Saturday . . .

In 2006, F Cole Penner was the fourth overall selection in the WHL bantam draft. He was seen as a power forward-type of player with potential to the nth degree. . . . Today, the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, who drafted him, would seem to have lost interest in him. He has played in 17 games with the Raiders – 14 in 2007-08 and three last season – and has one goal, one assist and 56 penalty minutes. . . . He played last season with the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits, but they dealt his junior A rights to the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs on Sept. 5. He reported to the Mustangs, took part in training camp then suffered a concussion in the only preseason game he played with them. He went home the next day and thus ended another chapter in Penner’s hockey career. . . . On Tuesday, the Mustangs traded his junior A rights to the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm and GM/head coach Mike Vandekamp promptly flipped those rights to the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials in exchange for D Matt Cumming, an 18-year-old who spent the last two seasons with the Prince George Cougars but was released by the Kamloops Blazers late in training camp. . . . The Centennials are 1-4 this season. They went 1-2 on a three-game season-opening homestand and opened a road swing with an 8-2 loss to the Kings in Powell River on Friday and a 7-2 loss to the Express in Burnaby on Saturday. Penner was not in Merritt's lineup for either game.
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The BCHL’s Cowichan Capitals have signed F Sanfred King, 19, who was the 17th pick in the 2005 WHL bantam draft. He was selected by his hometown Brandon Wheat Kings and played two seasons there but was never able to show an offensive touch. He suffered a badly broken leg last season and was released earlier this month. . . . King had two assists Friday in a 4-3 loss to the Victoria Grizzlies and a goal in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Langley Chiefs on Saturday.
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Going into training camp, the Vancouver Giants at least half-expected F Evander Kane, the fourth overall pick in the NHL’s 2009 draft, to stick with the Atlanta Thrashers. They didn’t expect to lose F James Wright, too. But that’s just what may happen. Wright, who was headed back to Vancouver last week only to be called back by Tampa Bay, has signed a three-year contract with the Lightning. Wright, 19, now is expected to stay with the Lightning at least through nine regular-season NHL games. Wright was a fourth-round selection by the Lightning in the NHL’s 2008 draft.
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The Lightning has returned F Carter Ashton to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He was the 29th overall selection in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
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SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Kelowna, G Adam Brown stopped 23 shots as the Rockets dropped the Kamloops Blazers, 5-0. . . . F Stepan Novotny had two power-play goals and an assist for the Rockets. . . . Kelowna, the WHL’s defending champion, won for the first time this season and now is 1-2-1-0. . . . The Blazers lost for the first time this season and are 3-1-0-0. . . . Attendance was 6,102. . . . The shutout was the first of the season for Brown, a sophomore, and the third of his career. . . . Kelowna held a 49-23 edge in shots. . . . The Rockets were without D Mitchell Chapman (shoulder), F Max Adolph (ankle) and D Tyson Barrie, all of whom were injured in the first period of a 4-1 loss in Kamloops on Friday. While not being specific about Barrie’s injury or injuries, head coach Ryan Huska said Barrie could be gone for a few weeks. Barrie was injured when he got the worst of a shoulder-to-shoulder check by Kamloops F Shayne Wiebe and went awkwardly into the boards.
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In Spokane, F Kyle Beach, in his first game with the Chiefs, scored twice and set up another in a 5-2 home-opening victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Attendance was 9,504. . . . Beach, acquired earlier in the week from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, took a hooking penalty just 46 seconds into the first period and Tri-City D Tyler Schmidt scored on the resulting PP. . . . Beach later scored the Chiefs’ last two goals. . . . Spokane also got goals from F Mitch Wahl and D Jared Cowen, both of whom returned from NHL camps recently. . . . Spokane D Stefan Ulmer set up three goals. . . . The Chiefs, outshot 14-5 in the first period, had a 15-4 edge in the second and a 17-7 edge in the third. . . . Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin had two assists after a four-assist game Friday. Shinnimin, who had 25 points in 64 games last season, has nine points in three games this season. Including last season’s playoffs, however, he has 14 points in as many games, so perhaps we should have seen this coming.
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In Cranbrook, D Mark Isherwood had a goal and two assists and F Emerson Etem had two goals as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the host Kootenay Ice, 4-2. . . . Attendance was 2,668. . . . Medicine Hat D Jace Coyle didn’t earn a point but was plus-3. . . . Medicine Hat GM/head coach Willie Desjardins earned his 300th victory as a WHL head coach. Desjardins put up 10 victories as the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades in the latter part of 1997-98; the other 290 came with the Tigers. He is the 16th coach in WHL history to put up 300 victories. . . . The Tigers learned Saturday that D Tomas Kundratek, who turns 20 on Dec. 26, is on his way back from the NHL’s New York Rangers. His arrival will leave the Tigers with five 20-year-olds, the others being G Ryan Holfeld, Isherwood, F Bretton Cameron and F Colton Grant. Grant was a healthy scratch on Saturday. . . . Bruce Hamilton, the president and general manager, of the Kelowna Rockets and Lorne Frey, the team’s head scout and director of player personnel, were among the spectators.
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In Moose Jaw, G Andrew Hayes stopped 25 shots for his third straight shutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Warriors, 4-0. . . . Hayes started his streak by winning 3-0 in Regina on Sept. 19 and then blanked the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-0 on Friday night. He has pushed his shutout streak to 188 minutes 10 seconds. . . . Hayes has nine career shutouts, second on Brandon’s all-time list. He is one ahead of Jamie Hodson and Glen Hanlon. Only Tyler Plante, with 12, had more shutouts during his Wheat Kings career. . . . Chris Worthy set the WHL consecutive shutout record with four with the Flin Flon Bombers in 1967-68. . . . Worthy also holds the WHL record for longest shutout streak, at 265 minutes 13 seconds. . . . Brandon next plays Friday when it plays host to the Red Deer Rebels. . . . On Saturday, Brandon got a goal and two assists from F Aaron Lewadniuk. . . . Attendance was 2,147. . . . Brandon lost freshman F Jordan DePape when he blocked a first-period shot and didn’t return. Brandon scratched F Mark Stone (hand), who was injured Friday.
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In Prince Albert, the Edmonton Oil Kings won their second road game in as many nights, beating the Raiders, 3-2. . . . Edmonton beat the Blades in Saskatoon, 4-2, on Friday. . . . Edmonton G Torrie Jung stopped 44 shots. . . . Edmonton F Brent Raedeke broke a 2-2 tie at 15:39 of the third period with his fourth goal of the season. . . . F Tomas Vincour, who drew an assist on the winner, finished with a goal and two helpers. . . . Prince Albert F Craig McCallum, who was acquired from Edmonton prior to the season, had a goal and an assist against his former team. . . . Prince Albert G Steven Stanford stopped 24 shots in his first appearance since taking a puck to the neck late in the exhibition season.
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In Swift Current, F Cody Eakin had two goals and two assists as the Broncos dropped the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7-2. . . . F Geordie Wudrick also had two goals for the Broncos. . . . D Reece Scarlett, D Derek Claffey and Eakin each was plus-4. . . . Attendance was 2,066. . . . The Hurricanes, who are halfway through a season-opening eight-game road trip, are 0-4 and have been outscored 26-8.
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In Chilliwack, Prince George beat the Bruins 7-6 in what was the 700th game behind a WHL team’s bench for Cougars’ head coach Dean Clark. . . . The Cougars scored four goals in a five-minute span of the first period and then were forced to hold on for the victory. . . . Prince George F Brett Connolly scored three times, his third goal giving his club a 7-3 edge eight minutes into the third period. . . . Connolly now has 10 goals in nine games against the Bruins. . . . The Bruins lost F David Robinson in the third period after he took a knee from Cougars F Greg Fraser. Robinson left the game, unable to put any weight on his right leg. Fraser was hit with a kneeing major and a game misconduct. . . . Attendance was 2,960.
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In Everett, F Zack Dailey tied the game with a minute left in the third period and the Silvertips went on to beat the Vancouver Giants, 4-3, in a shootout. . . . F J.T. Barnett scored twice for Vancouver, giving him six goals in five games.
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In Portland, G Kurtis Mucha returned to the Winterhawks and stopped 17 shots in a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent. . . . Mucha, who is into his fifth WHL season, had been in camp with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. He was offered a minor-league contract but chose to return to Portland. . . . The Winterhawks broke a 1-1 tie with five third-period goals. . . . The Winterhawks have beaten the Thunderbirds twice this season, outscoring them 11-1 in the process. . . . D Daniel Johnston had two assists and was plus-3 for Portland. . . . Seattle D Stefan Warg was minus-5. . . . Attendance for the Winterhawks’ home-opener was 4,232.