Sunday . . .

The Kamloops Blazers’ decision to drop one 20-year-old goaltender and add another has a lot of fans wondering: Why?
Those same folks also are wondering: What’s next?
If you missed it, the Blazers have acquired Kurtis Mucha from the Portland Winterhawks for a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick. At the same time, Blazers general manager Craig Bonner said the decision was made to place Justin Leclerc on waivers.
While some people seem to think that this is trading one orange for another, there are others who feel it’s an apple for an orange.
What it seems to be, more than anything else, is a warning shot across the bow of the remaining veteran players (read: 19- and 20-year-olds) in the Blazers’ dressing room.
Because if the Blazers continue to stumble around they way they have been -- they are 3-11-0-1 in their last 15, 1-4-0-1 in their last six, 1-7-0-1 in their last nine on the road -- there will be more changes.
There were two telling quotes from Kamloops management people after the acquisition of Mucha was announced.
Bonner told me: “Everything I know about Kurtis Mucha is that he is a real good person who will add a lot of character to our dressing room. Our leadership group could be strengthened.”
It would seem that Kamloops management is of the opinion that its team is a tad shy in the leadership department.
And then there was this from interim head coach Scott Ferguson: “I think it’s more that (management) wants to get a response from the team. When we took over we all weren’t really happy with the way the guys responded right away. So this was an area they wanted to address.”
Bonner fired sophomore head coach Barry Smith on Oct. 26. At that point, the Blazers, having just lost the last five games of an East Division swing, were 8-7-2-0.
The Blazers go into this week at 11-13-2-1, meaning they are 3-6-0-1 since the coaching change.
At one time, the Blazers were 7-1-2-0 and riding high atop the Western Conference. Even then, however, they were giving up far too many shots, something that continues to plague them.
That, of course, won’t bring a smile to Mucha’s face. After all, he has seen more rubber than roadkill over the last three seasons.
But it would seem that Bonner now is prepared to deal with the situation as he deems best. And you get the feeling that while he may bring in a coach, he won’t be shipping another one out of town.
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In Portland, meanwhile, the Winterhawks are left with Ian Curtis, 19, and Mac Carruth, 17, as their goaltenders, at least for now.
Having dealt G Kurtis Mucha, 20, to Kamloops for a draft pick, the Winterhawks now have room to add a 20-year-old.
All of which makes one wonder how many recent conversations Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, has had with Mark Lamb, the GM/head coach of the Swift Current Broncos?
The Broncos have four fine 20-year-olds on their roster in D Derek Claffey, D Eric Doyle, F Michael Stickland and F Matt Tassone. Tassone is back practising after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
One of these days, the Broncos will make a move to get down to the mandated maximum of three 20-year-olds. Portland now has room for one such player, should Johnston choose to go in that direction.
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The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers have recalled G Devan Dubnyk (Kamloops, 2001-06) from the AHL’s Springfield Falcons. Dubnyk is expected to be with the Oilers for Monday night’s game against the visiting Phoenix Coyotes. . . . From a Falcons’ press release:
“Dubnyk has started 18 of Springfield's 20 games this season, posting a 9-8-1 record with a 2.77 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The 6-foot-5, 194-pound native of Calgary had started the Falcons' previous 10 games prior to his recall to Edmonton.
“Dubnyk continues to lead the AHL in minutes played (1,081) and saves (608) this season. During the 2008-09 campaign in Springfield, he set Falcons franchise records for appearances by a goaltender (62) and minutes played (3,635).
“Dubnyk is in his fourth professional season. He was drafted by the Oilers in the first round (14th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.”
The Oilers need a goaltender to serve alongside Jeff Deslauriers as veteran Nikolai Khabibulin has a wonky back.
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Torrie Jung, the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 20-year-old goaltender, spent Saturday night sitting on the bench as the Edmonton Oilers’ backup goaltender. The Edmonton Sun has a story right here.
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Steve Hunter of the Kent, Wash., Reporter has a story right here on concerns over financial losses being incurred by the ShoWare Center, the home of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds.
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SUNDAY:
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored three times on the PP and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-1. . . . The Tigers (15-9-2-3), who have won four in a row, were 3-for-4 on the PP. . . . The Rebels are 12-13-0-0. . . . Freshman F Emerson Etem scored twice and added an assist for the Tigers. He has 19 goals this season. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 38 shots, beaten only by freshman F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who got his 13th on a third-period PP with the Tigers leading 3-0. . . . Red Deer was 1-for-4 on the PP. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . And by the looks of the stat sheet, there was one of those multiple-fight situations, this one at game’s end. More ch-ch-ching for the WHL office just as the Christmas shopping season begins.
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In Calgary, F Kyle Beach had a goal and an assist to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . The Hitmen took a 2-1 lead on F Joel Broda’s 11th goal, on the PP, at 7:08 of the third period. . . . Spokane F Mitch Wahl tied it with his eighth at 17:23 and F Tyler Johnson broke the tie just 34 seconds later. . . . Calgary (19-8-0-0) was 2-for-7 on the PP; Spokane (14-8-1-0) was 0-for-4. . . . Attendance was 8,000. . . . F Brandon Kozun, the WHL scoring leader, picked up one assist. He has 47 points, one more than Regina Pats F Jordan Eberle. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 25 shots, eight more than Calgary’s Martin Jones.
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In Edmonton, F Brandon’s Herrod goal at 1:49 of overtime gave the Prince Albert Raiders a 5-4 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton (8-13-3-4) forced OT when F Michael Burns scored his fourth goal of the season at 18:42 of the third with G Torrie Jung on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Herrod has 12 goals this season. . . . The Oil Kings led this one 3-1 at 10:47 of the second period, but the Raiders scored the game’s next three goals. . . . F Igor Revenko got his 17th of the season for the Raiders (13-12-1-2). . . . The Raiders got five points from their four Edmonton-born players -- D Jordan Rowley had a goal, F Jordan Kochan had two assists, and F Mark McNeill and D Ryan Button each had one helper. . . . Prince Albert G Garrett Zemlak stopped 34 shots, while Jung turned aside 29. . . . Attendance was 4,763. . . . “"We lost the first shift of the game, we lost the first shift of second period and we came out dead flat to start the third," Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau said on the team’s website. "That is unacceptable and it's going to get us on the ice and working hard (Monday)."