From the Monsters Desk: Offseason Filler Article

Not a surprise, but there hasn't been any news on any player signings, coaching changes or whatnot since the Bourke contract was announced. That should change in about a week. I hope.

So, for shits & giggles and to justify my position as a staff writer I thought it might be fun to glance at some of the connections our beloved Monsters/Avs have on previous teams. Just about everyone knows that Duncan Siemens and Stef Elliott played together on the Saskatoon Blades from 2009-2011, but did you know that Karl Stollery and Nick Holden played on the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 04-05? No, I'm sure you didn't because why the hell would anyone know that, maybe even Karl and Nick don't.

Mitch Heard and Garrett Meurs spent 4 seasons together on the Plymouth Whalers before joining the Monsters full-time last year.

Early in 2012, Cody Corbett and Mason Geertsen were defensemen for the Edmonton Oil Kings. Geertsen was traded to the Vancouver Giants where he joined Trevor Cheek for a short while. Cheek was then traded to the Oil Kings to hang out with Corbett. Wow!

Gabe Beaupre and Samuel Henley teamed up together on the 2011-12 Val d'Or Foreurs squad which ended up 2nd in the tough West Division of the QMJHL.

The World Junior Cup Under-18 Canadian teams are a treasure trove of Avs connections. In 08-09, Joey Hishon, Ryan O'Reilly and Stefan Elliott were there. In 09-10, Mike Sgarbossa and Calvin Pickard were picked, also joined by Gabe Desjardins and Michael Bournival. Troy Bourke and Spencer Martin anchored the 11-12 squad.

The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge is a tournament held in Canada each year around New Years' going back to 1986 which features several Canadian teams plus the US and a few European teams. Back in 2008, the group from Canada-Ontario won all 6 games they played, defeating Canada-Pacific, Finland, Quebec and Slovakia in the prelims, Canada-West in the semifinals and the USA 3-0 in the Gold Medal game. They also featured a whopping 5 future Avs players/prospects: Matt Duchene (4G/6A, All-Star), Andrew Agozzino (5G/2A), Ryan O'Reilly (6A), Joey Hishon (2G/3A) and of all people, Daniel Maggio (1G). All 5 had been picked in the 1st round of the 2007 OHL draft. The USA goalie they defeated for the gold: Brandon Maxwell. Seriously. By the way, Hish and Aggz led the team with 14 and 12 PIMs respectively, and big surprise - Radar had none.

from Hockey Canada

Two years later, Duncan and Smitty would play together for Canada-Pacific in the WHC-U17, winning 2 games against Canada-Atlantic and the Czech Republic while losing to Russia and the USA.

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Just a little light reading before silly season begins, I'll have any updates and all relevant news as it becomes available. Bonne chance!

[Oh, yeah. Last one. Lerg and Bordy played for the Springfield Falcons in 08-09. The more you know!]

Thanks to eliteprospects for all the trivia.