Friday . . . early

A note to all the U.S. Division teams in the WHL. This really is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. We don’t do it the American way and start partying on Thursday. We got Saturday through Monday. So if one of your employees needs the weekend off, give it to him or her. As an employee of one U.S. team told me Friday: In the decade I’ve lived in the U.S. I’ve always tried to scam, err, get Canadian Thanksgiving off, but I’ve been denied every time. My pleas about watching the CFL all day fall on deaf ears.”
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Todd Voshell (Kelowna, Portland, Spokane, 1983-87) now is an architect who works out of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. The local newspaper, the Record, has news of an award that has come his way. That story is right here.
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The Portland Winterhawks have reassigned F Gasper Kopitar, 18, to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. Kopitar is the brother of F Anze Kopitar, 23, of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. . . . Gasper, who is listed as 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds by the Winterhawks, was pointless in 10 games last season and had one goal in two games this season. . . . Despite being from Jesenice, Slovenia, he isn’t considered an import player under CHL rules. He moved to the Los Angeles area -- Manhattan Beach, I think -- a few years ago where he lived with his brother. That is where Gasper was when then-Portland general manager Ken Hodge listed him. And because Gasper played minor hockey in Manhattan Beach, he is classified as a non-import.
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The Regina Pats have traded F Killian Hutt, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for a 2013 sixth-round bantam draft pick. Hutt, who was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the sixth round of the 2006 bantam draft, had three points in five games with Regina. The Pats acquired his rights from the Portland Winterhawks last season. . . . Meanwhile, the Broncos have returned D Matt Franczyk, 17, to the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild. He was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 bantam draft.
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The Spokane Chiefs have released D Bruin McDonald, an 18-year-old who was acquired from the Prince George Cougars for a conditional sixth-round 2011 bantam draft pick in August. McDonald, a seventh-round pick by the Cougars in 2007, had one assist in three games with Spokane. He was a healthy scratch when the Chiefs played Wednesday in Kamloops. . . . The Chiefs now are carrying 25 players on their roster, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen.
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Chris Jaster of the Prairie Post has a couple of intereting stories detailing the finances of the Swift Current Broncos. In this one right here, he writes about what the Broncos are doing to deal with concession profits that fell from $44,240 in 2008-09 to $10,805 last season. . . . The second story, which is right here, is an overall look at the club’s finances.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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