F Ryan Gaucher (Saskatoon, 1996-99) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Starbulls Rosenheim (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had nine goals and 29 assists in 47 games with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) last season.
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D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors has seen a second doctor and the news was the same as from the first doctor. Rielly, 17, will be undergoing surgery on his right knee.
Here’s what Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew
Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald:“He does have a significant knee injury that will require surgery and that’s something that we hope will take place sometime next week. He will be out months and is questionable to return this season.”
TSN’s Craig Button first reported that Rielly has a torn ACL. Millar wouldn’t confirm that, saying only that Rielly “suffered a significant knee injury.”
The Warriors won’t know the full extent of the injury until Rielly has surgery; nor will they have an estimate on a possible return.
As Millar said: “The way we look at it, if he was to be back with our hockey team this year you’re talking late in the season, playoff time or possibly not at all.”
Rielly had 18 points in 17 games at the time of the injury. He still is expected to be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
As Gourlie poined out: “It hasn’t been a very lucky year for Rielly health-wise. He had an emergency appendectomy in the pre-season, but was back in less than three weeks.”
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JUST NOTES: F Rocco Grimaldi of the UND Fighting Sioux will be out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury. Grimaldi, a second-round selection by the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s 2011 draft, would have played for the United States in the World Junior Championship. His WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . G Tyler Bunz didn’t accompany the Medicine Hat Tigers to Brandon for Friday night’s game. Bunz was struck on the head by a puck while on the WHL bench during Wednesday’s Subway Super Series game in Regina. He was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons and didn’t start Thursday’s season finale as had been scheduled. He spent Friday with family in Regina. . . . One player who did play Friday night was F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs. I was told on Thursday by a normally impeccable source that he would be missing for two weeks with a concussion and that he was due to have a baseline test Friday morning. If he did have that test, he obviously passed with flying colours as he was in the lineup last night as the host Chiefs lost 2-1 to the Kamloops Blazers.
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In Brandon, the Wheat Kings beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-4 to run their winning streak to a season-high four games. . . . Brandon moved into first place in the WHL’s overall standings. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and two assists for Brandon. . . . Wheat Kings F Mark Stone got his 20th goal. He joins F Emerson Etem (25) and F Hunter Shinkaruk (23) of the Tigers, and F Ty Rattie (20) of the Portland Winterhawks, in the 20-goal club. . . . Shinkaruk had two goals last night and has scored six times in three games against Brandon this season. . . . F Jens Meilleur returned to Brandon’s lineup for the first time since Oct. 7 and scored his first goal of the season in the first period. . . . .F Alessio Bertaggia scored for Brandon, his first goal since Oct. 18. . . . With G Tyler Bunz on the shelf, the Tigers went with Kenny Cameron. They had Dawson McAuley in from the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers to back up. . . . The Tigers lost D Tyler Lewington in the second period with an undisclosed injury. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos went 3-for-3 on the PP and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-2. . . . The Broncos broke a 1-1 tie with five straight goals, two of them from F Adam Lowry and two from F Graham Black. . . . Black, who lit up the Saskatchewan midget AAA league with the Regina Pat Canadians last season, has 16 points in 22 games with the Broncos. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 37 shots. . . . Swift Current had beaten Moose Jaw 3-2 on Saturday and now is just six points behind the Warriors and only four in arrears of the eighth-place Regina Pats. . . . How strange is the Eastern Conference? The Pats hold a .595 winning percentage and are in eighth place. . . .
In Edmonton, F Rhett Rachinski broke a tie with 5.5 seconds left in the third period as the Oil Kings beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-3. . . . Oil Kings F T.J. Foster broke a 2-2 tie when he scored on a third-period penalty shot. He also scored the game’s first goal. He has nine goals on the season. . . . The Raiders have lost four straight and are 1-9-0 in their last 10. . . .
In Lethbridge, F Philip Tot scored in the shootout to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Tot also scored in regulation. He has two goals this season. . . . Red Deer F Adam Kambeitz struck for three goals in a seven-minute span of the third period as the Rebels erased a 3-0 deficit. Kambeitz, who has 12 goals this season, tied it at 19:59 of the third period. . . . D Matt Dumba assisted on all three Red Deer goals. . . . Tot was the ninth shooter in a five-round shootout. . . .
In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets built up a 3-1 first-period lead and hung on to beat the Cougars, 3-2. . . . Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets, tweeted that Prince Albert general manager Bruno Campese was in the house. Hmmmm! . . . The Cougars have lost three in a row. . . . Kelowna F Brett Bulmer had one assist; he has nine points in six games since returning from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. . . . 
In Vancouver, D Neil Manning and F Dalton Sward each scored three times as the Giants whipped the Victoria Royals, 11-3. . . . It was the first three-goal game for each of them. . . . F Marek Tvrdon chipped in with two goals and three assists, with F Brendan Gallagher picking up a goal and three helpers. . . . The Giants were 5-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Giants held a 2-0 lead and a 23-5 edge in shots after one period. . . . At one point late in the second period, the Giants had eight goals, while the Royals had seven shots on goal in the game. . . . Vancouver has won five in a row. . . . 
In Everett, the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to six games with a 7-3 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi had three assists, his fourth straight three-point game. He is riding a nine-game point streak, during which time he has 26 points. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored his 20th goal; he has goals in six straight games. Rattie has 16 points in the six victories. . . . F Dillon Wagner, acquired by Portland from Swift Current on Oct. 26, scored his first goal of the season. . . . The Silvertips got a goal and an assist from F J.T. Barnett, who was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers on Monday. . . . The Silvertips were without four injured players, including D Ryan Murray (ankle) and F Josh Birkholz (knee), while two others were serving suspensions. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 43 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Tri-City Americans, 3-0. . . . It was Pickard’s first shutout this season and the eighth of his career. Three of those eight have come against the Americans, the team for which his older brother Chet once starred in goal. . . . Seattle scored three third-period goals, the first coming from F Sean Aschim on the PP at 1:34. . . . F Burke Gallimore drew an assist on the second goal and scored the third into an empty net. . . . The Americans had taken 10 straight from the Thunderbirds, including a 9-0 run last season. . . . The Americans had a six-game road winning streak end. They also had won five in a row overall. . . .———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Damon Severson, Kelowna
F Jordan Martinook, Vancouver
D Drydn Dow, Tri-City
D Kyle Verdino, Seattle
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TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Regina Pats president Brent Parker, who was doing a little scouting:
“Watching CAC bantams out of Edmonton & they are playing 1-3-1. Thank-you Guy Boucher. #really #showyourskillplease”
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Today’s good read comes courtesy of Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post. It’s right here and it’s about Phoenix Coyotes toughie Paul Bissonnette (aka @BizNasty2point0) and his mother.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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