WHL Graduates Egener, Frere and Potuer commit with the University of Calgary Dinos
CALGARY – Mark Howell announced his first recruits as head coach of the University of Calgary Dinos on Wednesday, with three former WHL defensemen set to suit up in Calgary red and white in 2009-10.
For a team that loses two of their top end defenders from 2008-09 in second team CIS All-Canadian Travis Friedley and Adam Redmond to graduation, replenishing their blue line was a definite must for Coach Howell and the Dinos.
“To bring in three real big and steady puck moving defensemen from the Western league will really help us this year,” said Coach Howell. “All three of them show great poise and are experienced, so they will definitely play roles for us right away. They will get the chance to get through the transition of being in school again, and playing in a very competitive Canada West, but once the season gets going, we’ll definitely be expecting them to contribute more and more.”
One new player should be a familiar name to Calgary hockey followers, as former Calgary Hitmen Eric Frere will suit up for the Dinos this season. Frere, who played with the Hitmen for parts of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, most recently played for the Kootenay Ice after bouncing around the league in his early years. Eric finished up the 2008-09 season playing in 68 games and notching a career high 13 points.
Reuniting with former Hitmen teammates Ryan Gillen and Brock Nixon, the strong, two-way defenseman should have no problem fitting in with the Dinos in 2009-10.
The Dinos hope they have a new shutdown defenseman in Graham Potuer, most recently of the Everett Silvertips. At 6’1” and 234 pounds, Potuer is a big, tough player willing to battle it out in his own zone, but is also capable of providing an offensive punch when needed. Potuer notched a career high 25 points this past season for a Silvertips team that lost in the first round of the WHL West Division playoffs. Potuer played all five of his WHL years with Everett, where he was the assistant captain in 2008-09 as well as the team’s “Unsung Hero” award winner.
Rounding out the WHL recruits is Luke Egener of the Red Deer Rebels. Egener is another big, experienced blue-liner who will be expected to contribute right out of the gate for the Dinos. Egener was the assistant captain for the Rebels last season, and was the recipient of the team’s “Fans’ Player of the Year” award. Like the other newcomers, Luke posted a career high in points during his final junior year, with five goals and eight assists. The Calgary native spent the first two years of his career with the Vancouver Giants.
With this first batch of recruits, Coach Howell is focused on the big picture.
“There is definitely going to be a feeling out process for everyone this year as I will be getting used to the players, they will be getting used to me, and we will be refocusing on getting back to the top of Canada West,” explained Howell.
“With these recruits, we got quality guys from a quality league in the WHL, and that needs to be our mindset moving forward. We need to be right in the middle of it, recruiting the top end guys as much as we can. As we add new kids, we’re getting the building blocks in place to get to our main goal, which is to eventually get the University a National Championship.”
The Dinos finished the 2008-09 season with a disappointing 15-18-2 overall record and missed the playoffs for the first time in 24 years. They start conference play in 2009 with a home and home series against their provincial rivals, the Alberta Golden Bears.
