Flooding misses Dumonts . . . OHL closer to banning fighting . . . Wheaties have new voice

G Tyler Weiman (Tri-City, 2000-04) has signed a one-year contract with the Daemyung Killer Whales Incheon (South Korea, Asia HL). Last season, with Val Pusteria Brunico (Italy, Serie A), he was 1.96 and .948 in three regular-season games. In 15 playoff games, he was 2.30 and .933. . . .

F Darian Dziurzynski (Saskatoon, Brandon, 2007-12) has signed a one-year contract with the Manchester Storm (England, UK Elite). Last season, he had two goals and two assists in nine games with the Tulsa Oilers (ECHL), 12 goals and 11 assists in 35 games with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (ECHL), 10 goals and three assists in 17 games with the Missouri Mavericks (ECHL), and one goal in three games with the Binghamton Senators (AHL).

———

The state of Louisiana has encountered some horrid weather-related difficulties of late. Louis Dumont, who played four seasons (1990-94) in the WHL with the Regina Pats and Kamloops Blazers, lives in Lafayette. When I asked how he and his family — wife Hayley, daughter Camille and son Jacques — are doing, he replied:

“My wife, daughter and son are well. Our home is in an older neighborhood that drains well, so we

Louis Dumont is the ECHL's all-time leader in assists
and points. (Photo: echl.com)

had no flooding. Everyone around us and in the surrounding towns are in rough shape.

“The water table is already extremely high down here. We received 22 inches of rain in a matter of 24 hours. The weather system rolled in an stayed. Multiple hurricanes have come through this area over the years, but none of them have produced this much flooding.

“The Cajun people are very resilient, and thankfully own a lot of boats.”

Dumont, who won a Memorial Cup with the 1993-94 Blazers, is the general manager of the Louisiana IceGators, a Southern Professional Hockey League franchise that has suspended operations at least for 2016-17 due to its home arena undergoing renovations. BTW, that arena may have the greatest name in all of hockey — the Cajundome.

If you aren’t aware Dumont, who was a real smoothie, is the ECHL’s career assists (566) and points (891) leader, having done it in 771 games during stints over 12 seasons with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks, Wheeling Thunderbirds, Louisiana, Augusta Lynx, Pensacola Ice Pilots, Mississippi Sea Wolves and Utah Grizzlies.

Dumont, now 43, retired after 2010-11. He spent his last five seasons with the CHL’s Mississippi RiverKings. He put up 282 points over 318 games in those final five seasons.

In the WHL, he had 380 points, including 172 goals, in 279 games.

——

To its credit, the OHL is closer to eliminating fighting from its games after lowering the suspension threshold from 10 games to three. The league recently concluded its annual meeting and its board of governors has chosen to suspend players who get into a fourth fight. Last season, that number was 10 fights; this season, a fourth fight, and all subsequent scraps, will be subject to a two-game suspension. If an opponent is hit with an instigating penalty that fight won’t count in a player’s total.

From an OHL news release: “Since the adoption of the 10-fight threshold for 2012-13, the league has seen the number of fights decrease by 49.5% and for the last two seasons has not had a single player with more than 10 fights based on the threshold criteria established.” . . . According to a tweet from Adam Gretz (@AGretz): “82 players in the OHL had at least 3 fights last season. 56 went over that number.”

The OHL also has added a rule aimed at eliminating blindside hits. Again, from a news release: “There will be a penalty assessed for those players who check an opponent from the blindside. Based on the discretion of the referee, a minor, major and game misconduct or match penalty may be assessed. Such infraction would also be subject to review and possible supplementary discipline by the league.”

The OHL also has ditched no-touch icing in favour of hybrid icing, as is used by the NHL.

The OHL gets it. It really does. The OHL hands down stiff suspensions for headshots. Now it is doing something about blindside checks. And it continues to work towards the elimination of fighting.

It is all about player safety, something the OHL has been working to improve over the past few seasons. In a season or two, don’t be surprised if the OHL bans fighting altogether.

The QMJHL and WHL would be wise to get in step with the OHL on these matters.

Wouldn't miss fighting if eliminated in WHL. Gone are the days of two players scrapping because they are generally angry with one another.

— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) August 19, 2016

——

D Dmitri Zaitsev has arrived in Moose Jaw and has signed a WHL contract with the Warriors.

Zaitsev, 18, is from Togliatti, Russia. The Warriors selected him during the CHL’s 2016 import draft. . . . Last season, with the NAHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, he had 22 points, including seven goals, in 53 games. He was named to the East Division’s all-rookie team. He was selected by the Washington Capitals in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2016 draft. . . . Zaitsev joins Russian F Nikita Popugaev, who will be 19 on Nov. 20, as the Warriors’ two import players. Popugaev is recovering from offseason surgery to repair a knee injury suffered during last season’s playoffs, but should be ready for the start of camp. He had 47 points, 16 of them goals, in 70 games as a freshman last season.

——

Branden Crowe is the new voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings on radio station 880 CKLQ. Crowe, who is from Boissevain, Man., replaces Bruce Luebke, who had called the play of Wheat Kings’ games for the past 23 seasons. . . . CKLQ and Luebke parted company last month; neither party has made any public comment explaining what happened. . . . Most recently, Crowe was marketing manager and radio voice for the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals. . . . The defending-champion Wheat Kings are heading into their 50th anniversary season; CKLQ is preparing for its 25th year as the team’s radio home. . . . Crowe will make his Wheat Kings play-by-play debut on Sept. 9 when Brandon meets the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors in an exhibition game.

———

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

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

THE MATCHUPS
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8) — Overall leaders face defending champs.
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Regina (7) — The Trans-Canada Rivalry heats up.
Calgary (3) vs. Brandon (6) — Brandon draws first blood.
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Saskatoon (5) — Will the Tigers Etem up? Or are Blades equal to the Trask?
———
Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Everett (8) — Can Silvertips handle Ams’ all-star line?
Kamloops (2) vs. Victoria (7) — This one’s on Shaw TV.
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6) — To tell the Carruth, Portland’s favoured.
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5) — The battle of the two Dons.
———
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Chad Bassen (Regina, Vancouver, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He had nine goals and 16 assists in 52 games for Augsburg this season.
———
There was more than one full page of copy and photos dedicated to the Western Hockey League in Thursday’s edition of the Kamloops Daily News.
In fact, about half the editorial space that was provided to the sports department was filled with WHL-related copy.
In one story, the Victoria Royals were referenced on one occasion as the Victoria

Grizzlies. The Royals, of course, are the team that the WHL allowed RG Properties to purchase and move to Victoria after five seasons as the Chilliwack Bruins; the Grizzlies are the BCHL’s Victoria franchise.
And so it came to pass that Dave Dakers, the president and alternate governor of the Bruins, er, Royals, chose to get up on his hind legs during a Thursday news conference in Kamloops — he was the guy who someone suggested looked as though he’d slept on a Greyhound bus and arrived just before the talking started — and whined about the lack of respect his club was getting.
Yes, the Bruins, er, Grizz . . . ahh, Royals are in full ‘woe is me’ mode. Rodney Dangerfield never had it this bad.
Victoria, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, got into the playoffs with 24 victories — the Bruins, er, Royals also lost 48 games, although they earned loser points for seven of those setbacks.
Were they in the Eastern Conference, they would have missed the playoffs by 27 points. (By the way, WHL commissioner Ron Robison spent part of his address yesterday talking about his league’s competitive balance. Ahh, we won’t go there, not when the final standings show 14 of 22 teams at better than .500, not when three Eastern Conference teams are out, despite having far superior records to three Western Conference teams that are in.)
But we digress . . .
So far the Royals have played the experts-are-picking-Kamloops-in-three card, the we-beat-Portland-twice-last-week-and-didn’t-get-any-respect card, the we-don’t-know-why-we’re-playing-this-series card, the nobody-knows-our-name card. . . .
All of which means the playoffs have arrived.
Here’s Marc Habscheid, the Bruins’, er, Royals’ GM/head coach, to the Victoria Times Colonist earlier in the week:
“Some people are picking them in three games, not just four. We shouldn't even go to Kamloops, the way it sounds. All I know is, we’ll show up Friday when the puck is dropped.”
Here’s Habscheid, to Travis Paterson of the Victoria News:
“We beat Portland and we’ve heard, ‘Well, they didn’t have (Sven) Baertschi.”
Here’s Dakers, at Thursday’s news conference:
“We’re not sure why we’re playing this series.”
One of the reasons the WHL held the news conference, as it put it in a news release, was to launch the 2012 playoffs.
The news conference was held in the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, but only one team — the Blazers — had a coach and players in attendance.
Here’s hoping the Bruins, er, Grizzlies or whoever they are — the Salsa? — show up tonight and for five or six games after this one.
Hey, at least we didn’t call them the Cougars! Or did we?
———
If you're looking for the Western Conference individual award winners and all-star teams that were announced yesterday, you will find them at www.whl.ca.
———
THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Calgary, F Mark Stone broke at 2-2 tie late in the second period and the Brandon Wheat Kings went on to a 6-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . This was the first game of a first round series, with Game 2 scheduled for tonight in Calgary. . . . The teams then head to Winnipeg for as many as three games, if necessary. With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon, the Wheat Kings have again had to take their first-round show on the road. . . . Stone, who is playing with a thumb injury, got his first playoff goal at 16:13 of the second period. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski scored twice for Brandon, which got two assists from F Paul Ciarelli. . . . After Brandon took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by F Jason Swyripa and Dziurzynski, Calgary tied it when F Brooks Macek scored at 19:01 of the first and F Alex Gogolev scored at 1:16 of the second, on a PP. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 34 shots. . . . Calgary was without F Cody Sylvester (undisclosed) and F Victor Rask (leg), two of its top three regular-season scorers.
Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun was at the game and filed this story.
———
On the eve of opening a playoff series in Edmonton, Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, talked with Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal about what might have been. The Ice, you’ll recall, began life as the Edmonton Ice and spent two seasons there before relocating to Cranbrook.
That story is right here.
———
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has all but guaranteed the series between Don Hay’s Giants and Don Nachbaur’s Spokane Chiefs — it opens tonight in Vancouver — will be a goaltender’s nightmare.
Here’s some of what Ewen wrote:
“Hay is an old school guy. Don Nachbaur is  an old school guy. They are defence first guys and this is going to a series of 2-1 and 3-2 games. The regular season match-ups this year, which saw Vancouver win 2-1 in Spokane on Feb. 15 and 3-2 at home in a shoot-out on Oct. 5 certainly suggest that. The team that sticks with its plan the best should win. Another point to ponder? Vancouver is 11-1 in playoff series under Hay when it has home-ice advantage like it does in this one, and 1-5 when it does not.”
Ewen also has a piece today on Vancouver G Adam Morrison who, it turns out, has a relative on the Chiefs’ roster. Morrison and Spokane F Steven Kuhn are cousins.
For more from Ewen, scoot on over to The Province’s website.
———
It has been almost 23 years since Duncan MacPherson, a former Saskatoon Blades defenceman, disappeared while traveling in Austria. You will recall that his body was found 14 years after his disappearance. His parents, Lynda and Bob, were convinced that there was more to this story than authorities were letting on. Now there’s a book about the case — Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery — and author John Leake has spoken about it with Kevin Mitchell, the sports editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
That story is right here.
———
F Turner Elson of the Red Deer Rebels has signed an ATO with the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Elson, a free-agent signee of the Flames after their last training camp, had 46 points and 59 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Rebels. Elson turned 20 on Wednesday.
———
Dave (Crash) Cameron of the Edmonton Sun writes that the bandwagon is filling up. Of course, that would be the Edmonton Oil Kings’ bandwagon. That piece is right here.
———

If there is a model franchise in the CHL today, it very well may be the Tri-City Americans. The franchise is operated by general manager Bob Tory, who is profiled right here by Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald.
———

Pat Conacher, the first-year head coach of the Regina Pats, is the Eastern Conference nominee as the WHL’s coach of the year. When he heard the news, he was surprised, honoured and uncomfortable.
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.
———
And finally . . . I’m sorry but this just slays me. Mac Engel, a writer with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has a blog — The Big Mac Blog. . . . No, he isn’t related to Mac Engel, the Spokane Chiefs goaltender. . . . But Mac the Blogger is keeping tabs on Mac the Goaltender, “the greatest goalie in the history of hockey” as it says here. . . . The latest entry is right here.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Stanislav Balin (Portland, 2005-06) signed a contract for the rest of this season with SKP Poprad (Slovakia, Extraliga), five days after his release by Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had one goal and one assist in 16 games with Lev. In an assignment to SKP earlier in the season, Balin had three goals and six assists in eight games.
———
WHL TRADE TRACKER (trades made since Dec. 27):
Trades made: 7
Players: 15
Draft picks: 6
———
Late Saturday afternoon, the Tri-City Americans acquired F Jesse Mychan, 19, from the Everett Silvertips for a 2013 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
The Americans were in Everett to play the Silvertips last night, which meant that Mychan simply had to switch dressing rooms, although he didn’t play in the game.
Mychan, 19, is from Saskatoon. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder had seven points and 106 penalty minutes in 26 games with the Silvertips. His season’s work features three suspensions totalling 14 games, including 10 games for a headshot in a Nov. 13 game against the Prince George Cougars.
He was a 10th-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2007 bantam draft.
———
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
———
Emile Therien has written an opinion piece that has appeared in a number of major Canadian newspapers.
Firstly, who is Emile Therien and why should we care what he thinks?
Therien is a former president of the Canada Safety Council; he spent 18 years in that position. He also knows something about hockey, having watched his son, Chris, who played three years at Providence College and went on to play 764 NHL games — 753 with the Philadelphia Flyers and 11 with the Dallas Stars.
Emile Therien’s piece appeared in the Toronto Star under the headline: The future looks bleak for Canadian minor hockey.
Therien writes here about hockey being “plagued with serious injuries” and the impact of that on minor hockey’s registration numbers.
“Enrolment in Hockey Canada teams is currently 572,000 players, down more than 200,000 from its peak,” Therien writes. “And the prospects are grim. In the next decade, some say there could be 200,000 fewer kids playing the game. Yet Hockey Canada remains apathetic to the injury problem.
“The opposite trend is evident south of the border, where the number of players registered with USA Hockey rose from 195,000 in 1990-91, to 500,579 in 2010.”
He goes on to point out that “the American system and players are better today than they have ever been. Currently more than 58 universities and colleges play Division I hockey. In addition, 74 colleges play NCAA Division II and Division III hockey, and 447 colleges have club hockey teams (men’s and women’s).
“Canada has no comparable development programs. Our system is built on and caters exclusively to the Canadian Hockey League and its teams, which are, in effect, commercial entities.”
The cost of playing minor hockey is spiralling out of control and, he writes, “a major overhaul of minor hocke is needed in Canada — and soon. A detailed, systemic investigation of the issues confronting minor hockey is crucial.”
———
On the subject of minor hockey, right here is a piece written by Dan Bauer of HockeyByBauer.com. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it on his blog, so have provided a link to another spot where the piece appears.
“It is official, all youth athletics are nuts,” Bauer starts.
A couple of items from Bauer’s writing:
“Every rink has a water fountain. Save time and money on the Gatorade, because I'm not certain that 10 year-olds even have electrolytes. And if they do, I bet they have a lot of them. We only start losing things when we get older. Savings: 80+ games & practices @ $2.00 = $160.
“They can carry their own bag and if they can't it's too big. You don't carry your kid's backpack to school for them; you shouldn't have to carry their hockey bag either. Donate your wheelie bag to a stewardess and get one that has to be carried. Benefit: Increased leg strength.”
Take a couple of minutes and give this a read.
———
And now for today’s good read. . . . No one writes with eloquence about the state of today’s game the way Ken Dryden does. He has penned another piece and it is right here, from the pages of The Globe and Mail.
Dryden writes:
“Fight” is not “fighting” or high-speed cheap shots. Fight is never giving up. Gretzky, Orr, Richard, Lemieux, Lafleur – they were great fighters. They fought with their head, hands, legs, will, and need to be the best, and rarely with their fists. Crosby too. The toughest players aren’t those who hit but those who are willing to be hit, to fight their way to the net, to fight expectation and disappointment to score the game-changing goal.
———
How is it that Portland Winterhawks F Ty Rattie went from where he was last season to where he is this season? If you’ve been away, he is leading the WHL scoring race. Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune takes a look at Rattie right here.
———
In the BCHL on Saturday night, the Penticton Vees ran their victory skein to 21 games, with a 6-1 victory over the SilverBacks in Salmon Arm. . . . The Vees next play Friday against the visiting Langley Rivermen.
———
The Vancouver Giants made two roster moves on Saturday afternoon, adding F Riley Kieser, 18, to their roster and assigning F Levi Bews, 17, to the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers. . . . Kieser, from Sherwood Park, Alta., had 13 points and 20 penalty minutes in 31 games with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. The Giants put him on their list last month. He is to join them on Monday. . . . Bews was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades in the swap that brought G Adam Morrison to Vancouver. Bews had eight points and 22 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Giants. . . . In that Oct. 4 deal, the Giants got Morrison, 20, and Bews for F Michael Burns, 20, D Zach Hodder, 18, and a 2013 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, Brandon got two goals from each of F Darian Dziurzynski, Jens Meilleur and Michael Ferland and the Wheat Kings beat the Raiders, 11-3. . . . The Wheat Kings scored five times in a span of 7:18 in the first half of the third period to blow this one open. . . . Dziurzynski also had two assists. . . . D Eric Roy had a goal and two helpers for Brandon. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had two assists. . . . According to Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun, the Wheat Kings hadn’t scored that many goals in a road game since Sept, 28, 1996, when they won 14-2 in Prince Albert. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Jake Trask had a goal and three assists as the Blades edged the Regina Pats, 4-3. . . . F Michael Burns had three assists for Saskatoon, which had lost 3-0 in Regina on Friday. . . . The Pats had been 5-0-1 in their previous six games. . . . The Blades led this one 3-0 by scoring three times in the first five minutes of the second period. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal, who had a goal and an assist, got the Pats to within one at 16:34 of the third on a PP. . . . G Andrey Makarov, so good for Russia in the final of the World Junior Championship, was back in goal for the Blades. . . . Of course, let’s not forget how good Makarov was when he came on in relief in the semifinal against Canada, too. . . . Makarov was gone after one period, though. He got run over at 4:17 of the first period and Regina F Morgan Klimchuk got tossed with a charging major. . . . Makarov finished the period but Alex Moodie took over to start the second. . . . Moodie, 16, will be returning to the midget AAA Winnipeg WIld now. . . . The Blades scratched three playes — F Ryan Olsen, F Lukas Sutter and F Locke Muller — for violation of team rules. . . . They also are without F Josh Nicholls (knee) and F Kyle Haas (undisclosed). . . . As a result, the Blades dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum. . . .

In Edmonton, D Griffin Reinhart broke a 3-3 tie at 10:42 of the third period and the Oil Kings went on to beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-3. . . . F Kristians Pelss, who captain the Latvian team at the WJC, had a goal and two assists in his first game back with Edmonton. . . . The Broncos scored the game’s first two goals, then gave up three in a row. . . . Swift Current D Dalton Reum tied it 3-3 at 9:53 of the third. . . . Reinhart got his ninth goal 49 seconds later. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 3y shots as his side was outshot, 42-17. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Tanner Eberle had two goals and an assist to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Eberle forged a 2-2 tie at 6:50 of the second and broke the tie at 2:32 of the third. . . . Eberle has six goals this season. . . . Moose Jaw G Luke Siemens stopped 35 shots. . . . The Warriors closed out a six-game road trip with a 2-3-1 record. . . . Moose Jaw will spend a few days at home but won’t play there for a while longer. They have two more road games left on this trek, in Calgary on Friday and Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . .

In Red Deer, F Emerson Etem forced OT and then won it as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Rebels, 3-2. . . . Etem forced OT with his 32nd goal at 16:15 of the third and won it at 2:16 of OT. . . . Red Deer’s two goals were shorthanded scores by F Adam Kambeitz and D Justin Weller. . . . Etem was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after scoring the winner. . . .

In Prince George, F Brendan Ranford scored twice in the game’s first 11 minutes and later added two assists as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Cougars, 6-1. . . . Ranford, who has 21 goals, and Swiss freshman F Tim Bozon both reached the 20-goal plateau. . . . Kamloops has three 20-goal men, with F Colin Smith having gotten there Friday. . . . The Cougars have lost four in a row, three of them to the Blazers. . . . F Brandon Herrod, acquired a week earlier from the Prince Albert Raiders, had three assists, while D Bronson Maschmeyer scored twice.. . . . Prince George D Martin Marincin got his side on the board 32 seconds into the second period. That snapped Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave’s shutout streak against the Cougars at 145 minutes 12 seconds. That included back-to-back shutouts on Sunday and Friday. . . . Canada won the IIHF U-18 women’s world championship Saturday in Zlin, Czech Republic, with a 3-0 victory over the U.S. G Emerance Maschmeyer, the sister of Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer, stopped 28 shots for Canada. Tim O’Donovan, the Blazers’ video and media co-ordinator, handled Canada’s video work. . . .

In Vancouver, F Brendan Gallagher, in his first game after playing for Canada at the WJC, had three goals and four assists as the Giants beat the Portland Winterhawks, 8-4. . . . Gallagher has 53 points, including 27 goals, in 29 games. . . . Portland had won its previous six games. . . . F James Henry added four assists for Vancouver, which got 40 saves from G Adam Morrison. . . . Portland took 53 of 104 penalty minutes. . . . The Giants were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 3-for-9. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie had two assists. He leads the WHL with 73 points, four more than Regina F Jordan Weal. . . .

In Everett, G Ty Rimmer stopped 22 shots as the Tri-City Americans beat the Silvertips, 4-0. . . . Rimmer, who has five shutouts this season and nine in his career, has back-to-back shutouts, while the Americans have won 13 in a row. . . . The Americans have posted a total of seven shutouts, two shy of the franchise record (2009-10). . . . F Malte Strömwall had a goal, his ninth, and an assist for the Americans. He opened the scoring at 16:32 of the first. . . . Tri-City F Patrick Holland, who was coming off three consecutive four-point games, was held pointless. . . . Tri-City F Adam Hughesman scored his 26th goal at 17:16 of the second. That was the 300th regular-season point of his career and came in his 305th game. He is the fifth Tri-City player to get to 300, after Brian Sakic, Daymond Langkow, Brent Ascroft and Terry Degner. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Todd Fiddler had a goal and two assists to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-2 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Fiddler had 10 points in 35 games with the Prince Albert Raiders, when he was dealt to the Chiefs. He has five points in five games with Spokane. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 36 shots. . . . F Mitch Holmberg had two goals for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur now has 498 WHL victories. . . .  Spokane’s next three games all are against Everett. . . .

In Victoria, F Zach Franko’s shootout goal gave the Kelowna Rockets a 4-3 victory over the Royals. . . . Franko was Kelowna’s first shooter. . . . The Royals have lost nine in a row ((0-6-3). . . . Victoria F Mike Forsyth forced OT with his first goal of the season at 10:41 of the third period. A 19-year-old sophomore from Calgary, Forsyth has eight points in 42 games. Last season, he had 16 points, eight of them goals, in 68 games with the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Victoria F Zane Jones left at 16:26 of the second period after being given a major penalty for boarding. . . .
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Darian Dziurzynski, Brandon.
D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, Vancouver.
———
It was early in the third period of last night’s NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and the Flames in Calgary.
Calgary F Jarome Iginla, looking for his 500th goal, found himself alone on the left wing in the Minnesota zone. He loaded up and ripped a shot that hit the crossbar.
“Oh,” screamed Hockey Night in Canada voice Mark Lee, “he had the howitzer and 500 in his sights and he rings it off the iron.”
We now take you to Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary, which tells us that a howitzer is “a short cannon used to fire projectiles at medium muzzle velocities and with relatively high trajectories.”
In other words, when Kobe Bryant launches a shot from three-point range it is closer to being a shot from a howitzer than is an Iginla shot.
In other words, a howitzer basically fires lob shots. Iginla's shot was anything but a lob.
OK, Mr. Lee?

BRIAN SANDY

Brian Sandy is leaving the Tri-City Americans for Portland . . . for the NBA’s Trail Blazers, that is.
Sandy, the Americans’ chief marketing officer and senior vice-president of business operations, is to become the Trail Blazers’ senior director of premium seating sales and service. With the NBA season to open on Christmas Day, Sandy is to start in his new position on Thursday.
Sandy was one of Top Shelf Entertainment’s first hires after taking ownership of the Americans in June 2005 and he played no small role in helping turn around the franchise off the ice. By averaging more than 4,700 fans per game last season, the team once again posted an increase in attendance, as it did in each of his seasons in Tri-City.
According to an Americans’ news release, “Season-ticket sales topped the 2,600 mark for the first time since the club was relocated to the Mid-Columbia.  And, within the community, Sandy and the club have helped raise over $1.5 million for local charities through integrated fundraising nights and promotions.”
The Americans close out their preseason schedule this weekend with a home-and-home series with the Seattle Thunderbirds. They’ll play Friday in Kennewick, Wash., and finish up Saturday in Kent, Wash.
———
D Brandon Underwood of the Regina Pats has a hairline crack in his left ankle and is expected to be out of action for a month. “If there’s any time to get hurt it’s around the Christmas break when you get an extra week without missing any time,” Underwood, 19, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. . . . Underwood was injured when he blocked a shot in a 2-0 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Dec. 4. . . . Underwood, who had 13 points and 44 penalty minutes in 29 games, has missed four games. He will wear a protective boot for up to four weeks. . . . The Pats have filled the roster spot by bringing in D Tyler Borstmayer from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings.
———
F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs will play for the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship that opens Dec. 26 in Calgary and Edmonton. Uher, 19, has 21 points in 24 games with the Chiefs. He was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft. He will leave the Chiefs on Saturday and will miss Spokane’s final pre-Christmas game. The Chiefs are scheduled to play host to the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday and then take off for nine days. . . . First, though, Spokane will go home-and-home with the Everett Silvertips. They’ll play tonight in Spokane and Friday in Everett. . . .
———
For the second time in recent games, the Everett Silvertips have had a player escape a suspension despite taking a major penalty and game misconduct. First, F Josh Birkholz wasn’t suspended after taking a check-to-the-head major and game misconduct in a game against the host Kamloops Blazers. Now, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that F Cody Fowlie, who was tossed with a major and game misconduct for a hit on D Michal Plutnar of the visiting Tri-City Americans on Saturday, won’t be suspended. . . . “I talked to Tips coach Mark Ferner about the hit after practice (Tuesday),” Patterson writes, “and he said after watching the video he wasn't sure it even warranted a penalty. Apparently the reason why Plutnar was injured is because the visor of his helmet came down and cut him across the bridge of the nose after Fowlie rubbed him out into the boards.” . . . Patterson reports that F Vladimir Dolnik will play against Spokane tonight and then leave for Slovakia’s pre-World Junior Championship camp. . . . F Jesse Mychan of the Silvertips completes a 10-game WHL suspension by sitting out tonight.
———
If you’re not aware, the BCHL’s Penticton Vees are on quite a roll. The put up their 16th straight victory on Tuesday night when they beat the Centennials 4-1 in Merritt. . . . The Vees are 28-3-2 (that would be two ties) and hold an 18-point lead over Merritt in the eight-team Interior Conference. . . . Penticton’s next game is Friday when they play host to the Westside Warriors.
———
TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, the Red Deer Rebels ended their franchise-record 13-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rebels last won on Nov. 12 when they beat the Royals 7-4 in Victoria. . . . They had been 0-11-2 since then. . . . F Colten Mayor scored twice for Red Deer, while F Chad Robinson had three assists. . . . G Deven Dubyk, in his first game with the Rebels, stopped 31 shots. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba and Kootenay F Max Reinhart both played after being released by Canada’s national junior team earlier in the day. . . . “It’s nice to get that off our back and get rewarded for our effort,” Jesse Wallin, the Rebels’ general manager and head coach, told the Red Deer Advocate. “This is a tough building to come into, always a tough building to play in. And coming in here against a very good hockey team with a full lineup was a little bit intimidating from the outset. But we really dug in and got a solid effort and played a very, very good hockey game tonight.” . . .

In Prince Albert, F Kellan Tochkin scored twice as the Raiders beat the Kamloops Blazers 5-2 . . . . The Raiders have won four in a row at home. . . . Raiders F Mike Winther, the WHL’s reigning player of the week, had a goal and two assists. . . . G Cole Holowenko stopped 29 shots for the Raiders in winning his second straight start. He blanked the Rebels 5-0 in Red Deer on Sunday. . . . Kamloops is 1-2-0 on its East Division tour. . . .

In Brandon, F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and an assist to help the Wheat Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Wheat Kings won their 20th game, improving to 20-13-2. . . . Swiss freshman F Alessio Bertaggia notched his 17th goal for Brandon before leaving with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Health permitting, Bertaggia is to join the Swiss national junior team in Calgary on Saturday. . . . Dziurzynski now has 21 goals. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 37 shots, two more than Kelowna’s Adam Brown. . . . The Rockets are 0-2-1 on their East Division swing. . . . With G Corbin Boes out with a broken hand, the Wheat Kings had Justin Holder from the midget AAA Wheat Kings on the bench backing up Anderson. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that the Rockets are hurting. “Already without six regulars including RW Brett Bulmer (Canadian junior camp), C Cody Chikie (upper body), C/RW Spencer Main (upper body) and D Myles Bell (lower body), the Rockets lost D Damon Severson and LW Tyrell Goulbourne to injuries during last night’s game.” . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-0. . . . What’s that? You thought Pickard was in camp with Canada’s national junior team? Maybe this was his answer to Don Hay, the Vancouver head coach who also is Canada’s head coach. . . . It was Pickard’s second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. . . . Pickard is 13-12-1, 3.31, .915. . . . Interstingly, each of Seattle ‘s scorers — F Branden Troock, Justin Hickman and Luke Lockhart — has six goals this season. . . . Troock scored the game’s first goal at 15:27 of the third period. . . . The Giants have been blanked twice this season.
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Antoine Corbin, Prince Albert.
———
For today’s good read we turn to old friend Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail. He writes today about, yes, the puck. Seriously! And he does it as only he can. That piece is right here.
———
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . thank you very much and Merry Christmas.

THE COACHING GAME:
The OHL’s Guelph Storm has extended head coach Scott Walker's contract through 2013-14. Walker took over as head coach a year ago; the team is 30-22-6 under him. He will serve as an assistant coach under Don Hay with Canada’s national junior team later this month. . . .
Bob Woods (Brandon, 1987-89) now is an assistant coach under Bruce Boudreau with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Woods started the season with Boudreau and the Washington Capitals. When Boudreau was fired earlier this week, Woods was on the bench for new head coach Dale Hunter’s first game, but was let go after that game as the Caps brought in Jim Johnston to work with their defence. . . .
With head coach Dale Hunter having moved up to the NHL, the OHL’s London Knights have had to shuffle their coaching deck. Mark Hunter now is the head coach and former NHL D Rob Ramage has moved from his eye-in-the-sky role to the bench. That move has caused some controversy in London. Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the situation right here.
———
JUST NOTES: F Matej Stransky of the Saskatoon Blades isn’t one of the 23 forwards on the Czech Republic’s preliminary roster for the World Junior Championship. The 18-year-old, who had 26 points in 71 games last season, has put up 28 points in his first 27 games this season. That, apparently, did impress anyone in his homeland. . . .
———
In Prince Albert, the Raiders scored four third-period goals and beat the Kootenay Ice, 7-5. . . . The Ice led this one 4-1 at 10:02 of the second and 5-3 going into the third. . . . F Mark McNeill scored three times for the Raiders. He tied it 5-5 at 2:25 of the third while shorthanded and got the winner at 12:11. He has 12 goals this season. . . . McNeill also had two assists and was plus-4. . . . F Justin Maylan scored the Teddy Bear goal, at 10:10 of the first period. . . .

In Regina, the Vancouver Giants broke a 1-1 tie with three third-period goals and beat the Pats, 4-1. . . . Vancouver F Brendan Gallagher scored his 23rd of the season into an empty net. . . . Vancouver is 3-1-1 on its East Division swing. . . .

In Calgary, F Victor Rask scored twice, including the OT winner, as the Hitmen got past the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Spokane F Darren Kramer forced OT with his 11th goal at 3:35 of the third. . . . Rask got the winner at 2:26 of extra time. He has a team-high 15 goals. . . . F Alex Gogolev scored Calgary’s other goal, his 11th. . . . Calgary has 25 goals from its two import players. . . . The Chiefs are 1-1-1 on their Central Division tour. . . . Spokane G Luke Lee-Knight, playing in his hometown, stopped 27 shots. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Josh Nicholls scored a PP goal in overtime to give the Saskatoon Blades a 2-1 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Blades had lost their previous three games, all at home. They’ve now won six in a row on the road. . . . Nicholls got his 19th goal at 1:06 of OT. . . . F Hunter Shinkaruk, with his 26th, gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 2:55 into the first. . . . Nicholls tied it at 19:21 of the second. . . . Shinkaruk is one off the WHL’s goal-scoring lead, that is shared by Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem and Portland F Ty Rattie. . . .

In Brandon, F Darian Dziurzynski scored three times to lead the Wheat Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was the third three-goal game of his career and the second since being acquired from the Saskatoon Blades earlier in the season. He’s got 18 goals this season, 15 in 19 games with Brandon. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock had a goal and two assists. His score was the Teddy Bear goal, at 1:24 of the second period. . . . Red Deer D Matt Dumba took a puck in the mouth in the first period and left the game, but returned early in the second period. . . . The Rebels, who now have lost eight in a row, played without six regulars — D Alex Petrovic and F Turner Elson are serving WHL suspensions, while D Aaron Borejko, F Josh Cowen, F Daulton Siwak and F Adam Kambeitz are injured. . . . Red Deer had F Dexter Bricker, 16 of the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires and D Kevin Pochuk, 16, of the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild in the lineup. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, the WHL scoring leader, was held to one assist. He has 61 points and an eight-point lead over Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem. . . .

In Portland, F Oliver Gabriel did the Gordie Howe hat trick in his first game back with Portland as the Winterhawks beat the Everett Silvertips, 5-1. . . . Gabriel, 20, returned to the Winterhawks this week from the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Gabriel scored the game’s first goal, just four minutes into the first period. He later added an assist and got into a scrap. . . . Portland has won eight in a row at home. . . . F Josh Birkholz scored for Everett to extend his points streak to a season-high nine games. . . . Everett has lost five in a row. . . . In the NHL, F Nino Niederreiter, a 19-year-old whose rights belong to Portland, scored his first goal of the season for the New York Islanders. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Silvertips D Ryan Murray, who has been out with a high ankle sprain since Oct. 19, “suffered a small setback during the week and will be given a few extra days to recover.” The Silvertips had hoped he would play this weekend. . . . Also according to Patterson, Everett F Zach McPhee had arthroscopic surgery on a knee on Thursday and won’t play again until the new year. . . .

In Kelowna, F Robin Soudek scored twice as the Victoria Royals got past the Rockets, 2-1. . . . Soudek got his 15th at 8:02 of the second and scored again, on the PP, at 8:12 of the third. . . . In between, F Colton Sissons got his 15th, via the PP, for Kelowna. . . . The game included eight fighting majors, four of them in the game’s first five minutes. . . . As well, Kelowna F Jessey Astles took a major and game misconduct for a check to the head. . . . The Royals went into this one winless in six. They now go into Kamloops for their fourth meeting in nine nights with the Blazers. Kamloops won the first three games in this series and is 4-0 against Victoria this season. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Justin Feser had a goal and two assists to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Americans improved to 20-7-0, as they became the first team to 20 victories this season. . . . F Adam Hughesman got his 20th goal and set up another for the Americans.
———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Harrison Ruopp, Prince Albert
F Trevor Cheek, Calgary
F Mason Wilgosh, Tri-City
———
Bill Burke, who owns the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, has told the city of St. Catharines, to build it or we will leave. With that in mind, Sunaya Sapurji over at Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the OHL and the possibility of moving franchises. That piece is right here.
———
Today’s good read comes from Gregg Doyel, the national columnist at CBSSports.com. Every coach who has to deal with the media would be well-served to pay attention to this . . . and it’s right here.
———
If you like what you see here, why not show your appreciation with a donation. Just click on the DONATE button at the top right and go from there. Your generosity is most appreciated.

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

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Gaucher (Saskatoon, 1996-99) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Starbulls Rosenheim (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had nine goals and 29 assists in 47 games with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) last season.
———
D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors has seen a second doctor and the news was the same as from the first doctor. Rielly, 17, will be undergoing surgery on his right knee.
Here’s what Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald:
“He does have a significant knee injury that will require surgery and that’s something that we hope will take place sometime next week. He will be out months and is questionable to return this season.”
TSN’s Craig Button first reported that Rielly has a torn ACL. Millar wouldn’t confirm that, saying only that Rielly “suffered a significant knee injury.”
The Warriors won’t know the full extent of the injury until Rielly has surgery; nor will they have an estimate on a possible return.
As Millar said: “The way we look at it, if he was to be back with our hockey team this year you’re talking late in the season, playoff time or possibly not at all.”
Rielly had 18 points in 17 games at the time of the injury. He still is expected to be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
As Gourlie poined out: “It hasn’t been a very lucky year for Rielly health-wise. He had an emergency appendectomy in the pre-season, but was back in less than three weeks.”
———
JUST NOTES: F Rocco Grimaldi of the UND Fighting Sioux will be out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury. Grimaldi, a second-round selection by the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s 2011 draft, would have played for the United States in the World Junior Championship. His WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . G Tyler Bunz didn’t accompany the Medicine Hat Tigers to Brandon for Friday night’s game. Bunz was struck on the head by a puck while on the WHL bench during Wednesday’s Subway Super Series game in Regina. He was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons and didn’t start Thursday’s season finale as had been scheduled. He spent Friday with family in Regina. . . . One player who did play Friday night was F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs. I was told on Thursday by a normally impeccable source that he would be missing for two weeks with a concussion and that he was due to have a baseline test Friday morning. If he did have that test, he obviously passed with flying colours as he was in the lineup last night as the host Chiefs lost 2-1 to the Kamloops Blazers.
———
In Brandon, the Wheat Kings beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-4 to run their winning streak to a season-high four games. . . . Brandon moved into first place in the WHL’s overall standings. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and two assists for Brandon. . . . Wheat Kings F Mark Stone got his 20th goal. He joins F Emerson Etem (25) and F Hunter Shinkaruk (23) of the Tigers, and F Ty Rattie (20) of the Portland Winterhawks, in the 20-goal club. . . . Shinkaruk had two goals last night and has scored six times in three games against Brandon this season. . . . F Jens Meilleur returned to Brandon’s lineup for the first time since Oct. 7 and scored his first goal of the season in the first period. . . . .F Alessio Bertaggia scored for Brandon, his first goal since Oct. 18. . . . With G Tyler Bunz on the shelf, the Tigers went with Kenny Cameron. They had Dawson McAuley in from the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers to back up. . . . The Tigers lost D Tyler Lewington in the second period with an undisclosed injury. . . .

In Swift Current, the Broncos went 3-for-3 on the PP and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-2. . . . The Broncos broke a 1-1 tie with five straight goals, two of them from F Adam Lowry and two from F Graham Black. . . . Black, who lit up the Saskatchewan midget AAA league with the Regina Pat Canadians last season, has 16 points in 22 games with the Broncos. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 37 shots. . . . Swift Current had beaten Moose Jaw 3-2 on Saturday and now is just six points behind the Warriors and only four in arrears of the eighth-place Regina Pats. . . . How strange is the Eastern Conference? The Pats hold a .595 winning percentage and are in eighth place. . . .

In Edmonton, F Rhett Rachinski broke a tie with 5.5 seconds left in the third period as the Oil Kings beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-3. . . . Oil Kings F T.J. Foster broke a 2-2 tie when he scored on a third-period penalty shot. He also scored the game’s first goal. He has nine goals on the season. . . . The Raiders have lost four straight and are 1-9-0 in their last 10. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Philip Tot scored in the shootout to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Tot also scored in regulation. He has two goals this season. . . . Red Deer F Adam Kambeitz struck for three goals in a seven-minute span of the third period as the Rebels erased a 3-0 deficit. Kambeitz, who has 12 goals this season, tied it at 19:59 of the third period. . . . D Matt Dumba assisted on all three Red Deer goals. . . . Tot was the ninth shooter in a five-round shootout. . . .

In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets built up a 3-1 first-period lead and hung on to beat the Cougars, 3-2. . . . Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets, tweeted that Prince Albert general manager Bruno Campese was in the house. Hmmmm! . . . The Cougars have lost three in a row. . . . Kelowna F Brett Bulmer had one assist; he has nine points in six games since returning from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. . . .

In Vancouver, D Neil Manning and F Dalton Sward each scored three times as the Giants whipped the Victoria Royals, 11-3. . . . It was the first three-goal game for each of them. . . . F Marek Tvrdon chipped in with two goals and three assists, with F Brendan Gallagher picking up a goal and three helpers. . . . The Giants were 5-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Giants held a 2-0 lead and a 23-5 edge in shots after one period. . . . At one point late in the second period, the Giants had eight goals, while the Royals had seven shots on goal in the game. . . . Vancouver has won five in a row. . . .

In Everett, the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to six games with a 7-3 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi had three assists, his fourth straight three-point game. He is riding a nine-game point streak, during which time he has 26 points. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored his 20th goal; he has goals in six straight games. Rattie has 16 points in the six victories. . . . F Dillon Wagner, acquired by Portland from Swift Current on Oct. 26, scored his first goal of the season. . . . The Silvertips got a goal and an assist from F J.T. Barnett, who was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers on Monday. . . . The Silvertips were without four injured players, including D Ryan Murray (ankle) and F Josh Birkholz (knee), while two others were serving suspensions. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 43 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Tri-City Americans, 3-0. . . . It was Pickard’s first shutout this season and the eighth of his career. Three of those eight have come against the Americans, the team for which his older brother Chet once starred in goal. . . . Seattle scored three third-period goals, the first coming from F Sean Aschim on the PP at 1:34. . . . F Burke Gallimore drew an assist on the second goal and scored the third into an empty net. . . . The Americans had taken 10 straight from the Thunderbirds, including a 9-0 run last season. . . . The Americans had a six-game road winning streak end. They also had won five in a row overall. . . .
———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Damon Severson, Kelowna
F Jordan Martinook, Vancouver
D Drydn Dow, Tri-City
D Kyle Verdino, Seattle
———
TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Regina Pats president Brent Parker, who was doing a little scouting:
“Watching CAC bantams out of Edmonton & they are playing 1-3-1. Thank-you Guy Boucher. #really #showyourskillplease”
———
Today’s good read comes courtesy of Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post. It’s right here and it’s about Phoenix Coyotes toughie Paul Bissonnette (aka @BizNasty2point0) and his mother.

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