WHL Guide? Where is it? ... Ice in brutal stretch of schedule ... Pats finalist for 2018 Memorial Cup

Scattershooting on a Monday evening while watching an NFL game from Mexico City and wondering why there isn’t a franchise there . . .

The WHL’s regular season is almost one-third of the way to done and yet the 2016-17 Guide isn’t ready for download. As if it isn’t enough that the league no longer offers a printed guide for sale, now it seems that it can’t even deliver an on-line version in good time.

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I spoke with one WHL GM recently who suggests soft attendance at mid-week games indicates that at least some thought should be given to (a) shortening the 72-game regular season and (b) adding one weekend to its end. It’s hard to disagree with that argument. A 64- or 66-game regular season would allow more practice time, too.

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If you don’t think it’s time to do something about the WHL schedule, consider that the Kootenay Ice is about to embark on a stretch of four games in five nights FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK! . . . The Ice played at home Nov. 15, in Lethbridge on Nov. 16, and back at home on Nov 18 and 19. . . . This week, it’s at home on Wednesday, in Red Deer on Friday and back home on Friday and Saturday. . . . It says here that the teenagers in this league deserve better than that. . . . Also, do you think playing six home games — that’s 17 per cent of a team’s home schedule — in a stretch of 12 days might be a bit much?

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If you’re waiting for a WHL franchise to land in Nanaimo, don’t hold your breath. Were a private investor to build a facility there, a team would appear in the Vancouver Island city in a hurry. But there isn’t any such person/group on the horizon.

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Spoke with a WHL coach recently and he bemoaned the amount of checking from behind that goes on in an average game. In fact, he admitted that he fears there will be tragic consequences if things don’t change.

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Remember when the Green Bay Packers were a force to be reckoned with in the NFL? What happened?

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Spoke with a pharmacist the other night who told me only about 30 per cent of people get flu shots. As someone whose wife lives with a suppressed immune system after having a kidney transplant, I am asking you to get a flu shot, if you haven’t already.

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Isn’t it time for hockey to take the cross-check to the back out of the game? It really is amazing how the cross-check continually is allowed to weasel its way back into hockey as a legitimate defensive play. Yes, it’s back in the WHL and it’s back in the NHL.

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11 - Last 4 seasons, Average @PGCougars Home Attendance through Game #11:
2013-14 (1,624)
2014-15 (2,833)
2015-16 (2,701)
2016-17 (3,600)

— WHL Facts (@WHLFacts) November 22, 2016

It may be hard to wrap your head around the Prince George Cougars as a legitimate Memorial Cup threat — likely because of the struggles the franchise has experienced in recent seasons — but the acquisition of D Brendan Guhle on Friday puts them squarely in the conversation. With the Cougars, Guhle won’t have to be the star attraction; he won’t have to feel that he’s got the entire team on his shoulders, like he did with the Prince Albert Raiders. If the Cougars can maintain their discipline the way they did in a recent 7-0 blitzing of the host Kamloops Blazers, well, look out.

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The Postmedia scalpel has taken a chunk out of the newsroom at my old paper, the Regina Leader-Post. Eight friends have taken buyouts and that includes Ian Hamilton, who worked for me during my run as the sports editor there. Hamilton is the best reporter/writer/copy editor with whom I have worked. It hurts to see the newspaper industry cast aside so many great journalists and you really have to wonder about Postmedia’s end game, if it even has one. . . . The other day, a friend brought me a copy of the Winnipeg Free Press from Saturday, Nov. 12. As I devoured it, I realized that there are some people out there who continue to operate a real newspaper.

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F Zach Hamill (Everett, 2004-08) has signed for the rest of this season with Björklöven Umeå (Sweden, Allsvenskan). Last season, with Fribourg-Gottéron (Switzerland, NL A), he had five goals and two assists in nine games. He also had a goal and three assists in eight games with Ambrì-Piotta (same), and four goals and seven assists in 24 games with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL). . . .

F Brandon McMillan (Kelowna, 2006-10) has been released by Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL), which allows him to sign for the rest of this season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). This season, he had nine goals and six assists in 31 games with Medveščak. . . . The McMillan transaction was a trade, with Medveščak receiving “monetary compensation” from Torpedo in exchange for McMillan.

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The Regina Pats are one step closer to playing host to the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament. On Monday, the CHL revealed that the Pats and two OHL teams — the Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals — have been shortlisted as potential host teams. . . . The tournament, which is scheduled for May 17-27, 2018, features four teams — a host team and the champions from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. . . . The 2018 event will celebrate 100 years of the Memorial Cup. The Pats will celebrate their 100th anniversary season in 2017-18. . . . The host team is to be named sometime in February, with formal bid presentations to be made at some point before then. . . . The 2017 tournament is scheduled for Windsor with the OHL’s Spitfires as the host team. . . . The tournament normally is passed among the leagues on a rotated basis. That was changed for 2018 because of it being the 100th anniversary of the trophy and all 60 CHL teams were allowed to bid on it. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here on the story, including an update on the Pats’ lease with the Regina Exhibition Associated Ltd., which expired on May 31.

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The Kootenay Ice has acquired F Jake Elmer, who will turn 18 on Dec. 31, from the Regina Pats for a ninth-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft. The Calgarian was a sixth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he was pointless in 17 games with the Pats, and had a goal and three assists in 20 games with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. This season, with the Storm, he had 12 points, including nine goals, in 20 games. . . . The Ice is carrying 23 players, including seven defencemen and 14 forwards.

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The AJHL’s board of governors has voted to move to one division from two for the 2018-19 season. With that, all teams will play a fully interlocking schedule, with each of the 16 teams playing each opponent four times — two at home and two away. . . . Interestingly, the AJHL also is going away from its system of signing prospective players to White Cards; instead, it will use a system involving Letters of Intent. . . . There is more on the AJHL meeting right here.

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The AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners have postponed Tuesday and Wednesday home games as F Craig Cunningham, their captain, continues to fight for his life in a Tucson hospital. Cunningham, who played for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and Portland Winterhawks, collapsed prior to a game against the visiting Manitoba Moose on Saturday night. That game also was postponed. . . . TSN’s Bob McKenzie has more on the Cunningham story right here. . . . As of Monday afternoon, Cunningham was listed in critical but stable condition.

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If you’ve got a comment, some information you would like to pass along, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to contact me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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MONDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Red Deer at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Medicine Hat at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Regina at Prince George, 7 p.m.

Edmonton vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Saskatoon at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Kelowna at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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.

Warriors do right thing . . . Hay returns with victory

The Moose Jaw Warriors have made a substantial donation to Journey To Hope, in memory of Ethan Williams, a 16-year-old prospect who committed suicide on July 29 in Winnipeg.
The Warriors donated the proceeds ($2,000) from their intrasquad game, as well as the gate from their Tuesday night exhibition game against the visiting Swift Current Broncos.
Journey To Hope is a Moose Jaw-based organization that provides support to those who have been impacted by suicide.
"Journey to Hope is all about suicide awareness and prevention,” Della Ferguson of Journey To Hope told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “We do the fundraising, but the next step is where the work begins really. It's about doing awareness work in schools and we've done awareness work with seniors. We've done training for councilors and school workers in all forms of suicide awareness and prevention in our community."
A fifth-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, Williams was to have attended the Warriors’ training camp. It would have been his third preseason camp.
Considering what happened to Williams, Warriors general manager Alan Millar told Gourlie that the Warriors now are working in the area of mental health awareness.
"With what happened to Ethan, we did have some discussions with some of the young guys who are in our organization who knew him well," said Millar. "We've had some discussion with Sask. Mental Health and some other people. We feel that some type of orientation seminar looking at the big picture would be beneficial. It's something we've talked about for awhile."
Gourlie’s story is right here.
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An email with a link to a video arrived in my Inbox.
Here’s the intro:
" ‘Be a man’ is something we've all heard at one time or another, even a few of the women reading this right now. Being a ‘man’ in that sense means something completely different to me (and maybe you, too) than what that phrase implies.
“I can't even begin to describe the toll that the concept of masculinity has taken on my life. And it's felt everywhere. It's time we make changes, starting from within ourselves.”
The video, from upworthy.com, is right here. Take three minutes and give it a watch.
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 F Lukáš Vantuch (Calgary, Lethbridge, 2005-07) has been released from a tryout by Dusseldorf (Germany, DEL). Last season, with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had a goal and four assists in 31 games. On loan to Sparta Prague (same), he had one assist in five games and he was pointless in two games with Benátky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). . . .
F Zach Hamill (Everett, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract with HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland, Liiga). Last season, he had three goals and six assists in 21 games with the Utica Comets (AHL) 21 GP, 3+6. He also played 13 games with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL), scoring once and adding two assists.
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If you haven’t seen them yet, Alan Caldwell, over at Small Thoughts At Large, has created WHL team depth charts that feature only signed players. As usual, he has done a terrific job of providing even more roster-based information for WHL fans. . . . Check it out by clicking on the link over there on the right.
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Head coach Don Hay was back behind the Kamloops Blazers’ bench on Friday night for the first time since the final game of the 1995 Memorial Cup tournament. The Blazers won the Memorial Cup, and last night they beat Hay’s former team, the Vancouver Giants, 5-4 in a shootout. . . . The Blazers erased a 4-2 deficit midway through the third period in winning their exhibition debut. Hay spent the previous 10 seasons as the Giants’ head coach. . . . Veteran F Cole Ully led Kamloops with a goal and two assists.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed G Connor Ingram, 17, who was placed on the club’s protected list in September after last year’s training camp. From Imperial, Sask., Ingram played for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, who won the national title. During the regular season, he was 16-4-3/1.98/.928. . . . He was in goal for the final game of the national tournament, stopping 60 shots as the Mintos won in triple OT. . . . Ingram was credited with the victory as the Blazers beat the visiting Vancouver Giants 5-4 in a shootout last night. He stopped eight of 10 shots through OT and added two more shootout saves. . . . Ingram is one of three goaltenders left in camp with the Blazers, along with veteran Bolton Pouliot, 20, and Cole Kehler, who turns 17 on Dec. 17. Kehler got into 11 games with the Blazers last season, but spent most of his winter at OHA in Penticton, B.C.
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Rory Boylen of The Hockey News has an interesting piece right here about some kids in Montreal who were playing street hockey until a neighbour called the cops. Presumably, the neighbour would rather the kids were keying cars and smashing windows.
---Here’s an interesting note from Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald involving Tuesday’s rookie game between the host Warriors and the Swift Current Broncos, which went into OT:
“After regulation time, the Zamboni came out and did a dry scrape of the ice. It's basically the same thing they would do before a shootout, except they do the entire ice surface. After that full scrape, the ice wouldn't be touched before a potential shootout. The NHL will adopt the change this upcoming season. The WHL is doing it as a trial during the pre-season. Tuesday's experiment was not positive. It took nearly 12 minutes to do the dry scrape — two-thirds of a normal intermission — and they played 34 seconds of overtime. It would be one thing in an NHL rink where they have two Zambonis and could do the dry scrape in little more than five minutes, but the dry scrape Tuesday took entirely too long.”
Gourlie is right. Twelve minutes of intermission leading into OT is far too long, especially with the beer concessions closed.
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F Reid Duke reported to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and is expected to play in an exhibition game today against the Pats in Regina. Duke, the fifth overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft, didn’t report to training camp. . . . It isn’t known why the Calgary native didn’t report for the start of his third WHL season; it also isn’t known if he asked to be traded. . . . General manager Brad Robson is quoted in a news release as saying: “The hockey club, Reid Duke, his family and agent came to an agreement beneficial to both sides.”.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed three players -- F Kobe Mohr, 15; D Brayden Gorda, 15; and F Tyson Gruninger, 16. . . . Mohr was the 20th overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft. From Lloydminster, Alta., he had 63 points, including 29 goals, in 26 games with the bantam AAA Lloydminster Heat last season. . . . Gorda, from Edmonton, was a third-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He had 26 points, including six goals, in 33 games with the bantam AAA Edmonton Maple Leaf Athletic Club. . . . Gruninger, from Drayton Valley, Alta., put up 54 points, 30 of them goals, in 37 games with a minor midget team in Leduc, Alta., last season. He was placed on the Oil Kings’ protected list in March.
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F Ty Lewis, 16, had his training camp with the Brandon Wheat Kings come to an end Thursday night when he broke a bone in his left forearm. Lewis, who is from Brandon, was a third-round pick by the Wheat Kings in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . The Saskatoon Blades have lost F Ty Mappin to a brain injury. Mappin, who was hurt Sunday, may return to the ice on Tuesday. . . .
D Joshua Smith, who turns 20 on Oct. 2, is in camp with the Portland Winterhawks after playing 93 games with the Prince George Cougars over four seasons. Smith, from Lacombe, scored one goal in that time. So guess who scored Portland’s first preseason goal? You got it. Smith opened the scoring on Friday and the Winterhawks went on to a 7-5 victory over the Spokane Chiefs at a preseason tournament in Everett. . . . Other 20-year-olds on Portland’s roster are F Adam de Champlain, F Trace Elson, D Josh Hanson and F Trent Lofthouse . . .
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald notes that “Twitter reports suggest D Tristen Pfeifer, F Nik Malenica and F Gunnar Wegleitner have signed with the Silvertips.” All three are undrafted list players. Pfeifer, 18, is from Phoenix where he played last season for the U-18 Junior Coyotes. Malenica, who turns 17 on Oct. 11, is from Nanaimo and played the last two seasons for the major midget North Island Silvertips. Wegleitner, a 16-year-old from Vancouver, played for the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians. . . . F Carson Bolduc, 18, who chose not to report to the Kamloops Blazers and was said to be evaluating his future, is in camp with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. Bolduc is from Salmon Arm. . . . 
F David Robinson (Chilliwack, 2007-10) will attend UBC and play for the Thunderbirds after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. Also checking in with the Thunderbirds will be F Adam Rossignol (Kootenay, Swift Current, Regina, Portland, 2010-14). . . . Adam McKinnon is the Victoria Royals new manager of communications and hockey operations co-ordinator. He replaces Corey St. Laurent, who is leaving to join Hockey Canada. McKinnon spent two seasons in media and community relations with the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings and also helped set up the Royals’ communication department before returning to Camosun College.

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Merry Christmas to all and to all . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Ashton Rome (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, Kamloops, 2002-2006) signed a one-year extension with Dusseldorf (Germany, DEL) thru 2015. This season, in 15 games, he had nine points, four of them goals. . . .
F Zach Hamill (Everett, 2003-08) has signed with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL) for the rest of this season. This season, with the Utica Comets (AHL), he had nine points, including three goals, in 21 games.
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G Eric Comrie of the Tri-City Americans signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets on Christmas Eve. According to the Jets, “The two-way deal has an average annual value of US$925,000.” . . . Comrie was a second-round selection by the Jets in the NHL’s 2013 draft. This season, he is 14-13-3, 2.52, .923 with the Americans. A native of Newport Beach, Calif., Comrie, 18, has a 43-33-8 record in 98 regular-season WHL games.
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Right here is a Christmas story for you. It involves a youngstyer dying of leukemia and fresh peaches. It is a great read.


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Dale McFee, the president of the Prince Albert Raiders, is leaving that city in September and moving to Regina. McFee will retire as P.A.’s chief of police to become Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of corrections and policing. . . . McFee was a forward with the Raiders when they won the Memorial Cup in 1985. . . . McFee told Tyler Clarke of the Prince Albert Daily Herald that he will remain president of the Raiders for at least another year.
Clarke’s complete story is right here.
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F Zach Hamill, who won the 2006-07 WHL scoring title with 93 points for the Everett Silvertips, was traded by the Boston Bruins to the Washington Capitals for F Chris Bourque on Saturday. . . . Hamill, 23, had 21 points in 41 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins this season. . . . A pro for five seasons, he has four assists in 20 NHL games with Boston. . . . Bourque, the 26-year-old son of Hall of Fame D Ray Bourque, won the AHL scoring title this season, putting up 93 points in 73 games with the Hershey Bears.

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.

A lawsuit, missing teeth, fighting words . . .

Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that former Everett Silvertips F Zack Dailey "has filed a lawsuit against the team over his Western Hockey League college scholarship." . . . That story is right here.
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F Zach Hamill had a terrific WHL career with the Everett Silvertips. But now he is in his third season as a professional -- he is in the Boston Bruins organization -- meaning he could be a restricted free agent after this season. He is with the AHL’s Providence Bruins and, with the NHL trade deadline arriving on Feb. 28, he is hearing his name in rumours. Check out this story from the Providence Journal.

Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun writes about Giants D Luke Fenske, who now is sporting the Bobby Clarke look, and the Giants, who are preparing for a weekend that includes a rematch with the Kelowna Rockets. That piece is right here.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a good piece in Thursday’s paper on the recent war of words between Dave Hunchak, the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, and GM/head coach Lorne Molleken of the Saskatoon Blades. The intriguing part of Harder’s column are the thoughts of Moose Jaw F Cody Beach, who found himself in the middle of it all.
Check out Harder’s piece right here.
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Early in the first period of Montreal’s 4-1 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday night, Canadiens D James Wisniewski was struck in the face by a shot taken by F Taylor Hall. Wisniewski left a lot of blood on the ice before exiting and being taken to hospital. This isn’t for the squeamish, but here’s a photo he had taken while he was at the hospital. . . . He was released from hospital later in the evening and was on the team’s flight to Calgary.
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And now for your reading enjoyment, here’s something from Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. He put together a panel, including former Portland GM/head coach Ken Hodge, and picked the top 15 fighters in the history of the Winterhawks’ franchise. If you’re a WHL fan, this is an interesting read and it’s right here.