Death of a hockey program . . . RBC Cup final set . . . Putin scores eight goals

There is an interesting note on overage players in the Finnish Nuorten SM-Liiga, which is that country’s top junior league.
A team is effectively allowed nine overagers — eight skaters and a goalie.
The goalie may be either 20 or 21. (In Finnish, it says "toinen maalivahdeista" which translates to "second goalies" or "other goalies.”)
Of the eight skaters, four may be 21, but they must be signed to a contract with the junior club's senior team and registered in the senior league.
In the lower junior leagues (think our Tier 2 and below), the rule is the same except there are no extra overage goalies and no restrictions on being signed to the senior team — just eight overagers with four allowed to be 21.
Imagine the quality of play in the WHL if teams were allowed to play under this rule. Imagine the quality of play in midget hockey, as players who still have midget eligibility would be playing midget.
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Looking at the ‘summer’ roster for Espoo Blues, who finished third last season, they have 32 players listed. The age breakdown is:
 Age 21 (born 94) — zero
Age 20 (95) — five (all skaters)
Age 19 (96) — six
Age 18 (97) — 14 (five returning, nine played midget last season)
Age 17 (98) — six (two returning, four played midget)
Age 16 (99) — one (returning player)
The one 16-year-old who played this season as a 15-year-old is Urho Vaakanainen, a 6-foot-0, 176-pound defenceman. He had 12 points, including four goals, in 30 games. He was born on New Year's Day, 1999, so was just barely a 15-year-old for this season.
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Trevor Bast fought the good fight. But, in the end, he chose to walk away.
Bast’s son, Des, was to have played in 2014-15 for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack hockey team. However, citing financial issues, the TRU athletic department chose to drop the program before the season began.
Almost immediately, Trevor went to work trying to resuscitate the program. When it became evident that he couldn’t save the season, he tried to get the program up and running in time for 2015-16.
However, earlier this week he said that he was done.
“I don't think there was ever a chance of bringing hockey back to TRU but that doesn't mean the fight wasn't worth it,” he wrote in an email to Taking Note. “I think it is very important for someone in Kamloops, preferably a hockey alumni, to keep the torch burning to a small degree. The attitude and climate may change over time and it's important to be ready just in case.”
Despite TRU’s reluctance to get involved again, Bast said he really felt he was on the right road.
“I was close to having three seasons of hockey funded between player fees and private donations,” he explained. “That was without any advertising or fund-raising commitments. It's important to know money was the least of the obstacles to saving or reviving hockey. Once the cause went public, donors came out of the woodwork. We also had a hockey operations department standing by and ready to go.”
Bast also questions whether finances was the real reason that TRU chose to drop hockey. He is of the opinion that it had more to do with eight players becoming academically ineligible all at one.
“That,” Bast noted, “is a black mark on any institution and they needed to separate themselves from it as quickly as possible. . . . Baseball has survived as a club team at TRU for 13  years. They've had their ups and downs financially, but have avoided drawing that type of negative attention to themselves and the school.
“The reality is, hockey started at TRU under an athletic director and an administration that was fully supportive of hockey. The current AD has his preferences and when hockey became difficult to deal with and put itself in this position, it was an easy decision to nudge them off the cliff.”
At the end of the day, though, Bast said the big losers are the potential collegiate hockey players.
“I will always hope hockey comes back to TRU,” he said. “I feel badly for the players aging out of junior hockey who won’t play collegiate hockey because there now is one less place to play.”
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Like so many other observers, long-time WHL watcher Peter Loubardias expected the championship final between the Kelowna Rockets and Brandon Wheat Kings to last six or seven games. Instead, the Rockets swept the series. So . . . what happened? That’s what Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix asks Loubardias right here.
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Dan Lambert has won a Memorial Cup as a player. Now, in his first season as a head coach, he’s going back to the championship tournament. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun takes a look right here at Lambert and how he got to where he is today.
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The host Portage Terriers will meet the CCHL-champion Carleton Place Canadians in the RBC Cup’s championship final tonight. . . . The Terriers, the MJHL champions, got there with a 6-1 victory over the SJHL-champion Melfort Mustangs last night. . . . The Canadians reached the final with a 3-2 victory over the BCHL-champion Penticton Vees. That game was decided at 3:43 of double OT. . . . In the round-robin, Carleton Place beat Portage, 3-0. . . . This is the Canadians’ second trip to the final in two years. At last year’s tournament, in Vernon, B.C., they gave up two goals eight seconds part late in the third period before losing 4-3 in OT to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . Brian Munz and Craig Button will call the championship final on TSN.
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“The odds are slim for anyone to play a single game in the National Hockey League — let alone make a career of it. But I was one of the few, after playing my heart out in the minors, to reach the pinnacle of my profession,” writes Malcolm Davis in the National Post. “But this success was fleeting. Due to the League’s callous attitude toward head hits and concussions, my NHL days were cut short. The long-term effects haunt me to this day.” . . . And, with that piece, which is right here, another hockey player details his life of trying to deal with post-concussion syndrome. For starters, if he reads something for longer than 10 minutes, he gets a headache. This is not pretty.
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Russia's Putin plays with NHL veterans, scoring 8 goals http://t.co/BiwUOWa7dk

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 17, 2015

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Odjick facing biggest fight . . . The photo that won't go away

Good day. Today's blog post is brought to you by . . .

F Jakub Klepiš (Portland, 2001-02) has signed a one-year contract with Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden, SHL). Last season, with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL), he had 17 points, eight of them goals, in 38 games. He also played in the KHL’s All-Star Game. . . .
F Roman Pšurný (Medicine Hat, 2004-06) has been assigned on loan for the entire season by Litvinov to Karlovy Vary (both Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Litvinov, he had a goal and an assist in 32 games. He also played on loan with two Czech Republic, 1. Liga teams. He had five points, including three goals, in three games with Most, and eight points, three of the goals, in 10 games with České Budějovice.
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Like a nagging cough or a bad joke, it keeps showing up.
Such is life in the age of the Internet.
Yes, I’m referring to the photograph that is at the top of this piece.
The picture showed up on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, tweeted by friend Kevin Shaw of Regina.
It also made an appearance on this blog on March 20, 2009. Here’s some of what I wrote then:
“It wasn't an ad campaign. It was a one-shot deal. A gal named Ruth -- it was 20 years ago; sorry, I can't remember her last name -- was in promotions at CKCK Radio in Regina which, at the time, was down the hall from The Leader-Post. “CKRM had had the rights to the Pats' broadcasts for a long time, but CKCK Radio had them now. And Ruth thought it would be a fine idea if Peter Loubardias, who was handling the play-by-play, and his colour analyst (uhh, that would be me) posed for an ad that could be used in print publications like the newspaper and game programs.
“I seem to recall telling her that it was a great idea and would certainly be an attention grabber. Peter? Not so much. (If memory serves, a guy named Roger Millions was whispering in Ruth's ear through all of this, telling her what a great idea it was.)
“Anyway, we did the shot in the shower off the Pats' dressing room. Some of the players helped out. The water was turned on nice and hot to create the steamy background. We donned towels and away we went.
“And, yes, I have to say it is effective even today, some 20 years later (even if my first name is spelled incorrectly).”
If you are wondering the players in the background are Terry Hollinger (left), Jamie Heward and, I think, Cory Paterson.
I must admit that I chuckle every time I see the picture, if only because of the look of exasperation on Peter’s face.
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1. Former NHL enforcer Gino Odjick has been diagnosed with a terrible heart disease and says he may have only months, or even weeks, to live. Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province visited Odjick and filed this column.

2. For the first time this week there doesn’t appear to be any news on the WHL coaching front.

3. Finally, a day without any World Cup soccer on TV. Might be time to mow some grass and pull some weeks.

4. If you’re looking for a good baseball read, you can’t go wrong with Wild Pitches: Rumblings, Grumblings, and Reflections on the Game I Love. It’s a compilation of columns from ESPN baseball writer Jayson Stark, and it’s one of those books you can put down, pick up again and open anywhere. Enjoy!
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A tweet from Benny Walchuk (@BennyGX94Sports) informs all that the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team that had been the Yorkton Harvest now is the Yorkton Rawtec Maulers. . . . My first weekend with the Regina Leader-Post, in the spring of 1983, I handled a midget AAA rewrite in which I referred to the Yorkton Parkland Maulers, as opposed to the Yorkton Parkland Mallers. At the time, the team was sponsored by the Parkland Mall. . . .
Walchuk also tweeted that the Terriers, who won the RBC Cup as national junior A champions, “loss is around the $35,000 mark” for the 2013-14 season. It would seem the one-time junior A franchise owner was correct when he said the perfect season was to lose Game 7 of the championship final at home. . . . Terriers president Dave Baron told Walchuk: “Any time you’re successful, it’s going to cost you a little bit of money. You have staff around for extra weeks, a few more weeks of broken sticks. Your ultimate goal is obviously to win the title and we did, but it cost us a little money to do that."
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jeff Dubois is the new general manager and head coach of the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. He had been the head coach of the Castlegar-based Selkirk College Saints, who won the last two B.C. Intercollegiate League championships. . . . Dubois took over at Selkirk College in April 2012, meaning he won the league title in each of his two seasons there. He also was named the BCIHL’s coach of the year for each season. . . . His combined regular-season and playoff record for the two seasons is 48-6-1. . . . With the Thunder Cats, he takes over from Joshua Hepditch, who resigned in order to take over the Amherst Rambers of the junior A Maritimes Hockey League.
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#Canucks president Trevor Linden spoke today to Doug Lidster about possibly joining coaching staff. Will talk more next week.
— Iain MacIntyre (@imacVanSun) June 27, 2014

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This is what the Memorial Cup is all about . . . a fan travels from Oshawa to Saskatoon because he wants to be there for Thursday's ceremony in which the trophy arrived at the city’s Vimy Memorial.
Kevin Menz of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has that story right here. . . . And, please, while the tournament is being played, let's not forget why it's called the Memorial Cup.
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I’m not going to post a lot about the Memorial Cup, simply because I’m not there, and those who are will provide you with lots of great information.
But if I see something or hear something, I’ll put it up here.
Like this . . .
The Saskatoon radio station that handles the Saskatoon Blades’ games (92.9 The Bull) is carrying every game in the Memorial Cup, with Les Lazaruk calling the play and Cody Nickolet providing the analysis.
With apologies to those two, who were solid in Game 1 on Friday, the highlight of The Bull’s coverage was the 90-minute pregame show and the postgame show.
And the star of both those shows, at least on Friday, was Dave Hunchak, the newly named head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. The pregame show also features Peter Loubardias, Dave Thomas of CJWW and Lazaruk. Hunchak wasn’t afraid to disagree with points being made by any of the others, such as when it was suggested that Friday’s game might be the biggest game in the history of the Blades.
Hunchak also provided terrific insight from a coach’s perspective. For example, in touching on each of the four teams, he talked about the gap played by the Portland Winterhawks’ defenceman, and how they are able to play a “soft gap” because that team’s forwards do such a good job of coming back as a group.
He also talked about how teams are able to go with four defencemen because of the TV timeouts.
In the postgame show, Hunchak was quick to point out that the Blades, who dropped a 3-2 decision to the OHL-champion London Knights, had to build on the positives but that, because of the format of this tournament, they couldn’t afford to be patient.
The pregame show will be on the air today at 3:30 p.m. CT to set up the much-anticipated game between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Winterhawks.
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Outfielder Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals thundered face-first into the wall at Dodger Stadium on Monday. Did he come out of it with a concussion? . . . Stefan Fatsis at slate.com takes a look right here.
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The Everett Silvertips have released F Stathis Soumelidis, 19, a move that will allow them to use the 10th overall selection in the CHL’s import draft, likely on a potential high-end forward. That draft is scheduled for July 3. . . . Soumelidis, from Brno, Czech Republic, was a second-round pick in the 2012 import draft. He had 11 points and 119 penalty minutes in 67 regular-season games. His penalty total included 17 fighting majors. . . . Everett’s roster now includes one import — D Mirco Mueller of Switzerland, 1n 18-year-old who is expected to be selected in the first two rounds of the NHL’s draft on June 30.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mark French won’t be back as head coach of the AHL’s Hershey Bears. The Bears and the parent Washington Capitals made the announcement on Friday. French had been the head coach since July 13, 2009. . . . In speculating on a potential replacement, Tim Leone at pennlive.com had this: “Mike Stothers, 51, head coach of the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors, is a former Bears assistant and the club's all-time leader in penalty minutes (1,519). He was head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins in 2007-08 and has served NHL assistant coaching stints with the Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers, along with an AHL stint with the Philadelphia Phantoms.”

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Brendan Ranford felt the draft on Friday afternoon.
Ranford, a veteran of four seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, wasn’t able to get a deal done with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers by yesterday’s deadline. Therefore, he is once again eligible for the NHL draft.
The Flyers selected Ranford in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2010 draft; in fact, he was the second-last player taken. NHL teams had until yesterday at 5 p.m. ET to sign players taken in that draft. Those not signed are eligible for this year’s draft that is scheduled for Pittsburgh, June 22 and 23.
Should Ranford not be selected in next month’s draft, he will become a free agent, eligible to sign with any team.
“Nothing got done,” Ranford said late yesterday afternoon. “There’s nothing I can do. I just have got to work hard during the summer and move on.”
The Blazers selected Ranford, who is from Edmonton, with the 15th overall selection in the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft. He has 270 points, including 115 goals, in 278 regular-season games with the Blazers. He holds down 13th spot on the Blazers’ all-time points list and is 14th in goals and 17th in assists.
This season, he had career single-season highs in goals (40) and points (92).
The writing may have been on the wall for Ranford and his agent, Mark MacKay, about 10 days ago when the Flyers signed two other forwards – Derek Mathers, who had 17 points and 177 penalty minutes with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, and Andrew Johnston, an 81-point man with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. Mathers, 18, was a seventh-round pick in the 2011 draft; Johnston, 20, was an undrafted free agent.
Asked if he was disappointed not to get signed, Ranford replied: “No, not really. I wouldn’t say disappointed. I’ve got to move on and just work harder.”
Should Ranford, who turned 20 on May 3, be selected in this month’s draft, he would be eligible to play anywhere in that team’s organization should he sign an NHL contract. He also is eligible to return for a fifth season with the Blazers.
Ranford was one of a handful of WHLers who will be going back into the draft.
The list includes defenceman Troy Rutkowski of the Portland Winterhawks, who was a fifth-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche in 2010, and winger Josh Nicholls of the Saskatoon Blades, a seventh-round pick, who wasn’t signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, three WHL forwards who were selected in the 2011 draft signed NHL deals yesterday.
Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks, a second-round pick, signed with the St. Louis Blues, while Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs, a fifth-round pick, got a deal done with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Brody Sutter, the captain of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, who had taken him in the seventh round.
Rattie, 19, is eligible to return to Portland. Uher, who is from Czech Republic, wasn't likely to return to Spokane as a 20-year-old, while Sutter completed his major junior eligibility this season.
Rattie is coming off a season in which he scored 121 points, including 57 goals, in 69 regular-season games. He then added 33 points, 19 of them goals, in 21 playoff games.
Uher had 68 points, including 33 goals, in his final season with the Chiefs. He finished the season with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but didn’t see playoff action.
Sutter had 60 points in 65 games as a 20-year-old in Lethbridge. Brody, the son of former NHLer Duane Sutter, is the third Sutter in the Carolina organization, following cousins Brandon and Brett.
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F Logan Proulx has agreed to join the Selkirk Saints of the B.C. Intercollegiate league. Proulx played this season with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals after being acquired from his hometown Trail Smoke Eaters. He played 137 games over three seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . .
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The OHL’s Owen Sound Attack has signed former NHL D Drew Bannister as its new assistant coach. He takes over from former associate coach Terry Virtue, a former WHL assistant coach, who has left after two seasons with the Attack. . . . Bannister spent this season as a player-coach with the Braehead Clan of the British Elite league. . . .
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The Medicine Hat Mavericks of the Western Major Baseball League opened their home schedule on Friday night and Bob Ridley, the veteran play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers was there to throw out the first pitch. . . . Don’t know if he sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch. . . . There was even more WHL flavour as Shaw TV carried the game, with Cam Moon, the voice of the Red Deer Rebels, and Peter Lourbardias, who should be doing hockey play-by-play, in the booth. . . . If you’re wondering, the Okotoks Dawgs beat the Mavericks, 6-5. . . .
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F Tyler Johnson (Spokane, 2007-2011) had a goal and an assist last night, helping the host Norfolk Admirals to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies in Game 1 of the AHL’s best-of-seven final for the Calder Cup. Game 2 is tonight. . . . F Cory Conacher also had a goal and an assist for the winners. . . . C Carter Ashton (Lethbridge, Regina, Tri-City, 2006-11) had Toronto’s goal. . . . Interestingly, earlier in the season Ashton played on a line with Johnson and Conacher in Norfolk, the AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . If you check, you may find it on TV somewhere. I stumbled on a replay of Game 1 on Leaf TV late last night. . . .
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When F Locke Muller was with the Red Deer Rebels, Dale McMullin was on their scouting staff. McMullin now is Regina’s head scout, so when Muller recently was dropped by the Saskatoon Blades, well, the Pats were quick to add him to their protected list. . . . Muller, 19, had 10 points and 87 penalty minutes in 58 games last season. He started the season with Red Deer and finished with the Blades.
Greg Harder, in the Regina Leader-Post: “The 6-foot-2, 197-pounder was a healthy scratch on a few occasions due to discipline issues, apparently working his way into the doghouse of Blades head coach/GM Lorne Molleken . . .”
Regina GM Chad Lang told Harder that the past is just that, the past.
“There’s kids that are leaders, there’s kids that are followers,” Lang said. “It’s about putting kids in an environment where they know the rules and the limitations. You hope they abide by them and if they don’t there’s consequences. From our standpoint it’s about giving kids the opportunity.”

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Kamloops, Victoria to get TV treatment

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

It’s going to be Hockey Nights in Kamloops and Victoria.
The WHL announced Tuesday that the entire first-round playoff series between the Victoria Royals and Kamloops Blazers will be carried live by Shaw TV.
Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-seven affair are to be played at Interior Savings Centre on Friday and Saturday nights.
Dan Russell, the long-time host of CKNW’s Sportstalk, will call the play, with Bill Wilms providing the analysis. Andy Neal, a former radio voice of the Prince George Cougars, will be the program host. Peter Loubardias, a former play-by-play voice with Rogers Sportsnet, also will provide analysis on the telecasts of the first two games.
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Neither the Blazers nor the Royals set the world on fire coming down the stretch, both going 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.
However, Kamloops head coach Guy Charron feels his team played better than that.
“I don’t think we have reason to (be concerned),” he said. “In some ways you want to finish on a good note. But it hasn’t been because our play has been bad.
“I’m not saying, ‘Holy sheesh, we’re going into the playoffs and not playing very well.’ We’re playing well enough to win games but we’re not finding ways to score and the goaltending has been the difference. We’re playing fine . . .”
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Charron said he and associate coach Dave Hunchak have been harping on their players about defensive commitment.
“We’ll get our chances. We’ll score goals,” Charron said. “But it’s the commitment defensively. If we do that, we can have a lot of success in the playoffs. We can’t just play run-and-gun. In the playoffs, if you score, great, but if you don’t, you can get hurt.”
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Charron also is well aware that the Royals, who gave up a WHL-high 325 goals, have the ability to score. After all, they do have five 20-goal men on their roster.
“Just do the things you need to do,” Charron said. “Their defence can be vulnerable, but if you don’t exploit their weaknesses, it’s like anything else . . . you allow the other team to stay alive and they have the ability to score. They have guys who can put the puck in the net.”
Jamie Crooks led the Royals in goals (37) and points (67), with Robin Soudek (27), Brandon Magee (23), Logan Nelson (23) and Steven Hodges (21) also getting more than 20. Soudek missed the last three regular-season games with an undisclosed injury. Magee, meanwhile, isn’t expected to play after being hurt in the Royals’ last game of the regular season.
As well, defenceman Hayden Rintoul struck for 17 goals, 13 of them on the power play.
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There hasn’t been a WHL playoff game on Vancouver Island since 1989 when the Blazers eliminated the Victoria Cougars 5-3 in a best-of-nine first-round series. The Cougars then missed the playoffs for five straight seasons before moving to Prince George over the summer of 1994.
The Royals, of course, are in their first season after spending five winters as the Chilliwack Bruins. In Chilliwack, they qualified for the playoffs in four of those seasons but have yet to advance past the first round, going 4-16 in the process.
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The Blazers won the season series with the Royals, 7-1, outscoring them 39-21.
“Some people are picking them in three games, not just four,” Marc Habscheid, the Royals’ GM/head coach, told the Victoria Times Colonist. “We shouldn't even go to Kamloops, the way it sounds.
“All I know is, we’ll show up Friday when the puck is dropped.”
Habscheid continued: “They are a good team and ranked highly. They have earned that status and are an older team built for this season.
“They've got all the pressure on them.”
Never mind The Hunger Games; in the WHL, the mind games are underway.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
twitter.com/gdrinnan

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sean Selmser (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, 1991-95) signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Nationalliga). He had 16 goals and 25 assists in 58 games for the Coventry Blaze (UK Elite) last season. . . .
D Mark Isherwood (Medicine Hat, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Cortina (Italy, Serie A). He had 15 goals and 20 assists in 70 games for the ECHL-champion Alaska Aces last season. Isherwood was also named to the ECHL All-Rookie team. . . .
D Vladimir Mihalik (Red Deer, Prince George, 2005-07) signed a one-year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had one goal and eight assists in 66 games with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) last season.
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Peter Loubardias hasn’t had time to change the message on his voice mail, which indicates that he is employed by Rogers Sportsnet.
Unfortunately, that no longer is true.
Loubardias, who knows as much, if not more, about major junior hockey than anyone else in this country, lost his job Wednesday.
Loubardias, 43, told Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald that he is “devastated. Heartbroken. Hurt.”
Major junior hockey has no greater friend — or fan — than Loubardias, who was Sportsnet’s play-by-play voice at the Memorial Cup. He also called the play of Calgary Flames’ games for three seasons.
But you can bet that not getting to call games at the Memorial Cup has cut him to the bone.
"I have treasured the opportunity to cover eight Memorial Cups," he told Hall. "That's hard for me to even talk about. I have been so lucky to be involved with the national broadcast of that tournament.
"To think next year in Shawinigan that's going to be somebody else, that one really hurts. That one really stings."
Hall’s complete story is right here.
What is rather strange about the Loubardias story is that Bruce Dowbiggin, who keeps an eye on the sports media for The Globe and Media, wrote Wednesday that there is a “shortage of available sports TV talent.”
Scott Woodgate, Rogers’ vice-president of news and information, told Dowbiggin: “There are all these rumours of an implosion at Sportsnet. I don’t know where they’re coming from. We’re building our team at the moment. We haven’t got enough people to do all the things we want to do.”
You figure it out!
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Back in the day, I spent a couple of WHL seasons working alongside Loubardias on broadcasts of Regina Pats’ games.
I don’t know what amazed me more — his photographic memory (I don’t know that he ever misidentified a player, and he knew every player on both teams) or his love for the game of junior hockey.
I would suggest that the number of hockey games he saw over the course of any one season rivalled the total witnessed by any NHL scout.
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F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers acknowledges that he fought weight and conditioning problems in the second half of last season. There’s more on his story right here.
The Blazers will open 2011-12 by playing four straight home games. Ranford will miss the first three of those as he completes a WHL-issued suspension. You may recall that he drew a six-game suspension after cross-checking linesman Kris Hartley in a late-season game.
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F Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Reinhart had 79 points, including 34 goals, in 71 games with the WHL-champion Ice last season. He had 27 points, 15 of them goals, in 19 playoff games. He was Calgary’s first selection in the 2010 NHL draft — the Flames didn’t have a first- or second-round pick, and took him in the third round (64th overall). . . . He is one of three brothers expected to play in the WHL in 2011-12. . . . Griffin, a defenceman, is heading into his second season with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Sam, a forward, will join Max with the Ice.
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F Craig Cunningham, who played out his WHL eligibility last season, has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Boston Bruins. They selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL draft. He played more than four seasons with the Vancouver Giants before he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks in December. . . . Cunningham finished his WHL career with 264 points in 330 regular-season games. Over his last four seasons, he played in 67, 72, 72 and 71 games.
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D Josh Hanson of the Portland Winterhawks is the lone WHL player (and one of three CHLers) to have been selected to play for the U.S. U-18 team at the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, from Aug. 8-13. . . . He had three points in 43 games with Portland last season. . . . Canada’s selection camp runs July 30 through Aug. 2.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The yet-to-be nicknamed AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., has named Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) as its head coach. McCambridge was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for the last two seasons. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Anchorage Aces. . . . With the relocation of the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, the Moose has moved to St. John’s, Nfld. The Moose will be the AHL affiliate to the Jets.
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A fond farewell . . .

A look at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre from a scout's vantage point. This photo
was taken by Wade Klippenstein, the assistant GM and director of player
personnel for the Prince George Cougars, while attending a recent playoff game
between the Warriors and Kootenay Ice.
(Photo courtesy Wade Klippenstein)

(The Moose Jaw Civic Centre — aka Crushed Can — was home to its final hockey game Sunday night. The Moose Jaw Warriors will move into a new downtown multiplex in time for next season. Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald wrote a feature on the old girl and has graciously allowed it to be used here. We thank him for that.)

By MATTHEW GOURLIE
Moose Jaw Times-Herald

MOOSE JAW — Architect Joseph Pettick was trying to find a cost-efficient modern solution to the problem of heating a hockey arena — he felt a low, concave roof would keep the ice cool and the fans warm by funneling the heat upwards.
The design was meant to channel heat, but it ended up creating it, too — even on nights when you could see your breath inside the building. With its quirky bounces, small ice surface, steep stands and a ceiling that trapped noise and energy, Pettick had unwittingly designed a powder keg of a hockey rink.
“The fans are so close to the action,” offers Peter Loubardias of Rogers Sportsnet, who once was the radio voice of the Regina Pats so is quite familiar with the building. “When they’re involved in Moose Jaw, it’s loud. You’re right on top of the kids and I think the kids really, really feed off it. They can feel it. Almost everybody in that whole building is so close to the ice surface no matter where you are. With the roof the way it is — being so close to the ice — the noise just stays in there.”
The Moose Jaw Civic Centre played host to its final hockey game on Sunday night. But when it is talked about — and surely the old Crushed Can will be talked about by nostalgic hockey fans for years to come — the concave roof and the noise level in the building won’t ever be forgotten.
“When people walk into the place, they say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But that’s part of its charm. That’s why the legend will never die. It is so outrageously different,” says Kelly Remple, who was the Moose Jaw Warriors’ marketing director for two seasons and was the chair of the Trans-Canada Clash alumni games.
Different. Often derided. More often beloved. The Crushed Can is a Picasso in a hockey arena landscape being taken over by paint-by-numbers.
Brian Costello, the senior special editions editor at the The Hockey News, has never been in a coffin, but he imagines the experience might be similar to being in the Civic Centre.
“You feel like you can reach up and touch the ceiling wherever you were sitting. It’s a weird feeling,” says Costello, who covered the Swift Current Broncos for the Swift Current Sun in the late ’80s.
It’s a building that makes a strong first impression.
Current Warriors captain Spencer Edwards recalls being a 16-year-old rookie with the Red Deer Rebels when he first set foot in the rink. After a long bus ride, the Rebels unloaded their gear through a darkened concourse and down the side stairs.
“I hadn’t really seen the rink yet,” Edwards remembers. “We went straight to the dressing room. A lot of people don’t know it, but the visiting dressing room is pretty nice here. It’s a lot nicer than some of the newer buildings in the league.
“We put away all of our gear and walked out to the rink and I was shocked. I had never seen anything like it in my life.”
There may, in fact, be nothing like it.
Pettick was inspired by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright to become an architect.
With the angles and curves of the Civic Centre and the SaskPower building in Regina, Wright’s inspiration is evident in some of Pettick’s most iconic work. When it opened, the arena looked modern and space-aged — like a tail fin on a ’59 Cadillac.
The sloped roof is the rink’s most notorious feature, but it’s far from its only quirk. The ice surface is officially listed as 194 feet long — only six feet short of regulation — but it’s hard to find anyone who really believes the listed 85x194 dimensions.
Along with the cozy confines came the lively boards and erratic bounces. Rare is the rink that has a personality, but there were nights when it felt like the Crushed Can was trying to help the home side.
In last season’s playoffs, a Chad Suer dump-in took a hard left turn off a stanchion without losing speed. The shot had a CGI quality to it as it made a beeline for Calgary goalie Martin Jones, hit him and ended up in the net.
In the Warriors’ first home game after the 2006 car accident in which forward Garrett Robinson was so badly injured, Warriors defenceman Jesse Zetariuk watched one of his dump-ins take a friendly hop into a vacated net.
Once the playoffs started and the days grew longer, the setting sun would even peek into the building, bathing the lower seats on the east side in sunlight.
Of all of the mythical qualities of the rink, none was as pronounced as the way momentum would rapidly build.
Earlier this season, the Pats had quited the local crowd with three early goals. The Warriors promptly scored four goals in less than five minutes to grab the lead before the end of the first period.
“It’s the momentum. With the atmosphere and the fans behind you, that momentum is easy to keep building upon,” explains Mark MacKay, the original Warriors captain. “On the other end, it’s hard for the opposing team. It pushes them down.”
Loubardias says in his five seasons calling games with the Pats, he frequently saw a superior Pats team fall victim to a seven- or eight-minute run of Warriors momentum and lose in the Civic Centre.
“When that team gets going in that building and they get on a roll, they are no fun to deal with — and they’ve never been any fun to deal with,” says Loubardias.
“I always loved the passion there. When the games were good and the people were really involved, it really was a special, special place to go to a game.
“What makes Moose Jaw special and what makes that building special is that that team is so important to that community. The people liked hard, physical, tough hockey and thrived on it. It will always be a real special place to me and I will be sad to see it go.”
The passion spills over from time to time as well. And that, too, is part of the building’s lore.
There was the night Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Theran Yeo was jumped by a group of fans in the tunnel as he exited the ice. And the night Pats fans knocked Puckhead, the Warriors’ mascot, to the ground. Puckhead got some quick medical attention but returned to action. One night later, the Pats’ mascot, K9, was a healthy scratch for fear of retribution.
It was a bench-clearing brawl in 1984 that kick-started the Pats-Warriors rivalry. Remple recalls being a wide-eyed 12-year-old standing at the glass, taking in all of the mayhem.
“I wish all of the new generation of fans in southern Saskatchewan could have been to a Pats-Warriors game in the ’80s,” Remple says. “It’s hard to explain to people, but the level of excitement and enthusiasm — and just the decibel level — was in a different universe than it is now.”
There are those who argue that there’s a good reason why there aren’t any other rinks like the Civic Centre. Its steep stairs are treacherous. The lineups to use its washrooms can be endless. There’s little room to move on the concourse that runs under the stands. The rink is showing its age. It can be tropical or freezing inside — sometimes in the span of the same week.
It’s not the most pleasant spectating experience for the fans, but those who played there have always loved it.
“Since I’ve been involved with the alumni, every single player I’ve ever talked to says they absolutely loved the games in there,” says Remple. “The amenities may not be quite up to par. But the 2 1/2 hours of actual hockey? They loved it.”
Of course, the Civic Centre is merely a building — concrete and steel, for the most part. MacKay believes the building is special because of the people who have spent more time in it than any player — the fans who have dutifully backed the Warriors through good times and bad.
“Any hockey player loves the fact that the people are involved. The fans are right on top of the ice. They’re loud,” says MacKay, who was a 20-year-old in the Warriors’ first season in Moose Jaw.
“We didn’t win a ton of games that year, but the ones we did win, they made it special for us. They made us feel special. Their support through hard times was so important.”
They knew how to make visiting players feel special, too, though not in quite the same way. After Regina forward Frank Kovacs declined to fight Warriors tough guy Kent Staniforth, then-Warriors head coach Lorne Molleken called out the Pats’ captain and called him “yellow” in the media.
“Molleken was no dummy,’’ Kovacs says. “He clicked into that and it was a good trade for him to have me sitting in the penalty box with Kent Staniforth.
“So I was in a tough spot. Do I fight Kent Staniforth and sit in the box or do I turn away from a fight offer? Well, I can’t win, right?”
Instead he was serenaded by the Warriors fans. Constantly. For more than a season.
“The way the rink is built, the fans are right on top of you. Everywhere you went, there were fans on top of you,” Kovacs says. “So when someone says something against you like ‘yellow! yellow!’, well, you hear it. It’s not like it’s up in Section 500 in the nosebleeds. It’s all right there. And one person says it and the whole crowd gets into it because you can hear it so easily.”
If anything, Kovacs says, he enjoyed the heckling and the odd profanity from the crowd. He says the rink was a good test for a hockey team because you had to show up every night when you played in Moose Jaw.
“You had to be ready for a good game coming in there or else you were going to get crushed,” says Kovacs. “I loved playing in Moose Jaw. It’s a great character hockey rink. That’s a great place to play.”
As hard as it was for most visiting teams to play in the Civic Centre, it could be a welcoming place, but only on the most significant of occasions.
After the Dec. 30, 1986 bus crash in which Swift Current players Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka and Brent Ruff died, the Broncos returned to the ice for the first time in Moose Jaw.
“On the way to that game it was such a sullen feeling on that bus,” recalls Costello. “When the team and the players walked in that arena, it was pretty special — especially when they came in for the pre-game warm-up and the anthem. It was quite an amazing ovation for them. You don’t see that for the visiting team — at all — anywhere.”
The Civic Centre opened in the fall of 1959 with a gala performance by legendary jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, an event that was attended by then-Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas. It later played host to the 1983 world women’s curling championship.
With the Moose Jaw Canucks (WCHL and SJHL) and then the Warriors its primary tenants, the building became synonymous with hockey. A lot of great players passed through its doors and its rich history is in evidence on every wall with framed photos of Moose Jaw’s hockey past.
“There’s so much history,” Edwards says. “Even just walking through, you can tell that not only has it been around for a long time, but a lot of important people have walked in and played in this building.
“There’s no atmosphere like it. The noise level in the building on a playoff night or a Regina night is second to none in the league, for sure.”

The WHL’s history is full of stories. Lots and lots of stories. . . . and here’s one for your reading enjoyment.
I have been exchanging recent emails with Doug Allan, who played goal with the New Westminster Bruins in 1973-74.
He recalls a game against the Medicine Hat Tigers in the first round of that season’s playoffs . . .
“In one game in The Hat, their little sniper of a forward, Morris Lukowich, was standing in front of the net attempting to screen me. So I did what most targets do — I chopped his ankles or gave him a shot in the back.
“Also in the Tigers’ lineup that season were two of the three Gassoff brothers (Ken and Brad).
“In the third period, some of the Tigers were taking exception to my swipes at their star player. During a break in the action in our end, one of the Gassoffs (I’m sure it was Ken) skated past me and said, ‘I’m going to get you, you SOB!’
“I said something back, like, ‘Screw you!’
“A few minutes later, they dumped the puck into the corner to my right. I was hugging the post and focused on the puck when — WHAMMO! — Mr. Gassoff hit me on the side of the head with a stick-clenched fist and dropped me like a pile of dirt! I was on the ice seeing virtual stars!!
“Shortly, I looked up and saw my pal, Donnie Hay, scrapping with the perpetrator.
“We beat those damn Tigers that series, so I guess I was somewhat vindicated for taking ‘one for the team’.”
That, of course, would be the same Don Hay who now is head coach of the Vancouver Giants.
The Bruins took out the Tigers in six games that spring, before going on to lose in five to the Calgary Centennials. Calgary was then swept by the Regina Pats who went on to win the Memorial Cup right in the Calgary Corral.
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The folks who run the Southern Professional Hockey League don’t fool around when it comes to discipline. F Aaron McGill of the Augusta RiverHawks for the rest of this season and the playoffs for a punch that broke the jaw of F Mark Van Vliet of the Knoxville Ice Bears.
That story is right here.
Meanwhile, the Ice Bears, according to Dave Link of knoxnews.com, plan to sign D Mike Gauthier (Prince Albert, Kamloops, 2002-08). Gauthier spent last season with the CIS’s Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks.
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Craig Hartsburg, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, acted quickly on Monday to clear up any confusion that may have existed.
He told the Sault Star’s Peter Ruicci that he is not interested in returning to the OHL’s Soo Grehyounds.
That story is right here.
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The outdoor game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Monday will be carried live on Rogers Sportsnet, with Peter Loubardias calling the play and Sam Cosentino providing analysis. Roger Millions will don the blades and will conduct on-ice interviews.
Interestingly, Millions and Loubardias once worked together at CKCK, a now-defunct Regina AM radio station.
Game time will be noon PT.
This game will be the first CHL game to be played outdoors in Canada. Of course, the Kootenay Ice and Spokane Chiefs played the CHL’s first outdoor game in Spokane on Jan. 15.
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When Dustin Byfuglien was marauding around WHL arenas with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Prince George Cougars (2001-05), how many fans looked into their crystal ball and envisions a five-year contract worth US$26 million.
The NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers signed Byfuglien, 25, to a contract extension on Tuesday.
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Scott Sepich takes a look at Portland Winterhawks F Ty Rattie, who is having a grand season and should be a first-round selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft. That story, from The Oregonian, is right here.
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F Quinton Howden of the Moose Jaw Warriors has been named the CHL’s player of the week. He had nine points in three games last season. . . . G Adam Iwan is on his way back to the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives as the Spokane Chiefs now show G James Reid (hip) as day-to-day. Reid, 20, hasn’t played since Jan. 23. He missed 10 games. In Reid’s absence, the Chiefs have been riding Mac Engel. . . . The Chiefs play the Silvertips in Everett tonight. . . .  The B.C. Division’s top two teams meet tonight in Vancouver as the Giants entertain the Kelowna Rockets. Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Giants C James Henry (knee) and D Joel Rogers (concussion) were on the ice Tuesday but neither is expect to play through the weekend. The Giants go into tonight with a two-point lead on the Rockets. . . . The Giants travel to Kelowna for a Saturday night game. . . . In Regina, the Pats and Prince Albert Raiders will meet tonight for the seventh time since the middle of December. The Pats, with a game in hand, are 10th in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the Raiders, who hold down the final playoff spot. . . . Here’s an interesting stat from the QMJHL: F Tomas Jurco, an 18-year-old Slovakian who is in his second season with the Saint John Sea Dogs, is 13-for-16 in shootouts.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon, F Mark Stone enjoyed a six-point night as the Wheat Kings dumped the Saskatoon Blades, 7-4. . . . Stone had two goals and four assists, with his 30th goal and three assists coming via the PP. . . . Brandon was 4-for-6 on the PP; the Blades were 3-for-6. . . . F Scott Glennie had three goals for Brandon, giving him 26, as the Wheat Kings ran their home-ice winning streak to seven games. In their late-season playoff push, they now have won nine of their last 12 games. . . . The Blades had their 11-game winning streak snapped. It was their first loss since acquiring Schenn from Brandon on Jan. 10. . . . F Shayne Wiebe had a goal, his 33rd, and two assists. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock, 16, continued his fine season with three assists. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had a goal and an assist. He has goals in five straight and points in 14 in a row. . . . The Blades got two goals from F Jake Trask, giving him 23, while D Stefan Elliott had a goal and two assists. . . . Trask also missed on a second-period penalty shot against G Liam Liston, who finished with 23 saves. . . . Saskatoon starter Steven Stanford surrendered four shots on 16 goals as his record slipped to 31-4-0. Tyler Oswald came on in relief and stopped 15 of 17. . . . Saskatoon F Brayden Schenn, in his return to Brandon, drew three assists but finished minus-2. . . . The teams combined for 11 goals, with the middle seven all coming via the PP. . . . Attendance was 4,122. . . . The Wheat Kings are seventh in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings and three ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Blades lead the Eastern Conference by six points over the Red Deer Rebels. . . .
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In Prince Albert, G Eric Williams stopped 29 shots for his first WHL shutout as the Raiders beat the Calgary Hitmen, 4-0. . . . It was the first shutout post this season by a Prince Albert goaltender. . . . Williams has taken over the starter’s role as Jamie Tucker recovers from a cut to his right thumb. . . . F Jonathan Parker opened the scoring with his 37th goal at 5:08 of the first period. . . . F Brandon Herrod, with his 21st, D James Bettauer (5) and F Mark McNeill (22) also scored. . . . Calgary G Brandon Glover stopped 40 shots. . . . F Todd Fiddler, D Antoine Corbin and F Justin Maylan each had two assists. . . . The Hitmen, who have been blanked six times this season, lost for the ninth time in 11 games. . . . Attendance was 2,012. . . . The Raiders are seventh in the Eastern Conference, three points behind Brandon and two ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . .
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In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford and F Colin Smith scored shootout goals to give the Blazers a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Ranford, who was playing in his 199th regular-season game, left the game in the first minute with a shoulder injury after missing a check on D Matt MacKenzie. Ranford was back early in the second period. . . . Kamloops F Thomas Frazee played in his 300th regular-season game. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch was solid, with 26 saves, and two more in the shootout. . . . Tri-City G Chris Driedger also stopped 26 shots. Driedger, 16, was making his fifth career WHL start. . . . The report on Tri-City G Drew Owsley, who suffered a knee injury Friday, is that the injury isn’t as serious as originally thought. No word on how long he’ll be out, but the Americans were making arrangements Tuesday to return G Cam Gorchynski to the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. . . . The victory lifted the Blazers back into eighth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins, who hold four games in hand. . . . The loser point lifted the Americans into a tie with the Spokane Chiefs for third. They are five points behind first-place Portland and the Americans hold three games in hand.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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