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| Evan Morden (left), Kellan Tochkin and Kent Simpson rule the Silvertips' spellers! |
It was during that competition when a Canadian contingent of Everett Silvertips advanced to the third round by defeating their American counterparts in what Jon Rosen, the Silvertips’ director of public relations and broadcasting, described as “a fiercely contested battle of competitive spelling.”
F Kellan Tochkin of Abbotsford, B.C., G Kent Simpson of Edmonton and D Evan Morden of Swan River, Man., advanced one round further than the team comprising F Josh Birkholz of Maple Grove, Minn., F Tyler Maxwell of Manhattan Beach, Calif., and F Markus McCrea of Canyon Lake, Calif.
Rosen reports from the scene”
“Spelling BINDING and PROBITY correctly, the Canadians were eventually done in by the word CROQUEMBOUCHE.
“The Americans spelled GRANULATION correctly before succumbing to the word SPELEOLOGY in a competition that was clearly slanted towards the visitors.”
It’s worth noting that Maxwell was the 2009 Western Conference nominee as WHL Scholastic Player of the Year, while Simpson was the team’s 2010 Scholastic Player of the Year.
According to Rosen, “All participating teams paid a $100 entry fee, with money raised benefiting renovations to the Everett Public Library, which will include a new teen room.”
And, of course, the term “bragging rights” was heard.
“It’s fun to be able to gain some bragging rights and have fun with your teammates while helping out a good cause,” Simpson said.
Simpson also came up with the best quote of the event went, prior to the competition, he explained how he prepared: “I whipped out the dictionary last night, read a couple lines. But I only got a couple pages in, so we’ll see. I hope we get ‘A’ words.”
And Rosen gets the last word: “The Silvertips return to action Sunday evening against the Kelowna Rockets at C-O-M-C-A-S-T A-R-E-N-A.”
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OK. Pay attention and we’ll see if we can get through this without confusing you.1. Early on Friday, the Regina Pats traded F Killian Hutt, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for a sixth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
2. Following a 4-2 loss to the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday night, the Brandon Wheat Kings announced they had acquired F Hampus Gustafsson, a 19-year-old Swede, from Regina for a 2011 sixth-round bantam draft pick. He had 37 points in 68 games with the Pats, including four points in seven games this season.
3. Following a 6-4 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans, the Pats sent that sixth-round picked in the 2013 draft, the one that had been acquired for Hutt, back to the Broncos. In exchange, Regina gets Slovakian F Juraj Roznik, 18. He had two assists in six games with the Broncos this season.
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F Marc Mackenzie, who was traded by the Prince Albert Raiders to the Chilliwack Bruins on Sept. 27, hasn’t decided what he is going to do in terms of his hockey career. Chris Turnbull, Mackenzie’s agent, told John MacNeil of the Prince Albert Daily Herald that MacKenzie is “turned off hockey. He wants to rest and thing about what he’s going to do. He’s going to school and working at Swiss Chalet.” . . . Mackenzie is at home in Kelowna. . . . The Bruins gave up a 12th-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft for his rights.———
A lot of WHL scouts will spend at least part of this weekend in Chilliwack where the annual bantam AAA tournament is taking place. There are 16 teams from Washinton and B.C. entered in the AAA side of the event that includes B and house sides as well. . . . The rumble out of Calgary, home of the WHL’s head office, is that Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin will be hit with a six- or seven-game suspension. Shinnimin is under indefinite suspension for a hit from behind on Saskatoon Blades F Josh Nicholls on Wednesday night in Saskatoon. . . . G Kraymer Barnstable has joined the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. Barnstable, 20, was released by the Red Deer Rebels late last month. . . . F Steve Oursov, 19, who also was released by Red Deer last month, is back with the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. . . . F Nicolas Chouinard, the captain of the QMJHL’s Montreal Junior, scored five goals Friday to lead his side to a 6-3 victory over the host Halifax Mooseheads. He scored four times in the first period. He got No. 5 at 12:55 of the second period, giving him seven goals in nine games this season.———
FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
TRI-CITY 6 at REGINA 4: The Americans erased a 2-0 deficit with six straight goals. . . . D Brandon Davidson and F Jordan Weal (shorthanded) gave the Pats a 2-0 lead by early in the second period. . . . The Americans then scored four second-period goals and added another in the first minute of the third to take control. . . . F Jordan Messier scored twice for the Americans, who got two assists from F Kruise Reddick. . . . Weal had a goal and two helpers for the Pats (1-5-1-0), who have lost four in a row. . . . The Americans had lost three in a row after opening with four victories. . . . The Americans were 1-for-4 on the PP; the Pats were 1-for-3. . . . Tri-City G Alex Pechurskiy stopped 20 shots, while Matt Hewitt, in his first WHL start, stopped 28 for the Pats. Hewitt, from New Westminster, B.C., turns 18 on Dec. 11. . . . With Pechurskiy, who is 20, playing, the Americans sat out F Mike Brown. . . . Attendance was 4,031.———
MOOSE JAW 4 at SASKATOON 6: F Darian Dziurzynski scored three times for the Blades (6-1-0-0), who have won four in a row. . . . But it was D Stefan Elliott’s second goal of the season that broke a 4-4 tie at 19:39 of the third period. . . . Dziurzynski added the empty-netter, his seventh goal this season. . . . F Curtis Hamilton and Dziurzynski, with two, had the Blades out front 3-1 early in the second. . . . D Connor Cox pulled the Warriors (2-5-0-0) to within one on the PP at 13:53, before Hamilton restored the two-goal lead at 16:21. . . . The Warriors tied it on goals from F Dylan Hood, 36 seconds into the third, and F Spencer Edwards, at 3:16. . . . Saskatoon F Braeden Johnson had three assists. . . . The Warriors were 2-for-4 on the PP; the Blades were 0-for-2. . . . .Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 22 shots, while Moose Jaw G Thomas Heemskerk turned aside 28. . . . Attendance was 3,539. Must be a lot of baseball fans in Saskatoon. . . . The Blades were missing F Josh Nicholls, who is out after being hit from behind by Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin on Wednesday night. Nicholls leads the Blades with 10 points. . . . The first penalty in Friday’s game was a checking-from-behind minor to Blades F Matej Stransky.———
PRINCE GEORGE 1 at LETHBRIDGE 4: F Jacob Berglund scored twice as the Hurricanes (3-2-0-1) won their home-opener before 4,397 fans. . . . Lethbridge F Austin Fyten opened the scoring with his sixth goal in five games. . . . F Jacob Berglund scored twice for the winners.He has four on the season. . . . .F Brett Connolly had the Cougars’ goal, his third, at 19:59 of the third period. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 33 shots, six more than Prince George’s James Priestner. . . . The Cougars (2-4-0-0) went with F Taylor Stefishen, D Sena Acolatse and F James Dobrowolski as their 20s, meaning G Morgan Clark didn’t dress. . . . The Cougars were 1-for-7 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 0-for-6.———
SWIFT CURRENT 3 at CALGARY 0: G Mark Friesen stopped 25 shots to earn his first shutout of the season and second of his career. . . . According to the WHL website, however, it was the 23rd of his career, which would be the second-highest total in WHL history were it accurate. . . . The Broncos (2-5-0-0), who had lost five in a row, got PP goals from F Cody Eakin at 7:01 of the first period and 2:19 of the second. . . . F Justin Dowling had a goal and two assists. . . . Dowling has 12 points in seven games. . . . Eakin has six points, including three goals, in four games since returning from the NHL’s Washington Capitals. . . . The Hitmen (2-3-0-0) had won their last two games. . . . This was their first game in the newly named Scotiabank Saddledome. . . . The Hitmen, the WHL’s defending champions, were 4-0 against the Broncos last season. . . . Swift Current was 2-for-7 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-4. . . . Calgary F Cody Sylvester hit a post on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Calgary G Juraj Holly made 21 saves. . . . Attendance was 7,508. . . . Swift Current F Stephan Novotny was tossed at 9:50 of the second period with a boarding major and the accompanying game misconduct. . . . The Hitmen scratched F Kris Foucault, 20, as they went with D Zak Stebner, F Tyler Fiddler and F Misha Fisenko as their 20s. . . . Earlier in the day, the Hitmen released D Kyle Aschim, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, and F Simon Skrudland, 19. . . . The Hitmen are carrying 25 players.———
RED DEER 4 at BRANDON 2: The Rebels, who have won three straight, scored the game’s last three goals, all of them in the third period. . . . Brandon (4-3-0-0), which has lost three in a row after opening with four straight victories, took a 2-1 lead on second-period goals by F Mark Stone and F Brenden Walker. . . . But the Rebels (6-2-0-0) tied it on F Chad Robinson’s first goal at 4:10 of the third and took the lead when F Lane Scheidl scored at 14:47. . . . Robinson is from Minnedosa, which is just north of Brandon. It was his first WHL goal. . . . F Brett Ferguson added the empty-netter. . . . Red Deer F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins drew an assist on Red Deer’s third goal for his only point of the night. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots, one more than Brandon’s Liam (Sonny) Liston. . . . Red Deer was 1-for-7 on the PP — the Wheat Kings’ penalty killers were 25-for-25 going into the game. . . . Brandon was 0-for-8 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 4,394.———
PORTLAND 3 at SPOKANE 2: The Winterhawks broke a 2-2 tie at 19:31 of the third period as Portland (5-1-0-1) won its third straight game. . . . The goal was credited to F Ryan Johansen, but the Winterhawks expect it to be changed to D Taylor Aronson. . . . F Sven Bartschi scored Portland’s other two goals, both in the first period. He gave the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead on the PP at 3:17 and forged a 2-2 tie at 10:40. . . . In between, the Chiefs (2-4-0-0) got goals from D Jared Cowen and F Blake Gal (shorthanded). . . . Portland was 1-for-6 on the PP; Spokane was 0-for-8. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth, making his first start of the season after coming back from an injury, stopped 46 shots. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel turned aside 16 in his regular-season debut. . . . The Chiefs were starting a six-game homestand. . . . Portland is in Spokane again tonight. . . . Attendance was 4,911.———
PRINCE ALBERT 3 at KAMLOOPS 4: F Brendan Ranford had a goal and an assist to reach the 100-point mark in his career with the Blazers (2-3-0-1), who had lost four in a row. . . . The Raiders (3-4-0-0) had a three-game winning streak snapped. . . . Kamloops led 4-1 before the Raiders scored twice in the third period. . . . The Blazers were 2-for-30 on the PP in their first five games, but went 3-for-8 in this one. . . . Kamloops F Dylan Willick missed on a second-period penalty shot. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch, in his first start at home, stopped 29 shots. . . . Prince Albert G Eric Williams made 41 saves. . . . Attendance was 4,003.———
KELOWNA 1 at VANCOUVER 4: The Rockets (0-4-0-0) remain the only WHL team without at least one victory. . . . F Matt MacKay broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 12:01 of the first period and the Giants (4-3-0-0) were never headed. . . . F Craig Cunningham and D Neil Manning each had two assists for Vancouver, while F Brendan Gallagher had a goal, his sixth, and an assist. . . . F Marek Tvrdon got his fifth goal of the season for the Giants. . . . Vancouver got its last three goals on the PP. It was 3-for-6 on the PP, while the Rockets went 0-for-9. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 30 shots, one fewer than Kelowna’s Adam Brown. . . . Attendance was 5,880.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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