Good for them, bad for us.

Can't say this was a surprise.

As if the bitter taste of losing to Vancouver wasn't bad enough, the bad but not unexpected news comes out of the local television stations that Dustin Tokarski and Ondrej Roman will get the call up to their respected organizations (Tampa Bay and Dallas) and won't be back in Spokane for their 20 year old seasons. Also, in case you missed it, Drayson Bowman was called up to the Carolina Hurricanes and will also be missing his 20 year old season as well.

Nothing shocking there. Tokarski doesn't have anything left to prove on the junior level, and anyone who thought Bowman would be back next year was a fool. Besides, both of them signed entry level contracts with their teams during last season. I was a little hopeful about Roman, however. Maybe even a little cautiously optimistic. But apparently the Dallas Stars have plans for Ondrej which will put him the the AHL or the ECHL next season. On the bright side the ECHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars is the Idaho Steelheads, which might mean a road trip to Boise for me if Ondrej ends up there. As for Bowman and Tokarski, they will likely be in the AHL next season so bookmark the Albany River Rats (Bowman) and the Norfolk Admirals (Tokarski) if I'm not mistaken.

Well, that leaves the Chiefs with four 20 year old players, so one of them still has to go. Jared Spurgeon and Brett Bartman are defensemen so they will likely be back. That means the odd man out will be either Dustin Donaghy or Ryan Letts. My guess is they'll keep Donaghy and they will release Letts. Time will tell on that one.