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09-25-2006, 08:36 AM
From : http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/

Monday, September 25, 2006
Overage situation to be final ‘this week’
by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

If the writing isn’t on the wall, and in indelible ink, then it never will be.

Overagers Scott Bowles and Curtis Cooper were in the stands for both games this weekend, given spectator status so the Prince George Cougars could use the all-20s forward line of Eric Hunter, Brett Robertson and Jared Walker.

Cooper looked dapper in a blazer despite some changes to the blueline brigade from Friday to Saturday, while Bowles watched Real Cyr, his backup much of last season, get the call in back-to-back games.

Even with circumstantial evidence that the Cougars have made up their minds on who the trio of overagers will be, general manager Dallas Thompson said nothing is final.

“No, things have not changed,” said Thompson.

“My goal is to get that situation dealt with this week — whether other teams cooperate in that, we’ll see. In fairness to the two guys who aren’t going to be here, and to our team, I want to get that taken care of.

“I liked the way we looked on Friday. On Saturday, we lacked the intensity that we showed on Friday, and that showed by us being on the wrong side of the penalty calls. Saturday, I was not happy.”

Thompson said he’s comfortable having either Cyr or Bowles as the starting goalie, and that Jordan White will be able to push whoever remains.

Asked if he was working on anything major, Thompson replied: “Not that you’ll be printing in the paper.”

Chris Vanduynhoven broke his hand early in Friday’s game, though he played the remainder of the night, and has been fitted with a cast that will have him out for at least a month. He joins Jesse Dudas, recovering from surgery to correct a fractured knuckle. Dudas will visit Columbus in mid-October to have pins removed.

Rookie defenceman Lance Redden was suspended for Saturday’s game for a kneeing major on David Richard of the T-birds on Friday, so Thompson acquired third-year defenceman Eli Grossmann, 18, on Saturday, giving up a 2008 fifth-round bantam choice for the six-foot-two, 212-pound native of Delta Junction, Alaska. Grossmann, a healthy scratch for the T-birds Friday before facing his old team the next night, gives the Cougars three things — added depth, the only American on the Prince George roster, and a healthy right-hand shot on the blueline. Dudas is the other righty rearguard.

“We’d been talking about that deal last week, and then with Vanduynhoven getting hurt and Redden getting suspended from Friday night, we got it going a little quicker,” said Thompson.

“We had four guys without Eli who would’ve been healthy for that game and one guy’s a rookie. We were looking for a guy earlier, and we got Mike McDonald (from Prince Albert) and he didn’t want to play, so now we have a guy who does.

“Now we have two guys on the shelf for four to six weeks, and we don’t want to be in the same spot we were last year. Eli will provide us with good minutes.”

The Cougars got another veteran defenceman back in the fold Saturday. Tampa Bay first-rounder Vladimir Mihalik, the 19-year-old acquired from Red Deer, arrived in Prince George that evening but not in time to dress for the game.

“With those two defencemen down, and with Nick Drazenovic (broken rib) still out, we’ve still got injuries to be concerned about,” said Thompson. “I’d love to be 100 per cent healthy and be down to 23 or 24 players, but we can’t do that. Those are three pretty significant injuries.”