The Regina Pats scratched LW Troy Ofukany and C Tim Kraus for disciplinary reasons on the weekend. That resulted in an interesting story in the Regina Leader-Post. Written by Greg Harder, the story details how the Pats’ brass is denying there are discipline problems “despite the fact that veteran players have missed at least four games this season for breaking team rules.” . . . The most interesting aspect of the story isn’t that players get suspended for breaking team rules. No, the interesting part is that some teams are so reluctant to admit publicly that a player is a healthy scratch because he violated a team rule. . . . The Pats have twice suspended Ofukany, while Kraus was a first-time offender. In fact, according to Harder, the Pats “attempted to sweep Kraus’s absence under the rug by offering a variety of explanations which — depending on who you asked — varied from him being ‘under the weather’ to ‘banged up.’ In the end, Hunt admitted Kraus was a ‘healthy scratch,’ but wouldn’t elaborate any further.” . . . I have felt for a long, long time that teams do a disservice to everyone involved – themselves, the players and the ticket-buying public – when they hide the fact that a player has been disciplined. Unless it is a situation that is awfully serious, perhaps involving the alleged breaking of the law, teams should be up front about why a player isn’t in the lineup. Players should know that if they break team rules, the fans are going to know about it. And the people who shell out their hard-earned dollars for tickets, should know why Johnny B. Good isn’t in the lineup – is he just a healthy scratch, is it because of poor performance, is he injured or did he miss curfew? . . .
There are times when the WHL schedule really makes you scratch your head. Take the case of the Portland Winter Hawks, who presently are touring around B.C. like lost tourists. . . . The Winter Hawks played Friday night in Chilliwack, Saturday night in Kelowna and Sunday night in Vancouver. They next play Tuesday in Kamloops. . . . Add it up and it means the Winter Hawks will have ridden their bus over the Coquihalla four times before this swing is over. . . . For those unfamiliar with geography in these parts, the Coquihalla at this time of the year – like the just-completed weekend, for example – can be a real nightmare. . . . Tweaking that schedule a bit could have left Portland with two jaunts over the Coq on this trip, and that tweaking is something that, in this instance, definitely should have been done. . . .
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Calgary, C Ian Duval scored the Teddy Bear goal as the Hitmen dumped the Prince George Cougars, 6-2. . . . Attendance was 17,341 and the Hitmen collected 26,919 stuffed toys. . . . Duval’s first goal came at 4:52 of the opening period. He added a second goal in the first minute of the third period. Due to another promotion, that goal was worth a 50-inch plasma TV set for one lucky fan. . . . F Kyle Bortis also scored twice for Calgary. He and Duval have 13 goals apiece. . . . The Hitmen (20-8-1-2) lead the Eastern Conference. . . . The game was delayed about 30 minutes while the toys were collected. . . . The Cougars (11-20-0-0) suffered a blow when F Dana Tyrell went down with a knee injury in the second period. “We don’t know that it’s major, but it’s certainly not good,” Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck told the Prince George Citizen. Tyrell will be examined by doctors in Calgary on Monday. . . . Prince George C Evan Fuller, who had missed 15 games with a groin injury, returned to the lineup. But D Jesse Dudas (ankle) was out after blocking a shot in a 3-1 loss in Red Deer on Saturday. . . .
In Edmonton, RW Jordan Knackstedt’s goal at 3:23 of OT gave the Moose Jaw Warriors a 3-2 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The Warriors (13-9-4-2) have at least a point in each of their last six games. . . . The Warriors led 2-0 going into the third period when the Oil Kings tied it on goals by LW Craig McCallum and C Tomas Vincour. . . . Moose Jaw G Joey Perricone stopped 34 shots. That included stopping RW Brent Hentke on a second-period penalty shot. . . . F Michael Burns, an Edmonton native who plays for the midget AAA Knights of Columbus Pats, made his Oil Kings debut and earned an assist on Vincour’s goal. Burns, 16, was drafted 59th overall by Moose Jaw in 2006 before being dealt to Portland and eventually ending up as the property of the Oil Kings. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the game-ending shootout went 10 rounds before C Nathan Green’s goal gave the Brandon Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Tigers (16-11-2-1) forced OT when C Daine Todd scored with 34 seconds left in the third period. . . . The Wheat Kings (19-9-0-1), who won 4-2 in Swift Current on Saturday, have won five in a row. . . . One of their goals came from former Tigers RW Matt Lowry. His 15th goal gave Brandon a 2-1 lead at 15:04 of the second. . . . Through nine rounds of the shootout, each team scored twice. Brandon’s Joe Caligiuri then stopped RW John Stampohar, before Green beat Tomas Vosvrda for the winner. . . .
In Red Deer, G Dustin Tokarski stopped 18 shots for his third shutout this season as the Spokane Chiefs blanked the Rebels, 2-0. . . . Tokarski has five shutouts in his career. . . . Spokane (21-4-1-2) is 1-1 on a Central Division swing and has the WHL’s best record. . . . C Chris Langkow, on a first-period PP, and LW Drayson Bowman, with his 25th goal, scored for Spokane. Bowman’s goal came at 18:18 of the third period. He is tied for the WHL lead in goals, along with Chilliwack RW Oscar Moller. . . . The Chiefs outshot the Rebels, 42-18. . . . Red Deer G James Reimer made 40 saves. . . .
In Vancouver, the Giants dumped the Portland Winter Hawks, 6-1. . . . The Giants were without Czech RW Michal Repik, who was stretchered off the ice Saturday after a hit from Everett Silvertips D Dane Crowley. Repik remained in hospital Sunday night. All that is known is that Repik has a concussion. . . . It could be that Repik won’t be able to play for Czech Republic in the world junior tournament. And that’s really too bad, because the tournament is to be played in the Czech cities of Liberec and Pardubice. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning, who missed 20 games with a wrist injury earlier this season, didn’t return after Sunday’s first period. . . . The Winter Hawks (5-22-0-0) allowed four power-play goals on eight opportunities. . . . RW Spencer Machacek scored twice for the Giants (20-7-1-3). . . . Vancouver D Jon Blum tied a team record with four assists. . . .
In Chilliwack, the Bruins dumped Kelowna 3-1 and pulled to within one point of the fourth-place Rockets in the Western Conference. . . . The victory gave Chilliwack three victories in as many nights – the Bruins beat the visiting Portland Winter Hawks 5-2 on Friday and then went into Kamloops and beat the Blazers 6-2 on Saturday. Not bad considering that the Bruins (16-12-3-0) went into Friday having lost six in a row. . . . Kelowna (16-10-2-2) had a two-game win streak halted. . . . Chilliwack C Mark Santorelli, who leads the WHL points race, had two goals and an assist for the second straight game. . . . In his last three games, Santorelli has nine points, including seven goals. And he has 14 points over his last five games. . . . The Bruins, who had a 15-2 edge in shots after one period, were 2-for-7 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-4. . . . Chilliwack RW Patrik Bhungal was scratched from all three games. . . . The Rockets were without D Tysen Dowzak (neck) and RW Kyle St. Denis (head), both of whom were injured Saturday against visiting Portland. . . . Santorelli has 54 points, eight more than Moller who is his closest pursuer in the points race. . . .
In Prince Albert, the Kootenay Ice built a 4-1 second-period lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Raiders. . . . RW Arnaud Jacquement scored twice for the Ice, giving him 11 this season. . . . The Ice was leading 2-1 when it scored two late second-period power-play goals, Jacquement counting at 18:02 and RW Andrew Bailey getting his 12th at 19:58. . . . Jacquement also had an assist. . . .
No games on Monday, but you can watch for Hockey Canada to announce the names of the players who are invited to the national junior team’s selection camp in Calgary. That camp opens Dec. 10. . . .
There are seven games on tap Tuesday, including Spokane at Edmonton, with the Chiefs eager to re-introduce themselves to Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau. He was an assistant under Spokane head coach Bill Peters last season. . . . Also, the Tri-City Americans meet the Thunderbirds in Seattle. The Ams dumped the visiting Thunderbirds 5-2 on Saturday. . . . Also on Tuesday, USA Hockey will name its national junior team. That will occur on a Versus telecast (that is the network that carries NHL games in the U.S.) during the intermission of a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
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