Rest won't hurt Kamloops

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
To the victors go the spoils.
In this case, the victors are the Kamloops Blazers and the spoils are eight days off before they resume their WHL playoff schedule.
The Blazers, who completed a four-game sweep of the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday night, will begin the Western Conference final against the Winterhawks in Portland on April 19 and 20.
Games 3 and 4 are to be played at Interior Savings Centre on April 23 and 24.
After Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Rockets, Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said his players would be given “a couple of days to themselves.”
He added that the players would “be back on Saturday,” although he said he didn’t think they would skate.
“We have plenty of time,” Charron said. “We want to make sure they’re rested and ready.”
The time off also will be good for the walking wounded.
Centre Colin Smith suffered a suspected concussion early in the second period of the first game against Kelowna on Saturday and missed the last three games. He skated on Wednesday morning but there never was a chance that he would play in Game 4.
However, Smith, who led the Blazers with 106 points in the regular season, should play in Game 1 in Portland.
Bozon, however, is a different story.
The Swiss sophomore is sporting a cast after suffering a fracture in his right hand during a game-ending melee against the host Victoria Royals on March 26. The recovery time for such injuries normally is in the area of four weeks. If all goes well, that could put Bozon on track for a return late in the series against Portland.
Smith, who also had a team-high 41 goals, finished behind only Portland linemates Brendan Leipsic and Nic Petan (each 120 points) and Ty Rattie (110) in the regular-season scoring race. Bozon was tied for eighth, with 91 points, including 36 goals.
As well, centre Dylan Willick, the Blazers’ captain, went down awkwardly late in Wednesday’s game and left the ice in some discomfort. The rest can only help him.
“It’ll be all good,” Charron said of Willick.
———
The Rockets, playing their sixth game in nine nights, could have rolled over on Wednesday and no one would have raised an eyebrow.
They didn’t, though, as they erased a 3-1 third-period deficit before eventually losing to an overtime goal by Kamloops right-winger Kale Kessy.
“We had it all season,” Ryan Huska, the Rockets’ head coach, said. “We were a resilient team all season. We weren’t surprised that we didn’t roll over. We fought through a fair amount of things. We expect (our players) to push.”
The Rockets started this season 2-7 and found themselves well behind the Blazers, who went on an early-season 14-game winning streak. However, Kelowna recovered and finished 52-16-4, good enough to place them atop the B.C. Division. But, in the opening round, the Rockets ran into a determined bunch of Seattle Thunderbirds, who had finished 50 points behind them. The Rockets lost the first three games to Seattle, then won the last four to take the series, 4-3. Five of the games, including the last two, went into overtime. And the last two were played on back-to-back nights in different cities.
There’s not much doubt that the Rockets, who at times had seven players scratched, were a tired bunch by the time Wednesday’s game ended. But Huska was having none of that.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “Kamloops was the better team in this series.”
———
Referees Chris Crich and Devin Klein handed out 12 minor penalties on Wednesday, each of them resulting in a power play. The Rockets took 11 of those minors – the first six and the last five.
Asked about the penalties, Huska took a moment, measured his words and replied:
“I find it sad . . . when in this type of a game the calls are 11-1. And I find it even sadder that it was a televised game where people see that type of officiating. . . . No discredit to (the Blazers) for what they did on the other side, but if you look back at this series, it was sad.”
———
When F JC Lipon scored at 3:43 of overtime to give the Blazers a 5-4 victory in Game 3 on Tuesday, it was the first time Kamloops had won an OT game on home ice since April 6, 1996. On that occasion, F Jarome Iginla’s power-play goal at 13:23 gave the Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Game 2 of a best-of-five conference semifinal that Kamloops woud win, 3-2.
Of course, the Blazers then won a second straight OT game at home on Wednesday. Kessy’s goal, at 2:42 of OT, allowed the Blazers to wrap up a playoff series at home for the first time since April 11, 1996, when they beat the Americans, 5-1. The Blazers had trailed 2-1 in that series, before winning 6-1 in Kennewick, Wash., on April 9. The Blazers then lost the conference final to Spokane in six games.
———
JUST NOTES: Lipon leads the WHL playoffs in assists (16) and points (21). He is the only WHL player with at least a point in each of his team’s games. . . . Rattie and Kessy lead with 11 goals. . . . Rattie has 19 points, leaving him tied with Kamloops F Brendan Ranford, who has 13 points in his last five games. . . . The Blazers scored three power-play goals on Wednesday, including Kessy’s winner, on the power play. That’s a 27.2 per cent success rate, which is excellent in any coach’s opinion. . . . Iginla finished the 1996 playoffs with 16 goals in 16 games. Kessy is the first Kamloops skater since then to reach double digits in goals.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Michal Lukac (Prince George, 2001-02) signed a one-year contract extension with Kladno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had one goal and eight assists in 36 games with Kladno and was pointless during a three-game loan assignment to Pisek (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) this season. . . .


F Malte Strömwall (Tri-City, 2011-13) signed a two-year contract with Växjö (Sweden, Elitserien). Strömwall, who turns 19 on Aug. 24, is from Luleå, Sweden. He had 21 goals and 45 assists in 66 games with the Americans this season. He put up 27 points, including 11 goals, in his freshman season of 2011-12. . . .

D Craig Schira (Regina, Vancouver, 2003-09) signed a one-year plus option contract with HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 17 goals and 18 assists in 45 games with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen) this season. Schira was the second-leading point-getter among defencemen in GET-Ligaen.
———
The news that Russian forward Dmitri Uchaykin had died after taking a hit to the head during a game in Kazakhstan a couple of weeks ago brought memories flooding back to Barret Kropf.
Kropf, a veteran hockey coach, was coaching Briercrest College in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference “almost 10 years ago” and was part of a group of ACAC, CIS and junior players who made trip to Kazakhstan to play a few games.
“In our third game against their first league pro teams,” he writes, point out that this was prior to the advent of the KHL, “one of our players, Dan Hesje, was violently sucker-punched with a running, full strides haymaker.”
According to Kropf, Hesje “was out before his head smashed on the ice.”
In fact, Kropf writes, “Running from the bench, I thought he was dead . . . blood everywhere.”
How bad was it?
Kropf says that “only a miracle kept him alive that night in hospital.” He adds that the hit ended Hesje’s hockey career and Hesje still feels its affects.
As for the player who delived the below, Kropf says that he “got two minutes for roughing.”
So the ACAC team left the ice in protest.
“After some hallway negotiations,” Kropf recalls, “we agreed to replay the next night” when the arena was expected to be sold out. But the team agreed to play only if the offending player didn’t suit up.
“However,” Kropf remembers, “the next night he was out for the warmup. So we skated right off the ice.”
And that’s when the fun began.
As Kropf recalls it:
“There was a knock on the door and it was a Mafia-looking dude. Through an interpreter, we heard how he dragged their player and coach into the hallway and tore strips offf them . . . left them sitting in the hallway, cowering and in tears.
“These Mafia (businessmen!) then apologized profusely and begged us to play on.”
As the ACAC team made its way to the ice surface, players and coaches had to walk past the other team’s coach and the player in question.
“They were in the hallway crying as we walked by,” Kropf writes.
As for that night’s game, he notes: “We enjoyed a safe, high-skilled, fun game. Both teams took the high road and played a safe game with lots of skill.”
Having been through this so many years ago, having had those memories reawakened and having watched hockey evolve to where it now is, Kropf concludes:
“Maybe North America needs some Russian-styled businessmen to set the tone for headshot punishment!”
———
Mark Lamb, the GM and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, says a change is coming in terms of how the WHL uses video review.
The host Broncos lost Game 4 of a first-round series with the Calgary Hitmen when on-ice officials missed a glove pass in overtime that led to the winning goal by the visitors. That left Calgary with a 3-1 lead in the series and heading home for Game 5, which it won.
"They have to deal with that and they're going to deal with it," Lamb told Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos on The Eagle 94.1 FM. "It was one of the worst things that's ever happened in hockey . . . not just in our league. When you're in overtime and there's a glove pass and there's an overtime goal, it's devastating to the franchise. They're going to acknowledge it and there's going to be some changes."
Mullin’s interview with Lamb, in which they look back and ahead, is right here.
———

The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Edmonton wins, 4-0)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads, 3-1; Game 5, tonight, in Calgary)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Portland wins, 4-0)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Kamloops wins, 4-0)
———
Three series ended in sweeps last night. Yikes! This means that of the 11 series that have been completed this spring, five have ended in four games and three others have gone five.
The Calgary Hitmen are in position to take out the visiting Red Deer Rebels in five games tonight in the only series left standing.
The Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks will open the Western Conference final with games in the Oregon city on April 19 and 20. Yes, they now will enjoy eight days off before they play again.
———
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Medicine Hat, the Edmonton Oil Kings erased a 2-1 deficit with goals 39 seconds apart in the third period and beat the Tigers, 4-2. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored twice for Edmonton and F Dylan Wruck drew three assists. . . . Tigers F Hunter Shinkaruk gave his side its first lead of the series when he scored shorthanded at 5:41 of the first. . . . That also was the first time in these playoffs that Edmonton had trailed. . . . Samuelsson forged a 2-2 tie at 12:40 of the third, and D Griffin Reinhart broke the tie at 13:19. . . . Samuelsson, who also had an assist, later added an empty-netter. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 32 shots, while Medicine Hat’s Cam Lanigan blocked 38. . . . The Oil Kings have outscored their opponents 44-9 in nine playoff games. . . .

In Kamloops, F Kale Kessy scored a PP goal in overtime to give the Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Kessy got his second goal of the game and 11th of these playoffs after Kelowna D Madison Bowey was penalized for delay of game. . . . The Blazers were 3-for-11 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-1. . . . Yes, PPs were 11-1. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford had three assists, giving him nine points in the four-game sweep over the Rockets. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon, who leads the playoff scoring race, had two assists. He remains the only player in the WHL with at least one point in each of his team’s playoff games. Lipon leads the scoring race with 21 points, two more than Portland F Ty Rattie and Ranford. . . . The Rockets trailed 3-1 going into the third after D Marek Hrbas and F Matt Needham scored in the last three minutes of the second. . . . F J.T. Barnett and F Cole Linaker pulled Kelowna even with goals at 5:03 and 9:24 of the the third. . . .Bowey went off 27 seconds into OT and the Blazers fired seven shots at G Jordon Cooke before Kessy scored. . . . Kessy shares the playoff goal-scoring lead with Rattie. . . .

In Spokane, G Mac Carruth stopped 30 shots to help the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-0 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Carruth has two shutouts in these playoffs and five in his career. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored once, giving him 11 goals in these playoffs. That was his 41st career playoff goal, tying him for second with Reg Leach (Flin Flon, 1967-70). The record of 47 goals is held by Mark Pederson (Medicine Hat, 1984-88). . . . F Taylor Peters scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist. . . . Portland outscored Spokane 18-3 in the four games. . . . Among the Chiefs scratches were F Todd Fiddler and F Jackson Playfair. Fiddler had a team-high 42 goals during the regular season. . . . Portland is into the conference final for a third straight season.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (16):
D Madison Bowey, Kelowna

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (5):
None
———

From Paul Buker (@Pnbuker) of The Oregonian: “I asked Travis Green if he was good enough to get traded for 3 players. He shot back, ‘if you ask Medicine Hat, they would probably say no.’ ”
Green, the Portland Winterhawks’ interim GM and head coach, was Spokane’s leading scorer on Jan. 26, 1990, when the Chiefs dealt him to the Tigers for F Mark Woolf, F Frank Esposito and D Chris Lafreniere.


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Blazers move into conference final

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
This time, there won’t be a comeback.
It wasn’t easy and it took overtime, but the Kamloops Blazers made certain of that.
The Blazers managed to shake off the Kelowna Rockets 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night at Interior Savings Centre, sweeping the visitors from the second round of the WHL playoffs.
Let the history books show that Kale Kessy’s second goal of the game and his 11th in 10 playoff games won this one.
With the Blazers on the power play — they were 3-for-11 with the man advantage, while the Rockets were, uhh, 0-for-1 — Kessy shook off a hit from Kelowna’s Ryan Olsen along the right boards and got to the net in time to redirect defenceman Joel Edmundson’s hard pass behind goaltender Jordan Cooke at 2:24.
The Blazers are into the Western Conference’s best-of-seven final for the first time since the spring of 1999, when they swept the Tri-City Americans before losing the championship final in five games to the Calgary Hitmen.
Kamloops will meet the Portland Winterhawks in the conference final, with the first games in Oregon on April 19 and 20. Yes, the Winterhawks, who completed a sweep of the Chiefs with a 5-0 victory in Spokane last night, and Blazers now will have eight days off.
The Rockets, meanwhile, will be off for a while longer than that.
The Rockets had fallen behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 0-3 in the first round, then had become the second team in WHL history to win the next four games and the series.
So you can bet the Rockets were grasping at that straw after a 5-4 overtime loss at ISC on Tuesday night left them in that 0-3 hole, again.
But this time there wouldn’t be a miracle. Almost. But not quite.
The Rockets, who were playing their sixth game in nine nights, did a lot of hanging around and hanging on last night. They took the game’s first six minor penalties, five of them in the first period. Although they gave up just one power-play goal, that to Kessy, they paid a steep price from their energy bank because they spent so much time defending and were forced to over-use their top guys.
Due to injuries, the Rockets had been trying to make do for the most part with five defencemen. By the end of the first period, the back-enders were almost on empty and the mistakes were mounting.
And the Blazers kept pushing. Hard. They held a 19-4 edge in shots after 20 minutes.
Still, the Rockets got some momentum eight minutes into the second period when they were given their first power-play opportunity. They didn’t score right then, but forward Tyson Baillie, back from a two-game suspension, pulled the visitors even at 12:48 when he beat goaltender Cole Cheveldave from 20 feet out in the slot.
By that point the Rockets were looking like they might make a game of it.
But that thought appeared to end when Kamloops forward JC Lipon, who scored the OT winner Tuesday and was dominant in this one, checked Olsen off the puck in the Blazers’ zone and turned around the play. Moments later, at 17:05, defenceman Marek Hrbas gave the Blazers a 2-1 lead.
And then, with 27.4 seconds left on the clock, centre Matt Needham scored off some good work by Cole Ully the Rockets really were in trouble.
But Kelowna survived three Kamloops power plays in the third period and got goals from J.T. Barnett and Cole Linaker to force overtime.
The Blazers, as they had done Tuesday, opened the overtime with energy and the result was that Kelowna defenceman Madison Bowey, in trying to clear the zone, inadvertently put the puck into the crowd. That, in today’s game, is a delay-of-game penalty.
The Blazers stormed to the attack on the PP, with Kessy beating Cooke on their seventh shot of extra time and their 45th shot of the game.
Kamloops goaltender Cole Cheveldave stopped 22 shots and, as he did on Tuesday night, made at least half-a-dozen of the timely variety.
Early in this season, it was the Rockets who ended the Blazers’ franchise-record 14-game winning streak. Later, the Rockets skated past the Blazers and won the B.C. Division’s regular-season pennant.
But last night the Blazers sent the Rockets home for the summer and moved on to the conference final.
You know the Rockets would switch positions in a New York minute.
JUST NOTES: The attendance was 4,904. . . . Lipon had two assists and remains the only player in the WHL with at least one point in each of his team’s playoff games this season. . . . The Daily News Three Stars — 1. Kessy: Two goals in big game; 2. Cheveldave: Getting better each time out; 3. Linaker: Bright future. . . . The Blazers were without C Colin Smith for a third straight game. He suffered a suspected concussion early in the second period of Game 1. However, he is back skating and should be back for the start of the conference final. . . . Games 3 and 4 in the conference final will be at ISC on April 23 and 24. If necessary, Game 5 would be in Portland on April 26, Game 6 in Kamloops on April 28 and Game 7 in Portland on April 30. . . . Andy Clovechok, Mr. Hockey in these parts, celebrated his 90th birthday by attending last night’s game, with the lovely Molly, of course.

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Blazers put Rockets in 0-3 hole

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The WHL playoff game’s outcome was right there, on the stick of Kamloops Blazers forward JC Lipon.
The third period was nine minutes old, the Blazers and Rockets were 4-4 and linemate Brendan Ranford had presented Lipon with an empty net.
Lipon misfired wide to the long side . . . way right. He was not a happy camper.
But all that changed when Lipon scored at 3:43 of overtime to give the Blazers a 5-4 victory at Interior Savings Centre.
That gave the Blazers a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. Kamloops will be in a position to wrap it up when the teams meet again tonight at ISC. A fifth game, if necessary, would be played Friday in Kelowna.
“I missed like maybe two of those all season,” Lipon, a 36-goal man, said, referring to that third-period opportunity. “That was a big one and I fanned on it. I was pretty mad. It definitely bothered me.”
It didn’t bother him enought to distract him from the task at hand, though. And in an overtime in which both teams had their chances, Lipon had the final say.
Lipon, who leads the playoff scoring race, took advantage of some good work by Ranford and Cole Ully deep in the Kelowna zone and beat goaltender Jackson Whistle from the short left side of the slot and — that’s why they call it sudden-death — this one was over.
“I didn’t play very well all game,” said Lipon, who also had an assist and now leads the WHL in assists (14) and points (19). “I was pretty disappointed in myself. I just couldn’t seem to rebound. For overtime, it was definitely good to get some confidence back.”
The Rockets, playing their fifth game in eight nights, started this game with a lot of energy and only Kamloops goaltender Cole Cheveldave kept his guys from getting blown out.
Forward Tyrell Goulbourne forced a turnover and Cheveldave stoned him with a right pad just 10 seconds into the game. That signalled the start of an onslaught and the Rockets went on to put up 12 of the game’s first 13 shots.
But Cheveldave kept them off the scoreboard and that’s something that paid huge dividends for the home boys by game’s end.
“He’s been our backbone the whole series and the first period as well,” Lipon said. “We kind of expect it from him now but we have to help him out a little bit more.”
Cheveldave, who finished with 33 stops, made timely saves all game, including a diving save on Kelowna defenceman Madison Bowey earlier in the overtime period.
“If he doesn’t make that save,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said, “the momentum has changed completely.”
As things turned out, Charron added, “The momentum is still on our side with that win in overtime.”
“He made the saves, the timely ones,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska said of Cheveldave. “Even the one in overtime . . . he made timely saves tonight.”
The same couldn’t be said of Kelowna starter Jordon Cooke, who was beaten three times on 11 shots in the first period. He was replaced by Whistle to start the second period.
“We need our guy to bounce back,” Huska said.
The Blazers escaped from that first period with a 3-2 lead, despite being outshot 19-11. The five goals were scored in a span of 6:33, which was more than enough to put a buzz into the crowd.
The Rockets then outscored their hosts 2-1 in the second period, forging a 4-4 tie going into the third, which was scoreless.
The Blazers got a stellar evening from captain Dylan Willick, who had two goals and an assist, with Ranford and Kale Kessy also scoring.
Former Blazers forward J.T. Barnett, who had missed the last eight games due to illness, scored twice for Kelowna, with Ryan Olsen and Cole Martin also scoring.
The Rockets, still without four injured regulars and the suspended Tyson Baillie, their leading scorer, definitely outskated the Blazers for much of this game.
“I liked the way we played for the most part,” Huska said. “This was our best game of the series. Getting J.T. back was a big help for us; I thought his energy was really good.
“And I thought we were more physical tonight and we have to continue that in the series.”
Charron didn’t especially like his team’s start. In fact, he didn’t like much about his team’s game until the overtime.
“I thought in OT it was the most energy I saw collectively,” Charron said. “During the game, I don’t think we were working collectively. As they say, good teams find ways . . . so I guess we’re a good team.
“But we’re going to have to be much better and I believe we can be.”
JUST NOTES: The attendance was 4,305. . . . Lipon, with 19 points in nine games, is the only WHLer to have at least a point in each of his team’s playoff games. . . . The Blazers were 1-for-6 on the power play and that included a 5-on-3 for 1:17 in the second period. . . . Kelowna was 0-for-4. . . . Kelowna D Mitchell Wheaton, playing in his third game since coming back from a shoulder injury, left favouring his right shoulder at 17:38 of the second period. He did return for the third. . . . The Daily News Three Stars — 1. Willick: Getting better and better; 2. Martin: Played big; 3. Cheveldave: Gave up four but it could have been 10. . . . The Blazers were without F Colin Smith for a second straight game. He is believed to have a concussion after a hit by Baillie early in the second period of Game 1. Baillie has served his two-game suspension, so is eligible to return tonight. . . . The entire series is being shown by Shaw TV. . . . Ranford has been named the WHL and CHL player of the week after putting up eight points in three games. . . . Former WHL referee Darren Loraas was in the house as a league supervisor.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Frölunda Gothenburg (Sweden, Elitserien) announced they won’t offer a new contract to F Fredrik Sjöström (Calgary, 2001-03). Sjöström had five goals and five assists in 50 games this season. . . .



Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) announced that they won’t offer new contracts to D Craig Weller (Kootenay, 2000-02) and D Chris Heid (Spokane, 1998-2003). Weller had one assist in 34 games and Heid had one goal in 38 games for Ingolstadt this season.
———


F Kale Kessy of the Kamloops Blazers has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Kessy, 20, was a fourth-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft. The Oilers acquired him last week in exchange for F Tobias Rieder of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. . . . This season, his fifth in the WHL, Kessy has played with the Medicine Hat Tigers (two games), Vancouver Giants (27) and Kamloops (31). He finished with 41 points, including 21 goals. . . . He scored seven goals, including two hat tricks, in the Blazers’ six-game first-round playoff victory over the Victoria Royals.
———

The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Edmonton leads, 1-0; Game 2, today, in Edmonton)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads, 2-0; Game 3, Monday, in Red Deer)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Portland leads 2-0; Game 3, Tuesday, in Spokane)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Kamloops leads 1-0; Game 2, today, in Kelowna)
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Kelowna, F Brendan Ranford scored two first-period goals and the Kamloops Blazers went on to a 4-2 victory over the Rockets. . . . It was the first time in these playoffs that Kelowna lost in regulation time. Kelowna lost three times in OT during a seven-game first-round victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Ranford opened the scoring 30 seconds into the first period and the Blazers were never caught. . . . Kamloops outshot the Rockets 18-3 and outscored them 3-0 in the first period. . . . Kelowna’s penalty kill, which was 27-for-27 against Seattle, surrendered two PP goals in the first period. . . . Kamloops lost F Colin Smith, who was its leading regular-season scorer with 106 points, after he took a hit from F Tyson Baillie two minutes into the second period. Smith went to the dressing room and didn’t return. He will be re-evaluated today. . . . Baillie wasn’t penalized. . . . The Rockets had D Mitchell Wheaton back in the lineup. He had been out since Jan. 25 with a shoulder problem. Originally, it was though that he would need surgery, but that obviously hasn’t happened. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon drew two assists and now leads the playoff scoring race with 16 points, one more than Portland F Ty Rattie. . . . The Blazers also got two assists from Matt Needham. . . . Kamloops F Aaron Macklin, a freshman from High River, Alta., who turned 18 on Jan. 17, scored his first WHL playoff goal on a first-period PP. He had one goal in 62 regular-season games. . . . F Henrik Nyberg had a goal and an assist for Kelowna. . . . Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave stopped 21 shots, eight fewer than Kelowna’s Jordon Cooke. . . . The entire Kamloops-Kelowna series is being televised by Shaw. . . .

In Portland, G Mac Carruth stopped 27 shots as the Winterhawks blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 3-0. . . . Carruth set two records with the shutout and the victory. He had been tied with former Red Deer Rebels G Cam Ward for the record for most playoff victories. Carruth now holds that record, with 39. . . . This was Carruth’s fourth career playoff shutout, giving him Portland’s franchise record. He had been tied with Lanny Ramage. . . . F Chase De Leo’s goal at 13:17 of the first period stood up as the winner. . . . F Brendan Leipsic had a goal and an assist, with F Ty Rattie getting two assists. . . . Spokane G Eric Williams made 40 saves. . . . Paul Buker of The Oregonian was there and his report is right here.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (12):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (5):
None
———






Three observers with comments after Kamloops-Kelowna game . . .

Patrick King (@SNPatrickKing): “So Bowey gets a penalty I can’t comprehend and Baillie doesn’t for a late hit on Smith? Having a hard time seeing some consistency here . . .”
———
From Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge): “same refs from the RDR/CGY game last night. The ones who needed video replay to see a major penalty that wasn’t there.”
———
From Regan Bartel (@Reganrant): “I’m not a fan of Matt Kirk. Seems to stick it to team that dispues a call. Veteran guy with no feel for the game.”

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Kessy a load for Blazers in playoffs

Kale Kessy has been a force for the Kamloops Blazers.
(Murray Mitchell / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Kale Kessy is standing in a hallway at Interior Savings Centre. It is Friday afternoon and the Kamloops Blazers’ practice has just concluded.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Kessy ponders the question for a moment and a grin begins to appear on his countenance.
“Never,” he says, and then he heads for the WHL team’s dressing room.
It’s true. Until now, Kessy never has led a league in goals at any point in a season.
And yet that’s where he finds himself tonight as the Blazers and Kelowna Rockets open a best-of-seven second-round series at Prospera Place in the Little Apple.
Going into Friday's playoff games, Kessy, who has played six games, and Kelowna forward Tyson Baillie, who has played seven, had seven goals apiece, and that’s tops in the WHL.
“It’s a a nice feeling,” Kessy said, “but I have to give credit for all of them . . . I’ve probably had close to seven wide-open nets. I just try to play in front of the goalie and work in the dirty areas. (Colin) Smith and my linemates have been doing a really good job of finding me there.”
The Blazers eliminated the Victoria Royals from a first-round series in six games, winning the last game 6-2 on Monday night. Kessy scored three times in that one, as he did in Game 4, a 5-4 overtime victory by the visiting Blazers. Those were the first hat tricks of his WHL career, which now is 287 games old.
“I’m just trying to make the most of my opportunities right now,” Kessy offered. “I’m playing with a lot of good players. I’ve been playing with Smith for the last half of the season and the playoffs and he’s a really good player.”
Yes, there definitely seems to be some chemistry between Smith and Kessy, kind of like their is between Smith and Wesson — one loads and the other fires.
But perhaps we should have seen Kessy’s hot first round coming. After all, he finished the regular season with 11 points, five of them goals, in his last nine games. That allowed him to finish with 43 points, including 21 goals, in   60 games.
With the Blazers, who acquired him from the Vancouver Giants on ???? for forward Rob Trzonkowski, 18, and a 2015 fifth-round draft pick, he put up 25 points, 12 of them goals, in 31 games.
“There are some really talented players on this team,” Kessy said. “I’m more of a physical, energy guy. I’ll just work hard on my game this summer and try to improve the different aspects like stickhandling and shooting. I worked a lot on that last summer.
“I know I can play with those types of players — Smith and (JC) Lipon and (Brendan) Ranford and (Tim) Bozon and those guys.”
All of which is pretty good for a guy who, as a first-year bantam, was cut from a team in Swift Current. Kessy, who is from Shaunavon, promptly moved to Medicine Hat, where he played bantam and midget. In his final minor hockey season, he had 17 goals and 12 assists in 33 games with Medicine Hat’s midget AAA team.
While he was in The Hat, the Tigers placed him on their list. He would go on to play 195 games with the Tigers, before they dealt him to the Giants early this season.
When the Blazers acquired Kessy, he brought with him baggage that included seven separate suspensions, including a 12-game sentence that ended his days with the Tigers.
With the Blazers, however, he has keep his nose more than clean.
“I’m just trying to make the most of my opportunities,” he reiterated. “I don’t think I have to prove myself fighting, but I’ll stick up for my teammates whenever I have to.”
While Kessy has turned into that most valuable of hockey commodities — a power forward who looks like he has some touch — NHL scouts were watching. Obviously, former Blazers general manager Stu MacGregor, who is the Edmonton Oilers’ head scout and who lives in Kamloops, was paying attention. Last week, the Oilers dealt forward Tobias Rieder to the Phoenix Coyotes for Kessy, who had been a fourth-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft. It was a classic case of teams swapping hustle for muscle.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Kessy said of now being Edmonton property. “The Oilers have a lot of young, talented, skilled players. I’ll work hard this summer and go into camp and try to do my best and see what happens.”
Before then, though, there are the Rockets. The Blazers left for the Little Apple shortly after practice yesterday.
“We just have to play Blazers hockey,” Kessy said. “We can’t get away from that. If we are playing our own game and our own style, we’ll be all right.”
And what is Blazers hockey?
“It’s good execution of our game plan,” he added. “Play with a lot of pace and keep pushing. We have to play a full 60 minutes. We have to get a lot of pucks behind their (defence). They’re missing some bodies so we have to forecheck them and play smart.”
Some teams — hello, there, Victoria — have made attempts to run at Kessy and get him off his game. Kessy said that kind of stuff doesn’t bother him.
“I don’t go into a game worrying about any other player,” he said. “I’d rather have them worrying about me.”
If he keeps scoring the way he has been, he will definitely be causing the opposition to sweat.
JUST NOTES: Game 2 in this series will be played in Kelowna on Sunday, 5 p.m., with Games 3 and 4 at Interior Savings Centre. Game time both nights will be 7 o’clock. . . . The entire series will be televised by Shaw. . . . Kamloops C Joe Kornelsen (leg) is expected to return tonight after missing 12 games. . . . Bozon (hand), however, is out long-term.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Ian Gordon (Swift Current, Saskatoon, 1992-95) announced his retirement through the Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) website. Gordon had a 2.49 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 33 games for Ingolstadt this season. After five seasons in the AHL and IHL, Gordon headed for Germany, where he played 13 seasons in the DEL with Schwenningen and Frankfurt, and the past three seasons with Ingolstadt. He won a DEL championship with Frankfurt in 2003-04 and played in the DEL All-Star game in 2007-08 and 2008-09. . . .

F Roman Psurny (Medicine Hat, 2004-06) signed a one-year plus option contract extension with Litvinov (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had five goals and nine assists in 42 games with Litvinov and had one goal and one assist during a three-game loan assignment to Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) this season. . . .

F Mike Egener (Calgary, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract extension with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite). He had three goals and 12 assists in 56 games with the Blaze this season.



———






Here’s an ad that was posted on alberta.kijiji.ca on April 1:

Slightly worn out WHL franchise for sale. NO LEASING!!! Treated with care and appreciation in it’s first few years and left to crumble more recently.

Includes:
A fantastic place to practice and perform.
Minimal backseat driving.
A healthy schedule of roadtrips.

Requirements:
WHL/NHL regulations dictate a brand new paint job before it hits the ice again.
A caring/knowledgeable owner to get under the hood and find out why it’s been stuck in neutral the past few years(occasionally locks into reverse).
A driver without vision problems.
Just a few more parts to beef up horsepower, speed and a fresh set of tires for MORE TRACTION and dependability.
NO KEY JINGLERS!

If interested please contact current board of directors directly.
Sincerely,
Fans of the Lethbridge Hurricanes
———
A few Memorial Cup-related thoughts from Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:
“There is not a classier owner in junior hockey than Jack Brodsky, whose family has operated the Blades since 1976. If anyone deserves a Memorial Cup ring, it is Brodsky. But if the Blades capture major-junior hockey's greatest prize despite failing to register a single WHL playoff victory, it will not be the finest moment in CHL history. There has to be a better way.
“Here is one suggestion: Continue to rotate the host leagues. The champion of the host league earns a Memorial Cup berth, and some time off while a playoff is held to determine the other finalist. If the WHL is hosting, for example, the OHL and QMJHL champions would meet to determine the other Memorial Cup participant. A best-of-seven, Stanley Cup-style Memorial Cup championship series would ensue, with games being played in the home rinks of the two finalists. Such a format would ashcan the flawed host-team exemption and reward the fans of each league champion.
“Are there glitches in this proposal? Of course. The travel would be gruelling, although the NHL has overcome such obstacles when the New Jersey Devils have met the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks for Lord Stanley's grail. There is also the question of whether a Memorial Cup final could feasibly be held in a small centre such as Swift Current, where the Credit Union i-Plex seats 2,879. But, honestly, could this proposed format be any worse than the current blueprint?”
No, it couldn’t be worse.
Yes, it is time to go to a format that features two teams in a best-of-seven final for the Memorial Cup.
That is all.
———
JUST NOTES:
The Seattle Thunderbirds will be without F Connor Honey for their next two games, including tonight’s Game 6 of a first-round series with the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Honey has been suspended for three games for a hit from behind on Kelowna D MacKenzie Johnston in Game 4 of that series. . . . Honey sat out Game 5, so has two games left to serve. . . . Johnston will be out for up to two months with a shoulder injury. . . .

The Chicago Blackhawks have assigned F Mark McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. McNeill had 67 points, including 25 goals, in 65 games this season. . . . He was the 18th overall selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . .



F Nick Buonassisi, who finished his junior eligibility with the Brandon Wheat Kings last month, has joined the Central league’s Quad City Mallards. Buonassisi had 34 points in 69 games this season. . . . The Mallards are trailing the Fort Worth Brahmas 2-0 in a first-round best-of-seven series and have suffered two serious injuries. . . . The series resumes Wednesday in the Quad Cities.

THE COACHING GAME:
Danny Flynn is out as head coach of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, although he will stay on as the director of hockey operations. . . . The Wildcats were 42-33-3 this season, then were eliminated in five games by the Victoriaville Tigres in a first-round series. . . .


The U of Denver has fired George Gwozdecky, the long-time coach of the WCHA’s Pioneers. In his 19 years at Denver, he won two NCAA titles. Gwozdecky had one season left on a 12-year contract. . . . According to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: “DU is the only Division I hockey team to have won 20 games in each of the past 12 seasons. However, the Pioneers recently lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the past six years, part of the reason the sources said Gwozdecky was fired. An inability for the school and Gwozdecky to reach a contract extension also figured into the decision.” . . . Chambers’ complete story is right here. . . .

Keith Cassidy won’t be back as the general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. Cassidy, 38, completed two seasons with the club and the board of directors chose not to exercise an option for a third season. . . . This season, the Bruins finished fifth in the Sherwood Division, sidelined the Kindersley Klippers in a survivor series and then lost a best-of-seven series to the Yorkton Terriers in five games. . . . Josh Lewis of the Estevan Mercury has more right here.
———

The WHL’s first-round situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
FIRST ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
(Edmonton wins 4-1)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Medicine Hat wins 4-0)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
(Calgary wins 4-1)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)
(Red Deer wins 4-0)
———
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
(Portland wins 4-2)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
(Seattle leads 3-2; Game 6 tonight in Kent, Wash.)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
(Kamloops wins 4-2)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
(Spokane wins 4-1)
———
Two more Western Conference series ended last night, leaving only the Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds left to settle the issue.
The No. 7 Thunderbirds take a 3-2 edge into tonight’s home game against the No. 2 Rockets.
Should Seattle win, the second round will feature the No. 1 Portland Winterhawks against Seattle and the No. 3 Kamloops Blazers versus the No. 4 Spokane Chiefs.
Should Kelowna win tonight, Game 7 of that series will be played in the Little Apple on Wednesday.
Should Kelowna win that series, the Rockets would face Kamloops in the second round, with Portland meeting Spokane.
No matter which team the Winterhawks play, they’ll be in Portland on Friday and Saturday.
———
MONDAY’S GAMES:
In Everett, F Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals and two assists as the Portland Winterhawks dumped the Silvertips, 5-1. . . . Portland held a 52-13 edge in shots, including 20-4 in the second period and 15-1 in the third. . . . D Seth Jones had two Portland goals, his first of the series. . . . F Reid Petryk gave the Silvertips a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at 2:14 of the first period. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 47 shots. . . .

In Victoria, F Kale Kessy scored three times to help the Kamloops Blazers to a 6-2 victory over the Royals. . . . Kessy leads the WHL with seven playoff goals. He also scored three times in Game 4, a 5-4 OT victory by the visiting Blazers. . . . Kessy played his first 284 regular-season and playoff games without a hat trick. He now has two in three game. . . . F Cole Ully and Kessy scored the game’s first two goals and the Blazers were never caught. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon had a goal and two assists; he leads the playoff scoring race with 14 points. He was in on 14 of the Blazers’ 23 goals against the Royals. . . . D Joel Edmundson and F Brendan Ranford each had three assists for the Blazers. . . . D Keegan Kanzig scored one of Victoria’s goals. It was his first WHL goal, and came in his 143rd game, 133 of which are regular-season tilts.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (11):
D Jordan Fransoo, Victoria

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (4):
None
———


From Edmonton Oil Kings F Trevor Cheek (@trevorcheekAZDK): “Agreed to terms with the Avalanche. Could not be more excited! Still a lot of unfinished business to take care of this year!”

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