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It looks like former WHL sniper Len Barrie is part of the Oren Koules group that is in the process of purchasing the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. It has long been speculated that Barrie, the father of Kelowna Rockets D Tyson Barrie and the owner of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies, would be involved should the WHL end up going back to Victoria. Anyway, here is a story in today’s Globe and Mail on Barrie and his involvement (or non-involvement) with Koules. . . .————————
F Adam Basford will make his WHL debut with the Vancouver Giants this weeekend in Prince George. The Giants and Cougars will play a Friday-Saturday doubleheader. Basford joined the Giants earlier this month after leaving the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, who had suspended him over off-ice issues. . . . Basford, who had 54 points in 49 games with Surrey, was selected by the Cougars in the sixth round of the 2004 bantam draft. He was in training camp with the Cougars on three occasions but left when the team wouldn’t guarantee him a roster spot. . . . Vancouver F James Wright will return to the lineup after missing 11 games with mononucleosis. . . . Vancouver F Garry Nunn (shoulder) won’t play. . . . Vancouver clinched its third straight B.C. Division pennant Wednesday when the Kelowna Rockets fell 5-2 to the visiting Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Cougars know that if they lose one point or if Kamloops picks up one point, the Blazers will clinch the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . .————————
The Blazers, meanwhile, take a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1-0) into a game in Prince Albert against the Raiders. The Blazers last lost seven in a row last season when they put together a 0-6-0-1 stretch from Feb. 14 -28. The franchise record is 12, something that happened twice (0-12-0-0 and 0-10-0-2, the latter figure is OTL) in 1981-82 when the team was known as the Junior Oilers. . . . In 1996-97 and 1988-89, the Blazers had nine-game winless skids, going 0-7-1-1 both times (which would be W, L, T and OTL). . . . The Blazers also are the owners of perhaps the most bizarre seven-game winless streak in WHL history — in 2003-04, they went 0-1-6-0 (yes, one loss and six ties) over a seven-game stretch. . . . Coincidentally, five of those ties came on a swing through the East Division. . . . The Blazers go into tonight having lost the first four games on their East Division trip. Kamloops, which wraps up the swing on Saturday in Saskatoon against the Blades, has never gone pointless on an East Division trip, although it came close in 1996-97 when it came home having lost five times in regulation and once in OT, meaning it earned one loser point. . . . The only seasons in which the Blazers failed to win at least one game in the East Division were the afore-mentioned 2003-04 (one loss and five ties) and 1996-97 with the five regulation losses and an OTL. . . . Kamloops goes into the weekend needing one point to clinch the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . .————————
The Kelowna Rockets may get their captain, LW James McEwan, back in their lineup when they meet the Thunderbirds in Seattle on Saturday night. McEwan has missed 25 games since suffering a horribly cut wrist during a scrap with Vancouver RW Garet Hunt. . . . Meanwhile, contrary to earlier reports, the Rockets won’t have LW Jamie Benn back this weekend. He has been out with an ankle injury since Jan. 26. . . .————————
The Red Deer Rebels may have forwards Landon Ferraro (ribs) and Brandon Sutter (flu) back Friday against the visiting Tri-City Americans. But F Cass Mappin (shoulder) won’t play Friday or Saturday when the Edmonton Oil Kings come calling. . . . The Rebels still are without G James Reimer who missed a lot of December and February with a wonky ankle. But the cast is about to come off the ankle and he may play again this season. . . . The Red Deer Advocate reports that D Joel Kot, 17, will have a CAT scan on his spine this weekend. Kot’s season was ended by a back injury 20 games into this season. “We’re hoping he’ll be able to play next season,” Rebels head coach Brian Sutter told the Advocate. “He’s having a CAT scan on his spine this weekend, then it will be decided if the injury is healing or, at the very worst, if he’ll need surgery.”
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