Thursday, November 4, 2010

An interesting scouting day . . .

I mentioned here yesterday a Monday game in the OHL — Kingston at Ottawa — that began at 10:30 a.m., and attracted 9,826 fans, many of whom were schoolchildren.
Well, it seems OHL’s Oshawa Generals played host to a day game on Tuesday, this one against the Mississauga IceDogs. It began at 11 a.m., and attendance was announced at 3,568.
It did result in something of an interesting day for Steve Bowman, who scouts for the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
Bowman sent me this note:
“The 11 a.m. start in Oshawa allowed me to complete what I think is a first in the scouting community: Mississauga at Oshawa at 11 a.m., and Spokane at Saskatoon at 7 p.m.
“It was a ‘Perfect Storm’ of scheduling. Happened to be starting a WHL swing this week, morning game near Toronto, direct flight to Saskatoon in the late afternoon, games with draft prospects, and proximity of the airport to the rink.”
Steve writes that he arrived in Saskatoon at 6:10 p.m., so had 50 minutes until game time.
What I'm wondering, Steve, is whether you saw the end of either of those games. LOL!
I’m also told that Mississauga has one of these games scheduled on Nov. 10 when the Niagara IceDogs are to visit the St. Michael’s Majors. That game is to start at 11 a.m.
An NHL scout could watch that game and perhaps get to Vancouver in time to watch the Giants play host to the Red Deer Rebels that night.
By the way, I was reminded that the Edmonton Oil Kings had a weekday promotion last season in which they played a day game. The poster noted there was a “decent crowd with 60 per cent-plus of school-aged variety.”
A look back shows that the Kootenay Ice beat the host Oil Kings 4-2 in front of 9,168 fans in a game with an 11:30 a.m. faceoff.
And a quick check of this season's schedule shows that the Kootenay Ice will meet the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Wednesday, Jan. 12, with faceoff set for 11:30 a.m.
So apologies to Bob Green and the gang with the Oil Kings.
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Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Vancouver Giants F Randy McNaught, who is out with a sprained ankle, “suffered a setback in practice this week and is again out indefinitely. He was on crutches Wednesday.” . . . Pap also writes that Giants head coach Don Hay is doing his best not to play up what certainly would appear to be a goaltending controversy. Brendan Jensen has started seven of the last 10 games and will get the call Friday against the visiting Kelowna Rockets. But Hay won’t go so far as to say Jensen is the club’s No. 1 goaltender. Pap’s piece is right here.
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F Kruise Reddick should be back in the Tri-City Americans’ lineup on Saturday when they play host to the Red Deer Rebels. He’s been out since Oct. 9 with a concussion. Reddick has missed eight games. . . . F Charles Inglis of the Prince George Cougars has been added to the Team WHL roster for the Subway Super Series game scheduled for Nov. 18. That game, against a touring Russian side, is to be played in Prince George. When the roster was announced, it only featured 11 players so this completes the roster. . . . Hello, Hockey Canada or WHL or CHL or Rogers Sportsnet or the Kremlin, or whomever it is who picks these teams. When does Kamloops Blazers F Brendan Ranford get named to the WHL team that will play the Russians in Kamloops on Nov. 17?
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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
SPOKANE 2 at PRINCE ALBERT 5: F Mark McNeill scored two goals and set up another for the Raiders (6-8-4) who snapped a seven-game losing streak. . . . The Raiders, who are 3-3-3 at home, had lost four straight there. . . . McNeill, who has seven goals, closed it out with an empty-netter. . . . F Justin Maylan and McNeill gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. . . . The Chiefs (7-8-0) tied it on goals by F Levko Koper, who has eight, and F Brady Brassart, who got his first, before the period ended. . . . F Todd Fiddler broke the tie, with his fourth, at 19:49. . . . Raiders freshman F Mike Winther added insurance with his fourth at 14:52 of the third. . . . The line of McNeill, Fiddler and Igor Revenko combined for six points. . . . Spokane is 2-2-0 on an East Division swing and had won two in a row. . . . D Jordan Rowley (broke wrist), who hadn’t played since opening night, was back in P.A.’s lineup. He is sporting a playing cast. . . . Raiders G Eric Williams stopped 34 shots, 11 more than Spokane’s Mac Engel. . . . Spokane was 0-for-4 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-1. . . . The Chiefs were without D Garrett Leedahl who was hurt Tuesday in Saskatoon. He likely won’t play on the duration of this swing. . . . Attendance was 1,978. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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SASKATOON 5 at SWIFT CURRENT 4: The Blades (12-5-0) erased a 4-2 deficit with three third-period goals. . . . The last two came from F Josh Nicholls, his eighth and ninth, at 12:21 and 18:39 of the third period. . . . Nicholls broke the 4-4 tie just moments after the Blades had killed off a delay-of-game penalty to G Adam Morrison. . . . F Justin Dowling’s PP goal at 18:02 of the second gave the Broncos (9-9-0) a 4-2 lead. . . . F Chris Collins, acquired Monday for F Curt Gogol, had a goal and an assist for the Blades. . . . D Duncan Siemens added three assists for Saskatoon, while D Stefan Elliott added two. . . . Dowling, F Killian Hutt and F Brad Hoban each had a goal and assist for the Broncos, while F Cody Eakin had two assists. . . . Morrison made 19 saves. Mark Friesen stopped 22 for the Broncos. . . . Saskatoon was 1-for-4 on the PP; Swift Current was 3-for-6. . . . Attendance was 2,086. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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KELOWNA 5 at KAMLOOPS 2: F Mitchell Callahan enjoyed his second four-point game in two nights to lead the Rockets (6-10-0). . . . Kelowna trailed 2-1 going into the third period when it scored three straight power-play goals. . . . The Blazers (8-8-1) had won four of five. . . . Callahan had two goals and two assists in a 6-2 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars on Tuesday. . . . C Shane McColgan was in on each of those PP goals, scoring one and setting up two others. . . . Three players scored their first WHL goals in this game — F Chase Souto of the Blazers and F Colton Heffley and D Damon Severson of the Rockets. . . . The Rockets were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-for-5. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown, in his 100th WHL game, stopped 37 shots. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch turned aside 27. . . . Bosch stopped F Evan Bloodoff on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Attendance was 3,746. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero, but only because Kamloops F Bernhard Keil was given an interference penalty for what clearly was a hit from behind on F Geordie Wudrick.
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LETHBRIDGE 0 at MEDICINE HAT 7: G Tyler Bunz stopped 17 shots for his first shutout of the season and the third of his career. . . . The Tigers (9-5-0) have won three straight. . . . F Wacey Hamilton scored twice for Medicine Hat. He has seven on the season. . . . He also had an assist and was plus-4. . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk, F Ryan Harrison and F Kale Kessy each had a goal and an assist. . . . Lethbridge starter Brandon Anderson stopped 10 of 14 shots before giving way to Dylan Tait, who turned aside 11 of 14. . . . Lethbridge (6-6-3) was 0-for-4 on the PP and now is 6-for-67 on the season. . . . The Tigers were 1-for-6. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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