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Cougars reduce roster, send Rainaldi to Winter Hawks |
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Written by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
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DALLAS THOMPSONCOUGARSSEATTLE THUNDERBIRDSBRETT CONNOLLYCHILLIWACK BRUINSMARCUS WATSONPRINCE GEORGE COUGARSTHOMAS HICKEYEVERETT SILVERTIPSPORTLAND WINTER HAWKSPRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS
The Cougars received a conditional bantam draft choice for the 19-year-old rookie, a Campbell River product who played junior A hockey last season for the Manitoulin Islanders of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Rainaldi was a scratch in three straight games, so the move was not a surprise. The Cougars are now down to 24 active players, all of whom are healthy heading into Wednesday’s home game with the Prince Albert Raiders.
“Cody was a longshot, one of the guys we had coming to camp who we wanted to play his way onto the team,” Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson said of Rainaldi, who had one assist in three games.
“He was close, but we went for almost a month without (Ryan) Kowalski, who had an ankle injury, and with the emergence of Brett Connolly it was tough to get Cody into the lineup. He wanted to stay in the league, so I’m glad we were able to find him a spot. He played in a junior A league in Ontario last year, and I don’t think a return to that was appealing.”
The return for Rainaldi depends on how long the five-foot-10, 176-pounder sticks with Portland. It’s not expected to be more than a seventh-round choice.
The Cougars still have eight defencemen, two more than coaches usually dress, but Thompson said the impending nine-game road trip is keeping the club from reducing numbers there. Among the 24 remaining, 15 are forwards and two are goaltenders. Marcus Watson, out because of leg surgery, is the only injury.
“The last time we had eight defencemen and went down to seven, we lost two guys to injury and had to go with five,” said Thompson.
“With the schedule we have coming up, I’m going to leave it as-is.”
Beach, Hickey back, Moller not
The Everett Silvertips received good news on Monday when the Chicago Blackhawks sent first-round choice Kyle Beach back to junior.
Beach, 18, is a premier forward in the WHL, and will give front-line help to the languishing Silvertips, who are 2-3-1-0 to start the season.
Everett’s chief rival, the Seattle Thunderbirds, got better news Monday with word that the Los Angeles Kings have decided to return Thomas Hickey to the WHL. Hickey, who has signed a contract, is slated to be a top-pairing defenceman on the national junior team over the Christmas holidays.
The Chilliwack Bruins, who lost two games in Prince George on the weekend, the second in a shootout, found out Monday that star Swedish forward Oscar Moller will be staying in Los Angeles. A story in the L.A. Daily News provides news that will make life even tougher on the goal-starved Bruins, a third-year franchise with holes on the top lines.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 October 2008 )
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