Virtanen back for Game 5 . . . Portland signs D-man . . . Chaos in NBL

F Brent Raedeke (Edmonton, Brandon, 2007-10) signed a two-year contract with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL). He is a dual Canadian-German citizen. This season, with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL), he had 13 goals and 23 assists in 52 games. . . .
D Gerhard Unterluggauer (Brandon, 1995-97) signed a one-year extension with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, in 48 games, he had six goals and 22 assists. He was named Austria Hockey Superstar of the Year for the second season in a row.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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The Calgary Hitmen will have F Jake Virtanen back in their lineup tonight as they meet the Wheat Kings in Brandon. Virtanen sat out the past three games with a suspension. The Wheat Kings lead the Eastern Conference final, 3-1. . . . Laurence Heinen wrote this story right here for the Calgary Herald.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Caleb Jones, 17, the younger brother of Nashville Predators D Seth Jones, who also played in Portland. . . . This season, Caleb put up 24 points, including six goals, in 65 games with the USNTDP’s U-18 team. He was part of the U.S. team that won the IIHF U-18 world championship last weekend in Switzerland. He had five assists in seven games. . . . The Winterhawks selected the 6-foot-0, 190-pounder in the third round of the 2012 bantam draft. He is eligible for the NHL’s 2015 draft.
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The National Basketball League of Canada was to have crowned a champion on Thursday night when the Windsor Express played host to the Halifax Rainmen in Game 7 of the championship series. Instead, there was a punchup during the morning shootaround and the Rainmen went home. Seriously. You can’t make up stuff like this. Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press has more right here.

After saying there would be an investigation @NBLCanada is now saying @HalifaxRainmen defaulted and @WindsorXpress are champs. What a joke

— Morris Dallacosta (@MoDaCoatLFPress) May 1, 2015

The @NBLCanada named new executive after the forfeited game between @WindsorXpress and @HalifaxRainmen. The executive, Curley, Larry and Moe

— Morris Dallacosta (@MoDaCoatLFPress) May 1, 2015

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F Bryan Moore broke a 2-2 tie at 12:55 of the third period and the visiting Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds went on to a 4-2 victory over the Erie Otters in an OHL semifinal series. The Otters lead the series 3-2 as they head to the Soo for Game 6 on Saturday night. . . . Erie F Connor McDavid had one assist, as he ran his playoff point streak to 14 games. Yes, he has at least one point in each game this spring. McDavid has 37 points, 18 of them goals, in 14 games. . . . The other semifinal, between the North Bay Battalion and Oshawa Generals, is 2-2. They’ll play Game 5 tonight in Oshawa and Game 6 on Sunday in North Bay. . . .
The QMJHL final between the Quebec Remparts and Rimouski Oceanic will open with games Tuesday and Friday in Rimouski. . . . The Remparts are the host team for the Memorial Cup, so both teams will play in the championship tournament.
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The Sauer brothers — Kurt, Michael and Craig — all were pro athletes and each of them was forced out of his chosen sport by brain injuries. If you’re a WHL fan, you may remember Kurt when he was a defenceman with the Spokane Chiefs. At the time, 1999-2002, he was as good a defenceman as there was in the WHL. . . . There’s more right here on the Sauer brothers and the involvement of a sister as they strive to regain some sense of normalcy to their lives.
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THE COACHING GAME:

Jeff Daniels won’t be returning as head coach of the Charlotte Checkers, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes announced Thursday that Daniels’ contract won’t be renewed. . . . He completed seven seasons as the Checkers’ head coach, going 268-225-51. This season, Charlotte went 31-38-7, and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. . . . Daniels also is a former Hurricanes player and assistant coach.
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Proud to be apart of the Portland Winterhawks! Looking forward to continuing the tradition of excellence. #GoHawks

— Caleb Jones (@Jones4Caleb) April 30, 2015

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Monday's stuff . . .

Defenceman Rasmus Rissanen of the Everett Silvertips has signed
a three-year deal with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.
(Photo by Gregg Forwerck/Carolina Hurricanes)

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA:Things just get stranger and stranger . . .
It was just last week when Moray Keith, who along with Jim Bond owns 25 per cent of the Chilliwack Bruins, confirmed what everyone thought they knew when he told Jim Mullin of Vancouver radio station CKNW that the Bruins are in the process of being sold to Victoria interests.
Then, on Monday, in a letter through his lawyers, Brian Burke, who owns 25 per cent of the Bruins, informed Mullin that “Graham Lee has been promised a WHL franchise in that city.”
Graham Lee, if you aren’t aware, operates RG Properties, which holds a 30-year contract to manage Save-On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. And the City of Victoria has said it will extend that deal by 10 years if RG Properties is able to attract a WHL franchise.
Burke’s letter also stated that it was “. . . the WHL’s and Mr. Lee’s desire to have an established team in Victoria rather than an expansion team. This will not leave Chilliwack without a WHL team. The WHL is in the process of negotiating the movement of another WHL team to Chilliwack.”
Shortly after those two notes from Burke, who runs the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs these days, hit the Internet, I was informed by a source that “league members have been threatened with huge fines if they comment on the Chilliwack situation.”
So just when you might be thinking that clarification is needed and might even be on its way, what with the Bruins’ season having ended Saturday night in Spokane, the WHL gags everyone.
And then Tyler Olsen, a writer who is working hard to cover this situation for the Chilliwack Times, tweeted this late Monday afternoon: “#WHL league head office says my repeated pleas for an interview have been ‘unprofessional.’ News flash: that's my profession. #irony.”
Which would seem to indicate that the WHL again has adopted the strategy of trying to shoot the messenger. Again.
In another development, the Chilliwack Times rounded up a number of comments from former Bruins players -- off the Keep the Bruins in Chilliwack Facebook page -- on the situation. That piece is right here.
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Meanwhile, Bruins fans have scheduled a rally for Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the front entrance to Prospera Centre.
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And one Bruins fan sent me this email:
“This whole fiasco is a huge mess. It's embarassing for the league as well
as (Darryl) Porter, Burke and (Glen) Sather (each of whom owns 25 per cent of the Bruins). They are not showing any integrity or clarity here, all the fans have gotten is from the media. . . .
“This is not fair to the fans of the Chilliwack Bruins or any other team that is on the bubble that you have named. We're under Year 2 of the Marc Habscheid era and showing signs of turning it around, much better drafting than years past, better trades and it gets yanked from us because RG Properties wanted an established team over an expansion team. We sat
through the expansion, Edmonton sat through the expansion, what makes Victoria so different? And like you said, who knows if Victoria will be a success.
"This stinks."
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MEANWHILE WE MOVE ON TO OTHER THINGS . . .
As you will be aware by now, Mandi Schwartz lost her battle with leukemia on Sunday. Mike G. Morreale of nhl.com has taken a look at Mandi and the legacy she has left. That is right here.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Matt Ellison (Red Deer, 2002-03) signed a two-year contract extension with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia KHL). He had 21 goals and 29 assists in 53 games this season for Torpedo.
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In the spring of 2001, Spokane swept the Kamloops Blazers from a first-round series in which Chiefs D Kurt Sauer was as dominant as a defenceman can be. He was tough and physical and absolutely ruled the ice surface through all four games. These days, he’s playing the role of Mr. Mom. Why? Because of concussion-like symptoms. He hasn’t been on the ice since September 2009. Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic has that story right here.
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D Rasmus Rissanen of the Everett Silvertips has signed a three-year deal with with the Carolina Hurricanes, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2009 NHL draft. Rissanen, 19, has put up 27 points and 192 penalty minutes in 139 games with Everett. He also played for Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championship in Buffalo. He has joined the Hurricane’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. . . . Former Everett G Leland Irving earned his second straight 1-0 AHL shutout Monday, as the host Abbotsford Heat got past the Hamilton Bulldogs. That was his seventh blank job this season. F Justin Dowling, who played for the Swift Current Broncos this season, drew the second assist on the winner as he ran his point streak to three games. . . . F Shane McColgan is the WHL’s player of the week. He had five points in two games. . . . Drew Owsley of the Tri-City Americans is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-0, 0.50, .975.
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MONDAY’S PLAYOFF GAME:
In Winnipeg, F Kellan Tochkin and F Emerson had two goals each as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-5 to win that first-round series, 4-2. . . . That was the last first-round series to be completed. The four tops seeds in each conference have advanced to the second round. . . . The Wheat Kings were playing their home games at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair has been in the rink in Brandon. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey had three assists. Vey, who led the regular season in scoring, now tops the playoff point derby, with 12 points. That’s two ahead of F Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks and F Brayden Schenn of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac scored once, giving him nine points, including four goals, in the series. . . . Tochkin’s goals were his first of the series. . . . F Mike Ferland had three goals for Brandon, which took a 2-1 lead into Game 4 in which it wasn’t able to hold a couple of three-goal leads. The Tigers won the last three games. . . . The Tigers continued to be without G Tyler Bunz (concussion) and F Tyler Pitlick (ankle), while the Wheat Kings scratched F Brenden Walker (concussion) and G Liam Liston (concussion) . . . Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun covered the game. His story is right here. . . . Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press also was there, and his game story is right here.
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MONDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Medicine Hat F Wacey Hamilton.
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun wrote an interesting item out of that series between the Wheat Kigns and Medicine Hat Tigers:
“You may have noticed that the Brandon Wheat Kings had no backup goalie listed for Game 4 in Winnipeg, when Liam Liston was unable to play due to a concussion.
“Indeed the Wheat  Kings did have another puckstopper on the bench, but did not list him on the official gamesheet.
“It’s an uncommon — but not unheard of — occurrence, done to protect the identity of emergency goaltenders whose NCAA eligibility could be forfeited by appearing in a WHL game, and it’s something that the league office condones.
“It’s also a policy that seems a little disingenuous coming from a league that has levied heavy sanctions in the past against teams that have used players under assumed names to protect their NCAA eligibility and earlier this season came down on the Portland Winterhawks for letting an ineligible Swiss player take part in a training-camp scrimmage.
“Setting aside the NCAA rulebook for a moment (and frankly, disqualifying a player who happened to be one of the few capable of safely filling in on the bench at a hard-to-come-by position during extenuating circumstances is despicable in itself), hiding a player’s involvement is unbecoming of a league that strives to conduct its business in a professional manner. And withholding a name doesn’t change the fact that the player was there and could face repercussions if discovered.
“I’d be curious to know how others feel who have had their own NCAA eligibility burned after appearing on the gamesheet for a single WHL contest.
“I’m sure they would have appreciated the cover of the WHL’s version of the Witness Protection Program.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
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