F Brett Lysak (Regina, 1996-2001) was released by mutual agreement by Jesenice (Slovenia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 18 assists in 39 games for Jesenice this season. To replace Lysak, Jesenice signed F Mike Bayrack (Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Prince George, 1995-99) to a contract for the rest of this season after he was granted his release by the Belfast Giants (UK Elite). He had 12 goals and 23 assists in 36 games with Belfast this season.
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F Jeremy Yablonski (Edmonton Ice/Kootenay Ice, 1997-99) is facing a shoplifting charge. There’s more right here. . . . The fourth annual Trans-Canada Clash has been cancelled. The alumni game was to have been played Jan. 29 in Regina, but the Moose Jaw Warriors aren’t able to ice a team. . . . Gotta love the Regina-Moose Jaw rivalry. With the Warriors unable to get a team together, Cliff Mapes, the Pats’ vice-president of operations, noted: “I was confident that the team we had assembled this year would have put on a very good show for the fans and led us to our fourth straight win.” . . . Pats and Warriors fans will have to make do with a home-and-home series that opens Jan. 28 in Moose Jaw and concludes the next night in Regina. . . . Evan Hammond, the radio voice of the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs, reports on his blog that F Kyle St. Denis, 20, will be reporting to the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies today. However, I was told by a source late last night that the St. Denis family and the Grizzlies continue to talk. St. Denis has experienced concussion problems over the last couple of seasons and was released by the Kelowna Rockets earlier this season. He had said he wanted to play with his hometown Trail Smoke Eaters but they weren’t able to cut a deal with the Grizzlies by the Jan. 10 deadline. So, if St. Denis wants to play this season, it will have to be with the Grizzlies. . . . ———
If you’re wondering how things went in the Top Prospects skills competition, there is a story right here.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, the Regina Pats scored twice in the shootout and beat the Raiders, 3-2. . . . F Jordan Weal, with his 20th, and F Lyndon Martell, with his fourth, scored for Regina, which led 2-1 late in the third period. . . . F Justin Maylan scored his ninth on a PP to pull the Raiders into a 2-2 tie at 15:46 of the third period. . . . Maylan also had an assist on F Igor Revenko’s 12th goal in the first period. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt stopped 42 shots, six more than P.A.’s Jamie Tucker. . . . Weal and F Shayne Neigum had shootout goals for Regina; Revenko countered for the Raiders. . . . Attendance was 1,985. . . .———
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice built up a 4-0 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Ice was able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . . F Cody Eakin, who has a hand injury, didn’t dress for Kootenay. . . . The Ice is without F Steele Boomer and D Joey Leach with ankle injuries. According to Matt Coxford of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, “Leach is expected to miss six to eight weeks, while Boomer will be out four to six.” . . . Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch told Coxford that both players were dealing with nagging injuries and the team simply decided to deal with them. . . . Ice F Matt Fraser scored his 21st goal but later left the game in the second period after taking a knee to the head. . . . D Brayden McNabb and F Jesse Ismond each scored his 10th goal for the Ice, giving it eight skaters with at least 10 scores. . . . McNabb’s goal gave the Ice a 4-0 lead at 5:20 of the second period and sent Edmonton G Jon Groenheyde to the bench with Laurent Brossoit coming on in relief. Groenheyde stopped 13 of 17, while Brossoit stopped all 14 shots he saw. . . . F Dylan Wruck scored twice for Edmonton, giving him 25. . . . Attendance was 2,188. . . . ———
In Medicine Hat, F Austin Fyten’s empty-netter turned into the winner as the Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Tigers, 5-4. . . . Fyten gave the visitors a 5-3 lead at 19:06 of the third period when he got his 18th into an empty net. . . . The Tigers got to within one on F Tyler Pitlick’s 19th at 19:48. . . . Fyten finished with two goals and two assists. . . . F Linden Vey, the WHL’s leading scorer, had his 30th goal and two assists. . . . Pitlick also had two assists. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson made 40 saves, 20 more than Medicine Hat’s Deven Dubyk. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . ———
In Chilliwack, James Reid set the Spokane franchise record for career victories by a goaltender as the Chiefs dumped the Bruins, 6-1. . . . Reid now has 78 victories, one more than Dustin Tokarski (2006-09). . . . Reid stopped 19 shots in beating the Bruins. . . . Reid lost his shutout bid 25 seconds into the third period when F Ryan Howse got his 30th goal of the season. . . . F Brady Brassart and F Levko Koper each scored twice for the Chiefs, who remain tied with the Portland Winterhawks atop the Western Conference. . . . D Brenden Kitchton picked up four assists for Spokane. . . . Attendance was 2,864. . . . Spokane C Tyler Johnson had two assists, upping his points total to 72, one more than his previous career high. . . .———
At Kent, Wash., the Kamloops Blazers built up a 3-0 lead and then needed a shootout to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3. . . . Kamloops, which dressed only nine forwards because of injuries, took a 3-0 lead when F Dylan Willick scored at 3:38 of the third period. . . . F Marcel Noebels and F Jacob Doty scored 19 seconds apart for Seattle and then F Travis Toomey forced OT with his 15th goal at 18:48. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard, who was on the bench for the extra attacker when Toomey scored, stopped 55 shots, including 25 in the first period and nine in overtime. . . . When D Brady Gaudet scored the Blazers’ first goal, the Blazers held an 18-0 edge in shots. . . . The Blazers, who will meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., tonight, are without injured forwards Jordan DePape (leg), Thomas Frazee (knee), Bernhard Keil (shoulder) and Chase Schaber (groin). F Logan McVeigh has a leg injury but is trying to play through it. . . . Kamloops halted a four-game losing skid with the victory. . . . Attendance was 3,060. . . . ———
In Portland, F Nino Niederreiter scored twice and set up two others as the Winterhawks beat the Tri-City Americans, 5-4, in overtime. . . . Portland F Ryan Johansen forced OT with his 20th goal, at 14:58 of the third period. Niederreiter assisted on that goal. . . . Niederreiter won it with his 18th goal, at 1:53 of OT, with Johansen earning the assist after his shot hit a post. . . . F Kruise Reddick had two goals, giving him nine, and an assist for the Americans, who led 3-2 in the second period and took a 4-3 lead when F Brendan Shinnimin notched his 20th goal at 1:21 of the third. . . . Portland F Jason Trott, an 18-year-old from Anmore, B.C., scored his first WHL goal in his 10th game. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley stopped 38 shots, one more than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . The Winterhawks were without four players — F Sven Bartschi, D Joe Morrow, F Ty Rattie and D Tyler Wotherspoon — who are at the Top Prospects game. As well, F Tayler Jordan, F Oliver Gabriel and F Riley Boychuk sat out with injuries. . . . To get to 16 skaters, the Winterhawks dressed F Brayden Low, 16, and F Nic Petan, 16. Low, from Richmond, B.C., was a seventh-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, while Petan, who is from North Delta, B.C., was a first-round pick in 2010. . . . Attendance was 1,941.———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Lethbridge F Philip Tot
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