Wednesday Early

[Scout]

with Gregg Drinnan

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Kyle Wanvig (Edmonton Ice/Kootenay/Red Deer) signed with Brynäs Gävle (Sweden Elitserien) after his release by Khabarovsk (Russia KHL). He had two goals and one assist in 16 games for the Amur Tigers this season and is expected to be in the lineup for Brynäs' game Saturday against Luleå. . . . D Mark Ardelan (Brandon/Vancouver/Prince Albert) has been released by Lukko Rauma (Finland SM-Liiga). In 22 games this season, Ardelan had
one goal and seven assists for Lukko. F Ryan Menai (Moose Jaw/Saskatoon) has been released by Asiago (Italy Serie A) by mutual agreement. He had four goals and five assists in 13 games this season.
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JUST NOTES: Martin Jones of the Calgary Hitmen is the ADT CHL goaltender of the week. He was 3-0-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .955 save percentage last week. . . . One WHL team’s coaches have taken to wearing helmets on the ice during practice sessions. More on this later, but they apparently did a minor hockey clinic and had to wear them for that, so decided to keep on wearing the lids during team practices. . . . If you’re interested and have access, the Prince George Cougars at Kamloops Blazers game is being televised by Shaw tonight. Game time is 7 p.m. Pacific time.
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The CHL Mosaik MasterCard top 10 for Week 10, as selected by a panel of NHL scouts, showing team, record, last week and number of weeks in rankings:
1. Windsor Spitfires (21-2-0-0) 2 10
2. Shawinigan Cataractes (21-4-0-0) 4 7
3. Moncton Wildcats (18-2-2-0) 1 9
4. Calgary Hitmen (21-4-1-0) 5 5
5. Vancouver Giants (17-1-0-3) 3 8
6. London Knights (17-5-0-1) 6 7
7. Brampton Battalion (16-6-0-0) 9 2
8. Quebec Remparts (17-4-0-2) 7 7
9. Drummondville Voltigeurs (17-4-0-2) - 6
10. Saskatoon Blades (17-6-1-0) – 1

Scout

[Joe Hallenback]

Its funny to see 4 Q teams in the top 10 and only 3 Dub teams. There is so much more parity in the Dub then the Q or the OHL that I bet even the bottom teams would give those top 10 teams a go in a 7 game series

[Scout]

with Gregg Drinnan

Thursday, November 20, 2008

F Kenton Miller, 17, has joined the Spokane Chiefs from the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. Miller, from Redvers, Sask., had six points, five of them goals, in 24 games with the Hawks. He was a seventh-round selection of the Regina Pats in the 2006 bantam draft but was dropped from their list after the 2008 training camp. Miller played for the Chiefs on Wednesday night in Regina. The Pats won the game, 2-0.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have acquired G Todd Mathews, 18, and a sixth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft from the Moose Jaw Warriors for RW Cody Smuk, 19, and a 2009 fifth-round draft pick. . . . Mathews started the season with the Warriors but was assigned to the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds when Moose Jaw acquired G Jeff Bosch from the Regina Pats. . . . Smuk started his WHL career with the Chilliwack Bruins, before being dealt to Lethbridge prior to the start of this season. He had four points in 21 games with the Hurricanes. . . . The Warriors also assigned RW Brayden Metz, 18, to the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. He had two goals in 13 games since being acquired from Chilliwack.
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JUST NOTES: The Everett Silvertips won their 11th straight game over Portland, beating the visiting Winter Hawks, 7-1, on Wednesday night. . . . For the second time this season, Everett got goals from seven different players. . . . Everett was without F Jesse Burt (leg), who was injured blocking a shot Friday in Swift Current. . . . D Jon Blum scored three times as the host Vancouver Giants dumped the Chilliwack Bruins, 4-1. It was Blum’s first WHL three-goal game. . . . The Giants were without C Evander Kane (heel). He had at least one point in each of the Giants’ first 21 games this season. Kane wasn’t even in the building as the Giants chose to have him stay home rather than hobble around on crutches. The good news is that X-rays have shown that a heel that once was thought to contain a fracture is only bruised. . . . The Giants (18-1-0-3) are 18-1-1-1 in regular-season play against the Bruins over the last two-plus seasons. . . . The Kelowna Rockets had dropped 10 straight games to Tri-City before beating the visiting Americans, 3-1. Kelowna had last beaten the Americans on Feb. 25, 2006. . . . LW Jamie Benn scored his WHL-leading 21st goal for the Rockets. . . . RW Brady Calla had two assists in his first game back with Kamloops as the Blazers doubled the visiting Prince George Cougars, 4-2. . . . F Zach Boychuk scored twice and freshman D Max Ross got his first goal as the Lethbridge Hurricanes got back to .500 with a 6-2 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Raiders actually are 11-11-0-1 so, from here, aren’t quite at .500 — they have one more loss than victories — but the loser point gives them 23 points in as many games. . . . In Regina, G Linden Rowat stopped 30 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Pats dumped the Spokane Chiefs, 2-0, in front of 6,220 fans. It was Rowat’s ninth career shutout, tying him with Josh Harding, now of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, for the Pats’ all-time record. . . . The Chiefs have lost three of four on their eastern swing. . . . The Pats (15-8-1-3) now embark on their longest road trip of the season. They will play eight games in 17 days, returning home Dec. 12 to face the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Seattle Thunderbirds wrapped up a 3-3-0-1 road swing with a 3-2 loss to the Broncos in Swift Current. Broncos G Travis Yonkman stopped 33 shots. . . . The Kootenay Ice scored two shorthanded goals and beat the host Saskatoon Blades, 4-3. Earlier in the day, the Blades showed up in the CHL’s top 10 — at No. 10 — for the first time this season. . . . The Blades had won five in a row. . . . Andrew Bailey and Dustin Sylvester had the Ice’s shorthanded goals.


Scout