THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Tomas Kudelka (Lethbridge, 2005-07) signed a one-year contract extension with Vitkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He has three goals and 16 assists in 52 games for Vitkovice this season.
———
Shelley Lowes, the wife of longtime hockey coach/scout Bob Lowes, has undergone surgery in Regina after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
The Lowes family is doing a remarkable thing through all of this — maintaining a blog titled: We can . . . with love!
Here is a note Shelley left for her family before surgery:
“To my beautiful family.
“Please take a deep breath and help each other out...even if you are not asked to help.
“Please remember to say ‘I love you’ and give a hug...it doesn't cost a thing.
“Please remember I love you....have a great lunch today, work out....stay busy, stay together, stay strong!
“Thank you — for you, your prayers — your strength!
“Can't wait to see you.
“Love Mom xoxo”
You should check this out right here and please feel free to send along some thoughts and best wishes.
———
Ryan Gibbons, a WHL linesman who played for the Seattle Thunderbirds, wore a GoPro camera on his helmet during the Celebrity All-Star game that was part of Hockey Challenge 2012 in Kent, Wash., on Saturday. If you haven’t seen the footage yet, it’s right here.
Gibbons also worked the Thunderbirds’ game that night. . . . His linesmen’s jersey was part of the Challenge auction and it went for $750. He autographed it after the game.
The Thunderbirds and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska (RMHC) have since announced that the 14th annual Hockey Challenge, which was held Saturday and Sunday, raised more than $190,000, bringing the 14-year total to more than $4.2 million.
———
Whatever happened to Mick McGeough, who perhaps was the last of the WHL referees to express his personality while he worked? He was the supervising official when the Vancouver Canucks played the Phoenix Coyotes in the desert last night. . . .
———
The Edmonton Journal reports that Medicine Hat Tigers G Tyler Bunz, who turned 20 on Feb. 11, will face a drunk driving trial on March 5 in St. Albert, Alta. According to the newspaper, Bunz “is charged with one count of impaired driving and one count of driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08.” . . . Bunz, who is from St. Albert, was charged on May 28. . . . His NHL rights belong to the Edmonton Oilers. . . .
———
The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who play the Raiders in Prince Albert tonight, have lost F Brady Ramsay and his 23 goals to an undisclosed injury. They have brought in Tyler Wong and Harrison Harper. . . . Wong, taken in the fifth round of the 2011 bantam draft, had 32 points in 26 games with the midget AAA UFA Bisons, while Harper had 10 points in 28 games with the junior B Airdrie Thunder. Harper was a 12th round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . .
———
The WHL and the Prince Albert Raiders are mourning the death of Ruth (Grams) Pollock, who passed away Tuesday morning. She was 90. Pollock billeted players for 20 straight seasons, starting with grandson Troy Hjertaas in 1988-89. According to a Raiders new release, “Over two decades, Grams billeted many players, including Donovan Hextall, Richard Seeley, Derek Paget, David Van Drunen, Milan Kraft, Shane Willis, Dane Byers Rejean Beauchemin, Aki Seitsonen, Shane Hnidy, Mike McGhan, Ryan White, David Aime, Mike Small, Greg Watson, Jordan Kochan and Brandon Herrod. Her billeting duties came full circle in 2008, when she billeted her grandson Zach Sim.” . . . She received the WHL Distinguished Services Award in 2008. . . . Funeral arrangements are pending. . . .
———
A tweet from Ryan Button (@buttsy78): “RIP Grams, truly a legend in the community of PA. #thebest”
———
A source has told me that the Portland Winterhawks received two second-round bantam draft picks from Everett as compensation for the Silvertips decision to sign Garry Davidson as general manager. Davidson has been Portland’s director of player personnel. . . . That would be one pick in 2012 and another in 2013. . . .
———
The Regina Pats have added D Nathan Zimbaluk, 18, who started the season in the Queen City but was sent to the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs in January. . . . With Zimbaluk in camp, the Pats no longer have D Colby Williams, 16, with them. He spent the season with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. . . .
———
BCHL commissioner John Grisdale and a member of that league’s expansion committee will be in Wenatchee, Wash., this weekend looking at the NAHL’s Wild as a potential entry. The Wild would like to get into the BCHL as soon as next season; the BCHL has said it is looking at 2013-14. . . . The Wild is home to the Fresno Monsters on Saturday.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers have re-signed general manager Don Chesney and head coach Trent Cassan to two-year contracts. . . .
Former U of North Dakota star Tony Hrkac won’t return for a sixth season as head coach of the hockey program at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon, Wis. . . . Hrkac went 10-109-10 as the first head coach in the program’s history.
———
TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Sam Fioretti scored twice to help the Warriors to a 5-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Fioretti, who has 19 goals, opened the scoring at 11:41 of the first and then broke a 1-1 tie at 4:23 of the second. . . . F Quinton Howden had a goal and two assists for the Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw lost F Kenton Miller toa checking-to-the-head major at 13:55 of the first period. . . . The Rebels had captain Adam Kambeitz back after a 13-game absence, but they dressed just 16 skaters, two under the maximum. D Aaron Borejko, D Kayle Doetzel, F Joel Hamilton, F Colten Mayor, F Cory Millette and D Justin Weller all are out with injuries, as is G Patrik Bartosak. . . . With the victory, the Warriors clinched a playoff spot, the second Eastern Conference team to do so. . . . The Warriors were without F Cody Beach, who has been suspended for two games for “accumulation of embellishment penalties.” Earlier, he was suspended one game for the same thing. . . . Beach gets three games for making a fool of himself; other players get one-game suspensions for incurring kneeing and cross-checking majors, infractions that presumably put other players at risk. You figure it out. . . . The Warriors are atop the East Division, 11 points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades, who have nine games left. . . . The Rebels are 10 points out of the playoffs with 10 games remaining. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Brendan Shinnimin train slowed, but just a bit, as he drew two assists in the Tri-City Americans’ 3-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Shinnimin, whose 10-game goal-scoring streak was snapped, finished February with 43 points in 14 games. That included 23 goals. . . . He now has 117 points and an 11-point lead atop the WHL scoring race. . . . Tri-City F Patrick Holland had a goal, his 24th, and an assist, lifting him to 97 points. . . . Holland leads the WHL with 73 assists. The last WHLer with 80 assists in a season was Portland F Todd Robinson (1996-97). . . . F Justin Feser got his 32nd goal for the Americans, giving them a 3-0 lead in the first period. . . . F Connor Sanvido scored for Seattle, his fifth of the season. Sanvido, Seatte’s first selection, 14th overall, in the 2009 bantam draft, was playing in his first game since Feb. 6 after having been sent home to think about things. . . . The Thunderbirds were without D Cason Machacek, who drew an eight-game suspension after his stick came into contact with linesman Zach Brooks in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans. Machacek has been suspended four times this season for a total of 15 games. . . . Seattle also was without F Branden Troock, who drew a one-game sentence for a cross-checking major in that same game. . . . The Americans remain on top of the WHL’s overall standings and the Western Conference. . . . They are a point ahead of the Portland Winterhawks and three ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. Portland will visit the Americans on Friday and the teams will meet at the Rose Garden in Portland on Sunday. . . . Seattle holds the Western Conference’s last playoff spot, one point ahead of the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Thunderbirds are to play in Everett on Friday. . . .

In Portland, F Oliver Gabriel scored twice to lead the Winterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Gabriel got the game’s first goal, at 1:35 of the second period, and then gave his side a 3-1 lead at 3:30 of the third. He’s got 16 goals. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi had a goal, his 26th broke a 1-1 tie ta 3:14 of the third, and two assists. He is a point shy of maintaining his two-point-a-game clip — he has 87 in 44. . . . Last season, Baertschi finished with 85 points in 66 games. . . . Portland F Marcel Noebels got his 20th goal, while F Ty Rattie had two assists. . . . Portland had a 47-26 edge in shots, including 22-5 in the third period. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth won his WHL-leading 39th game. With nine games remaining, Carruth can’t get to the WHL single-game record that is held by Glen Hanlon, now an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants. Hanlon won 49  games with the 1976-77 Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Blazers have lost their last two games, the seventh time this season they have lost two in a row. They have yet to lose three in a row. Kamloops plays the Silvertips in Everett tonight. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford, who had his 13-game point streak halted, left in the third period with an apparent leg injury. . . . Kamloops F Jordan DePape, who hasn’t played since Oct. 10 because of a shoulder injury that needed surgery, skated in the pregame warmup before being scratched. He may play against the Silvertips in Everett tonight. . . . While they trail Tri-City and Portland in the overall standings, Kamloops remains the Western Conference’s second seed because it leads the B.C. Division. . . . Portland has won 10 of 11 and 24 of 29. . . .

In Prince George, F Hunter Shinkaruk scored twice to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 3-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . Shinkaruk has 42 goals. . . . Tigers F Emerson Etem, who leads the league with 53 goals, didn’t score but did draw three assists. . . . Cougars G Drew Owsley stopped 41 shots; Medicine Hat’s Tiger Bunz stopped 19. . . . Shinkaruk gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead at 14:53 of the second. . . . F Caleb Belter got the Cougars to within one at 14:09 of the third. . . . The same teams play again tonight in Prince George. . . . The Cougars have lost five straight and are four points out of a playoff spot. . . .

In Victoria, the Spokane penalty-killers went 6-for-6 as the Chiefs doubled the Royals, 4-2. . . . Spokane F Blake Gal broke a 2-2 tie at 16:40 of the third period. He’s got 13 goals. . . . D Corbin Baldwin put it away with an empty-netter at 18:54. . . . Chiefs D Brendan Kichton had one assist and was plus-3. . . . Victoria G Jared Rathjen, making his fourth straight start, stopped 29 shots, three more than Spokane’s Mac Engel. . . . The Chiefs had lost their previous two games. They are fifth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Vancouver Giants with a game in hand. These two teams will meet in the first round, so all that’s left to decide is home-ice advantage. . . . The Royals have won three in a row. They are seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Seattle and three ahead of Everett.
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Kenton Miller, Moose Jaw (major).
———
For what it’s worth, The New York Times played that story on fighting in hockey that was linked to here yesterday on its front page. It was below the fold but it was front page news.
Jeff Z. Klein of The Times spent some time recently in the Saskatoon area and filed this story that focuses on fighting in hockey.
———
Todd Holt was a real pepper-pot when he played for the Swift Current Broncos. He wasn’t very big, but he was a talker and a sniper with the ability to bring fans out of their seats. Who knew then of the torture he was experiencing? Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post has a close-up look at the life Holt has led since then. If you read anything today, make sure this is it.
———
ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
The Kamloops Blazers played the Giants in Vancouver on Friday night. There was a skirmish at 18:03 of the third period, after which the two referees gave misconducts to all 10 skaters who were on the ice, including Vancouver D Kiefer McNaughton. Both play-by-play men, Dan Elliott of the Giants and Jon Keen of the Blazers, confirmed that McNaughton took another shift before the game ended. Mr. Commissioner, if McNaughton was given a misconduct, how was that possible?

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

The move to ban fighting from hockey, at least from the major junior level and below, made another advancement Monday with the publication of a story by John Branch in The New York Times.
The story on The Times’ website carried this headline: Junior Hockey on Cusp of a Revolution: Trying to Stop Fighting.
In the story, David Branch, the president of the Canadian Hockey League and the commissioner of the OHL, is quoted as saying: “The appetite is there. The time is certainly right to move forward.”
And here’s Bob Nicholson, the president of Hockey Canada: “The official stance from Hockey Canada is that we want to get rid of fighting as quickly as we can. Our ultimate goal is to remove fighting.”
John Branch writes:
“For decades, debates centered on whether hockey could survive without fighting. It is viewed by some as a necessary thermostat regulating the heat of a physical game, and by others as a way to draw bigger audiences.
“Now the talk is about how long the sport can live with fighting.
“That change has perched hockey at one of the most significant crossroads of its long history, as leaders see an opening to extinguish the game’s tradition of intermittent anarchy, particularly among teenage combatants.”
The fact that The New York Times feels this issue is important enough to cover tells you all you need to know about in which direction the fighting story is headed.
And you have to understand that this has nothing to do with the entertainment value of fighting, or its aesthetics or its impact, positive or negative, on ticket sales.
This is strictly a safety issue. And, in the case of major junior hockey, you could make a case for it being an issue involving safety in the work place.
The complete story is right here.
———
From @WHLFacts, via Twitter: “Brendan Shinnimin's LAST 50 goals have been scored in 46 games, which is a faster pace than Etem's 51 in 50. Shinnanigans.”
From Adam Hughesman (@Hughdog17), via Twitter: “Did you know . . . Sidney Crosby has been playing games in the WHL for his rehab, wearing jersey number 24 TC Americans.”
———
JUST NOTES:
Scoring adjustments were made on Monday morning, following the Tri-City Americans’ 7-3 victory over the host Spokane Chiefs on Saturday night.
And at the end of the day F Adam Hughesman of the Americans was up to 101 points, making him the team’s second 100-point man. F Brendan Shinnimin, with 115 points, is the other.
The Americans’ roster last contained two 100-point men in 1998-99 when F Dylan Gyori finished with 118 and Scott Gomez had 108.
F Patrick Holland is at 95 points, meaning the Americans are likely to finish with three 100-point men.
The Americans last had three of those in 1991-92 -- Terry Degner, 139; Brian Sakic, 128; and, Vladimir Vujtek, 102. . . .
———
F Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks has 52 goals, with a WHL-leading 26 of those having come via the power play. That is the most PP goals in a season by one player since F Eric Fehr of the Brandon Wheat Kings scored 31 in 2004-05. The WHL record (47) belongs to F Jason Krywulak of the 1992-93 Swift Current Broncos. He finished with a league-leading 81 goals that season. . . .
———
The Prince Albert Raiders are taking a look at D Zach Hodder, 18, who was selected with the 20th overall pick by the Vancouver Giants in the 2008 bantam draft. Hodder has 24 points in 37 games with the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. In the WHL, he started the season with the Giants and was dealt to the Saskatoon Blades, where he played 11 games and picked up three points. . . . Hodder joined the Raiders on Sunday. He will play Wednesday against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes and then will return to the Express. . . .
———
In the end, the gamble cost the Tri-City Americans a fifth-round selection in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. That’s what GM Bob Tory gave the Prince George Cougars for the WHL rights to F Brett Connolly, 19, who is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Tory was gambling that the NHL team would return Connolly to the WHL before the NHL’s trade deadline. That didn’t happen Monday as the Lightning revealed that Connolly will stay in the NHL where he has 13 points, including four goals, in 48 games. . . .
———
The Seattle Thunderbirds will be without F Branden Troock and D Cason Machacek when they visit the Tri-City Americans tonight. Troock will be serving a one-game suspension after taking a cross-checking major in a 5-1 loss to the visiting Americans on Sunday. . . . Machacek received a game misconduct at 15:40 of the third period. Three people have told me Machacek’s stick came in contact with linesman Zack Brooks in the neutral zone and that it appeared to be intentional. Machacek has been suspended pending an investigation of the incident. . . . The Thunderbirds took 75 of 95 penalty minutes. The Americans were 4-for-8 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were, uhh, 0-for-0. Seattle apparently wasn’t happy with the officiating. Ironically, Brooks is from the Seattle area. . . .
———
G Tyler Bunz is expected to start tonight for the Medicine Hat Tigers as they meet the Cougars in Prince George. Bunz, 19, hasn’t played since Feb. 12 as he has battled post-concussion syndrome. . . . He is 34-14-4, 2.58, .922, so obviously is a big part of the Medicine Hat club.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The Central league’s Arizona Sundogs have fired head coach Marco Pietroniro and assistant coach Chris Bartolone, with David Lohrei taking over as the new head coach. . . . Pietroniro, the only head coach in franchise history, was in his sixth season behind the Sundogs’ bench. . . . Bartolone completed his pro playing career with the Sundogs and his number has been retired by the team. He was an assistant coach for two seasons. . . . Lohrei has coaching experience in the Central league, the ECHL and the USHL. Most recently, he has been working as owner/operator of Maximum Sports Performance in Madison, Wisc. . . . At 16-28-9, the SunDogs have the league’s worst record. . . . The Sundogs are owned by Bill Yuill, who also owns the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

This February is Shinn-uary in WHL

Brendan Shinnimin (24) of the Tri-City Americans has owned the
month of February in the WHL.
(Photo by John Allen / AridAcres.com)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

You will have to excuse Brendan Shinnimin if there are tears in his eyes when February comes to an end on Wednesday night.
“When I started scoring a bunch of goals,” the Tri-City Americans’ 20-year-old forward said Monday evening, “I thought I might as well keep shooting.”
He has done exactly that; in fact, the Winnipeg native has shot his way to the top of the WHL scoring race.
That’s what happens when you put up 41 points in a month. That’s right! He has 23 goals and 18 assists in 13 games this month. And there still is one game to be played.
In his latest performance, Shinnimin scored the game’s first four goals and set up the other as the Americans beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds 5-1 on Sunday night.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Shinnimin said. “I’m just shooting the puck and it’s going in right now.”
Has he done anything differently?
“I’m just trying to play a pro style of game and everything is falling into place,” he said. “I’ve been looking to shoot a lot.”
He has scored goals in 10 straight games, with 21 goals in that stretch.
In his last four games, he has 19 points, 11 of them goals. That includes Sunday’s four-goal game as well as two earlier three-goal efforts.
A couple of weeks ago, head coach Jim Hiller decided to put his three top guns — Shinnimin, Adam Hughesman, another 20-year-old from Winnipeg, and Patrick Holland, a 19-year-old from Lethbridge — on the same line.
The three had played together before, on the power play or perhaps late in games when the Americans were down a goal or two.
“This is the first time we’ve actually played full games together,” Shinnimin said.
The result has been, to say the least, magic.
As Shinnimin put it: “Yeah . . . we’re playing good hockey. We mix pretty well together. Obviously, we’ve been good lately.”
Hughesman, who went over the 100-point plateau on the weekend, and Shinnimin have been teammates since they were seven or eight years of age. Holland has moved in and made like he wants to stay.
“Hollie is a great player . . . a top prospect,” Shinnimin said of Holland, whose NHL rights were dealt by the Calgary Flames to the Montreal Canadiens earlier this season. “He’s pretty under-rated.”
The line, in its last five games, has combined for 53 points, including 21 goals.
On the season, Holland has 95 points, including a WHL-leading 72 assists. He has 18 points, including 15 assists, in his last five games. All told, he has at least a point in each of his last 10 games.
Hughesman, with 101 points, has 14 points, including five goals, in his last five games. Overall, he is on a six-game point streak.
All of which pales when compared to Shinnimin, who admitted that he got off to something of a slow start. In fact, when October ended, he had 14 points in 14 games.
He now has 52 goals, one off the WHL lead. He also has 115 points and a 10-point lead atop the WHL scoring race.
A week ago, Shinnimin, who has been to NHL camps with the New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes but is unsigned, and the Americans were preparing to play host to the Everett Silvertips.
“I think I needed four points to get to 100,” he recalled. “The guys were joking before the game that maybe I’d get there that night. I didn’t think I’d get to 100 and I ended up getting six points. I’ve just kept the ball rolling.
“The last four games I’ve got 19 points so you never know what’s going to happen. I wish this month would never end, but it has to come to an end eventually.”
The hot streak couldn’t have come at a better time, too.
The Americans (44-15-3), who close out the month at home to the Thunderbirds tonight, have won six straight games and moved back into first place in the overall standings, one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers (43-15-4) and Portland Winterhawks (43-15-4). The Blazers and Winterhawks will tangle tonight in Portland.
On Friday, while the Blazers are at home to the Kelowna Rockets, the Winterhawks will be in Kennewick, Wash., for a date with the Americans, who are scheduled to visit Portland on Sunday.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers will finish this U.S. swing in Everett on Wednesday. . . . Kamloops is 1-1-0 against Portland. The Winterhawks are to play here on March 7. . . . The Blazers are 3-0-0 against Everett. . . . Seattle will be without F Branden Troock, who received a cross-checking major on Sunday and has been suspended for one game. Seattle D Cason Machacek, who got a game misconduct after his stick came into contact with linesman Zach Brooks on Sunday, has been suspended while the league looks into what happened.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

    While this space is usually reserved for a look back a the great columns of Jim Murray as they relate to the sporting news of today, we felt that we would be remiss to ignore the fact that the 84th Academy Awards presentation was held Sunday. Prior to becoming a sports writer, Murray was an integral part of the Hollywood entertainment beat for Time Magazine.
    He was responsible for many of the memorable faces that graced the cover of that iconic publication, including Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, John Wayne and Charlton Heston.
    So let's take a look back at a 1987 column — "Merv Picked Right Racket? Oh, Really?" — about a tinsel town legend, Merv Griffin.
    Enjoy!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1987, SPORTS
Copyright 1987/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

Merv Picked Right Racket? Oh, Really?

    The richest man on Sunset Boulevard was driving along it, idly listening to the car radio. The announcer broke for a commercial message, promising to come right back with the name of the man who, according to Forbes Magazine, was currently the richest man in the entertainment industry. The driver vagrantly wondered who it might be. Bob Hope? Aaron Spelling? Bill Cosby? A moment later, he almost crashed into a curbside tree.
    "It was me!" recalls Merv Griffin in wonderment. "I had to pull off to the side of the road and sit there hyperventilating. I thought, 'How dare they?!' I glanced into cars going by and wondered whether they were listening to the same program. I hoped not."
    Merv Griffin arrived at his high estate, driving along and finding himself one of the richest men in town, from a standing start as a guy who used to stand in front of Freddy Martin's band in the Coconut Grove and sing "I Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts."
    Actually, Merv is the black sheep of the Griffin family. He comes from a long line of championship tennis players and they thought he might follow in the tradition. Uncle Clarence was three times U.S. men's doubles champion with the storied William (Little Bill) Johnston, and another time was runner-up at Forest Hills with John Strachan. Uncles Milton and Elmer were world-class players, as was his father, Mervin, Sr.
    "We all had lace curtain Irish names," explains Merv.
    The family parlor might have had muslin, but the lace curtain Griffins were very big in the ad court.
    Merv Griffin Jr. drifted south from his San Francisco and abandoned his tennis roots. He became the band singer for Martin's long run at the Grove. "It was the place for Hollywood in those days. Howard Hughes was there every night. Van Johnson used to grab the mike and sing. Bing Crosby used to dance by and say 'Don't pronounce your words so carefully, San Francisco. Slur them a little bit.' "
———
    Hollywood as they say, beckoned, and Merv became the lead in such non-Academy epics as "Cattle Town," "So This Is Love," and "By The Light Of The Silvery Moon." Winces Merv: "I was supposed to be Doris Day's co-star. But I photographed too young."
    It was tennis that got him out of films. "I hated the movies.”
    One day, Uncle Elmer had a chance to play Jack Warner in tennis.
    “I can let him win and save your job,” his uncle warned Merv.
    "Kill him!" instructed his nephew. The uncle mowed the Warner brother down in straight sets, love-love, and Merv was suddenly in New York on daytime television.
    It was the day of the quiz show scandals in New York, but Merv's shows were as honest as Uncle Elmer's tennis and he was soon whisking from his run on Broadway's "Finian's Rainbow" to center stage on such classics of the game-show genre as "Play Your Hunch," "Keep Talking," and "Word For Word."
    It was when he sat in for Jack Paar on the Tonight Show (pre-Carson) that his career took off. Merv Griffin had such a disingenuous air about his questioning that his guests frequently found themselves blurting their most intimate secrets and emptying all their closets with an alacrity that fascinated audiences.
    "Merv was so disarming they would forget they were on national TV and get to thinking they were talking to Merv on the bar car of the New York-New Haven-and-Hartford," an associate remembers. "Merv would just sit there and say 'Oh, really!' and 'You're kidding!' and they would fall all over themselves to tell him things they never told anybody."
    Once, when Merv had on the deposed vice-president, Spiro Agnew, his producer came to him in despair. "We can't talk about anything!" he wailed. "Look at the list of things that are off-limits! The most controversial thing on the show will be 'Hello!' "
    Merv just smiled. "Don't worry," he soothed. "Just start the camera."
    Viewers remember that, but the end of the show, Merv was getting away with questions like "And then what did you steal?"
    The Merv Griffin Show was an American institution. Congressmen, thieves, athletes, movie queens, diplomats took his couch. Merv acted as if he were in awe of all of them and played a part that was part autograph-seeker and part prosecutor. The show was more fun than a bugged confessional. It was impossible not to watch — like seeing a guy walk a ledge in a snowstorm.
    Merv tried to maintain his little-boy-in-the-big-city approach, but he was as sophisticated as any of his film-star guests. Once, when he was singing at the Palladium, a young Hollywood High student was president of his fan club. A girl named Carol Burnett.
    But Merv never forgot the fantastic popularity of the game show as a television staple. He put together a pair that were to become the biggest money-makers in the history of the breed and put Merv in the capital grouping that used to belong to guys who owned railroads or oil fields.
    "Wheel of Fortune" became the most watched game show of all time before Merv sold it to Coca Cola for a quarter of a billion dollars. "Jeopardy" was a favorite game show from the White House to the firehouse.
    Merv picked Vanna White out of a pile of photographs to dress "Wheel of Fortune."
    "Which face looks out at you?" he challenged his staff. "You can't have a guy with a ladder going out there changing letters."
    But Merv never got too far from his serve-and-volley background. Like all the Griffins, he yearned for a spot on center court. He played life as if the point were always deuce, but he played tennis to relax.
    His involvement took the form of organizing some of the earliest celebrity tournaments (he credits Clint Eastwood with pioneering them) and this weekend he hosts the Merv Griffin Tennis Tournament at the Riviera Tennis Club as part of the week-long Mita Festival, which annually raises more than a million dollars for United Cerebral Palsy. Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe (if his baby is born) are expected.
    For Merv, it's a natural outgrowth of a lifetime of being able to say "Oh, really?" and "No kidding?" on TV with a perfectly sincere straight face. It's the show biz equivalent of the high lob which the opponent smashes into the net. That shot is a Griffin family tradition. Not only puts you in the finals at Forest Hills but on the cover of Forbes Magazine.

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

Ryan Bender is doing rather well these days, even though his serious hockey playing days are behind  him.

Bender, a 25-year-old from Regina, played five seasons (2003-08) in the WHL, starting with the Kamloops Blazers (240 games) and finishing with the Regina Pats (30 games).
These days, he is in his fourth year at the U of Regina where he is in the business faculty majoring in marketing.
After leaving the WHL, he played for three seasons with the U of R Cougars but didn’t return for a fourth. Instead, he is playing for a senior team in Milestone, a farming community just south of Regina.
He also is taking part in The Interview, a Regina-based reality webinar that, he says, is “very similar to The Apprentice,” only presumably without Donald Trump’s hair.

RYAN BENDER
(Photo from The Interview Season 2)

According to its website, The Interview Season 2 is a “business reality show (and) web broadcast event that entertained and inspired Saskatchewan for 10 weeks in Season 1. The Interview is a contest created to showcase the best of Saskatchewan business in a unique way.
"Rock Bridge Realty, in collaboration with some of Regina's top businesses, is looking to give one talented individual the career opportunity of a lifetime. But they are going to have to work for it."
When this season's show was being cobbled together, there were more than 100 applicants. That was cut down to 20 for a weekend of preparation.
After a weekend of, as Bender puts it, "listening to different successful business people around Regina” address them on such subjects as networking, business thinking, effective social media and business strategy," the field was trimmed to 10.
Which is when things got really interesting as challenges were put in front of all 10, who have spent the last five or six weeks working at various tasks.
They marketed and sold Blizzards at Dairy Queen outlets. They sold pink anti-bullying t-shirts. “I’ve pretty much done it all,” Bender says.
All told, Bender has met five challenges, with participants judged on money raised and who won. (It should be noted that all money raised goes to the Red Cross’s Imagine . . . No Bullies campaign.)
During The Interview, viewers are able to follow along on the website. Not only that, they are able to vote, as the website notes, “for the contestant they feel competed with the most passion and business savvy. Internet voting begins immediately following the show each week.”
Two people were trimmed following the completion of each challenge.
After the latest challenge, the cuts were made and Bender found himself as one of the two remaining participants.
Up for grabs is a package worth more than $100,000, that includes a $50,000 contract with Rock Bridge Realty where Brooks Finlay, a former defensive lineman with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, is the lead agent and broker/owner. That deal includes education, training and licensing needed to become a real estate agent.
The winner also will receive a one-year lease on a Cadillac vehicle, a professional photo shoot, a marketing package that includes an advertising package from The Wolf 104.9, a Regina radio station, and a business wardrobe.
The big thing, though, is the opportunity to get a foot into real estate’s door.
Besides going to school, Bender also owns and manages a four-plex in Regina. He also has a single family home with a basement suite and says he is “in the early stages of a construction project” that involves another four-plex.
If you are interested, you are able to check it all out, make a donation and vote right here.

Brendan Shinnimin of the Tri-City Americans
has had more than one goaltender in his sights
in the month of February.
(Photo by John Allen / AridAcres.com)

 The Brendan Shinnimin Show played in front of 3,654 fans at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash., on Sunday night.
Pick one . . . Amazing! Incredible!! Out of sight!!!
Shinnimin scored the game’s first four goals as his Tri-City Americans beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds 5-1 and moved into first place in the U.S. Division, the Western Conference and the WHL’s overall standings, all at the same time.
But first things first . . .
Shinnimin went into the game with 48 goals this season; he came out with 52, the third player in the WHL to get to 50 this season.
Shinnimin, a 20-year-old from Winnipeg, scored at 16:17 and 19:04 of the first period, and 1:21 and 11:23 of the second. The last three of those came via the PP.
He also drew an assist on a PP goal by F Adam Hughesman at 3:08 of the third period. That goal, his 38th, got Hughesman to 98 points.
The third member of that line, Patrick Holland, picked up four more assists. He has 96 points, including a WHL-leading 73 assists.
But back to Shinnimin. . . .
He now has 115 points and leads the WHL scoring race by 10 points over F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings. With 52 goals, Shinnimin is tied with Portland Winterhawks F Ty Rattie, one behind F Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Shinnimin has career highs in goals (52), assists (63) and points (115), having reached those numbmers in 59 games. His previous highs were 34 goals, 62 assists and 96 points, all coming in 60 games last season.
Shinnimin is the first Tri-City skater to get to 50 goals in one season since Dylan Gyori in 1998-99. Gyori finished with 53.
Shinnimin also has goals in 10 straight games, with 21 goals in those games.
Now for the mind-boggling part of this . . .
In his last four games, Shinnimin has put up 19 points, including 11 goals. He has a four-goal game and two three-goal efforts. In 13 February games, Shinnimin has scored 23 goals and added 18 assists. That, folks, adds up to 41 points, which is a good season for a lot of players.
The Americans also have won each of those four games which, combined with other outcomes, has moved them back to the top of the WHL’s overall standings.
G Drew Owsley, a former teammate now with the Prince George Cougars, tweeted: “At this space, @ShinboSlice might score his 60th on me in a couple of weeks. #uhoh”
And there was this tweet from Hughesman: “Congrats to @ShinboSlice for 50 goals. Honestly speechless and have no words to describe/tweet about his month.”
Earlier in the day, Jeremy Schappert, a former Seattle skater who is from Winnipeg, tweeted: “Dear Brendan Shinnimin, How are you doing this?”
———

Garth MacBeth, who pens The MacBeth
Report, was in action on the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds lost F Branden Troock to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 19:05 of the second period. According to the online scoresheet, Seattle D Cason Machacek received a game misconduct — there is no explanation or accompanying penalty — at 15:40 of the third period. . . . Tthe Americans were 4-for-8 on the PP. . . . In February, the line of Shinnimin, Holland and Hughesman has totalled 92 points. That is in 13 games. . . . The Americans have won six in a row. . . . The Thunderbirds will play the Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Tuesday. . . .
The Thunderbirds and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington and Alaska held their annual Hockey Challenge on Saturday and Sunday in Kent, Wash.
Included in the weekend festivities were the Thunderbirds’ two home games, along with the All-Star Game on Saturday that includes local celebrities and media personalities, along with alumni from the WHL team. And, yes, it turns out that Taking Note was represented. Garth MacBeth, who does such a remarkable job on The MacBeth Report, suited up and we have a photograph to prove it. . . . The Hockey Challenge began in 1998, according to a news release, “when hockey-playing Microsoft employees, with the help of the Thunderbirds, took an in-house rivalry public and decided to raise money the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington and Alaska (RMHC). Since inception, the Challenge has raised more than $4 million for RMHC, which provides a home-away-from-home for children and their families during medical treatment, making each day a little easier.”
———
MORE SUNDAY GAMES:
(Once again, this is done with a tip of the hat to @WHLFacts. Follow @WHLFacts on Twitter for even more info.)
In Edmonton, F Mitch Moroz scored twice to help the Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Moroz, who has 15 goals, got the game’s first and third goals as Edmonton took a 3-0 first-period lead. . . . The Hurricanes had won three in a row. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 31 shots in winning his 35th game this season. . . . F Brady Ramsay scored his 23rd goal of the season for Lethbridge. Ramsay, who turned 19 on Feb. 7, had one goal in 57 games last season. He has 23 in 61 this season. . . . The Oil Kings have a 10-point lead over the Medicine Hat Tigers atop the Central Division and lead the Eastern Conference by six points over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . .

In Calgary, F Victor Rask broke a 1-1 tie at 8:48 of the third period as the Hitmen edged the Kelowna Rockets, 2-1. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick opened the scoring for Calgary, with his 29th, at 4:57 of the first on a PP. Kelowna had been penalized for having too many men on the ice. . . . F Brett Bulmer pulled Kelowna even with his 29th at 11:07. . . . Rask won it with his 27th. . . . Calgary G Brandon Glover stopped 26 shots, four fewer than Kelowna’s Jordon Cooke. . . . Kelowna has lost three in a row. . . . The Hitmen had F Calder Brooks back after he missed seven games with a shoulder injury. . . . The Hitmen now are fourth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Medicine Hat and a point up on the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rockets will finish sixth in the Western Conference. . . .

In Everett, G Kent Simpson turned aside 35 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 2-1 OT victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Silvertips were less than a minute away from being blanked for a second straight game when F Josh Winquist pulled them into a 1-1 tie with his 13th goal at 19:09 of the third period. Yes, Simpson was on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . F Ryan Harrison won it with his 18th at 1:07 of extra time. . . . F Cam Reid had scored for Portland, at 2:53 of the second. . . . The Winterhawks had won nine in a row. . . . Everett D Brennan Yadlowski completed his 10-game suspension by sitting this one out. . . . Everett has closed to within a point of Seattle, which holds down the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . Portland and the Kamloops Blazers are one point behind the Western Conference-leading Tri-City Americans, who also lead the overall standings. The Blazers are to play in Portland on Tuesday.
———
SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Brady Ramsay, Lethbridge.
———
SUNDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
———
In the BCHL, the host Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 37 games, this time beating the Prince George Spruce Kings, 4-1. . . . The Vees next play Thursday when they return to Merritt to play the Centennials. Those teams played in Merritt on Saturday night, with the Vees winning 2-1 in double OT.
———
Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz wasn’t in uniform Saturday as the Tigers scored a 4-3 shootout victory over the visiting Kelowna Rockets. It seems the veteran goaltender, whose NHL rights belong to the Edmonton Oilers, is battling concussion problems.
Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal blog The Cult of Hockey has more right here.
———
F Brady Leavold (Swift Current, Kelowna, 2004-2008) is with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees these days. But the road to the Killer Bees was full of potholes and heroin and Oxycontin and who knows what else. Brian Sandalow of Valley Freedom Newspapers has Leavold’s story right here.
———
ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Paul Kelly, squeezed out as executive director of College Hockey Inc., tells Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe that he isn’t sure where he’s going from here, but . . .
“Ideally, I’d like to stay in hockey,” Kelly told Dupont. “I’m grateful for the opportunity the commissioners gave me, and now I’m going to take some of the advice I’ve given to a lot of college-aged hockey players the last couple of years: back away a bit and not leap at the first thing that comes along. When you do that, it often forecloses what can be even better opportunities.
“But I know I love the game, and would equally love the chance to stay in it, be that with the NHL, a team’s front office, international hockey, wherever.
“I know we did some very good things at CHI, and I know I leave there with it in good hands. I truly believe it has the chance to thrive.’’
So, Mr. Commissioner, why doesn’t the CHL hire Kelly as its president, a move that would allow David Branch to focus entirely on his position as commissioner of the OHL?
Hey, it was just a thought!

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Giants victory postpones pennant clinching

That leg that is resting on the back of Kamloops defenceman Austin
Madaisky during a scrum belongs to Vancouver captain Brendan
Gallagher. The Giants beat the host Blazers 5-3 on Saturday night.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

The Kamloops Blazers’ first opportunity to clinch the WHL franchise’s first B.C. Division pennant since 2001-02 ended with head coach Guy Charron standing at the players’ bench yelling at referee Matt Thurston.
“Nice call,” Charron hollered, his voice audible over the booing of many of the 4,610 fans who remained to the bitter end at Interior Savings Centre on Saturday night.
Ten seconds after Thurston penalized Kamloops defenceman Austin Madaisky for hooking at 19:13 of the third period, Vancouver’s Marek Tvrdon broke a 3-3 tie with a screamer from the high slot and the Giants went on to defeat the Blazers, 5-3.
By the time Charron emerged from the dressing room, he was considerably more restrained than he had been minutes earlier.
“No comment,” he said, before adding that “it was one of those games that you didn’t know what was going to get called.”
In the last minute of the third period, Vancouver captain Brendan Gallagher drove down the right wing in the Kamloops zone and worked to cut around Blazers defenceman Austin Madaisky. As the two battled for position, Gallagher went down and Thurston’s arm went up.
“That’s how he plays,” Kamloops winger Brendan Ranford said of Gallagher. “He plays hard . . . he draws penalties like that.”
Gallagher had, well, a typical Gallagher night. He drew three penalties and scored two goals, the second into an empty net.
That second goal, his 38th this season, was the 274th point of his career, giving him the franchise record. The first goal had tied him with Adam Courchaine (2001-05).
“It’s pretty special to me,” said Gallagher, 19, who also holds the franchise’s career record for goals and is 15 assists shy of that record, too. “A lot of people have helped me . . . it’s not individual even though my name is on it. Every player I’ve played with . . . I’ve had a lot of good veteran players when I was young to learn from and see how they act. I was put in a really good situation and I’m thankful for that.”
He was thankful for the victory, too, because the Blazers had taken it to his guys for the game’s first 25 minutes.
After Gallagher opened the scoring at 7:32 of the first period, Chase Schaber, who also had two assists, and Ranford beat goaltender Adam Morrison five minutes apart to give the home boys a 2-1 lead.
The Blazers were full marks for that lead, too, as the Giants struggled to handle the home team’s speed and its forechecking and cycling games.
It appeared that the Blazers had seized control when Ranford upped the lead to 3-1 with his 36th goal, via the power play, at 4:21 of the second period.
However, it wasn’t to be.
“In the second half of the game,” Gallagher said, “we just started moving our feet and . . . we forced them to make plays under pressure. Every player has a tough time with pressure. When you’re doing that to teams it’s good.
“We got our legs going and we got a big goal from Jackson Houck. He’s a young guy and he stepped up.”
Houck, a 16-year-old from North Vancouver, put a puck through goaltender Cole Cheveldave from a bad angle at 13:16 to get the Giants to within a goal.
Then, just 56 seconds later, defenceman Brett Kulak dipsy-doodled off the left wing and beat Cheveldave to tie it.
Which served to set the table for Tvrdon.
As Charron put it: “If you’re killing penalties with 46 seconds to play, there’s not much to say. We broke down. They scored a goal.”
In truth, this one slipped away from the Blazers in the second period.
“The second period was our worst period again,” said Charron, whose charges had watched a 2-0 lead turn into a 2-2 tie in the second period of Friday’s 6-2 victory in Vancouver. “They outchanced us. They outworked us to the puck and they outworked us when they had the puck. That’s really the bottom line.”
Overall, though, Charron wasn’t too disappointed.
“We allowed ourselves (a chance) to win the hockey game in the third period,” he said. “We felt pretty good about ourselves and it was decided by a last-minute call.”
Of course, had Kamloops winger Tim Bozon fired that shot another inch or two to the right at 13:55 of the third period . . .
“We were dominating that whole third period, I felt,” Ranford said, “and we were getting back to it, but the bounces weren’t going our way. Bozon hits the post and it goes from there.”
Yes, Charron allowed, “Bozon hit the goal post. It’s a fine line this game of hockey . . . that’s why it’s such a great game.”
A pennant-clinching party will have to wait, as the Blazers (43-15-4) now are 14 points ahead of the second-place Giants (36-23-4), who have nine games remaining. However, in the overall standings, Kamloops has slipped a point behind the Tri-City Americans (44-15-3), who won Sunday, and is tied with the Portland Winterhawks (43-15-4), who lost in OT.
Kamloops next plays in Portland on Tuesday. The Blazers then will meet the Silvertips in Everett on Wednesay before returning home to face the Kelowna Rockets on Friday.
The loss Saturday was only the fifth time in 28 games against B.C. Division opposition that the Blazers were beaten in regulation time. They are 21-5-2 in B.C., and 14-1-1 against U.S. opposition.
JUST NOTES: Cheveldave finished with 26 saves, eight more than Morrison. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-6 on the PP; the Blazers were 1-for-4. . . . Madaisky returned after serving a two-game suspension for a cross-checking major he incurred a week earlier. . . . With Kamloops G Cam Lanigan (groin) sidelined, the Blazers had Liam McLeod backing up Cheveldave. McLeod, a ninth-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft, spent the season with the major midget Thompson Blazers. . . . The Blazers scratched F Matt Needham with an undisclosed injury. He is probable for Tuesday in Portland. . . . The Daily News’ Three Stars: 1. Gallagher: He stirs the Giants’ drink; 2. Ranford: Three points and a 13-game point streak; 3. Houck: Key goal.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

The sporting fraternity in Saskatchewan is mourning the loss of Bill Johnston, a long-time organizer who passed away in Moose Jaw on Thursday after a short illness. He was 76.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
———
The Memorial Cup hasn’t been decided in an American city since 1998, when the Portland Winterhawks won the championship in Spokane.
There are some people within WHL circles who wonder when one of the WHL’s five U.S. teams will get another chance to play host to the championship tournament.
Well, you fans in Everett, Kent, Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, Portland, Seattle and Spokane shouldn’t hold your breath.
“We’ll never see a cup down here again,” someone who is with a U.S. team told me. “Once again, too lazy to make it work across the border.
“To me, it’s just arrogance on the Canadian side, telling us we don’t deserve the sport. . . .”
The WHL next will play host to the Memorial Cup tournament in 2013 when it will be in Saskatoon. Next up will be 2016 and there already is speculation that the Vancouver Giants are interested in putting in a bid to play host to that one.
Of course, the hangup with taking the tournament south seems to be sponsorships.
“The league marketing deals just frost all of us here,” the person said. “Baseball, NHL and the NBA can cross the border on deals . . . but us? And don’t even get me started on the TV deals with Shaw and ROOT.”
The CHL may have taken at least one step towards holding a Memorial Cup in the U.S. this week when it signed a deal with Aaron’s, Inc., a home furniture and electronics operation that is based in Atlanta and has more than 1,940 outlets in 48 states and Canada.
Aaron’s has huge involvement with NASCAR — if you are watching today’s Daytona 500, you will see its logo on Mark Martin’s No. 55 Toyota. Aaron’s is signed as a sponsor with Michael Waltrip Racing through the 2013 Sprint Cup season.
Aaron’s also was involved in sponsoring the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, before the franchise flew north to Winnipeg.
———
The Concussion Report is working hard to keep track of the number of concussions in the NHL this season. On Friday, TCR reported: “As of today there is a 40 per cent increase in concussions versus last (season). The total number of 98 is the exact total of the entire regular season last (season).” . . .
TCR’s report also includes this:
“Speaking of (upper-body injuries) and undisclosed, I know I am beating a dead horse, but why the need to hide the injury? Why misinform the public and even the players about injuries that are inherent to hockey? Haven’t we learned from Chris Pronger, Colby Armstrong, even Sidney Crosby? I am not good enough to write an open letter or even where to send it, but Mr. Bettman there are some very small changes you can make before you should eliminate all head contact and take on the fighting issue in hockey: Do not allow your teams to hide the concussion/brain injury. You want to know what the real problem is, (then) stop placing your head in the sand, start there!”
If there is a 40 per cent increase in the number of concussions in the NHL this season over last, should we assume that the WHL, which also is hiding its injuries in the vast majority of instances, will report the same kind of increase?
The WHL’s latest weekly injury report lists 44 players as being out with upper-body injuries.
TCR’s report is right here.
———
The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who are to play the Oil Kings in Edmonton today, were living the life on Saturday.
Here’s an afternoon tweet from Pat Siedlecki, the radio voice of the Hurricanes:
“Well, still waiting to leave Lethbridge for Edmonton. The @WHLHurricanes bus broke down before it got to the rink to load up.” . . .
Later, F Nick Buonassisi tweeted:
“Our bus departs from lethbridge to edm 6 hours later then scheduled then finally get a bus that works and the tranny hits the ground #classic”
And then it was G Liam Liston’s turn:
“We had our bus replaced by one with a vhs player, no AC, smaller than normal number of seats, an awful transmission and a door that won’t close.”
One more from Buonassisi:
“Broken bus update: the door has just flew off. whats next? Place your bets.”
———
F Brett Connolly played 15:21 on Saturday as his Tampa Bay Lightning lost 8-1 to the Penguins in Pittsburgh. He played 12:25 at even-strength and 2:56 on the power play. . . . Connolly had four shots on goal, took one minor penalty and was minus-1. . . . The Lightning has until Monday, the NHL’s trade deadline, to make a decision on whether to assign Connolly to the WHL’s Tri-City Americans.
———
In the BCHL, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 36 games by beating the Centennials 2-1 in OT in Merritt. . . . The Vees got the winner from F Travis St. Denis with 45 seconds left in the second OT period, which is played 3-on-3. . . . The Vees, who have seven regular-season games remaining, are at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings this afternoon.
———
It isn’t the WHL but Nanaimo appears about to land another hockey team. Already the home to the BCHL’s Clippers, the Vancouver Island city is about to become home to a junior B team that will play out of the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Phil And Brenda Levesque are negotiating for ice with the city. The team will play in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
Tamara Cunningham of the Nanaimo Daily News has that story right here.
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
(With a tip of the hat to @WHLFacts for some of the info that follows. If you are on Twitter and aren’t following, you should be.)
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-2. . . . Warriors D Travis Brown tied the game 2-2 at 18:32 of the second and F James Henry, with his 13th, both the tie just 25 seconds later. . . . F Kenton Miller scored twice for Moose Jaw, giving him 30 this season. He has 11 goals in February; last season he finished with 10 goals in 55 games with the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Henry added two assists to his goal. He has 21 points, including seven goals, in 20 games with Moose Jaw since coming over from the Vancouver Giants at the trade deadline. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 43 shots, 26 more than Moose Jaw’s Luke Siemens. . . . The Warriors had lost three straight. . . . Moose Jaw is four points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. Each team has 10 games remaining. . . .

In Prince Albert, F Sam Reinhart’s 26th goal of the game, 19 seconds into OT, gave the Kootenay Ice a 5-4 victory over the Raiders. . . . Prince Albert took a 3-1 lead into the second period but couldn’t hold it. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart tied the game 4-4 when he scored his 26th goal on a penalty shot at 14:46 of the third. He finished with two goals and two assists. He drew the lone assist on his younger brother’s winner. . . . F Mark McNeill, who had a goal and two assists, had given the Raiders the lead with his 28th goal at 8:21 of the third. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 25 shots in setting the franchise record for career victories (83). The previous record was held by Taylor Dakers (2003-06). . . . The Ice is fourth in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. . . .

In Saskatoon, D Alex Petrovic scored the only goal of the shootout as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Blades, 4-3. . . . With the Blades shooting first, Petrovic was the circus’s final shooter. . . . Red Deer F John Persson forced OT with his 21st goal at 18:45 of the third. . . . Persson finished with two goals and an assist. . . . F Jake Trask gave the Blades a 3-2 lead with his 18th goal, via the PP, at 2:45 of the third. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov stopped 44 shots, 12 more than Red Deer’s Deven Dubyk. . . . The Blades are 2-5-1 in their last eight. . . . This was the Blades’ last home game until March 13 as their home rink will be home to the Tim Hortons Brier — the Canadian men’s curling championship — from March 3-11. . . . The Blades are sixth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Calgary. . . . The Rebels are 10 points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left. . . .

In Brandon, F Mark Stone scored the only goal of the circus as the Wheat Kings beat the Regina Pats, 2-1. . . . Brandon’s victory officially eliminated the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes from the playoff race. . . . The Broncos are out for just the third time in 26 seasons. . . . This was the third straight game in which Brandon went to OT. . . . Brandon has won nine of 11. . . . Stone, who had his 14-game point streak come to an end, was the first shooter of the circus. . . . F Jack Rodewald scored his sixth goal for Regina, at 1:51 of the first. . . . F Paul Ciarelli got the equalizer at 15:40 of the first. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 23 shots, seven fewer than Regina’s Matt Hewitt. . . . The Wheat Kings had gone two years without a shootout victory when they beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 on Friday. . . . Brandon holds down eighth place in the Eastern Conference but is just one point behind Regina and four points out of fourth. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 29 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Everett Silvertips, 3-0. . . . Pickard has five shutouts this season and 12 in his career. . . . Pickard and Ty Rimmer of the Tri-City Americans are the WHL leaders, each with five. . . . WHLFacts points out that Seattle’s last 50 victories have been credited to Pickard. That’s right. It’s been more than two years since a goaltender other than Pickard has won a game for the Thunderbirds. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 42 shots. . . . Seattle F Dillon Wagner got his fifth goal, at 14:14 of the first, and it stood up as the winner. . . . D Brad Deagle drew two assists. . . . Seattle also got goals from F Connor Honey, his sixth, and F Jacob Doty, his second. . . . Everett has lost three in a row and now is three points behind Seattle, which holds down the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Hunter Shinkaruk and F Curtis Valk scored in the circus to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Shinkaruk was returning after missing six games with an undisclosed injury. . . . Shinkaruk drew two assists. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 53rd goal. . . . F Brett Bulmer scored twice for Kelowna, giving him 28 goals. . . . Bulmer, who also had an assist, has 50 points in 44 games. Last season, he finished with 49 in 57. . . . Kelowna took a 3-2 lead into the second period. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox tied it with his 10th goal at 8:00 of the second. . . . The Tigers were missing F Cole Grbavac, their captain, with an undisclosed injury, while G Tyler Bunz also wasn’t dressed. . . . Medicine Hat G Kenny Cameron stopped 35 shots. Dawson MacAuley of the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers backed him up. . . . After the game, Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News tweeted: “#Medhat Tigers lose import D Patrik Parkkonen, who was hit from behind by Kel. #Rockets LW Jessey Astles in second per. No pen. call.” . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Kootenay. . . .

In Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants erased a 3-1 first-period deficit and beat the Blazers, 5-3. . . . A victory in regulation would have allowed the Blazers to clinch the B.C. Division’s regular-season pennant. . . . The Giants had lost their last three, including a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Blazers on Friday. . . . F Marek Tvrdon broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 19:23 of the third period, just 20 seconds after Kamloops D Austin Madaisky was penalized for hooking Giants F Brendan Gallagher. . . . F Riley Kieser had three assists for Vancouver. . . . F Brendan Ranford had two goals, giving him 36, and an assist for Kamloops. He ran his point streak to 13 games. . . . F Chase Schaber had a goal and two assists for Kamloops. . . . The Blazers lead the overall standings, by a point over the Tri-City Americans and Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Giants now are five points ahead of the fifth-place Spokane Chiefs, who hold two games in hand. . . .
Gallagher had two goals, the second one into an empty net. The second one gave him 274 career points, one more than the franchise record that had been held by Adam Courchaine (2001-05). . . . Gallagher also holds the franchise record for career goals. . . . He has 141 assists and needs 14 to equal D Jon Blum’s franchise assist record. . . . “It’s pretty special to me,” Gallagher said of the franchise record for career points. “A lot of people have helped me. It’s not invidividual even though my name is on it. Starting with (head coach) Don (Hay). When you’re 16 and you come here you don’t really understand the game. He’s a really good teacher and you learn every time you come to the rink. Every player I’ve played with . . . I’ve had a lot of good veteran players when I was young to learn from and see how they act. I was put in a really good situation and I’m thankful for that.” . . .

In Prince George, the Victoria Royals completed a weekend doubleheader sweep with a 5-3 victory over the Cougars. . . . The Royals had won 4-2 on Friday night. . . . In this one, F Robin Soudek, who had two goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 5:40 of the second period. . . . The Royals went on to take a 4-1 on goals by F Brandon Magee, at 17:47 of the second, and Soudek, at 3:16 of the third. . . . The Cougars got third-period goals from F Daulton Siwak, shorthanded, and F Chase Witala, at 8:30, but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Royals G Jared Rathjen, a Prince George native, stopped 30 shots for his second career victory. He had earned his first one on Friday. . . . Cougars G Drew Owsley made 37 saves. . . . Each team was 0-6 on the PP. . . . The Royals are seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Seattle. . . . The Cougars are four points out of eighth with 11 games left. . . .

In Spokane, F Brendan Shinnimin continued his amazing run with four points as the Tri-City Americans beat the Chiefs, 7-3. . . . Shinnimin, who was coming off back-to-back three-goal games, had a goal and three assists in this one. He has 14 points in his last three games. So let’s just announce the WHL and CHL player of the week right now. . . . He ran his goal-scoring streak to nine games. . . . Shinnimin now has 110 points and leads the WHL scoring derby by five points over F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Tri-City F Patrick Holland had two goals and two assists, giving him 92 points. He has three straight four-point games. Holland is on a nine-game point streak — he has 22 points, 19 of them assists, in that stretch. . . . F Adam Hughesman, the third member of that line, had a goal and an assist, giving him 96 points. . . . Holland broke a 2-2 tie at 11:11 of the second. . . . Americans F Justin Feser, with his second of the game and 31st of the season, made it 4-2 at 14:32. . . . Spokane F Blake Gal got his guys to within one at 9:46 of the third, but the Americans put it away with the last three goals. . . . F Dominik Uher had a goal and two assists for Spokane. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 36 shots in earning his 25th victory. . . . The Americans have won five in a row. . . . The Chiefs have lost six of seven. . . . The Americans moved back into a tie with Portland atop the U.S. Division.
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Tanner Muth, Kootenay.
F Tyrell Goulbourne, Kelowna.
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Jagger Dirk, Kootenay.
D Jared Hauf, Seattle.
———
The incomparable Roy MacGregor takes a look at Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin and what may be ailing him, and it’s right here.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.