Friday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Petr Kalus (Regina, 2005-06) signed a tryout contract with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland SM-Liiga). He had seven goals and two assists in 45 games split between the Houston Aeros and Springfield Falcons (both AHL) this season. Jokerit GM Jarmo Kekäläinen: "Kalus is an interesting player, who looked like an NHL player when he was 18. He had a good start to his professional career in Boston. Now with us he has the opportunity to rebound." Kalus's tryout contract goes until Aug. 30. . . .
F Brett Lysak (Regina, 1996-2001) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 19 assists in 36 games with Jesenice (Slovenia, playes in Austria Erste Bank Liga) and two goals in three games with SönderjyskE Vojens (Denmark AL-Bank Ligaen) this season. 99ers head coach Mario Richer: "Brett represents strong offensive hockey, the style we will play in Graz next season. He has great experience and that will help our young team." . . .
D Tim Wedderburn (Prince George, 1998-2002) signed a one-year contract extension with the Braehead Clan (UK Elite). He had one goal and 16 assists in 54 games for the Glasgow-based Clan this season. Clan head coach Bruce Richardson: "Tim is one of those guys that every team needs. He's dependable, focused, a true leader, very motivational, and he knows his position well. He's a true professional on the ice and off and in the dressing room, he is just a great guy to be around.”
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It would seem that the hockey fans in Chilliwack can forget about a WHL franchise, at least for this season. The Chilliwack Times reported Friday that the WHL and the Chiefs Development Group, which manages Prospera Centre, haven’t spoken in two weeks. In the meantime, CDG and the owners of the BCHL’s Quesnel Millionaires have chatted. That story is right here.
chilliwacktimes.com/sports/trying+cash+Millionaires/4696079/story.html
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Every spring, the QMJHL holds a prospects luncheon before its annual draft. This year, however, the QMJHL has cancelled the luncheon. Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle Herald explains things right here, in an interesting piece on players manipulating the system, not that there is anything wrong with that.
———
Mike Ozanian of Forbes takes a look at the latest news involving Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, and his pursuit of the NHL’s Dallas Stars right here. The headline is interesting: Tom Gaglardi makes offer to buy Dallas Stars without cash.
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ON THE ICE FRIDAY:

LEVKO KOPER

In Spokane, F Levko Koper scored three goals and set up another as the Chiefs dumped the Portland Winterhawks, 8-3. . . . That ties the Western Conference final, 2-2, with Game 5 at the Rose Garden in Portland tonight. . . . The winner will meet the Kootenay Ice in the WHL championship series. . . . The first three games of this series were one-goal games with Portland winning two of them. . . . The Chiefs held period leads of 2-1 and 5-2. . . . Koper has eight goals in these playoffs. He scored three times in 7:55 as the Chiefs stretched a 4-2 lead to 7-2. . . . Spokane F Collin Valcourt, who went into the game with five points in 14 games, had his first goal and three assists. Yes, it was the first four-point game in the WHL for the Red Deer native, who turned 18 on March 18. . . . Portland got a goal and two assists from F Ryan Johansen. . . . Johansen has 20 points, including 10 goals, in 14 games. . . . Koper’s second goal, at 3:43 of the third, sent Portland G Mac Carruth to the bench, with Keith Hamilton coming on in relief. Carruth gave up six goals on 28 shots. . . . Hamilton stopped 11 of 13 shots. . . . Spokane G James Reid made 27 saves. Mac Engel came on for the last 5;37 and stopped seven of eight shots. . . . Spokane was 1-for-10 on the PP; Portland was 2-for-7. . . . The Winterhawks took 60 of 94 penalty minutes. . . . Attendance was 8,412. . . . Game 6 is scheduled for Spokane on Monday, with a seventh game, if necessary, to be played in Portland on Tuesday. . . . That means that if the series goes seven games the teams will finish by having played four games in five nights.
———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
F Brendan Leipsic, Portland
F Nino Niederreiter, Portland

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

The saga of the Chilliwack Bruins . . .

Today, we bring you a must-read from the Chilliwack Times. Actually, it is almost in its entirety a press release issued by the Chiefs Development Group, explaining their side of the deal that had the Chilliwack Bruins sold and relocated to Victoria.
If you have been following this saga, you won’t want to miss this one. It is right here.
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Moray Keith has told the Chilliwack Times that he will bring “entertaining, winning and respectful” hockey to Chilliwack before the start of the 2011-12 season.
That story is right here.
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Meanwhile, Rob Henderson, who covers the Brandon Wheat Kings for the Brandon Sun, wrote this column earlier this week:
Dear Chilliwack, welcome to Dumpsville. Population: You.
With all the tact of Homer Simpson, from whom the above phrase was adapted, the Western Hockey League broke off its five-year relationship with Chilliwack, B.C., last week, shacking up instead with a more attractive suitor in Victoria.
The move came as a surprise to no one. The magic had been fading in Chilliwack, with attendance for Bruins games dropping from an average of about 4,500 per contest in the first couple of seasons to a little over 3,000 this winter. And fans in the Fraser Valley had been flirting with the American Hockey League’s new franchise in nearby Abbotsford.
Rumours of an imminent breakup swirled for more than a month, so when the official announcement came last Wednesday that the Bruins had been sold and would move to the B.C. capital, the news wasn’t half as interesting as the revelations that came out in the following days as each of the parties involved told their side of the story.
Among them was the league’s role in facilitating — one might say orchestrating — the move.
It turns out the WHL’s board of governors agreed back in February of 2009 to attempt to bring Victoria back into the fold, preferably by relocating an existing team. The Bruins’ falling attendance and discord among its ownership group made them the prime candidates.
Now, the WHL is well within its rights to pick and choose owners and place its franchises wherever it pleases. But the unwritten rule in sports is that the priority when selling a team should be attempting to find new owners who want to keep the franchise where it is.
League commissioner Ron Robison paid lip service to this while reports of the sale leaked out, telling the Chilliwack Progress in early March that for the Bruins to play in Chilliwack in 2011-12 was “certainly our intent and we haven’t considered anything different at this point.”
The Progress reports that Robison sang a different tune after the deal was done, telling the newspaper that once the ownership group decided on Jan. 13 to sell the team, local offers were not going to be accepted, explaining away the earlier interview by saying, “we were in the early stages of discussions then and we could not comment on what was taking place.”
Apparently he and I have much different opinions of what constitutes a comment.
In other words, a late bid to buy the Bruins and keep them in Chilliwack by minority owners Moray Keith and Jim Bond — reputed to be higher than the Victoria offer — never stood a chance. Perhaps Keith and Bond, who operate Prospera Centre where the Bruins played, knew that when they made the offer and they have also been blamed for failing to renegotiate a lease more fitting of the club’s declining fortunes. We may never fully know their role in the team’s departure.
Likewise, we may never know how much blame to place on Darryl Porter, Brian Burke and Glen Sather, the trio that held a controlling interest in the team.
True, Porter, as a league governor, surely knew a sale would result in the team moving to Victoria. However, I have a hard time blaming someone for cutting bait on an investment that wasn’t producing the expected returns and their hands were clearly tied. Already vilified by Tri-City Americans fans for attempting to move that franchise before being granted the Bruins as an expansion team, Porter could have pocketed more money by selling to local investors while still being able to show his face in Chilliwack.
Given the options, I know which one I’d choose.
One thing we do know after this whole fiasco is that fans in every less-than-glamorous market should not take for granted their relationship with their local team.
After all, we’ve already seen that the WHL has a wandering eye.

The Chilliwack story continues . . .

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA, Chapter 22:
Tyler Olsen has a story in Friday’s edition of the Chilliwack Times that is a must-read if you have been following the sale and impending move of the Chillwack Bruins.
"I went through a divorce first, and I don't know which is worse," Andy Van Esch, the owner of AJ Pumps and someone who billeted Bruins players, told the Times on Wednesday at a Keep the Bruins in Chilliwack Rally.
Esch told the Times, a newspaper that publishes twice a week, that with the decision to move the Bruins he felt “kicked in the ass.”
According to Olsen’s story, Van Esch “estimates that he spent around $50,000
on tickets, advertising and other sponsorship deals, over the club's
five-year stay in Chilliwack.”
"I advertise because I feel that hockey is a good thing for Chilliwack; it's
good for keeping kids off the street," he said. "You do it because you want
to give something back and you believe in something."
There’s more, much more, in what is an absolutely scathing story that is critical of the Bruins’ ownership, especially governor and president Darryl Porter, and the WHL. That story is right here.
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Meanwhile, Glen Ringdal has told Tim Amey of mychilliwacknews.com that the WHL wanted a franchise on Vancouver Island in the worst way. Ringdal has been consulting on behalf of Bruins minority owners Jim Bond and Moray Keith.
Amey writes:
“(Ringdal) says Victoria had been awarded an expansion franchise for the 2012-13 season quite some time ago. Problem is that means 23 teams for the WHL. That forces a 24th expansion team to balance out the schedule when the WHL never really wanted to go beyond 20 teams in the first place.  Moving an existing franchise became the best option.”
Ringdal also opines that Bruins majority owners Darryl Porter, Brian Burke and Glen Sather are selling to the Bruins to RG Properties “at the behest of the league, and so for us to be able to get support from the league level (to keep the franchise in Chilliwack) is not practical.”
Amey’s complete piece is right here.
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Ringdal told Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times that the WHL has approved the sale of the Bruins, which it revealed in a press release this week, and the relocation of the franchise, which it did not.
Ringdal also told the Times "there is a possibility that another team in the league may wish to relocate to Chilliwack and the only one that I'm aware of is Prince George that has some interest.
"That was reported long ago. That's not news from me, but whether or not that can happen, there's no deal in place . . . but we're prepared to talk and see if that's a possibility and, in the end, that would probably be good for everybody."
However, I have been told by someone who should know that the Cougars “are not in play.”
I also was told that there are people within the WHL who wanted the Cougars to be in play, but owner Rick Brodsky simply isn’t interested.
———
Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald, whose relationship, or lack of same, with Bruins governor/co-owner Darryl Porter goes back to his days with the Americans had some interesting quotes from former Chilliwack mayor Clint Hames earlier this week.
“I don’t know what the word is — the closest is betrayed,” Hames said of the sale and impending move of the Bruins.
Hames then compared it to the situation that developed when Porter wanted to move the Americans to Chilliwack, only to be refused permission. He ended up with an expansion franchise.
“One of the original thoughts was that the Tri-City team was fed up and wanted to move,” Hames told Fowler. “We were told Tri-City wasn’t a hockey market and no one was coming to the games. We were told it was like taking an old dog out of the shelter. That was the story we were told.
“We were disappointed when the league turned the move down. Then we learned quite quickly that what we heard about Tri-City was wrong. Then we got the expansion franchise. The building here is owned privately, but is in a partnership with the city. The city put $1.2 million into the building to add more seating and other things to bring a WHL team here. It not only was an emotional investment, but a monetary one, as well. It’s a little perplexing to have it all pulled away.”
As for Porter, Hames continued: “Darryl has projected a negativity toward the team the last couple of years. He says ‘No one supports us.’ The biggest job I had was settling people down after they met with him. I think he made his mind up shortly after arriving that this wasn’t going to work. He felt he was entitled to a full building. He often criticized the public for not supporting the team.”
At the end of the day, Hames added, “They’ve gone from creating a situation in Tri-City to the same situation in Chilliwack, now other places. When this all shakes out, I don’t think the league looks very good. Neither do Darryl and his partners.”
Fowler’s entire piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Monday's stuff . . .

Defenceman Rasmus Rissanen of the Everett Silvertips has signed
a three-year deal with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.
(Photo by Gregg Forwerck/Carolina Hurricanes)

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA:Things just get stranger and stranger . . .
It was just last week when Moray Keith, who along with Jim Bond owns 25 per cent of the Chilliwack Bruins, confirmed what everyone thought they knew when he told Jim Mullin of Vancouver radio station CKNW that the Bruins are in the process of being sold to Victoria interests.
Then, on Monday, in a letter through his lawyers, Brian Burke, who owns 25 per cent of the Bruins, informed Mullin that “Graham Lee has been promised a WHL franchise in that city.”
Graham Lee, if you aren’t aware, operates RG Properties, which holds a 30-year contract to manage Save-On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. And the City of Victoria has said it will extend that deal by 10 years if RG Properties is able to attract a WHL franchise.
Burke’s letter also stated that it was “. . . the WHL’s and Mr. Lee’s desire to have an established team in Victoria rather than an expansion team. This will not leave Chilliwack without a WHL team. The WHL is in the process of negotiating the movement of another WHL team to Chilliwack.”
Shortly after those two notes from Burke, who runs the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs these days, hit the Internet, I was informed by a source that “league members have been threatened with huge fines if they comment on the Chilliwack situation.”
So just when you might be thinking that clarification is needed and might even be on its way, what with the Bruins’ season having ended Saturday night in Spokane, the WHL gags everyone.
And then Tyler Olsen, a writer who is working hard to cover this situation for the Chilliwack Times, tweeted this late Monday afternoon: “#WHL league head office says my repeated pleas for an interview have been ‘unprofessional.’ News flash: that's my profession. #irony.”
Which would seem to indicate that the WHL again has adopted the strategy of trying to shoot the messenger. Again.
In another development, the Chilliwack Times rounded up a number of comments from former Bruins players -- off the Keep the Bruins in Chilliwack Facebook page -- on the situation. That piece is right here.
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Meanwhile, Bruins fans have scheduled a rally for Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the front entrance to Prospera Centre.
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And one Bruins fan sent me this email:
“This whole fiasco is a huge mess. It's embarassing for the league as well
as (Darryl) Porter, Burke and (Glen) Sather (each of whom owns 25 per cent of the Bruins). They are not showing any integrity or clarity here, all the fans have gotten is from the media. . . .
“This is not fair to the fans of the Chilliwack Bruins or any other team that is on the bubble that you have named. We're under Year 2 of the Marc Habscheid era and showing signs of turning it around, much better drafting than years past, better trades and it gets yanked from us because RG Properties wanted an established team over an expansion team. We sat
through the expansion, Edmonton sat through the expansion, what makes Victoria so different? And like you said, who knows if Victoria will be a success.
"This stinks."
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MEANWHILE WE MOVE ON TO OTHER THINGS . . .
As you will be aware by now, Mandi Schwartz lost her battle with leukemia on Sunday. Mike G. Morreale of nhl.com has taken a look at Mandi and the legacy she has left. That is right here.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Matt Ellison (Red Deer, 2002-03) signed a two-year contract extension with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia KHL). He had 21 goals and 29 assists in 53 games this season for Torpedo.
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In the spring of 2001, Spokane swept the Kamloops Blazers from a first-round series in which Chiefs D Kurt Sauer was as dominant as a defenceman can be. He was tough and physical and absolutely ruled the ice surface through all four games. These days, he’s playing the role of Mr. Mom. Why? Because of concussion-like symptoms. He hasn’t been on the ice since September 2009. Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic has that story right here.
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D Rasmus Rissanen of the Everett Silvertips has signed a three-year deal with with the Carolina Hurricanes, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL draft. Rissanen, 19, has put up 27 points and 192 penalty minutes in 139 games with Everett. He also played for Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championship in Buffalo. He has joined the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. . . . Former Everett G Leland Irving earned his second straight 1-0 AHL shutout Monday, as the host Abbotsford Heat got past the Hamilton Bulldogs. That was his seventh blank job this season. F Justin Dowling, who played for the Swift Current Broncos this season, drew the second assist on the winner as he ran his point streak to three games. . . . F Shane McColgan is the WHL’s player of the week. He had five points in two games. . . . Drew Owsley of the Tri-City Americans is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0, 0.50, .975.
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MONDAY’S PLAYOFF GAME:
In Winnipeg, F Kellan Tochkin and F Emerson had two goals each as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-5 to win that first-round series, 4-2. . . . That was the last first-round series to be completed. The four tops seeds in each conference have advanced to the second round. . . . The Wheat Kings were playing their home games at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair has been in the rink in Brandon. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey had three assists. Vey, who led the regular season in scoring, now tops the playoff point derby, with 12 points. That’s two ahead of F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks and F Brayden Schenn of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac scored once, giving him nine points, including four goals, in the series. . . . Tochkin’s goals were his first of the series. . . . F Mike Ferland had three goals for Brandon, which took a 2-1 lead into Game 4 in which it wasn’t able to hold a couple of three-goal leads. The Tigers won the last three games. . . . The Tigers continued to be without G Tyler Bunz (concussion) and F Tyler Pitlick (ankle), while the Wheat Kings scratched F Brenden Walker (concussion) and G Liam Liston (concussion) . . . Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun covered the game. His story is right here. . . . Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press also was there, and his game story is right here.
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MONDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Medicine Hat F Wacey Hamilton.
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun wrote an interesting item out of that series between the Wheat Kigns and Medicine Hat Tigers:
“You may have noticed that the Brandon Wheat Kings had no backup goalie listed for Game 4 in Winnipeg, when Liam Liston was unable to play due to a concussion.
“Indeed the Wheat  Kings did have another puckstopper on the bench, but did not list him on the official gamesheet.
“It’s an uncommon — but not unheard of — occurrence, done to protect the identity of emergency goaltenders whose NCAA eligibility could be forfeited by appearing in a WHL game, and it’s something that the league office condones.
“It’s also a policy that seems a little disingenuous coming from a league that has levied heavy sanctions in the past against teams that have used players under assumed names to protect their NCAA eligibility and earlier this season came down on the Portland Winterhawks for letting an ineligible Swiss player take part in a training-camp scrimmage.
“Setting aside the NCAA rulebook for a moment (and frankly, disqualifying a player who happened to be one of the few capable of safely filling in on the bench at a hard-to-come-by position during extenuating circumstances is despicable in itself), hiding a player’s involvement is unbecoming of a league that strives to conduct its business in a professional manner. And withholding a name doesn’t change the fact that the player was there and could face repercussions if discovered.
“I’d be curious to know how others feel who have had their own NCAA eligibility burned after appearing on the gamesheet for a single WHL contest.
“I’m sure they would have appreciated the cover of the WHL’s version of the Witness Protection Program.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Thursday . . .

 Jim Mullin of Vancouver radio station CKNW tweeted late Thursday afternoon:
“Minority owner Moray Keith confirms to #CKNW that the Chilliwack Bruins have been sold to Victoria's RG Properties.”
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Earlier, Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress posted a piece right here on the impending departure of the Bruins to Victoria. And there are some interesting comments here from Clint Hames, a former Chilliwack mayor.
———
Meanwhile, Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times also talked with Hames.
Here is part of what Olsen wrote:
Hames, who was instrumental in bringing the club to the Fraser Valley five years ago, had contacted WHL commissioner Ron Robison and several of the Bruins' owners to try to get to the bottom of rumours about the team's exit.
"I was told by (Bruins co-owner) Brian Burke that (Keith and Bond's) offer would not be considered and that the only offer they are considering is an offer from Victoria," Hames told Postmedia News.
Porter, however, claims the owners were carefully wading through multiple offers to buy the club. Porter also had told fans that the owners were doing what they could to keep the club where it is.
Robison has also said that moving a team is the last resort and that the league preferred to keep the Bruins in Chilliwack. He has refused any further comment on the issue.
A league spokesperson said the WHL will only comment "when there is news to report."
———
Obviously, there is a whole lot more going on between the WHL, RG Properties and who knows who else involving franchises on Vancouver Island.
But it doesn’t make any sense at all to have just one team on the Island, so we have questions, questions . . . we have questions:
1. With one team on its way to Vancouver Island, how long before a second one — expansion or otherwise — lands in Nanaimo?
2. Kelly Hrudey, who has ties to the WHL office as president of the WHL Alumni Association, became part-owner of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers earlier this year. Does Hrudey’s sudden involvement mean anything in terms of a WHL franchise landing there?
3. Mike Vandekamp left the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm in March to take over the Clippers’ coaching reins. Let’s assume that Vandekamp, who did a turn as a WHL head coach with the Prince George Cougars a while back, aspires to coach in the WHL or at an even higher level. That brings us to this question: Why does a junior A coach leave one job for a similar position at that particular time of year? Or does Vandekamp know something that we don’t know about the WHL and Nanaimo?
4. Darren Parker, who had been running an independent league baseball franchise in Victoria until it folded over the winter, signed on with the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings on Wednesday. He is the club’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing. He also is the son of Russ Parker, who owns the WHL’s Regina Pats. Why does Darren Parker, whose baseball team folded a few months ago, suddenly surface in the front office of an ECHL team that is owned by RG Properties which is in the process of purchasing a WHL franchise?
Oh, what a tangled web is being weaved.
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By the way, Philip Wolf of the Nanaimo Daily News chimes is on the goings-on with the Clippers right here. He says his “bovine excrement detector” has been going off.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1998-2002) signed a one-year (plus option) contract extension with Szekesfehervar (Hungary, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 27 assists in 38 games this season. . . .
F Owen Fussey (Calgary, Moose Jaw, 1999-2003) signed a one-year contract extension with the Coventry Blaze (UK Elite). He had 24 goals and 15 assists in 34 games. Fussey had his season cut short when he tore his ACL and MCL in December.
———
The ugly side of the Internet has reared its face once again.
It is amazing what big ones some people have as they sit in momma’s basement and do stupid things with the aid of a computer and in the cloak of anonymity that is provided by the Internet.
This time it has struck in Saskatoon where the Blades were doing damage control Thursday thanks to comments that were made by a Brayden Schenn impostor on a Facebook page. Police have launched an investigation. There’s more right here from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
Cory Wolfe, who covers the Blades for the StarPhoenix, blogged about the Schenn situation. Wolfe’s piece is right here.
———
Merle Haggard sings about White Line Fever. No one, at least not yet, is singing of 50/50 fever. However, Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix takes a look at what went on at last weekend’s Saskatoon Blades’ home playoff games. That story is right here. And having witnessed 50/50 fever at the Memorial Cup in Brandon last spring, I can tell you it’s an amazing thing.
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Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, is in Buenos Aires this weekend. No, he’s not scouting. He’s there for the wedding of part-owner Michael Buble and Luisana Lopilato. . . . Toigo took time to chat with Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun about this season and what’s ahead for his WHL team. . . . That story is right here.
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And if you’re into wedding photos, here you go. . . . Buble and Lopilato were married in a civil ceremony in Buenos Aires on Thursday and there are some photos right here.
———
JUST NOTES: Ryan Barrett is the new GM/head coach of the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks, having moved up from assistant coach to take over from Don Phelps, who, it seems, has been there since before ice was invented. Mark Astley and Craig Mohr will work as assistant coaches. . . . Adam Brown of the Kelowna Rockets is the WHL’s goaltender of the month for March. He was 6-2-0, 1.61, .944 for the month. . . . F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels is the player of the month, after putting up 19 points in eight games. . . . D Corey Fienhage of the Kamloops Blazers will be joining the AHL’s Portland Pirates. He was a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2008 draft. Fienhage, 20, joined the Blazers after playing 39 games over the previous two seasons with the U of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. . . . The BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings have signed Dave Dupas to a three-year contract as head coach. He took over in November after GM/head coach Ed Dempsey was fired. The Spruce Kings also promoted assistant GM Mike Hawes to GM, although he will work at it on a part-time basis.
———
THURSDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES:
In Winnipeg, centre Linden Vey scored at 19:35 of the third period to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . The Wheat Kings led 3-0 at 12:47 of the first period after F Matt MacKay scored his third goal of the series, this one via the PP. . . . Brandon led 4-1 at 17:45 of the first after F Shayne Wiebe got his third goal, also on the PP. . . . Medicine Hat F Kale Kessy scored at 18:13 of the first period. . . . The Tigers then counted three times in the third. . . . Vey, who led the WHL in scoring in the regular season, finished with two goals and two assists, while F Emerson Etem had a goal and two helpers. . . . Brandon held a 17-7 edge in first-period shots, but the Tigers outshot the Wheaties 31-12 over the last 40 minutes. . . . Attendance was 6,003. . . . The Wheat Kings are playing first-round home games in the MTS Centre in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is in Westman Place in Brandon. . . . Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun was at the game last night. His story is right here. . . .

In Prince Albert, the Raiders came up with a gritty effort for the second game in a row and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 5-2. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 in Saskatoon on Saturday. . . . Saskatoon won the first two games at home, outscoring the Raiders 13-3 in the process. . . . The Blades finished with the WHL’s best record, their 115 points leaving them 48 ahead of the eighth-place Raiders in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Blades scored first, getting a PP goal from F Curtis Hamilton at 2:32 of the first period, but the Raiders got the next three, the first two from F Todd Fiddler. . . . F T.J. Constant gave the Raiders a 4-2 lead in the third period with his first WHL point. Constant was added to the Raiders’ roster from the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard. . . . Attendance was 3,111. . . . D Duncan Siemens left the Blades’ bench in the second period and didn’t return. He is believed to have a leg injury . . .
In Edmonton, F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist as the Rebels beat the Oil Kings 5-1 to win the series, 4-0. . . . Nugent-Hopkins, who will be an early pick in June’s NHL draft, had nine points over the four games. . . . F Brett Ferguson scored twice for Red Deer, the second into an empty net. . . . Edmonton’s lone goal came from F Curtis Lazar, the second overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. It was his first WHL score. . . . Attendance was 5,938. . . . Red Deer scratched F Adam Kambeitz and D Aaron Borejko, both for undisclosed reasons. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs scored the game’s first three goals and went on to beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 4-2. . . . The Bruins closed to within 3-2 on F Roman Horak’s goal at 3:06 of the third but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Chilliwack F Ryan Howse left the game after the first period and didn’t return. . . . The Chiefs were without F Tyler Johnson, the WHL’s second-leading scorer. . . . The Bruins were without D Tyler Stahl, who got tossed from Game 3 with an elbowing major that knocked Johnson out of the game. Stahl is serving one of those tbd suspensions. . . . The Chiefs also were without F Anthony Bardaro, who drew a tbd sentence under supplemental discipline for a hit in overtime in Game 3. Bardaro wasn’t penalized on the play, but the Bruins asked the WHL to review the play. . . .
In Everett, F Sven Bartschi had a goal and two assists as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Silvertips 6-2 to sweep the first-round series. . . . F Jari Erricson gave the Silvertips a 1-0 lead at 5:22 of the first period, but Portland answered with five straight goals. . . . Attendance was 2,420. . . . Everett F Landon Ferraro was tossed with a cross-checking major as the second period ended. . . . This was the first time Portland has swept a playoff opponent since 1998 when it ousted the Brandon Wheat Kings in the championship final. . . . The Winterhawks had played 13 rounds since then. . . .
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Three of the four Western Conference series ended in sweeps, leaving the Kelowna Rockets, Portland and the Tri-City Americans awaiting a winner in the Spokane-Chilliwack series. . . . Remember that teams are reseeded by regular-season points, so if Spokane wins, the second round will feature Portland vs. Kelowna and Spokane vs. Tri-City. . . . If the Bruins come back from a 3-1 deficit, it’ll be Portland against Chilliwack and Kelowna against Tri-City.
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THURSDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Prince Albert D Harrison Ruopp
Chilliwack F Curt Gogol
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It was Opening Day on Thursday. Yes, we’re talking baseball.
So . . . here’s your good read for the day. Yes, it’s a year old, but it’s by Peter Gammons and it involves baseball and the blues and it doesn’t get any better than that. So take a look right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

     

gdrinnan.blogspot.com

     

Taking Note on Twitter

Victoria Bruins?

One day last week a Chilliwack Bruins’ season-ticket holder -- yes, there are some! -- asked in an email if I might have any idea why the team hadn’t yet sent out season-ticket renewal notices.
Alarm bells went off immediately, although my response was somewhat more tepid. At the time, I was prepared to cut the Bruins some slack and wrote back that perhaps they were waiting to tie them into playoff ticket sales. Then, when I thought about it, I wondered why the playoff vouchers hadn’t already gone out and, if they had, why weren't season-ticket forms with them?
Perhaps we now know the answer.
Because now it would seem that, while they may not have the moving van backed up to the door, the Bruins have at least looked up the phone number.
Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times has spoken with Darryl Porter, one of the franchise’s owners, and there isn’t one speck of hope there if you’re a Bruins’ fan.
Olsen’s story is right here.
At the end of the story, Porter does say that season-ticket renewals are in the works. Although it would seem the horse has left the barn and the Bruins just may want to save on the postage.
You can bet that the denials are soon to start flying from all directions, and we're going to hear words like "due diligence" a lot, too. But there is far too much smoke here to ignore the fact that Victoria is closer to getting a WHL franchise than it has been since the Cougars left for Prince George after the 1993-94 season.
When you combine Porter’s comments with the story that is in Friday’s Victoria Times Colonist, well, how does Victoria Bruins sound?
According to the Times Colonist, the city of Victoria has told RG Properties that it “will extend RG Properties' lease at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to 2046 if the company can secure a Western Hockey League franchise.”
So, when you put two and two together, along with the fact that RG boss Graham Lee apparently was spotted at a recent Bruins' game, well, it would seem things are moving right along.
The problem, of course, is that the WHL has long said it doesn’t want to go back to Vancouver Island unless there are two teams located there. And, at the moment, Victoria is the home of the only arena that meets WHL standards.
However, there now are two people with WHL ties who are involved at the ownership level with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. Bill Gallacher, who owns the Portland Winterhawks, and former WHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who also is involved with the WHL alumni, are among the Clippers’ owners, so perhaps a plan is afoot to build a new arena in that city.
And, for what it’s worth, I heard from one WHL insider today who said he had heard that RG Properties has had a deal in place with a WHL franchise since some time in October.
We may never find out whether that is true. We also will never know whether the arrival of the AHL's Abbotsford Heat had anything to do with the predicament in which the Bruins find themselves. If it did, though, Bruins ownership must be just livid with the NHL's Calgary Flames. They, of course, own the WHL's Calgary Hitmen and the Heat is the Flames's top minor league affiliate.
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’Tis the time of the season when NHL teams are trolling the waters in search of signable free agents.
In the last week, we’ve seen the Dallas Stars sign D Brenden Dillon, 20, of the Seattle Thunderbirds. And, on Friday, the San Jose Sharks signed D Sena Acolatse, 20, of the Prince George Cougars.
Next up?
Perhaps it will be C Tyler Johnson, 20, of the Spokane Chiefs. He is said to have at least two offers on the table in front of him, with more than a couple of other teams also circling and checking out the situation.
Johnson’s numbers, his defensive play and his prowess in the faceoff circle make you wonder what’s taken so long?