Taid saying goodbye to @cspencer14 one of his two favourite @SCBroncos. A very sad day:( pic.twitter.com/BmE6g2NIRZ— Kevin Jones (@bleed_green75) January 11, 2017
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F Zdeněk Bahenský (Saskatoon, 2004-06) has signed a tryout contract with Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, with Nové Zámky (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had two goals and nine assists in 22 games. He was released on Dec. 31.
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The Calgary Hitmen, having lost G Cody Porter indefinitely with an undisclosed injury, have added G Trevor Martin, 20, to their roster. Martin, from Ardrossan, Alta., played three games with the Red Deer Rebels this season, three with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors and five with the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar. . . . A seventh-round pick by the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL bantam draft, he has WHL experience, having played 19 games with the Saskatoon Blades in 2014-15 (3-10-2, 4.16, .886) and 38 with the Rebels in 2015-16 (18-8-2, 2.63, .911). . . . Last season, Martin and the Rebels eliminated the Hitmen from the playoffs, winning a first-round series in five games. Martin was 4-1, 2.20, .927. . . . Martin was on the bench backing up Kyle Dumba on Tuesday night as the Hitmen dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the Blades in Saskatoon. . . . Porter was injured on Friday during a 6-2 loss to the Pats in Regina.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have dropped D Blake Jameson, 18, from their roster and he will join the MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampeders. Jameson was pointless in 27 games with the Wheat Kings this season. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder played last season with the midget AAA Southwest Cougars. . . . Jameson, who is from Brandon, was a fourth-round pick by the Victoria Royals in the 2013 bantam draft.
The Wheat Kings also have removed D Zach Wytinck, 17, and F Garrett Armour, 19, from their roster. Wytinck, from Glenboro, Man., had one assist in 29 games with Brandon, while Armour, from Winnipeg, had four assists in 41 games. Wytinck was in his first WHL season; Armour played with the Saskatoon Blades in 2014-15 and was in his second season with Brandon. Armour has two goals and 15 assists in 142 career regular-season games.
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The Red Deer Rebels have signed F Chris Douglas, 16, and added him to their roster. Douglas, from Richmond, B.C., had 13 goals and 24 assists in 26 games with the Greater Vancouver Canadians of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. . . . The Rebels also have dropped F Quinn Martin, 17, from their roster. A native of Santa Fe, N.M., Martin was pointless in 20 games with Red Deer.
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So you want to be a junior hockey player, do you? Best purchase a hardy suitcase. . . . Consider the case of D Carter Cochrane, who is from Kamloops and has played 43 games in the WHL (Everett Silvertips, 33; Tri-City Americans, 9; Vancouver Giants, 1). . . . On Tuesday, Cochrane, 20, was involved in a BCHL trade, moving from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks to the Trail Smoke Eaters. . . . When he plays his first game for Trail, it will mark his 10th junior team since the start of 2011-12 when he got a taste with the junior B Kamloops Storm and Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior League. . . . Since then, Cochrane has played for the KIJHL’s Golden Rockets, the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, Everett, Tri-City, Chilliwack again, the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals, Vancouver, Salmon Arm and now Trail.
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In the course of more than 40 years in the newspaper business, I developed a pretty thick skin and, in time, I learned to ignore the yahoos who troll the waters of social media.
But I know only too well how hard it can be on family members when someone close to them comes under attack.
That is the focus of the top of this week’s edition of 30 Thoughts, the musings of Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Following the championship game at the 2017 World Junior Championship, Friedman chatted with Sheehan Desjardins, 21, whose father, Willie, now is the head coach of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Willie, one of the most decent people you could ever hope to meet, was on Team Canada’s coaching staff in 2009 when it won gold in Ottawa and again in 2010 when it lost in OT to Team USA in the final in Saskatoon.
You have to read this to understand the highs and lows that a family lives through in these situations. It is amazing and the lows are especially brutal, mostly thanks to a few non-thinkers in our midst, you know, the ones who are with Team Canada win or . . . win.
Friedman’s latest piece is right here.
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JUST NOTES:
D Aaron Irving, acquired by Everett from the Edmonton Oil Kings in a major swap last week, didn’t practise on Tuesday. He last played Friday, finishing a 4-3 OT loss to the host Seattle Thunderbirds and now is listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. . . . Everett also will be without D Lucas Skrumeda with an undisclosed injury, so has brought in D Gianni Fairbrother, 16, from the Vancouver North West Giants of the B.C. Major Midget League. . . .
The Swift Current Broncos have dropped F Brandan Arnold, 19, from their roster and he will join the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. From Dodsland, Sask., the 5-foot-8, 175-pound Arnold had two goals and four assists in 27 games with the Broncos. Last season, as a freshman, he had two goals and an assist in 42 games. . . . He was a seventh-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft.
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My thoughts and prayers are with @TyPozzobon family and rodeo family with the tragic loss of Ty.— Sheldon Kennedy (@ShelKenn) January 10, 2017
May you #RIP Ty. pic.twitter.com/bgrHe66Soy
Ty Pozzobon, a Canadian bull-riding champion, was found dead on Monday afternoon near his hometown of Merritt, B.C. . . . “No cause of death was released by Merritt RCMP,” writes Postmedia’s Gord McIntyre, “but they do not consider the death to be suspicious and have passed along the case to the B.C. Coroners Service.” . . . Pozzobon had incurred multiple concussions during his career. . . . “It’s important that people know about the implications of head injuries as a result of concussions,” his mother, Leanne, said. . . . McIntyre’s story is right here.
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@gdrinnan reports S Dosanjh on 4th team of yr, reminding me WHL commish edict "don't tell viewers when players had few stops." #didntcomply— Dan Russell (@DanRussellST) January 10, 2017
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
At Moose Jaw, F Morgan Geekie’s second goal of the game, with 43.4 seconds left in regulation time,
gave the Tri-City Americans a 3-2 victory over the Warriors. . . . Geekie has 50 points, including 24 goals, in 45 games this season. Last season, as a freshman, he finished with 25 points, 12 of them goals, in 66 games. . . . F Brett Howden (21) gave Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead 37 seconds into the game. . . . Tri-City F Carson Focht (3) tied it at 2:03. . . . The Warriors went back out front just 1:01 later as F Luka Burzan got No. 11. . . . Geekie tied it on a PP, at 3:44 of the second period. . . . F Vladislav Lukin had two assists for the Americans. . . . G Evan Sarthou stopped 33 shots for the Americans, while Moose Jaw’s Zach Sawchenko turned aside 19. . . . Moose Jaw outshot the visitors 20-0 over the first 18 minutes of the third period but couldn’t solve Sarthou. . . . Tri-City was 1-3 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-3. . . . The Warriors had F Branden Klatt and F Thomas Foster, both of whom were acquired in deadline deals, in their lineup, but F Noah Gregor was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Michael Rasmussen was among Tri-City’s scratches with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Americans (25-17-3) have won three in a row, all of them on this East Division trek. They are second in the U.S. Division, two points behind the Everett Silvertips (25-5-7), who have eight — yes, EIGHT! — games in hand. . . . The Warriors (25-10-7) had points in each of their previous seven games (5-0-2). They are second in the East Division, four points behind Regina, which holds four games in hand, and four ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Announced attendance: 3,103.
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| MORGAN GEEKIE |
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At Red Deer, the Rebels opened a 4-0 second-period lead en route to a 4-1 victory over the Prince
George Cougars. . . . F Adam Musil got it started with his 15th goal, on a PP, at 8:57 of the first period. . . . F Evan Polei upped the lead to 2-0 with No. 17, at 15:59. . . . F Austin Pratt then scored his 11th goal, at 17:42. . . . F Lane Zablocki, acquired earlier in the day from the Regina Pats, scored his 10th goal at 9:19 of the second period. . . . The Cougars got their goal from F Aaron Boyd (5), at 17:27 of the third period. . . . D Alexander Alexeyev had two assists for Red Deer, while Polei added one to his goal. . . . G Lasse Petersen stopped 23 shots for the Rebels. . . . Prince George starter Ty Edmonds allowed three goals on 15 shots in the first period. Nick McBride came on to start the second period and stopped 15 of 16 shots the rest of the way. . . . The Rebels were 1-5 on the PP; the Royals were 0-3. . . . Red Deer is without injured F Brandon Hagel. . . . D Brendan Guhle (ill) was among Prince George’s scratches. F Radovan Bondra, acquired Tuesday morning from the Vancouver Giants, also was scratched. . . . The Rebels (19-17-6) are third in the Central Division, five points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Cougars (28-12-2) are third in the overall standings, three points behind the first-place Regina Pats. . . . Announced attendance: 3,905.
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| LASSE PETERSEN |
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At Saskatoon, F Jesse Shynkaruk’s third goal of the game, at 2:13 of OT, gave the Blades a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Shynkaruk, 20, has a career-high 16 goals this season, and six of them are
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Tri-City at Brandon, 7 p.m.
Lethbridge at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Everett, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Victoria 7:05 p.m.
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