Wild Ready for Showcase Tournament After Successful Preseason
September 13, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
WENATCHEE, Wash. - Now the games count.
After the first installment of Camp Becanic and a wildly successful 4-0-2 preseason, Wenatchee will kick off the 2011-12 regular season Wednesday when the ninth annual Showcase Tournament begins at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minn.
The Wild went 2-0-1 earlier this month at the preseason tournament hosted by the BCHL's Trail Smoke Eaters in Trail, British Columbia. Wenatchee's only loss in the tournament came in overtime, 6-5, on the first day of tournament to the Powell River Kings, who won the last three BCHL Coastal Conference titles. Wenatchee went on to defeat the AJHL's Brooks Bandits, 6-4, and the tournament-host Trail Smoke Eaters, 3-2, in its other two tournament games.
The Wild played three more preseason contests in British Columbia last week. Wenatchee defeated the BCHL's Penticton Vees, 3-2, on Sept. 8 thanks to Parker Johnson's (Bloomington, Ill.) game-winner at the 5:28 mark of the third period. Johnson picked off a breakout pass at the Penticton blue line, skated in on goal down the left wing while looking off a centering pass and scored 5-hole with a wrist shot.
Wenatchee concluded its preseason with a pair of games in Langley, British Columbia, against the Langley Rivermen. Langley won the first game in double overtime, 3-2. The Wild avenged that loss the following night, 5-4, on Trevor Stewart's (East Wenatchee, Wash.) overtime marker.
All in all, the preseason was a great benefit for the Wild, who enter the Showcase Tournament looking to duplicate or best its 3-1 record from last season's tournament.
"We should be sharp," head coach John Becanic said of his expectations for his team's play in Blaine, Minn. "We played very good competition [in the preseason], and we were pretty successful. We're a fairly close group now, too, and we have a little bit of confidence coming in because we beat some pretty good hockey clubs."
Leaders emerged during the preseason. Blake Saylor (Centennial, Colo.) earned the right to have the 'C' stitched onto his jersey while Ben Carey (Centennial, Colo.), who led the club with four goals in the preseason, and Kyle Huson (Parker, Colo.) were named assistant captains.
"Those three guys, I really can't say enough about them," Becanic said of Saylor, Carey and Huson, while noting that he would like to name a third assistant captain in the near future. "We're very fortunate as an organization to have their leadership. They really gave us unbelievable efforts throughout the six games."
Becanic will take a 25-man roster into the Showcase Tournament, including forward Trace Redmond (McKinney, Texas), a Wild tender who spent the preseason with the USHL's Dubuque Fighting Saints. As per NAHL rules, Becanic will need to pare his roster down to 23 players by Oct. 3.
All four of the Wild's tournament games will be broadcast live on 1340 AM The Zone and streamed online at www.KPQ.com. Additionally, all of the Wild's 2011-12 games can be viewed live online via www.FASTHockey.com for a small fee.
Below are the Wild's complete tournament schedule and roster.
Showcase Tournament
Blaine, Minn.
Wenatchee Wild Schedule
Game 1: vs. Janesville - Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2:30 p.m.
Game 2: vs. Aberdeen ¬" Thursday, Sept. 15, 11:45 a.m.
Game 3: vs. Corpus Christi ¬" Friday, Sept. 16, 11:15 a.m.
Game 4: vs. Chicago ¬" Saturday, Sept. 17, 7:30 a.m.
2011-12 Wenatchee Wild Roster
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. DOB Hometown
2 Kyle Huson D 6-5 185 Oct. 31, 1991 Parker, Colo.
3 Brendan Vetter D 6-1 180 Jan. 5, 1994 North Fond du Lac, Wis.
4 Chris Knudson D 6-3 200 April 27, 1993 North Barrington, Ill.
5 Tyller Robert D 6-1 195 May 27, 1993 Maplewood, Minn.
6 Sam Johnson D 6-1 195 Aug. 30, 1992 Dallas, Texas
7 Anthony Barbato F 5-11 190 Feb. 27, 1993 St. Paul, Minn.
9 Trace Redmond F 6-3 200 April 21, 1992 McKinney, Texas
10 Evan Schmidbauer F 6-2 200 Sept. 9, 1993 Surrey, British Columbia
11 Michael Lant D 6-2 194 Oct. 25, 1992 Suwanne, Ga.
12 Chris Kerr F 6-0 185 Oct. 22, 1992 Penticton, British Columbia
14 Shawn Pauly F 6-0 180 May 7, 1992 Bellingham, Wash.
15 Trevor Husch F 6-1 170 April 18, 1993 Plainfield, Ill.
17 Tyler Narsing D 6-0 185 April 10, 1993 Edmonds, Wash.
18 Nick Kerr F 6-2 215 Jan. 24, 1992 Okanagan Falls, British Columbia
19 Parker Johnson F 5-10 160 Sept. 22, 1993 Bloomington, Ill.
20 Trevor Stewart F 5-11 174 Sept. 13, 1992 East Wenatchee, Wash.
21 Jerad Tafoya F 5-9 170 June 9, 1993 Highland Ranch, Colo.
22 Matt Cope F 6-2 200 Oct. 11, 1993 Lakewood, Colo.
23 Dylan Abood D 5-8 165 March 31, 1993 Centennial, Colo.
24 Storm Wahlrab D 6-1 200 Feb. 16, 1994 Laguna Niguel, Calif.
25 Blake Saylor F 5-8 165 Feb. 16, 1992 Centennial, Colo.
26 Ben Carey F 5-11 165 Dec. 30, 1992 Centennial, Colo.
27 Ansel Duesenberg F 6-2 185 Aug. 10, 1993 Centennial, Colo.
31 Robert Nichols G 5-11 180 Sept. 10, 1992 Dallas, Texas
41 Greg Lewis G 6-0 170 Aug. 18, 1991 Mars, Pa.
North American Hockey League Stories from September 13, 2011
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- Monsters' NAHL Season Begins Tomorrow at Showcase Tournament - Fresno Monsters
- Wild Ready for Showcase Tournament After Successful Preseason - Wenatchee Wild
- Amarillo Bulls Hire New Director of Scouting - Amarillo Bulls
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