Blazers, Pats swing deal . . . Thunderbirds making changes . . . Cougars add coach

F Aki Kangasmäki (Chilliwack, 2006-07) has been loaned by KeuPa HT Keuruu (Finland, Mestis) to Lukko Rauma (Finland, Liiga). He started the season with Hokki Kajaani (Finland, Mestis), scoring three goals and adding three assists in nine games, before signing with KeuPa on Nov. 24. He had eight goals and seven assists in 12 games there. . . .

D Shaone Morrisonn (Kamloops, 1999-2002) has been traded by Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL) to Admiral Vladivostok (Russia, KHL) for cash compensation. Morrisonn had two goals and four assists in 33 games with Medveščak. The deal was completed on Christmas Day, which was the trade deadline in the KHL this season.

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#WHL KAM/REG Trade:  Blazers were 65-49-6-4 (.565) when D. Davidson was in lineup in career;  .712 when he had point, .458 when not.

— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) December 27, 2016

The Kamloops Blazers had an extra defenceman and badly needed to add a veteran centre. The Regina Pats had extra forwards and wanted another defenceman. So the Blazers dealt D Dawson Davidson, 18, to the Pats for F Luc Smith, 18.

The trade was announced on Tuesday morning, although Davidson was told about it on Christmas night.

The Blazers will be without F Matt Revel, 20, for perhaps two months after he suffered an undisclosed injury during a game against the host Edmonton Oil Kings on Dec. 10. Revel, a veteran centre, was a key part of the Blazers, who are hoping that Smith is able to at least help make up for the absence.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Smith has six goals and five assists in 29 games with the Pats this season. In 154 career games, all with Regina, the native of Stony Plain, Alta., has 12 goals and 14 assists.

DAWSON DAVIDSON

Davidson, from Moosomin, Sask., is a puck-moving defenceman who should fit in well with the Pats’ high-powered offence. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder has three goals and 12 assists in 32 games this season. In 124 regular-season games, he had 12 goals and 51 assists. Last season, he finished with six goals and 33 assists in 59 games.

LUC SMITH

Davidson told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that he is excited about joining a contender — the Pats went into last night at 22-3-6 — and a team that is in the running to be the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament.

“That’s why coming here is so special,” Davidson told Harder. “The Pats are very dangerous this year and, next year, if we can get the Memorial Cup that would be awesome. It’s an unbelievable opportunity.”

Interestingly, Davidson and Smith were both third-round selections in the 2013 bantam draft; in fact, they were taken two picks apart.

The Pats added Davidson almost a month after getting D Jonathan Smart, 17, from the Kelowna Rockets. Smart went into last night’s game with seven assists in eight games with Regina.

Kamloops also has brought in F Brodi Stuart from the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. He has nine goals and 11 assists in 19 games with the Thunderbirds. He was pointless in two earlier games with the Blazers this season.

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The Spokane Chiefs have add F Alex Mowbray, 20, to their rsoter. Mowbray, who is from Calgary, had been playing with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, In 32 games, he had 10 goals and 10 assists. . . . Mowbray had played the previous three season with the Medicine Hat Tigers, putting up 22 goals and 20 assists in 177 games. Medicine Hat selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 bantam draft. . . . He joins G Jayden Sittler and F Keanu Yamamoto as Spokane’s three 20-year-olds.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Aaron Hyman, 18, from the Calgary Hitmen for a third-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hyman has a goal and seven assists in 28

AARON HYMAN

games this season. In 74 career regular-season games, he has two goals and 10 assists. The Thunderbirds, who lost a lot of size from their back end after last season with the departures of Jared Hauf and Jerret Smith, wanted to add some size and they have done that. . . . Calgary had been carrying nine defencemen, so something had to give. . . . The Hitmen selected Hyman in the third-round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft, using a pick acquired from Seattle for G Brandon Glover in 2012.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds have dropped D Bryan Allbee, 19, and F Layne Bensmiller, 19, from their roster, and are looking to trade D Brandon Schuldaus, who has asked out.

Allbee, from Prince George, was being used both on defence and as a fourth-line forward. This season, he had three assists in 33 games. In 146 career games, the first 88 with the Kootenay Ice, he had 11 goals and 28 assists. Seattle acquired Allbee from Kootenay on Jan. 4 for a fifth-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft.

“Allbee wants to play more and knows he won’t in our league so he is going to play in (junior A),” Seattle general manager Russ Farwell told Andy Eide of 710 ESPN Seattle.

Bensmiller, from Red Deer, was limited to seven games by an undisclosed injury. In 119 career games, he has 18 goals and 24 assists. He also has played with the Hitmen and Prince Albert Raiders. Seattle acquired Bensmiller and a conditional seventh-round 2017 draft pick from Prince Albert on Sept. 15, with F Nic Holowko going the other way.

Schuldaus, a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, has two goals and three assists in 33 games this season. Last season, as a freshman, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Calgary native had two goals and four assists in 57 games.

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The Victoria Royals have signed G Riley Mathieson, 19, to a WHL contract. Mathieson is playing for the junior B Saanich Braves of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and will remain there. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Mathieson, who is from Port Hardy, B.C., will join the Royals, according to general manager Cam Hope, “on an as-needed basis.” . . . With the Braves, who are 21-9-1, Mathieson is 3.25, .902.

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The Prince George Cougars have added Shawn Chambers, a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a player, to their staff as an assistant coach. A defenceman, Chambers played 625 regular-season and 94 playoff games in the NHL over 13 seasons. He won Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils (1995) and Dallas Stars (1999). He and Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk were teammates in Dallas. . . . In Prince George, Chambers, a native of Sterling Heights, Mich., will work alongside Matvichuk and assistant coach Steve O’Rourke. . . . Chambers played 28 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1986-87, after leaving the U of Alaska-Fairbanks. . . . He retired after playing four games with Dallas in 1999-2000.

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WHL commish Ron Robison said before season that "fighting is almost nonexistent in many ways today." WHL at 371 fighting majors this year.

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 27, 2016

There's a 17-year-old in WHL who has fought 11 times so far this season. Nobody in NHL fought more than 12 times last season.

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) December 27, 2016

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Thunderbirds, Blades make deal . . . Exhibition season wraps up . . . Sad day in WHL scouting fraternity

The Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for Sept. 25, which is only one week from today.

Dorothy (aka Wonder Woman) will be taking part for a third straight year after having undergone a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013.

She went into this year’s fund-raiser with a goal of $2,000. As of Saturday night, she was No. 7 in B.C., having raised $1,961.

If you would like to help push her past $2,000, you may do so right here.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds, having acquired a goaltender on Friday, dealt G Logan Flodell, 19, to the

Saskatoon Blades on Saturday, getting back D Anthony Bishop, 18, in return. . . . The Thunderbirds picked up G Rylan Toth, 20, from the Red Deer Rebels on Friday. . . . Flodell, from Regina, was a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He got into 54 games over three seasons with Seattle, going 26-17-5, 2.84, .899. Last season, he was 22-13-4, 2.68, .904, but he finished up playing behind Landon Bow, a 20-year-old who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Blades are expected to open the season with Flodell and Brock Hamm, 19, as their goaltenders, although freshmen Dorin Luding and Joel Grzybowski, both 17, remain on their roster. . . . By acquiring Bishop, the Thunderbirds filled a hole created by the sudden retirement of Jared Pelechaty, 17, who was found to have a congenital spine issue that left him susceptible to injury. . . . Bishop, a list player from Kelowna, had two assists in 40 games with the Blades last season. This preseason, he has four assists, three of them on the PP, in five games.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

The WHL’s exhibition schedule concluded with eight games on Saturday. The regular season opens with nine games on Friday. . . . Here’s a brief look at what happened Saturday . . . 

At Crowsnest Pass, Alta., F Lucas Cullen scored his third goal of the preseason, at 4:35 of OT, to give the Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Murphy Stratton gave Calgary (4-2-0) a 1-0 lead at 4:48 of the second period. . . . F Michael King tied it for the Ice (0-3-2) at 16:50 of the third. . . . 

At St. Albert, Alta., veteran F Jesse Shynkaruk scored twice to help the Saskatoon Blades to a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Shynkaruk, who is hoping to land one of the Blades’ three 20-year-old spots, scored twice on the PP, giving the Blades 1-0 and 5-3 leads. . . . F Mason McCarty had two goals and an assist for the Blades (3-3-0), who got four assists from F Braylon Shmyr and two from F Logan Christensen. . . . The Oil Kings (2-3-0) got three assists from D Jordan Dawson. . . . 

At Everett, F Layne Bensmiller, who was acquired earlier in the week, scored the only goal of the shootout as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Silvertips, 4-3. . . . Bensmiller was acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders in a deal in which F Nic Holowko went the other way. Bensmiller met his new teammates prior to boarding the team bus, then went out and scored in regulation time, too. . . . F Cavin Leth had a goal and an assist for Seattle (5-2-0). . . . Everett (2-3-2) got a goal and an assist from F Riley Sutter and two assists from F Spencer Gerth. . . . Seattle G Ryan Gilchrist started and stopped 13 of 16 shots in 30:15. Carl Stankowski came on to turn aside all 23 shots he saw through OT and three more in the shootout. . . . 

At Moose Jaw, F Jayden Halbgewachs scored twice and added an assist to lead the Warriors to a 4-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Brayden Watts had two assists for the Warriors (4-3-0) and F Nikita Popugaev added a goal and an assist. . . . The Warriors got 18 saves from G Adam Evanoff, while Taz Burman stopped 26 for the Broncos (5-2-1). . . . 

At Red Deer, G Duncan McGovern put up his second shutout in as many nights as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Rebels, 3-0. . . . McGovern stopped 18 shots. One night earlier, in Ralston, Alta., he blocked 14 shots in beating the Rebels, 4-0. . . . Last night, the Tigers (4-2-0) got a goal and an assist from each of F Gary Haden and F Josh McNeil. . . . The Rebels (3-3-0) got 32 stops from G Riley Lamb. . . . 

At Regina, the Brandon Wheat Kings broke a scoreless tie with two goals in the last 20 seconds of the first period en route to a 6-4 victory over the Pats. . . . F Stelio Mattheos got Brandon (3-2-0) on the board at 19:41 of the opening period and F Tak Anholt added another goal at 19:59. . . . Regina F Nick Henry tied the score 4-4 with his second goal of the game, and fifth of the preseason, at 12:34 of the third period. . . . Brandon D James Shearer scored on the PP, at 16:01, to win it. . . . F Ty Lewis had a goal and two assists for Brandon, with Anholt adding an assist to his goal. . . . D Chase Harrison and F Dawson Leedahl each had two assists for Regina (3-4-1). . . . 

At Spokane, F Curtis Miske’s third preseason goal, a PP score at 1:11 of OT, gave the Chiefs a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Tri-City F Michael Rasmussen forced extra time with his fourth goal, at 11:44 of the third period. . . . The Chiefs (4-3-0) led 2-0 at 13:17 of the first period, on goals from F Dominic Zwerger, his first, and F Kailer Yamamoto, his third. . . . F Vladislav Lukin got the Americans’ first goal, his third, at 17:20 of the first period. . . . Spokane F Jaret Anderson-Dolan and D Ty Smith each had two assists, while Yamamoto also had one assist. . . . Rasmussen and Lukin each added an assist. . . . G Beck Warm turned aside 42 shots for the Americans (3-4-1). . . . Spokane G Jayden Sittler stopped 17 shots.

At Langley, B.C., G Griffen Outhouse stopped 23 shots to earn the shutout as the Victoria Royals blanked the Vancouver Giants, 2-0. . . . F Ty Westgard scored his first goal of the preseason at 19:47 and F Ethan Price, with his third, added insurance at 16:54 of the third. . . . The Royals finished 5-1-0. . . . The Giants (1-4-1) were playing their first game this season in their new home, the Langley Events Centre. . . . If you were wondering, Vancouver F Tyler Benson (shoulder) didn’t play for the Edmonton Oilers in a game against the Calgary Flames last night at the YoungStars Classic in Penticton, B.C.

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Sad day in the scouting fraternity. Always appreciated our chats and how good he was to me since moving here. Thank you and RIP Bob McGill.

— Mike Fraser (@MikeFraser29) September 18, 2016

Rest in Peace Gilly.  Always enjoyed our chats at the rink. Sad day.  #scoutingbrother

— Moults (@Moults_23) September 18, 2016

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Fleury: Canada is 'Disneyland for pedophiles' . . . Oil Kings' opener sells out . . . Full practice for Patrick

Graham James uses his middle name "Michael" now. "Michael James" is Graham James. He can change his name, but not who he really is.

— Greg Gilhooly (@GregGilhooly) September 15, 2016

One day after the Swift Current Broncos celebrated the organization’s decision to support Safe Places Initiative, a program that aims to reduce potential risks to children and youth, their former general manager and head coach was granted full parole.

Graham James was serving a seven-year sentence for the sexual assault of players he was coaching. He had been on day parole in the Montreal area.

Sheldon Kennedy, one of James’s victims, now advocates on behalf of young people and has been a big part of the Broncos’ and the City of Swift Current’s involvement with Safe Places Initiative.

Having James on parole with various restrictions gave Kennedy a sense of deja vu.

“In my case a number of years ago, Graham got out and made all these promises,” Kennedy told Calgary radio station 660 NEWS. “He had all these conditions on full parole, but we found Graham teaching youth hockey in Spain.

“We’ll never get decisions that are supportive of the impact of his crime until we start understanding the severity and the lifelong impact this crime has on children and into adulthood.”

Full Parole for Pedophile #GrahamJames 
MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH HIS VICTIMS THAT STRUGGLE EVERYDAY...and all VICTIMS pic.twitter.com/GHLrPIcpae

— Sheldon Kennedy (@ShelKenn) September 15, 2016

Theo Fleury, another former WHL player who was abused by James, chose not to do any interviews on Thursday from Vernon, B.C., where he was speaking to high school students. But he issued a news release in which he referred to Canada as “Disneyland for pedophiles.”

That news release is right here.

CBC News has more on the story right here.

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The Edmonton Oil Kings have sold out their first game at Rogers Place, the new facility that they will share with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. The Oil Kings will entertain the Red Deer Rebels on Sept. 24 before the first sellout (18,102) in the modern history of the franchise. . . . That will set a new franchise single-game attendance record. The previous record (16,651) dates to a March 10, 2012 game against the Rebels. The Oil Kings won that one, 7-4. . . . The WHL’s single-game regular-season attendance record for a game played indoors (19,305) was set on March 16, 2008, as the host Calgary Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-1. . . . On Feb. 21, 2011, the Regina Pats beat the host Hitmen, 3-2, in front of 20,888 fans at McMahon Stadium, the home of the CFL’s Calgary Flames.

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The WHL announced Thursday that its teams are sending 140 players to NHL training camps.

All of those players are eligible to return for another WHL season, although a number of them aren’t expected back.

In fact, there likely are around 20 players on the WHL list, most of them 2014 NHL draft picks, who aren’t expected to return for their 20-year-old season.

At least one player on the WHL list, F Evan Polei of the Red Deer Rebels, is injured and won’t be attending an NHL camp. He had accepted a free-agent invitation from the St. Louis Blues.

Still, no matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of players leaving WHL teams for NHL camps.

And now the waiting game begins. The WHL’s regular season is to open on Sept. 23 and a number of those players likely won’t be back in time to take part.

The World Cup of Hockey hits high gear this weekend and, because of it, NHL main camps will open a few days later than normal. NHL teams may also hold over a few major junior players if for no other reason than to fill out rosters.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, for example, has its top two goaltenders — Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy — playing in the WCoH. Does that mean that G Connor Ingram of the Kamloops Blazers, a third-round pick in the NHL’s 2016 draft, will end up in main camp?

The Blazers will be watching closely, while other WHL teams also are in the same position with other players.

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The mystery has been solved.

On Wednesday, F Tanner Nagel, 18, tweeted a farewell to Portland and the Winterhawks, while mentioning that he was looking forward to joining the Lethbridge Hurricanes. However, everyone went to bed without seeing an announcement from either team.

Well, late Thursday morning, it was revealed that the Hurricanes had acquired Nagel for the rights to G Shane Farkas, who is to turn 17 on Dec. 1.

Lethbridge GM Peter Anholt told Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald that “it’s a depth deal for us,”

“We never felt that Farkas was going to play for us,” Anholt said. “We had another deal we had done for Farkas, but when (Portland) threw out the option of taking Nagel we thought we’ll add some depth and see what comes of it.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Nagel was a Portland list player. A native of Mossbank, Sask., he had one goal in 38 games with the Winterhawks last season. In 23 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, he had six goals and an assist.

Farkas, from Penticton, B.C., was a fourth-round pick by Lethbridge in the 2014 bantam draft. The 6-foot-2, 155-pounder played last season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy and now is with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.

Later Thursday, West Kelowna announced the acquisition of G Xavier Burghardt, 19, from the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers for future considerations. Burghardt, from Medicine Hat, played last season with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons.

Burghardt’s arrival leaves the Warriors with four goaltenders on their roster, including Jordan Wilde, who is an AP (affiliated player). Burghardt also joins Farkas and Keelan Williams, 20, on the roster. Williams, who is injured, got into 11 games with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice in 2014-15 and two games last season. He also played in 22 regular-season and three playoff games with the Warriors last season.

The Warriors, under GM/head coach Rylan Ferster, are the defending Royal Bank Cup champions.

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Prince Albert and Seattle swapped 19-year-old wingers on Thursday, with Nic Holowko going to the Raiders for Layne Bensmiller and an undisclosed conditional pick in the 2017 bantam draft. . . . The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Holowko, from Burnaby, B.C., had nine points, five of them goals, with Seattle in 2014-15 and added 20 points, including six goals, in 72 games last season. . . . The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Bensmiller, from Red Deer, had 11 points, including six goals, in 34 games with the Calgary Hitmen in 2014-15, then added 24 points, eight of them goals, in 44 games last season before being dealt to the Raiders. With P.A., he had three goals and three assists in 30 games.

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JUST NOTES:

F Nolan Patrick was the first player off the ice at the Brandon Wheat Kings’ practice on Thursday. Still, it was his first full practice since he underwent sports hernia surgery in Winnipeg in mid-July. Patrick is the consensus No. 1 pick for the NHL’s 2017 draft. The Wheat Kings open the regular season on Sept. 23 against the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . With eight players at pro camps, F Rod Southam injured and D Nolan Foote out with mononucleosis, the Kelowna Rockets are expected to dress just 14 skaters for an exhibition game tonight against the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that F Cam Hebig of the Saskatoon Blades, who has had concussion issues, is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Hebig, 19, had 69 points, including 26 goals, in 59 games last season, his third with the Blades.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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The Edmonton Oil Kings have added former NHLer Fernando Pisani to their coaching staff as their development coach. Pisani spent the past three seasons on staff with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . . The Oil Kings also re-signed head coach Steve Hamilton and assistant coach Ryan Marsh. Contract terms were released. . . . David Pelletier is Edmonton’s skating coach, with Dustin Schwartz the goaltending coach, Kurtis Mucha the goaltender development coach, and Jory Stuparyk and Michael Chan the video coaches.

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

At Prince Albert, F Tim Vanstone had a goal and four assists to lead the Raiders to a 6-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw (3-3-0) held a 42-23 shot advantage, including 19-6 in the third period. . . . F Parker Kelly added two goals and an assist for the Raiders (2-2-0), with F Sean Montgomery getting a goal and an assist, and D Loch Morrison drawing two assists. . . . Kelly’s first goal, at 8:22 of the second period, broke a 2-2 tie. His second goal, at 13:59 of the third, gave the Raiders a 5-2 edge. . . . 

At Crowsnest Pass, Alta., F Ryley Lindgren scored two goals and set up another to help the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Hurricanes (2-3-0) took a 2-0 lead, only to have the Ice (0-3-1) tie it early in the second period. . . . F Colton Kroeker scored a PP goal to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead. That goal stood up as the winner.

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