Friday . . . and an allegedly drunken Zamboni driver

The Winter Hawks win, the Pats may be on the move and a Zamboni driver may have been drinking on the job. . . . It was, yes, Halloween . . . Enjoy!
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The big news in the WHL today is in the Regina Leader-Post where Greg Harder reports that the Pats are exploring their options and thinking about leaving the Queen City. The Pats have long had a shaky relationship with their landlord and it appears to finally have reached the breaking point. . . . Right now, the Pats would appear to be especially exploring the possibility of a move to Victoria where owner Russ Parker and one son, Darren, are in the process of establishing a Golden Baseball League franchise, the Seals. Another son, Brent, is the Pats’ general manager. . . . Anyway, you can read all about the dispute right here.
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Ever wonder what happened to Curt Keilback, the former radio voice of the Winnipeg Jets and Phoenix Coyotes. Jay Onrait of TSN has the story right here.
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Saskatoon is at home to the Regina Pats tonight and the Blades are hurting. LW Curtin Hamilton (knee) won’t play until perhaps December. C Travis Toomey (broken collarbone) is gone until January. As well, LW Adam Chorneyko (broken finger) is on the shelf, although he’s listed as day-to-day. The Blades maintain that Chorneyko broke his finger blocking a shot and not in the scrap with D Keith Seabrook, who put the hit on Toomey. . . . In Vancouver on Saturday, it’s the Giants and the Brandon Wheat Kings. That means it’s Vancouver’s Evander Kane up against Brandon’s Brayden Schenn in a scrap between two of the WHL’s top young players. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors may have D Travis Hamonic (undisclosed) and C Neal Prokop (quad) back when they meet the Broncos in Swift Current tonight. Both practised with the Warriors on Friday. Deven Dubyk will start in goal for the Warriors. . . . If you keep track of such things, the Everett Silvertips also picked up a 2010 seventh-round bantam draft pick in Friday’s trade with the Prince George Cougars. The Silvertrips dealt D Jeff Regier, 17, to the Cougars for RW Dale Hunt, 18.
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Loved the item from Bruce Luebke today — that’s his blog (Luber’s Lounge) over on the left.
He reports that a number of years ago Brandon Wheat Kings head coach Bob Lowes was serving a suspension — remember his stroll along the boards? — so didn’t make the West Coast swing with the team. Instead, he stayed home and was able to go trick-or-treating with his children. And what did Lowes dress up as? Willie the Wheat King, of course. . . . These days Lowes can be found scouting out of Regina for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . Hmm, wonder if he dressed up as Spartacat on Friday night?
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FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
The game of the night was in Kennewick, Wash., where the Winter Hawks, in their first game under new ownership and with a new GM and head coach, beat the host Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . It was the first game for the Winter Hawks (3-12-0-0) since a 1-5 trip into the East Division. . . . The Americans (10-5-0-1) have lost three straight. The went into this one with a 5-0 home record. . . . It was the first time Portland had won in the Toyota Center since Dec. 10, 2006. . . . “I think in all fairness, we caught a break here and there,” Portland GM/head coach Mike Johnston told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “When you look at (the game) as a whole, they were better than us, but our guys were resilient.” . . . G Kurtis Mucha made 31 saves for Portland and is 1-9 on the season. . . . Portland F Killian Hutt had one assist — he has seven in his last four outings. . . . The teams were tied 1-1 after the second period. LW Riley Boychuk got the winner at 12:05 of the third. . . . F Chris Francis, F Tayler Jordan and D Brock Cornish, all of whom quit the team over the last while, were all in Portland’s lineup. . . . G Chet Pickard played his 14th straight game for the Americans. He made 20 saves.
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In Everett, C Tyler Maxwell’s goal at 17:28 of the third period gave the Silvertips a 3-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett (8-6-1-0) is 7-1 at home, where it has won seven in a row. . . . The Chiefs (9-3-0-3) had been 3-0-0-3 on the road in their last six games. . . . The Chiefs won their first two meetings with Everett, outscoring the Silvertips 10-1, but both games were in Spokane. . . . G Kent Simpson made 23 saves for Everett. . . . Everett is 7-1 at home and 1-5-1-0 on the road. . . . Spokane G Dustin Tokarski stopped 28 shots. . . . D Graham Potuer had two assists for Everett, both on terrific passes. . . . Everett LW Kyle Beach (back spasms) scored in his return from a one-game absence. . . . Everett D Shayne Brown (hip) was missing, as were Spokane C Justin McCrae (knee) and D Jared Spurgeon (ankle).
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In Chilliwack, F Nathan Green had two goals and an assist to lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 7-3 victory over the Bruins. . . . Brandon (10-5-1-0) has won five of six and is 3-1 on its B.C. Division swing which wraps up tonight in Vancouver. . . . The Bruins (5-10-1-1) have lost eight in a row. . . . This was Brandon’s largest offensive outburst of the season. . . . F Jay Fehr added a goal and two helpers for Brandon. . . . Trailing 3-1, the Bruins thought they had scored but on-ice officials waved it off. According to the Chilliwack Progress, TV replays showed F Matt Meropoulis’s 40-foot slap shot went through the net. . . . G James Priestner made 26 saves for Brandon, six more than Chilliwack’s Mark Friesen. . . . Brandon D Colby Robak was plus-5. . . . Brandon LW Matt Calvert (back) was back after a two-game absence.
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In Kamloops, RW Tyler Shattock scored twice to lead the Blazers to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . LW Shayne Wiebe added three assists for the Blazers (8-8-0-2), who have won four straight. . . . Lethbridge (9-7-0-0) is 1-1 on a seven-game road swing.
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice struck for three third-period goals and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-2. . . . The Ice improved to 10-6-2-3, while the Tigers slipped to 7-5-2-2. . . . F Sean Ringrose got the Tigers on the board just eight seconds into this one. . . . F Kevin King broke a 1-1 tie at 8:34 of the third period and Dustin Sylvester got the winner, shorthanded, at 16:08. King has six goals and Sylvester has seven. . . . Medicine Hat F Brennan Bosch, the team captain, left the game in the second period after taking a check from Ice F Matt Fraser. Bosch didn’t return; he appeared to be favouring a knee.
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In Regina, F Brett Ferguson, who played last season with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, was the only one of 12 skaters to score in the shootout as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Pats, 5-4. . . . Red Deer (6-8-0-5) had lost 11 of 13 overall. The Rebels, who are 1-4-0-4 on the road, had twice dropped 2-1 shootout decisions to Regina already this season. . . . The Pats (9-6-1-2) had a three-game win streak end. . . . D Alex Pym, in his first game after missing three with a shoulder injury, scored his first WHL goal for Regina. . . . Regina F Michael MacAngus forced OT with a goal at 8:17 of the third period. . . . Jordan Weal, Regina’s sensational freshman centre, had a goal and an assist. He has 25 points in 18 games. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots in real time and six more in the circus. Regina G Jeff Bosch had 27 saves and five more in the circus. . . . Regina RW Jordan Eberle is on an eight-game point streak during which he has 14 points.
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In Swift Current, G Travis Yonkman stopped 23 shots as the Broncos dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-1. . . . The Broncos (12-5-0-0) have won three in a row. . . . The Raiders (10-9-0-0) had won four of five.
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And we end with this, from the Windsor Star:
KINGSVILLE, Ont. — A Zamboni driver at Kingsville Arena has been charged
with impaired driving after she was seen driving erratically, hitting the
boards and falling asleep slumped over the wheel.
At around 9:40 p.m. Thursday an off-duty Kingsville OPP sergeant, who
happened to be at the arena, was approached by a number of citizens telling him: "I think the Zamboni driver is drunk."
The sergeant observed the 34-year-old driver operating the machine in an erratic manner, with speed fluctuating and missing large portions of the ice surface. On more than one occasion the Zamboni struck the boards and at one point the machine was stopped and the woman was slumped over the steering wheel.
The sergeant contacted the Ontario Provincial Police in Kingsville - about
45 kilometres southeast of Windsor - and requested assistance.
The woman managed to drive the Zamboni off the ice and she was arrested for impaired operation of a motor vehicle. During the arrest the woman was unco-operative with the officers and was found to have a small flask of vodka. She was released on a promise to appear in court in Windsor on Dec. 2 on charges of impaired operation of a motor vehicle, driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol.
Her name has not been released.