D Steve McCarthy (Edmonton/Kootenay, 1996-2000) signed a tryout contract with ZSC Zurich (Switzerland, NL A) that runs through Nov. 5. He was pointless in 32 games with TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) last season. Bob Hartley, who coached McCarthy in Atlanta (NHL), is ZSC's head coach.
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Less than 24 hours after being on the wrong end of a 9-3 score at home against the Swift Current Broncos, Rich Preston, the general manager and head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes got out the broom.
Before Sunday dinner had been served, Preston, his squad winless in eight games, had made three trades and there very well may be more to come.At the same time, the Brandon Wheat Kings made two deals as owner/general manager Kelly McCrimmon left no doubt as to whether he feels he has a contender on his hands.
In the biggest deal, Preston dealt G Brandon Anderson, 19, along with third- and sixth-round picks in the 2012 bantam draft to the Wheat Kings for G Liam Liston, 18, and D Spencer Galbraith, 18.
Anderson, who is from Langley, B.C., attended the Washington Capitals’ training camp a year ago as a free agent and ended up signing an NHL contract with them.
Negotiations involving the Hurricanes’ decision to move Anderson heated up Saturday night and, for a time, it was thought he had been traded to the Spokane Chiefs.
However, Lethbridge G Damien Ketlo, 20, left the loss to the Broncos early in the first period with a groin strain and Preston chose not to make a move at that time.
On Sunday, however, it was full speed ahead.
Anderson, a third-round pick by Lethbridge in the 2007 bantam draft, is 2-3-1, 3.78, .894 this season. He has played 107 career games in Lethbridge, going 31-49-15, 3.63, .890.
Liston, a third-round pick by Brandon in the 2008 bantam draft, is 2-1-0, 4.77, .864 this season. Last season, he was 20-16-1, with a 3.77 GAA, in 41 games.
Galbraith, a 12th-round pick in 2008, had nine points and 99 penalty minutes in 49 games last season. He has 12 penalty minutes in seven games this season.
Preston also dealt D Reid Jackson, 18, and a 2012 fifth-round bantam pick to the Prince George Cougars for F Nick Buonassisi, 19.
Jackson, the son of veteran NHL scout Les Jackson, who once coached the WHL’s Great Falls Americans and then the Brandon Wheat Kings, had 20 points and 64 penalty minutes in 50 games last season. This season, he has one assist and 10 PMs in seven games.
Buonassisi, in his fourth season with the Cougars, has four points in 10 games this season.
Earlier in the day, the Hurricanes sent D Derek Ryckman, 19, to the Tri-City Americans for a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
Ryckman, 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, had 29 points and 211 penalty minutes in 164 games with Lethbridge. He was a sixth-round selection in the sixth round of the 2007 bantam draft.
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As the sun began to set on Sunday, the Wheat Kings made another deal, this time getting F Darian Dziurzynski, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades for three draft picks — second-rounders in 2012 and 2013 and a third-rounder in 2014.
Dziurzynski had 57 points, including 35 goals, in 72 games with the Blades last season. He was a fifth-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2011 NHL draft.Dziurzynski was late rejoining the Blades from pro camp and has three goals — two of them game-winners — and four PMs in four games. In 243 career games, the has 118 points, including 65 goals, and 395 PMs.
The Wheat Kings’ roster now contains the maximum three 20-year-olds, the others being F Paul Ciarelli and D Brodie Melnychuk.
The Blades also are down to three — F Jake Trask, who has missed four games with an undisclosed injury, F Jesse Paradis and F Michael Burns.
Saskatoon will be the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup; this trade gives Blades GM/head coach Lorne Molleken three early draft picks to use as assets as he works to ensure Saskatoon has a contender next season.
"The way the game is today, nobody's trading their young, top prospects for the most part," Molleken told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "Draft picks become very valuable. It was a situation where the players I was offered, I wasn't excited about them. So this affords us with the opportunity to make some trades as we move forward using draft picks."
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It wasn’t long after being dealt to Lethbridge that G Liam Liston tweeted:
“Want to take this oppurtunity to publicly thank the @bdnwheatkings organization, the city of Brandon, and especially my billets for everything they've done for me, disappointed to be leaving so many great friends.”
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SOME SUNDAY NOTES:
In Kamloops, freshman G Cole Cheveldave ran his record to 4-0-0 as the Blazers edged the Kelowna Rockets, 3-2. Cheveldave was the first of the Blazers’ three goaltenders to start in back-to-back games. . . . They are expected to get down to two goaltenders before leaving Tuesday on a three-game Alberta swing. . . .
In Calgary, F Alex Gogolev and F Brady Brassart each scored twice and F Jimmy Bubnick drew three assists as the Hitmen beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-1. . . .
In Everett, F Tyler Maxwell scored twice, set up another and was plus-5 as the Silvertips doubled the Tri-City Americans, 6-3. . . . Maxwell now holds Everett’s franchise record, with 102 career goals, two more than F Shane Harper. . . . F Josh Birkholz iced the victory with two empty-netters as Everett ended a four-game losing streak.
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While Don Cherry may have apologized on Coach’s Corner on Saturday night, not all is well in Stu Grimson’s world.
Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson, former NHL toughies who were drawn and quartered by Cherry, have accepted Cherry’s apology.
However, Grimson felt he had to get a few things off his chest.
Check it out right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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