Thursday, December 15, 2016

Patrick ready in early January? ... Pawlenchuk's season over ... Trading done until Dec. 27

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TAKING NOTE

As many have noted on social media this week, the year 2016 has been a cruel one. One of the people we lost was Merle Haggard. . . . Right here is the Hag with Daddy Won’t Be Home Again For Christmas.
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It appears that the Saskatoon Blades had some fun with their Christmas message. They also walked a fine line as they brought WHL referees into it all, in a fun way, of course. . . . It’s right here.
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A story posted Thursday on the Brandon Wheat Kings’ website indicates that F Nolan Patrick “is aiming
NOLAN PATRICK
to return to the lineup in early January.”
Patrick, 18, remains the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2017 NHL draft despite not having played since Oct. 11. This season, he has four goals and five assists in six games. Last season, as a sophomore, he finished with 41 goals and 61 assists in 72 games, then added 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 playoff games. He was the WHL’s playoff MVP as he led the Wheat Kings to the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
However, he played hurt for some of the time and had surgery in July for a sports hernia. The Wheat Kings have never said any definitive about the cause of his absence from the lineup, but it has been speculated that it is related to his summer surgery.
Patrick wasn’t directly quoted in the story that doesn’t carry a byline on the team’s website. According to the story, “Patrick says that he is close to returning” to the Wheat Kings’ lineup. The story also reads that Patrick “plans to be back on the ice when the club’s week-long Christmas break comes to an end on Boxing Day.”
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The Red Deer Rebels announced on Thursday that F Grayson Pawlenchuk will have season-ending shoulder surgery after being injured in a 3-2 OT loss to the host Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 9. . . . Pawlenchuk, 19, is from Ardrossan, Alta. In his fourth season with the Rebels, he has four goals and five assists in 19 games. . . . Last season, the 6-foot-0, 190-pounder finished with 22 goals and 16 assists in 71 games. In 210 career regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 42 goals. . . . The Rebels selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired veteran F Tyler Adams, 19, and an undisclosed conditional 2019 WHL bantam draft pick from the Swift Current Broncos for F MacKenzie Wight.
Adams, from Regina, had a goal and six assists in 25 games with the Broncos this season. In 97 career regular-season games, all with the Broncos, he had seven goals and 13 assists.
At one point, the Broncos had six players out of the lineup with injuries. With those players starting to return to play, there was an excess of bodies, so something had to give.
Wight, 17, had five goals and four assists in 12 games with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs before joining the Thunderbirds. He was pointless in six games with Seattle. From Burnaby, B.C., he was a seventh-round pick by the Broncos in the 2014 bantam draft.
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The WHL trade deadline arrives on Tuesday, Jan. 10, which is fewer than four weeks away. Throw in the WHL's Christmas-related trade moratorium and it’s a lot closer than that.
That moratorium actually began on Thursday and runs through Monday, Dec. 26, at midnight. In other words, there won’t be any trades in the WHL until at least Dec. 27. When the moratorium ends, there will be 15 days left in which trades can be made.
The deal mentioned above between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos that was announced Thursday is dated Dec. 14 on the WHL website, meaning that it was completed on Wednesday.
Interestingly, the Broncos’ release made reference to the deal including “a conditional pick in 2019” going to the Thunderbirds. However, neither Seattle’s news release nor the WHL website makes mention of it.
The same thing happened with a trade announced Wednesday night between the Saskatoon Blades and Spokane Chiefs. The WHL website has the Chiefs sending F Markson Bechtold and D Evan Fiala to the Blades for D Nolan Reid, F Wyatt Sloboshan and a third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. According to the Blades’ release, they also acquired “a conditional sixth-round draft pick,” although the year isn’t specified. Neither the WHL website nor the Chiefs’ release makes mention of a conditional pick.
Hopefully, the WHL office is able to sort this out and clarify things on its transactions page.
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JUST NOTES:

The Portland Winterhawks have changed the game times for a pair of home games, both of which remain scheduled for Veterans Memorial Coliseum. . . . On Jan. 7, with the Everett Silvertips in town, the game now will begin at 6 p.m. . . . The March 4 game, against the Vancouver Giants, also will begin at 6 p.m. . . . Both games originally were to have started at 2 p.m. . . .
The Victoria Royals have released F Gunnar Wegleitner, an 18-year-old from Vancouver. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was pointless in 12 games. In 2014-15, he had one goal in 43 games with the Everett Silvertips. Last season, he had a goal and an assist in 14 games with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. . . .
Jeff Holick spent 16 seasons as the radio voice of the Kootenay Ice before leaving his post prior to the 2015-16 season. Now, obviously with some time on his hands, he has turned to blogging. Among other things, he has taken to charting lines and defence pairings on a game-by-game basis. He also posts various lists on a sporadic basis. . . . You are able to find Holick’s blog, Between The Lines, right here.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Lethbridge at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Kamloops at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Regina at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Seattle, 7:35 p.m.
Prince Albert at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
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TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:

Friday, Dec. 16: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Portland at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.
Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.
Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.
Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).
Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.
Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.
Dec. 9: F Austin Glover, 0:32 2nd period, Moose Jaw 7 at Prince Albert 3. 
Dec. 9: F Riley Woods, 11:45 1st period, Swift Current 1 at Regina 8.
Dec. 9: F Keanu Yamamoto, 4:01 1st period, Kootenay 3 at Spokane 4.
Dec. 10: D Josh Thrower, 12:13 1st period, Prince Albert 4 at Moose Jaw 5 (SO).
Dec. 10: F Nick Bowman, 13:38 2nd period, Kamloops 3 at Edmonton 2.
Dec. 10: D Troy Murray, 1:51 2nd, Kelowna 7 at Kootenay 3.
Dec. 10: F Max Gerlach, 5:26 1st period, Calgary 4 at Medicine Hat 7.
Dec. 10: F Skyler McKenzie 2:21 1st, Everett 2 at Portland 5.
Dec. 10: F Josh Curtis, 6:02 2nd period, Seattle 4 at Prince George 6.
Dec. 10: F Tyler Sandhu, 0:36 1st period, Victoria 3 at Tri-City 4.

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