Showing posts with label Ian Mulgrew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ian Mulgrew. Show all posts

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Scattershooting . . . Ice sweeps defending champs . . . Rockets rolling . . . Pats win again

Scattershoot
Scattershooting on a Sunday night after watching the Cubs and Indians and while watching the Eagles and Cowboys via PVR. . . .
USA Hockey will play host to the 2018 World Junior Championship and it will include an outdoor game between Team USA and Canada at 71,870-seat New Era Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. The game has been turned into a gimmicky cash grab and will be played Dec. 29, a move that presumably provides a couple of snow dates.
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Under no circumstances should an important round-robin game at the WJC be turned into a gimmick. But that’s exactly what has been allowed to happen.
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With New Era Stadium having a capacity of 71,870, the gate should be well in excess of US$7 million. How much of that cash will go directly into the pockets of the young men playing in that game?
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The Kootenay Ice has been down and out for over a season now, so you wonder if what happened over the weekend signals the turning of a corner. Luke Pierce, one of junior hockey’s bright, young head coaches, likely would say it’s too soon to tell. But the Ice just swept two games from the defending-champion Brandon Wheat Kings and you can bet the biggest smiles in Cranbrook belong to the Kootenay players. Enjoy it boys; you’ve earned it.
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The WHL features 22 teams and — thanks to a system that includes loser points — 16 of them have winning percentages of .500 or higher. In reality, there are 11 teams that have won at least as many games as they have lost.
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The NHL’s New York Islanders scratched F Mathew Barzal again on Sunday, meaning he has played in only two of the team’s first nine games. After beating the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs, the Islanders are 4-5-0. Under the terms of the CBA, the 19-year-old Barzal has two options — the Islanders or Seattle Thunderbirds.
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F Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings didn’t play again Sunday. Patrick, the consensus No. 1 pick in the NHL’s 2017 draft, hasn’t played since Oct. 11. He has missed eight of the team’s 14 games. Patrick had surgery for a sports hernia in July and speculation is that there are issues. Hockey Canada has to be getting nervous because it will be announcing the roster for the national junior team’s selection camp in about a month.
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If you are with one of the WHL Western Conference’s other nine teams, you have to be concerned with the fact that the Kelowna Rockets are heating up. After a terribly slow start under new head coach Jason Smith, the Rockets have won six in a row to get to 9-7-0. It’s also worth noting that F Nick Merkley has two goals but they came in his last two games, something that bodes well for Kelowna.
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It’s going to be appointment viewing when Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, presents the Super Bowl trophy to quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots on Feb. 5 in Houston. Mark the date on your calendar.
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With October about to leave us, you do realize that there are only eight Saturdays left before Christmas Day, don’t you? The last one of those eight is Christmas Eve.
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Ian Mulgrew, one of the Vancouver Sun’s two political columnists, has written another piece involving the proposed class-action lawsuit that is aimed at the CHL, WHL, OHL and their teams.
In this one, Mulgrew followed up on last week’s story that originated with TSN’s Rick Westhead.
Mulgrew writes:
"Canadian and Western Hockey League teams have been ordered to reveal their finances in a player’s class-action lawsuit for failure to meet employment standards.
“In a big win for the major junior players, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice R.J. Hall said the teams must produce evidence to back their claims that their financial straits are so dire they can’t afford to pay the talent.
“The leagues argued the disclosure order was too broad and the money numbers should not be revealed until after the lawsuit was certified, but the judge disagreed.
“He said the league must prove its assertions that the players’ demands would have such a bad financial effect on the clubs some would be forced to close.”
Mulgrew’s latest piece is right here.
linkis.com/vancouversun.com/new/89cbK
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Justice R.J. Hall of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ruled on Friday that while all 22 WHL teams must produce financial statements and tax returns for every year from 2011 to the present, the OHL’s 20 teams may not be included.
He noted that in Alberta, the CHL and WHL “have chosen to file affidavits from OHL team representatives arguing the same deleterious effects for them, and hence a deleterious effect for the CHL . . .”
Justice Hall added that if the WHL intends “to use and rely” on those OHL-based affidavits, then all OHL teams “must also provide the requested financial information.”
However, if the WHL chooses “to withdraw affidavits” from OHL teams, then those teams wouldn’t have to produce that information.
What isn’t in doubt is that David Branch, the OHL commissioner who doubles as CHL president, and Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, have been ordered to turn over a lot of information.
Robison must produce (a) all revenue-sharing agreements to which the WHL is a party; (b) all agreements that generate revenue for the WHL; and (c) “the source documentation for the statistical conclusions made in his affidavit.” In that affidavit, Robison “among other things, provides evidence on the expected financial impact on the WHL of deterring that the players are entitled to wages under the employment standards legislation applicable to the jurisdiction in which the teams were located.”
Branch, meanwhile, has been ordered to produce (a) all revenue-sharing agreements to which the CHL is a party; (b) all agreements that generate revenue for the CHL; and (c) the “source documentation from the statistical conclusions made in his affidavit.”
Justice Hall’s ruling from Friday doesn’t include a date by which the requested information must be provided.
As of Sunday evening, there hadn’t been any comment from anyone involved in the CHL, WHL or OHL.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:


At Cranbrook, B.C., the Kootenay Ice erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight goals and went on to beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 6-2. . . . The Ice had beaten the visiting Wheat Kings, 2-1, on Friday night. . . . Kootenay went into the weekend series with the defending champions having won just 13 of its past 85 games. . . The Ice now is 3-8-4 and has won two in a row. . . . The Wheat Kings (6-6-2) are lost three straight. . . . On Sunday, F Baron Thompson gave Brandon a 1-0 lead with his first goal at 8:38 of the first period. . . . The Ice tied it when D Cale Fleury scored his second goal with 0.3 seconds left in the first. . . . F Max Patterson’s goal, on a PP, at 8:57 of the second period put the home boys out front. . . . He’s got two goals. . . . D Troy Murray’s first goal, at 1:37 of the third period, added insurance and F Matt Alfaro stretched the lead at 9:49. . . . Brandon F Connor Gutenberg cut into the lead with his third goal, at 10:09, but the Ice closed it out on F Zak Zborosky’s 12th goal, at 11:55, and another from Alfaro, into an empty net, at 18:42. Alfaro has six goals. . . . Zborosky is tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead with F Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans. . . . Murray and Fleury each had two assists, with Zborosky adding one. . . . F Reid Duke had two assists for Brandon. . . . G Payton Lee blocked 35 shots for Kootenay, while Brandon got 33 saves from Jordan Papirny. . . . Papirny, 20, tied the Brandon franchise record for career regular-season starts (172). He shares that mark with Glen Hanlon, now the GM of the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Ice was 2-3 on the PP; Brandon was 0-3. . . . Announced attendance: 1,573.
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At Portland, the Kelowna Rockets erased a 2-0 second-period deficit to beat the Winterhawks, 3-2. . . . One night earlier, the visiting Rockets beat Portland, 5-3. . . . On Sunday, the home side skated to a 2-0 lead on goals from F Joachim Blichfeld, his fifth, at 12:41 of the first period, and F Skyler McKenzie, his 10th, on a PP, at 14:30 of the second. . . . Kelowna F Rod Southam got perhaps his club’s biggest goal when he scored shorthanded just 26 seconds after McKenzie. . . . The Rockets tied the game on F Nick Merkley’s second goal of the season — and second in two nights — on a PP, at 9:35 of the third period. . . . F Tomas Soustal snapped the tie with No. 7 at 11:39. . . . Merkley also had an assist. . . . F Cody Glass had two assists for Portland. . . . Each of the goaltenders — Brody Salmond of Kelowna and Cole Kehler of Portland — stopped 42 shots. . . . Kelowna was 1-3 on the PP; Portland was 1-5. . . . The Rockets (9-7-0) now have won six in a row. . . . The Winterhawks (8-8-0) have lost five straight. . . . Announced attendance: 5,117.
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At Regina, F Adam Brooks snapped a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 9:30 of the third period and the Pats went on to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-3. . . . The Pats (10-0-3), who have won six in a row, have the
WHL’s best winning percentage (.885) and remain the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost at least once in regulation time. . . . No one knows the Pats’ history as does Kevin Shaw and he says the franchise record for the best start is from 1964-65. The Pats began that season by going 14-0-4, with the last number representing ties (remember them?). . . . The Thunderbirds (4-6-1) are 1-1-0 on their East Division trip. . . . After Brooks scored his fifth goal, D Connor Hobbs and F Dawson Leedahl added empty-netters. . . . Leedahl added two assists to his goal, his fifth this season, while F Sam Steel (10), F Lane Zablocki (6) and Hobbs (3) each had a goal and an assist. . . . Seattle D Ethan Bear, scored his third goal, and added an assist. He has two goals and three assists in the first two games of this trip — he has been in on all five of his team’s goals in the two games. He’s from Ochapowace, Sask., which is just east of Regina. . . . Seattle got a goal and an assist from F Sami Moilanen, who has three goals. . . . Regina G Tyler Brown stopped 26 shots, four more than Seattle’s Rylan Toth. . . . The Thunderbirds were 3-5 on the PP; the Pats were 2-5. . . . Announced attendance: 6,484.
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MONDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Kamloops at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Red Deer at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:28 PM
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Ex-WHLer eligible for NCAA hockey . . . Steel pens note to young fan . . . Rebels win sixth in row

It doesn’t indicate it in F Brayden Gelsinger’s bio on the Lake Superior State Lakers’ website, but the Regina native did play 14 games with the Kamloops Blazers.
Gelsinger was pointless in two playoff games in the spring of 2012 and pointless in 12 regular-season
BRAYDEN GELSINGER
games in 2012-13. He later played with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals, West Kelowna Warriors and Victoria Grizzlies, putting up 51 goals and 104 assists in 169 games.
Now he’s a freshman forward, wearing No. 11, for the Lakers. He’s contributing, too, with three goals and four assists in four games.
That’s right. Gelsinger, now 21, signed a WHL contract and played in the WHL, and now he’s playing for an NCAA Division I hockey team.
You’re thinking . . . hmmmm, I thought signing a WHL contract meant a player lost his NCAA eligibility. I thought playing a WHL game meant a player no longer was eligible to play in the NCAA.
Well . . .
Gelsinger was playing with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies on Jan. 7, when he accepted a scholarship to Lake Superior State, which is based in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
It turns out that Gelsinger and his family worked with the NCAA and its Eligibility Center to get him on the Lakers’ roster.
“The NCAA Eligibility Center is responsible for determining a student-athlete's initial eligibility status based on their pre-enrollment athletic history,” Jen Constantino, LSSU’s NCAA compliance officer and deputy Title IX co-ordinator,” told Taking Note via email. “Brayden and his family worked with the Eligibility Center prior to his enrolment at Lake Superior State University to answer the NCAA's questions and provide them with the information they needed to make their decision.
“The NCAA made the determination that Brayden Gelsinger would be immediately eligible for competition. Our athletic department has followed the direction given to us by the NCAA.”
So it would seem that signing a WHL contract and even playing a handful of games need not be the death knell for a young man should the opportunity arise to go to a U.S. school.
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The story of the WHL, the governing B.C. Liberals and how the cabinet moved to exempt the league from minimum-wage legislation may not be finished. Ian Mulgrew of the Vancouver Sun reports that, according to the B.C. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyistys, the league “did not register as a lobbyist before leaning on B.C.’s cabinet to exempt major junior players from the minimum wage law.” . . . Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, told Mulgrew that such a move wasn’t necessary. . . . According to Mulgrew, the regulator now is taking a look at the situation. . . . Mulgrew’s story is right here.
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You can bet that F Sam Steel of the Regina Pats has a fan for life in the person of Benson Broda.
Benson’s mother, Krista, posted his on Facebook:
SAM STEEL
“Benson started skating lessons a few weeks ago and was so frustrated that he couldn't stop falling, he just wanted to just be able to go out and skate like a hockey player. He told me when he got home that he never sees Sam Steel (his absolute favourite Regina Pat ever) fall. He basically thought you either could skate or you couldn't, and he couldn't, so he wanted to give up. The lessons were expensive, so I did what any crazy mom would do and emailed the Pats asking if there was any way Sam Steel could somehow tell him he used to fall too. I got a reply from the Pats office saying that he was at Anaheim Ducks training camp, but asked for my address and said they would try and get something out for him when he got back. . . . I assumed they forgot (because it was a totally weird request and he's pretty busy scoring goals) but we opened the mail to this on Friday.”
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D Duncan Campbell has cleared WHL waivers and now is a free agent. Campbell was placed on waivers as the Wheat Kings got down to the maximum three 20-year-olds. They chose to go with F Tyler Coulter, F Reid Duke and G Jordan Papirny. . . . Campbell, a Brandon native, now is free to move to the OHL or QMJHL, should the opportunity arise. Or, should he choose, he is free to play junior A. . . . The Penticton Vees hold his BCHL rights and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him end up with them. . . . Campbell was pointless in six games with Brandon this season. In his previous two seasons, he totalled 22 goals and 21 assists in 140 regular-season games.
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JUST NOTES:

The Portland Winterhawks have dropped F Brett Clayton, who is to turn 18 on Nov. 22, from their roster. He is expected to join the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. From Abbotsford, B.C., Clayton had a goal and two assists in 57 games with Portland last season. This season, he was pointless in three games. The Saskatoon Blades selected him in the 10th round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft. . . . 
The Russian team that will meet Team WHL in the CIBC Canada-Russia series has revealed its tentative roster — three goaltenders, 13 defencemen and 20 forwards. . . . Included are a few WHLers — D Artyom Minulin (Swift Current Broncos), D Dmitriy Zaitsev (Moose Jaw Warriors), D Sergey Zborovskiy (Regina Pats), F Nikita Popugaev (Moose Jaw). The roster also includes F Klim Kostin, who was selected by the Kootenay Ice with the first overall pick in the CHL’s 2016 import draft. Kostin chose not to join the Ice and has played this season with Dynamo Moscow of the KHL and the VHL’s Dynamo Balashikha. . . . 
Dale McFee has stepped aside after 10 years as president of the Prince Albert Raiders. McFee, who is a former Raiders player (1982-86), cited time constraints in making his decision. Long-time board member Gord Broda has been elected president of the community-owned franchise, with McGee as vice-president.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:


At Kelowna, F Kole Lind had a goal and three assists to lead the Rockets to a 6-4 victory over the Victoria
KOLE LIND
Royals. . . . The Rockets held a 3-2 lead midway through the second period when they took control by scoring the next three goals. . . . F Rod Southam and F Calvin Thurkauf each scored twice for Kelowna. Southam gave the Rockets a 4-2 lead at 13:13 of the second, with Thurkauf scoring at 17:26 of the second and 3:25 of the third. . . . Southam has three goals; Thurkauf has six. . . . Lind’s sixth goal, at 4:03 of the first period, tied the game 1-1. F Ryan Peckford’s fourth goal had opened the scoring at 3:24. . . . D Jonathan Smart and D Lucas Johansen had two assists each for the Rockets, with F Tomas Soustal getting a goal and an assist. . . . G Michael Herringer turned aside 25 shots for the Rockets. . . . Victoria starter Griffen Outhouse surrendered five goals on 23 shots through two periods. Dylan Myskiw played the third, stopping 10 of 11 shots. . . . Kelowna was 3-8 on the PP; Victoria was 2-7. . . . The Rockets have won four in a row to get their record to .500 (7-7-0). . . . The Royals are 8-7-0. . . . Announced attendance: 4,570.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., F Jansen Harkins scored two goals and added an assist to help the Prince George
JANSEN HARKINS
Cougars to a 5-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Brogan O’Brien, who also had two goals, got the visitors started at 8:05 of the first period. . . . F Austin Wellsby pulled the Ice even with his first goal at 14:04. . . . Harkins scored on a PP, giving the Cougars the lead at 7:01 of the second. . . . O’Brien made it 3-1 with his fourth goal of the season at 16:40. . . . F Brad Morrison added a goal, his seventh, and an assist for the winners, with F Jesse Gabrielle and F Colby McAuley each getting two assists. . . . G Nick McBride stopped 33 shots for the Cougars, while the Ice got 28 saves from Jakob Walter. . . . The Cougars were 1-1 on the PP; the Ice was 0-2. . . . The Cougars (12-2-1) have points on five straight (4-0-1) and now are 7-0-0 on the road. . . . The Ice (1-8-4) has lost seven straight (0-5-2). . . . Announced attendance: 1,542.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels scored the game’s first three goals, all in the second period, en route to a 5-2
MICHAEL SPACEK
victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . F Brandon Hagel snapped the scoreless tie with his fourth goal at 9:32, with F Grayson Pawlenchuk getting his third at 15:48, and D Jared Freadrich scoring his first, on a PP, at 19:10. . . . Brandon F Stelio Mattheos got Brandon on the board, with his fifth goal, on a PP, at 1:30 of the third period. . . . D Alexander Alexeyev got that one back for Red Deer, scoring his second goal at 5:39. . . . F Tyler Coulter’s PP goal pulled the Wheat Kings to within two at 8:40, but D Josh Mahura’s fourth goal, on a PP, put it out of reach at 17:59. . . . F Michael Spacek had three assists for the Rebels, running his point streak to nine games, while Alexeyev, Hagel and Mashura each added an assist to his goal. . . . G Riley Lamb stopped 22 shots for the home team, with Brandon’s Logan Thompson blocking 51. . . . The Wheat Kings have been outshot 101-40 over their past two games. The beat the host Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-3, on Tuesday. . . . Red Deer was 2-4 on the PP; Brandon was 2-5. . . . The Rebels (8-3-2) have won six in a row. . . . The Wheat Kings (6-4-2) had been 4-0-1 in their previous five games. . . . Brandon F Reid Duke missed a second game in as many nights as he tended to a family matter. . . . Announced attendance: 4,025.
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At Saskatoon, the Spokane Chiefs scored the game’s first three goals and went on to a 6-2 victory over
KAILER YAMAMOTO
the Blades. . . . F Ethan McIndoe’s second goal, on a PP, got the Chiefs on the board first, at 10:43 of the first period. . . . They made it 3-0 in the second on goals from D Trent Huitema, his first, at 3:07 of the second period, and F Kailer Yamamoto, at 9:51. . . . Saskatoon F Gage Ramsay scored his first goal — a native of Saskatoon, he was acquired from the Vancouver Giants last week — at 17:01, but Yamamoto got that one back just 42 seconds into the third period. . . . Yamamoto has 10 goals. . . . F Riley McKay’s first goal, at 2:17, made it 5-1 and school was out. . . . F Taylor Ross and F Curtis Miske each had two assists for the Chiefs, while McKay and McIndoe added one apiece. . . . D Bryton Sayers had two assists for the Blades. . . . The Chiefs got 27 saves from G Dawson Weatherill. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm turned aside 24 shots. . . . The Chiefs were 1-2 on the PP; the Blades were 0-9. . . . Spokane (5-6-2) is 2-2-0 on its East Division trip. . . . The Blades (6-6-1), fresh off a five-game B.C. Division trip, have lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 3,178.
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THURSDAY’S GAME (all times local):


Tri-City at Everett, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:05 PM
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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Former WHLer talks about lawsuit . . . Lewis, Zablocki, Topping fill hats . . . AHL's father-son act has WHL flavour


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 Ian Mulgrew, a columnist with the Vancouver Sun, now has written back-to-back columns regarding the former and present major junior hockey players who are attempting to get class-action status for a lawsuit that has been filed in the hopes of having CHL teams ordered to pay minimum wages to players. . . . In Saturday’s newspaper, Mulgrew writes about Lukas Walter, who is one of the players involved in the lawsuit. Walter spent two seasons with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and then played for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. . . . “I think they need to clean the league up,” Walter told Mulgrew.“In Saint John (N.B.), I was getting $500 a week. Out here, I was getting $250 a month. It’s a little bit of nonsense when it’s the same league.” . . . Mulgrew’s column is right here.
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F Nolan Patrick, the consensus No. 1 selection for the 2017 NHL draft, didn’t play on Friday night as his Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-1.
He wasn’t in the lineup on Saturday night, either, as the host Wheat Kings beat the visiting Spokane
Chiefs, 6-0.
In fact, Patrick now has missed four straight games and the speculation is rampant.
Patrick, you’ll recall, has said that he was injured during last spring’s Eastern Conference final against the Red Deer Rebels. He played with the injury — it turned out to be a sports hernia — through the Memorial Cup. Then, when it didn’t respond to rest, he had surgery in July.
The Winnipeg native, who turned 18 on Sept. 19, missed a lot of the Wheat Kings’ training camp but was in the lineup on Sept. 23 when they opened the season with a 3-2 loss to the host Moose Jaw Warriors.
To this point in the season, he has played in six games, putting up four goals and five assists. He last played on Oct. 11 when he had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
On Saturday morning, it was suggested to me that Patrick’s “hernia has flared up again . . . he’ll be out awhile.”
The Wheat Kings continue to list Patrick as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. But, of course, WHL teams stopped providing transparent injury-related information a number of seasons ago so . . .
You can bet that Patrick wants to be healthy enough to play for Team Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championship that is scheduled to open Dec. 26 in Montreal and Toronto.
So, in the hopes that he can attend Canada’s selection camp early in December, perhaps Patrick will be held out until then.
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You can write Dusty and Jonah Imoo into hockey’s history books after father and son were the two goaltenders dressed by the AHL’s Ontario Reign on Saturday night.
This all came about as the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings lost two goaltenders — Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff — to groin injuries. After Zatkoff was hurt in Saturday’s morning skate, They had recalled Peter Budaj after Quick went down, which resulted in Jonah Imoo being brought in to back up Jack Campbell with the Reign. On Saturday, when Zatkoff was injured, Campbell moved up to the Kings, who were at home to the Vancouver Canucks, which left the Reign without a backup.
So it was that Dusty, in his second season as the Kings’ goaltender development coach, was recruited in a backup role as his son made his AHL debut on Saturday against the visiting San Jose Barracuda.
The visitors won the game, 5-4, in OT. Jonah, wearing No. 35, stopped 26 shots in front of 8,282 fans. His father wore No. 70.
Dusty, 46, has some WHL in his past. He split four WHL seasons between the New Westminster Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats (1987-91). He made 47, 48 and 50 appearances over his last three seasons. He also spent two seasons (2011-13) with the Seattle Thunderbirds as their goaltending coach.
His professional career took him to Japan for 12 seasons (1994-2006), split between the Seibu Bears Tokyo and the Oji Eagles. He played for Japan at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998 and was on Japan’s roster for three World Championships.
Jonah, 22, played junior B with the Richmond Sockeyes, then moved into the BCHL where he played two seasons (2012-14) with the Powell River Kings and one (2014-15) with the Merritt Centennials. He played in only three games last season, in the Southern Professional and Federal leagues, but had been with the Reign through development and training camps.
Mike Stothers is Ontario’s head coach. He spent three seasons (2011-14) as the head coach of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Ty Lewis was the scoring star and Logan Thompson provided the goaltending as the Wheat Kings blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 6-0. . . . Thompson stopped 30 shots in recording his first
TY LEWIS
career shutout. It came in his 31st regular-season appearance, his fourth this season. . . . Lewis, meanwhile, enjoyed his first three-goal game, running his season goal total to eight. He scored three of the game’s first four goals — at 3:39 of the first period, and at 0:33 and 14:44 of the second. He also drew an assist. . . . Lewis, a Brandon native, had 10 goals and 13 assists in 48 games as a freshman last season. This season, he has eight goals and four assists in 11 games. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Connor Gutenberg, while F Reid Duke had a goal and an assiset. D Kale Clague, in his second game of the season, drew three assists, while F Tanner Kaspick had two. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill was beaten three times on 17 shots in 21:05. Reliever Jayden Sittler also stopped 14 of 17 shots. . . . Brandon was 1-5 on the PP; Spokane was 0-4. . . . The Wheat Kings (5-3-2) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Chiefs slipped to 3-6-2 as they opened their East Division swing. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Tyler Coulter, who has drawn a TBD suspension for a check from behind on F Giorgio Estephan of the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night. . . . With four 20-year-olds on their roster, the Wheat Kings again scratched F Duncan Campbell, choosing to dress Duke and G Jordan Papirny. With Coulter suspended, the Wheat Kings aren’t allowed to dress a 20-year-old in his place. . . . Announced attendance: 4,604.
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At Kamloops, F Deven Sideroff scored twice, including the winner at 2:05 of OT, as the Blazers beat
DEVEN SIDEROFF
the Tri-City Americans, 4-3. . . . Sideroff has seven goals for Kamloops, which is 5-0-0 at home. . . . The Blazers (7-6-0) have won three in a row. . . . The Americans (6-6-0) have lost two straight. . . . F Morgan Geekie, who also had two assists, gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 12:13 of the second period. He has four goals. . . . The Blazers pulled even at 17:49 when F Collin Shirley got his fifth goal, a shorthanded effort. . . . Sideroff gave Kamloops its first lead at 5:17 of the third, only to have D Parker Wotherspoon pull the visitors even with his third goal on a PP, at 5:51. . . . Shirley’s second goal gave the Blazers another lead, at 10:57, but Tri-City F Kyle Olson tied it at 13:55. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers had two assists for Kamloops. . . . F Tyler Sandhu drew two assists for Tri-City. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Ferguson stopped 21 shots in his first game since Sept. 24 when he injured an ankle. Connor Ingram had started the Blazers’ previous 10 games. . . . Tri-City G Rylan Parenteau blocked 33 shots. . . . The Americans were 1-3 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-2. . . . Kamloops D Joe Gatenby was ejected at 16:17 of the second period with a headshot major and game misconduct after a hit on Tri-City D Juuso Valimaki. . . . Valimaki didn’t return for the third period. . . . Announced attendance: 3,683.
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At Medicine Hat, F Lane Zablocki scored three times to lead the Regina Pats to an 8-5 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Pats (9-0-3) continue to be the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost a
LANE ZABLOCKI
game in regulation time. . . . The Tigers (8-4-1) are 3-1-1 in their last five. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski’s third goal of his freshman season, at 14:58 of the second period, gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead. . . . The Pats scored the next three goals, with Zablocki getting his second of the game at 17:10 and F Dawson Leedahl notching his fourth of the season at 19:16. F Austin Wagner’s sixth of the season upped the lead to 5-3 at 4:00 of the third period. . . . The Tigers got to within one when F Mark Rassell got his second goal, and ninth of the season, at 8:55, but Regina F Filip Ahl stretched the lead at 12:45. . . . Again, the Tigers closed the gap, this time on D David Quenneville’s sixth goal, on a PP, at 16:03. . . . The Pats put it away with goals from F Adam Brooks, his fourth, at 18:02, and Zablocki, into an empty net, at 19:09. . . . Zablocki, a sophomore, enjoyed his first WHL hat trick. He has five goals this season. . . . Zablocki also had an assist, while Wagner had three of them. . . . The Tigers got a goal and an assist from F Max Gerlach and two assists from D Clayton Kirichenko. . . . The Pats got 35 stops from G Tyler Brown. . . . Medicine Hat G Nick Schneider stopped 32 shots. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-6 on the PP; Regina was 0-3. . . . Regina D Sergey Zborovsky didn’t play. He left Friday’s 6-1 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury in the second period. . . . Announced attendance: 4,094.
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At Prince George, F Brad Morrison scored twice to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory over the
BRAD MORRISON
Saskatoon Blades. . . . Morrison, who has six goals, scored at 19:03 of the second period, then broke a 1-1 tie at 16:56 of the third. . . . F Jansen Harkins and F Jesse Gabrielle had the assists on both goals. . . . F Josh Paterson scored for the Blades, getting his third goal at 4:07 of the third. . . . The Cougars (11-2-1) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Blades (6-5-1) have lost two in a row. They finished a B.C. Division trip at 2-3-0. . . . G Ty Edmonds stopped 29 shots for the Cougars. . . . The Blades got 34 saves on 36 shots from G Brock Hamm, with Logan Flodell coming on during an equipment malfunction and making five saves in 4:45 in the first period. . . . Hamm left for skate repairs after losing a blade. . . . Announced attendance: 5,577.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels ran their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Prince
LASSE PETERSEN
Albert Raiders. . . . Goals by F Michael Spacek, his seventh, at 3:34 of the second period, and F Brandon Hagel, his third, at 14:54, gave the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . The Raiders got a PP goal from F Tim Vanstone, his third, at 5:49 of the third period. . . . Red Deer D Josh Mahura finished the scoring with a PP goal at 19:32. . . . Hagel added an assist to his goal. . . . The victory improved the Rebels’ record to 7-3-2. . . . The Raiders (3-7-1) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . G Lasse Petersen, in his Red Deer debut, stopped 29 shots. He was acquired last week from the Everett Silvertips. . . . G Nick Sanders turned aside 32 shots for the Raiders. He was making his first start since being acquired last week from the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Raiders were 1-4 on the PP; the Rebels were 1-5. . . . Announced attendance: 4,788.
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At Kent, Wash., F Kyle Topping scored his first three WHL goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Topping, who is to turn 17 on Nov. 18, is the younger brother of Tri-City Americans F Jordan Topping, who is injured and has yet to play this season. Kyle’s hat trick came in his 11th game; he has one more WHL hat trick than does Jordan, who scored 33 goals last season. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s first five goals, the first two in the second period. . . . F Kole Lind had a goal and an assist, while D Lucas Johansen and F Jordan Borstmayer each had two assists for Kelowna (6-7-0), which has won three in a row. . . . Rockets G Michael Herringer stopped 36 shots, losing his shutout at 19:40 of the third period when F Ian Briscoe scored his first goal. . . . G Rylan Toth blocked 25 shots for Seattle (3-5-1). . . . The Rockets were 0-2 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-4. . . . F Zack Andrusiak, acquired Thursday from the Prince Albert Raiders, was in Seattle’s lineup for the first time. . . . The Thunderbirds scratched F Ryan Gropp for a second game with an undisclosed injury. . . . Announced attendance: 3,688.
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TY RONNING
At Langley, B.C., F Ty Ronning scored at 2:31 of OT to give the Vancouver Giants a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Ronning has five goals this season. . . . F Lane Pederson gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 11:49 of the first period. He’s got four goals. . . . Vancouver D Matt Barberis tied it with his first goal, on a PP, at 19:57. . . . The Giants improved to 6-8-0. . . The Broncos (8-4-2) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). They went 2-2-1 on their B.C. Division tour. . . . Vancouver G Ryan Kubic stopped 28 shots, while Swift Current’s Taz Burman turned aside 35. . . . Swift Current was 1-3 on the PP; Vancouver was 1-4. . . . Announced attendance: 3,924.
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NOAH JUULSEN
At Victoria, D Noah Juulsen, playing his 200th regular-season game, had two goals to help the Everett Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Royals. . . . Juulsen, who has four goals, opened the scoring at 14:46 of the first period. It was the 10th time in their 13 games that the Silvertips have scored first. . . . Victoria F Regan Nagy’s fifth goal, on a PP, tied the game at 4:05 of the second period. . . . F Dominic Zwerger, who also had an assist, broke the tie at 13:25. . . . Juulsen put it away with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:18 of the third period. . . . Everett now is 9-2-2. . . . The Royals (7-6-0) had a three-game winning streak snapped. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 37 shots. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse turned aside 10 shots. . . . The Silvertips were outshot 8-4, 10-5 and 20-4 by period. . . . The Royals were 1-5 on the PP; the Silvertips were 0-3. . . . The Silvertips had F Devon Skoleski and F Eetu Tuulola back in the lineup after both were out with injuries. . . . Announced attendance: 4,424.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Prince Albert at Calgary, 4 p.m.

Tri-City at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:52 PM
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Friday, October 21, 2016

B.C. gov't exempts WHL teams from minimum wage law . . . Pats' bid tied up in lease talks . . . Pats lovin' shorthanded play


F Ned Lukacevic (Spokane, Swift Current, 2001-06) has been released by mutual agreement by Katowice (Poland, PHL). He had five goals and four assists in eight games. . . .
F Zach Boychuk (Lethbridge, 2005-09) has signed a one-year contract with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL). Last season, he had nine goals and 16 assists in 56 games with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL) 56 GP, and three goals and two assists with the  Bakersfield Condors (AHL).
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 “The B.C. government has exempted the province’s six major junior hockey teams from having to pay their players minimum wage,” writes Rob Shaw of the Vancouver Sun, “after threats from the Western Hockey League that teams might not survive a class-action lawsuit on the issue unless the government quickly changed the law in their favour.” . . . The exemption came on Feb. 16 and was made while a class-action lawsuit by former CHL players is making its way through the legal system. That lawsuit was filed in Toronto and Calgary but hasn’t yet been certified. . . . Shaw’s story is right here.
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Meanwhile, both of the Vancouver Sun’s political columnists — Ian Mulgrew and Vaughn Palmer — chose to hold the B.C. government’s feet to the fire over this move. . . . Mulgrew has some questions in a piece headlined: Forecheck, back check — how about a junior hockey paycheque? . . . Mulgrew writes: “The sad legacy of how National Hockey League owners exploited players for much of the 20th century apparently lives on in major junior hockey. Astoundingly, owners of B.C.’s six profit-driven teams seem to have persuaded the provincial Liberal cabinet to bring back indentured labour.” . . . Mulgrew’s column is right here. . . . Palmer’s piece carries the headline: Liberals ‘save’ hockey in B.C., but do so on the sly. . . . “The Liberals made the change after extensive lobbying from the league,” Palmer writes, “which was facing a court challenge on the failure to pay minimum wage and concerned about economic pressures on its teams were they obliged to pay up. The Liberals bought the argument but did so in the quietest fashion. The waiver was approved by cabinet order on Feb. 15, with no followup press release nor much else to draw attention to what they’d done.” . . . Why so quiet? Why the secrecy? . . . Palmer’s column is right here. . . . The really interesting thing about all of this: The six B.C. teams seem to have said they would be in danger of financial collapse if they had to pay minimum wage, but they weren’t required to turn over any financials to prove such claims.
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When Diane and Russ Parker owned the Regina Pats, and their son, Brent, was the general manager, it seemed that there would be a nasty battle every time the lease with what now is the Regina Exhibition Association Ltd., came up for renewal. Now the Pats have relatively new owners — the Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group — and guess what? Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that “an impasse in negotiations for a new lease at the Brandt Centre threatens to derail the Regina Pats’ bid for the 2018 Memorial Cup.” . . . Anthony Marquart, the president of QCSEG, told Harder: “We’re very concerned. We’re at the point now where we’re being put at risk and the community is being put at risk. We won’t be in a position to host a Memorial Cup unless this lease is finalized.” . . . Harder’s story is right here.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds got down to three 20-year-olds on Thursday by sending F Cavin Leth to the Prince Albert Raiders for F Zack Andrusiak, 18, and a third-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. . . . The move left the Thunderbirds with F Scott Eansor, F Ryan Gropp and G Rylan Toth as their 20s. . . . The Raiders now have Leth, F Austin Glover and F Tim Vanstone as their 20s. . . . Andrusiak, from Yorkton, Sask., had a goal and an assist in eight games with the Raiders. . . . Leth had three assists in five games with Seattle. He was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos on Jan. 4 for D Sahvan Khaira. Last season, in 36 games with the Thunderbirds, he had six goals and seven assists. . . . In 199 career regular-season games, Leth has 21 goals and 22 assists.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors and the Wheat Kings will convene earlier than usual in Brandon on Feb. 8 in order to complete a game that got fogged out on Sept. 24. You may recall that player safety became a concern due to fog and the game was halted with the Warriors leading 2-1 at 14:23 of the second period. . . . The teams will complete that game on Feb. 8, starting at 6 p.m. The regularly scheduled game will follow at 7:30 p.m. . . . Check out the Wheat Kings’ website for details on tickets.
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JUST NOTES:

The Victoria Royals have dropped F Keith Anderson from their roster. He is expected to join the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. Anderson, 19, is from Hermiston, Ore. He was a sixth-round pick by the Royals in the 2012 bantam draft. Last season, he had a goal and five assists in 33 games with Victoria. This season, he was pointless in three games. . . .
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, D Kale Clague, in his first game of the season, had a goal and two assists to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Clague was injured while in camp
KALE CLAGUE
with the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 21. . . . F Tanner Kaspick also had a goal and two assists for Brandon, with F Reid Duke and D James Shearer each getting a goal and an assist. . . . Shearer was back in Brandon’s lineup for the first time this month. The Wheat Kings also have F Barron Thompson back in camp after having dropped him from their roster for what Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun has referred to as “an off-ice issue.” However, Thompson didn’t play last night . . . Wheat Kings F Nolan Patrick also was scratched again. . . . G Jordan Papirny stopped 32 shots for Brandon, with Stuart Skinner blocking 32 for the visitors. . . . Brandon was 1-3 on the PP; Lethbridge was 1-5. . . . The Wheat Kings (4-3-2) are 2-0-1 in their last three outings. . . . The Hurricanes (5-6-2), who continue to be without F Egor Babenko, have lost five in a row (0-4-1). . . . The Wheat Kings lost F Tyler Coulter at 12:35 of the first period with a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct for a hit on F Giorgio Estephan. That will take Coulter out of Saturday’s game against the visiting Spokane Chiefs, for starters. . . . Announced attendance: 3,707.
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At Edmonton, F Trey Fix-Wolansky broke a 1-1 tie at 7:09 of the second period and the Oil Kings
TREY FIX-WOLANSKY
went on to a 3-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Fix-Wolansky, who was acquired from Prince Albert for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft on Sept. 7, has four goals in his freshman season. He also drew two assists in this one. . . . The Raiders got the game’s first goal, from F Parker Kelly, at 2:40 of the first period. . . . Edmonton D Will Warm’s first goal tied it, at 14:17. Fix-Wolansky drew an assist on the play. . . . Edmonton D Aaron Irving got the game’s last goal, on a PP, at 17:28 of the third period. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 32 shots. . . . G Ian Scott of the Raiders turned aside 35. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-2 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-3. . . . Edmonton (4-5-2) had lost its previous three games (0-2-1). . . . The Raiders are 3-6-1. . . . F Cavin Leth, acquired Thursday from the Seattle Thunderbirds, was in Prince Albert’s lineup. . . . Announced attendance: 6,798.
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At Kamloops, F Rudolfs Balcers had two goals and an assist in the first period as the Blazers got
RUDOLFS BALCERS
started towards what would be a ?? victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Balcers, a smooth-skating Latvian, has five goals this season. . . . The Blazers took a 1-0 lead on F Deven Sideroff’s fifth goal, at 1:14 of the first period. . . . Saskatoon F Mason McCarthy tied it with his eighth goal at 7:42. . . . It was all Blazers after that, with Balcers scoring at 11:49 and 17:32. . . . Sideroff added two assists to his goal, while D Shaun Dosanjh also had two helpers. D Ondrej Vala had a goal and an assist, as did F Spencer Bast. . . . The Blades had problems handling the Kamloops speed on the forecheck and constantly turned the puck over at the Saskatoon blue line. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram was sharp with 28 saves. Fred Brathwaite, Hockey Canada’s goaltending consultant, was in the house as Ingram is a candidate for Canada’s national junior team. . . . The Blades got 24 saves from G Logan Flodell. . . . Each team was 0-6 on the PP. . . . The Blazers (6-6-0) have won two in a row and are 4-0-0 at home. . . . The Blades (6-4-1) are 2-2-0 in B.C. Their trip concludes Saturday night in Prince George. . . . Announced attendance: 3,382.
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At Kelowna, the Rockets scored twice in the first 45 seconds of the opening period — they led 4-0 at
JAKE KRYSKI
4:48 — and went on to beat the Tri-City Americans, 4-2. . . . F Jake Kryski’s third goal got things started at 0:23 and F Riley Stadel made it 2-0 just 22 seconds later. . . . D Nolan Foote upped it to 3-0 at 4:10 and F Calvin Thukauf made it 4-0 at 4:48. . . . The Americans got two first-period goals, from D Brendan O’Reilly at 9:12 and F Max James at 15:40. . . . Kryski also had an assist. . . . D Dylan Coghlan drew two assists for Tri-City, with James getting one. . . . Kelowna G Michael Herringer won it with 18 saves. . . . Tri-City starter Rylan Parenteau was beaten four times on seven shots. Reliever Beck Warm came on to stop 34 shots in 38:37. . . . Each team was 0-5 on the PP. . . . The Rockets (5-7-0) have won two straight. . . . The Americans are 6-5-0. . . . Announced attendance: 4,766.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., the Medicine Hat Tigers took a 2-0 first-period lead and went on to beat the
MASON SHAW
Kootenay Ice, 4-1. . . . The Tigers had beaten the visiting Ice 10-3 on Wednesday night. . . . Last night, F John Dahlstrom got his fifth goal at 13:50 and F Steve Owre, with his first, made it 2-0 at 19:01. . . . F Matt Alfaro’s fourth goal, at 9:00 of the second period, got the Ice on the board. . . . F Mark Rassell’s seventh goal gave the Tigers some insurance at 11:50 of the second. . . . F Matt Bradley added insurance with his sixth goal, an empty-netter, at 18:57 of the third period. . . . Tigers F Mason Shaw had three assists, while Owre and Dahlstrom each had one. . . . G Nick Schneider stopped 25 shots for the winners. . . . The Ice got 33 stops from G Jakob Walter. . . . The Tigers were 1-5 on the PP; the Ice was 0-2. . . . The Tigers (8-3-1) are 3-0-1 in their last four games. . . . The Ice (1-7-4) has lost six in a row (0-4-2). . . . The Tigers were without F Chad Butcher (suspension) and F Zach Fischer (flu). . . . Announced attendance: 1,806.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Calgary Hitmen, 4-1. . . . Red
MICHAEL SPACEK
Deer (6-3-2) has won four straight. . . . The Hitmen (3-4-1) have lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . . F Jakob Stukel gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 1:18 of the first period. . . . D Alexander Alexeyev scored his first WHL goal for the Rebels at 4:43 and he drew the only assist on F Michael Spacek’s goal at 10:04. . . . Spacek has six goals. . . . D Colton Bobyk’s fourth goal provided insurance, via the PP, at 15:03 of the second period. . . . Red Deer F Brandon Hagel got the empty-netter at 17:21 of the third. . . . Rebels F Evan Polei had two assists, with Spacek adding one to his goal. . . . The Rebels got 31 stops out of G Riley Lamb. . . . G Cody Porter blocked 37 shots for the Hitmen. . . . Red Deer was 1-5 on the PP; Calgary was 0-6. . . . Announced attendance: 4,809.
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At Regina, the Pats scored three goals in the second period — each of them while shorthanded — en
AUSTIN WAGNER
route to a 4-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Regina now has a WHL-leading nine shorthanded goals in only 11 games. . . . The Pats (8-0-3) remain the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost in regulation time. . . . The Chiefs are 3-5-2. . . . F Luc Smith gave Regina a 1-0 lead at 6:31 of the first period, with Spokane F Curtis Miske equalizing, on a PP, at 14:59. . . . The shorthanded flurry began with F Austin Wagner scoring at 3:41. He added another one at 10:52. F Jake Leschyshyn scored the third shorthanded snipe at 12:14. . . . Wagner has five goals; Leschyshyn has six. . . . Chiefs F Ethan McIndoe’s first goal, on a PP at 5:21 of the third period, rounded out the scoring. . . . G Jordan Hollett stopped 28 shots for Regina, one more than Spokane’s Jayden Sittler. . . . Spokane was 2-6 on the PP; Regina was 0-4. . . . Announced attendance: 5,259.
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At Kent, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead and went on to a 3-1
RYLAN TOTH
victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . F Nolan Volcan, at 16:06, and D Ethan Bear, at 18:34, got Seattle started. . . . F Skyler McKenzie’s eighth goal, at 3:45 of the second period, got Portland to within one. . . . Seattle F Matthew Wedman iced it with an empty-netter at 19:00 of the third period. . . . The Thunderbirds got 32 stops from G Rylan Toth. . . . Portland G Cole Kehler made 25 saves. . . . Seattle was 1-2 on the PP; Portland was 1-3. . . . The Thunderbirds (3-4-1) had lost their previous three games (0-2-1). . . . The Winterhawks (8-5-0) have lost two in a row. . . . F Ryan Gropp was among Seattle’s scratches. He is out with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Mathew Barzal, who is eligible to return to Settle, was scratched again by the New York Islanders. He has played in only one game this season. . . . Announced attendance: 3,634.
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At Victoria, the Royals tied the franchise record for most goals in one game for the second game in a
DANTE HANNOUN
row as they bounced the Swift Current Broncos, 9-2. . . . On Tuesday, the Royals beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 9-3. . . . The original record was set on Feb. 2, 2010, when the Chilliwack Bruins (remember them?) beat the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 9-2. . . . F Dante Hannoun had two goals and an assists for the Royals. F Ryan Peckford, who had a goal and five assists on Tuesday, had a goal and two assists in this one, as did F Matt Phillips and F Regan Nagy. D Ryan Gagnon and D Chaz Redekopp each drew two assists. . . . F Aleksi Heponiemi had a goal and an assist for the Broncos. . . . Victoria was 4-8 on the PP; Swift Current was 1-7. . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 25 shots for Victoria. . . . The Broncos got 14 saves from starter Taz Burman, who gave up five goals. Travis Child came on in relief to turn aside 24 of 28 shots in 43:37. . . . The Royals (7-5-0) have won three straight. . . . The Broncos are 8-4-1. They are 2-2-0 on their B.C. trip. . . . Announced attendance: 4,962.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Spokane at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Tri-City at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Regina at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Saskatoon at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Kelowna vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Swift Current vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7 p.m.
Everett at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:19 PM
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