Ex-Brandon star to Moose? . . . KHL game ends after three minutes

F Brett Sonne (Calgary, 2004-09) has signed a one-year contract with Herlev (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). Last season, he had three assists in seven games with Banská Bystrica (Slovakia, Extraliga), and six goals and 11 assists in 17 games with Cortina (Italy, Serie A).

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F Scott Glennie (Brandon, 2007-11) is expected to sign a contract with the Manitoba Moose, the Winnipeg-based AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Glennie, 25, is from Winnipeg. The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder was selected by the Dallas Stars with the eighth overall pick of the 2009 NHL draft. However, he has played only one NHL game. . . . He played four seasons (2011-15) with the AHL’s Texas Stars, totalling 46 goals and 72 assists in 230 games. . . . Glennie wasn’t qualified by Dallas prior to 2015-16 and sat out the season rehabbing a shoulder injury.

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Hockey Canada’s loss is a huge gain for the NHL’s new Las Vegas franchise, which has hired Misha Donskov as its director of hockey operations. On July 1, he was named by Hockey Canada as its assistant coach/hockey operations for the men’s national teams. Prior to that, he was Hockey Canada’s manager, hockey operations/analytics and video. . . . Before joining Hockey Canada, Donskov was an associate coach (2012-14) with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and he spent three seasons as AGM and assistant coach with the London Knights. He also has worked with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets.

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There was some nastiness in a KHL exhibition game on Monday; in fact, the game came to a premature end, just three minutes after it began. The game featured Barys Astana and Kunlun Red Star Beijing. . . . The two teams met Friday in a game in which F Dustin Boyd (Moose Jaw, 2002-06), who is in his sixth season with Barys, suffered a broken ankle that will sideline him for up to four months. . . . Patrick Conway has more on all this right here in his Russian Hockey Blog.

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Tuesday . . .

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA:
As you no doubt are aware, the WHL has confirmed that it has conditionally approved the sale of the Chilliwack Bruins.
What the league didn’t reveal is just who is buying the franchise.
Presumably, it is RG Properties, the Vancouver-based company that manages the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and owns that city’s ECHL franchise, the Salmon Kings.
The Salmon Kings are involved in a best-of-five first-round playoff series with the Bakersfield Condors. The Condors got a split in Victoria and the teams now head for Bakersfield and games Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Monday.
Once the Salmon Kings’ season ends, the transfer of the Bruins to Victoria almost certainly will be announced.
And now the speculation can begin on which one of the WHL’s other existing franchises is being asked, or told, to move to Chilliwack.
Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, has said: “Not us.”
Dallas Thompson, the general manager of the Prince George Cougars, has said: “Not us.”
Who then?
And, really, do you want to be the owner of the next WHL team that goes into Chilliwack and needs to sell tickets? Especially if it’s in time for next season?
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Another hot rumour these days involves the AHL which one person has described to me as the “700-pound gorilla in the corner of the room.” . . . That would be the WHL’s room, of course. . . . All of this speculation is based on the assumption that the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes will one day return to Winnipeg. In which case, True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, would move the Moose to Saskatoon with the Blades moving to Winnipeg.
Hey, it’s what some people are saying. . . .
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The Chilliwack Times of Tuesday included an editorial on the subject of the Bruins leaving town. The editorial appeared before the WHL confirmed the sale of the Bruins, but it is worth a read. It is right here.
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The Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs will play a 2-3-2 format in the second round of the playoffs. They’ll open with games Saturday and Sunday in Spokane.
But if you’re wondering why they’ve gone to that format, Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald has the story right here.
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Doug Brown, a defensive lineman with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, writes what is almost always an insightful column for the Winnipeg Free Press. He recently returned from CFLPA meetings in Las Vegas, where some of the conversation had to do with concussions. The column he wrote about that is headlined “Players slowly killing themselves” and it’s right here.
Allan Maki wrote about the CFLPA meetings in today’s Globe and Mail. Maki’s piece is right here.
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In Pittsburgh, the NHL’s Penguins, who have been without concussed star forward Sidney Crosby since early in January, announced Tuesday that they will provide free concussion baseline testing to youths. That story is right here.
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You will recall earlier in the season that former Everett Silvertips captain Zack Dailey had filed a lawsuit against the WHL over a dispute involving the league’s education policy and how it applied to him. Well, the parties have settled. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald revealed that right here on his blog.
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F Scott Glennie of the Brandon Wheat Kings has joined the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars. He is likely to finish his season with Texas. Glennie, 19, was selected eighth overall by Dallas in the NHL’s 2009 draft. He put up 91 points, including 35 goals, with the Wheat Kings this season. He added 10 points in six playoff games. . . . The Everett Silvertips have announced that D Ryan Murray is their captain. Murray, who wore an ‘A’ this season, just wrapped up his second season with Everett. He is expected to be an early first-round selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft. The Silvertips selected him ninth overall in the 2008 bantam draft. He succeeds F Landon Ferraro as Everett’s captain. . . . The Tri-City Americans are expected to announce today that they have signed G Eric Comrie, the 13th overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . The Kelowna Rockets arrived in Portland on Tuesday night. They’ll open their second-round series with the Winterhawks there on Thursday night in the Rose Garden with Game 2 there on Sunday. . . . Portland won three of the four regular-season games between the teams. . . . According to Regan Bartel, the Rockets’ radio voice, from his blog over there on the right: “The Rockets' extended stay in Portland between games one and two isn't coming out of their pockets. League rules stipulate the Hawks will pay for the extra two nights of accommodations and meals.” . . . More from Bartel: “My understanding is the Hawks rejected the Rockets offer of playing the first two games of the series at Prospera Place. Had that happened, the next three would have been played back in Portland and would have followed a 2-3-1-1 format. The Hawks didn't like that idea and went for playing the first two games on home ice despite the extended break between games one and two.”

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WHL coach gets three-year extension

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Justin Keller (Kelowna, 2003-06) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Linz Black Wings (Austria Erste Bank liga) after a successful four-week tryout. He had five goals and four assists in nine games during his trial period with the Black Wings.
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Kelly McCrimmon, the owner, general manager and head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, informs that Mike Vandenberghe will remain in the team’s employ.
“He will be staying on in an undetermined role that will include advance scouting and consulting, along with other responsibilities,” McCrimmon wrote in an email.
Vandenberghe signed on with the Wheat Kings after assistant coach Kevin Gylywoychuk suffered a broken neck over the summer. Gylywoychuk has returned to the bench, so Vandenberghe has returned to his family’s home in Regina Beach, Sask.
“Mike was offered the opportunity to stay on with the club in his assistant coaching capacity,” McCrimmon added, “but was unable to make it work due to family commitments.”
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The Wheat Kings, of course, got some good news Thursday when the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings returned C Brayden Schenn to them.
Schenn, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 NHL draft. began this season in the NHL but played only eight games there, the last one on Oct. 30.
A 99-point man last season, Schenn joins 89-point man Scott Glennie, who went to the Dallas Stars with the eighth overall selection in 2009, to provide Kelly McCrimmon with a few options.
For starters, he could keep both of them and hope they are able to help the Wheat Kings get into the playoffs and then make a run into the second or third round.
Right now, Brandon, which has lost seven straight games, is tied for eighth in the 12-team Eastern Conference.
McCrimmon will have to decide whether the presence of Schenn and Glennie is enough to make his club competitive with the Saskatoon Blades, Kootenay Ice, Red Deer Rebels and Medicine Hat Tigers, the four teams at the head of this conference’s class.
Or he could decide to be a seller between now and the Jan. 10 trade deadline.
This always is an interesting time of the season because of the impending arrival of that deadline.
Were you a WHL general manager, you would have to look at the trade deadline something like this: Although the deadline is more than a month away, the window really is much smaller. Today is Dec. 3. Trading isn’t allowed from Dec. 15 through Dec. 27. You might have players away at one or more of the various Christmas tournaments that are on the schedule, and those players will start leaving any day now. That being the case, you may not have what now is your roster together for more than a game or two between, say, Dec. 10 and Jan. 10.
If you’re McCrimmon and you have Schenn back in time to play at some point this weekend, you may only have him for two or three games before he leaves for the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. That camp opens Dec. 11 in Toronto.
If we assume Schenn will make the Canadian team, he will be gone until after Jan. 5. That means he would miss as many as eight games, and it could be nine or 10 should he be given three or four days off after the World Junior Championship.
So McCrimmon has to try and figure out where in the standings his Wheat Kings might be by Jan. 10?
And that isn’t an easy task.
(As of late last night, Schenn’s travel plans weren’t known. What is known is that he won’t play tonight in Edmonton against the Oil Kings. The Wheat Kings meet the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday and then return home to face the Everett Silvertips on Wednesday.
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The Kelowna Rockets have signed head coach Ryan Huska to a three-year extension that runs through 2013-14. Huska is in his fourth season as the team’s head coach. He started with the team as an assistant coach in 2002-03. . . . Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath (knee) is to return from a six-game absence tonight as the Warriors meet the Pats in Regina. The Warriors won four of six games without McIlrath, who was selected 10^th overall by the New York Rangers in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . He was injured Nov. 13 and the Rangers flew him to New York for an MRI where he was found to have a Grade 1 sprain of the medial collateral ligament. . . . F Richard Vanderhoek, 19, has left the Vancouver Giants and returned to the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. He played in one game with the Giants after joining them two weeks ago. "Over the last week it became apparent that it wasn't a good fit for either party," Giants' general manager Scott Bonner told Marc Weber of the Vancouver Province. "He was having a great year in Surrey and I never really felt he was comfortable with this situation." Vanderhoek has 43 points in 25 with the Eagles. . . .
The Regina Pats have brought back D Tyler Borstmayer, 17, from the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. Borstmayer played in 39 games with the Pats last season and got into two this season before being re-assigned. He had two assists in 14 games with Melfort. . . . Kevin Allen of USA TODAY has done up a piece showing that “the NHL, once resistant to having an abundance of former college hockey players, could soon reach the point where one of three players has an NCAA background.” That story is right here. . . . And right here is a rather interesting Toronto Star story by Kate Allen about a minor hockey coach who took his team off the ice when one of his players was the target of a racial slur. That coach now is serving an indefinite suspension. Give it a read. You may not believe it. But, then, it's minor hockey so you might.
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And, finally, a note from an interested observer regarding the posting a couple of days ago from Murray in Saskatoon:
“The club seating and knowledge of this price change was common knowledge to the season-ticket holders for well over two years and possibly three. It was not implemented because last season Jack Brodsky and CUC knew the season-ticket holders would also be paying for World Junior tickets and wanted to defer the cost until after that event.
“The reason for the increase was to help pay for the new seats which are light years from the old ones in terms of comfort.
“Lost in there as well is the fact that Blades season-ticket holders no longer get advance-purchase privileges on every CUC event. The season-ticket holder who has a club seat, though, does get that seat for a concert and gets advance-purchase privileges. Back when it was a free-for-all for season-ticket holders to have advance-purchase privileges there were people who would buy children's tickets, never attend a game and use the tickets for advance-purchase privileges.”

Monday . . .

No doubt F Scott Glennie of the Brandon Wheat Kings was disappointed not to have been invited to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. So how did he spend Monday after the announcements were made? . . . Was he moping and pouting around Brandon? Was he hiding out in his room? . . . No, he was one of the Brandon traveling party that headed west to Elkhorn, Man., as the Wheat Kings’ Hockey Caravan spent time with players from another rural minor hockey association. . . . Do you think any of those children knew, or cared, that the mucky-mucks somewhere decided Glennie wasn’t good enough to warrant a chance to earn an opportunity to play for Canada? . . . Not on your life. . . . And I’m betting that Glennie came away from there with a smile on his face. . . .
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Glennie was a first-round selection by the Dallas Stars in the 2009 NHL draft. Gary Roberts, the former NHLer who now works in player development with the Stars, was on the ice with the Wheat Kings on Monday. He was, according to the Brandon Sun’s Rob Henderson, “passing along some on-ice and off-ice tips to the players.” . . . “He’s been here for the past couple days and he’s a great guy and he knows a lot about his stuff,” Glennie told Henderson. “I was really happy that he came down here to see me. I really appreciate that.” . . .
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Still with the Wheat Kings, what is with the Los Angeles Kings and F Brayden Schenn?
Geez, make a decision already!
Schenn, who has played eight NHL games this season, completed his conditioning stint with the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs and is expected to skate with the Kings today. (Schenn had three goals and four assists, and was plus-3, in seven games with Manchester.)
Schenn, 19, has to play in the NHL or be returned to Brandon. For whatever reason, the Kings seem more intent on having him practice with them and watch them play, rather than return to the Wheat Kings.
Could be the Kings will stall for another couple of weeks and then loan him to Canada’s national junior team, which opens its selection camp in Toronto on Dec. 11.
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The Prince George Cougars, who are in first place in the B.C. Division, have a chance to make some hay in December. They will play 12 of their next 14 games on home ice. The Calgary Hitmen are at the CN Centre on Wednesday night. . . . The Prince Albert Raiders have returned F Tyler Paslawski, 18, to the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. That leaves the Raiders had 23 players, including nine defencemen and 12 forwards. . . . The Raiders have an important week ahead of them as they are in the Central Division for three games. They meet the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Wednesday, the Rebels in Red on Friday and the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Saturday. . . . Tim Tisdale, who scored the winning goal for the Swift Current Broncos in overtime in the 1989 Memorial Cup championship game, has taken over as GM of the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires. Tisdale has long been involved in minor hockey in Swift Current, from coaching to refereeing to working on volunteer boards. . . . F Linden Vey of the Medicine Hat Tigers, who is leading the WHL scoring race, is the league’s player of the week. He had nine points, including four goals, as the Tigers went 3-0-0 last week. He also was plus-6. . . . Adam Brown of the Kelowna Rockets is the nominee as CHL goaltender of the week. He was 2-0-0, 1.62, .946. . . . The Spokane Chiefs are listing G James Reid (ankle) as day-to-day. He was injured Friday during a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blazers in Kamloops. . . .
An interesting note from Graham Kendrick, Portland’s director of media and public relations, in his weekly Winterhawks’ update: “The Winterhawks' march to the league's top overall record . . . has been made with a roster comprised entirely of players the team drafted or listed. The Winterhawks don't have a single player on their roster acquired via trade.” That roster features 15 Portland draft picks, six players who were listed and two from the CHL import draft. . . . According to Kendrick, “No other team in the WHL has a roster without a single player having been acquired via trade.” . . . You would have to think the Winterhawks may bring in a player or two via the trade route over the next while. For starters, they have room for a 20-year-old . . .

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca  gdrinnan.blogspot.com Taking Note on Twitter

Ranford looking to next year

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Hockey Canada released the names of the 39 players it has invited to try out for the country’s national junior team on Monday.
The roster doesn’t include left-winger Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers, never mind that not one of the 23 forwards has scored more goals than the Edmonton native.
However, Ranford, an 18-year-old who leads the WHL with 24 goals, wasn’t all that disappointed.
“No, not really,” he said. “I looked at the list and there are a lot of good guys who are off the list. You can’t really complain about that. There are good players there and they should do well.”
The selection camp runs Dec. 11-15 in Toronto. The 2011 World Junior Championship is scheduled for Buffalo, Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.
Ranford, like so many other Canadians, young and old, always watches the tournament, and this one will be no exception.
Ranford will watch and hope for an invitation next November, when he will be 19 and in his last season of tournament eligibility.
“My biggest thing,” he said, “has always been my skating. I have to be the best skater that I can be and I have to improve on my speed and my quickness. Hopefully, that is going to help me make the camp next year.”
Of the 39 players selected for the camp, 17 are from the WHL, with 11 from the OHL, six from the QMJHL, four from the NCAA and one from the AHL.
Centre Chase Schaber and defenceman Austin Madaisky of the Blazers, like Ranford, were given at least some consideration — all three played for the WHL in the Subway Super Series — but they weren’t selected, either.
Others to have played in the Super Series who didn’t make the grade were defencemen Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades, Matt MacKenzie of the Calgary Hitmen, Neil Manning of the Vancouver Giants, Alex Petrovic of the Red Deer Rebels and Brett Ponich of the Portland Winterhawks, forwards Jimmy Bubnick of Calgary, Scott Glennie of the Brandon Wheat Kings, Jordan Weal of the Regina Pats, Red Deer’s Byron Froese, Portland’s Ty Rattie, Brendan Shinnimin of the Tri-City Americans, Brandon Herrod of the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon’s Darian Dziurzynski, and goaltender Kent Simpson of the Everett Silvertips.
Also missing from the roster is forward Brayden Schenn, 19, of the Brandon Wheat Kings. Schenn began the season with  the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and was assigned to the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs two weeks ago on a conditioning stint. He has since returned to the Kings, but was a healthy scratch Monday night amid speculation that he will be returned to Brandon.
There are only three returning players on the Team Canada roster — defencemen Jared Cowen of the Spokane Chiefes, Calvin de Haan of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and Ryan Ellis of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires.
Defenceman Brandon Gormley of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats dislocated his right kneecap in a weekend game. A first-round selection, 13th overall, by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2010 draft, he won’t be available for the camp.
Canada earned a silver medal last season in Saskatoon, losing 6-5 in overtime to the United States in the championship final.
This year, Canada opens against Russia on Dec. 26.
The complete selection camp roster is in Scoreboard.

Blazers struggle at home — again

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The face on the video screen at Interior Savings Centre belonged to a youngster who appeared to be only a month or two old. The look on his face told you he wasn’t happy.
Just another Kamloops Blazers fan trying to figure out his favourite WHL team.
The Blazers, coming off three straight road victories, gave up four first-period goals Wednesday night and went on to drop a 6-4 decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings before 3,808 fans.
It was after Brandon’s fourth goal, a power-play effort with one second left in the first period, that the young fan’s howling countenance appeared on the video screen.
At that point, the Wheat Kings were 2-for-3 on the power play and had four goals on 10 shots. They finished with three PP goals in 10 opportunities and six goals on 31 shots.
The Blazers (7-7-1) were 17-for-17 on the penalty kill in winning those three road games while surrendering four goals on 100 shots.
“It was disappointing,” Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said of last night’s effort. “If you were to tell me that our team would have reacted the way they did tonight, I would have said, ‘No . . . that it was almost impossible.’
“I guess there’s lots to learn.”
The Blazers now have lost four straight home games. In fact, they are only 2-6-0 at home.
“We have to establish a style of play that is going to make it difficult for teams to come in and play,” Charron said. “Obviously, the game plan wasn’t really followed and we allowed the other team to build momentum. When that happens you put yourself behind the 8-ball.”
Last night, the Blazers found themselves behind the 16-ball. Once again, it wasn’t that they lost — it was how they lost.
Beaten 8-6 by the Portland Winterhawks and 8-1 by the Prince George Cougars in their last two home appearances, this time they fell behind 5-0 before the second period was five minutes old.
The Wheat Kings (6-9-0) were playing the sixth game in an eight-game road swing. They had snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna on Tuesday night.
“Once you get on a roll with something it kind of keeps going like that,” said Brandon captain Shayne Wiebe, who played the first 171 games of his WHL career with the Blazers. “Eventually, you’re going to get out of it . . . you just have to keep working.”
Which is what the Wheat Kings did, even as the Blazers tried to mount a comeback.
Wiebe, who scored the winner in Kelowna, got his club started, scoring on the power play before the game was two minutes old.
“It was a nice feeling,” he said of scoring in what once was his home arena.
Forward Jason Swyripa and defencemen Ryan Pulock, who also had two assists, and Brodie Melnychuk added Brandon goals before the period ended, the latter one coming with one second showing on the clock.
Charron sent goaltender Jon Groenheyde in to replace Jeff Bosch for the start of the second period, and the hole got even deeper when forward Mark Stone scored on a power play at 4:44.
“Our penalty killing was outstanding on the road,” Charron said. “Tonight, it was nowhere near what it was on the road. Why? It’s the same people.”
As for changing goaltenders, Charron said his side didn’t play well in front of Bosch.
“We exposed him more than we should,” Charron reasoned. “Our success on the road was based on good defensive hockey. Tonight, we didn’t do any of that. Why? That’s a good question.”
Forwards Jordan DePape, who was acquired from Brandon in exchange for Wiebe, Brendan Ranford and Dalibor Bortnak provided some hope with second-period goals in a span of 4:47.
Centre Chase Schaber got the Blazers to within one at 15:42 of the third, but that was it.
Brandon’s Mark Mieritz, a freshman from Denmark, scored his first WHL goal into an empty net at 19:36.
And just like that a team that two nights ago was on a nine-game losing streak now has won two in a row.
“That’s the biggest thing . . . making sure you don’t get too frustrated,” Wiebe said of losing nine in a row. “But when you keep working hard, if you keep pushing and working, things will start to work your way. Bounces will start coming your way, like they weren’t when you were in the losing streak.”
The Wheat Kings are off to Cranbrook for a Friday night engagement with the Kootenay Ice.
Kelly McCrimmon, Brandon’s owner, general manager and head coach, said he used last season’s Ice team as an example for his club during its losing streak. When last season’s Wheat Kings went into Cranbrook on Oct. 30, the Ice was 5-11-0; it beat the Wheat Kings 2-1 to start a 38-13-5 run to season’s end.
The Wheat Kings, the host team and a finalist in last spring’s Memorial Cup, are hoping to duplicate that.
The Blazers, meanwhile, will start preparations today for a Saturday night visit by the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Charron said he tried to impress upon his guys that this three-game homestand — the Rockets are here Wednesday — is as important as last week’s three road games.
“We had a focus . . . we had a game plan on the road,” he explained. “I thought we had a very similar focus and game plan at home but obviously we didn’t execute it.
“On the road, I thought we were focused right from the get-go.”
It is that focus the Blazers will try to rediscover before Saturday.
JUST NOTES: Referees Steve Papp and Andy Thiessen somehow found a way to hand out 19 minors, 11 of them to the Blazers. Each team took a fighting major. . . . The Blazers were 1-for-7 on the power play. . . . Brandon last played here on Oct. 26, 2008, when it lost 3-1. . . . The Wheat Kings flew in F Mark Ferland, who had missed the last 11 games with a knee injury. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Pulock: First WHL goal, two assists, blocked shots, made plays; 2. Stone: A goal, two assists, lots of ice time; 3. F Scott Glennie, Brandon: Three assists.

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