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Veteran forward a no-show for Cats |
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Written by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
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Sunday, 24 August 2008 |
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NORTHERN SPORT CENTREART BIDLEVSKIIKEVIN ARMSTRONGPRINCE GEORGE COUGARSWESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUEPARKER STANFIELDBRETT CONNOLLYBRIAN MATTECATSCODY HOBBSCOLIN SCHERGERCOREY TYRELLDANA TYRELLDREW SCHONECKGREG FRASERMAREK VIEDENSKYDALE HUNTDALLAS THOMPSONJORDIE DEAGLEJUSTIN MAYLANMARCUS WATSONMOOSE JAWALEX POULTER
Training camp had yet to officially start and already the team had a notable no-show. Veteran forward Brad Riege, a 19-year-old slated to play on one of the top two lines, did not arrive and has gone dark -- no one, from coaches to management and his friends in the dressing room, has been able to make contact with him to ascertain his intentions.
The prevailing thought is that Riege, acquired last January from Moose Jaw in part of the Justin Maylan-Ty Wishart trade, has decided to quit hockey. The native of Stoughton, Sask., is not listed on a training camp roster for any Junior A team.
“We’re not really surprised -- we had indications, fitness reports in late and we hadn’t heard from him in three weeks,” said Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson.
“No phone calls, no email... that’s life. You have to be at training camp to be on the hockey team. I don’t know -- I’m pretty busy this week and I’m not going to chase Brad Riege down, pretty simple.”
Riege, six-foot-two and 199 pounds last season, was one of few players from last year’s team who would engage the physical side of the game. He had 34 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Cougars, and combined with his 35 games for the Warriors, posted 93 minutes. He managed eight goals and 16 points -- four goals and nine points of those with the Cougars -- in his third full WHL season.
He was a dependable penalty-killer and defensive forward who showed signs of putting up commendable offensive numbers. Riege took a day to decide if he wanted to report to the Cougars following the trade, so the development wasn’t a complete surprise.
“I thought Brad could’ve played a very big role on our hockey club, and no one can seem to get ahold of him to find out where he is, or why,” said head coach Drew Schoneck.
“He hasn’t phoned to ask for a trade, and we have now heard third-hand that he might be quitting hockey and working with his dad. Nobody knows. A month ago, he was looking forward to coming back, but things have obviously changed in a month.
“He filled a role for us last year and he’s a guy with three years in the league, so not having him is something we’ll miss.”
n With more than 100 players in camp -- 104, to be precise -- time constraints and logistics meant the Cougars did not hold the usual fitness testing on registration day. Instead, after the first major cuts are made on Tuesday, the team will use the PacificSport facility at the Northern Sport Centre to get a better gauge on conditioning.
“It looks like everybody put in a pretty good summer -- some guys lost some weight and put that back on in muscle,” said Schoneck.
“We’ll see how that translates to being on-ice. If you’re looking for a guy who dramatically changed the way he looks, it’s Dale Hunt. He’s lost 20 pounds from where he was at the end of last year. He struggled a bit through his first two years here, but he seems to be refocused and has dedicated himself. He had a personal trainer in Winnipeg, and I think the fact he had injuries and was passed over in the draft was motivation for him to prove a lot of people wrong.”
n Don’t be surprised to see many of the veteran forwards ducking their heads as they walk around town -- practice for avoiding the chopping block.
It stands to reason that after a non-playoff season, any forward who struggled to put up numbers last year is going to feel pressure in camp and the exhibition season. With so many highly-touted forwards in the 16- and 17-year-old age group, jobs are anything but safe.
“I won’t name names now, but anyone in that five-to-10 goal range (last season) -- some 19-year-old guys coming back who have to produce,” said Schoneck.
“We’ve got anywhere from two to six 16-year-olds who could make our hockey club. Look at last year’s team -- we lost five guys, we have to replace those and then somewhere along the line something’s gotta give with the numbers. This camp will be far more competitive than it was last year when some guys almost got spots by default. We have people here pushing for spots.
“I think last year everything was far too loosey-goosey. This year, we don’t want to be the laughingstock, we have to be ready to go and that begins with holding the veterans accountable.”
Jordie Deagle (eight goals, 20 points), Colin Haas (3-8), Corey Tyrell (5-9), Marcus Watson (6-16) and Ryan Kowalski (1-5) would be the players feeling the most pressure to remain with the Cougars.
Thompson said the plan is to be down to about 40 players after Tuesday, with the team’s intrasquad game slated for Wednesday, 7 p.m. at CN Centre.
The Cats go to Edmonton this weekend for two exhibition games, the first on Sunday against the Swift Current Broncos. Next Monday sees a date with the Regina Pats.
That means a lot of cuts will be made over the next 10 days.
“It will be tough, but I’m looking forward to watching all these players because everybody knows where we stand and that we are looking for players to earn their way onto our 50-player list,” said Thompson.
TRAINING CAMP 2008
Schedule and rosters for the 2008 Western Hockey League training camp for the Prince George Cougars (all events at CN Centre):
Today
Blue vs. White, 8 a.m.
Black vs. Grey, 9:45 a.m.
Orange vs. Teal, 11:30 a.m.
Black vs. White, 3:30 p.m.
Blue vs. Teal, 5:15 p.m.
Orange vs. Grey, 7 p.m.
Tuesday
Orange vs. White, 8 a.m.
Blue vs. Grey, 9:45 a.m.
Black vs. Teal, 11:30 a.m.
Goalie session -- 1 p.m.
Orange vs. Black, 3:30 p.m.
Blue vs. Grey, 5:15 p.m.
White vs. Teal, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
Gameday skate, home -- 9:45 a.m.
Gameday skate, away -- 11 a.m.
Intrasquad game, 7 p.m.
Rosters
(With number, name, position, birth year, and height/weight)
Team Blue
5. Joel Danyluk, G, 90, 5-11/188
44. Marcus Beesley, G, 92, 5-11/150
2. Art Bidlevskii, D, 91, 6-0/198
3. Jesse Forsberg, D, 93, 5-11/185
5. Trevor Bauer, D, 90, 6-2/187
6. Keaton Miller, D, 91, 5-8/195
7. Davis Vandane, D, 92, 6-3/199
8. Trevor Harris, F, 93, 5-11/204
9. Marcus Watson, F, 89, 6-2/198
10. Alex Poulter, F, 89, 6-1/182
11. Taylor Elliott, F, 91, 6-0/180
12. James Bullock, F, 91, 5-10/171
14. Michael Poxton, F, 91, 6-2/198
15. Brock Hirsche, F, 92, 6-0/188
16. Colten Defrias, F, 91, 5-7/158
17. Andrew Allan, F, 92, 6-1/168
19. Gavin Lindner, F, 93, 5-11/154
20. Alex Elliott, F, 93, 5-11/174
Team Black
1. Kevin Armstrong, G, 88, 6-1/198
8. Bryton Udy, G, 93, 6-2/147
1. Jeff Zmurchyk, D, 90, 5-11/161
2. Bruin McDonald, D, 92, 5-11/188
4. Josh Martin, D, 90, 6-2/204
5. Brad Kitchen, D, 93, 6-1/199
6. Justin Tateson, D, 91, 6-3/183
7. Jesse Wiebe, F, 90, 6-3/184
9. Brett Connolly, F, 92, 6-1/162
14. Steve Cormack, F, 90, 6-0/177
15. Marek Viedensky, F, 90, 6-3/189
17. John Proctor, F, 91, 6-3/174
18. Chris Allbee, F, 92, 5-11/158
20. Kevin Mann, F, 92, 6-0/163
21. Max Fiedler, F, 93, 5-10/188
22. Troy Klaus, F, 92, 5-11/173
23. Sam Brennan, F, 93, 5-8/143
Team Orange
4. Michael Salmon, G, 92, 6-0/155
21. Luke Hernandez, G, 91, 5-10/209
1. Garrett Thiessen, D, 89, 6-0/210
2. Blaine Thomson, D, 93, 5-10/179
4. Chris Johnson, D, 90, 6-1/180
5. Tyler Parfeniuk, D, 91, 5-10/182
6. Sonny Zuloaga, D, 91, 6-1/167
7. Dana Tyrell, F, 89, 5-11/185
8. Stefan Jensen, F, 91, 5-11/180
9. Konrad Sander, F, 90, 5-11/190
10. Sterling Bear, F, 90, 5-10/184
11. Parker Stanfield, F, 90, 6-1/174
13. Kurtis Hagen, F, 92, 5-10/168
14. Logan Sceviour, F, 92, 5-10/151
15. Eric Eyolfson, F, 92, 5-11/188
16. Kyle Blondin, F, 93, 5-10/146
18. Brady Goebel, F, 93, 5-6/178
Team Grey
2. Taylor Pears, G, 91, 5-10/169
1. Cody Hobbs, D, 89, 6-1/205
2. Tyson Young, D, 93, 6-1/147
3. Dayton Fossum, D, 90, 6-0/191
4. Nick Bell, D, 91, 5-11/190
5. Kyle Madsen, D, 92, 6-3/213
6. Brett Defrias, D, 93, 5-5/145
7. Jordie Deagle, F, 89, 6-3/199
8. Brian Matte, F, 88, 6-0/185
9. Zaine Walker, F, 92, 5-10/156
10. Brett Wilson, F, 90, 5-10/197
12. Ryan Kowalski, F, 91, 6-0/196
13. Cam Carreau, F, 91, 5-11/173
14. Justin Faux, F, 92, 6-2/193
15. Ty Street, F, 91, 5-11/172
16. Tanner Cochrane, F, 93, 5-10/145
18. Caleb Belter, F, 93, 6-2/188
Team White
7. Alex Wright, G, 90, 6-1/177
3. Jordan Sullivan, G, 90, 6-1/167
2. Kelly Leismeister, D, 91, 6-1/181
3. Shane Pilling, D, 93, 5-9/144
6. Fabio Coppola, D, 92, 6-4/187
7. Michael Jorgensen, D, 92, 6-0/177
9. Braden Pears, D, 93, 5-8/130
10. Corey Tyrell, F, 90, 5-10/172
11. Justin Maylan, F, 91, 6-1/160
15. Taylor Makin, F, 92, 6-0/166
16. Nick Buonassisi, F, 92, 5-9/162
17. Thomas Hardy, F, 91, 5-11/163
18. Zac Larraza, F, 93, 6-3/170
19. Keenan Bailey, F, 91, 6-1/151
21. Connor Patchett, F, 92, 6-0/160
35. Brandon Mistal, F, 92, 5-8/170
37. Cody Rainaldi, F, 89, 5-11/176
Team Teal
6. Ian Curtis, G, 90, 6-5/223
24. Conor Barrie, G, 93, 5-11/147
1. Matt Cumming, D, 91, 5-10/172
3. Tyler Kizuik, D, 92, 6-1/184
6. Colin Scherger, D, 89, 5-10/206
7. Jared Crossan, D, 93, 5-8/155
9. Tyler Halliday, F, 89, 6-0/184
10. Colin Haas, F, 89, 6-3/199
11. Dale Hunt, F, 90, 6-0/178
12. Greg Fraser, F, 92, 6-0/161
14. Kevin Elkow, F, 90, 5-10/194
15. Kevin Carthy, F, 91, 5-8/156
16. Luc Recknagle, F, 92, 5-11/151
17. Graham Drope, F, 92, 5-7/172
18. Kalawarny, J.J., F, 90, 5-9/168
19. Wilson Dumais, F, 93, 5-10/170
20. Tyson Valette, F, 93, 5-10/136
21. Taylor Bornyk, F, 93, 6-0/140
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 24 August 2008 )
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