Giants' radio voice off to NHL? ... Poole moves to Edge School ... Ex-WHLer head coach in RMJHL

My prayers go out to those dealing with the wildfires in the interior of BC. My home is your home #Blazernation pic.twitter.com/eDOQlxPgqT

— Dylan Ferguson (@dferg_98) July 18, 2017

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F Rhett Rachinski (Edmonton, 2007-12) has signed a one-year contract with the Guildford Flames (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the U of Alberta (Canada West), he had three goals and nine assists in 28 games. . . .

KHL News: The exhibition season began Tuesday night. The regular season starts Aug. 21. There won’t be any games from Jan 29 to Feb. 25 as the KHL takes its Olympics break. The last regular-season game is March 1. Each team plays 56 games.

F Mark Derlago (Brandon, 2003-07) has signed a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the Nikko Icebucks (Japan, Asia HL), he had 26 goals and 32 assists in 48 games. He led the Icebucks in goals, assists and points, and was seven in the league’s scoring race. . . . Nottingham opens its exhibition schedule on Aug. 12.

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Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported Tuesday night that Brendan Batchelor has left the Vancouver Giants after four seasons as their radio voice. . . . According to Ewen, “Various sources suggest” that Batchelor will be the next radio play-by-play man for the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . . TSN 1040 has had the Canucks’ radio rights, but Sportsnet 650 now has the contract and is putting together its on-air team. . . . “According to various sources,” Ewen reports, Batchelor “resigned from the WHL club on Monday and is refusing to say where he’s going, other than to admit he starts his new gig in August.” . . . Ewen’s story is right here.

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Shawn Martin has signed on with the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines, as assistant general manager and associate coach. Martin, who is from Wainwright, Alta., was in his fourth season as GM/head coach of the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves when he was fired on Oct. 24. . . . Martin, 40, has been in the AJHL before, as an assistant coach with the Grande Prairie Storm, St. Albert Steel and Sherwood Park Crusaders. . . . In Whitecourt, Martin will work alongside veteran junior A GM/head coach Gord Thibodeau.

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James Poole is the new head coach of the midget prep team at Edge school in Calgary. Poole had been the general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks before leaving the organization over the weekend. . . . The Canucks were 37-19-4 under Poole last season, his only one with the organization. He spent five seasons with the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers before joining the Canucks.

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Pat Bingham has signed on as the head coach of the Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League’s Colorado Rampage. . . . Bingham has been with the Rampage organization for five years, serving as president, hockey director and the head coach of the 16-year-old AAA team. . . . A native of Vancouver, Bingham played in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazes and New Westminster Bruins (1985-89). . . . He has coached in the defunct Central and United leagues, as well as the AHL and ECHL.

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If you would like to contact Taking Note with information, have a question or just feel like commenting on something, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com. I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).

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While in #bdnmb recently visiting family, former #BWK great Billy D had a chance to visit Derlago Drive @JandGHomesLtd #BWKTop20 pic.twitter.com/ISV7r9iZ1O

— Brandon Wheat Kings (@bdnwheatkings) July 18, 2017

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Derek Ryan (Spokane, 2003-07) signed a two-year contract with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had 25 goals and 24 assists in 50 games with Alba Volan Szekesfehervar (Hungary, Austria Erste Bank Liga) last season. Ryan had agreed to a one-year contract extension with Alba Volan in April but was released from it on Friday.
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According to the Edmonton Sun, F Rhett Rachinski and D Brennan Yadlowski, both of whom played out their WHL eligibility last season, have decided to attend the U of Alberta and play for the Golden Bears. . . . Rachinski, who is from Edmonton, played 244 games with the Oil Kings. Last season, he had 50 points, including 27 goals, in 72 games. . . . Yadlowski played 324 regular-season WHL games, splitting them between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Everett Silvertips. Last season, he had 24 points and 91 penalty minutes in 59 games with Everett. It was Yadlowski, you may recall, who was responsible for one of last season’s highlights. He drew a 10-game suspension after paying an in-game visit to the Portland Winterhawks dressing room in a Feb. 3 game.
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There is speculation again about the possibility of a WHL franchise ending up in Fort McMurray, Alta., after Mayor Melissa Blake told a Canada Day gathering that a downtown arena definitely is part of the city’s redevelopment plan.
Furthermore, construction and what is expected to be a 5,000-seat arena could start within the next 12 months.
The AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons play out of the 2,300-seat Thickwood Heights Arena.
The WHL, however, doesn’t appear to be in Fort McMurray’s future.
At least one WHL owner has looked into putting a franchise into Fort McMurray. He has told me that he was told by the WHL office at the time that the league isn’t interested in the northern Alberta community, primarily because it is a five-hour bus ride from what would be its closest rival, the Edmonton Oil Kings.
That particular owner had begun to put together the pieces that would have resulted in the building of a new arena with private funds. However, that all fell apart with the WHL saying it wasn’t at all interested in putting a team in the city of more than 60,000 people.
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The Victoria Royals have a new bus, and it looks like a beaut.
Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has that story right here.
He finishes the story with this: “It is believed to be the best bus in the WHL.”
Hmmm . . .

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THE WHL FINAL:
Game 7 . . .
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings jumped out to a 4-0 lead and went to a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions. The Oil Kings won the best-of-seven final, 4-3. . . . The Oil Kings, who are in only their fifth season in the WHL, will open the Memorial Cup tournament on Friday against the host Shawinigan Cataractes. Also competing will be the QMJHL-champion Saint John Sea Dogs, who also are the tournament’s defending champions, and the OHL-champion London Knights. . . . Prior to this season, when they finished with the WHL’s best record, the Oil Kings had never finished better than .500 in the regular season. . . . F Rhett Rachinski got the Oil Kings started when he scored 1:51 into the first period. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Maxwell scored a key goal with just 18 seconds left in the period. . . . The Oil Kings stretched the lead to 3-0 on F Michael St. Croix’s goal at 4:41 of the second period and F T.J. Foster made it 4-0 at 10:16. . . . Portland F Oliver Gabriel got his side on the board at 11:40 of the second. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 19 shots and was named the series MVP. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth turned aside 28 shots. . . . Edmonton was 0-2 on the PP; the Winterhawks didn’t receive even one opportunity. . . . Attendance was 12,514. . . . The Oil Kings held Portland’s big line — Marcel Noebels between Sven Baertschi and Ty Rattie — off the scoresheet for a second straight game. . . . This was the 10th time in WHL history that the championship final went to a seventh game. Prior to the game, @WHLFacts tweeted that the home team had won the previous nine times. . . . The Winterhawks franchise now is 0-3 in this situation, having also lost in Game of the final in 1987 (Medicine Hat) and Swift Current (1993). . . . A year ago, the Winterhawks also were in the WHL final, losing in five games to the Kootenay Ice. . . . This edition of the Oil Kings will be making its first Memorial Cup appearance. A previous incarnation of the Oil Kings appeared in the 1971 and 1972 Memorial Cups. More on those appearances later in the week. . . . The Oil Kings last won the Memorial Cup in 1963 and 1966, prior to the formation of the WHL which began play in 1966-67.
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Here is the way things unfolded during the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup:
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: Edmonton 4 at Portland 3 (OT) (10,947)
Thursday, May 10: Portland 3 at Edmonton 4 (11,077)
Saturday, May 12: Edmonton 2 at Portland 3 (10,947)
Sunday, May 13: Portland 1 at Edmonton 4 (12,514)
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John MacKinnon, a sports columnist with the Edmonton Journal, was at Game 7. His column is right here.
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Evan Daum, a writer with the Edmonton Journal, filed a piece that centres on the Winterhawks to The Oregonian and it is right here.
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As if our elite junior-aged players don’t work out enough and don’t play enough high-intensity hockey games over the course of a year, Hockey Canada and the CHL have added four more games to their schedule.
Yes, they will be played during the summer.
They’re calling it the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge and they’ll play Aug. 9 and 10 in Yaroslavl, Russia, and Aug. 13 and 14 in Halifax.
According to a Hockey Canada news release, the series is “being held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series.”
Also according to the news release, “The event will replace this season's Canada's National Junior Team Summer Development Camp and will serve as part of player evaluations for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled for Dec. 26, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013 in Ufa, Russia.”
The Canadian roster this summer will feature more than 30 players, born in 1993 or later. The team will be selected by Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast and a coaching staff that has yet to be named.
If you happen to be in the Halifax area, you will be able to purchase two-game ticket packages for $86 plus applicable fees. No, that is not a typo.
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Jim Matheson’s Hockey World, from the pages of the Edmonton Journal, is right here. He leads with a look at how Oil Kings defenceman Griffin Reinhart has climbed the NHL draft rankings.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Chris Shaw won’t be back as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. He worked under first-year head coach Jason Williamson this season. “I just decided we should go separate ways as we had a difference of opinion,” Williamson told Graeme Corbett of the Vernon Morning Star. “We worked out fine and the season went OK, but the organization needs to go in a different direction.”
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JUST NOTES:
D Michael Statchuk, a fifth-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2009 bantam draft, has committed to the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. He played this season with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, putting up 29 points in 44 games.

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Ahh, you have to love social media.
Before the Portland Winterhawks were able to announce a deal with the Everett Silvertips for D Seth Jones, the names of two players included in the swap had surfaced on Twitter.
D Ben Betker, one of four players the Winterhawks gave up in the exchange, changed his twitter profile to read “Product of Cranbrook BC, Canada. Everett Silvertips of the #WHL. #LivingTheDream.”
F Mitch Skapski also had changed his Twitter profile to reflect the trade.
As it turns out, the Winterhawks also sent along F Tyler Sandhu and D Reece Willcox in the deal.
It all was made official in a late afternoon news conference in Portland.
Betker, a defenceman who turns 18 on Sept. 29, had 18 points for the BCHL’s Westside Warriors this season. Undrafted, he was placed on Portland’s protected list in June. He had signed with the Winterhawks.
Skapski, the younger brother of Kootenay Ice G Mackenzie Skapski, was a fourth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. Mitch, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., had 49 points in 40 games with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins.
Sandhu, a second-round pick by Portland in the 2011 bantam draft, is 16 and also signed with the Winterhawks. From Surrey, B.C., he had 45 points in 38 games with the major midget Vancouver Canadians this season.
Willcox, who also is from Surrey, had 23 points in 52 games with the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials. Now 18, Willcox was a third-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft. He has committed to attend Cornell U and play for the Big Red.
The Silvertips, then, acquired the rights to four players in exchange for Jones, who is projected as an early pick in the NHL’s 2013 draft.
All indications are that the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Jones, 17, may well be one of those once-in-a-lifetime players. But he wasn’t going to report to Everett, so the Silvertips had no choice but to trade his rights. They also got an undisclosed bantam pick from Portland just for the right to speak with Jones and his family.
Right now this looks like win-win for both teams, but don’t forget the adage about the team getting the best player winning the trade.
Garry Davidson, the Silvertips’ general manager, spent almost four full seasons as the Winterhawks’ director of player personnel. So he certainly is familiar with the players he acquired from Portland, having drafted three of them and listed the other.
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ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
From a WHL fan, via email:
“When did the WHL start webcasting the signing of players? And why not do it for everyone?”
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Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail weighed in Tuesday with his view of the Stanley Cup playoffs vs. the world championship.
“The Stanley Cup playoffs, for some years now, has been a tournament run largely in reverse,” he writes, “with the climax and greatest interest in Round 1 followed by a sliding war of attrition that culminates in June with exhausted players and weary fans just wishing it would get over with so summer could start. It does not help in Canada when they schedule Sunday afternoon games when cabin-fevered Canadians are thinking far more of bikes and canoes than of skates and pucks.
“The Stanley Cup playoffs are also so overly coached that, inevitably, defence rules. Far easier to teach trapping and shot-blocking than knocking the goalie’s water bottle off the top of the net with a high wrister.”
He’s right, you know, and his complete column is right here.
You know that there is a problem when the play-by-play voices and the analysts talk more about blocking shots than scoring goals and when they make reference to the team having blocked the most shots having won the most games.
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In a column that appeared Tuesday, Gregg Doyel, a national columnist at CBSSports.com, tries to answer this question: “Knowing what awaits NFL players after retirement, is it ethically defensible to watch it – and enjoy it – as they do this to each other?” . . . That column is right here and it’s food for thought.
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JUST NOTES: The 2013 U-17 World Hockey Challenge will be held in the Quebec communities of Victoriaville and Drummondville, running from Dec. 28 through Jan. 4, 2013. . . . The 10-team tournament always features five teams from Canada (Atlantic, Ontario, Pacific, Quebec, West) and five international teams. . . . G Matt Tomkins, who played this season with the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders, has committed to play for the Ohio State Buckeyes starting with the 2013-14 season. You will recall that the Vancouver Giants at one point were taking a long, hard look at Tomkins. . . . F Jordan DePape of the Kamloops Blazers lives with Type 1 diabetes and is preparing to head out on the Diabetes Heroes Tour for a second straight year. Last year, the tour made three stops; this time, it’ll stop in five cities – St John’s (May 14), Barrie (May 15), Winnipeg (May 16), Edmonton (May 17) and Prince George (May 18). The tour also includes country singer George Canyon. DePape appeared on the morning show at CTV Winnipeg on Tuesday. There’s more information on the tour, including how to get tickets, right here. . . .
In the spring of 1991, the Oshawa Generals, coached by Rick Cornacchia, and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, under Ted Nolan, met in the OHL’s championship final. On Tuesday, the two men went head-to-head one more time, this time at the world championship in Stockholm. Cornacchia is Italy’s head coach, while Nolan fills the same role with Latvia. . . . The Greyhounds won the OHL title in 1991; on Tuesday, Latvia won, 5-0. . . . The video that was shot and put together by Chris Rumble at Seattle Children’s Hospital really has gone viral. On Tuesday afternoon, Kelly Clarkson sent this tweet to her 1,344,307 followers: “Oh my goodness y'all have to see this! It's beautiful! I can't wait to visit these kids and nurses! It's Seattle Children's Hospital, I believe. God Bless y'all!” That video, if you haven’t seen it, is right here. As of the wee hours this morning, it was closing in on 177,000 views.
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It would seem that 20-year-old goaltenders are in demand in the WHL.
On Tuesday, the Seattle Thunderbirds dealt a 2013 third-round bantam draft pick to the Calgary Hitmen for G Brandon Glover, who turns 20 on Aug. 21.
The Thunderbirds, of course, are in the market for a goaltender as they don’t expect to get Calvin Pickard back for his 20-year-old season. Pickard is likely to play somewhere in the Colorado Avalanche’s system.
Glover went 20-12-0, 3.11, .885 with the Hitmen last season. They acquired him from the Moose Jaw Warriors prior to the 2010-11 season. A native of Victoria, he was selected by the Warriors in the sixth round of the 2007 bantam draft.
With Glover gone, Chris Driedger, 18, is No. 1 on the Calgary depth chart.
The Thunderbirds, who didn’t qualify for the playoffs this season, now show 11 20-year-olds on their roster – Glover, G Michael Salmon, Pickard, D Dave Sutter, D Braeden Laroque, D Brad Deagle, D Mitch Spooner, F Chance Lund, F Luke Lockhart, F Brendan Rouse and F Sean Aschim — but only six or seven of those are serious contenders for the three spots.
Each team is allowed to dress a maximum of three 20-year-olds per game. In fact, teams must each declare a maximum of three 20-year-olds at a cutdown date in mid-October.
On Thursday, during the bantam draft in Calgary, the Lethbridge Hurricanes acquired G Ty Rimmer, 20, from the Tri-City Americans, while the Prince Albert Raiders got G Luke Siemens, 20, from the Moose Jaw Warriors.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Kurt Kleinendorst won’t be back as head coach of the Binghamton Senators, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Kleinendorst’s two-year contract is up in June but he made the decision not to return. "I've thought long and hard about it," Kleinendorst told Joy Lindsay of the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin. "I have nothing but good things to say about (general manager) Bryan Murray and the organization, and the same is true for Binghamton. It's been one of my nicer stops along the way. The people here are wonderful. The players that I've experienced for two years have been wonderful." . . . Binghamton put up a 71-70-8-7 regular-season record under Kleinendorst and went 16-7 in the playoffs, including winning the AHL championship a year ago. . . .
Kevin Hartzell won’t be back as GM and head coach of the USHL’s Sioux Falls, S.D.,  Stampede. Hartzell just completed his seventh season with the Stampede, going 224-152-44. The Stampede recently underwent a change in ownership. A new coach is expected to be in place may May 22, which is when the USHL holds its entry draft. . . . Ryan Clark of the Fargo Forum has more on the Hartzell situation right here.
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THE WHL FINAL:
Game 4 . . .
In Portland, F Rhett Rachinski scored twice, including once in OT, to give the Edmonton Oil Kings a 4-3 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . The championship final now is tied 2-2 with the teams returning via shared charter flight to Edmonton for Game 5 on Thursday. They flew out of Portland right after last night’s game. . . . A sixth game is scheduled for Portland’s Rose Garden on Saturday. . . . The Rose Garden was home to a concert by The Black Keys on Monday night and ice conditions worsened as the game progressed. . . . Rachinski was able to corral a loose puck after Portland F Oliver Gabriel wasn’t able to handle a pass from D William Wrenn. Rachinski, 20, then scored his sixth goal of these playoffs at 9:07 of OT. . . . The Oil Kings were in OT for the first time in these playoffs; Portland now is 2-1 in extra time. . . . The Oil Kings had taken a 3-1 lead into the third period only to have Portland F Sven Baertschi scored twice, at 3:49 and 9:06. . . . He now has 13 playoff goals and is tied with linemate Ty Rattie for the postseason points lead, each with 32. . . . Baertschi has goals in five straight playoff games. . . . F Marcel Noebels opened the scoring for Portland at 1:21 of the first period, with Rachinski pulling his side even at 15:50. . . . F Tyler Maxwell gave the Oil Kings the lead at 8:17 of the second with his first goal of the final. Interestingly, Maxwell is one of the veterans whom Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal said prior to Game 4 had to be better. . . . Edmonton F Stephane Legault scored for a 3-1 lead with 56 seconds left in the second. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 39 shots, one more than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . Each team was 0-2 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 10,947.
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Here is the schedule for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: Edmonton 3 at Portland 4 (10,947)
Tuesday, May 8: Edmonton 4 at Portland 3 (OT) (10,947)
Thursday, May 10: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.

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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Everett Silvertips are disputing the lawsuit that has been brought against them by former general manager Doug Soetaert. That story is right here.
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Former NFL quarterback Mark Rypien is 49 years of age and already he is experiencing memory loss.
Nathan Fenno of the Washington Times has more right here.
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Lorne Molleken will be back behind the bench of the Saskatoon Blades next season. Molleken, who is the Blades’ general manager and head coach, has told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that he will reassess his position(s) after the 2012-13 season, which means after the 2013 Memorial Cup. The Blades will be the tournament’s host team.
Molleken also told Nugent-Bowman that the roster of next season’s team will bear little resemblance to the Saskatoon roster that lost in four games to the Medicine Hat Tigers this week.
That story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles have announced that they won’t bring back assistant coach Kevin Higo, whose two-year contract is to expire on July 31. Higo, from Lethbridge, was an assistant coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors for two seasons (2008-10). . . .
Victor Gervais (Seattle, 1986-90) is the new GM/head coach of the junior B Westshore Wolves, a new club in the Vancouver Island junior league. Gervais has spent the last five seasons with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. This season, he was GM and assistant coach, with Len Barrie as majority owner and head coach. . . . The Wolves will play out of Victoria’s Bear Mountain Arena, which also is home to the Grizzlies. . . .
The U of Alberta Golden Bears have redone their organizational tree. No longer will they have a head coach and an assistant coach; instead, there will be a general manager and a head coach. Stan Marple, the interim head coach last season, will be the first GM, while the search is on for a coach. Evan Daum has that story in the Edmonton Journal right here.
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D Morgan Rielly isn’t yet ready to return to the Moose Jaw Warriors’ lineup; in fact, it sounds as though he may not play for a couple of weeks, although he has been practising for 10 days. Rielly, who had major knee surgery on Dec. 1. He visited with his Vancouver surgeon this week and Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald that Rielly is “week-to-week.” Millar told Gourlie: “The appointment with the surgeon went very well. (Rielly) continues to be on pace to have a chance to play somewhat ahead of schedule. I know there was a lot of speculation and some reports that he would be in the line-up (tonight). He will not be in the line-up. He will not play at all in this series.” . . . The Warriors take a 3-1 series lead over the Regina Pats into Game 5 in Moose Jaw tonight.
Gourlie’s story, and there’s more to it, is right here.
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Is Saskatoon, a city that would be home to an NHL franchise, a good sports town, or not? Les MacPherson, a columnist with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, tackles that question right here.
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D Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades will finish his season with the Lake Erie Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Siemens was selected by Colorado with the 11th pick of the 2011 NHL draft. . . .
D Josh Caron of the Everett Silvertips, who signed a free-agent deal with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, is expected to join the AHL’s Houston Aeros for the remainder of the season. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that F Ryan Harrison has been invited to join the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, and D Brennan Yadlowski may hook up with the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, was busy again on Thursday.
He hit Everett F Ryan Harrison with a ‘tbd’ suspension for a charging major and game misconduct in Game 4 against the visiting Tri-City Americans on Wednesday. Assuming that Harrison, 19, is back in the fall, the start of his season almost certainly will be delayed. . . .
F Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice was hit with a one-game suspension for a game misconduct he took against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday. Reinhart didn’t play last night as the Oil Kings completed a sweep of the defending-champion Ice. . . .
Ice D Spencer Wand also sat out last night’s game after being suspended for a game following a pregame violation on Wednesday. . . .
Regina Pats F Dyson Stevenson won’t play tonight in Game 5 against the host Moose Jaw Warriors. He incurred a one-game suspension after taking a clipping major and game misconduct in Game 4 in Regina on Wednesday. He has a team-high three goals and is tied with F Jordan Weal for the team lead in points, with five. . . .
And, finally, Regina president Brent Parker was fined $2,500 for “inappropriate behaviour” after Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.
Glenn Reid of CBC Regina tweeted: “GM Brent Parker fined $2500 for inappropriate conduct. I thought he was screaming at me for a second there (Wednesday) night.”
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported that Parker “punched a hole in the door of the video replay booth inside the press box” after the game and “also became involved in a heated verbal confrontation with the off-ice officials who were inside the booth.”
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Harder had a busy time of it. He also spoke with Wayne Gretzky, whose good friend, Pat Conacher, is in his first season as the Regina Pats’ head coach. That story is right here.
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Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press reports on a WHL player who received probation and community service after pleading guilty to charges from a high-speed car crash in which his girlfriend was killed. That story is right here.
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THURSDAY’S WHL GAMES:
(If you want WHL facts and stats, get on Twitter and follow @WHLFacts)
In Winnipeg, the Brandon Wheat Kings got a goal at 8:26 of OT to beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 and win a first-round series in five games. . . . The Wheat Kings played their home games in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is in Westman Place in Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings actually scored twice on the game-winning play. F Paul Ciarelli fired a shot that hit the cross-bar in the back of the net. As one of the referees waved it off, F Darian Dziurzynski, who turns 21 today, banged in the rebound. . . . Originally credited to Dziurzynski, the goal was later changed to Ciarelli. . . . The Hitmen killed off a Brandon power play just before the winning goal and, in fact, came close to winning when G Corbin Boes made a tremendous glove save off F Jimmy Bubnick. . . . It is the eighth time in the last 11 seasons that Brandon has moved into the second round. . . . Boes finished with 42 saves. . . . Ciarelli scored at 4:14 of the third period to forge a 2-2 tie. Those were his first two goals of the series. . . . Dziurzynski and Jens Meilleur each had two assists for Brandon as they figured in both Ciarelli goals. . . . The Hitmen played all five games without F Victor Rask (leg), who scored 33 goals in the regular season. . . . Attendance was 4,002. . . . You can bet this series victory meant just a little bit more to Brandon owner/general manager Kelly McCrimmon. His brother, Brad, would have been 53 on Thursday. Brad was the head coach of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, the KHL team that was wiped out in a plane crash on Sept. 7. . . . The Wheat Kings will be back in Westman Place for the second round. Brandon will face the Edmonton Oil Kings next, if the Moose Jaw Warriors eliminate the Regina Pats. The Warriors take a 3-1 lead in that series into Game 5 tonight in Moose Jaw. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Rhett Rachinski scored the game’s last two goals as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Kootenay Ice 3-1 and swept the defending champions from the playoffs. . . . Edmonton has won its last 15 games. . . . Rachinski broke a 1-1 tie with his first goal of the series at 14:09 of the second period and added an empty-netter at 19:23 of the third. . . . The Oil Kings, in their fifth season in the WHL, won a series for the first time. They went in having been swept from the first round in both of their appearances. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 25 shots, while Laurent Brossoit of Edmonton turned aside 14. . . . The biggest story of the two games in Cranbrook may well have been the attendance — 2,293 on Wednesday and 2,146 last night. Those are the two smallest Rec-Plex playoff crowds in franchise history. . . . The highlight for the fans may have been when Marian Dixon shot a puck from the far blue-line through a hole in a sheet of plywood and won a truck from Denham Ford. . . . A Thursday night tweet from Edmonton D Griffin Reinhart: “Best comment on the ice goes to my little bro Sam saying ‘If you touch me I'm telling mom’ when we were in a scrum.” . . .

In Kelowna, F Ty Rattie scored four times as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Rockets 5-3 to sweep that first-round series. . . . The Winterhawks will meet the Kamloops Blazers in the second round. That series will open with Games 1 and 2 in Portland’s Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum on April 6 and 7. . . . Rattie scored his club’s first three goals, giving Portland 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 leads. . . . He later added an empty-netter for his 10th goal in the four games. He also had three assists. . . . Interestingly, in the four games in this series, Rattie had one-, two-, three- and four-goal games. . . . Last spring, Rattie finished the playoffs with nine goals in 17 games. . . . He actually outscored the Rockets, 10-9, in the four games. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi had two assists. . . . Linemates Rattie, Baertschi and Marcel Noebels, who had one helper, each was plus-4.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Curtis Lazar, Edmonton.

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ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Mr. Commissioner, how excited are you that the WHL’s Facebook page is being used to question and debate the move of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria?
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JUST NOTES:
Congrats to former WHLer Roy Sommer, now the head coach of the AHL’s Worcester Sharks. He earned his 500th AHL coaching victory Saturday as the Sharks beat the visiting Hershey Bears, 3-2, in a seven-round shootout. . . . Former Vancouver Giants G Tyson Sexsmith was in goal for the Sharks, who tied it with him on the bench for an extra attacker and then won the shootout. . . . Sommer played two seasons (1975-77) for the Calgary Centennials. . . . He is in his 14th consecutive season as an AHL head coach; this is his sixth season with Worcester. . . . Trivia question: Name the three other AHL coaches with at least 500 victories. . . . Fred (Bun) Cook (636), Frank Mathers (610) and John Paddock (589). . . .
If you were wondering, the BCHL’s Penticton Vees have run their league-record winning streak to 32 games. . . . They scored a 7-5 victory over the visiting Westside Warriors on Saturday night. . . .
The Tri-City Herald has its Best of the West 2012 poll, as compiled by Annie Fowler, right here.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, the Regina Pats scored three times on the PP and beat the Broncos, 4-1. . . . F Lane Scheidl broke a 1-1 tie with two PP goals, the first just 22 seconds into the third and the second at 2:14. . . . Scheidl has 40 points, including 21 goals, in 55 games. Last season, he finished with 30 points, 10 of them goals, in 48 games. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal had three assists and now is tied with Portland Winterhawks F Ty Rattie for the WHL scoring lead. Each has 89 points. . . . Broncos F Taylor Vause scored his 31st goal. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Drew Czerwonka scored two goals to help the host Kootenay Ice to a 5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Czerwonka, who has 13 goals, hadn’t scored since Dec. 29, although he missed a chunk of time with an injury and was playing his fifth game since his return. . . . Czerwonka’s first goal broke a 2-2 tie at 4:52 of the second period. . . . It was Family Faith Night, something started by Ice G Nathan Lieuwen, and the teams combined for 128 minutes in penalties The Blades took 79 of those. . . . The Ice was 2-for-10 on the PP; the Blades were 1-for-5. . . . Lieuwen stopped 22 shots. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov turned aside 29 shots. . . . Ice F Jonathon Martin shot high and wide on a third-period penalty shot. . . . The Blades had won their last two game, while the Ice had lost two in a row. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Sam Mckechnie scored two goals in the game’s first five minutes and the Hurricanes went on to a 4-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Mckechnie has 11 goals. . . . D Daniel Johnston drew assists on both those goals. . . . Lethbridge G Liam Liston stopped 31 shots. . . . The Hurricanes are 11th in the 12-team Eastern Conference and just one point behind the Swift Current Broncos. . . .

In Red Deer, the Moose Jaw Warriors scored six times in the second period and skated to an 8-5 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Rebels took a 2-0 lead into the second period and actually led 3-1 when D Cody Thiel scored his first goal at 7:05. . . . Moose Jaw took the lead on goals by F Cam Braes, his 32nd at 10:13 on the PP, F James Henry, his 12th at 11:44, and F Torrin White, his ninth, at 15:34. . . . Red Deer F Charles Inglis tied it, with his 16th, at 17:09. . . . Moose Jaw D Kendall McFaull and Red Deer F Turner Elson, with his 20th, exchanged goals before the period ended and F Justi Kirsch then gave the Warriors the lead for good at 19:38. . . . Kirsch added his 19th goal at 18:08 of the third on the PP. . . . The injury-riddled Rebels dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . . Red Deer F Joel Hamilton, who scored his fifth goal of the season and later added an assist, was in great discomfort on the bench in the third period. A Saturday night tweet from the Rebels: “F Joel Hamilton is responsive, being transferred to Red Deer Regional Hospital. No update on what the injury is.” . . . Later, this tweet from the Rebels: “The team will give an update on Joel Hamilton's condition in the coming days. Alert, responsive, and good range of motion.” . . .

In Prince George, G Laurent Brossoit turned aside 24 shots as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Cougars, 5-0. . . . Brossoit has three shutouts this season, two of them agains the Cougars and both by 5-0 counts. . . . He now shares the Oil Kings’ modern day single-season record with Alex Archibald and Torrie Jung, and holds the career record with five. . . . The Cougars have been blanked nine times. . . . F Rhett Rachinski scored the game’s first two goals, both in the first period, and completed the hat trick at 19:21 of the third period with a shorthanded goal. He has 22 on the season. . . . Rachinski is the fourth 20-goal man on the Edmonton roster. F Dylan Wruck and F Kristians Pelss have 19 apiece. . . . Edmonton D Keegan Lowe was pointless and minus-4 in Friday’s 5-4 OT loss to the host Cougars. Last night, he had three assists and was plus-5. . . . F Jordan Peddle also had three assists. . . . Edmonton D Mark Pysyk didn’t get a point but finished plus-4. . . . Edmonton had Pelss back from a suspension and F Curtis Lazar and F Mason Geertsen back from injury. . . .

In Everett, G Kent Simpson stopped 41 shots to backstop the Silvertips to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Everett F Jari Erricson pulled Everett into a 2-2 tie at 9:29 of the second period on a PP. . . . Erricson has five goals. . . . F Reid Petryk got the winner when he scored his 12th goal at 11:31 of the second. . . . F Josh Birkholz got his 25th into an empty net at 19:12 of the third. . . . Everett F Cody Fowlie had a goal, his 10th, and two assists. . . . F Brendan Gallagher had two assists for the Giants. . . . Vancouver D Neil Manning scored his seventh goal of the season as he played in his 295th regular-season game, tying the Giants’ franchise record. He shares it with F Craig Cunningham. . . . Manning should set the record Tuesday when the Giants meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash. . . .

In Kelowna, F Dylan Willick’s second goal, at 8:20 of the third period, broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Kamloops Blazers a 3-2 victory over the Rockets. . . . The Blazers had beaten the Rockets 5-4 in OT in Kamloops on Friday night. . . . The Blazers got the game’s first two goals, both on the PP, late in the first period. D Bronson Maschmeyer got his 10th at 17:54 and Willick added another at 19:53. . . . Willick has 23 goals in 56 games. Last season, he finished with 24 goals in 72 games. . . . D Myles Bell, with his 11th, got the Rockets to within one at 9:00 of the second and F Carter Rigby, with his 16th, pulled them even at 1:59 of the third. Both Kelowna goals came via the PP. . . . Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave, beaten four times on eight shots and hooked after one period on Friday, stopped 35 shots to get the victory in this one. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 34 shots. . . . The Blazers, who lead the Western Conference and the WHL’s overall standings, won their 40th game of the season, the first time the team has reached that plateau since the 2006-07 season. . . . The Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings are scheduled to play in Kamloops on Tuesday. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Cam Reid scored three times and set up another to help the Portland Winterhawks to a 7-2 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Reid, 20, has 19 points, including eight goals, in 14 games since joining the Winterhawks from St. Cloud State at the Christmas break. He had 29 points in 37 games last season at SCS, and had 15 in 22 before leaving this season. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 18 shots for his 34th victory, one shy of the franchise’s single-season record held by Brent Belecki (1997-98). . . . Carruth and Belecki are tied with 79 career victories. The franchise record (105) is held by Darrell May Sr. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi had a goal and two assists, giving him six points in his last two games. . . . F Oliver Gabriel and F Brendan Leipsic added a goal and two assists each for the Winterhawks. . . . F Burke Gallimore got his 20th goal of the season for Seattle. . . .

In Spokane, the Tri-City Americans erased a 1-0 deficit with three straight goals and went on to beat the Chiefs, 5-3. . . . The Americans hold a 5-3 edge in the 12-game season series. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser scored shorthanded at 19:51 of the first to forge a 1-1 tie. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin broke the tie with another shorthanded goal, at 12:18 of the second period, and added a PP score at 17:56 of the second. . . . Shinnimin, who also had an assist, has 34 goals. . . . Shinnimin’s three points moved him into sixth on the franchise’s all-time scoring list. He passed F Stu Barnes (285), who owns a piece of the Americans, and F Dylan Gyori (286) last night. . . . Spokane F Liam Stewart got his eighth goal, shorthanded, at 3:25 of the second, but D Sam Grist restored Tri-City’s two-goal lead with his third at 9:12. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer, who appeared to suffered a left-groin injury in a 5-1 loss in Kamloops on Wednesday, stopped 24 shots. He had backed up G Eric Comrie in a 4-2 loss to visiting Portland on Friday night. . . . Spokane G Eric Williams stopped 29 shots. . . . Tri-City F Adam Hughesman had two assists, moving him into fourth on the franchise’s career list, ahead of Terry Degner (195). . . .
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Michael Burns, Saskatoon.
F James Henry, Moose Jaw.
F Colton Heffley, Kelowna.
D Myles Bell, Kelowna.
D Damon Severson, Kelowna.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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A Saturday afternoon tweet from Pat Siedlecki (@radiopat258), the play-by-play voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes: “Elton John concert in Lethbridge Apr. 24 sold out in one hour this morning. Fastest-ever sell out for an ENMAX Centre event.”
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THE WORLD OF TWITTER:
Sometime on the weekend, former WHLer Cody Eakin began following F Ryan Hanes of the Kamloops Blazers on Twitter. Hanes has a well-earned reputation as a chirper on the ice.
Later Saturday, Eakin tweeted this: “WJ Tryouts? Huh? Won't be going if I break your arm. How would you like that? Huh? — my favorite chirp directed at me from hanesr13.”
Meanwhile . . .
F Taylor Peters of the Portland Winterhawks, who had two assists in a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., tweeted this:
“Big shout out to the super fans in the crowd today shouting ‘You suck Peters’ every time I touched the ice. How'd that turn out for you.”
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I never had the good fortune to meet Trent Frayne, a Canadian who was a sports writing giant, but I felt a connection because we both worked at the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Tribune. . . . Frayne died Saturday at the age of 93.
Frayne was a writer and a story teller. And, in the truest sense of the word, he was a wordsmith. He had an ear for conversation and way of turning what he heard into marvellous columns and stories.
Sandra Martin of The Globe and Mail writes about Frayne right here.
Some writers who knew Frayne remember him right here.


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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
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
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