Tigers forward has surgery . . . Shmyr, Patrick lead Wheaties . . . The real winter classic

The Medicine Hat Tigers will be without F Steve Owre for up to six weeks, according to Bob Ridley, the team’s radio voice. Ridley tweeted Thursday that Owre “had jaw surgery today.” . . . Owre, an 18-year-old from Rocklin, Calif., is in his third season with the Tigers. He has career highs in goals (13), assists (21) and points (34) in 36 games this season. Last season, he finished with 32 points, including 12 goals, in 70 games.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that Vancouver Giants F Ty Ronning (collarbone) won’t play for another “7-10 days.” Ronning was injured during the exhibition season. . . . Ewen also reported that Giants GM Scott Bonner told him that D Shaun Dosanjh will be out “at least four weeks” and D Clayton Kirichenko “is out three more weeks.” Both have undisclosed injuries. . . . Ewen has more right here.
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The Everett Silvertips open an East Division swing against the Prince Albert Raiders tonight. Everett lost defencemen Kevin Davis and Tristen Pfeifer during a 4-2 loss to the host Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday. If they can’t play tonight, the Silvertips could use Jantzen Leslie, their first-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Jantzen, who is from Lloydminster, Alta., has joined the Silvertips for the games in the East Division. He plays for the midget AAA Lloydminster Bobcats.
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The Kamloops Blazers, who haven’t played at home since Dec. 6, entertain the Kelowna Rockets tonight. The Blazers had a road-heavy schedule in the season’s first half and now will play 20 of their last 32 games at home. . . . D Brady Gaudet’s playing status with the Blazers isn’t known. He was just back from missing 18 games with a shoulder injury when he took a hit from Kelowna’s Rourke Chartier in a Saturday game. Gaudet didn’t return.
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Pour a cup of coffee, or whatever your choice of beverage is, and read this superb feature from Los Angeles Magazine on Darryl Sutter, the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Written by Paul Brownfield, it is right here.
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Richard Sandomir, the TV sports columnist for The New York Times, has a listing of his top 10 sports movies and that list is right here. No, it doesn’t include Slap Shot.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:

In Saskatoon, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s last four goals to beat the Blades, 5-2. . . . F Braylon Shmyr, who enjoyed the first two-goal game of his WHL career, broke a 2-2 tie with a PP goal 9:24 of the second period. He’s got eight goals this season. . . . Freshman F Nolan Patrick added two insurance goals, at 18:42 of the second and 11:15 of the third. . . . Patrick has 16 goals. . . . Saskatoon F Wyatt Sloboshan scored the game’s first goal, his fourth of the season. It was his first goal in his fourth game since returning from a broken jaw. . . . Brandon G Alex Moodie, who was acquired earlier in the season from the Blades, stopped 30 shots. . . . Brandon F Tyler Coulter had three assists, with F Jayce Hawryluk adding two. . . . According to Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Blades, Saskatoon went into the game “17-10-1 all-time on New Year's Day, 12-4-0 at home and 4-0-0 against @bdnwheatkings...all in Saskatoon.” . . . The Wheat Kings (28-7-4) have won four in a row since the Christmas break and are 7-0-2 in their last nine. . . . The Blades (9-27-3) have lost two in a row. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here.
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The ice is ready, the beer is cold the real winter classic is about to begin... pic.twitter.com/xQF0ITLXnw
— Craig Demetrick (@Demer2d) January 1, 2015

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Writer vs. broadcaster! . . . Beautiful music in Prince George

D Mike Card (Kelowna, 2002-06) has signed a one-year contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, DEL2), he had nine points, including three goals, in 46 games. Card has dual Canadian-German citizenship. . . .

F Jan Eberle (Seattle, 2006-08) has signed a one-year extension with Kladno (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). Last season, with Kladno in Extraliga, he had eight points, one of them a goal, in 41 games. He was pointless in seven games while on loan to České Budějovice (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). With Kladno in Extraliga relegation and qualification series, he had 13 points, including four goals, in 18 games.
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1. There’s nothing better than a good, old-fashioned pithing match between an ink-stained wretch and a talking head. Right? . . . On Thursday, Regan Bartel, the veteran voice of the Kelowna Rockets, opined on the move by F Tyson Jost to turn his back on the Everett Silvertips, at least for now, and join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. In brief, Bartel wrote that the 16-year-old Jost likely feels that he wouldn’t get much playing time under “defensive-minded” Kevin Constantine, Everett’s head coach. . . . On Friday, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald sat down at his keyboard and poked holes in Bartel’s theory, also pointing out that Constantine hasn’t had any problems putting 16-year-olds on the ice. . . . Bartel’s piece is right there -- it’s the second-last item in a notebook. . . . Patterson’s blog piece is right here. . . . Gentlemen, will it be swords or pistols? . . . OK. OK. So it's not really a big pithing match. But, hey, it helps to kill a slow day, doesn't it?

2. The good people of Prince Albert held a Relay For Life overnight and into this morning. One of the teams taking part is Team Brucester, comprising members of the Prince Albert Raiders’ staff, along with Jessica and Briane Vance. They are the daughters of Bruce Vance, the Raiders’ business manager and director of marketing, who was diagnosed with colon cancer late in 2013. Sarah Stone of paNOW has a piece right here on the Vance girls and their reaction to the support he is receiving.

3. The Prince George Cougars are hoping that Marnie Hamagami is able to recapture the magic and make beautiful music with their fans. Hamagami is leaving her position as general manager of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra to take over as the Cougars’ director of sales and marketing. She beings her new job on Monday. . . . Hamagami spent two seasons with the PGSO. According to a Cougars’ news release: “Since Hamagami took the helm, ticket sales are up 15 per cent, labour relations with the musicians are in excellent shape and the whole feel of the organization is one of positive growth and change.”

4. G Mackenzie Skapski of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. . . . Skapski, from Abbotsford, B.C., was 28-20-4, 2.70, .916 last season, his third with the Ice. . . . He will turn 20 on June 15. . . . People may have forgotten that Skapski was with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins when their bus hit some black ice near Williams Lake, B.C., and ended up on its side. As Dan Kinvig reported in the Abbotsford, B.C., News: “Skapski suffered the most serious injuries of anyone on the team – he sustained a broken nose and a fractured orbital bone, and had surgery to place a couple of plates in (one) cheek and to remove a blood clot beside his brain. During his convalescence, he lost 30 pounds, dropping from 155 to 125.” . . . One of the results of the rehabbing was that he got into only 19 games with the Ice in his freshman season -- of course, he also was playing behind Nathan Lieuwen -- and was bypassed in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . But knowing what Skapski has been through, and how hard he has worked, it makes it awfully easy to pull for him.

5. The Montreal Canadiens have signed D Dalton Thrower (Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2009-14) to a three-year entry-level contract. Thrower was a second-round selection by Montreal in the NHL’s 2012 draft. Last season, one that was ended prematurely by ankle problems, Thrower had 39 points, including 12 goals, in 42 games. The 20-year-old from Squamish, B.C., was the Giants’ captain.

6. The Los Angeles Kings lost 4-3 to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks in Friday night’s Stanley Cup game. That series is tied 3-3 with the teams headed to Chicago and Game 7 on Sunday. . . . After the game, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was asked: “What did you say to the team after the loss?” . . . His response: “We fly at 11.”

7. If you’re wondering why anyone would pay US$2 billion for an NBA franchise, which is almost four times the record price for an NBA franchise, Ken Belson and Richard Sandomir of The New York Times have the answer right here.

8. D Nick Nonis, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis, has committed to playing for the BCHL’s Powell River Kings in 2014-15. From Hampton Falls, N.H., Nonis has committed to the U of New Hampshire and is expected to play there starting in 2015-16 or the following season. . . . Nonis, who turns 19 on Dec. 19, has played the past three seasons at The Governors Academy, a prep school in Byfield, Mass. . . . His father was a defenceman with the BCHL’s Burnaby Bluehawks in 1982-83 before going on to play four seasons at the U of Maine.


9. The QMJHL has slashed the amount of money its teams pay 20-year-old players, putting it more in line with the OHL and WHL. Mike Sanderson of Yahoo! Canada Sports has more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Eric Wellwood has joined the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as an assistant coach. Wellwood, the brother of former NHLer Kyle Wellwood, ended his playing career after suffering a serious leg injury in April 2013 while with the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. . . . In the OHL, he played for the Windsor Spitfires, winning two Memorial Cup titles with them.
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Clint Mylymok is the new head coach of the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds, who play out of the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. . . . Mylymok spent last season as the head coach of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association. For two seasons prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Hounds. Mylymok replaces Kevin White, who had been the head coach since the summer of 2010.
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From Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) of Yahoo! Canada Sports: “Under the OHL's new contracts overagers would make in the area of $900 per month (that includes $470 monthly reimbursement plan). #QMJHL”

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As of Thursday night, each of the WHL’s 22 teams had a head coach in place for the upcoming season.
The Victoria Royals completed the circle on Thursday when they introduced Dave Lowry as their head coach, replacing Marc Habscheid, who has been bumped upstairs within the franchise’s parent company.
On Wednesday, the Brandon Wheat Kings announced that long-time assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk had been promoted to head coach. Gylywoychuk, who holds the Wheat Kings’ franchise record for most games played, replaces Cory Clouston, who was dropped, despite having a year left on his contract, following the end of last season.
Lowry, 47, spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames. His contract wasn’t renewed following last season as the Flames cleaned out their coaching staff.
Lowry, who spent 19 years playing professionally, began his coaching career with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. He signed on as an assistant coach for 2005-06, was promoted to associate coach for 2007-08, and was named head coach the following season. In 2008-09, he guided the Hitmen to a 59-9-4 record. They then swept three playoff series before losing the WHL final in six games to the Kelowna Rockets.
While Habscheid was a defence-first kind of coach, Lowry told reporters: “I like an up-tempo game but obviously will have to assess the personnel to see what style of play is conducive to us winning.”
Habscheid also had served as the club’s general manager. That position was filled July 6 with the hiring of Cam Hope, who said he “didn’t know (Lowry) at all.” Lowry said it was important to him that he come to an organization in which the two positions were split.
“Too much gets missed when those positions are combined,” Lowry told Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist. “When (I was) told it would be two separate positions, that piqued my interest because I have no interest in doing the GM part of it. My strength is coaching and that’s what I wanted to do.”
As for moving from the NHL to major junior, Lowry said: “The game is the same. The only difference is the pay scale.”
Lowry’s oldest son, Adam, 19, is preparing for his fourth season with the Swift Current Broncos. His NHL rights belong to the Winnipeg Jets. Another son, Joel, is preparing for his sophomore season with the Cornell Big Red. His NHL rights are with the Los Angeles Kings. Joel played two seasons with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.
Dave Lowry’s first game behind the Royals’ bench will come Aug. 30 when they travel to Kamloops to meet the Blazers in an exhibition game.
The Royals didn’t make any announcements regarding assistant coaches.
Gylywoychuk, meanwhile, is a 39-year-old Winnipegger who played 323 regular-season games with the Wheat Kings. He has been an assistant coach with the Wheat Kings since 2003, working under head coaches Dean Clark, Mike Kelly, Kelly McCrimmon and Clouston.
McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner and general manager, also announced Darren Ritchie will be back for a sixth season as an assistant coach.
Last week, the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced they had picked up the 2013-14 option on GM/head coach Rich Preston’s contract.
However, there is speculation that Preston may have an opportunity to join the coaching staff of the Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings. He was an assistant coach under Kings’ head coach Darryl Sutter with the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames.
Preston has been with the Hurricanes through three seasons.
A source familiar with Preston and his situation said last night that Preston has an out clause in his new contract that would allow him to leave to accept an offer from the Kings. The source also said he wouldn’t be at all surprised if Preston ended up in L.A.
The Kings are looking to fill a hole created when Jamie Kompon, a six-year assistant, left and signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.

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