Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Big Deal in the WHL

WHL.ca

Everett Silvertips Vice President / General Manager Doug Soetaert announced Tuesday that the Silvertips have acquired 16 year old defenseman Alex Theriau, the 6th overall selection in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft, along with 18 year old forward Daniel Iwanski and a first round draft pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for left wing Kyle Beach and defenseman Mike Alexander.
Theriau, 16, was Lethbridge’s first round selection, sixth overall, in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft. A skilled puck moving defenseman, he recently returned from the World Under-17 challenge, where he tallied one goal while winning a silver medal alongside Everett goaltender Kent Simpson. In 29 games for the Hurricanes this season, the Duncan, BC native has compiled four assists and a +3 rating. The 6’2, 185 pound defenseman appeared in four games as a 15 year old for Lethbridge last season, rating a +2 while totaling four penalty minutes.
Iwanski, 18, is a 5’9, 180 pound left wing out of Calgary, AB. A shifty forward, Iwanski has three goals and two assists for five points in 25 games with Lethbridge this season after accumulating ten goals and nineteen points in his 2007-08 rookie season. In nineteen playoff games last season, Iwanski scored twice and added two assists as the Hurricanes advanced to the WHL Championship.
Beach, 18, is a first round selection, eleventh overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The 2006-07 WHL Rookie of the Year, Beach finishes his Silvertips career having played in 159 games, logging 67 goals and 87 assists for 154 points and a +22 rating. His 154 points rank second and his 528 penalty minutes rank first in Silvertip history. Through 30 games this season, the left wing out of Kelowna, BC has scored 9 goals while adding 21 assists for 30 points.
Alexander, 19, is a durable defenseman who has logged 135 games throughout his Silvertip career. Throughout that time, the Campbell River, BC product has scored 4 goals while adding 20 assists for 24 points along with 102 penalty minutes and a -1 rating. Through 37 games this season, Alexander has scored three goals while posting nine assists for twelve points and 45 penalty minutes.
“Obviously it’s tough to trade a player of Kyle Beach’s status,” Soetaert explained. “But Lethbridge feels that acquiring players of his and Mike Alexander’s caliber puts them over the top for another run at a WHL title. Kyle and Mike provided so much hard work for our club over the last three years, and we thank them for their commitment and wish them the best of luck as they continue their careers. With the players and the draft pick we acquired, we feel that the Silvertips organization has been strengthened both for this year and beyond.”
The regular season continues at 7:05 pm on Wednesday, January 7th as the Silvertips host the rival Tri-City Americans. For ticket information, including season seats and ticket packages, please call the Silvertips' front office at (425) 252-5100. As always, radio coverage of Silvertips hockey will be provided by ESPN Radio KRKO 1380, while highlights of audio broadcast, video packages and relevant multimedia will be provided by the Western Hockey League's website, www.whl.ca.

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

so what