Yes, they are back in The Globe and Mail, for the second time since the calendar turned to January.
This time it has to do with the political fiasco that came to light Tuesday involving B.C. Liberal Party leadership candidate Kevin Falcon’s campaign.
For more, check out The Globe and Mail’s story right here.
———
And if you want more on the Blazers and their political aspirations, you will want to check out this column by Mel Rothenburger, the editor of the Kamloops Daily News.
———
The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers selected D Martin Marincin in the second round of the 2010 draft. Now he is with the Prince George Cougars and the NHL club likes the progress he has made. Mario Annicchiarico of the Edmonton Journal has that story right here.
———
D Landon Cross, 16, is to join the Kamloops Blazers today and will spend the next 10 days with them.
The Blazers are down to five defencemen, with long-term injuries to Austin Madaisky (neck) and Brandon Underwood (knee).
Cross, who plays for the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, was a third-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He was pointless and minus-2 in a six-game stint with the Blazers after Christmas.
In 38 games with the Wheat Kings, he has 24 points.
Meanwhile, the Blazers said Wednesday that captain Chase Schaber has experienced a setback as he recovers from leg injuries. He will be re-evaluated in 10 days and there is no set timetable for his return.
———
There is a story in The New York Times — yes, that New York Times! — on the recruiting war going on between the NCAA and the CHL. Written by Andrew Podnieks, who has produced numerous hockey-related books, the story is pretty straight-forward.
But it is quite evident that this battle is going to heat up in the next few years.
That story is right here.
———
Stan Wilson, the pride of Melfort, Sask., worked his 1,500th NHL game on Wednesday night in Dallas.
Stan Wilson? Who is he, you ask?He is the Phoenix Coyotes’ head equipment manager, a position he has filled for 15 of his 21 seasons with the Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets.
At one time, Wilson worked with the Prince Albert Raiders. In fact, he was with them when they won the 1985 Memorial Cup. He also has worked with Team Canada as it won gold medals at the 2003 and 2007 World championships.
The Coyotes won last night’s game, 3-2 in overtime.
———
Veteran offensive lineman Gene Makowsky, one of the most popular of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, has been added to the list of guests for Rider Night, which is set for Saturday at the Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. The Broncos, who play host to Cody Eakin and the Kootenay Ice that night, will wear special Roughriders jerseys in that game. Slotback Chris Getzlaf, defensive end Brent Hawkins and defensive tackle Marcus (Chunky) Adams also will be in the house. . . . Following its meetings in Las Vegas earlier this week, the WHL’s board of governors announced that it has signed commissioner Ron Robison to a five-year contract extenstion that runs through 2015-16. Robison is in his 11th season as commissioner. . . . D Keaton Thompson of Devils Lake, N.D., will be joining the USHL’s Fargo Force. Ryan Clark, at the blog Slightly Chilled, reports that Thompson will join the Force once his high school season is done. Thompson, 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, was selected by the Calgary Hitmen in the eighth round of the 2010 bantam draft. He has 29 points in 18 games with Devils Lake High School. . . . Guy Carbonneau didn’t win his QMJHL coaching debut Wednesday, as his visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens dropped a 5-2 decision to the Val-d’or Foreurs. Carbonneau was named Chicoutimi’s head coach on Monday. . . .———
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, F Justin Maylan scored once and added four assists as the Raiders bounced the Swift Current Broncos, 6-1. . . . The Raiders opened up a 6-0 lead before F Justin Dowling got his 18th for the Broncos at 19:48 of the second period. . . . F Jonathan Parker had a goal, his 35th, and three assists for Prince Albert, which got two goals from F Igor Revenko, who has 18. . . . G Eric Williams stopped 42 shots for the Raiders, who had Brenden Fiebelkorn backing up. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . Starter Jamie Tucker is out for a couple of weeks with a cut to his right thumb. . . . Attendance was 2,031. . . . Swift Current has dropped nine of 10. . . . The Raiders moved into a tie for seventh with the Broncos in the Eastern Conference. They are one point ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings and two up on the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . ———
In Saskatoon, F Brayden Schenn’s PP goal in overtime gave the Blades a 6-5 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Blades have won nine in a row. . . . Moose Jaw has lost four straight, all on the road. . . . The Warriors trailed 5-3 in the third period when F Spencer Edwards got his second of the game and 23rd of the season at 6:10 and F Quinton Howden got his third of the night and 31st of the season at 17:48 on a PP. . . . F Dylan Hood, playing on a line with Howden and Edwards, drew five assists for Moose Jaw but was off for hooking when the winner was scored. . . . Schenn finished with two goals, giving him nine, and two assists. . . . Linemate Jake Trask had a goal, his 19th, and two helpers. He is riding a five-game goal streak. . . . Saskatoon was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Warriors were 1-for-5. . . . Attendance was 3,768. . . . Edwards, the Warriors’ captain, was back after sitting out eight games with a shoulder injury. . . . The Warriors were without D Dylan McIlrath (knee), F Antonin Honejsek (ankle) and F Brayden Cuthbert (concussion). . . . Lorne Molleken, the GM/head coach of the Blades, wasn’t happy that the WHL assigned a single referee (Devin Klein) to work this game, not after he missed a two-handed slash involving Moose Jaw F Cody Beach on Saskatoon D Teigan Zahn. “(Beach) could’ve hurt Zahn seriously in the third period,” Molleken told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. “Any time you two-hand somebody from behind like that, it’s uncalled for and it just shows what Beach is all about. When you have two teams that compete as hard as these two and you have access to two (referees), I don’t think you put Klein in a very fair position.” . . . The Blades, who are the first team to clinch a playoff spot, lead the Eastern Conference by seventh points over the Red Deer Rebels and still have two games in hand. . . . The Warriors are firmly entrenched in fifth spot. . . .———
In Lethbridge, F Philip Tot had a goal and two assists as the Hurricanes skated to a 6-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . The Hurricanes, who had lost six in a row, opened up a 2-0 first-period lead and never looked back. . . . Tot, a 17-year-old from Calgary, now has 20 points in 48 games. He had 10 points in 56 games last season as a freshman. . . . Regina was 1-for-6 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-for-1. . . . Attendance was 2,865. . . . Lethbridge D Cason Machacek returned from a five-game suspension, but the Hurricanes are still without injured F Austin Fyten (elbow) . . . . Regina F Jordan Weal had a 10-game point streak snapped. . . . The Hurricanes, 10th in the Eastern Conference, moved two points ahead of the Pats, who now are four points out of a playoff spot. They also have three teams to crawl over before getting to that last spot. . . .———
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s first four goals and went on to beat the Prince George Cougars, 5-2. . . . Medicine Hat won its fourth straight game. . . . F Kale Kessy set up two goals for the Tigers, who got 41 saves from G Tyler Bunz, who posted his 69th career victory. He is tied with Kelly Hrudey for fifth on Medicine’s all-time list of goaltending victories. . . . Tigers F Emerson Etem had one assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . According to Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News, Tigers F Tyler Pitlick didn’t return after the first period. “Pitlick has been bothered by a nagging groin injury,” Steinke tweeted during the game. . . . F Wilson Dumais scored his first goal this season for the Cougars. He had one goal in 12 games last season. This was his 45th game this season. . . . Prince George G James Priestner, who was playing in his 100th WHL game and celebrating his 20th birthday, stopped 16 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Tigers moved past the idle Kootenay Ice and into third place in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Cougars are sixth in the Western Conference, a point ahead of the Everett Silvertips. . . . ———
In Kamloops, the Blazers scored three goals in the game’s first 4:23 and went on to a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Jordan DePape, a right winger who took a handful of shifts on defence for the short-staffed Blazers, set up three goals. . . . Kamloops F Dalibor Bortnak scored twice, giving him nine, and had an assist. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon scored his second goal, ending a 42-game drought. . . . Kamloops D Josh Caron scored his first goal of the season. He has two career goals in 96 games. . . . Blazers G Jeff Bosch stopped 32 shots in posting his 20th victory. . . . Attendance was 3,754. . . . The Blades are eighth in the Western Conference, now three points ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins and four up on the last-place Thunderbirds. . . . ———
In Spokane, the Portland Winterhawks exploded for five goals in a span of 1:59 late in the first period and went on to beat the Chiefs, 10-5. . . . The WHL record for fastest five goals is 76 seconds. It is held by the Saskatoon Blades of 1982-83. . . . F Brad Ross scored three times for Portland, giving him 20, while F Ryan Johansen scored his 27th goal and added four assists. . . . Portland F Craig Cunningham had two goals and an assist, and was plus-4. . . . F Tyler Johnson scored twice for the Chiefs to become the WHL’s first 40-goal scorer this season. He has 41. He also has 88 points and is tied atop the WHL scoring derby with Medicine Hat F Linden Vey. . . . It was the first time since November 2002 that Portland’s offence hit double digits in one game. . . . The Winterhawks, who have won four straight and 10 of 11, beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 8-2 on Saturday, meaning Portland has scored 18 goals in its last two games against U.S. Division challengers. . . . Attendance was 4,519. . . . The Winterhawks now hold a seven-point lead over Spokane and eight over the Americans. The Chiefs hold two games in hand on Portland, while the Americans have played five fewer games than the Winterhawks.———
WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Lethbridge F Neil Tarnasky
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Posts
