KABOOM! Exciting times in Kimberley . . . Eller may be in . . . Betker's status unknown

Congratulations to our @TysonBrouwer and the @nitroshockey on winning the 2014-2015 KIJHL Championship pic.twitter.com/imH0O1igtk
— Dove Christian (@DoveChristian97) March 30, 2015

There is nothing more Canadian than hockey, and when it involves a championship team in a small community, well, that is the essence of Canadiana.
The Kimberley Dynamiters — KABOOM! — won the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s

playoff championship on Sunday night, wrapping it up with a Game 6 victory over the Storm in Kamloops.
Kimberley is a community of about 7,400 people located in the southeast corner of British Columbia.
Monitoring social media as the Dynamiters marched to the championship was nothing short of heart-lifting. Check out the Dynamiters’ Twitter timeline (@nitroshockey) and you will get a feel for just how the entire community went along for the ride and, in the end, was part of the championship.
Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has more right here on Kimberley’s first KIJHL championship in 35 years.
Being on the outside looking in, one can only imagine the excitement in Kimberley over the past few weeks. And it will only get better as the Dynamiters prepare for the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the province’s junior B championship tournament that also will feature the Campbell River Storm, North Vancouver Wolf Pack and the host Mission City Outlaws. It opens Friday and runs through Monday.
Head coach Jerry Bancks, a former Kootenay Ice assistant, and the Dynamiters were honoured at a community rally at the Civic Centre last night.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again — Dynamiters is the niftiest nickname in the hockey world. At least it is in my books.
I don’t know what it is about it that appeals to me, but there is something about it. Maybe it’s because

Lynn Lake's high school hockey team, circa 1967.
(Photo by Vic Laird)

that nickname goes back a long way with me.
I was raised in Lynn Lake, a mining community in northern Manitoba. As a teenager, I played for a high school team that was in a league with two teams from the local mine. One of the teams was the Surface Bombers; the other was the Underground Dynamiters.
Yes, it was a tough league. Yes, I was the furthest thing from a tough cookie.
But perhaps it was from that three-team league in a small town that my affinity for Dynamiters comes.
Anyway . . . you can bet I’ll be paying attention to the Cyclone Taylor Cup over the Easter weekend.
The Cyclone Taylor Cup home page is right here and, yes, it includes a schedule.
KABOOM!
———







F Viktor Gibbs Sjödin (Portland, 2006-08) has signed a one-year extension with the Melbourne Mustangs (Australia, AIHL). Last season, with the Mustangs, he had 13 goals and 16 assists in 22 games. He was named the AIHL championship final MVP as the Mustangs won the title. The AIHL regular season begins on April 25. . . .
F Carter Proft (Brandon, Spokane, 2010-14) has signed a one-year extension with the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2). In 50 games this season, he had four goals and 17 assists. Proft has dual Canadian-German citizenship. . . .
F Jens Meilleur (Brandon, 2010-14) has signed a one-year extension with the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2). In 52 games this season, he had 32 points, including 18 goals. He has dual Canadian-German citizenship.
———

The Lethbridge Hurricanes held a public information session on Monday night. The meeting had nothing to do with finances as it wasn’t an AGM or a shareholders’ meeting. . . . Pat Siedlecki has more on his blog right here.
——
F Mads Eller of the Edmonton Oil Kings may return tonight for Game 4 against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, who hold a 2-1 edge in the series. Eller left Sunday’s game in the first period after running into the gate as he attempted to check Brandon F Braylon Shmyr. He hit the open gate with his neck/shoulder area. “There’s no structural damage,” Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun. “I’ve seen that hit or incident on a couple of different angles and . . . it was hard to watch but miraculous that there wasn’t damage beyond what he’s gone through.” . . . Tonight’s game will be televised on Sportsnet.
——
The Tri-City Americans are running out of defencemen as they attempt to get back in their series with the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Game 3 is scheduled for tonight in Kennewick, Wash., with the Rockets up 2-0 and having yet to surrender even one goal. . . . Riley Hillis, who missed the last 10 games of the regular season, returned for the first two games but will be a game-time decision. Carter Cochrane’s season is over after he had shoulder surgery. On top of that, Tyler Morrison suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 2 on Saturday. . . . If Hillis isn’t able to play, the Americans will be down to five defencemen. . . . Kelowna lost D Devante Stephens (right leg) during Saturday’s game. The Rockets are already without D Josh Morrissey, who isn’t expected to play in this series.
———




The Regina Pats hold a 2-0 lead as they go into Swift Current to meet the Broncos tonight. In its last 11 trips to Swift Current over the past three seasons, Regina has two victories. . . .
F Quintin Lisoway of the Brandon Wheat Kings underwent left knee surgery on Monday in Winnipeg. Lisoway, who will be 20 next season, is expected to be ready for training camp. Dr. Peter MacDonald, who works with the Winnipeg Jets, repaired Lisoway’s anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament. . . .
This being playoff time, the Everett Silvertips are saying little about the status of D Ben Betker, who suffered an arm injury during a 6-2 loss to the visiting Spokane Chiefs in Game 2 of their series on Saturday night. . . . Betker left in the first period and didn’t return. His status for Game 3 on Wednesday isn’t known. As Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald write: “If Betker is unavailable for Wednesday's Game 3 in Spokane it's a big blow for the Tips. The 6-foot-6 overager plays heavy minutes against opposing top lines as a member of Everett's top defensive pairing.” . . . The series is tied, 1-1.
———

@nitroshockey KIJHL Champions! On home ice award ceremony. pic.twitter.com/aQNYzD93BN
— Kimberley CityBakery (@KCityBakery) March 31, 2015

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

The Tri-City Americans have signed D Riley Hillis, 16, to a contract. Hillis, from Arvada, Colo., played last season with the U-16 Rocky Mountain Roughriders. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder picked up 22 points and 60 penalty minutes in 65 games. Hillis is with the Americans through the weekend and then will return home where he will play for the U-16 Colorado Thunderbirds.
———
The Swift Current Broncos have signed D Max Lajoie, who was the 95th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. Lajoie, 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, had 12 points and 18 penalty minutes in 33 games with the bantam AAA Calgary Royals last season.
———
The Edmonton Oil Kings have added Sean Brown to their coaching staff. Brown spent six season in the Edmonton Oilers’ organization, playing with the big club and the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He retired as a player after spending 2010-11 in Germany. With the Oil Kings, he will work alongside head coach Derek Laxdal and assistant Steve Hamilton. . . . Brown takes over from Jesse Pearson, who spent last season on the coaching staff after ending his playing career due to post-concussion syndrome.
———
The Brandon Wheat Kings have a new goaltending coach. The Brandon Sun reports that Brent Zelenewich, a former Brandon U Bobcats goaltender, has taken over from Matt Cockell. Cockell, who is helping the Wheat Kings in training camp, has stepped aside because he also works with the Canadian women’s national team.
———
The Vancouver Giants tweeted Friday that F Jordan Martinook, 20, has agreed to terms on a contract with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Martinook, who blossomed into a 40-goal scorer last season, was the 58th overall selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports right here that Martinook has been told by the Coyotes that he won’t be back with the Giants.
———
JUST NOTES: The Brandon Sun reports that the Brandon Wheat Kings were without two veteran forwards in Friday’s scrimmages. F Dominick Favreau and F Jens Meilleur are out with back woes. That can’t be good for Favreau, who is one of four 20-year-olds on Brandon’s roster. . . . F J.C. Lipon’s three goals helped the Kamloops Blazers to a 5-3 victory over the Victoria Royals in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Friday night. Lipon had a career-high 19 goals last season — he scored three in each of his first two seasons — and this was his first hat trick. In 187 regular-season games, he has four two-goal games.
———
Slovakian F Juraj Bezuch had 21 points in 67 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but, for whatever reason, he was released following the season. Now he’s in camp with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, who now have three import players, one over the limit. Not only that, but according to this story right here, Bezuch has been “dazzling” folks in the Kitchener camp.
———
Fans of the QMJHL got good news earlier in the summer. Now it seems there soon may be the same good news for OHL fans. But there is no good news on this subject for WHL fans. . . . The trapezoid, which is gone from the QMJHL, is soon to be gone from the OHL, according to this piece right here. . . . The WHL has shown no signs of following suit and that's too bad. Because all the trapezoid does is penalize goaltenders who have worked hard to develop their puck-handling skills. It also prevents goaltenders from handling pucks in the corners and helping save defencemen from taking a beating from forechecking forwards.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.