Trevor Stienburg is busy this off-season patching up a few glaring holes in the Saint Mary’s Huskies’ hockey roster.

The Huskies, who captured the CIS University Cup championship six weeks ago, won’t have two thirds of their top scoring line when they begin defence of their national banner next season.

Captain and top point-getter Marc Rancourt and leading goal scorer Cody Thornton have gradu ated, along with checking forward Scott Brophy and veteran blue liner Chris Morrison. Second-line forward Kyle Doucet may not be back for a fifth year.

But Stienburg has beefed up the roster with commitments from three forwards and two blue liners with more possibly to come.

“I’m still looking for one more high-end forward, if I could," said Stienburg, who capped his 13th season at SMU with the school’s first-ever Canadian university hockey title.

“I’ll probably go after another defenceman and a third-string goaltender, if I have to."

Leading the pack of new recruits is defenceman Kyle Wharton. The six-foot-three, 192-pound blue-liner, who’s been studying at Saint Mary’s and red-shirted last season, will be eligible to play in the fall.

He has played pro in Germany and in the American Hockey League and was a second-round pick by the Columbus Blue Jack ets in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Wharton was drafted 59th overall, just ahead of the New York Rang ers’ Brandon Dubinsky (60th), the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Alex Goli goski (61st) and David Krejci of the Boston Bruins (63rd).

The Huskies also have a verbal agreement with Swift Current forward Michael Stickland. The four-year veteran of the Western Hockey League collected 25 goals and 57 points in 69 games with the Broncos last season.

Two members of the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey league are headed east —defence man Ryan Gottschalk and forward Conor O’Donnell, who won a Memorial Cup with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009.

Stienburg has also received a commitment from Josh Dom ingues of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Domingues scored 10 goals and 25 points and had 103 penalty minutes in 67 games with Gatineau last season.

This page last modified Sunday, 07-Nov-2010 16:43:31 AST