It's 2016 people... Stop playing Cotton-Eye Joe. Seriously. Stop it.— Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) November 15, 2016
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D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Dijon (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, he was pointless in one game with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL). . . .
F Martin Šagát (Kootenay, 2003-05) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Slavia Prague (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). Last season, he had four goals and seven assists in 36 games with the Herning Blue Fox (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). . . .
F Kirill Starkov (Red Deer, 2006-07) has signed a tryout contract with La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland, NL B). Last season, he had 13 goals and 21 assists in 44 games with Red Ice Martigny (Switzerland, NL B). He was the team captain. . . .
A completely random note: La Chaux-de-Fonds lost to Ajoie in a shootout 3-2 (4-3 in the SO) Sunday. The shootout went 23 rounds. IIHF.com indicates that this is a men's international record. The NHL record is 20 rounds.
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Looking forward to spending some time in Moose Jaw this winter cheering on the Warriors! @MJWARRIORS pic.twitter.com/BXm9SyCJzb— Shawna Burke (@BurkeShawna) November 15, 2016
Peter Anholt, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has apologized for comments he made last week, according to Alan Millar, the general manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Anholt traded high-scoring F Brayden Burke to the Warriors on Tuesday. Later, when asked why he moved Burke, Anholt made a number of statements for which he later was fined $1,000 by the WHL.
While Anholt and Burke haven’t spoken, Millar said that an apology has been issued.
“The apology came from my discussion with Peter,” Millar said. “Peter put a note in writing to me and Brayden and his family, and we’ve left it at that.”
Anholt couldn’t be reached for confirmation on Monday night.
As for further comment, Millar said: “We’re going to move onward and upward. I’m not going to try and
“I’ve been in this game a long time. I understand when things aren’t going well, we can go off the handle a little bit and make comments. I might have made a few to the referee supervisor who was here the other night. It’s a competitive game, emotions run high.”
Burke also was present at the media availability in Moose Jaw, but if there were questions about Anholt’s comments directed his way they were edited from the video that was posted on the Warriors’ website.
“I’m really excited,” Burke said. “They’ve got a really good team here. I think i can come in and help and hopefully we can get a long playoff push and win some hockey games.”
Burke had 23 points, including 19 assists, at the time of the trade. Last season, he finished third in the WHL scoring race, with 109 points, including 82 assists.
“They’ve got a lot of guys that can score here,” he said. “Hopefully, I can set them up and be a good 200-foot player.”
Head coach Tim Hunter said it could be that he doesn’t find a firm spot for Burke in the lineup until F Brett Howden returns from a shoulder injury. He is listed as day-to-day.
“We’ll see,” Hunter said. “We have to find some chemistry . . . on where he’s going to fit . . . whether he’s going to play left wing or right wing . . . he’s played both (and) he’s comfortable at both spots.
“But he’s going to be a difference-maker for us.”
Moose Jaw has played two games without Burke, who was acquired on Tuesday but didn’t join the team until Sunday. The Warriors lost both games at home — 5-4 to the Regina Pats and 8-7 to the Red Deer Rebels.
The Warriors next play Thursday when they meet the Blades in Saskatoon.
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@110PercentPod @WHLHurricanes @PeterAnholt Need to start a fund for Peter's fine. Totally agree with him putting the comment out there.— Paul Figler (@RDFigs19) November 15, 2016
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have dropped F Jesse Zaharichuk, 19, from their roster.
“He admittedly isn’t committed enough . . .,” general manager Peter Anholt told the podcast 110 Percent (Hurricanes This Week) on Monday.
Anholt said Zaharichuk has been “assigned” to the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons. “I don’t know if that’s
Zaharichuk had 17 points, including eight goals, in 17 games this season. A native of Sherwood Park, Alta., Zaharichuk also has played with the Kamloops Blazers and Kootenay Ice. In 125 regular-season games, he has 73 points, 23 of them goals.
Anholt had little to say about his decision to trade F Brayden Burke, 19, the team’s leading scorer, to the Moose Jaw Warriors last week.
“I don’t think we have to talk about the Burke trade,” Anholt said. “I think there’s been enough said about that . . . and enough repercussions.”
If you’re a regular here, you’re aware that the WHL fined Anholt $1,000 for comments he made following the trade. On the podcast, Anholt explained his comments this way: “You don’t trade your 100-point guy and not have to say something about it. We’ll just leave it at that.”
In exchange for Burke, who finished third in the WHL scoring race last season, the Hurricanes acquired F Ryan Bowen, a second-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2019 draft. Bowen has a shoulder injury and it’s hoped that he will be in the Lethbridge lineup for weekend games.
As well, D Brady Reagan, who was suspended by the team on Oct. 28 for “violating team rules,” is expected to be back in the lineup on Wednesday against the visiting Kootenay Ice. Reagan, 19, will have sat out six games.
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Yes, it’s early, but there are indications that the Regina Pats are in the infancy of one of those seasons. They are 14-0-3 and continue to be the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not have lost a game in regulation time. They have won 10 in a row. They have yet to lose in regulation time. . . . Kevin Shaw, who is the go-to guy when it comes to Pats stats, writes: “The last time the Pats won 10 straight games happened in the 1985-86 season. The streak started with a 6-4 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Oct. 13, 1985 and was ended by the Moose Jaw Warriors on Nov. 11, 1985.” . . . Shaw has a whole lot more on the Pats right here.
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The ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have signed Drake Berehowsky as head coach, replacing Anthony Noreen, who was fired on Monday. This is the second stint with Orlando for Berehowsky, 44. He was the franchise’s first head coach, in 2012-13. Between then an now, he has worked as the head coach of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes and with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. He was in his second season as the Wolves’ associate coach when the Solar Bears called. . . . Orlando (5-5-1) is tied for fourth in the seven-team South Division, four points out of third place. . . . Noreen, 33, was in his second season with the Solar Bears after four seasons as GM/head coach of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms.
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Misko Antisin has been named the interim head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He is expected to be in that position for the remainder of this season, replacing Brandon West, who was fired last week. . . . Antisin was an assistant coach with the Silverbacks for the previous two seasons. He moved to Steamboat Springs, Colo., prior to this season, and was the general manager/head coach of a Tier 3 franchise that the Silverbacks purchased. . . . The Silverbacks, who won two games over the weekend with assistant coaches Brooks Christensen and Darrell Hay in charge, will have Antisin behind the bench on Thursday when they meet the host Surrey Eagles.
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JUST NOTES:
Victoria F Matt Phillips picked up his 50th goal and 100th point with the Royals during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans. He is the 18th player in franchise history with at least 100 points. . . . Phillips also set a Royals record as the quickest sniper to score 50 goals. He did in 93 games. F Oscar Moller did it in 86 games with the Chilliwack Bruins (remember them?), who morphed into the Royals. . . .
F Dylan Stewart, 19, no longer is with the Kootenay Ice. The team tweeted Monday that the parties “have mutually agreed to part ways.” Stewart, from Edmonton, had two goals and four assists in 19 games this season. He was a fifth-round pick by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2012 WHL bantam draft. He was dealt to the Ice, along with a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft, for F Drew Warkentine on Oct. 21, 2015. . . . He has 23 points, including 12 goals, in 143 career games. . . . The Ice now is carrying 22 players, including two goaltenders and seven defencemen. . . .
Patrick Conway’s regular team-by-team look at the KHL is right here. He also has news of the KHL and possible contraction.
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Just settled a divorce over visitation of a parrot. Neither may teach it negative phrases about the other. I went to law school for this.— Michael Adler (@madler9000) November 14, 2016
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MONDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Calgary at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Prince George at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Red Deer at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
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D Tanner Muth, 20, of the Kootenay Ice won’t be back for a fifth season in the WHL. Muth is suffering with post-concussion syndrome. Last season, the Calgary native had nine points in 60 games with the Ice. He also has played with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos. . . . Muth’s departure leaves the Ice with two 20-year-olds on its roster — F Zach McPhee and D Jagger Dirk — as it opens camp. . . . Muth is the fourth WHL player to have announced his retirement recently due to previous brain injuries. He joins D Reid Jackson of the Moose Jaw Warriors, and F Shea Howorko and F Brent Benson of Swift Current. As well, F Tyrel Seaman, who has had at least three concussions over the last two seasons, won’t be in camp with the Brandon Wheat Kings when it opens this week, and D Tanner Mort of the Spokane Chiefs has retired due to what the team says is a neck injury. Mort suffered a brain injury during a game in Kamloops last season. . . . F Tyler Alos, 20, who was limited to 10 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season due to a brain injury, actually announced in December that he was done with playing. The Thunderbirds have since added him to their coaching staff.
The Medicine Hat Tigers will have 10 eligible players attending NHL rookie or training camps in the next while — F Hunter Shinkaruk, Vancouver Canucks; G Marek Langhamer, Phoenix Coyotes; D Tyler Lewington, Washington Capitals; F Boston Leier, Washington; D Spenser Jensen, San Jose Sharks; D Ty Stanton, Winnipeg Jets; F Miles Koules, Minnesota Wild; D KyleBecker, Anaheim Ducks; and F Jake Doty and F Curtis Valk, both St. Louis Blues. . . . Shinkaruk, Langhamer and Lewington all are draft picks; the others are free-agent invitees.
F Stephane Legault, 20, has chosen not to return to the Edmonton Oil Kings for a fourth season. Legault, from Edmonton, has decided to attend NAIT. In 186 regular-season games, Legault had 108 points. Last season, he put up 41 points in 57 games. . . . His departure leaves the Oil Kings with perhaps one 20-year-old on their roster – D Cody Corbett.
The Tri-City Americans have signed F Austyn Playfair, 16, to a WHL contract. Playfair, from Scottsdale, Ariz., was listed by the Americans in October. He is the son of former WHLer Jim Playfair, who now is an associate coach with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, and the brother of Spokane Chiefs F Jackson Playfair. . . . Austyn, 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, had 11 points in 41 games with the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes of the Tier 1 Elite Midget Hockey League.
The Kelowna Rockets have nine players off their roster heading to NHL camps — F Myles Bell, New Jersey Devils; D Madison Bowey, Washington Capitals; F Tyrell Goulbourne, Philadelphia Flyers; F Colton Heffley, Minnesota Wild; D Jesse Lees, Boston Bruins; F Ryan Olsen, Winnipeg Jets; D Damon Severson, New Jersey; F Colton Sissons, Nashville Predators; and D Mitchell Wheaton, Detroit Red Wings.
Three players off the Portland Winterhawks’ roster have been invited to play in the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game in Pittsburgh on Sept. 26. F Chase DeLeo, F Keegan Iverson and F Dominic Turgeon, all of them eligible for the 2014 NHL draft, will play in the game in the Consol Energy Center. . . . There’s more 
The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Ryan Bowen and G Brody Willms, both of whom are from Penticton where they play at the Okanagan Hockey Academy. . . . Bowen was a fifth-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft, while Willms was taken in the eighth round.
The Regina Pats and Harvard Broadcasting have signed a multi-year deal that will keep the WHL team on 620 CKRM, which has been home to games since 1995-96. . . . The exact length of the contract wasn’t revealed. . . . Phil Andrew will be back calling the play, with Daniel Fink the analyst for a second season.
Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Russian D Dmitri Osipov, whom the Vancouver Giants took with the first pick in the 2013 import draft, “has been unable to scrimmage due to a shoulder problem that was discovered during team testing. He is skating, however.” . . . Head coach Don Hay told Pap that Osipov is “week-to-week.” . . . That means he isn’t likely to play Saturday in Ladner, B.C., against the Kelowna Rockets or Sunday in Kamloops against the Blazers. 
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