Scout
11-15-2007, 07:09 PM
Courtesy Alan Caldwell:
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday stuff
Bunch of player movement to mention....first, 19 year old forward Levi Lind has left the Regina Pats in favour of playing Jr A in the SJHL. It's probably not a great loss as Lind had no points and little icetime and his playing time might be better off being given to a younger player with more upside.
Still with the Pats, they healthy-scratched vets Troy Ofukany and Josh Elder for last night's game for disciplinary reasons which coach Curtis Hunt would not discuss. Is it just me or do the Pats seem to have a lot of disciplinary scratches? If so, is that condemnation of some of their players, or a commendation to the organization for being more willing to admit to why vets are scratched?
By the way, want to know what Pats coach Curtis Hunt thought of the officiating last night in Medicine Hat? Some choice comments from him in Pats p-b-p guy Rod Pederson's blog. Sez Hunt: "I thought we played a great game but it almost was taken away from us with the usual homer calls you get here in Medicine Hat. You know those long sticks they use to clean swimming pools in the summer? Sometimes I'd like to get one of those and put a boxing glove on the end of it."
Hmmm.....you don't suppose Hunt's wallet will be lighter in the next few days, do you? I don't think the league will let a coach make an allusion to punching a referee and get away with it.
Next, the SJHL lost a player to the WHL as well, with former Warrior and Silvertip Carter Smith joining the Red Deer Rebels yesterday, where he made a stylish debut by scoring the winning goal in Red Deer's victory over Edmonton. As I mentioned when he left Everett, Smith has not been the same player since The Accident and hopefully this is a step towards him finally realizing the promise he once had as a 2nd round bantam pick.
As mentioned yesterday, Casey Pierro-Zabotel has joined the Vancouver Giants. I've already seen/read people making fun of him because he was forced to give up his scholarship when he couldn't academically qualify for university. That, I think, is unfortunate.....not everyone in the world is cut out for post-secondary educations. There are a lot of current players in the WHL (and some in the NCAA too!) who will never earn a university degree. I don't see why this is something to poke fun at the kid over.
And still with the Giants, a great story here about 20 year old super-pest Garet Hunt and his "little billet brother", 16 year old Neil Manning. Meanwhile, Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith billets with the mom of Chiefs forward David Rutherford, which makes for some tough games for Rutherford's mom when the two teams face each other.
And another billet story, this one in Chilliwack where overage defenceman Dylan Chapman was tasked with easing import David Hoda's transition into North America.
Lastly, the Hitmen have introduced a special jersey for the annual Teddy Bear Toss game on December 2nd. It's kind of an amusing idea as they have kept the usual stick-wielding masked "hitman" logo but have added a Santa hat to the character, as well as snowbanks on top of all the numbers, and the shoulder patch is a teddy bear. The jerseys themselves are bright red instead of the usual black. Pictures here and here. The jerseys will be sold at a game a week later via a silent auction and proceeds distributed to charity.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Thursday stuff
Bunch of player movement to mention....first, 19 year old forward Levi Lind has left the Regina Pats in favour of playing Jr A in the SJHL. It's probably not a great loss as Lind had no points and little icetime and his playing time might be better off being given to a younger player with more upside.
Still with the Pats, they healthy-scratched vets Troy Ofukany and Josh Elder for last night's game for disciplinary reasons which coach Curtis Hunt would not discuss. Is it just me or do the Pats seem to have a lot of disciplinary scratches? If so, is that condemnation of some of their players, or a commendation to the organization for being more willing to admit to why vets are scratched?
By the way, want to know what Pats coach Curtis Hunt thought of the officiating last night in Medicine Hat? Some choice comments from him in Pats p-b-p guy Rod Pederson's blog. Sez Hunt: "I thought we played a great game but it almost was taken away from us with the usual homer calls you get here in Medicine Hat. You know those long sticks they use to clean swimming pools in the summer? Sometimes I'd like to get one of those and put a boxing glove on the end of it."
Hmmm.....you don't suppose Hunt's wallet will be lighter in the next few days, do you? I don't think the league will let a coach make an allusion to punching a referee and get away with it.
Next, the SJHL lost a player to the WHL as well, with former Warrior and Silvertip Carter Smith joining the Red Deer Rebels yesterday, where he made a stylish debut by scoring the winning goal in Red Deer's victory over Edmonton. As I mentioned when he left Everett, Smith has not been the same player since The Accident and hopefully this is a step towards him finally realizing the promise he once had as a 2nd round bantam pick.
As mentioned yesterday, Casey Pierro-Zabotel has joined the Vancouver Giants. I've already seen/read people making fun of him because he was forced to give up his scholarship when he couldn't academically qualify for university. That, I think, is unfortunate.....not everyone in the world is cut out for post-secondary educations. There are a lot of current players in the WHL (and some in the NCAA too!) who will never earn a university degree. I don't see why this is something to poke fun at the kid over.
And still with the Giants, a great story here about 20 year old super-pest Garet Hunt and his "little billet brother", 16 year old Neil Manning. Meanwhile, Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith billets with the mom of Chiefs forward David Rutherford, which makes for some tough games for Rutherford's mom when the two teams face each other.
And another billet story, this one in Chilliwack where overage defenceman Dylan Chapman was tasked with easing import David Hoda's transition into North America.
Lastly, the Hitmen have introduced a special jersey for the annual Teddy Bear Toss game on December 2nd. It's kind of an amusing idea as they have kept the usual stick-wielding masked "hitman" logo but have added a Santa hat to the character, as well as snowbanks on top of all the numbers, and the shoulder patch is a teddy bear. The jerseys themselves are bright red instead of the usual black. Pictures here and here. The jerseys will be sold at a game a week later via a silent auction and proceeds distributed to charity.