Glass on waivers, or not? . . . Merry Christmas for Lernout, Ully . . . and for Broncos' radio voice

There were conflicting reports Friday as to whether G Jeff Glass (Kootenay, 2002-05) was placed on waivers by Lada Togliatti (Russia, KHL) after his interview on the status of the KHL was published in The Hockey News. This season, in 10 games, Glass is 1-6-0, 3.66, .880. . . . Later Friday it became evident there were conflicting reports as to whether Glass was on waivers. It wasn’t on Friday’s waiver wire per the KHL’s Russian-language website. Still, some reports had him on waivers. There also were harsh comments by former KHL president Medvedev so the KHL powers weren’t happy with that interview. Per @SlavaMalamud, Medevdev said: "Let Glass run off and play in a water-mill league somewhere." . . .
F Marcel Hossa (Portland, 1998-2001) was one of four players assigned by Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) to Liepāja (Latvia, Virslīga) after clearing waivers. This season, Hossa, the team captain, had seven goals and nine assists in 38 games with Dinamo Riga. . . . Per the KHL website, the contract between Hossa and Dinamo Riga was terminated by mutual agreement. . . . Dinamo Riga is having financial issues, so the move was possibly related to that. Dinamo waived three others players along with Hossa. . . .
F Alex Gogolyov (Calgary, Victoria, 2011-13) has been released by Lada Togliatti and has signed to two-way contract with Dynamo Moscow (both Russia, KHL). This season, with Lada's farm club Ariada Volzhsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), he had four goals and five assists in 21 games. . . .
G Ville Kolppanen (Lethbridge, 2009-10) was placed on waivers by Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). In 20 games, he was 2-13-4, 3.52, .897. . . . Kolppanen, Dan Sexton and Tim Stapleton refused to practice or play over non-payment of salary. . . . On Friday, Stapleton was traded to Metallurg Magnitogorsk for Yevgeni Grigorenko. . . .
D Tomas Slovak (Kelowna, 2001-03) was released by Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga) at his request. He had two goals and 15 assists in 30 games. . . .
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In yesterday’s piece on the WHL playoffs, I erred by using the word ‘re-seed’ in referring to the second round.
Instead, the WHL is using hard brackets, meaning first-round winners within each bracket play each other in the second round with home-ice advantage going to the team with the most regular-season points.
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Merry Christmas to D Brett Lernout of the Swift Current Broncos and F Cole Ully of the Kamloops Blazers, both of whom have signed three-year NHL deals. . . . Lernout, 19, signed with the Montreal Canadiens, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2014 draft. . . . Lernout has 18 points, including eight goals, in 34 games this season. From Winnipeg, he had 22 points, eight of them goals, in 72 games last season. . . . Ully, 19, signed with the Dallas Stars, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL draft. He is from Calgary. This season, he has 48 points, including 16 goals, in 35 games. He missed three games with an illness. Last season, he finished with 72 points, 30 of them goals, in 69 games.
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Belarus has won the IIHF U20 World championship Division I Group A title in Asiago, Italy. That means Belarus will advance to play with the big boys next season. There is more on the Asiago tournament right here.
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If you haven’t seen it yet, the Pittsburgh Penguins have done up a terrific Christmas (Vacation) video. It’s right here.
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Vin Scully -- yes, that Vin Scully -- had a bit of a scare the other day during a shopping trip to his favourite Costco. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times has that story right here.
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Danny Watkins of West Kelowna, B.C., really hadn’t played a lot of football when the Philadelphia Eagles made him a first-round selection in the NFL’s 2011 draft. Really, though, all he wanted to be was a firefighter. . . . Emily Kaplan of the Monday Morning Quarterback website has his story right here, and it’s a great read.
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If you are into Christmas music, as I am, you will love this piece right here from Deadspin. The gang over there has ranked the top Christmas songs. Hint: Silent Night is No. 1. . . . Note that they didn’t include any Christmas tunes from after 1960, and that means that Fairytale of New York isn’t included. It’s by The Pogues, featuring Kirsty MacColl, and if you haven’t heard/seen it, check it out right here. It’s top five material, for sure.
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THE BLOG:

On Friday, someone dubbed it The Technology Fund. Whatever it is, it’s special. As of late Friday, the blog master’s computer fund was at $1,280. . . . If you would like to help, click on the donate button, and thank you in advance. . . . Yes, we are almost there!
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Erin and I were thrilled to welcome Audrey Blair Mullin yesterday at 10:27am. She's 8lbs, 8 ounces and amazing. pic.twitter.com/ojoZhFW3DP
— Shawn Mullin (@shawnmullin) December 19, 2014

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) signed a one-month tryout
contract with Frederikshavn (Denmark, AL-Bank Ligaen). He had 14 goals and eight assists in 49 games with Banska Bystrica (Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
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SOME TUESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Saskatoon, F Darian Dziurzynski scored with 38.7 seconds left in OT to give the Blades a 4-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . F Brett Lyon forced OT when he scored a power-play goal for Moose Jaw with 11 seconds left in the third period. . . . The Warriors opened the third period by taking five straight minor penalties. However, the Blazers were able to score only once on the ensuing power plays. . . . Lyon leads the Warriors with five goals in eight games. Last season, he totalled five goals in 56 games split between the Vancouver Giants and Moose Jaw. . . . Warriors F Cody Beach completed his seven-game suspension and will be eligible to return Friday when the Warriors play host to the Swift Current Broncos. . . .
In Lethbridge, the Edmonton Oil Kings got a goal and two assists from F Rhett Rachinski as they defeated the Hurricanes, 5-1. . . . The teams combined for 124 penalty minutes, with Lethbridge taking 67 of those. . . . All told, there were 10 fighting majors. . . . The Oil Kings have won three of four on a five-game swing that wraps up tonight against the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook.
In Everett, F Mark McNeill had a goal and an assist to help the Prince Albert Raiders to a 3-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Prince Albert F Jonas Knutsen scored a third-period goal to give his side a 3-1 lead. . . . Everett D Ryan Murray cut that to one goal at 18:39 of the third period. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell scored his fourth goal of the season, giving him 100 regular-season career goals. He now shares the Everett franchise career record with Shane Harper (2005-10).
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JUST NOTES: The Vancouver Giants have assigned D Dalton Olsen to the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Olsen, 18, had one goal and six penalty minutes in four games with the Giants, whose roster now is down to 26 players. . . . F Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the WHL’s player of the week. He had seven points, six of them goals, in three games last week. . . . Andrey Makarov of the Saskatoon Blades is the WHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 1.00, .967 last week. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings open a seven-game, 11-day road swing against the Spokane Chiefs tonight. The trip will include a date with the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Oct. 21 that will feature the Clouston brothers, Cory of the Wheat Kings and Shaun of the Tigers, as the head coaches. . . . The Kamloops Blazers’ weekly report lists RW Jordan DePape as being out for at least a month with an “upper body” injury. DePape left Monday’s 5-4 loss to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers with a banged up left shoulder following a scrap with RW Emerson Etem. DePape first injured the shoulder while playing for the Winnipeg Jets at the NHL Young Guns tournament in Penticton, B.C. . . .
According to the Kootenay Ice, F Brendan Hurley will be out six to eight weeks with a knee injury suffered Oct. 5 in Edmonton. Oil Kings D Griffin Reinhart is serving a five-game suspension for the hit — he was given a kneeing major and game misconduct — on which Hurley was injured. . . . The Prince George Cougars have added F Austin Daae, 18, to their roster. The 6-foot-0, 194-pounder is from Estevan and had six assists and 17 penalty minutes in five games with the SJHL’s Bruins this season. Last season, he had two assists and 11 penalty minutes in 12 games with the Saskatoon Blades. . . . He is not believed to be related to Christine Daae. . . .
F Carter Ashton, who played in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Regina Pats and Tri-City Americans, is the AHL’s player of the week. He had three goals and an assist in helping the Norfolk Admirals to two victories in as many games. . . . Spokane Chiefs F Darren Kramer is going to get some air time tonight on TSN as he sits down with Dave Naylor. According to a TSN news release: As part of TSN’s timely investigative series on violence in professional sports, TSN’s Dave Naylor profiles Darren Kramer, one of hockey’s most prolific fighters, on Thursday, Oct. 13 during the NHL ON TSN pre-game show at 8 p.m. ET on TSN. With twice as many fights as any other player in the WHL and more fights than any other player in the world, Naylor examines how Kramer, a 19-year old forward from Peace River, Alta., reinvented himself from scorer to enforcer to get noticed by NHL scouts.”
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The WHL website was back up and running sometime Tuesday morning after a night of server-related problems.
And the embellishment penalty that had been indicated as belonging to F Kellan Tochkin of the Medicine Hat Tigers was changed to roughing. I have been told that the mixup may have been the result of a communication error between the penalty box and the online scorekeeper.
On the play in question, D Josh Caron of the Kamloops Blazers felled Tochkin with a punch to a temple.
Earlier in the game between the Tigers and host Blazers, Kamloops D Austin Madaisky received a penalty for a check to the head when he rode F Curtis Valk into the boards and made accidental contact with his head.
Which raises this question: If accidental contact with an opponent’s head draws a check-to-the-head penalty, why doesn’t an intentional punch to the noggin?
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Gary Pearson of the Prince Albert Daily Herald had a piece in Tuesday’s paper on the future of the Raiders and how it all depends on support from the community. And he is so, so right.
That column is right here.
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For our good read today, we bring you one more piece on Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo. This one is from Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times and it explores Calvillo’s background and how it was he didn’t end up in a gang in East L.A.
This is an excellent piece and it’s right here.
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And as a bonus good read, here’s Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe with a look into the season that was for the Boston Red Sox. It is right here. If you are a Red Sox fan, you may want to have Kleenex handy.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From old friend Brad Hornung:
“Sorry I missed the 2 Regina Pats games on the weekend, let's just say that I am day-to-day with a lower body injury. LOL”

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

Moose Jaw D Dallas Ehrhardt was a minus-3 on Friday as the Warriors beat the Prince Albert Raiders 6-5 in a shootout. He then was a healthy scratch on Saturday, so sat out the Warriors’ 7-4 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos.
And you have to love Moose Jaw head coach Mike Stothers’ explanation.
“He’s a great kid,” Stothers told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “He’s working hard. He’s just lost his game a little bit and we’re going to help him find it.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
F Nick Buonassisi of the Prince George Cougars, who are about to begin an East Division swing, tweeted on Sunday:
“Heading to sask tonight. For 2 weeks. Nothing worse then the sasky guys saying how great their province is #clueless”
Buonassisi, 19, is from Coquitlam. The Cougars’ roster includes six players from Saskatchewan. They open the swing Tuesday in Prince Albert against the Raiders.
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From the Red Deer Advocate:
PRINCE ALBERT — The Red Deer Rebels were on the receiving end of a jolt early Sunday for the second time in a matter of hours.
After falling 7-2 to the Prince Albert Raiders in a Western Hockey League game Saturday night, the Rebels were shaken out of their early-morning slumber when their team bus struck a deer near Landis, Sask.
The collision broke both headlights on the drivers’ side and cracked both windshields. But it might not have been as painful as the Rebels’ loss at Prince Albert . . .
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For today’s good read, we go to Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. He remembers Roger Maris and wonders why baseball doesn’t work harder at doing the same. That piece is right here.

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