Winterhawks, Ice's Reinhart keep streaks alive

Greg Gatto (Brandon, Spokane, Prince Albert, Regina, Portland, 1990-92) is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes, at least for the final 10 games of this season. Gatto, who was fired earlier this month as the head coach of the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns, replcaes Matt Cressman, who was dismissed Thursday. Cressman had been in his first sesaon as head coach, but his 13th with the Jackalopes. . . . Gatto was an assistant coach with the Jackalopes in 2003-04. He also played for the Jackalopes in 2002-03 when he and Cressman were teammates.
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D Griffin Reinhart, the captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings, hopes to play this afternoon against the visiting Calgary Hitmen. Reinhart missed six games in February because of the flu, but he’s hoping he’s well enough to play today. . . . The Oil Kings and Hitmen are tied for first place in the Eastern Conference, each with 91 points. The Oil Kings have 10 games remaining; the Hitmen have eight to play.
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The Regina Pats have added F Sam Steel to their roster for the remainder of this season. Steel, the second overall selection in the 2013 WHL bantam draft, spent the season with the midget AAA Sherwood Park, Alta., J. Ennis Kings. Their season ended earlier this week, freeing him up to join the Pats. . . . The Pats will use Steel, too, as they have been hit by injuries and illness. He played last night as the Pats beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Regina was again without F Boston Leier and F Dryden Hunt, both of whom have concussions. F Morgan Klimchuk and D Dmitry Sinitsyn, both of whom missed a game this week due to illness, were back.
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File this under the best laid plans. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald had hoped to get video of a post-game celebration between G Austin Lotz and D Ben Betker of the Everett Silvertips, and then post it on his blog. Well, the stars were aligned the other night, except that a bear got in the way. . . . Read all about it right here.
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F Tanner MacMaster of the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks had signed a letter of intent to attend Boston College and play for the Eagles. However, it seems he has changed his mind and now has committed to Quinnipiac, which is in Hamden, Conn., where he will play for the Bobcats. . . . The Spokane Chiefs selected MacMaster with the 19th overall pick of the 2011 bantam draft. This season, with the Kodiaks, MacMaster, who turned 18 on Jan. 8, has 40 points, including 11 goals, in 47 games. Last season, he finished with 48 points, 24 of them goals, in 56 games. . . . Tanner is the younger brother of Nathan MacMaster (Moose Jaw, Calgary, Tri-City, 2007-12).
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Red Deer (8)
Regina (2) vs. Brandon (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Kelowna (1) vs. Tri-City (8)
Portland (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Victoria (3) vs. Everett (6)
Seattle (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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SATURDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Calgary at Edmonton, 2 p.m.
Kootenay at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Lethbridge at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Regina at Moose Jaw, 7:30 p.m.
Kamloops at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Portland at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES):
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored three first-period goals and went on to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . F Colton McCarthy had a goal, his sixth, and an assist for the Warriors, while F Jack Rodewald got his 22nd goal and also had an assist. . . . Lethbridge F Taylor Cooper scored his 12th goal, seven of which have come against the Warriors. . . . The Hurricanes have lost eight in a row. . . . Neither the Warriors (17-38-9) nor Hurricanes (12-49-5) will appear in the playoffs. . . .

In Regina, F Connor Gay’s second goal of the game, at 4:13 of OT, gave the Pats a 4-3 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Gay has 15 goals this season. . . . The Broncos scored twice in the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the second period. . . . Gay tied the score at 3:29 of the third, with F Patrick D’Amico giving the Pats their first lead, with his sixth goal, at 6:03. . . . Broncos F Coda Gordon forced OT with his 24th goal at 12:24. . . . The Pats, who went 10-2-1 in February, are 36-23-6 and atop the East Division, seven points ahead of the Broncos (31-24-9). . . .

In Saskatoon, the Kootenay Ice scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Blades, 4-2. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart had one assist, running his point streak to a franchise-record 22 games and his assist streak to 15 games, which already was a franchise record. Former Ice F Mike Comrie had set the previous points record of 21 games in 2000-01. . . . Saskatoon F Cameron Hebig, assigned the task of checking Reinhart, scored his 12th goal. . . . The Ice is 9-2-0 in its last 11. . . . The Blades have lost four in a row; they also have lost seven straight on home ice. . . . Ice F Luke Philp tied the score 2-2 with his 27th goal at 4:06 of the second period. . . . Kootenay D Landon Peel scored his fourth goal at 8:36 of the third to give his side its first lead. . . . Ice D Landon Cross iced it with a shorthanded empty-netter, his second goal this season, at 18:42. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin stopped 31 shots. . . . It was Critters Pucks and Paws Night. There were 158 dogs in the audience, along with 4,517 folks. . . . Blades F Nikita Scherbak had his 10-game point streak snapped. . . . D Jordan Thomson made his debut with the Blades. Thomson, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers in January. He will play two more games with the Blades this weekend and then return to the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. . . . The Ice (37-23-4) is fifth in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Blades (16-43-5) won’t be in the playoffs. . . .

In Calgary, F Brady Brassart scored twice and added an assist to help the Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Brassart, who has 33 goals, ran his point streak to 14 games. . . . Calgary F Adam Tambellini opened the scoring with his 16th goal just 31 seconds into the second period. He has goals in three straight games. . . . Calgary F Pavel Padakin scored his 25th goal on a third-period penalty shot. . . . The Hitmen are 10-0-1 in their last 11. . . . The Blazers have lost three in a row. . . . Kamloops had veteran F Chase Souto back in the lineup. He hadn’t played since Feb. 8. . . . The Hitmen (42-15-7) are tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings atop the Central Division. . . . The Blazers (13-47-5) are 10th in the 10-team Western Conference. . . .

In Red Deer, F Miles Koules and F Cole Sanford scored in the shootout to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Rebels. . . . Koules scored his 24th goal of the season at 16:47 of the first period. . . . The Rebels came back with second-period goals form F Wyatt Johnson, his 10th, and F Scott Feser, his 12th. . . . Medicine Hat F Curtis Valk forced OT with his 38th goal, via the PP, at 4:54 of the third. . . . In a battle of Czech goaltenders, Medicine Hat’s Marek Langhamer stopped 25 shots through OT, while Red Deer’s Patrik Bartosak turned aside 38. . . . The Tigers (40-22-3) are fourth in the Eastern Conference, five points ahead of Kootenay. . . . Red Deer (30-30-5) holds down the conference’s last playoff spot, two points ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders. . . .

In Prince George, D Travis Brown scored at 15:09 of the third period to break a 3-3 tie and help the Victoria Royals a 5-3 victory over the Cougars. . . . Brown, who came over from the Moose Jaw Warriors in January, has 13 goals this season. . . . The Royals led 2-0 in the second period and 3-1 in the third, only to have the Cougars tie it on goals 13 seconds apart from F Zach Pochiro, his 27th, and F Todd Fiddler, his 44th. . . . Fiddler, who scored twice, now is riding a 17-game point streak. . . . The Royals are 9-1-1 in their last 11. . . . The Cougars had F Brett Roulston back in the lineup after he missed eight games with a concussion. Earlier in the season, he missed 13 games with a broken foot. . . . The Royals and Cougars play again tonight in P.G. . . . Victoria is 6-1-0 against Prince George this season. . . . The Royals (44-17-4) are third in the Western Conference and likely to finish there. . . . The Cougars (26-33-8) are two points out of the conference’s last playoff spot but have only five games left. . . .

In Kelowna, G Jordon Cooke stopped 31 shots to lead the Rockets to a 6-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . They’ll play again tonight in Vancouver. In fact, four of the Giants’ final eight games are scheduled to be against the Rockets. . . . Cooke has three shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . F Nick Merkley, a 16-year-old from Calgary, scored twice, giving him 20 goals. He’s got 49 points in 58 games. . . . D Damon Severson drew three assists,. . . . The Rockets scored four times in the third period. . . . Kelowna (51-9-4) leads the overall standings. . . . The Giants (30-25-10) are seventh in the Western Conference, three points behind the Everett Silvertips. . . .

In Spokane, G Corbin Boes stopped 30 shots and the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to 21 games as they beat the Chiefs, 2-0. . . . This was Boes’ first shutout of the season and the third of his career. It was his first blank job since Oct. 1, 2011, when he was with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . With Brendan Burke recovering from mononucleosis, Boes made his eighth straight start. Boes is 12-0-1 since being acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in January. . . . The Winterhawks have a chance to tie the WHL record for consecutive victories in one season when they meet the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., tonight. That record is held by the 1967-68 Estevan Bruins. . . . The Winterhawks have eight games remaining, four of them against Seattle. . . . Portland is 22-0-1 in its last 23 games. . . . The Winterhawks swept the Chiefs 8-0-0 this season, shutting them out in each of the last three meetings; in fact, Portland has won 16 straight games, regular-season and playoffs, from the Chiefs. . . . The Winterhawks scored the game’s first goal, as they now have done in each of the last 21 games these teams have played against each other. . . . F Alex Schoenborn opened the scoring with his 17th goal at 1:40 of the first period. . . . F Chase De Leo, with his 35th, added insurance at 1:51 of the second. . . . The game featured the WHL’s top three scorers, but neither Spokane F Mitch Holmberg (107 points) nor Portland’s Nic Petan (106) or Oliver Bookstand (96) picked up a point. . . . Portland (47-12-5) is seven points behind Kelowna with each team having eight games to play. . . . Spokane (36-22-6) is fifth in the Western Conference, four points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips took a 3-0 lead and then hung on for a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Silvertips clinched a playoff spot for the 11th consecutive season. This is their 11th season in the WHL. . . . F Carson Stadnyk, with his 18th, and F Jujhar Khaira, with his 15th, gave the Silvertips a 2-0 first-period lead. . . . Everett had a 16-3 edge in shots in the first period. . . . F Manraj Hayer, with his 14th, upped that to 3-0 at 1:19 of the third. . . . The Americans got back in it on goals from F Lucas Nickles, at 10:51, and F Parker Powles, his 10th, at 17:53. . . . F Kohn Bauml had two assists for Everett. . . . F Brian Williams had two assists for Tri-City. . . . Americans G Eric Comrie stopped 32 shots, seven more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . The Silvertips are 4-0-1 in their last five. . . . The Americans are 0-5-3 in their last eight. . . . Everett (32-23-9) is sixth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Vancouver. . . . The Americans (27-29-8) are eighth in the conference, two points ahead of Prince George.
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From Regina Pats G Daniel Wapple (@Wapps35): “Gotta love when your parents come down for the weekend even tho it's minus 60 outside #dedication #loveit”
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From Portland freelancer Scott Sepich (@SSepich): “What a difference 6 years make: In March '08, Spokane beat Portland to extend the Winterhawks' losing streak to 21 games.”


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OHL adjusts player benefits; was it a gaggeroo?

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Jeff Woywitka (Red Deer, 1999-2003) has signed a one-year extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He has eight points, two of them goals, in 30 games this season.
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Darrell Romuld of CTV in Regina tweeted Thursday afternoon that Pats “defenceman Jesse Zgraggen has signed a 2 year deal with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss elite league starting next year.” . . . Zgraggen, 20, is from Lethbridge. He began his WHL career with the Victoria Royals and was moved to the Calgary Hitmen last season. The Hitmen dealt him to Regina early this season. He has 21 points, four of them goals, in 42 games with the Pats. In his career, he has 62 points, including 12 goals, in 246 games.
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Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Canada reported Thursday afternoon that the OHL is making changes to its player benefit packages.
Sapurji writes: “Yahoo Canada has learned that the two most significant amendments to its current program for players focuses on the OHL’s education packages and a new monthly reimbursement plan – covering a number of items like gas, clothing and other incidentals like food – for up to $470. OHL commissioner David Branch, said the initiatives were ratified by the league’s board of governors in August and are now being implemented.”
The biggest news involves giving players who don’t sign NHL contracts another 12 months to decide on using their education packages.
The full report is right here.
From a WHL perspective, it is especially interesting that the OHL also is moving to what Sapjurji refers to as a “reimbursement plan” that involves money to be used for such things as cell phone bills.
As well, “teams will also give each player maximum allowance of $1,000 to put towards their summer training – both on and off the ice. It's another move for the betterment of the players and one that helps relieve some of the financial burdens on parents.”
You may recall that cell phone bills for captains and offseason training expenses were part of the scandal that enveloped the WHL and the Portland Winterhawks in November 2012.
With the OHL having made these moves, you know the WHL won’t be far behind. You have to wonder, though, just how the small-market teams will find room in their budgets to cover even more expenses when new revenue streams are few and far between and attendance isn’t showing much, if any, of an upswing.
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It isn’t often that anyone in the junior hockey world criticizes Hockey Canada.
That wasn’t the case Thursday.
First, Garth Snow, the general manager of the NHL’s New York Islanders, expressed outrage after his team lost F John Tavares for the remainder of this season. Tavares suffered a knee injury in Canada’s 2-1 victory over Latvia at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi on Wednesday.
"Are the IIHF or IOC going to reimburse our season-ticket holders now?" Snow asked rhetorically, according to a report in New York's Newsday.
"It's a joke. They want all the benefits from NHL players in Olympics and don't want to pay when our best player gets hurt. . . . We lost our best player and he wasn’t playing for us.”
Later in the day, Dallas Thompson, the general manager of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, tweeted: “Feeling Garth Snow's feeling. Dana Tyrell was lost for a year. Hockey Canada does not feel for you or the shit u have to deal with.”
Obviously, Thompson still feels the sting of a knee injury suffered by Tyrell prior to the 2009 world junior championship. Tyrell had 40 points, including 19 goals, in 30 games with the Cougars when he left to join Canada’s national junior team. However, Tyrell suffered a season-ending knee injury in a pre-tournament game against Sweden and never played another game for the Cougars, who ultimately were a first-round playoff casualty in the spring of 2009.
It would seem that Thompson hasn’t forgotten.
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If you’re interested in more on Matt Marotta, the peewee hockey player from Prince George, there’s more right here in a story written by Andrea Johnson and Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen. Yes, the Prince George Minor Hockey Association is looking into what happened. The team’s head coach chose not to comment.
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A thought or two about a couple of WHL goaltenders, both of whom got some heat in the first half of this season . . .
Taran Kozun, a 19-year-old from Nipawin, Sask., opened the season as the Kamloops Blazers’ go-to guy. In 29 appearances, he was 5-19-3, 3.95, .897.
In January, Kozun was dealt to the Seattle Thunderbirds. In 14 games with Seattle, he is 11-3-0, 1.75, .944. Oh, and he has put up four shutouts, which is four more than he had in Kamloops.
With Kamloops, Kozun was seeing 38.2 shots per game; with Seattle that number is 31.1.
The Thunderbirds have allowed 203 goals, which doesn’t give then a stellar defensive record, but it is better than the 253 goals that have been surrendered by the Blazers. Still, I think it’s safe to assume that Kozun sees not only fewer shots but fewer shots from prime scoring areas in Seattle than he did in Kamloops.
Meanwhile, there’s Corbin Boes, a 20-year-old from Saskatoon. He was 5-24-4, 4.11, .900 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes when he was dealt to the Portland Winterhawks for whom he now is 8-0-1, 2.73, .908.
I think it’s safe to say that Boes’ .900 save percentage with Lethbridge, the poorest defensive team in the WHL, may be one of the most surprising numbers in the WHL this season.
With Lethbridge, Boes was seeing 41.1 shots per game. That number with Portland is 29.6. Granted, Boes’ time in Portland presents us with a small sample size, just 550 minutes over nine appearances. But he has taken over the No. 1 job with Brendan Burke out with an illness.
The bottom line to all of this is that you have to think Kozun and Boes both feel as though they were January lottery winners. It will be interesting to watch both these goaltenders to see how they fare in the playoffs. One thing is for sure . . . you know they will be hungry.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will be without D Colton Waltz for their next two games as he completes what has been set as a three-game suspension. That is for an unpenalized hit on Regina Pats F Dryden Hunt on Feb. 17 in Regina. Hunt is out indefinitely with a suspected brain injury. Waltz will miss home games Friday (Calgary Hitmen) and Saturday (Moose Jaw Warriors). . . . Meanwhile, Lethbridge Hurricanes F Carter Amson ended up with a two-game sentence for a checking-from-behind major against the Oil Kings in Edmonton. He will complete that suspension on Saturday when the Hurricanes meet the host Medicine Hat Tigers.
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The Everett Silvertips have added G Nik Amundrun to their roster and say that he is expected to stay with them for the remainder of the season. A third-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, Amundrud has spent ample time with the Silvertips but has yet to make his WHL debut. He will be in uniform this weekend as Everett plays three games in three nights – at home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday and the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, and at the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. . . . Amundrud, from Melville, Sask., was 9-2-1, 2.81 with the North East Wolfpack, a midget AA team in Saskatchewan Centre Four Hockey League.
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has his take: “Amundrud's presence is required because goaltender Daniel Cotton and winger Darcy DeRoose remain suspended by the team. The duo was suspended indefinitely last week for violating team rules, and their suspensions remain indefinite. Amundrud being called up for the remainder of the season suggests those indefinite suspensions may be lasting a while longer.”
With Cotton suspended, the Silvertips are riding Austin Lotz.
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Greg Gatto (Portland, Regina, Spokane, Brandon, 1990-92) was fired earlier this week after nine seasons as head coach of the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The Pronghorns were 80-143-20 and made three playoff appearances under Gatto, who also played five seasons at the U of Lethbridge. This season, they went 4-21-3 and missed the Canada West playoffs. . . . The search for a replacement started immediately.
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Some thoughts from one observer on THE women’s hockey game . . .
Yes, the Canadian women won, but they certainly were the beneficiaries of some breaks, so let’s not have any whining if the Canadian men don’t get any today. It could be that the hockey gods already have spoken. . . . Canada’s first goal -- it was Brianne Jenner’s first point of the tournament -- went in off the right knee of American defender Kacey Bellamy. . . . At 2-1, Kelli Stack of the U.S., with a long clearance, hit the left post of a vacated Canadian net. Had that puck been an inch to the right, the game would have been over with 1:25 left to play. . . . Prior to the equalizer, Canadian F Marie-Philip Poulin made a tremendous play along the boards on the left side of the offensive zone that allowed her side to maintain possession. . . . Canadian head coach Kevin Dineen showed absolutely no emotion when Poulin tied the score. Makes you wonder how much fun these coaches have in games such as this one. . . . As for the penalties in OT: Joy Tottman, a British referee in her third Olympics, had no choice but to call Canada’s Catherine Ward for cross-checking at 6:09. The slashing call on American Jocelyn Lamoureux -- CBC-TV play-by-play man Mark Lee referred to her as the “chippy American forward” -- six seconds later was a call to be made early in a game when you are trying to set the tone, not in overtime after numerous infractions have been ignored. . . . Which brings us to the breakaway by Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser and the cross-checking call on the U.S.’s Hilary Knight. Well, it wasn’t cross-checking; calling it that makes you wonder if Tottman saw what actually happened. Knight was in the process of catching Wickenheiser from behind. In striding, Wickenheiser’s left heel struck Knight’s right leg, then both of their right legs bumped. Wickenheiser went down and Canada, practically en masse, screamed: PENALTY SHOT! . . . I don’t think it should even have been a penalty, considering that Wickenheiser’s right leg initiated the original contact. . . . No matter. On the ensuing PP, the U.S. twice had possession of the puck in its zone but wasn’t able to get it all the way down the ice. Instead, the Canadians regained possession in the neutral zone, set up in the offensive zone and Poulin pumped home the winner. She also had two goals four years ago when Canada beat the U.S. in the championship game in Vancouver. She is our golden girl, no doubt about that. . . . Whatever you do, don’t forget about the contribution made by Canadian G Shannon Szabados, whose play in the first period prevented the Americans from running away with this one early. . . . You couldn’t pay me enough to officiate women’s hockey games because of the rule against bodychecking. That rule puts the referee in a no-win situation because he/she has to decide what is/isn’t a bodycheck. . . . The bottom line, however, is that the U.S. had a 2-0 lead with fewer than four minutes remaining and couldn’t hold it. . . . Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s PTI offered: “This felt like a gaggeroo.”
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THURSDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
No games scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Medicine Hat at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Regina, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Swift Current at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Portland, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Seattle at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
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From CellPhones@PlaneTix (@hawkeyblog): “Upon reading @sunayas write about the #OHL teams now being able to pay the kids cell phone bills & cover offseason training . . . I'd sure like those 1st rounders back for the @pdxwinterhawks. Paging @CHLHockey commish Branch: can you help a guy out? #whl”

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