Please take a moment today to think about — or, if you are so inclined, to say a prayer for — the families and friends of Brennan Luffman and Shaun Seghers, two senior hockey players who were killed when their truck hit a semi near Weyburn, Sask., in ugly weather on Tuesday night.
Both men played for the Arcola-Kisbey Combines and were on their way to Arcola for a Big Six Hockey League game against the Oxbow Huskies.
Seghers played in the SJHL with the Weyburn Red Wings a few years ago, while Luffman also had pitched in the Western Major Baseball League with the Weyburn Beavers and Moose Jaw Millers.
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The Kamloops Blazers announced late Wednesday night that they have released F Charles Inglis, 20.
Shortly after the Blazers had been beaten 5-2 by the Oil Kings in Edmonton, Kamloops issued a news release. Here it is, in its entirety:
“General Manager Craig Bonner announced tonight that the Blazers have parted ways with 20-year-old forward Charles Inglis.
“Inglis came to the Blazers in a trade in late November. Inglis played 11 games with the Blazers and recorded five assists in his short time.”
The Blazers had acquired Inglis from the Red Deer Rebels for a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Chances are the pick was conditional on his being on the Blazers’ roster on Jan. 10, the trading and roster deadline, so that pick now will remain with Kamloops.
Inglis played in last night’s loss, and got into a scrap with F Mitch Moroz.
In 290 regular-season games, split between the Saskatoon Blades, Prince George Cougars, Red Deer and Kamloops, he has 177 points, including 92 goals, and 440 penalty minutes.
The Blazers’ roster now contains two 20-year-olds — F Brendan Ranford and F Dylan Willick, who won’t play until after Christmas because of a broken ankle.
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F Filip Vasko, 19, is on the move for the second time in a couple of weeks. Vasko, from Slovakia, was dealt by the Kelowna Rockets to the Red Deer Rebels on Nov. 29. Then, on Wednesday, he was moved by the Rebels, along with F Marc McCoy, 18, and a conditional fifth-round 2015 bantam draft pick for the rights to Czech F Dominik Volek, 18.
McCoy, 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Edmonton, has six points in 28 games with the Rebels. Last season, he had 10 points in 63 games. Vasko has 11 points in 23 games split between Kelowna and Red Deer. He has missed the last couple of Red Deer games with a knee injury but may make his Regina debut this weekend.
Volek had 32 points in 70 games with the Pats last season, but chose not to return this season. Instead, he is playing with Farjestad of Sweden’s Super Elite League for whom he has five points in 13 games. He is the son of former NHLer David Volek and, according to a Red Deer news release, “is expected to join the Rebels after the Christmas break.“
Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner/general manager/interim head coach, played with David Volek with the NHL’s New York Islanders.
“We didn’t make the trade for him because I know the family, although it’s nice to have an idea of what the kid is about and to know what the family is about,” Sutter told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “(David) has talked to me about Dominik as a player in the past.”
According to Meachem, “Volek will be in Red Deer for a Boxing Day practice and will be in the Rebels’ lineup for a Dec. 27 meeting with the Oil Kings in Edmonton.”
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The Pats also made another deal yesterday, acquiring D Darian Henry, 18, from the Calgary Hitmen for a fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft.
Henry, 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, was a seventh-round pick by the Everett Silvertips in the 2009 bantam draft. He had one assist in 16 games with Everett last season. The Silvertips dealt him to Calgary over the summer for F Luke Gordon, 18, who is with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals.
This season, in 30 games with Calgary, Henry had six points and 77 penalty minutes.
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F Dylan Stewart, a fifth-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, is joining the Prince Albert Raiders for a couple of days. Stewart will return to the midget AAA Edmonton-Canadian Athletic Club Raiders on Saturday. The Raiders are at home to the Kootenay Ice on Friday.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Marlin Murray, the general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, has signed a contract that will take him through the 2015-16 season. Murray,35, is in his 10th season with the Kings.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, the Saskatoon Blades erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight goals and beat the Warriors, 5-2. . . . The Blades have won four in a row. . . . F Josh Nicholls scored his 24th goal of the season for Saskatoon. . . . Moose Jaw F Sam Fioretti didn’t return to the game after taking a high-sticking minor and a misconduct at 14:59 of the second period. “Sam wasn’t feeling good,” Moose Jaw head coach Mike Stothers told Katie Brickman of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. . . .

In Red Deer, the Calgary Hitmen scored two quick third-period goals and beat the Rebels, 2-1. . . . The Hitmen were trailing 1-0 when F Brooks Macek and F Victor Rask scored at 5:46 and 6:12 respectively to put them out front. . . . The Hitmen are 12-1-1 on the road, but just 9-6-3 at home. . . . F Adam Musil, the Rebels’ first-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, made his WHL debut. He may stay and play in weekend home games against the Victoria Royals and Kelowna Rockets. . . .

In Lethbridge, the Kelowna Rockets scored twice in the first period and went on to beat the Hurricanes, 3-1. . . . The Rockets, who have won four straight, are 9-1-0 in their last 10. . . . F J.T. Barnett’s fourth goal of the season, on a PP at 14:12 of the first, stood up as the winner. . . .

In Edmonton, G Tristan Jarry made 37 saves and F Henrik Samuelsson scored twice as the Oil Kings bounced the Kamloops Blazers, 5-2. . . . The Blazers had won four in a row. . . . F Aaron Macklin got his first WHL goal for Kamloops. . . . Samuelsson has 16 goals this season. . . . Jarry got the start with Laurent Brossoit, the Oil Kings’ No. 1 goaltender, in Calgary at the national junior team’s selection camp. . . . Patrick Dea, a 15-year-old from St. Albert, Alta., backed up Jarry. Dea was the 22nd overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Former WHLer Stu Grimson (@asgrimson): “@heyojayo, ‘Tomorrows New York Times crossword 66 down: _ _ _ Grimson of the NHL. again’ i got 66 down …. and ONLY 66 down.”
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From Portland D Josh Hanson (@HansoloCup4): “It’s called an ‘acceleration ramp’ for a reason. I’m not 100% sure but I think you’re supposed to accelerate. #GasIsOnTheRight:
The Winerhawks defenceman continues his campaign to get Oregon drivers on the same page.


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Sven Baertschi of the Calgary Flames shows off the puck with which
he scored his first NHL goal on Sunday.
(Photo courtesy a huge Baertschi fan)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Vaclav Varada (Tacoma/Kelowna, 1994-96) has been loaned to Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic 1.Liga) by Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the remainder of this season. Varada had six goals and seven assists in 16 games for Trinec; he did not play a game for Trinec until early January due to injury. Trinec's season ended last week with their loss to Zlin in the quarterfinals, three games to two. Varada will join Slovan for their best-of-seven semi-final series against Dukla Jihlava, which begins today in Ustecti Lvi. . . .
F Keegan Dansereau (Calgary, Swift Current, 2003-09) signed a one-year contract with Mörrum (Sweden, Division 1). He had two goals in one game for the Horse Lake Chiefs (Alberta, North Peace Senior Hockey League) this season. Dansereau played for Mörrum in 2010-11, getting 32 goals and 25 assists in 37 games.
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Attention Chilliwack hockey fans!
You likely don’t pay attention to such things — after all, you have no reason to — but the WHL regular season is into its last week.
And guess what?
Yes, the first rumour surfaced on Monday.
“Hearing Cougars to Chilliwack again,” reported a source with knowledge of the situation.
So, folks, here we go again. The silly season has started.
We know that after the Bruins were taken away from Chilliwack — you perhaps know that they now are the Victoria Royals — almost a year ago, there were strong rumours that the Cougars could be headed south.
Well, I can tell you that Cougars owner Rick Brodsky seriously considered relocation and there was some communication with Moray Keith, who had been one of the Bruins’ owners. However, nothing came of it.
We will have to wait and see if they do the dance again this spring or summer.
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F Sven Baertschi of the Portland Winterhawks scored his first NHL goal Sunday as the Calgary Flames scored a 4-3 victory over the host Minnesota Wild.
Baertschi, the WHL’s only two-point-per-game player, remains with the Flames, who brought him in him Wednesday under emergency recall rules. The Flames had nine players out with injuries on Sunday. Baertschi is allowed to stay with them until two of those injured players are cleared to return.
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D Joe Morrow of Portland has a career-high 64 points. That is the highest total by a Portland defenceman since Andrew Ference put up 68 in 1997-98. The Winterhawks won the Memorial Cup that season. . . . Portland F Nic Petan scored four goals in Saturday’s 11-3 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. It was the first time in Winterhawks history that a 16-year-old had scored four goals in one game.
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The Tri-City Americans have added yet another youngster to their roster. D Clint Filbrandt, 16, played for the midget AAA Calgary Northstars this season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reported last night that “Swift Current Minor Hockey has relieved Jason Johns of his duties as Head Coach/Manager of the Midget AAA Legionnaires. There aren’t many more details to share than that. The board will begin the search for a new coach immediately.”
There is a link to Mullin’s blog over there on the right.
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Doug Lunney of the Winnipeg Sun is a former WHL goaltender who crossed over to the right side. He has some thoughts on the MJHL’s reaction to the performance turned in by Dauphin Kings GM/head coach Marlin Murray last week, and that piece is right here.
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Now that you’ve read Lunney’s piece, and no doubt you have viewed the video, you should know that Murray plans on filing an appeal. Seriously!
I’m thinking the MJHL should make Murray work as a referee for 12 games.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Brandon (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Saskatoon (7)
Medicine Hat (3) vs. Regina (6)
Calgary (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Victoria (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Everett (7)
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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MONDAY’S GAMES
None.
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TODAY’S GAMES
Red Deer at Medicine Hat
Prince Albert at Saskatoon
Spokane at Seattle
Prince George at Tri-City

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THE COACHING GAME:
Former WHLer Victor Gervais is stepping down as general manager/assistant coach of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Gervais spent five seasons with the Grizzles who are owned by Len Barrie. Barrie also is the head coach, although he hasn’t been behind the bench for a couple of months. The Victoria Times Colonist reports that Barrie is expected to promote assistant coach Rob Doyle to GM and head coach.
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Marlin Murray, the GM/head coach of the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, drew a 12-game suspension for his epic rant and stick-throwing episode from Thursday night’s playoff game against the Winnipeg Saints at the St. James Civic Centre. . . . The Kings also were fined an undisclosed amount. . . . If you haven’t seen Murray in action, the video is right here. He did get his 12 game’s worth.
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Bob Young of the Seattle Times takes a look right here at the ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash., and its financial situation. The ShoWare Centre is home to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
(If you’re on Twitter, you should be following @WHLFacts)

In Brandon, G Corbin Boes made 34 saves to help the Wheat Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Wheat Kings clinched a playoff spot for the 12th straight season and the 19th time in the last 20 years. . . . D Eric Roy, with his 10th, at 16:56 of the first period and F Michael Ferland, with his 45th, at 0:55 of the second, gave Brandon a 2-0 lead. . . . Both Brandon goals came via the PP and F Brenden Walker assisted on both. . . . F Lukas Sutter got his 28th for the Blades at 5:19 of the second. Sutter had four goals all of last season. . . . The Blades won the season series, 5-3-0. . . . Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM/head coach, tells Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that D Dalton Thrower and F Michael Burns are week-to-week. Both were injured in a 2-0 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert on Wednesday. . . . Saskatoon D Matt Pufahl (broken ankle) hasn’t played since Jan. 28 but may return Friday against Swift Current. . . . The Stanley Cup was in the house and country music start Paul Brandt paid his respects. Brandt is to perform in Brandon tonight. . . . Brandon F Tyrel Seaman (concussion) returned after missing 40 of the team’s last 41 games. . . . The Wheat Kings closed to within a point of the Blades, who are seventh in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Blades, in turn, are one point behind Regina and Kootenay, who are tied for fifth. . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Justin Kirsch scored at 2:31 of OT to give the Warriors a 3-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Kirsch has 20 goals on the season. . . . Moose Jaw F Cody Beach forged a 2-2 tie at 5:50 of the third period. . . . Beach also assisted on F Cam Braes’s 39th goal. . . . Regina, having clinched a playoff spot one night earlier, chose to make healthy scratches out of F Jordan Weal, their leading scorer, along with F Lane Scheidl and D Martin Marincin. . . . The Warriors have won 15 in a row at home and have at least a point in each of their last 20 games at Mosaic Place. . . . Regina G Adam Beukeboom stopped 38 shots, 20 more than Moose Jaw’s Luke Siemens. . . . The Warriors will be the Eastern Conference’s second seed when the playoffs begin. . . . Regina is tied for fifth with Kootenay. . . .

In Swift Current, F Graham Black scored twice, including once on a penalty shot, as the Broncos beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 6-3. . . . The Broncos erased a 3-1 deficit with Black’s penalty shot goal, at 15:57 of the second, and three goals in 5:06 early in the third. . . . Black also had an assist and was plus-4. . . . Prince Albert F Mark McNeill scored his 30th goal. . . . Raiders F Justin Maylan had a goal, his 25th, and an assist. . . . Broncos freshman F Coda Gordon scored his 29th goal into an empty net. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 34 shots, four more than Prince Albert’s Luke Lee-Knight. . . . Neither of these teams will be in the playoffs. . . .

In Edmonton, D Cody Corbett scored twice as the Oil Kings skated to a 7-4 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Edmonton erased a 2-0 deficit with three goals in 2:26 midway through the second period. . . . Edmonton F T.J. Foster broke a 3-3 tie with his 29th goal at 2:51 of the third period. . . . Corbett has six goals this season. . . . Edmonton D Mark Pysyk picked up one assist but it was a big one — the 100th of this career. He was playing in his 240th regular-season game. . . . Edmonton F Michael St. Croix reached the 100-point plateau with his 42nd goal and an assist. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba had a goal, his 20th, and two assists. . . . Edmonton has won eight in a row. . . . Red Deer took 89 of 156 minutes in penalties handed out by referees Adam Byblow and Fraser Lawrence. . . . Although the online scoresheet doesn’t reflect it, a story right here refers to “a flurry of fights” at 12:33 of the third period. . . . Edmonton F Dylan Wruck left the game at that point with an apparent shoulder injury. . . . Edmonton is scheduled to play in Red Deer on Saturday. . . . “I didn’t like some of the stuff that went on after the whistles,” Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal told Chris O’Leary of edmontonjournal.com. “It was very cheap and very unprofessional. We picked up an injury from it and that’s going to hurt us down the stretch here. But we’ve got guys we can put in the lineup. We have to go in (to Red Deer) next Saturday night. What comes around, goes around.” . . . Edmonton was 3-9 on the PP; Red Deer was 1-7. . . . Attendance was 16,651. . . . The Oil Kings moved past the idle Tri-City Americans and into first place in the overall standings. Edmonton is a point ahead of Portland and two up on the Americans. . . . The Rebels were eliminated from the playoffs earlier in the evening, when Brandon won. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Emerson Etem scored twice, getting his 60th into an empty net, as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Hurricanes, 3-1. . . . Etem is the first WHLer to 60 since F Layne Ulmer did it with the Swift Current Broncos in 2000-01. . . . The Tigers have won five in a row on the road. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 27 shots. . . . Bob Ridley, the legendary voice of the Tigers, called his 3,000th regular-season game. @WHLFacts points out that Ridley will call his 4,000th game when the Tigers play their 61st game in the 2025-26 season. . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference, four points ahead of Calgary. Medicine Hat can finish no higher than third. . . .

In Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants scored three third-period goals and beat the Blazers, 3-2. . . . F Marek Tvrdon scored twice for the Giants, giving him 27. . . . Vancouver F Nathan Burns broke a 2-2 tie at 12:35 of the third. He has 12 goals, six of them in eight games against the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was 0-4 on the PP, including a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:39. . . . Vancouver was without F Cain Franson, a 26-goal scorer, who is expected to play today against the visiting Victoria Royals. . . . The Giants remain tied for fourth with Spokane in the Western Conference. They will meet in the playoffs but have yet to decide home-ice advantage. . . .The Blazers are three points behind Portland and two in back of Tri-City in the chase for top spot in the Western Conference. . . .

In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 26 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 3-0 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Simpson has two shutouts this season and six in his career. . . . F Cody Fowlie scored twice for Everett, giving him 12. He opened the scoring at 3:19 of the first and closed it at 5:05 of the third, the latter on the PP. . . . In between, F Josh Winquist got his 18th while killing a penalty at 1:23 of the third. . . . The victory allowed the Silvertips to move past the Royals into seventh place in the Western Conference. Everett is a point ahead of Victoria, with the Royals four points ahead of Seattle and Prince George. . . .

In Kelowna, F Troy Bourke scored twice and added an assist as the Prince George Cougars edged the Rockets, 3-2. . . . Bourke, who has 16 goals, gave his side a 2-0 lead on the PP at 15:42 of the third and then added an empty-netter. . . . F Spencer Asuchak and F Caleb Belter each had two assists for the Cougars. . . . Prince George G Drew Owsley, who went over 10,000 minutes player for his career, stopped 19 shots. . . . He lost his shutout when D Myles Bell scored his 15th at 16:01 of the third. . . . The Rockets will finish sixth in the Western Conference. . . . The Cougars, with four games left, are four points out of a playoff spot. . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Portland Winterhawks scored three times in the game’s first 2:52 and went on to an 11-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Portland F Nic Petan picked up four goals for his first WHL hat trick. He’s got 13 goals this season. . . . Portland F Brad Ross added three goals, giving him 42, and an assist. . . . Portland players have enjoyed 12 hat tricks this season. . . . Portland also got four assists from F Ty Rattie, two goals and two assists from F Cam Reid and a goal and two assists from F Brendan Leipsic, who was plus-5. . . . Seattle’s Calvin Pickard, who gave up 10 goals on 52 shots, broke the WHL record for career minutes played by a goaltender. . . . Pickard has played 13,721 minutes over 236 games. The record had been held by Kurtis Mucha, who played 13,708 minutes with Portland and Kamloops (2005-10). . . . The Winterhawks moved into first in the Western Conference, a point ahead of idle Tri-City and three ahead of Kamloops. Portland is second in the overall standings, a point behind Edmonton. . . .

In Spokane, F Colin Valcourt’s 16th goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Chiefs a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Darren Kramer scored his 21st goal at 13:38 of the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. . . . Valcourt scored at 14:07. . . . Spokane D Brendan Kitchton had two assists, giving him 135 in his career. He moved passed Jared Spurgeon and into fourth on the Chiefs’ career list among defencemen. . . . The Chiefs have four games left and remain tied with Vancouver for fourth in the Western Conference. Vancouver has three games to play. . . . Should they end up tied, the first tiebreaker is victories, and the Giants hold a 38-36 edge at the moment.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
———
SATURDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Darren Dietz, Saskatoon.
F Brody Sutter, Lethbridge.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES
Red Deer at Calgary
Victoria at Vancouver
Everett at Seattle
Prince George at Tri-City
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In the BCHL on Saturday, the Penticton Vees completed their regular season with a 5-2 loss to the Spruce Kings in Prince George. The loss snapped Penticton’s 42-game winning streak.

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Marlin Murray, the general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, got a bit excited on Thursday night. The Kings dropped a 5-1 decison to the host Winnipeg Saints. There were 448 fans in the St. James Civic Centre and you can bet they’ll be talking today about what they saw last night. Dauphin was 0-8 on the PP, while the Saints were, uhh, 4-16. . . . D Emerson Hrynyk, who has played in the WHL with Prince Albert and Chilliwack, totalled 36 minutes in penalties. All told, Dauphin picked up 124 minutes; the Saints took 46. . . . Presumably, Murray was a tad upset with referees Brett Montsion and Ryan Galley, because he emptied the bench of anything that wasn’t tied down. . . . And it’s all right here. . . . By the way, the Saints lead the series 3-1 with Game 5 in Dauphin on Saturday. I’m thinking Murray won’t be in the building for this one.
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Less than 24 hours after Greg (Spike) Wallace was presented with a WHL Distinguished Service Award, he and the Kamloops Blazers parted company.
The Blazers issued a news release Thursday morning stating that the organization and Wallace had decided to end their relationship “by mutual agreement.”
According to the release, Wallace is leaving “to pursue other initiatives.”
“The Blazers and Spike have agreed that now would be an appropriate time for Spike to venture forward and pursue new opportunities,” the news release reads.
Wallace, the Blazers’ community and sponsorship co-ordinator, had been with the Blazers since 1984. A 54-year-old native of Kamloops, he started out as the team’s trainer and equipment manager. He had been in his latest role since 2005.
On Wednesday, prior to the Blazers’ 5-1 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks, WHL president Ron Robison presented Wallace with the Distinguished Service Award, which, according to the league, is presented “to an individual associated with the WHL who has made an extraordinary contribution over an extended period of time . . .”
The crowd of 5,693, the third-largest in franchise history, gave Wallace a standing ovation.

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