Friday, September 16, 2016

Getting up-to-date on preseason news

So it's been a little while since I posted on here and a lot has happened. Let's take a look at some fo the preseason goings-on in Portland.

5-0-0-1 record in preseason:
The team followed a 3-0 record at the Everett tourney by winning to of three at the Tri-City one. The lone blemish on the record was a 5-4 shootout loss to Everett. 

Stats:
Skaters
Player
Position
Birth Year
GP
Goals
Assists
Points
Ryan Hughes
LW
1999
5
4
3
7
Colton Veloso
RW
1997
5
2
5
7
Evan Weinger
RW
1997
5
3
3
6
Alex Overhardt
Centre
1997
5
3
2
5
Brendan De Jong
Defence
1998
5
0
4
4
Ilijah Colina
Centre
2000
5
2
1
3
Lane Gilliss
LW
1999
5
1
2
3
Jake Hobson
Defence
1999
5
0
3
3
Skyler McKenzie
LW
1998
5
0
3
3
Keoni Texeira
Defence
1997
5
0
3
3
Bronson Sharp
LW
1999
6
2
0
2
Joachim Blichfeld
RW
1998
2
2
0
2
Ty Kolle
Centre
2000
6
1
0
1
Brad Ginnell
Centre
2000
4
1
0
1
Matthew Quigley
Defence
1999
4
1
0
1
Caleb Jones
Defence
1997
2
1
0
1
Jake Gricius
Centre
1999
5
0
1
1
Carter Czaikowski
Defence
1998
4
0
1
1
Rodrigo Abols
Centre
1996
2
0
1
1
Goalies
Goalie
Birth Year
GP
Wins
GAA
Sv%
Michael Bullion
1997
4
2
3.16
.900
Cole Kehler
1997
4
3
1.43
.956
-Hughes and Weinger played a lot together in the preseason and could be part of one of Portland's top-two lines this year. Hughes seems like a much better fit creating from the wing and is a good fit with someone like Weinger, who is all about speed and finish in tight. Who plays between them though? Colina got a look, but could just be a placeholder until Cody Glass gets healthy and back in the lineup.
Speaking of Glass, it makes a lot of sense to sit him, but it would have been a good sign, if he had seen a shift or two at some point.
Henri Jokiharju was sent back to Finland after playing one 25 minute game at the Neely Cup. The reasoning given, was the fact that he had played hockey all summer and needed some time back home before the season. He did play at the National Junior Evaluation Camp with Finland and could play at the World Junior Championships for the U-20 team. If he does get drafted, as expected and Portland has another long run, it could be awhile before he sees Suomi again. Hopefully, this was the only reason he spent time away from Portland.
Bringing less clarity to the matter was Abols playing in the last two games in Kennewick. As an overage import, Abols would have to be dealt away, if Jokiahrju sticks with the plan and stays with Portland. With Prince George picking up Everett's Yan Khomenko, there is one less likely landing spot for the "two-spotter" Abols. The Latvian native had been off trying to help his country qualify for the 2018 olympics. He had a goal and two assists for three points in their tournament opening 8-1 in over Austria. He then failed to register a point the rest of the way, as Latvia fell short with a 3-2 loss to Germany. He seems committed to the WHL at this point, so we ill have to see if a deal is done.

Jones, Iverson, Abols and Blichfeld at NHL camps:
-Caleb Jones (drafted and signed by Edmonton) will play at the Young Stars class up in Penticton, B.C. from September 16th-19th before playing against the University of Alaska CIS team on the 21st. 
-Iverson was a free agent invitee for the Minnesota Wild. He will play for them at the Traverse City tournament in Michigan from September 16th-20th. He played the last two years at the tourney for the N.Y. Rangers, who drafted but did not sign him.
-Abols (seventh round pick to Vancouver) will be playing at the Young Stars Classic for the Canucks, for the second year in a row. Abols had a nice showing last year, culminating in a goal. He will look to build on that this year.
-Blichfeld (seventh round pick to San Jose) will be at the Sharks' rookie camp from the 15th-21st. He and the team's rookies in camp will play in a round-robin tournament with rookies from Anaheim and Colrado in Westminster, CO. 
If I were a betting man, Iverson and Blichfeld will make it back in time for the opener on September 24th vs. Seattle and Jones and Abols will not. Jones could end up staying with Edmonton throughout the entirety of their preseason schedule (ends October 8th). If he is indeed gone this long, he would miss as many as eight games.

Nagel traded to Lethbridge:
-It came across rather awkwardly, with Nagel tweeting out a message before either team said anything, but the end result is the same. The 18-year-old Nagel played 38 games with Portland last year, toiling away on the team's fourth line in a checking role.  He failed to register a point in the preseason and was not too noticeable in the Neely Cup action that I saw. The emergence of some other wingers in camp and the preseason, meant he was likely to start in a similar checking-role this year. 

In exchange for Nagel, Portland received the WHL rights to 1999-born goalie Shane Farkas. The net-minder was the fourth round pick of the 'Canes in the 2014 bantam draft and played last year with the BCHL and RBC cup champion West Kelowna Warriors.  He got into just two games with West Kelowna during their run though. He is a product of the Okanagan Hockey academy, where he he posted a 2.56 GAA and .922 save percentage in the 2014/15 campaign(thanks elite prospects). What this says about the health of fellow 1999-born goalie Ethan Middendorf remains to be seen. We will have to wait until Farkas actually signs a WHL standard player agreement, before we can jump to conclusions about the health  of Middendorf. 

Paul Gaustad and Andrew Ference retire:




-Anyways, this just about catches us up to date on Portland news. Back again later.
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