Taking Note

JUST NOTES: D Ryan Pulock of the Brandon Wheat Kings has been added to the roster of the WHL team that will play a touring Russian side in Subway Super Series games in Regina on Nov. 16 and Moose Jaw on Nov. 17. Pulock, 17, replaces D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors who has been removed from the roster due to an undisclosed injury. . . . D Joel Edmundson of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who has been fighting to come back from a high ankle sprain, tweeted that he “got great news from the doctor” Wednesday. The Warriors are prepping for a three-in-three weekend and could have him in the lineup. . . .
D Lucas Grayson of the Everett Silvertips has drawn a four-game suspension for a charging major he incurred Sunday in a game against the Chiefs in Spokane. Chiefs F Dominik Uher was injured on the play. Here’s Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review: “Grayson road Dominik Uher into the boards as Uher was scoring the seventh goal. Uher was hurt, no question, and the way he was helped off the ice it appeared he had the famed lower body injury, no weight on his right leg. Turned out he has a famed upper body injury. He may have been out cold. Of course, we can't pinpoint that, that might mean a concussion and some neanderthal may try to hit him in the head when he comes back. Uher is listed as out for two weeks.” . . .
F Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the CHL’s player of the week. He had 11 points, including seven goals, last week. . . . The Portland Winterhawks and Spokane Chiefs play twice this weekend, the first time they’ve met since last season’s Western Conference final. The Winterhawks won that series in six games. They’ll play Friday and Saturday, with both games in Portland’s Rose Garden. . . . In a scheduling quirk, the Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds won’t meet for the first time until Jan. 7. They will meet eight times in the season’s second half.
———
In Kelowna, the Red Deer Rebels won their fourth straight game, beating the Rockets, 6-4. . . . The Rebels (12-4-1) are fifth in the Central Division but own the league’s best winning percentage (.735). . . . Nine of the 12 teams in the Central Division have at least a .500 winning percentage. . . . The Rockets have lost six in a row. . . . The game was played before 6,038 fans. That was the Rockets’ 256th consecutive regular-season sellout. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have sold out their last 303 regular-season games. . . .
In Prince Albert, F Mark Stone had a goal and two assists as the Brandon Wheat Kings scored a 4-1 victory over the Raiders. . . . Brandon D Ryley Miller, playing in his 156th regular-season game, scored his first WHL goal. . . . Miller, a 19-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., has one goal and 21 assists during his career. . . .
In Swift Current, the Saskatoon Blades got three goals from F Josh Nicholls as they beat the Broncos, 7-5. . . . Nicholls, who has 16 goals, also had an assist. . . . F Lukas Sutter added three assists for the Blades. . . . Attendance was 1,824. . . . D Erik Fleming, acquired earlier from the Seaettle Thundebirds, scored his first goal for the Broncos. It was his third goal in 159 regular-season games. He hadn’t scored in his previous 118 games. His last goal was scored on Feb. 14, 2009 in a 7-2 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks. . . .
In Lethbridge, G Calvin Pickard made 33 saves to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Hurricanes, who got a goal and an assist from F Marcel Noebels, are 1-3-0 on their six-game swing into the Central Division. . . . The trek continues Friday in Calgary against the hitmen. . . .
In Cranbrook, the Tri-City Americans scored four third-period goals and beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-4. . . . The Americans have won four in a row on the road. . . . It was only the fifth victory for the Americans in their last 18 games in Cranbrook. . . . Tri-City trailed 3-1 eight minutes into the third period when it struck four times in 3:48 to take a 5-3 lead. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin had two goals and two assists for the Ams, while F Adam Hughesman had a goal and three helpers. . . . F Jesse Ismond had three goals for the Ice. . . . G Eric Comrie, who is 3-0 in his last four starts, went the distance for the Americans, playing in an arena where his brother, Mike, starred for part of one season (2000-01) with the Ice. . . . Craig West, the radio voice of the Americans, called his 998th Tri-City game. He will do No. 1,000 in Lethbridge on Saturday. His WHL total is well over a grand, though, as he is a former radio voice of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Americans are 13-5-0, matching the 1990-91 and 2007-08 teams for the second-best starts in franchise history. The best start? They opened 15-3-0 in 2009-10. . . . You want consistency? In each of the last six seasons, the Americans have won at least 11 of their first 18 games. . . .
In Vancouver, F Taylor Makin drew three assists as the Giants beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-1. . . . Makin, 19, was playing his sixth game with the Giants. A free agent when the Giants added him, he had played 120 games with the Prince George Cougars. . . . His only other three-point game was on Dec. 19, 2009, when he had two goals and an assist in a 4-2 victory for the host Cougars over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Giants were without F Marek Tvrdon (ill).
———
Words cannot begin to describe the horrors of the scandal that has enveloped Penn State University. Unfortunately, what has happened, is happening and will continue to happen is all too familiar to a pair of former WHL stars.
“The appalling Penn State scandal has sent shockwaves through the college football universe, but it comes as no surprise to former NHL players Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy, both victims of sexual abuse,” writes Rory Barrs of the National Post.
That complete piece is right here.

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