Thunder Talk: January 23rd

It's Friday before the Southern RoadTrip and I've given the boys the night off practice to recharge their batteries before this weekends games.

Mike Bzdel will be on the shelf this weekend with an injury he sustained last week during the Chiefs game at home. Mike was hit away from the play and a penalty was assessed for Interference. Mike finished the game, but went to Tisdale for x-rays Monday and has sat out practices this week and Tuesday nights game in PA. He talked to his Doctor on Thursday and got the relatively good news that he had a slight crack in his elbow and a sprained wrist. This is good in comparision to a broken elbow that would of seen him miss 4 to 6 weeks of hockey. Instead he should be able to suit up next week. This will open a hole on the 3rd scoring line with Jody Blais and Brett Derkach. I am expecting to insert Rookie Defenceman turned Forward Mike Kochan into Bzdel's spot, as his positional and physical play have opened up significant room for his linemates, Skyler Hladun and Bruce Crowe. That line has seen themselves chip in signicantly on offense for us lately, as well as being our main Energy Line. Crowe and Hladun will likely see some minutes in Bzdel's position throughout the weekend as well.

Also, Phil Binkley is day-to-day with a nagging ankle injury that has bothered him considerably throughout the season. Phil, not one to take a day off, has been playing with discomfort in the ankle for the majority of the season and with our lineup filling in, specifically our D-Core with new arrivals Brendan Boyle and Nathan Howard, it has given us the opportunity to give Phil some much needed rehab time.

Don't forget to check in Saturday and Sunday afternoon for updates from the road and after the games for my thoughts and analysis as well as roster news. Our home website will also have the boxscores from each game as well.

Also starting next Tuesday, Kenny Trenton from CJVR 750 AM Radio will be contributing a regular column on all the hockey action throughout NorthEast Saskatchewan.

Lastly, please feel free to comment on this or any other post at the end of the article. If you have any question for myself or any Thunder player, ask us in the comment field as well.

Keep Your Stick On The Ice
Coach Kingwell