What if each game was worth three points? . . . Edmonds picks a school . . . Winterhawks in mourning

So . . . you’re Les Lazaruk, the long-time radio voice of the Saskatoon Blades.

Les Lazaruk, the voice of the Saskatoon Blades.

On Thursday, you climbed on the team’s bus and took a 900-kilometre ride to Cranbrook, B.C., where the Blades and Kootenay Ice will clash tonight (Friday).

Hey, Les, how did you handle this trip?

“I went to work on different standings formulas — current, baseball-style, just wins and losses, old-style hockey with ties, and new-style hockey with three points handed out in all games.”

And what did you discover?

“Not much changes.

“Straight wins and losses makes for MUCH different winning percentages than today.

“Old-style hockey shows how many games would end up tied, which I hate.

“And new-style with three points for every game means bigger gaps between teams for the most part.”

—

Here’s a look at the standings by straight winning percentage, with the numbers in parentheses the points percentages that the WHL uses in its standings:

Central Division: 1. Medicine Hat, .707 (.716); 2. Lethbridge, .596 (.658); 3. Red Deer, .397 (.474); 4. Calgary, .357 (.446); 5. Edmonton, .351 (.386); 6. Kootenay, .211 (.298).

East Division: 1. Regina, .745 (.809); 2. Moose Jaw, .569 (.638); 3. Swift Current, .518 (.598); 4. Brandon, .474 (.544); 5. Saskatoon, .411 (.473); 6. Prince Albert, .259 (.302).

B.C. Division: 1. Prince George, .644 (.678); 2. Kelowna, .579 (.614); 3. Kamloops, .576 (.627); 4. Victoria, .534 (.569); 5. Vancouver, .310 (.353).

U.S. Division: 1. Seattle, .632 (.675); 2. Everett, .607 (.696); 3. Tri-City, .559 (.585); 4. Portland, .544 (.570); 5. Spokane, .421 (.500).

The order remains the same except in the B.C. Division, where Kelowna would move ahead of Kamloops,.579-.576, and in the U.S. Division, where Seattle would be ahead of Everett, .632-.607.

—

Here’s a look at the standings if ties weren’t played out, meaning wins-losses-ties (no overtime, no shootouts, no loser points), with the numbers in parentheses the points each team has in today’s WHL standings:

Central Division: 1. Medicine Hat, 79 (83); 2. Lethbridge, 68 (75); 3. Red Deer, 49 (55); 4. Calgary, 41 (50); 5. Edmonton, 34 (44); 6. Kootenay, 31 (34).

East Division: 1. Regina, 83 (89); 2. Moose Jaw, 65 (74); 3. Swift Current, 60 (67); 4. Brandon, 53 (62); 5. Saskatoon, 47 (53); 6. Prince Albert, 30 (35).

B.C. Division: 1. Prince George, 75 (80); 2. Kamloops, 67 (74); 3. Kelowna, 65 (70); 4. Victoria, 63 (66); 5. Vancouver, 33 (41).

U.S. Division: 1. Everett, 74 (78); 2. Seattle, 66 (77); 3. Tri-City, 62 (69); 4. Portland, 58 (65); 5. Spokane, 52 (57).

—

Here are the standings with each game worth three points — a regulation winner gets 3, loser gets 0; OT and SO wins get 2, with 1 to the loser:

Central Division: 1. Medicine Hat, 114 (83); 2. Lethbridge, 102 (75); 3. Red Deer, 72 (55); 4. Calgary, 60 (50); 5. Edmonton, 54 (44); 6. Kootenay, 43 (34).

East Division: 1. Regina, 124 (89); 2. Moose Jaw, 98 (74); 3. Swift Current, 89 (67); 4. Brandon, 80 (62); 5. Saskatoon, 70 (53); 6. Prince Albert, 45 (35).

B.C. Division: 1. Prince George, 111 (80); 2. Kamloops, 101 (74); 3. Kelowna, 98 (70); 4. Victoria, 94 (66); 5. Vancouver, 59 (41).

U.S. Division: 1. Everett, 108 (78); 2. Seattle, 107 (77); 3. Tri-City, 95 (69); 4. Portland, 89 (65); 5. Spokane, 76 (57).

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G Ty Edmonds, who now is playing for the Prince George Cougars, has committed to attend the U of Lethbridge and play for the Pronghorns next season. Edmonds, a 20-year-old from Winnipeg, is 26-13-3, 2.51, .914 with the Cougars this season. He has 95 career victories, giving him a share of the Prince George franchise record with Scott Myers 1996-2000). . . . The Pronghorns, who didn’t make the playoffs this season, are looking at a goaltending tandem of Edmonds and Garret Hughson, 21, who just completed his freshman season. Hughson, 21, played three seasons with the Spokane Chiefs before losing out in the 20-year-old game last season and moving on to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. 

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Not enough characters to describe him, here's his obit: https://t.co/k5lOl3Mpj9

— Todd Vrooman (@ToddVrooman) February 17, 2017

The Portland Winterhawks family — indeed, the entire Portland sporting community — is mourning the death of John Kirby. He died on Monday at the age of 63. Kirby was a veteran of the Winterhawks’ broadcast team and was really popular with co-workers.

Shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of John Kirby, a man I knew my whole life and who was on Winterhawks Radio for 30+ years pic.twitter.com/uRUb8SA4bE

— Todd Vrooman (@ToddVrooman) February 17, 2017

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If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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Glen Gulutzan's homage to Flames coaches past outside his office: Bob Johnson, Terry Crisp, Al MacNeil & Dave King. pic.twitter.com/7YgInzy5rh

— George Johnson (@GeorgejohnsonCH) February 16, 2017

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

——

FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Regina at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.

Edmonton at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Spokane at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.

Saskatoon vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.

Victoria at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.

Red Deer at Portland, 7 p.m.

Everett at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.

Medicine Hat at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Seattle vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

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

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Portland Winterhawks 24/7

It is hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago when the Portland Winterhawks were lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.
In 2007-08, the Winterhawks won 11 games. The next season, they won 19.
Last spring, you’ll recall, they reached the WHL’s championship final. Last month, they watched as 15 players off that roster departed for NHL camps.
And now the Winterhawks have taken a step off the ice that is just as impressive as what they accomplished on the ice last season.
If you missed it, the Winterhawks have announced the launching of “a dedicated online network that will host all live game broadcasts for this season at winterhawks.com using an audio player powered by live365.com.”
Understand that this isn’t an ESPN channel or anything like that. But, geez Louise, this is major junior hockey . . .
“Along with the games, the Winterhawks will use the online network to broadcast team-related content 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the news release continues. “Fans can find the station by visiting winterhawks.com and clicking the ‘Listen Live’ link at the top of the page.
“Among the content on the team’s network will be podcasts, roundtable discussions, interviews with players and coaches, replays of recent and classic games, and much more. Live365.com includes apps that allow listeners to tune in on their smartphones in case they aren’t near a computer.”
Think about it for a minute. . . . A major junior hockey team providing fans with access to it on a 24/7 basis! That is almost mind-numbing.
“The idea for a Winterhawks.com Radio Network is about two years in the making and we are very excited about being able to finally roll it out this season,” Kelley Robinett, Portland’s senior vice-president of marketing and operations, wrote in an email. “We knew all along that streaming would allow us to provide fans with unprecedented access to our games, player interviews and features about the team.
“However, we needed to get to a point where we were comfortable with the streaming technology and delivery methods to the fans. The explosion of both high-speed Internet in the home and Internet connected smartphones has finally made this possible.”
The Winterhawks continue to have a radio deal with Freedom 970 and the Alpha family of stations and have put together a Friday night package — they play 23 Friday games. However, the Winterhawks have learned that many of their fans are listening to the radio station via an online stream or tracking scores on their smartphones.
“In launching the network, we take control of the stream content (24/7) and provide our smartphone users with access to the broadcast feed,” Robinett continued.
And what is the objective?
The Winterhawks, according to Robinett, want “to continually push new and relevant content to the fans each week.”
The Winterhawks also announced that the legendary Dean (Scooter) Vrooman will be more involved than he has been in recent seasons, which is the best news of all for veteran hockey fans in the Portland area.
As well, Todd Vrooman (yes, he is Scooter’s son) and Andy Kemper have switched roles — Vrooman will be the play-by-play voice, while Kemper provides analysis at home games and some road assignments.
Todd Vrooman, I’m told, has been part of putting together this entire 24/7 package for the last two years. He also now is a full-time employee of the Winterhawks as their communications manager. He is responsible for all content on the team’s live365.com station.
The two Vroomans and Kemper, along with veteran broadcaster John Kirby, will be involved in round-table discussions, feature interviews, etc.
“Todd has been outfitted with an iPad that he can use to record, edit and upload interviews from the team bus,” Robinett explained. “Andy records his show from a home office and some of the round-table discussions are literally recorded from the round dining-room tables of our broadcasters homes!
“As we get more and more comfortable with the technology we will explore call-in, text-in or even tweet-in live shows — both studio and on-location. Needless to say, we are pretty excited.”
And, finally, Robinett notes that “the live365 smartphone app is a big key to the success of this network. Two new videos are available now on YouTube that show Android and iPhone users how to download the app and connect to the Winterhawks.com Radio Network. We know that there will be some growing pains as people make the transition so we want to make it as simple as possible.”
As Graham Kendrick, the Winterhawks’ director of media and public relations, noted: “We’re really excited about this new venture. It’s going to be a lot of fun and our fans will love all the new content. This network on live365.com allows us to broadcast whatever we want, whenever we want. And with no subscription cost to fans, the content is free to whoever wants it.”
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Robinett also sent along a couple of addresses for those YouTube clips:
Android: Right here.
iPhone: Right here.
“In the coming months,” he added, “we will launch our own app across the Android, iPhone and Blackberry networks that will incorporate live audio, on-demand audio and, eventually, links to video highlights.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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