THE MacBETH REPORT:


F Jaroslav Svoboda (Kootenay, 1998-2000) was assigned on loan by Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL) to Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the rest of this season. He has two goals and one assist in 25 games with Lev this season. . . .

F Dylan Stanley (Tri-City, 2000-05) transferred from Bozen (Italy, Serie A2) to Neumarkt/Egna (Italy, Serie A2). He had 29 goals and 27 assists in 32 games with Bozen this season. Stanley currently stands in third place in league scoring.
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Former WHL G Jon Groenheyde stopped 66 shots on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough as his St. Thomas Tommies dropped a 5-2 decision to the host Acadia Axemen in an Atlantic University Sport game. . . . Groenheyde allowed four goals on 70 shots, with Acadia’s last goal an empty-netter.
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A hockey fan looking for an interesting read can’t go wrong with Breakaway, Tal Pinchevsky’s look at the first hockey players to have escaped from behind the Iron Curtain and come to North America.
It is subtitled From behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL — the untold story of hockey’s great escapes, and really is missing only Steve McQueen and his motorcycle.
There are some amazing stories here about players leaving behind families and not knowing what might befall those families because of the defectors’ decisions. We’re also referring to all kinds of cloak-and-dagger stuff, including clandestine meetings in forests.
Scary stuff!
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Regina, Kootenay F Sam Reinhart broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal in the second period and the Ice went on to a 3-1 victory over the Pats. . . . Reinhart’s 25th goal ran his point streak to 13 games, the longest in the WHL at the moment. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau had his point streak ended at 12 games. . . . The Ice continued its march toward an Eastern Conference playoff spot. All but written off before Christmas, the Ice has closed to within one point of the Saskatoon Blades, who hold down the eighth and final playoff spot. . . . The Blades hold three games in hand. . . . The Pats have lost seven in a row and are eight points out of eighth. . . .

In Swift Current, G Justin Paulic stopped 32 shots to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 5-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Broncos had won seven in a row going into this one. . . . The Warriors have won two in a row after a 10-game losing skid. . . . Ch-ch-ching! The teams engaged in a multiple-fight situation at 19:52 of the third period. . . . The Broncos lost F Graham Black to an elbowing major and game misconduct at 18:51 of the third period. . . . By game’s end, the Broncos had taken 116 of 179 penalty minutes. . . . Warriors F Tanner Eberle scored the winning goal, his 10th goal this season. It came on a penalty shot at 6:24 of the third period. . . . Broncos F Adam Lowry had two assists. . . .

In Edmonton, F Curtis Lazar broke a 2-2 tie at 12:05 of the second period and the Oil Kings went on to beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-2. . . . Lazar scored twice, giving him 23. . . . Brandon G Curtis Honey stopped 47 shots. With G Corbin Boes having suffered an undisclosed injury in a 2-1 OT victory in Edmonton on Friday, the Wheat Kings had Jordan Papirny on the bench backing up Honey. Papirny, from Edmonton, plays for the midget AAA South Side Athletic Club Athletics. . . . Edmonton F Dylan Wruck had a goal, his 14th, and two assists, while F Henrik Samuelsson drew three helpers. . . . The Oil Kings have won four in a row and lead the Eastern Conference by seven points over the Calgary Hitmen, who have two games in hand. . . .

In Red Deer, F Rhyse Dieno forced OT and then won the game in the circus as the Rebels got past the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 3-2. . . . The teams played through two scoreless periods and struck four times in 7:06 in the second half of the third period. . . . Red Deer F Rhyse Dieno forced OT with his 15th goal at 18:28 of the third period. . . . Dieno was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . . Lethbridge D Macoy Erkamps scored his fifth goal to open the scoring. He’s got eight points in his last three games. . . . Lethbridge G Ty Rimmer stopped 43 shots. . . .

In Prince George, G Mac Engel stopped 21 shots to help the Cougars to a 4-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The shutout was the first of the season for Engel. He has six shutouts in his career. . . . F Colin Jacobs scored twice, giving him 17. . . . F Jake Mykitiuk got his first of the season. . . . D Rinalds Rosinskis had three assists. . . . The victory was the first for Mark Holick as head coach of the Cougars. He worked his first game Friday as the Cougars dropped a 3-2 decision to the Silvertips. . . . Everett picked up five points on a four-game B.C. Division swing. . . . Judging by messages on Twitter early today, Brock Hirsche is leaving the Cougars. Hirsche, 20, had his season, and his WHL career, ended by shoulder problems before Christmas and had been helping with the coaching. . . .

In Victoria, F Brandon Magee scored two more goals as the Royals beat the Vancouver Giants, 4-1. . . . Magee, who has 25 goals, scored four times in a 6-4 victory over visiting Vancouver on Friday. . . . Victoria F Brandon Fushimi also scored last night, after getting two on Friday. . . . The two Brandons combined for nine goals in the two games. . . . The other goal went to F Jamie Crooks, who scored his 100th regular-season goal. . . . Victoria’s line of Magee, Alex Gogolev and Steve Hodges has 42 points in its last eight games. . . . Vancouver F Cain Franson got his 20th goal. . . . The Royals were without D Tyler Stahl, their captain, after he took a headshot major in a 6-4 victory over the visiting Giants on Friday. . . . The Royals won their seventh straight game, setting a Chilliwack-Victoria franchise record. . . . The Giants have lost six in a row. . . .

In Spokane, F Curtis Valk broke a 3-3 tie at 7:54 of the third period as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Chiefs, 4-3. . . . Valk’s 29th goal came via the PP. . . . Medicine Hat G Cam Lanigan stopped 55 shots, including 22 in the second and 20 in the third, and earned the lone assist on the winner. . . . F Todd Fiddler scored twice for the Chiefs, giving him a WHL-leading 35 goals. He also had an assist. . . . Fiddler tied a franchise record (fastest goal to open a period) when he scored eight seconds into the third. . . .

In Kelowna, the Rockets won their 21st straight home game, dropping the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-2. . . . Kelowna, which has won six straight, scored three times in the first period and led 6-0 midway through the third. . . . F Cody Fowlie scored twice for Kelowna, giving him 13, while F Tyson Baillie had a goal, his 17th, and two assists. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke stopped 18 shots to win his 20th straight start. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Oliver Bjorstand scored three times an G Brendan Burke got the shutout as the Winterhawks dropped the Tri-City Americans, 7-0. . . . It was Nuclear Night in Kennewick, but things didn’t go well for the home team which suffered its worst defeat of the season. . . . Burke, who is 15-4-1, stopped 25 shots in posting his third shutout this season. Portland has put up back-to-back blank jobs. . . . After the game, Burke tweeted: “It was great having my grandma @cbgrands and my grandpa in the stands tonight. Made the drive all the way from red deer #support #loveyou” . . . Bjorkstand, from Denmark, has 20 goals, the first freshman to that mark this season. This was his first hat trick. . . . F Chase De Leo had three assists, while F Nic Petan, the WHL’s leading scorer, had a goal, his 33rd, and an assist. . . . F Brendan Leipsic, who is second to Petan, had two goals, getting him to 32, and an assist. . . . Petan has 85 points, four more than Leipsic. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie picked up one assist, running his point streak to 13 games. He's got 19 points in 10 games since returning from the World Junior Championship. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser had his point streak end at 11 games. . . . The Winterhawks continue to be without D Derrick Pouliot, who has a high-ankle sprain.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Harrison Ruopp, Prince Albert

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Taylor Crunk, Victoria
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From former Regina Pats F Brad Hornung (@Bradhornung): “Wearing a pair of shoes since 1995 that still look brand-new. #quadadvantages”
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One more from @Bradhornung: “When a sold-out concert still has handicapped seats available. @quadadvantages”


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Was this the beginning or the end of a camping trip?

What follows was meant to have been posted in the wee hours of Saturday. Unfortunately, some Telus-related problems left our neighbourhood without phone lines and Internet access until noonish.
So . . . from the department of better late than never . . .
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Cory Flett, the WHL’s director, communications, was trying to do some family camping on Friday when something went wrong.
Whatever it was, he ended up doing some pretty serious communicating on twitter. Here’s a look:
1. RETWEET! At Elkwater @AlbertaParks for 'Alberta Parks' week, but Park & CO kicking out 2 fams 5 kids for unknowingly having 2 units on site
2.  Hey @AlbertaParks thanks for kicking 2 families 5 kicks out of Elkwater Old Baldy for unknowingly having 2 units on a site
3. Please help @GlobalCalgary @Jeremy Hunka 2 families and 5 kids being kicked out of @AlbertaParks Elkater for honest mistake
4. Hey @albertaParks what is wrong with this on a 100 ft site Cypress Hills: Old Baldy? Really kicking us out? (The picture atop this post accompanied Tweet No. 4.)
Flett hasn’t tweeted since No. 4 so there is no word as to the final outcome of this situation. Perhaps word will come sometime today.
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G Jon Groenheyde (Kamloops, Edmonton, Swift Current, 2008-12) will attend St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., and play for the Tommies. Groenheyde completed his junior eligibility last season with the Swift Current Broncos.
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Someone left a comment for me that had some garble in it. If Mr. Anonymous would please repost that comment — I think it started with Dear A--hole, or something like that — I will make sure it gets up on this blog.
I think it had something to do with the book whose cover is pictured at the upper right.
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Robert Creamer, who wrote two of the best sports books out there, has died. He was 90 when he left us in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Wednesday. His biographies on Babe Ruth (Babe: The Legend Comes to Life) and Casey Stengel (Stengel: His Life and Times) are classics and not to be missed.
Douglas Martin of The New York Times has more on Creamer right here.
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One of the best things about Olympic Games is that they always are covered by some top-notch writers. A week from today, the 2012 Olympic Summer Games will open in London, a city renowned for its tabloid newspapers. All of which means we are in for some interesting reading.
For starters, here’s a chunk out of a column by Marina Hyde of The Guardian:
“Quite clearly, the Middleton family are lining up in direct opposition to the IOC, establishing themselves as a rallying point for rebellion against the Lausanne-based supranational body, which exists as a sort of parasitic quasi-state for the sole purpose of siphoning funds out of the host nation for the benefit of itself and its sponsors.”
The Middleton family would include the Duchess of Cambridge and her parents. Yes, it seems the IOC has opened an investigation to see if their party supplies shop is in violation of the myriad of rules that crop up prior to and during Olympic Games.
Hyde’s complete column is right here and it’s a keeper.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Gerad Adams (Regina, Kelowna, 1995-99) signed a two-year contract extension as player and head coach for the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). He had eight goals and nine assists in 56 games this season, his seventh in Cardiff.
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If you scoot on over to DubNation — there’s a link over there on the right — you will find the latest production from the computer of Doyle Potenteau. It’s the March edition and it’s full of WHL-related news, feature stories and photographs. . . . D Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips is profiled. There’s a look back at Ray Ferraro . . . and a whole lot more. . . . Enjoy!
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SOME PRO NEWS: F Garett Bembridge (Saskatoon, 1997-2001) has signed with the Central league’s Wichita Thunder. He had been playing for Valpellice in Italy, totalling 28 points in 36 games. . . . F Taylor Vause, who signed with the AHL’s Texas Stars after completing his junior eligibility this season with the Swift Current Broncos, scored his first pro goal on Sunday in a 4-2 victory over the host Toronto Marlies. Vause was playing his third AHL game. . . . Also on Sunday, G Jon Groenheyde, who also finished his junior career with Swift Current, picked up his first pro victory. Groenheyde stopped 23 shots as the host Allen Americans downed the Wichita Thunder 3-1 in a Central league game. That was Groenheyde’s second start; he gave up two goals on 27 shots the first time out. He is one of three goaltenders on the roster, including Rejean Beauchemin (Prince Albert, 2002-05).
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Prior to the start of the just-completed regular season, the WHL announced it was implementing a social media policy.
After its annual general meeting in June, the league announced: “The WHL has adopted a Social Media and Networking Policy designed to educate players and all members of the WHL community on the risks associated with this new medium. The policy contains guidelines for using social media in a responsible manner and areas which would constitute a League violation.”
Now I haven’t seen a copy of that policy but I’m thinking it was violated at some point after Saturday’s playoff action.
I didn’t see it but I am told that a player who shall go unnamed tweeted this:
“Never seen such bullshit refing in my life. #conspiracy #anythingfortricity what a f'en joke”
Except that he didn’t write ‘f’en’, preferring to spell it out in case there was any doubt.
Apparently, the tweet was deleted about an hour after it first showed up.
Could be an interesting test for the WHL’s social media policy, whatever it is.
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On behalf of my media brethren, a reminder to all WHL teams . . .
According to the WHL’s Media Services Policy, “Players coaches and other team personnel will be available upon request for media interviews up to 90 minutes before game time.”
That rule stands for regular-season games and for playoff games.
I offer this reminder after being informed Saturday by a veteran coach that he wasn’t aware of that rule.
It is on Page 26 of the WHL’s 2011-12 Guide.
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DEPT. OF DISCIPLINE: D Darren Dietz of the Saskatoon Blades is under a ‘tbd’ suspension for a slashing major and game misconduct in Game 1 against the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Friday. The victim was Tigers F Emerson Etem. Dietz didn’t play in Game 2 on Saturday. . . . The Regina Pats requested supplemental discipline for a hit by Moose Jaw F Cody Beach in Game 1 against the host Warriors. The WHL office didn’t grant the request, so the Pats are $500 lighter. . . . There are a few other players awaiting word on discipline. . . . Kelowna F Brett Bulmer took a kneeing major and game misconduct in Game 2 of the Rockets series with the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday. . . . Everett had two players ejected from a 3-1 loss to the host Tri-City Americans in Game 2. F Ryan Harrison drew an interference major and game misconduct, while F Cody Fowlie got tossed with a checking-from-behind major. . . . As well, Portland F Oliver Gabriel drew a game misconduct in Game 2 after taking a minor penalty. I don’t know that whatever he did was a suspendable offence, however.
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To date, there have been 17 playoff games played. During those games, WHL referees have handed out 36 misconduct penalties, along with six game misconducts and 10 majors, six of which were for fighting.
Yes, sirree! In 17 games there have been three fights. In total. That’s all.
During the 792-game regular season, there were 790 fights, or an average of one scrap before game. (Thanks to hockeyfights.com for compiling those numbers.)
A few weeks ago, WHL commissioner Ron Robison was talking about how fighting was down in the league. Well, he was right. The number of fights per game fell by .08.
Last season, there were 857 fights, an average of 1.08 per game.
In last season’s playoffs, teams combined to play 70 games. There were 24 fights, an average of 0.34 per game.
Please tell me again why fighting is such an integral part of the game?
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Edmonton, D Keegan Lowe’s goal at 16:48 of the third period broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Oil Kings a 4-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Oil Kings, who had the WHL’s best record in the regular season, take a 2-0 lead into Cranbrook for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday. . . . Edmonton has won its last 13 games. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit, who stopped 22 shots, preserved the tie with a big save off F Sam Reinhart with 38 seconds left in the third. . . . Lowe’s goal was his first of the series and his second in six career playoff games. He had three goals in 72 games during the regular season and has seven in 212 career regular-season games. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen turned aside 41 shots. . . . The Ice got the game’s first goal, with F Drew Czerwonka scoring a minute into the first period. . . . The teams alternated goals after that, with the Ice leading 2-1 after one period and 3-2 after two. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar, the second overall selection in the 2010 bantam draft, tied the game with his second goal in two games at 15:05 of the third. . . . Lowe won it 1:43 later. . . . Edmonton was 2-7 on the PP; the Ice was 0-4. . . . The Oil Kings were without F Henrik Samuelsson, who completed a two-game suspension for a clipping major he incurred in the regular season’s final game. . . .
Columnist John MacKinnon the Edmonton Journal took in Game 2 and filed this piece.

In Winnipeg, Brandon F Michael Ferland broke a 1-1 tie at 8:01 of the second period and the Wheat Kings went on to a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Wheat Kings hold a 2-1 lead in the series with Games 4 and 5 in Winnipeg on Tuesday and Thursday nights. . . . The Wheat Kings are 11-4-0 in games played at the MTS Centre, including 4-3 in playoff games. . . . The Wheat Kings are playing their home games at the MTS Centre because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is in Westman Place in Brandon. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy scored perhaps the game’s biggest goal, giving his side a 3-1 lead at 19:41 of the third period. . . . Brandon F Kevin Sundher made it 4-1 at 4:56 of the third. That was Sundher’s first goal of the playoffs and his first goal since Feb. 10. Two games later, he suffered a concussion, then tried to come back on March 2, wasn’t able to continue and didn’t play again until Game 1 of this series. Sundher also had an assist and was named the game’s first star. . . . If he’s healthy, Sundher, who turned 20 on Jan. 18, can be a difference-maker. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 26 shots, 12 fewer than Calgary’s Brandon Glover, who started his second straight game after Chris Driedger played in the opener. . . . Brandon was 1-5 on the PP; Calgary was 0-1. . . . Attendance in the home of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets was announced as 3,578. . . . F Cody Sylvester, Calgary’s captain, missed the first two games with an undisclosed injury. He travelled to Winnipeg but didn’t play in Game 3. . . . Calgary F Victor Rask (leg) didn’t make the bus trip to Winnipeg but still could join the team there this week.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Max Reinhart, Kootenay.
F Brock Montgomery, Kootenay.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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There aren’t any WHL games scheduled for tonight. Seven series will resume on Tuesday.
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Lem Barney is in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and yet if he had it to do all over again he wouldn’t play football. Why? Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes about Barney and his concussion history right here.
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In the Boston Globe’s weekly hockey notebook, Fluto Shinzawa looks at the NHL and the impact of new statistics and data. Give it a read and you will realize that hockey is unlikely to ever go the way of baseball when it comes to that area of the game.


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THE MATCHUPS
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Regina (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Brandon (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Saskatoon (5)
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Victoria (7)
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Stefan Ulmer (Spokane, 2007-10) has signed a three-year contract extension with Lugano (Switzerland, NL A). He had one goal and eight assists in 44 games with Lugano this season. The contract extension runs through the 2014-2015 season.
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F Brad Ross of the Portland Winterhawks has signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who selected him in the second round of the NHL’s 2010 draft. Ross had career highs in goals (42) and points (82) this season. He has 245 points, including 109 goals, in 270 games with the Winterhawks. . . . There are four other players on the Portland roster who have NHL contracts — F Sven Baertschi (Calgary), F Oliver Gabriel (Columbus), D Joe Morrow (Pittsburgh) and F Marcel Noebels (Philadelphia).
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G Jon Groenheyde, who concluded his WHL career this season with the Swift Current Broncos, has signed on with the Central league’s Allen Americans. They are coached by former WHLer Dwight Mullins.
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They’ve got a pretty good deal going on in Saskatoon these days where they are choosing some all-time Blades all-star teams.
It’s all the brainchild of the host committee for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Fans may visit a website and select the Team of the Millennium (200-present) by April 14. After that, fans will have the opportunity to vote for Teams of the Decade  from the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s.
The poll now is open right here.
Cast a ballot and get entered to win game tickets to the 2013 Memorial Cup.
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F Mark McNeill and D Harrison Ruopp of the Prince Albert Raiders will finish up their seasons with AHL teams. . . . McNeill, a first-round selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s 2011 draft, will join the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, who are six points out of a playoff spot with 12 games left to play. . . . Ruopp, a third-round pick by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft, is off to join the Portland Pirates, who are two points out of a playoff spot.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will open against the Hitmen in Calgary on Thursday, with Game 2 there on Friday. With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair having taken over Westman Communications Group Place, the teams will play Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on March 25, 27 and 29. . . . The Wheat Kings are 10-4-0 at the MTS Centre; however, in playoff games, they are 3-3. . . . Over the years, the arrival of the Winter Fair has meant the Wheat Kings have played 22 playoff games in Winnipeg. They also played 16 at the Winnipeg Arena, where they were 11-5. . . . Calgary took three of four from the Wheat Kings this season.
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Lorne Molleken, the GM/head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, has told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that he expects to have D Dalton Thrower, F Michael Burns and F Chris Collins back for their opener against the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . Thrower and Burns have been out with injuries, while Collins missed three games due to personal reasons.

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Damien Cox of the Toronto Star:
“Well, whether you look at the NHL or the OHL or any league that currently only penalizes fighters with five-minute major penalties, there’s absolutely no correlation between winning and teams that fight a lot or teams that don’t, no evidence that scrappin’ squads win or lose more than teams that don’t.
“It’s just irrelevant, really. Irrelevant and pointlessly dangerous.
“Again, it’s one thing for professionals to do it, quite another for teenagers getting paid less than $100 a week to trade blows for the amusement of the paying public.
“That’s sick.”
His complete column is right here.
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The WHL, if you were wondering, is on pace for an 800-fight season.
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John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal offers up his take on the debate -- to fight or not to fight -- right here.
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Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times writes right here about Spokane Chiefs F Liam Stewart, the son of you know who and you know who. The big news here is that Liam’s father and a few other family members apparently are planning on attending a game or two in Spokane in the immediate future.
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The Phoenix Coyotes have signed F Brendan Shinnimin of the Tri-City Americans to a three-year entry-level NHL contract. Shinnimin, an undrafted free agent, attended the Coyotes’ camp prior to this season. . . . In the last few days, Shinnimin has been named the WHL player of the week and player of the month, and the CHL player of the week and player of the month. That came after he put up an amazing 43 points in 14 February games. Shinnimin, who turned 21 on Jan. 7, is from Winnipeg and is represented by Mark MacKay, a former WHL rookie of the year.
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Russ Parker, the owner of the Regina Pats since 1995, is one of the latest members of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted as a builder in the sports of baseball and hockey. He has a long-time love affair with baseball, going back to before he managed the Alberta Dodgers in the mid-1960s. He later owned professional teams in Calgary. . . . In fact, if pushed, Parker, a native of Moosomin, Sask., would surely admit that baseball is his first love; yes, even over hockey.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
(If you’re on Twitter, follow @WHLFacts for lots of facts and numbers.)
In Prince Albert, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored two late goals and beat the Raiders, 4-3. . . . F Cam Braes tied the game at 13:45 of the third, with his 38th score, and F Torrin White won it with his 10th at 15:21. . . . Braes had two goals, while F James Henry had a goal, his 15th, and two assists. Braes and Henry, both 20, were acquired by the Warriors at the trade deadline. . . . Raiders F Chance Braid, a 17-year-old from Chauvin, Alta., opened the scoring with his first point in 54 games. . . . F Justin Maylan drew three assists for the Raiders, while F Anthony Bardaro had a goal, his 31st, and two helpers. . . . Moose Jaw has won three in a row. . . . The Warriors, who lead the East Division, are four points behind the idle Edmonton Oil Kings, who lead the Eastern Conference. . . .

In Brandon, F Brenden Walker scored twice to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . F Alessio Bertaggia had three assists for Brandon, while F Michael Ferland had two. . . . Brandon scored the game’s first three goals and the last three. . . . The Wheat Kings had F Kevin Sundher and F Jason Swyripa back from injuries. . . . Brandon D Ayrton Nikkel had one assist and was plus-4. . . . Brandon is 7-0-1 in its last eight and has moved into seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Saskatoon Blades and one ahead of the Regina Pats. . . .

In Calgary, F Cody Sylvester scored his second goal of the game at 3:46 of OT to give the Hitmen a 4-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Blades held a 3-1 lead halfway through the third period. . . . Sylvester scored at 10:18 and F Victor Rask tied it, with his 30th, at 14:01. . . . Sylvester won it with his 22nd goal of the season. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick got his 30th goal for Calgary. . . . F Matej Stransky got his 35th for Saskatoon. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger came on after Saskatoon’s third goal. He stopped all six shots he faced and got the victory. . . . The Hitmen, with three straight victories, clinched a playoff spot. They are fourth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Medicine Hat and five ahead of the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Blades are sixth, a point behind Kootenay and a point ahead of Brandon. . . .

In Red Deer, G Jon Groenheyde stopped 45 shots to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 4-0 victory over the Rebels. . . . It was his second 4-0 shutout over the Rebels this season. . . . That is the most saves by a goaltender in recording a shutout this season. There have been 58 shutouts in the WHL this season. . . . Groenheyde has two shutouts this season and two in his career. . . . The Broncos have put up two shutouts this season; the Rebels have been blanked five times. . . . F Brad Hoban had a goal, his 19th, and two assists. . . . F Josh Derko’s eighth goal, at 6:42 of the first, stood up as the winner. . . . The Broncos were 2-2 on the PP. . . . F Taylor Vause scored his 35th goal of the season. . . . The Broncos swept the four-game season series. . . . The Rebels, with eight regulars on the shelf with injuries, are nine points out of a playoff spot with eight games left. . . .

In Kamloops, F Brett Bulmer and F Shane McColgan each had two goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 6-3 victory over the Blazers. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 43 shots in picking up his 20th victory. . . . The Blazers held a 46-18 edge in shots, including 22-5 in the third. . . . Bulmer, with his 30th, and McColgan, with his 16th, got the Rockets going with goals 49 seconds apart early in the first period. . . . F Zach Franko had three assists for the Rockets, who clinched a playoff spot with the victory. . . . Kamloops F Jordan DePape, playing his first game since suffering a shoulder injury on Oct. 10, scored the Blazers’ last goal, his third of the season. . . . These teams will play tonight in Kelowna with the Blazers needing one point to clinch the B.C. Division pennant. . . . Kelowna clinched a playoff spot and will finish sixth in the Western Conference. The Rockets will face the second-place team from the U.S. Division, either the Portland Winterhawks or Tri-City Americans, in the first round. . . .

In Prince George, the Spokane Chiefs scored the game’s last four goals as they beat the Cougars, 4-1. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel stopped 17 shots, 17 fewer than Prince George’s Drew Owsley. . . . Spokane F Darren Kramer scored his 20th goal. . . . With the victory, the Chiefs, who have won three in a row, moved into fourth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Vancouver Giants. Those two teams are headed for a first-round clash, with the Chiefs now holding home-ice advantage. Each team has eight games remaining. . . . The Cougars have dropped seven in a row. They are five points out of a playoff spot with eight games left. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Taylor Leier scored the game’s last two goals as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-4. . . . The Winterhawks, who have won four in a row from the Americans and 10 of their last 11 overall, took a 4-2 lead in the second period, only to have the Americans tie it on goals by F Adam Hughesman, his 39th, at 12:28 and D Zach Yuen, his 11th, at 15:42. . . . Leier, who has 11 goals, scored at 3:23 of the third to break a 4-4 tie. He added an empty-netter at 19:44. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin had one assist for the Americans, who had won their previous seven games. . . . F Oliver Gabriel drew three assists for Portland, while F Brad Ross had two goals, giving him 38, and a helper. . . . F Justin Feser scored twice for the Americans, giving him 34. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 22 shots in winning his WHL-leading 40th game. . . . Tri-City’s Ty Rimmer turned aside 33. . . . The teams will meet Sunday in Portland. . . . With the victory, the Winterhawks moved into first place in the overall standings, one point ahead of the Americans, two up on Kamloops and three ahead of Edmonton. . . . Portland is 11-0-1 in its last 12 games. . . . Attendance was 6,121, the second-largest crowd in the Americans’ history in the Toyota Center. . . .

In Vancouver, the Medicine Hat Tigers erased a 3-1 first-period deficit and beat the Giants, 6-4. . . . Tigers D James Bettauer forged a 4-4 tie with his 20th goal, on a PP, just 35 seconds into the third period. . . . Tigers F Boston Leier broke the tie with his 13th at 5:11 and F Emerson Etem got his WHL-leading 54th goal at 5:45. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison gave up six goals on 19 shots, including three on four shots in the third period, before being hooked. . . . The Tigers were 3-7 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-8. . . . The Tigers went 3-0 on a short but long trip that took them to Prince George and Vancouver. . . . The Giants will catch a ferry to Victoria this morning where they will play the Royals tonight and again Sunday at 1 p.m. . . . Vancouver F Austin Vetterl (leg) was injured in practice this week and the team says he will be out four weeks. . . . Pro cheerleader Cameron Hughes, who was in Kamloops on Friday night, is due in Victoria tonight. . . . The Tigers were playing their 3,000th regular-season game, which means the legendary Bob Ridley, the Tigers’ radio voice, was calling his 2,999th game. . . . Ridley will get to No. 3,000 on Wednesday when the Kootenay Ice visits Medicine Hat. . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Calgary. . . . The Giants slipped a point behind fourth-place Spokane in the Western Conference. . . .

In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 25 shots to help the Everett Silvertips to a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Simpson has one shutout this season and five in his career. . . . It was the sixth time this season that Seattle has been blanked. . . . F Josh Birkholz had a goal, his 27th, and an assist, as did F Reid Petryk, who has 15 goals. . . . D Ryan Murray scored his ninth goal. . . . Seattle took 50 of 76 penalty minutes. . . . The Silvertips were 1-8 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-5. . . . The victory lifted Everett past Seattle and into eighth place in the Western Conference. . . . The Silvertips are a point ahead of Seattle and one behind the seventh-place Victoria Royals. . . . Interestingly, the Silvertips are in possession of a playoff spot despite having the fewest victories (18) of any team in the league. They do have nine loser points, though.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Jesse Forsberg, Prince George.
F Mitch Elliot, Seattle.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES
Swift Current at Edmonton
Calgary at Kootenay
Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
Saskatoon at Red Deer
Brandon at Regina
Tri-City at Everett
Kamloops at Kelowna
Seattle at Portland
Spokane at Prince George
Vancouver at Victoria
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ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
The WHL has awards to honour executives and head coaches, referees and marketing people and on and on. So, Mr. Commissioner, why aren’t there awards to honour the league’s hardest-working people, the assistant coaches, the trainers/athletic therapists and the equipment managers?

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Goaltender Eric Comrie of the Tri-City Americans comes up with the save off
Luke Lockhart of the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday at the Toyota Center
in Kennewick, Wash. Comrie shut out the T-Birds, 4-0.
(Photo courtesy Doug Love / Tri-City Americans)

The Kootenay Ice is scheduled to play in Regina tonight, which normally means leaving Cranbrook and riding the bus for 10 hours.
However, this time it was just a little bit different.
This time, the Ice got to Sparwood and discovered that No. 3 Highway through Crowsnest Pass was closed due to snow and blowing snow.
With no indication as to when it would re-open, the Ice sat in a Sparwood parking lot for about 11 hours.
Still with no idea when the highway would re-open — in fact, there was talk that it might remain closed for another 24 hours — the Ice had breakfast and then chose to return to Cranbrook.
“We have back-tracked to Cranbrook,” reported G Mackenzie Skapski, “and are taking the Invermere route through Banff and then through Calgary. So, all-in-all, at the end of the day it’ll probably be a 15-hour bus ride.”
It should be pointed out that Skapski was more than gracious in keeping in touch with Keeping Score during this not-so-excellent adventure.
At one point, he noted that the movie selection on the bus was “very good. . . . It was almost (as though this was) meant to be.”
By the time the Ice arrived in Regina, at about 3 a.m. CT, what normally is a 10-hour ride had taken about 26.
“It’s funny,” Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post from the bus, “all the games that I’ve been with Kootenay, we only had one cancelled and that was when we were on a road trip in Saskatchewan (two seasons ago). We played in Prince Albert and the highway closed from Saskatoon to Regina. We had to postpone that game. Now we’re coming from B.C. and we’re in the same situation but we should be able to play (tonight).”
Ahh, life in the Dub. To steal a line from an Armed Forces commercial, “There’s no life like it.”
The Ice arrived in Regina about 3 a.m. CT. When they arrived in the Saskatchewan capital, No. 3 highway still was closed at Sparwood.
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F Brett Connolly played 6:45 over nine shifts on Tuesday night as his Tampa Bay Lightning beat the visiting Boston Bruins, 5-3. He had three shifts in the first period, four in the second, and two in the third. Of that 6:45, 1:31 came with his club on the PP. . . . Connolly also had two shots on goal. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling from the Tri-City Americans. . . .
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The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed G Corbin Boes back to practice on Tuesday. He has been out since suffering a broken hand on Dec. 8 in a 7-3 loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon reports that Wheat Kings D Ryley Miller and D Ryan Pulock, both of whom were injured during an 8-2 loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Sunday, were on the ice Tuesday. D Rene Hunter, who missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, also practised. However, D Eric Roy is listed as being out two weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . .
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F Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks is the only player in all of the CHL to have scored 40 goals. He got there in Monday’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans. F Nino Niederreiter scored 41 for the Winterhawks last season, the most since F Josef Balej notched 51 in 2001-02. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth leads the WHL with 28 victories. The Winterhawks have 27 games remaining and he is within reach of Brent Belecki’s franchise single-season record of 35, set in 1997-98. Also in franchise history, only Darrell May Sr. (105) and BeleckI (79) have more career victories than Carruth (73). . . .
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F Jarid Hauptman, 17, has left the Spokane Chiefs. Hauptmann, from Morinville, Alta., had 11 points, including four goals, in 32 games. With the Jan. 10 signing deadline having passed, Hauptmann can’t be reassigned to another team, nor is he able to play for another team in any league.
“For us, he was doing well,” Chiefs GM Tim Speltz told Jess Brown of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “It’s a process and it’s not easy and he had a bright hockey future ahead of him — but it isn’t what he wants and there’s no way he could pretend that it was. It’s a huge commitment, and his decision was kind of consistent with what we’d already experienced with him.
“It doesn’t seem to be a good move timing-wise, but he has to do what he thinks is right for him.”
Hauptman started training camp with the Chiefs, but left the team, only to return six weeks later. So obviously this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
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The Regina Pats have agreed to serve as the lead sponsor for Hockey Regina’s annual peewee tournament. The event now will be known as the Regina Pats Peewee Classic. . . . This year’s tournament is scheduled for Jan. 26-29. . . . The tournament’s eight divisions have been named after former Pats players — Jordan Eberle, Josh Harding, Mike Sillinger, Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard, Jamie Heward, Dale Derkatch and Derek Morris. . . . By the way, it’s Wiener Wednesday in Regina tonight as the Pats play host to the Kootenay Ice. That means it’s 2-for-1 hotdogs, and it doesn’t get any better than that. . . .
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reported Tuesday afternoon that Silvertips F J.T. Barnett has had his season ended by “a torn lateral collateral ligament in his knee. Freak injury prior to Saturday's game in Kamloops.” . . . Barnett, 19, was a healthy scratch on Friday night when the Silvertips beat the visiting Spokane Chiefs 4-3 in overtime. On Saturday in Kamloops, he tweaked a knee during pregame scratching, took the warmup, got taped up and played. He had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 loss to the Blazers, and then didn’t play in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . Barnett started the season with Kamloops but was dealt to Everett on Nov. 14. . . . He had 12 points in 20 games with Everett. . . .
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There are reports — I believe Chris Dilks of the Western College Hockey blog was first with the news — that F Luke Voltin has been dropped by the U.S. National Team Development Program. Voltin, who will turn 17 on April 13, is from Blaine, Minn. He has committed to North Dakota; his WHL rights are held by the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Voltin has been playing for the U.S. U-17 team and has 12 points, including five goals, in 25 games. He played in the recent U-17 World Hockey Challenge, scoring once and adding one assist.
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TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Steve Ewen, who covers the Vancouver Giants for the Vancouver Province: “Elevator is out of service at the Pacific Coliseum. Vancouver Giants listing it as week to week, upper body injury.”
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, G Jon Groenheyde stopped 38 shots as the Broncos dumped the Victoria Royals, 3-1. . . . F Taylor Vause had a goal, his 24th, and an assist for the Broncos. . . . Vause broke a 1-1 tie at 18:22 of the second period. . . . D Reece Scarlett provided insurance with a PP goal at 11:55 of the third. . . . The Broncos have won two in a row, while the Royals are 1-2-0 on their East Division swing. . . .

In Red Deer, F Alex Gogolev scored twice as the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Rebels, 5-1. . . . The Hitmen now have won eight in a row. . . . D Mathew Dumba gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal of the season at 4:09 of the second period. . . . The Hitmen then scored two second-period goals tto take the lead. . . . Gogolev has 18 goals this season. . . . Calgary F Greg Chase scored his second goal of the season, in his 33rd game, and added two assists. . . . Calgary has won five straight road games and opens a five-game homestand tonight against the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., G Eric Comrie stopped 16 shots as the Tri-City Americans beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-0. . . . Comrie, in his first WHL season, has three shutouts. He is 15-3-0. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost their last 20 games in the Toyota Center. . . .  The Americans, who had lost two straight, now have won 14 straight games on home ice. . . . F Patrick Holland ran his point streak to 13 games with a goal and an assist. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard, winless in 14 starts in Kennewick, stopped 36 shots. . . . F Adam Hughesman had two assists, moving him to 305 points and past Terry Degner (304) and into fourth place on the Tri-City career points list. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin also had two assists to get to 272 points, moving past Bill Lindsay (271) and into ninth place. . . . Comrie and Ty Rimmer have combined for eight shutouts, one shy of the franchise record set in 2009-10. . . . F Jesse Mychan, who was acquired by Tri-City from Everett last week, scored his third goal in five games with the Americans. . . .

In Vancouver, F Philip Tot had two goals and three assists as the Lethbridge Hurricanes got past the Giants, 5-3. . . . Lethbridge was coming off a doubleheader loss to the Cougars in Prince George last weekend. The Hurricanes are in Kamloops tonight. . . . F Jay Merkley scored twice for the Hurricanes, who three times took leads and had the Giants come back to tie them. . . . F Jaimen Yakubowski broke a 3-3 tie at 1:20 of the third period. . . . Tot, an 18-year-old from Calgary, has 26 points, including eight goals, in 36 games. Last season, as a sophomore, he had 21 points, six of them goals, in 58 games. . . . F Nick Buonassisi had a goal and two helpers for Lethbridge. . . . Vancouver D Blake Orban had a goal and an assist. He went into the game without a point in 25 games. . . . Lethbridge G Liam Liston, making his first start since Dec. 9, stopped 38 shots. . . . The Hurricanes have won five road games this season — two in Vancouver, two in Medicine Hat and one in Red Deer. . . . The Giants, who gave up 15 shots in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, surrendered 18 shots in the first period against Lethbridge.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Spencer Humphries, Calgary.
F Jaimen Yakubowski, Lethbridge
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In a piece headlined ‘Are ice hockey enforcers the toughest guys in sport?’ Alex Capstick of BBC World Service brings Jim Thomson’s story to another part of the world.
That piece is right here.

SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, G Jon Groenheyde picked up his first career shutout as the Broncos got past the Red Deer Rebels, 4-0. . . . Greonheyde, 20, was playing in his 133rd game. . . . He made 25 saves as the Broncos blanked an opponent for the first time this season. . . . Groenheyde played the first 60 games of his career with the Kamloops Blazers, then was with the Edmonton Oil Kings for 35 appearances. This was his 38th game with Swift Current. . . . F Andy Blanke’s second goal of the season, at 1:02 of the first, stood up as the winner. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Lukas Sutter had two goals and two assists to help the Blades to an 8-6 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Sutter has 19 goals. . . . The Raiders took a 3-2 lead into the secod period when the Blades scored three times on four shots. The Raiders twice got back to within a goal but couldn’t equalize. . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie stopped 40 shots and picked up his first WHL assist. . . . Prince Albert F Anthony Bardaro and F Justin Maylan each scored his 20th goal. . . . Saskatoon D Duncan Siemens scored his sixth goal of the season, one more than he counted last season. . . . Raiders D Josh Morrissey, who is 16 and having a terrific season, had a goal and three assists. He has  24 points, including five goals, in 41 games. . . . The Blades have won four in a row. . . .

In Brandon, F Ben Walker’s shootout goal gave the Victoria Royals a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . Walker had two assists in regulation time as Victoria snapped a 10-game losing skid. . . . The Wheat Kings, who are 0-2-1 in their last three home games, have lost 10 straight shootouts. . . . Brandon is 1-5-1 in its last seven games. . . . The Royals erased a 3-1 deficit when F Jamie Crooks scored at 16:56 of the second and F Brandon Magee tied it at 13:43 of the third. . . . The Royals held a 20-8 edge in shots in the third. . . . F Mark Stone got his 30th of the season for Brandon. . . . Victoria F Dakota Conroy scored his first goal for the Royals, and it came against the team that traded him away on Monday. . . . F Kevin Sundher, who went to Brandon in that exchange, had two assists. . . . Brandon G Curtis Honey, in his first start at home, stopped 46 shots, seven more than Victoria’s Keith Hamilton. . . .

In Edmonton, F Jordan Peddle’s goal at 3:06 of OT gave the Oil Kings a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Oil Kings now lead the Eastern Conference by eight points over Kootenay and the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson had forced OT with his first WHL goal at 8:30 of the third. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart scored his 13th goal, giving him 34 points in 38 games. Jeff Hollick, the Ice’s radio voice, reports that Reinhart has tied F Jarret Stoll and F Nigel Dawes for the franchise record for points in a season by a 16-year-old forward. D Steve McCarthy holds the record, with 40 points at 16 years of age. . . . Kootenay F Drew Czerwonka, the team captain, left the game in the first period and didn’t return. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s last three goals, two into an empty net, as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-3. . . . F Emerson Etem had two goals, giving him 37 this season. He has goals in seven straight games, totalling nine goals in that span. . . . Etem broke a 3-3 tie at 10:48 of the third. . . . F Curtis Valk also scored twice for Medicine Hat. . . . Tigers G Tyler Bunz stopped 35 shots in posting his 100th regular-season victory. . . . Moose Jaw F Cam Braes, acquired Monday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, scored his 100th career goal. He has played in 322 games. . . . Tigers D Patrik Parkkonen had three assists. . . .

In Kamloops, F Tim Bozon scored twice to help the Blazers to a 5-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Bozon, a Swiss freshman, was 39th in the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings of draft-eligible North American skaters that came out earlier in the week. But he wasn’t named to the CHL Top Prospects Game. . . . Go figure! . . . Bozon has 22 goals. . . . Bozon is riding a seven-game point streak during which time he has 12 points, including six goals. . . . Kamloops F Brandon Herrod scored his 20th goal of the season, 18 of which came with the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Kamloops now has five 20-goal men on its roster. . . . The Blazers have won six in a row and now are just one point the Tri-City Americans, who lead the overall standings and the Western Conference. . . . Kamloops D Austin Madaisky didn’t pick up even one point but he was plus-4. . . . Everett D Ryan Murray, who was third in those same Central Scouting rankings, scored his sixth goal of the season. He has 12 points in 17 games. . . . The Silvertips had planned on heading to Kamloops immediately following a 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Friday night. However, their departure was delayed for an hour when one of their players was selected for a drug test and, uhh, wasn’t able to go. As a result, they didn’t arrive here until 5 a.m. . . .

In Prince George, the Cougars broke a 1-1 tie with three straight third-period goals and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . The Cougars had beaten the Hurricanes 6-3 on Friday. . . . Prince George F Jordan Tkatch snapped a 1-1 tie at 4:47 of the third. . . . Prince George F Troy Bourke had two assists, giving him five in the two-game series. . . . Cougars G Drew Owsley stopped 39 shots. . . . Lethbridge F Brady Ramsay scored his 16th goal in his 43rd game. Last season, he scored once in 57 games. . . . The Cougars are ninth in the Western Conference, but now are just one point behind the Seattle Thunderbirds and Victoria Royals, who are tied for seventh. . . .

In Vancouver, G Adam Brown turned aside 36 shots as the Kelowna Rockets edged the Giants, 4-3. . . . The Giants overcame a 3-1 third-period deficit, tying the game with two goals 29 seconds apart. F Riley Kieser scored his second goal in as many games, at 6:17, and D Tyler Vanscourt tied it on the PP at 6:46. . . . Kelowna F Carter Rigby got the winner at 7:32. He’s got 13 this season. . . . The Giants were without F Brendan Gallagher and F Dalton Sward, both of whom were injured in Friday’s 11-4 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Gallagher took a big hit from Tri-City F Patrick Holland in the first period and, later on the same shift, took a hard fall into the end boards, possibly injuring his right shoulder. . . . Tweeting about Gallagher’s injury, Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province wrote: “They are saying nothing, which, to me, says a lot. I think it is serious.” . . . Vancouver also was without G Adam Morrison. He got the hook in that loss and wasn’t on the bench in the third period, although head coach Don Hay said later that “there’s nothing wrong with Mo.” . . . With Morrison out, Alexander Ahnert, 18, came in from the junior B Delta Ice Hawks and backed up Jackson Whistle, 16. . . . Ewen reports that the Giants are believed to be bringing in G Payton Lee, 15, from Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna. . . .Vancouver D David Musil (wrist), who didn’t play Friday, also sat out. . . . The Giants are saying that Gallagher, Morrison and Sward are day-to-day and will be re-evaluated on Monday. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Mac Carruth stopped 25 shots as the Portland Winterhawks blanked the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-0. . . . Carruth has two shutouts this season — both against Seattle — and four in his career. He blanked the Thunderbirds 2-0 on Dec. 31. . . . Portland has won three straight games. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost six in a row. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored his WHL-leading 39th goal of the season. . . . The Winterhawks also got a goal from F Marcel Noebels, who was acquired Tuesday from Seattle. . . . Portland D Joe Morrow had an assist to run his points streak to six games. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 48 shots. . . .

In Spokane, F Dominik Uher had two goals and an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 5-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Uher has 14 goals. . . . Spokane F Dylan Walchuk broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 7:05 of the third. He has two goals in two games since joining the Chiefs this week. . . . Tri-City D Sam Grist had tied the game 3-3 with his first WHL goal in 96 games at 11:28 of the second. . . . F Todd Fiddler scored for Spokane. He had 10 points in 35 games with the Prince Albert Raiders. Since joining the Chiefs, he has 10 points, five of them goals, in nine games. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel stopped 31 shots. He is 6-0-0 in his last six starts.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Manraj Hayer, Everett.
F Tim Bozon, Kamloops.
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In the BCHL on Saturday night, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 23 games with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings. . . . The Vees next play Friday when they are at home to the Westside Warriors.
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If you watched last spring’s Memorial Cup, you may have seen D Brayden McNabb’s hit on Owen Sound Attack F Joey Hishon. You may even recall that McNabb ended up with a one-game suspension for a hit that left Hishon with a concussion. Well, McNabb now is with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, while Hishon continues his recovery and hasn’t skated since that incident. (McNabb may have suffered a concussion in Buffalo’s 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.)
Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post has more right here.
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Congratulations to old friend Dennis Pottage and all of those who have been named to the first induction class for the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame.
Also to be inducted are players Sid Abel, Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Johnny Bower, Glenn Hall, Gordie Howe, Elmer Lach, Metro Prystai, Fred Sasakamoose and Bryan Trottier; builders Ed Chynoweth, Bill Hunter, Gordon Juckes, Father Athol Murray and Doc Seaman; grassroots contributor Bill Ford; and, Pottage as an official.
As well, five teams will be inducted — the 1989 Swift Current Broncos, the 1974 Regina Pats, the 1985 Prince Albert Raiders, the 1982-83 U of Saskatchewan Huskies and the 1955-64 Semans Wheat Kings.
The Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame is to be located in the Credit Union iplex, the home of the Broncos. The induction banquet is scheduled for July 28.
All I know is that I’m glad I wasn’t on the selection committee. With all of the great hockey players and contributors to the game who came out of Saskatchewan, I can’t imagine the angst that must have gone into picking the first inductees.
And when you look at those names, one thing is for certain — that induction dinner is going to be a storyteller’s delight.
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Brent Peterson, a former player and coach with the Portland Winterhawks, will be inducted into the WHL team’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony prior to a Feb. 3 game with the visiting Everett Silvertips.
He will join former owner Brian Shaw, former owner, GM and coach Ken Hodge and former player Dennis Holland in the club’s Hall of Fame.
“Brent is deserving,” Winterhawks president Doug Piper told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. “He was our first captain, a very good player, and he coached us to a Memorial Cup title. He is one of the most popular members the organization has ever had. And his contributions to hockey are outstanding at all levels.”
Peterson couldn’t be more thrilled.
“It’s awesome,” Peterson told Eggers. “What an honor. I know it’s not (former Hawk) Cam Neely being in the NHL Hall of Fame, but it probably means as much to me.
“The Winterhawks are my favorite team in the world. Every time I see a (former) Winterhawk in the NHL, even if I didn’t coach him, I always make sure to say hello. We all have that bond, that special relationship. You are proud to be a part of an organization that has done so well for so long.”
Peterson, 53, now works with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. He was on the coaching staff until Parkinson’s disease forced him to step back.
The Winterhawks also have said they will hold and auction and fund-raiser to benefit the Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s.
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The Minnesota State High School Hockey League will activate new rules Monday aimed at cracking down on tough hits. A check from behind, boarding or head contact will carry with it at least a major penalty. It is the first time the league has implemented such rule changes in midseason. The move comes after Jack Jablosnki, a player with Benilde-St. Margaret’s, was hit from behind and left paralyzed.
David La Vaque of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has more right here.
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Today’s good read comes from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. It’s his weekly notes package and it is topped with an item on a former WHL player box who now is an NHL referee.
Pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy this right here.

Seattle’s Justin Hickman (9) celebrates the Thunderbirds’ first goal
— he scored it — of Saturday’s game against the visiting
Victoria Royals. The ice was pink for ‘Pink The Rink Night’.
(Photo by Kyle Scholzen/Seattle Thunderbirds)

SOME SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Kent, Wash., F Brendan Troock scored two third-period goals, the last one breaking a 4-4 tie at 17:03, as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Victoria Royals, 5-4. . . . That was Seattle’s first victory in four games this season. . . . Troock also had an assist. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 39 shots. . . . The Royals had erased a 4-2 deficit when F Kevin Sundher scored at 10:52 of the third period and F Austin Carroll counted at 13:30. . . . The ice in the ShoWare Center was pink as the T-Birds held their first ‘Pink The Rink Night’ in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Valley Medical's Glow Women's Health and Wellness Program. The first 3,000 fans received pink T-Birds baseball caps courtesy of Glow. The Seattle players wore pink skate laces and used pink tape on their sticks. . . .
The Regina Pats honoured the memory of the late Rick Rypien, a former team captain, prior to their Saturday night game with the visiting Prince George Cougars. Rypien’s mother, Shelly, handled the ceremonial faceoff and the Pats announced that their annual Unsung Hero Award has been renamed the Rick Rypien Award because, the club said in a news release, “he best exemplified hard work not just on the ice, but also what he meant to his teammates and all the work that Rick did in the community.” . . . On the ice, G Drew Owsley stopped 19 shots as the Cougars beat the Pats, 2-0. . . . Owsley has two shutouts this season and 11 in his career. . . . F Jordan Tkatch got the winner, his fourth goal in as many games. . . . The Cougars had lost two in a row; the Pats had won two straight. . . .
In Swift Current, G Jon Groenheyde stopped 21 shots to help the Broncos to a 6-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. It was Groenheyde’s first appearance with the Broncos since being acquired earlier in the week from the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . This one was 3-3 with about eight minutes left in the third period when F Coda Gordon scored two goals 46 seconds apart for the Broncos. . . . Gordon, a 17-year-old freshman from Cochrane, Alta., has 10 points, including four goals, in six games. . . .
In Portland, G Brendan Burke, 16, stopped 26 shots in earning his first WHL victory as the Winterhawks beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 5-4. . . . Burke is the son of former NHL G Sean Burke. . . . Portland got nine points from the line of Sven Bartschi, Ty Rattie and Nic Petan. . . . Bartschi had two goals and two assists, Rattie drew three helpers and Petan had one of each. . . . Portland was 3-for-6 on the PP. . . .
In Saskatoon, the Blades beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-1 in a game that featured 116 minutes in penalties. . . . The Oil Kings took 60 of those minutes. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov stopped 33 shots. . . .
In Red Deer, the defending-champion Kootenay Ice improved to 4-1-2 as they beat the Rebels, 2-1. . . . G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 33 shots and F Elgin Pearce broke a 1-1 tie with his second goal of the season at 15:48 of the second period. . . . All three goals came via the PP; however, the Rebels failed to score on two power plays in the game’s last five minutes. . . . D Jagger Dirk drew assists on both Ice goals. . . .
In Vancouver, F Jayden Hart, a 17-year-old freshman from Spruce Grove, Alta., ended a six-round shootout with a goal that gave the Medicine Hat Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Giants. . . . Hart, whose older brother, Tyler, is a defenceman with the Giants, had scored his first WHL goal in the first period. . . . Vancouver tied the game 4-4 when F Jordan Martinook scored with 1.4 seconds left in the third period. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored the game’s first goal, his 11th of the season. Originally, he was credited with four goals in Friday’s 5-4 loss to the Royals in Victoria. However, on Saturday, the last of those goals was changed to F Hunter Shinkaruk, with Etem drawing an assist. . . . F Brendan Gallagher had two goals for the Giants, giving him four on the season. . . . Gallagher was stymied on a first-period penalty shot by G Kenny Cameron, who was making his first WHL start. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac, the Tigers’ captain, was back in the lineup after not playing Friday because of what was termed a minor injury. . . .
In Spokane, F Anthony Bardaro had two goals and two assists to lead the Chiefs to a 5-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . F Mitch Holmberg added two goals and an assist for the Chiefs. . . . The Rockets have lost two in a row after opening the season with three victories. . . . Kelowna managed just 12 shots on Spokane G Mac Engel -- three, four and five by period. . . . The Rockets a post about a minute into the game. The Chiefs then proceeded to get 15 shots on goal and score three times before Kelowna mustered its first shot on goal. . . . Spokane F Darren Kramer had three assists for the first three-point night of his career. Kramer, who led the WHL with 46 fights last season, is the Chiefs’ new captain. He was coming off his first two-goal game in Friday’s 6-4 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . Kramer, who totalled 14 points in 68 games last season, has seven points in four games this season. Oh, and he has been in two fights, the first with Kamloops D Tyler Hansen on Friday, the second last night with Kelowna F Tyrell Goulbourne.
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Randy Starkman of the Toronto Star has spoken with Dr. Charles Tator, perhaps Canada’s most pre-eminent expert on concussions. Dr. Tator has some concerns with some of the information coming out of the clinic in Boston that is examing the brains of select dead athletes; in fact, Dr. Tator wonders if there isn’t some grandstanding taking place.
Starkman’s piece is right here.