The Hitmen acquire 18-year-old left winger Danny Gayle, 18-year-old left winger Nathan MacMaster and 18-year-old goaltender Brandon Glover in exchange for 18-year-old forwards Cody Beach and Mackenzie Royer. (Hitmen)
This just goes to show how hard it is to stay competitive in a league that turns kids over to other leagues, including the NHL. A revolving door that makes it hard sometimes for team to keep up.
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Portland is 19-3-0-1 through 23 games played. They have 39 points, 15 more than second place teams Seattle and Tri City. it was not too long ago that this teamhad wrapped up a 17 win season in 06-07, an 11 win season the next year and last year a 19 win season.
Thats right, Portland has as many wins so far this year in just over a month, than they had last year TOTAL.
Just look at the formula: Take a team that is struggling, insert new passionate ownership with strong coaching, and recruit the best team players. VOILA! Does this sound familiar?
It should, because thats exactly what the Americans did when Stu Barnes, Olaf Kolzig and Top Shelf Entertainment stepped up to take ownership of a lousy, underachieving Americans team. They brought in Bob Tory as General Manager, Don Nachbaur as coach, and started recruiting players that were knowledgeable and passionate about the game. Tri City has now won three straight division banners and a western conference championship.
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