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| Tri-City forward Justin Feser unleashes a shot in the direction of Regina goaltender Matt Hewitt on Saturday night in Kennewick, Wash. The Americans won the game, 6-1. (Photo courtesy Doug Love / Tri-City Americans) |
If you missed it, and if you like reading good rants, you should skip over to Regan Bartel’s blog and the entry titled ‘One call proves costly.’ . . . Bartel, the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, didn’t like the performance turned in by a referee on Friday night. . . . I guess that’s why Bartel calls his blog Regan’s Rant. . . . There is a link over there on the right, and I’m thinking that Bartel’s name has been stroked off the Christmas card list by every zebra in the world . . .
If you are looking for some interesting reading, head over to the Regina Leader-Post’s website and check out Greg Harder’s series on Headshots and Hockey. . . . Of special interest are stories on Colton Stephenson, who retired from the Edmonton Oil Kings earlier this season, because of concussion-related problems, and Brayden Cuthbert of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who has yet to play this season for the same reason. . . . If you read only one part of this series, though, make it Part 4 in which Harder writes about Dr. Patrick Neary who “has dedicated several years of meticulous research to unlocking the concussion enigma.”
The entire series may be found right here.
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JUST NOTES: D Stefan Elliott (Saskatoo, 2007-11) scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on Saturday and it came on Hockey Night in Canada. He scored his side’s third goal in a 5-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . He finished plus-1 with two shots in 19 minutes 36 seconds of playing time over 25 shifts. . . . Elliott, a second-round pick, 49th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 NHL draft is 20, so he still could be playing with Saskatoon. . . .
In Moose Jaw, F Eric Arnold scored twice, including the winner at 11:41 of the third period, as the Warriors beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-3. Arnold, who has four goals, had last scored on Sept. 30. . . . The Warriors swept the home-and-home series, having won 7-6 in Brandon on Friday. . . . The Wheat Kings have lost three in a row. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, the WHL’s leading scorer, was held pointless for the second time this season. His eight-game goal streak also ended. . . . Moose Jaw was without F Justin Kirsch (concussion), as well as D Dylan McIlrath and F Tanner Eberle, both of whom are serving suspensions. . . .
In Prince Albert, F Brady Brassart had two goals and an assist to help the Calgary Hitmen to an 8-2 victory over the Raiders. . . . The Hitmen broke open a 1-1 game with three goals in a span of 3:01 in the second period. . . . The Hitmen went 4-0 on their swing into the East Division. . . . Each team took 51 penalty minutes. . . .
In Saskatoon, G Adam Morrison stopped 27 shots in leading the Vancouver Giants to a 4-1 victory over the Blades. The Giants acquired Morrison, 20, from the Blades earlier in the season. . . . Vancouver F Cain Franson had two goals. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls wasn’t able to beat Morrison on a late first-period penalty shot with the Blades leading 1-0. . . . Saskatoon F Lukas Sutter took two checking-to-the-head minors, one at 17:49 of the first and the other just 54 seconds into the second. . . .
In Edmonton, F Tyler Maxwell scored twice as the Oil Kings dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-2. . . . Maxwell, who has 13 goals, was acquired Thursday from the Everett Silvertips. . . . F Michael St. Croix had two goals and two assists, while F Dylan Wruck added a goal and two helpers. They are Maxwell’s linemates. . . . Edmonton D Martin Gernat had two assists and was plus-3 with his parents, who are here from Slovakia, among the crowd of 8,759 on Minor Hockey Night. . . . The Oil Kings were without D Mark Pysyk and F Kristians Pelss (both undisclosed). . . .
In Red Deer, the Medicine Hat Tigers went 2-for-11 on the PP and beat the Rebels, 4-1. . . . Red Deer took 56 of 103 penalty minutes. . . . Tigers F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 27th goal, into an empty net. . . . Medicine Hat F Kale Kessy picked up a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct at 11:10 of the first period. . . .
Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 29 shots. . . .
In Kamloops, F Brendan Ranford reached the 200-point plateau as his Blazers dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 8-2. . . . Ranford, playing in his 230th game, got there with a second-period goal, his 13th of the season. He also had an assist and a scrap, for the third Gordie Howe hat trick of his career. . . . He also served an early double minor for high-sticking after hitting Seattle F Brendan Troock. After the collision, Ranford’s stick came around and the blade struck Troock in the back of his neck, directly under his helmet. Troock, who missed all of last season with a head injury, left on a stretcher and was taken to hospital as a precaution. When the Thunderbirds left the arena, they planned on stopping at Royal Inland Hospital and picking up Troock for the trip home. . . . Kamloops D Brady Gaudet had three assists. . . . Seattle was outshot 50-19, including 19-3 in the first period. Two of those shots were dump-ins that preceded line changes, with the other a soft shot from the point by D Brad Deagle. . . . The Thunderbirds gave starter Calvin Pickard a rest — he had started 20 of 22 — and gave Daniel Cotton his third career start. . . . Seattle D Cason Machacek was ejected with a major for checking to the head in the third period. . . .
In Everett, the Swift Current Broncos got two goals from F Taylor Vause and beat the Silvertips, 3-1. . . . The Broncos are 1-2 on their U.S. Division trip. . . . They are in Portland today. . . . Broncos G Jon Groenheyde stopped 32 shots. . . . Vause has 15 goals. . . . Everett has lost four in a row. . . .
In Kelowna, F Brett Bulmer scored three times to spark the Rockets to a 6-5 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Bulmer has six goals in 10 games since returning from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. . . . Victoria D Zach Habscheid scored his first goal of the season. It was his second in 113 regular-season games. . . .
In Spokane, the Prince George Cougars surprised the Chiefs, 5-4, on D Linden Springer’s first goal. He broke a 4-4 tie at 2:23 of the third period. . . . The goal came in Springer’s 23rd game, 20 of which he has played this season. . . . It also was his first point. . . . The Chiefs are 0-7 on the road as they head out on a five-game trip into the Central Division. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Patrick Holland had a goal and two assists as the Tri-City Americans beat the Regina Pats, 6-1. . . . G Eric Comrie stopped 20 shots for the victory. . . . The Americans have won four in a row and are one point behind the Kootenay Ice, who top the WHL’s overall standings. The Americans, at .760, do have the league’s best winning percentage. . . . Regina finished its U.S. Division trek at 1-3-1. . . . The Pats next play Friday against the visiting Vancouver Giants.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Matej Stransky, Saskatoon
F Eric Walker, Vancouver
D Brady Gaudet, Kamloops
F Taylor Crunk, Victoria
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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