By GREGG DRINNAN

Daily News Sports Editor

Like the Hatfields and McCoys, Cleveland and LeBron, and the Red Sox and Yankees, the Kamloops Bruins and Chilliwack Bruins flat out don’t like each other.
If that wasn’t evident before, it certainly became crystal clear with the events of Saturday when the teams combined for 110 minutes in penalties during a WHL game at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
The Blazers won the game, 5-1, and 74 of those penalty minutes were dished out in the game’s last two minutes six seconds.
That included referee Andy Thiessen swinging Chilliwack forward Blair Wentworth around like a sack of dog food and the Blazers claiming that defenceman Brady Gaudet had been bitten during a late altercation.
The Blazers will be hoping to take a bite out of the Bruins tonight as the teams resume their rivalry at Interior Savings Centre. They meet again Saturday in Chilliwack. Game time both nights is 7 o’clock.
“It’s kind of been that way right from the get-go, right from the situation at the start of the (season) with (Chase) Souto,” offered Kamloops defenceman Brady Gaudet. “There’s been some bitterness between us.”
Wentworth was given a double minor for checking from behind for a hit on Souto as the visiting Blazers won 6-1 on Oct. 2 in what was the second meeting of the season between the teams. Wentworth was given a two-game suspension; Souto missed seven games with a concussion.
In the first meeting, on Sept. 25 in Kamloops, Souto had dropped Chilliwack defenceman Zach Habscheid in a late-game bout.
In five games, the Blazers have taken 236 of the 423 penalty minutes that have been handed out. (Kamloops remains the WHL’s most-penalized team, with 1,201 minutes; the Bruins are fourth, at 1,113.)
“They’re a really good hockey team and they work hard every night, and we do, too,” Kamloops left-winger Brendan Ranford said. “When two hard-working teams play against each other there are going to be some confrontations. That’s just how hockey is. We’re battling for a playoff spot, if confrontation comes up we have to battle through it.
“It’s almost like a playoff game every night playing against them. That’s playoff hockey. There are a lot of battles out there. It’s fun hockey.”
Gaudet found himself in the middle of the fun on Saturday, and it resulted in his second career scrap, this one with forward T.C. Cratsenberg. Gaudet emerged claiming he had been bitten.
“I was pretty certain it was a bite,” Gaudet said. “Where my hand was at the time, I knew it was in that region of his mouth and I felt something awfully sharp.”
There wasn’t any real proof, however, so the WHL wasn’t able to act on Kamloops’ complaints.
“That’s right,” said Gaudet, who received a game misconduct for being involved in the second fight during the same stoppage of play.
A big part of the rivalry, at least at this point of the season, may have something to do with the standings.
The Blazers (22-29-3) are in sole possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, one point ahead of the Bruins (21-25-4) and two up on the Seattle Thunderbirds (18-25-9). Kamloops is four points behind the Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips, who are tied for sixth.
The race for eighth, however, has turned into more of a walk-a-thon. Kamloops, Chilliwack and Seattle are a combined 5-22-3 in their last 30 games.
The Blazers, who lost 3-2 to visiting Everett on Wednesday, have won two of their last 12 games. The Bruins, beaten 6-4 by the Rockets in Kelowna on Wednesday, have lost six straight.
“Since I’ve been here, every single game has been an absolute battle,” Blazers defenceman Austin Madaisky offered. “We’ve had games where there has been more than 200 penalty minutes.
“Chilliwack . . . you could really see last game when we got up a few goals they started looking for that. They’ve got a few guys who love to get under the skin of opposing players.
“We’re just going to have to go back in that building and play just like we did last time, and same with the game here at home.”
JUST NOTES: Kamloops F JT Barnett was in the penalty box for high-sticking when Everett F Tyler Maxwell scored the winning goal Wednesday. It was only the sixth time in 54 games that Barnett has been responsible for an opposition PP and the first time a goal has been scored while he was off. . . . The Blazers continue to without F Chase Schaber (leg) and G Cam Lanigan (concussion). . . . The Bruins are without F Steve Oursov (concussion) and F Jesse Pauls (leg), while veteran D Jeff Einhorn (leg) is listed as day-to-day. . . . Joe Renney, the father of former Blazers coach Tom Renney, died Tuesday night in Cranbrook after a long illness. Tom, the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, left the NHL team for a few days in the fall to spend time with his father. A funeral service is scheduled for Tuesday, 11 a.m., at McPherson’s Funeral Home (2200 2^nd St. South) in Cranbrook.

Rudy skates on at the Soo

The Chilliwack Bruins have acquired F T.C. Cratsenberg, 18, from the Spokane Chiefs for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft. Cratsenberg, who is from Federal Way, Wash., was a sixth-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2007 draft. He was pointless in five games this season. In 68 career games, he has two assists and 84 penalty minutes. . . . The move leaves the Chiefs with 24 players on their roster, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen
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F Tyler Pitlick of the Medicine Hat Tigers drew a three-game suspension for a kneeing major he incurred in Friday’s 9-2 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert. Pitlick hit Prince Albert D Nathan Deck, who suffered a knee injury and could miss up to six weeks with a torn MCL. Pitlick sat out a 4-1 loss to the Blades in Saskatoon on Saturday and last night’s 3-2 loss to the visiting Kootenay Ice. He also will miss Saturday’s visit by the Chilliwack Bruins. He is eligible to return on Tuesday when the Tigers meet the Hitmen in Calgary.
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From the latest musings of Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada: “Mike Milbury, Craig Simpson and I are in the hotel bar in Philadelphia. A man walks in and looks at Milbury, who says, ‘Don't hate me because I used to kick the Flyers' asses.’ The guy says, ‘Don't worry, I'm from Pittsburgh.’ The reply: ‘Oh, I kicked their asses, too.’ ” . . . The whole package is right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have assigned F Tyler Paslawski, 18, to the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. Paslawski, who is from Choiceland, Sask., had one assist in five games with the Raiders. . . . This gets the Raiders’ roster down to 24, including two goaltenders and nine defencemen. . . . Of the nine defencemen, three are injured. Nathan Deck (knee) won’t play for a while, nor will Emerson Hrynyk (shoulder). Jordan Rowley (wrist) should be back within two weeks. . . . The Raiders (5-7-2) are at home tonight to the Moose Jaw Warriors (4-8-1).
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Rudy is skating into the Soo. F Rudy Sulmonte, 18, has forsaken a scholarship to Mercyurst College, a Division 1 NCAA school in Erie, Penn., and has joined the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Dave Torrie said it was the first time in his eight seasons as the Greyhounds’ general manager that “we have had a free agent player who was attending an NCAA institution on a full scholarship decide to leave and join our program.” . . . Sulmonte, who is from Levittown, N.Y., played two seasons with the junior New Jersey Rockets. He is to join the Greyhounds on a three-game swing that opens tonight in Windsor.
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F Josh Cowen of the Red Deer Rebels will sit for another couple of weeks as he recovers from mononucleosis. Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate reports that “tests have revealed that his spleen hasn’t been affected but the 19-year-old is lacking energy.” . . . D Matt Pufahl is close to returning from a concussion and may play this weekend. . . . F Locke Muller (broken hand) has had a pin removed but is still a couple of weeks away.
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TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
KOOTENAY 3 at MEDICINE HAT 2: The Ice (9-3-1) scored the only two goals of the third period to extend its winning streak to five. . . . The Tigers (6-5-0) led 1-0 and 2-1. . . . D Dylan Busenius, with his first WHL goal in 51 games, scored for the Tigers at 11:07 of the first. . . . F Joe Antilla, with his first of two, pulled the Ice even just 43 seconds later. . . . F Curtis Valk, with his first WHL goal, gave the Tigers’ a 2-1 lead at 12:58. . . . It was the Medicine Hat native’s seventh game this season and the 11th of his career. . . . Antilla, with his sixth of the season, pulled the visitors even at 2:55 of the third. . . . F Matt Fraser of the Ice won it on the PP at 14:52 of the third. It was his fifth of the season. . . . F Emerson Etem had two assists for the Tigers, while D Joey Leach had two helpers for the Ice. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 26 shots, two more than Medicine Hat’s Tyler Bunz. . . . The Ice was 1-for-2 on the PP; the Tigers were 0-for-3. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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SASKATOON 2 at REGINA 5: The Blades (10-3-0) scored the game’s first and last goals. In between, the Pats (5-7-2) struck five times. . . . Regina now has won three in a row. . . . The Blades had won two in a row. They now are 3-3-0 on the road. . . . F Marek Viedensky got his 10th of the season for Saskatoon at 9:54 of the first. . . . F Colin Reddin, with his third, and F Thomas Frazee, with his sixth, put the Pats out front before the period ended. . . . Frazee scored on the PP. . . . The Pats took control on second-period goals from F Jordan Weal, his seventh, and F Garrett Mitchell. . . . F Carter Ashton also scored for Regina, his sixth. . . . F Darius Dziurzynski got his 10th for the Blades. . . . Regina was 3-for-7 on the PP, while Saskatoon was 0-for-4. . . . Regina G Damien Ketlo stopped 33 shots, including 19 of 20 in the third period. . . . Saskatoon’s Adam Morrison stopped 28 shots. . . . Paid attendance was 3,620, although Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post wrote: “Only about half that number actually braved the first blizzard of the season.” . . . Harder also pointed out that this was the “Pats’ first regulation home victory in three years over Saskatoon.” The Blades were 7-0-3 in their last 10 visits to Regina. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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BRANDON 3 at KELOWNA 1: F Shayne Wiebe, the Wheat Kings’ captain, had a goal and an assist as Brandon snapped its nine-game losing streak. . . . The Wheat Kings (5-9-0) opened the season with four victories and then lost nine in a row. . . . Wiebe broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth goal just 49 seconds into the third period. . . . The Rockets thought they had tied the game four minutes later when a puck bounced in off F Cody Chikie’s upper body. Referee Andy Thiessen waved it off and the call was upheld with video review. . . . F Shane McColgan had given the Rockets (4-8-0) a 1-0 lead at 5:17 of the first period. He has 12 points in a seven-game point streak. . . . F Mark Stone pulled Brandon even at 10:23 of the first. . . . F Brenden Walker added an empty-netter for the Wheat Kings. . . . Brandon G Liam Liston stopped 27 shots, two more than Kelowna’s Adam Brown. . . . Brandon was 0-for-2 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-for-4. . . . Kelowna F Geordie Wudrick, 20, was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for what he said was the first time in his career. According to the WHL website, this was Wudrick’s 323rd career regular-season game. If he is to play in all of the Rockets remaining 60 games, he will finish at No. 2 on the all-time list. Of course, according to the website, he played 86 games last season -- 24 with the Swift Current Broncos and 62 with the Rockets. . . . Ahh, yes, the troubled WHL website. . . . During the Kelowna broadcast, Gord McGarva, who rides shotgun with Rockets voice Regan Bartel, was heard to say: “Sometimes I’m wrong.” . . . For some reason, Bartel chose not to walk through the wide-open door. . . . The Wheat Kings are 1-4 on this eight-game swing that continues tonight in Kamloops. Brandon also will stop in Cranbrook on Frieday and Lethbridge on Saturday before returning home to face the Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 5. . . . Attendance was 6,021. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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TRI-CITY 5 at SEATTLE 4 (SO): F Justin Feser’s shootout goal gave the Americans the victory. . . . It was the first time all night that the Americans held the lead. . . . Seattle F Marcel Noebels, the third shooter, gave his side 1 -0 lead, only to have Tri-City F Patrick Holland tie it. . . . The Americans (10-4-1) are the third WHL team to 10 victories this season. . . . The Thunderbirds are 5-2-3. . . . Feser, who forced OT at 14:00 of the third, won it after Seattle F Luke Lockhart deked and then missed the net behind Tri-City G Drew Owsley. . . . The Thunderbirds scored the game’s first goal and the team’s alternated goals through the third period. . . . Feser also had an assist. . . . Tri-City D Tyler Schmidt drew two helpers. . . . Noebels, a freshman from Germany, had a rather memorable night. He had a goal, his third, and two assists, picked up 17 minutes in penalties as he got into a third-period scrap, and scored in the shootout. . . . Lockhart scored twice for the Thunderbirds, while D Brenden Dillon had two assists and F Burke Gallimore had a goal and an assist. . . . Tri-City had a big chance in OT when F Jordan Messier tipped a Schmidt shot off a post behind G Calvin Pickard. . . . Messier scored his ninth of the season in the first period. . . . Owsley made 29 saves; Pickard made 30. . . . The Americans were 1-for-2 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 3-for-4. . . . Attendance in Kent, Wash., was 3,045. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Two minors, one each to Tri-City D Spencer Humphries and Schmidt.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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