Thursday News

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Courtesy Alan Caldwell

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Couple notes from yesterday...

Two minor trades were made yesterday; the first one saw Tri-City send 18 year old forward Joel Ridgeway to Portland for a conditional 2009 6th rounder. The condition is probably that Ridgeway still be in the league by some point this season. And the second deal saw Vancouver deal 16 year old non-roster forward Sahir Gill to Kamloops for a conditional 2nd round pick in 2010. Gill must be a pretty good prospect to be worth potentially a 2nd round pick....the condition in the deal is probably that Gill must report to Kamloops by a certain date. He is currently in the BCHL with the Vernon Vipers.

Brandon's chances of getting Russian import forward Maxim Mayorov may have taken a hit yesterday when he was assigned to the AHL by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets will take a look at Mayorov at their AHL camp now before deciding whether he'll play there or whether they'll send him to the WHL.

And the league's only perfect team, at 5-0, is Swift Current, and they may have just lost their #1 goaltender for a month or more. Overager Travis Yonkman will see a doctor about a shoulder injury and could be out for a while. 19 year old backup Mark Guggenberger takes over as the #1 for now and the Broncos are going to have to find themselves another goaltender to be the backup for a month and maybe longer. Torrie Jung (Kelowna), Kraymer Barnstable (Vancouver), and Matt Esposito (Chilliwack) are all experienced WHL goalies who are currently out of the league and presumably available for a trade....or the Broncos could just bring in a prospect off their list like Chad Ketting, who's currently with Powell River of the BCHL.

And I didn't get that overage breakdown done yesterday, so it'll be up later today instead.


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Gregg Drinnan

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Thanks to Ryan, an interested reader, for pointing out Howard Berger’s story today out of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ camp. Yes, there’s more speculation here about D Luke Schenn and whether he’ll be returning to the Kelowna Rockets. You can read it right here.
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In Thursday’s lone game, the host Calgary Hitmen doubled the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2, in a game that included five scraps. . . . F Kyle Bortis had two goals for the Hitmen (5-2-0-0) and F Brett Sonne added a goal and two assists. Sonne also picked up 27 minutes in penalties at 6:49 of the second period. Despite not playing a shift after that, he was named the game’s first star. . . . Sonne now leads the WHL scoring race with 11 points, one more than Bortis. . . . Calgary is 5-0-0-0 on home ice. . . . Lethbridge was 0-for-4 on the PP, meaning Calgary has given up only one goal in 32 shorthanded situations this season. . . . The Hurricanes (4-3-0-0) had been 8-0 in their last eight trips, including playoffs, to Cowtown. . . . G Martin Jones, 18, who had been in camp with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings on a free-agent tryout, made 18 saves for the victory. Martin returned to the Hitmen with a three-year contract in his hip pocket. Jones joins Dan Spence, 20, and Michael Snider, 17, in Calgary’s crease. . . . Spence was scratched last night as Calgary went with Bortis, RW Carson McMillan and D Keith Seabrook as the three 20-year-olds. C Ian Duval, who is out with mononucleosis, is the fifth 20-year-old on Calgary’s roster. . . . The Hitmen are down to 28 players after dropping F Jesse Hilton, 17. His destination is unknown at this point.
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JUST NOTES: The Prince Albert Raiders were thrilled to have a familiar face back at practice this week. D Ryan Aasman, 16, returned to the ice Wednesday after spending two weeks at home in Medicine Hat following the death of his father, Tony. . . . The Portland Winter Hawks have named D Travis Ehrhardt, 19, as team captain with D Scott Gabriel, D Ryan Kerr and C Matt Schmermund as the alternates. . . . In order to make room for F Joel Ridgeway, 18, who was acquired this week from the Tri-City Americans, the Winter Hawks released D Lee Morrow, 18. Portland also dropped Morrow from their protected list so he is a free agent. . . . Ehrhardt has one game remaining in a two-game suspension for a weekend hit on Everett Silvertips RW Matt Ius, who was left with a concussion. Portland head coach Rich Kromm, however, didn’t agree with the suspension. “He hit a guy square, and they called it elbowing,” Kromm told Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune. “If anything, it should have been an interference (penalty). The video was not conclusive; if anything his shoulder caught the kid’s chin.” . . . The OHL’s Oshawa Generals will play host to the Home Hardware Top Prospects festivities this season, with the skills competition set for Jan. 13 and the game Jan. 14. . . . The Spokane Chiefs have D Trevor Glass, 20, back on their roster. He had been in camp with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, whose head coach is Bill Peters. Peters was the Chiefs’ head coach last season. Glass was acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers last season and was a major contributor to the Chiefs’ Memorial Cup championship. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders got their roster down to 24, including eight defencemen and 13 forwards, by assigning C Robbie Ciolfi to the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. He was acquired in January from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, coming over with LW Brent Martin, 16, for D Jeff May. Ciolfi got into six exhibition games before suffering a wrist injury. He had yet to play in a regular-season game. . . . The Vancouver Canucks are 6-0 after beating the visiting San Jose Sharks, 3-2, on Thursday. Some fans already are planning the parade route.
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The WHL has a board of governors meeting scheduled for Oct. 15 in Calgary. The sale of the Portland Winter Hawks from John Bryant, Jack Donovan and Jim Goldsmith to Calgary-based Bill Gallacher, who owns a chunk of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, and his group is expected to be high on the agenda.
And, yes, the Winter Hawks’ on-ice personnel are well aware of it.
"I can't lie, of course we think about it," Kromm told Vondersmith. "Not much we can do, except just work."

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