Cougars looking for buskers . . . Skinner skins Oil Kings . . . Silvertips edge short-staffed Chiefs

As I write this, more than 48 hours has passed since the end of Super Bowl XLIX in which the New England Patriots scored a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Like many observers, I remain in a state of shock over the way it ended. But, at the same time, I will admit that I wasn’t surprised. If being shocked but not surprised is even possible . . .
The vast majority of football coaches, and not just in the NFL, are as predictable as the sun coming up in the east. It’s why they carry those colour-coded laminated sheets on the sidelines — if it’s first-and-10 from wherever, here are the options.
It’s why they spend so much time watching video — they are watching the next opponent and looking for tendencies.
Football, especially at the professional level, is about matchups. Teams work hard to get preferable matchups and then to exploit it when it happens in their favour.
So in the moments before the biggest play of the NFL season, with the Seahawks second-and-goal from inside the Patriots’ one, New England trotted out its goal-line defensive elephants. The Seahawks had three receivers on the field and, because of the Patriots’ personnel, knew they would see man-to-man coverage.
What the Seahawks didn’t count on was a perfect storm . . . receiver Jermaine Kearse got a piece of defensive back Brandon Browner but didn’t impede Malcolm Butler’s progress. Butler, who obviously had done his video homework, knew what was coming and let his instincts take over. Seattle’s Ricardo Lockette, quarterback Russell Wilson’s intended target, didn’t anticipate Butler being there, so the New England DB was able to go right through him to the ball.
Game over.
A TV camera happened to be on New England quarterback Tom Brady, who simply couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. (Brady was named the game’s MVP, but the award should have gone to Butler, even if only for his impact on that one play.)
It is surprising that so many people who watch a lot of football were amazed that the Seahawks tried to throw the ball, rather than hand it off to running back Marshawn Lynch. But the matchups simply didn’t favour the  Seahawks in that situation and their coaching staff knew it.
In hindsight, though, I wonder why the Seahawks didn’t fake a handoff to Lynch to their left side and then have Wilson run a naked bootleg the other way. Wilson runs as well as any quarterback in the game today, and he would have been lined up under centre, rather than back in the shotgun.
They didn’t, though, and the rest is history.
Don’t forget, too, that professional football coaches are akin to generals. Every game is a war and the two leaders are the smartest men in the room. They don’t care what you or I think; all they know is that if you aren’t “for” them, then you’re “against” them.
And if you’re waiting for one of them to admit to a mistake, you will wait a long, long time.
BTW, it is games like that one that provide all the evidence needed to prove that sports is the ultimate reality TV.
If you don’t believe it, well, the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night to end a 14-game losing skid. So there’s that, too.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings list F John Quenneville and G Alex Moodie as being out week-to-week. Both players suffered concussions as the Wheaties swept a weekend home-and-home series with the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Rob Henderson reports that G Justin Holder, “a 19-year-old former member of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines and Virden Oil Capitals and of the Brandon Midget AAA Wheat Kings, practised with the Wheat Kings on Tuesday.” . . . D Kale Clague (wrist) is close to returning to Brandon’s lineup. He hasn’t played for Brandon since Oct. 28 after being injured at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in November. . . . Brandon leads the Eastern Conference and is three points behind the Kelowna Rockets, who lead the overall standings. The Wheat Kings are in Medicine Hat tonight as they open a stretch of four games in five nights.
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The OHL now has five head coaches who have put up at least 600 victories, with Stan Butler of the North Bay Battalion having joined the club on Sunday.
Butler, who turned 59 on Monday, trails Brian Kilrea (1,194), Bert Templeton (907), Larry Mavety (658) and George Burnett (604). . . . Burnett, the head coach of the Belleville Bulls, leads all OHL active coaches in victories.
Butler was the head coach of the Oshawa Generals for two seasons (1994-96) before joining the Battalion in 1998. He was the head coach in Prince George in 1996-97 as the Cougars went 28-39-5, with the five representing ties. Ties? Oh, those were the days!
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It has been almost a year since Cody Smuk was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Smuk, who played with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors (2006-10) before spending four seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies, now is undergoing chemotherapy. Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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The Prince George Cougars are in the process of unveiling a Buskers’ Corner stage at home games. Andy Beesley, the Cougars’ vice-president of business, says there won’t be any charge for buskers to perform and it will give the performers a chance to “earn some change from appreciative fans.” If you are interested, call Beesley at 250-561-0783. . . .
F Troy Brouwer (Moose Jaw, 2001-06) scored twice last night to help the Washington Capitals to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. That turned Brouwer’s 500th regular-season NHL game into a memorable one. . . . Interestingly, Washington assistant coach Lane Lambert was on the Warriors’ coaching staff for two of Brouwer’s seasons in Moose Jaw. . . .
A tip of the hat to friend Dan Russell, who will be saluted on Friday when the Paul Carson Awards are handed out at the Lamplighter Pub in Gastown in Vancouver. Russell, who spent 30 of his 35 years in media as the host of Sportstalk, will receive the Milestone Award. . . . Tickets to the event, presented by The Stadnyk Foundation and supported by Morguard and Steamworks Brewery, are available for $30, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society and KidSport. Tickets can be reserved by emailing friendsofpaulcarson@gmail.com.
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The WHL has suspended five players for infractions in Friday and Saturday games. . . . D Josh Connolly of the Prince George Cougars drew a one-game sentence for a slashing major and game misconduct against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night. He served the suspension on Saturday. . . . Cougars D Josh Anderson got two games for a headshot major and game misconduct on Friday. He didn’t play Saturday, so has one game remaining. The Cougars are at home to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday. . . . D Mackenze Stewart of the Prince Albert Raiders got a two-game suspension for a cross-checking major and game misconduct in Calgary on Friday night. He didn’t play Saturday in Red Deer, so has one game remaining. He will serve that tonight when the Raiders play in Moose Jaw. . . .
Two other players are sitting with ‘tbd’ suspensions. F Jesse Shynkaruk of the Moose Jaw Warriors took an interference major and game misconduct for a hit on F John Quenneville of the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday. Quenneville is believed to have a concussion. The Warriors next play Wednesday when they entertain the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Jacob Cardiff of the Spokane Chiefs was hit with a headshot major and game misconduct against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday. Cardiff didn’t play last night against the visiting Everett Silvertips.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

In Regina, G Daniel Wapple stopped 25 shots to help the Pats to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Pavel Padakin scored his 17th goal just 17 seconds into the second period to give Regina a 2-0 lead. He also had an assist. . . . Raiders F Reid Gardiner got his 25th goal, on a PP with the extra attacker on, at 17:56 of the third period. . . . That got the Raiders to within one, at 3-2. . . . Regina F Sam Steel scored his 13th goal at 19:59 of the third. . . . Pats F Luc Smith, who turned 17 on Jan. 20, scored his first WHL goal in his 48th game. . . . Regina D Colby Williams had an assist and was plus-4. . . . The Pats (28-17-6) have points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . The Raiders (21-29-1) are in Moose Jaw tonight. . . .

In Edmonton, G Stuart Skinner turned aside 49 shots to lead the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Skinner, who turned 16 on Nov. 1, stopped 23 shots in the second period when Edmonton scored twice. . . . F Ryley Lindgren scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him four goals this season. . . . After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes scored twice in the first two minutes of the second period, with F Carter Folk getting his seventh at 0:51 and Lindgren scoring at 1:46. . . . The Oil Kings tied it on goals by F Edgars Kulda, his first since Oct. 26, and F Brandon Baddock, his 13th, on a PP at 17:22. . . . Kulda, who has seven goals this season, scored for the first time since Oct. 26. Plagued by injuries, he was out from Nov. 2 until Jan. 9. The Latvian 20-year-old had played 15 straight games without scoring. . . . Lethbridge F Ryan Vandervlis, a 16-year-old from Red Deer, scored his first WHL goal in his fifth game this season. It came at 3:14 of the third and gave his side a 3-2 lead. . . . Vandervlis plays for his hometown midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. . . . Assists on Vandervlis’ goal went to F Zane Franklin, who turned 16 on Jan. 5 and was playing in his third game, and F Mike Winther, 20, who was in his 281st regular-season game. . . . Lindgren got his second of the game at 5;47 of the third. . . . F Brett Pollock scored his 25th, shorthanded at 18:30, to make things interesting at the end. . . . Winther finished with two assists. . . . D Dysin Mayo had two assists for Edmonton, which got 17 saves from G Tristan Jarry. . . . “The offence wasn’t what concerned me tonight. It was our defence that concerned me,” Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team’s website. “Four or five times, we go off the grid, and that’s the end of the game. I think everybody’s disappointed tonight. You’d think 52 (shots) would get it done, but obviously it didn’t.” . . . The Hurricanes dressed 17 skaters, one under the limit. Among their scratches were D Nick Walter and F Tyler Wong. . . . The Hurricanes (13-31-6), who had lost their previous two games, won 12 games all of last season. . . . The Oil Kings (24-23-6) have lost two in a row. . . .

In Spokane, F Remi Laurencelle broke a 2-2 tie in the second period and the Everett Silvertips beat the Chiefs, 3-2. . . . Laurencelle, who has 13 goals, scored at 11:27, with F Nikita Scherbak drawing his second assist of the game. . . . Earlier, the teams combined for four goals in the first period. . . . F Keanu Yamamoto got the Chiefs on the board first, scoring his ninth goal, on a PP, at 5:07. . . . The visitors equalized when F Ivan Nikolishin got his 15th goal, at 8:00. F Brayden Low got his 12th at 10:10 to give Everett the lead. . . . Spokane F Dominic Zwerger tied it with his 11th goal at 12:30. . . . After two periods, Everett had a 10-7 edge in shots. . . . Early in the third period, Cody Nickolet (@DubFromAbove) tweeted: “The shots in this Everett-Spokane game right now are 13-9. There is 14 minutes left in the 3rd period. How is that even possible?” . . . The Chiefs scratched nine players, including G Tyson Verhelst (ill). Spokane didn’t list a backup goaltender on the game sheet, something that regularly happens throughout the WHL these days. . . . The Chiefs dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. That included 10 forwards. . . . Spokane was 1-for-2 on the PP, but couldn’t score on a late one after Low was penalized for checking from behind at 17:28 of the third. . . . The Silvertips (32-15-4), who have won three in a row in Spokane, lead the U.S. Division by three points over the idle Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Chiefs (24-22-4) open an East Division swing in Moose Jaw on Friday.
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NHL logic: #shots edition @wyshynski pic.twitter.com/EamToJONLs
— ZoSo (@ZoSoNuck) February 4, 2015

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A Giant coaching change . . . Ice loses one to retirement . . . Blades, Wheaties deal

F Malte Strömvall (Tri-City, 2011-13) has been released by the Växjö Lakers (Sweden, SHL) by mutual agreement. He had two goals in 21 games. . . .
D Frantisek Mrazek (Red Deer, 1997-99) has signed a contract through Dec. 15 with Weiden (Germany, Oberliga) after a successful tryout. He had three goals and two assists in four games.
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THE COACHING GAME:

The Vancouver Giants fired head coach Troy Ward on Wednesday, just four months after they had signed him to a three-year contract.
Ward was signed to a three-year contract on July 17 to replace Don Hay, who had spent the previous 10 seasons as the Giants’ head coach. Hay returned to Kamloops where he now is head coach of the Blazers.
The Giants were 9-16-0 and last in the B.C. Division under Ward, who spent the previous three seasons as head coach of the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Calgary moved the Heat to Glens Falls, N.Y., over the summer, but chose not to re-sign Ward.
“Obviously, with where we are in the standings, it just wasn’t working with Troy,” Giants general manager Scott Bonner said in a news release. “This is the unfortunate part of sports, but we thought change was needed.”
Matt Erhart, the Giants’ lead assistant coach, now is interim head coach, with Ian Gallagher, the club’s strength and conditioning coach, and skills coach Yogi Svejkovsky his assistants.
The Giants, who began an Alberta swing with a 6-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday, dropped a 4-0 decision to the Hurricanes in Lethbridge last night. Bonner is on the road with the Giants.
Ward is the second coaching casualty of this season. The Prince Albert Raiders fired Cory Clouston on Oct. 31 and replaced him with Marc Habscheid.
Over the summer, 10 WHL teams hired new head coaches.
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The junior B Grand Forks Border Bruins of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League have fired Brad Snyder, their general manager and head coach. The Border Bruins went into Tuesday in fifth place in the five-team Neil Murdoch Division, with a 7-15-1-2 record and five straight losses. . . . Snyder was in his first season in Grand Forks, having been hired on May 12. . . . Darryl Olsen, who is from Grand Forks, now is handling the coaching duties.
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The SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars have signed general manager and head coach Kevin Hasselberg to a two-year extension that runs through 2016-17. . . . Hasselberg is in his fourth season with the North Stars, who are 15-5-5-0. In the three-plus seasons under Hasselberg, the North Stars are 118-58-7-10.
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F Kyle O’Connor, 18, announced his retirement from the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday. According to the Ice, O’Connor “has retired from hockey in order to pursue educational opportunities.” . . . O’Connor, from Calgary, was a fourth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . He had 22 points, including 10 goals, in 132 games over three seasons. This season, he had a goal and an assist in 20 games. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has more right here.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades did something of a goatending dance on Wednesday. The Blades dealt G Alex Moodie to the Wheat Kings for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2015 WHL bantam draft. . . . The draft pick is conditional on Moodie being on the Wheat Kings’ roster on Jan. 10. . . . The Wheat Kings then released G Logan Thompson, 17, from their roster and are looking for a place for him to play. Thompson is from Calgary. . . Moodie, a 19-year-old Winnipegger, was a fifth-round selection by the Blades in the 2010 bantam draft. In Brandon, he will play alongside Jordan Papirny, 18. Moodie, who practised with the Wheat Kings yesterday,  should be in Brandon’s lineup on Friday night when it plays in Saskatoon. . . . This is the second time this season that Moodie has been traded by the Blades. Earlier, he was dealt to the Spokane Chiefs, who later returned him to Saskatoon. . . . The Blades have settled on Nik Amundrud, 17, and Trevor Martin, 18, as their goaltenders, at least for now.
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D Anea Ferrario, a 16-year-old from Ogden, Utah, has committed to Brown University. He was a seventh-round selection by the Tri-City Americans in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. He is playing this season for the Victory Honda U16 team. . . .
F Kris Schmidli of the Kelowna Rockets will play for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship that runs Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Toronto and Montreal. Schmidli, an 18-year-old sophomore, has 17 points, including five goals, in 26 games this season.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

In Saskatoon, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored the game’s first three goals and hung on for a 4-2 victory over the Blades. . . . F Tanner Jeannot’s first goal gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead at 4:58 of the third period. . . . The Blades then got PP goals form F Brett Stovin, his fifth, at 9:19, and F Ryan Graham, his seventh, at 14:10. . . . Warriors F Jaimen Yakubowski put it away with an empty-netter at 19:47. . . . Moose Jaw got PP goals from both its big guns, with F Brayden Point getting his 14th goal and F Jack Rodewald getting No. 13. Point has six goals in three games against Moose Jaw this season. . . . Warriors D Alexey Steptsov had two assists. . . . The Warriors are 11-12-3, while the Blades are 7-17-1. . . . Prior to the game, the Warriors brought in D Josh Brook from the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds. Brook, the fourth overall pick in the 2014 bantam draft, had 10 points, three of them goals, in 11 games with the Hounds. He’s from Roblin, Man. . . .

In Calgary, the Prince Albert Raiders ran their winning streak to five games with a 2-1 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Raiders F Gage Quinney broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal at 16:52 of the second period, via the PP. . . . F Reid Gardiner scored his 14th goal at 17:57 of the first. . . . Calgary D Travis Sanheim scored his ninth, on a PP, at 8:18 of the second. . . . Prince Albert G Rylan Parenteau stopped 17 shots, two fewer than Calgary’s Evan Johnson. . . . Raiders D Josh Morrissey and D Hunter Warner each had two assists. . . . The Raiders reached .500 at 13-13-0, while  the Hitmen slipped to 13-10-3. . . .

In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored 10 seconds into the first period and went on to beat the Swift Current Broncos, 4-1. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock scored his13th goal to get the home team rolling. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea, making his third straight start with Tristan Jarry battling an illness, stopped 31 shots as the Oil Kings (13-10-4) halted a three-game losing skid (0-2-1). . . . F Cole Benson and D Dysin Mayo each had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Each has six goals. . . . Mayo also was plus-4. . . . The Broncos are 14-10-4. . . . They got their lone goal from F Colby Cave, his 11th, at 17:56 of the third. . . .

In Lethbridge, G Stuart Skinner stopped 37 shots to lead the Hurricanes to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Hurricanes (6-15-4) had lost their previous nine games (0-6-3). . . . The Giants (9-17-0) have lost five in a row. . . . Skinner, a 16-year-old from Edmonton, recorded his first WHL shutout. He hadn’t played for the Hurricanes since Oct. 26. He played in the U-17 World Hockey Challenge and then suffered an undisclosed injury during a practice upon his return. . . . Lethbridge F Riley Sheen had four assists, while F Jamal Watson scored twice, the first one coming a minute into the game. He’s got 12 goals. . . .

In Prince George, F Morgan Klimchuk scored twice to help the Regina Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . Klimchuk has eight goals. . . . The Pats (14-10-1) are 1-1-0 on their B.C. Division tour. . . . Regina led 3-0 when F Connor Gay scored his 10th goal at 7:01 of the second period. . . . F Dryden Hunt and F Sam Steel each had two assists for Regina. . . . The Cougars (13-14-0) got to within 3-1 and 4-2 but never any closer. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 30 shots. . . . Prince George F Jari Erricson took a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 18:56 of the third period. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Rourke Chartier, the WHL’s leading sniper, scored twice as the Kelowna Rockets dumped the Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . Chartier leads the WHL in goals (28) and points (47). . . . Linemate Nick Merkley, who has 46 points, had one assist. . . . Chartier’s second goal, 19 seconds into the third period, broke a 1-1 tie. . . . Chartier has 17 goals in 13 games this month. . . . Kelowna F Tyson Baillie scored his 19th goal to stretch the lead to 3-1 at 9:38. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistler stopped 26 shots, four fewer than Tri-City’s Eric Comrie. . . . The Rockets now are 22-2-3, while the Americans are 14-11-0 and have lost two in a row. . . .

In Spokane, F Kailer Yamamoto and F Calder Brooks each had three points as the Chiefs doubled the Victoria Royals, 4-2. . . . Brooks scored twice, giving him 10, and added an assist; Yamamoto drew three assists. . . . Spokane D Jason Fram broke a 1-1 tie with his third goal at 15:03 of the second period and F Adam Helewka added insurance with his 13th goal at 19:04. . . . F Greg Chase scored his second goal in as many games for the Royals, while F Austin Carroll added his 18th. . . . The Chiefs (13-7-3) have won four straight and moved into second in the U.S. Division, a point ahead of Tri-City. . . . The Royals (14-13-2) have lost two in a row. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips scored two first-period goals en route to a 2-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Carson Stadnyk got his 11th goal at 5:51 and F Brayden Low scored No. 7 at 9:41, on a PP, as Everett took a 2-0 lead. . . . F Collin Shirley, with his sixth, got the Blazers on the board with a PP goal at 10:01 of the second. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz turned aside 22 shots. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram, making his fifth straight start, stopped 25 shots. . . . This was the final meeting of the regular season between these teams; the Silvertips went 4-0-0 and now have beaten the Blazers eight straight times. . . . WHL Facts tweeted that Lotz was 1.22/.957 in the four games with Kamloops this season. . . . The Silvertips (16-4-3) have won two in a row. . . . Kamloops (11-11-5) had been 2-0-2 in its previous four.
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I have come to the conclusion that hockey players are worse than teenage girls. 20 min wait is a bit much just so you know @Kelowna_Rockets
— Annie Fowler (@TCHIceQueen) November 27, 2014

A little of this, a lot of that . . . getting caught up on WHL news

F Hampus Gustafsson (Regina, Brandon, 2010-11) signed a one-month tryout contract with Grenoble (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, with Pantern Malmö (Sweden, Division 1), he was pointless in three games. Last season, with Troja-Ljunbgy (Sweden, Allsvenskan), he had nine goals and 10 assists in 42 games. . . .
F Martin Tomášek (Red Deer, 1996-97) has signed a one-year contract with Neuilly-sur-Marne (France, Division 1). He played there two seasons ago. Last season, with Feldkirch (Austria, Inter-National-League), he led the league with 35 goals and also added 20 assists, all in 36 games.
F Antonín Honejsek (Moose Jaw, 2009-11) has been released by Espoo Blues (Finland, Liiga) by mutual agreement. This season, he had one goal in two games with the Blues. On loan to Kiekko-Vantaa (Finland, Mestis), he had one assist in one game.
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Bowie Kuhn was the commissioner of Major League Baseball back in the day when Charlie O. Finley owned the Oakland Athletics.
And it was Kuhn who invoked the "best interests of baseball" clause in 1976 when he voided deals in which Finley sold ace reliever Rollie Fingers and outfielder Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox for $2 million and left-hander Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million.
Today, Ron Robison is the commissioner of the WHL and there are people, some of them inside the WHL, who feel that he should invoke a "best interests of the WHL" rule that would prohibit Kelly McCrimmon, the owner, general manager and head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, from communicating with Brad Robson, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Consider that:
1. On May 2, 2013, McCrimmon acquired the sixth-overall selection in the 2013 bantam draft by giving Lethbridge his first-round pick and G Corbin Boes. McCrimmon used that pick to take D Kale Clague. . . . Clague, the son of former WHL G Jason Clague, had put up 77 points, including 35 goals, in 33 games with the Alberta Major Bantam League's Lloydminster Universal Heat. That broke the AMBHL record for points by a defenceman that had been held by Dion Phaneuf.
2. On Nov. 16, 2013, McCrimmon acquired D Ryan Pilon and the WHL rights to F Colt Conrad from the Hurricanes for D Nick Walters, F Taylor Cooper and D Tanner Browne.
3. On Tuesday, McCrimmon acquired F Reid Duke, D Macoy Erkamps and F Tak Anholt from the Hurricanes for D Kord Pankewicz, F Brett Kitt and F Ryley Lindgren.
In summation, then, McCrimmon got Clague, Pilon, Duke and Erkamps for Boes, Walters, Cooper, Browne, Pankewicz, Kitt and Lindgren. Conrad and Anholt, a second-round pick in 2013 who is at Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, B.C., have yet to report to Brandon.
While McCrimmon no doubt will talk about giving up quality to get quality, most observers are of the opinion that he gave up quantity to get quality.
It's worth noting that Pilon, who had left the Hurricanes and requested a trade, was the third overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft, while Duke, who showed his discontent by refusing to report to the start of training camp prior to this season, was taken with the fifth pick in that same draft. Yes, they were going to be the centre pieces in the rebuilding of the Hurricanes. (Erkamps, a second-round pick in 2010, had expressed his unhappiness by not reporting to the Hurricanes at all prior to the start of this season.)
To say that Lethbridge’s rebuilding project has been slow in building momentum would be something of an understatement.
Not only have the Hurricanes been a bust on the ice in recent seasons -- they have missed the playoffs for five straight seasons and eight of the past 12 -- but they continue to implode financially. At the organization's AGM on Tuesday night, the board of directors, which had budgeted for a profit of $74,000, announced a loss of $390,331. That means that the franchise has dropped a cool $1.65 million over the last five seasons.
Among last season's expenses was $75,000 spent on having a new logo designed by a firm in, uhh, New York City.
(Paul Kingsmith of Global has more on the meeting right here.)
And yet the board told shareholders at the AGM that it is budgeting for a $114,863 profit this season, never mind that season-ticket sales have slipped to fewer than 1,300, down from 1,795 last season.
Interestingly, the Hurricanes' board is looking at a motion that would allow a vote on whether to explore the sale of the franchise. That motion was made at Wednesday's meeting, meaning it will be put to shareholders for a vote at the 2015 AGM.
Unless, of course, McCrimmon acquires the entire roster before then.
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On Wednesday, the Wheat Kings made a couple of more moves as they got their roster down to 25, including nine defencemen and 14 forwards.
F Kirklan Lycar, 17, and D Michael Mylchreest, 19, were released from the roster. Lycar, a fourth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, played last season with the midget AAA Eastman Selects and will be reassigned. Mylchreest is a former member of the Prince George Cougars who played last season with the NAHL's Springfield Jr. Blues.
Neither Lycar nor Mylchreest had gotten into a regular-season game with the Wheat Kings.
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The Prince Albert Raiders held their annual general meeting last week and announced a loss of $262,280. That comes one year after the organization announced a profit of $78,896 for 2012-13.
Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has more right here.
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Spokane returned G Alex Moodie, 19, to Saskatoon on Wednesday, thus voiding a May deal in which the Chiefs gave the Blades a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft for the Winnipeg native. . . . The Chiefs have decided to go with veteran Garret Hughson, 19, as their starter, with Tyson Verhelst, 17, backing him up.
The Blades, meanwhile, have installed Moodie as their starting goaltender, a position he held for the first part of last season before he was laid low by injuries.
Nik Amundrud, who was acquired last month from the Everett Silvertips, will back up Moodie. Amundrud will turn 17 on Oct. 20. Trevor Martin, 18, who allowed 11 goals in three appearances with the Blades this season, is to join the SJHL's Melville Millionaires.
With the season still in its infancy, the Blades already have had five goaltenders on their roster. Troy Trombley, 20, and Michael Herringer, 18, both were released last month.
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The Chiefs have added F Jaret Anderson-Dolan to their roster at least through Oct. 10. Anderson-Dolan, from Calgary, was the 14th overall pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He won’t turn 15 until Dec. 9. "With our injury situation with our forwards, this will be a good opportunity for Jaret to join our team on a short-term basis," Tim Speltz, Spokane’s general manager, said in a news release. "It also helps our team as we are shorthanded, so it is a win-win situation. Jaret will benefit greatly from the experience." . . . On Thursday, the Chiefs released F Marcus Messier, 20. That leaves them with 25 players on their roster, including three 20-year-olds -- F Calder Brooks, F Connor Chartier and F Liam Stewart.
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The Swift Current Broncos took quite a hit during the week when it was revealed that they won’t be getting D Julius Honka, 18, back from the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
Honka was selected by the Stars in the first round of the NHL’s 2014 draft. Because he was drafted off a CHL roster, it was generally assumed that he had two options for 2014-15: Play in the NHL or with the Broncos.
It turns out, however, that there is a loophole in the NHL’s CBA with the NHLPA. Because Honka was on loan to the Broncos from his Finnish team -- most import players get a release in order to play in the CHL -- the rule doesn’t apply to him.
It turns out that Honka, one of the WHL’s most exciting players last season as a freshman, is able to play in Europe, the NHL, the CHL or the AHL. He now is with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
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Mike Sillinger, one of the most popular players in the history of the Regina Pats, is back with the WHL franchise. Sillinger, a Regina native, spent the past five seasons as the director of player development with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. Now, he is a part-time hockey operations consultant with the Pats, while also serving as an assistant coach with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. With the Pats, he will answer to John Paddock, the club's first-year senior vice-president of hockey operations and head coach. . . . "This is where my career started," Sillinger told Greg Harder of the Regina Leade-Post. "I'm thrilled to be back as a Regina Pat and part of an organization I've always been passionate about. It was an easy decision." . . . Harder's complete story is right here.
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Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard is due to hit bookstores this month. Written by John Branch, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer with The New York Times, the book is based on his three-part story that appeared in the newspaper following Boogaard’s death. . . . Steve Almond has read the book and his NYT review is right here.
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With G Tyler Fuhr away for what is being called “personal business,”, the Regina Pats have added G Tyler Brown, 17, to their roster. He plays for the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues. . . . D Kyle Burroughs, who has been out with a concussions, has returned to Regina’s lineup. He is the team captain. . . . F Scott Cooke, 20, who left the Moose Jaw Warriors late last month, has joined the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . . F Brandon Potomak, 19, who left the Warriors at the same time as Cooke, now is with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs. . . .
The Prince George Cougars have acquired F Cal Babych, 17, from the Calgary Hitmen for a seventh-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. A fourth-round selection in the 2012 draft, Babych, from North Vancouver, had three goals and three assists in 41 games last season. This season, he had played one game with Calgary, picking up three assists. . . . He is the son of Dave Babych, who played 1,195 regular-season NHL games after playing in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks (1977-80). . . .
The Kelowna Rockets are carrying four 20-year-olds, with the return of F Tyrell Goulbourne from the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. Goulbourne, however, has an undisclosed injury and hasn’t played even one game this season. The Rockets’ other 20s are F Colton Heffley, D Cole Martin and F Carter Rigby. . . . The Rockets moved to 5-0-0 on Friday night with a 5-4 OT victory over the Silvertips in Evertt. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Kelowna D Mitchell Wheaton “went down after being hit into the boards by Everett's Logan Aasman on the game's first shift. He went off holding his left hand/wrist and did not return.” . . .
The Lethbridge Hurricanes got their roster down to 28, including nine defencemen and 17 forwards, by releasing F Zachary Goberis and D Thomas Lenchyshyn. . . . Both were selected in the 2012 bantam draft, Lenchyshyn with the 18th overall selection and Goberis in the fourth round. . . . Lenchyshyn, from Steinbach, Man., got into two regular-season games, while Goberis, who is from Arvada, Colo., played in two games. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades have released F Ty Mappin, who is off to join the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlies. The Everett Silvertips selected Mappin with the seventh overall pick of the 2011 bantam draft. They dealt him to the Blades in a conditional deal, meaning that his rights now have reverted to Everett. The Blades were to have given up a seventh-round pick, that could have been upgraded to a fifth, in the 2015 bantam draft. That pick now goes back to Saskatoon. . . . On Saturday, the Blades announced that they have claimed F Landon Welykholowa, 18, off waivers from the Calgary Hitmen. Welykholowa played last season with the Hitmen, Victoria Royals and the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks. He had one goal and four assists in 34 WHL games last season. He was a third-round pick by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2011 bantam draft. . . .
F Tyler Benson, the first overall selection in the 2013 bantam draft, sat out a one-game suspension on Friday after he got tossed from Wednesday’s 7-5 loss in Kelowna. In that game, Benson was given a boarding major and game misconduct for a hit on Kelowna D Jesse Lees. Vancouver head coach Troy Ward didn’t agree with the call, telling Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province: ““I’ll tell him to hit him again; I didn’t think it was a penalty. I’ll tell him to keep playing hard. As soon as you take the lion out of him, you don’t have a lion king.” . . . Lees didn’t play in Kelowna’s 5-4 OT victory in Everett on Friday night. . . .
F Morgan Klimchuk, 19, has been returned by the NHL’s Calgary Flames to the Regina Pats, but he won’t play for another couple of weeks. He injured his left hand/wrist during an NHL exhibition game on Sept. 24. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings have sold 2,387 season tickets, up from 2,357 last season.

Hay faced with real challenge in Kamloops

Don Hay is about to become a familiar figure in Kamloops again.
(Photo by Christopher Mast / www.mastimages.com)

THE MacBETH REPORT:


D Lukáš Pulpán (Vancouver, 2003-04) has signed a three-year contract with Plzeň (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had 13 points, two of them goals, in 42 games. . . .



F Antonín Honejsek (Moose Jaw, 2009-11) has signed a one-year contract with the Espoo Blues (Finland, Liiga). This season with Zlin (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had 24 points, 15 of them goals, in 45 games. . . .

F Alex Leavitt (Swift Current, Everett, 2003-05) has signed a one-year contract with the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, DEL2). Leavitt started this season with Oskarshamn (Sweden, Allsvenskan), earning three points, including a goal, in 10 games. He signed with Aalborg (Denmakr, Metal Ligaen) on Oct. 22 and went on record 61 points, including 22 goals, in 32 games. He led the Metal Ligaen in scoring and was named to the second all-star team.
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For those who were wondering, there wasn’t a parade in Kamloops on Friday.
With the announcement by the Vancouver Giants on Thursday that Don Hay was leaving their organization after 10 years to return to coaching the Kamloops Blazers, perhaps you expected something of a celebration, say a party topped off with cake and fireworks at Riverside Park.
After all, Hay, one of the legendary figures in Kamloops’ history, is on his way home. He is a member of the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame and the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame.
If you missed it, the Giants have let Hay out of the last year of his contract, allowing him to return to his hometown and try to restore the lustre to a franchise that won three Memorial Cup titles with him on the coaching staff. Hay was an assistant coach, under Tom Renney, in 1992 and the head coach in 1994 and 1995.
(Interestingly, the Giants made the announcement on Thursday, at 5 p.m. The Blazers didn’t issue a news release until Friday morning and have yet to hold a news conference to re-introduce him to a city where he, Ken Hitchcock or Bob Brown could be mayor should any one of them choose to run.
(Exactly how is Hay looked upon in these parts? My wife and I had coffee with an old friend last night. She hasn’t been to any more than a handful of Blazers games in recent years, but now is talking about buying a season ticket. Why? “Because,” she said, “it was so much fun back then.”)
These days, however, the Blazers aren’t even a shadow of the Memorial Cup teams.
After making a run to the Western Conference final a year ago, the Blazers have just suffered through the worst season in franchise history. They went 10-29-5 with Dave Hunchak as head coach, 0-1-0 with Mark Ferner running the bench, and finished up 4-23-0 with Guy Charron in charge. Add it up and the Blazers were 14-53-5.
What it means is that Hay has stepped into a job that is going to offer him the biggest challenge of his career.
The first time Hay stepped in as the Blazers’ head coach, after six seasons as an assistant, he took over a team that had gone 51-17-4 before winning the WHL championship and the Memorial Cup.
In 1998-99, he moved in as head coach of the Tri-City Americans, a team that was 17-49-6 (that’s six ties) the previous season, and they went 43-23-6. That team was swept from the Western Conference final by a Blazers team under head coach Marc Habscheid.
In 2004-05, Hay was back in the WHL as head coach of the Vancouver Giants, a team that was 33-24-9-6 (nine ties and six overtime losses) the previous season. His first season there was the franchise’s fourth and the Giants finished 34-30-4-4 before losing a first-round series in six games to the Kelowna Rockets.
Now, Hay takes over a team that scored 175 goals, the second-poorest total in the 22-team league. Sheesh, his two Memorial Cup-championship teams scored 381 and 375 goals. Yes, that was then and this is now, but that’s a 200-goal differential.
This season’s Blazers also gave up 305 goals and only two teams were poorer defensively.
Still, Hay proved in his first season with the Americans that, yes, miracles do happen on ice. Perhaps he can pull off another one in Kamloops.
At the end of the day, though, Blazers’ fans, especially those who continue to revel in those Memorial Cup victories of the mid-1990s, are going to have to realize that this isn’t about next season. It’s a cliché but this about Hay having to change the culture, to get this team playing Hay hockey, which means a team that is incredibly hard to play against, and then taking it from there.
That’s something that seemed to disappear in Vancouver about the time that gritty and pesky Brendan Gallagher graduated to the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, and perhaps that wasn’t a coincidence.
Time will tell whether Hay, the winningest active coach in the WHL, still has that magic.
The great part of this story is that should this be the last stop of the 60-year-old Hay‘s coaching career, he will finish up among friends and family.
His mother, along with a brother and a sister, live in Kamloops, as do various relatives and in-laws. Hay and his wife, Vicki, have twin daughters -- Angela, who is married to former WHL goaltender Thomas Vicars, lives in Salmon Arm with their two daughters; Ashly lives in Kamloops with her fiancé. You bet that Grandpa is going to love being closer to his granddaughters.
Son Darrell, who played for his father in Tri-City, is 34 now and is a free agent, waiting to see whether there will another season in his career. After three seasons in Europe, he played this season in Japan, and will split the summer between Kamloops and Boise, Idaho.
Darrell is at the stage of his career where he is trying to look ahead. What about coaching?
“I would love to try it to see if I have the chops for it one day,” he told me yesterday.
Well, he played two seasons for his father with the Americans. Maybe the two could co-exist on the same coaching staff. It would be in their hometown and how neat would that be?
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1. Is it just me, or does it seem like a month has passed since the WHL’s conference finals came to an end? In other words, Game 1 of the final can’t come soon enough.

2. The OHL’s championship final is 1-1 after the visiting North Bay Battalion beat the Guelph Storm 4-3 in OT on Friday night. . . . F Barclay Goodrow won it at 2:30 of extra time with his 12th goal of these playoffs. . . . The Storm had won the opener, 3-2 in OT, on Thursday night. That one needed just 57 seconds of extra time. . . . Last night, the Storm held a 2-0 lead in the first period and was up 3-2 in the third. . . . F Robby Fabbri scored twice for the Storm. . . . The Battalion forced OT when F Nick Paul scored on the PP at 14:32 of the third period. . . . Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday in North Bay.

3. In the QMJHL final, G Philippe Cadorette stopped 19 shots and F Charles Hudon had two goals as the host Baie-Comeau Drakkar beat the Val-d’Or Foreurs 3-0 on Friday night in Game 1 of the final. . . . F Jeremy Gregoire helped out with a goal and two assists. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for tonight in Baie-Comeau.

4. How do you feel if you are a long-time fan of the Houston Rockets? . . . A tweet from ESPN Stats and Info after last night’s game in Portland: “The last 2 buzzer-beaters to win playoff series both came vs Rockets -- Damian Lillard tonight & John Stockton in 1997. @EliasSports”

5. Dan Russell and his son, Ben, were in the crowd for last night’s NBA game in Portland. What a way for Russell to spend his first night after signing off on a 30-year career as host of Sportstalk, his Vancouver-based radio show. . . . Russell will be calling the play tonight as the Edmonton Oil Kings and host Portland Winterhawks open the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup on Shaw TV.

6. Here’s an interesting Friday tweet from an interesting guy, Kyle Beach (@KBeachy12): “Congrats to all the players selected in the @TheWHL #BantamDraft! In particular the ones joining the @WHLsilvertips and @chiefs hockey.” . . . Beach also played for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but perhaps he didn’t enjoy himself there as much as he did in Spokane and Everett.
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The Spokane Chiefs have acquired G Alex Moodie from the Saskatoon Blades for a fourth-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft. Moodie was a fifth-round pick by the Blades in 2010. . . . Moodie, 19, is from Winnipeg. He got into 28 games with the Blades this season, going 7-18-2, 4.29, .894 on a team that didn’t come close to making the playoffs. . . . The Chiefs are looking to fill the vacancy created by the graduation of G Eric Williams. . . . "We feel Garret Hughson has earned the opportunity to be a starter in the WHL and if Alex Moodie can regain the form he showed as a young goaltender, we'll have two capable starting goaltenders,” Spokane GM Tim Speltz said in a news release. “We also expect Tyson Verhelst is ready to make the jump to the WHL, so we have good depth and competition for our goaltending position." . . . Verhelst, from Brandon, is prepping for his 17-year-old season. He was a third-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Moodie’s best stint with the Blades came in 2011-12 when he joined them from his midget AAA team in Winnipeg in December and went 9-3-0, 3.42, .895.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more on this trade right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm fired general manager and head coach Matt Hughes on Friday. The moves come after the Storm went 21-36-3-1 in his first season as GM/head coach and missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. . . . Logan Clow of the Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune has more right here.
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THE FOURTH ROUND (best-of-seven; all times local):
WHL final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup
(x - if necessary)
(All games televised live by Shaw)
(All games televised by Root Sports -- Game 2 live, others on delayed basis)
PORTLAND (2, West) vs. Edmonton (1, East)
Season series: Portland, 0-0-1; Edmonton, 1-0-0.
Saturday: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
Sunday: Edmonton at Portland, 5 p.m. (Moda Center)
Tuesday: Portland at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: Portland at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Friday: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
x-Sunday, May 11: Portland at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Monday, May 12: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
INJURIES
Portland: None.
Edmonton: None.
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FRIDAY’S GAME:
No game scheduled.

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Pulock into Wheaties' record book

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sami Sandell (Brandon, 2004-06) signed a one-year-plus-option extension with Ilves Tampere (Finland, Liiga). This season, he is second on the team in scoring, with 30 points, including 10 goals, in 43 games.
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JUST NOTES:
D Ryan Pulock of the Brandon Wheat Kings scored his 61st career goal on Saturday, tying him with the late Brad McCrimmon for the franchise record for most career goals by a defenceman. . . . Pulock also became the fifth defenceman in Wheat Kings history to reach 200 points, joining McCrimmon, Cam Plante, Justin Kurtz and Burke Henry. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades have brought in G Brandon Kegler from the Edmonton-based midget AAA Knights of Columbus Pats. Kegler, from Leduc, Alta., was the Blades’ second pick in the 2012 bantam draft, going to them in the fourth round. . . . Kegler’s services are needed to back up Troy Trombley after Alex Moodie was injured on Saturday night during a 6-3 loss to the visiting Victoria Royals. Moodie was returning to action after sitting out 12 games with a groin injury, when he went down with an undisclosed injury and didn’t come out for the third period. . . .
The Seattle Thunderbirds have added F Lane Pederson to their roster. Pederson, a fifth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, played this season with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers, for whom he had 41 points, including 21 gaols, in 37 games. With the Blazers’ season having ended, Pederson has joined the Thunderbirds. . . .
F Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice goes into this week riding a 20-game point streak, the longest in the WHL this season. The franchise record of 21 is held by F Mike Comrie (Sept. 23 to Nov. 10, 2000). . . . Reinhart also has at least one assist in each of his last 13 games. He has broken the previous franchise record of eight games. . . . F Nic Petan of the Portland Winterhawks has the longest assist streak this season. At 14 games, it is still alive. . . . The Ice visits the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday; the Winterhawks, who were given Monday and Tuesday off, meet the Chiefs in Spokane on Friday.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Calgary (1) vs. Prince Albert (8)
Regina (2) vs. Brandon (7)
Edmonton (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Kelowna (1) vs. Tri-City (8)
Portland (2) vs. Everett (7)
Victoria (3) vs. Vancouver (6)
Seattle (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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TUESDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Lethbridge at Regina, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Edmonton at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Prince Albert at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
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MONDAY’S GAMES:
None scheduled.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Kevin Paul DuPont (@GlobeKPD) of the Boston Globe: “Robocall just now tells me FBI says there is a home break-in every 15 seconds in USA. In Canada, Carey Price stops 'em all.”

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