Luke Boechler to undergo stem cell transplant tomorrow

This week brought fantastic news for Luke Boechler. The Yorkton Terriers goalie, who has been battling leukemia since January, is scheduled to undergo a blood stem cell transplant tomorrow in Calgary. Craig Stein's blog has the latest update from Luke's dad. It's great to see that Luke is at a stage where he can make some real progress in this battle. I don't know what the timeline is like after a stem cell transplant, but I sincerely hope to see him finish off his junior career at some point this season.

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This isn't a Battlefords North Stars blog, I swear, but they seem to be the only team making moves this week. The Stars have pulled the trigger on a major trade with Estevan, sending 1991 defenceman Dominic Perrault to the Bruins for a pair of Ds in 20-year-old Dakota Johnson, a Nova Scotia product with QMJHL experience, and 17-year-old Nathan Zimbaluk. They also picked up ex-Humboldt blueliner Cade Kimery. Details are on Dan O'Connor's blog.

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I've said before that I don't put much stock in pre-season power rankings, and the Klippers being third in the SJHL rankings released this week really means nothing until they hit the ice. That said, it's good to see them get some recognition. Mike Stackhouse also has a set of power rankings up on his blog and he has the Klippers second behind the North Stars.

Here are the SJ rankings:

1.   La Ronge Ice Wolves. They are the defending champions so why not put them at the top of the ladder. The team may have lost playoff MVP Dustin Stevenson and many other core players that were key to winning, but Bob Beatty still has many players left from last year’s team that would love nothing more than to make it two in a row.

2.   Battlefords Stars. Head Coach Ken Pearson already has a very good lineup with a talented group of forwards including Brett Miller and Colin Phaneuf. They should be near the top of the rankings if not at the top many times this season.

3.   Kindersley Klippers. The line of Andrew Dommett, Braeden Adamyk and John Calkins might be the best one in the league.  This trio will be hard to stop with all possibly finishing in the top 10 in this year’s scoring race.

4.   Estevan Bruins.  Head coach Karry Biette admits this is probably the best team he has had during his tenure in Estevan at the start of the season. The addition of Ben Findlay and Joel Danyluk from La Ronge makes this team a serious contender.

5.   Weyburn Red Wings. The Wings would love to make their 50^th season a special one. If Drew George gets on a roll, he could take Weyburn a long way.

6.   Nipawin Hawks. This team has not done well over the past few seasons, but only three players from last year’s team are not back. It’s a nice situation for new coach Doug Johnson to walk into. The Hawks may have the hottest player going into the season as Tanner Dusyk had four goals in his last two pre-season games.

7.   Notre Dame Hounds. They lose leading scorer Travis Janke, but the Hounds are confident they have enough offensive production to take a serious run at the title.

8.   Flin Flon Bombers. I realize the Bombers are the highest ranked team in the opening CJHL rankings of the year, but they have a major hole to fill with the loss of Matt Weninger.  Matt Lecours, Cory Tyrell, and Tanner Korchinski are solid players in this league and can take their game to the next level. If they do it quickly, the Bombers will rise in these rankings.

9.   Humboldt Broncos. The Broncos welcome back SJHL MVP Andrew Bodnarchuk in goal, but with the Broncos hosting the RBC in 2012, will coach Dean Brockman trade guys like Bodnarchuk, and Justin Buzzeo in order to make sure his team is ready to compete for a national title as the host team in 2012? It’s tough to know what way they will go.

10.  Melfort Mustangs. There is a good mix of young and new in Melfort. How long will it take for Darrell Mann’s crew to gel.

11.  Yorkton Terriers.  They have the goaltender in Devin Peters, but who is going to score. Trent Cassan needs to know who he can count on for goal-scoring and hope that Peters can limit the damage until the answer is found.

12.  Melville Millionaires. The Millionaires are in the same boat as the Terriers. Great goaltending, but who puts the puck in the net.  Jamie Fiesel can perhaps answer that question for me when I visit his fine city Thursday for the season  opener.

Here's what Ian Hamilton of the Leader-Post had to say about the Klips in his season preview today: 

Head coach-GM Larry Wintoneak is stringing a line this season when it comes to his team.


Three 20-year-olds -- Andrew Dommett (who tied for the league lead with 36 goals last season en route to a team-best 60 points), Johnny Calkins (50 points) and Braeden Adamyk (47 points) -- comprise a unit that Wintoneak calls "a very, very dynamic trio."


They're joined up front by vets like Taylor Duzan, 19, and Jordon Hoffman, 19. The defence is led by 20-year-olds Kurt Leedahl and Johnathan Sonntag and 18-year-old Sean Flanagan, while Scott Hellyer, 20, is the No. 1 goalie.


Joining the 15 returnees are rookies like 18-year-old forward Pearce Gourley and goalie Justin McDonald, 18.


"We have to be consistent," Wintoneak says. "One of the things we've talked about as a group is our road record. We had 11 road wins last year. With the group we have back, we have to be better in that area."