Raiders looking for GM . . . Hurricanes, Thunderbirds swap veterans . . . Unhappiness in The Hat

KHL news . . . some old . . . some new . . .
The Associated Press reported April 9 that Sochi hadn’t paid its players since January, but promised that they would be paid in full by the end of April. That didn't happened so the players have filed suit in Russian court to get their money. League rules require teams to resolve all debts to players by May 31 if they wish to continue in the league in the following season.
This AP report also noted there were Russian media reports that put at least five teams at risk of withdrawing from the KHL for financial reasons. The AP named Slovan Bratislava, Atlant Mytischi and Admiral Vladivostok as three of the five.
While Slovan Bratislava hasn’t officially left the KHL, it has applied to rejoin Slovakia's Extraliga.
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From the April 30 edition of the online Russian website Sport-Express (it has been all World Championship since then):
1) Valery Kamensky, president of Atlant Mytischi, said that from May 1 all members of the team would be dismissed. According to him, the future of the club is unknown. "Today is the last day for all staff of Atlant. From 1 May, they will be fired,” Kamensky said."With regard to the future of the club, for the moment I have nothing to say. There is no news. We are planning that the youth team will continue to serve in the region and the Youth Academy also continues." On April 28, Atlant GM Alexi Zhamnov confirmed that Atlant has transferred the rights to 10 players to SKA St. Petersburg as compensation for money SKA gave to Atlant earlier in the season so that Atlant could finish the season.
2) Alexander Pavlinov, vice-president of Amur Khabarovsk, admitted that the club had sent a request for deferral of the KHL deadline to provide financial guarantees for the coming season. It was reported earlier that difficulties arose with the co-operation necessary for confirmation in the documents. "We have appealed to the leadership of the league for an extension of the deadlines for submission of documents,” Pavlinov said. "A technical hitch, so we still need time. Asked to extend until the end of May and we are waiting for a response.”
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Slava Malamud, who is a Washington, D.C., area correspondent for the Russian media outlet Sport-Express, tweeted last month that SKA St. Petersburg players were each paid a US$800,000 bonus for reaching the KHL final. SKA won the league championship so one can only imagine what kind of bonus the players got for that. How this falls under the KHL salary cap is unknown.
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The 2015-16 KHL regular season is scheduled to open on Aug. 24. The league had announced during this season that it plans to align the schedule more closely to the needs of the Russian national team. As such, Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak has said that the KHL won’t adjust its schedule to fit in with the proposed NHL/NHLPA World Cup in 2016. If this holds, there won’t be any KHL players available to play in the World Cup.
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It wasn’t a surprise when the Prince Albert Raiders announced Friday that general manager Bruno Campese won’t be returning.
It had been rumoured for a while now that Campese wasn’t likely to be back, that he was wanting to return to West Kelowna, B.C., for family reasons.
The Raiders and Campese, 51, said that the decision to part company was mutual, and that the Raiders

BRUNO CAMPESE

wouldn’t be exercising their option on his contract.
“There’s no doubt that I would’ve loved to come back,” Campese told Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald.“I love my job and I love the people I work with but, at the end of the day, it’s been a family decision to move back home. I’m good with it, my family’s good with it and I think when I look at it perspectively from the Raiders’ point of view, and I had mentioned this to our executive board, that the right time to do this is now.”
If there had been any doubt that this would happen, it likely was erased on April 21 when the Raiders announced that head coach Marc Habscheid had been signed to a four-year contract. At that time, nothing was said about Campese’s future.
As well, nothing definitive was said earlier this week when the Raiders announced they had re-signed associate coach Dave Manson to a four-year deal and assistant coach Kelly Guard to a one-year contract.
Raiders president Dale McFee plans on having a new GM in place in short order. The way McFee sounds, Habscheid, who was GM/head coach with the Chilliwack Bruins/Victoria Royals, isn’t a candidate.
“Marc is a qualified candidate, but I think we’ve been through that experience once already,” McFee told Smith. “We had a coach/GM and it didn’t work.
“We feel the ultimate model for Prince Albert is one where we have a coach and a general manager that are separate and that we actually can focus in and make sure that obviously our business product, being a community-owned team, is aligned with our on-ice product and that’s not something we feel we want to give up on.”
Of course, if it isn’t Habscheid, the next GM will be brought in knowing full well that he won’t have any of his hires on the coaching staff. And how often does that work out?
Campese, who will work with the Raiders until a replacement is named, spent eight seasons with the Raiders. He was hired as the head coach prior to 2007-08 and was also the GM before that season ended. In 2011, he stepped aside as head coach and has been strictly the GM since that time.
The Raiders had their struggles on the ice, making the playoffs in three of Campese’s eight seasons in Prince Albert. However, they did make the playoffs in the two seasons prior to this one, and it’s fair to say that things looked pretty good a year ago.
In fact, I think it’s fair to say that he and the Raiders deserved a better fate than not making the playoffs this season.
After going 35-32-5 in 2013-14 and suffering a second-straight first-round exit, the Raiders and their fans looked forward to this season, knowing they would have two of the WHL’s premier players — D Josh Morrissey and F Leon Draisaitl — on their roster. However, Draisaitl, the third-overall pick in the NHL’s 2014 draft, opened the season with the Edmonton Oilers, who later refused to return him to the Raiders. The Oilers told the Raiders that if Draisaitl was to return to the WHL he would only play with the Kelowna Rockets. (Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and GM, is tight with a number of people in the Oilers’ organization, which made the optics even worse.)
Faced with that news, Campese was forced to try and cut his losses, so Morrissey and Draisaitl both ended up with the Rockets.
Kelowna won the WHL championship on Wednesday night; two days later, Campese announced that he was done.
Now that he’s available, perhaps the Oilers need an assistant GM.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have traded F Jamal Watson, their captain, to the Seattle Thunderbirds for F Cory Millette and a 2016 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
Both players are preparing for their 20-year-old seasons.
Watson, from Calgary, is coming off a career season. He had 56 points, including 26 goals, as he set career highs in all three major offensive categories. He was named team captain prior to what was his fourth season in Lethbridge. In those four seasons, he had 148 points, 69 of them goals, in 270 games. Only six players in franchise history played more games.
Millette, from Storthoaks, Sask., split last season between the Thunderbirds, Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades. In 71 games, he had 47 points, including 24 goals. He also has played with the Red Deer Rebels. In 238 career games, he has 121 points, 60 of them goals.
Millette is the lone 20-year-old on the Hurricanes’ roster.
The Thunderbirds’ roster also includes two 20-year-old defencemen — Jared Hauf and Jerret Smith.
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Things are turning nasty in Medicine Hat where the Tigers don’t yet have a lease to play in the Regional Event Centre, a $75-million facility that is to open in time for next season. . . . Collin Gallant of the Medicine Hat News has more right here.
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If you have ever wondered what it costs to operate a facility like the Medicine Hat Arena, Alex McCuaig of the Medicine Hat News has a chart right here that shows how that facility lost $1,866,827, not including administration costs, over the past six years.
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The Thrill Is Gone, bluesman B.B. King having died on Thursday evening. He was one of a kind and there will never be another. . . . Right here, Rolling Stone takes a look at his 10 greatest songs. Enjoy!
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Tim Weiner has The New York Times’ obituary on B.B. King right here. Just in case you don’t know what B.B. means . . .
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THE COACHING GAME:

While the Prince Albert Raiders may be reluctant to have one person as the general manager and head coach, that isn’t the case with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. On Friday, they announced that head coach Jeff Brown, 49, a former NHL defenceman, also will be the GM. He is coming off his first season as head coach, one in which he guided the 67’s into the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. They were 38-25-5 in the regular season. . . . Brown takes over from Pat Higgins, who resigned after the season and now is Ottawa’s head scout.
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McDavid and his dad once the media scrum ended. pic.twitter.com/OoD9Aupu7j

— Steve Dangle Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) May 16, 2015

In the OHL, the Oshawa Generals beat the visiting Erie Otters 6-2 to win the championship final, 4-1, before 6,125 fans. . . . Oshawa F Cole Cassels had four assists as the Generals won their first OHL championship since 1997. . . . Erie F Connor McDavid was selected as the playoff MVP. It was only the second time that a player from a non-championship team won the award, the other being D Marc Staal with the Sudbury Wolves in 2007. . . . McDavid was held pointless in what likely was the final game of his junior career. He led the OHL playoffs in goals (21), assists (28) and points (49), all in 20 games. He finished 18 points ahead of Cassels and Oshawa F Michael Dal Colle. . . .

In the QMJHL, the visiting Quebec Remparts beat the Rimouski Oceanic 3-2 in OT to take a 3-2 lead in the championship final. . . . F Massimo Carozza’s fourth goal of the playoffs won the game 10 seconds into the first OT period. . . . Attendance was 4,732. . . . Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Quebec City. . . . With the Remparts the host team for the Memorial Cup, both teams will play in the tournament.
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I get that Babcock is a good coach... But who really cares where he coaches, I don't pay to watch him behind the bench!#makeadecisionslready

— Drew Schoneck (@TCCoachShoe) May 16, 2015

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Ice adds defenceman . . . Three other deals . . . All the deadline numbers

The WHL's trade deadline arrives Saturday at noon MT. (Note that I had the time wrong a time or two earlier, but it is noon MT. That’s 11 a.m. Pacific and 1 p.m. in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.)
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THE NUMBERS:

(Since Dec. 10)
Trades: 25.
Players: 46.
Draft picks: 36.
Conditional draft picks: 5.
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BEHIND THE SCENES:

“It’s a crappy week,” Regina Pats G Daniel Wapple tells Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post in reference to the days leading up the WHL’s trade deadline.
Harder writes:
“For many outside observers — and even a few on the inside — the days leading up to the deadline represent one of the most thrilling times of the season. The whole thing takes on a life of its own as rumours swirl about what players may be available and which teams might sell the farm to get them.
“It's a time when armchair GMs speculate on potential moves and even devise trades of their own. It's mostly harmless fun, except when Twitter and other online forums become a means for passing off guesswork or false information as fact — with no regard for the human side of the equation.
“The media has helped create that monster with an epidemic of wannabe ‘insiders’ who are desperate for their piece of the action. In reality, there's a fine line between satisfying the public's craving for information and recklessly throwing names against the wall in hopes that some might stick — all to take credit for a ‘scoop’ that will be forgotten in a day.
Harder’s complete column is right here, and it’s a good one.
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FRIDAY’S TRADES:

Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, isn’t about to turn seller at this WHL trade deadline and he hasn’t made any bones about it.
He’s got the likes of F Sam Reinhart, F Jaedon Descheneau, F Tim Bozon and D Rinat Valiev on his roster. So, hey, why not try to treat your season-ticket holders to a deep playoff run?
Who knows what might happen once you get into the playoffs and you’ve got four players like those on your roster. After all, this is junior hockey and they still have to play the games.
So rather than having to try to explain to the paying public why he traded away Reinhart, Chynoweth has been shopping for some veteran help on defence.
On Thursday, he brought in Lenny Hackman, 19, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and all it cost was a 12th-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft.
For whatever reason, the 5-foot-9 Hackman fell out of favour in Lethbridge and hasn’t played since Dec. 16. So you know that he’s itching to get back on the ice.
In 175 regular-season games, the native of Airdrie, Alta., has 21 points. This season, he had a goal and two assists in 31 games with Lethbridge, which selected him in the ninth-round of the 2011 bantam draft.
Hackman’s not all flash and dash, but that’s not what the Ice braintrust wants.
Chynoweth and head coach Ryan McGill have done a masterful job of piecing things together this season.
In the beginning, Reinhart was with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, Bozon returned from the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs with an injury and there was a whack of other injuries. For example, veteran defenceman Tanner Faith’s season is over as he prepares for shoulder surgery.
You may recall that the Ice started 3-13-0 and the rumour-mongers had the franchise headed for Lethbridge or Winnipeg. But the pieces of the puzzle returned and the Ice is 18-5-1 since then.
That has Kootenay going into this weekend at 21-18-1 and tied for fourth in the Central Division with the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Ice holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card playoff spot, but there is a lot of hockey to be played.
Chynoweth obviously feels that his team is a whole lot close to the 18-5-1 bunch than the 3-13-0 crew, so he has been searching for some experience for his back end. Earlier, he brought in Tanner Lishchynsky, who turned 20 on Monday. A Saskatoon native, he had been with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers.
And now Chynoweth has gone and gotten Hackman, who should have a positive impact on the club’s young defencemen — the Ice is carrying eight, not including Faith, with three of those having been born in 1997 and one in 1998.
Of course, the Ice also has McGill, a former NHL and WHL defender who knows more than a thing or two about playing a touch game in your own zone.
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The Saskatoon  Blazers added some depth to their forwards by acquiring F Mitch Skapski, 18, from the Victoria Royals. Skapski, from Abbotsford, B.C., is a younger brother to former Kootenay Ice G Mackenzie Skapski and an older brother to D Marshall Skapski, a third-round pick by the Medicine Hat Tigers in 2013. . . . Mitch was a fourth-round pick by the Portland Winterhawks in 2011. . . . He had a goal and three assists in 34 games with the Royals this season. In 118 career games, the first 35 with the Everett Silvertips, he has six goals and 10 assists. . . . Skapski was among the players dealt to Everett by Portland for D Seth Jones on April 23, 2012.
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a good story right here on D Brycen Martin, who was on his way to the Kamloops Blazers when he was told the trade had fallen through. Shortly after that, the Swift Current Broncos dealt him to the Saskatoon Blades.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes acquired G Jayden Sittler, 18, from the Victoria Royals for a seventh-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . Sittler, from Red Deer, joined the Royals in a deal with the Kootenay Ice in October. In 10 games with Victoria, he was 2-6-0, 2.29, .921. . . .  He became expendable in Victoria earlier in the week when the Royals acquired veteran G Justin Paulic from the Moose Jaw Warriors. That leaves the Royals with the experienced pairing of Coleman Vollrath and Paulic minding their goal. . . . After making the deal, the Hurricanes dropped G Zac Robidoux, 18, from their roster. He is expected to join the MJHL’s Portage Terriers, the host team for this season’s RBC Cup national junior A championship tournament. He was 1-12-3, 4.48, .881 with the Hurricanes this season. The Hurricanes had acquired Robidoux from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a third-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2017. The latter pick is conditional on Robidoux being on a WHL roster in 2016-17. . . . With the Hurricanes, Sittler joins starter Stuart Skinner.
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F Cory Millette is off to join his third WHL team in less than two months. The Prince Albert Raiders dealt Millette, 19, to the Seattle Thunderbirds for a sixth-round pick in the 2015 or 2016 bantam draft. . . . The Raiders acquired the Storthoaks, Sask., native from the Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 20. . . . After putting up 14 points, including five goals, in 22 games with the Blades, he had four points, three of them goals, in 17 games with the Raiders. . . . In 206 regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 44 goals.
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TRADE DEADLINE DEALS:

(All draft picks in bantam draft unless otherwise noted)
Dec. 10 . . .
To Kelowna: D Josh Morrissey (95), F Gage Quinney (95).
To Prince Albert: D Jesse Lees (95), F Austin Glover (96), 2016 second-round pick, 2017 third-round pick.
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Dec. 12 . . .
To Red Deer: D Nelson Nogier (96), F Austin Adamson (96).
To Saskatoon: F Mason McCarty (97), 2015 second-round pick, 2016 first-round pick.
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Dec. 16 . . .
To Calgary: G Thatcher Demko, 19, who is at Boston College.
To Spokane: Conditional draft picks. Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show tweeted that he had it as a second-rounder in 2015 and a second- or third-rounder in 2016.
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Dec. 27 . . .
To Swift Current: D Griffin Foulk, 19.
To Lethbridge: Conditional eighth-round pick in 2016.
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Dec. 27 . . .
To Red Deer: D Colton Bobyk, 18, and a 2016 fourth-round pick.
To Spokane: D Nick Charif, 19, a second-round 2015 pick and a conditional sixth-round 2016 selection.
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Jan. 2 . . .
To Brandon: F Morgan Klimchuk, 19.
To Regina: F Jesse Gabrielle, 17.
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Jan. 5 . . .
To Medicine Hat: D Kyle Burroughs, 19, and F Dryden Hunt, 19.
To Regina: D Connor Hobbs, 17, and two draft picks -- second-rounder in 2016 and third-rounder in 2015.
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Jan. 5 . . .
To Saskatoon: D Kolton Dixon, 19.
To Red Deer: G Trevor Martin, 18.
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Jan. 5 . . .
To Red Deer: F Connor Gay, 19, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2016, a second in 2015 and a seventh in 2017.
To Regina: F Jake Leschyshyn, 15, and a fourth-round pick in 2017.
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Jan. 5 . . .
To Brandon: D Reid Gow, 20.
To Spokane: A fifth-round pick, Spokane’s option for 2015 or 2016.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Kelowna: F Leon Draisaitl, 19.
To Prince Albert: F Tomas Schmidli, 18, D Dalton Yorke, 18, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2015, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Prince George: D Tomas Andrlik, 19.
To Prince Albert: A 12th-round pick in 2015.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: D Connor Clouston, 18.
To Kamloops: A fifth-round pick in 2017.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Calgary: G Brendan Burke, 19.
To Portland: G Evan Johnson, 18, and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Lethbridge: D Brady Reagan, 17.
To Regina: F Taylor Cooper, 19.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Victoria: F Alex Forsberg, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
To Saskatoon: F Brayden Dunn, 16, and a first-round pick in 2017.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Portland: D Adam Henry, 20.
To Saskatoon: A second-round pick 2017.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: F Axel Blomqvist, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fifth-round pick in 2017.
To Victoria: D Alexey Sleptsov, 18, G Justin Paulic, 19, and a sixth-round pick in 2015.
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Jan. 7 . . .
To Tri-City: F Tyler Sandhu, 18.
To Red Deer: Fourth-round picks in 2015 and 2016.
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Jan. 7 . . .
To Kamloops: D Marc McNulty, 19, and a 2016 sixth-round draft pick.
To Prince George: D Josh Connolly, 19, and a 2015 sixth-round draft pick.
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Jan. 7 . . .
To Saskatoon: D Brycen Martin, 18, and a conditional 2017 fifth-round draft pick.
To Swift Current: D Jordan Thomson, 18, and a 2016 first-round draft pick (originally belonged to Red Deer).
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Jan. 8 . . .
To Kootenay: D Lenny Hackman, 19.
To Lethbridge: A 12th-round pick in the 2015 draft.
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Jan. 8 . . .
To Saskatoon: F Mitch Skapski, 18, and 2015 fifth-round draft pick.
To Victoria: A 2016 fifth-round draft pick.
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Jan. 8 . . .
To Lethbridge: G Jayden Sittler, 18.
To Victoria: A 2016 seventh-round draft pick.
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Jan. 8 . . .
To Seattle: F Cory Millette, 19.
To Prince Albert: A sixth-round pick in the 2015 or 2016 bantam draft.


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Winterhawks in transition . . . Cougars add one, subtract another . . . Trio of trades

F Jakub Klepiš (Portland, 2001-02) has been released by Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden, SHL) by mutual agreement. An alternate captain, he had six goals and five assists in 21 games.
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WATCHING THE WINTERHAWKS:

It is obvious that the Portland Winterhawks are a team in transition, and not only from general manager/head coach Mike Johnston to GM/head coach Jamie Kompon.
The Winterhawks are coming off four straight appearances in the WHL’s championship series, having won the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2012-13.
Last spring, the Winterhawks lost a seven-game final to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Now the Winterhawks are scuffling. As they go into a Friday-Saturday doubleheader in Kelowna against the Rockets, the Winterhawks are 9-12-3, which leaves them tied for seventh in the Western Conference with the Spokane Chiefs (9-7-3) and Seattle Thunderbirds (9-10-3). Quick math shows that the Chiefs hold five games in hand and the Thunderbirds two.
The Winterhawks reached those four straight championship series in no small part because they had the likes of Derrick Pouliot, Troy Rutkowski and Tyler Wotherspoon on the back end. You also can’t forget Garrett Haar, who was there last season, and Mathew Dumba, who was there for 26 games in last season’s second half.
The Winterhawks’ transition game and their short, quick passing game began with the puck on the stick of one of those defencemen, each of whom was good for close to a point per game.
Today, that dynamism is missing from Portland’s back end.
Watching the Winterhawks drop a 4-1 decision to the host Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night, it was quite evident that the Portland forwards, especially the veterans, haven’t yet adapted to that fact.
Far too often, when a defenceman gained possession of the puck deep in Portland’s zone, the forwards were too quick to leave the zone. Full credit to the Blazers for taking advantage of that and getting a quick and heavy forecheck going. On more than one occasion that resulted in a turnover and a Kamloops scoring chance. In fact, there were two or three times when, after just such a sequence of events, a Kamloops forward found himself all alone with the puck on his stick in front of G Brendan Burke.
While it’s easy to point a finger at Burke and say that he needs to be more aggressive, his confidence likely would be higher if he could look up and see more than two teammates trying to ward off three opposing forwards.
The Winterhawks, after 24 games, are allowing 3.88 goals per game. That is exactly one goal more per game than they surrendered all of last season.
You aren’t going to win consistently in this league if you are giving up almost four goals a game.
For the Winterhawks to find their game again, the forwards are going to have to come back deeper with a purpose and visit a while longer, thus helping the defencemen clear the zone and cutting down on the opposing team’s scoring chances.
At the same time, the Blazers, who were 0-4-3 in their previous seven games, played awfully well in beating the Winterhawks on Wednesday night.
F Cole Ully, who is the straw that stirs the Blazers’ drink, looks to be back to his old self after a rough stretch battling an illness that, at one point, had him briefly in hospital.
He was the best player on the ice in Wednesday’s game and proved again that he is most deserving of an invitation to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp next month.
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The Prince George Cougars have added D Kirk Bear, 19, to their roster. He had been with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires, where he put up two goals and eight assists in 23 games. . . . Bear, from Whitewood, Sask., was pointless in 35 games with the Red Deer Rebels last season. . . . The Cougars also released D Kobe Eagletail, 17, from their roster. He will join the Banff Bears of the Heritage junior league. Eagletail was pointless in two games with the Cougars. (Hey, gotta think there are worse places to play hockey than Banff!)
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that G Nik Amundrud, 17, who has been out with a concussion since Oct. 31, has been cleared to return to action. With that, the Blades are expected to move one of their other two goaltenders -- Alex Moodie, 19, or Trevor Martin, 18 -- in the immediate future, perhaps even before they play host to the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday. . . . According to Nugent-Bowman, Blades F Alex Forsberg, who missed a 4-1 loss to the Hitmen in Calgary on Sunday with an undisclosed injury, is probable for Saturday, as is D Ryan Coghlan (shoulder), while F Wyatt Sloboshan (broken jaw) won’t play until mid-December at the earliest. . . . D Jordan Thomson (concussion) is away from the team but is expected back sometime next week.
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Parts of Buffalo will have experienced about nine feet of snow by this morning. Apparently, it’s all because of something call a “localized lake effect.” . . . If you are wondering what that’s all about, National Geographic explains it right here, with the usual terrific photos, of course.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have acquired F Cory Millette, 19, from the Saskatoon Blades for a fifth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. That selection originally belonged to the Blades. . . . Millette, from Storthoaks, Sask., had 14 points, including five goals, in 22 games with the Blades. He was their second-leading scorer. . . . Last season, he was pointless in two games with the Red Deer Rebels, then put up 34 points, 17 of them goals, in 61 games with Saskatoon. . . . He was a second-round selection by Red Deer in the 2010 bantam draft. In 186 regular-season games, he has 86 points, 40 of them goals. . . . As Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix explains right here, the deal frees ice time for one of the Blades’ younger players.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have acquired F Jesse Shynkaruk, 18, from the Kamloops Blazers for a bantam draft pick. . . . According to the Blazers, it’s a fourth-round bantam draft pick in 2015 or 2017. According to the Warriors, it‘s a fourth-round pick in 2017. The WHL website says it’s a conditional fifth-round pick in 2015 or 2017. . . . He had eight points in 18 games with the Blazers this season. Shynkaruk, from Saskatoon, didn’t play in the Blazers’ 4-1 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday night. . . . The Blazers selected Shynkaruk in the seventh round of the 2011 bantam draft. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have acquired F Dakota Odgers, 18, from the Swift Current Broncos for a fifth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. Odgers, the son of former WHL/NHL F Jeff Odgers, is from Spy Hill, Sask. He was a second-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . In 65 regular-season games over two seasons, he has three goals and three assists. . . . This season, Odgers had two goals and an assist in 25 games with the Broncos. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province points out right here that the Giants are looking for some toughness and an improvement in their competitiveness. . . . Odgers is expected to be in the lineup tonight against the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Vancouver F Tyler Benson also is expected to be in the lineup. He hasn’t played since suffering an undisclosed injury at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge.
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Alan Caldwell, over at Small Thoughts At Large, is working hard as he tries to chart all of the bantam draft picks that have changed hands. You can check that out right here.
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F Mitch Holmberg, who won last season’s WHL scoring title while with the Spokane Chiefs, was involved in a trade on Thursday. . . . When the Vancouver Canucks dealt F Kellan Lain to the Edmonton Oil Kings for F Will Acton, the deal also included Holmberg’s rights. Holmberg, who had one assist in eight games with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors, now may be joining the Utica Comets, the Canucks’ AHL affiliate. . . . Last season, Holmberg had 118 points, including 62 goals, as a 20-year-old with the Chiefs. . . .
Admiral Vladivostok of the KHL has dumped head coach Dusan Gregor and replaced him with Sergei Shepelev. Interestingly, Gregor is to remain on the coaching staff, along with the team’s other assistant coaches -- Alexander Selivanov, Andrei Matytsyn and Konstantin Vlasov. . . .
The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association has selected Mike Boyle, the radio voice of the Spokane Chiefs, as one of three finalists for Washington Sportscaster of the Year. The winner is to be announced in mid-January. . . . Boyle has been the Chiefs’ play-by-play voice since 2002.
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It looks like its dress like a seat night at the Subway Super Series game in @QMJHL Fans and players have had enough of that useless event
— Brent Parker (@Patguy65) November 21, 2014

1. Jumbo Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks unleashed some locker-room humour on Thursday, before his side met the Canucks in Vancouver. One reporter took it and ran with it, and before long it was all over everywhere.
For starters, that's what you hear in men's locker-rooms, so stop pretending to blush. Wasn't it Gordie Howe who once said he spoke two languages, English and hockey? Well, in this instance, Jumbo Joe was speaking hockey.
Secondly, a whole lot of reporters/journalists apparently heard Thornton, but only one of them chose to take it and run with it, posting it on a blog on his newspaper's website. That reporter, Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province, later attempted to defend himself on TSN. Among the reasons he gave for posting Thornton's comment was that the newspaper's management expects him to write with an "edge." Botchford didn’t explain how reporting locker-room/toilet humour equates to writing with an edge.
Later in the day, Scott Emmert, the Sharks' director of media relations, issued a statement that included this: "I don't think it would be a surprise to anyone in the industry that 'locker room talk' exists. Professional reporters understand that concept and respect it."
According to Emmert, Botchford's decision to post the quote was "a pathetic attempt to generate some page hits and controversy by reporting an off-the-cuff and off-the-record comment made by someone who wasn't even being interviewed at the time."
Here's a tweet from reporter Jim Toth of Winnipeg radio station CJOB: "Heard Thornton audio, that is totally off the record & you can clearly tell he is joking. Regardless of what was said unprofessional to use."
And then there was this tweet (actually, it was two tweets) from Cory Wolfe, a former sports writer with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: "#JoeThornton anatomical reference reminds me of time that former @MJWarriors coach Al Tuer described a role player's performance thus: He's got more balls than brains - and that's saying something 'cause he's a smart kid."
Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy fame has a good take on what happened right here.
Later, Botchford took to the blogosphere in an attempt to explain things. That is right here.
The last word on this situation goes to Stu Walters of Vancouver radio station CKNW. After San Jose's 4-1 victory, Walters tweeted: "About to head into #sharks room for post game, hope Thornton isn't too prickly."

2. On Thursday afternoon, I saw this tweet from Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets: "The WHL has decided not to hand out copies of the beloved Official Guide, the Bible for radio broadcasters. #shame"
Later, I saw confirmation on the WHL website.
The decision by the WHL and its teams not to print the annual Guide is shameful. It also is terribly shortsighted and a slap in the face to its dedicated fanbase and media members who follow the league.
My late father used to tell me that there is a certain cost to doing business, and if the time comes that you can't pay that cost, then you should get out of the business. The publishing of an annual Guide is one of those costs that the WHL should be eager to pay every season.
Unfortunately, the WHL, in its haste to either save money or make even more use of an Internet that it already over-uses, has made a horrible mistake. That Guide is an invaluable resource; it also has contained the name of every player who ever has played in the league and you can bet a lot of those former players looked forward to seeing their names in there every autumn.
Sure, you can download the 2013-14 Guide onto your computer. Good luck accessing it while you’re in your seat at a WHL game.
The WHL and each of its teams should be ashamed and embarrassed by this decision.

3. With the fighting/no-fighting chatter brought on by a couple of recent incidents, some folks are forgetting why some people have taken a stance against fighting in hockey.
It has nothing to do with liking or not liking fighting, with enjoying or not enjoying a bout, with whether a scrap is capable of swinging the momentum of a hockey game.
Rather, this stance is all about three things, at least it is in my case: 1. With what we are learning about brain injuries and the long-term impact of them, more must be done to get rid of fighting; 2. Sooner or later, this is going to become an issue of liability and someone will have to pay the piper; and, 3. Society is recognizing how illogical it is to suspend a player for a check to the head of an opponent, while not suspending players for punching each other in the face.
That is what this is about. Period.

4. D Zach Hodder, 20, may have ended his WHL career on Thursday when he left the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald tweeted: "Zach Hodder has left the @MJWarriors and gone home to ponder his future. With Forsberg arriving writing was probably on the wall." . . . The Warriors acquired D Jesse Forsberg, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday, so the writing may have been on the wall for Hodder, who also has played for the Vancouver Giants, Saskatoon Blades, Prince Albert Raiders and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . A native of Delta, B.C., Hodder battled injuries for a lot of his career and played in only 128 career regular-season games over four-plus seasons. He has 38 career points. . . . Hodder was a first-round selection, 20th overall, by Vancouver in the 2008 bantam draft.

5. The Red Deer Rebels have added a defenceman to their roster, while moving out a forward. . . . The new face belongs to D Nick Charif, 18, who had been with the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies. He had two points in nine games with the Grizzlies. Last season, he had 14 points in 29 games with the midget AAA Edmonton-South Side Athletic Club. . . . The Rebels also dropped F Earl Webb, 17, and D Jake McLachlan, who turns 17 on Dec. 20. Webb will play with the AJHL's Calgary Mustangs. He was pointless in five games with the Rebels. . . . McLachlan is joining the BCHL's Cowichan Valley Capitals. He had one assist in five games with Red Deer.

6. The Saskatoon Blades made a couple of roster moves on Thursday. . . . They acquired F Cory Millette, 18, from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for F Evan Polei, 17. . . . Millette, who was released earlier this season by the Rebels, was with the SJHL's Estevan Bruins. From Storthoaks, Sask., he has 40 points in 106 regular-season WHL games. Red Deer selected him in the second round of the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Polei, 17, was an 11th-round pick by the Blades in the 2011 bantam draft. He had 32 points in 34 games with the Edmonton-South Side Athletic Club last season. . . . The Blades also have added D Ross Hnidy, 17, to their roster, while deleting D Kevin Pochuk. . . . Hnidy, a sixth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, had been with the SJHL's Nipawin Hawks. He was pointless in one game with the Blades last month. He played the last two seasons with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Pochuk, 18, had been picked up from Red Deer in a deal over the summer. He was pointless in five games. In that deal, the Blades got Pochuk and third- and seventh-round picks in the 2014 bantam draft for F Lukas Sutter.

7. Major League Baseball is down to four times and a whole lot of history. The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals open the NLCS today, with the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox starting the ALCS on Saturday. . . . Who you got? . . . My heart tells me St. Louis and Detroit; my head says Los Angeles and Boston.

8. It was Thursday, so that meant Dorothy and I spent the morning at what is known as a "clinic" at the hospital. Bloodwork is done and then everything from that point goes off the numbers.
Dorothy's numbers are excellent. I mean, really excellent. Like Gretzky's were. On top of that, one doctor told her the new kidney is working "extremely well."
What this means is that the two of us may not have turkey this weekend -- we've joked about having kidney pie -- but this still will be the best Thanksgiving of our lives.


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If you haven’t seen this piece right here by now, you may want to give it a look. David La Vaque of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that things are heating up between those who control the high school hockey scene in Minnesota and the WHL. In fact, the gloves just may be coming off.
Former high schooler Alex Baer, 15, made his WHL debut with the Vancouver Giants last night. In fact, he had a chance to win the game with a third-period penalty shot. More on that later.
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The Portland Winterhawks have added Steve Kariya to their coaching staff, at least for the remainder of this season. The Winterhawks didn’t add to their staff after general manager/head coach Mike Johnston was suspended for the remainder of this season on Nov. 28 for his role in what the league called “a series of violations” of its regulations. . . . Kariya, according to a news release, “will oversee the team’s in-game video scouting, helping the coaching staff make adjustments between periods. He will also assist with players’ skill development at practices.” . . . Veteran assistant coach Kyle Gustafson handled the video work for the last number of seasons, but moved to the bench when assistant GM/assistant coach Travis Green moved up following Johnston’s suspension. . . . Kariya, who is from Vancouver, played at the U of Maine before going on to a pro career that included 65 games with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. He played in Europe before retiring after the 2009-10 season. . . . Johnston was on the Canucks’ coaching staff when Kariya played there.
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Former WHL G Kurtis Mucha posted his fifth straight shutout on Friday night as the U of Alberta Golden Bears opened the Canada West final with a 5-0 victory over the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies. . . . Mucha last surrendered a goal on Jan. 26 in a 3-2 shootout loss against the visiting Calgary Dinos. . . . His shutout streak now rests at 324 minutes 20 seconds. . . . Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal points out that the NHL record of 332:01 is held by Brian Boucher, with the Phoenis Coyotes (2003-04), while the WHL record of 265:13 is held by Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers (1967-68). . . . “It’s starting to get a little ridiculous,” Mucha told Daum. “The boys are loving it, but tonight’s a huge team effort. Forty-five to 12 were the shots. I was there for one big breakaway save and that’s all they really needed.” . . . They’ll play again tonight in Edmonton. . . . Daum’s story is right here.
Mucha was the starting goaltender through some horrid times with the Portland Winterhawks not that long ago, and you wonder if this isn't the hockey gods giving him a little payback.
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The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Swift Current (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Medicine Hat (6)
Prince Albert (4) vs Red Deer (5)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Blades won their 18th straight game, beating the Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-1. . . . The outcome also gave head coach Lorne Molleken his 600th WHL victory. He is only the second coach in WHL history to get there, behind Ken Hodge (742). . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls earned his 300th regular-season point when he drew an assist on the game’s first goal. He later scored his 41st goal of the season, into an empty net. . . . Blades F Nick Zajac scored his eighth goal, running his goal streak to four games. . . . In reference to Molleken’s 600th victory, Zajac told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “It’s special to see. It’s a great accomplishment for him. He can say he’s a big dog now.” . . . Brandon F Richard Nejezchleb (hand) was back in the lineup after not playing since Jan. 8. He scored Brandon’s lone goal at 17:38 of the third, on a PP. . . . The Blades next play Sunday when they meet the Warriors in Moose Jaw. Saskatoon has won five in a row from Moose Jaw during this 18-game streak. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Cory Millette scored twice to help the Red Deer Rebels to a 4-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Millette’s second goal, his 10th of the season, broke a 1-1 tie at 14:18 of the second period. . . . F Jaeden Descheneau scored his 22nd for the Ice. . . .


In Calgary, D Eetu Laurikainen stopped 36 shots as the Swift Current Broncos beat the Hitmen, 3-1. . . . F Adam Lowry of the Broncos broke a 1-1 tie withhis 431st goal at 17:20 of the first period. . . . All four goals were scoed in the first period. . . . D Dillon Heatherington had two assists for the winners. . . . The Hitmen had D Alex Roach back in the lineup after he missed five games with a shoulder injury. . . .

In Regina, F Trent Ouellette scored at 4:44 of OT to give the Pats a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw F Sam Fioretti scored his 30th goal to force OT at 13:21 of the third period. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt stopped 41 shots. . . . D Christos Zinis, who turned 16 on Thursday, made his WHL debut with the Warriors. He is from Broomfield, Colo., and was an eight-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds scored two first-period goals and went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Seattle F Roberts Lipsbergs scored his 23rd goal at 14:00 of the first and it stood up as the winner. . . . Seattle F Luke Lockhart got his 20th goal into an empty net. . . . Tri-City G Troy Trombley stopped 28 shots in losing for the first time in his seven straight starts. . . . Seattle G Brandon Glover also stopped 28 shtos. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser played in his 312th consecutive game, breaking the WHL record that had been held by D Dwayne Newman (Brandon, Victoria, 1987-92). . . .

In Prince George, F Colin Smith had two goals and an assist as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Cougars, 4-1. . . . Smith’s first goal was the 100th of his career; the second one was his 40th of the season. . . . Smith has 99 points this season. . . . The Blazers are five points shy of the B.C. Division-leading Kelowna Rockets, who hold one game in hand. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford tied the franchise record for career regular-season games played (341). He should break the record he now shares with F C.J. Stretch (2005-10) tonight when the Blazers meet the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . The Cougars took 87 of the game’s 164 penalty minutes, most of which came in the third period as things degenerated a bit. . . .

In Victoria, F Mike Aviani scored at 3:38 of OT to give the Spokane Chiefs a 4-3 victory over the Royals. . . . Aviani has 29 goals this season. . . . Spokane D Brenden Kichton drew three assists. . . . Victoria V Logan Nelson forced OT with his second goal of the game, and 12th of the season, at 13:24 of the third. . . . D Brett Cote had three assists for the Royals. . . . The Royals, who have lost eight straight, had F Tyler Soy, 15, and D Isaac Schacher, 18, in their lineup. Soy was a first-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, while Schacher played for the junior B Kimberley Dynamiters, whose season is over. . . . Victoria F Logan Fisher is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. He left a 5-4 loss to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday on a stretcher and was taken to hospital. . . .

In Vancouver, F Carter Popoff scored at 1:06 of OT to give the Giants a 5-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Giants used the game to celebrate Gordie Howe’s 85th birthday (he actually turns 85 on March 31). . . . Lethbridge F Sam Mckechnie scored his 26th goal at 7:28 of the third to force extra time. . . . The Hurricanes had trailed 3-1 after the first period. . . . F Russell Maxwell scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him 21. . . . Popoff has 13 goals. . . . The Giants had F Alec Baer, 15, in the lineup for the first time. The Minnesotan was awarded a penalty shot at 17:33 of the third period, with the score tied 4-4. Lethbridge G Ty Rimmer, who stopped 31 shots, thwarted him. . . . The Giants revealed that D Reid Zalitach’s season is over. He suffered a knee injury in Wednesday’s 5-3 victory in Kamloops. . . .

In Everett, F Michael St. Croix had four assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings dropped the Silvertips, 7-1. . . . D Martin Gernat scored twice — he’s got three — for the Oil Kings, who went 3-2-0 on their U.S. Division swing. . . . Edmonton was 3-for-7 on the PP. . . . F Trevor Cheek had two goals, giving him 29, and an assist for Edmonton. . . . D Griffin Reinhart added his seventh goal and two assists for Edmonton.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Colin Smith, Kamloops
F Cain Franson, Vancouver
F Michael Sofillas, Lethbridge

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Tanner Eberle, Moose Jaw
F Carter Proft, Spokane
F Ty Mappin, Everett
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From Joy Newman (@dogsmrs): “@Fespal22 Hey there, you just tied my husband’s WHL Ironman record so wanted to say congrats! Good luck tomorrow in setting the new record”
Dwayne Newman’s wife, Joy, tweets congratulations to Tri-City Americans F Justin Feser, who tied Dwayne’s WHL Ironman record earlier in the week and broke it last night.

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