Daily Dose of the Dub: Cougars stick with Lamb as head coach, Pats re-acquire Holmes, Sapego signs with Marlies

Cougars stick with Lamb as GM and Head Coach

The Prince George Cougars have removed the interim tag from General Manager Mark Lamb‘s title as head coach, announcing that he will be returning behind the bench for the 2019-20 season. The Cougars also announced that associate coach Steve O’Rourke has parted ways with the club and assistant coach Nick Drazenovic will be returning to his role as Director of Player Personnel. Our Caden Fanshaw has all the details here. 

Pats re-acquire Holmes from Silvertips 

The Regina Pats have announced that Robbie Holmes will be returning to the team for his final season of junior eligibility after a trade with the Everett Silvertips on Thursday.

The Pats traded Holmes to the Silvertips at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for prospect Sloan Stanick, a 2020 second-round draft pick and a 2022 sixth-round draft pick after four seasons with the team. To re-acquire Holmes today, the Pats are giving up a fifth and sixth-round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. Holmes has played 174 regular-season games in the WHL with the Pats and Silvertips and has 32 goals and 34 assists.

The Pats now sit one player above the limit for overage players with Holmes, the recently-acquired Dawson HoltAustin Pratt, and Sebastian Streu for the 2019-20 season. After this trade, the Silvertips have five overage players listed on their pre-season roster for next season, but that includes defenseman Wyatte Wylie who was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers and remains unsigned. The Silvertips other overage players are Lucas Cullen, Max Patterson, Bryce Kindopp and Jake Christiansen.

Sapego moves on to AHL’s Marlies

Prince Albert Raiders overage import defenseman Sergei Sapego won’t be returning to the club next season as he has signed a contract with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Originally drafted by the Tri-City Americans in the second round of the 2017 CHL Import Draft, Sapego played just three games with the team before being claimed off waivers by the Raiders. In his WHL career, Sapego played 102 games with the Americans and Raiders, scoring 14 goals and adding 48 assists and adding a WHL championship to his resume this past season.

The Raiders are now down to the limit of two import players with Aliaksei Protas and recent import-draftee Ivan Kechkin. The Raiders have eight overage players in their system for the 2019-20 season, but that includes NHL prospects Brett Leason (Washington Capitals), Parker Kelly (Ottawa Senators) and Ian Scott (Toronto Maple Leafs). The other overage players on their roster are Brian Harris, Jeremy Masella, Zack Hayes, Max Martin, and Brayden Pachal 

 

Gordon joins Saints as Goaltending Coach

Seattle Thunderbirds goaltending coach and WHL alumni Ian Gordon (133 GP with the Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades)  has joined the Spruce Grove Saints as their goaltending coach. The move isn’t likely to greatly affect his role with the Thunderbirds as their owners, Dan and Lindsey Leckelt also own the Saints franchise.

 

Red Star sign pair of WHL alumni 

The Kunlun Red Star have added to their collection of WHL alumni with the additions of Garet Hunt (193 GP, 16 G, 25 A with the Vancouver Giants) and Adam Cracknell (283 GP, 94 G, 119 A with the Kootenay ICE).