One of the blasts of being on Twitter is watching the various people who make their livings covering the National Hockey League race to be first whenever a player move is made.
You had better believe that it is ultra-competitive.
If you don’t believe it, check out this piece from The Globe and Mail that involves some Nick Kypreos vitriol that was fired in the direction of the gang from TSN.
And then get ready for today’s circus as the NHL trade deadline gets here. Finally.
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The Vancouver Giants beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 5-0 on Sunday. The Giants, who got four points from F Brendan Gallagher, had lost six in a row to the Americans. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 23 shots. He has five shutouts this season. . . . The victory was No. 519 as a WHL head coach for Vancouver’s Don Hay, moving him into third on the all-time list, one ahead of the late Pat Ginnell. . . . Ernie (Punch) McLean is next, at 548, with Ken Hodge on the top rung, with 742. . . . The Americans were playing their fifth game in seven days. They have lost five of six. . . . Vancouver was without F Brendan Rowinski (flu). . . .
F Robin Soudek scored twice in regulation time and again in the shootout as the host Chilliwack Bruins beat the Prince George Cougars, 4-3. . . . The loser point lifted the Cougars into a tie for seventh with the idle Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference. The Bruins are five points off the pace. . . . Prince George and Kamloops are one point behind the Everett Silvertips, who journeyed to Kent, Wash., and were beaten 5-1 by the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Marcel Noebels, a freshman from Germany, scored the game’s last four goals, giving him 25 on the season.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Showing posts with label Ernie McLean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ernie McLean. Show all posts
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Lorne Molleken is the fifth head coach in WHL history to reach 500 victories. He got there Wednesday night when his Saskatoon Blades got past the Oil Kings 4-3 in Edmonton.
The other four are Ken Hodge, Ernie McLean, Pat Ginnell and Don Hay. Only Hay, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants, is still active.
(Interestingly, Molleken’s first coaching job (1985-86) was with the SJHL’s Swift Current Indians. He replaced Ginnell, who had moved on to the WHL’s New Westminster Bruins. The assistant GM with the Indians was Lorne Frey, now the assistant GM, head scout and director of player personnel with the Kelowna Rockets.)
The fact that Molleken is on that list is testament to the manner in which he now lives his life.
To say that Molleken was a free spirit is something of an understatement.
My favourite Molleken story goes back to the mid-1970s when he was a hard-living goaltender with the Winnipeg Clubs, who were coached by the gravelly voiced Muzz MacPherson.
Legend has it that Molleken was doing the scarecrow routine in goal during a practice session one day in the Winnipeg Arena.
MacPherson was at centre ice running drills and looking on with more and more smoke coming out of his ears.
Finally, MacPherson yelled at Molleken: “Hey, Mooner, you going to try to stop some pucks today?”
Molleken replied: “Muzz, see that thing up above you?”
MacPherson, in telling the story, would say, “Like a fool I looked up.”
And he saw the score clock.
Seeing MacPherson look up, Molleken said: “When it starts, I start.”
Over the years, Molleken hasn’t lost his sense of humour. He did, however, manage to lose a few bad habits. He has grown into one of those coaches whose players will go to the wall for him.
You just know that Molleken, 54, will be spending a lot of time today on the phone and the computer, returning congratulatory messages.
It couldn’t happen to a better man.
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Dave Shoalts of The Globe and Mail reports: “Len Barrie’s misadventures in leading the Bear Mountain golf resort and real-estate development into bankruptcy left more than 100 angry investors and creditors in his wake, including 18 current and former National Hockey League players who lost a total of more than $13-million.” . . . That story is right here.
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Tony Gallagher, a sports columnist with the Vancouver Province, checks in with former Portland Winterhawks player and coach Brent Peterson. Now an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Peterson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago. That piece is right here. If you read one thing today, make this your choice.
---
JUST NOTES: With G James Reid (ankle) on the shelf, the Spokane Chiefs have brought in Adam Iwan, 17, to back up Mac Engel. Iwan was a 10th-round selection of the Saskatoon Blades in the 2008 bantam draft. He has been playing with the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives. . . . Did you know: The WHL weekly update of roster moves that is dated Jan. 25 includes 11 players listed as being out with concussions and seven others with head injuries. . . . One of those players with a concussion is F Steve Oursov of the Chilliwack Bruins. He is attempting something of a comeback after battling post-concussion syndrome. . . .
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, F Linden Vey, the WHL’s scoring leader, broke a 2-2 tie at 9:46 of the second period as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Raiders, 3-2. . . . Vey has 33 goals. With 82 points, he holds a two-point lead over Spokane Chiefs F Tyler Johnson. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 35 shots, one more than Prince Albert's Jamie Tucker. . . . The Tigers led this one 2-0 on first-period PP goals by F Kellan Tochkin, his 19th, and F Kale Kessy, his eighth. . . . The Raiders scored twice early in the second, with F Brandon Herrod getting his 20th at 3:37 and F Jonathan Parker his 29th just 29 seconds later. . . . Attendance was 2,066. . . . Medicine Hat F Tyler Pitlick didn’t play. . . .
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In Edmonton, F Marek Viedensky broke a 3-3 tie at 7:28 of the third period as the Saskatoon Blades skated to a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The victory was No. 500 as a WHL head coach for Saskatoon’s Lorne Molleken. He is the fifth coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. . . . The Blades held 2-0 and 3-2 leads, only to have Edmonton tie it 2-2 and 3-3. . . . Viedensky and F Brayden Schenn each had a goal and an assist for Saskatoon, with F Chris Collins getting two assists. . . . Edmonton F Jordan Hickmott was ejected with a boarding major, so could be looking at a WHL suspension. . . . Attendance was 4,711. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored three times in the third period and skated away with a 5-4 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . The victory lifted Brandon to within one point of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. . . . F Brenden Walker scored three goals for Brandon, giving him 19. He tied the score 2-2 at 18:03 of the second and gave Brandon a 3-2 lead at 2:33 of the third. . . . Brandon F Scott Glennie upped that to 4-2 with a shorthanded score at 8:45. . . . Ice F Elgin Pearce made it 4-3 on the PP at 9:29. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay provided some breathing room at 11:07. . . . Ice F Cody Eakin got his 21st at 13:53 to make things interesting. He also had two assists. . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 34 shots. . . . The Ice has lost three in a rwo for the first time this season. . . . Attendance was 2,220. . . .
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In Red Deer, the Rebels went 4-for-9 on the PP as they romped to a 10-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Red Deer, which has won nine in a row, led 9-0 early in the third period before F Cam Braes scored two PP goals for the visitors. . . . F Turner Elson scored three times and added an assist for Red Deer. He’s got 15 goals this season. He scored twice on the PP and once while shorthanded. . . . F Daulton Siwak added a goal and three assists for the Rebels, while F Byron Froese scored twice, giving him 24. F Brett Ferguson had a goal and two assists. . . . Attendance was 3,859. . . .
---
In Portland, four Winterhawks forwards had four-point games in a 9-2 thrashing of the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Brendan Leipsic had two goals and two assists, while Craig Cunningham, Riley Boychuk and Sven Bartschi each had a goal and three helpers. . . . F Ty Rattie also scored twice for Portland. . . . Roman Horak, Ryan Howse and Robin Soudek, who are Chilliwack linemates, were a combined minus-17. . . . Portland D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn didn’t have a point between them but each was plus-5. . . . Portland has won six in a row. . . . The Winterhawks’ nine goals was a season-high; they have twice scored eight times. . . . Portland’s 51 shots also was a season-high. . . . Attendance was 2,346. . . .
---
In Prince George, F Brett Connolly returned to the Cougars’ lineup and enjoyed a four-point outing in a 9-5 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . That was a single-game high for the Cougars’ offence this season. . . . A knee injury had kept Connolly sidelined since Jan. 12. . . . Connolly scored twice, giving him 27, and added two assists. . . . F Nick Buonassisi and F Charles Inglis each had a goal and three assists. . . . F Greg Fraser had two goals for the Cougars, with D Cody Carlson scoring once and adding two assists. . . . Prince George D Daniel Gibb got his first goal of the season. He has a goal and three assists in 46 games. Last season, he had a goal and three assists in 69 games. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford scored twice, giving him 32. He hadn’t scored in his previous 10 games. . . . Prince George was 4-for-7 on the PP; the Blazers were 3-for-5. . . . Kamloops has lost four in a row and eight of nine. . . . The Cougars are 5-1 against the Blazers, with a 32-20 edge in scoring. . . . Attendance was 1,789. . . .
---
In Spokane, G Mac Engel earned his first WHL victory as the Chiefs blanked the Everett Silvertips, 3-0. . . . Engel is playing in place of injured starter James Reid. . . . Engel went into the game with a 0-4-3 record in 13 appearances. . . . A 17-year-old from Red Deer, he stopped 18 shots in earning his first shutout. . . . It was Spokane’s fifth shutout of the season; the other four belong to Reid. . . . Everett has been blanked a WHL-leading seven times. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 45 shots. . . . Spokane F Matt Marantz opened the scoring with his 14th of the season at 4:56 of the second period. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson ran his point streak to 15 games with an assist on F Levko Koper’s empty-netter. . . . Attendance was 3,758.
---
WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Three minors:
Red Deer F Josh Cowen
Kamloops F Thomas Frazee
Spokane F Mike Aviani
The other four are Ken Hodge, Ernie McLean, Pat Ginnell and Don Hay. Only Hay, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants, is still active.
(Interestingly, Molleken’s first coaching job (1985-86) was with the SJHL’s Swift Current Indians. He replaced Ginnell, who had moved on to the WHL’s New Westminster Bruins. The assistant GM with the Indians was Lorne Frey, now the assistant GM, head scout and director of player personnel with the Kelowna Rockets.)
The fact that Molleken is on that list is testament to the manner in which he now lives his life.
To say that Molleken was a free spirit is something of an understatement.
My favourite Molleken story goes back to the mid-1970s when he was a hard-living goaltender with the Winnipeg Clubs, who were coached by the gravelly voiced Muzz MacPherson.
Legend has it that Molleken was doing the scarecrow routine in goal during a practice session one day in the Winnipeg Arena.
MacPherson was at centre ice running drills and looking on with more and more smoke coming out of his ears.
Finally, MacPherson yelled at Molleken: “Hey, Mooner, you going to try to stop some pucks today?”
Molleken replied: “Muzz, see that thing up above you?”
MacPherson, in telling the story, would say, “Like a fool I looked up.”
And he saw the score clock.
Seeing MacPherson look up, Molleken said: “When it starts, I start.”
Over the years, Molleken hasn’t lost his sense of humour. He did, however, manage to lose a few bad habits. He has grown into one of those coaches whose players will go to the wall for him.
You just know that Molleken, 54, will be spending a lot of time today on the phone and the computer, returning congratulatory messages.
It couldn’t happen to a better man.
---
Dave Shoalts of The Globe and Mail reports: “Len Barrie’s misadventures in leading the Bear Mountain golf resort and real-estate development into bankruptcy left more than 100 angry investors and creditors in his wake, including 18 current and former National Hockey League players who lost a total of more than $13-million.” . . . That story is right here.
---
Tony Gallagher, a sports columnist with the Vancouver Province, checks in with former Portland Winterhawks player and coach Brent Peterson. Now an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Peterson was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago. That piece is right here. If you read one thing today, make this your choice.
---
JUST NOTES: With G James Reid (ankle) on the shelf, the Spokane Chiefs have brought in Adam Iwan, 17, to back up Mac Engel. Iwan was a 10th-round selection of the Saskatoon Blades in the 2008 bantam draft. He has been playing with the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives. . . . Did you know: The WHL weekly update of roster moves that is dated Jan. 25 includes 11 players listed as being out with concussions and seven others with head injuries. . . . One of those players with a concussion is F Steve Oursov of the Chilliwack Bruins. He is attempting something of a comeback after battling post-concussion syndrome. . . .
---
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, F Linden Vey, the WHL’s scoring leader, broke a 2-2 tie at 9:46 of the second period as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Raiders, 3-2. . . . Vey has 33 goals. With 82 points, he holds a two-point lead over Spokane Chiefs F Tyler Johnson. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 35 shots, one more than Prince Albert's Jamie Tucker. . . . The Tigers led this one 2-0 on first-period PP goals by F Kellan Tochkin, his 19th, and F Kale Kessy, his eighth. . . . The Raiders scored twice early in the second, with F Brandon Herrod getting his 20th at 3:37 and F Jonathan Parker his 29th just 29 seconds later. . . . Attendance was 2,066. . . . Medicine Hat F Tyler Pitlick didn’t play. . . .
---
In Edmonton, F Marek Viedensky broke a 3-3 tie at 7:28 of the third period as the Saskatoon Blades skated to a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The victory was No. 500 as a WHL head coach for Saskatoon’s Lorne Molleken. He is the fifth coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. . . . The Blades held 2-0 and 3-2 leads, only to have Edmonton tie it 2-2 and 3-3. . . . Viedensky and F Brayden Schenn each had a goal and an assist for Saskatoon, with F Chris Collins getting two assists. . . . Edmonton F Jordan Hickmott was ejected with a boarding major, so could be looking at a WHL suspension. . . . Attendance was 4,711. . . .
---
In Cranbrook, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored three times in the third period and skated away with a 5-4 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . The victory lifted Brandon to within one point of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. . . . F Brenden Walker scored three goals for Brandon, giving him 19. He tied the score 2-2 at 18:03 of the second and gave Brandon a 3-2 lead at 2:33 of the third. . . . Brandon F Scott Glennie upped that to 4-2 with a shorthanded score at 8:45. . . . Ice F Elgin Pearce made it 4-3 on the PP at 9:29. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay provided some breathing room at 11:07. . . . Ice F Cody Eakin got his 21st at 13:53 to make things interesting. He also had two assists. . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 34 shots. . . . The Ice has lost three in a rwo for the first time this season. . . . Attendance was 2,220. . . .
---
In Red Deer, the Rebels went 4-for-9 on the PP as they romped to a 10-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Red Deer, which has won nine in a row, led 9-0 early in the third period before F Cam Braes scored two PP goals for the visitors. . . . F Turner Elson scored three times and added an assist for Red Deer. He’s got 15 goals this season. He scored twice on the PP and once while shorthanded. . . . F Daulton Siwak added a goal and three assists for the Rebels, while F Byron Froese scored twice, giving him 24. F Brett Ferguson had a goal and two assists. . . . Attendance was 3,859. . . .
---
In Portland, four Winterhawks forwards had four-point games in a 9-2 thrashing of the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Brendan Leipsic had two goals and two assists, while Craig Cunningham, Riley Boychuk and Sven Bartschi each had a goal and three helpers. . . . F Ty Rattie also scored twice for Portland. . . . Roman Horak, Ryan Howse and Robin Soudek, who are Chilliwack linemates, were a combined minus-17. . . . Portland D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn didn’t have a point between them but each was plus-5. . . . Portland has won six in a row. . . . The Winterhawks’ nine goals was a season-high; they have twice scored eight times. . . . Portland’s 51 shots also was a season-high. . . . Attendance was 2,346. . . .
---
In Prince George, F Brett Connolly returned to the Cougars’ lineup and enjoyed a four-point outing in a 9-5 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . That was a single-game high for the Cougars’ offence this season. . . . A knee injury had kept Connolly sidelined since Jan. 12. . . . Connolly scored twice, giving him 27, and added two assists. . . . F Nick Buonassisi and F Charles Inglis each had a goal and three assists. . . . F Greg Fraser had two goals for the Cougars, with D Cody Carlson scoring once and adding two assists. . . . Prince George D Daniel Gibb got his first goal of the season. He has a goal and three assists in 46 games. Last season, he had a goal and three assists in 69 games. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford scored twice, giving him 32. He hadn’t scored in his previous 10 games. . . . Prince George was 4-for-7 on the PP; the Blazers were 3-for-5. . . . Kamloops has lost four in a row and eight of nine. . . . The Cougars are 5-1 against the Blazers, with a 32-20 edge in scoring. . . . Attendance was 1,789. . . .
---
In Spokane, G Mac Engel earned his first WHL victory as the Chiefs blanked the Everett Silvertips, 3-0. . . . Engel is playing in place of injured starter James Reid. . . . Engel went into the game with a 0-4-3 record in 13 appearances. . . . A 17-year-old from Red Deer, he stopped 18 shots in earning his first shutout. . . . It was Spokane’s fifth shutout of the season; the other four belong to Reid. . . . Everett has been blanked a WHL-leading seven times. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 45 shots. . . . Spokane F Matt Marantz opened the scoring with his 14th of the season at 4:56 of the second period. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson ran his point streak to 15 games with an assist on F Levko Koper’s empty-netter. . . . Attendance was 3,758.
---
WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Three minors:
Red Deer F Josh Cowen
Kamloops F Thomas Frazee
Spokane F Mike Aviani
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
No ordinary number for Hay
 |
| DON HAY |
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The hockey gods have been known to work in mysterious ways.Daily News Sports Editor
How else to explain that the Vancouver Giants, who have had one five-game losing streak in more than six seasons under head coach Don Hay, should lose four straight times before beating the visiting Chilliwack Bruins 2-1 on Saturday night?
That meant Hay was able to be credited with his 500th WHL coaching victory on a night when his good friend Ken Hitchcock was at Pacific Coliseum.
“It’s not just a number,” Hay said Monday afternoon. “It means I’ve been really lucky to work with good people, good organizations in Kamloops and Tri-City and here.”
Hay, who also has coached the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans, is the fourth coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. He is in his 12th season as a WHL head coach; this is his seventh with the Giants.
On the all-time list, he trails Ken Hodge (742), Ernie (Punch) McLean (548) and the late Pat Ginnell (518).
“When you have success it’s got a lot to do with the people around you,” Hay said. “You look at the players I’ve had the opportunity to coach and you feel pretty lucky.”
Hitchcock was the Blazers’ head coach in Kamloops when Hay, then a local firefighter, joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach. Hay, of course, eventually took over as head coach and guided the Blazers to Memorial Cup titles in 1994 and 1995.
Hitchcock was fired last season as head coach of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, despite having a contract that pays US$1.3 million annually and runs through next season. Hitchcock was in Vancouver for the first Hyundai Hockey national coaching symposium and minor hockey clinic.
“Yeah,” Hay said. “Hitch was at the game . . . that was good.”
Of course, Hay was well aware that he was close to them milestone but he said he really began to realize Sunday just what it was that he had accomplished.
“It really sank in on Sunday when I got a lot of texts and emails and congratulatory messags from ex-players and coaches around the league and form other coaches,” he said. “It starts to sink in and you say, ‘Wow, it is quite a milestone.’ ”
However, Hay added, he is glad that it’s over because “your focus as always as a coach is to win the next game.”
That next game happens to be tonight and, with Hay to be honoured in a pregame ceremony, it is somehow only fitting that it will be against the visiting Blazers.
“That organization means a lot to me, obviously,” Hay said. “It’s where I started and have a home.
“It’s always special when we play against the Blazers but the games right now are so important. You can have a bad week and go from first to right out of the hunt.”
The Giants (14-11-4), who have won five B.C. Division pennants in a row, are tied for second in the division, a point back of the Prince George Cougars. Vancouver is tied for fifth in the10-team Western Conference, where nine teams are within six points of each other.
The Blazers (14-13-2) are eighth, two points behind the Giants.
“We’ve been telling our guys that it’s like Ferburary, when normally you’re scratching and fighting,” Hay said. “Usually in Febrary, there’s one or two teams out of it, but there’s nobody out of the hunt right now.”
Hay, 56, has been in the business long enough to know that injuries are part of the game. But, he admitted, injuries have taken a toll on the Giants.
“I don’t think we can gauge our team right now,” Hay said. “I don’t know if we’re ever going to get everybody back at the same time. We’ll have some decisions to make when we get everybody healthy. Hopefully, by the trade deadline we’ll be healthier.”
The Giants have five players with long-term injuries, including Slovakian winger Marek Tvrdon, who had 11 points, including six goals, in 12 games when he went down with a season-ending shoulder injury.
They also are missing forwards Randy McNaught (ankle) and Connor Redmond (shoulder), while defencemen Luke Fenske and Zach Hodder are out with shoulder injuries. On top of that, forward Greg Lamoureux left Saturday’s game with an upper body injury and was to see a doctor yesterday.
“To lose a guy like Tvrdon, a young guy who scored six goals in 12 games . . . we’re not blessed with a lot of scoring right now anyway,” Hay said. “To lose him was a big blow.”
Things have gotten so desperate on offence that late last week Hay split up forwards Craig Cunningham and Brendan Gallagher, who not that long ago were running one-two in the WHL points derby. Cunningham has 43 points, but only seven since Nov. 1.
Hay said it’s a matter of the puck “just not going in” for Cunningham. “Teams are playing him hard,” the coach said. “He’s still working as hard as ever but (goals) are becoming tougher and tougher to come by.”
JUST NOTES: The game features the WHL’s top two goal scorers in LW Brendan Ranford of the Blazers, who has 25, and Gallagher, with 24. . . . The Giants get D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen back from a seven-game suspension tonight. He hasn’t played since Nov. 11. . . . The Giants will be without F Brett Lyon, who has drawn a one-game suspension for fighting off the opening faceoff on Saturday. . . . The Blazers have followed a six-game road winning streak by losing four in a row away from home. And five of the six games left on their pre-Christmas schedule are on the road.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.comTaking Note on Twitter
Sunday, December 5, 2010
That's a lot of victories!
According to the WHL, there was some history made in the WHL on Saturday night when the Vancouver Giants got past the visiting 
Chilliwack Bruins, 2-1. The league announced that the victory was No. 500 in the WHL coaching career of Vancouver head coach Don Hay.
Hay, who also has coached the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans, is the fourth coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. He is in his 12th season as a WHL head coach; this is his seventh with the Giants.
On the all-time list, he trails Ken Hodge (742), Ernie (Punch) McLean (548) and the late Pat Grinnell (518).
Interestingly, if you add up the franchise victories for Kamloops, Tri-City and Vancouver while Hay has been head coach, you get 498. (The Blazers won 144 with Hay as head coach, Tri-City won 67 and the Giants have won 287, including 14 this season.)
My records indicate that Hay did a 10-game stint as head coach in Kamloops during 1991-92, with the Blazers going 6-4-0 while head coach Tom Renney was with the Canadian team at the World Junior Championship.
That would make last night’s victory No. 504 for Hay.
No matter . . . 500 or 504, that’s a lot of victories.
And it is absolutely amazing how consistent Hay’s teams have been. Only twice in 12 seasons has he failed to win 40 games in a WHL season.
———
Highlights from Saturday’s WHL games, the results of which left nine of the Western Conference’s 10 teams within six points of each other . . .
In Moose Jaw, G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 25 shots as the Warriors blanked the Everett Silvertips, 4-0. . . . The Warriors acquired Heemskerk from
Moose Jaw for D Chad Suer on Sept. 17. . . . It was Heemskerk’s first shutout this season and the eighth of his career, six of which came with Everett. . . . The Silvertips have been blanked four times this season. . . . F Quinton Howden scored twice for Moose Jaw, giving him 17 goals. He also had an assist. . . . Moose Jaw F Dylan Hood had an assist to run his point streak to 11 games. . . . The Warriors have won four in a row. . . . Attendance was 2,711. . . . The Silvertips were blanked one night after they put up a 6-0 shutout in beating the Broncos in Swift Current. . . . G Luke Siemens, who recorded that shutout, stopped 35 shots in this one.
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In Regina, F Jordan Weal scored twice to help the Pats to a 4-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos were playing the first of
11 straight road games. They don’t play at home again until Jan. 2. . . . The Pats had been beaten 9-6 by the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors one night earlier. . . . Weal has 12 goals. . . . F Thomas Frazee had a goal and an assist for Regina. . . . F Lane Scheidl had two assists for the Pats, who got 30 saves out of G Damien Ketlo. . . . F Dillon Wagner, in his fifth game since returning from offseason surgery, scored his first goal for Swift Current. . . . Attendance was 3,521.
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In Lethbridge, the Prince Albert Raiders scored three first-period goals and went on to a 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . D Nathan Deck, with
his first of the season, on the PP, and F Mark MacNeill, with two, scored first-period goals. . . . MacNeill finished with three goals. His first WHL hat trick leaves him with 13 goals this season. . . . D Ryan Button, F Igor Revenko and F Brandon Herrod each had two assists for the Raiders. . . . Attendance was 3,474. . . .
———
In Cranbrook, F Wacey Hamilton scored at 1:37 of OT to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . D Brayden McNabb
had tied the game for Kootenay with his fourth goal at 12:09 of the third. That goal came 1:49 after F Linden Vey had given the Tigers a 2-1 lead with his 19th of the season. . . . McNabb had both Ice goals and now has four. . . . Vey, the WHL’s leading point man, has 19 goals. . . . Attendance was 2,417. . . .
———
In Kelowna, F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan had a goal, an assist and an early bout to lead the Rockets to a 6-3 victory over the Saskatoon
Blades. . . . Callahan, who has 14 goals, got both his points on the PP. He got into a fight with F Darian Dziurzynski just 1:18 into the game. . . . Dziurzynski’s 15th goal, at 12:37 of the second period, gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. . . . The Rockets responded with the next five goals. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie had two assists. . . . Kelowna, which has won 12 of 14, got a goal from F Colton Sissons, his fifth, to open the scoring. The Blades once owned Sissons’ rights, but traded him to Kelowna as part of a deal in which D Curt Gogol moved to Saskatoon. The Blades, of course, have since dealt Gogol to the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Blades, who had won four in a row, got a goal and an assist from each of D Stefan Elliott and F Chris Collins. . . . Elliott has a goal and four assists and is plus-4 in three games since not being invited to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. . . . Saskatoon is 3-1-0 on its swing through the B.C. Division, which wraps up Tuesday in Prince George against the Cougars. . . . Attendance was 6,141. . . .
———
In Spokane, F Steve Kuhn’s two goals helped the Chiefs to a 4-3 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . It was Teddy Bear Night and fans
tossed 4,668 stuffed toys onto the ice surface. However, they were guilty of premature celebration as they exploded at 5:38 of the first period when the puck ended up in the Portland net after the whistle had gone on a delayed penalty against the Winterhawks. . . . Kuhn then scored on the resulting PP. . . . He has six goals this season. . . . Portland had won 10 straight games in Spokane. . . . The teams meet again Wednedsay in Spokane. . . . F Ryan Johansen had two assists for Portland, while F Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist. . . . D Brenden Kichton had two helpers for the Chiefs. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 45 shots, 19 more than Spokane G James Reid. . . . Attendance was 7,638. . . .
———
In Red Deer, the Rebels dropped Brandon 5-2, handing the Wheat Kings their ninth straight loss. . . . It is the second time this season that Brandon
has lost nine in a row. . . . The Wheat Kings next play Wednesday against the visiting Everett Silvertips. . . . The Rebels moved into a first-place tie with the Saskatoon Blades atop the Eastern Conference. They are two points ahead of the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Brayden Schenn was in Brandon’s lineup after being assigned by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings late last week. . . . Schenn scored and set up a goal by F Scott Glennie. . . . F Andrej Kudrna scored twice for Red Deer, both on the PP. . . . Red Deer D Matt Dumba, 16, scored his ninth goal of the season in his 30th game. . . . Brandon G Liam Liston left early for a second straight night. He made it through two periods in an 8-4 loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Friday. This time, he gave up four goals on eight shots and left early in the second period. . . . G Corbin Boes relieved him and stopped 16 of 17 shots. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves. . . . Attendance was 4,667. . . .
———
In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford scored his WHL-leading 25th goal of the season just 16 seconds into OT as the Blazers beat the Calgary
Hitmen, 3-2. . . . Kamloops held a 33-19 edge in shots, including 19-5 in the third period. . . . Calgary D Jaynen Rissling had a goal and an assist. . . . Ranford and F Jordan DePape did the same for Kamloops. . . . Ranford has one more goal than F Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants. Ranford also is second in the points derby, two behind Medicine Hat Tigers F Linden Vey. . . . Kamloops F Chase Schaber was plus-2 but had his 12-game point streak snapped. . . . Ranford is on his second 11-game point streak of the season. He has 25 points in those 11 games. . . . Attendance was 3,890. . . . Each team scored a goal from the neutral zone. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer got his third goal when his shot from the neutral zone glanced off Rissling’s stick blade and beat G Brandon Glover through the legs. . . . Rissling got that one back when his shot from just over the centre red line got through G Jeff Bosch to tie the game 2-2. . . . Rissling’s second goal of the season came just 28 seconds after DePape gave Kamloops a 2-1 lead. . . . Attendance was 3,890. . . . Injured F Tyler Fiddler (ankle) of the Hitmen joined head coach Mike Williamson and assistant coach Brent Kisio behind the Calgary bench. . . . The Hitmen have released F Riley Reinboldt, who had four points in 21 games. Reinbolt, 19, had been acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 18 for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. A sixth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2006 bantam draft, the Calgary native spent two seasons with the Warriors. . . .
———
In Prince George, the Seattle Thunderbirds got two shootout goals and beat the Prince George Cougars, 5-4. . . . F Connor Sanvido and F Colin Jacobs
both scored for Seattle as the shootout went five rounds. F Nick Buonassisi was the only one of the Cougars to beat Seattle G Calvin Pickard, who stopped 39 shots through OT. . . . Prince George G Ty Rimmer turned aside 28 shots. . . . The Cougars led this one 3-0 at 13:07 of the first period, only to give up two goals late in the period. F Charles Wells scored on the PP at 18:22 and D Brenden Dillon added one at 19:19. . . . Seattle trailed 4-2 when F Marcel Noebels got his 10th at 19:07 of the second. . . . F Charles Wells got his second of the game at 13:25 of the third to force OT. He’s got seven goals. . . . Seattle F Luke Lockhart drew three assists. . . . Seattle has played 28 games and 13 of them have gone to overtime. . . . Attendance was 1,941.
———
In Vancouver, F Brendan Gallagher broke a 1-1 tie at 10:27 of the second period and the Giants went on to beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 2-1. . . .
Gallagher has 24 goals, one between WHL leader Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Robin Soudek scored on the PP for Chilliwack at 2:01 of the first period. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning tied it on the PP at 2:55 of the second. . . . Gallagher also had an assist, as did Manning. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 31 shots, seven more than Chilliwack’s Lucas Gore. . . . Chilliwack’s Curt Gogol and Brett Lyon of the Giants duked it out eight seconds into the game. That was the game’s only scrap. . . . The Giants had lost four straight games. . . . Attendance was 6,156.
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Spokane D Corbin Baldwin
Vancouver D Neil Manning
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca gdrinnan.blogspot.com Taking Note on Twitter
Chilliwack Bruins, 2-1. The league announced that the victory was No. 500 in the WHL coaching career of Vancouver head coach Don Hay.Hay, who also has coached the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans, is the fourth coach in WHL history to reach that milestone. He is in his 12th season as a WHL head coach; this is his seventh with the Giants.
On the all-time list, he trails Ken Hodge (742), Ernie (Punch) McLean (548) and the late Pat Grinnell (518).
Interestingly, if you add up the franchise victories for Kamloops, Tri-City and Vancouver while Hay has been head coach, you get 498. (The Blazers won 144 with Hay as head coach, Tri-City won 67 and the Giants have won 287, including 14 this season.)
My records indicate that Hay did a 10-game stint as head coach in Kamloops during 1991-92, with the Blazers going 6-4-0 while head coach Tom Renney was with the Canadian team at the World Junior Championship.
That would make last night’s victory No. 504 for Hay.
No matter . . . 500 or 504, that’s a lot of victories.
And it is absolutely amazing how consistent Hay’s teams have been. Only twice in 12 seasons has he failed to win 40 games in a WHL season.
———
Highlights from Saturday’s WHL games, the results of which left nine of the Western Conference’s 10 teams within six points of each other . . .
In Moose Jaw, G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 25 shots as the Warriors blanked the Everett Silvertips, 4-0. . . . The Warriors acquired Heemskerk from
Moose Jaw for D Chad Suer on Sept. 17. . . . It was Heemskerk’s first shutout this season and the eighth of his career, six of which came with Everett. . . . The Silvertips have been blanked four times this season. . . . F Quinton Howden scored twice for Moose Jaw, giving him 17 goals. He also had an assist. . . . Moose Jaw F Dylan Hood had an assist to run his point streak to 11 games. . . . The Warriors have won four in a row. . . . Attendance was 2,711. . . . The Silvertips were blanked one night after they put up a 6-0 shutout in beating the Broncos in Swift Current. . . . G Luke Siemens, who recorded that shutout, stopped 35 shots in this one. ———
In Regina, F Jordan Weal scored twice to help the Pats to a 4-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos were playing the first of
11 straight road games. They don’t play at home again until Jan. 2. . . . The Pats had been beaten 9-6 by the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors one night earlier. . . . Weal has 12 goals. . . . F Thomas Frazee had a goal and an assist for Regina. . . . F Lane Scheidl had two assists for the Pats, who got 30 saves out of G Damien Ketlo. . . . F Dillon Wagner, in his fifth game since returning from offseason surgery, scored his first goal for Swift Current. . . . Attendance was 3,521. ———
In Lethbridge, the Prince Albert Raiders scored three first-period goals and went on to a 5-1 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . D Nathan Deck, with
his first of the season, on the PP, and F Mark MacNeill, with two, scored first-period goals. . . . MacNeill finished with three goals. His first WHL hat trick leaves him with 13 goals this season. . . . D Ryan Button, F Igor Revenko and F Brandon Herrod each had two assists for the Raiders. . . . Attendance was 3,474. . . . ———
In Cranbrook, F Wacey Hamilton scored at 1:37 of OT to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . D Brayden McNabb
had tied the game for Kootenay with his fourth goal at 12:09 of the third. That goal came 1:49 after F Linden Vey had given the Tigers a 2-1 lead with his 19th of the season. . . . McNabb had both Ice goals and now has four. . . . Vey, the WHL’s leading point man, has 19 goals. . . . Attendance was 2,417. . . .———
In Kelowna, F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan had a goal, an assist and an early bout to lead the Rockets to a 6-3 victory over the Saskatoon
Blades. . . . Callahan, who has 14 goals, got both his points on the PP. He got into a fight with F Darian Dziurzynski just 1:18 into the game. . . . Dziurzynski’s 15th goal, at 12:37 of the second period, gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. . . . The Rockets responded with the next five goals. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie had two assists. . . . Kelowna, which has won 12 of 14, got a goal from F Colton Sissons, his fifth, to open the scoring. The Blades once owned Sissons’ rights, but traded him to Kelowna as part of a deal in which D Curt Gogol moved to Saskatoon. The Blades, of course, have since dealt Gogol to the Chilliwack Bruins. . . . The Blades, who had won four in a row, got a goal and an assist from each of D Stefan Elliott and F Chris Collins. . . . Elliott has a goal and four assists and is plus-4 in three games since not being invited to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. . . . Saskatoon is 3-1-0 on its swing through the B.C. Division, which wraps up Tuesday in Prince George against the Cougars. . . . Attendance was 6,141. . . .———
In Spokane, F Steve Kuhn’s two goals helped the Chiefs to a 4-3 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . It was Teddy Bear Night and fans
tossed 4,668 stuffed toys onto the ice surface. However, they were guilty of premature celebration as they exploded at 5:38 of the first period when the puck ended up in the Portland net after the whistle had gone on a delayed penalty against the Winterhawks. . . . Kuhn then scored on the resulting PP. . . . He has six goals this season. . . . Portland had won 10 straight games in Spokane. . . . The teams meet again Wednedsay in Spokane. . . . F Ryan Johansen had two assists for Portland, while F Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist. . . . D Brenden Kichton had two helpers for the Chiefs. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 45 shots, 19 more than Spokane G James Reid. . . . Attendance was 7,638. . . .———
In Red Deer, the Rebels dropped Brandon 5-2, handing the Wheat Kings their ninth straight loss. . . . It is the second time this season that Brandon
has lost nine in a row. . . . The Wheat Kings next play Wednesday against the visiting Everett Silvertips. . . . The Rebels moved into a first-place tie with the Saskatoon Blades atop the Eastern Conference. They are two points ahead of the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Brayden Schenn was in Brandon’s lineup after being assigned by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings late last week. . . . Schenn scored and set up a goal by F Scott Glennie. . . . F Andrej Kudrna scored twice for Red Deer, both on the PP. . . . Red Deer D Matt Dumba, 16, scored his ninth goal of the season in his 30th game. . . . Brandon G Liam Liston left early for a second straight night. He made it through two periods in an 8-4 loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Friday. This time, he gave up four goals on eight shots and left early in the second period. . . . G Corbin Boes relieved him and stopped 16 of 17 shots. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves. . . . Attendance was 4,667. . . . ———
In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford scored his WHL-leading 25th goal of the season just 16 seconds into OT as the Blazers beat the Calgary
Hitmen, 3-2. . . . Kamloops held a 33-19 edge in shots, including 19-5 in the third period. . . . Calgary D Jaynen Rissling had a goal and an assist. . . . Ranford and F Jordan DePape did the same for Kamloops. . . . Ranford has one more goal than F Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants. Ranford also is second in the points derby, two behind Medicine Hat Tigers F Linden Vey. . . . Kamloops F Chase Schaber was plus-2 but had his 12-game point streak snapped. . . . Ranford is on his second 11-game point streak of the season. He has 25 points in those 11 games. . . . Attendance was 3,890. . . . Each team scored a goal from the neutral zone. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer got his third goal when his shot from the neutral zone glanced off Rissling’s stick blade and beat G Brandon Glover through the legs. . . . Rissling got that one back when his shot from just over the centre red line got through G Jeff Bosch to tie the game 2-2. . . . Rissling’s second goal of the season came just 28 seconds after DePape gave Kamloops a 2-1 lead. . . . Attendance was 3,890. . . . Injured F Tyler Fiddler (ankle) of the Hitmen joined head coach Mike Williamson and assistant coach Brent Kisio behind the Calgary bench. . . . The Hitmen have released F Riley Reinboldt, who had four points in 21 games. Reinbolt, 19, had been acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 18 for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. A sixth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2006 bantam draft, the Calgary native spent two seasons with the Warriors. . . .———
In Prince George, the Seattle Thunderbirds got two shootout goals and beat the Prince George Cougars, 5-4. . . . F Connor Sanvido and F Colin Jacobs
both scored for Seattle as the shootout went five rounds. F Nick Buonassisi was the only one of the Cougars to beat Seattle G Calvin Pickard, who stopped 39 shots through OT. . . . Prince George G Ty Rimmer turned aside 28 shots. . . . The Cougars led this one 3-0 at 13:07 of the first period, only to give up two goals late in the period. F Charles Wells scored on the PP at 18:22 and D Brenden Dillon added one at 19:19. . . . Seattle trailed 4-2 when F Marcel Noebels got his 10th at 19:07 of the second. . . . F Charles Wells got his second of the game at 13:25 of the third to force OT. He’s got seven goals. . . . Seattle F Luke Lockhart drew three assists. . . . Seattle has played 28 games and 13 of them have gone to overtime. . . . Attendance was 1,941.———
In Vancouver, F Brendan Gallagher broke a 1-1 tie at 10:27 of the second period and the Giants went on to beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 2-1. . . .
Gallagher has 24 goals, one between WHL leader Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Robin Soudek scored on the PP for Chilliwack at 2:01 of the first period. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning tied it on the PP at 2:55 of the second. . . . Gallagher also had an assist, as did Manning. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 31 shots, seven more than Chilliwack’s Lucas Gore. . . . Chilliwack’s Curt Gogol and Brett Lyon of the Giants duked it out eight seconds into the game. That was the game’s only scrap. . . . The Giants had lost four straight games. . . . Attendance was 6,156.———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Spokane D Corbin Baldwin
Vancouver D Neil Manning
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca gdrinnan.blogspot.com Taking Note on Twitter
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