WILLIE SHOEMAKER

50-Year Flashback Fifty years ago Monday, Feb. 28, 1961, Jim Murray wrote about one of the most renown jockeys of all time, William Lee Shoemaker (Aug. 19, 1931 — Oct. 12, 2003).
At the age of 19, he was making so much money (approximately $2,500 each week), with the consent of his parents, Los Angeles Superior Court appointed attorney Horace Hahn as his guardian.   Shoemaker was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1958.
Of Shoemaker's 8,833 career victories, 11 were Triple Crown races:
Kentucky Derby — Swaps (1955), Tomy Lee (1959), Lucky Debonair (1965) and Ferdinand (1986)
Preakness Stakes — Candy Spots (1963) and Damascus (1967)
Belmont Stakes — Gallant Man(1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Jaipur (1962), Damascus (1967) and Avatar (1975)

FEBRUARY 28, 1961, SPORTS
Copyright 1961/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

Shoebox to Shoo-in

      On a sultry night in August in the little town of Fabens, Texas, 30 dusty miles southeast of El Paso, the country doctor received a hurry-up call from the wife of the town feed store clerk. It was a month early but she was sure it was her time. Even her mother, a veteran of 11 births of her own, advised haste. The doctor threw his bag, with the rubber stethoscope trailing out the side, into the back seat of his muddy Ford and set out for the small frame house of the Shoemaker family on the edge of the cotton fields.
   The birth was not difficult, but the baby was — for Texas — quite a specimen. Scarcely a hand's length long, it weighed a measly two-and-a-half pounds, was blue all over and was dead silent. Not even repeated spankings on its darkish backside could elicit that first cry of life. Lying on her bed, half-conscious, Mrs. Shoemaker could hear the harsh, matter-of-fact voice of the doctor:
   “That baby'll be dead by morning."

'Shoe' Came Through'

   The good doctor was wrong of course. That was 29 years ago and last Saturday at Santa Anita, 52,346 fans saw Mrs. Shoemaker's premature baby, now grown to manhood and the most accomplished jockey on the American tracks today, win still another $100,000 race and add to a bankroll which could probably buy all of Fabens and a good chuck of El Paso today.
   Willie Shoemaker, born Billy Lee Shoemaker, Aug 19, 1931, owes it all to the fact his grandmother, a sturdy plainswoman named Mrs. Wallie Harris, carefully picked up her tiny grandson that fateful midnight and tenderly laid him in a cardboard box behind the stove which was lighted even on that hot night to give him warmth.
   "Finally, about 5 o'clock in the morning, we heard a little squeak out of him," his mother was to recall many years later.
   For the better part of 20 years thereafter, that was all anyone was to hear out of Bill Shoemaker. Fed by an eye-dropper and carried around on a pillow until he was over half a year old, he got such a late start toward growth that — luckily for him — he never did catch up with other children. His own brother, Lonnie, born a year and a week later, was full-term and grew to 6-foot-0 and 190 lb.
   His size bothered Billy Lee. He was too shy to tell anybody. He used to hide in school corridors and cry because he wasn't growing like other children, his mother remembers with a mother's personal heartache. No one knew it then but the unavoidable infancy undernourishment was to be worth conservatively $6 million to Bill Shoemaker.

Typical Perfect Ride

   The handicap Saturday was a typical Shoemaker race, relaxed, confident. Prove It settled just off the pace, was urged mildly on the backstretch, was given a breather on the far turn and burst into the lead entering the stretch and won eased up, ears prickling, a sure sign of a horse not extended. Horses run faster and farther for Bill Shoemaker than any rider alive — and more willingly.
   The Shoemaker trademark is gentleness. When he first began to exercise horses as an 85-lb. baby face, Trainer George Reeves was loathe to put him on fractious stock — until one day Shoemaker hoisted himself up on a mean-tempered mare which had deposited four successive riders in the infield. Reeves shouted for the boy to get off before it was too late. But Shoemaker brought the shrewish mare back as tame as Shakespeare's Kate and remarked mildly, "This gal sure has pretty manners, George."
   For Shoemaker, it was a long speech in those days. Today, he is a poised man-of-the-world and, judging by the stock he is squiring to parties these days, the Shoemaker touch is as smooth with the ladies as with the horses.

Learned the Gentle Way

   Shoe used to get set down when he first started to ride because he did not seem to persevere with his mounts in the stretch. Then, one day George Reeves put him aboard a quitter named Butter Wafer which shied away at the finish line under the most sadistic riders on the track. Shoe hand-rode him to a nose victory. The stewards were in a stew:
   "Supposing that horse got beat?" they raged to Reeves. "The boy never moved on him in the stretch." Said Reeves quietly. "Well, how many times that horse got beat with a boy scratching and a-whipping? Maybe this is the way to ride horses."
   For Bill Shoemaker, it quite evidently was — and is. It's a far cry from the days in the shoebox behind the stove but nature and hard work have made Willie Shoemaker rich and famous. Brother Lonnie, who grew up, just got a lousy break in life.

Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times.

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Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247

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

Sunday's stuff . . .

 One of the blasts of being on Twitter is watching the various people who make their livings covering the National Hockey League race to be first whenever a player move is made.
You had better believe that it is ultra-competitive.
If you don’t believe it, check out this piece from The Globe and Mail that involves some Nick Kypreos vitriol that was fired in the direction of the gang from TSN.
And then get ready for today’s circus as the NHL trade deadline gets here. Finally.
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The Vancouver Giants beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 5-0 on Sunday. The Giants, who got four points from F Brendan Gallagher, had lost six in a row to the Americans. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 23 shots. He has five shutouts this season. . . . The victory was No. 519 as a WHL head coach for Vancouver’s Don Hay, moving him into third on the all-time list, one ahead of the late Pat Ginnell. . . . Ernie (Punch) McLean is next, at 548, with Ken Hodge on the top rung, with 742. . . . The Americans were playing their fifth game in seven days. They have lost five of six. . . . Vancouver was without F Brendan Rowinski (flu). . . .
F Robin Soudek scored twice in regulation time and again in the shootout as the host Chilliwack Bruins beat the Prince George Cougars, 4-3. . . . The loser point lifted the Cougars into a tie for seventh with the idle Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference. The Bruins are five points off the pace. . . . Prince George and Kamloops are one point behind the Everett Silvertips, who journeyed to Kent, Wash., and were beaten 5-1 by the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Marcel Noebels, a freshman from Germany, scored the game’s last four goals, giving him 25 on the season.

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

Blazers complete great road trip

The Kamloops Blazers continued their ransacking of the WHL’s Central Division teams Saturday night, scoring an 8-5 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook.
The game was the fifth in a five-game swing through that division by the Blazers, who went 4-0-1, winning three times in overtime and losing once in extra time.
This season, the Blazers are 9-2-1 against Central Division teams, including 8-1-1 on the road.
Missing defencemen Josh Caron (suspended), Austin Madaisky (neck) and Brandon Underwood (knee), and centre Chase Schaber (leg), the Blazers got a goal and two assists from winger Jordan DePape, who once again played on the back end and finished plus-4.
Centre Dylan Willick scored two goals for the second straight game and now has 22. Forwards Logan McVeigh, Ryan Hanes and Chase Souto each added his fourth goal, with winger J.T. Barnett and centre Dalibor Bortnak each getting his 12th.
Hanes hadn’t scored in 31 games, while McVeigh ended a 23-game drought and Souto, who later left with apparent concussion symptoms, had gone 12 games without scoring. McVeigh also had an assist, for the first two-point night of his freshman season.
The Ice, which trailed 2-1 and 6-3 by periods, got goals from Hayden Rintoul, Kevin King, Cody Eakin, Steele Boomer and Joe Antilla.
Boomer and Antilla scored in the first five minutes of the third period to get the Ice to within one, but Bortnak restored the Blazers’ two-goal lead with a power-play goal at 8:19 and DePape added a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:28.
Kamloops goaltender Jeff Bosch, making his 16th straight start, was solid again, this time with 41 saves.
The Ice started backup Brett Teskey, but sent in Nathan Lieuwen after Hanes gave the visitors a 3-1 lead at 3:54 of the second period. Teskey stopped six of nine shots; Lieuwen turned aside 11 of 15.
The Blazers (29-31-4) are tied for seventh with the Prince George Cougars in the Western Conference, one point behind the Everett Silvertips.
A seventh-place finish would mean a first-round playoff matchup with the conference’s second seed. That spot goes to the B.C. Division pennant winner and, right now, it belongs to the Kelowna Rockets, who are two points ahead of the Vancouver Giants.
Coincidentally, the Blazers’ next game is Wednesday against the visiting Rockets. Game time is 7 p.m.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers have gone 8-3-1 since snapping a five-game losing streak. . . . F Colin Smith, who had three goals and an assist in Friday’s improbable 6-5 OT victory in Medicine Hat, had two assists against the Ice. The 17-year-old sophomore, with seven points over his last three games, has 20 goals and 26 assists in 64 games. Last season, he finished with five and 21 in 48 games. . . . Willick has 16 points, including nine goals, and zero penalty minutes over his last 14 games. . . . Despite Cranbrook and Kamloops both being in B.C., the Blazers hadn’t played there since Dec. 10, 2008. . . . Kamloops F Thomas Frazee had one assist, giving him 10 points on the road trip. . . . The Blazers were 2-for-6 on the PP; they went 11-for-30 in the five games, while limiting the opposition to two goals in 29 PP opportunities. . . . If Souto is found to have a concussion, it will be his second one this season. The 16-year-old from Yorba Linda, Calif., missed seven games with a concussion early in the season. . . . Caron has served his three-game suspension, for a hit from behind on Red Deer F Josh Cowen, and will be eligible to play Wednesday.

Linda McCoy-Murray, the widow of the late Jim Murray,
and her friend Duke Snider.

Rest In Peace 
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider
September 19, 1926 - February 27, 2011

Duke Snider, who died Sunday at the age of 84, was the Jim Murray Memorial Foundations’s 2005 ‘Great Ones’ honoree . . . and a Great One he was!
We extend our deepest sympathy to the Snider family.
There's more on the Duke of Flatbush here and here.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1988, SPORTS
Copyright 1988/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

He Sure Was Artful as a Dodger

    If you had to be a ballplayer, the ballplayer you'd want to be is Duke Snider.
   Probably, no more graceful player ever stepped into a batter's box. No one swung at a ball with the purity of form of Duke Snider. What Sam Snead was to golf, Duke Snider was to baseball. They used to stop what they were doing on the field to watch Duke Snider take batting practice.
   The swing was level and graceful and pretty. If you put it to music, it would be Beethoven. If you painted it, it would hang in the Louvre. If Baryshnikov were a baseball player, this is what he would look like.
   The Duke was never off balance, out of sync. This is the way you would teach kids to swing. The Duke not only looked good striking out, he looked good popping up.
   He was just as good in the outfield. He played center field as if he owned it. Duke ran up walls, dived in the grass and never even seemed to get his uniform dirty. He was so good, he played the position in New York at the same time as Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle and some people weren't sure who was the best.
   He probably should have been a New York Yankee, because he was the nearest thing to Joe DiMaggio in style and grace. Except that Joe used to play the game with this glacial ease and detachment. Duke was more temperamental. Duke was right where he belonged — Ebbets Field. Duke was a California beach boy — but he had a lot of Brooklyn in him.
   Ebbets Field was baseball's Disneyland in those days, a riot of brass bands and brassier customers, noisy, contumelious. They loved Duke Snider there because he was this great, gifted ballplayer who seemed to chafe under the constraints of "normal" behavior the same as they did.
   Duke once took to the public prints in a moment of pique to denounce the fans of Brooklyn as undeserving of the Dodgers. There was a time when this would have been true. Nobody deserved the Dodgers of the 1930s, who were a happy-go-lucky bunch of foul-ups whose specialty seemed to be passing each other on the basepaths.
   The fans of Brooklyn forgave the Duke. They liked their ballplayers cantankerous and unpredictable. They left seriousness of purpose to the Yankees. "Bed-f-u-u-d Avenya, Duke!" they screamed when Snider came to bat, and that was his signal to park one over the 4o-foot high right-field screen and out onto the street that ran behind it.
   The Duke often obliged. Five years in a row, he hit 40 or more homers. When he didn't hit it over that fence, he hit it onto it. He hit .321, .303, .303, .336, .341 and .309 in his good years, drove in more than 100 runs six times and led the league three consecutive years in runs scored.
   He was so good, people were always wondering why he wasn't better. Branch Rickey, the best judge of baseball talent who ever lived, drooled when he saw the young Snider.
   A dedicated gimmickry artist, Rickey put Snider to work with an umpire, pitcher and catcher, under instructions not to swing at the ball but to learn the strike zone. Snider merely ended up arguing with the umpire. Then, he went back to his old free-swinging self.
   Said Duke of the ump: "That might be his idea of a strike — but he doesn't have to hit it!"
   The Duke once explained his intransigence by saying that he was an only child, so what did you expect? That made perfect sense to Brooklyn. The Duke went back to pouting if he felt like it.
   He has told his colorful story in a new book, "The Duke of Flatbush" (Zebra Books), out in the book stalls this week. It is a valentine to the Dodgers of another time, another place, another world we'll never see again.
   It is a matter of some astonishment to Duke at how well they still remember him adoringly in that part of the world. "I have a book-signing and there are lines clear around the building," he marvels.
   “People come up to you and say, 'I can remember it as if it were yesterday. You were in center field and Whitey Lockman hit this long, high drive and you caught it behind your back.' It's been 30 years and they talk of it as if it were yesterday."
   In Brooklyn, they can never forget "the Dook." But, one of the ironies of baseball history is that, when the Dodgers moved back to what was Duke's home area — he grew up in Compton — they didn't do their star slugger any favors. Bedford Avenue was no longer a nice, friendly 340 feet away. "Bedford Avenue" was out in the upper reaches of the Coliseum, half a country away.
   "You had to hit it through two ZIP codes," Snider recalls. "It was 440, 420, 460 out there — an awful lot of 4s.
   "But, by then, I'd had three knee injuries and surgeries." The once-gorgeous swing looked less like a Rembrandt and more like a comic strip.
   "The team changed its character when it came to L.A., all right," the Duke was recalling as he sat at breakfast the other morning. "But, you know they talk of great baseball teams and they talk of the 1927 Yankees and the Gashouse Gang and all, but the team we had in Brooklyn in the '50s was as good a baseball team as ever assembled.
   "I mean, we lost some close Series to the Yankees, but who talks about those Yankees? People still talk about the Dodgers. Jackie Robinson, Roy Campenella, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, Pee Wee Reese and Junior Gilliam. And we had Preacher Roe and Don Newcombe and Carl Erskine and Joe Black and Clem Labine on the mound. We were America's team!"
   It was baseball royalty. And in center field, they had the archduke.

*Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times.

Follow the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation on Facebook and find event photos, upcoming events and past Mondays With Murray posts.

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247

Some Saturday stuff . . .

Brendan Shinnimin (24) and his Americans teammates
were in the pink Friday night. And you’ve gotta love the tie
on the gentleman just over Shinnimin’s right shoulder. Well done, sir!
(Photo by John Allen, AridAcres.com)

The Tri-City Americans donned their pink jerseys Friday night when they entertained the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.
The Americans won the game, 5-2, before 5,673 fans on was the sixth annual Fred Meyer Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
The fans set a record as the fund-raiser raised a total of $22,258.71, a 10.5-percent increase over last year. It also was the sixth straight season that the total has increased. All told, Americans fans have contributed $92,813 over the event’s history.
———
The recruiting war involving American players isn’t going away. Robert Mays in the Boston Globe writes that the NCAA’s Division 1 Legislative Council voted down a proposal that would have swung things in the CHL’s favour. Mays’s story is right here.
———
The Swift Current Broncos have lost seven in a row and their playoff hopes are fading. It doesn’t help that F Killian Hutt (concussion) hasn’t played since Dec. 10 and F Justin Dowling (ankle), F Taylor Vause (ankle), F Jordan Evans (concussion) and F Jordan Peddle (two-game suspension) are out. . . . The Broncos lost 4-3 to the visiting Regina Pats on Friday night. That was Regina’s seventh victory in as many games against the Broncos this season. . . . The Broncos have brought back G Derek Tendler, who turned 19 on Jan. 1. Acquired from the Vancouver Giants earlier in the season, he later was assigned to the MJHL’s Winnipeg Saints. . . .
F Brayden Schenn of the Saskatoon Blades should be prepared to hear his name a lot in NHL trade talks as Monday’s deadline arrives. Here’s the latest, via Twitter, from Sportsnet columnist Mark Spector: “Hemsky-to-LA trade a non-starter w/o Brayden Schenn coming back to Oil. LA not ready to deal Schenn today. This is a Monday deal, if at all.” . . . Spector also columnized on the subject and that piece is right here. . . .
———
The NHL’s Nashville Predators’ lineup on Saturday included D Jon Blum, a product of the Vancouver Giants who is from Long Beach, Calif., and F Blake Geoffrion, who is from Nashville. . . . In other words, the NCAA vs. CHL war isn’t going to end soon. . . .
———
There was some ownershjip news in the QMJHL on Saturday, as a chunk of the Quebec Remparts changed hands. The Montreal Gazette has more right here. . . . Meanwhile, the Moncton Times and Transcript reports that the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats badly want to hold an outdoor game. That story is right here.
———
On the Ice in the QMJHL, the Victoriaville Tigers beat Saint John 2-1, handing the Sea Dogs their first regulation loss in 2011. The Sea Dogs had picked up points in 22 straight games, going 21-0-1. . . .
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F Shayne Wiebe scored twice last night, and the first one was the 100th of his WHL career, as his Brandon Wheat Kings went on to beat the visiting Regina Pats, 9-3. The Wheat Kings have won nine in a row on home ice. Overall, they have won seven of eight and 13 of 17. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had an assist to run his point streak to 17 games. He has 35 points, including 13 goals, over that stretch. Only Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin (21 games) has had a longer streak this season. . . . The Wheat Kings have scored at least seven goals in five of their last 10 games. . . .
———
Barring a playoff meeting, the Saskatoon Blades made their final visit to the Crushed Can in Moose Jaw last night. You can bet it was a fun place to be, what with 2,869 fans in the pews. . . . The Blades won 2-1 on F Curtis Hamilton’s shootout goal. . . . Gotta think Blades GM/head coach Lorne Molleken took a long look around before he exited. He has a long history as a player, coach and GM in that building. . . . Actually thought he might toss a water bottle or a stick or something, you know, just for old time’s sake. . . .
———
Edmonton D Adrian Van de Mosselaer played in his 209th regular-season game last night and had his first two-goal game in a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. He has 15 career goals, seven of them this season. . . . Attendance in Edmonton was a season-high 8,361. . . . The Oil Kings were without D Mark Pysyk, their captain, after he left Friday’s 6-3 loss in Lethbridge in the second period with an upper body injury. . . . F Tyler Pitlick had his first three-goal game as the host Medicine Hat Tigers dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 7-3. Pitlick, a draft pick of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, has 62 points in 55 games. . . . The Tigers got two goals from F Emerson Etem, who now has 38 goals in 56 games, and that is one more than he scored in 72 games last season as a freshman. . . . The Tigers welcomed back D Patrik Parkkonen (shoulder) last night. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey drew three assists and now leads the WHL with 105 points, two more than Spokane F Tyler Johnson. . . .
———
F Geordie Wudrick scored the game’s last two goals as the Kelowna Rockets skated to a 4-3 OT victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. Wudrick, who has 36 goals, tied it at 16:33 of the third and won it 59 seconds into OT. . . . Kelowna F Colton Sissons, a 17-year-old from North Vancouver, is turning into a force with which to be reckoned. He had a goal and two assists in Calgary, and now has 35 points in 57 games. He has 12 points over his last seven games. . . . Portland F Nino Niederreiter had two goals, including the winner with 33.9 seconds left in the third, as the Winterhawks beat the Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent), 4-3, in Kent, Wash. . . . The victory was the 100th in the WHL for Winterhawks GM/head coach Mike Johnston. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 28 shots in his second straight start in the absence of Mac Carruth. He hasn’t played since being hit by Prince George F Spencer Asuchak on Tuesday. Asuchak, who was given a major and game misconduct, is serving a three-game suspension. . . . Last night, Portland F Ty Rattie left in the third period and didn’t return. . . .
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After a run of five straight OT games, the Kamloops Blazers finally won in regulation, beating the host Kootenay Ice 8-5 in Cranbrook. . . . The Blazers went 4-0-1 on a swing through the Central Division. . . . Kamloops RW Jordan DePape, who is playing on the back end with three defenceman out, had a goal and two assists, and was plus-4. . . . This was the Ice’s first home game since Jeff Chynoweth, the franchise’s president, governor and GM, admitted frustration at attendance figures. On this night, the attendance was 2,514, which is 24 above the season average. . . .
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When Vancouver beat the host Chilliwack Bruins 5-1 last night, it was victory No. 518 for Giants head coach Don Hay. That ties him with the late Pat Ginnell for third on the WHL’s all-time list. . . . Vancouver G Brendan Jensen stopped 16 shots in his first start since Jan. 15. . . . The Spokane Chiefs have beaten Tr-City four straight times after a 3-1 victory over the visiting Americans last night. The Chiefs lead the season series, 6-4-0, with two games remaining. . . . The Americans can clinch a playoff spot with a victory in Vancouver tonight. Tri-City has beaten Vancouver six straight times, including twice this season.
———
And now there are five Eastern Conference teams assured playoff spots, with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Brandon Wheat Kings looking like they’ll finish sixth and seventh, or seventh and sixth. That leaves the Prince Albert Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes to scrap over the last spot. They’re tied right now, with the Regina Pats three points back. Each of those three teams has nine gmes remaining. . . .
In the Western Conference, the Chilliwack Bruins and Seattle Thunderbirds have some catching up to do. The Bruins are six points behind the eighth-place Prince George Cougars. Yes, Chilliwack has three games in hand but those aren’t worth anything if you don’t win them. . . . The Thunderbirds are eight points shy of that last spot. . . . And how about those Kamloops Blazers. Two weeks ago, they were struggling to hang on to that eighth spot and looking at a five-game trip in the Central Division, that included stops in Red Deer, Medicine Hat and Kootenay, where the Eastern Conference’s Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds live. . . . The Blazers lost in OT in Red Deer, won in OT in Medicine Hat and beat the Ice in regulation. Kamloops now is seventh, just a point behind Everett and one up on Prince George.

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

A look into the Ice's crystal ball . . .

JEFF CHYNOW

OK. You’re Jeff Chynoweth, the president, governor and general manager of the Kootenay Ice.
You are feeling frustrated because, while you continually ice a competitive team, attendance continues to slide, as do advertising revenues.
You voiced your opinion the other day, in an interview with Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets.
In that interview, you said that you hoped it wouldn’t come to it but that you just might have to start exploring your options.
You didn’t explain what those options might be, so here’s a few guesses at what’s running through your head. . . .
1. Remain in Cranbrook. You signed a 15-year lease a couple of years ago, but can you continue to be competitive while averaging 2,400 fans per game? And what happens, as you mentioned in the interview, should your team run into a rough season or two?
2. Sell the franchise. Considering that the Chynoweth name has been part of the WHL for so long and considering that the Ice is a private business, this is a non-starter.
3. Relocate to Winnipeg. The Manitoba capital is home to the MTS Centre, a 15,015-seat facility in which the AHL’s Manitoba Moose plays. Winnipeg hasn’t been home to a WHL franchise since the Warriors scooted off to Moose Jaw after the 1983-84 season. Other than in the early days of the WHL, when the Winnipeg Jr. Jets were competitive, major junior hockey has never been a big hit in the city. In fairness, though, Winnipeg really has never home to a top-tier WHL franchise.
3. Relocate to Wenatchee, Wash. The 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center is home to the NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild, which plays in the junior A North American league. Former Everett Silvertips head coach John Becanic left his role as assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants earlier this season to take over as the Wild’s head coach. . . . Not that long ago, there was a move afoot to get a BCHL franchise into Wenatchee but it died in a mess of redtape involving USA Hockey, Hockey Canada and Hockey BC.
4. Relocate to Billings, Montana. Well, why not? The city once was home to the Bighorns (1977-82), a franchise that went on to become the Nanaimo Islanders, who turned into the New Westminster Bruins, who morphed into the Tri-City Americans. The Rimrock Auto Arena has 10,000 seats.
5. Relocate to Great Falls, Montana. The 6,165-seat Four Seasons Arena was the home of the WHL’s Great Falls Americans in 1979-80. The Americans didn’t survive even one season, but gave birth to one of the great anecdotes in WHL history. Les Jackson was the GM/head coach and the roster included D Derek Davis. One day, Jackson was working the phones while the team was practising when Davis came off the ice and into the office. Jackson looked up and Davis said: “We’re in trouble.” To which Jackson replied: “What’s wrong?” . . . Davis said: “The pylons are up, 2-0.”
6. Relocate to Boise, Idaho, or maybe take a look at Fresno, Calif. And what about Anchorage, Alaska? Those three cities all have been mentioned at one time or another as potential homes for WHL franchises. However, it has been a long time since there have been rumours within the WHL concerning possible franchise relocation to those centres. . . . At one time, the Brandon Wheat Kings were within an eyelash of ending up in Boise, which is home to the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. . . . Fresno used to be mentioned on occasion, while Bob Vranckaert, an Anchorage businessman who once owned the Victoria Cougars, talked at one time of moving that franchise to Alaska.
7. Relocate to Victoria. For the last few years, the word in the WHL has always been that the league wouldn’t go back to Vancouver Island unless it could put two teams there. Conventional thinking, then, was that the WHL would like to put franchises in Victoria, which is home to the 7,000-seat Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, which houses the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings, and Nanaimo. However, Nanaimo doesn’t have a facility that meets WHL standards. The Salmon Kings’ franchise is owned by RG Properties, which also runs the arena in Victoria as well as Prospera Place in Kelowna.
———
So what’s it likely to be? I would suggest that it will be the status quo, at least for the short term.
However, Victoria has to look awfully intriguing, and, hey, why not Winnipeg?
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Friday's stuff . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers played before their 286th straight regular-season sellout (4,006) on Friday night. They were leading the Kamloops Blazers 5-1 midway through the third period, when they gave up four straight power-play goals and eventually lost 6-5 in a shootout. Kamloops scored two PP goals in the last minute, each coming with G Jeff Bosch on the bench for an extra attacker that gave the visitors a 6-on-3 advantage. . . . F Colin Smith had three goals for Kamloops. It was his second hat trick of the season. F Thomas Frazee drew four assists, and F Dylan Willick scored the two late PP goals that forced OT. . . . The Blazers, who have been scuffling along in eighth place in the Western Conference, now are seventh, a point ahead of the Prince George Cougars. . . . On the subject of comebacks, the Brandon Wheat Kings twice overcame three-goal deficits to beat the Blades 7-6 in Saskatoon last night. . . . Brandon F David Toews got the winner with 3:12 left in the third period. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had a goal and two assists for Brandon and now has 37 points in 22 games since coming over from the Vancouver Giants. He also is riding a 16-game point streak. . . . Brandon D Brodie Melnychuk (broken leg) was back after missing 16 games. . . . Saskatoon was without F Marek Viedensky (groin) and F Brent Benson (knee). . . . Blades F Jake Trask had his seventh two-goal game of this season. . . .

Former Wheat Kings F Matt Calvert played his 20th game with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets last night. Calvert, who had never experienced a two-goal game, struck for three goals in a 5-3 victory over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes. . . . Calvert broke a 2-2 tie with his first goal, at 2:37 of the second period. He made it 5-2 as he, in fact, scored three straight goals. . . . Calvert, who also had an assist, has 14 points, including nine goals, in his short NHL career. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 45 shots and the Silvertips scored two shorthanded goals as they beat the visiting Portland Winterhawks 2-0 last night. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell got No. 39. . . .

The Washington Capitals have signed G Todd Ford (Swift Current, Prince George, Vancouver, 2000-04) to a one-year deal worth US$500,000 at the NHL level and US$40,000 in the AHL. Ford has played this season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays and the Hershey Bears, who are Washington’s AHL affiliate. . . . F Ryan Howse of the Chilliwack Bruins scored twice in a 6-4 victory over the host Vancouver Giants last night. He has goals in nine straight games to equal Oscar Moller’s franchise record. Howse has 46 goals and is tied for the WHL lead, with Spokane C Tyler Johnson. . . . Howse is one shy of his career high in goals. His 74 points are a single-season high. He had 72 last season. . . . Howse’s second goal, the 135th of his career, was his first empty-netter. . . . The Bruins now are chasing eighth-place Prince George. Chilliwack is four back with three games in hand. . . . The Giants had C James Henry, their captain, back after he missed 22 of the last 23 games with a knee injury. . . . Chilliwack D Brandon Manning, who is the Bruins’ captain, returned after sitting out a seven-game suspension. . . .

C Tyler Johnson of the Spokane Chiefs is the second WHLer to reach 100 points this season. He got there with a goal and three assists in an 8-0 victory over visiting Prince George last night. He and Medicine Hat C Linden Vey are tied, with 102 points, atop the points derby. . . . Johnson is the first Spokane player since 1993-94 to get to 100 points. That season, the Chiefs had three 100-point men — Ryan Duthie, Maxim Betts and Valeri Bure. . . . G Adam Brown stopped 27 shots and F Geordie Wudrick got his 34th goal as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Rebels 1-0 in Red Deer last night. Kelowna, which is 2-1-0 on a Central Division swing, leads the B.C. Division by four points over Vancouver and finishes its trip in Calgary against the Hitmen tonight. . . . Kelowna D Colton Jobke was back after serving a seven-game suspension. . . . Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted early this morning that the Chicago Blackhawks and D Brent Seabrook (Lethbridge, 2000-05) are “on verge of finalizing big contract extension, hearing five years at a shade under $30 million.”

The Regina Pats moved to within three points of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot by beating the Broncos 4-3 in Swift Current when F Shayne Neigum broke a 3-3 tie at 17:25 of the third period. . . . The Broncos, however, are going the other way. They have lost seven in a row and are six points out of a playoff spot with eight games left. . . . The midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires have named Jason Johns as their new GM/head coach. He has spent the last two seasons as assistant GM/head coach of the Thorhild Titans of the North Eastern Alberta junior B league. . . . F Blake Geoffrion is expected to make his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators today against the Dallas Stars. If he does, he will become the first fourth-generation player in NHL history. He also will become the first player from the Nashville area to get into the Predators’ lineup. His great- grandfather (Howie Morenz) and grandfather (Bernie ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion) both starred for the Montreal Canadiens. And his father, Dan, played with the Winnipeg Jets and Canadiens.

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

The elephant is unleashed

It is the elephant in the WHL’s room, and Jeff Chynoweth, the president, governor and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, has let it loose.
In a revealing but not surprising interview with Regan Bartel, the veteran play-by-play voice of the Kelowna Rockets, Chynoweth, when asked about revenue sharing, said: “I would like it to happen but I’m probably in the minority. I don’t think it will, but I would love to have it happen.”
In the last conversation I had with former WHL commissioner Ed Chynoweth, a couple of months before his death on April 22, 2008, he talked about revenue sharing. The WHL was Chynoweth’s league, make no mistake about it, and he was a visionary. And in the last days of his life he saw revenue sharing, in one form or another, as the one thing that could keep the WHL together.
More than anyone else, Chynoweth always could see the value of franchises in places like Swift Current and Moose Jaw and Prince Albert and Lethbridge and, yes, Cranbrook, the home of his Ice.
Three years ago, he didn’t see the WHL as a one-for-all, all-for-one  entity; it was, he felt, losing its feeling of being a brotherhood.
"The founding fathers, the Hunters and Munros, had a vision and as much as they tested you at the end of the day they would come clean and it was what was best for the league. I don't think we have that now," Chynoweth said at the time. "We need to sit down and say, 'Hey, where are we going with this?' "
He also pointed out that team budgets that were about $150,000 some 30 years ago now are well over $1 million, perhaps even into the $1.3-million range or even higher.
"Our costs continue to go up," he said, "and we don't have any added revenue."
That hasn’t changed over the last three years. And now, with no sign of falling expenses and new revenue streams becoming harder and harder to locate, you have to wonder what’s ahead for some of these franchises.
Especially if what the Ice is experiencing can be used as a barometer.
On Jan. 9, Jeff Chynoweth made one of the biggest trades in WHL history, sending a package of eight players and draft picks to Swift Current for star forward Cody Eakin.
Chynoweth was hoping that the deal would ignite the fan base.
Has it happened?
When Bartel asked if the fans now are excited, Chynoweth responded:
“No. They’re not. They’re actually awful. . . .I’m not very happy about it.”
That, of course, won’t go over very large in the Cranbrook area.
“It’s a little frustrating,” Chynoweth continued. “To make that trade . . . people say, you make a trade like that, you’re going to get more people. For the most part, we haven’t.”
He went on to say that the Ice has had two good home crowds since Eakin stepped into the lineup.
“Our attendance is down probably 14.5 per cent the last two years,” Chynoweth said. “It’s a concern. It’s not like we’re putting a product on (the ice) that isn’t competitive. Year in and year out, we’re one of the top teams. We’ve moved four coaches on to pro hockey in eight years. We’ve made the playoffs for 13 years in a row now, the longest active streak in the Western Hockey League.”
The Ice has put together eight 40-win seasons in 13 years, something that is awfully hard to do in the major junior hockey business.
“That’s what concerns me long term,” Chynoweth told Bartel. “What happens when we have an off year? We haven’t had one and hopefully we don’t for a number of years. But it is going to happen. That’s the nature of our business.”
The Ice averaged a franchise-high 3,635 fans in 2000-01. In 2003-03, that figure was 3440. It dropped off to 2,926 the following season and then was at least more than 3,000 for five straight seasons. From 3,071 in 2008-09, it slipped to 2,807 last season. This season, after 32 of 36 home dates, the paid average is 2,490.
“We live in a community of 20,000 people,” Chynoweth continued. “There’s not a lot of options . . . entertainment-wise or whatever. This is live entertainment and it’s affordably priced. Where else can you get 3,000 people together in a small town like this.
“Unfortunately, we’re missing a demographic and I don’t know what it is. We’ve tried different things. Right now we have to continue to work hard to try to get those people back.”
Chynoweth also made no bones about the fact that he is a private businessman and, as such, is in the game to make a profit. That, he said, is the difference between his operation and that of the Swift Current Broncos, who are community owned. But if you listen closely to this part of the interview you hear a man at a loss for answers.
“They’re in business to break even; I’m in business to make money . . .,” he stated. “Profit isn’t a four-letter word; you get into business to make money. Your costs keep going up and up and up . . . that’s a good question . . . I love Cranbrook. It’s been a great 12 years here. We signed that 15-year lease two years ago when everyone thought we were going to move. I said at the time I wanted to stay. Nothing has changed. It’s a great place to raise a family. But eventually we’re going to have to get more people here.
“If it doesn’t happen we’re going to have to look at other options. That isn’t a threat . . . that’s just a fact of life. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but . . . when your numbers keep going down and down and down . . . we’re down 14.5 per cent in attendance, 23.5 per cent in advertising.”
On top of that, Chynoweth said, “We’re doing the same thing we were doing 12 years. ago. It’s frustrating.”
You can bet that the same song is being sung in Prince George, Lethbridge, Prince Albert and Swift Current, just to name four. The difference is that no one in those communities will sing in public.
In Swift Current, for example, the Broncos announced in October that they had lost $58,927 on the 2009-10 season.
The Southwest Booster reported:
“Overall the Broncos reported an $820,688 loss in hockey operations before other income such as corporate sponsorship, suite rentals, the Hockey Hounds contributions, NHL developmental and draft money, and World Junior Hockey Championship incomes were factored in.”
Chew on that for a few moments. An $800,000 loss on hockey operations!
Jordan Wall, the Broncos’ director of business operations, told the newspaper: “Really we are in a market where revenues are always tough to come by. We are trying to increase the revenue streams whenever possible. The reality is our hockey expense will always go up. It is a matter of ‘yeah we need playoffs and we need some runs’ but we can’t depend on playoffs every year. We know that we need to have a game plan on the hockey side that we know we need to make some of that cash back. On the other side we explore all the other opportunities and make sure that we can exceed what we need to exceed.”
The Broncos, who dropped 4-3 decision to the visiting Regina Pats before 2,207 fans last night, aren’t likely to make the playoffs this season. So one can only wonder what the financials will show next fall.
In Prince Albert, the Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since the spring of 2007 and have only been in three times in 10 seasons. They are tied with the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. You have to wonder what might happen in Prince Albert if the Raiders end up on the outside looking in once again.
In Lethbridge, a large amount of money is being spent on renovating and refurbishing the ENMAX Centre, the home of the Hurricanes. The team has said it will bid on the 2013 Memorial Cup. But it, too, struggles to draw more than 3,000 fans per home date.
The Prince George Cougars also want to bid on th3 2013 Memorial Cup. They, however, are having trouble drawing more than 2,000 fans to home games.
At the same time, there are 14 or 15 teams who average more than 4,000 fans per game, including at least six who draw more than 5,000.
You have to wonder how many of those teams would be willing to share some of the gravy with their brethren?

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

One day after Hockey Night in Canada extended his contract long past his due date, Don Cherry was on TV guaranteeing a franchise for Winnipeg and saying that ex-Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter got a raw deal. . . . Sheesh. HNIC pays for that kind of inside information? . . . Hats off to the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame’s selection committee for choosing the venerable, honourable and personable Kaye Kaminishi to be part of the class of 2011. Kaminishi’s story is nothing short of remarkable and should never be forgotten. . . . In almost 40 years in this business, I don’t know that I’ve met a more memorable person than Kaminishi. . . . Al Cameron, who used to sit in this chair, is in Charlottetown covering the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the Calgary Herald. On Thursday afternoon, he sent along this tweet: “Appalling crowd here today; should’ve introduced fans to players instead of other way around to save time.” . . . TSN’s viewing audience for Jennifer Jones versus Cathy Overton-Clapham on Wednesday night averaged 647,000, the third-highest number for a round-robin game in Scotties history. . . . The peak number was 1.1 million. . . . Meow! . . . Most viewers left disappointed that no punches were thrown. . . .
One of the neat things about the NHL alumni game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Flames that took place in Calgary a week ago was that former NHL/WHL referee Mick McGeough worked the game while his son, Luke, was one of the linesmen. . . . Two other ex-WHLers, referee Rob Schick and linesman Lyle Seitz, worked with the McGeoughs. . . . Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail was at the NHL’s outdoor game in Calgary on Sunday. “The league,” he wrote, “is open to playing host to more than two a season, perhaps as many as five, maybe even playing host to them overseas in Europe. In other words, if outdoor hockey is something of a golden goose, the NHL is going to get every last egg out of it. Then cook and eat the bird. . . . Watching the Flames in their eyesore vintage uniforms, seeing the puck bounce around like a tennis ball Sunday, settling for so-so hockey at this stage in the regular season, if this was the last game the NHL ever held outdoors, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.” . . . I kind of liked the lead for a column by Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette earlier in the week: “If God had meant hockey to be played outdoors, he wouldn’t have invented refrigeration.” . . .
The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers put defenceman Sheldon Souray on re-entry waivers late last week. Souray, who has played all season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, wasn’t claimed. But under some goofy NHL rule that is in the CBA, he had to fly from Hershey to Edmonton and back again. . . . Seriously. . . . OK, Sun Life, you can dump that commercial any time. Thank you. . . . The Daytona 500, which opened the NASCAR season on Sunday, is the reason we watch sports. One day after turning 20 and making just his second NASCAR start, Trevor Bayne became the youngest winner of stock car’s Great American Race. And the look on his face at race’s end was priceless. . . . I mean, the kid shaves once a week and he didn’t know the way to Victory Lane. . . . Is that great stuff, or what? . . .
Dr. Charles Tator, a highly respected neurosurgeon, had this to say this week about concussed NHL star Sidney Crosby: “I hope he gets back . . . but he may never be the same.” No one in our country knows more about hockey concussions than Dr. Tator, and those words should send a chill down the spine of anyone associated with the game. . . . Hockey administrators, and that includes coaches, have to get headshots out of the game. It’s that simple. . . . When Darryl Dawkins showed up for the NBA dunk contest wearing a rather loud green suit, TNT analyst Charles Barkley offered: “Hey, Mama, I found out what happened to your curtains.” . . . Are you old enough to remember when Dawkins was known as Chocolate Thunder? . . . Ahh, for the days of great nicknames. Today, he’d be Dawks. . . . Is it just me or is it looking more and more like the young Edmonton Oilers are going to grow up with Devan Dubnyk as their No. 1 goaltender? . . .
The Last Boy, written by Jane Leavy and subtitled Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, is an amazing look at the life and career of the late New York Yankees slugger. If you were a child of the ’60s and a fan of the M&M boys, this is an engrossing, enthralling and devastating read. . . . Coming next month: Branch Rickey, written by Jimmy Breslin, and no one, but no one, writes like Breslin. . . . Goaltender Cole Cheveldave, whose WHL rights belong to the Kamloops Blazers, is the AJHL’s rookie of the year. Cheveldave, a 17-year-old from Calgary, plays for the Drumheller Dragons. He also is a finalist as MVP and top goaltender. . . . Last season, Josh Thorimbert, whose rights also belong to the Blazers, was the SJHL’s rookie of the year with the Kindersley Klippers. Thorimbert, 18, now is at Colorado College. . . .
With all the trades that have been happening in the NHL of late, you know that the talking heads who are set to dominate the boob tube on Monday are in a cold sweat. . . . It could be that one of the biggest names in play will be centre Brayden Schenn, who happens to play for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and whose NHL rights belong to the Los Angeles Kings. . . . Schenn, who is from ’Toontown, has put up 39 points in 16 games with the Blades, playing on a line with Jake Trask and Curtis Hamilton. Trask, also from Saskatoon, was acquired from Kamloops for a sixth-round draft pick. He had two points in nine games and was a healthy scratch for his last two games here. He has 53 points in 52 games with the Blades. . . .
Abe Vigoda turned 90 on Thursday. . . . Back in the day, he played the character named Fish on the great sitcom Barney Miller. I used to wonder why they never wrote in a scene in which Fish was playing Go Fish with Dietrich. . . . Phil Mushnick, in the New York Post: “Sherry Ross, (New Jersey) Devils’ radio analyst on WFAN, always is prepared, always has something interesting to add — and about both teams. And she does so calmly and clearly, no shtick.” . . . It’s worth noting, too, that she doesn’t waste your time whining about the officiating, either.

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. Email him at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, follow him attwitter.com/gdrinnan, or visit his blogat gdrinnan.blogspot.com.Keeping Score appears Saturdays.

A few notes after some time away from here . . .
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When last seen on this site, Greg Pankewicz, an assistant coach with the Central league’s Colorado Eagles, was disrobing at the bench in protest over what he perceived as rotten officiating. . . . The league responded by suspending him for the balance of the regular season. . . . There’s more right here.
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The Prince George Cougars and the local Memorial Cup committee issued a plea to that city’s hockey fans on Wednesday night. The committee is prepared to bid to be the host city for the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament, but attendance at Cougars` games hasn’t been much of a positive advertisement to this point in the season. And the fans didn’t do the cause any favours when only 1,771 fans showed up to watch the Portland Winterhawks edge the Cougars 6-5 that same night. . . . Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen has more right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades have wrapped up the East Division pennant. After not winning a division title since 1993-94, the Blades have won two in the last three seasons. . . . The Blades beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings 7-4 on Wednesday, and the Wheaties are back in Saskatoon tonight. . . . The Blades go into this one with 47 victories. A Saskatoon team hasn’t won 50 in a season since 1982-83 when it won 52. That season, the Blades were led by F Roger Kortko, who put up 161 points. . . .
Saskatoon F Brayden Schenn had five points Wednesday and I’m wondering just how much we will hear his name on Monday, which just happens to be the NHL trade deadline. Schenn has 39 points in 16 games with the Blades. His NHL rights belong to the Los Angeles Kings, who selected him with the fifth overall selection in the 2009 draft. If the Kings are interested in buying at the deadline, you wonder if they might end up sacrificing Schenn or if his recent play has made him untouchable. It’s believed that the Kings have some interest in Edmonton F Ales Hemsky and you’ve got think that Schenn would be a good fit with the fleet of young forwards the Oilers have put together. . . . Schenn, by the way, now has 301 points in 213 regular-season WHL games. . . .
The WHL will holds its awards luncheon on May 4 and the 2011 bantam draft on May 5. Both are scheduled for Calgary. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors have promoted Rob MacLachlan. Formerly their director of scouting and player development, MacLachlan now is assistant director of hockey operations. He has been with the organization for nine seasons, six as director of scouting and player development. . . . Interestingly, the WHL’s 2010-11 Guide shows Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak as wearing two hats, the other being assistant director of hockey operations. Although their website shows Hunchak as strictly the head coach. . . . Alan Millar is in his first season as director of hockey ops. . . .
Former WHL G Chad Mercier (Regina, 1992-97) is the GM/head coach of the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs, and he has been named that league’s coach of the year. What that means is that you can expect to hear Mercier’s name mentioned in every coaching rumour involving what offseason openings might occur in the WHL. . . . You also can expect to hear the name of Rob Daum, who has WHL coaching experience. And considering Daum’s record when he was the head coach at the U of Alberta, you have to wonder why he isn’t back in the game. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that the Giants may get C James Henry, their captain, back from a knee injury tonight as they play host to the Chilliwack Bruins. That story is right here. . . .
D Colton Jobke is eligible to return to the Kelowna Rocket’s lineup tonight as they meet the Rebels in Red Deer. He hasn’t played since Feb. 11. That’s when he incurred a major for interference in a game against the visiting Chillwack Bruins and ended up with a seven-game suspension. Chilliwack F Tim Traber came out of that play with a broken leg and won’t play again this season. . . . The Bruins will get back D Brandon Manning, who is their captain, for their game in Vancouver. Manning has served a seven-game suspension that came out of a Feb. 4 game in Kamloops. He was hit with a boarding major for a hit on Kamloops D Austin Madaisky, who came out of it with a broken C-7 vertebrae and won’t play again this season. . . .
Former WHL G Kyle Moir (Swift Current, 2002-06) has signed an amateur tryout agreement (ATO) with the ECHL‘s Utah Grizzlies. Moir, 24, played four seasons at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., after graduating from the Broncos. He was a fifth-round pick by the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2007 draft. . . . The Grizzlies also got F Ryley Grantham on assignment from the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. Grantham (Moose Jaw, Kelowna, 2006-09) was a sixth-round pick by the Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2008 draft. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that D Brodie Melnychuk (broken leg) and D Spencer Galbraith (shoulder) skated with the Wheat Kings on Thursday and might play this weekend. Brandon is in Saskatoon tonight and at home to the Regina Pats on Saturday. . . . Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Blades F Marek Viedensky (groin) and F Brent Benson (knee) also may return this weekend.

Short on defenders, Blazers doing fine on road

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
When the Kamloops Blazers headed into the WHL’s Central Division a week ago, their defensive brigade had more holes in it than a pair of old work socks.
Austin Madaisky and Brandon Underwood, who had evolved into their shutdown defensive pairing, both were gone with long-term injuries.
And while they were in sole possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, they only had a one-point lead on the Chilliwack Bruins and were six back of the Prince George Cougars.
Tonight, as the Blazers (27-31-4) prepare to face the Tigers (38-17-6) in Medicine Hat, they still are eighth, but now they are five points ahead of Chilliwack and the Seattle Thunderbirds. Not only that — Kamloops is just one point in arrears of the seventh-place Cougars.
That’s what happens when you go on the road and earn five of a possible six points in three games.
The Blazers won in Edmonton, beating the Oil Kings 4-3 in overtime, then lost 4-3 in OT to the Rebels in Red Deer. And, on Wednesday night, the Blazers surrendered 3-0 and 4-1 leads before beating the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 in OT.
Kamloops played in Lethbridge without another veteran defenceman, Josh Caron having been hit with a three-game suspension for a hit from behind on Red Deer forward Josh Cowen, who suffered a broken hand and will miss at least three weeks.
So, you’re wondering, what’s been going on?
“Corey Fienhage has really stepped up his game,” offered assistant coach Scott Ferguson from Medicine Hat on Thursday. “He’s been playing really well.”
Fienhage, a 20-year-old in his first WHL season, was plus-3 in Lethbridge. He is plus-7 in nine February games, after going into the month at minus-15.
Fienhage has been partnered a lot with Brady Gaudet, 16, who is deep into his freshman season.  Gaudet was the 10th overall selection in the WHL’s 2010 bantam draft.
“Gaudet has really benefited from the icetime,” Ferguson said. “He’s playing beyond his years right now.”
Gaudet, from Redvers, Sask., had a Gordie Howe hat trick in Lethbridge, scoring his fourth goal, picking up his sixth assist, and getting into his third scrap of the season.
Ferguson also pointed to veteran Bronson Maschmeyer, 19, as a guy “who has always been back there for us.”
“Those three guys,” Ferguson stated, “have really stepped up their games, and that isn’t taking anything away from (Tyler) Hansen and Caron. All of them have really stepped up their games.”
Ferguson played three seasons with the Blazers before going on to a pro career that included 218 NHL games. He remembers being forced to play extra minutes.
“There were times when I had to play every other shift,” Ferguson recalled. “I didn’t mind it. When you’re doing it, you keep it simple. You know you’re going to get out there and you try to limit your mistakes. But you’re not worried about making mistakes because you know you have to play.
“It was just a matter of knowing you’re going to get back out there, so keep it simple and keep your shifts short. You tend to get into a game a little bit quicker that way. Sometimes it can be beneficial.”
And that, he thinks, is pretty much what is happening with the Blazers right now.
That, along with forwards who have become more conscious of their defensive play and goaltender Jeff Bosch, who has been more than solid. Bosch is expected to make his 15th straight start tonight.
“I really believe defence is a five-man unit,” he said. “As a team we’re really focused on the defensive side of it to help out the back end. The forwards are doing a good job of coming back, and Bosch has been playing really well.
“That’s why I love hockey. It’s a team game . . . it’s all six guys on the ice.”
And it’s also special teams.
The Blazers’ much-maligned penalty killers, who have had the WHL’s worst success rate through most of the season, haven’t been torched once on this road trip. They are 16-for-16, the second time this season they have been perfect for three games in a row. (Coincidentally, the first time they had this success also was in the Central Division, in October.)
Of course, they’ll need all they help they can get again tonight as they play the Tigers and again Saturday when this swing wraps up in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice (39-18-4). The Ice and Tigers are tied for third in the Eastern Conference.
The suspended Caron won’t be available for either game, which means right-winger Jordan DePape will be back on defence. He spent most of Wednesday’s game there, moving up only on the power play and in OT, when he scored the winning goal.
DePape, who is from Winnipeg, played some on the back end during his minor hockey days. And when the Blazers ran into penalty problems during an exhibition game, they moved him back.
“It has been a good challenge for him,” Ferguson said. “He’s a smart player. I think he has learned to appreciate the defensive responsibilities.
“He looks fairly strong. He skates backwards well, he reads the ice well, he’s not shy to go back for pucks and take a hit to make a play. He’s a big, physical guy who skates well and sees the ice well.
“He’s done a good job.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers continue to be without F Chase Schaber (leg), who now has missed 17 games in a row and 19 of the last 21. . . . The Tigers are showing four players as being out with concussions — D Jace Coyle, D Matt Konan, D Scott Ramsay and F Sam Dezman — while D Patrick Parkkonen (shoulder) also is out. . . . Coyle and Konan are day-to-day, Dezman is indefinite, and Parkkonen and Ramsay will be out another week. . . . The Blazers are at home Wednesday when the Kelowna Rockets are scheduled to pay a visit. . . . F Cole Ully, who made his WHL debut with the Blazers on Wednesday, has returned to the midget AAA Calgary Flames. A post-game scoring change Wednesday gave him his first point, an assist on the Blazers’ fourth goal.

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

This blog will be silent for a few days.
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Chances are that Greg Pankewicz woke up Sunday morning and thought: “What have I done?”
And by the time he sat down in front of a computer, exactly what it is that he did may well have at least started to sink in.
Because when you do what he did, well, in this Internet-ruled world there isn’t any hiding.
Pankewicz (Prince Albert, Regina, 1989-91) is an assistant coach with the Central league’s Colorado Eagles. He got a bit irate during an on-ice altercation on Saturday night and divested himself of a few items of clothing, including jacket, shirt and undershirt, all of which ended up on the ice.
If you haven’t seen it already, it’s right here.
Pankewicz isn’t the first coach to protest in this unusual fashion.
On Oct. 30, 1990, with his Swift Current Broncos having blown a 7-3 lead and now trailing the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, 9-8, Graham James, according to the Regina Leader-Post, “ran on to the ice and screamed at referee Kevin Muench. He charged the referee relentlessly and had to be restrained by Broncos players and both linesmen.
“He returned to the bench and threw sticks and water bottles on the ice. James then removed his jacket, tie, shirt and a shoe before his players escorted him back to the dressing room.”
Later, James was fined $2,000 and suspended for six games.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors held their annual skills competition on Sunday. Results are right here. . . . Hardest shot? F Joel Edmundson, who twice hit 98 miles per hour.
———
I found a great quote in a story by Matt Coxford of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman.
The Saskatoon Blades went into Cranbrook and beat the Kootenay Ice 5-3 on Saturday night. The Blades were presented with seven PP opportunities, while the Ice received three.
Following the game, Coxford wrote:
“Asked if he was willing to absorb a fine from the WHL by talking about the refereeing, (Ice head coach Kris) Knoblauch graciously declined.”
Well, Knoblauch didn’t really decline.
Here’s what he told Coxford: "I can comment if the officiating is good, and I can't comment on the officiating when it's bad, so I won't comment.”
I think the message got delivered.
———
JUST NOTES: F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings is the WHL’s player of the week. He had 13 points and was plus-6 in three games, all of which Brandon won. . . . Michael Snider of the Calgary Hitmen is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 0.96, .971 last week, with both victories coming on the road. . . .
———
Some notes of interest from the Kootenay Ice’s weekly release:
The Ice will finish 2010-11 with an above-.500 record for the 12th consecutive season, which is the longest active streak in the WHL.
Kootenay has clinched a playoff spot for the 13th consecutive season and has tied Calgary for the longest active streak in the WHL.
Kootenay, which leads the League in shorthanded goals with 17, set a franchise single-season record for most shorthanded goals on Saturday against visiting Saskatoon. The previous record (16) was set in 2000-01 and tied in 2002-03.
Ice F Kevin King is tied for the WHL in shorthanded goals, with five. F Cody Eakin has four, all in just 13 games with the Ice.
———
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM MONDAY’S GAMES:
In Calgary, F Chandler Stephenson broke a 2-2 tie with 36.5 second left in the third period as the Regina Pats beat the Hitmen 3-2 in front of 20,888 fans. . . .  Stephenson, a 16-year-old from Saskatoon, has six goals. . . . The Hitmen had beaten the Pats 2-1 in a shootout in Regina on Friday. . . . The attendance set a CHL record, breaking the previous mark of 20,081 set on Dec. 20, 2004, at an OHL game between the Kingston Frontenacs and Ottawa 67’s at what was then known as the Corel Centre. . . . It was the second outdoor game in WHL history. On Jan. 15, in Spokane, the Chiefs beat the Kootenay Ice 11-2 before 7,075 fans at Avista Stadium. . . . Calgary F Kris Foucault tied the game 2-2 with his 20th goal at 8:46 of the third. . . . The Pats, who had lost three in a row, moved to within five points of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. They have 11 games remaining. . . . The Hitmen are 13 points out with 12 games remaining. . . .
———
In Lethbridge, F Brody Sutter’s goal at 1:09 of OT gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The teams were scoreless into the third period. . . . F Colten Mayor scored for Red Deer at 5:45 of the third. . . . F Russell Maxwell tied it on a PP at 12:57. . . .. Sutter won it with his 10th of the season. . . . Lethbridge G Brandon Anderson stopped 30 shots, 10 more than Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper. . . . Attendancee was 3,746. . . . The Rebels were in extra time for a fourth straight game. All four games ended in OT, with Red Deer winning twice. . . . The victory kept Lethbridge ninth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Prince Albert Raiders. The Hurricanes have a game in hand. . . . The Rebels were without F Josh Cowen (hand), F John Persson and D Matthew Dumba (knee). Cowen and Persson were injured in a 4-3 OT victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers on Saturday. . . . Cowen had surgery Sunday after suffering a broken hand when he was hit from behind by Kamloops D Josh Caron. The Red Deer Advocate reports that Cowen had a titanium plate and some screws put in the hand, and that he will be out at least three weeks. . . . Caron was hit with a three-game suspension. . . . Persson is said to be nursing bumps and bruises and should play later this week. . . . Dumba has been out for 10 days.
———
In Kennewick, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Tri-City Americans 5-1, moving to the top of the Western Conference standings in the process. . . . F Darren Kramer, who leads the WHL with 39 fighting majors, scored his sixth goal of the season at 15:44 of the first period to break a 1-1 tie. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel stopped 28 shots. . . . Spokane F Brady Brassart wasn’t able to score on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Attendance was 5,691. . . . The Chiefs moved one point ahead of the idle Portland Winterhawks, who hold two games in hand. . . .. The Americans, who have lost two in a row, are five points behind Portland with one game in hand. The Americans have three games in hand on the Chiefs.
———
MONDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Calgary F Jimmy Bubnick
Spokane F Kenton Miller
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Taking Note on Twitter

Major League Baseball begins its spring training games later this week. Here is a Jim Murray column from 1973 that attempts to decipher what the managers are really saying about their prospects. (For older Canadian readers, who will find mention of John Robertson, aka Coconut Willie, in this piece. Oh, what a wonderful writer he was!)
Enjoy!

THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1973, SPORTS
Copyright 1973/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

The Big Con of Spring

    It's that time of year again. Every squeaky contralto in the country is boning up on "Oh, say can you see?" Organists are blowing the dust off their medley of 1910's Top 10 song hits. Vendors are practising spilling mustard. Announcers are practising saying, "And that reminds me of the Iron Horse!" so they can get into an anecdote about Lou Gehrig which will be a whole lot more interesting than what is going on down on the field.
  It's a time when every team is the 1927 Yankees, every rookie is on his way to Cooperstown, and every manager is a certified genius. Without their mighty celebrating, the team might finish fifth — which it will anyway. But knowing the nuances of baseball like telling the pitcher, "Don't give him anything to hit, but don't walk him neither." Or telling a hitter, "Be sure to hit your pitch" knowing that HIS pitch will never show up in a big league game till they allow girls in it, is the stuff of pennants.
****
   The manager, you see, also has to sell tickets. He knows he can't show up at spring training and tell the press, "If you took the best skills of all 40 men I got on the big club roster and put them all together they wouldn't make 1 1/2 major league ball players." He's got to deal in the big con.
   Every year at this time we offer you Murray's Instant Decoder and flash on the screen for you, "What They Say" and "What It Means." Just remember, the manager's pitch looks big and fat, but you can trust me it will curve into the dirt as soon as you go for it. First, what he says. And then, the curve.
   "We think the trade will help both clubs" . . . "We got two guys they don't want for two guys we don't want and, pretty soon, we're all going to find out why the other fellow didn't want them."
   "He's got an arm like Koufax" . . . "It's got five fingers, an elbow, bicep, and it can cut steak. Unfortunately, it's attached to a guy who in no way resembles Koufax."
   “We're going for youth" . . . "The infield looks like a slow leak in Boys Town and, believe me, 'leak' is the word. That fellow in Montreal, John Robertson, said they made the routine ground ball extinct. Around the league, they're known as 'The Big E.' They're going to make the infield fly rule extinct, too. They throw more ground balls than they field."
****
   "We got the best bench in the league" . . . "It's the players sitting on it that aren't much good."
   "I saw Ruth in his prime, and our cleanup hitter is just like him" . . . "He drinks, chases girls, stays out late, and eats too much. At the plate, he looks more like his first name is Ruth."
   "He has all the tools to make it" . . . "As a plumber."
   "They've got us to beat" . . . "That's just the trouble."
   "This club will steal on you" . . . "Lock your lockers."
   "You're going to find we got the best bunch of utility men in the game" . . . "And to prove it, they'll all be climbing light poles this time next year."
   "I figure a year in Double A could help our outfield" . . . "I don't have to tell you that I mean 'Alcoholics Anonymous.' "
   "You'd have to say our starting five are all finished pitchers by now" . . . "Also by the fifth inning."
   "This club is well-balanced" . . . "Everybody is mediocre."
   "If we can improve in a few areas, we'll take it all" . . . "The areas are pitching, fielding, and hitting."
   "We figure the Big Guy will be healthy this year" . . . "He was in the whirlpool so much last year the guys started to throw him sardines."

Reprinted with permission by the Los Angeles Times.

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Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247

Olaf Kolzig was back in a Tri-City
Americans jersey on Saturday.
(Photo by John Allen/AridAcres.com)

Olaf Kolzig thanks the crowd for its
applause on Saturday night.
(Photo by John Allen/AridAcres.com)

 Olie the Goalie
back with Ams

The Tri-City Americans’ fans, as it turns out, did have something to cheer about on Saturday night.
While there may not have been much to cheer about as their favourite team dropped a 6-2 victory to the arch-rival Spokane Chiefs, they did greet Olaf Kolzig’s appearance with some rousing applause.
Kolzig is a former NHL goaltender who also played for the Americans and now is one of the WHL team’s owners.
On Saturday, he was on the ice between periods taking shots in a charity event.
“The fans loved it,” offered Tri-City GM Bob Tory. “Maybe the league will approve him to be our emergency backup.”
The Americans have been going with Chris Driedger, 16, as their starter, with Cam Gorchynski of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies backing him up. This is because starter Drew Owsley has been out with a knee injury.
The Americans are at home tonight to the Spokane Chiefs.
Tonight’s game originally was to have been played on New Year’s Eve. You will recall that the teams got started on Dec. 31 only to have the game postponed by a problem with the ice.
———
JUST NOTES: Tri-City Americans D Sam Grist has drawn a two-game suspension for the boarding major he incurred in the second period of a 6-2 loss to the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Saturday. Grist, who hit Spokane F Steven Kuhn on the play, will sit out tonight’s game against visiting Spokane and a Tuesday night home game against the Everett Silvertips. . . . Kamloops Blazers D Josh Caron also has been suspended. He picked up a checking-from-behind major in a 4-3 OT loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. F Josh Cowen, who was on the receiving end, left the game and didn’t return. Caron has been suspended tbd — to be determined. . . .
———
The WHL goes outdoors today for a game between the Calgary Hitmen and the visiting Regina Pats at McMahon Stadium, the home of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.
The Calgary Flames blanked the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 there on Sunday, in front of 41,022 fans.
As of late Sunday, the WHL game, which begins at noon and will be televised by Rogers Sportsnet, had sold close to 21,000 tickets.
The WHL single-game attendance record of 19,305 was set in Calgary on March 16, 2008 as the Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 6-1.
The CHL record is 20,081 from an OHL game between the visiting Kingston Frontenacs and the Ottawa 67’s at the Corel Centre.
This will be the second outdoors game in CHL history, but the first to be played in Canada. On Jan. 15, in the Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic, the Spokane Chiefs beat visiting Kootenay 11-1 before 7,075 fans at Avista Stadium.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Medicine Hat, F Tyler Pitlick scored twice and added an assist to help the Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Pitlick has 24 goals. . . . F Wacey Hamilton gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with his 19th goal just 44 seconds into the game. . . . Saskatoon F Curtis Hamilton tied it with his 20th less than a minute later. . . . F Reid Petryk got his 10th for the Tigers at 8:31 and Saskatoon F Marek Viedensky equalized, with his 28th, at 16:37 on a PP. . . . Pitlick then gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead, on a PP, at 16:37 of the first. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem got his 34th, on a PP, late in the second and Pitlick scored another in the third. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 31 shots, three fewer than Saskatoon’s Steven Stanford. . . . Medicine Hat D Alex Theriau had one assist and was plus-4. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Tigers moved into third in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of Kootenay and seven behind the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The conference-leading Blades are six points ahead of Red Deer. . . . The Rebels are in Lethbridge this afternoon. . . .
———
In Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds erased a 3-1 third-period deficit and beat the Chilliwack Bruins 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Seattle F Mitch Elliot got his fifth goal of the season at 11:40 of the third to get his side to within one. . . . F Colin Jacobs, with his 19th, tied it at 18:12 on a PP. . . . Seattle was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Bruins were 0-for-4. . . . F Burke Gallimore and Jacobs scored for Seattle in the shootout. . . . D Brenden Dillon had two assists for Seattle. . . . F Ryan Howse was the only one of three Chilliwack shooters to score in the circus. . . . Howse had two goals in regulation, giving him 44 on the season. He has scored in eight straight games, one shy of F Oscar Moller’s franchise record. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore set a franchise single-season record for saves in one game (64). The previous record (55) was set by Braden Game in a 6-3 loss to the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots. . . . Attendance was 5,319. . . . The loser point lifted the Bruins, who have lost four straight, to within three points of eighth-place Kamloops in the Western Conference. The Bruins hold three games in hand. . . . The Thunderbirds are two points behind the Bruins.
———
SUNDAY’S CFB COUNT:
One minor:
Saskatoon D Teigan Zahn

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Taking Note on Twitter

G Shannon Szabados, who once got some exhibition-season playing time with the Tri-City Americans, was the goaltender when the Canadian national women’s team won the Olympic gold a year ago. However, she didn’t get to partake in the immediate post-game celebration. Later, a Canadian men’s curler slashed her on a hand and drew blood. . . . That story, and it’s an entertaining read, by the Edmonton Journal’s Curtis Stock is right here.
---
The Hextall name has carried a lot of weight in hockey circles for a long time, and it’s even larger in the Poplar Point, Man., area. The folks there are planning on honouring the Hextall clan Feb. 1-3, 2013. By that time, the Poplar Point Community Club, which is being restored, should be ready. Part of the celebration will include an appearance by the Detroit Red Wings alumni team.
There’s more, from the Portage Daily Graphic, right here.
———
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s first five goals and went on to beat the Broncos, 6-5. . . . The Broncos cut into the deficit with four straight goals before Brandon F David Toews got his 15th at 13:43 of the third. That stood up as the winner when Swift Current F Trevor Cameron got his fifth with 1.5 seconds left in the third. . . . The Wheat Kings had beaten the visiting Broncos 10-1 on Friday. One night later, the Wheat Kings struck for five goals in the first 11 minutes. . . . The Wheat Kings couldn’t have picked a better time to win a season-high five straight. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had a goal, his 24th, and an assist, running his point streak to 14 games and his goal streak to seven games. He has five straight multi-point games. He has 29 points in his last 14 games and has nine goals over the last seven games. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal, his 32nd, and three assists. He is riding an 11-game point streak, with 27 points over that stretch. He is third in the WHL scoring race, with 86 points. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Shayne Wiebe, who now has 35. . . . Attendance was 2,233. . . . Brandon, 8-2-0 in its last 10, is seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Edmonton. . . . The Broncos, losers of five straight, slid to 10th, six points out of a playoff spot. . . .
———
In Moose Jaw, the Prince Albert Raiders built up a 3-0 lead and hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Warriors had beaten the host Raiders 6-3 on Friday night. . . . F Mark McNeill had a goal, his 25th, and added an assist for the Raiders. . . . D Jordan Rowley’s fourth goal at 2:19 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . F Quinton Howden got his 38th for the Warriors at 10:40 of the third and F Sebastian Svendsen added his 23rd at 17:53. . . . The Raiders held an 18-6 edge in first-period shots, but the Warriors had a 34-22 edge over the last two periods. . . . Prince Albert G Eric Williams stopped 38 shots, 19 of them in the third period. . . . Moose Jaw’s Thomas Heemskerk made 37 saves. . . . Attendance was 2,736, which means the Crushed Can, which has six regular-season games left plus playoffs, was rocking. . . . The Warriors are fifth in the conference and likely will finish there. . . . The Raiders hold down the conference’s last playoff spot by five points over Lethbridge. . . .
———
In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes scored a 6-5 shootout victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in the night’s wildest game. . . . Edmonton held a 3-1 lead with 13 minutes left in the third period and was ahead 4-2 when F Kristians Pelss scored his second of the game, and 11th of the season, at 10:40. . . . The Hurricanes then scored three straight goals and Edmonton needed a score from F Jordan Hickmott, his 25th, at 15:52, to force OT. . . . Lethbridge F Mitch Maxwell had the only goal of the three-round shootout. . . . Maxwell had two assists in regulation time. . . . Lethbridge F Graham Hood had a goal and two assists. . . . Edmonton got two assists from F Stephane Legault and F Michael St. Croix. . . . Attendance was 3,300. . . . The Hurricanes, who have 13 games left, are five points out of the conference’s last playoff spot. . . . Edmonton is sixth, one point ahead of Brandon. . . .
———
In Medicine Hat, G Tyler Bunz stopped 22 shots to lead the Tigers to a 4-0 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . He has three shutouts this season and five in his career. . . . The victory was the 70th of Bunz’s WHL career which has him fifth on the Tigers’ career list. . . . Regina has been blanked three times. . . . Medicine Hat F Boston Leier scored the game’s first and third goals. They were his first two WHL goals. The 17-year-old from Saskatoon was playing in his 37th game this season. He also played three games last season. . . . Tigers F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race, had a goal, his 40th, and an assist. He has 98 points. . . . F Emerson Etem scored his 33rd goal for the Tigers. It came shorthanded at 19:12 of the first period. . . . F Reid Petryk and D Alex Theriau each had two assists. . . . The Tigers, already without D Matthew Konan (concussion) and D Scott Ramsay (concussion), lost D Jace Coyle on Friday with an undisclosed injury. . . . Medicine Hat dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Tigers, who have clinched a playoff spot, moved into a tie with Kootenay for third in the conference. . . . Medicine Hat is at home to Saskatoon tonight. . . . The Pats are 11th and, with 12 games left, are seven points out of a playoff spot. . . .
———
In Red Deer, F Brett Ferguson scored in OT to give the Rebels a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Ferguson, who is riding a 16-game point streak, got his second goal of the game, and 21st of the season, at 1:40 of extra time. He has 25 points over those 16 games. . . . The Rebels coughed up 2-0 and 3-2 leads to the Blazers, who went 3-for-8 on the PP while keeping the Rebels’ PP scoreless in seven tries. . . . That included a major penalty for checking from behind to Kamloops D Josh Caron at 6:14 of the second period. Red Deer F Josh Cowen didn’t return after taking that hit. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch, who stopped 46 shots in a 4-3 OT victory in Edmonton on Friday night, turned aside 42 shots in this one, includig 16 in the second period. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots in earning his 38th victory. . . . Kamloops F Thomas Frazee had two assists. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer forced OT with his seventh goal at 12:32 of the third. . . . Each team has gone to OT in its last three games. . . . The Blazers beat visiting Tr-City 3-2, then won in Edmonton. . . . The Rebels have gone to OT in three straight home games, losing 4-3 to Prince George, then beating Lethbridge 2-1. . . . Attendance was 5,566. . . . Red Deer is second in the Eastern Conference, six points behind Saskatoon, which holds two games in hand. . . . The Blazers are in possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot and they now are four points ahead of Chilliwack, which holds four games in hand. . . .
———
In Cranbrook, F Brayden Schenn scored two goals and added an assist as the Saskatoon Blades scored a 5-3 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . Saskatoon F Marek Viedensky broke a 3-3 tie with his 27th goal at 17:53 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon F Jake Trask scored his 25th goal into an empty net at 19:18. . . . Schenn has 14 goals this season. . . . The Ice, which was down 3-1 going into the third period, got a shorthanded goal from F Kevin King, his 29th, at 3:55 and F Jesse Ismond’s second of the game, and 15th of the season, at 12;15. . . . Saskatoon was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Ice was 1-for-3. . . . D Hayden Rintoul had two assists for the Ice. . . . Saskatoon is 18-1-0 against the Central Division, including 14 straight victories. . . . The Blades are 3-0 against the Ice. . . . Attendance was 3,083. . . . Saskatoon, which is in Medicine Hat tonight, continues to lead the Eastern Conference. . . . The Ice is tied for third with Medicine Hat. . . .
———
In Portland, F Nino Niederreiter scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Winterhawks clinched a playoff spot. . . . It was Niederreiter’s first hat trick of this season and the second of his career. . . . Niederreiter has 27 goals in 41 games after scoring 36 in 65 last season. . . . Niederreiter, the 18-year-old Swiss sophomore, also had an assist. The four points give him 107 points in 106 career regular-season games. . . . Portland D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn each had two assists. Wrenn has 11 points and his plus-21 in 18 games. . . . Portland F Craig Cunningham had a goal, his 22nd, and an assist, while F Ryan Johansen also scored once, giving him 30, and drew an assist. . . . Portland led 2-0 when the Bruins stormed back and tied with on PP goals by F Robin Soudek and F Ryan Howse. . . . The goal was his 42nd and his franchise-record 17th PP goal of the season. . . . Niederreiter and Johansen then scored at 4;01 and 6:47 of the second period. . . . The Bruins allowed a franchise single-game record 61 shots, which allowed G Braden Gamble to set a single-game record with 55 saves. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 19 shots. . . . Chilliwack F Roman Horak, who was scratched minutes before a 6-2 loss to the host Tri-City Americans on Friday, was back in the Bruins’ lineup. . . . Attendance was 10,145. . . . Portland, which is 8-2-0 in its last 10 leads the U.S. Division by a point over Spokane. The Winterhawks hold a game in hand. . . . Chilliwack is ninth in the conference, four points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Bruins are in Kent, Wash., to face the Seattle Thunderbirds tonight. . . .
———
In Prince George, the Everett Silvertips jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never trailed as they beat the Cougars, 4-3. . . . The Silvertips had beaten the host Cougars 4-1 on Friday. . . . Everett F Ryan Harrison got his 20th goal at 18:49 of the second period and it proved the winner. . . . Prince George F Taylor Stefishen got his 20th at 9:27 of the third. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson, making his 14^th straight start, stopped 28 shots. . . . Prince George F Charles Inglis, who earlier had scored his 24th goal, failed to score on a penalty shot at 13:50 of the third period with the visitors leading 4-3. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell scored his 38th goal, while Prince George F Brett Connolly got his 36th. . . . Attendance was 2,418. . . . The victory lifted the Silvertips into a tie with the Cougars for sixth in the conference. Each has 13 games remaining. . . . The Cougars do have three more victories. . . .
———
In Kennewick, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs scored three second-period PP goals as they beat the host Tri-City Americans, 6-2. . . . The game turned after Tri-City D Sam Grist was tossed with a boarding major at 7:14 of the second period. . . . The Chiefs, who clinched a playoff spot with their third straight victory, scored three PP goals to break open what had been a 1-1 game. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson and D Brenden Kichton each had two goals and an assist. . . . Johnson has a WHL-high 45 goals. His 978 points leave him second in the scoring race, one point behind Medicine Hat F Lindey Vey. . . . Spokane F Levko Koper had two assists, giving him 70 points in 59 games. He has hit career highs in goals (30), assists (40) and points (70). . . . F Blake Gal added a goal and two assists for the Chiefs, who got two assists from F Mitch Holmberg. . . . Gal has six goals in eight games against the Americans this season. . . . F Adam Hughesman scored his 39th goal for the Americans. . . . The Chiefs were 3-for-4 on the PP; the Americans were 2-for-5. . . . Attendance was 5,829. . . . The Chiefs kept pace with Portland and continue to trail the U.S. Division leaders by one point. . . . The Americans are four points behind the Chiefs but do hold three games in hand. . . . The Chiefs are back in Kennewick on Monday to play a game that was postponed due to poor ice conditions on New Year’s Eve. It will be the ninth of 12 meetings, with each team having won four times. . . .
———
In Kelowna, F Evan Bloodoff scored the game’s first two goals and the Rockets went on to a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Bloodoff, who has 19 goals, scored shorthanded at 3:06 of the first period and added a PP score at 8:09. . . . The Giants got to within 2-1 and 4-3 but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Kelowna was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-3. . . . F Geordie Wudrick got his 32nd goal for the Rockets, while Kelowna F Mitchell Callahan closed out the scoring with his 20th. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown and Vancouver G Mark Segal each stopped 27 shots. . . . Attendance was 6,134. . . . Doyle Potenteau has the game story over at DubNation. . . . This was the fourth straight game in which the Rockets have beaten the Giants. It also lifted Kelowna back atop the B.C. Division. They are tied with 67 points, but the Rockets, who have one game in hand, have two more victories. . . . The Giants don’t play again until Friday, when they entertain Chilliwack. On that night, Vancouver will induct Boston Bruins F Milan Lucic into its Ring of Honour. Yes, Lucic will be in the house. Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald talked with Lucic about it and the story is right here.
———
SATURDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Chilliwack F Roman Horak
Spokane D Cogbin Baldwin
One major:
Kamloops D Josh Caron