The Prince George Cougars had dealt Art Bidlevskii to the Regina Pats for Cody Carlson in a swap of 19-year-old defencemen. . . . Carlson was selected 21st overall by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2006 bantam draft and later dealt to Regina. He has 66 points in 170 WHL games, including two points in five games this season. . . . Carlson will join the Cougars on Thursday in Medicine Hat.
This is a classic case of one team giving up a defenceman with offensive upside for a stay-at-home guy. Bidlevskii, who has yet to play this season because of a broken thumb, has played 190 regular-season games with the Cougars. He has two goals and 24 assists.
The Cougars also have designated F Brandon Scholten, 18, for assignment to junior A.
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The Spokane Chiefs have added F Darren Kramer, 19, to their roster. From Peace River, Alta., the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder will join the Chiefs in Kamloops where they meet the Blazers tonight. . . . Kramer has spent the last two seasons with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. He was the Storm captain and had 30 points and 311 penalty minutes in 58 games last season.
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The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch has signed D Benn Olson (Kamloops, Seattle, 2004-08) to a tryout deal. Olson, 23, played nine AHL games with the Albany River Rats last season. He also played 50 games with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, picking up nine assists and 168 penalty minutes. . . . In 45 games with Albany over the last two seasons, he has four assists and 161 penalty minutes.
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F Ryan Tobler (Saskatoon, Calgary, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, 1994-97) has announced his retirement. Tobler, 34, played parts of seven seasons with the Cental league’s Colorado Eagles and is third on the franchise’s all-time points list. From 2003-04, he was voted by the CHL players as the league’s Best Power Forward.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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