nivek_wahs
01-04-2008, 09:59 AM
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=110878&Itemid=160
Cats on the road, busy weekend ahead
(Sports) Thursday, 03 January 2008, 19:29 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
For some very familiar names, this is the last hurrah.
The Prince George Cougars bused south on Thursday to get situated for a three-game weekend journey, but the interesting part of the trip is that it will be the last time this group of players skates together.
The farewell tour makes stops in Kelowna (tonight), Chilliwack (Saturday) and Portland (Sunday afternoon), returning to Prince George in the morning hours of Monday.
After that, the next home games are Jan. 11-12 against Kelowna. The Western Hockey League’s trade deadline comes and goes at 2 p.m. local time on Thursday, and the Cougars are expected to be among the busiest clubs.
“I’m sure there are a couple of guys who are on edge a little bit with their names being mentioned around the league,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck.
“It’s not something they have control over, and we’ve sat down and talked with those guys. It’s just that time of the year and that’s a fact of life for older guys.
“Nobody’s talking about it, but I think there are some guys who know, or have the feeling, that this weekend is the last time they’ll be playing with each other. It’s not a situation that’s ideal, but everyone is going through it throughout the league to varying degrees.”
Schoneck isn’t the one pulling the trigger on trades, but said he’ll be surprised if nothing happens by Jan. 10.
“You look at our situation, we have some assets that would really put some teams over the top in their minds,” said the coach.
“At the end of the day, we have to do what’s best for this organization to move forward, and where we sit now... from where we want to be sitting, those are two different places.”
Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson, who is not on the trip so he can spend the weekend at his desk taking trade calls, said Wednesday he didn’t plan to pull the trigger on any trades until after the road trip.
“We have some guys who have gone through the trade deadline for four or five years and they know what it’s like this time of year,” said Thompson.
“They can help our younger players understand there’s nothing they can do except go play hard. It’s tough on a lot of people.”
Defencemen Ty Wishart, Jesse Dudas and Kalvin Sagert, forwards Greg Gardner and Evan Fuller, and goaltender Real Cyr are the most prominent Cougars available for the right price. The Spokane Chiefs, who are on a two-game losing streak, are believed to have the greatest interest in Wishart; Dudas, who will come at a lower price that Wishart, is generating feelers from a number of teams; and Gardner might be a fit in Calgary, where the Eastern Conference-leading Hitmen are carrying only two overagers, one of them former Cougars defenceman Ryan Gillen.
The Cougars are sellers at the trade deadline because their poor first half, that has them sitting at 13-24-1-0 right now, makes a playoff push a difficult task. Heading into tonight’s game, the Cats are 11 points back of Kamloops. The Blazers, in eighth spot, hold the last Western Conference playoff berth.
The good news -- the Cougars are healthy, with no injury concerns of any kind.
“No, we’re in a good spot that way and have been since just before Christmas,” said Thompson.
“This is a very important weekend. These three games, all in a row, make it important to get things going and going early. If one team goes on a three-game winning streak and another one goes on a losing streak, it can make a big difference in the standings in a hurry. We only have 34 more games (in the regular season), so it’s important.”
Thompson will be trying to move older players to give the rebuilding process a kickstart. With many of the current veterans failing to provide the kind of leadership that aids the development of young players, a fact reflected in the record, Thompson is putting a premium on acquiring character and skill.
“Character is the biggest thing, but it can be a tough thing to get a handle on because there’s only one team that really knows what a player is like, and that’s the one that might trade him,” said Thompson.
“The way the game is going, skating is more of a priority, so is skill. The rough-and-tumble guys, they’re going to come along, but players who skate and have skill, they’re the ones that will be drafted the highest and will be the ones who excel in today’s game.”
Away from home, the Cougars are 6-13-0-0, the third-worst road record in the WHL. A main reason for that is the penalty killing unit, last in the 22-team league both on the road (72.2 per cent, 30 goals against in 19 games) and overall (72.4 per cent, 58 goals against in 38 games). Only the Portland Winter Hawks, with 159 goals against, have surrendered more goals than the Cougars (151).
Trade chatter is league-wide
What’s being said in newspapers and on reputable blogs about the WHL trade deadline, and in particular the Prince George Cougars, who are positioned to be the biggest seller between now and Jan. 10:
----
What price would be right (for defenceman Ty Wishart)? You can start with a first-round bantam pick. Last season, the Cougars sent their pick, along with D Stefan Elliott, to the Saskatoon Blades to get RW Devin Setoguchi.
Thompson added that Wishart isn’t the only player on his roster who has drawn interest.
-- Gregg Drinnan, Kamloops Daily News, on his blog, Taking Note
------
One of the GMs to watch for is Dallas Thompson of the Prince George Cougars. The Cougars sit ninth in the 10-team Western Conference, 11 points out from the final postseason spot, and they have one of the more marketable assets in 19-year-old defenceman Ty Wishart. He’s likely to play pro somewhere in the San Jose Sharks system next year, but he could be the difference maker in the WHL playoffs this year.
-- Steve Ewen, Vancouver Province, on his blog, Dub Hub
------
SE: “There’s a school of thought the Prince George Cougars could really get the ball rolling if they can find a deal for Ty Wishart. Do you agree with that?”
TS: “Not naming specific names and speaking in general terms, I think that’s always the case. If there are bigger names on the market, when something gets done with them, other things get done. Everybody has their eyes on the marquee guys. Once they’re off the market, you readjust.”
-- Blog exchange between Ewen (SE) and Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz (TS)
------
The nice part about Ty Wishart is that not only is he a good player but at the same time he doesn’t cost you two spots as he’s not an overager. There’s a lot of overage defenceman that are out there that are very good. The problem is if you don’t have room for one on your roster you’re going to have to move one.
Wishart would be the premier guy, the price is very, very high and there again you have to decide if you’re the team that’s going to try and win it all. I won’t mislead you, (the Hurricanes) have inquired about Wishart. We were asked to give our offer which we did and I hear it’s going to take a lot more to acquire the player. We are going to use some common sense and not sell the farm for a three month player who’s already signed a pro contract and in all honesty who knows where his heart and head is at in terms of finishing off his WHL career and starting a pro career.
— Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Roy Stasiuk to Jon Keen, play-by-play voice of the Swift Current Broncos, posted on his blog, Keen’s Korner
Cats on the road, busy weekend ahead
(Sports) Thursday, 03 January 2008, 19:29 PST
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
For some very familiar names, this is the last hurrah.
The Prince George Cougars bused south on Thursday to get situated for a three-game weekend journey, but the interesting part of the trip is that it will be the last time this group of players skates together.
The farewell tour makes stops in Kelowna (tonight), Chilliwack (Saturday) and Portland (Sunday afternoon), returning to Prince George in the morning hours of Monday.
After that, the next home games are Jan. 11-12 against Kelowna. The Western Hockey League’s trade deadline comes and goes at 2 p.m. local time on Thursday, and the Cougars are expected to be among the busiest clubs.
“I’m sure there are a couple of guys who are on edge a little bit with their names being mentioned around the league,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck.
“It’s not something they have control over, and we’ve sat down and talked with those guys. It’s just that time of the year and that’s a fact of life for older guys.
“Nobody’s talking about it, but I think there are some guys who know, or have the feeling, that this weekend is the last time they’ll be playing with each other. It’s not a situation that’s ideal, but everyone is going through it throughout the league to varying degrees.”
Schoneck isn’t the one pulling the trigger on trades, but said he’ll be surprised if nothing happens by Jan. 10.
“You look at our situation, we have some assets that would really put some teams over the top in their minds,” said the coach.
“At the end of the day, we have to do what’s best for this organization to move forward, and where we sit now... from where we want to be sitting, those are two different places.”
Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson, who is not on the trip so he can spend the weekend at his desk taking trade calls, said Wednesday he didn’t plan to pull the trigger on any trades until after the road trip.
“We have some guys who have gone through the trade deadline for four or five years and they know what it’s like this time of year,” said Thompson.
“They can help our younger players understand there’s nothing they can do except go play hard. It’s tough on a lot of people.”
Defencemen Ty Wishart, Jesse Dudas and Kalvin Sagert, forwards Greg Gardner and Evan Fuller, and goaltender Real Cyr are the most prominent Cougars available for the right price. The Spokane Chiefs, who are on a two-game losing streak, are believed to have the greatest interest in Wishart; Dudas, who will come at a lower price that Wishart, is generating feelers from a number of teams; and Gardner might be a fit in Calgary, where the Eastern Conference-leading Hitmen are carrying only two overagers, one of them former Cougars defenceman Ryan Gillen.
The Cougars are sellers at the trade deadline because their poor first half, that has them sitting at 13-24-1-0 right now, makes a playoff push a difficult task. Heading into tonight’s game, the Cats are 11 points back of Kamloops. The Blazers, in eighth spot, hold the last Western Conference playoff berth.
The good news -- the Cougars are healthy, with no injury concerns of any kind.
“No, we’re in a good spot that way and have been since just before Christmas,” said Thompson.
“This is a very important weekend. These three games, all in a row, make it important to get things going and going early. If one team goes on a three-game winning streak and another one goes on a losing streak, it can make a big difference in the standings in a hurry. We only have 34 more games (in the regular season), so it’s important.”
Thompson will be trying to move older players to give the rebuilding process a kickstart. With many of the current veterans failing to provide the kind of leadership that aids the development of young players, a fact reflected in the record, Thompson is putting a premium on acquiring character and skill.
“Character is the biggest thing, but it can be a tough thing to get a handle on because there’s only one team that really knows what a player is like, and that’s the one that might trade him,” said Thompson.
“The way the game is going, skating is more of a priority, so is skill. The rough-and-tumble guys, they’re going to come along, but players who skate and have skill, they’re the ones that will be drafted the highest and will be the ones who excel in today’s game.”
Away from home, the Cougars are 6-13-0-0, the third-worst road record in the WHL. A main reason for that is the penalty killing unit, last in the 22-team league both on the road (72.2 per cent, 30 goals against in 19 games) and overall (72.4 per cent, 58 goals against in 38 games). Only the Portland Winter Hawks, with 159 goals against, have surrendered more goals than the Cougars (151).
Trade chatter is league-wide
What’s being said in newspapers and on reputable blogs about the WHL trade deadline, and in particular the Prince George Cougars, who are positioned to be the biggest seller between now and Jan. 10:
----
What price would be right (for defenceman Ty Wishart)? You can start with a first-round bantam pick. Last season, the Cougars sent their pick, along with D Stefan Elliott, to the Saskatoon Blades to get RW Devin Setoguchi.
Thompson added that Wishart isn’t the only player on his roster who has drawn interest.
-- Gregg Drinnan, Kamloops Daily News, on his blog, Taking Note
------
One of the GMs to watch for is Dallas Thompson of the Prince George Cougars. The Cougars sit ninth in the 10-team Western Conference, 11 points out from the final postseason spot, and they have one of the more marketable assets in 19-year-old defenceman Ty Wishart. He’s likely to play pro somewhere in the San Jose Sharks system next year, but he could be the difference maker in the WHL playoffs this year.
-- Steve Ewen, Vancouver Province, on his blog, Dub Hub
------
SE: “There’s a school of thought the Prince George Cougars could really get the ball rolling if they can find a deal for Ty Wishart. Do you agree with that?”
TS: “Not naming specific names and speaking in general terms, I think that’s always the case. If there are bigger names on the market, when something gets done with them, other things get done. Everybody has their eyes on the marquee guys. Once they’re off the market, you readjust.”
-- Blog exchange between Ewen (SE) and Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz (TS)
------
The nice part about Ty Wishart is that not only is he a good player but at the same time he doesn’t cost you two spots as he’s not an overager. There’s a lot of overage defenceman that are out there that are very good. The problem is if you don’t have room for one on your roster you’re going to have to move one.
Wishart would be the premier guy, the price is very, very high and there again you have to decide if you’re the team that’s going to try and win it all. I won’t mislead you, (the Hurricanes) have inquired about Wishart. We were asked to give our offer which we did and I hear it’s going to take a lot more to acquire the player. We are going to use some common sense and not sell the farm for a three month player who’s already signed a pro contract and in all honesty who knows where his heart and head is at in terms of finishing off his WHL career and starting a pro career.
— Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Roy Stasiuk to Jon Keen, play-by-play voice of the Swift Current Broncos, posted on his blog, Keen’s Korner