THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Konstantin Pushkarev (Calgary, 2004-05) was released by Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL) by mutual agreement. He had signed a two-year contract with Spartak in June. Last season, Pushkarev had one goal and two assists in 20 games with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL) and five goals and two assists in six games on loan assignment to Barys-2 Astana (Kazakhstan, Premier League).
———
A players’ association in junior hockey? That has been in the works for 14 months? That no one involved in junior hockey — from players to agents to front-office types — seems to know anything about?
Sorry . . . but there aren’t any secrets in the hockey world, which often turns out to me smaller than most neighbourhoods. On to pof that, I’m from Missouri. Someone is going to have to show me something, especially when it comes to asking for a $1.50 surcharge on every ticket sold (yes, and pigs can fly) and getting 60 per cent of Canadian Hockey League players to sign on the dotted line (have you ever tried herding cats?).
Anyway . . . I am the first person to say that Hockey Canada and some major junior operators have made, and continue to make, a whack of cash in a business in which the labour costs are minimal.
(Hmm! Perhaps the CHLPA, if that’s what it’s called, can organize these players through the Screen Actors Guild. After all, the players are more entertainers than they are a labour force.)
But it’s got to be nigh impossible to organize an association that will include players who aren’t yet 15 years of age when a season begins and some who will be 21 when the season ends.
Anyway . . . some of the big boys are paying attention.
The Globe and Mail has a story right here.
The Toronto Star has a story right here.
And thanks to Yahoo! Sports for compiling a few comments off Twitter right here.
If you want more on this subject, this piece right here showed up on the Internet on Friday night, via The Junior Hockey News (www.thejuniorhockeynews.com).
Mike Davies of the Peterborough Examiner filed this story right here on Sunday night.
———
I have heard from someone with some knowledge of labor laws in Washington state, which is home to four WHL teams.
Let’s pretend for a moment that this CHLPA comes to fruition and that players are labelled as employees.
“In Washington state,” notes the source, “there are laws regulating the employment of minors. If you are 16 or 17, you can work no more than four hours in a day (eight on a Friday, Saturday, or
Sunday), no more than 20 hours in a week, and no more than six days a week during school weeks. You cannot start work before 7 a.m., and you cannot work after 10 p.m. (midnight on Friday or Saturday). If it's not a school week, then you can work eight hours a day, 48 hours in a week, start at 5 a.m. and end at midnight.
“I can see the State of Washington saying that travel time is work time. So now teams would have to travel the day before a game and the day after.”
And what about on game nights?
“Teams require players to arrive at the rink two hours before game time. So that means that in weeknight games, anyone under 18 would have to pack it in after the second period.
“Now try to schedule games. . . . If you are 15, then the restrictions are more severe: three hours a day, 16 hours a week, and you have to quit by 7 p.m. Every day.”
Oh, and the players would have to go by their actual ages, not hockey ages.
“A team would not be able to play a ‘late birthday’ 16 until after he actually turned 16. Plus there would be no callups of 15s until they actually turned 16.”
And what of paying the players?
“You would also become liable under state law to pay minimum wage ($9.04 an hour in Washington right now), provide a meal break, rest breaks — ‘They must be allowed a rest period no later than the end of the third hour of the shift.’ — AND you have to get a State Work Permit and the parents and school must sign off on the work permit, before the minor begins employment.”
The rules governing teen workers in the State of Washington are right here.
———
The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Keoni Texeira, who was the 26th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. He was Portland’s first pick in that draft. A native of Fontana, Calif., Texeira had 82 points, including 35 goals, in 67 games with the L.A. Selects of the Tier 1 Elite Major Bantam AAA league. He is expected to play this season with the L.A. Jr. Kings U16 AAA team.
———
The BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers announced Monday that they have signed Greg Fraser, 20, who played the last four seasons with the Prince George Cougars, who gave him his release last week. Fraser, who is from Nanaimo, spent four seasons with the Cougars. He also played two games with the Clippers in 2007-08. . . . Fraser told the Cougars he wanted to get working on his education and Vancouver Island U has a campus in Nanaimo.
———
The ECHL’s Colorado Eagles need goaltending, after former WHLer Damien Ketlo chose to go to school (U of Lethbridge) and Andrew Penner retired. According to the Loveland, Colo., Reporter-Herald, the Eagles have signed two goaltenders, one of whom is Adam Brown, who played the last four seasons with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. They also signed Aaron Dell, who is a product of the U of North Dakota program. . . . Colorado head coach Chris Stewart once did a stint behind the bench with the Prince Albert Raiders.
———
Mike McBain, a defenceman who played four seasons (1993-97) with the Red Deer Rebels, is, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “accused of molesting his stepdaughter over a four-year period, beginning when the girl was 12 in 2008, and faces nine felony charges.” . . . The Review-Journal’s story is right here.
———
Matt Crossman of Sporting News has a piece right here that details some of the problems being encountered by former NFL players.
Crossman writes: “(Greg) Koch is one of 125 former NFL players who took part in a Sporting News survey about the impact of concussions. The results suggest far more players suffered far more concussions than previously has been reported. The consequences are far-reaching for the players and their families.
“Of the 125 players, 115 reported suffering at least one concussion. Of those 115, 76 listed at least one mental-health symptom that could be related to their head injuries, though many said they could not definitively tie their problems to concussions.”
Be forewarned; this is not a pretty story.
 
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Blazers in chase mode now

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
After spending the last few weeks as the hunted, the Kamloops Blazers now are the hunters.
While they clinched the WHL's B.C. Division pennant on Saturday night, the Blazers now find themselves third in the Western Conference. Of course, as B.C. Division champions, the Blazers will be no worse than the second seed in the conference when the playoffs open on March 23.
On Sunday, the Tri-City Americans got a goal from Justin Feser with 51.2 seconds left in the third period to beat the Winterhawks 4-3 in Portland. The Winterhawks hold down top spot in the conference by one point over the Americans and three on the Blazers.
The Winterhawks are next up on the Blazers' schedule. The teams will meet at Interior Savings Centre on Wednesday, 7 p.m.
The Blazers wrapped up the B.C. Division flag on Saturday, the first time they have accomplished that since 2001-02 when they finished two points ahead of the Kootenay Ice.
The race for first in B.C. ended at 9:22 p.m., when the final buzzer went on the Victoria Royals' 5-2 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. That loss left the Giants 15 points back with just seven games remaining.
Twelve minutes later, Kelowna forward Zach Franko scored from a bad angle to give the Rockets a 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Blazers. The Rockets (28-29-9), who trail Kamloops (44-17-5) by 28 points, had doubled the Blazers 6-3 in Kamloops on Friday night.
The Blazers fell behind 4-0 in the series opener and expended a lot of energy in trying to come from behind. That may have cost them Saturday as they played their fourth game in five nights, only one of which was at home.
“We sensed fatigue (Saturday) . . . (on Friday), we gave it a good push - we had a lot of scoring chances and their goaltender played well,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “Their team paid the price as far as blocking shots and doing the things they needed to do to win the hockey game. So it's a credit to them.
“I thought we started well with some tempo and they took the play away from us in the second period. I thought our third period was adequate enough for us to perhaps get the two points.”
Kamloops forward Dylan Willick, with his 28th goal, opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game, with defenceman Bronson Maschmeyer making it 2-0 at 6:39 of the second.
However, the Rockets came back with three goals in 8:25. Forward Brett Bulmer, who had two goals and an assist on Friday, got his 32nd of the season at 7:17. Kelowna then got its first lead on goals from defencemen Mitchell Chapman, at 13:31, and Madison Bowey, at 15:42. Bulmer also had two assists, giving him a six-point weekend.
Kamoops defenceman Austin Madaisky tied it on a power play two minutes later.
Franko won it with his 12th goal of the season at 2:31 of OT.
Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown, who stopped 43 shots on Friday, turned aside 28 in this one. Cole Cheveldave of the Blazers, who left Friday trailing 3-0 after the first period, stopped 29 shots.
The Blazers went 1-2-1 in those last four games; they are 3-5-1 over their last nine games as they have battled fatigue and a tougher schedule.
“I do believe sometimes having a tough schedule at the end of the season can be a benefit to your team,” Charron said. “You don't want to be overconfident going into the playoffs even though you won your division. And you want that challenge. If you look at our schedule, we have Portland on Wednesday, we have a home-and-home with Vancouver, we have to go to Spokane and we finish the weekend with Prince George. They're all teams fighting for something.
“Portland wants to finish first overall. Vancouver wants to get home-ice advantage and they're fighting with Spokane. So we'll see what happens and we'll play it a game at a time. . . . We have a few injuries and we need to heal up some of those injuries, but if the cards are dealt that we can perhaps challenge for the conference, then great.”
The Rockets, who clinched a playoff spot on Friday, are searching for some consistency with the postseason on the horizon.
“Right now, (the players) are excited,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska said. “You have to feel like you can beat the best teams in the league, and Kamloops is one of the best teams in the league. So it was a good weekend for us; it shows our players that we can play against the best teams, and that's important.”
JUST NOTES: Kamloops scratched F Ryan Hanes, who is hurt, D Tyler Bell and F Chase Souto. . . . Willick is on an eight-game point streak, with 11 points over that time. . . . Madaisky has 13 goals this season, 11 of them on the PP. . . . The Blazers won the season series with the Rockets, 5-1-2, although each team was credited with having scored 28 goals. . . . Kamloops F Tim Bozon appeared to suffer an injury to his right leg in the second period, but he returned to action. . . . After finishing first in the B.C. Division in 2001-02, the Blazers were swept from the first round by the Rockets. . . . The Americans took the season series from Portland, 6-4-0. The Americans won the first five games; the Winterhawks came back to win four in a row before losing last night. . . . A scoring change after Friday's game gave Kamloops D Marek Hrbas his first goal of the season. Hrbas also has 23 assists in 61 games. The goal, the Blazers' first in that game, had been credited to F Aspen Sterzer, who ended up with an assist. . . . There aren't any WHL games on the schedule for today.


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By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Ron Wilson on Friday evening.
The Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets went ahead and played anyway. The Blazers may wish they hadn’t.
On a night when a victory would have allowed them to clinch first place in the WHL’s B.C. Division, the Blazers absorbed a 6-3 beating from the Rockets at Interior Savings Centre.
“How did we lose that one?” wondered Kamloops right-winger Jordan DePape. “We have to be prepared to play.”
The Blazers were completely dominant for the game’s first two minutes. The owned the puck and were all over the Rockets’ defenders.
However, Brett Bulmer, at 2:22, and Shane McColgan, at 3:11, scored on two of the Rockets’ first three shots and that terrific start, albeit a scoreless one, was all for naught because the visitors now had all the momentum.
“We focus on their key guys,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said, “and they only have two players we have to worry about, McColgan and Bulmer. They had two goals each.
“Why would we allow one of their top players . . . both of their first goals were right from the slot. They have to be contested. People on the ice, we tell them, ‘Know who you’re playing against.’ ”
Things only got worse for the Blazers late in the period, after DePape went off for tripping. During the power play, the Rockets were guilty of a sloppy line change and had too many men on the ice, but the officials chose not to call it.
“We yelled about it and it wasn’t called,” Charron said, with a shrug of his shoulders.
Moments later, forward Cody Chikie banged a rebound past Cole Cheveldave and the Rockets had three goals on seven shots, which was enough to end the goaltender’s night.
Cam Lanigan came on in relief and, at 8:19 of the second, was beaten by defenceman Madison Bowey on a shot from the point.
“The fourth goal was an awful goal . . . it’s just an awful goal,” Charron said. “Instead of being down 3-0, it’s 4-0.”
And school was out. The Blazers had erased a 4-1 deficit in beating the Rockets 5-4 in overtime here on Feb. 10, but it was apparent that wasn’t going to happen this time.
The Rockets were much tougher in their zone and their defencemen were shot-blocking machines; by game’s end, the Rockets, led by defenceman Mitchell Chapman, had blocked 26 shots, while the Blazers had gotten in front of only three.
“I thought we had a lot of good shot blocks out there,” said Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown, who won his 20th game with a 43-save effort. “We were very good in the (defensive) zone. A lot of (Kamloops’ shots) were from the outside so the guys really helped me out there. Overall, I thought we had a really good outing.”
Brown, 20, is in his final season and his record of 20-22-4 pretty much mirrors the Rockets’ season. But he was solid in this one.
“It was one of those games where a lot of pucks seemed to be hitting me,” said Brown, the son of Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Newell Brown. “I was reading the play and reacting off shots well. It was one of those games where everything seemed to hit me.”
“He might not have had to make exceptional saves,” said Charron, whose team outchanced the visitors 25-13, “but he made saves.”
The Rockets took that 4-0 lead into the third period, where Brandon Herrod and Aspen Sterzer scored at 7:53 and 11:11 respectively, providing a bit of hope to the home fans.
But it all was dashed when McColgan restored a three-goal Kelowna lead at 13:53 with his 17th goal of the season.
DePape, who had been out since Oct. 10 with a shoulder injury, banged in a rebound at 19:00, and Bulmer, who has 31 goals, finished it with an empty-netter at 19:40.
“Did our team quit? Absolutely not,” Charron said. “We didn’t quit. But we didn’t get what we needed, which was a couple of saves early.”
The Blazers, who have lost four of their last seven games overall and four of their last five at home, hope to get things back on track tonight in the rematch in Kelowna.
“Right now,” Charron allowed, “there is part of our game that is not in place.”
The Rockets, who scored their first five goals on just 17 shots, clinched a playoff spot with the victory. They will finish sixth in the Western Conference and will meet the U.S. Division’s second-place team, either the Portland Winterhawks or Tri-City Americans, in the first round.
“It’s been a process for us this season and I think tonight was a step in the right direction,” Brown said. “We just need to build off that for (tonight).
“Our mindset was more looking at the end of the season and the playoffs and focusing on that and the way we need to be playing going into the postseason.”
The Blazers, meanwhile, will play in Kelowna tonight and will once again attempt to clinch their first B.C. Division title since 2001-02. Kamloops (44-17-4) has 92 points and holds a 16-point lead over the second-place Vancouver Giants (36-23-4), who lost 6-4 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers last night and have eight games remaining.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 5,227, the largest crowd of the season. Cameron Hughes, a sports entertainer based in Ottawa, kept the crowd entertained. . . . The Rockets were 2-4 on the power play, while the Blazers went 0-7. . . . The Blazers lead the season series with the Rockets, 5-1-1, going into tonight’s finale. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Brown: Steady as he goes; 2. Bowey: scores, blocks shots; 3. Bulmer: Two goals and even blocked a shot. . . . F Brock Nixon of the Calgary Dinos, who played 286 regular-season WHL games with the Kamloops Blazers (2003-08) before being traded to the Calgary Hitmen, has been named the Canada West Husky-WHL graduate of the month. Nixon, a kinesiology major, had six points in four regular-season games last month, then was the first star in two victories as the Dinos went the distance in winning a best-of-three first-round series from the UBC Thunderbirds.

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Kamloops goaltender Cam Lanigan looks for the puck as Blazers defenceman
Bronson Maschmeyer looks after Kelowna Rockets forward Cody Chikie.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
It’s a good thing for the Kamloops Blazers that Chase Schaber was tired.
Otherwise, he may have ended up too close to the Kelowna net and wouldn’t have been in position to score the overtime goal that beat the Rockets 5-4 on Friday night at Interior Savings Centre.
“A big juicy rebound,” Schaber said of the puck he hammered past Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown with 27.9 seconds left in extra time.
Brown, who finished with 41 saves, 17 of them in the third period when his side was outshot 19-4, served up the rebound off a shot by defenceman Austin Madaisky.
It was an OT period that featured a good stretch of 3-on-3 play, as Kelowna’s Damon Severson and Madaisky took minors 42 seconds apart.
In fact, Madaisky got out of the penalty box just 28 seconds before Schaber, who admitted to being gassed when he scored, notched his 21st goal of the season and his seventh game-winner.
That put the finishing touch on the Blazers’ first successful late comeback this season. Prior to this one, they had been 0-9-2 when trailing after two periods.
The Blazers were down 4-2 after 40 minutes in this one; they had trailed 4-1 after one period.
“Everybody in the room stuck together and said, ‘We can do it,’ ” Schaber, the Blazers’ captain, said. “We came in the room and said, ‘Listen, we’ve got a lot more to give.’ We came out and played our game.
“It was a huge character win. Nothing else need be said.”
For the second game in a row, the Blazers walked into early penalty trouble — in this instance, it was two minor penalties in the game’s first 2:28. That allowed the visitors to get some momentum going, especially, on the forecheck, and set the home boys back on their heels.
It also resulted in an early exit by Kamloops goaltender Cole Cheveldave, who was beaten four times on eight shots, two of the goals coming via the power play.
Cam Lanigan, however, came off the bench to pitch a shutout — he stopped 12 shots — and get his 12th victory in 16 decisions.
“Lanigan stepped in and played unbelievable for us,” Schaber said.
Lanigan also was the beneficiary of improved play by his teammates, who held a 32-12 edge in shots over the games last 44:32.
Kamloops also got big games from Schaber’s linemates, Brendan Ranford and Brandon Herrod. Ranford tied the game 4-4 with his 32nd goal, at 8:04 of the third period, escaping a smothering attempt by Kelowna defenceman MacKenzie Johnston in one corner and getting to the net in time to stuff a loose puck past Brown.
“It was a good play by Herrod behind the net,” Ranford said. “He put it out to (Dylan) Willick. It was a rebound and I tried to get a stick on it and it went in.”
Ranford said head coach Guy Charron and associate coach Dave Hunchak told the team after the first period to keep working hard.
“We needed to get back to the way we play hockey, Blazers hockey, and how we’ve been winning games all season,” Ranford said. “That’s what we did in the second and third periods.
“That’s an unbelievable win.”
The Blazers also got two goals from Colin Smith, who turned in a gritty performance in running his total to 29, and one from J.C. Lipon, who returned from a three-game concussion-induced absence.
Brett Bulmer, with two, Tanner Moar and Carter Rigby scored for the Rockets.
Bulmer, who opened this season by playing nine games with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, was the best player on the ice in the first period. But the Blazers, defenceman Bronson Maschmeyer and winger Ryan Hanes in particular, got into his kitchen later and he wasn’t anywhere near as effective as the game wore on.
The victory allowed the Blazers (39-12-4) to stretch their lead atop the overall standings to three points over the Edmonton Oil Kings (36-12-7), the Eastern Conference leaders who were beaten 5-4 in OT by the Cougars in Prince George.
At the same time, the Blazers now lead the Western Conference by six points over the Tri-City Americans, who lost 4-2 to the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
The Blazers will play in Kelowna tonight and then return home to face the Oil Kings on Tuesday night.
“It’s going to be a war, that’s for sure,” Schaber said of tonight’s rematch. “Going into Kelowna after the win tonight. . . it’s going to be the same thing . . . it’s going to be who wants it more, whoever works the hardest.”
Ranford added: “They’re a helluva hockey team. We just have to play our game and it should come out in our favor.”
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 4,287. . . . Each team was 2-for-7 on the power play. . . . The Rockets were last here on Oct. 28. . . . The Blazers are 4-0-1 against Kelowna, with a 19-14 edge in goals. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully and F Mike Needham saw little, if any, ice time in the third. Charron said neither player is injured. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Schaber: Leads by example; 2. Madaisky: Just gets better; 3. Ranford: Another big goal. . . . The Blazers and Rockets will conclude their season series with a home-and-home set on March 2 and 3. They will open here and wrap it up there. . . . Kamloops F Jordan DePape announced via Twitter yesterday that he will turn to Kamloops on Monday. DePape has been out with a shoulder injury since Oct. 10; he had surgery on Nov. 4 in Winnipeg. He isn’t expected to play again until some time in March.

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By DOYLE POTENTEAU
Kelowna Daily Courier
KELOWNA — Zach Franko is proving to be money in the shootout bank for the Kelowna Rockets.
Franko scored the game-winning goal in the shootout as the
Rockets doused the red-hot Kamloops Blazers 3-2 in WHL action on Wednesday night. The Blazers entered the game riding a nine-game winning streak, but failed to hold a pair of one-goal leads.
Franko, meanwhile, scored his seventh consecutive shootout goal, and is 7-for-8 this season. Franko also netted the winner in Kelowna’s last game, a 4-3 shootout victory over Vancouver on Saturday. In both games, he was Kelowna’s first shooter, and twice gave the Rockets early 1-0 leads.
Against Kamloops, as they were against Vancouver, the Rockets were 2-for-2 in the shootout, with Myles Bell again converting, while the Blazers were 0-for-2.
“It feels good that I can contribute any way that I can,” said Franko. “Right now, it’s the shootout. I got a couple (shootout goals) early on in the year and my confidence started building. I’ve been working on it in practice, and that’s really key. I’m trying new moves and getting my confidence up in practice really works (in games). Just keep shooting; that’s my two cents’ worth.”
Goaltender Adam brown, who made 23 saves, said it’s invaluable to have Franko’s clutch performance right now as the Rockets
try to right their up-and-down season.
“He’s got a great shot and he’s money in the shootout,” Brown said. “It’s huge when you know someone is going to go out there and score, and all you have to do is (stop) two of three (opposing shooters) or one of two. It’s a huge confidence boost, because all you have to make is one save and we’re good to go.”
Shane McColgan, with his 13th goal of the season, and Brett Bulmer, with his 20th, scored in regulation time for Kelowna (21-23-2-3), which is 1-3 in its eight-game season series against its nearest geographical rival.
Brendan Ranford, with his team-leading 25th goal of the season, and Austin Madaisky scored in regulation time for Kamloops (34-10-1-3), which, after a scoreless first period, led 2-1 after 40 minutes. Ranford opened the scoring, then Madaisky made it 2-1 late in the second with a power-play goal. Cole Cheveldave made 34 stops for the Blazers.
From a Kelowna standpoint, standing up to the B.C. Division-leading Blazers instead of getting steamrolled was just as important, if not moreso, than the victory.
“I liked the way we played,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “I thought we had a good game where we limited a lot of their offensive opportunities so, defensively, we were pretty good. We had compete from our forwards for the most part, moving themselves up the ice. So, yes, I was happy with our game.”
His counterpart, understandably, wasn’t pleased with the result.
“Our first period was fine,” said Blazers head coach Guy Charron. “But we didn’t play that well in the second period, and, fortunately for us, we didn’t have a big deficit. We found a way to get a lead, but we didn’t sustain the effort that we needed to have to be successful. Credit to Kelowna because they did the things that we were hoping to do a little bit more to their defence. They played the puck deep, they worked our defence.
“Our core group for us did their job tonight. Unfortunately, we had
passengers up front, and when you do that and play a team like Kelowna, you’re liable to get yourself in trouble.”
Bailing out the Blazers was Cheveldave, who was well deserving of the third star. The loss pushed his record to 25-5-4.
“He’s excellent,” said Charron. “He’s a very dynamic young man and he plays with a lot of confidence. We’re very fortunate to have a young goaltender like him with the season he’s having.”
Ranford made it 1-0 just 57 seconds into the second period with a great individual effort. After taking a pass near the timekeeper’s box, Ranford circled back, then zipped into Kelowna’s zone on a 1-on-2 rush. There, he slipped the puck through Rockets defenceman Mackenzie Johnston, then went wide around him, regained control of the puck and, from the right faceoff circle, picked the far corner, beating Brown high-blocker side for his 25th goal of the season.
The goal stunned Kelowna’s crowd, though it wouldn’t stay silent for long.
Just two minutes later, McColgan levelled the score with an in-close
one-timer at 3:29. Defenceman Damon Severson spotted an open McColgan to the right of Cheveldave, then fed him a slap pass from the blue-line that his teammate converted, going top shelf.
Madaisky restored Kamloops’ lead at 15:37 with a power-play goal from the right blue-line boards. With Colin Smith as a partial screen, Madaisky put a simple wrist shot on net that squeezed inside the
near post. The goal came just 14 seconds into Carter Rigby’s penalty for cross-checking.
In the third, the Rockets made it 2-2 when Bulmer slapped home a loose puck from the left side. The goal, scored at 11:10, came after Bulmer put together a near coast-to-coast rush that eventually resulted in a McColgan rebound popping out near the left half-wall.
Rockets defenceman Mitchell Chapman almost ended the game late in the third, with a slapshot from the right blue-line boards, but his shot clanged off the far post and the buzzer sounded just a second later.
In overtime, nothing was solved, with both teams clamming up defensively and surrendering just one shot each.
In the shootout, Franko snapped home a quick wrist shot, while Bell went five-hole. At the other end, Madaisky had a slapshot stopped by Brown, while Ranford lost the handle on the puck and could only watch as the puck skittered away and into the left corner.

(Thanks to Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier for permission to post his game lead here.)

SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, G Jon Groenheyde picked up his first career shutout as the Broncos got past the Red Deer Rebels, 4-0. . . . Greonheyde, 20, was playing in his 133rd game. . . . He made 25 saves as the Broncos blanked an opponent for the first time this season. . . . Groenheyde played the first 60 games of his career with the Kamloops Blazers, then was with the Edmonton Oil Kings for 35 appearances. This was his 38th game with Swift Current. . . . F Andy Blanke’s second goal of the season, at 1:02 of the first, stood up as the winner. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Lukas Sutter had two goals and two assists to help the Blades to an 8-6 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Sutter has 19 goals. . . . The Raiders took a 3-2 lead into the secod period when the Blades scored three times on four shots. The Raiders twice got back to within a goal but couldn’t equalize. . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie stopped 40 shots and picked up his first WHL assist. . . . Prince Albert F Anthony Bardaro and F Justin Maylan each scored his 20th goal. . . . Saskatoon D Duncan Siemens scored his sixth goal of the season, one more than he counted last season. . . . Raiders D Josh Morrissey, who is 16 and having a terrific season, had a goal and three assists. He has  24 points, including five goals, in 41 games. . . . The Blades have won four in a row. . . .

In Brandon, F Ben Walker’s shootout goal gave the Victoria Royals a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . Walker had two assists in regulation time as Victoria snapped a 10-game losing skid. . . . The Wheat Kings, who are 0-2-1 in their last three home games, have lost 10 straight shootouts. . . . Brandon is 1-5-1 in its last seven games. . . . The Royals erased a 3-1 deficit when F Jamie Crooks scored at 16:56 of the second and F Brandon Magee tied it at 13:43 of the third. . . . The Royals held a 20-8 edge in shots in the third. . . . F Mark Stone got his 30th of the season for Brandon. . . . Victoria F Dakota Conroy scored his first goal for the Royals, and it came against the team that traded him away on Monday. . . . F Kevin Sundher, who went to Brandon in that exchange, had two assists. . . . Brandon G Curtis Honey, in his first start at home, stopped 46 shots, seven more than Victoria’s Keith Hamilton. . . .

In Edmonton, F Jordan Peddle’s goal at 3:06 of OT gave the Oil Kings a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Oil Kings now lead the Eastern Conference by eight points over Kootenay and the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson had forced OT with his first WHL goal at 8:30 of the third. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart scored his 13th goal, giving him 34 points in 38 games. Jeff Hollick, the Ice’s radio voice, reports that Reinhart has tied F Jarret Stoll and F Nigel Dawes for the franchise record for points in a season by a 16-year-old forward. D Steve McCarthy holds the record, with 40 points at 16 years of age. . . . Kootenay F Drew Czerwonka, the team captain, left the game in the first period and didn’t return. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s last three goals, two into an empty net, as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-3. . . . F Emerson Etem had two goals, giving him 37 this season. He has goals in seven straight games, totalling nine goals in that span. . . . Etem broke a 3-3 tie at 10:48 of the third. . . . F Curtis Valk also scored twice for Medicine Hat. . . . Tigers G Tyler Bunz stopped 35 shots in posting his 100th regular-season victory. . . . Moose Jaw F Cam Braes, acquired Monday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, scored his 100th career goal. He has played in 322 games. . . . Tigers D Patrik Parkkonen had three assists. . . .

In Kamloops, F Tim Bozon scored twice to help the Blazers to a 5-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Bozon, a Swiss freshman, was 39th in the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings of draft-eligible North American skaters that came out earlier in the week. But he wasn’t named to the CHL Top Prospects Game. . . . Go figure! . . . Bozon has 22 goals. . . . Bozon is riding a seven-game point streak during which time he has 12 points, including six goals. . . . Kamloops F Brandon Herrod scored his 20th goal of the season, 18 of which came with the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Kamloops now has five 20-goal men on its roster. . . . The Blazers have won six in a row and now are just one point the Tri-City Americans, who lead the overall standings and the Western Conference. . . . Kamloops D Austin Madaisky didn’t pick up even one point but he was plus-4. . . . Everett D Ryan Murray, who was third in those same Central Scouting rankings, scored his sixth goal of the season. He has 12 points in 17 games. . . . The Silvertips had planned on heading to Kamloops immediately following a 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Friday night. However, their departure was delayed for an hour when one of their players was selected for a drug test and, uhh, wasn’t able to go. As a result, they didn’t arrive here until 5 a.m. . . .

In Prince George, the Cougars broke a 1-1 tie with three straight third-period goals and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . The Cougars had beaten the Hurricanes 6-3 on Friday. . . . Prince George F Jordan Tkatch snapped a 1-1 tie at 4:47 of the third. . . . Prince George F Troy Bourke had two assists, giving him five in the two-game series. . . . Cougars G Drew Owsley stopped 39 shots. . . . Lethbridge F Brady Ramsay scored his 16th goal in his 43rd game. Last season, he scored once in 57 games. . . . The Cougars are ninth in the Western Conference, but now are just one point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds and Victoria Royals, who are tied for seventh. . . .

In Vancouver, G Adam Brown turned aside 36 shots as the Kelowna Rockets edged the Giants, 4-3. . . . The Giants overcame a 3-1 third-period deficit, tying the game with two goals 29 seconds apart. F Riley Kieser scored his second goal in as many games, at 6:17, and D Tyler Vanscourt tied it on the PP at 6:46. . . . Kelowna F Carter Rigby got the winner at 7:32. He’s got 13 this season. . . . The Giants were without F Brendan Gallagher and F Dalton Sward, both of whom were injured in Friday’s 11-4 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Gallagher took a big hit from Tri-City F Patrick Holland in the first period and, later on the same shift, took a hard fall into the end boards, possibly injuring his right shoulder. . . . Tweeting about Gallagher’s injury, Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province wrote: “They are saying nothing, which, to me, says a lot. I think it is serious.” . . . Vancouver also was without G Adam Morrison. He got the hook in that loss and wasn’t on the bench in the third period, although head coach Don Hay said later that “there’s nothing wrong with Mo.” . . . With Morrison out, Alexander Ahnert, 18, came in from the junior B Delta Ice Hawks and backed up Jackson Whistle, 16. . . . Ewen reports that the Giants are believed to be bringing in G Payton Lee, 15, from Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna. . . .Vancouver D David Musil (wrist), who didn’t play Friday, also sat out. . . . The Giants are saying that Gallagher, Morrison and Sward are day-to-day and will be re-evaluated on Monday. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Mac Carruth stopped 25 shots as the Portland Winterhawks blanked the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-0. . . . Carruth has two shutouts this season — both against Seattle — and four in his career. He blanked the Thunderbirds 2-0 on Dec. 31. . . . Portland has won three straight games. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost six in a row. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored his WHL-leading 39th goal of the season. . . . The Winterhawks also got a goal from F Marcel Noebels, who was acquired Tuesday from Seattle. . . . Portland D Joe Morrow had an assist to run his points streak to six games. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 48 shots. . . .

In Spokane, F Dominik Uher had two goals and an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Uher has 14 goals. . . . Spokane F Dylan Walchuk broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 7:05 of the third. He has two goals in two games since joining the Chiefs this week. . . . Tri-City D Sam Grist had tied the game 3-3 with his first WHL goal in 96 games at 11:28 of the second. . . . F Todd Fiddler scored for Spokane. He had 10 points in 35 games with the Prince Albert Raiders. Since joining the Chiefs, he has 10 points, five of them goals, in nine games. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel stopped 31 shots. He is 6-0-0 in his last six starts.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Manraj Hayer, Everett.
F Tim Bozon, Kamloops.
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In the BCHL on Saturday night, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 23 games with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings. . . . The Vees next play Friday when they are at home to the Westside Warriors.
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If you watched last spring’s Memorial Cup, you may have seen D Brayden McNabb’s hit on Owen Sound Attack F Joey Hishon. You may even recall that McNabb ended up with a one-game suspension for a hit that left Hishon with a concussion. Well, McNabb now is with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, while Hishon continues his recovery and hasn’t skated since that incident. (McNabb may have suffered a concussion in Buffalo’s 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.)
Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post has more right here.
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Congratulations to old friend Dennis Pottage and all of those who have been named to the first induction class for the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.
Also to be inducted are players Sid Abel, Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Johnny Bower, Glenn Hall, Gordie Howe, Elmer Lach, Metro Prystai, Fred Sasakamoose and Bryan Trottier; builders Ed Chynoweth, Bill Hunter, Gordon Juckes, Father Athol Murray and Doc Seaman; grassroots contributor Bill Ford; and, Pottage as an official.
As well, five teams will be inducted — the 1989 Swift Current Broncos, the 1974 Regina Pats, the 1985 Prince Albert Raiders, the 1982-83 U of Saskatchewan Huskies and the 1955-64 Semans Wheat Kings.
The Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame is to be located in the Credit Union iplex, the home of the Broncos. The induction banquet is scheduled for July 28.
All I know is that I’m glad I wasn’t on the selection committee. With all of the great hockey players and contributors to the game who came out of Saskatchewan, I can’t imagine the angst that must have gone into picking the first inductees.
And when you look at those names, one thing is for certain — that induction dinner is going to be a storyteller’s delight.
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Brent Peterson, a former player and coach with the Portland Winterhawks, will be inducted into the WHL team’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony prior to a Feb. 3 game with the visiting Everett Silvertips.
He will join former owner Brian Shaw, former owner, GM and coach Ken Hodge and former player Dennis Holland in the club’s Hall of Fame.
“Brent is deserving,” Winterhawks president Doug Piper told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. “He was our first captain, a very good player, and he coached us to a Memorial Cup title. He is one of the most popular members the organization has ever had. And his contributions to hockey are outstanding at all levels.”
Peterson couldn’t be more thrilled.
“It’s awesome,” Peterson told Eggers. “What an honor. I know it’s not (former Hawk) Cam Neely being in the NHL Hall of Fame, but it probably means as much to me.
“The Winterhawks are my favorite team in the world. Every time I see a (former) Winterhawk in the NHL, even if I didn’t coach him, I always make sure to say hello. We all have that bond, that special relationship. You are proud to be a part of an organization that has done so well for so long.”
Peterson, 53, now works with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. He was on the coaching staff until Parkinson’s disease forced him to step back.
The Winterhawks also have said they will hold and auction and fund-raiser to benefit the Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s.
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The Minnesota State High School Hockey League will activate new rules Monday aimed at cracking down on tough hits. A check from behind, boarding or head contact will carry with it at least a major penalty. It is the first time the league has implemented such rule changes in midseason. The move comes after Jack Jablosnki, a player with Benilde-St. Margaret’s, was hit from behind and left paralyzed.
David La Vaque of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has more right here.
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Today’s good read comes from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. It’s his weekly notes package and it is topped with an item on a former WHL player box who now is an NHL referee.
Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy this right here.

Blazers are kings of WHL's hill

Logan McVeigh (12) of the Kamloops Blazers tries to control a bouncing
puck while Kelowna Rockets defenceman Cole Martin keeps close tabs
on his opponent during WHL action in Kelowna on Saturday night.
(Photo by Gary Nylander/The Daily Courier)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

As October takes its final breaths before turning into November, the Kamloops Blazers, who didn’t even make the WHL playoffs last season, boast the league’s top winning percentage.
Yes, indeed . . . the Blazers are 14 games (19.4 per cent) into their 72-game season and they are the kings of the WHL’s hill, thanks to their .786 winning percentage. Kamloops is tied with the Tri-City Americans (11-5-0, .688) atop the Western Conference and leads the B.C. Division by three points over the Victoria Royals (9-7-1, .559). Only the defending-champion Kootenay Ice (11-3-2), with 24, have more points than the Blazers (11-3-0).
Although 14 of the WHL’s 22 teams have winning percentages above .500 — it’s the WHL’s new math — only the Blazers, Ice (.750) and Spokane Chiefs (8-3-1, .708) are above .700.
The Blazers won their fourth straight game Saturday, going into Kelowna and beating the Rockets 4-3, which gave Kamloops a weekend sweep over the guys from the Little Apple. Kamloops had won 5-2 at home on Friday, and now is 3-0-0 against the Rockets this season.
On Saturday, the Blazers had to come back from a 2-0 second-period deficit in this one and they did just that, scoring four straight goals.
“The thing behind our team right now is that we are finding ways to win,” Blazers head coach Guy Charron said. “It’s different than what it was in the past — we would find ways to lose.”
Charron said the key on Saturday was that “we stuck by the plan.”
“Our message,” he continued, “was basically, ‘Guys, we’re playing well. Just keep pushing their defence. . . . It may not be a short-term success, but long term they will get tired.’ ”
The Rockets scratched sophomore Myles Bell (undisclosed) prior to the game, leaving them with five defencemen.
After defenceman Madison Bowey and centre Shane McColgan gave the Rockets that 2-0 lead, forward Ryan Hanes, with his first goal in 28 games, got the visitors on the board at 6:35, with Dylan Willick equalizing at 15:34.
Willick broke the 2-2 tie at 14:44 of the third period — he scored twice in both weekend games, giving him nine goals, all in his last 10 games.
Kamloops left-winger Brendan Ranford, with his ninth goal, upped the Kamloops lead to 4-2 at 18:26 of the third period, before Rockets defenceman Damon Severson completed the scoring at 19:35.
“Because we stayed with the plan,” Charron said, “we were able to score two late goals.”
Kamloops goaltender Cam Lanigan stopped 20 shots, 11 fewer than Kelowna’s Adam Brown.
Charron really liked what he saw from his club as it won in a decidedly unfriendly environment and in front of 6,063 fans.
“To their credit,” Charron said of his charges, “they worked their buns off.”
He also said it was great to see the 19-year-old Hanes, the only Kamloops native on the roster, finally cash in a scoring chance.
“He was right in the crease, battling away for rebounds,” Charron said. “He got a loose puck and found a way to score. It’s good for him. He’s a trouper — totally devoted to the team.”
The Rockets (5-9-1-0) now are seventh in the conference, 11 points behind the Blazers.
“I saw us not quit, which was good,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska told the Kelowna Daily Courier. “But we’re not going to use (injuries) as an excuse. We have to continue to push and fight to improve. If we keep working and not backing off from what we’re asking the players to do, things will change for us, and that’s what we have to believe in.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers scratched F Matt Needham, F Chase Souto, D Landon Cross and F Jordan DePape (shoulder). . . . Speaking of Needham, Charron said: “His game hasn’t been up to where it can be.” . . . The Rockets were without five injured players. . . . The Blazers are at home Wednesday to the Portland Winterhawks, who are nearing the end of a 17-day, nine-game jaunt. They lost 4-1 to the Ice in Cranbrook on Saturday and arrived in Kamloops late yesterday afternoon. Portland went 2-3-1 in the Central Division. . . . G Liam McLeod of Kamloops stopped 32 shots Sunday to help B.C. to a 5-4 victory over Saskatchewan in the third-place game at the WHL’s U-16 Challenge Cup in Moose Jaw. McLeod, a ninth-round selection of the Blazers in the 2011 bantam draft, was selected as B.C.’s player of the game. The B.C. roster also included D Joe Hicketts, F Ryan Gropp, F Carson Bolduc and F Chad Butcher, all of Kamloops. Alberta beat Manitoba 10-4 in the tournament final.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Sunday . . .

SUNDAY, ON THE ICE:
Finally, a couple of home teams put up second-round victories, meaning the visitors now hold a 6-2 edge. . . . No games tonight. . . .
In Portland, F Ryan Johansen scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The series is 1-1 as it heads to Kelowna for games Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Johansen has five goals in these playoffs. . . . D Joe Morrow and F Ty Rattie each added a goal and two assists for Portland, with F Riley Boychuk getting three helpers. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 46 shots, while Portland’s Mac Carruth turned aside 25. . . . Attendance was 8,053. . . . The Rockets were in this at 2-2 late in the second period. . . . But Portland got two late goals from Johansen, at 15:29 and 19:52, to go out front 4-2 and take control. . . . Portland was without F Brad Ross, who is suspended, while the Rockets were without F Zach Franko, who was hit by Ross in Game 1 on Thursday. . . . The length of Ross’s suspension might be known today. . . .
In Spokane, F Mitch Holmberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . That series is 1-1 as it heads to Kennewick, Wash., for games Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. . . . Holmberg scored on the PP at 19:00 of the first period, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Chiefs then scored the only three goals of the second period. . . . Spokane was 3-for-5 on the PP; the Americans were 1-for-4. . . . Spokane D Jared Cowen had four assists, three of them on the PP. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 12 shots, as his guys outshot the visitors 26-8 through two periods. . . . The Americans started Drew Owsley in goal. He stopped 21 of 26 shots before giving way to Eric Comrie, who made his WHL debut by turning aside 13 of 14 shots. Comrie, a first-round bantam pick who signed with the Americans on Thursday, was beaten only by F Tyler Johnson, who scored on the PP at 10:35 of the third. . . . Attendance was 5,026. . . . Tri-City D Tyler Schmidt was hit with a major for clipping and a game misconduct in the third period, a penalty that certainly will be reviewed by the WHL office.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Monday . . .

Shane Doiron coaches an atom team in Shediac, N.B. I don’t know the won-loss record of his team of nine- and 10-year-olds . . . not that it matters. Because he is my coach of the year for all of Canada.
Why? Because he is a hockey coach who gets it.
Check it out right here.
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The San Jose Sharks were playing in Chicago on Monday night when play-by-play man Mike (Doc) Emrick made reference to Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews and the fact that his brother, David, plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Which is when analyst Pierre McGuire informed that Kelly McCrimmon runs the Wheat Kings.
And someone mentioned that McCrimmon’s brother, Brad, is on the coaching staff of the Detroit Red Wings. If you weren’t aware, Brad’s nickname is The Beast. (Although at one time he was Sarge.)
To which Emrick intoned: “If Brad is The Beast, is Kelly . . . Beauty?”
No doubt Kelly has been called a lot of things, both during his career as a player and as an owner/general manager/coach. I have a feeling Beauty isn’t one of them.
Or maybe he has been. It could be that at some point in the past, someone perhaps has referred to McCrimmon as a “real beauty.” Don’t you think?
By the way, I’m thinking McCrimmon has to be given some consideration as the Eastern Conference’s executive of the year and also as coach of the year.
When you consider the Wheat Kings’ horrid start, the number of injuries they dealt with, the fact that they are riding two 17-year-ol goaltenders, and the fact that McCrimmon traded away F Brayden Schenn, well, who would have thought that Brandon would be a hard-charging sixth with a week left in the regular season?
McCrimmon may not win either award, but he has to be in the conversation with the likes of Lorne Molleken of the Saskatoon Blades and Jesse Wallin of the Red Deer Rebels.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, appears to have cleared his plate of all but one case.
Doerksen, who is the WHL’s disciplinarian, suspended F Garrett Mitchell of the Regina Pats for one game for a third instigator penalty, hit F Max Ross of the Lethbridge Hurricanes with two games for a boarding major, and sat F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders for a game for an elbowing major.
All that leaves on Doerksen’s plate, at least for now, is the case of F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers, who was tossed from a Friday night game with the visiting Kelowna Rockets after he cross-checked linesman Kris Hartley while being escorted to the penalty box.
The Blazers have two games left in the regular season — they go home-and-home with the Prince George Cougars on Friday and Saturday — and you have to think Ranford, who already has sat out one game, won’t play in either of those games.
The Blazers are two points out of a playoff spot, and the only question may be whether the suspension runs into the playoffs or into the 2011-12 season.
The WHL rule book doesn’t appear to be on the league’s website, which is strange if only because the OHL and QMJHL both make their rule books available.
Anyway, the OHL book has two rules (41.3 and 41.4) involving automatic suspensions, either of which would seem to apply to the Ranford situation.
Rule 41 — Physical Abuse of Officials
Rule 41.1 Game Misconduct
Any player or goalkeeper who deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty. In addition the following (41.2, 41.3, 41.4) disciplinary penalties shall apply:
41.2 Automatic Suspension — Category 1
Any player who deliberately strikes an official and causes injury or who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official with intent to injure or who in any manner attempts to injure an official shall be automatically suspended for not less than 20 games. (For the purpose of the rule, “intent to injure” shall mean any physical force which a player knew or should have known could reasonably be expected to cause injury.)
41.3 Automatic suspension — Category 2
Any player who deliberately applies physical force to an official in any manner (excluding actions set out in Category 1) in which physical force is applied without intent to injury shall be automatically suspended for not less than 10 games.
41.4 Automatic Suspension — Category 3
Any player or goalkeeper who, by his actions, physically demeans an official or physically threatens an official by (but not limited to) throwing a stick or any other piece of equipment or object at or in the general direction of an official, shooting the puck at or in the general direction of an official, spitting at or in the general direction of an official, or who deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall be suspended for not less than three games.
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So depending on how Doerksen interprets Ranford’s actions, and depending on how closely the WHL’s rules are to the OHL’s, Ranford could be looking at a three-game suspension or one that runs at least 10 games.
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Arenas around the WHL were quiet on Monday night; there are three games on tap tonight.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes will visit the Oil Kings in Edmonton. Lethbridge is two points out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, while the Oil Kings are seventh, three points behind the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Kootenay Ice will meet the Tigers in Medicine Hat. The Ice, which has three games left, is fourth in the conference, five points behind the Tigers. An Ice loss, then, will mean it finishes fourth and will meet the Moose Jaw Warriors in the first round. . . . A Tigers victory moves them to within two points of the Red Deer Rebels, who, as Central Division leaders, are the conference’s No. 2 seed. The Tigers will use up their game in hand tonight.
And, finally, the Regina Pats are to visit the Broncos in Swift Current. The Broncos, who won’t be in the playoffs, can play spoiler tonight because a victory will finish the Pats. Regina has three games left and is six points behind the Prince Albert Raiders, who hold down the conference’s last spot.
Despite what you may have read or heard, the Pats have not been eliminated. They still can tie for that last spot. And a tie for the final playoff berth would necessitate a sudden-death game.
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JUST NOTES: F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels is the WHL’s player of the week. He had 12 points, including five goals, in four games last week. . . . Adam Brown of the Kelowna Rockets is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 3-0-0, 0.65, .979 last week. . . . The Vancouver Giants have lost six in a row and won’t have F Brendan Gallagher back Wednesday when the meet the Winterhawks in Portland. He is expected to play Friday when the Kelowna Rockets visit Vancouver. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun also reports that Giants head coach Don Hay is likely to be one of the applicants for the position of head coach of Canada’s national junior team. The deadline to apply is today. . . . “I think I'd like to help Canada win a gold medal,” Hay told Pap. “I think it's always a good challenge for coaches to get involved with that program.” . . . The 2012 tournament will be held in Calgary and Edmonton. . . . According to Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, the Warriors had F Antonin Honejsek (broken ankle) back on the ice Monday. He has missed 15 games. . . . However, the Warriors were missing F Cody Beach (leg), who was injured Saturday. Head coach Dave Hunchak said Beach is week-to-week. . . . Gourlie also reports that the Warriors are bringing in F Torrin White, the 21st overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. He had 49 points in 33 games with the midget AAA UFA Bisons in Alberta. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi has 83 points, the most by a Winterhawks’ freshman since Richard Zednik put up 86 in 1994-95. The franchise record is held by Jiri Beranek (94, 1991-92). . . . Yes, Bartschi is the WHL’s highest-scoring freshman, by 19 points. . . . The Winterhawks had G Mac Carruth (concussion, groin) back at practice Monday and are hoping to get him into at least one game by week’s end. Keith Hamilton has played well in Carruth’s absence, going 7-2 since the starter was first injured on Feb. 22.

Saturday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Justin Keller (Kelowna, 2003-06) signed a one-year contract
extension with Linz (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 21 goals and 12 assists in 34 games for Linz this season.
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If you read one thing today, make it this piece from Saturday’s Globe and Mail. Written by Ken Dryden, the former Montreal Canadiens goaltender, the headline on the piece is -- Ken Dryden on hockey violence: How could we be so stupid?
The piece is right here.
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In Everett, F Nino Niederreiter ran his goal-scoring streak to seven games as his Portland Winterhawks beat the Silvertips, 2-1. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton, starting again in place of the injured Mac Carruth, made 36 saves. . . . Hamilton is 15-5-2. . . . Niederreiter, who has 38 goals, has 11 goals over that seven-game run. . . . Everett has lost seven in a row, including a 6-3 loss to visiting Portland on Friday. . . . Attendance was 8,423, the Silvertips’ largest crowd this season. . . . The Winterhawks remain atop the Western Conference, one point up on the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett slipped into eighth, one point behind Prince George and two ahead of Kamloops. . . .
In Kelowna, shootout goals by F Geordie Wudrick and D Tyson Barrie gave the Rockets a 1-0 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 33 shots, seven fewer than Jeff Bosch, who made his 22nd straight start for Kamloops. . . . F Thoms Frazee had a shootout goal for Kamloops. . . . The Blazers, who lost 5-1 to the visiting Rockets on Friday night, now have lost five in a row. . . . Kamloops was without F Brendan Ranford, who is under WHL suspension after he was hit with a game misconduct for cross-checking linesman Kris Hartley on Friday night. . . . The Rockets are in Chilliwack today. . . .
In Kent, Wash., the Prince George Cougars scored four times in the latter half of the third period and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-1. . . . F Spencer Asuchak broke a 1-1 tie at 11:02 of the third. . . . The victory lifted the Cougars into seventh place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Everett. . . . The Thunderbirds, with four games left, are four points behind Everett. . . . The Cougars will be in Kennewick, Wash., today to play the Tri-City Americans. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs got a shootout goal from F Levko Koper to beat the Kootenay Ice, 4-3. . . . Koper was the ninth shooter in what was a five-round event. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson had a goal, his WHL-leading 51st, and an assist. . . . The Chiefs have won seven in a row but continue to trail Western Conference-leading Portland by a point. . . . The Ice is fourth in the Eastern Conference, five points behind Medicine Hat with three games left. . . .
In Lethbridge, F Kellan Tochkin had two goals to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Tigers were without F Linden Vey (neck), who leads the WHL’s points derby. . . . The Tigers are two points behind the Central Division-leading Red Deer Rebels. Each team has three games left. . . . The Hurricanes are ninth, two points behind Prince Albert, with each team having three games left. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the final meeting in the Crushed Can between the Warriors and the Regina Pats went to a shootout before the home team won, 2-1. . . . The game drew 2,945 fans, which is a couple of hundred more than capacity. Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that fans “stood five-deep to watch the game.” . . . How much did the game mean to Moose Jaw? Here’s Warriors head coach Dave Hunchak talking to Gourlie: “Our whole focus was to try to win the game for the city of Moose Jaw and our supportive fans. Coaches come and go. Players come and go. But the fans have been supportive and consistent and behind this team for 26 years. It’s not that it didn’t mean a lot to us — because it did — it was focus of ours. To be able to pick up that puck in our building meant an awful lot to the fans that support our hockey team year in and year out.” . . . One more note from Gourlie: “Warriors left-winger Cody Beach left the game in the third period after Neigum ducked out of the way of a hit and Beach landed awkwardly after being undercut. Beach left the ice favouring his left leg and was taken to hospital post-game for further evaluation.” . . . The Warriors will finish fifth and look to be headed to a first-round matchup with Kootenay. . . . The Pats are six points out of a playoff spot with three games left. . . .
In Brandon, F Mark Stone picked up two assists, giving him 101 points, as the Wheat Kings dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 7-3. . . . Stone is the first Brandon skater to surpass 100 points since F Eric Fehr (2004-05), who now is with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. . . . Brandon F Scott Glennie had a goal and three assists to get to 90 points for the first time in his career. . . . Prince Albert F Jonathan Parker left in the second period with an elbowing major and the accompanying game misconduct. . . . The Wheat Kings now are sixth in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Edmonton. . . . Prince Albert continues to cling to the conference’s last playoff spot, two points up on Lethbridge. . . .
In Saskatoon, the Blades blanked the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-0 to set a franchise record with their 53rd victory of the season. . . . G Steven Stanford stopped 35 shots to earn the shutout, his third this season and the fifth of his career. . . . D Stefan Elliott had a goal and an assist, giving him the franchise record for career points by a defenceman. He has 240. The previous record had been held by Pat Price (1970-74). . . . The Oil Kings still were able to clinch a playoff spot. They are seventh in the conference. . . . The Blades will finish first overall. . . .
In Red Deer, G Darcy Kuemper stopped 31 shots as the Rebels blanked the Swift Current Broncos, 5-0. . . . Kuemper has 13 shutouts this season and that ties the WHL’s single-season record. He now shares it with Bryan Bridges (Seattle, 2004-05) and Kelly Guard (Kelowna, 2003-04). . . . The Rebels have three games remaining. . . . F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three goals and two assists, to get to 101 points. The last Red Deer skaters to get to 100 were F Justin Mapletoft and F Kyle Wanvig, both of whom did it in 2000-01. . . . The Rebels, who meet the Hitmen in Calgary today, are the conference’s second seed, two points up o Medicine Hat. . . . The Broncos won’t be in the playoffs. In Chilliwack last night, the Bruins got two goals from F Ryan Howse as they dumped the Vancouver Giants, 8-5. . . . Attendance was 4,193. . . . Howse has 50 goals, the second WHLer, behind Spokane F Tyler Johnson, to get there this season. . . . Vancouver, which still was able to clinch a playoff spot, has lost six straight for the first time this season and has been outscored 28-6 in the process. . . . The Bruins had beaten the Giants 6-2 in Vancouver on Wednesday. . . . F Spencer Bennett scored four times for the Giants, giving him 34 on the season. . . . The Bruins, who clinched a playoff spot with the victory, have closed to within a point of the Giants, who are fifth in the Western Conference. Each team has four games remaining. . . . The Bruins are at home to the Kelowna Rockets today. . . .

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

     

gdrinnan.blogspot.com

     

Taking Note on Twitter

Blazers lose game and Ranford

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
It was a quiet, subdued and contrite subdued Brendan Ranford who came out of the Kamloops Blazers’ dressing room late Friday night.
Ranford, who leads the WHL team in goals, assists and points, left in the second period of a 5-1 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets after he cross-checked linesman Kris Hartley in the chest.
Ranford was given a game misconduct under Rule 40.5 (iii), which deals with abuse of officials.
“I got that penalty for slashing the goalie,” said Ranford of the play that occurred at 9:10 of the second period, just 45 seconds after the Rockets had taken a 3-0 led with two quick power-play goals, “and I got pulled out of there. I was going toward the box . . . (referee Ryan) Bonnett said I had a penalty . . . Hartley grabbed me and my emotions got the most of me. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but . . .”
Ranford, an 18-year-old from Edmonton who was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2010 NHL draft, paused before continuing.
“It wasn’t the right thing and I regret doing it,” he said. “In the heat of the game sometimes things happen like that . . . after thinking about it, it wasn’t the right thing, for sure.”
Ranford then said he wanted to apologize to Hartley.
“Hartley has been in the league for a long time and I respect him 100 per cent,” Ranford said. “He’s a great guy on the ice, for sure . . . it wasn’t the right thing.”
Ranford, who has 86 points, including 33 goals, now has gone six games without a point, but said he doesn’t feel that he acted out of frustration.
“No,” he said, “it wasn’t really that. I thought I got my chances tonight. I can’t really . . . that’s definitely not towards my actions that I did here.”
The WHL, which is expected to suspend Ranford indefinitely while it investigates his actions, wouldn’t allow Hartley to talk to the media after the game.
As has been the case so often this season, a lack of discipline cost the Blazers, the WHL’s most-penalized team, even before Ranford’s misstep.
With the Rockets leading 1-0, forward Logan McVeigh checked Kelowna defenceman Colton Jobke from behind. Then, in the ensuing mini-melee, Chase Souto of the Blazers began flailing away at Kelowna’s Slovenian import, Gal Koren.
When it was over, the Rockets were looking at a two-man advantage. They didn’t waste their chances. Three shots. Two goals. A 3-0 lead.
Game, set and maybe season.
Because, while the Blazers (29-36-4) were losing for the fifth straight game, the Prince George Cougars were beating the Giants 8-0 — yes, 8-0! — in Vancouver. That means Kamloops is ninth in the 10-team Western Conference, two points behind the Cougars, who hold down the last playoff spot.
The Seattle Thunderbirds, who beat the visiting Chilliwack Bruins 3-2 in overtime, are just one point behind Kamloops.
The Blazers are scheduled to play tonight in Kelowna, while the Cougars meet the Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash.
Geordie Wudrick, with his 40th goal of the season, Zach Franko, Mitchell Callahan, Koren and Tyson Barrie scored for the Rockets, who were 4-for-8 on the power play and clinched the B.C. Division pennant in the process.
Bernhard Keil had the Blazers’ lone goal, beating Kelowna goaltender Adam Brown at 3:37 of the third period. Brown posted his 83rd career regular-season victory, tying the franchise record set by Kelly Guard.
Brown was especially stellar in the first period when the Blazers at one point held a 15-2 edge in shots.
Brown’s shoulder stop on Chase Schaber off a shorthanded 2-on-1 was followed by Kelowna’s first goal, with Wudrick putting a rebound behind Jeff Bosch with three seconds left in the power play.
“For the first 15 minutes, we were on our heels,” offered Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska, adding that Brown has often played well early this season, allowing his teammates to get their legs underneath them.
Kamloops head coach Guy Charron, meanwhile, was again bemoaning that lack of discipline.
“We have to try to stay disciplined,” he said. “We can’t afford to allow a team to take a 5-on-3, especially when we’re down by one goal.
“This is the kind of team you have to be disciplined against. They’re not undisciplined and they cause you to be undisciplined and we allow it.
“I’m not completely down on the guys because I think it’s frustrating, especially with some of the things that I can’t say.
“What can you do?”
JUST NOTES: The Rockets were 4-for-8 on the power play; the Blazers were 0-for-3. . . . Bosch made 29 saves in his 21st straight start. . . . Schaber wasn’t able to put much weight on his right leg after the game. This was his fourth game back after missing 22 of 24 games with a leg injury. . . . The Rockets lead the season series 5-3-0. They have won the last three meetings by a 19-4 count. . . . Kelowna is 40-26-1, the sixth time it has won at least 40 games since 2002-03. . . . Wudrick now has 11 goals in his last 12 games, after starting the season with one goal in 15 outings. Kelowna is 25-4 when he scores.

The rule under which Kamloops left-winger Brendan Ranford received a game misconduct on Friday night:
Rule 40.5 (iii)
Any player or goalkeeper who deliberately applies physical force in any manner against an official, in any manner attempts to injure an official, physically demeans, or deliberately applies physical force to an official solely for the purpose of getting free of such an official during or immediately following an altercation shall receive a game misconduct penalty.