Daily Dose of the Dub: ICE add Hughes and Ettinger, Warriors claim Hartje, Wheat Kings acquire Thiessen and more

ICE add Hughes and Ettinger 

The Winnipeg ICE have added overage goaltender Liam Hughes and defenseman Ty Ettinger to their roster. Hughes last played in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season. He left the team six games after being acquired from the Seatle Thunderbirds for “personal reasons”. He’s played 78 WHL games with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Thunderbirds, and Hurricanes. He recently returned to hockey with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder posting a 3.00 GAA and .889 save percentage in one game.

Ettinger has 77 WHL games under his belt and has two goals and eight assists with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Vancouver Giants. He’s spent the last season and a bit with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the AJHL where he has three goals and 13 assists in 33 games.

Warriors claim Hartje from ICE

With the ICE adding Hughes, they had to move out an overage player and did so placing Chase Hartje on WHL waivers. He was immediately claimed by the Moose Jaw Warriors to help fill a hole on the blueline left by an injured Warriors player, more on that later. Hartje is a veteran of 140 WHL games who actually started his WHL career with the Warriors playing 31 games for them in the 2017-18 season recording 17 assists. In his career, he has 10 goals and 49 assists with the Kootenay/Winnipeg ICE, Warriors, and Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings acquire Thiessen from Hurricanes

The Brandon Wheat Kings have acquired Rylan Thiessen from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. The 18-year old defenseman has three assists in 22 games with the Hurricanes this season, his first full season in the WHL.

WHL suspends McNelly for five-games

The WHL has suspended Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Cade McNelly for five games for a cross-check on Spokane’s Filip Kral. The suspension will start on Friday against Victoria and he will be eligible to return on December 15th against Portland. This is McNelly’s 5th suspension in his WHL career.

Warriors issue update on Hunt

Moose Jaw Warriors defenseman Daemon Hunt suffered a severe cut to his arm from a skate blade at the end of the first period of Tuesday night’s game against the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Warriors say he will be undergoing surgery and will be out indefinitely.

Giants sign Katzalay

Holden Katzalay must have impressed the Giants in his three-game try-out with the team because the Vancouver Giants have now signed him to a full WHL education contract. In four games with the Giants this season, he has no points.

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Blades add Sanders to the roster

The Saskatoon Blades have added 2001-born defenseman, Matthew Sanders to the roster from the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines. He played one game with the Moose Jaw Warriors to start the year and has 58 games of WHL experience with Moose Jaw with two assists.

Broncos name Kutnikoff head athletic therapist/equipment manager

Days after releasing Jamie Leblanc, the Swift Current Broncos have brought in Andrew Kutnikoff from the Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL to be the team’s new equipment manager/athletic therapist. He had been with Battlefords since the beginning of last season, and before that worked with the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers for two seasons.

CHL announces weekly rankings

Weekly rankings came out from the CHL again on Wednesday. Prince Albert is in fourth while Everett has fallen to sixth. Medicine Hat has climbed into the top 10 and Portland and Edmonton are the honourable mentions.

Milestones

  • Reece Newkirk scored his 100th WHL point with the Portland Winterhawks.
  • Julian Cull made his WHL debut for the Vancouver Giants

Kiviniemi inks new contract in Finland

Joona Kiviniemi has signed with Karpat A-Juniors Oulu in Finland for the rest of the season after being released by KeuPa Keuruu following just five games. He started the year in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos and tallied six goals and four assists in 15 games before returning to Finland after being traded to the Vancouver Giants.

Three Stars of the Night

First Star: Johnny Ludvig had a goal and two assists for Portland

Second Star: Robbie Fromm-Delorme also notched a goal and two assists for Portland

Third Star: Everett’s Gage Goncalves had two goals.

Honourable Mention

Victoria’s Shane Farkas made 33 saves on 34 shots. Moose Jaw’s Owen Hardy had Moose Jaw’s lone two goals in a loss against Red Deer.