Thursday . . .

The Saskatoon Blades have acquired Czech LW Ondrej Fiala, 20, from the Everett Silvertips for a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. Fiala was a second-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2006. He had 33 points in 39 games with Everett last season. Fiala, a 20-year-old import, is a two-spotter so more moves will follow his arrival in Saskatoon. For starters, the Blades released Slovakian F Robert Brandis, 19. But now the Blades have four 20-year-olds — Fiala, C Chris Durand, RW Michael Kaye and D Curtis Patterson. Durand, Kaye and Patterson all were acquired in offseason trades and all are from Saskatoon. . . .

The moves leaves the Silvertips with two imports — Russian C Vitali Karamnov, 18, and Slovakian LW Lukas Vartovnik — and four 20-year-olds. The 20s are RW Dan Gendur, LW Brennan Sonne, D Dane Crowley and G David Reekie. Reekie is out with mononucleosis. . . .

In a post here yesterday, I wrote that Everett G Leland Irving had posted his 17th career shutout and that he now was tied for fifth with Jeff Glass on the WHL’s all-time list. Ahead of Irving, I wrote, are Bryan Bridges (21), Justin Pogge (20), Kelly Guard (19) and Dustin Slade (18). . . . Well, I got that information from the WHL's handy-dandy on-line record. Except that it turns out that record book hasn't been updated since who knows when. Slade actually has 20 shutouts, so is tied with Pogge for second. . . . I think. . . . Geez, what good is a record book if it isn't updated? . . .

It was on Dec. 7 that the Regina Pats and Kelowna Rockets swung what may have been the biggest trade of 2006-07. The Rockets sent C Kirt Hill, LW Troy Ofukany and RW Kaspars Saulietis to Regina for C Jason MacDonald, C Justin Bernhardt and RW Kyle St. Denis. . . . Now, 10 months later, MacDonald, 18, has been released by the Rockets, while Saulietis, a 20-year-old Latvian, had his WHL career ended by a shoulder injury on the first shift of his first game this season. . . . Ofukany, meanwhile, is on the shelf for at least six weeks with a knee injury. . . . Hill, 19, has five points in five games with Regina, but is minus-3 (if you put any stock in plus/minus). . . . Bernhardt, 19, has one assist in six games with Kelowna, while St. Denis, 17, has two assists in four games. . . .

RW Craig Cuthbert, 19, who was cut by the Saskatoon Blades, now is with the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs. He is the younger brother of Kelowna Rockets assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert. . . .

Interesting note from Jeff Bromley’s blog after the Kootenay Ice lost 2-1 to the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday: “The smallest (crowd) of the season at 2,667. I would bet that there were less than 2,000 actually there. Again, as the city grows the average crowds — at least to start the season — decrease in size.” . . . There is a link to his blog (Ice Chips) over there on the left. . . .

Report from Europe: D Josef Melichar (Tri-City), who had a go with the Pittsburgh Penguins at one time, has signed with Linköping in Sweden’s Elitserien. He actually began the season in the Czech Extraliga, playing six games for his hometown team, Ceske Budejovice. Among his teammates in Linköping will be G Rastislav Stana (Moose Jaw/Calgary) and D Burke Henry (Brandon). Henry is on a tryout contract through Oct. 15. . . .

The Seattle Thunderbirds have assigned D Brad Bakken, 18, to the BCHL’s Langley Chiefs. He was pointless in two games this season. . . .

The Brandon Wheat Kings report that former owner Bob Cornell remains in a Green Bay, Wis., hospital but has shown enough improvement that there is talk of transferring him to Manitoba, perhaps next week. . . . Cornell, 69, suffered a heart attack while driving home from an NFL game in Green Bay on Sept. 23. He underwent a heart procedure on Wednesday and doctors now expect him to make a full recovery. . . .

In the QMJHL, Real Paiement has tied the league’s record for most games coached. Now the head coach of the St. John’s Fog Devils, he coached his 988th regular-season game on Wednesday and will break the record Friday night in Lewiston. . . . The record has been held by Guy Chouinard since 2001. . . . The WHL record his held by Ken Hodge, who coached 1,411 regular-season games with the original Edmonton Oil Kings and Portland Winter Hawks. . . .

It seems that former American Idol contestant Kelly Pickler, 21, has dumped NHLer Jordin Tootoo and accused him of, uhh, tootoo-timing her. Need proof that it’s over for the former WHL hitman? The Charlotte Observer reports that she has removed all photos of him from her MySpace page.