Shots from the Point

If you missed it tucked in the last sentence in yesterday's post, it was an update to the original, but Cody Castro was released yesterday.

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Rene Ferran's latest "Meet the Ams" is highlighting Connor Rankin:

"Those first few shifts of that first game were pretty nervewracking," Rankin said. "But the other guys on the team helped me, and as the game went on I calmed down. I feel a lot better now."
Rankin still awaits his first WHL goal, but he knows it's only a matter of time.
"It's totally in the back of my mind," he said. "But I try not to think about it too much, because if I do, I know it's not going to happen."
First hockey team: The Mini Mite Bruins at age 5 in that hotbed of hockey -- Tucson, Ariz. Rankin was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, but his family moved to Arizona when he was 4 after vacationing there (they returned to B.C. when he was 10). "My parents asked me what I wanted to do, and I said hockey. The closest rink was 45 minutes away."  (Examiner)

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Buzzing the net has a great read on Bob Tory and the organization he got turned around:

Bob Tory, who became the team's general manager 10 years ago, admitted it was a long, uphill climb to turn the league laughingstock into a perennial powerhouse.

"It took longer than I thought to turn things around," Tory said. "I didn't realize the level of dysfunction that was here when I arrived. It's really a remarkable story. We tell players never to give up and what's happened here is why you never give up."

The Americans have enjoyed four 40-win seasons in a row and the Toyota Center in Kennewick has become one of the loudest and most difficult places to play in the entire WHL.


"We think we're as good as we've been the last three years," Tory said. "We've got almost all our forwards back, our goaltending is back and we've added size on our blue line. We feel we can compete with any of the top teams in the division. And it's a very good division, there's no question about that."

Tory, who has twice been named the WHL executive of the year, said the biggest change for the Americans has been an attitude adjustment.

"The first thing we had to do was eliminate the excuses on and off the ice," Tory said. "We stopped looking at the reasons we couldn't succeed and began to do the things that we could. It's a very simple thing and it's called work ethic. It's something you have to have in a small business."

I encourage you to read the rest here, it's good stuff. 
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According to Regan Bartel:

The Rockets will be wearing pink jerseys, pink skate laces and pink hockey tape on their sticks in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Fans are also asked to wear pink to the game and place bids on the jerseys the players are wearing, which will be auctioned off after the game.
All the proceeds will go towards the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. (Regan's Rant)

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The boy weighs in on some of the CHL's new 3rd jerseys:

Now, you all know about my gripes about front numbers, templated design, and unnecessary piping on the new Reebok Edge systems, as I have voiced my displeasure on The Show and here. However, there's something new that's popping up that's starting to become my top annoyance, and it's really showing through in the new Canadian Hockey League third jerseys coming out.

Mismatched nameplates.  (The Strangest One of All)

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Finally today, the Nashville Predators have sent Chet Pickard back to Milwaukee.  (Predators)