Jamie Benn Joins Rockets

[eecliff]

It was just announced on AM 1150 that Benn has agreed to play for the Rockets this season.

Not much else was mentioned, but I imagine it will be all over the Kelowna sports pages in an hour or two.

http://reganbartel.blogspot.com/

History-
2006-07: Having committed to Alaska-Fairbanks for 08-09, Benn spent the season playing for the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Benn scored 42 goals and 23 assists in 53 games. Nearly half of his goals (19) came on the powerplay. Dallas Stars pick 129th.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=f4253e6b-41c3-44d3-b278-4016fa69445f


WHL seen as route to NHL
Departure of star an opportunity for others

Steve Ewen, The Province
Published: Tuesday, October 02, 2007

The Victoria Grizzlies are hoping that cliche about bad things happening in threes doesn't apply to them.

The BCHL squad that lost its then-new coach Rick Lanz to an NHL scouting job at the start of training camp lost its best player, sniper Jamie Benn, to the WHL's Kelowna Rockets on Monday.

The speedy winger, who had 42 goals last year with Victoria and was then picked by the Dallas Stars in the fifth-round of the NHL draft, is giving up playing one more season of junior with his older brother, Victoria defenceman Jordie Benn, 20, in the process.

He's also foregoing a college career alongside his sibling. They had both committed to play with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks next season.

"I'm not worried about Jordie," said Grizzlies general manager-coach Jackson Penney.

"He's his own person. He's going to school. He's very tight with his brother and he's excited for him right now, but he also knows that he's the captain of the Victoria Grizzlies and he has to keep on leading this team.

"Hockey is a business. We have to move forward with the 21 guys we've got. The kids have to keep getting better and better and they'll do that by working hard collectively. And this becomes an opportunity for the other guys to step up."

The Grizzlies did see this coming at least. Getting drafted has Benn, 18, thinking about fast tracking his way to the pro ranks, and the Rockets have recruited the Victoria native heavily the past two years.

The Grizzlies were sideswiped by the departure of Lanz in late August. He had been coaxed into jumping in late April from the Burnaby Express, the team he led to the national title in 2006, after Victoria fired Rylan Ferster due to a second-round playoff ousting.

There were rumours about Lanz taking a scouting gig with the Colorado Avalanche almost immediately. On Aug. 22, Penney was denying them to the media. On Aug. 24, he was at a press conference, answering questions about taking over as coach.

"Does it make it easier this stuff happening early in the season? Yeah, probably, but in the end, it's out of your hands whether it happens early or it happens late," said Penney, a former Victoria Cougar who coached in Sweden and Germany after his playing career in Europe finished.

"What happens today, happens today. Tomorrow can be a completely different situation."

Oddly enough, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound Benn goes from playing for Victoria owner Len Barrie to playing with Barrie's son Tyson, a rookie defenceman with the Rockets.

Benn played just three of Victoria's first eight games this season, due to a "lower body injury," Penney said. He had no points. The Rockets say he should be ready to play immediately for them.

steve.ewen@gmail.com




© The Vancouver Province 2007

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=67657


BCHL sniper jumps ranks, joins Rockets, WHL

By Doyle Potenteau
Monday, October 1, 2007

The Kelowna Rockets‘ young roster got a big younger on Monday.
After two years of chasing Jamie Benn, the Rockets got their young man, announcing Monday that the high-scoring forward had agreed to play in Kelowna. Benn, 18, had been playing with the B.C. Hockey League‘s Victoria Grizzlies, and, last season, was named the junior-A league‘s rookie of the year.
“We‘ve been pursuing (Benn) for the past two years,” Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton said of Benn, a six-foot-two left winger from Victoria. Benn was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the NHL‘s 2007 entry draft, fifth round, 129th overall.
“(Ever) since (assistant GM Lorne Frey put him on our 50-player protected list, he‘s been a player we‘ve had great interest in,” continued Hamilton. “By looking at his stats, he‘s a guy you want on your team.”
With Victoria last season, Benn scored 42 goals and and 23 assists for 65 points and 78 penalty minutes in 53 regular-season games. Of his 42 goals, 19 came on the power play. In 11 playoff games, Benn scored five goals, including two game-winners, and four assists.
Prior to 2006-07, he played junior B for the Peninsula Panthers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League as a 16-year-old. In 38 games, he scored 31 goals and 24 assists for 55 points and tallied 92 penalty minutes. He was also named the VIJHL‘s top rookie.
Before officially joining Kelowna on Monday, Benn had committed to playing NCAA hockey at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
On a UAF blog, the Nanooks‘ former head coach, Tavis MacMillan, was quoted as saying “Jamie Benn is a goal scorer.
“Very few young men have the talent and skill to score goals like he does. He‘s been a successful goal scorer at every level he‘s played at, and there‘s no doubt in our minds that he will continue that success at the collegiate level.”
While Hamilton is pleased that Benn has committed to the major-junior route, he doesn‘t expect his team‘s newest player to start lighting up the scoreboard. At least, not in the short term.
“We understand there is a difference between the (WHL and BCHL), and we know he‘ll need some time to get adjusted,” said Hamilton. “But we feel he has what it takes to move up and onto the professional ranks.”
Benn said his plan during summer was to attend college, but that changed.
“I thought this route would be the best for my career,” he said on Monday after a two-hour practice at Prospera Place. “Kelowna‘s a great organization and you can see there‘s great talent with this team.
“Hopefully I can help them today and down the road.”
With Benn in the fold, Kelowna now has a glut of forwards, meaning players will be fighting for ice time and jobs in the coming weeks.