Nice to welcome @Kelowna_Rockets to Brandon to play our @bdnwheatkings Two great teams! And thanks for flying #YBR 😉 pic.twitter.com/JgW33wUCxy
— shannon (@ShannonMannall) May 6, 2015
WEDNESDAY’S GAME:
No Game Scheduled.———
The WHL’s championship final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, begins Friday in Brandon with the Wheat Kings meeting the Kelowna Rockets. . . .
Each team is 12-3 in these playoffs. . . . Brandon has won each of its series in five games; Kelowna has
won in four, five and six games, which, if you are into omens, might indicate the Rockets will win the final in seven. . . . The Wheat Kings have scored 65 goals in their 15 games; the Rockets have scored 65. . . . Brandon has surrendered 34 goals; Kelowna 39. . . . Kelowna fell behind in five of the six games in its 4-2 Western Conference final victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . As for injuries, Brandon F Reid Duke, F Tanner Kaspick and D Kale Clague have been practising this week. Duke was injured in Game 5 of a second-round series. Kaspick and Clague went down in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. . . . The Rockets will be without F Tyrell Goulbourne, who underwent surgery last week to repair a skate cut to his left calf. F Rourke Chartier, a 48-goal scorer in the regular season, is day-to-day after missing the last three games against Portland. . . . Here’s an interesting tidbit from Brandon Sun sports editor Rob Henderson: “The combined 226 points that Brandon and Kelowna racked up this season are more than any other pair of finalists except 1979 when the Wheat Kings (with a league-record 125 points) topped the Portland Winterhawks (111) for the WHL title.” ——
Last week, you will recall, Avenir Sports & Entertainment, purchased majority ownership of the Kloten Flyers, a team that players in the Switzerland’s NL A. Avenir is owned by Bill Gallacher, who
also owns the Portland Winterhawks. Perhaps you are wondering that the move might mean to the Winterhawks. If so, here’s what Winterhawks president Doug Piper told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune:"When Bill bought the Winterhawks (in 2008), his intention was to also buy an NHL franchise. Those opportunities have come and gone, so we started thinking about the European market. We've always loved Swiss players — the three who have played for us have been fantastic. Switzerland is a great hockey market, almost Canadian-like in its appreciation with the game.
"The WHL allows each team only two imports, but the ones we've had have been impactful. Switzerland has a sophisticated youth program. We've always been tuned into Europe, but we feel this helps us get even more eyes over there and be in line to find more Niederreiter-like talent. The more we understand the world as a whole and start looking at it that way, we felt it was a wise thing to do for the future.”
The three Swiss players to have been with the Winterhawks are Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi and Luca Sbisa.
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Ron Robison, the commissioner of the WHL, was in Lethbridge on Monday, where he met with shareholders of the Hurricanes and urged them to sell the franchise to private owners. . . . On Tuesday, he told Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Saskatoon Blades, that the Kootenay Ice and Prince Albert Raiders need help if they are to remain where they are in the long term.Robison, on the Ice: “The attendance in (Cranbrook) is not where we need it to be. We're addressing that and hopeful that we can get some solution in place here very soon. But, the reality is that in order to continue to operate in markets such as Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice have to draw more people . . . have to get better support in that community. Otherwise, we may have no alternative but to relocate the franchise.”
Robison, on the Raiders: “There's no question that in order for the Prince Albert Raiders to be viable long term, a new facility is required. I think the city acknowledges that. The Raiders certainly understand that moving forward and I think it would be a major asset to the community. They want to preserve their franchise and, certainly, discussions are underway in that regard.”Lazaruk’s story is right here.
Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald followed up on that story by talking with Raiders officials. That story is right here.
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The WHL bantam draft is scheduled to be held today in Calgary. When it comes to coverage, the day belongs to Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts at Large. So check out his blog for all the happenings. . . . If you click right here, you will find his spreadsheet that features all of the WHL trades that involved draft picks.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that Pats F Braden Christoffer, 20, has signed with the Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. According to Harder, Christoffer, the Pats’ captain, isn’t expected to join the Barons now; rather, he will report next season when the franchise has moved to Bakersfield, Calif. He also will play for the Oilers in a prospects tournament in Penticton, B.C., in September.
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The WHL held its awards luncheon in Calgary on Wednesday. For a look at all the winners, click right here.
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During the WHL’s awards luncheon, former Regina Pats owner Russ Parker was honoured with the 2014-15 Governors Award. Parker and his wife, Diane, purchased the Pats from the WHL in 1995. They sold the franchise prior to this season.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Moe Mantha, a former NHL defenceman, has signed on as the first GM/head coach of the French River Rapids, who will begin play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League next season. The 54-year-old Mantha is a native of Sturgeon Falls, Ont., which is a short drive from Noelville, the home of the Rapids. Mantha had been working as the head coach of the NAHL’s Michigan Warriors. . . . Randy Russon of Sault This Week has more right here.——
Ryan Donald has signed on as assistant GM and assistant coach with the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. He had been the head coach and assistant GM of the Woodstock Slammers of the junior A Maritime Hockey League. He is a graduate of Yale who captain the Bulldogs. He also played in the AJHL with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders and Camrose Kodiaks. In Trail, he will be working with GM/head coach Nick Deschenes and assistant coaches Craig Clare and Barry Zanier.———
Some 5'9" dude from Spokane is leading the #NHLPlayoffs in goals. Didn't see that coming when he was a @chiefshockey player
— Chad Balcom (@hawkeyblog) May 7, 2015
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
The Medicine Hat Tigers are having a tough time getting to Victoria, so tonight’s game against the Royals has been postponed until Thursday, 7 p.m. . . . It will be televised by Shaw-TV. . . . The Interior of B.C. was hit hard by snow from Sunday morning through early Tuesday morning. Kamloops, for example, experienced the largest single-event snowfall since 1927. As a result, a number of highways have been closed, mostly for avalanche control. . . . The Tigers arrived in Revelstoke on Tuesday at 1 a.m., only to find the highway ahead of them closed for avalanche control. In late afternoon, they decided to spend the night in Revelstoke. . . . Shortly after that decision was made, it was revealed that the highway may not open until at least noon today, which wouldn’t leave the Tigers nearly enough time to get over the Coquihalla Highway to the ferry. . . . Instead of playing three games in four nights in the B.C. Division, the Tigers now will play three-in-three as they are scheduled to meet the Giants in Vancouver on Friday and the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday. . . . BTW, on Tuesday, there was a lot of freezing rain in the Interior.
In lieu of the postponed game tonight, the Royals have invited fans to the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre for a meet-and-greet with head coach Dave Lowry and D Joe Hicketts, both of whom were part of Canada’s victory at the WJC in Toronto on Monday night. . . . The rest of the Royals also will be on hand. . . . It all starts at Gate 1, 6 p.m., with a 90-minute free skate to start at 6:30 p.m.
In Brandon, the Everett Silvertips struck for three second-period goals and went on to beat the Wheat Kings, 5-0. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz, a native of St. Adolphe, Man., had family and friends on hand as he made his first career start in his home province a great one. He made 39 saves, including 21 in the first period. . . . He has three shutouts this season and nine in his career. . . . Everett was 3-for-7 on the PP, gettings its first two goals with the man advantage. . . . F Carson Stadnyk scored twice, giving him 15, while F Ivan Nikolishin had two assists. . . . F Remi Laurencelle added his eighth goal and an assist, while F Patrick Bajkov got his 13th goal and also had an assist. . . . D Reid Gow, who left the U of Manitoba Bisons to join the Wheat Kings, made his Brandon debut. . . . The Wheat Kings scratched F Rihards Bukarts with an undisclosed injury and D Ivan Provorov, who played for Russia at the WJC. . . . The Silvertips remain without D Kevin Davis, who has an undisclosed injury. . . . Everett (24-11-4) is 3-0-0 on a six-game East Division swing that continues tonight in Regina. . . . The Wheat Kings (29-8-4) had won five straight and had points in each of their previous 10 games (8-0-2). . . . 
In Moose Jaw, the Calgary Hitmen scored three first-period goals and went on to a 6-1 victory over the Warriors. . . . F Connor Rankin scored his 19th goal, on a PP, at 3:07 of the first and F Carsen Twarynski got his third 1:14 later as the Hitmen got off to a hot start. . . . F Adam Tambellini upped the lead to 3-0, with his 23rd, at 16:29. . . . Tambellini finished with two goals and an assist, while F Chase Lang got his 17th goal and added an assist. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean, 16, had three assists. He’s got 18 points, all assists, in 29 games. . . . G Brendan Burke, acquired from Portland on Tuesday, hadn’t yet joined the Hitmen, so they had Thomas Spence of Moose Jaw backing up Mack Shields. It was the fourth time that Spence, 18, has served as an emergency backup in a WHL game. . . . D Reid Zalitach, 18, who left the Warriors for personal reasons early in November, has returned to the team. He was a scratch from this one and likely won’t play for a week as he works on his conditioning. . . . D Connor Clouston, acquired by the Warriors from the Kamloops Blazers earlier in the day, wasn’t in Moose Jaw in time to play. . . . Moose Jaw F Brayden Point, part of the golden Canadian team at the WJC, was to have played, but his equipment didn’t arrive in time. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen, who also played for Canada, wasn’t scheduled to play. . . . The Hitmen lost F Taylor Sanheim to a headshot major and game misconduct at 15:02 of the second period. . . . The Hitmen (22-15-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Warriors slipped to 16-21-4. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a game story 
In Prince George, the Cougars scored five times in the third period and beat the Tri-City Americans, 8-4. . . . The Americans took a 4-3 lead into the third period. . . . Cougars F Zach Pochiro tied it with his eighth goal at 2:57 of the third period and F Colby McAuley gave his guys the lead with his third of the season at 6:56. . . . F Brad Morrison had two goals, giving him 14, and two assists for the Cougars. He also was plus-5. . . . F Chase Witala, playing his 200th regular-season game with Prince George, got his 22nd goal. . . . Cougars F Jansens Harkins had three assists. . . . The Americans got two goals from F Beau McCue, giving him 16. . . . The Americans had D Mark Drohan in their lineup. A 16-year-old from Calgary, he plays for the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. He is expected to return to Fort McMurray after the Americans and Cougars play in Prince George again tonight. The Cougars (20-21-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Americans (18-19-2) have lost four in a row (0-3-1).
In Moose Jaw, the Red Deer Rebels scored three first-period goals en route to a 4-1 victory over the Warriors. . . . F Meyer Nell, with his seventh, F Riley Sheen, with No. 6, and D Brett Cote, with his seventh, got the Rebels off to that lead. . . . Red Deer (18-11-4) has won four straight and plays in Brandon this afternoon. . . . The Warriors (15-15-3) had won their previous two games. . . . 
In Saskatoon, F Braden Christoffer scored with 3.3 seconds left in the third period to give the Regina Pats a 5-4 victory over the Blades. . . . F Cameron Hebig’s seventh goal, 18 seconds into the third period, gave Saskatoon a 4-3 lead. . . . Regina F Carter Harrison scored his second goal of the season at 6:02 to tie the game. . . . Christoffer won it with his 11th goal. . . . F Sam Steel had a goal, his ninth, and two assists for the Pats. The goal was a shorthanded effort. . . . Blades F Brett Stovin scored the Teddy Bear goal, his 10th, at 2:21 of the first period. . . . Saskatoon D Jordan Thomson was back in the lineup after missing 16 games with a concussion. . . . Regina improved to 19-11-1, while the Blades (7-24-3) lost their 10th straight (0-8-2). . . . After the game, Bob Woods, the Blades’ GM and head coach, was talking change. “There are going to be changes. End of story. I don’t care,” Woods told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “I’ll play with 16- and 17-year-olds because they’re supposed to make those types of mistakes. Eighteen, 19-, 20-year-olds aren’t supposed to make those types of mistakes. They’re not setting a good example right now. That just says that they’re not the right types of leaders.” . . . Nugent-Bowman’s game story is 
In Medicine Hat, F Cole Sanford and F Trevor Cox each had two goals and three assists to help the Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Steve Owre, the third member of that line, had a goal and an assist. . . . Owre and Cox were plus-5; Sanford was plus-4. . . . Sanford is up to 23 goals, while Cox and Owre each has 11. . . . The Tigers improved to 23-8-2. . . . The Raiders (15-18-1) have lost five in a row (0-4-1). . . .
In Vancouver, G Cody Porter stopped 27 shots to lead the Giants to a 4-0 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Porter has two shutouts in his freshman season. . . . D Mason Geertsen scored twice, giving him four, and added an assist. . . . Vancouver was 3-for-5 on the PP; Victoria was 0-for-5. . . . The Giants, who are 5-0-0 under head coach Claude Noel, held a 51-27 edge in shots. . . . Victoria scratched F Brandon Magee with an undisclosed injury. . . . Vancouver (15-18-0) has won six in a row and vacated the Western Conference basement in the process. The Giants now are ninth, one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Royals (17-16-2) have lost two in a row. They were beaten 6-3 at home by the Giants on Friday night. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has more 
In Spokane, F Liam Stewart broke a 3-3 tie late in the third period as the Chiefs beat the Prince George Cougars, 3-2. . . . Stewart scored his 11th goal at 15:56. . . . The Chiefs took a 2-0 lead in the first period. . . . F Hudson Elynuik scored his first goal, a Teddy Bear goal, at 9:16 and F Adam Helewka got No. 16 at 14:22. . . . D Marc McNulty scored both Prince George goals, at 18:45 of the first and 7:18 of the second. . . . He’s got six goals this season. . . . Attendance was 8,038. . . . The Chiefs (16-12-3), who visit Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday, have won two in a row. . . . The Cougars (17-16-0) had a four-game winning streak end. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., F Miles Koules broke a 1-1 tie at 12:39 of the third period to give the Portland Winterhawks a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Koules has 13 goals. . . . D Blake Heinrich drew assists on both Portland goals. . . . F Chase De Leo scored his 17th goal for Portland at 3:30 of the second, on a PP. . . . Seattle tied it on F Keegan Kolesar’s 10th goal at 6:15 of the second. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke stopped 34 shots, 11 more than Seattle’s Taran Kozun. . . . The Winterhawks now are 18-14-3, while Seattle slipped to 13-15-4. . . . Portland is in Kennewick, Wash., for a game with the Tri-City Americans tonight. . . . 
All signs point toward the Brandon Wheat Kings trading away Czech F Richard Nejezchleb, 20. His presence gives Brandon three 20s, and that’s one over the maximum. Last season, he had 57 points, including a team-high 32 goals, in 66 games with the Wheat Kings. . . . Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner, general manager and head coach, says Nejezchleb played “like a man” last season. This season, he’s the odd-man out. . . . His NHL rights belong to the New York Rangers, and he returned to Brandon from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. But the Wheat Kings don’t have room for him. Allowed to keep two imports, it’s obvious that Brandon will hang on to Latvian F Rihards Bukarts, 19, and freshman Russian D Ivan Provorov. . . . Every other team in the WHL has two imports, so someone is going to have to open up a spot in order to acquire an awfully good player. For once, it would seem that McCrimmon isn’t dealing from a position of strength. He’s got about 10 days in which to move one of his imports and it would appear that another team is going to get a really good player for a mere pittance.
In Edmonton, the defending Memorial Cup-champion Oil Kings ran their record to 9-3-1 with a 3-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Edmonton F Edgars Kulda opened the scoring at 9:26 of the second period and the Oil Kings nursed that lead in the last three minutes of the third. . . . F Lane Bauer upped Edmonton's lead to 2-0 at 17:31 before Moose Jaw F Jack Rodewald scored at 18:36. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Robertson got an empty-netter at 19:41. . . . The Oil Kings took all four of the game's minor penalties. . . . The Oil Kings are 6-0-1 in their last seven games. . . . The Warriors went 0-3 on an Alberta swing, in large part because they scored only three goals. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more 
from Summerland, B.C. . . . According to his Twitter account (@SidSational_10): “Officially signed with the kamloops blazers! #blazernation” . . . Sideroff, who was placed on the Blazers’ protected list in September, plays for a midget AAA team at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C. . . . The 5-foot-9, 140-pound Sideroff has 41 points, including 12 goals, and 64 penalty minutes in 35 games.
In Prince Albert, F Braden Christoffer scored his first two goals to help the Regina Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Raiders. . . . An 18-year-old freshman from Sherwood Park, Alta., Christoffer went into the game with five assists in 38 games. . . . Regina F Connor Gay, who went in with one assist in 13 games, set up two goals. . . . The Pats lost D Kyle Burroughs with a kneeing major and game misconduct at 14:51 of the first period. . . . Regina G Teagan Sacher stopped 30 shots. . . . Regina F Morgan Klimchuk scored his 20th goal, while F Lane Scheidl added No. 21. . . . The Pats have won four in a row. . . . 
In Portland, the Winterhawks ran their winning streak to 10 games with a 5-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Winterhawks lead the overall standings by seven points over the Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets. Portland holds two games in hand on Kelowna and three on Kamloops. . . . The Winterhawks are 13-1-0 since the WHL unloaded on them. . . . Portland F Paul Bittner broke a 3-3 tie at 2:07 of the third period and then added insurance with 2:08 left to play. . . . Bittner, a 16-year-old from Crookston, Minn., has nine points, five of them goals, over his last five games. On the season, he has 15 points, including seven goals. . . . Portland F Nic Petan had a goal and two assists. He has 67 points, one short of Kamloops F Colin Smith, who leads the league. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic, who also had a goal and two assists, is third in the points derby, with 65. . . . The Winterhawks gave the goaltender start to Brendan Burke, who made 23 saves. . . . The Winterhawks are at home to the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Everett F Logan Aasman, who signed with the Silvertips earlier in the week, scored his first WHL goal at 6:17 of the second, giving the visitors a 3-2 lead.
In Red Deer, G Grant Naherniak stopped 27 shots to help the Rebels to a 4-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Naherniak, a 16-year-old freshman from Moose Jaw, is 1-1-0, 3.78, .866. . . . D Mathew Dumba broke a 3-3 tie with a shorthanded goal at 18:23 of the third period. He’s got 10 goals this season. . . . That goal came just 30 seconds after Moose Jaw F Jordan Messier tied it on the PP. . . . F Dominik Volek had a goal, his third, and an assist for Red Deer. He’s got five points in six games since joining the Rebels after the Christmas break. . . . The Rebels are 4-0-0 against Moose Jaw this season, having won four one-goal decisions. . . .
In Brandon, F Curtis Valk broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period and the Medicine Hat Tigers went on to beat the Wheat Kings, 4-2. . . . Valk got his 23rd goal just 41 seconds into the period. . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk added insurance when he scored on the PP at 16:44. . . . Valk also drew two assists, as did F Elgin Pearce. . . . F Mike Ferland (undisclosed) missed his second straight game. . . . Tigers F Jacob Doty, 19, scored his seventh goal of the season. He has career highs in goals, assists (10) and points (17), all in 41 games. He has goals in three straight games. . . . The Tigers went 2-1-1 on a four-game swing over five nights. . . .
In Edmonton, G Tristan Jarry stopped 24 shots to help the Oil Kings to a 5-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Jarry has tied the franchise’s modern day single-season record with three shutouts. He shares that record with Laurent Brossoit, Torrie Jung and Alex Archibald . . . . Brossoit blanked the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 4-0 on Thursday. He was scheduled to start last night, too, but came down with the flu so opted out. . . . D Ashton Sautner, 18, scored his first goal of the season and the third of his 98-game career. . . . D Cody Corbett scored the game’s first goal, his third this season, and was plus-4. . . . The Oil Kings have won four in a row, the last two by shutout. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson had two assists. He’s got 18 points over his last 10 games. . . .
In Lethbridge, F Adam Lowry scored three times as the Swift Current Broncos beat the Hurricanes 3-2 in the circus. . . . Lowry scored twice in regulation time, giving him 27, and added another in the shootout. Under hockey’s goofy rules, the shootout goal doesn’t count in his individual stats. . . . F Graham Black also scored in the circus for the Broncos, while Lethbridge’s two shooters both came up short. . . . Lowry now has a 17-game point streak going. That is one shy of the longest in the WHL this season. F Brendan Leipsic of the Portland Winterhawks had an 18-game streak from Oct. 28 to Dec. 8. . . . Lowry gave the Broncos a 2-1 lead at 17:43 of the third, only to have F Sam Mckechnie, with his 19th, tie it for the Hurricanes at 18:07. . . . D Reece Scarlett had two assists for the Broncos. . . . The Broncos dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum allowed. . . .
In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets scored six times in the second period and doubled the Cougars 8-4 to move into a tie with the idle Kamloops Blazers atop the B.C. Division. . . . F Tyson Baillie and F Myles Bell each had a goal and two assists for the Rockets. . . . Baillie has 14 goals; Bell has 26. . . . F Justin Kirkland, a 16-year-old from Camrose, Alta., scored his first WHL goal for the Rockets. It came in his 11th game, and fifth this season. . . . F Jarrett Fontaine scored twice, giving him six, and added an assist for the Cougars, who dressed just 15 skaters, including D Sam Ruopp, a 15-year-old from the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., the Spokane Chiefs scored the game’s last four goals and beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . Seattle now has lost 10 in a row. . . . Spokane F Collin Valcourt tied it with his 12th goal at 8:28 of the second period and F Mike Aviani put the Chiefs out front with his 19th at 11:40. . . . Spokane G Eric Williams stopped 34 shots, 11 fewer than Seattle’s Brandon Glover. . . .
In Victoria, F Brandon Magee scored twice and added an assist as the Royals downed the Tri-City Americans, 5-2. . . . Magee has 16 goals this season. His second one was an empty-netter. . . . Magee broke a 2-2 tie with his 15th goal at 1:19 of the third period. . . . F Tim Traber got his second of the season at 14:53 of the third. . . . Victoria F Alex Gogolev had three assists and was plus-4. . . . 
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