This piece right here appeared in The Globe and Mail on Saturday. It is an oral history of the 1972 series between Canada and the Soviet Union. If you are old enough to have watched that eight-game series, this will bring back a lot of memories. If you aren’t old enough to remember, you will read this and wish you were.
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D Joe Morrow, who played the last four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, got a bit excited Sunday morning and sniped at NHL commissioner Gary Bettman via Twitter.
According to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Morrow, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft, tweeted: "Bettmen should be the commissioner of a different sport ... Like knitting. What a joke. #stop ruining hockey."
The tweet was gone in less than an hour.
“I was speaking as a fan,” Morrow told Yohe, “not a hockey player.”
Morrow, who will turn 20 on Dec. 9, is expected to open the upcoming season with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He has yet to play in the NHL, so is not a member of the NHLPA.
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JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats have assigned D Sean Whelan and F Connor Gay to SJHL teams. Whelan, 18, played last season with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals and will join the Estevan Bruins. Gay, 17, spent last season with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers and now will play for the Kindersley Klippers. . . . The Kootenay Ice has its roster down to 25 after assigning two players on Sunday night. D Jordan Steenbergen, 16, will join the midget AAA Red Deer Rebels, while F Douglas Morris, 17, will join a team that has yet to be determined.
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If you have ever wondered about NCAA Division I hockey and finances, Monica Mendoza of the Colorado Springs Business Journal has taken a look at the Colorado College Tigers and how they feed their bank account. That piece is right here.
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Who is the WHL’s King of Twitter?
That’s easy.
Here’s Darren Kramer (@DarrenKramer22): “@JtBarnettAZDK teach me and @LiamStewart11 the ropes . . . How do you have so many followers!? #WHLtwitter legend”
To which @JtBarnett AZDK replied: “When you play on every team in the CHL they start to add up hahaha”
J.T. Barnett actually is with only his fourth WHL team, having been claimed by the Kelowna Rockets off waivers from the Everett Silver tips last week.
But he does have a whole lot of Twitter followers — 36,161 as of mid-day on Sunday. That’s down from the 37,095 who were there on Friday when Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier wrote about this phenomenon.
Here’s part of what Fisher wrote:
For those not familiar with Twitter, that's a ton of traffic.
For comparison sake, the Rockets' official team account (@Kelowna_Rockets) had only 2,721 followers. Most of Kelowna's current roster can be found on Twitter, including head coach Ryan Huska and at least 20 players, though none can hold a candle to Barnett. (Colton) Sissons is a distant second at 999, Ryan Olsen third at 843 and Damon Severson fourth at 706. That trio has something in common, all being drafted players who have attracted a bigger following thanks to the NHL fan base.
That's further evidenced by some former Rockets who have found their way to the pro ranks, including Tyson Barrie (4,713), Tyler Myers (1,534) and Brett Bulmer (1,185). Barnett, though, is not drafted nor signed by an NHL team, although he's attended rookie camps in Minnesota . . . and in New Jersey this summer with Severson. Maybe Barnett's just the WHL's version of Paul Bissonnette (323,752), a Phoenix Coyotes enforcer better known as @BizNasty2point0.
But, really, what's the deal? How can Barnett be significantly more popular than his new teammates?
"I don't think I even have a hundred, so that's pretty impressive," said (Dylen) McKinlay, a Langley product who ranks among the bottom three Rockets with 94 followers, ahead of only Mitchell Wheaton (73) and Tanner Moar (39). "It's crazy . . . I don't know how he does it, but I think it's his Instagram."
Instagram is a social-media tool that acts as a free photo-sharing program.
"That's probably the main reason," admitted Barnett, trying to downplay his online fame. "It's funny, but I don't really care too much. I don't go on (Twitter) too much, I took like a month off and went back on and was just like 'wow.' It's a lot more popular down in California, I guess.
"And I go on Instagram a lot, which in the U.S. is like BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) up here, like every person has Instagram."
That makes some sense and might explain why California products Mitchell Callahan and Shane McColgan — two former Rockets — have 2,002 and 1,172 followers, respectively, on Twitter. But with 35,000 more followers than them, it was safe to assume many of Barnett's admirers were strangers or spam accounts, right?
Wrong, apparently.
"Mainly, they're my friends," he said straight-faced. "Most of them are my friends from down in Arizona and California, but some of them I don't know.
"It's just a good way to keep in touch with guys without necessarily having to text them and stuff. You can just read what they're doing and what's going on with them. And also guys that leave the league, you want to stay in touch with them and that's one of the ways you do it."
Fisher’s complete story is right here.
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Wally Hilgenberg was a mean and miserable football player as a linebacker with the Minnesota Vikings. But his death, at the age of 66, may have been because of repetitive brain trauma. . . . Mike Kaszuba of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has the story of the Hilgenberg family and its feelings towards the game of football. That story is right here and it is an interesting and conflicting read.


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The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed Danny Mumaugh, a 1996-born goaltender from Centennial, Colo. He was 26-3-3, 1.12, .939 with the Colorado Thunderbirds in the Tier 1 Elite Minor Midget League. He recorded 12 shutouts. . . . Mumaugh was in Seattle’s 2011 rookie camp as a free agent and was added to the team’s protected list at that time.
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Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune offers up his take on the NHL playoffs to this point and he does it right here.
“The league should be ashamed,” he writes. “But the NHL, like MMA and our old, punch-drunk friend boxing, seems to be beyond shame.”
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings won their 20th straight game as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-1. . . . It was Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final. Game 2 will be played in Edmonton on Sunday. . . . The Warriors went in having won eight straight playoff games. . . . F Stephane Legault had two goals, giving him three in these playoffs, and an assist for Edmonton, while F Henrik Samuelsson had three assists. . . . F Klarc Wilson opened the scoring for Edmonton;  he also drew two assists. He hadn’t played since March 25 — he got into Edmonton’s first two playoff games with Samuelsson suspended — and was a healthy scratch through the second round victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Wilson was in the lineup because F Dylan Wruck (shoulder) was not. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 29 shots, losing his shutut bid at 14:30 of the second when F Jordan Wyton scored. . . . Moose Jaw G Luke Siemens stopped 19 of 24 shots through two periods. Spencer Tremblay came on to stop five of six shots in the third period. . . . The Warriors were 0-6 on the PP; the Oil Kings were 1-2. . . . The Oil Kings went into this playoff season with an 0-8 all-time record. They now are 9-8. . . . Edmonton F Kristians Pelss left in the second period with an apparent leg injury and didn’t return, while D Keegan Lowe didn’t play again after blocking a shot late in the third period. . . . The Warriors had Wyton and D Morgan Rielly back from injuries, and scratched D Shayne Gwinner, F Carter Hansen and F Torrin White. . . . Rielly, who will be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft, hadn’t played since Nov. 6 when he suffered a knee injury that later required surgery. He played about 15 minutes. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Marcel Noebels scored at 7:52 of OT to give the Portland Winterhawks a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Portland leads the best-of-seven Western Conference final 1-0 with Game 2 in Kennewick tonight. . . . Noebels scored his third goal of these playoffs on the Winterhawks’ only shot of the free period. . . . Tri-City had seven shots in OT. . . . Noebels scored the winning goal 61 seconds into the game on Wednesday when the Winterhawks beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers 2-0 in Game 7 of a conference semifinal series. . . . Portland had just finished killing off a Tri-City PP opportunity when Noebels scored. Portland G Mac Carruth was penalized for playing the puck outside the trapezoid. Yes, it’s the worst rule in hockey. . . . Tri-City D Mitch Topping forced OT with a goal at 15:09 of the third. . . . The Winterhawks took a 3-1 lead on F Cam Reid’s goal at 15:48 of the second. . . . Tri-City tied the game on two PP goals by F Patrick Holland, at 18:39 of the second and 9:07 of the third. . . . D Joe Morrow’s PP goal at 10:56 of the third put Portland back out front. . . . The Americans came close to winning it early in OT when Morrow took away a gaping net from Tri-City F Connor Rankin. As Tri-City radio voice Craig West put it: “Connor Rankin had about a four-foot putt right there and Joe Morrow saved the day.” . . . Later, West sent me a note to let me know that it wasn't Morrow; it was Cam Reid. As West noted, he doesn't have the benefit of replays in his spot in the rafters. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi had a goal and two assists, while linemate Ty Rattie had one assist. They now are tied for the WHL playoff scoring lead, each with 24 points. . . . Portland D Troy Rutkowski had two assists and was plus-4. . . . Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin scored his side’s first goal, running his point streak to 35 games. . . . That goal gave him a franchise-record 60 playoff points, one more than former Americans F Daymond Langkow. . . . Shinnimin also ended up minus-3. . . . Earlier in the day, Shinnimin was named the Western Conference’s nominee for the player-of-the-year award. He’s up against F Emerson Etem of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Tri-City F Adam Hughesman had two assists, giving him 400 WHL points, including regular season and playoffs. He has 50 career playoff points. . . . The Americans were 3-5 on the PP; Portland was 1-4.

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Sven Baertschi of the Calgary Flames shows off the puck with which
he scored his first NHL goal on Sunday.
(Photo courtesy a huge Baertschi fan)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Vaclav Varada (Tacoma/Kelowna, 1994-96) has been loaned to Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic 1.Liga) by Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the remainder of this season. Varada had six goals and seven assists in 16 games for Trinec; he did not play a game for Trinec until early January due to injury. Trinec's season ended last week with their loss to Zlin in the quarterfinals, three games to two. Varada will join Slovan for their best-of-seven semi-final series against Dukla Jihlava, which begins today in Ustecti Lvi. . . .
F Keegan Dansereau (Calgary, Swift Current, 2003-09) signed a one-year contract with Mörrum (Sweden, Division 1). He had two goals in one game for the Horse Lake Chiefs (Alberta, North Peace Senior Hockey League) this season. Dansereau played for Mörrum in 2010-11, getting 32 goals and 25 assists in 37 games.
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Attention Chilliwack hockey fans!
You likely don’t pay attention to such things — after all, you have no reason to — but the WHL regular season is into its last week.
And guess what?
Yes, the first rumour surfaced on Monday.
“Hearing Cougars to Chilliwack again,” reported a source with knowledge of the situation.
So, folks, here we go again. The silly season has started.
We know that after the Bruins were taken away from Chilliwack — you perhaps know that they now are the Victoria Royals — almost a year ago, there were strong rumours that the Cougars could be headed south.
Well, I can tell you that Cougars owner Rick Brodsky seriously considered relocation and there was some communication with Moray Keith, who had been one of the Bruins’ owners. However, nothing came of it.
We will have to wait and see if they do the dance again this spring or summer.
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F Sven Baertschi of the Portland Winterhawks scored his first NHL goal Sunday as the Calgary Flames scored a 4-3 victory over the host Minnesota Wild.
Baertschi, the WHL’s only two-point-per-game player, remains with the Flames, who brought him in him Wednesday under emergency recall rules. The Flames had nine players out with injuries on Sunday. Baertschi is allowed to stay with them until two of those injured players are cleared to return.
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D Joe Morrow of Portland has a career-high 64 points. That is the highest total by a Portland defenceman since Andrew Ference put up 68 in 1997-98. The Winterhawks won the Memorial Cup that season. . . . Portland F Nic Petan scored four goals in Saturday’s 11-3 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. It was the first time in Winterhawks history that a 16-year-old had scored four goals in one game.
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The Tri-City Americans have added yet another youngster to their roster. D Clint Filbrandt, 16, played for the midget AAA Calgary Northstars this season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reported last night that “Swift Current Minor Hockey has relieved Jason Johns of his duties as Head Coach/Manager of the Midget AAA Legionnaires. There aren’t many more details to share than that. The board will begin the search for a new coach immediately.”
There is a link to Mullin’s blog over there on the right.
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Doug Lunney of the Winnipeg Sun is a former WHL goaltender who crossed over to the right side. He has some thoughts on the MJHL’s reaction to the performance turned in by Dauphin Kings GM/head coach Marlin Murray last week, and that piece is right here.
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Now that you’ve read Lunney’s piece, and no doubt you have viewed the video, you should know that Murray plans on filing an appeal. Seriously!
I’m thinking the MJHL should make Murray work as a referee for 12 games.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Brandon (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Saskatoon (7)
Medicine Hat (3) vs. Regina (6)
Calgary (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Victoria (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Everett (7)
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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MONDAY’S GAMES
None.
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TODAY’S GAMES
Red Deer at Medicine Hat
Prince Albert at Saskatoon
Spokane at Seattle
Prince George at Tri-City

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) was released from his tryout contract with Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga) after Kärpät signed ex-NHL F Jozef Stumpel. Sindel had three assists in 11 games with Kärpät during his tryout. Sindel had agreed to extend his tryout contract one more week earlier Tuesday but, when Kärpät signed Stumpel Tuesday evening, Sindel was released.
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Mac Engel, meet Mac Engel. Yes, the Spokane Chiefs’ goaltender has a big, big fan named, uhh, Mac Engel. Same name, same spelling. Check it out right here.
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Kevin Allen of USA TODAY takes a look at the NHL and the state of concussions. This is a thorough overview of what is going on in the NHL, including the number of concussions this season, the number of games players have missed because of concussions, and the cost. That story is right here, and it’s a good one.
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A Tuesday afternoon tweet from TSN hockey analyst Bob McKenzie: “No decision req'd until trade deadline but my sense is TBL more inclined to keep Brett Connoly in NHL than return him to Tri City (WHL).”
McKenzie, Part 2: “If Connolly finishes NHL season with TBL, and Bolts miss playoffs (as expected), he can be assigned to Norfolk for AHL playoffs.”
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In the last while, the weather in various parts of B.C. has been dicey, at best. As a result, we have heard stories of teams, including the Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes, having faced lengthy delays as they attempted to bus from one place to another.
And now we can add the Victoria Royals to the list.
The Royals completed their East Division swing on Saturday night with a 9-6 loss to the Saskatoon Blades. Naturally, the Royals left for home right after the game, which would have been around 10:30 p.m. CT, or 8:30 p.m. PT.
The Royals arrived home Monday afternoon, two weeks after the trek to the eastern hinterlands had begun. You may recall that as the Royals were about to start the trip, F Kevin Sundher was informed that he had been traded to the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Anyway, it seems the Royals arrived at Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Schwartz Bay near Sydney By The Sea only to discover that high winds had cancelled a number of sailings. So the team spent Sunday night at Tsawwassen, waiting and hoping for the winds to decrease.
The Royals, who went 2-4 on their swing, are back in action Friday and Saturday against the visiting Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers, who take a nine-game winning streak into Kelowna tonight, are 5-0-0 against Victoria this season.
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Don’t look now, but there is an interesting race going on for the last couple of playoff spots in the WHL’s Western Conference.
And it could be that loser points will play a rather large role in settling the issue.
The Everett Silvertips, who lost 7-4 last night in Portland, are last in the 10-team conference in which eight teams will qualify for the postseason.
But the Silvertips have picked up seven points over their last seven games and are just six points behind the eighth-place Victoria Royals (15-28-5), who are one point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds (17-26-2). The Prince George Cougars (15-29-2) are ninth, three points behind Victoria and three in front of Everett.
Keep in mind, too, that Victoria is 2-7-1 in its last 10 games, although six of those (2-4-0) came in the East Division. Prince George is 2-8-0 in its last 10. Seattle, meanwhile, is 1-8-1.
That has allowed Everett, which is in its ninth season and has never missed the playoffs, to sneak back into the picture.
Everett (10-28-9) may end up holding something of an edge, too, because of its nine loser points to this point in the season.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Presten Kopeck, a 16-year-old third-round selection in the 2010 bantam draft. Kopeck, who is from Medicine Hat, has 19 points, including seven goals, in 45 games with the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. Last season, with the midget AAA Medicine Hat Tigers, he had 19 points in 34 games. Kopeck, who was in training camp with the Winterhawks prior to this season, will finish this season with the Bobcats.
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There is a neat story in Tuesday’s Edmonton Sun about the Edmonton Oil Kings, who have become involved in a snow-shovelling program that benefits needy homeowners. That story is right here.

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D Daniel Gibb of the Prince George Cougars took part in a program called Breakfast Idol at P.G. radio station The River 101.3 on Tuesday. No, he didn't sing Stayin' Alive. . . . You can catch it all right here — he’s a wizard with the Cube. You also should go over there and vote for Gibb, who needs all the help we can provide.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, G Luke Siemens stopped 32 shots to help the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-0 victory over the Broncos. . . . Siemens had sat out his club’s last three games due to what head coach Mike Stothers had said was a need to re-focus. . . .. F Kenton Miller scored the game’s opening goal, on the PP, at 18:37 of the first period. . . . Moose Jaw F Cam Braes, who missed Monday’s practice because he was ill, got his 28th goal of the season. . . . The Warriors had lost their first two games in Swift Current this season. . . . G Jon Groenheyde made his 20th straight start for the Broncos. He stopped 39 shots. . . . Moose Jaw D Joel Edmundson had two assists. . . . The Warriors have put up four shutouts this season, three by Siemens. . . . The Broncos have been shut out twice. . . .

In Cranbrook, G Curtis Honey stopped 34 shots for his first WHLshutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the host Kootenay Ice, 1-0. . . . Brandon had G Corbin Boes in the lineup for the first time since he suffered a broken hand on Dec. 7. G Brandon Anderson was a healthy scratch. . . . This was Brandon’s second shutout of the season; Boes has the other one. . . . It was the first time this season the Ice has been blanked. . . . F Kevin Sundher scored the game’s only goal, his 23rd of the season and his first with the Wheat Kings since he was acquired from the Victoria Royals on Jan. 9. That came at 16:28 of the first period. . . . Brandon is 7-3-1 in its last 11 trips to Cranbrook. . . . Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Wheat Kings, reports that it’s Brandon’s first 1-0 victory since Feb. 20, 2008, when Joe Caligiuri stopped 30 shots and F Jay Fehr scored the lone goal in beating the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. . . .

In Portland, the Winterhawks ran their franchise-record home-ice winning streak to 18 games with a 7-4 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Winterhawks got two goals from each of D Joe Morrow and F Marcel Noebels. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke, the son of former NHL G Sean Burke, stopped 29 shots to earn his third victory of the season. . . . Everett, trailing 4-2, tied it with goals from F Ryan Harrison and F Reid Petryk 48 seconds apart midway in the second period. . . . Portland F Taylor Peters broke the 4-4 tie with his 10th goal at 14:51 of the seocnd. . . . Harrison had two goals for Everett, giving him 13, while D Ryan Murray had two assists. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie had two assists, giving him a WHL-leading 83 points, two more than Regina Pats F Jordan Weal. . . . The Winterhawks were without D William Wrenn, their captain, who was suspended by the WHL “for actions at Spokane on Jan. 22.” According to Jim Beseda of the Oregonian, Wrenn was suspended “for an altercation as he was leaving the ice after Sunday’s 6-1 loss at Spokane.” . . .
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Graeme Craig, Swift Current.
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After reading here about the sportsmanship shown by Seattle Thunderbirds G Calvin Pickard the other night, another WHL fan has sent me a note, this one involving Everett Silvertips D Ryan Murray:
“When Everett was last (in Kamloops) . . . when they were announcing the three stars, Ryan Murray came out for his star and took time to pose with kids who were giving out the (goods). Then, on his way off the ice, he went out of his way to tap the Blazers star on the shin pads.
“It’s nice to see something like that and then read the story about Pickard.”
———
For today’s good ready, here is Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe with a terrific look at Tim Thomas and how he screwed up by not visiting the White House with his Boston Bruins teammates on Monday. That piece is right here.

 To those of you who have taken the time to help out the cause, thank you so much. Your generosity really is appreciated. . . . 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.

The Swift Current Broncos have sold fewer than 1,500 season tickets, after reaching more than 1,700 last season. 

And you wonder just how long the Broncos can survive, what with expenses continuing to rise across the WHL.

“I’m not sure that there’s a team out there that’s been able to cut costs,” Al Stewart, the chairman of the organization’s board of directors, told Matthew Liebenberg of the Prairie Post. “So as the budgets continue to rise we need to continue to generate higher and higher levels of income and our single biggest lever to income is season tickets and walk-up tickets. . . .

“We have fantastic fans here. On an average night more than 10 per cent of the people of Swift Current come to a hockey game. No other team could brag about that number. The problem that we have is that we have great fans, we just don’t have enough of them.”

The Broncos will hold their annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Liebenberg’s complete story is right here.

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The Spokane Chiefs didn’t take long to get down to three 20-year-olds following the return of F Darren Kramer from the camp of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. On Thursday, the Chiefs dealt F Matt Marantz to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a fourth-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Marantz, who is from Calgary, had 42 points, incouding 20 goals, in 68 games with the Chiefs last season. . . . The Chiefs now have Kramer, F Steven Kuhn and D Corbin Baldwin as their three 20-year-olds. . . . Spokane is carrying 24 players, including three goaltenders and 12 forwards.

Meanwhile, Marantz becomes the fifth 20-year-old on the Hurricanes’ roster, although F Austin Fyten (knee) will be out indefinitely and could end up on the long-term injury list. Apparently, more will be known next week.

But the Hurricanes also have F Cam Braes, the recently named team captain, F Brody Sutter and G Damien Ketlo, who was acquired from the Regina Pats a couple of weeks ago.

WHL teams have until Oct. 13 to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-olds.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Braeden (Bunny) Laroque, 19, from the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for a 2012 bantam draft pick. Neither team disclosed specifics involving the draft pick. Laroque, from Saskatoon, is into his third WHL season. He had six points and 32 penalty minutes in 54 games with Edmonton last season. Edmonton selected him in the fifth round of the 2007 bantam draft. . . . It was interesting that Edmonton players were tweeting their farewells to Laroque about five hours before either team announced the trade.

———

Esther Madziya is the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ new communications and public relations manager. She takes over from Ryan Ohashi effective Oct. 1, with Ohashi moving north to join the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Madziya has been working at CJOC 94.1 as half of a morning show — Mark and Esther in the Mornings. . . . She also has worked in the electronic media in Saskatoon where she covered tthe Blades.

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JUST NOTES: F Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who won the WHL’s 2008-09 scoring title, was traded Thursday by the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers to the Bakersfield Condors for future considerations. He is under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2007 draft. Last season, he had 34 points, 14 of them goals, in 42 games with Wheeling. He also had 20 points in 25 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones after being loaned to them by the Nailers. . . . The Condors also have signed F Thomas Frazee, who concluded his WHL career last season with the Kamloops Blazers. Frazee had committed to the U of Calgary Dinos but obviously has decided to forego that at least for now. . . .

There are a couple of important NHL deadlines approaching. NHL teams have until Saturday, 5 p.m. ET, to sign junior-aged players who were drafted in the fourth round or later, otherwise those players can’t play in the NHL. The deadline for those players selected in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 is Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET. . . .
It appears more and more likely that the Portland Winterhawks won’t get D Joe Morrow back, at least not for a while. Morrow, 19, has signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and reportedly has had a fine training camp. The Penguins also are missing veteran D Brooks Orpik, who is recovering from offseason abdominal surgery and Morrow could help fill that hole, at least in the short term. . . . Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reports that “F Dillon Wagner isn't with the team as he sustained a knee injury on Wednesday. No word of severity yet.” The Broncos are in Brandon tonight and Moose Jaw on Saturday. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have returned F Gavin Broadhead, 16, to the midget AAA Tigers. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. His father, Curt, also played for the Tigers (1977-81).

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If you have been following the attempt by Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, to purchase the NHL’s Dallas Stars, you may be wondering how a team from Texas ends up in a bankruptcy court in Delaware.

Steven Church and Dawn McCarty of Bloomberg Businessweek explain it all right here.

———

F Travis Ewanyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings underwent shoulder surgery on Thursday morning. Shortly thereafter, he tweeted: “Surgery went well. Now the work begins to get back on the ice and be at 100% as soon as possible.”

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It is looking more and more as though F Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars will open the NHL season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. After all, he has been playing on a line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. On top of which, Connolly scored twice on Thursday night as the Lightning beat the host Montreal Canadiens, 4-0.

First, however, Connolly is going to have to visit his favourite tailor.

Why?

Well, here’s a tweet from him right after Thursday’s game:

 “Great game at the bell center. Even better prank the boys pulled. Cut the legs right off my dress pants. Nothing you can do but laugh.”

———

Today’s good read comes from Brett Popplewell, who tells the Derek Boogaard story for Sportsnet Magazine, which hit shelves this week.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, click right here and be prepared for an engrossing and sad, sad story.

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

Great day for Morrow

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Doug Lynch (Red Deer, Spokane, 1998-2003) signed a contract extension with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had seven goals and 21 assists in 44 games with Red Bull last season. . . .
F Simon Ferguson (Lethbriodge, Kelowna, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Esbjerg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 15 assists in 51 games with the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) last season. . . .
F Björn Svensson (Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, 2003-06) signed a one-year contract with Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL). He had four goals and 14  assists with Timrå (Sweden, Elitserien) last season. . . .
F Roman Tomanek (Calgary, Seattle, 2004-06) signed a one-year contract with Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 29 goals and 18 assists in 48 games with Banska Bystrica (Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
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You just know that this is going to be a great day for Portland Winterhawks D Joe Morrow.
Morrow, who has played three seasons in Portland, is in Edmonton at the Canadian national junior team’s development camp.
And the Pittsburgh Penguins are expected to announce today that they have signed him to a three-year entry-level contract. They selected him 23rd overall in the NHL’s 2011 draft.
Morrow, who doesn’t turn 19 until Dec. 9, had 49 points, including nine goals, and 67 penalty minutes in 60 games with Portland last season. In 165 regular-season games, he has 16 goals and 71 assists, to go along with 152 penalty minutes.
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Hockey Canada finalized the 22-player roster for the team that will play in the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament and five of the skaters are from the WHL. D Matt Dumba (Red Deer), D Derrick Pouliot (Portland), D Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton), D Morgan Rielly (Moose Jaw) and F Hunter Shinkaruk (Medicine Hat) made the club that will play in the tournament that runs from Monday through Aug. 13 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia. . . . Don Nachbaur, the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, is an assistant coach. The head coach is Steve Spott of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. . . . There is no radio or TV coverage of the tournament. . . . Canada, which has won the tournament each of the last three years, will play an exhibition game against Slovakia in Piestany on Saturday and then opens the tournament against Sweden on Monday.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jim Parker of the Windsor Star reports that Bob Boughner is expected to return as head coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires today. After winning back-to-back Memorial Cups, Boughner, who owns a piece of the Spitfires, spent last season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Bob Jones, the associate coach under Boughner, was the club’s head coach last season. . . .
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Everett Silvertips may be in the market for a goaltending coach. According to Patterson, “Sources indicate that Sigalet is in line to become the goaltending coach for the AHL's Abbotsford Heat.” . . . Sigalet spent last season working with the Silvertips on a part-time basis. . . .
Greg Ireland is to be named head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack today. Fred Wallace of CFOS Radio reported Tuesday that the job had been offered to Ireland, 46. A coach since 1992, Ireland spent the last eight seasons in the AHL, with the San Antonio Rampage and Grand Rapids Griffins. He will replace Mark Reeds, who guided the Attack to the OHL championship last season and has since signed on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . Owen Sound assistant coach Terry Virtue, a former WHL player and assistant coach, was on the short list. According to Wallace, Virtue “is expected to remain with the Attack, conceivably with elevated responsibilities.” . . .
The AHL’s Houston Aeros have named Sebastien Laplante and Mike Van Ryn as assistant coaches. They will work with head coach John Torchetti. . . . Laplante, 38, spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Northeastern University. . . . Van Ryn, 32, was an assistant coach with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs last season. . . .
The OHL’s Erie Otters have agreed to two-year contract extensions with head coach Robbie Ftorek, who had one year left on his present deal, and assistant coach Peter Sidorkiewicz.
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JUST NOTES: As speculated late last week, the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat has named Ryan Walter (Kamloops, Seattle, 1984-78) as president. Walter spent last season as the head coach of Canada’s national women’s team after working two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. The Heat is the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. . . . The BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies have dealt F Evan Richardson, 17, to the Powell River Kings for G Michael Garteig, 20, D Braden Pears, 18, and F Scott Renner, 18. Richardson was selected 15th overall by the Swift Current Broncos in the 2009 WHL bantam draft, but has committed to attend Boston College for the 2013-14 season. Last season, he had 42 points, including 12 goals, in 55 games with the Grizzlies. . . . The Grizzlies apparently were concerned that Richardson may end up in the USHL this season. . . . F Colton Graf (Chilliwack, 2006-08) has chosen to attend Simon Fraser University and play for its hockey club in the B.C. Intercollegiate league. Graf, 21, played the last two seasons with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. He put up 92 points in 111 regular-season games with Dauphin.
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Another former WHL player has had to quit hockey because of post-concussion syndrome.
Eric Doyle (Everett, Swift Current, Portland, 2005-10) has told Jon Keen, the radio voice of the Kamloops Blazers: “Over my career I had five diagnosed concussions . . . and probably two more that weren't. The last three concussions all came pretty close together and were the worst by far.”
Doyle last skated in November with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign. He was able to play only 12 games with the Reign, though.

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Sunday . . .

SUNDAY, ON THE ICE:
Finally, a couple of home teams put up second-round victories, meaning the visitors now hold a 6-2 edge. . . . No games tonight. . . .
In Portland, F Ryan Johansen scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The series is 1-1 as it heads to Kelowna for games Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Johansen has five goals in these playoffs. . . . D Joe Morrow and F Ty Rattie each added a goal and two assists for Portland, with F Riley Boychuk getting three helpers. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 46 shots, while Portland’s Mac Carruth turned aside 25. . . . Attendance was 8,053. . . . The Rockets were in this at 2-2 late in the second period. . . . But Portland got two late goals from Johansen, at 15:29 and 19:52, to go out front 4-2 and take control. . . . Portland was without F Brad Ross, who is suspended, while the Rockets were without F Zach Franko, who was hit by Ross in Game 1 on Thursday. . . . The length of Ross’s suspension might be known today. . . .
In Spokane, F Mitch Holmberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . That series is 1-1 as it heads to Kennewick, Wash., for games Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. . . . Holmberg scored on the PP at 19:00 of the first period, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Chiefs then scored the only three goals of the second period. . . . Spokane was 3-for-5 on the PP; the Americans were 1-for-4. . . . Spokane D Jared Cowen had four assists, three of them on the PP. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 12 shots, as his guys outshot the visitors 26-8 through two periods. . . . The Americans started Drew Owsley in goal. He stopped 21 of 26 shots before giving way to Eric Comrie, who made his WHL debut by turning aside 13 of 14 shots. Comrie, a first-round bantam pick who signed with the Americans on Thursday, was beaten only by F Tyler Johnson, who scored on the PP at 10:35 of the third. . . . Attendance was 5,026. . . . Tri-City D Tyler Schmidt was hit with a major for clipping and a game misconduct in the third period, a penalty that certainly will be reviewed by the WHL office.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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