THE WEDNESDAY THRILLER … WITH PHIL ANDREWS

Voice of the Pats Phil Andrews

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Hope summer is treating you well! After not much in the way of Pats news last week we’ve got some big ones to get to today.

PATS ADD LEEDAHL – The Regina Pats completed their compliment of overage players last week acquiring forward Dawson Leedahl from the Everett Silvertips. Leedahl served as captain in Everett last year and says he is looking forward to his 20-year-old season. “I’m pretty excited for the new opportunity to play with a new team and a little nervous too. Just going into a new environment and trying to succeed.”

Leedahl was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2011 Bantam Draft by the Silvertips and played the last four seasons in Everett. However he says he knew a change was coming. “Me and Gary (Davidson, Silvertips GM) talked this summer about maybe making a change so I wasn’t too surprised when I found out.”

Last season in 48 games, Leedahl had 12 goals and 15 assists and is looking forward to playingi n a more offence centered system. “Yeah for sure, any time you can score goals obviously it’s a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to playing more offensive, getting more chances and hopefully that leads to more goals and more success. I’ve heard tons of people around the league talk about how good Regina is going to be this year so it’s pretty cool if I could be a part of that team and do something with it.”

TYSON JOST – The other part of the trade saw the Pats get the playing rights to forward Tyson Jost. He was selected 10th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL draft this summer. In total the Pats sent forward Sean Richards, a 4th round pick in 2017 and conditional draft picks to Everett in the trade. Jost likely will not be in Regina this year. he is committed to UND this fall. In my estimation, the only way we see him in the Queen City is if next year he is signed and doesn’t make the Av’s for his 19-year-old season. A lot can happen in a year but it certainly is a long shot and it is a low risk move for Regina. They give up a 4th round pick for his rights, if he comes then you pay and if he doesn’t you don’t lose much.

Initially the conditional picks were not released by the Pats but Jesse Geleynse of the Everett Harold reported there are two different ways the conditional draft picks in the trade would role out: ‘They are based on if and when Jost reports to Regina. If he plays this season as 18-year-old the Tips would receive Regina’s first-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. Everett would then receive Regina’s 2019 first-round pick if Jost returned as a 19-year-old, and the Pats’ second-round pick in 2020 if Jost plays as a 20-year-old. The second scenario varies somewhat. If Jost plays at the University of North Dakota this season and reports to Regina as a 19-year-old, the Tips would receive Regina’s first-round and fourth-round picks in 2019. Everett would also get the Pats’ second-round pick in 2020 if Jost played as a 20-year-old.’

Not surprising the price tag if he should come.

ZBOROVSKIY SIGNS! – Pats defenceman Sergey Zborovskiy has reportedly signed an entry level contract with the New York Rangers. The signing was reported by TVA’s Renaud Lavoie on Monday. The reportedly two-way contract has a $633,000 AAV with a $278,000 signing bonus. According to generalfanager.com, the two-way contract calls for NHL salaries of US$667,500, $742,500 and $792,500, with a $70,000 AHL salary. There are performance bonuses of $257,500, $182,500 and $132,500. He also has an annual signing bonus of $92,500. The blue shirts took Sergey in the 3rd round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The Moscow, Russia product had 8 goals and 25 points last season.

THREE PATS ON CSS FUTURES LIST – The NHL’s Central Scouting Service releases their 2016-17 futures list on Saturday morning. Three Regina Pats made the list, goaltender Jordan Hollett and forwards Jake Leschyshyn and Lane Zablocki. Hollett as a 16-year-old last season went 10-6-1 with a 3.67 GAA and a .887 save percentage in 23 games. Leschyshyn had 16 points in his 16-year-old season and added 4 more in the playoffs. Zablocki, who is a late birthday, put up 18 goals and 19 assists in 72 regular season games and then scored 7 goals and had 9 points in 12 playoff games.
The 2017 NHL Entry Draft will be held at United Center in Chicago.

COCHRAN WITH TEAM CANADA – Regina Pats Equipment Manager Gord Cochran will join Assistant Coach Dave Struch in representing the Pats at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Cochran will serve as an equipment manager for Team Canada Red throughout the tournament. The U17 Hockey Challenge is the first international tournament for the Williams Lake, BC product. For the second year in a row, he will work the Hockey Canada National Teams’ Summer Showcase which started on Tuesday in Calgary.

VIVEIROS HIRED IN SWIFT – The Broncos have their new head coach. Emmanuel Viveiros. He won a WHL championship and a Memorial Cup with the Prince Albert Raiders as a player in 1985. Amongst Viveiros’ coaching experience, he recently served as Head Coach of Ingolstadt, DEL in Germany during the 2015-16 season and was also the Head Coach of the Austrian Men’s National Team from 2011-14, guiding the team to qualify for the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Furthermore, Viveiros served as Head Coach and General Manager of EC Klagenfurt in Austria and won two championships with the Club in 2009 and 2013.

BLADES ADD TWO ASSISTANTS – The Blades officially named Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller as their two new assistant coaches last Wednesday. Thoma, who was born in Saskatoon, spent the last three seasons as the general manager and head coach of the Weyburn Red Wings in the SJHL. Keller, who played for the Blades from 2001 to 2005, went on to eleven seasons in the pros, wrapping up his playing career in Switzerland last season alongside NHL number one draft choice Auston Mathews. Keller, highlighted his pro career with a Swiss championship with Zurich and a Calder Cup with Binghamton.

STANLEY CUP VISITS REGINA – Chris Kunitz of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Regina product spent his day with the Stanley Cup in the Queen City yesterday. I was honoured with hosting the event in the City Square Plaza. Chris was great and the fans in attendance had a great time. Pretty incredible he has won 3 cups and Olympic Gold!