Outdoor game at 2018 Memorial Cup? ... USHL adjusts roster rules ... Royals, Giants in tripleheader

F Jesse Mychan (Everett, Tri-City, 2011-13) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, DEL2). This season, he had 23 goals and 14 assists in 34 games with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL). He also was pointless in five games with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL). . . .

F Aaron Gagnon (Seattle, 2001-07) has signed for the rest of this season with Bern (Switzerland, NL A). This season, with Lukko Rauma (Finland, Liiga), he had 11 goals and 15 assists in 43 games. Lukko is in last place in Liiga and Gagnon’s release was mutually agreed upon.

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The Regina Pats’ presentation to the 2018 Memorial Cup site selection committee on Wednesday in

Toronto included a proposal for an outdoor game at Mosaic Stadium, which is to open in time for the 2017 CFL season. . . . The Pats had promised a few “wow” moments in their proposal and that was one of them. . . . “If you want to use the military analogy, it was like a machine gun burst,” Gord Kirke, the CHL’s legal counsel and chairman of that selection committee, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “It wasn’t just the outdoor game. It was other things that they suggested as well. It was sort of boom, boom, boom. (The outdoor game) was an important factor but there were a few important factors.” . . . The OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals also made their presentations in the hopes of being selected to play host to what will be the Memorial Cup’s 100th anniversary event. . . . It’s expected that a winner will be revealed in February, perhaps during a Hockey Night in Canada telecast. . . . Harder’s story is right here.

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The Prince George Cougars have signed F Zach Bolton, who turned 16 on Jan. 15, to a WHL contract. Bolton, from North Vancouver, was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. This season, the 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has five goals and nine assists in 22 games with the Vancouver-Northwest Giants of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. . . . Last season, he had 34 goals and 23 assists in 46 games with the North Shore Winter Club’s bantam AAA side. . . . The Cougars now have signed six of their first seven selections from the 2016 bantam draft -- forwards Keegan Craik, Edge Lambert and Bolton, defencemen Cole Beamin and Jack Michell, and G Taylor Gauthier. . . . The exception is F Jesse Mistelbacher, a sixth-round pick from Iles Des Chenes, Man.

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If there any doubt about the role the 17-team USHL wants to play in junior hockey’s picture, it ended with a few announcements earlier this week, all of them aimed at improving the calibre of play. . . . At meetings last week, the USHL board of governors decided to allow its teams to add two Canadian-born players to their 23-man rosters without having those players count as imports. At present, each team is allowed four imports; they will be able to carry six as long as the two additions are Canadians. . . . That rule will come into play next season. . . . Starting in 2018-19, an import goaltender (defined as any non-USA Hockey goaltender) will count as two imports, with a team not allowed to have more than one import goaltender on its active roster. . . . At the same time, a 20-year-old goaltender won’t count towards the USHL’s roster maximum of four 20-year-old players.

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JUST NOTES:

From the department of bizarre scheduling, the Victoria Royals (26-19-4) and Vancouver Giants (17-27-4) will meet three times in less than 48 hours this weekend. They play Friday night in Langley then Saturday and Sunday in Victoria. . . . Vancouver is 1-2-0 in the season series; Victoria is 2-0-1. . . .

From the department of bizarre scheduling, Part 2: The Royals and Giants will do it all over again on Feb. 24, 25 and 26. That series also will open in Langley and finish with a doubleheader in Victoria. . . .

F Reese Johnson is back on the ice with the Red Deer Rebels this week for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery in October. He’s wearing a yellow non-contact jersey, but he’s out there. . . . Johnson, 18, had three goals and three assists in 36 games last season. . . .

General Electric will pay the NBA’s Boston Celtics US$7 million a year to have logos on their uniform tops. Did no one tell General Electric it could have had logos on all WHL team sweaters for less than that? . . . 

The Colorado Avalanche is the latest NHL team to do away with morning skates on game days. The morning skate became a topic of conversation earlier this season when head coach John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets chose to ban them. Later, GM Jim Rutherford of the Pittsburgh Penguins called the pointless. . . . Some teams have decided that it’s more important for players to get rest than it is to go for a morning skate on the day of a game. . . . In the WHL, Kevin Constantine, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, has said that “we’re a better team when we don’t skate in the morning and we save the energy for the game at night.”

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A bet's a bet with @cliffordgoalie. BC native coaches pay up with the track suit practice apparel. 🇺🇸🇺🇸#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/YMbBEduSiZ

— Mike Benton (@Benton_Mike) January 25, 2017

#Silvertips assistants @mlovehockey and Brennan Sonne are in Team USA track suits due to lost bet with @cliffordgoalie pic.twitter.com/ylbdI41i1f

— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) January 25, 2017

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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.

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