Okay, now that I have a full grasp of those Prairie trips in the Iron Lung WHL players make many times a season, we can catch up on the last few weeks.
The Early Bird Season Ticket drive of the Ice and the Kootenay Ice 'Green Bay Committee' that provides oodles of community support wrapped while I was gone with a total of 2030 season tickets, 318 of which are new. The committee is planning on kick-starting the Champions of the Ice Reach Out ticket drive coming up next which provides tickets to games for those who generally cannot afford to go. The target for that is 120. If they meet their goal (and with the tremendous support the business community demonstrates toward the team in Cranbrook and area, I expect they will), the final total will be a substantial increase from the 1830 season tickets the Ice had last season. 2300 isn't out of the realm of possibility. Based on those totals the average attendance, which last season was 2501, should jump to the 3000 mark based on average walk-up projections. Those are numbers not seen in five years.
The NHL Draft was in St.Paul (Xcel Energy Centre is in St.Paul, where the Minnesota Wild play) while I was there and on day two of the Draft Ice goaltender Nathan Lieuwen finally heard his name called - well, saw it on the Internet, as he wasn't on hand - and was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the 6th round, 167th overall. At 19, Lieuwen was overlooked twice before his stellar play last season and backstopping the Ice to the WHL championship forced NHL teams to give him a shot. Ice teammate D Brayden McNabb was selected by the Sabres in the 3rd round in 09 and signed to a contract just prior to the Memorial Cup. Dan Kinvig of the Abbotsford News has a piece here as does Matt Coxford at the Townsman. In the first piece Lieuwen talks about the future and what it could hold next season. As a 20-year-old Lieuwen could be signed and play in the Sabres AHL affiliate in Rochester or the club's ECHL affiliate (they didn't have one last season) but he could also be returned to the Ice for his final year of junior. If that happens it would give the club a possible five overage players for three spots on top of clogging the goaltending pipeline (Skapski, Hoflin, Teskey) something fierce. However the Sabres aren't deep in goaltenders within the system and it's very possible Lieuwen will catch on in the AHL next season. It'll be interesting to see what develops.
Saw that the WHL Exhibition schedule was released last week. Kootenay will play five pre-season games but none of them will be at home. The first three will be in the Tri-City tournament against the Ams, the Silvertips and the Winterhawks and then the Ice will play two in the Crowsnest Pass against Lethbridge and Calgary, respectively.
The full regular season schedule comes out today and fittingly enough, the club will raise the 2011 WHL Championship banner (along with the Eastern Conference one) to the Rec Plex rafters on Saturday, September 24 against the Calgary Hitmen. Kootenay opens the season on the road against the Red Deer Rebels one night earlier. The full schedule is here.
The CHL Import Draft is on as I type. The Ice hold the 51st pick (out of 60 per round) and Ice GM told Jeff Hollick (Between the Lines, on the right) that if the club takes an import player this season it'll be a 92 or 93-born forward. Chynoweth still hadn't decided whether or not they'll take a player in the draft or look to see what's available via other clubs but it sounds like the club will have an import player at least at training camp to compete for a spot. If he takes the latter route two forwards - Russian forward Alex Kuvaev (11g, 13a in 2010-11) of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert forward Michel Hlinka (Czech Republic - 5g, 5a last season with both Moose Jaw and PA) are some names that might be available. Chynoweth is looking to mitigate some of the scoring lost via graduation (Fraser, King and Boomer) and through NHL signed players who won't be back (Eakin, McNabb). Kootenay is scheduled to make their selection at 3:20PM Mountain time but the draft looks to be ahead of schedule today.
UPDATE: The Ice traded their pick in the CHL draft to the Everett Silvertips for a 8th round pick in the 2012 Bantam Draft. Chynoweth said in a release, “We were looking to add a forward in the 1992 or 1993 age group that could come in and compete for a top six position with our Club and unfortunately we could not make that happen. Although we have passed on selecting a player in the CHL Import Draft for a second year in a row, it does not mean we will not have an Import player in our line-up at some point in the near future.”
In the coaching game, former Ice head coach Mark Holick took in the draft in St. Paul. He is the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate in Syracuse, NY.... Former Ice coaches Ryan McGill and Cory Clouston are still looking for work. McGill wasn't re-signed as an assistant in Calgary and Clouston didn't survive the purge in Ottawa. In St. Paul I was told McGill's name was mentioned for the head coaching position in Houston, the Wild's AHL affiliate. That job should be filled later this week. Former Ice assistant and Sens assistant under Cory Clouston, Brad Lauer's name was mentioned a finalist for the Milwaukee Admirals head coaching job this week that went to Kirk Muller. Lauer's name has also been thrown out there as one of the possible assistants in Detroit. In Cory Clouston's case I haven't heard his name bandied about for vacant positions at the pro level but I have heard his name with some WHL vacant positions. Everett is still searching as is Moose Jaw and Regina. Seattle hired former Avs assistant Steve Konowalchuk last week leaving three vacant positions. Moose Jaw's supposedly has former Guelph Storm head coach Dave Barr hired to coach if there's no NHL or AHL opportunities. Barr was an assistant with the Minnesota Wild last season. That would leave Everett and Regina with open spots and two franchises I believe have deep enough pockets to afford Clouston. Stepping down from the NHL (or being pushed, take your pick) to coach back at the junior level would take Marc Habscheid money and length of deal. Clouston would command likely a five year, six figure deal to come back to the Dub this season, easily north of the $125,000/season figure. Then again, maybe he'll just hang here with his young family and wait out his options.
The World Junior Summer Development Camp roster was named a few weeks ago. Most eligible among Ice forwards Max Reinhart, wasn't on it. He'll have another shot at the December selection camp later in the season. If he's ripping up the WHL scoring race an invite should be in the mail.
That'll be it for a bit as the summer news will be slow. Time for some lake time. Kids played great at the tournament in Wisconsin (just over state line from Minnesota). Learned that Japan as a hockey nation is still growing but the team they sent to the tournament could've been their U-14 team. They were pretty good. Team from St. Paul won the tourney, Johnson-Como. We finished 5-5 at the tourney and I learned that every team there saved their best for playing anyone from Canada. Who knew Australia (New South Wales, to be precise) could be such an intense rival for 12-year-olds? And the Kiwis (Auckland, NZ) could be so chippy and have a 5'11" goaltender who stopped everything we threw at her? Both were coached by Canadian ex-pats, go figure!
I think I can safely say that will be the last 24-hour bus ride I'll take, however.
5 comments:
You mention Clouston's young family, did he and his girl friend have a boy or a girl? The Ottawa media has pretty much forgotten about him, unless of course it's to slam him (which maybe deserved, don't know not having to deal with the man). Anyway, just curious. Thanks
I've read about Brad being in the Final 3 for Halifax Mooseheads, and now the Milwaukee Admirals HC positions but is there any other rumours floating around for where he may land excluding Detroit?
Did Clouston have this "character flaw" people are blaming for his downfall when he was with the Ice, or is just something new & dealing with superstar ego? Maybe he just belongs in WHL, like some college coaches in who can't or wouldn't do well in the pros, ie Tom Izzo or Bear Bryant.
I don't think it's a 'character flaw' at all. Clouston had to deal with super-pouter Dany Heatley and likely chose to deal with him old-school, likely because partly he thought Heatly needed and partly because he doesn't generally kid-glove players. Heatly started Clouston's downfall in Ottawa but now Heatly's been dealt to his fourth team in ten seasons, two of which he wanted out from and another (Edmonton) he refused to go to.
I think it was dealing with superstar egos. He'll bounce back.
Thanks for you comments, its nice to hear more than just the Ottawa's media opinion of Clouston. Many weren't exactly fans especially once it became obviously Murray was going to toss him under the bus to save himself. Some of the media were almost cruel. Hope he does land somewhere, hate to see any ones career end.
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