U.S. Division

Daily Dose of the Dub: Silvertips sign Gibson; Rockets, Cougars, Raiders and Pats announce training camps

Written by Brandon Rivers on

Gibson signs with Everett

The Everett Silvertips announced on Thursday that the had signed their 2018 third-round WHL Bantam pick Ty Gibson to a standard player agreement.

Gibson, a defenseman from Victoria, B.C. played at the Pacific Coast Academy last year. He played 30 games with their Bantam Prep team and four with their Elite 15 team. Between the two, he had eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points. He also played in three playoff games in the CSSBHL.

Gibson is the first 2018 draft pick that the Silvertips have signed. He was taken 64th overall in May. He joins a young core on the blue line that includes 2002-born Ronan Seeley and Dylan Anderson.

Everett did no have a first round pick in the 2018 Bantam Draft, so Gibson was their second pick. Their only previous pick in the draft was defenseman Olen Zellweger from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. Zelweger was taken with their second round pick – 42nd overall.

Everett traded their 2018 first round draft pick as part of the deal for Edmonton Oil Kings defenseman Aaron Irving during the 2016-17 season.

 

Porter joins the Oil Kings

Jamie Porter found a home in the WHL, as we all knew he would. After Dean Brockman was brought in to replace the departing Manny Viveiros as head coach and director of player personnel, Porter stepped down as director of hockey operations.

Porter was named the Edmonton Oil Kings director of scouting. He had been with the Broncos for eight seasons, serving as assistant general manager before taking on the role of director of hockey operations. Essentially he split the general manager duties with Viveiros. Porter concentrated on scouting and drafting and Viveiros was involved with trades.

Prior to his tenure with the Broncos, Porter was an assistant coach in the AJHL for the St Albert Saints.

Flynn takes a scouting job in Columbus

Danny Flynn was widely considered to be a candidate for the many head coaching vacancies in the WHL. However, after all of them were gone he was still an assistant coach with the Portland Winterhawks.

Flynn chose to head to the NHL where he will take on the role of eastern amateur scout. Flynn has a long history in both the OHL and QMJHL and has a lot of ties to Eastern North America.

Blazers camp schedule announced

The Kamloops Blazers were the latest team to give specifics on their training camp activities.

It begins on Thursday, August 23rd with registration and testing. Then on Friday, on-ice activities commence and go through Monday, August 27th. Four teams will be competing for the first ever Blazers Cup. Like Portland’s Neely Cup and Spokane’s camp as well, the Blazers Cup teams will be named for prestigious alumni.

Rockets camp also announced

Getting the earliest start of any WHL team so far, the Kelowna Rockets announced that rookie camp (with 99 prospects) for them, begins on Monday, August 20th and will run until the 24th. Then main camp gets going that day (the 24th and goes until the 30th).

Raiders and Cougars announce as well

Prince Albert starts on Saturday, August 25th. The green and White game goes on the 28th. The Cougars meanwhile get going on Friday, August 24th with a Young Guns game. Main camp then gets going the following day with four teams competing. they are named after former players Dustin Byfuglien, Zdeno Chara, Brett Connolly and Trey Bourke.

Regina announces roster and camp schedule

The Regina Pats were the first team to make public the roster for their training camp which starts on Tuesday, August 21st. The camp will consist of rookies until Saturday, then the veterans will join. Main camp will have two teams named after Boyd Kane and Garth Murray.

Kyle Dumba, a 1998-born goalie who has bounced around between different WHL teams was an interesting name on the roster for main camp. Along with forward Bryce Platt and defenseman Brady Pouteau, Cale Fleury, Aaron Hyman and Liam Schioler, he is one of six overage players on the camp roster.

Dumba joined the team last year during the playoffs when goalie Max Paddock was out with an injury.

You would not have thought they would bring him back, but with just Paddock and 2001-born netminder Matthew Pesenti on the camp roster, it looks like they are giving him a chance to make the final roster.

Hanas and the USA’s U17 team get first win at Five Nations Cup

Portland Winterhawks forward Cross Hanas and the United States bounced back from a 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic on Wednesday with a 6-2 victory over Switzerland Friday.

Hanas scored for the second time in the tournament, as he buried a shot from the slot to tie the game at two after the U.S. fell into an early 1-2 hole.

The U.S. never looked back from that point and went on to win 6-2.

They next play on Saturday at 8am EST (5 am PST) against Germany. The tournament then concludes for the U.S. with a match against Slovakia on Sunday.

Hanas will then have to fly from Slovakia to Portland for the start of Winterhawks training camp on Tuesday.

Wolf and Toporowski named to All American Prospects Game roster

Fresh off playing for the U.S. at the U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Alberta, Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips and Luke Toporowski of the Spokane Cheifs were two of the 42 players named to the 2018 version of the All American Prospects Game.

The game, which will take place on September 19th at the Xcel Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota features the top U.S.-born prospects for the coming NHL draft. Both Wolf and Toporowski have generated some early buzz for the 2019 NHL Draft.

Links and notes:

–Connor Bowie is looking for a big year in Prince George. The Cougars again look to be a young team and he will have the chance to earn some key minutes.

-The Lethbridge Hurricanes are returning all of their coaches from a team that went to the Eastern Conference final for the second straight year.

-Former Winterhawks center Chris Francis has signed a deal with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. They are an affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.