Goaltender Eric Comrie of the Tri-City Americans comes up with the save off
Luke Lockhart of the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday at the Toyota Center
in Kennewick, Wash. Comrie shut out the T-Birds, 4-0.
(Photo courtesy Doug Love / Tri-City Americans)

The Kootenay Ice is scheduled to play in Regina tonight, which normally means leaving Cranbrook and riding the bus for 10 hours.
However, this time it was just a little bit different.
This time, the Ice got to Sparwood and discovered that No. 3 Highway through Crowsnest Pass was closed due to snow and blowing snow.
With no indication as to when it would re-open, the Ice sat in a Sparwood parking lot for about 11 hours.
Still with no idea when the highway would re-open — in fact, there was talk that it might remain closed for another 24 hours — the Ice had breakfast and then chose to return to Cranbrook.
“We have back-tracked to Cranbrook,” reported G Mackenzie Skapski, “and are taking the Invermere route through Banff and then through Calgary. So, all-in-all, at the end of the day it’ll probably be a 15-hour bus ride.”
It should be pointed out that Skapski was more than gracious in keeping in touch with Keeping Score during this not-so-excellent adventure.
At one point, he noted that the movie selection on the bus was “very good. . . . It was almost (as though this was) meant to be.”
By the time the Ice arrived in Regina, at about 3 a.m. CT, what normally is a 10-hour ride had taken about 26.
“It’s funny,” Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post from the bus, “all the games that I’ve been with Kootenay, we only had one cancelled and that was when we were on a road trip in Saskatchewan (two seasons ago). We played in Prince Albert and the highway closed from Saskatoon to Regina. We had to postpone that game. Now we’re coming from B.C. and we’re in the same situation but we should be able to play (tonight).”
Ahh, life in the Dub. To steal a line from an Armed Forces commercial, “There’s no life like it.”
The Ice arrived in Regina about 3 a.m. CT. When they arrived in the Saskatchewan capital, No. 3 highway still was closed at Sparwood.
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F Brett Connolly played 6:45 over nine shifts on Tuesday night as his Tampa Bay Lightning beat the visiting Boston Bruins, 5-3. He had three shifts in the first period, four in the second, and two in the third. Of that 6:45, 1:31 came with his club on the PP. . . . Connolly also had two shots on goal. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling from the Tri-City Americans. . . .
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The Brandon Wheat Kings welcomed G Corbin Boes back to practice on Tuesday. He has been out since suffering a broken hand on Dec. 8 in a 7-3 loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon reports that Wheat Kings D Ryley Miller and D Ryan Pulock, both of whom were injured during an 8-2 loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Sunday, were on the ice Tuesday. D Rene Hunter, who missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, also practised. However, D Eric Roy is listed as being out two weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . .
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F Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks is the only player in all of the CHL to have scored 40 goals. He got there in Monday’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans. F Nino Niederreiter scored 41 for the Winterhawks last season, the most since F Josef Balej notched 51 in 2001-02. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth leads the WHL with 28 victories. The Winterhawks have 27 games remaining and he is within reach of Brent Belecki’s franchise single-season record of 35, set in 1997-98. Also in franchise history, only Darrell May Sr. (105) and BeleckI (79) have more career victories than Carruth (73). . . .
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F Jarid Hauptman, 17, has left the Spokane Chiefs. Hauptmann, from Morinville, Alta., had 11 points, including four goals, in 32 games. With the Jan. 10 signing deadline having passed, Hauptmann can’t be reassigned to another team, nor is he able to play for another team in any league.
“For us, he was doing well,” Chiefs GM Tim Speltz told Jess Brown of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “It’s a process and it’s not easy and he had a bright hockey future ahead of him — but it isn’t what he wants and there’s no way he could pretend that it was. It’s a huge commitment, and his decision was kind of consistent with what we’d already experienced with him.
“It doesn’t seem to be a good move timing-wise, but he has to do what he thinks is right for him.”
Hauptman started training camp with the Chiefs, but left the team, only to return six weeks later. So obviously this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
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The Regina Pats have agreed to serve as the lead sponsor for Hockey Regina’s annual peewee tournament. The event now will be known as the Regina Pats Peewee Classic. . . . This year’s tournament is scheduled for Jan. 26-29. . . . The tournament’s eight divisions have been named after former Pats players — Jordan Eberle, Josh Harding, Mike Sillinger, Rick Rypien, Derek Boogaard, Jamie Heward, Dale Derkatch and Derek Morris. . . . By the way, it’s Wiener Wednesday in Regina tonight as the Pats play host to the Kootenay Ice. That means it’s 2-for-1 hotdogs, and it doesn’t get any better than that. . . .
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reported Tuesday afternoon that Silvertips F J.T. Barnett has had his season ended by “a torn lateral collateral ligament in his knee. Freak injury prior to Saturday's game in Kamloops.” . . . Barnett, 19, was a healthy scratch on Friday night when the Silvertips beat the visiting Spokane Chiefs 4-3 in overtime. On Saturday in Kamloops, he tweaked a knee during pregame scratching, took the warmup, got taped up and played. He had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 loss to the Blazers, and then didn’t play in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . Barnett started the season with Kamloops but was dealt to Everett on Nov. 14. . . . He had 12 points in 20 games with Everett. . . .
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There are reports — I believe Chris Dilks of the Western College Hockey blog was first with the news — that F Luke Voltin has been dropped by the U.S. National Team Development Program. Voltin, who will turn 17 on April 13, is from Blaine, Minn. He has committed to North Dakota; his WHL rights are held by the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Voltin has been playing for the U.S. U-17 team and has 12 points, including five goals, in 25 games. He played in the recent U-17 World Hockey Challenge, scoring once and adding one assist.
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TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Steve Ewen, who covers the Vancouver Giants for the Vancouver Province: “Elevator is out of service at the Pacific Coliseum. Vancouver Giants listing it as week to week, upper body injury.”
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, G Jon Groenheyde stopped 38 shots as the Broncos dumped the Victoria Royals, 3-1. . . . F Taylor Vause had a goal, his 24th, and an assist for the Broncos. . . . Vause broke a 1-1 tie at 18:22 of the second period. . . . D Reece Scarlett provided insurance with a PP goal at 11:55 of the third. . . . The Broncos have won two in a row, while the Royals are 1-2-0 on their East Division swing. . . .

In Red Deer, F Alex Gogolev scored twice as the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Rebels, 5-1. . . . The Hitmen now have won eight in a row. . . . D Mathew Dumba gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal of the season at 4:09 of the second period. . . . The Hitmen then scored two second-period goals tto take the lead. . . . Gogolev has 18 goals this season. . . . Calgary F Greg Chase scored his second goal of the season, in his 33rd game, and added two assists. . . . Calgary has won five straight road games and opens a five-game homestand tonight against the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., G Eric Comrie stopped 16 shots as the Tri-City Americans beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-0. . . . Comrie, in his first WHL season, has three shutouts. He is 15-3-0. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost their last 20 games in the Toyota Center. . . .  The Americans, who had lost two straight, now have won 14 straight games on home ice. . . . F Patrick Holland ran his point streak to 13 games with a goal and an assist. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard, winless in 14 starts in Kennewick, stopped 36 shots. . . . F Adam Hughesman had two assists, moving him to 305 points and past Terry Degner (304) and into fourth place on the Tri-City career points list. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin also had two assists to get to 272 points, moving past Bill Lindsay (271) and into ninth place. . . . Comrie and Ty Rimmer have combined for eight shutouts, one shy of the franchise record set in 2009-10. . . . F Jesse Mychan, who was acquired by Tri-City from Everett last week, scored his third goal in five games with the Americans. . . .

In Vancouver, F Philip Tot had two goals and three assists as the Lethbridge Hurricanes got past the Giants, 5-3. . . . Lethbridge was coming off a doubleheader loss to the Cougars in Prince George last weekend. The Hurricanes are in Kamloops tonight. . . . F Jay Merkley scored twice for the Hurricanes, who three times took leads and had the Giants come back to tie them. . . . F Jaimen Yakubowski broke a 3-3 tie at 1:20 of the third period. . . . Tot, an 18-year-old from Calgary, has 26 points, including eight goals, in 36 games. Last season, as a sophomore, he had 21 points, six of them goals, in 58 games. . . . F Nick Buonassisi had a goal and two helpers for Lethbridge. . . . Vancouver D Blake Orban had a goal and an assist. He went into the game without a point in 25 games. . . . Lethbridge G Liam Liston, making his first start since Dec. 9, stopped 38 shots. . . . The Hurricanes have won five road games this season — two in Vancouver, two in Medicine Hat and one in Red Deer. . . . The Giants, who gave up 15 shots in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, surrendered 18 shots in the first period against Lethbridge.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Spencer Humphries, Calgary.
F Jaimen Yakubowski, Lethbridge
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In a piece headlined ‘Are ice hockey enforcers the toughest guys in sport?’ Alex Capstick of BBC World Service brings Jim Thomson’s story to another part of the world.
That piece is right here.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ryan Gaucher (Saskatoon, 1996-99) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Starbulls Rosenheim (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had nine goals and 29 assists in 47 games with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) last season.
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D Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors has seen a second doctor and the news was the same as from the first doctor. Rielly, 17, will be undergoing surgery on his right knee.
Here’s what Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald:
“He does have a significant knee injury that will require surgery and that’s something that we hope will take place sometime next week. He will be out months and is questionable to return this season.”
TSN’s Craig Button first reported that Rielly has a torn ACL. Millar wouldn’t confirm that, saying only that Rielly “suffered a significant knee injury.”
The Warriors won’t know the full extent of the injury until Rielly has surgery; nor will they have an estimate on a possible return.
As Millar said: “The way we look at it, if he was to be back with our hockey team this year you’re talking late in the season, playoff time or possibly not at all.”
Rielly had 18 points in 17 games at the time of the injury. He still is expected to be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
As Gourlie poined out: “It hasn’t been a very lucky year for Rielly health-wise. He had an emergency appendectomy in the pre-season, but was back in less than three weeks.”
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JUST NOTES: F Rocco Grimaldi of the UND Fighting Sioux will be out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury. Grimaldi, a second-round selection by the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s 2011 draft, would have played for the United States in the World Junior Championship. His WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . G Tyler Bunz didn’t accompany the Medicine Hat Tigers to Brandon for Friday night’s game. Bunz was struck on the head by a puck while on the WHL bench during Wednesday’s Subway Super Series game in Regina. He was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons and didn’t start Thursday’s season finale as had been scheduled. He spent Friday with family in Regina. . . . One player who did play Friday night was F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs. I was told on Thursday by a normally impeccable source that he would be missing for two weeks with a concussion and that he was due to have a baseline test Friday morning. If he did have that test, he obviously passed with flying colours as he was in the lineup last night as the host Chiefs lost 2-1 to the Kamloops Blazers.
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In Brandon, the Wheat Kings beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-4 to run their winning streak to a season-high four games. . . . Brandon moved into first place in the WHL’s overall standings. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and two assists for Brandon. . . . Wheat Kings F Mark Stone got his 20th goal. He joins F Emerson Etem (25) and F Hunter Shinkaruk (23) of the Tigers, and F Ty Rattie (20) of the Portland Winterhawks, in the 20-goal club. . . . Shinkaruk had two goals last night and has scored six times in three games against Brandon this season. . . . F Jens Meilleur returned to Brandon’s lineup for the first time since Oct. 7 and scored his first goal of the season in the first period. . . . .F Alessio Bertaggia scored for Brandon, his first goal since Oct. 18. . . . With G Tyler Bunz on the shelf, the Tigers went with Kenny Cameron. They had Dawson McAuley in from the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers to back up. . . . The Tigers lost D Tyler Lewington in the second period with an undisclosed injury. . . .

In Swift Current, the Broncos went 3-for-3 on the PP and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-2. . . . The Broncos broke a 1-1 tie with five straight goals, two of them from F Adam Lowry and two from F Graham Black. . . . Black, who lit up the Saskatchewan midget AAA league with the Regina Pat Canadians last season, has 16 points in 22 games with the Broncos. . . . Swift Current G Jon Groenheyde stopped 37 shots. . . . Swift Current had beaten Moose Jaw 3-2 on Saturday and now is just six points behind the Warriors and only four in arrears of the eighth-place Regina Pats. . . . How strange is the Eastern Conference? The Pats hold a .595 winning percentage and are in eighth place. . . .

In Edmonton, F Rhett Rachinski broke a tie with 5.5 seconds left in the third period as the Oil Kings beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-3. . . . Oil Kings F T.J. Foster broke a 2-2 tie when he scored on a third-period penalty shot. He also scored the game’s first goal. He has nine goals on the season. . . . The Raiders have lost four straight and are 1-9-0 in their last 10. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Philip Tot scored in the shootout to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Tot also scored in regulation. He has two goals this season. . . . Red Deer F Adam Kambeitz struck for three goals in a seven-minute span of the third period as the Rebels erased a 3-0 deficit. Kambeitz, who has 12 goals this season, tied it at 19:59 of the third period. . . . D Matt Dumba assisted on all three Red Deer goals. . . . Tot was the ninth shooter in a five-round shootout. . . .

In Prince George, the Kelowna Rockets built up a 3-1 first-period lead and hung on to beat the Cougars, 3-2. . . . Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets, tweeted that Prince Albert general manager Bruno Campese was in the house. Hmmmm! . . . The Cougars have lost three in a row. . . . Kelowna F Brett Bulmer had one assist; he has nine points in six games since returning from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. . . .

In Vancouver, D Neil Manning and F Dalton Sward each scored three times as the Giants whipped the Victoria Royals, 11-3. . . . It was the first three-goal game for each of them. . . . F Marek Tvrdon chipped in with two goals and three assists, with F Brendan Gallagher picking up a goal and three helpers. . . . The Giants were 5-for-7 on the PP. . . . The Giants held a 2-0 lead and a 23-5 edge in shots after one period. . . . At one point late in the second period, the Giants had eight goals, while the Royals had seven shots on goal in the game. . . . Vancouver has won five in a row. . . .

In Everett, the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to six games with a 7-3 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi had three assists, his fourth straight three-point game. He is riding a nine-game point streak, during which time he has 26 points. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie scored his 20th goal; he has goals in six straight games. Rattie has 16 points in the six victories. . . . F Dillon Wagner, acquired by Portland from Swift Current on Oct. 26, scored his first goal of the season. . . . The Silvertips got a goal and an assist from F J.T. Barnett, who was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers on Monday. . . . The Silvertips were without four injured players, including D Ryan Murray (ankle) and F Josh Birkholz (knee), while two others were serving suspensions. . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 43 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Tri-City Americans, 3-0. . . . It was Pickard’s first shutout this season and the eighth of his career. Three of those eight have come against the Americans, the team for which his older brother Chet once starred in goal. . . . Seattle scored three third-period goals, the first coming from F Sean Aschim on the PP at 1:34. . . . F Burke Gallimore drew an assist on the second goal and scored the third into an empty net. . . . The Americans had taken 10 straight from the Thunderbirds, including a 9-0 run last season. . . . The Americans had a six-game road winning streak end. They also had won five in a row overall. . . .
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Damon Severson, Kelowna
F Jordan Martinook, Vancouver
D Drydn Dow, Tri-City
D Kyle Verdino, Seattle
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TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Regina Pats president Brent Parker, who was doing a little scouting:
“Watching CAC bantams out of Edmonton & they are playing 1-3-1. Thank-you Guy Boucher. #really #showyourskillplease”
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Today’s good read comes courtesy of Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post. It’s right here and it’s about Phoenix Coyotes toughie Paul Bissonnette (aka @BizNasty2point0) and his mother.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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