Nolan to Giants? . . . Amateur athletes or employees? . . . Lowry to Sharks?

F Bernhard Keil (Kamloops, 2010-11) signed a one-year contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, DEL2). This season, with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, DEL), he had one goal in 39 games. . . .
F Justin Maylan (Moose Jaw, Prince George, Prince Albert, 2007-12) signed a one-year contract with Val Pusteria Brunico (Italy, Serie A). This season, with Gherdëina (Italy, Serie A), he had 14 goals and a team-high 37 assists in 33 games.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reported Tuesday that the Vancouver Giants have talked with Ted Nolan about their vacant head-coaching position. Nolan, of course, is a veteran coach with plenty of major junior experience, having coached in the OHL and QMJHL. This season, he was the head coach of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, who let him go at season’s end. . . . Nolan and his wife, Sandra, have been in Vancouver and toured the Giants’ facility in Ladner. However, Nolan will exercise all of his professional options before he would return to junior and he has been upfront about that. . . . Still, if you were on Twitter yesterday, you would have been led to believe that Nolan and the Giants were in contract negotiations. . . . That might happen, but if it does it won’t be for a while.
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I was reaching for a dictionary on Tuesday morning, as I tried to come to grips with Washington state’s new law that says WHL players on that state’s four WHL teams are amateur athletes and not employees. . . . My reaching was interrupted when I spotted a piece written by Ken Campbell of The Hockey News. . . . He explains it all right here.
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Ken Campbell of The Hockey News also spoke with Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor, which is Canada’s largest public sector trade union. Unifor continues to work towards organizing major junior hockey players in Canada. . . . Dias said the Washington bill is “ridiculous” and added that the effort to unionize major junior hockey players is continuing. . . . “I don’t know how the person who cleans the toilets in the arena is an employee,” Dias told Campbell, “the coaches are employees, the person who sells the popcorn, the person who cleans the ice . . . everybody is an employee except for the person who makes the profits.” . . . That story is right here.
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet posted his weekly 30 Thoughts on Tuesday morning. As always, it is highly readable, and it is right here. As he points out, hockey fans shouldn’t discount Dave Lowry as the next head coach of the San Jose Sharks. At present, Lowry is the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals.
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Here is the Memorial Cup schedule (all games on Sportsnet; all times Eastern):
Friday, May 22: Kelowna vs. Quebec, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 23: Rimouski vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 24: Quebec vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Monday, May 25: Rimouski vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 26: Oshawa vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 27: Quebec vs. Rimouski, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 28: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 29: Semifina, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 31: Championship game, TBA
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FUN FACT: New @EdmontonOilers HC, Todd McLellan, is a former Blade! He played centre from 1983-1987. #alwaysablade pic.twitter.com/hc0osvvEZG

— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) May 19, 2015

THE COACHING GAME:

The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs announced Tuesday that Gord Dineen, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, won’t be back. He apparently has been offered the position of associate coach. . . . As well, the Marlies dumped associate coach Derek King and have offered assistant coach Ben Simon a spot elsewhere in the organization. . . . Dineen was an assistant coach with the Marlies for five seasons before taking over as head coach on July 15. After a 39-28-9 regular season, they lost a best-of-five first-round series to the Grand Rapids Griffins, 3-2. . . . There is speculation that Sheldon Keefe, the OHL’s coach of the year with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, will sign on as the Marlies’ head coach.
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The OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs have rounded out their coaching staff with the hiring of Troy Smith (associate coach), Ron Wilson (assistant coach) and Mike Parson (goaltending coach). They will work with GM/head coach George Burnett. . . . As well, Barclay Branch was named assistant GM and director of player personnel. . . . Branch spent the previous 10 seasons in the same role with the Belleville Bulls. . . . Smith was the Kitchener Rangers’ head coach for the past two seasons, after spending seven seasons as an assistant coach. . . . Wilson, a former NHL player, is a veteran of the coaching game, with extensive AHL experience. . . . Barton has worked as a goaltending coach with the Guelph Storm. This season, he was a goaltending consultant with the U of Guelph, Canisius College and the GOJHL’s Elmira Sugar Kings.
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The Sioux Falls Stampede recently won the Clark Cup as USHL playoff champions. Still, ownership has decided not to renew the contract of head coach Cary Eades, who is a former U of North Dakota assistant. . . . Chris Murphy of the Fargo Forum reported Tuesday that Eades will be named head coach of the USHL’s Fargo Force this morning. . . . According to Murphy, “Sioux Falls television station KSFY reported Eades’ contract was not renewed with the Stampede due to differences with ownership.” . . . Eades spent three seasons in Sioux Falls.
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The BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks need an athletic therapist, with Tyrol Deeg having resigned citing family concerns. If you’re interested, send your resume to coach@sasilverbacks.com. . . .
The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Lindsay Hofford to work in their scouting department with his primary responsibility being the OHL. . . . He had been working as the scouting director for the OHL’s London Knights. Mark Hunter, a co-owner of the Knights, is Toronto’s director of player personnel. . . . Hofford did a stint as the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ head coach, running the bench for 112 games over three seasons (2003-06). . . .
Trevor Linden, the president of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks, will be in Prince George for a news conference this morning. The Canucks are expected to announce that they will hold their 2015 training camp at the CN Centre in Prince George.
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Andersen, first Danish goalie to play for Ducks. Goldberg, first goalie to eat a danish while playing for Ducks. pic.twitter.com/gZXjSQIwHb

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) May 20, 2015

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Fighting to save a hockey program

F Justin Maylan (Moose Jaw. Prince George, Prince Albert, 2007-12) signed a one-year contract with Gherdëina (Italy, Serie A). Last season, with the South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL), he had one assist in three games. He also was pointless in four games with the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL). He signed with Herning (Denmark, Metal Ligaen) in November and put up 21 points, six of them goals, in 22 games.
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If Trevor Bast has his way, the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) WolfPack hockey team will live a long and fruitful life.
Unfortunately, the school’s athletic director buried the team last week.
In eliminating the hockey program, Ken Olynyk, TRU’s athletics and recreation director, said: “ . . . due to economics and a lack of a sustainable model, we have no choice but to dissolve the program.”
The hockey program started life in 2008-09. It was a club team that was operated by the Kamloops Collegiate Hockey Society. A source familiar with the situation has told Taking Note that the team was $50,000 in debt.
Bast, however, isn’t about to give up.
“I am determined to start a movement to revive this team,” Bast, who lives in Victoria, told Taking Note on Sunday night.
For the last three seasons, the WolfPack’s head coach was Don Schulz. Last season, the WolfPack went 9-14, finishing fourth in the six-team B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. TRU then lost out in the first round of the playoffs.
Bast’s son, Des, was the last recruit signed by the WolfPack. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound defenceman’s signing was announced via news release on July 17. Bast, 19, split last season between the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks and the junior B Peninsula Panthers of the Vancouver Island Junior league.
“It was a bitter disappointment for our entire family when (the program ended), as well as for the other players involved,” Trevor Bast said. “Just to have a chance to play four more years of competitive hockey and for us to cheer him and his team on for four more years is a thrill only a hockey family can relate to. Having that pulled out from under you suddenly leaves a huge void.”
Hockey or not, Des still plans on attending TRU, where he will study architectural and engineering technology, a program his father said “is quite unique and not offered in many places.”
But when Trevor Bast looked at what happened to the hockey program, he said, “I can't help but think this was a completely avoidable situation.”
The way he figures it, $40,000 would have saved the team.
“There is too much money in the hockey world for $40,000 to take down a university program -- club, varsity or otherwise,” he said. “The thing that jumps out at me is the hockey team ran on a $100,000 budget. With a full roster at last year’s player fee of $1,500 that covers approx 40 per cent.
“That leaves $60,000 for the team, the foundation and the university to make up via grants, sponsorship, fundraising, etc. At the end of the day, the announced shortfall was $40,000 and a plan for sustainability was not in place.
“Of those 20 or so players who suddenly lost this team, if eight of them decide to not attend school at all due to this, that is eight too many. That is life- and career-altering.”
Bast is determined to find out whether there is money available for a program such as this.
“There is a sustainable model out there,” he said. “There is money out there in the form of corporate sponsorship and a huge network of multi-millionaire pros from the B.C. Interior. There are great business minds with a passion for hockey and higher education who could lend expertise to creating a sustainable model. TRU has a business and marketing program that is the envy of other larger institutions.”
Starting right now, Bast said, the fight is on try and save the program.
“I, like everyone else, have a lot more ideas and questions than answers right now,” he said, “but the solution is out there and it is worth fighting for.
“I believe this team will be revived and I will do whatever I can to get behind the cause.”
Bast may be reached by email at  trevorbast@gmail.com
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Herb Hand is the offensive line coach with the Penn State Nittany Lions football team. The other day, a player he was recruiting posted something Hand found offensive, so the recruitment drive ended. Right there. . . . There is more right here on the impact of social media on these situations. It should have been headlined: Players beware!
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The always thoughtful William C. Rhoden of The New York Times weighs in right here with his look at the mess Stephen A. Smith of ESPN found himself in after opining on the suspension handed running back Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens by the NFL.
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I find the idea of a divorce lawyer advertising in a minor hockey rink really really funny. pic.twitter.com/VA3EPKLLmS
— Steve Ladurantaye (@sladurantaye) August 2, 2014

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Catching up . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Marek Kalus (Spokane, Brandon, 2010-13) signed a tryout deal with Cracovia Krakow (Poland, Ekstraliga) after being released from a tryout with Västerås (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had two assists in eight games during the tryout. Earlier this season, he had four assists in 12 games with Dukla Trencin (Slovakia, Extraliga). . . .
F Gilbert Brulé (Vancouver, 2002-06) signed for the rest of this season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia, KHL). This season, he had six goals and two assists in eight games with Portland (AHL). . . .
D Jim Vandermeer (Red Deer, 1997-2001) signed a one-year extension with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). At the time of the signing, he had eight points, one of them a goal, in 24 games. . . .
F Brett McLean (Tacoma/Kelowna, Brandon, 1994-99) signed a one-year extension with Lugano (Switzerland, NL A). This season, he has 24 points, 12 of them goals, in 25 games. That left him third in the NL A scoring race. . . .
F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver, 2003-04) signed for the rest of the season with Tychy (Poland, Ekstraliga) after being released by Krynica for financial reasons. This season with Krynica, he had 27 points, eight of them goals, in 19 games. He was fourth in league scoring at the time of his release. Krynica also released three other players, including its leading scorer. . . .
F Clarke Breitkreuz (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) has been loaned to Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL) by Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga). This season with Löwen, he had 34 points, including 26 assists, in 13 games. He was leading the team in assists and points. . . .
F Adam Rehak (Medicine Hat, 2011-12) signed for one year plus an option with Cracovia Krakow (Poland, Ekstraliga). Rehak started the season with Meran/Merano (Italy, Austria Nationalliga), putting up 12 points, including seven goals, in 12 games. He Rehak wanted to move closer to hometown of Ostrava. . . .
F Justin Maylan (Moose Jaw, Prince George, Prince Albert, 2007-12) signed for the rest of the season with Herning (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). This season, Maylan had one assists in three games with South Carolina (ECHL) and was pointless in four games with Oklahoma City (AHL).
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You may be aware that 10 former NHL players have filed a class-action lawsuit against the league, the claim being that not enough has been done to protect players from brain injuries.
Eddie Pells of The Associated Press examines that situation right here.
You can bet that the WHL and its owners/operators are paying attention.
Earlier this year, after the NFL had settled a similar lawsuit brought against it by former players, I asked a legal expert if, in his opinion, hockey leagues were open to such action.
His response:
“I think hockey is in a different position than football because there are no allegations that the sport was sitting on information and not sharing it with players. Hockey was first out of the starting blocks with its baseline neurological testing program in 1997-98. “Hockey has not, in my view, had the sort of radical re-writing of the rulebook that the NFL recently undertook and so has not done enough to remove the unnecessary risks from the game.
“I think there will be hockey lawsuits (yeah, there’s already Boogaard but this case is singularly unique) in the NHL.
“I think where the CHL/WHL is vulnerable is that legally minors can’t consent and courts are taking a harsher and narrower view to inherent risks to the game (i.e. Could the game survive without fighting? That is the ultimate test of whether or not a risk is inherent. ‘Are the penalties for headshots sufficient to disincentivize teams, coaches and players? Or does the league consider it part of the game?’) especially now that teams are being bought and sold for nearly $10 million.”
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Was Tuesday’s deal between the NHL and Rogers Communications the death knell for TSN? And maybe for CBC-TV, too? . . . Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun opines right here.
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Over at the National Post, Scott Stinson writes: “Rogers will collect all of the revenues from the advertisements and sponsorships that are sold on Hockey Night in Canada, even the versions of it that appear on CBC. . . . The executives could talk up the partnership all they want, but it is Rogers that is piloting the ship, and the CBC trailing behind in its dingy. Four years from now, the rope could be cut.”
Stinson’s complete column is right here.
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F Henrik Nyberg, 19, has left the Kelowna Rockets and returned to his home in Danderyd, Sweden. Last season, Nyberg had 17 points, including eight goals, in 54 games. This season, he had three assists in 21 games. . . . "Henrik has come to the realization that playing in North America is not in his future and he wants to move on with his life," Rockets' head coach Ryan Huska said in a news release.
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A few things that occurred while Taking Note was in darkness . . .
The Kamloops Blazers traded F Aaron Macklin, 18, to the Prince George Cougars for F Carson Bolduc, 17, on Tuesday. . . . Bolduc, who is from Salmon Arm, B.C., had left the Cougars and asked for a trade. He had seven points in 54 games last season, and had two goals in 17 games this season. . . . Bolduc played bantam in Kamloops before being selected by the Cougars in the Macklin, from High River, Alta., had seven points, three of them goals, in 20 games this season. Last season, he had four points, one of them a goal, in 62 games.
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The Victoria Royals made two trades, the first one announced immediately following a 2-1 victory over the Blazers in Kamloops on Nov. 19.
In that deal, the Royals sent F Luke Harrison, 18, to the Blazers for a 2014 sixth-round bantam draft pick.
Harrison, from West Kelowna, was in his third season with the Royals. In 92 games, he had six points, including four goals. This season, he had three goals in 23 games with the Royals.
The next day, the Royals announced the acquisition of Swedish forward Axel Blomqvist, 18, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Royals also received an undisclosed conditional 2016 bantam draft pick, while surrendering fourth- and eighth-round selections in the 2014 draft.
The 6-foot-6, 212-pound Blomqvist had 13 points, eight of them goals, in 19 games with the Hurricanes this season. He becomes the Royals’ second import, alongside G Patrik Polivka. Last season, as a freshman, Blomqvist had 33 points, seven of them goals, in 59 games.
Undrafted, Blomqvist went to camp with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and later signed a three-year NHL contract.
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Jim Swanson, who spent a number of years covering the WHL and the Prince George Cougars for the Prince George Citizen, has signed on as the general manager of baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, who play in the West Coast League. . . . Swanson is a long-time baseball guy and was heavily involved in the Prairie League, a now-defunct independent league that had franchises in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Minnesota. . . . He also has been heavily involved in baseball in Prince George and was a major push behind the World Baseball Challenge, the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions having featured tremendous international competition. . . . He was the manager of the Prince George Axemen, who won the 2012 Canadian senior championship. . . . The HarbourCats are preparing for their second season in the WCL.
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The Vancouver Giants dealt F Scott Cooke, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a sixth-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Cooke, who has yet to play this season after breaking his right leg in the exhibition season, is from White Rock, B.C. He was back practising this week so his return should be imminent. Cooke had one assist in 40 games last season, after putting up a goal and two helpers in 34 games in 2011-12.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings acquired G Christopher Tai, 18, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. The Wheat Kings needed some depth behind Jordan Papirny, as Curtis Honey has been out with an undisclosed injury. At the time of the trade, Papirny had made nine straight starts, most of them with an emergency backup on the bench. Tai became expendable in Lethbridge after the Hurricanes acquired G Teagan Sacher, who turns 19 on Dec. 1, from the Regina Pats to work in support of starter Corbin Boes, 20, who was acquired from Brandon over the summer.
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As all are aware, Nov. 22 marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. . . . Right here is the column written by the legendary Jimmy Breslin following the assassination. This is one of the most remarkable newspaper pieces I have ever read. You won’t be wasting your time by giving it a look.
And right here is a piece in which Breslin explains the circumstances involved in his decision to write that particular column.


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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 WHL playoffs open tonight with the Brandon Wheat Kings in Calgary to meet the Hitmen. The other seven series will begin Friday night.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds came out of the WHL’s draft lottery with the first pick on Wednesday.
The lottery involved the six non-playoff teams and when it was over, the WHL released this first-round order:
1. Seattle Thunderbirds
2. Prince Albert Raiders
3. Prince George Cougars
4. Lethbridge Hurricanes
5. Swift Current Broncos
6. Red Deer Rebels
7. Everett Silvertips
8. Victoria Royals
9. Kelowna Rockets
10. Kootenay Ice
11. Regina Pats
12. Brandon Wheat Kings
13. Saskatoon Blades
14. Spokane Chiefs
15. Vancouver Giants
16. Medicine Hat Tigers
17. Calgary Hitmen
18. Moose Jaw Warriors
19. Kamloops Blazers
20. Portland Winterhawks
21. Tri-City Americans
22. Edmonton Oil Kings
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The first-round order as released by the WHL doesn't include the four picks that have been traded. Here, courtesy of Alan Caldwell of Small Thoughts At Large, is the first round including trades:
1. Seattle
2. Prince Albert
3. Prince George
4. Lethbridge
5. Swift Current
6. Red Deer
7. Everett
8. Victoria
9. Kelowna
10. Kootenay
11. Prince George (from Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan. 10/12)
12. Brandon
13. Victoria (from Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan. 9/12; Brandon had acquired the selection from Saskatoon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan. 10/11)
14. Spokane
15. Vancouver
16. Medicine Hat
17. Calgary
18. Lethbridge (from Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan. 9/12)
19. Kamloops
20. Seattle (from Portland in Marcel Noebels deal, Jan. 10/12)
21. Tri-City
22. Edmonton
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The bantam draft is scheduled to be held on May 3.
Keep in mind that the order for the other rounds reverts to the reverse order of the final regular-season standings.
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The WHL also announced some of its Eastern Division individual award winners and its first and second all-star teams. For those, check out the WHL’s website.
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Earlier in the week, I reported here that D Cody Carlson of the Prince George Cougars was headed to the Central league’s Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. . . . I was told last night that Carlson and Prince George G Drew Owsley, both of whom completed their junior eligibility this season, are headed for the Central league’s Missouri Mavericks. . . . Meanwhile, F Spencer Asuchak, who was the Cougars’ third 20-year-old this season, apparently may be headed for the ECHL’s Ontario Reign.
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F John Persson of the Red Deer Rebels made his AHL debut last night with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who lost 3-0 to the host Binghamton Senators. Persson had four shots on goal, all in the first period. . . . Persson, a 19-year-old from Mora, Sweden, was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2011 draft.
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F Justin Maylan, who played out his eligibility with the Prince Albert Raiders, has signed a tryout deal with the AHL’s Portland Pirates. Maylan is an undrafted free agent. He is joined in Portland by D Harrison Ruopp of the Raiders, who was a third-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft.
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The Kamloops Blazers have announced the signings of two players, including the son of Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston.
D Connor Clouston was a third-round selection in the 2011 WHL bantam draft. He had nine points and 90 penalty minutes in 29 games with the midget AAA Medicine Hat Tigers.
F Brayden Gelsinger, 16, ws listed by the Blazers in September. He had 42 points, including 22 goals, in 41 games with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans.
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There is an interesting line in a story written by Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist that appears in today’s paper and on the newspaper’s website.
Dheensaw, who has covered the Royals all season, noted that F Brandon Magee “appeared in good spirits as he leaned on the glass and offered playful encouragement to his teammates during practice Wednesday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.”
Three paragraphs later, Dheensaw writes:
“The Royals prohibit media from interviewing injured players.”
What we do know is that Magee was injured in the third period of the Royals’ final regular-season game and isn’t expected to play in their first-round series against the Kamloops Blazers.
The Royals may also be without F Robin Soudek and D Zach Habscheid, both of whom missed late-season games with injuries.
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There can be no doubting that the best coaching matchup of the first round is in the series between the Spokane Chiefs and Vancouver Giants.
The two head coaches have combined for 1,073 WHL coaching victories – Don Hay of the Giants is No. 2 on the alltime list, with 556, while Spokane’s Don Nachbaur is sixth, at 517.
Nachbaur has been the WHL’s coach of the year three times, once each with Seattle, Tri-City and Spokane. You know he would trade those for Hay’s three Memorial Cup championships.
According to a Chiefs’ news release: Despite the two having coached against each other for the better part of the last 20-years, “they have met in the WHL playoffs just once – a 3-1 series win in the 1999 Western Conference semi-finals for Hay's Tri-City Americans over Nachbaur's Seattle Thunderbirds.”
The series opens Friday in Vancouver.

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In case you missed it, the WHL has introduced a new initiative called Ask The Commissioner.
Details are on the WHL website.
But, obviously, the WHL has created an avenue whereby fans will be able to ask questions of Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner.
Among the questions suggested by the WHL that just may be burning you up, are these: “Why are only three 20-year-olds allowed on a team? Why are not all games officiated by two referees? How is the WHL schedule determined?”
I would suggest, and others would seem to agree, that there are far more burning issues than those.
I mean, Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald, over at her blog, Red Light District, has three questions of her own:
"1. Answer me this, Mr. Commish: Why does a player get a one-game suspension for five embellishment penalties, but a guy like Spokane’s Darren Kramer has been in a league-high 19 fights and has not been suspended.
"2. The officiating has been the worst I have seen in years, despite programs for officials. What’s in the works to fix this problem?
"3. Lukas Walter (Tri-City) gets six games for a one-man fight, but Campbell Elynuik (PG) gets four games for the same violation. Why the difference."
Meanwhile, I thought long and hard and came up with a question of my own.
Mr. Commissioner, I was listening to Dan Russell’s Sportstalk on CKNW out of Vancouver on Wednesday night. Bruce Hamilton, the owner, president and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets, was guesting and I am sure I heard him make mention of the fact that there now are WHL teams with budgets of more than $3 million. That being the case, Mr. Commissioner, I am wondering when WHL players might expect a pay raise?
Thank you, sir.
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JUST NOTES:
The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Steven Alldridge, 15, who plays for the midget AAA team at POE in Kelowna. Alldridge is from Innuvik, Northwest Territories, and was placed on Portland’s 50 player list in July. At POE, he has 13 points in 34 games. He played last season for the bantam AA team at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., putting up 60 points in 28 games. . . .
A scoring adjustment has resulted in F Justin Maylan of the Prince Albert Raiders getting another assist in Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to the Tigers in Medicine Hat. That means Maylan tired the franchise record for assists in one game. According to the Raiders, F Steve Kelly was the last of their players to do it, in January 1994. Maylan also shares the record with F Dean McAmmond, F Mike Modano, F Dan Hodgson, D Emanuel Viveiros and F Donovan Hextall . . . .
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In the BCHL last night, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 27 games with a 9-2 victory over the visiting Salmon Arm SilverBacks. They’ll do it all over again tonight, this time in Salmon Arm.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Kenton Miller broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period and the Warriors went on to a 2-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Miller scored with 20.6 seconds left in the second. . . . F Quinton Howden also scored for Moose Jaw. That was his 16th goal of the season but his first since Dec. 6. He had missed time with an injury and also played for Canada at the World Junior Championship. . . . F James Henry had two assists for Moose Jaw. . . . The Warriors have won seven straight at home. . . . The Blades came in having won three in a row on the road. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov was back for the first time since suffering a concussion Jan. 7. He missed seven games. Last night, he stopped 34 shots. . . . Moose Jaw G Luke Siemens stopped 29 shots. . . . Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath has served four games of his eight-game suspension. . . . According to Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald: “Blades winger Matej Stransky cross-checked Cody Beach in the back while he was prone on the ice and Beach didn’t return. There was no penalty.” . . .

In Regina, F Taylor Vause scored twice to help the Swift Current Broncos to a 3-2 victory over the Pats. . . . Vause, who has 26 goals, scored at 12:08 of the second and 5:24 of the third to give his side a 3-1 lead. . . . Regina scored two PP goals. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 29 shots. . . . The Broncos had lost seven straight games in Regina. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal had an assist and now has a 12-game point streak going. . . .

In Edmonton, F Henrik Samuelsson scored twice as his Oil Kings dropped the Brandon Wheat Kings, 6-2. . . . Samuelsson, who joined the Oil Kings from the Swedish club Modo after Christmas, has four goals. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix had a goal and an assist. The assist gave him 79 points, a single-season franchise record for this version of the Oil Kings. F Dylan Wruck held the record of 78 points from last season. . . . The Wheat Kings have lost 10 games in January. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 25 shots. . . . Brandon started Curtis Honey, an Edmonton native, but he was gone after allowing five goals on 29 shots over two periods. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Sam Reinhart scored three goals and added two assists, but it wasn’t enough as his Kootenay Ice fell 7-6 in a shootout to the Prince Albert Raiders, who ended a six-game lsoing streak. . . . F Mark McNeill, the shootout’s first shooter, won it with the lone goal of the circus. . . . Prince Albert F Logan McVeigh forced OT when he scored his ninth goal at 10:07 of the third . . . . Ice F Dylen McKinlay had two goals and two assists. . . . He’s got 10 goals. . . . Reinhart was pointless with eight minutes gone in the second period and the Raiders leading 4-1. . . . Reinhart scored three goals and added an assist in the second, getting goals at 8:13, 15:30 and 18:58, the latter via the PP. . . . Reinhart has 20 goals on the season. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart (foot), Sam’s older brother, sat out a second straight game, while F Drew Czerwonka (undisclosed) and F Luke Paulsen (concussion) remain out. . . . Prince Albert D Riley Guenther and F Carson Pereaux each scored his first WHL goal. . . .

In Calgary, G Chris Driedger stopped 32 shots as the Hitmen dumped the Vancouver Giants, 2-0. . . . Driedger has two shutouts this season. He has won five straight starts. . . . D Collin Bowman scored a 11:27 of the first, with F Trevor Cheek adding an empty-netter at 19:16 of the third. . . . The Hitmen have won 12 of their last 13 games. . . . The Giants welcomed back G Adam Morrison (concussion), who hadn’t played since Jan. 13. . . . He made 17 saves last night. . . . Calgary was 0-7 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-6. . . . Vancouver has only two victories in 12 trips to the Saddledome since entering the WHL in 2001. . . . Vancouver F Marek Tvrdon served the first of a two-game suspension for a game misconduct he apparently incurred on Wednesday in a 4-2 loss to the Rebels in Red Deer. It is interesting that there is no game misconduct indicated on the scoresheet that is available on the WHL’s website. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Emerson Etem and F Curtis Valk each scored three times and added an assist as the Medicine Hat Tigers skated past the Hurricanes, 8-2. . . . The Tigers have won six in a row. . . . Etem is on an 11-game goal-scoring streak, although he did miss a mid-week game while in California for a break. He hadn’t had any time off since playing for the U.S. at the World Junior Championship. . . . Etem now has a WHL-leading 44 goals in 43 games. He has 76 points. . . . Valk has 19 goals. . . . The Tigers were 4-for-8 on the PP. . . .

In Red Deer, D Mathew Dumba scored the game’s last two goals as the Rebels came from behind to beat the Tri-City Americans 3-2 in OT. . . . Dumba forced OT with his 15th goal at 10:52 of the third and then won it 38 seconds into OT. . . . F Charles Inglis had two assists for Red Deer, while F Adam Hughesman had two helpers for the Americans, who scored the game’s first two goals. . . . Red Deer G Deven Dubyk made 36 saves, one more than Tri-City’s Eric Comrie. . . . The Rebels, who are ninth in the 12-team Eastern Conference, have won three of four and closed to within two points of the eighth-place Brandon Wheat Kings. Those two teams meet tonight in Red Deer. . . . Red Deer F Adam Kambeitz left in the second period with an apparent ankle injury. . . . Tri-City is 4-7-4 in Red Deer. . . . The Rebles had F Scott Feser in their lineup. He was an eighth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft and plays for the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Rebels. He also is the brother of Tri-City F Justin Feser, 19. Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate reports that “the parents of both players were introduced to the crowd during the second-period intermission.” Now that must have been a nice moment. . . .

In Prince George, D Dominik Bittner scored his first two goals and F Ryan Chynoweth added his first as the Everett Silvertips beat the Cougars, 5-2. . . . Bittner, a 19-year-old from Germany, has 15 points in 46 games. . . . Chynoweth is the son of Kootenay Ice president/GM Jeff Chynoweth and the grandson of the late Ed Chynoweth. . . . This was Ryan’s 45th game of the season. He was Everett’s first selection, 24th overall, in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . F Spencer Asuchak, playing in his 199th regular-season WHL game, scored twice for the Cougars. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 34 shots in recording his 60th career victory. . . . The WHL’s weekly injury report contains eight Cougars — D Dan Gibb, F Greg Fraser, F Brock Hrische, F John Odgers, F Caleb Belter, D Shane Pilling, F Alex Forsberg and D Reid Jackson, all out with undisclosed injuries. . . . Gibb and Fraser were in the lineup, although Gibb left late in the first period. . . . Prince George brought in two 16-year-olds — D Raymond Grewal and D Marc McNulty — and F Carson Bolduc, 15. Bolduc, from Salmon Arm, B.C., was a third-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. He has 18 points in 26 games with the major midget Thompson Blazers. . . . Grewal, from Prince George, was taken in the fifth round of the 2010 bantam draft, five rounds before McNulty. Grewal plays with the major midget Cariboo Cougars; he’s got 16 points in 28 games. . . . The 6-foot-5 McNulty players for his hometown midget AAA Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Cougars also are without F Campbell Elynuik, who is suspended. . . .

In Kelowna, F Colin Jacobs scored in the shootout to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Jacobs was the first shooter and scored the only goal. . . . F Colton Heffley had scored for Kelowna at 12:57 of the first period. . . . F Burke Gallimore replied for Seattle at 3:45 of the second. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard and Kelowna G Adam Brown each stopped 30 shots. . . . Kelowna’s Zach Franko had scored on seven straight shootout attempts, but he missed in this one. . . .

In Spokane, F Brad Ross scored at 3:38 of OT to give the Portland Winterhawks a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Ross had scored his 30th goal of the season at 12:53 of the second to give Portland a 2-1 lead. . . . Chiefs F Darren Kramer forced OT when he scored his 17th goal at 15:57 of the third. . . . Ross also drew an assist on Portland’s other goal. His 31 goals equals his career high from last season. . . . Portland F Cam Reid had a goal, his second, and an assist. . . . Spokane took three of the game’s four minor penalties. . . .

In Victoria, the Royals gave up two goals in the game’s first 15 seconds and then came back to down the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . Kamloops F Tim Bozon scored both his club’s goals, the first eight eight seconds gone. He has 25 goals in his freshman season. . . . Victoria G Keith Hamilton settled down and finished with 33 saves, two more than Cole Cheveldave of the Blazers. . . . Kamloops had been 5-0-0 against Victoria this season. . . . Victoria D Hayden Rintoul tied the game at 5:16 of the seocnd on a PP and F Ben Walker got the winner at 18:24. . . . F Robin Soudek had a strong game for the Royals, with a goal and an assist. . . . The Blazers have lost two in a row after having won nine straight. They had been 6-0-3 in their previous nine road games.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Trevor Cheek, Calgary.
D Macoy Erkamps, Lethbridge.
D Daniel Gibb, Prince George.
F Jarrett Fontaine, Prince George.
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The Brampton Guardian has more right here on the eight-game suspension to head coach Stan Butler of the OHL’s Brampton Battalion.
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Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail is in Ottawa for the NHL all-star game. He reports right here on “the true star of NHL all-star weekend.”
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Len Barrie, a former WHL scoring champ (Kamloops, 1989-90), has turned over the keys to his rather extravagant 12,500-square-foot home near Victoria to HSBC Bank Canada. The bank had started court action in 2010 after calling in loans.
Andrew A. Duffy of the Victoria Times Colonist has more right here.
David Shoalts of The Globe and Mail has more on the Barrie situation right here.


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It was the third annual CH2M HILL Nuclear Night at the Toyota Center in
Kennewick, Wash., so Patrick Holland (41) and the Tri-City Americans wore
what the team calls "nuclear-inspired" sweaters. Those jerseys are available
via on-line auction right here. As you will see by reading Friday's report, Holland
is hotter than nuclear fusion these days.
(Photo by John Allen / AridAcres.com)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Micki DuPont (Kamloops, 1996-2000) signed a three-year contract extension with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). The extension runs through the 2014-15 season. DuPont has four goals and a league-leading 31 assists in 36 games for Kloten this season, good for seventh in league scoring.
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It appears that the Portland Winterhawks are adding F Alex Schoenborn, a 16-year-old from Minot., N.D., to their roster. Ryan Clark of the Fargo, N.D., Forum noted Friday night that Schoenborn had confirmed the move on his Facebook page. . . . The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Schoenborn, who turned 16 on Dec. 12, had 45 points in 27 games for Minot High School last season. . . . This season, he was pointless in three games with the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. He was the 12th overall selection in the USHL’s 2011 futures draft. . . . He is a list player with Portland. . . . Schoenborn also has played with the midget AAA Omaha Lancers this season, picking up 41 points and 118 penalty minutes in 26 games. In North American Prospects Hockeky League games, he has 11 points in six games.
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Marlon Martens, the radio voice of the Victoria Royals, explains the Jesse Pauls situation on his blog.
After speaking with Pauls, Martens explained, “With a plate and nine screws in (a) leg after breaking both bones last (season) he’s been playing with ‘chronic pain’ as he put it, ‘and have decided to look after my health.’ ”
Pauls also told Martens: “It’s affected my game and haven’t been able to play up to my potential . . . it sucks knowing you’ve got more and can’t do it.”
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G Tyler Bunz of the Medicine Hat Tigers is scheduled to appear in a St. Albert, Alta., court on March 5 after entering not guilty pleas to what the Medicine Hat News reports are “two drunk-driving related allegations.”
According to The News, Bunz, 19, was charged “after an incident in his hometown of St. Albert in May.”
Brad McEwen, the Tigers’ general manager, told The News that the team won’t comment on the situation.
The Edmonton Oilers selected Bunz with the 121st pick of the NHL’s 2010 draft.
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In the BCHL on Friday night, the Penticton Vees won their 20th game in a row, beating the Chiefs 6-2 in Chilliwack. . . . The Vees will play the SilverBacks in Salmon Arm tonight.
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WHL TRADE TRACKER (trades made since Dec. 27):
Trades made: 6
Players: 14
Draft picks: 5
———
In the OHL, the teams have moved 25 players and 29 draft picks since Jan. 1.
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The Vancouver Giants have dealt D Luke Fenske, 18, to the Regina Pats for a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
Fenske, from Penticton, has six assists and 40 penalty minutes in 31 games with the Giants this season. He played 30 games with them in 2009-10 and 55 last season. In 116 games, he has four goals and 17 assists. . . . He was selected by the Giants in the third round of the 2008 bantam draft. . . .
The Kootenay Ice has traded F Adam Rossignol, 18, to the Swift Current Broncos for D Tanner Muth, 18. . . . Rossignol, from Surrey, B.C., had 13 points in 39 games. He was a seventh-round pick by the Ice in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Muth, from Calgary, had four points in 38 games with the Broncos. He was selected 36th overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2008 bantam draft.
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F Daniel Broussard of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s has been suspended for eight games for an anti-doping rule violation. The CHL and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport made the announcement on Friday. According to a news release, “The violation resulted from a urine sample collected during in-competition doping control in November 2011 which revealed the presence of methylhexaneamine, a prohibited stimulant.”
In a news release, CHL president David Branch stated that Broussard, who turns 21 on on Monday, and the 67’s were “extremely co-operative throughout the process.”
“We are completely satisfied,” Branch continued, “that the player used a supplement which he had purchased over the counter at a local retail outlet and had no knowledge that it contained a prohibited substance.”
Methylhexaneamine is on the World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List which is recognized by the CHL.
I said it last season and I’ll say it again . . . this automatic eight-game suspension for a first-time offender is ridiculous. Once again, we have a player who in no way was trying to cheat, but he has been labelled a drug cheat, just like the first-timers who were suspended last season.
Because of the number of major junior players using supplements, if the positive test turns out to be from inadvertent use and that can be proved, then why not issue a warning, and hand out an eight-game suspension for a second positive test?
A player makes a mistake like this and gets a longer suspension than some headshots and stickwork carry. And that’s just not right.
———
FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, the Raiders ran their home-ice winning streak to seven games as they dumped the Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-1. . . . F Justin Maylan had a goal and two assists for the Raiders. . . . Maylan has 19 goals. . . . Prince Albert sophomore F Mike Winther had a goal, his 21st, and an assist. . . . F Logan McVeigh, acquired a week ago from Kamloops, had two assists. . . . The Wheat Kings have lost three in a row and 10 of their last 15, meaning the next few days, leading up to the Jan. 10 trading deadline, will be interesting. . . . Brandon G Curtis Honey stopped 33 shots in his first start. . . . Raiders G Cole Holowenko turned aside 29 shots. . . . F Mark Stone had one assist for Brandon in his first game after playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship. It was his 200th regular-season game. . . . Swiss F Alessio Bertaggia, also back in the Brandon lineup after playing at the WJC, was held off the scoresheet. . . . The teams meet again tonight in P.A. . . .

In Regina, G Matt Hewitt stopped 33 shots to lead the Pats to a 3-0 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Hewitt has two shutouts this season. . . . The victory was Regina’s 23rd this season, which matches their total for all of last season. . . .  The Pats have won four in a row — they have at least a point in six straight — going into a rematch tonight in Saskatoon. . . . The Blades had won their last two games, scoring 17 goals in the process. . . . Regina F Morgan Klimchuk’s 10th goal, at 13:2 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal had a goal and an assist. He has 67 points, four off the league lead. . . . In the second period, Regina D Colton Jobke wound up and fired a shot . . . and the puck split in two. . . . Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Blades, described it this way in a tweet: “OK, I've seen it all...Pats' Colton Jobke shoots puck and it breaks in two when it hits the back boards at the Brandt centre. Crazy!!” . . . G Andrey Makarov, who was so terrific for Russia in the WJC final on Thursday night, wasn’t with the Blades. He didn’t get into Saskatoon in time to make the trip south. . . .

In Lethbridge, D Daniel Johnston broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 6:30 of the third period as the Hurricanes beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-1. . . . Johnston has two goals this season. . . . F Emerson Etem got No. 31 for the Tigers in his first game back after playing for Team USA at the WJC. . . . Lethbridge G Damien Ketlo stopped 31 shots. . . .

In Red Deer, F Taylor Vause had a goal and two assists to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 3-2 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Broncos took a 3-0 lead early in the second period and then hung on behind 38 saves from G Jon Groenheyde. . . . Vause, who was reportedly feeling under the weather, has 23 goals. . . . He has 49 points in 41 games. Last season, in 62 games, Vause, 20, had career highs of 18 goals, 28 assists and 47 points. . . . The Broncos had lost six straight on the road. . . . Referee Derek Zalaski handed out only three minors, two to Red Deer. . . .

In Portland, F Brad Ross scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 3-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Winterhawks have won 14 in a row at home. . . . Ross has 28 goals. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson set a single-game franchise record with 55 saves. The previous record (53) was held by Leland Irving from a game against the Spokane Chiefs four years ago. . . . Portland G Brendan Burke stopped 30 shots. Everett F Josh Birkholz was unsuccessful on a late second-period penalty shot with the score 1-1. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie, the WHL scoring leader, had two assists. He now has 71 points. . . . Everett D Ryan Murray was back from a stint with the Canadian team at the WJC. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi sat this one out. He played for Switzerland at the WJC and suffered a concussion. . . . Everett was without D Brennan Yadlowski, who sat out a one-game suspension for a match penalty he incurred on Wednesday night. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Patrick Holland had two goals and two assists, while F Adam Hughesman had two goals and an assist, as the Tri-City Americans beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 7-3. . . . The Americans have won 12 in a row. . . . Holland has three straight four-point games. On the season, he has 55 points in 38 games. . . . In fact, in his last six games, he has gone 3, 3, 1, 4, 4, 4. That’s 19 points over six games. . . . Since Dec. 2, Holland has 28 points in 12 games. He has been blanked once, has one oe-point game, three two-pointers and three three-pointers. . . . Interestingly, he went 2-2-0-2-3-0-3-3-1-4-4-4. . . . And we should mention that Holland turns 19 today. . . . Hughesman has 65 points, including 25 goals, in 38 games this season. He has 299 points in 304 career games. . . . The Americans led 5-0 when Holland got his first goal, his 16th, at 8:34 of the second. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 20 shots. He wasn’t able to stop F Colin Jacobs on a second-period penalty shot that put Seattle on the board. . . . Comrie is 13-3-0. . . . Seattle G Daniel Cotton stopped 38 shots in his fourth career start. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin added a goal and two helpers for the Americans, while F Brian Williams had three assists. . . . Seattle has lost 19 in a row at the Toyota Center. . . . This one drew 6,064 fans, the third-largest crowd in the facility’s history. . . . There was an interesting moment in this one. It came with the Americans leading 5-2. From Dan Mulhausen’s Americans news release: “Early into the third period, Seattle thought it had pulled to within two, but rookie Connor Honey had his goal erased following a video review of a shot by Holland.  Nearly a minute earlier, Holland had ripped a shot from the point that appeared to go in the net, but the puck hit the back boards and went into the far corner.  After Honey’s goal finally stopped the clock, the video goal judge determined that Holland’s shot in fact had gone through the net, negating the goal by Honey and putting Tri-City on top 6-2.” . . . Hey, when you’re hot, you’re hot! And when you’re not, you’re not. . . .

In Prince George, G Cole Cheveldave stopped 32 shots as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Cougars, 2-0. . . . Cheveldave, an 18-year-old freshman from Calgary, has three shutouts, all of them against the Cougars. He blanked them 5-0 on Sunday, which was the last game for both teams prior to last night. They will play again tonight in P.G. . . . Cheveldave is 19-5-3. . . . Kamloops D Bronson Maschmeyer got the winner at 1:01 of the second period. F Colin Smith added his 20th at 13:16 of the third. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley stopped 41 shots. . . . Kamloops D Marek Hrbas (Czech Republic) and Prince George D Martin Marincin (Slovakia) both played after performing at the WJC. . . .

In Spokane, the Chiefs erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight goals and went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-2. . . . D Corbin Baldwin had a goal and an assist and was plus-4 for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel stopped 24 shots, 11 fewer than Moose Jaw’s Spencer Tremblay. . . . The Warriors went 1-3-1 in their U.S. Division swing. They wrap up the road swing tonight against the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Chiefs are 6-0 against East Division teams. . . . F Dominik Uher, in his return from playing for the Czech Republic at the WJC, scored for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur now has 497 WHL victories. . . . Moose Jaw F Quinton Howden rejoined his club after playing for Canada at the WJC. . . .

In Victoria, D Myles Bell had two goals and an assist to help the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-2 victory over the Royals. . . . Bell has seven goals this season. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 36 shots. . . . Bell broke a 2-2 tie at 1:04 of the third period. . . . The Royals hae lost eight in a row. . . . The teams play in Victoria again tonight.
———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Jamie Crooks, Victoria.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Dan DaSilva (Portland, 2002-2005) signed a contract through Dec. 24 with La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland, NL B). He was released after a tryout with Biel (Switzerland, NL A) on Thursday. The contract begins Monday.
———
JUST NOTES: F Sebastian Svendsen, 20, wasn’t in the Moose Jaw Warriors’ lineup Friday night as they beat the host Brandon Wheat Kings, 7-6. James Gallo, the radio voice of the Warriors on CHAB, reported via Twitter than Svendsen has left the club and returned home to Denmark. He missed the early portion of the season with a knee injury and has four points in 11 games. . . . Moose Jaw F Justin Kirsch left in the first period and didn’t return. That followed a hit from Brandon F Darian Dziurzynski. . . . Moose Jaw F Quinton Howden had four assists. He has 22 points in 13 games. . . . The Warriors erased a 6-4 deficit with three third-period goals. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal and two assists, giving him a WHL-leading 58 points in 27 games. Stone has goals in each of his last eight games. . . .
F Mark McNeill’s ninth goal, at 3:04 of OT, gave the Prince Albert Raiders a 4-3 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . The Raiders had lost six in a row. . . . F Kellan Tochkin of the Raiders tied the score with 8.4 seconds left in the third period. . . . F Justin Maylan, 20, drew three assists for the Raiders. He has 32 points in 27 games and just may have some market value between now and the Jan. 10 trade deadline. . . . In Saskatoon, the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Blades 6-2. That ended Saskatoon’s eight-game winning streak and franchise record-tying 10-game home-ice winning streak. . . . The Hitmen are 3-0 on a four-game East Division swing that ends tonight in Prince Albert. . . . Calgary got two goals from F Jimmy Bubnick, who is from Saskatoon. . . .
In Edmonton, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 27 shots to lead the Oil Kings to a 3-0 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. It was Brossoit’s first shutout this season and the third of his career. . . . He is 13-7-2, 2.43, .914. . . . F Tyler Maxwell, acquired Thursday from the Everett Silvertips, had one assist in his Edmonton debut. He played on a line with Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck. . . . The Oil Kings were without D Mark Pysyk (undisclosed). . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes went into Red Deer and beat the Rebels 5-1 in a game that featured 12 fighting majors. The Hurricanes took 76 of the game’s 118 penalty minutes. . . .
In Kelowna, G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 35 shots in leading the Kootenay Ice to a 4-0 victory over the Rockets. . . . At this point, Lieuwen has to be one of the leading candidates for the player of the year award. He is 13-4-3, 1.78, .938. This was his first shutout of the season and eighth of his career. . . . Backstopped by Lieuwen, the Ice is 18-5-3 and leading the overall standings. . . . The Ice played five B.C. Division teams in seven nights and ran the table. . . . The Ice scored its last three goals on the PP. . . . F Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, giving him four goals and 10 assists over the five-game swing. His older brother, Max, had three assists and finished the B.C. part of what will be a nine-game trip with four goals and six helpers. . . . Ice F Brock Montgomery, who scored one goal in 54 games last season, had two last night, giving him seven in 26 games this season. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-1, in a game that featured 142 penalty minutes, 71 to each team. . . . The teams took 74 of those minutes for a dustup at 17:48 of the third period. . . . In Everett, F Jordan Weal had two goals and an assist, the 200th of this career, to help the Regina Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. Regina is 1-2-1 on its U.S. Division tour that ends in Kennewick tonight. . . .
In Kent, Wash., F Charles Inglis tied the game at 19:21 of the third period and scored the only goal of the shootout as the Prince George Cougars edged the Seattle Thunderbirds, 3-2. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley stopped 32 shots. Seattle F Burke Gallimore wasn’t able to beat Owsley on a first-period penalty shot. . . . G Mac Carruth stopped 46 shots as the host Portland Winterhawks beat the Spokane Chiefs, 5-3. . . . Spokane is 0-7 on the road this season and that includes three losses in Portland.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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The AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons have recalled F Milan Kytnar (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2007-10), while also signing D Dylan Yeo (Prince George, Calgary, 2003-2007) to a free-agent tryout deal. . . .
———
A Friday night tweet from Katie Strang of ESPN, who covers the New York hockey scene: “Asked (Islanders) GM Garth Snow if he is contemplating sending Nino Niederreiter back to junior team Portland Winterhawks of WHL; he said ‘No’.”
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A second tweet from Strang: “Also, Isles spokesperson said Niederreiter is indeed healthy. 19-year-old Swiss winger was scratched for 3rd straight game tonight.”
———
Later, Strang wrote about this on her blog right here.
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Josh Cooper of The Tennessean has the latest on Brent Peterson right here. Peterson, a former player and coach with the Portland Winterhawks is living with Parkinson’s disease and preparing for surgery that he and his family hope will provide some relief.
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Andrew King, a former junior hockey player, tells his concussion-plagued story right here, from the pages of the Montreal Gazette.

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

SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince George, F Taylor Stefishen and F Charles Inglis each scored twice as the Cougars stopped the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-2. The Warriors had won their last three road games, including stops in Vancouver and Chilliwack. . . . Stefishen has nine goals; Inglis has 18. . . . Prince George D Martin Marincin, who played for Slovakia at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo, was in the building but didn’t play. . . .
In Edmonton, G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 23 shots to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 2-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . D Brayden McNabb and F Matt Fraser gave the Ice a 2-0 lead. . . . F Michael St. Croix, with his 21st, scored for Edmonton at 19:20 of the third period with G Jon Groenheyde on the bench for the extra attacker. . . .
In Regina, the Pats scored two third-period goals to force OT and then beat the Calgary Hitmen 4-3 in a shootout with goals from F Jordan Weal and F Colin Reddin. . . . D Tyler Bortsmayer got Regina to within 3-2 with his first goal of the season at 5:01 of the third and Weal tied it, with his 19th, at 14:44. . . . F Justin Kirsch scored his 18th of the season and added two assists for Calgary. . . . F Lyndon Martell scored his second goal in as many games for Regina. He joined the Pats after the Christmas break from the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. . . . The victory moved the Pats into 10th place in the 12-team Eastern Conference and got them to within two points of a playoff spot. . . .
In Prince Albert, F Sebastian Svendsen had two goals and an assist and F Justin Maylan had three assists to help the Raiders to a 5-4 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Svendsen has 17 goals. . . . F Igor Revenko scored the Raiders’ fifth goal, into an empty net at 19:34 of the third period, to give his side a 5-3 lead. . . . The Raiders had lost three in a row. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos, who hadn’t played at home since Dec. 3, beat the Saskatoon Blades, 4-2. . . . F Trevor Cameron, who joined the Broncos from the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds after the Christmas break, scored the home team’s first two goals. . . . The Blades cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 but F Adam Lowry iced it for the Broncos with an empty-netter. . . .
In Chilliwack, F Spencer Bennett broke a 2-2 at 17:47 of the second period and the Vancouver Giants went on to a 6-2 victory over the Bruins. . . . Bennett has 15 goals, and has scored three times in three games since joining the Giants in a deal with Portland last week. . . . The Giants got two goals from each of F Dalton Sward and F Nathan Burns. F Teal Burns, who came from Portland with Bennett, had three assists. . . . F Dylen McKinlay had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, the goal coming on a second-period penalty shot. . . .
In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford scored his WHL-leading 30th goal as the Blazers dropped the Kelowna Rockets, 5-1. . . . Ranford, who leads the WHL with 62 points, also had two assists. Linemate Jordan DePape added three assists.