THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Martin Cibak (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract extension with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). He had seven goals and 19 assists in 45 games this season for the Petrochemists. . . .
F Tomas Plihal (Kootenay, 2001-03) signed a two-year contract with Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 16 goals and 20 assists in 59 games for TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) this season. . . .
D Brad Cole (Seattle, Kootenay, Saskatoon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had three goals and 11 assists in 49 games with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga) this season. . . .
D Richie Regehr (Kelowna, Portland, 1998-2004) signed a two-year contract with MoDo Örnsköldsvik (Sweden, Elitserien). He had 11 goals and 26 assists in 48 games for Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL) this season. MoDo GM (and ex-Vancouver Canucks captain) Markus Näslund: “Richie is a right-hand shot who is good on the power play. He has won championships and has been one of the best players for several seasons in the German league. We have been looking for an offensive right- handed defenseman, so it feels great that we have signed Richie.” . . .
G Kevin Nastiuk (Medicine Hat, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had a 3.30 GAA and a .891 save percentage in 14 games for Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL) this season.
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G Laurent Brossoit of the Edmonton Oil Kings draws inspiration from his father, John, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago. Jason Hills of the Edmonton Sun has that story right here.
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Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, likes to run high-tempo practices because that’s the way he wants his team to play the game. In search of ways to reach an even higher tempo, he spent some time last fall with head coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks football team.
Kris Anderson of the Portland Tribune has that story right here.
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D Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips will be joining Team Canada for the IIHF world championship. . . . Murray, who will be one of the first players chosen in June’s NHL draft, is no stranger to a Canadian jersey, having played in three under-18 tournaments. He captained two of those teams.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Kenton Miller scored twice as the Warriors stayed alive with a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final and will play host to Game 5 on Friday. . . . The loss halted Edmonton’s 22-game winning streak. The Oil Kings hadn’t lost since Feb. 22 when they were beaten 6-4 by the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Warriors rolled the dice and started Justin Paulic in goal, rather than Luke Siemens who had opened each of their previous 12 playoff games. . . . Paulic, a 16-year-old from Thompson, Man., the hometown of the great Glen Goodall, played one regular-season game, stopping 24 shots in a 7-1 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on March 17. . . Last night, Paulic turned aside 28  shots. He lost his shutout when F Tyler Maxwell scored at 8:28 of the second. . . . Moose Jaw F Brayden Point, a first-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, scored his seventh goal of these playoffs as he opened the scoring on a PP at 5:59 of the first period. . . . The Warriors went on to a 4-0 lead, with F Cam Braes scoring his second goal of the playoffs and Miller adding Nos. 6 and 7. . . . Miller’s first goal came at 19:58 of the first. . . . F James Henry had an empty-netter and two assists, while F Cody Beach and F Tanner Eberle also had two helpers each. . . . The Warriors were without D Kendall McFaull, their captain, who was taken to hospital on Wednesday at 4 a.m., and had his appendix removed later in the day. . . . D Brayden Doucette took McFaull’s spot on the back end. The Warriors also added F Torrin White and F Carter Hansen, choosing to scratch F Andrew Johnson and F Justin Kirsch. . . .

In Portland, F Ty Rattie scored a PP goal at 11:21 of the third period and the Portland Winterhawks went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Winterhawks lead the best-of-seven Western Conference final 3-0 and is able to wrap it up tonight at home in the Rose Garden. . . . Rattie has 17 playoff goals this spring, and has tied the franchise record for career playoff goals with 28. He shares that record with Randy Heath. . . . At one point, the Winterhawks held a 16-2 edge in third-period shots. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth made 38 saves, none bigger than when he got a blocker on a shorthanded breakaway attempt by F Brendan Shinnimin late in the third period. . . . Portland F Brad Ross iced it with an empty-netter. . . . F Adam Hughesman opened the scoring on a Tri-City PP just 1:16 into the first period. At that point, the Americans were 6-15 on the PP in the series. . . . Hughesman banged in a rebound after a shot by F Patrick Holland hit a post. . . . Shinnimin drew an assist on that goal to run his point streak to 37 games. . . . The Winterhawks tied the game at 10:40 of the second when F Marcel Noebels stole the puck off Holland and beat G Ty Rimmer for his fourth goal. . . . Rimmer made 44 stops. . . . The Americans received the game’s first five PP opportunities and six of the first seven but only could come up with one goal. . . . The Winterhawks then received five straight power plays, scoring once. . . . Tri-City now has lost three straight games for the first time this season. . . . This also was the first time in these playoffs that the Americans have lost in regulation time. They are 0-5 in OT.


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The sporting fraternity in Saskatchewan is mourning the loss of Bill Johnston, a long-time organizer who passed away in Moose Jaw on Thursday after a short illness. He was 76.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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The Memorial Cup hasn’t been decided in an American city since 1998, when the Portland Winterhawks won the championship in Spokane.
There are some people within WHL circles who wonder when one of the WHL’s five U.S. teams will get another chance to play host to the championship tournament.
Well, you fans in Everett, Kent, Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, Portland, Seattle and Spokane shouldn’t hold your breath.
“We’ll never see a cup down here again,” someone who is with a U.S. team told me. “Once again, too lazy to make it work across the border.
“To me, it’s just arrogance on the Canadian side, telling us we don’t deserve the sport. . . .”
The WHL next will play host to the Memorial Cup tournament in 2013 when it will be in Saskatoon. Next up will be 2016 and there already is speculation that the Vancouver Giants are interested in putting in a bid to play host to that one.
Of course, the hangup with taking the tournament south seems to be sponsorships.
“The league marketing deals just frost all of us here,” the person said. “Baseball, NHL and the NBA can cross the border on deals . . . but us? And don’t even get me started on the TV deals with Shaw and ROOT.”
The CHL may have taken at least one step towards holding a Memorial Cup in the U.S. this week when it signed a deal with Aaron’s, Inc., a home furniture and electronics operation that is based in Atlanta and has more than 1,940 outlets in 48 states and Canada.
Aaron’s has huge involvement with NASCAR — if you are watching today’s Daytona 500, you will see its logo on Mark Martin’s No. 55 Toyota. Aaron’s is signed as a sponsor with Michael Waltrip Racing through the 2013 Sprint Cup season.
Aaron’s also was involved in sponsoring the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers, before the franchise flew north to Winnipeg.
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The Concussion Report is working hard to keep track of the number of concussions in the NHL this season. On Friday, TCR reported: “As of today there is a 40 per cent increase in concussions versus last (season). The total number of 98 is the exact total of the entire regular season last (season).” . . .
TCR’s report also includes this:
“Speaking of (upper-body injuries) and undisclosed, I know I am beating a dead horse, but why the need to hide the injury? Why misinform the public and even the players about injuries that are inherent to hockey? Haven’t we learned from Chris Pronger, Colby Armstrong, even Sidney Crosby? I am not good enough to write an open letter or even where to send it, but Mr. Bettman there are some very small changes you can make before you should eliminate all head contact and take on the fighting issue in hockey: Do not allow your teams to hide the concussion/brain injury. You want to know what the real problem is, (then) stop placing your head in the sand, start there!”
If there is a 40 per cent increase in the number of concussions in the NHL this season over last, should we assume that the WHL, which also is hiding its injuries in the vast majority of instances, will report the same kind of increase?
The WHL’s latest weekly injury report lists 44 players as being out with upper-body injuries.
TCR’s report is right here.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who are to play the Oil Kings in Edmonton today, were living the life on Saturday.
Here’s an afternoon tweet from Pat Siedlecki, the radio voice of the Hurricanes:
“Well, still waiting to leave Lethbridge for Edmonton. The @WHLHurricanes bus broke down before it got to the rink to load up.” . . .
Later, F Nick Buonassisi tweeted:
“Our bus departs from lethbridge to edm 6 hours later then scheduled then finally get a bus that works and the tranny hits the ground #classic”
And then it was G Liam Liston’s turn:
“We had our bus replaced by one with a vhs player, no AC, smaller than normal number of seats, an awful transmission and a door that won’t close.”
One more from Buonassisi:
“Broken bus update: the door has just flew off. whats next? Place your bets.”
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F Brett Connolly played 15:21 on Saturday as his Tampa Bay Lightning lost 8-1 to the Penguins in Pittsburgh. He played 12:25 at even-strength and 2:56 on the power play. . . . Connolly had four shots on goal, took one minor penalty and was minus-1. . . . The Lightning has until Monday, the NHL’s trade deadline, to make a decision on whether to assign Connolly to the WHL’s Tri-City Americans.
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In the BCHL, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 36 games by beating the Centennials 2-1 in OT in Merritt. . . . The Vees got the winner from F Travis St. Denis with 45 seconds left in the second OT period, which is played 3-on-3. . . . The Vees, who have seven regular-season games remaining, are at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings this afternoon.
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It isn’t the WHL but Nanaimo appears about to land another hockey team. Already the home to the BCHL’s Clippers, the Vancouver Island city is about to become home to a junior B team that will play out of the Nanaimo Ice Centre. Phil And Brenda Levesque are negotiating for ice with the city. The team will play in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
Tamara Cunningham of the Nanaimo Daily News has that story right here.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
(With a tip of the hat to @WHLFacts for some of the info that follows. If you are on Twitter and aren’t following, you should be.)
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-2. . . . Warriors D Travis Brown tied the game 2-2 at 18:32 of the second and F James Henry, with his 13th, both the tie just 25 seconds later. . . . F Kenton Miller scored twice for Moose Jaw, giving him 30 this season. He has 11 goals in February; last season he finished with 10 goals in 55 games with the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Henry added two assists to his goal. He has 21 points, including seven goals, in 20 games with Moose Jaw since coming over from the Vancouver Giants at the trade deadline. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 43 shots, 26 more than Moose Jaw’s Luke Siemens. . . . The Warriors had lost three straight. . . . Moose Jaw is four points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. Each team has 10 games remaining. . . .

In Prince Albert, F Sam Reinhart’s 26th goal of the game, 19 seconds into OT, gave the Kootenay Ice a 5-4 victory over the Raiders. . . . Prince Albert took a 3-1 lead into the second period but couldn’t hold it. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart tied the game 4-4 when he scored his 26th goal on a penalty shot at 14:46 of the third. He finished with two goals and two assists. He drew the lone assist on his younger brother’s winner. . . . F Mark McNeill, who had a goal and two assists, had given the Raiders the lead with his 28th goal at 8:21 of the third. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 25 shots in setting the franchise record for career victories (83). The previous record was held by Taylor Dakers (2003-06). . . . The Ice is fourth in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. . . .

In Saskatoon, D Alex Petrovic scored the only goal of the shootout as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Blades, 4-3. . . . With the Blades shooting first, Petrovic was the circus’s final shooter. . . . Red Deer F John Persson forced OT with his 21st goal at 18:45 of the third. . . . Persson finished with two goals and an assist. . . . F Jake Trask gave the Blades a 3-2 lead with his 18th goal, via the PP, at 2:45 of the third. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov stopped 44 shots, 12 more than Red Deer’s Deven Dubyk. . . . The Blades are 2-5-1 in their last eight. . . . This was the Blades’ last home game until March 13 as their home rink will be home to the Tim Hortons Brier — the Canadian men’s curling championship — from March 3-11. . . . The Blades are sixth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Calgary. . . . The Rebels are 10 points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left. . . .

In Brandon, F Mark Stone scored the only goal of the circus as the Wheat Kings beat the Regina Pats, 2-1. . . . Brandon’s victory officially eliminated the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes from the playoff race. . . . The Broncos are out for just the third time in 26 seasons. . . . This was the third straight game in which Brandon went to OT. . . . Brandon has won nine of 11. . . . Stone, who had his 14-game point streak come to an end, was the first shooter of the circus. . . . F Jack Rodewald scored his sixth goal for Regina, at 1:51 of the first. . . . F Paul Ciarelli got the equalizer at 15:40 of the first. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 23 shots, seven fewer than Regina’s Matt Hewitt. . . . The Wheat Kings had gone two years without a shootout victory when they beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 on Friday. . . . Brandon holds down eighth place in the Eastern Conference but is just one point behind Regina and four points out of fourth. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 29 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Everett Silvertips, 3-0. . . . Pickard has five shutouts this season and 12 in his career. . . . Pickard and Ty Rimmer of the Tri-City Americans are the WHL leaders, each with five. . . . WHLFacts points out that Seattle’s last 50 victories have been credited to Pickard. That’s right. It’s been more than two years since a goaltender other than Pickard has won a game for the Thunderbirds. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 42 shots. . . . Seattle F Dillon Wagner got his fifth goal, at 14:14 of the first, and it stood up as the winner. . . . D Brad Deagle drew two assists. . . . Seattle also got goals from F Connor Honey, his sixth, and F Jacob Doty, his second. . . . Everett has lost three in a row and now is three points behind Seattle, which holds down the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Hunter Shinkaruk and F Curtis Valk scored in the circus to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Shinkaruk was returning after missing six games with an undisclosed injury. . . . Shinkaruk drew two assists. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 53rd goal. . . . F Brett Bulmer scored twice for Kelowna, giving him 28 goals. . . . Bulmer, who also had an assist, has 50 points in 44 games. Last season, he finished with 49 in 57. . . . Kelowna took a 3-2 lead into the second period. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox tied it with his 10th goal at 8:00 of the second. . . . The Tigers were missing F Cole Grbavac, their captain, with an undisclosed injury, while G Tyler Bunz also wasn’t dressed. . . . Medicine Hat G Kenny Cameron stopped 35 shots. Dawson MacAuley of the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers backed him up. . . . After the game, Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News tweeted: “#Medhat Tigers lose import D Patrik Parkkonen, who was hit from behind by Kel. #Rockets LW Jessey Astles in second per. No pen. call.” . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Kootenay. . . .

In Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants erased a 3-1 first-period deficit and beat the Blazers, 5-3. . . . A victory in regulation would have allowed the Blazers to clinch the B.C. Division’s regular-season pennant. . . . The Giants had lost their last three, including a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the visiting Blazers on Friday. . . . F Marek Tvrdon broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 19:23 of the third period, just 20 seconds after Kamloops D Austin Madaisky was penalized for hooking Giants F Brendan Gallagher. . . . F Riley Kieser had three assists for Vancouver. . . . F Brendan Ranford had two goals, giving him 36, and an assist for Kamloops. He ran his point streak to 13 games. . . . F Chase Schaber had a goal and two assists for Kamloops. . . . The Blazers lead the overall standings, by a point over the Tri-City Americans and Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Giants now are five points ahead of the fifth-place Spokane Chiefs, who hold two games in hand. . . .
Gallagher had two goals, the second one into an empty net. The second one gave him 274 career points, one more than the franchise record that had been held by Adam Courchaine (2001-05). . . . Gallagher also holds the franchise record for career goals. . . . He has 141 assists and needs 14 to equal D Jon Blum’s franchise assist record. . . . “It’s pretty special to me,” Gallagher said of the franchise record for career points. “A lot of people have helped me. It’s not invidividual even though my name is on it. Starting with (head coach) Don (Hay). When you’re 16 and you come here you don’t really understand the game. He’s a really good teacher and you learn every time you come to the rink. Every player I’ve played with . . . I’ve had a lot of good veteran players when I was young to learn from and see how they act. I was put in a really good situation and I’m thankful for that.” . . .

In Prince George, the Victoria Royals completed a weekend doubleheader sweep with a 5-3 victory over the Cougars. . . . The Royals had won 4-2 on Friday night. . . . In this one, F Robin Soudek, who had two goals, broke a 1-1 tie at 5:40 of the second period. . . . The Royals went on to take a 4-1 on goals by F Brandon Magee, at 17:47 of the second, and Soudek, at 3:16 of the third. . . . The Cougars got third-period goals from F Daulton Siwak, shorthanded, and F Chase Witala, at 8:30, but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Royals G Jared Rathjen, a Prince George native, stopped 30 shots for his second career victory. He had earned his first one on Friday. . . . Cougars G Drew Owsley made 37 saves. . . . Each team was 0-6 on the PP. . . . The Royals are seventh in the Western Conference, two points ahead of Seattle. . . . The Cougars are four points out of eighth with 11 games left. . . .

In Spokane, F Brendan Shinnimin continued his amazing run with four points as the Tri-City Americans beat the Chiefs, 7-3. . . . Shinnimin, who was coming off back-to-back three-goal games, had a goal and three assists in this one. He has 14 points in his last three games. So let’s just announce the WHL and CHL player of the week right now. . . . He ran his goal-scoring streak to nine games. . . . Shinnimin now has 110 points and leads the WHL scoring derby by five points over F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Tri-City F Patrick Holland had two goals and two assists, giving him 92 points. He has three straight four-point games. Holland is on a nine-game point streak — he has 22 points, 19 of them assists, in that stretch. . . . F Adam Hughesman, the third member of that line, had a goal and an assist, giving him 96 points. . . . Holland broke a 2-2 tie at 11:11 of the second. . . . Americans F Justin Feser, with his second of the game and 31st of the season, made it 4-2 at 14:32. . . . Spokane F Blake Gal got his guys to within one at 9:46 of the third, but the Americans put it away with the last three goals. . . . F Dominik Uher had a goal and two assists for Spokane. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 36 shots in earning his 25th victory. . . . The Americans have won five in a row. . . . The Chiefs have lost six of seven. . . . The Americans moved back into a tie with Portland atop the U.S. Division.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Tanner Muth, Kootenay.
F Tyrell Goulbourne, Kelowna.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Jagger Dirk, Kootenay.
D Jared Hauf, Seattle.
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The incomparable Roy MacGregor takes a look at Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin and what may be ailing him, and it’s right here.


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Garry Davidson, the new general manager of the Everett Silvertips.
(Everett Silvertips photo)

ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Right off the WHL’s Facebook page comes this question from Doug Schneider: “What really happened with the Chilliwack franchise?”
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Darryl Boyle (Brandon, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He has six goals and 14 assists in 44 games for the Panther this season.
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There has been an interesting development in the WHL’s decision not to admit to players being sidelined with concussions or post-concussion syndrome.
The Kelowna Rockets are admitting that F Colton Sissons, their captain, has a concussion. In discussing his club’s injuries prior to last night’s game against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier:
“Potentially, we might have Cody Chikie back, but Colton is out with a concussion. The frustrating part of it is the league is fully aware of Colton having a concussion and yet the player in Kamloops is still playing, so there’s no suspension.
“They talk about head shots and wanting to clean it up, but there we go with another situation.”
Apparently, Sissons was injured in the third period of a 3-2 loss to the visiting Blazers on Saturday.
What is interesting about this is that Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ owner, president and governor, is the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors. He will have played a role in the WHL’s decision prior to this season to clam up about concussions.
Which makes one wonder why the Rockets now are admitting that their captain is out with a concussion?
Sissons didn’t play Tuesday in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. Potenteau reports that Sissons will be out for “one month-plus.”
Sissons was one of seven regulars out of the lineup on Tuesday. He joined D Mitchell Chapman (undisclosed), Filip Vasko (knee), Chikie (undisclosed), F Spencer Main (concussion), F Jessey Astles (undisclosed) and Brett Lyon (WHL suspension). Astles also is believed to have a concussion. Chikie played last night against Edmonton.
Potenteau reported that “according to Kelowna, it leads the league in lost man-games, having hit 300 on Tuesday night.”
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As expected, the Everett Silvertips introduced Garry Davidson as the second general manager in the franchise’s history on Wednesday.
Davidson, 60, had been the Portland Winterhawks’ director of player personnel, having signed on there before the 2008-09 season following the purchase of the franchise by Bill Gallacher. Davidson and Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Winterhawks, are products of Brandon University’s now-defunct hockey program.
It will be interesting to watch Davidson, who is an astute judge of young talent, operate as a general manager in WHL circles. After all, WHL folks don’t think very highly of him, thanks to his many seasons in the BCHL where he proved to be a consistent recruiter of talent against the WHL. In fact, there are a number of WHL people who shake their heads and wonder how it is that he is even working in their league.
Davidson’s philosophy? Here’s what he told a news conference in Everett yesterday: “We're going to put together a team with lots of speed and lots of skill and one that plays an uptempo game. I think it's fan appealing and I think it's a way you can win hockey games.”
A three-time, BCHL coach of the year, Davidson was the owner, GM and head coach of the Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He also worked as GM/head coach in Nanaimo, Penticton, Trail and Victoria.
Having known Davidson since the early 1970s when the likes of him and Andy Murray (the hockey coach, not the tennis player) were hockey/football players at Brandon University, I would recommend that other WHL general managers not under-estimate him. If they do, he will pick their bones clean.
The Silvertips didn’t announce the length of Davidson’s contract, only that it is “multi-year.” I would bet on five years, which seems to be the going thing these days.
The connection between the Silvertips and Davidson is Gary Gelinas, the franchise’s president and governor. They both were owners in the BCHL at the same time.
Davidson takes over from Doug Soetaert, who was in the last season of his contract when he was fired on Feb. 2. It is interesting that Gelinas told a news conference in Everett on Wednesday that he had targeted Davidson before having fired Soetaert.
Gelinas also implied that head coach Mark Ferner, who is in his first season with the Silvertips, won’t be going anywhere. Gelinas said one of the requirements in hiring Davidson was that he had to accept Ferner as the head coach.
The Garry Davidson era started yesterday but on the ice it gets underway on Friday when the Silvertips play host to — you guessed it! — the Winterhawks.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Dominic Turgeon, the son of former NHLer Pierre Turgeon.
Dominic was a third-round selection, 64th overall, in the 2011 bantam draft.
This season, Turgeon, who is said to be a superb skater, is with the U16 AAA Colorado Thunderbirds, who play in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League. In 35 games, he has put up 37 points, including 23 goals.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that the Regina Pats have had two bantam draft picks opt to go the NCAA route, both of them with Ivy League schools. . . . D Alec McCrea, a 10th-round pick in the 2010 draft, is playing with the NAHL’s Janesville Jets and has committed to Harvard. . . . D Nolan De Jong, who was taken in the seventh round in 2010, is with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. He has committed to Cornell.
As well, Harder reports, two of the Pats’ list players, both defencemen, also are planning on going to school.
Harder writes that those two skaters are “Brady Skjei, 17, a highly touted NHL prospect who’s planning to attend the University of Minnesota, and Rhett Holland, an 18-year-old with the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers who has a scholarship offer from Michigan State.”
However, you can expect the Pats to be active in continuing to recruit those four players.
“Despite those commitments, it doesn’t necessarily mean the door to Regina is closed,” Harder writes. “The controversial exodus of NCAA players to the major-junior ranks has been well publicized, as is the NCAA’s desire to prevent CHL teams from raiding its talent.
“Right or wrong, the Pats would be foolish to not take advantage of the current system and step up their efforts to lure high-end American prospects, especially now that the team has more to offer as it builds momentum toward establishing a winning culture under the guidance of Lang and head coach Pat Conacher.
“In the past, those kind of players would elude Regina and fall in the laps of teams like the Vancouver Giants, Calgary Hitmen and Portland Winterhawks.
“Maybe now it’s the Pats’ turn.”
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It has been quite a couple of months for the Maschmeyer family of Bruderheim, Alta. . . . Bronson, 20, is a defenceman with the Kamloops Blazers. He is having the best season of his career as the team enjoys success the franchise hasn’t seen in more than 10 years. . . . Emerance, a 17-year-old goaltender with the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats, was the starter as Canada’s U-18 women’s team won the 2012 world championship in the Czech Republic early in January. . . . And now there is word that Brock, a 19-year-old defenceman with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons, has committed to the Northern Michigan U Wildcats. This season, he has 42 points in 57 games with the Oil Barons. . . . Walt Kyle, who once did a turn as head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds, is the head coach at NMU.
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Catherine Litt of the Kamloops Daily News continues to search for the origin of the Go Vees Go cap that apparently was worn by waitresses at Warwick’s Commodore Café in Penticton back in the day.
Check right here for the latest on this story.
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Scott McDonald, the head coach of the women’s hockey team at the Rochester Institute of Technology, has pleaded not guilty to a third-degree assault charge after an incident in a rec hockey league game.
There is more on this situation right here.
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The Seattle Times is reporting that a news conference will be held in that city today to outline details of a potential new arena that could be home to NBA and NHL teams. It’s worth nothing that there isn’t a lot of NHL mention here, but you have to think it would be a natural. Anyway, that story is right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
Firstly, I don’t know what’s going on, but there were nine games played and in four of them a grand total of 11 minor penalties were called. . . . Red Deer at Prince George: Two referees handed out four minors. . . . Brandon at Lethbridge: Two referees called three minors. . . . Regina at Medicine Hat: One referee called three minors. . . . Calgary at Victoria: Two referees found only one infraction worthy of a minor penalty. . . . On Tuesday night, I watched two referees “let the boys play” as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-2. Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal did a marvellous job of biting his tongue after his club didn’t get even one power-play opportunity. . . . Last night, the Oil Kings were 4-for-6 with the man advantage in beating the Rockets 6-3 in Kelowna. . . .

In Kelowna, the Edmonton Oil Kings fell behind 2-0 in the first period and then roared back to beat the Rockets, 6-3. . . . F Zach Franko gave Kelowna a 2-0 lead, scoring on a penalty shot at 18:02 and on the PP at 18:38. . . . The Oil Kings then scored six straight goals, five of them in the second period and three of those on the PP. . . . Leading 2-1, the Rockets had two goals disallowed. On the second one, Kelowna F Brett Bulmer was penalized for goaltender interference. The Oil Kings scored on the PP and they were off to the races. . . . F Tyler Maxwell tied it with two, giving him 34, before F Michael St. Croix, F Rhett Rachinski and D Keegan Lowe found the range. . . . Franko completed his hat trick on the PP at 7:46 of the third. . . . Six of the game’s goals came via the PP, as Edmonton, which was 0-0 in a 3-2 loss in Kamloops on Tuesday, went 4-5 and Kelowna was 2-6. . . . Edmonton D Martin Gernat drew three assists. . . . The Oil Kings now are back within three points of the Blazers, who lead the overall standings. . . . The Oil Kings lead the Eastern Confernce standings by five points over the Moose Jaw Warriors and hold a nine-point edge over the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Central Division. . . . The Rockets, who are winless in five, complete a stretch of four games in five nights when they are home to the Calgary Hitmen on Friday and the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Kenton Miller scored three times as the Warriors erased a 2-0 deficit and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 5-2. . . . Miller, 20, has 23 goals in 44 games with Moose Jaw after opening the season with three goals in 11 games with the Calgary Hitmen. His 26 goals are a career high. He had 32 points, including 12 goals, in 71 gams with the Spokane Chiefs in 2009-10. This season, in 55 games, he has 36 points. . . . F Cam Braes broke a 2-2 tie with his 33rd goal at 16:23 of the second. . . . Miller added insurance 47 seconds later and completed the hat trick at 14:18 of the third. . . . F Jesse Paradis, a former Warriors skater, opened the scoring with his 15th goal, and fourth shorthanded score, of the season for the Blades. . . . Saskatoon took 52 of 99 penalty minutes. There were five fighting majors handed out at 17:28 of the third period. . . . Might be ch-ch-ching time! . . . The Warriors now lead the East Division by nine points over the Blades. . . .

In Prince Albert, F Taylor Vause scored his 32nd goal of the season just 18 seconds into OT as the Swift Current Broncos beat the Raiders, 4-3. . . . The Broncos snapped a five-game losing streak. . . . Prince Albert forced OT with two third-period goals — F Mike Winther got his 28th goal at 7:11 and F Jesse Knowler got his first WHL score — it was his 45th game — at 16:18. . . . F Coda Gordon had two goals for the Broncos, giving the freshman sensation 23 scores. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 41 shots. . . . The Broncos are 15 points out of a playoff spot with 14 games to play. . . . The Raiders are 23 points out with 15 to play. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Brenden Walker scored the game’s first three goals and the Brandon Wheat Kings went on to a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Walker, who had three assists in Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over the host Kootenay Ice, scored at 8:07 of the first and 0:21 and 11:21 of the second. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had two assists. He leads the WHL scoring race with 94 points. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 39 shots. . . . Due to injuries, Brandon was down to nine forwards and six defencemen for this one. F Jason Swyripa, who had played 136 consecutive games to begin his career, took the pregame warmup but then was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Wheat Kings now have won five of six and are eight points ahead of the ninth-place Red Deer Rebels in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Hurricanes are 18 points out of a playoff spot with 13 games left. . . .

At Medicine Hat, F Jordan Weal had a goal and an assist, leading the Regina Pats to a 3-1 victory over the Tigers. . . . Weal has 92 points, including 33 goals. He is two points off the WHL scoring lead. . . . Regina led 2-0 on goals from F Matt Marantz, his 11th, and D Martin Marincin, his eighth, midway through the second period. . . F Trevor Cox got the Tigers on the board at 14:31 of the second. . . . Weal wrapped it up with an empty-netter at 19:24 of the third. . . . Regina G Matt Hewitt stopped 31 shots. . . . The Tigers started Kenny Cameron in goal, giving Tyler Bunz a rest after 25 consecutive starts. Cameron made 25 saves. . . . Regina is seventh in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Calgary Hitmen and three ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Medicine Hat is third, four points ahead of the Kootenay Ice. . . .

In Prince George, D Cody Carlson broke a 1-1 tie at 9:50 of the third period as the Cougars beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-1. . . . Carlson has eight goals. . . . F Troy Bourke scored his 10th goal, an empty-netter at 19:39 of the third. He also assisted on Carlson’s winner. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley stopped 38 shots, 21 more than Red Deer’s Deven Dubyk. . . . With seven regulars out with injuries, the Rebels had F Scott Feser, D Kevin Pochuk and F Dexter Bricker, all recalls from midget AAA, in their lineup. . . . Feser player his eighth game of the season, Pochuk his fifth and Bricker his fourth. . . . Red Deer F Charles Inglis was pointless in his return to Prince George. The Cougars traded him to Red Deer after sending him home for being in violation of team rules. . . . The victory kept the Cougars in the playoff chase in the Western Conference. They are 10th, one point behind the Everett Silvertips and two behind the Victoria Royals, who hold down the last playoff spot. . . . The Cougars headed south right after the game. They have games in Victoria on Friday and Saturday. . . .

In Portland, G Mac Carruth won for the 35th time this season as the Winterhawks beat the Tri-City Americans, 5-3. . . . Carruth, who leads the WHL in W’s, now is tied with Brent Belecki (1997-98) for the franchise’s single-season record. . . . It also was Carruth’s 80th career win, one more than Belecki put up. Carruth now trails only Darrell May Sr., who earned 105 victories as a Portland goaltender. . . . At one point in the first period, the Winterhawks had a 15-1 edge in shots and were leading 2-0. . . . The period ended with the score tied 2-2 and the shots 25-7. . . . Portland F Marcel Noebels broke the 2-2 tie with his 14th goal at 5:06 of the second period and D Troy Rutkowski upped the lead to 4-2 at 14:28. . . . Portland F Brad Ross was credited with his 100th career goal when Tri-City D Zach Yuen scored an own goal, tipping a cross-ice Ross pass behind G Ty Rimmer. . . . Ross joins Perry Turnbull and Brendan Morrow in the Winterhawks’ 100-200-600 club. That would be 100 goals, 200 points and 600 penalty minutes. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi had a goal and two assists. He has 73 points, including 52 assists, in just 37 games. He has one more assist this season than he picked up in 66 games last season. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie drew two assists, as did D Derrick Pouliot. . . . Rattie and Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin, who scored his sixth shorthanded goal, each have 91 points, three off the scoring lead. . . . The victory lifted Portland, which has won four straight, into a tie with the Americans atop the U.S. Division standings. . . . Portland has won the last three meetings with Tri-City. . . . The Americans are 6-8-3 since having a 13-game winning streak snapped by Kamloops on Jan. 11. . . .

In Victoria, the Calgary Hitmen erased a 2-0 first-period deficit with four straight goals en route to beating the Royals, 5-3. . . . F Victor Rask pulled Calgary into a 2-2 tie at 13:40 of the first period, with his 24th goal, and F Trevor Cheek got his 20th, at 3:37 of the second, to give the visitors the lead. . . . F Danny Gayle’s 12th, at 5:17 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . The Hitmen snapped a four-game skid. . . .

In Spokane, F Jackson Houck broke a 1-1 tie at 9:35 of the third period as the Vancouver Giants got past the Chiefs, 2-1. . . . Houck has five goals. . . . F Liam Stewart scored his ninth to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead at 5:38 of the second. . . . Vancouver F Cain Franson got his 23rd at 19:02 of the second. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 32 shots. . . . The home team had a 17-5 edge in shots in the third. . . . The victory lifted the Giants into fourth place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Chiefs. Might this have been a first-round preview? . . . The Giants lost F Marek Tvrdon at 20:00 of the first period when he was hit with a match penalty for spearing. He will be hearing from the WHL office. . . . The victim was D Brendan Kichton, who was back for the second period.
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Joey Baker, Portland.
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Riley Guenther, Prince Albert.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Mark Ardelan (Brandon, Vancouver, Prince Albert, 1999-2004) signed a one-year extension with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL). He has six goals and 19 assists in 43 games for the Roosters this season.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon, F Alessio Bertaggia scored twice as the Wheat Kings beat the Swift Current Broncos, 6-3. . . . Brandon now has won three in a row as it snapped a six-game home-ice losing skid. . . . The Broncos, with 16 games remaining, now are 13 points behind Brandon, which holds down the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. Swift Current has lost four in a row. . . . Bertaggia has 211 goals. . . . Brandon F Darian Dziurzynski added a goal and two assists. . . . F Troy Vause scored his 30th goal of the season for the Broncos. . . . Swift Current G Austin Smith stopped 35 shots, including a toe save on Brandon F Kevin Sundher at 9:02 of the second period on a penalty shot. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy had one assist and was plus-4. . . . Brandon F Michael Ferland was given an interference major (the online game sheet shows that it was a minor, but it wasn’t — it was a major) and game misconduct at 14:48 of the third period for a hit on Swift Current F Christian Magnus. . . . The WHL office will look into Ferland’s penalty and a suspension is possible. . . . The Broncos have won just one of seven games with Brandon this season. . . .

In Calgary, F Kenton Miller had a goal and two assists to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Miller had scored the game-winner in each of his club’s last five victories. In this one, F James Henry got the winner, his 11th, on a PP at 14:20 of the second. . . . Miller got his 22nd at 19:36 of the third, into an empty net. . . . F Cam Braes, with his 31st, and Henry scored PP goals 43 seconds apart in the second. . . . The Hitmen led this one 2-0 just 16 seconds into the second period. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-for-7 on the PP; Calgary, which has lost four of five, was 0-for-2. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick had a goal, his 26th, and an assist for Calgary. . . . Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath played his first game after serving an eight-game suspension. . . . The Warriors lead the East Division by five points over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Hitmen, who are fifth in the Eastern Conference, fell two points back of the fourth-place Blades. . . .

In Cranbrook, G Deven Dubyk stopped 24 shots to lead the Red Deer Rebels to a 2-0 victory over the host Kootenay Ice. . . . Dubyk has two shutouts this season and four in his career. . . . Red Deer D Alex Petrovic got the winner, his eighth, on a PP at 4:15 of the first. . . . F Brooks Maxwell had the other goal, in the second period. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 19 shots. . . . The Rebels stayed within four points of the eighth-place Brandon Wheat Kings in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Ice is one point behind the fifth-place Calgary Hitmen. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Matej Stransky scored twice and set up another as the Saskatoon Blades doubled the Hurricanes, 6-3. . . . Saskatoon got three assists from each of D Dalton Thrower and F Josh Nicholls. . . . The Blades were 4-for-6 on the PP. . . . Stransky now has 31 goals this season. . . . The Hurricanes scored the game’s first two goals, leading 2-0 when D Tyler Kizuik, a former Saskatoon player scored his third goal at 10:16 of the first. . . . But the Blades got the next five goals. . . . There were campers outside the Enmax Centre but they weren’t there for the hockey game. Rather, they were there because tickets to an Elton John concert were to go on sale this morning. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Emerson Etem ran his point streak to 17 games as the Tigers downed the Prince Albert Raiders, 3-1. . . . Etem didn’t score — he now has 49 goals in 49 games — but did draw an assist on D Alex Theriau’s second goal of the season early in the second period. . . . F Cole Grbavac and F Rhyse Dieno gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead with first-period PP goals. . . . Prince Albert F Mark McNeill got his 26th at 11:22 of the second, on a PP, to get the Raiders to within two, at 3-1. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz, who turns 20 today, stopped 29 shots, nine fewer than the Raiders’ Cole Holowenko. . . .

In Kamloops, F Chase Schaber’s goal at 4:32 of OT gave the Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Schaber banged home a long rebound of a shot by D Austin Madaisky. . . . F Brett Bulmer scored two first-period goals as the Rockets took a 4-1 lead. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford tied it at 8:04 of the third on a PP. . . . Kamloops has won eight in a row at home. . . . The Blazers now lead the overall standings by three points over the Edmonton Oil Kings and are six points up on the Tri-City Americans atop the Western Conference. . . . Kamloops G Cam Lanigan came on in relief of Cole Cheveldave to start the second period and stopped all 12 shots he faced to run his record to 12-4-0. . . . The Rockets are destined for a fifth-place finish in the Western Conference as they are 12 points out of fifth and 15 points from seventh. . . . The Blazers will play in Kelowna tonight. . . .

In Prince George, F Campbell Elynuik’s fifth goal of the season, at 2:14 of OT, gave the Cougars a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . F Daulton Siwak of the Cougars forced extra time with his second goal of the game 12th of the season at 10:12 of the third period. . . . Prince George G Drew Owlsey stopped 48 shots. Earlier in the day, Owsley had tweeted that it would be nice to win one for his sister, who underwent surgery earlier in the week. . . . D Cody Carlson and F Troy Bourke each had two assists for the Cougars. . . . F Michael St. Crox had two goals and an assist for Edmonton and now is one point off the lead in the WHL scoring race. . . . F Alex Forsberg returned from injury to scored his 12th goal and set up another for the Cougars. They also got Owsley, F Caleb Belter and D Reid Jackson back, but still were without D Dan Gibb, F John Odgers, F Brock Hirsche and D Shane Pilling. . . . The Cougars are 10th in the Western Conference but now are just four points out of the last playoff spot. . . . The Eastern Conference-leading Oil Kings are in Prince George again tonight. . . .

In Spokane, D Davis Vandane drew three assists as his Chiefs edged the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-4. . . . The Chiefs scored the game’s last two goals. F Marek Kalus got his 15th goal at 5:47 of the third period and D Cole Wedman won it with his second of the season at 6:22. . . . F Branden Troock had given Seattle a 4-3 lead with his 10th goal at 4:40 of the third. . . . The Chiefs had D Tanner Mort back from injury. . . . The victory kept the Chiefs two points ahead of the fifth-place Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference. . . . The Thunderbirds are tied for the last playoff spot with the idle Victoria Royals. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Portland Winterhawks scored the game’s first three goals as they skated to a 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . F Ty Rattie, back in the lineup after missing a couple of games with an undisclosed injury, scored his 43rd goal at 8:28 of the third, via the PP, to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. . . . F Justin Feser, with his 27th, and F Brendan Shinnimin, with No. 32, got the Americans to within one. Shinnimin’s goal came with G Eric Comrie on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . F Brad Ross, with his 32nd, put it away for Portland with an empty-netter. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 30 shots for his 33rd victory, just two shy of Brent Belecki’s franchise single-season record. . . . Rattie and Brandon Wheat Kings F Mark Stone now are tied for the WHL scoring lead, with 88 points. . . . The Winterhawks lost D Joe Morrow with a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 17:30 of the second period. . . . Comrie stopped 33 shots. . . . The Winterhawks now are within one point of the U.S. Division-leading Americans. . . . After losing five in a row to Tri-City, the Winterhawks now have beaten the Americans in each of the last two meetings. . . .

In Vancouver, F Brendan Gallagher tied a franchise record as his Vancouver Giants edged the Everett Silvertips, 3-2. . . . Gallagher scored his 126th regular-season goal, tying the record held by Adam Courchaince. . . . D Neil Manning gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead at 16:37 of the first on a PP and F Cain Franson upped that to 3-1 with his 22nd at 6:08. . . . Everett F Reid Petryk scored his 11th at 19:29 of the third to make it 3-2. . . . The Giants are in Everett tonight. . . . The Silvertips are one point ahead of the Prince George Cougars and three out of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Connor Cox, Saskatoon.
D Brady Gaudet, Kamloops.
F Carson Perreaux, Prince Albert.
D Dylan Busenius, Medicine Hat.
F Blake Gal, Spokane.
D Joe Morros, Portland (major).
F Taylor Makin, Vancouver.
D Tyler Vanscourt, Vancouver (double minor).
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Colby Cave, Swift Current.
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You are free to wonder when people are going to learn that hazing simply is not an acceptable of sports. Yes, there has been another hazing incident with a hockey team, this one at a high school in Quebec.
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Ivan Pravilov was found dead in his cell at the Federal Detention Centre in Philadelphia on Friday morning. Pravilov, 49, apparently committed suicide while in custody on child-molestation charges.
Go back a few years and Pravilov was the head coach of Druzbha-78, a U-18 team based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, that toured Alberta and B.C. in December 1993. Pravilov developed the reputation as a coach who was incredibly hard on his players. That trip, and a whole lot more, is documented in a book titled Reign of Fear. If you can find a copy or hunt it up on the Internet, do it. . . . The Druzbha-78 roster included at least two future WHLers — D Andrei Lupandin and D Hennadiy (Gennady) Razin.
There is more on Pravilov and his death right here.
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Dr. Ross Outerbridge of Kamloops has been formally reprimanded by the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons, bringing to a close a story that included the filing of a lawsuit by former Blazers D Josh Morrow. He was awarded $1.5 million in that lawsuit after Outerbridge was found to have botched shoulder surgery on Morrow.
Michele Young of the Kamloops Daily News has more right here.
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Mike Vellucci, the GM and head coach of the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers, has had some memorable run-ins with the on-ice officials. If you go right here you will find video from three of them. Feel free to vote for the one that you feel is the ‘greatest ejection.’

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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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tyler Redenbach (Prince George, Swift Current, Lethbridge, 2001-05) will be loaned to Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) by Olten (Switzerland, NL B) for the European Trophy finals. Redenbach has four goals and 14 assists in 20 games for Olten this season. Red Bull have five players playing with the Austrian national team during the finals, so the club needs some reinforcements. The European Trophy is a tournament featuring 24 teams from six European countries. It started in August with group play and the top eight advanced to the finals, which run Dec. 16-18 in Salzburg and Vienna. . . .
F Justin Mapletoft (Red Deer, 1996-2001) signed a tryout contract with Basel (Switzerland, NL B). He had six assists in 14 games with Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) and one goal and two assists in two games with Sierre (Switzerland, NL B) earlier this season. No contract terms were released by Basel.
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David Branch, the president of the Canadian Hockey League and the commissioner of the OHL, is major junior hockey’s visionary.
It is a role that once was filled by Ed Chynoweth, when he was the head of the CHL and running the WHL. Chynoweth was terrific at looking into the future and choosing the direction in which his league should travel.
Now it is Branch who is showing a knack for prescience.
It is Branch who, as the head of the OHL, first began cracking down on headshots and using the lengthy suspension as a deterrent.
Now, he says, the day is coming when hockey will move to ban fighting.
In a piece written by Michael Traikos of the National Post, Branch talks of ejecting players who fight.
“I think, practically, that’s really the only rule you could have,” Branch told Traikos. “And then you may choose going forward to increase the sanctions if you become a habitual fighter. There’s such a changing attitude. If you had brought that up 20 years ago, (team owners and general managers) would have shook their heads. Now, there’s more and more people saying, ‘How can we get there?’ And it’s coming.”
Traikos has presented an intriguing column, and it’s right here.
Branch, among other things, says hockey doesn’t need fighting to sell tickets.
He also points out:
“You look at the Memorial Cup; there’s no fights. You look at the world junior championships; you don’t have any fighting there. And I really believe attitudes have been changing and continue to change and there’s a steady, natural evolution away from it. The time will come where it will be deemed to be totally unacceptable and that will reduce it further.”
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Let us not forget that almost two years have passed since Don Sanderson, a player with the senior Whitby, Ont., Dunlops, died after falling to the ice and hitting his helmetless head on the ice during a fight.
Sanderson was injured on Dec. 14, 2008, and was in a coma before dieing in a Hamilton hospital on Jan. 2, 2009.
At the time, David Branch was quoted by CBC as saying:
"All of us that are in positions to exercise some influence have an obligation to challenge as to what we can do to hopefully not see something like this occur again.”
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If you have ever wondered how fighting came to be a part of hockey, well, check out this piece right here by Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times.
Perhaps the most relevant paragraph in that piece is this quote from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News:
“You can no more ban fighting in hockey than in any other sport. But you can punish it more appropriately, starting with a game misconduct and ejection for any fight, and a sliding scale of fines/suspensions for repeat offenders.”
Proteau is the author of the newly published book Fighting the Good Fight: Why On-Ice Violence Is Killing Hockey.
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F Eric Walker of the Vancouver Giants has had charges he was facing dismissed in Marquette County District Court in Michigan.
Walker, then a student-athlete at Northern Michigan University, and six other hockey players were charged in conjunction with some stolen bicycles on campus.
The case was heard on Tuesday, with four of the players pleading no contest.
Charges against Walker, 18, who left school and joined the Giantgs before the case reached court, F Dylan Walchuk, a 19-year-old from McBride, B.C., and F Ryan Aynsley, 21, of Kelowna were dismissed.
According to The North Wind, the NMU campus newspaper, “Walchuk and Aynsley were originally charged with receiving and concealing property under $200. Walker was originally charged with receiving and concealing property valued at more than $200 but less than $1,000.”
The other four players pleaded no contest and are to be sentenced on Tuesday.
The North Wind has more right here.
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Former Portland Winterhawks player and coach Brent Peterson has been fighting Parkinson’s Disease and underwent deep brain stimulation earlier in the week. KATU-TV has the story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The OHL’s Saginaw Spirit has fired GM/head coach Todd Watson and brought in Greg Gilbert as head coach. At the time of the change, the Spirit was 11-17-0 and six points out of the playoffs, despite a roster that includes seven NHL draft selections. . . . Jim Paliafito, the Spirit’s assistant GM and director of scouting, takes over as GM. . . . Gilbert spent three seasons (2003-06) as head coach of the OHL’s Mississauga IceDogs. Most recently, the was fired by the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms during the 2010-11 season. . . . Watson signed on as head coach for 2007-08 and was 154-115-33, plus 12-18 in the playoffs.
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Head on over to Small Thoughts at Large (link on the right) for a look at the number of WHL players who could miss regular-season games between now and early January. As usual, Alan Caldwell has done a bang-up job of keeping track of the Christmas absentees.
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In Moose Jaw, F Kenton Miller scored twice to help the Warriors to a 4-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Miller has 10 goals this season. . . . The Rockets, who trailed 3-0 in the second period, were burned for four PP goals as the Warriors went 4-for-7. . . . The Rockets are 0-1-1 on their East Division swing. . . .

In Swift Current, F Tim Bozon scored two goals and added two assists to help the Kamloops Blazers open their East Division trek with a 5-4 victory over the Broncos. . . . Bozon, from Switzerland, is in his freshman season. He has 28 points, including 13 goals, in 30 games. . . . F J.C. Lipon, who is from Regina, had two goals, giving him 12, and an assist for Kamloops. He has 12 goals and 18 assists in 30 games. Last season, he finished with three and 18 in 65 games. . . . Swift Current F Adam Lowry scored the Teddy Bear goal and added three assists. . . . F Taylor Vause scored twice for the Broncos, giving him 20. . . . Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave stopped 32 shots and preserved the victory with a blocker save on Lowry in the game’s dying moments. . . . Kamloops won its eighth straight game, something it hadn’t done since 2006-07. . . . The Broncos had their three-game winning streak end. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Blades erased a 2-0 second-period deficit and beat the Regina Pats, 4-2. . . . F Michael Burns pulled the Blades even at 4:07 of the third period — he has 13 goals; he score 15 all of last season — and F Matej Stransky broke the tie at 18:08. He has 15 goals. . . . Saskatoon G Andrej Makarov stopped 40 shots. . . .

In Edmonton, the Oil Kings ran their winning streak to nine games as they dropped the Prince Albert Raiders, 5-3. . . . Edmonton got four assists from F Dylan Wruck, while F T.J. Foster had two goals. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 34 shots. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Maxwell had a goal and an assist. In eight games since being acquired from the Everett Silvertips, Maxwell, 20, has 15 points and is plus-14. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the defending-champion Kootenay Ice ended a four-game losing skid with a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. . . . F Drew Czerwonka broke a 2-2 tie at 15:16 of the third period. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 31 shots, one fewer than Medicine Hat’s Kenny Cameron. . . . Tigers F Emerson Etem had the Teddy Bear goal, his 29th score this season. . . . Ice D John Neibrandt scored his first goal of the season. It came in his 32nd game. Last season, his first in the WHL, he had one goal in 65 games. . . .

In Everett, the Tri-City Americans scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Silvertips, 5-1. . . . Tri-City F Patrick Holland enjoyed his second career three-goal game. He has 10 goals this season. . . . The Silvertips have lost nine in a row, the longest losing streak in franchise history. . . . F Adam Hughesman had a goal, his 22nd, and an assist for the Americans, who got 21 saves from G Eric Comrie. . . . Hughesman, with 286 career points, moved past F Dylan Gyori and into fifth place on the Americans’ career list. . . . Everett F Cody Fowlie took a checking-from-behind majorat 17:14 of the third period. . . . The Ameicans have won four in a row on the road and five straight overall. . . . The Americans are at home to the Portland Winterhawks tonight. . . .

In Vancouver, F Jaimen Yakubowski broke a 1-1 tie on a second-period penalty shot and the Lethbridge Hurricanes went on to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Yakubowski scored on the penalty shot at 2:29 of the second, then added his sixth goal of the season at 4:38. . . . Lethbridge went 1-2 on a brief trip into the B.C. Division. . . . The Hurricanes hadn’t beaten Vancouver in seven years, a span of 12 games. . . .

In Spokane, D Cody Carlson’s shootout goal gave the Prince George Cougars a 4-3 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The shootout went four rounds, with Carlson the last shooter. His goal won it, 2-1. . . . The Chiefs scored the game’s first three goals and took that lead into the third period. . . . The Cougars tied it on Carlson’s PP goal at 16:12. . . . D Jason Fram got the Teddy Bear goal, his second score this season. . . . Cougars F Campbell Elynuik drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for boarding major Friday night in 1-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Colin Jacobs, the sixth shooter, scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Victoria Royals, 4-3. . . . Seattle had scored the first three goals of the game, with the Royals getting the last three, all on third period PPs. D Hayden Rintoul tied it at 6:18. . . . The three goals came in a span of 2:19. . . . Seattle F Tyler Alos and Jacobs each scored their first goals of the season. Jacobs was playing only his second game after returning from an undisclosed injury. . . . Victoria F Taylor Crunk was ejected with a cross-checking major at 8:59 of the second period. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 35 shots, two more than Victoria’s Keith Hamilton.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Logan McVeigh, Kamloops.
F Cody Fowlie, Everett (major).
F Tyler Alos, Seattle.
F Carter Proft, Spokane.
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For today’s good read, we turn to a piece penned by Peter King of Sports Illustrated, but involved a number of SI staff members.
If you have ever wondered what life after football is really like, check this out right here.
It’s about the 1986 Cincinnati Bengals and the condition the players are in today.