Thursday's stuff . . .

TRAVERSE CITY REPORT: F Evander Kane (Vancouver) scored two goals in regulation and one in the shootout as the Atlanta Thrashers scored a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Kane scored a PP goal in the first period, then tied the game at 19:51 of the third period with the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . D Brent Regner (Vancouver) had two goals for Atlanta. . . . F Levko Koper (Spokane) scored the shootout winner for Atlanta. . . . The Detroit Red Wings got goals from F Mitchell Callahan (Kelowna) and F Landon Ferraro (Red Deer) as they beat the Dallas Stars, 4-1. F Jamie Benn (Kelowna) scored for Dallas. . . . The New York Rangers got a goal from F Luke Walker (Portland) in a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues. F Tyler Shattock (Kamloops) and F Brett Sonne (Calgary) had goals for the Blues. . . . G Darcy Kuemper (Red Deer) stopped 19 shots as his Minnesota Wild dropped a 4-1 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Kane and F Matt Calvert (Brandon), who played for Columbus, led the tournament in goals, with five each. Calvert also tied for the lead in points, with seven. . . . Walker had five points, including three goals.
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With prospects’ camps now wrapping up, players will begin trickling back to their major junior teams. The San Jose Sharks assigned F Marek Viedensky, a seventh-round pick in the NHL’s 2009 draft, to the Prince George Cougars, while releasing and returning F Rigby Burgart to the Calgary Hitmen, D Brodie Melnychuk to the Brandon Wheat Kings and F C.J. Stretch to the Kamloops Blazers.
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In El Segundo, Calif., F Brayden Schenn (Brandon) had two goals and an assist as his Los Angeles Kings dumped the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-0.
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D Kyle Verdino of the Kelowna Rockets is back skating for the first time since June when he was involved an ugly car accident in Phoenix, which happens to be his hometown. “I was driving to the gym at 7:30 in the morning and a 25-year-old woman, who was texting and driving at the same time, ran into me in the intersection,” Verdino told Warren Henderson of the Kelowna Capital News. “I had surgery that day, they put two screws in my hand and one in my ankle. It was pretty depressing at first, it really put a damper on things. It was a bad way to get hurt, and not to be able to do what I love to do.” Verdino, who turns 18 on Oct. 27, spent five weeks in a wheelchair. He knows that he is nowhere near ready to return to game action, but hopes to get there in a few weeks. . . . Henderson’s story is right here.
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F Evan Bloodoff of the Kelowna Rockets will be gone for up to six months. Bloodoff, who is to turn 19 on Nov. 21, needs surgery to repair a knee injury suffered in last spring's WHL final. He went to the Phoenix Coyotes' camp but couldn't get medical clearance to play. The Coyotes selected him in the sixth round of the NHL's 2009 draft after his third season in Kelowna. He had 21 points and 77 penalty minutes in 71 games last season.
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F Shay Stephenson (Red Deer, 2000-04) has signed with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers. Stephenson, 26, is a fifth-year pro who played last season with the Krefeld Penguins in the German DEL. He had 20 points in 50 games.
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Michael Dyck, whose contract as head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes wasn’t renewed after last season, has signed on as an assistant coach with the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns. He’ll work with head coach Greg Gatto who, like Dyck, also played in the WHL.
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TRI-CITY TOURNAMENT: F Paul Van de Velde scored three times Thursday as the Everett Silvertips dumped the Spokane Chiefs, 5-2. . . . F Shane Harper assisted on each of Van de Velde’s goals. . . . Talk about a tough schedule! The Silvertips meet the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday at 2 p.m. . . . In Friday’s other game, the Chiefs meet the host Americans at 7:05 p.m. . . . In their continuing efforts to be fan friendly, the Americans included all of their preseason games for free in their season-ticket packages.
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The Kootenay Ice got their roster down to 28 by releasing two players on Tuedsay. . . . F Jordan Bauer, 18, of Edmonton and F Bryton Mills, 17, of Stony Plain, Alta., both are expected to play in the AJHL. . . . The Ice’s roster includes three goaltenders and 10 defencemen.
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D Benn Olson (Kamloops, Seattle, 2004-08) has re-signed with the AHL’s Albany River Rats. Olson, 22, had four assists in 36 games with the River Rats last season.
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The LeBlanc brothers, Derek and Devon, both played in the WHL and both have signed with the Central league’s Rapid City Rush. And there’s a story right here from the Rapid City Journal that deals with the brother act. . . . Because this is my blog, I can tell you that I owned their uncle, Sheldon, who was something of a goaltender in the senior ranks in Lynn Lake, Man., back in the day. (Actually, we were on the same team most of the time, but I owned him in practice.)
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F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan of the Kelowna Rockets was on the Detroit Red Wings team that played in the prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich. How did he do? Check it out right here.
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F Shawn Limpright (Moose Jaw, 1998-2002) has signed with the Central league’s Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. Limpright, 28, is heading into his eighth pro season. He spent the last five with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers, where he averaged 37 points and 125 penalty minutes per season.
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The Chilliwack Bruins appear ready to go into the regular season with two veteran goaltenders — Mark Friesen, 19, and Lucas Gore, who turns 19 on Oct. 22. . . . One school of thought had the Bruins keeping G Cole Holowenko, the 29th overall selection in the 2008 bantam draft, to back up either Friesen or Gore. However, Holowenko, 16, has been assigned to the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials . . . at least for now.
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun is reporting that Finnish F Toni Rajala has been checked out by the Edmonton Oilers’ medical staff and is saying that he will be out for up to three weeks. Rajala, picked by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2009 CHL import draft, injured a knee over the summer and went right to the Oilers’ camp before reporting to Brandon. The Oilers grabbed his rights in the NHL’s 2009 draft.