Langnau (Switzerland, NL A) signed F Tyler Ennis (Medicine Hat, 2005-09) and D Jared Spurgeon (Spokane, 2005-10) to lockout contracts. Ennis had 15 goals and 19 assists in 48 games with the Buffalo Sabres last season, while Spurgeon had three goals and 20 assists in 70 games with the Minnesota Wild. They are childhood friends and were teammates in minor hockey in Edmonton. . . .
F Stepan Novotny (Kelowna, Swift Current, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extrraliga). He had five goals and six assists in 34 games for Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL) last season. . . .
F Shay Stephenson (Red Deer, 2000-04) was released by Karlskrona (Sweden, Allsvenskan) by mutual agreement due to injury. He had no points in three games this season with Karlskrona. . . .
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) signed a try-out contract with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga). He had one assist in one game with Trnava (Slovakia, 1.Liga) this season. Last season, Rumpel had three assists in two games with Trnava and seven goals and 12 assists in 30 games with Frederikshavn (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga).
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When the WHL gathered its head coaches for an information session in Calgary last week, there was a lot of talk about dangerous hits, about not hitting players who are in vulnerable positions, about not hitting another player in the numbers, about the respect factor.

Make no mistake about it – this was a nasty game. Not nasty in terms of ample stickwork and a number of fights (there was only one), but nasty because of some really dangerous hits.
It started four minutes into the first period when Kelowna F Colton Heffley hit Kamloops F Aspen Sterzer from behind.
Before the game was done, Kamloops D Tyler Hansen had twice been penalized for hits from behind, while Kelowna F Ryan Olsen also picked up one.
But two of the most egregious checks from behind weren’t called such; in fact, one of them didn’t even draw a penalty.
At 16:43 of the first period, Kelowna F Henrik Nyberg hit Kamloops D Tyler Bell in the back and wasn’t even penalized. Nyberg ended up falling on Bell, who went down awkwardly and appeared to injure his right knee. He returned to the bench for the last two periods but didn’t play again. Nyberg, a freshman from Sweden, ended up in a fight as Kamloops F Dylan Willick went straight to him. The only penalty assessed Nyberg was a fighting major.
At 10:11 of the second period, Kelowna D Myles Bell drilled Kamloops F Matt Needham from behind and was given a boarding minor.
Meanwhile, at 12:08 of the second period, Kelowna F Colton Sissons drove to the Kamloops net off the left wing. He made no attempt to pull up and barrelled into G Cole Cheveldave in the crease. Somehow, Sissons came out of this without a goaltender interference penalty; rather, he was penalized for roughing.
Cheveldave left the game after the second period with an undisclosed injury. Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said he couldn’t yet say whether Cheveldave was injured on that play. Charron wasn’t at all happy to be talking about Cheveldave being injured again. After all, Cheveldave’s last season ended late in Game 1 of a second-round series with Portland when he was run over by Winterhawks F Oliver Gabriel behind the net.
Last night, shortly after Sissons ran into Cheveldave, Kamloops F Jordan DePape had a chance to bury Kelowna G Jordon Cooke on a similar play, put pulled up short and skated past the side of the net.
The messages in all of this: The penalties for checking from behind have to be made stiffer. If that’s what it takes to make players think before they drill an opponent in the numbers, well, that’s what it’s going to take.
And the WHL officials need to work harder to protect the goaltenders. A few charging majors would be a good place to start.
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In seasons past, I have done game-by-game reviews. I’m not going to do that this season; it’s simply too time-consuming and most of the information I provided is available on the game sheets on the WHL website. . . . Instead, I will try to provide some highlights, injuries, tidbits, etc. . . . If you are at a game and see something of interest, email me at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca. . . .
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FRIDAY’S STUFF:
The Portland Winterhawks outshot the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 30-2 in the first

LW Tim Bozon scored three goals, the last one in OT, to give the host Kamloops Blazers

The host Moose Jaw Warriors overcame a 3-0 deficit and beat the Swift Current Broncos


In Red Deer, the Rebels dropped a 3-2 decision to the Calgary Hitmen and lost D Mathew

In Brandon, head coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk picked up his first victory as the Wheat

The Saskatoon Blades began their march to the 2013 Memorial Cup by beating the host

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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Madie Gylywoychuk (@Madietaylor99): “Congrats on the first win of the season @bdnwheatkings! Way to go Dad! @millchew.”
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IN OTHER NEWS:
The Regina Pats have acquired F Adam Rossignol, 19, from the Swift Current Broncos for

The Broncos also announced Friday that they have released F Christian Magnus, 20. He

The Tri-City Americans have assigned F Brendan Persley, 19, to the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals, who acquired his rights last week from the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. . . . The Americans now are carrying 26 players, including two goaltenders and 15 forwards. . . .
F Brock Balson, 19, who was released this week by his hometown Kamloops Blazers, is back with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. Balson was released by the Prince Albert Raiders prior to the start of last season. He joined the SilverBacks and put up 19 points in 20 games. He then moved to the Blazers, for whom he had six points in 42 games. . . .
F Justin Maylan (Moose Jaw, Prince George, Prince Albert, 2007-12) has signed with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. Maylan, 21, had 89 points, including 63 assists, with Prince Albert last season.
The Medicine Hat Tigers have assigned G Kenny Cameron, 19, to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove

Brian Wiebe, who covers the BCHL like a glove, reports that the Surrey Eagles have added D Tommy Stipancik, 18, who was released by the Saskatoon Blades. Stipancik had three points in 34 games with the Blades last season. . . . Wiebe also has F Brayden Low, 18, joining the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials after being dropped by the Seattle Thunderbirds. Low, who played four games with the Portland Winterhawks in 2010-11, had 16 points in 44 games with the Centennials last season.
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The OHL and the Windsor Spitfires have come to an agreement on disciplinary measures brought on by a violation of the league’s player recruitment policy. Originally, the

Bob Duff of the Windsor Star writes right here about how this means the Spitfires have “dropped their innocent act.”
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The QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket franchise will change its name to P.E.I. Islanders effective next season. The team held a rename-your-team contest and Islanders got 49 per cent of the votes. Also considered were Riptide and Confederation. . . . The change can’t take place yet because Reebok is just now working on changing logos and colours.
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