Game Day at Everett

In case you were wondering, From Russia with Glove has a new netminding job--with the Mississippi RiverKings.  From the Herald:

Pechurskiy, a 2008 fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, has been idle since he was waived. With one year remaining on his Kontinental Hockey League contract, he cannot sign with the Penguins or play for one of their affiliate teams.

The NHL and Kontinental Hockey League signed a formal agreement in October to mutually respect each other's player contracts. Under the agreement, only free agents can switch leagues. (Herald)

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Speaking of former American goalies, Chet Pickard opens up about his recent struggles in a great interview with the Tennesseean:

I think when I got sent down to Cin­cin­nati I was pretty upset and I felt bad for myself and I was bla­ming every­body but myself, but now I rea­lize I really have nobody to blame but myself. Now that I’m here I have to con­trol what I can con­trol and get back to the way I can play and let the chips fall where they fall, and hope­fully one day I can look back on the last month and a half and the expe­rience I have gone through and look at it like it was something that was good, that made me a bet­ter per­son and made me a bet­ter hoc­key pla­yer, because right now, I’m not pla­ying the way I should be playing.

It’s very hum­bling, what I’ve gone through, but I deserve to be put through what I’ve been put through, and being in the East Coast lea­gue, there’s a lot of good pla­yers, and I never rea­li­zed that, that I was for­tu­nate enough last year to be given the chance to play the whole year in the Ame­ri­can Hoc­key Lea­gue.

There's a lot more, you should check it out, interesting stuff.
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A trade yesterday sent 20-year-old Brendan Rowinski from Moose Jaw to Vancouver.  This puts the Giants in a pickle now with 4 overagers.  One of them, Randy McNaught, is headed to the injury list which will make room for Rowinski.  It's apparently an ankle injury and one that is long-term which is why they're able to add another 20.  If/when McNaught returns, the Giants have 2 weeks to make a decision on their overagers.

This info from Gregg Drinnan and I'm mentioning it here because the Americans still have 4 20-year-olds with Neal Prokop on the injured list.  The big news (to me) is the 2 week window, I thought it was only one.  So there's that.
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Speaking of other teams, look out US Division fans, the Portland Winterhawks are like good and stuff.  They've won 10 in a row and are sitting atop the WHL in points.  Tonight they face the Saskatoon Blades who are no shrinking violets with a 13-5-1 record, going 7-1-1 at home.

Gotta feel bad for Winterhawks fans, there is apparently no radio feed available for them for tonight's game.  And I know this isn't the first game they've had with no feed, or games being on an hour delay.  You'd think there'd be one station in the Portland Metro area that could support the team and be able to air the games for them.  Obviously, I don't know the whole situation, but again, I know this isn't the first time.  Yes, they could buy the game on WHL tv or tune in to the Saskatoon radio feed, but if they're like me, they want to hear their own guy call the game.
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Another team that ain't what she used to be is the Chilliwack Bruins.  They are 10-7-1 and sit 5 points behind the Giants with 4 fewer games played.  Last night they played off against each other, Chilliwack taking the 5-1 win.

Chilliwack's 5-1 win in front of 3,668 fans at Prospera Centre was aided by 11 power plays, but it nevertheless injects further life into this long one-sided rivalry.

Much of the post-game chatter, though, won't centre on the result but rather the second-period hit by Giants' defenceman Wes Vannieuwenhuizen on Bruins' forward Robin Soudek in front of the Chilliwack bench.

Vannieuwenhuizen was assessed a five-minute major for hitting from behind and Soudek, who did move around after the hit, left on a spine board.

He was taken immediately for X-rays but there was no update at press time. The hit will be reviewed by the league.  (The Province via Yahoo!)

I haven't seen the hit, but I am amazed at the lack of kerfuffle about it on the interwebz.  No one calling for Vanniewenhuizen's head, or saying he's public enemy #1?  Maybe it's just too early in the day, I'll have to keep an eye on Regan Bartel's blog.  Or not, it makes me want to punch the computer.

I do hope Soudek is ok, I never want to see anyone hurt for any team.  It does appear the Giants completely lost their shit though, giving up 11 power plays.  Crazy.

Also, check out the link to see Chilliwack's Remembrance Day jerseys--well done.
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Going with yesterday's thought that everyday should be Veteran's Day, you can read veteran's 6-word memoirs.  Sometimes fewer words makes a bigger impact.
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Ass-pat to Kimberlee who sent me this article on former American Johnny Lazo:

“I always liked Pavel Bure — him and Paul Kariya were my two favorites,” Lazo said. “They’re smaller guys, really fast and that’s kind of what I emulated my game around.”

“Those guys I looked up to as far as on-ice role models, but off ice it was definitely my parents. They’ve been awesome, so supportive of me throughout my whole career.”

“Definitely for me, being a smaller guy, I was getting overlooked a lot,” Lazo said, who experienced a low-point in his career when he was passed over at the WHL entry draft. “It stung watching all of my buddies get drafted and then getting my name passed on even though I had more points than them.” (The Gateway)

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Rene Ferran featured Brock Sutherland the other day in his latest "Meet the Ams"

"I try to lead by example on and off the ice," Sutherland said. "I show up every night and show the young guys that most of it is just hard work.

"I think (the young guys) have done great and surprised a lot of people. Every day, they come to work, they're learning and getting better. That's all you can ask for."

First hockey team The Pilot Mound Pilots as a 4-year-old in a town of 800 in Manitoba about a half-hour from the U.S. border. "I was one of the first kids my age to start hockey, so I was playing with kids three years older than me. I remember scoring my first goal as the youngest guy out there. It was pretty exciting." (Examiner)

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There's a game tonight, boys are in Everett facing the Silvertips.  The 'Tips are in a free-fall, sitting last in the division, and going 2-6-0-2 in their last 10 games.  I hope the Americans don't think they've got an easy game in their hands and choose not to play well.  I would speculate (but could be totally wrong) this would be a good game to get Dreidger in there.  And no, that does not mean I think Drew has become a shitty goalie, it's because Dreidger needs to get some experience under his belt.  Or under his pads.  Whatever. Then again, Drew plays better when he plays more games in a row, and tomorrow they're in Spokane and I would love to have him "on" rather than rusty.

So click on that little ol' "Read More" to get to the liveblog action for tonight, and it's another one of those later starts, so we'll be live at 7:15, not the usual 6:45.