Chiefs, Pats swing deal . . . Raiders make another trade . . . Malm shoots Giants to victory

27% of Canadians wouldn't mind an early exit from the world juniors if it means they never have to see the Nike commercials ever again

— Stats Canada (@stats_canada) January 3, 2017

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WHL trades since Dec. 27:

Trades: 8.

Players: 14.

Bantam draft picks: 7.

Conditional bantam draft picks: 1.

(WHL trade deadline is Jan. 10).

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The reunion of long-time friends Rykr Cole and Dawson Davidson lasted about a week.

It ended Monday when the Regina Pats dealt Cole to the Spokane Chiefs.

RYKR COLE

RILEY WOODS

Cole and Davidson both are from Moosomin, Sask. They were reunited on Dec. 25 when Davidson found out that the Kamloops Blazers had traded him to the Pats.

“He’s my best friend, pretty much,” Davidson told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post after the trade. “We’re both from Moosomin. We played midget together in Moose Jaw and roomed together for a year. I saw him a lot over the break. When I got traded, I instantly called him.

“It’s going to be fun to reunite. He’s a great guy and an unbelievable leader. I’m looking forward to playing with him again.”

Cole told Harder: “He let me know he got traded to Regina and I was pretty excited. He came over and

WYATT SLOBOSHAN

we talked about it. I’ve been showing him around Regina a bit. It’s nice to have a guy coming in that you know, especially with Dawson being one of my really good buddies.”

While Cole and Davidson were enjoying the reunion, F Wyatt Sloboshan was choosing not to return to the Spokane Chiefs after the Christmas break.

On Tuesday, the Chiefs dealt Sloboshan, 19, who had been acquired from the Saskatoon Blades, and a third-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft to the Pats for Cole, a 19-year-old forward, and F Riley Woods, 18.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Sloboshan, from Vanscoy, Sask., has played 30 games this season, 29 of them with Saskatoon. He had four goals and 12 assists with the Blades — he was the team’s captain — and was pointless in one game with Spokane. In 146 career games, he has 91 points, including 33 goals. He was a third-round pick by the Swift Current Broncos in the 2012 bantam draft.

Cole, from Moosomin, Sask., was a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. The 6-foot-0, 185-pounder had six goals and seven assists in 34 games this season. He put up 27 goals and 30 assists in 166 career games.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Woods, a list player from Regina, had six goals and seven assists in 28 games with the Pats this season. In 59 career games, he has 15 goals and 12 assists.

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The Prince Albert Raiders have acquired F Curtis Miske, 19, from the Spokane Chiefs for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. . . . The Chiefs, having acquired F Rykr Cole and F Riley Woods earlier in the day from Regina, had to make a move to get their roster down to 25 players. . . . Miske, from Beaumont, Alta., had five goals and nine assists in 28 games this season. The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder played in 154 regular-season games with the Chiefs, scoring 22 goals and adding 36 assists. The Chiefs had selected him in the second round of the 2012 bantam draft. . . . This was the 13th trade made by the Raiders this season.

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The Medicine Hat Tigers, having acquired G Michael Bullion, 19, from the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, have dropped G Duncan McGovern, 16, from their roster. He will join the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. . . . The Tigers picked up Bullion as veteran support behind starter Nick Schneider, who leads the WHL with 25 victories. . . . With the Tigers, McGovern, who is from Winnipeg, was 2-4-0, 4.06, .858. McGovern was a fifth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft.

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F Taylor Sanheim, a former WHL player, now is with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. They acquired Sanheim, 20, from the MJHL’s Portage Terriers on Monday, with F Ty Barnstable, 18, going the other way. . . . Sanheim had 12 goals and 39 assists in 132 career regular-season games with the Calgary Hitmen. This season, he had two goals and five assists in 18 games with the Hitmen when he was released.

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The Moose Jaw Warriors will be without D Dmitri Zaitsev when they meet the Raiders in Prince Albert tonight (Tuesday). He has been suspended for one game “for game misconduct” during a 2-1 OT loss to the visiting Wheat Kings on Saturday night.

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Apparently everyone's New Year's resolution was to pay more for gas this year. Should be an easy one to keep.

— 22Minutes (@22_Minutes) January 3, 2017

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MONDAY’S GAME:

At Calgary, F James Malm scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Vancouver Giants a 5-4

JAMES MALM

victory over the Hitmen. . . . The Giants erased a 4-2 third-period deficit to force OT. . . . D Dylan Plouffe (4) got the visitors to within a goal at 4:44, with D Matt Barberis tying it with his seventh goal, at 18:49. . . . The Giants grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second period on goals from F Ty Ronning (14), at 5:17, and F Tyler Benson (11), at 6:06. . . . Calgary appeared to take control by scoring the game’s next four goals. . . . F Jakob Stukel (12) got the Hitmen started at 9:09 of the second period. . . . F Matteo Gennaro followed that with two goals, his 13th and 14th, at 16:48, on a PP, and 50 seconds into the third period. . . . F Beck Malenstyn’s 16th goal gave Calgary a 4-2 lead at 2:46 of the third. . . . Benson also had one assist. . . . Gennaro and Stukel each had two assists, while Malenstyn added one. . . . Vancouver got 34 stops from G David Tendeck. . . . Calgary G Kyle Dumba made 36 saves. . . . Calgary was 1-4 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-4. . . . The Giants (15-20-3) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Hitmen (14-17-5) have points in three straight (1-0-2). . . . F Evan Patrician, a 15-year-old from Calgary, made his WHL debut with the Giants, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2016 bantam draft. He plays for the midget AAA Calgary Flames. . . . Announced attendance: 7,026.

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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Brandon, 7 p.m.

Tri-City at Kamloops, 7 p.m.

Regina at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.

Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.

Lethbridge at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

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Thunderbirds, Blades make deal . . . Exhibition season wraps up . . . Sad day in WHL scouting fraternity

The Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for Sept. 25, which is only one week from today.

Dorothy (aka Wonder Woman) will be taking part for a third straight year after having undergone a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013.

She went into this year’s fund-raiser with a goal of $2,000. As of Saturday night, she was No. 7 in B.C., having raised $1,961.

If you would like to help push her past $2,000, you may do so right here.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds, having acquired a goaltender on Friday, dealt G Logan Flodell, 19, to the

Saskatoon Blades on Saturday, getting back D Anthony Bishop, 18, in return. . . . The Thunderbirds picked up G Rylan Toth, 20, from the Red Deer Rebels on Friday. . . . Flodell, from Regina, was a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He got into 54 games over three seasons with Seattle, going 26-17-5, 2.84, .899. Last season, he was 22-13-4, 2.68, .904, but he finished up playing behind Landon Bow, a 20-year-old who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Blades are expected to open the season with Flodell and Brock Hamm, 19, as their goaltenders, although freshmen Dorin Luding and Joel Grzybowski, both 17, remain on their roster. . . . By acquiring Bishop, the Thunderbirds filled a hole created by the sudden retirement of Jared Pelechaty, 17, who was found to have a congenital spine issue that left him susceptible to injury. . . . Bishop, a list player from Kelowna, had two assists in 40 games with the Blades last season. This preseason, he has four assists, three of them on the PP, in five games.

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

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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

The WHL’s exhibition schedule concluded with eight games on Saturday. The regular season opens with nine games on Friday. . . . Here’s a brief look at what happened Saturday . . . 

At Crowsnest Pass, Alta., F Lucas Cullen scored his third goal of the preseason, at 4:35 of OT, to give the Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Murphy Stratton gave Calgary (4-2-0) a 1-0 lead at 4:48 of the second period. . . . F Michael King tied it for the Ice (0-3-2) at 16:50 of the third. . . . 

At St. Albert, Alta., veteran F Jesse Shynkaruk scored twice to help the Saskatoon Blades to a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Shynkaruk, who is hoping to land one of the Blades’ three 20-year-old spots, scored twice on the PP, giving the Blades 1-0 and 5-3 leads. . . . F Mason McCarty had two goals and an assist for the Blades (3-3-0), who got four assists from F Braylon Shmyr and two from F Logan Christensen. . . . The Oil Kings (2-3-0) got three assists from D Jordan Dawson. . . . 

At Everett, F Layne Bensmiller, who was acquired earlier in the week, scored the only goal of the shootout as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Silvertips, 4-3. . . . Bensmiller was acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders in a deal in which F Nic Holowko went the other way. Bensmiller met his new teammates prior to boarding the team bus, then went out and scored in regulation time, too. . . . F Cavin Leth had a goal and an assist for Seattle (5-2-0). . . . Everett (2-3-2) got a goal and an assist from F Riley Sutter and two assists from F Spencer Gerth. . . . Seattle G Ryan Gilchrist started and stopped 13 of 16 shots in 30:15. Carl Stankowski came on to turn aside all 23 shots he saw through OT and three more in the shootout. . . . 

At Moose Jaw, F Jayden Halbgewachs scored twice and added an assist to lead the Warriors to a 4-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Brayden Watts had two assists for the Warriors (4-3-0) and F Nikita Popugaev added a goal and an assist. . . . The Warriors got 18 saves from G Adam Evanoff, while Taz Burman stopped 26 for the Broncos (5-2-1). . . . 

At Red Deer, G Duncan McGovern put up his second shutout in as many nights as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Rebels, 3-0. . . . McGovern stopped 18 shots. One night earlier, in Ralston, Alta., he blocked 14 shots in beating the Rebels, 4-0. . . . Last night, the Tigers (4-2-0) got a goal and an assist from each of F Gary Haden and F Josh McNeil. . . . The Rebels (3-3-0) got 32 stops from G Riley Lamb. . . . 

At Regina, the Brandon Wheat Kings broke a scoreless tie with two goals in the last 20 seconds of the first period en route to a 6-4 victory over the Pats. . . . F Stelio Mattheos got Brandon (3-2-0) on the board at 19:41 of the opening period and F Tak Anholt added another goal at 19:59. . . . Regina F Nick Henry tied the score 4-4 with his second goal of the game, and fifth of the preseason, at 12:34 of the third period. . . . Brandon D James Shearer scored on the PP, at 16:01, to win it. . . . F Ty Lewis had a goal and two assists for Brandon, with Anholt adding an assist to his goal. . . . D Chase Harrison and F Dawson Leedahl each had two assists for Regina (3-4-1). . . . 

At Spokane, F Curtis Miske’s third preseason goal, a PP score at 1:11 of OT, gave the Chiefs a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Tri-City F Michael Rasmussen forced extra time with his fourth goal, at 11:44 of the third period. . . . The Chiefs (4-3-0) led 2-0 at 13:17 of the first period, on goals from F Dominic Zwerger, his first, and F Kailer Yamamoto, his third. . . . F Vladislav Lukin got the Americans’ first goal, his third, at 17:20 of the first period. . . . Spokane F Jaret Anderson-Dolan and D Ty Smith each had two assists, while Yamamoto also had one assist. . . . Rasmussen and Lukin each added an assist. . . . G Beck Warm turned aside 42 shots for the Americans (3-4-1). . . . Spokane G Jayden Sittler stopped 17 shots.

At Langley, B.C., G Griffen Outhouse stopped 23 shots to earn the shutout as the Victoria Royals blanked the Vancouver Giants, 2-0. . . . F Ty Westgard scored his first goal of the preseason at 19:47 and F Ethan Price, with his third, added insurance at 16:54 of the third. . . . The Royals finished 5-1-0. . . . The Giants (1-4-1) were playing their first game this season in their new home, the Langley Events Centre. . . . If you were wondering, Vancouver F Tyler Benson (shoulder) didn’t play for the Edmonton Oilers in a game against the Calgary Flames last night at the YoungStars Classic in Penticton, B.C.

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Sad day in the scouting fraternity. Always appreciated our chats and how good he was to me since moving here. Thank you and RIP Bob McGill.

— Mike Fraser (@MikeFraser29) September 18, 2016

Rest in Peace Gilly.  Always enjoyed our chats at the rink. Sad day.  #scoutingbrother

— Moults (@Moults_23) September 18, 2016

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