THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Marek Ivan (Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, 1996-98) signed a contract with AZ Havirov (Czech Republic, 2.Liga). He had 13 goals and 17 assists in 28 games this season with Karvina (Czech Republic, 2.Liga). . . .
F Stanislav Balan (Portland, 2005-06) was one of four players released by Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). Balin had one goal and one assist in 16 games this season with Lev. He also had three goals and four assists in seven games with SKP Poprad (Slovakia, Extraliga) this season. . . .
F Marcel Hossa (Portland, 1998-2001) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Atlant Mytishchi (Russia, KHL), two days after his release by Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL). Hossa had six goals and 11 assists in 35 games for Spartak this season.
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Prince George head coach Dean Clark met up with Gerard Hayes, one of the WHL’s officiating supervisors, moments after the Cougars had dropped a 5-0 decision to the host Kamloops Blazers on Sunday night.
“That’s embarrassing . . . that’s embarrassing,” Clark told Hayes.
Clark was referring to the officiating. He may as well have been referring to the entertainment value of the game.
The time has come for the WHL to take a serious look at its schedule in the latter half of December and into January.
This season, the WHL played games through Dec. 18 and then broke for Christmas, returning with games on Dec. 27.
The WHL boasts of having 34 of its players competing at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. And in another news release it tells us that there are 18 more of its players in the World Junior Championship.
That means the WHL’s 22 teams are missing 52 of their better players. And that doesn’t include any players who are out with injuries.
With 22 teams, the WHL’s talent pool is thin enough — some would say it’s thinner than the gruel Tiny Tim would get for breakfast — that none of its teams has the depth to withstand losing players to these Christmas assignments without it having a real impact.
On Sunday in Kamloops, for example, the two teams were missing seven players who are competing in the WJC and/or WHC. Four others were out with injuries.
While the Blazers are second in the 10-team Western Conference, the Cougars are scrambling to get into the playoffs. Down five players, they just didn’t have the depth to compete with the Blazers.
The result was a game that was anything but entertaining. As entertainment, it was . . . well, it wasn’t. (Oh, we should tell you that the same two teams get to do it again Friday and Saturday in Prince George. Hopefully, help will have arrived by then.)
Despite missing all those players, of course, the WHL and its teams aren’t about to give the fans a break by cutting ticket prices.
So why not change the schedule?
Why not play games through Dec. 22 or Dec. 23 and then break until early in the new year?
Why not allow players to go home and spend some real quality Christmas time with their families, instead of having to travel on Boxing Day (Dec. 26) in order to play games on Dec. 27?
Why not extend the break right into the new year? The WHC and WJC wrap up on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, so why not give the teams and their fans a break and return on Jan. 6 or 7?
This season, the WHL schedule was dark for eight days. Why not play through Dec. 23, bring players back Jan. 2 for a couple days of practice and then resume the schedule? Why not take two weeks off instead of eight days?
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So . . . here's a hypothetical situation for you.
You are involved in the management of a WHL team.
It is the Friday before Christmas and your team is spread far and wide as the WHL takes its festive break.
One of your players chooses to pay a pre-Christmas visit to a local nightspot. He is of age, so that isn’t a problem.
What is a problem is this: The player gets into a fight of some sort and, no, he doesn’t emerge as the winner.
So . . . when your team resumes its schedule, what do you do?
Do you:
(a) Suspend the player and show him as being out with an upper body injury?
(b) Don’t suspend him and show him as being out with an upper body injury?
(c) Release the player?
(d) Nothing?
Hey . . . just asking.
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JUST NOTES:
F Charles Wells, 20, has joined the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints, according to Tyler King, the radio voice of the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. . . . Wells was placed on waivers by Portland and claimed by the Moose Jaw Warriors before Christmas. But he has chosen not to return to the WHL. He had 120 points in 265 WHL games with Seattle, Prince Albert and Portland.
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SUNDAY’S GAME:
In Regina, the Pats scored two shorthanded goals as they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-2. . . . Edmonton went into the game having allowed just one shorthanded goal all season. . . . Regina scored the game’s first four goals and took a 4-0 lead deep into the third period. . . . F Michael St. Croix scored twice for Edmonton, giving him 24. . . . The Oil Kings picked up five of eight points on a four-game East Division swing. . . .

In Kelowna, G Chris Driedger stopped 27 shots as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Rockets, 2-0. . . . It was the first shutout of Driedger’s career. . . . Calgary F Brooks Macek scored 1:12 into the first period and that goal stood up as the winner. . . . F Alex Gogolev added his 15th at 19:31 of the second period. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke stopped 33 shots. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Matej Stransky struck for three goals to lead the Blades to an 8-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Stransky has 21 goals this season. . . . Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower, who had six points, including four assists, in a 9-4 victory over visiting Prince Albert on Friday, had a goal and three assists. . . . Yes, the Blades, who couldn’t buy goals before Christmas, have 17 goals in their last two games. . . . F Lukas Sutter broke a 1-1 tie at 18:49 of the first period and the Blades went on to take control with a 5-1 lead. . . . Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken was behind the bench for his 963rd WHL game, moving him into a tie with the late Pat Ginnell for fourth place on the all-time list. . . . The victory was the 542nd of Molleken’s WHL coaching career. He is third on the all-time list. Ken Hodge, of course, is No. 1, at 742, with Ernie (Punch) McLean second at 548. Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants is right behind Molleken, at 540. . . .

In Swift Current, D Graeme Craig, who lost three teeth in a Friday game, scored his third goal of the season and it stood up as the winner as the Broncos beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-2. . . . Craig has three goals this season. . . . Craig took a puck in the chops during a 4-1 loss to the Pats in Regina on Friday night. He now is wearing a cage while he undergoes repairs and the healing process takes place. . . . Broncos F Ryon Moser, playing his 150th game, had a goal, his ninth, and an assist. . . . Swift Current F Brad Hoban (ill) was among the scratches. . . . Medicine Hat assistant coach Darren Kruger, a former Broncos defenceman, handled the ceremonial faceoff as Swift Current remembered the four players, including Kruger’s brother Scott, who were killed in a bus accident on Dec. 30, 1986. . . .

In Kamloops, G Cole Cheveldave stopped 22 shots to help the Blazers to a 5-0 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Cheveldave has two shutouts, both of them against the Cougars. . . . F Tim Bozon and F Cole Ully each scored twice for the Blazers, while F Brandon Herrod, acquired Saturday from the Prince Albert Raiders, had a PP goal. . . . Ully has five goals this season, and three of them are game-winners. . . . The teams meet again Friday and Saturday in Prince George. Which may or may not have had anything to do with a line brawl that occurred with one minute to play in the third period. Ch-ch-ching! . . . The Cougars ended up taking 95 of the 160 penalty minutes.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Cody Corbett, Edmonton.
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At the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, Team West fell to 0-3 as it dropped a 7-3 decision to the U.S. in Tecumseh, Ont. . . . F Remi Laurencelle, whose WHL rights belong to Lethbridge, D Kayle Doetzel (Red Deer) and F Cory Millette (Red Deer) scored for Team West. . . . G Austin Lotz (Everett) stopped 38 shots. . . . sTeam West plays Russia tonight, while Team Pacific (3-0) meets the U.S. The playoff round beings Tuesday.
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In a piece headlined How TSN Killed the WJCs, Joe Pelletier over at Greatest Hockey Legends pretty much sums up my feelings on the tournament. Check it out. There’s a link over there on the left.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Stone (Brandon, 2001-05) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL) after his release by mutual agreement by TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) earlier in the day. He had six goals and four assists in 25 games for TPS this season.
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Former WHL player Tyson Sievert died in a single-vehicle accident near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., on Tuesday at around 2:45 a.m. RCMP found Sievert dead at the scene when they responded. Sievert, 25, was from Earl Grey, Sask. A forward, he played for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats (2004-06), totalling 11 goals and 16 assists in 114 regular-season games. He also incurred 166 penalty minutes. . . . He played for the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs as a 20-year-old and then went on to play one season with the U of Regina Cougars.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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With a number of WHL players taking part in Christmas tournaments, teams are adding all kinds of younger players to their rosters.
For starters, F Jake Virtanen, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, will make his debut with the Calgary Hitmen tonight against the Cougars in Prince George.
Virtanen, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., has 33 points in 24 games with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins this season. . . .
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With G Eric Comrie at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, the Tri-City Americans have brought in G Brett Teskey, 18, from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings to back kup Ty Rimmer. . . .
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The Regina Pats have recalled F Nils Moser, 18, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles . . . Regina is without F Morgan Klimchuk and D Kyle Burroughs, both of whom are with Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Regina also is without D Brandon Underwood (ankle) and F Chandler Stephenson (knee). . . . D Tyler Borstmayer, who had been with the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings, also remains with the Pats. . . .
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The Kootenay Ice has brought in D Tanner Faith, 16, from the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds, and F Luke Philp, 16, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Both are expected to stay for the next five games. . . . Faith has eight points in 21 games with the Hounds. . . . Philp has 33 points in 30 games with Canmore. . . .
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will take a third goaltender on the road with them as they head into the U.S. Division. Justin Paulic, a 16-year-old from the midget AAA Norman Northstars, will join fellow goaltenders Luke Siemens and Spencer Tremblay as he gets a taste of life in the WHL. . . . The Warriors also have added F Brandon Potomak, 16, and F Wheaton King, 19, just to give them 12 forwards for their road swing. . . . F Quinton Howden is with Canada at the World Junior Championship, while F Carter Hansen (Team West) and F Torrin White (Team Pacific) are at the WHC. . . . Potomak has 28 points in 22 games with the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks. . . . King, who played 38 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, has 30 points in 35 games with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. King was in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers prior to this season. . . .
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As something of a Christmas present, the WHL is providing free webcasts of its games through Thursday night. . . . With all of the absent players, perhaps the WHL teams should be slashing ticket prices or add an extra week to the Christmas break. . . .
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The WHL trade freeze that began before Christmas went away at midnight Tuesday. So it’s open season between now and Jan. 10. . . .
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G Curtis Honey, who left the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs and has joined the Brandon Wheat Kings, and F Connor Honey, who left the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers for the Seattle Thunderbirds, are twin brothers. . . . The 17-year-olds are from Edmonton. . . .
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F Curtis Lazar of the Edmonton Oil Kings has been named captain of Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that is being held in the Windsor area. . . . The alternates are D Macoy Erkamps of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Tyson Baillie of the Kelowna Rockets.
Team Pacific arrived in Windsor on Monday, about 9:30 p.m. ET following a four-hour bus ride from Toronto. They had a 6:15 a.m. wakeup call — that’s 3:15 PT. They were on the ice at 9 a.m. ET, or 6 a.m. PT. . . . Team Pacific will play an exhibition game against Sweden this afternoon. . . .
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The Moose Jaw Warriors claimed F Charles Wells, 20, on waivers from the Portland Winterhawks before Christmas. However, the Warriors said Tuesday that Wells has decided not to return to the WHL. “He’s a great kid,” Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “The conversation was very good. He’s just looking at other options at the CIS level and utilizing his WHL scholarship. I think under other circumstances he would have loved to have been a Moose Jaw Warriors, but his heart wasn’t in playing in the league right now.” . . . With that, the Warriors remain with two 20-year-olds on their roster, so have room to add one.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Edmonton Oil Kings became the first Eastern Conference team to reach the 50-point plateau as they whipped the Blades, 7-2. . . . Edmonton forwards Klarc Wilson, Michael St. Croix and Tyler Maxwell each had a goal and two assists. . . . St. Croix’s PP goal at 1:30 of the second period gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. . . . Maxwell has 22 points in 12 games with the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 43 shots in winning for the 21st time this season, a franchise single-season record. The previous record had been held by Torrie Jung (2008-09). . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie made his WHL debut as he came on in relief of Adam Todd, who gave up six goals on 26 shots over two periods. Moodie was beaten once on nine shots. . . . The Blades had F Brent Benson back from injury — he hadn’t played since Nov. 30 — but F Matej Stransky sat this one out. . . . Injured Blades F Josh Nicholls (knee) joined the coaches behind the bench. . . . G Brendan Jensen, 18, whose rights belong to the Vancouver Giants was on the Oil Kings’ bench. Jensen is backing up Laurent Brossoit with Tristan Jarry away at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Jensen has been playing for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . The Oil Kings also had D Ryan Aasman and F Braeden Johnson, 19, in the lineup to help fill some vacancies. . . . Aasman 19, was a first-round selection by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2007 bantam draft. He also has played for Seattle, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. Aasman now is with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . Johnson has 47 points in 37 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Jonas Knutsen, fresh off a stint with Norway’s national junior team, scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Prince Albert Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Broncos. . . . The Raiders nursed a 2-0 lead into the third period only to have the Broncos tie it on goals by F Graham Black, at 1:51, and F Brad Hoban, at 18:12. . . . Prince Albert G Cole Holowenko stopped 40 shots, 20 more than Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde. . . . The Raiders have won four in a row. . . . The Broncos had F Jordan Wittman, 15, from the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires, and F Zac Mackay, 16, also from the Legionnaires, in the lineup. . . . Swift Current F Adam Lowry had surgery on Tuesday to repair a fractured wrist. Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos, reports that Lowry will be in a cast for two months and may miss the remainder of this season. . . . Lowry, one of the WHL’s top power forwards, had 37 points and 90 penalty minutes in 36 games. He also was plus-4 on a team that came out of the break having surrendered 31 more goals than it had scored. . . .
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In Red Deer, G Tyler Bunz stopped 36 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 2-0 victory over the Rebels. . .. Bunz has three shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . He also won his 20th game (20-8-2). He has won at least 20 in each of his last three seasons and has 96 regular-season victories in his career. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-6 on the PP, with D Matthew Konan and D Patrik Parkkonen getting the goals. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice got 17 saves from Mackenzie Skapski and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . F Brock Montgomery broke a 1-1 tie at 2:16 of the second period and the Ice went on to build a 4-1 lead. . . . The Hurricanes were able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum, and that included F Harper Harrison, 17, who was brought in from the junior B Airdrie Thunder. . . . Harrison was a ninth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The teams combined for 90 penalty minutes, 48 to the Ice. But Lethbridge was only 1-for-9 on the PP. . . .
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In Vancouver, Russian F Alex Kuvaev paid dividends in his first game with the Giants, scoring in regulation and getting the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Kuvaev, 18, played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes; he had 24 points in 58 games. He chose to start this season in Russia. . . . The Giants, who have won three in a row and four of six with Glen Hanlon running the bench, held 2-0 and 3-2 leads before F Dylan Willick tied it at 17:41 of the third. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 35 shots, three more than Kamloops’ Cole Cheveldave. . . . Kamloops has lost its last two games 4-3 in shootouts. It closed out the pre-Christmas schedule with a loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . Vancouver F Nathan Burns scored the game’s first goal. He had missed 15 games with an ankle injury. . . . The Giants were missing seven players between injuries and Christmas tournaments. They have added F Brodyn Nielsen, 17, from the junior B North Vancouver Wolf Pack, and F Logan Harland, 16, from the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs, to their roster. . . . The Blazers added D Jordan Thomson, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, to their roster. Thomson made his WHL debut by playing on a forward line. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Kamloops. . . .
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In Kelowna, the Spokane Chiefs scored two PP goals and went on to dump the Rockets, 4-1. . . . F Mitch Holmberg and F Marek Kalus scored PP goals to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead by 14:18 of the second. . . . Holmberg finished with two goals, giving him 12, and an assist. . . . D Myles Bell was back in Kelowna’s lineup after not playing since Nov. 12. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., F Colin Jacobs scored in the shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Jacobs, Seattle’s first shooter, was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . . Everett is 1-6 in shootouts this season. . . . The seven shootouts is a WHL high. . . . They play again tonight in Everett.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Dalton Thrower, Saskatoon.
D Neil Manning, Vancouver.
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If you haven’t seen Don Cherry’s Piano Desk, you are in for a real treat . . . not to mention a real chuckle. Check it out right here.
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If you click right here, you will find an interesting letter to the editor that appeared on the Vancouver Sun’s website on Tuesday. It is from a mother who took her eight-year-old daughter to the Vancouver Giants’ Teddy Bear toss game.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) signed a tryout contract with Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga), terms not announced. He had two assists in five games during a tryout with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A) at the start of the season that was interrupted by a broken jaw. He then was with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL), where he had one goal in 21games before being released. Sindel played in SM-Liiga last season for Pelicans Lahti, getting 15 goals and 18 assists in 59 games. There is a family history in Finland as well. His father, G Jaromir Sindel, played in SM-Liiga for five years, from 1989 to 1994.
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It was almost 20 years ago when Marc Habscheid got into coaching. Now the GM/head coach of the Victoria Royals, Habscheid started out with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs.
“I loved it in Melfort, small-town Saskatchewan,” Habscheid tells Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. “One day I came home and there was a bag of vegetables at my door from a fan and a ‘thank you’ for coaching their team. How can you beat it? Cobs of corn for coaching. Do you think Ron Wilson gets that sort of thing in Toronto?”
For more from Matty’s Hockey World, including more from Habscheid and some good stuff from Paul Coffey on concussions, click right here.
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There has never been a subscription fee for this blog and I doubt that there ever will. So if you stop by here and enjoy what you find, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE . . . and have a Merry Christmas!
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In the SJHL on Saturday night, the Humboldt Broncos beat the host La Ronge Ice Wolves 3-2 in a shootout. . . . Humboldt F Ryan Marshall, who didn’t score on his first attempt, got the winner in a shootout that went 17 rounds. The goaltenders — Humboldt’s Matt Hrynkiw and La Ronge’s Alex Rajotte — gave up only three goals in the shootout. . . . F Zac Ashdown scored on La Ronge’s first shootout attempt and that was it for the Ice Wolves. The next 16 shooters all came up short.
Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here.
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Cam Tucker of the Vancouver Sun checks in with Bruce Banman, the new mayor of Abbotsford, B.C., and the subject is the AHL’s Heat.
Banman told Tucker that had he been the mayor he wouldn’t have signed the 10-year deal that brought the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate to the city.
But the deal was done and Abbotsford is working with the Heat in an attempt to improve attendance.
That story is right here.
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The Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers both concluded East Division swings on Saturday night and then headed for home. The Rockets were coming off a 5-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades; the Blazers dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
After both teams stopped at the airport in Calgary, they continued on their way west. And they ended up sitting side-by-side on the Trans-Canada Highway, between Golden and Rogers Pass, while avalanche control was taking place. It seems the delay was about 75 minutes.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors claimed F Charles Wells, 20, on waivers last week, but it sounds as though the club isn’t expecting him to report.
Wells left the Portland Winterhawks last week and was placed on their suspended list. He was then put on waivers as the Winterhawks got down to the league-mandated maximum of three 20-year-olds.
The Warriors had room for a 20-year-old because F Sebastian Svendsen went home to Demark late last month.
“We did put a claim in on him in the understanding that we weren’t sure where his interest level was in remaining in the WHL,” Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “We’ve had one conversation with Charles at this time and the indication is that he’s thinking about things, but in essence doesn’t seem like he’s all that prepared to remain in the league right now.
“We’re going to talk again on Boxing Day, but I would think that right now it would be unlikely that he will join us after the break.”
Gourlie’s complete story is right here.
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SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
The WHL’s Christmas break didn’t begin until the very last second of the third period of the last game, as that’s when F Jordan Weal scored to give the Regina Pats a 6-5 victory over the host Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Weal’s second goal of the game, and 30th of the season, came on a breakaway at 19:59 of the third period. . . . The Oil Kings had won 11 straight games. They also had won 15 in a row at home. . . . This was an afternoon game, meaning the Pats played three road games in a span of 42 hours. Now think about that for a few moments — and you’re free to wonder what the schedulemaker was thinking!. . . . D Colton Jobke also scored twice for Regina, which got three helpers from each of F Morgan Klimchuk and D Brandon Davidson. . . . “We demand so much from our kids and then to have them play three games in 42 hours, it’s a real credit to them,” Regina head coach Pat Conacher told Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post. “They saddled up and went back at it again. It was awesome.” . . . Conacher also admitted to Hamilton that he was preparing for OT when Weal scored the winner. “Art Bidlevskii had the puck behind the net and I was telling him to stay there to make sure we got the point,” Conacher told Hamilton. “But he threw it up the boards to Klimchuk, Morgan made a great pass to Jordan in the neutral zone and he went in and potted it.” . . . Regina was 2-1-0 in its three-game weekend which actually was three games in less than two days. . . .
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If you haven’t already seen it, check out the Edmonton Oil Kings’ Christmas video. This, undoubtedly, is the highlight of the WHL’s festive season. If it doesn’t bring a smile, you definitely are a Grinch. . . . If that link doesn't work, try this one right here.
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Tyler Bunz, the Medicine Hat Tigers’ starting goaltender, saw that video and tweeted:
“like to give a shout out to the @EdmOilKings for their christmas video.. made me laugh. @wilson_oh9 shoulda been an actor..job well done sir.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
The MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons made a coaching change Friday after head coach Rich Gosselin resigned. . . . The Pistons are in their third season and Gosselin (Flin Flon, 1973-76) had been their only head coach. . . . Assistant coach Paul Dyck (Moose Jaw, 1989-91) took over as head coach. . . . The Pistons are 12-22-4 and in last place in the six-team Addison Division. 

The Portland Winterhawks will visit the Chiefs in Spokane tonight for what will be the last game for both teams before the Christmas break.
It also will be the last game that old friend Dave Trimmer will cover for the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Trimmer, the man on the Chiefs’ beat for the newspaper, is taking an early retirement.
Here’s hoping the two teams give him something memorable about which to write.
Make it a good one, Trim!
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JUST NOTES:
After getting F Oliver Gabriel back from the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, the Portland Winterhawks had two weeks to move one of their four 20-year-olds players. They did Friday, losing F Charles Wells on a waiver claim by the Moose Jaw Warriors. Wells had seven points and four penalty minutes in 31 games with Portland. . . . Wells, perhaps having seen the writing on the wall, had left the Winterhawks on Wednesday and was on their suspended list. . . . His departure leaves Portland with Gabriel, F Dillon Wagner and D William Wrenn as its 20-year-old players. . . . The Warriors now have three on their roster, in Wells, F Brett Lyon and F Kenton Miller. . . .
The Vancouver Giants will be adding Russian F Alex Kuvaev, 18, to their roster after Christmas. He is expected to be in Vancouver in time to play against the visiting Kamloops Blazers on Dec. 27. Kuvaev played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes but was released after the season. His right were picked up by Kootenay, but the Ice dropped him when he said he was going to play in Russia. When that didn’t work out so well, he decided to return to the WHL, by which time the Giants had added him to their protected list. . . . 
The BCHL’s Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 17 on Friday night, beating the visiting Westside Warriors, 5-1. Penticton tied a franchise record with the victory and can break the record tonight when they play host to the Powell River Kings. It should be a good match. The Vees go into the game with a 29-3-0-2 record; the Kings are 18-10-2-2 and just three points behind the Coastal Conference-leading Cowichan Valley Capitals. . . . The Kings boast the BCHL’s best defensive record, giving up just 2.34 goals per game. The Vees are scoring 5.29 times per game; they are the only team in the 16-team league scoring more than four goals a game. . . .
The NHL’s New Jersey Devils retired the number (27) that was worn by retired D Scott Niedermayer, who is a product of the Kamloops Blazers. Think about this for a moment: Niedermayer has won six different championships — Stanley Cup, Olympic gold medal, World Cup of Hockey, World Championship, World Junior Championship and Memorial Cup. . . . I mean, seriously, think about that for a moment! . . .
Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reported early this morning that  F Trevor Cameron, 19, who was released by the club earlier in the week, has joined the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles.
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FRIDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Brandon, F Colin Smith broke a 2-2 tie at 3:29 of the third period as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . Smith’s goal came with the Blazers shorthanded; it was their WHL-leading 12th shorthanded goal of the season. They scored four all of last season. . . . Smith has 39 points, including 18 goals, in 34 games. Last season, in 72 games, he finished with 50 points, 21 of them goals. . . . Brandon has allowed a shorthanded goal in each of its last three games. . . . Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave stopped 29 shots as he ran his record to 16-4-1. He is an 18-year-old freshman from Calgary who was the AJHL’s rookie of the year last season with the Drumheller Dragons. He has started seven straight games and 14 of 15. . . . Kamloops is 3-2-0 on an East Division swing that concludes tonight against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Blazers associate coach Dave Hunchak spent the previous four seasons as Moose Jaw’s head coach. His contract wasn’t renewed after last season. . . . Brandon F Alessio Bertaggia sat this one out with a shoulder injury. Health permitting, he will play for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship. . . . Kamloops remains without F Jordan DePape (shoulder, out until at least March), F Chase Schaber (leg) and F Matt Needham (head). . . . DePape joined the Blazers for part of the road trip, but returned home to Winnipeg after the game in Brandon. . . .
 
In Prince Albert, F Michal Hlinka ended the sixth round of a shootout with a goal to give the Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Raiders have won five in a row at home. . . . The Rockets led this one 1-0 and 2-1, before Prince Albert F Mark McNeill tied it at 9:18 of the third period with his 15th goal of the season. . . . F Justin Maylan had a goal, his 18th, and an assist for the Raiders. . . . Kelowna is 1-2-2 on its East Division trek. It wraps up tonight against the Saskatoon Blades. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Blades, 4-2. . . . F Brett Brooks, a 17-year-old from Winnipeg, scored his first goal – it came in his 21st game – and it stood up as the winner. He broke a 2-2 tie at 12:54 of the second period. . . . The Blades had F Jake Trask back in the lineup after he served a two-game WHL suspension. . . . Moose Jaw G Luke Siemens stopped 37 shots. . . . Among Moose Jaw’s scratches was F Cody Beach, who was serving a one-game WHL suspension for accumulation of embellishment penalties. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Elgin Pearce scored the lone shootout goal as the Kootenay Ice edged the Swift Current Broncos, 5-4. . . . Pearce, who scored three times in regulation time, was the only scorer to score in the shootout. . . . He has 14 goals this season. . . . The Ice went into the game having won just once in its previous six outings. . . . Pearce forced OT with his third goal of the game, at 17:03 of the third. . . . Swift Current F Taylor Vause scored his 21st goal of the season; it was his 150th career point. . . . During the game, the Ice lost F Joe Antilla and F Max Reinhart with undisclosed injuries. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Brady Ramsay scored at 1:22 of OT to give the Hurricanes a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . It was Ramsay’s 13th goal this season. . . . Lethbridge D Daniel Johnston scored his first goal of the season at 6:47 of the third period to forge a 4-4 tie. Johnston, a 19-year-old from Calgary, also had two assists for the first three-point game of his career. He had had seven career two-point games. This was the 173rd regular-season game of his career. . . . Johnston has five points over his last two games; he has 11 points in 20 games this season. . . F Phil Tot also had a goal and two assists for Lethbridge. . . . The Royals got two goals and an assist from D Jesse Pauls. . . . The Hurricanes have won three in a row and seven of 10. . . .

In Prince George, the Vancouver Giants scored three third-period goals and beat the Cougars, 3-2. . . . The Cougars took a 1-0 lead into the third period. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houck broke a 2-2 tie with his fourth goal of the season at 10:19. . . . F Cain Franson had a goal, his 12th, and two assists for the Giants. . . . The Cougars had won three in a row. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 19 shots as he posted his 20th victory. . . . The start of the game was delayed after a pane of glass was broken in the pregame warmup. This is the third time in the last four games that the Giants have gone through this. . . . The Giants have brought in F Brodyn Nielsen and D Tyler Morrison to help them through the weekend. They are without F Brendan Gallagher (Canada) and F Marek Tvrdon (Slovakia), both of whom are preparing for the World Junior Championship, while D David Musil (Czech Republic) is to leave today. . . . Nielsen, 17, plays for the North Vancouver Wolf Pack of the junior B Pacific International league. He had 20 points in 24 games going into the weekend. Morrison, 16, is playing midget AAA in Sherwood Park, Alta. . . . The Cougars were without D Martin Marincin, who will play for Slovakia in the WJC. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Brendan Shinnimin had two goals and two assists as the Tri-City Americans beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-1. . . . F Patrick Holland and F Adam Hughesman each had a goal and two assists. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 23 shots. The 16-year-old has a record of 12-3-0. . . . Seattle took 53 of 96 penalty minutes in a game that featured six fighting majors. The teams play again tonight, this time in Kent, Wash. . . . The Americans were 3-for-6 on the PP. . . . Hughesman’s goal was his 113th with the Americans, tying him with Dylan Stanley for seventh on the franchise’s career list. Hughesman moved ahead of Taylor Procyshen and Eric Johansson last night. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips ended their 10-game losing skid with a 6-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 44 shots, 19 of them in the second period when his side was outshot 21-4. . . . The Silvertips trailed 2-1 after the first period but then scored three times in the second and twice in the third. . . . Everett F Josh Winquist scored twice, giving him seven this season. . . . Spokane took 44 of 86 penalty minutes in a game that included four scraps. . . . Former Everett G Leland Irving made his NHL debut last night, stopping 39 of 41 shots for the Calgary Flames as they dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the host Florida Panthers. . . . Irving was selected as the game’s first star. . . . Former Spokane D Jared Cowen, who is 20, had a goal and three assists to help the Ottawa Senators to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 28:11 and was plus-3. . . .

In Calgary, G Matt Hewitt stopped 32 shots as the Regina Pats beat the Hitmen, 3-2. . . . F Trevor Cheek gave Calgary a 1-0 lead in the first period. . . . The Pats got the next three goals, with F Jordan Weal tying it with his 18th at 6:51 and F Justin Kirkland giving the Pats the lead with his first at 17:18. . . . Kirkland, who played three games with the Kelowna Rockets earlier this season, was playing his first game with Regina. . . . According to the WHL website, Kirkland was born on Nov. 30, 2011, meaning he was 16 days old when he scored his first goal. . . . Actually, Kirkland is a 15-year-old from Camrose, Alta., who has 16 points in 26 games with the midget AAA Notre Dame Argos in Wilcox, Sask. . . . He was a fifth-round selection by the Kelowna Rockets in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . (As you can see from the two comments on the end of this, Kirkland was, in fact, playing for the Kelowna Rockets. Apparently, the Pats' goal scorer was Lane Scheidl. Just another error with the WHL website.) . . . Calgary F Brady Brassart was given a match penalty for attempt to injure late in the third period. He likely can expect a call from the WHL office. . . .
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Dylan McIlrath, Moose Jaw.
D Sam Grist, Tri-City (double minor).
D Tyler King, Spokane.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Brad Schell (Spokane, 1999-2004) signed a one-month tryout contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Nationalliga). He didn’t play last season, and had 18 assists in 12 games with the Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL) two seasons ago.
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You may have heard of the EDGE Program — or EDGE Project, as it is sometimes referred to — and wondered what it is.
In brief, it involves various WHL teams who send players to Vancouver’s downtown east side, accompanied by RCMP officers, to experience the other side of life. The players return to their communities and in school visits recount what they have seen and experienced.
What follows, however, explains it better than I could. It is from the parent of a WHL player and it arrived in my inbox on Tuesday morning. More than anything, it sheds some light on what this kind of experience can mean to a teenager who, for the most part, enjoys the good life.
“Reading your column today — re: the Blazers players who took part in the EDGE program with the Vancouver Police — reminded me of my son's experience last year doing the same thing. He was completely overwhelmed by the experience and to this day speaks about it with his friends and anyone who will listen.
“Perhaps the most amazing thing he experienced was speaking with a ‘tired old beaten up guy’ who lived on the street day to day, begging and grovelling for cash to support his crystal meth addiction.
“My son was, at first, judgmental and unable to see how someone could allow himself to fall so far into a life of despair and emptiness. He was even more stunned as the police officer, moments later and once alone with my son, spoke more about the fellow.
“As my son listened in stunned silence, the officer explained why he had spent, what seemed like an unusual amount of time speaking with the guy and just spending time.
“It turns out the guy had been the young officer's science teacher no more than four years earlier — a happily married father of two with a home, a career and a future. Out of sheer curiosity, one evening he decided to see what all the fuss was about and made a fateful, tragic decision. Immediately hooked, he spent the next few weeks sneaking about to feed the dragon. Within months, he was penniless and deeply in debt.
“Upon discovering the terrible truth when the family home was seized, his wife and children moved back in with her family and then she did everything anyone could possibly do to help him find his way back. Nothing worked.
“My son told me that this fellow is completely aware of what he has done. He is obviously bright, yet also knows that for him it is over. He has neither the ability nor strength to fight this demon. It is tragic.
“Until seeing something like that first hand, my son was like many of us. His opinion of street people was that they should just get their shit together, that there is no reason for them to be where they are. All they need to do is put their minds to it and quit bothering everyone.
“He now knows that things are not quite that simple; that it can happen to anyone, and that few ‘choose’ a life of quiet desperation.
“The EDGE Program deserves our utmost respect.”
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The Portland Winterhawks, obviously wondering how many veteran players won’t be returning from NHL camps in the next little while, have acquired F Charles Wells, 20, from the Prince Albert Raiders.
In exchange, the Winterhawks gave up a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
The Raiders acquired Wells from the Seattle Thunderbirds last season. All told, he put up 36 points in 63 games. He has played 234 regular-season games and has 113 points, including 41 goals.
Portland now shows six 20-year-olds on its roster, with Wells joining F Oliver Gabriel, F Riley Boychuk, D Brett Ponich, D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn. Of that group, only Wrenn is back with the Winterhawks after a stint at an NHL camp.
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JUST NOTES: The Prince George Cougars have signed F Carson Bolduc, a 15-year-old from Kamloops who was the 59th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. He had 98 points in 61 games with the bantam Tier 1 Kamloops Jardine’s Blazers. Bolduc is scheduled to make his WHL debut on Jan. 1 when the Cougars meet the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . The Regina Pats have returned D Brody Luhning, 19, to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. He had three assists in three exhibition games. The Pats are down to 24 players, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen. That total doesn’t include three players at NHL camps — F Jordan Weal (Los Angeles Kings), D Brandon Davidson (Edmonton Oilers) and F Garrett Mitchell (Washington Capitals). . . . F Brenden Walker of the Brandon Wheat Kings has received medical clearance to resume workouts. He hasn’t played since suffering a concussion during the playoffs last spring.
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A few more players headed from NHL camps back to the WHL . . . D Darren Dietz, Montreal to Saskatoon; F Mark Stone, Ottawa to Brandon; D Jordan Fransoo, Ottawa to Brandon; F Kevin Sundher, from Buffalo to Victoria; D Mark Pysyk, from Buffalo to Edmonton; G Nathan Lieuwen, Buffalo to Kootenay; and F Josh Birkholz, Florida to Everett.
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“The Victoria Royals still haven’t played a regular season game,” writes Darren Kloster of the Victoria Times Colonist, “but the Western Hockey League team is already flying high on fan response and an eager corporate community willing to back them.
“In dramatic fashion Tuesday afternoon, a Harbour Air seaplane painted in Royals logo and colours deftly touched down in Victoria Harbour, unloading a dozen smiling players in freshly unwrapped uniforms.”
Check out Kloster’s story and a photo right here.
The Royals also announced that their home-opener — the Vancouver Giants come calling on Saturday night — is sold out.
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Neate Sager at Yahoo! Sports has put up an interesting piece involving David Branch, the commissioner of the OHL, and his views on fighting.
That piece is right here.
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Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail writes about Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron and his thoughts on concussions in hockey. That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Monday's stuff . . .

There isn’t anything to report on the Chilliwack-to-Victoria front, at least not as of late Monday night.
Except that Oren Koules says he isn’t interested.
Koules, a former co-owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, told me via email that he “was shocked to read my name . . . I have never inquired about a WHL team . . . huge fan of the league . . . fan not owner.”
Koules is a former WHL player (Portland, Great Falls, Medicine Hat, Spokane, Calgary, Brandon, 1979-82) who went on to make his mark in the entertainment world.
Among other things, he has been the executive producer of 161 episodes of, yes, Two and a Half Men.
Check out his IMDB right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders are involved in a scrap for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot and are getting back G Jamie Tucker in time for the last two weeks of the regular season. He has been out a month with a badly cut thumb. That’s the good news for Raiders fans. The bad news is that F Charles Wells now is out with a separated shoulder. . . . Raiders radio voice Drew Wilson also reports that the club has added D Josh Morrissey, the sixth pick in the 2010 bantam draft, to their roster. His midget AAA team in Calgary is done, so he’ll finish up the season with the Raiders. . . .
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Should the Regina Pats qualify for the playoffs, they will play first-round games in the Queen City, after all.
The Brandt Centre, the Pats’ home arena, won’t be available due to the World men’s curling championship, so the team will move into the Co-operators Centre, which is on the grounds at Evraz Place.
Seating capacity will be 1,278, plus standing room, so season-ticket holders will get the first crack at tickets.
Games 3 and 4 of the first-round series would be played in Regina, with tentative dates of march 29 and 30.
The Pats are 10th in the Eastern Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.
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The Portland Winterhawks are 20-6-0 since Jan. 8. Why is that date relevant? It was on that day that the Winterhawks had access to all of their players for the first time in more than a month.
Since that date, Portland has outscored its opponents 128-81.
Graham Kendrick, their crack director of media and public relations, came up with a neat chart on Monday. Here is the Winterhawks’ record, showing their one six-week slump with players going to and coming from Christmas tournaments:
Sept. 25 - Nov. 20: 20-3-0-1
Nov. 21 - Dec. 31: 5-9-0-2
Jan. 8 - Present: 20-6-0-0
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JUST NOTES: As was reported Friday by Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Tampa Bay Lightning has signed Spokane Chiefs C Tyler Johnson, 30, to a three-year NHL deal. Johnson, who is tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead and is second in points, was a free agent. . . . Johnson also is a native of Spokane. . . . F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points, including seven goals, in four games last week. . . . Lucas Gore of the Chilliwack Bruins is the WHL’s nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He was 4-0-0, 1.00, .968 last week.
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Your Tuesday morning feast . . .

One day after the Kootenay Ice sent five players and three bantam draft picks to the Swift Current Broncos for C Cody Eakin, 19, the Brandon Wheat Kings dealt C Brayden Schenn, 19, and a 2012 third-round bantam draft pick to the Saskatoon Blades for two prospects, three bantam draft picks and an import draft pick.
Schenn is a native of Saskatoon and the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs D Luke Schenn.
The Wheat Kings ended up with Saskatoon’s first-round bantam picks in 2011 and 2012, and a second-round selection in 2011, as well as a first-round selection in the CHL’s 2012 import draft.
As for the two prospects, F Tim McGauley of Wilcox, Sask., and D Ayrton Nikkel of Kelowna were the Blades’ top two selections in the 2010 bantam draft, one that is considered to be the deepest in recent history.
McGauley was taken by the Blades with the 20^th pick of the 2010 draft. They then grabbed Nikkel with the 42^nd selection.
McGauley plays for the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, for whom he has 20 points, including seven goals, in 30 games. Last season, he had 103 points for the bantam Lumsden-Bethune Contacts.
Nikkel has 30 points, 10 of them goals, in 33 games with the midget AAA team at the Program of Excellence in Kelowna.
McGauley was pointless in five games with the Blades this season, while Nikkel played one game with them, without a point, on their B.C. Division swing. The Blades had Nikkel make his WHL debut on Dec. 4 in his hometown against the Rockets.
In a team-issued press release, Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner, GM and head coach, explained his thinking in making the deal:
“This trade is a very important trade for our franchise. We felt that it was important to recover from some of the moves we made to build our team for last season’s Memorial Cup. When we were awarded the Cup in October 2008, we felt then that it might be a three year process with today’s move being part of that process.
“Acquiring picks and prospects that include three first-round bantam draft selections, and two second-round picks, along with a first-round import draft choice was a return we could not afford to ignore.”
Schenn, who wore No. 10 in Brandon, will wear No. 21 with the Blades. Saskatoon has retired No. 10 in honour of Brian Skrudland.
Schenn starred for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo; in fact, he was selected as the tournament’s MVP. However, he returned with a shoulder injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Because he started this season with the Los Angeles Kings, who selected him fifth overall in the 2009 NHL draft, Schenn played only two games -- he had four points -- with Brandon before leaving for the Canadian junior team selection camp.
In 197 career regular-season games with Brandon, Schenn had 264 points, including 95 goals. He added 40 points in 33 playoff games.
Shortly after the trade was made official, Schenn posted on his Facebook page:
“Thanks Brandon. you will be missed, but I am looking forward to playing for the Blades.” He also left a YouTube link to Ozzy Osbourne’s Mama, I’m coming Home.
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One thing worth remembering is that the Blades are an original WHL team, having been in the league since 1966-67. Saskatoon, in fact, is the only franchise to have played in every WHL season.
And it has never won a Memorial Cup.
The Blades appeared in the 1989 tournament as the host team and lost the championship game in overtime to the Swift Current Broncos.
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While doing an interview with Drew Wilson of radio station CKBI in Prince Albert on Monday, I was asked if there was a winner on deadline day.
I suggested that it would be Kootenay or Saskatoon, should one of those teams win the WHL championship. I also said that I really liked the acquisition of D Matt MacKenzie by the Tri-City Americans because he is a terrific player with Memorial Cup experience.
However, upon further review as they say in football, I have had a change of mind.
The winner on deadline day might well be D Tanner Sohn, a 19-year-old from Medicine Hat. He was traded by the Vancouver Giants to the Saskatoon Blades for a 10^th-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
Sohn was a 13^th-round selection by the Blades in 2006. He played one game with the Blades in 2007-08 and three more in 2008-09. He got into 29 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season, was dealt to Vancouver for a 2012 sixth-round pick and played 31 games with the Giants this season before being sent home last week to await a move.
Somewhere I seem to recall reading that Sohn was ninth on the Giants’ defensive depth chart at the time.
Now Sohn isn’t going to join the Blades on a full-time basis just yet. He is going to play with Saskatoon this weekend and then return to the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. But he could well end up with the Blades for at least part of their playoff run.
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Interestingly, the Sohn swap was the only trade made Monday that involved a B.C. Division team. And when was the last time that Bruce Hamilton, the president and GM of the Kelowna Rockets, didn’t make a move at the deadline? I’m told that Hamilton, at least at one point, was in the Schenn Sweepstakes but you have to think the price of poker was too high for him and Lorne Frey, the Rockets’ assistant GM and director of player personnel.
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It was a year ago when the Regina Pats were surrounded in speculation -- would they trade F Jordan Eberle or D Colten Teubert? Teubert had been selected by the Los Angeles Kings with the 13^th overall pick of the 2009 NHL draft; Eberle went to the Edmonton Oilers with that draft’s 22^nd pick.
In the end, Parker, who was the Pats’ general manager, hung on to both Eberle and Teubert.
Yesterday, I asked Parker if he had received any offers close to what Kootenay paid for Cody Eakin or what Saskatoon coughed up for Brayden Schenn.
Parker, now the Pats’ president, responded: “Not even close to it, and that was for both of our guys.”
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The Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Ryan Button from the Prince Albert Raiders for F Charles Wells and a first-round selection in the 2011 import draft. I’m told that this deal also includes a conditional draft pick going to Prince Albert, presumably payable should Button return for his 20-year-old season.
Button, 19, is from Edmonton and was in his fourth season with the Raiders. This season, he has 23 points, including 20 assist, in 44 games. In his fourth WHL season, he has 101 points in 240 career regular-season games. He was a second-round pick by the Raiders in the 2006 bantam draft and a third-round selection by the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s 2009 draft.
Wells, who also is from Edmonton, has 27 points, 11 of them goals, in 41 games with Seattle this season. In 212 regular-season games, he has 104 points with Seattle. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2006 bantam draft.
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The Raiders then sent Danish F Sebastian Svendsen, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for Slovakian F Michal Hlinka, 17, and third- and sixth-round picks in the 2011 bantam draft.
Svendsen also has played for the Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings. The Raiders dealt F Jordan Hickmott, 20, to the Oil Kings for him over the summer. This season, Svendsen has 34 points, including 17 goals, in 44 games.
Hlinka, the 28^th overall pick in the 2010 CHL import draft, had six points in 22 games with Moose Jaw.
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The Regina Pats dealt D Mitch Spooner, 18, to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. Spooner, from Port Moody, B.C., had five points in 15 games with Regina. He had been acquired last season from the Vancouver Giants, who selected him with the 19^th overall pick of the 2007 bantam draft.
Spooner had left the Pats in November for personal reasons.
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The Everett Silvertips dealt two veterans -- F Kellan Tochkin, 19, and D Alex Theriau, 18, -- to the Medicine Hat Tigers for F Ryan Harrison, 18, and a 2011 second-round bantam pick.
Harrison, from Kelowna, has 122 points and 295 penalty minutes in 176 career games. This season, in 40 games, he has 33 points and 47 penalty minutes. He was selected by the Prince Albert Raiders with the 29^th pick of the 2007 WHL draft and was dealt to the Tigers last summer.
Tochkin, from Abbotsford, B.C., was the 13^th overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft. He has 179 points in 185 games with Everett and has signed with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks as a free agent. This season, he has 36 points in 38 games.
Theriau was the sixth overall pick by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2007 bantam draft and moved to Everett in a deal that included F Kyle Beach going the other way two years ago. Theriau has 36 points and 125 penalty minutes in 166 WHL games. This season, he has seven poins and 27 PMs in 37 games.
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The Tri-City Americans acquired D Matt MacKenzie, 19, from the Calgary Hitmen for F Brooks Macek, 18, D Spencer Humphries, 18, and a conditional 2012 third-round bantam draft pick. Calgary gets a third-rounder should MacKenzie return for his 20-year-old season.
MacKenzie, a third-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2010 draft, has 23 points and 50 penalty minutes in 40 games this season. In 192 career games with the Hitmen, he has 83 points and 144 penalty minutes. He was a second-round pick in the 2006 bantam draft.
Macek, a second-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, is from Winnipeg. He has 24 points in 38 games this season and 121 points in 170 career games. He was a second-round pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2010 NHL draft.
Humphries, from Delta, B.C., was a list player. He has five points and 50 penalty minutes in 34 games this season.
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F Justin Dowling, 20, is the new captain of the Swift Current Broncos. F Cody Eakin, 19, who was traded to the Kootenay Ice on Sunday, had been the Broncos’ captain. . . . The Broncos will have a new face on the ice at practice today, but just for this practice. F Graham Black of the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, whose rights the Broncos acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings over Christmas, is going to skate with the Broncos today. Black, a 17-year-old who leads the Saskatchewan midget AAA league in goals (35) and points (54), wants to see how he stacks up at this level. However, he has yet to decide whether to take the WHL route or the NCAA road. . . . Black has a 12-point lead atop his league’s points race and leads the goal-scoring derby by 14. . . .
D Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades is the WHL’s player of the week. He had six points in two games, both of which the Blades won. . . . Darcy Kuemper is the WHL’s nominee as goaltender of the week. He was 1-0-1, with a 0.96 GAA and a .962 save percentage last week. . . . The Spokane Chiefs have assigned D Kyle Krzyzaniak to the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. Krzyzaniak, 18, was pointless in seven games. . . . The Calgary Hitmen also removed three players from their roster. D Brody Luhning, 18, who joined the Hitmen after the Christmas break, is back with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. He was pointless in five games with the Hitmen. D Carter Berg, who had three points in 36 games, is off to the SJHL, likely to the Melfort Mustangs. Berg was taken in the second round of the 2007 bantam draft by the Chilliwack Bruins. And G Juraj Holly, 19, has returned to his native Slovakia. In his first WHL season, he was 1-6-0, 3.93, .869. Holly’s departure leaves the Hitmen with two goaltenders -- Michael Snider, 19, and Brandon Glover, 18. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors have assigned F Mackenzie Royer, 18, to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. Royer was acquired earlier in the season in a multi-player deal with the Calgary Hitmen. He had nine points in 19 games with Moose Jaw after putting up two points in 16 games with Calgary. . . . In the BCHL, F Kyle St. Denis, 20, wasn’t dealt to the Trail Smoke Eaters by the Victoria Grizzlies, so if he is to play this season it will have to be in the B.C. capital. I’m told Victoria asked for cash and a top six forward, something the injury-riddled Smokies weren’t prepared to do. The Smoke Eaters had kept a 20-year-old spot open for St. Denis, but later filled it by acquiring F Nic DeSousa from the Prince George Spruce Kings.
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Here’s another big trade from the WHL’s past. . . . On Oct. 31, 1986, the Regina Pats dealt F Brent Fedyk, F Ken MacIntyre, F Garnet Kaziuk, D Gerald Bzdel and D Kevin Kowalchuk to the Seattle Thunderbirds for F Craig Endean, F Ray Savard, D Grant Chorney and F Erin Ginnell. . . . I also believe that each team received a list player in the exchange. I can’t recall who went to Seattle, but I believe that’s how Regina landed F Frank Kovacs, who went on to play on Regina’s PUP line with fellow 16-year-olds Jamie Heward and Mike Sillinger. All three are Regina natives.

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