Moores a hall of famer; Portland streak at 20

In going through some old clippings, I noticed a brief item pointing out that G Byron Penstock of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who was starting in place of Trevor Kidd, who was with Canada’s national junior team, “is winless in his last nine games.
“Penstock has an 0-8-1 record, but his goals-against average is a respectable 4.54 and his save percentage is a healthy .868.”
This was in December 1990, back in the live puck era.
If you were wondering how much the game has changed . . .
This season, going into Sunday’s games, there were 30 goaltenders who had played at least 1,200 minutes. The highest GAA was 4.29; the lowest save percentage was .876.
Of those 30 goaltenders, 16 had their GAA below 3.00 and 16 had a save percentage higher than .900.
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Billy Moores, who spent one season (1985-86) as the general manager and head coach of the Regina Pats, is in the 2014 class of inductees to the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in Red Deer. . . . Moores, one of hockey’s really good guys, has been a fixture in Alberta hockey circles since he played for the Oil Kings in the late 1960s. In the years since then, he has worked with the Edmonton Oilers, U of Alberta Golden Bears and the Pats, as well as spending some time coaching in Japan and with the New York Rangers. He presently is the Oilers’ director of coaching development and special projects. . . . Also to be inducted are Gord Hira, Jim Fleming, Leroy Johnson and the 1994 Olds Grizzlys. . . . The induction dinner is scheduled for Edmonton on June 6.
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F Wade Allison, a Winnipegger who was selected by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the seventh round of the 2012 bantam draft, has committed to attend Western Michigan and play for the Broncos of head coach Andy Murray. . . . Allison made the announcement on his Twitter account (@wadeallison11). . . . Allison, 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, is playing for the Omaha AAA U16 team. He has 133 points, including 62 goals, in 68 games.
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Bob Elliott, the dean of Canadian baseball writers, has a terrific piece right here in which he recalls the life and times of the late Jim Fregosi, who was a much-loved baseball lifer.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Calgary (1) vs. Prince Albert (8)
Regina (2) vs. Brandon (7)
Edmonton (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Kelowna (1) vs. Tri-City (8)
Portland (2) vs. Everett (7)
Victoria (3) vs. Vancouver (6)
Seattle (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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MONDAY’S WHL GAMES:
None scheduled.
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TUESDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Lethbridge at Regina, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Edmonton at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Prince Albert at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Spokane, the Chiefs scored five first-period goals in 6:08 and went on to beat the Kamloops Blazers, 9-4. . . . The Chiefs got three goals and an assist from each of F Mitch Holmberg and F Dominic Zwerger. . . . Holmberg, who had three goals for the second straight night, moved back to the top of the WHL scoring race. He leads the WHL with 57 goals and now has 107 points, one more than Portland Winterhawks F Nic Petan. . . . Holmberg has had five three-goal games this season. . . . The Chiefs tied a franchise record with goals seven seconds apart when Holmberg (7:33) and Zwerger (7:40) scored in the first period. . . . In the last two seasons, Holmberg has put up 187 points in 129 games. In his career, he has 285 points in 305 games. . . . That is good for fifth place on the Chiefs’ all-time list. . . . Holmberg moved past F Ray Whitney and into third spot on the Chiefs’ all-time goal list. His 142 career goals are just four shy of franchise leader Pat Falloon. The Chiefs have nine regular-season games left. . . . Whitney holds the franchise record for three-goal games in a season (1990-91), with six. . . . Zwerger, a 17-year-old freshman from Austria, scored his first WHL hat trick in his 44th game. . . . The Chiefs also got a goal and two assists from each of F Adam Helewka and F Carter Proft, while F Riley Whittingham had three assists. . . . F Matt Bellerive scored twice for Kamloops. . . . Kamloops G Cole Kehler, 16, stopped 32 shots in going the distance. Blazers starter Bolton Pouliot didn’t return to Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds after a first-period goal-mouth collision. He was on the bench last night. . . . The Chiefs (36-21-6) are fifth in the Western Conference, two points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold a game in hand. . . . Kamloops (13-45-5) is 10th in the conference. . . .

In Everett, F Oliver Bjorkstrand’s shootout goal gave Portland a 2-1 victory over the Silvertips and ran the Winterhawks’ winning streak to 20 games. . . . The WHL record for longest single-season winning streak (22) is held by the Estevan Bruins (Oct. 6, 1967 through Dec. 12, 1967). When you take into account over-lapping seasons, the record (24) is held by the Victoria Cougars (Feb. 6, 1981 through Oct. 9, 1981). . . . The teams played through two scoreless periods before Everett F Ivan Nikolishin, with his 15th goal, scored seven seconds into the third period. . . . Bjorkstrand, with his 43rd, tied it at 7:13. He’s riding a 14-game point streak. . . . Portland F Nic Petan drew an assist, running his point streak to 16 games. . . . Portland G Corbin Boes stopped 23 shots through OT as he ran his record to 12-0-1. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz turned aside 37 shots. . . . The Winterhawks were held to a season-low four shots in the second period. On three previous occasions, they had been held to five shots in a period. Two of those low-shot periods were against Everett. (A tip of the hat to Portland radio voice Todd Vrooman for that info). . . . In the third period and OT, the Winterhawks held a 22-4 edge in shots. . . . The Winterhawks (46-12-5), who next play Friday when they meet the host Spokane Chiefs, are second overall, three points behind the Kelowna Rockets, who have two games in hand. . . . Everett (30-23-9) is seventh, one point behind the Vancouver Giants.
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From WHL Facts (WHLFacts): “15 - Assisting on (Saturday) night's GWG, Todd Fiddler now has the longest point streak for the @PGCougars since Hancock & Kwiatkowski in 1997-98.”
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From Portland Winterhawks F Brendan Leipsic (@bleipsic): “3 in 3's should be illegal #exhausted #getmeabed”

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The WHL’s arena advisory committee’s next meeting is scheduled for August, at which time, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports, commissioner Ron Robison is going to recommend that all WHL facilities install acrylic glass. . . . The glass has been installed in the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon at a cost of, uhh, $350,000. In Saskatoon’s case, the province kicked in $250,000 with the city good for 100 grand.
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Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman also reports that WHL fans are going to be able to watch On the Edge: Road to the Memorial Cup on Sportsnet as a lead-up to the 2013 tournament that is to be played in Saskatoon. It sounds like it’s all but a done deal, with the show to be patterned after 24/7, the show HBO has done that leads fans into the NHL’s Winter Classic. . . . The difference being that 24/7 deals with professional adults, not with teenagers. . . . Two questions, if you’re a parent: 1. Do you want your child as a subject of such a show?; 2. If such a show goes ahead and you child is on it, would you like to see some cash coming his way?
Nugent-Bowman’s story is right here. . . . Would have loved to have had a show like this around when Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM/head coach, was playing for the Winnipeg Clubs. Could have called it Full Mooner over Winnipeg. Now that would have been a ratings hit.
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The Edmonton Oilers have hired one of hockey’s good guys to replace another of the good guys. Rick Carriere has been named senior director of player development, replacing the retired Billy Moores. . . . Carriere, 53, was the GM of the Medicine Hat Tigers (2000-04) and scouted for them through last season. He also served as a head coach with the Tigers and Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was Carriere who took the bullets when the Tigers bottomed out, but, Mama, look at them now. The decision to rebuild through the draft and put the faith in the scouting staff has paid off in a full house night after night. . . . Carriere has been teaching at Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton. . . . Interestingly, Carriere played for Moores with the U of A Golden Bears in the early 1980s. . . . Moores will remain with the Oilers, as a consultant in the player development area.
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More WHLers off to NHL development camps. . . . The Philadelphia Flyers have added F Mitch Elliot (Seattle), F Austin Fyten (Vancouver), F Cole Grbavac (Medicine Hat), D Matt Konan (Medicine Hat) and D Justin Hamonic (Tri-City). . . . Hamonic’s name also appears on the camp roster for the Toronto Maple Leafs and I’m told that he will attend both development camps. It sounds something like a rock star on tour. No? Here’s hoping he keeps a diary as there might be a good book there. . . . F Adam Hughesman (Tri-City) will join the Maple Leafs. . . . D Joey Leach (Kootenay) is going camping with the Winnipeg Jets, while F Trevor Cheek (Calgary) is headed for the Carolina Hurricanes. . . . F Taylor Peters (Portland) will camp out with the Florida Panthers. . . . G Mackenzie Skapski (Kootenay) is to join the Minnesota Wild.
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F Max Moline, 19, won’t be back with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, deciding instead to attend the U of Lethbridge. Moline, who is from Lethbridge, began his career with the Tri-City Americans and finished with the Hurricanes. However, injuries limited him to 75 games, during which he earned eight points, two of them goals. . . . He got some publicity last season when his fiancee, Kaylee Lyon, gave birth to Ronald James Winston Moline in January.
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The San Francisco Bulls are getting closer to their debut in the ECHL. Their first player, Czech F Peter Sivak, was introduced to fans on Thursday. Oldtimers may be incredulous to learn that the Bulls will play, yes, in the Cow Palace, which apparently has had something of a makeover.
Steve Langsam of the Martinez News-Gazette has more right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have hired Alex Grebenyuk as their new director of media relations and broadcasting, which means he will be the team’s play-by-play voice. For the last four seasons, he has been the radio voice of the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials. Grebenyuk replaces Dan Elliott, who was dropped after last season and now is at his alma mater, the U of British Columbia, as the manager of media relations.
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After five seasons in the ownership game, the Okanagan Hockey Academy is unloading the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The OHA has reached an agreement with the Port Alberni Junior Hockey Society that will have 100 per cent of the franchise change hands. Ron Rauch of the Victoria Times Colonist has more right here.
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The UBC Hornets minor hockey coach who got caught on video tripping an opposing player? It seems that he is going to live in infamy because all signs point to this incident become a teaching moment for minor hockey coaches. Sarah Boesveld of the National Post has more right here. And if you haven’t there’s a link to the video there, too.
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THE COACHING GAME:
D.J. Smith is the new head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. . . . He has been with the Windsor Spitfires since 2005, first as assistant and then associate coach. . . . Smith, a defenceman, played for the Spitfires before going on to a pro career that included stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche. His playing career was halted by post-concussion syndrome. . . . Smith takes over from Gary Agnew, who was dropped in April. . . .
Former NHLer Rick Vaive is getting into the coaching game. He is taking over as head coach of the minor midget AAA Oakville Rangers, a team that comprises 1997-born players. Vaive, 53, is a longtime resident of Oakville, Ont. He has pro coaching experience in the ECHL (East Carolina Stingrays), AHL (Saint John Flames) and OHL (Mississauga IceDogs). He also has coached minor hockey, and once had a team whose roster included Jeff Skinner and Tyler Seguin, both of who now are NHLers.

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