The biggest news of the WHL's Sunday came courtesy the NHL's Winnipeg Jets as they returned F Nic Petan to the Portland Winterhawks and D Josh Morrissey to the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Petan, 19, has 269 points, including 95 goals, in 198 career regular-season games. He is coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons, having put up 120 points in 2012-13 and 113 last season. . . . Morrissey heads into his fourth season with 158 points, 53 of them goals, in 202 games. Last season, he had 73 points, including 28 goals, in 59 games. ---
The WHL’s pooh-bahs (aka the board of governors) is scheduled to gather in Calgary this week to decide on a host team/city for the 2016 Memorial Cup. They will hear bids from the Red Deer Rebels and Vancouver Giants and a vote is scheduled to be held on Wednesday. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province sets the stage right here.---
If you are a WHL fan, you should be paying attention to Cody Nickolet's blog WHL From Above. There's a link right here, or you can find it over there on the right. . . . Among the things he is doing is charting the lines and defence pairings of every one of the WHL's 22 teams. What has he learned from this exercise? In the early going, at least, it seems that consistency leads to success. . . . Going into Sunday’s games, he tweeted: “SC/REG/PG/MJ/MH/EVT/CGY/BRN are among the most consistent WHL teams lineup-wise recently. They’re a combined 24-0-3-2 in this last stretch.” . . . You also are able to follow him on Twitter (@DubFromAbove).
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Wally Hergesheimer, who was 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds when he began his NHL careers, has died. He was 87. In each of his first three NHL seasons, he led the New York Rangers in goals. . . . There’s more right here.
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If you are a reader and a hockey fan, one of the most anticipated dates of the early hockey season is Oct. 14. That’s the day that Bob McKenzie’s latest book -- Hockey Confidential: Inside Stories From Inside The Game -- is to hit the stores. . . . On Sunday night, McKenzie described the book this way: “The book is a collection of stories about hockey people – a well-known hockey executive reflecting on a near-death experience; an NHL fighter talking about what it’s really like to give and take punches; an NHL star talking about the essence of scoring goals; a teenage hockey phenom and his family explaining what it’s like to grow up ‘exceptional’ in Canada; plus, multiple other stories of ‘hockey people’ and their life journeys, much of it fused with some universal themes (life, death, family, giving) that transcend the game.” . . . McKenzie also shared the story of how Corsi got its name. That story is right here.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings, their roster overloaded with defencemen, have dealt Taylor Green, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a
fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . From Port Coquitlam, B.C., Green was a second-round pick by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2010 draft. . . . Brandon added D Macoy Erkamps in a deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last week and also had to make room for D Eric Roy, who is out with a shoulder injury. As well, Russian D Ivan Provorov, 17, has already proven that he can play in this league. . . . The Warriors are looking for Green to fill a void created when Austin Adam went down with a shoulder injury. . . . When the two of them are healthy, the Warriors’ lineup will include two of the league’s biggest defencemen. Green is 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, while Adam is 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds. . . . Green had a goal and an assist in four games with Brandon this season. In 138 career games, he has 20 points, including four goals.---
D Ryan Coghlan is on his way back to the Saskatoon Blades. Coghlan, who turns 19 on Oct. 31, was dealt by the Prince Albert Raiders to the Blades on Sunday for a seventh-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Coghlan had been released by the Raiders on Sept. 25 and was expected to play in the BCHLwith the Cowichan Valley Capitals. . . . The Blades had dealt Coghlan and F Collin Valcourt to the Raiders on Dec. 28, getting back D Dylan Busenius and second- and fifth-round picks in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Coghlan, from Nanaimo, B.C., has 13 points, five of them goals, in 59 career games. He was pointless in two games with the Raiders this season. ---
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It seems that in some areas of the sporting world, athletes still are reluctant to report concussion symptoms to their teams’ medical or training staff. The New York Times has reported that three recent studies “concluded that for every diagnosed concussion, (college football) players sustained six substantial hits that they suspected might have caused a concussion but did not report. The players added that for every diagnosed concussion, they also received 21 dings — or smaller hits — that they also did not report.” . . . Ken Belson’s complete story is right here.
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In another New York Times story, Jeff Z. Klein reports on a school district near Toronto that has “started immersing its more than 4,000 ninth graders in a detailed course on concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. District schools are also teaching modified versions of the curriculum to some students in third and sixth grades. It is believed to be the first course of its kind to be taught across an entire school district in Canada or the United States.” . . . Klein’s complete story is right here.
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The Red Deer Rebels were without D Haydn Fleury as they beat the host Regina Pats 4-3 in OT on Sunday night. Fleury, who was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the seventh-overall pick in the NHL’s 2014 draft, was injured Saturday night in Brandon. Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ GM/head coach, told the Red Deer Advocate that “we’re hoping it’s not serious.” . . . F Preston Kopeck scored the OT winner for Red Deer, his second goal of the game. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers went into Edmonton and beat the Oil Kings 6-2 on Sunday, handing the defending Memorial Cup champions their third straight home-ice loss. Edmonton G Tristan Jarry has lost three straight games for only the second time in his four-year career. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully continued his hot start with two goals and an assist. One of the WHL’s most exciting players, Ully, 19, has 14 points, including six goals, in eight games. . . .
In Vancouver, the Giants scored three times on the PP and once while shorthanded in stinging the Prince George Cougars, 6-1. F Jackson Houck had a goal and two assists for the Giants, with F Carter Popoff scoring twice.
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