Monday Musings [Archive]

Scout

11-06-2007, 07:17 AM

Courtesy Alan Caldwell:

Monday, November 5, 2007
Monday musings
Slow news day today, it seems....

The Ice are down a player this week after 19 year old defenceman Paul MacDonald left the team last Friday for "personal reasons". It's believed he was unhappy with his ice time, but when you're still a 6th/7th defenceman calibre player at 19, you can't expect 20-25 minutes a night. MacDonald had injury troubles in his career but also never really progressed over what he was at 17 either.

A sign Brent Sutter might not be a mad junior hockey genius: his decision to ditch Alex Poulter this summer in favour of younger players. The Rebels got a 5th round pick for the 18 year old Poulter, who is playing very well in Prince George and has 10 goals so far. Uh, that's twice as many goals as anyone on the offence-starved Rebels has. Are the Rebels really going to be better off next year for having a 17 year old like Willie Coetzee or Mike Krgovich or Spencer Edwards or the 18 year old Tyler Penny play there this year instead of the 18 year old Poulter, whose spot one of them took?

UPDATE: speaking of players Sutter gave up on, Chilliwack has picked up Evan Pighin. Pighin was the other player traded to Prince George by the Rebels this past summer, but the Cougars dropped him (and thus the Rebels got nothing for him) when he told the Cougars he would rather play in the BCHL this year. He currently leads the BCHL in scoring with 42 points in 21 games, and has apparently decided to give the WHL another shot with Chilliwack. We'll see how he does.....he was nothing special last year in Red Deer as an 18 year old rookie.

Scout

11-06-2007, 07:19 AM

with Gregg Drinnan

Monday, November 5, 2007
Monday's notes
The Chilliwack Bruins have added RW Evan Pighin, 19, to their roster. Pighin, from Vancouver, had 11 points in 62 games with the Red Deer Rebels last season. He had been dealt to the Prince George Cougars over the summer, but chose to join the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He was leading the BCHL in goals (24) and points (42) when he chose to leave for Chilliwack. . . . Interestingly, he will make his debut with the Bruins tonight against the visiting Cougars for whom he chose not to play. . . . At the same time, C Alex Poulter, who was traded with Pighin to Prince George, is doing just fine, with 10 goals and seven assists in 18 games. Last seaosn, he had 12 points, including six goals, in 67 games. . . . In Chilliwack, Pighin may find himself playing alongside the Bruins’ big guns — centre Mark Santorelli and right-winger Oscar Moller. . . . Moller has at least one goal in each of his last eight games. If you’re wondering, that’s 10 games off the WHL record set by Cliff Ronning of the New Westminster Bruins in 1984-85. . . .

Former Prince Albert Raiders G David Aime, who will turn 18 on Dec. 18, has joined the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. Last season, Aime was 6-8-2-0 with a 3.68 GAA and a .876 save percentage. He is from Clandeboye, Man. . . .

The Western Major Junior Hockey Writers weekly rankings of WHL teams, showing last week’s ranking, first-place votes and total points (22 points for first-place vote, 21 for second and so on):
1. (2) Spokane Chiefs (15) 393
2. (1) Vancouver Giants (3) 378
3. (4) Tri-City Americans 360
4. (3) Medicine Hat Tigers 331
5. (6) Regina Pats 326
6. (8) Swift Current Broncos 297
7. (5) Calgary Hitmen 289
8. (9) Moose Jaw Warriors 255
9. (12) Brandon Wheat Kings 249
10. (11) Everett Silvertips 235
11. (7) Chilliwack Bruins 224
12. (13) Lethbridge Hurricanes 199
13. (10) Seattle Thunderbirds 196
14. (15) Kelowna Rockets 152
15. (18) Prince George Cougars 143
16. (16) Kootenay Ice 138
17. (17) Edmonton Oil Kings 105
18. (14) Kamloops Blazers 95
19. (19) Prince Albert Raiders 73
20. (21) Saskatoon Blades 57
21. (20) Red Deer Rebels 40
22. (22) Portland Winter Hawks 19
(Voters: Everett Herald, Seattle Times, Spokane Spokesman-Review, Chilliwack Progress, Kamloops Daily News, Kelowna Capital News, Kelowna Daily Courier, Kootenay NewsAdvertiser, Calgary Sun, Red Deer Advocate, Lethbridge Herald, Swift Current Prairie Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Prince Albert Daily Herald, Brandon Sun, Moose Jaw Times-Herald, Prince George Citizen, Medicine Hat News.)

The Spokane Chiefs get a few days off before they put their 10-0-0-1 streak on the line Friday night against the visiting Kamloops Blazers. Spokane hasn’t lost Oct. 8 when it dropped a 5-3 decision to the Bruins in Chilliwack. “Four years ago, we decided to redefine what we were looking for,” Chiefs GM Tim Speltz told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “The game has changed now, and players have to be able to skate. So we started putting more emphasis on guys who could skate, were smart and could move the puck. We’ve always like guys with character, but if they could do those key things first and then also have that, that was a bonus. If nothing else, this shows that the inverse draft in the WHL works and it puts an emphasis on the cyclical nature (of hockey).” . . . The Chiefs also are getting some solid play out of the three early first-round draft picks they landed when they were going through some tough times. LW Drayson Bowman was the eighth pick in 2004, while they got C Mitch Wahl with the fourth pick in 2005 and D Jared Cowen with the first pick in 2006. . . .

The Blazers have lost three in a row and four of five as they play host to the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday. The Rebels have lost 10 straight. Something has to give, doesn't it?