Yes, without doubt.
If anyone in the world of hockey today can be called legendary, it is Ridley, the radio
voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers.The Tigers have played 3,000 regular-season games since entering the WHL for the 1970-71 season.
Ridley has been at the microphone for 2,999 of those games. In all that time he has missed one game, that being in the spring of 1973 when his boss assigned him to cover the Canadian women’s curling championship in Saskatoon. (The boss’s wife was on the rink that was representing Alberta.) With Ridley away, Larry Plante, who rode shotgun as Ridley’s analyst for 25 years, called the play.
Ridley will call his 3,000th regular-season game on Wednesday when the Tigers are at home to the Kootenay Ice.
Throw in playoff and Memorial Cup games, and Ridley will be calling game No. 3,353 for the Tigers.
Oh, and did we mention that he also drives the bus? Yes, he does.
Hockey Hall of Fame?
Why not?
After all, it's the Hockey Hall of Fame, not the National Hockey League Hall of Fame.
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The big news on Sunday involved Connor Crisp, who made his OHL goaltending debut with the Erie Otters by allowing 13 goals and being named the game’s first star in a 13-4 loss to the host Niagara IceDogs.
Crisp, 17, underwent shoulder surgery and had yet to play a game this season, but he was designated as the backup goaltender on Sunday. Erie had lost G Devin Williams after he stopped a shot with his head on Friday. Then, on Sunday, starter Ramis Sadikov was run over by F Alex Friesen of the IceDogs at 1:45 of the first period. Friesen received a charging major and game misconduct.For more, check out this story right here.
And if you click on right here, Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports offers up his take on the situation.
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Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that the Moose Jaw Warriors set a single-season franchise record for home victories on Saturday, when they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-2 on Saturday. The Warriors are 28-3-3 at home, which betters the record (27-6-3) set in 2005-06. . . . The Warriors have won 14 straight at home. . . . Moose Jaw is 23-1-2 at home since Oct. 7. . . . And everyone thought the Warriors had a home-ice advantage when they played in the Crushed Can. Mosaic Place has turned out to be even tougher.———
SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Portland, F Justin Feser scored with 51.2 seconds left in the third period to give the Tri-City Americans a 4-3 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 48 shots, 30 more than Portland’s Mac Carruth. . . . Feser, who has 35 goals, also had two assists. . . . The winning goal was the only even-strength score for Tri-City, which was 3-6 on the PP. . . . Tri-City F Brendan Shinnimin ran his point streak to 17 games with his 54th goal, one off the WHL lead that is held by Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem. . . . Shinnimin leads the WHL with 120 points. He is the first WHL skater to that mark since Red Deer F Justin Mapletoft won the 2000-01 scoring title with 120 points. . . . Tri-City F Adam Hughesman scored his 40th goal at 3:42 of the second for a 3-1 lead. . . . F Patrick Holland picked up an assist for his 199th career point. He has at least one assist in 14 straight games. . . . Portland tied it on goals by F Brad Ross, his 39th, at 9:43 of the second and F Sven Baertschi, his second of the game and 33rd of the season, at 2:20 of the third. . . . Baertschi now has 94 points in 47 games. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie had two assists; he is second to Shinnimin, at 110 points. . . . Tri-City was without F Jordan Messier, who was suspended ‘tba’ under supplemental discipline from Saturday’s 4-1 loss in Everett. . . . Last night’s victory moved the Americans to within one point of the Winterhawks, who lead the WHL’s overall standings. . . . Portland will play its next five games on the road, starting with a Wednesday night date in Kamloops. . . .
In Victoria, G Adam Morrison stopped 18 shots to help the Vancouver Giants to a 6-0 victory over the Royals. . . . This was Morrison’s first shutout this season and the fifth of his career. The first four all came with the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Vancouver F Riley Kieser scored his fifth goal just 15 seconds into the first period and the Giants never looked back. D Tyler Vanscourt, F Matt Bellerive, F Cain Franson and Kieser each had a goal and an assist. . . . Victoria G Jared Rathjen gave up five goals on 31 shots through two periods. Keith Hamilton played the third period, stopping five of six shots. . . . The Giants moved into a tie for fourth with the Spokane Chiefs in the Western Conference. Spokane has seven games remaining; the Giants have six left to play. . . . They will meet in the first round. All that is left to decide is who will have home-ice advantage. . . . 
In Regina, D Brandon Davidson scored the game-winner at 19:39 of the third period as the Pats beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-3. . . . Regina F Lane Scheidl tied the game, with his 27th, at 12:01 of the third. Davidson, the Pats’ captain, drew an assist on what was a PP goal. . . . Davidson has 13 goals this season. . . . Scheidl had two goals and an assist in this one. . . . Prince Albert had taken a 3-2 lead on F Mark McNeill’s 29th goal, shorthanded, at 4:22 of the third. . . . Prince Albert F Mike Winther scored his 30th goal of the season. . . . Regina F Jordan Weal had three assists. One night earlier, he set up four goals as the Pats erased a 4-0 third-period deficit and beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-4. . . . Weal now has 378 career points, which is good for fourth on the Pats’ all-time list. He has two more points than former F Len Nielsen. . . . Weal, with 246 assists, is third on the Pats’ career list, five ahead of F Mike Sillinger. . . . Regina now is sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades and one behind the Kootenay Ice. . . . 
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored the game’s first two goals and went on to a 3-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . F T.J. Foster got his 26th goal of the season for Edmonton at 10:34 of the first period and F Michael St. Croix added his 41st at 16:31 of the second. . . . Saskatoon F Jake Trask, with his 19th, got his side to within one at 17:58 of the third. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar put it away with his 16th, a PP goal, at 19:39 of the third. . . . Saskatoon was 0-8 on the PP; the Oil Kings were 1-5. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 16 shots, 15 fewer than Saskatoon’s Adam Todd. . . . The Oil Kings have won five in a row. . . . The Oil Kings are one point behind the Portland Winterhawks, who lead the overall standings. . . . Edmonton, which leads the Central Division by 10 points over Medicine Hat, is six points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors, the East Division leaders. The Warriors will visit Edmonton on Wednesday. The Warriors first play in Lethbridge on Tuesday, needing just one point to clinch the division.———
SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Taylor Crunk, Victoria.
D Joe Morrow, Portland.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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MONDAY’S GAMES
None scheduled.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES
Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
Calgary at Red Deer
Kootenay at Swift Current
Seattle at Prince George
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Mike Davies covers the OHL’s Peterborough Petes for the Peterborough Examiner, even though he has retinitis pigmentosa and his eyesight is deteriorating. That, however, doesn’t stop him from getting and telling the stories.
Steve Ladurantaye of The Globe and Mail has that story right here.
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F Brennan Bosch (Medicine Hat, 2005-09) scored on a power play in OT on Sunday to give the U of Saskatchewan Huskies a 4-3 victory over the host U of Alberta Golden Bears. The Huskies won the best-of-three semifinal 2-1, meaning the Golden Bears won’t be in the Canada West final for the first time since 1996. Bosch had two goals in the game. . . . The Calgary Dinos, who swept the Manitoba Bisons, will travel to Saskatoon for the best-of-three Canada West Final. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday. . . . For more on the Huskies’ victory, click right here.
———
Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail talks with David Johnston, the Governor-General of Canada, about the state of hockey today. It turns out that the Governor-General was once a grinder with the Harvard Crimson, who at one time considered turning pro with the Boston Bruins. Today, however, he is concerned about the state of the game. That piece is right here.
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