Gabe Minville reassigned
Published 2:54 pm Thursday, September 23, 2010
It seems the Tips have decided to go with seven defensemen this season after all, and that was bad news for Gabe Minville as the 18-year-old was reassigned to the Portage Terriers of the MJHL.
Minville, Everett’s second-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, spent all of last season with the Tips, but barely played. He appeared in just 12 games without registering a point, and when he did suit up his shifts were limited. He came back this season in good shape, but was passed on the depth chart by rookies Nick Walters and Evan Morden. Without the towering Minville, Everett gets a little smaller on defense.
Everett usually kept eight defensemen in the past. However, there had been talk about only keeping seven this season, in large part because Minville as the eighth d-man was unable to get much game action. Dropping down to seven d-men means everyone should get adequate ice time, but it does leave the Tips a little more vulnerable to injuries.
Everett still has 15 forwards, which is probably one more than necessary. But if the Tips want to get down to 14 they’re going to have to make the most difficult cut yet. If it happens I suspect it won’t be until after the season is underway.
