Trade voided . . . Blazers, Broncos deal with Cougars, Blades

After the frantic burst of activity on Tuesday, things were relatively quiet on the WHL trade front on Wednesday. Although there was one interesting twist, as the WHL had to void one Tuesday deal.
On Tuesday, the Kamloops Blazers traded D Josh Connolly and a 2016 second-round bantam draft pick to the Swift Current Broncos for D Brycen Martin.
On Wednesday, the Blazers dealt Connolly to the Prince George Cougars for D Marc McNulty.
Seriously . . . it really happened.
The WHL voided the deal between Kamloops and Swift Current, issuing this news release:
“. . . the trade between the Kamloops Blazers and Swift Current Broncos (Joshua Connolly for Brycen Martin) on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 was not concluded to the satisfaction of the two Clubs concerned. Consequently, the WHL has ruled the trade to be null and void.”
What happened?
Jon Keen, the radio voice of the Blazers, tweeted that Connolly refused to report to Swift Current.
Martin, 18, and that draft pick were returned to the Broncos.
Before day’s end, the Blazers and Broncos had turned around and cut deals with divisional rivals.
Connolly, 19, was dealt to his hometown team, the Cougars, for McNulty, 19. The Blazers also get a 2016 sixth-round draft pick, with the Cougars picking up a sixth-round pick in 2015.
Connolly, a third-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft, has 34 points, five of them goals, in 39 games this season. In 164 career regular-season games, he has 85 points, 17 of them goals. Before joining the Blazers, Connolly played for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of Prince George.
The 6-foot-6 McNulty, from Medicine Hat, was a 10th-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. He was selected by the Detroit Red Wings in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2013 draft. In 170 regular-season games with the Cougars, he has 72 points, including 30 goals. This season, he has 15 points, including five goals, in 30 games.
Connolly will debut with the Cougars this weekend as they play in Victoria on Friday and Saturday nights. The Blazers are at home to the Kelowna Rockets on Friday.
And the whole thing came full circle shortly when Martin, who by now was at home in Calgary, was dealt to the Saskatoon Blades, with a conditional fifth-round 2017 bantam draft pick, for D Jordan Thomson, 18, and a first-round pick in the 2016 draft that originally belonged to the Red Deer Rebels.
Thomson, from Wawanesa, Man., was the fourth-overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft. He was taken by Kamloops, then dealt to the Blades last season. The 2017 fifth-round pick is conditional on his playing as a 20-year-old.
In 24 games with the Blades this season, Thomson has 12 points, two of them goals. In 104 career games, he has 42 points, including seven goals.
Martin, the second overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, was a third-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2014 draft. He had 16 points, two of them goals, in 39 games with the Broncos this season. In 181 regular-season games, he had 72 points.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more on the Blades’ deal right here.
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The Tri-City Americans have acquired F Tyler Sandhu, 18, from the Red Deer Rebels for fourth-round selections in the 2016 and 2017 bantam draft. . . . Sandhu, from Richmond, B.C., was traded by the Everett Silvertips to Red Deer on Oct. 20 for fourth-round picks in the 2015 and 2016 bantam drafts. . . . He had one goal in nine games with Everett. In Red Deer, he had 18 points, including eight goals, in 28 games. . . . In 148 career regular-season games, he has 82 points, 41 of them goals. . . . The Americans are at home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday.
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TRADE DEADLINE DEALS:
(All draft picks in bantam draft unless otherwise noted; deadline is Saturday, 1 p.m. MT)

Dec. 10 . . .
To Kelowna: D Josh Morrissey (95), F Gage Quinney (95).
To Prince Albert: D Jesse Lees (95), F Austin Glover (96), 2016 second-round pick, 2017 third-round pick.
---
Dec. 12 . . .
To Red Deer: D Nelson Nogier (96), F Austin Adamson (96).
To Saskatoon: F Mason McCarty (97), 2015 second-round pick, 2016 first-round pick.
---
Dec. 16 . . .
To Calgary: G Thatcher Demko, 19, who is at Boston College.
To Spokane: Conditional draft picks. Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show tweeted that he had it as a second-rounder in 2015 and a second- or third-rounder in 2016.
---
Dec. 27 . . .
To Swift Current: D Griffin Foulk, 19.
To Lethbridge: Conditional eighth-round pick in 2016.
---
Dec. 27 . . .
To Red Deer: D Colton Bobyk, 18, and a 2016 fourth-round pick.
To Spokane: D Nick Charif, 19, a second-round 2015 pick and a conditional sixth-round 2016 selection.
---
Jan. 2 . . .
To Brandon: F Morgan Klimchuk, 19.
To Regina: F Jesse Gabrielle, 17.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Medicine Hat: D Kyle Burroughs, 19, and F Dryden Hunt, 19.
To Regina: D Connor Hobbs, 17, and two draft picks -- second-rounder in 2016 and third-rounder in 2015.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Saskatoon: D Kolton Dixon, 19.
To Red Deer: G Trevor Martin, 18.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Red Deer: F Connor Gay, 19, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2016, a second in 2015 and a seventh in 2017.
To Regina: F Jake Leschyshyn, 15, and a fourth-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Brandon: D Reid Gow, 20.
To Spokane: A fifth-round pick, Spokane’s option for 2015 or 2016.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Kelowna: F Leon Draisaitl, 19.
To Prince Albert: F Tomas Schmidli, 18, D Dalton Yorke, 18, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2015, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Prince George: D Tomas Andrlik, 19.
To Prince Albert: A 12th-round pick in 2015.
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Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: D Connor Clouston, 18.
To Kamloops: A fifth-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Calgary: G Brendan Burke, 19.
To Portland: G Evan Johnson, 18, and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Lethbridge: D Brady Reagan, 17.
To Regina: F Taylor Cooper, 19.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Victoria: F Alex Forsberg, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
To Saskatoon: F Brayden Dunn, 16, and a first-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Portland: D Adam Henry, 20.
To Saskatoon: A second-round pick 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: F Axel Blomqvist, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fifth-round pick in 2017.
To Victoria: D Alexey Sleptsov, 18, G Justin Paulic, 19, and a sixth-round pick in 2015.
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Jan. 7 . . .
To Tri-City: F Tyler Sandhu, 18.
To Red Deer: Fourth-round picks in 2015 and 2016.
---
Jan. 7 . . .
To Kamloops: D Marc McNulty, 19, and a 2016 sixth-round draft pick.
To Prince George: D Josh Connolly, 19, and a 2015 sixth-round draft pick.
---
Jan. 7 . . .
To Saskatoon: D Brycen Martin, 18, and a conditional 2017 fifth-round draft pick.
To Swift Current: D Jordan Thomson, 18, and a 2016 first-round draft pick (originally belonged to Red Deer).

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Tuesday's WHL trade roundup . . .

The WHL trade deadline arrives on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT, and over the last two days a whack of deals have been made.
In fact, if you go back to Dec. 10, when the Prince Albert Raiders and Kelowna Rockets got together on a deal that had D Josh Morrissey moving west, WHL teams have combined for 19 trades.
Unofficially, those deals have involved 38 players, 26 bantam draft picks and five conditional draft picks.
What follows is a look at what transpired on Tuesday . . .
The much talked and written about trade of German F Leon Draisaitl to the Kelowna Rockets finally was announced.
The deal involved F Kris Schmidli, who was with the Swiss team at the World Junior Championship, so couldn’t be announced until the tournament ended.
The Prince Albert Raiders dealt Draisaitl, 19, to the Rockets for Schmidli, 18, D Dalton Yorke, 18, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2015, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017.
This is the second major trade between these teams in a month. On Dec. 10, the Rockets acquired Morrissey and F Gage Quinney for D Jesse Lees, F Austin Glover and two bantam draft picks.
Draisaitl, the third overall selection in the NHL’s 2014 draft, had been with the Edmonton Oilers. Last season, his second with the Raiders, he had 105 points, including 38 goals, in 64 games.
“He’s a great big centre who’s going add some tremendous depth to our
team,” Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets president and general manager, told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. Hamilton, a member of Hockey Canada’s management group, had just returned from the WJC. “Rourke Chartier is one of the premier players in the league right now, and this guy certainly
brings the same qualities he does. And he’s an experienced player; he has
30-some games of NHL experience under his belt now, so I think he’ll fit
in real well.
“I’ve had to listen to Josh Morrissey for two weeks telling me what to do
to get him. He fits in real well with him, too. He’s a real solid person;
he’ll be a great player to have here. And they’ll fit into our community
real well.”
Draisaitl is expected to be in the Rockets’ lineup Wednesday night as they play host to the Vancouver Giants. (Meanwhile, the Rockets aren’t expected to dress D Madison Bowey and D Josh Morrissey, both of whom won gold with Canada at the WJC.)
Schmidli, from Zurich, has 17 points, including five goals, in 33 games this season. Last season, as a freshman, he had 35 points, nine of them goals, in 68 games.
Yorke, from Maple Ridge, B.C., is in his second WHL season. He has two assists in 26 games, after earning four assists in 40 games last season.
The Raiders are at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight.
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The Raiders then dealt Czech D Tomas Andrlik, 19, to the Prince George Cougars for a 12th-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft.
Andrlik had 27 points, including four goals, in 109 regular-season games with the Raiders.
That move left both teams with two import players.
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The Saskatoon Blades were involved in a pair of trades.
First, they sent F Alex Forsberg, who turned 20 on Sunday, a third-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft -- it originally belonged to the Portland Winterhawks -- and a fourth-round pick in 2016 to the Victoria Royals for F Brayden Dunn, 16, and a first-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft.
Forsberg, from Waldheim, Sask., was selected first overall in the 2010 bantam draft by the Prince George Cougars. He was acquired by the Blades prior to this season, and has 33 points, including 13 goals, in 36 games. In 167 regular-season games, he has 120 points, 43 of them goals.
With Forsberg gone, the Blades expect that freshman F Wyatt Sloboshan will play a larger role.
Dunn, from Calgary, was a fourth-round pick by Victoria in the 2013 bantam draft. He is playing with the midget AAA Calgary Northstars.
Then, the Blades dealt D Adam Henry, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks for a second-round pick in 2017.
Henry began this season with the Seattle Thunderbirds before being traded to the Blades. He has 22 points, three of them goals, in 35 games with Saskatoon. He also has played with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
In 208 career regular-season games, he has 97 points, including 19 goals.
After that deal, the Blades were left with two 20-year-olds on their roster -- F Sam McKechnie and F Brett Stovin.
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The Kamloops Blazers acquired D Brycen Martin, 18, from the Swift Current Broncos for D Josh Connolly, 19, and a second-round pick in the 2016 draft.
Martin, a third-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2014 draft, was in his third season with the Broncos. They took him with the second overall pick of the 2011 bantam draft.
This season, in 39 games, Martin, a Calgarian, has 16 points, including two goals. In 181 regular-season games, he has 82 points, 10 of them goals.
Connolly, from Prince George, was a third-round pick by Kamloops in the 2010 bantam draft. An offensive defenceman, he was the Blazers’ third-leading scorer, with 34 points, including five goals, in 39 games.
In 164 games with the Blazers, Connolly put up 85 points, including 17 goals. He is the younger brother of former Prince George Cougars F Brett Connolly, who now is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
“We’ve been looking for a right-handed shot that can play the power play,” Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ GM and head coach, said in a news release. “Connolly is a solid player all over the ice, offence and defence, who can play for us next (season). The price for a guy like that is a Brycen Martin.”
Earlier in the day, the Blazers dealt D Connor Clouston, 18, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a fifth-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft. Clouston, the son of Shaun Clouston, the Medicine Hat Tigers’ GM and head coach, was a third-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. Connor and Warriors F Torrin White also are step-brothers. He had a goal and four assists in 81 regular-season games with the Blazers.
The Blazers’ decision to keep D Dawson Davidson, 16, for the remainder of the season left them with nine defencemen, so they were able to move Clouston. Davidson, who had been the captain of the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals, has two goals in four games with Kamloops.
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The Portland Winterhawks traded G Brendan Burke, 19, for G Evan Johnson, 18, and a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft.
Burke was in his fourth season with Portland. This season, he was 7-8-3, 3.63, .888. His career numbers are 72-25-10, 2.95, .902. He has eight career shutouts. Burke, the son of former NHL G Sean Burke, was a sixth-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2013 NHL draft.
He will join Mack Shields as the goaltenders on Calgary’s roster.
In 15 games with the Hitmen, Johnson, a freshman, was 5-3-2, 2.84, .894.
Of late, G Adin Hill had taken over the starter’s role in Portland. He has put up shutouts in each of his last two starts.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes traded F Taylor Cooper, 19, to the Regina Pats for D Brady Reagan, 17.
Cooper, from Sherwood Park, Alta., has 28 points, including 12 goals, in 38 games this season. He was a sixth-round pick by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2010 bantam draft. In 167 regular-season games, he has 77 points, including 33 goals.
Reagan, a second-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, has a goal and six assists in 61 regular-season games. He’s from Blackie, Alta.
The Pats also have recalled D Ryan Krushen, 16, from the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. He played in three games with the Pats earlier in the season.
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After dropping a 6-1 decision to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors announced a three-player swap with the Victoria Royals.
The Warriors acquired Swedish F Axel Blomqvist, 19, and two bantam draft picks — a third in 2015 that originally belonged to Kamloops and a fifth in 2017 — for Russian D Alexey Sleptsov, 18, G Justin Paulic, 19, and a sixth-round pick in 2015.
The 6-foot-6, 212-pound Blomqvist has 29 points, 14 of them goals, in 34 games this season. He also played with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 158 regular-season games, he has 118 points, 45 of them goals.
Sleptsov, a sophomore from Moscow, has 18 assists in 34 games this season. In 100 regular-season games, he has 43 points, including four goals. In Victoria, he will be reunited with D Travis Brown, who was his partner in Moose Jaw last season before he was dealt to the Royals.
Paulic, from Thompson, Man., has appeared in 18 games this season, going 6-8-2, 3.50, .895. He has one shutout. In 132 WHL appearances, he is 40-61-19, 3.39, .895 with the one shutout. He was an eighth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2010 bantam draft.
With Paulic on the move, the Warriors have brought in G Brody Willms from the Okanagan Hockey Academy to back up Zach Sawchenko for the remainder of this season. Willms, 16, is from Coquitlam, B.C. He was an eighth-round pick by the Warriors in the 2013 bantam draft.
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TRADE DEADLINE DEALS:
(All draft picks in WHL bantam draft)
Dec. 10 . . .
To Kelowna: D Josh Morrissey (95), F Gage Quinney (95).
To Prince Albert: D Jesse Lees (95), F Austin Glover (96), 2016 second-round pick, 2017 third-round pick.
---
Dec. 12 . . .
To Red Deer: D Nelson Nogier (96), F Austin Adamson (96).
To Saskatoon: F Mason McCarty (97), 2015 second-round pick, 2016 first-round pick.
---
Dec. 16 . . .
To Calgary: G Thatcher Demko, 19, who is at Boston College.
To Spokane: Conditional draft picks. Guy Flaming of The Pipeline Show tweeted that he had it as a second-rounder in 2015 and a second- or third-rounder in 2016.
---
Dec. 27 . . .
To Swift Current: D Griffin Foulk, 19.
To Lethbridge: Conditional eighth-round pick in 2016.
---
Dec. 27 . . .
To Red Deer: D Colton Bobyk, 18, and a 2016 fourth-round pick.
To Spokane: D Nick Charif, 19, a second-round 2015 pick and a conditional sixth-round 2016 selection.
---
Jan. 2 . . .
To Brandon: F Morgan Klimchuk, 19.
To Regina: F Jesse Gabrielle, 17.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Medicine Hat: D Kyle Burroughs, 19, and F Dryden Hunt, 19.
To Regina: D Connor Hobbs, 17, and two draft picks -- second-rounder in 2016 and third-rounder in 2015.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Saskatoon: D Kolton Dixon, 19.
To Red Deer: G Trevor Martin, 18.
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Jan. 5 . . .
To Red Deer: F Connor Gay, 19, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2016, a second in 2015 and a seventh in 2017.
To Regina: F Jake Leschyshyn, 15, and a fourth-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 5 . . .
To Brandon: D Reid Gow, 20.
To Spokane: A fifth-round pick, Spokane’s option for 2015 or 2016.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Kelowna: F Leon Draisaitl, 19.
To Prince Albert: F Tomas Schmidli, 18, D Dalton Yorke, 18, and three bantam draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2015, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Prince George: D Tomas Andrlik, 19.
To Prince Albert: A 12th-round pick in 2015.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: D Connor Clouston, 18.
To Kamloops: A fifth-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Calgary: G Brendan Burke, 19.
To Portland: G Evan Johnson, 18, and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Lethbridge: D Brady Reagan, 17.
To Regina: F Taylor Cooper, 19.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Victoria: F Alex Forsberg, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fourth-round pick in 2016.
To Saskatoon: F Brayden Dunn, 16, and a first-round pick in 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Portland: D Adam Henry, 20.
To Saskatoon: A second-round pick 2017.
---
Jan. 6 . . .
To Kamloops: D Brycen Martin, 18.
To Swift Current: D Josh Connolly, 19, and a second-round pick in 2016.
—-
Jan. 6 . . .
To Moose Jaw: F Axel Blomqvist, 19, a third-round pick in 2015 and a fifth-round pick in 2017.
To Victoria: D Alexey Sleptsov, 18, G Justin Paulic, 19, and a sixth-round pick in 2015.

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Hurricanes getting help . . . Giants, Americans cut deal . . . Who's that with the MJ Moose?

F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Wedemark Scorpions (Germany, Oberliga). This season, with Sterzing/Vipiteno (Italy, Serie A), he had two goals and 12 assists in 15 games. He played his first game with Wedemark on Friday night, scoring once and drawing four assists in a 7-4 victory.
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Ron Sakamoto, who knows a thing or two about marketing and promotions, has joined forces with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the ENMAX Centre in an attempt to raise the profile of the WHL franchise.
Sakamoto was introduced at a Friday news conference as part of a new advisory committee that will, according to a news release, “help support the Hurricanes community-owned franchise with promotion, fund-raising initiatives and ticket sales.” The other members of the committee weren’t identified in the news release.
For one thing, team president Doug Paisley said, work is going to be done to “build the identity and culture of our hockey club.”
To do that, Paisley added, “We’re looking to achieve this with banners and other identifiable markers that commemorate the heritage and the past players that have achieved the highest level in the sport.”
The news release refers to Sakamoto as “the leading music promoter in Canada as well as a longtime supporter of organizations and businesses in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta.”
Sakamoto is quoted: “I live here, this is my home, this is my community and I’m really proud of it. In order to keep this a community-owned team, I’m happy to lend my support to the organization but we have to have everyone’s help to keep (the team) in the community.”
Sakamoto, according to the release, “is looking at bringing in new initiatives to the table including the introduction of new benefits to season-ticket holders, as well as bringing in concerts with proceeds that would benefit the club.”
It’s interesting that Sakamoto would refer to wanting to keep the Hurricanes as a community-owned team. Don’t forget that at the franchise’s annual general meeting on Sept. 30, shareholders decided to vote at the next AGM on whether to explore the sale of the franchise.
Could it be that battle lines are being drawn in Lethbridge?
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has his weekly 30 Thoughts right here. This week he leads off with the financial mess in which Columbus Blue Jackets D Jack Johnson has found himself.

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The Vancouver Giants have acquired D Josh Thrower, 18, from the Tri-City Americans in exchange for D Tyler Morrison, 19, and a second-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Thrower, from Squamish, B.C., had three assists in 23 games with the Americans this season. He also has played with the Calgary Hitmen, who selected him in the second round of the 2011 bantam draft, and has 14 points, including three goals, in 124 regular-season games. . . . “Josh came to me and expressed a desire to play closer to home for personal reasons,” Americans general manager Bob Tory said in a news release. “We are sad to see him go, but this was the right thing to do for Josh.” . . . Thrower’s brother, Dalton, captained the Giants as a 20-year-old last season. Josh is wearing No. 47 with Vancouver, the same number that his brother wore. Josh wasn't in Vancouver’s lineup last night against the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Morrison, from Sherwood Park, Alta., had one goal and four assists in 20 games with the Giants this season. In 153 regular-season games with the Giants, he has 49 points, nine of them goals. . . . Morrison is expected to be in the Tri-City lineup against the visiting Spokane Chiefs tonight.
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The Regina Pats have dropped G Tyler Fuhr, 19, from their roster and he will join the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. Fuhr was 1-0 with the Pats, backstopping them to a 7-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 26. . . . The Pats, who opened a B.C. Division swing in Vancouver last night, are carrying 22 players, including six defencemen and 14 forwards. . . .

Former Regina Pats D Tye Hand, 19, is considering a return to the game after quitting prior to the start of this season due to post-concussion syndrome. Former Pats assistant coach Billy McGuigan now is the head coach of the junior A Summerside, P.E.I., Western Caps and has made an offer to Hand.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

In Prince Albert, F Jayden Hart scored three times to lead the Raiders to a 6-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Hart, who has 11 goals, got the game's first two scores early in the first period. He completed the hat trick into an empty net at 19:17 of the third. . . . Raiders F Craig Leverton added his 12th goal and three assists. . . . F Cory Mallette, who was acquired by the Raiders (10-13-0) from the Saskatoon Blades this week, went pointless. . . . Raiders G Rylan Parenteau stopped 44 shots. . . . On Wednesday night, Broncos G Landon Bow shut out the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings for his WHL-leading fifth blank job. Last night, he didn't get through the second period, leaving after giving up four goals on 18 shots. . . . Broncos F Coda Gordon had his WHL-high 15-game point streak come to an end. . . . The Broncos (13-9-4), who had points in their previous five games (3-0-2), are in Saskatoon tonight. . . .

In Brandon, F Nolan Patrick scored twice to help the Wheat Kings to a 7-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock set a franchise record with three goals in 53 seconds. . . . Pollock scored at 19:14 and 19:45 of the first period, erasing a 2-0 Brandon lead in the process, and completed his first WHL hat trick seven seconds into the second period. F Mitch Moroz had held the franchise record of two minutes 32 seconds. He did that last season in Brandon. . . . After Pollock's third goal, the Wheat Kings scored four straight, with F John Quenneville tying it with his eighth goal at 14:06 of the second, on the PP, and Patrick getting his sixth, while shorthanded, at 18:40. . . . Pollock has 12 goals. . . . F Jim Harrison of the Estevan Bruins holds the WHL record for fastest three goals. He scored three times in 24 seconds, in the last minute of the third period, as the Bruins beat the visiting Regina Pats 6-5 on Dec. 4, 1966. . . . Patrick has six goals. . . . Brandon (18-5-1) got a goal and two assists from F Tim McGauley, who has nine goals. . . . Brandon D Ivan Provorov drew three assists. . . . Edmonton F Mads Eller had a rough third period. He needed to be helped to the bench after taking a hit from Brandon F Jesse Gabrielle, and later headed for the dressing room after a hit from Brandon F Reid Duke. . . . Edmonton (12-9-3) had been 3-0-1 in its past four games. . . . The same teams meet again tonight in Brandon. . . .

In Calgary, F Jake Virtanen scored his fourth goal and added two assists to spark the Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Hitmen (12-8-3) are 5-0-2 in their last seven. . . . Calgary D Colby Harmsworth tied the score 2-2 at 12:02 of the second period, with his first goal. . . . Calgary D Kenton Helgesen broke the tie at 15:05. . . . He's got five goals. . . . Calgary D Keegan Kanzig, who was acquired from the Victoria Royals on Wednesday, had one assist. . . . F Jesse Shynkaruk, who came over from the Kamloops Blazers in a Thursday deal, was in the Warriors’ lineup and scored their first goal at 2:53 of the first period. . . . Moose Jaw G Zach Sawchenko started -- it was his first appearance since Nov. 8 -- but left after stopping all seven shots he saw in the first period. Justin Paulic came on to stop 22 of 26 shots. . . . "Sawchenko tweaked his injury a little bit, so we pulled him out for precautionary reasons and put (Paulic) in after the first period," Warriors head coach Tim Hunter told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “He just felt it might get a little worse as the game went along, so we pulled him out and we'll re-evaluate him in the morning." . . . Calgary G Mack Shields made 13 saves. . . . The Warriors (9-11-3) had points in their previous three games (2-0-1). . . . The Warriors are in Lethbridge tonight, while the Hitmen are in Red Deer. . . .

In Red Deer, G Rylan Toth made 29 saves as the Rebels scored a 4-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Red Deer F Evan Polei broke a 2-2 tie with his 10th goal at 15:45 of the thrid period. . . . Rebels F Wyatt Johnson got hi 11th into an empty net at 19:03. . . . F Cole Sanford scored his 16th goal for the Tigers, who got 30 saves from G Marek Langhamer. . . . The Rebels (12-9-3) are at home to Calgary tonight. . . . The Tigers (16-5-2) had been 2-0-1 in their previous three games. They will entertain the Kootenay Ice tonight. . . .

In Cranbrook, D Rinat Valiev scored a goal and set up four others as the Kootenay Ice scored a 5-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . He's got three goals. . . . Ice F Tim Bozon scored twice, giving him six, and added an assist, while F Sam Reinhart had two assists. Reinhart now is the franchise assists leader with 164. He had been tied at 162 with F Jarret Stoll. . . . Reinhart has 15 points, including 11 assists, in six games since returning from the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. . . . Lethbridge remains without G Stuart Skinner (concussion), although he did ride the bike on Friday. He may return to the ice on Sunday. In his absence, G Zac Robidoux stopped 43 shots. . . . The Ice had F Levi Cable, F Jon Martin and F Kyle O’Connor, all of whom had been out with injuries, back in the lineup. . . . The Ice (9-14-0) has won six of its last seven and is in Medicine Hat tonight. . . . The Hurricanes (5-13-4) are 1-3-3 in their last seven. They are at home to Moose Jaw tonight. . . .

In Kamloops, D Josh Connolly drew four assists as the Blazers dumped the Prince George Cougars, 5-2. . . . Connolly is from Prince George. . . . Kamloops F Logan McVeigh broke a 2-2 tie 27 seconds into the third period. He's got three goals. . . . The Blazers scored three times in the third period with Connolly earning an assist on each of them. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully scored his 11th goal and added an assist, while F Matt Needham had two assists. . . . Blazers F Deven Sideroff, who leads all freshmen in goals, got his 12th just 1:33 into the game. . . . The Blazers lost D Ryan Rehill to an apparent leg injury in the second period. They already were without D Brady Gaudet (shoulder). . . . Kamloops F Matthew Campese, acquired during the week from the Victoria Royals, made his debut but left in the second period with a kneeing major and game misconduct for a hit on F Chase Witala, who didn't return. . . . The Blazers (11-10-4), now 2-0-1 in their last three, are in Spokane on Sunday. . . . The Cougars (12-13-0), who have lost five of six, are in Vancouver tonight. . . .

In Kelowna, the Portland Winterhawks erased a 3-0 deficit and dropped the Rockets 4-3 in OT. . . . F Alex Schoenborn won it with his second goal of the game and seventh of the season, at 1:04 of OT. . . . The Rockets led 3-0 at 16:29 of the first period. . . . Kelowna got is first goal from its big line -- Tyrell Goulbourne, with his 11th, from Rourke Chartier and Nick Merkley -- but the unit was blanked after that. . . . The Winterhawks, who held a 52-26 edge in shots, began the comeback with two PP goals, from Chase De Leo, his 13th, and Schoenborn, at 5:42 and 19:02 of the second period. . . . De Leo tied it at 8:49 of the third. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke left after one period, having stopped nine of 12 shots. Aden Hill came on to make 14 saves and get the victory, improving his record to 1-2-0. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle made 48 saves. . . . Portland lost F Paul Bittner to an apparent leg injury early in the second period. . . . The Rockets scratched eight players, leaving them able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum. They went with only 10 forwards. . . . The Rockets were without F Rodney Southam, who drew a one-game suspension for incurring his third game misconduct of the season during that end-of-game melee in Kelowna on Wednesday. . . . The Rockets (21-1-3) are 11-0-3 in their last 14 outings. . . . The Winterhawks are 10-12-3. . . . The same teams meet tonight in Kelowna. . . .

In Victoria, G Jayden Sittler turned aside 24 shots to help the Royals to a 3-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Sittler got his first WHL victory in his first home start. . . . F Austin Carroll and F Jared Dmytriw had a goal and an assist each. Carroll has 16 goals; Dmytriw has two. . . . Victoria D Joe Hicketts added insurance to a 2-1 lead with his seventh goal at 13:49 of the third period. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 26 shots. . . . Victoria F Greg Chase, acquired Wednesday from the Calgary Hitmen, was pointless but had five shots on goal in his debut. . . . The Royals were without F Brandon Magee, who has been suspended for five games for a spearing incident at the end of Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets. Magee began this season by sitting out a 12-game sentence left over from last season’s playoffs. . . . Victoria F Taylor Crunk drew a one-game suspension for his part in that melee. . . . Victoria (13-11-2) will meet the visiting Regina Pats tonight. . . . The Silvertips (14-4-3) will visit the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., tonight. . . .

In Vancouver, the Regina Pats spotted the Giants an early 2-0 and then roared back for a 6-2 victory. . . . The game was the first of Regina’s B.C. Division swing that continues tonight in Victoria. . . . F Tyler Benson, with his fourth, and F Jackson Houck, with his seventh, on a PP, gave the Giants the lead in the first period. . . . F Adam Brooks, with his ninth, and F Dryden Hunt, with his 11th, tied it for Regina before the end of the period. . . . D Kyle Burroughs gave Regina its first lead with a PP goal, his third, at 10:11 of the second. . . . Hunt finished with two goals. . . . Regina D James Hilsendager didn’t have any points but finished plus-5. . . . G Daniel Wapple stopped 25 shots for the Pats (13-9-1), who have won five straight. . . . The Giants (9-14-0) have lost two in a row. They are at home to Prince George tonight. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Tyson Verhelst kicked out 35 shots to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Kailer Yamamoto scored both goals for the Chiefs (10-7-3), giving him five. Both came via the PP, at 15:03 of the first period and 9:35 of the third. . . . F Calvin Spencer had Spokane’s goal, his third, at 13:46 of the third. . . . Seattle (9-11-3) has lost three straight. . . . The Chiefs visit the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., tonight, while the Thunderbirds entertain Everett.
---

Spending some time exploring Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan! pic.twitter.com/wkNDe3djIw
— John Fogerty (@John_Fogerty) November 20, 2014

A game to remember for Bozon

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter

Tim Bozon didn’t get the farewell he deserved Friday, but he certainly had a night to remember.
Bozon had two goals and two assists as the Kootenay Ice defeated the Kamloops Blazers 7-3 at Interior Savings Centre. It was Bozon’s first game in Kamloops since the Blazers traded him and defenceman Landon Cross to the Ice in an October deal that brought Collin Shirley, Matt Thomas and a trio of draft picks to town.
Bozon had been a big reason the Blazers were so successful in 2011-12 and 2012-13, in which the team had more playoff success than it had had in the previous decade combined.
The 19-year-old Bozon has signed a contract with the Montreal Canadiens, so likely won’t be back next season. Even then, the Ice, which plays in the Eastern Conference, only stops here every other season.
With this in mind, Bozon played his best game of the season, helping the Ice snap a three-game losing streak.
“I knew it was my last time playing here ever, and obviously I wanted to make it special,” said Bozon, who plays internationally for France. “Lots of emotion right now — for sure it’s going to be my last time, and it feels good.”
Nothing is feeling good for the Blazers, whose losing skid has hit 11 games. And, while they might have felt good about themselves after a pair of close losses to the Kelowna Rockets the previous weekend, there were few positives to gain from Friday’s thumping.
“We didn’t play well at all,” said head coach Dave Hunchak. “Every time we turned the puck over, every time we made a mistake, it ended up in the back of our net. . . .
“I’m very disappointed in our effort tonight.”
Since trading away Bozon and Cross, who played well and earned an assist in the victory, Kamloops has gone 2-9-4.
The Blazers have been decent in some of those games, and absolutely horrible in others.
The latter was the case last night, as Kootenay scored twice in the first period, and put the game away with four goals in the last nine minutes of the second period.
“No emotion, no jump whatsoever from our group tonight,” Hunchak said. “I’m at a loss to explain why that is. We had a good week of practice again, thought we were making steps forward, then we lay an egg like this.”
If the Blazers are trying to forget this one, they certainly haven’t forgotten Bozon, or the fact that he asked to be traded. With this in mind, whoever chooses the three stars left the winger out of the post-game ritual, keeping him from getting a farewell cheer from the fans.
Ice head coach Ryan McGill was fuming after the game, and Bozon seemed a little disappointed.
“I can’t control that, it’s up to whoever picks,” Bozon said. “But, for sure, I really wanted to have a last chance to thank the fans for everything they did over the last two seasons.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it, but I just want to make sure they know that (I’ll) always love them and it was fun to play for the Blazers.”
Jaedon Descheneau had two goals for the Ice, and Matt Alfaro, Zak Zborosky and Luke Philp also scored in the victory. Wyatt Hoflin stopped 30 shots as the Ice was outshot 33-26.
Josh Connolly, Cole Ully and Eric Krienke, with his first career WHL goal, scored for Kamloops. Taran Kozun was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 20 shots; Cole Kehler stopped four of six shots in relief in what was his WHL debut.
Kamloops is home to the Everett Silvertips tonight, 7 o’clock, at ISC.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 4,053. . . . The Blazers were without G Bolton Pouliot (right hand) and F Aspen Sterzer (lower body) due to injury. Pouliot, who has missed three straight games, is out until after Christmas, while Sterzer, who has sat out two straight, is day-to-day. Hunchak said Sterzer won’t be playing tonight. . . . Kamloops F Joe Kornelsen left Friday’s game with what appeared to be a head injury after taking an early hit from Hudson Elynuik. Kornelsen returned later in the period, but wasn’t on the bench at game’s end. “I’m not sure what the extent is,” Hunchak said. . . . Elynuik was assessed a checking-to-the-head minor on the play. . . . Blazers D Sam Grist was assessed a match penalty for an incident during a third-period fight with Jon Martin. Grist had in his hand Martin’s helmet as he swung for a punch and appeared to hit Martin. He faces a WHL suspension. . . . The Daily News’ Three Stars: 1. Bozon: Everyone in the rink could see he was the best player on the ice; 2. Descheneau: 21 goals playing in the shadow of Sam Reinhart; 3. Reinhart: Great player. . . . The Ice was 3-for-4 on the power play, while Kamloops went 2-for-4.

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca

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Rockets post up on Blazers

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
It took 57 minutes Friday, but the Kelowna Rockets finally found a way to use a goalpost to their advantage.
Tyson Baillie banked in the winning goal with 2:40 remaining in the third period as the Rockets defeated the Kamloops Blazers 3-2 in a WHL game at Interior Savings Centre. The Rockets (18-3-2), still sitting second in the Western Conference, will play host to the last-place Blazers (6-18-3) tonight.
It was Kamloops’ ninth straight loss, and the one it deserved to lose the least. The Blazers outshot the Rockets 39-36 and clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the third period.
But Baillie ended any thoughts of a Kamloops upset when he bounced a shot off the goalpost to the right of goaltender Taran Kozun, off Blazers defenceman Sam Grist, and into the Kamloops goal.
Dave Hunchak, the head coach of the Blazers, could only shake his head.
“When you’re going through this, that tends to happen,” he said. “They hit the post and it goes off of Sam’s back and into the net. It’s unfortunate, because at that stage we were feeling like we were going to push.”
It certainly wasn’t the first post the Rockets had hit — Colton Heffley hit the cross-bar in the first minute and Kelowna players struck iron four other times before Baillie’s bouncer.
“I think we maybe hit six (posts),” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “I think you make your breaks a lot of the time. . . .
“When you’re working and playing your way, the shots maybe go post and in. When you’re shortcutting things a little like tonight, that’s kind of the way the game’s going to end up.”
The Blazers haven’t won a game since Nov. 5, and looked hungry last night. They played a solid first period, but came out of it down 1-0. They followed with an even better second period, but still trailed 2-1.
“I thought we did a lot of good things here tonight,” Hunchak said. “That’s a hell of a hockey team on the other side and at times we had them on the ropes.
“I know where we’re at as far as our wins or losses are concerned, but it’s about the process right now and I thought for the better part of the game our process was pretty good.”
The Blazers simply couldn’t put the puck in the net. Matt Needham and Josh Connolly did, the latter on a power play, but Kamloops players couldn’t beat Rockets goaltender Jordon Cooke or simply shot wide.
“(The puck) has got to start going in at some point here,” Hunchak said. “Scoring chances, I know we outchanced them tonight. We missed some glorious scoring chances — at some point, it has to start going in.”
Zach Franko opened the scoring for the Rockets on a first-period power play, before Ryan Olsen made it 2-0 halfway through the second period. Needham banged in a rebound later in the second, before Connolly tied it on a power play around the midway point of the third period.
Cooke brought it home for the Rockets, stopping 37 shots.
“I thought Kamloops played a very good game,” Huska said. “When you look at our group, our goaltender was good for us, but you stretch to find too many other guys that I could include in that category.”
Kozun also was solid for the Blazers, stopping 33 shots. He stands to get more starts as Bolton Pouliot injured his right hand in practice on Thursday and is out until after Christmas.
The Blazers have called up Cole Kehler from the Okanagan Hockey Academy.
Whoever starts in goal, the Blazers are feeling a little more confident after last night.
“We aren’t too worried about the results right now, more the process,” said Blazers forward Cole Ully, who had two assists. “Hopefully the results will come, hopefully (tonight).”
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 4,227. . . . Kamloops scratched F Carson Bolduc, whom it acquired from the Prince George Cougars on Tuesday. Bolduc is out due to illness. . . . The Daily News’ Three Stars: 1. Franko: Kept buzzing all game; 2. Ully: Had two assists, two big hits and should have had two goals; 3. Cooke: There’s a reason he’s 14-1-2 this season. . . . The Blazers’ next home game is Friday, 7 p.m., against the Kootenay Ice. . . . G Liam McLeod, who is from Kamloops, is no longer with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. The 17-year-old posted on his Twitter feed: “Thanks a lot to the @ClippersHockey for the time I spent with the team, best of luck the rest of the season.” McLeod, whom the Blazers selected in the 2011 bantam draft and who attended main camp this summer, no longer is on Kamloops’ list. 

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Blazers take care of Thunderbirds

Defenceman Connor Clouston (25) of the Kamloops Blazers battles for a loose
puck with Seattle Thunderbirds defender Jesse Forsberg on Friday night.
(Murray Mitchell / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Goaltending controversy? What goaltending controversy?
With Taran Kozun, Kamloops’ mostly backup goaltender, making his second straight start, the first time he’s done that this season, the Blazers dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds 6-1 at Interior Savings Centre on Friday night.
“It’s always nice to have . . . two goalies,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said. “We know what Cole (Cheveldave) can do. He is the No. 1 goalie . . . probably.”
Cheveldave, the team’s sophomore starter, was hooked from WHL games Dec. 27 (a 7-3 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna) and Dec. 29 (a 9-5 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants as his save percentage slipped to .899. He has been beaten 22 times over his last four appearances.
Kozun, meanwhile, has allowed five goals on 62 shots over 173:42 in his last four appearances.
“I’m very happy,” Kozun, an 18-year-old freshman from Nipawin, Sask., said after last night’s 22-save performance. “The team is playing well in front of me. I’m just trying to give them a chance to won.”
This actually was the fourth straight game in which Kozun has appeared.
Asked when he last played in four straight games, Kozun replied: “Never.”
Then, with a laugh, he added: “I got three one week.”
That was last season when he got into 16 games with the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. Last night, Kozun made his 15th appearance of this season.
“I thought I played well in Vancouver,” Kozun said, in reference to Wednesday’s 4-2 victory, “and I had a good game here. I’m  happy with it.”
The Blazers (27-10-4) are happy, too. But Cheveldave is expected to start Wednesday against the Tri-City Americans.
“It’s great that Taran is playing well,” Charron said, “but we need our No. 1 to get back on track.
“We know (Kozun) is a good goalie. But unless he plays it’s difficult to get confidence. Hopefully, these games help his confidence.”
More games like this one definitely will help the team’s confidence.
The Blazers, who have who have won three in a row, have relied heavily on centre Colin Smith, the WHL’s leading scorer, and his linemates this season. In this one, however, the Smith line was blanked — left-winger Tim Bozon picked up one assist on a power play — while a line with Brendan Ranford between Cole Ully and newly acquired Kale Kessy took over.
Ranford finished with four assists, while Ully had a goal and two assists, and Kessy, who was acquired from Vancouver after Wednesday’s game, scored twice.
“That’s OK. I don’t mind,” Charron said of Smith’s line being blanked but the team still scoring six times. “That’s secondary scoring and that’s what we’re looking for.”
And even at that the best player on the ice was Kamloops centre Matt Needham, who continues to excel in a penalty-killing and shutdown role, now alongside Dylan Willick and Joe Kornelsen.
“It’s nice that Matt Needham, who I thought was snakebit for a while, scores a goal,” Charron said.
Needham didn’t just score a goal; he scored THE goal of the game. He went one-on-one with defenceman Shea Theodore, who is projected as a potential first-round NHL draft pick, giving him the old whoop-de-do and then beating goaltender Danny Mumaugh through the legs for his sixth goal this season.
“Shea’s a buddy of mine,” Needham said. “We’ll have a couple of laughs about that one.”
The Blazers also got goals from Kornelsen and defenceman Josh Connolly, who got his first WHL goal in his 25th game this season.
Forward Justin Hickman scored for Seattle, beating Kozun at 14:38 of the first period when the Thunderbirds actually had a lot of the play.
“We just didn’t have the puck,” Needham said. “We weren’t getting it to spots we wanted it. They had a lot more control than we did.”
Charron added: “We didn’t have possession. We had it and we gave it up. There were options there but we weren’t making those passes.”
Once the Blazers ironed out those problems, they won going away.
Mumaugh, a 16-year-old from Centennial, Colo., stopped 30 shots in his first WHL start. He has been playing for head coach David Wilkie, a former Blazers defenceman, with the Omaha AAA U16 team in the North American Prospects League.
The Thunderbirds (16-20-3), who have lost nine in a row, are at home to the Spokane Chiefs tonight. Seattle head coach Steve Konowalchuk, obviously not happy, kept his players in their dressing room for quite a while after last night’s game.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 5,114. . . . The Blazers remain atop the B.C. Division, two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets, who beat the Cougars 4-2 in Prince George. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Needham: Hits, blocked shots and a nifty goal; 2. Ranford: Playmaker deluxe; 3. Kessy: As advertised — big, strong and with some touch. . . . These teams won’t meet again this regular season. The Blazers won the season series, 3-1. . . . F Nick Chyzowski, 15, played in his first game with the Blazers. He got three shifts, including two in the third period. . . . The Blazers returned F Mitch Lipon, 16, to the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians yesterday. . . . D Kevin Davis, 15, of Kamloops made his WHL debut with Everett as the Silvertips beat the visiting Spokane Chiefs, 3-2, last night. Davis was the 11th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds should have Russian forward Alex Delnov
in their lineup on Friday when they play the Blazers in Kamloops.
(Kyle Scholzen / Seattle Thunderbirds)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
While the Kamloops Blazers prepare to play two weekend home games, defenceman Tyler Hansen can only sit in the Interior Savings Centre stands and watch.
Hansen, 19, suffered a concussion during a 3-2 victory over the host Kelowna Rockets on Sept. 22. He hasn’t yet shown that he is symptom free, so hasn’t been cleared to return to practice and is questionable for weekend home games against the Seattle Thunderbirds and Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Magrath, Alta., native, who is in his fourth season, is the Blazers’ No. 1 shutdown guy on the back end. He started the season paired with sophomore Tyler Bell.
Associate head coach Dave Hunchak, who runs the defencemen at the bench, said “the young guys” really played well during a doubleheader in Victoria on the weekend. The Blazers (3-0-1) dropped a 4-3 overtime decision on Friday, then beat the Royals 3-0 on Sunday.
Freshmen Josh Connolly, Ryan Rehill and Jordan Thomson, Hunchak said, “gave us real good minutes.”
“The more they play,” he said, “the better they get.”
At the same time, Hunchak said, the Blazers “have to play defence by committee. And the way we played on Sunday is a telling sign that we can do it when we play that way.”
In Sunday’s victory, the Blazers gave up only 13 scoring chances as they surrendered only six shots in the second period and three in the third.
A big part of that was that the Kamloops forwards “did a good job getting pucks in deep and keeping them there, so we didn’t have to play in our zone,” Hunchak said.
Hunchak and assistant coach Ed Patterson ran Tuesday’s practice, with head coach Guy Charron nursing sore ribs. Charron stopped an errant puck in practice on Monday and was feeling it yesterday.
———
The Blazers have assigned F Devon Oakes, 17, to the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
Oakes had offseason shoulder surgery and has been skating with the Blazers while awaiting medical clearance to return to contact drills. That clearance came this week and the Prince Rupert native could play for the Storm on Friday when it visits the Sicamous Eagles.
———
The Thunderbirds (2-2-0), who are here Friday night, last played on the weekend when they split with the Cougars in Prince George, losing 4-3 and winning 2-1 in overtime.
Granted, it’s early, but Seattle boasts the WHL’s best penalty-killing unit, having given up just one power-play goal in 18 opportunities.
The Thunderbirds got some good news on Tuesday when Russian F Alex Delnov, 18, finally got clearance to play. He played in three exhibition games and the first two regular-season games, but then missed two games waiting for paperwork to be completed.
A 6-foot-0, 180-pounder from Moscow, Delnov had 22 points in 47 games with Mytischi Atlanti, an under-22 team, last season. He was selected by the Florida Panthers in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2012 draft.
The Thunderbirds selected him with the eighth overall pick in the CHL’s 2012 import draft. He had two goals in two exhibition games, then added a goal and two assists in two season-opening games against the Portland Winterhawks. He definitely has shown that he is capable of being among Seattle’s top six forwards.
———
The Tigers (3-1-0) open a three-game B.C. Division swing tonight in Victoria against the Royals. The trek continues Friday in Vancouver against the Giants and concludes in Kamloops on Saturday.
The Tigers have scored 17 goals this season, with a WHL-leading 10 of those coming from the power play.
Medicine Hat F Hunter Shinkaruk, who turns 18 on Oct. 13, is the WHL’s reigning player of the week, having picked up six points, five of them assists, as the Tigers went 2-0-0 last week. He had two assists in a 5-4 victory over the host Red Deer Rebels on Friday and followed that up the next night with a goal and three assists in a 5-1 victory over the visiting Regina Pats.
Shinkaruk, from Calgary, is expected to be a top 10 selection in the NHL’s 2013 draft.
Also on the Tigers’ roster is F Chad Butcher, a 16-year-old freshman from Kamloops. A third-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft, the 5-foot-9, 155-pound Butcher is pointless in three games.
———
JUST NOTES: This is the start of a four-game homestand for the Blazers as they entertain the Victoria Royals on Oct. 10 and the Spokane Chiefs on Oct 12 before heading into the Central Division for five games in seven nights. . . . The first goal in the Blazers’ 3-0 victory in Victoria on Sunday has been changed from D Brady Gaudet to F Cole Ully, who had two goals in Friday‘s 4-3 OT loss to the host Royals. That gives Ully three goals in four games this season; he had nine in 55 games last season. . . . Kamloops D Austin Madaisky, who is in camp with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, is scheduled to play in an exhibition game tonight in Providence against the Bruins. . . . Former Blazers head coach Troy Mick, the general manager and alternate governor with the Salmon Arm SilverBacks, told the BCHL’s board of governors Tuesday that the franchise is for sale.

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