Saturday notes . . .

LW Cole Penner, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft, left the Prince Albert Raiders this week and has joined the AJHL’s Brook Bandits, for whom he played Friday night. Penner is from Medicine Hat. His training camp with the Raiders got off to a tough start when he discovered he was allergic to cats -- his billet had a cat -- and he ended up in sickbay. The decision to leave Prince Albert was his and the door apparently has been left open to his return. . . .

Dave Piland, the Everett Silvertips’ public address announcer, died Friday evening with his wife, Lisa, at his side. Piland, who was 42, had battled brain cancer for almost two years. He leaves four children with Lisa. . . .

The Los Angeles Kings reassigned five WHLers to their junior teams last night. So G Linden Rowat is on his way back to the Regina Pats, D T.J. Fast will rejoin the Tri-City Americans, RW Oscar Moller is headed to the Chilliwack Bruins, C Dwight King is headed for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and RW Bud Holloway is returning to the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . .

Janet Jackson being unavailable due to a previous commitment, the Edmonton Oil Kings have announced that Eva Avila, the winner of the fourth season of CTV’s Canadian Idol, will perform O Canada on Thursday when they open the WHL season against the visiting Kootenay Ice (formerly the Edmonton Ice). Avila, a 19-year-old from Quebec, also is expected to perform other tunes during the evening. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers unveiled a new public address announcer Friday night as they scored a 3-1 exhibition victory over the Kelowna Ice. Bill O’Donovan, the news anchor at CFJC-TV, takes over from Paul McKeown, who moved east over the summer and now mans the microphone for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. O’Donovan spent a number of years as an anchor at the CTV outlet in Regina before moving to Kamloops a few summers ago. . . . This is believed to be the first time in well over 20 years that Radio NL, which carries play-by-play of Blazers games, hasn’t supplied the public address announcer. Jim Reynolds, Radio NL’s program director, was named a Blazer Legend two winters ago because of his long-time work as the p.a. announcer.