The WHL trade deadline arrives Thursday afternoon at 4 o’clock in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 3 in Alberta and 2 in B.C.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have dealt F Jay Merkley, 17, to the Swift Current Broncos for F Josh Derko, 19, and a third-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Merkley, who waived a no-trade clause, had 22 points, including 14 goals, in 44 games with the Hurricanes this season. Last season, the Calgary native had 23 points, 12 of them goals, in 58 games as a freshman. He was the third overall selection in the 2010 bantam draft.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Derko, from Sherwood Park, Alta., had 11 points and 68 penalty minutes in 31 games with the Broncos this season. A fifth-round pick by the Broncos in the 2008 bantam draft, Derko had 13 points and 100 penalty minutes in 63 games last season. In 143 career gams, all with the Broncos, he had 28 points and 201 penalty minutes.
Obviously, Lethbridge GM/head coach Rich Preston wanted to toughen up his forward ranks. He did that at the expense of giving up a talented young forward in Merkley.
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Mark Lamb, the Swift Current Broncos’ GM and head coach, sounds as though he has no interest in trading F Adam Lowry, 19, who has 56 points, including 27 goals, in 43 games.
"The prices are very steep,” Lamb told Shawn Mullin, who handles the team’s play-by-play duties. “He's one of the top players in the league. We want to surround him not have him leave town."
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The Calgary Hitmen have acquired D Jesse Zgraggen, 19, from the Victoria Royals for a 2013 fourth-round bantam draft pick. . . . Zgraggen, from Lethbridge, had seven points and 34 penalty minutes in 33 games with Victoria. He is in his third WHL season and has 22 points in 157 career games with Victoria and the Chilliwack Bruins.
I am told that the hottest commodity in the WHL as the deadline approaches may be depth defencemen. The acquisition of Zgraggen by Calgary would fall into this category.
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The WHL’s trade deadline arrives on Jan. 10. Here is a look at trades since the end of the WHL’s Christmas trade moratorium:
Jan. 1: Medicine Hat trades D Dylan Busenius, 19, F Jayden Hart, 18, and a 2014 sixth-round bantam drafat pick to Prince Albert for F Logan McVeigh, 18, D Zach Hodder, 19, F Connor Hobbs, 15, and a 2013 second-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 2: Vancouver trades F Kale Kessy, 20, to Kamloops for F Rob Trzonkowski, 18, and a 2015 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 3: Everett trades F Trent Lofthouse, 18, to Victoria for a 2014 sixth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 3: Victoria trades G Jared Rathjen, 18, to Vancouver for a 2013 eighth-round bantam draft pick. Jan. 7: Victoria trades D Jesse Zgraggen, 19, to Calgary for a 2013 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 7: Lethbridge trades F Jay Merkley, 17, to Swift Current for F Josh Derko, 19, and a 2014 third-round bantam draft pick.

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F Matthew Gelinas, 17, has signed with the Tri-City Americans and may be in their lineup on Wednesday when they meet the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . Gelinas is in his second season with the midget AAA Calgary Royals. He has 30 points, including 18 goals, in 24 games. Last season, he had 13 points in 34 games with the Royals. . . . Gelinas is the son of Martin Gelinas, a longtime NHL player who now is on the coaching staff of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. . . . Matthew will return to the Royals after the Americans play the Rockets in Kelowna on Friday.
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The Spokane Chiefs have added F Adam Smith, 18, to their roster on a “tryout basis.” Smith is from Nanaimo. He is expected to play tonight against the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Smith has played 22 WHL games – 20 with the Swift Current Broncos in 2011-12 and two with the Portland Winterhawks in 2010-11. Portland selected him in the ninth round of the 2009 bantam draft. . . . Smith has split this season between the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals and the junior B Nanaimo Buccaneers.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Justin Greer, 15, to a WHL contract. Greer, from Edmonton, was a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He is playing for the midget AAA CAC United Cycle team and has 15 points in 18 games. . . .
The Winterhawks, who won 12 straight games from Oct. 10 to Nov. 11, have won 10 in a row as they prepare for a Tuesday-Wednesday doubleheader against the visiting Prince George Cougars. . . . Portland has won 29 of its last 31 games. . . . The Winterhawks lead the WHL’s overall standings by seven points over the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers, and lead the U.S. Division by 16 points over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Should Portland G Mac Carruth start on Tuesday, he’ll be gunning for the franchise record for career regular-season victories. He has 105 and is tied with Darrell May Sr., who ended his junior career in 1982. . . .
With players coming back from various international events, the Winterhawks have dropped D Eric Walker, 19, and D Linden Springer, 18, from their roster. Walker had one assist and 11 penalty minutes in 11 games, while Springer was pointless in three outings.
Walker (@WalkerFlocka4) tweeted last night: “@pdxwinterhawks thanks for the opportunity and experience these past couple weeks or so, top notch organization and I really enjoyed it all.”
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The Vancouver Giants have added D Arvin Atwal, 17, to their roster. He had been with junior B North Delta Devils of the Pacific International league. Atwal, 6-foot-0 and 190 pounds, played five games with the Giants last season and two earlier this season. He has yet to record his first WHL point. . . . Atwal was selected in the eighth round of the 2010 bantam draft by the Prince Albert Raiders. The Giants acquired him and F Austin Connor from the Raiders for F Teal Burns and D Tyler Hart on Oct. 17, 2011. . . . The Giants added Atwal to their roster a day after losing D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, 20, with a hand injury after a shot block.
The Giants also announced yesterday that Chad Scharff, their head equipment manager, is leaving to join the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
Scharff is a former Giants player, scout and assistant coach.
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D Matt Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels will join the Minnesota Wild when NHL teams open their abbreviated camps this weekend. But the Wild apparently plans on returning him to the Rebels before the season opens.
“I talked to Minnesota (Monday) morning and Matt talked to them (Monday) afternoon,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner, general manager and head coach, told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “He’ll be going in at the end of the week and will spend four or five days there and come back.
“It will be good for Matt, good for his development. The experience he’ll get will be beneficial.”
Dumba was the seventh overall selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
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The Saskatoon Blades hope to have F Nathan Burns back in their lineup against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday. Burns, 19, was injured in a game against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers on Jan. 1. . . . The Blades also said Monday that D Kyle Schmidt, who has been out with an undisclosed injury since Nov. 24, will be returned to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars once he gets medical clearance.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings may have F Michael Ferland and F Alessio Bertaggia back in the lineup tonight when they play host to the Calgary Hitmen. Ferland has missed three games with an undisclosed injury, while Bertaggia played for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship.
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Two German DEL teams, the host Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of Nuremberg and the Eisbaren Berlin, played in the Stadion Nuremberg on Saturday. What’s the big deal? Well, that is a soccer stadium. An outdoor soccer stadium.

The teams drew 50,000 fans, including as many as 7,000 Eisbaren fans who made the 450-kilometre trek.

There is more right here, including a mention of former WHLer T.J. Mulock. No, I didn’t know that T.J. stands for Travis James.
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From former Medicine Hat Tigers G Tyler Bunz (@tylerbunz): “gotta admit i was shocked when a girl made me sign her "bunz" after the game saturday..cant say thats happened before #waitwhatdidyousay?”
Bunz now is with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.
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From Prince George Cougars F Jarrett Fontaine (@JFontaine32): “@WHLFacts — 7 - the number of toe picks in practice by (@ZachPochiro13) today, currently leading the league in this category”


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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.
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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. . . .
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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.
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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.
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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
     
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