Patrick ready in early January? ... Pawlenchuk's season over ... Trading done until Dec. 27

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TAKING NOTE

As many have noted on social media this week, the year 2016 has been a cruel one. One of the people we lost was Merle Haggard. . . . Right here is the Hag with Daddy Won’t Be Home Again For Christmas.

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It appears that the Saskatoon Blades had some fun with their Christmas message. They also walked a fine line as they brought WHL referees into it all, in a fun way, of course. . . . It’s right here.

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A story posted Thursday on the Brandon Wheat Kings’ website indicates that F Nolan Patrick “is aiming

NOLAN PATRICK

to return to the lineup in early January.”

Patrick, 18, remains the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2017 NHL draft despite not having played since Oct. 11. This season, he has four goals and five assists in six games. Last season, as a sophomore, he finished with 41 goals and 61 assists in 72 games, then added 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 playoff games. He was the WHL’s playoff MVP as he led the Wheat Kings to the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

However, he played hurt for some of the time and had surgery in July for a sports hernia. The Wheat Kings have never said any definitive about the cause of his absence from the lineup, but it has been speculated that it is related to his summer surgery.

Patrick wasn’t directly quoted in the story that doesn’t carry a byline on the team’s website. According to the story, “Patrick says that he is close to returning” to the Wheat Kings’ lineup. The story also reads that Patrick “plans to be back on the ice when the club’s week-long Christmas break comes to an end on Boxing Day.”

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The Red Deer Rebels announced on Thursday that F Grayson Pawlenchuk will have season-ending shoulder surgery after being injured in a 3-2 OT loss to the host Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 9. . . . Pawlenchuk, 19, is from Ardrossan, Alta. In his fourth season with the Rebels, he has four goals and five assists in 19 games. . . . Last season, the 6-foot-0, 190-pounder finished with 22 goals and 16 assists in 71 games. In 210 career regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 42 goals. . . . The Rebels selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.

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Tyler Adams has arrived! pic.twitter.com/8mkpShnPcW

— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) December 16, 2016

The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired veteran F Tyler Adams, 19, and an undisclosed conditional 2019 WHL bantam draft pick from the Swift Current Broncos for F MacKenzie Wight.

Adams, from Regina, had a goal and six assists in 25 games with the Broncos this season. In 97 career regular-season games, all with the Broncos, he had seven goals and 13 assists.

At one point, the Broncos had six players out of the lineup with injuries. With those players starting to return to play, there was an excess of bodies, so something had to give.

Wight, 17, had five goals and four assists in 12 games with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs before joining the Thunderbirds. He was pointless in six games with Seattle. From Burnaby, B.C., he was a seventh-round pick by the Broncos in the 2014 bantam draft.

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The WHL trade deadline arrives on Tuesday, Jan. 10, which is fewer than four weeks away. Throw in the WHL's Christmas-related trade moratorium and it’s a lot closer than that.

That moratorium actually began on Thursday and runs through Monday, Dec. 26, at midnight. In other words, there won’t be any trades in the WHL until at least Dec. 27. When the moratorium ends, there will be 15 days left in which trades can be made.

The deal mentioned above between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos that was announced Thursday is dated Dec. 14 on the WHL website, meaning that it was completed on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the Broncos’ release made reference to the deal including “a conditional pick in 2019” going to the Thunderbirds. However, neither Seattle’s news release nor the WHL website makes mention of it.

The same thing happened with a trade announced Wednesday night between the Saskatoon Blades and Spokane Chiefs. The WHL website has the Chiefs sending F Markson Bechtold and D Evan Fiala to the Blades for D Nolan Reid, F Wyatt Sloboshan and a third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. According to the Blades’ release, they also acquired “a conditional sixth-round draft pick,” although the year isn’t specified. Neither the WHL website nor the Chiefs’ release makes mention of a conditional pick.

Hopefully, the WHL office is able to sort this out and clarify things on its transactions page.

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JUST NOTES:

The Portland Winterhawks have changed the game times for a pair of home games, both of which remain scheduled for Veterans Memorial Coliseum. . . . On Jan. 7, with the Everett Silvertips in town, the game now will begin at 6 p.m. . . . The March 4 game, against the Vancouver Giants, also will begin at 6 p.m. . . . Both games originally were to have started at 2 p.m. . . .

The Victoria Royals have released F Gunnar Wegleitner, an 18-year-old from Vancouver. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was pointless in 12 games. In 2014-15, he had one goal in 43 games with the Everett Silvertips. Last season, he had a goal and an assist in 14 games with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. . . .

Jeff Holick spent 16 seasons as the radio voice of the Kootenay Ice before leaving his post prior to the 2015-16 season. Now, obviously with some time on his hands, he has turned to blogging. Among other things, he has taken to charting lines and defence pairings on a game-by-game basis. He also posts various lists on a sporadic basis. . . . You are able to find Holick’s blog, Between The Lines, right here.

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Donald Trump is mad at Vanity Fair for a bad review of Trump Grill restaurant. He’s as fragile as their terrible taco bowl shell!

— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) December 16, 2016

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.

Lethbridge at Edmonton, 7 p.m.

Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.

Kamloops at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.

Regina at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Kelowna at Red Deer, 7 p.m.

Prince George at Seattle, 7:35 p.m.

Prince Albert at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.

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TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:

Friday, Dec. 16: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 16: Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17: Portland at Everett, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17: Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 21: Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.

Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.

Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.

Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).

Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.

Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.

Dec. 9: F Austin Glover, 0:32 2nd period, Moose Jaw 7 at Prince Albert 3. 

Dec. 9: F Riley Woods, 11:45 1st period, Swift Current 1 at Regina 8.

Dec. 9: F Keanu Yamamoto, 4:01 1st period, Kootenay 3 at Spokane 4.

Dec. 10: D Josh Thrower, 12:13 1st period, Prince Albert 4 at Moose Jaw 5 (SO).

Dec. 10: F Nick Bowman, 13:38 2nd period, Kamloops 3 at Edmonton 2.

Dec. 10: D Troy Murray, 1:51 2nd, Kelowna 7 at Kootenay 3.

Dec. 10: F Max Gerlach, 5:26 1st period, Calgary 4 at Medicine Hat 7.

Dec. 10: F Skyler McKenzie 2:21 1st, Everett 2 at Portland 5.

Dec. 10: F Josh Curtis, 6:02 2nd period, Seattle 4 at Prince George 6.

Dec. 10: F Tyler Sandhu, 0:36 1st period, Victoria 3 at Tri-City 4.

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Some Saturday stuff . . .

Goaltender Drew Owsley of the Tri-City Americans looks for the puck, while Spokane Chiefs
forward Matt Marantz tries to get a stick on it.
(Photo by Gary Peterson / www.actionsportsimages.smugmug.com)

The ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings have lived to play another series.
The Salmon Kings went on the road to beat the Bakersfield Condors 2-0 on Friday and 3-2 in overtime on Saturday to win the best-of-five first-round series, 3-1.
The Condors (41-27-4) had finished second in the Western Conference; the Salmon Kings (32-36-4) were seventh. Victoria actually finished 18 points behind Bakersfield, which won the Pacific Division so was the conference’s No. 2 seed, behind the Alaska Aces, who received a first-round bye.
The Salmon Kings next will play either the No. 3 Stockton Thunder of No. 6 Utah Grizzlies in a best-of-seven conference semifinal.
We mention this, of course, because it could be that the WHL won’t announce the transfer of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria until the Salmon Kings are done.
The WHL has confirmed the conditional sale of the Bruins, but hasn’t yet stated officially just who has purchased the franchise or where it is headed.
It is generally believed that Vancouver-based RG Properties, which owns the Salmon Kings, has bought the Bruins and will move the WHL team to Victoria in time for the 2011-12 season.
It is doubtful that an announcement would be made while there still are Salmon Kings’ tickets to sell.
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If you are interested in signing a petition aimed at keeping the Bruins in Chilliwack, you are able to do that right here.
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The Ottawa Senators didn’t waste time in letting Cory Clouston know that he wouldn’t be back as the NHL team’s head coach. Bryan Murray, the team’s general manager, got a three-year extension on Friday. He dumped the head coach Saturday, after a 3-1 loss to the Bruins in Boston.
Clouston is the third Ottawa head coach to be dismissed by Murray since he returned to Ottawa in 2007 from a stint with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Senators finished 32-40-10, which left them 19 points out of a playoff spot.
Clouston, 41, spent five seasons as head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. He left the Ice for the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, and moved up as head coach of the big club on Feb. 2, 2009. He replaced Craig Hartsburg, who now is head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
Clouston was 95-83-20 with Ottawa.
And you can bet that there are some WHL teams — some with a head coach, some without — keeping an eye on Clouston.
As the NHL season wore on, and as speculation grew that Cloutson was in trouble, his name was mentioned with more and more frequency in WHL circles.
Who knows whether Clouston will return to the WHL or not, but right now there are two teams, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Seattle Thunderbirds, without head coaches.
Assistant coach Brad Lauer, a former WHL player who has ridden shotgun with Clouston for a while now, also lost his job Saturday in Ottawa.
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OK. What’s going on? Is it the water? . . . There have been six games played in the second round of the WHL playoffs and the road team has won every one of them. . . . There will be two games played today, with the Kelowna Rockets meeting the Winterhawks in Portland and the Tri-City Americans in Spokane to play the Chiefs. The visiting team in both series is up 1-0. . . . The Winterhawks will be without suspended F Brad Ross, who took a charging major for a hit on Kelowna F Zach Franko in the first period. Franko was left with a broken nose, a scraped face and a suspected concussion. He won’t play tonight. . . .
Meanwhile, on Saturday night . . .
In Saskatoon, F Joe Antilla scored at 18:32 of OT to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 victory over the Blades. . . . The Ice had won the opener 4-1 in Saskatoon on Friday. . . . They’ll play Games 3 and 4 in Cranbrook on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . The Blades were 32-3-1 at home in the regular season; the Ice, which lost all four of its regular-season games against Saskatoon, was 20-13-3 on the road. . . . The Blades forced OT when F Brayden Schenn scored at 18:56 of the third period. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 50 shots, nine more than Saskatoon’s Steven Stanford. . . . The Ice was 0-or-2 on the PP; the Blades were 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 8,064. . . . F Max Reinhart had a goal and two assists for the Ice. . . . His younger brother, Sam, who played Friday, wasn’t in the Ice lineup for Game 2. Hockey Canada ruled that should Sam Reinhart play he would be ineligible to rejoin his major midget team, the Vancouver-North West Giants, for the national championship tournament later this month in St. John’s, Nfld. Reinhart, 15, was a first-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. WHL rules allow 15-year-olds to play five games before their club team’s are done; Reinhart player his fifth game in the series opener. Of course, their are loopholes; for example, F Matt Needham, Kamloops’ first pick in 2010, played 13 games with the Blazers this season, some under emergency conditions. . . . Gotta think Ice management will have been most unhappy with this ruling, especially when you consider the number of players and coaches it has given up to various Hockey Canada-sanctioned teams and events. . . . Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, has his take on the Reinhart situation right here. . . . The Ice scratched F Brock Montgomery (mononucleosis), F Drew Czerwonka (upper body) and Sam Reinhart, and had D John Neibrandt helping out up front. . . . Saskatoon, which had F Ryan Olsen back from injury and used D Tanner Sohn as a forward, went without F Levi Bews, D Tommy Stipancik and F Alex Elliott.
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In Red Deer, G Tyler Bunz stopped 33 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Tigers won the opener 9-1 on Friday. . . . Now it’s down to Medicine Hat for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-4 on the PP; the Rebels were 0-for-9. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac had two goals and an assist. He has 14 points, including seven goals, in eight playoff games. He had 28 points in 67 regular-season games. . . . F Linden Vey had a goal and an assist, and now has a WHL-leading 18 points. Grbavac, Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem, Tigers D Jace Coyle and Kelowna Rockets F Shane McColgan are next, at 14. . . . Vey and Kootenay Ice F Matt Fraser lead in goals, each with eight. . . . Attendance was 6,091. . . . The Rebels went 26-7-3 at home during the regular season, while the Tigers were 22-9-5 on the road. . . .
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In Spokane, G Drew Owsley turned aside 34 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 3-1 series-opening victory over the Chiefs. . . . They’ll play again tonight in Spokane. . . . Tri-City has won its last eight games, five of them in the playoffs. . . . The Americans took a 2-1 lead out of the first period and nursed it until F Jordan Messier provided some insurance at 9:38 of the third. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 15 shots. That included a third-period penalty shot by F Carter Ashton. The Americans were leading 2-1 at the time. . . . F Kruise Reddick had a goal and an assist for Tri-City. . . . F Tyler Johnson, who had missed Spokane’s last two games with a concussion, was back in the lineup. . . . The Chiefs were 27-7-2 at home, while the Americans were 17-16-3 on the road during the regular season. . . . Attendance was 8,215. . . . The Americans had been 0-3 in their last three trips to Spokane. The Chiefs had outscored the visitors 15-4 in those three games. . . . “That was a real good playoff game,” Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “Both teams battled like a bugger for space. We had the chances to make a game of it. . . . The difference was that they buried their chances and we didn’t. We had some pretty good looks.”
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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Today’s good read comes from George Vecsey of The New York Times. It deals with the high price of tickets to sporting events in the Big Apple. And it’s right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
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