Monday . . .

Mike Johnston, the general manager and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, took a little side trip the other day. With his team on the way to Spokane, he zipped over to Wenatchee, Wash., to watch a game involving the NAHL’s Wild.
Why?
Primarily because he wanted to get a look at Wild G Mac Carruth, 17, who is on Portland’s protected list.
But Johnston also took time to check out the Town Toyota Center, the city’s 4,300-seat arena.
“It was a great atmosphere,” said Johnston, who estimated that attendance was more than 3,000 when he was there. “I really thought it was a good spot. It’s a really nice building and the atmosphere was great.
“I think it’s a fabulous junior hockey facility.”
Johnston added that the arena has corporate suites and they “were all full up top.”
“There also,” he said, “is a nice sitting area with a bar in one end.”
Overall, he said, “I was impressed with it.”
Paul Baxter, a former WHL defenceman, is the Wild’s director of hockey operations and head coach. According to Johnston, who has known Baxter for some time, “Paul really thinks it has great potential.”
I have been told that there is at least one person involved with a WHL team who on more than one occasion has expressed interest in putting a WHL franchise in Wenatchee.
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The Portland Winterhawks revealed Monday that F Oliver Gabriel will miss up to three months with a torn spleen suffered in Friday’s 5-3 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. The Winterhawks said Gabriel is expected to “resume activities” in two months. He apparently was injured on a hit by F Dustin Donaghy, and not D Jared Cowen as was mentioned here earlier.
This would appear to be a similar injury to that suffered by Kamloops Blazers C Dalibor Bortnak, who was hurt on Aug. 25. He isn’t expected back much before Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, Portland F Ty Rattie (broken hand) should return to the lineup this week.
Portland has assigned G Keith Hamilton, 17, to the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials and D David Watt, 18, to the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. Hamilton was a second-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, while Watt was taken in the fifth round of the 2006 draft.
Hamilton’s departure leaves Portland with two goaltenders — Kurtis Mucha, 20, and Ian Curtis, 19.
All of this leaves Portland with 25 players on its roster. That is the WHL maximum prior to its Oct. 10 deadline.
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F Alex Poulter played four seasons in the WHL — two with the Red Deer Rebels and two with the Prince George Cougars. Poulter, who is from Broomfield, Colo., and turns 20 on Nov. 7, was claimed on waivers by the Everett Silvertips in the offseason and went to camp with them. However, he was released — the Silvertips had five 20-year-olds at the time — and joined the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.
He played in his first game, an exhibition assignment, with the Lancers about 10 days ago and, unfortunately, was injured.
His father, Don, writes: “Alex suffered an L2 and L3 compression fracture of his back after falling in to the boards. He is recovering well and hopes to be able to begin playing again prior to late November.”
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The Prince Albert Raiders, having traded away one goaltender and dealt for another on Monday morning, reassigned another goaltender later in the day.
With Steven Stanford, 19, on his way to the Saskatoon Blades and Dalyn Flette, 19, on his way from Brandon, the Raiders chose to assign Jacob Edwards, 17, to the AJHL’s Calgary Royals. Edwards, who is from Calgary, was a sixth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft.
What it all means is that Garrett Zemlak, 20, is the Raiders’ No. 1 goaltender, with Flette as his backup.
The Raiders are expected to have D Brendon Wall in their lineup Tuesday against the visiting Kootenay Ice. Wall, 19, was acquired from Saskatoon in the Sanford deal, as was D Tyler Yaworski, 17. Yaworski has been with the midget AAA Sherwood Park, Alta., Kings. He is expected to join the Raiders and get in a few practices before he plays.
After Tuesday, the Raiders head into the U.S. Division, where they open against the Chiefs in Spokane on Friday.
The Blades, having acquired Stanford to complement sophomore Adam Morrison, 18, will move G Chris Sharkey, 17, to either the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder or the midget AAA Edmonton CAC Canadians.
And, if you’re wondering, the Blades and Raiders are scheduled to face each other seven more times this season.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers will be without F John Stampohar, 19, for four games after he was suspended Monday by the WHL office. Stampohar took an interference major in the Tigers’ 4-3 shootout victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday.
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Rob Vanstone, the sports columnist at the Regina Leader-Post, has a piece in Tuesday’s paper on the impact of F Jordan Eberle on the Regina Pats. In putting the piece together, Vanstone chatted with Pats head coach Curtis Hunt, who described his club’s reversal in fortune like this: “There's a reason why mothers have multiple children — because the body forgets the pain. It’s similar in hockey. If you work your
tails off and you get a lead, you forget all the pain and sacrifice.”
Regina lost four of five games while Eberle was in the camp of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. The Pats are 3-0 since Eberle’s return.
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The ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings have released three players with WHL ties. F Curtis Billsten, F Brady Leavold and F David Rutherford all were placed on waivers Monday.
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Someone asked about F Mitch Czibere, who lost out in the 20-year-old numbers game with the Regina Pats. Czibere has signed with the Manitoba junior league’s Dauphin Kings. That means he’ll be playing in May as the Kings are the host team for the 2010 Royal Bank Cup. . . . It’ll be a hot May in Manitoba, what with the RBC in Dauphin and the Memorial Cup just south on Highway No. 10 in Brandon.