Four Chiefs Worthy Of All-Star Status
Although rosters for the Jan. 23 Western Hockey League All-Star game won’t be announced until this morning, the educated guess here is that as many as four Spokane Chiefs could play for the West Division.
As the league’s No. 1-rated goaltender, David Lemanowicz is a shoo-in. Right wing Jason Podollan is another lock.
Spokane’s Dmitri Leonov, the division’s player of the month for December, is expected to make the cut as well. Another worthy of an invitation is Sean Gillam, the Chiefs’ defenseman/captain who had hoped to make the Canadian World Junior tournament team.
For Gillam, an All-Star game appearance would take some of the sting out of the world junior snub.
The Rockets redder glare
From the look of the first significant trade of ‘96 there’s a new sheriff in town.
The Kelowna Rockets filled a huge need this week with the addition of Sheldon Souray, a 19-year-old defenseman who came from Prince George for 18-year-old defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski.
The deal gives the Rockets not only a tough blue-liner, but a puck-carrying defenseman with a great shot from the point of the power play.
Souray, who has signed with the NHL New Jersey Devils, is wrapping up his junior hockey career. He’s a pro next year. “Kelowna already had one of the best power plays in the league,” said one WHL exec said. “He makes it better, especially in that little rink of theirs.”
The arrival of the 6-3, 223-pound Souray in Kelowna sends two signals. By trading him, Prince George has all but accepted its sixth straight last-place finish. And by parting with the younger Kwiatkowski, the Rockets are making it known that this is their year.
Greg Drinnan of the Regina Leader-Post echoed the sentiments of some WHL execs.
“It’s the annual Prince George fire sale,” Drinnan said. “Rick Brodsky (Prince George owner) is George Steinbrenner without money.”
He means Brodsky could have gotten more for Souray.
Others aren’t that critical, since the Cougars also picked up a second-round bantam draft pick and you can never judge how a veteran with nothing to prove will pan out.
“It improves them, no question,”Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz said, “but we’re not ready to concede the division.”
The Chiefs were aware of Souray’s availability, Speltz confirmed, “but what they wanted was too much.”
Phone lines will heat up as the Jan. 25 WHL trade deadline approaches.
Around the WHL
The Seattle Thunderbirds were supposedly ready to send captain Blair Manning, a goal-scoring leader, to Spokane for younger talent, but Chiefs GM Tim Speltz said the team is not pursuing Manning. … The Arena is finally rigged to receive radio signals, or should be by Saturday night’s Kamloops game. If the game doesn’t come in on KGA’s 1510 frequency, try 710. The broadcast by Craig West and Dean Allen add a lot to the show. … When the Kelowna Rockets lost 4-3 Sunday night in overtime at Prince George they were down to 12 skaters. Robb Gordon and Vaclav Varada were at the world juniors but center Jason Deleurme was a more serious scratch. He’s out for six weeks with a broken thumb . … Applause grows for the job ex-Chiefs coach Bryan Maxwell is doing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes: “Every kid on the team has grown 2 inches and added 20 pounds,” said Drinnan, who edits a weekly WHL newsletter out of Regina . … After three years, Portland has given up on goaltender Scott Rideout, who left this week for the Vernon, B.C. Vipers of the B.C. Junior League.
, DataTimes