Blomqvist is a 6’3”, 194 pound defenseman who was a member of the Swedish U-17 and U-18 National teams and was the winner of a silver medal in the 2010-11 U18 World Juniors. Most recently he was ranked 71st among European skaters in the NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings prior to the 2011 NHL Draft. His brother, Anton, was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 167th overall in 2009.
Lethbridge still holds the 72nd pick – a second round pick in this year’s draft after the release of Swedish forward Jacob Berglund and Russian forward Alex Kuvaev. Berglund signed on to play pro hockey in Sweden for the 2011-12 season while Kuvaev will now be re-entered into the talent pool for the 2011 CHL Draft.
(From Ryan Ohashi, Hurricanes Manager of Communications & Events)
Pat
This blog post is brought to you by www.clearlylethbridge.com.
A defensive defenceman??? Wow what a disappointment on a team that desperately needs scoring....hopefully they will be able to trade one or two of our top 5 92 or 93 D man to get some scoring...team has some good young defence coming up and there was no need in this position....without a part 2, this is just dumb no other way to describe it...
ReplyDeletestronger d-men, better team. especially if we have alot of 16 and 17 year olds next year. Love the pick.
ReplyDeleteThis team needs scoring, and defensemen. If we can trade for a decent euro forward, or get lucky with the 72nd pick, then this is a great move. oslanski=to slow. Johnston=high high risk. Ryckman=average.. In every facet of his game. Jackson= injury prone.
ReplyDeleteGood for Berglund, and too bad for the Canes. Despite Preston's earlier comments, no surprize to me that Kuvaev won't be back in Lethbridge. I would bet that we'll see him back in the dub.
ReplyDeleteSomethings up....two days ago Preston wants a top 6 skilled forward and he drafts a D man...maybe a deal to get a known top 6 forward from the WHL is in the works for one or two of our D men...D were actually pretty strong last year while secondary scoring was brutal...TD
ReplyDeleteMaybe he can trade for a draft pick next year when we can take a top 6 foreward with that pick. That seems to be the plan. The Preston plan = trade away current players now so that he has to have more time to see the prospects develop. Great recipe for job security. Nothing this guy does makes sense. So what is the guarantee this year Rich? Look at the stats on this kid we drafted. I have seen goalies with more production. I guess big and strong is what we need, not somebody to score from the back end. Looking foreword to another year of a powerplay without a QB and nobody able to make the first pass out of our own end. By the way nothing is up. We have said this for 2 years now every time Preston does something that leaves us shaking our heads. Don't expect anything soon. I just fear this year will be like the last with the old players getting all the time and not developing our young talent. We have a top line that might play 30 minutes a game. Look at the Hitmen. By far the worst team on opening day. At the end of the season you could see that they were getting way better and developing talent. You live in Calgary Rich. Pay attention to what is going on in your back yard. 100% chance the Hitmen make the playoffs. This is the WHL. Rebuilding means 1-2 years, not 3-4. If you are going to suck do it with youth and not the old local team we had last year. Dead (mostly local players with team connections) bench space last year, Tait, Machacek, Hood, Maxwell, Tarnasky etc. All wasted time that could be filled by Balog, Sofilas, Kuvaev and our other talent that needs ice time to get better. Really frustrating to see how mishandled last season was. All I want is light at the end of the tunnel. All I can see is 2013 as the next time we may have a competitive team.
ReplyDeleteps big congrats to Fyten for the pro camp invite. One of the only players who carried over the Carter Banks mentality of playing hard in spite of your surroundings.
Out of the top 6 scoring forwards last year 3 will be gone for sure Maxwell, Ross and Berglund and maybe 4 if Sutter goes to the AHL...so Fyten and Braes left...the next six point getters included Kuvaev and two defencemen.....who is going to score goals on this team?? Can't expect first year players to be goal scorers? Are Mitch Maxwell and Michael Sofillas 40 point players?? The defence better be good because they are going to spend a heck of a lot of time in their zone if they don't trade for some scoring....
ReplyDeletedont forget we have 4 17 yr old forwards commin into the team this year that all has great seasons this year and will help offensively , Taylor balog-big strong forward, Mitch guiel- played junior b in bc put up big numbers,and has pro speed,
ReplyDeleteSamuel mckechnie,good size good season in midget,Jaimen yakubowski,big kid gritty had a good season as well ,we will be a young team but will have alot of offensive help
A lot to expect from first year players...Jr B is not the WHL and neither is Midget AAA ask Ramsey and Sofillas who put up big numbers as 16 year olds...
ReplyDeleteWow, sounds like most of you should be gm's and head coaches with your wealth of knowledge. We would be a 65 win team every year with you all. Post your resumes asap as our team can't go another year without you!
ReplyDeleteI may not be a firefighter but if a building is burning and the hoses are pointed at the ground I am going to say something. When you see things that make no logical sense you need to comment on them. Please let us know what Preston did to make this team better last year on opening day as compared to where we are now. Also I think you are missing the point of this blog. it is a place for opinions good, bad and indifferent (as your opinion is). People on this site show that there are still a few of us who support this team and care enough to hope for better rather than settling for what has happened with this organization for so long now. Please let the parents give the team unconditional support. As paying customers we should expect something rather than the poor treatment we get from management and staff. I threw a hat on the ice last season for a hat trick and almost got kicked out. Yes I was sober and well behaved. If it were not for cotton eye joe and the rest of the music package from 1995 that the canes still use for goals for (please no more 1930s clap your hands song)and against the games would be like a library. Glad to see they really care about the fan experience. By the way. Somebody better put in a resume because the city can't afford to prop up this business financially year after year. Who do you see as the responsible party for being a losing team on the ice and at the bank year after year? If this is fine with you then I am fine with the status quo. Low expectations can always be exceeded. That's a guarantee that we can at least live up to.
ReplyDeleteI would say the last GM has given us the team we have today. Rich was given the daunting task of trying to restock poor picks (esp. 07 draft) I as well am a paying customer and do not like losing every year. That is why I am very excited to see how Richs moves and draft picks will pan out. This stock piling of young talent will benefit Us Hurricane fans for years to come and increase our game experience. I believe our turnaround will begin this upcoming season with 2013 and 2014 as our peak seasons. I would rather suffer in a rebuild that go through the status quo of mediocrity and no memorial cup appearances. Point is I strongly believe that Rich is building this team correctly. It is clear that with the current ticket sales and sites like this that we hurricanes fans are very impatient and unsupportive. If we do not see an improvement in our young talent that the current staff has put in place then call it as it is. Just looks like people spouting off without giving it enough time to see what he is building. Hope your experience gets better!
ReplyDeleteenough time is one season to see development. It's called improvment, not regression which is what has happened the last 2 years. The picks must develop but last season the opening day team played better hockey than the one on the final game. Remember it is pretty damn hard to miss the playoffs in the WHL east. 75% of the teams make the playoffs. to be in the bottom 25% for 2 years in a row is pathetic no matter what you are left with when you get here. With this seasons team looking like it is starting in the bottom 25% (wait for preseason rankings to come out, the canes will be in this group for sure)for a 3rd season would be quite sad. Missing the playoffs 3 years in a row in a league where 3/4 oth the teams move on has a 1.5% chance of happening. Making it in all 3 years has a 42% probability. Im glad we are patient enough that we get to see something so rare. Rich came in with a 5 year plan by the looks of it. Problem, this is not the NHL. Something Rich has forgotten when it comes to his GM role and how he treats the players.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you want. Just to make the playoffs to get kicked out in the first round? Again I think the young 16 and 17 year olds that will be on the team this year will be well worth the wait. I also believe we will have the best group of 20 year olds in the W this year. You and many others don't like how Rich is building a team. I do.
ReplyDeleteWould like to be excited about the drafted players and the prospects for the Canes, but find it difficult to be encouraged or enthusiaticchero....It's not that I'm unhappy about "how Preston is building the team". The problem is how he has them playing.....look at the results of the last 2 years---very poor record, lack of player development and improvement, lack of fielding a high-tempo, motivated team.
ReplyDeletePreston's obviously still figuring out the GM's job........I one of those that's interested in seeing how this season pans out. Specifically, I want to see how last year's 17-year-olds are played/handled as 18-year-olds. This season is Preston's year to show us some sort of improvement. I agree that I didn't see much improvement in many of the players and many 18 year olds took a step back. I thought he traded Yadlowski too early. Keeping him until the trade deadline would've allowed Yads to help the younger defencemen (Ryckman and Jackson). Preston said those two needed more ice time when, if fact, they weren't ready for it physically or mentally.
ReplyDeleteThe organization blew the Kuvaev situation completely. Let's hope they don't blow it with the two new Euro players.
However, I'm still interested to see how this year's 18 year olds play and are handled. So I guess I'm somewhere in between some of the other bloggers. Not overly excited, but not overly down. But, this is a very important year for Preston as a GM.
ps. One thing I absolutely hate about going to a Cane's game is how much talking the PA announcer does in between periods.....I can't even have a conversation with the person next to me!