Alan Caldwell, the guru and sole proprietor of Small Thoughts At Large, has struck again. He has put together a spreadsheet that details each WHL team and the draft picks it owns and the ones it has traded away. . . . You will find it right here, and he wants you to contact him if you spot any errors.
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Considering what transpired at the U of North Dakota (remember the Fighting Sioux and the logo?) and
what is happening these days with the NFL franchise in Washington, D.C., and its nickname, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that someone has demanded the Portland Winterhawks should dump their logo.“Mascotry has to stop,” Jackie Keeler, a Portland activist, member of the Navajo and Yankton Dakota Sioux Tribes, and founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, told Colin Miner of golocalpdx.com.
Graham Kendrick, the Winterhawks' director of media and public relations, told Miner that the team had yet to officially hear anything on this subject, so didn't feel it was appropriate to comment.
Miner's story is right here.
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports Canada has a look at the situation right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades have acquired F Sam McKechnie, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds for a conditional
sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . McKechnie had been acquired by Seattle from the Lethbridge Hurricanes early last season. In 67 games with Seattle, he had seven goals and 11 assists. In 212 regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 46 goals. . . . McKechnie isn't expected to play for the Blades on Friday night in Brandon or Saturday in Moose Jaw, as he is in transit. . . . The Blades have released G Michael Herringer, 18, from their roster, so will go with Trevor Martin, 18, and Nik Amundrud, 17, at least for now. Martin is expected to start in Brandon, with Amundrud getting the call in Moose Jaw. . . . Herringer was acquired last week from the Victoria Royals for undisclosed conditional bantam draft picks, but didn't play in either of Saskatoon's first two games. . . . The Thunderbirds now have four 20-year-olds, one over the limit. The four are D Adam Henry, who turns 20 on Nov. 24, F Justin Hickman, D Evan Wardley and G Taran Kozun. . . . Saskatoon's 20s right now are McKechnie, F Chase Clayton and F Brett Stovin, who will be 20 on Oct. 31.---
The Prince Albert Raiders have promoted Kelly Guard to the position of full-time assistant coach,
replacing Tim Leonard, who cited personal reasons in resigning on Wednesday. Guard has been with the Raiders for two seasons as their goaltending/strength and conditioning coach. . . . Guard played two seasons with the Kelowna Rockets (2002-04), backstopping them to the 2004 Memorial Cup title. In 2003-04, he set the WHL record for lowest regular-season GAA (1.56), a record that still stands. With Kelowna, he wore big white pads upon which, I once wrote, you would be able to ski. . . . The Raiders also released D Ryan Coghlan, who turns 19 on Oct. 31. He was acquired last season from the Saskatoon Blades. From Nanaimo, B.C., he is expected to play in the BCHL. . . . Leonard has returned to the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, as their head coach. He replaces Ken Morrison, who resigned earlier in the week. Morrison led the Mintos to a national championship last spring. Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has that story right here.---
The Portland Winterhawks have two players remaining in NHL camps, what with word that G Brendan Burke is on his way back from the Arizona Coyotes. F Nic Petan remains with the Winnipeg Jets and F Oliver Bjorkstand still is with the Columbus Blue Jackets. When NHL camps opened, the Winterhawks were missing nine players.
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The Coyotes also returned Czech G Marek Langhamer, 20, to the Medicine Hat Tigers. That leaves the
Tigers with two 20-year-old goaltenders, the other being Jared Rathjen, who was acquired over the summer from the Vancouver Giants. . . . However, Rathjen continues to undergo medical testing for a heart condition that was detected at the opening of training camp. . . . The Tigers' other import is sophomore German F Markus Eisenschmid, 19. . . . Langhamer's arrival also leaves the Tigers with five 20-year-olds, the others being D Kyle Becker, D Tyler Lewington, F Miles Koules and Rathjen. . . . Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News also has reported that Tigers F Anthony Ast has suffered a wrist injury and will require surgery. Ast, 19, was acquired last season from the Vancouver Giants. He had 17 points, 12 of them goals, in 27 games with the Tigers. He has battled injuries throughout his WHL career, playing 52 games last season, 38 in 2012-13 and 42 in 2011-12.---
Meanwhile, Arizona has returned Latvian F Edgars Kulda to the Edmonton Oil Kings, leaving them with
three imports, one over the limit. Also on Edmonton's roster are veteran Danish F Mads Eller, 19, and Russian rookie D Marsel Ibragimov. . . . The Oil Kings will have to trade Kulda or Eller, or release Ibragimov. CHL rules prevent the trading of an import player during his first season. . . . Furthermore, Kulda turns 20 on Nov. 13, so his arrival leaves the Oil Kings with four 20s, the others being D Blake Orban, D Ashton Sautner and G Tyler Santos. . . . Santos is one of three goaltenders on Edmonton's roster, joining starter Tristan Jarry, 19, and freshman Patrick Dea, 17.---
F Morgan Klimchuk of the Regina Pats remains in camp with the NHL's Calgary Flames, but he left a Wednesday night exhibition game with an injury to his left hand or wrist after jamming it against the boards following a check. Klimchuk was in the lineup because F Mason Raymond was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Branden Klatt, 16, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. From Moose Jaw, he is into his second season with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. . . .
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix tweeted Thursday night that "former Saskatoon Blades F Logan Harland is joining Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL, per his agent." Harland, 19, was released by the Blades last week. . . . The Everett Silvertips and Fox Sports 1380 have renewed their broadcast for five more years. The deal runs through 2018-19. Everett's games have been on the same radio station since 2003-04, its first season in the WHL. Travis Huntington is back for a fourth season as the play-by-play voice of the Silvertips.
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I'll start to worry about the Winterhawk logo when investors swoop into Portland to start a chain of "Artisan Tattoo Removal Shops" #drive45
— Fake Mike Johnston (@FakeMikeJ) September 25, 2014
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