D Oleg Tverdovsky (Brandon, 1994-95) signed a one-year contract extension with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia, KHL). He had six goals and five assists in 24 games with Metallurg this season. Tverdovsky started the season with Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia, KHL), going pointless in 12 games, and played two games without a point for Salavat Yulaev's farm club, Toros Neftekamsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), before he was released. He then signed with Metallurg for the rest of this season. . . .
D Ivan Usenko (Swift Current, 2001-02) signed a one-year contract with Neman Grodno (Belarus, Open League). He had 12 goals and 18 assists for Yunost Minsk (Belarus, Open League) this season.
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ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Your bantam draft was held on Thursday. During the draft, a few trades involving players were made. How long will it take you to get these deals included in the transactions
portion of your website?Also, will you be including the transaction in which the Portland Winterhawks dealt director of player personnel Garry Davidson to the Everett Silvertips for a second-round draft pick or two?
One other thing . . . Are you aware that the NHL no longer allows compensation when executives change teams? In fact, the NHL hasn’t allowed it since the lockout that cost it the 2004-05 season.
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THE WHL FINAL:
Game 3 . . .
In Portland, the Winterhawks opened up a 3-0 second-period lead and held on to beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . Portland leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with the fourth game scheduled for the Rose Garden on Tuesday night. The Black Keys are playing in the Rose Garden tonight, thus the day off between games. . . . Game 5 will be played in Edmonton on Thursday. . . . Using the Rose Garden’s hockey layout, the game was sold out – 10,947. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi opened the scoring at 4:53 of the second period. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie, who missed Game 2 with an undisclosed injury, scored his 29th career playoff goal at 12:06. Rattie set a franchise record in the process. He had shared the record with Randy Heath. . . . Just 29 seconds later, F Oliver Gabriel scored on a breakaway to give Portland a 3-0 lead. . . . Rattie and Gabriel both scored on the PP as the Winterhawks went 2-5 with the man advantage. . . . Edmonton was 1-3. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored for Edmonton just 20 seconds into the third period, via the PP, but Portland got that one back at 4:37, thanks to F Brendan Leipsic. . . . D Martin Gernat (7:16) and D Keegan Lowe (10:34) got the Oil Kings to within one but they weren’t able to equalize. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 34 shots, five more than Edmonton’s Laurent Brossoit. . . . Edmonton F Jordan Peddle and Portland F Brad Ross were ejected for becoming involved in the second fight during a stoppage in play. They fought after Lowe and Portland’s Josh Morrow scrapped at 12:21 of the first period. . . . Edmonton inserted D Ryan Dech into the lineup, choosing to take out D Ashton Sautner. . . . With Rattie back, the Winterhawks scratched F Jason Trott.———
Jim Beseda of The Oregonian covered the game and his story is right here.
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Chris O’Leary was there on behalf of the Edmonton Journal. His game story is right here.
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Somehow, columnist John Canzano of The Oregonian discovered the WHL’s great secret — the two teams shared a charter flight from Edmonton to Portland on Saturday.
“Turns out the WHL finals are a big deal,” Canzano writes. “The pucks are brand new. The officials are said to be the best in the league. The Zamboni gets a tune-up. And also, it's the only road trip of the season that the teams utilize an airplane instead of a bus. Except, these are still tight economic times and the teams have agreed to share a single plane.”
And they’ll share again when they return to Edmonton for Game 5. Canzano’s column is right here. It’s terrific. And would someone find a way to get him on that flight to Edmonton. Please!
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Here is the schedule for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 10: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
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