Pats gain some life . . . Rockets have Royals on ropes . . . Brown a hall of famer

D Michael Busto (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Kootenay, 2001-07) has signed a one-year extension with Angers (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, in 24 games, he had three goals and 11 assists. . . .
F Riley Emmerson (Tri-City, 2004-06) has signed a one-year contract as player/head coach with the Edinburgh Capitals (Scotland, UK Elite).This season, with Edinburgh, had had 14 goals and 18 assists in 50 games. That was strictly in a playing role; he was an alternate captain.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

In Regina, the Pats broke a 1-1 tie with two second-period goals and went on to beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . Brandon leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Regina tonight. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Brandon on Friday. . . . The Wheat Kings had won their previous six games. . . . F Jared McAmmond’s first playoff goal gave the Pats a 1-0 lead at 4:45 of the first period. . . . That was Regina’s first lead of the series. . . . Brandon F Stelio Mattheos, the first pick in the 2014 bantam draft, tied it with his first goal at 15:48. . . . D Carter Hansen put the Pats back into the lead with his first goal at 1:53 of the second. . . . F Jesse Gabrielle, who was acquired from the Pats from Brandon in January, got his second goal at 5:08 for a 3-1 lead. . . . Brandon F Peter Quenneville, with his second goal, cut into the lead on a PP at 18:32 of the second. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 39 shots, 11 more than Brandon’s Jordan Papirny. . . . Brandon was 1-for-3 on the PP; Regina was 0-for-1. . . . Among Brandon’s scratches were F Rihards Bukarts, F Jayce Hawryluk, F Morgan Klimchuk and D Colton Waltz. . . . D Chase Harrison (undisclosed injury) and D Sergey Zborovskiy (suspended) were among Regina’s scratches. . . . D Brady Pouteau, a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft, made his playoff debut with the Pats. Poteau, who turned 17 on Jan. 9, is from Oak Bluff, Man. (Not Oak Lake. Not Oak River. Oak Bluff.) He played for the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks. . . . Attendance was 5,236.

In Victoria, special teams were a big deal as the Kelowna Rockets dumped the Royals, 4-2. . . . The Rockets lead the series, 3-0, having outscored the Royals 13-5. . . . The Rockets scored a shorthanded goal and two on the PP as they erased an early 1-0 deficit. . . . F Alex Forsberg got Victoria on the board with his third goal at 1:03 of the first period. . . . Kelowna F Leon Draisaitl tied it with a shorthanded goal at 8:18. It was his first goal of this series and third of the playoffs. . . . F Nick Merkley gave Kelowna the lead with a PP score at 14:19. It was his second goal of the playoffs. . . . The Royals tied it when F Greg Chase got his sixth goal 54 seconds into the second period. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s last two goals, with F Gage Quinney getting his fourth goal at 9:02 of the second and D Madison Bowey scoring his fourth, on a PP, at 15:16. . . . Kelowna was 2-for-6 on the PP; Victoria was 0-for-6. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle stopped 28 shots as the Rockets ran their winning streak to seven games. . . . Victoria G Coleman Vollrath turned aside 24 shots. . . . Rockets F Tyson Baillie had two assists. . . . Yesterday, in this space, I mentioned that Shaw TV was covering the Medicine Hat-Calgary series in its entirety. Yes, that was in error. Shaw actually is showing all games in the Kelowna-Victoria series, including Game 4. It will be played in Victoria tonight. . . . D Josh Morrissey was among Kelowna’s scratches, although he is in Victoria with his teammates. . . . Attendance was 5,517.
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F Cole Ully of the Kamloops Blazers has been reassigned to the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, Ully was selected by Dallas in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2013 draft and has signed an NHL deal. Ully has been in Texas for a while now, but the move was just made official, which frees him up to dress for the AHL team. This season, he had 94 points, including 34 goals, in 69 games.
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I was remiss in not mentioning earlier in the week that Bob Brown, the architect of those great Kamloops Blazers teams in the late-1980s and early-1990s, was inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday. (I, too, was surprised that he hadn’t been inducted a long time ago.) Brown was the general manager, head cook and chief bottle washer when the Blazers on the 1992, 1994 and 1995 Memorial Cup titles. . . . If Brown wasn’t the best GM in WHL history, he certainly is in the conversation. . . . These days, Brown is a scout with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
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F Connor McDavid totalled 14 points in the Erie Otters’ sweep of the London Knights in the OHL playoffs. Erie will play the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the next round.
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In the MJHL, the Portage Terriers completed a sweep of the Steinbach Pistons to sweep the championship final. The Terriers, the host team for the RBC Cup, went 12-0 in the playoffs. The Terriers had gone 53-3-4 in the regular season. . . . In the BCHL, F Dakota Conroy (Brandon, Victoria, Prince Albert, 2010-15) drew four assists to lead the Penticton Vees to an 8-5 victory over the host Nanaimo Clippers. The Clippers won twice in Penticton; the Vees won twice in Nanaimo. They’ll play Game 5 in Penticton on Thursday and Game 6 in Nanaimo on Friday.
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THE COACHING GAME:

The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and head coach Ross Yates announced Tuesday that they have chosen to part company. . . . Yates joined the Sea Dogs as an assistant coach in 2012 and was the head coach by October 2013. He also was co-general manager, with Christian Vermette. Prior to this season, Yates dropped the GM part of his duties as Darrell Young became director of hockey operations. The Sea Dogs finished this season 32-26-10, then lost a first-round series to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.
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The OHL’s Niagara IceDogs announced Tuesday that GM/head coach Marty Williamson will be out of action for the immediate future. “Williams is currently suffering from heart issues, which he is working to address,” according to a news release from the team. . . . Assistant coaches Dave Bell and Billy Burke are handling the team in Williamson’s absence. . . . Later Tuesday, the IceDogs beat the visiting Oshawa Generals 7-3 in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Generals lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 in St. Catharines on Thursday.
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The SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers have decided not to renew the contract of general manager/head coach Rockie Zinger. This season, the Klippers went 37-12-7 to finish atop the Kramer Division. Only the Sherwood Division’s Melfort Mustangs, with 87 points, finished with more points than the Klippers (81). Kindersley was 6-4 in the playoffs, losing a semifinal series in six games to the Notre Dame Hounds. . . . Zinger moved up from assistant coach to head coach in Kindersley in December 2010 when he replaced Larry Wintoneak.

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The new rink for @tigershockey is taking shape on the west side of Medicine Hat. #viewfromthehighway pic.twitter.com/SEJY55WYqs
— Brad Curle (@BCurle_Hitmen) April 14, 2015

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Liong tells his story . . . Papirny, Wheaties blank Tigers . . . Hitmen roar through Portland

F Justin Taylor (Medicine Hat, Red Deer, 1999-2001, 2003-04) has been released by Mörrum (Sweden, Division 1) at his request. In 18 games, he had six goals and five assists. Mörrum assistant GM Jens Svensson: “(Taylor) wanted to stay but, unfortunately, his wife could not.” Taylor’s wife didn’t receive a Swedish residence permit.
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I hope my story will help people who are going through a similar situation. If I can affect even one young kid, that's all that matters.
— Dickson Liong (@DLLiong) February 26, 2015

If you only do one thing today, click on this link right here and spend three minutes of your day watching a CTV Vancouver story on Dickson Liong, a young writer who covers the Vancouver Canucks and Vancouver Giants, and whose stories you sometimes read on this blog. . . . He’s a good friend and he is a truly great story. . . . Go ahead and watch his story. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
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Bob Brown, the architect behind the Kamloops Blazers’ three Memorial Cup titles in the early 1990s, will be inducted into the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame on April 11. Brown was the general manager of a community-owned team that became was a major junior dynasty in the late 1980s and into the ’90s, winning the 1992, 1994 and 1995 Memorial Cups. . . . During Brown’s run, the Blazers won 10 Western Conference titles and five WHL championships. . . . With Brown at the helm, the Blazers were 13-6 in Memorial Cup games, 108-54 in the WHL playoffs and 484-202-33 in regular-season play.
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Danny Schur, a film-maker from Winnipeg, is working on a documentary about Terry Sawchuk, one of the greatest of all NHL goaltenders. Terry Sawchuk — The Winnipeg Years is filming now and, hopefully, will be ready for the start of the 2015-16 season. . . . Sara Calnek of CBC News has more right here.
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An unnamed hockey father from Kamloops may be charged following an altercation with on-ice officials who worked a BCHL game between his son’s team, the Merritt Centennials, and the host Penticton Vees on Feb. 20. Joe Fries of the Penticton Herald reports that RCMP are investigating the incident. Fries’ story is right here.
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The Prince George Cougars completed their three-day tour of minor hockey association’s on Wednesday by presenting the folks in 100 Mile House with a cheque for $1,500. The Cougars, who are on their way to Kent, Wash., and a Friday night date with the Seattle Thunderbirds, did the same thing in Quesnel and Williams Lake earlier in the week. In all three communities, the Cougars took part in minor hockey practices, chalk talks, autograph signings, etc. . . .
According to Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald, Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid “guaranteed his team would make the playoffs” during a Wednesday breakfast session with season-ticket holders. . . . The Raiders are nine points out of a playoff spot as they head into two games in Alberta this weekend. They’ll play in Red Deer on Friday and Edmonton on Sunday. Prince Albert has 12 games remaining in the regular season. . . . Smith’s story is right here. . . .
It will be a year on Sunday since Kootenay Ice F Tim Bozon was diagnosed with Neisseria meningitis. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post checks in with Bozon right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

B.C. DIVISION: Kelowna (11 games remaining) won at home to stay two points ahead of Brandon atop the WHL’s overall standings. . . . Victoria (11) lost in Kelowna, but will finish second in the division.
U.S. DIVISION: Everett (11) lost on the road and Portland (11) picked up a loser point at home. Everett leads the division by three points over Portland. . . . Portland is seven points ahead of third-place Seattle (12). . . . Spokane (13) won at home and holds down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot, three points ahead of idle Tri-City (11).
EAST DIVISION: Brandon (11) won at home and remained two points behind Kelowna, which leads the WHL’s overall standings. . . . Regina (12) picked up a loser point at home and remains second, a comfortable nine points ahead of Swift Current (11), which lost on the road.
CENTRAL DIVISION: Calgary (11) won on the road and now leads the division by four points over Medicine Hat (11), which lost on the road. . . . Red Deer (12) won on the road and trails Medicine Hat by six points, but is four points ahead of Kootenay (10), which also won on the road. . . . Kootenay holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, seen points ahead of Edmonton (11), which lost at home.
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In Brandon, G Jordan Papirny, in his 100th WHL regular-season appearance, stopped 32 shots to help the Wheat Kings to a 5-0 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Papirny has six career shutouts, five of them this season. . . . F Rihards Bukarts’ 26th goal, at 15:58 of the second period, stood up as the winner. Bukarts scored twice. . . . D Eric Roy, F John Quenneville and F Tim McGauley each had two assists. . . . McGauley’s point streak now is at 17 games. He has 36 points, including 24 assists, during that stretch. . . . D Ivan Provorov returned to Brandon’s lineup after a six-game injury-related absence. He scored his 13th goal and also had an assist. . . . The game marked the last time, barring a playoff meeting, that the three Quenneville brothers will play in the same WHL game. John, 18, and Peter, 20, who had one assist, play for the Wheaties; David, 16, is a defenceman with the Tigers. . . . G Logan Thompson returned from a case of pink eye to back up Papirny. G Alex Moodie remains out with a suspected concussion. . . . The Wheat Kings (45-10-6), who won the season series 4-0-0, have won two in a row. . . . The Tigers (37-21-3) have lost three in a row. . . .

In Regina, F Jaedon Descheneau scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give the Kootenay Ice a 5-4 victory over the Pats. . . . With the Ice shooting first, he was the only scorer in the shootout. . . . Regina D Connor Hobbs forced OT with his second goal of the season, but his first since being acquired by Regina from Medicine Hat in January, with 45.2 seconds left in the third period. . . . The Pats led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 early in the second. . . . Descheneau scored his 29th goal at 8:25 of the second, F Sam Reinhart got No. 16 at 19:27, and F Tim Bozon gave his guys a 4-3 lead with his 29th at 11:11 of the third. . . . F Austin Vetterl and D Rinat Valiev, the latter returning after missing a game with the flu, each had two assists for the Ice. . . . F Taylor Cooper had a goal, his 23rd, and two assists for the Pats, while freshman F Sam Steel scored his 16th goal. He now has a team-high 50 points, in 55 games. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin stopped 32 shots, five fewer than Regina’s Daniel Wapple. . . . The Pats were without F Austin Wagner, who is expected to be out for up to two weeks. He was injured Monday when he collided with teammate Colby Williams. . . . The Ice (32-27-3) is 4-0-2 in its last six games. . . . Regina (33-19-8) had won its previous four games. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story right here. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Cameron Hebig and F Brett Stovin each scored twice as the Blades dumped the Swift Current Broncos, 6-2. . . . Hebig, who also had an assist, has 16 goals; Stovin has 27. . . . Blades F Nick Zajac had two assists. . . . The Blades led 2-0 at 7:11 of the first period and were ahead 3-1 and 6-1 at the intermissions. . . . F Colby Cave got his 29th goal for the Broncos, while F Jake DeBrusk had two assists. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm turned aside 46 shots. . . . Saskatoon was 1-for-1 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-for-3. . . . The Blades (18-39-4) snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). . . . The Broncos (30-26-5) had won their previous three games. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. . . .

In Edmonton, D Haydn Fleury broke a 1-1 tie at 6:41 of the third period as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Oil Kings, 2-1. . . . Edmonton F Lane Bauer scored his 20th goal at 9:09 of the second period, on a PP. . . . Red Deer F Adam Musil tied it with his 12th goal, at 5:19 of the third, on a PP. Fleury drew the primary assist. . . . Rebels G Rylan Toth stopped 40 shots, 19 more than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . The Rebels remain without F Conner Bleackley, their captain. Brent Sutter, the Rebels' GM and head coach, told the Red Deer Advocate that Bleackley may be out up to three more weeks. . . . Red Deer (31-20-9) had lost its previous two games. . . . The Oil Kings slipped to 27-28-6. . . .

In Portland, D Jake Bean scored at 1:36 of OT as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Winterhawks, 5-4. . . . Bean’s sixth goal won it after the Winterhawks had a chance to win it on a late PP. . . . (There was post-game chatter that Calgary F Elliott Peterson may have re-directed Bean’s point shot). . . . The Hitmen trailed 2-0 at 15:51 of the first period and 4-1 early in the second. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen scored his 18th goal at 15:08 of the second and D Ben Thomas got his sixth at 17:53. . . . Calgary F Kenton Helgesen forced OT with his 19th goal, shorthanded, at 12:17 of the third period. . . . F Chase Lang had two assists for Calgary, including the only one on the winner. . . . Helgesen also had an assist, as did Virtanen. . . . F Adam Tambellini scored his 42nd goal for Calgary. . . . Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and two assists. He now is tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead, with 46. He also has at least a goal in 10 straight games, one shy of the Portland franchise record. The WHL record (18) was set by F Cliff Ronning of the New Westminster Bruins in 1984-85. . . . Portland D Anton Cederholm and F Nic Petan each had two assists, while F Chase De Leo got his 30th goal. . . . The game featured two goaltenders who were traded for each other in January — Evan Johnson was making just his second appearance for Portland; Brendan Burke made his 11th appearance with Calgary. . . . On this night, Burke left in the second period after giving up four goals on 22 shots. Mack Shields came on to stop all 22 shots he faced. . . . Johnson stopped 33 shots. . . . Portland was 2-for-6 on the PP; Calgary was 0-for-4. . . . Calgary (38-18-5) is 4-0-0 on an 11-game road swing. The Hitmen have won six in a row and 15 of 16. . . . Portland (36-20-5) is 5-0-2 in its last seven. . . .

In Kelowna, the Rockets erased a 2-0 first-period deficit and beat the Victoria Royals, 4-2. . . . F Austin Carroll, with his 35th, and F Greg Chase, with No. 18, gave the visitors a 2-0 lead. . . . D Madison Bowey got the Rockets on the board with his 15th at 5:57 of the second and F Chase Braid tied it with his 11th, via the PP, at 15:07. . . . F Leon Draisaitl gave Kelowna its first lead, with his 12th, at 13:22 of the third. . . . Rockets F Tyson Baillie iced it with his 35th goal, shorthanded, at 15:57. . . . F Cole Linaker had two assists for the Rockets. . . . Kelowna was 1-for-3 on the PP; Victoria was 0-for-7. . . . F Rourke Chartier, who is tied for the WHL’s goal-scoring lead, was among Kelowna’s scratches. . . . Kelowna (47-10-4) had split two games in Victoria last weekend. . . . The Royals are 33-24-4. . . .

In Spokane, F Calder Brooks scored twice and added an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 3-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . F Nikita Scherbak gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 16:55 of the second period. He’s got 25 goals. . . . Brooks tied it with 17.6 seconds left in the period and then gave the Chiefs the lead at 7:09 of the third, on a PP. He’s got 18 goals. . . . Spokane F Adam Helewka iced it with his 32nd, an empty-netter, at 19:58. . . . Spokane G Garret Hughson stopped 23 shots, seven fewer than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . The Chiefs (28-27-4) snapped a three-game losing skid. . . . The Silvertips slipped to 37-18-7.
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THURSDAY’S GAME

(all times local)
Edmonton at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
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Alex Smidt with @WHLKootenayICE forward and @CanadiensMTL prospect @timbozon94. Both overcame meningitis pic.twitter.com/OMd9zaJfr2
— Regina Pats (@WHLpats) February 26, 2015

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What about Bob Brown for president?

The Kamloops Blazers began their WHL offseason by scuttling assistant coaches Scott Ferguson and Geoff Smith on Saturday.
Hey, stuff happens when you finish up the creek. Ferguson and Smith both understood the risks when they signed on three years ago, and neither is the least bit interested in slinging mud.
Of course, only time will tell whether those moves are to be followed by more personnel changes.
Obviously, when you miss the playoffs and lose your last eight games changes happen, and when a franchise hasn’t been out of the first round of playoffs since the spring of 1999 — American Beauty won the Academy Award as best picture — there is much work to be done.
Here then is a six-pack of suggestions for those who call the shots for a franchise that is struggling to get up off the canvas . . .
1. Hire a team president.
That someone will live here and oversee every aspect of the operation, thus becoming a face of this franchise.
That was the original plan when the present owners purchased the club in the late summer of 2007.
In October 2007, majority owner Tom Gaglardi said: “I sat down with the league and discussed how the club should be run and that is the advice they have given us — get someone to run the business on a day-to-day basis. We’ll be looking at someone to run the business.”
That, however, never happened.
The new owners separated the hockey and business sides, as they should have, hiring Craig Bonner as general manager over the summer of 2008 and naming Angie Mercuri the executive director of business operations.
Gaglardi is the franchise’s governor and president, but doesn’t live here, rarely attends home games and has more than enough on his plate with his other business interests.
While Bonner runs the hockey operation and Mercuri the business side, there is no one in the office on a daily basis who is at the top of the organizational pyramid. The franchise needs someone there to ask questions — “Why are we doing this? Why aren’t we doing that?” — and make suggestions and to be a sounding board.
Hello, Bob Brown.
The former Blazers general manager, who was fired when the organization chose to go in a different direction after winning three Memorial Cups in four years, scouts for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and lives in the Lower Mainland. Find out what he wants and give it to him. He may resist at first, but you know he would be intrigued by the opportunity to help restore the franchise to some semblance of past glories.
2. Hire some help for the marketing and communications departments.
The personable Dave Chyzowski, whose title is director of sales and marketing, and Tim O’Donovan, the media and communications co-ordinator who also is the video coach, hardly have time to come up for air.
Chyzowski, who came into the position without any experience, is busier than the legendary one-armed paper hanger.
With so much competition for the entertainment dollar and for leisure time, the marketing department should be treated like fine China. A lot of the time, the marketing people are the face of your product in the community, but they need help in numbers in order to fill that role.
3. Ditch the five-year plan.
I don’t know where it came from — perhaps its genesis was in the five-year contract Bonner signed — but this is not a good idea.
Hey, it’s good to have objectives within an organization. But going public with the fact that you have a five-year plan simply isn’t a good idea. After all, what happens if the franchise still is treading water — or worse, wallowing in the mud — when the five years is up?
Do you clean house and start over? With another five-year plan?
Better to have a series of one-year plans and work to improve at the end of each one-year segment.
4. Change the organization’s approach to 20-year-old players.
Each WHL team is allowed to use a maximum of three 20-year-olds. The rule doesn’t say you have to use three. And a wise man once said that good 20-year-olds are harder to find than hen’s teeth. That’s because many players that age have had their NHL dream die and now are starting to think about life after the WHL.
When your team is battling to restore its competitive credibility, when you know you’re not going to finish in the upper echelon, why trade for 20-year-olds who are going to take playing time away from younger players who need to play in all situations?
The Blazers finished ninth with three 20-year-olds. How much worse could it have been with younger players filling one or more of those spots and getting that experience?
5. Stop trying to trade for leadership.
A team needs to draft character and, as those players mature, the leadership will manifest itself. Those players will grow into the Blazers of the future and, by the time they get here, will know the Blazers way.
For too many years now, this franchise has tried to acquire leadership through trades, something that is virtually impossible to do in the WHL. If a player is strong of character and a leader, why would his original team trade him away?
Finding leaders is kind of like getting potatoes — if you want the best, grow your own.
6. Hire a sports psychologist.
Integrate this individual into the program and make regular use of him/her. Make the sports psychologist available to the players on a 24/7 basis. Hey, if it’s good enough for teams like the Everett Silvertips and Kelowna Rockets, it should be good enough for the Blazers.
Oh . . . one other thing.
Y’er welcome.

(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com, or you may follow him at twitter.com/gdrinnan.)