Showing posts with label Peter Mansbridge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter Mansbridge. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2011

A touch of hockey history in a WHL game

TREVOR COX
There was a little bit of hockey history involved in a game in Swift Current on Friday night.
Trevor Cox, a 16-year-old forward from Surrey, B.C., scored his first WHL goal for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Cox, playing his seventh game of the season, scored at 12:46 of the first period, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead in a game they would lose, 3-2.
Cox, who wasn’t selected in the 2010 bantam draft, was added to the Tigers’ list and made the team in training camp prior to this season. He was the leading scorer with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League last season. They play out of Langley, Surrey and Cloverdale on the Lower Mainland. In fact, Trevor’s twin brother, Matt, is playing with the Hawks this season.
And now for the history part of this . . .
The Cox boys are great grandsons of the late, great Fred (Cyclone) Taylor, who played for, among other teams, the Vancouver Millionaires, who won the 1915 Stanley Cup. Yes, the Millionaires are the only Vancouver team to have won the Stanley Cup. Taylor scored six of the Millionaires’ 26 goals as they swept the visiting Ottawa Senators — 6-2, 8-3 and 12-3 — in the 1915 final.
Taylor, considered one of the greatest players of hockey’s early days, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. He died on June 9, 1979.
The Cox boys also are nephews of Mark Taylor, who played three games for the Kamloops Chiefs in 1975-76 and then moved on to the U of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, with whom he won the NCAA’s championship in the spring of 1980.
Taylor later played 209 NHL games, split among the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. He was a sixth-round pick by the Flyers in the NHL’s 1978 draft.
For more on Cyclone Taylor and the Cox brothers, check out this story from Peter Mansbridge of CBC’s The National. It was done last spring during the Vancouver Canucks’ playoff run. (Check out Mark Taylor wearing Cooperall's with the Philadelphia Flyers!)
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JUST NOTES: F Luke Gordon, who had gotten into one game with the Calgary Hitmen, now is with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. Gordon, 17, is from Terrace, B.C. . . . The Portland Winterhawks have assigned F Ryley Bennefield to the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. Bennefield, 17, is from Wetaskiwin, Alta. He was pointless in three games with Portland. He was a second-round selection by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2009 bantam draft. Portland acquired Bennefield from Lethbridge in January, in exchange for the rights to D Branden Scheidl, a fourth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings announced Friday that they have signed D Cody Corbett, who won’t turn 18 until Dec. 14. He is from Lakeland, Minn. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Corbett didn’t play last night in Regina. The Oil Kings are in Brandon tonight. . . . Just in case you missed it, the Edmonto Oilers revealed Friday that they will keep F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first pick in the NHL's 2011 draft, rather than return him to the Red Deer Rebels. This, of course, means that the first year of his contract kicks in. The Oilers could still return him to the Rebels at a later date.
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In Brandon, G Cody Beach had two goals and three assists as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Wheat Kings, 8-4. . . . G Brandon Anderson, acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, made his first home start for the Wheat Kings but was gone after surrendering seven goals on 34 shots. . . . F Justin Kirsch, acquired this week by Moose Jaw from Calgary, had two PP goals in his first game with his new squad. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had a goal and an assist, running his season-opening point streak to 14 games. . . . Stone leads the WHL with 30 points. . . . The Warriors erased a 1-0 deficit by scoring five goals in a span of 12:39, the key goal being Beach’s PP goal at 19:59 of the first that gave the visitors a 4-1 lead. . . . Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath sat out his second game with an undisclosed injury, while D Kendall McFaull missed his fourth game. . . . This was Brandon’s first home game in three weeks, following a road swing that took it into the U.S. Division. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re NHL, junior, whatever, that first game back always seems to be very difficult,” Brandon head coach Cory Clouston told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun, “and credit to Moose Jaw, they came out, played well, they deserved the game. But we know we can be a lot better and it’s just managing the puck and being a lot more sure of the puck.” . . . The Wheat Kings play host to the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight. . . .

In Swift Current, F Taylor Vause broke a 2-2 tie just 17 seconds into the third period and the Broncos hung on to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-2. . . . It was Vause’s 11th goal of the season. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored his 100th regular-season goal in his 151st game. It was his WHL-leading 18th goal in 14 games this season. . . . The Broncos, who have won two in a row, and Tigers will play again tonight in Medicine Hat. . . .

In Prince George, F Jordan Martinook enjoyed his first career three-goal game as the Vancouver Giants beat the Cougars 4-2. . . . Martinook, who scored 11 goals in 72 games last season, has nine in 15 outings this season. . . . The Giants, who won for the first time in six road games, have won their last four games. . . . The Cougars have lost eight in a row. . . . Former Cougars head coach Ed Dempsey was among the 1,806 spectators. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houck will be hearing from the WHL office after taking a major for checking to the head in the second period. . . .

In Lethbridge, Portland D William Wrenn had two assists and was plus-4 as the Winterhawks dropped the Hurricanes, 4-1. . . . Portland is 2-3-0 on its nine-game road trip. . . . The Hurricanes, who opened the season with two victories and a shootout loss, now are 2-12-1, and have lost 12 in a row. . . . Portland F Brad Ross, who is from Lethbridge, had a goal and an assist. . . . The Winterhawks will meet the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook tonight in a rematch of last season’s championship final. . . .

In Regina, F Jordan Weal set up two PP goals as the Pats got past the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-1. . . . Weal, with 21 points in 14 games, now has 290 regular-season points in 226 career games. . . .

In Red Deer, the Everett Silvertips came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Rebels 3-2 in a shootout. . . . The shootout went five rounds, Everett’s last three shooters all scoring. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 52 shots through OT. That was one save shy of the Silvertips’ single-game franchise record. He has a .912 save percentage to go along with a 3.42 GAA. . . . Leland Irving holds the Everett record for saves (53) in a game from a February 2008 game in Spokane. . . .

In Victoria, the Seattle Thunderbirds gave up the tying goal at 18:35 of the third period then beat the Royals 4-3 in a shootout. . . . Victoria F Kevin Sundher tied the game 3-3 with G Keith Hamilton on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Seattle scored twice in the four-round shootout. . . . Sundher has 27 points and is tied with Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem for second in the points derby. . . . Victoria took a 2-0 lead in the third periods first two minutes by scoring two shorthanded goals on the same penalty.
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Has the return of the Winnipeg Jets to the Manitoba capital had any impact on the Brandon Wheat Kings? Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports takes a look right here.
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Four players have left the MJHL’s Neepawa Natives, the team that has become embroiled in a hazing scandal. Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press has that story right here.
It is worth noting that former WHLer Sheldon Kennedy has called the 15-year-old player who was a victim in the hazing. Kennedy gave the player his cell phone numbrer and told him he was available 24 hours if need be.

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

Friday, October 7, 2011

The Tri-City Americans dealt defenceman Brock Sutherland
to the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday.

(Photo courtesy John Allen Photography)
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) was released from his tryout with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). He had one assist in four games during his tryout. Sindel returned to action last week after missing two weeks with a broken jaw.
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Peter Mansbridge of CBC-TV has spent some time with researchers, including Dr. Ann McKee, who have studied and are studying the brains of deceased athletes.
Mansbridge’s report appeared on CBC’s The National on Wednesday; if you missed it, it’s right here.
The report is especially interesting when Dr. McKee discusses the brain of former Buffalo Sabres sniper Richard Martin. Dr. McKee examined Martin’s brain — he died of a heart attack in March — and found chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Interestingly, unlike Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert, in whose brains CTE also was found, Martin wasn’t a fighter.
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The Tri-City Americans are down to three 20-year-olds after trading D Brock Sutherland to the Calgary Hitmen for F Nathan MacMaster, 19. . . . That leaves the Americans with F Adam Hughesman, F Brendan Shinnimin and F Mason Wilgosh as their three 20-year-olds. The Americans also hold the rights to D Matt MacKenzie, 20, who signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday and is with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. . . . MacMaster, a second-round pick by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2007 bantam draft, has 49 points and 115 penalty minutes in 190 career regular-season games. The Warriors dealt him to the Hitmen last season. . . . Sutherland has 40 points and 155 penalty minutes in 186 regular-season games split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes andthe Americans. . . . The Calgary roster now includes five 20-year-olds — F Jimmy Bubnick, F Kenton Miller, D Ben Wilson, G Mike Snider and Sutherland. Wilson is with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters on a tryout deal.
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JUST NOTES: The Buffalo Sabres signed two more 20-year-olds to three-year contracts on Thursday. F Riley Boychuk of the Portland Winterhawks was a seventh-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft, while F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders was in camp on a free-agent tryout. Both players are with the AHL’s Rochester Americans at present. . . . The Vancouver Giants have assigned G Brendan Jensen, 18, to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. The move came after the Giants acquired G Adam Morrison, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades earlier in the week. . . .
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Earlier this week, I offered up a review of a book written by Don Dietrich, a former defenceman with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
I was remiss in not mentioning that Dietrich spent part of last weekend in Winnipeg, where he was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame . . . not as a player, but as a builder.
Here, from the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame newsletter, is Dietrich’s bio:
“Don Dietrich of Deloraine, a former defenseman and captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings, soaked up a lot of knowledge as a player in the AHL, NHL, East Coast League, with Team Canada and in Germany and Switzerland. He has passed on this knowledge as an assistant coach in Switzerland and, after returning home, as a coach with the Southwest Cougar midgets, the SWHL Deloraine Royals and as a scout for the Spokane Chiefs. Dietrich has been an active member of Canada’s national coach mentorship program, doing ‘one-on-one’ mentoring, as well as clinics. Despite personal health problems, he was instrumental in developing the Breakfast Club where young players have come out twice a week to practise their skill development.”
Hockey in our countries needs more Don Dietrichs. And if you missed it scroll further down on this blog and read all about his book. Then get on the Internet and order one. You won't be sorry.
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Jon Rosen, the former radio voice and PR guru of the Everett Silvertips, is in his first season with Fox Sports West and is in Europe covering the Los Angeles Kings. They open the NHL season in Stockholm today (Friday).
Earlier this week, Rosen blogged from a game in Hamburg and provides a pretty good feel for what it was like in the stands.
That piece is right here.

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

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