1. Jumbo Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks unleashed some locker-room humour on Thursday, before his side met the Canucks in Vancouver. One reporter took it and ran with it, and before long it was all over everywhere.
For starters, that's what you hear in men's locker-rooms, so stop pretending to blush. Wasn't it Gordie Howe who once said he spoke two languages, English and hockey? Well, in this instance, Jumbo Joe was speaking hockey.
Secondly, a whole lot of reporters/journalists apparently heard Thornton, but only one of them chose to take it and run with it, posting it on a blog on his newspaper's website. That reporter, Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province, later attempted to defend himself on TSN. Among the reasons he gave for posting Thornton's comment was that the newspaper's management expects him to write with an "edge." Botchford didn’t explain how reporting locker-room/toilet humour equates to writing with an edge.
Later in the day, Scott Emmert, the Sharks' director of media relations, issued a statement that included this: "I don't think it would be a surprise to anyone in the industry that 'locker room talk' exists. Professional reporters understand that concept and respect it."
According to Emmert, Botchford's decision to post the quote was "a pathetic attempt to generate some page hits and controversy by reporting an off-the-cuff and off-the-record comment made by someone who wasn't even being interviewed at the time."
Here's a tweet from reporter Jim Toth of Winnipeg radio station CJOB: "Heard Thornton audio, that is totally off the record & you can clearly tell he is joking. Regardless of what was said unprofessional to use."
And then there was this tweet (actually, it was two tweets) from Cory Wolfe, a former sports writer with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: "#JoeThornton anatomical reference reminds me of time that former @MJWarriors coach Al Tuer described a role player's performance thus: He's got more balls than brains - and that's saying something 'cause he's a smart kid."
Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy fame has a good take on what happened right here.
Later, Botchford took to the blogosphere in an attempt to explain things. That is right here.
The last word on this situation goes to Stu Walters of Vancouver radio station CKNW. After San Jose's 4-1 victory, Walters tweeted: "About to head into #sharks room for post game, hope Thornton isn't too prickly."

2. On Thursday afternoon, I saw this tweet from Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets: "The WHL has decided not to hand out copies of the beloved Official Guide, the Bible for radio broadcasters. #shame"
Later, I saw confirmation on the WHL website.
The decision by the WHL and its teams not to print the annual Guide is shameful. It also is terribly shortsighted and a slap in the face to its dedicated fanbase and media members who follow the league.
My late father used to tell me that there is a certain cost to doing business, and if the time comes that you can't pay that cost, then you should get out of the business. The publishing of an annual Guide is one of those costs that the WHL should be eager to pay every season.
Unfortunately, the WHL, in its haste to either save money or make even more use of an Internet that it already over-uses, has made a horrible mistake. That Guide is an invaluable resource; it also has contained the name of every player who ever has played in the league and you can bet a lot of those former players looked forward to seeing their names in there every autumn.
Sure, you can download the 2013-14 Guide onto your computer. Good luck accessing it while you’re in your seat at a WHL game.
The WHL and each of its teams should be ashamed and embarrassed by this decision.

3. With the fighting/no-fighting chatter brought on by a couple of recent incidents, some folks are forgetting why some people have taken a stance against fighting in hockey.
It has nothing to do with liking or not liking fighting, with enjoying or not enjoying a bout, with whether a scrap is capable of swinging the momentum of a hockey game.
Rather, this stance is all about three things, at least it is in my case: 1. With what we are learning about brain injuries and the long-term impact of them, more must be done to get rid of fighting; 2. Sooner or later, this is going to become an issue of liability and someone will have to pay the piper; and, 3. Society is recognizing how illogical it is to suspend a player for a check to the head of an opponent, while not suspending players for punching each other in the face.
That is what this is about. Period.

4. D Zach Hodder, 20, may have ended his WHL career on Thursday when he left the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald tweeted: "Zach Hodder has left the @MJWarriors and gone home to ponder his future. With Forsberg arriving writing was probably on the wall." . . . The Warriors acquired D Jesse Forsberg, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday, so the writing may have been on the wall for Hodder, who also has played for the Vancouver Giants, Saskatoon Blades, Prince Albert Raiders and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . A native of Delta, B.C., Hodder battled injuries for a lot of his career and played in only 128 career regular-season games over four-plus seasons. He has 38 career points. . . . Hodder was a first-round selection, 20th overall, by Vancouver in the 2008 bantam draft.

5. The Red Deer Rebels have added a defenceman to their roster, while moving out a forward. . . . The new face belongs to D Nick Charif, 18, who had been with the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies. He had two points in nine games with the Grizzlies. Last season, he had 14 points in 29 games with the midget AAA Edmonton-South Side Athletic Club. . . . The Rebels also dropped F Earl Webb, 17, and D Jake McLachlan, who turns 17 on Dec. 20. Webb will play with the AJHL's Calgary Mustangs. He was pointless in five games with the Rebels. . . . McLachlan is joining the BCHL's Cowichan Valley Capitals. He had one assist in five games with Red Deer.

6. The Saskatoon Blades made a couple of roster moves on Thursday. . . . They acquired F Cory Millette, 18, from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for F Evan Polei, 17. . . . Millette, who was released earlier this season by the Rebels, was with the SJHL's Estevan Bruins. From Storthoaks, Sask., he has 40 points in 106 regular-season WHL games. Red Deer selected him in the second round of the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Polei, 17, was an 11th-round pick by the Blades in the 2011 bantam draft. He had 32 points in 34 games with the Edmonton-South Side Athletic Club last season. . . . The Blades also have added D Ross Hnidy, 17, to their roster, while deleting D Kevin Pochuk. . . . Hnidy, a sixth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, had been with the SJHL's Nipawin Hawks. He was pointless in one game with the Blades last month. He played the last two seasons with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Pochuk, 18, had been picked up from Red Deer in a deal over the summer. He was pointless in five games. In that deal, the Blades got Pochuk and third- and seventh-round picks in the 2014 bantam draft for F Lukas Sutter.

7. Major League Baseball is down to four times and a whole lot of history. The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals open the NLCS today, with the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox starting the ALCS on Saturday. . . . Who you got? . . . My heart tells me St. Louis and Detroit; my head says Los Angeles and Boston.

8. It was Thursday, so that meant Dorothy and I spent the morning at what is known as a "clinic" at the hospital. Bloodwork is done and then everything from that point goes off the numbers.
Dorothy's numbers are excellent. I mean, really excellent. Like Gretzky's were. On top of that, one doctor told her the new kidney is working "extremely well."
What this means is that the two of us may not have turkey this weekend -- we've joked about having kidney pie -- but this still will be the best Thanksgiving of our lives.


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JUST NOTES:
The Tri-City Americans have signed F Parker Bowles, 16. A list player since March 2011, Bowles has 60 points, including 29 goals, with the major midget Okanagan Rockets, who play out of Kelowna. He is the B.C. major midget league’s leading sniper and is second in points. . . .
For the second time in recent days, the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders have reached into a WHL team’s front office for a hiring. The Swift Current Broncos announced Wednesday that Jordan Wall, the club’s assistant general manager, business operations, will be joining the CFL team in corporate partnerships. Wall has been with the Broncos for five seasons after starting as the director of marketing. He joins the Roughriders on March 26. The Broncos already are searching for a replacement. . . . A few days ago, the Regina Pats announced that they were losing Dan Plaster, who is their radio voice and also works with their website and community relations, to the Roughriders.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Blades scored the last two goals of a shootout and beat the Swift Current Broncos, 4-3. . . . F Brad Hoban gave Swift Current a 1-0 lead in the circus, only to have F Josh Nicholls and F Brent Benson reply for the Blades. . . . Swift Current took a 2-0 lead in the first period and then needed a goal from F Levi Bews at 18:27 of the third period to take it to OT. . . . Saskatoon D Connor Cox ended a 41-game drought with his second goal of the season. . . . Saskatoon F Matej Stransky gave the Blades a 3-2 lead with his 29th, at 8:56 of the second. . . . Swift Current G Austin Smith, making his first start in 28 games, stopped 41 shots. . . . D Ross Hnidy, a sixth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, made his WHL debut with the Blades. He plays with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Hnidy’s services were needed because the Blades have three defencemen out with injuries — Matthew Pufahl (broken ankle), Duncan Siemens (concussion) and Tommy Stipancik (concussion). Siemens, it seems, might be out for three weeks. . . . The Blades moved into a tie with the Calgary Hitmen for fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Broncos now are 11 points behind the eighth-place Brandon Wheat Kings. Swift Current plays in Brandon on Friday. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Quinton Howden’s three goals helped the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Howden, who scored once in each period, filled his hat with an empty-netter at 19:40 of the third. . . . Howden also had an assist. . . . F Cam Braes, the former Hurricanes captain who was traded to the Warriors in January, had two assists. . . . Lethbridge F Brody Sutter scored twice, giving him 24. . . . F Adam Henry drew three assists for Lethbridge. . . . The Warriors had D Kirk Johnson, 16, make his WHL debut. He plays for the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Rebels. . . . Moose Jaw continues to hold a five-point lead over the Saskatoon Blades atop the East Division. . . . In an interview with play-by-play man James Gallo, Warriors D Morgan Rielly said he is two or three weeks away from returning to Moose Jaw. He would continue his rehabilitation from knee surgery there. Rielly, who will be an early selection in the 2012 NHL draft, hasn’t played since Nov. 6. . . .

In Regina, the Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Pats, 3-2. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Michael Ferland, giving him 30, sandwiched around one by F Kevin Sundher, who has 25. . . . Ferland’s second goal broke a 2-2 tie at 15:57 of the third period. . . . According to the online scoresheet, Brandon F Jason Swyripa and Regina D Kyle Burroughs each received instigator penalties for a fight late in the first period. . . . Brandon F Dominick Favreau returned after a six-game absence with a shoulder injury, but left late in the first period after being hit by Burroughs. . . . The Wheat Kings have won two in a row for the first time since Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 when they beat the Vancouver Giants 5-4 and Red Deer Rebels 4-2 in Brandon. . . . Wheat Kings G Corbin Boes stopped 35 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings hold down the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot and they now hold a four-point lead over Red Deer. . . . Brandon is three points behind the seventh-place Pats and the teams will meet five more times this season. . . .
In Red Deer, G Deven Dubyk stopped 17 shots to help the Rebels to a 4-0 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . That was Dubyk’s first shutout of the season and the third of his career. . . . D Alex Petrovic scored twice, giving him seven. His first goal came 10 seconds into the game. . . . F Joel Hamilton had a goal and two assists. . . . The Rebels, who have been hammered by injuries, dressed only 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . .

In Calgary, F Tyler Maxwell and F T.J. Foster each had three goals to help the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 9-5 victory over the Hitmen. . . . Maxwell has 32 goals, while Foster is up to 22. . . . The Oil Kings scored five times in the second period. . . . Edmonton D Martin Gernat had two assists and was plus-4. . . . Calgary fell behind 3-1 in the second period then came back to tie it on F Jimmy Bubnick’s 25th at 10:57 of the second. . . . Maxwell then scored twice 2:21 apart and the Oil Kings were off to the races. . . . The Hitmen have won 15 of their 19 games. . . . The victory allowed the Oil Kings to move into second place in the overall standings, two points behind the Kamloops Blazers and two ahead of the Tri-City Americans. . . .

In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford scored twice in the third period to spark the Blazers to a 5-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Ranford, who has 31 goals, scored on a breakaway at 7:07 of the third period to give his side a 3-1 victory. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully scored his eighth goal at 1:11 of the second period. It was his third straight game with a goal; it also was his fifth game-winner of the season. . . . Kamloops F Chase Schaber scored his 20th goal, giving the Blazers six 20-goal scorers. . . . The Blazers remain atop the Western Conference and now are four points ahead of the Americans. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer appeared to suffer a left groin injury in the third period, while F Tyson Dallman left in the first period with a left leg injury. . . . The Americans have lost eight of their last 13 games. . . .

In Kelowna, G Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots for the shutout as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Rockets, 2-0. . . . It was Pickard’s fourth shutout this season — a single-season career high — and the 11th of his career. . . . The Thunderbirds got third-period PP goals from F Seth Swenson, at 0:33, and F Colin Jacobs, at 8:55. . . . Seattle was 2-3 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-5. . . . F Brett Bulmer was back in Kelowna’s lineup after missing two weekend games with the flu, but the Rockets are without D Mitchell Chapman, F Filip Vasko, F Spencer Main and F Jessey Astles, all injured. . . . Seattle D Shea Theodore had two assists. . . . The Thunderbirds moved into a tie with the Victoria Royals for eighth place in the Western Conference. Seattle has two more victories and three games in hand on Victoria. . . .

In Victoria, F Ryan Harrison scored twice, including the winner, as the Everett Silvertips beat the Royals, 3-2. . . . Harrison broke a 2-2 tie with his 16th goal at 11:37 of the third period. . . . He also had the winner Tuesday in Everett’s 3-2 victory in Victoria. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 29 shots. . . . Everett F Ryan Chynoweth returned from a one-game absence with an injury to score his second goal. . . . F Jamie Crooks scored his 30th goal of the season for Victoria. . . . D Brodie Clowes made his WHL debut with the Royals. Clowes was a fifth-round selection by the Chilliwack Bruins in the 2010 bantam draft. He plays with the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys. . . . The victory allowed Everett to close to within three points of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Tyler Hansen, Kamloops.
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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OK. Who's your goaltender — Devan Dubnyk or Miikka Kiprusoff?  Ritch Winter, the player agent, takes a look at the burgeoning field of goaltender analytics and what it could mean right here. This is great stuff and shows that, yes, hockey statistics have at least started to travel down the road to Sabermetrics.
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Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle has a hilarious tale right here of something that happened one night when he and his wife attended a sporting banquet. It’s a quick read and involves asparagus and a football coach.
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Plenty has been written on the ongoing battle between the NCAA and the CHL. And, lord knows, plenty more will be written before things cool down. But if you click right here you will find a piece written by Chris Peters that does a terrific job of explaining the present-day situation. This is perhaps the most even-handed piece I have seen on this situation in the last while.
Peters is a freelancer who once worked in public relations with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program.
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Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail has a piece in today’s paper on Ken Hitchcock and how he has had to adapt with the times. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this piece is Hitchcock’s description of how fast the game is today.
“We tried to still play possession hockey after the lockout, and now it’s race-a-rrific hockey,” Hitchcock says. “Bang it up the ice, chip it in, fore-check like hell, bang it down the ice.”
That column is right here.


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