Shareholders hear about Hurricanes

The Lethbridge Hurricanes, one of the WHL's community-owned teams, have the poorest record in the 22-team league. The franchise is struggling on the ice, as well as off the ice.
The Hurricanes held their annual midseason shareholders' meeting on Thursday night. Pat Siedlecki, the play-by-play voice of the Hurricanes and the news director at 94.1 CJOC, tweeted during the meeting.
What follows is a compilation of Siedlecki's tweets, in order, and it provides a pretty good feel for what happened during the meeting:
Lethbridge Hurricanes President Brian McNaughton: "This is not a rebuild. It's a re-set of our organization."
McNaughton also says restructuring of the Hurricanes lease with the ENMAX Centre will likely be done in 3-4 weeks.
Hurricanes Business Manager Terry Huisman: "Attendance at Hurricanes games is down 20% this season."
Huisman: "Hurricanes are trending an average of 660 fans less per game from last season. That impacts our bottom line significantly."
Huisman: "We have run into cash flow issues. Working with banks to secure that. Our debt has not increased."
McNaughton: "We've secured a line of credit with Servus Credit Union. We are not over budget. We are just short cash."
McNaughton: "Our total current operating debt is around $100,000."
McNaughton: "We are working hard to get to break even" (by the end of the season).
Hurricanes Head Coach Drake Berehowsky: "We've begun changing the character. I know it's been frustrating. It's a process that takes time."
McNaughton: "I feel extremely confident we're going in the right direction. I feel as good about the team now as I have in the last 5 years."
McNaughton: "I don't believe the Board interferes. We support our staff."
Shareholders are asking about selling the hockey club. One suggested that maybe it's time the Canes become a privately run club.
McNaughton: "I understand the frustration. None of us are happy with what's happened."
McNaughton: "We have to do a better job. We believe we have the right people in place to turn this thing around now."
Adele Barrington, Hurricanes Board Member: "You don't know how lucky you are to have Brian McNaughton on this board."
General manager Brad Robson: "This has been frustrating. It hasn't been easy. There's been a lot of sleepless nights. We're doing our best."
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Paul Kingsmith of Global TV also attended the meeting in Lethbridge. He touched on a few things in some tweets:
#WHLCanes President McNaughton says the team is $100,000 in debt, but has lost $1Million over 5 years.
A suggestion by a shareholder of selling the #WHLCanes gets a round of applause.
McNaughton: "Kris Versteeg never approached the board of directors."
McNaughton: "There's never been a (purchase) offer presented to the board of the Lethbridge Hurricanes."
(For more, visit Siedlecki's blog Hurricane Watch over there on the right.)
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After Kingsmith's last tweet, former player Brody Sutter (@Sutts19) tweeted: "@paulkingsmith hard to make an offer to buy the team when potential owners are immediately told the team is not for sale. #SelltheCanes"
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So . . . what's going on with Lethbridge Hurricanes assistant coach Brad Lukowich?
Lukowich, in his first season as an assistant coach with the Hurricanes, missed practice again on Thursday. He has been missing all week.
Paul Kingsmith of Global TV tweeted Thursday afternoon that head coach Drake Berehowsky said: "He's sick." . . . According to Kingsmith, Berehowsky was "asked if he believes it," and replied: "that's what I've been told so . . .' "
However, during last night's shareholders' meeting general manager Brad Robson contradicted the head coach.
According to a tweet from Pat Siedlecki (radiopat258), the radio voice of the Hurricanes, Robson told the gathering that Lukowich "is not sick. He's fine. We won't discuss this though in the public."
One source told me last night that Lukowich “is taking some time off” and that he’ll have a different title when he returns.
“He and Berehowsky (haven’t) been on the same page,” the source said.
(Late last night, Kingsmith posted a story that is right here. In the story, Robson admits that Lukowich has left the team. “He’s meeting with his family right now in regards to where he’s going with his hockey career,” Robson told Kingsmith, “and we’ll sit down (today) and re-hash and that’s about it.”)
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"Former Portland Timbers forward Eddie Johnson has filed a $9.9 million personal injury lawsuit against the Timbers, claiming that the team and its doctors allowed him to return to practice while he was still suffering from concussion symptoms," reports Jamie Goldberg of The Oregonian. "The nine-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, claims that negligence by the Timbers and their doctors caused Johnson to suffer 'serious and permanent traumatic head and brain injuries.' " . . . Goldberg's complete report is right here.
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The Kootenay Ice held Sam Reinhart Bobblehead Night last weekend, giving away 950 of the popular promotional items. The neat thing is that each of the Reinhart bobbleheads had been autographed by the Ice's third-year star. . . . So, you're wondering, how long does it take to sign 950 bobbleheads? . . . According to the Kootenay News Advertiser, "Sam took over five hours to complete the task."
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The Vancouver Giants will stage quite a celebration on Feb. 15 as they induct former captain Brendan Gallagher into their Ring of Honour. Gallagher, a stalwart with the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, is the Giants' all-time leading scorer. . . . Gallagher was a ninth-round selection in the WHL's 2007 bantam draft. He holds team records for goals (136) and points (280) in a career. . . . The Canadiens selected him in the fifth round of the NHL's 2010 draft. . . . According to a Giants news release: "The first 5,000 fans at the Saturday, Feb. 15 game vs. the Portland Winterhawks (7 p.m. faceoff) will receive a commemorative 8x10 collector piece, while 111 random fans will get to meet Brendan during the game."
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F Johnny Wesley, a 16-year-old from Semiahmoo, B.C., whose WHL rights belong to the Vancouver Giants, says he will play next season for the BCHL's Langley Rivermen. Wesley, who was placed on the Giants' protected list last year, is playing for the Richmond Sockeyes of the Pacific International junior league. He has 45 points, incouding 21 goals, in 39 games in his freshman junior B season.
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D Sam Grist of the Kamloops Blazers won't play tonight against the visiting Victoria Royals. Grist has drawn a one-game suspension for a hit on F Reid Petryk of the Edmonton Oil Kings on Wednesday night. Grist was given an interference major and a game misconduct on the play. Petryk needed help on the ice, but was back during the ensuing power play. . . . F Logan Nelson of the Victoria Royals drew a two-game suspension under supplemental discipline for a charging incident against the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday night. Nelson sat out Wednesday's game against the Hitmen -- the Victoria Times Colonist reported that he sat "due to an injury" -- so also will sit tonight in Kamloops.
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Ralph Kiner, a Hall of Fame baseball player and a legendary broadcaster, died Thursday. He was 91. Richard Sandomir of the The New York Times has more on Kiner right here, including an anecdote that involves actress Jamie Lee Curtis.
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Over at Yahoo! Sports, Sunaya Sapurji has an interesting piece that carries this headline -- Size matters: Are small towns being pushed to the OHL’s fringes? . . . While the story, which is right here, is about big versus small in the OHL, you can easily change some of the names and relate this story to the WHL. It is a day-to-day struggle for the small-market franchises in major junior hockey and they take a real hit when they miss the playoffs, thus aren’t able to bring in any playoff revenue. . . . I always will remember my final conversation with the late Ed Chynoweth, the former WHL president who by then owned the Kootenay Ice. He suggested that the WHL, with team expenses rising and new sources of revenue hard to come by, should have been looking at some form of revenue sharing. Sure, he had a vested interested, the Cranbrook-based Ice being a small-market team, but things haven’t changed since the day in 2007 when that conversation took place. In other words, it’s still a battle to survive for some of those teams.
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After 12 years with the Saskatoon Blades, assistant general manager Jarrod Brodsky has left the WHL franchise. He is the son of former Blades co-owner Bob Brodsky, who sold the team to Mike Priestner of Edmonton earlier this season. . . . The Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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THURSDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
No games scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S WHL GAMES:
Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Swift Current at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Kootenay at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Portland at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Calgary at Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.
Spokane at Seattle, 7:35 p.m.
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JUST NOTES:
Through games of Nov. 30, the Everett Silvertips were 20-4-4, with 17 of those victories coming in regulation time. Since then, the Silvertips are 6-16-4, with three regulation-time victories. . . . The Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings meet the Rockets in Kelowna tonight. The Rockets lead the WHL’s overall standings. Interestingly, the Oil Kings are 7-1-0 in games played in the B.C. Division this season. The only loss? The Rockets beat them 2-0 in Kelowna on Nov. 9.

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Blazers lose game, two defencemen

G Rastislav Stana (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 1998-2000) has signed for the rest of this season with Kosice (Slovakia, Extraliga). He had been practising with the team for the past week. Stana was released by CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL) two weeks ago. In 25 games, he had a 2.31 GAA and .912 save percentage. . . . .
D Patrik Vrana (Moose Jaw, Prince George, 2006-07) has signed for the rest of this season with Cracovia Krakow after being released by Polonia Bytom (both Poland, Ekstraliga) last week. With Bytom, he had 11 points, including four goals, in 32 games. . . .
F Kirill Starkov (Red Deer, 2006-07) has been barred, at least temporarily, from playing with his new club, Red Ice Martigny (Switzerland, NL B), because the Danish Ice Hockey Union (DIF) cannot release his transfer card. DIU Director Enver Hansen: "If there is a risk that a player can get a suspension, we must according to IIHF rules not release his transfer card, and we must of course follow this until there is further clarification on the matter and a measurement of a possible suspension."
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Will they, or won’t they?
I refer, of course, to the Prince George Cougars. Will they, or won’t they, be operating in the northern B.C. city when the 2014-15 WHL season gets here?
Owner Rick Brodsky isn’t about to provide a definitive answer, at least not at this point in time.
But he did tell me that he hasn’t spoken with anyone from True North Sports and Entertaintment, the owners of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. There has been ample speculation that TNSE would love to purchase a WHL franchise and operate it out of the MTS Centre, following the business models that are used by the Calgary Flames with the Hitmen and the Edmonton Oilers with the Oil Kings.
At this point in time, the Cougars don’t seem to be part of that conversation.
“I have never talked to anyone from True North. We have never had any discussion. Period,” Brodsky told me last week, and it’s impossible to be more definitive than that.
Through 25 home games, the Cougars’ average attendance is 1,685. That’s down from last season’s final average of 1,840.
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One of the highlights of the 1972 Summit Series was the writing of John Robertson, a legendary Canadian sports writer who then was with the Montreal Star. . . . Robertson died Saturday in Gimli, Man., at the age of 79. . . . Lordy, but the man could write. Before the series began, he wrote a column predicting that the Soviets would win twice in Canada and then take all four games back home. Oh, the outrage! A nation erupted. . . . Oh yes, Robertson also said he would eat his column with Russian dressing if Canada won the series. . . . And he later did exactly that. I still remember the photo! . . . There’s more right here. . . .
And if you click right here you’ll find Robertson’s column after the famous 1975 New Year’s Eve game between the host Montreal Canadiens and the Red Army side.
Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post remembers Robbie, who also was known as Coconut Willie, right here.
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Greg McAuley has stepped down as head coach of the SPHL’s Fayetteville FireAntz in order to spend more time with his ailing mother. McAuley was in his first season as Fayetteville’s head coach; the team was 14-15-3. Assistant coach Sean Edwards has moved up and will run the bench.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
The Brandon Wheat Kings scored the game’s first and last goals, but host Edmonton got four in between and the Oil Kings skated to a 4-2 victory before 11,339 fans. . . . It was Hockey Hooky in Edmonton, so the game, which started at 11:30 a.m., was attended by a whole lot of students. . . . F Brett Pollock scored twice for Edmonton, giving him 19. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson had two assits. He’s got 65 points, including 42 helpers, in 43 games. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk got his 14th goal; he hadn’t scored in his previous 12 games. . . . The Oil Kings (35-13-1) have won six straight. They lead the Central Division by three points over the Calgary Hitmen (31-12-6). . . . Brandon (26-18-5) is fifth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers and two ahead of the Regina Pats. . . . Alicja Siekierska of the Edmonton Journal reports that Pollock and teammates Dysin Mayo and Aaron Irving “woke up at 6 a.m. to write exams.” Her game story is right here. . . .
In Kamloops, F Mitch Holmberg scored his WHL-leading 44th and 45th goals to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Blazers. . . . Holmberg scored on a first-period 5-on-3 PP at 15:55. . . . F Dominic Zwerger got the Chiefs’ second goal just 1:31 later, the goal coming just as the second PP expired. . . . Spokane F Mike Aviani was ejected in the second period for a headshot on Kamloops D Connor Clouston, who didn’t return. . . . The Chiefs scored two shorthanded goals on the Aviani penalty, the first coming via a penalty shot by F Liam Stewart. . . . The Chiefs lead the WHL with 14 shorthanded goals. . . . F Cole Ully and F Chase Souto each scored his 20th goal of the season for Kamloops. . . . D Sam Grist, who likely leads the Blazers in minutes played, left in the first period and didn’t return after absorbing a hit from Aviani. . . . The Blazers already were without F Matt Needham, F Luke Harrison and F Tyson Ness, all veterans who are injured. . . . With the injuries to Grist and Clouston, the Blazers, who were down to five defenceman, announced after the game that they had added D Cameron Reagan, 16, to their roster. Reagan, a fourth-round bantam draft pick in 2012, plays for the midget AAA Sherwood Park J. Ennis Kings, for whom he has 20 points, including three goals, in 31 games. He will make his WHL debut tonight in Vancouver against the Giants. . . . The Blazers wrapped up a seven-game homestand at 1-5-1. . . . The Blazers meet the Giants in Vancouver tonight, then go home-and-home with the Kelowna Rockets on Friday and Saturday, before opening a six-game homestand. Kamloops then will play 10 in a row on the road as the Tim Hortons Brier -- the Canadian men’s curling championship -- takes over the Interior Savings Centre. . . . The Chiefs (30-15-4) have won three in a row. They are fifth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Blazers, with three straight losses, are 11-34-5 and last in the Western Conference.


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Blazers grab goaltender from Rebels

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers didn’t practise on Monday, although the players did watch some video.
But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything going on.
The Blazers, who are 1-3 in a five-game exhibition season, added one player to their roster and subtracted three others.
One day after head coach Dave Hunchak told The Daily News that starting goaltender Taran Kozun “has to step up here,” the Blazers acquired goaltender Bolton Pouliot, 19, from the Red Deer Rebels for a sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft.
“Taran needs to be pushed,” Blazers head coach Dave Hunchak said. “Taran needs a guy to come in and push him.”
Kozun, 19, was put into the starter’s role after the Blazers dealt Cole Cheveldave, their starter for the last two seasons, to the Prince Albert Raiders on July 10.
Last season, as the Blazers rode Cheveldave into the Western Conference final, Kozun played 1,092 minutes over 20 games, going 11-4-3, 2.36, .914.
However, the native of Nipawin, Sask., is 0-2-0, 4.46, .866 in 148 minutes of action over three exhibition games.
At the same time, Pouliot, who is from Calgary, was stuck behind Patrik Bartosak, the Rebels’ superb Czech goaltender. With Bartosak getting into 55 games, Pouliot played just 1,033 minutes over 20 games, going 5-10-2, 3.60, .902. One season earlier, Pouliot was 3-5-2, 2.60, .909 in 784 minutes over 17 games.
As a 16-year-old, Pouliot was behind Darcy Kuemper, who played in 62 games.
Bartosak is in camp with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, who told Rebels owner/general manager/head coach Brent Sutter earlier this summer that they would be returning the goaltender for his 20-year-old season.
“He’s beat us and he’s stood on his head when he’s beat us,” Hunchak said of Pouliot. “He has been behind two pretty good goaltenders over the last three years. He just needs an opportunity.
“I think he’s the guy who can push and maybe even take over that job.”
The Blazers put four pucks behind Pouliot in 48:30 last season as they won 4-0 in Red Deer on Oct. 17. The previous season, Pouliot was outstanding, stopping 37 shots in a 3-2 victory in Kamloops on Feb. 12.
Pouliot, a seventh-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate that he wasn’t at all surprised to be on the move.
“I knew that coming into camp,” Pouliot said. “I knew the situation I was in.”
Pouliot said he and Sutter “talked lots in the summer about it.”
“We knew that (Bartosak) was going to come back and they wanted a young guy (as the No. 2 goalie), and rightfully so. I had to come into camp this year and help the young kids and work with them . . . be a positive attitude around the dressing room and, hopefully, I’d end up somewhere. Luckily, it’s somewhere beautiful and a pretty awesome place to play.”
Pouliot, who is engaged to Sierra Sterzer, the sister of Blazers forward Aspen Sterzer, was to leave Calgary today at 6 a.m. He hopes to be on the ice for practice at 2 p.m.
“It’s a quick turnaround, but I’m super excited about the opportunity,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Blazers cut goaltender Cole Kehler, forward Deven Sideroff and defenceman Cam Reagan, all of who are expected to play for midget AAA teams this season.
Kehler, who won’t turn 16 until Dec. 17, is expected to attend the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton. He was 1-1-0, 3.22, .923 in two appearances with the Blazers.
“To this point, Cole has probably outplayed Taran, but he has got to get into games . . . he has got to play,” Hunchak said. “He’s our future. He needs to play games and be the guy.”
Sideroff, 16, is from Summerland and may also attend OHA. Reagan, 16, is from Sherwood Park, Alta. Each of them was pointless in two exhibition games.
At day’s end, the Blazers’ roster was at 24 — two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 15 forwards.
Chances are that, barring future trades, the Blazers will trim one forward from the roster before the regular-season opener against the visiting Kelowna Rockets on Sept. 20.
JUST NOTES: Pouliot is expected at practice today as the Blazers return to the ice at Interior Savings Centre. . . . D Sam Grist, who spent the weekend with the San Jose Sharks’ prospects at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, returned to Kamloops yesterday. . . . F Cole Ully, who was in Traverse City, Mich., with the Dallas Stars’ prospects, is expected back at practice on Wednesday. . . . F Tim Bozon, who was in the Montreal Canadiens’ rookie camp, has been held over for main camp. Bozon was a third-round pick in the NHL’s 2012 draft and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract. . . . The Blazers wrap up their exhibition schedule on Saturday in Prince George against the Cougars, who are 4-0. . . . Cougars freshman F Jansen Harkins is tied for the exhibition season scoring lead. He and F Manraj Hayer of the Everett Silvertips each has eight points in four games. Harkins also leads all players in assists, with eight.

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Cooke, Rockets blank Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
If you weren’t aware, the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers just don’t like each other.
It’s the Hatfields and McCoys on ice, but without the guns, of course.
And the bad blood was very much in evidence again Friday night, as the Rockets dropped the Blazers 4-0 in what should have been a simple exhibition game at Interior Savings Centre.
With Kelowna unable to dress the full complement of players — two goaltenders and 18 skaters — due to having two injured players and seven others at NHL camps, the Blazers agreed to dress down, too. The home boys used 16 skaters, while the visitors dressed 15.
It could have been worse for the Rockets, too, as they had five players leave the game at various stages, all shaken up. Only sophomore forward Rourke Chartier didn’t return, leaving after taking a third-period check to the head from Blazers forward Devin Oakes, who was tossed from the proceedings and likely is looking at a WHL-issued suspension.
Had it been all hands on deck, things may only have been chippier than they were. And, as it were, referees Duncan Brow and Mike Campbell handed out (27) minor penalties, two fighting majors, two misconducts, two game misconducts and the penalties to Oakes.
“Our discipline wasn’t even close to where it needs to be,” said Kamloops head coach Dave Hunchak, who was clearly disgruntled after this one. “We gave up 10 power plays . . . they scored on two.”
The Blazers were given 70 of the game’s 119 penalty minutes.
“We took some foolish penalties at bad times. . . . that just isn’t good enough,” Hunchak continued. “We have standards to meet and it didn’t get done tonight. . . . We have to control our game between the whistles.”
The Blazers, now 1-2 in the preseason, escaped from the first period trailing only 1-0 and even, at 12, on the shot clock. But the second period was a decidedly different story as the Rockets (2-1) scored twice, were given the period’s only three power plays, and outshot their hosts, 18-5.
“It was the same as our first two games,” said Hunchak, whose side has been outshot 119-70 in three games. “We were inconsistent in a lot of areas. At times we competed very hard, at other times we didn’t.”
A big part of the problem, Hunchak feels, is that the Blazers are searching for an identity.
“We have to accept who we are,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of skill in our group right now, so we have to play a very basic game, a simple chip-and-chase type of game, and try to make teams play below their goal line.”
There wasn’t much of that last night, especially with the Rockets getting 10 power-play opportunities, while the Blazers had five.
Forward Tyson Baillie had two goals for the Rockets, with singles coming from Chartier, who also had two assists, and Justin Kirkland. The visitors also got a big game from defenceman MacKenzie Johnston, 20, who drew three assists and was physical.
Kelowna goaltender Jordon Cooke, 20, turned aaside 26 shots in recording the first shutout of this WHL exhibition season.
Hunchak spent a long time in the dressing room after the game, especially when one considers that this was an exhibition game. Asked what the message to the players was, he replied:
“We have to talk; we have to come together as a group. There are a lot of new faces in that room. Every time we come to the rink we have to engage in conversation.
“Guys can’t text each other in the dressing room . . . you have to talk. That’s how you become a team.”
This was the Blazers’ final home appearance of the exhibition season. They are scheduled to meet the Vancouver Giants at Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena on Sunday, 3 p.m., then will finish up in Prince George against the Cougars on Sept. 14.
Kamloops opens the regular season at home, against these same Rockets, on Sept. 20. The teams will meet up again the following night in Kelowna.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 1,727. . . . Kamloops G Taran Kozun went the distance. He turned aside 36 shots. . . . F Tristan Sieben, acquired Thursday by Kamloops from Vancouver, didn't play. . . . Blazers D Sam Grist wasn’t available, after leaving earlier in the day to join the San Jose Sharks at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton. Grist, 20, didn’t play against the Winnipeg Jets and former Blazers F JC Lipon last night. Lipon had nine penalty minutes as the Jets won, 5-3. . . . The Sharks also are to play Sunday against the Calgary Flames, meaning Grist won’t be available for the Blazers’ game against the Giants. . . . Vancouver is apparently down to one goaltender, so if something should happen to Payton Lee during Sunday’s game, the Blazers’ backup will play for the Giants. . . . In a prospects tournament in Traverse City, Mich., last night, Blazers F Cole Ully was pointless as his Dallas Stars lost 4-2 to the Detroit Red Wings. Former Kamloops F Brendan Ranford had one power-play assist for the Stars.

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Blazers add Swiss defenceman

EDSON HARLACHER

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers, with the ‘Vacancy’ sign up on their back end, selected Swiss defenceman Edson Harlacher with the 51st selection of the CHL import draft on Wednesday.
Harlacher turned 17 on Jan. 22 and goes by Edi. He played last season with the U20 Kloten Flyers of the Swiss Elite Junior A League.
In fact, he has played in the Kloten program since 2009-10 when he was on the U15 team.
Last season, Harlacher had six points and 22 penalty minutes in 34 games with the Flyers, and six points, four of them goals, in six games with Kloten’s U17 team. He also played eight games with the U17 national team, recording one assist.
As a 17-year-old on the U18 national team, he was pointless in five games at the world championship. In six other games with that team, he had one goal.
The CHL import draft page shows Harlacher as being 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds, while the Elite Hockey Prospects website has him at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds.
The Blazers used only one of their two import draft picks because they anticipate having left-winger Tim Bozon back for a third season. Bozon also is from Switzerland although he played for France in the 2013 IIHF world championship. He was selected by Montreal in the third round of the NHL’s 2012 draft and has signed with the Canadiens. But, as a 19-year-old, Bozon has to play in Montreal or Kamloops.
Major junior teams are allowed to have two European players on their rosters.
Blazers head coach Dave Hunchak said the team’s European contacts have said that Harlacher “is definitely a prospect.”
“He’s a bigger body,” Hunchak added. “Apparently, he skates pretty well.
“Whether he can play in our top four right away . . . that’s the hope. There will be lots of opportunities for a lot of guys . . . we’ll have to wait and see.”
The Kamloops depth chart contains six defenders who have played at this level, headed up by veterans Sam Grist, 20, and Landon Cross, 19. Also included are Jordan Thomson, 17, Ryan Rehill, who turns 18 on Nov. 7, Connor Clouston, 17, and Josh Connolly, 18.
Clouston played only four WHL games last season as he spent most of the season with a midget AAA team in Medicine Hat.
Hunchak said that Connolly, who played a lot of his freshman season as a forward, will be back on defence when training camp opens on Aug. 22.
No matter what happens, though, the Blazers will be young on the back end.
“We were older last season,” Hunchak stated. “At some point, you have to start playing these young guys.”
Grist, who was acquired early last season from the Tri-City Americans, is in the 20-year-old mix, along with forwards JC Lipon and Colin Smith, and goaltender Cole Cheveldave.
Lipon, who will turn 20 on Wednesday, was selected by the Winnipeg Jets in Sunday’s NHL draft, while Smith was taken by the Colorado Avalanche in last year’s draft. Neither has signed an NHL contract.
“A lot of it is going to depend on what Winnipeg and Colorado want to do with their guys,” Hunchak said of his club’s 20-year-old plans. “We’re left at the mercy of what the NHL teams want to do.”
Each WHL team is allowed to carry a maximum of three 20-year-old players.
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The Blazers’ 2013 preseason roster that is available on the WHL website doesn’t include F Aspen Sterzer or G Taran Kozun.
Sterzer, who is to turn 19 on Sept. 9, played in only 31 games last season. He didn’t play again after suffering a concussion on Dec. 29.
Kozun, who will be 19 on Aug. 29, got into 20 games (11-4-3, 2.36, .914) while backing up Cheveldave.
Hunchak said the omissions of both players is “a mistake . . . that’s all that is” and that both are expected at training camp.
Of course, that same website continues to show Guy Charron as the Blazers’ head coach.
———
The Blazers have yet to sign an assistant coach, but Hunchak admitted that “we’re close. We’re real close on things.”
How close?
Close enough that there may be an announcement this week.


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THE EDGE: Who has it, Kamloops or Portland?

 By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks are about to meet in a WHL playoff series for the second straight spring.
While these organizations have met in 11 previous series, they haven’t done it in consecutive seasons since 1993-95.
Throw out the one time they met in one of those round-robin affairs, and each side has won five series, going back to 1981-82.
On Friday night in Portland, then, they will begin a best-of-seven series that carries with it some long-term bragging rights.
There isn’t much doubt that the Blazers go into the Western Conference final as the underdog.
After all, the Winterhawks finished atop the WHL’s overall standings. They led the league in offence and were second on defence. Their top line — Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie — finished 1-2-3 in the scoring race. Defenceman Seth Jones, a freshman from Plano, Texas, is likely to be the first pick in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
We could go on and on, but by now you get the idea that this is a pretty good team.
On top of all that, the Winterhawks are of the opinion that the world is against them. Their general manager and head coach, Mike Johnston, has been suspended since late November and won’t be back this season. The franchise has been fined $200,000 and has forfeited a number of draft picks.
And, yes, the Portland players are buying into this adversity stuff.
“Absolutely,” veteran forward Taylor Peters told Paul Buker of The Oregonian. “When we had those sanctions back in November we kind of took it as a chip on our shoulder. It was ‘it’s us, we’re going to do this for Mike and we’re going to do this despite all the setbacks we’ve had.’
“We’re definitely building off that adversity. We have ‘adversity’ written on our playoff shirts, just to remind us that we’ve battled through this so far, we’re not going to come this far and give up now.”
But the Blazers haven’t come this far just to roll over, either. This also is a good team, one that finished second in the B.C. Division with the WHL’s fourth-best record.
The Kamloops line that had Colin Smith between Tim Bozon and JC Lipon was dominant until Lipon left to play for Canada at the World Junior Championship.
In the second half of the season, the Blazers have focused on their defensive play, and, with the acquisition of Joel Edmundson from the Moose Jaw Warriors, have gotten progressively better.
So . . . this shapes up as a series that should provide some terrific entertainment. Here’s a look at how one observer sees things as it begins:
———
GOAL
Cole Cheveldave of the Blazers has gotten better as the playoffs have worn on. He was solid in a six-game victory over the Victoria Royals, who may have lost that series in the third period of Game 1 when they blitzed the Blazers’ net but weren’t able to beat the goaltender.
Portland’s Mac Carruth is the winningest goaltender in WHL history and is at the top of his game right now. Carruth, a 20-year-old from Shorewood, Minn., has signed with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. He will appear in his 65th WHL playoff game on Friday.
EDGE: Portland.
———
DEFENCE
The Winterhawks big four — Jones, Derrick Pouliot, Troy Rutkowski and Tyler Wotherspoon — is the best in the WHL. Jones is a stud. Period. He almost surely will be the No. 1 pick in the NHL’s June draft. Pouliot was taken eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 draft. Rutkowski (Ottawa Senators) and Wotherspoon (Calgary Flames) have signed NHL deals. They have 37 points in 10 playoff games this spring. They also have played in 183 playoff games.
The Blazers’ top four doesn’t carry that kind of pedigree, but has been in 114 postseason games and is a solid group that plays well together. Edmundson, who has signed with the St. Louis Blues, has gotten better and better over the last two months. He is a 6-foot-4, 210-pounder who can dominate. Tyler Hansen may be the most under-rated player in all of the WHL; he and partner Sam Grist punish people in their zone. Marek Hrbas has been consistent and will surprise you with some of his jaunts into the offensive zone. Those four have 16 points in 10 games. Their job, however, is to defend and they do that very well.
EDGE: Portland, but not by as much as you might think.
———
FORWARDS
Portland has the WHL’s top forward line — Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie finished 1-2-3 in the scoring race and have put up 49 points in 10 playoff games. . . . Rattie has 41 career playoff goals, 11 of them this spring. . . . Portland has been getting good secondary scoring from a line that features Oliver Bjorkstrand, a freshman from Denmark, Chase De Leo and Taylor Leier. They have a combined 35 points. . . . Taylor Peters, 20, is one of the WHL’s top defensive forwards and a great penalty killer.
Brendan Ranford of the Blazers has never played better. He had nine points in the four-game sweep of Kelowna. . . . Ranford, Cole Ully and Lipon have proved a formidable threesome. . . . The Blazers will welcome back Colin Smith on Friday. He missed the last three games after suffering a suspected concussion in Game 1 of the last round. Smith had 106 points in the regular season, tops on the Blazers. . . . Portland will have to try and keep Kale Kessy from taking up residence in front of Carruth. Kessy, a big body with good hands, has 11 goals and that ties him with Rattie for the league lead. . . . There is speculation that Bozon, who has missed seven games since suffering a fracture in his right hand on March 26, may be ready for Game 1. . . . Smith and Kessy will be reunited Friday, perhaps with Chase Souto on the left side.
EDGE: Portland. The pendulum could shift if Bozon returns.
———
SPECIAL TEAMS
Portland has the best PP in the playoffs, at 30.8 per cent, and has scored the most PP goals (16). . . . The Blazers are fourth, at 26.3 per cent, and have scored 15 goals. . . . Kamloops has received 57 opportunities in 10 games, to Portland’s 52. . . . You may recall that the Blazers had 11 PP opportunities to Kelowna’s one in Game 4 of that series.
Portland’s penalty-killers have surrendered only three PP goals in 28 opportunities (89.3 per cent), and that’s No. 2 in the WHL. . . . The Blazers are 13th, having been beaten eight times on 35 chances (77.1). That has to get better if Kamloops is to win.
EDGE: Portland.
———
COACHING
The Winterhawks went 37-12-3 after Travis Green, the assistant GM/assistant coach, took over for the suspended Johnston. Green’s right-hand man is Kyle Gustafson, who has been with the Winterhawks since before the 2008 ownership change.
The Blazers have put together back-to-back 47-20-5 seasons under head coach Guy Charron and associate coach Dave Hunchak. The latter has done a terrific job with the Blazers’ back end.
EDGE: Kamloops.
———
INTANGIBLES
Every Kamloops player who took part in the seven-game thriller with Portland last spring will tell you the team learned never to quit while playing in those games. . . . At one time or another, every coach plays the ‘us against the world’ card. Never has it had more meaning than in the Portland dressing room this season. . . . Portland has seven players on its roster who have played in, and lost, each of the last two WHL championships series.
EDGE: Portland.
———
THE CALL
It’s Portland, in six games.


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By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
In his role as a power forward/enforcer in the WHL, you can bet that Kale Kessy’s countenance has experienced its share of black eyes and cuts, bruises and gouges.
But never has the Kamloops Blazers winger come out of a game with an angry-looking red ring around his neck like the one that was on display for the world to see late Tuesday night.
“I’ve definitely never had a mark on my throat,” Kessy said after he scored two goals and set up two others in a 6-0 victory over the Victoria Royals at Interior Savings Centre. “The guy didn’t even ask me to fight.”
“The guy” was Victoria forward Tim Traber, a 19-year-old from Quesnel who has six points and 136 penalty minutes in 53 games.
“He just came out and choked me out,” said Kessy, who now has 22 points, including 10 goals, and 42 penalty minutes in 27 games since the Blazers acquired the 20-year-old from the Vancouver Giants. “I kind of woke up on their bench. It was definitely kind of a coward move by him but . . . he’s better off on the ice and we’re just happy with the two points. We need him on the ice. He’s not a threat to us.”
(Keep in mind that WHL’s individual penalty minutes don’t include misconducts or game misonducts.)
The Blazers blasted the Royals in this one, outshooting them 33-14, scoring the game’s only goals and handing them their 10th straight loss.
With four games remaining, the Blazers (45-18-5) have closed to within one point of the idle Kelowna Rockets, who lead the B.C. Division and hold two games in hand. Kelowna is at home to the Royals tonight, then will be in Kamloops on Friday. The Blazers and Rockets then will meet in Kelowna on Saturday night.
Should the Blazers not catch the Rockets, Kamloops will be the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed, meaning a first-round matchup with the Royals (32-27-6), who are locked into sixth place.
Predictably, with this perhaps being a playoff preview and with one team being routed, things turned a bit nasty in the third period as the Royals lost any semblance of self-discipline and self-immolated.
In fact, for a while there it was like back in the day as Kamloops assistant coach Ed Patterson took part in a yapping and finger-pointing exercise with Victoria assistant Ben Cooper and athletic therapist Khore Elliott.
“That was ugly,” offered Victoria assistant coach Enio Sacilotto and that summed up the Royals’ effort in this one.
It was at 3:22 of the third period when things began to get goofy. Before those shenanigans had ended, Kessy was face down in a gate leading to the Victoria bench and, as it turned out, Traber, who was on top of him, had pulled his sweater hard enough that “he choked me out,” Kessy said.
“(Kessy) was out on their bench,” Kamloops goaltender Cole Cheveldave stated. “He was right out!”
There was more silliness as the period progressed. Victoria defenceman Keegan Kanzig finished the night with two minor penalties, a major, a misconduct and a game misconduct. That adds up to 29 minutes, but because, as mentioned, the WHL doesn’t count misconducts in individual totals, he will be credited with only nine minutes.
“To be honest with you,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron stated, “I don’t know what their strategy was. Our strategy was not to get involved with them at all.
“Maybe they were trying to draw (Kessy) into something that would draw a suspension but we did not need that from any of our guys.”
At game’s end, the Royals had taken 108 of 156 penalty minutes. The Royals were 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Blazers were 1-for-9, but in the third period Charron had his third- and fourth-liners out with the man advantage.
Kamloops centre Colin Smith had a goal and two assists, as did left-winger Tim Bozon and defenceman Sam Grist.
Smith improved his point total to 103. He is the first Kamloops skater with more than 100 points since Erik Christensen won the WHL scoring title with 104 in 2002-03.
Bozon, who had gone eight games without a goal and went into the game with one score in 13 games, notched No. 33.
It seems that Smith, Bozon and Kessy are finding some chemistry.
“I’m just trying to play my game,” Kessy said. “Just playing simple . . . not doing too much . . . not trying to be too fancy with two really good skilled guys. They’re definitely fun to play with. They make it easy for me.”
Winger JC Lipon added his 35th goal, getting the game’s first goal on a one-timer from the slot, which is turning into his private parking lot.
As for Cheveldave, well, it’s doubtful he has ever had an easier shutout. He stopped 14 shots, including three in the first period and five in the third.
“I’ll take that every night,” he said, after putting up his sixth shutout this season and the 10th of his career. He also blanked the visiting Rockets 3-0 on Sunday night, making him the first Kamloops goaltender with back-to-back shutouts since he did it to the Prince George Cougars, beating them 5-0 and 2-0 on Jan. 1 and 6, 2012.
Last season, the Blazers swept the Royals from a first-round series.
Asked if the Blazers delivered a message last night, just in case there is another first-round pairing in the stars, Cheveldave said: “Yeah.”
Then he paused and said it again.
“Yeah.”
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 5,327. . . . This was the second four-point game of Kessy’s career. He had one earlier this season while with Vancouver. . . . The Royals are 3-8-2 since veteran Russian F Alex Gogolev was injured. He is their leading scorer and they  hope to have him back prior to next weekend’s final regular-season games. . . . Gogolev was one of six injured Royals to be scratched. The walking wounded also includes D Tyler Stahl, the team captain. . . . The Blazers won the season series with the Royals, 4-2-2. Of course, with loser points, the Royals can say they were 4-4-0. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Kessy: Net presence; 2. Grist: Offensive force; 3. D Tyler Hansen, Kamloops: Strong, silent type. . . . The Blazers have added F Nick Chyzowski, 15, to their roster for the remainder of the season. A second-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft, he had 27 points, including 19 goals, with the major midget Thompson Blazers, whose season is over. Chyzowski is the son of former Blazers F Dave Chyzowski, who is the team’s director of sales and marketing.

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Brendan Ranford set up two goals Sunday as the
Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Kelowna
Rockets in what was his 343rd regular-season
WHL game.
(Keith Anderson / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Brendan Ranford is glad that he stayed in Kamloops, after all.
Ranford now has played in more games than anyone in the history of the city’s WHL franchise. However, he may well have left over the summer when the Blazers let other teams know they were willing to trade him.
They didn’t, and now Ranford, a left winger, has played in 343 regular-season games, two more than centre C.J. Stretch (2005-10), who now is with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign.
Ranford broke the record Saturday as he scored once in a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants at Interior Savings Centre. He extended the record Sunday, as the Blazers, getting three goals from right-winger JC Lipon, two assists from Ranford, and 25 saves from goaltender Cole Cheveldave, dismissed the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 3-0.
The Blazers (44-18-5) swept their three-game weekend — they started with a 4-1 victory over the Cougars in Prince George on Friday — and are within three points of the B.C. Division-leading Rockets (46-16-4), who hold a game in hand. The Blazers are at home to the Victoria Royals, who have lost nine straight, on Tuesday, then will play the Rockets here on Friday and in Kelowna on Saturday.
“Definitely, it was a good decision, but I don’t know that I really had any thoughts of leaving,” Ranford said, adding that it was all part of the game that plays out every summer and early each season as teams and players try to sort out which 20-year-olds will stay.
“Yeah, definitely, that was the biggest thing,” the Edmonton native said. “It is (part of) the game.”
Ranford has missed only 15 games in five seasons, something for which he was quick to credit veteran trainer Colin (Toledo) Robinson.
“I have to to thank Toledo,” Ranford said. “He’s done an unbelieveable job of keeping me healthy.”
Last night, the Blazers were in complete control pretty much from the drop of the puck as they shut down the WHL’s second-highest scoring team.
“We didn’t compete tonight,” offered Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska. “That petty much sums it up. They worked much harder than we did. . . . At the end of the day, we didn’t compete the way we need to compete. It’s plain and simple.”
Ranford figured in Lipon’s first two goals, the initial one coming on a rebound. Ranford drilled goaltender Jordon Cooke in the logo and Lipon deposited the rebound, at 4:58 of the first period.
They were back for more five minutes later, this time Lipon whipping home a wrist shot from the slot.
Lipon completed his second career hat trick — three or four hats and one fedora hit the ice in response — at 1:48 of the third with a one-timer from the slot that zipped past Cooke catching mitt.
“He’s got an unbelieveable one-timer,” Ranford said of Lipon. “He’s one of the top two guys in the league with the one-timer. Bell from Kelowna has a pretty good one, too.”
That would be forward Myles Bell, who leads the Rockets in goals (36), assists (51) and points (87). He left the game at 17:50 of the first period after suffering a leg injury when he went knee-to-knee with Kamloops defenceman Sam Grist in a collision that was more accidental than anything.
Asked how badly Bell is injured, Huska replied: “I don’t know.”
Cheveldave, meanwhile, was rarely pressured as he record his fifth shutout this season and the ninth of his career.
As for Ranford, he has 347 points in his 343 regular-season games. Only six players in franchise history have put up more points than that and one of them — Hnat Domenichelli — is at 349.
Ranford was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL draft, but wasn’t able to cut a deal with the Flyers. Prior to the start of this season, he went to camp with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. However, he returned to the Blazers and is again a free agent.
He said he hasn’t heard anything about a pro contract.
“I’m just hoping for a really good playoff run,” he said. “NHL teams want winners. . . and I think we have the team that can do it.”
On Saturday, the Blazers also got goals from Marek Hrbas, Dylan Willick and Kale Kessy (shorthanded), while Brett Kulak and Cain Franson replied for the Giants, who had a 26-22 edge in shots.
JUST NOTES: The attendances were 4,542 on Saturday and 5,756 on Sunday, the latter being a Rain Check Night. . . . Lipon also scored three goals in a 5-1 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Dec. 5. . . . The Daily News Three Stars for Sunday: 1. Lipon: Hot trigger finger; 2. Cheveldave: Made the saves; 3. F Chase Souto, Kamloops: Hard work and good decisions. . . . The Daily News Three Stars for Saturday: 1. Grist, Kamloops: Two assists and physical; 2. Willick: Getting close to where he was before injury; 3. F Colin Smith, Kamloops: 100 points no small feat. . . . Vancouver D Reid Zalitach, who left Wednesday’s game here with a knee injury, has returned home to Winnipeg. He apparently won’t need surgery but his season is over.

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You really should venture over to The Concussion Blog — the link is over there on the right — and read the story of Paul Welliver. A highly qualified athletic trainer in Maryland, officials at one high school asked that he not work with their teams after he refused to begin the protocol that is aimed at getting athletes who have suffered concussions back onto the field of play. . . . This is scary stuff.
———
The streak came to an end on Saturday night as the U of Alberta Golden Bears dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the visiting U of Saskatchewan Huskies. . . . Alberta G Kurtis Mucha went into last night’s game having put up five straight shutouts. He was riding a shutout streak of 324 minutes 20 seconds. . . . It ended at 335:06, when F Andrew Bailey Bailey scored for the Huskies. . . . F Brennan Bosch scored the winner for the Huskies. . . . They’ll play Game 3 in the best-of-three Canada West final today in Edmonton.
Here are some other record shutout streaks . . .
NHL: 332:01, Brian Boucher, Phoenix Coyotes (2003-04)
WHL: 265:13, Chris Worthy, Flin Flon Bombers (1967-68).
NCAA: 375:01, Blaine Lacher, Lake Superior State (1993-94)
———
The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Swift Current (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Medicine Hat (6)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Morgan Klimchuk celebrated his 18th birthday with his 33rd goal and three assists to lead the Regina Pats to a 7-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . F Chandler Stephenson also had a goal, his 13th, and three assists for Regina. . . . The Pats were 4-for-9 on the PP as Moose Jaw took 124 of the 171 minutes assessed by referees Cole Hamm and Brett Montsion. . . . The Warriors were 1-for-2. . . . Moose Jaw F Jordan Wyton was tossed with a major for goaltender and a game misconduct at 16:06 of the third period. . . . With G Daniel Wapple (concussion) still out, G Justin Paulic made his 19th straight start for the Warriors. . . . G Brett Banda of the midget AA Moose Jaw Warriors backed up Paulic. . . .

In Prince Albert, G Connor Honey stopped 36 shots as the Brandon Wheat Kings doubled the Raiders, 4-2. . . . F Nick Buonassisi scored twice, giving him 13, and F Tim McGauley had a goal and an assist for Brandon, which had lost six in a row. . . . McGauley broke a 2-2 tie with his 16th goal at 6:00 of the third period. . . . The Raiders had taken four straight games from Brandon. . . . The Raiders slid back to fifth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Red Deer Rebels. . . .

In Cranbrook, G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 35 shots as the Kootenay Ice dumped the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-2. . . . The Ice scored two first-period goals, the first from F Sam Reinhart, who has 30, and never trailed. . . . F Miles Koules had a goal, his 18th, and an assist for the Tigers. . . . The Ice victory officially eliminated Moose Jaw and Regina. . . . Kootenay is eighth in the Eastern Conference, six points ahead of Lethbridge, which has seven games left. . . . The Ice also is one point behind Medicine Hat and Swift Current. . . .

In Red Deer, G Patrik Bartosak turned aside 52 shots as the Rebels beat the Swift Current Broncos, 3-0. . . . WHL Facts (@WHLFacts) tweeted that 52 is the most saves by a goaltender in a shutout this season. . . . Bartosak stopped 24 shots in the third period alone. . . . He’s got four shutouts this season and five in his career. . . . F Turner Elson scored two first-period goals for the Rebels. He’s got 23. . . . By night’s end, the Rebels had clinched a playoff spot and moved past Prince Albert into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. . . .

In Kamloops, D Sam Grist had two assists as the Blazers beat the Vancouver Giants, 4-2. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford scored his 19th goal as he set the franchise record for career reglular-season games played. This was No. 342, one more than F C.J. Stretch (2005-10). . . . The Giants had won 5-3 in Kamloops on Wednesday. . . . Vancouver had a season-high three-game winning streak end. . . . F Alex Baer, a 15-year-old out of the Minnesota high school ranks, earned his first WHL point, an assist, in his second game. He played a regular shift and saw some PP time. . . . Kamloops F Colin Smith had one assist to become the third WHLer this season to 100 points. . . . Kamloops is second in the B.C. Division, five points behind the Kelowna Rockets. The two teams will play in Kamloops tonight and Friday, and in Kelowna on Saturday. . . .

In Kelowna, F Tyrell Goulbourne, who had never before scored more than once in a game, scored four times as the Rockets skated past the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7-1. . . . Goulbourne has 13 goals this season. He now has 20 goals — and 40 fighting majors — in 139 career games. . . . F Cody Fowlie had three assists for Kelowna. . . . The Rockets are third in the overall standings, one point behind the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . .

In Everett, F Kohl Bauml broke a 2-2 tie at 17:57 of the third period as the Silvertips beat the Portland Winterhawks, 4-2. . . . Everett had lost eight straight games to Portland this season. They’ll meet again Tuesday, this time in Portland. . . . Bauml, who has 21 goals, scored twice, both coming via the PP. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie opened the scoring with his 41st goal, on a shorthanded penalty shot at 10:53 of the first period. . . . Rattie’s 42nd goal, on a PP, tied the game 2-2 at 13:09 of the third. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 29 shots. . . . Everett is eighth in the Western Conference, five points ahead of Prince George, and one point behind Seattle. . . . Portland, which has lost three straight, leads the overall standings by eight points over Edmonton. . . .

In Victoria, G Eric Williams turned aside 37 shots to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 victory over the Royals. . . . F Blake Gal’s 13th goal gave the Chiefs a 3-1 lead at 5:09 of the second period. . . . Victoria got it’s goals from the Walker brothers — Jack has six, Ben has 18. . . . Victoria F Logan Nelson had two assists. . . . F Todd Fiddler got his 41st goal of the season for Spokane. . . . The Chiefs are fourth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Tri-City. . . . The Royals, who have lost nine straight, are sixth, seven points behind Tri-City. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Justin Feser broke a 2-2 tie with his 40th goal and the Tri-City Americans went on to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent). . . . Feser also had two assists, giving him 97 points in 64 games. . . . F Luke Lockhart scored twice, giving him 22, for Seattle. . . . Tri-City G Luke Lee-Knight stopped 25 shots. . . . Tri-City F Ryan Chynoweth, playing in his second game since missing 14 with an undisclosed injury, left this one in the first period. He was bleeding from the forehead after being knocked into the boards. Head coach Jim Hiller told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald that Chynoweth won’t play Monday or Tuesday when the Americans are in Prince George. . . . The Americans, who have won six of seven, trail fourth-place Spokane by three points. . . . Seattle, in seventh, is a point up on Everett.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Trent Ouellette, Regina
D Haydn Fleury, Red Deer
F Mike Aviani, Spokane

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Mike Aviani, Spokane
———


From Bruce Luebke (@wheatkingsvoice), the veteran radio voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings: “Just 2nd time in 34 road games this season that the #BWK have led after first period. Last time was September 28th. #bdnmb”

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