Rookie rarin’ to take on ‘Tips

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This article was published 12/10/2012 (5005 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Geordie Maguire will get a glimpse of what his Western Hockey League career might have been like when the Everett Silvertips pay a visit tonight.

Maguire, 17, was chosen by the Silvertips in the fifth round of the 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, but never signed with Everett because he was unable to make his graduation requirements at St. Paul’s High School in Winnipeg mesh with the American education system. This summer, he was shipped to Brandon, where he was able to work out his schooling issues and commit to the Wheat Kings.

While he never played a game of any sort with the Silvertips, Maguire said facing them tonight adds a little extra zest to the matchup.

“I think it’s cool because I grew up thinking I was going to play for (the Silvertips) and now I’m playing for this team, so I think it is a different game,” Maguire said following Thursday’s practice at Westman Place. “I’m going to try as hard as I do every other game, but it’s going to be fun.”

Don’t expect any long-simmering rivalries to emerge tonight.

While Maguire went to training camp with Everett every year after being drafted, the only player he knows well is injured goaltender Austin Lotz, a St. Adolphe native who is the only Manitoban on the Everett roster.

“They’ve been trading a lot of guys away,” said Maguire, who has three assists and a plus/minus of +3 in five games as a WHL rookie this season. “Most of the guys I know have gotten traded away, so I don’t even know half the team.”

Tonight’s game against the Silvertips begins a two-game weekend set against American teams, with the Tri-City Americans due to visit on Saturday. They’re the Wheat Kings’ last two home dates before setting out on their seven-game West Coast road trip next week and the Wheat Kings (5-2-0-0) are anxious to gobble up as many points as they can before climbing on the bus.

“It’s four points that we’d like to put in the bank for sure,” Wheat Kings head coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk said. “We’ve got to concentrate on one game and one game only. We’ve got to have a good start to the weekend (against the Silvertips). We’ve practised, we’ve preached, we’ve done a lot of harping on little things on how we want to play — the little things which make up our game — and I think it’s going to be a good test for us this weekend to see how we play at home before we head out on the road.”

ONE-TIMERS: The Silvertips could have former Saskatoon D Connor Cox in their lineup tonight after selecting him in Thursday’s 20-year-old cut-down draft. Cox, who had 41 points last season, was put on waivers by the Blades on Wednesday to meet the WHL’s limit of three overagers … Prince Albert D Antoine Corbin has signed with Hamilton of the AHL, setting the Raiders with three overagers … Vancouver has cut down to two 20-year-olds by releasing D John Neibrandt.

» rhenders@brandonsun.com