He has spent most of his time since then recuperating at his family home in Edmonton.But Hutt, 19, plans to spend this weekend in Swift Current — it’s parent weekend — and then return to Edmonton. But he is hoping to return to action this season.
“I’ve been doing better as of late,” he told me in a text Tuesday. “I’m looking at going back permanently (at the) end of February.”
Hutt was preparing to take a shot on goal when was injured on a hit by Kamloops F Jordan DePape, who was penalized and served a five-game WHL suspension.
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The QMJHL announced Tuesday that no franchises — there are 16 of them — filed notification of sale or relocation prior to Monday’s deadline.
"Although a number of reports have been published over the past few weeks, not a single Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team submitted a request to sell or relocate on Jan. 31," QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau said in a statement. "Guidelines are outlined in our Constitution and our members are well-aware of the process regarding these types of requests."There had been speculation, and lots of it, that the Lewiston Maineiacs, who are averaging about 1,900 fans per game, would be moving to Summerside, P.E.I.
There also have been rumblings about the P.E.I. Rocket, which is averaging fewer than 1,700 fans per game in Charlottetown.
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Brett Montsion, a WHL referee, has done a quick tour through the OHL and he tells Wally Donaldson of the Oshawa Express that he quite enjoyed it. That story is right here.
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Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, lost out Sunday at the Oregon Sports Awards. He was nominated as Sportsperson of the Year. If you follow U.S. college football, it will come as no surprise that the award went to Chip Kelly, the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. All they did was play for the national championship. . . . But just the fact that Johnston was nominated shows the inroads the Winterhawks have made there in less than three seasons under new ownership. . . . He doesn’t get a whole lot of attention but it says right here that Thom Beuning, who handles the play-by-play of Seattle Thunderbirds games on 710 ESPN, is as smooth as they come. . . . F Travis Dunstall (Kamloops, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2004-10) is the Southern Professional league’s player of the week. Dunstall, who joined the Augusta RiverHawks on Jan. 18, had seven points, four of them goals, as his club won three road games. Two of those four goals were game-winners. Overall, he has eight points in five games.———
Somehow I don’t think linesman Derek Nernberg, a 26-year-old from Regina, had planned on becoming a YouTube star by hitting a post. If you haven’t seen it, you are in the minority as this 28-second clip was heading towards 50,000 views late Tuesday night.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, F Brayden Schenn scored his first two goals on home ice as the Blades won their sixth straight, getting past the Red Deer Rebels, 7-5. . . . The victory lifted the Eastern Conference-leading Blades five points clear of the Rebels who, as the Central Division leaders, are the No. 2 seed. . . . The Blades, who have won six in a row, now have scored 204 goals, the first Eastern Conference team to go over 200. There are three teams in the Western Conference — all from the U.S. Division — with at least 200 goals scored (Spokane, 216; Portland, 203; Tri-City, 200). . . . The Rebels had won their last 11 games. . . . Schenn, who also had an assist, was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Jan. 10. . . . F Josh Nicholls and F Jake Trask each had a goal and an assist for the Blades. . . . The Rebels took a 3-2 lead on F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 15th goal at 4:24 of the second period. . . . Saskatoon tied it on D Dalton Thrower’s sixth goal, at 9:44 of the second, then took control with two goals 16 seconds apart early in the third. Schenn scored 58 seconds into the period on a PP and Nichools got his 25th at 1:14. . . . Nugent-Hopkins, F Byron Froese and F Andrej Kudrna combined for two goals and three assists for Red Deer, but each was minus-3. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 18 shots, 12 fewer than Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper. . . . With G Adam Morrison out with mononucleosis, Stanford was making his sixth straight start. . . . Attendance was 5,184. . . . Schenn actually left the game for a brief time after absorbing a teeth-rattling open-ice hit from Red Deer F Brett Ferguson. “That hit (from Ferguson), I don’t if I’ve ever been hit that hard in my life,” Schenn told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “It didn’t feel good at the time. I got winded there a bit, but I was able to come back.” . . . The Blades are at home to the Regina Pats tonight, while the Rebels meet the Raiders in Prince Albert. . . .———
In Medicine Hat, F Spencer Bennett continued to weave his magic for Vancouver as his goal at the third-period buzzer gave the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. . . . The goal, which came on a wrap-around, came with one-tenth of a second left and wasn’t awarded until after a 10-minute video review. . . . Bennett scored twice, giving him 26 goals this season. He has 27 points, including 14 goals, in 15 games since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks on Dec. 30. . . . The Tigers led this one 2-0 in the first period on goals by F Kale Kessy, his 10th, and F Emerson Etem, his 28th, shorthanded at 18:55. . . . F Dalton Sward, with his ninth, got Vancouver on the board at 15:55 of the second. . . . Bennett scored a PP goal 33 seconds into the third to tie it. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 31 shots, 10 more than Medicine Hat’s Tyler Bunz. . . . Segal won for the 20th time this season. . . . With the victory, the Giants moved one point ahead of the idle Kelowna Rockets atop the B.C. Division. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Giants continue their Central Division swing tonight in Lethbridge, with Marty and Gordie Howe scheduled to be on hand. . . .———
In Cranbrook, F Cody Eakin had two goals and three assists to lead the Kootenay Ice to an 8-0 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Eakin has 11 points, including five goals, in six games since being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos on Jan. 9. . . . On the season, he has 50 points in 36 games. . . . Kootenay goaltenders Nathan Lieuwen and Brett Teskey shared the shutout. Lieuwen made 27 saves before leaving at 8:17 of the third period after making a stop on F Cody Sylvester. Teskey came on to stop five shots. . . . D Brayden McNabb chipped in a goal and two assists, while F Kevin King and F Elgin Pearce each had two helpers. . . . The Ice was 4-for-7 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-5. . . . Attendance was 2,159. . . . F Matt Fraser (concussion) returned to the Ice’s lineup for the first time since Jan. 18. Fraser, 20, scored the game’s last goal, his 22nd of the season, and you can bet it felt good. . . . The Ice meet the Hitmen tonight in Calgary. . . . The Ice has put up five shutouts this season, three of them against the Hitmen, who have been blanked a total of five times. . . .———
In Seattle, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Thunderbirds, 4-2. . . . It was the first of a four-game U.S. Division swing for Edmonton. . . . Seattle has lost nine in a row and remains in the Western Conference basement. . . . The Oil Kings took a 1-0 lead into the third period on F Travis Ewanyk’s ninth goal, shorthanded, at 10:53 of the second. . . . The Thunderbirds grabbed a 2-1 lead on third-period goals from F Mitch Elliot (1:57) and F Brendan Rouse (3:01). . . . However, F Kristians Pelss tied it for Edmonton at 10::11 and F Dylan Wruck won it with his 29th at 12:01. . . . F Jordan Hickmott got the empty-netter at 19:38. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit, in his third straight start, stopped 32 shots. He evened his record at 8-8-0. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard made 38 saves. . . . Attendance was 3,141. . . . Seattle play-by-play man Thom Beuning points out on his blog that the Thunderbirds are 1-10-0 since D Travis Bobbee was injured, and they are 0-6-0 since D Ryan Button went down. Those two have combined to play 541 regular-season games. . . . The Oil Kings are in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans tonight. . . .———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Calgary F Danny Gayle
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