Monday . . .

Something left over from Sunday: The Los Angeles Kings assigned F Oscar Moller, 19, to the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs on a conditioning assignment. His WHL rights belong to the Seattle Thunderbirds, who acquired them from the Chilliwack Bruins on Jan. 10. Moller returned to the Kings from the World Junior Championship — he played for Sweden — with a broken clavicle and has played just one game since then. . . . L.A. head coach Terry Murray told the L.A. Times on Saturday that “Moller would have to play on the top two lines to stay with the Kings, and he didn't want to disrupt his line combinations to make room for him.” . . . Moller is able to stay on his conditioning stint for two weeks before the Kings are required to make a decision on his immediate future.
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As February rounds the turn and heads for March, more and more minor hockey teams are having their seasons end. Which means some WHL teams will be adding players to their rosters. . . . The Saskatoon Blades have done just that with LW Jamie Crooks, a ninth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft. He won the Alberta Midget Hockey League scoring title with 63 points, including 35 goals, in 31 games for the midget AAA Lloydminster Bobcats. However, they didn‚t make the playoffs so he is free to join the Blades.
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A team of Canadian university hockey players left Monday for Harbin, China, and the 27th Winter Universiade that begins Wednesday. The roster is full of players who are products of the WHL. That roster is right here.
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JUST NOTES: No one is hotter these days than Saskatoon Blades F Walker Wintoneak. Going into Tuesday’s game against the Rebels in Red Deer, he has 11 goals over his last 11 games. . . . When Spokane beat the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings 11-2 on Saturday, the Chiefs reported that the franchise record for goals in a game was 16 and that it was from a 16-7 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Jan. 30, 2008. That should have read Jan. 30, 1988. . . . The Regina Pats scratched F Matt Robertson from Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Calgary Hitmen due to a curfew violation. . . . The Chilliwack Bruins have changed the starting time for Sunday’s game with the visiting Kelowna Rockets. In order to accommodate — you guessed it! — TV, the game now will start at 4 p.m., rather than 5 p.m. . . . Drew Schoneck, who is being paid not to coach by the Prince George Cougars, rode shotgun with play-by-play man Craig West when the Tri-City Americans played host to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Feb. 8. Do you think Schoneck might provide some analysis tonight when the Cougars meet the Americans in Kennewick, Wash.?
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The night of Feb. 27 is shaping up as a special one for the Kootenay Ice and its fans in Cranbrook. The Ice will play host to the Regina Pats that night and also will be auctioning off their game-worn jerseys after the game. Fans will be able to place bids during the game, with winning bidders meeting players after the game. Sweaters will be turned over following the conclusion of the playoffs. Proceeds from the auction go to the Ice’s scholarship fund. . . . Also that night, the city of Cranbrook will honour the memory of the late Ed Chynoweth, the longtime WHL president who was the Ice’s majority owner at the time of his death last spring, with a presentation and banner unveiling.
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In Monday’s only game, the host Portland Winter Hawks built a 3-0 lead and hung on to beat the Kelowna Rockets, 4-3. . . . F Colin Reddin got Portland rolling at 2:43 of the first period. F Luke Walker added his 20th and 21st goals, both on the PP, in the last minute of the second and the first minute of the third. . . . F Sawyer Mick’s fifth goal, at 5:29 of the third, stood up as the winner. It gave the Winter Hawks a 4-1 lead. . . . LW Jamie Benn scored Kelowna’s three goals, all in the third period. It was his third three-goal game this season. He has 39 goals this season. . . . Portland is 2-0-0-1 against the Rockets this season. . . . G Kurtis Mucha stopped 39 shots for the Winter Hawks.