Eastern Division

Daily Dose of the Dub: Preseason fully underway

Written by Brandon Rivers on

Buskey on the move

The Prince Albert Raiders acquired 2000-born goalie Donovan Buskey from the Spokane Chiefs in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.

Buskey played 22 games with the Chiefs last year but was pushed down the depth chart when Spokane brought in Bailey Brkin during the year. He played a total of 1,146 minutes and posted a 3.46 GAA and 0.871 save percentage in his 22 games.

With Brkin and Dawson Weatherill battling for the Chiefs net, Buskey was looking to be the third goalie again. With the move, the Raiders add some intrigue to their goalie situation.

They have overage goalie Curtis Meger and 1999-born and perennial starter Ian Scott on their roster along with 2001-born Brett Balas.

With the unlikelihood that the Raiders would use an overage spot on a backup goalie, it would appear that they are looking to move Meger.

Seattle signs another 2003-born forward in Sam Popowich

With Mekai Sanders, Conner Roulette, Kau Uchacz and Lucas Ciona already committed, the Seattle Thunderbirds announced that another forward from their 2018 WHL Bantam Draft class had signed with them.

He is the 20th signed forward Seattle has in their system. Like goalie Thomas Milic, Popowich is not on their preseason roster.

The five-foot-seven, 139 pound Popowich was taken by Seattle in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. He played last year for the Camrose Bantam AAA Red Wings, putting up 45 points in 34 games.

Tigers add Ferster and Parsons

The Medicine Hat Tigers made another signing as they got a commitment from 2003-born forward Ashton Ferster. The Tigers took Ferster in the fifth round of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft out of the Prince Albert Raiders Bantam AA program.

The six-foot-two, 165 pound Ferster had 60 points with the Raiders in 31 games last year.

The Tigers also signed their fifth round pick from the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, defenseman Rhett Parsons. The five-foot-11, 183 pound blue liner played with the Airdie Xtreme Bantam AAA team last year and had eight assists.

Pats sign Woodside

Regina’s eighth round pick in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft is officially in the hands of the Kootenay ICE as the goalie they dealt to them earlier this summer has signed with the Pats.

Carter Woodside, who was originally picked by the ICE in the sixth round of the 2016 draft was signed after a strong training camp.

Woodside played last year for the Prince Albert Mintos, posting a 2.53 GAA and 0.900 save percentage.

Edmonton signs two

Both players had barely let the ink dry on their new contracts before stepping on the ice in tonight’s pre-season action in Red Deer against the Rebels. Verbicky hails from Victoria, B.C. and played last season with the Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Prep Team. He has 22 goals and 22 assists in 30 games with the team last season.

Latimer is from South Surrey, B.C. and played last season with the Delta Hockey Academy Bantam Prep team. in 28 games he recorded 14 goals and 15 assists. He will be playing with the Delta Academy Prep team this winter.

Orchard to grow in Kamloops

2001-born Orchard was drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 WHL bantam draft. The forward has spent the last two seasons with the Swift Current Legionnaires of the SMHL. In 63 games he has scored 18 goals and added 21 helpers.

The signing left just three players on the preseason roster who had yet to be signed by the Blazers. They are 2000-born forward Caige Sterzer, 2002-born forward Nathaneal Hinds and 2002-born forward Colby Feist.

Kootenay signs Michael Milne

The 2002-born player signed on the dotted line, and the Kootenay Ice now have every player on their 2018 WHL preseason roster signed.

Milne was an eighth round draft pick in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. He spent the majority of last season with the the Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Elite 15s team. in 27 games Milne scored 28 goals and added 22 assists. He also played in the 2016-17 edition of the John Reid bantam tournament, scoring three goals and adding five assists in six tournament games.

Preseason scores:

Vancouver 4 Seattle 2 Everett Tournament

Spokane 7 Portland 1 Everett Tournament

Everett 3 Tri-City 4 (SO) Everett Tournament

Saskatoon 5 Prince Albert 3 (Thursday)

Calgary 4 Kootenay 1 Red Deer Tournament

Saskatoon 4 Moose Jaw 2 Regina Tournament

Red Deer 6 Edmonton 5 Red Deer Tournament

Regina 4 Swift Current 1 Regina Tournament

Lethbridge 5 Medicine Hat 4 (OT) – Lethbridge, AB

Kamloops 5 Prince George 0 – Kamloops, BC

Victoria 6 Kelowna 5 (SO) – Kelowna, BC

Links and notes:

Sportsnet recently released the Top 100 NHLers of right now. There are a few former WHL players on the list but the highest ranked player is Seth Jones (34th) who spent just one season with the Portland Winterhawks back in 2012-13.