“Brain injury,” writes Matt Calkins of the U-T San Diego. “Say it with me now. Brain injury. Not head injury. Not concussion. Not getting dinged, seeing stars. or having your bell rung.”
Calkins’ complete column is right here.
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In case you missed it, Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, had this on his blog on Friday:
“The Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops is getting a new score clock in time for next season. The new clock includes new high definition video boards which were desperately needed. The score clock at ISC is nine years old.”
Apparently, things aren’t quite official, what with it going to Kamloops city council for final approval this week.
But it is exciting to have Kelowna radio people concerned about what’s happening in Kamloops.
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Prior to Sunday’s WHL Eastern Conference final game in Calgary, Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal wrote a nifty blog entry that centres on Oil Kings general manager Bob Green and what he does during games. That piece is right here.
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The Red Deer Chiefs successfully defended their Canadian midget AAA championship (Telus Cup) with a 5-0 victory over the Ottawa Jr. 67’s in Sault  Ste. Marie, Ont., on Sunday. . . . The Chiefs are the fourth team to win back-to-back titles, the others being the Couillard/Gouverneurs de Ste-Foy (1978, 1979), Prince Albert Mintos (2006, 2007) and Notre Dame Hounds (2009 and 2010). . . . Red Deer G Matt Zentner stopped 27 shots for the shutout. . . . Zentner was a 10th-round selection by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Chase Thudium, Trey Degraaf, Ryker Lee, Chris Gerrie and Ian McLellan had the goals. . . . The 2014 tournament will be held in Moose Jaw, with the Moose Jaw Generals as the host team.
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 The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Calgary (3)
(Series tied, 3-3; Game 7 in Calgary on Tuesday night; on Shaw TV, with Dan Russell calling the play.)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Portland wins series, 4-1)
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CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Portland vs. Edmonton/Calgary winner
(Series opens Friday and Saturday in Portland)
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SUNDAY’S GAME:
In Edmonton, F Brooks Macek scored Calgary’s last two goals as the Hitmen came from behind to beat the Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . Macek tied the game at 7:56 of the third period, via the PP, and won it 6:59 of OT. . . . “It was a nice pass from Greg (Chase),” Macek told Crash Cameron of the Edmonton Sun. “He saw me, dropped it to me and I just saw top shelf, far side and I took it. Nobody wanted it to be our last game. Nobody thought anything about a Game 7, we just wanted to focus period by period.” . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger was tremendous in making 36 saves. . . . When the game ended, folks were talking about a second-period save he made on Edmonton F T.J. Foster to keep the score at 2-0. "That was a desperation move," Driedger told Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun. "I threw out an arm and, luckily got it. You don't make those too often. Most of the time, they're going to find the back of the net. It was nice to get one in a game like this." . . . Edmonton took at 3-1 lead into the third period. . . . F Brady Brassart scored on a PP just seven seconds into the period to get Calgary to within one. . . . Brassart has nine goals this spring; Macek has eight. . . . Edmonton D Ashton Sautner opened the scoring at 13:27 of the first. It was his third goal of the series; he had two goals in 62 regular-season games. He has four goals in 121 career regular-season games. In 26 playoff games, he has scored three times. . . . Brad Curle, the radio voice of the Hitmen, pointed out that Macek scored at 6:59 of overtime and at 6:59 Mountain Time. . . . The Hitmen are 3-0 in playoff OT games against the Oil Kings. . . . Calgary is 5-2 in OT games in these playoffs, including 2-0 against Edmonton. The Oil Kings are 0-3. . . . Game 7 will be played Tuesday in Edmonton. The WHL final opens Friday in Portland.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (21):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (6):
None
———

From sportscaster Renaud Lavoie (@RenLavoieRDS): “Dean Chynoweth is a strong candidate to be the next Avalanche coach. He's working for the farm team (ahl) of the Avalanche as the head coach”


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With the Vancouver Giants in Kamloops on Wednesday night to play the Blazers, it provided an opportunity to sit down and chat with Bill Wilms.
If you have listened to the Giants on radio or watched WHL games on TV, chances are that you are familiar with Wilms’ dulcet tones.
If you are a fan of the Giants, you will be aware that they have gone through radio play-by-play voices this season as though they are a dime a dozen.
“Let’s see,” Wilms says, and then he rhymes of the names of the five men he has worked with on Giants radio broadcasts this season.
It began with Alex Grebenyuk, who disappeared from the Giants’ front office – he was the director of broadcasting and media relations, and was to have done road games on the radio – early in the season. Since then, Wilms has worked alongside Blake Price, Morley Scott, Eddie Gregory – “For one game in Kelowna,” Wilms says – and Jeff Paterson.
Wilms also has done TV games this season, sharing air time with Dan Russell and Peter Loubardias.
During his career in WHL broadcast booths, Wilms says he has worked with 28 play-by-play men.
If you harbour aspirations of working with Wilms, perhaps calling Kamloops Blazers’ games would be a good start. That’s because Wilms says he’s worked games with Kelly Moore, Paterson, Kirk Fraser and Jon Keen, all of whom have done Blazers games.
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Paul Buker of The Oregonian takes a look back at the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 4-3 victory over the host Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday night. Buker wonders if the Winterhawks have the size to deal with the Oil Kings or the Saskatoon Blades if they were to meet up in the WHL’s championship final.
That piece is right here.
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Meanwhile, Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal spoke with Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal on Thursday and has a look back at the same game right here. . . . Daum also adds a note on Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson having drawn a two-game suspension for the spearing major he took on Wednesday night. That means he won’t play tonight as the Oil Kings close out their U.S. Division swing in Everett.
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F Justin Feser of the Tri-City Americans is about to break a WHL record that has stood since March 17, 1992. Feser is scheduled to play in his 312th consecutive game tonight when the Americans play host to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald looks at Feser and his record right here. She has even spoken with former WHL D Dwayne Newman, whose record is about to fall.

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When last we saw him, Chris Rumble, the son of Seattle Thunderbirds assistant coach Darren Rumble, was battling leukemia and making an awesome video in Seattle Children’s Hospital. Click right here and you’ll find an update on Chris, who is back skating and doing a whole lot more. In fact, he’s playing NCAA Division 1 hockey. You really should check out this report from CNN.
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The Saskatoon Blades will be chasing their 18th straight victory tonight when they play host to the Brandon Wheat Kings. They also will be looking to land the 600th coaching victory of head coach Lorne Molleken’s WHL career. . . . Only Ken Hodge, who spent 22 years with the Edmonton Oil Kings/Portland Winterhawks, has won more games as a WHL coach. Hodge left with 742 victories and he remains the only coach in WHL history to have won at least 600 games. . . . “I don’t pay much attention to that,” Molleken told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “It just tells you how old I am.” . . . You can bet that, despite what he says, this means something to Molleken, 56. Chances are that this will be his final season behind the bench, that sometime after the Memorial Cup ends he will turn the coaching reins over to associate coach David Struch and settle into the general manager’s office. . . . And you can bet that at some point late in tonight’s game, should the Blades appear headed to victory, Molleken’s countenance will sport at least a semblance of a smile. That’s because he will be thinking of the late Muzz MacPherson, who had as much to do with Molleken’s career in hockey as anyone. MacPherson also was responsible for putting a lot of smiles on Molleken’s face.
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Adam Proteau of The Hockey News notes that there some quality NHL players who have suffered concussions this seasons, and he wonders right here whether the league is doing enough to get brain injuries out of the game.
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At least two WHL officials have been selected to officiate at the CIS University Cup national championship in Saskatoon later this month. BC Hockey announced Thursday that Jeff Ingram of Langley, B.C., and Sean Raphael of Victoria, both of whom regularly work as referees in WHL games, will handle some of the games in Saskatoon, March 14-17.
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The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Swift Current (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Medicine Hat (6)
Prince Albert (4) vs Red Deer (5)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
Tri-City (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Kelowna, F Dylen McKinlay scored twice to lead the Rockets to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . McKinlay, who also had an assist, now has 23 goals this season. He has six shorthanded scores, including one last night. . . . F Myles Bell added his 35th goal for Kelowna, with F Tyson Baillie getting his 23rd into an empty net late in the third period. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke stopped 17 shots, losing his shutout when F Seth Swenson notched his 16th goal at 7:20 of the third. . . . The Rockets are 26-5-0 at home. . . . Seattle lost D Jesse Forsberg following a collision with Kelowna F Rourke Chartier in the second period. According to Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier: “Forsberg took a stick to the head and immediately fell to the ice. He was briefly motionless, but eventually wobbled his way to Seattle’s bench.” Forsberg went to the dressing room and didn’t return. . . . The victory allowed the Rockets to stretch their B.C. Divison lead to seven points over the Kamloops Blazers. Each team has eight games remaining, and they will meet three times next week.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None
———


From Tri-City Americans F Jesse Mychan (@jmychan28): “Can’t wait to head to Prince George Sunday! #SaidNoOne #Ever #SeriouslyNever”


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It wasn’t that long ago when it was awfully hard to purchase a season ticket to the Kelowna Rockets. But that isn’t the case these days. The Rockets have scheduled an open house for Saturday at Prospera Place and have let it be known that 400 season tickets are available.
“The tickets are a combination of ones that were let go this year,” Gavin Hamilton, the team’s vice-president of business development, told Kelowna radio station AM 1150. “We had a group that are retired now and are traveling more in the winter time so aren't around for the second half of the year, so that is where a bulk of those came from."
A year ago, the Rockets put 350 season tickets into circulation. That marked the first time season tickets had been available since before the team played host to the 2004 Memorial Cup.
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Meanwhile, in Brandon, the Wheat Kings revealed that they have sold 1,969 season tickets; they had sold more than 2,200 at this time last year.
Last season, the Wheat Kings sold more than 2,900 season tickets; they averaged more than 4,100 fans for home games.
“I always make refence to really it’s Oct. 1 before you know for sure where you’re gong to end up with your season tickets,” Brandon owner and GM Kelly McCrimmon told a news conference, “but when we’re behind like we are, it’s a little bit concerning, and it could be a variety of things: Weather, people away, obviously July and August aren’t months where people are thinking about buying hockey tickets. It’s something that picks up a lot more in September, so again I think (the team is) not alarmed, but just a bit concerned that we need to get moving with those numbers.”
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THE COACHING GAME:
Ryan Marsh is the new lead assistant coach with the U of Alberta Golden Bears,  according to Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal. Marsh, 37, played three seasons (1992-95) with the Tri-City Americans. He then played a season in the ECHL before spending four winters playing for the Golden Bears. He will join Alberta head coach Ian Herbers, who is heading into his first season after leaving the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. . . . Marsh is the director of the hockey program at the Edmonton-based Vimy Ridge Hockey Academy. . . . Daum’s story is right here. . . .
The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques have added Eric Landry to their coaching staff under head coach Benoit Groulx. Landry will work alongside fellow assistant coach Guy Lalonde. . . . Landry, who played two full seasons (1993-95) with the QMJHL’s St. Hyacinthe Lasers, has retired after playing the last nine seasons in Europe. . . . The Olympiques open camp Tuesday.


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A horse named I’ll Have Another is running for history on Saturday at Belmont Park in New York.
And you are going to watch Saturday’s third race in the Triple Crown after I tell you that there is a WHL angle to this horse.
That angle is named Larry Jones — he goes by the nickname Thumper — and he used to play in the WHL.
According to hockeydb.com, Jones played 58 games in 1977-78, splitting them between the Portland Winter Hawks, Medicine Hat Tigers and New Westminster Bruins. He played 13 games with the Lethbridge Broncos and 12 with the Regina Pats in 1978-79.
In 83 games, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound winger had four goals, seven assists and 212 penalty minutes.
It was while with the Bruins that Jones was involved in one of the most legendary bench-clearing brawls in WHL history. That was Feb. 12, 1978, against the Billings Bighorns.
“In the last game of that season (1977-78), we played Billings and pretty much brawled them up to the point that they had become terrified of us,” Jones told Tom Wolski of the Vancouver Province.
Ernie McLean’s Bruins went on to sweep the Bighorns en route to winning the 1978 Memorial Cup.
Jones’s hockey career was ended by back problems. Ultimately, he found relief from a chirorpactor.
It wasn’t quite this easy, but after finding help for his back, Jones wondered why he couldn’t do the same for horses. So he has done just that.
Most recent stories on him have referred to him as an “equine chiropractor,” although he has told Ryan Goldberg of The New York Times that “I’m not a chiropractor, I’m a positionalist.”
And there have been a lot of recent stories because the native of Stettler, Alta., has done a lot of work with I’ll Have Another, a horse that was ridden by Mario Gutierrez during the Kentucy Derby and the Preakness. (Gutierrez has been a regular jockey at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver.)
There was a time when Jones worked at a now-defunct track in Kamloops and then went on to Exhibition Park in Vancouver.
On Saturday, Jones, now 53, will be at Belmont Park in New York.
And if I’ll Have Another should happen to win, Thumper’s legend — he is know for wearing shorts and cowboy boots — will continue to grow.
For more on Jones, check out Goldberg’s story right here.
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F Taylor Peters of the Portland Winterhawks can be a deep-thinker, which is why I linked to his blog (Blades of Glory) over there on the right.
In his latest entry, he provides a major junior player’s reaction to the story from The New York Times that detailed the easy access the late Derek Boogaard had to prescription drugs.
Check out Blades of Glory because it’s definitely worth a read.
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You should also check out Thom Beunig’s blog (In the Corner) that also is linked to over there on the right.
He lost one of his best friends on Wednesday and offers up some heartfelt thoughts and memories.
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The NHL has a problem. A big problem. It seems that its teams don’t know the direction in which the league is headed. For example, the Detroit Red Wings, with D Nicklas Lidstrom having retired, have a lot of money to spend under the cap. But they don’t know whether to spend it on skill or gritty shot-blockers. Seriously. . . . Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail has an intriguing look at the situation right here.
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F Dillon Wagner, who played out his eligibility this season, has decided to attend UBC and play for the Thunderbirds. Dillon played most of his WHL career with the Swift Current Broncos, but was traded to the Portland Winterhawks this season and then claimed on waivers by the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . He is a veteran of four WHL seasons, recording 66 points in 212 games. . . .
Three ex-WHLers have decided to go to the U of Lethbridge and play for the Pronghorns. G Damien Ketlo, who finished up his WHL career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes this season, has made the commitment. Head coach Greg Gatto immediately named Ketlo his starter, replacing the graduated Scott Bowles. . . . Ketlo played most his four-season career with the Regina Pats, before being dealt to Lethbridge this season. . . . Also agreeing to attend the U of L were D Hayden Rintoul and D Cason Machacek. . . . Rintoul played for the Kootenay Ice, who dealt him to the Victoria Royals prior to this season. He put up 144 points in 260 WHL games, and helped the Ice to the 2010-11 championship. . . . Machacek, who is from Lethbridge, finished up with Seattle, after playing for the Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge. He had 28 points and 536 penalty minutes in 245 WHL games.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal has spoken with Kris Knoblauch, the former head coach of the Kootenay Ice. That piece is right here. . . . Knoblauch, you’ll recall, had his contract terminated by the Ice as he was trying to land the head-coaching job with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . . There are some extremely interesting comments from Knoblauch who, among other things, told Daum: “Certainly, there wasn’t a guarantee that the job was mine, but I was under the impression I was a very good candidate. Everything short of the job being guaranteed to me. After this process was over, I’ve heard many names of people being kind of given the same sales pitch of applying.”


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THE WHL FINAL:
Game 7 . . .
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went to a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. The Oil Kings won the best-of-seven final, 4-3. . . . The Oil Kings, who are in only their fifth season in the WHL, will open the Memorial Cup tournament on Friday against the host Shawinigan Cataractes. Also competing will be the QMJHL-champion Saint John Sea Dogs, who also are the tournament’s defending champions, and the OHL-champion London Knights. . . . Prior to this season, when they finished with the WHL’s best record, the Oil Kings had never finished better than .500 in the regular season. . . . F Rhett Rachinski got the Oil Kings started when he scored 1:51 into the first period. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Maxwell scored a key goal with just 18 seconds left in the period. . . . The Oil Kings stretched the lead to 3-0 on F Michael St. Croix’s goal at 4:41 of the second period and F T.J. Foster made it 4-0 at 10:16. . . . Portland F Oliver Gabriel got his side on the board at 11:40 of the second. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 shots and was named the series MVP. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth turned aside 28 shots. . . . Edmonton was 0-2 on the PP; the Winterhawks didn’t receive even one opportunity. . . . Attendance was 12,514. . . . The Oil Kings held Portland’s big line — Marcel Noebels between Sven Baertschi and Ty Rattie — off the scoresheet for a second straight game. . . . This was the 10th time in WHL history that the championship final went to a seventh game. Prior to the game, @WHLFacts tweeted that the home team had won the previous nine times. . . . The Winterhawks franchise now is 0-3 in this situation, having also lost in Game of the final in 1987 (Medicine Hat) and Swift Current (1993). . . . A year ago, the Winterhawks also were in the WHL final, losing in five games to the Kootenay Ice. . . . This edition of the Oil Kings will be making its first Memorial Cup appearance. A previous incarnation of the Oil Kings appeared in the 1971 and 1972 Memorial Cups. More on those appearances later in the week. . . . The Oil Kings last won the Memorial Cup in 1963 and 1966, prior to the formation of the WHL which began play in 1966-67.
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Here is the way things unfolded during the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup:
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: Edmonton 4 at Portland 3 (OT) (10,947)
Thursday, May 10: Portland 3 at Edmonton 4 (11,077)
Saturday, May 12: Edmonton 2 at Portland 3 (10,947)
Sunday, May 13: Portland 1 at Edmonton 4 (12,514)
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John MacKinnon, a sports columnist with the Edmonton Journal, was at Game 7. His column is right here.
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Evan Daum, a writer with the Edmonton Journal, filed a piece that centres on the Winterhawks to The Oregonian and it is right here.
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As if our elite junior-aged players don’t work out enough and don’t play enough high-intensity hockey games over the course of a year, Hockey Canada and the CHL have added four more games to their schedule.
Yes, they will be played during the summer.
They’re calling it the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge and they’ll play Aug. 9 and 10 in Yaroslavl, Russia, and Aug. 13 and 14 in Halifax.
According to a Hockey Canada news release, the series is “being held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.”
Also according to the news release, “The event will replace this season's Canada's National Junior Team Summer Development Camp and will serve as part of player evaluations for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled for Dec. 26, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013 in Ufa, Russia.”
The Canadian roster this summer will feature more than 30 players, born in 1993 or later. The team will be selected by Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast and a coaching staff that has yet to be named.
If you happen to be in the Halifax area, you will be able to purchase two-game ticket packages for $86 plus applicable fees. No, that is not a typo.
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Jim Matheson’s Hockey World, from the pages of the Edmonton Journal, is right here. He leads with a look at how Oil Kings defenceman Griffin Reinhart has climbed the NHL draft rankings.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Chris Shaw won’t be back as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. He worked under first-year head coach Jason Williamson this season. “I just decided we should go separate ways as we had a difference of opinion,” Williamson told Graeme Corbett of the Vernon Morning Star. “We worked out fine and the season went OK, but the organization needs to go in a different direction.”
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JUST NOTES:
D Michael Statchuk, a fifth-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2009 bantam draft, has committed to the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. He played this season with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, putting up 29 points in 44 games.

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Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has written a terrific feature on Sean O’Connor, who has found success in Germany after spending eight years in the North American minor leagues. O’Connor played three seasons (1999-2002) with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
However, he has experienced two seizures in the last nine months.
Gourlie writes:
Inexplicable seizures would be worrisome enough for an otherwise healthy 30-year-old, but there’s something else that gnaws at O’Connor:
“I’ve had multiple concussions because of the role I played my whole life. So you wonder what role that has played in this,” said O’Connor.
The complete story is right here and it’s well worth your time.
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Tim Wharnsby, a veteran journalist who now is with CBC, has spent the season keeping track of concussions in the NHL.
He wrote this piece Thursday that carries this headline — Concussion numbers were staggering in NHL’s 2011-12.
“The numbers are staggering,” Wharnsby writes. “When the regular season concludes on Saturday, almost 90 players and 1,700 man games will be lost to head injuries or concussion-related symptoms.”
Unfortunately, the WHL has hidden its concussion numbers all season long. But considering that the WHL plays pretty much the same game as the NHL, we can assume the junior league’s numbers also were staggering.
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Walter Gretzky was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease earlier this week and his son, Wayne, spoke about it in Vancouver. Bob Mackin has that piece right here.
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The Swift Current K-Motel Hurricanes won the South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League midget AA championship earlier this week. They are coached by Tim Tisdale, one of hockey’s great guys. Tisdale, of course, scored the overtime goal that won the 1989 Memorial Cup for the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Talk about someone who has given back to the game. Tisdale has coached, officiated and served on minor hockey executive boards.
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Derek Laxdal, the head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings, is an astute individual. He isn’t on Twitter. Why not?
“Personally, I find guys that are tweeting and texting, they’re checking their phones 24/7. It’s almost addictive,” Laxdal tells Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal. “They all want to be heard, they want to see what’s going on. I don’t think it’s very productive,” Laxdal said of social media.
“I watch the kids, I key in on it and watch people on Twitter. They’ve always got their phones in their hands. You always see people at stoplights, they’re checking their phones and I just think it’s a distraction. I think it takes away from being a productive citizen.”
He’s right. And that complete story is right here.
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A note from a CHL press release regarding Sportsnet’s coverage:
“On April 13, Friday Night Hockey shifts to the WHL for Game 5 of the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Semi-Finals when the sixth place Brandon Wheat Kings visit the first place Edmonton Oil Kings at 8 p.m. ET on Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet West, and Sportsnet Pacific.”
But, gee, what if the same team wins the first four games? Or is this a best-of-nine in memory of the late Bill Hunter, who once owned the Oil Kings?
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As we get some rest and relaxation prior to the start of the second round of WHL playoffs on four fronts tonight, what better than a little . . . chess?
There is an intriguing story right here about a U.S. college coach — Chess teams in U.S. colleges? Who knew? — whose team won the national championship and then departed for another school. Oh, and she took her top players with her.
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A few thoughts from Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:
The WHL needs to address its playoff format. In a 22-team league, it stands to reason that there should be two 11-team conferences, with the top eight teams in each loop advancing to the post-season. But not in the imbalanced WHL, in which there are 12 teams in the Eastern Conference and 10 in the Western Conference. As a result, four Eastern teams miss the playoffs, compared to two out west.
The format was especially unfair this year. In the Western Conference, the Victoria Royals and Everett Silvertips made the playoffs with 55 and 54 points, respectively. Yet, the Red Deer Rebels (70 points), Swift Current Broncos (62) and Lethbridge Hurricanes (59) missed the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. One step toward guarding against a recurrence of this problem would be to move the Kootenay Ice, which is not in the B.C. Division despite being based in Cranbrook, B.C., to the Western Conference and even out the conferences.
WHL referees should be made available to the media to explain penalties that have a bearing on the outcome. If a 16-year-old rookie defenceman coughs up the puck on a key goal, he has to explain himself to reporters. Yet, the officials can hide behind the league-mandated gag order. This long-standing policy was particularly irksome during a first-round series between the Warriors and Regina Pats. Anyone who attended Game 4 at the Brandt Centre would welcome a detailed, timely explanation of a controversial clipping major that was assessed to Regina's Dyson Stevenson.
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If not chess, how about some golf? The Masters is ongoing in Augusta and Karen Crouse of The New York Times has written a terrific piece on the fact that it’s 2012 and the Augusta National Golf Club still doesn’t have female members. When you think about that for even one second, you realize how absurd it is.
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And here is the daily tweet from Twitter star Griffin Reinhart of the Edmonton Oil Kings: “You might not believe me but my mom is mother Theresa.”

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