THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Stone (Brandon, 2001-05) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL) after his release by mutual agreement by TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) earlier in the day. He had six goals and four assists in 25 games for TPS this season.
———
Former WHL player Tyson Sievert died in a single-vehicle accident near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., on Tuesday at around 2:45 a.m. RCMP found Sievert dead at the scene when they responded. Sievert, 25, was from Earl Grey, Sask. A forward, he played for the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats (2004-06), totalling 11 goals and 16 assists in 114 regular-season games. He also incurred 166 penalty minutes. . . . He played for the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs as a 20-year-old and then went on to play one season with the U of Regina Cougars.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
———
With a number of WHL players taking part in Christmas tournaments, teams are adding all kinds of younger players to their rosters.
For starters, F Jake Virtanen, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, will make his debut with the Calgary Hitmen tonight against the Cougars in Prince George.
Virtanen, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., has 33 points in 24 games with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins this season. . . .
———
With G Eric Comrie at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, the Tri-City Americans have brought in G Brett Teskey, 18, from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings to back kup Ty Rimmer. . . .
———
The Regina Pats have recalled F Nils Moser, 18, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles . . . Regina is without F Morgan Klimchuk and D Kyle Burroughs, both of whom are with Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Regina also is without D Brandon Underwood (ankle) and F Chandler Stephenson (knee). . . . D Tyler Borstmayer, who had been with the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings, also remains with the Pats. . . .
———
The Kootenay Ice has brought in D Tanner Faith, 16, from the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds, and F Luke Philp, 16, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Both are expected to stay for the next five games. . . . Faith has eight points in 21 games with the Hounds. . . . Philp has 33 points in 30 games with Canmore. . . .
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors will take a third goaltender on the road with them as they head into the U.S. Division. Justin Paulic, a 16-year-old from the midget AAA Norman Northstars, will join fellow goaltenders Luke Siemens and Spencer Tremblay as he gets a taste of life in the WHL. . . . The Warriors also have added F Brandon Potomak, 16, and F Wheaton King, 19, just to give them 12 forwards for their road swing. . . . F Quinton Howden is with Canada at the World Junior Championship, while F Carter Hansen (Team West) and F Torrin White (Team Pacific) are at the WHC. . . . Potomak has 28 points in 22 games with the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks. . . . King, who played 38 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, has 30 points in 35 games with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. King was in camp with the Medicine Hat Tigers prior to this season. . . .
———
As something of a Christmas present, the WHL is providing free webcasts of its games through Thursday night. . . . With all of the absent players, perhaps the WHL teams should be slashing ticket prices or add an extra week to the Christmas break. . . .
———
The WHL trade freeze that began before Christmas went away at midnight Tuesday. So it’s open season between now and Jan. 10. . . .
———
G Curtis Honey, who left the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs and has joined the Brandon Wheat Kings, and F Connor Honey, who left the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers for the Seattle Thunderbirds, are twin brothers. . . . The 17-year-olds are from Edmonton. . . .
———
F Curtis Lazar of the Edmonton Oil Kings has been named captain of Team Pacific at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that is being held in the Windsor area. . . . The alternates are D Macoy Erkamps of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Tyson Baillie of the Kelowna Rockets.
Team Pacific arrived in Windsor on Monday, about 9:30 p.m. ET following a four-hour bus ride from Toronto. They had a 6:15 a.m. wakeup call — that’s 3:15 PT. They were on the ice at 9 a.m. ET, or 6 a.m. PT. . . . Team Pacific will play an exhibition game against Sweden this afternoon. . . .
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors claimed F Charles Wells, 20, on waivers from the Portland Winterhawks before Christmas. However, the Warriors said Tuesday that Wells has decided not to return to the WHL. “He’s a great kid,” Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “The conversation was very good. He’s just looking at other options at the CIS level and utilizing his WHL scholarship. I think under other circumstances he would have loved to have been a Moose Jaw Warriors, but his heart wasn’t in playing in the league right now.” . . . With that, the Warriors remain with two 20-year-olds on their roster, so have room to add one.
———
TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Edmonton Oil Kings became the first Eastern Conference team to reach the 50-point plateau as they whipped the Blades, 7-2. . . . Edmonton forwards Klarc Wilson, Michael St. Croix and Tyler Maxwell each had a goal and two assists. . . . St. Croix’s PP goal at 1:30 of the second period gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. . . . Maxwell has 22 points in 12 games with the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 43 shots in winning for the 21st time this season, a franchise single-season record. The previous record had been held by Torrie Jung (2008-09). . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie made his WHL debut as he came on in relief of Adam Todd, who gave up six goals on 26 shots over two periods. Moodie was beaten once on nine shots. . . . The Blades had F Brent Benson back from injury — he hadn’t played since Nov. 30 — but F Matej Stransky sat this one out. . . . Injured Blades F Josh Nicholls (knee) joined the coaches behind the bench. . . . G Brendan Jensen, 18, whose rights belong to the Vancouver Giants was on the Oil Kings’ bench. Jensen is backing up Laurent Brossoit with Tristan Jarry away at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Jensen has been playing for the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . The Oil Kings also had D Ryan Aasman and F Braeden Johnson, 19, in the lineup to help fill some vacancies. . . . Aasman 19, was a first-round selection by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2007 bantam draft. He also has played for Seattle, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. Aasman now is with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. . . . Johnson has 47 points in 37 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. . . .
———
In Swift Current, F Jonas Knutsen, fresh off a stint with Norway’s national junior team, scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Prince Albert Raiders a 3-2 victory over the Broncos. . . . The Raiders nursed a 2-0 lead into the third period only to have the Broncos tie it on goals by F Graham Black, at 1:51, and F Brad Hoban, at 18:12. . . . Prince Albert G Cole Holowenko stopped 40 shots, 20 more than Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde. . . . The Raiders have won four in a row. . . . The Broncos had F Jordan Wittman, 15, from the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires, and F Zac Mackay, 16, also from the Legionnaires, in the lineup. . . . Swift Current F Adam Lowry had surgery on Tuesday to repair a fractured wrist. Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos, reports that Lowry will be in a cast for two months and may miss the remainder of this season. . . . Lowry, one of the WHL’s top power forwards, had 37 points and 90 penalty minutes in 36 games. He also was plus-4 on a team that came out of the break having surrendered 31 more goals than it had scored. . . .
———
In Red Deer, G Tyler Bunz stopped 36 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 2-0 victory over the Rebels. . .. Bunz has three shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . He also won his 20th game (20-8-2). He has won at least 20 in each of his last three seasons and has 96 regular-season victories in his career. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-6 on the PP, with D Matthew Konan and D Patrik Parkkonen getting the goals. . . .
———
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice got 17 saves from Mackenzie Skapski and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-2. . . . F Brock Montgomery broke a 1-1 tie at 2:16 of the second period and the Ice went on to build a 4-1 lead. . . . The Hurricanes were able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum, and that included F Harper Harrison, 17, who was brought in from the junior B Airdrie Thunder. . . . Harrison was a ninth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The teams combined for 90 penalty minutes, 48 to the Ice. But Lethbridge was only 1-for-9 on the PP. . . .
———
In Vancouver, Russian F Alex Kuvaev paid dividends in his first game with the Giants, scoring in regulation and getting the shootout winner in a 4-3 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Kuvaev, 18, played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes; he had 24 points in 58 games. He chose to start this season in Russia. . . . The Giants, who have won three in a row and four of six with Glen Hanlon running the bench, held 2-0 and 3-2 leads before F Dylan Willick tied it at 17:41 of the third. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 35 shots, three more than Kamloops’ Cole Cheveldave. . . . Kamloops has lost its last two games 4-3 in shootouts. It closed out the pre-Christmas schedule with a loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . Vancouver F Nathan Burns scored the game’s first goal. He had missed 15 games with an ankle injury. . . . The Giants were missing seven players between injuries and Christmas tournaments. They have added F Brodyn Nielsen, 17, from the junior B North Vancouver Wolf Pack, and F Logan Harland, 16, from the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs, to their roster. . . . The Blazers added D Jordan Thomson, the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, to their roster. Thomson made his WHL debut by playing on a forward line. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Kamloops. . . .
———
In Kelowna, the Spokane Chiefs scored two PP goals and went on to dump the Rockets, 4-1. . . . F Mitch Holmberg and F Marek Kalus scored PP goals to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead by 14:18 of the second. . . . Holmberg finished with two goals, giving him 12, and an assist. . . . D Myles Bell was back in Kelowna’s lineup after not playing since Nov. 12. . . .
———
In Kent, Wash., F Colin Jacobs scored in the shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Jacobs, Seattle’s first shooter, was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . . Everett is 1-6 in shootouts this season. . . . The seven shootouts is a WHL high. . . . They play again tonight in Everett.
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Dalton Thrower, Saskatoon.
D Neil Manning, Vancouver.
———
If you haven’t seen Don Cherry’s Piano Desk, you are in for a real treat . . . not to mention a real chuckle. Check it out right here.
———
If you click right here, you will find an interesting letter to the editor that appeared on the Vancouver Sun’s website on Tuesday. It is from a mother who took her eight-year-old daughter to the Vancouver Giants’ Teddy Bear toss game.


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.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL). He had one assist in four games during a one month tryout with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A) that ended last week. Sindel missed two weeks during the tryout with a broken jaw. Dinamo's press release notes that Sindel was offered a contract for the rest of the season by Kloten but the offer was declined; Sindel had already decided to move to Dinamo. Last season, Sindel had 15 goals and 18 assists in 59 games for Pelicans Lahti (Finland, SM-Liiga).
———
Two more suspensions came out of the WHL’s justice department, which apparently no longer takes weekends off — or long weekends, for that matter.
F Kale Kessy of the Medicine Hat Tigers and D Griffin Reinhart of the Edmonton Oil Kings each drew five-game suspensions.
Kessy took a double minor for a check from behind on D Zach Habscheid of the host Victoria Royals on Thursday. Habscheid is believed to have suffered a concussion.
Reinhart took a kneeing major and game misconduct against the visiting Kootenay Ice on Wednesday. Ice F Brendan Hurley hasn’t played since taking that hit.
Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, reported Sunday on his blog: “Brendan Hurley will be seeing the team doctor to determine the extent of the knee injury.
The early feeling is he could be out 4-6 weeks but that is just a guess.”
———
SOME SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Portland, G Ty Rimmer stopped 43 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 4-0 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . The Americans (5-2-0) have beaten Portland three times in as many tries this season. They won’t meet again for six weeks. . . . F Adam Hughesman had two goals, giving him six on the season. . . . Rimmer has one shutout this season and five in his career. . . . G Mac Carruth stopped 18 shots for Portland. . . . Attendance was 2,400. . . . The Winterhawks were playing their third game in as many nights; the Americans didn’t play on Saturday.
In Swift Current, G Laurent Brossoit made 28 saves to help the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . F Stephane Legault scored twice for the Oil Kings, although teammates after the game were congratulating on scoring three times. Perhaps a change to the online scoresheet on the WHL website will appear Monday. . . . Attendance was 2,022. . . . Broncos G Jon Groenheyde, acquired last week from the Oil Kings, turned aside 29 shots. . . . Edmonton (4-2-2) won two games on a three-game weekend trip into the East Division.
———
JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats had F Nils Moser back Saturday night for the first time this season. He had knee surgery over the summer. . . . The Pats, who lost 2-0 to the visiting Prince George Cougars, were without D Colton Jobke, who has a sore foot after blocking a shot on Friday. Regina head coach Pat Conacher told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that X-rays on Jobke’s foot were negative.
———
Got a note on Sunday:
“Hey Gregg, you should check out the PIJHL standings on their website. The Richmond Sockeyes are 6-0 to start the season.... WITH SIX SHUT-OUTS!!!! What!??”
So I took a look. Yikes! The question in the junior B Pacific International league isn’t who will be the first team to beat the Sockeyes. No, the question is: Who will score the first goal against the Sockeyes.
To date, the Sockeyes have beaten the Mission Icebreakers 6-0, North Vancouver Wolf Pack 10-0, Ridge Meadows Flames 7-0, Mission again (8-0), North Delta Devils 4-0, and Port Moody Black Panthers, 9-0.
The Sockeyes are at home to the Delta Ice Hawks, who are 5-1-0, on Thursday night. Both teams play in the Tom Shaw Conference.
Goaltender Jonah Imoo, the son of former WHL G Dusty Imoo, has put up four of the Sockeye’s six shutouts. Dusty is the Seattle Thunderbirds’ goaltending coach.
———
Jack Todd, who long has columnized in the pages of the Montreal Gazette, has never been one to pull his punches . . . or his words. Today is no different.
“Just when we thought that we knew how low our national buffoon could sink (and our estimate of him is pretty much bottomless),” Todd writes, “we were stunned last Thursday evening when Don Cherry plumbed the depths with a vicious attack on the very gladiators who have made him rich and famous.”
Todd’s complete column is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

The drive to the WHL’s trade deadline has started.
It didn’t begin earlier in the week when the Tri-City Americans cut deals with the Everett Silvertips and Kelowna Rockets, because those were driven by Tri-City’s need to trim a 20-year-old from its roster.
No, the drive to the Jan. 10 deadline began late Friday morning with a deal between the Americans and Regina Pats.
For the second straight season, RW Carter Ashton, a first-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2009 draft, is on the move.

CARTER ASHTON

Ashton was dealt Friday by the Pats to the Americans, along with a 2012 third-round bantam draft pick, for F Tanner Olstad, F Nils Moser, a 2011 first-round bantam draft pick and second- and fifth-round picks in the 2012 bantam draft.
It was a year and a day ago, on Dec. 9, 2009, that the Lethbridge Hurricanes dealt Ashton and F Craig Orfino to the Pats for F Graham Hood, F Tayler Balog, a 2010 second-round bantam draft pick and a 2011 first-round bantam pick.
Moser, a 17-year-old from Canmore, Alta., was a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft. He has one goal in 20 games this season, after earning three points in 38 games last season.
Olstad, an18-year-old from Calgary, had three points in 20 games with the Americans.
Ashton, a 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, is the son of Brent Ashton (Saskatoon, 1975-79). Carter is in Toronto in the selection camp of the Canadian national junior team. In 29 games this season, he has 27 points and 44 penalty minutes.
In 206 regular-season WHL games, he has 137 points and 267 penalty minutes. He was the sixth overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft.
The bottom line is this: The Americans get bigger up front; the Pats, who aren’t likely to make the playoffs and have begun the rebuilding process, get badly needed draft picks.
For more on the deal, check out Greg Harder’s coverage right here at the Regina Leader-Post’s website.
———
D Jared Spurgeon, a product of the Spokane Chiefs, is making quite an impression with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. Check out this story by Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune right here.
———
Some highlights from Friday’s WHL games . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Dylan Hood had a goal and three assists to lead the Warriors to a 6-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Quinton Howden scored twice and added an assist for Moose Jaw, while F Spencer Edwards had a goal and two helpers. . . . Howden has 21 goals now. . . . F Elgin Pearce counted three times for the Ice, giving him five this season. . . . Pearce, an 18-year-old from Port Coquitlam, B.C., had three goals in 45 last season as a freshman. . . . F Magnus Christian had three assists for the Ice, with F Joe Antilla scoring once, setting up two others and finishing plus-4. . . . Attendance was 2,650. . . . The Ice was without F Kevin King, its leading scorer, thanks to an infected elbow. . . .
———
In Saskatoon, F Jake Trask scored his second goal of the game at 1:44 of OT as the Blades came from behind to beat the Everett Silvertips, 5-4. . . . Trask, who is from Saskatoon, was acquired earlier from the Kamloops Blazers. This was his sixth goal of the season. . . . Blades F Matej Stransky forced OT with a PP goal at 19:50 of the third period. . . . F Parker Stanfield had given Everett a 4-3 lead with his second goal of the game on the PP, at 16:31 of the third. . . . This was the Blades’ first home game after a 4-1-0 jaunt through the B.C. Division. . . . Everett led 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-3. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell had a goal and three assists. . . . F Curtis Hamilton had two assists for Saskatoon in his last game before leaving for the Canadian junior team’s selection camp. . . . Ev erett G Kent Simpson stopped 40 shots. . . . Attendance was 6,112.
———
In Calgary, F Kris Foucault scored 25 seconds into OT as the Hitmen beat the Regina Pats, 4-3. . . . Regina is 0-5 in OT this season. . . . Calgary trailed this one 3-0 at 9:36 of the second period as the Pats got shorthanded goals from F Thomas Frazee and Garrett Mitchell, and an score from Dyson Stevenson at 9:36. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick got a PP goal for Calgary before the second period ended, and F Justin Kirsch got another at 2:08 of the third. . . . D Matt MacKenzie tied it with his second of the season at 7:53. . . . MacKenzie also had two assists, as did Regina F Lane Scheidl. . . . The Eastern Conference’s two poorest teams combined for 29 shots, 16 by the Hitmen. . . . These teams will play an outdoors game at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium on Feb. 21. . . . Attendance was 7,680. . . . F Morgan Klimchuk, the fifth overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft, drew an assist for Regina. He isn’t eligible to play full time, but took F Carter Ashton’s spot on the Pats’ foster for this one. Klimchuk is from Calgary. . . . Neither of the forwards Regina acquired from the Tri-City Americans in the Ashton deal — Nils Moser or Tanner Olstad — was in Regina’s lineup. They likely will play tonight against the Rebels in Red Deer. . . .
———
In Lethbridge, F Ryan Howse had two goals to help the Chilliwack Bruins to a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Howse has 22 goals. . . . He scored two PP goals as five of the game’s seven goals came with the man advantage. . . . Lethbridge F Mitch Maxwell got his 10th goal on a penalty shot at 19:48 of the third period. . . . Chilliwack F Roman Horak had three assists, while F Robin Soudek had a goal and two helpes. . . . Howse gave the Bruins a 2-0 first-period lead. The Hurricanes tied it with two PP goals — from F Cam Braes and F Austin Fyten. The Bruins then got third-period goals from Soudek, at 13:41, and F Jamie Crooks, at 15:41, to win it. . . . Chilliwack G Lucas Gore stopped 35 shots. . . . Attendance was 2,826. . . .
———
In Red Deer, F Evan Bloodoff and F Geordie Wudrick each scored twice to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-1 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Rockets were without head coach Ryan Huska, who is serving as an assistant coach with Canada’s national junior team. Assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert, a former Rockets captain, will serve as head coach, with help from assistant Dan Lambert, in Huska’s absence. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s first four goals and took a 4-0 lead into the third period. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 37 shots. That included a penalty shot by F Colten Mayor at 7:57 of the third period. . . . Bloodoff has six goals; Wudrick has 15. . . . Attendance was 4,057. . . .
———
In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford scored his WHL-leading 26th goal of the season as the Blazers edged the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . Ranford’s goal, which broke a scoreless tie 49 seconds into the second period, was the Teddy Bear goal. . . . Ranford also had an assist and now is tied with Medicine Hat Tigers F Linden Vey for the WHL points lead, with 49. . . . F Cody Eakin scored both Swift Current goals and now has 18 on the season. He leaves from Vancouver today for the Canadian junior team’s selection camp. . . . The game was delayed for about 15 minutes in the third period after Swift Current F Killian Hutt, 19, went into convulsions following a hit by F Jordan DePape. Hutt was conscious and have movement in his limbs as he left the ice on a stretcher and was taken to hospital. . . . DePape was given a charging major and game misconduct. . . . The Broncos were 0-for-7 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-for-1. . . . Attendance was 4,332. . . . 
———
In Portland, the Winterhawks broke open a scoreless game with three second-period goals and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi, the WHL’s top scorer among freshmen, got his 20th goal at 3:30 of the second, on a PP, to get it started. . . . F Brad Ross added his 14th at 7:46 and F Spencer Bennett made it 3-0 with his 10th at 14:25. . . . It was Portland’s second victory in eight games. . . . F Spencer Asuchak, with his 10th, scored for Prince George at 18:44 of the second. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 22 shots. . . . Prince George G Ty Rimmer turned aside 26 shots, including Ross on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Attendance was 5,441. . . .
———
In Kennewick, Wash., F Brendan Shinnimin scored once and added two assists as the host Tri-City Americans beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-1. . . . Shinnimin scored at 1:10 of the first period and it was Tri-City’s Teddy Bear goal. . . . F Mason Wilgosh and F Justin Feser each added two assists. . . . F Adam Hughesman helped out with his 16th goal and an assist. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley stopped 22 shots, losing his shutout bid to F Charles Wells at 11:39 of the second. Wells has eight goals this season. . . . F Carter Ashton, acquired by Tri-City from the Regina Pats on Friday, wasn’t in the Americans’ lineup. He is in Toronto preparing for the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. . . . The Americans were 2-for-10 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-for-3. . . . Attendance was 4,776. . . . The teams meet  again tonight in Kent, Wash. The Thunderbirds will be without G Calvin Pickard (13-9-7), who is off to the Canadian junior team selection camp. . . .
———
In Vancouver, F Blake Gal scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Spokane Chiefs got past the Giants, 3-2. . . . Gal was the only one of the six shooters to find the range. . . . The goal was allowed after video review; it seems that G Mark Segal kicked the puck into his own net in the process of trying to make the save. . . . The Giants held a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period on goals by F Michael Burns — it was the Teddy Bear goal — and F Brendan Gallagher, his 25th. . . . F Tyler Johnson got his 20th, at 19:52 of the first, on a PP, to get the Chiefs on the board. . . . D Jared Cowen, who leaves today for the selection camp of Canada’s national junior team, tied it at 18:59 of the second, on a PP. . . . The Chiefs were 2-for-5 on the PP; the Giants were 0-for-2. . . . Segal stopped 43 shots, 23 more than Spokane’s James Reid. . . . Attendance was 12,263. . . . Giants D Luke Fenske (shoulder) returned after a seven-game absence, but they were without D David Musil, who suffered a hairline fracture in his right leg last week.
———
FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Kootenay D Joey Leach
Kelowna F Max Adolph

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.comTaking Note on Twitter