Showing posts with label Austin Strand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austin Strand. Show all posts

Saturday, May 6, 2017

WHL final all even ... Pats' Mahura wins Game 2 in OT ... Brooks out of action


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 While the Seattle Thunderbirds welcomed back F Keegan Kolesar, their top scorer in these playoffs, from a one-game WHL suspension, the Regina Pats were without F Adam Brooks for Game 2 of the championship final in the Saskatchewan capital on Saturday night.
If you haven’t seen it, here’s the hit Brooks, a point-a-game man, absorbed from Seattle D Turner Ottenbreit in Game 1:

There was much debate after the game and well into Saturday as to whether Ottenbreit should have been suspended. This was one of those classic cases where it depends whose ox is being gored.
Regina fans, for the most part, are of the opinion that, yes, Ottenbreit should have been slapped with a suspension. Seattle fans are saying it was a legal hit.
Of course, had that been Seattle F Mathew Barzal, say, on the receiving end of a hit from Regina D Sergey Zborovskiy, chances are that the opinions would have been reversed.
While the check may have been legal, I really question, in this day and age when player safety is supposed to be first and foremost, whether that’s the kind of hit that should be welcomed in junior hockey. Keep in mind that this is precisely the kind of hit that the NFL has outlawed when it involves an defenceless receiver.
Of course, if all the junior hockey talk about player safety being a priority is just lip service, well then, hit away.
In the meantime, Brooks, who won the 2015-16 scoring champion and who put up 250 points over the past two seasons, most likely is going through the concussion protocol. He has five goals and 13 assists in these playoffs.
Brooks suffered a knee injury in Game 2 of the second-round series against the Swift Current Broncos and never skated another shift until the Eastern Conference final with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
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In the QMJHL, the host Saint John Sea Dogs scored a 4-0 victory over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Saturday night and now lead the championship series, 2-0. . . . Announced attendance was 5,872. . . . F Julien Gauther had two goals and an assist, giving him six points in the first two games of the series. . . . G Callum Booth earned the shutout with 27 stops. . . . They’ll play Game 3 on Tuesday in Blainville-Boisbriand.
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Coaching

 The Prince George-based Cariboo Cougars of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League have shaken up their front office. Trevor Sprague, a two-time coach of the year, has stepped aside as head coach, but will remain the organization’s general manager. Sprague goes out on top as the Cougars won the league championship this season; they also were the host team for the TELUS Cup national championship tournament. . . . The new head coach is Tyler Brough, who has worked as an assistant coach with Sprague for the past two seasons. . . . The assistant coaches will be Justin Fillion and RJ Berra, while Bryan MacLean, who had been an assistant coach, now is the assistant GM. . . . Fillion and Berra both played for the Cougars and the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. . . . Pam Solmonson is returning for a second season as the Cougars’ trainer.
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SATURDAY’S GAME:


At Regina, D Josh Mahura scored two PP goals, the second in OT, to lead the Pats to a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Regina scored the game’s last three goals as it erased a 3-1 deficit to tie the WHL’s championship series for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, 1-1. . . . The Thunderbirds had won Game 1, 2-1 in OT, on Friday. . . . The series will resume with Game 3 in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday night. In fact,
JOSH MAHURA
the next three games will be played in the ShoWare Center in Kent, meaning the Thunderbirds now have the opportunity to win their first WHL title on home ice. . . . A year ago, the Thunderbirds lost the WHL final to the Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-1. The first three games all went to OT, with Brandon posting three 3-2 victories. . . . Last night, the Thunderbirds appeared to take control when they struck for three goals in 56 seconds early in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. . . . The Pats took a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the game as F Sam Steel (9) took advantage of a Seattle turnover deep in its zone. . . . D Austin Strand (5) pulled the Thunderbirds even at 3:56 of the second period, his shot from just above the left circle getting through traffic and changing directions before beating G Tyler Brown. . . . Just 16 seconds later, D Turner Ottenbreit’s second goal, a slap shot from the point, gave the visitors the lead. . . . Just 40 seconds after that, F Alexander True (9) scored on a rebound while on a PP. . . . The Pats’ comeback began as Mahura pinched on a 5-on-3 PP and scored from beside the Seattle net at 18:35 of the second period. . . . Regina tied it at 5:20 of the third when F Filip Ahl (5) forced a turnover deep in the Seattle and then scored off it. . . . Seattle F Keegan Kolesar was giving a kneeing minor after he gave the business to Regina D Connor Hobbs following a stoppage at 4:59 of OT. Mahura, who has six goals in the playoffs, scored just 23 seconds later, beating Seattle G Carl Stankowski with a 70-foot snapshot through some traffic. . . . Brown finished with 27 saves, five more than Stankowski. . . . Regina was 2-7 on the PP; Seattle was 1-3. . . . F Dawson Leedahl had two assists for Regina, while Steel and Ahl each had one. . . . Steel, the regular-season scoring champion, now has 27 points in the playoffs, one behind F Reid Gardiner of the Kelowna Rockets, who leads with 28. Steel leads playoff scorers in assists (18). . . . The Thunderbirds got back Kolesar from a one-game suspension. He went into the game leading them in goals (9) and points (22) in these playoffs. . . . Regina scratches: F Adam Brooks, D Dawson Davidson and F Jake Leschyshyn, all with injuries, G Max Paddock, F Duncan Pierce and F Owen Williams. With Brooks out, F Kjell Kjemhus got into the lineup. . . . Seattle’s scratches: G Rylan Toth (injured), F Elijah Brown, F Tyler Carpendale, F Dillon Hamaliuk, D Jake Lee and F Luke Ormsby. . . . Announced attendance: 6,484.
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a game story right here.
Andy Eide of 710 ESPN Seattle has a game story right here.
Darren Steinke, the Travellin’ Blogger, posted this piece right here.
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TUESDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Regina vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m. (Series tied, 1-1)
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WEDNESDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Regina vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
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FRIDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Regina vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:30 PM
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Sunday, March 19, 2017

WHL's playoff stage is set . . . Last pairings set on final day . . . Post-season begins Friday




F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) has signed a two-year contract extension with Skellefteå (Sweden, SHL). He had 11 goals and 11 assists in 26 games this season. Holloway started the season with CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL) and had three goals and six assists in 12 games when he was released on Nov. 18. He signed with Skellefteå on Dec. 1.
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The rant is legendary. The NFL’s New York Jets were 2-5 in 2002 and head coach Herm Edwards wasn’t happy.
Addressing a news conference on Oct. 30, Edwards said: “This is what the greatest thing about sports is: You play to win the game. Hello! You play to win the game.”
And then along came the loser point.
The Prince George Cougars, in their 23rd season in the northern city, won their first B.C. Division pennant on Saturday night, despite losing 2-1 in a shootout to the visiting Kamloops Blazers.
This isn’t to slight the Cougars’ accomplishment. After all, you play the hand you’re dealt — and you play by the rules as they are put in front of you — and that’s exactly what the Cougars did. At the end of a gruelling 72-game regular season, the Cougars stood tallest. There is no taking that away from them and the entire organization should hold its head high.
But regulation time on Saturday came to something of a strange conclusion, and it’s something at which the pooh-bahs who are enamoured with the loser point need to look.
Here’s Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen, explaining what happened:
“The game was heading into overtime with 80 seconds to play when Cougars defenceman Brendan Guhle got the puck behind the net and just stood there running time off the clock. Guhle wisely figured it was better to play it safe and lock away the point to clinch than try to go for the win in regulation and run the risk of the Blazers popping one in. He stayed behind the net a full 40 seconds.”
The Cougars went into the game with a two-point edge over the second-place Kelowna Rockets. Prince George, then, needed one point to wrap up first place. With the score 1-1 late in the game, the Cougars knew that the single point was all they needed. 
The loser point, then, has brought us to a point where, as Herm Edwards might say, “There are times when you don't play to win the game.”
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The stage is set for the WHL playoffs to open on Friday and you can bet that teams have fingers crossed in the hopes that the mumps virus doesn’t show up along the trail.
The most recent WHLers to show symptoms — G Jordan Papirny of the Swift Current Broncos and F Mathew Barzal of the Seattle Thunderbirds — may be ready to return to the ice. However, the playoffs also signal the start of the WHL’s secret season, so we may not know how healthy they are until we see the Game 1 lineups.
Papirny hasn’t played since March 7. Barzal, the Western Conference’s top player this season, took part in the warmup on March 10, prior to a game against the visiting Everett Silvertips, but left the ice and hasn’t played since. He has missed five games.
The virus continues to lurk around Western Canadian arenas, too. On Sunday, the NHL’s Calgary Flames revealed that F Michael Ferland has been isolated while they await test results for mumps.
“We’ll probably know in the next day or so,” Brad Treliving, the Flames’ general manager, told Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson. “When you start not feeling well, start to show some symptoms, then you have to push pause and make sure that gets checked out.
“That’s the key thing — this is precautionary right now. But until such time that we get a diagnosis one way or another, we’re going to take precautions.”
If Ferland tests positive, the Flames will be the third NHL team impacted by mumps this season, along with the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild.
At least five WHL teams — Seattle, Swift Current, the Brandon Wheat Kings, Medicine Hat Tigers and Victoria Royals — have had players and coaches with symptoms.
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The Vancouver Giants raised $12,102 for the Kidney Foundation of Canada during a recent promotion that involved them wearing sweaters in honour of Don Cherry, and then auctioning them off. . . . Roxanne Hooper of the Langley Advance has more right here, including the news that “an original Don Cherry ensemble, complete with a signed Don Cherry jacket, shirt and tie . . . fetched the largest donation of $1,810.”
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Jimmy Breslin, a legendary New York City newspaperman, had died at the age of 86. No writer has put grit on a newspaper page the way Breslin did. In fact, he was New York City. . . . He was in bed on the night John Lennon was shot. In two hours, Breslin wrote this column right here. . . . If you haven’t read it, it’s also worth your while to chase down the column he wrote after the assassination of JFK. . . . And if you want more of Breslin’s brilliance, click right here and you’ll find three columns that he wrote about the man who now is POTUS. These columns are from 1990, 1989 and 1988.
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If you enjoy stopping off here and would care to make a donation to the cause, please feel free to do so by clicking on the DONATE button and going from there.
If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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THE STAGE IS SET . . . 

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Regina vs. Calgary: Opens with games Friday and Saturday in Regina. . . . Regina won season series, 3-1-0; Calgary was 1-2-1.
Medicine Hat vs. Brandon: Opens in Medicine Hat, Friday and Saturday. . . . Season series went to Medicine Hat, 3-1-0.
Lethbridge vs. Red Deer: Opens in Lethbridge on Saturday and Sunday. . . . Lethbridge was 5-0-1 in season series; Red Deer was 1-4-1.
Moose Jaw vs. Swift Current: They’ll start with games Friday and Saturday in Moose Jaw. . . . The Warriors won the season series, 4-2-0.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Everett vs. Victoria: They are scheduled to open Friday and Saturday in Everett. . . . The Silvertips were 4-0-0 in the season series; the Royals were 0-3-1.
Prince George vs. Portland: It starts with games Friday and Saturday in Prince George. . . . In the season series, the Cougars were 2-2-0; the Winterhawks were 2-1-1. . . . Interestingly, the WHL website includes dates for only the first four games. Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, told the Portland Tribune that he would prefer a 2-3-2 format. The Cougars want to play 2-2-1-1-1. This one might take some negotiating.
Seattle vs. Tri-City: They’ll get started in Kent, Wash., on Friday and Saturday. . . . Seattle won the season series, 6-2-0.
Kelowna vs. Kamloops: The series begins in Kelowna on Friday and Saturday. . . . Kamloops was 6-3-1 in the season series; the Rockets were 4-6-0.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:


At Edmonton, F Riley Stadel completed his WHL career with an OT goal that gave the Oil Kings a 5-4
RILEY STADEL
victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Oil Kings (23-43-6), who won’t be in the playoffs, concluded their season with three straight victories, the last two over Red Deer. In fact, five of Edmonton’s 23 victories came against Red Deer (30-29-13), which finished third in the Central Division. . . . The Oil Kings scored the game’s first two goals and the last three. . . . D Ethan Cap gave the home side a 1-0 lead at 6:54 of the first period and F Tyson Gruninger (3) made it 2-0 at 8:07 of the second. . . . The Rebels scored the next four goals. . . . F Evan Polei (33) got them to within a goal at 9:38. . . . F Brandon Hagel, who had two goals and two assists, tied it, on a PP, at 19:17. . . . Hagel (31) gave his guys the lead at 11:47 of the third period and F Austin Glover (22), who had two assists, stretched the lead at 14:13. . . . The Oil Kings got close when F Trey Fix-Wolansky got No. 24, on a PP, at 18:29, and F Colton Kehler (18) tied it at 18:59. . . . Stadel won it with his seventh goal of the season. . . . Edmonton got three assists from F Davis Koch and two from F Graham Millar. . . . G Patrick Dea stopped 23 shots for Edmonton, with G Riley Lamb turning aside 32 at the other end. . . . Edmonton was 1-3 on the PP; Red Deer was 1-6. . . . Edmonton F Adam Berg got tossed with a charging major and game misconduct at 4:48 of the third period. . . . The Rebels rested D Colton Bobyk and F Michael Spacek. . . . Announced attendance: 18,102.
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At Portland, it was a memorable night for the Yamamoto brothers as they led the Spokane Chiefs to a 7-2 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . The Chiefs (27-33-12) won’t be in the playoffs, so this was the final
KEANU YAMAMOTO
game for F Keanu Yamamoto, 20. Head coach Don Nachbaur, with an obvious feel for the moment, had Keanu on a line with his younger brother, Kailer. . . . Keanu finished with two goals, an assist and a fight, while Kailer helped out with three assists. . . . F Riley Wood had a goal and two assists for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane took a 1-0 lead on F Alex Mowbray’s fourth goal, at 5:57 of the first period. . . . Woods (12) increased that lead, on a PP, at 8:04, after Portland was given a bench minor for having an ineligible player on the bench. F Brett Clayton was listed as a scratch but was dressed. Because he was scratched, he was ineligible. . . . D Henri Jokiharju (9) got Portland on the scoreboard, on a PP, at 11:43, but the Chiefs scored the next four goals. . . . Keanu Yamamoto got two of those, to run his total to 26, with F Eli Zummack (9) and F Hudson Elynuik (29) getting the others. . . . F Riley McKay (3) had Spokane’s other goal, while F Keegan Iverson (26) also scored for Portland. . . . Elynuik and Zummack added an assist each. . . . Jokiharju and Iverson each had an assist for Portland. . . . G Jayden Sittler recorded the victory with 30 saves. . . . Portland G Shane Farkas blocked 27 shots. . . . Spokane was 3-6 on the PP; Portland was 2-4. . . . F Cody Glass, who didn’t play in the final two periods of Saturday’s 4-1 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds, was among Portland’s scratches. . . . The Winterhawks (40-28-4) had won their previous three games. They finished in the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot and now will move into a first-round playoff series with the Prince George Cougars, who finished atop the B.C. Division. . . . Announced attendance: 9,114.
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At Kent, Wash., F Alexander True and F Nolan Volcan each scored twice to lead the Seattle
AUSTIN STRAND
Thunderbirds to a 6-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Seattle (46-20-6) finished second in the U.S. Division. This victory lifted it two points clear of the Prince George Cougars, something that could come into play in deciding home-ice advantage down the playoff trail. . . . The Thunderbirds will open against the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Giants (20-46-6) lost their last three games. They missed the playoffs for a third straight season and the fourth time in five years. . . . True, who finished with 25 goals, gave Seattle a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the first period. . . . Volcan, who had 16 goals, made it 2-0 at 8:34. . . . F Elijah Brown (4), and F Matthew Wedman (6) also scored for Seattle. . . . F Johnny Wesley scored his 11th goal for Vancouver, at 15:15 of the third period. . . . D Austin Strand and F Keegan Kolesar each had two assists for Seattle. . . . Strand led the WHL in games played, with 74. He opened the season with the Red Deer Rebels, playing 38 games there before being dealt to Seattle, where he played the final 36 games. . . . Seattle G Carl Stankowsi stopped 19 shots. . . . Vancouver starter David Tendeck allowed six goals on 25 shots through two periods. Ryan Kubic played the third, stopping all nine shots he faced. . . . Seattle was 1-4 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-3. . . . Announced attendance: 4,067.
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At Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans were this close ( ) to a first-round series with the Prince George Cougars when they scored three quick goals and beat the Everett Silvertips, 6-5, in OT. . . . The
JORDAN TOPPING
Silvertips twice held third-period leads — 4-2 and 5-3 — and it appeared that the Americans would end up fourth in the U.S. Division and in possession of the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot, meaning a first-round hookup with the Cougars, who won the B.C. Division. . . . However, F Jordan Topping, who had three goals, cut the deficit to one, at 17:44, and D Dylan Coghlan (15) tied it at 18:33, with Topping drawing an assist. . . . Topping, who finished with 28 goals, won it 2:40 into extra time. . . . F Brandson Hein gave Everett a 1-0 lead at 3:07 of the first period, before Tri-City scored twice — F Morgan Geekie (35), on a PP, at 6:12 of the first period, and D Juuso Valimaki (19), at 2:48 of the second. . . . Everett took a 4-2 lead on goals from F Riley Sutter (20), who later left with an apparent injury, at 4:42, Hein (6), at 13:22, and F Brian King (4), at 4:29 of the third period. . . . Topping pulled his side to within a goal at 6:25, only to have Everett F Connor Dewar (14) get it back at 13:48. . . . All that did was set up the Americans for the big finish. . . . Tri-City F Tyler Sandhu had three assists, D Parker Wotherspoon and Coghlan each had two, and Valimaki had one. . . . King and Hein had an assist each for Everett. . . . Tri-City G Rylan Parenteau earned the victory in relief of Evan Sarthou. Parenteau stopped six of seven shots in 17:36, after Sarthou was beaten four times on 23 shots in 44:29. . . . Everett got 39 saves from Mario Petit. . . . Tri-City was 1-3 on the PP; Everett was 0-5. . . . The Silvertips rested D Noah Juulsen, D Lucas Skrumeda, F Dominic Zwerger, F Patrick Bajkov and F Matt Fonteyne. . . . Everett F Devon Skoleski left early with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Silvertips (44-16-12) won the U.S. Division and Western Conference titles and will meet the Victoria Royals, the conference’s second wild-card entry, in the first round. . . . Everett finished with points in its last four games (3-0-1). . . . The Americans (41-28-3) played three games in fewer than 48 hours to close out the regular season. They won all three, twice in OT and once in a shootout. . . .. . . . Announced attendance: 4,190.
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END OF REGULAR SEASON

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:21 PM
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Presentation day for Pats ... Nanaimo picks arena site ... Glass breaks Blazers


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 This is a big day for the Regina Pats and a pair of OHL teams — the Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals. One of those teams will be selected as the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament, which will be the 100th anniversary of the prestigious tropy. Team representatives will be in Toronto today to make their presentations in front of the CHL’s site selection committee. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a piece right here on the Pats and management’s mindset going into the presentations.
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The City of Nanaimo has decided that if it is to have a new arena, it will be built on land on the waterfront. City council made the decision at a Monday meeting, choosing that location over the Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel property.
According to Mayor Bill McKay, Tamara Cunningham of the Nanaimo News Bulletin reports, the costs of acquisition and construction were estimated to be much higher for the Howard Johnson site, including land purchase, building demolition, site contamination and access. He also said 1 Port Dr. supports better technical analysis, including knowledge of geotechnical issues and transportation requirements.
OK, so what’s next? Cunningham reports right here: “Council will hold a special council meeting Wednesday . . . for the first three readings of a borrowing bylaw and vote on a referendum question. The votes had been planned for Feb. 6.” . . . The referendum is expected to be held on March 11.
Earlier, Cunningham reported that the city already is in negotiations with the WHL aimed at acquiring a franchise for the new arena, should construction get the green light.
Of course, the city has yet to announce what the question will be for the referendum, although I would imagine it will seek the OK to borrow a good chunk of the money needed for the project, which is estimated at more than $80 million.
This is starting to remind me of a referendum that was held in Kamloops on Nov. 7, 2015.
Shortly after Glacier Media announced the closure of the Kamloops Daily News, the City of Kamloops revealed that it had purchased the newspaper building, which once was a department store, for $4.8 million. The plan was to spend $90 million on a performing arts centre and parkade on the sight.
The referendum question was: “Are you in favour of the City of Kamloops borrowing up to $49 million to design and construct the parkade and performing arts centre complex?”
The loan, which you will note wasn’t for the complete cost of the project, would have cost the average tax-paying household something like $40 per year for 20 years.
In the end, 53.7 per cent of those who voted said “NO!” However, only 32 per cent of eligible voters chose to exercise their right.
I got the feeling at the time that people weren‘t voting against the construction of a performing arts centre. Rather, it was a vote by taxpayers against something that would have resulted in an increase in their taxes. Through that process I really got the sense that those who voted “No” were wanting to deliver a message to those in charge of the public purse, something about being tired of costs always rising.
There was plenty of public debate preceding the referendum in Kamloops, as I’m sure the citizens of Nanaimo will experience over the next few weeks.
BTW, The Daily News building sits empty in downtown Kamloops, more than three years after the newspaper closed.
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The Tri-City Americans have shut down D Tyler Jette, 18, for the remainder of this season, thanks to an “upper-body” injury.
A native of Farmington, Minn., the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder was placed on the Americans’ protected list in November 2015. They signed him on Sept. 26 and he practised with the Americans that week, but never got into a game.
He showed up on the WHL roster report on Sept. 26 as having been added from Farmington High School. On Oct. 3, he was shown as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One week later that status was changed to week-to-week.
On the latest roster report that was released Tuesday, Jette is shown as having a “season-ending” injury.
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Like Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, I haven’t watched Don Cherry in years. So I didn’t see Cherry’s latest rant, nor will I hunt it up on the Internet. As Campbell writes, “Don Cherry stopped being relevant a long time ago, even before he ran the Mississauga IceDogs into the ground.” . . . Campbell wasn’t watching on Saturday when Cherry embarrassed himself, again, this time by being critical of Paul Romanuk, who just happens to be a fellow employee. However, Campbell heard about it and then found it on social media, watched it and felt compelled to write this piece right here.
This also allows me to relate my favourite Cherry anecdote, something I uncovered while researching a year-by-year epic on the Memorial Cup that I put together about 20 years ago.
What follows comes from what I wrote about the 1953 Memorial Cup that featured Cherry’s Barrie Colts and the St. Boniface Canadiens:
The Cherry legend includes — or doesn't include, depending upon to whom you are speaking — an incident from Game 5 that included Gary Blaine, a St. Boniface defenceman of immense potential whose career would fall victim to the demon rum, and Cherry.
Legend has it that Blaine actually chased Cherry around the Winnipeg Amphitheatre in an attempt to get him to fight.
As Winnipeg Free Press columnist Hal Sigurdson recounted in June of 1996, "Blaine's teammate, Ab McDonald . . . says it was Cherry. So does former provincial cabinet minister Larry Desjardins, who was general manager of Blaine's St. Boniface Canadiens at the time.”
As for Blaine . . .
"To be honest,” he told Sigurdson, "I'm not sure.
"Orval Tessier had just slashed our goaltender, Hal Dalkie, and I drilled him. When he went down I tried to pick him up, but he turtled. I'd never seen a guy do that before. Anyway, I heard another of their players chirping so I went after him. He took off and I chased him. When I asked our guys who it was they told me his name was Don Cherry.”
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet filed his latest 30 Thoughts on Tuesday and, as always, it’s highly readable. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s right here.
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If you enjoy stopping off here and would care to make a donation to the cause, please feel free to do so by clicking on the DONATE button and going from there.
If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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JUST NOTES:

F Noah Gregor of the Moose Jaw Warriors is scheduled to have knee surgery this week and isn’t expect to be out for as long as four weeks. Gregor, 18, last played on Jan. 7 in Regina and now has missed seven games. He has 52 points, including 20 goals, in 42 games. . . . 
The Prince George Cougars have signed F Edge Lambert, 15, to a WHL contract. Lambert, from Grande Prairie, Alta., was a seventh-round selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. . . . Lambert, 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, has four goals and two assists in 29 games with the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask. Last season, he had 20 goals and 24 assists with the bantam AAA Hounds.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

At Portland, the Winterhawks, with F Cody Glass enjoying a five-point night, opened up a 5-0 lead and hung on for a 6-4 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Portland drove Kamloops G Connor Ingram to
CODY GLASS
the bench with four goals in the game’s first 9:41, with Glass scoring one of them and assisting on the other three. . . . F Joachim Blichfeld got it started as he ran his goal-scoring streak to six games with his 15th goal at 1:51. . . . F Skyler McKenzie got No. 30 at 4:17. . . . F Evan Weinger (13) made it 3-0 at 4:45. . . . Glass upped it to 4-0 at 9:41. . . . D Keoni Texeira assisted on the last two goals. . . . F Ryan Hughes made it 5-0 with his 20th goal just 23 seconds into the second period. . . . Kamloops got back into it by scoring the next four goals. . . . F Luc Smith got his eighth at 10:00 of the second period, with F Garrett Pilon (12) scoring at 18:55. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers, who has 27 goals, added two third-period goals, at 10:00 and 13:16, to get the Blazers to within a goal. . . . Glass put it away with his 23rd goal, on a PP, at 17:41. . . . Glass, who has had two five-point games this season, has 23 goals and 41 assists in 46 games. He went into this season with 10 goals and 17 assists in 68 games. . . . Glass had two assists on Friday when the Winterhawks fell, 4-3 in a shootout, in Kamloops. . . . Blichfeld added an assist to his goal. . . . Pilon also had an assist. . . . Portland G Shane Farkas, who sat out Friday’s game in Kamloops due to illness, made 39 saves. Farkas, who turned 17 on Jan. 12, is from Penticton, B.C. He earned his first WHL victory in his third appearance. . . . Ingram, who was 6-0-1 against Portland going into the game, was beaten four times on 13 shots. Dylan Ferguson relieved him and stopped 27 of 29 shots in 48:05. . . . Portland had a 22-18 edge in the first period. Yes, the teams combined for 40 shots in the opening period. . . . The Winterhawks (23-21-3) had lost their previous five games (0-3-2). They hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points ahead of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Blazers (29-17-3) watched a four-game winning streak end. They are second in the B.C. Division, three points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . This was the first of seven straight road games for Kamloops. . . . This game had been scheduled to be played on Jan. 8 but was postponed by inclement weather conditions. . . . Announced attendance: 5,674.
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At Spokane, D Austin Strand’s second goal, at 3:48 of OT, gave the Seattle Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The winner was Strand’s fourth goal this season. He had one goal in 38 games with
AUSTIN STRAND
the Red Deer Rebels before behind dealt to Seattle, where he has scored three times in nine outings. . . . Seattle took a 2-0 lead with second-period goals from F Alexander True (15), on a PP, at 7:34, and Strand, at 14:24. . . . F Mathew Barzal assisted on both goals. . . . The Chiefs pulled even on third-period goals from F Eli Zummack, his fifth, at 5:31, and F Alex Mowbray, his first, at 9:11. . . . D Nolan Reid assisted on both Spokane goals. . . . Mowbray, who came over from the Medicine Hat Tigers, didn’t play this season until Dec. 27. The goal came in his 13th game. . . . The Thunderbirds had a glorious chance to win it in the third period when they were a presented with a 5-on-3 PP for 1:57. . . . Seattle went 1-4 on the PP; Spokane was 0-4. . . . Strand’s winner came after Seattle G Rylan Toth made a couple of terrific saves, including a poke-check that foiled a Spokane 2-on-0 break. . . . Toth finished with 35 saves as he ran his record to 21-15-1. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill turned aside 31 shots. . . . The Thunderbirds lost D Jarret Tyszka with an undisclosed injury in the first period. He is scheduled to play in the Top Prospects Game in Quebec City on Jan. 30. . . . Seattle F Wyatt Bear, 17, was in the lineup for the first time this season. He had been out with an undisclosed injury since the season started. A fifth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, Bear played three games with Seattle in 2014-15 and nine, with one assist, last season. He only played four other games last season, those with the midget AAA Interlake Lightning in Manitoba. . . . Seattle (26-15-4) has won two in a row. The Thunderbirds are third in the U.S. Division, five points behind the Tri-City Americans with five games in hand, and five ahead of the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Spokane (20-20-7) is 2-0-1 in its last three. The Chiefs are nine points behind Seattle. . . . Announced attendance: 3,237.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., the Medicine Hat Tigers surrendered the game’s first goal, but responded with the
MAX GERLACH
next eight en route to an 8-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Max Patterson scored his sixth goal, at 3:27 of the first period, to give the home team a 1-0 lead. . . . D Jordan Henderson’s second goal of the season, his first season joining the Tigers from the Saskatoon Blades, tied the score at 8:52. . . . Medicine Hat took control with two goals from F Max Gerlach, who leads it with 27 goals. He broke the tied at 2:29 of the second period and added insurance at 13:58. . . . D Clayton Kirichenko had a goal, his sixth, and two assists. F James Hamblin had two assists, while Gerlach added one to his two goals. F Mark Rassell added a goal, his 21st, and an assist. . . . The Tigers also got goals from F Zach Fischer (26), F John Dahlstrom (22) and F Mason Shaw (16). . . . G Michael Bullion earned the victory with 19 saves. . . . Kootenay starter Payton Lee was beaten eight times on 33 shots in 48:56. Jakob Walter came on to stop three shots in 11:04. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-3 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-5. . . . Medicine Hat (32-15-1) leads the Central Division by six points over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice (11-30-8) has lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 1,568.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

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

No Games Scheduled.


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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:18 PM
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Friday, December 30, 2016

Swift Current does it up right ... T-Birds, Rebels swap defencemen ... Two WHLers get NHL deals


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A lot of emotion was on display Friday morning as a memorial was unveiled in honour of four players who were killed when the Swift Current Broncos’ bus crashed while en route to Regina for a game with the Pats on Dec. 30, 1986.
The monument features the smiling faces of Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff.
Family members were present for the unveiling, as were this season’s Broncos, some survivors of the crash and various dignitaries.
“Every Christmas it seems like, it’s ‘there,’ ” Don Mantyka, Chris’s father, told Candace Woodside of the Southwest Booster. “As much as you want to spend Christmas with your family . . . it’s that presence still there. It’s an anniversary each and every year. It doesn’t go away. You think that sometimes it’s supposed to live its life out, but it doesn’t . . . the 20th anniversary was up, now the 30th . . . and it keeps coming up. And I appreciate it because the boys haven’t been forgotten.
“With Bill (Lee), the tremendous job he's done, you can’t even explain, from our point of view, what it means, what this man has done. It’s tremendous.”
Lee, who is from Swift Current, was the push behind getting the memorial built.
Woodside’s story is right here.
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F Jesse Schultz (Tri-City, Prince Albert, Kelowna, 1999-2003) has been released by the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). He had eight goals and 11 assists in 23 games. . . . 
D Brett Festerling (Tri-City, Vancouver, 2001-07) has signed a three-year extension with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). This season, he has a goal and 10 assists in 31 games.
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With some time on his hands over Christmas week, The MacBeth Report did some research and came up with this:
“Elliotte Friedman's research shows that since 2005-06, only six NHL teams four or more points out of the playoffs on Nov. 1 have gone on to make the playoffs. I have always wondered if it would apply to the WHL. After wading through the schedules on the WHL website . . .
“Beginning with the 2005-06 WHL season (11 seasons), only eight teams that were four or more points out of a playoff spot on the morning of Nov. 1 actually made the playoffs. The most recent was last season. The Edmonton Oil Kings made the playoffs after being four points out on Nov. 1 and they needed a victory in a one-game tiebreaker to do it.
“There was one season (2006-07) when the 16 teams in a playoff spot on Nov. 1 all made the playoffs.
“On average, slightly more than two teams (2.2 average) out of a playoff spot by any margin on the morning of Nov. 1 finish in the playoffs at the end of a season.
“This season, on the morning of Nov. 1, three teams in the Eastern Conference (Edmonton, Kootenay Ice, Prince Albert Raiders) and one team in the Western Conference (Seattle Thunderbirds) were four or more points out of a playoff spot. Right now, Edmonton is in the first wild-card spot in the East and Seattle is in possession of the second wild-card in the West.”
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Austin Strand, 19, and a sixth-round selection in the 2019
AUSTIN STRAND
bantam draft from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for D Brandon Schuldaus, 18.
Schuldaus didn’t return to the Thunderbirds after the Christmas break and requested a trade.
BRANDON SCHULDAUS
Strand, 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, has a goal and four assists in 38 games with Red Deer this season. In 163 career games, he recorded seven goals and 34 assists. From Calgary, he was a third-round pick by the Rebels in the 2012 bantam draft.
Schuldaus, a native of Houston, Texas, who now calls Calgary home, had two goals and three assists in 33 games with Seattle this season. In 90 games over two seasons, he had four goals and seven assists. He was a fifth-round pick by the Thunderbirds in the 2013 bantam draft. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Schuldaus played bantam in Airdrie, Alta., and midget at Shattuck St. Mary’s.
Schuldaus was in Calgary when he was informed of the trade, so was able to get to Red Deer in time to play last night against the visiting Kootenay Ice.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed F Calvin Thurkauf to a three-year, entry-level NHL contract. Thurkauf is playing in the World Junior Championship at the moment; he is captain of Switzerland’s national junior team, although he sat out Thursday’s 5-4 shootout victory over Denmark in Montreal thanks to a one-game suspension for slew-footing an opponent. . . . From Zug, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Thurkauf was a seventh-round pick in the NHL’s 2016 draft. . . . With the Rockets, he has 31 points, 17 of them goals, in 28 games. Last season, as a freshman, he put up 45 points, including 18 goals, in 61 games.
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The Edmonton Oilers have signed F Tyler Benson of the Vancouver Giants to a three-year, entry-level contract. The 6-foot-0, 200-pound Benson, who is from Edmonton, was a second-round selection in the 2016 NHL draft. . . . This season, he has 10 goals and 30 assists in 31 games with the Giants. He lost a lot of the 2015-16 season to health issues, finishing with 28 points, including nine goals, in 30 games. In 130 career regular-season games, he has 33 goals and 80 assists. . . . The Giants selected him with the first overall pick in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft.
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D Bryan Allbee has joined the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. Allbee, 19, is from Prince George. He was released earlier in the week by the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . He had three assists in 33 games with Seattle this season. He also has played in the WHL with the Kootenay Ice. In 146 career regular-season games, the 6-foot-0, 180-pounder has 11 goals and 17 assists.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 6:54 PM
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