Presentation day for Pats ... Nanaimo picks arena site ... Glass breaks Blazers

Our Mega 50/50 winner Tyrell came from Vanderhoof to watch the game Friday, a decision he won't forget! Big thanks to @CanadianTire! #United pic.twitter.com/v1shnE54Bs

— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) January 24, 2017

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This is a big day for the Regina Pats and a pair of OHL teams — the Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals. One of those teams will be selected as the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament, which will be the 100th anniversary of the prestigious tropy. Team representatives will be in Toronto today to make their presentations in front of the CHL’s site selection committee. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a piece right here on the Pats and management’s mindset going into the presentations.

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The City of Nanaimo has decided that if it is to have a new arena, it will be built on land on the waterfront. City council made the decision at a Monday meeting, choosing that location over the Howard Johnson Harbourside Hotel property.

According to Mayor Bill McKay, Tamara Cunningham of the Nanaimo News Bulletin reports, the costs of acquisition and construction were estimated to be much higher for the Howard Johnson site, including land purchase, building demolition, site contamination and access. He also said 1 Port Dr. supports better technical analysis, including knowledge of geotechnical issues and transportation requirements.

OK, so what’s next? Cunningham reports right here: “Council will hold a special council meeting Wednesday . . . for the first three readings of a borrowing bylaw and vote on a referendum question. The votes had been planned for Feb. 6.” . . . The referendum is expected to be held on March 11.

Earlier, Cunningham reported that the city already is in negotiations with the WHL aimed at acquiring a franchise for the new arena, should construction get the green light.

Of course, the city has yet to announce what the question will be for the referendum, although I would imagine it will seek the OK to borrow a good chunk of the money needed for the project, which is estimated at more than $80 million.

This is starting to remind me of a referendum that was held in Kamloops on Nov. 7, 2015.

Shortly after Glacier Media announced the closure of the Kamloops Daily News, the City of Kamloops revealed that it had purchased the newspaper building, which once was a department store, for $4.8 million. The plan was to spend $90 million on a performing arts centre and parkade on the sight.

The referendum question was: “Are you in favour of the City of Kamloops borrowing up to $49 million to design and construct the parkade and performing arts centre complex?”

The loan, which you will note wasn’t for the complete cost of the project, would have cost the average tax-paying household something like $40 per year for 20 years.

In the end, 53.7 per cent of those who voted said “NO!” However, only 32 per cent of eligible voters chose to exercise their right.

I got the feeling at the time that people weren‘t voting against the construction of a performing arts centre. Rather, it was a vote by taxpayers against something that would have resulted in an increase in their taxes. Through that process I really got the sense that those who voted “No” were wanting to deliver a message to those in charge of the public purse, something about being tired of costs always rising.

There was plenty of public debate preceding the referendum in Kamloops, as I’m sure the citizens of Nanaimo will experience over the next few weeks.

BTW, The Daily News building sits empty in downtown Kamloops, more than three years after the newspaper closed.

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The Tri-City Americans have shut down D Tyler Jette, 18, for the remainder of this season, thanks to an “upper-body” injury.

A native of Farmington, Minn., the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder was placed on the Americans’ protected list in November 2015. They signed him on Sept. 26 and he practised with the Americans that week, but never got into a game.

He showed up on the WHL roster report on Sept. 26 as having been added from Farmington High School. On Oct. 3, he was shown as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One week later that status was changed to week-to-week.

On the latest roster report that was released Tuesday, Jette is shown as having a “season-ending” injury.

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Like Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, I haven’t watched Don Cherry in years. So I didn’t see Cherry’s latest rant, nor will I hunt it up on the Internet. As Campbell writes, “Don Cherry stopped being relevant a long time ago, even before he ran the Mississauga IceDogs into the ground.” . . . Campbell wasn’t watching on Saturday when Cherry embarrassed himself, again, this time by being critical of Paul Romanuk, who just happens to be a fellow employee. However, Campbell heard about it and then found it on social media, watched it and felt compelled to write this piece right here.

This also allows me to relate my favourite Cherry anecdote, something I uncovered while researching a year-by-year epic on the Memorial Cup that I put together about 20 years ago.

What follows comes from what I wrote about the 1953 Memorial Cup that featured Cherry’s Barrie Colts and the St. Boniface Canadiens:

The Cherry legend includes — or doesn't include, depending upon to whom you are speaking — an incident from Game 5 that included Gary Blaine, a St. Boniface defenceman of immense potential whose career would fall victim to the demon rum, and Cherry.

Legend has it that Blaine actually chased Cherry around the Winnipeg Amphitheatre in an attempt to get him to fight.

As Winnipeg Free Press columnist Hal Sigurdson recounted in June of 1996, "Blaine's teammate, Ab McDonald . . . says it was Cherry. So does former provincial cabinet minister Larry Desjardins, who was general manager of Blaine's St. Boniface Canadiens at the time.”

As for Blaine . . .

"To be honest,” he told Sigurdson, "I'm not sure.

"Orval Tessier had just slashed our goaltender, Hal Dalkie, and I drilled him. When he went down I tried to pick him up, but he turtled. I'd never seen a guy do that before. Anyway, I heard another of their players chirping so I went after him. He took off and I chased him. When I asked our guys who it was they told me his name was Don Cherry.”

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet filed his latest 30 Thoughts on Tuesday and, as always, it’s highly readable. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s right here.

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If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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JUST NOTES:

F Noah Gregor of the Moose Jaw Warriors is scheduled to have knee surgery this week and isn’t expect to be out for as long as four weeks. Gregor, 18, last played on Jan. 7 in Regina and now has missed seven games. He has 52 points, including 20 goals, in 42 games. . . . 

The Prince George Cougars have signed F Edge Lambert, 15, to a WHL contract. Lambert, from Grande Prairie, Alta., was a seventh-round selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. . . . Lambert, 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, has four goals and two assists in 29 games with the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask. Last season, he had 20 goals and 24 assists with the bantam AAA Hounds.

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. @halbgewachs97 & @Chunko_31 strike a pre-flight pose #Snowbirds pic.twitter.com/EALmTRjAen

— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) January 24, 2017

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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

At Portland, the Winterhawks, with F Cody Glass enjoying a five-point night, opened up a 5-0 lead and hung on for a 6-4 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Portland drove Kamloops G Connor Ingram to

CODY GLASS

the bench with four goals in the game’s first 9:41, with Glass scoring one of them and assisting on the other three. . . . F Joachim Blichfeld got it started as he ran his goal-scoring streak to six games with his 15th goal at 1:51. . . . F Skyler McKenzie got No. 30 at 4:17. . . . F Evan Weinger (13) made it 3-0 at 4:45. . . . Glass upped it to 4-0 at 9:41. . . . D Keoni Texeira assisted on the last two goals. . . . F Ryan Hughes made it 5-0 with his 20th goal just 23 seconds into the second period. . . . Kamloops got back into it by scoring the next four goals. . . . F Luc Smith got his eighth at 10:00 of the second period, with F Garrett Pilon (12) scoring at 18:55. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers, who has 27 goals, added two third-period goals, at 10:00 and 13:16, to get the Blazers to within a goal. . . . Glass put it away with his 23rd goal, on a PP, at 17:41. . . . Glass, who has had two five-point games this season, has 23 goals and 41 assists in 46 games. He went into this season with 10 goals and 17 assists in 68 games. . . . Glass had two assists on Friday when the Winterhawks fell, 4-3 in a shootout, in Kamloops. . . . Blichfeld added an assist to his goal. . . . Pilon also had an assist. . . . Portland G Shane Farkas, who sat out Friday’s game in Kamloops due to illness, made 39 saves. Farkas, who turned 17 on Jan. 12, is from Penticton, B.C. He earned his first WHL victory in his third appearance. . . . Ingram, who was 6-0-1 against Portland going into the game, was beaten four times on 13 shots. Dylan Ferguson relieved him and stopped 27 of 29 shots in 48:05. . . . Portland had a 22-18 edge in the first period. Yes, the teams combined for 40 shots in the opening period. . . . The Winterhawks (23-21-3) had lost their previous five games (0-3-2). They hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points ahead of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Blazers (29-17-3) watched a four-game winning streak end. They are second in the B.C. Division, three points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . This was the first of seven straight road games for Kamloops. . . . This game had been scheduled to be played on Jan. 8 but was postponed by inclement weather conditions. . . . Announced attendance: 5,674.

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At Spokane, D Austin Strand’s second goal, at 3:48 of OT, gave the Seattle Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The winner was Strand’s fourth goal this season. He had one goal in 38 games with

AUSTIN STRAND

the Red Deer Rebels before behind dealt to Seattle, where he has scored three times in nine outings. . . . Seattle took a 2-0 lead with second-period goals from F Alexander True (15), on a PP, at 7:34, and Strand, at 14:24. . . . F Mathew Barzal assisted on both goals. . . . The Chiefs pulled even on third-period goals from F Eli Zummack, his fifth, at 5:31, and F Alex Mowbray, his first, at 9:11. . . . D Nolan Reid assisted on both Spokane goals. . . . Mowbray, who came over from the Medicine Hat Tigers, didn’t play this season until Dec. 27. The goal came in his 13th game. . . . The Thunderbirds had a glorious chance to win it in the third period when they were a presented with a 5-on-3 PP for 1:57. . . . Seattle went 1-4 on the PP; Spokane was 0-4. . . . Strand’s winner came after Seattle G Rylan Toth made a couple of terrific saves, including a poke-check that foiled a Spokane 2-on-0 break. . . . Toth finished with 35 saves as he ran his record to 21-15-1. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill turned aside 31 shots. . . . The Thunderbirds lost D Jarret Tyszka with an undisclosed injury in the first period. He is scheduled to play in the Top Prospects Game in Quebec City on Jan. 30. . . . Seattle F Wyatt Bear, 17, was in the lineup for the first time this season. He had been out with an undisclosed injury since the season started. A fifth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, Bear played three games with Seattle in 2014-15 and nine, with one assist, last season. He only played four other games last season, those with the midget AAA Interlake Lightning in Manitoba. . . . Seattle (26-15-4) has won two in a row. The Thunderbirds are third in the U.S. Division, five points behind the Tri-City Americans with five games in hand, and five ahead of the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Spokane (20-20-7) is 2-0-1 in its last three. The Chiefs are nine points behind Seattle. . . . Announced attendance: 3,237.

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At Cranbrook, B.C., the Medicine Hat Tigers surrendered the game’s first goal, but responded with the

MAX GERLACH

next eight en route to an 8-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . F Max Patterson scored his sixth goal, at 3:27 of the first period, to give the home team a 1-0 lead. . . . D Jordan Henderson’s second goal of the season, his first season joining the Tigers from the Saskatoon Blades, tied the score at 8:52. . . . Medicine Hat took control with two goals from F Max Gerlach, who leads it with 27 goals. He broke the tied at 2:29 of the second period and added insurance at 13:58. . . . D Clayton Kirichenko had a goal, his sixth, and two assists. F James Hamblin had two assists, while Gerlach added one to his two goals. F Mark Rassell added a goal, his 21st, and an assist. . . . The Tigers also got goals from F Zach Fischer (26), F John Dahlstrom (22) and F Mason Shaw (16). . . . G Michael Bullion earned the victory with 19 saves. . . . Kootenay starter Payton Lee was beaten eight times on 33 shots in 48:56. Jakob Walter came on to stop three shots in 11:04. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-3 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-5. . . . Medicine Hat (32-15-1) leads the Central Division by six points over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice (11-30-8) has lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 1,568.

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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.

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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.

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Blades, Royals cut deal ... Tigers get goaltender ... Blood test for concussions?

WHL trades since Dec. 27:

Trades: 6.

Players: 10.

Bantam draft picks: 5.

Conditional bantam draft picks: 1.

(WHL trade deadline is Jan. 10).

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F Arjun Atwal was in the Saskatoon Blades’ lineup on Sunday afternoon after having been acquired from

ARJUN ATWAL

the Victoria Royals in a trade announced earlier in the day.

The Blades got Atwal, 17, and an undisclosed conditional bantam draft pick in exchange for D K’Andre Miller, 16, and a sixth-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. The Blades had acquired that sixth-round pick from the Everett Silvertips for G Dorin Luding on Dec. 2.

Atwal, from Edmonton, has been playing for the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders. The 5-foot-8, 170-pounder had 14 goals and 17 assists in 33 games. He was the highest-scoring 1999-born player in the AJHL.

The Blades have incurred some injury woes in their forward ranks and are hoping that Atwal can help them get over this rough spell.

Miller, from Hopkins, Minn., hasn’t signed a WHL contract and has, in fact, committed to Wisconsin for 2018-19. He is in the U.S. National Team Development Program, playing for the U-17 team in the USHL. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had three goals and six assists in 28 games. Earlier this season, he had one assist in five games with Team USA at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge.

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The Portland Winterhawks have traded G Michael Bullion, 19, to the Medicine Hat Tigers for a seventh-

MICHAEL BULLION

round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft.

The Winterhawks also signed G Shane Farkas, who had been with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warrriors, and he will join Portland to play alongside Cole Kehler.

Farkas, 17, was selected in the fourth-round of the 2014 bantam draft by the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Portland acquired his rights on Sept. 15 in a deal that sent F Tanner Nagel, 18, to the Hurricanes. In 22 games with West Kelowna, Farkas, who is from Penticton, B.C., was 12-7-0, 3.10, .908.

Bullion, 19, is from Anchorage. The 6-foot-0, 200-pounder was a ninth-round pick by Portland in the 2012 bantam draft. His acquisition leaves the Tigers with three goaltenders, at least for now, with the others being Nick Schneider, who leads the WHL with 25 victories, and freshman Duncan McGovern, 16.

This season, Bullion got into 12 games with Portland, going 5-5-1, 3.76, .891.

The trade allows the Tigers to add an experience backup for what they hope will be a deep run in the spring, while the Winterhawks get to look at someone who may be their future starter.

Meanwhile, the Winterhawks also signed 5-foot-9, 140-pound F Reece Newkirk, who is with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. Newkirk, 15, was Portland’s third-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. The Moose Jaw native has 24 points, including nine goals, in 29 games with the Generals.

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The Vancouver Giants will meet the Hitmen in Calgary in Monday’s lone WHL game. Derek Holloway, the Giants’ bus driver, reports that the trip to Calgary covered 1,158 km and took 12-1/2 hours. . . . Driving conditions, he told Taking Note, were “only bad from Banff to Calgary. The Coquihalla was clear and not snowing.”

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“Medical researchers in London, Ont., say they have developed a simple blood test that can detect if someone has suffered a concussion with more than 90 per cent accuracy — a finding that may eventually replace current tests that rely on patients to describe their own symptoms,” according to a CTV News report on Saturday. . . . “The blood test uses a small sample of blood drawn from someone within 72 hours of a sudden blow to the head to measure 174 brain chemicals that change in response to a brain injury. Doctors then run tests on the blood to search for signs of a concussion.” . . . The complete story is right here.

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WHL in the 2016 calendar year, Adam Brooks Regina 102 assists & 147 points, Tyler Soy Victoria 55 goals

— Jeff Hollick (@JeffHollick) January 2, 2017

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SUNDAY’S GAMES:

At Edmonton, F Lane Bauer scored in OT to give the Oil Kings a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . .

LANE BAUER

On Friday, the Hitmen had beaten the visiting Oil Kings, 3-2. . . . Bauer scored his 25th goal just 21 seconds into the OT period. . . . Calgary held a 2-0 lead in this one, then trailed 3-2 in the third period. . . . The Hitmen got that lead on PP goals from F Mark Kastelic (6) and F Beck Malenstyn (15), at 4:47 and 7:00. . . . The Oil Kings tied it on second-period PP goals from F Trey Fix-Wolansky (9) and F Colton Kehler, at 10:32 and 15:43. . . . Kehler’s 11th goal, at 19:48, gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead. . . . The Hitmen forced OT when F Matteo Gennaro scored his 12th goal, at 6:30 of the third period. . . . D Aaron Irving had two assists for Edmonton, while Bauer added one to his goal. . . . Irving has 14 goals and 29 assists in 39 games after finishing last season with nine and 31 in 72 games. . . . Gennaro also had an assist for Calgary. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 33 shots, six more than Calgary’s Cody Porter. . . . The Oil Kings were 2-3 on the PP; the Hitmen were 2-4. . . . “The guys had to dig deep today. We are patching it together up front,” Edmonton head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team website. “Just with the injuries and flu going through, it is tough. We ask guys to assume some pretty substantial minutes and I really liked the energy that our two young guys (Scott Atkinson and Liam Keeler) brought to us. It was great to see. We found a way.” . . . Edmonton (18-17-4) is tied with the idle Red Deer Rebels (17-16-6) for third in the Central Division, five points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Hitmen (14-17-4) are eight points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 11,547.

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First WHL win tonight. Congrats bro. @maxpaddock pic.twitter.com/9dleDifq4Q

— Milana Paddock (@MilanaPhotos) January 2, 2017

At Regina, the Pats unleashed a 72-shot attack en route to a 7-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. .

NIC SANDERS

. . Prince Albert G Nic Sanders went the distance, with 65 saves. . . . G Max Paddock made 30 saves in his first WHL start for Regina. He’s got some good bloodlines — John Paddock, the Pats’ GM/head coach, is an uncle, as is Vaughn Karpan, a former player who now is the director of player personnel for the Vegas Golden Knights. . . . Max Paddock, 16, was a 10th-round pick by the Pats in the 2015 bantam draft. He plays for the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings, but has been with the Pats while G Jordan Hollett is out with an injury. . . . F Austin Wagner and F Riley Woods (6) gave Regina a 2-0 first-period lead with goals at 1:38 and 13:56. . . . F Cavin Leth got the Raiders to within one with his 10th goal, at 5:10 of the second period. . . . Regina put it away with the next three goals. . . . F Nick Henry got his 18th, on a PP, at 10:14 of the second period, with Wagner adding his 18th, at 19:09. . . . Regina F Adam Brooks scored No. 21 for a 5-1 lead 55 seconds into the third period. . . . The Raiders got their second goal from F Tim Vanstone (6), at 10:12. . . . Regina F Bryan Lockner scored his first goal, at 12:48, and F Braydon Buziak got his sixth, at 19:55. . . . Brooks and F Lane Zablocki had two assists each, with Buziak, Lockner and Wagner each getting one. . . . Regina F Sam Steel went pointless. . . . Brooks now leads the WHL with 63 points, one more than Steel and five more than F Mason Shaw of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Pats were 1-5 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-4. . . . Regina (25-3-7) has points in five straight (4-0-1) and now leads the overall standings, by one point over the Everett Silvertips (25-5-6) and Prince George Cougars (27-10-2). . . . Prince Albert (8-29-2) has lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 6,484.

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Artyom Minulin roofs home the OT winner for @SCBroncos. The #SCBroncos down the #Saskatoon #Blades 5-4. #WHL. pic.twitter.com/dtd9XKjmSQ

— Darren Steinke (@StanksSports) January 1, 2017

At Saskatoon, D Artyom Minulin scored in OT to give the Swift Current Broncos a 5-4 victory over the

ARTYOM MINULIN

Blades. . . . On Friday, the Broncos beat the visiting Blades, 3-2 in OT. . . . Saskatoon overcame a 4-2 third-period deficit to force extra time on goals from F Braylon Shmyr (20), at 5:59, and F Jesse Shynkaruk (12), on a PP, at 15:43. . . . Minulin won it with his seventh goal, at 2:53 of OT. . . . F Glen Gawdin scored the Broncos’ first three goals, giving him 12. . . . Gawdin got his first two on the same shift, at 8:56 and 9:53 of the first period, for a 2-0 lead. . . . The Blades tied it on second-period scores from Shmyr, at 2:14, and F Caleb Fantillo (3), at 8:16. . . . Gawdin completed his first career hat trick at 9:34 of the second period. . . . The Broncos took a 4-2 lead when F Conner Chaulk (4) scored at 5:23 of the third period. . . . The Broncos got two assists from D Colby Sissons. . . . Shynkaruk had two assists for the Blades, with Shmyr getting one. . . . Swift Current G Travis Child stopped 38 shots, 12 more than Saskatoon’s Logan Flodell. . . . The Blades were 1-3 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-3. . . . Swift Current (21-11-7) has won two in a row and is tied with the Moose Jaw Warriors (21-9-7) for second in the East Division. . . . Saskatoon (14-20-6) has points in three straight (1-0-2) and is six points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 4,264.

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MONDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Vancouver at Calgary, 4 p.m.

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Fleury: Canada is 'Disneyland for pedophiles' . . . Oil Kings' opener sells out . . . Full practice for Patrick

Graham James uses his middle name "Michael" now. "Michael James" is Graham James. He can change his name, but not who he really is.

— Greg Gilhooly (@GregGilhooly) September 15, 2016

One day after the Swift Current Broncos celebrated the organization’s decision to support Safe Places Initiative, a program that aims to reduce potential risks to children and youth, their former general manager and head coach was granted full parole.

Graham James was serving a seven-year sentence for the sexual assault of players he was coaching. He had been on day parole in the Montreal area.

Sheldon Kennedy, one of James’s victims, now advocates on behalf of young people and has been a big part of the Broncos’ and the City of Swift Current’s involvement with Safe Places Initiative.

Having James on parole with various restrictions gave Kennedy a sense of deja vu.

“In my case a number of years ago, Graham got out and made all these promises,” Kennedy told Calgary radio station 660 NEWS. “He had all these conditions on full parole, but we found Graham teaching youth hockey in Spain.

“We’ll never get decisions that are supportive of the impact of his crime until we start understanding the severity and the lifelong impact this crime has on children and into adulthood.”

Full Parole for Pedophile #GrahamJames 
MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH HIS VICTIMS THAT STRUGGLE EVERYDAY...and all VICTIMS pic.twitter.com/GHLrPIcpae

— Sheldon Kennedy (@ShelKenn) September 15, 2016

Theo Fleury, another former WHL player who was abused by James, chose not to do any interviews on Thursday from Vernon, B.C., where he was speaking to high school students. But he issued a news release in which he referred to Canada as “Disneyland for pedophiles.”

That news release is right here.

CBC News has more on the story right here.

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The Edmonton Oil Kings have sold out their first game at Rogers Place, the new facility that they will share with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. The Oil Kings will entertain the Red Deer Rebels on Sept. 24 before the first sellout (18,102) in the modern history of the franchise. . . . That will set a new franchise single-game attendance record. The previous record (16,651) dates to a March 10, 2012 game against the Rebels. The Oil Kings won that one, 7-4. . . . The WHL’s single-game regular-season attendance record for a game played indoors (19,305) was set on March 16, 2008, as the host Calgary Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-1. . . . On Feb. 21, 2011, the Regina Pats beat the host Hitmen, 3-2, in front of 20,888 fans at McMahon Stadium, the home of the CFL’s Calgary Flames.

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The WHL announced Thursday that its teams are sending 140 players to NHL training camps.

All of those players are eligible to return for another WHL season, although a number of them aren’t expected back.

In fact, there likely are around 20 players on the WHL list, most of them 2014 NHL draft picks, who aren’t expected to return for their 20-year-old season.

At least one player on the WHL list, F Evan Polei of the Red Deer Rebels, is injured and won’t be attending an NHL camp. He had accepted a free-agent invitation from the St. Louis Blues.

Still, no matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of players leaving WHL teams for NHL camps.

And now the waiting game begins. The WHL’s regular season is to open on Sept. 23 and a number of those players likely won’t be back in time to take part.

The World Cup of Hockey hits high gear this weekend and, because of it, NHL main camps will open a few days later than normal. NHL teams may also hold over a few major junior players if for no other reason than to fill out rosters.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, for example, has its top two goaltenders — Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy — playing in the WCoH. Does that mean that G Connor Ingram of the Kamloops Blazers, a third-round pick in the NHL’s 2016 draft, will end up in main camp?

The Blazers will be watching closely, while other WHL teams also are in the same position with other players.

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The mystery has been solved.

On Wednesday, F Tanner Nagel, 18, tweeted a farewell to Portland and the Winterhawks, while mentioning that he was looking forward to joining the Lethbridge Hurricanes. However, everyone went to bed without seeing an announcement from either team.

Well, late Thursday morning, it was revealed that the Hurricanes had acquired Nagel for the rights to G Shane Farkas, who is to turn 17 on Dec. 1.

Lethbridge GM Peter Anholt told Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald that “it’s a depth deal for us,”

“We never felt that Farkas was going to play for us,” Anholt said. “We had another deal we had done for Farkas, but when (Portland) threw out the option of taking Nagel we thought we’ll add some depth and see what comes of it.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Nagel was a Portland list player. A native of Mossbank, Sask., he had one goal in 38 games with the Winterhawks last season. In 23 games with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, he had six goals and an assist.

Farkas, from Penticton, B.C., was a fourth-round pick by Lethbridge in the 2014 bantam draft. The 6-foot-2, 155-pounder played last season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy and now is with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.

Later Thursday, West Kelowna announced the acquisition of G Xavier Burghardt, 19, from the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers for future considerations. Burghardt, from Medicine Hat, played last season with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons.

Burghardt’s arrival leaves the Warriors with four goaltenders on their roster, including Jordan Wilde, who is an AP (affiliated player). Burghardt also joins Farkas and Keelan Williams, 20, on the roster. Williams, who is injured, got into 11 games with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice in 2014-15 and two games last season. He also played in 22 regular-season and three playoff games with the Warriors last season.

The Warriors, under GM/head coach Rylan Ferster, are the defending Royal Bank Cup champions.

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Prince Albert and Seattle swapped 19-year-old wingers on Thursday, with Nic Holowko going to the Raiders for Layne Bensmiller and an undisclosed conditional pick in the 2017 bantam draft. . . . The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Holowko, from Burnaby, B.C., had nine points, five of them goals, with Seattle in 2014-15 and added 20 points, including six goals, in 72 games last season. . . . The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Bensmiller, from Red Deer, had 11 points, including six goals, in 34 games with the Calgary Hitmen in 2014-15, then added 24 points, eight of them goals, in 44 games last season before being dealt to the Raiders. With P.A., he had three goals and three assists in 30 games.

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JUST NOTES:

F Nolan Patrick was the first player off the ice at the Brandon Wheat Kings’ practice on Thursday. Still, it was his first full practice since he underwent sports hernia surgery in Winnipeg in mid-July. Patrick is the consensus No. 1 pick for the NHL’s 2017 draft. The Wheat Kings open the regular season on Sept. 23 against the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . With eight players at pro camps, F Rod Southam injured and D Nolan Foote out with mononucleosis, the Kelowna Rockets are expected to dress just 14 skaters for an exhibition game tonight against the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that F Cam Hebig of the Saskatoon Blades, who has had concussion issues, is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Hebig, 19, had 69 points, including 26 goals, in 59 games last season, his third with the Blades.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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The Edmonton Oil Kings have added former NHLer Fernando Pisani to their coaching staff as their development coach. Pisani spent the past three seasons on staff with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . . The Oil Kings also re-signed head coach Steve Hamilton and assistant coach Ryan Marsh. Contract terms were released. . . . David Pelletier is Edmonton’s skating coach, with Dustin Schwartz the goaltending coach, Kurtis Mucha the goaltender development coach, and Jory Stuparyk and Michael Chan the video coaches.

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

At Prince Albert, F Tim Vanstone had a goal and four assists to lead the Raiders to a 6-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw (3-3-0) held a 42-23 shot advantage, including 19-6 in the third period. . . . F Parker Kelly added two goals and an assist for the Raiders (2-2-0), with F Sean Montgomery getting a goal and an assist, and D Loch Morrison drawing two assists. . . . Kelly’s first goal, at 8:22 of the second period, broke a 2-2 tie. His second goal, at 13:59 of the third, gave the Raiders a 5-2 edge. . . . 

At Crowsnest Pass, Alta., F Ryley Lindgren scored two goals and set up another to help the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Hurricanes (2-3-0) took a 2-0 lead, only to have the Ice (0-3-1) tie it early in the second period. . . . F Colton Kroeker scored a PP goal to give Lethbridge a 3-2 lead. That goal stood up as the winner.

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