Tuesday . . .

One small trade from Monday as the Prince Albert Raiders dealt F Brendan Persley to Chilliwack for a 13th-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. Persley,a 16-year-old from Kelowna, was an eighth-round pick in the 2008 draft. He has 25 points in 18 games with the junior B Penticton Lakers of the Kootenay International junior league. . . . This is the second such deal this season between the Raiders and Bruins. Earlier, the Raiders sent the rights to F Cole Penner, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, to the Bruins for a 12th-round pick in the 2010 draft.
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The Prince Albert Raiders would love to have Czech D Tomas Voracek, 19, rejoin them. But it doesn’t sound as though that is likely to happen. Voracek spent 2007-08 with the Raiders but left two games into the following season to be with his ailing mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer and was at home in Ostrava. She died earlier this month. Voraceck, who now is with the Czech team at the World Junior Championship, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that he would love to return to the WHL but that he is under contract to a men’s team, HC Vitkovice of the Czech Extraliga. “I’ve been in touch with the coach of the Raiders but I still have a contract back home so I don’t think it’s possible to get back in here,” Voracek told Harder. “I would like to get back in here but I made the men’s team back home so I want to play there probably.”
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G Todd Ford (Swift Current, Prince George, Vancouver, 2000-04) has been recalled by the AHL’s Texas Stars from the ECHL’s Carolina Stingrays. Ford, 26, was 16-6-1 with a 2.88 GAA and a .910 save percentage with the Stingrays. He was first in the ECHL in wins, saves and minutes played.
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Vancouver D Kevin Connauton is one goal shy of a franchise record as the Giants prepare to play host to the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday night. Connauton, the Giants’ triggerman from the point on the PP, has 17 goals. The franchise record of 18 goals in a season by a defenceman was set by Jon Blum in 2007-08. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that Connauton attempted 17 shots, and had nine shots on goal, during Monday’s 6-3 victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. He didn’t score, but he ended up with three assists. . . . Connauton leads WHL defencemen in goals and points (42).
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Click on the link right here and scroll down to No. 5 to see what Scott Burnside of espn.com thinks of the World Junior Championship. Despite the TSN hype, more and more people seem to be feeling the way Burnside does.
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Bruce Hamilton, the president and GM of the Kelowna Rockets, once had the hardest shot in the WHL. That’s what one actor claims. You can read about it right here.
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G Ian Curtis of the Portland Winterhawks has unveiled a new look to his mask. And there is an interesting story behind it all. That story is right here. . . . Interestingly, G Kurtis Mucha, whom the Winterhawks dealt to the Kamloops Blazers in November, continues to wear his old Portland gear. You don’t suppose he is waiting to see if anything happens by Jan. 10, do you?
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The Kamloops Blazers will have F Brendan Ranford available when they meet the Rockets in Kelowna on Wednesday night. Kamloops GM Craig Bonner confirmed Tuesday night that Ranford wouldn’t be suspended by the WHL for a charging major he incurred during Monday’s 6-3 loss to the Giants in Vancouver.
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The Saskatoon Blades, who are about to begin a U.S. Division tour, have added three players to their roster -- F Ryan Olsen of Delta, B.C., D Darren Dietz of Medicine Hat and D Zane Morin of Meadow Lake, Sask. . . . Olsen, the 20th overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will join the Blades from the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians. He has 28 points in 25 games. . . . Dietz, a list player, players for the midget AAA Lethbridge Y’s Men’s Titans. He had 11 points and 54 penalty mintues in 21 games through Dec. 11. . . . Morin, an eighth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, has 14 points in 27 games with the midget AAA Beardy’s Blackhawks. . . . The Blades open the swing Wednesday against the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent.
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TUESDAY:
In Calgary, F Tyler Fiddler’s shorthanded goal in the third period stood up as the winner as the Hitmen edged the Regina Pats, 4-3. . . . The Htimen (27-10-1-1) had lost two in a row. They are 3-0 against the Pats and have outscored Regina 12-4. . . . The Pats (16-22-3-0) have lost eight in a row. . . . Fiddler’s goal, at 3:22 of the third period, gave Calgary a 4-2 lead. . . . Fiddler has 19 goals. He had three goals in 64 games last season. . . F Matt Strueby had two goals for Regina. He has 25 goals on the season. . . . Attendance was 8,845.
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In Chilliwack, F Ryan Howse tied a franchise record to help the Bruins to a 6-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Howse scored his 29th goal of the season on the PP at 12:20 of the first period. It was his 71st goal with the Bruins and he now shares the franchise goal-scoring record with Oscar Moller. . . . Howse’s goal also moved him into a tie for the WHL goal-scoring lead. He and F Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats have 29 apiece. . . . D Brandon Manning drew four assists for the Bruins, including one on each of three first-period goals. . . . The Bruins were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Cougars were 0-for-4. . . . The Bruins (17-17-1-5) have won four of their last five games. . . . The Cougars (7-28-1-1) have lost four of five. . . . F Steven Hodges, Chilliwack’s first pick, ninth overall, in the 2009 bantam draft, made his WHL debut and earned an assist on his club’s last goal. . . . Hodges plays for the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 14 shots. . . . It was the second time in two games that the Cougars managed just 15 shots. They also did that in a 6-1 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Sunday. . . . Attendance was 3,174.
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In Edmonton, F Carter Bancks’ shootout goal gave the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Bancks, the Hurricanes’ third shooter, was the only skater to score in the shootout. . . . The Hurricanes (11-21-3-1) snapped a four-game losing streak. . . . The Oil Kings are 10-20-4-5. . . . Lethbridge took a 1-0 lead on F Brent Henke’s sixth goal, on the PP, at 12:43 of the second. . . . The Oil Kings tied it when D Mark Pysyk got his seventh, also on the PP, at 17:33 of the third. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 29 shots, while Edmonton’s Torrie Jung turned aside 26. . . . Attendance was 4,104. . . . Lethbridge was without F Max Ross (broken fibula), F Ryan Moser (groin) and F Neil Tarnasky (ill), so dressed F Adam Henry, a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, and F Jordan Baillie, a sixth-round pick in 2008.
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In Cranbrook, B.C., F Max Reinhart and F Dustin Sylvester had shootout goals as the Kootenay Ice dropped the Red Deer Rebels, 5-4. . . . The Rebels, down 4-2, forced OT with a goal by F John Persson at 19:11 of the second period and another by F Landon Ferraro at 16:33 of the third. . . . Ferraro, returning from a lengthy absence thanks to a knee problem, scored twice. He has six goals. . . . He and F Willie Coetzee were stymied in the shootout, though. . . . Ice G Todd Mathews stopped 25 shots. . . . Red Deer started G Kraymer Barnstable, who stopped 10 of 13 shots and left after Ice D Jagger Dirk scored his first WHL goal at 6:22 of the second period for a 3-1 lead. . . . Darcy Kuemper came on to stop 13 of 14. . . . Sylvester also had two assists. . . . Red Deer D Colin Archer drew assists on his club’s last two goals. Coetzee also had two helpers. . . . The Ice (21-15-1-2) has won five in a row. . . . The Rebels (19-15-0-3) had won their previous two games. . . . Attendance was 2,811.
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In Moose Jaw, F Thomas Frazee scored twice to lead the Warriors to a 6-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Frazee has 11 goals for the Warriors (18-15-1-2), who have won just three of their last 13 games. . . . The Warriors led 2-0 and 4-1 at the breaks, but the Raiders (20-17-1-2) cut the deficit to one with early third-period goals from F Brandon Herrod (0:23) and D Jordan Rowley (1:05). . . . Frazee put it away with a PP goal at 12:24. . . . Moose Jaw F Jason Bast, who had missed 12 games recovering from facial injuries, had two assists in his first game back. . . . The Raiders were without D Ryan Button (flu). The did have F Mark Mackenzie, a list player, in the lineup. He plays for the junior B Chase, B.C., Chiefs. . . . Attendance was 2,354. . . . There’s a rematch Wednesday in P.A. . . . The Raiders are without F Igor Revenko, who has a stress fracture in his jaw that is about three weeks old. He is likely to sit for about 10 days. Despite the injury, Revenko, who has 39 points in 33 games, played for Belarus in the Group B World Junior Championship in Poland a couple of weeks ago.
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In Portland, F Ryan Johansen broke a 3-3 tie at 17:47 of the third period and the Winterhawks hung on to beat the Spokane Chiefs, 4-3. . . . It was the first time in seven games between the teams that the home team had won. Portland (24-15-0-1) holds a 5-2 edge in the series, having won four times in Spokane. . . . The game, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, got underway around 8:50 as the Chiefs and on-ice officials ran into weather and traffic-related problems in getting to the game. . . . Jason Nissen was scheduled to be the referee but wasn’t able to get there, so Brian Fortin, a veteran Portland-based linesman, made his debut as a WHL referee. . . . Johansen scored twice and also had an assist. He has 14 goals this season. . . . F Oliver Gabriel scored his first goal of the season in his ninth game. He has missed a lot of time with injuries. . . . F Brad Ross had his 18th goal and three assists for Portland, which led 3-1 after two. . . . F Blake Gal, with his sixth, and F Kyle Beach, with his second of the game and 26th of the season, pulled Spokane even. Beach’s goal came at 11:16 of the third. . . . The Chiefs (21-12-0-3) have lost four in a row. . . . Portland G Ian Curtis stopped 30 shots, while Spokane’s James Reid turned aside 37. . . . Attendance was 4,333 although perhaps 1,000 people made it through the weather.
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In Kennewick, Wash., Russian G Alex Pechurskiy stopped 28 shots in his WHL debut as the Tri-City Americans beat the visiting Everett Silvertips, 1-0. . . . Pechurskiy, from Magnitogorsk, Russia, was selected by the Americans in the CHL’s 2009 import draft. He had planned on playing in the Continental Hockey League this season but found himself getting little playing time. He and the Americans were able to arrange for his international release and he joined them during the Christmas break. . . . F Johnny Lazo scored the game’s only goal, on the PP at 19:58 of the second period. It was his 22nd goal of the season. . . . This was Tri-City’s WHL-high sixth shutout of the season -- Drew Owsley has four and Brett Martyniuk has one. . . . The Americans have put up shutouts in three of their last four games. . . . Everett has been blanked a WHL-leading five times. . . . Everett G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 39 shots. . . . The Americans (28-9-0-0) have won six in a row and are tied for first overall with the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Silvertips, who lost 6-3 to the visiting Ams on Sunday, are 19-15-2-1. . . . Attendance was 4,399.