Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos.
At 12:45 a.m. today, it was at No. 15 on the best-selling list of Hockey books at amazon.com, No. 20 on the Winter Sports list and No. 88 in Social History.
At one point Thursday evening, it was as high as No. 9 among Hockey books.
No, I don’t know what it all means in terms of sales or anything else. But I can tell you that this has been a lot of fun.
It is available in some book stores, although all copies have been shipped from the warehouse. The book is going back on the press early in December and more will be shipped then.
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The best thing I saw Thursday was a photograph.
It was a photograph of two new friends – rock star Alice Cooper and Bob Tory, the general manager of the Tri-City Americans.
Tory’s players were in attendance earlier this week when Alice Cooper brought his show to the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash.
Rumour has it that Tory tried to pass Cooper off as an overage centre and put him up for trade, asking only a third-round bantam draft pick in return.
If you can find the photo somewhere on the Internet — I saw it on Tory’s Facebook page — it’s worth a look.
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Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post remains one of North America’s best sports writers. If he has a specialty, it’s writing about baseball. And right here he writes about the Fehr Factor. If you want a look at how NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr operates, give it a read.
This is the best read I have found on the lockout since it began.
“The biggest mismatch I’ve ever covered was not on a field,” Boswell writes. “It was organized baseball against the MLBPA. And, mostly, it was unnecessary. Baseball owners refused to see the union or Fehr for what they clearly were.”
Later, Boswell writes: “Hiring Don Fehr, the Sun Tzu of jock labor, to face NHL owners in a lockout is like getting the Godfather to help you fix a parking ticket.”
Give this a read and then say goodbye to the rest of this NHL season. In fact, you may want to start thinking about whether next season will start.
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D Colton Jobke of the Regina Pats is out with a skate cut across the top of his left hand. Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post talks with Jobke and tells his story right here.


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F Brad Morrison, 15, made his WHL debut with the Prince George Cougars on Saturday in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Blazers in Kamloops. By the third period, in which he picked up an assist, he was playing on a top line with F Alex Forsberg and F Ryan Hanes. On Tuesday, Morrison scored his first goal in a 4-2 shootout victory over the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Jason Peters of the Prince George Citizen writes about Morrison right here.
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The Red Deer Rebels may get D Kayle Doetzel back this weekend. Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate reports that Doetzel is back practising  and may play Saturday against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. Doetzel hasn’t played since suffering a broken jaw on Oct. 2 during a game in Prince Albert. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers will be in Calgary to play the Hitmen tonight. Medicine Hat is likely to be without F Hunter Shinkaruk (skate cut) and F Curtis Valk (suspension). . . . If you’re in the Portland area, don’t forget that today’s game with the visiting Kootenay Ice begins at 3 p.m. . . . F J.T. Barnett is expected back in the Kelowna Rockets lineup tonight when they play the visiting Regina Pats. Barnett, 20,  suffered a knee injury on Sept. 21 on his first shift of his first game after coming over from the Everett Silvertips. “I’m wearing two knee braces now, so I’m kind of a bionic man,” a laughing Barnett told Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier. Barnett also suffered a knee injury last season while with Everett. . . . Kelowna F Carter Rigby, out with a shoulder injury since Oct. 10, also is expected to play tonight.
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From player agent Greg Simpson (@hockekyrep): “Watching Jets vs Pats. Lenny Kravitz doing his @burtoncummings impression on American Woman. Good but no disrespect I’ll take the original.”
Me, too!
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From Portland D Tyler Wotherspoon (@TSPOON77): “Waiting in line at good ol sears #thanksgiving #blackfriday #dealssss”

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Steve Ewen has covered the Vancouver Giants for The Province since the team entered the WHL for the 2001-02 season. A gregarious, fun guy, Ewen has been off the beat for a few weeks now as he fights back against the Big C. It hasn’t been fun, what with a couple of surgeries and the news this week that he will be spending Christmas Day in Vancouver General Hospital.
Ever since this chapter in his and Carol-Ann’s lives, Steve has been blogging about it at a site he named Crush the tumour with humour.
If you haven’t visited there, you might want to check it out right here.
(Of special interest is the photo of John Shorthouse, the long-time voice of the Vancouver Canucks, and his organ.)
And, while you’re out there enjoying the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, take time and have a thought for those people who aren’t able to partake for one reason or another.
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Swing over to right here and you’ll find Annie Fowler’s take on the game between the Vancouver Giants and Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday night. She covers the Americans for the Tri-City Herald.
According to the WHL website, the Americans were dinged $350 “for actions of players” in that game, while the Giants got touched for $250 “for multiple fight” and $500 for “actions of players.”
Meanwhile, F Brock Montgomery of the Kootenay Ice got a two-game suspension for his interference major against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.
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The NAHL’s Port Huron Fighting Falcons have fired general manager Ernie Hicke and his son, Shane, who was on the coaching staff. Paul Costanzo of the Port Huron Times Herald, reported that Ernie Hicke stepped down as head coach on Thursday and his plan was to have Shane, along with Marty Haddad and Todd Churchill, coach the team. The change came with the Fighting Falcons, who are in their inaugural season, at 1-24-1. . . . Owner Maribeth Hayes installed Bill Warren, the hockey coach at Port Huron Northern High School, as head coach, at least for now, and named Haddad the GM. . . . Ernie Hicke, 63, is a native of Regina who starred with the Pats (1964-67) before going on to a lengthy pro career that included 520 NHL games.
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Donald Fehr is in as the executive director of the NHLPA. What does that mean for the future of the NHL? Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has an excellent overview right here. You especially will smile at Marvin Miller’s description of “the management people in hockey.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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