Anholt fined for comments . . . 'Canes fined for equipment violation . . . Silvertips in tie for top spot

F Mads Eller (Edmonton, 2013-15) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Gentofte Stars (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). Last season, he had three goals and three assists with the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL), and two goals and four assists in 22 games with the Windsor Spitfires (OHL). . . .

F Shane McColgan (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Portland, 2008-14) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Tilburg Trappers (Netherlands, Germany Oberliga). Last season, he had five goals and four assists in 14 games with St. Thomas University (CIS).

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It would seem that the WHL is attempting to muzzle anyone who happens to be employed under its umbrella.

Why else would the league fine Peter Anholt, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, for answering a question? Anholt got touched for $1,000 on Friday.

(Psst! Just between you and me, and don’t tell anyone because it’s confidential, but the WHL also touched up the Hurricanes for $2,500 for an equipment violation. Apparently, something happened that was in violation of an agreement with a CHL licensed supplier.)

Earlier in the week, Anholt dealt his team’s leading scorer, F Brayden Burke, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for F Ryan Bowen, a second-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft and an undisclosed conditional pick in the 2019 draft.

Last season, Burke finished third in the WHL scoring race, with 109 points. He tied for the assists lead,

PETER ANHOLT

with 82. This season, he had 23 points, including 19 assists, in 15 games.

However, the Hurricanes, so good a season ago, have been like hot-and-cold running water — 7-8-3, including 2-6-2 in their last 10 outings.

Asked by Matt Battochio of Global TV to explain the deal, Anholt replied:

“He was distracted a lot from Day 1. He wasn’t great at (training camp). I just really sensed that he was a distraction to our team in a lot of ways.

“We want players to understand, we will give you every opportunity you can have to be a player here, within reason. In (Burke’s) case he took it for granted, and abused it. So it’s time to move on.

“I gave him a great coaching staff to work with to enable him to put up over a 100 points last (season) with a real good team. You give a guy lots of opportunities, lots of breaks, and in the end they kind of stick it to you.”

Burke was selected by the Red Deer Rebels in the seventh round of the 2012 bantam draft and later was traded to the Hurricanes. Anholt was on the Rebels’ scouting staff in 2012 so was familiar with Burke before joining the Hurricanes during the 2014-15 season.

After head coach Brent Kisio left the Hurricanes in mid-October to coach at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge, Anholt moved back behind the bench. Whatever he saw in five games from that vantage point was enough for him to pull the trigger on the deal with Moose Jaw.

“I think anybody who’s been on a team realizes what a good teammate is. Making good decisions when you’re away from the rink and someone’s not looking over your shoulder. That’s the bottom line,” Anholt told Battochio. “We had guys that signed here because of my vision and what we wanted to do with the hockey club. And when somebody stifles that, and I see that, and I saw it even closer when I was up close and personal as a coach, it’s time to make a call.”

Anholt also told Battochio that he felt the issue with Burke went back to last spring.

“I think we’ll be a better team as we come through this (adversity),” he said. “Last (season) we had none until playoffs, and what good did it do? It’s kind of interesting that one of the players that didn’t really play well in playoffs was one of the ones we moved out. We will be a better team.”

Battochio even asked Anholt how he felt Burke would do with the Warriors.

Anholt’s response: “I don’t care. He’s a Moose Jaw Warrior now. I don’t care.”

Burke has yet to report to the Warriors, although the team says he is expected to arrive on Sunday. He apparently went home to Edmonton after the trade occurred.

In a league where so much of what we hear is pablum, Anholt’s decision to answer a question with something other than “the kid wasn’t giving 110 per cent so his compete just wasn’t there” was extraordinary.

As the general manager of a team he feels has a whole lot more to give, Anholt obviously chose to take a scorched-earth approach as he delivered a message he no doubt hoped would be heard in his dressing room. Rest assured that Anholt also wanted the ticket buyers of Lethbridge to know why chose to trade away a top-flight player.

He didn’t light up a 16-year-old freshman in the process; rather, it was a 19-year-old in his third season. You can bet that Anholt was hoping Burke would get the message, too.

However, the WHL doesn’t like spice on its pablum or brown sugar on its oatmeal, and it didn’t like what it heard.

All other general managers and coaches now are on notice, so it’ll be back to “we have to get pucks in deep and be hard on their defence. We have to play a heavy game for 60 minutes.”

Oh, and general managers and coaches are going to have to add one other line to the standard repertoire: “We have to make sure the guys are wearing the proper elbow pads.”

Criticize a player publicly and it might cost you $1,000. Wear the wrong elbow pads and it’s $2,500.

Welcome to today’s WHL.

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The Saskatoon Blades have acquired D Jordan Henderson, 19, from the Spokane Chiefs for a sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . Henderson, from Surrey, B.C., was a fourth-round pick by Spokane in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . He has four assists in 15 games with Spokane this season. In 112 career regular-season games, he has one goal and 12 assists. . . . The Blades, who obviously were looking to add experience and depth to their back end, now are carrying eight defencemen. However, Jake Kustra is injured and Libor Hajek will be leaving for the World Junior Championship where he will play for his native Czech Republic. . . . The Blades next play Sunday when they meet the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. Henderson is expected to join them before that game.

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The Saskatoon Blades have signed F Ethan Mack, who was an eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. Mack, from Edmonton, had 40 points, including 21 goals, in 34 games with the bantam AAA South Side Athletic Club Lions last season. This season, he has five goals and nine assists in 13 games with the Northern Alberta Extreme 15 of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

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Got a tip or some information you would like to pass along? Email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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SC Broncos Bantam AA Thank Head Coach of @SCBroncos Manny V. for running practice last night. Great to see the community involvement!

— Cheyenne Arntsen (@ArntsenC) November 12, 2016

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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

.952 - Picking up the win earlier today, @bdnwheatkings Jordan Papirny has saved 100 of the last 105 shots faced while playing on home ice

— WHL Facts (@WHLFacts) November 12, 2016

At Brandon, F Ty Lewis, F Stelio Mattheos and F Reid Duke each had three points to lead the Wheat Kings to a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Wheat Kings took control with three first-period

TY LEWIS

goals that allowed them to take a 3-1 lead into the second period. . . . F Tyler Coulter got his seventh goal at 4:45 and D Kale Clague’s fourth goal, shorthanded, made it 2-0 at 6:44. . . . Red Deer F Dawson Martin cut into the lead with his fourth goal at 8:39. . . . Lewis got his 10th goal, on a PP, at 10:40 to restore the two-goal lead. . . . F Michael Spacek’s 11th goal, on a PP, pulled the visitors back to within one at 7:27 of the second period. . . . Lewis scored again just 58 seconds into the third period and Mattheos added a PP goal, his eighth score this season, at 13:10. . . . Lewis added an assist to his brace of goals, while Duke had three assists and Mattheos had two. F Tanner Kaspick also had two helpers. . . . G Jordan Papirny stopped 32 shots for Brandon. . . . Red Deer starter Riley Lamb was beaten on the only two shots he faced. Lasse Peterson came on to stop 21 of 24 shots in 53:16. . . . Brandon was 2-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 2-5. . . . The Wheat Kings (8-7-3) went into the game not having scored in 17 power-play opportunities. . . . The Rebels slipped to 9-8-2. . . . Red Deer is without D Alex Alexeyev (undisclosed injury) and F Grayson Pawlenchuk (high ankle sprain). Alexeyev is week-to-week; Pawlenchuk could be gone for as long as six weeks. . . . Announced attendance: 5,024.

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At Kamloops, F Garrett Pilon and F Deven Sideroff each had a goal and two assists to help the Blazers to a 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Pilon, whose father, Rich, a hard-nosed defenceman who

GARRETT PILON

banged heads on behalf of the Raiders back in the day, has three goals; Sideroff has 11. . . . D Brendan Guhle got the Raiders on the board first, scoring his second goal, on a PP, at 7:42 of the first period. . . . But it was pretty much all Blazers after that. . . . Sideroff tied the score at 9:21 and F Erik Miller gave the home side the lead with his first goal at 14:25. . . . Pilon scored what proved to be the winner at 16:19. . . . Kamloops D Shaun Dosanjh’s first goal stretched the lead at 4:48 of the second period. . . . Raiders F Austin Glover, with his sixth, got his guys to within two at 12:43. . . . Kamloops F Rudolfs Balcers, who missed on a second-period penalty shot, put the game away with his 11th goal at 9:30 of the third period. . . . Kamloops D Dawson Davidson had two assists. . . . The line of Sideroff, Pilon and Balcers finished with seven points. . . . G Connor Ingram, who hoped Prince Albert’s midget AAA team to a national championship, stopped 21 shots for the Blazers. . . . Raiders starter Ian Scott fought the puck in this one and was gone after allowing four goals on 19 shots. The fourth one was a rebound off the end boards that bounced into the crease before Scott kicked it into his own net. Reliever Nick Sanders came on to stop 16 of 17 shots in 35:12. . . . Prince Albert was 1-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-3. . . . The Blazers moved to 11-9-1, while the Raiders are 5-12-1. . . . Kamloops continues to be without veteran D Dallas Valentine (elbow), but he is back skating and could return before too long. . . . Announced attendance: 3,844.

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From the "can you believe it" file: dating back to last year in the regular season, the Tips have won 9 straight over the Winterhawks.

— Mike Benton (@Benton_Mike) November 12, 2016

At Portland, the Everett Silvertips scored the game’s first two goals and went on to a 2-1 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . Everett (14-2-2) has points in seven straight (6-0-1) and has moved into a tie with the idle Prince George Cougars for first place in the overall standings, one point ahead of the Regina Pats. . . . The Winterhawks (8-12-0) have lost nine in a row. . . . Everett got a PP goal from F Patrick Bajkov, his eighth, at 16:38 of the first period. . . . F Dominic Zwerger’s eighth goal, at 5:07 of the second, proved to be the winner. . . . F Keegan Iverson got the home side to within a goal with his ninth at 12:51 of the third. . . . D Noah Juulsen had two assists for Everett, with Bajkov adding one to his goal. . . . G Carter Hart turned aside 23 shots for Everett, while Cole Kehler stopped 26 for the Winterhawks. . . . The Silvertips were 1-5 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 0-4. . . . Announced attendance: 3,065.

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At Kent, Wash., the Calgary Hitmen gained a 2-0 lead early in the third period en route to a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Beck Malenstyn’s third goal, at 19:51 of the second period, opened

MATTEO GENNARO

the scoring and F Jakob Stukel (5) made it 2-0 at 2:48 of the third period. . . . Seattle D Ethan Bear made it interesting when he scored his fourth goal at 17:00, with G Rylan Toth on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Calgary F Matteo Gennaro, who also had an assist, got the empty-netter at 18:59. He’s got four goals. . . . Calgary G Cody Porter stopped 27 shots, 14 more than Toth. . . . Calgary was 1-3 on the PP; Seattle was 0-5. . . . The Hitmen (7-5-2) are 4-0-1 in their last five outings. . . . The Thunderbirds slipped to 7-8-1. . . . Calgary, which opened a U.S. Division tour with the game, remains without D Jake Bean (hand). . . . F Mathew Barzal, who has been returned to the Thunderbirds by the NHL’s New York Islanders, has rejoined the team but didn’t play in this one. The Thunderbirds are to play the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C., tonight. . . . Prior to the game, the Thunderbirds announced that they have dropped F Mackenzie Wight, 17, and G Matt Berlin, 18, from their roster. Wight, from Burnaby, B.C., was pointless in six games. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Berlin, who was acquired from the Spokane Chiefs last month, got into one game, beating the Warriors 5-1 in Moose Jaw. . . . Berlin is expected to join the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders, who acquired his rights from the Drayton Valley Thunder. . . . Announced attendance: 5,342.

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The room is ready to go for tonight's Remembrance Day game as we take time to remember. #LestWeForget pic.twitter.com/gQ0wqHgcl2

— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) November 12, 2016

At Victoria, F Matt Phillips scored twice to help the Royals to a 4-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Phillips, who has 11 goals, struck 14 seconds apart — at 1:13 and 1:27 of the second period — as the home team took a 4-0 lead. . . . F Ryan Peckford’s sixth goal, on a PP at 14:12 of the first period, had made it 1-0, with F Jack Walker’s 11th goal, at 19:23, making it 2-0. . . . Peckford also had two assists. . . . The Americans made it interesting on third-period goals from D Dylan Coghlan (4), at 2:47, and F Vladislav Lukin (10), on a PP, at 5:45. . . . The Royals got 32 saves from G Griffen Outhouse, 18 of them in the third period. Tri-City’s Rylan Parenteau stopped 26 shots. . . . Victoria was 1-4 on the PP; Tri-City was 1-5. . . . The Royals (11-7-2) have points in five straight (3-0-2). . . . The Americans (12-7-1) had a four-game winning streak snapped. . . . Announced attendance: 6,027.

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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Kootenay at Edmonton, 7 p.m.

Prince George at Kamloops, 7 p.m.

Prince Albert at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.

Saskatoon at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.

Red Deer at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Calgary at Portland, 7 p.m.

Everett at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.

Brandon at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Seattle vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7 p.m.

Tri-City at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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Sutter staying in Switzerland

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Boyd Kane (Regina, 1994-98) signed a one-year contract with Medvescak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). He had 15 goals and 22 assists in 74 games as captain of the Hershey Bears (AHL) last season. . . . Kane joins former Hershey head coach Mark French with Medvescak Zagreb. Kane was the Bears’ captain for two seasons while French was the head coach. . . . Dave Sottile of pennlive.com has more right here.
D Dave Sutter (Seattle, 2010-12) signed a one-year contract with Red Ice Martigny (Switzerland, NL B). He had no points in three games with Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A) and had three goals and nine assists in 43 games on loan to Red Ice last season. For those who are inclined to practice their French language skills, The Red Ice press release, with picture, can be found right here.
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The 2013 Hockey Coaches Conference, which is scheduled for Aug. 9-11 in Burnaby, B.C., has adjusted its calendar due to Hockey Canada’s decision to ban body checking from the peewee level and below. The conference now will include an on-ice presentation that will address these changes. The on-ice session will be led by Derek Popke and Yogi Svejkovsky of the Vancouver Hockey School, both of whom are well known in Lower Mainland minor hockey circles. Both also will be available in a question-and-answer session after the on-ice portion.
 . . . There is more right here.
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The CHL held its 2013 import draft on Wednesday with the Vancouver Giants using the first overall selection on D Dmitri Osipov, a 17-year-old from Russia. His agent is Ritch Winter of Edmonton, who has told media that Osipov will report. "He could have made a lot of money in the KHL,” Winter told Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province. “Tells you all you need to know."
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The Spokane Chiefs released F Mikulas Rimmel, an 18-year-old Czech, prior to the import draft. He had seven points in 42 games with the Chiefs last season.
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The Portland Winterhawks released Russian D Kirill Vorobev prior to the draft, which allowed them to select Swedish D Anton Cederholm, who was a fifth-round selection by the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. . . . Vorobev played in 53 games with Portland last season.
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The Everett Silvertips made two selections in the import draft, despite having D Mirco Mueller on their roster. Mueller, 18, was selected by the San Jose Sharks with the 18th pick in Sunday’s NHL draft. . . . A CHL team that has a European player selected in the first round of the NHL draft is allowed to have three imports on its roster. In this instance, should Mueller return to Everett from San Jose, the Silvertips would have to drop an import. On Wednesday, Everett added the CHL rights to Finnish F Waltteri Hopponen and Russian F Ivan Nikolishin.
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Three teams — the Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades — were involved in Wednesday trades that will impact their 20-year-old situations.
The Blades dealt F Shane McColgan, 20, to the Winterhawks and D Matt Pufahl, 20, to the Silvertips.
McColgan was dealt for a seventh-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft and a third-rounder in 2015. From Manhattan Beach, Calif., McColgan is preparing for his fifth WHL season. He played three seasons with the Kelowna Rockets before being dealt to Saskatoon last summer. He had 66 points, including 19 goals, in 69 games last season. In 281 career regular-season games, he has 268 points, inlcuding 84 goals.
Pufahl, who is from Saskatoon, went to Everett for D Ayrton Nikkel, 18. Everett also gets a fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Nikkel, from Kelowna, was a second-round selection by the Blades in 2010. He was dealt to the Brandon Wheat Kings as part of the deal that involved F Brayden Schenn at the 2011 trade deadline. Brandon later traded him to Everett. He had nine points and 117 penalty minutes last season. . . . Pufahl had 43 points in 69 games last season, with 25 of those points coming via the PP. He was a fourth-round selection by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2008 bantam draft.
Pufahl’s arrival leaves Everett with four 20-year-olds, the others being F Manraj Hayer, Reid Petryk and Josh Winquist.
The Blades now have four 20-year-olds to compete for the three spots — F Erik Benoit, F Nathan Burns, D Graeme Craig and F Collin Valcourt.
The defending-champion Winterhawks also announced that F Joey Baker, 20, has left the organization in order to “pursue educational opportunities.”
His departure leaves McColgan as Portland’s only 20-year-old player.
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The CHL’s goaltender of the year will be back in the WHL for another season. The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings have told the Red Deer Rebels that G Patrik Bartosak will return for his 20-year-old season.
Bartosak was a fifth-round selection by the Kings in Sunday’s NHL draft.
“I talked to him at noon (Wednesday) and he’s good with it,” Rebels GM/head coach Brent Sutter told the Red Deer Advocate. “He understands the decision. He knew all along that this was an option.”
According to the Advocate: “The Kings have goaltenders under contract at each level of the organization and will wait a year to sign Bartosak.”
With Bartosak and F Dominik Volek on the Rebels’ roster, Sutter took a pass on yesterday’s CHL import draft.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds were the only other WHL team not to participate in the import draft. They expect to have Russian F Alex Delnov, 19, and Latvian F Roberts Lipsbergs, 19, back for their second seasons. . . . Lipsbergs led the Thunderbirds last season in goals (30) and points (58), while Delnov had 49 points, including 20 goals.
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The OHL’s London Knights have “agreed in principle” wih Sportsnet on a reality TV show that would be fashioned after On The Edge, the show in which cameras followed the Saskatoon Blades during the just-completed season. . . . Morris Dalla Cost of the London Free Press has more right here, but it doesn’t sound as though the cameras will have as much access to the Knights as they did with the Blades.
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Three forwards off the roster of the Portland Winterhawks have been named to the U.S. U18 select team that will play in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament next month. Paul Bittner, Keegan Iverson and Dominic Turgeon are the lone WHL players named to the 21-man roster. . . . Bittner is from Crookston, Minn., while Iverson is from St. Louis Park, Minn., and Turgeon is from Cherry Hills, Colo. . . . F Chase Phelps of Edina, Minn., who is on the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ protected list, also was named to the U.S. team. He has been at Shattuck St. Mary’s for three seasons. . . . The Ivan Hlinka tournament is scheduled for Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, Aug. 5-10.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Steve Spott is leaving the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers to take over as head coach of the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Spott has spent 14 seasons in the OHL, 10 with Kitchener and four with the Plymouth Whalers. . . . Spott replaces Dallas Eakins, now the head coach of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . .


Paul Fixter is the new head coach of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. He takes over from Trent Cull, who has signed on as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . Cull had been the Wolves’ head coach for three seasons. . . . Fixter joined the Wolves this summer after five seasons on the staff of the Kitchener Rangers.
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From Matthew Gourlie (@Matt Gourlie) of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald: “I'm not saying the CHL Import Draft is rigged, but... Niagara pick Alex Mikulovich has had his team listed as Niagara on twitter for days.”
The OHL’s Niagara IceDogs selected Mikulovich in the second round of yesterday’s CHL import draft.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
This was filed late Friday night . . .
No player moves today but we have some Glen Hanlon news. This is from the English-version website of the Belarus Ice Hockey Association:
Former Belarus national team head coach, Canadian specialist Glen Hanlon arrived in Minsk on May 29 by invitation of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association to hold negotiations on the prospects of his work as the national team head coach. Earlier, the Canadian had lead the team in 2005, 2006, and 2009. Let’s note that team Belarus achieved its best result at the IIHF WMs with Glen Hanlon as a head coach in 2006 in Latvia (6th place) and in 2009 the team promoted to the quarterfinals (8th place). Glen Hanlon also coached HC Dinamo Minsk in 2009.”
The contract of head coach Andrei Skabelka wasn’t renewed at the end of May. Belarus is the host team for the 2014 IIHF world championship.
Last month, Hanlon resigned from his position as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants.
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The moves....
F Mark Derlago (Brandon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had 30 goals and 41 assists in 41 games for Anyang Halla (South Korea, Asian Hockey League) this season. Derlago finished fifth in league scoring. . . .
Mora (Sweden, Allsvenskan) announced the signings of F Jeremy Colliton (Prince Albert, 2001-05) and D Jonathan Harty (Everett, 2004-08) to one-year contracts. . . . Colliton played senior hockey with the Allan Cup-champion Bentley Generals (Alberta, Chinook Hockey League) this season. He had 11 goals and 16 assists in 41 games as captain of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) last season. . . . Harty had two goals and nine assists in 18 games with Angers (France, Ligue Magnus) this season.
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At least two WHLers are going back into the NHL draft. . . . F Shane McColgan of the Saskatoon Blades wasn’t signed by the New York Rangers. They had selected him in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft. McColgan, who will be heading into his 20-year-old season, had 66 points in 69 games with the Blades, who last summer acquired the native of Manhattan Beach, Calif., from the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Meanwhile, Spokane Chiefs D Brendan Kichton also will be available in the draft. Kichton, from Spruce Grove, Alta., was a fifth-round pick by the New York Islanders in the 2011 draft. He led all WHL defencemen in scoring in each of the last three seasons, putting up 81, 74 and 85 points, but the Islanders chose not to sign him. Kichton has used up his junior eligibility.
As well, I don’t believe the Ottawa Senators signed Victoria Royals D Jordan Fransoo, who was a seventh-round selection in 2011, while I don’t think the Winnipeg Jets signed D Zach Yuen, who was a fourth-round pick. Both are heading into their 20-year-old seasons.
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F Luke Paulsen, who played three seasons with the Kootenay Ice, will attend the U of Manitoba and play for the Bisons in 2013-14. Paulsen, from Winnipeg, was with the Ice from 2009-12 and at one point in 2011-12 actually retired from the game after suffering a brain injury. This season, he got into 19 games with the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues.
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The Vancouver Giants simply are rolling the dice with the trade they made to acquire D Dalton Thrower from the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Dickson Liong has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Steve Christie, a native of Winnipeg, is the U of Manitoba Bisons’ new goaltending coach. Christie, 28, played four seasons (2006-11) with the Bisons before going onto a pro career. He got into 14 games this season with the Southern Professional league’s Pensacola Ice Flyers.
The USHL’s Omaha Lancers have signed Brian Kaufman as their general manager and head coach. Kaufman, 29, was an assistant coach with the Lancers last season. Kaufman played four seasons at Miami U (Ohio) and spent 2011-12 there as a graduate assistant coach. . . . Kaufman replaces Mike Aikens after he and the Lancers agreed to go their different ways with two games left in the regular season. Kaufman ran the bench after Aikens left.
The Central league’s Brampton Beast has hired former professional player Brent Hughes as an assistant coach. He will work alongside head coach Mark Desantis. . . . The Beast is preparing for its first season in Brampton. Desantis and Hughes were teammates and roommates while playing with the Central league’s Amarillo Gorillas. Hughes, who played four seasons in the Central league, also played with the OHL’s Brampton Battalion in 2001-02.
The NAHL’s Wenatchee Wild, the new version, has signed general manager/head coach Bliss Littler. The Wild franchise that Littler coached this season has moved to the Hidalgo, Texas, and has been replaced in Wenatchee by the former Fresno Monsters. The Fresno franchise has adopted the Wild nickname and owner David White has signed Littler to a five-year deal. . . . Chris Clark and Tom Rudrud will return as the assistant coaches.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Taggart Desmet (Calgary, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract extension with Meran/Merano (Italy, Serie A2). He had 23 goals and 45 assists in 41 games for Meran/Merano this season. Desmet led the league in assists, finished fifth in goals, and finished fourth in scoring.
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JUST NOTES:
F Devin Oakes, 17, and F Deven Sideroff, 15, have joined the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Oakes, a list player from Prince Rupert, B.C., had 21 points in 32 games with the junior B Kamloops Storm before being injured. He will stay with the Blazers through the end of their season. . . . Sideroff, from Summerland, B.C., plays for the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton and will return there after the weekend. He has 55 points in 49 games. . . .

The Everett Silvertips have added three 15-year-olds, all selections in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . D Kevin Davis, a first-round selection, played for the major midget Kamloops-based Thompson Blazers, while F Matt Fonteyne, a third-round selection, was with the midget AAA Leduc, Alta., Oil Kings, and D Noah Juulsen, who was taken in the fourth round, played with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in the B.C. major midget league. Davis was signed to a WHL deal earlier this season and has played five games with Everett. The signings of Fonteyne and Juulsen were announced yesterday. . . . Fonteyne, from Wetaskiwin, Alta., had 34 points in 34 regular-season games with the Oil Kings. . . . Juulsen, from Abbotsford, B.C., had 25 points in 35 games. . . . As an aside, F Val Fonteyne, who played in the NHL from 1959-72 and also played in the WHA, is from Wetaskiwin. Feel free to drop a note to gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca if you know that Val and Matt are related.
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With the start of the WHL playoffs only 10 days away, the Victoria Royals have placed G Patrik Polivka (undisclosed) on the injury list. Polivka last played on March 5 when he started and went 40 minutes in a 6-0 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops. Polivka stopped 17 of 22 shots in that one before being replaced by Coleman Vollrath to start the third period.
Since then, Vollrath has gone the distance in five straight games — a 4-3 shootout loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on March 6, a 5-3 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants on Friday, a 3-1 loss in Vancouver on Saturday, a 5-2 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, and a 4-1 loss to those same Winterhawks last night in Victoria.
The Royals have brought in G Michael Herringer, a ninth-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft, to back up Vollrath. Herringer, who was on the bench last night, had been with the junior B Victoria Cougars.
Meanwhile, the Royals continue to be without veteran Russian F Alex Gogolev, who is their leading scorer.
Mario Annicchiarico of the Victoria Times Colonist reports today that “sources say (Gogolev) is about to undergo surgery and is done for the season. The team would not confirm that.”
The Royals are to open the first round of playoffs in Kamloops on March 22.
———
The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
———
TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice wrapped up the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot with a 3-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . While the Ice qualified for the playoffs for a 15th straight season, the Hurricanes will miss for the fourth straight season. . . . The Ice scored the game’s last three goals, with F Jaedon Descheneau tying the game, with his 28th goal, at 13:26 of the first and F Brock Montgomery, with his 31st, breaking the tie at 2:33 of the second. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart later scored his 32nd goal. . . . The Ice had lost its previous three games. . . . Kootenay is eighth, three points behind the seventh-place Medicine Hat Tigers. The Ice has three games remaining. . . .

In Edmonton, F Shane McColgan scored the only goal of the circus as the Saskatoon Blades got past the Oil Kings, 3-2. . . . The Oil Kings led this one 2-0 at 10:44 of the second period. . . . F Brenden Walker got the Blades on the board, with his 32nd goal, at 4:13 of the third, and McColgan tied it with his 19th at 8:31. . . . Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov stopped 39 shots. . . . Edmonton had won six straight. . . . F Dylan Wruck had a goal, his 22nd, and an assist for Edmonton, while D David Musil drew two assists. . . . The Oil Kings lead the Eastern Conference, with 104 points, 12 more than the Blades, who top the East Division. . . .

In Victoria, the Portland Winterhawks tied a WHL record with their 28th road victory of the season as they beat the Royals, 4-1. . . . Portland shares the record with the Calgary Hitmen (1999-2000) and Saskatoon Blades (2008-09). Portland has one road game remaining; it is to play the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., on Saturday. . . . The Winterhawks, with three games to play, are two points shy of the franchise record for points in one season (113) set in 1980-81. . . . Portland swept the four-game season series from Victoria. . . . F Ty Rattie scored a goal, his 45th, and added an assist for Portland. . . . Rattie and linemates Brendan Leipsic and Nic Petan each has 45 goals, as does Saskatoon's Josh Nicholls, and that leads the WHL. . . .Leipsic, who got his 45th goal last night, leads the WHL with 115 points, while Petan has 112 and Rattie 104. . . . The Winterhawks make a goaltending change halfway through the third period with reports indicating that starter Mac Carruth may have left with an injury. . . .

In Moose Jaw, G Justin Paulic stopped 31 shots to help the Warriors to a 5-0 victory over the Regina Pats. . . .  The shutout was the first of Paulic’s career. . . . D Morgan Rielly had three assists for Moose Jaw. . . . Rielly, the fifth overall selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2012 NHL draft, is expected to join the AHL’s Toronto Marlies once the Warriors’ season ends on the weekend. . . . Moose Jaw F Ben Duperreault scored his first WHL goal in his third game. . . . Moose Jaw F Jordan Messier sat out the second of a three-game suspension. I erroneously wrote here yesterday that he was done for the season. He had served one game by the time the WHL announced the suspension, so actually will be eligible to return for the Warriors’ final game. . . .

At Kent, Wash., F Luke Lockhart had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent) dumped the Tri-City Americans, 8-3. . . . The victory put the Thunderbirds into the playoffs for the first time after a three-year absence. . . . Seattle will clash with either the Portland Winterhawks or Kelowna Rockets in the first round. . . . Lockhart opened the scoring with his 24th goal, on a PP, just 1:18 into the game, then broke a 1-1 tie with a shorthanded goal at 8:39. . . . He’s got 25 goals this season. . . . F Connor Honey, F Seth Swenson and F Roberts Lipsbergs each added a goal and two assists for Seattle. . . . Seattle G Danny Mumaugh stopped 28 shots to get his first WHL victory. . . . G Austin Smith, who played for the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, backed up Mumaugh with G Brandon Glover serving Game 1 of a two-game suspension. Smith got into 20 games with the Swift Current Broncos last season. . . .

In Calgary, F Cody Sylvester had a goal, his 39th, and two assists as the Hitmen doubled the Medicine Hat Tigers, 6-3. . . . Sylvester’s shorthanded goal at 15:50 of the second period gave Calgary a 4-2 lead. . . . F Victor Rask scored his 14th goal and added two assists for Calgary. . . . Medicine Hat got a goal and two assists from F Hunter Shinkaruk. The Calgary native has 35 goals. . . . F Logan McVeigh added two goals, giving him 18, and an assist for the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat F Boston Leier was unsuccessful on a third-period penalty shot on Calgary G Chris Driedger, who stopped 31 shots. . . . The Tigers changed goaltenders at 13:06 of the second period, removing starter Cam Lanigan with an undisclosed injury and sending in Marek Langhamer. . . .

In Spokane, the Chiefs scored the game’s first five goals and then hung on for 6-4 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . F Mike Aviani gave the Chiefs a 5-0 lead at 1:50 of the third period. He’s got 30 goals. . . . The Cougars then scored four times in a span of 7:44 to get to within a goal. . . . Spokane F Alessio Bertaggia got an empty-netter at 18:07. . . . The Cougars got two goals from D Dan Gibb, giving him five, while F Colin Jacobs had three assists and F Zach Pochiro scored his 14th goal and added two helpers. . . . Spokane F Markson Bechtold scored his first WHL goal in his fourth game. . . . The Chiefs are fourth in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Tri-City Americans. Each has three games remaining and will play each other twice more. . . . The Cougars are four points out of the playoffs with three games remaining.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Harrison Harper, Lethbridge
F Jack Rodewald, Regina

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Jordan Fransoo, Victoria

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To Russia, with sticks and skates

Defenceman Marek Hrbas (13) of the Kamloops Blazers, here rubbing
out Mark McNulty of the Prince George Cougars on Saturday, hopes to
play in the World Junior Championship for a second straight year.(HUGO YUEN/KAMLOOPS DAILY NEWS)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Despite having been born and raised in the nearby Czech Republic, Marek Hrbas has never been to Russia.
That is something he plans on changing over Christmas.
Hrbas, a 19-year-old defenceman with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, will attend training camp with the Czech national junior team. Should he be selected to the team — and all signs certainly point in that direction — he will play for his country in the World Junior Championship that opens in Ufa, Russia, on Dec. 26.
“I’m excited,” Hrbas said Thursday after practice at Interior Savings Centre. “It’s a big deal.”
The Blazers were preparing for home games tonight against the Saskatoon Blades and Saturday against the Vancouver Giants.
Hrbas, who was acquired by the Blazers from the Edmonton Oil Kings prior to last season, expects to leave his teammates on Dec. 13 and fly to Rokycany, a town in the Plzen region of the Czech Republic, where the team will hold its selection camp.
“It’s about 10 minutes from my home,” said Hrbas, who is from Plzen. “I should be able to see my family.”
Hrbas, who has 11 points in 26 games with the Blazers, expects countrymate David Musil, a defenceman with the Oil Kings, to be the only other WHLer in the Czech camp, although there will be a few there from the QMJHL as well as centre Radek Faksa of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Faksa was the OHL’s highest-scoring freshman last season, with 67 points.
Hrbas is especially looking forward to having a travelling partner from Edmonton.
“It would be nice,” he said. “It’s a long trip, like 20 hours.”
The Czechs will play out of the Sports Palace in Ufa, in a pool with Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Latvia.
Before leaving for Russia, Hrbas said the Czechs will play an exhibition game against Slovakia on Dec. 17. After arriving in Russia, they will play Germany on Dec. 22.
Their first tournament game is scheduled for Dec. 26 against Sweden.
Last season, with the tournament playing out in Calgary and Edmonton, Hrbas had one assist and two penalty minutes in six games. The Czechs went 2-2 in their pool, including a 5-0 loss to Canada and a 5-2 victory over the United States. Russia then beat the Czechs 2-1 in the playoff round. Hrbas and his teammates won a fifth-place game, beating Slovakia, 5-2.
“We just want to make it through the preliminary round and then anything can happen in the quarterfinals and semifinals,” Hrbas said.
The Blazers are scheduled to meet the Hitmen in Calgary on Dec. 11 and play in Edmonton on Dec. 12.
Hrbas would play in those games before leaving. He then would miss six games before returning to face the visiting Tri-City Americans on Jan. 9.
Meanwhile, Blazers defenceman Jordan Thomson also will miss a few games over the New Year as he plays for Team West at the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Que., Dec. 29 through Jan. 4.
Thomson, a 16-year-old freshman from Wawanesa, Man., is expected to miss four WHL games. He has six points in 19 games this season.
At the same time, right-winger JC Lipon and centre Colin Smith, who are one-two in the WHL scoring race, are waiting to hear if they will be invited to the Canadian junior team’s training camp. It opens in Calgary on Dec. 10.
———
The Blazers (19-5-2) are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Regina Pats on Wednesday night at ISC.
The Blazers held a 40-13 edge in shots and outchanced the Pats, 28-9, but still came up short.
On Thursday, they spent time working on the power play — it was 1-for-5 against Regina — and also watched a video prepared by associate coach Dave Hunchak.
Hunchak and head coach Guy Charron have been working hard to get the forwards to stop passing up shooting opportunities.
Hunchak put together a video showing the number of shots from the slot area that were passed up.
———
Like the Pats, who were missing half a dozen regulars on Wednesday, the Blades (11-10-1) have their own M*A*S*H ward going.
Shane McColgan, their first-line centre, went home earlier in the week after suffering a suspected concussion during a 5-2 loss to the Royals in Victoria on Tuesday. McColgan, 19, has 23 points, including six goals.
Winger Nick Zajac, 17, is probable after taking a hit from Victoria defenceman Tyler Stahl, who drew a two-game suspension for the play.
The Blades may get back defenceman Matthew Pufahl, who missed their last two games. He came out of a 4-0 victory over the Cougars in Prince George a week ago after taking a hit from behind from forward Caleb Belter, who is serving a three-game suspension.
As well, Saskatoon headed west without defenceman Dalton Thrower, another player with a suspected concussion, and forwards Brett Stovin (shoulder) and Jessey Astles (wrist).
“We’ll move people around at different positions,” Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ general manager and head coach, told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “We’re going to have to really dig down here and play a real strong team game.”
After playing Tuesday in Victoria, the Blades enjoyed two days off so they should be relatively fresh tonight. They are expected to start Russian Andrey Makarov in goal. After starring against Team WHL in the Super Series last week, he beat Prince George and Vancouver (5-2) before getting the hook after giving up four goals in two periods against Victoria.
JUST NOTES: Both games are to start at 7 p.m. . . . The Blazers are expected to start G Cole Cheveldave (14-4-0) after Taran Kozun played against Regina. . . . The Blazers will be without F Dylan Willick (broken ankle) and F Aspen Sterzer (undisclosed).

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F Shane McColgan of the Saskatoon Blades returned home Wednesday after suffering a suspected concussion on Tuesday night during the Blades 5-2 loss to the Royals in Victoria. . . . McColgan was injured when he fell and struck his head on the ice after colliding with Victoria F Luke Harrison in the second period. . . . McColgan won’t play Friday in Kamoops or Saturday in Kelowna. . . . The Blades also have lost F Nick Zajac, who took a hit from behind from Victoria D Tyler Stahl. Zajac is day-to-day with — wait for it — an upper body injury. Stahl has drawn one of those tbd suspensions. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix also reports that D Matthew Pufahl is skating but his status for Friday is up in the air. Pufahl suffered an undisclosed injury Friday in Prince George. Cougars F Caleb Belter drew a three-game suspension for the hit on Pufahl. . . .
———
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Mark McNeill broke a 2-2 tie at 15:57 of the third period as the Prince Albert Raiders beat the Warriors, 3-2. . . .The Raiders led 2-0 late in the second period when the Warriors got back in it on F Sam Fioretti’s 16th goal at 19:07 on the PP. . . . F Jordan Messier tied it 45 seconds into the third period. He’s got three goals. . . . Raiders G Luke Siemens, who was sent north by the Warriors over the summer, stopped 29 shots. . . . In their last nine games, the Warriors have lost six times by one goal. But four of those losses came in OT or the circus, so they picked up four loser points. . . . Moose Jaw now heads out o a seven-game road trip. . . .

In Calgary, F Jake Virtanen, the first overall pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft, scored with 27 seconds left to give the Hitmen a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Hitmen have won three in a row and eight of nine. . . . The Hurricanes are 1-5 in their last six. . . . On Tuesday, the Hitmen were outshot 44-20 in Lethbridge and won 3-2. Last night, Calgary held a 49-16 edge in shots. . . .

In Kamloops, G Teagan Sacher made 40 saves and F Lane Scheidl scored twice as the Regina Pats got past the Blazers, 2-1, in overtime. . . . Kamloops held a 41-13 edge in shots and, by the Blazers’ count, a 28-9 edge in scoring chances. . . . F Tim Bozon got a PP goal for the Blazers at 6:25 of the third, with Scheidl equalizing, on the PP, five minutes later. . . . In OT, the Blazers turned over the puck in the neutral zone, Kamloops F Colin Smith and D Tyler Hansen collided and fell down, and Scheidl found room on the left side to blast a shot past G Taran Kozun, who finished with 11 saves. . . . In a game that featured more holding than a high school dance, eight of the game’s 13 minors were for roughing. . . .

In Spokane, F Todd Fiddler scored twice to help the Chiefs to a 3-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Chiefs are 11-2-0 at home. . . . Spokane broke a 1-1 tie with two third-period goals. . . . D Reid Gow broke a 1-1 tie at 4:41 of the third, with Fiddler later adding an empty-netter. . . .

In Portland, G Brendan Burke recorded his first WHL shutout as the Winterhawks beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-0. . . . Burke stopped 18 shots in putting up Portland’s four shutout in 23 games this season. Three different goaltenders have shutout with Portland, as Mac Carruth has two and Cam Lanigan one. The latter now is with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic had three assists as he ran his point streak to 11 games. He also has 11 straight multi-point games. . . . F Ty Rattie scored Portland’s first goal, his 15th, while F Nic Petan got the other two, giving him 13. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Alex Delnov and and F Riley Sheen each had a goal and three assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the Kootenay Ice, 7-4. . . . F Roberts Lipsbergs scored his sixth goal for Seattle, running his goal streak to four games. . . . The Ice trailed 3-2 early in the third period when Seattle F Luke Lockhart scored twice, at 7:20 and 8:34, to all but put it away.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Dawson Leedahl, Everett

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Tomas Fojtik (Portland, 2003-04) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Swindon Wildcats (England, Premier). He had four assists in 13 games with Basingstoke Bison (England, Premier) and one assist in two games with the Telford Tigers (England, Premier) earlier this season. . . .
D Jaroslav Obsut (Swift Current, Medicine Hat, 1995-97) was released by Donbass Donetsk (Ukraine, KHL). He had one goal and five assists in 23 games this season.
———
F Mathew Barzal, the first overall selection by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2012 WHL bantam draft, played his third game this season with the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express last night. Barzal, who has yet to decide between the Thunderbirds and the NCAA, had one assist — his first point in the three games — and a minor penalty in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Chilliwack Chiefs.
———
The Victoria Royals got down to two goaltenders on Friday when they assigned Jared Rathjen, 18, to the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines. That leaves the Royals with Czech freshman Patrik Polivka, 18, and Vollrath Coleman, a 17-year-old freshman from Calgary, to handle the goaltending. . . . The Royals also assigned D Kolton Dixon. 17, to the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers.
———
D Alex Theriau, 20, who was released this week by the Medicine Hat Tigers, has signed with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals. . . . Thanks to Brian Wiebe (@Brian_Wiebe) for that tidbit.
———
D Spencer Galbraith, 19, has ended his WHL career, the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced on Friday. Galbraith, from Spruce Grove, Alta., played in a 4-2 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals on Wednesday. He had been acquired a year ago from the Brandon Wheat Kings. He had seven assists in 52 games with Lethbridge last season. This season, he had seven points, two of them goals, in 20 games.
———
Matt Gardner of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has an interesting story right here that details why a local brewing company is unable to sell beer in the Art Hauser Memorial Centre during Raiders games. Did you know that Molson  pays the Raiders $30,000 for rights to the facility during their games.
———
FRIDAY’S GAMES:
G Luke Siemens stopped 28 shots to help the host Prince Albert Raiders to a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . That was his first shutout this season and the seventh of his career. . . . F Mark McNeill and F Mike Winther each scored their eighth goals and added an assist. F Dakota Conroy, an early-season acquisition from the Victoria Royals, added his ninth goal. . . . Seattle has lost three in a row and five of six. . . . The Thunderbirds are 1-4-0 in an East Division tour that ends tonight in Saskatoon. . . .

The Lethbridge Hurricanes ran their winning streak to four games with a 5-3 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . The Hurricanes, who have had their struggles in recent seasons, have won nine of 12. . . . Lethbridge erased a 2-0 first-period deficit with four straight goals — two in each of the last two periods. . . . F Russell Maxwell scored his 13th of the season for the visitors, who got 35 saves from G Ty Rimmer. . . . The Hurricanes are without F Graham Hood (broken hand). He is their captain. . . .

F Elgin Pearce scored one goal and drew two assists to help the host Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Tigers G Cam Lanigan stopped 29 shots to earn the victory. He is 6-2-0 with the Tigers after coming over from the Portland Winterhawks, for whom he had been 3-0-0. . . . F Curtis Valk scored his 15th of the season for the Tigers and F Hunter Shinkaruk got his 14th, while F Sam Fioretti got No. 15 for the Warriors. . . .

D Alex Roach broke in a new pair of skates with two goals and an assist to help the host Calgary Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Roach had four goals in 61 games in each of his first two seasons. This season, he has four goals in 20 games. He also has 15 points in 20 games, after putting up 16 and 18 points in his first two seasons. . . . Calgary has won five in a row. . . . F Brady Brassart, returning after a seven-game absence due to an undisclosed injury, had a goal and two assists for Calgary. . . . Victoria F Steven Hodges ran his point streak to six games with a late goal. . . . The Royals have lost six in a row. . . . D Tyler Stahl scored his first goal in a Royals uniform. It was his second career goal in his 159th game. He played 127 games with the Chilliwack Bruins and the last 32 with the Royals. A concussion limited him to 20 games last season. Stahl, 20, is the Royals’ captain. . . . The Hitmen were without F Brooks Macek (ill), their leading scorer, and F Cody Sylvester (undisclosed). . . .

G Laurent Brossoit stopped 38 shots to lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 4-2 victory over the Cougars in Prince George. . . . Edmonton scored three goals in the first period and then watched as the Cougars mounted a comeback. . . . The Oil Kings scored two shorthanded goals, the second into an empty Prince George net late in the third period. . . . F T.J. Foster had his 11th goal and two assists for Edmonton. . . . Prince George G Mac Engel, who relieved starter Brent Zarowny with the score 3-0 to start the second period, stopped 19 shots. . . . The teams play again tonight in Prince George. The Cougars then will ride the bus to Vancouver for a Sunday game that is to begin at 4 p.m. . . .

F Shane McColgan had a goal and three assists to lead the Saskatoon Blades to a 6-3 victory over the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls scored twice, giving him 17 in as many games. . . . Cha-ching! There was a line brawl at 7:22 of the third period. . . . During the fighting, Saskatoon F Jessey Astles suffered a cut to one wrist and had to leave the game. “When he went down, his own skate caught him across the wrist,” Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPoenix. “He’s going to have surgery. That’s all I can tell you.” . . . The Pats took 83 of the game’s 159 penalty minutes. . . . The Blades had erased a 1-0 deficit with six goals before F Morgan Klimchuk scored two PP goals for Regina. . . .

G Austin Lotz recorded his first WHL shutout as the visiting Everett Silvertips beat the Tri-City Americans, 3-0. . . . Lotz stopped 35 shots as the Silvertips snapped their seven-game losing streak. Everett also had lost five straight in Kennewick, dating back to last season. . . . The Americans had won three in a row. . . . The Americans hadn’t been blanked at home since Jan. 5, 2008, when they lost 3-0 to the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett had lost four straight to the Americans this season. . . . Americans F Justin Feser played in his 300th regular-season game. He is the eighth Tri-City player to get there. . . . Everett was playing its seventh game in 11 nights. . . . F Trent Lofthouse’s fourth goal of the season at 18:20 of the first period stood up as the winner. . . .

F Riley Whittingham broke a 2-2 tie with his first career goal and the host Spokane Chiefs went on to a 5-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The goal was the first of Whittingham’s career. He is a 17-year-old freshman from Calgary. . . . The Blazers (17-3-1) have followed a franchise-record 14-game winning streak by losing three of their last four games. . . . Kamloops F JC Lipon scored his 17th goal. He and Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls are tied for the WHL goal-scoring lead. Lipon has a WHL-leading 41 points, one more than linemate Colin Smith. . . . Lipon’s goal came on the PP and ended an 0-for-17 drought for the Blazers. . . . F Todd Fiddler had a goal and two assists for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane F Mitch Holmberg scored in his return from a five-game absence. He had been injured on a high hit from Everett D Nick Walters, who served a three-game suspension for it. . . .

In Vancouver, the Portland Winterhawks scored the game’s last four goals and dropped the Giants, 9-5. . . . F Nic Petan had two goals and two assists for the visitors. Last season, Petan had 35 points, including 21 assists, in 61 games. Right now, he has 31 points, 21 of them assistds, in 18 games. . . . Portland now has won 10 in a row. . . . Vancouver G Payton Lee allowed five goals on 26 shots before being yanked for a second straight game. . . . Portland has a 58-18 edge in goals in its last 10 games. The Winterhawks are in Spokane tonight. . . . Vancouver F Trevor Cheek, who is from Vancouver, Wash., scored twice to pull the Giants into a 3-3 tie. . . . The Winterhawks yanked G Brendan Burke with the score 5-5 — he stopped 14 shots — and Mac Carruth came on to make one save and get the victory. . . . Vancouver G Tyler Fuhr took the loss. He came on with his side trailing 5-3. . . . The Winterhawks outshot the Giants, 51-20. Portland has outshot its opponent in each of its 18 games this season. . . . Winterhawks F Ty Rattie had three assists to run his point streak to 12 games. He has 26 points in the 12 games. . . . Portland D Tyler Wotherspoon had one goal and was plus-5. . . .

G Jackson Whistle stopped 23 shots to help the Kelowna Rockets beat the visiting Red Deer Rebels, 8-1. . . . Whistle is 5-0-0, 1.06, .961. . . . Kelowna G Tyrell Goulbourne scored his third goal in as many games. He has three goals this season and each one is a game-winner. . . . Kelowna got two goals from each of F Ryan Olsen, F Cody Fowlie and D/F Myles Bell.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Tim Traber, Victoria
F Mike Aviani, Spokane
F Caleb Belter, Prince George

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Brenden Walker, Saskatoon
———
TWEET OF THE DAY:
Regan Bartel (@Reganrant), the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets: “I am still trying to convince @my_ohs29 to rip a slap shot at the Prospera score clock in an effort to knock that thing down permanently.”

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tomas Polak (Red Deer, 2007-09) was recalled from loan to Most (Czech Republic, 1.Liga) by Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic, Extraliga) and reassigned to Bernousti Medvedi (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). Polak had three assists in 11 games during his assignment to Most. . . .
Bernousti Medvedi has released F Radek Meidl (Seattle, Tri-City, 2006-08) from his try-out contract. Meidl had three goals and two assists in 14 games during his try-out.
———
The book that is referenced over there on the right, Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos, has been popping up in various bookstores.
If you are at all interested in it, you may want to know something about Leesa Culp, who was instrumental in bringing this project to fruition.
There is a story on her and her involvement right here.
If you missed it (and one or two of you likely did), I appeared with Bob Stauffer on 630 CHED in Edmonton on Thursday to talk about the book. I was followed on air by former WHLer Peter Soberlak and Brian Costello of The Hockey News. If you visit CHED's website, you will find an archive where you are able to listen to back programming. We were on in the hour from noon to 1 p.m.
I also did an interview with Cam Moon, the radio voice of the Red Deer Rebels, and he plans on playing that during two intermissions of one game on the team’s current road trip.
On top of that, Dan Russell of Sportstalk, the nightly show on Vancouver radio station CKNW, has done a one-hour interview that is to be played one night next week and one more time before Christmas.
I also will be chatting with Pat Siedlecki, the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, on his weekly show on Monday evening.
And there are regular appearances with Drew Wilson, the play-by-play voice of the Prince Albert Raiders on CKBI. The most recent of those was last Monday.
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The host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup and a team hoping to be the host in 2016 got together on a deal on Friday.
The Saskatoon Blades, who will play in the 2013 tournament as the host team, acquired F Nathan Burns, 19, from the Vancouver Giants for F Travis McEvoy, 18, a third-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft and a first-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. (The Brandon Wheat Kings have an option on that selection through a deal in which Saskatoon acquired F Brenden Walker over the summer. The Wheat Kings can flip picks in that first round.)
Burns, from Edmonton, has nine points and 18 penalty minutes in 15 games with the Giants this season. He was in the Blades’ lineup last night when they met the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook. Burns, a seventh-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is the younger brother of former Blades F Michael Burns.
McEvoy, from Thorsby, Alta., had 11 points in 64 games last season and had four assists in 13 games with the Blades this season. He is expected to make his Giants debut tonight in Cranbrook against the Ice.
At 6-foot-0 and 210 pounds, McEvoy gives the Giants a big centre, something coveted by head coach Don Hay, especially on a team that began this season rather smallish up front.
The Giants, who lost 5-1 to the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Thursday to fall to 4-11-0, now hold seven selections in the first three rounds of the 2013 bantam draft -- two firsts, two seconds and three thirds — and, of course, two picks in the first-round of the 2014 draft.
While the Giants haven’t made an official announcement, they are expected to bid to play host to the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament. When that happens, you can expect them to be the favourites to win that right.
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The Kootenay Ice have added another veteran forward to its roster. On Friday, the ice acquired F Zach McPhee, 19, from the Everett Silvertips for a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. McPhee, who is from Vernon, B.C., had left the Silvertips earlier this season after going pointless in 11 games. Last season, he had 10 points in 34 games.
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Hey, before we look at Friday’s games, if you’re a stats person, zip on over to the QMJHL website and check out its online scoresheets. They include faceoff stats, shots by skaters, and hits. Well, WHL, what are you waiting for?
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 40 shots to help the Wheat Kings to a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . F Nick Buonassisi broke a 2-2 tie with his seventh goal at 15:10 of the third period. . . . This was Brandon’s first home game after a seven-game road trip that ended in Prince George on Saturday. . . . Moose Jaw is 1-6-1 on the road now. The Warriors have scored only 14 goals in those games, with 10 of them coming via the PP. . . . F Jordan Messier scored his first goal for the Warriors since being acquired from the Tri-City Americans. He showed up with an undisclosed injury and has played in only five games with Moose Jaw. This was his first game after a five-game absence. In this game, he also took a big hit from Brandon D Ryley Miller. . . . Moose Jaw D Kendall McFaull (flu) sat out and the Warriors lost F Justin Kirsch with an undisclosed injury in the first period. . . . F Ryley Lindgren, who co-leads the Manitoba midget AAA league in scoring with the Winnipeg Thrashers, was in Brandon’s lineup and earned an assist. Lindgren had quite a week. He had a goal and an assist on Wednesday as the Thrashers beat the visiting Kenora Thistles, 6-4. On Thursday night, Lindgren had an assist in helping the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers to a 4-3 shootout victory over the host Virden Oil Capitals. . . . In three games in three nights in three leagues in three levels, Lindgren had a goal and three assists. . . . A fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, Lindgren has 18 points in 12 games with the Thrashers. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Shane McColgan’s OT goal gave the Saskatoon Blades a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . McColgan got his fourth goal of the season at 3:06 of extra time. . . . Ice F Erik Benoit forced OT with his third goal at 9:11 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls had two goals, giving him 14, and an assist. . . . F Zach McPhee drew an assist and was plus-1 in his first game with the Ice. . . . . . . F Nathan Burns, acquired by Saskatoon earlier in the day from Vancouver, was pointless in his debut with the Blades. . . . The Blades, who got off to such a shaky start, are 2-0 since returning from a 10-day break in their schedule. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Jay Merkley scored twice as the Hurricanes scored the game’s first four goals and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 5-2. . . . Merkley has seven goals. . . . Medicine Hat G Cam Lanigan, named the WHL’s goaltender of the month earlier in the week, was gone in the second period after giving up four goals on 28 shots. Marek Langhamer relieved him and stopped 24 of 25 shots. . . . The Hurricanes are 3-0-1 in their last four outings. . . .

The host Prince Albert Raiders erased a 2-0 deficit and beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-2. . . . Edmonton led 2-0 at 14:08 of the second period. . . . Raiders F Jonas Knutsen broke a 2-2 tie with his second goal at 12:33 of the third period. . . . Raiders G Luke Siemens stopped 37 shots. . . . D David Musil was pointless and plus-1 in his debut with the Oil Kings, who acquired him earlier in the week from the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Raiders have won three in a row and lead the East Division by five points over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Raiders also lead the Eastern Conference by three points over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Oil Kings began a six-game road swing that has them in Swift Current tonight and Kamloops on Tuesday. . . .

F Brooks Macek scored two empty net goals as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Pats 4-1 in Regina. . . . The Pats have lost four in a row. . . . Macek, whose goals both came in the final minute, also had an assist. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots. . . . Macek has nine goals this season. . . .

The host Swift Current Broncos erased a 2-1 deficit with three goals early in the third period and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3. . . . Swift Current F Graham Black, who scored twice, tied the game 17 seconds into the third and F Adam Lowry and F Chance Lund, who was acquired from Seattle over the summer, scored at 3:48 and 4:25, both goals coming shorthanded on the same Thunderbirds PP. . . . This was the start of Seattle’s six-game East Division swing. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers got shootout goals from F Brendan Ranford and F Cole Ully to beat the visiting Prince George Cougars, 2-1. . . . Kamloops F Matt Needham forced OT with his fourth goal at 1:36 of the third period. . . . D Marc McNulty scored for the Cougars in the second period. I checked and he isn’t related to The Wire’s Jimmy McNulty. . . . The Blazers went 5-1-0 as they played six games over an eight-day stretch. . . . Kamloops F Dylan Willick left in OT with an injury to his right leg after getting caught up in a mess of players during a scramble in the Blazers’ crease. . . . The Kamloops line of JC Lipon, Colin Smith and Tim Bozon have been held pointless for two straight games now. . . .

F Ty Rattie had a goal and two assists to help the Portland Winterhawks beat the visiting Victoria Royals, 6-2. . . . Rattie is on a nine-game point streak, the longest in the WHL at the moment. . . . Rattie now has 22 points in 14 games. . . . F Nic Petan added two goals and an assist for the winners, while D Tyler Wotherspoon had three assists. . . . Petan has 24 points in 15 games. He has points in six straight and that includes five multi-point outings. . . . The Winterhawks have won seven in a row and are 7-0-1 in their last eight outings. . . . The Royals have lost three in a row. . . .

In Spokane, the Red Deer Rebels opened a five-game road trip with a 3-1 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Spokane remains without F Mitch Holmberg, who hasn’t played since taking a headshot on Oct. 26. . . . Red Deer F Turner Elson tied the game 1-1 at 6:19 of the second, via the PP, and F Wyatt Johnson got the winner at 9:35. . . . The goal was Johnson’s first in the WHL and came in his third game. Acquired from Vancouver earlier, he missed the start of the season with a concussion. . . . D Brady Gaudet, acquired from Kamloops last month, got Red Deer’s third goal. . . . Spokane had won its first seven home games. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Marcus Strömwall got the winner as the Tri-City Americans beat the Everett Silvertips, 3-2. . . . Strömwall got his seventh goal, on the PP, at 6:59 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. . . . The Americans, who are 4-0 against Everett this season, had lost their last three games. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser drew two assists, giving him 150 in his career. That ties him with F Patrick Holland and F Ian McDonald for 12th on the Americans’ career list. . . . D Ryan Murray drew two assists for Everett.
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By the way, 17 of the WHL’s 22 teams are at .500 or better, thanks to the loser point.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Lukas Sutter, Saskatoon
D Macoy Erkamps, Lethbridge
D Cody Corbett, Edmonton
D Richard Nedomlel, Swift Current
F Joel Hamilton, Red Deer

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Rinalds Rosinskis, Prince George
F JC Lipon, Kamloops
F Tanner Eberle, Moose Jaw
F Josh Uhrich, Moose Jaw
D Harrison Ruopp, Prince Albert
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge), the proprietor of the Small Thoughts At Large blog that is linked over there on the right: “Am I the only one who doesn't care about the NHL cancelling the Winter Classic? Sick of these outdoor games. Done to death already.”

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