Strat-O-Matic memories . . . Winterhawks sign two key forwards . . . Raiders D-man gets NHL deal

I have heard from an amazing number of people since Friday night when word got out that the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame had honoured me with its Bernie Pascall Media Award.
Friends and acquaintances have contacted me via Twitter, email, Facebook, text and the good old-fashioned telephone.
Two people I heard from on Monday brought back some terrific memories.

It began when Les Lazaruk, a long-time friend who is the veteran — that means old! — radio voice of the Saskatoon Blades tweeted this:

Great honour for great man and friend @gdrinnan...received the Bernie Pascal Media Award at the BC Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

— Les Lazaruk (@Bladesvoice) July 27, 2015

Les then followed that with:

Previous about @gdrinnan a little late...my apologies. Took weekend away from phone. He should be in the Hall for rolling "1-5s" in Strato!

— Les Lazaruk (@Bladesvoice) July 27, 2015

Darrell Davis, with whom I shared more than a few good times while we both were at the Regina Leader-Post, chimed in with:

@Bladesvoice @gdrinnan-- I saw lots of those Strato 1-5s. Congrats @gdrinnan!

— Darrell Davis (@DarrellDavisSK) July 27, 2015

If you aren’t familiar, Strato refers to Strat-O-Matic baseball. Back in the day, a bunch of us, including Bill O’Donovan, now the news anchor at CFJC-TV in Kamloops, were involved in a Strat-O-Matic league that was, well, let’s just say it was interesting.
How intense was it? I remember driving home one night on Regina’s Ring Road — I lived in the east end and had been playing in the south end — after betting my butt kicked. If you haven’t played Strat-O-Matic, it involves dice and player cards. Well, on this night I decided it was time to teach the dice a lesson. So I stopped alongside a farmer’s field and threw them as far as I could. (A 1-5 meant home run with my best guys and I don't think I rolled enough of them on that night.)
I hadn’t thought of that night for a long, long time . . . before hearing from Les and Darrell. Yes, I chuckled at the memory.
However, I also remember the season in which I won the championship, my Top Cats beating John Chaput’s Zoo 4-3 with a run in the bottom of the ninth. The championship-winning blow — the Top Cats won the best-of-seven final in six games — was a sacrifice fly by Fred Lynn that scored Alan Trammell, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
You can bet the memory of that night kept me warm all that winter.
I was going through some storage containers in our shed on Saturday when I came upon the Game 6 scoresheet. Yes, I kept it. Unfortunately, I have no idea what year that was.
All I know is that, although Les and Darrell may not agree, it was a very good year.
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F Ian McDonald (Tri-City, 2000-06) signed a one-year contract with MAC Budapest (Hungary, MOL Liga). Last season, with Briançon (France, Ligue Magnus), he had 12 goals and 10 assists in 26 games. . . .
D Juraj Valach (Tri-City, Vancouver, Regina, Red Deer, 2006-08) signed a one-year contract with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). He had been on a tryout with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). Last season, with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had six goals and seven assists in 43 games. . . .


F Jakub Klepiš (Portland, 2001-02) signed a one-year extension with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he had six goals and five assists in 21 games with Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden, SHL) and 21 points, including seven goals, in 17 games with Třinec. . . .


F Edgars Kulda (Edmonton, 2012-15) signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) after a successful tryout. Last season, with the Edmonton Oil Kings, he had 13 goals and 17 assists in 47 games. On Thursday, he played in a 3-1 exhibition game victory over Lada Togliatti. He was on the first line with Lauris Dārziņš (Kelowna, 2004-06) and ex-NJ Devils C Tim Sestito.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed both of their 2015 CHL import draft selections. . . . Both players — Latvian Rodrigo Abols and Swede Carl Ericson — are forwards. . . . Abols, 19, had 38 points, 20 of them goals, in 35 games last season with HK Riga of the Molodezhnaya Hockey League. He also got into 15 games with Dinamo Riga of the KHL, putting up a goal and four assists. He also played for Latvia at the IIHF World championship. . . . Ericson, 19, had 42 points, including 16 goals, in 43 games with Leksand’s U-20 side. He also got into 11 games with the Leksand team in the SHL, a Swedish pro league. . . . The Winterhawks may lose their top three scorers from last season — Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nic Petan and Chase De Leo — which means Abols and Ericson will be looked to for some offence. The Winterhawks will be wanting both to be in their top six forwards.
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Meanwhile, Vojtech Budik tweeted on Monday afternoon: “Next season I will play for @PARaidersHockey.” . . . Budik, a 17-year-old defenceman, is from Czech Republic. He was selected by the Raiders in the CHL’s 2015 import draft. . . . Last season, he had 12 points, including three goals, in 12 games with the Czech U-18 team, and added five assists in 19 games with the Czech U-20 side.
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If you are a Brandon Wheat Kings fan living in Manitoba, you are able to purchase a specialty license plate that salutes your favourite team. Brian Smiley, a spokesman with Manitoba Public Insurance, has told Brandon radio station CKLQ that almost 800 Manitoba motorists have purchased the plates, which go for $70 apiece. . . . CKLQ reports that “part of the proceeds from Wheat Kings plates go towards supporting the Brandon Humane Society.”
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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Dale DeGray, the general manager of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, has yet to hire a head coach, but he is down to a short list of three candidates. . . . DeGray is looking to replace Greg Ireland, who resigned earlier this month and now is the head coach of Adler Mannheim in Germany. . . . DeGray told Bill Walker of the Owen Sound Sun Times that he heard from more than 60 applicants. . . . DeGray hopes to have a coach in place before Aug. 6. He is managing Canada’s U-18 team that leaves then for Europe and the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament. . . . DeGray also told Walker that “I don't hire friends . . . I would prefer to keep friendships than to have to fire a coach and lose a friend. There are lots of qualified guys out there.” . . . Walker’s complete story is right here.
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The Buffalo Sabres have signed D Brendan Guhle of the Prince Albert Raiders to a three-year entry-level contract. The Sabres selected Gulhe, who turns 18 on Wednesday, in the second round of the NHL’s 2015 draft. . . . Guhle had 32 points, 27 of them assists, in 72 games with the Raiders last season. He has 42 points, including five goals, in 123 games over two seasons with Prince Albert. He is from Sherwood Park, Alta.
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With Stepan and Wilson signings today, teams have shelled out a total of $1,015,308,875 on 328 contracts since July 1. #onebilliondollars

— General Fanager (@generalfanager) July 27, 2015

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Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, chimed in on the CFL-CFLPA dispute on Friday. “There is even a dispute between the parties here as to what the average salary per player was last year. The Players Association says it was not $82,904 but was only $71,700. Calculating ‘average salary’ is not exactly a mathematical feat comparable to proving Fermat’s Last Theorem. Therefore, when the two sides perform this mathematical operation and come up with numbers that differ by about 14 per cent, my conclusion is that the two sides would probably not agree that the sun came up in the east this morning even after they called their favourite local weatherman to ask.” . . .

“The Ottawa Redblacks held a ceremony Thursday at TD Place, where a 1976 silver dollar was embedded in the asphalt under the field as a tribute to the last Ottawa team to win a Grey Cup,” scribbles Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post. “Current Redblacks likely paid close attention as the coin was buried. If/when there’s a strike and their source of income dries up, they’re going to need to know where to dig.” . . . “Clay Buchholz recently became the second Red Sox pitcher ever to lose seven pounds in a single appearance,” writes contributor Bill Littlejohn. “The first involved a burglary at Bill Lee's house.” . . .

On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Kings and host Chicago Blackhawks played what was a terrific Stanley Cup playoff game. If you missed it, and you can bet Bill O’Donovan didn’t, the Blackhawks won 5-4 in double overtime. But it was the first extra period that had fans buzzing. It took only 26 minutes of real time to play the entire 20-minute period. Yes, it was hockey at its best. . . . Meanwhile, the visiting Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers were hooked up in an NBA playoff game. The Pacers won, 93-90. It took eight minutes to play the game’s final 12 seconds. . . . With the NBA draft approaching, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel has some advice for the Orlando Magic: “Personally, I believe the Magic should package their No. 4 and No. 12 picks and try to move up in the draft to take Johnny Manziel.” . . .

If you have been paying attention to the NBA playoffs, you know that Paul George of the Pacers suffered a concussion in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final, but was still back on the floor for Game 3. During the regular season, Orlando’s Nik Vucevic sat out 12 games with a concussion. “If you’re tanking, you miss three weeks,” Bianchi wrote in explaining the NBA’s concussion protocol. “If you’re in the conference finals, you miss three days.” . . . “The (Cleveland) Browns supposedly drafted Johnny Manziel after owner Jimmy Haslam heard a homeless man tell him, ‘Draft Manziel,’ ” writes Greg Cote of the Miami Herald. “Cannot confirm the homeless man was a former team sports owner bankrupted by taking personnel advice from homeless men.” . . .

“A clueless French Open reporter congratulated Nicolas Mahut for a match Mahut had just lost,” writes RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “He also congratulated the Chicago Cubs on 106 great years.” . . . A Friday night tweet from Ray Ratto of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area: “With apologies to our atheist and agnostic friends, the seventh game is the closest we as a species have come to proving that God exists.” . . . After his Kings lost Game 6, 4-3, to the visiting Blackhawks, forcing a Game 7 on Sunday, head coach Darryl Sutter was asked: “What did you say to the team after the loss?” . . . His response: “We fly at 11.” . . .

If you hadn’t heard, Donald Sterling paid US$12.5 million for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers in 1981. On Friday, the franchise was sold, pending NBA approval, for $2 billion, which is four times the selling price for any other team. . . . “Because of an illegally recorded private conversation,” notes syndicated columnist Norman Chad, “an NBA owner is forced to sell his team at a 16,000-per cent profit. Only in America.” . . . Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times put it this way: “We all know how Donald Sterling feels about blacks. Now we’ll find out if he has a higher opinion of green.” . . .

Michael Vick, the newest quarterback with the NFL’s New York Jets, has told the New York Daily News that he can help the team get to the Super Bowl. “Apparently,” added comedy writer Jim Barach, “he has a GPS system and a license to drive the bus.” . . . The premier of Turks and Caicos has said he doesn’t have any problems with joining Canada as our 11th province. “Good news,” says Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe. “It would raise the average temperature of Canada by about 10 degrees.” . . .

After the New York Rangers finished off the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun pointed out a couple of things via Twitter: 1. At the Olympic break, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a three-point lead over the Rangers; 2. The Maple Leafs took the first Swedish goalie, Mikael Tellqvist, in the 2000 draft. The Rangers, 135 picks later, selected Henrik Lundqvist. . . . “Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin of the Canadiens both sat out Thursday’s game versus the Rangers,” claims Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong, “as they wanted to avoid the post-game handshake in case Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins showed up again.”

(Gregg Drinnan is a former sports editor of the Regina Leader-Post and the late Kamloops Daily News. He is at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca and twitter.com/gdrinnan. Keeping Score appears here on weekends, except when it doesn’t.)

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