The Kamloops Blazers might be without D Brandon Underwood (knee) and D Austin Madaisky (neck) for the remainder of the season. Both players were injured in a 2-1 victory over the visiting Chilliwack Blazers on Friday night. . . . Underwood left early in the first period and was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he was escorted to the dressing room. He is believed to have suffered ligament damage, but more will be known on Monday. . . . The Blazers are saying Madaisky suffered a fracture to his seventh cervical vertebrae. He was injured in the third period on a hit by Chilliwack D Brandon Manning, who dumped the puck into the Blazers zone and then raced in on the forecheck. He hit Madaisky, who went back first into the boards. Manning was given a boarding major and game misconduct; the WHL suspended him -- length to be determined -- on Saturday. . . . Underwood and Madaisky are veteran defencemen. Without them, Kamloops is down to five defencemen, including freshman Brady Gaudet, 16; veteran Josh Caron, who recently returned after missing 41 games with a broken collarbone; and, freshman Corey Fienhage, 20, who played a total of 51 games over the last three seasons with the USHL’s Indiana Ice and the NCAA’s North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
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DEPT. OF DISCIPLINE: Dave Hunchak, the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, has been fined $500 for throwing a water bottle onto the ice during the third period of an 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer on Friday night. . . . Chilliwack Bruins D Brandon Manning is on a TBD suspension for a boarding major and game misconduct during a 2-1 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday night. Manning hit Kamloops D Austin Madaisky in the third period. Madaisky left the game and didn’t report; he was scratched from Saturday’s rematch in Chilliwack. . . . Vancouver Giants D Darren Bestland also is on a TBD suspension for a charging major and game misconduct he incurred during Friday’s 4-3 shootout victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . .
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JUST NOTES: Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath left the Warriors’ 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer in the second period Friday and didn’t return. He apparently has a knee injury. . . . If you happen to be in Las Vegas and think you saw a familiar face or two, well, you just might be correct. The WHL’s board of governors and general managers are in the Nevada city for meetings on Monday and Tuesday. . . .
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James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail checks in on G James Reimer (Red Deer, 2005-08), who has taken the Maple Leafs and Toronto by storm. This, folks, is a neat story. Check it out right here.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Regina, the Pats erased a 1-0 deficit with four first-period goals and went on to beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 5-4. . . . F Tanner Olstad had two goals and an assist for Regina, while F Jordan Weal had a goal and two helpers. . . . The Pats lead the season series, 4-2. . . . Prince Albert G Jamie Tucker left the game in the first period after sustaining a cut to his blocker hand. He stopped all six shots he faced. Eric Williams replaced him and was beaten five times on 32 shots. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt turned aside 36 shots. . . . Regina took 65 of 122 penalty minutes. . . . Attendance was 4,097. . . . The victory lifted Regina to within two points of the ninth-place Raiders and within three of eighth-place Brandon in the Eastern Conference standings. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Jordan Peddle broke a 3-3 tie with two late goals and the Broncos beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-3. . . . Swift Current had lost its last eight games. . . . Peddle, who also had an assist, scored his seventh goal of the season at 16:47 of the third period and later added an empty-netter. . . . F Justin Dowling drew three assists for the Broncos. . . . Swift Current D Tanner Muth scored his first WHL goal on a second-period PP. The 17-year-old Calgarian was playing in his 75th career game. It was his 27th game of this season. . . . Attendance was 1,921. . . . The Broncos are seventh, one point ahead of Brandon and three behind Edmonton. . . .
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In Saskatoon, G Steven Stanford stopped 23 shots to lead the Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . It was Stanford’s second shutout of the season and the fourth for the Blades. . . . Lethbridge has been blanked seven times, twice by Saskatoon. . . . F Brayden Schenn had a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) for Saskatoon, which got two assists from each of F Marek Viedensky and D Darren Dietz. . . . Schenn’s scrap was with Lethbridge F Cam Braes in the third period. . . . Attendance was 4,791. . . . The Blades now hold a five-point lead atop the Eastern Conference and have two games in hand on the idle Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Hurricanes are tied for 10th with Regina. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice got two goals from F Cody Eakin as it skated to a 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Eakin has 25 goals this season. . . . Ice D James Martin and F Matt Fraser each had a goal and an assist, while F Max Reinhart had two assists. . . . Eakin scored the Ice’s first two goals, the second coming shorthanded just seven seconds into the second period and breaking a 1-1 tie. . . . F Andrej Stastny had a goal, his sixth, and an assist for the Giants. . . . Attendance was 3,476, the largest crowd for a game in Cranbrook this season. . . . The Giants had won their last three games, all on the road. They don’t play again until Saturday when them meet the Kamloops Blazers in Whitehorse, Yukon. . . . The Giants remain the Western Conference’s second seed as they lead the B.C. Division by three points over Kelowna. . . . The Ice is eight points behind Red Deer. . . .
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers got 36 saves from G Tyler Bunz as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1. . . . Tigers F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race with 84 points, was held to one assist. . . . Bunz lost his shutout bid when F Dylan Hood got his 24th goal at 17:14 of the second period. . . . F Emerson Etem got his 29th goal for the Tigers. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Warriors were without D Dylan McIlrath, who tweaked a knee in Friday’s 8-1 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . The victory lifted the fourth-place Tigers five points clear of the Warriors and kept them within one point of Kootenay. . . .
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In Chilliwack, the Bruins snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Blazers had beaten the Bruins 2-1 in Kamloops on Friday and 5-1 in Chilliwack the previous Saturday. . . . Kamloops took a 2-0 lead into the second period but the Bruins erased that with two quick goals by Ryan Howse. He got his 34th goal 43 seconds into the period, then scored on the PP at 4:00. . . . Chilliwack F Roman Horak got his 22nd goal just 24 seconds into the third period. . . . Bruins F Kevin Sundher had three assists. . . . Kamloops F Bernhard Keil scored his second goal of the season; it was his first goal since Oct. 13. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 36 shots. . . . The Blazers were without three injured veterans -- F Chase Schaber (leg), D Brandon Underwood (knee) and D Austin Madaisky (neck). . . . Attendance was 2,988. . . . This was an important victory for the Bruins, who are ninth in the Western Conference. They closed to within one point of the Blazers and hold four games in hand. . . . Next up for the Bruins are two games with Kelowna and two with Tri-City. . . .
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In Portland, the Winterhawks unleashed a 54-shot barrage as they beat the Tri-City Americans, 8-2. . . . F Craig Cunningham, F Ryan Johansen and D Tyler Wotherspoon each had a goal and two assists for Portland, with F Ty Rattie scoring twice. Rattie has 24 goals. . . . Portland led 3-0 before the game was 11 minutes old. . . . Portland was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Americans were 1-for-8. . . . The Americans took 74 of the game’s 128 penalty minutes in a game that took two hours 46 minutes to play. . . . Attendance was 7,145. . . . Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin had his point streak stopped at 21 games. He had 46 points during the streak, the longest in the WHL this season. . . . Portland was without F Brad Ross (concussion), who was injured Friday. . . . The Winterhawks lead the Western Conference and are five points ahead of Spokane, which is second in the U.S. Division. . . . The Americans slipped back to third, a point behind Spokane. . . .
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In Prince George, G Ty Rimmer stopped 23 shots to lead the Cougars to a 3-0 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Cougars had beaten the Rockets 4-2 on Friday night. . . . The Cougars went into the weekend having lost six in a row to Kelowna. . . . It was Rimmer’s third shutout of the season and the Cougars’ fifth. . . . The Rockets have been blanked four times. . . . F James Dobrowolski got his 15th goal for the Cougars at 19:18 of the first period. F Taylor Stefishen later added his 16th and F Troy Bourke got his 14th. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown was lifted after Bourke’s goal at 6:03 of the second. Brown stopped 11 of 14 shots. Reliever Jordon Cooke came on to stop 27 shots. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-8 on the PP; the Cougars were 0-for-7. . . . Attendance was 2,060. . . . Kelowna again was without F Mitchell Callahan (head), who was injured Wednedsay. . . . The Cougars are sixth in the conference, a point ahead of Everett, while Kelowna remains three points behind Vancouver. . . .
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In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 35 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Simpson lost his bid for a shutout when T.J. Foster scored his 20th goal on a PP at 19:53 of the third period. . . . The Silvertips had killed off 29 opposition power plays in a row. . . . Simpson is 5-1-1 with a .956 save percentage over his last seven games. . . . Everett D Rasmus Rissanen scored his first goal of the season on a PP at 19:04 of the first period. A sophomore from Finland, Rissanen, 19, had four goals in 71 games last season. Last night, he played in his 50th game of this season. . . . F Josh Winquist had two assists for Everett. . . . Attendance was 6,345. . . . The Oil Kings went 1-2-1 in their four-game swing into the U.S. Division. They didn‘t visit Spokane, a stop they made earlier in the season on a trip that took them, in order, to Prince George, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Spokane and Cranbrook. . . . Edmonton heads home in sixth place, three points ahead of Swift Current. . . . Everett is seventh in the Western Conference, one point behind Prince George and five ahead of Kamloops. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., F Mitch Holmberg scored two goals and added an assist to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 5-1 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Chiefs were 4-for-8 on the PP. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson got his WHL-leading 39th goal and added two assists. He now has 86 points, one behind Medicine Hat F Linden Vey, who leads the WHL scoring race. . . . Spokane D Reid Gow and D Brenden Kichton each had two assists. . . . Chiefs G Mac Engel stopped 26 shots. F Luke Lockhart had Seattle’s goal, opening the scoring with a shorthanded marker at 5:04 of the first period. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 54 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,388. . . . The Chiefs moved past Tri-City and into second in the U.S. Division, five points behind Portland. . . . Seattle is 10th, two points behind Kamloops, which holds down the conference’s last playoff spot. The Thunderbirds are in Kamloops on Wednesday.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Five minors:
Moose Jaw F Jesse Paradis
Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin
Tri-City D Sam Grist (two minors on two separate plays)
Spokane F Dominik Uher
Showing posts with label Darren Bestland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darren Bestland. Show all posts
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The tears were hardly dry Wednesday night when I got an email from Glen Erickson, who lives in Kelowna and writes for Hockey’s Future. He was pointing out that “there are 15 kids from that Russian team in the lineup in Buffalo.”
That Russian team was the one that scored a 7-6 victory over Team WHL in a Subway Super Series game in Kamloops on Nov. 17.
On that night, the WHL led 3-0 before the first period was seven minutes old, and it held a 6-3 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the third period.
The Russians stormed back with three goals in 2:42, and went on to win in a shootout.
One night later, the Russians won 5-2 in Prince George as they wrapped up the series for the first time in its eight-year existence.
And, as we all saw last night, Russia overcame another three-goal lead and beat Canada in the final of the World Junior Championship, scoring a 5-3 victory in Buffalo.
Just like that Canada versus Russia is relevant again, and that can only be good for hockey in this country.
The Canadian Hockey League, if it hasn’t already, should send a thank you note to the Russians. The Subway Super Series suddenly means something again.
Granted, the team that won last night was loaded with 19-year-old players -- someone on TSN mentioned that only one player on the roster is eligible to play in the 2011 tournament.
But what all of this tells me is that, for whatever reason, the Russians now believe that the Super Series can be of some use as it prepares for the World Junior Championship. Hopefully that means Russia will send over another competitive team in the fall.
I have been a harsh critic of the Super Series, only because it was so uncompetitive through its first seven seasons. In 2006, for example, the CHL teams went 6-0, outscoring the Russians 32-12 in the process. That included an 8-1 victory by Team WHL in Kamloops in what was just an awful game.
If you had forgotten, the WHL won 13 of the first 14 games in the series. But it wasn’t that way in November and, hopefully, it won’t be that way again in November.
I would bet that Russia’s showing in November and its startling triumph last night mean that the CHL’s three leagues just may find teams and cities lining up to play host to the games in the next Super Series.
Suddenly, I can hardly wait for the next Super Series to get started.
(By the way, G Dmitry Shikin started and got the hook in that game in Kamloops. He started last night in Buffalo and got yanked again.)
Erickson wrote an interesting piece on Tuesday, which, of course, preceded last night’s game. Give it a look right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have made their third trade in a week.
This time, they have sent F Matt McKay, 20, and a 2012 fourth-round bantam draft pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings for D Darren Bestland, 20.
Bestland has 16 points in 40 games, while his minus-24 would seem to indicate he is struggling defensively. However, the Giants obviously are hoping that is just indicative of the play of the struggling Wheat Kings.
MacKay, whom the Giants acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers over the summer, had 28 points, including 12 goals, in 40 games with Vancouver. He is the son of former Moose Jaw Warriors captain Mark MacKay, who is the only player in WHL history to be named the league’s rookie of the year as a 20-year-old (1984-85).
On Dec. 30, the Giants were involved in a big trade with the Portland Winterhawks in which F Craig Cunningham, 20, and sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft went south for F Spencer Bennett, 20, F Teal Burns, 18, a 2011 first-round pick and a 2012 second-round pick.
Then, on Tuesday, the Giants dealt F Brett Lyon, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for F Nathan Smith, 17, who remains with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
Vancouver next plays this weekend when it is in Prince George for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader with the Cougars.
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From the Portland Business Journal:
“Portland’s city commissioners have unanimously backed adding the word ‘Veterans’ to an arena built as a monument to war heroes.
“The Memorial Coliseum will now be known as Veterans Memorial Coliseum. “The move is considered a nod to veterans who have protested proposals to tear down the building as part of the Rose Quarter renovation.
“The building was dedicated Jan. 8, 1961. Among early candidates for the coliseum’s name were ‘Portland Peace Memorial’ and ‘Beaverena.’ ”
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JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats have reassigned F Dane Muench, 18, to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. He had seven points in 24 games with the Pats. . . . The Pats go for their fourth straight victory on Friday when they meet the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . James Priestner of the Prince George Cougars is the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 1.00, .956 last week. . . . The NHL’s Calgary Flames have terminated the contract of F J.D. Watt (Vancouver, Red Deer, Regina, 2003-08), who had been with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. “J.D. notified us on Monday that he was no longer interested in pursuing his career with the Calgary Flames organization,” Flames acting general manager Jay Feaster said in a press release issued by the Heat. “He informed us of his decision and as a result, he was then suspended and cleared unconditional waivers this morning. We are moving forward in the best interests of the hockey club, our players in Abbotsford and the Flames organization.” Watt had four points and 73 penalty minutes in 27 games this season. The Flames selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2005 draft.
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I missed this on Tuesday, so in an attempt at catching up on something interesting, here it is, mostly from a Spokane Chiefs press release:
Willy Bietak Productions, Inc., the company in charge of installing the ice surface for the Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic, has arrived in Spokane and begun the process of building the staging system that will hold the ice at Avista Stadium. The Chiefs are to play host to the Kootenay Ice on Saturday, Jan. 15 in the WHL's first outdoor game.
Fans may watch the process through a live video cam right here
Monday began the multi-step process of building the ice. A deck is being built on the field of Avista Stadium, normally the home of the Northwest League's Spokane Indians baseball club, and laser levelled to create flooring for the ice.
The ice system, consisting of 240 aluminum plates connected by over 600 feet of piping to one of the world's largest portable refrigeration units, will be moved into place today. On Saturday, boards and glass will be placed onto the decking that was built earlier in the week. After the boards have been placed, they will begin spraying ice on Sunday. On-ice logos will be painted on Monday.
The Chiefs will hold a practice on Jan. 13, 1 p.m., on the new ice surface. This will be the only time they will have an opportunity to skate on the ice prior to the game.
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And, finally, this right here is from a blog that belongs to Christopher Foulds, the editor at Kamloops This Week, a twice weekly publication. . . . I thank him for pointing out that Shane Doan is incorrect in his criticism.
.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
That Russian team was the one that scored a 7-6 victory over Team WHL in a Subway Super Series game in Kamloops on Nov. 17.
On that night, the WHL led 3-0 before the first period was seven minutes old, and it held a 6-3 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the third period.
The Russians stormed back with three goals in 2:42, and went on to win in a shootout.
One night later, the Russians won 5-2 in Prince George as they wrapped up the series for the first time in its eight-year existence.
And, as we all saw last night, Russia overcame another three-goal lead and beat Canada in the final of the World Junior Championship, scoring a 5-3 victory in Buffalo.
Just like that Canada versus Russia is relevant again, and that can only be good for hockey in this country.
The Canadian Hockey League, if it hasn’t already, should send a thank you note to the Russians. The Subway Super Series suddenly means something again.
Granted, the team that won last night was loaded with 19-year-old players -- someone on TSN mentioned that only one player on the roster is eligible to play in the 2011 tournament.
But what all of this tells me is that, for whatever reason, the Russians now believe that the Super Series can be of some use as it prepares for the World Junior Championship. Hopefully that means Russia will send over another competitive team in the fall.
I have been a harsh critic of the Super Series, only because it was so uncompetitive through its first seven seasons. In 2006, for example, the CHL teams went 6-0, outscoring the Russians 32-12 in the process. That included an 8-1 victory by Team WHL in Kamloops in what was just an awful game.
If you had forgotten, the WHL won 13 of the first 14 games in the series. But it wasn’t that way in November and, hopefully, it won’t be that way again in November.
I would bet that Russia’s showing in November and its startling triumph last night mean that the CHL’s three leagues just may find teams and cities lining up to play host to the games in the next Super Series.
Suddenly, I can hardly wait for the next Super Series to get started.
(By the way, G Dmitry Shikin started and got the hook in that game in Kamloops. He started last night in Buffalo and got yanked again.)
Erickson wrote an interesting piece on Tuesday, which, of course, preceded last night’s game. Give it a look right here.
---
The Vancouver Giants have made their third trade in a week.
This time, they have sent F Matt McKay, 20, and a 2012 fourth-round bantam draft pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings for D Darren Bestland, 20.
Bestland has 16 points in 40 games, while his minus-24 would seem to indicate he is struggling defensively. However, the Giants obviously are hoping that is just indicative of the play of the struggling Wheat Kings.
MacKay, whom the Giants acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers over the summer, had 28 points, including 12 goals, in 40 games with Vancouver. He is the son of former Moose Jaw Warriors captain Mark MacKay, who is the only player in WHL history to be named the league’s rookie of the year as a 20-year-old (1984-85).
On Dec. 30, the Giants were involved in a big trade with the Portland Winterhawks in which F Craig Cunningham, 20, and sixth-round pick in the 2011 draft went south for F Spencer Bennett, 20, F Teal Burns, 18, a 2011 first-round pick and a 2012 second-round pick.
Then, on Tuesday, the Giants dealt F Brett Lyon, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for F Nathan Smith, 17, who remains with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder.
Vancouver next plays this weekend when it is in Prince George for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader with the Cougars.
---
From the Portland Business Journal:
“Portland’s city commissioners have unanimously backed adding the word ‘Veterans’ to an arena built as a monument to war heroes.
“The Memorial Coliseum will now be known as Veterans Memorial Coliseum. “The move is considered a nod to veterans who have protested proposals to tear down the building as part of the Rose Quarter renovation.
“The building was dedicated Jan. 8, 1961. Among early candidates for the coliseum’s name were ‘Portland Peace Memorial’ and ‘Beaverena.’ ”
---
JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats have reassigned F Dane Muench, 18, to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. He had seven points in 24 games with the Pats. . . . The Pats go for their fourth straight victory on Friday when they meet the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . James Priestner of the Prince George Cougars is the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 1.00, .956 last week. . . . The NHL’s Calgary Flames have terminated the contract of F J.D. Watt (Vancouver, Red Deer, Regina, 2003-08), who had been with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. “J.D. notified us on Monday that he was no longer interested in pursuing his career with the Calgary Flames organization,” Flames acting general manager Jay Feaster said in a press release issued by the Heat. “He informed us of his decision and as a result, he was then suspended and cleared unconditional waivers this morning. We are moving forward in the best interests of the hockey club, our players in Abbotsford and the Flames organization.” Watt had four points and 73 penalty minutes in 27 games this season. The Flames selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2005 draft.
---
I missed this on Tuesday, so in an attempt at catching up on something interesting, here it is, mostly from a Spokane Chiefs press release:
Willy Bietak Productions, Inc., the company in charge of installing the ice surface for the Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic, has arrived in Spokane and begun the process of building the staging system that will hold the ice at Avista Stadium. The Chiefs are to play host to the Kootenay Ice on Saturday, Jan. 15 in the WHL's first outdoor game.
Fans may watch the process through a live video cam right here
Monday began the multi-step process of building the ice. A deck is being built on the field of Avista Stadium, normally the home of the Northwest League's Spokane Indians baseball club, and laser levelled to create flooring for the ice.
The ice system, consisting of 240 aluminum plates connected by over 600 feet of piping to one of the world's largest portable refrigeration units, will be moved into place today. On Saturday, boards and glass will be placed onto the decking that was built earlier in the week. After the boards have been placed, they will begin spraying ice on Sunday. On-ice logos will be painted on Monday.
The Chiefs will hold a practice on Jan. 13, 1 p.m., on the new ice surface. This will be the only time they will have an opportunity to skate on the ice prior to the game.
---
And, finally, this right here is from a blog that belongs to Christopher Foulds, the editor at Kamloops This Week, a twice weekly publication. . . . I thank him for pointing out that Shane Doan is incorrect in his criticism.
.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
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