MONDAY’S GAME:
No Game Scheduled.———
Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, was in Lethbridge on Monday evening to speak to Hurricanes’ shareholders. The gathering was closed to the public and to the media.
Afterwards, Robison told local media that he had told shareholders that “given the team’s current
financial position, I recommend they strongly consider private ownership.”The franchise has been headed in that direction since its last annual general meeting. At that meeting, a motion was put forward asking that shareholders entertain a sale. Next up will be a special meeting at which shareholders will vote on whether to hold a vote on the sale. The date for that meeting will be set sometime in the next three weeks.
Paul Kingsmith of Global TV has more right here.
One paragraph in Kingsmith’s report reads: “Should shareholders choose to sell, they would have a say in who the team is sold to, although final approval rests with the WHL’s board of governors. Robison stresses the league favours local owners, and points to the Kamloops Blazers as the ideal template of how a team can successfully transition from community to private ownership.”
The Blazers were sold by shareholders to Tom Gaglardi, Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor prior to the 2007-08 season. While those five all have ties to Kamloops, it would be a reach to call any of them “local.” Recchi is the only one of the five who was born in Kamloops, but his appearances here have lessened with time.
Also, perhaps Robison has forgotten how messy things were around Kamloops in the months leading up to the sale. Sheesh! I seem to recall both parties appearing in B.C. Supreme Court before all the smoke had cleared. And we won’t even get into the hullabaloo that took place when Mike Priestner, now the owner of the Saskatoon Blades, got involved by making an offer to purchase the Blazers. At one point, Jim Pattison — yes, that Jim Pattison! — was said to be contemplating making an offer.
Perhaps the commissioner has forgotten that the Blazers’ shareholders voted during the summer of 2006 not to sell the franchise. At that time, it wasn’t a case of not selling to the Gaglardi group; it was a case of not wanting to sell to anyone.
Over the winter of 2006-07, a lot of shares changed hands and ended up with folks who voted to sell to the Gaglardi group at a meeting during the summer of 2007.
Under new ownership, the Blazers have struggled, on and off the ice, to find an identity. They have missed the playoffs three of the last five seasons, including each of the last two. They were eliminated four times in the first round, lost out once in the second round, and reached the Western Conference final once. They have had six head coaches — seven if you count Guy Charron twice — and two interim head coaches in eight seasons.
In 2006-07, the last season under community ownership, the average attendance was 4,787. In 2007-08, the first season under new ownership, it was 4,562. It slid to 4,132, before reaching 4,825 in 2012-13 when the Blazers had a 99-point regular season. However, attendance slipped to 4,148 the following season. This season’s average was 3,994.
The one really good thing that came out of the sale is that the Kamloops Blazers Sports Society, which sold the franchise, has invested the money it received from the sale and now puts money into the community through its Sports Legacy Fund.
Since 2009, the society has issued $2,158,287 in grants to 84 organizations. Earlier this year, 27 organizations shared in $325,000 in grants.
For more on the terrific work being done by the society, click right here.
Under terms of the sale of the Blazers, the society retained the right to buy back the franchise at the original sale price should the Gaglardi group ever choose to sell.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have signed general manager Peter Anholt to a three-year contract. Anholt took over as GM/head coach on Dec. 10, with the Hurricanes having fired GM Brad Robson and head coach Drake Berehowsky. . . . Anholt is adamant that he won’t return as head coach, and that he will hire a coach after the bantam draft. . . . “I certainly have a type of coach I’m looking for,” Anholt said on Monday. “I would like it to be a teacher, somebody that’s going to relate well with the young players. And it would be nice to have experience in our league.” . . . If that, indeed, is what Anholt is looking for, you have to wonder if he might take a look at someone like Victoria Royals assistant coach Enio Sacilotto. . . . Paul Kingsmith of Global TV has more on the Anholt signing right here.
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The WHL has revealed that it has returned Portland’s 2017 first-round bantam draft pick to the
Winterhawks. . . . On Nov. 28, 2012, the WHL ruled that the Winterhawks wouldn’t be permitted to take part in the first five rounds of the 2013 bantam draft and also took away first-round selections in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. As well, the Winterhawks were fined $200,000 and GM/head coach Mike Johnston was suspended for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. . . . The Winterhawks were ruled to have broken player-benefit rules, including flying in parents to watch games, supplying some players with cell phones and paying some players off-season training allowances. . . . The last paragraph of Monday’s news release reads: “The WHL and the Portland Winterhawks will not be making any further comment on this matter.” . . . While the Winterhawks wouldn’t make any official comment, one insider told Taking Note that this was “total vindication.”———
Doug Kerslake, who played with the 1970-71 Edmonton Oil Kings who reached the Memorial Cup, has died. Kerslake, who was born in Saskatoon, was 65. . . . There is an obituary right here.
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F Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Portland Winterhawks will join Denmark at the IIHF World championship tournament that is being played in Czech Republic. Bjorkstrand, whose NHL rights belong to the Columbus Blue Jackets, scored 76 goals in 76 games this season. He had 63 goals in 59 regular-season games and followed that up with 13 goals in 17 playoff games.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed G Dylan Ferguson, who was an eighth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Ferguson, from Lantzville, B.C., will turn 17 on Sept. 20. He played the last two seasons for the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds, who play out of Athol Murray College in Wilcox, Sask. This season, he was 17-7-0, 2.70, .907. . . . One would think that Connor Ingram, 18, goes into training camp in August as the No. 1 goaltender. Barring a transaction, that would leave Ferguson to scrap with returnee Cole Kehler, who turns 18 on Dec. 17, for the backup position. Ingram got into 52 games this season, while Kehler played in 21.——
“The Crown wants a ‘safety plan’ in place to protect the fiancée of a former Kamloops Blazers defenceman facing a domestic-assault allegation,” writes Tim Petruk of Kamloops This Week. “Cory Crichton was charged last week with assault causing bodily harm in relation to an April 19 altercation with his fiancée.” . . . Crichton, who is from Kamloops, played four games with the Blazers in 1987-88 and 55 in 1988-89. . . . Petruk’s story is right here.
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Have you ever wondered what suggestions are made when a team goes public in its search for a new nickname? In this case, it’s the U of North Dakota, which is looking to replace Fighting Sioux as its nickname. . . . Chris Peters of cbssports.com has more right here, and a lot of it isn’t pretty.
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No doubt you have tuned into a sporting event, either on radio or TV, and had one of the broadcasters check in with his “Keys to the Game.” And no doubt you have reacted with: “No kidding!” . . . Well, Fox Sports San Diego has taken “Keys to the Game” to a new level. . . . Check it out right here and you will never again look at “Keys to the Game” in the same light.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Colin Chaulk is the new head coach of the ECHL’s Brampton Beast. Chaulk, 38, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings. . . . Chaulk replaces Brent Hughes, who was fired after a 23-46-3 season. This was the Beast’s first season in the ECHL.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.
In Medicine Hat, F Markus Eisenschmid, F Curtis Sanford and F Dryden Hunt each scored twice as the Tigers doubled the Vancouver Giants, 8-4. . . . Eisenschmid broke a 1-1 tie with his first goal, on a PP, at 9:46 of the first period. . . . The Giants were chasing the game from that point on and never were able to equalize. . . . Eisenschmid has 12 goals, Sanford 37 and Hunt 20. . . . Hunt ran his point streak to 17 games, which is tied for the longest in the WHL this season. . . . F Matt Bradley and F Chad Butcher each had three assists for the Tigers, while F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL points race, scored his 18th goal, shorthanded, and added an assist as he got to 75 points. . . . Cox leads the WHL in assists (57) and loins (75), all in 45 games. . . . He’s got an eight-point lead over Sanford, whose 37 goals are one behind F Nick Merkley of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Medicine Hat D Kyle Burroughs had two assisgts. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houck scored his 15th goal and added an assist. . . . The Tigers were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Giants were 2-for-4. . . . D Ty Stanton was back in the Tigers’ lineup after not playing since Jan. 3 because of an undisclosed injury. . . . Vancouver F Thomas Foster sat out as he completed a three-game WHL suspension. . . . The Tigers (31-12-2), who are home to Prince George on Friday, have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (19-25-2), who are two games into a six-game Central Division trip, have lost five straight. Their trek continues Friday in Lethbridge. . . . 
In Prince George, F Kohl Bauml scored two goals for the second straight night as the Everett Silvertips beat the Cougars, 4-2. . . . Bauml, who has 23 goals, scored twice on Tuesday as the Silvertips dumped the Cougars, 6-1. . . . Last night, his two third-period goals stretched a 2-1 Everett lead. . . . Bauml also had an assist. . . . Everett F Carson Stadnyk scored his 18th goal, on a PP, and added two assists, while D Ben Betker had two assists. . . . F Nikita Scherbak scored his 21st goal for the Silvertips. . . . F Aaron Macklin scored the Cougars’ lone goal, on a PP, at 8:06 of the second to cut into a 2-0 deficit. . . . The Cougars were 1-for-7 on the PP; the Silvertips were 1-for-2. . . . The Cougars were without D Sam Ruopp, who took a kneeing major and game misconduct in Tuesday’s game. Everett D Jordan Wharrie, who was on the other end of that hit, is expected to be out at least through the weekend. . . . Everett D Noah Juulsen and Prince George F Jansen Harkins are at the Top Prospects Game in St. Catharines, Ont. . . . The Silvertips (30-12-4) have won six in a row. . . . The Cougars (20-26-2) have lost seven straight (0-5-2) as they head to Medicine Hat and a Friday night game with the Tigers. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald points out that the Silvertips in 2015 “are 9-1 and have outscored their opponents 44-13. Eight of those 10 games have been on the road.” . . . The Silvertips will stop off in Kelowna and play the Rockets on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . 
the grass in your backyard.
The Victoria Royals acquired D Bryton Sayers, 18, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 2016 fifth-round bantam draft pick. . . . Sayers, from Prince Albert, has two goals and eight assists in 38 games with Lethbridge this season. He was a third-round pick by Lethbridge in the 2011 bantam draft. In 84 career games, he has 21 points, including six goals. . . . In 2012-13, while playing for the Prince Albert Mintos, he was honoured as the Saskatchewan Midget AAA League’s top defenceman. That season, he led all SMAAHL defencemen with 53 points in 44 games.
The Spokane Chiefs acquired F Kolten Olynek, 18, from the Moose Jaw Warriors for a 2015 sixth-round bantam draft pick. . . . Olynek, from Saskatoon, had 10 points, including three goals, in 43 games with the Warriors. . . . He was a second-round pick by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . In 104 career games, he has 24 points, eight of them goals. . . . The Warriors had acquired Olynek from Lethbridge for F Miles Warkentine in May. Warkentine was dealt by Lethbridge to Swift Current on Saturday, at about the same time that the Warriors were moving Olynek to Spokane. . . .
The Tri-City Americans acquired D Carter Cochrane, 18, from the Everett Silvertips for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . Cochrane, from Kamloops, has one assist in 31 games with Everett this season. . . . He played last season with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs and was a second-team all-star and on the all-rookie team.
The Vancouver Giants acquired F Parker Smyth, 16, from the Saskatoon Blades for a sixth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . The Blades had selected Smyth, a native of Red Deer, with the 44th pick in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . Smyth, the son of former WHL/NHL F Kevin Smyth and nephew of former WHL/NHL F Ryan Smyth, has 12 points, six of them goals, in 22 games with the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. . . . Last season, Parker played on a line with Vancouver F Tyler Benson at the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna.
In Red Deer, D Brett Cote scored 16 seconds into the game and the Rebels went on to a 6-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Cote has six goals this season. . . . F Conner Bleackley, who seems to have found some chemistry with recent acquisition Riley Sheen, had two goals, giving him 12. . . . Sheen had assists on both of them. . . . It was Bleackley’s second straight two-goal game on home ice. . . . Red Deer F Preston Kopeck drew three assists and F Brooks Maxwell had two. . . . F Cole Ully scored his 14th goal for Kamloops, which got two assists from D Josh Connolly. . . . The Rebels (17-11-4) have won three in a row and have points in 17 of their last 21 games (14-4-3). . . . The Blazers (12-17-5) have lost four in a row.
patriarch, along with Jackie McLeod and Joe Reich purchased the Saskatoon Blades from Jim Piggott.
Meanwhile, Clarke also had this in his story: “The Cougars have been the subject of rumours they would be moved to Nanaimo or Winnipeg. But Nanaimo lacks a WHL-sized arena, and now it appears Winnipeg will be the home of the Kootenay Ice next season.”
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