The Winnipeg Ice added another homebrew to its roster on Friday when it acquired Mike Ladyman from the Spokane Chiefs for Jordan Chudley in a swap of defencemen. . . . The Chiefs also get a fifth-round pick in the 2020 bantam draft; the Ice gets a fifth-rounder in 2021. . . . Ladyman 18, is from Winnipeg. He has played for the prep team at the Winnipeg-based Rink Hockey Academy and for the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues. The Ice, RHA and the Blues all are owned by 50 Below Sports + Entertainment. . . . Ladyman was a fifth-round pick by the Regina Pats in the 2016 bantam draft. Regina eventually dropped him from their protected list and Spokane added him in November 2017. . . . Last season, Ladyman had two assists in 22 games with the Chiefs, and four goals and 24 assists in 26 games with the Blues. . . . Chudley, 18, is from Souris, Man. He was a fourth-round pick by the Ice in the 2016 bantam draft. He was pointless in two games with the Ice in 2017-18, and had two assists in 32 games last season.
As you will have read in the item above, the Spokane Chiefs and Winnipeg Ice swapped a pair of 18-year-old defencemen on Friday. As a follower of the WHL — or maybe even as a fan of either team — you may be wondering where Jordan Chudley and/or Mike Ladyman fit in on the roster of their new team. . . . Unfortunately, neither the Chiefs nor the Ice appear to have posted a pre-season roster. Of course, neither have 18 of the WHL’s other 20 teams. . . . And that’s a shame. There really is no excuse for teams not to have made rosters available, especially with training camps about a month away. . . . The WHL and its teams really need to understand that there are fans out there with a real thirst for information. From where I sit, not having roster info available at this stage is a real slap in the face to those fans. . . . So post those pre-season rosters and give those fans something about which to talk. . . .
In the meantime, a tip of the Taking Note fedora to the Kamloops Blazers and Regina Pats. When I checked on Friday evening, they were the only WHL teams to have pre-season rosters updated and available. . . . Two minutes for not looking so good to the other 20 teams.
Adam Deadmarsh will be back for a third season as an assistant coach with the Spokane Chiefs. The team announced Friday that he has been signed through the 2019-20 season. . . . Deadmarsh, 44, played four seasons (1991-95) with the Portland Winterhawks before going on to play 567 regular-season NHL games and 105 more in the playoffs. . . .