Saturday info . . .

So . . . you’re wondering: Where are all the trades?
Well, there will be a flurry of them Sunday as the deadline gets here.
The trade deadline landing when it did really tied a lot of teams’ hands. The WHL had nine games scheduled for Friday and 10 more on Saturday. Only the Brandon Wheat Kings and Calgary Hitmen didn‘t play Saturday. (There are only three games to be played Sunday.)
Teams had to look at playing those games before they could sign off on moving two or three or four players in trades. Any team on the verge of closing a deal also had to cross its fingers and hope that the player or players involved came out of Saturday with their health intact.
Makes one wonder if next season the WHL might consider moving the trade deadline to a Monday when it rarely has games scheduled. That certainly would make things a whole lot easier for the teams and players involved.
---
A note from the WHL office prior to Saturday’s game between the Prince George Cougars and the host Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent:
“Due to an emergency injury situation the Western Hockey League has granted approval for the Prince George Cougars to use Everett’s Silvertips listed goaltender Luke Siemens as their starting goaltender tonight at the ShoWare Center against the Seattle Thunderbirds.”
---
This is from the Prince George Citizen, following the Cougars’ 3-2 loss to the host Tri-City Americans on Friday night: “The Cougars were without Brett Connolly (hip flexor), Brock Hirsche (shoulder injury), Kurt Torbohm (lower body injury) and goalie Hudson Stremmel (concussion). With no other goalie on the bus, the Cats gave the backup role to a junior-aged goalie from Kennewick who works as the Zamboni driver at Toyota Arena, the rink next door to Toyota Center.” . . . This makes the WHL a league in which a goaltender has never driven a Zamboni but a Zamboni driver has played goal. . . . Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald reports on her blog that the young man’s name is Josh Romeike and that he played two seasons with the Tri-City Titans, a junior B team that plays in the Nor-Pac league. "When I was little, this was my dream," Romeike told Fowler. "It's nice to get this chance, even if it's just for a couple of games." . . . Romeike was scheduled to back up Alex Wright Saturday night against the host Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent.