Sunday, January 1, 2017

Blades, Royals cut deal ... Tigers get goaltender ... Blood test for concussions?

WHL trades since Dec. 27:
Trades: 6.
Players: 10.
Bantam draft picks: 5.
Conditional bantam draft picks: 1.
(WHL trade deadline is Jan. 10).
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F Arjun Atwal was in the Saskatoon Blades’ lineup on Sunday afternoon after having been acquired from
ARJUN ATWAL
the Victoria Royals in a trade announced earlier in the day.
The Blades got Atwal, 17, and an undisclosed conditional bantam draft pick in exchange for D K’Andre Miller, 16, and a sixth-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. The Blades had acquired that sixth-round pick from the Everett Silvertips for G Dorin Luding on Dec. 2.
Atwal, from Edmonton, has been playing for the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders. The 5-foot-8, 170-pounder had 14 goals and 17 assists in 33 games. He was the highest-scoring 1999-born player in the AJHL.
The Blades have incurred some injury woes in their forward ranks and are hoping that Atwal can help them get over this rough spell.
Miller, from Hopkins, Minn., hasn’t signed a WHL contract and has, in fact, committed to Wisconsin for 2018-19. He is in the U.S. National Team Development Program, playing for the U-17 team in the USHL. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had three goals and six assists in 28 games. Earlier this season, he had one assist in five games with Team USA at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge.
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The Portland Winterhawks have traded G Michael Bullion, 19, to the Medicine Hat Tigers for a seventh-
MICHAEL BULLION
round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft.
The Winterhawks also signed G Shane Farkas, who had been with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warrriors, and he will join Portland to play alongside Cole Kehler.
Farkas, 17, was selected in the fourth-round of the 2014 bantam draft by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Portland acquired his rights on Sept. 15 in a deal that sent F Tanner Nagel, 18, to the Hurricanes. In 22 games with West Kelowna, Farkas, who is from Penticton, B.C., was 12-7-0, 3.10, .908.
Bullion, 19, is from Anchorage. The 6-foot-0, 200-pounder was a ninth-round pick by Portland in the 2012 bantam draft. His acquisition leaves the Tigers with three goaltenders, at least for now, with the others being Nick Schneider, who leads the WHL with 25 victories, and freshman Duncan McGovern, 16.
This season, Bullion got into 12 games with Portland, going 5-5-1, 3.76, .891.
The trade allows the Tigers to add an experience backup for what they hope will be a deep run in the spring, while the Winterhawks get to look at someone who may be their future starter.
Meanwhile, the Winterhawks also signed 5-foot-9, 140-pound F Reece Newkirk, who is with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. Newkirk, 15, was Portland’s third-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. The Moose Jaw native has 24 points, including nine goals, in 29 games with the Generals.
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The Vancouver Giants will meet the Hitmen in Calgary in Monday’s lone WHL game. Derek Holloway, the Giants’ bus driver, reports that the trip to Calgary covered 1,158 km and took 12-1/2 hours. . . . Driving conditions, he told Taking Note, were “only bad from Banff to Calgary. The Coquihalla was clear and not snowing.”
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Concussion Report
“Medical researchers in London, Ont., say they have developed a simple blood test that can detect if someone has suffered a concussion with more than 90 per cent accuracy — a finding that may eventually replace current tests that rely on patients to describe their own symptoms,” according to a CTV News report on Saturday. . . . “The blood test uses a small sample of blood drawn from someone within 72 hours of a sudden blow to the head to measure 174 brain chemicals that change in response to a brain injury. Doctors then run tests on the blood to search for signs of a concussion.” . . . The complete story is right here.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:

At Edmonton, F Lane Bauer scored in OT to give the Oil Kings a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . .
LANE BAUER
On Friday, the Hitmen had beaten the visiting Oil Kings, 3-2. . . . Bauer scored his 25th goal just 21 seconds into the OT period. . . . Calgary held a 2-0 lead in this one, then trailed 3-2 in the third period. . . . The Hitmen got that lead on PP goals from F Mark Kastelic (6) and F Beck Malenstyn (15), at 4:47 and 7:00. . . . The Oil Kings tied it on second-period PP goals from F Trey Fix-Wolansky (9) and F Colton Kehler, at 10:32 and 15:43. . . . Kehler’s 11th goal, at 19:48, gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead. . . . The Hitmen forced OT when F Matteo Gennaro scored his 12th goal, at 6:30 of the third period. . . . D Aaron Irving had two assists for Edmonton, while Bauer added one to his goal. . . . Irving has 14 goals and 29 assists in 39 games after finishing last season with nine and 31 in 72 games. . . . Gennaro also had an assist for Calgary. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 33 shots, six more than Calgary’s Cody Porter. . . . The Oil Kings were 2-3 on the PP; the Hitmen were 2-4. . . . “The guys had to dig deep today. We are patching it together up front,” Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team website. “Just with the injuries and flu going through, it is tough. We ask guys to assume some pretty substantial minutes and I really liked the energy that our two young guys (Scott Atkinson and Liam Keeler) brought to us. It was great to see. We found a way.” . . . Edmonton (18-17-4) is tied with the idle Red Deer Rebels (17-16-6) for third in the Central Division, five points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Hitmen (14-17-4) are eight points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 11,547.
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At Regina, the Pats unleashed a 72-shot attack en route to a 7-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. .
NIC SANDERS
. . Prince Albert G Nic Sanders went the distance, with 65 saves. . . . G Max Paddock made 30 saves in his first WHL start for Regina. He’s got some good bloodlines — John Paddock, the Pats’ GM/head coach, is an uncle, as is Vaughn Karpan, a former player who now is the director of player personnel for the Vegas Golden Knights. . . . Max Paddock, 16, was a 10th-round pick by the Pats in the 2015 bantam draft. He plays for the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, but has been with the Pats while G Jordan Hollett is out with an injury. . . . F Austin Wagner and F Riley Woods (6) gave Regina a 2-0 first-period lead with goals at 1:38 and 13:56. . . . F Cavin Leth got the Raiders to within one with his 10th goal, at 5:10 of the second period. . . . Regina put it away with the next three goals. . . . F Nick Henry got his 18th, on a PP, at 10:14 of the second period, with Wagner adding his 18th, at 19:09. . . . Regina F Adam Brooks scored No. 21 for a 5-1 lead 55 seconds into the third period. . . . The Raiders got their second goal from F Tim Vanstone (6), at 10:12. . . . Regina F Bryan Lockner scored his first goal, at 12:48, and F Braydon Buziak got his sixth, at 19:55. . . . Brooks and F Lane Zablocki had two assists each, with Buziak, Lockner and Wagner each getting one. . . . Regina F Sam Steel went pointless. . . . Brooks now leads the WHL with 63 points, one more than Steel and five more than F Mason Shaw of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Pats were 1-5 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-4. . . . Regina (25-3-7) has points in five straight (4-0-1) and now leads the overall standings, by one point over the Everett Silvertips (25-5-6) and Prince George Cougars (27-10-2). . . . Prince Albert (8-29-2) has lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 6,484.
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At Saskatoon, D Artyom Minulin scored in OT to give the Swift Current Broncos a 5-4 victory over the
ARTYOM MINULIN
Blades. . . . On Friday, the Broncos beat the visiting Blades, 3-2 in OT. . . . Saskatoon overcame a 4-2 third-period deficit to force extra time on goals from F Braylon Shmyr (20), at 5:59, and F Jesse Shynkaruk (12), on a PP, at 15:43. . . . Minulin won it with his seventh goal, at 2:53 of OT. . . . F Glen Gawdin scored the Broncos’ first three goals, giving him 12. . . . Gawdin got his first two on the same shift, at 8:56 and 9:53 of the first period, for a 2-0 lead. . . . The Blades tied it on second-period scores from Shmyr, at 2:14, and F Caleb Fantillo (3), at 8:16. . . . Gawdin completed his first career hat trick at 9:34 of the second period. . . . The Broncos took a 4-2 lead when F Conner Chaulk (4) scored at 5:23 of the third period. . . . The Broncos got two assists from D Colby Sissons. . . . Shynkaruk had two assists for the Blades, with Shmyr getting one. . . . Swift Current G Travis Child stopped 38 shots, 12 more than Saskatoon’s Logan Flodell. . . . The Blades were 1-3 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-3. . . . Swift Current (21-11-7) has won two in a row and is tied with the Moose Jaw Warriors (21-9-7) for second in the East Division. . . . Saskatoon (14-20-6) has points in three straight (1-0-2) and is six points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 4,264.
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MONDAY’S GAME (all times local):


Vancouver at Calgary, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 8:57 PM
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