Warriors tackling attendance situation . . . Jets ink Portland star . . . Ducks sack ex-WHL coach

F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Kaufbeuren (Germany, DEL2). This season, with Sterzing/Vipiteno (Italy, Serie A), he had two goals and two assists; in 12 games with the Wedemark Scorpions (Germany, Oberliga), he had eight goals and 15 assists; and, in 10 games with the Bietigheim Steelers (Germany, DEL2), he had three goals and six assists.
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Let us get the important stuff out of the way first. . . . There is nothing new on the Kelly McCrimmon situation. . . . Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada tweeted Thursday afternoon: “Checking into Kelly McCrimmon: told there is no deadline today, so no announcement doesn't mean he's declined Toronto's offer.” . . . There is nothing new on the Austin Matthews front, either. . . . There. You are up to date, at least as of 11 p.m. Pacific time.
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It’s no secret that the attendance figures announced at most WHL games are a whole lot different from the number of bums in the seats. The Moose Jaw Warriors have recognized that situation and are preparing to deal with it.
The Warriors early-bird season-ticket deadline has passed, and they saw an increase of 212 over a year ago. They now have 2,154 season-ticket holders and are hopeful of surpassing last season’s total of 2,674.
Here’s Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald: “That strong season-ticket base is great for the bottom line, but the franchise is also hoping that they have more fans actually in Mosaic Place on game nights. Too often last season the paid attendance didn't come close to reflecting how many fans were in the building.”
The Warriors have played four seasons in 4,414-seat Mosaic Place. They averaged 3,898 fans in 2011-12; last season, that figure was 3,312. That is, as Gourlie points out, a decrease of 15 per cent.
As Gourlie writes right here, the Warriors are prepared to work on improving that situation.
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F Chase De Leo, who played the past four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets. They selected him in the fourth round, 99th overall, of the NHL’s 2014 draft. . . . De Leo, 20, is eligible to return to the WHL for a fifth season, but is expected to start the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. De Leo, from La Mirada, Calif., had 251 points, including 110 goals, in 279 games with Portland. In 81 playoff games, he had 56 points, 22 of them goals. . . . The contract is a two-way deal, with an average annual value in the NHL of US$875,000.

@SSepich by my count, Hawks are now set to return only 112 of last year's 285 goals. 61% of goals lost, most in the league by far right now.

— Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) June 11, 2015

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THE COACHING GAME:
The Regina Pats have added Brad Herauf to their staff as an assistant coach. Herauf replaces Darren McKechnie, who left the club to focus on his responsibilities with the Regina Police Service. . . . The 32-year-old Herauf, who is from Regina, spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the midget AAA Regina Pats Canadians. This season, the Pats finished third at the Telus Cup national championship tournament.
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The NHL’s Anaheim Ducks fired assistant coach Brad Lauer on Thursday, just a short time after they lost the Western Conference final to the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games. . . . Lauer, who played in the WHL with the Regina Pats (1983-86) and was an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice (2002-07), had worked alongside head coach Bruce Boudreau with the Ducks since November 2011. . . . Lauer, 48, was responsible for the Ducks’ power play that ranked 28th in the NHL. . . . According to the Ducks, the other assistant coaches, Trent Yawney and Scott Niedermayer, are expected back.
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Former NHL D Paul Boutilier has signed on as a full-time assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. According to a Sea Dogs’ news release, “Boutilier, 52, joined the team last season as the director of its newly-created Player Development & Analytics program, where he worked primarily with defencemen.” . . . With the Sea Dogs, he will work alongside new head coach Danny Flynn. The other assistant coaches are Jeff Cowan and Jim Fleming.
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The Regina Pats have signed three players — F Riley Woods, F Gary Haden and G Kurtis Chapman. . . . Woods, a list player from Regina, put up 59 points, including 22 goals, in 42 games with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians this season. Woods, who turns 17 on June 25, added 17 playoff points and picked up 14 more at the Telus Cup. . . . Haden, a ninth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, is from Airdrie, Alta. Haden, 16, had 31 points, 15 of them goals, in 33 games with the midget AAA UFA Bisons this season. He added 20 points in 13 playoff games and eight more in the Telus Cup. . . . Chapman, a seventh-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, played this season with the midget AAA UFA Bisons. The 17-year-old also is from Airdrie.
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F Carter Rigby, who played four seasons in the WHL, will attend the University of Prince Edward Island and play for the Panthers. Rigby totalled 132 points, including 70 goals, while playing for the Kelowna Rockets and Swift Current Broncos. He played out his eligibility this season. After his WHL season ended, he had three assists in four games with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.
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pic.twitter.com/fwMreILNWl

— Ben Haggard (@BenHaggardMusic) June 12, 2015

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Want to help save a team? . . . Tigers, Royals move on . . . Hitmen, Ice go 7

My dads first birthday since he has been gone.....why not get my first pro hatty! Happy birthday dad, hope you liked your present
— Adam Hughesman (@Hughdog17) April 5, 2015

The move to get hockey back into Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops is staring a hard deadline squarely in the face.
The B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League has given those working to save the program a deadline of May 3 to gain re-entry.
“It was our plan to get accepted by TRU at some level, then create a hockey operations department and begin fundraising,” Trevor Bast, who is heading up the drive to save the team, told Taking Note on Saturday. “With only 30 days to prove all requirements, I have to start asking for money.”
All along, Bast has planned on raising money through sponsorships and fundraising. Now, though, things have changed.
“Considering where we have come from and where we need to go, we need to have some guaranteed money to assure our survival for the next few years,” he explained. “In my opinion that needs to come from supporters or donors as opposed to sponsors.”
Bast has done a lot of work and research on this project; in fact, he has been working at it since the university pulled the plug on the WolfPack prior to the start of the 2014-15 season. He has calculated that the “minimum survival budget” is $70,000 per season.
As he put it: “That's what we can spend to survive, not thrive."
He added: “We can work on thriving down the road. The players, through player fees, will provide $45,000 of that $70,000.”
Each player will be on the hook for $1,800 per season to play and won’t receive help towards books, tuition or housing. Thus, Bast said, the players shouldn’t “be under any pressure to provide that next $25,000 to survive. As a team they will be responsible to fund raise, acquire sponsorships and be great ambassadors of TRU. But the year-to-year stress to survive as a team should not be on them.
“It is my goal to have that $25,000 provided for them,” Bast said. “Since TRU won’t provide that money, I must ask the private sector.”
It is that $25,000 that will allow the project to move ahead . . . or, on the other hand, to wither on the vine.
“That next $25,000 is critical to proving to the powers that be that we have a long term sustainable model,” Bast said. “It doesn't matter to us if one person offers that money or a combination of 10 people make up that amount. What is important is that we find that sort of support lasting over a three-to-five-year period to help this program get back on its feet and be around for many years to come.
“The hockey world within B.C. is vast and generous. This program needs help now. The BCIHL is a great league. There is potential to have an eight-to-10-team league similar to the ACAC in Alberta, but it needs an Okanagan presence now.”
This is Bast’s last-ditch effort. He knows that the door closes on May 3.
If you are able to help, would like to get involved, or have any questions, email him at trevorbast@gmail.com.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice forced a seventh game with a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . They’ll decide it Monday night in Calgary. The game will be televised by Shaw. . . . The Hitmen had won 7-2 in Cranbrook on Wednesday to take a 3-1 lead in the series. The Ice then won 5-4 in to in Calgary on Friday. . . . Last night, Ice F Jaedon Descheneau broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal at 14:55 of the second period. . . . That goal came after F Adam Tambellini pulled Calgary into a 1-1 tie with his sixth goal at 11:19. . . . F Tim Bozon had given the home side a 1-0 lead with a PP goal at 13:40 of the first. . . . Ice F Luke Philp added insurance with his fifth goal at 17:45 of the third. . . . That goal was needed, too, because Tambellini got his seventh goal at 18:35 to make it a one-goal game. . . . Kootenay’s Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter at 19:59. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin stopped 25 shots. . . . Calgary starter Brendan Burke gave up one goal on 14 shots before leaving at 12:31 of the second with an apparent injury. He departed after stopping a shot by Ice F Ryan Chynoweth. . . . G Mack Shields came on to stop 11 of 13. . . . Burke is to be re-evaluated today before the Hitmen will be able to decide on their goaltending for Game 7. . . . The Ice was 2-for-3 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-3. . . . Attendance was 2,645. . . . BTW, the game-winning OT goal in the Ice’s 5-4 victory in Calgary on Friday has been changed to F Luke Philp, his fourth goal of the series. It had been credited to F Levi Cable. Philp finished the game with two goals and three assists. . . . Trevor Crawley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story from Saturday right here.

In Medicine Hat, F Trevor Cox broke a 3-3 tie at 18:14 of the third period as the Tigers beat the Red Deer Rebels, 4-3. . . . The Tigers won the series, 4-1, and now await a winner between Calgary and Kootenay. . . . Medicine Hat has reached at least the second round in seven straight springs and 12 of the past 13. Yes, think about that for a moment or two. . . . Red Deer will be the host team for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament. . . . The Rebels didn’t have an answer for the Tigers’ top line in this one as it accounted for all four goals. . . . F Steve Owre had two goals and an assist, while F Cole Sanford had his fourth goal and two helpers, and Cox had one of each. . . . Red Deer F Evan Polei gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead at 3:29 of the second period, on the PP. . . . Owre tied it with his second goal of the game, and third of the series, at 18:03 of the second. . . . Cox had three goals in the series. . . . F Riley Sheen had a goal and an assist for the Rebels, with D Brett Cote adding two assists. . . . Tigers G Marek Langhamer turned aside 28 shots, while Red Deer’s Rylan Toth stopped 32. . . . Red Deer was 2-for-7 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 1-for-5. . . . Attendance was 4,006.

In Victoria, F Brandon Magee scored at 1:42 of OT to give the Royals a 5-4 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Royals won the series, 4-2, and will meet the Kelowna Rockets in the second round. That series will open with games Friday and Saturday nights in Kelowna. . . . Magee finished the series with six goals. . . . F Alex Forsberg, who was selected first overall by Prince George in the 2010 bantam draft, had the primary assist on Magee’s goal. . . . Prince George F Brad Morrison forced OT when he scored a PP goal with 1:14 left in the third period. . . . The Royals led 3-1 after one period and 4-3 late in the third period. . . . Victoria G Greg Chase scored three times, his third goal providing a 4-3 lead at 15:16 of the third. He’s got five goals in the series. . . . F Zach Pochiro scored the Cougars’ first three goals, giving him four. He cut Victoria’s lead to 3-2 at 15:14 of the second on a PP and then tied the game at 14:00 of the third. . . . F Jack Walker and F Tyler Soy each had two assists for Victoria. . . . F Jansen Harkins drew two assists for the Cougars. . . . Victoria G Coleman Collrath turned aside 34 shots, 12 more than Prince George’s Ty Edmonds. . . . The Royals were 1-for-3 on the pp; the Cougars were 2-for-5. . . . Attendance was 5,839.

In Everett, F Riley Whittingham scored at 15:25 of OT to give the Spokane Chiefs a 4-3 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Silvertips still lead the series, 3-2, with Game 6 set for Spokane on Tuesday night. . . . The goal was Whittingham’s first of these playoffs. . . . Spokane D Nick Charif’s first goal, at 17:42 of the third period, forced extra time. . . . Everett F Kohl Bauml had broken a 2-2 tie at 12:44 of the second period. . . . F Markson Bechtold got the Chiefs on the board at 12:19 of the first period. . . . Everett took the lead on second-period goals by F Carson Stadnyk, at 2:59, on the PP, and F Brayden Low, his third, at 10:17. . . . Spokane F Liam Stewart pulled his guys even at 11:14. . . . Chiefs F Garret Hughson turned aside 36 shots, three fewer than Carter Hart of the Silvertips. . . . Spokane D Evan Fiala was tossed at 2:28 of the second period with a kneeing major and game misconduct for a hit on Everett F Patrick Bajkov. . . . The Silvertips scored one goal on the five-minute PP. . . . Everett was 1-for-4 on the PP; Spokane was 0-for-1. . . . D Ben Betker was back in the Everett lineup after sitting out two games with an undisclosed injury. . . . Everett F Dawson Leedahl sat out his second straight game with an undisclosed ailment. . . . Attendance was 4,249. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has a game story right here.

In Portland, F Paul Bittner scored twice to help the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Winterhawks hold a 3-2 lead in the series as the teams return to Kent, Wash., for Game 6 on Tuesday night. . . . Portland scored the game’s first two goals and Seattle never was able to equalize. . . . F Oliver Bjorkstrand, who had a goal and two assists, was in on both goals, from F Keegan Iverson and Bittner. . . . Seattle F Scott Eansor got his third goal, shorthanded, at 19:49. . . . The teams alternated goals from that point on. . . . Bittner’s goals were his first of the series. . . . Bjorkstrand, who led the WHL in goals and points in the regular season, has eight points in his last two games. . . . Portland F Chase De Leo had two assists. . . . Seattle got two assists from F Cory Millette. . . . Seattle F Matt Barzal scored his fourth goal of the series. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 27 shots, three fewer than Seattle’s Taran Kozun. . . . Portland was 1-for-3 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-1. . . . Attendance was 7,119. . . . The game story Scott Sepich wrote for The Oregonian is right here.
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F Carter Rigby, who completed his junior eligibility with the Swift Current Broncos earlier this week, has signed on with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. Rigby, from Penticton, B.C., started the WHL season with the Kelowna Rockets and finished in Swift Current, totalling 46 points, including 18 goals, in 62 games. . . . The Thunder is affiliated with the NHL’s Calgary Flames and New York Islanders and the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. . . . Rigby made his professional debut last night against the Ontario Reign. He had two shots in a 7-4 loss to the host Ontario Reign.
D David Musil, 21, made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers last night. Musil, whose father, Frank, also played for the Oilers, was a second-round selection in the 2011 NHL draft while he was playing for the Vancouver Giants. After playing three seasons with the Giants, he was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings 14 games into 2012-13. Musil, who has been with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, is the first ex-Oil Kings player in modern franchise history to play in a game with the Oilers. . . . The Oilers, of course, own the Oil Kings.
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D Justin Hamonic, who played out his eligibility with the Tri-City Americans, made his pro debut last night with the ECHL’s Anchorage Aces. He had one shot on goal in a 3-0 loss to the host Utah Grizzlies. . . .
F Colby Cave, who captained the Swift Current Broncos, is likely to join the AHL’s Providence Bruins after signing a three-year contract with the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Cave, 20, was an undrafted unrestricted free agent. . . . He previously had attended camps with the Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks.
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“The Prince Albert Minor Hockey Association will be adopting new measures in their concussion protocol beginning in the 2015-16 season,” writes Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. “PAMHA technical director James Mays said the matter was discussed at a recent board meeting in order to protect both the players and the coaches. . . . The information will be in the coaches’ and parents’ manuals handed out at the start of the year. . . . One of the changes to the protocol is that if a doctor diagnoses any player with a concussion, the player will have to follow up with the doctor before being cleared to get back on the ice.”
Smith’s complete story is right here.
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from the WHL website: Dewey beats Truman pic.twitter.com/01I6Inw2Pr
— Dylan Bumbarger (@dylandb) April 5, 2015

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Three d-men on move . . . Papirny, Lotz pitch shutouts . . . Hurricanes win again

Travis Green, a former assistant GM and assistant coach with the Portland Winterhawks, is headed to the AHL All-Star Game. Green, who is in his second season as head coach of the Utica Comets, will be one of two Western Conference coaches. . . . Utica leads the conference with a 20-5-5-0 record. . . . There’s more right here.
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Garry Davidson, the general manager of the Everett Silvertips, has told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald that he tried to land D Josh Morrissey before the Prince Albert Raiders dealt him to the Kelowna Rockets.
Davidson also said that he continues to shop, but . . .
"Between now and Jan. 10 I'd still like to strengthen the team in certain positions," Davidson told Patterson. "But the market looks really foggy right now, there's not a lot of teams selling.
"I've talked to teams about high-end players, but it's one thing to talk and another to make something happen. I want to stay with our philosophy of building through the draft and we've already traded away a first and a second, so I'm not excited about giving up other top picks. I'll try to do it another way, but that's very difficult. Maybe we'll have to be patient and ride it out this season."
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The Red Deer Rebels have acquired D Colton Bobyk, 18, and a 2016 fourth-round bantam draft pick from the Spokane Chiefs for D Nick Charif, 19, a second-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft and a conditional sixth-round selection in 2016. . . . Bobyk has played only eight games this season thanks to injuries. From Red Deer, he has been medically cleared to return. This season, he has a goal and three assists in those eight games. Last season, he had 12 points, including five goals, in 56 games. He was a 10th-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2011 draft. . . . In 2012-13, Bobyk played for the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs, who won the TELUS Cup as national midget champions. . . . Charif, from Edmonton, also has been out with an injury but has been cleared to play after missing 24 games. Last season, he had 13 points, three of them goals, in 57 games. This season, he has a goal and seven assists in 11 games. . . . The Chiefs now hold two first- and two second-round picks in the 2015 draft.
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The Swift Current Broncos added D Griffin Foulk, 19, on Saturday, acquiring him from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . The Hurricanes had released Foulk from their roster earlier in the month. . . . Foulk, from Broomfield, Colo., had 23 points, including six goals, in 153 regular-season games split between the Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds and Lethbridge. . . . He had been an eighth-round pick by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . The Broncos were looking for some back-end help with D Dillon Heatherington playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship. The Broncos also are without D Jordan Harris (undisclosed injury). . . . Foulk was in Swift Current’s lineup last night as they beat the visiting Regina Pats, 5-3.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

At Swift Current, the Broncos erased a 2-0 first-period deficit and went on to beat the Regina Pats, 5-3. . . . F Adam Brooks, with his 14th, and F Connor Gay, with his 16th, gave Regina a 2-0 lead. . . . Broncos F Colby Cave tied it with two goals, giving him 17, at 17:41 of the first and 4:20 of the second. . . . Swift Current F Carter Rigby broke the tie, with his 13th, at 14:46, and F Jake DeBrusk got his 18th at 16:35. . . . Rigby also had three assists and DeBrusk had two. . . . Broncos G Landon Bow stopped 40 shots. . . . The Broncos (18-14-4), who visit Regina tonight, have won two in a row. . . . The Pats (20-12-2) had points in their previous three games (2-0-1). . . . Regina D Colby Williams (wrist) was back in the lineup after missing seven games. . . .

At Moose Jaw, G Jordan Papirny stopped 29 shots to help the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 3-0 victory over the Warriors. . . . Papirny has 22 victories and three shutouts this season. It was his fourth career shutout. . . . Brandon F Reid Duke got the game’s first goal, his 11th, at 9:57 of the first on the PP. . . . Duke also drew an assist on F John Quenneville’s 13th goal, an empty-netter at 18:30 of the third. . . . Brandon F Peter Quenneville had two assists. . . . The Wheat Kings (25-7-4) have points in six straight (4-0-2). . . . The Warriors (15-18-3) have lost four in a row. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk scored his 14th goal. He missed the last three games prior to the Christmas break with an undisclosed injury. . . . Brandon F Jesse Gabrielle was ill and didn’t practice on Friday. He wasn’t dressed for this one. D Kale Clague (undisclosed injury) also was among Brandon’s scratches. . . . Moose Jaw F Jaimen Yakubowski sat out a one-game WHL suspension. . . . Moose Jaw F Noah Gregor missed his 26th straight game with an undisclosed injury, while F Ben Duperreault (14 games, undisclosed injury) was back in the lineup. . . . However, F Tanner Jeannot is out for a couple of months with an undisclosed injury and D Tyler Brown (hand) will sit for up to four more weeks. . . . The teams meet again today, this time in Brandon. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a game story right here. . . .

At Prince Albert, F Nikita Soshnin broke a 3-3 tie at 10:00 of the third period and the Saskatoon Blades went on to a 6-3 victory over the Raiders. . . . Soshnin, who also had two assists, has five goals this season. . . . Blades F Ryan Graham added two empty-netters, giving him 12 goals this season. . . . F Sam McKechnie had two goals, giving him 10, and an assist for Saskatoon (8-25-3), which snapped an 11-game skid (0-9-2). . . . F Reid Gardiner and F Jayden Hart each scored his 18th goal for the Raiders (16-19-1). . . . The rematch goes this afternoon in Saskatoon. . . . Saskatoon F Wyatt Sloboshan (broken jaw) was back after missing 23 games, while F Nick Zajac returned after a three-game absence with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Raiders were without D Mackenze Stewart, who served a one-game WHL suspension. . . .

At Edmonton, F Wyatt Johnson scored two second-period goals to lead the Red Deer Rebels to a 3-2 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Johnson, who has 17 goals, gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead 32 seconds into the period. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock tied it, with his 14th, at 4:10. . . . Johnson broke the tie at 15:24. . . . Red Deer F Brooks Maxwell had two assists. . . . Rebels G Rylan Toth stopped 30 shots, four more than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . The Rebels (19-13-4), who entertain the Oil Kings today, had lost their previous two games. . . . The Oil Kings are 16-15-5. . . . This was the first meeting of the season between these teams. . . . The Rebels had F Adam Musil back after a three-game absence with an undisclosed injury. . . .

At Cranbrook, G Wyatt Hoflin stopped a career-high 49 shots and F Levi Cable scored four times as the Kootenay Ice dropped the Calgary Hitmen, 6-2. . . . Hoflin was making his 24th straight start. . . . A note from Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman: “Should he get the start Sunday afternoon, Hoflin will tie the Kootenay Ice franchise record for consecutive appearances by a goaltender. Todd Mathews set the record with 25 consecutive appearances in net from Jan. 21 to March 14, 2009.” . . . Cable, who has 15 goals, scored the game’s first three goals and added a fourth in the second period to give his side a 5-0 lead. . . . It was Cable’s first regular-season hat trick. . . . Cable also added an assist for his first five-point outing. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 19th goal. . . . The Ice (19-17-0) has won four in a row. . . . The Hitmen (19-13-3) has lost two straight. . . . The teams meet this afternoon in Calgary. . . . The Ice, which is missing three defencemen, has added D Tanner Lishchynsky, 19, for the next five games. He plays for the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers and has played 78 WHL games with the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Ice is without D Tanner Faith and D Dylan Overdyk, both of whom are injured, and D Rinat Valiev, who is with Russia at the World Junior Championship. . . . Calgary D Ben Thomas returned after missing nine games with an undisclosed injury. . . . According to Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, Cable is the eighth player in Ice franchise history to enjoy a four-goal game. . . . Taylor Rocca’s game story is right here.

At Lethbridge, F Zane Jones broke a 5-5 tie at 17:36 of the third period and the Hurricanes held on for a 6-5 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Jones scored twice in this one, giving him 17. He also had an assist. . . . Lethbridge also got two goals from F Jamal Watson, who has 15. . . . The Hurricanes took a 4-2 lead into the third period, only to have the Tigers tie it on two goals by F Alex Mowbray, who has six. . . . Watson gave Lethbridge the lead on a PP at 12:00, only to have D Kyle Becker pull the Tigers even at 5-5 with a PP goal at 16:59. . . . Lethbridge G Stuart Skinner stopped 42 shots. . . . The Hurricanes (9-20-5) are on a three-game winning streak. . . . The Tigers (24-9-2), who remain without F Chad Butcher (undisclosed injury), had won their previous two games. . . . There’s a rematch tonight in Medicine Hat. . . .

At Kelowna, F Rourke Chartier, the WHL’s leading goal scorer, hit for two more as the Rockets beat the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . Chartier has 34 goals. . . . He broke a 2-2 tie 52 seconds into the third period with his second goal of the game. It turned out to be his ninth game-winner this season. . . . Kelowna F Tyson Baillie scored his 24th goal, while F Cole Linaker had two assists. . . . F Cole Ully scored his 17th goal for the Blazers (13-21-5), who have lost three in a row. . . . The Rockets (29-5-3), who have won 13 straight games with the Blazers, have won three straight. . . . This game started a stretch in which the Rockets will play nine of 11 games at home. . . .

At Victoria, the Prince George Cougars built up a 4-1 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Royals. . . . F Zach Pochiro scored twice for the visitors, giving him seven this season. His second of the game, at 16:25 of the second, on a PP, stood up as the winner. . . . F Tyler Soy scored twice for the Royals, giving him 12 in his sophomore season. However, he came up short on a second-period penalty shot. . . . D Tate Olson had two assists for the visitors. . . . Prince George outshot its hosts, 30-19. . . . The Cougars (18-18-0) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Royals ((17-18-3) have lost five straight (0-4-1). . . . They’ll play again this afternoon in Victoria. . . .

At Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 in a game that featured six first-period goals. . . . The Thunderbirds got out to a 3-1 lead and the Winterhawks never were able to catch up. . . . F Ryan Gropp’s 15th goal, at 19:53 of the first, proved to be the winner. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Seattle D Jerret Smith scored his third goal of the season and added an assist. . . . F Paul Bittner got his 14th goal for the Winterhawks. He also added an assist, while F Alex Schoenborn drew two assists. . . . Portland was 2-for-3 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-5. . . . The Thunderbirds (15-15-4) have won two in a row. . . . Portland (19-15-3) had won its previous two games. . . . F Cody Glass, Portland’s first-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, made his WHL debut. . . . The Winterhawks are at home to Spokane today. . . . The Thunderbirds are in Vancouver this afternoon. . . .

At Everett, F Nikita Scherbak scored on a PP 28 seconds into OT to give the Silvertips a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Scherbak has 16 goals this season. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 28 shots in posting his second shutout this season. He has eight career shutouts. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter turned aside 21 shots in making his third straight start. . . . Everett had a 13-5 edge in shots in the first period; Vancouver had the edge, 12-2, in the second. . . . The Silvertips (21-9-4) have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (16-18-1) had a seven-game winning streak end. They had been 6-0-0 under head coach Claude Noel. . . . D Ben Betker (concussion) was back in Everett’s lineup. The Silvertips still are without F Logan Aasman and D Tristen Pfeifer, both out with undisclosed injuries. . . . The Silvertips also sent F Nik Malenica to the junior B Nanaimo Buccaneers of the Vancouver Island Junior League. He was pointless in 11 games with Everett. . . . The Silvertips visit the Tri-City Americans tonight. . . . The Giants, who had F Jackson Houck (undisclosed injury) back in the lineup, are at home to Seattle this afternoon. . . .

At Spokane, F Kailer Yamamoto had a goal and two assists to lead the Chiefs to a 5-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . He’s got 10 goals. . . . The Chiefs scored the game’s first five goals. . . . Spokane scored two shorthanded goals -- by F Calder Brooks and F Liam Stewart -- and got a PP goal from Yamamoto. . . . Spokane outshot Tri-City, 35-19. . . . Spokane leads the season series, 4-1-0. . . . The Chiefs (19-12-3), who visit Portland today, have won five straight. . . . The Americans (17-16-1) have lost three in a row. Tri-City plays host to Everett tonight.
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Max's first hockey game and he gets stuck next to the Calgary Hitmen section #booooo pic.twitter.com/fNrxRBaOxK
— Old Huntstein (@OldHuntstein) December 28, 2014

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Raiders suspend veteran forward . . . Warriors, Broncos: Rivalry heating up

The Prince Albert Raiders have suspended F Dakota Conroy, 20, after he left the team and returned to his home in Edmonton. . . . He has a goal and an assist in 10 games, but that goal came on Sept. 20. . . . In 214 regular-season games, Conroy has 137 points, including 63 goals. He also has played with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Victoria Royals. The Wheat Kings selected him in the third round of the 2009 bantam draft. . . . Without Conroy, the Raiders are left with F Jayden Hart and D Sawyer Lange as their 1994-born players.
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There isn’t anything in sports like a good rivalry, and it would seem that Moose Jaw F Jaimen Yakubowski is doing his bit to fire up the rivalry between the Warriors and the Swift Current Broncos.
Yakubowski broke a 3-3 tie with 4.1 seconds left in the third period on Saturday night.
“He then staked his claim as public enemy No. 1 in Swift Current by skating to centre ice,” reported Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, “stopping on the Broncos' logo and hushing the 2,205 fans at the Credit Union i-plex before his teammates mobbed him.”
Swift Current F Carter Rigby, who was acquired last week from the Kelowna Rockets, played against Yakubowski when the latter was with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
"I played against him in the other conference, in the west, and he's one guy that I don't care for — at all," Rigby told Gourlie. "To see him score that (winning goal), get two tonight and then do that (celebration) doesn't sit well with me. There will be a time when we can get him back and I'm sure we will."
These two don’t play again until Jan. 16 in Swift Current.
Gourlie’s complete story is right here.
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A note from Jim Matheson’s Hockey World in the Edmonton Journal:
“The Detroit Red Wings were gob-smacked by the play of their tryout defenceman Joe Hicketts, who wasn’t drafted this past June, in part because he missed a chunk of playing time with the Victoria Royals courtesy a bad shoulder and also because he stands just five-foot-eight and 185 pounds. They quickly signed him, loving it that he’d mix it up with way bigger guys in the corners, after he was just a good in their main camp as he was in the prospects tournament at Traverse City. They think he might be another Brian Rafalski.”
The complete Hockey World is right here.
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Veteran coach Dave King is back in the KHL, having returned to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv to replace Sean Simpson, who was fired eight games into the season. King had been working with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes when the call came from the KHL team as September turned into October. The Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson has more right here.
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SUNDAY'S REPORT:

D Travis Sanheim had two goals and an assist as the host Calgary Hitmen dumped the Regina Pats 5-1 in the day’s lone game. . . . Sanheim has six goals in 10 games this season. Last season, he finished with five goals in 67 games. . . . Sanheim also was hit in the face by an errant puck during the game, so will be spending some time with a dentist to get a tooth repaired. . . . The Hitmen broke open a scoreless game with three second-period goals. . . . Calgary’s first two goals came via the PP, which had been on an 0-14 skid. . . . Calgary F Pavel Karnaukhov, a 17-year-old freshman from Minsk, Belarus, scored his sixth goal. . . . F Morgan Klimchuk scored his second goal in as many games for the Pats. . . . The Hitmen next play Friday when they visit the Kootenay Ice. Calgary hopes to have F Jake Virtanen, who had off-season shoulder surgery, in the lineup for the first time this season.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have scored 18 goals in their last two games; the Lethbridge Hurricanes have scored 19 goals in 10 games this season. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers are 9-1-1 and atop the Central Divison, thanks, at least in part, to their penalty killing. They have surrendered three goals on 40 opportunities and, at 92.5 per cent, are the only team in the league with a success rate above 90. As well, they have scored three shorthanded goals. . . . The Everett Silvertips, the only team in the league without a regulation-time loss, have only been shorthanded 26 times in nine games, but they’ve given up six PP goals. Their penalty killers are ranked 16th, at 76.9. . . . I was going to add a few more stats-related items here, but the WHL website crapped out on me. Imagine that!

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The @WHLGiants are getting creative with their board ads. Either that or the @blazerhockey are very under dressed. pic.twitter.com/VIDZBCbbxV
— Pucks on net (@Pucksonnetca) October 19, 2014