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| Mr. Lazuli Bunting stopped by and said hello. Also said he was on his way to London for the Memorial Cup. I just hope he knows which London. |
F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract with Bern (Switzerland, NL A). This season with Skellefteå (Sweden, SEL), he had 33 points, including 10 goals, in 53 games. . . .
F Bohdan Višňák (Saskatoon, 2006-07) has signed a one-year contract with Nice (France, Division 1). This season with Montpellier (France, Division 1), he had 11 points, four of them goals, in 16 games.
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1. So what happened to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon? According to Jack Todd, in the Montreal Gazette, it was a combination of speed and sympathy. His piece is right here.
2. Remember J.P. Arencibia? He was a catcher with the Toronto Blue Jays, until last season ended. Arencibia says he no longer is with the Blue Jays because of unfavourable media coverage last season. Never mind that he couldn’t hit and struggled on defence. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star has more right here.
3. A Saturday afternoon tweet from Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail: “A silent prayer for the all the sportswriters who will have to cover the Belmont Stakes, having never watched a horse race in their lives.” . . . That comes after California Chrome won the Preakness Stakes, becoming the third horse in the last 10 years to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown.
4. If you knew that Big Brown (2008) and I’ll Have Another (2012) were the other two, you know your thoroughbreds.
5. In watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and the first two games of the Memorial Cup tournament, it has become rather apparent that the unpenalized cross-check has returned to the game of hockey.
6. Does the performance by F Milan Lucic in these playoffs, from the chest-thumping to the handshake line the other night, say more about him or a lack of leadership on the Boston Bruins’ roster? Shouldn’t one of the more veteran players have taken him aside earlier and suggested he refocus his energies on what he does best, which is forecheck and cause a ruckus in the offensive zone? Or could it be that Lucic sees himself as the next Brad Marchand?
7. Will Lucic spend the off-season getting ready for the welcome he is going to receive in enemy arenas next season?
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F Ethen Frank has committed to attending Western Michigan U and playing for the Broncos. Frank, who played this season with his hometown U-16 Omaha AAA Lancers, was selected by the Victoria Royals in the fourth round of the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft.
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At the RBC Cup in Vernon, B.C., the host Vipers of the BCHL lost a semifinal game, 6-3, to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers, whose pregame meal, again, was paid for by F Jarret Stoll of the Los Angeles Kings. Have to think Stoll is buying again before today’s final. . . . The Terriers scored two empty-net goals to put away that victory. . . . In the other semifinal, the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians got past the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, 5-3, with an empty-netter. . . . Today’s final is to begin at 4:30 p.m. Pacific (7:30 Eastern), and it’s scheduled to be televised by TSN.---
The junior B Pacific Junior Hockey League has done some juggling of its conferences, what with the North Delta Devils moving to Langley and becoming the Langley Knights. They will play out of the George Preston Recreation Centre.
Thus, the Knights have moved to the Harold Brittain Conference, with the Port Moody Panthers shifting to the Tom Shaw Conference.
Here is the new alignment:
TOM SHAW CONFERENCE
Delta Ice Hawks
Grandview Steelers
North Vancouver Wolf Pack
Port Moody Panthers
Richmond Sockeyes
HAROLD BRITTAIN CONFERENCE
Abbotsford Pilots
Aldergrove Kodiaks
Langley Knights
Mission City Outlaws
Ridge Meadows Flames
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MEMORIAL CUP
(at London, Ont., all times Eastern)
(all games televised by Sportsnet)
Friday: Val-d’Or 1, London 0 (8,863)
Saturday: Guelph 5, Edmonton 2 (8,842)
Sunday: London vs. Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Monday: Guelph vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Edmonton vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: London vs. Guelph, 7 p.m.
Thursday: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7 p.m.
Friday: Semifinal, 7 p.m.
Saturday: No game scheduled.
Sunday, May 25: Final, TBD.
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SATURDAY’S GAME:
The OHL-champion Guelph Storm scored the game’s last four goals and beat the WHL-champion Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-2, on Day 2 of the Memorial Cup tournament. . . . Guelph went 2-for-3 on the PP, scoring its first two goals with the man advantage. . . . Guelph got two goals from each of F Kerby Rychel and F Tyler Bertuzzi. Rychel is the son of former NHLer Warren Rychel, who now owns a piece of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and is the team’s general manager. Bertuzzi is a nephew to Detroit Red Wings F Todd Bertuzzi, who also played for the Storm. . . . Rychel scored the game’s first goal, with 4.2 seconds left in the first period, scoring on the PP after a soft roughing penalty to Edmonton D Aaron Irving. . . . The Oil Kings roared back early in the second period, getting goals 27 seconds apart from F Henrik Samuelsson (1:19) and D Ashton Sautner (1:46). . . . Guelph G Justin Nichols, who stopped 37 shots, was perfect after that. . . . Rychel tied the game at 7:40 of the second, giving Guelph goals on its first two PP shots of the game. That goal came as Jarry left his net to play the puck, a move that resulted in Edmonton F Mads Eller rifling an attempted clearance off Rychel and into the net. . . . At that point, Rychel had scored his club’s last four goals, as he scored the tying and winning goals as the Storm eliminated the North Bay Battalion in the OHL final. . . . F Brock McGinn gave Guelph its first lead at 14:52. . . . Bertuzzi added his goals at 5:46 and 15:49 of the third period. . . . Edmonton was 0-for-5 on the PP. . . . Jarry stopped 27 shots. . . . The Oil Kings have a quick turnaround as they meet the host London Knights tonight.
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From Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones (@sunterryjones): “Good gawd. Attempt from behind own net by Mads Eller to ice puck on power play hits Rychel and in off Jarry. Steve Smith flashback. It's 2-2.”
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From Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge): “Not a must-win game for the Knights and Oil Kings (today), but loser almost certainly needs to go through tiebreaker game to win Cup. Hard.”
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F Liam Stewart of the Spokane Chiefs is to leave on the weekend for Dumfries, Scotland, where he will play for Great Britain at the IIHF U20 world championship (Division I Group B). . . . The tournament runs Dec. 9-15. . . . Stewart, the son of actress/model Rachel Hunter and music legend Rod Stewart, is in his third season with the Chiefs. He has 13 points, including five goals, in 24 games. . . . Liam was born in London and has a British passport, although he was raised in the U.S., and now calls Hermosa Beach, Calif., home. . . . Stewart is expected to rejoin the Chiefs after the Christmas break, in time to face the host Kootenay Ice on Dec. 27.
So . . . there was a trade in the OHL on Tuesday that had two players moving from the Windsor Spitfires to the Guelph Storm in exchange for one player and eight draft picks. Yes, eight draft picks! . . . The Storm, which obviously is all-in on this season, acquired F Kerby Rychel, the son of Windsor GM Warren Rychel and the Spitfires’ captain, and D Nick Ebert, in the process giving up F Brody Milne, Guelph’s second-round draft picks in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, Guelph’s fourth-round pick in 2015 and a 15th-round pick in 2017, as well as Kitchener’s third-round pick in 2016 and Windsor’s fourth-round pick in 2014. . . . (Why all the second-rounders? in the OHL, teams aren’t allowed to trade first-round picks). . . . Wouldn’t you have loved to have been the fly on the wall when this monstrosity was being put together? . . . Rychel, a first-round selection by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the NHL’s 2013 draft, has 39 points, including 16 goals, in 27 games this season. . . . Ebert was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 NHL draft. 
In Calgary, the Red Deer Rebels scored the game’s first two goals but gave up the last five and dropped a 5-2 decision to the Hitmen. . . . F Rhyse Dieno, with his 11th, and F Dominik Volek, with his 13th, both via the PP, gave the Rebels a 2-0 lead by the time the game was 1:07 old. . . . The Hitmen tied it before the end of the period and F Chase Lang’s first goal, at 5:54 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . Lang also drew an assist, on F Linden Penner’s first WHL goal in his 19th game, 18 of them this season. . . . Calgary D Jaylen Rissling took an instigator minor, fighting major and game misconduct at game’s end. . . . The Hitmen held a 40-18 edge in shots. . . . Calgary (16-7-4) has won three in a row. . . . The Rebels (13-14-2) have lost two straight and are two points out of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . 
In Everett, F Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal, his 24th, and two assists as the Portland Winterhawks doubled the Silvertips, 6-3. . . . The victory allowed the Winterhawks (21-5-3) to move atop the WHL’s overall standings, a point ahead of Everett (20-5-4), which had won five straight. Portland is 5-0-1 in its last six and 7-1-2 in its last 10. . . . These were the first teams to 20 victories this season; the Kelowna Rockets won their 20th game last night. . . . Everett F Josh Winquist ran his point streak to 18 games with two goals — he’s got 23 — the first coming via the PP at 3:57 of the first. . . . Winquist has 40 points, including 16 goals, during his 18-game tear. . . . Portland then scored the next five goals to take control. . . . Portland D Keoni Texeira had two assists in his first multi-point game. . . . Winterhawks F Taylor Leier scored his 20th goal of the season. . . . Winterhawks G Brendan Burke stopped 35 shots in posting his 50th career victory. He is 50-11-6. . . . Portland now heads out on an Alberta swing that opens Friday in Edmonton against the Oil Kings. These teams met in the last two WHL finals, each winning once.
In Kelowna, the Rockets erased 2-1 and 3-2 deficits and beat the Vancouver Giants 4-3 in OT. . . . D Damon Severson got the winner at 2:36 of extra time. He’s got seven goals. . . . This was the first of eight meetings between these two teams. . . . The Rockets (20-3-2) boast the WHL’s best winning percentage (.840). Portland (.776) is next. . . . Kelowna trails the Winterhawks by three points but has four games in hand. . . . The Giants are 5-0-5 in their last 10. . . . At 12-11-7, the Giants hold down the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. They are five points ahead of the idle Prince George Cougars (11-16-4). . . . F Cain Franson scored twice for Vancouver, giving him 10. . . . Kelowna F Ryan Olsen forced OT with his ninth goal at 19:43 of the third. That goal came just 20 seconds after F Alex Baer had given Vancouver a 3-2 lead with his fourth goal. . . . Kelowna G Jordon Cooke turned aside 29 shots in running his record to 15-1-2. In his fourth season, the Leduc, Alta., native is 68-28-10. . . . F Tyson Baillie had a goal, his 12th, and two assists for the Rockets. . . . 
In Victoria, G Coleman Vollrath stopped 25 shots to help the Royals to a 3-0 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . That was the first career shutout for Vollrath, an 18-year-old from Calgary in his second season. He has a 1.88 GAA, .942 save percentage and 6-2-1 record as he backs up Patrik Polivka. . . . The Royals were 2-for-3 on the PP, with their other goal coming while shorthanded. . . . F Logan Nelson had a goal, his 12th, and an assist, while D Brett Cote had two assists. . . . The game might have featured a brother act, with F Mitch Skaspki in Victoria’s lineup, but his brother, G Mackenzie, was on the Ice’s bench in support of Wyatt Hoflin, who stopped 16 shots. . . . The Royals (19-11-1) are 8-2-0 in their last 10 and are fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Ice, which has been shut out four times this season, will catch a morning ferry and play in Vancouver tonight. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash, the Tri-City Americans scored two PP goals as they beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . The Americans scored three first-period goals, the first two on the PP. . . . F Taylor Vickerman, who is from Kennewick, scored his second goal to get the Americans started. It was his first goal since returning to the lineup three games ago. He sat out 25 games with an injury. . . . Tri-City F Phil Tot had two assists. . . . The Blades are 0-4 in their swing through the U.S. Division. The tour concludes tonight in Spokane.
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