WHL talks 50th anniversary season . . . Holt, Kennedy head to Swift Current . . . Merkley among U of L recruits

G Tyler Plante (Brandon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). Last season, with Lørenskog (Norway, GET-Ligaen), he was 18-9, 2.36, .918 with two shutouts in 27 games. He was third in the league in save percentage. . . .
F Mike Piluso (Vancouver, Edmonton, 2006-11) signed a one-year contract with Hamburger SV (Germany, Oberliga). Last season, with Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (ACAA), he had 46 points, including 23 goals, in 27 games. He was second in the league’s scoring race. He also was the playoff MVP.
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The WHL’s annual general meeting wrapped up in Vancouver on Wednesday and, if you go by the news release

issued by the league office, hardly anything of note happened.
At least nothing happened unless it had to do with the fact that the 2015-16 season will be the WHL’s 50th anniversary season.
From the news release:
* The WHL season will open Sept. 24 with the Regina Pats visiting the Moose Jaw Warriors. Why open in Moose Jaw? “The East Division is considered the birthplace of the WHL,” according to the news release, “and Moose Jaw is the home of the first ever WHL championship team.”
* The WHL will announce it’s top 50 players of all-time at some point during the season. Fans will help determine that list, while a select panel of long-time WHL observers also will take part.
* In September, the WHL will publish a 50th anniversary book that will “detail the history of the league as well as its clubs, builders, players and key members.”
* Each of the WHL’s 22 teams will play host to one game that will celebrate the 50th season and “honour the history of its franchise and alumni.”
* As well, the Subway Super Series — Team WHL against a touring Russian side — will be played in Kelowna on Nov. 9 and Kamloops on Nov. 10. . . . The CHL Top Prospects Game is to be played in Vancouver on Jan. 28. . . . Red Deer is the host city for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament, May 19-29.
Unfortunately, there was nothing in the WHL’s news release detailing whether the pooh-bahs discussed such matters as dealing with mental health through education, efforts to prevent concussions, or possible rule changes.
Nor does the news release indicate when the WHL will release its regular-season schedule. Last year, the WHL released its regular-season schedule two weeks after its AGM.
If you are wondering about a playoff format, the one that was in use this spring will be used for at least two more seasons. The WHL announced that format after its 2015 AGM, saying that it would be in place for three seasons.
——
“The Western Hockey League is prepared to ‘exhaust every avenue’ to keep the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, but commissioner Ron Robison reaffirmed there is a demand from other markets, including in the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland, for a franchise if relocation becomes a reality,” writes Cam Tucker of Metro Vancouver. . . . That story is right here.
——
The WHL announced Wednesday that former player Greg Gardner is its manager of education services. According to a news release, Gardner “will be responsible to administer the WHL league-wide education program policies and procedures, including monitoring the academic progress” of all players through each team’s education advisor. . . . After playing five seasons (2003-08) with the Prince George Cougars, Gardner spent five seasons with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. He played the last two seasons with the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles. At the U of A, he earned a bachelor's degree in physical education with a concentration in sports performance.
——
Todd Holt and Sheldon Kennedy, a pair of former Swift Current Broncos forwards who were sexually abused by GM/head coach Graham James, will be in Swift Current on Friday to support the latest ex-player to come forward with accusations about James. . . . Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press has more right here.
——
There is a definite WHL flavour to the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns’ recruits for the 2015-16 season. Head coach Spiros Anastas, who is heading into his second season, announced the commitment of 12 players, including seven with WHL experience. . . . F Bryson Gore (Moose Jaw), D Tyler Hansen (Kamloops), F Sam McKechnie (Lethbridge, Seattle, Saskatoon), F Jay Merkley (Lethbridge, Swift Current), D Blake Orban (Vancouver, Edmonton), F Brett Roulston (Prince George), and F Dalton Sward (Vancouver). . . . Hansen is returning to the ice after leaving the Kamloops Blazers following the 2012-13 season in order to serve a two-year mission with the Church of Latter Day Saints. . . . McKechnie and Orban are second-generation Pronghorns, their fathers, Dana and Scott, having also played at the U of L. . . . Merkley is eligible to return to the WHL for his 20-year-old season, but obviously has decided to go to school.
——
Things got a little weird in Major League Baseball on Tuesday. How weird? Well, I would suggest it was one of the goofiest days in MLB history. Jayston Stark of espn.com recaps what truly was a bizarre day right here.
———

THE COACHING GAME:

Tom Keca has taken over as the general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Keca, 44, has previous experience with the Oil Barons, as an assistant coach for nine seasons (2000-06, 2011-14). He also spent four seasons (2006-10) as head coach of the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats. . . . Keca, who also played for the Oil Barons, takes over from Curtis Hunt, who resigned and signed on as general manager with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.
——
USA Hockey has rounded out the coaching staff for its national junior team. Earlier, it named former NHL coach Ron Wilson as head coach. Joining him as assistant coaches are former NHL players Chris Chelios and Danton Cole, along with Kevin Reiter. . . . Since his retirement as a player, Chelios has worked as an advisor to hockey operations with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. . . . Cole is preparing for his sixth season as a head coach in the U.S. National Team Development Program. . . . Reiter has completed two seasons as the NTDP’s goaltending coach. . . . The U.S. will hold its summer evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., Aug. 1-8. . . . The 2016 World Junior Championship will be decided in Helsinki, Finland, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.
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F Klarc Wilson (Brandon, Edmonton, Prince George, 2009-2014) will attend NAIT and play for the Ooks. Wilson, 22, is from Edmonton. He split last season between the ECHL’s Indy Fuel and Stockton Thunder.
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Americans Championship fever has invaded downtown Dallas tonight thanks to the @OmniHotels Dallas. #KellyCupChampions pic.twitter.com/Ag2VmaFUNN

— #RockYourRed (@AllenAmericans) June 18, 2015

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THE MacBETH REPORT:

F Steve Regier (Medicine Hat, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract with the Nuremburg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had 11 goals and 20 assists in 50 games with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) this season. . . .



Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) announced it won’t offer a contract for next season to F Lukas Vantuch (Calgary, Lethbridge, 2005-07). Vantuch had one goal and four assists in 31 games with Liberec, one assist during a five-game loan to Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga), and was pointless in two games on loan to Benatky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). . . .

F Jaroslav Svoboda (Kootenay, 1998-2000) signed a one-year plus option contract with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had two goals in 25 games with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga) and three
goals in four games on loan to Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga) this season.
———

As expected, D Tyler Hansen won’t return to the Kamloops Blazers for his 20-year-old season.
A native of Magrath, Alta., Hansen, who turned 20 on March 17, is forsaking the final season of his junior hockey career in order to go on a mission for his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Hansen posted on his Facebook page yesterday that he has been “called to the Argentina Buenos Aires West Mission! Speaking Spanish and report July 31st. So excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord.”
“My church is very important to me. My faith and my religion . . . it’s something that I have very close to my heart,” Hansen told me late in February.
At that time, he admitted that the decision was weighing on him.
“It’s hard,” Hansen said. “There’s been a lot of nights when I’ve been on the phone with my parents or Skype, or thinking myself.
“I’m just trying to make the best decision for myself. Obviously, I’m trying to take the team into consideration and what’s best for the team, but ultimately I have to look at myself and what’s best for me and my life.”
Hansen just completed his fourth season with the Blazers. In 254 regular-season games, he had 64 points, including seven goals.
This isn’t the first time the Blazers have lost a player to a mission. F Nathan Grochmal, who is from Yorba Linda, Calif., spent two seasons (2003-05) with the Blazers, then left on an LDS mission to South Africa after his 19-year-old season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mike Mueller is the new general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. . . . Mueller, who signed a three-year contract, has been on the Thunder’s coaching staff since 2009. . . . He replaces Fran Gow, who resigned in order to move to Edmonton where his wife is pursuing a business opportunity. . . .


Chris Hartsburg has signed on as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Erie Otters. Hartsburg had been with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, until he and head coach Mark Ferner were fired on Jan. 8. . . . Hartsburg will work alongside Erie head coach Kris Knoblauch, the former Kootenay Ice head coach.
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The WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup opens tonight in Portland.
The fun begins with WHL commissioner Ron Robison meeting with the Portland media at 6 p.m. It is Robison’s first chat with the Portland media since the Winterhawks were severely disciplined for what the WHL called “player benefit violations” on Nov. 28.
After that, there will be a game.
Paul Buker of The Oregonian takes an advance look at the series right here.
Buker also filed a notebook and it’s right here.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Portland vs. Edmonton
(All times local)
Game 1: Today, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, May 7, at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Wednesday, May 8, at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Game 5: Friday, May 10, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x-Game 6: Sunday, May 12, at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Game 7: Monday, May 13, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x – if necessary.


All games will televised by Shaw in Canada. They also will be televised in Portland, with Games 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on Comcast SportsNet, and Games 2 and 7 on Root Sports. Comcast and Roots will pick up the Shaw telecast that will feature play-by-play man Dan Russell, along with Bill Wilms, Peter Loubardias and Andy Neal.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
No Game Scheduled.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (21):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (7):
None
———



From Portland D Josh Hanson (@HansoloCup4): “Hey does anyone know who we got with our first round pick...? #OhWait”


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By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Broken down, hockey is a game of one-on-one battles. Win the majority of the battles and, in theory, you win the game.
The Kamloops Blazers lost the first two games of the WHL’s best-of-seven Western Conference final with the Portland Winterhawks in no small part, according to head coach Guy Charron, because they lost too many battles.
“When we’re in their end, cycling and working deep,” Charron said after practice at Interior Savings Centre on Monday, “we lose battles deep, and we get all three guys caught . . . . Portland’s transition from defence to offence is as good as I’ve seen on any team in the league.”
The Blazers, then, are looking to be more disciplined when the series resumes tonight at ISC. Game time is 7 p.m.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Charron admitted. “The way Portland is playing right now . . . they’re playing very hard at both ends of the rink. We can’t have any passengers and our best players have to be our best players.”
In describing the first two games, Charron all but sang a paean to the Winterhawks as he discussed how well the team that finished atop the WHL’s overall standings is playing right now.
“Their work ethic,” he said, “is really, really good. They work hard at both ends of the rink. Their backchecking . . . from a forechecking situation, they outnumber us on a counter-attack. We get caught three deep and they get rushes like 3-on-2, 4-on-2. . . .”
The Winterhawks’ power play is 3-for-11 in the two games and it isn’t a case of a malfunction with the Kamloops penalty killers.
“They are executing well,” Charron said. “They aren’t fanning on too many opportunities. Whatever they try works.”
Of course, the Blazers also have to find a way to solve Portland goaltender Mac (The Truth) Carruth, who is 7-0 in April.
“Some people say we need more traffic, but he’s made saves in traffic,” Charron said. “What we need to do is find ways to get more than just first chances. We haven’t been getting second and third chances.”
So . . . from a Kamloops perspective, what’s the answer?
“We just need to be more disciplined,” Charron said, “and play more our game . . . and not give up outnumbered situations the way we are.”
The players talk about being more disciplined, too, and not just in staying out of the penalty box.
“When we got the puck in their zone and in behind their defencemen, we generated a lot of chances,” veteran defenceman Tyler Hansen said. “But in the neutral zone and defensive zone, we were a little too passive. We know they’re a good team and we respect them, but I think we almost respected them a little too much. We gave them too much time. If we’re a little more aggressive and take the body a little bit more, we’ll be more successful here at home.”
At the same time, Hansen recognizes that the Blazers “were a little undisciplined” in the first two games.
“We were almost trying to make a statement,” he said, “but I think that was their plan and they kind of lured us into that. If we’re physical and play hard between the whistles, we’ll be better.”
Charron also pointed out that the Blazers haven’t been very good in the faceoff circles.
“We need to be better,” he said. “We’re chasing versus having possession.”
Blazers captain Dylan Willick agreed.
“It comes down to competing and battling,” Willick said, “and it’s not just the centremen; the wingers aren’t getting in there quick enough sometimes and they’re beating us to the pucks.
“We’re chasing from the draws so we’re chasing the game.”
Even with all of that, and with having been outscored 8-1 in the two games, Charron said Portland had only a 44-37 edge in scoring chances over the two games.
“Where they dominated,” he said, “was on the power play, where it was 17-8.
“If we play the way we can, we can beat this team. We can play with this team and we can have success against this team.”
Of course, hovering over this series is a ghost from one season ago when the Winterhawks won the first three games of a second-round series between these teams and held a 4-0 lead in Game 4. However, the Blazers came back and took the series to seven games, with Portland winning the last one 2-0 at home.
Naturally, the Winterhawks aren’t dwelling on what happened a year ago.
“I don’t think it’s worthwhile to analyze it,” Travis Green, the Winterhawks’ interim GM and head coach, told Paul Buker of The Oregonian. “You worry about the games in front of you, not the games behind you. They’re a good team, they play well at home, and I’m sure they will play well (tonight).”

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THE EDGE: Who has it, Kamloops or Portland?

 By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks are about to meet in a WHL playoff series for the second straight spring.
While these organizations have met in 11 previous series, they haven’t done it in consecutive seasons since 1993-95.
Throw out the one time they met in one of those round-robin affairs, and each side has won five series, going back to 1981-82.
On Friday night in Portland, then, they will begin a best-of-seven series that carries with it some long-term bragging rights.
There isn’t much doubt that the Blazers go into the Western Conference final as the underdog.
After all, the Winterhawks finished atop the WHL’s overall standings. They led the league in offence and were second on defence. Their top line — Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie — finished 1-2-3 in the scoring race. Defenceman Seth Jones, a freshman from Plano, Texas, is likely to be the first pick in the NHL’s 2012 draft.
We could go on and on, but by now you get the idea that this is a pretty good team.
On top of all that, the Winterhawks are of the opinion that the world is against them. Their general manager and head coach, Mike Johnston, has been suspended since late November and won’t be back this season. The franchise has been fined $200,000 and has forfeited a number of draft picks.
And, yes, the Portland players are buying into this adversity stuff.
“Absolutely,” veteran forward Taylor Peters told Paul Buker of The Oregonian. “When we had those sanctions back in November we kind of took it as a chip on our shoulder. It was ‘it’s us, we’re going to do this for Mike and we’re going to do this despite all the setbacks we’ve had.’
“We’re definitely building off that adversity. We have ‘adversity’ written on our playoff shirts, just to remind us that we’ve battled through this so far, we’re not going to come this far and give up now.”
But the Blazers haven’t come this far just to roll over, either. This also is a good team, one that finished second in the B.C. Division with the WHL’s fourth-best record.
The Kamloops line that had Colin Smith between Tim Bozon and JC Lipon was dominant until Lipon left to play for Canada at the World Junior Championship.
In the second half of the season, the Blazers have focused on their defensive play, and, with the acquisition of Joel Edmundson from the Moose Jaw Warriors, have gotten progressively better.
So . . . this shapes up as a series that should provide some terrific entertainment. Here’s a look at how one observer sees things as it begins:
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GOAL
Cole Cheveldave of the Blazers has gotten better as the playoffs have worn on. He was solid in a six-game victory over the Victoria Royals, who may have lost that series in the third period of Game 1 when they blitzed the Blazers’ net but weren’t able to beat the goaltender.
Portland’s Mac Carruth is the winningest goaltender in WHL history and is at the top of his game right now. Carruth, a 20-year-old from Shorewood, Minn., has signed with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. He will appear in his 65th WHL playoff game on Friday.
EDGE: Portland.
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DEFENCE
The Winterhawks big four — Jones, Derrick Pouliot, Troy Rutkowski and Tyler Wotherspoon — is the best in the WHL. Jones is a stud. Period. He almost surely will be the No. 1 pick in the NHL’s June draft. Pouliot was taken eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 draft. Rutkowski (Ottawa Senators) and Wotherspoon (Calgary Flames) have signed NHL deals. They have 37 points in 10 playoff games this spring. They also have played in 183 playoff games.
The Blazers’ top four doesn’t carry that kind of pedigree, but has been in 114 postseason games and is a solid group that plays well together. Edmundson, who has signed with the St. Louis Blues, has gotten better and better over the last two months. He is a 6-foot-4, 210-pounder who can dominate. Tyler Hansen may be the most under-rated player in all of the WHL; he and partner Sam Grist punish people in their zone. Marek Hrbas has been consistent and will surprise you with some of his jaunts into the offensive zone. Those four have 16 points in 10 games. Their job, however, is to defend and they do that very well.
EDGE: Portland, but not by as much as you might think.
———
FORWARDS
Portland has the WHL’s top forward line — Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie finished 1-2-3 in the scoring race and have put up 49 points in 10 playoff games. . . . Rattie has 41 career playoff goals, 11 of them this spring. . . . Portland has been getting good secondary scoring from a line that features Oliver Bjorkstrand, a freshman from Denmark, Chase De Leo and Taylor Leier. They have a combined 35 points. . . . Taylor Peters, 20, is one of the WHL’s top defensive forwards and a great penalty killer.
Brendan Ranford of the Blazers has never played better. He had nine points in the four-game sweep of Kelowna. . . . Ranford, Cole Ully and Lipon have proved a formidable threesome. . . . The Blazers will welcome back Colin Smith on Friday. He missed the last three games after suffering a suspected concussion in Game 1 of the last round. Smith had 106 points in the regular season, tops on the Blazers. . . . Portland will have to try and keep Kale Kessy from taking up residence in front of Carruth. Kessy, a big body with good hands, has 11 goals and that ties him with Rattie for the league lead. . . . There is speculation that Bozon, who has missed seven games since suffering a fracture in his right hand on March 26, may be ready for Game 1. . . . Smith and Kessy will be reunited Friday, perhaps with Chase Souto on the left side.
EDGE: Portland. The pendulum could shift if Bozon returns.
———
SPECIAL TEAMS
Portland has the best PP in the playoffs, at 30.8 per cent, and has scored the most PP goals (16). . . . The Blazers are fourth, at 26.3 per cent, and have scored 15 goals. . . . Kamloops has received 57 opportunities in 10 games, to Portland’s 52. . . . You may recall that the Blazers had 11 PP opportunities to Kelowna’s one in Game 4 of that series.
Portland’s penalty-killers have surrendered only three PP goals in 28 opportunities (89.3 per cent), and that’s No. 2 in the WHL. . . . The Blazers are 13th, having been beaten eight times on 35 chances (77.1). That has to get better if Kamloops is to win.
EDGE: Portland.
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COACHING
The Winterhawks went 37-12-3 after Travis Green, the assistant GM/assistant coach, took over for the suspended Johnston. Green’s right-hand man is Kyle Gustafson, who has been with the Winterhawks since before the 2008 ownership change.
The Blazers have put together back-to-back 47-20-5 seasons under head coach Guy Charron and associate coach Dave Hunchak. The latter has done a terrific job with the Blazers’ back end.
EDGE: Kamloops.
———
INTANGIBLES
Every Kamloops player who took part in the seven-game thriller with Portland last spring will tell you the team learned never to quit while playing in those games. . . . At one time or another, every coach plays the ‘us against the world’ card. Never has it had more meaning than in the Portland dressing room this season. . . . Portland has seven players on its roster who have played in, and lost, each of the last two WHL championships series.
EDGE: Portland.
———
THE CALL
It’s Portland, in six games.


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Hansen man on a mission

Defenceman Tyler Hansen (2) of the Kamloops Blazers is facing what is
a life-altering decision.
(Hugo Yuen / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
These are gut-wrenching times for Tyler Hansen, a defenceman who is nearing the end of his fourth season with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.
Hansen, 19, has one year of junior hockey eligibility remaining but hasn’t yet decided whether he will use it.
As a practising member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has known all his life that he will be go on a two-year mission around the time of his 20th birthday.
“My church is very important to me. My faith and my religion . . . it’s something that I have very close to my heart,” Hansen, who turns 20 on March 17, said prior to his club’s 5-3 loss at the hands of the Vancouver Giants (17-45-2) at Interior Savings Centre on Wednesday night.
The Blazers (41-18-5) had beaten the host Giants 6-0 on Friday — Kamloops won the first six games of the season series — and looked to be headed in that direction again. After one period, the Blazers held a 19-8 edge in shots and a 1-0 lead, thanks to a Brendan Ranford pass that went in off one of Joel Edmundson’s skates on an early power play.
However, the tide turned in the second period as the Blazers, appearing frustrated with the lack of offensive success, ditched the game plan — get the puck in deep and work over the Vancouver defence with a cycle game — in favour of more individual play. Judging from head coach Guy Charron’s demeanour at the bench, he wasn’t pleased.
The Giants got goals from Dalton Sward and Cain Franson, allowing them to take a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Charron juggled his lines prior to the third, a move that included the reuniting of JC Lipon with Colin Smith and Tim Bozon. And the Blazers pulled even when Chase Souto scored at 2:04.
But the Blazers didn’t draw much energy from that and the Giants got the game’s next two goals, from Brendan Rouse and Travis McEvoy, to regain control.
The Giants, who got a 34-save effort from goaltender Jared Rathjen got a late goal from Rouse, while Lipon had the Blazers’ other goal.
And through it all Hansen played his usual strong-armed, shot-blocking game. But, he said, his future really is up in the air.
“I’m not exactly sure of my plans yet,”  he said. “I’ve been here for four years and I can go at the age of 19. . . . so I’m thinking I will probably go in the next year or two.
“I absolutely have plans to go on a mission.
Hansen is from Magrath, Alta., a community of 2,200 people located about 30 kilometres south of Lethbridge. Magrath was established in 1899 by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who relocated from Idaho and Utah.
The Blazers have eight regular-season games remaining and, of course, are hoping for a deep playoff run. In all probability, Hansen will wait for it all to end before making a decision.
“Hockey has been good and I have really enjoyed it,” he said. “I’m still hoping something will open up, one of the doors, whether it’s a contract. . . . If things don’t go the way I want them to, I could see myself going on a mission anywhere from after this season to next year.”
This is not unfamiliar territory for the Blazers. Nathan Grochmal, a forward from Yorba Linda, Calif., played two seasons for them before going on an LDS mission to South Africa following 2004-05, which was his 19-year-old season.
Before being assigned a mission by the church, a young person must fill out the proper papers, something Hansen has yet to do. Those papers include questions that indicate personal interests and help those responsible make assignments.
“Part of it for me is that a lot of my friends are going, a lot of my lifestyle is changing that way,” Hansen stated. “It isn’t a reason to go because your friends are going, but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. For the last year I’ve been pretty anxious, wanting to get ready for it.
“If I was to go, I would see what happens. If I really missed hockey while I was out there, I would keep the option of coming back and playing CIS.”
Russell Maxwell, a forward with the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, is perhaps Hansen’s best friend. Maxwell’s older brother, Mitch, is in West Virginia on a mission, but is to return to Alberta in August and has said he will play hockey next season with the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
“If I was to go this summer or next summer,” Hansen emphasized, “I wouldn’t just be giving up my hockey career. I would be going and seeing from there whether I want to play hockey again after or just move on with my life and go to school.”
Getting to that point, however, is proving to be a sleep-depriving experience.
“It’s hard,” Hansen said. “There’s been a lot of nights when I’ve been on the phone with my parents or Skype, or thinking myself.
“I’m just trying to make the best decision for myself. Obviously, I’m trying to take the team into consideration and what’s best for the team, but ultimately I have to look at myself and what’s best for me and my life.”
If that means, he doesn’t come back for a final season in the WHL, so be it.
“I think it’s a possibility,” he said. “I haven’t finalized anything . . . but it’s an option. I’m leaving every door open. After this season . . . if I feel that it’s my time to be done and go on my mission, I think I will do that.”
With the loss, the Blazers remain five points behind the B.C. Division-leading Kelowna Rockets, who will use up their game in hand tonight when they play host to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Blazers and Rockets will meet each other three times next week, starting Sunday night at ISC.
JUST NOTES: The attendance was 4,172. . . . Kamloops G Taran Kozun, making his first appearance since Jan. 29, stopped 33 shots. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Rouse: Two goals, leadership; 2. Rathjen: Kept his guys in it; 3. Franson: Quality player. . . . Vancouver D Reid Zalitach left in the first period with an injury to his right leg. By the third period, he was on crutches and watching from the press box. . . . The Blazers meet the Cougars in Prince George on Friday, then return home to face the Giants on Saturday. . . . Former Blazers radio voice Jeff Paterson was in the house, calling the play for the Giants’ broadcast. . . . Kamloops F Aspen Sterzer (concussion), who hasn’t played since Dec. 29, remains at home in Calgary. Charron isn’t hopeful that Sterzer will be back for the start of the playoffs.

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Blazers blank Silvertips

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Finally, the Kamloops Blazers were able to solve the Everett Silvertips in regulation time.
The Blazers got two goals from right-winger Cole Ully and 20 saves from goaltender Cole Cheveldave on Thursday night, and scored a 6-0 WHL victory over the Silvertips at Interior Savings Centre.
With the victory, the Blazers became the third Western Conference team, behind the Portland Winterhawks and Kelowna Rockets, to clinch a playoff spot.
While the Blazers won all four games with the Silvertips this season, this was the first time that the issue was decided within 60 minutes.
In the first three meetings, the Silvertips were like one of those tiny pieces of Styrofoam that you aren’t able to shake off a finger. In fact, the last time the Silvertips were here the Blazers unloaded a 69-shot barrage and still had to go to overtime for a 4-3 victory.
Last night, the Blazers, who led 1-0 and 3-0 at the intermissions, were far more workmanlike and efficient than they had been on Jan. 23.
“We had the lapses in the second where we didn’t play exactly the way we wanted to play,” centre Dylan Willick, the Blazers’ captain, said. “But we settled ourselves down . . . and played our style of game and won one for Chevy.”
Willick scored his 11th goal of the season — it was the game’s final tally — but more importantly is really starting to look like his old self. He suffered a broken right ankle on Nov. 5 and didn’t play for two months. Now, a month after returning, he is regaining his form.
“I feel a lot better every day,” Willick, 20, said. “I blocked a shot in Everett (on Saturday night) on the top of the same foot — it felt like I blocked a shot, it didn’t feel like anything extra. I had to walk off a bruise from that one.
“It still takes time to feel comfortable and let it go. I think I’m finally starting to feel that way.”
Someone else who felt comfortable last night was defenceman Marek Hrbas, the 19-year-old veteran from Plzen in the Czech Republic.
Hrbas scored his fourth goal this season — he has 10 in 180 regular-season games — and was a game-high plus-5. That carried him into plus territory, at plus-4, for the season.
“I might have had plus-4 before in a game, but I don’t think I’ve had plus-5,” said a smiling Hrbas.
During the Blazers’ pregame preparations, Hrbas said that winger JC Lipon had said “Herbie’s going to score.”
So he did!
“I thought I played solid on defence and every time I had a chance to join the rush I did,” Hrbas said. “That’s my kind of play . . . more like offensive defensive. Join the rush and help the offence, help the forwards.”
Kamloops head coach Guy Charron liked what he got out of Hrbas last night but also admitted: “He irritates me sometimes and other times he puts a grin on my face.”
“He’s a capable of player,” Charron continued. “For us, he needs to get involved physically. When he’s involved physically, he’s more effective.”
Right-winger Cole Ully scored two goals and added an assist, giving him 19 goals and his ninth multi-point game since recovering from mononucleosis.
Defenceman Tyler Hansen and Lipon also scored.
The Blazers also got a solid game from Cheveldave, who earned his third shutout this season and the seventh of his career.
He was only pressured a couple of times and those instances were in the second period when he made three or four solid stops, including a nice pad save on a point shot by defenceman Kevin Davis, 15, who is from Kamloops.
With seven players on the injury list, the Silvertips had Davis, the 11th overall selection in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft, in their lineup. He played on the fourth line in the first and third periods, but was on defence in the second and didn’t look out of place.
“He’s smart out there,” offered Garry Davidson, Everett’s general manager and head coach. “He’s smart and cool as a cucumber. He’ll be really good for us.”
The victory, their third in a row, lifted the Blazers (36-15-5) to within seven points of B.C. Division-leading Kelowna (40-11-4). The Rockets are at home to WHL-leading Portland (43-8-3) tonight and Saturday.
The Blazers are home again Saturday when the Red Deer Rebels are here. Red Deer (28-21-6) meets the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., tonight.
The Silvertips (21-28-5) are seventh in the Western Conference, 17 points out of sixth and four ahead of eight-place Seattle. Everett hustled home after last night’s game and is scheduled to play the Calgary Hitmen there tonight.
JUST NOTES: Attendance was 4,027. . . . The Blazers were 0-for-3 on the power play, leaving them at 0-for-23 in the four games with Everett. . . . The Silvertips were 0-for-1 and finished 3-for-17 in the series. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford drew two assists, with the first one being his 200th regular-season helper. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. Hrbas: Good decisions, a goal and plus-5; 2. Ully: Two more goals; 3. Cheveldave: The shutout. . . . Everett’s injury list includes G Austin Lotz, who stopped a franchise-record 65 shots here on Jan. 23. He hasn’t played since Jan. 26 after suffering an ankle injury during a shootout drill in a practice.

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Pieces coming back together for Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Head coach Guy Charron will start putting the pieces back into the puzzle that is the Kamloops Blazers tonight.
The Blazers (28-10-4) have been hit by injuries, illness and tournament-related absences ever since forward Dylan Willick went down with a broken ankle on Nov. 2.
However, Willick has been back for two games now and is starting to round into game shape.
“Willy hasn’t played a lot of hockey . . . he hasn’t played his best hockey so that is yet to come,” Charron said after Tuesday’s practice at Interior Savings Centre.
The influx will continue tonight as the Blazers play host to the Tri-City Americans (22-15-3).
Defenceman Tyler Hansen, who has missed two games, “is ready to go,” according to Charron.
“He’s had various blood tests, examinations and everything else,” Charron said. “Everything came clear so he’s ready to go.”
Hansen, who left a Dec. 29 game against the visiting Vancouver Giants with a minute left in the second period and didn’t return, practised Monday and yesterday.
Defenceman Marek Hrbas, who missed six games while with the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, arrived back in Kamloops last night and could play tonight.
“It’ll be his option,” Charron said. “I’ll see how he is. I’ll talk to him. If he’s in the right frame of mind and he wants to play, great. If he’s not . . . he’s had a lot of travel so we’ll see.”
Right-winger JC Lipon, who missed eight games while with Team Canada, will rejoin the Blazers on Friday in Prince George for a weekend doubleheader against the Cougars. Lipon is at home in Regina with family.
Defenceman Jordan Thomson, who played for Team West at the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Que., has returned and will be available tonight.
That leaves only centre Aspen Sterzer unavailable. Sterzer, who missed five November games with an injury, hasn’t played the past two games due to an undisclosed injury. Charron said Sterzer may miss another six games before perhaps returning Jan. 19 against the visiting Victoria Royals.
The Blazers go into tonight’s game having won three in a row, something that has allowed them to keep pace with the red-hot Kelowna Rockets (29-10-2). Kelowna has won six in a row and is tied with the Blazers atop the B.C. Division.
Charron said he will give the goaltending start to sophomore Cole Cheveldave, who has been hooked from each of his previous two starts and has watched Taran Kozun make back-to-back starts.
Most of all, though, Charron said he is eager to get all of his players back on the ice together.
“It would be nice,” he said. “You project and you see the acquisitions we have made . . . I think we’ve got something good here. But you’ll never know until all the pieces are there.
“We have to get chemistry with everybody, too. It’s not automatic that things are going to work out.”
JUST NOTES: Game time tonight is 7 o’clock. . . . The Americans rode their bus to Kelowna on Monday. They will drive to Kamloops today, return to Kelowna after the game and play the Rockets there on Friday. . . . The Blazers are 16-2-2 at home; the Americans are 12-8-1 on the road. . . . The Blazers beat the visiting Americans 3-2 on Nov. 30. . .  . The Americans have signed F Matthew Gelinas, 17, and he is expected to make his WHL debut tonight. He is the son of fomer NHLer Martin Gelinas, who now is an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames. . . .
After playing a Friday-Saturday doubleheader in Prince George, the Blazers will travel to Victoria for Tuesday-Wednesday games with the Royals and then will visit the Americans on Jan. 18. . . . The WHL trade deadline arrives Thursday at 2 p.m. Charron said he doesn’t expect the Blazers to be active. “I think we’re in pretty good shape the way we are right now,” he said, “so we’ll see.” . . . The Blazers made a major move when they acquired D Joel Edmundson, 19, from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Dec. 6. They also acquired LW Kale Kessy, 20, from the Vancouver Giants on Jan. 2. 

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Bozon, Ully finding the range

Left-winger Tim Bozon (15) of the Kamloops Blazers, here in action against
the host Everett Silvertips in a game last season, says he plans on shooting
the puck more in the second half of this season.
(Christopher Mast / mastimages.com)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports EditorTim Bozon, who was born in St. Louis, has ties to France and calls Switzerland home, spent Christmas in Kamloops.
It wasn’t all eggnog and presents, though.
Bozon, an 18-year-old in his second WHL season with the Kamloops Blazers, did a lot of thinking about the season’s first 38 games.
“I had a tough month of November and a tough early December,” Bozon said after scoring three times as the Blazers defeated the visiting Vancouver Giants 9-5 on Saturday night. The teams play again tonight in Vancouver. “It feels good to score. I put my mind to shoot the puck more.
“I want to shoot the puck more.”
Bozon, who plays the left side on the WHL’s top offensive line, alongside centre Colin Smith and JC Lipon, came out of October with 14 goals in 17 games.
Bozon’s scoring touch went away in November, though, as he counted only two goals in 11 games. The early games in December weren’t kind, either, as he had just three goals in nine games when the Christmas break arrived.
“I stopped shooting the puck in November,” Bozon said. “I tried to make the cute play and pass to JC and Smitty. But the player I am, I have to shoot the puck.”
Bozon is the reigning Western Conference rookie of the year after a season in which he shot his way to 71 points, including 36 goals, in 71 games.
Getting back to that game plan has paid off for Bozon in the first two games after the Christmas break. He scored twice in a 7-3 loss to the Rockets in Kelowna on Thursday, then struck three times against the Giants.
Bozon, a third-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 2012 draft, now has 53 points, 24 of them goals, in 39 games.
While Bozon was thinking in Kamloops, Blazers right-winger Cole Ully was working hard in Calgary.
Ully, 17, had been diagnosed with mononucleosis late in November and really wanted to be ready when the schedule resumed after Christmas.
After going home, Ully rested for a week and then “started slowly in the gym.”
“The last two weeks I pushed it in the gym and skated almost twice a day,” Ully said after he, too, had scored three times in the victory over Vancouver. “I wanted to be ready for the second half . . . I knew we were missing guys and the team wanted me to be ready right when I got back.”
One of the symptoms of mononucleosis is a swollen spleen; Ully underwent an ultrasound examination and his spleen was found to be fine, after which he was cleared to play against the Rockets in Kelowna on Thursday.
“I felt I was playing pretty strong,” Ully said of the early portion of his season when he put up 11 points in his first 14 games. “But it’s tough to play when you’re feeling like that.”
Ully tried to play through a bout of tiredness and had just three points in 14 games before being diagnosed with mononucleosis.
“I had a pretty rough patch there when I was sick,” he said, “so it feels good to be 100 per cent and be able to contribute again.”
———
The Blazers expect to have F Dylan Willick, 20, in the lineup tonight for the first time since he broke his right ankle on Nov. 2. He has missed 21 games during which time the Blazers went 9-9-1, including two four-game losing streaks.
Willick took the warmup on Saturday but didn’t play.
While he was injured, Willick was named team captain.
Meanwhile, Kamloops D Tyler Hansen, who was ill and left with a minute left in Saturday’s second period, didn’t practice on Tuesday. He will be re-evaluated today before a decision is made as to whether he will play.
———
F Jordan DePape, who left the Blazers on Nov. 17 and underwent shoulder surgery on Nov. 26 in Winnipeg, has been told that he should be able to play by March 15.
“Healing is going well,” DePape told The Daily News last night. “There’s nothing from a medical standpoint that says it’s harmful for me to return.”
Dr. Peter MacDonald, an orthopedic surgeon, repaired interior and anterior labrum tears in DePape’s right shoulder. DePape said Dr. MacDonald told him he should be able to play “around” March 15 “if I decide.”
The Blazers have two 20-year-olds on their roster — Willick and F Brendan Ranford — so have room for one more.
The Blazers tried to fill that spot by acquiring F Charles Inglis from the Red Deer Rebels on Nov. 19, but they released him on Dec. 12.
With the WHL’s Jan. 10 trade deadline approaching, it remains to be seen whether the Blazers will make a move to acquire a 20-year-old or show patience and wait on DePape.
———
JUST NOTES: The Blazers next play at home on Friday when they meet the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Vancouver ended a four-game losing skid with an 8-4 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars on Sunday. . . . F Jakob Stukel, 15, is expected to make his WHL debut with the Giants tonight. Stukel, who has 24 points in 22 games with the major midget Valley West Hawks, was a second-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . The Vancouver Northwest Giants won the Mac’s midget tournament in Calgary last night, beating the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, 2-1, in double OT. F Jesse Shynkaruk of the Saskatoon Contacts was named the tournament MVP. Shynkaruk, a seventh-round pick by the Blazers in the 2011 bantam draft, had 13 points, including five goals, in six games. He has signed with the Blazers.

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