Wednesday

[Scout]

with Gregg Drinnan

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

F Ondrej Roman won’t play for the Spokane Chiefs tonight against the visiting Chilliwack Bruins. KXLY-TV in Spokane has reported that Roman is returning to the Chiefs for the remainder of the season. And well that is likely to happen, everything isn’t yet in place to allow it to happen. Roman, who spent the last two seasons with the Chiefs, began this season in the Czech Republic and played for his country’s national junior team at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Roman had 61 points last season in helping the Chiefs win the Memorial Cup. . . . In order for him to rejoin the Chiefs, he must receive his international release. That is something for which the Chiefs have applied, but have not yet received. They are hoping to receive it and are expecting to receive it, but this being the world of international hockey it isn’t done, as Yogi Berra might say, until it’s done. . . . The Chiefs are hoping to receive that release in time for Roman to play Saturday against the visiting Everett Silvertips
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D Keith Aulie, the captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings, has signed a three-year contract with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Aulie has just returned to Brandon after helping Canada win gold at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Aulie, 6-foot-6 and 217 pounds, has 17 points and 42 penalty minutes in 32 games with Brandon. The Flames selected him in the fourth-round of the 2007 NHL draft. He is expected back in Brandon’s lineup Friday when they play host to the Saskatoon Blades. He will be feted by the team, the city and the province of Manitoba in pregame ceremonies.
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The CHL’s Mosaik MasterCard top 10, showing ranking, team, record, last week’s ranking and week’s in top 10, as selected by a panel of NHL scouts:
1. Calgary Hitmen (36-5-1-1) 1 11
2. Windsor Spitfires (33-5-0-1) 2 16
3. Moncton Wildcats (31-4-2-3) 7 15
4. Vancouver Giants (32-3-0-3) 4 14
5. Shawinigan Cataractes (33-9-0-0) 5 13
6. London Knights (29-8-0-1) 6 13
7. Drummondville Voltigeurs (31-6-0-3) 3 12
8. Quebec Remparts (31-8-0-2) 9 11
9. Belleville Bulls (25-12-2-2) 8 8
10. Tri-City Americans (27-10-0-2) - 5
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WHL trades since Dec. 26:
Dec. 30: Kootenay trades G Thomas Heemskerk, 18, to Everett for a 2010 third-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 5: Saskatoon trades F Brody Sutter, 17, to Lethbridge for a 2009 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 6: Prince Albert trades F Robbie Ciolfi, 17, to Prince George for RW Ryan Kowalski, 17.
Jan. 6: Prince Albert trades F Matt Robertson, 20, to Regina for F Michael MacAngus, 20, and a 2009 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 6: Everett trades LW Kyle Beach, 18, and D Mike Alexander, 19, to Lethbridge for D Alex Theriau, 16, LW Daniel Iwanski, 18, and a 2009 first-round bantam draft pick.

Scout

[Scout]

Courtesy Alan Caldwell

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

It looks like the dreams of Kelowna Rockets fans are about to be answered. Various media sources are reporting that the NHL's Calgary Flames have gotten Swedish junior star Mikael Backlund released from his Swedish men's league team and are going to assign him to the Rockets this week.

Backlund did not return to Sweden with the rest of the Swedish World Junior team yesterday and instead flew to Calgary with Flames G.M. Darryl Sutter. Backlund told reporters in Calgary that he would be playing in North America the rest of this season, which means he'll either be in Kelowna or with the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Quad Cities Flames. Bet on Kelowna, he'll get a ton of ice time there which is probably what Calgary wants since that was their problem with his Swedish team.

Adding Backlund will help the Rockets close the gap between them and the Giants in the B.C. division.....it might not bring them even with the Giants but they'll certainly be a better team for having the guy. It also means that Lukas Matejka's time with the Rockets is about to come to an end. The Rockets will have to trade or release him before adding Backlund.

Speaking of players whose time with a team has come to an end, Regina reassigned former Seattle first round bantam pick Cody Hanson to the SJHL yesterday. Keeping Hanson beyond the January 10 roster deadline would have meant the Pats owed the Birds a 5th round pick for Hanson so that probably tells you all you need to know about why that decision was made. Sucks for the players that decisions are made for these reasons, but at this level it's a business too.

And back to the import talk, it sounds like Spokane is about to get Ondrej Roman back in their lineup. Roman did not report to the Chiefs this season - allegedly due to visa issues - and has been playing in the Czech Republic up until his stint with the Czechs at the World Juniors. A Spokane TV station is reporting that Roman is on his way back to the Chiefs though. If so, this is a big boost for Spokane's struggling offence.

Scout

[Scout]

with Gregg Drinnan

Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Moose Jaw Warriors have added C Matt MacKay, 18, to their roster. He was in his second season with the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks for whom he had 34 points in 33 games this season. He is the son of former Warriors C Mark MacKay, who remains the only player in WHL history to win the league’s rookie-of-the-year aweard, which he did after putting up 140 points in 1984-85. Mark now works as a player agent.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that the Pats are believed to be talking with Swift Current about D Jesse Dudas, 20, who chose not to report to the Broncos after missing all of the season to date with a knee injury.
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D Jon Blum of the Vancouver Giants, who captained the U.S. team at the World Junior Championship, isn’t expected to play Friday against the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook. He is scheduled to have dental surgery today to repair damage done to his bottom front teeth when he took a cross-check to the face in a game against Kazakhstan. He hopes to be back for a Saturday game in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes. . . . Also missing from the Giants’ bus when it left Vancouver was F Evander Kane, who played for Team Canada. But he is expected to fly into Cranbrook and play Friday night.
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The Prince George Citizen reports that the Cougars are working hard in an attempt to acquire the services of C Jerome Flaake, an 18-year-old who played for Germany at the World Junior Championship in Ottawa. His NHL rights belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs; the Cougars took him with the ninth pick of the CHL’s 2008 import draft. “We’ve talked to his agent and we’re in the same spot we’ve been in — trying to get his (German pro team) to release him to come over here,” Cougars GM Dallas Thompson told Citizen sports editor Jim Swanson. “There have been a couple of days when I’ve gotten pretty excited (about Flaake coming over), and then nothing happens. He’s in a situation over there where he’s not playing a whole bunch. Talking to Jerome himself, he says he’d like to be here and he thinks he should be here, but the team that has him signed to a contract doesn’t want to see that.” . . . Thompson realizes the Cougars aren’t likely to land Flaake by Saturday, which is the WHL’s roster deadline, but hopes to have him here next season. . . . The Cougars have returned D Jesse Forsberg, 15, and D David Greyeyes, 17, to the midget AAA Beardy’s Blackhawks in Saskatchewan.
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The Kamloops Blazers got goals from eight players in dumping the visiting Portland Winter Hawks 8-6 on Wednesday. . . . RW Brady Calla, 20, scored the Blazers’ final goal and shortly after found out he had been traded to the Spokane Chiefs. . . . A Portland-related question: When Winter Hawks director of player personnel Garry Davidson played football for the Brandon University Bobcats, who was the quarterback? . . . The answer is Andy Murray, today the head coach of the NHL's St. Louis Blues.
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F Cody Almond and F Lucas Bloodoff each had a goal and two assists as the host Kelowna Rockets beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-2. . . . Prior to the game, the Rockets presented D Tyler Myers, LW Jamie Benn, athletic therapist Jeff Thorburn, all members of Team Canada, and F Stepan Novotny, who played for Czech Republic, with custom-made golf clubs. Yes, it is moves like this that put the Rockets atop major junior hockey's heap. . . . The Rockets have won four of six games since the Christmas break. . . . The Rockets are still waiting for official word on the status of Swedish F Mikael Backlund. D Tyler Myers, who played for Team Canada, would love to have Backlund as a teammate. “It’d be great for us to get a guy like him because he’s an amazing player,” Myers told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “He’s unbelievable, and if he comes here, that’d be
great for us. He’s very fast and he’s a very gifted player. He’s hard to
handle, so if he does come, I’m sure he’ll fit in well.”
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It took the Tri-City Americans more than eight hours to get from Kennewick, Wash., to Everett and the game with the Silvertips was 90 minutes late in starting. Because of closed passes in the Cascades, the Americans had to take the long way which, in this case, was through Portland. . . . In the end, G Thomas Heemskerk, making his second start, turned aside 30 shots as the Silvertips posted a 3-1 victory. . . . Tri-City had won three in a row. . . . The Americans have assigned F Jason Gardiner, 17, to the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers. He had played in three games since returning from a broken ankle suffered in October. . . . Everett D Alex Theriau and F Dan Iwanski, acquired Tuesday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, were at the game but didn’t play. . . . Tri-City was without C Kruise Reddick (concussion) and D Jarrett Toll (hand).
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In Red Deer, Medicine Hat D Mark Isherwood scored in a shootout to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Rebels. . . . Red Deer led this one 3-2 with seven minutes left in the third period only to have Medicine Hat F Sean Ringrose score to force OT. . . . Red Deer F Landon Ferraro, playing in his 100th game, scored twice, giving him 25 on the season. . . . Red Deer held a 30-18 edge in shots from the second period through OT. . . .
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In Calgary, the Hitmen ran their winning streak to 12 games, celebrating their ascension to the top of the CHL rankings with a 7-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Calgary G Martin Jones, who was looking for his fourth straight shutout on home ice, was beaten with 25 seconds left in the third period. His home-ice shutout streak lasted a franchise record 242 minutes even. The previous record (223:47) was held by Justin Pogge. . . . It was Calgary’s franchise-record 16th straight victory at home where they are 22-1-0-0.
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In Spokane, the Chiefs got two goals from D Stefan Ulmer as they beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 4-1. . . . All five goals came via the PP. The Chiefs were 4-for-5; the Bruins were 1-for-5. . . . C Tyler Johnson helped out with a goal and two assists, while D Jared Cowen and C Seth Compton each had two assists. . . . After the game, Compton was dealt to the Kamloops Blazers.
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WHL trades since Dec. 26:
Dec. 30: Kootenay trades G Thomas Heemskerk, 18, to Everett for a 2010 third-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 5: Saskatoon trades F Brody Sutter, 17, to Lethbridge for a 2009 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 6: Prince Albert trades F Robbie Ciolfi, 17, to Prince George for RW Ryan Kowalski, 17.
Jan. 6: Prince Albert trades F Matt Robertson, 20, to Regina for F Michael MacAngus, 20, and a 2009 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 6: Everett trades LW Kyle Beach, 18, and D Mike Alexander, 19, to Lethbridge for D Alex Theriau, 16, LW Daniel Iwanski, 18, and a 2009 first-round bantam draft pick.
Jan. 7: Kamloops trades RW Brady Calla, 20, to Spokane for C Seth Compton, 20, and a 2010 third-round bantam draft pick.

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