To Russia, with sticks and skates

Defenceman Marek Hrbas (13) of the Kamloops Blazers, here rubbing
out Mark McNulty of the Prince George Cougars on Saturday, hopes to
play in the World Junior Championship for a second straight year.(HUGO YUEN/KAMLOOPS DAILY NEWS)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Despite having been born and raised in the nearby Czech Republic, Marek Hrbas has never been to Russia.
That is something he plans on changing over Christmas.
Hrbas, a 19-year-old defenceman with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, will attend training camp with the Czech national junior team. Should he be selected to the team — and all signs certainly point in that direction — he will play for his country in the World Junior Championship that opens in Ufa, Russia, on Dec. 26.
“I’m excited,” Hrbas said Thursday after practice at Interior Savings Centre. “It’s a big deal.”
The Blazers were preparing for home games tonight against the Saskatoon Blades and Saturday against the Vancouver Giants.
Hrbas, who was acquired by the Blazers from the Edmonton Oil Kings prior to last season, expects to leave his teammates on Dec. 13 and fly to Rokycany, a town in the Plzen region of the Czech Republic, where the team will hold its selection camp.
“It’s about 10 minutes from my home,” said Hrbas, who is from Plzen. “I should be able to see my family.”
Hrbas, who has 11 points in 26 games with the Blazers, expects countrymate David Musil, a defenceman with the Oil Kings, to be the only other WHLer in the Czech camp, although there will be a few there from the QMJHL as well as centre Radek Faksa of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Faksa was the OHL’s highest-scoring freshman last season, with 67 points.
Hrbas is especially looking forward to having a travelling partner from Edmonton.
“It would be nice,” he said. “It’s a long trip, like 20 hours.”
The Czechs will play out of the Sports Palace in Ufa, in a pool with Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Latvia.
Before leaving for Russia, Hrbas said the Czechs will play an exhibition game against Slovakia on Dec. 17. After arriving in Russia, they will play Germany on Dec. 22.
Their first tournament game is scheduled for Dec. 26 against Sweden.
Last season, with the tournament playing out in Calgary and Edmonton, Hrbas had one assist and two penalty minutes in six games. The Czechs went 2-2 in their pool, including a 5-0 loss to Canada and a 5-2 victory over the United States. Russia then beat the Czechs 2-1 in the playoff round. Hrbas and his teammates won a fifth-place game, beating Slovakia, 5-2.
“We just want to make it through the preliminary round and then anything can happen in the quarterfinals and semifinals,” Hrbas said.
The Blazers are scheduled to meet the Hitmen in Calgary on Dec. 11 and play in Edmonton on Dec. 12.
Hrbas would play in those games before leaving. He then would miss six games before returning to face the visiting Tri-City Americans on Jan. 9.
Meanwhile, Blazers defenceman Jordan Thomson also will miss a few games over the New Year as he plays for Team West at the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Que., Dec. 29 through Jan. 4.
Thomson, a 16-year-old freshman from Wawanesa, Man., is expected to miss four WHL games. He has six points in 19 games this season.
At the same time, right-winger JC Lipon and centre Colin Smith, who are one-two in the WHL scoring race, are waiting to hear if they will be invited to the Canadian junior team’s training camp. It opens in Calgary on Dec. 10.
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The Blazers (19-5-2) are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Regina Pats on Wednesday night at ISC.
The Blazers held a 40-13 edge in shots and outchanced the Pats, 28-9, but still came up short.
On Thursday, they spent time working on the power play — it was 1-for-5 against Regina — and also watched a video prepared by associate coach Dave Hunchak.
Hunchak and head coach Guy Charron have been working hard to get the forwards to stop passing up shooting opportunities.
Hunchak put together a video showing the number of shots from the slot area that were passed up.
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Like the Pats, who were missing half a dozen regulars on Wednesday, the Blades (11-10-1) have their own M*A*S*H ward going.
Shane McColgan, their first-line centre, went home earlier in the week after suffering a suspected concussion during a 5-2 loss to the Royals in Victoria on Tuesday. McColgan, 19, has 23 points, including six goals.
Winger Nick Zajac, 17, is probable after taking a hit from Victoria defenceman Tyler Stahl, who drew a two-game suspension for the play.
The Blades may get back defenceman Matthew Pufahl, who missed their last two games. He came out of a 4-0 victory over the Cougars in Prince George a week ago after taking a hit from behind from forward Caleb Belter, who is serving a three-game suspension.
As well, Saskatoon headed west without defenceman Dalton Thrower, another player with a suspected concussion, and forwards Brett Stovin (shoulder) and Jessey Astles (wrist).
“We’ll move people around at different positions,” Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ general manager and head coach, told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “We’re going to have to really dig down here and play a real strong team game.”
After playing Tuesday in Victoria, the Blades enjoyed two days off so they should be relatively fresh tonight. They are expected to start Russian Andrey Makarov in goal. After starring against Team WHL in the Super Series last week, he beat Prince George and Vancouver (5-2) before getting the hook after giving up four goals in two periods against Victoria.
JUST NOTES: Both games are to start at 7 p.m. . . . The Blazers are expected to start G Cole Cheveldave (14-4-0) after Taran Kozun played against Regina. . . . The Blazers will be without F Dylan Willick (broken ankle) and F Aspen Sterzer (undisclosed).

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Val Pusteria/Brunico (Italy, Serie A) announced on its website that D Keith Seabrook (Calgary, 2007-09) has told the team he is retiring from hockey, effective immediately. He had eight goals and 10 assists in 18 games with Val Pusteria this season.
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If you scroll down a bit, you will find the Name The Line contest. Take part and win a signed copy of Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos.
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F Rhett Gardner of the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals suffered a shoulder injury during The Hockey Academy Showcase in Grand Forks, N.D. Gardner was the Spokane Chiefs’ second-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft but chose not to report to the Chiefs’ training camp prior to this season as he keeps his options open. . . . Gardner, the Generals’ leading scorer, has 23 points in 15 games, good for fourth place in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA league’s scoring race. . . . The Generals went 1-3 at that tournament, losing three games in shootouts. . . .
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Calgary, D Peter Kosterman broke a 2-2 tie at 12:43 of the third period and the Hitmen beat the Swift Current Broncos, 4-2. . . . Ukrainian freshman F Pavlo Padakin scored twice, including an empty-netter, for Calgary. . . . F Graham Black scored both Swift Current goals. He’s got 12. . . . The Broncos have lost two in a row and four of six. . . . Calgary had F Victor Rask in its lineup for the first time this season. A 33-goal man last season, he had been with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. . . . As well, Hitmen captain Cody Sylvester returned from a two-game absence with an undisclosed injury to score the game’s first goal. . . . The Hitmen moved one point ahead of idle Edmonton and trails Eastern Conference-leading Prince Albert by one point with two games in hand. . . .

In Everett, F Carson Stadnyk scored twice to give the Silvertips a 2-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Stadnyk, 17, from Saskatoon, has three goals in 25 games. . . . He broke a 1-1 tie at 12:43 of the third period. . . . F Curtis Valk got his 16th goal for the Tigers, this one via the PP. . . . Everett G Daniel Cotton stopped 40 shots. . . . The Tigers, who have lost four straight, had a 41-18 edge in shots. . . . The Tigers scratched F Hunter Shinkaruk, who suffered a skate cut to a knee that took 14 stitches on Saturday in Portland, and F Miles Koules (ankle), who also was injured in Portland. . . . Everett was without D Ryan Murray (shoulder). The Silvertips are 2-0-0 since Murray was injured on Friday in Victoria. He should have an MRI early this week in an attempt to get a precise diagnosis. . . . Everett also remains without F Ryan Harrison (knee) and F Josh Winquist (mononucleosis). . . .

In Vancouver, the Saskatoon Blades broke a 2-2 tie with three goals in a span of 4:10 in the third period as they beat the Giants, 5-2. . . . F Nick Zajac broke a 2-2 tie at 11:27 of the third period, with F Matej Stransky scoring at 15:25, on the PP, and D Duncan Siemens scoring at 15:37. . . . D Kyle Schmidt had three assists. . . . Stransky had two goals. . . . The Blades have points in six of their last seven games. After that horrid start, they now are 10-10-1. . . . F Trevor Cheek notched his 10th goal for Vancouver; he is on a six-game goal streak. . . . The Giants were without F Cain Franson for an 11th straight game. He is believed to have a concussion. . . .

The Brandon Wheat Kings, having lost twice to the host Kootenay Ice over the previous two nights, went into Lethbridge and beat the Hurricanes, 5-3. . . . The Hurricanes led 2-1 in the second period when Brandon scored three times in 5:10. . . . Wheat Kings F John Quenneville doubled his goal count to four by scoring twice. . . . Lethbridge D Daniel Johnston had two assists. He has 18 points, including six goals, in 22 games. Last season, in 55 games, the 20-year-old had 30 points, two of them goals. . . . Brandon, which had lost four straight, scratched F Alessio Bertaggia, its leading scorer, with an undisclosed injury. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels won their second straight game under interim head coach Brent Sutter, this time beating the visiting Prince Albert Raiders, 6-1. . . . F Matt Bellerive had a goal and two assists for the Rebels, who got three assists from F Joel Hamilton. . . . G Rylan Parenteau made his WHL debut with the Raiders, stopping two of three shots over nine minutes in the third period. Parenteau, who turned 16 on Nov. 6, joined the Raiders earlier in the weekend from the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. He was a third-round selection by the Raiders in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . G Andy Desautels, who normally backs up Luke Siemens, has been nursing a broken finger and may have banged it up a bit more late last week. . . . Siemens started this one, but was given a rest after stopping 42 shots over 51:06. . . . The Raiders are 5-1-0 in Alberta this season. Last season, they went 2-8-0 in games played in Alberta. . . . Prince Albert captain Mark McNeill, who played in both Subway Super Series games last week, played in his fifth game in as many nights.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Craig Leverton, Lethbridge
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Edmonton Oil Kings F Michael St. Croix (@stixy18): “Terrible news that my buddy @papskos17 has to retire from junior hockey due to injury. You are inspiration to all. See you soon!”

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