THE MacBETH REPORT: Kazakh media is reporting that G Jeff Glass (Kootenay, 2002-05) has signed with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan KHL) but there is as yet no confirmation from the club. Glass had a 3.22 GAA and a .903 save percentage in 41 games for Binghamton (AHL) last season. . . . F Tyler Redenbach (Prince George, Swift Current, Lethbridge, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with SaiPa Lappeenranta (Finland SM-Liiga). He had 24 goals and 44 assists in 43 games for Odense (Denmark AL-Bank Liga) last season. According to SaiPa head coach Ari-Pekka Selin, the initial plan is to have Redenbach play centre on a line with Shayne Toporowski (Prince Albert, 1991-95).
F Paul Deniset (Kamloops, Swift Current, Vancouver, Prince Albert, 1998-2002) has been released by Rødovre (Denmark AL-Bank Liga), along with the team's other two North Americans, for financial reasons. Rødovre general manager Brian Møller said: "We are obviously disappointed at having to say goodbye to the three talented and likeable players, but if we must demonstrate financial accountability — and we must — there is no way around it. It is our task to ensure hockey in Rødovre's future and unfortunately it requires drastic action such as this." Deniset had 13 goals and 22 assists in 46 games split between Bietigheim and Schwenningen (both Germany 2.Bundesliga) last season.
F Tomas Polak (Red Deer, 2007-09) signed with Gazprom-OSU Orenburg (Russia High League). He had six goals and six assists in 33 games for Red Deer last season.
———
The Swift Current Broncos have signed F Dane Muench, 17, and D Graeme Craig, 16. . . . Muench, who is from Martensville, Sask., had 54 points in 50 games with the SJHL‚s Battlefords Stars last season. He wsa a fourth-round selection by the Broncos in the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft. Unfortunately for all you conspiracy theorists out there, he isn’t related to Kevin Muench, the WHL’s director of officiating. . . . The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Craig, from Red Deer, had 26 points in 39 games with the midget AAA Red Deer Chiefs last season. He was a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft.
———
The Prince Albert Raiders are in the market for a new business manager, following the resignation of Sharon Martin. She had been with the club for five years but is moving to Cold Lake, Alta. Her last day with the Raiders will be Sept. 18.
———
It would seem the exhibition series against a touring Russian team hasn’t yet outlived its usefulness. The CHL has announced that it has entered into a three-year deal with Subway and the series, to be played in November, now will be known as the Subway Super Series. The CHL is to begin announcing game dates and locations later this week.
———
It would appear that D Keegan Lowe, 16, is on the verge of locking up a spot with the Edmonton Oil Kings. After two seasons at Shattock-St. Mary’s, the prep school in Minnesota, Lowe, the son of Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers' president of hockey operations, has drawn praise from the Oil Kings‚ coaching staff. "He's been excellent. He's surpassed our expectations as far as how he's matured both physically and emotionally," head coach Steve Pleau told freelancer Chris O’leary for a story that appears in Monday’s Edmonton Journal. "I think he's ready to — I don't think, I know — he's ready to take the next step and play at this level.” Keegan has chosen to give up his NCAA eligibility to play in the WHL and that’s fine with his father. "The last two years,” Kevin told O’leary, “he couldn't have a better place to grow and develop in hockey, but now he's ready to move on to the next level. Everybody views the Canadian Hockey League as the best development league in the world, so if you're trying to be the best you can, you might as well be in the best league." . . . Should Keegan, a sixth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, stick with the Oil Kings, you have to think Mom will be happy to have her boy at home, too.
———
The Regina Pats got their roster down to 31 players, including four goaltenders and 10 defencemen, Monday by reassigning four players — D Koltyn Miller, 18, heads for the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings; D Tyler Pavkovich, 16, will play for the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins in B.C.; and F Michael Sagen, 16, and F Chandler Stephenson, 15, will join the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Stephenson was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, while Sagen and Pavkovich were taken in the eighth and ninth rounds of the 2008 draft. . . . Miller, who played 38 games with the Pats last season, left on his own. He will join the Kings, the host team for the 2010 Royal Bank Cup tournament.
———
The Prince George Cougars released 16 players Monday, including G Graham Hildebrand, 18, and G Luke Hernandez, 18, both of whom were hoping to land the job as the backup to James Priestner. That spot now is likely to go to Michael Salmon, 16.
———
The Saskatoon Blades got their roster down to 32 on Monday but are preparing for the loss of 10 players to pro camps. They did reassign G Tyler Oswald, 16, to the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks, who are based out of Morden, Man. . . . The Blades now have three goaltenders in camp, with Matthew Krahn, 18, and Chris Sharkey, 17, vying to back up veteran Adam Morrison, 18.
———
The Everett Silvertips have acquired G Luke Siemens, 17, from the Chilliwack Bruins for an undisclosed conditional bantam draft pick. Siemens, from Delta, B.C., was a seventh-round bantam pick by the Bruins in 2007. He played last season for the junior B Summerland Sting. The Silvertips expect to open the season with Thomas Heemskerk, 19, and Kent Simpson, 17, as their goaltenders. Siemens would be used as an emergency backup.
———
This doesn’t have anything to do with hockey, but rather is kind of a mental scrambler that you should see if you can wrap your brain around.
Tom Wyllie, the vice-president for communications for the NFL’s Houston Texans, had this to say after the club reduced the size of beer servings at games from 24 ounces to 20 but left the price at $7.75:
“If we’d served 24 ounces this year, the price would be higher. Honestly, it was more of a responsibility decision. It wasn’t a business decision. . . . We wanted to do the most responsible thing.”
Makes sense. Right?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Russians won't be playing in Kamloops
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Russians aren’t coming. At least, not to Kamloops.
The CHL has announced a three-year deal with Subway that will extend the life of the annual six-game series that involves a touring Russian side.
The Subway Super Series, as it will be called, features two games involving all-star teams from each of the three major junior leagues — the WHL, OHL and QMJHL — beginning in November.
The CHL will begin naming dates and sites of this season’s series later this week.
Craig Bonner, the general manager of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, but a team official told The Daily News, the Blazers “definitely aren’t hosting one of those games.”
Last season, the series, then known as the ADT Canada Russia Challenge, made stops in Prince Albert and Swift Current. The WHL team won 5-0 in Swift Current on Nov. 26 and 2-1 in Prince Albert the following night.
The series last stopped in Kamloops on Nov. 30, 2006, when the WHLers whipped the Russians, 8-1, to close out a six-game CHL sweep in which the hosts outscored the visitors, 32-12.
The WHL boasts an 11-1 record in the series.
———
The Blazers assigned two players, both of whom have signed WHL contracts, to the midget AAA ranks on Monday.
G John Keeney, a 16-year-old list player from Twin Peaks, Calif., is to play for the Los Angeles Selects U-18 team.
F Logan McVeigh, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will join the Saskatoon Contacts. McVeigh, 15, is from Kenaston, Sask., which isn’t too far from Saskatoon.
The moves leave the Blazers’ roster at 32, including forwards Dalibor Bortnak (spleen) and Colin Smith (broken arm), both of whom will be out until late October.
Freshman forward Matej Bene (groin) continues to be listed as day-to-day.
———
The Blazers, who split two weekend exhibition games with the Vancouver Giants, are back in action Wednesday when they meet the Chilliwack Bruins in Hope. Game time is 7 p.m.
The teams will stage a rematch at Interior Savings Centre on Friday, 7 p.m.
The Bruins likely will be without D Jeff Einhorn, 19, of Red Deer. Einhorn, who has played two seasons with the Bruins, spent Saturday night in Kelowna General Hospital after being struck in the throat by an errant stick during the second period of an exhibition game.
When Einhorn reach the Bruins’ bench, he was in obvious difficult. He received immediate medical attention and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
He now is back in Chilliwack, his family from Red Deer is with him and he is expected to make a complete recover.
The Bruins are 2-0, having beaten the Rockets 4-2 in Chilliwack on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.
After the two victories, Chilliwack released F Mike Krgovich, 19, and F Josh Schappert, 20, both of whom have WHL experience. Krgovich played 63 games with the Red Deer Rebels in 2007-08 and 29 with the Bruins last season. Schappert played 119 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds from 2005-08.
At the same time, the Bruins are taking a look at F Isak Quakenbush, 19, a grinder who played the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons with Seattle. Last season, he had 16 points and 189 penalty minutes in 54 games with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
———
JUST NOTES: F Tyler Redenbach of Kamloops, who had 68 points in 43 games with a team in Denmark last season, has signed a one-year deal with SaiPa Lappeenranta of the Finland SM-Liiga. . . . F Paul Deniset, who played with the Blazers in the late 1990s, has been released by Rødovre of Denmark’s AL-Bank Liga for financial reasons. The team released all three of its North American players. Deniset had 35 points in 46 games in a German league last season. . . . F Brett Connolly, the reigning CHL rookie of the year, didn’t play in the Prince George Cougars’ intrasquad game last night. He is being bothered by a hip flexor and has been held out of practice sessions as a precaution.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Daily News Sports Editor
The Russians aren’t coming. At least, not to Kamloops.
The CHL has announced a three-year deal with Subway that will extend the life of the annual six-game series that involves a touring Russian side.
The Subway Super Series, as it will be called, features two games involving all-star teams from each of the three major junior leagues — the WHL, OHL and QMJHL — beginning in November.
The CHL will begin naming dates and sites of this season’s series later this week.
Craig Bonner, the general manager of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, couldn’t be reached for comment Monday, but a team official told The Daily News, the Blazers “definitely aren’t hosting one of those games.”
Last season, the series, then known as the ADT Canada Russia Challenge, made stops in Prince Albert and Swift Current. The WHL team won 5-0 in Swift Current on Nov. 26 and 2-1 in Prince Albert the following night.
The series last stopped in Kamloops on Nov. 30, 2006, when the WHLers whipped the Russians, 8-1, to close out a six-game CHL sweep in which the hosts outscored the visitors, 32-12.
The WHL boasts an 11-1 record in the series.
———
The Blazers assigned two players, both of whom have signed WHL contracts, to the midget AAA ranks on Monday.
G John Keeney, a 16-year-old list player from Twin Peaks, Calif., is to play for the Los Angeles Selects U-18 team.
F Logan McVeigh, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will join the Saskatoon Contacts. McVeigh, 15, is from Kenaston, Sask., which isn’t too far from Saskatoon.
The moves leave the Blazers’ roster at 32, including forwards Dalibor Bortnak (spleen) and Colin Smith (broken arm), both of whom will be out until late October.
Freshman forward Matej Bene (groin) continues to be listed as day-to-day.
———
The Blazers, who split two weekend exhibition games with the Vancouver Giants, are back in action Wednesday when they meet the Chilliwack Bruins in Hope. Game time is 7 p.m.
The teams will stage a rematch at Interior Savings Centre on Friday, 7 p.m.
The Bruins likely will be without D Jeff Einhorn, 19, of Red Deer. Einhorn, who has played two seasons with the Bruins, spent Saturday night in Kelowna General Hospital after being struck in the throat by an errant stick during the second period of an exhibition game.
When Einhorn reach the Bruins’ bench, he was in obvious difficult. He received immediate medical attention and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
He now is back in Chilliwack, his family from Red Deer is with him and he is expected to make a complete recover.
The Bruins are 2-0, having beaten the Rockets 4-2 in Chilliwack on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.
After the two victories, Chilliwack released F Mike Krgovich, 19, and F Josh Schappert, 20, both of whom have WHL experience. Krgovich played 63 games with the Red Deer Rebels in 2007-08 and 29 with the Bruins last season. Schappert played 119 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds from 2005-08.
At the same time, the Bruins are taking a look at F Isak Quakenbush, 19, a grinder who played the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons with Seattle. Last season, he had 16 points and 189 penalty minutes in 54 games with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
———
JUST NOTES: F Tyler Redenbach of Kamloops, who had 68 points in 43 games with a team in Denmark last season, has signed a one-year deal with SaiPa Lappeenranta of the Finland SM-Liiga. . . . F Paul Deniset, who played with the Blazers in the late 1990s, has been released by Rødovre of Denmark’s AL-Bank Liga for financial reasons. The team released all three of its North American players. Deniset had 35 points in 46 games in a German league last season. . . . F Brett Connolly, the reigning CHL rookie of the year, didn’t play in the Prince George Cougars’ intrasquad game last night. He is being bothered by a hip flexor and has been held out of practice sessions as a precaution.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday . . . and some good reading!
D Jeff Einhorn of the Chilliwack Bruins remained in a Kelowna hospital Sunday night after being injured in an exhibition game against the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday. Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier reports that Einhorn, 19, who has played two seasons with the Bruins, was struck in the throat by an errant stick in the second period and experienced breathing problems. “I didn’t see the incident, but when he came off the ice, he was holding his throat,” Chilliwack athletic therapist Matt Auerbach told Potenteau. “Obviously I asked him how he was doing, and he couldn’t answer me. And when he couldn’t answer, I asked him to start coughing. And when he started coughing — that way, his airway was being cleared — his face started turning a little more red and a little more purple. At that time, I took him to the dressing room and I called for a doctor.” . . . Dr. Mike Ertel attended, paramedics arrived and Einhorn was transported to hospital by ambulance. . . . Einhorn, who is from Red Deer, has been joined by his parents at Kelowna General Hospital. . . . “Our trainer and the doctor did just a tremendous job,” Chilliwack GM/head coach Marc Habscheid told Potenteau. “Our trainer identified that he needed some help from the doctor. So the doctor came down, looked at him and dealt with the situation. They put him into an ambulance and took him to the hospital. He was having some difficulty, for sure, but it was a serious enough of an incident . . . we’re lucky our trainer and the doctor did the good jobs they did, and Jeff’s going to be fine because of that.”
p p p
So far, D Zach Tjader, a product of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, has shown up on three different training camp rosters and, so far, made it to a pair of camps. Tjader, 16, started out in the camp of the Kamloops Blazers and, when they got down in numbers, joined the Tri-City Americans. In fact, he scored for Team White in a 5-2 loss to Team Blue in their rookie scrimmage on Saturday. . . . One of the guest coaches for that game was former Americans G Carey Price. . . . Tjader’s name also was on the training camp roster of the junior B Kamloops Storm, which plays in the Kootenay International junior league. The Americans open their main camp Monday and Tjader isn’t on the roster. Perhaps he is on his way to join the Storm, which wraps up its camp Monday and plays an exhibition game Tuesday in Princeton against the Posse.
———
A regular reader of this blog who lives in Portland has been keeping me up to date on the great debate going on there involving whether or not to demolish Memorial Coliseum, whether or not to build a new baseball park, whether or not to build at soccer facility and on and on. . . . (Hey, the Portland great debate makes what went on in Moose Jaw seem like a breath of fresh air.) . . . But we digress. . . . The last emailing received in these parts included a couple of interesting tidbits. . . . For example, did you know that the city’s Water Bureau offices are located in a building that leaks? David Sarasohn of The Oregonian has that and more right here. . . . Meanwhile, on a blog called Portland Architecture, there is a piece on Memorial Coliseum that included a neat anecdote on how the Beatles’ 1965 Portland show just about didn’t happen. You can read that right here.
———
The line of Aaron Lewadniuk, Matt Calvert and Scott Glennie combined for seven points as Team Black beat Team White 4-1 in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ training camp-ending intrasquad game. . . . Attendance was about 900. . . . Lewadniuk had two goals, while Glennie drew three assists and Calvert had a goal and an assist. . . . After the game, the Wheat Kings trimmed their roster to 34, including four goaltenders and 20 forwards. The Wheat Kings also are looking at having nine players attend NHL camps.
———
In Spokane, F Mitch Wahl scored twice and set up another as Team Red got past Team White — sorry, wasn’t able to figure out the score from the press release — in the Chiefs’ annual intrasquad scrimmage. . . . Attendance at the free scrimmage was 2,113. . . . Levko Koper added a goal and two helpers for the winners. . . . Connor Chartier, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft had two goals for Team White. . . . F Dominik Uher, the Chiefs’ lone pick in the 2009 CHL import draft, had a goal for Team Red.
———
The Edmonton Oil Kings dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-3 Sunday in St. Albert, Alta. The Oil Kings, who played host to the six-team exhibition tournament, went 3-0. . . . In Sunday’s other game, the Swift Current Broncos got past the Regina Pats, 8-7, in a shootout.
———
The Prince George Cougars have lost D Dallas Jackson, 20, for up to six weeks with a separated shoulder. He was injured in a fight during camp on Saturday. . . . As well, F Brett Connolly continues to have problems with a hip flexor. The injury bothered him while he was with Canada’s U-18 team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament earlier in August. As a result, the Cougars are holding Connolly out of action for the time being.
———
You may be aware of a book that is soon to hit stores everywhere. It is titled Leafs AbomiNation: The Dismayed Fan's Handbook to Why the Leafs Stink and How They Can Rise Again. . . . Written by Dave Feschuk and Michael Grange, a couple of excerpts appeared in Toronto papers over the weekend and they’re worth a read. Here’s one from the Toronto Star, and here’s another from The Globe and Mail. . . . Enjoy!
p p p
So far, D Zach Tjader, a product of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, has shown up on three different training camp rosters and, so far, made it to a pair of camps. Tjader, 16, started out in the camp of the Kamloops Blazers and, when they got down in numbers, joined the Tri-City Americans. In fact, he scored for Team White in a 5-2 loss to Team Blue in their rookie scrimmage on Saturday. . . . One of the guest coaches for that game was former Americans G Carey Price. . . . Tjader’s name also was on the training camp roster of the junior B Kamloops Storm, which plays in the Kootenay International junior league. The Americans open their main camp Monday and Tjader isn’t on the roster. Perhaps he is on his way to join the Storm, which wraps up its camp Monday and plays an exhibition game Tuesday in Princeton against the Posse.
———
A regular reader of this blog who lives in Portland has been keeping me up to date on the great debate going on there involving whether or not to demolish Memorial Coliseum, whether or not to build a new baseball park, whether or not to build at soccer facility and on and on. . . . (Hey, the Portland great debate makes what went on in Moose Jaw seem like a breath of fresh air.) . . . But we digress. . . . The last emailing received in these parts included a couple of interesting tidbits. . . . For example, did you know that the city’s Water Bureau offices are located in a building that leaks? David Sarasohn of The Oregonian has that and more right here. . . . Meanwhile, on a blog called Portland Architecture, there is a piece on Memorial Coliseum that included a neat anecdote on how the Beatles’ 1965 Portland show just about didn’t happen. You can read that right here.
———
The line of Aaron Lewadniuk, Matt Calvert and Scott Glennie combined for seven points as Team Black beat Team White 4-1 in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ training camp-ending intrasquad game. . . . Attendance was about 900. . . . Lewadniuk had two goals, while Glennie drew three assists and Calvert had a goal and an assist. . . . After the game, the Wheat Kings trimmed their roster to 34, including four goaltenders and 20 forwards. The Wheat Kings also are looking at having nine players attend NHL camps.
———
In Spokane, F Mitch Wahl scored twice and set up another as Team Red got past Team White — sorry, wasn’t able to figure out the score from the press release — in the Chiefs’ annual intrasquad scrimmage. . . . Attendance at the free scrimmage was 2,113. . . . Levko Koper added a goal and two helpers for the winners. . . . Connor Chartier, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft had two goals for Team White. . . . F Dominik Uher, the Chiefs’ lone pick in the 2009 CHL import draft, had a goal for Team Red.
———
The Edmonton Oil Kings dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-3 Sunday in St. Albert, Alta. The Oil Kings, who played host to the six-team exhibition tournament, went 3-0. . . . In Sunday’s other game, the Swift Current Broncos got past the Regina Pats, 8-7, in a shootout.
———
The Prince George Cougars have lost D Dallas Jackson, 20, for up to six weeks with a separated shoulder. He was injured in a fight during camp on Saturday. . . . As well, F Brett Connolly continues to have problems with a hip flexor. The injury bothered him while he was with Canada’s U-18 team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament earlier in August. As a result, the Cougars are holding Connolly out of action for the time being.
———
You may be aware of a book that is soon to hit stores everywhere. It is titled Leafs AbomiNation: The Dismayed Fan's Handbook to Why the Leafs Stink and How They Can Rise Again. . . . Written by Dave Feschuk and Michael Grange, a couple of excerpts appeared in Toronto papers over the weekend and they’re worth a read. Here’s one from the Toronto Star, and here’s another from The Globe and Mail. . . . Enjoy!
Groenheyde following his blueprint
By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
Jon Groenheyde spent the summer working up a blueprint detailing how he wanted his second full WHL season to go.
Through one exhibition start, he’s right on track.
Groenheyde, an 18-year-old goaltender from Surrey, made 44 saves as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Vancouver Giants 3-2 on Saturday night in front of 736 fans at Interior Savings Centre. The Giants had beaten the Blazers 6-5 in a shootout in Ladner a night earlier.
“This is how I plan on playing the rest of the year,” said Groenheyde, who is hoping to share more time with starter Justin Leclerc this season. “From the start of camp, I (said) I trained to be the No. 1 guy and I’m here to be the No. 1 guy.”
Blazers head coach Barry Smith called out Groenheyde after a sub-par training camp, but the goalie appeared in midseason form Saturday, stopping 13 shots in each of the first two periods and 18 in the third period.
The two pucks the Giants got past Groenheyde could hardly be blamed on him.
He had no chance on the first, 10:57 into the first period, when Mike Piluso deftly tipped an Andrej Kudrna point shot past him.
Groenheyde’s chances of getting to the second goal — Craig Cunningham swatted in a rebound — with 54 seconds remaining were equally as limited.
But he made all the saves he could have, and kept his team in the game.
“Jonny was really good,” Smith said. “He was always waiting for shots to come . . . he was in good position. I would like to see him gather up his rebounds a little better, but I thought he had a really good night.”
The Blazers were outshot 14-7 in a disastrous first period, and gave Vancouver three power plays.
Smith must have read the Riot Act in the dressing room between the first and second periods — the Blazers came out and scored three times in the middle frame, with Jimmy Bubnick and Cole Grbavac, both on power plays, and Dylan Willick finding the back of the net.
“I barked at them a little after the first period, (saying) it’s our level we play at — we don’t wait for someone to warm up and then get your legs going,” Smith said. “I thought we did a better job in that second period of competing and taking it up a notch.”
“I was really happy with our first and third periods — I wasn’t happy with our second,” offered Giants head coach Don Hay. “I thought we backed off a little bit.
“You get what you deserve some times, and we didn’t deserve to win.”
Willick’s goal, a shorthanded score with 1:29 remaining in the second, was quite pretty. He took a perfect breakaway feed from Richard Vanderhoek and neatly slipped the puck through Vancouver goalie Jamie Tucker’s legs.
It was a nice way to cap a solid effort from Willick, a Prince George native who is among the 19 forwards fighting for spots on the team.
“It’s always good to know that there’s room for younger guys like myself,” said Willick, who turns 17 on Oct. 19. “I’ve just got to do what I can do to crack the roster of a very good team right now.”
Saturday’s game was a little tamer than Friday’s affair, in which there were three fights and Hay was ejected by referee Sean Raphael.
Hay was banging a stick on the boards trying to get Raphael’s attention.
“I got his attention, but it was in the wrong way,” said Hay, who could barely recall the last time he was kicked out of a game, but did know it was during his first season with the Blazers.
“It would have probably been my first year of coaching, in 1992-93,” he said. “It was a game in Spokane.
“It doesn’t happen very often, and I was really surprised it happened (Friday).”
———
Six Blazers players were in Vancouver on Sunday to take a walkalong with police as part of Project: EDGE, which stands for educate, develop, grow and excel.
Defencemen Giffen Nyren, Josh Caron, Linden Saip and Zak Stebner, along with Bubnick and Leclerc, visited the Downtown Eastside to talk with addicts and dealers and learn about the struggles on the street.
During the season, the players will visit classrooms around Kamloops and share stories with children about the problems of drug abuse.
———
JUST NOTES: The Blazers were 2-for-6 on the power play. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-5, with Piluso’s goal coming with the man advantage. . . . Tucker made 23 saves for the Giants. . . . The only fight of the night came at the 7:32 mark of the second period, between Kamloops F Brett Lyon and Vancouver D Brandon Scholten. . . . The Blazers are to play the Chilliwack Bruins in Hope on Wednesday night, before playing host to the Bruins on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m. at ISC.
mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca
Daily News Sports Reporter
Jon Groenheyde spent the summer working up a blueprint detailing how he wanted his second full WHL season to go.
Through one exhibition start, he’s right on track.
Groenheyde, an 18-year-old goaltender from Surrey, made 44 saves as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Vancouver Giants 3-2 on Saturday night in front of 736 fans at Interior Savings Centre. The Giants had beaten the Blazers 6-5 in a shootout in Ladner a night earlier.
“This is how I plan on playing the rest of the year,” said Groenheyde, who is hoping to share more time with starter Justin Leclerc this season. “From the start of camp, I (said) I trained to be the No. 1 guy and I’m here to be the No. 1 guy.”
Blazers head coach Barry Smith called out Groenheyde after a sub-par training camp, but the goalie appeared in midseason form Saturday, stopping 13 shots in each of the first two periods and 18 in the third period.
The two pucks the Giants got past Groenheyde could hardly be blamed on him.
He had no chance on the first, 10:57 into the first period, when Mike Piluso deftly tipped an Andrej Kudrna point shot past him.
Groenheyde’s chances of getting to the second goal — Craig Cunningham swatted in a rebound — with 54 seconds remaining were equally as limited.
But he made all the saves he could have, and kept his team in the game.
“Jonny was really good,” Smith said. “He was always waiting for shots to come . . . he was in good position. I would like to see him gather up his rebounds a little better, but I thought he had a really good night.”
The Blazers were outshot 14-7 in a disastrous first period, and gave Vancouver three power plays.
Smith must have read the Riot Act in the dressing room between the first and second periods — the Blazers came out and scored three times in the middle frame, with Jimmy Bubnick and Cole Grbavac, both on power plays, and Dylan Willick finding the back of the net.
“I barked at them a little after the first period, (saying) it’s our level we play at — we don’t wait for someone to warm up and then get your legs going,” Smith said. “I thought we did a better job in that second period of competing and taking it up a notch.”
“I was really happy with our first and third periods — I wasn’t happy with our second,” offered Giants head coach Don Hay. “I thought we backed off a little bit.
“You get what you deserve some times, and we didn’t deserve to win.”
Willick’s goal, a shorthanded score with 1:29 remaining in the second, was quite pretty. He took a perfect breakaway feed from Richard Vanderhoek and neatly slipped the puck through Vancouver goalie Jamie Tucker’s legs.
It was a nice way to cap a solid effort from Willick, a Prince George native who is among the 19 forwards fighting for spots on the team.
“It’s always good to know that there’s room for younger guys like myself,” said Willick, who turns 17 on Oct. 19. “I’ve just got to do what I can do to crack the roster of a very good team right now.”
Saturday’s game was a little tamer than Friday’s affair, in which there were three fights and Hay was ejected by referee Sean Raphael.
Hay was banging a stick on the boards trying to get Raphael’s attention.
“I got his attention, but it was in the wrong way,” said Hay, who could barely recall the last time he was kicked out of a game, but did know it was during his first season with the Blazers.
“It would have probably been my first year of coaching, in 1992-93,” he said. “It was a game in Spokane.
“It doesn’t happen very often, and I was really surprised it happened (Friday).”
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Six Blazers players were in Vancouver on Sunday to take a walkalong with police as part of Project: EDGE, which stands for educate, develop, grow and excel.
Defencemen Giffen Nyren, Josh Caron, Linden Saip and Zak Stebner, along with Bubnick and Leclerc, visited the Downtown Eastside to talk with addicts and dealers and learn about the struggles on the street.
During the season, the players will visit classrooms around Kamloops and share stories with children about the problems of drug abuse.
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JUST NOTES: The Blazers were 2-for-6 on the power play. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-5, with Piluso’s goal coming with the man advantage. . . . Tucker made 23 saves for the Giants. . . . The only fight of the night came at the 7:32 mark of the second period, between Kamloops F Brett Lyon and Vancouver D Brandon Scholten. . . . The Blazers are to play the Chilliwack Bruins in Hope on Wednesday night, before playing host to the Bruins on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m. at ISC.
mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday . . .
THE MacBETH REPORT: F Jeff Friesen (Regina, 1991-95) has signed a one-year contract with Eisbären Berlin (Germany DEL) after a successful tryout. Friesen played five games for Lake Erie (AHL) in 2007-08 and didn’t play last season. Eisbären, the defending DEL champions, open their regular season Friday.
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Exhibition seasons usually pass by and leave very little in the way of memories. This WHL exhibition season, however, will be remembered for what happened Friday night in Ladner, B.C., during a game between the visiting Kamloops Blazers and the Vancouver Giants. . . . Here is how Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province described it on his blog:
“Giants coach Don Hay got tossed out of the game at the start of the third period. He was upset about referee Sean Raphael giving Vancouver winger Brendan Gallagher the only penalty during a skirmish. Hay banged a stick on the boards; he said later that he was trying to get Raphael's attention. Raphael obviously felt he was trying to show him up. Hay couldn't remember the last time he had been tossed out of a game; he said it hasn't happened during his previous five years with Vancouver.”
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Last season, a game misconduct to a coach was worth $500. It will be interesting to see whether the WHL makes any, uhh, hay from this one.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed three players to WHL contracts – F Brett Stovin, F Steven Burzan and G Tyler Oswald.
Stovin, from Stony Mountain, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 144 points, including 87 goals, in 49 games with the bantam AA Interlake Lightning last season. He is expected to play this season with the midget AAA Interlake Lightning.
Burzan, from Surrey, B.C., was a sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft from the bantam AAA Surrey Thunder. He’ll play this season with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. major midget league.
Oswald, from Sanford, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He put up a 1.94 GAA in 22 games with the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks in Manitoba last season. Oswald, 16, is competing for a spot on the Blades’ roster.
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EDMONTON OIL KINGS TOURNAMENT: D Matt Dumba scored twice as the Red Deer Rebels blanked the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-0 in St. Albert, Alta., on Saturday. . . . Red Deer goaltenders Darcy Kuemper (20) and Kraymer Barnstable (17) combined for 37 saves. . . . Dumba was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Oil Kings beat the Swift Current Broncos, 4-1. One of Edmonton’s goals came from F Mitchell Moroz, 15, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft who signed a contract late in the week. . . . The Broncos’ goal came from F Adam Lowry, a 2008 draft pick whom they signed during the week. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers got two goals and an assist from F Emerson Etem and beat the Regina Pats, 4-3. The Tigers scored the game’s last three goals, the last two in the third period. . . . Etem, from Long Beach, Calif., was a sixth-round pick by the Tigers in the 2007 bantam draft.
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Despite being outshot 46-23, the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds posted a 4-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday. It was Portland’s first game since the franchise’s nickname was changed from Winter Hawks. . . . Seattle G Kyle Jahraus, a 19-year-old from Saskatoon, went the distance. . . . Chance Lund scored twice for Seattle, the second into an empty net. . . . In Aberdeen, Sask., the Blades dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-2. On Thursday, the Blades beat the Raiders 5-1 in Prince Albert. . . . In Kamloops, the Blazers got 44 saves from G Jon Groenheyde and beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-2. . . . The Giants had beaten the Blazers 6-5 in a shootout one night earlier in Ladner, B.C. Kamloops, down 1-0, got second-period goals from F Jimmy Bubnick, F Cole Grbavac and F Dylan Willick. The first two came via the PP and the third was shorthanded. Kamloops head coach Barry Smith had been critical of Groenheyde, an 18-year-old sophomore, who hadn’t played well in camp.
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Exhibition seasons usually pass by and leave very little in the way of memories. This WHL exhibition season, however, will be remembered for what happened Friday night in Ladner, B.C., during a game between the visiting Kamloops Blazers and the Vancouver Giants. . . . Here is how Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province described it on his blog:
“Giants coach Don Hay got tossed out of the game at the start of the third period. He was upset about referee Sean Raphael giving Vancouver winger Brendan Gallagher the only penalty during a skirmish. Hay banged a stick on the boards; he said later that he was trying to get Raphael's attention. Raphael obviously felt he was trying to show him up. Hay couldn't remember the last time he had been tossed out of a game; he said it hasn't happened during his previous five years with Vancouver.”
------
Last season, a game misconduct to a coach was worth $500. It will be interesting to see whether the WHL makes any, uhh, hay from this one.
------
The Saskatoon Blades have signed three players to WHL contracts – F Brett Stovin, F Steven Burzan and G Tyler Oswald.
Stovin, from Stony Mountain, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 144 points, including 87 goals, in 49 games with the bantam AA Interlake Lightning last season. He is expected to play this season with the midget AAA Interlake Lightning.
Burzan, from Surrey, B.C., was a sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft from the bantam AAA Surrey Thunder. He’ll play this season with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. major midget league.
Oswald, from Sanford, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He put up a 1.94 GAA in 22 games with the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks in Manitoba last season. Oswald, 16, is competing for a spot on the Blades’ roster.
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EDMONTON OIL KINGS TOURNAMENT: D Matt Dumba scored twice as the Red Deer Rebels blanked the Moose Jaw Warriors 3-0 in St. Albert, Alta., on Saturday. . . . Red Deer goaltenders Darcy Kuemper (20) and Kraymer Barnstable (17) combined for 37 saves. . . . Dumba was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Oil Kings beat the Swift Current Broncos, 4-1. One of Edmonton’s goals came from F Mitchell Moroz, 15, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft who signed a contract late in the week. . . . The Broncos’ goal came from F Adam Lowry, a 2008 draft pick whom they signed during the week. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers got two goals and an assist from F Emerson Etem and beat the Regina Pats, 4-3. The Tigers scored the game’s last three goals, the last two in the third period. . . . Etem, from Long Beach, Calif., was a sixth-round pick by the Tigers in the 2007 bantam draft.
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Despite being outshot 46-23, the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds posted a 4-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday. It was Portland’s first game since the franchise’s nickname was changed from Winter Hawks. . . . Seattle G Kyle Jahraus, a 19-year-old from Saskatoon, went the distance. . . . Chance Lund scored twice for Seattle, the second into an empty net. . . . In Aberdeen, Sask., the Blades dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-2. On Thursday, the Blades beat the Raiders 5-1 in Prince Albert. . . . In Kamloops, the Blazers got 44 saves from G Jon Groenheyde and beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-2. . . . The Giants had beaten the Blazers 6-5 in a shootout one night earlier in Ladner, B.C. Kamloops, down 1-0, got second-period goals from F Jimmy Bubnick, F Cole Grbavac and F Dylan Willick. The first two came via the PP and the third was shorthanded. Kamloops head coach Barry Smith had been critical of Groenheyde, an 18-year-old sophomore, who hadn’t played well in camp.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Keeping Score
After that goofy Chicago Cubs fan dumped his beer on Philly outfielder Shane Victorino, Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times noted: “When you consider the culture at Wrigley Field — a culture the club has promoted through the years — combined with the age of the average bleacher dweller, it’s a wonder opposing outfielders don’t wear rain gear and umbrella hats.” . . . The hills are alive with the news that a Bob Dylan Christmas album is soon to drop. I can hardly wait to hear him do O Little Town of Bethlehem. . . . According to Reuters, Britain’s Uncut magazine has poked fun at Dylan’s Christmas spirit, suggesting the album could include A Hard Reindeer’s A-Gonna Fall, Sleigh Lady Sleigh and Girl From The North Pole Country.
Phil Mushnick, in the New York Post, with his take on baseball and performance-enhancers: “The truth may be burdensome but it should never be unbearable. Those who would demand that the search for truth be suspended are those who should be most feared and condemned. The truth may be redundant and become boring, but it’s too valuable to be shouted down or eliminated. After all, if not for truth-seekers and truth-tellers, MLB players — and more than a few — by now might be hitting 85 home runs, being paid by the yard and being found dead in hotel rooms, two per month, like pro wrestlers. If the truth’s important, you can’t get tired of it. You can’t.” . . . One more from Mushnick: “Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, murderer of 270 people aboard Pan-Am Flight 103 in 1988, last week was released from a Scottish prison wearing, for the world to see, a Nike cap. He must have thought he was being flown to Libya on Air Jordan.”
Third-baseman Kyle Dhanani, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers off the TRU WolfPack’s roster in June, has moved from the Pioneer League’s Helena, Mont., Brewers to the Midwest League’s Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He hit .267 in 27 games at Helena before being moved from rookie to Class A. The Timber Rattlers play out of Appleton. . . . The Left Coast Sports Babe, after Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings: “At least we won’t have to worry about seeing Favre on the celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? He could never get past ‘Is that your final answer?’ ” . . . Here was the Sports Babe’s headline after Y.E. Yang won the PGA Championship: Hidden Dragon; Ouching Tiger.
There will be at least 18 competitors from Kamloops taking part in the Subaru Ironman Canada in Penticton on Sunday. That includes Candy Scheifele, whose occupation is shown on the Ironman website as “dominatrix.” Which leads one to wonder: Will she be trying to whip the competition or just trying to dominate it? . . . Gary Loewen, in the Toronto Sun: “Three members of the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team are suffering from swine flu. Hopefully they will be cured soon.” . . . Former Blazers defenceman Victor Bartley will be going to training camp with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The most-telling part of an Associated Press report yesterday from The Barclays: “Tiger Woods bogeyed his final hole for a 72 and was eight shots behind. He refused to speak to the media for the second straight day.” . . . Had he shot 62 do you suppose Tiger might have held court? . . . Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 in World Cup qualifying, leaving us 0-23-1 on Mexican soil. Which means we stop Mexicans in soccer about as successfully as we stop them from illegally crossing our border.” . . . If Michael Jackson hasn’t yet been buried, does that mean his body is on ice somewhere? If so, do you suppose he and Ted Williams are conversing somewhere? Listen! That’s Teddy Ballgame telling the King of Pop: “Get one good pitch and hit it hard.”
Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “Don’t you wish John Calipari had coached the Maple Leafs? Then an entire season of results could be wiped out.” . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: John Calipari promises Kentucky a vacated NCAA title within five years. . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Since the NCAA is back in the vacating business with Memphis, when does it start prosecuting across the land for all the inappropriate contact between agents and all those scholar-athletes we hear about in the television commercials?”
Outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops continues to impress with the California League’s High Desert Mavericks, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. He went into Friday among the league leaders in batting (.338, fourth), hits (155, fourth), runs (94, tied for second), stolen bases (41, second), onbase percentage (.430, first) and OPS (.914, sixth). The five hitters ahead of him in OPS (onbase plus slugging percentages) all are home run hitters. . . . Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “Lost in the puffery over the defeat of Seattle’s bag tax was the release of a study by a Japanese chemist suggesting plastic shopping bags, well-known for their refusal to break down in landfills, eventually do break down, over time, in saltwater. Clearly, we should be tossing less of them in the dump and more of them into the ocean.” . . . He was kidding, folks. Uhh, I think. . . . One more from Judd: “Life expectancy in the U.S. has risen to a new high, nearly 78 years, a government report says. Great. So much for ever getting a parking spot at Denny’s.”
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.
Phil Mushnick, in the New York Post, with his take on baseball and performance-enhancers: “The truth may be burdensome but it should never be unbearable. Those who would demand that the search for truth be suspended are those who should be most feared and condemned. The truth may be redundant and become boring, but it’s too valuable to be shouted down or eliminated. After all, if not for truth-seekers and truth-tellers, MLB players — and more than a few — by now might be hitting 85 home runs, being paid by the yard and being found dead in hotel rooms, two per month, like pro wrestlers. If the truth’s important, you can’t get tired of it. You can’t.” . . . One more from Mushnick: “Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, murderer of 270 people aboard Pan-Am Flight 103 in 1988, last week was released from a Scottish prison wearing, for the world to see, a Nike cap. He must have thought he was being flown to Libya on Air Jordan.”
Third-baseman Kyle Dhanani, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers off the TRU WolfPack’s roster in June, has moved from the Pioneer League’s Helena, Mont., Brewers to the Midwest League’s Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He hit .267 in 27 games at Helena before being moved from rookie to Class A. The Timber Rattlers play out of Appleton. . . . The Left Coast Sports Babe, after Brett Favre signed with the Minnesota Vikings: “At least we won’t have to worry about seeing Favre on the celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? He could never get past ‘Is that your final answer?’ ” . . . Here was the Sports Babe’s headline after Y.E. Yang won the PGA Championship: Hidden Dragon; Ouching Tiger.
There will be at least 18 competitors from Kamloops taking part in the Subaru Ironman Canada in Penticton on Sunday. That includes Candy Scheifele, whose occupation is shown on the Ironman website as “dominatrix.” Which leads one to wonder: Will she be trying to whip the competition or just trying to dominate it? . . . Gary Loewen, in the Toronto Sun: “Three members of the Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team are suffering from swine flu. Hopefully they will be cured soon.” . . . Former Blazers defenceman Victor Bartley will be going to training camp with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The most-telling part of an Associated Press report yesterday from The Barclays: “Tiger Woods bogeyed his final hole for a 72 and was eight shots behind. He refused to speak to the media for the second straight day.” . . . Had he shot 62 do you suppose Tiger might have held court? . . . Greg Cote, in the Miami Herald: “Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 in World Cup qualifying, leaving us 0-23-1 on Mexican soil. Which means we stop Mexicans in soccer about as successfully as we stop them from illegally crossing our border.” . . . If Michael Jackson hasn’t yet been buried, does that mean his body is on ice somewhere? If so, do you suppose he and Ted Williams are conversing somewhere? Listen! That’s Teddy Ballgame telling the King of Pop: “Get one good pitch and hit it hard.”
Steve Simmons, in the Toronto Sun: “Don’t you wish John Calipari had coached the Maple Leafs? Then an entire season of results could be wiped out.” . . . Headline at SportsPickle.com: John Calipari promises Kentucky a vacated NCAA title within five years. . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Since the NCAA is back in the vacating business with Memphis, when does it start prosecuting across the land for all the inappropriate contact between agents and all those scholar-athletes we hear about in the television commercials?”
Outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops continues to impress with the California League’s High Desert Mavericks, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. He went into Friday among the league leaders in batting (.338, fourth), hits (155, fourth), runs (94, tied for second), stolen bases (41, second), onbase percentage (.430, first) and OPS (.914, sixth). The five hitters ahead of him in OPS (onbase plus slugging percentages) all are home run hitters. . . . Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “Lost in the puffery over the defeat of Seattle’s bag tax was the release of a study by a Japanese chemist suggesting plastic shopping bags, well-known for their refusal to break down in landfills, eventually do break down, over time, in saltwater. Clearly, we should be tossing less of them in the dump and more of them into the ocean.” . . . He was kidding, folks. Uhh, I think. . . . One more from Judd: “Life expectancy in the U.S. has risen to a new high, nearly 78 years, a government report says. Great. So much for ever getting a parking spot at Denny’s.”
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.
Friday . . .
The Tri-City Americans have four goaltenders on their main camp roster. You’ve got to think they should have been able to learn a thing or two at Friday night’s session. After all, the instructors were Jerry Price, Dusty Imoo and Olie Kolzig, all of them find goaltenders in their own right. . . . On Saturday, it will be the centres in the camp spotlight as former NHLer Stu Barnes is scheduled to work with them on faceoffs. . . . Barnes and Kolzig, of course, are among the Americans’ owners.
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The Swift Current Broncos are without F Matt Tassone, 20, a 36-goal man last season. He had surgery on both shoulders after last season — he played only 52 regular-season games and didn’t play in the playoffs — and continues to recuperate at home in St. Albert, Alta. Chances are he may not play until midseason. The Broncos have four other 20-year-olds on their roster — D Derek Claffey, D Eric Doyle, D Ryan Molle and F Michael Stickland.
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The Prince George Cougars opened their training camp Friday, the last of 22 WHL teams to hit the ice. And when they did, they had company. Rat Films, out of Montreal, is putting together a six-part series — tentatively titled The Rookies — as it has an eight-member crew following six rookies in the team’s camp. The Cougars have offered up complete access, including microphones on players and coaches, and the crew will be on the team bus when it heads to Everett for next weekend’s preseason tournament. . . . The six 30-minute shows are to be shown on Rogers Sportsnet in March. . . . Alex Taillon of Rat Films has done this before, having put together a French-language series (the seven-episode Les Recrues) that followed the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens in training camp and played on RDS last winter.
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The Central league’s Wichita Thunder has signed 6-foot-7 D Chris McAllister (Saskatoon, 1992-95), who has 301 NHL games under his belt. He played last season in England.
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Huddy Bell, one of the owners of the Regina Pats in the mid-1980s, died Thursday in Phoenix. He was 83. Bell was a prominent Regina hockey player — he played one NHL game with the New York Rangers in 1947 — and businessman, who had been in Phoenix for a number of years. Bell was involved in the group of Regina businessmen — the others were Morley Gusway, Bill Hicke, Ted Knight and Jack Nicolle — that purchased the Pats from the WHL early in 1986. Bell was the least active of the group, primarily because the other four lived in Regina. The group later sold the Pats to Diane and Russ Parker of Calgary, who continue to own the franchise.
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Congratulations to old friends Ron Hextall, Wayne Kartusch, Ron Rumball and Dwight McMillan. The SJHL has announced the first five inductees into its Hall of Fame and those four — along with Chris Chelios — represent the inaugural class. . . . Hextall played in the SJHL with the Melville Millionaires, before moving on to the Brandon Wheat Kings and then the NHL. If memory serves, Hextall faced more than 100 shots in what I think was his last SJHL game. . . . Rumball is the general manager and McMillan the head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings. These two have been there longer than dirt and will be there forever. They define hockey-lifers. McMillan has put up more than 1,000 SJHL coaching victories. . . . Kartusch, as decent a human being as you will find anywhere, served for many years as the SJHL’s president. A lot of credit for that league’s credibility can be placed at his doorstep. . . . Chelios played in the SJHL with the Moose Jaw Canucks.
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So . . . why doesn’t the WHL have a hall of fame? Just asking . . .
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The Red Deer Rebels have released D Kevin Woodyatt, 17, who was a sixth-round selection in the 2007 bantam draft. From Arizona, Woodyatt played three games with the Rebels last season. “He spent part of last season with us and there were areas of his game that we wanted him to address this summer,” Rebels head coach Jesse Wallin told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “In our opinion he didn’t address those areas, or at least to the level we expected.”
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G Kyle Birch, 19, is in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers and is to see some action in the Edmonton tournament. Birch was a fifth-round selection by the Tri-City Americans in the 2005 bantam draft. He played 15 games with the Americans in 2007-08 and three with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. He spent most of last season with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. . . . Birch stopped 10 of the 11 shots he saw Friday afternoon as the Tigers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Moose Jaw Warriors in St. Albert, Alta. . . . D Bo Montgomery’s name isn’t on the Tigers’ training camp roster. He played two seasons with the Portland Winter Hawks when he said he’d had enough and went home to Moose Jaw. Then 18, he said he was going to play for the U of Regina Cougars. But he never was able to get his release so didn’t play in the first half of last season, until after his rights were dealt by Portland to Medicine Hat. He played 13 games with the Tigers, picking up a goal, three assists and 26 penalty minutes.
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Some good stuff from Jim Swanson, the sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, in Saturday’s paper.
“Strange, it is, to not see former general manager Daryl Lubiniecki this year at Cougars camp. Same for Russ Smart, the long-time head scout,” Swanson writes.
“Both were fixtures. Both were told this summer that, after decades of service to the team and the league, their services were no longer required.
“Tough calls, but it's not hard to argue the changes necessary to truly alter the atmosphere around the hockey club. It's blunt to say, but the on-ice results to date will go down in history as tied to the tenure of those two men — among others, to be sure, but the fact is the Cougars didn't win a championship, raise a banner or accomplish any of those other common measuring sticks with those two men responsible for providing the coaches with talent.
“Make no mistake, dismal record or not, dropping Smart and 'Lubie' from the staff was not an easy action. General manager Dallas Thompson and owner Rick Brodsky, whose role as accomplices in the formation of past teams is not to be glossed over in the rush to blame the dearly departed, met with both men over the summer to deliver the news.
“It was akin to telling family members they are no longer welcome at the annual reunion.”
Good stuff, this. You should be able to find Swanson’s column, and other Cougars’ camp copy, at the Citizens’ website.
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In Prince George, head coach Dean Clark, who is about to begin his first season with the Cougars, continues to collect players with whom he became familiar while with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . For starters, the Cougars claimed former Blazers winger Alex Rodgers, 20, off waivers from the Vancouver Giants. . . . Then, the Cougars acquired former Blazers G James Priestner, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Rodgers and Priestener both were drafted by the Blazers while Clark was their general manager. . . . And now the Cougars have D Daniel Medland-Marchen, 18, in camp. The 6-foot-1, 184-pounder was dropped by the Blazers earlier this month. From Kelowna, Medland-Marchen was a second-round pick by Clark and the Blazers in the 2007 bantam draft.
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D Blaine Tendler, 19, has retired from the WHL and is expected to go to welding school. Tendler, from Viceroy, Sask., was the 28th overall pick in the 2005 bantam draft and spent three-plus seasons with the Raiders, playing in 173 regular-season games. He said he just lost the “passion to play at the WHL level.”
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FRIDAY’S GAMES: F Spencer Edwards scored three times as the Moose Jaw Warriors dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-2 in the first game of the Edmonton Oil Kings’ tournament in St. Albert. . . . Edwards, 19, from Coquitlam, B.C., has played 38 WHL games in his career, 32 with the Red Deer Rebels (2006-08) and six last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Warriors got two assists from D Shayne Gwinner, one of four 1994-born players in their lineup. . . . Moose Jaw lost F Joey Kornelson (eight stitches to the chin, concussion) in the second period. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings got two goals from veteran F Robin Soudek and singles from Michael St. Croix, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, and Keegan Lowe as they beat the visiting Regina Pats, 4-0. Lowe is the son of Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers’ president of hockey operations. . . . G Cam Lanigan earned the shutout for Edmonton with 32 saves. . . . Before the game, the Pats signed G Dawson Guhle, 17, of Camrose, Alta. He is to start for the Pats this morning against Medicine Hat at the Oil Kings’ tournament. . . .
In Ladner, B.C., F Mike Piluso’s goal in the shootout — ah, yes, a shootout in exhibition play — gave the Vancouver Giants a 6-5 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Referee Sean Raphael ejected Vancouver head coach Don Hay as the third period began after some jostling between Giants F Brendan Gallagher and F Brett Lyon of the Blazers. . . . It’s 11:15 p.m. Can’t find any info on Kelowna at Chilliwack. And I’m not going to waste my time trying to find out info from an exhibition game. Good night!
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The Swift Current Broncos are without F Matt Tassone, 20, a 36-goal man last season. He had surgery on both shoulders after last season — he played only 52 regular-season games and didn’t play in the playoffs — and continues to recuperate at home in St. Albert, Alta. Chances are he may not play until midseason. The Broncos have four other 20-year-olds on their roster — D Derek Claffey, D Eric Doyle, D Ryan Molle and F Michael Stickland.
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The Prince George Cougars opened their training camp Friday, the last of 22 WHL teams to hit the ice. And when they did, they had company. Rat Films, out of Montreal, is putting together a six-part series — tentatively titled The Rookies — as it has an eight-member crew following six rookies in the team’s camp. The Cougars have offered up complete access, including microphones on players and coaches, and the crew will be on the team bus when it heads to Everett for next weekend’s preseason tournament. . . . The six 30-minute shows are to be shown on Rogers Sportsnet in March. . . . Alex Taillon of Rat Films has done this before, having put together a French-language series (the seven-episode Les Recrues) that followed the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens in training camp and played on RDS last winter.
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The Central league’s Wichita Thunder has signed 6-foot-7 D Chris McAllister (Saskatoon, 1992-95), who has 301 NHL games under his belt. He played last season in England.
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Huddy Bell, one of the owners of the Regina Pats in the mid-1980s, died Thursday in Phoenix. He was 83. Bell was a prominent Regina hockey player — he played one NHL game with the New York Rangers in 1947 — and businessman, who had been in Phoenix for a number of years. Bell was involved in the group of Regina businessmen — the others were Morley Gusway, Bill Hicke, Ted Knight and Jack Nicolle — that purchased the Pats from the WHL early in 1986. Bell was the least active of the group, primarily because the other four lived in Regina. The group later sold the Pats to Diane and Russ Parker of Calgary, who continue to own the franchise.
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Congratulations to old friends Ron Hextall, Wayne Kartusch, Ron Rumball and Dwight McMillan. The SJHL has announced the first five inductees into its Hall of Fame and those four — along with Chris Chelios — represent the inaugural class. . . . Hextall played in the SJHL with the Melville Millionaires, before moving on to the Brandon Wheat Kings and then the NHL. If memory serves, Hextall faced more than 100 shots in what I think was his last SJHL game. . . . Rumball is the general manager and McMillan the head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings. These two have been there longer than dirt and will be there forever. They define hockey-lifers. McMillan has put up more than 1,000 SJHL coaching victories. . . . Kartusch, as decent a human being as you will find anywhere, served for many years as the SJHL’s president. A lot of credit for that league’s credibility can be placed at his doorstep. . . . Chelios played in the SJHL with the Moose Jaw Canucks.
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So . . . why doesn’t the WHL have a hall of fame? Just asking . . .
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The Red Deer Rebels have released D Kevin Woodyatt, 17, who was a sixth-round selection in the 2007 bantam draft. From Arizona, Woodyatt played three games with the Rebels last season. “He spent part of last season with us and there were areas of his game that we wanted him to address this summer,” Rebels head coach Jesse Wallin told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “In our opinion he didn’t address those areas, or at least to the level we expected.”
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G Kyle Birch, 19, is in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers and is to see some action in the Edmonton tournament. Birch was a fifth-round selection by the Tri-City Americans in the 2005 bantam draft. He played 15 games with the Americans in 2007-08 and three with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. He spent most of last season with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. . . . Birch stopped 10 of the 11 shots he saw Friday afternoon as the Tigers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Moose Jaw Warriors in St. Albert, Alta. . . . D Bo Montgomery’s name isn’t on the Tigers’ training camp roster. He played two seasons with the Portland Winter Hawks when he said he’d had enough and went home to Moose Jaw. Then 18, he said he was going to play for the U of Regina Cougars. But he never was able to get his release so didn’t play in the first half of last season, until after his rights were dealt by Portland to Medicine Hat. He played 13 games with the Tigers, picking up a goal, three assists and 26 penalty minutes.
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Some good stuff from Jim Swanson, the sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, in Saturday’s paper.
“Strange, it is, to not see former general manager Daryl Lubiniecki this year at Cougars camp. Same for Russ Smart, the long-time head scout,” Swanson writes.
“Both were fixtures. Both were told this summer that, after decades of service to the team and the league, their services were no longer required.
“Tough calls, but it's not hard to argue the changes necessary to truly alter the atmosphere around the hockey club. It's blunt to say, but the on-ice results to date will go down in history as tied to the tenure of those two men — among others, to be sure, but the fact is the Cougars didn't win a championship, raise a banner or accomplish any of those other common measuring sticks with those two men responsible for providing the coaches with talent.
“Make no mistake, dismal record or not, dropping Smart and 'Lubie' from the staff was not an easy action. General manager Dallas Thompson and owner Rick Brodsky, whose role as accomplices in the formation of past teams is not to be glossed over in the rush to blame the dearly departed, met with both men over the summer to deliver the news.
“It was akin to telling family members they are no longer welcome at the annual reunion.”
Good stuff, this. You should be able to find Swanson’s column, and other Cougars’ camp copy, at the Citizens’ website.
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In Prince George, head coach Dean Clark, who is about to begin his first season with the Cougars, continues to collect players with whom he became familiar while with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . For starters, the Cougars claimed former Blazers winger Alex Rodgers, 20, off waivers from the Vancouver Giants. . . . Then, the Cougars acquired former Blazers G James Priestner, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Rodgers and Priestener both were drafted by the Blazers while Clark was their general manager. . . . And now the Cougars have D Daniel Medland-Marchen, 18, in camp. The 6-foot-1, 184-pounder was dropped by the Blazers earlier this month. From Kelowna, Medland-Marchen was a second-round pick by Clark and the Blazers in the 2007 bantam draft.
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D Blaine Tendler, 19, has retired from the WHL and is expected to go to welding school. Tendler, from Viceroy, Sask., was the 28th overall pick in the 2005 bantam draft and spent three-plus seasons with the Raiders, playing in 173 regular-season games. He said he just lost the “passion to play at the WHL level.”
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FRIDAY’S GAMES: F Spencer Edwards scored three times as the Moose Jaw Warriors dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-2 in the first game of the Edmonton Oil Kings’ tournament in St. Albert. . . . Edwards, 19, from Coquitlam, B.C., has played 38 WHL games in his career, 32 with the Red Deer Rebels (2006-08) and six last season with the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Warriors got two assists from D Shayne Gwinner, one of four 1994-born players in their lineup. . . . Moose Jaw lost F Joey Kornelson (eight stitches to the chin, concussion) in the second period. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings got two goals from veteran F Robin Soudek and singles from Michael St. Croix, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, and Keegan Lowe as they beat the visiting Regina Pats, 4-0. Lowe is the son of Kevin Lowe, the Edmonton Oilers’ president of hockey operations. . . . G Cam Lanigan earned the shutout for Edmonton with 32 saves. . . . Before the game, the Pats signed G Dawson Guhle, 17, of Camrose, Alta. He is to start for the Pats this morning against Medicine Hat at the Oil Kings’ tournament. . . .
In Ladner, B.C., F Mike Piluso’s goal in the shootout — ah, yes, a shootout in exhibition play — gave the Vancouver Giants a 6-5 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Referee Sean Raphael ejected Vancouver head coach Don Hay as the third period began after some jostling between Giants F Brendan Gallagher and F Brett Lyon of the Blazers. . . . It’s 11:15 p.m. Can’t find any info on Kelowna at Chilliwack. And I’m not going to waste my time trying to find out info from an exhibition game. Good night!
Injury bug hits Blazers . . . again
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The hits just keep coming for the Kamloops Blazers.
The WHL team, which opened its seven-game exhibition schedule with a 6-5 shootout loss to the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday night, found out earlier in the day that centre Colin Smith will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
Smith, 16, was injured Wednesday in practice but didn’t find out that he had a broken right humerus until Thursday. The humerus is a long bone that runs from the elbow to the shoulder; Smith fractured his up high, near the shoulder.
According to general manager Craig Bonner, Smith, the seventh overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, was injured when he fell and slid into a goal post during a 2-on-1 drill. Trainer Colin Robinson told Bonner that Smith didn’t hit the post “real hard.”
“He hit his arm,” Bonner said, “and when it happened they weren’t real sure. . . . They thought it might be nerve (damage) because he had some mobility. But when he came in (Thursday) he had no mobility . . . they finally found it was a fractured humerus.”
Smith totaled 55 points in 34 regular-season games with the Edmonton CAC Canadians last season. He was a first-year midget in a competitive midget AAA league.
The Blazers were looking for him to be their second-line centre, behind veteran C.J. Stretch, 20.
“Apparently, he has never been hurt before,” Bonner said of Smith, whose injured arm is in a sling. “But he’s a real competitive guy. He’ll be fine at the end of the day.”
“I’ve only broken a hand,” Smith said. “Hopefully, this heals quickly.”
Smith joins centre Dalibor Bortnak (torn spleen), forward Matej Bene (groin) and centre Jake Trask (groin) on the injured list.
Bortnak, a sophomore from Slovakia, was injured in Tuesday’s intrasquad game and was taken to Royal Inland Hospital with internal bleeding.
Bonner said Bortnak “probably” was going to be released from hospital yesterday. Bortnak is expected to be out up to eight weeks.
Bene, a freshman from Slovakia, left the intrasquad game with sore groins and won’t play in tonight’s rematch with the Giants at Interior Savings Centre. Trask, a sophomore centre, didn’t play Tuesday or last night, but is back skating and may play tonight.
“Better now than in February,” Bonner said of the rash of injuries.
The Blazers already have experienced three major injuries.
Prior to Bortnak and Smith being injured, defenceman Brady Gaudet, from Redvers, Sask., injured a knee and will be out for at least a month. When he’s healthy, Gaudet, the 10th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will join the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans.
Last night, in a feisty, penalty-filled game, the Blazers got two goals from C.J. Stretch and singles from Brendan Ranford, Tyler Shattock and Josh Caron. The Giants got the lone goal of the shootout from centre Mike Piluso.
Goaltender Justin Leclerc went the distance for the Blazers, who were outshot 39-25.
Referee Sean Raphael ejected Vancouver head coach Don Hay following some jostling between the Giants’ Brendan Gallagher and Brett Lyon of the Blazers as the third period started.
Game time tonight is 7 o’clock.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Daily News Sports Editor
The hits just keep coming for the Kamloops Blazers.
The WHL team, which opened its seven-game exhibition schedule with a 6-5 shootout loss to the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday night, found out earlier in the day that centre Colin Smith will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
Smith, 16, was injured Wednesday in practice but didn’t find out that he had a broken right humerus until Thursday. The humerus is a long bone that runs from the elbow to the shoulder; Smith fractured his up high, near the shoulder.
According to general manager Craig Bonner, Smith, the seventh overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, was injured when he fell and slid into a goal post during a 2-on-1 drill. Trainer Colin Robinson told Bonner that Smith didn’t hit the post “real hard.”
“He hit his arm,” Bonner said, “and when it happened they weren’t real sure. . . . They thought it might be nerve (damage) because he had some mobility. But when he came in (Thursday) he had no mobility . . . they finally found it was a fractured humerus.”
Smith totaled 55 points in 34 regular-season games with the Edmonton CAC Canadians last season. He was a first-year midget in a competitive midget AAA league.
The Blazers were looking for him to be their second-line centre, behind veteran C.J. Stretch, 20.
“Apparently, he has never been hurt before,” Bonner said of Smith, whose injured arm is in a sling. “But he’s a real competitive guy. He’ll be fine at the end of the day.”
“I’ve only broken a hand,” Smith said. “Hopefully, this heals quickly.”
Smith joins centre Dalibor Bortnak (torn spleen), forward Matej Bene (groin) and centre Jake Trask (groin) on the injured list.
Bortnak, a sophomore from Slovakia, was injured in Tuesday’s intrasquad game and was taken to Royal Inland Hospital with internal bleeding.
Bonner said Bortnak “probably” was going to be released from hospital yesterday. Bortnak is expected to be out up to eight weeks.
Bene, a freshman from Slovakia, left the intrasquad game with sore groins and won’t play in tonight’s rematch with the Giants at Interior Savings Centre. Trask, a sophomore centre, didn’t play Tuesday or last night, but is back skating and may play tonight.
“Better now than in February,” Bonner said of the rash of injuries.
The Blazers already have experienced three major injuries.
Prior to Bortnak and Smith being injured, defenceman Brady Gaudet, from Redvers, Sask., injured a knee and will be out for at least a month. When he’s healthy, Gaudet, the 10th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will join the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans.
Last night, in a feisty, penalty-filled game, the Blazers got two goals from C.J. Stretch and singles from Brendan Ranford, Tyler Shattock and Josh Caron. The Giants got the lone goal of the shootout from centre Mike Piluso.
Goaltender Justin Leclerc went the distance for the Blazers, who were outshot 39-25.
Referee Sean Raphael ejected Vancouver head coach Don Hay following some jostling between the Giants’ Brendan Gallagher and Brett Lyon of the Blazers as the third period started.
Game time tonight is 7 o’clock.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Thursday, August 27, 2009
More from Thursday . . .
The latest chapter in the Battle of the Bonner Brothers takes place Friday in Ladner, B.C. That is where the Kamloops Blazers, of general manager Craig Bonner, will meet the host Vancouver Giants, of GM Scott Bonner, in a WHL exhibition game. . . . “It would be typical of Craig to have a goon team. You can put that in the paper,” Scott said to the Vancouver Province’s Steve Ewen when asked what kind of team he expected the Blazers to put on the ice. . . . Scott was kidding. We think. . . . Vancouver, which often operates with all the secrecy of a pro football team, didn’t release a lineup. . . . At the other end of the spectrum, the Blazers released their lineup Thursday morning. Goaltender Justin Leclerc will start. Only one newcomer — Tyler Hansen, a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft from Magrath, Alta. — is among the six defencemen scheduled to dress. The 12 forwards will include newcomers JC Lipon, 16, Richard Vanderhoek, 18, and Dylan Willick, who turns 17 on Oct. 19. Lipon and Willick signed WHL contracts earlier this week.
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The Giants lost Danish F Stebastian Svendsen during their intrasquad game on Wednesday. But the club said Thursday he only has a bruised shoulder and is day-to-day.
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The ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers have signed D Kevin Seibel (Prince George, Swift Current, Vancouver, 1998-2004). Seibel, 26, played last season with Appiano in Italy and the Central league’s Tulsa Oilers. Before that, he spent four years at UBC, where he played for the Thunderbirds.
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Sudbury radio station CJMX reported Thursday evening that Mike Foligno, the head coach of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, has decided to step down. According to the report, Foligno will stay on as general manager. Associate coach Bryan Verreault will move up to head coach, while former NHLer Jeff Beukeboom will be the new assistant coach. . . . Foligno’s wife, Janis, died of cancer last month.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Mitchell Moroz, the 30th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 36 points in 31 regular-season games with the bantam AAA Calgary Northstars last season.
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The Red Deer Rebels have lost freshman D Matt Pufahl, 16, with a shoulder injury. He was the 68th pick in the 2008 bantam draft. Pufahl was injured early in training camp and the Red Deer Advocate reports that he has two torn ligaments in a shoulder. “He’s actually done quite a bit of damage to his shoulder,” head coach Jesse Wallin told the Advocate’s Greg Meachem. “He’s going home to Saskatoon and he has an appointment there to see an orthopedic specialist. From there it will be determined whether he needs surgery or if he’ll be able to play with a brace through the season and have the surgery next year, if it’s necessary. We certainly hope that it doesn’t need to be surgically repaired, but our guess right now is that it will probably come to that.” . . . Once he is healthy, Pufahl is expected to join the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts.
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F Sanfred King of the Brandon Wheat Kings has received medical clearance and is scheduled to be on the ice when main camp opens today. He had his 2008-09 season end prematurely with a broken leg.
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G Joe Caligiuri, 20, has joined the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, the host team for the 2010 Royal Bank Cup. Caligiuri had been on the Prince George Cougars’ roster, but he was released earlier this week following the acquisition of G James Priestner, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The RBC is the tournament at which the Canadian junior A champion is decided.
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Let the record show that F Sean Aschim, a third-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, scored the first goal of the WHL’s exhibition season. Aschim gave the host Prince Albert Raiders a 1-0 first-period lead but the Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s other five goals and posted a 4-1 victory. . . . It was the first exhibition game of this season. . . . Aschim is from Saskatoon. . . . The Blades got two goals from F Brent Benson, the sixth overall selection in the 2008 bantam draft.
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Dennis Hextall, who played for the Brandon Wheat Kings (1961-63), is one of the two finalists for the job as commissioner of the IHL. Hextall, 66, is an uncle to former Brandon goaltender Ron Hextall. According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, the finalists are “Hextall and Rob DeGagne, who played in the first incarnation of the IHL during the 1986-87 season, are the finalists for the position. An official announcement is expected next week.”
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The Giants lost Danish F Stebastian Svendsen during their intrasquad game on Wednesday. But the club said Thursday he only has a bruised shoulder and is day-to-day.
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The ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers have signed D Kevin Seibel (Prince George, Swift Current, Vancouver, 1998-2004). Seibel, 26, played last season with Appiano in Italy and the Central league’s Tulsa Oilers. Before that, he spent four years at UBC, where he played for the Thunderbirds.
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Sudbury radio station CJMX reported Thursday evening that Mike Foligno, the head coach of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, has decided to step down. According to the report, Foligno will stay on as general manager. Associate coach Bryan Verreault will move up to head coach, while former NHLer Jeff Beukeboom will be the new assistant coach. . . . Foligno’s wife, Janis, died of cancer last month.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Mitchell Moroz, the 30th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 36 points in 31 regular-season games with the bantam AAA Calgary Northstars last season.
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The Red Deer Rebels have lost freshman D Matt Pufahl, 16, with a shoulder injury. He was the 68th pick in the 2008 bantam draft. Pufahl was injured early in training camp and the Red Deer Advocate reports that he has two torn ligaments in a shoulder. “He’s actually done quite a bit of damage to his shoulder,” head coach Jesse Wallin told the Advocate’s Greg Meachem. “He’s going home to Saskatoon and he has an appointment there to see an orthopedic specialist. From there it will be determined whether he needs surgery or if he’ll be able to play with a brace through the season and have the surgery next year, if it’s necessary. We certainly hope that it doesn’t need to be surgically repaired, but our guess right now is that it will probably come to that.” . . . Once he is healthy, Pufahl is expected to join the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts.
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F Sanfred King of the Brandon Wheat Kings has received medical clearance and is scheduled to be on the ice when main camp opens today. He had his 2008-09 season end prematurely with a broken leg.
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G Joe Caligiuri, 20, has joined the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, the host team for the 2010 Royal Bank Cup. Caligiuri had been on the Prince George Cougars’ roster, but he was released earlier this week following the acquisition of G James Priestner, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The RBC is the tournament at which the Canadian junior A champion is decided.
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Let the record show that F Sean Aschim, a third-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, scored the first goal of the WHL’s exhibition season. Aschim gave the host Prince Albert Raiders a 1-0 first-period lead but the Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s other five goals and posted a 4-1 victory. . . . It was the first exhibition game of this season. . . . Aschim is from Saskatoon. . . . The Blades got two goals from F Brent Benson, the sixth overall selection in the 2008 bantam draft.
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Dennis Hextall, who played for the Brandon Wheat Kings (1961-63), is one of the two finalists for the job as commissioner of the IHL. Hextall, 66, is an uncle to former Brandon goaltender Ron Hextall. According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, the finalists are “Hextall and Rob DeGagne, who played in the first incarnation of the IHL during the 1986-87 season, are the finalists for the position. An official announcement is expected next week.”
Blazers faced with some decisions
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
For the most part, the kids have gone home.
A roster that included 94 names just one week ago now is at 33.
Which means that in the camp of the Kamloops Blazers it is time to get down to business. Serious business.
As the Blazers begin their seven-game exhibition schedule tonight against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner, there still are decisions to be made. There are jobs to be won and jobs to be lost. Just not in the department of goaltending, where only the pecking order is left to be decided.
Goaltenders Troy Trombley, 15, and John Keeney, 16, have returned to their homes in Sherwood Park, Alta., and Twin Peaks, Calif., respectively, which leaves veterans Justin Leclerc, 20, and Jon Groenheyde, 18, as the last two standing.
“I like where we’re at,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said of the goaltending. “The exhibition season is going to be where we decide.”
Leclerc, who is starting his fifth WHL season and third with the Blazers since being acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, gets the start tonight. Groenheyde, an 18-year-old sophomore, will start Saturday when the Giants visit Interior Savings Centre.
“I want to get them going,” Smith replied, when asked why he got down to two goaltenders so quickly; after all, prior to camp he had said he wouldn’t be averse to opening the season with three.
“We’ve got seven exhibition games,” Smith added. “They’re each going to play 3. We’ll see what they do there. The proof is in the pudding for me.”
When the Blazers open the regular season on Sept. 18 against the Bruins in Chilliwack, Smith said, he’ll be going with the hot hand.
“We’ll play the guy who is best out of training camp,” Smith said.
As the exhibition season begins the favourite is Leclerc, if only because Groenheyde hasn’t had a good camp.
“No, he hasn’t,” Smith confirmed. “I don’t believe you come in and warm up to things. If somebody was pushing, it would have been a good year to push. Jonny should have been the guy coming in thinking, ‘I’m going to push . . . the other way.’ ”
Meanwhile, there still are 12 defencemen in camp, with seven of them having finished last season on the Blazers’ roster. Of those seven, three — Giffen Nyren, Linden Saip and Zak Stebner — will be attending NHL camps.
That will give the likes of Matt Cumming, a 1991-born Kamloops native who played last season with the Prince George Cougars, a golden opportunity to show what he can do.
The absence of veterans may figure in things up front, too.
Tyler Shattock, the team captain, will go to camp with the St. Louis Blues, while Jimmy Bubnick does the same with the Atlanta Thrashers. As well, centre Dalibor Bortnak (spleen) could be out for as long as eight weeks.
“With all the guys we have going to camp, they’re going to get a long look,” Smith said of some of the newcomers. “They’re going to get some playing time . . . some quality playing time.
“After six or seven games, you’ll be able to definitely see who can play or who can’t. You can’t bluff after that long.”
Like all observers, Smith has been impressed with centre Colin Smith, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft. Smith, the coach, referred to Smith, the player, as “the cream of the crop.” No, the two aren’t related.
Smith, the coach, also had kind words for JC Lipon and Dylan Willick, both of whom signed contracts earlier this week, and Richard Vanderhoek, a 2006 draft pick who missed most of last season with a knee injury.
“JC Lipon is a young kid but you see a guy who is responsible and a two-way-type player,” Smith said. “He’s got good speed. He goes to the net. He makes a good, hard pass. He does everything under control.”
As for Willick, Smith compared him to veteran winger Shayne Wiebe.
“Willick, I think, will be like a Shayne Wiebe, maybe with the upside of scoring more goals than Wieber does,” Smith stated. “Willick does all the good things . . . drives hard to the net . . . goes to the inside . . . has a good shot. He probably has a little better finish than Wiebe at the same age.”
Vanderhoek, meanwhile, has flown under the radar a bit for the last while, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been noticed.
“I like him,” Smith said. “He’s probably a little bit smarter defensively than the other two young guys, but maybe doesn’t have quite the same upside offensively as those two.”
An 18-year-old from Langley, Vanderhoek had 12 points in eight games with the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks last season.
Lipon, Vanderhoek, Willick and Uriah Machuga, who started last season with the Blazers but was sent home to Norco, Calif., in December, will play tonight, while Tyler Hansen, a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft from Magrath, Alta., will be the only newcomer to dress on the back end.
JUST NOTES: Before leaving, Trombley, a third-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft, signed with the Blazers. Trombley, 6-foot-5 and 164 pounds, is from Sherwood Park, Alta. He played last season for a bantam AAA team in Camrose and is expected to play for a midget AAA team in Edmonton this season. The Blazers now have signed their first three 2008 draft picks, with D Brady Gaudet of Redvers, Sask., and F Logan McVeigh of Kenaston, Sask., having signed before camp. . . . Sophomore F Jake Trask (groin) won’t play tonight but might go Saturday, while Slovakian freshman F Matej Bene (groin) is day-to-day. . . . G Logan Cloutier, a 1994-born Kamloops minor hockey product, was in camp with the Giants and made enough of an impression that he will continue to work with their goaltending coach, Sean Murray.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
Daily News Sports Editor
For the most part, the kids have gone home.
A roster that included 94 names just one week ago now is at 33.
Which means that in the camp of the Kamloops Blazers it is time to get down to business. Serious business.
As the Blazers begin their seven-game exhibition schedule tonight against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner, there still are decisions to be made. There are jobs to be won and jobs to be lost. Just not in the department of goaltending, where only the pecking order is left to be decided.
Goaltenders Troy Trombley, 15, and John Keeney, 16, have returned to their homes in Sherwood Park, Alta., and Twin Peaks, Calif., respectively, which leaves veterans Justin Leclerc, 20, and Jon Groenheyde, 18, as the last two standing.
“I like where we’re at,” Kamloops head coach Barry Smith said of the goaltending. “The exhibition season is going to be where we decide.”
Leclerc, who is starting his fifth WHL season and third with the Blazers since being acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, gets the start tonight. Groenheyde, an 18-year-old sophomore, will start Saturday when the Giants visit Interior Savings Centre.
“I want to get them going,” Smith replied, when asked why he got down to two goaltenders so quickly; after all, prior to camp he had said he wouldn’t be averse to opening the season with three.
“We’ve got seven exhibition games,” Smith added. “They’re each going to play 3. We’ll see what they do there. The proof is in the pudding for me.”
When the Blazers open the regular season on Sept. 18 against the Bruins in Chilliwack, Smith said, he’ll be going with the hot hand.
“We’ll play the guy who is best out of training camp,” Smith said.
As the exhibition season begins the favourite is Leclerc, if only because Groenheyde hasn’t had a good camp.
“No, he hasn’t,” Smith confirmed. “I don’t believe you come in and warm up to things. If somebody was pushing, it would have been a good year to push. Jonny should have been the guy coming in thinking, ‘I’m going to push . . . the other way.’ ”
Meanwhile, there still are 12 defencemen in camp, with seven of them having finished last season on the Blazers’ roster. Of those seven, three — Giffen Nyren, Linden Saip and Zak Stebner — will be attending NHL camps.
That will give the likes of Matt Cumming, a 1991-born Kamloops native who played last season with the Prince George Cougars, a golden opportunity to show what he can do.
The absence of veterans may figure in things up front, too.
Tyler Shattock, the team captain, will go to camp with the St. Louis Blues, while Jimmy Bubnick does the same with the Atlanta Thrashers. As well, centre Dalibor Bortnak (spleen) could be out for as long as eight weeks.
“With all the guys we have going to camp, they’re going to get a long look,” Smith said of some of the newcomers. “They’re going to get some playing time . . . some quality playing time.
“After six or seven games, you’ll be able to definitely see who can play or who can’t. You can’t bluff after that long.”
Like all observers, Smith has been impressed with centre Colin Smith, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft. Smith, the coach, referred to Smith, the player, as “the cream of the crop.” No, the two aren’t related.
Smith, the coach, also had kind words for JC Lipon and Dylan Willick, both of whom signed contracts earlier this week, and Richard Vanderhoek, a 2006 draft pick who missed most of last season with a knee injury.
“JC Lipon is a young kid but you see a guy who is responsible and a two-way-type player,” Smith said. “He’s got good speed. He goes to the net. He makes a good, hard pass. He does everything under control.”
As for Willick, Smith compared him to veteran winger Shayne Wiebe.
“Willick, I think, will be like a Shayne Wiebe, maybe with the upside of scoring more goals than Wieber does,” Smith stated. “Willick does all the good things . . . drives hard to the net . . . goes to the inside . . . has a good shot. He probably has a little better finish than Wiebe at the same age.”
Vanderhoek, meanwhile, has flown under the radar a bit for the last while, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been noticed.
“I like him,” Smith said. “He’s probably a little bit smarter defensively than the other two young guys, but maybe doesn’t have quite the same upside offensively as those two.”
An 18-year-old from Langley, Vanderhoek had 12 points in eight games with the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks last season.
Lipon, Vanderhoek, Willick and Uriah Machuga, who started last season with the Blazers but was sent home to Norco, Calif., in December, will play tonight, while Tyler Hansen, a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft from Magrath, Alta., will be the only newcomer to dress on the back end.
JUST NOTES: Before leaving, Trombley, a third-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft, signed with the Blazers. Trombley, 6-foot-5 and 164 pounds, is from Sherwood Park, Alta. He played last season for a bantam AAA team in Camrose and is expected to play for a midget AAA team in Edmonton this season. The Blazers now have signed their first three 2008 draft picks, with D Brady Gaudet of Redvers, Sask., and F Logan McVeigh of Kenaston, Sask., having signed before camp. . . . Sophomore F Jake Trask (groin) won’t play tonight but might go Saturday, while Slovakian freshman F Matej Bene (groin) is day-to-day. . . . G Logan Cloutier, a 1994-born Kamloops minor hockey product, was in camp with the Giants and made enough of an impression that he will continue to work with their goaltending coach, Sean Murray.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
WHL hockey on the air
If you're in need of a WHL fix, it's the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders in an exhibition game tonight. The game is being played in Prince Albert and is to start at 7 p.m. . . . Drew Wilson will have all the action on 900CKBI, 900CKBI.com and raiderhockey.com . . . Enjoy!
Thursday . . . early
THE MacBETH REPORT: G Cody Rudkowsky (Seattle, 1995-99) signed a one-year contract with Edinburgh Capitals (UK Elite). He didn’t play last season after splitting time in 2007-08 with Phoenix (ECHL), Grand Rapids (AHL), and Cincinnati (ECHL). . . . F Seth Leonard (Kelowna, Prince Albert, 1998-2004) signed a one-year contract with Neuilly-Sur-Marne (France Ligue Magnus). He had 30 goals and 34 assists in 62 games with New Mexico (CHL) last season.
F Lee Goren (two games with Saskatoon in 1995-96) signed a contract with Tappara Tampere (Finland SM-Liiga) through the end of October. He has already signed a six-month artist contract with Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden Elitserien) for this season and will join Färjestad on Nov. 1. He had five goals and six assists in nine games with Zug (Swiss NL A) and 18 goals and 13 assists in 37 games with Färjestad last season.
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Veteran F Travis Dunstall, 20, isn’t in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Instead, he is at home in Onoway, Alta., awaiting a trade. “Just before I was supposed to come back, I got a call and (the Tigers) just told me to wait for a trade,” Dunstall told the Medicine Hat News. “I am still waiting for a trade. If not, I am thinking I am just going to go up and play junior A.” . . . Dunstall is preparing for his fifth WHL season. He was the 16th overall pick by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2004 bantam draft. He played two-plus seasons with the Blazers before he was dealt to the Tigers for F Scott Wasden. . . . If Dunstall ends up in junior A, it likely would be with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. . . . Without Dunstall, the Tigers are left with F Bretton Cameron, F Colton Grant, G Ryan Holfeld and D Mark Isherwood as their 20-year-olds at the moment. . . . The News also reported that Danish D Rasmus Damgaard, 19, isn’t in the Tigers’ camp. He was the final pick in the CHL’s 2009 import draft.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed G Troy Trombley, a 15-year-old form Sherwood Park, Alta. He was a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. The 6-foot-5, 164-pound Trombley played with the bantam AAA Camrose Kodiaks last season and is expected to play for a midget AAA team in Edmonton this season. . . . The Blazers have signed their first three 2009 bantam picks, with D Brady Gaudet of Redvers, Sask., and F Logan McVeigh of Kenaston, Sask., having signed before camp.
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The Swift Current Broncos have signed Andrew Sullivan, F Andy Blanke, Adam Lowry and Shea Howorko to WHL contracts. . . . Sullivan, from Calgary, was a seventh-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft and 24 points in 32 games with the midget AAA Calgary Northstars last season. . . . Blanke, 17, is a list player from Swift Current who had 39 points in 44 games with his hometown midget AAA Legionnaires. . . . Lowry, the son of former Calgary Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry, was a fourth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He played last season with the midget AA Calgary Rangers. . . . Howorko, who is originally from Swift Current but now lives in Regina, was a second-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 27 points in 23 games with bantam and midget teams at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., last season.
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Swift Current also released F Liam Darragh, 19, who was acquired last season from the Chilliwack Bruins in exchange for F Matt Ius. . . . Ius was released by the Bruins earlier this week.
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Veteran F Dustin Sylvester has been named captain of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. Sylvester, 20, is from Kelowna and is going into his fifth season with the Ice. He succeeds F Andrew Bailey as the Ice’s captain.
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D/F Erik Felde (Tri-City, Swift Current, 2006-08) has signed with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. The Chiefs acquired Felde’s rights in a trade with the Reading Royals in December.
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The IHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks have signed F Matt Robertson (Prince Albert, Regina, 2006-09). The Lumberjacks are coached by former WHL player and coach Rich Kromm. Robertson totaled 55 points in 68 games split between the Raiders and Pats last season.
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F Cale Jeffries (Brandon, 2006-09) has committed to attend the U of Guelph and play for the Gryphons. He had 11 points in 60 games with the Wheat Kings last season.
F Lee Goren (two games with Saskatoon in 1995-96) signed a contract with Tappara Tampere (Finland SM-Liiga) through the end of October. He has already signed a six-month artist contract with Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden Elitserien) for this season and will join Färjestad on Nov. 1. He had five goals and six assists in nine games with Zug (Swiss NL A) and 18 goals and 13 assists in 37 games with Färjestad last season.
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Veteran F Travis Dunstall, 20, isn’t in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Instead, he is at home in Onoway, Alta., awaiting a trade. “Just before I was supposed to come back, I got a call and (the Tigers) just told me to wait for a trade,” Dunstall told the Medicine Hat News. “I am still waiting for a trade. If not, I am thinking I am just going to go up and play junior A.” . . . Dunstall is preparing for his fifth WHL season. He was the 16th overall pick by the Kamloops Blazers in the 2004 bantam draft. He played two-plus seasons with the Blazers before he was dealt to the Tigers for F Scott Wasden. . . . If Dunstall ends up in junior A, it likely would be with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. . . . Without Dunstall, the Tigers are left with F Bretton Cameron, F Colton Grant, G Ryan Holfeld and D Mark Isherwood as their 20-year-olds at the moment. . . . The News also reported that Danish D Rasmus Damgaard, 19, isn’t in the Tigers’ camp. He was the final pick in the CHL’s 2009 import draft.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed G Troy Trombley, a 15-year-old form Sherwood Park, Alta. He was a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. The 6-foot-5, 164-pound Trombley played with the bantam AAA Camrose Kodiaks last season and is expected to play for a midget AAA team in Edmonton this season. . . . The Blazers have signed their first three 2009 bantam picks, with D Brady Gaudet of Redvers, Sask., and F Logan McVeigh of Kenaston, Sask., having signed before camp.
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The Swift Current Broncos have signed Andrew Sullivan, F Andy Blanke, Adam Lowry and Shea Howorko to WHL contracts. . . . Sullivan, from Calgary, was a seventh-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft and 24 points in 32 games with the midget AAA Calgary Northstars last season. . . . Blanke, 17, is a list player from Swift Current who had 39 points in 44 games with his hometown midget AAA Legionnaires. . . . Lowry, the son of former Calgary Hitmen head coach Dave Lowry, was a fourth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He played last season with the midget AA Calgary Rangers. . . . Howorko, who is originally from Swift Current but now lives in Regina, was a second-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 27 points in 23 games with bantam and midget teams at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., last season.
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Swift Current also released F Liam Darragh, 19, who was acquired last season from the Chilliwack Bruins in exchange for F Matt Ius. . . . Ius was released by the Bruins earlier this week.
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Veteran F Dustin Sylvester has been named captain of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. Sylvester, 20, is from Kelowna and is going into his fifth season with the Ice. He succeeds F Andrew Bailey as the Ice’s captain.
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D/F Erik Felde (Tri-City, Swift Current, 2006-08) has signed with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. The Chiefs acquired Felde’s rights in a trade with the Reading Royals in December.
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The IHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks have signed F Matt Robertson (Prince Albert, Regina, 2006-09). The Lumberjacks are coached by former WHL player and coach Rich Kromm. Robertson totaled 55 points in 68 games split between the Raiders and Pats last season.
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F Cale Jeffries (Brandon, 2006-09) has committed to attend the U of Guelph and play for the Gryphons. He had 11 points in 60 games with the Wheat Kings last season.
Wednesday's stuff . . .
Let’s make it two days in a row with a mention of former Kamloops Blazers F Matt Wray. . . . Yesterday, we had Wray here because he had been traded by the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. . . . Today, we hear more about the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Wray, who turns 20 on Nov. 22. It turns out that the Qualicum Beach, B.C., native also is a lacrosse player. Right now, in fact, he is in Brampton, Ont., with the junior A Excelsiors who begin play in the best-of-three Minto Cup final series with the Orangeville Northmen on Friday night.
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The Spokane Chiefs open their training camp with scrimmages on Thursday and Czech F Dominik Uher will take part. The 6-foot-0, 178-pound Uher was the Chiefs’ lone selection in the CHL’s 2009 import draft. He had 46 points in 38 games with HC Trinec in the Czech Republic last season and added 11 points in nine playoff games. Uher, who won’t turn 17 until Dec. 31, is eligible for the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . The Chiefs’ other import is veteran D Stefan Ulmer, who turns 19 on Dec. 1. The Austrian is preparing for his third season in Spokane. He had 40 points in 63 games last season.
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F Mike Sillinger (Regina, 1987-91) announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday. Sillinger, 38, underwent hip surgery last season and said that if he re-injured the hip he would be looking at hip-replacement surgery. Sillinger was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the 11th pick in the 1989 draft. He would go on to play 17 NHL seasons and see action with 12 different teams. He is expected to make his home in his hometown of Regina, where he will coach minor hockey and be involved with the Pats in some capacity. You can read about Sillinger’s decision right here.
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The Prince George Cougars have placed G Joe Caligiuri, 20, on waivers, clearing the way for recently acquired James Priestner, 18, to be the starter. It’s expected that Red Deer native Michael Salmon, who turns 17 on Friday, will end up as Priestner’s backup. . . . How goofy is the game of hockey? A year ago, Caligiuri was with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Priestner was with the Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers dealt Priestner to the Wheat Kings who, in turn, sent Caligiuri to the Cougars. Now the Cougars have acquired Priestner from Brandon and, as a result, Caligiuri is out of work. . . . Wait. There’s more. . . . If anyone is to push Priestner and Salmon, it will be Graham Hildebrand, 18, a Saskatoon native who played one game with – you guess it! – Brandon in 2007-08.
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G Dalyn Flette, 19, is in camp with the Wheat Kings as he tries to get his WHL career back on track. Flette, who is from Calgary, was selected by the Kamloops Blazers in the third round of the 2005 bantam draft. He played with the Blazers in 2006-07 before moving on to the expansion Edmonton Oil Kings. He got into 28 games with the Oil Kings in 2007-08, but only played in 11 games last season as he was bothered by an ankle injury that needed surgery. He finished up the season with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks and was released by the Oil Kings. . . . It turns out that Flette actually was going to attend camp with Prince George. But that was before the Cougars acquired G James Priestner from the Wheat Kings last week. . . . Flette actually was en route to Prince George when the trade was made.
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F Jordan Lane, who goes 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, is vying for a 20-year-old spot with the Prince George Cougars. He played last season with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, picking up one assist and 68 penalty minutes in 43 games. He has been waived through the QMJHL. . . . The Cougars’ other 20-year-olds, at the moment, are F Tyler Halliday, D Dallas Jackson and F Alex Rodgers. Halliday is coming off offseason surgery on a hand.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed two more players – D Travis Brown and F Jordan Wyton. . . . Brown was a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft from the Winnipeg Monarchs. He had 16 points in 29 games. . . . From Lethbridge, Wyton was a ninth-round pick in the 2008 draft so is able to play regularly this season.
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F Stanislav Galiev, the first overall selection in the CHL’s 2009 import draft, is scheduled to leave Russia this week and head for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. He is expected to arrive in Saint John on Sunday. According to a release from the team: “The Sea Dogs must now await clearance from the International Ice Hockey Federation for Galiev to skate with the team. Galiev's transfer to the Canadian Hockey League has been challenged by Moscow Dynamo, a Russian club who own the highly touted NHL prospect's European rights.” . . . Last season, Galiev, 17, had 64 points in 60 games with the USHL’s Indiana Ice. He had three points in four games for Russia at the recently completed Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.
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F Jeremy Boyer, 19, has asked the Seattle Thunderbirds to trade him. Boyer, from Saskatoon, will turn 19 on Sept. 28. He is preparing for his fourth WHL season. Seattle selected him in the second round of the 2005 bantam draft. He had 56 points, including 21 goals, last season. . . . Alan Caldwell of Small Thoughts At Large has run the numbers and reports that, without Boyer, Seattle only has 85 returning goals on its roster, easily the lowest such figure in the WHL. According to Caldwell, the Lethbridge Hurricanes, at 115, are second on that list.
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D Steve Makway (Kootenay, Tri-City, 2000-03) has signed with the Central league’s Mississippi RiverKings. He spent two seasons there before splitting last season between the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and Las Vegas Wranglers. He played 18 games with Cincinnati and 47 with Las Vegas. He totaled 15 points and 185 penalty minutes in the regular season.
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F Troy Ofukany (Kelowna, Regina, Red Deer, 2004-08) has signed with the Central league’s Wichita Thunder. He had 36 points and 122 penalty minutes in 62 games last season, his first as a pro, with the Thunder. He was named the Thunder’s most improved player at season’s end.
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D Tyson Newell, 18, of the Prince Albert Raiders is recovering from a broken jaw. Newell, who is from Prince Albert, was struck in the face by a shot from D Ryan Button during Sunday’s intrasquad game. He has been checked over by a surgeon in Saskatoon who doesn’t think Newell will need surgery. Newell, who played for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos last season, isn’t likely to play for at least six weeks.
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D David Schulz (Swift Current, Spokane, Saskatoon, Kelowna, 2001-07) has re-signed with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. Last season, his second as a pro, he had 11 points and 65 penalty minutes in 58 games. He also got into eight games with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.
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F Evander Kane, who was taken by the Atlanta Thrashers with the fourth pick of the NHL’s 2009 draft, had two fights in a Vancouver Giants’ scrimmage on Tuesday. Kane, who had 96 points and 89 penalty minutes in 61 regular-season games last season, dropped the mitts with veterans Brendan Gallagher and James Henry. . . . D Ryan Funk, 20, had offseason shoulder surgery and hasn’t been cleared for contact. He was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades after last season.
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Sophomore F Cameron Abney, 18, wasn’t allowed to take part in Day 1 of the Everett Silvertips’ training camp on Wednesday. Abney, who had four points and 103 penalty minutes in 48 games last season, was late for Monday morning’s scrimmage, so new head coach Craig Hartsburg chose to make an example out of him. "I certainly wasn't looking to (send a message), but it's the way it is," Hartsburg told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald. "We want to do things right and hopefully it's a good learning lesson. They're all young players who have to understand there's a big responsibility to being a part of this program." . . . Abney, a third-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2009 draft, will be on the ice Thursday.
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The Spokane Chiefs open their training camp with scrimmages on Thursday and Czech F Dominik Uher will take part. The 6-foot-0, 178-pound Uher was the Chiefs’ lone selection in the CHL’s 2009 import draft. He had 46 points in 38 games with HC Trinec in the Czech Republic last season and added 11 points in nine playoff games. Uher, who won’t turn 17 until Dec. 31, is eligible for the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . The Chiefs’ other import is veteran D Stefan Ulmer, who turns 19 on Dec. 1. The Austrian is preparing for his third season in Spokane. He had 40 points in 63 games last season.
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F Mike Sillinger (Regina, 1987-91) announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday. Sillinger, 38, underwent hip surgery last season and said that if he re-injured the hip he would be looking at hip-replacement surgery. Sillinger was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the 11th pick in the 1989 draft. He would go on to play 17 NHL seasons and see action with 12 different teams. He is expected to make his home in his hometown of Regina, where he will coach minor hockey and be involved with the Pats in some capacity. You can read about Sillinger’s decision right here.
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The Prince George Cougars have placed G Joe Caligiuri, 20, on waivers, clearing the way for recently acquired James Priestner, 18, to be the starter. It’s expected that Red Deer native Michael Salmon, who turns 17 on Friday, will end up as Priestner’s backup. . . . How goofy is the game of hockey? A year ago, Caligiuri was with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Priestner was with the Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers dealt Priestner to the Wheat Kings who, in turn, sent Caligiuri to the Cougars. Now the Cougars have acquired Priestner from Brandon and, as a result, Caligiuri is out of work. . . . Wait. There’s more. . . . If anyone is to push Priestner and Salmon, it will be Graham Hildebrand, 18, a Saskatoon native who played one game with – you guess it! – Brandon in 2007-08.
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G Dalyn Flette, 19, is in camp with the Wheat Kings as he tries to get his WHL career back on track. Flette, who is from Calgary, was selected by the Kamloops Blazers in the third round of the 2005 bantam draft. He played with the Blazers in 2006-07 before moving on to the expansion Edmonton Oil Kings. He got into 28 games with the Oil Kings in 2007-08, but only played in 11 games last season as he was bothered by an ankle injury that needed surgery. He finished up the season with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks and was released by the Oil Kings. . . . It turns out that Flette actually was going to attend camp with Prince George. But that was before the Cougars acquired G James Priestner from the Wheat Kings last week. . . . Flette actually was en route to Prince George when the trade was made.
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F Jordan Lane, who goes 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, is vying for a 20-year-old spot with the Prince George Cougars. He played last season with the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, picking up one assist and 68 penalty minutes in 43 games. He has been waived through the QMJHL. . . . The Cougars’ other 20-year-olds, at the moment, are F Tyler Halliday, D Dallas Jackson and F Alex Rodgers. Halliday is coming off offseason surgery on a hand.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed two more players – D Travis Brown and F Jordan Wyton. . . . Brown was a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft from the Winnipeg Monarchs. He had 16 points in 29 games. . . . From Lethbridge, Wyton was a ninth-round pick in the 2008 draft so is able to play regularly this season.
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F Stanislav Galiev, the first overall selection in the CHL’s 2009 import draft, is scheduled to leave Russia this week and head for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. He is expected to arrive in Saint John on Sunday. According to a release from the team: “The Sea Dogs must now await clearance from the International Ice Hockey Federation for Galiev to skate with the team. Galiev's transfer to the Canadian Hockey League has been challenged by Moscow Dynamo, a Russian club who own the highly touted NHL prospect's European rights.” . . . Last season, Galiev, 17, had 64 points in 60 games with the USHL’s Indiana Ice. He had three points in four games for Russia at the recently completed Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.
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F Jeremy Boyer, 19, has asked the Seattle Thunderbirds to trade him. Boyer, from Saskatoon, will turn 19 on Sept. 28. He is preparing for his fourth WHL season. Seattle selected him in the second round of the 2005 bantam draft. He had 56 points, including 21 goals, last season. . . . Alan Caldwell of Small Thoughts At Large has run the numbers and reports that, without Boyer, Seattle only has 85 returning goals on its roster, easily the lowest such figure in the WHL. According to Caldwell, the Lethbridge Hurricanes, at 115, are second on that list.
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D Steve Makway (Kootenay, Tri-City, 2000-03) has signed with the Central league’s Mississippi RiverKings. He spent two seasons there before splitting last season between the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and Las Vegas Wranglers. He played 18 games with Cincinnati and 47 with Las Vegas. He totaled 15 points and 185 penalty minutes in the regular season.
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F Troy Ofukany (Kelowna, Regina, Red Deer, 2004-08) has signed with the Central league’s Wichita Thunder. He had 36 points and 122 penalty minutes in 62 games last season, his first as a pro, with the Thunder. He was named the Thunder’s most improved player at season’s end.
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D Tyson Newell, 18, of the Prince Albert Raiders is recovering from a broken jaw. Newell, who is from Prince Albert, was struck in the face by a shot from D Ryan Button during Sunday’s intrasquad game. He has been checked over by a surgeon in Saskatoon who doesn’t think Newell will need surgery. Newell, who played for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos last season, isn’t likely to play for at least six weeks.
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D David Schulz (Swift Current, Spokane, Saskatoon, Kelowna, 2001-07) has re-signed with the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs. Last season, his second as a pro, he had 11 points and 65 penalty minutes in 58 games. He also got into eight games with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.
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F Evander Kane, who was taken by the Atlanta Thrashers with the fourth pick of the NHL’s 2009 draft, had two fights in a Vancouver Giants’ scrimmage on Tuesday. Kane, who had 96 points and 89 penalty minutes in 61 regular-season games last season, dropped the mitts with veterans Brendan Gallagher and James Henry. . . . D Ryan Funk, 20, had offseason shoulder surgery and hasn’t been cleared for contact. He was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades after last season.
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Sophomore F Cameron Abney, 18, wasn’t allowed to take part in Day 1 of the Everett Silvertips’ training camp on Wednesday. Abney, who had four points and 103 penalty minutes in 48 games last season, was late for Monday morning’s scrimmage, so new head coach Craig Hartsburg chose to make an example out of him. "I certainly wasn't looking to (send a message), but it's the way it is," Hartsburg told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald. "We want to do things right and hopefully it's a good learning lesson. They're all young players who have to understand there's a big responsibility to being a part of this program." . . . Abney, a third-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2009 draft, will be on the ice Thursday.
Blazers lose Bortnak with spleen injury
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Dalibor Bortnak’s season has been put on hold, perhaps for two months.
Bortnak, an 18-year-old Slovakian sophomore, remains in Royal Inland Hospital today, after suffering an injury to his spleen during the Kamloops Blazers’ intrasquad game Tuesday night at Interior Savings Centre.
According to a Blazers’ release, Bortnak “suffered a tear in his spleen.”
Barry Smith, the Blazers’ head coach, said Wednesday that Bortnak will be out for four to eight weeks.
“Hopefully, he gets through these next few days and they don’t have to do any operating,” Smith said, “and it heals up by itself.”
Smith said Bortnak will remain in hospital and under observation for “four or five days.”
Bortnak didn’t appear to be in any difficulty when he left the ice following a couple of innocent-looking bumps. However, Dr. Todd Ring and trainer Colin Robinson checked him out and chose to send him to Royal Inland Hospital where the injury was detected.
“He got off and I guess it’s instant that the blood comes up and it pools in your stomach,” Smith said. “You could look at a million different things . . . he could hit that way 100 more times and nothing might happen.”
Bortnak, who had 28 points in 68 games last season, wasn’t selected in the NHL’s 2009 draft but was to have attended the Edmonton Oilers’ rookie camp next month.
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Sophomore C Jake Trask (groin) sat out the intrasquad game but he skated yeserday and is expected to play this weekend when the Blazers open exhibition play.
Freshman F Matej Bene, another Slovakian, left the intrasquad game with sore groins and is day to day.
Kamloops is scheduled to meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday. The two teams are to complete the home-and-home series at Interior Savings Centre on Saturday, 7 p.m.
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The Blazers got one piece of business out of the way yesterday when they announced that fourth-year F Tyler Shattock will be the team captain this season.
Shattock, 19, is from Salmon Arm. He succeeds F Scott Wasden, who completed his WHL eligibility last season and is headed to UBC where he will play for the Thunderbirds.
Shattock had 69 points in 68 games last season, and has 109 points in his 176-game career. He was a fourth-round selection by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
D Zak Stebner, F C.J. Stretch and F Shayne Wiebe will serve as the Blazers’ alternate captains.
Stebner, who was acquired early last season from the Prince Albert Raiders, is from Saskatoon. The 19-year-old is about to start his third WHL season.
Stretch, 20, and Wiebe, 19, have been Blazers for their entire careers. Stretch, from Irvine, Calif., is beginning his fifth season here, while Wiebe, from Brandon, is starting season No. 3.
p p p
The Blazers trimmed five players from their roster after Tuesday night’s Blue/White game.
F Travis Blanleil, a seventh-round bantam draft pick this year; F Kyle Buffardi, a fourth-round selection in 2008; F Lyndon Martell, 16, who is from Prince George; F Brandon Morley, a third-round pick in 2009; and F Chase Souto, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft, all headed for home.
Blanleil is from Kelowna, Buffardi from Westminster, Calif., Morley from Burnaby, and Souto from Yorba Linda, Calif.
There now are 35 players on the roster, including the injured Bortnak.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
Daily News Sports Editor
Dalibor Bortnak’s season has been put on hold, perhaps for two months.
Bortnak, an 18-year-old Slovakian sophomore, remains in Royal Inland Hospital today, after suffering an injury to his spleen during the Kamloops Blazers’ intrasquad game Tuesday night at Interior Savings Centre.
According to a Blazers’ release, Bortnak “suffered a tear in his spleen.”
Barry Smith, the Blazers’ head coach, said Wednesday that Bortnak will be out for four to eight weeks.
“Hopefully, he gets through these next few days and they don’t have to do any operating,” Smith said, “and it heals up by itself.”
Smith said Bortnak will remain in hospital and under observation for “four or five days.”
Bortnak didn’t appear to be in any difficulty when he left the ice following a couple of innocent-looking bumps. However, Dr. Todd Ring and trainer Colin Robinson checked him out and chose to send him to Royal Inland Hospital where the injury was detected.
“He got off and I guess it’s instant that the blood comes up and it pools in your stomach,” Smith said. “You could look at a million different things . . . he could hit that way 100 more times and nothing might happen.”
Bortnak, who had 28 points in 68 games last season, wasn’t selected in the NHL’s 2009 draft but was to have attended the Edmonton Oilers’ rookie camp next month.
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Sophomore C Jake Trask (groin) sat out the intrasquad game but he skated yeserday and is expected to play this weekend when the Blazers open exhibition play.
Freshman F Matej Bene, another Slovakian, left the intrasquad game with sore groins and is day to day.
Kamloops is scheduled to meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday. The two teams are to complete the home-and-home series at Interior Savings Centre on Saturday, 7 p.m.
------
The Blazers got one piece of business out of the way yesterday when they announced that fourth-year F Tyler Shattock will be the team captain this season.
Shattock, 19, is from Salmon Arm. He succeeds F Scott Wasden, who completed his WHL eligibility last season and is headed to UBC where he will play for the Thunderbirds.
Shattock had 69 points in 68 games last season, and has 109 points in his 176-game career. He was a fourth-round selection by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
D Zak Stebner, F C.J. Stretch and F Shayne Wiebe will serve as the Blazers’ alternate captains.
Stebner, who was acquired early last season from the Prince Albert Raiders, is from Saskatoon. The 19-year-old is about to start his third WHL season.
Stretch, 20, and Wiebe, 19, have been Blazers for their entire careers. Stretch, from Irvine, Calif., is beginning his fifth season here, while Wiebe, from Brandon, is starting season No. 3.
p p p
The Blazers trimmed five players from their roster after Tuesday night’s Blue/White game.
F Travis Blanleil, a seventh-round bantam draft pick this year; F Kyle Buffardi, a fourth-round selection in 2008; F Lyndon Martell, 16, who is from Prince George; F Brandon Morley, a third-round pick in 2009; and F Chase Souto, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft, all headed for home.
Blanleil is from Kelowna, Buffardi from Westminster, Calif., Morley from Burnaby, and Souto from Yorba Linda, Calif.
There now are 35 players on the roster, including the injured Bortnak.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday . . .
The ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs have signed F Matt Robinson (Vancouver, 2004-05) to a one-year deal. Robinson joined the Chiefs in a trade from the Alaska Aces a year ago, but had his season cut short by a knee injury on Nov. 16. Just prior to being injured, he went through a stretch where he recorded eight points in five games.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors signed a couple of players Tuesday — D Matthew Franczyk, 16, and D Joel Edmundson, 16. . . . Franczyk, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, played for the midget AAA Winnipeg Monarchs, picking up 21 points in 34 games. . . . Edmundson was a sixth-round pick the 2008 draft. He had 22 points in 41 games with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings.
———
The Everett Silvertips have signed associate head coach Jay Varady to a contract extension through 2010-11. The 31-year-old Varady is entering his seventh season with the Silvertips. He has been with them for all of their WHL seasons. . . . Varady will serve as the video co-ordinator with the U.S. national junior team at the 2010 world junior championship in Saskatchewan.
———
Ever wonder what happened to former WHL goaltender David Lemanowicz. You can find out right here.
———
An interesting development in Edmonton on Tuesday where the NHL’s Oilers have added veteran coach Wayne Fleming to their coaching staff. He will work alongside head coach Pat Quinn and associate coach Tom Renney. That gives the Oilers three coaches with ties to Hockey Canada. Former WHL/NHL grinder Kelly Buchberger also is on the Oilers’ coaching staff. . . . Last season, you may recall, Fleming spent something of a tumultuous season with Avangard Omsk of the Continental Hockey League. He has NHL experience with the Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Islanders.
———
By the way, you may have read somewhere that Theo Fleury is working hard in an attempt to get back into the NHL. The rumour is that he will end up going to camp with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat.
———
Interesting times in Kelowna where G Mark Guggenberger, 20, hasn’t been able to skate with the Rockets due to a groin problem left over from last spring’s playoffs. If Guggenberger can’t get back on the ice — and you’ve got to wonder about an injury like that, if it is left over from last season — it would appear to leave sophomore Adam Brown, who will be 18 on Oct. 21, in the catbird’s seat when it comes to the starter’s role.
———
The Red Deer Rebels got some good news Tuesday. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, received medical clearance and skated for a few minutes in the morning. He reported to the Rebels on Sunday, but hadn’t been feeling well so underwent blood tests. . . . Czech D Jindra Barak also had been held out of camp while he underwent blood tests. Those, too, came back negative and he skated for a bit before the club’s morning workout.
———
F Matt Wray (Kamloops, 2007-08) is on his way to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. Wray, who turns 20 on Nov. 22, has been dealt to the Kodiaks by the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks in exchange for future considerations. Last season, he had eight points and 159 penalty minutes in 46 regular-season games.
———
F Corey Tyrell, 19, who left the Prince George Cougars late last season, has surfaced with the Everett Silvertips, whose camp opens Wednesday. Tyrell, who played 129 games with the Cougars, is the younger brother of former Prince George captain Dana Tyrell. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Silvertips have both of their 2009 CHL import draft picks — Finnish D Rasmus Rissanen and Czech D Radko Gudas — in camp. However, Rissanen is recovering from offseason surgery — he apparently had an upper-body injury — and will sit for at least two more weeks. . . . One player missing from camp is D Seth Jones, who was Everett’s second first-round pick, 11th overall, in the 2009 bantam draft. Jones, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, has yet to commit to the WHL.
———
F Levi Lind (Regina, 2004-08) has signed with the Southern Professional league’s Columbus Cottonmouths. Lind played last season with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires.
———
There is an interesting situation developing in Russia involving a potential No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL draft. The New York Times has the story right here.
———
Freshman Czech F Michal Poletin had two goals and sophomore F Jordan Weal drew three assists to lead Blue to a 6-4 victory over White in the Regina Pats’ annual intrasquad game in Lumsden, Sask. . . . Eight veterans sat out the game so a lot of younger players got chances to strut their stuff. . . . The Pats will hold one more practice in Lumsden before breaking camp and heading to Edmonton and this weekend’s Oil Kings tournament.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors signed a couple of players Tuesday — D Matthew Franczyk, 16, and D Joel Edmundson, 16. . . . Franczyk, a fifth-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, played for the midget AAA Winnipeg Monarchs, picking up 21 points in 34 games. . . . Edmundson was a sixth-round pick the 2008 draft. He had 22 points in 41 games with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings.
———
The Everett Silvertips have signed associate head coach Jay Varady to a contract extension through 2010-11. The 31-year-old Varady is entering his seventh season with the Silvertips. He has been with them for all of their WHL seasons. . . . Varady will serve as the video co-ordinator with the U.S. national junior team at the 2010 world junior championship in Saskatchewan.
———
Ever wonder what happened to former WHL goaltender David Lemanowicz. You can find out right here.
———
An interesting development in Edmonton on Tuesday where the NHL’s Oilers have added veteran coach Wayne Fleming to their coaching staff. He will work alongside head coach Pat Quinn and associate coach Tom Renney. That gives the Oilers three coaches with ties to Hockey Canada. Former WHL/NHL grinder Kelly Buchberger also is on the Oilers’ coaching staff. . . . Last season, you may recall, Fleming spent something of a tumultuous season with Avangard Omsk of the Continental Hockey League. He has NHL experience with the Calgary Flames, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes and New York Islanders.
———
By the way, you may have read somewhere that Theo Fleury is working hard in an attempt to get back into the NHL. The rumour is that he will end up going to camp with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat.
———
Interesting times in Kelowna where G Mark Guggenberger, 20, hasn’t been able to skate with the Rockets due to a groin problem left over from last spring’s playoffs. If Guggenberger can’t get back on the ice — and you’ve got to wonder about an injury like that, if it is left over from last season — it would appear to leave sophomore Adam Brown, who will be 18 on Oct. 21, in the catbird’s seat when it comes to the starter’s role.
———
The Red Deer Rebels got some good news Tuesday. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft, received medical clearance and skated for a few minutes in the morning. He reported to the Rebels on Sunday, but hadn’t been feeling well so underwent blood tests. . . . Czech D Jindra Barak also had been held out of camp while he underwent blood tests. Those, too, came back negative and he skated for a bit before the club’s morning workout.
———
F Matt Wray (Kamloops, 2007-08) is on his way to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. Wray, who turns 20 on Nov. 22, has been dealt to the Kodiaks by the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks in exchange for future considerations. Last season, he had eight points and 159 penalty minutes in 46 regular-season games.
———
F Corey Tyrell, 19, who left the Prince George Cougars late last season, has surfaced with the Everett Silvertips, whose camp opens Wednesday. Tyrell, who played 129 games with the Cougars, is the younger brother of former Prince George captain Dana Tyrell. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Silvertips have both of their 2009 CHL import draft picks — Finnish D Rasmus Rissanen and Czech D Radko Gudas — in camp. However, Rissanen is recovering from offseason surgery — he apparently had an upper-body injury — and will sit for at least two more weeks. . . . One player missing from camp is D Seth Jones, who was Everett’s second first-round pick, 11th overall, in the 2009 bantam draft. Jones, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, has yet to commit to the WHL.
———
F Levi Lind (Regina, 2004-08) has signed with the Southern Professional league’s Columbus Cottonmouths. Lind played last season with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires.
———
There is an interesting situation developing in Russia involving a potential No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL draft. The New York Times has the story right here.
———
Freshman Czech F Michal Poletin had two goals and sophomore F Jordan Weal drew three assists to lead Blue to a 6-4 victory over White in the Regina Pats’ annual intrasquad game in Lumsden, Sask. . . . Eight veterans sat out the game so a lot of younger players got chances to strut their stuff. . . . The Pats will hold one more practice in Lumsden before breaking camp and heading to Edmonton and this weekend’s Oil Kings tournament.
Lipon turns into big man with Blazers
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Nobody in the Kamloops Blazers’ training camp made a larger impression than JC Lipon, a 16-year-old forward from Regina.
When he arrived here last week, he wasn’t a blip on too many radar screens.
Today, Lipon — his given name is JC — has a signed WHL contract in his hip pocket and a smile on his face.
“It was a hard decision,” Lipon said before participating in the WHL club’s annual Blue/White game Tuesday night at Interior Savings Centre. “But after it was done it felt really good.
“I wasn’t a drafted player . . . I felt like the underdog but it all came together. I never thought I’d be signing but it happened. And now (playing in the WHL) is getting closer.”
Lipon will make his WHL debut Friday when the Blazers meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner. But he knows it’s too early to look too far into the future.
“If I have to go back to midget AAA for another season, that wouldn’t hurt,” he said. “But I’m signed. I can’t believe it. It’s a big jump.”
A big jump? Evel Knievel would be proud.
“He’s here to make the team,” Blazers general manager Craig Bonner acknowledged.
Which really is something when you consider that just two years ago, Lipon was 5-foot-1 and 95 pounds. When last season ended, he was 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds. Today, he remains 150 pounds, but he is 5-foot-10.
“I sprouted,” said Lipon, who skates like the wind.
“He was small and just wanted to play the game,” said Norm Johnston, a former head coach of the WHL’s Regina Pats who coached Lipon with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians last season. “He’s a great kid. He works hard and will get better.”
Lipon said it was Johnston who “took a chance on me as a first-year bantam.”
Johnston gave him a chance last season, too. With the Pat Canadians, Lipon had 13 points in 43 regular-season games and added three points in five playoff games.
Johnston praised Lipon’s work ethic and his desire to learn the game and get better. As Lipon said, “I’m not the smallest guy on the ice but I have to work hard.”
Ken Fox, the Blazers’ head scout, is based in Saskatchewan so is quite familiar with the midget AAA league there. He had been following Lipon’s progress and suggested to Bonner on more than one occasion last season that the Blazers place him on their protected list.
Which is what they did, just a few days before the 2009 bantam draft.
Matt Recchi, the Blazers’ director of player personnel, said he almost immediately heard from Todd Ripplinger, the Pats’ director of scouting, suggesting Kamloops had beaten Lipon’s hometown team to the punch. And so it was that Lipon ended up in the Blazers’ camp.
“It was exciting,” he said of moving up from rookie camp and joining the veteran players. “It was a little faster than rookie camp. I find it more fun. You have to make quicker decisions.”
He skates well enough to play at this level and knows he can speed up his decision-making process. What he has to work on, he said, is learning “how to protect myself in the corners.”
There is more to Lipon than hockey, too.
He plays golf; in fact, he was on his high school’s golf team in Regina.
He also is proficient on a wakeboard, enough so that he has sponsors and has competed on a tour that includes a number of North American cities on its schedule.
He understands, though, that the wakeboarding may be a thing of the past.
“I like hockey a lot better,” he said.
Especially with a signed WHL contract in his possession.
———
Team White erased an early 2-0 deficit and beat Team Blue 7-5 before 802 fans in what was a fightless but sometimes feisty camp-ending intrasquad game.
Brett Lyon, Giffen Nyren, Travis Blanleil, C.J. Stretch, Cole Grbavac, Dylan Willick and Jimmy Bubnick, the latter into an empty net, scored for White.
Brendan Ranford had a goal and three assists for Blue, which also got two goals Tyler Shattock and singles from Colin Smith and Chase Souto.
Team White was coached by Blazers head coach Barry Smith and assistant Scott Ferguson, while Team Blue had majority owner Tom Gaglardi and assistant coach Geoff Smith behind the bench. Local lawyer Frank Quinn, perhaps trying to add to his resume, joined Gaglardi on the bench for a third period in which White had a 5-2 edge in scoring.
Sophomore C Jake Trask (groin) was a Team White scratch, while Team Blue lost Slovakian forwards Matej Bene (groin) and Dalibor Bortnak (undisclosed) during the game.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers have signed Willick, who will be 17 on Oct. 19, to a WHL contract. The 5-foot-10, 183-pound Willick, who is from Prince George and played last season for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, was one of the training camp standouts. He had 47 points, including 15 goals, in 40 regular-season games with the Cougars. . . . After playing in Ladner on Friday, the Blazers and Giants will meet here Saturday at 7 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Daily News Sports Editor
Nobody in the Kamloops Blazers’ training camp made a larger impression than JC Lipon, a 16-year-old forward from Regina.
When he arrived here last week, he wasn’t a blip on too many radar screens.
Today, Lipon — his given name is JC — has a signed WHL contract in his hip pocket and a smile on his face.
“It was a hard decision,” Lipon said before participating in the WHL club’s annual Blue/White game Tuesday night at Interior Savings Centre. “But after it was done it felt really good.
“I wasn’t a drafted player . . . I felt like the underdog but it all came together. I never thought I’d be signing but it happened. And now (playing in the WHL) is getting closer.”
Lipon will make his WHL debut Friday when the Blazers meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner. But he knows it’s too early to look too far into the future.
“If I have to go back to midget AAA for another season, that wouldn’t hurt,” he said. “But I’m signed. I can’t believe it. It’s a big jump.”
A big jump? Evel Knievel would be proud.
“He’s here to make the team,” Blazers general manager Craig Bonner acknowledged.
Which really is something when you consider that just two years ago, Lipon was 5-foot-1 and 95 pounds. When last season ended, he was 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds. Today, he remains 150 pounds, but he is 5-foot-10.
“I sprouted,” said Lipon, who skates like the wind.
“He was small and just wanted to play the game,” said Norm Johnston, a former head coach of the WHL’s Regina Pats who coached Lipon with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians last season. “He’s a great kid. He works hard and will get better.”
Lipon said it was Johnston who “took a chance on me as a first-year bantam.”
Johnston gave him a chance last season, too. With the Pat Canadians, Lipon had 13 points in 43 regular-season games and added three points in five playoff games.
Johnston praised Lipon’s work ethic and his desire to learn the game and get better. As Lipon said, “I’m not the smallest guy on the ice but I have to work hard.”
Ken Fox, the Blazers’ head scout, is based in Saskatchewan so is quite familiar with the midget AAA league there. He had been following Lipon’s progress and suggested to Bonner on more than one occasion last season that the Blazers place him on their protected list.
Which is what they did, just a few days before the 2009 bantam draft.
Matt Recchi, the Blazers’ director of player personnel, said he almost immediately heard from Todd Ripplinger, the Pats’ director of scouting, suggesting Kamloops had beaten Lipon’s hometown team to the punch. And so it was that Lipon ended up in the Blazers’ camp.
“It was exciting,” he said of moving up from rookie camp and joining the veteran players. “It was a little faster than rookie camp. I find it more fun. You have to make quicker decisions.”
He skates well enough to play at this level and knows he can speed up his decision-making process. What he has to work on, he said, is learning “how to protect myself in the corners.”
There is more to Lipon than hockey, too.
He plays golf; in fact, he was on his high school’s golf team in Regina.
He also is proficient on a wakeboard, enough so that he has sponsors and has competed on a tour that includes a number of North American cities on its schedule.
He understands, though, that the wakeboarding may be a thing of the past.
“I like hockey a lot better,” he said.
Especially with a signed WHL contract in his possession.
———
Team White erased an early 2-0 deficit and beat Team Blue 7-5 before 802 fans in what was a fightless but sometimes feisty camp-ending intrasquad game.
Brett Lyon, Giffen Nyren, Travis Blanleil, C.J. Stretch, Cole Grbavac, Dylan Willick and Jimmy Bubnick, the latter into an empty net, scored for White.
Brendan Ranford had a goal and three assists for Blue, which also got two goals Tyler Shattock and singles from Colin Smith and Chase Souto.
Team White was coached by Blazers head coach Barry Smith and assistant Scott Ferguson, while Team Blue had majority owner Tom Gaglardi and assistant coach Geoff Smith behind the bench. Local lawyer Frank Quinn, perhaps trying to add to his resume, joined Gaglardi on the bench for a third period in which White had a 5-2 edge in scoring.
Sophomore C Jake Trask (groin) was a Team White scratch, while Team Blue lost Slovakian forwards Matej Bene (groin) and Dalibor Bortnak (undisclosed) during the game.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers have signed Willick, who will be 17 on Oct. 19, to a WHL contract. The 5-foot-10, 183-pound Willick, who is from Prince George and played last season for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, was one of the training camp standouts. He had 47 points, including 15 goals, in 40 regular-season games with the Cougars. . . . After playing in Ladner on Friday, the Blazers and Giants will meet here Saturday at 7 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monday . . .
The Portland Winterhawks have launched their new website. According to a press release, “The new winterhawks.com will include regular video features, constantly updated news and content, expanded player and team management pages and easy access to ticket information, statistics, the team schedule and much more.” . . . Has any major junior team ever done more in less time in an attempt to restore its tattered image?
———
A documentary — Kings of The Road — about the Portland Buckaroos of the old Western Hockey League is to have its premiere on Wednesday. The Oregonian has a nifty story right here.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Andrew Johnson, a second-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft out of the bantam AA Saskatoon Stallions. Johnson, who will turn 15 on Oct. 15, had 78 points in 42 games. . . . The Warriors also signed D Shayne Gwinner, who also was a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 21 points in 32 regular-season games with the bantam AAA Airdrie Xtreme. . . . The ice plant in the Crushed Can acted up Monday, resulting in the Warriors having to cancel a goaltending session. The skaters were involved in fitness testing so didn’t miss any ice time.
———
Oh, Duda Day! LW Jason Duda (Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, 1992-95) has signed on for a 14th season with the Central league’s Wichita Thunder. According to a Thunder press release, Duda is “coming off a season in which he broke every offensive career record in Thunder hockey history. . . . Duda has scored more points than games played in 10 of 13 seasons. He ranks third in Central Hockey League history with 337 goals and 536 assists, fourth with 873 points and second with 740 games. Three points this season will put him in third place for points.” . . . Bothered by a wonky back for much of last season, Duda had 55 points in 58 games.
———
LW Jason Gardiner (hyper-extended knee) of the Regina Pats is likely to sit for up to 10 days. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that former Pats star Mike Sillinger, should he retire as an NHL player, will join the WHL team in a “yet-to-be defined consultant/coaching role.” . . . The Pats have signed F Chandler Stephenson and F Taylor Balog, their first two picks in the 2009 bantam draft. They were linemates last summer with the bantam AAA Saskatoon Huskies. Balog had 76 points in 26 games with the bantam AA Weyburn Wings last season, while Stephenson had 110 points in 48 games with the bantam AAA Saskatoon Generals. . . . Stephenson, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, is ticketed for the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts, while Balog, who went 28th overall, will play for the same league’s Tisdale Trojans.
———
When the Spokane Chiefs open camp on Thursday at the Spokane Arena, they expect to have 70 players on hand. But that won’t include D Jared Cowen, D Jared Spurgeon or F Ryan Letts. . . . Cowen continues to rehab a knee after undergoing surgery in February. He has been skating, but didn’t participate in the Ottawa Senators’ prospects camp or the Canadian national junior team’s evaluation camp. Selected by Ottawa with the ninth pick of the NHL’s 2009 draft, he won’t play until getting medical clearance from the Senators. . . . Spurgeon, 20, underwent offseason shoulder surgery. He will be at camp but won’t play in the preseason. . . . Letts, 20, is out indefinitely with an Achilles tendon injury that he suffered in an offseason workout.
———
In Red Deer, the Rebels were waiting late Monday for results of blood tests on F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He arrived in Red Deer on Sunday but hasn’t been feeling well and has yet to skate. . . . Red Deer D Matt Pufahl (shoulder) is to see a doctor Tuesday. . . . The Rebels are without sophomore F Steve Oursov, who hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in a fight with F Charles Inglis of the Saskatoon Blades in February. Oursov remains at home in Chilliwack, B.C.
———
Former WHL D Joel Dyck (Kamloops, Regina, Swift Current, Seattle, 1987-92) apparently has ended his playing career in Japan and returned to the Lethbridge area where he will help out as an assistant coach with the midget AAA Lethbridge Titans.
———
The Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional league have signed G Bryan Bridges, 23, who played in Kootenay and Seattle (2001-05) and put up 21 career WHL shutouts.
———
Chris Littman, over at The Sporting Blog, was quite enthralled with the most-recent escapades of Ernie (Punch) McLean. Littman ended a brief piece with this: “Let this be a reminder the next time one of those ‘which athletes are the toughest?’ debates arises. And also, never doubt the survival instincts of a man who is part-time hockey coach, part-time gold prospector and full-time badass.” . . . And that about sums up McLean, doesn’t it?
———
A documentary — Kings of The Road — about the Portland Buckaroos of the old Western Hockey League is to have its premiere on Wednesday. The Oregonian has a nifty story right here.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Andrew Johnson, a second-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft out of the bantam AA Saskatoon Stallions. Johnson, who will turn 15 on Oct. 15, had 78 points in 42 games. . . . The Warriors also signed D Shayne Gwinner, who also was a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 21 points in 32 regular-season games with the bantam AAA Airdrie Xtreme. . . . The ice plant in the Crushed Can acted up Monday, resulting in the Warriors having to cancel a goaltending session. The skaters were involved in fitness testing so didn’t miss any ice time.
———
Oh, Duda Day! LW Jason Duda (Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, 1992-95) has signed on for a 14th season with the Central league’s Wichita Thunder. According to a Thunder press release, Duda is “coming off a season in which he broke every offensive career record in Thunder hockey history. . . . Duda has scored more points than games played in 10 of 13 seasons. He ranks third in Central Hockey League history with 337 goals and 536 assists, fourth with 873 points and second with 740 games. Three points this season will put him in third place for points.” . . . Bothered by a wonky back for much of last season, Duda had 55 points in 58 games.
———
LW Jason Gardiner (hyper-extended knee) of the Regina Pats is likely to sit for up to 10 days. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that former Pats star Mike Sillinger, should he retire as an NHL player, will join the WHL team in a “yet-to-be defined consultant/coaching role.” . . . The Pats have signed F Chandler Stephenson and F Taylor Balog, their first two picks in the 2009 bantam draft. They were linemates last summer with the bantam AAA Saskatoon Huskies. Balog had 76 points in 26 games with the bantam AA Weyburn Wings last season, while Stephenson had 110 points in 48 games with the bantam AAA Saskatoon Generals. . . . Stephenson, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, is ticketed for the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts, while Balog, who went 28th overall, will play for the same league’s Tisdale Trojans.
———
When the Spokane Chiefs open camp on Thursday at the Spokane Arena, they expect to have 70 players on hand. But that won’t include D Jared Cowen, D Jared Spurgeon or F Ryan Letts. . . . Cowen continues to rehab a knee after undergoing surgery in February. He has been skating, but didn’t participate in the Ottawa Senators’ prospects camp or the Canadian national junior team’s evaluation camp. Selected by Ottawa with the ninth pick of the NHL’s 2009 draft, he won’t play until getting medical clearance from the Senators. . . . Spurgeon, 20, underwent offseason shoulder surgery. He will be at camp but won’t play in the preseason. . . . Letts, 20, is out indefinitely with an Achilles tendon injury that he suffered in an offseason workout.
———
In Red Deer, the Rebels were waiting late Monday for results of blood tests on F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He arrived in Red Deer on Sunday but hasn’t been feeling well and has yet to skate. . . . Red Deer D Matt Pufahl (shoulder) is to see a doctor Tuesday. . . . The Rebels are without sophomore F Steve Oursov, who hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in a fight with F Charles Inglis of the Saskatoon Blades in February. Oursov remains at home in Chilliwack, B.C.
———
Former WHL D Joel Dyck (Kamloops, Regina, Swift Current, Seattle, 1987-92) apparently has ended his playing career in Japan and returned to the Lethbridge area where he will help out as an assistant coach with the midget AAA Lethbridge Titans.
———
The Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional league have signed G Bryan Bridges, 23, who played in Kootenay and Seattle (2001-05) and put up 21 career WHL shutouts.
———
Chris Littman, over at The Sporting Blog, was quite enthralled with the most-recent escapades of Ernie (Punch) McLean. Littman ended a brief piece with this: “Let this be a reminder the next time one of those ‘which athletes are the toughest?’ debates arises. And also, never doubt the survival instincts of a man who is part-time hockey coach, part-time gold prospector and full-time badass.” . . . And that about sums up McLean, doesn’t it?
Bortnak helping Bene adjust
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Dalibor Bortnak remembers what it was like when he arrived in Kamloops a year ago.
For starters, the Kamloops Blazers’ sophomore Slovakian forward said Monday, there was the time change.
“Nine hours difference,” he said. “That was a big change.”
And then there was the language — that, he said, was the “biggest thing” — and coming into an entirely new situation.
“I wasn’t really scared because when I was 15 I went to the Czech Republic to play,” the 6-foot-4, 191-pound Bortnak said. “I had been two years away from home (when I arrived in Kamloops) so it wasn’t really hard for me.
“There was the language and new people and different style of hockey. Food was different but I really liked it.”
It is understandable, then, why Bortnak took some time adjusting and finding a level of consistency. He finished the season with 28 points, eight of them goals, in 68 games.
With all that behind him, the Blazers are hoping that Bortnak’s experiences will help make the transition at least a bit easier for Slovakian forward Matej Bene, 17, who is the WHL club’s newest import player.
Bortnak said he knew “maybe a little more” of our language than does the 6-foot-0, 166-pound Bene which is why the former’s services are needed for a chat with the latter.
Matej, who represented his country in the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament and then left for Kamloops with Bortnak, said he was “pretty nervous” about joining the Blazers.
“I didn’t know what was here,” he said, adding that, unlike Bortnak, this is the first time he has left home to play hockey.
Asked if he was excited to be here, Bene didn’t need an interpreter. He quickly smiled and nodded his head.
He said he spent the summer working hard in preparation for the Hlinka tournament and for joining the Blazers. That meant a lot of hard workouts that involved “running and skating.”
And when he got on the ice as the Blazers opened camp Friday, Bene found the biggest differences to be the “toughness and speed.”
There was, he said, “lots of contact . . . more than at home.”
So will he be able to play at this level?
“No problem,” he said, flashing another smile.
While Bortnak will serve as Bene’s translator, at least in the short term, the two aren’t billeted together. Bortnak spent last season with veteran winger Shayne Wiebe and this season is with Wiebe and centre C.J. Stretch.
“He really helped me,” Bortnak said of Wiebe. “He drove me everywhere I needed to go and showed me everything.”
Bene, meanwhile, is living with Tyler Shattock in the home of Linda and Tom Havers.
“He’s getting better. His English is coming along pretty well,” said Shattock who, with that impish grin of his, added, “I’m teaching him all the important words.”
Bene and Shattock both were on Team Orange for Sunday and Monday scrimmages. In fact, the two played together a bit on Sunday.
“I thought we played pretty well together,” Shattock said. “He’s a skilled guy. He should score some goals for us.”
If that happens, Bene won’t need an interpreter to explain the noise coming from the crowd.
JUST NOTES: F J.C. Lipon, a 16-year-old who played last season with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, signed a WHL contract Monday. He is an undrafted player who was added to the Blazers’ list in April. . . . F Dylan Willick scored three goals in one of the Monday scrimmages. He is a list player from Prince George who is showing some scoring touch. . . . The evening's late scrimmage include a titanic heavyweight battle between sophomore D Brandon Underwood and freshman D Kiefer McNaughton, a 16-year-old from North Vancouver who was the 88th pick in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Training camp wraps up with the Blue/White game tonight at the Interior Savings Centre. Game time is 7 o’clock. . . . The roster was trimmed to 40 players Monday night. . . . D Brady Gaudet, the club’s first pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will miss four weeks with a knee injury that turned out to be more significant than first thought. He will play this season with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans. . . . G Josh Thorimbert, a third-round pick in the 2007 draft, also headed for home. Thorimbert, who is from Saskatoon, suffered a concussion. He likely will play in the SJHL this season. . . . The Blazers are to open their exhibition schedule Friday against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner. The teams are to play here Saturday at 7 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Daily News Sports Editor
Dalibor Bortnak remembers what it was like when he arrived in Kamloops a year ago.
For starters, the Kamloops Blazers’ sophomore Slovakian forward said Monday, there was the time change.
“Nine hours difference,” he said. “That was a big change.”
And then there was the language — that, he said, was the “biggest thing” — and coming into an entirely new situation.
“I wasn’t really scared because when I was 15 I went to the Czech Republic to play,” the 6-foot-4, 191-pound Bortnak said. “I had been two years away from home (when I arrived in Kamloops) so it wasn’t really hard for me.
“There was the language and new people and different style of hockey. Food was different but I really liked it.”
It is understandable, then, why Bortnak took some time adjusting and finding a level of consistency. He finished the season with 28 points, eight of them goals, in 68 games.
With all that behind him, the Blazers are hoping that Bortnak’s experiences will help make the transition at least a bit easier for Slovakian forward Matej Bene, 17, who is the WHL club’s newest import player.
Bortnak said he knew “maybe a little more” of our language than does the 6-foot-0, 166-pound Bene which is why the former’s services are needed for a chat with the latter.
Matej, who represented his country in the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament and then left for Kamloops with Bortnak, said he was “pretty nervous” about joining the Blazers.
“I didn’t know what was here,” he said, adding that, unlike Bortnak, this is the first time he has left home to play hockey.
Asked if he was excited to be here, Bene didn’t need an interpreter. He quickly smiled and nodded his head.
He said he spent the summer working hard in preparation for the Hlinka tournament and for joining the Blazers. That meant a lot of hard workouts that involved “running and skating.”
And when he got on the ice as the Blazers opened camp Friday, Bene found the biggest differences to be the “toughness and speed.”
There was, he said, “lots of contact . . . more than at home.”
So will he be able to play at this level?
“No problem,” he said, flashing another smile.
While Bortnak will serve as Bene’s translator, at least in the short term, the two aren’t billeted together. Bortnak spent last season with veteran winger Shayne Wiebe and this season is with Wiebe and centre C.J. Stretch.
“He really helped me,” Bortnak said of Wiebe. “He drove me everywhere I needed to go and showed me everything.”
Bene, meanwhile, is living with Tyler Shattock in the home of Linda and Tom Havers.
“He’s getting better. His English is coming along pretty well,” said Shattock who, with that impish grin of his, added, “I’m teaching him all the important words.”
Bene and Shattock both were on Team Orange for Sunday and Monday scrimmages. In fact, the two played together a bit on Sunday.
“I thought we played pretty well together,” Shattock said. “He’s a skilled guy. He should score some goals for us.”
If that happens, Bene won’t need an interpreter to explain the noise coming from the crowd.
JUST NOTES: F J.C. Lipon, a 16-year-old who played last season with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, signed a WHL contract Monday. He is an undrafted player who was added to the Blazers’ list in April. . . . F Dylan Willick scored three goals in one of the Monday scrimmages. He is a list player from Prince George who is showing some scoring touch. . . . The evening's late scrimmage include a titanic heavyweight battle between sophomore D Brandon Underwood and freshman D Kiefer McNaughton, a 16-year-old from North Vancouver who was the 88th pick in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Training camp wraps up with the Blue/White game tonight at the Interior Savings Centre. Game time is 7 o’clock. . . . The roster was trimmed to 40 players Monday night. . . . D Brady Gaudet, the club’s first pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will miss four weeks with a knee injury that turned out to be more significant than first thought. He will play this season with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans. . . . G Josh Thorimbert, a third-round pick in the 2007 draft, also headed for home. Thorimbert, who is from Saskatoon, suffered a concussion. He likely will play in the SJHL this season. . . . The Blazers are to open their exhibition schedule Friday against the Vancouver Giants in Ladner. The teams are to play here Saturday at 7 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Sunday, August 23, 2009
More from Sunday . . .
The Chilliwack Bruins, unable to trade three veterans, released them as training camp wrapped up Sunday. The Bruins also signed six players to WHL contracts.
D James Bettauer, 18, F Matt Ius, 19, and F Scott MacDonald, 18, were made available for trade and then released.
“As a group, we felt we needed to move in a different direction,” GM/head coach Marc Habscheid said in a press release. “By making this decision now, it gives each of them some time to decide what they want to do next.”
Bettauer, from Burnaby, B.C., had seven points and 21 penalty minutes in 68 games last season. MacDonald, from Surrey, B.C., had 12 points in 63 games.
Ius, from Pitt Meadows, B.C., began his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips and also made a stop last season with the Swift Current Broncos before joining the Bruins. He had six points in 28 games with Chilliwack.
Meanwhile, the Bruins signed F Travis Belhorad, F Matt Bissett, D Brett Cote, F Zane Jones, F Brandon Magee and D Turner Popoff.
Belhorad, a Coloradoan, is the first American player to sign with the Bruins, who are into their fourth WHL season. He was signed as a free agent.
Bissett, from Pitt Meadows, was the 143rd selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 112 points, including 63 goals, in 64 games with the bantam AAA Ridge Meadows Rustlers last season.
Cote, from Oakbank, Man., was taken 48th overall in the 2009 bantam draft. A 6-foot-0, 200-pounder, he played with the bantam AAA Springfield Ice Hawks.
Jones, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, had 24 points in 29 games with the Red Deer Rebels white team, a bantam AAA squad.
Magee was acquired with a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He totaled 74 points, including 37 goals, in 33 games with the bantam AAA South Side Athletic Club team in Edmonton, then added 19 points in 11 playoff games.
Popoff, a 2008 seventh-round pick, had 36 points and 72 penalty minutes in 64 games with the bantam AAA Richmond, B.C., Blues.
(Thanks to Small Thoughts at Large for the stats.)
D James Bettauer, 18, F Matt Ius, 19, and F Scott MacDonald, 18, were made available for trade and then released.
“As a group, we felt we needed to move in a different direction,” GM/head coach Marc Habscheid said in a press release. “By making this decision now, it gives each of them some time to decide what they want to do next.”
Bettauer, from Burnaby, B.C., had seven points and 21 penalty minutes in 68 games last season. MacDonald, from Surrey, B.C., had 12 points in 63 games.
Ius, from Pitt Meadows, B.C., began his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips and also made a stop last season with the Swift Current Broncos before joining the Bruins. He had six points in 28 games with Chilliwack.
Meanwhile, the Bruins signed F Travis Belhorad, F Matt Bissett, D Brett Cote, F Zane Jones, F Brandon Magee and D Turner Popoff.
Belhorad, a Coloradoan, is the first American player to sign with the Bruins, who are into their fourth WHL season. He was signed as a free agent.
Bissett, from Pitt Meadows, was the 143rd selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He had 112 points, including 63 goals, in 64 games with the bantam AAA Ridge Meadows Rustlers last season.
Cote, from Oakbank, Man., was taken 48th overall in the 2009 bantam draft. A 6-foot-0, 200-pounder, he played with the bantam AAA Springfield Ice Hawks.
Jones, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, had 24 points in 29 games with the Red Deer Rebels white team, a bantam AAA squad.
Magee was acquired with a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He totaled 74 points, including 37 goals, in 33 games with the bantam AAA South Side Athletic Club team in Edmonton, then added 19 points in 11 playoff games.
Popoff, a 2008 seventh-round pick, had 36 points and 72 penalty minutes in 64 games with the bantam AAA Richmond, B.C., Blues.
(Thanks to Small Thoughts at Large for the stats.)
For your reading enjoyment . . .
Many of the greatest sports writers — from Red Smith to Jim Coleman to Jim Murray — pounded out some of their best work when they were around the sport of boxing. Here’s a gem from Murray that landed in my email, courtesy of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation (www.jimmurrayfoundation.org).
Enjoy!
———
Tuesday, February 14, 1961, SPORTS
Copyright 1961/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
Quitting Takes Guts
My favorite fighter — for the time being, at least — is a cool cat with the uptown name of Norman Letcher. Probably you read about him in the paper. Norman retired from the prize ring the other night and showed a real flair for it. Norman didn't call a press conference or just make a promise to his wife. Norman quit in the middle of a fight.
There were still nearly five rounds to go and Norman's opponent, Zora Folley, had not quite warmed up yet — a factor Norman clearly took into consideration when he decided to break it up. His explanation was a marvel of candor. "I guess I don't have the temperament to be a fighter. You might say, no guts."
In England Quitting Is Cricket
Now, in olde England, such action is considered quite manly and proper. When things go badly, why, just chuck it, old boy. But it took a good deal of gameness for Norman to do this in Phoenix, the heart of the Old West, where Boot Hill is full of people who wouldn't admit they were over-matched.
What Norman was doing, in a sense, was speaking for almost all prize fighters everywhere. I don't know whether you know it or not but prize fighters as a class are afflicted with more self-doubts than a guy coming home late with lipstick on the collar.
This should be reassuring to the rest of us who flinch from asking the guy next door to turn down his TV for fear he will bust us in the mouth. My hunch the reason fight fans are so savage ("Don't lose him, Joe! Get the other eye!") is because they resent a man with nerve enough to pick a fight a month before and then show up for it. Such a fellow clearly should be taught a lesson.
Managers Poor Judge of Money
It is because of this feeling of inferiority that a fighter needs a manager — not to mind his money because managers do this so badly a fighter that doesn't owe the government a million is a nobody.
The reason I know all this is because it was once explained to me by a manager who had been a fighter himself and knew the problem from both angles. This was James (Lefty) Remini, a tough little New York welter who had been his own manager until one day he could no longer talk himself into the ring. Lefty, the manager, was confident but Lefty, the fighter, knew better. He turned to talking others in.
Mauriello Talked Into Facing Louis
Lefty's finest hour in the ring as a manager20came on the night he persuaded his most famous fighter — a Mulberry Street rowdy named Tami Mauriello - to get in the ring with Joe Louis. Louis, in his prime, inspired more dread in the fight game than an epidemic of typhoid.
The mere mention of his name was enough to set an opponent's fever soaring and teeth chattering. One opponent came down with such high blood pressure the afternoon of a Louis fight, the doctors would have put him in the hospital if they didn't know he would recover as soon as he got knocked out — which he did.
Lefty's problem that night Mauriello was to fight Louis was basically patriotic. He suddenly remembered as it neared ring time that they played "The Star Spangled Banner" AFTER the fighters climbed in the ring. Now, Lefty loved his country as much as the next fight manager but it occurred to him that if his dreadnought had to stand in the ring and look at Louis all through the anthem he would need smelling salts before they got to the rocket's red glare. So, he hot-footed it over to Promoter Mike Jacobs with the unusual but urgent request they play the anthem BEFORE the fighters got in the ring.
Mauriello lasted only a round anyway. When it came to fighting Joe Louis, he had one fatal flaw: He had one leg shorter than the other and he couldn't go backward. At least, not fast. Against Louis, this was worse than having only one arm.
But this was typical of the moves a manager has to make to keep confidence from oozing out of his tiger. "Ya see," Lefty explained to me later, "that's the way fighters are. They're always figuring to get heat. Ya take like Tami. He fights the heavyweight champeen of the world one month and the next month I match him with this bum. Only da bum looks fierce, see? He's got tattoos and teeth missing and he's a fright."
Tami Frets
"Tami looks worried when he gets a look at him. Ya kin see he's only hoping it's human. 'Lefty,' he asks me. 'Ya sure ya know wot yo're doin'?' You know wot? He makes da bum loop! Da guy jes looks tough. "Tami," I tole him. "Last month ya fight a champeen. Ya'll make dis bum loop!"
I don't know where Norman Letcher's manager failed him. Folley is no Louis, but it must have taken some artfulness just to get Norman in the ring. Actually, Norman hadn't taken much of a beating when he called the armistice. But he had seen enough of Folley to know he would.
Cut Up
It reminds me of the boy who was fighting the famous Tipton Slasher once and was taking a fearsome beating. The Slasher earned his nickname because he never knocked his man senseless, just eviscerated him.
The other boy contemplated this for a few rounds and then sank suddenly to the floor. The referee knew he wasn't badly hurt, just discouraged, but he started to count, thinking the fighter would get up. When he didn't the ref stopped the count.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "Aren't you going to fight any more?" The boy looked up. "Yessir," he answered. "But not tonight."
*Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times
Enjoy!
———
Tuesday, February 14, 1961, SPORTS
Copyright 1961/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
Quitting Takes Guts
My favorite fighter — for the time being, at least — is a cool cat with the uptown name of Norman Letcher. Probably you read about him in the paper. Norman retired from the prize ring the other night and showed a real flair for it. Norman didn't call a press conference or just make a promise to his wife. Norman quit in the middle of a fight.
There were still nearly five rounds to go and Norman's opponent, Zora Folley, had not quite warmed up yet — a factor Norman clearly took into consideration when he decided to break it up. His explanation was a marvel of candor. "I guess I don't have the temperament to be a fighter. You might say, no guts."
In England Quitting Is Cricket
Now, in olde England, such action is considered quite manly and proper. When things go badly, why, just chuck it, old boy. But it took a good deal of gameness for Norman to do this in Phoenix, the heart of the Old West, where Boot Hill is full of people who wouldn't admit they were over-matched.
What Norman was doing, in a sense, was speaking for almost all prize fighters everywhere. I don't know whether you know it or not but prize fighters as a class are afflicted with more self-doubts than a guy coming home late with lipstick on the collar.
This should be reassuring to the rest of us who flinch from asking the guy next door to turn down his TV for fear he will bust us in the mouth. My hunch the reason fight fans are so savage ("Don't lose him, Joe! Get the other eye!") is because they resent a man with nerve enough to pick a fight a month before and then show up for it. Such a fellow clearly should be taught a lesson.
Managers Poor Judge of Money
It is because of this feeling of inferiority that a fighter needs a manager — not to mind his money because managers do this so badly a fighter that doesn't owe the government a million is a nobody.
The reason I know all this is because it was once explained to me by a manager who had been a fighter himself and knew the problem from both angles. This was James (Lefty) Remini, a tough little New York welter who had been his own manager until one day he could no longer talk himself into the ring. Lefty, the manager, was confident but Lefty, the fighter, knew better. He turned to talking others in.
Mauriello Talked Into Facing Louis
Lefty's finest hour in the ring as a manager20came on the night he persuaded his most famous fighter — a Mulberry Street rowdy named Tami Mauriello - to get in the ring with Joe Louis. Louis, in his prime, inspired more dread in the fight game than an epidemic of typhoid.
The mere mention of his name was enough to set an opponent's fever soaring and teeth chattering. One opponent came down with such high blood pressure the afternoon of a Louis fight, the doctors would have put him in the hospital if they didn't know he would recover as soon as he got knocked out — which he did.
Lefty's problem that night Mauriello was to fight Louis was basically patriotic. He suddenly remembered as it neared ring time that they played "The Star Spangled Banner" AFTER the fighters climbed in the ring. Now, Lefty loved his country as much as the next fight manager but it occurred to him that if his dreadnought had to stand in the ring and look at Louis all through the anthem he would need smelling salts before they got to the rocket's red glare. So, he hot-footed it over to Promoter Mike Jacobs with the unusual but urgent request they play the anthem BEFORE the fighters got in the ring.
Mauriello lasted only a round anyway. When it came to fighting Joe Louis, he had one fatal flaw: He had one leg shorter than the other and he couldn't go backward. At least, not fast. Against Louis, this was worse than having only one arm.
But this was typical of the moves a manager has to make to keep confidence from oozing out of his tiger. "Ya see," Lefty explained to me later, "that's the way fighters are. They're always figuring to get heat. Ya take like Tami. He fights the heavyweight champeen of the world one month and the next month I match him with this bum. Only da bum looks fierce, see? He's got tattoos and teeth missing and he's a fright."
Tami Frets
"Tami looks worried when he gets a look at him. Ya kin see he's only hoping it's human. 'Lefty,' he asks me. 'Ya sure ya know wot yo're doin'?' You know wot? He makes da bum loop! Da guy jes looks tough. "Tami," I tole him. "Last month ya fight a champeen. Ya'll make dis bum loop!"
I don't know where Norman Letcher's manager failed him. Folley is no Louis, but it must have taken some artfulness just to get Norman in the ring. Actually, Norman hadn't taken much of a beating when he called the armistice. But he had seen enough of Folley to know he would.
Cut Up
It reminds me of the boy who was fighting the famous Tipton Slasher once and was taking a fearsome beating. The Slasher earned his nickname because he never knocked his man senseless, just eviscerated him.
The other boy contemplated this for a few rounds and then sank suddenly to the floor. The referee knew he wasn't badly hurt, just discouraged, but he started to count, thinking the fighter would get up. When he didn't the ref stopped the count.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "Aren't you going to fight any more?" The boy looked up. "Yessir," he answered. "But not tonight."
*Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times
Mr. Smith comes to Kamloops
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Sixteen months ago, Colin Smith was the future.
Today, the future is just about here.
“I’ve been pretty anxious to get it all started,” said Smith, who has had a terrific start to the Kamloops Blazers’ training camp. “Now it’s unfolding and it’s a very exciting time.”
Smith, 16, was the Blazers’ first selection, seventh overall, in the WHL’s 2008 bantam draft. A scoring phenom in Edmonton minor hockey, he put up 55 points, including 23 goals, in 34 regular-season games with the midget AAA CAC Canadians last season. He added seven points in five playoff games and also had seven points in four games at the Mac’s tournament in Calgary.
Smith also got into 12 games with the Blazers, picking up four assists in eight regular-season games and a goal in four playoff games.
“Probably the speed,” he said Sunday, when asked about the biggest adjustment he had to make when he reached the WHL. “You always have to move your feet. Plays develop a lot quicker and you have to adapt to that. You have to simplify your game to make things happen. You have to get rid of (the puck) quicker . . .”
That shouldn’t be a problem for Smith, whose feet are as quick as those belonging to an NBA point guard. He has shown his quickness early in camp, too, especially Saturday when he scored four times in two scrimmages.
“The first game (on Friday) was OK,” Smith said. “I think I picked it up from there. It’s definitely going to get a lot more tense with the older guys, so it’s going to be fun.”
The Blazers cut their camp roster from 94 to 60 prior to Sunday’s workouts so, yes, things are starting to get tense, especially among the 19 veterans who realize that jobs are on the line.
And Smith was doing what he does best in a scrimmage last night, making an especially nice play and pass that paid off in a goal by Dylan Willick, a prospect out of Prince George.
Smith said he went into this camp carrying only the pressure he has put on himself.
“That was two years ago,” he said of being a first-round draft pick. “A lot has happened since then. The draft doesn’t matter any more. I expect myself to do well and I want to do well, so that adds a little pressure to it.”
Like most players in WHL training camps, Smith said he spent the summer “working out.” He also attended a couple of Team Pacific camps and has been shortlisted for the team that will compete at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in Timmins, Ont., Dec. 28 to Jan. 4.
Smith is a bit bigger now than he was last season and said he feels stronger. He was 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds in the spring and now is 5-foot-10 and 157 pounds.
“It’s hard for my body type to put on weight,” said Smith, who is anything but rawboned. “But I feel a lot stronger than I did coming in last season.”
The Blazers also are looking for some offence from Smith, who said he just wants to contribute.
“I just want to get better on a daily basis and try to do the best that I can to help the team,” he said. “That would be great if I can contribute and fulfil my role, whatever that is.”
While it’s early, Smith, who is going into Grade 11, may find himself on the same line as veteran Tyler Shattock, with the Blazers hoping that will enlarge the freshman’s comfort zone at least a bit.
JUST NOTES: Smith is a product of Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton, where he has been under the tutelage of Rick Carriere, a teacher there who is a highly respected former WHL general manager and head coach. . . . D Brady Gaudet, the Blazers’ first pick, 10th overall, in the 2009 bantam draft, suffered what GM Craig Bonner called “a minor knee injury” in a Friday night scrimmage. Gaudet isn’t expected to play in Tuesday’s Blue/White game. It’s hoped he will play one of two weekend exhibition games. . . . The Blazers meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday with a rematch here Saturday. . . . D Darryl Sydor, one of the Blazers’ five owners, returned to Dallas with his family on Saturday to begin preparations for another school year. Sydor, an NHL free agent, finished last season with the Dallas Stars, who acquired the 37-year-old from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sydor, who made US$2.5 million last season, hopes to play at least one more season and is awaiting an offer. . . . Mark Recchi, another of the owners, has returned to his home in Pittsburgh. He was keeping tabs on camp Sunday evening through Bonner’s BlackBerry.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Daily News Sports Editor
Sixteen months ago, Colin Smith was the future.
Today, the future is just about here.
“I’ve been pretty anxious to get it all started,” said Smith, who has had a terrific start to the Kamloops Blazers’ training camp. “Now it’s unfolding and it’s a very exciting time.”
Smith, 16, was the Blazers’ first selection, seventh overall, in the WHL’s 2008 bantam draft. A scoring phenom in Edmonton minor hockey, he put up 55 points, including 23 goals, in 34 regular-season games with the midget AAA CAC Canadians last season. He added seven points in five playoff games and also had seven points in four games at the Mac’s tournament in Calgary.
Smith also got into 12 games with the Blazers, picking up four assists in eight regular-season games and a goal in four playoff games.
“Probably the speed,” he said Sunday, when asked about the biggest adjustment he had to make when he reached the WHL. “You always have to move your feet. Plays develop a lot quicker and you have to adapt to that. You have to simplify your game to make things happen. You have to get rid of (the puck) quicker . . .”
That shouldn’t be a problem for Smith, whose feet are as quick as those belonging to an NBA point guard. He has shown his quickness early in camp, too, especially Saturday when he scored four times in two scrimmages.
“The first game (on Friday) was OK,” Smith said. “I think I picked it up from there. It’s definitely going to get a lot more tense with the older guys, so it’s going to be fun.”
The Blazers cut their camp roster from 94 to 60 prior to Sunday’s workouts so, yes, things are starting to get tense, especially among the 19 veterans who realize that jobs are on the line.
And Smith was doing what he does best in a scrimmage last night, making an especially nice play and pass that paid off in a goal by Dylan Willick, a prospect out of Prince George.
Smith said he went into this camp carrying only the pressure he has put on himself.
“That was two years ago,” he said of being a first-round draft pick. “A lot has happened since then. The draft doesn’t matter any more. I expect myself to do well and I want to do well, so that adds a little pressure to it.”
Like most players in WHL training camps, Smith said he spent the summer “working out.” He also attended a couple of Team Pacific camps and has been shortlisted for the team that will compete at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in Timmins, Ont., Dec. 28 to Jan. 4.
Smith is a bit bigger now than he was last season and said he feels stronger. He was 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds in the spring and now is 5-foot-10 and 157 pounds.
“It’s hard for my body type to put on weight,” said Smith, who is anything but rawboned. “But I feel a lot stronger than I did coming in last season.”
The Blazers also are looking for some offence from Smith, who said he just wants to contribute.
“I just want to get better on a daily basis and try to do the best that I can to help the team,” he said. “That would be great if I can contribute and fulfil my role, whatever that is.”
While it’s early, Smith, who is going into Grade 11, may find himself on the same line as veteran Tyler Shattock, with the Blazers hoping that will enlarge the freshman’s comfort zone at least a bit.
JUST NOTES: Smith is a product of Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton, where he has been under the tutelage of Rick Carriere, a teacher there who is a highly respected former WHL general manager and head coach. . . . D Brady Gaudet, the Blazers’ first pick, 10th overall, in the 2009 bantam draft, suffered what GM Craig Bonner called “a minor knee injury” in a Friday night scrimmage. Gaudet isn’t expected to play in Tuesday’s Blue/White game. It’s hoped he will play one of two weekend exhibition games. . . . The Blazers meet the Vancouver Giants in Ladner on Friday with a rematch here Saturday. . . . D Darryl Sydor, one of the Blazers’ five owners, returned to Dallas with his family on Saturday to begin preparations for another school year. Sydor, an NHL free agent, finished last season with the Dallas Stars, who acquired the 37-year-old from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sydor, who made US$2.5 million last season, hopes to play at least one more season and is awaiting an offer. . . . Mark Recchi, another of the owners, has returned to his home in Pittsburgh. He was keeping tabs on camp Sunday evening through Bonner’s BlackBerry.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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