Thursday . . .

The 2010 Ford World women’s curling championship will be held in Swift Current, March 20-29, which means the Broncos won’t have access to their home arena during that stretch. In fact, when you include a couple of days beforehand and a day for teardown afterwards, the Broncos will be out of their arena for about two weeks. And that happens just as the WHL playoffs get started. Assuming, that is, that the Broncos are in the playoffs.
Anyway . . .
Dean Chynoweth, the Broncos’ GM and head coach, told play-by-play man Jon Keen:
"From my standpoint, I'm extremely disappointed with the lack of communication with the City who is a partner of ours with this renovation that they have made come to fruition. Playoff time is a critical time for our hockey club. I know the league is not happy with it . . . and neither am I."
On the assumption that the Broncos will make the playoffs, any community interested in playing host to WHL first-round playoff games should contact Joe Arling, the chairman of the Broncos’ board of directors. Wenatchee Broncos anyone?
This entire situation has generated a whole lot of chatter in Speedy Creek. For more, surf on over to Keen’s Korner (there’s a link over there on the left) and read all about it.
It would seem this is going to be a warm winter on the Saskatchewan Prairie, what with Swift Current embroiled in this situation, the good folks of Moose Jaw all aflutter over whether to build and keep the Warriors or not to build and lose the Warriors, and Reginans wondering how much longer the Hatfields and McCoys, err, the Parkers and the exhibition board will go on feuding before the whole thing blows up in somebody’s face.
Meanwhile, in Vancouver, the Giants will be out of the Pacific Coliseum for a couple of months next season. That’s right — a couple of months! With the 2010 Olympic Winter Games scheduled for Vancouver/Whistler, the Giants expect to be homeless from early January to early March.
One can expect the Giants to have to find a home for as many as 10 games, which is how many home games they are scheduled to play this season in January and February.
Steve Ewen reported in Thursday’s Vancouver Province that Giants majority owner Ron Toigo visited Langley on Monday to take a look at the Events Centre that is being built with a completion date of early 2009.
Toigo told Ewen that the Abbotsford Entertainment Sports Centre, which also has a completion date of early 2009, is under consideration.
But especially intriguing was Toigo telling Ewen that, yes, the Giants might even play home games in Victoria.
The Giants aren’t complaining about being out of the Coliseum because they know that their facility is going to benefit from being home to Olympic events and the Giants will see the benefits of upgrades for years to come.
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If you’re a fan of the Kamloops Blazers and are wondering how G Devan Dubnyk is doing with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, you can check it out right here.
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JUST NOTES: Former WHLer Ken Petkau played the first game of the Battle River Hockey League season with the Tofield Satellites and then, according to a team official, "left the team." . . . LW Curtis Hamilton (knee) is back skating with the Saskatoon Blades. He has been out since Oct. 15. He has been slowed by illness the last couple of days so may not play against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday. . . . You have to think there will be a few NHL scouts in ’Toontown for that one, what with the game featuring Brandon forwards Brayden Schenn and Scott Glennie, along with Saskatoon D Stefan Elliott and RW Burke Gallimore. . . . The Red Deer Rebels have named D Colin Archer, 18, as their captain. Head coach Jesse Wallin wanted to be certain that C Brandon Sutter, 19, wasn’t returning from the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes before naming a captain. Sutter was the team’s captain last season. . . . The Prince George Cougars are preparing for a home-ice doubleheader with the Kelowna Rockets, who visit Friday and Saturday nights. Here’s Jim Swanson, the sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, highlighting the Cougars’ inconsistent play: “C Parker Stanfield is plus-5, D Colin Scherger is plus-9 — outside of that, the plus-minus numbers are largely painful. Tyrell and D Art Bidlevskii are both minus-16, Cody Hobbs is minus-14, and Cameron Cepek is minus-10 despite 16 points in 22 games. And, no, it’s not possible to pin it on Kalvin Sagert or Garrett Thiessen anymore.” . . . The Portland Winter Hawks will be without F Tayler Jordan when they visit the Everett Silvertips on Friday. Jordan has been suspended for one game for a cross-check on Everett F Kyle Beach during a Wednesday game. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders have returned F Cole Penner to the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits after a quick look-see. Penner was the fourth overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft. . . . The Regina Pats have claimed D Scott Gabriel, 20, off waivers from Portland. Gabriel, 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, will play Friday against the Broncos in Swift Current if he can make the travel connections. He joins D Victor Bartley and F Michael MacAngus as Regina’s 20-year-old players. . . . Gabriel, in his fourth WHL season, had 244 penalty minutes to go with six points in 60 games last season. He also served nine games worth of suspensions. . . . He lost out in Portland when the new regime began an immediate youth movement. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have dealt D Pat Kozyra, 19, and a 2009 sixth-round bantam draft pick to the Prince Albert Raiders for two draft picks — a fifth-rounder in 2009 and a 2010 sixth-rounder. Kozyra, who also has played with the Spokane Chiefs and Red Deer Rebels, should be in the Raiders’ lineup when they meet the Hitmen in Calgary on Friday. He had nine assists and was plus-6 in 26 games with the Tigers this season. . . . When Brandon plays host to the Kootenay Ice on Friday, Wheat Kings D Keith Aulie will be playing in his 200th regular-season game. . . . The Chilliwack Bruins have dropped D Alexander Grill-Donovan, whom they acquired from Brandon last month for a conditional draft pick. He didn’t get into 10 games with the Bruins so the pick goes back to Chilliwack. Grill-Donovan, 18, has gone home to Calgary and is hoping to land with a spot with a junior A team.