back to last season, the Pats have taken five in a row from the Warriors. . . . According to Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post: “The Warriors . . . weren’t immediately available for comment after Wednesday’s game.” According to WHL rules, teams are to make coaches and players available to the media no later than 15 minutes after a game's conclusion.
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In Red Deer, F Matt Fraser scored twice, the second one coming with 39 seconds left in the third period, to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Rebels (5-8-0-5) have won five times at home but not this time. . . . The Ice (9-6-2-3) had lost its last two games. . . . The Ice, which trailed 2-1 after two, was 0-for-5 on the PP and now is 4-for-47 on the PP on the road this season. . . . D Hayden Rintoul tied it for the Ice midway in the third. . . . Fraser’s unassisted winner was his fourth goal of the season. He just happens to be from Red Deer and was dealt by the Rebels to the Ice a year ago. . . . D Ian Barteux was plus-3 for the Ice.
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In Prince George, D Darren Bestland scored his first two goals to help the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 6-5 shootout victory over the Cougars. . . . The Cougars (7-9-0-1) were playing at home for the first time since returning from a 1-8 road swing. They now are 5-0-0-1 at home. . . . The Wheat Kings (9-5-1-0) have won four of their last five games. . . . The Cougars led this one 3-0 in the first period and 5-1 in the second. . . . Cougars captain Dana Tyrell had two goals and an assist but finished minus-3. . . . Brayden Schenn scored the only goal of the circus to give Brandon the victory. . . . Attendance was announced at 2,288, the lowest crowd to attend a WHL game in the CN Centre. The previous low (2,302) was on Jan. 17, 2008, with Portland visiting. . . . G Joe Caligiuri, acquired by the Cougars from Brandon earlier this month, stopped 32 shots, two fewer than Brandon’s Andrew Hayes. . . . Brandon was without forward Matt Calvert (back) for a second straight game.
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In Kelowna, C Colin Long and LW Jamie Benn each had a goal and three assists to spark the Rockets to a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Rockets (10-7-0-0) have won four of five. . . . The Thunderbirds (4-10-0-1) had won their last two. . . . Benn has 20 points, including 11 goals, in his last eight games. . . . Benn also now leads the WHL in goals (14) and points (27). . . . Long and Vancouver C Evander Kane are tied for second, with 26 points. . . . F Lucas Bloodoff had two goals for the Rockets. . . . Kelowna led 2-0 after one period but the Thunderbirds tied it early in the second. The Rockets then scored five of the next six goals. . . . Kelowna G Kris Lazaruk was lifted after Seattle’s second goal. Freshman Adam Brown came on to make 15 saves and run his record to 5-0-0-0.
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In Chilliwack, F Zach Boychuk and F Carter Ashton had two goals each as the Lethbridge Hurricanes opened a road swing with a 7-2 whipping of the Bruins. . . . The Hurricanes (9-6-0-0) had lost two in a row and three of four. . . . The Bruins (5-9-1-1) have lost seven in a row. . . . F Colton Sceviour had a goal and three assists for Lethbridge. . . . Lethbridge F Dwight King scored 1:41 into the game and the Hurricanes went on to lead 5-0 before the Bruins got on the board. . . . D Alexander Grill Donovan, acquired this week from Brandon, was in the Bruins’ lineup. . . . Chilliwack F Partik Bhungal picked up 12 minutes in penalties to become the franchise’s career penalty leader, with 186 minutes. D Matt McCue, now with the Medicine Hat Tigers, held the record, at 181.