Winterhawks about to be clipped?

This past August the Windsor Spitfires were handed a $400,000 fine for recruiting violations.  A month later it was reduced to a $250,000 fine, as well as, some draft pick relief.

TPS has learned from multiple sources in the WHL that the Portland Winterhawks could be the next CHL club to face sanctions for player recruitment.

Winterhawks list owner's son Ben Gallacher

Word is surfacing that Ohio State defenceman Ben Gallacher is leaving the Buckeye program after just one season. The 20 year old could turn pro and play for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL or the Panthers for that matter, but he could also suit up for one season in the WHL. Oddly enough the team his father owns, Portland, just listed him. Hmmmmmm.

Before going the NCAA route the Calgary born blue liner honed his craft with Boris Rybalka's Camrose Kodiaks, with his best season coming last year with 5 goals, 22 helpers and 119 penalty minutes in 37 games. The 5.11 183 pounder had 1 goal and 12 points along with 30 pim this season in 24 games.

Gallacher is an undersized skilled D-man with some grit to his game and could be a very nice find for next year's team which will lose some star power and offence from this year's squad. Will he be a Tyson Barrie type player for Portland?

Rielly Vs. Reinhart at Rexall Place

~
The Edmonton Oil Kings pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight, dominating the tribe 42-18 on the shot clock and jumping into a 3 way tie for first in the central division.

It was a battle of 2012 first round draft prospects, and former D partners as Morgan Rielly went head to head with Griffin Reinhart in front of a ton of scouts. A number of teams sent their head scouts to watch the 2 rear guards.

Winterhawks cancel game due to lack of players

~
Just how good could the Portland Winterhawks be this season? Well they had to cancel a pre season game because of a lack of players. That might not sound good on the surface, but when you find out the reason, you will realize how good their talent level could be this year.

Rebels, Hawks get out the broom: WHL playoff round up

~
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did a lot of damage to the Edmonton Oil Kings with his hands, and vision. But it was the Red Deer Rebels leg/knee that did the Kings in for good Thursday night in Edmonton.

Schenn decision soon?

*
On Monday, Hockey Canada released the invite list for it's training camp starting December 10th. 39 players made the list with hopes that a couple of NHL guys will be made available. The two guys being talked about the most are Tyler Seguin in Boston and Brayden Schenn with LA. The decision on Seguin will likely be a last minute one and will be based on their salary cap situation when Marc Savard returns.

As for Schenn word is the Kings will be letting Hockey Canada know this week If he'll be made available for training camp. The 5th overall pick from 2009 just came back from a 2 week conditioning stint in Manchester and has two more games in the NHL before a year of his entry level deal kicks in.

LA could loan Schenn to the World Juniors and call him back up or send him back to Brandon. Returning him to Brandon would likely only happen if they knew he would be traded to a contender. The 2 most likely destinations are Portland and Schenn's home town of Saskatoon.

Bad news for Kitchener and Portland?

~

Both the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes are making fans of the Kitchener Rangers and Portland Winter Hawks sweat today with news that they've inked their 2010 first round picks to entry level deals.

Carolina put Jeff Skinner's name on a deal and the Islanders followed suit by signing Nino Niederreiter to a 3 year deal.

CHL Goes High Tech, Johansen Signs With Jackets

~
The Canadian Hockey League unveiled their new websites today, with every team coming under one umbrella...finally. In the past there were some terribly outdated sites that lacked information. Even the 3 different league sites (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) were miles apart when it came to consistency. All the details can be found here.

Meanwhile Columbus has signed 2009 4th overall pick Ryan Johansen to an entry level contract. Aaron Portzline has the details here. I agree with Aaron that it's unlikely Johansen will stick with the Jackets this year, which is a relief to everyone in Portland where the centre will continue to develop in the WHL. It sounds like the Islanders will keep Johansen's Winterhawk linemate Nino Neiderrieter with the big club this year, and if Johansen somehow sticks with CBJ it would decimate the Hawks high hopes this year.

Mucha On The Move

The Portland Winterhawks sit 2nd in the WHL's U.S. division and 3rd in the Western Conference overall, and today traded their number one goaltender Kurtis Mucha to the Kamloops Blazers for a 4th round pick. The Hawks are enjoying a rebirth on and off the ice this year, and Mucha was a big reason why as far as I was told, but this deal allows them the ability to add an overage skater. The Hawks only fly through Edmonton once, and when they did I was impressed. Portland Head Coach/G.M. Mike Johnston must have a ton of faith in 19 year old Ian Curtis, who's appeared in 12 games with a 7-3 record, a 3.33 GAA, and a .905 save percentage. Portland also has 17 year old Mac Carruth out of Minnesota to plug in between the pipes, but one has to wonder if either of them are up to the task of carrying the team into the playoffs.

For Kamloops, Mucha gives them a credible last line of defence, which is clearly needed for a team that's given up 122 goals this year, the most of any WHL team. That they only gave up a 4th round pick for the Sherwood Park pipeman doesn't hurt them at all.

This trade is interesting for a few other teams as well. Will Seattle send 20 year old Prab Rai who has 13 goals and 25 points in 24 games to their U.S. division rivals? Recently Guy thought out loud about the Oil Kings dealing Torrie Jung. It's a thought I've heard from a few other people as well. If the price is a mid round pick, is it worth trading the most important position on your team for a 4th round pick? The Oil Kings might be able to get away with it because they have Cam Lanigan waiting in the wings to take over from Jung. But it will be very interesting to compare the Blazers and Winterhawks the rest of the way.

Rise of the Winterhawks

~
Junior hockey left Edmonton in 1976, and surfaced in Oregon as the Portland Winterhawks. A team that in it's 34 seasons has won 8 WHL Western Conference championships, 4 league titles and 2 Memorial Cups, with their last coming in 1997-98. That team featured current NHL stars Marion Hossa and Brendan Morrow, while in the past several other 'Hawks have flown to the NHL. Cam Neely, Wayne and Dave Babych, Andrew Ference and Clint Malarchuk to name a few.

However the last few years have been extremely lean for Portland, who have finished last in the U.S. division for 3 straight seasons. Two of those years the Hawks were basement dwellers for the entire league, and won just 11 games in 2007-2008.

This year, things are different for the Winterhawks, and it all started with new owner Bill Gallacher, who purchased the team just over a year ago. He made immediate changes on the bench, hiring former NHL assistant Mike Johnston, as well as former NHL player Travis Green. But with Gallacher came changes off the ice as well. Rumours of players having to buy their own sticks or travel to Canada for medical treatment have disappeared and pride is being restored to the Winterhawks.

The one benefit to finishing so low in the standings is very good bantam draft picks. Ty Rattie, and Brad Ross are contributing, as well as import draft pick Nino Niederreiter of Switzerland has people talking resurgence for Portland.

Thursday they rolled through Edmonton to the tune of a 5-2 victory. Yes the Oil Kings are without franchise defenceman Mark Pysyk as well as fellow blueliner Henrik Tervonen and forwards Clayton Cumiskey, TJ Foster and Rhett Rachinski due to injury, but that doesn't diminish how impressive the Hawks are right now.

The win moves them to the top of the entire WHL standings and it doesn't look like their ready to move off the perch anytime soon. So exactly why are the Hawks flying high again?

It starts behind the bench. The entire Portland staff was gutted last year. From coaches to trainers. Mike Johnston is using his 9 years of assistant coaching experience with L.A. and Vancouver to develop a winning attitude. Guy Flaming and I caught up with the head hawk before tonight's game. You can hear his thoughts on why he chose to coach in the WHL rather than pursue another NHL position, as well as making the transition to dealing with millionaires to teenagers, and just who some of his key players are, by clicking here.

Before I get into who impressed me tonight, think about how refreshing it might be for goaltender Kurtis Mucha? After this year, he'll have been a Hawk for 5 full seasons. He's seen it all. He also turned heads at Oilers training camp and was actually offered an AHL contract, but chose to return to Portland. That wouldn't have happened without an ownership change last year. We also spoke to Mucha before Thursday's victory and you can catch that conversation here.

Mucha is one of the reasons why Portland is on top of the WHL right now, but he's far from the only one. Thursday overage forward Chris Francis was terrific setting up 3 goals to vault him to the top of Portlands scoring leaders. He now has 15 points, just 4 back of the league leaders. Luke Walker and Spencer Bennett, Francis' linemates, were also very good picking up a goal and assist each. The trio was Portland's best line in my opinion Thursday night, but there was another impressive line, filled with youth, size and skill.

Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter at 6.02 203 lbs, Brad Ross at 6.01 173 lbs, and Ryan Johansen (from Port Moody, not Sweden) at 6.03 188 lbs make up one of the best lines in the league, and they're all likely to be drafted this June. ISS has the Swiss as an almost can't miss, ranking him 6th among WHL prospects. Ross and Johansen are 19th and 20th respectively. The 3 amigos were nearly unstoppable against Edmonton, especially on the cycle and combined for 2 goals and an assist. I was really impressed with Johansen who was used on the power play and penalty kill as well. His favorite player is Joe Thornton and he reminds me of another Joe...as in Colborne who was a Bruins first round pick in 2008 and is now at Denver University. Like Colborne did at his age, Johansen needs to fill out, but that will come in time. Niederreiter really caught Guy's eye, and I was impressed with his speed. We both like Ross' grit and he scored a beauty of a goal, burning down the left side, crossing in front of Torrie and tucking it in on the backhand.

And then there's defenceman Troy Rutkowski. The Edmonton product has 13 points so far this year. He's 6.01 and 220 lbs. One scout told us tonight he might be even better if he slims down a bit, but I was impressed, and so is ISS who have him ranked 17th.

So if you haven't picked up the theme here, check out the Hawks at a rink near you soon.

Oil Kings & the WHL Bantam Draft

~

The Edmonton Oil Kings managed to do something today that their parent NHL club has repeatedly failed to do - they traded up in the draft and took how one of the truly elite players available.

More on that in a second.

The Portland Winter Hawks had the first decision to make on the day and opted to take Derrick Pouliot, a defenceman who played in Weyburn Saskatchewan. International Scouting Services had Pouliot slotted 9th on their list and had this to say about him in their WHL Draft Guide:

"A tremendously intelligent puck moving defenseman, Pouliot is often on the ice at the same time as Balog and shows incredible poise and control in finding his, often well covered but extremely gifted, teammate in open ice. Pouliot has great two way speed and great control of his angles and gap against puck carriers. He controls the lanes well in his own zone and once he gains control of the puck he has the hands and poise with the puck to get out of pressure and move down ice. He will carry the puck end to end and has a very strong shot from speed. Any team looking to add offence from the back side without sacrificing too much defensively will have Pouliot high on their list."

After the draft I had a chance to chat with Winter Hawks GM and Head Coach Mike Johnston and you can hear his comments on why Pouliot was the right guy for Portland... HERE.

The next team to the podium was the Moose Jaw Warriors. I spotted Chad Lang in active discussions with several GMs during the course of the day and in fact his club did make a few draft pick swaps. However, the Warriors were only too happy to have the #2 pick in the draft and wasted no time in choosing Morgan Reilly. The blueliner played Notre Dame this past season but hails from West Vancouver originally. ISS had Reilly ranked 4th and earlier in the week I offered up their comments about him. HERE, Chad Lang expalins why Rielly was the right man for the Warriors.

The Chilliwack Bruins were slated to pick 3rd but the host team decided to make a splash instead.

GM Bob Green pulled the trigger on a the day's biggest deal as he packaged Edmonton's own 1st round pick (9th overall), Prince George's 3rd round pick (acquired last year for Cameron Cepek), veteran forward Shayne Neigum as well their 2009 Import Draft pick to Chilliwack in exchange for the 3rd overall selection and the Bruins' Import pick in 2010.

With the 3rd pick of the draft Edmonton continued the parade of defencemen by selecting Griffin Reinhart. The son of former NHL defenceman Paul Reinhart (CGY & VAN) spent this past season with the Hollyburn Midget A1 Huskies in B.C. Here is the write up of the deal from the Oil Kings site. According to his dad/coach, Reinhart is 6'4 and 190 lbs... as a 14 year old! This guy could easily grow a couple more inches and end up Colten Teubert or Alex Plante sized which is exactly what the Oil Kings have really been missing from their blueline.

Not to be overlooked in this deal is the swap of Import Draft picks. With Tomas Vincour and Robin Soudek coming back, the Oil Kings really have no use for their 2009 pick but could conceivably need 2 this time next summer and the Bruins one is likely going to be much earlier than Edmonton's.

There was a 15-minute break after the first round during which time I had a chance to talk to Assistant GM Randy Hansch about the trade and the selection of Reinhart. Listen HERE.

Instead of me describing all the picks of the day I will suggest you read Alan Caldwell's blog called Small Thoughts At Large as he did a bang up job during the course of the day and lists stats for each player too.

I will get into some description of the rest of Edmonton's picks though starting with the round 2 selection of Left Winger Mitchell Moroz. Moroz, a power forward from Calgary, was ranked 18th overall by ISS and the Oil Kings were able to land him with the 30th pick. ISS:

"Few players in this draft are as competitive as Mitch Moroz. The heart and soul of the Northstars this season, Moroz is an energic animal who loves to battle. His great size and strength help him push his way through the boards with the puck. Moroz attacks with great speed and loves to shoot, in fact it’s not often
that he looks to set up a play or pass, he loves to get the puck on net and drive in hard. Moroz is not afraid to mix it up after the play either, if he doesn’t like something, he’ll be sure to react to it. Moroz protects the puck very well and will
punish anyone who tries to keep it away from him. A solid checker, Moroz can change a game with his stick, his effort or a big bone crunching hit.

WHL Potential: Excellent secondary scoring option and energetic role player

Round 3 saw Edmonton taking Center Morgan Zulinick of Kamloops. At 5'8, Zulinick is definitely small but he's quick and talented. ISS had him ranked 40th overall so Edmonton does well here to get him 52nd overall. Here is what ISS had to say about him:

"Plays like a big man, similar in mold to a Joe Thornton type player. Zulinick is an excellent passer who loves to set up the play, but can also score when called upon. Zulinick is very smooth with the puck and can dazzle with his quick hands and great body control. Turned many scouts heads when he was selected to the KIBIHT all star game last season as a first year bantam player, a feat that isn’t very common."

Matthew Miller became Oil King property in Round 4 when the home team called his name in the 74th spot. Miller did not appear in the top 100 for ISS blueliner of the Winnipeg Monarchs has decent size and can play at both ends of the rink.

The first local boy Edmonton took this year was forward Tristan Sieben who ISS had ranked 17th overall. They also had him 2nd in the "best hands" category and 5th for "Pure Scorer". Here are the comments from ISS:

"A tremendously gifted offensive talent, Sieben can dominate players with his extremely high skill level. A tremendous puck handler, Sieben dances his way through players and has the skating ability to get free and into dangerous scoring areas all
on his own. The biggest knock on Sieben is that he can be a bit selfish at times and will try to do it all on his own.

WHL Potential: Great goal scorer"

Edmonton's 6th round choice was Cody Pettapeace, another defenceman. The blueliner is in line for a jump to Midget AAA next year after his last season in Saskatoon.

In Round 7 the Oil Kings did something I didn't expect - they drafted a goalie. Wade Moyls is a 6'3 14-year-old playing in Kamloops. I was surprised because of Edmonton's depth at the position but as GM Bob Green told me afterwards... you can never have enough goalie depth.

Ashton Saunter was Edmonton's 8th round pick, a defenceman from small town Saskatchewan. He's of average size but he had more than a point per game for Weyburn this past season.

In Round 9 the Oil Kings added Bowen Croft to their organization. He's a 5'10 forward that had 40 points in 32 games this past year with Sherwood Park. I happened to be out of the room when this pick was made and neglected to ask Bob Green about the player... as you'll notice when you listen to his post-draft comments.

Edmonton ended their participation in the days events with back-to-back picks in round 10. The first pick was thier own and they chose Anthony Borri of the Coquitlam Chiefs. Interestingly enough, the Prince Albert Raiders offered their 10th pick to Edmonton "for a Heineken". The Raiders were done for the day and in the end the Oil Kings took the pick with an agreement to swap their 10th rounders in 2010.

With P.A.'s 10th round bullet Edmonton grabbed AJHL forward Darren Kramer, a tough guy who racked up 221 PIM in 38 regular season games with the Grande Prairie Storm. This sounds like a player that fans are going to get to see next year and are going to get to like. He's going to be riding shot gun protecting the small skilled guys like Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck.

As I mentioned, I spoke with GM Bob Green after the draft and got a breakdown of each player they selected (except Croft). You can hear those Bob Green comments HERE.