Blazers prospect keen on Omaha

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The USHL’s Omaha Lancers were looking for a goaltender and John Keeney chose to answer the call.
Keeney, a 16-year-old from Twin Peaks, Calif., whose WHL rights belong to the Kamloops Blazers, arrived in Omaha on Sunday night.
The Blazers placed Keeney on their protected list in September 2008. The 6-foot-1, 167-pounder attended the Blazers’ training camp prior to the start of this season, and later joined the U-18 midget AAA Los Angeles Selects. He was 4-10 with a 3.33 GAA and a .900 save percentage with the Selects.
Craig Bonner, the Blazers’ general manager, spent the weekend at a minor hockey showcase in Denver and he had the opportunity to watch Keeney.
“It was a good tournament,” Bonner said Tuesday. “There were a lot of good teams there and Keeney played pretty well.”
Bonner said that Keeney had decided before the weekend that he was going to go to Omaha.
“I told his dad, I think it‚s great . . . play in the highest league possible,” Bonner said.
Keeney had twice attended Lancers’ futures camps. With the Lancers, he will back up Jeff Teglia, an 18-year-old from Bloomingdale, Ill., who went into this week with a 14-3-0-1 record, a 2.17 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
Joe Phillippi, a 19-year-old from Shoreview, Minn., had been backing up Tegliani. Phillippi was 4-1-0-1, 2.57, .882, before being returned to the NAHL’s Fairbanks Icedogs.
The Lancers are 18-4-0 and in first place in the USHL’s West Division.
Keeney, who has signed a WHL contract with the Blazers, is one of three young goaltenders on their protected list.
Josh Thorimbert, a 17-year-old from Saskatoon, is with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. The 6-foot-0, 178-pounder went into this week with a 13-7 record, a 2.95 GAA and a .910 save percentage. He was the 59th selection in the 2007 bantam draft. Thorimbert suffered a concussion while in camp with the Blazers in September and had a slow start when he joined the Klippers but has since become their No. 1 goaltender.
Troy Trombley, 16, is with his hometown Sherwood Park Squires, a midget AAA team. The 6-foot-5, 165-pounder, who was a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is 8-1 with a 1.56 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
Trombley is the only one of the three goaltenders who has signed with the Blazers.
Bonner said, though, that he doesn’t anticipate a problem with Keeney, despite the fact that he has moved to the USHL, a league that funnels players to NCAA schools.
“They tell me (Keeney) wants to play in the WHL,” Bonner said.
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RW Rhyse Dieno, who signed with the Blazers last month, is continuing his fine season with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. In 23 games, he has 36 points, including 13 goals.
Across town, C Logan McVeigh, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, has 29 points in 21 games with the Saskatoon Contacts.
“McVeigh got hurt but he’s back now,” Bonner said. “He’s having a heckuva season. That could be a real good pick for us.”
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D Brady Gaudet, the Blazers’ first pick in the 2009 bantam draft, suffered a knee injury in training camp so had a slow start to his season with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans. He has six points and 30 penalty minutes in 21 games.
Bonner said he would like to get Gaudet, who has signed, into a game with the Blazers at some point this season.
Bonner also said he is most pleased with the progress made by D Max Mowat, 16, who has 20 points in 22 games with the major midget Okanagan Rockets.
“We’re happy with the decision we made to put him back in midget,” Bonner said of Mowat, a list player who has played one game with the Blazers. “He’s really coming into his own and developing.
“It’s such a rush with some 16-year-olds to get into our league. You never know what’s right or wrong — keep him here or send him back. But in his case it’s worked out pretty well.”
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C Grayson Downing has 25 points in 28 games with the BCHL’s Westside Warriors. Downing, 17, was a fourth-round pick in the 2007 draft. He has committed to attend the U of New Hampshire and play for the Wildcats next season.
C Sahir Gill, 17, has 26 points in 21 games with the USHL’s Chicago Steel. The Blazers acquired Gill, who is from Terrace, from the Vancouver Giants over a year ago, but he recently made a commitment to attend Boston University and play for the Terriers next fall.
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JUST NOTES: Former Blazers D Micki DuPont will play for Canada at the Spengler Cup, which runs Dec. 26-31 in Davos, Switzerland. DuPont is playing for Zug in Switzerland. Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish will coach the Canadian side. . . . The Blazers are off until Friday when they meet the Giants in Vancouver. The Giants will visit Interior Savings Centre on Saturday in the annual Teddy Bear game. That will be the Blazers’ final home game until Dec. 27 when the Prince George Cougars are here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com