Saturday, November 19, 2016

Memorial Cup contender in P.G.? . . . Ex-WHLer hospitalized after collapsing . . . Pats' streak meets Royal end

F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) has been released by CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL). He had three goals and six assists in 12 games.
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So . . . did D Brendan Guhle win a game or lose one on Friday night in Prince George?
Moments after the host Cougars had beaten Guhle and the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-2, the veteran was informed that he had been traded to Prince George.
In fact, once the Raiders had been informed of the trade — the Cougars gave up D Max Martin, 18, F Kolby Johnson, 17, a 2017 first-round bantam draft pick and a 2019 third-round pick — Guhle walked into the Cougars’ dressing room and met his new teammates.
“Obviously I’m excited,” Guhle, who was selected as the game’s third star, told Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen. “It was mixed emotions at first when I found out, but they’re obviously a great team, looking at their record they’re 17-4 and I’m excited to join a team that’s already very good.”
Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse.
The Raiders have the WHL’s poorest record; the Cougars, after Friday’s victory, were alone atop the 22-team league’s overall standings.
“I was obviously a little upset at first,” Guhle continued. “I got drafted by Prince Albert and have been there 4½ years and it was tough. They were great to me and the coaching staff is awesome.
“But I’m excited to hopefully win a championship here in Prince George. My No. 1 goal coming back from Buffalo this year was to win a championship. It didn’t happen in Prince Albert and they were generous enough to let me go to a place where they felt I could win and put me in a good position here and I’m excited about that.”
The Raiders selected Guhle with the third-overall pick in the 2011 WHL bantam draft. The Buffalo Sabres picked him in the second round of the NHL’s 2015 draft and has signed a three-year, entry-level deal with them.
While Guhle didn’t find out about the trade until after the game, the other two players involved — D Max Martin, 18, and F Kolby Johnson, 17 — were told before the game that they had been dealt to Prince Albert. Neither played in the game.
“It was a weird situation,” Johnson told Clarke, “because I came to the rink and my old team was battling my new team and I was just wondering who to cheer for.
“It’s hard because every year since I was 14 I’ve been coming to this camp and I’ve been putting on that jersey for a few years now. These are the only guys I know and we’re so close together. It’s such a unique experience here because we travel so much and we’re always together.”
This is a huge deal for the Cougars, who have erased any doubts anyone may have had about their intentions this season. Their roster features 26 players, including nine defencemen and 15 forwards. The oldest team in the WHL, they are carrying 10 1997-born players and three 20-year-olds.
Before leaving Prince George, Martin took time to mention the MC. Yes, he did.
Guhle, Martin said, is “the real-deal defenceman and he’ll just put this team over the top. They’re a Memorial Cup contender if not one of the favourites . . . he’ll just really boost them that much.”
Guhle is expected to be in the Cougars’ lineup on Tuesday when they play host to the red-hot Regina Pats.
The Raiders, who went 0-5-0 on their B.C. Division tour, next play Wednesday when they entertain the Swift Current Broncos.
When you are a community-owned team and play in a smaller arena as do the Raiders, it never is easy for management to make the decision to trade a player like Guhle in an attempt to solidify the future. It will be interesting to see the impact of the decision on the Raiders’ attendance.
To this point, through nine home games, they are averaging an announced attendance of 2,140 fans. Last season, their final figure was 2,369, which was down from 2,431 in 2014-15.
Clarke’s complete trade story is right here.
www.princegeorgecitizen.com/sports/hockey/cougars-get-guhle-in-trade-from-prince-albert-1.2943570
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The Saskatoon Blades have released F Luke Gingras, 18, while signing F Dryden Michaud, 18, and adding him to their roster. . . . Gingras, from Langley, B.C., was a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He had two goals and an assist in 15 games this season. He was in his third WHL season. In 109 games, he put up 13 points, six of them goals. . . . Michaud has been skating with the Blades for two weeks and made his debut in a 6-3 loss to the host Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday night. From Maple Ridge, B.C., he started this season with the junior B Abbotsford Pilots, scoring four goals and adding four assists in five games. Last season, he had 40 points, 18 of them goals, in 43 games with the Pilots.
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Former WHL F Craig Cunningham, the captain of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, is in hospital today after collapsing on the ice prior to a game against the visiting Manitoba Moose on Saturday night.
Cunningham received medical attention, including CPR, on the ice before being removed and taken to hospital.
The game subsequently was postponed.
Later Saturday, John Chayka, the general manager of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, released this statement:
“Craig Cunningham suffered a medical emergency on the ice prior to the start of tonight’s game . . . at the Tucson Convention Center. Cunningham was taken to a local hospital where he is receiving medical treatment. Our thoughts and prayers are with Craig and his family. We will provide a medical update once we receive more information.”
Cunningham went into Saturday’s game with 13 points, including four goals, in 11 games.
Cunningham, 26, is from Trail, B.C. He played five seasons in the WHL, four-plus with the Vancouver Giants and 35 games with the Portland Winterhawks. In 330 regular-season games, he had 264 points, including 103 goals. He added 63 points, 25 of them goals, in 79 playoff games.

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Before going on to a life loaded with small arenas, minor hockey games and penalty of Starbucks product, Mike Fraser was an ink-stained wretch. Well, perhaps he wasn’t ink-stained, newspapers having been taken over by computers by the time he started writing in Brandon. . . . These days, between scouting assignments and his day job, Fraser writes a highly readable column for the Brandon-based Westman Journal. . . . His last two columns have involved anecdotes from the scouting trail. The latest one is right here and the first one also is available on the paper’s website. . . . Enjoy, and try not to snicker or raise your eyebrows, especially while reading Part 2.
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JUST NOTES:

G Shannon Szabados, who once was in camp with the Tri-City Americans, has signed with the Fort Saskatchewan Chiefs of the Chinook Hockey League. The Chiefs are a senior AAA team that competes for the Allan Cup. Szabados was released by the SPHL’s Peoria Rivermen last month. Szabados, 30, played the previous two seasons with the SPHL’s Columbus Cottonmouths.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

At Brandon, F Ty Lewis scored twice and added an assist as the Wheat Kings skated to a 6-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . One night earlier, the Wheat Kings scored five PP goals in beating the visiting Blades, 8-1. . . . Brandon (12-7-3) has won five in a row. . . . The Blades (9-14-1) have lost three straight. . . . This time, Brandon was 0-3 on the PP; the Blades were 1-6. . . . The Wheat Kings led 3-0 before the game was seven minutes old, with F Rylan Bettens (1) scoring at 2:10, Lewis getting No. 13 at 3:46 and F Tyler Coulter (9) counting at 6:53. . . . The Blades got to within one when F Braylon Shmyr (7) scored at 10:26 of the first and D Bryton Sayers (3) added another at 9:09 of the second period. . . . However, Lewis stretched the lead to two at 16:15. . . . F Lukus MacKenzie (1) pulled the visitors close again, at 18:34. . . . Brandon put it away with third-period goals from F Reid Duke (13) at 3:53 and F Tanner Kaspick (10) at 5:37. . . . Brandon got two assists from F Stelio Mattheos, while Kaspick added one to his goal. . . . G Jordan Papirny earned the victory with 30 saves, two more than Saskatoon’s Logan Flodell. . . . The Wheat Kings continue to play without F Nolan Patrick. . . . Announced attendance: 3,742.
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At Everett, F Tyler Wong’s breakaway goal broke a 1-1 tie as the Lethbridge Hurricanes got past the Silvertips, 2-1. . . . Wong scored his 11th goal of the season, off a pass from D Brennan Menell, at 11:35 of the third period. . . . F Ryan Vandervlis (1) gave Lethbridge a 1-0 lead at 19:17 of the first period. . . . D Lucas Skrumeda (1) pulled Everett into a tie at 3:52 of the second period. . . . G Stuart Skinner stopped 30 shots for the visitors, with Carter Hart making 22 saves for Everett. . . . The Silvertips were 0-1 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 0-2. . . . The Hurricanes (8-11-3) had lost their previous five games (0-4-1). . . . Everett (15-3-4) had been 7-0-3 in its last 10. . . . Announced attendance: 5,322.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., F Beck Malenstyn scored twice as the Calgary Hitmen snapped a four-game losing skid with a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Malenstyn, who has five goals, opened the scoring at 11:00 of the first period. . . . The Hitmen, who have won 12 straight games from the Ice, went up 3-0 on goals from F Lucas Cullen (2) at 14:39 of the first period and F Mark Kastelic (3), on a PP, at 2:31 of the second. . . . F Matt Alfaro’s seventh goal got the Ice on the board at 5:19. . . . Malenstyn got that one back at 14:04. . . . F Zak Zborosky scored his 18th goal for the Ice, on a PP, at 12:58 of the third period. . . . F Matteo Gennaro had two assists for Calgary. . . . Alfaro added an assist to his goal. . . . Calgary got 29 saves from G Cody Porter. . . . Ice starter Jakob Walter blocked eight of 10 shots in the first period. Payton Lee finished up, giving up two goals on 17 shots. . . . Each team was 1-4 on the PP. . . . F Bryce Bader, a second-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, made his WHL debut with Calgary. From Sherwood Park, Alta., he plays for the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. . . . The Hitmen, who were playing their fourth road game in five nights, improved to 8-9-2. All told, it was a six-game road trip; Calgary went 2-4-0. . . . The Ice slipped to 4-13-6. . . . Announced attendance: 1,809.
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At Medicine Hat, F Matt Bradley scored in the shootout to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Max Gerlach also scored for the home side in the circus, with F Aleksi Heponiemi scoring for the visitors. . . . F James Hamblin had two goals and an assist for the Tigers, his second goal, and sixth of the season, providing them with a 4-2 lead at 2:20 of the third period. . . . Broncos D Max Lajoie (3) trimmed the lead at 3:14 and Heponiemi forced OT with his sixth goal at 12:38. . . . F Max Gerlach had a goal (13) and an assist for the Tigers. . . . The Broncos got two assists from F Tyler Steenbergen. . . . G Nick Schneider stopped 21 shots for the Tigers, while the Broncos got 44 saves from Travis Child. . . . Each team was 0-2 on the PP. . . .The Broncos are 0-4 in shootouts this season. . . . The Tigers (16-5-1) have won five in a row. . . . The Broncos (11-7-6) have lost two in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 4,015.
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At Portland, F Ryan Hughes scored twice, his second goal coming in OT and giving the Winterhawks a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Hughes, who has nine goals, won it at 2:17 of extra time. . . . F Colton Veloso (5) and Hughes gave Portland a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals at 14:41 and 19:50. . . . Seattle roared back and took a 3-2 lead in the second period, with F Scott Eansor (10) scoring, on a PP, at 3:53; D Turner Ottenbreit getting his third at 10:25; and F Nolan Volcan (9) counting on another PP, this one at 15:55. . . . Porlland F Joachim Blichfeld (7) tied it at 19:30. . . . F Alexander True (10) put Seattle back out front at 5:16 of the third period, only to have Portland F Keegan Iverson (10) tie it, on a PP, at 7:00. . . . F Cody Glass had two assists for Portland, with Hughes, Iverson, Blichfeld and Veloso each getting one. . . . Seattle got two assists from F Sami Moilanen, while True, Ottenbreit and Volcan each had one. . . . G Cole Kehler came up with 42 saves for Portland, while Seattle got 23 from Rylan Toth. . . . Seattle was 2-5 on the PP; Portland was 2-7. . . . The Winterhawks (10-12-0) have won two in a row. They had been 1-9-0 in their past 10. . . . The Thunderbirds (10-8-2) had won three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 5,457.
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At Spokane, F Garrett Pilon had a goal and two assists to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 6-4 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Spokane scored the game’s first two goals, but the Blazers took control with the
GARRETT PILON
next five. . . . F Spencer Bast (3) got the visitors into a 2-2 tie at 18:42 of the first period and F Collin Shirley’s 11th goal, on a PP, broke the tie at 19:55. . . . D Joe Gatenby (3) and Pilon (4) upped that lead to 5-3 with goals at 6:11 and 7:25 of the second. . . . The Chiefs got to within one on two goals from F Keanu Yamamoto (7), at 15:51 of the second and 2:01 of the third. . . . Blazers F Rudolfs Balcers iced it with his 14th goal at 6:22. . . . Kamloops continues to be led by Pilon’s line, which has Balcers and Deven Sideroff on the wings. Sideroff had two assists and Balcers had one. . . . Kamloops also got a goal and an assist from F Nick Chyzowski, who has nine goals. . . . F Hudson Elynuik had two assists for the Chiefs. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram was sharp, with 42 saves. . . . Spokane starter Dawson Weatherill gave up four goals on nine shots in 26:11. Jayden Sittler finished up, allowed two goals on 13 shots. . . . Kamloops was 3-9 on the PP; Spokane was 1-4. . . . Spokane received the game’s first two and last two PP opportunities. In between, the Blazers had nine in a row. . . . The Blazers (14-10-1) have won three in a row, all against U.S. Division opponents. . . . The Chiefs (8-8-5), who are scheduled to play in Kamloops on Wednesday, have lost seven straight to the Blazers. . . . The Chiefs lost F Kailer Yamamoto and F Ethan McIndoe to undisclosed injuries in the first period. Neither returned to the game. . . . Announced attendance: 5,336.
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At Kennewick, Wash., F Kobe Mohr scored two goals, including the OT winner, as the Edmonton Oil Kings got past the Tri-City Americans, 5-4. . . . Edmonton took a 4-2 lead into the last half of the third period, only to watch it disappear. . . . D Juuso Valimaki (6) cut the home team’s deficit to one at 12:59 and F Michael Rasmussen tied it with his WHL-leading 20th goal, at 16:28. . . . Rasmussen, who is in his draft season, has 20 goals in 24 games. Last season, he finished with 18 goals in 63 games. . . . F Adam Berg had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which got three assists from F Lane Bauer and two from F Trey Fix-Wolansky. . . . Valimaki finished with two goals and an assist, while F Tyler Sandhu had two assists and Rasmussen had one. . . . G Patrick Dea stopped 27 shots for the Oil Kings, with Evan Sarthou blocking 36 at the other end. . . . Each team was 1-5 on the PP. . . . The Oil Kings (10-10-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Americans (14-8-2) have lost two straight. . . . Announced attendance: 3,754.
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At Victoria, it took 19 games but the Regina Pats finally lost in regulation time as they dropped a 5-3 decision to the Royals. . . . The Pats (15-1-3) had won their previous 10 games. . . . The Royals (13-8-2) have won two in a row. . . . Victoria F Tyler Soy opened the scoring with his 12th goal, on a penalty shot, at 6:16 of the first period. That gave him the Royals’ career goal record, with 102, breaking the mark he had shared with F Brandon Magee. Soy got there in 234 games, while Magee played in 252. The franchise record, which incorporates the Royals and Chilliwack Bruins, is held by F Ryan Howse, who put up 140 goals in 262 games, all with the Bruins. . . . F Dante Hannoun upped Victoria’s lead to 2-0 with his ninth goal, on a PP, at 19:01 of the first. . . . D Connor Hobbs scored a PP goal at 10:39 of the second period to get Regina started. . . . Victoria D Chaz Reddekopp (3) restored the Royals’ two-goal lead at 12:45. . . . The Pats got back to within one when D Chase Harrison, who also had an assist, got his sixth goal at 19:46. That ran his point streak to 14 games, the longest in the WHL this season. . . . Victoria F Carter Folk, with his first goal of the season, gave the Royals a 4-2 edge at 17:06 of the third period. . . . Hobbs got his ninth goal at 17:36. . . . Victoria F Jack Walker (12) iced it with the empty-netter at 19:56. . . . Walker and Hannoun each had an assist. . . . The Pats got two assists from F Adam Brooks, who has at least a point in each of the 13 games he has played this season. . . . G Griffen Outhouse sparked the Royals with 43 saves, while Tyler Brown made 20 saves for Regina. . . . Victoria was 1-4 on the PP; Regina was 1-5. . . . Announced attendance: 6,619.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Lethbridge at Portland, 5 p.m.
Regina vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 4 p.m.
Kelowna at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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