Storm stings Oil Kings

Mr. Lazuli Bunting stopped by and said hello. Also said
he was on his way to London for the Memorial Cup. I
just hope he knows which London.

F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract with Bern (Switzerland, NL A). This season with Skellefteå (Sweden, SEL), he had 33 points, including 10 goals, in 53 games. . . .
F Bohdan Višňák (Saskatoon, 2006-07) has signed a one-year contract with Nice (France, Division 1). This season with Montpellier (France, Division 1), he had 11 points, four of them goals, in 16 games.
---


1. So what happened to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon? According to Jack Todd, in the Montreal Gazette, it was  a combination of speed and sympathy. His piece is right here.

2. Remember J.P. Arencibia? He was a catcher with the Toronto Blue Jays, until last season ended. Arencibia says he no longer is with the Blue Jays because of unfavourable media coverage last season. Never mind that he couldn’t hit and struggled on defence. Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star has more right here.

3. A Saturday afternoon tweet from Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail: “A silent prayer for the all the sportswriters who will have to cover the Belmont Stakes, having never watched a horse race in their lives.” . . . That comes after California Chrome won the Preakness Stakes, becoming the third horse in the last 10 years to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

4. If you knew that Big Brown (2008) and I’ll Have Another (2012) were the other two, you know your thoroughbreds.

5. In watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and the first two games of the Memorial Cup tournament, it has become rather apparent that the unpenalized cross-check has returned to the game of hockey.

6. Does the performance by F Milan Lucic in these playoffs, from the chest-thumping to the handshake line the other night, say more about him or a lack of leadership on the Boston Bruins’ roster? Shouldn’t one of the more veteran players have taken him aside earlier and suggested he refocus his energies on what he does best, which is forecheck and cause a ruckus in the offensive zone? Or could it be that Lucic sees himself as the next Brad Marchand?

7. Will Lucic spend the off-season getting ready for the welcome he is going to receive in enemy arenas next season?
---




F Ethen Frank has committed to attending Western Michigan U and playing for the Broncos. Frank, who played this season with his hometown U-16 Omaha AAA Lancers, was selected by the Victoria Royals in the fourth round of the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft.
---
At the RBC Cup in Vernon, B.C., the host Vipers of the BCHL lost a semifinal game, 6-3, to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers, whose pregame meal, again, was paid for by F Jarret Stoll of the Los Angeles Kings. Have to think Stoll is buying again before today’s final. . . . The Terriers scored two empty-net goals to put away that victory. . . . In the other semifinal, the CCHL’s Carleton Place Canadians got past the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, 5-3, with an empty-netter. . . . Today’s final is to begin at 4:30 p.m. Pacific (7:30 Eastern), and it’s scheduled to be televised by TSN.
---
The junior B Pacific Junior Hockey League has done some juggling of its conferences, what with the North Delta Devils moving to Langley and becoming the Langley Knights. They will play out of the George Preston Recreation Centre.
Thus, the Knights have moved to the Harold Brittain Conference, with the Port Moody Panthers shifting to the Tom Shaw Conference.
Here is the new alignment:
TOM SHAW CONFERENCE
Delta Ice Hawks
Grandview Steelers
North Vancouver Wolf Pack
Port Moody Panthers
Richmond Sockeyes
HAROLD BRITTAIN CONFERENCE
Abbotsford Pilots
Aldergrove Kodiaks
Langley Knights
Mission City Outlaws
Ridge Meadows Flames
---

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: London vs. Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Monday: Guelph vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Edmonton vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: London vs. Guelph, 7 p.m.
Thursday: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7 p.m.
Friday: Semifinal, 7 p.m.
Saturday: No game scheduled.
Sunday, May 25: Final, TBD.
---

SATURDAY’S GAME:
The OHL-champion Guelph Storm scored the game’s last four goals and beat the WHL-champion Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-2, on Day 2 of the Memorial Cup tournament. . . . Guelph went 2-for-3 on the PP, scoring its first two goals with the man advantage. . . . Guelph got two goals from each of F Kerby Rychel and F Tyler Bertuzzi. Rychel is the son of former NHLer Warren Rychel, who now owns a piece of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and is the team’s general manager. Bertuzzi is a nephew to Detroit Red Wings F Todd Bertuzzi, who also played for the Storm. . . . Rychel scored the game’s first goal, with 4.2 seconds left in the first period, scoring on the PP after a soft roughing penalty to Edmonton D Aaron Irving. . . . The Oil Kings roared back early in the second period, getting goals 27 seconds apart from F Henrik Samuelsson (1:19) and D Ashton Sautner (1:46). . . . Guelph G Justin Nichols, who stopped 37 shots, was perfect after that. . . . Rychel tied the game at 7:40 of the second, giving Guelph goals on its first two PP shots of the game. That goal came as Jarry left his net to play the puck, a move that resulted in Edmonton F Mads Eller rifling an attempted clearance off Rychel and into the net. . . . At that point, Rychel had scored his club’s last four goals, as he scored the tying and winning goals as the Storm eliminated the North Bay Battalion in the OHL final. . . . F Brock McGinn gave Guelph its first lead at 14:52. . . . Bertuzzi added his goals at 5:46 and 15:49 of the third period. . . . Edmonton was 0-for-5 on the PP. . . . Jarry stopped 27 shots. . . . The Oil Kings have a quick turnaround as they meet the host London Knights tonight.
---





From Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones (@sunterryjones): “Good gawd. Attempt from behind own net by Mads Eller to ice puck on power play hits Rychel and in off Jarry. Steve Smith flashback. It's 2-2.”
---
From Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge): “Not a must-win game for the Knights and Oil Kings (today), but loser almost certainly needs to go through tiebreaker game to win Cup. Hard.”


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.

Saturday . . .

SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
VANCOUVER 2 AT EVERETT 5: F Tyler Maxwell had two goals and an assist for the Silvertips. He has four goals in two games, both victories. . . . F Landon Ferraro scored his first goal in an Everett uniform. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 24 shots. . . . The home side built up a 5-0 lead before the second period was 12 minutes old. . . . F Randy McNaught, acquired Friday by Vancouver from the Saskatoon Blades, was in the Giants’ lineup. He picked up two minor penalties and scrapped with Everett F Campbell Elyniuk. . . . Attendance was 5,027.
---
EDMONTON 1 AT RED DEER 8: The Rebels swept a season-opening two-game series with the Oil Kings, having won 4-1 in Edmonton on Friday. . . . Red Deer scored three times in the first 11 minutes of Friday’s game. On Saturday, they led 2-0 by the 7:00 mark. . . . Red Deer led 3-0 after the first period and added four second-period goals. . . . F Andrej Kudrna had two goals and two assists for the Rebels. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and F Turner Elson, Kudrna’s linemates, each had one and one. . . . F Byron Froese helped out with a goal and two helpers. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots. . . . Edmonton starter Laurent Brossoit stopped eight of 12, with reliever Cam Lanigan turning aside 15 of 19. . . . Attendance was 5,547.
---
PORTLAND 1 AT SEATTLE 4: F Luke Lockhart’s goal at 15:49 of the second period broke a 1-1 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . F Burke Gallimore scored twice for Seattle (1-1-0-0) and has three in two games. . . . Portland G Keith Hamilton stopped 38 shots. The Winterhawks are without injured goaltenders Ian Curtis and Mac Carruth. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots. . . . Attendance was 5,052. . . . The Winterhawks still have seven players in NHL camps. They play their home-opener Monday night against the Vancouver Giants at the Rose Garden.
---
CHILLIWACK 5 AT KAMLOOPS 2: F Ryan Howse scored twice, giving him five goals in two games, as Chillwack evened its record at 1-1-0-0. The Bruins were beaten 9-4 by the Giants in Vancouver on Friday. . . . C Roman Horak, in his first game since returning from the NHL’s New York Rangers, had a goal and three assists. . . . “How good was he?” Bruins’ GM/head coach Marc Habscheid said after the game. . . . The Blazers lost D Josh Caron for up to six weeks with what head coach Guy Charron described as an “upper body” injury. . . . About all Kamloops fans had to cheer for was a pugilistic victory by F Chase Souto, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound Californian who turns 16 on Oct. 8. He squared off with Chilliwack D Zach Habscheid, who goes 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, in the last minute of the game. Souto won by KO with a straight right to the jaw. Habscheid was woozy as he left the ice. . . . Attendance was 4,010.
---
PRINCE GEORGE 6 AT KELOWNA 2: The Cougars got four points, three of them assists, from F Nick Buonassisi as they spoiled the Rockets’ home-opener. . . . The Rockets had lost 5-2 in Kamloops on Friday. . . . F Spencer Asuchak scored twice for the Cougars. . . . F Brett Connolly, who rejoined the Cougars on Friday from the camp of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, scored once, giving him two in as many games. Why is this news? Because Connolly, one of the WHL’s top performers, missed all but 16 games last season with hip problems. . . . This was the fifth straight home-opening loss for the Rockets. . . . “The way our night went, I thought we were soft in confrontation areas, whether it was for pucks or bodies. That’s the way our forwards played tonight,” Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska told Doyle Potenteau of the Okanagan Sunday. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie (hamstring) started the game but left in the second period. . . . According to Huska, Barrie “wasn’t feeling right.” . . . Kelowna F Shane McColgan, who had his tonsils out earlier in the month, was a scratch. . . . The visitors held a 39-22 edge in shots. . . . Attendance was 6,178.
---
SASKATOON 6 AT PRINCE ALBERT 5: The Blades got three points from each of F Marek Viedensky and F Josh Nicholls as they swept an opening series with the Raiders. Saskatoon won 3-2 at home on Friday. . . . Viedensky and Nicholls each had two goals while G Steven Stanford, who was acquired last season from the Raiders, stopped 34 shots. . . . The Raiders got two goals from F Brandon Herrod. . . . Attendance was 2,820.
---
SPOKANE 3 AT TRI-CITY 6: F Patrick Holland had a goal and three assists and F Brendan Shinnimin scored twice to lead the Americans to victory over the Chiefs and head coach Don Nachbaur, who was making his return to Kennewick. . . . Nachbaur coached the Americans for five seasons before leaving after the 2008-09 season to coach the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. He left there after one season and signed a five-year deal with the Chiefs. . . . “Our veterans weren’t good enough tonight,” Nachbaur told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “Our young guys learned as the game went on, but the young guys can’t win unless the old guys show them the way. I thought too many guys who played on this team last year took a back seat. If they keep that up, they’ll have a seat in the stands.” . . . The Americans had a 5-0 lead before the Chiefs scored three goals. . . . Tri-City was 1-for-9 on the PP; the Chiefs were 2-for-10. . .. It was the first game of the season for both teams. . . . The Americans, who have won 10 straight home-openers, raised two championship banners -- U.S. Division and Western Conference -- before the game. . . . Attendance was 5,922.
---
CALGARY 0 AT KOOTENAY 4: G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 35 shots to earn the first shutout in the WHL this season. . . . It was his fourth career shutout and came in the Ice’s home-opener. . . . This was the first game as head coach for Kootenay’s Kris Knoblauch, an assistant last season who takes over from Mark Holick, now head coach of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . Knoblauch, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Friday, is the WHL’s youngest head coach. . . . Calgary had lost 5-3 to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes in its opener Friday. . . . F Max Reinhart had two goals. . . . The Ice continues to be without D Brayden McNabb. He played for the Buffalo Sabres against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. . . Slovakian Juraj Holly, 19, made his WHL debut in goal for Calgary. He stopped 30 shots. . . . The Hitmen were 0-for-9 on the PP; the Ice was 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 2,549.
---
MOOSE JAW 2 AT SWIFT CURRENT 1: Slovakian F Michal Hlinka scored his first WHL goal on a penalty shot, breaking a 1-1 tie and providing the Warriors with the winning goal. . . . Hlinka scored at 14:01 of the second period. . . . The Broncos had won 4-1 in Moose Jaw on Friday. . . . Moose Jaw G Thomas Heemskerk stopped 27 shots, as did Swift Current G Mark Friesen. . . . Nine of the game’s last 10 minor penalties were for roughing. . . . Attendance was 2,512.
---
LETHBRIDGE 3 AT MEDICINE HAT 1: G Dylan Tait stopped 37 shots for the Hurricanes, who are 2-0. They won 5-3 in Calgary on Friday. . . . F Austin Fyten scored his fourth goal in two games for the Hurricanes, who led 3-0 in the second period. . . . Medicine Hat got a goal from captain Wacey Hamilton, who returned from the camp of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. . . . Fyten and Hamilton clashed in the game’s lone fight. . . . Yes, attendance was 4,006.
---
On their way back from NHL camps are D Brandon Manning, to Chilliwack from the New York Rangers; F Cody Beach, to Calgary from St. Louis. . . . Chilliwack also expects to get C Kevin Sundher back from Buffalo on Sunday, while Kamloops expects D Corey Fienhage to return Sunday, also from Buffalo.
---
F Triston Grant, who is in camp with the Florida Panthers, and F Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins danced on Saturday night. They were teammates with the Vancouver Giants for a moment at one time. More on that bout right here.
---
The Calgary Herald is reporting that Chuck Matson, who at one time owned a piece of the Calgary Hitmen, was among three men killed in an Alberta plane crash on Friday. That story is right here.
---
Rich Myhre of the Everett Herald takes a look at Silvertips goaltending coach Jordan Sigalet and how he is dealing with having to live with multiple sclerosis. That story is right here.
---
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: G Kurtis Mucha, who finished up a five-year WHL career in Kamloops after being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks in November, made his CIS debut with Alberta on Friday. He stopped 25 shots in leading the Golden Bears to a 3-0 victory over the Regina Cougars. . . . As of Friday, the Brandon Wheat Kings had sold 2,969 season tickets, the second-highest total in franchise history, second only to the 3,611 sold last season when they were the host team for the Memorial Cup. . . . Two players drew suspensions from Friday’s opening night games. F Colton Stephenson of the Edmonton Oil Kings and D Alex Theriau of the Everett Silvertips each drew a one-game suspension after being tossed with a checking-from-behind major and the accompanying game misconduct. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers assigned F Colin Mospanchuk, 17, to the MJHL’s Winnipeg South Blues. That leaves the Tigers’ roster at 24, including D Jace Coyle, who still is with the NHL’s Dallas Stars.
---
The Windsor Spitfires will celebrate a second straight Memorial Cup title on Sunday afternoon when they play their home-opener. And, the way Bob Duff of the Windsor Star sees it, it could be quite an afternoon, what with the Barrie Colts providing the opposition. You see, the Spitfires beat the Colts in the OHL championship series last spring. That story is right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter