Manitoba Moose

The revolving door was in full swing for the Manitoba Moose on Thursday.

They chopped 20 players from their training camp roster and later in the day, the NHL's Vancouver Canucks assigned six players.

The addition of defenceman Taylor Ellington, left-winger P.C. Labrie, defenceman Evan Oberg, right-winger Eric Walsky, goalie Daren Machesney and defenceman Travis Ramsey leaves the Moose roster at 29 heading into AHL exhibition games tonight and Sunday in Abbotsford, B.C., against the Heat.

Gone from Moose training camp are right-wingers Bear Trapp, Matt Stefanishion, Jon Rheault and Ryan Menei, left-winger Kaleb Betts, centres Alexandre Imbeault, Greg Hogeboom, Ryan Garbutt, Olivier Filion, and Matt Eagles, defencemen Nicholas Bilotto, Robbie Bina, Julien Brouillette, Scott Hotham, Josh Kidd, Guillaume Lepine, Scott Marchesi and Andrew Martens and goalie Stefan Drew. Each had a morning meeting with head coach Scott Arniel

Goalie John Murray was assigned to Victoria of the ECHL.

"We thanked them for being here, and like I told most of them, it's about putting a face to a style of play," Arniel said before the team departed for Abbotsford.

"For a lot of them, I had heard of them but until I had seen them on the ice, I couldn't get to know them.

"Some of them didn't see the exhibition games (this weekend), but in saying that, this is about our depth. It's what we've done over the years.

"We've been able to find guys, see what they look like here, and if we need them over the course of the year, I'm a little more familiar with them and they're not just some guy who plays down in Elmira or Ontario."

Arniel pointed out that due to injuries and NHL call-ups, the Moose needed 50 players to make it through their season in 2008-09.

"(When you need a player), you just don't want to throw darts at a board and hope that somebody who comes in helps us," he said.

Arniel also said Thursday he doesn't expect that veterans Mike Keane, the team captain, or Marty Murray will play both games this weekend in Abbotsford.

The Moose return on Monday from their pre-season weekend in B.C. and will have four days to prepare for their AHL season-opener next Friday at the MTS Centre against the Houston Aeros, the team they eliminated to reach last spring's Calder Cup final.