Friday Notes

[Scout]

Courtesy Alan Caldwell:

Friday, November 9, 2007
Friday notes
The upheaval is not over in Kamloops. Greg Hawgood is the coach for the rest of this season - and the rest of this season only, as team owner Tom Gagliardi stated yesterday. Hawgood will be replaced next summer, and appears to have only been hired in the first place because he was convenient (he lives in Kamloops) and because he has ties to some members of the ownership group through their playing days. He has no coaching experience. Is this any way to run a team? Why not take an extra week or two and find the best-qualified coach, who can then start shaping the team for the next several years NOW, rather than waiting until next summer to really start going in a new direction?

Secondly, there will be no G.M. hired until next summer as well - which is why Hawgood wasn't given the vote of confidence as coach past this year. Presumably the job of hiring the new coach would be given to whoever becomes the new G.M., which is entirely reasonable. But for the remainder of this season, it's unclear who is at the controls as far as making trades, the May bantam draft, and other key G.M. responsibilities are concerned.

The Reekie situation in Everett is over, at least from the Everett side of things. The Silvertips were unable to trade him and put him on waivers instead. Interesting note in the article though that Tips G.M. Doug Soetart did have a trade worked out for Reekie before he came down with mono; that would indicate that at least one G.M. in the league did like him enough to want to give up something for him. Whether that team (which has probably addressed their goaltending another way since then) is still interested, I guess we'll see. I have a gut feeling that Reekie will end up in the OHL though.

[Scout]

with Gregg Drinnan

Saturday, November 10, 2007
Friday notes . . .
The Kootenay Ice has acquired F Kris Foucault, who turns 17 on Dec. 12, from the Swift Current Broncos for a 2008 sixth-round bantam draft pick. The Ice was down to 11 forwards so went out and got Foucault, who will join the team Saturday and play Sunday against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. Foucault, from Calgary, had 11 points in 10 games with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes. A late cut of the Broncos in training camp, he is a cousin to Ice F Tylan Stephens. . . .

The Edmonton Oil Kings have added C Jeff Lee, 19, to their roster. Lee, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, has left the University of Alaska/Anchorage Nanooks to join the Oil Kings. He may be in their lineup Saturday night in Regina. . . . Last season, Lee had six points and 32 penalty minutes in 34 games. This season, he was pointless in two games. . . . Lee was selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the seventh round of the 2003 bantam draft. . . .

D Ryan Aasman, the eighth pick in the 2007 bantam draft, is with the Prince Albert Raiders and may make his WHL debut against the host Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday night. Aasman, 15, plays for the midget AAA Medicine Hat Big Country Energy Services Tigers. . . .

FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Calgary, the Hitmen got two third-period power-play goals to come from behind and dump the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-2. . . . Ryan White and Paul Postma had PP goals 90 seconds apart for the Hitmen (13-8-0-1), who had lost two straight and eight of 11 overall. They also had lost four of their last five home games. . . . The Warriors (9-6-3-1) have lost three straight. . . . White wound up with two goals, including the winner at 17:34 of the third period. . . . Moose Jaw G Joey Perricone was terrific, with 37 saves. . . . According to the Warriors, 26 of Calgary’s shots came on the PP. . . . D Keaton Ellerby, D Ty Ariss and LW Frazer McLaren, acquired in trades Thursday, were in uniform for the Warriors. . . .

In Brandon, F Andrew Clark had a goal, three assists and a fight to lead the Wheat Kings to a 6-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Freshman F Scott Glennie had one of Brandon’s goals. . . . F Robin Figren scored twice for Edmonton (9-9-1-2), which is 5-5-1-2 on the road. . . . The game featured a third-period line brawl that resulted in eight players leaving early. . . . The Wheat Kings (12-7-0-1) have won four of five and three in a row at home. . . .

In Chilliwack, the Bruins dumped the Red Deer Rebels 3-2 in a shootout. . . . C Brandon Sutter had both Red Deer goals as the Rebels (5-14-4-1) lost for the 12th time in 13 games. . . . The Bruins (12-6-2-0) have won two in a row. . . . Chilliwack RW Oscar Moller had his nine-game goal-scoring streak end. . . . Chillwack, an expansion team last season, now is 3-0 versus Red Deer. . . . Chilliwack F Jadon Potter, in the seventh round of the shootout, finally ended it by beating Red Deer G Morgan Clark. . . . Red Deer’s other goaltender, James Reimer, has a sore groin so Clark is likely to make his third straight start as the Rebels end their swing Saturday in Vancouver. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Arnaud Jacquement had three goals for his first WHL hat trick to lead the Kootenay Ice to an 8-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . D Chad Greenan added three assists for the Ice (10-10-2-0), which has won three in a row and four of five, and reached the .500 mark for the first time this season. . . . At least 15 NHL scouts were in attendance, no doubt keeping a close eye on Everett F Kyle Beach, who had one assist and was minus-3. He also tried — but failed — to score one of those lacrosse-type goals, something he has done twice this season. . . . The Ice has scored 16 goals in three games. . . . Everett (11-9-0-0) is went 3-3 on its Central Division swing. . . . Everett has scored 60 goals, 30 of them on the PP. . . .

In Lethbridge, LW Zach Boychuk had a goal and two assists to lead the Hurricanes to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Hurricanes (12-7-1-1) have won eight of their last nine games as they have picked up 17 of a possible 18 points. . . . The Raiders are 7-12-2-0. . . . With C Jacob Dietrich having been traded to Portland, F Mike Wuchterl has an ‘A’ on his Lethbridge jersey. . . . F Colton Sceviour, D Lucas Alexiuk and F Nick Hotson, acquired by Lethbridge from Portland, all were in uniform. . . .

In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets ran their winning streak to five games, beating the Cougars, 5-1. . . . Kelowna C Cody Almond had one assist, giving him 12 points in his last six games. . . . The Rockets now are 10-7-1-1. . . . The Cougars (9-12-0-0) have lost three in a row. . . . Prince George D Chris Vanduynhoven, who had two goals in 7-4 loss in Vancouver on Wednesday to double his career total, didn’t score in this one. . . . C Milan Kytnar scored twice for Kelowna. . . . Prince George’s penalty killers, a WHL-worst 73.2 per cent, gave up two goals on four chances. . . . The Cougars were without three injured players — D Jesse Dudas, F Evan Fuller and F Dale Hunt. . . . G Real Cyr, who had watched Tommy Tartaglione make five straight starts, stopped 30 shots for the Cougars. . . .

In Regina, D Logan Pyett had a goal and two assists to lead the Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . F Jordan Eberle had his 17th goal of the season for the Pats (14-7-0-0), who have won two in a row. . . . The Blades (6-12-1-0) are 1-10-1-0 on the road. . . . The game featured a late first-period bout between Saskatoon’s Garrett Klotz (6-foot-6, 231 pounds) and Regina’s Josh Elder (6-foot-5, 215 pounds). According to Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post: “The monsters traded some huge blows off the start before tying each other up for a draw.” . . . Regina head coach Curtis Hunt told Harder that was a turning point: “I thought it energized our bench.” . . . Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Kerry Joseph dropped the ceremonial first puck as it was Rider Pride Night at the Brandt Centre. . . .

In Spokane, the Kamloops Blazers, having lost four in a row and having fired GM/head coach Dean Clark on Wednesday, erased an early 2-0 deficit and beat the Chiefs, 4-3. . . . It was the first victory for Kamloops interim head coach Greg Hawgood. . . . The Chiefs (13-3-1-2) had won 10 of 11. . . . The Blazers (7-9-1-1) scored four power-play goals in six chances. Spokane went in having given up 13 goals in 91 opportunities. . . . The Chiefs led 2-0 before the game was 11 minutes old. . . . Spokane F Curtis Kelman took a major and game misconduct for a hit from behind on Kamloops D Ryan Bender late in the second period. The Blazers struck twice on the PP to erase a 3-2 deficit. . . . Bender was bleeding from the forehead and didn’t return for the third period. . . . Kamloops C C.J. Stretch, who missed a 2-1 shootout loss to the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday while writing an exam in California, got the winner at 3:30 of the third period. . . . Kamloops also was without D Victor Bartley (knee), D Jordan Rowley (shoulder) and LW Travis Dunstall (ankle). RW Brady Calla, acquired Thursday from Moose Jaw for D Keaton Ellerby, didn’t play. He is expected in the lineup Saturday when the Blazers play host to the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Chiefs lost D Jared Spurgeon with an undisclosed injury in the second period. . . .

In Swift Current, G Travis Yonkman stopped 22 shots to leda the Broncos to a 3-0 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Yonkman, who earned his first shutout of the season and third of his career, was especially strong in the third period when the Tigers (12-7-2-0) had three power plays and 10 shots. . . . The Tigers have lost four in a row. . . . Eric Felde had one of the goals, giving him a team-high 12. . . . It was the first time Medicine Hat has been blanked since Dec. 29. . . . The Broncos (12-5-0-3) had lost their last two games. They now have beaten the Tigers twice this season. . . . The loss knocked the Tigers all the way to a fourth-place tie with Lethbridge in the Eastern Conference standings, behind Regina, Calgary and Swift Current.