Hellyer traded for BCHL goalie

It didn't take long for the Klippers to find Scott Hellyer a new home. According to the league website, he has been dealt to the Cowichan Valley Capitals for fellow 20-year-old netminder Alexandre Peck, a native of Kirkland, Quebec. Peck actually turns 20 next Thursday.

He is listed at 6'4", 185 pounds and played 40 games for the Capitals last year, posting a 3.96 GAA and .884 save percentage. The team finished seventh out of eight teams in their conference at 25-32-0-3

Of note, Sanfred King was also acquired from Cowichan Valley last season.

Hard to imagine Peck will be available this weekend.

More when it becomes available.

From eliteprospects.com:

Alexandre Peck

Birthyear: 1990-10-28 Birthplace: Kirkland, QC, CAN Age: 19 Nation: Canada Position: G Shoots: L Height: 193 cm / 6'4" Weight: 84 kg / 185 lbs

 

Season	Team	League	GP	GAA	SVS%		Postseason	GP	GAA	SVS%
2007-2008	Lac Saint-Louis Lions	QMAAA	23	3.65	.879	|
2008-2009	Victoria Grizzlies	BCHL	24	2.69	.904	|
2009-2010	Cowichan Valley Capitals	BCHL	40	3.96	.884	|	Playoffs	1	6.00	.875
2010-2011	Cowichan Valley Capitals	BCHL	12	5.09	.858	|

Final selection of the 14th rd by St-Jérôme, in the 2007 LHJAAAQ entry draft

Here's one scouting report on Peck, but be aware that it is based on only one game.

And here is an article from the weekend suggesting Peck had struggled recently for Cowichan and a change in the crease was needed.

Lots of news today

Obviously there is a lot of stuff happening in Klipperland today. I'm still trying to arrange a chat with Larry Wintoneak, but for now, head over to Brenden Ullrich's blog, he's got the info on the developments that have taken place.

To sum it up:

-Scott Hellyer has left the team - details on that are not clear at this point
-Beau Taylor and Pearce Gourley have reportedly been traded in a deal that is still being finalized
-Team has finally found an assistant coach - Rocky Zinger, fresh off a stint as interim head coach of the Okotoks Oilers

Today was a SWHL day for me. I spent most of the day tracking down various senior hockey coaches to do season previews, and this news came as quite a surprise.

UPDATE: Pearce Gourley says Larry has not completed a deal, and he doesn't know if he will be traded.

Gourley said it's "still in the works."

I have managed to confirm that Beau Taylor has been shipped out, but not where or any other details.

UPDATE #2: I am now hearing strong rumblings from team sources that Brett Penner has quit as well. That is not confirmed. The more I try to unravel all this stuff, the more my head spins. I have not heard back from Larry Wintoneak. Rest assured that when I know more you will too.

Cody Lund and Klipper prospect update

Before getting into what Cody Lund had to say last night, here is a little more info on the team's newest addition.

Before joining the Fort William North Stars, Lund played all of 2007-08 (his 17-year-old season) and the first 19 games of 2008-09 with the Columbia Valley Rockies of the KIJHL. It's a Junior B league, but most would agree it's a step above most Junior B circuits and close to, if not on par with, the quality of the SIJHL.

Lund wore an A with Fort William last season when they won their second straight league championship.

Eliteprospects.com has him listed at 6'3" and I'd say he's closer to that than the 6'0" indicated on the North Stars' site.

I mentioned that he's closer to home now and he joked that he's "only" nine hours away.

Here's what Cody had to say about the difference between the SIJHL and SJHL:

The play is different, but in the end everyone puts the knee pads on the same. You just gotta go out and play and do what you do best.

Did the trade come as a surprise?

Yeah, a little bit. But I’m here now, a lot of good people here and I’m really enjoying myself. Hopefully it'll be like this the rest of the year. It's been good.

Would he agree he's been brought in to be a gritty shutdown guy?

That’s the role that I’ve gotta play here, and I hope to do here for the rest of the season.

On whether he made a good first impression:

Yeah, I guess so. But it is a team game - it’d be nice to win. We got a road trip coming up this weekend, so hopefully we can go and get four points.

On how big of a role he'll play:

I think that’ll come as time progresses and (Wintoneak) sees me a little bit. We’ll just play it by ear.

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Here's an update on some of the kids we saw in training camp and how they're doing with their respective midget clubs.

Patrick Johnson, G (Saskatoon Contacts) - 5-0, 2.20, .918

Johnson's Contacts are the talk of the SMHL so far. They are undefeated through eight games and have scored 50 goals over that stretch. Johnson isn't seeing a ton of rubber - opponents are firing an average of 26.8 shots at him - and that's not such a good thing for a midget netminder. His save percentage ranks seventh in the league, although four of the guys ahead of him have played only two or three games.

Brennen Bosovich, C (Prince Albert Mintos) - 6-4-9-13

Tanner Kissick's former teammate is on fire to start the season. He has spent some time leading the league in scoring (currently tied for fourth) and was listed by the Tri-City Americans earlier this month. He also earned a one-game suspension last week for a hit from behind in the last 10 minutes of a game Oct. 10.

Nick Eliason, D (Saskatoon Contacts) - 8-2-5-7

Eliason, 17, almost surely would have made this team had he decided to make the jump. He is currently sixth in scoring among midget AAA defencemen, and the Contacts are simply blowing the league away at this point. The Outlook native isn't the highest-scoring blueliner on his team, though; that distinction falls to Cody Pettapiece, whose 17 points have him third in the scoring race.

Colby Daniels, F (Battlefords Stars) - 8-3-3-6

Daniels had a great training camp for someone who had turned 16 barely a month earlier. Five of his points came in two games early in the year, and he is pointless in his last three. He's tied for second in Stars scoring.

Tanner Tyndall, LW (Saskatoon Contacts) - 8-2-3-5

Tyndall, 17, was one of the first cuts from this year's camp. From what I can find, this looks to be his first season in the league, and he's off to a solid start. He had three points in the season opener and has piled up 26 penalty minutes so far.

Austin McDonald, RW (Beardy's Blackhawks) - 8-2-2-4

McDonald has a ton of talent packed into his small frame. He had a great camp, but there was never any question of him going back for his last midget season. Brother Justin has moved on and Austin looks good to shatter last year's 12 points.

Jeff Olson, LW (Battlefords Stars) - 6-1-2-3

The Kindersley native is a late 1993 birthday. He also has a suspension under his belt this year, getting a two-game ban for a gross misconduct during a game against the Yorkton Harvest Oct. 2. He responded with two points in his first game back in Prince Albert.

Cody Thiel, D (Battlefords Stars) - 8-0-2-2

Thiel is another player who voluntarily went back to his midget team. He did crack the team out of camp, but that was before the additions of David Haaf and Cody Lund. The ex-forward is off to a bit of a slow start offensively, but then, the Stars are too at 2-5-1.

Mitchell Schwark, C (Saskatoon Blazers) - 11-1-2-3

Schwark impressed at Klippers camp with his physical play for a 16-year-old. His lone goal so far came on the power play Oct. 9. The Blazers are in a bad funk with one win in their first 11 games - Schwark's three points actually have him tied for fifth in team scoring.

Kindersley defenceman Kadin Schmaltz, a 16-year-old Klipper auto-protect, has played two games with the Swift Current Legionnaires. He played for the West Central Wheat Kings last season, and they do not have a midget team this year.

Majkowski sinks Klippers in overtime

I'm pretty tired out, so I'll keep this brief and add a full recap tomorrow.

After the Klippers clawed back from three one-goal deficits in regulation, a less than potent shot from Zak Majkowski eluded Scott Hellyer 2:08 into overtime to give Yorkton a 4-3 win.

Hellyer got a big piece of the shot (from the booth, I couldn't tell if it was glove or shoulder) but it caromed off him and up under the bar.

You could feel the anger and frustration in the Klippers' area after the game. There were all kinds of chances, especially in the third period, that they didn't capitalize on.

D. Jay McGrath had a lot of friends show up to see his first home game as a Klipper. He scored the team's first goal, a PP marker off a feed from Taylor Duzan in the second period. He showed a willingness to drive the net and get involved in the corners. He should only get better as he adjusts from his WHL role to the gritty offensive game the Klippers want from him.

I was very impressed with Cody Lund. I posted yesterday that he is listed at six feet even - yeah, he's bigger than that. He was a go-to guy on the penalty kill in his first game and should help to shore up that area. He also looked comfortable handling the puck and making the high percentage play to get it out. I had a chat with him after the game. Nice guy. Should get it posted tomorrow.

Klippers vs. Yorkton preview

First things first - I do know Cody Lund is in Kindersley and has practiced with the team. I do not know if he's playing tonight. With eight healthy defencemen and a trip to Nipawin and Melfort on the weekend, there isn't a real urgency to get him in there tonight if Larry feels he could use a little more time to adjust. When he does play, he'll be sporting number four - ironically the number worn last year by David Ahl, the player traded for him.

Yorkton (7-4-1-2) has held down first place in the Sherwood for a good chunk of this young season. They have also played more games than any other SJHL team (four more than the Klippers) and have lost three straight at home. Now, those losses came to pretty good teams - La Ronge, Estevan and Weyburn - but it's still not the ideal way to go into a nine-game road trip.

But who expected the Terriers to sit atop the division before the season started? Certainly not the handful of people in Yorkton that I talked to.

The question, of course, was whether the Dogs could score enough goals. Gone were late-season additions Troy Smukowich and Ryan Griffiths, who helped kick-start their offence in the playoffs. The only really notable returnees up front were Rylan McDonell and Brent Struble.

Then Clarke Breitkreuz and Robbie Ciolfi were returned from the WHL, then B.C. Junior B import Zak Majkowski went on a tear from the beginning.

The back end has been a strength for the Terriers, and the loss of Clark Byczynski and Drew McDermott as futures in the Smukowich trade - plus losing Austin Bourhis to Prince Albert - were big blows. Yet the presence of vets like Blaine Tendler and Kurtis Decker, and the emergence of 17-year-old Devon McMullen, have softened the blow.

And Devin Peters is Devin Peters: one of the best tenders in the league. Maybe the best.

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I had a conversation with someone close to the team the other day about when cuts will come and what they might look like. With the addition of Lund, the Klippers now have 15 healthy forwards (plus Dommett), eight defencemen and two goalies for a total of 25 healthy players.

The problem is every player has made a strong case for himself to stick. That includes the logjam up front as well as rookie defencemen Jeff Bartel and David Haaf.

After spending some time mulling over the possibilities, we came to the conclusion that the most likely action will be cutting two or three forwards and no defencemen, allowing Riley Down to move up front.

That's nothing but speculation, and there are many options for Larry Wintoneak - none of them exactly desirable given the way these kids are playing.

Final note: Andrew Dommett was scheduled to have the wires removed from his jaw today. I'm not expecting to see him tonight, but if I do I'll see how things went with the doc.

Klippers acquire D Cody Lund from SIJHL

This just in: the Klippers have acquired a veteran defenceman, but it is not the power play quarterback Larry Wintoneak had talked about going after at the start of the season.

Cody Lund, 20, comes to the Klippers from the Fort William North Stars of the Superior International Junior Hockey League in northern Ontario.

According to his Fort William player profile, Lund stands six feet, 185 pounds and notched 16 points (4-12) in 42 games last season.

His team has won the SIJHL championship the last two seasons, Lund's first two in the league.

Wintoneak described the Salmon Arm, B.C. native as "a stay-at-home defenceman who brings you some grit" and kills penalties well.

Lund had four power play points last season, suggesting he was capable of some time on the man-advantage when needed. But that was the SIJHL, and this is the SJHL, and with some of the offensive talent already on the Klipper blueline, it's very doubtful Lund will be a PP guy.

In exchange, the North Stars get the rights to 19-year-old blueliner David Ahl, who did not return to the team this year.

Annnnnnd we're back!

I apologize for the lack of updates over the weekend. It was a somewhat busy one for me. In all honesty, when the Klippers play on the road and I don't see the games, my opinion isn't going to offer much of value, at least until I talk to Larry Wintoneak and maybe a player or two to get a better handle on what went down. Due to a combination of things, I won't get a chance to talk to Larry until Tuesday morning.

As you know, the Klippers split their two games in Flin Flon, winning 4-3 Friday on Tanner Exner's overtime goal and losing 3-2 the next night on a late marker by Ryan Fox.

By the sound of it, the Klippers dominated both games for long stretches, outshooting the Bombers 50-24 on Friday (22-4 in the third) and 45-31 on Saturday (18-4 in the second).

D. Jay McGrath, wearing #10 while centering Taylor Duzan and Jesse Mysiorek, was held pointless in his first two games as a Klipper.

Justin McDonald got both starts after Scott Hellyer came down with the flu on Friday.

On the back end, no one knew for sure if Riley Down would return on the weekend. He said yes, Larry said probably not. In this case, the player was right as Downer suited up for both games. Jeff Bartel sat out.

Jordon Hoffman, playing on the big line with Calkins and Adamyk, finally broke the goose egg on Friday night when he scored his first of the year early in the third period.

It has been an interesting few days elsewhere on the Kindersley sports scene. The football Kobras clinched their first playoff spot in 22 years with a 44-13 win over the Unity Warriors Friday. They finished third in the North West Football League at 4-3 and visit the second-place Meadow Lake Spartans on Saturday for a chance to play in the league final.

And just tonight, the Kindersley Red Lions senior team got a big boost when they were granted the right to sign import players. As an A centre in a league full of B, C and D communities, they have never been allowed to do this. The team has made a couple of big signings already. For details on that and the Kobras, check my twitter account and Wednesday's Clarion.