Hunchak: I was in the darkest place I'd ever been in

More than a year has gone by since Dave Hunchak left the Kamloops Blazers. They were in Spokane for a Jan. 10 game with the Chiefs when Hunchak, the Blazers’ head coach, left the team and returned home. The team announced that he was on a leave of absence; he never returned. Hunchak has told Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail that his nightmare began with an anxiety attack that ultimately was followed by depression. . . . “The best way I can describe it is: I was in the darkest place I’d ever been in,” Hunchak told Maki. “I was thinking it was possible I could do something I would regret.” . . . Maki’s complete story is right here, and it deals with a lot more than Hunchak, who, by the way, is back to where he was and wanting to get back to coaching. In the meantime, he is working in Kamloops as an electrician.
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“A Canadian lawyer has told Washington state legislators he opposes a bill that might allow Western Hockey League teams to circumvent laws on child labour and minimum wage, a change WHL team executives say is critical for them to stay in business,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN. “In a Feb. 17 letter that was sent to seven Washington state senators and obtained by TSN, Toronto lawyer Ted Charney wrote that he opposes Bill 1930 on behalf of his clients, Lukas Walter and Sam Berg, former major junior hockey players who are now suing the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Charney hopes to have a lawsuit certified as a class action case.” . . . Westhead’s complete story is right here.
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WHL commissioner Ron Robison and the general managers of the four Washington-based teams appeared at a Senate hearing in the state capital of Olympia on Wednesday. Scott Sepich, a Portland-based freelancer, has that story right here.
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The sporting community in Kamloops is coming together to help Peter Friedel, who has done a lot of volunteer work with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior league and the Kamloops Venom junior lacrosse team. . . . The Storm will donate a portion of the gate receipts from its Saturday playoff game to Friedel, and a dinner and dance to benefit him is scheduled for March 7. . . . Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week has more right here.
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F Trevor Cox of the Medicine Hat Tigers has had his suspension set at three games. He was suspended under supplemental discipline for a hit on Calgary F Kenton Helgesen during a game on Saturday. Cox, who already has missed two games, will complete the suspension on Sunday when the Tigers play in Edmonton. . . . Helgesen didn’t play in Calgary’s 2-1 victory over the visiting Tigers on Tuesday.
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F Logan Aasman of the Everett Silvertips doesn’t even know when he first was concussed. He just knows that recovering at home in Medicine Hat wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Aasman, who last played on Nov. 30, finally has been cleared to return and Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has the story right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

B.C. DIVISION: Kelowna won at home and now leads the overall standings by two points over idle Brandon. Each teams has 14 games remaining. . . . Vancouver won at home and remains third in the B.C. Division, but now is three points ahead of Kamloops, which lost on the road, and idle Prince George.
U.S. DIVISION: All five teams enjoyed the day off. You have to think players from the four Washington-based teams were watching goings-on in Olympia.
EAST DIVISION: Moose Jaw lost in OT on the road and the loser point lifted it to within seven points of a playoff spot.
CENTRAL DIVISION: Red Deer won on the road. It remains third in the division, four points behind second-place Calgary and nine points ahead of Kootenay, which holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.

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In Vancouver, D Mason Geertsen’s second goal of the game, at 4:11 of OT, gave the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Geertsen, who has 11 goals, had given the Giants a 2-1 lead at 19:28 of the second period. He also drew an assist on his side’s first goal. . . . D Spenser Jensen forced OT with his third goal at 6:06 of the third period. . . . F Jack Rodewald gave Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead with his 27th goal 59 secondsd into the second period. . . . F Thomas Foster scored his 10th at 14:22 of the second, on a PP, to pull the Giants even. . . . F Tyler Benson had three assists for Vancouver. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-2 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-3. . . . Moose Jaw G Brody Willms stopped 29 shots, six more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . It was a Hockey Hooky game, meaning a noon start. Moose Jaw had played in a Hockey Hooky game in Victoria the previous day and had come away with a 4-3 victory. . . . F Ty Ronning and D Arvin Atwal were among the Giants’ scratches. News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) tweeted that “Atwal hasn’t played since off-ice incident last week.” . . . The Giants (25-30-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Warriors (23-30-5) are 2-2-1 on a seven-game road swing that continues Friday in Kamloops. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a game story right here. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has a game story right here. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Red Deer Rebels scored two third-period goals and beat the Blades, 4-3. . . . D Amil Krupic’s fifth goal of the season, at 13:41 of the second, had given the Blades a 3-2 lead. . . . D Josh Mahura scored his first WHL goal at 13:56 of the third to tie it and F Preston Kopeck got the winner, his 17th goal of the season, at 15:21. . . . Kopeck, F Riley Sheen and F Wyatt Johnson each had a goal and an assist for Red Deer. Sheen has 17 goals; Johnson has 22. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan had two assists for the Blades, whose captain, F Brett Stovin, scored his 24th goal. . . . Red Deer G Trevor Martin, who was acquired from the Blades, stopped 30 shots in his first start since being added from the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. He now will return to Melville. . . . Saskatoon G Nik Amundrud turned aside 35 shots. . . . Saskatoon D Brycen Martin had his point streak snapped at 11 games. . . . The Rebels (30-18-9) are 2-0-1 in their last three. . . . The Blades now are 17-37-3. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. . . .

In Kelowna, every skater on the roster but one picked up at least one point as the Rockets whipped the Kamloops Blazers, 11-4. . . . Only D Madison Bowey failed to get at least one point. . . . F Tomas Soustal led the way with two goals, giving him eight, and two assists, with F Rourke Chartier adding two goals and one assist. . . . Chartier now leads the WHL with 46 goals, one more than F Cole Sanford of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . D Josh Morrissey also scored twice for the Rockets, giving him 12. They got three assists from F Leon Draisaitl and two from each of F Nick Merkley, F Tate Coughlin and F Cole Linaker. . . . F Collin Shirley scored twice for Kamloops, giving him 20, and added an assist. F Matt Needham also scored his 20th goal this season. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully had two assists. . . . According to a tweet from Kelowna play-by-play voice Regan Bartel: “Last time the @Kelowna_Rockets put up 11 goals on home ice prior to tonight was in an 11-2 win vs. Giants Jan 5/2002.” . . . The Rockets now have beaten the Blazers in 18 straight regular-season meetings. The Blazers last posted a regular-season victory over the Rockets on March 3, 2013, when G Cole Cheveldave stopped 25 shots in a 3-0 shutout in Kamloops. F JC Lipon scored all three Kamloops goals. F Cole Ully and D Ryan Rehill are the only two players off today’s Kamloops roster who played in that game. . . . The Rockets won the last two regular-season meetings that season, all eight last season and another eight this season. The teams will meet twice more this season. . . . The Rockets (45-9-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Blazers (22-31-6) have lost two straight.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)
No Games Scheduled
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FRIDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)
Red Deer at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Regina, 7 p.m.
Edmonton vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna at Victoria, 7:30 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Lethbridge vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
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GM, Head Coach, & Bus Driver. @PeterAnholt guiding us the way for the 1st leg of our trip! #TripleThreat #CaneTrain pic.twitter.com/7gT2xhKXeW
— LethbridgeHurricanes (@WHLHurricanes) February 18, 2015

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The Saskatoon Blades' Telemiracle jersey.

 You will remember earlier this season when the Saskatoon Blades donned their cowboy jerseys.
Now they’ve come up with another set of uniforms. These ones will be worn March 4 in a game against the visiting Kootenay Ice.
The jerseys are being auctioned off via a silent auction — you may check it out at the Blades’ website — with proceeds going to Telemiracle.
The weekend of March 4-5 is Telemiracle time in Saskatchewan.
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Garrett Mitchell and the
Regina Pats will wear throwback
jerseys Friday and Monday.

The Regina Pats will wear commemorative jerseys and socks when they meet the Calgary Hitmen in an outdoor game Monday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
The jerseys are replicas of what the Pats wore in the 1950s.
Pats fans will get a look at the jerseys on Friday when the Hitmen are in Regina. The jerseys from Friday’s game will be available via silent auction during the game.
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The Swift Current Broncos raised $6,400 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation through a jersey auction and the sale of pink carnations.
If you were wondering, the top three jerseys went for $1,000 (Justin Dowling), $755 (Taylor Vause) and $650 (Adam Lowry).
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Three men who bought into the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers a couple of weeks ago — including former Medicine Hat Tigers G Kelly Hrudey — met with the media in the Vancouver Island city on Sunday. Greg Sakaki of the Nanaimo News Bulletin was there and his story is right here.
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Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail has done it again. Here’s another great read on Mario Lemieux, Sen. Hartland Molson and the debate about headshots, fighting and travesty in the NHL.
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It seems that seven is the number in the WHL these days.
F Colton Jobke of the Kelowna Rockets was hit with a seven-game suspension Monday, the second time in less than a week that a WHL player has drawn a seven-game sentence.
Jobke was suspended after he hit Chilliwack F Tim Traber during the Bruins’ 5-4 shootout victory in Kelowna on Friday. Traber ended up with a season-ending broken right leg; Jobke was hit with and interference major and game misconduct.
Jobke will be eligible to return on Feb. 25 when the Rockets are in Red Deer to visit the Rebels.
Last week, Chilliwack D Brandon Manning was given a seven-game suspension after a hit that left Kamloops Blazers D Austin Madaisky with a fracture to his C-7 vertebrae. Madaisky won’t play again this season.
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The Saskatoon Blades put their 11-game winning streak on the line tonight when they meet the Wheat Kings in Brandon. That means that F Brayden Schenn, who spent three seasons with the Wheat Kings, makes his return to Brandon. Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has that story right here.
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JUST NOTES: The Chilliwack Bruins will meet the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday and the game is close to being declared sold out. It’s Pink The Rink night, to benefit the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Foundation, and the game will be played on pink ice. . . . The Winterhawks might become the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff spot this week. A Portland news release explains: “Kamloops and Seattle, the ninth- and 10th-place teams in the Western Conference, can max out at 79 points, the Winterhawks’ current total. If Kamloops loses Tuesday or Friday, and Seattle loses on Friday, the Winterhawks will be in. Or if either team wins this week, then a Portland win Saturday against Chilliwack would clinch a playoff spot.” . . . Portland F Ryan Johansen has 13 points in five February games. He is one of five Portland players averaging more than one point per game. . . . Moose Jaw F Quinton Howden is the WHL’s player of the week. He had nine points and was plus-5 in three games as the Warriors went 1-1-1. . . . Darcy Kuemper of the Red Deer Rebels is the WHL’s nominee as the CHL’s goaltender of the week. He was 2-1-0, 1.35, .960 last week. . . . Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that the Blades will be without F Brent Benson (leg) for up to four weeks. He was injured in the Blades’ 5-3 victory over the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Saturday.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
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Robert MacLeod of The Globe and Mail interviewed OHL vice-president Ted Baker about that league’s move to get rid of what it calls staged, or premeditated fights. That piece is right here.
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The WHL, of course, moved prior to the 2008-09 season to get rid of such fights. However, I don’t know that the WHL had the same problem that OHL commissioner David Branch has indicated his league has had -- players hooking up on Facebook and setting up fights.
Here’s a chunk of what Branch said during an appearance on Prime Time Sports on Toronto‘s FAN 590 (thanks to Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports):
"What the new rule is to address (is) those situations we feel, certainly at our level, have crept in at the start of the game or the start of the period, but particularly at the start of the game.
"The puck hits the ice, two players drop their gloves and go at it . . . you could reasonably suggest it's been premeditated and arrangements were made.
"I know through some focus groups we had with some of our players on social networking . . . that is one of the things that has been happening, where players have been, you know, prearranging what might occur in the way . . . of physical interaction for the next time they meet.
"We're addressing that and hope (the rule) will serve to remove it."
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Is the WHL, along with the two other major junior leagues, going to have to spend some serious time thinking about and discussing the role of fighting in its game?
While it may not be politically correct to stand up and say fighting belongs in hockey, does the WHL need to take a look at fighting’s role in relation to attendance?
If you tour around the Internet, you will have noticed that people are starting to talk about the WHL and its attendance figures. For starters, people are using figures that are available right here.
You can read whatever you want into those figures, but one thing can’t be denied. League-wide attendance figures are down for a third consecutive season.
After games of Tuesday, attendance is down 17 fans per game, or 0.41 per cent. Those figures have nine teams down and a dozen showing an increase. The Medicine Hat Tigers are the other team; they sell 4,006 tickets per game and have for a number of seasons now.
It’s worth noting that six of the teams showing an increase are up less than five per cent. It is, then, a fine-edged sword.
Last season, league-wide attendance was down 277 fans per game (5.97 per cent); it was down 79 fans (1.67) in 2008-09.
Does the WHL’s stand against some but not all fighting have any bearing on those figures?
If you watched the video of the dustup between the Kamloops Blazers and the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday night, you know that the fans loved it. If you missed it, the incident took place following the buzzer to end the second period, and the crowd noise gains momentum as the people in the seats come to realize what is happening on the ice.
It is safe to say that no one left the building.
It also is safe to say that this altercation was a one or a two on a scale of 1-10 when compared with the bench-clearing brawls of yesteryear.
One WHL team official suggested Thursday that he thought there was some over-reaction -- the WHL handed out $6,000 in fines (all of which were mandated by league rules) and 15 games in suspensions -- because, in his words, “there really was only one fight.”
As of late Thursday night, the video had been viewed 5,658 times on YouTube.
But, then again, if fighting really does draw fans, what’s the problem in Kamloops?
The Blazers lead the WHL in penalty minutes and in fighting majors -- and their roster includes LW Brendan Ranford, who leads the league in goals.
Through 12 home dates, attendance is down 299 fans per game. In fact, attendance in Kamloops appears headed down for a ninth consecutive season. In 2002-03, the Blazers averaged 5,373 fans, up 34 from the previous season. This season, the Blazers’ average attendance is 4,019.
Last season, the Prince George Cougars led the WHL in fighting majors. And we all know what’s going on with attendance there.
So maybe that theory is full of holes, too.
Maybe there is no definitive answer.
In order to fill its arena, perhaps a team needs a perfect storm -- a good, hard-working team, some toughness, some marketing and a whole lot of word of mouth.
But its all fodder for discussion, isn’t it?
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The Prince Albert Raiders have dealt D Emerson Hrynyk, 18, to the Chilliwack Bruins for G Cole Holowenko, 17, who is with BCHL’s Westside Warriors.
A shoulder injury limited Hrynyk to eight games this season, although he was a healthy scratch for a 3-2 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday. From Okanagan Falls, B.C., he had six points in 50 games with the Raiders. He joins a Bruins team that has a couple of defencemen on the limp. Zach Habscheid (knee) is week-to-week; Jesse Pauls (broken leg) is out indefinitely.
Holowenko was a second-round selection by the Bruins in the 2008 bantam draft. He will stay in Westside, as the Raiders continue to go with veteran Jamie Tucker and freshman Eric Williams.
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D Kyle Aschim, 20, has joined the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Aschim (Prince Albert, Calgary, 2006-10) was plagued by shoulder problems last season with the Hitmen and had offseason surgery. Although he has been with Victoria for about a month, he played his first game with the Grizzlies on Thursday as they fell 4-3 to the host Surrey Eagels. . . . The rumours are out there again. Yes, the ones connecting the WHL to Victoria or Victoria to the WHL. The WHL has meetings coming up in January so it is no surprise that these rumours are making the rounds again. . . . People within the WHL have long said that the only way the league considers going back to Vancouver Island is if there are two teams there. And that won’t happen until a city other than Victoria builds a WHL-calibre arena. . . . If there was such a facility in Nanaimo, chances are the WHL would be looking at going back. . . . Victoria, which is home to the ECHL’s Salmon Kings, last had a WHL team for the 1993-94 season. The franchise moved to Prince George over the summer of 1993. . . . If you were wondering, the WHL’s Christmas trade moratorium runs from Dec. 15 through Dec. 27. . . . Hockey Canada will issue invitations to its national junior team’s selection camp on Monday. Gotta wonder if they are RSVP? . . .
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Years ago, when he covered the WHL’s Winnipeg Clubs and Monarchs, he was Pat Doyle, a sports writer with the Winnipeg Tribune. He later wrote for the Toronto Sun and Winnipeg Sun. Today, he is Patti Dawn Swansson. Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun has that story right here.
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The OHL’s Guelph Storm have shuffled the deck, at least a little bit. Mike Kelly is the team’s new vice-president and general manager, replacing Jason Brooks, who stays on as head coach. . . . The Storm is 10-9-3, good for fourth in the Midwest Division. . . . Kelly is a flash from the past -- he was the Storm’s GM for six seasons a while ago. . . . Kelly was helping run an Italian league team from North America and also was a part-time scout for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes when he chose to return to the Storm. . . . This Mike Kelly is not to be confused with Mike Kelly, who is the director of hockey operations and associate coach with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and who once coached the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . But you have to wonder how much of their mail gets mixed up?

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter