G Barry Brust (Spokane, Calgary, 2000-04) has exercised his NHL out clause with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). The Medveščak press release doesn’t name the NHL club. This season, in 19 games, Brust had a 2.25 GAA, a .933 save percentage and two shutouts. He was sixth in the KHL in save percentage.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings cleared up their import situation on Tuesday, trading Czech F Richard Nejezchleb, 20, to the Tri-City Americans for two third-round draft picks, one in 2015 and the other in 2017.
The Wheat Kings had dealt their 2015 third-round pick to the Prince George Cougars for the rights to F Peter Quenneville a year ago.Nejezchleb, who led Brandon with 32 goals last season, was a fifth-round selection by the New York Rangers in the 2014 NHL draft. He went to camp with the Rangers and then was sent to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. He was returned to Brandon two weeks ago.
His arrival left the Wheat Kings with three imports. They have chosen to go with Latvian F Rihards Bukarts, 19, and Russian D Ivan Provorov, 17.
Bukarts is the Wheat Kings’ leading scorer, with 26 points in 16 games. In fact, he is one point off the WHL scoring lead.
Provorov, a freshman, is making a huge impact and has 19 points, including eight goals, in 18 games.
Brandon now has 24 players on its roster, including eight defencemen and 14 forwards.
The Wheat Kings (14-3-1) returned home Sunday after going 6-1-0 on a road swing that took them through the B.C. Division. They are home to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday and the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday.
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The Tri-City Americans acquired F Richard Nejezchleb, a 20-year-old Czech, from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday.
With Nejezchleb being a two-spotter -- a 20-year-old and an import -- it meant that the Americans had to make a couple of moves in order to get him on their roster.They released freshman F Semyon Krasheninnikov, 17, and veteran F Jackson Playfair, 20.
Krasheninnikov, from Ufa, Russia, had one goal in eight games.
Playfair, from Fort St. James, B.C., was acquired last season from the Spokane Chiefs. He has seven points, including four goals, in 16 games this season. Playfair scored in overtime on Sunday to give the Americans a 5-4 victory over the Royals in Victoria. In 135 regular-season games, he has 26 points, 10 of them goals.
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The Americans made another deal on Tuesday as they sent F Rodney Southam, 18, to the Kelowna Rockets for a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft.
“This gives Rodney a chance to play more, and for us to get some of our younger guys in the lineup on a more consistent basis,” Tri-City general manager Bob Tory told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “It also gives us a chance to recoup some of the draft picks we sent to Brandon.”
Southam, from Saskatoon, had two goals and three assists in 10 games with the Americans. Last season, he had eight points, five of them goals, in 52 games. He had been a sixth-round selection by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2011 bantam draft.
Acquiring Southam gives the Rockets some much needed depth at forward. They have run into some injuries that resulted in them using defencemen to fill in up front.
Southam is expected in Kelowna in time to play against the visiting Victoria Royals tonight.
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If you aren’t aware by now that nothing is private once it appears anywhere on social media, well, learn a lesson from what has happened to some OHL players. They were busy apologizing on Tuesday for it. . . . Peterborough This Week has a story right here, while QVI Agency has one right here.Meanwhile, Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports Canada has written a piece headlined: Saying sorry not nearly good enough for OHL players’ abusive language. . . . Yes, she hits the nail on the head with this essay right here.
Why is it that when executives with major junior hockey teams start talking about how they are dealing with something “internally” the antennae go up?
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The Moose Jaw Warriors, who are at home to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday, have recalled D Dustin Perillat, 17,
and D Colin Paradis, 16.Perillat, a native of Saskatoon, has been playing with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers. He was a fourth-round pick by the Warriors in the 2012 bantam draft.
Paradis, from Sherwood Park, Alta., has been playing for the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. The Warriors selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 bantam draft.
The Warriors will be without D Tyler Brown, who has an undisclosed injury, and D Reid Zalitach. The Warriors tweeted Tuesday that Zalitach isn’t with the team for personal reasons. A source told Taking Note that Zalitach has left the Warriors. That being the case, he would be at least the fourth player to have left the team since the season started.
Zalitach, a native of Winnipeg, was one of four second-round selections by the Vancouver Giants in the 2011 bantam draft. The Warriors acquired him on Oct. 28, 2013, giving up a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft and a third-rounder in 2016. Zalitach has 14 points, including one goal, in 103 regular-season games. This season, he is pointless in 13 games with Moose Jaw.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, F Adam Tambellini scored twice and added an assist to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-1 victory over the Blades. . . . Tambellini has 10 goals this season. . . . Calgary F Radel Fazleev broke a 1-1 tie at 16:10 of the second period with his sixth goal. . . . The Hitmen (8-8-1) had lost their past four games; the Blades (5-12-0) now have lost three in a row. . . . Calgary G Mack Shields, who played for the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts, stopped 25 shots. . . . Saskatoon G Trevor Martin made 26 saves. He joined the Blades on Saturday from the SJHL's Melville Millionaires, replacing the injured Nik Amundrud. . . . Calgary F Jake Virtanen came up short on a first-period penalty shot when the puck rolled off the blade of his stick. . . . Saskatoon D Jordan Thomson left the game early in the first period after taking a stick up high from Virtanen. Bob Woods, the Blades' general manager and head coach, said later that Thomson has a concussion. . . . The Blades already were missing Amundrud and D Adam Henry with concussions. . . . Among Calgary's scratches were it’s two top scorers -- F Chase Lang, who is serving a WHL suspension, and F Greg Chase (healthy). Chase has 15 points, including two goals, in 15 games after totalling 35 goals and 50 assists in 70 games last season. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. 
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored two second-period goals 26 seconds apart and hung on for a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . F Coda Gordon scored his ninth goal of the season, at 7:43 of the first, to give the visitors the lead. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford tied it with his 10th at 4:41 of the second and Steve Owre broke the tie with his seventh goal at 5:07. . . . Sanford also had an assist. . . . Broncos G Landon Bow, who is having a magnificent season, stopped 35 shots, 10 more than the Tigers' Marek Langhamer. . . . The Broncos (10-8-2) had F Jay Merkley back in the lineup. He had 12 points, including seven goals, in nine games when he was sidelined due to illness. . . . The Tigers (12-3-1) had lost their previous two games. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., G Taran Kozun stopped 37 shots through OT and was perfect in the shootout as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Red Deer Rebels, 3-2. . . . F Justin Hickman scored three times for the Thunderbirds, but only gets credit for two. That's because shootout goals don't count in individual stats, even when they are game-winners. . . . Hickman won the game on his first-ever shootout attempt . . . Hickman scored the game's first two goals. Hickman has four goals this season; he also scored twice in a 5-3 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Oct. 25. . . . F Adam Musil, with his seventh, got Red Deer to within one early in the second period and F Brooks Maxwell forced OT with his fourth, a shorthanded effort at 4:49 of the third. . . . Red Deer G Rylan Toth stopped 31 shots. . . . These teams only play each other once each season. Still, there were five fights in the game, four of them in the first period. As a point of reference, the Everett Silvertips have been involved in three fights all season. . . . The Rebels (8-7-2) are 5-0-1 in their last six; the Thunderbirds are 7-6-3.---
No matter what happens in life, if you have family you will always have a shoulder to lean on.
— jackson playfair (@jackplayfair) November 5, 2014
Tickets for next Monday's Subway Super Series opener can be purchased at a two-for-one rate at the SaskTel Centre box office tonight.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) November 5, 2014
I guess there are plenty of good seats still available.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) November 5, 2014
The Moose Jaw Warriors are switching trainers in mid-stream. Curtis Amiot, the head trainer and athletic therapist, is leaving the Warriors after eight years to join the Moose Jaw Police Service. He will be replaced by Brooke Kosolofski, who has been with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that “Amiot said he started looking at a career change after he and his wife began to have a family. Amiot’s wife Andrea is due with the couple’s second child at the end of March.”
In Moose Jaw, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Warriors, 3-1. . . . D Reid Zalitach scored his first WHL goal in 68 games — it was the Teddy Bear goal — to get the Warriors started in the second period. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy pulled his guys even at 12:53 of the second and F Quintin Lisoway’s first goal of the season, in his 29th game, at 5:27 of the third, stood up as the winner. . . . Brandon G Curtis Honey stopped 29 shots in his first start since Oct. 30. . . . The Warriors have one victory in their last 10 games (1-7-2). . . . 
In Saskatoon, F Dyson Stevenson scored twice to lead the Regina Pats to a 3-2 victory over the Blades. . . . Stevenson, who has 18 goals, gave his side a 2-1 lead at 16:33 of the second and upped it to 3-1 at 16:26 of the third. . . . Regina, which is sixth in the Eastern Conference and just four points out of second, held a 49-23 edge in shots. . . . Pats F Boston Leier had two assists. . . . Saskatoon has lost six in a row and 11 of 12. The result is that the Blades now are 11 points out of a playoff spot. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports: “Three members of the Kelowna Rockets’ management team, including assistant general manager Lorne Frey, attended Saturday’s game. The Rockets have just two 20-year-old players. The trade deadline is Jan. 10.” . . .
In Calgary, F Jake Virtanen scored twice to help the Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Virtanen has 14 goals. . . . The Hitmen scored three times in the first period to take control. . . . Lethbridge took 65 of 104 penalty minutes. . . . Calgary (17-7-4) is third in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind the Swift Current Broncos (19-11-4). Calgary holds five games in hand. . . .
In Red Deer, F Brendan Leipsic scored twice and added an assist as the Portland Winterhawks got past the Rebels, 5-4. . . . Leipsic’s 20th goal, at 15:04 of the second period, gave his side a 5-3 lead. . . . Portland F Nic Petan had two assists. With 66 points, he is within one of F Mitch Holmberg of the Spokane Chiefs, who leads the scoring race. . . . Portland F Shane McColgan was back in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 26. He had one assist. . . . The Winterhawks (22-5-4) continue to lead the overall standings. They are two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets (22-3-2), who have four games in hand, and the Everett Silvertips (21-6-4). . . . Portland is 7-1-2 in its last 10. . . . 
In Medicine Hat, D Ty Stanton broke a 3-3 tie at 13:44 of the third period to give the Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Stanton’s third goal of the season came via the PP. . . . The Raiders, who have lost three in a row, had erased a 3-1 third-period deficit on goals by F Dakota Conroy, at 1:06, and F Leon Draisaitl, shorthanded, at 12:40. . . . Draisaitl also had an assist to go with his 17th goal. . . . D Tommy Vannelli had two goals, giving him eight, for the Tigers. . . .
In Kamloops, G Austin Lotz stopped the Teddy Bears as the Everett Silvertips blanked the Blazers, 7-0. . . . It was Teddy Bear toss night; the fans threw the toys at game’s end. . . . Lotz stopped 26 shots in posting his fourth shutout this season and the fifth of his career. . . . D Ben Betker and F Ivan Nikolishin had two goals each. . . . The Blazers have lost 12 straight games. . . . Every Everett skater, with the exception of D Micheal Zipp, was at least plus-1. Zipp was even. . . . Every skater in the Kamloops lineup was at least minus-1. . . . Everett won all four games in the season series with the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was without D Sam Grist, who served a one-game suspension for a match penalty in incurred on Friday night. . . . The Blazers headed east right after the game. They open an East Division tour in Brandon on Tuesday night. . . .
In Prince George, the Cougars got off to a 3-0 lead and went on to beat the Tri-City Americans, 5-2. . . . Prince George F Troy Bourke returned from a three-game suspension to draw three assists. . . . Attendance was 2,498. . . . Prince George F Tyler Mrkonjic’s second goal of the season, at 5:36 of the first, was the Teddy Bear goal. . . . F Todd Fiddler’s 12th goal, at 10:28 of the second period, on the PP, gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead and stood up as the winner. . . .
In Kelowna, D Myles Bell broke a 1-1 tie with his 10th goal at 12:20 of the third period as the Rockets beat the Kootenay Ice, 2-1. . . . Bell, who hadn’t scored in his previous eight games, also drew an assist on F Carter Rigby’s goal at 10:22 of the second period that tied the game. . . . F Luke Philp had given the Ice a 1-0 lead at 18:30 of the first period, on the PP. . . . The Rockets, who left on an East Division swing on Sunday, have won six in a row and 15 of 16. . . .
In Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds scored three third-period goals and beat the Spokane Chiefs, 4-2. . . . Seattle F Ryan Gropp broke a 2-2 tie at 10:20 of the third period, via the PP. It was his fourth goal. . . . D Adam Henry and D Shea Theodore each had two assists for Seattle. . . . Spokane F Mitch Holmberg scored his WHL-leading 33rd goal. . . . The Thunderbirds have won six in a row. They are 7-1-2 in their last 10. . . .
In Victoria, F Carter Popoff had a goal and three assists as the Vancouver Giants dumped the Royals, 7-4. . . . The Giants erased a 2-0 first-period deficit with six straight goals, five of them in the second period. . . . The visitors were 3-for-6 on the PP. . . . Vancouver F Cain Franson and F Trent Lofthouse, who was acquired earlier from Victoria, each had a goal and two assists. . . . F Steven Hodges scored twice for the Royals. . . . F Austin Carroll scored Victoria’s Teddy Bear goal at 3:51 of the first. . . . The Royals had beaten the visiting Giants 4-2 on Friday night; the teams meet again Tuesday, this time in Vancouver. 
while on a desert island with only a hockey puck for company.
feature the Vancouver Giants and Red Deer Rebels. While Brent Sutter, the Rebels' owner, general manager and head coach, wouldn't confirm that, Vancouver majority owner Ron Toigo seemed to do just that. And if you read between the lines, it would seem that Sutter wasn't at all enamoured with the process that led to the Saskatoon Blades being the host team for the 2014 tournament. That piece is 
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