Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the DUB: 11 WHL alumni go to Seattle, 19 WHL players invited by Hockey Canada, and more!

Written by Brian Wiebe on

11 WHL alumni selected by Seattle in NHL Expansion Draft

The Seattle Kraken, which starts play this fall as the National Hockey League’s 32nd franchise, began building its roster on Wednesday with the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. The draft proceedings were the 14th in league history and only the fourth that stocked the roster of just one team.

A total of 11 players with WHL experience were selected by the Kraken:

19 WHL players named to Canada’s summer development camp

Hockey Canada released the invitation roster for the national junior team summer development camp, which opens July 28 in Calgary.

19 WHL players are among the 51 players who received invitations.

Sonne named Blades head coach

Brennan Sonne (16 goals, 13 assists in 149 games with Everett, Red Deer, and Edmonton from 2005-08) was unveiled as the new head coach of the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old from Maple Ridge, BC served as the head coach of Angers, which plays in the France-based Synerglace Ligue Magnus, for the last four seasons.

CHL signs broadcast partnership with TSN and CBC

The Canadian Hockey League announced on Wednesday that it has reached a “multi-year broadcast partnership” with TSN, RDS, and CBC. The partnership takes effect this season and sees approximately 30 games broadcast on TSN as well as games broadcast on CBC and RDS.

In 2014, the CHL signed a 12-year partnership extension that was supposed to run through the 2025-26 season. At some point, the partnership was ended, otherwise, the CHL wouldn’t have signed the deal announced Wednesday.

Dyck and Williams named assistant coaches for Canada

On Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced who will coach Canada’s entry in the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and Red Deer. Joining head coach Dave Cameron behind the bench is Vancouver Giants coach Michael Dyck (15 goals, 48 assists in 218 games with Calgary, Brandon, and Regina from 1984-89) and Everett Silvertips general manager and coach Dennis Williams.

Dyck, 52, is entering his fourth season as head coach of the Giants. His most recent experience with Team Canada was as an assistant coach with Canada’s silver medal-winning world junior team this past January.

Williams, 41, is going into his fifth season behind the bench in Everett. Most recently with Team Canada, he was an assistant coach at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2020.

Broncos sign import Shanaurin

The Switft Current Broncos have signed 2004-born forward Alexei Shanaurin to a WHL standard player agreement. The native of Russia was the Broncos’ second selection, 119th overall, in this year’s CHL Import Draft.

He had 30 points in 22 games with Tyumenski Legion U17 of the Russian U17 League this past season. Shanaurin also added eight points in 17 games with Tyumenski Legion of the Molodyozhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga, which is the top junior league in Russia.

Rebels add Gordon as director of goaltending

The Red Deer Rebels have added Ian Gordon (133 games with Swift Current and Saskatoon from 1992-95) as their director of goaltender and goalie coach for the upcoming Western Hockey League season.

The 46-year-old from North Battleford, SK spent the previous eight seasons as the goaltending coach for the Seattle Thunderbirds as well as a number of Alberta Junior Hockey League teams, and U18 and U16 teams.

Reichle signs with Prince George

The Prince George Cougars have signed 2003-born forward Liekit Reichle to a WHL standard player agreement. The native of Zürich, SUI was the Cougars’ first selection, 23rd overall, in this year’s CHL Import Draft.

He had 75 points in 43 games with GCK Lions U20 of Switzerland’s U20-Elit league this past season. Reichle also got into five games with GC Küsnacht Lions of the National League but didn’t register any points.

Americans sign Moravec and Suchanek

The Tri-City Americans announced the signing of 2003-born goaltender Tomas Suchanek and 2003-born forward Petr Moravec on Wednesday.

Suchanek, who’s from Prerov, CZE, was the Ams first pick, ninth overall, in the 2021 CHL Import Draft. He was 8-10-0 with a 3.12 goals-against-average, a .908 save percentage, and one shutout in 21 games with HC Frydek-Mistek of the Chance Liga, which is the second-highest level of pro hockey in the Czech Republic.

Moravec is a product of Hradec Kralove, CZE, and was Tri-City’s second pick, 57th overall, in the CHL Import Draft. He is ranked 82nd among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting for the 2021 NHL Draft.

Moravec posted four points in 10 games with HC Stadion Litomerice of Chance League in 2020-21. He added three points in four games with HK Hradec Kralove U20 of the Czech Extraliga junioru.

Yuen comes back to Kunlun for 2021-22

Defenseman Zach Yuen (30 goals, 88 assists in 255 games with Tri-City from 2009-13) has signed with Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League for 2021-22.

The 28-year-old Vancouverite didn’t play any games of record in 2020-21 but spent the 2019-20 season with KRS-BSU Beijing of Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga, the second tier of pro hockey in Russia. He previously played for Kunlun from 2016-19.

Brown signs with Esbjerg for the upcoming season

Defenseman Travis Brown (48 goals, 133 assists in 281 games with Moose Jaw and Victoria from 2011-15) signed a contract with Esbjerg Energy of Denmark’s Metal Ligaen for 2021-22.

Brown, a 27-year-old Winnipegger, posted seven points in 23 games as an alternate captain with Stjernen of Fjordkraft-ligaen in Norway during the 2020-21 season. He previously played for Esbjerg in 2019-20.

Hamonic returns to Coventry Blaze

Defenseman Justin Hamonic (three goals, 43 assists in 255 games with Tri-City from 2011-15) has inked a deal to return to the Coventry Blaze of the U.K.’s Elite Ice Hockey League.

Hamonic spent the 2020-21 season in the ECHL with the Tulsa Oilers. In 69 games, the 27-year-old from Winnipeg, MB notched two goals and 15 points. He played in Coventry in 2019-20 and finished with 13 points in 48 games.