Group wants team to drop logo . . . Blades make deal with Thunderbirds

Alan Caldwell, the guru and sole proprietor of Small Thoughts At Large, has struck again. He has put together a spreadsheet that details each WHL team and the draft picks it owns and the ones it has traded away. . . . You will find it right here, and he wants you to contact him if you spot any errors.
---
Considering what transpired at the U of North Dakota (remember the Fighting Sioux and the logo?) and what is happening these days with the NFL franchise in Washington, D.C., and its nickname, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that someone has demanded the Portland Winterhawks should dump their logo.
“Mascotry has to stop,” Jackie Keeler, a Portland activist, member of the Navajo and Yankton Dakota Sioux Tribes, and founder of Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry, told Colin Miner of golocalpdx.com.
Graham Kendrick, the Winterhawks' director of media and public relations, told Miner that the team had yet to officially hear anything on this subject, so didn't feel it was appropriate to comment.
Miner's story is right here.
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports Canada has a look at the situation right here.
---
The Saskatoon Blades have acquired F Sam McKechnie, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . McKechnie had been acquired by Seattle from the Lethbridge Hurricanes early last season. In 67 games with Seattle, he had seven goals and 11 assists. In 212 regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 46 goals. . . . McKechnie isn't expected to play for the Blades on Friday night in Brandon or Saturday in Moose Jaw, as he is in transit. . . . The Blades have released G Michael Herringer, 18, from their roster, so will go with Trevor Martin, 18, and Nik Amundrud, 17, at least for now. Martin is expected to start in Brandon, with Amundrud getting the call in Moose Jaw. . . . Herringer was acquired last week from the Victoria Royals for undisclosed conditional bantam draft picks, but didn't play in either of Saskatoon's first two games. . . . The Thunderbirds now have four 20-year-olds, one over the limit. The four are D Adam Henry, who turns 20 on Nov. 24, F Justin Hickman, D Evan Wardley and G Taran Kozun. . . . Saskatoon's 20s right now are McKechnie, F Chase Clayton and F Brett Stovin, who will be 20 on Oct. 31.
---
The Prince Albert Raiders have promoted Kelly Guard to the position of full-time assistant coach, replacing Tim Leonard, who cited personal reasons in resigning on Wednesday. Guard has been with the Raiders for two seasons as their goaltending/strength and conditioning coach. . . . Guard played two seasons with the Kelowna Rockets (2002-04), backstopping them to the 2004 Memorial Cup title. In 2003-04, he set the WHL record for lowest regular-season GAA (1.56), a record that still stands. With Kelowna, he wore big white pads upon which, I once wrote, you would be able to ski. . . . The Raiders also released D Ryan Coghlan, who turns 19 on Oct. 31. He was acquired last season from the Saskatoon Blades. From Nanaimo, B.C., he is expected to play in the BCHL. . . . Leonard has returned to the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, as their head coach. He replaces Ken Morrison, who resigned earlier in the week. Morrison led the Mintos to a national championship last spring. Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has that story right here.
---
The Portland Winterhawks have two players remaining in NHL camps, what with word that G Brendan Burke is on his way back from the Arizona Coyotes. F Nic Petan remains with the Winnipeg Jets and F Oliver Bjorkstand still is with the Columbus Blue Jackets. When NHL camps opened, the Winterhawks were missing nine players.
---
The Coyotes also returned Czech G Marek Langhamer, 20, to the Medicine Hat Tigers. That leaves the Tigers with two 20-year-old goaltenders, the other being Jared Rathjen, who was acquired over the summer from the Vancouver Giants. . . . However, Rathjen continues to undergo medical testing for a heart condition that was detected at the opening of training camp. . . . The Tigers' other import is sophomore German F Markus Eisenschmid, 19. . . . Langhamer's arrival also leaves the Tigers with five 20-year-olds, the others being D Kyle Becker, D Tyler Lewington, F Miles Koules and Rathjen. . . . Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News also has reported that Tigers F Anthony Ast has suffered a wrist injury and will require surgery. Ast, 19, was acquired last season from the Vancouver Giants. He had 17 points, 12 of them goals, in 27 games with the Tigers. He has battled injuries throughout his WHL career, playing 52 games last season, 38 in 2012-13 and 42 in 2011-12.
---
Meanwhile, Arizona has returned Latvian F Edgars Kulda to the Edmonton Oil Kings, leaving them with three imports, one over the limit. Also on Edmonton's roster are veteran Danish F Mads Eller, 19, and Russian rookie D Marsel Ibragimov. . . . The Oil Kings will have to trade Kulda or Eller, or release Ibragimov. CHL rules prevent the trading of an import player during his first season. . . . Furthermore, Kulda turns 20 on Nov. 13, so his arrival leaves the Oil Kings with four 20s, the others being D Blake Orban, D Ashton Sautner and G Tyler Santos. . . . Santos is one of three goaltenders on Edmonton's roster, joining starter Tristan Jarry, 19, and freshman Patrick Dea, 17.
---




F Morgan Klimchuk of the Regina Pats remains in camp with the NHL's Calgary Flames, but he left a Wednesday night exhibition game with an injury to his left hand or wrist after jamming it against the boards following a check. Klimchuk was in the lineup because F Mason Raymond was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Branden Klatt, 16, who was a sixth-round pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. From Moose Jaw, he is into his second season with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. . . .
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix tweeted Thursday night that "former Saskatoon Blades F Logan Harland is joining Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL, per his agent." Harland, 19, was released by the Blades last week. . . . The Everett Silvertips and Fox Sports 1380 have renewed their broadcast for five more years. The deal runs through 2018-19. Everett's games have been on the same radio station since 2003-04, its first season in the WHL. Travis Huntington is back for a fourth season as the play-by-play voice of the Silvertips.
---

I'll start to worry about the Winterhawk logo when investors swoop into Portland to start a chain of "Artisan Tattoo Removal Shops" #drive45
— Fake Mike Johnston (@FakeMikeJ) September 25, 2014

Portland Winterhawks 24/7

It is hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago when the Portland Winterhawks were lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.
In 2007-08, the Winterhawks won 11 games. The next season, they won 19.
Last spring, you’ll recall, they reached the WHL’s championship final. Last month, they watched as 15 players off that roster departed for NHL camps.
And now the Winterhawks have taken a step off the ice that is just as impressive as what they accomplished on the ice last season.
If you missed it, the Winterhawks have announced the launching of “a dedicated online network that will host all live game broadcasts for this season at winterhawks.com using an audio player powered by live365.com.”
Understand that this isn’t an ESPN channel or anything like that. But, geez Louise, this is major junior hockey . . .
“Along with the games, the Winterhawks will use the online network to broadcast team-related content 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the news release continues. “Fans can find the station by visiting winterhawks.com and clicking the ‘Listen Live’ link at the top of the page.
“Among the content on the team’s network will be podcasts, roundtable discussions, interviews with players and coaches, replays of recent and classic games, and much more. Live365.com includes apps that allow listeners to tune in on their smartphones in case they aren’t near a computer.”
Think about it for a minute. . . . A major junior hockey team providing fans with access to it on a 24/7 basis! That is almost mind-numbing.
“The idea for a Winterhawks.com Radio Network is about two years in the making and we are very excited about being able to finally roll it out this season,” Kelley Robinett, Portland’s senior vice-president of marketing and operations, wrote in an email. “We knew all along that streaming would allow us to provide fans with unprecedented access to our games, player interviews and features about the team.
“However, we needed to get to a point where we were comfortable with the streaming technology and delivery methods to the fans. The explosion of both high-speed Internet in the home and Internet connected smartphones has finally made this possible.”
The Winterhawks continue to have a radio deal with Freedom 970 and the Alpha family of stations and have put together a Friday night package — they play 23 Friday games. However, the Winterhawks have learned that many of their fans are listening to the radio station via an online stream or tracking scores on their smartphones.
“In launching the network, we take control of the stream content (24/7) and provide our smartphone users with access to the broadcast feed,” Robinett continued.
And what is the objective?
The Winterhawks, according to Robinett, want “to continually push new and relevant content to the fans each week.”
The Winterhawks also announced that the legendary Dean (Scooter) Vrooman will be more involved than he has been in recent seasons, which is the best news of all for veteran hockey fans in the Portland area.
As well, Todd Vrooman (yes, he is Scooter’s son) and Andy Kemper have switched roles — Vrooman will be the play-by-play voice, while Kemper provides analysis at home games and some road assignments.
Todd Vrooman, I’m told, has been part of putting together this entire 24/7 package for the last two years. He also now is a full-time employee of the Winterhawks as their communications manager. He is responsible for all content on the team’s live365.com station.
The two Vroomans and Kemper, along with veteran broadcaster John Kirby, will be involved in round-table discussions, feature interviews, etc.
“Todd has been outfitted with an iPad that he can use to record, edit and upload interviews from the team bus,” Robinett explained. “Andy records his show from a home office and some of the round-table discussions are literally recorded from the round dining-room tables of our broadcasters homes!
“As we get more and more comfortable with the technology we will explore call-in, text-in or even tweet-in live shows — both studio and on-location. Needless to say, we are pretty excited.”
And, finally, Robinett notes that “the live365 smartphone app is a big key to the success of this network. Two new videos are available now on YouTube that show Android and iPhone users how to download the app and connect to the Winterhawks.com Radio Network. We know that there will be some growing pains as people make the transition so we want to make it as simple as possible.”
As Graham Kendrick, the Winterhawks’ director of media and public relations, noted: “We’re really excited about this new venture. It’s going to be a lot of fun and our fans will love all the new content. This network on live365.com allows us to broadcast whatever we want, whenever we want. And with no subscription cost to fans, the content is free to whoever wants it.”
———
Robinett also sent along a couple of addresses for those YouTube clips:
Android: Right here.
iPhone: Right here.
“In the coming months,” he added, “we will launch our own app across the Android, iPhone and Blackberry networks that will incorporate live audio, on-demand audio and, eventually, links to video highlights.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ben Ondrus (Swift Current, 1998-2003) signed a one-year contract with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL). He had eight goals and 14 assists in 80 games with the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) last season. . . .
F David Svagrovsky (Seattle, 2002-04) was released after his one week tryout with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga).
———
It finally happened!
A WHL team ran out of players.
The Portland Winterhawks, with an unheard of 15 players away at NHL camps, have had to cancel a Friday night exhibition game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Unfortunately for the Winterhawks, they also have had to cancel a Street Fair that was scheduled for Saturday.
“It is a shame about the Street Fair, but we have a lot of player meet and greets coming up this year,” Graham Kendrick, Portland’s director of media and public realtions, told me via email. “Our success the last couple of seasons has seen sponsorship go way up, and they all want player appearances. Our guys will be busy this season.”
The Winterhawks played in a preseason tournament in Kennewick, Wash., on the weekend and were able to dress only 16 skaters. According to a press release, they “lost one player to injury over the weekend and a second to a waiver claim from another team. . . .”
Thus it was felt that they wouldn’t have enough players to compete safely in the exhibition game against Seattle. (The Thunderbirds will play host to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday, 7 p.m., at the ShoWare Center in Kent.)
While the Street Fair has been cancelled, the news release states that “the organization decided to move many of planned Street Fair attractions and events to the opening night game on Friday, Sept. 23.”
With somewhere around 150 WHL players at NHL camps, you can bet there are other teams dangerously low on numbers.
For starters, the Kelowna Rockets, with eight players away, and the Kamloops Blazers, with seven gone, were under the 18-skater limit for a home-and-home weekend series.
The Blazers, also with C Logan McVeigh (concussion) and D Landon Cross (groin) injured, dressed just 15 skaters on Saturday in Kelowna, and lost LW Ryan Hanes to injury early on. The Rockets also had only 15 skaters in uniform for that one.
One night earlier, in Kamloops, the Rockets started with 16 skaters, but lost D Madison Bowey to a knee injury early in the first period. The Blazers went with 15 skaters for that one.
———
The player the Winterhawks lost on waivers? It was F Lukas Walter, 18, who was claimed by the Tri-City Americans. He had one goal in three exhibition games with Portland.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The Moose Jaw Warriors have hired Jamie Hodson as their goaltending coach. Hodson, from Lenore, Man., was a third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL’s 1998 draft after a four-year career with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He went on to play nine seasons of pro hockey, in the AHL and ECHL.
———
F Killian Hutt, 20, has joined the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Hutt had his 2010-11 season ended by a concussion in December and wasn’t able to return to the Swift Current Broncos. Then they released him prior to training camp as they trimmed the number of 20-year-olds on their roster. . . . RW Jordan DePape of the Kamloops Blazers, who is from Winnipeg, joined the NHL’s Jets for the Young Guns tournament in Penticton, B.C. However, a hip flexor problem that has bothered him since early in training camp has kept him off the ice and out of the Jets’ lineup. He didn’t play in Monday night’s 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames. . . . D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors is back skating after having his appendix removed on Sept. 1. . . .
Kootenay Ice F Jonathon Martin, a 16-year-old from Winnipeg, drew a four-game suspension for a charging major and game misconduct in a game against the Portland Winerhawks in Kennewick, Wash., on Saturday. This would seem to indicate that the WHL has stepped it up in terms of the suspension game. . . . The Everett Silvertips have reassigned G Andy Desautels, 17, who got into one game last season. A native of White City, Sask., he is expected to play in the SJHL this season. That leaves Everett with three goaltenders on its roster — veterans Kent Simpson, 19, and Luke Siemens, 19, and Austin Lotz, 16, who is from St. Adolphe, Man. Simpson is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on a knee and won’t be completely ready for another couple of weeks. It also means the Silvertips will open the season with Siemens and Lotz as their goaltenders as they wait for Simpson to get healthy. . . . 
The Central league’s Quad City Mallards have signed F Jeremy Boyer (Seattle, Saskatoon, 2006-10), who played out his junior eligibility last season with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and Yorkton Terriers. He put up 87 points in 50 SJHL games. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders have placed F Andrew Herle, 20, on waivers. He put up 24 points in 135 games with the Raiders. . . . If Herle isn’t claimed by another team, he is expected to join the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. . . . That leaves the Raiders with four 20-year-olds on their roster — D James Bettauer, F Brandon Herrod, F Justin Maylan, F Jonathon Parker and F Charles Wells. Herrod (Phoenix) and Parker (Buffalo) are in NHL camps.
———
Where is he now? Tim Preston (Seattle, Saskatoon, 1997-2002) no longer plays the game but he still is involved. Gary Ahuja of the Langley Times has his story right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Monday's stuff . . .

There isn’t anything to report on the Chilliwack-to-Victoria front, at least not as of late Monday night.
Except that Oren Koules says he isn’t interested.
Koules, a former co-owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, told me via email that he “was shocked to read my name . . . I have never inquired about a WHL team . . . huge fan of the league . . . fan not owner.”
Koules is a former WHL player (Portland, Great Falls, Medicine Hat, Spokane, Calgary, Brandon, 1979-82) who went on to make his mark in the entertainment world.
Among other things, he has been the executive producer of 161 episodes of, yes, Two and a Half Men.
Check out his IMDB right here.
———
The Prince Albert Raiders are involved in a scrap for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot and are getting back G Jamie Tucker in time for the last two weeks of the regular season. He has been out a month with a badly cut thumb. That’s the good news for Raiders fans. The bad news is that F Charles Wells now is out with a separated shoulder. . . . Raiders radio voice Drew Wilson also reports that the club has added D Josh Morrissey, the sixth pick in the 2010 bantam draft, to their roster. His midget AAA team in Calgary is done, so he’ll finish up the season with the Raiders. . . .
———
Should the Regina Pats qualify for the playoffs, they will play first-round games in the Queen City, after all.
The Brandt Centre, the Pats’ home arena, won’t be available due to the World men’s curling championship, so the team will move into the Co-operators Centre, which is on the grounds at Evraz Place.
Seating capacity will be 1,278, plus standing room, so season-ticket holders will get the first crack at tickets.
Games 3 and 4 of the first-round series would be played in Regina, with tentative dates of march 29 and 30.
The Pats are 10th in the Eastern Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.
———
The Portland Winterhawks are 20-6-0 since Jan. 8. Why is that date relevant? It was on that day that the Winterhawks had access to all of their players for the first time in more than a month.
Since that date, Portland has outscored its opponents 128-81.
Graham Kendrick, their crack director of media and public relations, came up with a neat chart on Monday. Here is the Winterhawks’ record, showing their one six-week slump with players going to and coming from Christmas tournaments:
Sept. 25 - Nov. 20: 20-3-0-1
Nov. 21 - Dec. 31: 5-9-0-2
Jan. 8 - Present: 20-6-0-0
———
JUST NOTES: As was reported Friday by Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Tampa Bay Lightning has signed Spokane Chiefs C Tyler Johnson, 30, to a three-year NHL deal. Johnson, who is tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead and is second in points, was a free agent. . . . Johnson also is a native of Spokane. . . . F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points, including seven goals, in four games last week. . . . Lucas Gore of the Chilliwack Bruins is the WHL’s nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He was 4-0-0, 1.00, .968 last week.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter