(Note that the news release from the Raiders refers to the draft pick as conditional; the news release from the Chiefs doesn’t use the word conditional.)
Lee-Knight, who was listed by the Raiders in January 2011, was 7-7-7, 2.56, .912 with the midget AAA Calgary Royals last season. He got into two exhibition games with the Raiders, going 4.00, .886 in 60 minutes of action.Vanscourt was a seventh-round selection by the Kootenay Ice in the 2007 bantam draft. He had 23 points, including four goals, and 49 penalty minutes in 57 games with the Chiefs last season.
"This trade was dictated by our abundance of young defensemen ready to take the step and play in the WHL," Spokane GM Tim Speltz said in a news release. "It strengthens our draft position, which is always important, and also strengthens our goaltending position."
At the same time, the Chiefs released G Jacob Edwards, 19, who is from Calgary.
They now are carrying 26 players, including three goaltenders and nine defencemen.
Joining Lee-Knight in the crease are veteran Mac Engel, 18, and newcomer Zach Rakochy, 18, who is from Canora, Sask.
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The Calgary Hitmen have traded D Kyle Schmidt, 18, to the Saskatoon Blades for a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.Schmidt, from Waldheim, Sask., is a right-hand shot, something for which teams often are searching. He had 10 points, three of them goals, and 74 penalty minutes in 65 games with Calgary last season.
The Blades’ roster is at 26, including two goaltenders and seven defencemen.
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The Tri-City Americans have dealt F Max Moline, 18, to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a conditional fifth-rounder in the 2013 bantam draft.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Moline, who is from Lethbridge, had four points and 42 penalty minutes in 53 games with the Americans last season. He was a fifth-round pick by the Americans in the 2008 bantam draft.“Max is a quality kid and this move will allow him to play closer to home in front of his family and friends,” Bob Tory, the Americans’ GM, said in a news release.
Moline should be in the Lethbridge lineup for games tonight against the Kootenay Ice and Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen in the Crowsnest Pass, Alta. Those teams are taking part in the Thunder in the Pass preseason tournament to benefit Crowsnest Minor Hockey.
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D Josh Caron, 20, of the Kamloops Blazers has what the Minnesota Wild is calling a “minor injury” and is to see a doctor today.
Caron was with the Wild’s rookie team at the tournament in Traverse City, Mich., and is on Minnesota’s main camp roster. Caron travelled the same road last season and came out of it with an NHL contract. Thus, he is eligible to play in the Wild’s organization.He also is one of three 20-year-olds on the Blazers’ roster, the others being D Bronson Maschmeyer and F Chase Schaber, who is the team captain and who was on the Edmonton Oilers’ rookie team that played in the Young Guns tournament in Penticton, B.C., this week.
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F Brett Hextall is in camp with the Phoenix Coyotes as he gets his first shot at helping the Hextalls become the NHL’s second four-generation family.
This will be worth watching.
Eons and eons ago I was in camp with the MJHL’s Portage Terriers when Bryan Hextall Sr. was their coach. The family patriarch has been a Hockey Hall of Famer since 1969. I also spent some time in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ camp a long, long time ago when Randy Hextall was there.
I would later cover the Wheat Kings when Ron Hextall, Brett’s father, was their starting goaltender. And, yes, Ron was a starting goaltender in every sense of the word — he was known to start things. Ron now is the Los Angeles Kings’ assistant general manager.
I also got to know Ron’s father, Bryan Jr., who split 549 NHL games and 99 goals between six teams.
And let’s not forget Dennis, Bryan Jr.’s brother, who scored 153 goals in 681 NHL games and was as tough as they came. He finished with 1,398 PMs.
Rick, another brother, didn’t get to the NHL but he did play pro for a handful of seasons.
It’s worth noting that the Hextall clan will gather in Poplar Point, Man., which is where it all began, early in 2013. There will be a celebration from Feb. 1-3.
The Detroit Red Wings alumni team will be there to play against the Poplar Point Alumni in a fund-raiser for the local community club.
Anyway . . . Brett, who played three seasons at North Dakota, was in action on Wednesday night against the Kings (yes, Ron was in the stands) and Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times was there. Her report is right here.
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Greg Meachem, the sports editor of the Red Deer Advocate, reports:
“Veteran Adam Kambeitz returned to the Rebels Wednesday after attending the Phoenix
Coyotes rookie camp, while fellow forward John Persson is expected back Saturday from the rookie camp of the New York Islanders.“Forward Turner Elson and defencemen Alex Petrovic and Justin Weller will attend the main camps of the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and Coyotes, respectively, starting this weekend. All three are expected to be back with the Rebels before the team’s regular-season opener Sept. 23 versus the defending league champion Kootenay Ice.
“Byron Froese, a Chicago Blackhawks prospect, will at least start the season in the AHL and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be given every chance to earn regular employment with the Edmonton Oilers as the first overall pick in June’s NHL entry draft.”
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Despite what you may have seen or heard — Vancouver’s Tom Gaglardi gets an NHL team, read the headline on one website — Vancouver’s Tom Gaglardi doesn’t own the Dallas Stars.
Not yet, anyway.
Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, has been in hot pursuit of the NHL franchise for at least a year now. And, finally, it would appear that the end is near.
First, though, things have to go through bankruptcy court in Delaware, after which there is likely to be an auction.
As Kate Hairopoulos writes in the Dallas Morning News:
“The bankruptcy plan allows for a court-supervised auction of the sale, so Gaglardi’s offer is subject to higher bids.”
Why Delaware? As Hairopoulous notes: “Delaware is known as an efficient place to do bankruptcy business.”
Her complete story is right here and is a must read if you want to know the latest in this long, drawn-out saga.
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It seems G Deven Dubyk, 20, was rather surprised when to learn he had been claimed on waivers by the Moose Jaw Warriors. Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News has that story right here.
———JUST NOTES: F Jason Swyripa of the Brandon Wheat Kings didn’t practise on Thursday
after taking a hit to the head during a 4-0 loss to the Pats in Regina on Wednesday night. Regina F Michael Jung was given a major penalty for checking to the head. A suspension may follow. . . . The Alberni Valley News reports that F Sawyer Mick has had to end his hockey career because of a shoulder injury. According to the newspaper, he “will instead pursue a new career as a firefighter. Mick is enrolled in a three-month firefighting course at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. After Mick completes the course, he will participate in a two-week practicum en route to becoming a firefighter.” . . . Larry Mitchell, the dean of St. Albert, drops a note to let us know that D Landan Viveiros, who will turn 18 on Oct. 25, is in camp with the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel. His brother, Layne, 16, is with the Portland Winterhawks. Their father, Emanuel, was
a star defenceman with the Prince Albert Raiders back in the day and was named head coach of the Austrian national team earlier this week. . . . Tri-City F Adam Hughesman returned from the camp of the NHL’s New York Islanders to score two goals Thursday night and help the Americans to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs. Hughesman also had an assist. . . . The Victoria Royals have released F Blair Wentworth, 19, who spent the last three seasons with the Chilliwack Bruins. He had 14 points and 132 penalty minutes in 149
regular-season games. “We have a lot of 16 and 17 year olds and we’re building with those young guys. Our strength is in our youth,” Royals GM/head coach Marc Habscheid told Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist. “(Cutting a veteran like Wentworth) is one of the most difficult things to do. But it’s part of the business. And the only constant in this business is change. Blair is a great kid and hopefully he can catch on with another (WHL) team or with a team in Junior A.” . . .Former WHLer Josh Holden (Regina, 1994-98) has drawn an eight-game suspension in the Swiss National League A. He plays for Zug and was penalized for a hit to the head of Christian Dube of SC Bern. Holden was hit hard because he is a repeat offender. . . .
F Wheaton King, 19, has been released by the Medicine Hat Tigers and will return to
the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. King had 11 points in 38 games with the Wheat Kings last season and 15 points in 16 games with the Klippers. . . . The Everett Silvertips got F Tyler Maxwell, 20, back from the Minnesota Wild’s rookie team that was in the Traverse City, Mich., tournament, while the Vancouver Canucks returned F Ryan Harrison. Everett F Josh Birkholz move on to the Florida Panthers’ main camp. . . . The Edmonton Oilers have returned G Adam Brown, 20, to the Kelowna Rockets. However, the Minnesota Wild have taken Kelowna D Colton Jobke and F Brett Bulmer on to main camp. The Rockets also got D Jessey Astles back from the Pittsburgh Penguins.———
TWEET OF THE DAY:
From F Cody Beach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who is in camp with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues: “physicals done, finally got to eat after 7 hours of no food. Pretty interesting places the doctor went, dont want to get into details #yikes”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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