F Brett Breitkreuz (Kelowna, Edmonton, Vancouver, 2006-10) signed a one-year contract extension with Kölner Haie (Germany, DEL). He has three goals and five assists in 29 games for Cologne this season. . . .
F Ivan Dornic (Portland, 2003-05) signed a contract for the rest of this season with AaB Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Ligaen). He had nine goals and seven assists in 25 games with Metallurg Zhlobin (Belarus, Extraliga) this season. . . .
F Patrik Valcak (Lethbridge, Kelowna, 2003-04) was released by Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga). He had one goal and seven assists in 18 games for Nitra. Valcak began the season with Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga), where he was pointless in eight games.
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JUST NOTES:
F Chris Wilkie, a fourth-round selection by the Victoria Royals in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft, has committed to the U of North Dakota. Wilkie, 15, has 37 points in 14 regular-season games with the Omaha Jr. Lancers program. According to a Lancers news release, he leads “all three PHL divisions (18U, 16U, 14U) in scoring . . . and has quickly become one of the best young prospects the PHL has seen in its three-year history.” . . . That would be the North American Prospects Hockey League. . . . Wilkie is coming off a five-game, 23-point performance in a weekend PHL event in Dallas. . . . Wilkie’s father, David, coaches the Lancers. David also is a former WHL defenceman (Seattle, Kamloops, Regina, 1991-94) who was a first-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 1992 draft. . . . Carlos Sosa and Darcy Tucker of Turning Point Sports Management are the Wilkie family’s advisors. . . . Interestingly, David Wilkie was Sosa’s first client to be a first-round selection in the NHL draft. Wilkie also introduced Sosa to Tucker, then a forward with the Kamloops Blazers. Wilkie recommended that Sosa take on Tucker as a client, which is what happened. Sosa and Tucker have since partnered in TPSM.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have named F Brody Sutter as their captain, replacing F Cam Braes, 20, who was traded Monday to the Moose Jaw Warriors. Sutter, 20, was named captain just two days after his name was being bandied about in trade talks. . . . Sutter, a seventh-round selection of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2011 NHL draft, is the 21st captain in franchise history. . . . He is the son of former WHL/NHL F Duane Sutter.
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F Brett Connolly, whose WHL rights went from the Prince George Cougars to the Tri-City Americans on Tuesday, was in action with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Connolly, 19, played nine minutes 43 seconds over 15 shifts as the Lightning lost 5-2 to the visiting Carolina Hurricanes. . . . He played nine minutes 42 seconds of even strength, with one second of PP time. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling.
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F Patrick Holland of the Tri-City Americans got through the WHL trade deadline without having to pack up and move. But two days later he was involved in an NHL trade. On Thursday night, the Calgary Flames dealt Holland, F Rene Bourque and a 2013 second-round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens for F Mike Cammalleri, G Karri Ramo and a 2012 fifth-round draft pick. . . . A seventh-round selection by the Flames in the NHL’s 2010 draft, Holland has 56 points in 39 games with the Americans this season. He is ninth in the WHL scoring race. Holland, 19, has yet to sign an NHL contract. . . . Later in the evening, Holland tweeted: “Guess it's time to thank my parents for putting me in 9 years of french immersion. Hoping I can please the @CanadiensMTL fans someday.”
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The Vancouver Giants are checking out F Austin Fyten, 20. Fyten underwent major knee surgery after suffering an injury during a Sept. 8 exhibition game with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that Fyten became a free agent on Tuesday when the Hurricanes dropped him at Tuesday’s trade deadline. According to Ewen, Fyten is “slated to come to town early next week to meet with Giants doctors, who will assess what rehab it may take for him to return this season.” The Giants are thinking perhaps they can get him into the lineup late in March or early in April. . . . Fyten, a second-round selection the 2006 bantam draft, had 177 points, including 55 goals, and 287 penalty minutes in 193 games with Lethbridge. Last season, in 52 games, he had 54 points, including 24 goals, and 103 penalties.
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There is going to be some emotion at an upcoming Portland Winterhawks game with former player and coach Brent Peterson in the house. He plans on attending a game or two early in February.
Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has more right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades are expected to start G Alex Moodie, 16, again tonight as they play the Broncos in Swift Current. Moodie was to have been sent back to the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild. But the Blades lost G Andrey Makarov to a concussion so ended up keeping Moodie. All he did was go into Brandon and blank the Wheat Kings 2-0 on Wednesday night. That made him, according to Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Blades, the first 16-year-old goaltender in franchise history to post a shutout. . . . Once Makarov gets a clean bill of health, which could come early next week, Moodie will be going back to the Wild. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more on the Blades’ goaltending situation right here.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Medicine Hat, F Dylan Wruck scored two goals and set up another to help the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 6-2 victory over the Tigers. . . . Edmonton also got two goals from F Rhett Rachinski, with F Tyler Maxwell scoring once and drawing two helpers. . . . F Emerson Etem got his 35th of the season for the Tigers. . . . Emerson scored the game’s first goal, at which point he had scored Medicine Hat’s last four goals. . . . Tigers G Tyler Bunz, who is stuck on 99 victories, left after two periods. He gave up five goals on 30 shots. . . . Edmonton D Griffin Reinhart (undisclosed) was scratched. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson made his Edmonton debut. He had one assist.
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