1. The QMJHL has never won three straight Memorial Cup championships. The Halifax Mooseheads will try to complete the trifecta today against the Portland Winterhawks in the championship final in Saskatoon. . . . The Saint John Sea Dogs won it two years ago and the host Shawinigan Cataractes won it last year. . . . The WHL hasn’t won the Memorial Cup since 2008 when the Spokane Chiefs did it. . . . The last time one league won three in a row was 1987-89 when the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers won it twice and the Swift Current Broncos won it in 1989, right in Saskatoon.
2. The Winterhawks first won the Memorial Cup in 1983. They won it again in 1998. This is 2013. If you do the math, those are 15-year increments. Omen? Coincidence?
3. The Mooseheads beat the Winterhawks 7-4 on the second game of this tournament. You may recall that Halifax F Nathan MacKinnon scored three goals in that one as Portland G Mac Carruth had a less than average night. . . . Carruth has gotten a whole lot better since that game. The Mooseheads haven’t played since beating the London Knights 9-2 on Tuesday. Yes, that’s a lot of time off.
4. A ticket price-related note from a Winterhawks fan: “I took an informal survey on the ’Hawks fan forum . . . and every respondent (including myself) wrote back and said that if they turned the $32 club level seat (WHL playoffs) into a $100-plus Memorial Cup ticket that we would all bypass the event and just watch it on TV.”
5. Assuming that both goaltenders, Carruth and Zach Fucale of Halifax, play well, I would suggest that the outcome of this game will rest with Portland’s big four on defence. Seth Jones, Derrick Pouliot, Troy Rutkowski and Tyler Wotherspoon are capable, as a group, of controlling a game. If that happens in this one, Portland wins. But if Halifax forwards Jonathan Drouin, Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Frk get time with the puck in the offensive zone, the Mooseheads will win.
6. Some observers may look at this game as MacKinnon versus Jones. If you absolutely have to go in that direction, rather than Mooseheads versus Winterhawks, I’d suggest it’s more MacKinnon versus Ty Rattie. . . . MacKinnon is cooler than a Saskatchewan winter when the puck is on his stick; Rattie wants it on his stick when the temperature is the hottest.
7. The Mooseheads and Winterhawks have been the two top-ranked teams in the CHL throughout the season, so it’s only fitting that they meet today with all the marbles on the table. . . . And, if you were wondering, the Mooseheads will be the home team, so get the benefit of last change.
8. F Ben Fanelli of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers was honoured Saturday as the CHL’s humanitarian of the year. Fanelli‘s hockey career almost ended after he suffered a serious head injury that cost him most of the 2009-10 season. If you aren’t aware of his story, it’s worth at trip to Google. . . . Fanelli, 20, played out his eligibility this season and is working towards a psychology degree at Wilfrid Laurier University.
9. Considering what the Winterhawks have gone through this season, wouldn’t you like to know just how many WHL front-office types are pulling for them to win today? I’m thinking the over-under might be about two.
10. Memorial Cup attendance . . . it’s the story that just won’t go away. Kevin Mitchell, the sports editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, has been tackling the issue all week and his latest missive is right here. It includes some rather pointed comments from former Blades D Rhett Warrener. . . . Oh, and ticket prices in the upper deck apparently have slid to $27 for the final.
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The Reading Royals won the ECHL title on Saturday night, beating the host Stockton Thunder, 6-0, and winning the series, 4-1. . . . This is Reading’s first championship; the Royals completed their 12th ECHL season. . . . Reading D Patrick Wellar (Portland, Calgary, 2000-04) became the second player in ECHL history to win the Kelly Cup three times. The other is F Scott Burt (Seattle, Swift Current, Edmonton, Red Deer, 1994-98).
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If you missed it, Hockey Canada, which is holding its annual general meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I., voted Saturday to dump body checking from peewee hockey and below.
The reaction, at least on Twitter, was to be expected, perhaps best summed up by this from Harrison Mooney (@HarrisonMooney): “I've never been more upset that my son won't be constantly hit in the head than I am right now. #BringBackBodychecking”
I would like to thank TSN’s Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) and Willy Palov (@CH_WillyPalov) of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald for providing me with so much Saturday morning entertainment. Your tweets and retweets were things of beauty.
A sample . . .
McKenzie: “I laugh at meatheads who say, If kids don't like hitting, play another sport. That's the point: they and their parents are goin to do that.”
Palov: “Concussions and hockey politics/toxic adults are why my kids play basketball.”
Palov again, this time in response to a tweet sent his way: “Because that's what matters? @AdamMX182: your kids will probably go nowhere sports career wise playing basketball in Canada”
And one more from Palov, in response to the intelligentsia: “I think it makes perfect sense." @MC_MooseCountry: “so your kids play basketball but you're a hockey reporter?? doesn't make sense”
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From Steve Webb (@SteveWebb20): “@HockeyCanada now that the game will be safer for kids on the ice.Can something be done about the crazy parents #unrealistic expectations”


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As end nears, the CHLPA has no clothes

As the story of the Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association (CHLPA) began a few months ago, it became evident rather early on that the fledgling organization was lacking in credibility.
In what may have been its first message to the masses, someone from the CHLPA misspelled the name of its executive director. This was in a tweet announcing the name of that executive director.
It has been downhill from there for the CHLPA, an organization that, if nothing else, has shown that you don’t have to be credible in order to gain an obscene amount of publicity via social media.
Someone who said his name was Derek Clarke represented himself early on as the CHLPA’s primary spokesman. He was quick to comment but reluctant to appear anywhere in person.
On Wednesday, Dave Naylor, a former CBC Radio reporter now working for TSN, did some digging and uncovered two men named Derek Clarke. Eventually, the one who apparently was with the CHLPA agreed to meet Naylor at a Montreal hotel on Thursday. Naylor later reported that Clarke refused to appear on camera.
By now there were reports that Clarke actually might be Randy Gumbley, a convicted fraudster with a history of running hockey-related scams.
Former NHL enforcer Georges Laraque was introduced as the CHLPA’s executive director in that August tweet in which his name was misspelled.
That should have served as the canary in the CHLPA’s mine.
By the time the CHLPA imploded on Wednesday and Thursday, the situation had become laughable.
There was Sunaya Sapurji, Yahoo! Sports’ junior hockey columnist, tweeting this yesterday: “I wrote this line today: Laraque said Derek Clarke also exists & is actually a man named Derek Clarke with ‘a family and kids and stuff.’ ”
And then there was this, from Willy Palov, who has written about major junior hockey for a long time with the Halifax Chronicle-Herald: “Just spoke with a third highly credible source who says the CHL possesses strong evidence Derek Clarke is Randy Gumbley.”
By late in the business day yesterday, it had been discovered that Derek Clarke — at least a Derek Clarke — and a Glen Clarke were sharing a phone number and email address but neither was returning phone messages.
By now, Laraque, his shovel working hard and the hole getting deeper, was telling Sapurji that Randy Gumbley’s brother, who he said looks a lot like Randy, has been working with the CHLPA.
Seriously!
Through all of this, the CHLPA, via Clarke, had been requesting a meeting with David Branch, who doubles as the CHL president and commissioner of the OHL.
Branch kept asking: “Who are these guys?” But he never got an answer.
So the CHL, in true Hollywood fashion, hired a private eye. No word if it was Thomas Magnum or Jacques Clouseau.
“Our private investigator never did find out who Derek Clarke is,” Branch told Sapurji yesterday.
Earlier in the week, the CHLPA had made a big deal out of the fact it claimed to have signed up the majority of players from one QMJHL team. That turned out to be the expansion Sherbrooke Phoenix.
Late yesterday, Panov reported: “Another credible source said Laraque gathered the Sherbrooke Phoenix players at a hotel earlier this week and informed them the players from the other 17 teams in the Quebec league had already joined the union and asked them to do the same.
“Nineteen of the 23 players allegedly signed cards, but they were asked to keep it confidential. One player eventually broke his silence to Phoenix staff during a team bus ride later that day.”
Meanwhile, players throughout the WHL have been laughing at the stumbling and bumbling. On the weekend, four senior members of the Kamloops Blazers indicated there was no interest in their dressing room in the CHLPA. The story was the same with the Edmonton Oil Kings, Kelowna Rockets, Saskatoon Blades and on and on.
In the hopes of being certified in Alberta, the CHLPA had applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board on Oct. 5. Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reported yesterday that the law firm that had been representing the CHLPA, the Calgary-based Victory Square Law Office LLP, had withdrawn its services.
By late last night, the CHLPA also had lost its law firm in Quebec.
And then, at 7 p.m. Pacific time, came word that Laraque was resigning.
The CHLPA’s sweater, it seems, just continues to unravel.

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Thursday . . .

Jim Thomson, a former NHL enforcer, tells Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post that it’s time for fighting in hockey to come to an end. Thomson, with five children, is a recovering alcoholic who is afraid for his future and wonders how much blows to the head have had to do with all that he has gone through since his career ended. That story is right here.
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Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress has the latest on that city and the situation involving a possible hockey team for the 2011-12 season. It may or may not be the Quesnel Millionaires. That story is right here.
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In the QMJHL, the host Saint John Sea Dogs got the winning goal at 12:17 of the third period as they opened the championship final with a 2-1 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques. . . . Former WHL G Jacob DeSerres made 22 saves for the winners. . . . .Game 2 is Saturday in Saint John.
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In the OHL, the visiting Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors beat the Owen Sound Attack 6-2 to take a 2-0 lead in that best-of-seven final. . . . .Game 3 is tonight in Mississauga. . . . St. Mike’s is the host team for the Memorial Cup so both teams will play in the tournament.
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JUST NOTES: You have to wonder how thrilled the head coaches of the Kootenay Ice and Portland Winterhawks are to have to attend a news conference today. Kris Knoblauch of the Ice and Mike Johnston of the Winterhawks, along with two players from each team, will attend the WHL’s news conference in advance of Game 1 of the championship final. . . . Can’t believe either coach is very happy about having to put players through this on a game day. . . . D Ryan Button, who went from the Prince Albert Raiders to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Jan. 10, signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Boston Bruins. According to capgeek.com, the deal calls for an AHL salary of US$60,000 in each season, with NHL salaries of $585,000, $610,000 and $660,000. His signing bonus if $180,000 over three years. . . .
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THE COACHING GAME: Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reports that “the Halifax Mooseheads will introduce Dominique Ducharme as their new head coach at a news conference Friday. Majority owner Bobby Smith was flying from Phoenix to Halifax on Thursday to get here in time for the introduction and didn’t want to tip his hand about who is getting the job. But other informed sources confirmed Ducharme is the guy.” Ducharme has been an assistant coach with the Montreal Juniors for the last three seasons. . . . The OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds made it official Thursday when they introduced Mike Stapleton as their new head coach. A former Soo assistant, he spent this season as an assistant with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch.
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The more of these stories that surface, the scarier it gets. Richard Scott had what The Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle refers to as a “short, brutal and fight-filled career with the New York Rangers.” Concussions forced Scott out of the game at the age of 25. He suffered head injuries in December 2003 that prevent him from doing manual labour today. Now he wants to help researchers learn more about these head injuries. . . . Mirtle’s story is right here, and it’s worth noting that Johnny Bower, Bobby Baun and Gordie Howe are involved, too.
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And, finally, if you haven’t seen this it lasts less than a minute and is worth a look.
A team of BCHL players recently returned from Russia, where they played a handful of games. During one of the games, a fan somehow made his way onto the ice. No, he didn’t get a cheery welcome. Check it out right here.

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Friday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Petr Kalus (Regina, 2005-06) signed a tryout contract with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland SM-Liiga). He had seven goals and two assists in 45 games split between the Houston Aeros and Springfield Falcons (both AHL) this season. Jokerit GM Jarmo Kekäläinen: "Kalus is an interesting player, who looked like an NHL player when he was 18. He had a good start to his professional career in Boston. Now with us he has the opportunity to rebound." Kalus's tryout contract goes until Aug. 30. . . .
F Brett Lysak (Regina, 1996-2001) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 19 assists in 36 games with Jesenice (Slovenia, playes in Austria Erste Bank Liga) and two goals in three games with SönderjyskE Vojens (Denmark AL-Bank Ligaen) this season. 99ers head coach Mario Richer: "Brett represents strong offensive hockey, the style we will play in Graz next season. He has great experience and that will help our young team." . . .
D Tim Wedderburn (Prince George, 1998-2002) signed a one-year contract extension with the Braehead Clan (UK Elite). He had one goal and 16 assists in 54 games for the Glasgow-based Clan this season. Clan head coach Bruce Richardson: "Tim is one of those guys that every team needs. He's dependable, focused, a true leader, very motivational, and he knows his position well. He's a true professional on the ice and off and in the dressing room, he is just a great guy to be around.”
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It would seem that the hockey fans in Chilliwack can forget about a WHL franchise, at least for this season. The Chilliwack Times reported Friday that the WHL and the Chiefs Development Group, which manages Prospera Centre, haven’t spoken in two weeks. In the meantime, CDG and the owners of the BCHL’s Quesnel Millionaires have chatted. That story is right here.
chilliwacktimes.com/sports/trying+cash+Millionaires/4696079/story.html
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Every spring, the QMJHL holds a prospects luncheon before its annual draft. This year, however, the QMJHL has cancelled the luncheon. Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle Herald explains things right here, in an interesting piece on players manipulating the system, not that there is anything wrong with that.
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Mike Ozanian of Forbes takes a look at the latest news involving Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, and his pursuit of the NHL’s Dallas Stars right here. The headline is interesting: Tom Gaglardi makes offer to buy Dallas Stars without cash.
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ON THE ICE FRIDAY:

LEVKO KOPER

In Spokane, F Levko Koper scored three goals and set up another as the Chiefs dumped the Portland Winterhawks, 8-3. . . . That ties the Western Conference final, 2-2, with Game 5 at the Rose Garden in Portland tonight. . . . The winner will meet the Kootenay Ice in the WHL championship series. . . . The first three games of this series were one-goal games with Portland winning two of them. . . . The Chiefs held period leads of 2-1 and 5-2. . . . Koper has eight goals in these playoffs. He scored three times in 7:55 as the Chiefs stretched a 4-2 lead to 7-2. . . . Spokane F Collin Valcourt, who went into the game with five points in 14 games, had his first goal and three assists. Yes, it was the first four-point game in the WHL for the Red Deer native, who turned 18 on March 18. . . . Portland got a goal and two assists from F Ryan Johansen. . . . Johansen has 20 points, including 10 goals, in 14 games. . . . Koper’s second goal, at 3:43 of the third, sent Portland G Mac Carruth to the bench, with Keith Hamilton coming on in relief. Carruth gave up six goals on 28 shots. . . . Hamilton stopped 11 of 13 shots. . . . Spokane G James Reid made 27 saves. Mac Engel came on for the last 5;37 and stopped seven of eight shots. . . . Spokane was 1-for-10 on the PP; Portland was 2-for-7. . . . The Winterhawks took 60 of 94 penalty minutes. . . . Attendance was 8,412. . . . Game 6 is scheduled for Spokane on Monday, with a seventh game, if necessary, to be played in Portland on Tuesday. . . . That means that if the series goes seven games the teams will finish by having played four games in five nights.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
F Brendan Leipsic, Portland
F Nino Niederreiter, Portland

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

Thursday . . .

Defenceman Tyler Schmidt has scored the OT winner and the Tri-City Americans and their fans explode in joy.
(Photo by Doug Love / Tri-City Americans)

In Kennewick, Wash., D Tyler Schmidt scored at 2:32 of the second overtime period to give the host Tri-City Americans a 4-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . It was the night’s only WHL playoff game. . . . The series now is tied 2-2. Game 5 is Sunday in Kennewick with Game 6 in Spokane on Tuesday. . . . The Chiefs had won the previous two games in the series. . . . The goal was Schmidt’s first of these playoffs. He sat out Game 3 with a one-game suspension after taking a clipping major in Game 2. . . . “It felt good to get that overtime winner,” Schmidt told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “I’ve never had one before in my career. I got lucky at the end. We needed this win.” . . . The Americans had a glorious opportunity to end it at 18:36 of the first OT when F Brendan Shinnimin was awarded a penalty shot. Spokane G James Reid kept it going with a right pad save. . . . Spokane F Tyler Johnson forced OT with his second goal of the game, via the PP, at 12:17 of OT. . . . The Chiefs led this one 2-0 early in the second period, only to have the Americans score three goals before the period ended. . . . Reid finished with 46 saves, one more than Tri-City’s Drew Owsley. . . . Owsley set a franchise record with his 18th playoff victory, one more than Chet Pickard. . . . Attendance was 3,888.
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THURSDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Spokane F Kenton Miller.
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The Portland Winterhawks are at home tonight with a 3-1 lead over the Kelowna Rockets. The Winterhawks also will welcome back F Brad Ross, who has served a three-game suspension for a charging major he took in Game 1. Kelowna F Zach Franko, who took that hit by Ross, was left with a broken nose and a concussion, and isn’t expected to play.
Meanwhile, the Red Deer Rebels and Medicine Hat Tigers don’t play again until Saturday. The Tigers will take a 3-1 edge into the next game, which is to be played in Red Deer. The Rebels were without G Darcy Kuemper (ankle) for Game 4 — Dawson Guhle stopped 19 shots in a 1-0 victory — and it isn’t known yet if he will be able to dress, or play, in Game 5. The Rebels are still alive, despite having scored only three goals in four games.
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The Kootenay Ice will spend the next few days enjoying what they have accomplished to this point in the WHL playoffs.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought we would have swept this series,” Ice president and general manager Jeff Chynoweth said via text shortly after his club had swept the highly favoured Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday night. “Having said that, in all my years with the Ice, that is probably as good a four-game stretch as we have ever had.
“We will enjoy it for a few days, rest up and heal a bit, and get ready for The Hat or Red Deer, because it will not get any easier from here on out.”
The Medicine Hat Tigers take a 3-1 lead into Red Deer for Game 5 with the Rebels on Saturday.
If you were wondering, the Ice was 2-5-1 against Red Deer during the regular season and 4-1-1 versus Medicine Hat.
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If you’re wondering why the Blades went out the way they did, perhaps you should look no further than two statistics.
The Blades scored five goals in the four games and went 0-for-16 on the PP.
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The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings assigned Saskatoon Blades F Brayden Schenn to the Manchester Monarchs, their AHL affiliate.
As Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times tweeted: “Kings decision to send Brayden Schenn to AHL is based on their desire that he not feel pressure to relace (Anze) Kopitar when he's different player.”
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JAY VARADY

Jay Varady, a long-time member of the Everett Silvertips’ coaching staff, is leaving the WHL. Varady, who has been with Everett through all eight of its seasons in the league, has stepped down as associate head coach to sign on as head coach of the Ducs d’Angers, a club that plays in Ligue Magnus, which is France’s top professional league.
Varady, 33, was an assistant coach with the Silvertips (2003-07), before being named associate head coach. He helped the Silvertips to a Western Conference championship and three U.S. Division titles. The team also was in the playoffs in each of his eight seasons there.
The Cahokia, IL native won a gold medal at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships with USA Hockey as the team’s video co-ordinator.
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Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune takes a look at Mike Johnston and Travis Green, the braintrust behind the success the Portland Winterhawks are enjoying. That story is right here.
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Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle Herald takes a look at the names being bandied about as at least four QMJHL teams look for head coaches. That piece is right here.
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Today’s good read comes from Pulitzer Prize-winner Buzz Bissinger, who writes about Tiger Woods. That piece is good and it’s right here.


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Taking Note on Twitter