Kootenay's Future

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Future bright for young Ice

by Jeff Bromley

As much as Kootenay Ice fans might not want to look at the first round opposition as a successful model, the Wheat Kings success this season is a template for the local squad next season. For the Ice, they were young, they overachieved and they were swept from the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Mission accomplished. Scratch your head at that statement if you must but for those who were looking for a cup parade of some sort down second avenue this spring, a reality check is sorely needed.


No, the Kootenay Ice was never going to win a championship this season. At least not when their best player and leading scorer broke in Dustin Sylvester broke his ankle December 27 in Lethbridge, sealing their fate and sending the club into rebuilding mode just two weeks before the WHL’s trade deadline. With the deal that sent their best defenseman and a good chunk of the offence they had left in John Negrin and Michael Stickland to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for D James Martin, 17, and forward Christian Magnus, 16 along with a second and fourth round pick in the 2010 bantam draft, Kootenay’s aspirations for a championship were put on the 1-2 year layaway plan.


That plan, despite the first round sweep by the Wheat Kings, is decidedly ahead of schedule. Truth be told, once the deadline had passed this club was left for dead, or at least out of playoff contention, by most pundits including this one. The balance of the season was to be used as training for next-year-land. Finding positives in a 4-0 playoff sweep is usually difficult but experience for a young squad in the post-season, even the losing kind, is invaluable.

That experience will come in handy next season when the club is expected to compete and perhaps even challenge for a Central Division title.

Here’s a snapshot of what Kootenay’s line-up will look like next season:

Graduated – RW Andrew Bailey, D Eric Frere and D Ian Barteaux; Bailey’s offence will be missed but there’s enough talent in the line-up to make up for it. Making up for the Barteaux’s graduation, along with Frere, will be more difficult.


20-year-olds – C Dustin Sylvester, C Tylan Stephens; With only two players to fit into the three 20-year-old spots, for first time in the club’s history they’ll be shopping for an overage player to add depth. Sylvester, unless the unexpected happens with a pro offer, will be looking to rebuild a great junior career hampered by injury this season. Complicating things could be Stephens wrestling with the possibility of starting his post-secondary education next year instead of returning for his overage season.


19-year-olds – LW Kevin King, LW Dominic Pacovsky, LW Matt Fraser, C Steele Boomer, RW Ryan Fox, G Todd Mathews; A solid nucleus that will have to score more next season.


18-year-olds – D Brayden McNabb, D Hayden Rintoul, D James Martin, D Cason Machacek, LW Joe Antilla, LW Jesse Ismond, LW Michael Cassivi, G Nathan Lieuwen; The blueline, while far from suspect, will still be considered young. McNabb and Rintoul will be counted upon heavily. Those first four names will be their top four, for the time being. Look for the extra 20-year-old spot to be filled on the blueline via the trade wire or a 19-year-old import.


17-year-olds – C Max Reinhart, LW Drew Czerwonka, RW Christian Magnus, D Tyler Vanscourt, D Joey Leach; The rookies this season, most of them exceeded expectations. Next year they’ll be counted upon for more.


16-year-olds – Forward Brendan Hurley will play full-time next season but will be brought along slower than his predecessors, or at least that will be the plan. D Michael King and forward Adam Rossignol will also compete for spots.


Among the unencumbered optimism with next year’s club and even beyond, some glaring questions stand out. Goaltending, once thought to be the deepest position on the club, is now surrounded with uncertainty. Will Nathan Lieuwen recover from post-concussion syndrome enough to challenge Todd Mathews between the pipes next season? Is Mathews, who performed valiantly in a role he wasn’t originally acquired for to get the club to the post season, ready for prime-time? Will another prospect from that 2007 Bantam Draft class, 2nd round pick Elgin Pearce – who played with the BCHL’s Langley Chiefs and made noises about taking the NCAA route, rethink his future? Is another 2007 draft pick, Winnipeg Midget Wild forward Brendan O’Donnell, who finished second in league scoring with 92 points in 44 games in Manitoba Midget, a lost cause? He’s verbally committed to the NCAA’s North Dakota but isn’t eligible to play for them until 2010-11. There's still time to sell him on coming here or perhaps the Wheat Kings, a lot closer to home and due to host the Memorial Cup 2010, might be interested.


Key Dates – April 30; The WHL Bantam Draft. Kootenay picks 13th; NHL Draft June 27-28in Montreal. D Brayden McNabb, D Hayden Rintoul and G Nathan Lieuwen will all get consideration. CHL Import Draft June 30; Sept 3, 2009 – Opening day of 2009-10 Kootenay Ice training camp.