It would seem this deal has been in the works for a while. Earlier Monday, I was chatting with Drew Wilson, the radio voice of the Prince Albert Raiders, and he mentioned that he had heard some time ago that the Warriors were on the verge of landing Siemens. It didn’t happen then, however, and Wilson figured the deal had fallen through.It may have . . . until yesterday.
As training camp wound down, it looked as though the Warriors would open the season with Brandon Stone, 18, and Spencer Tremblay, 17, as their goaltenders. But just before they opened the regular season, they claimed Deven Dubyk, 20, off waivers from the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Warriors go into the week at 3-1-0.
Dubyk has played three games, going 2-1-0 with a 4.00 GAA and .900 save percentage. Chances are that he will rejoin the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, which is where he went after being dropped by Medicine Hat. That also would free up a 20-year-old spot for the Warriors, who have F Brett Lyon and F Sebastian Svendsen on their active roster and F Collin Bowman still with the AHL’s Connecticut Whale.
Siemens, from Delta, B.C., is 7-14-3, 3.01, .916 in 25 regular-season games, one with the Prince George Cougars and 24 with Everett. Last season, he was 7-13-2, 3.03, .917 in 23 games.
The Warriors also dropped Stone yesterday, so will go, at least for now, with Siemens and Tremblay.
Grant, from Ladysmith, B.C., wasn’t selected in the WHL bantam draft. He had nine points in 58 games with Moose Jaw last season. However, he wasn’t with the Warriors and had been assigned to the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals before this season started.
The Silvertips are left with Kent Simpson, 19, and freshman Austin Lotz, 16, as their goaltenders.
Last season, the Silvertips dealt G Thomas Heemskerk, then 20, to the Warriors for D Chad Suer.
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Jon Rosen spent the last four seasons as the radio voice of the Everett Silvertips. He also served as the team’s public relations director. He left after last season to explore other avenues.
So what is he doing in Hamburg, Germany?
Find out right here.
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Jason Hills of the Edmonton Sun starts a story like this:
“Jesse Pearson, Jesse Wallin and Ryan Cuthbert never played against each other during their hockey careers, but all three Western Hockey League coaches share one common bond.
“They had their dreams of long NHL careers crushed with the worst word and hottest topic in hockey circles these days — concussions.”
The complete story is right here.
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F Liam Stewart of the Spokane Chiefs has been cleared to play for Great Britain’s U-18 team, which is slotted in the IIHF world championship in Heerenveen, Netherlands, March 31 through April 6. Also competing will be teams from Korea, Romania, Netherlands, Croatia and Lithuania. . . . Stewart, the son of actress Rachel
Hunter and rocker Rod Stewart, was born in London. He played hockey last season in Los Angeles. The Daily Mirror quoted Liam as saying: “I'm very proud to be cleared to play for the country I was born in. I know my dad would be especially proud so it was exciting to hear it was approved.”Stewart left the Chiefs’ 7-2 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans on Saturday after being checked from behind. Stewart is questionable for the three games the Chiefs are scheduled to play this week.
The Chiefs also lost D Tanner Mort in that game and he, too, is questionable.
As a result, the Chiefs have added F Jarid Hauptman, 17, to their roster. Hauptman, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, is scheduled to play in Vancouver on Wednesday, Kamloops on Friday and at home against Kelowna on Saturday. He is playing with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder and has seven points in 10 games.
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JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats have assigned D Tyler Bortsmayer to the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. He was pointless in two games with the Pats this season. A second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, he got into 42 games with Regina last season and 39 in 2009-10. That move gets the Pats down to 24 players, including 14 forwards and eight defencemen. . . . F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points, including four goals, in three games. . . . Nathan Lieuwen of the Kootenay Ice is the WHL nominee as the CHL’s goaltnder of the week. He went 1-1-0 with a 1.51 GAA and .940 save percentage last week. . . .
The Pittsburgh Penguins have returned D Joe Morrow to the Portland Winterhawks. Morrow got into four preseason games with Pittsburgh, scoring once and adding three assists. . . . The Winterhawks remain without F Ryan Johansen, who will open the season with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and F Nino Niederreiter, who has been placed on the New York Islanders’ injured list with a groin problem. . . . On Monday afternoon, Portland-based freelancer Scott Sepich tweeted: “Riley Boychuk may be back in Portland soon. Rochester coach says Boychuk lacks consistency, and Sabres still haven't signed him.” . . .
While the WHL has updated the transactions part of its website, it has yet to include the deal from last week in which the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Braeden (Bunny) Laroque, 19, from the Edmonton Oil Kings for an undisclosed bantam draft pick. Neither team has released specifics on the selection. . . .
The Tri-City Americans have assigned F Olli Dickson, 18, to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. He was pointless in one game with the Americans. . . . The Vancouver Giants have said they will reassign F Logan Harland, 16, although they have yet to announce a destination. He had one goal in three games with the Giants.
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And now for something completely different . . .
This is our good read for today and it comes from David Whitley, a columnist at AOL FanHouse.
He writes about Kevin Kelley, a football coach at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Ark., who has, shall we say, a somewhat unconventional outlook on the game of football.
For example, he doesn’t have a punter on his roster.
Anyway, give this right here a read. You won’t be sorry.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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