F Ryan Kinasewich (Medicine Hat, Tri-City, 1998-2004) was released by mutual agreement by Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and seven assists in 14 games this season. . . .
F Ashton Rome (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Kamloops, 2002-06) signed a one-year contract with Dusseldorf (Germany, DEL). He was pointless in five games this season with the Greenville Road Warriors (ECHL). Last season, Rome had 11 goals and nine assists in 66 games with the Portland Pirates (AHL). . . .
F Domenic Pittis (Lethbridge, 1991-94) signed a contract through Nov. 30 with Visp (Switzerland, NL B). He had 12 goals and 19 assists in 49 games with the ZSC Lions Zurich (Switzerland, NL A) last season. . . .
F Martin Hanzal (Red Deer, 2006-07) signed a lockout contract with Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had eight goals and 26 assists in 64 games with the Phoenix Coyotes last season.
F Scott Hartnell (Prince Albert, 1997-2000) has agreed to a lockout contract with KalPa Kuopio (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 37 goals and 30 assists in 82 games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season. Hartnell’s contract will become effective on Nov. 15 should the NHL lockout still be in effect. Hartnell is one of the owners of KalPa and would join Nashville F Craig Smith on the team. According to the local Kuopio newspaper Savon Sanomat, the agreements with both players are consistent with all NHL locked-out players currently playing in Finland. The players are drawing no salaries; the clubs are providing only travel expenses, local accommodations, and contract insurance premiums. The paper reports that the insurance premiums for Hartnell are about €40,000 per month (US$51,800) and about €10,000 per month (US$12,950) for Smith. . . .
If people are wondering about wages in normal situations in Europe, Swedish player agent Gunnar Svensson told Edmonton Journal reporter Jim Matheson that the three best-paying hockey leagues, in order, are the NHL, the KHL, and Sweden’s Elitserien. He went on to say that top salaries in Elitserien are around $500,000 US per season and the average is about $110,000 US.
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No longer will teams be able to go into the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland and try to run the Winterhawks out of the bandbox. Paul Buker of The Oregonian has the story right here about how the Coliseum now has an NHL-sized ice surface. . . . The first game on the new surface is scheduled for Sunday with the Tri-City Americans playing the Winterhawks.
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The Everett Silvertips have trimmed two 19-year-olds players from their roster. . . . G Cole Holowenko has returned home to await a move, while F Zach McPhee has left the club. . . . According to a news release, McPhee chose to leae “to pursue opportunities outside the major junior level.” . . . Holowenko was acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders, but went 0-2-1, 6.41, .808 and was passed on the depth chart by Austin Lotz and Daniel Cotton. . . . McPhee, who came over from the Tri-City Americans in 2010-11, had 10 points in 49 games with Everett. This season, he was pointless in 11 games. . . .
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Veteran F Drew Czerwonka, 20, has chosen to leave the Kootenay Ice and retire. He had been the team’s captain since the start of last season. . . . In 227 games, Czerwonka, who is from Glenavon, Sask., had 112 points, including 48 goals, and 321 penalty minutes. . . . He was in his fifth season with the Ice, but injuries limited him to 40 games last season. He had four assists in eight games this season. . . . “More or less that he had lost the fire and it's been on his mind for about the past month,” Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s president and general manager, told Jeff Holick, the club’s radio voice. “He gave it a lot of thought. He's a very thorough young man and . . . I respect the decision.” . . . For more, check out Holick’s blog over there on the right.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Vancouver, the Giants ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Royals had won the first three games of the season series. . . . The Royals are in Kamloops tonight. . . . The Royals, who had won three in a row, didn’t get even one shot on goal in the first period, the second time this season they have been blanked in one period. It happened in Kamloops in the second period of a 5-2 loss on Oct. 10. . . . F Marek Tvrdon had three goals and an assist for the Giants. . . . Tvrdon, a 31-goal man last season, now has four this time around but he is on a seven-game point streak. . . . F Kale Kessy, 20, played in his first game with Vancouver. He was acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers while in the midst of a 12-game WHL-issued suspension. . . . G Payton Lee, 16, made his second straight start for Vancouver, this time stopping 13 shots. . . . The Giants left on a road trip right after the game and, according to Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, Lee wasn’t on the bus. He has returned to the junior B Richmond Sockeyes, leaving the Giants with Liam Liston and Tyler Fuhr as their goaltenders. . . . The Giants were without F Cain Franson, who suffered an injury in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday. He may have been hurt on a play on which Brandon D Tyler Yaworski was given a headshot major. Yaworski was hit with a ‘tbd’ suspension on Friday morning. . . . Vancouver lost F Thomas Foster with an apparent shoulder injury in the first period. . . . The Giants play in Edmonton on Sunday. . . .
The Everett Silvertips won their fourth straight game, beating the visiting Spokane Chiefs, 6-5. . . . It was Everett’s first home victory of the season. The Silvertips, who entertain the Seattle Thunderbirds tonight, are 1-3-1 at home. . . . F Kohl Bauml had two goals for Everett. . . . D Ben Betker had a goal and an assist, both WHL firsts, for the Silvertips. . . . G Daniel Cotton stopped 29 saves in winning his fourth straight game. . . . The Chiefs trailed 6-2 before scoring the game’s last three goals. . . . According to a Spokane news release, “The Chiefs suffered a further blow when leading scorer Mitch Holmberg took a hit to the head midway through the first period and had to leave the contest.” There were no headshot penalties handed out, according to the online scoresheet. . . . Holmberg has 23 points, including 11 goals, in 14 games. . . .
F Colin Smith had a goal and three assists to help the host Kamloops Blazers to an 8-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Smith ran his season-opening point streak to 14 games as the Blazers ran their record to 13-0-1. . . . F JC Lipon, the WHL’s leading point man, had three assists. . . . Kamloops has won 11 straight games. . . . F Dylan Willick and F Tim Bozon had two goals each. . . . Kamloops D Tyler Hansen had a goal and two assists. He was playing in his 199th regular-season game and this was his first three-point outing. . . . Bozon also had an assist, giving the Blazers’ big line a 10-point night. . . . Kamloops F Jordan DePape scored in his return from a shoulder injury that cost him six games. . . . The Wheat Kings are 2-3-1 on a seven-game road trip that ends tonight against the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Blazers are at home tonight to Victoria. The Royals beat the Blazers 4-3 in a shootout on Sept. 28 and that is the lone blemish on Kamloops’ record. . . .
G Brandon Glover stopped 44 shots to help the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Glover stopped 17 shots in the third period when his mates scored twice to break a 1-1 tie. . . . This was the first meeting of the season between the teams. Last season, the Americans lost the first game and then won nine in a row from the Thunderbirds. . . . Seattle F Robert Lipsbergs broke a 1-1 tie with his first WHL goal at 4:12 of the third period. . . . Tri-City had won its last four games in Seattle’s home rink in Kent, Wash. . . . After eight in a row on the road, the Americans are at home to the Spokane Chiefs tonight. . . .
F Colton Sissons scored twice to lead the visiting Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Sissons recorded his 50th career goal and 100th career point. . . . He’s got eight goals this season. . . . Kelowna F Ryan Olsen came off a three-game suspension to score his club’s other goal. . . . The Rockets play in Edmonton tonight. . . . Red Deer F Wyatt Johnson played his first game of the season. He missed all of the exhibition season and 15 regular-season games with a concussion. . . . The Rebels are at home to the Calgary Hitmen tonight. . . .
F Curtis Valk scored five times and set up another as the Medicine Hat Tigers whipped the host Calgary Hitmen, 10-1. . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk had a goal and four assists for the Tigers. . . . Valk, who has a WHL-leading 14 goals, scored three times in the second period as Medicine Hat took a 7-0 lead. . . . The Tigers scored four PP goals in 10 chances. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors scored the games last three goals and beat the host Prince Albert Raiders, 3-2. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Prince Albert. . . . F Dakota Conroy scored his eighth goal since coming to Prince Albert in a swap with the Victoria Royals. . . . Moose Jaw F Brayden Point pulled his side even with two second-period PP goals and F Sam Fioretti got the winner at 13:11 of the third. Fioretti has 12 goals. . . . F Justin Kirsch had three assists for Moose Jaw. . . . The Raiders have lost four of their last five home games. . . . Prince Albert F Tim Vanstone completed a four-game suspension. . . .
The Lethbridge Hurricanes reached the .500 mark with a 6-1 victory over the visiting Regina Pats. . . . The Hurricanes are 7-7-1. . . . G Ty Rimmer, who has started all 15 Lethbridge games, stopped 28 shots. . . . Lethbridge held a 55-29 edge in shots, including 44-13 after two periods. . . . The Swift Current Broncos visit Lethbridge tonight. . . .
First, the Kootenay Ice lost its captain, then it lost a hockey game. F Drew Czerwonka, 20, announced his retirement prior to the Ice dropping a 5-2 decision to the visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Ice was able to dress only 17 skaters, one under the limit. They also are down to two 20-year-olds and GM Jeff Chynoweth is actively looking for a third. . . . The Ice scored the game’s first goal, with the Broncos then scoring four in a row.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Elliott Peterson, Calgary (twice)
F Henrik Nyberg, Kelowna
D Tyler Bell, Kamloops
F Alex Gogolev, Victoria
F Connor Honey, Seattle
CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Kamloops Blazers F Jordan DePape (@papskos17): “Congrats to my ex-roommate Kurtis Mucha on becoming the first goalie in Canada West hockey history to score a goal tonight. #he’scatching me”
Mucha stopped 18 shots as the U of Alberta Golden Bears scored a 7-1 victory over the host Lethbridge Pronghorns. . . . Mucha was credited with the game’s first goal at 12:40 of the first period when he was the last Alberta player to touch the puck before the Pronghorns scored an own goal with a delayed penalty about to be called on Alberta.
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