
G Chris Mason (Victoria/Prince George, 1993-97) has signed a one-year contract with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). This season with Ritten/Renon (Italy, Serie A), he was 2.18 and .927 in 36 games. He had the best GAA in Serie A as he led his club to the league championship. . . .
F Max Brandl (Prince Albert, Portland, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, DEL2). This season, with Landshut (Germany, DEL2), he had 22 points, including 10 goals, in 42 games.
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1. Four on-ice officials missed what should have been a major penalty in the first period on Thursday night when Montreal Canadiens F Brendan Prust drilled New York Rangers F Derek Stepan. . . . On Friday, Prust was given a two-game suspension. Also on Friday, the Rangers revealed that Stepan, who missed a couple of shifts before returning to finish the game, has a broken jaw and is out indefinitely. . . . Shortly after that hit, with emotions raw, New York F Daniel Carcillo was ejected after he got physical with a linesman during a scrum. On Friday, Carcillo was suspended for 10 games. . . . Thinking out loud: 1. How is it that four on-ice officials miss what should have been an easy call on Prust? 2. If that call is made, does the Carcillo incident happen? 3. Is bumping a linesman really five times as bad as breaking an opponent’s jaw?
2. What does Larry Brooks of the New York Post think of the NHL’s response to Prust’s hit on Stepan? Well, let’s say that he wasn’t impressed. Brooks’ piece is right here.
3. Can anyone explain why there were referees on the ice during the overtime periods in the Memorial Cup game on Friday night? Hey, if they aren’t going to call the obvious penalties, let’s get them off the ice so they aren’t getting in the way.
4. While the two referees didn’t see any penalties, OHL commissioner David Branch saw at least three suspendable offences.
5. The Brandon Wheat Kings aren’t likely to have any problems recruiting F Stelio Mattheos, the first overall selection in the 2014 WHL bantam draft. “My family and I, we’ve done our homework on the WHL,” Mattheos, a Winnipegger, told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun. “We think it’s a great league for development and that’s where I want to play. I want to play for the Wheat Kings one day.” . . . According to Henderson, Mattheos, who is attending Brandon’s prospects camp this weekend, is expected to play next season for the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jim Dobson (New Westminster, Portland, 1977-80) is going to help coach the Fort Vancouver Vipers of the Northern Pacific Hockey League. Dobson worked as an assistant coach with the Seattle Thunderbirds and also spent one season (1987-88) as their head coach. . . . Paul Danzer of the Vancouver Columbian reports that Dobson, known forever as Dobber, and Mike Dickerman will work together as the Vipers’ co-coaches. Dickerman is coming off his first season as a head coach; the Vipers didn’t win a game. In fact, they have won two of 80 games over the last two seasons. . . . Danzer writes that the eight-team NPHL is “a third-tier USA Hockey-sanctioned junior league for players ages 16-20.”
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MEMORIAL CUP
(at London, Ont., all times Eastern)
(all games televised by Sportsnet)
Friday: Val-d’Or 1, London 0 (8,863)
Saturday: Guelph 5, Edmonton 2 (8,842)
Sunday: Edmonton 5, London 2 (8,863)
Monday: Guelph 6, Val-d’Or 3 (8,796)
Tuesday: Val-d’Or 4, Edmonton 3 (2OT) (8,745)
Wednesday: Guelph 7, London 2 (8,863)
Thursday: No game scheduled.
Friday’s semifinal: Edmonton 4, Val-d’Or 3 (3OT) (8,776)
Saturday: No game scheduled.
Sunday: Guelph vs. Edmonton, 4 p.m.
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FRIDAY’S GAME:
F Curtis Lazar ended the longest game in Memorial Cup tournament history as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Val-d’Or Foreurs 4-3 in the semifinal game. . . . Lazar scored at 2:42 of the third OT period, redirecting a point shot by D Cody Corbett that followed a turnover in the Foreurs’ zone. . . . It was the first time in tournament history that a semifinal game went to double OT. . . . In the end, it was the longest game in Memorial Cup tournament erasing one from 2005. In that one, the Ottawa 67’s beat the Kelowna Rockets 3-2 in 95:31. The 2005 tournament also was played in London. . . . In the round-robin portion, Val-d’Or got past Edmonton, 4-3, in double OT, as well. . . . Between that game and the semifinal, the two teams played 183:57, or more than nine periods. . . . Val-d’Or D Guillaume Gelinas, returning from a knee injury suffered on Monday, forced OT when he drifted a point shot through traffic and past G Tristan Jarry with 36 seconds left in the third period. . . . The QMJHL’s defenceman of the year, Gelinas went out with a knee injury during a 6-3 loss to Guelph on Monday. Obviously not 100 per cent, Gelinas wasn’t his usual explosive self, although he did make some plays in the third period before scoring his first goal of the event. . . . The Foreurs opened the scoring, with D Phil Pietroniro getting his first of the tournament at 1:49 of the first period, but then watched as the Oil Kings scored three in a row. . . . Pietroniro later left with a left shoulder/collarbone injury and didn’t return. . . . F Mads Eller got his first, at 9:00 of the opening period, with Edmonton getting the lead at 6:34 of the second when F Mitch Moroz struck on the PP. That was Moroz’s first goal of the week. . . . Edmonton F Edgars Kulda scored his third goal of the tournament at 9:45 of the second. . . . The Oil Kings seemed in control until Foreurs D Randy Gazzola got his second goal at 17::52 of the second period. . . . Jarry finished with 46 saves, five fewer than Antoine Bibeau of the Foreurs. . . . Edmonton was 1-for-3 on the PP; Val-d’Or was 0-for-4. . . . After handing out six minor penalties in the second period, referees Brett Iverson and Scott Oakman called just two in the game’s final 72:29. . . . The QMJHL had won the previous three tournaments. The WHL hasn’t won since 2008 in Spokane.
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From Neate Sager of Yahoo! Canada Sports: “First time since 1990 the same two #mcmemorialcup teams have played double overtime twice. Other time was the Oshawa-Kitchener classics.” That was in Hamilton, where Oshawa won them both -- 5-4 in the final round-robin game and 4-3 in the championship game.
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From Not Ron Robison (@NotRonRobison: “SportsNet guys said Val d'Or went mini golfing and Edmonton went bowling on their days off. Portland would've been figuring out how to win.”
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Japan lost 1-0 to host Hungary in the third-place game at the IIHF’s Division 1 Group A world championship in Budapest a week ago. Aaron Keller, who played for the Kamloops Blazers (1992-96), was honoured as the tournament’s top defenceman and was named to the all-star team. Keller has played in Japan since 1997-98. . . . Kazakhstan won the tournament, beating Italy 3-0 in the final. Both countries earned promotion and will play with the big boys in the 2014 world championship in Minsk, Belarus. . . . F Pat Iannone of Italy, who is a native of Fruitvale, B.C., was honoured as the tournament’s MVP. He played for Kootenay, Tri-City, Medicine Hat and Regina (1999-2003) and has played in Italy since the 2003-04 season. . . .
F Jake Virtanen of the Calgary Hitmen was hit with one of those ‘tbd’ suspensions on Saturday. Virtanen drew a kneeing major and game misconduct for a hit on Edmonton D Cody Corbett during the Oil Kings’ 6-0 home-ice victory on Friday night. . . . Corbett didn’t return to the game following the hit. . . . The league is likely to firm up the suspension before Game 3 on Tuesday in Calgary.
Saturday night. . . . Bentley G Dan Bakala was named the tournament’s MVP after going 4-0 with two shutouts. . . . Chris Neiszner, Scott Doucet and Keenan Desmet scored the goals in the championship game. . . . The Generals, who also won in 2009, are the first Alberta team to win more than one Allan Cup.
In Portland, G Mac Carruth stopped 27 shots as the Winterhawks blanked the Kamloops Blazers, 4-0. . . . Carruth has three shutouts in these playoffs and seven in his career. . . . In seven April games, Carruth is 7-0, 0.71, .975. . . . F Ty Rattie and F Brendan Leipsic each had a goal and two assists for the Winterhawks. . . . Rattie now has a WHL-leading 25 points in the playoffs, four more than F JC Lipon of Kamloops, who was pointless for a second straight game. . . . The Blazers were 0-for-5 on the PP and now are 0-for-10 in the series. . . . The Winterhawks were 2-for-8 and now are 3-for-11. . . . Rattie’s goal increased his career playoff point total to 82, putting him in a tie for fourth place tie with F Brad Moran (Calgary, 1995-2000) on the alltime list. Rattie then broke the tie with an assist on Portland’s third goal. Another assist put him at 84 points, two behind F Rob Brown (Kamloops, 1983-87), who is in third spot. . . . No doubt disappointing conspiracy theorists, the WHL chose not to suspend Rattie for his checking-from-behind major and game misconduct in the third period of Game 1 on Friday. Kamloops F Chase Souto, who was hit on that play, took a spearing minor at the time, so perhaps the WHL took that into consideration. . . . Rattie also has 43 playoff goals, four off the record held by former Medicine Hat Tigers F Mark Pederson. . . . Carruth set a WHL record for career playoff appearances by a goaltender. This was his 66th postseason game, one more than Cam Ward (Red Deer, 2001-04). . . . Attendance was 9,132. . . . The Blazers hadn’t been blanked in a playoff game since March 23, 2002, when Shane Bendera and the Kelowna Rockets beat them 3-0 in Kamloops. The Blazers played 57 postseason games between blankings.

