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F Axel Blomqvist (Lethbridge, Victoria, Moose Jaw, 2012-15) has signed for the rest of this season with Kristianstad (Sweden, Division 1). He had been released Sunday at his request by Södertälje (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He was pointless in seven games there.
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All of the WHL’s 22 teams have either played two-thirds of their regular season or are within an outing or two of the 48-game mark.
So . . . let us pause for a look at the playoff picture.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
East Division: The Regina Pats are atop the division, four points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors and with four games in hand. Regina has six regulation-time losses; the Warriors have a dozen. Regina’s point percentage is .784; Moose Jaw’s is .677. Yes, it will be hard for the Warriors to reach the top. . . . The Swift Current Broncos are third, seven points behind Moose Jaw and seven ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who have three games in hand. The Wheat Kings are in possession of the conference’s first wild-card spot. They are five points in front of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . We could be looking at Moose Jaw and Swift Current in the first round, with the Wheat Kings crossing over to play the Central Division’s first-place finisher. . . . The Saskatoon Blades have won five in a row and are in position to get into the playoffs for the first time since the spring of 2013. If they stay in the conference’s second wild-card spot, they likely would meet up with Regina in the first round. Could that fire up what once was a tremendous rivalry?
Central Division: The Medicine Hat Tigers hold down first place, but are only four points ahead of the hard-charging Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Tigers are without D David Quenneville and D Ty Schultz, both of whom suffered broken bones while blocking shots. The Hurricanes have points in eight straight games (6-0-2), but the Tigers have one game in hand. They will meet each other three more times, including a home-and-home series on the regular-season’s final weekend. . . . The Red Deer Rebels, whose season has been a myriad of inconsistencies, are headed to a third-place finish. . . . Three of the division’s six teams end up on the outside looking in. The Calgary Hitmen are four points out of a playoff spot, while the Edmonton Oil Kings have trended the wrong way since the trade deadline, and the Kootenay Ice won’t make it. Again.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
B.C. Division: The Prince George Cougars lead the division by 10 points over the Kamloops Blazers, who hold two games in hand. The Cougars, who beat the Vancouver Giants, 2-1 in a shootout, in Langley, B.C., on Monday night, will play three games in Alberta this weekend before going home for six in a row — doubleheaders with the Kelowna Rockets, Vancouver and the Spokane Chiefs. The Cougars and Blazers will meet five more times. Yes, they will go home-and-home to finish the regular season. . . . The Blazers are three points ahead of Kelowna, with the Victoria Royals two points in back of the Rockets. . . . Victoria holds the conference’s first wild-card spot at the moment, nine points ahead of the Portland Winterhawks. So it would seem that playoff spot will go to a B.C. Division team. . . . Vancouver is nine points out of a playoff spot.
U.S. Division: The Everett Silvertips lead the way by eight points and have five games in hand on the Tri-City Americans. The Silvertips have yet to experience their six-game East Division swing, one on which the Americans went 6-0-0. . . . Tri-City is seven points ahead of the Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold six games in hand even though their eastern trip is behind them. . . . Seattle is a comfortable seven points ahead of Portland and the Spokane Chiefs, who are tied for the conference’s second wild-card spot. It could well be that either Portland or Spokane won’t make it, with the survivor getting Everett or Prince George, whichever has the better record, in the first round.
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| Peyton (left), Maddison and Dakota Krebs. (Photo: Tri-City Americans) |
It was a big night for the Krebs family on Friday when the Kootenay Ice paid a visit to the Tri-City Americans. . . . Peyton, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft, was in the Ice’s lineup. Dakota, 17, is a defenceman with the Americans. . . . Sister Maddison, 19, an up-and-coming country singer, handled both anthems. . . . Their parents, Cindy and Greg, along with another son, 13-year-old Drew, were on hand to take it all in. . . . “That was the hardest game I have had to watch,” Cindy told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “I didn’t want Dakota to get scored on, but I wanted Peyton to score — just not against Dakota.” . . . Neither Peyton nor Dakota garnered a point but Dakota got bragging rights with a 7-4 victory. . . . Fowler’s story is right here.
The Ice returned Peyton to the midget AAA Foothills Bisons on Sunday, while also returning D Loeden Schaufler, 16, to the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox Sask. . . . Still, the Ice has six players on the injury list, with F Barrett Sheen, D Nikita Radzivilyuk and D Sam Huston all out a week or more, with D Cale Fleury, F Vince Loschiavo and D Ryan Pouliot all day-to-day.
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There will be a new hockey team in Nanaimo when the 2017-18 season arrives. The Vancouver Island University Mariners will play out of the Ice Centre, which is near the school’s campus. The team will bring membership in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League to six teams. Other teams play out of Selkirk College in Castlegar, B.C., Trinity Western U in Langley, Eastern Washington U in Cheney, Simon Fraser U in Burnaby and the U of Victoria. . . . Steven Paul is the Mariners’ volunteer general manager and head coach. . . . The Mariners will operate as a club team, meaning it will responsible for its own operating budget. . . . The team will hold a spring camp, April 7-9. . . . The original roster could include D Ryan Coghlan, 21, a student at VIU who has played in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders.
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The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques have fired head coach Mario Duhamel, replacing him with assistant coach Éric Landry. Duhamel was in in his first season with the Olympiques, having replaced Benoit Groulx, who now is the head coach of Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . Duhamel spent four seasons (2009-13) as the head coach of the Drummondville Voltigeurs and was an assistant coach with Canada’s national junior team at the 2013 World Junior Championship. He also worked with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche as the video coach for two seasons (2013-15). Last season, he was the assistant general manager with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. . . . Landry, who is from Gatineau, has been with the Olympiques since 2012 after he ended a pro career that included NHL stops with the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadiens. . . . The Olympiques, who have lost four straight games, are 19-24-4.
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MONDAY’S GAME:
At Langley, B.C., the Prince George Cougars scored three times in a shootout to beat the Vancouver Giants 2-1. . . . F Nikita Popugaev, F Radovan Bondra and F Jansen Harkins all scored for the Cougars in the shootout, with F James Malm and F Brayden Watts counting for the Giants. . . . F Jared Bethune (13) gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the second period and they nursed that lead into the final five minutes of the third period. . . . The Giants tied it when F Dawson Holt scored his sixth goal, shorthanded, at 15:49 of the third period. . . . G Nick McBride made 30 saves for the Cougars, three fewer than Vancouver’s Ryan Kubic. . . . Each team was 0-5 on the PP. . . . Vancouver had D Bowen Byram, the third overall pick in the 2016 bantam draft, in its lineup. He has 16 points, including 14 assists, in 11 games with the Yale Hockey Academy’s prep team in the CSSHL. . . . The Giants had eight scratches, including F Tyler Benson, D Darian Skeoch, D Matt Barberis and F Ty Ronning. . . . The Cougars had D Sam Ruopp back in their lineup. . . . The Cougars lead the eight-game season series 5-1-0, while the Giants are 1-4-1. . . . Prince George (34-13-3) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). The Cougars lead the overall standings by two points over the Everett Silvertips and Regina Pats. . . . Vancouver (17-27-4) had lost two in a row and is nine points from a playoff spot. . . . The Cougars next play Friday against the host Red Deer Rebels and will stop off in Banff for a couple of days en route. After Red Deer, the Cougars will play a Saturday-Sunday night-day doubleheader against the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Announced attendance: 2,964.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Kamloops at Portland, 7 p.m. (ppd. from Jan. 8)
Medicine Hat vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
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In Prince Albert, F Craig Leverton scored the only goal of a six-round shootout to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Raiders F Austin Glover forced OT with his 13th goal at 7:44 of the second period. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock scored his 30th goal, on a PP, at 11:06 of the first. . . . Raiders D Jesse Lees tied it with his 12th goal at 3:56 of the second. . . . Edmonton F Luke Bertolucci restored the one-goal lead with his ninth goal at 6:39 of the second. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 30 shots through OT, one more than Prince Albert’s Nick McBride. . . . Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton gave Jarry full credit for earning his team the loser point. “We owe Tristan for the point tonight,” Hamilton said on the team’s website. “There’s no question about that. He was the most substantial difference maker in the lineup tonight. It’s disappointing that Tristan gave us that kind of effort and we weren’t able to respond in front of him.” . . . Edmonton was 1-for-4 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-4. . . . The Raiders (25-35-3) had lost their previous three games. . . . Edmonton (29-28-7) had won their previous two games. . . . 
In Medicine Hat, F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL scoring race, had two goals as the Tigers got past the Red Deer Rebels, 4-0. . . . Cox, who now has 99 points, including 25 goals, scored on a PP at 7:30 of the first period and on a penalty shot at 13:08 of the second. . . . Tigers F Matt Bradley scored his 15th at 11:10 of the second and F Chad Labelle got his eighth goal, into an empty net, at 18:58 of the third. . . . Tigers G Marek Langhamer stopped 24 shots for his first shutout of the season. . . . Langhamer, the last European goaltender in the WHL, has five career shutouts. . . . The Tigers (40-21-3) have won three straight. . . . The Rebels (32-21-10) have been 2-0-1 in their previous three games. . . . 
In Kamloops, D Colby Harmsworth’s third goal of the season, at 4:45 of OT, gave the Calgary Hitmen a 5-4 victory over the Blazers. . . . With the teams playing three skaters aside due to penalties, Harmsworth and F Radel Fazleev took off on a 2-on-1. Fazleev slid a pass to Harmsworth and he got the puck under G Connor Ingram for the winner. . . . Calgary led this one 2-0 after one period and 3-1 in the second period, only to have Kamloops scored three second-period goals to take a 4-3 lead. . . . F Collin Shirley scored twice for the Blazers, giving him 22. . . . Calgary F Connor Rankin forced OT with his second goal of the game, and 30th of the season, at 5:23 of the third. . . . F Terrell Draude also scored twice for Calgary, giving him 12 goals. . . . D Travis Sanheim, F Jody Stallard — I hope his nickname is Tracy — and F Taylor Sanheim each had two assists for Calgary. . . . F Matt Revel scored his 16th goal and added an assist for Kamloops. . . . Calgary G Brendan Burke, who has won nine straight decisions, stopped 29 shots, five fewer than Connor Ingram of the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was 1-for-6 on the PP; Calgary was 0-for-5. . . . D Jake Bean, the terrific 16-year-old, was among Calgary’s scratches. He is expected to miss at least four weeks after suffering a suspected shoulder/collarbone injury in Kelowna on Saturday. . . . The Blazers have put F Deven Sideroff (suspected wrist) on the injured list. They show him as out week-to-week. . . . Kamloops also scratched F Matt Needham with an undisclosed injury. . . . Needham and Sideroff have played almost the entire season with F Cole Ully on one of the WHL’s top lines. . . . The Hitmen (40-19-5) are 6-1-0 on their franchise record 11-game road swing. They left Calgary on Feb. 19 and had travelled 2,579 km when they left Kamloops for Prince George last night. . . . Calgary has won 17 of its last 19 games and is 13-1-1 on the road since Jan. 4. . . . The Blazers (24-33-7) had won their previous two games. . . . 
In Victoria, D Shea Theodore had a goal and two assists to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-1 victory over the Royals. . . . Victoria had beaten Seattle 3-2 in a shootout on Monday night. . . . One night later, the visitors scored the game’s first three goals, two of them in the first period. . . . F Cory Millette got his 19th goal at 1:13 and Theodore added his 11th at 17:03. . . . D Jerret Smith made it 3-0 at 8:50 of the second, on a PP, and the Royals weren’t able to get back in this one. . . . D Joe Hicketts scored his 11th goal for the Royals, on a PP, at 2:08 of the third. . . . Seattle G Taran Kozun stopped 29 shots. . . . Each team was 1-for-4 on the PP. . . . The Thunderbirds (32-23-9) had lost four in a row (0-2-2). . . . The Royals are 34-26-4. . . . 
In Everett, F Kohl Bauml scored with 39 seconds left in OT to give the Silvertips a 3-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Bauml has 30 goals this season. . . . Everett scored the game’s last three goals. . . . Kelowna F Tyson Baillie scored his 36th goal, on a PP, at 6:46 of the first period. . . . Rockets F Leon Draisaitl, who drew an assist on Baillie’s goal, got his 15th goal, on a PP, at 4:19 of the second. Draisaitl now has goals in six straight games. . . . Everett F Nikita Scherbak got his guys on the board with his 27th goal at 3:54 of the third and F Dawson Leedahl tied it with his 13th at 10:16. . . . Kelowna was 2-for-4 on the PP; Everett was 0-for-1. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 37 shots, 10 more than Kelowna’s Jackson Whistle. . . . Hart is 9-1-1 since Jan. 1. . . . The Silvertips scratched D Kevin Davis and D Tristen Pfeifer, both with undisclosed injuries. . . . D Josh Morrissey and F Rourke Chartier were among Kelowna’s scratches as it went with 17 skaters. . . . The Silvertips improved to 38-19-7. . . . Kelowna (48-11-5) has lost two in a row. . . . 
In Spokane, F Adam Helewka scored three goals and G Garret Hughson stopped 29 shots as the Chiefs dropped the Vancouver Giants, 7-0. . . . Hughson has two shutouts in his last four games. He has four career shutouts. . . . Helewka, who has 38 goals, scored the game’s first two goals, the first one coming while shorthanded at 15:18 of the first period. He also drew one assist. . . . It was Helewka’s second career hat trick. He scored four times against Vancouver on Nov. 1, 2013. . . . F Calder Brooks added his 20th goal and three assists, while F Kailer Yamamoto scored his 19th goal and had two helpers. . . . D Jason Fram and F Liam Stewart each had two assists. . . . The Chiefs (31-27-4) have won four in a row and outscored the opposition 22-2 in the process. . . . The Giants (26-34-3) have lost three straight.
“He’s a great big centre who’s going add some tremendous depth to our
team,” Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets president and general manager, told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. Hamilton, a member of Hockey Canada’s management group, had just returned from the WJC. “Rourke Chartier is one of the premier players in the league right now, and this guy certainly
brings the same qualities he does. And he’s an experienced player; he has
30-some games of NHL experience under his belt now, so I think he’ll fit
in real well.
“I’ve had to listen to Josh Morrissey for two weeks telling me what to do
to get him. He fits in real well with him, too. He’s a real solid person;
he’ll be a great player to have here. And they’ll fit into our community
real well.”
Royals for F Brayden Dunn, 16, and a first-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft.
with the Broncos. They took him with the second overall pick of the 2011 bantam draft.
announced a three-player swap with the Victoria Royals.
pick by Moose Jaw in the 2010 bantam draft.
at this point in the season to last season’s final numbers.
have, for a second time, come up with Spokane Chiefs Wine -- aka Top Shelf Red.
In Brandon, F Adam Brooks broke a 2-2 tie at 8:56 of the third period as the Regina Pats got past the Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . The Pats had lost seven straight games in Brandon. . . . Brooks scored twice, giving him 12 goals. . . . His first goal, at 1:18 of the second period, gave the Pats a 2-0 lead. . . . The Wheat Kings tied it on third-period scores by F Nolan Patrick, his ninth, and D Reid Duke, also his ninth. . . . Regina D Kyle Burroughs was plus-3. He leads the WHL at plus-31. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 32 shots in winning his eighth straight decision. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny made his ninth consecutive start. He has appeared in 26 of the team’s 30 games this season. . . . Papirny turned aside 35 shots, including a second-period penalty shot attempt by F Austin Wagner, who had two assists. . . . On Wednesday, the Pats beat the visiting Wheat Kings, 4-2. . . . The sweep moved them to within seven points of the East Division-leading Wheat Kings. . . . Regina (18-10-1) has won five in a row and 10 of 11. . . . Brandon (21-7-2) has lost two straight. . . . The Pats are off tonight, while Brandon travels to Swift Current. . . . 
In Red Deer, F Conner Bleackley scored twice to give the Rebels a 2-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . F Jack Rodewald provided the visitors with a 1-0 lead with his 14th goal at 13:22 of the first period. . . . Bleackley equalized at 13:58 of the first and it was the Toque Toss goal. . . . Bleackley got the winner, his 10th goal this season, on a PP, at 2:30 of the second. . . . Red Deer G Rylan Toth stopped 16 shots, 11 fewer than Moose Jaw's Justin Paulic. . . . The Rebels (15-11-4) travel to Lethbridge tonight. . . . For the Warriors (12-13-3), this was the first of three games in less than 48 hours in Alberta, with each of them a Teddy Bear game. They are in Edmonton tonight. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more on last night's game right here. . . .
In Cranbrook, F Sam Reinhart broke a 1-1 tie at 5:39 of the third period as the Kootenay Ice beat the Spokane Chiefs, 2-1. . . . Reinhart, who has seven goals, scored the winner on the PP. He has seven goals and now is riding a 12-game point streak. Reinhart has 24 points, including 17 assists, during that streak. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau extended his point streak to 11 games when he scored the Teddy Bear goal just 41 seconds into the game. . . . He's got 19 points, including eight goals, in that stretch. . . . Descheneau also scored the Teddy Bear goal two years ago. . . . Chiefs D Jason Fram got his fourth goal, on a PP, at 19:11 of the second. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin stopped 31 shots, 12 more than Spokane's Garret Hughson. . . . The Ice (14-15-0) will meet the Chiefs (14-10-3) tonight in Spokane. . . . The Ice has won three in a row; the Chiefs have dropped three straight. . . . 
In Kelowna, the Prince George Cougars erased a 2-0 deficit with four second-period goals and beat the Rockets, 4-3. . . . Cougars F Chase Witala had two goals and two assists in that second period. He's got 15 goals. . . . Prince George G Ty Edmonds stopped 37 shots and was especially strong in the third period when the Rockets enjoyed some 5-on-3 time. . . . F David Soltes had three assists for Prince George. . . . Cougars F Colby McAuley left at 1:35 of the third period with a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on Kelowna F Kris Schmidli. . . . Kelowna F Rourke Chartier scored his WHL-leading 32nd goal at 18:45 of the third period, via the PP. The Rockets finished the game on the PP as Cougars D Tate Olson was penalized for delay of game at 19:26. During that PP, Edmonds made a game-saving stop on Chartier. . . . The Rockets were 1-for-8 on the PP; the Cougars were 1-for-3. . . . Garry Davidson, the general manager of the Everett Silvertips, was spotted in attendance at this one. . . . The Cougars (14-15-0) had lost their previous two games. They are in Kamloops tonight. . . . The Rockets (23-4-3) are at home to Prince Albert tonight. . . .
In Vancouver, F Jackson Houck scored twice and added an assist as the Giants opened the Claude Noel era with a 3-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . This was Noel’s first game as head coach of the Giants. He was introduced Monday as the replacement for Troy Ward, who was fired after 25 games. . . . One of Noel's first moves was to take the captaincy away from F Dalton Sward. Last night, Sward, D Mason Geertsen and Houck were alternates. . . . Houck has 10 goals this season. . . . The Giants never trailed, leading 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 in the third. . . . F Tyler Benson had three assists for Vancouver, two of them on the PP. . . . The Giants were 2-for-5; the Winterhawks were 0-for-6. . . . F Chase De Leo had two assists for Portland. . . . According to the on-line score sheet, the Giants had 20 skaters dressed. Uhh, that would be two over the maximum. . . . The Giants honoured the memory of the late Pat Quinn, who owned a piece of the team, with a banner raising prior to the game. . . . The Giants (11-18-0) have won two in a row and are at home to Saskatoon tonight. . . . The Winter hawks (15-13-3), who meet visiting Everett tonight, had a six-game winning streak snapped. . . . 
In Everett, F Trevor Cox scored three times and set up another to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Cox, who has eight goals, scored the game’s last two goals after Everett had gotten to within one, at 3-2. . . . F Remi Laurencelle scored twice for Everett, giving him six goals. Both came on second-period PPs. . . . D Tommy Vannelli and D Tyler Lewington each had two assists for the visitors. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Sanford scored the game’s first goal, his 18th. It was shorthanded. . . . Medicine Hat G Marek Langhamer stopped 29 shots, 18 more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Down 4-2, Everett head coach Kevin Constantine pulled Lotz for the extra attacker with 5:33 to play. Cox scored an empty-netter with 33.7 seconds left to play. . . . F Jake Mykitiuk was pointless in his debut with the Silvertips. He apparently didn't get to Everett in time for the game day skate, so the pregame warmup was his first time on the ice with his new teammates. . . . The Tigers (20-6-2), who have won four straight, will meet Seattle in Kent, Wash., tonight. . . . Everett (17-6-4) is in Portland tonight.
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