Patrick tops Craig's List . . . Veteran forward in Blades' camp . . . Ex-WHL D is head coach at UBC

D Travis Ehrhardt (Moose Jaw, Portland, 2004-09) has signed a one-year contract with Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A). Last season, with the Utica Comets (AHL), he had six goals and 19 assists in 64 games. . . .

F Sean Ringrose (Medicine Hat, 2007-09) has signed a one-year contract with Gap (France, Ligue Magnus). Last season, he had two goals and six assists in 22 games with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL).

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While chatting with an NHL scout at a recent exhibition game, it was mentioned that 2016-17 isn’t looking like a banner season for the WHL, at least not in terms of top-end NHL draft picks.

NOLAN PATRICK

In fact, he suggested that the WHL might be home to only . . . maybe . . . three first-round selections. That includes F Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who is coming off sports hernia surgery but remains the consensus No. 1 selection.

Craig Button of TSN issued his first 2017 draft rankings yesterday and his list pretty much bears out what the scout suggested.

The second WHLer on Craig’s List is F Kailer Yamamoto of the Spokane Chiefs. He’s at No. 19, one spot ahead of Kelowna Rockets D Cal Foote.

D Henri Jokiharju of the Portland Winterhawks is at No. 22, with F Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans at No. 27.

Craig’s List also has 10 “players to watch” and it includes four WHLers — F Jaret Anderson-Dolan of Spokane, D Cale Fleury of the Kootenay Ice, G Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders, G Stuart Skinner of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Craig’s List is right here.

——

Whoops! Apologies to F Owen Seidel of the Seattle Thunderbirds, who, despite a report here yesterday, remains on their preseason roster. Seidel, 18, was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos last season and had a goal and two assists in 18 games with Seattle. He was pointless in seven games with the Broncos. . . . In 2013-14, he led the B.C. Major Midget League in scoring, putting up 67 points, including 50 points, with the Greater Vancouver Canadians. . . . His name was inadvertently dropped from the Thunderbirds’ online roster, which led to reports that he had been released. Seidel was back on that roster as of Tuesday afternoon.

——

The Kootenay Ice appears to be down to three goaltenders after dropping Jesse Makaj, 15, from its roster. He is expected to join the Vancouver-North West Giants of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. Makaj, a Vancouver native, was a second-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . News of the move was tweeted by Dickson Liong, the director of communications for The Sports Corporation. . . . Goaltenders still with the Ice are Cranbrook native Payton Lee, 20, who was acquired from the Edmonton Oil Kings over the summer; Declan Hobbs, who backed up Wyatt Hoflin last season; and Jakob Walter, 17, of Langley, B.C., who was a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft.

——

Veteran F Jesse Shynkaruk, 20, is in camp with the Saskatoon Blades on a tryout basis. He was released by the Moose Jaw Warriors over the summer. The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder is from Saskatoon and played a season there with the midget AAA Contacts. . . . He has three WHL seasons under his belt, having played 85 games with the Kamloops Blazers and 111 with the Warriors. In 196 regular-season games, he has 48 points, including 23 goals. . . . Shynkaruk is one of three 20-year-olds on the Blades’ roster at the moment, the others being F Ryan Graham and D Bryton Sayers.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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The ECHL’s Worcester Railers, who are to begin play in October 2017, have signed Jamie Russell as general manager and head coach. Russell, 50, is a native of Kamloops. Russell spent the past two seasons as GM and head coach of the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for three seasons at Providence College. He also was the head coach at Michigan Tech for eight seasons (2003-11).

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Former WHL D Sven Butenschon has been named the head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds. An assistant coach with the Thunderbirds last season, he was named interim head coach on Aug. 30 when the university announced that it had parted company with head coach Adam Shell after one season. Butenschon played three seasons (1993-96) with the Brandon Wheat Kings before going on to a professional career.

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Ryely McKinstry missed @WHLGiants practice today. GM Glen Hanlon admits it's more concussion concerns. D-man only played 11 games last year.

— Steve Ewen (@SteveEwen) September 14, 2016

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Death of a hockey program . . . RBC Cup final set . . . Putin scores eight goals

There is an interesting note on overage players in the Finnish Nuorten SM-Liiga, which is that country’s top junior league.
A team is effectively allowed nine overagers — eight skaters and a goalie.
The goalie may be either 20 or 21. (In Finnish, it says "toinen maalivahdeista" which translates to "second goalies" or "other goalies.”)
Of the eight skaters, four may be 21, but they must be signed to a contract with the junior club's senior team and registered in the senior league.
In the lower junior leagues (think our Tier 2 and below), the rule is the same except there are no extra overage goalies and no restrictions on being signed to the senior team — just eight overagers with four allowed to be 21.
Imagine the quality of play in the WHL if teams were allowed to play under this rule. Imagine the quality of play in midget hockey, as players who still have midget eligibility would be playing midget.
——
Looking at the ‘summer’ roster for Espoo Blues, who finished third last season, they have 32 players listed. The age breakdown is:
 Age 21 (born 94) — zero
Age 20 (95) — five (all skaters)
Age 19 (96) — six
Age 18 (97) — 14 (five returning, nine played midget last season)
Age 17 (98) — six (two returning, four played midget)
Age 16 (99) — one (returning player)
The one 16-year-old who played this season as a 15-year-old is Urho Vaakanainen, a 6-foot-0, 176-pound defenceman. He had 12 points, including four goals, in 30 games. He was born on New Year's Day, 1999, so was just barely a 15-year-old for this season.
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Trevor Bast fought the good fight. But, in the end, he chose to walk away.
Bast’s son, Des, was to have played in 2014-15 for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack hockey team. However, citing financial issues, the TRU athletic department chose to drop the program before the season began.
Almost immediately, Trevor went to work trying to resuscitate the program. When it became evident that he couldn’t save the season, he tried to get the program up and running in time for 2015-16.
However, earlier this week he said that he was done.
“I don't think there was ever a chance of bringing hockey back to TRU but that doesn't mean the fight wasn't worth it,” he wrote in an email to Taking Note. “I think it is very important for someone in Kamloops, preferably a hockey alumni, to keep the torch burning to a small degree. The attitude and climate may change over time and it's important to be ready just in case.”
Despite TRU’s reluctance to get involved again, Bast said he really felt he was on the right road.
“I was close to having three seasons of hockey funded between player fees and private donations,” he explained. “That was without any advertising or fund-raising commitments. It's important to know money was the least of the obstacles to saving or reviving hockey. Once the cause went public, donors came out of the woodwork. We also had a hockey operations department standing by and ready to go.”
Bast also questions whether finances was the real reason that TRU chose to drop hockey. He is of the opinion that it had more to do with eight players becoming academically ineligible all at one.
“That,” Bast noted, “is a black mark on any institution and they needed to separate themselves from it as quickly as possible. . . . Baseball has survived as a club team at TRU for 13  years. They've had their ups and downs financially, but have avoided drawing that type of negative attention to themselves and the school.
“The reality is, hockey started at TRU under an athletic director and an administration that was fully supportive of hockey. The current AD has his preferences and when hockey became difficult to deal with and put itself in this position, it was an easy decision to nudge them off the cliff.”
At the end of the day, though, Bast said the big losers are the potential collegiate hockey players.
“I will always hope hockey comes back to TRU,” he said. “I feel badly for the players aging out of junior hockey who won’t play collegiate hockey because there now is one less place to play.”
——
Like so many other observers, long-time WHL watcher Peter Loubardias expected the championship final between the Kelowna Rockets and Brandon Wheat Kings to last six or seven games. Instead, the Rockets swept the series. So . . . what happened? That’s what Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix asks Loubardias right here.
——
Dan Lambert has won a Memorial Cup as a player. Now, in his first season as a head coach, he’s going back to the championship tournament. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun takes a look right here at Lambert and how he got to where he is today.
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The host Portage Terriers will meet the CCHL-champion Carleton Place Canadians in the RBC Cup’s championship final tonight. . . . The Terriers, the MJHL champions, got there with a 6-1 victory over the SJHL-champion Melfort Mustangs last night. . . . The Canadians reached the final with a 3-2 victory over the BCHL-champion Penticton Vees. That game was decided at 3:43 of double OT. . . . In the round-robin, Carleton Place beat Portage, 3-0. . . . This is the Canadians’ second trip to the final in two years. At last year’s tournament, in Vernon, B.C., they gave up two goals eight seconds part late in the third period before losing 4-3 in OT to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . Brian Munz and Craig Button will call the championship final on TSN.
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“The odds are slim for anyone to play a single game in the National Hockey League — let alone make a career of it. But I was one of the few, after playing my heart out in the minors, to reach the pinnacle of my profession,” writes Malcolm Davis in the National Post. “But this success was fleeting. Due to the League’s callous attitude toward head hits and concussions, my NHL days were cut short. The long-term effects haunt me to this day.” . . . And, with that piece, which is right here, another hockey player details his life of trying to deal with post-concussion syndrome. For starters, if he reads something for longer than 10 minutes, he gets a headache. This is not pretty.
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Russia's Putin plays with NHL veterans, scoring 8 goals http://t.co/BiwUOWa7dk

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 17, 2015

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Rebels drop an import . . . Wardley gets five . . . More on McDavid

F Alessio Bertaggia (Brandon, Spokane, 2011-13) was traded with Calle Andersson by Zug to Lugano (both Switzerland, NL A) for Dominik Schlumpf and Sandro Zangger. This season, with Zug, Bertaggia had one assist in 18 games. He grew up in Lugano and played his minor hockey there.
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THE RIGHT HAND:

It being almost that time of the year, I spent a few hours wandering the hallways of the Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna on Wednesday afternoon. Yes, Christmas carols were in the air, Remembrance Day having been over for -- what? -- 12 hours or so.
You may find it hard to believe, but not once did I hear Connor McDavid's name spoken, not even under someone's breath. Mind you, I didn't stroll into Jersey City.
The OHL's Erie Otters revealed Wednesday that McDavid has a broken bone in his right hand that could keep him out of action for six weeks, give or take a few days. That would seem to indicate that he won't be available for the Canadian junior team's selection camp that will precede the 2015 World Junior Championship that is scheduled to open on Dec. 26 in Toronto and Montreal.
Still, unless McDavid is a slow healer, you can bet Hockey Canada will keep a roster spot open for him.
McDavid, of course, was injured on Tuesday night when he inadvertently punched the boards or glass during a fight, the first of his OHL career that involved actual fisticuffs. He is a scorer, not a fighter and now has proved it.
It should come as no surprise that the debate -- to fight, or not to fight -- has raged on since word of McDavid's decision to fight lit up the world of social media.
But, really, there is no debate. To fight or not to fight is no longer the question. Fighting is on the way out of the game hockey; there can be no doubting that.
The fourth-line enforcer has all but disappeared from the NHL and is a thing of the past in major junior hockey. I can't think of coach at the junior level and above who, given his druthers, doesn't want to play a four-line game.
And there isn't a coach out there who wants his best player to be fighting for fear of the same thing happening that happened to McDavid. An injury like that to such a player could be the difference between making the playoffs and going golfing for some teams. It could be the difference between coaching and having to find a real job for some men.
As TSN's Craig Button, a former NHL general manager, writes right here, "McDavid should not be fighting, ever."
"The argument that he is standing up for himself doesn't hold when you consider the impact he has in the game," Button writes. "That impact is lost when he isn't available whether it is for five minutes or for weeks if he suffers an injury."
If McDavid isn't able to play for Canada in the WJC, the impact of his hand meeting the wall could be incalculable.
After all, as Button points out, Team Canada may be without Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett, Jonathan Drouin, Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat, Curtis Lazar and Nate McKinnon, all of whom are eligible but with NHL teams. Add McDavid to that list and the news could be devastating for Team Canada.
However, there still is time for McDavid to recover and, with all the various forms of therapy available, you have to think the chances are good that he'll be there for the opening faceoff come Boxing Day.
You can bet that McDavid's absence will be noted tonight when Sportsnet televises Game 3 of the Super Series, this one from Peterborough, Ont. It was be noted again Friday when Sportsnet shows a game that features the McDavid-less Otters agains the Niagara IceDogs.
Meanwhile, the fighting debate will rage on.
Unfortunately, many of those who take part in that debate are missing the point. The disappearance of fighting from hockey hasn't anything to do with an anti-fighting stance taken by writers who never played the game.
Rather, it is disappearing because neurologists and others who are researching brain injuries have discovered the painful toll that athletes (and others) who have suffered such injuries can end up paying, some of them immediately and others later in life. It is disappearing because lawyers are filing lawsuits and more are surely to come.
I dare you to read Tough Guy, the biography of the late Bob Probert, or Boy on Ice: The Life and Death of Derek Boogaard, by John Branch of The New York Times, and then make the argument that there is room in the game for fighting.
Without fighting, the onus will be on the leagues and their referees to make sure that the rules are enforced, especially when it comes to the superstar players. You don't see the best players in the NBA getting mugged on a nightly basis, if for no other reason than it realizes which players are its meal tickets.
BTW, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had two fights this season. Two!
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The Red Deer Rebels have added D Austin Shmoorkoff, 17, to their roster. Shmoorkoff, from Edmonton, had been with the AJHL's Calgary Canucks, joining them after a sting with the Okotoks Oilers. In 10 AJHL games, he had four assists and 33 penalty minutes. . . . Last season, he played with the midget AAA Edmonton-Canadian Athletic Club, and also got into six games with the Rebels. . . . Shmoorkoff fills a roster spot created when the Rebels waived Latvian D Hugo Jansons, 17, who was Red Deer's first pick in the CHL's 2014 import draft. Jansons suffered an undisclosed injury early in the season and never did get into a game with the Rebels. He may end up playing in the USHL. . . . “It’s a situation where he came in and had a real tough camp,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels' owner, general manager and head coach, told Greg Meachem, the sports editor of the Red Deer Advocate. “To be quite honest, we were certainly expecting more after listening to his agent and other people (scouts) over there. That’s just the way it works sometimes, that there’s a misconception regarding the level of play in the CHL."---
D Evan Wardley of the Seattle Thunderbirds now has been suspended six times for a total of 21 games over the past two-plus seasons. . . . His latest suspension was handed down Wednesday, this one for five games after he took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct during a game against the host Saskatoon Blades on Saturday. . . . On that night, he was playing in his fourth game since serving a seven-game suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct in an Oct. 11 game in Portland. . . . Last season, he drew a four-game sentence for a charging major against Portland on Nov. 1 and a two-game suspension for a boarding major against Kamloops on Dec. 31. . . . In 2012-13, he sat out one game after picking up his third game misconduct on Jan. 5 against Spokane and two games after collecting his fourth game misconduct of the season against Everett on March 9.
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Having played two games for Team WHL against a Russian side in the Subway Super Series, F Greg Chase has returned home to await a trade. The Calgary Hitmen are working to do just that. Whether that happens, or when it happens, apparently won't have anything to do with Chase's Team Canada fortunes. "We had Greg at our summer camp and I've got a real good feeling for Greg watching him play a lot with the Hitmen," Hockey Canada head scout Ryan Jankowski old Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "I'm comfortable knowing what I know right now." . . . Chase was a healthy scratch from a game in Saskatoon on Nov. 3. He left the Hitmen and now is awaiting a trade. . . . He didn't hurt his cause with two solid performances with team WHL. . . .
G Bolton Pouliot, 20, who has had stints with the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks already this season, now is with the AJHL's Calgary Canucks. Pouliot, who is from Calgary, was released by the Winterhawks last week. . . .
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province hits the nail squarely on its head right here, as he writes that young hockey players, like G Eric Comrie of the Tri-City Americans, are being asked to play far too much hockey.
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WEDNESDAY'S GAMES:

In Prince Albert, the Regina Pats erased a 1-0 deficit with eight straight goals, six of them in the second period, as they beat the Raiders, 8-3. . . . F Pavel Padakin led the Pats with two goals, giving him five, and two assists. . . . Pats F Austin Wagner added his fifth goal and two assists. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 41 shots. . . . Regina F Morgan Klimchuk scored his fifth goal to give his side a 2-1 lead at 15:49 of the first period. The goal came while the Pats were shorthanded; it was the only special teams goal in the game. . . . The Raiders have lost three in a row. . . .

In Moose Jaw, G Justin Paulic turned aside 31 shots to lead the Warriors to a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . With G Zach Sawchenko out with an undisclosd injury, Paulic was backed up by Brody Wilms, an eighth-round pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. Wilms, from Coquitlam, B.C., plays at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C. . . . Paulic, 19, went 12-29-8 last season with Moose Jaw, but Sawchenko grabbed the starting job this season. As a result, Paulic won his first game of the season last night and now is 1-4-1. . . . After Seattle scored the game's first goal, the Warriors took control with four goals in a row. . . . D Tyler Brown was back in Moose Jaw's lineup after sitting out with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Thunderbirds were without F Mathew Barzal, who has been on crutches due to an undisclosed injury. I didn't see the game on Shaw-TV last night, but there were reports that the telecast crew reporting Barzal could be out for two months. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a game story right here.

In Vancouver, F Carter Popoff scored twice in 36 seconds and the Giants went on to a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Popoff's goals, at 15:04 and 15:40 of the second period, gave the Giants a 3-0 lead. He's got 10 goals. . . . Vancouver F Johnny Wesley, added to the lineup from the BCHL's Surrey Eagles, scored 10 seconds into the first period. . . . Interestingly, each of Vancouver's goals included just one assist. . . . Among Tri-City's scratches was F Richard Nejezchelb. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter stopped 19 shots, 18 fewer than Tri-City's Evan Sarthou.
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I fought two times last week and nobody said anything.
— Conner Bleackley (@Bleacks9) November 12, 2014

Another player done, at least for now . . . Warriors cycle for Ethan

F Lukáš Vartovník (Everett, 2006-08) has signed a one-year contract with Spišská Nová Ves (Slovakia, 1. Liga). Last season, with Liptovský Mikuláš (Slovakia, 1. Liga), he had five goals and 11 assists in 36 games. . . .
F Martin Cibák (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) has signed a one-year contract with Olomouc (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he was the captain of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL), and had 12 points, including six goals, in 38 games. He was traded to Vityaz Podolsk (Russia, KHL), and had two goals and an assist in 16 games.
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CONCUSSION REPORT:

The WHL may have lost another player to post-concussion syndrome.
F Brandon Del Grosso, 18, isn’t with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“As of right now,” he told Taking Note, “I’m just going to school and taking things day by day. I was not ready to return to Moose Jaw this year as I haven’t played in a hockey game in quite a while.”
Del Grosso played one game last season. On Oct. 9, he took a hit from behind that, he said, left him with whiplash and a concussion. Almost a year later, Del Grosso is still feeling it.
“I still have symptoms (from) time to time,” he said.
A ninth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2011 bantam draft, he had 43 points, 13 of them goals, in 43 games with the major midget Vancouver-Northwest Giants in 2012-13. He also got into three games with the Warriors that season.
So, to date, his WHL resume shows four games, with no points.
From New Westminster, he is now attending Douglas College, which is located in his hometown.
“As far as hockey goes,” he said, “I’m not currently playing but that could change in the future.”
Making the decision to leave the game, especially when it wasn’t on his terms, “wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” he said.
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If you missed it, Sean Rooney and Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News reported Wednesday that F Gavin Broadhead of the Medicine Hat Tigers has had to retire due to post-concussion syndrome.
That story is right here.
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Meanwhile, the U of Minnesota Gophers announced Wednesday that Amanda Kessel, the sister of Toronto Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel, won’t play this season because of post-concussion syndrome.
Amanda Kessel didn’t play for the Gophers last season as she was with the U.S. women’s national team. She incurred a concussion while with the national team.
"It’s obviously a difficult decision and one that I’ve taken time to come to terms with,” Kessel said in a news release. “As someone who has played through a lot of injuries, it wasn’t until suffering a concussion that I fully understood the importance of being 100 per cent healthy when I’m on the ice. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case right now.
"My No. 1 priority is my health, and I hope that I’ll be able to return to the ice in the future."
She has been working with doctors and specialists at the Carrick Brain Center in Atlanta.
Kessel, who has one year of eligibility remaining, won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2012 as the NCAA’s top Divison I women’s player.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors lost a member of their organization in July when F Ethan Williams of Winnipeg committed suicide.  Williams, who would have turned 17 on Aug. 22, was to have attended his third Warriors training camp. . . . On Wednesday, Katie Brickman of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports right here, 11 veteran players “participated in the Cycle Around the Globe for World Suicide Prevention Day . . . with a certain person in mind.” . . . Warriors GM Alan Millar told Brickman: ““I think it is very important to be in the community and give back to the Moose Jaw community that supports us so well but, as part of that, there are a number of causes that are so important. This day is close to our hearts with what happened to a young man, Ethan Williams, recently. He was part of our family.”
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It could be that Russian F Nikita Scherbak has played his last game with the Saskatoon Blades. Scherback led the Blades last season in goals (28), assists (50) and points (78). He was selected in the first round of the NHL’s 2014 draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He turns 19 on Dec. 30, so has to play in the NHL or be returned to the Blades. . . . Because he was a first-round NHL pick, the Blades were allowed to pick twice in the CHL’s 2014 import draft, which they did. On top of that, there is a one-year moratorium on trading import draft selections. . . . So, as Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports right here, the Blades already are contemplating finding Scherback another WHL team with which to play.
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“Government officials in Washington state, home to four Western Hockey League teams, have been investigating the working conditions of the teams' mostly-teenaged players over the past year, TSN has learned.
“Matthew Erlich, a spokesman for Washington's Department of Labor and Industry, told TSN that officials recently referred the case to the state attorney general's office and added that the labor department is waiting for a legal opinion from the attorney general before pursuing its investigation further.”
Those are the first two paragraphs of a story by Rick Westhead, TSN’s senior correspondent. The complete story is right here.
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TSN posted its first Craig’s List of the 2014-15 season on Wednesday. The list, compiled by TSN’s Craig Button, features his ranking of the top 40 players who are eligible for the 2015 NHL draft. This list, which is right here, includes one WHLer, Seattle F Mathew Barzal, in the top 20, but there are five in the top 30 and 10 in the top 40.
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The Prince George Cougars have hired Craig Hyslop as an athletic therapist. Hyslop, 28, is from Prince George. He spent the last two years with CBI, a health services centre in Prince George. According to general manager Todd Harkins, Hyslop will “take care of (the players’) health and well-being,” while Chico Dhanjal “takes care of their equipment.” . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman tweeted Wednesday that D Landon Cross, 20, has received his release and will join the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons. Cross, who is from Brandon, was acquired by the Kootenay Ice from the Kamloops Blazers last season. He didn’t report to the Ice this season, saying he wanted to finish his junior career with the Pistons. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades will open the season with Troy Trombley, 20, and Trevor Martin, 18, as their goaltenders. The 6-foot-7 Trombley, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was 9-30-3/4.08/.899 last season. He also has played with the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans. Martin, from Ardossan, Alta., split last season between the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings and the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines. . . . Saskatoon’s roster sits at 29, including two goaltenders and 10 defencemen.

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The new third jersey is here! pic.twitter.com/SifZ5ktKBX
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) September 11, 2014

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Changes in Saskatoon; Cougars sold . . . not yet!

A trust fund has been established to assist the Bozon family with medical- and rehabilitation-related costs with which they now are faced.
You are able to make a donation at any BMO Bank of Montreal branch in Western Canada.
Should you live outside of that area and want to donate, please mail donations to:
Western Hockey League
c/o Tim Bozon
Father David Bauer Arena
2424 University Drive NW
Calgary AB
T2N 3Y9
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The new owners of the Saskatoon Blades, Mike and Colin Priestner, began putting their stamp on the the franchise Tuesday when, as expected, they dumped general manager Lorne Molleken and head coach Dave Struch overboard.
The Priestners purchased the franchise from the Brodsky family, with the deal being approved by the WHL’s board of governors on Sept. 4.
Molleken, who was in his first season as general manager after a run as GM/head coach, had two years left on his deal. He apparently will stay on for a while in a consulting role and is expected to be involved in the hiring process.
Struch, a former Blades stick boy, player and long-time assistant coach, completed his first year as head coach. His contract was to expire in July. The Blades, who were rebuilding after an attempt to load up last season when they were the host team for the Memorial Cup, went 16-51-5 and missed the playoffs.
Also gone are assistant coach Curtis Leschyshyn and goaltending coach Tim Cheveldae, both of whom are going to join the coaching staff of the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers.
Interestingly, Craig Button, a former NHL GM who works as an analyst with TSN and the NHL Network, is working with the Priestners during the hiring process.
According to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Button “has been hired by the Blades as a part-time, volunteer consultant.”
Nugent-Bowman’s piece on Button’s involvement is right here.
Nugent-Bowman’s story on the day’s activities is right here.
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It doesn’t seem likely that Dean Clark will get back into the coaching or management game with the Blades or any other team.
Clark, a veteran of 958 regular-season games as a WHL coach, is in a construction management position with SNC-Lavalin, a corporation that is a big player in the construction and engineering business. Clark, who also has his journeyman’s papers in pole-climbing and was a lineman before getting in coaching in the WHL, has been working for SNC-Lavalin since May and, while he works out of his home in Kelowna, he spends ample time on the road.
“It’s got all the benefits, like a pension,” he told me Tuesday night from a Vancouver hotel room, “and you don’t get all that stuff in the WHL.”
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The Blades are the second WHL team to be looking for a head coach, joining the Kamloops Blazers.
You may recall that the Blazers, on the morning of Jan. 11, announced via a news release that head coach Dave Hunchak “has taken a leave of absence from the team effective immediately.”
Hunchak actually had left the team on Jan. 9 in Spokane and returned home, leaving associate coach Mark Ferner to run the bench in a game against the Chiefs on Jan. 10.
Upon the Blazers’ return to Kamloops, Guy Charron resurfaced as head coach. Charron had stepped down after last season and moved into the position of advisor to hockey operations.
The Blazers’ season, one that was the poorest in Kamloops franchise history, ended on March 14 and management has yet to clarify that situation, although general manager Craig Bonner has indicated to Kamloops This Week that he is looking for a head coach.
That, of course, begs the question: If a head coach is on a leave of absence is he still the head coach?
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Meanwhile, the sale of the Prince George Cougars has yet to be completed.
It will happen, you can bet the house on that; it just hasn’t happened yet.
Of course, once it does happen and new owners are in place, the futures of head coach Mark Holick and assistant coach Jason Becker will have to be decided.
Holick just completed his first full season and is believed to have two years left on his contract.
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Early on Tuesday, WHL Facts (@WHLFacts) sent this tweet: “Mar. 25, 2003 - 11 years ago today, the longest game in WHL history was played (136:56) as the @WHLKootenayICE defeated Kamloops 3-2 in 4OTs.”
Now that was a fun time.
Had the game taken up another 10 minutes of real time, the Kamloops Daily News would have gone to press without a game story. As it was, the press was held for 50 minutes.
During the intermissions between the OT periods, I actually wrote two leads, one with the Ice winning, the other with the Blazers winning.
No, there weren’t any quotes in either story.
I can tell you, too, that I wasn’t cheering for either team, but I was cheering for the next goal. Had the game continued, I would have been past my last deadline and it wouldn’t have mattered then had the game gone until dawn.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings aren’t likely to have F Peter Quenneville or D Eric Roy in their lineup for Game 3 against the visiting Regina Pats tonights. Neither played in Game 2 in Regina on Saturday night and Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that neither skated Tuesday. . . . Henderson also reported: “Also missing the session was Jordan Papirny, with (GM/head coach Kelly) McCrimmon refusing to give a status update on his No.1 goalie.” Papirny went the distance in each of the first two games. If he can’t go, Curtis Honey, 19, will get the call. Honey has played in 73 regular-season games, but has yet to see playoff action. . . .
Brandon F Nolan Patrick was given credit for his first WHL playoff goal in Sunday’s 8-4 victory in Regina, but that goal has since been awarded to F Chad Robinson. Patrick, the fourth overall selection in the 2013 bantam draft, didn’t even get an assist on the play, with those going to F Rihards Bukarts and D Ryan Pilon.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, F Jake DeBrusk broke a 1-1 tie at 13:51 of the third period and the Broncos went on to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-1. . . . The Tigers lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Swift Current tonight. . . . F Nate Burns gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead on a PP at 11:32 of the first, with Tigers F Curtis Sanford tying it at 16:21. . . . Burns also drew an assist on DeBrusk’s goal. . . . Broncos D Julius Honka iced it with an empty-netter at 18:51 of the third. . . . Swift Current G Eetu Laurikainen stopped 30 shots, six fewer than Marek Langhamer of the Tigers. . . . The Broncos were 1-for-5 on the PP; the Tigers were 0-for-2. . . .

In Prince Albert, the Edmonton Oil Kings overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to beat the Raiders 4-3 and take command of their first-round series. . . . The Oil Kings lead 3-0 with Game 4 in Prince Albert tonight. . . . Edmonton F Riley Kieser broke a 3-3 tie at 17:28 of the third period after F Edgars Kulda had equalized at 13:37. . . . The Raiders took a 2-0 lead into the second period on goals by F Jayden Hart and F Leon Draisaitl. . . . The Oil Kings got even with second-period goals by F Brent Pollock, on the PP, and D Griffin Reinhart. . . . Raiders F Chance Braid gave his guys a 3-2 lead at 12:49 of the second. . . . Edmonton D Ashton Sautner had two assists. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry kicked out 24 shots, nine fewer than Prince Albert’s Cole Cheveldave. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-for-3 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-4. . . .

In Cranbrook, Kootenay F Jaedon Descheneau broke a 4-4 tie with 51.6 seconds left in the third period as the Ice beat the Calgary Hitmen 5-4 to even their series at 2-2. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Calgary on Thursday night. . . . Descheneau was coming off a six-point night in Monday’s 7-6 OT loss. . . . He also had an assist in this one, as he became the first player in these playoffs to reach 10 points. . . . In what has turned into a wild-and-crazy series, the Ice held 2-0 and 3-1 leads before having to erase a 4-3 deficit. . . . F Greg Chase, Monday’s OT hero, pulled Calgary into a 3-3 tie at 3:29 of the second period and F Pavel Padakin gave the visitors a 4-3 lead with a shorthanded score at 6:26. . . . Ice F Levi Cable tied it at 7:43 of the second. . . . F Sam Reinhart and F Zach Franko each scored his fourth goal of the series for Kootenay. . . . F Jake Virtanen got his first goal of the playoffs for the Hitmen, on a first-period PP. . . . The Hitmen were 1-for-6 on the PP; the Ice was 1-for-7. On Monday, the Ice had been 5-for-6 on the PP. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin, who relieved starter MacKenzie Skapski after Padakin’s goal, stopped all 20 shots he faced and picked up his first playoff victory. Skapski had given up four goals on 18 shots. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger stopped 27 shots. . . .

In Vancouver, the Portland Winterhawks built up a 4-0 lead en route to a 6-3 victory over the Giants. . . . With a 3-0 series lead, the Winterhawks get their first opportunity to wrap it up tonight in Vancouver. . . . F Brendan Leipsic had two goals and two assists for the Winterhawks. He scored two of his club’s first four goals. . . . Leipsic has four goals in the series. . . . F Taylor Leier, F Oliver Bjorkstrand and D Derrick Pouliot each added a goal and an assist for the Winterhawks. . . . Vancouver F Joel Hamilton scored shorthanded at 9:33 of the third and F Trent Lofthouse added another goal at 11:55, getting the home side to within 5-3. . . . Portland F Paul Bittner put it away at 15:48. . . . Portland, with the WHL’s top regular-season PP, was 2-for-5 with the man advantage, getting its first two goals that way. . . . Vancouver was 0-for-3. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke stopped 25 shots, while Vancouver’s Payton Lee turned aside 28. . . . G Jared Rathjen, who took 15 stitches near an eye after being struck by a puck while on the bench during Game 2 on Saturday in Portland, backed up Lee. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Mathew Barzal, the first overall pick in the 2012 bantam draft, was credited with his first WHL playoff goal in OT to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 4-3 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Thunderbirds lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 scheduled for Everett on Friday night. . . . Barzal was given the goal, which came at 3:47 of OT, but that may be changed to F Justin Hickman. After the game, Barzal and Hickman were of the opinion that Hickman had tipped in the winner. . . . Everett F Patrick Bajkov opened the scoring on a PP at 5:54 of the first period and the teams alternated goals through regulation time. . . . F Branden Troock pulled Seattle even at 13:32 of the first and Bajkov restored the lead, on a PP, at 19:00. . . . Seattle pulled even again, at 4:02 of the second, when F Scott Eansor scored, only to have Everett go out front again, this time at 17:54 on D Mirco Mueller’s goal. . . . Eansor tied it with his second of the game at 4:31 of the third. . . . Eansor, a freshman from Englewood, Colo., scored three goals in 52 regular-season games. . . . Everett F Manraj Hayer drew three assists. . . . Seattle G Taran Kozun, who earlier in the day was named the CHL’s goaltender of the week for the third time in 2014, turned aside 28 shots, three more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Everett was 2-for-7 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-3. . . . Everett lost D Noah Juulsen in the first period, following a hit by Seattle F Jaimen Yakubowski, who took a double minor for checking from behind. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., G Eric Comrie made 52 saves to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Rockets, who finished atop the overall standings in the regular season, hold a 2-1 lead in the series, with Game 4 in Kennewick tonight. . . . The Americans are the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed. . . . Comrie has a 2.71 GAA and a .941 save percentage in this series. . . . Tri-City broke open a scoreless game with three goals in the last five minutes of the second period. . . . F Jessey Astles, a former Rockets skater, opened the scoring at 15:43, and was followed by F Phil Tot (16:51) and F Brian Williams (19:06). . . . The Rockets cut into the lead in the third period on goals by F Myles Bell, at 7:22, and F Justin Kirkland, on a PP, at 14:05. . . . Americans F Justin Gutierrez gave his side a 4-2 lead at 17:07, before Kelowna F Marek Tvrdon scoed on the PP at 18:57. . . . Gutierrez, who had three goals and 18 assists in 70 regular-season games, had a goal and two assists, as did Tot. Those were Gutierrez’s first WHL playoff points and came in his eighth career game. He is the younger brother of Moise Gutierrez (Kamloops, Everett, 2002-07). . . . Kelowna was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Americans were 0-for-4. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke made 33 saves.
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THE FIRST ROUND (best-of-seven; all times local):
(x - if necessary)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
EDMONTON (1) vs. PRINCE ALBERT (8)
Season series: Edmonton, 2-1-1; Prince Albert, 2-2-0.
Saturday: Prince Albert 3 at Edmonton 5 (6,534)
Sunday: Prince Albert 1 at Edmonton 3 (6,584)
Tuesday: Edmonton 4 at Prince Albert 3 (2881)
Wednesday: Edmonton at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
x-Saturday: Prince Albert at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Sunday: Edmonton at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Prince Albert at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Edmonton: F Brandon Baddock, 3-5 weeks; D Blake Orban, indefinite; F Reid Petryk, day-to-day.
Prince Albert: D Graeme Craig, indefinite.
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REGINA (2) vs. BRANDON (7)
Season series: Brandon, 5-3-0; Regina, 3-3-2.
Saturday: Brandon 6 at Regina 3 (6,200)
Sunday: Brandon 8 at Regina 4 (5,014)
Wednesday: Regina at Brandon, 7 p.m.
Friday: Regina at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
x-Saturday: Brandon at Regina, 7 p.m.
x-Monday: Regina vs. Brandon, at Dauphin, Man., 7 p.m.
x-Wednesday, April 2: Brandon at Regina, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Brandon: F Peter Quenneville, day-to-day; D Eric Roy, day-to-day.
Regina: D Tye Hand, indefinite; G Daniel Wapple, day-to-day.
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CALGARY (3) vs. KOOTENAY (6)
Season series: Calgary, 4-4-0; Kootenay, 4-2-2.
Thursday: Kootenay 5 at Calgary 2 (6,649)
Saturday: Kootenay 0 at Calgary 5 (9,019)
Monday: Calgary 7 at Kootenay 6 (OT) (1,992)
Tuesday: Calgary 4 at Kootenay 5 (2,102)
Thursday: Kootenay at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Calgary at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
x-Monday: Kootenay at Calgary, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Calgary: F Cal Babych, day-to-day; F Connor Rankin, day-to-day.
Kootenay: F Tim Bozon, indefinite; F Ryan Chynoweth, indefinite; D Tyler King, day-to-day; D Tanner Faith, 3-5 months.
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MEDICINE HAT (4) vs. SWIFT CURRENT (5)
Season series: Medicine Hat, 2-2-0; Swift Current, 2-2-0.
Friday: Swift Current 1 at Medicine Hat 2 (3,512)
Saturday: Swift Current 2 at Medicine Hat 4 (3743)
Tuesday: Medicine Hat 1 at Swift Current 3 (2,840)
Wednesday: Medicine Hat at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Swift Current at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
x-Sunday: Medicine Hat at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Swift Current at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Medicine Hat: F Anthony Ast, indefinite; F Gavin Broadhead, day-to-day; F Steve Owre, day-to-day; F Hunter Shinkaruk, indefinite.
Swift Current: None.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE

KELOWNA (1) vs. TRI-CITY (8)
Season series: Kelowna, 4-4-0; Tri-City, 0-3-1.
Saturday: Tri-City 1 at Kelowna 3 (5,827)
Sunday: Tri-City 1 at Kelowna 3 (5,041)
Tuesday: Kelowna 3 at Tri-City 4 (2,010)
Wednesday: Kelowna at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Friday: Tri-City at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
x-Saturday: Kelowna at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Tri-City at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
(NOTE: Tri-City plays home games in Kennewick, Wash.)
INJURIES
Kelowna: D Jesse Lees, indefinite.
Tri-City: F Taylor Vickerman, indefinite.
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 PORTLAND (2) vs. VANCOUVER (7)
Season series: Portland, 4-0-0; Vancouver, 0-3-1.
Friday: Vancouver 3 at Portland 4 (9,756)
Saturday: Vancouver 0 at Portland 3 (10,947)
Tuesday: Portland 6 at Vancouver 3 (5,680)
Wednesday: Portland at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
x-Friday: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
x-Sunday: Portland at Vancouver, 2 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Portland: None.
Vancouver: F Tyler Benson, indefinite; G Jared Rathjen, day-to-day; F Jakob Stukel, indefinite; D Dalton Thrower, indefinite.
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VICTORIA (3) vs. SPOKANE (6)
Season series: Victoria, 1-3-0; Spokane, 3-1-0.
Saturday: Spokane 1 at Victoria 2 (OT) (6,615)
Sunday: Spokane 3 at Victoria 4 (OT) (4,629)
Wednesday: Victoria at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Thursday: Victoria at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
x-Saturday: Spokane at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
x-Monday: Victoria at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
x-Wednesday, April 2: Spokane at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
INJURIES
Victoria: None.
Spokane: D Colton Bobyk, week-to-week; F Adam Hascic, day-to-day; F Blair Oneschuk, week-to-week.
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SEATTLE (4) vs. EVERETT (5)
Season series: Seattle, 5-4-1; Everett, 5-4-1.
Saturday: Everett 1 at Seattle 2 (4,650)
Sunday: Seattle 3 at Everett 1 (4,150)
Tuesday: Everett 3 at Seattle 4 (OT) (5,176)
Friday: Seattle at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
x-Saturday: Everett at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
x-Monday: Seattle at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
x-Wednesday, April 2: Everett at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
(NOTE: Seattle plays home games in Kent, Wash.)
INJURIES
Seattle: F Connor Honey, indefinite.
Everett: F Kohl Baum, indefinite; F Tyler Sandhu, day-to-day.
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From the Regina Pats (@WHLpats): “With your support we were able to raise $2,000 for the Tim Bozon Trust Fund on the weekend! #ThankYouFans #RockTheRed”
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From Colby Chartier (@ColbyChartier): “Well @_Chartier27 you helped dad out tonight! Got pulled over in Sandpoint turns out the cops a big Chiefs fan! #Warning #GoChiefsGo”






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