Consider for a few moments, if you will, the road, or roads, travelled by Travis Bobbee during his WHL career.
Bobbee, 20, grew up on a farm near the rural Manitoba community of Arborg. It’s in the Interlake region, about an hour’s drive north of Winnipeg. The population of Arborg in 2006 was 1,021.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes selected Bobbee with the 15th overall pick in the 2005 bantam draft. He played 59 games over two seasons in Lethbridge -- population somewhere around 86,000 -- before being traded to Portland, with a population of slightly more than 500,000, early in 2007-08.
The Winterhawks dealt him to the Swift Current Broncos last season. Swift Current, with a population of 16,000, is the smallest of the 60 communities that are home to CHL teams.
Earlier this season, Bobbee found himself on the move again. This time it was off to Seattle -- population about 600,000, but with something like 4 million living in its metropolitan area.
Going from Portland to Swift Current, Bobbee admits, was a bit of a shock.
“Everything in that town is about five minutes away,” said Bobbee, who scored his first goal of the season in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Saturday night. “It’s unbelievable how small it was.”
But now he’s in Seattle where traffic can be, shall we say, something of a problem.
The Thunderbirds, for example, played at home on Friday night. Rather than wait until Saturday morning to head for Kamloops, they chose to leave right after a 2-0 loss to the Prince George Cougars.
That’s because they knew the traffic would be much lighter at night than at anytime the following day.
As a chuckling Bobbee put it: “Every hour is rush hour” in the Seattle area.
As for making the adjustment from Swift Current to Seattle, Bobbee said: “Now everything is back to the big city life. It’s 15, 20, 25 minutes to get to the rink some days.”
His family is still on the farm at Arborg, so he’s still a small-town boy at heart.
Ask him what he prefers -- big city or small town -- and he replies: “Ahh, I’ll take anything.”
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SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
VANCOUVER 4 at EDMONTON 2: G Brendan Jensen stopped 35 shots for the Giants (10-6-2). . . . Vancouver F Brendan Gallagher broke a 1-1 tie 20 seconds into the second period with his WHL-leading 16th goal. . . . Vancouver F Matt Bellerive got his second just 2:26 later. . . . F James Henry upped the lead to 4-1 at 3:54 of the third. . . . F Michael St. Croix had both Edmonton goals. He has six. . . . The Oil Kings (5-9-1) have lost eight in a row. . . . Vancouver F Craig Cunningham, the WHL’s scoring leader, had two assists. . . . Edmonton starter Cam Lanigan surrendered three goals on six shots. Laurent Brossoit came on to stop 15 of 16. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-4 on the PP; Edmonton was 1-for-3. . . . Attendance was 4,311. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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BRANDON 3 at LETHBRIDGE 6: F Graham Hood scored his second and third goals of the season for the Hurricanes (6-5-3). His first goal gave the home team a 4-0 lead at 16:06 of the first period. . . . Lethbridge F Brady Ramsay scored his first WHL goal at 4:31 of the first to give his side a 2-0 edge. . . . F Cam Braes upped the lead to 3-0 when he ended a 12-game drought at 9:47 of the first. It was his third goal of the season. . . . The Wheat Kings (6-10-1) had been 2-0-1 in their last three games. This was the last game in an eight-game road trip that took them through the B.C. Division. Brandon finished 2-5-0-1 on the trip that began Oct. 16 in Swift Current. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes was lifted after one period. He gave up four goals on 14 shots. Liam (Sonny) Liston came on to stop 15 of 17. . . . F Jacob Berglund, F Ryon Moser and D Reid Jackson each had two assists for Lethbridge. . . . F Dominick Favreau scored twice for Brandon, while Mark Stone got his 10th. . . . Brandon was 1-for-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 1-for-4. . . . Lethbridge G Dylan Tait turned aside 32 shots. . . . Brandon F Shayne Wiebe left in the first period with an apparent leg injury and didn’t return. . . . Lethbridge F Brody Sutter returned from a shoulder injury but left after two shifts. . . . Attendance was 2,776. . . . Checking-from-behind count: One minor, to Brandon F Hampus Gustafsson.
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PRINCE ALBERT 4 at MOOSE JAW 7: F Quinton Howden scored twice in the game’s first 5:03 and the Warriors went on to lead this one 5-1 before the second period was half over. . . . Howden has nine goals. . . . Moose Jaw (7-8-1) has won three straight. . . . Moose Jaw F Antonin Honejsek also scored twice, giving him seven, while F Sam Fioretti had three assists. F Spencer Edwards and F Dylan Hood added two helpers each for the Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw F Danny Gayle had a goal and two assists. . . . Raiders F Jonathan Parker got his 11th goal of the season. . . . Moose Jaw F A.J. Johnson got his first WHL goal. . . . The Raiders (5-8-4) got two goals from F Todd Fiddler, who has three. . . . Moose Jaw G Brandon Stone stopped 30 shots in what was his second career start and his first complete game. . . . G Jamie Tucker of the Raiders turned aside 31. . . . P.A. was 3-for-5 on the PP; the Warriors were 1-for-6. . . . The Raiders have lost five in a row. . . . Attendance was 2,678. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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SPOKANE 11 at REGINA 1: F Levko Koper scored two goals and set up four others for the Chiefs (6-7-0). . . . Koper, who has seven goals, also was plus-5. . . . The Chiefs, who opened an East Division tour with a 3-2 loss in Moose Jaw on Friday, scored twice in the first period and added five more in the second before the Pats got on the board. . . . Regina (5-8-2) had won three straight. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson added two goals and two assists, while F Marek Kalus had two goals and an assist. . . . D Garrett Leedahl, D Brenden Kichton and F Dominik Uher each had two assists. . . . Attendance was 4,327. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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SEATTLE 2 at KAMLOOPS 3 (OT): F Jordan DePape scored a PP goals 32 seconds into overtime to win this one. It was his fourth goal of the season. . . . However, the night belonged to Seattle G Calvin Pickard, who stopped 49 shots. . . . DePape and Pickard are boyhood friends from Winnipeg. . . . The Thunderbirds (5-3-4) have lost five straight games but have at least one point in nine of their 12 games. . . . The Blazers (8-7-1) took a 1-0 lead on F Colin Smith’s third goal at 9:43 of the first. . . . The Thunderbirds took a 2-1 lead on goals by D Travis Bobbee, his first, at 15:58 of the second, and F Marcel Noebels, his fourth, on the PP, at 1:10 of the third. . . . Kamloops D Austin Madaisky forced OT with a PP goal at 8:43 of the third. . . . The Blazers outshot Seattle 19-3 in the first period and 16-9 in the second. The home team had three quick PP shots in OT, with DePape slapping home a rebound. . . . Kamloops G Jeff Bosch turned aside 23 shots. . . . Kamloops was 2-for-6 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-6. . . . Attendance was 4,058. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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PRINCE GEORGE 4 at TRI-CITY 3 (SO): F Charles Inglis won this one with a shootout goal. . . . He and D Sena Acolatse, both of whom were acquired from Saskatoon this season, both scored in the shootout. F Adam Hughesman scored for the Americans, with Inglis breaking the tie. . . . The Cougars got the game’s first goal, from D Martin Marincin on the PP at 1:55 of the first, and the teams alternated goals after that. . . . F Jordan Messier had two goals -- he has 11 -- and an assist for the Americans (11-4-2). . . . Inglis had two assists for the Cougars (9-6-1) who won 2-0 in Seattle on Friday night. . . . The Americans had won their first four home games. . . . The Cougars had been winless in 13 games in the Toyota Center, going back to Nov. 2, 2003. . . . Prince George G Ty Rimmer, coming off the shutout in Seattle, stopped 28 shots, one fewer than Tri-City’s Drew Owsley. . . . Each team was 1-for-3 on the PP. . . . Attendance was 4,165. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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KELOWNA 1 at PORTLAND 6: The Winterhawks (12-2-1) ran their win streak to six with their second victory over the Rockets in two nights. On Friday, Portland beat the visitors 4-2. . . . Kelowna (4-10-0) now has lost three straight. . . . The Winterhawks are 6-1-1 at home. They lead the WHL in points (25), victories (12) and winning percentage (.833). . . . Portland forwards Ty Rattie and Sven Bartschi ran their point streaks to nine games. Rattie, who had two goals and an assists, has 20 points in those nine games. Bartschi, who had a goal and assist, has 17 points over the nine games. . . . Rattie, with 28 points, is third in the WHL scoring race. Bartschi, with 23 points, is the WHL’s highest-scoring rookie. . . . Portland F Nino Niederreiter, playing his second game since returning from the NHL’s New York Islanders, scored his first goal. . . . Portland got two assists from each of D Joe Morrow and F Brad Ross. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 29 shots to improve to 6-1. He has allowed five goals over his last five games. . . . Carruth lost his shutout bid when F Shane McColgan scored on the PP at 10:39 of the third. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 35 shots, including a second-period penalty shot by F Taylor Peters. . . . Attendance was 2,508. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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SASKATOON 1 at RED DEER 7: F Andrej Kudrna scored three times and set up another to lead the Rebels (11-5-0). . . . Red Deer, which has won three straight, broke open a 1-1 tie with two PP goals in the last minute of the second period, F Byron Froese getting his ninth at 19:12 and Kudrna scoring 35 seconds later. . . . Kudrna now has 12 goals. . . . The Rebels added four third-period goals. . . . Froese finished up with a goal and two assists, while F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists. . . . The Blades are 10-4-0. . . . The Rebels have allowed 31 goals in 16 games. . . . The Blades had earned a 2-1 victory in Red Deer on Oct. 15. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 25 shots. . . . Saskatoon starter Adam Morrison allowed four goals on 28 shots. With Steven Stanford (concussion) out for a week, Adam Todd backed up Morrison and saw his first action. He stopped nine of 12 shots. Todd was brought in from the Kelowna-based Okanagan Rockets of the B.C. major midget league. . . . Saskatoon was 0-for-1 on the PP; the Rebels were 3-for-8. . . . Attendance was 4,897. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.
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CHILLIWACK 4 at MEDICINE HAT 5: F Linden Vey led the Tigers (7-5-0) with a goal and two assists, his goal, at 16:23 of the third period, giving his guys a 5-3 lead. . . . Vey has four goals on the season. . . . F Emerson Etem scored three times for the Tigers, giving him nine on the season. He scored once at even strength, once on the PP and once while shorthanded. . . . F Wacey Hamilton of Medicine Hat broke a 3-3 tie with a PP goal at 4:03 of the third. . . . Tigers D Thomas Carr had two assists. . . . The Bruins (8-5-0) got two assists from F Ryan Howse. . . . Each team was 2-for-7 on the PP. . . . Medicne Hat had lost two in a row, while the Bruins had a four-game winning streak snapped. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . Checking-from-behind count: Zero.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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Wednesday . . .

The big news in the WHL on Wednesday had to do with the return of C Craig Cunningham to the Vancouver Giants. Cunningham, 20, was a fourth-round pick by the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s 2010 draft. But the Bruins have contract and cap issues, and haven’t signed Cunningham. Had they signed him, he could have been assigned to the AHL’s Providence Bruins. Instead, the Western Conference’s player of the year from last season is back in Vancouver. A 97-point man last season, he has been named the Giants captain and will play with 41-goal man Brendan Gallagher on one wing. . . . Vancouver also made a trade Wednesday, acquiring F Michael Burns, 19, from the Edmonton Oil Kings for F Landon Robin, 16, who was a seventh-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . Burns is the older brother of Vancouver F Nathan Burns, 17, who is injured at the moment. . . . Michael Burns had 26 points and 110 penalty minutes in 120 games with the Oil Kings. . . . The Burns boys are from Edmonton; Robin is from Saskatoon.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Travis Bobbee, 20, and a conditional bantam draft pick from the Swift Current Broncos for F Brenden Silvester, 19, and D Tanner Muth, 17. . . . Bobbee, who is going into his fifth WHL season, moved from the Portland Winterhawks to Swift Current last season. He finished with 32 points in 74 games. . . . Earlier, the Thunderbirds had acquired F Travis Toomey, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades, and they now have three 20-year-olds on their roster. Veteran D Brenden Dillon is the third. Each WHL team is allowed to dress a maximum of three 20-year-olds per game; on Oct. 14, each team will have to declare a maximum of three on its roster. . . . Silvester had 31 points in 159 games over three seasons with Seattle, while Muth had five assists in 49 games last season.
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We finally have an explanation from Mike Johnston, the GM/head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, as to what transpired to cause the sage of Red No. 23. You will recall that the unidentified player who dazzled during one scrimmage at training camp turned out to be Swiss F Alessio Bertaggia, a 17-year-old who wasn’t selected in the CHL import draft. The WHL office looked into the situation and, ultimately, the Winterhawks were disciplined. (The shape and form of the discipline hasn’t been revealed.)
Now Johnston has told Scott Sepich, a freelancer who writes on the Winterhawks for the Oregonian, that the whole thing was blown out of proportion.
You can check out that story right here.
After reading the story, I think I can buy Johnston’s explanation. But I can’t help but wonder why no one with the Winterhawks bothered explaining right off the bat what had happened. That would have solved the mystery and the whole mess would have gone away. If the incident did get blown out of proportion, it was only because no one was willing to offer an explanation in the early going.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers have settled on their goaltenders; they’ll go with Tyler Bunz, 18, and Deven Dubyk, 19, both of whom were there last season. That means that Dawson MacAuley, 16, has been returned to the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos. . . . In Prince Albert, the Mintos will go with the 6-foot-5 MacAuley and Tara Kozun, who had a strong camp with the Kamloops Blazers, as their goaltenders. . . . Kozun will get to play with his brother, Tad, who is a freshman forward with the Mintos.
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Doug Allan, a former WHL goaltender, will be one of the inductees into the Northern Arizona University Athletics Hall of Fame in November. The induction banquet is set for Nov. 12, with inductees to be saluted during a Nov. 13 football game between the Lumberjacks and visiting Weber State. . . . Allan played 43 games with the New Westminster Bruins in 1973-74, going 22-12-7 — yes, the last number represents ties — with a 3.45 GAA and a .890 save percentage. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the 12th round of the NHL’s 1974 draft and by the Cleveland Crusaders in the 12th round of the WHA’s 1974 draft. . . . According to a press release from NAU:
“Allan is a former hockey player and coach at NAU. He played on the hockey team from 1977-80 and served as club coach in 1980-81 and as an assistant coach on NAU’s Division I program. He has served the Flagstaff hockey community in numerous roles, earning the title ‘Mr. Hockey.’  For more than two decades Allan influenced hundreds of aspiring local hockey players and brought national recognition to the NAU hockey program. He coached the highly successful Ice Jacks for several years, as well as teams for the Flagstaff Youth Hockey Association.”
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F Cass Mappin, 20, who was released by the Regina Pats, now is with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. Former WHL player and coach Drew Schoneck is the GM and head coach of the Storm.
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The Regina Pats are down to 26 players after making two moves on Wednesday. . . . F Bryton Mills, 18, and F Logan Sceviour, 18, were dropped and are expected to play junior A. . . . The Pats are carrying three goaltenders, nine defencemen and 14 forwards. And that includes F Jordan Weal, who is with the Los Angeles Kings, and F Carter Ashton, who scored a goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.
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The Red Deer Rebels have lost F Locke Muller, 17, for up to six weeks. He suffered a broken hand during a fight in practice on Tuesday. He was scrapping with D Brad Deagle, 17.
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D Teigan Zahn, 20, has been named captain of the Saskatoon Blades. He is the 51st captain in team history. F Marek Viedensky, 20, F Curtis Hamilton, 19, and D Duncan Siemens, 17, are the alternates. . . . Zahn was the unanimous choice of his teammates in a team vote.
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The Kamloops Blazers handed out their letters on Wednesday, with C Chase Schaber, 19, being named the captain. . . . D Bronson Maschmeyer, 19, and D Corey Fienhage, 20, were named alternate captains. D Austin Madaisky, 18, and RW Jordan DePaper, 18, will share an ‘A’ — Madaisky gets it at home, while DePape wears it on the road. . . . It is perhaps interesting that not one of the five players is an original Kamloops player. Schaber and Madaisky were acquired from the Calgary Hitmen; Maschmeyer came over from the Vancouver Giants; Fienhage, who has yet to play a WHL game and is in camp with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, spent the last two seasons at the U of North Dakota; and, DePape was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings.
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Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News has the latest on the Dallas Stars’ ownership situation right here. There were reports Wednesday that Bill Gallacher, who owns the Portland Winterhawks, had withdrawn interest, while Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers was still in the hunt.
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Among the players rejoining their WHL teams from NHL camps: G Darcy Kuemper, to Red Deer from Minnesota; F Brendan Ranford, to Kamloops from Philadelphia; D Austin Madaisky, from Columbus to Kamloops; D Josh Caron, to Kamloops from Minnesota; F Blake Gal, to Spokane from Philadelphia; D Troy Rutkowski, to Portland from Colorado; G Calvin Pickard, to Seattle from Colorado; F Justin Dowling, to Swift Current from Philadelphia.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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