Early (very early) Thursday . . .

WEDNESDAY LEFTOVERS: LW Drayson Bowman of the Spokane Chiefs scored four goals in a 5-2 victory over the Blazers in Kamloops. In four games against the Blazers this season, Bowman scored seven goals and set up five others. The Chiefs won three of four from the Blazers; in the three victories, Bowman had seven goals and four assists. He had one assist in the loss. . . . A tip of the hat to the two head coaches involved in that game. Hardy Sauter of the Chiefs put right-winger Brady Calla in the starting lineup; Kamloops’ Barry Smith countered by putting C Seth Compton out there. On Jan. 7, the Chiefs dealt Compton, 20, and a 2010 third-round bantam draft pick to Kamloops for Calla, 20. . . . Calla must think he has died and gone to major junior hockey heaven. Since arriving in Spokane, he has been playing on a line with Bowman and C Ondrej Roman. . . . The Chiefs are hanging in there despite a horrible run of injuries. Already without D Jared Cowen, whose season has been ended by a knee injury, and D Stefan Ulmer (concussion), they lost D Trevor Glass in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury. . . . Kamloops lost D Brandon Underwood at 13:08 of the third period after a knee-to-knee with Spokane F Levko Koper. Referees Steve Papp and Brett Iverson must have missed it because Koper should have been giving a kneeing minor. Kamloops F Brendan Ranford immediately instigated a scrap with Koper. The zebras missed that, too, as Ranford didn’t get an instigating penalty. Underwood is just back after sitting out since early January with a broken thumb.
Saskatoon G Adam Morrison suffered a shoulder injury in practice Monday and wasn’t dressed for the Blades’ 8-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Blades had Braden Redman, an 18-year-old from Edmonton, backing up Braden Holtby. Redman last played with the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Redman isn’t a listed player and is being used as an emergency backup, meaning he only will play if Holtby is injured. Morrison is expected to miss at least two more games; the Blades meet the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday and Saturday. . . . Former Red Deer Rebels C Brandon Sutter scored his first AHL goal as the visiting Albany River Rats won 3-2 in a shootout over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Sutter was sent down by the parent Carolina Hurricanes on a conditioning assignment earlier in the week. Former Kamloops/Seattle D Benn Olson drew an assist for Albany in what was the River Rats’ first game since they were involved in a near-tragic bus accident in the wee hours of Feb. 19.
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If you are a reader of the Transactions that appear daily on the agate page of most newspapers, you may have noticed that former WHL coach Lane Lambert has taken a leave of absence from his job as head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.
Lambert, a former head coach of the Prince George Cougars, is taking time away from the Admirals, the top affiliate of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, to be with his wife, Andie, who had cancer surgery Tuesday in Cleveland.
Jim Swanson of the Prince George Citizen reports that Andie underwent “a four-and-a-half hour surgical procedure to remove cancerous tissues from here chest.”
Lane told Swanson: “It’s not breast cancer but it does form in the breast tissue – it’s kind of complicated. The plan was to have her in hospital for at least a week, but with what
happened (Tuesday) she doesn’t have to be in there quite as long now, maybe
three days. She was going to have to stay in Cleveland for up to three weeks
but it doesn’t look like that was going to happen, so that’s very good. The
operation was supposed to last eight hours, so it was over relatively fast.”
Andie has had a couple of earlier scraps with cancer, and this time she is to undergo radiation, something she has been able to avoid in the past.
“They’re pulling out all the stops this time, and they’ll try anything,” Lane told Swanson.
The Admirals were 36-14-3-3 and atop the AHL’s Western Conference when Lambert left. With former Kootenay Ice assistant Brad Lauer serving as head coach, they lost 4-2 to the visiting Manitoba Moose on Tuesday.
The Admirals are to play three-in-three this weekend and Lambert hopes to be back with his team sometime during that stretch.
In the meantime, you can bet the entire hockey world has Andie in its thoughts.