Post navigation

The BCHL was very prominent in the annual Canadian Junior Hockey League Prospects Game on Tuesday in Oakville, Ontario as Team West edged Team East 3-2.

With 12 players from the BCHL on Team West, it was 17-year-old Penticton Vees defenseman Jarod Hilderman who played hero as he scored the winning goal with just 7.3 seconds left in the third period in addition to his first period marker. Interestingly enough, Hilderman doesn’t have a goal for the Vees through 40 games played this season. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Chilliwack Chiefs forward Jordan Kawaguchi had the other goal for Team West. A write up on the game is here.

—

NHL Central Scouting released its midterm rankings for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and there are five BCHL players featured, two forwards, two defenseman and one goaltender.

Leading the way is 17-year-old Langley forward Marcus Vela, who is ranked 123rd overall among North American skaters. Next is 17-year-old Vernon forward Liam Finlay at 189th. 18-year-old Chilliwack defenseman Vincent Desharnais comes in at 208th, while 18-year-old Penticton blueliner Gabe Bast is ranked 209th. Stefan Wornig, who is 17, is ranked 22nd among all North American goaltenders. The NHL’s official release of the rankings is here.

According to the OJHL transactions page, Bandesha was released by the Flyers on January 6th, which means any team across Canada was eligible to sign him as a free agent, which is exactly what the Express did. I’ve adjusted the Trade Tracker on the previous post, so it’s accurate when being referred to in the future.

Forward Joey Holka (Penticton, 2008-11) was released by the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, eleven days after signing a contract. Holka had no points in three games with the Grizzlies.

—

Rugged forward Tyler Barr (Coquitlam AP, Langley AP, Merritt, 2005-09) has been released by the Allen Americans of the ECHL, after he was loaned to the team back on January 12th by the SPHL’s Louisiana IceGators. Barr had two points (one goal, one assist) in four games with the Americans. The North Vancouver, BC, product has two assists in nine games with Louisiana this season.

—

Forward Nicolais Gomerich (Powell River, 2014-15) has resurfaced in the Ontario Junior Hockey League with the Wellington Dukes. The 18-year-old played 21 games with Powell River this season, scoring five points (two goals, three assists) before being released by the Kings. He signed with the Dukes officially on January 9th.