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Schoneck’s stint forever tied with Setoguchi’s sniping |
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Written by Citizen Staff
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Tuesday, 02 December 2008 |
WHL NOTES, by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
More following Monday’s firing of Drew Schoneck...
The general manager of the Prince George Cougars may have switched coaches, but the players should be on alert that the message is their play has to improve -- and not tomorrow, but now.
“We have some very good players who need to get going and have a lot to play for,” said Dallas Thompson.
“Go down the list -- (goaltender Kevin) Armstrong, Dallas Jackson, Marek Viedensky, Parker Stanfield, those guys are playing for pro opportunities. As a team and as individuals, they have to get going. There are players we have to get more out of.”
Thompson, who has placed Wade Klippenstein into the head coaching role, conceded Schoneck wasn’t given a Memorial Cup-level team to work with.
“We knew that when we gutted things on January 10, at the trade deadline,” said Thompson, referring to moves that jettisoned veterans Ty Wishart, Evan Fuller, Jesse Dudas and others.
“But I think we have a good enough team here... I said from the beginning of this season that we had two goals. One was to get off to a good start, the other was to make the playoffs. We did have a good start, but things fell off from there. This team has played very well in spurts, and we have to find some consistency.
“We have four 17-year-olds who need to get better, and we have four 16-year-olds who need to get better. Those are the guys who are the reason we did what we did (at the trade deadline last season), and those are the guys who are going to get us to where we want to go in the future.”
If the hope is to lure more fans to CN Centre, past history suggests that won’t be the case following this move. Despite the usual “I’m not coming back until they fire (so-and-so)” mantra heard around town from time-to-time, there was no noticeable spike in announced attendance after previous firings, and the crowd count continues to go down, down, down. It will be a surprise if there isn’t a sub-2,000 crowd soon. Sunday’s game enticed an all-time-low crowd of 2,054 to CN Centre.
Something forgotten by all on Monday, it seemed, is that Schoneck will always carry the title as the coach who led the Devin Setoguchi team past the CHL’s top-ranked team, the Everett Silvertips, and to within a few wins of this franchise’s first banner. Schoneck and Thompson teamed on the bench for the 2007 playoff run that included some of the most entertaining hockey ever witnessed -- the dramatic sweep of Kamloops, four straight wins over the Silvertips, and a brief scare put into the Vancouver Giants, who went on to win the Memorial Cup.
Three coaches have taken a Cougars team to the third round of the playoffs, though none managed to nab the banner that continues to irk the paying public. Stan Butler was behind the Cinderella 1997 run; Ed Dempsey was on the bench in 2000; and Schoneck in 2007.
IMPACT ZONE -- Today, the tryout camp roster for the national junior team will be announced, and it is fully expected that Dana Tyrell’s name will be on the list. That factor alone has a major impact on whether the Cougars decide to trade their captain to a contender -- the offers will be tempered by how much time Tyrell will miss if he makes Team Canada.
Lorne Molleken, the head coach and general manager of the Saskatoon Blades, said he’d want to know about Tyrell’s price tag.
“He’s a tremendous player, there’s no question about it, and I guess as we get closer to the (Jan. 10) trade deadline we’re going to listen and watch to see what’s out there to improve our hockey club,” said Molleken.
“Time will tell.”
Two seasons ago, Molleken traded Setoguchi to the Cougars for defenceman Stefan Elliott, a first-round bantam pick who didn’t want to report to the Cougars. Molleken got a good laugh from of a tongue-in-cheek suggestion he could acquire Tyrell by sending Elliott to Prince George.
A WALL ON DEFENCE -- Maybe you missed it, but a Ted Clarke story in Tuesday’s Citizen included a note that former Cougars/Everett Silvertips goaltender Mike Wall, who got a brief shot in the NHL, is now skating as a defenceman for the Smithers Steelheads in senior hockey... Now that overager Justin McCrae is back from a knee injury, the Spokane Chiefs have made him team captain... Taylor Procyshen of the Tri-City Americans is the WHL player of the week -- two goals, seven points, and his team was 3-0. Edmonton Ice goaltender Torrie Jung is the CHL’s top goaltender for the same seven-day period, and Dustin Sylvester of the Kootenay Ice is the player of the month for November for recording 20 points in 10 games... Former Cougars winger Colby Kulhanek’s Junior A rights were traded from the BCHL’s Westside Warriors to Sherwood Park of the AJHL... In a trade announced early Sunday morning, the Kelowna Rockets dealt six-foot-five defenceman Riley McIntosh, 18, to the Americans for a future draft pick... Cougars fans didn’t get to see super-rookie Jordan Weal of the Regina Pats on Saturday. The Pats did still manage to score seven times without the slick-passing forward, who was scratched because of bad penalties taken in Kamloops the night before... The Vancouver Giants have been experimenting with using defenceman and captain Jon Blum on the wing with Evander Kane and Casey Pierro-Zabotel on power plays... How about this one-sided matchup? The Chilliwack Bruins have played the Kelowna Rockets three times this season, and have been shut out three times. The Bruins haven’t scored a goal against Kelowna since March.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 )
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