F Jakub Šindel (Brandon, 2004-05) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite). He had been released by Kaltern/Caldaro (Italy, Serie A). . . .
F Zdeněk Blatný (Seattle, Kootenay, 1998-2001) has been released by
Frederikshavn (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). He had three goals and five assists in
five games. His contract had a clause allowing either side to terminate it
within the first month. Frederikshavn elected to terminate the contract.
---
F Greg Chase remains at home in Sherwood Park, Alta., as he waits for the
Calgary Hitmen to trade him. He also is a draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, who
signed him to a three-year contract in September. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton
Journal and Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald look at the situation right here.
---
The OHL's Erie Otters suffered their first regulation-time loss of the
season on Thursday when they were beaten 5-2 by the host Niagara IceDogs. . . .
Erie F Connor McDavid had his point streak end at 14 games (he has 42 points in
15 games). . . . The Otters' had at least a point in 14 straight games (13-0-1),
while Niagara had losts its previous six games.
---
The WHL's 20-year-old dance continued Wednesday, this time in the dressing
room of the Spokane Chiefs. F Jackson Playfair is back with the Chiefs, who in
turn placed F Connor Chartier on waivers. Playfair was traded by the Chiefs to
the Tri-City Americans last season. However, the Americans acquired F Richard
Nejezchleb from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday, and that left Tri-City
with three 20-year-olds, one over the roster limit. The Americans then put
Playfair on waivers. When the Chiefs claimed him, it left them one over the
limit, so they placed Chartier on waivers. . . . Playfair had seven points, four
of them goals, in 16 games with the Americans this season. Before being traded
last season, he had played 89 games with the Chiefs, recording six goals and
nine assists. . . . Chartier, a second-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2009
bantam draft, had 71 points, 25 of the goals, in 209 games with Spokane.
---
Bob Woods, the general manager and head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, has
some history with Mark French, the head coach of the Calgary Hitmen. In fact,
the two of them won an AHL championship together. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of
the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
---
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Jackie
Hobbs, the mother of D Connor Hobbs, continues to recover from serious injuries
suffered in an Oct. 24 head-on collision.
However, Nugent-Bowman writes, that accident didn’t have anything to do
with Hobbs leaving the Medicine Hat Tigers on Oct. 30 and asking to be
traded.
Hobbs, from Saskatoon, is at home waiting for the phone to ring.
According to Nugent-Bowman, Jackie Hobbs “suffered a broken collarbone,
seven broken ribs, a cracked sternum, a chipped vertebrae and a punctured lung .
. . She spent nine days in the hospital, but is now recovering well, according
to Hobbs's agent Jason Davidson.”
---
The latest edition of Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts is right here. . . .
Included is confirmation that, yes, F Kris Versteeg of the Chicago Blackhawks
still is interested in purchasing the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
---
Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail has an interesting take on Alex
Rodriguez and his drug situation. Were you in A-Rod’s situation, asks Kelly,
what would you have done? Kelly certainly knows what he would have done. Give it
a look right here.
---
John Forzani, a former CFL player who became a business leader in Calgary,
died last week in Palm Springs, Calif. His brain has since been donated to the
Canadian Sports Concussion Project. . . . There is no doubt that Forzani
experienced brain injuries while playing with the Calgary Stampeders (1971-76),
but what makes his situation interesting is that he doesn’t appear to have
suffered any cognitive issues in his latter years. He was 67 when he died. . . .
Mario Toneguzzi of the Calgary Herald has more right here.
---
Sometimes the road has its perks! Team enjoying the TrailBlazers game before tomorrows meeting with @pdxwinterhawks pic.twitter.com/irNhDJ3OrB
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) November 7, 2014
@Rebelshockey Going to a Portland Trailblazers game??? #SanctionsComingSoon
— Not Ron Robison (@NotRonRobison) November 7, 2014
The Wheat Kings had dealt their 2015 third-round pick to the Prince George Cougars for the rights to F Peter Quenneville a year ago.
With Nejezchleb being a two-spotter -- a 20-year-old and an import -- it meant that the Americans had to make a couple of moves in order to get him on their roster.
If you aren’t aware by now that nothing is private once it appears anywhere on social media, well, learn a lesson from what has happened to some OHL players. They were busy apologizing on Tuesday for it. . . . Peterborough This Week has a story 
and D Colin Paradis, 16.
In Saskatoon, F Adam Tambellini scored twice and added an assist to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-1 victory over the Blades. . . . Tambellini has 10 goals this season. . . . Calgary F Radel Fazleev broke a 1-1 tie at 16:10 of the second period with his sixth goal. . . . The Hitmen (8-8-1) had lost their past four games; the Blades (5-12-0) now have lost three in a row. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields, who played for the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts, stopped 25 shots. . . . Saskatoon G Trevor Martin made 26 saves. He joined the Blades on Saturday from the SJHL's Melville Millionaires, replacing the injured Nik Amundrud. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen came up short on a first-period penalty shot when the puck rolled off the blade of his stick. . . . Saskatoon D Jordan Thomson left the game early in the first period after taking a stick up high from Virtanen. Bob Woods, the Blades' general manager and head coach, said later that Thomson has a concussion. . . . The Blades already were missing Amundrud and D Adam Henry with concussions. . . . Among Calgary's scratches were it’s two top scorers -- F Chase Lang, who is serving a WHL suspension, and F Greg Chase (healthy). Chase has 15 points, including two goals, in 15 games after totalling 35 goals and 50 assists in 70 games last season. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story 
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored two second-period goals 26 seconds apart and hung on for a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Coda Gordon scored his ninth goal of the season, at 7:43 of the first, to give the visitors the lead. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford tied it with his 10th at 4:41 of the second and Steve Owre broke the tie with his seventh goal at 5:07. . . . Sanford also had an assist. . . . Broncos G Landon Bow, who is having a magnificent season, stopped 35 shots, 10 more than the Tigers' Marek Langhamer. . . . The Broncos (10-8-2) had F Jay Merkley back in the lineup. He had 12 points, including seven goals, in nine games when he was sidelined due to illness. . . . The Tigers (12-3-1) had lost their previous two games. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., G Taran Kozun stopped 37 shots through OT and was perfect in the shootout as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-2. . . . F Justin Hickman scored three times for the Thunderbirds, but only gets credit for two. That's because shootout goals don't count in individual stats, even when they are game-winners. . . . Hickman won the game on his first-ever shootout attempt . . . Hickman scored the game's first two goals. Hickman has four goals this season; he also scored twice in a 5-3 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Oct. 25. . . . F Adam Musil, with his seventh, got Red Deer to within one early in the second period and F Brooks Maxwell forced OT with his fourth, a shorthanded effort at 4:49 of the third. . . . Red Deer G Rylan Toth stopped 31 shots. . . . These teams only play each other once each season. Still, there were five fights in the game, four of them in the first period. As a point of reference, the Everett Silvertips have been involved in three fights all season. . . . The Rebels (8-7-2) are 5-0-1 in their last six; the Thunderbirds are 7-6-3.
In Portland, the Winterhawks won for the sixth time in nine games as they beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-1. . . . The Winterhawks scored the game’s first three goals to take a 3-0 lead into the third period where they were outshot 13-1. . . . Portland G Michael Bullion stopped 32 shots to earn his second victory in as many nights. He was in goal Saturday as the Winterhawks beat the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 in OT. . . . F Chase De Leo scored his 10th goal of the season for Portland. . . . The Winterhawks had D Blake Heinrich in the lineup after the WHL rescinded a charging major and game misconduct that he had been given during a Saturday night OT victory over the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . Portland D Anton Cederholm was ejected with a headshot major after a hit on Edmonton F Mads Eller at 3:13 of the first period. . . . Prior to the game Portland freelance writer Scott Sepich tweeted: “This is only the 8th regular-season matchup between Portland and Edmonton. They've played 20 playoff games, each winning 10.” . . . F Edgars Kulda was among Edmonton’s scratches. . . . Edmonton is 0-4-0 in its tour of the U.S. Division. . . . The Oil Kings and Winterhawks have met in the last three WHL finals, with Portland winning in 2013 and Edmonton taking it all in 2012 and 2014. . . . 
In Vancouver, F Rourke Chartier scored two goals and set up another to help the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-3 victory over the Giants. . . . Chartier leads the WHL with 14 goals. . . . Kelowna D Jesse Lees broke a 3-3 tie with his second goal of the season at 7:46 of the third period. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houck was back after a one-game absence with an undisclosed injury. He had two assists. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter, who had blanked the host Seattle Thunderbirds 1-0 on Saturday, stopped 26 shots, 10 more than Kelowna’s Jackson Whistle. . . . Kelowna F Nick Merkley had a goal, his fifth, and an assist, and has taken over the WHL scoring lead. He leads in assists (22) and points (27). . . . Merkley has one more point than Brandon F Rihards Bukarts and Kamloops F Cole Ully. All three have played 16 games. . . .
In Prince George, the Cougars got two shootout goals and beat the Kamloops Blazers, 3-2, in an afternoon game that drew 3,883 fans. . . . Kamloops F Deven Sideroff forced OT with his ninth goal at 11:25 of the third period. He also had an assist. . . . F Brad Morrison and F Jansen Harkins scored for the Cougars in the shootout, while Prince George G Ty Edmonds, who stopped 42 shots through OT, was perfect. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram kicked out 34 shots through OT. . . . According to WHL Facts (@WHLFacts), Edmonds is 7-0-1 against the Blazers in his career. . . . The Cougars lost F Chase Witala to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 13:47 of the first period. . . . The Blazers were without F Cole Ully, their leading scorer, for a third straight game. He has been ill. The Blazers are 0-2-1 without him. . . . The Cougars had beaten the visiting Blazers 4-1 on Saturday night.
Posts
