Showing posts with label Sergey Zborovskiy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sergey Zborovskiy. Show all posts

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Regina, Seattle in WHL final ... Pats last won in 1980 . . . T-Birds chasing first championship


F Brett Breitkreuz (Kelowna, Edmonton, Vancouver, 2006-10) has signed a one-year extension with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, DEL2). This season, in 50 games, he had 17 goals and 16 assists. . . . 
F Richard Mueller (Brandon, Saskatoon, Calgary, 1998-2003) has signed a two-year contract with Riessersee Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany, DEL2). This season, he had 28 goals and 17 assists in 45 games with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, DEL2).
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The WHL’s championship final will feature the Regina Pats, who won the Eastern Conference title, versus the Seattle Thunderbirds, the champions of the Western Conference for a second straight season. . . . The Pats have two WHL championships to their credit — 1974, when they also won the Memorial Cup, and 1980. Regina last was in the WHL final in 1984. . . . The Thunderbirds have twice been to the final — 1997 and 2016 — but have yet to win it all. . . . The WHL final will feature a 2-3-2 format, opening with games in Regina on Friday and Saturday. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich points out that seven of the last eight Western Conference champions have come from the U.S. Division, but only one of those — the 2012-13 Portland Winterhawks — won the Ed Chynoweth Cup. . . . This marks the first time either Regina or Seattle has been to back-to-back championship finals. . . . The Thunderbirds may open the final without F Keegan Kolesar, who was ejected from last night’s game in Kelowna with a checking-from-behind major at 16:08 of the first period. He plays on what arguably is the WHL’s top forward line, alongside F Ryan Gropp and F Mathew Barzal. . . . The championship final will be televised by Shaw. The WHL on Shaw will end a 13-season run with the final game of the series.
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A Sunday night note from Hartley Miller of 94.3 The Goat in Prince George updates the home-ice numbers to this date in the WHL and NHL playoffs.
In the first round of the WHL playoffs, home teams were 22-22. That was 13-10 in the second round, then 6-6 in the third round, with the visiting team wrapping up both conference finals on Sunday.
After three rounds, then, the home team is 41-38.
In the NHL, the home team was 19-23 in the first round, and is 4-6 in the second round. Through 52 NHL games, then, the home team is 23-29.
As Miller put it: “Just more examples of home ice not being as large an advantage in hockey as many might believe.”
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The Erie Otters won the OHL’s Western Conference title on Sunday, beating the host Owen Sound Attack, 7-2, to take the series, 4-2. The Otters, under head coach Kris Knoblauch, a former WHL player and coach, will meet the Mississauga Steelheads in the championship final. That series is to open on Thursday in Erie. . . . 

In the QMJHL, the Saint John Sea Dogs and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada will meet in the championship final. That series is scheduled to open Friday in Saint John.
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Coaching

 John Depourcq will be back for a sixth season as head coach of the junior B Summerland Steam of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. The team made the announcement on Sunday. . . . Mike Rigby, the director of player development and assistant GM for five seasons, has been named general manager. . . . Tim Hogg, the voice of the Steam, has more right here.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:


At Kelowna, the Seattle Thunderbirds won the Western Conference championship with a 3-1 victory over the Rockets. . . . Seattle won the series, 4-2, to advance to the WHL final for a second straight season. A
CARL STANKOWSKI
year ago, the Thunderbirds lost to the Brandon Wheat Kings in five games. . . . Last night, the Rockets got off to a 1-0 lead at 15:57 of the first period when F Nolan Foote (2) scored a PP goal. . . . Seattle D Austin Strand (4) tied it at 4:56 of the second period. . . . Seattle went ahead at 9:30 when F Alexander True (8) scored his third goal in two games. this one came via the PP. . . . The game included a rarity in the second period when the Rockets had a goal disallowed because the puck struck referee Steve Papp on its way into the net. . . . Kelowna F Calvin Thurkauf put the puck in the Seattle net from a scrum, but Papp, in the area as he tried to track the puck, had the misfortune of having an arm get in the way. The veteran official immediately waved off the goal. . . . On the next shift, the Thunderbirds got insurance from F Mathew Barzal (5) at 15:14. . . . F Donovan Neuls had two assists for Seattle, with Barzal adding one. Barzal now is riding a 10-game point streak. . . . Seattle G Carl Stankowski stopped 17 shots as he ran his record to 12-2 in these playoffs. He moved into the starting role as the playoffs began when Rylan Toth, the team’s No. 1 goaltender through the regular season, was taken out by an undisclosed injury. . . . The Rockets got 19 saves from G Michael Herringer. . . . Seattle was 1-5 on the PP; Kelowna was 1-7. . . . The Thunderbirds lost F Keegan Kolesar at 16:08 of the first period when he was ejected with a checking-from-behind major for a hit on Kelowna D Devante Stephens, who didn’t return. The Rockets held a 1-0 lead at the time, but weren’t able to add to the lead on the five-minute PP, something that no doubt provided Seattle with some motivation. . . . The Rockets already were without D James Hilsendager, who was scratched with an undisclosed injury for a second straight game. As well, D Braydyn Chizen, who was injured in the second round, didn’t play a game in the conference final. . . . Seattle D Ethan Bear, with a soft cast on his left hand, took the pregame warmup for a second straight game, but was scratched for a third consecutive game. . . . F Dillon Hamaliuk, a 16-year-old from Red Deer, made his playoff debut with the Thunderbirds. A sixth-round pick in the 2015 WHL bantam draft, the 6-foot-1, 200-pounder had one goal in 17 early-season games with Seattle. He had finished up with the midget AAA Leduc, Alta., Oil Kings before rejoining Seattle. . . . Announced attendance: 5,846. . . . Andy Eide of 710 ESPN Seattle has a game story from the Thunderbirds’ perspective right here. . . . Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier has a game story right here.
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At Lethbridge, the Regina Pats won the Eastern Conference championship with a 7-4 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Regina won the series, 4-2, and now will meet the Seattle Thunderbirds for the Ed
SERGEY ZBOROVSKIY
Chynoweth Cup. . . . Last night, the Pats erased 3-0 and 4-2 deficits, winning the game by scoring its last five goals. . . . The Hurricanes led 3-0 before the first period was nine minutes old. . . . F Egor Babenko (10) got it started at 1:43, with F Jordy Bellerive (7), on a PP, at 6:56, and F Ryan Vandervlis (8), also on a PP, at 8:02, upping the lead to 3-0. . . . The Pats cut the deficit to one on goals from F Robbie Holmes (2), at 8:25, and D Josh Mahura (4), at 10:46. . . . F Giorgio Estephan (11) scored on a PP, at 1:05 of the second period, to give the host team a 4-2 lead. . . . It was all Regina after that. . . . F Filip Ahl (4), on a PP, got the Pats to within a goal, at 15:47, and F Nick Henry (4) tied it at 17:20. . . . The Pats took the lead for the first time when F Jeff de Wit (4) scored at 8:41 of the third period. . . . F Austin Wagner (14) added insurance at 9:41, and F Wyatt Sloboshan (4) got the empty-netter at 19:19. . . . It says something about the Pats’ depth that they scored seven goals and their top two scorers, Adam Brooks and Sam Steel, combined for one assist, that by Brooks. . . . D Sergey Zborovskiy and Sloboshan each had two assists, with Ahl, de Wit and Mahura each adding one. Zborovskiy also was plus-5. . . . The Hurricanes got two assists from each of F Zak Zborosky and D Brennan Menell, with Babenko adding one to his goal. . . . This game feature the rarity of one player being awarded two penalty shots during the same stoppage of play. . . . With Regina leading 6-4 with 69 seconds left in the third period, Hurricanes F Tyler Wong was awarded a penalty shot because Pats D Connor Hobbs was ruled to have knocked the net off its moorings. Wong didn’t score on the attempt, but was given a redo when Regina G Tyler Brown knocked the net off during the penalty shot. On the second attempt, Wong missed the net. . . . Brown finished with 24 saves, 20 fewer than Lethbridge’s Stuart Skinner. . . . The Hurricanes were 3-3 on the PP; the Pats were 1-3. . . . The Hurricanes scratched, among others, F Matt Alfaro, who missed the entire series, and F Ryan Bowen. Lethbridge also was without F Josh Tarzwell, who scored his first playoff goal in Game 5 and left shortly after with and undisclosed injury. . . . Regina continues to play without F Jake Leschyshyn and D Dawson Davidson, both of whom have long-term injuries. . . . Announced attendance: 5,098. . . . Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald has a game story right here. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a game story right here.
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MONDAY-THURSDAY GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Seattle at Regina, 7 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:03 PM
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Sunday, December 4, 2016

Ingram shuts out Wheaties . . . McKenzie sparks Winterhawks . . . Brooks' streak at 19

Every season, a number of WHL teams have players visit what is known as the DTES — the Downtown East Side — of B.C.’s Lower Mainland to see another side of life. This is a piece of our world that you really can’t imagine unless you have actually seen it. Really, there are no words. . . . The latest team to have players experience the area was the Brandon Wheat Kings. “I think it kind of changed my life,” Wheat Kings D James Shearer told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun. Bergson’s complete story, which really is worth a read, is right here.
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USHLThe USHL’s December Power Rankings — they are compiled by usahockeymagazine.com — are out and they’re interesting because the Sioux City Musketeers are No. 1, up from No. 3. That’s what an 11-game winning streak and a rise to the top of the league’s standings will do for you. The Musketeers are 13-1-1 at home. . . . Jay Varady is the Musketeers’ head coach. Varady, 39, spent eight seasons (2003-11) with the Everett Silvertips as assistant coach and later associate coach. . . . Mark LeRose is the Musketeers’ general manager and head scout. He spent three seasons (2007-09, 2013-14) as an assistant coach in Everett. . . . There’s more on the USHL rankings right here.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:

At Kamloops, G Connor Ingram stopped 29 shots to lead the Blazers to a 4-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . This was Ingram’s last home appearance before he leaves next weekend for the
CONNOR INGRAM
Canadian national junior team’s selection camp. . . . Ingram has two shutouts this season and nine in his career. . . . The Blazers don’t play at home again until Dec. 28. They leave later this week to play six games in eight days in the Central Division. . . . The Wheat Kings were playing their third game in less than 48 hours. They lost 2-1 in OT to the Vancouver Giants on Friday night, then dropped a 3-1 decision to the Rockets in Kelowna on Saturday. . . . F Matt Revel (10) opened the scoring at 10:36 of the first period. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers, the Latvian freshman, scored his 18th goal 50 seconds into the second period. . . . Kamloops closed it out with two third-period goals, from F Deven Sideroff (16) at 8:24 and F Scott Mahovlich, on a PP, at 19:24. . . . That was Mahovlich’s first WHL goal. . . . Balcers and Sideroff each added one assist. . . . F Garrett Pilon, who centres those two, left for the dressing room with 58.2 seconds remaining in the third period. He was unable to put much weight on his right leg after taking a low hit from Brandon F Ty Lewis, who was penalized for tripping. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 34 shots. . . . Kamloops was 1-5 on the PP; Brandon was 0-2. . . . Brandon F Reid Duke was back after not playing on Saturday. . . . F Nolan Patrick and F Tanner Kaspick were among Brandon’s scratches. Kaspick suffered an undisclosed injury in Kelowna on Saturday. . . . Brandon F Baron Thompson took a headshot major and game misconduct in that game and was hit with a TBD suspension. . . . The Blazers (17-12-1) have won three in a row and are 12-4-1 at home. They open their road trip against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday. . . . The Wheat Kings (13-11-4) are 1-2-1 in the B.C. Division. They finish up in Prince George on Wednesday. . . . Announced attendance: 3,250.
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At Portland, F Skyler McKenzie scored once and added two assists, helping the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Winterhawks scored the game’s first three goals, taking a 3-
SKYLER McKENZIE
0 lead before it was 14 minutes old. . . . McKenzie got his 17th goal at 5:41. F Keegan Iverson followed with his 12th — McKenzie got an assist — at 11:11. F Evan Weinger added his 11th, on a PP, at 13:24. . . . D David Quenneville, who already has 14 goals, got the Tigers on the board at 13:32. . . . Medicine Hat F Mason Shaw’s sixth goal, at 18:32 of the first, got his guys to within a goal. . . . Portland F Ryan Hughes (12) upped the lead to 4-2 at 10:11 of the second period, with Medicine Hat’s John Dahlstrom (15) cutting into that lead, on a PP, at 15:43. . . . F Cody Glass (15) of the Winterhawks iced it at 12:05 of the third period. . . . McKenzie, a third-year player from Sherwood Park, Alta., has 17 goals and 19 assists in 30 games. He went into this season with 12 goals and 29 assists in 138 regular-season games. . . . The Winterhawks got 43 stops from G Cole Kehler, while Nick Schneider turned aside 40 at the other end. . . . Each team was 1-3 on the PP. . . . The Winterhawks improved to 16-13-1. . . . The Tigers (21-8-1) have lost three in a row, all in the U.S. Division. They remain second in the overall standings, one point behind the Everett Silvertips. . . . Shaun Clouston, the Tigers’ GM/head coach, played three seasons (1986-89) for the Winterhawks. He was the captain for the last two of those seasons. A centre, he had 79- and 92-point seasons. . . . Announced attendance: 3,112.
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At Swift Current, F Dawson Leedahl snapped a 3-3 tie 10 seconds after it was created and the Regina Pats went on to beat the Broncos, 6-3. . . . This was the first of eight meetings between these teams this
DAWSON LEEDAHL
season. . . . D Colby Sissons (3) have the home side a 1-0 lead 54 seconds into the second period. . . . The Pats scored the next three goals, seemingly taking control in the process. . . . D Sergey Zborovskiy, who had seven points on Saturday night, scored his sixth goal at 12:43. . . . F Adam Brooks gave Regina a 2-1 lead with his 12th goal, at 1:16 of the third and F Austin Wagner (14) made it 3-1 just 29 seconds later. . . . Swift Current tied it on goals 23 seconds apart by F Kaden Elder (6), at 6:51, and D Max Lajoie (5), at 7:14. . . . However, Leedahl, who has 10 goals, struck at 7:24 and 10:07 as the Pats took a 5-3 lead. . . . F Luc Smith added more insurance with his fifth goal, on a PP, at 15:47. . . . Zborovskiy also had an assist, meaning he had a nine-point weekend. . . . Wagner added an assist to his goal, while D Connor Hobbs had two assists for Regina. . . . Brooks finished with a goal and two assists, as he ran his point streak to 19 games. He has at least a point in each game he has played this season. He also leads the WHL with 45 points. . . . G Tyler Brown turned aside 24 shots for Regina, while Swift Current’s Travis Child stopped 31. . . . Regina was 1-4 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-2. . . . The Pats (19-2-4) are 3-0-1 in their last four games. They have closed to within two points of the idle Everett Silvertips (20-3-4), who lead the overall standings. . . . The Broncos (15-9-6) had won their previous two games. They now are six points behind the East Division-leading Pats, who have five games in hand. . . . The Broncos had F Riley Stotts back for the first time since Oct. 21. He suffered a skate cut to a foot when a teammate stopped on him in the dressing room at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Stotts, 16, was the 10th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . F Sam Steel was back in the Pats’ lineup after missing three games with a shoulder injury incurred during their B.C. Division tour. He picked up one assist and now has 42 points in 20 games. . . . However, the Pats were without D Chase Harrison and F Lane Zablocki, both of whom were injured in Saturday’s 12-2 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders. Harrison is in concussion protocol. . . . Announced attendance: 2,021.
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MONDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Lethbridge at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
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TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:

Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.
Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.
Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.
Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).
Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.
Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.
Friday, Dec. 9: Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9: Swift Current at Regina, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9: Kootenay at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Kamloops at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Kelowna at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Calgary at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Everett at Portland, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Seattle at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Victoria vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Portland at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:43 PM
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Guhle sharp in Buffalo . . . Ice, Americans deal . . . Big night for Zborovskiy as Pats win


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Rick Westhead of TSN has reported that there are 351 active and former CHL players involved in the lawsuit that has been filed against the CHL looking for status as a class action. In an affidavit filed in Ontario Superior Court on Nov. 25, lawyer Brendan O’Grady wrote that “we continue to receive registrations on a daily basis.” . . . Westhead writes that “119 players from the Western Hockey League have signed up for the litigation, ‘including a number of registrants who are currently playing for WHL clubs.’ Of those 119 current and former players, 13 come from the Moose Jaw Warriors and another 13 from the Saskatoon Blades. Twelve current and former Red Deer Rebels players have signed up.” . . . Westhead’s latest lawsuit-related story is right here.
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Defencemen Cody Franson (6) and Brendan Guhle of the
Buffalo Sabres were paired together on Saturday.(Photo: nhl.com)
D Brendan Guhle did A-OK in his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. The Sabres dropped a 2-1 decision to the Boston Bruins, with Guhle having a team-high seven shot attempts and playing 16 minutes 20 seconds. Guhle, who plays for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, found out Friday that the Sabres were bringing him up under emergency recall rules. He arrived in Buffalo on Saturday at 1 a.m.; game time was 1 p.m. . . . Guhle was paired with former WHL D Cody Franson, who told Jourdon LaBarber of Sabres.com: "On puck retrievals, in the offensive zone, he was moving around like he was playing in juniors. Coming into D-zone situations he was comfortable, he was talking, and you couldn't ask for more out of that from a kid coming from juniors.” . . . For more, including a couple of video clips, LaBarber’s piece is right here. . . . The Sabres play again Monday night as they visit the Washington Capitals.
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The Kootenay Ice acquired D Kurtis Rutledge, 19, from the Tri-City Americans in a deal announced following the end of Saturday night’s games. The Ice gave up a seventh round 2019 bantam draft pick in the exchange. . . . From Calgary, Rutledge was an eighth-round pick by the Americans in the 2012 bantam draft. A 6-foot-0, 200-pounder, he has two goals and two assists in 20 games this season. Last season, he had a goal and six assists in 56 games with Tri-City.
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If you’ve got a comment, some information you would like to pass along, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to contact me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

At Kamloops, the Blazers scored the game’s last three goals as they beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-2. . . .
RUDOLFS BALCERS
D Ondrej Vala’s sixth goal of the season was the Teddy Bear Goal, giving the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period. . . . Vancouver F James Malm tied it at 13:10. He’s got seven goals. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers (17) scored a PP goal at 2:46 of the second period to give the Blazers a 2-1 lead. . . . Vancouver F Thomas Foster (15) got that one back at 4:14. . . . Kamloops F Deven Sideroff broke the 2-2 tie with his 15th goal, on a PP, at 14:08, and F Spencer Bast (5) added insurance at 16:05. . . . F Quinn Benjafield (7) put it away with an empty-netter at 18:29 of the third. . . . The score was 2-2 in the second period when the Giants failed to score on a 5-on-3 PP that lasted 1:04. Shortly thereafter, the Blazers scored twice — Sideroff and Bast getting the goals — to take control. . . . Balcers and Sideroff each had an assist. . . . Kamloops G Connor Ingram stopped 15 shots, while Vancouver’s Ryan Kubic turned aside 28. . . . Kamloops was 2-4 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-4. . . . The Blazers (16-12-1) have won two in a row. . . . The Giants (11-17-2) were 1-0-2 in their previous three games. . . . The Giants were without F Radovan Bondra, who was injured during Friday’s 2-1 OT victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. Bondra suffered a hip/thigh injury when Brandon D James Shearer rode him out of the play and one of the gates at a players’ bench opened. The Giants are hopeful that he will be back in action in three or four days. . . . Announced attendance: 4,370, the largest crowd of the season.
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At Kelowna, F Nick Merkley scored twice to help the Rockets to a 3-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat
NICK MERKLEY
Kings. . . . Merkley opened the scoring with the Teddy Bear Goal at 6:54 of the second period. . . . He made it 2-0 with his eighth goal of the season, on a PP, at 14:34. . . . F Jake Kryski (6) upped the lead to 3-0 with another PP goal, this one at 1:42 of the third period. . . . Brandon’s goal came from F Ty Lewis (16), at 13:03 of the third. Lewis also came up short on a third-period penalty shot. . . . Kelowna got two assists from D Cal Foote. . . . G Brodan Salmond made 17 saves for the Rockets, while Brandon’s Jordan Papirny stopped 33 shots. . . . Kelowna was 2-8 on the PP; Brandon was 0-4. . . . The Rockets (16-11-1) are 3-0-1 in their past four games. . . . The Wheat Kings (13-10-4) are 1-1-1 on a B.C. Division swing that continues today in Kamloops. . . . The Wheat Kings lost F Baron Thompson to a headshot major and game misconduct as the second period ended. . . . Besides being without F Nolan Patrick, the Wheat Kings also scratched F Reid Duke, who played in Friday’s 2-1 loss to the host Vancouver Giants but may have been injured in a third-period fight with F Thomas Foster. . . . Announced attendance: 5,546.
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At Moose Jaw, F Noah Gregor had two goals and three assists to lead the Warriors to a wild 7-5 victory
NOAH GREGOR
over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Warriors actually held a 5-3 lead late in the third period, only to have Calgary tie it on goals fry F Matteo Gennaro,  his eighth, on a PP, at 16:01, and D Jake Bean, his first, at 17:14. . . . Gregor, who has 12 goals, snapped the 5-5 tie at 17:40 and F Luka Burzan added insurance with his ninth goal at 18:38. That was Burzan’s second goal of the game. . . . The Warriors got a goal and two assists from D Josh Brook, who has two goals, F Jayden Halbgewachs (21) and F Brett Howden (12) each had a goal and an assist, while F Brayden Burke drew four assists. . . . Halbgewachs moved into a tie for the WHL goal-scoring lead, along with F Zak Zborosky of the Kootenay Ice and Tyler Steenbergen of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Calgary F Jordy Stallard had two assists, while Bean added one to his goal. F Carsen Twarynski (8) also had a goal and an assist. . . . G Zach Sawchenko stopped 35 shots for the Warriors, one fewer than Calgary’s Kyle Dumba. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-3 on the PP; Calgary was 1-3. . . . The Warriors are 16-6-4. . . . The Hitmen (8-14-2) have lost five in a row. . . . Warriors D Matt Sozanski left in the second period of Friday’s 5-3 loss to the host Prince Albert Raiders. A doctor was called to the Moose Jaw dressing room during the intermission. Later, Warriors head coach Tim Hunter suggested that “somebody’s got a hangnail and I don’t know why they’d send a doctor over for it.” Well, that hangnail kept Sozanski out of Saturday’s game. . . . Actually, the 20-year-old defenceman is believed to have a shoulder injury. . . . Announced attendance: 3,239.
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At Portland, the Kootenay Ice, with G Payton Lee blocking 55 shots, built up a 3-0 lead and hung on for a
PAYTON LEE
3-2 victory over the Winterhawks. . . .The Ice (6-17-7) had been 0-4-1 in its previous five games. It now is 3-9-3 on the road. . . . The Winterhawks (15-13-1) had been 7-0-1 in their previous eight games. . . . F Vince Loschiavo gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 8:05 of the first period, and D Dallas Hines (2) made it 2-0, on a PP, at 13:32. . . . F Zak Zborosky moved into a tie for the WHL goal-scoring lead with his 21st goal, for a 3-0 lead, at 8:08 of the second period. . . . The home side got on the scoreboard when F Keegan Iverson (11) scored on a PP, at 16:09 of the second. . . . Portland D Henri Jokiharju (4) cut the deficit to one at 16:05, on another PP. . . . Kootenay got three assists from F Matt Alfaro. . . . D Caleb Jones had two assists for the Winterhawks. . . . Portland got 21 saves from G Cole Kehler. . . . The Winterhawks were 2-8 on the PP; the Ice was 1-3. . . . Announced attendance: 4,535.
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At Prince George, the Victoria Royals took a 2-0 second-period lead and hung on for a 2-1 victory over
RYAN PECKFORD
the Cougars. . . . One night earlier, the Cougars had posted a 4-2 victory. . . . D Mitchell Prowse gave the Royals a 1-0 lead with his second goal, at 1:31 of the second period. . . . F Ryan Peckford (8) upped it to 2-0, on a PP, at 8:47. . . . F Jack Walker drew an assist on both goals. . . . The Cougars halved the deficit when F Kody McDonald (7) scored at 5:49 of the third period. . . . The Royals got 31 stops from G Griffen Outhouse. . . . Ty Edmonds stopped 26 shots for the Cougars. . . . Victoria was 1-5 on the PP; Prince George was 0-7. . . . The Royals (15-13-2) snapped out of a four-game losing skid. . . . The Cougars (20-7-2) had won their last two games. . . . For the second game in a row, the Cougars were without D Brendan Guhle. He was recalled by the Buffalo Sabres on Friday and made his NHL debut against the visiting Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon. . . . The Royals lost D Ryan Gagnon to a charging major and game misconduct at 4:50 of the first period. . . . Announced attendance: 3,807.
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At Red Deer, F Brandon Hagel scored at 1:50 of OT to give the Rebels a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge
BRANDON HAGEL
Hurricanes. . . . Hagel has 14 goals in 28 games. Last season, as a freshman, he finished with 13 goals in 72 games. . . . F Adam Musil, Red Deer’s captain, scored the Teddy Bear Goal, giving his guys a 1-0 lead at 14:27 of the first period. . . . Musil made it 2-0 with his 11th goal, at 11:42 of the second period. He has five goals in his last three games. . . . The Hurricanes tied it on third-period goals from F Tanner Nagel (3), just 21 seconds in, and F Giorgio Estaphan (15), at 17:29. . . . Red Deer F Michael Spacek drew two assists, as did D Colton Bobyk, who now is on a 13-game assist streak. . . . F Tyler Wong had two assists for Lethbridge. . . . G Lasse Petersen blocked 22 shots for Red Deer, five fewer than Lethbridge’s Stuart Skinner. . . . Lethbridge was 1-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-3. . . . The Rebels now are 14-12-4. . . . The Hurricanes (13-11-4) had won their previous six games. . . . Announced attendance: 5,075.
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The Pats handed out about 1,000 Dale
Derkatch bobbleheads last night.
At Regina, D Sergey Zborovskiy scored two goals and assisted on five others as the Pats dropped the
SERGEY ZBOROVSKIY
Prince Albert Raiders, 12-2. . . . Zborovskiy, who was plus-8, leads the WHL at plus-37, in only 21 games. He has five goals and 18 assists, after finishing last season with eight goals and 17 assists in 64 games. He is in his third season with Regina. . . . The Pats scored four goals in each period. . . . F Adam Brooks, the WHL’s reigning scoring champion, finished with two goals and three assists. He now has a WHL-leading 43 points, including 11 goals. Last night, he passed teammate Sam Steel, who has 41 points but has missed his club’s last three games. He suffered a shoulder injury against the Prince George Cougars with two games left on a B.C. Division tour. . . . Brooks also is riding a WHL-high 18-game point streak, having picked up at least one in every game he played this season. . . . "We haven’t been home in a while and probably didn’t play up to standard on that road trip," Brooks told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. "We wanted to prove to everyone that we’re still a good team and we’re still one of the teams to beat, if not THE team to beat. This game kind of showed that we’re an elite level hockey team.” . . . This was Regina’s first game since returning from a six-game (3-2-1) trek that included five games in the B.C. Division. They scored only seven goals over the last three games of that trip. . . . D Jonathan Smart, acquired by Regina from the Kelowna Rockets earlier in the week, had two assists and was plus-5 in his Pats debut. . . . The Pats also got three assists from F Filip Ahl, two goals and an assist from F Austin Wagner (13), two goals from F Rykr Cole (4), a goal and an assist from F Nick Henry (12), two assists from F Jake Leschyshyn, and a goal and an assist from F Riley Woods (3). . . . F Austin Glover scored his eighth goal and added an assist for the Raiders. . . . Regina G Tyler Brown stopped 14 shots. . . . Prince Albert starter Nick Sanders allowed five goals on 20 shots in 31:14. Ian Scott finished up by allowing seven goals on 27 shots. . . . Regina was 1-3 on the PP; Prince Albert was 1-4. . . . Regina (18-2-4) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Prince Albert now is 6-21-1. . . . The Pats lost two plays to undisclosed injuries with F Lane Zablocki leaving in the first period and D Chase Harrison in the second. . . . Announced attendance: 5,749.

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At Kent, Wash., F Ryan Gropp and F Donovan Neuls each scored twice to help the Seattle Thunderbirds
RYAN GROPP
to a 7-1 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Seattle (15-9-3) is 4-0-1 in its last five games. . . . The Tigers (21-7-1) have followed a 10-game winning streak with back-to-back losses. . . . Seattle took control of this one with three first-period goals, the first two by Gropp, who has eight. . . . D Ethan Bear made it 3-0 with his 10th goal at 17:57. . . . Bear and Gropp both are on five-game goal-scoring streaks. . . . Seattle F Mathew Barzal had three assists for the fourth time in five games. . . . Seattle F Scott Eansor had a goal and an assist. He has 14 goals in 27 games, equalling his career high from 2014-15 when he scored 14 times in 72 games. . . . The Thunderbirds got three assists from F Matthew Wedman, while Bear added an assist to his goal, and F Nolan Volcan picked up his 11th goal and added an assist. . . . Seattle D Turner Ottenbreit had one assist and was plus-5. . . . The Thunderbirds got 25 saves from G Rylan Toth, who lost his shutout bid when F Max Gerlach got No. 19 at 14:25 of the third period. . . . Medicine Hat starter Duncan McGovern surrendered six goals on 27 shots through two periods. Nick Schneider gave up one goal on eight shots in third period. . . . Seattle was 0-3 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-4. . . . Neuls, who has seven goals, was in the lineup after leaving Friday’s 4-3 OT victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice with an apparent leg injury. . . . The Tigers were without F Zach Fischer, who drew a TBD suspension for being involved in a one-man fight against the host Everett Silvertips on Friday night. The last suspension for such an incident occurred Nov. 4 when D Sam Ruopp of the Prince George Cougars was hit with eight games. . . . With Fischer out, the Tigers brought in F Josh Williams, 15, from Langley, B.C. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Williams, the fifth overall selection in the 2016 bantam draft, plays at the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford. . . . Announced attendance: 5,009.
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At Kennewick, Wash., the Tri-City Americans erased a 1-0 deficit with three straight goals and were never
JORDAN TOPPING
caught as they beat the Spokane Chiefs, 6-5. . . . F Ethan McIndoe’s fifth goal, at 8:07 of the first period, gave the Chiefs a 1-0 edge. . . . The Americans got the next three goals, from F Tyler Sandhu (6), on a PP, at 12:37; F Jordan Topping (1), on a PP, at 3:03 of the second period; and D Juuso Valimaki (11), at 6:52. . . . The teams alternated goals from then to game’s end, with the Chiefs never able to equalize. . . . McIndoe got his second goal, at 9:59 of the second, but the Americans got that one back when F Kyle Olson (8) scored at 10:32. . . . F Keanu Yamamoto (11), on a PP, got Spokane to within one again, at 13:21, but the Americans came right back on a goal by F Nolan Yaremko (3), at 15:14. . . . Spokane F Pavel Kousal (7) made it 5-4 at 17:20. . . . Tri-City F Morgan Geekie’s 12th goal, at 16:19 of the third period, proved to be the winner. . . . Spokane again got to within one, as D Evan Fiala (2) scored at 17:16. . . . Topping, in his first game of the season, also had two assists. He had been out since suffering an undisclosed injury while in camp with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. . . . Tri-City D Dylan Coghlan had three assists, while Geekie had two. . . . The Chiefs got three assists from F Hudson Elynuik, with McIndoe and Fiala getting one each. . . . G Rylan Parenteau made 24 saves for Tri-City. . . . Spokane’s Jayden Sittler stopped 26 shots. . . . The Chiefs were 2-5 on the PP; the Americans were 1-2. . . . Tri-City (17-11-2) had lost its previous two games. . . . The Chiefs now are 11-11-5. . . . Announced attendance: 3,838.
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TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:

Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.
Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.
Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.
Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).
Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.
Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Brandon at Kamloops, 5 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Portland, 5 p.m.
Regina at Swift Current, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 12:25 AM
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Thursday, December 1, 2016

Rebels add two to roster . . . 2019 WJC to Vancouver/Victoria . . . Check out Lynn's book

F Bud Holloway (Seattle, 2003-08) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Skellefteå (Sweden, SHL). He was released by CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL) on Nov. 18 after recording three goals and six assists in 12 games. . . . Holloway has played three seasons (2011-14) for Skellefteå. He was the SHL’s leading scorer with 71 points, including 51 assists, in 55 games, and won the league’s MVP award in 2012-13.
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The Red Deer Rebels have added F Matt Campese and D Jacob Herauf to their roster.
Campese, who will turn 19 on Dec. 10, was released by the Kamloops Blazers early this season and has been with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors. He has 17 points, including six goals, in 15 games with
the Warriors. A third-round pick of the Victoria Royals in the 2012 WHL bantam draft, he has 10 goals and six assists in 95 career regular-season games — 16 with the Royals and 79 with Kamloops. He is the son of former WHL goaltender/coach/general manager Bruno Campese, who now scouts for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
Herauf, 16, has been with the midget AAA Sherwood Park, Alta., Kings. The Rebels selected him with the 16th overall pick of the 2015 bantam draft. He already has played nine games with the Rebels this season, recording one assist.
Why the additions? Perhaps because Red Deer GM/head coach Brent Sutter is looking for more out of his roster.
When Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com asked Sutter about his club’s play after a 4-3 OT victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday, the response was: “Truthfully? I’m not a very happy camper right now. I wasn’t happy at all with the way we played the second period. We took some dumb penalties. We do self-inflicted things that hurt us and we don’t stick to what allows us to be a good team.
“We played well in the first period and did some good things in the third. When we keep the game simple, play straight lines, do things right and have a good transition where we’re getting pucks back up the ice, we play well and we’ve proven it at different times this (season).”
The Rebels’ inconsistent play has been bothering Sutter for some time now. It would seem he is going to try and fix it by bringing in competition for the players on his roster.
The addition of Campese also provides some depth should the Rebels lost F Michael Spacek and/or F Adam Musil to the Czech Republic’s national junior team.
The Rebels (13-11-4) got into the weekend in second place in the Central Division. They are 4-4-2 in their previous 10 games. They also are 13 points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers (21-5-1), but just three ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (12-11-3), who have won five in a row.
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Hockey Canada and the CHL announced on Thursday afternoon that a bid from Vancouver and Victoria to play host to the 2019 World Junior Championship has been selected.
Included in the bid are the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, along with Sport Hosting Vancouver, Sport Host Victoria, Tourism Victoria, the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Giants and Victoria Royals, and BC Hockey.
The Vancouver/Victoria bid won out over others from Calgary/Edmonton, Saskatoon/Winnipeg and London/Windsor.
The tournament last was played in B.C. in 2006 when there were games in Kamloops, Kelowna and Vancouver. Attendance totalled 325,138 for that event. The 2019 tournament will be played in Vancouver and Victoria. Whichever pool includes Canada will play out of Rogers Place in Vancouver; the other pool will play in the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria.
The Vancouver/Victoria organizing committee will be co-chaired by Ron Toigo, the managing director of Shato Holdings and the majority owner of the Giants, and Barry Petrachenko, the CEO of BC Hockey.
The 2017 tournament opens on Boxing Day and will be played in Toronto and Montreal. Those cities also played host in 2015, while last year’s tournament was held in Helsinki, Finland. The 2018 tournament is to be played in Buffalo.
The awarding of the 2019 tournament to Vancouver/Victoria means that the tournament will have been played in North America four times in a five-year stretch.
This also will signal to smaller markets — once and for all — that they need not waste their time or money getting involved in the bidding process. It’s all about the guarantee and having a guarantor in place to cover losses if that guarantee isn’t met.
The decision to award the 2019 event to Vancouver/Victoria is “another rejection for London and Windsor — and all smaller junior hockey markets who still hold increasingly diminishing hopes they’ll ever get to stage a world junior hockey championship,” writes Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press. . . .That piece is right here.
The 2021 WJC also is to be played in Canada, and you can bet everything you own that it will go to Calgary and Edmonton.
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The Kelowna Rockets will have two of their players in the 2017 World Junior Championship. F Calvin Thukauf is to join Team Switzerland in Oshawa as it prepares for the tournament that opens Boxing Day in Toronto and Montreal. F Tomas Soustal will join Czech Republic in Montreal. Both players are scheduled to leave Kelowna on Dec. 12. . . . Team Russia released its preliminary roster on Thursday and it included one WHLer — D Sergey Zborovskiy of the Regina Pats. He is one of 12 defencemen on the preliminary roster. The Russians will hold a pre-tournament camp in Kingston, Ont. Zborovskiy is to leave Regina on Dec. 18.
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G Carter Hart of the Everett Silvertips has posted three straight shutouts, meaning he is one shy of the WHL record that has been held by Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers for almost 50 years. Worthy put up four in a row from Dec. 29, 1967, through Jan. 13, 1968. . . . Hart has gone 187 minutes 1 second without allowing a goal. Worthy holds that record, too, at 265:13. . . . Hart’s next test comes tonight, assuming that he is Everett’s starter, when the Silvertips play host to the Medicine Hat Tigers. This game matches the WHL’s highest-scoring team, the Tigers, against the stingiest, the Silvertips. . . . The Tigers (21-5-1) have won 10 in a row and lead the overall standings by one point over the Silvertips (19-3-4), who have won four straight.
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As you no doubt are aware, the NHL will have a new franchise in play next season — the Vegas Golden Knights. Their front office is full of men with ties to the WHL, including Kelly McCrimmon, Bob Lowes, Vaughn Karpan, Erin Ginnell, Bruno Campese, Murray Craven and Jim McKenzie. . . . If you are interested in what goes into putting an NHL expansion team together and getting it on the ice, get a copy of Tom Lynn’s book How to Bake an NHL Franchise from Scratch: The First Era of the Minnesota Wild. . . . It’s an entertaining and informative look at one of the NHL’s most-recent expansion franchises. . . . Lynn was an executive with the Wild; he now is an agent with Veritas Hockey.
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If you’ve got a comment, some information you would like to pass along, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to contact me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
If you would like to donate to the cause, please visit the bottom of this post and go right ahead.
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JUST NOTES:

D Cam Reagan, 19, who was released by the Prince Albert Raiders on Monday has signed to play with his hometown AJHL team, the Sherwood Park Crusaders. . . . He had two assists in 18 games with the Raiders. In 117 regular-season WHL games, 99 of those with the Kamloops Blazers, he put up 10 assists. . . . 
The AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders have acquired the rights to F Jesse Zaharichuk, 19, from the Drumheller Dragons for future considerations. Zaharichuk, who is from Sherwood Park, had 17 points, including eight goals, in 17 games with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He was assigned to Drumheller early in November, but he hadn’t yet played there. . . .
The AJHL’s Brooks Bandits have signed D Kord Pankewicz, 20, who was placed on waivers by the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes earlier this week. He had a goal and eight assists in 24 games with Lethbridge this season. Pankewicz is from Drayton Valley, Alta. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks have dropped F Ty Kolle, 16, from their roster and he is returning to the Prince George-based Cariboo Cougars of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. Kolle had three assists in 13 games with Portland. From Kamloops, he was a fourth-round pick by Portland in the 2015 WHL bantam draft.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Red Deer at Lethbridge, 7 p.m. (TBG)
Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Kootenay vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
Kelowna at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Calgary at Swift Current, 7 p.m. (TBG)
Portland vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Brandon vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
TBG: Teddy Bear Game.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 8:48 PM
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