Wednesday . . . early

The Prince Albert Raiders have reassigned F Tanner Exner, 18, to the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. He was pointless in three exhibition games with the Raiders. Last season, Exner, who is from Regina, got into 19 games with the Chilliwack Bruins and earned three points. . . . The Raiders are down to 26 players, including three goals and 14 forwards.
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A press release issued Tuesday by the WHL reads:
“The Western Hockey League is proud to announce that 138 WHL players are attending NHL training camps this season.
“All of the 138 players on the list are eligible to return to the WHL for the 2009-10 season . . .
“Of the 138 players attending NHL training camps, 85 were selected by NHL teams in the NHL Entry Draft while 53 were invited to NHL camps as free agents. In addition, 33 of the WHL players attending NHL training camps are signed to NHL entry-level contracts.”
Good for the WHL for having so many players in NHL camps. Better for the WHL if it does something about the ugliness of exhibition games while all those players are gone. Is playing the games in a locked facility and not allowing in anyone – no fans, no media, nobody – a feasible solution?
Don’t be surprised if a year from now at least some teams go on team-building retreats on what, for many of them, was the second weekend of the exhibition season.
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Talk about a great idea. The Portland Winterhawks are doing their part to keep the community clean. According to a press released: “Players and coaches will be cleaning up the Kenton neighborhood rose garden on Monday, Sept. 14, and media are invited to attend. The cleanup effort will take place from 9–11:30 a.m. at the corner of Interstate Avenue and North McClellan Street.” . . . The media should be on hand for that; just don’t expect any of them to be handling brooms or shovels.
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In Regina, the Brandt Centre is getting something of a new look. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.
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In what has to be considered a real exhibition season shocker, the Vancouver Sun’s Elliott Pap reported Tuesday that “Canucks icon Harold Snepsts, now an amateur scout, has shaved off his trademark moustache.” . . . The always smiling Snepsts was a hard-nosed defenceman with the original Edmonton Oil Kings (1972-74), was part of the Brian Shaw/Ken Hodge group that owned the Portland Winterhawks and even did a stint as Portland’s head coach. As a scout he is a familiar face in WHL arenas. . . . That ‘stache ranked right up there with cookie dusters belonging to the likes of former WHL player/coach Doug Sauter and former CFL offensive lineman Bob Poley, who had a stint on the ice with the Regina Pats in 1974-75.
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Depending upon whom you talk to, what day of the week it is and the weather, F Evander Kane will play this season for the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, who selected him fourth overall in the June draft, or the Vancouver Giants. One day it’s the former; the next day it’s the latter. Well, if early indications mean anything, you can bet on the latter. Read about that right here.
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Take a break from hockey and give this story a read. It has to do with ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and the 1919 Chicago White Sox. Could it be that the Black Sox scandal of 1919 was one horrendous mistake?