The Windsor Spitfires acquired top prospect Logan Brown from the Niagara IceDogs for six draft picks Tuesday.
Brown, the sixth overall pick in this year’s OHL draft, is a six-foot-five, 215-pound centre who had 19 goals in 19 games with the Indiana Ice Midget U16s last year.
Minnesota Magicians defenseman Paul O’Connor will begin the 2014-2015 season with the Bloomington Thunder of the United States Hockey League (USHL). A native of Missouri, O’Connor spent part of last season with Cedar Rapids of the USHL before joining the Magicians for 29 games.
The Niagara IceDogs hope to have a resolution to the Logan Brown situation by the first week of August.
The IceDogs have yet to sign Brown, their top draft choice in the 2014 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection, but have keep in constant contact with the talented centre and his father, former National Hockey League defenceman Jeff Brown.
Incoming defenseman Ty Farmer, and Phantoms affiliate list player Luke McInnis have been named to the U.S. Under-17 Select Team that will participate in the 2014 Under-17 Five Nations Tournament, slated for August 13-17 in Crimmitschau, Germany. The Select Team is made up of 20 players who participated in the USA Hockey Boys’ Select 16 Player Development Camp from July 7-16.
“I was 3 when I started playing hockey,” Tkachuk, a forward who just wrapped up his Under-17 season with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, said. “I just fell in love with it from the beginning. I used to go to my dad’s games, and he forced me into skates but I just loved it.”
Word of the former NHL defenceman becoming coach of the Ottawa 67’s lent itself to speculation online that his highly touted son, Niagara IceDogs first-round choice Logan Brown, might follow his father to Canada’s capital by way of a trade before the season.
With only eight players coming back from last year’s team, the Sioux City Musketeers have some holes to fill. Coach Jay Varady has 15 roster spots open, and the majority of them on the blue line.
Murphy, 18, just completed his second season of playing for the Mustangs in the NA3HL. The native of St. Louis, Missouri, had a career season in 2013-14 as he registered 28 points in 44 games played. He also had five points in Peoria’s five playoff games.
The IceDogs own the Canadian Hockey League rights to forward Logan Brown (6-foot-4), goalie Edwin Minney (6-foot-4) and now — as most recent as Monday — defenceman Ryan Mantha (6-foot-5) after general manager Marty Williamson struck a deal with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Jon Rogger was introduced as the second Bulls Head Coach in franchise history during a Thursday morning press conference in front of Fans, Corporate Partners and the media in The Corral at the Amarillo Civic Center.
