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F Michal Řepík (Vancouver, 2005-08) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, he was pointless in two games with Trakto Chelyabinsk (Russia, KHL). He was released by mutual agreement on Oct. 10. Řepík injured a shoulder with Chelyabinsk and now has mononucleosis. Sparta hopes he will be ready to play in January. . . .
F Fredrik Pettersson (Calgary, 2005-07) has been assigned by Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL) to Sarov (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). He had five goals and seven assists in 24 games. . . .
F Gaelan Patterson (Saskatoon, 2006-10) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Chamonix-Morzine (France, Ligue Magnus). Last season, he had 10 goals and 14 assists in 45 games with Sparta Sarpsborg (Norway, GET-Ligaen).
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have acquired F Zach Russell, 17, from the Victoria Royals for a sixth-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. . . . Russell, who signed with the Royals in August 2015, is from Calgary. The 6-foot-0, 180-pounder is playing for the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks and has six goals and five assists in 19 games. . . . Last season, he had 19 goals and 21 assists in 31 games with the midget AAA Calgary Flames. . . . Grant Armstrong, Brandon’s general managerr, joined the Wheat Kings in August after working as the Royals’ assistant GM, player personnel.
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I can remember a number of years ago when someone — if memory serves, it was Gerry James when he owned an SJHL franchise — was heard to say that as an owner the best season a junior A team could have would be to lose Game 7 of the league final on home ice. That, he felt, was the perfect season because once your team started playing outside its own league the expenses mounted in a hurry. . . . I don’t know if that was the case here, but: Last season, the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors won the national championship and owner Mark Cheyne says the franchise lost $300,000. . . . "Oh yeah, it blows people away,” Cheyne told Evan Cooke of AM1150, a Kelowna radio station. “And then when you start throwing the numbers around, they're just like, ‘Are you kidding?’ People don't understand how much it costs to run that thing. They can physically see what you drag in for revenue on any given night, but they just don't understand the budget side of it.” . . . BTW, Cheyne says the Warriors have been for sale “for a year now.” . . . Cooke’s story is
right here.
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Rudy Poeschek, a former WHL and NHL enforcer, is back in court. As Tim Petruk of Kamloops This Week writes, Poeschek has been charged with breach of probation, “accused of missing meetings with his probation officer in July and August.” . . . Last year, Poeschek was sentenced to 45 days in jail “after pleading guilty to a string of criminal charges.” . . . Poeschek, 49, says he is having issues with his memory, that he forgot about the meetings with his probation officer and almost forgot about Thursday’s court date. . . . Petruk’s latest story on Poeschek is right here.
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Evan Vossen is the new general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves. He takes over from Shawn Martin, who was fired on Oct. 24. . . . This season, the Ice Wolves were 2-12-1 under Martin, who was in his fourth season as head coach. They go into weekend play at 3-15-3. . . . Vossen, 30, is a native of Swift Current. He played three seasons (2004-07) playing for the Ice Wolves. He then went on to spend five seasons at McGill U in Montreal, playing for the Redmen. He was the team captain in 2011-12, his last season, and scored the overtime goal as the Redmen beat the Western Mustangs 4-3 in the Canadian university championship final. That gave McGill its first hockey title in its 135-year history.
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JUST NOTES:
According to a Thursday afternoon tweet from the Vancouver Giants, D Tyler Brown, who was listed as ‘retired’ on this week’s roster report, “has chosen to return to the U.S. to attend school.” . . .
D Carter Czaikowski, 18, has left the Portland Winterhawks. He tweeted on Thursday afternoon that he has “decided to start a new chapter in my life by attending university.” . . . Czaikowski, from Calgary, was a sixth-round selection by Portland in the 2013 bantam draft. He had four assists in 37 games with the Winterhawks last season, and had a goal and four assists in 17 games this season. . . .
F Grant Mismash, a fifth-round selection by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2014 WHL bantam draft, has committed to the U of North Dakota for 2018-19. From Edina, Minn., Mismash, 17, is playing for the U.S. national U-18 team. . . .
F Brannon McManus, a fourth-round pick by the Portland Winterhawks in the 2014 WHL bantam draft, has committed to attend the U of Minnesota next season and play for the Gophers. From Newport Beach, Calif., he is in his second season with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:
At Edmonton, D Aaron Irving scored two goals, including the empty-netter, as the Oil Kings doubled the
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| AARON IRVING |
Saskatoon Blades, 4-2. . . . Irving has six goals this season and 30 in his career. He now shares the franchise’s career record for goals by a defenceman with Cody Corbett and Griffin Reinhart. . . . The Oil Kings got a 2-0 lead on goals from D Anatolii Elizarov, his first, at 19:05 of the first period, and Irving, 24 seconds into the second. . . . The Blades tied it when F Logan Christensen scored his fifth, at 9:40 of the second, and F Mason McCarty added his 12th, at 13:10. . . . F Trey Fix-Wolansky broke the tie at 11:28 of the third period. . . . Irving got the empty-netter at 19:53. . . . G Patrick Dea turned aside 34 shots for the victory, while Saskatoon’s Logan Flodell stopped 35. . . . Edmonton was 0-2 on the PP; Saskatoon was 0-1. . . . The Oil Kings (7-9-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Blades slipped to 8-10-1. . . . F Kirby Dach, the second overall pick in the 2016 bantam draft, made his WHL debut with the Blades. He is playing with the midget AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers this season. . . . The Oil Kings had G Boston Bilous dressed in support of Dea and in place of freshman Liam Hughes. Bilous, from Langley, B.C., was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. He is playing for the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds of the B.C. Major Midget League. . . . Announced attendance: 8,429.
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At Moose Jaw, F Sam Steel scored on a PP just 19 seconds into OT to give the Regina Pats a 5-4 victory over the Warriors. . . . Steel’s goal, his 15th of the season, was Regina’s fourth PP score of the game. . . .
 |
| SAM STEEL |
The Warriors, who were outshot 51-27, forced OT on F Nikita Popugaev’s second goal of the game, and 13th of the season, at 16:31 of the third period. . . . F Filip Ahl, who has 14 goals, scored three times for Regina. He opened the scoring on a PP at 6:07 of the first period. . . . The Warriors then took a 2-1 lead on PP goals from Popugaev, at 14:20, and F Tristan Langan, his first, at 16:05. . . . Ahl scored the only two goals of the second period, getting a PP score at 10:49 and then putting the Pats out front at 19:59. . . . Moose Jaw tied it on F Noah Gregor’s seventh goal, at 11:32 of the third, only to have F Dawson Leedahl put Regina out front again, with his seventh goal, at 14:46. . . . Steel, the WHL’s leading scorer, also had an assist, while D Connor Hobbs had two helpers. . . . The Pats got two assists from F Adam Brooks, who is on a 10-game point streak. He has at least a point in every game he has played with Regina this season. . . . Regina D Chase Harrison had one assist to run his point streak to 11 games, the longest in the WHL this season. He has two goals and 13 assists over that stretch. . . . Moose Jaw F Luka Burzan had two assists, with Gregor adding one to his goal. . . . The Pats got 23 saves from G Tyler Brown, with G Zach Sawchenko blocking 46 for the home team. . . . Regina was 4-7 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 2-4. . . . The Pats (13-0-3) have won nine in a row and remain the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost in regulation time. Regina also has points in 16 straight games; the last time a WHL team accomplished that was in 2014-15 when the Brandon Wheat Kings and Kelowna Rockets both did it. . . . (A tip of the cap to Geoffrey Brandow, who tweets at @GeoffreyBrandow, for those last stats). . . . The Warriors (11-4-3) have lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . The Warriors were without three top-end forwards — Brett Howden (hip), Jayden Halbgewachs (suspended) and Brayden Burke, who was acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Tuesday — and had five 16-year-olds in the lineup. . . . Announced attendance: 4,442, the Warriors’ first sellout of the season.
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At Langley, B.C., the Vancouver Giants scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Prince George
 |
| JAMES MALM |
Cougars, 4-2. . . . F James Malm gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 14:26 of the first period. . . . The Cougars moved out front on goals from F Brad Morrison, his eighth, at 17:53, and D Cole Moberg, his first, at 6:16 of the second period. . . . Malm’s second of the game, and fifth of the season, tied the score at 19:01. . . . Vancouver F Dawson Holt broke the tie at 6:44 of the third period, with his fourth goal, and F Radovan Bondra, who also had an assist, provided insurance with his 12th at 8:46. . . . G Ryan Kubic stopped 35 shots for the Giants, with the Cougars’ Nick McBride blocking 37. . . . Each team was 0-2 on the PP. . . . The Giants (9-11-0) have won two in a row; the Cougars, who had won eight of nine on the road, are 14-4-2. . . . The Cougars were without D Sam Ruopp, who served Game 2 of an eight-game suspension, and F Kody McDonald, who has one game left in a three-game sentence. . . . The Giants wore special uniforms as they honoured the late Pat Quinn, who owned a piece of the franchise. Quinn is to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday. . . . Announced attendance: 3,383.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Red Deer at Brandon 2:30 p.m.
Prince Albert at Kamloops, 5 p.m.
Everett at Portland, 7 p.m.
Calgary vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
Tri-City at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
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