Thursday . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers have decided on their three 20-year-olds. They’ll go with D Thomas Carr, D Jace Coyle and F Wacey Hamilton, meaning they are trying to trade F Joey Frazer. . . . Alan Caldwell, over there at Small Thoughts At Large, did a count and found 76 20-year-olds on 22 WHL rosters. Of course, teams have until Oct. 14 to declare a maximum of three such players. As of Caldwell’s count, the Everett Silvertips, Kamloops Blazers and Regina Pats were the teams with openings. Every other team had three or more.
And I will mention it one more time . . . Yes, it’s time for the WHL to increase the maximum to four, or even five, 20-year-olds. Frazer, from Brainerd, Minn., played two full seasons with the Tigers and would be playing a third if it wasn’t for the 20-year-old rule. So the Tigers invest two years in him and then they are forced simply to cast him aside.
Why? Especially when the board of governors could implement a rule change and keep some of those good, mature players in the league.
How about the Brandon Wheat Kings having to dump G Andrew Hayes? He played three seasons there and put up some of the best numbers in franchise history. So what. Too bad. You’re 20. See ya!
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Frazer put up 30 points, including 18 goals, in 70 games last season.
“(Frazer) is a kid that can play in the league and is a good player,” Tigers GM Brad McEwen told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “We hope that he gets an opportunity somewhere.
“It felt like this was the way we had to do it. We just felt that we needed to do it now and make that decision.”
McEwen said the Tigers’ brass chose to make a decision now so that everyone knew where they stood, and that the defensive depth provided by keeping Carr and Coyle was a major reason for the decision being made this way.
“Once we looked at the depth of our team when everybody was back, and we went through a lot of scenarios,” said McEwen, “we (decided we) needed both defencemen for depth. (Carr and Coyle) bring qualities that we need.”
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The Swift Current Broncos are breathing easier after finding out that the Washington Capitals have decided to return F Cody Eakin. A third-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft, Eakin had two goals in three exhibition games with Washington.
"He's very close," Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau told The Washington Post’s Katie Carrera. "If this was a different team and different circumstances he wouldn't be gone, but he's of junior age and with the world juniors and everything that he should be a part of we didn't think it was fair to him or to us.”
Eakin scored 47 goals last season with the Broncos and then joined the AHL’s Hershey Bears for a playoff run that ended with a Calder Cup title.
"He played in the final last year,” Boudreau said. “If you can play in the final of the Calder Cup you should be able to play in the regular season in the American Hockey League.
"We probably in a selfish way wish he could be in Hershey, but at the same time, from my experience, when you have a chance to play your last year junior -- and this is totally from me -- and I had a chance to turn pro and they said, 'Play your last year junior,' and you're a captain and you win the Memorial Cup, it's a memory that will last forever."
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Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald takes a look at two of the Hitmen 20-year-olds -- D Kyle Aschim and F Misha Fisenko. One of them wants to play right now, but can’t; the other would rather be in Texas, by the sound of things. That story is right here.

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The Saskatoon Blades continue to work towards clearing up their 20-year-old logjam. They placed F Jeremy Boyer on waivers earlier in the week and he has cleared. That means he is a free agent. . . . Boyer had 32 points in 65 games last season after coming over from the Seattle Thunderbirds. He had spent three seasons in Seattle. . . . Saskatoon still has four 20-year-olds on its roster -- F Sena Acolatse, F Marek Viedensky, D Teigan Zahn and G Steven Stanford. As well, F Gaelan Patterson is with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, . . . The Blades also re-assigned D Jesse Williamson, 18, to the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs. . . . Interestingly, Boyer and Williamson both are from Saskatoon.
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The Spokane Chiefs will hold their home-opener on Saturday, with the Tri-City Americans providing the opposition. According to a Chiefs’ news release: “It will be the 19th time in the last 21 years Spokane has opened at home versus the Americans.” . . . The Chiefs won eight of 12 meetings last season, including six of the last seven. . . . With former Americans head coach Don Nachbaur now with the Chiefs, the rivalry is heating up. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings revealed Wednesday that they have sold 3,020 season tickets, the second-highest total in franchise history. They sold more than 3,600 a year ago, when they were preparing to pay host to the Memorial Cup. Before last season, the franchise high was 2,780, from 2008-09. . . . Brandon is 3-0-0-0 and holds its home-opener Friday against the Saskatoon Blades, who are 2-0-0-0. . . . The Blades will start G Adam Morrison, 19, who returned from the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers this week. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders (0-3-0-0) are expected to give freshman G Eric Williams his first start Friday night against the host Swift Current Broncos (1-2-0-0). He made a relief appearance in a loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday. . . . The Raiders will be without D Jordan Rowley, 20, this weekend. He is at home in Edmonton with a wrist injury. . . . The Kootenay Ice will be without F Steele Boomer (wrist) this weekend. As well, G Nathan Lieuwen is nursing a bruised knee, so Todd Mathews will be the go-to guy in goal Friday against the visiting Spokane Chiefs.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Wednesday . . .

Congratulations to old friend Greg Evtushevski! (Well, he’s not that old, but you know what I mean.) . . . Yes, that's him with the award in the photo at the top of this post. . . .

The Norm Bodle Memorial Award, the most prestigious annual award handed out by Sports Distributors of Canada, has been given to Greg Evtushevski, owner of Chevy’s Source For Sports in Kelowna. Evtushevski played for the Kamloops Jr. Oilers/Blazers from 1982-86 and his number has been retired. . . . SDC has more than 200 members under the Source For Sports, Source For Adventure and sporting goods and outdoor buying group divisions. The award was presented at its annual general meeting earlier this month in Hamilton. The award is named after the first managing director of SDC when it was incorporated in 1972. According to a news release, it “is given yearly to the member who is the most supportive of the group, and who encourages and supports other members within the organization. . . . As well as having his name engraved on the plaque which hangs in the lobby of the SDC headquarters in Burlington, Ont., Greg has donated the $1,000 that accompanies the honour to the Kelowna Christian School Scholarship for post-secondary education for a deserving student.”
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Matt Gallagher, the father of Ian Gallagher, the Vancouver Giants’ strength and conditioning coach, and grandfather of Giants F Brendan Gallagher, passed away last week in Edmonton. . . . Brendan and the Giants will keep his grandfather’s memory alive this season. Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has that story right here.
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The Giants, who have some injury problems, have had a player walk out on them. The Province’s Steve Ewen reports that F R.J. Reed left the team late last week and now is with the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. . . . With D Tanner Sohn (knee) and D Tyler Hart (foot) hurt, the Giants have brought in D Brett Kulak, a ninth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He attended Vancouver’s training camp and now is with the midget AAA St. Albert, Alta., Raiders.
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The Spokane Chiefs have named C Tyler Johnson, 20, as team captain, succeeding D Jared Cowen, 19, who is expected to at least open the season with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . F Levko Koper, 20, is one alternate captain. . . . According to a news release from the Chiefs: “The other two alternate captains will be chosen on a nightly basis from a leadership core that includes key veterans.”
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The NHL’s Buffalo Sabres have returned D Brayden McNabb, 19, to the Kootenay Ice. McNabb, from Davidson, Sask., was a third-round pick in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
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The NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild has lost an assistant coach. Corey Voegele of the Wenatchee World reports that Tyson Terry has left the Wild, leaving head coach Paul Baxter and assistant coach Chris Clark to go it alone. The move apparently was a mutual decision. “I didn’t get fired. I didn’t quit. I just wanted to pursue other interests right now,” Terry told Voegele. . . . Terry was with the Wild for less than a month. He replaced Ryan McKelvie, now on staff with the U of Alaska-Anchorage.
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F Misha Fisenko, 20, is back with the Calgary Hitmen, his tryout with the Central league’s Laredo Bucks cut short for some reason. . . . His arrival leaves the Hitmen with five 20-year-olds, the others being D Kyle Aschim, F Tyler Fiddler, F Kris Foucault and D Zak Stebner. Aschim (shoulder) remains on the injured list. . . . Fisenko, who had 44 points in 55 games last season, also gives the Hitmen two imports, the other being Slovakian G Juraj Holly, 19.
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WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
BRANDON 5 at MOOSE JAW 2: D Darren Bestland scored two goals and drew an assist for the Wheat Kings (3-0-0-0). . . . Bestland, who turned 20 on Sept. 19, scored two goals in 70 games last season. . . . He gave Brandon a 2-0 lead with goals at 15:48 of the first period and 9:44 of the second. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, who had a goal and five assists in two season-opening victories over the Regina Pats, had a goal and an assist. . . . F Quinton Howden had a goal and an assist for Moose Jaw (1-2-0-0). . . . The Wheat Kings started G Ty Rimmer, who made 21 stops, and had Corbin Boes on the bench. . . . Brandon held a 43-23 edge in shots. . . . Brandon was 2-for-7 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-2. . . . Brandon F Tyrel Seaman, 16, picked up 22 minutes in penalties after getting into two fights and adding an instigating minor and a misconduct. . . . Attendance was 2,502.
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KOOTENAY 2 at RED DEER 4: The Rebels went 2-for-3 on the PP in running their record to 3-0-0-0. . . . The Rebels broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in a 2:13 span midway through the second period. . . . F Adam Kambeitz scored shorthanded at 9:11, F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added another at 11:22 and F Turner Elson notched a PP marker at 12:24. . . . Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, giving him five points in three games. . . . Red Deer F Byron Froese had two assists but was minus-2, while F Andrej Kudrna had a goal and an assist. . . . The Ice (1-1-0-0) was 0-for-5 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 3,861.
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SWIFT CURRENT 3 at REGINA 4: The Pats (1-2-0-0) won this one with three third-period goals. . . . F Dane Muench, who had four assists in six games with the Broncos last season, got the winner at 8:17, just 33 seconds after D Cody Carlson had tied it. . . . F Killian Hutt had gotten the Pats to within one at 6:59. . . . F Stepan Novotny had two goals, giving him four, and an assist for the Broncos. He had the Broncos (1-2-0-0) up 2-0 at 6:10 of the first period. . . . The Pats were 0-for-2 on the PP and now are 0-12 on the season. . . . The Broncos were 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . F Justin Dowling had two assists for the Broncos. . . . C Thomas Frazee and C Jordan Weal each had two assists for Regina. . . . Regina G Damien Ketlo stopped 12 of 15 shots but left after the Broncos took a 3-1 lead at 6:42 of the second period. G Dawson Guhle came on to stop the nine shots he faced. . . . Attendance was 3,123.
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PORTLAND 4 at VANCOUVER 3: The Winter hawks (2-1-0-0) erased a 1-0 deficit with four second-period goals and then withstood a late Vancouver (1-3-0-0) rally. . . . The Giants, who opened with a 9-4 victory over the visiting Chilliwack Bruins on Friday, now have lost three straight. . . . F Craig Cunningham set up all three Vancouver goals, including one from D David Musil at 2:16 of the first period. . . . F Brad Ross scored twice early in the second period, with F Spencer Bennett (7:54) and D Ty Rattie (10:59, PP) also scoring before the frame ended. . . . Vancouver got two third-period PP goals, by D Neil Manning at 10:52 and F Brendan Gallagher at 19:25. . . . Portland beat visiting Vancouver 7-2 on Monday. . . . Gallagher had a goal and an assist. He has nine points in four games. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 33 shots. (Portland has two goaltenders, Ian Curtis and Mac Carruth, out with injuries.) . . . Referees Brett Iverson and Jeff Ingram handed out 112 penalty minutes, with the Giants taking 61 of those. . . . Of that total, 53 minutes was shared by three players -- D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen (21), F Randy McNaught (17) and F Greg Lamoure (15). . . . Attendance was 4,823.
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TRI-CITY 4 at KELOWNA 3: The Americans ran their record to 3-0-0-0 by coming from behind 2-1 and 3-2 deficits. . . . F Patrick Holland tied the score with his second goal of the game at 4:53 of the third period. . . . F Connor Rankin. a 16-year-old from North Vancouver, got the winner, his first WHL goal, at 6:51. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin added two assists for the winners, who got 26 saves from G Drew Owsley. . . . Tri-City D Brock Sutherland had three assists. He went into the game with 14 assists in 126 career games. . . . The Rockets (0-2-0-0) lost for the second straight time at home. . . . Tri-City is 17-4 over Kelowna over the last four-plus seasons. That includes a 4-0 record last season. . . . The Americans were 2-for-7 on the PP; the Rockets were 1-for-6. . . . Referee Andy Thiessen handed out 126 penalty minutes, 64 to the Rockets. Of that, 102 minutes were dished out at 19:52 of the second period as a multi-fight situation took place. . . . The Rockets were without D Tyson Barrie (hamstring) and F Shane McColgan (tonsils). . . . Attendance was 6,026. . . . The teams will meet again Friday in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans are 3-0 for the third time in their 23-year history. The only time they have opened 4-0 was 2007-08.
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EDMONTON 3 at PRINCE ALBERT 1: F Dylan Wruck scored twice to lead the Oil Kings (1-2-0-0). . . . Edmonton had been outscored 12-2 in two season-opening losses to the Red Deer Rebels. . . . In this one, Wruck’s two goals gave Edmonton a 3-0 lead late in the second period. . . . Wruck, 18, scored five goals in 53 games last season. . . . Wruck’s second goal came via the PP, ending a 0-for-14 season-opening drought for Edmonton. . . . F Jordan Hickmott, 20, scored the game’s first goal for Edmonton, which acquired him from the Raiders over the summer. . . . F Brandon Herrod scored for Prince Albert (0-3-0-0). He has four of his club’s eight goals this season. . . . Edmonton G Cam Lanigan stopped 36 shots, five more than Prince Albert’s Jamie Tucker. . . . Attendance was 1,916. . . . The Raiders are without D Jordan Rowley (wrist) who has returned to his home in Edmonton and will have an MRI.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Pavel Brendl (Calgary, 1998-2001) signed a contract with KalPa Kuopio (Finland SM-Liiga) through Nov. 6, when SM-Liiga takes a 10-day break for national team games. Kimmo Kapanen, KalPa's general manager, said that it is unlikely that the club can afford to keep Brendl longer than this. "This time period is really affordable for us, but for the whole season, it would be a million dollar investment for us and we can't afford it," Kapanen said to the Kuopio newspaper Savon Sanomat. Brendl had 27 goals and 10 assists in 51 games for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia KHL) last season. One of the minority owners of KalPa is former Prince Albert F Scott Hartnell.
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As mentioned here earlier today, RW Luke Walker, 20, signed a three-year NHL deal with the Colorado Avalanche and has been assigned to the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. . . . According to CapGeek.com, his AHL salary will be US$50,000, $50,000 and $55,000, with the NHL salary at $540,000, $575,000 and $575,000. . . . His $140,000 signing bonus is payable in $40,000, $50,000 and $50,000 increments. . . . Forgot to mention earlier that, in case you forgot, Walker was a member of the U.S. team that won the world junior championship in January. He played for the U.S. after suffering a horrible facial injury during a WHL game in early December.
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The Red Deer Rebels have placed G Kraymer Barnstable, 20, on waivers and it would appear he will end up with a junior A team. He became expendable with the return of G Darcy Kuemper, 20, from the camp of the NHL’s Minnestoa Wild. . . . Red Deer will go with Bolton Pouliot, 16, to back up Kuemper. . . . Barnstable is the second 20-year-old goaltender to leave a team this week. The Brandon Wheat Kings have dropped Andrew Hayes, who spent the last three seasons with them.
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Red Deer now is carrying four 20-year-olds — Kuemper, D Colin Archer, F Brett Ferguson and F Brad Haber. . . . Brandon is carrying five 20-year-olds — G Jacob DeSerres, D Darren Bestland, D Mark Schneider, F David Toews and F Shayne Wiebe, who is the team captain. . . . Each WHL team has to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-old players by Oct. 14.
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D Mark Pysyk, 18, has been named captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings. He returned from the camp of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Monday — they selected him 23rd overall in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . Pysyk was the third overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft; he was Edmonton’s first-ever selection. . . . F Rhett Rachinski will be an alternate captain, while D Adrian Van de Mosselaer and F Jordan Hickmott each will wear an ‘A’ at home and F Mike Piluso and F Travis Ewanyk will be alternates on the road.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Blazers trim roster to 24

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The WHL’s Kamloops Blazers trimmed another body off their roster Tuesday and now are carrying 24 players.
Forward Rhyse Dieno, 17, was designated for assignment. From Saskatoon, he is likely to join an SJHL team.
Dieno, an undrafted list player, joined the Blazers late last season and had one assist in 16 games. He was a healthy scratch from the first two games of this regular season.
With Dieno gone, the Blazers’ roster now features two goaltender, eight defencemen and 14 forwards.
The Blazers (1-1-0-0) next play Friday when they meet the Silvertips (2-0-0-0) in Everett. Kamloops then stops in Chilliwack for a Saturday night engagement with the Bruins (1-1-0-0), who beat them 5-2 at Interior Savings Centre on Saturday.
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D Corey Fienhage, who returned to Kamloops from the camp of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, practised with the Blazers on Tuesday. Fienhage, who was held out of practice Monday, will make his WHL debut Friday in Everett.
A third-round pick by Buffalo in the NHL’s 2007 draft, Fienhage spent the last two seasons at the U of North Dakota.
Missing from Tuesday’s practice were D Josh Caron (collarbone) and F Jordan DePape (shoulder). Caron, who was injured Saturday, won’t play again until mid-December, at the earliest.
DePape may be back today. He is expected to play Friday.
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RW Luke Walker, 20, has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. He spent the last three seasons with the Portland Winterhawks. Walker is the son of Gord Walker, who played for the Winterhawks and Blazers (1982-85). Gord put up 134 points in 66 games with the 1984-85 Blazers.
Luke, a fifth-round pick by the Avalanche in the NHL’s 2010 draft, got a US$140,000 signing bonus and was assigned to the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.
In 202 regular-season games with Portland, Walker, who is from Castlegar, had 130 points, including 65 goals, and 271 penalty minutes.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Tuesday . . . early

 The Portland Winterhawks don’t seem likely to get back LW Luke Walker, 20, now that he has signed with the Colorado Avalanche. He was selected by Colorado in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL draft. Walker signed a three-year, entry-level deal, with a US$140,000 signing bonus, and was assigned the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. Walker already has reported to the Cleveland-based team. . . . In 202 regular-season games with Portland, Walker, who is from Castlegar, B.C., had 130 points, including 65 goals, and 271 penalty minutes. . . . He is the son of former WHLer Gord Walker (Portland, Kamloops, 1982-85) and is represented by Carlos Sosa, who is based in Auburn, Wash.

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The Kelowna Rockets have assigned F Colton Heffley, a second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, to the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires. He had one assist in six preseason games. . . . That gets the Rockets’ roster down to 25 players as they prepare for a Wednesday night visit by the Tri-City Americans.
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The Vancouver Giants had only five defencemen dressed for Monday’s 7-2 loss to the Winterhawks in Portland. Tanner Sohn (knee) was injured in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Silvertips in Everett. D Zach Hodder and F Connor Redmond are out with long-term shoulder injuries.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings are down to 31 players after designating G Andrew Hayes, 20, for assignment. Hayes holds the franchise record for career GAA, having put up a 2.79 mark in 111 regular-season games. From Sherwood Park, Alta., he also has 11 career shutouts, behind only Tyler Plante (12) in Wheat Kings history. . . . Brandon still is carrying four goaltenders -- Jacob DeSerres, 20, Ty Rimmer, 18, Corbin Boes, 17, and Liam Liston, 17. . . . F Scott Glennie, 19, was to return to practice with the Wheat Kings on Tuesday after a stint with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. He is expected to play Wednesday against the Warriors in Moose Jaw.
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The Kamloops Blazers have designated F Rhyse Dieno, 17, for assignment, likely to an SJHL team. He had one assist in 16 games last season and didn’t dress for either of the team’s first two games this season. . . . The Blazers now are at 24 players, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen.
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G Adam Morrison, 19, is back with the Saskatoon Blades after being in camp with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. They selected him in the third round of the 2009 NHL draft. The Blades now have three goaltenders on their roster, the others being Steven Stanford, 20, and Adam Iwan, 17. . . . Stanford is one of six 20-year-olds on the Blades’ roster, although one of those (F Gaelan Patterson) is in camp with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
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F Quinton Howden, 18, returned to the Moose Jaw Warriors from the camp of the NHL’s Florida Panthers on Monday. He is likely to play Wednesday against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Panthers selected Howden with the 25th overall pick of the 2010 NHL draft.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Monday . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders have dealt disgruntled F Marc Mackenzie to the Chilliwack Bruins for a 12th-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. MacKenzie,  who turns 17 on Nov. 5, left the Raiders and returned to his Kelowna home on the weekend in a dispute over playing time and alleged broken promises. “There was never any promises made to Marc, or his dad, concerning that he would never be scratched (from the lineup),” Raiders GM/head coach Bruno Campese told John MacNeil of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. “It’s just not something that you do, for obvious reasons. . . . We’ve never made promises of the sort to our first-round draft picks, or any of our high-end draft picks.”
Check out MacNeil's story right here.
The Raiders are carrying 24 players now, including two goaltenders and nine defencemen.
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Congratulations to Kelly McCrimmon, the owner/GM/head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings. When his side beat the Pats 3-1 in Regina on Sunday, it was McCrimmon’s 300th WHL head-coaching victory. He is the 17th coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. . . . McCrimmon is second on Brandon’s all-time list, behind Bob Lowes (363). . . . Next up? Marc Habscheid of the Chilliwack Bruins is at 285. Of course, he also coached with the Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets.
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If you are a fan of the Seattle Thunderbirds — or even if you aren’t — you will be able to chat with G Calvin Pickard and head coach Rob Sumner today (Tuesday, Sept. 28) from noon to 1 p.m. (Pacific time). . . . The Seattle Times sports department does weekly live chats with people from that area’s sports scene, and Sumner and Pickard are up today. . . . So if you’ve got a question, you may log on right here and fire away.
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ON THE MOVE: The Tri-City Americans have released D Cody Castro, an 18-year-old from Pasadena, Calif. He had one assist in 19 games with the Americans last season, after earning three points in 49 games with the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 2008-09. Lethbridge selected him in the 11th round of the 2007 bantam draft. . . . The Portland Winterhawks welcomed back F Riley Boychuk (Buffalo), D Brett Ponich (St. Louis) and F Brad Ross (Toronto) from NHL camps. They were back in time to play in the home-opener against the Vancouver Giants on Monday. The Winterhawks then reassigned D Stephane Robidoux and D David Watt. . . . Portland players still away: F Ryan Johansen (Columbus), F Nino Niederreiter (New York Islanders) and F Luke Walker (Lake Erie, AHL). . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings got D Mark Pysyk back from the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
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Junior Hockey’s Royal Franchise: The Regina Pats, a book written by Darrell Davis and Ron Johnston, has won an award in the International Sports Heritage Association’s (ISHA) 2010 Communication Awards.
According to a news release, the book, “published under the auspices of the (Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and Museum’s) Sport History Project, won in the category of Books or Exhibit Catalogues for an institution with an operating budget exceeding $250,000.” . . . The book was co-published by the Regina Leader-Post Foundation. . . . If you’re a hockey fan and don’t have a copy, well, Christmas is coming.
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F Tyler Maxwell of the Everett Silvertips is the first Boston Pizza player of the week. He had five points in two season-opening victories. Maxwell, 19, is from Manhattan Beach, Calif. . . . G Nathan Lieuwen of the Kootenay Ice is the WHL’s nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He stopped 25 shots in a 4-0 victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Saturday.
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Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has a thorough update on the situation involving the impending sale of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. If you’ve been following it, you’ll find it interesting. It’s right here.
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The SJHL has lowered the boom on F Justin Ducharme of the La Ronge Ice Wolves. He drew a 16-game suspension for a hit on Andrew Dommett, the captain of the Kindersley Klippers on Sept. 19. The league called it a “late and blind-side hit.” . . . According to the Regina Leader-Post, “Dommett suffered a broken jaw on both sides and also lost several teeth. The injuries could cause him to miss up to two months.” . . . Ducharme will be eligible to return on Nov. 19.
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Last season, F James Wright opened with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning before eventually — having played in 48 games — being returned to the Vancouver Giants. Now, he is with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. That story is right here.
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MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
VANCOUVER 2 AT PORTLAND 7: F Spencer Bennett scored twice to lead the Winterhawks (1-1-0-0) in their home-opener. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 30 shots. . . . The Giants (1-2-0-0) went with Derek Tendler, who made 33 saves. . . . Portland D Joe Morrow earned three assists. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning had a tough night and was minus-4. . . . .It should be pointed out that Red No. 23 (aka Seth Swenson) scored one of Portland’s goals. . . . Portland, outshot 27-17 but leading 4-2 through two periods, had a 23-5 edge in shots in the third period. . . . Attendance was 4,068. . . . The teams meet again Wednesday in Vancouver.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Souto fights for playing time with Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The WHL game was into its last minute Saturday night at Interior Savings Centre, the Kamloops Blazers were losing 5-2, and Chase Souto didn’t know who it was who had just slashed him.
“No, I didn’t. I dropped my gloves and went ‘oh-oh!’ ” the Kamloops Blazers’ freshman right winger said after Monday’s practice at Interior Savings Centre.
The whacker turned out to be Chilliwack defenceman Zach Habscheid, whom the Bruins list at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds. (Yes, he is the son of Marc Habscheid, the Bruins’ general manager and head coach.)
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Souto, who won’t turn 16 until Oct. 8, poked Habscheid, 18, with one right hand and then reloaded and drilled him with a straight right to the jaw. Habscheid went down as though he was a heavy bag and the chain holding it up had been cut.
Habscheid likely woke up Sunday with a headache. Souto was left with a sore thumb.
Souto, a fifth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, is from Yorba Linda, Calif. He arrived in the Blazers’ camp prepared to do anything to stay, and now that he is on the roster he wants to continue with that approach.
At his size, it’s not like he’s a scrapper, but he is scrappy.
“We weren’t allowed to fight in my league but I did a couple of times,” he said, when asked about his ring record last season.
So what happened Saturday?
“They were having guys kind of run us all game and they were beating us in our own barn,” Souto explained. “I just wanted to send a message for Saturday when we play them again.”
The Blazers open a two-game swing Friday in Everett against the Silvertips. Whether Souto plays in that game has yet to be decided, but you can bet he will be in the Kamloops lineup for the rematch with the Bruins on Saturday in Chilliwack.
“I like to be a high-energy player . . . to get the boys going and stuff like that,” Souto said. “I thought I played pretty well. You can always be better but I didn’t think I did that bad.”
Souto had been a healthy scratch Friday, missing the Blazers’ season-opening 5-2 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars.
“He competes and has a passion for the game,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said of Souto.. “Now he needs to learn the game.”
Souto said he found Saturday’s game to be “really fast-paced and lots of fun.”
“There were,” he added, “a lot of big boys out there, too.”
But Souto, like so many Davids before him, found out that, indeed, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
———
The Blazers had three players miss practice yesterday.
D Josh Caron (broken collarbone) won’t need surgery but will be out for up to two months.
Caron, 19, was injured during the second period of Saturday’s game, but wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the injury and tried to play in the third. He left after one shift, doubled over in pain, following a light bump in the neutral zone.
“He’s in pain,” Charron said. “They don’t immobilize it. The problem is the muscles around it. But once it heals, it heals well. He’s young and the bones knit together really well.”
D Corey Fienhage, who arrived back from the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night, was sore from blocking a shot during the NHL team’s camp so was given the day off.
Charron also indicated that he is prepared to cut the team’s pro campers some slack for a day to two.
“When they come back,” Charron said, “emotionally, they’re drained. We only had four defencemen for practice but (I decided) maybe a day off would be better value.”
All Charron asked was that Fienhage “watch practice and realize what we’re trying to do.”
RW Jordan DePape (shoulder) was held out strictly as a precautionary measure. He is expected to be back on skates today or Wednesday and is scheduled to play in both weekend games.
“It’s a muscle thing and he would only aggravate it by practising,” Charron said.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers next play at home on Oct. 6 when the Spokane Chiefs are in town. . . . D Brandon Underwood was back practising after missing the Blazers’ first two games with a concussion incurred Sept. 18. . . . Charron said that, depending on how practice goes this week, he plans on starting G Jon Groenheyde on Friday in Everett, with G Jeff Bosch to make his Blazers debut Saturday in Chilliwack. Bosch was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 17 but has been slowed by a sprained ankle. . . . The Blazers made scoring changes to two Friday goals. The first goal, originally credited to Dylan Willick, has been credited to Linden Saip, with assists to Colin Smith and DePape. As well, Austin Madaisky has been given an assist on Brendan Ranford’s goal, the Blazers’ fourth of the game. . . . Former Blazers captain Jared Aulin was released from his tryout with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers on Monday. He has been offered a tryout with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons. . . . D Brendon Nash of Kamloops, who had a goal and an assist for the Montreal Canadiens in an NHL exhibition game on Sunday night, has been assigned to the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Mondays with Murray

Sunday, November 19, 1989
Copyright 1989/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

Davis Wins by Going Into a Shell

     HOUSTON — First of all, he's not yelling at anybody. He's not slamming his hat down on a yard marker and stomping on it. He's not screaming, "What'd you want to ask a stupid question like that for?!" In fact, he never even raises his voice. If you're too far away, you can't even hear him.
   His nickname is not Bear. Or Bo. Or the Rock.
   He's a man of monumental calm, glacial dignity. Football coaches are supposed to be emotional, temperamental, short-tempered, feared, even baleful. Like a top sergeant whose shoes are too tight. ("What were you thinking of there, Mister?!" "I don't want to see this game, I want to hear it!") They're supposed to be sarcastic, demanding. ("Jones, what is this, an Easter egg hunt or a football game?! You came up to that man like a bunny rabbit, like you owed him money!")
   Mike Ditka couldn't be anything else but a football coach. Neither could Woody Hayes. Art Shell doesn't need any of this shtick. When he talks, people listen.
   He's an imposing, impressive figure. He looks as if he could part the Red Sea. Or bench press a small barge. He was the same way as a player. He didn't taunt, snarl, rage or throw his helmet. "He just knocked you on your butt," Gerry Philbin of the New York Jets used to say. "Nothing personal." Even then, he had this wide-eyed innocent look of a guy just waiting for a streetcar or passing the basket at church. It was when the ball was snapped he became a public enemy. Or a runaway elephant.
   When he was named head coach of the Raiders, it was widely perceived as a public relations ploy, a gesture to times that called for affirmative actions, equal opportunities.
   Al Davis doesn't do gestures. Al Davis does Super Bowls. Al Davis wants winners, not brotherhood awards. What he saw in Art Shell was not a black coach but a good coach. A Raider coach.
   It is a formula that has always worked: pick a man who came up through the system, who knows the Raider philosophy, the Raider tradition. The Raiders have always been a get-out-of-my-way team. They don't jab, bunt, put up lobs. They swing from the heels, go for the fences.
   It was no one's fault, but they hired a coach who came off a team that had John Elway and a bunch of mirrors. He played the close-to-the-vest game of a guy trying to win with a small pair. The Raiders never played "I'll see you" poker, they played "Your 10 and 10 more." The Raiders went long.
   Still, hardly anyone could have predicted the dramatic turnaround the team underwent with a simple coaching change. It was as if the Seventh Cavalry had just ridden onto the scene. The Raiders play in-your-face football. The old Shell game.
   The managing general partner knew Art Shell understood this better than anybody on his staff. Art Shell grew up in the Raider tradition, Al Davis reminds you. "He represents three decades of Raider football history," Davis says proudly. "He knows how we do it."
   The Raider way has always been to get a head coach out of the ranks, bring him along, scour the lists for the best football players available regardless of whether you have to get them out of a doghouse, a nuthouse — or the Kansas City outfield. It is a formula that has worked with John Rauch, John Madden and Tom Flores — to say nothing of Al Davis himself.
   When Al Davis departed from custom and hired Mike Shanahan from Denver and a reporter wanted to know if he didn't expect flak from the minority community, the question appeared to irritate the owner. "The Raiders have never been interested in a man's color, only his ability," he shot back.
   It became immediately clear Shanahan's trouble was not pigmentation, it was implementation. His goal was mistake-free football. But the Raiders make lots of mistakes. They also make a lot of touchdowns. "I hired the fellow to bring some fresh implementation, some new ideas — to add to what we were doing, but not to change what we were doing. But we got total change," Davis said.
   With Art Shell, he got total return. "My idea is to win," Davis said. "But very few organizations have a tradition and an identity that the Raiders have. We were losing it. Image is not always substance, but the history of man is that a return to time-woven traditions and methods of doing things is best for the community in the long run. Usually, what worked will work."
   For the Raiders, the Shell game has worked. Where they have lost, they looked good losing. They looked better winning.
   The trick of leadership is to project confidence, unflappability. The man on horseback has to look in control. Panic is contagious. Coach Shell is the least panic-stricken looking individual in the game. He does not pace the sidelines. He does not grimace at mistakes, wave his arms over triumphs. The players love him. He tells them war stories of the days, so to speak, when the Raiders were in the halls of Montezuma and on the shores of Tripoli, of Super Bowls, Steeler games, the glory days.
   His is a battlefield commission. He has been in these trenches for the Raiders, as player and coach, for 22 years.
   The first duty of a coach (or a general) is to make his forces live up to, or play up to, its traditions. Some leaders do this with tantrums, abuse, histrionics, pearl-handled revolvers, white horses. Art Shell does it by just standing there and expecting every man to do it the way he did it — the way Raiders always do.

Reprintedwith permission by the Los Angeles Times.

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247

Sunday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ivan Dornic (Portland, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Königsborn (Germany Oberliga). He had 12 goals and 12 assists in 45 games for MHC Martin (Slovakia Extraliga) last season. . . .
F Martin Cibak (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) was traded by Spartak Moscow (Russia KHL) to Severstal Cherepovets (Russia KHL). He is pointless in four games with Spartak this season. Last season, Cibak had 17 goals and 15 assists in 50 games for Spartak.
F Marek Svatos (Kootenay, 2000-02) signed a one-year contract with Avangard Omsk (Russia KHL). He had seven goals and four assists in 54 games with Colorado Avalanche (NHL) last season.
———
It was Sept. 16 when F Marc Mackenzie intercepted a would-be burglar in his billet home in Prince Albert and became physically involved with him. Today, Mackenzie, who turns 17 on Nov. 5, is at home in Kelowna from where he told John MacNeil of the Prince Albert Daily Herald: “I just couldn’t handle it there anymore. It’s not the right place for me. . . . They won’t give me my release . .. . so hockey is probably over for me. I’m not going to play junior A to become an 18-year-old in the Dub next year, when I’ll just be put on the fourth line. It’s not worth it. They don’t want to give my rights up, so they can keep them. I’m not playing.”
Chris Turnbull, Mackenzie’s agent, told MacNeil: “There were promises made to Marc that I guess there was never any intention of keeping. His dad just got upset and said, ‘That’s it. If you’re not going to keep your word, we’re out of here.’ So, basically, that’s where it sits.”
Mackenzie played in Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Blades in Saskatoon, but was scratched from Saturday’s rematch, which the Raiders lost, 6-5.
“We think, rightfully so, that Marc is a pretty special hockey player,” Turnbull told MacNeil. “He’s got a lot of talent.
“Bruno made promises of where he would play and how many games he would have to sit, which is none.
“He only had four or five shifts the first night and then got sat (Saturday) night. His dad wasn’t very happy.”
Bruno Campese, the Raiders’ GM/head coach, didn’t return a phone message left by MacNeil on Sunday.
MacNeil’s complete story should be right here on the Daily Herald’s website on Monday.
———
The best lead of the weekend was this, from a Tri-City Americans’ news release following Saturday’s 6-3 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs:
“There was a lot of red in the Toyota Center on Saturday night. First it was the pre-game pyrotechnics . . . then, it was the Americans' new third jerseys . . . then it was the goal light.”
———
The Prince Albert Raiders were without veteran D Jordan Rowley, 20, when they dropped a 6-5 decision to the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Saturday night. . . . John MacNeil of the Prince Albert Daily News reports that Rowley has an “apparent injury.” On Friday, during the Raiders’ 3-2 loss in Saskatoon, Rowley scrapped with Saskatoon F Curt Gogol.
———
On their way back from the NHL are: D Jace Coyle, to Medicine Hat, from Dallas; F Scott Glennie, to Brandon, from Dallas; F Brad Ross, to Portland, from Toronto; D Brett Ponich, to Portland, from St. Louis; D Cory Fienhage, to Kamloops, from Buffalo; D Brandon Manning, to Chilliwack, from N.Y. Rangers; F Kevin Sundher, to Chilliwack, from Buffalo; D Stefan Elliott, to Saskatoon, from Colorado.
———
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
BRANDON 3 AT REGINA 1: The Wheat Kings swept a season-opening doubleheader from the Pats. Brandon won 5-4 at home on Friday. . . . F Mark Stone and F Brenden Walker each had a goal and an assist for Brandon on Sunday. . . . Attendance was 4,219.
———
SEATTLE 1 AT TRI-CITY 4: F Jordan Messier scored twice to lead the Americans, while F Kruise Reddick added a goal and two helpers. . . . G Alex Pechurskiy made 15 saves for Tri-City (2-0-0-0). . . . G Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots for Seattle (1-2-0-0). . . . The Americans now have beaten Seattle 13 straight times in the Toyota Center. . . . Tri-City has opened the season 2-0-0-0 for the fourth straight season. . . . Attendance was 4,373.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Bruins push, pull their way past Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
You kind of knew what the Chilliwack game plan was when on each of his first two shifts Bruins left-winger Brendan Persley hit the cross-bar behind Kamloops Blazers goaltender Jon Groenheyde on Saturday night.
Persley did that with his body, not the puck.
The game plan worked, too, as the Bruins, using a physical in-your-face style, handed the Blazers a 5-2 licking before 4,010 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
“Absolutely,” replied Blazers captain Chase Schaber when it was suggested the Bruins had been allowed to set the tempo. “For the first couple of shifts we sat back and we watched them take the shots and then we responded after that.
“As a team, we can’t let that happen. We have to be the ones that jump the gun and take it to them and dictate the pace of the game.”
The Blazers (1-1-0-0) will get the opportunity to do just that on Saturday when the teams meet again, this time in Chilliwack’s home-opener. One night earlier, the Blazers will meet the Silvertips in Everett.
This was a costly loss, too, as defenceman Josh Caron left early in the third period with what Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said is an “upper body” injury. Charron expects to be without the rugged Caron for up to six weeks. It was a tough end to what had been a terrific week for Caron, 19, who signed a three-year NHL contract — he was a free agent — with the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
Caron was injured in the second- period but thought, mistakenly as it turned out, that he could play in the third.
The Bruins (1-1-0-0) got big games from two veteran forwards who have tasted NHL camps themselves.
Left-winger Ryan Howse, whose NHL rights belong to the Calgary Flames, scored twice, giving him five goals in two games. Centre Roman Horak, in his first game since returning from the New York Rangers, had a goal and three assists.
“How good was Horak?” a smiling Marc Habscheid, the Bruins’ general manager and head coach, asked rhetorically.
Howse, who is from Prince George, was quick to credit his Slovakian linemates — Horak and Robin Soudek — for his night’s work, but added “everybody played well. Every line contributed with hits or making plays.”
As for the Bruins’ aggression, Howse said: “We have to bring that kind of game.”
Howse got his club started when he rifled a shot past Groenheyde’s glove just 1:05 into the game. Five minutes later, Horak upped it to 2-0 when, while on the power play, he went to the net and had an airborne puck go off his body and into the net.
The Blazers were left to play catch-up and, while they got close at 2-1 and 3-2, they weren’t able to pull even.
“I thought we generated a lot of scoring chances,” said Charron, whose club had 38 shots on goaltender Lucas Gore, who is from Kamloops.
The Blazers, as they did in beating the Prince George Cougars on Friday, had problems with turnovers and spent too much time in their zone.
“There were a number of times when our gap . . . our defencemen weren’t in their face at all,” Charron said. “That allows them to generate some speed.”
The Bruins used that speed to access the Kamloops zone and the Blazers’ passivity often allowed the visitors to set up camp there.
Jamie Crooks and Tyler Stahl also scored for the Bruins, who led 2-1 and 4-2 at the breaks. Ryan Hanes and Brendan Ranford replied for the Blazers, who got 27 saves from Groenheyde.
Charron scratched two forwards — freshman Logan McVeigh and sophomore JC Lipon, both of whom played Friday. That got two new forwards — Lyndon Martell and Chase Souto — into the lineup. Charron said he hadn’t seen enough energy from the line of Hanes, McVeigh and Lipon.
Souto, who turns 16 on Oct. 8, gave the crowd something to cheer about at 19:37 of the third period. The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder took a slash from Chillwack defenceman Zach Habscheid, 18, who goes 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds and had 96 penalty minutes in 53 games last season.
Souto dropped the gloves and then dropped Habscheid with a straight right to the jaw.
“He knows his role and he does it very well,” said Charron of Souto. “(Chilliwack) did a lot more talking than action, but their game plan worked so more power to them.”
The Bruins don’t play again before meeting the Blazers on Saturday. Schaber said his guys will be ready.
“It all starts with our preparation,” he said. “I don’t think we were ready. We didn’t bring the energy that we need to bring every night.
“We’re going to work on that through the week and we’re going to come back strong and we’re going to come back ready to play and play Blazers hockey.”
JUST NOTES: Referees Ryan Benbow and Trent Knorr gave the Blazers 13 of 23 minors, two of four majors and two of three misconducts. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Horak: Could have had eight or nine points; 2. Howse: Scored 47 last season and on pace for 180 this season; 3. Persley: Spent the night in Groenheyde’s face. . . . Kamloops D Corey Fienhage (Buffalo Sabres) was expected back in town last night. The timing of his return couldn’t be better, what with Caron expected to miss as much as six weeks of action. . . . D Brandon Manning (N.Y. Rangers) and C Kevin Sundher (Buffalo) were to rejoin the Bruins on Sunday. . . . The honourary Blazer on Saturday was Brendan Mucha of Barriere, a cousin to G Kurtis Mucha, who completed his WHL eligibility with the Blazers last season. Kurtis made his CIS debut with the U of Alberta Golden Bears on Friday night. He stopped 25 shots in a 3-0 victory over the Regina Cougars. . . . Charron indicated that Groenheyde likely will play both games this weekend, as Jeff Bosch (ankle) isn’t ready. . . . F Tyler Shattock, the Blazers’ captain a year ago, has been sent to the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen by the St. Louis Blues.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

DubNation has arrived!

It’s here!
DubNation, the ezine produced by Doyle Potenteau, is on the website and available for you to download as a PDF.
Yes, it’s free.
And it’s 31 pages in length, with stories and columns and all the rest.
You will find it right here!
 gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
 gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Saturday . . .

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
VANCOUVER 2 AT EVERETT 5: F Tyler Maxwell had two goals and an assist for the Silvertips. He has four goals in two games, both victories. . . . F Landon Ferraro scored his first goal in an Everett uniform. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 24 shots. . . . The home side built up a 5-0 lead before the second period was 12 minutes old. . . . F Randy McNaught, acquired Friday by Vancouver from the Saskatoon Blades, was in the Giants’ lineup. He picked up two minor penalties and scrapped with Everett F Campbell Elyniuk. . . . Attendance was 5,027.
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EDMONTON 1 AT RED DEER 8: The Rebels swept a season-opening two-game series with the Oil Kings, having won 4-1 in Edmonton on Friday. . . . Red Deer scored three times in the first 11 minutes of Friday’s game. On Saturday, they led 2-0 by the 7:00 mark. . . . Red Deer led 3-0 after the first period and added four second-period goals. . . . F Andrej Kudrna had two goals and two assists for the Rebels. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and F Turner Elson, Kudrna’s linemates, each had one and one. . . . F Byron Froese helped out with a goal and two helpers. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots. . . . Edmonton starter Laurent Brossoit stopped eight of 12, with reliever Cam Lanigan turning aside 15 of 19. . . . Attendance was 5,547.
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PORTLAND 1 AT SEATTLE 4: F Luke Lockhart’s goal at 15:49 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . F Burke Gallimore scored twice for Seattle (1-1-0-0) and has three in two games. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 38 shots. The Winterhawks are without injured goaltenders Ian Curtis and Mac Carruth. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots. . . . Attendance was 5,052. . . . The Winterhawks still have seven players in NHL camps. They play their home-opener Monday night against the Vancouver Giants at the Rose Garden.
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CHILLIWACK 5 AT KAMLOOPS 2: F Ryan Howse scored twice, giving him five goals in two games, as Chillwack evened its record at 1-1-0-0. The Bruins were beaten 9-4 by the Giants in Vancouver on Friday. . . . C Roman Horak, in his first game since returning from the NHL’s New York Rangers, had a goal and three assists. . . . “How good was he?” Bruins’ GM/head coach Marc Habscheid said after the game. . . . The Blazers lost D Josh Caron for up to six weeks with what head coach Guy Charron described as an “upper body” injury. . . . About all Kamloops fans had to cheer for was a pugilistic victory by F Chase Souto, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound Californian who turns 16 on Oct. 8. He squared off with Chilliwack D Zach Habscheid, who goes 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, in the last minute of the game. Souto won by KO with a straight right to the jaw. Habscheid was woozy as he left the ice. . . . Attendance was 4,010.
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PRINCE GEORGE 6 AT KELOWNA 2: The Cougars got four points, three of them assists, from F Nick Buonassisi as they spoiled the Rockets’ home-opener. . . . The Rockets had lost 5-2 in Kamloops on Friday. . . . F Spencer Asuchak scored twice for the Cougars. . . . F Brett Connolly, who rejoined the Cougars on Friday from the camp of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, scored once, giving him two in as many games. Why is this news? Because Connolly, one of the WHL’s top performers, missed all but 16 games last season with hip problems. . . . This was the fifth straight home-opening loss for the Rockets. . . . “The way our night went, I thought we were soft in confrontation areas, whether it was for pucks or bodies. That’s the way our forwards played tonight,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska told Doyle Potenteau of the Okanagan Sunday. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie (hamstring) started the game but left in the second period. . . . According to Huska, Barrie “wasn’t feeling right.” . . . Kelowna F Shane McColgan, who had his tonsils out earlier in the month, was a scratch. . . . The visitors held a 39-22 edge in shots. . . . Attendance was 6,178.
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SASKATOON 6 AT PRINCE ALBERT 5: The Blades got three points from each of F Marek Viedensky and F Josh Nicholls as they swept an opening series with the Raiders. Saskatoon won 3-2 at home on Friday. . . . Viedensky and Nicholls each had two goals while G Steven Stanford, who was acquired last season from the Raiders, stopped 34 shots. . . . The Raiders got two goals from F Brandon Herrod. . . . Attendance was 2,820.
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SPOKANE 3 AT TRI-CITY 6: F Patrick Holland had a goal and three assists and F Brendan Shinnimin scored twice to lead the Americans to victory over the Chiefs and head coach Don Nachbaur, who was making his return to Kennewick. . . . Nachbaur coached the Americans for five seasons before leaving after the 2008-09 season to coach the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. He left there after one season and signed a five-year deal with the Chiefs. . . . “Our veterans weren’t good enough tonight,” Nachbaur told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “Our young guys learned as the game went on, but the young guys can’t win unless the old guys show them the way. I thought too many guys who played on this team last year took a back seat. If they keep that up, they’ll have a seat in the stands.” . . . The Americans had a 5-0 lead before the Chiefs scored three goals. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-9 on the PP; the Chiefs were 2-for-10. . .. It was the first game of the season for both teams. . . . The Americans, who have won 10 straight home-openers, raised two championship banners -- U.S. Division and Western Conference -- before the game. . . . Attendance was 5,922.
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CALGARY 0 AT KOOTENAY 4: G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 35 shots to earn the first shutout in the WHL this season. . . . It was his fourth career shutout and came in the Ice’s home-opener. . . . This was the first game as head coach for Kootenay’s Kris Knoblauch, an assistant last season who takes over from Mark Holick, now head coach of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . Knoblauch, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Friday, is the WHL’s youngest head coach. . . . Calgary had lost 5-3 to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes in its opener Friday. . . . F Max Reinhart had two goals. . . . The Ice continues to be without D Brayden McNabb. He played for the Buffalo Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. . . Slovakian Juraj Holly, 19, made his WHL debut in goal for Calgary. He stopped 30 shots. . . . The Hitmen were 0-for-9 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 2,549.
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MOOSE JAW 2 AT SWIFT CURRENT 1: Slovakian F Michal Hlinka scored his first WHL goal on a penalty shot, breaking a 1-1 tie and providing the Warriors with the winning goal. . . . Hlinka scored at 14:01 of the second period. . . . The Broncos had won 4-1 in Moose Jaw on Friday. . . . Moose Jaw G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 27 shots, as did Swift Current G Mark Friesen. . . . Nine of the game’s last 10 minor penalties were for roughing. . . . Attendance was 2,512.
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LETHBRIDGE 3 AT MEDICINE HAT 1: G Dylan Tait stopped 37 shots for the Hurricanes, who are 2-0. They won 5-3 in Calgary on Friday. . . . F Austin Fyten scored his fourth goal in two games for the Hurricanes, who led 3-0 in the second period. . . . Medicine Hat got a goal from captain Wacey Hamilton, who returned from the camp of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. . . . Fyten and Hamilton clashed in the game’s lone fight. . . . Yes, attendance was 4,006.
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On their way back from NHL camps are D Brandon Manning, to Chilliwack from the New York Rangers; F Cody Beach, to Calgary from St. Louis. . . . Chilliwack also expects to get C Kevin Sundher back from Buffalo on Sunday, while Kamloops expects D Corey Fienhage to return Sunday, also from Buffalo.
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F Triston Grant, who is in camp with the Florida Panthers, and F Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins danced on Saturday night. They were teammates with the Vancouver Giants for a moment at one time. More on that bout right here.
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The Calgary Herald is reporting that Chuck Matson, who at one time owned a piece of the Calgary Hitmen, was among three men killed in an Alberta plane crash on Friday. That story is right here.
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Rich Myhre of the Everett Herald takes a look at Silvertips goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet and how he is dealing with having to live with multiple sclerosis. That story is right here.
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JUNIOR JOTTINGS: G Kurtis Mucha, who finished up a five-year WHL career in Kamloops after being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks in November, made his CIS debut with Alberta on Friday. He stopped 25 shots in leading the Golden Bears to a 3-0 victory over the Regina Cougars. . . . As of Friday, the Brandon Wheat Kings had sold 2,969 season tickets, the second-highest total in franchise history, second only to the 3,611 sold last season when they were the host team for the Memorial Cup. . . . Two players drew suspensions from Friday’s opening night games. F Colton Stephenson of the Edmonton Oil Kings and D Alex Theriau of the Everett Silvertips each drew a one-game suspension after being tossed with a checking-from-behind major and the accompanying game misconduct. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers assigned F Colin Mospanchuk, 17, to the MJHL’s Winnipeg South Blues. That leaves the Tigers’ roster at 24, including D Jace Coyle, who still is with the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
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The Windsor Spitfires will celebrate a second straight Memorial Cup title on Sunday afternoon when they play their home-opener. And, the way Bob Duff of the Windsor Star sees it, it could be quite an afternoon, what with the Barrie Colts providing the opposition. You see, the Spitfires beat the Colts in the OHL championship series last spring. That story is right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Gaglardi confirms interest in NHL's Stars

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, has confirmed that he is attempting to purchase the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
“For several years I’ve been interested in the NHL,” Gaglardi said Friday night while watching his Blazers open the WHL regular season with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars.
There has been speculation over the last few months that Gaglardi and Calgary businessman Bill Gallacher, who owns the WHL’S Portland Winterhawks, both are in negotiations to purchase the Stars from Tom Hicks.
Prior to last night, neither Gaglardi nor Gallacher has admitted publicly that he is interested in purchasing the Stars.
Gaglardi is president of Northland Properties, a Vancouver-based company that owns such properties as Sandman Hotels, Inns & Suites, Denny’s, Moxie’s and the Shark Club.
Hicks already has sold baseball’s Texas Rangers. Hicks and co-owner George Gillett Jr. also are working at selling the English soccer club Liverpool.
Gaglardi was involved in an attempt to purchase the Vancouver Canucks a few years ago. But he said his interest in owning an NHL franchise goes back further than that.
The Stars, he said, are in a “market that I’ve always had interest in.”
Gaglardi said his mother is from the Dallas/Fort Worth area and added that he has relatives there.
“I’ve been going to Texas since I was born,” Gaglardi said. “I have a love of the area. I’m a big Dallas Cowboys fan.”
There was speculation earlier this week that Gallacher had pulled out of negotiations but there hasn’t been any confirmation. Gaglardi said he had heard the speculation but didn’t know anything other than that.
Asked how far along negotiations involving the Stars are, Gaglardi replied: “I can’t say.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Friday . . .

The rivalry between the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers heated up Friday night and the teams didn’t even play each other. The Giants acquired RW Randy McNaught, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades for a fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. McNaught started his WHL career with the Chilliwack Bruins and was dealt to the Blades last season. . . . In 65 games with the Blades, he had 163 penalty minutes. . . . McNaught, who was returned to the Blades by the New York Rangers on Friday, and Kamloops D Josh Caron are two of the WHL heavyweights. They were in Traverse City, Mich., for a prospects tournament, McNaught with the Rangers and Caron with the Minnesota Wild. Yes, they scrapped. “I fought him,” Caron told me after returning from the Wild’s camp. “That was good; he’s a tough kid.” . . . Fans in Whitehorse should get ready, too, because McNaught and Caron will be bringing their rivalry to an arena near you. The Blazers and Giants are to play in Whitehorse on Feb. 12 in what originally was to have been a Kamloops home game. . . . “He's a tough player,” Vancouver GM Scott Bonner told the Vancouver Sun of McNaught. “With all our skill guys, we just want to make sure they feel secure.”
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The trade leaves Saskatoon with five and possibly six 20-year-olds. G Steven Stanford got the start last night against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. Also dressed were F Marek Viedensky and D Teigan Zahn, the team captain. . . . Also in the picture are F Sena Acolatese, who also can play defence, and F Jeremy Boyer. F Gaelan Patterson, another potential candidate, is with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
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The acquisition of McNaught leaves the Giants with three 20-year-olds, the others being F Craig Cunningham and F Matt MacKay.
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The Brandon Sun is reporting that “the book is closed on the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup and it’s written in black ink.” . . . The four-team tournament, won for the second season in a row by the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, was played in Brandon’s Keystone Centre, May 14-23. The host committee had guaranteed an $800,000 profit and it met that projection.
The City of Brandon and the Manitoba government backed that guarantee but their financial support wasn’t needed.
“We set out to make it the best Memorial Cup for everybody and we did that,” Jeff Cristall, the host committee chairperson, told The Sun. “That we managed to meet our financial commitments without the support having to come in, I think is just sort of the icing on the cake for us. As people who run things, we didn’t want to have to use the guarantee. … It was by the skin of our teeth, but that’s the way it turned out.”
The Sun reports that the estimated economic spinoff for Brandon was $13 million.
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There would appear to be some confusion regarding the draft picks involved in Friday’s trade in which C Thomas Frazee moved from the Moose Jaw Warriors to the Regina Pats. . . . According to the Pats’ news release, one of the things they gave up in exchange was their second-round bantam draft pick in 2012. . . . According to a news release from the Warriors, they received Regina’s second-round pick in 2011.
The Moose Jaw Times-Herald reported: “The Warriors . . . dealt Thomas Frazee and their fourth-round pick in 2011 and a sixth-round pick in 2012 to the Regina Pats for their second-round pick in 2011 and the Pats’ fifth-round pick in 2013.”
The Regina Leader-Post reported: “Regina picked up (Frazee) along with a fourth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft and a sixth-rounder in 2012. Going the other way was a second-rounder in 2012 and a fifth-rounder in 2013.”
Presumably someone will sort that out before the 2011 bantam draft, perhaps sometime after the WHL gets its website up and running and has placated its legions of upset fans.
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By the way, the Warriors have four 20-year-olds on their roster, but F Brendan Rowinski (knee) is out until sometime next month. The deadline for getting down to three 20-year-olds is Oct. 14.
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Unfortunately for the WHL, the opening of its regular season is being overshadowed by whatever is going on with its website.
People are tweeting about it, NHL scouts are talking about, fans are upset about it.
Talk about poor timing for a system failure, or whatever you want to call it.
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Scott Clark, a native of Regina, is the first general manager of the Moose Jaw Multiplex, which is to be the new home of the Moose Jaw Warriors next season.
Moose Jaw couldn’t have hired a better man for the job.
Clark, 47, has spent 23 years working in many areas with teams and facilities in Canada. In the WHL, he has worked in marketing with the Regina Pats and Kootenay Ice. He won the WHL’s marketing award in 1999 while with Regina. He also was in marketing with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals while Eric Lindros was playing with them.
For the last eight seasons, he was been manager of sales channel development with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Clark begins his new job Oct. 15.
(Thanks to the Regina Leader-Post for this information.)
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FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
CHILLIWACK 4 AT VANCOUVER 9: The Giants trailed on four occasions but scored six straight goals to win going away. . . . F Brendan Gallagher had five points, including two goals. His line totalled 10 points, as Slovakian winger Marek Tvrdon had two goals and an assist, and C Craig Cunningham had one of each. . . . F Ryan Howse scored three times for the Bruins. . . . Vancouver had a 45-29 edge in shots. . . . Attendance was 8,109. . . . The Vancouver Sun reports that Michael Buble, who owns a piece of the Giants, had to miss the opener because he “was in Dublin, Ireland, performing for 45,000 Irish fans at the new Aviva Stadium.”
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LETHBRIDGE 5 AT CALGARY 3: The Hitmen hoisted four banners into the Pengrowth Saddledome rafters and then were beaten by the Hurricanes. . . . Lethbridge came back from a two-goal deficit and counted three times on the PP. . . . Attendance was 9,251. . . . Calgary was 3-for-8 on the PP. . . . F Austin Fyten had three goals for Lethbridge, which didn’t make the playoffs last season while the Hitmen were winning the WHL championship. . . . Fyten also drew an assist on the winning goal that came off the stick of F Cam Braes, his second of the night. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 30 shots. . . . The Hitmen had a 21-5 edge in shots midway through the game.
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REGINA 4 AT BRANDON 5: The Wheat Kings got off on the right foot, outshooting the visitors 13-1 in the early going. . . . Brandon took 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads, only to have Regina tie it each team. . . . However, the home side took control with two PP goals late in the second period. . . . Regina had F Thomas Frazee, 20, in the lineup after he was acquired earlier in the day from the Moose Jaw Warriors. But the Pats were without F Carter Ashton, 19, who is making his way back from the camp of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Ashton is expected to play Sunday against the visiting Wheat Kings. . . . Attendance was 5,287. . . . F Mark Stone had four assists for Brandon. . . . Regina was 0-for-3 on the PP; Brandon was 3-for-6. . . . Brandon G Liam Liston, 17, picked up the victory in his first WHL start. He got the start over two 20-year-old veterans — Andrew Hayes and Jacob DeSerres.
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SEATTLE 3 AT EVERETT 4: The Silvertips overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit to win their home-opener. . . . F Tyler Maxwell pulled Everett into a 3-2 tie at 1:56 of the third period and he got the winner, off an assist by F Landon Ferraro, with 38 seconds left in the third period. . . . Everett D Ryan Murray had three assists. . . . Attendance was 6,599. . . . Everett D Alex Theriau took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 13:28 of the third period and the score 3-3.
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SWIFT CURRENT 4 at MOOSE JAW W 1: The Broncos broke open a scoreless game with two goals in the opening two minutes of the second period and went from there. . . . The teams meet Saturday in Swift Current. . . . Attendance in the Crushed Can was 2,774. . . . Broncos F Stepan Novotny scored 35 seconds into the second and F Taylor Vause made it 2-0 on a breakaway at 1:53. . . . “We made mental errors trying to force issues and gave up 14 odd-man rushes throughout the game. That’s unacceptable. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is,” Moose Jaw head coach Dave Hunchak told Mathew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “We didn’t give up 14 all year yet and we do it in the home opener.” . . . F Brad Hoban scored the Broncos’ last two goals, the second into an empty net. . . . The Broncos lost D Tanner Muth at 3:27 of the first period. He took a holding penalty just 52 seconds into the game and, at 3:27, it was pointed out to the on-ice officials that Muth wasn’t listed on the game sheet. The Broncos were hit with a bench minor for using an ineligible player and Muth got an early shower. . . . Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath, who was returned Friday by the New York Rangers, didn’t play. He will dress for Saturday’s rematch.
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PRINCE ALBERT 2 AT SASKATOON 3: The Blades erased a 2-1 third-period deficit and won on two goals from F Darian Dziurzynski. . . . He tied the score at 7:56 of the third period and won it at 18:14 on the PP. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 35 shots. . . . Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower, who turns 17 in December, scored his first WHL goal. It came in his 56th regular-season game. . . . Attendance was 5,446. . . . The teams meet Saturday in Prince Albert.
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RED DEER 4 AT EDMONTON 1: The Rebels scored the first four goals, opening up a 4-0 lead early in the third period. . . . D Matt Dumba, the fourth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, got his first WHL at 6:32 of the first period. He had two assists in six games last season. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 27 shots. . . . Attendance was 6,320. . . . D Alex Petrovic drew two assists for Red Deer. . . . The teams meet again Saturday in Red Deer.
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PRINCE GEORGE 2 at KAMLOOPS 5: LW Dylan Willick, who is from Prince George, scored twice to lead the Blazers. . . . He was credited with his first goal at 10:42 of the first period when a shot by D Linden Saip, on a Kamloops power play, appeared to glance off him. Willick said after the game that he wasn’t certain that it was his goal and that team officials would check the video. . . . Kamloops C Chase Schaber had a Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, an assist and a scrap with Prince George D Martin Marincin, a Slovakian. . . . The night’s other bout featured LW Bernhard Keil of the Blazers, who is from Germany, and Cougars F Parker Stanfield. . . . Kamloops G Jon Groenheyde was outstanding, with 39 saves. . . . Prince George F Brett Connolly, who was reassigned earlier in the day by the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, flew into Kelowna late in the afternoon and arrived in Kamloops in time to play. He scored the Cougars’ first goal. . . . Attendance was 4,597.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

What goalie would have given for a . . . TUMS?

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Jon Groenheyde, a goaltender who in the past has been known to lose his cool, was cooler than the proverbial cucumber Friday night at Interior Savings Centre.
Except for a few moments in the second period . . . but more about that in a minute.
While his teammates were at times losing their heads, Groenheyde was keeping his and backstopping them to a 5-2 WHL regular-season victory over the Prince George Cougars before 4,597 fans.
It was the first game of the season for both teams. The Blazers are at home to the Chilliwack Bruins tonight, 7 o’clock, while the Cougars will meet the Rockets in Kelowna.
“It’s a good thing we had Jon back there,” said Kamloops left-winger Dylan Willick who, once again, was terrific against his hometown team. (“It works for me,” Willick said.)
Groenheyde, who worked a lot over the summer on controlling his emotions, stopped 39 shots in what was the first season-opening start of his career.
He was there in the first period, making two good pad saves, as his teammates took a 2-0 lead on goals by Willick — a shot from defenceman Linden Saip may, or may not, have gone in off Willick and will be subject to video review today — and captain Chase Schaber.
And Groenheyde was there in the second as the Blazers were outshot 20-10 but emerged with a 4-2 lead.
“I thought he played very well,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said of his 19-year-old third-year goaltender. “He was solid and made the saves when he had to.”
Early in the second period, however, it appeared that Groenheyde had a problem. His mask propped back on his head, he had a lengthy conversation with referee Trevor Hanson, who ultimately had the last word by emphatically pointing at a faceoff dot and ordering play to proceed.
“I needed a TUMS and he wouldn’t let me go get one,” a smiling Groenheyde said.
Whether it was an upset stomach or acid reflux, Groenheyde was beaten for the first time moments later when Prince George sniper Brett Connolly walked around defenceman Tyler Hansen and snapped a shot into the net.
Connolly, one of the WHL’s top talents, missed all but 16 games last season with hip problems. Still, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him sixth overall in the 2010 NHL draft, and kept him in camp until yesterday morning. He flew into Kelowna, landing at 4:30 p.m., and drove to Kamloops with Cougars owner Rick Brodsky, who lives in the Little Apple, and general manager Dallas Thompson.
Groenheyde’s stomach settled down after that and he was rock solid.
The Blazers weren’t.
“My message to them,” Charron said, “was that we became too cute. In the first period, we were all over them. Unfortunately, (we didn’t have any) shots to show for it. We dominated . . . we were good territorial . . . we didn’t get shots on goal . . we didn’t converge on goal.
“We didn’t do the things for us to be successful and to put teams away. It’s just something that we have to learn, that we have to get better at.”
Still, the Blazers got second-period goals from wingers JT Barnett and Brendan Ranford to take a 4-1 lead and gain control of this one.
“I thought we played a solid road game,” offered Prince George head coach Dean Clark, whose club had the poorest record in the 60-team CHL last season. “Their first goal went off two guys. Before their third goal, we were taking it to them, and they get one chance and make it 3-1.
“Although I didn’t like the score, this can be a confidence-builder.”
Defenceman Martin Marincin, a 6-foot-4 Slovakian who was a second-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2010 draft, pounded a slapshot past Groenheyde on a late second-period power play to get the visitors to within two.
But Willick, who is from Prince George, iced this one with an empty-net goal at 18:45 of the third.
“My line was going and we were getting ice time,” said Willick, who started his second WHL season alongside Colin Smith and Jordan DePape.
Willick also made contributions with a couple of key blocked shots.
“That’s something I started at the end of last season,” he said, “and something I want to do from the start this time. If you do things like that, the goals will come.”
Asked what happened to the Blazers later in the game, Willick echoed his head coach by saying: “We tried to get too cute with the puck.”
“We turned the puck over way too much,” Charron stated. “If we want to be a team that competes against the best every night, we’re going to have to be a lot better in some areas.
“The good thing is we won a game . . . as poorly as we played we found a way to win and that’s a good sign.”
JUST NOTES: In his first game as the Blazers’ captain, Schaber had a Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, an assist and a fight. . . . Referees Brett Iverson and Hanson gave the Cougars 10 of 17 minors and two of four majors. . . . Kamloops was 1-for-8 on the power play; the Cougars were 1-for-5. . . . The Cougars twice were called for having too many men on the ice. The second one gave the Blazers a two-man advantage for 58 seconds but they couldn’t score. . . . Prince George G James Priestner stopped 23 shots. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Groenheyde: He was big when he needed to be; 2. Willick: Best skater on the ice; 3. Connolly: Great to see him healthy.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Friday . . . early

With two goaltenders injured, the Portland Winterhawks have added Michael Tadjdeh, 19, to their roster. He has played with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Spokane Chiefs. Spokane released him last week. . . . Portland’s goaltenders, Ian Curtis, 20, and Mac Carruth, 18, are out with undisclosed injuries. Carruth is week-to-week, while Curtis, according to the Portland Tribune, “might miss the first couple weeks of the season.” . . . Keith Hamilton, 18, will partner with Tadjdeh in the season’s early days. . . . The Winterhawks went into Friday with seven players away at NHL camps: F Riley Boychuk (Buffalo), F Oliver Gabriel (Columbus), F Nino Niederreiter (N.Y. Islanders), F Ryan Johansen (Columbus), D Brett Ponich (St. Louis), F Brad Ross (Toronto) and F Luke Walker (Colorado).
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LW Shayne Wiebe, 20, is the new captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings. Wiebe, who is from Brandon, was acquired last season in a trade with the Kamloops Blazers. He is the 54th captain in franchise history. F Brayden Schenn and F Matt Calvert shared the captaincy last season. Schenn, 19, now is with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, while Calvert has graduated. . . . Alternate captains are D Brodie Melnychuk, F Mark Stone and F Scott Glennie.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have dealt F Thomas Frazee, 20, to the Regina Pats. Also going to the Pats are two bantam draft picks -- a fourth-rounder in 2011 and a sixth-rounder in 2012. In exchange, Moose Jaw gets a second-round pick in the 2011 draft and a fifth-rounder in 2013. . . . Frazee had been acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers, but was one of five 20-year-olds on Moose Jaw’s roster. The Warriors are left with F Spencer Edwards, G Thomas Heemskerk, F Dylan Hood and F Brendan Rowinski as their 20s. . . . Regina’s now has two 20-year-olds -- Frazee and F Colin Reddin, who was acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors traded F Mike Forsyth, 18, to the Chilliwack Bruins for a conditional draft pick. Forsyth was an eighth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers. He had 21 points in 57 games with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks last season. . . . The Warriors had acquired Forsyth from the Tigers in a deal for F Matt MacKay last season. MacKay has since been moved to the Vancouver Giants.
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The Regina Pats acquired F Trent Ouellette, 17, from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a conditional 13th-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He played last season with the midget AAA UFA Bisons, who play out of Strathmore, Alta., which is just east of Calgary. He had 29 points in 32 games with the Bisons.
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The Prince George Cougars got their big gun, F Brett Connolly, back from the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday and immediately named the hometown star their captain. . . . Alternates will be F James Dobrowolski, 20, and F Charles Inglis, 18, with F Brock Hirsche, 18, wearing an ‘A’ at home and D Jesse Forsberg, 17, wearing one on the road.
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When Kamloops Blazers head coach Guy Charron signed his first NHL contract, with the Montreal Canadiens in the fall of 1969, it was a two-year deal calling for salaries of $6,000 and $7,500 in the AHL and $10,000 and $12,000 in the NHL. . . . Kamloops D Josh Caron, 19, has signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Wild. According to CapGeek.com, Caron gets US$55,000 for each of three seasons as an AHL salary, with an NHL roster spot paying $520,000, $545,000 and $545,000. The signing bonus is three annual $20,000 payments. . . . D Colton Jobke, 18, of the Kelowna Rockets also signed with the Wild. According to CapGeek.com, he gets $55,000 in the AHL, with NHL salaries of $530,000, $555,000 and $555,000. He got a $90,000 signing bonus, payable in three annual instalments. . . . Caron and Jobke both attended the Wild’s camp on free-agent tryout deals.
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Also on their way back from NHL camps: D Dylan McIlrath, to Moose Jaw from New York Rangers; F Roman Horak, to Chillwack from New York Rangers; F Randy McNaught, to Saskatoon from New York Rangers; F Carter Ashton, to Regina from Tampa Bay; F Jordan Weal, to Regina from Los Angeles; F Linden Vey, from Los Angeles to Medicine Hat.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

Eastern Conference prognostications

The problem with doing these things is that some of the information changes as they are being written, witness the Prince George Cougars getting back F Brett Connolly on Friday from the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. No matter. We forge ahead with a look at the East and Central Divisions and the way things may finish (last season’s regular-season record and this season’s exhibition record are in parentheses):
EAST DIVISION:
1. MOOSE JAW WARRIORS (33-27-5-7; 5-2-0-0): The Warriors should score some goals this season as they have a solid group of forwards returning, led by Quinton Howden, who had 28 last season, and Brendan Rowinski, who had 30. . . . Howden, who had 65 points in as many games, is a top-flight player. . . . The Warriors open with four good 20-year-olds — F Spencer Edwards, the captain, G Thomas Heemskerk, F Dylan Hood and Rowinski — so something will happen there. . . . Moose Jaw cut its goals-against by 105 goals last season so you have to wonder how much improvement there can be this time. . . . D Dallas Ehrhardt opens on the sideline with a knee injury incurred while with the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects team in Penticton, B.C. . . . Dylan McIlrath, who went 10th overall to the New York Rangers in the NHL’s 2010 draft, and Kendall McFaull provide leadership and everything else on the back end. . . . Moose Jaw did a preseason juggle in goal, moving out Jeff Bosch (to Moose Jaw) and bringing in Heemskerk.
OUTLOOK: In the last season of the Crushed Can, the Warriors should be in the chase for the division pennant.
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2. SASKATOON BLADES (46-19-3-4; 4-1-0-1): The Blades have a whack of 20-year-olds and until that situation sorts itself out, who knows what’s here. At the end of the day, though, the Blades will have a lot of experience on their roster. . . . Their top two scorers from last season, Derek Hulak and Walker Wintoneak, graduated, but the likes of F Curtis Hamilton, Josh Nicholls and Darian Dziurzynski will score. . . . These are the Blades of GM/head coach Lorne Molleken so you know toughness won’t be in short supply. . . . Teigan Zahn, the captain, leads the way on the back end. . . . He’s one of a number of 20-year-olds, along with the likes of F Sena Acolatse, F Jeremy Boyer, F Randy McNaught, F Gaelan Patterson, who is still with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, and F Marek Viedensky. The 20-year-old deadline is Oct. 14 so Molleken will be active between now and then. . . . D Stefan Elliott, 19, will run the offence from the back end, if he returns from the Colorado Avalanche, while Duncan Siemens, 17, and Dalton Thrower, 17 in December, are coming into their own. . . . G Steven Stanford is another 20-year-old, while Adam Morrison, 19, also is back. Should Molleken choose to go with Morrison and move Stanford, Adam Iwan, 17, is still in town.
OUTLOOK: Molleken has his work cut out for him between now and mid-October. When it’s all over, the Blades will still be a contender.
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3. SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS (37-30-1-4; 2-5-0-0): F Cody Eakin, the Broncos’ best player and one of the league’s top performers, is with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. They are expected to take a good long look at him. A third-round pick by the Capitals, Eakin, 19, is the Broncos’ captain and coming off a 47-goal season. . . . If he’s gone for any length of time, the Broncos have to make sure it doesn’t become a distraction. . . . They did get F Justin Dowling, 20, back and he’ll help Eakin with the offensive load. . . . F Adam Lowry, 17, is getting over mononucleosis. . . . F Dillon Wagner (shoulder) won’t play until perhaps November. . . . The Broncos added depth this week by dealing D Travis Bobbee, 20, to Seattle for D Tanner Muth, 17, and F Brenden Silvester, 19. . . . The Broncos need to score more goals (they had 231) and allow about 30 fewer (232). . . . The veterans on defence — Jordan Evans, Joel Rogers and Kyle Verdino — will have to tighten up, while Reece Scarlett, 17, will continue to improve into a top-end defender. . . . G Mark Friesen, 20, will get a lot of work. He came over from the Chilliwack Bruins last season.
OUTLOOK: The Broncos have an intriguing mix of defensive toughness, with speed and skill up front. With Eakin, they’re in the hunt. If he isn’t there, everyone else is going to have to step it up a level.
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4. PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS (32-35-3-2; 2-1-0-1): The Raiders, it’s safe to say, underachieved last season when they didn’t make the playoffs for a third straight season. So GM/head coach Bruno Campese put together roster that has more, uhh, truculence and belligerence than it did last season. . . . That and six veteran defencemen — including Ryan Button, Nathan Deck and Jordan Rowley — will be the key to this team’s success. . . . F Brandon Herrod and F Igor Revenko will show the way on offence and could each score 40. . . . F Mark McNeill, 17, F Todd Fiddler, 17, and F Mike Winther, 16, lead the young guns. . . . G Jamie Tucker, who came over from the Vancouver Giants in January, wasn’t happy on the West Coast and now gets his chance. . . . Campese has players like D Harrison Ruopp, D Emerson Hrynyk, F Austin Bourhis, F Mark Mackenzie and F Brock Balson, all of whom have sandpaper in their games. The goal is to play hard on the road and to bring that back home.
OUTLOOK: Look for the Raiders to boast one of the league's most-improved records.
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5. BRANDON WHEAT KINGS (50-18-1-3; 3-1-0-0): The Wheat Kings are carrying five goaltenders and two of them — Jacob De Serres and Andrew Hayes — are 20 years of age. . . . Liam (Sonny) Liston, 17, is the goaltender of the future. Who is the starter now? . . . The Wheat Kings scored 321 goals last season when they were the host team for the Memorial Cup. They won’t come close to scoring that many goals this season unless they get back F Scott Glennie (Dallas) and Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles). . . . Even with all the skill last season, the Wheat Kings’ special teams were below average. . . . The Wheat Kings also have a bunch of 20-year-olds — De Serres, Hayes, F Shayne Wiebe, the captain, F David Toews, D Mark Schneider, D Darren Bestland — and are only able to keep three, so there will be some movement.
OUTLOOK: After loading up as the host team for the 2010 Memorial Cup, the Wheat Kings are into one of those reloading seasons.
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6. REGINA PATS (30-35-3-4; 1-4-1-0): Here’s the question everyone is asking: The Pats didn’t make the playoffs last season with the likes of F Jordan Eberle, who was the WHL’s player of the year, D Colton Teubert, F Carter Ashton, F Matt Strueby, F Brett Leffler, D Matt Delahey et al, so how will they qualify without those big names? . . . Good question. . . . The Pats now are underdogs. Will they relish the role and prove the prognosticators, including this one, to be wrong? . . . The biggest move came in the front office where Brent Parker, the GM for 15 years, moved into the president’s office. Former Moose Jaw Warriors GM Chad Lang now is the Pats’ general manager. You can bet he’s watching closely and taking names. He was never afraid of making a deal in Moose Jaw. . . . The Pats scored 246 goals, had Eberle and C Jordan Weal each score more than 100 points, and had the WHL’s No. 4 power play. So what happened? They gave up 278 goals. . . . They have to tighten up on the back end. . . . Weal now is the man up front, but he’ll need help from the likes of F Hampus Gustafsson and gritty Garrett Mitchell. . . . Veteran C Colin Reddin, 20, and a healthy Killian Hutt will only help, as will F Thomas Frazee, who was acquired Friday from Moose Jaw. . . . F Dane Muench, an offensive-type in the SJHL, will be worth watching. . . . Brandon Davidson leads a competent group of defencemen, while D Cody Carlson has an offensive side to his game. . . . Swedish D Ricard Blidstrand, a Philadelphia Flyers’ draft pick, will have to make an impact. . . . D Myles Bell, 17, is one of the conference’s best young players. . . . In goal, it’s Dawson Guhle, 18, and Damien Ketlo, 19, the same tandem as last season, although freshman Matt Hewitt, 18, is pushing for a spot. The goaltenders will have to be better, as will everyone in front of them.
OUTLOOK: A playoff spot isn’t out of the question, but it is unlikely.
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CENTRAL DIVISION:
1. MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (41-23-3-5; 4-1-0-1): Willie Desjardins, the long-serving GM and head coach, is with the Dallas Stars. That puts Shaun Clouston, the long-time associate coach, in charge of the bench. . . . Don’t look for a whole lot of changes here, and why would things be a whole lot different? . . . Although a tighter defence would help. The Tigers gave up 232 goals last season and that’s too many. . . . This will be a strong offensive team, with Emerson Etem, one of the league’s most exciting players, and Linden Vey leading the way. Wacey Hamilton, the captain, went to camp with the Colorado Avalanche and will be given a chance to play in the AHL. . . . The Tigers also landed F Tyler Pitlick, a refugee from the NCAA’s Minnesota State. He had a strong camp with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, who re-assigned him to Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . And don’t forget F Ryan Harrison, a 54-point man with the Prince Albert Raiders who was added in an offseason trade. . . . On the back end, Jace Coyle, 20, will run the power play, while Swedish newcomer Sebastian Owuya, who went to camp with the Atlanta Thrashers, should help. He has Swedish Elite League experience. . . . Tyler Bunz, 18, is ready for a third season and is one of the WHL’s top goaltenders. He is backed up by Deven Dubyk, 19.
OUTLOOK: This will be an exciting team to watch. If Clouston can convince them of the importance of team defence, a WHL title isn’t out of reach.
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2. KOOTENAY ICE (43-24-3-2; 1-4-0-0): The Ice has a history of terrific coaches and Kris Knoblauch, a former WHL player, is next in line. He replaces Mark Holick, who now is head coach of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Holick took over from Cory Clouston, now the head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . Knoblauch was an assistant under Holick, so he knows the players. . . . This franchise has had amazing success, having won at least 42 games in five of the last six regular seasons. So why does it struggle to sell tickets? . . . F Dustin Sylvester had 93 points last season but he’s gone, but there’s a good group of forwards ready to pick up the slack, including Steele Boomer (he still has the league’s best name), Matt Fraser, Jesse Ismond, Kevin King and Max Reinhart. Each of those guys had at least 20 goals last season, so 30 won’t be out of reach. . . . But they need to be better on the PP, which was only 17th last season. . . . This team won’t get run out of any buildings, either. Joe Antilla, Drew Czerwonka and Brock Montgomery will make sure of that. . . . F Brendan Hurley, the Ice’s first pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is ready to contribute. . . . Brayden MacNabb is one of the WHL’s top defencemen. He should be good for at least 70 points, while getting support from James Martin and Hayden Rintoul, both 19. . . . As well, Joey Leach, 18, has turned into a solid two-way guy. . . . Todd Mathews, 20, and Nathan Lieuwen, 19, are scrapping over the No. 1 goaltending spot. Both are competent WHL goaltenders.
OUTLOOK: They could push Medicine Hat to the finish line.
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3. RED DEER REBELS (39-28-0-5; 5-2-0-0): The Rebels’ roster is home to the WHL’s best young forward in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who had 65 points, including 24 goals, as a 16-year-old last season. . . . The power play (17.7) has to be better. . . . F Willie Coetzee, who led them with 81 points, may play in the Detroit Red Wings’ organization. . . . Without him, others will pick up the slack. Nugent-Hopkins, F Andrej Kudrna (30 goals) and F Byron Froese, who came over from Everett for F Landon Ferraro, are the big guns. Red Deer fans will enjoy watching Froese, who has a well-rounded game. . . . The Rebels showed improvement on defence last season and that will continue with the likes of Colin Archer, the 20-year-old captain, Alex Petrovic, Justin Weller and Aaron Borejko back there. . . . And watch for D Matt Dumba, 16, the fourth overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, to show signs of becoming an elite player. . . . The Rebels have two 20-year-old goaltenders in Kraymer Barnstable and Darcy Kuemper, so something has to give there.
OUTLOOK: After a few seasons of relative dormancy, the Rebels have awakened.
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4. LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES (20-44-5-3; 4-1-0-1): The Hurricanes stumbled and bumbled through last season, one that began with an eight-game road trip due to building renovations. This season, well, the renovations continue and they open with five in a row away from home, including a three-game swing into the U.S. Division. . . . Still, this will be the WHL’s most-improved team. . . . G Brandon Anderson is brimming with confidence after attending the Washington Capitals’ camp as a free agent and coming home with a three-year NHL contract. . . . GM/head coach Rich Preston knows his way around the WHL now, after not being involved in the WHL since the mid-1990s. . . . Still, they need improvement on offence (they scored 178 goals last season) and have to improve a defence that gave up 275 goals. . . . But they’ve got almost a dozen returning forwards, including Mitch Maxwell, who had 27 goals as a 19-year-old rookie, and the hard-working Cam Braes, who scored 25. . . . F Austin Fyten and F Brody Sutter both are 19 and have to step it up a bit. . . . Russian F Alex Kuvaev is 17 but they are hoping for some offensive help from him. . . . D Mike Reddington is the captain and leads from the back end, along with Brennan Yadlowski. . . . D Daniel Johnston, who came over from Portland, will get more playing time.
OUTLOOK: They were pushovers a year ago, but no longer.
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5. CALGARY HITMEN (52-17-1-2; 0-4-0-1): What does head coach Mike Williamson do for an encore? He hadn’t coached for two seasons, since and the Portland Winterhawks parted company. Then, in his first season with the Hitmen, he got to the Memorial Cup. . . . If you’re wondering why they won the WHL title, consider that the Hitmen were No. 1 in penalty killing and power play last season. . . . And they gave up only 177 goals. . . . There are 11 new faces on the roster of the defending champions. . . . So who takes over from G Martin Jones, 20, who almost certainly will play in the Los Angeles Kings’ organization? Michael Snider, 19, backed up Jones for two seasons and deserves a chance. The Hitmen also rolled the dice on a goaltender in the 2010 import draft, taking Slovakian Juraj Holly, 19. . . . And from where will the goals come? The Hitmen have lost seven of their top 10 scorers. Forwards Jimmy Bubnick, 19, Tyler Fiddler, 20, and Kris Foucault, 20, are going to have to provide a lot of offence, while Cody Beach, 18, and Cody Sylvester, 18, will have to step up. . . . D Zak Stebner, 20, and D Matt Mackenzie, 19, will have to eat up minutes, with sophomores Peter Kosterman, Jaynen Rissling and Ben Wilson playing a whole lot more than they did last season.
OUTLOOK: They won’t be as bad as you might think.
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6. EDMONTON OIL KINGS (16-43-4-9; 2-3-0-0): The Oil Kings cleaned house after last season, which was full of sickness and injuries, and now Derek Laxdal, who played with Brandon and Portland, running the bench. Assistant Steve Hamilton had success with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . Edmonton has a good, experienced group of 20-year-olds in F Mike Piluso, F Jordan Hickmott and D Adrian Van de Mosselaer. . . . The special teams were horrendous -- the power play was 22nd, at 11.7 per cent, and the penalty kill was 21st, at 74.3 per cent -- and have to be better if this team is even to think about the playoffs. . . . D Mark Pysyk, a first-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 2010, is a quality player. . . . F Michael St. Croix led the Oil Kings with 46 points and that’s not enough. . . . But he’s 17 now and will be better, as will F Klarc Wilson, 17, and F T.J. Foster, 18. . . . It’ll be interesting to watch Latvian F Kristians Pelss, whose NHL rights belong to the Edmonton Oilers. . . . D Keegan Lowe, 17, will continue to grow into a major contributor, while Griffin Reinhart, the third overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft, will play a lot. . . . G Cam Lanigan, who went to camp with the Calgary Flames, will be the starter, with highly touted Laurent Brossoit, 17, getting some playing time, too.
OUTLOOK: They’ll be better and they’ll be exciting. But a playoff spot may be too much to ask.
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EASTERN CONFERENCE:
1. Medicine Hat Tigers
2. Moose Jaw Warriors
3. Saskatoon Blades
4. Kootenay Ice
5. Swift Current Broncos
6. Prince Albert Raiders
7. Red Deer Rebels
8. Lethbridge Hurricanes
9. Brandon Wheat Kings
10. Calgary Hitmen
11. Edmonton Oil Kings
12. Regina Pats
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I have to admit that this may be the toughest conference I have ever tried to handicap. I really think there is going to be a horse race for the last couple of playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, and it will involve six or seven teams. . . . What that means is that this is going to be quite a season. Enjoy!
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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