Captain Jarome Iginla will be in Penticton, BC on July 25th to play in the BC Hockey Hall Of Fame Charity Game. The Former Kamloops Blazer will be joined by former Okanagan Jr. Products Duncan Keith, Chuck Kobasew and Shea Weber. Local netminder Justin Pogge, Newly annointed LA King Ryan Smyth, Former Calgary Hitman Andrew Ladd and veteran forward Matt Pettinger.

Iginla is one of 4 Team Canada hopefuls that will take part in the event.

NHL alums attending all have Canuck roots as Dave Babych, Cliff Ronning, Stan Smyl and Paul Reinhart will play in the event.

The Edmonton Oilers will be well represented behind the bench as both Pat Quinn and Tom Renney will have the reigns, but the co-coaches will be instructing opposing teams.

Three local Junior players Logan Johnston, Garrett Milan and Devon Krogh will suit up as well.

The Game is in support of minor hockey in Penticton which has seen a sharp decline in the number of kids registered in recent years as the cost of participation increases.

The event will be hosted at the brand spanking new South Okanagan Events Centre and is being spearheaded by St. Louis Blues Executive Director of Broadcasting and Blues Alumni Bruce A

Yours Truly will be broadcasting the Game on EZ ROCK AM 800 with Shawn Mullin.

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Flames top prospect Mikael Backlund posted another impressive performance on the night the team that drafted him was eliminated.

Backlund had 3 goals last night including the OT winner of Game 6 of that advances the Rockets on to the WHL Championship Series. Backlund was named the games 1st star with 3 goals a plus - 3 rating and 2 penalty minutes.

http://whl.ca/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1006132

The Rockets now move on to face the Calgary Hitmen who haven't lost a game this post season. Expect some Flames fans to surface in the dome to check out the top offensive prospect the team has had in ages.

Games 1 & 2 are in Cowtown on the 1st and 2nd of May.

Odds were Swedish Forward Mikael Backlund would end up playing in North America following the World Junior Tournament in Ottawa, but speculation was that he would debut with the Kelowna Rockets or the Quad Cities Flames.

Due to a back injury (?!) to Todd Bertuzzi, Backlund (who is in Calgary) may indeed make his NHL debut tonight at home against the Isles.

Backlund lead team Sweden with 5 goals (3 PPG) at the World Juniors and was drafted by the Flames with their 1st Round selection in 2007. Backlund's role with his Swedish Elite League club had been shrinking this season, thus the move to North America.

The Flames have all sort of Defenders (Aulie, Negrin, Pelech) and Goalies (Keetley, Irving) in their system but lack any offensive game-breakers aside from Backlund which explains the watchful eyes in Calgary.

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