Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the DUB: 32 players selected by WHL clubs at CHL Import Draft, Moores passes away and more!

Written by Paul Figler on

 

WHL teams select 32 players at CHL Import Draft

The Canadian Hockey League held its annual Import Draft on Wednesday and WHL clubs selected 32 players from 12 countries. Belarus led the way with six players, while the Czech Republic had five. Italy had its first pick in the draft since 2008. Everett held the first WHL pick of the draft and selected Niko Huuhtanen (RW) of Finland. The oldest player selected went to the Vancouver Giants, who selected March 11, 2002, born goaltender Jesper Vikman. The youngest player distinction went to Italian forward Alessandro Segafredo, selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Moores passes away at 65

Kamloops Blazers COO and President Don Moores passed away at the age of 65 on Wednesday.

The Kamloops, BC native began his hockey career as a Kamloops Rocket in the BCHJL in 1972-73. Moores played parts of three seasons in the WCHL with the Kamloops Chiefs. He was then selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the 1976 NHL Draft.

Moores was an assistant coach with the Blazers from 1985-90. He was named COO and President of the hockey club in August 2016.

DUBNetwork would like to send its condolences to the Moores family, as well as friends of Don and the entire Kamloops Blazers organization.

Betker heads to HC Innsbruck

26-year-old defenceman Ben Betker (201GP, 14G, 44A with Portland and Everett ’11-’15) has signed with HC Innsbruck of the ICEHL in Austria. Betker played 2020-21 with HKM Zvolen in Slovakia. Through 48 regular-season games, Betker scored two goals and added 11 assists. In the playoffs, Betker managed two assists through nine games. The Edmonton Oilers selected Betker in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

Bortnak joins HK Poprad

30-year-old forward Dalibor Bortnak (170GP, 30G, 69A with Kamloops ’08-’11) has signed with HK Poprad of Slovakia. Bortnak has spent parts of the last eight seasons playing in the top professional league in Slovakia, including 46 games in 2020-21 with HC Slovan Bratislava. Bortnak scored three goals and added eight assists in the regular season. In the playoffs, he did not register a point in 10 games. The Blazers selected Bortnak 18th overall at the 2008 CHL Import Draft.