THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Zdenek Blatny (Seattle, Kootenay, 1998-2001) was released at his request for personal reasons by Hannover Indians (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He had two goals and four assists in five games for the Indians. . . .
F Quinn Hancock (Tacoma/Kelowna, Calgary, Prince George, 1994-98) signed a contract for the rest of the season with the Graz 99ers (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 13 goals and 21 assists in 53 games for Iserlohn Roosters (Germany DEL) last season. . . .
F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) was released by the Edinburgh Capitals (UK Elite) so he could sign a contract for the rest of the season with Bietigheim-Bissingen (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He had 18 goals and 31 assists in 29 games for the Capitals this season. The Edinburgh newspaper The Scotsman reports that the "cash-strapped" Capitals have converted all player contracts to week-to-week and players are free to leave should they find another team to play for. . . .
D Michael Busto (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Kootenay, 2001-07) signed a contract with Bolzano (Italy Serie A) for the rest of this season. He had one goal and three assists in 11 games with the Dayton Gems and Elmira Jackals (both ECHL) last season. . . .
F Riley Armstrong (Kootenay, Everett, 2002-04) signed a contract for the rest of the season with the Augsburger Panther (Germany DEL). Armstrong started the season with the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL), getting two assists in two games, before signing with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan KHL), where he had one goal in nine games.
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Two former WHLers have been named to the lineup for the 2011 ECHL All-Star Classic that will be played in Bakersfield, Calif., on Jan. 26. . . . F Mitch Fadden (Seattle, Lethbridge, Tri-City, 2003-09) of the Florida Everblades and F Mark Derlago (Brandon, 2003-06) of the Idaho Steelheads will be in the starting lineup in a game that will feature the all-star team against the Bakersfield Condors. . . . Fadden leads the ECHL in assists (32) and points (47). . . . Derlago is tied for second in goals (15) and fifth in points (31). . . . The all-star team was selected through voting by ECHL coaches, team captains, media directors, broadcasters and media members.
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Things are tightening up at the top of the Western Conference.
The Tri-City Americans dumped the visiting Portland Winterhawks 5-1 on Wednesday, completing a sweep of a two-game series. The Americans had put up a 5-1 victory in Portland on Tuesday.
The two results leave the Winterhawks in first place, at 25-11-3, with the Americans closing, at 21-11-2.
And let’s not forget the Spokane Chiefs, the WHL’s highest-scoring team, who put eight more on the board in beating the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, 8-2.
The Chiefs had beaten the Thunderbirds 2-0 in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday night.
Spokane C Tyler Johnson scored three times last night, giving him 102 goals in his career with the Chiefs. That moved him into 13th on the franchise’s all-time list, ahead of Brandin Cote (1996-2002).
The Chiefs, having gone 9-1-1 in their last 11, are 21-10-5.
Portland leads the Western Conference, with 53 points, just six ahead of the Chiefs, who hold three games in hand. The Americans are third, with 44 points, but hold two games in hand on the Chiefs and five on the Winterhawks.
The Prince George Cougars, who beat the visiting Chilliwack Bruins 5-0 last night with G James Priestner stopping 22 shots, are the conference’s No. 2 seed as they are the top club in the B.C. Division. But the Cougars are just one point ahead of the Kelowna Rockets, who hold two games in hand.
It’s also worth noting that the Winterhawks no longer lead the WHL in points. That honour belongs to the Saskatoon Blades (27-8-1), who lead the Eastern Conference, with 55 points, after beting the host Prince Albert Raiders 4-3 last night.
F Linden Vey of the Medicine Hat Tigers had a goal and two assists in a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice and moved into a tie for the scoring lead with F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers. Each has 58 points, at least for now.
Because it seems that Ranford may have 59 points.
While the online scoresheet of Kamloops’ 6-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants on Tuesday night shows Ranford with three assists, he may have been given another helper sometime after the game.
Early Wednesday, a tweet from the WHL office read: “Top point getter last night and STILL #WHL leading scorer @blazerhockey Ranford with 4 assists in 6-1 win over @WHLGiants.”
If Ranford, indeed, had four assists, he will hold a one-point lead over Vey going into tonight’s games. While the Tigers are off, the Blazers travel to Kelowna.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun talks with F Brandon Leipsic of the Portland Winterhawks prior to the opener at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Leipsic and his Team Western teammates meet Team Pacific tonight and the game is sold out. Wiebe’s story is right here.
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F Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers is in Buffalo with the U.S. national junior team at the World Junior Championship. Early in the week, Etem slagged Buffalo in a tweet. Things were in damage control-mode on Tuesday. That story is right here.
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F Brian Matte (Prince George, 2008-09) has signed with the Central league’s Laredo Bucks. Matte, who is from Prince George, started the season in camp with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons. He played 12 games with the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns last season.
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JUST NOTES: F Tyler Fiddler (ankle) has returned to the Calgary Hitmen lineup after an 11-game absence, but F Misha Fisenko is weather-bound in Russia so hasn’t yet made his way back from the Christmas break. . . . The Saskatoon Blades, with skaters away at the WJC and the WHC, have added F Tim McGauley, 15, from the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians and F Hudson Morrison, 16, from the Manitoba midget AAA league’s Southwest Cougars. McGauley was the 20th overall pick in the 2010 WHL draft, while Morrison was a ninth-round pick in 2009. . . . The NHL’s Minnesota Wild has re-assigned D Jared Spurgeon (Spokane, 2005-10) to the AHL’s Houston Aeros. He had two penalty minutes in 12 games with the Wild. He average 12:09 in playing time during those games.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
F Dylan Hood scored three goals, giving him 17, as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Hitmen 6-1 in Calgary. . . . In Regina, F Lyndon Martell, who was acquired earlier this month from the Kamloops Blazers, had a goal and an assist in the last two minutes of the third period to force OT and the Pats went on to defeat the Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in a shootout. Martell was playing in his first game with Regina. The Pats have 11 victories this season, with five of those against the Broncos. . . . The Kootenay Ice got two goals from each of D Brayden McNabb and F Brendan Hurley and beat the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, 6-3. F Tyler Pitlick scored twice for the Tigers. . . . D Aaron Borejko and F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists to help the Red Deer Rebels to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . .
F Jordan DePape returned from serving a five-game suspension to score twice as the hometown Kamloops Blazers beat the Vancouver Giants, 6-1. Kamloops F Brendon Ranford had three assists, increasing his point total to a WHL-leading 57, two more than F Linden Vey of Medicine Hat. . . . In Portland, the Messier brothers, Jordan and Marcus, each scored as the Tri-City Americans dropped the Winterhawks, 5-1. Marcus has two goals, while Jordan has 21. . . . In Prince George, G Lucas Gore stopped 29 shots to lead the Chilliwack Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Cougars. Gore has two shutouts this season and seven in his career. . . .
In Kelowna, F Evan Bloodoff scored twice and G Adam Brown stopped 26 shots as the Rockets blanked the Everett Silvertips, 4-0. Bloodoff has eight goals, while Brown has nine career shutouts, one this season. Everett has been blanked a WHL-high six times this season. . . . Kelowna was 4-10 on the PP, while Everett was 0-1. . . . In Kent, Wash., before 6,125 fans, G James Reid stopped 29 shots to lead the visiting Spokane Chiefs to a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. Reid, who now has 20 victories this season, has three shutouts this season and 12 in his career.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Five minors:
Kootenay D Luke Paulsen
Kootenay F Matt Fraser
Kootenay D Brayden McNabb
Tri-City F Connor Rankin
Seattle F Chance Lund

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

By GREGG DRINNAN
Don Hay, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants, said it felt like trading a son when the WHL team traded centre Craig Cunningham to the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday.
“It was tough . . . very tough,” Hay said. “Craig’s been with us a long, long time. He means a lot to our organization. He was like a son to me.”
But, as the pre-Christmas trade talks progressed between Portland and Vancouver, Hay said he flashed back to his two seasons with the Tri-City Americans. During those two seasons (1998-2000), his son, Darrell, was a defenceman with the Americans.
“When I was in Tre-City,” Don said, “I had a chance to trade my son. I didn’t do it there and I thought it might have hurt the organization. Obviously, we feel this is going to help the organization, as hard as it was to trade (Cunningham).”
The Giants sent Cunningham, 20, and a 2011 sixth-round bantam draft pick to the Winterhawks for forwards Spencer Bennett, 20, and Teal Burns, 18, and two draft picks — a first-rounder in 2011 and a second-rounder in 2012.
Cunningham, a native of Trail, had 97 points in 72 games last season, good for sixth place in the WHL scoring race. He led all Western Conference scorers and was chosen the conference’s player of the year. He was selected by Boston in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2010 draft and went to camp with the Bruins, but wasn’t signed.
He returned to the Giants and started this season like a house on fire, putting up 36 points in 18 games and looking as though he would run away with the scoring title. However, the Giants captain had just nine points in his last 18 games, although he is tied for sixth in the points derby.
“The first 18 games he got points and the team was successful,” Hay said. “The last 18 games we’ve really struggled to score goals and his point production has gone down. It’s kind of a hand-in-hand thing.”
In trading away Cunningham, Hay admitted, the Giants are giving up if not the face of the franchise at least a good piece of it.
“I think that to me Craig is one of the most competitive players in the league,” Hay said. “He’s really our identity player. You really hate to lose him.”
A seventh-round pick in the 2005 bantam draft, Cunningham was a long-time member of the Vancouver organization.
“You watch him grow up,” Hay said. “You know his mom and his background. It’s really hard to see him go.”
Cunningham flew into Portland on Tuesday and was in the Winterhawks’ lineup when they dropped a 5-1 decision to the visiting Tri-City Americans last night.
Bennett, from White Rock, has 21 points in 37 games with Portland, after a 40-point freshman season. The Calgary Flames took him in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL draft.
Burns, in his first WHL season, is from Victoria and has seven points in 37 games. Portland grabbed him in the eighth round of the 2007 bantam draft. Burns becomes the third player with that surname on the Giants’ roster; however, he isn’t related to forwards Michael and Nathan Burns, who are brothers from Edmonton.
Hay said the Giants weren’t necessarily looking to move Cunningham but when the phone rang they answered it.
“It wasn’t something we were looking at doing but Portland identified a need for them,” Hay said. “They contacted us and gave us a real interesting offer to look at.
It gives us a player for the present in Bennett, a player for the future in Burns and it gives us two draft picks, one that we had to recoup on the Musil trade.”
Prior to last season, the WHL held a draft for the rights to Czech defenceman David Musil, then 16. The Kootenay Ice won his rights and traded them to the Giants for a 2011 first-round bantam draft pick. The Cunningham trade gets the Giants back into the draft’s first round.
“We’ve given up a lot over the years to remain competitive,” Hay said. “We think we will still be compettive once we get all our bodies back and find out what kind of team we are.”
On the other hand, the injuries just keep coming for the Giants, who may never have their roster together and healthy.
“We started talking (with Portland) before Christmas,” Hay said. “They wanted to do it sooner rather than later. We would have liked to have kept Cunningham at least for (Tuesday night’s) game but, at the same time, we didn’t want to take the chance either.”
After trading away Cunningham, Hay named forward James Henry, 19, as the team’s new captain. A short time later, it was learned that Henry had suffered a knee injury in Monday’s 4-1 loss to the visiting Kamloops Blazers. Henry is to be re-evaluated today but one team official said last night that the Winnipeg native may be gone for six weeks.
The Giants also confirmed Tuesday that F Randy McNaught, 20, won’t play again this season. He suffered an ankle injury during a 5-4 victory in Kamloops on Oct. 11 and later had what has turned into season-ending surgery.
Also missing with injuries are D David Musil (ankle), F Greg Lamoureux (shoulder), F Marek Tvrdon (shoulder) and F Connor Redmond (shoulder). The Giants went into last night having lost 186 man-games to injury. With Tvrdon and McNaught done for this season, that total likely will reach 300 by season’s end.
The Giants may get some help once the World Junior Championship is over as 6-foot-4 F Andrej Stastny is expected to join them. Statsny, from Slovakia, was selected by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2010 CHL import draft. The Blades dropped him after they didn’t sign him — he also was injured — and the Giants added him to their protected list.
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Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun writes about the trade between the Giants and Portland Winterhawks right here.
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Marc Weber of the Vancouver Province writes that Tuesday’s transaction may have been only the start of things to come for the Giants. That story is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Happy New Year from the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1, 1976, SPORTS
Copyright 1976/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

All-Fans Team, '75

    OK, 1975, take a hike! And take the rest of those bums — January through December — with you!'   
   You gave us one of the great World Series — and not much else.
   This time of the year is usually given over to the "All" teams. The All-Pro. The All-American. All-State. All-Coast. Salutes to athletes.
   But I would like to pause today to salute my own "All" team — the All-Fan squad. Two-way players. Iron men. Not a designated hitter or a placekick holder in the lot. These guys came to play, as they say.
   1 — Dimworth Witty. Dim Witty was the first guy in line for the Indianapolis 500. He lined up on 16th Street on Jan. 4. He had to quit his job back in 1938 to take up his career of being first in line to attend the 500 every year. Dim Witty has never won any lap money, but he got burned through the fence in the 1973 crash, got hit by a flying wheel in 1959, and suffered an acute case of food poisoning at an infield barbecue in 1967. Three wives have divorced him, but he has logged 1,978 yellow lights, has seen 18 drivers killed, and can recite Tony Hulman's "Gentlemen, start your engines!" from memory, which he does at New Year's parties. His house is covered with decals of STP which Andy Granatelli personally gave him.
   2 — J. Erk. Mr. Erk, J., holds the inclemency record for the NFL, National League baseball, horse racing. He has sat through every blizzard the Minnesota Vikings ever played in. He got three days off the job last year to see the sixth and seventh games of the World Series in Boston, went to the ball park early on the morning of the sixth game and all he has to show for it all is a raincheck.
     3 — Cyclops Harrigan. Cyclops sat in front of his television set from August to February watching football. His eyes have merged, and he has begun to talk exactly like Howard Cosell. He can recognize a "Gap 3" defense on sight, but he's forgotten what his wife looks like. He has drunk 7,412 cases of beer, eaten three tons of bologna sandwiches, smoked 1,000 cartons of cigarettes. He has sat through 175 half-time shows, he knows the Ford commercials by heart, and he has stared into a TV so much that his eyes hurt in sunlight.
     4 — Egbert W. Oaf. Egbert drives to Fresno or further to escape the TV blackout of Ram games. He rents a motel room to watch the game. His gas bill for the round-trip comes to $725 for the year, his motel bill $400, and he's had 11 flat tires and two head-on collisions. With hospitalization, repairs, food, tires, gas, oil, and depreciation, Egbert could have bought out the 50-yard line seats for every game. But, of course, he's saving on binoculars and parking.
   5 — Chauncey D. Cluck. Chauncey bets football cards which his bookie delivers to him in his solid-gold Rolls. Chauncey's behind in his rent, his car's repossessed, his phone's shut off, but he still thinks the San Diego Chargers are a good bet if you get the points.
   6 — Loyal A. Alum. Alum regularly carries State's varsity football team on his salary rolls, furnishes them with a company car, and keeps an open charge account at several stores for them and their girl friends or wives. Or both. For this, he gets to wear the school beanie at all home games, and they let him buy good seats. Loyal cries when they play the school alma mater. So does his comptroller. Loyal wouldn't give his brother-in-law a job sweeping out, but he'll give a 9.7 halfback with an IQ of 11 a job with a title in it and a rug on the floor.
   7 — Stopwatch Sullivan. Old Stopwatch knows the fractions, non-winning times, and order of finish of every track-and-field event that ever took place. He can tell you how many steps the Rev. Bob Richards took in winning the pole vault at Helsinki in 1952, or who finished fourth in the 20,000-kilometer walk in Melbourne. He goes to football games only to time the wide receivers for 50 yards, thinks most baseball players should be arrested for impersonating an athlete, and that a great talent was wasted when Jackie Robinson gave up long-jumping for the Dodgers. He would rather watch the Boston Marathon than the Super Bowl, and can tell you what factor the curvature of the earth had on Bob Beamon's 29-foot long jump at Mexico. His idea of Heaven is the javelin finals, and he can tell you who won the women's 800-meters at Amsterdam in 1928 or how many misses Valeriy Brumel had at the lower heights at Rome in 1960.
   For all of these, we wish Happy 1976, and hope they get their fondest wishes in the new year — a seat in the rain, behind the pole, long lines to stand in, scalpers to support, plenty of "days" for them to ship in and give their favorite $10,000-a-year athletes new boats and cars and a year's supply of gas and new television sets.
   They'll go to every team banquet, buy up every bobblehead doll and bubblegum card in sight, buy every product advertised on "NFL Today" and, in general, do what they like best: support major league professional athletics in the style to which it has grown — thanks to the fans — accustomed. Happy New Year, guys! Bring money!

*Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times.

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

 From a Portland Winterhawks' press release:

The Portland Winterhawks have acquired center Craig Cunningham and a sixth round pick in the 2011 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for forwards Spencer Bennett, Teal Burns, a first round pick in the 2011 Bantam Draft and a second round pick in the 2012 Bantam Draft.

Cunningham, a 20-year-old center, was the Western Conference finalist for the WHL’s Player of the Year Award last season when he amassed 37 goals and 60 assists for 97 points, sixth in the league. He then added 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 16 playoff games. This season Cunningham has 10 goals and 35 assists for 45 points in 36 games, tying him for sixth in the league.

“Craig is an elite player, as evidenced by being named the Western Conference finalist for the WHL’s Player of the Year Award last season. We’re very excited to have him join our team,” said Portland Winterhawks General Manager & Head Coach Mike Johnston.

For his career, Cunningham has registered 86 goals and 136 assists for 222 points in 295 games. Cunningham was a fourth round pick, 97^th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 2010 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Going to Vancouver are Spencer Bennett, 20, and Teal Burns, 18. Bennett was in his second season with the Winterhawks, and in 108 games had totaled 31 goals and 30 assists for 61 points. This season he has 21 points in 37 games. Bennett was a fifth round pick, 141^st overall, by the Calgary Flames in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Burns was in his first WHL season, and had seven points in 37 games. He was Portland’s eighth round pick, 156^th overall, in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft.

D Taylor Aronson, who was playing midget hockey with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings just two years ago, has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Aronson turns 19 on Thursday. . . . Aronson, now in his second season with the Portland Winterhawks, was selected by Nashville in the third round of the 2010 NHL draft. . . . According to CapGeek.com, Aronson’s contract calls for AHL salaries of US$60,000, $62,500 and $65,000, with the NHL salary at $600,000 each season. The signing bonus is $225,000, payable in three $75,000 segments. . . . Aronson was one of eight Winterhawks selected in the NHL’s 2010 draft.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have added Mike Vandenberghe to their coaching staff. Vandenberghe, who with his wife lives in Regina Beach, Sask., started this season as an interim assistant coach with the Brandon Wheat Kings, filling in for the injured Dwayne Gylywoychuk. A defenceman through a four-season WHL career with the Wheat Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers (he also played three games with the Warriors), Vandenberghe joins head coach Dave Hunchak and assistant Trevor Weisgerber with the Warriors. . . . Vandenberghe was with the Wheat Kings when they made their B.C. Division tour earlier this season. And guess what? Yes, the Warriors open a B.C. Division tour on Thursday against the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Warriors actually open the road trip tonight in Calgary against the Hitmen; this is the first of seven games in 12 days.
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Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that the Moose Jaw Warriors have added D Matthew Franczyk, 17, to their roster. Franczyk, from Winnipeg, was a fifth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2008 bantam draft, but was dealt to the Swift Current Broncos for F Preston Amundson, 17, over the summer. Franczyk got into just one game with the Broncos before returning to Winnipeg and the MJHL’s Winnipeg South Blues. The Broncos dropped him from their list and the Warriors added him. . . . The Warriors are missing four players who are at Christmas tournaments -- F Quinton Howden (Canada) and F Antonin Honejsek (Czech Republic) are at the World Junior Championship; F Brayden Cuthbert and D Morgan Rielly are at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge -- so will add D Spencer Morse and F Brandon Potomak for games on their road trip. Both were second-round selections in the 2010 draft. Morse is playing with the minor midget AAA Calgary Blackhawks, while Potomak, from Aldergrove, B.C., plays at the Pursuit of Excellence academy in Kelowna.
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F Lyndon Martell, 17, has joined the Regina Pats. He had been with the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. The Pats acquired Martell, F Shayne Neigum and a 2011 third-round bantam pick from the Kamloops Blazers for F Thomas Frazee, 20, on Dec. 14. . . . In 17 games with the Spruce Kings, Martell had 14 points, including five goals.
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The Portland Winterhawks have three players at the World Junior Championsip -- F Ryan Johansen (Canada) and F Nino Niederreiter and F Sven Bartschi (both Switzerland -- and two (F Brendan Leipsic and D Darrick Pouliot) at the U1-7 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Portland has added F Brayden Low and F Adam Smith, a pair of 2009 bantam picks, to help fill out the roster. Low has 18 points in 27 games with the junior B Richmond, B.C., Sockeyes, while Smith had one point in 10 games with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals.
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Hey, remember Craig Hartsburg, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips? If you do, you’ll recall that he had some heart surgery in November and has yet to return to the team’s bench. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Hartsburg is progressing nicely and should be back early in January. . . . Patterson also reports that Everett will be without D Chad Suer (broken jaw) indefinitely. He was injured just before the Christmas break. . . . Also missing from Everett’s roster are D Rasmus Rissanen (Finland, World Junior Championship), D Nick Walters and F Jari Erricson (U-17 World Hockey Challenge), and F Campbell Elynuik (shoulder). . . . The Silvertips have added D Gabe Minville, 18, from the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and D Kieran Friesen, 18, from the junior B Princeton, B.C., Posse. . . . The Silvertips also have F Ryan Chynoweth, their top pick in the 2010 bantam draft (24^th overall), and he may get into a game or two. The son of Kootenay Ice president/GM Jeff Chynoweth, Ryan plays for the midget AAA Lethbridge Hurricanes.
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And, finally, a few words from Medicine Hat Tigers F Emerson Etem, who is with the U.S. team at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo. Sometime on Monday, Etem took time to tweet this:
“much needed day off, buffalo is a ghost town!! the worst city ever, it makes medicine hat look like paradise, never thought ide say that”
Buffalo TV station WGRZ posted a three-paragraph story on its website that included that tweet. And the comments took off from there. You’ll find them right here and some of them are hilarious.

gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) has signed a contract for the rest of the season with Ingolstadt (Germany DEL). He was pointless in five games with the Houston Aeros (AHL) this season.
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Steve Ewen, who writes for the Vancouver Province and covers the Vancouver Giants, continues to make progress as he crushes the tumour with humour. You may check out his latest blog entry right here.
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The Calgary Hitmen will add D Brody Luhning, 18, to their roster as they return to action after the Christmas break. Kuhning, an eighth-round pick by the Swift Current Broncos in the 2007 bantam draft, has 23 points and 50 penalty minutes in 35 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. Kuhning, from Lumsden, Sask., had one assist in 30 games with Swift Current last season. . . . The Hitmen are at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Tuesday.
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Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that the Vancouver Giants expect to have two injured players back for tonight’s game with the visiting Kamloops Blazers. D Zach Hodder (shoulders) is expected to play his first game of the season, while F Greg Lamoure (shoulder) hasn’t played since Dec. 4. . . . The Giants may still be without D David Musil, who has a deep bone bruise on his right shin and hasn’t played since Dec. 7. That injury kept him off the ice when he joined the Czech junior team before Christmas. . . . The Giants also will be without F Matt Bellerive, who is with Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie. . . . The Blazers likely will have D Josh Caron (broken collarbone) back for the first time since the second game of the season. But they will be missing D Brady Gaudet and F Logan McVeigh, both of whom are with Team Western at the WHC. The Blazers are expected to have F Matt Needham of the Okanagan Hockey Academy and D Landon Cross from the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings in their lineup. Both were 2010 bantam draft picks. . . . The Giants and Blazers meet in Kamloops on Tuesday night.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Jim Swanson, the long-time sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, has resigned. Swanson handed in his letter of resignation on Thursday morning and is scheduled to leave the paper early in January. He had been the sports editor since the fall of 1997 and was responsible for the newspaper’s strong Cougars coverage until he was removed from the beat prior to the start of the 2009-10 season. . . . Swanson also has been a big push behind bringing the Canadian senior baseball championships to Prince George, and the formation of the World Baseball Challenge, an international baseball tournament that was first held in 2009 and is scheduled again for July.
Early on Saturday, Swanson had a text exchange with F Brett Connolly, the Prince George minor hockey product who captains the Cougars and now is with the Canadian national junior team. Connolly has been out with what is believed to have been a concussion.
Connolly told Swanson that he has been cleared to play for Canada in the World Junior Championship opener on Sunday against Russia in Buffalo.
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From Jim Matheson’s Hockey World, in the Edmonton Journal:
“Most scouts feel Team Canada’s No. 1 junior team centre Brayden Schenn won’t be going back to the Brandon Wheat Kings. They’ll trade him to ­either Saskatoon or Portland, the two best Memorial Cup candidates in the WHL.”
Which, no doubt, will be news to the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs, not to mention the Kootenay Ice and Red Deer Rebels.
The part about the two best Memorial Cup candidates in the WHL, that is.
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If they aren’t already, the Portland Winterhawks should be looking over their shoulders, at least at the Americans. Tri-City has 23 home games remaining. The Americans trail the Western Conference-leading Winterhawks by 13 points but have five games in hand.
The Americans also have yet to play even one game with F Carter Ashton in their lineup. He was acquired from the Regina Pats a couple of weeks ago but left to join Canada’s national junior team before he could hook up with the Americans.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

If you’re wondering why the Kelowna Rockets have turned into one of the CHL’s top franchises, consider that president and GM Bruce Hamilton won’t hesitate to add staff if there is a chance it might benefit the players. Just prior to the start of this season, Hamilton added former WHLer Peter Soberlak to the staff. Soberlak, the chair of the physical education department at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, works with the Rockets in the area of sports psychology. . . . And now the Rockets have added Aaron Konecsni as a skating coach. Konecsni, 30, is from Kelowna and is the head hockey skating and skills coach at Redline High Performance Hockey, a business he began in 1998. “We assess, improve and refine individuals’ hockey skating techniques,” Konecsni told the Kelown Capital News. He has been working with the Rockets at practices and also on the skating treadmill at Redline. “Almost all players, whether they’re considered a great skater or not, have inefficient tendencies that can be fixed once we diagnose what those tendencies are,” Konecsni said.
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Here’s a look at which WHLers will play in the World Junior Championship that opens Sunday in Buffalo:
The U.S.’s roster includes two WHLers -- F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan of the Kelowna Rockets and F Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The final Swiss roster includes F Nino Niederreiter and F Sven Bartschi, both of the Portland Winterhawks, but doesn’t include D Dave Sutter of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
D Rasmus Rissanen of the Everett Silvertips is on Finland’s final roster.
Included on Slovakia’s roster are G Juraj Holly of the Calgary Hitmen, D Martin Marincin of the Prince George Cougrars, F Dalibor Bortnak of the Kamloops Blazers and F Andrej Kudrna of the Red Deer Rebels.
F Marcel Noebels of Seattle and F Bernhard Keil of Kamloops made the German roster.
The Canadian roster includes D Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefs, D Tyson Barrie of the Kelowna Rockets, F Carter Ashton of the Tri-City Americans, F Brett Connolly of Prince George, F Cody Eakin of the Swift Current Broncos, F Curtis Hamilton of the Saskatoon Blades, F Quinton Howden of the Moose Jaw Warriors, F Ryan Johansen of Portland, and F Brayden Schenn of the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Czech Republic roster includes F Antonin Honejsek of Moose Jaw, and F Robin Soudek and F Roman Horak, both of the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . It doesn’t include two other WHLers -- D David Musil of the Vancouver Giants or D Marek Hrbas of the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Musil’s chance of making the team may have been done in by a leg injury he suffered while blocking a shot a couple of weeks ago. He ended up with what was first reported as a hairline fracture of the fibula in his right leg, but was later said to be a deep bone bruise.
Included on Norway’s roster is F Andreas Stene of Kelowna.
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Larry McNabb, a veteran of the hockey wars, lost his battle with cancer on Dec. 24 at 8 a.m. He was 71. McNabb never did play even one game in the NHL as most of his lengthy pro career was spent in the old Western Hockey League, with the Spokane Comets, Vancouver Canucks, San Francisco Seals, San Diego Gulls, Sal Lake Golden Eagles, Seattle Totems and Portland Buckaroos. . . . The Nanaimo Daily News has more on the life and death of a hockey legend right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

(Photo of Kamloops courtesy Shane Kurki/Kamloops Daily News.)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from our home to your home. May you have a joyous festive season and safe travels if you are on the road.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Marek Svatos (Kootenay, 2000-02) was released by mutual agreement by Avangard Omsk (Russia KHL). He had three goals and five assists in 19 games for Avangard this season. . . .
F Petr Vala (Seattle, 1997-98) signed a contract with Zilina (Slovakia Extraliga) for the rest of this season. He had four goals in 17 games for Dukla Trencin (Slovakia Extraliga) this season before being granted his release for personal reasons. Vala played for Zilina the previous two seasons.
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As mentioned here Wednesday, the Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Graham Black, 17, from the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Broncos announced Thursday that they gave up a conditional draft pick in the deal. According to the WHL website, it was an eighth-rounder in 2011. Black, who was never selected in the WHL draft, plays for the Regina Pats Canadians and leads the Saskatchewan midget AAA league in goals (32) and points (51).
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Former NHLer Scott Walker has taken over as head coach of the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Walker replaces Jason Brooks who was fired Dec. 13 with the Storm at 13-13-5 this season. . . . Walker had been working with the Storm on a volunteer basis.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

The NHL’s Calgary Flames signed F Ryan Howse of the Chilliwack Bruins to a three-year deal on Tuesday. Capgeek.com reports that the contract calls for NHL salaries of US$615,000, $615,000 and $690,000, with AHL salaries of $65,000, $67,500 and $67,500. The signing bonus is three annual payments of $90,000. . . . Howse was a third-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft.
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Mike Boyle, the radio voice of the Spokane Chiefs, will be the new radio voice of baseball’s Spokane Indians. He replaces Bob Robertson, a legend in the Pacific Northwest who handled the job for 12 years but has left in order to spend more time with his family. Boyle is in his ninth season of calling Chiefs’ games. For the last four baseball seasons, Boyle has done play-by-play of Tri-City Dust Devils games. . . . The Indians are a Class A short-season affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
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When the break is over, Edmonton and Swift Current will announce a deal that will have the rights to F Graham Black, 17, move from the Oil Kings to the Broncos. Black, who is from Regina, is playing for the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. He leads the Saskatchewan midget AAA league in goals (32) and points (51), in 27 games. . . . The Broncos would like to add Black to their roster this season but are prepared to wait until next season. . . . For a neat look at the multi-talented Black, check out this story right here from the Regina Leader-Post. . . .
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Mandi Schwartz, the native of Wilcox, Sask., who has been battling acute myeloid leukemia, continues the battle. Tim Switzer of the Regina Leader-Post has the latest right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

The WHL has extended the Christmas break for four of its players by hitting them with brief suspensions for infractions that occurred in Saturday games.
Defenceman Sena Acolatse of the Prince George Cougars and forward Kale Kessy of the Medicine Hat Tigers each will sit out two games. Acolatse incurred a match penalty for attempt to injury at the end of a 3-2 victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers, while Kessy was hit with a double minor for checking from behind during a 5-3 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Defenceman Brandon Underwood of the Blazers will sit for one game after taking a kneeing major and game misconduct against the Cougars, while Lethbridge D Cason Machacek also got one game, his for a warmup violation against the Tigers.
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D Matt Delahey (Regina, Chilliwack, 2004-10) has left the ECHL’s Ontario Reign and will enrol at the U of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Delahey, 21, was a fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL’s 2008 draft. . . . F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders is the CHL’s player of the week. He had nine points in three games last week. . . . The MJHL’s Neepawa Natives have extended GM/head coach Bryant Perrier’s contract through 2012-13. Perrier is in his second season with the Natives. . . . The NHL’s Calgary Flames have signed F Ryan Howse of the Chilliwack Bruins to a three-year contract. Howse, who is from Prince George, was a third-round pick in the NHL’s 2009 draft. In his fourth season with the Bruins, Howse has 39 points, including 23 goals, in 32 games.

The Kamloops Blazers are going to be missing a few roster players when the WHL’s regular-season schedule picks up on Monday. In order to help fill the gaps, the Blazers are expected to bring in forward Matthew Needham, 15, from Penticton and defenceman Landon Cross, 16, from Brandon.
Defenceman Brandon Underwood was suspended by the WHL for one game on Tuesday so won’t be eligible to play when the Blazers meet the Giants in Vancouver on Monday. He was suspended for a kneeing major he incurred during a 3-2 loss to the Cougars in Prince George on Sunday. This is Underwood’s second one-game suspension of the season.
The Blazers, who are the WHL’s most-penalized team, now have been hit with 18 games in suspensions this season.
Right-winger Jordan DePape also will sit out Monday’s game as he completes a five-game suspension for a hit on forward Killian Hutt of the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Dec. 10.
Underwood and DePape will be eligible to return Tuesday when the Giants play at Interior Savings Centre. Game time will be 7 p.m.
Two other players -- forwards Dalibor Bortnak (Slovakia) and Bernhard Keil (Germany) -- hope to be playing at the World Junior Championship that opens Sunday in Buffalo. However, neither team has as of yet declared its final roster.
Also missing will be two players in their first WHL seasons. Defenceman Brady Gaudet, who is from Redvers, Sask., and forward Logan McVeigh, from Kenaston, Sask., both will be with Team West at the 2011 U-17 World Hockey Challenge in Winnipeg.
That tournament, for 1994-born players, begins Tuesday and runs through Jan. 4, which means Gaudet and McVeigh will miss at least six WHL games. Team West comprises players from Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
At the same time, the Blazers hope to welcome back defenceman Josh Caron, who hasn’t played since suffering a broken collarbone on Sept. 25. He was injured in the second game of the season, against the Chilliwack Bruins, and hasn’t played since, meaning he has missed 33 games.
Needham, who plays for the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, was the eighth overall selection in the WHL’s 2010 bantam draft. He has played two games with the Blazers the season and scored his first WHL goal in his second appearance. With OHA, Needham has 27 points, including 11 goals, and 45 penalty minutes in 26 games.
Cross was a third-round selection in the 2009 draft. He has 17 points and 52 penalty minutes in 28 games with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings.
Later in the season, the Blazers will have three of their 2010 bantam draft selections playing in the Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
Needham and defenceman Joshua Connolly of Prince George will play for Team B.C., while forward Cole Ully of Calgary will be with Team Alberta.
Connolly, who plays with the major midget Cariboo Cougars, was a third-round pick. Ully, a second-round selection, is with the midget AAA Calgary Flames.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers have returned F Aspen Sterzer, 16, to his team at the EDGE academy in Calgary. In two stints with the Blazers, he has played in seven games. . . . D Sena Acolatse of the Prince George Cougars has been suspended for two games for the match penalty for attempt to injury that he took at the end of Saturday’s victory over the Blazers.

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The Prince Albert Raiders will add four ex-players to their Wall of Honour on Feb. 18 as they play host to the Moose Jaw Warriors. Peter Anholt, James Patrick, Ken Baumgartner and Mike Modano will be added to the wall as the Raiders continue to celebrate their 40th anniversary season.
No one deserves this more than Anholt, a defenceman who played on three Centennial Cup (now RBC Cup) champions and later returned as an assistant coach and later worked as the club’s head coach.
Patrick, also a defenceman, played one season with the Raiders (1980-81), helping the team win its third Centennial Cup. He was named junior A player of the year and also was the Centennial Cup MVP and an all-star.
Baumgartner, also a defenceman, was a physical presence of mythical proportions from 1983-86, including the Memorial Cup-championship season of 1984-85. Legend has it that Baumgartner often would skate into post-whistle scrums with the words: “Daddy’s home.” . . . He was the Raiders’ Scholastic player of the year in 1985 and 1986. Fans seated near the penalty box in Medicine Hat would bring text books to games and pretend to be reading them whenever Baumgartner was sent off, which happened quite frequently.
Modano, a centre, put up 294 points in 176 games with the Raiders (1986-89). His third season was cut short when he suffered a broken scaphoid during the WHL all-star game in Brandon. One of the best players ever to play in the WHL, Modano was taken first overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the NHL‘s 1988 draft.
The Raiders also will add four builders to the Wall of Honour -- the Booster Club, which was formed in 1975; Steve Peneff, a former trainer (1972-84) and volunteer; John Holash, a long-time fan and supporter who was instrumental in bringing some international games to Prince Albert in the early 1990s, which benefited the Raiders financially; and, the Bring Back the Magic Campaign committee that worked so hard on raising money so that the Comuniplex could be renovated in order to meet WHL requirements. Included on that committee were Ab Pellegrini, Vic Lemieux, Gary Anderson, Craig Mitchell, Joe Barczai and Bob Twyver.
(Thanks to Craig Mitchell for pointing out this announcement.)
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Sometimes common sense does prevail. . . . The Ontario Minor Hockey Association has lifted the suspension of Peterborough coach Greg Walsh. He is the coach who took his team off the ice after one of his players was the object of a racial slur. The Toronto Sun story is right here.
Veteran hockey writer Terry Doyle examines the situation right here.
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F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks is looking forward to playing for Swizterland at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo. Katie Strang of Newsday has more on her blog right here.
After Switzerland’s performance last season, Neiderreiter and Co. may have been thinking a medal would be within reach this time around. However, the Swiss won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time around. Last night, they lost 8-0 to Canada in an exhibition game.
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The NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers have signed Joe Paterson as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. John Paddock had been serving as head coach since Nov. 8, when Greg Gilbert was fired. At that time, Paterson joined the Phantoms as an assistant coach. He was scoouting for the Atlanta Thrashers before getting back into coaching. Paddock now returns to his duties as the Flyers’ assistant GM. . . . How small is the hockey world? Paterson last coached in 2008-09 with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, whose head coach was Greg Gilbert. . . . The Spokane Chiefs should sleep well over the Christmas break. They are 11-2-4 in their last 17 games, which followed an 8-8-1 start. . . . Lost in the rush for Christmas was Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur’s 450th career victory. He is tied with Peter Anholt for eighth on the all-time list. . . . Nachbaur would never admit it, but you can bet that the fact No. 450 came against the Vancouver Giants -- the host Chiefs put up a 4-0 victory on Saturday -- and Don Hay, who won his 500th game earlier in the season. . . . G James Reid earned that victory, his 69th with the Chiefs, second only to Dustin Tokarski’s 77. . . . It was Reid’s 11th shutout, leaving him four back of Tokarski’s franchise record. . . . Figure out this one: Spokane F Dominik Iher, who turns 18 on Dec. 31, had one point in his first nine games this season. In his next 18 games, he put up 21 points. He goes into the break with seven goals over his last five games. Gotta think he wanted to keep playing. . . . F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points, including four goals, in three games last week. . . . Tyler Bunz of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and a .984 save percentage. . . .
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Latvia and Denmark have earned promotion to the IIHF World Junior Championship that is scheduled for Calgary and Edmonton next year. . . . Latvia won the Division 1 Group A tournament in Belarus. Latvia beat Belarus 3-1 in a final round-robin game that featured two teams that had been 4-0. . . . This is the group that is one level below the big boys, who will open their tournament on Sunday in Buffalo. Latvia’s roster included F Kristians Pelss of the Edmonton Oil Kings. He had two goals and two assists in five games. One of those assists came on the game-winner against Belarus. His NHL rights are owned by the Edmonton Oilers, who took him in the seventh round of the 2010 draft. . . . Denmark won the Division 1 Group B tournament in Slovenia, with a 4-1 record. Denmark‘s roster included Brandon Wheat Kings F Mark Mieritz. He had three points, two of them goals, in five games. . . . F Gal Koren of the Kelowna Rockets played for host Slovenia in that tournament, putting up eight points, including three goals, in five games. He also was plus-8. F Gasper Kopitar, who began the season with the Portland Winterhawks had four points, including two goals, for Slovenia. The Slovenia’s also had a 4-1 record, but they lost 2-1 to Denmark. . . . The highlight for Slovenia was a 3-2 victory over highly favoured Austria, with Koren and Kopitar both scoring.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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(This column appears in the Dec. 21 edition of the Kamloops Daily News)

The Kamloops Blazers’ season, to quote one-time linemates Simon and Garfunkel, appears as though it may be slip sliding away.
As the WHL team’s players headed home Sunday for tobogganing, Facebooking and other Christmas season fun, they had lost four straight games and tumbled into last place in the 10-team Western Conference.
This is the same conference in which things have been as tight as sardines in a tin, with nine teams separated by three points at times. Now, however, the Blazers find themselves five points out of a playoff spot which, in this world of three-point games and loser points, is a large mountain to climb.
Craig Bonner, the Blazers’ general manager, didn’t sound overly concerned Monday afternoon. He was with the team for its last three losses and felt the results didn’t mirror the effort.
But should Bonner be content with trying to get what to this point has been a less-than-mediocre team into the playoffs, even if it means being the seventh or eighth seed? That, of course, would quite likely lead to another first-round playoff exit for a franchise that hasn’t seen the second round since the spring of 1999.
Or, with the trade deadline arriving on Jan 10, should he begin selling off older assets for young prospects and draft picks in the hope of having a championship-calibre team three years down the road?
At this point, it seems likely that he will do neither.
Bonner said he isn’t prepared to be a buyer or a seller. He said he likes his roster and expects better results in the new year. In fact, he said, he expects to be “quiet” at the trade deadline.
Bonner likes the youth on his roster and is prepared to await the arrival of more young players, all of which is part of the five-year plan he drew up when he moved into the GM’s office prior to the 2008-09 season.
But when you look around the stands at Interior Savings Centre you have to wonder if it matters what he does, if anything.
The Blazers have been a big part of this community since they arrived, as the Kamloops Jr. Oilers, over the summer of 1981. But, as time goes on, they are playing a smaller and smaller role, to the point where they now are averaging 4,014 fans per game, down 262 from the same point last season and down 773 — that works out to 27,828 over the course of a season — since Vancouver-based businessman Tom Gaglardi, along with NHLers Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor, all of them ex-Blazers, purchased the team over the summer of 2007.
Of course, it was only a year ago when it appeared that Guy Charron would be the answer to the question: Who will be the coach to lead the Blazers out of the wilderness?
He became the fourth head coach in the Gaglardi group’s history, following Dean Clark (fired), Greg Hawgood (fired) and Barry Smith (fired).
Charron, a former NHL player who is a true veteran of the coaching game, brought a cheery disposition and a softer touch into the Blazers’ dressing room. So impressed was the ownership group that, before last season ended, it rewarded Charron, 61, with a two-year contract that runs through 2011-12.
But, of late, Charron’s feather duster has been replaced by a sledge hammer as he has shown signs of frustration.
From stripping the letters off five alternate captains following a 10-1 loss to the Chiefs in Spokane on Nov. 24 to publicly criticizing goaltender Jeff Bosch and left-winger Brendan Ranford, who leads the WHL in goals and points, on Radio NL after a 3-2 loss to the Cougars in Prince George on Friday night, Charron has shown he no longer is prepared to be patient.
But if you have watched this team from the start of the season, you knew it was only a matter of time before the team found itself in this predicament.
When you combine this team’s lack of discipline (it leads the WHL in penalty minutes) with its inefficient penalty kill (it is easily the poorest in the league and has allowed by far the most power-play goals) with spotty goaltending, well, it was only a matter of time before the bottom fell out.
If improvement in those areas isn’t evident in the eight games left before the trade deadline, Bonner may be forced to alter his plan.
Consider, too, that the Blazers are 7-16-1 in games against Western Conference opponents and 8-2-1 against teams from the east. Of their 37 remaining games, 29 are against western teams.
In the meantime, Blazers fans are left to wonder just what has happened to this once-proud franchise and why it is unable to fix the things that are holding it back.
As one member of the organization was heard to say the other day: “You’d think there was a curse over us, or something.”

(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, gdrinnan.blogspot.com and twitter.com/gdrinnan.)

Just in time for Christmas, I present for your holiday enjoyment one of Jim Murray’s most-popular columns — He’d Rather Get Fruitcake.
Enjoy!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1995 SPORTS
Copyright 1995/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
JIM MURRAY

He'd Rather Get Fruitcake

     Stop me if you've heard this, but are you as tired as I am of the upbeat Christmas letters, the look-at-us, hurray-for-our-side family chronicles you get this time of year?
  You know what I mean. The ones that start out something like this:
  "Well, it's been a banner year for the Mulligans. Christin finally had our first grandchild, a bouncing baby girl, 9 pounds 7 ounces, who'll probably grow up to be our first woman President.
  "John has taken over the Federal Reserve System. Paula is still working on a cancer cure at Johns Hopkins and we expect a breakthrough any day now. A Nobel Prize, perhaps?
  "Dad and I are enjoying our retirement. He has produced a new hybrid rose for our garden that is hailed by horticulturists everywhere.
  "I am still busy with my charity work, saving the whales, protecting the spotted butterflies, supporting a Hottentot village in the South Pacific and still have time to combat illiteracy in our universities and lobby for outlawing the death penalty but legalizing abortion. Dad thinks I take on too much but I was on Howard Stern twice last year and am taking dead aim on Oprah Winfrey.
  "Phil got his PhD in optical engineering and is working on the telescope with which they hope to bring in Heaven by the end of the century. Rita is in the Peace Corps some place where they can only get a message out by bottle but finds her life fulfilling and thinks the dysentery is only temporary. Harriet is still into archeology and they have found the lost city of an Aztec sun god of the second century BC, but she can't find her car keys.
  "So, all in all, it's been a joy and we look forward to more of the same in 1996 and hope you all are enjoying the happiness and success that has been our fortunate lot this year."
  Well, when I read those, I have this irresistible urge to pen the kind of letter I dream of receiving:
  "Well, it's been a good year on balance for the Mulligans. Clarence got out of prison in time for Christmas and the good news is, he likes his parole officer.
  "Hilda got another divorce, her ninth, and she has moved back home with her 11 kids. We don't know where her ex-husband is. Neither do the police. He's two years behind in child support to Hilda and 10 years behind to his other five wives.
  "Paul has stopped sucking his thumb. We're proud of him. He's only 16.
  "Carl is doing better. He's happy to say he cleared $30,000 last year begging from cars at the corner of Crescent Heights and Santa Monica Boulevard. He is buying a new Mercedes. He loves it when they yell at him, 'Get a life!'
  "Frank lost his job at the factory. They're downsizing. Particularly with guys like Frank who they said was late 47 times last year, didn't show up at all on 20 other days and got caught making book in the company cafeteria.
  "Tom goes around burning flags. He's not unpatriotic. He says it's a good way to meet girls.
  "Alice's movie career is progressing nicely. She got to wear clothes in her last flick — a garter belt. She also got a speaking part — all moans. It's not Shakespeare but it's a start.
  "Jonathan flunked out of another college. The dean explained, 'Jonathan missed the question "What year was the War of 1812?" but he only missed by 2.' We tell him if he had a good jump shot, he could miss it by a century and still graduate cum laude."
  Face it. Wouldn't a letter like that be a welcome relief? So, have a great New Year.  Just don't tell us about it, eh?

*Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times.

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

MIKE SILLINGER
(REGINA PATS PHOTO)

The Regina Pats will celebrate the career of Mike Sillinger by retiring his No. 16 on Jan. 14 prior to a game with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“It's truly an honor to have my jersey hanging up in a place where I have had some of my greatest memories,” Sillinger said in a news release. “I was lucky to play my entire junior career here with the Pats and was always so proud to represent a great organization. As a hometown boy, wearing that Pats jersey was a dream come true and I will cherish those days forever.”
Sillinger, who is from Regina, played with the Pats from 1987-91. He is third on the franchise list in goals (178), third in assists (241) and second in points (419).
The 1990-91 season was a fantastic cap to his WHL career as that winter, he put on the Red and White of Team Canada and helped the squad to a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Saskatoon, later that season, he was named a WHL Eastern Conference all-star.
Sillinger was selected by the Detroit Red Wings with the 11th pick of the NHL’s 1989 draft and went to a 16-year professional career during which he played for 12 teams.
Sillinger will become the eighth Pats player to have had his number retired, following Ed Staniowski (1), Brad Hornung (8), Clark Gillies (9), Doug Wickenheiser (12) and Dennis Sobchuk (14), Dale Derkatch (16) and Bill Hicke (17). Builders to have been honoured by the Pats are Lorne Davis, Al Ritchie, Gord Staseson, Graham Tuer, Bob Turner and Del Wilson.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Codey Burki (Brandon, 2002-07) has been assigned on loan from Lugano (Switzerland NLA) to Thurgau (Switzerland NL B). Burki has not played in a game yet with Lugano but played one game on loan to Sierre (Switzerland NLB) earlier this season. He was pointless in that game. . . .
D Tomas Slovak (Kelowna, 2001-03) was released by Avtomobilist Ekaterinberg (Russia KHL). He had three assists and was -6 in 21 games this season for Avtomobilist.
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D Bruin McDonald, 18, who started this season with the Spokane Chiefs, has been released by the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. In five games with the Olympiques, McDonald didn’t have a point, but was plus-1 with nine penalty minutes.
The Olympiques had signed McDonald to a contract that covered this season and next, but, of course, those contracts don’t guarantee roster spots.
As someone familiar with the situation put it, “Obviously, what (the family) was told and promised was not worth the air they were spoken with. But that is the business . . .”
So, at least for now, McDonald has decided to get on with his life and is sounding as though he won’t play hockey again this season.
The Chiefs had acquired McDonald’s rights from the Prince George Cougars. However, Spokane released him upon having D Jared Cowen reassigned by the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. McDonald then joined the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies, who dealt him to the Vernon Vipers. It was right after that trade occurred that the Olympiques came calling.
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For the record, the WHL’s trade moratorium runs through Dec. 27. The WHL office will begin accepting trades on Tuesday, Dec. 28, at 12:01 a.m. MT. . . . That moratorium began Dec. 15. . . . WHL goaltenders are on schedule to put up 76 shutouts this season, which would be 12 fewer than last season. That also would be the lowest total since some time before 2003-04. (I don’t have season breakdowns prior to 2003-04.) The single-season record (141) was set in 2004-05. . . .
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Bruce Eakin (Saskatoon, 1980-82) and his family are heading from Florida to the Buffalo area to watch nephew Cody play for Team Canada in the World Junior Championship. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun has that story right here. Cody, of course, is the captain of the Swift Current Broncos.
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After giving it a whole lot of thought, I have shut off the comments area of this blog.
I don’t mind a little give and take, but when a gutless stalker, obviously made bigger and braver by the mask of anonymity afforded by the Internet, continually makes unfounded accusations it’s time to say enough is enough and pull the plug.
So . . . as much as I enjoy the readers’ participation, I have had to cut it off. For that I apologize.
Still, those of you wishing to make an intelligent comment, point out errors or take part in reasonable discourse may continue to reach me at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Steve Ewen has covered the Vancouver Giants for The Province since the team entered the WHL for the 2001-02 season. A gregarious, fun guy, Ewen has been off the beat for a few weeks now as he fights back against the Big C. It hasn’t been fun, what with a couple of surgeries and the news this week that he will be spending Christmas Day in Vancouver General Hospital.
Ever since this chapter in his and Carol-Ann’s lives, Steve has been blogging about it at a site he named Crush the tumour with humour.
If you haven’t visited there, you might want to check it out right here.
(Of special interest is the photo of John Shorthouse, the long-time voice of the Vancouver Canucks, and his organ.)
And, while you’re out there enjoying the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, take time and have a thought for those people who aren’t able to partake for one reason or another.
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Swing over to right here and you’ll find Annie Fowler’s take on the game between the Vancouver Giants and Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday night. She covers the Americans for the Tri-City Herald.
According to the WHL website, the Americans were dinged $350 “for actions of players” in that game, while the Giants got touched for $250 “for multiple fight” and $500 for “actions of players.”
Meanwhile, F Brock Montgomery of the Kootenay Ice got a two-game suspension for his interference major against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.
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The NAHL’s Port Huron Fighting Falcons have fired general manager Ernie Hicke and his son, Shane, who was on the coaching staff. Paul Costanzo of the Port Huron Times Herald, reported that Ernie Hicke stepped down as head coach on Thursday and his plan was to have Shane, along with Marty Haddad and Todd Churchill, coach the team. The change came with the Fighting Falcons, who are in their inaugural season, at 1-24-1. . . . Owner Maribeth Hayes installed Bill Warren, the hockey coach at Port Huron Northern High School, as head coach, at least for now, and named Haddad the GM. . . . Ernie Hicke, 63, is a native of Regina who starred with the Pats (1964-67) before going on to a lengthy pro career that included 520 NHL games.
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Donald Fehr is in as the executive director of the NHLPA. What does that mean for the future of the NHL? Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has an excellent overview right here. You especially will smile at Marvin Miller’s description of “the management people in hockey.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter

I got home from work early Friday morning and the TV was on the Food Network. The show being aired at the time was Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and host Guy Fieri was at the Cattlemen’s Steakhouse on South Agnew Avenue in Oklahoma City. . . . And there, chowing down on a juicy looking steak, was none other than former WHL player, coach and general manager Doug Sauter. . . . Anyone who was around the WHL during Sauter’s time would recognize that moustache anywhere. . . . Sauter, of course, ended up in Oklahoma City where he coached the Central league’s Blazers for 14 seasons. He lost that gig when the AHL’s Barons, who are affiliated with the Edmonton Oilers, set up shot in Oklahoma City. . . . As near as I can tell, that particular episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was filmed in May 2009. . . . By the way, Sauter now is vice-president of Express Sports Agency in Oklahoma City, a firm that represents bull riders and works to promote the sport of professional bull riding.
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The WHL has suspended Edmonton Oil Kings D Adrian Van de Mosselaer for two games for a hit on F Brad Hoban of the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday night. Van de Mosselaer was hit with a boarding major and game misconduct on the play. He didn’t play last night against the visiting Chilliwack Bruins and won’t play tonight in Saskatoon against the Blades. . . . D Brendon Wall, who lost out in the 20-year-old game in Kelowna when the Rockets acquired D Zac Stebner from the Tri-City Americans, has joined the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. Wall also has WHL experience with the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders. He is from Saskatoon. . . .
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If you missed it, the Phoenix Coyotes were in New York on Thursday and found themselves in need of a goaltender. They found one in Tom Fenton, who signed a one-game deal and spent the night on the bench. That story is right here.
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Bruce Arthur of the National Post weighs in on the bizarre situation in Ontario where a minor coach has been suspended for a year after taking his team off the ice in protest over a racial slur. Arthur’s column is right here.
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Some highlights from Friday’s WHL games:
In Saskatoon, the Blades scored the game’s first three goals and went on to defeat the Swift Current Broncos, 3-1. . . . The injury ravaged players dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum, and had call-ups Brennan Hopkins of Airdrie, Alta., and Zac Mackay of Swift Current in the lineup. . . . It was Tuque Toss and F Josh Nicholls, with his 16th goal, got the fans throwing gear on the ice at 16:37 of the first period. . . . F Marek Fiedensky had two assists for the Blades. . . . Saskatoon G Adam Morrison stopped 27 shots, losing his shutout when F Jordan Peddle scored with 10.4 seconds left in the third period. . . . Swift Current G Mark Friesen stopped 37 shots. . . . Saskatoon D Stefan Elliott had his 13th goal to run his point streak to eight games. . . . Attendance was 3,661. . . .
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In Regina, F Shayne Neigum had two goals and an assist to lead the Pats to a 6-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Neigum was playing his first game with the Pats after being acquired from the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday night. In 23 games with the Blazers, he had one goal and two assists. . . . In this one, Neigum, who is from Kindersley, Sask., opened the scoring 34 seconds into the game and closed it with an empty-netter at 19:37 of the third. . . . Regina also got a goal from each of F Tanner Olstad and F Nils Moser, both of whom were acquired from the Tri-City Americans in the deal that had F Carter Ashton go the other way. Olstad and Moser played on a line with Neigum. . . . “It feels great; obviously it’s good for the confidence,” Neigum told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “Other teams I’ve been on I’ve never been put in a situation to produce. Without a doubt I know I can. I’m just going to do whatever I can to help the team win. That’s why I’m here, whether it’s to block a shot or drop the gloves.” . . . F Jordan Weal and D Myles Bell each had a goal and an assist for Regina. . . . F Jonathan Parker had two goals and two assists for the Raiders. He has 22 goals. . . . F Justin Maylan added two assists for the Raiders. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt stopped 43 shots. . . . Attendance was 3,308. . . .
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In Brandon, the Moose Jaw Warriors got the only two goals of the shootout and beat the Wheat Kings, 4-3. . . . F Cody Beach and F Dylan Hood each had shootout goals for Moose Jaw, which won its 20th game. . . . The Wheat Kings are 0-4 in shootouts. . . . F Jesse Paradis opened the scoring for the Warriors at 17:07 of the first period. . . . The teams then exchanged goals until F David Toews, with his eighth, scored on a PP at 13:45 of the third to force OT. . . . Toews finished with two goals and an assist. . . . F Michael Ferland had two assists for Brandon. . . . Brandon is 1-0-4 in its last four outings. . . . Moose Jaw G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 44 shots, seven more than Brandon’s Corbin Boes. . . . Brandon D Ryley Miller returned from serving a two-game suspension for a hit on Everett Silvertips F Kellan Tochkin on Dec. 8. . . . Attendance was 3,886. . . . The Wheat Kings and Warriors meet for the sixth time this season tonight in Moose Jaw. The Warriors have won the last four meetings between the teams. . . .
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In Calgary, F Brett Bulmer had a goal and three assists to help the Kelowna Rockets dump the Hitmen, 5-1. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s last three goals. . . . F Shane McColgan added two goals and an assist for the Rockets, while F Geordie Wudrick got his 16th goal. . . . McColgan has 10 goals. . . . F Zach Franko, playing on a line with Bulmer and McColgan, had two helpers. . . . F Brandon Santini scored his first goal for the Hitmen. That goal, 57 seconds into the second period, cut Kelowna’s lead to 2-1, but D Zak Stebner, who was part of the Hitmen’s championship last season, got that one back at 13:31. . . . Attendance was 7,566. . . . The Rockets, who started the season 4-10 and were being written off for dead by more than a handful of observers, now are atop the B.C. Division, one point ahead of the Prince George Cougars and Vancouver Giants. . . .
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In Edmonton, G Lucas Gore stopped 42 shots as the Chilliwack Bruins blanked the Oil Kings 1-0 on Teddy Bear Night. . . . F Ryan Howse scored his 23rd goal at 11:26 of the second period on a PP. . . . Chilliwack’s Marc Habscheid recorded his 300th victory as a WHL head coach. . . . Edmonton G Jon Groenheyde stopped 18 shots. . . . Attendance was 5,811. The fans tossed the stuff toys onto the ice at game’s end. . . . Edmonton was 0-for-7 on the PP, while the Bruins were 1-for-4. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix had his point streak end at 11. He put up 24 points over those 11 games.
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 4-1. . . . Ice F Elgin Pearce broke a 1-1 tie at 8:11 of the first period and F Matt Fraser later added two third-period PP goals, with F Max Reinhart and F Drew Czerwonka drawing two assists each. . . . Fraser has 13 goals. . . . F Byron Froese got his 14th for the Rebels on a first-period PP. . . . Both goaltenders — Kootenay’s Nathan Lieuwen and Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper — stopped 28 shots. . . . Kuemper stopped Ice F Christian Magnus on a third-period penalty shot. . . . The victory allowed the Ice to stay within two points of the Eastern Conference-leading Saskatoon Blades and move three points clear of the Rebels and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Attendance was 2,508. . . . The Ice lost F Brock Montgomery with a major for interference and a game misconduct just 2:53 into the game. . . .
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In Lethbridge, D Scott McKay broke a 1-1 tie at 1:57 of the third period as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Hurricanes, 2-1. . . . That was McKay’s first goal of the season; it came in his 27th game. Last season, he had two goals in 47 games. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey got his 20th of the season on a PP in the second period. . . . Lethbridge F Jacob Berglund tied the score with his eight at 18:06 of the second. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 34 shots. . . . Lethbridge G Dylan Tait turned aside 24 shots. . . . Attendance was 3,072. . . .
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In Prince George, F Greg Fraser broke a 2-2 tie with 27.1 seconds left in the third period to give the Cougars a 3-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Cougars G Ty Rimmer stopped 41 shots. . . . The Cougars have followed a five-game losing streak with two victories. . . . Kamloops has lost eight straight road games, after winning six in a row away from home. . . . F Thomas Frazee, acquired by Kamloops from Regina on Tuesday, played his first game with the Blazers. He played on a line with LW Brendan Ranford and C Chase Schaber, but the trio was held off the scoresheet. . . . Attendance was 1,786. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Prince George. . . .
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In Kennewick, Wash., it was Friday Night Fights as the Tri-City Americans whipped the visiting Vancouver Giants, 9-1, in a game that featured 272 penalty minutes. . . . Vancouver took 171 of those minutes. . . . The carnage included game misconducts to both head coaches — Don Hay of the Giants and Jim Hiller of the Americans. . . . Ch-ch-ching! . . . The Americans were 5-for-9 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 4,436 and, gee, I wonder what they’ll be talking about today. . . . Tri-City led 7-0 before F James Henry scored for the Giants at 9:53 of the third period. . . . F Adam Hughesman led Tri-City with two goals — he has 18 — and two assists, while F Kruise Reddick had a goal and three assists. F Jordan Messier had two goals, giving him 20, and an assist, with F Brendan Shinnimin getting a goal and two assists. . . . Vancouver G Brendan Jensen went the distance, stopping 27 shots, perhaps because the Giants plan on starting Mark Segal tonight in Spokane. . . .
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In Everett, G Luke Siemens turned aside 27 shots as the Silvertips dumped the Spokane Chiefs, 2-0. . . . That was Siemens’ second shutout of the season and of his career. . . . F Tyler Maxwell scored both goals, giving him 23. He got the first one at 19:31 of the second period and added an empty-netter at 19:46 of the third. . . . Everett was 0-for-3 on the PP; Spokane was 0-for-2. . . . Attendance was 5,125.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Seven minors:
Saskatoon F Jake Trask
Regina F Nils Moser
Chilliwack D Mitch Topping
Chilliwack D Zach Habscheid
Red Deer F Brett Ferguson (double minor)
Medicine Hat F Tyler Pitlick

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “The region’s 17 remaining pro-hoops fans are all a-drool over the notion that Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer might lay down more than a billion dollars to hijack the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets into a mythical new Puget Sound pro sports arena/perpetual money pit. Or, for an even better public show, he could just stack all that money outside his house and light it on fire.” . . . Hey, Kamloops, was that a nice Christmas present from big oil, or what? . . .
George Johnson, in the Calgary Herald, writing about the Flames’ general manager: “Six years ago, this city was at Darryl Sutter’s feet. Now it’s at his throat. . . . This, remember, is the Darryl Sutter who reminds you of the ancient mythical Greek sea-beast Hydra — cut one head off and two more pop out, sneering, snarling, spitting venom. The Darryl Sutter who carries his omnipotence and condescension and (whether he wants to admit it to himself or not) his insecurity room-to-room, door-to-door, a Welcome Wagon of misery.” . . . More from Johnson: “Standing behind the bench during games, face twisted into a pained scowl, the unfortunate Brent Sutter looks like a wrongly-convicted Death Row inmate who has no idea when that knock on his cell door might be coming. It’s been suggested that a ‘mercy firing’ could be the best thing for him, for his health and sanity. There’s probably more truth in that assessment than even he is willing to admit.” . . .
Such is life around the Toronto Maple Leafs that when a fan tossed some waffles onto the ice late in a recent game, it was a big, big story in Toronto the Great. . . . “If you’re bringing waffles to a game, maybe you have issues of your own,” defenceman Luke Schenn said. “Maybe they were blueberry waffles, chocolate chip, who knows? It was definitely a first.” . . . But the best of the quotes belonged to captain Dion Phaneuf: “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. I’ve seen lots of stuff thrown out on the ice, but I didn’t even see it so I can’t comment on it. I’ve never seen a waffle, no. I’m not commenting on it.” . . . It seems only appropriate that the Leafs’ captain should waffle, rather than comment. . . . As Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post put it: “Humbled by the actions of their so-called supporters, Leafs players reportedly suffered bruised Eggos.” . . .
Cam Hutchinson, in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “The 2012 Brier will be played in Saskatoon, where Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard will play in the final.” . . . After Luke Scott of the Baltimore Orioles said he doesn’t believe President Obama was born in the United States, the Left Coast Sports Babe noted: “But, come on, what do you expect of a player dumb enough to sign with the Orioles?’’ . . . Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Brett Favre . . . Randy Moss . . . Brad Childress . . . the Metrodome. At least the Vikings ought to be accustomed to having the roof fall in on them by now.” . . .
If you’re a fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, you should know that receiver Andy Fantuz worked out this week for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers and will do the same for the Minnesota Vikings. . . . So left-hander Cliff Lee leaves a whack of cash on the table and signs with the Philadelphia Phillies. Makes you wonder if the ink on the contract was dry before he heard from the Major League Baseball Players Association. . . . You have to love how the Phillies dealt Lee to the Seattle Mariners for three prospects and, in the end, wound up with Lee and got to keep the prospects. . . . One of those prospects, of course, was outfielder Tyson Gillies of Kamloops. . . . So why did the Phillies trade Lee in the first place? . . .
The Left Coast Sports Babe, on the Lee signing: “Only in America can a man who signs a contract to play a game for five years and $120 million, be lauded for following his heart and turning down the highest bidder.’’ . . . Here’s Phil Sheridan, in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Well, this just doesn’t happen. Highly coveted free-agent athletes take their talents to South Beach, or sign bank-busting contracts with the Washington Nationals. That’s just how it is. And then along comes Cliff Lee. By most reasonable estimates, Lee decided to pay somewhere between $30 million and $40 million for the privilege of returning to pitch for the Phillies. That is real, actual money — the difference between a five-year contract here and the reported seven-year, $160 million contract Lee was offered by the Yankees.” . . .
Matt Millen, one of the NFL Network’s analysts, was working the San Francisco 49ers at San Diego Chargers game Thursday, when he was trying to make the point that the defending-champion New Orleans Saints are again Super Bowl contenders. The Saints, he said, are flying under the radar. Or, as he put it, “Everybody is not talking about them.” . . . Old friend Paul Romanuk will call the play as TSN provides coverage of the Spengler Cup from Davos, Switzerland. It starts with Canada playing Davos or Spartak Moscow on Dec. 27 at 11 a.m. Riding shotgun with Romanuk will be Doug Honegger, a former Swiss league player. . . . A tweet from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun, with the Oilers poised to unveil cheerleaders: “Maybe the idea of the Oiler cheerleaders is for the young players to date them, marry them and stay here. No Mrs. Pronger problems.” . . .
The Orange Bowl junior tennis tournament runs this month in Key Biscayne, Fla. “If you’re not sure where it is,” writes Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, “just listen for the shriek of overbearing parents berating line judges.” . . . A tweet from the Vancouver Sun’s Iain MacIntyre: “Why does (Pavel) Bure number retirement debate continue? He didn’t want to be here; couldn’t get out soon enough. He is DQ’d. End of story.” . . . To which the Sun’s Elliott Pap added: “let me just say, Pavel Bure’s No. 10 should never be hung from the rafters unless the punk is still in it.” . . . Keeping Score won’t be here a week from today. Hey, it’ll be Christmas Day. But watch for a special year-end edition in the Dec. 31 issue of The Daily News. . . . In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and thanks for stopping by.

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. Email him at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, follow him at twitter.com/gdrinnan, or visit his blog at gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score returns Dec. 31 with a special year-end edition.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Robert Schnabel (Red Deer, 1997-99) was released by Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia Extraliga). He had one goal and four assists in 26 games for Slovan this season. Schnabel had signed a one-month contract with Slovan as an injury replacement and had it extended for a second month. . . .
F Dan LaPointe (Seattle, Portland, Prince George, Spokane, 2001-05) was released by Smoke Eaters Geleen (Netherlands Eredivisie). He had 16 goals and 13 assists in 24 games for the Smoke Eaters this season. Geleen replaced its head coach four games ago. . . .
F Yannic Seidenberg (Medicine Hat, 2003-04) signed a two-year contract extension with Adler Mannheim (Germany DEL). He has seven goals and three assists in 26 games for Adler this season. The contract keeps Seidenberg with Adler through the 2012-2013 season.
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 That’s a Radko Gudas bobblehead over there on the right.
I’m a sucker for bobbleheads. No, I don’t own a bunch of them; I just find them neat, perhaps because I had a few when I was a whole lot younger.
Right now, I’ve got a Steve Yzerman bobblehead (Team Canada) sitting on my computer at work. I used to have a Mario Lemieux Team Canada bobblehead, too, but it hit the floor. We now use its head as the topper for the Christmas tree here in the sports departments. (The tree, you should know, is made out of cut up broken hockey sticks. Thanks to Kamloops Blazers trainer Colin Robinson for the wreckage.)
Anyway . . . Radko Gudas is a hard-nosed Czech defenceman who played last season with the Everett Silvertips, putting up 37 points and 151 penalty minutes in 65 games.
A third-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2010 draft, Gudas is playing for the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals. He has seven points and 43 penalty minutes in 25 games.
The Silvertips will salute Gudas by releasing his bobblehead on Jan. 16 with the Spokane Chiefs in town.
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During the course of a WHL season, you often hear a coach say: “Every team goes through injuries. We just have to find a way to get through it.”
Well, that may hold true for a lot of coaches. But what of Mark Lamb, the GM and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos?
Lamb has to be wondering where it all is going to end.
The Broncos dropped a 3-1 decision to the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Wednesday night. But there was more to this game than just a score because the Broncos played a lot of it with just seven forwards. That’s right . . . seven forwards. All told, they finished with 14 skaters.
When the Broncos began what is an 11-game road swing that will be interrupted by Christmas, they were missing D Tanner Muth () and F Stepan Novotny (). And they knew that they would lose F Cody Eakin as he was scheduled to attend the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp.
But they didn’t expect to have four more players go down with injuries.
Since the trip began, they have lost Josh Derko (broken hand), Brad Hoban (undisclosed), Killian Hutt (concussion) and Dillon Wagner (broken ankle).
Wagner, who returned Nov. 26 after offseason knee injury, was hurt Tuesday in Prince George. (Interestingly, the schedule had the Broncos playing one night in Prince George and the next in Edmonton. The Broncos arrived in Edmonton at 8:30 a.m., after losing 6-0 in Swift Current the previous night.)
Hutt went down Friday in Kamloops. Hoban was injured in Edmonton when he was hit by D Adrian van de Mosselaer, who was given a major penalty for boarding at 9:52 of the first period.
The Broncos finish out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule in Saskatoon against the Blades tonight. The holiday break can’t come soon enough and no team needs it more than the Broncos.
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No one has been on top of the situation involving the financial side of the NHL’s Dallas Stars like Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
His latest, following a weekend report in the Boston Globe:
“The Globe . . . reported that (Kamloops Blazers majority owner Tom) Gaglardi, whose family owns the Sandman Hotel Group among other hospitality interests in Canada, is out on bidding for the Stars. A source within the Gaglardi group said that's not true. The source said Gaglardi would certainly be interested in bidding on the team if an auction was started.
“Calgary oilman Bill Gallacher pulled out on the bidding earlier in the year, but that was for personal reasons. Gaglardi still is interested, but only at the right price.”
Gallacher, of course, owns the Portland Winterhawks.
Heika’s complete report is right here.
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Nick Patterson, who covers the Everett Silvertips for the Everett Herald, had this note on his blog after the ’Tips dropped a 3-0 decision to the Vancouver Giants on Wednesday night:
“There's one last thing that baffled me. Late in the second period Vancouver's Luke Fenske put an absolutely brutal check from behind on Manraj Hayer (Hayer was fortunate to walk away from it and finish the game). Watching it real-time (admittedly from a ways away in the press area) it looked like the definition of a checking-from-behind major. Somehow it ended up being called a cross-checking minor by referee Pat Smith. In fact, there were a couple checks from behind tonight that were called cross checks (Everett's Brennan Yadlowski had the other one). I know Gregg Drinnan is highlighting each checking-from-behind penalty on his blog as they've become a real hazard to players' health. Here's two tonight that won't make Drinnan's list, but probably should. It makes me wonder how many other checks from behind are being labelled something else.”
This is something I often wonder about as I watch WHL games. There are hits that I would swear were the definition of checking from behind but are called charging or boarding or cross-checking, anything but cfb.
And I wonder how bad this checking-from-behind problem really is?
Because it’s a problem, it really is, and I just hope the WHL and all levels of hockey get a grip on it before it’s too late for someone.
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The Kelowna Rockets will have D Jesse Lees, 15, in their lineup tonight when they meet the Hitmen in Calgary. Lees was the ninth overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft and will be making his WHL debut. He plays for the midget AAA Calgary Northstars. . . . Olaf Kolzig, who owns a chunk of the Tri-City Americans, will be an honourary captain at the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic which is scheduled for Jan. 30-31 in Hershey, Pa. Kolzig, a retired goaltender, played parts of six seasons in the AHL after being drafted by the Washington Capitals in 1989.
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A year has come and gone since the bus carrying the Fraser Valley Bruins of the B.C. major midget league was involved in an accident while en route to Prince George. G Mackenzie Skapski, whose WHL rights belong to the Kootenay Ice, was the most seriously injured person on that bus. Grant Granger of the Maple Ridge, B.C., News has an update on Skapski right here.
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A while back, there was link here to a story out of Ontario involving a minor hockey coach who took his team off the ice after one of his players was the object of a racial slur. Guess the length of the coach’s suspension? That story is right here.
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Bob Feller died on Wednesday. He was one of a kind, a true American icon. In the summer of 2005, Frank Deford, another one of a kind, profiled Feller in Sports Illustrated. This right here is a lengthy story but it is a great read.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter