Saturday, October 8, 2016

WHL suspends two veterans . . . Cougars run victory skein to eight . . . Blazers stop Tigers' win streak

Two veteran players sat out Saturday night WHL games with suspensions that were handed out by the WHL office following incidents on Friday night.
The Moose Jaw Warriors, playing at home against the Kootenay Ice, were without D Josh Thrower, who drew a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of Friday’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks. Thrower instigated a fight with F Rodrigo Abols of the Winterhawks at 15:28 of the third period.
The Warriors also were fined $500.
Meanwhile, F Austin Wagner of the Regina Pats missed last night’s game against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. He drew a TBD suspension after taking a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct for a hit on F Kaeden Taphorn of the visiting Kootenay Ice at 9:50 of the first period on Friday.
Taphorn left the game, which the Ice won, 4-3, in OT, and didn’t return. According to Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post, Taphorn “was bloodied by the hit and sporting a large bandage on his swollen forehead after the game.”
Taphorn was scratched from Saturday’s nights game in Moose Jaw.
——
The Spokane Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds announced a deal involving G Matt Berlin late on Friday night.
In that deal, Berlin, 18, moved from the Chiefs to the Thunderbirds for what both teams said was a conditional selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft.
For those of you keeping track, it turns out to be a conditional ninth-round selection.
——
Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
———


———

SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Medicine Hat, the Kamloops Blazers scored two shorthanded goals in the second period en route to a 5-1 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Blazers (3-5-0) snapped a three-game skid. They ended a seven-game road trip at 2-5. . . . The Tigers (5-2-0) had a five-game winning streak snapped. . . . The home side led 1-0 on a goal by F James Hamblin at 18:11 of the first period. . . . Kamloops F Quinn Benjafield tied it, on a PP, at 12:13 of the second period. . . . F Garrett Pilon, who left Friday’s 2-1 loss to the host Calgary Hitmen after taking a hard check in the second period, gave the Blazers a 2-1 lead with a shorthanded goal at 12:13 and F Matt Revel added another shorthanded snipe at 19:07. . . . Revel later added his fifth goal into an empty net. . . . Pilon added an assist to his goal, with D Ondrej Vala picking up two assists. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram was strong, with 39 saves. . . . The Tigers got 21 saves from G Duncan McGovern. . . . Kamloops was 1-7 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-5. . . . The Blazers were without D Dallas Valentine (undisclosed injury). . . . The game featured a brother act as F Nick Chyzowski of the Blazers, who is in his third season, and freshman F Ryan Chyzowski of the Tigers faced each other for the second time in their WHL careers. Nick had a goal and an assist; Ryan was blanked. . . . Announced attendance: 4,028.
——
At Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored four goals in the second period and went on to a 6-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Brett Howden, who had a goal and three assists, gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead at 1:34 of the second period with his sixth goal and they were off to the races. . . . F Nikita Popugaev scored his fourth goal and also had three assists for Moose Jaw, while F Jayden Halbgewachs scored twice, giving him six, and added an assist. . . . Warriors D Josh Brook had a goal and an assist, and D Dmitri Zaitsev had two assists. . . . F Zak Zborosky had a goal, his seventh, and an assist for the Ice (1-4-2). . . . The Warriors (4-1-2) got 20 saves from G Zach Sawchenko. . . . Ice starter Declan Hobbs was beaten six times on 24 shots in 41:39, with reliever Payton Lee stopping all 14 shots he saw. . . . The Warriors were 3-7 on the PP; the Ice was 1-2. . . . Announced attendance: 3,223.
——

At Prince George, F Brad Morrison scored the game’s last two goals to give the Cougars a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants and their eight straight victory. . . . F Bartek Bison and F Kody McDonald gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. . . . However, the Giants took a 3-2 lead by scoring three times in a span of 50 seconds — F Radovan Bondra (6:21), F Ty Ronning (7:00) and F Jack Flaman (7:11) getting the goals. . . . Prince George pulled even when F Jesse Gabrielle scored at 12:00 of the first, only to have F Johnny Wesley give the Giants the lead again, at 18:51. . . . Morrison, who has four goals this season, tied it at 18:51 of the second and won it at 7:26 of the third. . . . While the Cougars improved to 8-0-0, the Giants fell to 1-7-0. . . . Prince George got two assists from F Jansen Harkins, while McDonald added two assists to his goal. Gabrielle also had an assist. . . . G Nick McBride stopped 22 shots for the winners, with David Tendeck turning aside 19 for the Giants. . . . Prince George was 2-4 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-2. . . . The Cougars next put their season-opening eight-game winning streak on the line on Tuesday and Wednesday against the visiting Everett Silvertips (4-1-1). . . . Announced attendance: 3,320.
——

At Red Deer, freshman G Riley Lamb stopped 38 shots to post his first WHL shutout as the Rebels beat the Kelowna Rockets, 5-0. . . . Lamb, who turned 18 on Sept. 28, is from Rivers, Man. The blank job came in his sixth appearance this season. . . . The Rebels (3-3-2), who had lost six of their last seven games with the Rockets, took control with two second-period goals, F Michael Spacek scoring at 6:20 and F Dawson Martin at 19:02. . . . Spacek and Martin each scored twice, while D Colton Bobyk had a goal and two assists, and D Austin Strand and F Akash Baines each had two assists. D Josh Mahura had one assist, running his point streak to six games. . . . The Rockets (3-5-0) have been blanked twice this season. They had won their previous two games. . . . Kelowna G Brodan Salmond, who turned 18 on Saturday, stopped 24 shots. . . . Red Deer was 1-4 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-5. . . . Announced attendance: 4,515.
——
At Regina, F Sam Steel had a goal and two assists to lead the Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Regina (4-0-2) has yet to lose in regulation time. . . . The Wheat Kings are 2-2-1. . . . The Wheat Kings scratched F Nolan Patrick, the team captain, who forced OT with a late goal on Friday and then scored the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos. Brandon head coach David Anning told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that Patrick was scratched due to illness. . . . F Jake Leschyshyn scored his fourth goal, at 12:06 of the first period, giving Regina a 2-1 lead. . . . Regina D Connor Hobbs made it 3-1 at 1:48 of the second period. . . . F Ty Lewis got Brandon to within one at 16:36 but that was it for the visitors. . . . Steel added insurance at 3:00 of the third period and set up F Braydon Buziak for the empty-netter at 18:54. . . . Steel and Buziak each has five goals. . . . Leschyshyn and Hobbs each added an assist, while F Dawson Leedahl had two helpers. . . . Regina G Tyler Brown stopped 18 shots, while Brandon’s Jordan Papirny turned aside 30. . . . Brandon was 2-6 on the PP; Regina was 2-8. . . . Announced attendance: 4,131.
——
Goaltender Logan Flodell backstopped the Saskatoon
Blades to a victory on Saturday night.(Photo: Darren Steinke)
Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks, who leads the
WHL points derby, was held off the board Saturday night.(Photo: Darren Steinke)
At Saskatoon, G Logan Flodell turned aside 34 shots to help the Blades to a 3-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Blades (4-2-0) have won three straight. . . . The Winterhawks (5-3-0) had won their previous two games. They are 2-2-0 on a six-game East Division tour. . . . F Braylon Shmyr broke a 1-1 tie at 17:16 of the second period and the Blades nursed the lead until F Josh Paterson got the empty-netter at 18:56 of the third. . . . F Jake Gricius, a Colorado Springs native who turns 17 on Oct. 13, had his first WHL goal for Portland. . . . The Winterhawks got 20 saves from G Cole Kehler, who lost for the first time in five decisions this season. . . . The Blades were 0-3 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 0-5. . . . The Winterhawks scratched Latvian F Rodrigo Abols, 20, for the fourth time in five games. . . . Announced attendance: 3,016.
——
At Spokane, F Tyler Soy scored twice to help the Victoria Royals to a 4-1 victory over the Chiefs. . . . F Jared Dmytriw and Soy gave the Royals a 2-0 lead, the former scoring at 18:12 of the first period and the latter at 4:12 of the second. . . . Spokane F Ty Smith got his first WHL goal at 6:22 of the third. . . . Victoria F Matt Phillips stretched the lead at 14:44 and Soy got the empty-netter at 19:26, his third goal of the season. . . . D Ryan Gagnon had two assists for the Royals (3-4-0), who got 34 saves from G Griffen Outhouse. . . . The Chiefs (1-3-0) got 31 saves from Dawson Weatherill. . . . Each team was 0-3 on the PP. . . . Announced attendance: 4,918.
——
At Swift Current, the Broncos scored the game’s last two goals and beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-3. . . . F Arthur Miller continued to write quite a first act to his career with the Broncos as he opened the scoring with his third goal of the season, at 2:42 of the first period. He’s got three goals. . . . The Raiders went in front when F Tim Vanstone scored at 17:26. . . . D Max Lajoie pulled the Broncos even at 6:38 of the second period. . . . F Luke Coleman, at 8:23 of the second, and F Austin Glover, on a PP, at 4:15 of the third, put the Raiders back out front. . . . The Broncos tied it when F Riley Stotts scored his fourth goal, on a PP, at 6:27 of the third and won it on F Calvin Spencer’s third goal at 16:36. . . . F Aleksi Heponiemi had three assists for the Broncos (5-2-1), who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. . . . The Raiders (2-5-0) have lost three in a row. . . . G Tax Burman made 29 saves for the Broncos. . . . Raiders G Ian Scott stopped 35 shots, 19 of them in the first period. . . . Announced attendance: 1,994.
——
At Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans scored three times in a four-round shootout and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-5. . . . Lethbridge’s first two shooters, F Giorgio Estephan and F Tyler Wong, both scored, but the Americans responded with goals from F Morgan Geekie, F Michael Rasmussen and F Parker AuCoin. . . . Tri-City F Nolan Yaremko forced OT with his first goal of the season, on a PP, at 18:03 of the third period. . . . Wong had given Lethbridge a 5-4 lead, on a PP, at 13:36 of the third. . . . The Hurricanes held leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-2 and 5-4. . . . Max James had two goals and an assist for the Americans. The 19-year-old James had 10 points, including three goals, in 64 games last season. He had five goals and five assists in 58 games as a freshman in 2014-15. This season, he has four goals and an assist in five games. . . . D Parker Wotherspoon had a goal and four assists for the winners, with D Dylan Coghlan adding two assists and AuCoin picking up a goal and an assist. . . . F Jesse Zaharichuk scored three goals and added an assist for Lethbridge. It was his first WHL hat trick. He went into the game with 16 goals in 113 regular-season games, including a pair of two-goal games. . . . Lethbridge got two assists from each of F Brayden burke and D Kord Pankewicz. . . . Tri-City starter Beck Warm gave up three goals on 10 shots in 24:20, with Nic Sanders coming on to stop 13 of 15. . . . Lethbridge G Ryan Gilchrist, in his first career start, stopped 31 shots. . . . Tri-City (4-3-0) was 3-7 on the PP; Lethbridge (4-2-1) was 2-7. . . . Announced attendance: 3,103.
——

SUNDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Edmonton at Saskatoon, 2:05 p.m.
——

MONDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Vancouver at Calgary, 4 p.m.

Kootenay at Swift Current, 2 p.m.

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.
PhotobucketPhotobucketPhotobucket
Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:32 PM
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

  © Design byThirteen Letter

Back to TOP