Long Weekend Coming...

What a long weekend in store!

It all begins Friday night with the Broncos hosting the Moose Jaw Warriors in pre-season action will be a good chance to see some of the younger talent first-hand against some real WHL competition. For me, I'll be watching the Warriors close also to see how much their group of 16 year-olds from last season have matured in their game.

Face-off at 7:30pm.

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It's a huge year for the WHL ahead. A banner year perhaps?

Not only is Brandon hosting the Memorial Cup in May, but Regina and Saskatoon will team up for the 2010 World Junior Championships in December/January.

The league has to be pumped with the amount of exposure and major events they will be part of.

WHL This Week Radio Edition has enough talking points to last from now 'til Christmas!.

Speaking of the radio show, the first episode is due out in two weeks. Hopefully the other broadcasters around the league can help out as much as they did last year. It was great to have stories out of every WHL market on a timely basis.

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Getting back to the weekend....

The Labour Day Classic Sunday just got that more interesting with the signing of a couple of controversial players.

The Riders signing WR/KR Jason Armstead to help their ailing special teams unit. Gone are the days of Gerran Walker returning kicks and punts. THANK YOU.

Armstead comes with some off-field problems/incidents. He'll get a clean slate here. The Riders have their infamous "code of conduct" in place to deal with off-field problems.

Not to be out-done, the Bombers have signed NFL bad boy Adam "Pacman" Jones. He will likely suit up Sunday and handle kick and punt returns.

There isn't a rule in the NFL that Jones hasn't broken.

Kick-off 2pm on Sunday.

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Ok, this isn't a Riders blog... there's a enough of those in this province.

The Broncos announced the signing of a couple players yesterday.

16 year-old defenseman Graeme Craig and 17 year-old forward Dane Muench appear to be sticking around.

These players will be fun to watch develop. Craig is a lumbering 6'4 215 lb defenseman...remember he's only 16. The Broncos also like to think he has some offensive upside in his game as he collected 26 points in 39 "AAA" midget games last year with the Red Deer Chiefs.

He's the younger brother of Bronco draft pick Rodger Craig. Rodger never committed to the Broncos despite heavy recruiting. Rodger was a 4th round pick in the 2006 bantam draft. He's currently with Okotoks of the AJHL.

Dane Muench has a ton of skill and has the ability to play on the Broncos top-six after some seasoning.

the 17 year-old was a top rookie in the SJHL last season in the Battlefords. It will be interesting to see where he finds his niche with the team.

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Expect more news later today....



Jon