F Konstantin Panov (Kamloops, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia, KHL). Last season, he was an alternate captain with Traktor Chelyabinsk (Russia, KHL). He had 12 goals and 12 assists in 59 games. . . .
F Sergei Varlamov (Swift Current, 1995-98) signed a one-year contract with Donbass Donetsk (Ukraine, PHL).Varlamov only played for the Ukraine’s national team last season. He had one assist in three games at the IIHF Division 1A World championship. In 2013-14, with Donbass in the KHL, he had one goal and three assists in 39 games.
D Logan Stephenson (Tri-City, 2001-06) signed a one-year extension with the Tohoku Free Blades Hachinohe (Japan, Asia HL). Last season, he had five goals and seven assists in 43 games as the Free Blades won the league championship. . . .
D Tomáš Mojžíš (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 2000-03) signed a one-year extension with TPS Turku (Finland, Liiga). He had one goal and five assists in 45 games last season.
———
Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
———
Jason Christie (Saskatoon, 1986-90) is the new head coach of the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. Christie, 46, spent the past four seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Ontario Reign, winning at least 43 games each season. Christie, who is from Gibbons, Alta., is preparing for his 14th season as a head coach. He has 483 ECHL coaching victories, just nine behind John Marks, who holds down the all-time record. . . . In Tulsa, Christie takes over from Bruce Ramsay, who now is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
——
Shawn Belle’s playing career over. Belle, a smooth-skating defenceman with the Regina Pats and Tri-City Americans (2001-05), has retired and signed on as an assistant coach with the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders. Belle, a 30-year-old from Edmonton, played the past four seasons in Europe. He and Wendell Hodgson, a veteran coach on the Alberta scene, were named assistant coaches on Thursday.——
Cail MacLean is the first head coach in the history of the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. MacLean, 38, was introduced as head coach on Thursday. The Thunder is affiliated with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. . . . MacLean, who is from Middleton, N.S., spent two seasons (2011-13) as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, which also was a Flames’ affiliate. He has previous head-coaching experience in the ECHL with the South Carolina Stingrays (2009-11).
——
The AJHL’s Calgary Canucks have signed Jay Pylypuik as their new general manager and head coach. He had been the head coach of the midget AAA Calgary Royals. . . . Earlier, he was on the coaching staff of the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles for five years. . . . With the Canucks, he takes over from Ryan Barrett, who was fired as head coach earlier this month, and Chad Shiel, who resigned as GM shortly thereafter. . . . The Canucks have added Adam Redmond as an assistant coach. He had been the head coach of the midget AAA CFR Chemical Bisons, who play out of Strathmore, Alta. The Bisons had hired Redmond on June 28.——
John Wroblewski is the new head coach of the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms. Wroblewski, 34, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators for two seasons. . . . Wroblewski takes over from Anthony Noreen, who was there for four seasons and now is the head coach of the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears.———
Trevor Heinzerling is the Seattle Thunderbirds’ new equipment manager. Last season, he was the equipment manager with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. Heinzerling takes over from Ben Calkins, who left to work as co-equipment manager with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. . . . The Thunderbirds open training camp on Aug. 24 in their home arena, the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.——
In something of an early commitment, D Tyler Jubenvill has decided to attend Bemidji State and play for the Beavers. Jubenvill, who is from Gilbert Plains, Man., won’t turn 16 until Nov. 30. He was a ninth-round selection by the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he had eight goals and 21 assists with the midget AAA Parkland Rangers. He is expected to play with the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers in 2015-16.
———
1978-79 Victoria Cougars team photo. They were 2nd in the West Division that year & lost in the 2nd round to Portland pic.twitter.com/3NKwUWJZfr
— Victoria Cougars (@victoriacougars) July 23, 2015
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
In Red Deer, F Wyatt Johnson scored twice to help the Rebels to a 6-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Johnson, who has five goals, broke a 2-2 tie at 12:12 of the second period and made it 4-2 at 16:54. . . . F Grayson Pawlenchuk scored once and set up two others for Red Deer, which was 2-for-2 on the PP. . . . F Conner Bleackley drew three assists for the Rebels. . . . F Jari Erricson scored his ninth goal of the season for the Cougars. . . . F Tyler Sandhu, acquired by Red Deer from the Everett Silvertips earlier in the week, had a goal and an assist in his first game with the Rebels. . . .
In Cranbrook, defenceman-turned-forward Kenton Helgesen and F Greg Chase each scored twice as the Calgary Hitmen rattled the Kootenay Ice, 9-2. . . . Calgary held period leads of 2-0 and 5-1 as it outshot its hosts, 42-21. . . . The Hitmen broke open a 2-1 game with three goals in 2:07 late in the second period. . . . Calgary D Colby Harmsworth and F Terrell Draude each was plus-5. . . . Calgary had 13 skaters with at least one point. . . . Two of the WHL’s top offensive players returned to action for the first time this season. Calgary F Jake Virtanen had yet to play because of off-season shoulder surgery; Kootenay F Tim Bozon, who went through that battle with Neisseria meningitis in March, was out with an undisclosed injury. . . . Virtanen and Bozon each had one assist. . . . The Ice also had D Renat Valiev back in the lineup. He came back from the camp of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs with an injury and had yet to play. . . .
In Swift Current, the Broncos scored two power-play goals and beat the Regina Pats, 3-1. . . . F Carter Rigby snapped a 1-1 tie with his eighth goal, via the PP, at 1:37 of the second period and F Coda Gordon added another PP goal, his seventh goal this season, at 17:29. . . . Swift Current G Landon Bow stopped 32 shots. . . . The Broncos were 2-for-5 on the PP. . . . F Sam Steel got his third goal for the Pats. . . . Regina has recalled D Ryan Krushen, 16, from the minor midget Sherwood Park, Alta., Kings and he was in the lineup for this one. Krushen played in three exhibition games with the Pats before being released from their roster. . . .
In Prince Albert, the Portland Winterhawks scored three times in the third period and beat the Raiders, 5-2. . . . The Winterhawks are 3-2-0 on a six-game East Division swing that wraps up tonight in Saskatoon. . . . Portland D Layne Viveiros, whose father Emanuel starred on the Raiders' back end in the mid-1980s, had a goal and two assists, all in the third period. . . . F Mile Koules added a goal, his fourth, and two assists for Portland. . . . Portland G Bolton Pouliot stopped 29 shots. G Michael Bullion of the NAHL's Wenatchee, Wash., Wild was on the bench backing up Pouliot. . . . The Winterhawks lost F Alex Schoenborn to a headshot major and game misconduct at 10:06 of the third period for a hit on Raiders F Reid Gardiner, who left with a cut to his forehead and didn't return. . . . Jeff D'Andrea of panow.com has a gamer 
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s first two goals, both on the PP, and went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-1. . . . The Tigers, the WHL’s top defensive club to this point, have allowed 18 goals in 12 games. . . . The Warriors have dropped 11 straight regular-season games in Medicine Hat. . . . D Tommy Vannelli scored his fifth goal at 3:04 of the second period and D David Quenneville added his second at 8:35 of the third. . . . Tigers F Chad Butcher got his 10th goal of the season late in the third period. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-for-7 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-4. . . . Moose Jaw F Jack Rodewald had one assist to run his point streak to nine games. . . . Tigers G Nick Schneider stopped 24 shots to run his record this season to 4-0-0. Schneider, a 17-year-old from Leduc, Alta., was 6-0-0 with the Tigers last season, after being acquired from the Regina Pats. . . .
In Victoria, the Royals scored two PP goals and beat the Vancouver Giants, 2-1. . . . The Royals have won three straight. . . . D Travis Brown, at 12:52 of the first period, and F Brandon Magee, at 4:32 of the second, gave the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . F Carter Popoff scored for the Giants, at 3:02 of the third. . . . Victoria G Coleman Vollrath stopped 28 shots, one more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . The teams meet in Victoria again tonight. . . .
In Everett, F Nikita Scherbak broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 8:30 of the third period as the Silvertips got past the Tri-City Americans, 3-1. . . . Scherbak added an empty-netter, his seventh goal in eight games, at 18:28. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 35 shots, including all 21 he faced in the first period. The Americans were outshot 21-3 that period. . . . Everett D Kevin Davis, the 11th overall pick in the 2012 bantam draft, had two assists. Davis is from Kamloops. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 12 shots. . . . The game almost didn’t come off as the Silvertips gave serious consideration to postponing it following a shooting earlier in the day at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The Silvertips have a number of season-ticket holders from Marysville. According to Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald: “Silvertips executive vice president Zoran Rajcic said the team was leaning toward postponing Friday's game at Xfinity Arena. However, after consulting with leaders in the community, including representatives from the Tulalip Tribes and the Marysville School District, the Tips decided to play the game as scheduled.” . . . Patterson also reported that the Silvertips “planned several steps to honor the victims during Friday's game. A moment of silence was scheduled prior to the singing of the national anthem; game operations were to be toned down, including not using the goal horn during pregame introductions; and staff members wore red jerseys, which is Marysville-Pilchuck's primary color.” . . .
In Kamloops, F John Quenneville returned from injury to score a goal and add three assists as the Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the Blazers, 8-5. . . . The Wheat Kings have won four straight games, scoring, in order, 8, 10, 7 and 8 goals. . . . Quenneville took part in his first full practice on Thursday in Kamloops after missing six games with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Jayce Hawryluk got his 10th goal and three assists for the Wheat Kings. . . . Brandon got a goal and two assists from F Rihards Bukarts, giving him 23 points in 13 games, while D Ryan Pilon and F Jayce Hawryluk each had three assists. . . . Pilon was plus-5, as was his partner, Russian freshman Ivan Provorov, who ran his goal-scoring streak to four games with his seventh goal. . . . Bukarts has goals in five straight games and points in nine straight. . . . F Cole Ully drew four assists for the Blazers, leaving him with 26 points, tops in the WHL. . . . Ully came out of the game atop the scoring race, three points ahead of Bukarts. . . . F Deven Sideroff, who plays on a line with Ully, scored three times, while F Matt Needham, the centre on the line, had three assists. . . . Sideroff, a freshman from Summerland, B.C., has eight goals. . . . Brandon G Logan Thompson stopped 29 shots in his second start of the season. You can bet that Brandon will go back to starter Jordan Papirny tonight in Kelowna against the Rockets. . . . The Blazers, meanwhile, rode the bus all night to Kennewick, Wash., where they will play the Tri-City Americans tonight. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a gamer 
D Tomas Mojzis (Moose Jaw, Seattle, 2000-03) signed a one-year contract extension with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). Mojzis was acquired by Slovan in mid-January from Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL) and the contract extension keeps him with Slovan through the end
The Everett Silvertips held their first-ever Town Hall Meeting on Jan. 31.
In Swift Current, G Eetu Laurikainen stopped 35 shots in recording his first WHL shutout as the Broncos dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 3-0. . . . F Adam Lowry’s 34th goal, at 9:43 of the first period, stood up as the winner. . . . Broncos D Brett Lernout scored his first WHL goal in his 44th game, 24 of which have been played this season. . . . The Broncos closed to within two points of the sixth-place Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference. . . . 
In Cranbrook, G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 25 shots to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 4-0 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Skapski has five shutouts this season. . . . The Ice has won 10 in a row at home. . . . F Collin Shirley’s eighth goal, at 15:05 of the first period, was the winner. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau assisted on the game’s first two goals. . . . The Ice now is within one point of the Medicine Hat Tigers, who hold won the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . 
In Brandon, the Regina Pats scored the game’s last six goals and beat the Wheat Kings, 7-3. . . . Regina F Dyson Stevenson broke a 3-3 tie at 7:02 of the third period. . . . Regina F Lane Scheidl had tied the game with goals at 15:27 and 19:39 of the second. He’s got 28. . . . Regina D Kyle Burroughs had one assist and was plus-4. . . . F Braden Christoffer also scored twice for Regina. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy scored twice, giving him 13 goals, including six in his last nine games. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk had two assists. He has had five straight multi-point games and has points in six in a row. . . . The Pats moved into 10th in the Eastern Conference, but they’re nine points out of a playoff spot. . . . 
In Saskatoon, the Blades ran their winning streak to eight as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-2 in front of a record crowd. . . . They celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Credit Union Centre and drew 12,588 fans. The previous record (12,341) had stood since Nov. 16, 1990. . . . The victory lifted the Blades to within two points of the East Division-leading Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Saskatoon F Brenden Walker had two goals and an assist, while F Michael Ferland drew three assists. . . . Walker has reached 20 goals for a third straight season. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls drew two assists, giving him 291 career points. That moved him past Jason Christie and into ninth on Sasktoon’s all-time list. . . . The Hurricanes had F Kolten Olynek in their lineup for the weekend. He plays for the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts and is the Saskatchewan league’s leading scorer, with 65 points in 34 games. A second-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, he scored his first WHL goal last night. . . . The 50/50 winner went home with more than $68,000. . . .
In Kamloops, F JC Lipon scored twice and added two assists as the Blazers dumped the Red Deer Rebels, 5-3. . . . Lipon broke a 2-2 tie with his 30th goal of the season at 11:38 of the second period. . . . F Brendan Ranford added his 15th goal and two assists for Kamloops, which has won four in a row overall and six straight at home. . . . The Rebels went 2-1-0 on a road swing on which they played three games in four nights — in Prince George, Kent, Wash., and Kamloops, in that order. . . . “For the trip being the way it was for us . . . it was a tough trip as far as the travel,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ GM/head coach, said, “we were stil right there right to the end.” . . . The Rebels are fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Saskatoon. . . . The Blazers, third in the Western Conference, are five points behind B.C. Division-leading Kelowna. The teams will play Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Kelowna. . . . 
In Kelowna, F Nic Petan scored three second-period goals as the Portland Winterhawks dropped the Rockets, 5-1. . . . On Friday, the Winterhawks had beaten the Rockets 5-3 to end Kelowna’s home-ice winning streak at 23 games, one shy of the franchise record. . . . Portland now holds a six-point lead on the idle Edmonton Oil Kings atop the overall standings. . . . The Rockets went into the weekend within five points of the Winterhawks, who lead the overall standings. The Rockets now are nine points back and, at the same time, the B.C. Division leaders are only five points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers. The Rockets and Blazers go home-and-home on Friday and Saturday, starting in Kamloops. . . . Petan’s third goal made him the first WHLer to 40 this season. He also leads in points, with 98. . . . F Ty Rattie had a goal his 31st, and three assists for Portland, with F Brendan Leipsic adding his 39th goal and two helpers. Leipsic has 97 points. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stoped 31 shots, losing his shutout when F Colton Sissons scored at 13:01 of the third. . . . The Rockets left after the game for Everett, where they’ll play the Silvertips tonight. . . .
In Prince George, F Jakob Stukel scored his first WHL goal in his fourth game and it stood as the winner as the Vancouver Giants beat the Cougars, 4-1. . . . Stukel, a second-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, plays for the major midget Valley West Hawks. . . . His goal broke a 1-1 tie at 14:47 of the second period. . . . Vancouver F Jackson Houk was unsuccessful on a first-period penalty shot attempt with his side down 1-0. . . . Prince George G Mac Engel stopped 32 shots, nine more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . G Ty Edmonds, 16, picked up his first WHL victory on Friday when the Cougars beat the Giants, 6-4. He was a ninth-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. According to the Cougars, he is the first 16-year-old goaltender to win a game for them since Chris Mason in 1993-94. . . . The Cougars are ninth in the Western Conference, two points behind the eighth-place Seattle Thunderbirds. . . .
In Kent, Wash., F Victor Rask’s PP goal just 46 seconds into OT gave the Calgary Hitmen a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds (of Kent). . . . The game was delayed in OT after a shot by Calgary D Alex Roach resulted in a broken pane of glass. Roach then drew an assist on the winner. . . . That was the only time all game that Calgary held a lead. . . . Calgary F Cody Sylvester, playing his 300th regular-season game, forced OT with his second goal, and 30th of the season, at 16:27 of the third. . . . Calgary’s Mike Williamson was behind the bench for his 800th game as a WHL head coach. . . . F Brooks Macek had a goal, his 26th, and two assists for Calgary. . . . Rask has seven goals this season. . . . F Adam Kambeitz had given Seattle a 3-2 lead with his 12th goal at 10:27 of the third on a PP. . . . Calgary appears destined for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. . . . The loser point moved Seattle to within three points of sixth-place Everett in the Western Conference. . . . 
In Spokane, F Riley Whittingham scored twice to help the Chiefs to a 5-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . A 17-year-old freshman from Calgary, Whittingham has five goals in 42 games. He tied the game at 17:56 of the first period on a PP and gave his guys the lead at 15:34 of the second. . . . D Reid Gow and F Liam Stewart each had two assists for Spokane. . . . The Chiefs hold a 5-4 edge in the season series; the Americans had won the previous three games. . . . Tri-City G Luke Lee-Knight made his 14th straight start. . . . The Chiefs moved into a tie for fourth with the idle Victoria Royals in the Western Conference. They are one point ahead of the Americans.
F Martin Sagat (Kootenay, 2003-05) has been recalled from loan to Hradec Kralove (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) by Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga) and assigned on loan to Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the rest of this season. He had five goals and five assists in 13 games with Hradec Kralove. With Pardubice, Sagat had two assists in 20 games. . . .
In Medicine Hat, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 28 shots and F Curtis Lazar scored three times as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the Tigers, 3-0. . . . The Oil Kings went 3-0-0 on their only three-game weekend of the season. They now lead the Central Division by a point over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Brossoit has seven career shutouts, two of them this season. . . . Lazar, who has 19 goals, scored once in each period, with the third one into an empty net. . . . Lazar had 32 points in 44 games; last season, he finished with 31 points in 63 games. . . . His 19 goals are one shy of last season’s total. . . . Lazar has had two career three-goal games. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson had two assists. . . . The Oil Kings have gone 5-1-0 in their last six games with Brossoit and Tristan Jarry putting up four shutouts and combing to allow only three goals. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Justin Feser scored three straight goals and set up another to reach the 300-point mark as the host Tri-City Americans dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-3. . . . The Thunderbirds have lost 14 in a row. . . . Feser’s first goal broke a 2-2 tie at 12:28 of the second period. It came via the PP. . . . He added his 24th goal of the season at 11:48 of the third. . . . Feser is the seventh Tri-City player to reach 300 points. He also was playing in his 292nd consecutive game. Only former Brandon D Dwayne Newman (311) played in more consecutively. . . . Feser is fourth on the franchise’s all-time goal list, with 136. . . . Tri-City F Matte Strömwall drew three assists. . . . Tri-City F Justin Gutierrez scored his first career goal to give his guys a 2-1 lead at 11:58 of the first period. He is the younger brother of former WHL F Moises Gutierrez. . . . Seattle F Mitch Elliot was hit with a kneeing major and game misconduct for a third-period hit on Tri-City F Connor Rankin. . . . The Americans also had D Michal Plutnar and F Beau McCue leave the game with injuries. 
Posts
