McGauley still streaking . . . Hitmen win showdown in Kelowna . . . Bjorkstrand's tear continues

D Mark Pysyk of the AHL’s Rochester Americans collapsed while taking part in a pickup basketball game on Saturday and was taken to hospital. He was released later in the day. Pysyk is a former captain of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle has more right here.
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THE WHL PLAYOFF PICTURE:

EAST DIVISION: Brandon (9 games remaining) will finish atop the Eastern Conference standings and now trails Kelowna by one point in the race for first place overall. . . . Regina (10) will finish second in the division. . . . Swift Current (10) is third, eight points ahead of Moose Jaw (10), which is six points ahead of Prince Albert (11). . . . The Warriors are five points behind Edmonton (10), which holds down the conference’s second wild-card berth.
CENTRAL DIVISION: Calgary (9) is atop the division, two points ahead of Medicine Hat (9). . . . Red Deer (10) is third, seven points behind Medicine Hat and five ahead of Kootenay (8), which is in possession of the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . Edmonton (10) is seven points behind Kootenay.
B.C. DIVISION: Kelowna (9) has clinched first place in the Western Conference and holds a one-point lead over Brandon atop the overall standings. . . . Victoria (10) will finish second. . . . Prince George (9) has won three straight and moved back into third place, one point ahead of Vancouver (10) and two up on Kamloops (9). . . . Vancouver is two points behind Tri-City (9), which holds down the conference’s second wild-card berth.
U.S. DIVISION: Everett (9) sits atop the division, but is only two points ahead of Portland (10). . . . Seattle (10) is third, nine points behind Portland and six ahead of Spokane (11). . . . Spokane holds the conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . Spokane is seven points ahead of Tri-City (9), which is 2-8-0 in its last 10 and clinging to that second wild-card spot.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:

Eastern Conference
Brandon vs. Edmonton
Calgary vs. Kootenay
Regina vs. Swift Current
Medicine Hat vs. Red Deer
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Western Conference
Kelowna vs. Tri-City
Everett vs. Spokane
Victoria vs. Prince George
Portland vs. Seattle
(NOTE: Team with home-ice advantage shown first.)
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

In Swift Current, F Dryden Hunt scored two goals and set up another as the Medicine Hat Tigers dropped the Broncos, 5-1. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford scored his WHL-leading 47th goal at 11:13 of the second period for a 2-1 lead. . . . Sanford had the WHL lead until Portland F Oliver Bjorkstrand tied him later in the evening. Bjorkstrand later scored again, giving him 48. . . . Hunt, who has 30 goals, scored at 19:52 of the second, on a PP, and again at 1:30 of the third. . . . Sanford also had an assist, getting him up to 88points in 63 games. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox, the WHL scoring leader, drew three assists. He’s got 97 points in 60 games. . . . Tigers F Steve Owre and D Kyle Becker each had a goal and an assist. . . . Owre has 16 goals; Becker has 11. . . . F Jake DeBrusk got No. 37 for the Broncos. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-for-2. . . . Medicine Hat G Nick Schneider stopped 30 shots, nine fewer than Swift Current’s Landon Bow. . . . The Broncos had D Dillon Heatherington back in the lineup. He last played on Jan. 23. . . . The Tigers (39-21-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Broncos (30-27-5) have lost two straight. . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Jesse Shynkaruk scored at 1:31 of OT gave the Warriors a 6-5 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . The Pats led 2-0 on a pair of goals by F Adam Brooks, the second one shorthanded. . . . The Warriors then scored four in a row, with F Tanner Eberle getting two of them in 24 seconds and F Jack Rodewald scoring his 30th. . . . The Pats tied it in the first half of the third period as F Jesse Gabrielle scored his 20th and Brooks completed his first hat trick with his 25th. . . . F Patrick D’Amico gave Regina a 5-4 lead with his 18th goal at 15:28 on a PP. . . . Warriors F Brett Howden got his 15th at 16:56 to force OT. . . . Shynkaruk won it with his seventh goal of the season. . . . Eberle left the Warriors’ bench for the dressing room early in the third period and didn’t return. After the game, Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald tweeted: “Tanner Eberle is still being evaluated, but it looked like a shoulder injury and he has had a previous shoulder surgery.” . . . Rodewald also had two assists, while linemate Brayden Point scored his 29th goal and had two assists. . . . Moose Jaw D Austin Adam also had two helpers. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-for-5 on the PP; Regina was 1-for-3. . . . The Warriors (26-31-5) have won two straight. . . . Regina (33-20-9) is 0-1-2 in its last three. . . .

In Brandon, F Peter Quenneville scored twice to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Quenneville has 20 goals, and is the seventh player on the Brandon roster to reach that mark. . . . The Wheat Kings built a 5-2 lead before the Ice got two goals in the latter half of the third period to get to within one. . . . Brandon F Morgan Klimchuk iced it with an empty-netter at 19:28 of the third. He’s got 27 goals. Klimchuk also had two assists. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley had two assists as he ran his point streak to 19 games, tied for the longest such streak in the WHL this season. F Dryden Hunt put together a 19-game streak split between the Regina Pats and Medicine Hat Tigers earlier in the season. Hunt put up 30 points, 10 of them goals, in his streak. McGauley has 39 points, including 27 assists. . . . According to Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Wheaties, McGauley has the team’s longest point streak since F Cory Cyrenne went 23 games in 1997-98. . . . F Tim Bozon scored twice for the Ice, giving him 31 this season. He has scored at least 30 goals in each of his four WHL seasons. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 30th goal, while F Sam Reinhart had two assists. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny, making his 13th consecutive start, stopped 26 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings (46-10-7) are 3-0-1 in their last four. . . . The Ice (33-28-3) had points in their previous seven (5-0-2). . . .

In Red Deer, D Kord Pankewicz scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Rebels. . . . With Red Deer shooting first, Rebels F Connor Gay and Hurricanes F Jamal Watson exchanged first-round goals. . . . After seven skaters fired blanks, Pankewicz won it. . . . Lethbridge F Tyler Wong, celebrating his 19th birthday, forced OT with his 23rd goal at 13:05 of the second period. . . . Red Deer F Reese Johnson scored his first WHL goal, in his third game, at 11:07 of the first period. . . . Hurricanes F Mike Winther tied it with his 13th at 15:11. . . . Red Deer F Adam Musil got his 13th on a PP at 2:26 of the second for a 2-1 lead. . . . Red Deer F Wyatt Johnson came up empty on a penalty shot seven seconds into OT. . . . Lethbridge G Jayden Sittler stopped 30 shots, while Red Deer’s Rylan Toth turned aside 27. . . . The Hurricanes (19-35-8) snapped a five-game losing skid (0-3-2). . . . The Rebels (32-20-10) had won their previous two games. . . .

In Kamloops, the Blazers erased a 3-2 third-period deficit and beat the Vancouver Giants, 6-3. . . . F Carter Popoff gave the Giants a 3-2 lead with his 24th goal at 2:23 of the third period. . . . Kamloops D Michael Fora tied it with his fifth goal at 8:16. . . . F Cole Ully of Kamloops broke the tie with his 30th goal at 13:07 and freshman F Quinn Benjafield got his second of the game, and fifth of the season, at 16:20. . . . F Jackson Houck scored his 20th goal for Vancouver in the first period and F Ty Ronning notched his first of the season, also in the first. . . . Ully finished with a goal and two assist, giving him 81 points in 60 games. He also was plus-4. . . . F Logan McVeigh and F Joel Hamilton each had two assists for Kamloops. . . . The Blazers scratched freshman F Deven Sideroff, who left early in the third period of Friday’s 4-2 victory over visiting Victoria with an apparent injury to his right wrist. In his absence, F Jesse Zaharichuk started on the right side with Needham and Ully. Cody Nickolet, who tracks WHL lines and defence pairings, has the Ully-Needham-Sideroff line together for 54 of the Blazers’ 62 games going into last night. . . . Before the night was done, Kamloops head coach Don Hay had cycled a number of skaters through the right wing on that line. Later, he even split up Needham and Ully, putting Ully out with Luke Harrison and McVeigh. It paid off in Harrison’s 12th goal, at 17:37 of the second. . . . Vancouver had F Matt Bellerive (illness) back for the first time since Jan. 25. . . . The Blazers scored four goals on seven shots in the third period. . . . F Tyler Benson had two assists for Vancouver. . . . There were three minor penalties called, two to the Blazers. . . . Neither team scored on the PP. . . . The Blazers (24-33-6) have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (26-33-3) have lost two straight. . . .

In Spokane, F Curtis Miske scored three goals to help the Chiefs to an 8-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Chiefs took control with five second-period goals. . . . Miske, a freshman from Beaumont, Alta., who turned 18 on Jan. 17, now has five goals in 49 games. . . . Chiefs F Adam Helewka scored twice, giving him 35, and added an assist, while F Kailer Yamamoto and F Keanu Yamamoto each had three assists. Yes, they are brothers. . . . Spokane G Garret Hughson stopped 22 shots. He lost his shutout bid when F Taylor Vickerman scored his sixth goal on a PP at 19:45 of the third period. . . . Tri-City F Beau McCue missed on a second-period penalty shot. . . . Spokane D Riley Whittingham took a charging major and game misconduct at 19:02 of the third period. . . . Tri-City G Beck Warm, a 15-year-old making his first start, stopped 31 shots. With regular goaltenders Eric Comrie and Evan Sarthou injured, Warm is the fifth starting goaltender the Americans have used this season. . . . Spokane leads the season series 7-3-0 with two games remaining. . . . The Chiefs (30-27-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Americans (27-33-3) have lost four in a row. . . .

In Kelowna, F Kenton Helgesen scored at 15:57 of the third period to give the Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Rockets. . . . Helgesen’s goal was his 20th of the season. . . . Rockets F Leon Draisaitl scored the game’s first goal, his 14th, at 8:40 of the first period. That was his 200th WHL point. . . . Draisaitl was later ejected, taking a major for goaltender interference at 14:31 of the second period. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen tied the game 1-1 with his 19th goal, on a PP at 5:55 of the second. . . . Virtanen also had an assist. . . . Hitmen G Brendan Burke stopped 30 shots. He’s 9-1-1 since being acquired from Portland at the trade dealine. . . . Rockets G Jackson Whistle started for the first time since Feb. 6 when he beat visiting Kamloops, 5-3. He underwent an appendectomy after that start. . . . Whistle turned aside 22 shots in this one. . . . D Josh Morrissey returned to Kelowna’s lineup after a one-game absence, but left in the second period with an apparent left leg injury. According to Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier, Morrissey “got tangled up with Calgary forechecker Carsen Twarynski, went down awkwardly and had to be helped off the ice unable to put any weight on his left leg.” . . . Calgary was 1-for-3 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-for-6. . . . The Rockets remain without injured F Rourke Chartier. . . . The Hitmen (39-19-5) are 5-1-0 on a six-game swing that started with five U.S. Division stops. . . . The Rockets (48-11-4) had won their previous two games. They also had won eight straight on home ice. . . . Fisher’s game story is right here. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Oliver Bjorkstrand ran his goal-scoring streak to a franchise record-tying 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . Bjorsktrand scored twice, giving him 48 goals in 49 games, as he took over the WHL’s goal-scoring lead. . . . He now shares the franchise record of 11 straight games with F Tony Currie, who did it in 1976-77, the Winterhawks’ first season in Portland. . . . Bjorkstrand broke a 1-1 tie at 13:40 of first period and later added an empty-netter at 18:01 of the third. . . . The online scoresheet credits Bjorkstrand with Portland’s third goal, a PP score at 2:29 of the second period, but that one is expected to be changed to F Paul Bittner, who also scored another goal. He’s got 29. . . . Bjorkstrand also had an assist. He has 90 points, good for second spot in the scoring race. . . . F Chase De Leo scored his 31st goal and added an assist for Portland, while F Nic Petan had two assists. . . . F Mathew Barzal got his 12th goal and had an assist for Seattle. . . . Portland G Adin Hill was credited with 49 stops, 26 more than Seattle’s Taran Kozun. . . . Portland was 1-for-1 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-3. . . . The Winterhawks (37-20-5) have points in eight straight (6-0-2). . . . Seattle (31-23-8) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . .

In Everett, the Prince George Cougars scored the last five goals and beat the Silvertips, 5-1. . . . F Jake Mykitiuk, who began his WHL career with the Cougars, got Everett on the board with his third goal at 10:16 of the first. . . . Cougars F Chase Witala tied it with his 31st at 13:02 of the first, on a PP. . . . F Aaron Boyd broke the tie with his sixth, at 8:21 of the second. . . . Witala finished with two goals, while F Jansen Harkins had three assists for a third straight game. . . . Cougars D Josh Connolly had two assists, and F Zach Pochiro scored his 16th goal and added an assist. . . . Cougars G Ty Edmonds stopped 27 shots, two more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Prince George was 2-for-4 on the PP; Everett was 0-for-6. . . . The Silvertips were without D Ben Betker, who served a one-game suspension for a headshot major and game misconduct he incurred on Friday night. . . . Everett also was missing two other defence men — Kevin Davis and Tristen Pfeifer, both with undisclosed injuries. . . . The injuries and the suspension meant that Everett dressed just four defencemen, so F Dawson Leedahl helped out on the back end. . . . The Cougars scratched F David Soltes for a second straight game. . . . The Cougars (26-33-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Silvertips now are 37-19-7.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES

(all times local)
Prince Albert at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Regina, 6 p.m.
Swift Current at Saskatoon, 6:05 p.m.
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MONDAY’S GAME

(all times local)
Seattle at Victoria, 7 p.m.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES

(all times local)
Edmonton at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Vancouver at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
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My view from the broadcast booth in Kelowna. Some guys are going to have some great nights in that corner! #makeitup pic.twitter.com/0GNYQna4JM
— Brad Curle (@BCurle_Hitmen) March 1, 2015

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Ryan Clark of the Fargo, N.D., Forum spoke with Popeye Jones earlier this week and the father of D Seth Jones said it was a “no-brainer” for his son to choose to continue his hockey career with the Portland Winterhawks. Check out that piece right here.
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With the Portland Winterhawks having appeared in the last two WHL championship finals, it’s sometimes hard to remember that it wasn’t that long ago when this team was the laughingstock of major junior hockey.
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has a piece right here on how the Winterhawks climbed from the outhouse to the penthouse.
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The OHL on Thursday morning approved the sale of the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors by Eugene Melnyk to Elliott Kerr, a well-known Mississauga businessman who owns Landmark Sports Group, and partner David Livingston. . . . Melnyk owns the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . The Mississauga franchise will undergo a change of name and colours before all is done. . . . James Boyd, the team’s GM and head coach, will remain in place. . . .
With Kerr purchasing the Majors, he had to divest himself of his ownership share in the OHL’s Guelph Storm. So, yesterday afternoon, the Storm announced that partners Rick Gaetz, Rick Hoyle and John Heeley had bought “the interest in the team previously held” by Kerr and Livingston. At the same time, Guelph head coach Scott Walker, the team announced, “has joined the Storm ownership group.”
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Art Monk, a Hall of Fame receiver, is the lead plaintiff in yet one more lawsuit filed against the NFL and Riddell Inc., the helmet manufacturer, over the issue of head injuries. According to the claim, Moss, who played 14 seasons with the Washington Redskins, has “short-term memory loss, headaches and speech difficulties” from multiple concussions.
The latest lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles and has 63 plaintiffs. The NFL now is facing lawsuits involving more than 2,000 former players.
There is more right here.
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I didn’t see/hear Ron MacLean’s intro for Hockey Night in Canada on Wednesday night (sorry, but if I never hear another of his puns it will be too soon), but I certainly read all about it later. If you’re on the Internet, how could you miss it? Anyway . . . Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star has a terrific piece right here on MacLean’s ramble and more.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The SPHL’s Hunstville Havoc removed the interim from head coach Glenn Detulleo’s title on Thursday. He now is the permanent director of hockey operations and head coach. Detulleo served as interim head coach for the last five games of the regular season and two rounds of playoff games. He had been an active player before retiring on March 8 and moving behind the bench to replace Randy Murphy. Detulleo now has a three-year contract in his hip pocket. . . .
The BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters have signed Randy Buffie as director of scouting and assistant general manager. He had been working as a B.C. regional scout for the Prince George Spruce Kings. . . . The Smoke Eaters also announced that they have hired Brent Demerais and Bill Spring as B.C.-based scouts.
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THE WHL FINAL:
Game 5 . . .
In Edmonton, D Mark Pysyk’s goal with 55.2 seconds left in the third period gave the Oil Kings a 4-3 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Oil Kings lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 in Portland on Saturday night. . . . A seventh game, if needed, would be played Sunday in Edmonton. . . . Pysyk, the Oil Kings’ captain, was the franchise’s first bantam draft pick, taken third overall in 2007. . . . Portland F Marcel Noebels scored at 1:45 of the first period to get things rolling. . . . Edmonton F Jordan Peddle tied it at 18:00. . . . Edmonton D Griffin Reinhart gave his side its first lead at 4:44 of the second, only to have Portland F Ty Rattie tie it on the PP at 5:27. . . . Rattie’s 19th goal of these playoffs tied Portland’s single-playoff record set by F Dan Woodley in 1987. . . . Peddle, who drew an assist on Reinhart’s goal, then got his second of the game, at 7:20, to give the Oil Kings a 3-2 edge. . . . Peddle, who turned 21 on March 5, is from Elbow, Sask. He was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos early in the season. He finished with 25 points in 70 games, going 10-12–22 in 66 games with the Oil Kings. In 18 games in these playoffs, he has 12 points, including six goals. . . . At 5:07 of the third, Portland F Sven Baertschi scored his 14th goal of the spring to tie the score. . . . Baertschi has seven goals in this series and has scored in six straight games. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 shots, three fewer than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . Portland was 1-4 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-3. . . . Attendance was 11,077. . . . Game 6 in Portland already is sold out.
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Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal was at the game and writes right here about F Jordan Peddle of the Oil Kings and the playoff run he is on.
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Allow me to remind you once again that if you are on Twitter you should be following @WHLFacts. . . . He tweeted Thursday afternoon: “Tonight, Troy Rutkowski & Joe Morrow will tie Troy Mick for the 2nd most playoff games played in @pdxwinterhawks franchise history (54).”
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In the QMJHL, the Saint John Sea Dogs swept the Rimouski Oceanic from the championship final last night to become the first team, other than the host Shawinigan Cataractes, to qualify for the MasterCard Memorial Cup. The Sea Dogs are defending MC champs.
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John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal writes right here about the Edmonton Oil Kings and attendance at home playoff games. Why, he wonders, haven’t there been 15,000 fans at some games?
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Portland D Troy Rutkowski, who tweeted this on Thursday afternoon: “Thanks to the Sutton for putting us above construction #ruinedmynap #32swingspernail #youshouldbefired”
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Here is the schedule for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: Edmonton 4 at Portland 3 (OT) (10,947)
Thursday, May 10: Portland 3 at Edmonton 4 (11,077)
Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
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Finally, have you heard about the Bikini Hockey League? No. . . . Keith Whitmire has the story right here.

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DEPT. OF CH-CH-CHING:
Pat Conacher, the head coach of the Regina Pats, has been fined $500 for comments he made to the Regina Leader-Post’s Greg Harder after a 3-2 OT loss to the visiting Kootenay Ice on Wednesday.
It always is interesting when someone associated with a team is critical of the officials because it hardly ever happens in the vanilla world of the WHL.
In the interests of clarity, here’s what happened. . . . The Pats lost 3-2 on a PP goal by Sam Reinhart scored on a back-door play at 3:32 of exta time. Regina D Brandon Davidson was in the penalty box at the time.
Anyway, here’s what Harder wrote (that applause you hear is coming from other WHL coaches, none of whom are likely to help Conacher pay the fine despite their feelings):
Afterwards, Pats head coach Pat Conacher was less-than impressed with the work of referees Chris Crich and Cole Hamm.
“Those guys don’t work hard enough to get down the ice and they’re definitely not together. They’re lazy getting up the ice,” said Conacher, who referred to the penalty against Davidson as a “very bad call both ways.”
“There should have been an interference call on Jordan Weal (late in the third) and there could have been a holding call on Dyson Stevenson at the blue line. Then they come down and call that on Brandon. I’m going, ‘Come on guys, give us a break.’ ”
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DEPT. OF JUSTICE:
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, hit D Dylan McIlrath of the Moose Jaw Warriors with an eight-game suspension on Friday, the result of a check to the head of Victoria Royals D Jesse Zgraggen on Wednesday.
As a result, McIlrath sat out the Warriors’ 6-5 OT victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice on Friday night. Zgraggen, who is concussed, sat out the Royals’ 6-4 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert.
The WHL doesn’t do video explanations, but here is what was posted: “Primary contact was made to the head of the opponent. The hit resulted in an injury to the opponent. This is the second suspension the player has received this season.”
Doerksen is going to be busy for the next day or two, as well.
Three players left games last night with major penalties and game misconducts.
In Swift Current, Broncos D Colby Cave took a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on Edmonton Oil Kings F Mason Geertsen, who left the ice on a stretcher and was taken to hospital.
In Prince Albert, Raiders F Austin Bourhis was given a charging major and a game misconduct.
In Calgary, D Alex Roach of the Hitmen took a major and game misconduct for a check to the head.
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You often hear WHL players say something about “Living the life.” Oftentimes it is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Like this Friday afternoon tweet from Edmonton Oil Kings D Mark Pysyk before a game in Swift Current against the Broncos:
“If you absolutely love pasta I challenge you to join a hockey team for a year, and see if you still feel the same. #breakfast #lunch #dinner”
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And then there was this Twitter exchange between Regina D Brandon Davidson and Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz, both of whom are Edmonton Oilers’ draft picks . . . It went like this:
Bunz: “Game in Regina tonight against @bdavy3 . Keep your head up kid;) #throwingbows”
Davidson: “@tylerbunz wondering where to shoot tonight? Ill see if u got a quick chest first and go from there #cheese?;)”
Bunz: “@bdavy3 last time you went Chee it didn't go to well;) maybe if you shoot through screens like you always do you'll bury again #shothaseyes”
Davidson: “@tylerbunz ahhh true...true. Don't remind me :s #seeyaafter”
So what happened later? Well, Davidson had one assist and Bunz stopped 32 shots. And the Tigers won 3-2 in OT.
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JUST NOTES:
In the OHL, F Brody Silk of the Sudbury Wolves drew a 12-game suspension for a “blow to the head of an unsuspecting player.” Silk punched F Ryan Strome of the Niagara IceDogs in the head during a scrum on Jan. 13. Strome, selected fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the NHL’s 2011 draft, ended up with multiple facial fractures and a broken nose. He has undergone surgery. Strome played for Canada at the recently completed World Junior Championship. . . . In the BCHL last night, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 24 games with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Westside Warriors. The Vees next play Sunday when they are at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings. . . .
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F Brett Connolly of the Tampa Bay Lightning played six minutes 28 seconds over 11 shifts in a 2-1 victory over the host Dallas Stars last night. He played six shifts in the first period, three in the second and two in the third. He didn’t have any shots on goal, but took two tripping minors. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling. Yeah, Tri-City Americans. . . .
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 FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Regina, F Cole Grbavac’s OT goal gave the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Pats. . . . Grbavac, the team captain, scored his seventh goal of the season at 2:07 of extra time. . . . Regina F Lane Scheidl forced OT with his 16th goal at 8:18 of the third. . . . F Emerson Etem got his 40th goal of the season for the Tigers. . . . Emerson now has at least one goal in nine straight games, the longest such streak in all of the CHL this season. . . . The Tigers are at home to the Swift Current Broncos tonight. . . . F Jordan Weal had a goal, his 29th, and an assist for Regina. . . . The Pats have lost three in a row. . . .

In Swift Current, D Mark Pysyk scored twice and added an assist to help the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . The victory was Edmonton’s 31st of the season, tying the modern franchise record that was set last season. . . . Pysyk has five goals this season. . . . The Oil Kings scored the game’s first six goals and took a 5-0 lead into the second period. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Maxwell opened the scoring for the fourth straight game. He finished with two goals, giving him 27. . . . Edmonton F Mason Geertsen was injured late in the game when he took a hit from D Colby Cave in front of the Oil Kings’ bench. Geertsen received attention from both trainers, a doctor and EMT personnel before leaving the ice on a stretcher. . . . Cave was given a charging major and game misconduct, so almost certainly is looking at a suspension. . . . The Broncos took 93 of the game’s 151 penalty minutes as handed out by referee Nathan Wieler. . . . There were eight fighting majors. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry, getting into his eighth game of the season, stopped 21 shots. Jarry, 16, is 5-2-0, 2.60, .906 . . . Shortly after the game had ended, the Oil Kings tweeted: “Mason Geertsen has gone to the hospital, hes conscious and alert the early indications seem positive.” . . . That was followed shortly after by: “Word from the Trainers is everything is OK with Mason Geertsen will remain in observation over night. #GetWellSoonMase” . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Andrew Johnson scored twice, including the OT winner, as the Warriors dumped the Kootenay Ice, 6-5. . . . Johnson, who has 13 goals, got the winner at 2:27 of OT. . . . Moose Jaw D Joel Edmundson tied the game with 51 seconds left in the third period. That was his first goal of the season. . . . F Brock Montgomery, who is from Moose Jaw, had given the Ice a 5-4 lead on the PP at 18:53 of the third. . . . F Jonathon Martin of the Ice had two goals, giving him four. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart scored his 16th goal of the season, setting a franchise record for 16-year-old skaters. F Nigel Dawes had scored 15 in 2001-02. . . . The Ice was 2-3 on the PP; the Warriors were 2-4. . . . For a second straight game, the Warriors went without G Luke Siemens. After he sat out Wednesday’s game, head coach Mike Stothers said Siemens needed to get “re-focussed.” . . . Hmmmm. . . . G Spencer Tremblay is expected to make his third straight start for the Warriors tonight in Regina, with Siemens backing him up. . . .

In Prince Albert, the Victoria Royals scored the game’s last two goals and beat the Raiders, 6-4. . . . F Austin Carroll broke a 4-4 tie at 7:48 of the third period and F Logan Nelson added insurance at 12:30 with his 19th score this season. . . . The Raiders had pulled into a 4-4 tie with two goals early in the third period, F Anthony Bardaro getting his 21st goal 40 seconds in and D Tyler Yaworski equalizing at 1:27. . . . Nelson and F Jamie Crooks each had a goal and two assists for the Royals, who are 2-3-0 on an East Division swing that wraps up tonight in Saskatoon. . . . Raiders F Justin Maylan celebrated his 21st birthday with three assists. He has 59 points, including 40 helpers, in 46 games. . . . The Royals were without F Tim Traber, who was injured in a fight on Wednesday in Moose Jaw, and D Jesse Zgraggen, who was injured on that hit from Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath. But D Zach Habscheid, who also left Wednesday’s game early, was back in the lineup. . . . Raiders F Austin Bourhis was given a charging major and game misconduct nine minutes into the second period. . . .

In Saskatoon, D Kyle Schmidt’s first goal of the season stood up as the winner as the Blades edged the Brandon Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . The teams split a doubleheader, as Brandon had won 6-4 there on Wednesday. . . . That was Schmidt’s first goal in 36 games this season. He had three goals in 65 games with the Calgary Hitmen last season. Oh, he turned 19 on Friday. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 43 shots. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone got his 31st goal. . . . The Blades had a 20-8 edge in shots in the second period. . . . Saskatoon had F Josh Nicholls (knee) back in the lineup, but G Andrey Makarov (concussion) remains out. . . . G Alex Moodie stopped 33 shots for the Blades and was named the game’s first star. He is expected to rejoin the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild next week when Makarov returns to game action. . . .  Moodie has beaten Brandon twice in three starts while filling in for Makarov. . . .

In Calgary, F Victor Rask scored twice to help the Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Rask has 19 goals this season. . . . Prince George F Jordan Tkatch got his side to within one at 2:55 of the second period, but F Alex Gogolev scored his 19th at 8:46 on the PP and the Hitmen were on their way. . . . The game featured two former Tri-City Americans goaltenders, with Chris Driedger stopping 18 shots for the Hitmen and Drew Owsley making 39 saves for the Cougars. . . . The Cougars took 62 of 105 penalty minutes. . . . Calgary D Alex Roach took a major and game misconduct for a check to the head at 6:57 of the third period. . . . According to the online game sheet, Calgary F Rob Trzonkowski took a fighting major by himself at 16:11 of the first period, while Prince George F Campbell Elynuik took a fighting major and game misconduct by himself at 17:36 of the third period. Interesting. . . .

In Kelowna, F Brody Sutter scored twice to lead his Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory over the Rockets. . . . Sutter now has 20 goals on the season. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Lethbridge D Landon Oslanski set up two goals as the Hurricanes finished a B.C. Division swing at 2-3. . . . The Hurricanes scored the game’s first five goals. . . . The Rockets cut the deficit to 5-3 before Lethbridge F Graham Hood iced it with an empty-netter. . . . F Colton Sissons got his 25th goal of the season for the Rockets. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., D Brenden Kitchton broke a 1-1 tie at 10:56 of the third period and the Spokane Chiefs went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The loss was only the third of the season for the Americans on home ice. . . . F Brian Williams gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at 7:19 of the first period. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel, who finished with 37 saves, shut the door after that goal. . . . F Dominik Uher added insurance with a shorthanded goal at 17:20 of the third period. . . . G Eric Comrie stopped 20 shots for the Americans. . . . F Connor Rankin returned to the Americans’ lineup for the first time since Dec. 17. . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Kamloops Blazers ran their winning streak to eight games as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3. . . . The victory lifted the Blazers into first place overall, one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. Those two will meet tonight in Kennewick, Wash. . . . They have played twice before this season — the Americans won 3-2 in OT at home on Nov. 19; the Blazers won 3-2 at home in regulation on Jan. 11. . . . F Chase Schaber scored twice for Kamloops, the second one into an empty net after Seattle had closed to within one, at 4-3, on F Seth Swenson‘s goal at 17:07 of the third. . . . F Colin Smith and D Bronson Maschmeyer each had a goal and an assist for Kamloops. . . . G Cam Lanigan stopped 30 shots for Kamloops. It was Lanigan’s 11th start this season, but just his first since Dec. 30 and his third over the Blazers’ last 27 games. . . . F Chance Lund scored twice for Seattle, which got 36 saves from G Daniel Cotton. . . . Seattle was 0-for-6 on the PP, including a 5-on-3 that took up the last 40 seconds of the second and the first 1:20 of the third. . . .

In Vancouver, G Payton Lee made 19 saves in his WHL debut as the Giants beat the Everett Silvertips, 4-3. . . . Lee was a second-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft by the Giants, who are without G Adam Morrison (concussion). . . . D Brett Kulak scored twice for the Giants, giving him six on the season. His second goal, at 16:50 of the second on a PP, gave the Giants a 4-2 lead. . . . Down 2-0 in the first period, the Silvertips took advantage of a 5-on-3 PP to score twice. . . . In an interesting piece of numerology, the scorers bagged goals No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in this game. . . . Vancouver F Riley Kieser got his third, Giants F Anthony Ast got his fourth, Kulak looked after five and six, Everett F Cody Fowlie got his seventh and eighth, and Everett F Kohl Bauml got his ninth. . . . The Giants continue to be without F Brendan Gallagher (shoulder), F Dalton Sward (shoulder), D David Musil (wrist) and Morrison. . . . During the game, the Giants’ twitter account carried this: “Big Brett Kulak with the HOWITZER from the point! Puts in his 5th on the PP. Giants lead 2-0, 12:18 into the 1st.” . . . Dear Mr. Giant: Please look up howitzer in your dictionary. Thank you. . . .
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Dylan Bumbarger, who blogs on all things Portland Winterhawks with a lot of WHL-related sidebars, has plotted the Western Conference race through games of Feb. 6. . . . His figurings make for an interesting read. Check it out right here.
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The NFL has been hit with another class action law suit with former players claiming long-term problems associated with post-concussion syndrome. This news release goes so far as the provide the symptoms with which some of the former players are suffering.
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If you’re looking for a good read, try this right here. It’s from Gene Pereira and the Barrie Examiner, and it’s all about the return of Bill Stewart, a coach who had been away from the OHL for 10 years. Why? Well, you could start with his twice putting a Ukrainian player in the luggage hold under the bus to get him over the U.S. border. . . . And it gets better from there.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes helped out with Operation Christmas Child on Thursday.
(Photos courtesy Lethbridge Hurricanes)

The Lethbridge Hurricanes, who have won a couple in a row and have vacated the Eastern Conference basement, got December off to a festive start.
On Thursday, according to a news release, Cam Braes, Damien Ketlo, Brody Sutter, Landon Oslanski, Brady Ramsay, Spencer Galbraith, Tyler Kizuik, Graham Hood, Nick Buonassisi, Juraj Bezuch, Liam Liston, Phil Tot and Albin Blomqvist lent a helping hand to Richard and Lisa Henry and Rev. Brian Palsky at University Drive Alliance Church for Operation Christmas Child. The church . . . is the regional collection centre for Southern Alberta and in total 6,746 shoe boxes were collected from Lethbridge and surrounding area for the global Christmas exchange program.
“The program encourages churches, children and adults to pack shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items and school supplies to be given to thousands of children living in impoverished areas all over the world. In the coming days, the shoe boxes will be sent to Calgary and then distributed around the world.”
Operation Christmas Child is a terrific program and is attracting attention from more and more sports teams. In Kamloops, for example, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s soccer team has helped out for a number of years now and players were wrapping boxes just last week.
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F Jonas Knutsen of the Prince Albert Raiders will play for Norway at the IIHF U-20 World championshp (Division 1, Group A) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Dec. 11-17. Also in the tournament are Germany, Slovenia, Belarus, Austria and Great Britain. . . . Knutsen, who has nine points and 36 penalty minutes, will leave Monday. . . .
F Marek Tvrdon of the Vancouver Giants, who is the WHL’s highest-scoring freshman, will play for Slovakia in the World Junior Championship. Shoulder woes limited Tvrdon to 12 games last season, so he is considered a rookie. He has 35 points, 14 of them goals, in 28 games this season. Last season, he had 11 points in those 12 games. . . .
A source tells me that three WHL teams are involved in discussions on a transaction that, if it comes to pass, will cause some big-time buzz. I’m not one to speculate on what players might be involved — and there are trade talks going on all the time — but trust me when I tell you this one would give people something to talk about for a while. . . .
Saw this on the WHL website in the wee hours of today: “Brendan Gallagher and the Kamloops Blazers host Alex Forsberg and the Prince George Cougars for a B.C. Division match-up on Friday night.” . . . The Vancouver Giants and the Blazers have been known to make the odd trade, but I don’t think Gallagher is headed to Kamloops any time soon. . . . I’m sure the writer meant Brendan Ranford, and I’ve been there before. Just ask Matt Needham of the Blazers how many times I have referred to him as Mike.
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Congratulations to old friend Andy Murray on his induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame.
Murray, now the head coach of the Western Michigan Broncos, will go into the Builder’s category. Also going into the Hall of Fame will be Raimo Helminen, a six-time Olympian for Finland, Russian star Pavel Bure, defenceman Phil Housley of the U.S., and Czech star Milan Novy.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for May 20 in Helsinki.
How long have I known Murray? Since he was an aspiring quarterback with the Brandon University Bobcats football team. Oh, what a team that was. Right, Garry Davidson?
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The QMJHL has revealed its social media policy. If you’re interested, you are able to check it out on the QMJHL website.
But here is the part that deals with disciplinary measures . . .
“The following are examples of conduct through social media and networking mediums that are considered violations of this policy and which may be subject to disciplinary action by the QMJHL, at the discretion of the Commissioner:
“- Statements which are critical of League personnel, its programs, employees, on-ice or off-ice officials, players, members, owners or operations staff, sponsors or any other actors.
“- Divulging confidential information that may include, but is not limited to the following: trade talk or other player movement, medical history (injuries or other), game plans or strategies and any other information that is deemed confidential.
“- Sharing or divulging photos, videos or comments which promote negative influences or criminal behaviour, including but not limited to: drug use, alcohol abuse, public intoxication, sexual exploitation, etc.
“- Online activity that contradicts the current policies of the QMJHL.
“- Inappropriate, derogatory, racist or sexist comments of any kind that contradict the policies outlined by the QMJHL on these matters.”
Good luck to the QMJHL in enforcing this thing. I might suggest that the QMJHL is going to need to hire a full-time babysitter.
Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that the WHL had the same policy in place, say, one night this week. Let’s say it was Tuesday night, when every player in the WHL who wasn’t involved in a game was watching the Victoria’s Secret fashion (?) show on TV. (Those who were playing that night likely recorded the show.) And most of those viewers, if not all of them, were Tweeting about it.
And let’s just say that the rules called for the league to suspend the players for the remarks. That being the case, the WHL would have had to postpone a few games this weekend due to a shortage of players.
But having said that, some of the WHL’s players have been blessed with great wit!
And judging by some of the tweets I saw, a whole lot of them fell in love on Tuesday night.
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In Edmonton last night, D Mark Pysyk drew three assists to lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Oil Kings ran their winning streak to five, while ending Calgary’s at four. . . . F Tyler Maxwell scored twice for Edmonton. He has six points, including four goals, in four games since being acquired from the Everett Silvertips. He is plus-8 in those four games. . . . The victory lifted Edmonton into a tie for second in the Eastern Conference, with the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors. They are four points in back of the Kootenay Ice.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Martin Gernat, Edmonton
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun writes today that Wheat Kings F Mike Ferland and Vancouver Giants D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen drew ‘tbd’ suspensions for their roles in a game-ending schmozzle Wednesday in Brandon.
The stuff hit the fan as teams were leaving their benches at game’s end.
Here’s what Henderson wrote:
The melee broke out as the teams left their benches at the end of the game. Wheat Kings Eric Roy and Darian Dziurzynski and Giants David Musil and Jordan Martinook were also assessed fighting majors and game misconducts.
Western Hockey League vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen said Ferland and Vannieuwenhuizen were punished because they were on the bench to end the game, and not legally on the ice.
“Neither was on the ice,” Doerksen said. “Of the other (penalized) players, all had been on the ice.”
The league revoked the game misconducts for Roy, Dziurzynski, Musil and Martinook, while Dziurzynski and Martinook also had their majors turned into double minors for roughing.
Decisions on the length of the suspensions and team fines should be made today.
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With fighting majors turned into double minors, that means it wasn’t a multi-fight situation, which means there likely won’t be fines issued. That means we were guilty of premature ch-ch-ching the other day.
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On the subject of ch-ch-ching, to the five people who have taken time to make donations this week, thank you. . . . If you’re a regular here, feel free to click on the DONATE button and help the cause. Thanks in advance!
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Laura Robinson, who wrote the book Crossing the Line: Violence and Sexual Assault in Canada’s National Sport, has written a scathing essay about hazing and sexual abuse in football and hockey.
Football in the United States and hockey in Canada have much to answer for, she writes.
And she is correct. Because if you think the hazing incident that involved the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives is a one-off, you have your head buried in the sand.
Robinson also brings up an interesting point regarding a Hockey Canada rule that may well have been ignored in the Neepawa situation.
Robinson’s essay is right here.
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Wondering how the coaching thing came down with the Anaheim Ducks? Check out Jon Rosen’s take on it all right here. If you want a thorough look at it, this one is for you.
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For today’s good read, we take you to SI.co and writer Stu Hackel. He chatted with Scotty Bowman, who has some interesting comments on the state of the game today and the recent spate of coaching changes in the NHL. That piece is right here.

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

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Dan DaSilva (Portland, 2002-2005) signed a contract through Dec. 24 with La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland, NL B). He was released after a tryout with Biel (Switzerland, NL A) on Thursday. The contract begins Monday.
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JUST NOTES: F Sebastian Svendsen, 20, wasn’t in the Moose Jaw Warriors’ lineup Friday night as they beat the host Brandon Wheat Kings, 7-6. James Gallo, the radio voice of the Warriors on CHAB, reported via Twitter than Svendsen has left the club and returned home to Denmark. He missed the early portion of the season with a knee injury and has four points in 11 games. . . . Moose Jaw F Justin Kirsch left in the first period and didn’t return. That followed a hit from Brandon F Darian Dziurzynski. . . . Moose Jaw F Quinton Howden had four assists. He has 22 points in 13 games. . . . The Warriors erased a 6-4 deficit with three third-period goals. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal and two assists, giving him a WHL-leading 58 points in 27 games. Stone has goals in each of his last eight games. . . .
F Mark McNeill’s ninth goal, at 3:04 of OT, gave the Prince Albert Raiders a 4-3 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . The Raiders had lost six in a row. . . . F Kellan Tochkin of the Raiders tied the score with 8.4 seconds left in the third period. . . . F Justin Maylan, 20, drew three assists for the Raiders. He has 32 points in 27 games and just may have some market value between now and the Jan. 10 trade deadline. . . . In Saskatoon, the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Blades 6-2. That ended Saskatoon’s eight-game winning streak and franchise record-tying 10-game home-ice winning streak. . . . The Hitmen are 3-0 on a four-game East Division swing that ends tonight in Prince Albert. . . . Calgary got two goals from F Jimmy Bubnick, who is from Saskatoon. . . .
In Edmonton, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 27 shots to lead the Oil Kings to a 3-0 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. It was Brossoit’s first shutout this season and the third of his career. . . . He is 13-7-2, 2.43, .914. . . . F Tyler Maxwell, acquired Thursday from the Everett Silvertips, had one assist in his Edmonton debut. He played on a line with Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck. . . . The Oil Kings were without D Mark Pysyk (undisclosed). . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes went into Red Deer and beat the Rebels 5-1 in a game that featured 12 fighting majors. The Hurricanes took 76 of the game’s 118 penalty minutes. . . .
In Kelowna, G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 35 shots in leading the Kootenay Ice to a 4-0 victory over the Rockets. . . . At this point, Lieuwen has to be one of the leading candidates for the player of the year award. He is 13-4-3, 1.78, .938. This was his first shutout of the season and eighth of his career. . . . Backstopped by Lieuwen, the Ice is 18-5-3 and leading the overall standings. . . . The Ice played five B.C. Division teams in seven nights and ran the table. . . . The Ice scored its last three goals on the PP. . . . F Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, giving him four goals and 10 assists over the five-game swing. His older brother, Max, had three assists and finished the B.C. part of what will be a nine-game trip with four goals and six helpers. . . . Ice F Brock Montgomery, who scored one goal in 54 games last season, had two last night, giving him seven in 26 games this season. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans beat the Swift Current Broncos, 5-1, in a game that featured 142 penalty minutes, 71 to each team. . . . The teams took 74 of those minutes for a dustup at 17:48 of the third period. . . . In Everett, F Jordan Weal had two goals and an assist, the 200th of this career, to help the Regina Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. Regina is 1-2-1 on its U.S. Division tour that ends in Kennewick tonight. . . .
In Kent, Wash., F Charles Inglis tied the game at 19:21 of the third period and scored the only goal of the shootout as the Prince George Cougars edged the Seattle Thunderbirds, 3-2. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley stopped 32 shots. Seattle F Burke Gallimore wasn’t able to beat Owsley on a first-period penalty shot. . . . G Mac Carruth stopped 46 shots as the host Portland Winterhawks beat the Spokane Chiefs, 5-3. . . . Spokane is 0-7 on the road this season and that includes three losses in Portland.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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The AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons have recalled F Milan Kytnar (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2007-10), while also signing D Dylan Yeo (Prince George, Calgary, 2003-2007) to a free-agent tryout deal. . . .
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A Friday night tweet from Katie Strang of ESPN, who covers the New York hockey scene: “Asked (Islanders) GM Garth Snow if he is contemplating sending Nino Niederreiter back to junior team Portland Winterhawks of WHL; he said ‘No’.”
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A second tweet from Strang: “Also, Isles spokesperson said Niederreiter is indeed healthy. 19-year-old Swiss winger was scratched for 3rd straight game tonight.”
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Later, Strang wrote about this on her blog right here.
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Josh Cooper of The Tennessean has the latest on Brent Peterson right here. Peterson, a former player and coach with the Portland Winterhawks is living with Parkinson’s disease and preparing for surgery that he and his family hope will provide some relief.
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Andrew King, a former junior hockey player, tells his concussion-plagued story right here, from the pages of the Montreal Gazette.

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

Winger Dylan Willick of the Kamloops Blazers (11) tries to shovel a bouncing
puck past Edmonton Oil Kings goaltender Laurent Brossoit on Saturday night.
That’s Edmonton defenceman Mason Geertsen (24) moving in to help his goaltender.(Photo by Hugo Yuen / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

If this was Hollywood, they would never be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
If they got stars on the Walk of Fame, they would be down the block and around the corner, not in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
But, on Saturday night, the so-called fourth liners, the supporting actors, if you will, were front and centre as the Kamloops Blazers scored a 5-2 WHL victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings before 4,134 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
“They weren’t the fourth line tonight,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said. “They set the tempo.”
“The fourth line,” said Kamloops defenceman Austin Madaisky, “had a helluva game. They played a great game.”
The Oil Kings were playing their fourth game in five nights and the Blazers knew it. The visitors also were without highly touted defenceman Griffin Reinhart and forward Klarc Wilson, both of whom suffered undisclosed injuries in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Friday.
Knowing that, Charron started his fourth line, which was kind of like putting three Roadrunners out there against Wile E. Coyote right at the end of the 20-minute cartoon.
The fourth liners? The supporting cast? That would be Ryan Hanes, Chase Souto and Aspen Sterzer, and they spent the game’s first shift hammering away deep in Edmonton’s zone.
“Hanes hit one of their key players early and hurt him,” Charron said. “Then he came back and (Hanes) hit him again.”
Defenceman Mark Pysyk, the Oil Kings’ captain and a first-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2010 NHL draft, didn’t return for the second period.
“We had to take the body,” Hanes said. “We were focused on getting pucks deep and taking the body.”
“That line,” Charron continued, “really set the tempo for the start of the hockey game and they played exceptionally well throughout the whole game.”
Still, the Blazers, who held a 22-1 edge in shots in the second period — at game’s end, it was 46-23 — and took a 3-0 lead into the third, weren’t able to shake the Oil Kings until late in the third period.
The Blazers got power-play goals from forwards Chase Schaber, in the first period, and Dylan Willick, in the second, and a goal from Tim Bozon late in the second for that 3-0 lead.
But the Oil Kings got a pair of third-period goals — defenceman Keegan Lowe scored on a shorthanded breakaway and winger Kristians Pelss put a short-side shot past goaltender Cam Lanigan — to throw a scare into the locals.
That was short-lived, however, as J.C. Lipon beat goaltender Laurent Brossoit just 2:28 after Pelss’ goal and Souto, with assists to Sterzer and Hanes, rather fittingly iced it just 52 seconds after that.
“We were hoping in the third period to play good, solid defence and not give them a sniff,” Charron said. “But when you turn the puck over at the blue-line and give a breakaway, and the other goal is from a really poor angle . . . that certainly gave them momentum.
“But we stuck to the program and the guys regrouped on the bench . . . and we were rewarded for our efforts.”
Hanes admitted to being concerned when his side’s lead shrivelled to one; in fact, he said he almost took action.
“I was thinking about fighting,” he said, “but it turned out we didn’t need the boost and we came out with the win.”
Hanes also drew two hooking penalties early in the second period, both times getting hauled down in the vicinity of the Edmonton net. It was those early power-play opportunities that helped to get Kamloops rolling in what was an incredibly dominant middle period.
The 19-year-old, who is the lone Kamloops native on the roster, also had ample opportunity to add to his two-goal total.
“I’m getting a lot of chances,” he said. “I just have to bear down on them.”
Pause.
“But that’s not my job,” he added with a laugh.
After the weekend’s action had concluded, the Blazers (13-6-0) were fourth in the Western Conference, four points behind the Tri-City Americans. However, the Blazers hold the conference’s second-best winning percentage (.684).
They won’t play again until Friday and Saturday when they hit the road for games with the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans.
Kamloops next plays at home on Nov. 23 when the defending-champion Kootenay Ice is at Interior Savings Centre. The Ice last played in Kamloops on Nov 27, 2009, when it won 6-5 in a shootout.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers were 2-for-6 on the power play; the Oil Kings were 0-for-2. . . . Lanigan stopped 21 shots in beating his ex-teammates. He was acquired from the Oil Kings, for G Jon Groenheyde, on Nov. 4, 2010. . . . Veteran D Josh Caron was among the Blazers’ scratches. Charron said it was a coach’s decision, the second time Caron has been a healthy scratch this season. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Hanes: He got the ball rolling; 2. Brossoit: Kept his side in it in the second period; 3. D Tyler Bell, Kamloops: Asserted himself. . . . Kamloops C Colin Smith is scheduled to leave today for Regina where he will play for the WHL in a Subway Super Series game against a Russian team on Wednesday. He will rejoin the Blazers in Spokane on Thursday. . . . Ted Smigielski, a member of the Blazers’ board of directors when the team was a non-profit society, has died. He was 74 when cancer claimed him on Nov. 7. An informal memorial tea is scheduled for Thursday, 2 p.m., at the Hal Rogers Kinsmen Centre, 2025 Summit Dr.
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In the overall scheme of things, it was a small play. But at game’s end it loomed large.
With the Kamloops Blazers holding a 1-0 lead more than 13 minutes into the second period of Saturday’s WHL game, defenceman Austin Madaisky, on the point on a power play, made a diving play to keep the puck alive in the offensive zone.
Four seconds later, it was in the Edmonton Oil Kings’ net and the home side was on its way to a 5-2 WHL victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.
“Their defenceman tried to clear it and kind of fanned on it,” said Madaisky, who had centre Colin Smith as his point partner on the PP. “He’s kind of playing rover, so I’m kind of the lone man up there and have to cover a lot of ground. Luckily, I think I have the longest stick on the team. I dove for it and managed to keep it in.
“I got up as quick as I could and saw (Brendan)Ranford pop out at the side of the net. I tried to throw it low to him and he made a nice play to (Dylan Willick) and he put it in the net.”
That goal gave the Blazers a 2-0 lead; less than three minutes later it was 3-0 and, although the Oil Kings closed to 3-2 in the third period, this one was over.
“That was probably the worst effort of the year for us,” said Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal, whose club was playing its fourth road game in five nights — it went 1-2-1. “We weren’t moving our feet. We weren’t winning any battles. We didn’t have energy or intensity.”
At the same time, Laxdal was quick to give credit to the Blazers.
“They have a good hockey club and they’re worked hard to get where they’ve gotten to,” he said. “Hats off to them. They outworked us. They deserved the two points.”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

Wednesday . . .

The Buffalo Sabres have signed D Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings to a three-year NHL deal. His AHL salary each of the three seasons would be US$67,500, with his NHL salary at $900,000 each season. He got a $270,000 signing bonus payable over three years. The Sabres took Pysyk with the 23rd selection in the 2010 NHL draft. He was the Oil Kings’ first draft pick, taken third in the WHL‘s 2007 bantam draft.
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D Justin Weller of the Red Deer Rebels signed a three-year contract with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Capgeek.com reports that his AHL salary will be US$50,000, $55,000 and $60,000. The NHL salary would be $565,000 in each of the three seasons. . . . He got a $120,000 signing bonus over three years. . . . Weller, a fourth-round selection in the 2009 NHL draft, is expected to be returned to the Rebels for his 20-year-old season. He had 17 points and 104 penalty minutes in 68 games last season.
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F Gilbert Brule of the Edmonton Oilers, who played in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants, was driving in West Vancouver with his girlfriend on Tuesday when they picked up a couple of hitchhikers. One of them turned out to be Bono. Yes, that Bono. So this is the story of how Brule dumped tickets to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final and flew to Edmonton for a concert. The story is right here.
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JUST NOTES: In Binghamton, N.Y., the Houston Aeros scored a 2-1 victory over the Senators to take a 2-1 lead in the AHL’s best-of-seven Calder Cup final. . . . They’ll play Game 4 in Binghamton on Friday. . . . For whatever it’s worth, the Seattle NBC outlet didn’t carry Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday. . . . F Roman Horak, who played the last two seasons with the Chilliwack Bruins, was traded to the Calgary Flames by the New York Rangers on Wednesday. The Flames acquired Horak and two 2011 second-round draft picks for the rights to D Tim Erixon and a 2011 fifth-round pick. . . . The Flames selected Erixon with the 23rd pick in the 2009 draft but weren’t able to sign the Swede, whose father, Jan, is a former NHLer who played for the Rangers. . . . Horak, who signed with the Rangers late in the season, was a fifth-round pick in 2009. He had 78 points, including 26 goals, in 64 games last season. . . . The Kamloops Blazers have hired Todd Carnelley, who played defence for the Jr. Oilers and Blazers (1983-86) as director of ticketing. He most recently worked for Andre’s Audiotronic and Andre’s Telus division.
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THE COACHING GAME: Marty Raymond, the head coach of the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors since Feb. 26, 2003, is leaving to coach a team in Zagreb, Croatia, that plays in the Austrian Elite League. Raymond, 46, had signed an extension with the Condors on May 10. . . . Former Spokane Chiefs head coach Bill Peters has signed a new two-year deal with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and will remain head coach of the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. Peters is 122-97-7-14 in three seasons there. . . . Rockford assistant coaches Ted Dent and Steve Poapst and GM Mark Bernard also got new two-year deals. . . . The AJHL’s St. Albert Steel has added Wes Werhun and Donovan Sugiyama as assistant coaches under GM/head coach Greg Parks. Werhun has been coaching the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders, while Sugiyama has been with the midget AA St. Albert Blues.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

I was able to spend some time in the archives here at the Kamloops Daily News on Monday night.
And here’s the lowdown on Don Hay’s 500 WHL coaching victories . . .
If you missed it, Hay’s Vancouver Giants beat the visiting Chilliwack Bruins 2-1 on Saturday night and the WHL trumpeted that it was Hay’s 500th victory as a WHL head coach.
Hay spent three seasons with the Kamloops Blazers, who won 144 games over that stretch.
He was with the Tri-City Americans for two seasons, winning another 67 games.
And he now is in his seventh season with the Giants, with whom he has put up 287 victories.
Add them up and you get 498 victories.
In 1991-92, while Hay was an assistant in Kamloops, head coach Tom Renney was an assistant coach with the Canadian national junior team at the World Junior Championship. The Blazers, with Hay as the interim coach, won six games.
That makes it 504.
Except that Hay was the Canadian junior team’s head coach at the 1995 World Junior tournament. While he was away, the Blazers, under interim head coach Ed Dempsey, won four games.
Do the math and you get 500 victories.
Except that Hay was an assistant coach in 1987-88 when head coach Ken Hitchcock left the Blazers to serve as an assistant on Canada’s national junior team.
While Hitchcock was gone, the Blazers won three games.
Which would push Hay’s total to 503 victories. Except that stories in The Daily News at the time indicated that Hay and Don Moores, the club’s other assistant coach at the time, served as co-coaches.
So let’s just put Hay’s total at 500 and leave it there.
(By the way, I can find only one game that Hay has missed with a suspension. He missed a 3-2 loss to the Silvertips in Everett in 2009-10 after he was suspended for one game because the Giants had been in three line brawls to that point in the season. To the best of his recollection, he has received two game misconducts as a WHL head coach, one during his first season as the Blazers’ head coach and the other during an exhibition game prior to the 2009-10 season.)
Tonight in Vancouver, prior to meeting the Blazers, the Giants and the WHL will honour Hay.
As well they should.
Hay doesn’t much care about numbers, although he did admit to me Tuesday that 500 victories means a lot to him, but one thing stands out above all the rest.
He has been a WHL head coach through 11 full seasons. And his teams have won at least 40 games in nine of those seasons.
It also is worth noting that Hay got to 500 victories in 824 games. There are three men above him on the all-time victory list.
It took Ken Hodge 1,411 games to garner 742 victories. Ernie McLean won 548 of 1,067 games. The late Pat Ginnell won 518 games in 963 appearances.
At this rate, should Hay coach for 1,411 games, as did Hodge, he would put up 856 victories.
Hay will turn 57 on Feb. 13. To get to 1,411 games he would have to coach at least another eight seasons.
What do you think, Don? Are you up to it?
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Wondering about the latest on the WHL and a potential franchise for Victoria? Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has a story in Tuesday's paper, and it doesn't appear that much has changed. That piece is right here.
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The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs were planning to hold their annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Sunday.
However, they announced Monday that they have canceled the toss over fears that the stuffed toys might be infested with bedbugs.
Team president Wayne Long said in a news release that the team wasn’t able to find any charities “throughout the region, across Canada, and even abroad” who were willing to accept the stuffed toys.
The Kamloops Blazers have scheduled their annual Teddy Bear Toss for Friday when the Swift Current Broncos are to visit Interior Savings Centre.
I don't know how much impact this might have in the WHL, but Tim O’Donovan, the Blazers’ media and communications co-ordinator, said last night that their toss will go on as scheduled.
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The Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers will play in Whitehorse on Feb. 12. And the Whitehorse Daily Star reports that it only took one hour 45 minutes “for Whitehorse hockey fans to gobble up the 1,000 tickets available” for the game that is to be played at Takhini Arena as part of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada.
The Daily Star’s story is right here.
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USA Hockey is to name the selection camp roster for its national junior team today.
Early Monday afternoon, Kevin Allen of USA TODAY reported:
“The USA's chances of successfully defending its World Junior Championships gold medal later this month in Buffalo have been improved by the decision of three NHL teams to allow one or more of their prospects to play in the tournament.
“The preliminary U.S. roster to be announced Tuesday in Buffalo at 11 a.m. will include pro players Jerry D'Amigo (Toronto), Kyle Palmieri (Anaheim) and Jeremy Morin and Nick Leddy (both of Chicago). Palmieri, Morin and Leddy have all played games in the NHL and AHL this season, while D'Amigo has played 26 games in the AHL.”
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CH-CH-CHING! . . . The WHL has fined the Chilliwack Bruins and Vancouver Giants for a fight that took place off the opening faceoff as the teams met Saturday at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. Each team was fined $250 after Chilliwack D Curt Gogol and Vancouver F Brett Lyon fought eight seconds into the game. . . . As well, Gogol and Lyon each was suspended for one game. Lyon won’t play tonight against the visiting Kamloops Blazers; he played for the Blazers before being dealt to the Giants. Gogol will sit out the Bruins’ game today against the visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . . Don’t forget that game is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m., as the Bruins run a promotion involving school children.
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The Everett Silvertips, who meet the Pats in Regina tonight, stopped in at the home of D Ryan Murray for some Prairie home cooking on Monday night. Murray is from White City, which is a few slapshots east of Regina on the TransCanada Highway. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.
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D Mark Pysyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings is the WHL’s player of the week. He had six points, including four assits, in two games as the Oil Kings went 2-0-0. It is the first time in the franchise’s three-plus seasons that it has had a player earn this honour. It is interesting that it should be Pysyk, because he was the Oil King’s first draft pick, taken third overall in 2007. . . . Pysyk has 14 points in 23 games. Last season, he finished with 24 points in 48 games. . . . Darcy Kuemper of the Red Deer Rebels is the WHL’s nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 1.00, .967 for the week. . . . The Oil Kings meet the Hitmen in Calgary on Tuesday, which will be Pysyk’s last game with Edmonton for a while. He leaves later in the week for the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. . . . The Kootenay Ice opens a four-game road swing against the Raiders in Prince Albert on Wednesday. F Eric Benoit (knee) has been cleared to return, but D Hayden Rintoul (knee) may not play until after the Christmas break. . . . There will be an interesting matchup in Portland this weekend as the Prince George Cougars visit for Friday and Saturday games with the Winterhawks. Portland’s lineup includes F Ryan Johansen (Columbus Blue Jackets) and F Nino Niederreiter (New York Islanders), the fourth and fifth picks in the 2010 NHL draft, while Prince George has F Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Lightning), the sixth pick. . . . The Winterhawks also boast F Sven Bartschi, who leads all WHL rookies with 42 points. Cougars D Martin Marincin is No. 2, with 32 points. Marincin also leads all WHL defencemen in points. He has one more than teammate Sena Acolatse.
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As I tour around the Internet, reading this and checking out that, I am always watchful for pieces I like to call “good reads.” Some of them, I feel, are worth suggesting to you because they might go down well with the morning coffee. . . .  I hadn’t thought too much about this until a regular to this blog, someone who has the thrill of living in the foothills near the Rocky Mountains, told me he always looks forward to the “good reads.”
Today, then, I bring you Michael Wilbon’s final column for the Washington Post. You may know Wilbon as a co-host on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption. Before he was that, he was a Post columnist . . . for more than 20 years.
His final column is right here. Enjoy!

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

Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Pavel Brendl (Calgary, 1998-2001) signed a contract with KalPa Kuopio (Finland SM-Liiga) through Nov. 6, when SM-Liiga takes a 10-day break for national team games. Kimmo Kapanen, KalPa's general manager, said that it is unlikely that the club can afford to keep Brendl longer than this. "This time period is really affordable for us, but for the whole season, it would be a million dollar investment for us and we can't afford it," Kapanen said to the Kuopio newspaper Savon Sanomat. Brendl had 27 goals and 10 assists in 51 games for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia KHL) last season. One of the minority owners of KalPa is former Prince Albert F Scott Hartnell.
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As mentioned here earlier today, RW Luke Walker, 20, signed a three-year NHL deal with the Colorado Avalanche and has been assigned to the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. . . . According to CapGeek.com, his AHL salary will be US$50,000, $50,000 and $55,000, with the NHL salary at $540,000, $575,000 and $575,000. . . . His $140,000 signing bonus is payable in $40,000, $50,000 and $50,000 increments. . . . Forgot to mention earlier that, in case you forgot, Walker was a member of the U.S. team that won the world junior championship in January. He played for the U.S. after suffering a horrible facial injury during a WHL game in early December.
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The Red Deer Rebels have placed G Kraymer Barnstable, 20, on waivers and it would appear he will end up with a junior A team. He became expendable with the return of G Darcy Kuemper, 20, from the camp of the NHL’s Minnestoa Wild. . . . Red Deer will go with Bolton Pouliot, 16, to back up Kuemper. . . . Barnstable is the second 20-year-old goaltender to leave a team this week. The Brandon Wheat Kings have dropped Andrew Hayes, who spent the last three seasons with them.
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Red Deer now is carrying four 20-year-olds — Kuemper, D Colin Archer, F Brett Ferguson and F Brad Haber. . . . Brandon is carrying five 20-year-olds — G Jacob DeSerres, D Darren Bestland, D Mark Schneider, F David Toews and F Shayne Wiebe, who is the team captain. . . . Each WHL team has to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-old players by Oct. 14.
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D Mark Pysyk, 18, has been named captain of the Edmonton Oil Kings. He returned from the camp of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Monday — they selected him 23rd overall in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . Pysyk was the third overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft; he was Edmonton’s first-ever selection. . . . F Rhett Rachinski will be an alternate captain, while D Adrian Van de Mosselaer and F Jordan Hickmott each will wear an ‘A’ at home and F Mike Piluso and F Travis Ewanyk will be alternates on the road.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Taking Note on Twitter