Giants get their coach . . . Chiefs deal D-man to Tigers . . . Hitmen, Thunderbirds sign skaters

F Štěpán Novotný (Kelowna, Swift Current, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with Žilina (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had 13 goals and nine assists in 39 games. He also played 13 games with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga), scoring three goals.
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The Vancouver Giants will introduce Lorne Molleken today as their newest head coach. . . . Molleken, 59, is one of four coaches to have won more than 600 WHL regular-season games. His 603 victories trail only the retired Ken Hodge (742), Don Hay (637), who now is with the Kamloops Blazers, and Don Nachbaur (632) of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Molleken, who is from Regina, began his coaching career with the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. In the WHL, he has been the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades. He also has coached in the AHL and NHL. . . . In Vancouver, he takes over from Claude Noel, who wasn’t retained following the last season. Noel took over from Troy Ward, who was hired last summer and fired after 25 games. . . . Ward was hired after the Giants allowed Hay out of his contract in order for him to return to Kamloops. . . . The Giants have missed the playoffs in two of the past three seasons. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman has more on the Molleken signing right here.
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Steve Ewen, who covers the Giants for the Vancouver Province, takes a look right here at the team’s coaching situation. He says it’s time the organization changed its approach and started grooming future head coaches.
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With the Vancouver Giants having signed Lorne Mollken, it means that all 22 WHL teams now have head coaches in place. . . . Of those teams, three have made coaching changes since the 2014-15 season ended. . . . The Kootenay Ice hired Luke Pierce to replace Ryan McGill, who is believed to have been on Vancouver’s shortlist. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes hired Brent Kisio to take over from Peter Anholt, who will focus on his general manager’s duties. . . . Molleken, who turned 59 on June 11, is the third-oldest coach in the WHL, younger than only John Paddock of the Regina Pats, who turned 61 on June 9, and Don Hay of the Kamloops Blazers, who hit 61 on Feb. 13. . . . The youngest? Pierce will be 32 on Aug. 18, with Kisio scheduled to turn 33 on Dec. 15.
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The Spokane Chiefs have dealt D Tamas Laday, 19, to the Medicine Hat Tigers for an eighth-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft. Laday, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound Hungarian, had six assists in 60 games as a freshman last season with the Chiefs. . . . The trade allows the Chiefs, who also have Austrian F Dominic Zwerger on their roster, to select one player in today’s CHL import draft. They go into the draft with the 26th selection. . . . The Tigers also have German F Markus Eisenschmid on their roster. He had 44 points, including 19 goals, in 50 games last season, but at 20 years of age would be a two-spotter in 2015-16.
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The CHL import draft poses a lot of problems for WHL general managers because, in many instances, they don’t control a whole lot about it. So it’s always interesting to see what some of them have to say.
Here’s what John Paddock, the Regina Pats’ GM/head coach, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post:
“It’s like picking a needle out of a haystack. You try to do your work. You have friends or people you know in the pro ranks that see these guys play. You talk to agents. You try to get as much information as you can.”
Paddock also said:
“You hope and pray. There are no guarantees of anything. When I looked around our league last year, there’s not a lot of significant Europeans. There’s the odd top one like (Leon) Draisaitl and (Ivan) Provorov, but with a lot of teams I couldn’t tell you who their Euros are.”
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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The QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders will introduce Jim Hulton as their new head coach on Thursday. . . . He will replace Gordie Dwyer, who was dropped after the Islanders didn’t get through the second round of the postseason. . . . Hulton, 46, has OHL coaching experience with the North Bay Centennials, Mississauga IceDogs, Belleville Bulls and Kingston Frontenacs. . . . He also spent three seasons (2008-11) as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Florida Panthers. . . . Since 2011, Hulton has been the general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
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Josh Hepditch, the former general manager and head coach of the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International junior league, has signed on as head coach of the County Aces, a junior A team that plays out of St. Stephen, N.B., in the Maritime Hockey League. . . . Last season, Hepditch was general manager and head coach of the MHL’s Amherst Ramblers.
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F Patrick D’Amico, who played out his eligibility with the Regina Pats last season, will attend the New Jersey Devils’ development camp. . . . F Tyler Soy, 18, of the Victoria Royals and F Jakob Stukel, 18, of the Vancouver Giants will be in the development camp of the Edmonton Oilers. . . . Tri-City Americans D Brendan O’Reilly, an 18-year-old from Southlake, Texas, will skate with the Dallas Stars. . . . F Terrell Draude, 18, of the Calgary Hitmen will be in camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . F Markus Eisenschmid, 20, of the Medicine Hat Tigers is to attend the Montreal Canadiens’ development camp. . . . D Justin Hamonic, who played with the Tri-City Americans as a 20-year-old last season, is going to camp with the Colorado Avalanche.
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The Calgary Hitmen have signed F Tristen Nielsen, the 19th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Nielsen, from Fort St. John, B.C., played last season at the Edge School in Calgary. He had 97 points, including 59 goals, in 52 games with the bantam prep team.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed D Brandon Schuldhaus, who was a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Schuldhaus, a 17-year-old native of Houston, Texas, who now lives in Calgary, has played two seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn. Last season, with the midget AAA team, he had 12 points, five of them goals, in 31 games.
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D Patrick Wey, 24, has retired from hockey after being unable to return from two concussions incurred less than a year apart. . . . Wey, from Pittsburgh, was a fourth-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the 2009 NHL draft. He had been playing with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. . . . Mike Vogel, who writes for the Capitals, tweeted the news Monday morning. . . . Wey has said he will pursue “educational interests.” . . . Wey played 28 games in 2013-14 and just three games last season. . . . He suffered his first concussion in a fight on March 30, 2014, while up with the Capitals, then suffered the second one in the third game of last season, thanks to an elbow to the head.
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Another year passes with no Clare Drake in the HHOF. Would John Wooden be left out of basketball's Hall?

— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) June 29, 2015

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.

No WHL in Washington? . . . Remembering Ryan Donaldson . . . Thunderbirds edge Rockets

A WHL without any franchises in the state of Washington?
It could happen.
That was the message delivered by representatives of the WHL’s four Washington-based franchises to a State House Committee on Labor in the state capital of Olympia on Tuesday.
The committee is addressing the nonemployee status of athletes in amateur sports. The bill in front of the committee would exempt athletes playing in amateur leagues from laws mandating they be paid the minimum wage.
According to a report filed by king5.com, Russ Farwell, the president and general manager, of the Seattle Thunderbirds and Gary Gelinas, the president of the Everett Silvertips, told the committee that “if the state does not change the definition, they could be forced to move the franchises out of state because it would not be able to continue to have 16- and 17-year-old players on the roster.”
The Chiefs were represented by Greg Sloan, their chief financial officer, while Bob Tory, the governor and general manager, was there on behalf of the Americans.
King5.com reports that all four representatives “spoke in favour” of the bill.
Farwell told the committee that “our players are 100 percent amateurs.” . . . The king5.com story is right here.
There is a video report right here.
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It is just more than a year since Ryan Donaldson’s death and his sister, Kirsten, is determined that he won’t be forgotten. But it’s more than that. She is starting the Ryan Donaldson Memorial Tournament in his memory. But it’s still more than that. . . . I don’t know if the medical community has determined a direct link between suicide and concussions, but common sense tells you the possibility is there and that it’s strong. Kirsten told 604now.com that she wants “to raise the money so that we can have an account for any athlete that gets a concussion and can’t afford the secondary test, or needs to go to a specialist and can’t afford to go.” . . . The complete story is right here. . . . Ryan, who was 17 when he died, had been a fifth-round selection by the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft.
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The Victoria Royals are getting into the Hockey Hooky business. They have designated Tuesday’s game against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors as their inaugural Hockey Hooky Day. Game time will be 12:05 p.m. . . . It will be Victoria’s first weekday matinee game. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors play the first of seven straight road games tonight in Lethbridge. The Warriors are out of their building while the Canadian women’s curling championship is decided. . . . Moose Jaw F Jesse Shynkaruk will complete a three-game suspension tonight. The Warriors are hoping F Jaimen Yakubowski 20, will be back after a three-game injury-related absence. . . .
F Conner Bleackley of the Red Deer Rebels isn’t likely to play in either of the club’s two home games this weekend, Friday against Lethbridge and Saturday against Prince George. . . . Bleackley, the Rebels’ captain, suffered an undisclosed injury in a Saturday game in Vancouver. . . . “I would say he’s questionable, at best, for the weekend,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ GM/head coach, told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate.“He’s still pretty sore and it’s just a matter of taking it day-by-day, but I don’t think he’s be available for the next two games.” . . .
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet takes a look at the Evander Kane situation right here. It’s all-encompassing and well worth a read.
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“Former NHL star Robert (Butch) Goring and well-known veterans Sergio Momesso, Manny Legace, Brian Savage and Todd Warriner are among a group of 29 retired players who Monday joined concussion litigation against the NHL for failing to protect its players from the effects of traumatic head injuries,” Ada Proteau of The Hockey News reported on Monday. “The new group of 29 players included their names in a U.S District Court lawsuit filed in Minnesota Monday. Although they aren’t represented by lead counsel in the original lawsuit, they are now linking up to accuse the NHL of not doing enough to take appropriate care of their health and cognitive abilities and are seeking unspecified damages as well as a jury trial. The list also includes recognizable names including Todd Elik, Greg Adams and Todd Harvey.” . . . Proteau’s complete report is right here.
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Another concussion-related lawsuit has been filed in the U.S., this one naming Pop Warner football. Edwin Rios of Mother Jones writes: “On Thursday, Debra Pyka, the mother of Joseph Chernach, a 25-year-old Wisconsin man who committed suicide in 2012, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pop Warner, claiming that cognitive damage from his three years in organized youth football was responsible for his death. The lawsuit claims Chernach suffered from postconcussion syndrome and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease most often associated with former NFL players, as a result of "numerous" concussions he sustained starting when he was 11.” . . . There’s more right here.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

In Swift Current, G Rylan Parenteau stopped 35 shots to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 2-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . Parenteau stopped 29 of 30 shots over the last two periods. . . . He lost his shutout bid when F Colby Cave scored his 22nd goal with 0.4 of a second left on the clock. . . . F Sean Montgomery scored his fourth goal of the season at 10:48 of the second period and D Mackenze Stewart got his third at 7:33 of the third. . . . The Raiders (22-31-2) had lost four straight (0-3-1). They are nine points out of a playoff spot with 17 games remaining. . . . The Broncos (25-24-5), who are third in the East Division, had won their previous two games. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Spokane Chiefs scored three times in the first 3:08 of the game and went on to a 6-3 victory over the Chiefs. . . . F Adam Helewka scored his 29th goal just 22 seconds into the game to get the visitors started. He later added an assist. . . . F Jacob Cardiff added his third at 1:07 and F Jackson Playfair got his ninth at 3:08. . . . F Liam Stewart had two goals for Spokane, giving him 19, while F Kailer Yamamoto ended a 10-game goalless drought with his 17th goal and two assists. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan had two assists for the Blades, while D Brycen Martin got his sixth goal and also had an assist. . . . The Chiefs (26-23-4) are 2-1-0 on a six-game swing through the East Division that continues tonight in Prince Albert. Spokane holds down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . The Blades (15-35-3) have lost four in a row. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the only two goals of a shootout and beat the Regina Pats, 5-4. . . . Tigers F Markus Eisenschmid forced OT when he scored his second goal of the game and 17th of the season with 15.6 seconds left in the third period. . . . F Dryden Hunt and F Cole Sanford scored the shootout goals. . . . F Austin Wagner’s 18th goal, at 1:01 of the third period, gave the Pats a 3-1 lead. . . . The Tigers tied it on goals from Eisenschmid, at 6:53, and D Kyle Burroughs, on a PP, at 8:32. Burroughs has six goals. . . . Regina F Braden Christoffer gave his side the lead with his 17th goal at 9:52. . . . Hunt had two assists. . . . F Pavel Padakin scored twice for the Pats, giving him 19. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 45 shots through OT, 18 more than Medicine Hat’s Marek Langhamer. . . . The Tigers (36-15-3) had lost four in a row (0-3-1). They now lead the Central Division by eight points over the Calgary Hitmen, who have won eight straight. . . . The Pats (30-17-7), who are a comfortable second in the East Division, have points in six straight (4-0-2). . . .

In Kent, Wash., D Jerret Smith’s PP goal at 16:26 of the third period gave the Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Smith has six goals this season. . . . F Nick Merkley gave the Rockets a 1-0 lead with his 17th goal at 9:14 of the second period. . . . F Mathew Barzal pulled Seattle even with his 10th goal at 10:22 of the third. . . . Barzal also drew an assist on the winner. . . . Seattle G Taran Kozun stopped 32 shots, seven more than Kelowna’s Michael Herringer, who suffered his first loss in six decisions. . . . According to the Thunderbirds, there were 42 NHL scouts at the game. . . . The Thunderbirds were 1-for-4 on the PP; the Rockets were 0-for-6. . . . Kelowna played its second game without F Tyson Baillie, who took a shot to the head in Kamloops on Saturday. The Rockets also are missing G Jackson Whistle (appendectomy). . . . Kelowna F Tomas Soustal didn’t play. He drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for a charging major and game misconduct he incurred on Monday against Prince George. . . . Seattle improved to 28-20-6 and closed to within four points of second-place Portland in the U. S. Division. Seattle holds a game in hand. . . . The Rockets (42-9-4) had points in each of their previous nine games (8-0-1).
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

(all times local)
Spokane at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Medicine Hat vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:05 p.m.


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Tigers double Giants . . . Silvertips complete sweep . . . Ingram stars again for Blazers

In the first period of a Tuesday night NHL game, Zac Rinaldo of the Philadelphia Flyers was ejected for a nasty hit on Pittsburgh Penguins D Kris Letang.
Rinaldo not only drilled Letang from behind, he left his feet to make the hit.
He will certainly be suspended by the NHL; the only question is for how long.
Long after the game had ended, former NHL referee Paul Stewart tweeted twice.
The first one read: “When do we start holding coaches responsible, too, for sending out idiots like Rinaldo in 1st place? Chief knows what player is all about.”
Chief would be Flyers head coach Craig Berube.
The second tweet read: “That is NOT exclusive to Berube. . . . I am referring to all coaches who deploy players of that ilk. Finish your check has become bane of sport.”
Bingo! The last statement — “Finish your check has become bane of sport” — hits hockey’s nail squarely on the head.
Coaches at all levels of the sport need to stop impressing upon their charges to “finish your check.”
If they won’t do that, then they need to change the definition of “finish your check.” Instead to trying to hammer an opponent into next week, players need to be taught how to separate that opponent from the puck.
As one veteran hockey coach loves to ask me on a regular basis, “What happened to angle-man-puck?”
Yes, there was a time when players were taught how to angle a puck-carrier into the boards, freeing up the puck for a teammate to swoop in, gather it up and begin the transition to offence.
At some point, however, some of that seems to have gotten lost as players, wrapped in more and more body armour, started to hit to hurt, or, in hockey speak, to “finish their checks.”
That has led to more checking from behind, more players leaving their feet in order to deliver the blow, more head shots and more injuries.
Which is exactly what happened Tuesday night when Rinaldo met Letang.
Get players back to playing angle-man-puck and you will see better transition games and fewer injuries.
No, it won’t take hitting out of the game. There still will be ample opportunity for hitting. But maybe players can be educated to finish their checks in a different fashion.
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Alan Caldwell, over at Small Thoughts At Large, has spent some time researching some of this season’s numbers inside the WHL. The results of his work are right here.
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet posted his weekly 30 Thoughts on Wednedsay. It’s always a good read and it’s right here.
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An NHL franchise in Saskatoon? One of the men interested in just that says the effort has “stalled out,” at least for now. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here, including an update on lease negotiations between the Saskatoon Blades and the SaskTel Centre.
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Have you heard about the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ puck that has been globe-trotting? Paul Kingsmith of Global TV in Lethbridge has more right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

In Medicine Hat, F Markus Eisenschmid, F Curtis Sanford and F Dryden Hunt each scored twice as the Tigers doubled the Vancouver Giants, 8-4. . . . Eisenschmid broke a 1-1 tie with his first goal, on a PP, at 9:46 of the first period. . . . The Giants were chasing the game from that point on and never were able to equalize. . . . Eisenschmid has 12 goals, Sanford 37 and Hunt 20. . . . Hunt ran his point streak to 17 games, which is tied for the longest in the WHL this season. . . . F Matt Bradley and F Chad Butcher each had three assists for the Tigers, while F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL points race, scored his 18th goal, shorthanded, and added an assist as he got to 75 points. . . . Cox leads the WHL in assists (57) and loins (75), all in 45 games. . . . He’s got an eight-point lead over Sanford, whose 37 goals are one behind F Nick Merkley of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Medicine Hat D Kyle Burroughs had two assisgts. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houck scored his 15th goal and added an assist. . . . The Tigers were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Giants were 2-for-4. . . . D Ty Stanton was back in the Tigers’ lineup after not playing since Jan. 3 because of an undisclosed injury. . . . Vancouver F Thomas Foster sat out as he completed a three-game WHL suspension. . . . The Tigers (31-12-2), who are home to Prince George on Friday, have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (19-25-2), who are two games into a six-game Central Division trip, have lost five straight. Their trek continues Friday in Lethbridge. . . .

In Prince George, F Kohl Bauml scored two goals for the second straight night as the Everett Silvertips beat the Cougars, 4-2. . . . Bauml, who has 23 goals, scored twice on Tuesday as the Silvertips dumped the Cougars, 6-1. . . . Last night, his two third-period goals stretched a 2-1 Everett lead. . . . Bauml also had an assist. . . . Everett F Carson Stadnyk scored his 18th goal, on a PP, and added two assists, while D Ben Betker had two assists. . . . F Nikita Scherbak scored his 21st goal for the Silvertips. . . . F Aaron Macklin scored the Cougars’ lone goal, on a PP, at 8:06 of the second to cut into a 2-0 deficit. . . . The Cougars were 1-for-7 on the PP; the Silvertips were 1-for-2. . . . The Cougars were without D Sam Ruopp, who took a kneeing major and game misconduct in Tuesday’s game. Everett D Jordan Wharrie, who was on the other end of that hit, is expected to be out at least through the weekend. . . . Everett D Noah Juulsen and Prince George F Jansen Harkins are at the Top Prospects Game in St. Catharines, Ont. . . . The Silvertips (30-12-4) have won six in a row. . . . The Cougars (20-26-2) have lost seven straight (0-5-2) as they head to Medicine Hat and a Friday night game with the Tigers. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald points out that the Silvertips in 2015 “are 9-1 and have outscored their opponents 44-13. Eight of those 10 games have been on the road.” . . . The Silvertips will stop off in Kelowna and play the Rockets on Friday and Saturday nights. . . .

In Kamloops, the Blazers scored three times before the game was 11 minutes old and went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram stopped 26 shots, and was especially sharp in the second period when the Americans held a 14-1 edge in shots. . . . Ingram, a 17-year-old freshman from Imperial, Sask., was selected as the game’s first star for a fifth straight home game. . . . Tri-City G Evan Sarthou, who was making his 17th straight start, was coming off back-to-back shutouts. . . . Kamloops D Patrik Maier scored the game’s first goal 46 seconds into the first period. He has four goals this season, two of them against the Americans. . . . F Matt Needham had two assists for Kamloops. One of them came on F Cole Ully’s 21st goal.  Ully also had an assist. . . . Tri-City F Ty Comrie scored the game’s last goal, his fifth, at 15:35 of the first. . . . The Americans came in with the 11th-best PP in the WHL, but went 0-for-6 with the man advantage against a penalty-killing unit that was No. 20. . . . D Brandon Carlo was among the Americans’ scratches. He is at the Top Prospects Game in St. Catharines, Ont. . . . The Americans also scratched D Riley Hillis, F Braden Purtill, F Vladislav Lukin, G Eric Comrie and F Brian Williams, all of whom are injured. . . . With Comrie injured, Beck Warm, a 15-year-old from the major midget Vancouver-North West Giants, backed up Sarthou. . . . F Michael Rasmussen, 15, made his WHL debut with the Americans. From Surrey, B.C., he was the seventh overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft. This season, in 36 games with OHA Prep White in Penticton, he has 45 points, including 24 goals. That team is coached by former Regina Pats head coach Malcolm Cameron. . . . The Blazers (17-24-6) have won three straight for the first time this season. They now are tied with Vancouver for fourth place in the five-team B.C. Division, just two points behind Prince George. . . . The Americans (22-22-2) had won their previous two games. . . . The Blazers will play in Victoria on Friday and Saturday. . . . The Americans return home to face Seattle on Friday.
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Recent Top 5 WHL Bantam picks and their GP in the NHL. Goes to show how tough it is to project an NHLer at 14. pic.twitter.com/6JT4mhkf8l
— Mike Kaye (@mkaye12) January 20, 2015

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Schmidli lighting it up . . . Silvertips wrap up great trip . . . Tigers bite Rockets

F Brett Sonne (Calgary, 2004-09) has signed for the rest of this season with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen). This season, with Mora (Sweden, Allsvenskan), he had four goals and three assists in 35 games. He was released by Mora on Saturday by mutual agreement.
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An interesting take from Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express:
“Craig MacTavish can’t run one hockey team, so why is the incompetent general manager of the Edmonton Oilers trying to manage a whole league? His edict that the Prince Albert Raiders trade Leon Draisaitl to the Kelowna Rockets was way out of line. Raiders fans are denied the opportunity to watch a future NHL star, while MacTavish is picking favourites when it comes to the likelihood of winning the Western Hockey League championship. The Raiders should have told MacTavish to shove it.“
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On Friday night, the Vancouver Giants dealt F Johnny Wesley, 17, to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for F Zane Jones, 20. At the time, Wesley was with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. . . . Late Saturday morning, Brian Wiebe, who keeps both eyes on all things BCHL, tweeted that Wesley will be joining the Hurricanes.
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After Saturday’s trade deadline, the Hurricanes dropped F Brett Kitt, 18, from their roster. The Brandon native is expected to join the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers. Kitt was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings as part of the deal that had D Reid Duke and D Macoy Erkamps head east. . . . Kitt had two assists in 28 games with the Hurricanes.
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The Portland Winterhawks revealed Saturday that F Tyson Predinchuk, 19, and F Ethan Price, who turns 18 on Jan. 17, “have left the team to pursue hockey opportunities closer to their hometowns.” … Predinchuk, from Regina, had two goals and an assist in 20 games last season. This season, he had two goals and six assists in 33 games. He was a sixth-round selection by the Spokane Chiefs in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Price, from Lincoln, Neb., is expected to join the USHL’s Lincoln Stars. He will be the first Lincoln native to play for the Stars. . . . He had four goals and four assists in 67 games last season. This season, he had four goals and five assists in 38 games. Portland selected him in the sixth round of the 2012 bantam draft.
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D Jesse Mills, 17, has left the Edmonton Oil Kings for personal reasons. The Oil Kings made the announced Saturday afternoon. . . . “Mills has chosen not to finish the 2014-15 season and has returned home to West Kelowna, B.C.,” the Oil Kings said in a news release. . . . Mills, a fourth-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, had five assists in 35 games last season. This season, he had four assists in 29 games.
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It has been a year since the Kamloops Daily News died. The last edition was published on Jan. 11, 2014. . . . So what is life like in a city that includes more than 80,000 citizens but doesn’t have a daily newspaper. . . . Mel Rothenburger, a two-term mayor of Kamloops and longtime editor of The Daily News, sums it up right here.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

In Regina, F Kris Schmidli had two goals and an assist to lead the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-5 victory over the Pats. . . . Schmidli has six points, three of them goals, in his last two games. . . . Schmidli was plus-4, as was D Dalton Yorke, who, like Schmidli, was acquired from Kelowna. Yorke had one assist. . . . The Raiders took a 4-3 lead into the second period and stretched that to 6-3 on second-period goals from F Jayden Hart, his 20th, and F Craig Leverton, his 15th. . . . The Pats got close when F Adam Brooks got his 17th at 16:44 of the third period and F Taylor Cooper completed his hat trick at 19:07. Cooper, who came over from the Lethbridge Hurricanes during the week, has 15 goals. . . . Cooper also had an assist, while Brooks and F Pavel Padakin had two each. . . . Raiders G Rylan Parenteau came on for Nick McBride after the first period and stopped 28 of 30 shots. . . . The Raiders (19-23-1) have won three in a row. . . . Regina(25-14-3) has lost two straight. . . .

In Swift Current, the Everett Silvertips struck for three second-period power-play goals — on three consecutive PPs — and beat the Broncos, 3-1. . . . F Ivan Nikolishin, with his ninth, scored 33 seconds into the period, with D Noah Juulsen getting his fifth at 10:05 and F Patrick Bajkov getting No. 14 at 12:24. . . . Nikolishin also had two assists. . . . Broncos F Colby Cave scored his 20th goal at 15:23 of the second. . . . Everett was 3-for-6 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-for-4. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 28 shots, seven more than Swift Current’s Travis Child. . . . F Carson Stadnyk had two assists for Everett. . . . Everett had D Kevin Davis back in the lineup after his missed the first five games of the trip with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Silvertips (26-12-4) went 5-1-0 on their East Division swing. . . . The Broncos, who entertain Edmonton today, slipped to 20-18-5. . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Axel Blomqvist broke a 3-3 tie at 3:27 of the third period as the Warriors got past the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . The goal was Blomqvist’s 15th of the season and first with Moose Jaw since being acquired from the Victoria Royals. . . . Blomqvist also had an assist, while F Brayden Point drew two helpers. . . . The Oil Kings had successfully killed off 44 straight opposition power plays before F Brett Howden scored his 13th goal, at 16;47 of the second, to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. . . . Edmonton F Brett Pollock tied it with his 18th goal at 2:40 of the third. . . . Edmonton D Ashton Sautner had two assists. . . . Warriors F Tanner Eberle got his 25th goal, shorthanded, at 10:17 of the second, giving his side a 2-1 lead. . . . “I’m hugely concerned with the number of penalties we take,” Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team’s website. “We consistently have to kill off six or seven a night and I have a hard time arguing with the calls against, and we’ve been pretty lights out on our penalty kill for a good stretch here. . . . What hurt the most was the shorthanded goal against.” . . . Moose Jaw G Brody Willms made his second career start, and his first at home. He stopped 28 shots to earn his first WHL victory. . . . Edmonton F Davis Koch scored his fourth goal of the season; he’s got goals in three straight games. . . . The Warriors (17-23-4) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Oil Kings (20-17-5), who are in Swift Current for a late afternoon date, had a four-game winning streak end. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Wyatt Sloboshan scored two second-period goals to help the Saskatoon Blades to a 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Sloboshan, who has six goals, broke a 2-2 tie at 12:47. . . . Ice F Tim Bozon scored his 14th goal at 15:23 for a 3-3 tie. . . . Sloboshan then gave his side a 4-3 lead at 18:57. . . . Goals by F Cameron Hebig, his 10th, at 3:39 of the third, and F Sam McKechnie, his 15th, at 13:43, gave the visitors a 6-3 lead. . . . The teams combined for six second-period goals. . . . F Levi Cable scored twice for the Ice, giving him 19. . . . F Kolton Dixon had three assists for the Blades, while D Brycen Martin had a goal and an assist. . . . F Luke Philp had his 18th goal and two assists for the Ice. . . . Saskatoon G Brock Hamm, in his WHL debut, stopped 28 shots. . . . Ice G Keelan Williams, making his first start since Oct. 22 in Saskatoon, stopped 35 shots. G Wyatt Hoflin had appeared in a franchise-record 29 straight games. . . . Ice D Rinat Valiev (ill) missed his second straight game. . . . The Blades (10-29-3) had lost four straight. . . . The Ice (21-20-1) has lost three in a row. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story right here. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Adam Tambellini scored twice and added an assist to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Lethbridge F Brayden Burke gave his side a 2-0 lead with his first two goals, at 11:34 and 19:57 of the first period. The latter came via the PP. . . . The Hitmen then erupted for five second-period goals, with Tambellini in on three of them. He’s got 26 goals. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean, 16, scored his first goal in his 31st game. He also has 19 assists. Do they call him Mister Bean? . . .  Burke, who turned 18 on Jan. 1, is from Edmonton. He also had an assist, giving him three points. In nine games with the Hurricanes, he had two goals and three assists. . . . G Giorgio Estephan scored his seventh goal and added two assists for the Hurricanes, who were outshot 42-16. . . . G Brendan Burke stopped 13 shots in his first start with Calgary since being acquired from Portland. . . . The Hitmen (23-15-4), who went 3-1-1 on a five-game trip, are 3-0-1 in their last four games. . . . The Hurricanes are 10-24-6. . . . The Hitmen are at home to Brandon this afternoon in a game that will be on Sportsnet. . . .

In Red Deer, G Rylan Toth stopped 36 shots to spark the Rebels to a 6-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Toth turned aside 14 shots in the first period and 13 more in the second. . . . F Riley Sheen, F Preston Kopeck and F Connor Gay each scored twice for Red Deer, which scored three times in the first and three times in the third. . . . Sheen scored the game’s first two goals, giving him 12. Kopeck has 13; Gay has 22. . . . Kopeck has scored in three straight games after king 10 without a goal. . . . Gay and Kopeck added an assist apiece, while F Conner Bleackley drew two assists. . . . D Colton Waltz scored for Brandon, getting his fifth goal at 9:45 of the second period. . . . Wheat Kings G Alex Moodie stopped 20 shots. . . . Brandon had D Ivan Provorov after he missed six games while with Russia at the WJC. . . . Brandon F Rihards Bukarts returned after a one-game absence. . . . The Rebels (23-14-5) have won three in a row. . . . Brandon (29-9-4), which is in Calgary this afternoon, has lost two straight. . . .

In Portland, F Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and added an assist to help the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Bjorkstrand, who has seven points over his last two games, has 25 goals. . . . F Alex Schoenborn broke a 2-2 tie for Portland with his 12th goal, on a PP, at 9:48 of the second period. . . . Bjorkstrand added insurance at 12:16, with a shorthanded score. . . . Vancouver F Zane Jones, acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night, was in the Giants’ lineup and got his 19th goal at 15:47 of the second to get his guys to within one. . . . Bjorkstrand put it away at 15:23 of the third. . . . F Tyler Benson scored Vancouver’s first two goals, giving him 10. . . . Portland F Chase De Leo drew an assist to run his point streak to a career-high 17 games. . . . Portland F Evan Weinger had two assists. . . . Winterhawks G Adin Hill stopped 44 shots, 11 more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . Portland is still without F Nic Petan (ill). . . . The Winterhawks (23-18-3) have won two straight. . . . The Giants are 19-21-2. . . .

In Kelowna, the Medicine Hat Tigers erased a 2-1 deficit with shorthanded goals 1:01 apart and went on to a 5-3 victory over the Rockets. . . . D Madison Bowey gave the Rockets a 2-1 lead with his ninth goal at 4:42 of the second period. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford scored his 33rd goal, shorthanded, at 10:25, and F Markus Eisenschmid got his ninth, also shorthanded, at 11:26. . . . F Leon Draisaitl scored his third goal in as many games for Kelowna, this one tying the game at 3 on a 5-on-3 PP at 6:23 of the third. . . . Eisenschmid broke the tie with his 10th goal at 11:48, on a PP. . . . Sanford added insurance with an empty-netter at 19:34. . . . Eisenschmid, who played for Germany at the WJC, also had an assist, while F Trevor Cox and D Kyle Burroughs each had two. . . . Bowey also had two assists. . . . Medicine Hat G Marek Langhamer stopped 23 shots, four fewer than Kelowna’s Jackson Whistle. . . . Bowey and D Josh Morrissey were in the Rockets’ lineup together for the first time. Both played for Canada at the WJC. Morrissey made his Kelowna debut after being acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders on Dec. 10. They were presented with new golf clubs in a pregame ceremony. . . . Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish made the trip to Kelowna to watch Draisaitl. . . . The Tigers improved to 29-10-2. . . . The Rockets (33-7-3) had a four-game winning streak halted. . . .

In Victoria, F Alex Forsberg scored three times to help the Royals to a 5-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Forsberg was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades prior to the trade deadline. The Blades got him from the Cougars during the off-season. The Cougars selected Forsberg first overall in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Forsberg has 16 goals this season. . . . The Royals had a 5-0 lead in the third period. . . . D Joe Hicketts and F Austin Carroll each had two assists for the Royals. . . . F Brad Morrison, with his 16th, and D Josh Connolly, with his sixth, scored for the Cougars. Connolly was playing his first game since being acquired from Kamloops. . . . Victoria was 3-for-6 on the PP; the Cougars were 1-for-7. . . . Royals G Justin Paulic stopped 27 shots, three fewer than Prince George’s Patrick Gora. . . . The Royals (22-19-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Cougars (20-23-1) have lost three straight (0-2-1). . . .

In Spokane, the Chiefs scored the game’s first four goals and went on to a 5-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Spokane took a 3-0 lead into the first period with two of its early goals coming via the PP. . . . F Markson Bechtold got his fourth goal at 9:13 and F Liam Stewart got No. 15 at 18:50. . . . In between, F Devon McAndrews scored his third goal of the season. After scoring three times in his first 62 WHL games, 54 of them with the Tri-City Americans, he has three in his last two games. . . . The Blazers scored twice in the second period — F Jesse Zaharichuk, with his second, at 7:27, and F Cole Ully, with his 19th, at 9:18 — but couldn’t get closer. . . . Spokane F Adam Helewka scored his 24th goal to run his scoring streak to seven games. . . . The Blazers held a 31-21 edge in shots. . . . Kamloops F Logan McVeigh played in his 300th regular-season game. He has played 126 games with Kamloops, 28 with the Regina Pats, 76 with the Medicine Hat Tigers and 70 with the Prince Albert Raiders. He has 137 points, including 51 goals. . . . The Chiefs are 23-15-3. . . . The Blazers slid to 14-24-6.
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A message from my 8-yr-old: Dear @blazerhockey, Thank you for not trading @ColeUlly and @rehill24. From, Eddie pic.twitter.com/NAGoUGZbaI
— Spencer E Hodes (@SpeMcKBros) January 10, 2015

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