Please take a couple of minutes out of your busy day and remember Brad McCrimmon by clicking on right here.
McCrimmon, one of the best defencemen ever to play in the WHL, was the head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and one of 44 people killed in a plane crash on Sept. 7.
A funeral mass will be held today in Farmington, Mich.
McCrimmon, the older brother of Kelly McCrimmon, the Brandon Wheat Kings’ owner and general manager, was 52.
———
The Victoria Royals (nee Chilliwack Bruins) played at home for the first time on Friday night. They lost 3-2 to the Vancouver Giants.
The big news, however, was at the gate as 5,396 fans took in the game.
Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist was there and his story is right here.
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JUST NOTES: D William Wrenn, 20, was back from the San Jose Sharks’ camp and skating with the Portland Winterhawks on Friday. . . . The WHL has suspended Regina Pats F Mikael Jung for four games for a check to the head on Brandon Wheat Kings F Jason Swyripa on Wednesday night. The host Pats won that game 4-0. . . . .Neither Jung nor Swyripa played in Friday’s rematch in Brandon, won 5-0 by the Wheat Kings. . . . Regina got D Art Bidlevskii, 20, back from the camp of the New York Islanders, but he didn’t play. Regina still has five players at NHL camps — D Brandon Davidson (Edmonton), D Ricard Blidstrand and F Campbell Elynuik (Philadelphia), F Garrett Mitchell (Washington) and F Jordan Weal (Los Angeles). . . . Davidson and Mitchell both are 20, while Mitchell also has signed with Washington. . . .
F Killian Hutt scored one goal to help the host Fort McMurray Oil Barons to a 4-2 victory over the Okotoks Oilers in an AJHL game on Friday night. Hutt, 20, hadn’t played since Dec. 10 when he suffered a serious concussion during a game in Kamloops against the Blazers. He was with the Swift Current Broncos, who released him prior to training camp as they worked to get down to three 20-year-olds. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors had D Morgan Rielly back in the lineup Friday as they beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 4-3. Rielly had his appendix taken out a couple of weeks ago. . . .
The Vancouver Giants went into Everett and beat the Silvertips 4-2 without four players who have advanced to main camps with NHL teams. F Brendan Gallagher (Montreal), D Davi Musil and D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen (Edmonton) and F Marek Tvrdon (Detroit) all advanced. . . . F Chris Bruton, who captained the 2008 Memorial Cup-winning Spokane Chiefs, has signed with the ECHL-champion Alaska Aces. Bruton, 24, played the last three seasons at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S.
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The Wall Street Journal’s Bankruptcy Beat blog reports that the Dallas Stars dropped more than US$91.5 million in the three years leading up to Thursday’s bankruptcy filing, and are projected to lose $31 million in the fast-approaching season.
There’s more right here.

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

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ben Ondrus (Swift Current, 1998-2003) signed a one-year contract with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL). He had eight goals and 14 assists in 80 games with the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) last season. . . .
F David Svagrovsky (Seattle, 2002-04) was released after his one week tryout with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga).
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It finally happened!
A WHL team ran out of players.
The Portland Winterhawks, with an unheard of 15 players away at NHL camps, have had to cancel a Friday night exhibition game against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Unfortunately for the Winterhawks, they also have had to cancel a Street Fair that was scheduled for Saturday.
“It is a shame about the Street Fair, but we have a lot of player meet and greets coming up this year,” Graham Kendrick, Portland’s director of media and public realtions, told me via email. “Our success the last couple of seasons has seen sponsorship go way up, and they all want player appearances. Our guys will be busy this season.”
The Winterhawks played in a preseason tournament in Kennewick, Wash., on the weekend and were able to dress only 16 skaters. According to a press release, they “lost one player to injury over the weekend and a second to a waiver claim from another team. . . .”
Thus it was felt that they wouldn’t have enough players to compete safely in the exhibition game against Seattle. (The Thunderbirds will play host to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday, 7 p.m., at the ShoWare Center in Kent.)
While the Street Fair has been cancelled, the news release states that “the organization decided to move many of planned Street Fair attractions and events to the opening night game on Friday, Sept. 23.”
With somewhere around 150 WHL players at NHL camps, you can bet there are other teams dangerously low on numbers.
For starters, the Kelowna Rockets, with eight players away, and the Kamloops Blazers, with seven gone, were under the 18-skater limit for a home-and-home weekend series.
The Blazers, also with C Logan McVeigh (concussion) and D Landon Cross (groin) injured, dressed just 15 skaters on Saturday in Kelowna, and lost LW Ryan Hanes to injury early on. The Rockets also had only 15 skaters in uniform for that one.
One night earlier, in Kamloops, the Rockets started with 16 skaters, but lost D Madison Bowey to a knee injury early in the first period. The Blazers went with 15 skaters for that one.
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The player the Winterhawks lost on waivers? It was F Lukas Walter, 18, who was claimed by the Tri-City Americans. He had one goal in three exhibition games with Portland.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Moose Jaw Warriors have hired Jamie Hodson as their goaltending coach. Hodson, from Lenore, Man., was a third-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL’s 1998 draft after a four-year career with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He went on to play nine seasons of pro hockey, in the AHL and ECHL.
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F Killian Hutt, 20, has joined the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Hutt had his 2010-11 season ended by a concussion in December and wasn’t able to return to the Swift Current Broncos. Then they released him prior to training camp as they trimmed the number of 20-year-olds on their roster. . . . RW Jordan DePape of the Kamloops Blazers, who is from Winnipeg, joined the NHL’s Jets for the Young Guns tournament in Penticton, B.C. However, a hip flexor problem that has bothered him since early in training camp has kept him off the ice and out of the Jets’ lineup. He didn’t play in Monday night’s 4-0 victory over the Calgary Flames. . . . D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors is back skating after having his appendix removed on Sept. 1. . . .
Kootenay Ice F Jonathon Martin, a 16-year-old from Winnipeg, drew a four-game suspension for a charging major and game misconduct in a game against the Portland Winerhawks in Kennewick, Wash., on Saturday. This would seem to indicate that the WHL has stepped it up in terms of the suspension game. . . . The Everett Silvertips have reassigned G Andy Desautels, 17, who got into one game last season. A native of White City, Sask., he is expected to play in the SJHL this season. That leaves Everett with three goaltenders on its roster — veterans Kent Simpson, 19, and Luke Siemens, 19, and Austin Lotz, 16, who is from St. Adolphe, Man. Simpson is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on a knee and won’t be completely ready for another couple of weeks. It also means the Silvertips will open the season with Siemens and Lotz as their goaltenders as they wait for Simpson to get healthy. . . . 
The Central league’s Quad City Mallards have signed F Jeremy Boyer (Seattle, Saskatoon, 2006-10), who played out his junior eligibility last season with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and Yorkton Terriers. He put up 87 points in 50 SJHL games. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders have placed F Andrew Herle, 20, on waivers. He put up 24 points in 135 games with the Raiders. . . . If Herle isn’t claimed by another team, he is expected to join the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. . . . That leaves the Raiders with four 20-year-olds on their roster — D James Bettauer, F Brandon Herrod, F Justin Maylan, F Jonathon Parker and F Charles Wells. Herrod (Phoenix) and Parker (Buffalo) are in NHL camps.
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Where is he now? Tim Preston (Seattle, Saskatoon, 1997-2002) no longer plays the game but he still is involved. Gary Ahuja of the Langley Times has his story right here.

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

Hutt looking for place to play

By late Friday afternoon, Killian Hutt said he was over the shock of having been released by the Swift Current Broncos earlier in the week.
Hutt, 20, who hasn’t played in an ice hockey game since Dec. 10, has cleared WHL waivers and is a free agent. The Broncos released him in what Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, said was a move designed to help them get down to the maximum three 20-year-olds.

KILLIAN HUTT

“That kind of came out of left field for me,” Hutt said Friday from his family’s Edmonton-area home. “I love it in Swift. It kind of felt like my second home.
“But I’m out of shock now.”
Hutt’s 2010-11 season ended on Dec. 10 in Kamloops when he was run over in the Blazers’ slot by winger Jordan DePape. Hutt ended up being stretchered off the ice and spending the night in hospital. While he didn’t play again last season, he was cleared to return to play, but Lamb chose to keep him out as the team’s playoff hopes disappeared.
“Health-wise, I’m doing really good,” Hutt said, adding that he could have played in the playoffs had the Broncos qualified.
These days, he is working out regularly, skating and . . .
“I’ve been playing a lot of roller hockey,” Hutt said, adding that he recently returned from a tournament in Florida. “It went really well.”
With all the gym work and the roller hockey, Hutt said, “I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been in since I’ve been in this league.”
After being dropped by the Broncos, he was placed on WHL waivers and has since cleared, making him a free agent. That means he now is contacting teams and playing something of a waiting game.
“My priority is to play major junior,” he said, “but if I have to I’ll go play junior A until hopefully something opens up.”
For example, someone called the Kamloops Blazers on his behalf. But the Blazers, at least for now, are pretty much set with three 20-year-olds in defencemen Josh Caron and Bronson Maschmeyer, along with forward Chase Schaber. However, Caron signed a contract with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild a year ago and could play in its system.
“Teams probably won’t know until more towards the end of training camp what they are looking for or what they need,” Hutt said. “So I’m kind of just sitting tight . . . playing shinny and working out every day, just kind of waiting to see what happens.”
The important thing, of course, is that Hutt has regained his health. Asked if he has any left over symptoms at all, he replied: “No. Not at all.”
That is good news. In a week when it was revealed that former WHL defencemen Clayton Barthel and Eric Doyle have had to end their hockey careers because of post-concussion syndrome, the fact that Hutt is feeling so well is good news indeed.
“When I got released,” Hutt said, “I think some teams likely thought it was due to health issues. But it wasn’t.
“Obviously, I’m still nervous to get back into the ice hockey physicality because I haven’t been in that kind of environment, but  . . .
“There are no symptoms. Nothing at all.”

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

Hutt healthy but needs team

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Killian Hutt hasn’t played in a hockey game since Dec. 10.
He just hopes that doesn’t turn out to be the last game of his career.
Hutt, 20, was released by the Swift Current Broncos on Thursday, seven months after he suffered a severe concussion in a game against the Kamlooops Blazers at Interior Savings Centre.
Hutt, who was preparing to take a shot on goal, was run over in the slot by Blazers forward Jordan DePape. Hutt, an Edmonton native, crumpled to the ice, tried to get up, fell back down and went into convulsions. He ended up spending the night in Royal Inland Hospital and, although he rejoined the Broncos later in the season, he never played again. The WHL suspended DePape for five games.
Hutt finished with 18 points, including 10 goals, in 26 games with the Broncos, who acquired him from the Regina Pats early in the season.
Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, said Thursday that he hated to release Hutt but that “it’s a numbers game . . . I feel bad for him that way.”
Hutt’s departure still leaves the Broncos with five 20-year-olds — forwards Brad Hoban, Jordan Peddle, Taylor Vause and Dillon Wagner, and defenceman Kyle Verdino.  Each team has to be down to a maximum of three 20-year-olds by Oct. 13.
Hutt has cleared WHL waivers so is a free agent and eligible to play in the OHL or QMJHL.
Hutt couldn’t be reached for comment last night, but Lamb said the veteran of three WHL seasons definitely wants to play again. Lamb also said that Hutt has received medical clearance to resume playing.
“He has been playing roller hockey,” Lamb said. “I was really hoping someone would pick him up.
“He has big-time (skill). He’s a lot better than a lot of people know. I didn’t know he was that good. . . . Anybody who calls me, I’ll give him a good reference. He was good for us.”
Hutt was injured in a game that spelled the beginning of the end for the Broncos’ playoff chances.
Not only was that Hutt’s last game with the Broncos, it was the last time centre Cody Eakin suited up. He left for the Canadian national junior team and then was traded to the Kootenay Ice.
“(Hutt) fit in really well when we still had Eakin and when we weren’t beat up yet,” Lamb stated. “We finished that road trip in Edmonton and had 12 players at the end. It turned into a disaster.”
The Broncos, who looked like a solid playoff contender going into that trip, finished 26-44-2, which left them 13 points out of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot.

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

The WHL and concussions: A mother cries out for help

Killian Hutt's season with the Swift Current Broncos came to an end
in Kamloops on Dec. 10.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell/Kamloops Daily News)

When Zdeno Chara ran Max Pacioretty into a turnbuckle in Montreal one night last week, who could have anticipated the aftermath?
Sheesh, even Air Canada and Via Rail got into the act, as did, predictably, the odd spotlight-seeking politician.
When things like this happen in places like Montreal and Boston, or Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the tendency in our little corner of the world is to yawn, shrug and move on.
But if you are a fan of this great game of ours, perhaps you should be concerned. Because the rules changed this month.
When Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy revealed that the brain of former NHL enforcer Bob Probert exhibited "the same degenerative disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy" that is connected to multiple concussions, the curtains were pulled back to reveal a whole new world.
Who in this generation could relate to CTE having been found in the brain of Reggie Fleming, who played in the NHL in the 1960s? Probert, though, is a different story. He’s recent. He’s more relevant.
That this news came with Sidney Crosby, the best player in the world, struggling with post-concussion syndrome only intensified the glare of the spotlight.
The WHL, if you haven’t noticed, isn’t a whole lot different than the NHL. Oh, the NHL’s players may be bigger, faster and more skilled, and they may get paid more, but the problems are the same.
And just like head shots and accompanying injuries are an epidemic in the NHL, they are an epidemic in the WHL.
In fact, a case can be made that concussions are more prevalent in the WHL than in the NHL.
No official numbers are available regarding the NHL, but the 30-team league has acknowledged that there have been about 80 players diagnosed with concussions this season.
The 22-team WHL’s weekly injury list, dated March 15, shows 11 players out with what are described as concussions or head injuries. That’s down from 21 the previous week. A study of this season’s 24 injury reports shows at least 97 instances in which a player has been shown as being out with a concussion or head injury. Eight players have twice been so injured, while one player appears to have had three head injuries.
The count also includes at least three players whose concussions have been season-ending.
And now the mother of a WHL player is wondering when enough is enough.
An email from her contains the subject line: Who killed Davey Moore?
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Davey Moore, an American featherweight boxer, died of inoperable brain damage on March 25, 1963, four days after losing a bout at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Shortly after, Bob Dylan penned the ballad Who Killed Davey Moore?
“Who killed Davey Moore
“Why an’ what’s the reason for?”
During the course of the song, the referee, the angry crowd, Moore’s manager, the gambling man, the boxing writer and Moore’s opponent all deny complicity in the boxer’s death.
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“I am the mother of a WHL player and I feel sick watching our children inflicting and receiving potentially life altering injuries and saying nothing,” she wrote.
This being hockey, of course, she asked for anonymity “in order not to damage my child’s chances.”
The email and subsequent communications reveal a woman who is heartbroken at what she is witnessing as hockey becomes more and more violent, although not in the bench-clearing ways of days of yore.
No, her son hasn’t suffered a concussion or head injury this season. But she has seen enough, just the same.
“The players work so hard to get to the WHL that we as parents are loathe to get in the way of their success,” she wrote. “So we stand by and watch a 19-year-old have a seizure on the ice in the name of entertainment for the crowd.
“Then a 16-year-old is being punched by a 19-year-old and the crowd is delighted.
“We all know this is not right. How can we as parents send our kids into this and not object to the failure of this league to adequately protect them? Nobody is protecting our children. These are not consenting adults with million dollar contracts and a players association.”
In Kamloops this season, we have watched as two players had their seasons ended by especially violent physical encounters.
First, on Dec. 10, Kamloops right-winger Jordan DePape drilled Swift Current forward Killian Hutt with a blind-side hit that drew a five-game suspension. Hutt went into convulsions, left the ice on a stretcher and spent a night in hospital. He was left with a severe concussion and, although he has skated, isn’t symptom free and won’t play again this season.
Then, on Feb. 4, Blazers defenceman Austin Madaisky was spun around and checked into the boards by Chilliwack Bruins defenceman Brandon Manning. Madaisky escaped a concussion but was left with a non-displaced fracture of the seventh cervicular vertebrae. Manning served a seven-game suspension; Madaisky continues to wear an Aspen collar and will for another couple of weeks. If the injury continues to heal properly, he will avoid surgery and will be back on the ice over the summer.
“When there is a spinal injury people will say, ‘That's hockey,’ ” the mother wrote. “But that's not true. These are preventable injuries and we are not even trying to prevent them; in fact, the WHL profits off them by catering to the bizarre tastes of some people in the crowd.
“This is not acceptable. These are our children. We are all responsible to them — parents, reporters, coaches, etc.
“They trust us and we betray that trust. When the consequences of those concussions hit home there will be no cheering crowds.”

(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, gdrinnan.blogspot.com and twitter.com/gdrinnan.)

Wednesday's stuff . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL) announced that it won’t re-sign D Tomas Mojzis (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 2000-03) for next season. He had two goals and seven assists in 49 games in helping Minsk to a second-place finish in the Western Conference of the KHL. However, it was upset by seventh-place Dynamo Riga 4-2 in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
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The Edmonton sporting scene and, indeed, the entire WHL is poorer today following the death of Vic Mah. Mah, who was 91, died on Friday. . . . A giant on the Edmonton sporting and restaurant scene, Mah longed to bring a WHL franchise to Edmonton. . . . Mah was on the Oil Kings’ board of directors when it was a dominant junior franchise in the 1960s. . . . He was part of the group that purchased the Flin Flon Bombers and moved them to Edmonton in time for the 1978-79 season. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a one-season stand. . . . Few people were aware of it, but Mah even was a shareholder in the Kamloops Blazers when the franchise was community-owned.
Cam Tait of the Edmonton Journal has more right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades clinched the fourth regular-season championship in franchise history on Wednesday, beating the Wheat Kings 5-3 in Brandon. . . . The Blades are 52-13-2 and have tied the franchise record for victories in one season that was set in 1982-83. . . . The Blades last finished first overall in 1987-88 when they went 41-22-3 and wound up three points ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers. Saskatoon later was swept from a second-round series by the Tigers. . . . The Blades also won the regular-season points title in 1982-83 (52-19-1) and 1972-73 (46-11-11). . . . F Marek Viedensky scored twice for the Blades last night as they ran their winning streak to five games and ended Brandon’s home-ice win streak at 11. . . . Viedensky leads the Blades with 33 goals. . . . Saskatoon will play in Brandon again on Friday. . . .
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G Brandon Glover stopped 24 shots last night to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 3-0 victory over the host Swift Current Broncos. . . . It was Glover’s first WHL shutout. . . . F Spencer Humphries scored twice for the Hitmen, breaking a scoreless tie in the third period and adding an empty-netter. . . . The Broncos have been blanked eight times this season, tying them with the Everett Silvertips for the WHL lead in a dubious category. . . . While the Hitmen have been eliminated from the playoff chase, the Broncos are on the verge. They are eight points out with five games remaining. . . .
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The Prince Albert Raiders are back in sole possession of the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . The Raiders, with F Jonathan Parker scoring three first-period goals, beat the visiting Regina Pats 8-5, while the host Lethbridge Hurricanes lost 5-3 to the Moose Jaw Warriors, who got three assists from D Collin Bowman. . . . Parker has 44 goals this season. . . . The Raiders hold a two-point lead over Lethbridge with each team having five games remaining. . . . The Pats are 10^th, five points behind Prince Albert with five games left. . . .
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The Chilliwack Bruins ran their franchise-record winning streak to six games, blanking the Giants 2-0 in Vancouver. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore, the reigning CHL goaltender of the week, stopped 36 shots in earning his fourth shutout this season. . . . Vancouver has been shut out three times. . . . F Robin Soudek had a goal and an assist. . . . The Bruins, having won seven of eight, now are alone in sixth place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Everett Silvertips and just four behind the fifth-place Giants. . . . Vancouver lost F Michael Burns in the second period after he was checked by Chilliwack D Tyler Stahl. Burns stayed down and was taken from the ice on a stretcher. . . . Later, Chilliwack F Curt Gogol took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct for a hit on Vancouver D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen. . . . The teams combined for 134 penalty minutes, with the Bruins taking 78 of those. . . . Vancouver has lost four in a row. . . . The Giants are to visit Chilliwack on Saturday. . . . Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun has the game story right here.
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The Kelowna Rockets moved eight points ahead of Vancouver by beating the visiting Tri-City Americans, 3-1. . . . The Rockets are atop the B.C. Division, which brings with it the second seed in the Western Conference. . . . The Americans appear headed to a fourth-place finish. . . . Kelowna F Colton Heffley picked up a charging major and game misconduct so is likely to hear from the WHL office.
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Congrats to Nella Rounsville and Lorne Frey, the latest recipients of the WHL’s Distinguished Service Award. . . . Rounsville is the Kootenay Ice’s education advisor, a role she has filled since 1998-99. She also is chairperson of the Ice’s annual golf tournament. . . . Frey is the assistant general manager, head scout and director of player personnel for the Kelowna Rockets. He is arguably the best purveyor of talent in the WHL today and has two Memorial Cup rings to show for it (Swift Current, 1989; Kelowna, 2004) . . . Frey has been with the Rockets since they set up shop in Tacoma in 1991. . . . Hockey really is in his blood. F Travis Moen (Kelowna, 1998-02) of the Montreal Canadiens is Frey’s son-in-law. As well, Frey and the late Louise (Fanner) Kruger were siblings, meaning Frey is an uncle to Darren, Trevor and the late Scott Kruger, all of whom played in the WHL.
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Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reports that it looks like F Killian Hutt’s season is over. Hutt hasn’t played since suffering a concussion during a game against the Blazers in Kamloops on Dec. 10.
“He was optimistic when we chatted last week that he’d be able to get back into the line-up in the final two weeks of the season,” Mullin wrote on his blog (link over there on the right). “However, as he started working harder in practice some post-concussion symptoms came back. It looks like he’ll be shut down for the year as a result.”
Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ GM and head coach, told Mullin:
“It was coming along well. He sartged getting headaches again. It looks like we’re going to have to shut him down for the year. That’s too bad for him. . . . I feel bad for him. It’s been a tough year for him. He’s a 19-year-old player who needs to get back in the lineup for his career. But you can’t do anything when you have those head injuries.”
Mullin also reports that F Graham Black, who won the Saskatchewan midget AAA league scoring championship with the Regina Pat Canadians, has joined the Broncos. They acquired his rights from the Edmonton Oil Kings in December. . . . With F Jarrett Dowling (ankle) out of the lineup, Black likely will see ample playing time in the Broncos’ remaining games.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will play their first-round playoff games at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair will have taken over the Keystone Centre. Games 1 and 2 will be played there on March 28 and 31, with a sixth game, if necessary, there on April 4. . . . Brandon last played postseason games in Winnipeg in 2006 when they lost a first-round series in six games to the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . While the Wheat Kings haven’t yet clinched what would be their 11th straight playoff berth, they are getting close. They are seventh, one point out of sixth and seven out of eighth.
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JUST NOTES: F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks is the CHL player of the week. He had nine points, including seven goals, in four games last week. He is the first Portland skater to earn the honour this season. . . . Lucas Gore of the Chilliwack Bruins is the CHL’s goaltender of the week after going 4-0-0, 1.00, .968. . . .
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The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs have a 53-6-3 record, in no small part because of the play of G Jacob DeSerres (Seattle, Brandon, 2005-10). DeSerres, 20, is profiled right here by Scott Briggs of the Saint John Telegraph-Journal.

F Killian Hutt of the Swift Current Broncos hasn’t played a game since Dec. 10. On that night, he suffered a severe concussion during a game against the Blazers in Kamloops.
He has spent most of his time since then recuperating at his family home in Edmonton.
But Hutt, 19, plans to spend this weekend in Swift Current — it’s parent weekend — and then return to Edmonton. But he is hoping to return to action this season.
“I’ve been doing better as of late,” he told me in a text Tuesday. “I’m looking at going back permanently (at the) end of February.”
Hutt was preparing to take a shot on goal when was injured on a hit by Kamloops F Jordan DePape, who was penalized and served a five-game WHL suspension.
———
The QMJHL announced Tuesday that no franchises — there are 16 of them —  filed notification of sale or relocation prior to Monday’s deadline.
"Although a number of reports have been published over the past few weeks, not a single Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team submitted a request to sell or relocate on Jan. 31," QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau said in a statement. "Guidelines are outlined in our Constitution and our members are well-aware of the process regarding these types of requests."
There had been speculation, and lots of it, that the Lewiston Maineiacs, who are averaging about 1,900 fans per game, would be moving to Summerside, P.E.I.
There also have been rumblings about the P.E.I. Rocket, which is averaging fewer than 1,700 fans per game in Charlottetown.
———
Brett Montsion, a WHL referee, has done a quick tour through the OHL and he tells Wally Donaldson of the Oshawa Express that he quite enjoyed it. That story is right here.
———
Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, lost out Sunday at the Oregon Sports Awards. He was nominated as Sportsperson of the Year. If you follow U.S. college football, it will come as no surprise that the award went to Chip Kelly, the head coach of the Oregon Ducks. All they did was play for the national championship. . . . But just the fact that Johnston was nominated shows the inroads the Winterhawks have made there in less than three seasons under new ownership. . . . He doesn’t get a whole lot of attention but it says right here that Thom Beuning, who handles the play-by-play of Seattle Thunderbirds games on 710 ESPN, is as smooth as they come. . . . F Travis Dunstall (Kamloops, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2004-10) is the Southern Professional league’s player of the week. Dunstall, who joined the Augusta RiverHawks on Jan. 18, had seven points, four of them goals, as his club won three road games. Two of those four goals were game-winners. Overall, he has eight points in five games.
———
Somehow I don’t think linesman Derek Nernberg, a 26-year-old from Regina, had planned on becoming a YouTube star by hitting a post. If you haven’t seen it, you are in the minority as this 28-second clip was heading towards 50,000 views late Tuesday night.
———
SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, F Brayden Schenn scored his first two goals on home ice as the Blades won their sixth straight, getting past the Red Deer Rebels, 7-5. . . . The victory lifted the Eastern Conference-leading Blades five points clear of the Rebels who, as the Central Division leaders, are the No. 2 seed. . . . The Blades, who have won six in a row, now have scored 204 goals, the first Eastern Conference team to go over 200. There are three teams in the Western Conference — all from the U.S. Division — with at least 200 goals scored (Spokane, 216; Portland, 203; Tri-City, 200). . . . The Rebels had won their last 11 games. . . . Schenn, who also had an assist, was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Jan. 10. . . . F Josh Nicholls and F Jake Trask each had a goal and an assist for the Blades. . . . The Rebels took a 3-2 lead on F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ 15th goal at 4:24 of the second period. . . . Saskatoon tied it on D Dalton Thrower’s sixth goal, at 9:44 of the second, then took control with two goals 16 seconds apart early in the third. Schenn scored 58 seconds into the period on a PP and Nichools got his 25th at 1:14. . . . Nugent-Hopkins, F Byron Froese and F Andrej Kudrna combined for two goals and three assists for Red Deer, but each was minus-3. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 18 shots, 12 fewer than Red Deer’s Darcy Kuemper. . . . With G Adam Morrison out with mononucleosis, Stanford was making his sixth straight start. . . . Attendance was 5,184. . . . Schenn actually left the game for a brief time after absorbing a teeth-rattling open-ice hit from Red Deer F Brett Ferguson. “That hit (from Ferguson), I don’t if I’ve ever been hit that hard in my life,” Schenn told Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “It didn’t feel good at the time. I got winded there a bit, but I was able to come back.” . . . The Blades are at home to the Regina Pats tonight, while the Rebels meet the Raiders in Prince Albert. . . .
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In Medicine Hat, F Spencer Bennett continued to weave his magic for Vancouver as his goal at the third-period buzzer gave the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Tigers. . . . The goal, which came on a wrap-around, came with one-tenth of a second left and wasn’t awarded until after a 10-minute video review. . . . Bennett scored twice, giving him 26 goals this season. He has 27 points, including 14 goals, in 15 games since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks on Dec. 30. . . . The Tigers led this one 2-0 in the first period on goals by F Kale Kessy, his 10th, and F Emerson Etem, his 28th, shorthanded at 18:55. . . . F Dalton Sward, with his ninth, got Vancouver on the board at 15:55 of the second. . . . Bennett scored a PP goal 33 seconds into the third to tie it. . . . Vancouver G Mark Segal stopped 31 shots, 10 more than Medicine Hat’s Tyler Bunz. . . . Segal won for the 20th time this season. . . . With the victory, the Giants moved one point ahead of the idle Kelowna Rockets atop the B.C. Division. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Giants continue their Central Division swing tonight in Lethbridge, with Marty and Gordie Howe scheduled to be on hand. . . .
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In Cranbrook, F Cody Eakin had two goals and three assists to lead the Kootenay Ice to an 8-0 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Eakin has 11 points, including five goals, in six games since being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos on Jan. 9. . . . On the season, he has 50 points in 36 games. . . . Kootenay goaltenders Nathan Lieuwen and Brett Teskey shared the shutout. Lieuwen made 27 saves before leaving at 8:17 of the third period after making a stop on F Cody Sylvester. Teskey came on to stop five shots. . . . D Brayden McNabb chipped in a goal and two assists, while F Kevin King and F Elgin Pearce each had two helpers. . . . The Ice was 4-for-7 on the PP; the Hitmen were 0-for-5. . . . Attendance was 2,159. . . . F Matt Fraser (concussion) returned to the Ice’s lineup for the first time since Jan. 18. Fraser, 20, scored the game’s last goal, his 22nd of the season, and you can bet it felt good. . . . The Ice meet the Hitmen tonight in Calgary. . . . The Ice has put up five shutouts this season, three of them against the Hitmen, who have been blanked a total of five times. . . .
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In Seattle, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Thunderbirds, 4-2. . . . It was the first of a four-game U.S. Division swing for Edmonton. . . . Seattle has lost nine in a row and remains in the Western Conference basement. . . . The Oil Kings took a 1-0 lead into the third period on F Travis Ewanyk’s ninth goal, shorthanded, at 10:53 of the second. . . . The Thunderbirds grabbed a 2-1 lead on third-period goals from F Mitch Elliot (1:57) and F Brendan Rouse (3:01). . . . However, F Kristians Pelss tied it for Edmonton at 10::11 and F Dylan Wruck won it with his 29th at 12:01. . . . F Jordan Hickmott got the empty-netter at 19:38. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit, in his third straight start, stopped 32 shots. He evened his record at 8-8-0. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard made 38 saves. . . . Attendance was 3,141. . . . Seattle play-by-play man Thom Beuning points out on his blog that the Thunderbirds are 1-10-0 since D Travis Bobbee was injured, and they are 0-6-0 since D Ryan Button went down. Those two have combined to play 541 regular-season games. . . . The Oil Kings are in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans tonight. . . .
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Calgary F Danny Gayle

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

Hutt making slow progress

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
While many WHL players spent the days leading up to Monday’s trade deadline wondering where they would end up playing, Killian Hutt was wondering when he might play again.
A 19-year-old forward with the Swift Current Broncos, Hutt has missed 11 games since suffering a severe concussion during a game against the host Kamloops Blazers on Dec. 10.
He said Sunday night that he still has “constant headaches” and, he added, “I still get kind of flashes of migraines.” However, the headaches aren’t “unbearable . . . where I’m just wanting to go to sleep all the time.”
Still, he added, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I thought I’d be in worse condition than what I am. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this.”
The worst thing to deal with now might be the sleepless nights.
“I’ll go a few days where I won’t have any problems,” Hutt explained, “and then I’ll have a couple nights in a row where I get heat flashes and I’m really uncomfortable. That’s still happening.”
He also has nights where he has restless legs, but things are a lot better than when he first returned home and “was vomiting almost every night.”
To complicate matters, he also had a scrap with a flu bug so really had trouble keeping food down.
“I haven’t been vomiting much at all lately,” he said. “Once in a while but I think that’s mostly because I’m sick.”
Hutt was parked in front of the Kamloops net midway through the third period of a game the Blazers would win 3-2 when he was hit from the side by Kamloops forward Jordan DePape.
Hutt went down, tried to rise, then crumpled to the ice on his left side and went into convulsions. He received medical treatment on the ice, left on a stretcher and was taken by ambulance to Royal Inland Hospital where he spent the night under observation. He was released the following morning, rejoined the Broncos in Vancouver and since has returned to the family home on the west side of Edmonton.
Hutt has said he holds no animosity towards DePape, who has returned to play after serving a five-game suspension.
Hutt, who had been acquired from the Regina Pats early in the season, had 18 points in 26 games with the Broncos. There isn’t a timetable for his return.
Doctors, he said, “aren’t really sure. It’s a day-by-day, week-by-week process.”
He also hasn’t had a second CAT scan, so is waiting for another of those tests.
Just last week he tried to go for a five-minute jog.
“A couple of minutes in, I started to get really blurry,” he said, “so I can’t do any physical activity yet.”
That means Hutt, who said he isn’t a big TV watcher, is spending a lot of time sitting around with family and friends.
“The main thing right now,” he said, “is I’m watching what I eat because I can’t do anything.”
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The Blazers didn’t make any moves at Monday’s trade deadline. General manager Craig Bonner had indicated prior to Christmas that it might be a quiet day for the Blazers and it was.
Of course, he had acquired F Thomas Frazee, 20, from the Regina Pats on Dec. 14 in exchange for F Shayne Neigum, 20, F Lyndon Martell, 17, and a 2012 third-round bantam draft pick.
Frazee has responded with 10 points in as many games for the Blazers.
The Blazers, who are at home Wednesday against the Medicine Hat Tigers, did have two players show up on the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings.
Central Scouting ranked 210 North American skaters. D Tyler Hansen appears at No. 97, with F Colin Smith at No. 130.
John Keeney, who is on the Blazers’ protected list, is ranked 33^rd among 34 North American goaltenders, Keeney has so far spurned Blazers’ advances and is with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.
The 2011 NHL draft is scheduled for St. Paul, Minn., June 24-25.

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

No animosity as Hutt, DePape hook up on Facebook

While Swift Current’s Justin Dowling (left) and referee Steve Papp
watch over an injured Killian Hutt, Jordan Evans (5)
of the Broncos engages Jordan DePape of the
Kamloops Blazers in a fight on Friday
at Interior Savings Centre.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell/Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

Killian Hutt of the Swift Current Broncos won’t play hockey again until sometime in 2011.
But he said Saturday night that he doesn’t hold any animosity towards Kamloops Blazers right-winger Jordan DePape for the concussion that has him headed for the injury list.
“I’m not mad at him or anything,” Hutt said from a Vancouver hotel room. “It could happen to anybody.”
In fact, the two WHL players chatted via social media on Saturday night when DePape reached out to Hutt via Facebook.
“He seems really OK with it and like a great guy,” DePape told The Daily News in a text message. “I feel a lot better hearing that from him.”
Hutt, a 19-year-old winger from Edmonton, has little recollection of what happened after he was checked from the side by DePape at 9:17 of the third period Friday night at Interior Savings Centre. Hutt remembers being on his knees and wondering if one of his legs was broken. The next thing he remembers is being taken into Royal Inland Hospital on a stretcher.
Hutt went down about 20 feet in front of the Kamloops goal. He rose to his knees, before collapsing onto his left side and going into convulsions. He received immediate medical treatment from Broncos athletic therapist Jamie LeBlanc, Kamloops trainers Colin Robinson and Pete Friedel, and Dr. Todd Ring.
“The only thing I really remember was trying to get up,” Hutt said. “When I was on my knees, I thought my leg was broke because I couldn’t lift it. I basically blacked out from right there.
“I woke up when I was getting pulled into the hospital.”
DePape received a charging major and game misconduct. He was suspended by the WHL and wasn’t with the Blazers when they lost 10-5 to the host Spokane Chiefs on Saturday. The length of the suspension is to be determined.
“I don’t know (what happened)” said Hutt, who has 21 points in 30 games. “I’m pretty aware on the ice. I always have been. He came out of nowhere. It’s part of hockey. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt me. It just happened that way.”
Hutt was released from RIH on Saturday at 8 a.m. Teammate Andy Blanke’s parents, who are following the Broncos on their B.C. Division swing, had remained in Kamloops and drove Hutt to Vancouver.
On Saturday, while the Broncos were dumping the Giants 4-1, Hutt remained in his hotel room.
“There are pain flashes and headaches and I feel kind of unco-ordinated,” Hutt said, “but what can you do, eh?”
Hutt, who is friends with Kamloops captain Chase Schaber and also knows left-winger Brendan Ranford, said he has had “a couple of minor” concussions during his career, “but nothing that compares to this.”
As a result, he has no idea what is in his immediate future.
“I’ve never really had an injury of this magnitude so I’m just taking it day by day to see how it goes,” he said.
In the short term, he hopes to be allowed to fly home to Edmonton.
Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, was just glad to hear that Hutt was on his feet.
“He’s better than I thought he would be,” Lamb said. “Anything walking is better than I thought it would be. It was a little scary there (Friday) night. I was really worried about him.
“It was . . . gut-wrenching.”

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

Lamb feeling better with Hutt back in fold

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Despite fighting the flu and a terrible head cold, Mark Lamb was feeling better Saturday.
Lamb, the general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, had spoken with right-winger Killian Hutt and that was more than enough to brighten his day.
“He’s out of the hospital,” Lamb said. “He’s better than I thought he would be. It was a little scary there (Friday) night. I was really worried about him.”
Hutt, a 19-year-old from Edmonton, was injured at 9:17 of the third period when he was checked from the side by Kamloops right-winger Jordan DePape about 20 feet in front of the Blazers’ net.

KILLIAN HUTT

Hutt went down, then rose to his knees, before collapsing onto his right side and going into convulsions. He received immediate medical treatment from Broncos athletic therapist Jamie LeBlanc, Kamloops trainers Colin Robinson and Pete Friedel, and Dr. Todd Ring.

As Lamb said: “It was . . . gut-wrenching. He’s out there and going through all those convulsions.
“He did get up . . . obviously he doesn’t know what he was doing. He was trying to get up and it was just whatever nerve reaction was going on . . . (centre Justin) Dowling was the first guy to him and his eyes were in the back of his head and it was kind of like he was snoring. That’s what he sounded like, they said.”
The medical people had difficulty opening Hutt’s airway, but once that was accomplished they were well on their way.
“He was probably out the whole time,” Lamb said.
In less than 20 minutes, Hutt was on a stretcher, in an ambulance and on his way to Royal Inland Hospital. He spent the night there under observation, was released Saturday morning and was driven to Vancouver by the parents of LW Andy Blanke, who are making the B.C. Division swing with the team.
Hutt spent Saturday night in a hotel room as the Broncos played the Giants.
Lamb spoke with Hutt earlier Saturday and reported that “he’s better than I thought he would be.”
But, as Lamb put it, “Anything walking is better than I thought it would be. I thought the worst.”
Still, Lamb isn’t expecting Hutt back in the lineup anytime soon.
“He’s really concussed,” Lamb said. “His head is really, really bad. Now it’s just time.
“Still, out of all the bad stuff, it’s pretty positive where he’s at today.”
Hutt, like Lamb, also has been battling the flu and a head cold. So Lamb plans on checking with medical people to see whether Hutt will be OK to fly home to Edmonton.
In the meantime, Lamb has to work on icing a team through the rest of the pre-Christmas schedule. The Broncos finish off this B.C. swing against the Cougars in Prince George on Tuesday, then head for Saskatoon where they’ll play the Blades on Friday in their last game before the break.
Obviously, they are without Hutt, who has 21 points in 30 games. Also missing is injured F Stepan Novotny, who is second on the team with 14 goals, and C Cody Eakin, who had 39 points, including 18 goals, but is working to make Canada’s national junior team.
“This has been such a tough go for our team,” said Lamb, who is in his second season with the Broncos. “I know every team goes through tough (times), but we’ve had a really tough time of it.
“It’s been challenging coaching-wise. I guess it’s good for your development. But the challenge part this season compared to last season is unbelievable to me. We’ve never had the same lines two or three games in a row at all.”
It will be especially tough without Eakin, who eats up a tremendous amount of playing time. The 19-year-old may well have played more than 40 minutes on Friday in Kamloops.
“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t tire,” Lamb said. “It is unbelievable with this guy, with the effort and for what he does for us.”
Lamb pointed out that Eakin just wants to play . . . all the time.
“Early in the season, he wasn’t scoring like everyone thought he should but he had a softball on his elbow, he had a hip thing,” Lamb said, referring to an elbow infection and a hip strain that slowed Eakin at least a bit. “He missed some games but there are lots of games he shouldn’t have been playing.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Hutt to rejoin Broncos

F Killian Hutt of the Swift Current Broncos will rejoin his teammates today in Vancouver. However, he has a concussion and will be out of action until at least after the Christmas break.
Hutt was injured in the third period of the Broncos' 3-2 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday night. He was hit from the side by Kamloops F Jordan DePape, needed attention on the ice and was taken to Royal Inland Hospital where he spent the night under observation.
The Blazers left after the game for Spokane where they are to play the Chiefs tonight. DePape didn't make the trip to Spokane and is likely to be suspended.

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

Hutt injury puts damper on Kamloops win

Killian Hutt of Swift Current is tended to
by Kamloops trainers Colin Robinson (left) and Pete Friedel,
Dr. Todd Ring and Broncos trainer Jamie LeBlanc
on Friday night at Interior Savings Centre.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell/Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN

Daily News Sports Editor

It should have been a joyous time, what with it being the Kamloops Blazers’ last home game before the Christmas break and the Teddy Bear Toss game, all rolled into one.
Instead, fans who watched the Kamloops Blazers post a 3-2 WHL victory over Swift Current on Friday night left with visions of Broncos forward Killian Hutt on the ice and convulsing, before being taken by ambulance to Royal Inland Hospital.
Hutt, a 19-year-old forward from Edmonton, went down at 9:17 of the third period after taking a shoulder-to-head blindside hit from Kamloops winger Jordan DePape.
DePape, who immediately was set upon by Broncos defenceman Jordan Evans, left with a charging major and game misconduct and almost certainly is looking at a WHL-issued suspension.
With the 5-foot-8, 180-pound Hutt down between the hash marks in the Blazers’ zone, Jamie LeBlanc, the Broncos’ athletic therapist, rushed onto the ice and quickly signalled for help. He soon was joined by Blazers trainer Colin Robinson, assistant trainer Pete Friedel and Dr. Todd Ring.
Hutt, a 19-year-old from Edmonton, was stabilized, placed on a backboard and taken to hospital.
“He was conscious and there was movement in his extremities when he left the ice,” LeBlanc said, adding that he didn’t think it was too serious at first because it looked like Hutt was getting to his feet.
But he then crumpled to the ice and went into convulsions.
“It’s scary,” said Kamloops captain Chase Schaber. “All you can do is hope that he’s OK and that he’ll make it back out.”
At press time, it wasn’t know whether Hutt would spend the night at RIH, just that, as one medical official put it, “he will get a good looking over.”
“Kudos,” LeBlanc said, “to (Robinson) and the staff here. It’s nice to know you can count on people like these at a time like this.”
DePape, meanwhile, was beside himself with concern.
“I’m not a cheap guy like that,” the 6-foot-0, 195-pound DePape said. “I never look for those blindside . . . I guess he didn’t see me coming. I know he’s a smaller guy but, no, I had no intention of hurting him like that.
“I hope he’s OK.”
DePape said he saw Hutt taking a shot and went for the hit.
“It was a physical game,” DePape said. “I had no intention of hurting him. I saw him taking a shot and I hit him. I had no idea. . . . I ended up fighting and had no idea he was still laying on the ground. Until I heard the reaction from the crowd . . . it got pretty quiet. I had absolutely no idea.”
At that point, the Blazers had the game under control, with a 3-1 lead. The Broncos cut that to 3-2 on centre Cody Eakin’s second goal of the game at 17:10, but the visitors didn’t have much spunk left after watching Hutt leave the ice.
The Blazers got one goal from each skater on their big line — left-winger Brendan Ranford got his WHL-leading 26th goal, with Schaber and DePape each adding No. 12.
Ranford’s goal, 49 seconds into the second period, launched a shower of stuffed toys from the 4,332 fans who were in attendance.
If anything, the Blazers won this game with special teams, DePape scoring on their only power-play opportunity and the much-maligned penalty killers going 7-for-7.
“It seemed like there was a lot more (than seven),” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said. “It’s a credit to the guys who killed penalties. I don’t understand how it can be so lopsided but I guess I can’t really say anything. It baffles me . . . it really does.”
The Blazers held a 3-2 edge in shots at the end of the first period, a result, Charron said, of having to “kill three penalties in the first six minutes. You lose momentum. They were all one after the other.”
(The Blazers took minors at 5:50, 11:50 and 13:46 of the first period.)
“What bothers me,” Charron continued, “is that the calls are made from the person that’s not even close to the play. You got one (referee) next to the play; he doesn’t call it. You got someone away from the play that calls it. It’s happened to us too many times.
“I don’t know what to say. We are one of the most penalized teams in the league and I don’t know why. I really don’t.”
This was the Blazers’ last home game until Dec. 28 and the victory kept them out of the Western Conference basement. They are ninth, but just four points out of second.
“We have some huge road games before the Christmas break,” DePape said. “To get a win at home for our fans was pretty big.”
The Blazers (15-14-2) left after the game for Spokane where they will play the Chiefs tonight. Kamloops then meets the Winterhawks in Portland on Wednesday, before heading to Prince George and a Friday-Saturday doubleheader with the Cougars.
JUST NOTES: Referees Steve Papp and Ryan Bonnett worked the game. Papp was filling in for Jason Nissen, whose flight out of Portland was cancelled early in the day. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch stopped 16 shots, while Mark Friesen of the Broncos turned aside 17. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Schaber: Another gritty effort; 2. Ranford: Showed again why he’s a prime-time player; 3. Eakin: Did he ever leave the ice? . . . The Regina Pats have dealt RW Carter Ashton, 19, and a 2012 third-round bantam draft pick to the Tri-City Americans for F Nils Moser, 17, F Tanner Olstad, 18, a 2011 first-round bantam pick and second- and fifth-rounders in the 2012 draft. Ashton was a first-round selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2009 draft. . . . Former Blazers G Dustin Butler is the Canada West Husky-WHL graduate of the month for November/December. Butler, who attends the U of Calgary and plays for Dinos, was 2-2-1, 1.12, .966.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter

Derrick Pouliot of the Portland Winterhawks
in one of the club's third jerseys.
(Photo courtesy Bryan Heim/Portland Winterhawks)

’Tis the season. No, not for that. For third jerseys.
And the Portland Winterhawks are the latest WHL team to enter the fray.
The Winterhawks unveiled their third jerseys Wednesday night and went on to score a 4-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips before 7,444 fans at the Rose Garden.
The jersey in the photo above is that third jersey.
It’s different, as third jerseys should be. And the more I look at it, the more it grows on me.
Earlier, the Saskatoon Blades unveiled the denim look -- the Canadian tuxedo -- and got a whole bunch of publicity and reaction throughout the hockey world.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes, Brandon Wheat Kings, Kamloops Blazers, Chilliwack Bruins . . . everyone is getting in on the act.
And while they should.
With attendance figures falling like snowflakes in some communities, teams are having to pull out all stops in trying to lure fans into their buildings. And once they get them there, they have to put on an entertaining show in the hopes of turning them into regular customers.
The Winterhawks, for one team, are hard at work and seem to be on the right track.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) has been assigned on loan by Chomutov (Czech Republic 1.Liga) to Plzen (Czech Republic Extraliga) for the rest of this season. He had 23 goals and 37 assists in 44 games for Chomutov last season and has one goal in two games with Plzen this season. . . .
D David Turon (Portland, 2002-03) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Lausitzer Fuchse Weisswasser (Germany 2.Bundesliga) after terminating his contract with Dukla Trencin (Slovakia Extraliga). He had two goals and one assist in 25 games with Dukla this season. . . .
F Troy Ofukany (Kelowna, Regina, Red Deer, 2004-08) signed a tryout contract with the Luleå Rebels (Sweden Division 1). He had eight goals and five assists in 49 games with the Wichita Thunder and Odessa Jackalopes (both Central Hockey League) last season.
------
The OHL has had it with staged fighting and has moved to bring an end to it, starting with games of Friday.
From an OHL press release:
“The Ontario Hockey League today announced a new playing rule that will come
into effect with the commencement of games on Friday, November 26, 2010.
“The new rule is: ‘If two or more players should enter into a fight prior
to, or at the drop of the puck at the commencement of any period of a game,
then such player(s) shall be assessed an automatic game misconduct. In
addition to any penalties assessed, the OHL Member Team shall be fined
$500.00 and the player(s) suspended for one (1) game. For any subsequent
offence by the same team, the fine shall increase in $500.00 increments, and
for any subsequent offence by the same player the minimum suspension would
double from the previous occurrence.’ ”
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In case you have forgotten, the AJHL is staging an outdoor game Friday in Fort McMurray with the Oil Barons playing host to the Drayton Valley Thunder. The AJHL’s single-game attendance record apparently is 4,400. The outdoor game is expected to draw 5,000 or more fans.
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Here is a Thanksgiving Day story for you that involves Mandi Schwartz and her family. It’s a must read on this particular day.
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Some Wednesday highlights:
For starters, the 10-team Western Conference got put in the mixing bowl and tossed around like so much salad . . . again.
What a horse race this is going to be.
The Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Regina Pats on Tuesday night and vacated the cellar. The Blazers lost to the Chiefs in Spokane last night and fell back into the basement.
But, as incredible as this may sound, the Blazers are four points out of second place.
The Portland Winterhawks won again and now hold a 14-point lead over the second-place Vancouver Giants.
The Giants have 29 points and are just one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. The Seattle Thunderbirds are a point behind the Ams. The Chiefs, Kelowna Rockets, Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips are one point behind Seattle.
The Chilliwack Bruins and Kamloops are tied for last, one point that group of four.
Amazing!
---
In Prince Albert, the Raiders scored three times in the third period and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-2. . . . F Brandon Herrod, with his ninth, broke a 2-2 tie at 17:08 of the third period. . . . F Todd Fiddler had a goal, his sixth, and an assist for the Raiders, as did F Jonathan Parker, who got his 15^th goal. . . . D Antoine Corbin had two assists for the Raiders. He has played four games since coming over from the Kelowna Rockets and has three two-point games. . . . Raiders G Eric Williams stopped 34 shots. . . . Attendance was 1,893. . . .
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In Swift Current, F Killian Hutt scored his ninth goal on a PP at 4:28 of OT to give the Broncos a 3-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock forced OT with his second goal of the season at 7:05 of the third on the PP. . . . F Scott Glennie had two assists for Brandon. . . . F Adam Lowry had a goal and an assist for the Broncos, while D Kyle Verdino had two assists. . . . Broncos G Mark Friesen stopped 34 shots. . . .
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In Edmonton, F Dylan Wruck broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 13:32 of the third period as the Oil Kings edged the Calgary Hitmen, 4-3. . . . Calgary had won the last 16 games between these teams, including four in the playoffs. . . . Since entering the league, the Oil Kings are 4-18-0 versus the Hitmen. . . . Wruck has 10 goals this season. . . . F Michael St. Croix drew three assists for Edmonton. . . . F Trevor Cheek had two assists for the Hitmen. . . . Calgary scored all three of its goals on the PP as it erased a 2-0 deficit. . . . F Kristians Pelss, with his second goal of the season, pulled Edmonton even at 7:16 of the third period. Pelss, 18, will play for his native Latvia at the Division 1A U-20 world junior championship in Bobruisk, Belarus, Dec. 13-19. . . . Edmonton G Jon Groenheyde stopped 32 shots. . . .
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In Lethbridge, the Hurricanes got three shootout goals and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 5-4. . . . F Cam Braes had two goals for Lethbridge and F Mitch Maxwell drew three assists. . . . D Alex Petrovic and F Dalton Siwak each had a goal and an assist for Red Deer. . . . Siwak forced OT with his seventh goal at 15:08 of the third. . . . F Mark Reners, F Jacob Berglund and F Austin Fyten scored for the home team in the shootout, while only F Byron Froese was able to counter for Red Deer. . . .
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In Kelowna, F Geordie Wudrick scored three times to lead the Rockets to a 6-1 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . The Rockets scored three goals in the game’s last minute, the first into an empty net. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie had two assists. . . . Barrie became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer among defencemen last weekend. He now has 190 points, including 146 assists, in 219 regular-season games. The previous record (186 points) was held by Burt Henderson, who played with the Rockets from 1993-96. That included two seasons in Tacoma. . . . The Rockets, who were 4-10-0 not that long ago, now are 13-11-0, meaning they have won nine of their last outings. . . . Wudrick, who played his 300^th game last weekend in Prince George, has 10 goals in 23 games this season. It was his second hat trick of this season and the third of his career. . . . He got his third goal at 19:59 of the third period. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 32 shots. . . . Regina F Thomas Frazee had a nine-game point streak end. . . . Kelowna F Max Adolph (concussion) returned to the lineup after a nine-game absence. . . . Rockets F Andreas Stene will play for Norway at the World Junior tournament in Buffalo, Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. He has six points in 18 games with Kelowna. . . . F Gal Koren of the Rockets will play for Slovenia in the U-20 Division 1, Group B championship in Bled, Slovenia, Dec. 12-18. Gal, who has been out with a concussion, is pointless in nine WHL games. . . .
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In Chilliwack, G James Priestner stopped 28 shots to lead the Prince George Cougars to a 4-0 victory over the Bruins. . . . It was the first of eight scheduled meetings between these teams this season. . . . The Bruins, who are 2-3-4 over their last nine games, are three games into a six-game homestand. . . . It was Priestner’s first shutout this season and the third of his career. It was his first shutout since March 8, 2008, when, while with the Kamloops Blazers, he beat the Cougars 1-0 in Prince George. . . . F Brett Connolly had two assists for Prince George. . . . Attendance was 2,267. . . . The Bruins had F Robin Soudek back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 11 when he was hit from behind by Vancouver Giants D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, who drew a seven-game suspension. . . . . “I've seen it a few times, and I think the hit was probably partly my fault because I turned my back to him,” Soudek told Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress. “As soon as I hit the boards, everything in my neck cracked and I was just happy I was able to move my fingers and toes. But they did the X-rays and everything was OK. The concussion was the worst, because some days you feel pretty good and think it might be gone. And the next day you've got symptoms back. It's not a fun time.” . . .
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In Portland, the Winterhawks got two goals and an assist from F Oliver Gabriel as they beat the Everett Silvertips, 4-2. . . . The Winterhawks are 21-4-1 and that’s the WHL’s best record. . . . Attendance in the Rose Garden was 7,444. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 22 shots, 12 fewer than Everett’s Kent Simpson. . . . The Silvertips remain without F Landon Ferraro (concussion). . . .
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In Spokane, D Jared Cowen scored three times as the Chiefs spanked the Kamloops Blazers, 10-1. . . . The teams meet again Friday in Kamloops. . . . Cowen, who was playing in his 201^st regular-season game, enjoyed his first three-goal game. . . . He has six goals this season and 25 for his career. . . . F Tyler Johnson, F Steven Kuhn, F Anthony Bardaro and F Matt Marantz each had a goal and two assists for the Chiefs, while F Brady Brassart and F Levko Koper each had two assists. . . . F Brendan Ranford scored for the Blazers, giving him a WHL-leading 22 goals. . . . The Chiefs scored four times in the first period and six times in the third. . . . This was the worst beating absorbed by the Blazers since Jan. 17, 1997, when they lost 12-1 to the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . The last time the Blazers surrendered at least 10 goals in a game was Oct. 12, 2009, when they were beaten 12-5 by the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . In their last two visits to Spokane, the Blazers have been outscored, 17-1. The Chiefs beat them 7-0 on Feb. 17. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., F Adam Hughesman scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Tri-City Americans beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-4. . . . The Americans, who came in having lost six of seven, trailed 3-0 at 12:31 of the second period and 4-2 late in the third. . . . F Kruise Reddick, at 17:23, and F Jordan Messier, 18:01, scored for the Americans to force OT. . . . F Neal Prokop, who suffered a badly broken leg in the first round of the playoffs last spring, returned to the Americans’ lineup. Tri-City dressed Prokop, Reddick and D Zak Stebner as its 20-year-olds, choosing to sit D Tyler Schmidt. The Americans have 14 days to declare three 20-year-olds. . . . Prokop had one assist, setting up Messier’s tying goal. . . . Hughesman had two assists in regulation time, while F Brendan Shinnimin had a goal and an assist. . . . Seattle got two goals from F Colin Jacobs and two assists from F Tyler Alos. . . . Talk about busy goaltenders! Drew Owsley of the Americans stopped 42 shots, while Seattle’s Calvin Pickard turned aside 55. . . . Attendance was 2,639. . . . From the Americans’ Dan Mulhausen: “Owsley matched his season-high with 42 saves in collecting his 50th WHL win. Meanwhile, Pickard faced 50-plus shots for the fourth time in his career, finishing with 55 saves in the tough luck loss. Three of the four times he has faced 50 or more shots in a game have come against Tri-City, including a career-best 57-save shutout on Oct. 2, 2009.”
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Seattle F Travis Toomey
Seattle F Brenden Dillon

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Friday . . . early

A note to all the U.S. Division teams in the WHL. This really is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. We don’t do it the American way and start partying on Thursday. We got Saturday through Monday. So if one of your employees needs the weekend off, give it to him or her. As an employee of one U.S. team told me Friday: In the decade I’ve lived in the U.S. I’ve always tried to scam, err, get Canadian Thanksgiving off, but I’ve been denied every time. My pleas about watching the CFL all day fall on deaf ears.”
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Todd Voshell (Kelowna, Portland, Spokane, 1983-87) now is an architect who works out of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. The local newspaper, the Record, has news of an award that has come his way. That story is right here.
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The Portland Winterhawks have reassigned F Gasper Kopitar, 18, to the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. Kopitar is the brother of F Anze Kopitar, 23, of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. . . . Gasper, who is listed as 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds by the Winterhawks, was pointless in 10 games last season and had one goal in two games this season. . . . Despite being from Jesenice, Slovenia, he isn’t considered an import player under CHL rules. He moved to the Los Angeles area -- Manhattan Beach, I think -- a few years ago where he lived with his brother. That is where Gasper was when then-Portland general manager Ken Hodge listed him. And because Gasper played minor hockey in Manhattan Beach, he is classified as a non-import.
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The Regina Pats have traded F Killian Hutt, 19, to the Swift Current Broncos for a 2013 sixth-round bantam draft pick. Hutt, who was selected by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the sixth round of the 2006 bantam draft, had three points in five games with Regina. The Pats acquired his rights from the Portland Winterhawks last season. . . . Meanwhile, the Broncos have returned D Matt Franczyk, 17, to the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild. He was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 bantam draft.
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The Spokane Chiefs have released D Bruin McDonald, an 18-year-old who was acquired from the Prince George Cougars for a conditional sixth-round 2011 bantam draft pick in August. McDonald, a seventh-round pick by the Cougars in 2007, had one assist in three games with Spokane. He was a healthy scratch when the Chiefs played Wednesday in Kamloops. . . . The Chiefs now are carrying 25 players on their roster, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen.
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Chris Jaster of the Prairie Post has a couple of intereting stories detailing the finances of the Swift Current Broncos. In this one right here, he writes about what the Broncos are doing to deal with concession profits that fell from $44,240 in 2008-09 to $10,805 last season. . . . The second story, which is right here, is an overall look at the club’s finances.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter