F Mikhail Fisenko (Vancouver, Calgary, 2008-11) has signed a two-year extension with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). This season, he had six points, including one goal, in 25 games. . . .
D Deron Quint (Seattle, 1993-96) has been traded by CSKA Moscow to Spartak Moscow (both Russia, KHL) for monetary considerations. Quint was traded by Spartak to CSKA on Jan. 15 for monetary considerations. This season, he led all KHL defencemen in goals, with 13. He finished with 28 points in 51 games.
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1. The biggest (and best) news in the WHL on Tuesday came out of Medicine Hat. Actually, it came late Monday night when Bob Ridley (@BobRidley_CHAT) tweeted: “I wish to thank chat radio and t.v for allowing me to semi retire. Will remain as tigers play by play man.” . . . Yes, the Tigers’ bus-driving play-by-play man will be back for another season, and that’s great news.
2. Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has his weekly 30 Thoughts right here. Mike Johnston, the GM/head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, as the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks? Hey, why not?
3. Ben Cooper, who did a turn as an assistant coach with the Victoria Royals, is back in the WHL as a regional scout with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He also is a coach at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C.
4. Attendance at Game 3 in each of the three major junior championship finals on Tuesday night: Val-d-’Or, 2,890 (seats, 2,140; capacity, 3,504); North Bay, 4,248 (sellout); Edmonton, 6,799.
5. Michael Kim won’t be in the outfield or on the mound this spring as the baseball season begins in Mississauga, Ont. But he is an angel in the outfield. Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun wrote this story right here in 2006, about a young man who lost his life and whose organs benefited eight people.
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After 17 years with the Prince George Cougars, general manager Dallas Thompson worked his last day with the organization on Tuesday. With the franchise going through the sale process, he won’t be returning.
Late Monday night, Thompson posted this on Facebook:
“Not much for updates, however, tomorrow will by my last day going to work for the Prince George Cougars. It has been a great 17 years. We did not get to the place we wanted but we touched a lot of hearts along the way. Thank you Prince George! You were kind and I wish you all the best along the way. #princegeorgecougars All the best.”
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have acquired D Cole Wedman, 20, from the Spokane Chiefs for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Wedman, from Edmonton, had 29 points, including eight goals, in 181 regular-season games over three seasons with the Chiefs. . . . He was a sixth-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . Wedman’s brother, Matthew, a forward, was selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round of last week’s bantam draft. . . . The Chiefs are left with five 1994-born players on their roster -- D Reid Gow, the team captain, F Connor Chartier, F Marcus Messier, F Carter Proft and F Liam Stewart. . . . The Warriors now have four such players on their roster -- Wedman, along with F Scott Cooke, F Tanner Eberle and F Jack Rodewald. . . . The deadline for teams to get down to three 20-year-old players is Oct. 16.
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If you’re interested in the names of players with ties to the WHL who were selected in Phase 2 of the USHL’s draft on Tuesday, there’s a list right here.
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THE OHL FINAL:
In North Bay, the Guelph Storm scored twice in the last minute of the third period and beat the Battalion 4-3 to take a 2-1 lead in that series. . . . F Zack Mitchell tied the game at 19:30 of the third period and F Brock McGinn got the winner at 19:49. . . . The Battalion had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. . . . Game 4 is scheduled for tonight in North Bay.---
THE QMJHL FINAL:
In Val-d’Or, the Foreurs dropped the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 5-2 and now lead that series, 2-1. . . . F Anthony Mantha had two goals and an assist for the winners, who scored the game’s last four goals, three of them in the third period. . . . Mantha gave the Foreurs a 3-2 lead 6:41 and added insurance at 16:57. He’s got 20 goals in these playoffs. . . . The Foreurs are scheduled to play host to Game 4 tonight.---
THE COACHING GAME:
Former UBC Thunderbirds head coach Milan Dragicevic (Regina, New Westminster, Victoria, Spokane, Tri-City, 1986-90) has signed on as director of hockey development for the Richmond, B.C., Minor Hockey Association. Dragicevic, 43, spent 14 seasons as head coach of the Thunderbirds before being fired in March. He was the head coach of the Vancouver Giants in their first two WHL seasons.
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THE FOURTH ROUND (best-of-seven; all times local):
WHL final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup
(x - if necessary)
(All games televised live by Shaw)
(All games televised on delayed basis by Root Sports)
PORTLAND (2, West) vs. Edmonton (1, East)
(Portland leads, 2-1)
Season series: Portland, 0-0-1; Edmonton, 1-0-0.
Saturday: Edmonton 2 at Portland 5 (10,947)
Sunday: Edmonton 1 at Portland 3 (10,645)
Tuesday: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (6,799)
Wednesday: Portland at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Friday: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
x-Sunday: Portland at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Monday: Edmonton at Portland, 7 p.m. (Moda Center)
INJURIES
Portland: None.
Edmonton: None.
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TUESDAY’S GAME:
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Portland Winterhawks, 3-2. . . . The Winterhawks lead the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, 2-1, with Game 4 in Edmonton tonight. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for the Moda Center in Portland on Friday. . . . F Chase De Leo, at 2:38, and D Mathew Dumba, at 3:30, scored first-period goals for the Winterhawks. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson got a PP goal at 4:11 of the second period and F Luke Bertolucci pulled his guys even at 11:04. . . . F Edgars Kulda gave the Oil Kings their first lead of the series at 13:13 of the third period, and it stood up as the winner. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 35 shots, as did Portland’s Corbin Boes. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-for-4 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 0-for-4. . . . The Winterhawks now are 42-4 since Jan. 11. . . . In Game 1, the Oil Kings trailed 1-0 at 2:50 of the first period. In Game 2, Portland scored at 2:12 and 3:14 of the first period. Last night, the Winterhawks scored at 2:38 and 3:30 of the opening period. . . . Portland has outscored Edmonton 7-0 in the first periods of this series. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic had one assist, giving him 30 points in 16 games. He now is tied for the playoff scoring lead with teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand, who leads in goals (15). . . . Portland D Derrick Pouliot had an assist, leaving him at 29 points. He leads in assists, with 25.
John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal writes right here that Game 3 looked over early, but now it’s a series.
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From Fake GAINER (@fakeGAINER): “#Saskie Derrick Pouliot 29 pts in WHL Playoffs - absolutely crazy for a defenseman. Another product of the Weyburn AllUCanEat KFC Buffet.”
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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.
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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