WHL THIS WEEK – News Edition

CRACKNELL AND ICE KEEP ROLLING DESPITE MANY CHANGES – Just over a third of the way through the 2005-06 Western Hockey League season and the Kootenay Ice find themselves in familiar territory – atop the B.C. Division and first in the league standings.
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rNot bad for a team picked by many pundits to finish anywhere from the middle of the pack to the bottom end of the Western Conference standings at the season’s outset. Yet, not surprising considering the team was also picked to struggle last season, but instead, brought home the franchise’s first Scotty Munro Trophy as regular-season champs.
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rOne person who is not the least bit surprised by the team’s early-season success is 20-year-old veteran forward Adam Cracknell.
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rThe Victoria, B.C. native, in his fourth season with the Ice, has been a key cog for the team and currently shares the team lead with 16 goals. He has also taken on a crucial leadership role as the team’s new captain.
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r”It’s different,” said Cracknell regarding wearing a ‘C’ on his jersey. “I’ve never been a captain of a team before. But, I have been here for four years and I know what it takes to win.
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r”As captain, I just have to go out and play my game, bring a physical element and try to keep the team going…hopefully other guys follow along,” he said.
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rSo far, the Ice have followed Cracknell’s lead, becoming one of the most dominant teams in the league. And they’ve done it despite the departures of key players from last season such a former captain and 50-goal man Nigel Dawes, rugged rearguard James Cherewyk, and All-Star netminder Jeff Glass.
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rCracknell says the team has managed to continue its dominance because other players, both veterans and rookies, have stepped in and picked up the slack.
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r”We have a lot of depth on our team this season,” said Cracknell. “It is hard when you lose guys like Dawes and Glass because those are hard roles to fill, but we’ve got lots of guys who contribute in other ways to help us win.
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r”If everyone keeps looking after their own role, we’ll have a really good squad that can keep going…maybe even farther than last year,” said the Calgary Flames prospect.
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rThere are plenty of good examples illustrating how the Ice have managed to fill the holes left by their departed stars. For instance, increased offense from guys like Ryan Russell, Ben Maxwell and Steven DaSilva has dramatically softened the blow of losing Dawes. Meanwhile, a pre-season injury to Jeff Glass‘ heir apparent Taylor Dakers could have been devastating to the team, but 16-year-old rookie goaltender Kris Lazaruk stepped in and performed admirably.
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rThe Ice have also benefited from the strong play of many of their other new faces, which has Cracknell believing the future of the club is in good hands.
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r”Lazaruk obviously has performed well when we’ve needed him, (rookie defenceman) John Negrin has been playing really well lately, especially with the departure of (recently-traded) Josh Fauth,” said Cracknell, also noting the strong contributions of other freshmen like Dustin Sylvester, Trent Fussi, and Andrew Bailey.
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r”Those are the guys to look out for in the future, and they’ll be making a good impact to the team over the next few years,” he said.
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rWhile the Ice may be sitting pretty right now, Cracknell knows circumstances can change quickly – especially considering Kootenay plays in the B.C. Division, which happens to be league’s most competitive group.
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r”I’ve never seen it this competitive before,” said Cracknell. “I think because it’s so close, we can’t take any nights off because if we lose, we’ll start falling behind pretty quick.
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r”We just have to keep winning and keep doing what we do best, and also hope a couple other teams start dropping some points so we can have a bit of a comfort zone,” he said.
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rSo far, the Ice appear to have figured out a formula for success despite an array of changes from last season to this season. If Cracknell and his teammates can stay the course over the season’s second half, they will surely have, once again, proven all their detractors wrong.
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rJesse Watts
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rWHL KEY PERFORMERS
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rBrandon Dubinsky, Portland Winter Hawks – Dubinsky scored three goals and four points in two games, helping the Winter Hawks stretch their win streak to four games. He currently sits fifth in the WHL in scoring with 36 points. Click here for scoring leaders.
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rTim Kraus, Vancouver Giants – Kraus has one goal and three assists in his last two outings, as the Giants skated to a 1-1 record in that span. He currently shares the league lead in power play goals with nine this season. Click here for power play goal leaders.
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rIgor Bacek, Tri-City Americans – Bacek has a goal and three assists with a plus-2 rating in his last three outings, helping the Ams to a 2-1 record in that span. He currently ranks in the top 20 in the WHL in scoring among rookies. Click here for rookie leaders.
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rKris Russell, Medicine Hat Tigers – Russell has a goal and two assists in his last two outings, helping the Tigers to a 2-0 record in that span. He currently sits in fifth in the WHL in scoring among defencemen. Click here for defencemen scoring leaders.
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rJustin Pogge, Calgary Hitmen – Pogge is 2-0 in his last two starts, including posting a shutout in a shoot-out win over Swift Current, and has allowed just one goal on 40 shots in his last two appearances. He currently leads all WHL goaltenders in wins, shutouts, shoot-out record, and ranks in the top five in save-percentage and goals-against average. Click here for goaltending leaders.
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rTHE PLAYER’S PERSPECTIVE
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rThe 2005-06 edition of the Brandon Wheat Kings is vastly different from the 2004-05 team that made it all the way to the WHL final.
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rGone are the Fab Five of Eric Fehr, Ryan Stone, Tim Konsorada, Steven Later and Lance Monych that made the Wheat Kings into the offensive juggernaut they were last year.
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rHowever, with their departure, the opportunity has been there for other players to step in a fill the offensive role – players such as 18-year-old forward Codey Burki.
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rBurki, a Winnipeg product, is in his fourth full WHL campaign – all with the Wheat Kings – and has been one of the more consistent offensive producers for the team this season. So far, Burki has managed eight goals and 16 points through the team’s first 23 games this season, and is on pace to surpass his 23-point total from the 2004-05 campaign.
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rBurki’s strong play hasn’t gone unnoticed, as NHL Central Scouting has ranked him fifth among the WHL’s draft-eligible skaters in their fall preliminary rankings.
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rCodey Burki’s Perspective
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rOn his NHL Central Scouting ranking…
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r”It’s definitely an honor, and something I’ve dreamed about. Considering I had a bit of a slow start to the season, I didn’t think I’d make it into the top 10, so it was a pleasant surprise. But, at the same time, anything can happen throughout the year, and I’ve got to think about my team.”
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rOn what he brings to the table…
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r”I think I’m looked upon to produce offense, especially this year. One of my strengths is making plays, and trying to get a cycle going. I think one thing I need to work on is my defensive play, but I’ve been working hard on that end of my game and hopefully it can improve.”
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rOn this year’s Wheat Kings team…
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r”The biggest thing, obviously, is that we lost our top five scorers from last year. I think that some of us had the idea that we could just step in and be the top scorers in the league like Eric Fehr and Ryan Stone were, but we’re realizing that’s not how we can be successful. We’re about hard work and trying to wear teams down. I think guys are starting to buy into that system, so we should be able to turn things around.”
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rOn the new faces on the Wheat Kings…
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r”There are a few guys who have done well. Keith Aulie is looking good. He’s playing a regular shift, and is getting time on the penalty kill, and should be real good in the future. Andrew Clark has been playing really well as of late, and should be a definite help down the road.”
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rOn who he models his game after…
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r”Growing up, I always liked Mike Modano. People tell me that I kind of play like him on the ice. I also try to play a bit tougher than he might. He’s definitely a guy I definitely looked up to when I was younger.”
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rJesse Watts
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rWHL THIS WEEK – News and Notes
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rThe Portland Winter Hawks acquired 17-year-old D Lenny Thunderchild from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2007 Bantam draft…The Lethbridge Hurricanes acquired 18-year-old D Randy King and 16-year-old D Ryan Kerr from the Prince George Cougars in exchange for 18-year-old D Kalvin Sagert and 17-year-old D Jesse Dudas…The Portland Winter Hawks acquired 17-year-old D Mike McDonald from the Tri-City Americans in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2006 Bantam draft…The Red Deer Rebels added 17-year-old F Sean Ringrose from Sherwood Park (AJHL)…The Kamloops Blazers added 18-year-old D Ryan White from Fort McMurray (AJHL)The Medicine Hat Tigers assigned 16-year-old D Mark Isherwood to Abbotsford (PIJHL)…Regina Pats 19-year-old F Shane Halifax has left the team…The Portland Winter Hawks collected a World Record 21,067 teddy bears at their annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday, November 26th versus Tri-Cities, smashing the old record of 13,156 set by the Calgary Hitmen in 2004…Devin Setoguchi scored a hat trick in front of a home crowd in Team WHL’s 9-2 thrashing of the Russia Selects in Game Five of the 2005 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 30 in Saskatoon.
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rWHEATS HELP LAUNCH RED RIBBON CAMPAIGN
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rBrandon, Manitoba – MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING (Brandon Chapter), in association with the Western Hockey League’s BRANDON WHEAT KINGS and HERITAGE CO-OP has launched its Holiday public awareness campaign for sober drivers with western Manitobans being urged to display a red ribbon and join in the fight against impaired driving.
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r“The MADD Red Ribbon has become a familiar symbol of safe and sober driving throughout Canada and this campaign is one of the most visible public awareness drives during the local Christmas holiday season,â€? says Brandon Chapter President Judith Jordan. “The red ribbon is a tribute to honor those who have been killed or injured in impaired driving crashes.â€?
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rEach year, from the beginning of November to the first week of January, MADD (Brandon Chapter) volunteers distribute red ribbons and ask motorists to tie a red ribbon on a visible location of their vehicle and /or keychain. This simple act to “Tie One on for Safetyâ€? has become the organization’s most recognizable public awareness effort. The red ribbon also serves as a reminder to people to drive sober through the holidays and throughout the year. By displaying a red ribbon, you are making a personal commitment to drive sober. Over four million red ribbons will be distributed throughout Canada during the campaign.
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rThe Brandon Chapter of MADD is supported by a number of community partners such as Heritage Co-op and the Wheat Kings. The awareness campaign is spearheaded by MADD Canada’s 7,500 committed volunteers in 76 local Chapters and ten Community Leaders across the country.
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r“We (Heritage Co-op) are proud to support and partner with various groups and organizations throughout the communities we serve,â€? says general manager Troy Verboom. “The Wheat Kings and MADD are first class organizations and we are very pleased to be working closely with them as we believe both groups depict a positive influence on everyone, especially our young people.â€?
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rThe local Red Ribbon Campaign kicked off on two western Manitoba fronts last Thursday afternoon – the Brandon and Minnedosa Heritage Co-op stores. Several members of the Wheat Kings including veterans Teegan Moore, Tyler Plante and Mark Derlago signed autographs, distributed the 2005-06 Team Poster and bagged groceries at the two locations. Joining them were Corey Courchene and Cole Hunter (in Minnedosa) as well as John Wikner, Daryl Boyle and Andrew Clark (Brandon store).
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r”It’s a program that’s close to a lot of people,” says Wheat Kings’ marketing and media relations director Rick Dillabough. “Everybody has been affected in some way in the course of their lifetime. For that reason, it’s a valuable program to be associated with.”
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rRemember to sign up for the WHL Fantasy Hockey League for a chance to win some great prizes. Register and select your team by visiting www.whl.ca.
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rThe Western Hockey League has introduced Webcasting of every WHL game for the 2005-06 season. Fans can now watch their favorite teams live from their computer. Visit www.whl.ca and look for the WHL Live Stream link.
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