F Michal Řepík (Vancouver, 2005-08) signed a two-year contract with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, with Pelicans Lahti (Finland, Liiga), he had nine goals and 22 assists in 49 games. He also played four games with Zug (Switzerland, NL A), picking up two goals and an assist.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
Steve Montador was, as Daniel Carcillo puts it, his “best friend in hockey.” On Feb. 15, Montador, 35, was found dead in his home. He had battled addictions and post-concussion syndrome, the latter having forced a premature end to his hockey career. . . . On Wednesday, a piece written by Carcillo, who plays for the Chicago Blackhawks, was posted at The Players’ Tribune. . . . This is powerful stuff, especially the video at the end, and it's all right here.
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In the same vein, here is the link to a story that appeared on CKPG-TV in Prince George on Tuesday. It features Cooper Holick, a young man who, in a bid to help other young people, has opened up his mental health issues. He did it with the full support of his mother, Janet, and father, Mark, who is the head coach of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
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G Jordan Papirny of the Brandon Wheat Kings is eager to get the Eastern Conference final started. That series opens Friday night with the Calgary Hitmen in Brandon. Papirny goes into the final on quite a roll, too. As Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports: “Papirny hasn’t given up a goal after the second intermission in any of the Wheat Kings’ last six games and he has a remarkable .964 save percentage in third periods and overtime sessions in this year’s post-season.” . . . That story is right here.
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The Calgary Hitmen have played 12 playoff games this spring, and six of them have gone to overtime. Calgary won four of those games, so really doesn’t mind working overtime. Laurence Heinen covers that angle in this story for the Calgary Herald.
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Jamie Kompon is in his first season as the GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks. Really, they haven’t missed a beat as they are into the Western Conference final for the fifth straight season. They’ll open Friday against the host Kelowna Rockets. . . . In advance of the series, Kompon offered up some thoughts for Steve Brandon of the Portland Tribune.
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In Kelowna, the Rockets remember what happened a year ago when they met up with the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Conference final. Yes, Portland won. In five games. These are different teams, of course, especially on their back ends, and the Rockets are hoping that gives them an edge. Warren Henderson of Kelowna’s Capital News has that story right here.
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The Everett Silvertips finished atop the U.S. Division, but lost a second-round series in five games to the Portland Winterhawks, who had finished three points behind them. So how do the Silvertips look at their season? “I thought it was a great season,” head coach Kevin Constantine told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald. . . . That story is right here.
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The WHL office has looked after a couple of items left over from the second round of the playoffs. . . . F Jared Dmytriw of the Victoria Royals was given a one-game suspension after he incurred a boarding major and game misconduct in Kelowna on Friday. He’ll sit out the first game of the 2015-16 season. . . . D Connor Hobbs of the Regina Pats drew a one-game suspension for a kneeing major and game misconduct he took on April 15 against visiting Brandon. Hobbs served the penalty when he missed Game 5 of that series on Friday.
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So . . . which WHL building will be the first to be home to a taco cannon? Seriously! There will be one at University of Nebraska Omaha games next season. . . . There’s more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
John Paddock isn’t going anywhere. Paddock, the Pats’ senior vice-president of hockey operations and head coach, has told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post that he has no plans to leave. “I hope this is my last job in hockey, but I hope it's not done anytime soon," Paddock said. "I didn't come here to use this to springboard anywhere. It would be hard to envision going anywhere else right now.” . . . Harder’s story is right here.———
This Winnipeg church is blessed with a humourous sign maker. #NHLJets #NHLDucks #GoJetsGo #PaintItOrange pic.twitter.com/wqAweDQTsU
— Judy Owen (@SportyCottager) April 22, 2015
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In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored the game’s first five goals as they beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 5-1. . . . The Oil Kings took control with two goals in the last two minutes of the first period. . . . F Brett Pollock scored his 26th goal, on a PP, at 18:00 and F Edgars Kulda got his eighth at 19:24. . . . Kulda and D Dysin Mayo each had a goal and an assist. Mayo has 12 goals. . . . Edmonton F Davis Koch drew two assists. . . . Tigers F Matt Bradley scored his 14th goal at 18:22 of the third, on a PP. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 30 shots and earned an assist as he put on quite a display of his puck-handling skills. . . . The Tigers played their third straight game without F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL scoring race. He was serving a three-game WHL suspension. . . . The Oil Kings improved to 27-27-6, while the Tigers slipped to 37-20-3. . . . Brian Swane of the Edmonton Sun has a game story 
In Everett, the Silvertips jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then withstood a furious Lethbridge comeback before beating the Hurricanes, 5-4. . . . F Graham Millar gave Everett a 4-0 lead with his 12th goal at 16:12 of the first period, on a PP. . . . Lethbridge began its comeback seven seconds later on F Jamal Watson’s 23rd goal. . . . F Giorgio Estephan made it 4-2 with his 18th goal, on a PP, at 5:22 of the second. . . . F Brayden Burke got his sixth goal, at 7:14, on another PP, and now it was 4-3. . . . Everett D Noah Juulsen relieved the pressure with his seventh goal at 6:44 of the third. . . . Juulsen had missed the previous two games with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Nikita Scherbak scored his 24th goal and added two assists for Everett, while F Patrick Bajkov got his 22nd goal and an assist, and F Kohl Bauml had two helpers. . . . Scherbak came up short on a penalty shot at 19:33 of the second period, with his side leading 4-3. . . . Watson also had an assist, while F Mike Winther, back after serving a one-game suspension, drew two assists. . . . Lethbridge G Stuart Skinner stopped 34 shots, 15 more than Everett’s Austin Lotz. . . . Everett was 2-for-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 2-for-6. . . . The Silvertips (36-17-7) are 1-1-2 in their last four. They snapped the first three-game losing streak of their season with this victory. . . . Lethbridge (18-35-7) has lost four straight (0-3-1).
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