JUST NOTES: D Ryan Pulock of the Brandon Wheat Kings has been added to the roster of the WHL team that will play a touring Russian side in Subway Super Series games in Regina on Nov. 16 and Moose Jaw on Nov. 17. Pulock, 17, replaces D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors who has been removed from the roster due to an undisclosed injury. . . . D Joel Edmundson of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who has been fighting to come back from a high ankle sprain, tweeted that he “got great news from the doctor” Wednesday. The Warriors are prepping for a three-in-three weekend and could have him in the lineup. . . .
D Lucas Grayson of the Everett Silvertips has drawn a four-game suspension for a charging major he incurred Sunday in a game against the Chiefs in Spokane. Chiefs F Dominik Uher was injured on the play. Here’s Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review: “Grayson road Dominik Uher into the boards as Uher was scoring the seventh goal. Uher was hurt, no question, and the way he was helped off the ice it appeared he had the famed lower body injury, no weight on his right leg. Turned out he has a famed upper body injury. He may have been out cold. Of course, we can't pinpoint that, that might mean a concussion and some neanderthal may try to hit him in the head when he comes back. Uher is listed as out for two weeks.” . . .
F Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the CHL’s player of the week. He had 11 points, including seven goals, last week. . . . The Portland Winterhawks and Spokane Chiefs play twice this weekend, the first time they’ve met since last season’s Western Conference final. The Winterhawks won that series in six games. They’ll play Friday and Saturday, with both games in Portland’s Rose Garden. . . . In a scheduling quirk, the Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds won’t meet for the first time until Jan. 7. They will meet eight times in the season’s second half.
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In Kelowna, the Red Deer Rebels won their fourth straight game, beating the Rockets, 6-4. . . . The Rebels (12-4-1) are fifth in the Central Division but own the league’s best winning percentage (.735). . . . Nine of the 12 teams in the Central Division have at least a .500 winning percentage. . . . The Rockets have lost six in a row. . . . The game was played before 6,038 fans. That was the Rockets’ 256th consecutive regular-season sellout. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have sold out their last 303 regular-season games. . . .
In Prince Albert, F Mark Stone had a goal and two assists as the Brandon Wheat Kings scored a 4-1 victory over the Raiders. . . . Brandon D Ryley Miller, playing in his 156th regular-season game, scored his first WHL goal. . . . Miller, a 19-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., has one goal and 21 assists during his career. . . .
In Swift Current, the Saskatoon Blades got three goals from F Josh Nicholls as they beat the Broncos, 7-5. . . . Nicholls, who has 16 goals, also had an assist. . . . F Lukas Sutter added three assists for the Blades. . . . Attendance was 1,824. . . . D Erik Fleming, acquired earlier from the Seaettle Thundebirds, scored his first goal for the Broncos. It was his third goal in 159 regular-season games. He hadn’t scored in his previous 118 games. His last goal was scored on Feb. 14, 2009 in a 7-2 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks. . . .
In Lethbridge, G Calvin Pickard made 33 saves to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Hurricanes, who got a goal and an assist from F Marcel Noebels, are 1-3-0 on their six-game swing into the Central Division. . . . The trek continues Friday in Calgary against the hitmen. . . .
In Cranbrook, the Tri-City Americans scored four third-period goals and beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-4. . . . The Americans have won four in a row on the road. . . . It was only the fifth victory for the Americans in their last 18 games in Cranbrook. . . . Tri-City trailed 3-1 eight minutes into the third period when it struck four times in 3:48 to take a 5-3 lead. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin had two goals and two assists for the Ams, while F Adam Hughesman had a goal and three helpers. . . . F Jesse Ismond had three goals for the Ice. . . . G Eric Comrie, who is 3-0 in his last four starts, went the distance for the Americans, playing in an arena where his brother, Mike, starred for part of one season (2000-01) with the Ice. . . . Craig West, the radio voice of the Americans, called his 998th Tri-City game. He will do No. 1,000 in Lethbridge on Saturday. His WHL total is well over a grand, though, as he is a former radio voice of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Americans are 13-5-0, matching the 1990-91 and 2007-08 teams for the second-best starts in franchise history. The best start? They opened 15-3-0 in 2009-10. . . . You want consistency? In each of the last six seasons, the Americans have won at least 11 of their first 18 games. . . .
In Vancouver, F Taylor Makin drew three assists as the Giants beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-1. . . . Makin, 19, was playing his sixth game with the Giants. A free agent when the Giants added him, he had played 120 games with the Prince George Cougars. . . . His only other three-point game was on Dec. 19, 2009, when he had two goals and an assist in a 4-2 victory for the host Cougars over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Giants were without F Marek Tvrdon (ill).
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Words cannot begin to describe the horrors of the scandal that has enveloped Penn State University. Unfortunately, what has happened, is happening and will continue to happen is all too familiar to a pair of former WHL stars.
“The appalling Penn State scandal has sent shockwaves through the college football universe, but it comes as no surprise to former NHL players Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, both victims of sexual abuse,” writes Rory Barrs of the National Post.
That complete piece is right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Showing posts with label Erik Fleming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erik Fleming. Show all posts
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s decision to keep F Brett Connolly on its roster is one that may reverberate through the WHL for more than just this season.
Connolly, 19, was the sixth overall selection in the NHL’s 2010 draft. Steve Yzerman was running his first draft as the Lightning’s general manager, meaning Connolly is his original first-round selection.
The Lightning signed Connolly a while back, but, as a 19-year-old, he either had to play in the NHL or with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
Connolly has had a great start to his NHL career and has been playing on a line with veteran stars Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis.
All of which is great for Connolly and not so great for the Cougars.
It is no secret that the Cougars have struggled, on the ice and at the gate, for the last while. This, however, was going to be the season when things started to turn around.
They acquired Drew Owsley, a front-line goaltender, from the Tri-City Americans over the summer. The Edmonton Oilers returned D Martin Marincin for a second season. Other defenders, like Daniel Gibb and Jesse Forsberg, were coming into their own.
Up front, Troy Bourke was proving to be a brilliant young forward, while the enigmatic Charles Inglis had proven last season that he can score. There are other good, young forwards, like Alex Forsberg and Chase Witala.
The glue, however, was going to be Connolly. Not every junior hockey team can boast a superstar who is playing in his hometown. It should be instant box office.
That dream, however, is dead. Yzerman told Connolly on Tuesday night that he would be staying in the NHL.
The Cougars have lost seven straight games now. They are struggling to score goals, having been twice blanked 1-0 by the visiting Tri-City Americans on the weekend.
The second game drew an announced crowd of 1,663.
Connolly was going to be at least part of the solution to both of those problems. He would score and would put some fans in the seats.
But that was before Lightning hit the Cougars' outhouse.
———
The Calgary Hitmen dealt F Kenton Miller, 20, and F Justin Kirsch, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for D Collin Bowman, 20, F Joey Kornelsen, 18, and a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
The Hitmen acquired Miller, who is from Redvers, Sask., off waivers from the Spokane Chiefs during the offseason. He was a seventh-round draft pick by the Regina Pats in 2007. He had 28 points in 28 games with the Chiefs last season. This season, he had three goals in 11 games with the Hitmen.
Kirsch had 42 points in 66 games with Calgary last season. He had five points in 10 games this season.
The Warriors have been hit hard by injuries and just came off a road trip during which they lost three games in a row, each by one goal.
The Hitmen are coming off a 7-1 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday.
Bowman, who began his career with the Kelowna Rockets, is the younger brother of former Spokane Chiefs sniper Drayson Bowman, who now is in the Carolina Hurricanes organization.
The Hitmen are hoping that Bowman will be the puck-moving defencemen they feel they have been missing. He had 49 points, including 38 assists, with the Warriors last season. He has five points, four of them goals, in seven games this season.
Kornelsen had 37 points in 118 regular-season games with the Warriors. He brings the Hitmen another young forward.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have dealt D Erik Fleming, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for a 10th-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . In 156 games with Seattle over the last three seasons, Fleming, from Calgary, had 15 points and 72 penalty minutes. Fleming has played just one game this season to due an undisclosed injury. . . . He was the 16th overall selection in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . The Thunderbirds also assigned D Austin Frank, 18, to the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. . . . Seattle is in Victoria for a doubleheader with the Royals on Friday and Saturday nights.
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The Swift Current Broncos sent F Dillon Wagner, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks for F Adam Smith, 17, who is with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. . . . The 125th
overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft, Wagner was in his fourth season with the Broncos. He had 53 points in 163 regular-season games. . . . This week’s WHL injury report shows Wagner as being out for three weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . . Wagner joins F Charles Wells and D William Wrenn as Portland’s 20-year-old players. . . . The Broncos are left with F Taylor Vause, F Brad Hoban and G Jon Groenheyde as their three 20s. . . . Smith, selected by Portland with the 178th pick of the 2009 bantam draft, is from Nanaimo. He has one assist and 13 penalty minutes in six games with the Clippers, after finishing with three points and 15 PMs in 30 games with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals last season. . . . A gritty forward, Smith played two games with the Winterhawks last season, going pointless with five penalty minutes. . . .
———
F Connor Redmond, who has had nothing but shoulder problems for a couple of years now, has left the Vancouver Giants and joined the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express.
Redmond, 19, has seven points and 60 penalty minutes in 51 regular-season games with the Giants over the last two seasons. . . . Redmond was selected 11th overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun has that story right here.
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JUST NOTES: The Medicine Hat Tigers have assigned D Kyle Becker, 17, to the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals. A native of Langley, B.C., he had offseason surgery on a broken scaphoid and has just recently been cleared to return to action. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Vancouver Giants and Prince George Cougars have been fined $250 apiece for a line brawl that took place Tuesday in Vancouver. . . . Prince George D Martin Marincin drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for an interference major he incurred in that game.
———
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers doubled up on the Portland Winterhawks 4-2 last night in front of their 300th straight regular-season sellout (4,006). . . . That news paled beside the announcement that the venerable Bob Ridley, the long-time radio voice of the Tigers, has opened a Twitter account. Seriously! . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk scored for the Tigers. He has 11 goals and two assists. . . . The Tigers also got a goal from F Emerson Etem. He has a WHL-leading 17 goals, to go with nine helpers. . . . The game featured the Leier cousins — F Boston Leier, 18, skates for the Tigers, while F Taylor Leier, 17, is with the Winterhawks. Both are from Saskatoon. . . . Portland is 1-3 on its 17-day, nine-game trek. . . .
In Edmonton, G Tristan Jarry, 16, made his first start and helped the Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Jarry stopped 20 shots. He was a third-round selection in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . F Curtis Lazar, the second overall pick in that draft, scored his fourth goal of the season for Edmonton. . . . Oil Kings D Mark Pysyk played his 200th regular-season game. . . . Edmonton has won three in a row. . . .
In Saskatoon, F Josh Nicholls had two goals and F Brent Benson had three assists, as the Blades dumped the Regina Pats, 5-3. . . . Saskatoon D Darren Dietz didn’t pick up even one point, but he was plus-4. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs ran their home record to 8-0-0 with a 6-1 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Chiefs closed out a seven-game homestand by completing the sweep. . . . Victoria G Jared Rathjen made his first WHL star but trailed 2-0 before the game was four minutes old. . . . Spokane held a 33-13 edge in shots. . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Quinton Howden had a goal and an assist on the first two shifts of his first game of the season to help the Warriors to a 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Howden returned to Moose Jaw from the camp of the NHL’s Florida Panthers with a concussion. . . . D Joel Edmundson, who returned from the NHL’s St. Louis Blues with an ankle injury, also was back in Moose Jaw’s lineup. . . . Moose Jaw was without D Kendall McFaull (hip) and D Dylan McIlrath (undisclosed), while F Sebastian Svendsen (knee) won’t play for another couple of weeks. . . .
In Kelowna, G Adam Brown stopped 28 shots as the Rockets beat the Prince George Cougars, 2-1. . . . The Cougars have lost seven in a row. . . . The Cougars, already without D Martin Marincin (suspended) and F Brett Connolly (NHL), lost F Troy Bourke just 22 seconds into the game with a boarding major and game misconduct. . . . Prince George did have F Charles Inglis back in the lineup after he completed serving a 10-game suspension. . . .
In Cranbrook, the defending-champion Kootenay Ice scored the game’s first three goals and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-2. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 29 shots. . . . The Ice now is 10-3-2 and has won three in a row.
———
CBC News has reported details of the hazing incident involving players on the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives. According to CBC, one of the hazed player’s parents says their 15-year-old son “was forced to parade around the dressing room with water bottles tied to his genitals.”
That story is right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Connolly, 19, was the sixth overall selection in the NHL’s 2010 draft. Steve Yzerman was running his first draft as the Lightning’s general manager, meaning Connolly is his original first-round selection.
The Lightning signed Connolly a while back, but, as a 19-year-old, he either had to play in the NHL or with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
Connolly has had a great start to his NHL career and has been playing on a line with veteran stars Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis.All of which is great for Connolly and not so great for the Cougars.
It is no secret that the Cougars have struggled, on the ice and at the gate, for the last while. This, however, was going to be the season when things started to turn around.
They acquired Drew Owsley, a front-line goaltender, from the Tri-City Americans over the summer. The Edmonton Oilers returned D Martin Marincin for a second season. Other defenders, like Daniel Gibb and Jesse Forsberg, were coming into their own.
Up front, Troy Bourke was proving to be a brilliant young forward, while the enigmatic Charles Inglis had proven last season that he can score. There are other good, young forwards, like Alex Forsberg and Chase Witala.
The glue, however, was going to be Connolly. Not every junior hockey team can boast a superstar who is playing in his hometown. It should be instant box office.
That dream, however, is dead. Yzerman told Connolly on Tuesday night that he would be staying in the NHL.
The Cougars have lost seven straight games now. They are struggling to score goals, having been twice blanked 1-0 by the visiting Tri-City Americans on the weekend.
The second game drew an announced crowd of 1,663.
Connolly was going to be at least part of the solution to both of those problems. He would score and would put some fans in the seats.
But that was before Lightning hit the Cougars' outhouse.
———
The Calgary Hitmen dealt F Kenton Miller, 20, and F Justin Kirsch, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for D Collin Bowman, 20, F Joey Kornelsen, 18, and a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
The Hitmen acquired Miller, who is from Redvers, Sask., off waivers from the Spokane Chiefs during the offseason. He was a seventh-round draft pick by the Regina Pats in 2007. He had 28 points in 28 games with the Chiefs last season. This season, he had three goals in 11 games with the Hitmen.Kirsch had 42 points in 66 games with Calgary last season. He had five points in 10 games this season.
The Warriors have been hit hard by injuries and just came off a road trip during which they lost three games in a row, each by one goal.The Hitmen are coming off a 7-1 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday.
Bowman, who began his career with the Kelowna Rockets, is the younger brother of former Spokane Chiefs sniper Drayson Bowman, who now is in the Carolina Hurricanes organization.
The Hitmen are hoping that Bowman will be the puck-moving defencemen they feel they have been missing. He had 49 points, including 38 assists, with the Warriors last season. He has five points, four of them goals, in seven games this season.
Kornelsen had 37 points in 118 regular-season games with the Warriors. He brings the Hitmen another young forward.
———
The Seattle Thunderbirds have dealt D Erik Fleming, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for a 10th-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . In 156 games with Seattle over the last three seasons, Fleming, from Calgary, had 15 points and 72 penalty minutes. Fleming has played just one game this season to due an undisclosed injury. . . . He was the 16th overall selection in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . The Thunderbirds also assigned D Austin Frank, 18, to the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. . . . Seattle is in Victoria for a doubleheader with the Royals on Friday and Saturday nights.
———
The Swift Current Broncos sent F Dillon Wagner, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks for F Adam Smith, 17, who is with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. . . . The 125th
overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft, Wagner was in his fourth season with the Broncos. He had 53 points in 163 regular-season games. . . . This week’s WHL injury report shows Wagner as being out for three weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . . Wagner joins F Charles Wells and D William Wrenn as Portland’s 20-year-old players. . . . The Broncos are left with F Taylor Vause, F Brad Hoban and G Jon Groenheyde as their three 20s. . . . Smith, selected by Portland with the 178th pick of the 2009 bantam draft, is from Nanaimo. He has one assist and 13 penalty minutes in six games with the Clippers, after finishing with three points and 15 PMs in 30 games with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals last season. . . . A gritty forward, Smith played two games with the Winterhawks last season, going pointless with five penalty minutes. . . . ———
F Connor Redmond, who has had nothing but shoulder problems for a couple of years now, has left the Vancouver Giants and joined the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express.
Redmond, 19, has seven points and 60 penalty minutes in 51 regular-season games with the Giants over the last two seasons. . . . Redmond was selected 11th overall by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2007 bantam draft. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun has that story right here.———
JUST NOTES: The Medicine Hat Tigers have assigned D Kyle Becker, 17, to the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals. A native of Langley, B.C., he had offseason surgery on a broken scaphoid and has just recently been cleared to return to action. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Vancouver Giants and Prince George Cougars have been fined $250 apiece for a line brawl that took place Tuesday in Vancouver. . . . Prince George D Martin Marincin drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for an interference major he incurred in that game.
———
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers doubled up on the Portland Winterhawks 4-2 last night in front of their 300th straight regular-season sellout (4,006). . . . That news paled beside the announcement that the venerable Bob Ridley, the long-time radio voice of the Tigers, has opened a Twitter account. Seriously! . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk scored for the Tigers. He has 11 goals and two assists. . . . The Tigers also got a goal from F Emerson Etem. He has a WHL-leading 17 goals, to go with nine helpers. . . . The game featured the Leier cousins — F Boston Leier, 18, skates for the Tigers, while F Taylor Leier, 17, is with the Winterhawks. Both are from Saskatoon. . . . Portland is 1-3 on its 17-day, nine-game trek. . . .
In Edmonton, G Tristan Jarry, 16, made his first start and helped the Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Jarry stopped 20 shots. He was a third-round selection in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . F Curtis Lazar, the second overall pick in that draft, scored his fourth goal of the season for Edmonton. . . . Oil Kings D Mark Pysyk played his 200th regular-season game. . . . Edmonton has won three in a row. . . .
In Saskatoon, F Josh Nicholls had two goals and F Brent Benson had three assists, as the Blades dumped the Regina Pats, 5-3. . . . Saskatoon D Darren Dietz didn’t pick up even one point, but he was plus-4. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs ran their home record to 8-0-0 with a 6-1 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Chiefs closed out a seven-game homestand by completing the sweep. . . . Victoria G Jared Rathjen made his first WHL star but trailed 2-0 before the game was four minutes old. . . . Spokane held a 33-13 edge in shots. . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Quinton Howden had a goal and an assist on the first two shifts of his first game of the season to help the Warriors to a 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Howden returned to Moose Jaw from the camp of the NHL’s Florida Panthers with a concussion. . . . D Joel Edmundson, who returned from the NHL’s St. Louis Blues with an ankle injury, also was back in Moose Jaw’s lineup. . . . Moose Jaw was without D Kendall McFaull (hip) and D Dylan McIlrath (undisclosed), while F Sebastian Svendsen (knee) won’t play for another couple of weeks. . . .
In Kelowna, G Adam Brown stopped 28 shots as the Rockets beat the Prince George Cougars, 2-1. . . . The Cougars have lost seven in a row. . . . The Cougars, already without D Martin Marincin (suspended) and F Brett Connolly (NHL), lost F Troy Bourke just 22 seconds into the game with a boarding major and game misconduct. . . . Prince George did have F Charles Inglis back in the lineup after he completed serving a 10-game suspension. . . .
In Cranbrook, the defending-champion Kootenay Ice scored the game’s first three goals and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-2. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 29 shots. . . . The Ice now is 10-3-2 and has won three in a row.
———
CBC News has reported details of the hazing incident involving players on the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives. According to CBC, one of the hazed player’s parents says their 15-year-old son “was forced to parade around the dressing room with water bottles tied to his genitals.”
That story is right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
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