Award winners

WHL award winners announced in Calgary on Wednesday (runner-up in parentheses):
Player of the year (Four Broncos Memorial Trophy) — Karl Alzner, Calgary Hitmen (Colton Yellow Horn, Tri-City Americans).
Rookie of the year (Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy) — Brayden Schenn, Brandon Wheat Kings (Evander Kane, Vancouver Giants).
Goaltender of the year (Del Wilson Trophy) — Chet Pickard, Tri-City (Linden Rowat, Regina Pats).
Defenceman of the year (Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy) — Karl Alzner, Calgary Hitmen (T.J. Fast, Tri-City).
Scholastic Player Award (Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy) — Jordan Eberle, Regina (Jared Cowen, Spokane Chiefs).
Most Sportsmanlike Award (Brad Hornung Trophy) — Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat Tigers (Colin Long, Kelowna Rockets).
Humanitarian of the year (Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy) — Ashton Hewson, Prince Albert Raiders (Mitch Czibere, Vancouver).
Coach of the year (Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy) — Don Nachbaur, Tri-City (Michael Dyck, Lethbridge Hurricanes).
Executive of the year (Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy) — Bob Tory, Tri-City (Kelly Kisio, Calgary).
WHL marketing and communications award — Kip Reghenas, Calgary (Brian Sandy, Tri-City).
Top scorer (Bob Clarke Trophy) — Mark Santorelli, Chilliwack Bruins.
Top on-ice official (Allen Paradice Memorial Trophy — Andy Thiessen.
Regular-season champions (Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy) — Tri-City.
Scholastic Team Award — Chilliwack Bruins.
WHL Alumni Association Achievement Award — Professional hockey recipient: Lanny McDonald; Academic recipient: Dr. Blair St. Martin.

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1937

1937 MEMORIAL CUP
Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Copper Cliff Redmen
at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)
The year was 1918 and the First World War was drawing to a close.
Two Saskatchewan athletes -- Lyman (Hick) Abbott and Charlie McCool -- were good friends who were eagerly awaiting war's end. But before the end came there were battles to be fought.
Abbott lost his life in one of those battles; McCool lost an arm in another.
Shortly after the war's conclusion, the Abbott Memorial Cup, in memory of Hick Abbott, was put into play. It would go to the winner of the western Canadian junior hockey championship.
In the 1930s, McCool found himself as the manager of the Saskatoon Wesleys. They won the Abbott Cup in 1936 and were back to defend it in 1937.
The Wesleys, coached by Dunc Farmer and featuring goaltender Charlie Rayner and centre Sid Abel, defeated the Edmonton Rangers, 4-0 and 5-1, and then got past the Trail Smoke Eaters, 5-0 and 5-1.
Meanwhile, coach Harry Neil's Winnipeg Monarchs capped off a stretch of nine games in 15 days by ousting Port Arthur, 8-2 and 8-0.
That set up a best-of-three western final between Winnipeg and Saskatoon, with all games played at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre.
The Monarchs would prevail, winning the opener 5-2 (Winnipeg's Remi Vandaele tied the score 2-2 on a penalty shot), losing the second game 6-5 on an overtime goal by Eddie Martinson, and then taking the series with a 6-1 victory.
At least three players off that Winnipeg team -- captain Alf Pike, Pete Langelle and Johnny McCreedy -- would play in the NHL. Pike and McCreedy were on the Monarchs' top line, along with Dick Kowcinak. Also on this team was left-winger Paul Rheault, a star on the 1935 Memorial Cup-champion Monarchs. Rheault would suffer a cut thigh in the second game of the western final, however, and his impact was negligent afterwards.
In the meantime, the Copper Cliff Redmen were headed for a date with the Ottawa Rideaus in the eastern final.
The Redmen defeated Timmins 5-3 and 11-2 to win the Copeland Cup as champions of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. They then ousted St. Michael's College of Toronto, 5-2 and 8-2, and the Montreal Victorias, 4-1 and 10-4.
The Rideaus advanced to the eastern final by dumping Amherst, N.S., 5-4 and 7-5.
Copper Cliff made quick work of the Rideaus, however, hammering them 12-3 and 12-1. At that point, the Redmen had outscored their playoff opponents, 67-19.
The Redmen, coached by Max Silverman, featured goaltender Mel Albright and players like Jack (John) Shewchuk, Robert (Red) Hamill and Pat McReavy. Copper Cliff's big line featured McReavy, Hamill and Roy Heximer -- they totalled 21 points in the 12-1 victory over Ottawa.
The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association announced that all games in what was now a best-of-five Memorial Cup final would be played at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, and that the referees would be Clarence Campbell of Edmonton and Cecil (Babe) Dye of Toronto.
"I don't know much about the eastern junior teams,” said Neil, whose club entered the final with an overall record of 25-5-3. "But I believe we have a good chance.”

Winnipeg goaltender Zenon (Zeke) Ferley, 18, was just thrilled to be in the national final.
"Ever since I was a little kid playing on corner lots, I dreamed of the day when I would turn aside pucks for the Western Canadian champions,” he said.

Two days before the series was scheduled to open, Alphonse Therien, registrar and secretary-treasurer of the Quebec Amateur Hockey Association, charged the Redmen with violating the "true ideals of junior eligibility” by using ineligible players.

In a letter to the CAHA, Therien wrote:
"We wonder if you have any new developments on the ages of the Copper Cliff players?

"Do we have to wait until said team participates in the finals before the investigation is complete?
"We in Quebec are in a position to satisfy anyone on our junior groups. We have made careful researches and are informed that player Shewchuk is using a different name than in Brantford, Ont. Dick Perry did not arrive up in the north in time to qualify for the residence rule.”
The CAHA refused to hear a protest from Quebec and the series opened in amazing fashion on April 10.
"Redmen, in a spectacular finish, drubbed the young westerners 4-3 in overtime and after the game a large crowd cheered conquerors and conquered alike,” reported The Canadian Press.
As incredible as it may sound, Winnipeg held a 3-0 lead with less than two and a half minutes to play in the third period.
"We were lucky to win -- it must have been heartbreaking for those Winnipeg kids,” said Silverman. "But our boys showed they had the fight -- I never saw anything like it. I know Redmen can play much better -- if Monarchs can play any better, boy, what a series this will be.”

McCreedy scored in the first period and goals by Pike and McCreedy in the first two minutes of the third gave Winnipeg the 3-0 lead.
Copper Cliff's comeback began when Heximer scored at 17:39 of the third. He added a second goal at 18:30 and then drew an assist when McReavy tied it at 19:16.
The winner, from Hamill, came 4:59 into overtime.
Still, Neil wasn't too concerned.
"Say,” he said, "this Copper Cliff isn't in it with Portage la Prairie. And look what we did to Portage. They beat us 7-2 in the first game and then we came back to win two straight and take the series.

"Copper Cliff will be just a pushover from now on.”

The Monarchs, described as "courageous purple kids from Winnipeg,” evened the series on April 12, winning 6-5 after two periods of overtime before more than 8,000 fans.

Copper Cliff led 2-0 early in the second period on two goals by Alf Webster. But Winnipeg went ahead 3-2 on goals by McCreedy, Jack Fox and Kowcinak (who would have two goals and three assists), only to have the Redmen tie it when Walter Zuke scored.

Heximer and McCreedy traded third-period goals to force the overtime.
The Redmen took a 5-4 lead 34 seconds into the second extra period. But Winnipeg roared back, tying it at 2:31 on Kowcinak's second goal and winning it on Fox's goal at 5:47.
To this point, the Monarchs had yet to use two injured players -- Rheault and right-winger Jack Atcheson (bruised ankle) -- both of whom were well-known as scorers. Rheault would return to action in the third game; Atcheson would miss the entire series.
The third game, played on April 14, was a goaltending duel between Ferley, who stopped 17 shots, and Albright, who blocked 20.
Ferley emerged on top, however, as the Monarchs won, 2-1.
Langelle scored the only goal of the first period, with Webster pulling the Redmen even at 7:08 of the second period.
Pike's goal, on a one-timer off a give-and-go with Kowcinak, with four minutes left in the second period stood up as the winner.
"Winnipeg's jubilant Monarchs crowded into a rousing, cheering dressing room,” reported The Canadian Press, "with the song and battle cry ‘We Don't Give a Damn for All the Rest of Canada.' ”

The series ended on the afternoon of April 17 before 11,455 paying customers.
"Climaxing one of the most spectacular junior series in history,” The Canadian Press reported, "the Winnipeggers whitewashed Copper Cliff Redmen 7-0.”

Copper Cliff had a distinct edge in play in the first period but wasn't able to score.
When the Monarchs erupted for three goals in the first period the writing was on the wall.
McCreedy, a 20-year-old playing his final junior game, scored four times. His first, at 5:24 of the second period, proved to be the winner. Singles came from Vandaele, Martell and Rheault.

"We were beaten by a better team,” Silverman said. "I can speak now and I can say these Monarchs are just about the best junior team I've seen.

"You can take it from me we lost to a honey of a club.”

Ferley, who stopped 25 shots for the shutout, said: "I don't know what to think or what to say.”

It's worth noting that Langelle is one of three Winnipeg-born players to play on a Memorial Cup-winner and score the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The others: Cal Gardner and Andy Bathgate.
Langelle scored the winner for the Leafs in the spring of 1942. Gardner, who won the Memorial Cup with the 1942-43 Winnipeg Rangers, got the Stanley Cup-winning goal in the spring of 1949. Bathgate, a member of the Memorial Cup-winning Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters in 1952, had the 1964 Stanley Cup-winner for the Leafs.
Other prominent Memorial Cup graduates to score Stanley Cup-winning goals include: Harold (Mush) March, 1927-28 Regina Monarchs, 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks; Lawrence (Baldy) Northcott, 1940-41 Winnipeg Rangers coach, 1934-35 Montreal Maroons; Bobby Bauer, 1933-34 St. Michael's Majors, 1940-41 Boston Bruins; Toe Blake, 1931-32 Sudbury Cub Wolves, Stanley Cup-winners for the Montreal Canadiens in 1944 and 1946; Dickie Moore, 1948-49 and 1949-50 Montreal Junior Canadiens, 1956-57 Montreal Canadiens; and, J.C. Tremblay, 1957-58 Ottawa-Hull Canadiens, 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens.
NEXT: 1938 (St. Boniface Seals vs. Oshawa Generals)

Tuesday notes . . .

There doesn’t appear to be anything new out of Portland concerning the Winter Hawks, although you can bet their situation came in for at least some discussion Tuesday night as the WHL’s executive committee met. . . . Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune reports that the WHL hopes to have its audit of the Winter Hawks completed this week. However, no one in the WHL office is talking about it at this point in time. . . . Winter Hawks president Jack Donovan told Vondersmith that, despite earlier comments to the contrary by principal owner Jim Goldsmith, Ken Hodge is staying on as the general manager and his responsibilities will continue to include player personnel and scouting. Hodge was at the Alberta Cup in Lloydminster over the weekend.
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Yes, the WHL holds its bantam draft on Thursday in Calgary. You won’t find coverage of it here because the best coverage is available on Alan Caldwell’s blog, Small Thoughts at Large. There is a link to it over on the left. It you’re a draftnik, it’ll be well worth your while to check out Alan’s site on Thursday during the draft. . . . The draft begins at 8:15 a.m. Calgary time and should conclude around 3:30 p.m. . . . The WHL will run the draft in real time at whl.ca. . . . Eligible for the draft are 1993-born players who reside in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North West Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. . . . Haven’t heard yet just which scouts got to go to Hawaii. . . .
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The stage finally is set for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. It will feature the Lethbridge Hurricanes against the Spokane Chiefs. . . .
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WHL FINAL
Friday: Lethbridge at Spokane, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Lethbridge at Spokane, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Spokane at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 7: Spokane at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
Friday, May 9: x-Spokane at Lethbridge, 6 p.m.
Sunday, May 11: x-Lethbridge at Spokane, 7 p.m.
Monday, May 12: x-Lethbridge at Spokane, 7 p.m.
x — if necessary.
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In Kennewick, Wash., on Tuesday night, F Judd Blackwater scored twice, giving him five goals in the last three games, as the Spokane Chiefs beat the Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . The Chiefs won the Western Conference final, 4-3, by breaking a 1-1 tie with three third-period goals. . . . The Chiefs got the game’s first goal when F David Rutherford, at 12:50 of the first period, scored from his knees as he was being hauled down by D Tyler Schmidt. It was Rutherford’s seventh goal of the playoffs and was the sixth time in the series that the Chiefs had scored first. . . . Tri-City pulled even at 6:59 of the second period when LW Colton Yellow Horn, the league’s leading regular-season goal scorer, notched his 10th playoff goal on a backhander out of a scramble. It was his 21st point of the playoffs. . . . Spokane took a 2-1 lead just 16 seconds into the third period when Blackwater was credited with his seventh goal of the spring. . . . Spokane LW Drayson Bowman upped the lead to 3-1 on the Chiefs’ first PP of the game at 8:29 of the third period. It was his eighth goal of the playoffs. . . . Blackwater closed out the scoring with an empty-netter. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski, the series MVP, stopped 31 shots. Tri-City Chet Pickard, who finishes with 57 regular-season and playoff victories this season, stopped 16 shots. . . . The Americans had forced a Game 7 with a 2-1 overtime victory in Spokane on Monday night. Tickets for Game 7 went on sale in Kennewick bright and early Tuesday morning and fans were lined up well before 7 a.m. Yes, the Toyota Center was sold out — 5,907. . . . Five of the first six games went into overtime with the teams playing 74 minutes 20 seconds of extra time. Through 434:20 of play in the first six games, one team — the Chiefs — held a two-goal lead for 11:01. That was in the third period of Game 3, which the Chiefs won 2-0. . . . Spokane set a franchise record with its sixth overtime game of these playoffs. The Chiefs had played five OT games in 2002. . . . In 2003, the Kootenay Ice ousted the Kamloops Blazers in six games in a series in which three games went to OT. In those three games, the teams played 134:50 of OT, including a league-record 76:56 in Game 3. . . . The OT winners in this series came from Spokane F Ondrej Roman (Game 1), Tri-City F Drew Hoff (2), Tri-City F Kruise Reddick (4), Spokane F Judd Blackwater (5) and Reddick (6). . . . The Chiefs last were in the WHL final in 2000 when the fell in six games to the Kootenay Ice. The Hurricanes were last there in 1997 when they swept the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . "It's unbelievable, I don't even have that emotion of elation, it's just relief to be honest," Spokane head coach Bill Peters told Jessica Brown of the Spokesman-Review. “Just the closeness of the series, the emotions that are involved in the series, just how hard it was to get this thing looked after — 10 or 11 days of some of the best hockey I've been a part of. When people look back on this series over time, it's going to be a classic. It probably should be an instant classic already."

Are the Pats for sale?

It is a rite of spring in Regina once the Pats’ season has come to an end. And, no, it hasn’t anything to do with speculation on how much profit the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ made or how much over the CFL salary cap the green guys were. (By the way, didn’t someone once say cheaters never prosper? And didn’t someone else say you ain’t tryin’ if you ain’t cheatin’?) But we digress.
In Regina at this time of year there always is chatter about how this is the offseason in which the Parker family is going to unload the Pats and then fly off to an island in the South Pacific and count their profits.
Nothing changed this time around, either.
Brent Parker, the Pats’ general manager, loves nothing better than to meet the press, which he did last week. Here, courtesy of Rod Pedersen’s blog, is what transpired after Glenn Reid of the CBC asked the $7 million question.
REID: There's a rumour the Pats are for sale. Can you substantiate it?
PARKER: I knew you had to ask . . . it is April. You know that’s the standard question. I’m surprised it took you guys this long. It’s a rite of spring in Regina. The robins return. The geese crap on the golf courses. And we get asked if the team’s for sale. Nothing’s changed. We’re still operating the franchise and have full intentions in doing so. We’ve got some struggles ahead in terms of our lease negotiations but we’re hopeful that we’re going to get those resolved and get into a long-term lease because that’s really what we want. We’re prepared to make that long-term commitment to the building and to the city and that’s what we’re trying to do.
REID: Everything's for sale at the right price, isn't it?
PARKER: Well, I think everything is for sale but we haven’t taken any offers nor are we actively pursuing anything. The rumour got riled up again here a few weekends ago when I had a beer with Mike Sillinger and Jamie Heward . . . and all of a sudden the rumours took off again. It’s always going to be there . . . I don’t know why . . . but it always will be. When we first got here people said it would be a quick fix and we’d be in and out, gone in three years, turn a profit and go. Thirteen years later, we’re still here. At some point the rumour has to go away, but maybe it won’t.
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At this point, someone from Global TV asked: Has this come about because the worth of WHL franchises has skyrocketed?
PARKER: We’ll never say we’re not selling. We’re not pursuing it at this point in time but we’d be foolish if somebody came and opened the vault and said here’s an astronomical amount of money that’s never been paid for a junior team before. Of course, you’d listen.
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It is left for you to decide whether Parker answered the original question. . . . Or you can wait a year until he attempts to answer it . . . for the 14th time.

Monday's musings . . .

F Carter Bancks of the Lethbridge Hurricanes is the Boston Pizza WHL player of the week. He had four goals in two games as the Hurricanes completed a sweep of the Calgary Hitmen in the Eastern Conference final. . . . The OHL’s championship final, featuring the Kitchener Rangers and Belleville Bulls, opens in Kitchener on Wednesday. The best-of-seven series will switch cities each game and will continue every second night until a winner is decided. . . . The QMJHL final, between the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Gatineau Olympiques, opens Friday and Saturday with the Huskies holding home-ice advantage. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Gatineau on May 6 and 7. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald is reporting that the Silvertips may lose their captain. D Jonathan Harty, who is eligible to return as a 20-year-old, has told Patterson that he is seriously considering going to school, heading for either the U of New Brunswick in Fredericton or St. Mary’s U in Halifax. Harty, one of the WHL’s premier defencemen, told Patterson that he is disappointed that professional opportunities haven’t been afforded him. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders have added Evan Lindsay, 28, to their coaching staff as goaltending consultant. Lindsay, who played for the Raiders from 1996-2000, was named by fans to the team’s all-time first all-star team in 2001. He went on to a seven-season pro career. A firefighter, Lindsay lives in Calgary. . . .
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Of course, the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs worked overtime again Monday night. It was Game 6 of the Western Conference final and they went to overtime for the fifth time. . . . The cheering you heard was coming from Lethbridge, where the Hurricanes are preparing to head west — they leave Wednesday — and meet the survivor in the WHL’s championship final that should start Friday. . . . The Hurricanes will be pulling for more overtime in Game 7. . . .
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In Spokane, C Kruise Reddick’s power-play goal at 4:39 of overtime gave the Tri-City Americans a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs to force Game 7 in the Western Conference final. . . . The deciding game will be played Tuesday night in the Toyota Center at Kennewick, Wash. Tickets are to go on sale at 7 a.m. . . . Fans should show up prepared to stay late — five of the first six games have gone to OT, with three of them being decided in double OT.. . . . Through six games, the Chiefs have won the odd-numbered games, the Americans have won the even-numbered games. . . . The Americans are 6-3 in Spokane this season. . . . The Chiefs are 4-5 in Kennewick. . . . The Chiefs have outscored the Americans 10-9 over the first six games. . . . Spokane D Jared Spurgeon was penalized for hooking Tri-City F Taylor Procyshen at 3:13 of OT. . . . Reddick scored his third goal of these playoffs with assists from F Shaun Vey and D T.J. Fast. . . . Just moments earlier, Spokane G Dustin Tokarski, who made 19 saves, had robbed Tri-City LW Colton Yellow Horn. . . . Tri-City G Chet Pickard turned aside 35 shots in winning for the 57th time this season. . . . Spokane F Judd Blackwater, who had two goals in Game 5, opened the scoring at 4:09 of the first period. The Americans had just killed off a Spokane PP when Blackwater scored from the high slot. . . . Tri-City D Brett Plouffe hit the inside of the left post on a second-period power play. . . . F Petr Stoklasa, with his first WHL playoff goal, tied it at 18:32 of the second period. He, too, scored from the high slot. . . . Stoklasa is the 17th Tri-City player to score in these playoffs. . . . Spokane had what it thought was a goal waved off about a minute before Stoklasa’s goal when referee Derek Zalaski ruled the whistle had gone before the puck entered the net. . . . Tri-City went on the PP at 13:39 of the third period after D Tyler Schmidt was high-sticked by F David Rutherford. . . . Spokane is 2-for-39 on the PP; the Americans are 2-for-30. . . . The Chiefs elevated their game in the third period and outshot the Americans, 14-1. . . . Attendance was 8,108. . . . The Americans were without F Drew Hoff, one of their top playoff performers and a player who provides them with a lot of energy. He was injured early in the second period of Game 5 on a hit by Blackwater.

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1936

1936 MEMORIAL CUP
Saskatoon Wesleys vs. West Toronto Nationals
at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)

On the way to the Memorial Cup final, the West Toronto Nationals did some heavy damage, including a 16-4 rout of the visiting Quebec Aces on March 31 in an eastern semifinal game.
The series was never played to a conclusion. Two nights later in Quebec City, West Toronto was leading 6-4 about three-quarters of the way through an overtime period when a free-for-all resulted in the game being ended.
West Toronto then bounced the Pembroke Little Lumber Kings to qualify for the final.
Out West, coach Hobb Wilson's Saskatoon Wesleys played the Winnipeg-Elmwood Maple Leafs in a best-of-three series for the Abbott Cup and a spot in the Memorial Cup final.
Playing in Winnipeg, Saskatoon won the opener 4-2 on April 2 and then took the series with a 4-2 overtime victory before 5,000 fans on April 4.
Wilson was quoted as saying: "I think our team is just as good as any western outfit in the past years. We have a big, fast team and we're going to try awfully hard to take the mug back west.”
The best-of-three Memorial Cup series opened on April 10 in Toronto with the Nationals, "a smooth-working, powerful band of youngsters,'' according to The Canadian Press, skating to a 5-1 victory over Saskatoon in front of 4,500 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.
"Wesleys, not as polished as the eastern Canada titlists, lacked finish around the net,” CP reported. "Many times, especially in a thrilling last period, the speedy Saskatchewan youngsters had no one to beat but Red Hall in the Nationals' nets. Their shots were either inches wide or blocked by the sorrel-top.”
Hall, who was also known as Torchy, had spent the previous summer tending goal for the Orillia Terriers, the Canadian senior lacrosse champions.
Toronto defenceman Bobby Laurent opened the scoring 41 seconds into the first period, only to have the Wesleys' captain, Paul Kowel, tie it less than a minute later.
But after that it was all Toronto, which got two goals each from Robert (Red) Heron and Carl Gamble. Left-winger Roy Conacher, a member of one of hockey's most famous families, earned an assist on one of Gamble's goals.
More from CP on Game 1: "It was one of the greatest junior battles here in several years. Both clubs backchecked fiercely but the eastern titlists' plays showed more finish when they barged past the heavy Wesley rearguards. The Saskatchewan huskies seemed to find difficulty in controlling the puck.”
It ended three nights later, on April 13, with West Toronto posting a 4-2 victory and winning its first Memorial Cup, one more than the Wesleys.
"Fighting fiercely all the way, Wesleys outplayed the Nationals through most of the hard-fought struggle and a crowd of 3,500 -- disappointingly small for a Dominion final -- will not soon forget the western huskies' dazzling attack,” reported CP. "Most of the spectators were solidly behind the Saskatoon lads.”
Saskatoon's Frank Dotten got his side on the board first with the opening period's lone goal.
Jack (Bucky) Crawford tied it for Toronto and the teams headed for the third period tied at 1-1.
Laurent and Johnny (Peanuts) O'Flaherty put Toronto out front 3-1, before Dotten narrowed the deficit to one at 3-2. It remained for Conacher to score the final goal of the series.
O'Flaherty's goal, at 14:02 of the third, stood up as the one that won the Memorial Cup.
The Nationals were coached by Clarence (Hap) Day, with Harold Ballard as manager.

NEXT: 1937 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Copper Cliff Redmen)

Sunday notes . . .

The Tri-City Americans, the WHL’s regular-season champions, are facing elimination for the first time in these playoffs. They trail the Spokane Chiefs 3-2 going into Game 6 of the Western Conference final Monday night in Spokane. . . . Should the Americans force Game 7, it will be played Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Washington Capitals G Olaf Kolzig, who owns a piece of the Americans, was at Game 5 on Saturday. The Chiefs won that one 4-3 in double overtime. . . . These teams, who finished one point apart in the regular season, have gone to extra time four times in five games with three of the games needing double OT. . . . The Americans have won five games in Spokane this season, including Game 4 of this series. . . . The series has featured an amazing goaltending battle. Dustin Tokarski of the Chiefs has a 1.41 GAA in the playoffs, along with a .946 save percentage. Chet Pickard of the Americans is 1.76 and .938. Each goaltender has put up three shutouts. . . . Tri-City F Drew Hoff was injured 2:32 into the second period of Game 5. No word on whether he’ll play in Game 6. . . . The winner of the series advances to the WHL final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The final is expected to open Friday in the home of the Western Conference champion. . . . The Hurricanes, who will have had eight days off by then, will head west on Wednesday. . . . The Hurricanes, who completed a sweep of the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday, took Thursday and Sunday off and had a light skate Friday. They were back at it Sunday with an intense practice. . . . The Lethbridge coaching staff was in attendance at Game 5 of the Western Conference final.

Bonner makes first deal

From The Daily News of April 28, 2008 . . .

Craig Bonner’s first trade as general manager of the Kamloops Blazers didn’t cause the earth to move.
But it did provide something of a hint in terms of his plan for the future.
Prior to Saturday, the Blazers were looking at going into Thursday’s WHL bantam draft in Calgary with more draft picks than Bonner felt necessary, including four in the fourth round. So, on Saturday, while at the Alberta Cup bantam tournament in Lloydminster, Bonner sent two of those picks, the 77th and 83rd selections, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a pair of 2009 draft selections — one in the third round and the other in the fifth round.
That third-round selection replaces one of the picks that Kamloops gave to the Vancouver Giants as part of the compensation for signing Bonner last week. He had been the Giants’ assistant general manager/assistant coach. The Blazers also gave Vancouver a 2008 third-round pick.
“I thought it was important,” Bonner said of acquiring the 2009 third-round pick. “I thought four fourths was too many.”
Before the trade, the Blazers held 11 selections in the draft’s first seven rounds.
“We still have five picks in the first four rounds and that’s plenty,” Bonner said. “I think we’ll draft up to 10 guys and we don’t have to drop anyone up until eight or nine.”
Each WHL team maintains a 50-player protected list. During the bantam draft, teams must have room on that list for each selected player.
Bonner, however, is already looking past Thursday’s draft because he knows that in order to get things turned around here — the Blazers lost 18 of their last 19 games and made a hasty first-round playoff exit — he is going to have to take a long-range view of things.
“Next year,” Bonner explained, “we were looking at potentially going into the draft . . . because we lost a third for me and if (right-winger Brady) Calla comes back there’s a fourth there . . . so we could have gone into the draft with a first, a second, no third, no fourth . . . and that’s not good.”
The Blazers acquired Calla from Moose Jaw for defenceman Keaton Ellerby on Nov. 8. The deal, which featured two players whose NHL rights belong to the Florida Panthers, also included future considerations going both ways.
As Bonner understands it, if Calla returns to the Blazers, they will give up a 2009 fourth-round selection; if Ellerby is back with the Warriors, the Blazers will get a 2010 fourth-round pick. And if both players are in the WHL in 2008-09, “it’s a wash.”
Bonner spent the latter part of last week at the Alberta Cup. The event featured that province’s best bantam-aged players and it gave Bonner a chance to see them before Thursday’s draft in which the Blazers, who are hoping to land a top-notch defenceman, will pick seventh in the first round and sixth in each subsequent round.
It also was good, he said, to meet the scouts, most of whom he has had, if anything, only a nodding acquaintance with as he worked for the Giants.
Bonner said he spent Day 1 of the Alberta Cup accepting congratulations from hockey people, including fellow WHL general managers. The atmosphere changed the next day, though.
“People congratulate you,” he said with a chuckle, “and then on Day 2 they’re all coming . . . after some guys.”
Bonner indicated that he won't be trading players just to make a deal or two.
“I want to see guys in training camp,” he said.
The Warriors were looking to acquire a 2008 fourth-round selection because they owed one to the Saskatoon Blades to complete a deal made Sept. 20. In that exchange, the Warriors acquired defenceman Brett Ward, 19, for a 2008 fourth-round pick. The Warriors didn’t have such a pick at the time and it was to be upgraded to a 2009 third-rounder if they weren’t able to acquire one.
So having made the swap with the Blazers — the 77th pick originally had belonged to Moose Jaw; the Blazers had acquired the 83rd selection from the Regina Pats — the Warriors will transfer one of the picks to the Blades and use the other themselves.
The Blazers had acquired the 77th pick from Moose Jaw for left-winger Terrance Delaronde last summer. The 83rd selection came over from Regina, along with defencemen Nick Ross and Spencer Fraipont, for defencemen Victor Bartley and Ryan Bender.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Now that word is out in the hockey community that the Blazers have a general manager and are looking for a head coach, Bonner has started to receive applications. He said he has received “about” 10 resumes and characterized some of them as “interesting.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

Keeping Score

From The Daily News of April 26, 2008 . . .

Let me guess. You’re still not convinced that Brian Burke, the Anaheim Ducks’ GM, won’t end up with the Toronto Maple Laffs. Well, this is the same guy who in January had this to say about Toronto: “If you’re Catholic, this is the Vatican. They’re not going to have to beg anyone to take this job. This is one of the plum jobs in all of pro sports.” . . . The Vancouver Canucks sign Mike Gillis as their general manager? They have gone from Burke to Dave Nonis to this? Maybe you should have let them know you were available. . . . Surely it is only a coincidence that Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini and Kamloops Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi, two Lower Mainland monied men who used to be friends, both ended up signing general managers with no experience to five-year contracts. . . . Minutes from the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association’s April 7 executive meeting indicate that a coaches’ appreciation night will be held at the Thirsty Dog. According to the minutes, the KMHA will pay for dinner but not for drinks because of a “liability issue.” . . . You are free to wonder why the KMHA is concerned about liability when its coaches drink but stands idly by after one of its teams holds a booze-filled party in the home of the association president.
“He really doesn’t shut up, ever,” Steve Valiquette, the New York Rangers’ 6-foot-8 backup goaltender, said of teammate Sean Avery and his run-ins with New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur. “He practises on me, I think, so he’s warmed up for Brodeur. It is really annoying. I can see how it affects Marty. I probably would have reacted a little differently. Sean would have been picking his teeth up off the ice if it was me.” . . . If you’re like me you’re wondering what other skeletons Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has in his closet and when he’ll fess up to why his name appears so often in the Mitchell Report. . . . Ahh, maybe because he was so burdened by the age secret — he is two years older than he had said he was — that he was spending his time helping Dolly Parton look for the key to everlasting youth. . . . Mark Kriegel, at FoxSports.com: “Ever try to sit down and actually watch one of these Yankees-Red Sox games beginning to end? By the time it’s over, you have to shave again. These things go on so long it feels like Jerry Lewis should come out for the seventh-inning stretch and start asking for money.”
The No Humour League is putting the damper on one of the league’s playoff traditions by threatening to fine the Detroit Red Wings over the ritual of tossing an octopus on the ice. NHL vice-president Colin Campbell has informed the Red Wings that should Zamboni driver Al Sobatka twirl an octopus over his head it will cost them 10 grand. . . . The Wings now are to get a shovel to a linesman who is to scrape up the eight-legged babies. . . . Except for when they play Nashville and Predators winger Jordin Tootoo picks it up in a bare hand and takes it to his bench. . . . Jerry Crowe of the Los Angeles Times points out: “The first round of the NBA playoffs could stretch out over 16 days. The entire NCAA tournament, not counting the play-in game, took 19.” . . . Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Now that we know how much Hillary Clinton loved hunting and holding a gun when she was a little girl, maybe she and Cheney can go shooting ducks together sometime. Tell each other how they were the ones who really ran the country when they were in the White House.” . . . Psst! Should we tell the kids that before Harold and Kumar we had Cheech and Chong?
Now that the Miami Dolphins have signed Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long, the only mystery surrounding the first pick in the NFL draft is this: How much time will Miami take to announce its pick when the draft begins on Saturday? . . . Walter Cutler was arrested by Boston police during Game 3 of the NHL playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Bruins at the TD Banknorth Garden. It seems that while standing in the upper deck he urinated on fans seated below. As Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post put it: “History will remember it as the Boston Pee Party.” . . . One more from Hamilton: “Before they participated in the London Marathon, six Masai warriors from Tanzania were given a four-page guide that explained some of the cultural dos and don’ts. Among the don’ts were suggestions that they shouldn’t urinate in public or attempt to herd sheep and cows on the course. Well, duh — everyone knows those acts are restricted to the marathon in Saskatoon.”
Jerry Greene, in the Orlando Sentinel: “Back in Nebraska, a record 80,149 turned out for the football spring game. Apparently, the corn was already husked and the entire state had nothing else to do.” . . . One more from Greene: “Indianapolis Colts running back Kenton Keith got himself arrested for refusing to leave a nightclub parking lot and yelling at the police: ‘I’m a Colts player! I’m a Colts player!’ Wonder if he could hear the echo coming back: ‘Not for long! Not for long!’ ” . . . T.J. Simers in the Los Angeles Times, prior to Game 2 between the host Lakers and the Denver Nuggets: “OK, so here we go, five minutes to tipoff and TNT’s Craig Sager is folding the little orange hanky that will go into the pocket of his orange suit coat. If Sager ever gets arrested and has to join the folks along the highway picking up trash, he’s already got the outfit.” . . . In the first quarter, Simer notes: “How odd, there’s an orange pylon at the end of the court like it’s an end zone — oh wait, that’s Sager.”
Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Kenneth Hahey, the man inside the mascot outfit at (Pittsburgh) Steelers home games, allegedly registered a .166 on a breath test after running a red light, so the team fired him. Hey, it was either that or rename the mascot Steely McJimBeam.” . . . “The Blue Jays released designated hitter Frank Thomas on Sunday, just one day after he was benched and complained about his lack of playing time,” writes Perry. “In a related story, Thomas asked to be henceforth known as The Deeply Hurt.” . . . With the Seattle SuperSonics loading the moving vans for Oklahoma City, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, says he wants back the team that he sold. He has filed a lawsuit claiming he was misled into believing the team would stay put after the sale. But as Marc Tandan of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot noted: “For a coffee czar, his grounds are pretty weak.”

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1935

1935 MEMORIAL CUP
Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves
at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)

The Sudbury Cub Wolves, Memorial Cup champions in 1932, were back in the final in 1935.
So, too, were the Winnipeg Monarchs, the team the Cub Wolves defeated in the 1932 final.
They would meet in a best-of-three final in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre, just like they had in 1932 when the Monarchs won the opener but then lost the next two games.
This time around, Sudbury featured the likes of defenceman Charles (Chuck) Shannon, who would play in the NHL with the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans; and, forwards Wilbert Carl (Dutch) Hiller (New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens) and Don (The Count) Grosso (Detroit, Chicago Blackhawks and Boston).
The Sudbury defence was sparked by a pair of players who were quite big for those days. Shannon, only 18, weighed 195 pounds, while Roy Swanson, 19, weighed 175.
Coach Max Silverman -- he had been the manager in 1932 -- went with 19-year-old Dave Kemp as his goaltender.
Sudbury, which went into the Memorial Cup final without a playoff loss, averaged 18 years of age and 160 pounds.
In Winnipeg's lineup were the likes of captain Pete Belanger, who played on a Monarchs' forward unit that featured Romeo Martel and Paul Rheault and was known as the Flying Frenchmen, Wilf Field (Montreal Canadiens, Chicago, and the Brooklyn and New York Americans), and Joe Krol (Brooklyn and the New York Rangers). The goaltender was Paul Gauthier.
Winnipeg was coached by former player Harry Neil and was managed by Bill Webber.
The Sudbury bunch wasn't favored to come out of the east. It had been expected that the Ottawa Rideaus would survive there.
But it didn't happen.
Ottawa had trampled the Moncton Red Indians 11-3 and 13-5 to move into the eastern final. At the same time, Ottawa was sidelining the Verdun, Que., Maple Leafs, 9-4 and 11-7.
The Cub Wolves met Sudbury in a best-of-three eastern final series that opened on March 30 in Toronto.
Sudbury surprised everyone by whipping Ottawa 3-0 in the opener, and then put it away with a 7-4 victory on April 1 in Ottawa before more than 6,000 fans.
"The mighty Sudbury Cub Wolves, who have in a systematic fashion bowled over all former opposition, finally overcame the last obstacle in eastern Canada,” reported The Canadian Press. "The youngsters from northern Ontario never left a doubt with Ottawa fans as to their superiority. Time and again the Cub Wolves went up three men abreast and the Rideau defence had to give way.”
In the west, the Saskatoon Wesleys made a move as they defeated the Vancouver King Georges 7-0 and 4-2, and then dumped the Edmonton Canadians, 6-2 and 4-0.
At the same time, Winnipeg was hammering the Fort William Maroons 8-0 and 6-2 to advance against the Wesleys in a series played in its entirety in the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. Winnipeg won the first game of the best-of-three western final, 5-4, lost the second 5-3 and wrapped it up with a 3-2 victory. Each game was played before about 4,500 fans.
Saskatoon came awfully close -- awfully close -- to winning against the Monarchs.
The opener, played in Winnipeg on April 2, was decided in the last two minutes of the third period. Saskatoon actually led 4-3 when Bill Clubb was penalized for pulling down a Winnipegger on a breakaway. With Clubb in the box, Johnny (Ike) Prokaski tied it with 1:34 to play and Krol, a speedy left winger, won it with just two seconds left on the clock.
Two nights later, the Wesleys' Pete Leswick scored two shorthanded goals as Saskatoon erased a 2-0 first-period deficit en route to a 5-3 victory that evened the series at 1-1.
The Monarchs led 3-1 midway through the second period only to have Saskatoon tie it before the period ended and score the only two goals of the third.
The western final ended on April 6 when Belanger, a speedy centre, scored the game-winner at 11:01 of the third period with Rheault in the penalty box to give the Monarchs a 3-2 victory.
The Memorial Cup final opened on April 9, with the Monarchs posting a 7-6 victory before more than 4,500 fans.
"Thirteen times the red light flashed on as the high-scoring band of youngsters traveled at full clip and sought goals and still more goals,” reported Herbert A. Honey of The Canadian Press.
Winnipeg led 3-1 after the first period and 6-5 after the second. In fact, Sudbury never led in this game as the scores went like this, always with Winnipeg in the lead: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4, 6-5, 7-5, 7-6.
When it was over, Winnipeg had three goals from Krol, two from Burr Keenan, and singles from Rheault and Field. Sudbury goals came from Shannon (2), Jock Smith, Art Stuart, Grosso and Len Webster.
"A game fighting band, the sturdy Winnipeg boys were given only an outside chance against the highly favored Wolves,” Honey wrote. "A little more finish to Sudbury's sweeping attack in the waning minutes of the final period might have reversed the score.”
The Wolves finished well in Game 2, played on April 11 in front of more than 4,000 fans.
Stuart, a sleek left winger, scored four times to lead Sudbury to a 7-2 victory that wasn't as lopsided as first glance would seem to indicate.
"A quick-thinking, puck-following pack of Cub Wolves from Sudbury concocted hockey magic,” reported The Canadian Press.
Sudbury led 2-1 after one period and 3-2 after two. Winnipeg trailed only 4-2 as the third period wound down. But Sudbury put it away with three goals in the last two minutes 30 seconds.
Hiller, with two, and Grosso also scored for Sudbury. Keenan and Krol replied for Winnipeg.
"Monarch fans were dissatisfied with referees Alex Irvin, of Winnipeg, and Harry Shouldice, of Ottawa,” reported The Canadian Press. "They showed their displeasure at frequent minor penalties meted out to the Manitobans by showering peanuts and programs on to the ice. Play was halted several times in order to clear the ice.”
There were 15 penalties handed out, with Winnipeg taking seven of them.
When it was over, Silverman was crying the blues. Or, was he just playing a game?
As CP reported: "A keen-eyed bunch of Sudbury Wolves insist podgy (sic) Max Silverman looks better in a brown fedora than a black bowler and so the coach of the eastern junior champions will wear it into battle Saturday night against Winnipeg Monarchs.
"Wolves lost the first tilt 7-6, and that night he wore his ‘christie' -- in fact one fan threatened to pull it over his ears when he halted play to argue with the referee.
"Wolves won (Game 2) 7-2 while Silverman bellowed orders from the bench under a natty felt that matched his coat. It's plain as a pikestaff Max will be fedora-topped Saturday night.”
"The boys hit their stride,” exclaimed Silverman when Game 2 was all over. "We'll outskate and outsmart those westerners Saturday night the same way.”
Then Silverman started the mind games. Referring to the penalties in Game 2, he said: "What's the matter? Can't they take it? It was the worst display of poor sportsmanship I've seen.”
In the Winnipeg dressing room, Neil wouldn't stand for any criticism of Shouldice, the referee known as ‘Hap' who would also become a fine CFL official.
"He's a square referee who calls 'em as he sees 'em,” Neil stated.
Irvin and Shouldice were the referees for Game 3, too. It was played on April 13 before more than 4,500 fans.
"The mantle of dominion junior hockey supremacy today was draped around the slim shoulders of Winnipeg Monarchs,” wrote Honey. "A flying band of skating youth, the western champions joined a host of amateur hockey greats by defeating Sudbury Cub Wolves 4-1 in the third and deciding game of the Memorial Cup final series ...
"Harry Neil's brigade, with the artistry of master swordsmen, parried a slower but more rugged eastern offensive with spectacular netminding and lightning raids to bring Canadian supremacy to the west.”
Keenan scored three times for Winnipeg, two of them set up by Prokaski, who scored the Monarchs' other goal. Keenan's second goal, at 8:33 of the second period, would go into the books as the Memorial Cup-winner.
Stuart scored for Sudbury, but by the time he found the range, midway through the third period, it was 4-0.
If Keenan was one star, Gauthier was the other.
As Honey wrote: "Gauthier put the Indian sign on Chuck Shannon, Bill Hiller and other high-scoring eastern sharpshooters with an amazing display of net wizardry.”

NEXT: 1936 (Saskatoon Wesleys vs. West Toronto Nationals)

Chiefs, Americans work overtime . . . again

The WHL playoffs resumed Saturday with the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans meeting in Kennewick, Wash. . . . It was Game 5 and, of course, the game went into overtime. . . .

- - -

In Kennewick, Wash., F Judd Blackwater scored at 2:28 of double overtime to give the Spokane Chiefs a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Chiefs lead the Western Conference final 3-2. . . . Game 6 is scheduled for Monday in Spokane. . . . Game 7, if needed, will be played Tuesday in Kennewick. . . . Blackwater’s second goal of the game was his fifth of these playoffs. . . . Blackwater is from Lethbridge; the winner of this series will meet the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL’s championship final. . . . Spokane LW Drayson Bowman, who also had two goals, had a chance to end the game when he was awarded a penalty shot at 7:51 of the first overtime period after being pulled down by D T.J. Fast. But Bowman shot high and wide and the band played on. . . . It was the fourth time in five playoff games that these teams went to overtime. Three of those games went to double overtime. . . . “If you’re a hockey fan, I’ll tell you what . . . you didn’t pay enough,” offered Americans play-by-play voice Craig West before the second OT period started. . . . With the score 3-3, Spokane F Levko Koper went off for roughing on F Jason Reese at 15:48 of the third period. . . . On the ensuing power play, the fans roared when Fast had a shot ripple the outside of the mesh and the puck, in fact, got stuck in the net. . . . F Radek Meidl forced OT with a goal at 13:10 of the third period. . . . Blackwater opened the scoring just 1:06 into the game. . . . The Americans took a 2-1 lead on goals by F Drew Hoff, at 7:34 of the first period, and F Jason Reese, at 3:17 of the second. . . . Bowman struck for two goals, at 3:53 and 5:13 of the second, to give the Chiefs a 3-2 edge. . . . Yellow Horn drew assists on two Tri-City goals. . . . F Chris Bruton had two assists for Spokane, as did F Ondrej Roman. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski stopped 40 shots, six more than Tri-City’s Chet Pickard. . . . Attendace was 5,930 as the Toyota Center was sold right out. . . . Tri-City lost Hoff to an undisclosed injury after a check from Blackwater early in the second period. . . . Meidl has four points in these playoffs, all of them goals. . . . Spokane was 1-for-7 on the PP; the Americans were 0-for-6. . . . Tri-City’s penalty killers are 46-for-49 in eight home playoff games. . . . Spokane’s power play now is 1-for-41 in seven road playoff games.

Blazers, Warriors swap picks

The Kamloops Blazers have traded two fourth-round picks in the 2008 bantam draft to the Moose Jaw Warriors. In exchange for the 77^th and 83^rd overall selections, the Blazers got third- and fifth-round picks in the 2009 draft. . . . The 2008 draft is scheduled for Thursday in Calgary.

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The Brandon Wheat Kings have increased the price of an adult season ticket by $49 but still have the cheapest ticket prices in the WHL. The Wheat Kings have sold season-tickets for $250 for the last couple of seasons, which has helped them move their season-ticket base from 1,700 to 2,752. For 2008-09, a season-ticket will sell for $299 (the Swift Current Broncos also have a $299 ticket), a price that works out to $8.30 a game. . . . “We’re offering major junior hockey for $8.30 a night and I think those are prices that people have to appreciate in Brandon that these prices just don’t happen other places,” Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner, head coach and general manager, told the Brandon Sun. A youth season-ticket (18-and-under) will cost $149, up from $125. Single-game tickets will range from $6 for children to $15 for adults, which is unchanged. . . . “Two years ago when we looked at trying to do something to shock the market, we took the risk of lowering our ticket prices to $250,” McCrimmon told The Sun. “I think that we’re reasonably encouraged, we have had our season-ticket base grow substantially. Not the gains probably in Year 2 that we maybe hoped for, but I think heading into what looks to be an exciting year, we’re hoping to get that number up over 3,000 this year.”

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The Western Conference entry in the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup has yet to be decided, and the dates for the first two games have yet to be announced. But Games 3 and 4 will be played in Lethbridge on May 6 and 7. . . . After some discussion, the Lethbridge Hurricanes chose not to raise ticket prices for the final. Adults will pay $24 a ticket, with students paying $19 and youths $10.50. There had been a thought to simply make all tickets $26 should the Hurricanes reach the final. “We felt that our fans have been so good to us throughout this run and to freeze the pricing at the previous round’s rates was something our board and organization were very adamant about,” Doug Campbell, the Hurricanes director of business operations, told the Lethbridge Herald’s Trevor Kenney. “For us, more than anything, it was more about how we wanted to reward our fans. To have it being sold out here for most nights and definitely it¹s
been 11 years laying in wait, so we certainly wanted to make sure everybody was rewarded in any which way we can.” . . . The Hurricanes definitely are making money in these playoffs. Kenney points out that most of the profit will go into a $2.5 million upgrade of the Enmax Centre. . . .

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Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that the WHL has entered into a pilot project with the Saskatchewan Hockey Association, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League that may help alleviate a shortage of referees. With some leagues, including the WHL, using two referees in a lot of games, there is a shortage of men in stripes. Next season, the midget AAA league will continue to have three on-ice officials, but two will be referees with the third a solitary linesman. “We double the number of referees getting trained and we’re not putting any more strain on the system,” said Kevin Muench, the WHL’s director of officiating, told Wolfe.

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1934

1934 MEMORIAL CUP
Edmonton Athletics vs. Toronto St. Michael's Majors
at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)

It was on March 21 when hockey fans who were paying attention must have known that the St. Michael's Majors out of Toronto were destiny's darlings for this season.
It was that night in Toronto when the boys from St. Michael's, the Irish Catholic school, opened a playoff series with the Ottawa Shamrocks.
Despite the Shamrocks being referred to as "one of the most tenacious checking teams” St. Mike's had little trouble skating to an 8-2 victory. Nick Metz, a Saskatchewan lad, pumped in three goals for the winners.
St. Michael's then posted a 9-3 victory in Ottawa to win the series, 17-5.
St. Mike's featured the likes of Bobby Bauer, Reg Hamilton, Art Jackson, Regis (Pep) Kelly, Metz, Don Wilson, Mickey Drouillard, Jack Hamilton and goaltender Harvey Teno. Kelly and Wilson had come over from the Newmarket Redmen, the 1933 Memorial Cup champions.
The Toronto team was coached by Dr. W.J. (Jerry) LaFlamme, a dentist who had quite a hockey history. He had refereed in the NHL in the 1920s. That was after he had played defence on the Allan Cup winners from St. Michael's in 1909-10 and captained the Allan Cup-winning Dentals of Toronto in 1916-17.
St. Mike's would ultimately advance to the eastern final against the Charlottetown Abegweits, who took a two-game, total-goal series from the Montreal Cranes, 12-5.
The eastern final, played in Toronto, was a blowout.
St. Mike's opened with a 12-2 victory.
"The Toronto team, called the greatest aggregation of junior puck chasers gathered together in a decade, smothered Charlottetown,” The Canadian Press reported of Game 1, played on March 27.
Game 2 was no better, as St. Mike's romped 7-2 to take the round, 19-4. The Majors were without Drouillard, who centred the second line. He had suffered a charley horse in Game 1.
Meanwhile, out west, it was to be the season of the Edmonton Athletic Club (known as the Athletics), featuring captain Dan Carrigan, brothers MacNeil and Matthew Colville, and Bill Carse.
Edmonton got rid of Trail 10-0 and 7-0, and then sidelined the Saskatoon Wesleys 10-5 (winning 6-0 and losing 5-4). It's of interest that the Wesleys, a first-year junior team, were managed by Charlie McCool, who had been a good friend of war hero Lyman (Hick) Abbott after whom the Abbott Cup is named.
Included in the Saskatoon lineup: Doug Bentley, Peter Leswick and Mel Hill, who would go on to earn the nickname ‘Sudden Death' during his NHL days with the Boston Bruins, Brooklyn Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs. Bentley played with the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers; Leswick would play with the Bruins and New York Americans.
While Edmonton was rolling along, the Port Arthur West Ends -- they were known as the Westies -- beat the Kenora Thistles 9-8 (they tied 5-5 at Port Arthur and the Westies won 4-3 at Winnipeg, with Sammy Gigliotti scoring the winner halfway through the third period).
Kenora was coached by Sandy Sanderson and featured defenceman Walter (Babe) Pratt -- he had three goals and two assists in the 5-5 tie -- and forward Jake Milford. Years later, Milford would be at the forefront of the European invasion when, as the general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, he brought in Juha Widing, a stylish centre, from Finland.
The western final was all Edmonton, however. Played entirely in Winnipeg, Edmonton won 7-3 -- Carse scored three times -- and 4-0, with Fred Layetzke earning the shutout with a 47-save effort before "a handful of fans who braved a March drizzle.”
The Memorial Cup final, a best-of-three affair, opened April 3 at the Amphitheatre on Whitehall Avenue in Winnipeg.
"Four hundred curious railbirds watched the Toronto Irish go through their paces for nearly an hour at the Amphitheatre rink, and there was scarcely a spectator who was not visibly impressed with the skill and hockey ability of the easterners,” reported The Canadian Press after watching a workout.
"Not having a spare goalie along,” continued the report, "St. Michael's invited ‘Turk' Broda, net custodian of the Winnipeg Monarchs, to guard one cage. After being blazed at from all sides during the practice, ‘Turk' seemed inclined to pick St. Mike's for two straight victories.”
St. Mike's opened with a 5-0 victory over the Athletics.
"The smooth-skating, sharpshooting Irish from the Queen City downed the western champions with a torrid attack in the second period but in the first and third periods the Edmontonians put up a better attack,” reported The Canadian Press.
Kelly opened the scoring halfway through the first period, scoring on a backhand. Kelly would close the scoring early in the third period.
In between, however, is where St. Mike's won it, thanks to three power-play goals. Johnny Acheson, with two, and Jackson scored the goals.
There was one interesting incident in the second period. As CP reported: "With Bill Carse and Gordon Watt in the penalty box, Neil Colville grabbed the puck at centre ice in a brilliant effort to give Edmonton their first goal. Nick Metz gave chase. They bumped and Colville went through with only Harvey Teno in the St. Mike net to beat. Metz tore after him and threw his stick to stop the goal.
"Both went down. Metz was chased for 10 minutes and Colville drew a minor for the scuffle on the ice. Peanuts were pitched onto the ice as the fans roared and the game had to be called while the ice was swept.”
More than 4,500 fans showed up for Game 2 on April 5. And what a game they saw.
It would end with St. Mike's winning its first Memorial Cup championship (the school would win three more), thanks to a 6-4 victory. But it wasn't decided until after 20 minutes of overtime.
"The husky lads who wear the double blue of St. Michael's college in Toronto are the kings of junior hockey in Canada,” wrote Sam G. Ross, a staff writer for The Canadian Press. “The boys from the Alberta capital never quit trying, and they matched the hockey skill of the easterners all through the 80 minutes of hockey that left every player nearly exhausted.”
Kelly scored twice for St. Mike's, as he was on the Memorial Cup-winning side for the second straight season. Acheson, Metz, Drouillard and Jackson also scored.
The Colville brothers each scored once for Edmonton, as did Carse and Andy Maloney.
Maloney's goal with 30 seconds left in the third period tied the score 4-4 and forced the overtime.
"Jackson took Acheson's pass in the second overtime period to give St. Mike's all they needed for victory,” reported Ross in describing the winning goal. "Kelly made the victory certain when he rapped in St. Mike's sixth goal with only half a minute of the overtime to play.”
The victory by St. Mike's left the east and west with eight victories apiece in Memorial Cup competition.

NEXT: 1935 (Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves)

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1933

1933 MEMORIAL CUP
Regina Pats vs. Newmarket Redmen
at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)

For the fourth time in eight years Regina would be represented in the Memorial Cup final, Al Ritchie's Pats having won the Abbott Cup in a thrilling three-game series with the Brandon Native Sons.
The first two games were ties before Regina won the series with a 2-1 victory on March 30 before a soldout crowd of 5,025 fans at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre. (Howie Milne, former Regina junior star player and coach, was one of the referees used in this series.)
Meanwhile, in the East, the Newmarket Reds and Montreal Royals played to a 2-2 tie in front of 11,000 fans at the Montreal Forum. Two nights later, in front of 8,000 fans in Toronto, Newmarket won the two-game, total-goal series with a 1-0 victory on centre Normie Mann's goal on a long shot early in the second period.
Coach Bill Hancock's Redmen went into the best-of-three Memorial Cup final in Toronto without left-winger Howie Peterson, who had suffered a knee injury against Montreal. And defenceman Gar Preston would see limited duty because of a shoulder injury.
Game 1, played on April 5 before 8,250 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens, was won 2-1 by Newmarket.
Willis Entwistle, writing in the Regina Leader-Post, called it a "thrilling struggle.”
Newmarket goaltender Randall Forder received rave reviews for his work in the opener, especially in the second and third periods when the Pats owned a wide territorial edge.
Mann opened the scoring early in the first period when he beat Regina goaltender Jimmy Franks (who wore a blazing red cap) from the blue line.
Regis (Pep) Kelly scored early in the second to up Newmarket's lead to 2-0 before Reg Strong counted Regina's lone goal about seven minutes later.
Ritchie, writing in The Leader-Post, had this to say: "Newmarket has the fastest junior hockey team I have seen for many a year. They skate like the old 1925 Pats ... just like lightning.”
Entwistle wrote: "Comparisons are odious but, at first glance, the present Pats are hardly as electrical as their predecessors. They are, however, a hard-working, smooth combination and should fare much better in the second game.“
There were almost 8,000 fans in the Gardens for Game 2 on April 7 and they watched the Redmen win the Memorial Cup with a 2-1 overtime victory (they played 30 minutes of extra time).
Again, Mann opened the scoring, this time batting in his own rebound in the last minute of the opening period.
Les Cunningham tied it on a solo effort late in the second period.
The winner came with less than two minutes left in the third 10-minute overtime period when Don Wilson scored a power-play goal with Regina defenceman Moose Stinson and centre Murray Armstrong -- he would later coach the Pats -- in the penalty box.
After which the stuff hit the fan.
Here's Entwistle's description: "The only untoward incident was at the close of the second game when one or two players adopted an ugly attitude after Newmarket had triumphed following 30 minutes of overtime. However, what looked like an ugly scramble was really nothing more than a few players throwing their arms around some of their comrades who appeared less able to control their feelings.
"The teams were soon rushed to their dressing rooms although someone, not a player, hit referee Johnny Mitchell in the face. Mitchell was a little exasperating. The penalties tell their own tale -- 13 Regina, 8 Newmarket.”
In the Toronto Star, the respected Lou Marsh wrote: "Al Ritchie, force Majeur de Sport in the west, is through with amateur sport -- sick and disgusted after his team's defeat last night.”
Marsh quoted Ritchie as blaming Mitchell for being "gypped” and adding that his players could hardly be blamed for "losing their tempers.”
"I never saw a more partisan official in my life,” Ritchie said. "He gave us penalties we did not deserve and let Newmarket get away with things for which they should have been punished.”
Marsh also wrote: "There is no excuse for any player attacking an official and Kerr as instigator is about sure to be asked to be paraded on the official carpet: He may get a suspension.”
Mitchell suffered a cut lip in the scuffle. Alex (Curly) Kerr, the Pats' captain, was hit with a suspension. He had been penalized three times by Mitchell during the second game.
In fact, four of the Pats -- Kerr, Franks, Cunningham and Bill Cairns -- were immediately suspended by the CAHA.
A week after returning home, Ritchie was still seething.
"Kerr certainly did not hit Mitchell,” Ritchie said. "It was a well known hockey player that did the damage. As far as Jimmy Franks, Cunningham and Cairns being implicated, that is a joke. The true facts will all come out through time.”
Asked if he still felt "gypped“, Ritchie said: "Certainly. And that is no losers' squawk. I have taken beatings before, many of them. Just to show you what I mean, Chief Justice J.T. Brown of Regina and Joe Caulder, now of Toronto, saw the game. They were disgusted by the officiating of Mitchell ... Lester Patrick and his New York Rangers openly stated they had never seen anything like it in their lives before. Nor had Dick Irvin (Sr.).”
Finally, on May 25, the CAHA made its long-awaited announcement.
Kerr, who now had used up his junior eligibility, was suspended until Feb. 1, 1934. By the time the suspension was announced he had joined the Prince Albert Mintos, a senior team. He would miss six weeks of the 1933-34 season.
Cunningham, Franks and Cairns were given warnings.

NEXT: 1934 (Edmonton Athletics vs. Toronto St. Michael's Majors)

Thursday notes . . .

The first two teams that will compete in the 2008 Memorial Cup tournament have been decided. The Kitchener Rangers and Belleville Bulls have advanced to the OHL final and, with Kitchener as the host team, both will play in the four-team tournament. First of all, though, they will play in the OHL final that will open Wednesday in Kitchener. . . . The Memorial Cup will run May 16-25 in Kitchener. . . . The Rangers finished atop the Western Conference with a 53-11-1-3 record. The Bulls, at 48-14-4-2, won the Eastern Conference with the OHL’s second-best record. . . . Belleville has appeared in one Memorial Cup (1999), while Kitchener has been there five times, winning it in 2003, which was its last appearance. . . . The QMJHL final will feature the Gatineau Olympiques against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. . . .
————————
RW Bud Holloway of the Seattle Thunderbirds has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. Holloway, who played as a 19-year-old this season, was selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2006 NHL draft. He finished this season with the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ AHL affiliate. . . . Earlier this week, the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers signed G Joey Perricone, who completed his WHL eligibility with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Well, the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes assigned G Daniel Manzato to Las Vegas on Thursday and guess who was released? . . . G Chet Pickard of the Tri-City Americans is the ADT CHL goaltender of the week after going 1-1 with a 0.36 GAA and a .988 save percentage. . . . F Zach Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes is the CHL player of the week. He had four goals and an assist in the first two games of Lethbridge’s four-game sweep of the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Regina Pats D Logan Pyett has joined Team Canada in Quebec City as it begins preparations for the IIHF World championship that opens May 2 in Halifax and Quebec City. Pyett is one of three non-NHLers who are working out with the team, the others being forwards Cory Emmerton of the OHL’s Brampton Battalion and Kyle Turris, who played for the NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers but finished the season with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. . . .
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The USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers have hired former NHLer J.P. Parise as their general manager and head coach. He replaces Todd Knott, who had been the interim GM/head coach since Regg Simon resigned in February. Knott has moved on to the Sioux City Musketeers as their GM and head coach. . . . Most recently, Parise has been the director of prospect evaluation at Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep School in Faribault, Minn. He has two sons, Zach and Jordan, who are playing professionally. . . . And, yes, J.P. Parise played for Team Canada in 1972 when it beat the Soviet Union in the Summit Series. . . .
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WHL players invited to the NHL Central Scouting combine scheduled for May 26 to June 1 in Toronto:
C Kyle Beach, Everett
C Lance Bouma, Vancouver
C Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge
C Joel Broda, Moose Jaw
LW Matt Calvert, Brandon
D Matt Delahey, Regina
G Jacob DeSerres, Seattl
C Jordan Eberle, Regina
C Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat
D Travis Hamonic, Moose Jaw
G Braden Holtby, Saskatoon
C Colin Long, Kelowna
C Brandon McMillan, Kelowna
D Eric Mestery, Tri-City
D Tyler Myers, Kelowna
D Jyri Niemi, Saskatoon
G Chet Pickard, Tri-City
C Kruise Reddick, Tri-City
D Colby Robak, Brandon
D Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge
D Luke Schenn, Kelowna
D Michael Stone, Calgary
D Colten Teubert, Regina
C Mitch Wahl, Spokane
C James Wright, Vancouver
LW Geordie Wudrick, Swift Current
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The positioning of WHL players in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of skaters eligible for the 2008 NHL draft (210 ranked):
North American skaters
4. D Tyler Myers, Kelowna
5. D Luke Schenn, Kelowna
7. C Kyle Beach, Everett
8. C Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge
12. D Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge
13. D Colby Robak, Brandon
18. D Colten Teubert, Regina
24. LW Matt Calvert, Brandon
25. D Jyri Niemi, Saskatoon
30. C Kruise Reddick, Tri-City
31. C Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat
33. C Jordan Eberle, Regina
35. C James Wright, Vancouver
39. D Michael Stone, Calgary
48. C Brandon McMillan, Kelowna
59. D Eric Mestery, Tri-City
62. C Colin Long, Kelowna
64. C Mitch Wahl, Spokane
67. D Matt Delahey, Regina
68. C Lance Bouma, Vancouver
70. C Joel Broda, Moose Jaw
71. LW Geordie Wudrick, Swift Current
75. D Travis Hamonic, Moose Jaw
92. RW Ian Schultz, Calgary
95. C Neal Prokop, Moose Jaw
96. C Matt Tassone, Swift Current
98. D Chad Suer, Moose Jaw
104. RW Gary Nunn, Vancouver
106. C Brent Raedeke, Edmonton
108. C Zack Smith, Swift Current
110. LW Jan Dalecky, Swift Current
116. RW Matt Ius, Everett
127. C Wacey Hamilton, Medicine Hat
129. C Travis Toomey, Saskatoon
142. D Riley McIntosh, Kelowna
144. LW Shayne Wiebe, Kamloops
151. D Teigan Zahn, Saskatoon
153. RW Dale Weise, Swift Current
168. D Tyler Schmidt, Tri-City
175. RW Craig Cunningham, Vancouver
187. D Mike Reddington, Spokane
188. RW Tyler Shattock, Kamloops
198. D Jared Spurgeon, Spokane
———
North American goaltenders (30 ranked)
2. Chet Pickard, Tri-City
4. Braden Holtby, Saskatoon
6. Jacob DeSerres, Seattle
9. Dustin Tokarski, Spokane
12. Steven Stanford, Prince Albert
18. Morgan Clark, Red Deer
21. Martin Jones, Calgary

The Memorial Cup: A history . . . 1932

1932 MEMORIAL CUP
Winnipeg Monarchs vs. Sudbury Cub Wolves
at Winnipeg (Amphitheatre)

The 1932 Memorial Cup championship is perhaps best remembered because of the participation of Hector (Toe) Blake.
A star with the Sudbury Cub Wolves of 1931-32, Blake would go on to a memorable career, as a player and coach, with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.
But winning the 1932 Memorial Cup was no easy task; in fact, it was in doubt right down to the final moments.
The 1932 final would feature the Cub Wolves against the Winnipeg Monarchs.
The Monarchs were coached by Harry Neil and Fred (Steamer) Maxwell. Neil had played for the Winnipeg Falcons, a team that beat the Stratford Midgets to win the 1921 Memorial Cup. Maxwell was a familiar face in junior hockey circles and had even done a fair amount of refereeing.
The Monarchs featured the likes of defenceman Robert (Pinkie) Davie, who would play with the NHL's Boston Bruins before he became a well-known and well-liked recreation director in Manitoba; captain Norm Yellowlees; goaltender Art Rice-Jones; forward George Brown; and, defenceman Cam Shewan, who would play for the 1935 world champion Winnipeg Monarchs and later become the city's fire chief.
Four of the Monarchs -- the line of Yellowlees, Brown and Archie Creighton, along with Rice-Jones -- played with the 1931 Memorial Cup-winning Elmwood Millionaires.
The Cub Wolves were coached by Sam Rothschild. Born in 1899, Rothschild played on the 1925-26 Stanley Cup-champion Montreal Maroons. He also played with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Americans before he suffered a career-ending knee injury.
Besides Blake, who would coach the Habs to eight Stanley Cups, Cub Wolves like Max Bennett, Adelard LaFrance Jr., and Dalton J. (Nakina) Smith went on to play in the NHL.
That this season was something special was never more evident than in mid-March when the Monarchs played the home-town Saskatoon Wesleys. At least 4,000 people were expected in the 3,400-seat Saskatoon Arena for Game 1. The series was to conclude in Winnipeg, thus the hockey fever in Saskatoon.
The Wesleys posted a 1-0 victory in Game 1, handing the Monarchs their first loss of the season (game reports did not indicate how many games the Monarchs had played to that point). Clint Smith, a future Hockey Hall of Famer, scored the game's only goal just four minutes into the first period.
The series moved to Winnipeg for the second and final game on March 28. The Monarchs, who went into the game down a goal, rebounded for a 3-1 victory to win the series, 3-2. Shewan's goal with 1:45 left in the third period put the series on ice for the Monarchs and sent them on against the Cub Wolves.
On March 21, Sudbury defeated the home-town Ottawa Shamrocks 3-2 to win the two-game, total-goal series 5-2 and advance against the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association Winged Wheelers -- they were known as the Montreal A.A.A. Winged Wheelers -- in the eastern Canada junior final.
The first game of the eastern final was played on March 25 in Montreal with the teams settling for a 1-1 tie.
One report had the Cub Wolves "famed speed crashing on the rocks of a rugged and powerful Montreal A.A.A. defence.”
That series continued in Toronto on March 28 before more than 11,000 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens.
"A fighting young band of hockeyists, Sudbury Wolves are today headed for Winnipeg in quest of the Memorial Cup and Dominion hockey championship laurels,” read the report in the Regina Leader-Post.
The Cub Wolves won the second game 3-0 -- Anthony (Ant) Healey got the shutout -- to take the series, 4-1. The final game, according to the report, was "a terrific struggle -- an epic of puck chasing and a classic of roaring hockey.”
All of which set the stage for the Memorial Cup, which would be played in the Amphitheatre in Winnipeg.
It was a best-of-three series and the Monarchs were the favorites. As one report put it: "Outweighed 10 pounds a man, the Wolves plan to upset the Monarchs with the speed and cohesive perfection of their attack.”
The series opened on March 31 with the Monarchs skating to a 4-3 victory.
"It took all the defence power the Monarchs possessed to stave off the Wolves, and all the 6,000 fans who saw them do it are wondering if they can repeat (in Game 2),” one report read.
Sudbury led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by LaFrance.
But Winnipeg scored three second-period goals to take command -- Johnny Templeton, Yellowlees and Brown pulling the trigger.
LaFrance scored again early in the third but Davie put it away six minutes into the third.
"Because they won't be slowed up, the Wolves are an even money choice with bettors to even the series,” stated one report prior to Game 2.
And even the series they did.
Sudbury posted a 2-1 victory on April 2, losing a 1-0 lead late in the third period and winning it in overtime on another goal by LaFrance.
After a scoreless first period, Sudbury took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Gordon Grant. But with less than three minutes left in the third period, Shewan got through the Wolves defence to pick up his own rebound and score the tying goal.
That set the stage for LaFrance to score the winner at 2:20 of overtime.
The game was highlighted by a brawl in the middle of the second period.
Here's what happened, according to one writer:
"Rough for a period and a half, the game settled down to a drama of straight hockey after a wild free-for-all in the second stanza. George Brown, 180-pound Monarch left winger, and Adelard LaFrance came to blows and started a general fist fight in which every player on both squads, with the exception of goaltenders, took part.
"LaFrance's stick cut Brown across the face as the two fought for the puck at centre ice. Brown pulled off his gloves and went after the Sudbury forward with his fists. Without delay their teammates dropped sticks and took sides, picked opponents and started to throw punches. It was several minutes before police quelled the player riot.”
Sudbury was without defenceman Bob McInnes and Smith. McInnes had injured an arm in the first game; Smith left Game 2 early in the first period after a bone-jarring check from Davie. Smith was left with a sore face thanks to a sprained jaw.
Smith was well enough to play in the third and deciding game on April 4.
And he scored the game- and Memorial Cup-winning goal as the Wolves, behind Healey's goaltending, posted a 1-0 victory.
"The Wolves from Sudbury, crafty beyond their years and dead game as they come, sit proudly atop the junior hockey world today,” read the story in the Regina Leader-Post. "Nakina Smith, slight Sudbury centre, who went back into action after being knocked out in the second game, placed a neat shot past Art Rice-Jones in the Winnipeg cage to climax the first Wolf raid. He picked up Adelard LaFrance's pass at the Monarch defence, swept around ‘Pinkie' Davie and drove the score shot from a few feet out.
"Ant Healey played a remarkable game for the rest of the night.”
It should be pointed out that Blake, a star throughout the season, was a substitute player in all three games of the final series.
And how did the folks of Sudbury handle all of this?
According to one report: "There was a hot time in the hometown when word was flashed from Winnipeg that Sudbury had triumphed ... Scenes reminiscent of Armistice Day were enacted as the entire populace thronged into the downtown section to shout acclaim to the courageous little hockey band.
"Even undertakers' hearses bore emblems of rejoicing.”

NEXT: 1933 (Regina Pats vs. Newmarket Redmen)

Wednesday is over . . .

The Spokane Chiefs announced Wednesday that the remainder of the Western Conference final will be televised live by Comcast on Channel 78. The series with the Tri-City Americans is even at 2-2. Game 5 is to be played Saturday in Kennewick, Wash., with Game 6 in Spokane on Monday. If a Game 7 is needed, it will be played Tuesday in Kennewick. . . . This series may go down in the books as one of the great ones. The first two games were split with each team winning 1-0 in double overtime. The Chiefs won the third game, 2-0, with the Americans taking Game 4, 3-2, in overtime. . . . The Boston Bruins have signed F Levi Nelson of the Swift Current Broncos to a three-year entry-level NHL contract. Nelson, who will turn 20 on Monday, was a sixth-round pick in the 2006 NHL draft. . . .
————————
One playoff game on Wednesday night. You may not be surprised that the Lethbridge Hurricanes took out the Calgary Hitmen . . . but wasn’t it far easier than you anticipated?
———
In Lethbridge, F Carter Bancks, who had the first two goals in Game 3, scored two more to spark the Hurricanes to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Lethbridge won the series 4-0 and now awaits the winner of the Western Conference final between the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans. That one is 2-2 going into Game 5 in Kennewick, Wash., on Saturday. . . . Bancks scored Game 4’s first goal nine seconds into the second period. That came just one night after he opened the scoring 29 seconds into the second period. . . . Bancks added an empty-netter, his sixth goal of these playoffs. . . . Lethbridge F Dan Iwanski scored his second goal of the playoffs with 11 seconds left in the second period to give his side a 3-1 lead. . . . G Juha Metsola, the series’ MVP, made 23 saves for his 12th victory of the postseason. He is 12-2 with three shutouts. Metsola was beaten only seven times in the four games with Calgary. . . . Metsola wrapped this one up with a tremendous save off Kyle Bortis from the slot with the homeside up 3-2 and 24 seconds left to play. . . . This was the first time in franchise history that Calgary has been swept in a series. . . . Calgary was 2-for-3 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-for-4. . . . This was the first time all season that Calgary lost four straight games. . . . Attendance was 5,097. . . . The Hurricanes took nine of 10 games from Calgary in the regular season and playoffs. . . . Lethbridge last won the Eastern Conference playoff title in the spring of 1997 when it went on to sweep the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s championship final.

Bonner concerned about future, not the past

From The Daily News of Thursday, April 24, 2008 . . .

Craig Bonner was saying all the right things Tuesday afternoon.
He talked about changing “the culture, identity and work ethic of this
organization.” He spoke about having a team capable of competing on a
nightly basis. He mentioned making players accountable on and off the ice.
“The sooner the players figure out that they’re not running the show around
here the better off they’re going to be,” he said. “Because it’s not
happening. . . .”
A lot of what was said by the new general manager of the WHL’s Kamloops
Blazers as he took office has been said by others who have occupied that
office, and others who have coached here, since the dawning of the new
century.
They’re all gone now. The ship belongs to Bonner now and it will be up to
him to try and raise it from the depths of the WHL.
In three or four conversations with Bonner since late last week, he said one
thing that stood out above all the rest of his pronouncements.
It was late last week and the 35-year-old Bonner hadn’t yet agreed to accept
the five-year contract offer that had been made by the Blazers’ ownership
group. Oh, he knew that he was going to accept it; after all, being a GM,
here or somewhere else, is what he has wanted to do for a number of years
now. He just wanted a couple of days to think about it, to make sure he had
left no stone unturned.
“One thing about me,” he said, “is that I don’t live in the past. I won’t
live in the past. I don’t care what’s gone on here before now.”
And in everything he said Tuesday not once did he reference the past.
Bonner is bound and determined not to allow the past, recent or otherwise,
to influence him. He is well aware of the success this franchise once had —
he was, in fact, on the 1992 Memorial Cup-winning team, although he was on
crutches at season’s end — but he also is well aware that 1995, the year of
the last Memorial Cup championship, may as well have been a million years
ago.
He knows and respects Bob Brown, Don Hay, Ken Hitchcock, Tom Renney, Marc
Habscheid et al but he recognizes them for what they are — ghosts of past
successes, all of them gone and not likely to return, at least not in the
winter months.
That’s why, when asked about the possibility of Habscheid returning, Bonner
did his best to put out the fire.
“I coached with Marc here and Marc Habscheid is a great coach, there’s no
doubt about it,” Bonner said. “If he was available I would love to bring him
in. The fact of the matter is that he is under contract to the Boston
Bruins. He seems quite happy being with his kids and doing the family thing.
. . .”
(Habscheid, the Bruins’ associate coach last season, was fired by Boston
last summer and spent this winter at his ranch near Swift Current.)
Bonner then summed it all up: “The reality is I don’t think he has any plans
of coming back to Kamloops.”
So with that out of the way — never mind that Habscheid is said by the
fanatics to be building homes in Juniper, Batchelor Heights and Campbell
Creek — who will be the next head coach here?
Bonner isn’t saying, perhaps because he doesn’t know.
Still, there have been hints.
The next head coach will be someone with experience in junior A or major
junior because Bonner believes that coaching at this level is extremely
demanding. It will be someone with a solid track record as a teacher because
the team that comes out of training camp in September is going to be young
and facing an uphill climb.
The new head coach will be someone who, at this point in time, is looking to
stay in one place for more than a couple of seasons, someone who is prepared
to make a commitment to the team and to the community.
The next head coach will have to be an excellent communicator and must
understand exactly how important structure is to a hockey team at this
level.
“You can’t just have structure on the ice,” Bonner said. “You have to have
structure in workouts, in school, in the dressing room. You’re their
guardian for nine months.”
Bonner is going to have to live with the whispers about him not having
experience as a general manager and only getting the job because he and
part-owner Darryl Sydor are pals.
Bonner will be able to handle that because he has the job security that
comes with a a five-year contract, one year for each owner perhaps.
Talk with Bonner for a while and it becomes evident that he knows precisely
what he wants. It is to be hoped that he is given the autonomy he will need
to implement his rebuilding plan.
He has a lot of recent experience with a winning organization. He comes here
after five seasons with the Vancouver Giants who, with him on staff, three
times finished with more than 100 points and played in two Memorial Cup
tournaments, winning one of them.
Working under general manager Scott Bonner, his older brother, and head
coach Don Hay, he learned what it takes to win and how to build a winner.
At one point Tuesday, as Bonner was making the rounds, he came upon Mark
Hall, Alex Rodgers and Tyler Shattock, three forwards who have played here
for two seasons.
After the perfunctory greetings and inquiries about school work, Bonner
offered: “Make sure you come to camp in shape.”
The building, it seems, has begun.

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca.

Celebrating Ed Chynoweth's Life

A “Celebration of Life” to remember Ed Chynoweth is scheduled for Monday, May 5, 2 p.m., at the First Alliance Church (12345-40^th Street SE) in Calgary.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to either the Foothills Hospice (PO Box 274, Okotoks AB, T1S 1A5) or the Alberta Cancer Foundation (c/o Tom Baker Cancer Centre, 1331-29^th Street NW, Calgary AB, T2N 4N2).

The obituary that appeared in the Calgary Herald is here.

Tuesday's highlights . . .

G Joey Perricone, who played five seasons with the Moose Jaw Warriors and completed his eligibility this season, has signed with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers. He will back up Kevin Lalande, a 21-year-old product of the OHL’s Belleville Bulls. . . . The Wranglers presently are embroiled in a playoff series with the Stockton Thunder. . . . The Los Angeles Kings have signed Chilliwack Bruins F Oscar Moller to a three-year, entry-level deal. Moller, who finished his season with the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs, was a second-round selection by the Kings in the NHL’s 2007 entry draft. . . .
———
There were two playoff games Tuesday night. . . .
In Lethbridge, G Juha Metsola stopped 25 shots and F Carter Bancks scored the game’s first two goals as the Hurricanes whipped the Calgary Hitmen, 6-0, in front of 4,504 fans. . . . Lethbridge has a 3-0 grip on this series and gets its first chance to wrap it up at home Wednesday. . . . After a scoreless first period, Bancks scored 28 seconds into the second period. He added his second goal, and fourth of the playoffs, at 14:04. . . . When F Adam Chorneyko made it 3-0 just 1:49 later, well, this one was over. . . . F Mitch Fadden, F Craig Orfino and D Jeff May, on the PP, also scored. . . . Metsola has 11 victories and three shutouts in the playoffs. . . . Lethbridge was 1-for-6 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-5. . . . Calgary used both its goaltenders, with Dan Spence starting and stopping 13 of 16 shots. Martin Jones came on in relief and stopped 11 of 14. . . . Lethbridge had won Games 1 and 2, 5-2 and 4-3 in OT, in Calgary. . . . The Hurricanes are 6-1 at home, where their penalty killers are 35-for-38, in these playoffs. . . . Game 5, if needed, would be in Calgary on Friday night. . . . F Brock Nixon and F Ryan White, perhaps Calgary’s two biggest guns, totaled one assist and are minus-11 in the first three games. In Calgary’s 12 playoff games prior to this series, the pair had 34 points, includling 15 goals. . . . If you’re a fan of the Hitmen you should know that only the 1995-96 Spokane Chiefs came back to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. . . . You should also know that the Hitmen went through three three-game losing streaks this season, but they never lost four straight. . . .
———
In Spokane, C Kruise Reddick’s shorthanded goal at 2:07 of overtime gave the Tri-City Americans a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 on Saturday in Kennewick, Wash., and Game 6 on Monday in Spokane. . . . Tri-City’s Blair Macaulay went off for tripping at 1:13 of the first overtime period — Spokane D Jared Spurgeon went off for hooking at 19:48 of the thid period — and Reddick scored his second playoff goal less than a minute later. F Drew Hoff, who scored the winner in Tri-City’s 1-0 double OT victory in Game 2, drew the lone assist on Reddick’s goal. Hoff forced Spokane G Dustin Tokarski into a turnover behind the net and got the puck to Reddick, who notched the winner. . . . C Mitch Wahl gave Spokane a 1-0 lead at 4:29 of the first period. . . . The Americans roared back with two goals 19 seconds apart in the last minute of the period. LW Colton Yellow Horn scored his ninth goal, on the PP, at 19:20 and D Jarrett Toll added another goal at 19:39. D T.J. Fast drew assists on both goals. . . . LW Drayson Bowman tied it for Spokane at 18:49 of the second period on the PP. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-5 on the PP; Spokane was 1-for-6. . . . Attendance was 6,521. . . . Tokarski stopped 30 shots, 12 more than Tri-City’s Chet Pickard. . . . Tri-City outshot the Chiefs 12-5 in the third period. . . . The Americans, the WHL’s highest-scoring team in the regular season, went into the game having scored but one goal in the first three games, two of which went into double OT. . . . Spokane had been 0-for-21 on the PP through three games. . . . Yellow Horn, the WHL’s leading goal scorer and third-leading pointman in the regular season, was pointless through the first three games.