Saturday, January 7, 2017

Priestner: "We're absolutely not selling" . . . Two Portland games postponed . . . Warriors win in Regina

F Igor Valeev (Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Swift Current, 1998-2000) has signed for the rest of this season with Chelmet Chelyabinsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). Last season, with Kulager Petropavlovsk (Kazakhstan, Kazakh Vysshaya Liga), he had 10 goals and 17 assists in 45 games.
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It sounds as though Colin Priestner, the general manager of the Saskatoon Blades, is tired of the rumours.
This one has Bruce Urban, the owner of the National Lacrosse League’s Bruce Urban working to
purchase the Blades from owner Mike Priestner and his family.
Colin Priestner told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that it is “the fakes rumour that’s ever got out there.”
The Priestner’s bought the Blades from Jack Brodsky for $9 million in 2013.
““The rumours are just stupid,” Priestner continued. “I didn’t move my family and (team president Steve) Hogle didn’t move his family and all of us, to sell a hockey team. That makes no sense. We’re invested in the community and this team. We bought houses here. We’re raising our families here. It’s just a fake rumour that got out, that somebody made up one day. I don’t know who made it up. You can make up anything. We’re absolutely not selling now or any time.
“We’re all fully committed in the long term. It’s a team that our family plans on owning for generations, not just years.”
The complete StarPhoenix story is right here.
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On Friday, the Kelowna Rockets acquired F Reid Gardiner, 20, from the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for a conditional first-round selection in the 2017 or 2018 WHL bantam draft, a fifth-round pick
in 2017 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2019. . . . Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier reports that the conditions on that first-round pick involve the Raiders having “to decide on the year at least 15 days in advance of this May’s draft.” . . .
This also was only the second time that Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and general manager, has surrendered a first-round bantam draft pick in a trade.
Two years ago, you’ll recall, the Rockets acquired F Leon Draisaitl from the Raiders for a 2015 first-round draft pick, a 2016 fourth-round pick, a conditional fourth-rounder in 2016 or 2017 and two players — F Kris Schmidli and D Dalton Yorke.
With Draisaitl in the lineup, the Rockets went on to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup and reach the Memorial Cup final.
The Raiders used that 2015 first-round draft pick on F Carson Miller, who had 107 points, including 49 goals, in 31 games with the bantam AA Yorkton Terriers. Miller, 16, has five goals and seven assists in 34 games as a freshman with the Raiders.
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The Portland Winterhawks were forced by inclement weather to postpone a pair of weekend home games. . . . The Everett Silvertips already were in Portland for Saturday’s game when the postponement was announced. Obviously, the WHL and the Winterhawks didn’t want to put fans in the position of having to travel to the game in such conditions. . . . Late Saturday night, immediately after Kamloops had dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Rockets in Kelowna, the Winterhawks announced that a game scheduled for today (Sunday) with the Blazers also had been postponed. The decision was made before the Blazers had left Kelowna for Portland. . . . The games will be played at a date yet to be decided upon. . . . As you can see from the above tweet, it could be that Winterhawks assistant coach Kyle Gustafson maybe didn’t mind the postponements.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Reid Duke scored three goals and added two assists to help the Wheat Kings to an 8-4 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Duke’s second goal was the 100th of his career. . . . It was Duke’s
REID DUKE
second hat trick this season — he scored four times in an 8-1 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades on Nov. 18. He has four career three-goal games and three games in which he has scored at least five points. . . . F Ty Lewis added a goal and three helpers for Brandon. . . . D Scheel Higson of the Wheat Kings was pointless but finished plus-6. . . . Duke scored his first two goals 12 seconds apart late in the first period to give the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . Calgary F Beck Malenstyn (17) got his guys on the scoreboard at 1:08 of the second period, with Brandon F Connor Gutenberg (8) getting that one back at 10:56. . . . D Vladislav Yeryomenko (3) got Calgary to within one, on a PP, at 16:27. . . . The Wheat Kings then outscored Calgary 5-2 in the third period. . . . Duke got his 23rd goal at 4:23, with F Stelio Mattheos scoring No. 14, on a PP, at 6:02 for a 5-2 lead. . . . The Hitmen scored the next two — F Matteo Gennaro (16), on a PP, at 8:24, and F Carsen Twarynski (10), shorthanded, at 10:37 — to get back to within one. . . . Brandon put it away with the last three goals, as Lewis got No. 21 at 14:31, F Tanner Kaspick scored his 14th at 15:52 and F Cole Reinhardt (3) finished the scoring at 19:40. . . . Kaspick has 34 points in 34 games; last season, he finished with career highs of 12 goals and 18 assists in 53 games. . . . Mattheos and Gutenberg each added an assist, as did Twarynski and Gennaro. . . . G Jordan Papirny stopped 18 shots for Brandon. . . . Calgary got 32 stops from G Kyle Dumba. . . . The Hitmen lost G Cody Porter to an apparent shoulder injury in the second period of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Pats in Regina. . . . With Porter out, the Hitmen had G Cody Levesque, a sixth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft, on the bench. From Carnduff, Sask., he played for the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires. . . . The Hitmen were 2-2 on the PP; the Wheat Kings were 1-3. . . . Brandon had D Kale Clague back in the lineup after he played for Canada at the World Junior Championship. . . . Brandon F Zach Russell played after sitting out 13 games with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Wheat Kings (20-16-4) have won two in a row and hold down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot. . . . The Hitmen (14-19-5) have lost four straight (0-2-2). They are seven points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 4,141.
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At Kelowna, F Kole Lind’s goal in the sixth round of a shootout gave the Rockets a 3-2 victory over the
KOLE LIND
Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Collin Shirley scored for Kamloops in the fourth round, but F Tomas Soustal countered with a goal to keep it going. . . . The Rockets forced OT when F Reid Gardiner scored while shorthanded at 12:31 of the third period. Gardiner, 20, was playing his first game with Kelowna after arriving Friday from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The Rockets had acquired his rights from the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Nick Merkley gave Kelowna a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal, on a PP, at 2:42 of the first period. . . . The Blazers scored twice in the second period. F Rudolfs Balcers (22) tied the game at 4:09 and F Nick Chyzowski (12) gave Kamloops the lead when he scored on a penalty shot with .1 showing on the clock. . . . Kelowna got 26 saves from G Brodan Salmond. . . . G Dylan Ferguson stopped 34 shots in making his 13th straight start for Kamloops. Connor Ingram, who was with Canada at the World Junior Championship, was on the bench. . . . The Rockets were 1-4 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-3. . . . The Blazers beat the visiting Rockets 3-1 on Friday night. . . . The Rockets (24-15-3) had lost their previous four games (0-3-1). They are third in the B.C. Division, two points behind Kamloops. . . . The Blazers (25-15-3) have points in three straight (2-0-1). They are five points behind the division-leading Prince George Cougars, who hold two games in hand. . . . Kamloops was to have ridden the bus to Portland after the game for a Sunday date with the Winterhawks. However, that game has been postponed due to inclement weather. . . .  Announced attendance: 5,751.
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At Lethbridge, G Stuart Skinner stopped 44 shots and F Tyler Wong scored twice as the Hurricanes beat
STUART SKINNER
the Red Deer Rebels, 3-1. . . . F Jordy Bellerive gave Lethbridge a 1-0 lead with his 17th goal, at 10:34 of the first period. . . . Wong upped the lead to 2-0, on a PP, at 4:56 of the second period. . . . Red Deer D Ethan Sakowich (2) got the Rebels close at 7:18 of the second period. . . . Wong put it away with his 28th goal, an empty-netter, at 19:04 of the third period. . . . D Brennan Menell and F Giorgio Estephan each had two assists for the Rebels. . . . Skinner turned aside 17 shots in the second period and 19 in the third. . . . G Riley Lamb stopped 31 shots for Red Deer. . . . F Brandon Hagel (undisclosed injury) and F Michael Spacek (ill) were among Red Deer’s scratches. . . . Lethbridge was 1-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-4. . . . The Hurricanes (22-15-5) have won two in a row. They are second in the Central Division, seven points ahead of the Rebels (18-17-6). . . . Announced attendance: 3,547.
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At Medicine Hat, F Steve Owre scored his third goal of the game on a 2-on-0 shorthanded break late in the third period to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Owre’s 14th goal of the
STEVE OWRE
season came with seven seconds left in regulation time. . . . F James Malm (12) gave the Giants a 1-0 lead at 1:17 of the first period. . . . Medicine Hat F John Dahlstrom (18) tied the score at 18:30. . . . The Giants took a 3-1 lead on second-period goals from F Ty Ronning (16), at 8:33, and F Jack Flaman, at 11:14. . . . Flaman’s 11th goal was the Giants’ first shorthanded score of the season. . . . The Tigers got the next three goals to take a 4-3 lead. Owre scored twice, at 13:05 of the second and 1:07 of the third period. . . . F James Hamblin’s ninth goal, at 6:37, gave the Tigers the lead. . . . Malm’s second goal of the game, on a PP, at 17:55, tied it 4-4. . . . Owre, who recorded his first career hat trick, has 49 points, including 35 assists, in 40 games. That is a single-season career-high in assists. He finished with 52 points in 55 games in 2014-15. . . . Medicine Hat got three assists from F Chad Butcher and two from F Zach Fischer. . . . Malm and Ronning had one each for Vancouver. . . . G Michael Bullion stopped 27 shots for the Tigers. He was making his first start since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Giants got 35 saves from G Ryan Kubic. . . . Vancouver was 1-6 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-1. . . . Vancouver is 2-2-0 on an Alberta swing. . . . The Tigers (28-12-1) had lost their previous two games. They lead the Central Division by eight points over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Giants (16-22-3) have lost two in a row, both by one goal. They are eight points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 3,583.
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At Prince George, the Cougars erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight goals en route to a 4-2 victory over
JARED BETHUNE
the Victoria Royals. . . . One night earlier, the Royals had won, 2-1. . . . The Royals took a 1-0 lead when, according to a Victoria tweet, F Jansen Harkins of the Cougars “passes the puck into his own net on a delayed penalty call!” . . . That goal was credited to F Carter Folk (3) at 1:01 of the first period. . . . Harkins tied the score with his 10th goal at 5:42. . . . D Tate Olson (4) gave the Cougars the lead, on a PP, at 10:01 and F Colby McAuley added his 14th goal at 15:30. . . . F Nikita Popugaev (23) added insurance with his first goal since being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Thursday, at 1:28 of the second peroid. . . . Victoria F Tyler Soy (17) completed the scoring, on a PP, at 10:21 of the third period. . . . F Jared Bethune had two assists for the Cougars, with McAuley adding one. . . . G Ty Edmonds stopped 21 shots for the Cougars, while Victoria’s Griffen Outhouse turned aside 38 shots. . . . Victoria was 1-4 on the PP; Prince George was 1-5. . . . The Cougars improved to 28-11-2. They are second in the overall standings, three points behind the Regina Pats. . . . The Royals (22-16-4) had points in their previous six games (5-0-1). They hold down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot and are fourth in the B.C. Division, three points out of third. . . . Announced attendance: 4,335.
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At Regina, G Zach Sawchenko stopped 39 shots and F Jayden Halbgewachs scored twice to lead the
JAYDEN HALBGEWACHS
Moose Jaw Warriors to a 4-1 victory over the Pats. . . . That left the Pats’ home record at 15-1-4. . . . Goals from F Tristin Langan (4) and Halbgewachs, at 2:17 and 3:10 of the first period, gave the visitors a 2-0 lead. . . . Regina F Sam Steel’s 31st goal cut the deficit to one at 12:12. . . . The Warriors regained the two-goal lead when F Brett Howden scored No. 20, on a PP, at 14:06 of the second period. . . . Halbgewachs scored his WHL-leading 37th into an empty net at 18:53 of the third period. . . . The Warriors got two assists from F Brayden Burke, while Howden had one. . . . Sawchenko improved his record to 17-4-5. . . . Regina G Tyler Brown blocked 34 shots. . . . Moose Jaw was 1-3 on the PP; Regina was 0-1. . . . This was the fourth of eight meetings between the teams this season — the Pats are 2-2-0; the Warriors are 2-1-1. . . . The Pats had D Sergey Zborovskiy (Russia) and F Filip Ahl (Sweden) in their lineup after both played at the World Junior Championship. . . . The Warriors (25-9-7) are 5-0-2 in their last seven games and have closed to within four points of the East Division-leading Pats. . . . Regina (27-4-7) had points in each of its previous seven games (6-0-1). It leads the overall standings by three points over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Announced attendance: 6,484, a sixth straight sellout.
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At Saskatoon, G Rylan Parenteau stopped 25 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 2-0 victory over
RYLAN PARENTEAU
the Blades. . . . That is the first shutout this season for the Americans and came in Parenteau’s hometown. . . . He has four career shutouts, the first three last season with the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Morgan Geekie gave the Americans a 1-0 lead with his 22nd goal, at 17:29 of the first period. . . . F Nolan Yaremko’s fourth goal, on a PP, iced the victory at 19:54 of the third period. . . . The Blades got 33 saves from G Logan Flodell. . . . The Americans were 1-4 on the PP; the Blades were 0-4. . . . The Americans (24-17-3) have won two in a row to open their six-game East Division swing. They are second in the U.S. Division, six points behind the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Blades (15-22-6) have lost two in a row. They were blanked 4-0 by the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Friday. . . . Saskatoon is four points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 3,274.
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At Spokane, F Reed Morison scored the only goal of a nine-round shootout to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-
REED MORISON
2 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Morrison, an 18-year-old freshman from Calgary, has yet to score in 33 games this season. He has one goal in 44 career games, that coming in one of the four games he played last season. . . . F Matt Alfaro (11) scored shorthanded to give the Ice a 1-0 lead at 19:35 of the first period. . . . F Keanu Yamamoto (16) pulled the Chiefs into a 1-1 tie, on a PP, at 18:15 of the second period. . . . The Ice took the lead 1:27 later when F Michael King scored his second goal of the season. . . . The Chiefs tied it again at 7:57 of the third period when F Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored No. 19. . . . Yamamoto and Anderson-Dolan each added an assist. . . . Spokane F Hudson Elynuik picked up one assist, giving him 45 points in 35 games. Last season, he finished with 44 points in 56 games. . . . G Jakob Walter stopped 45 shots through OT for the Ice. . . . Spokane G Jayden Sittler turned aside 21 shots. . . . Spokane was 1-6 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-6. . . . The Ice improved to 9-24-8. . . . The Chiefs (17-16-7) had won their previous two games. They are two points out of a wild-card spot. . . . On Friday night, the Chiefs beat the host Ice, 4-1. . . . Announced attendance: 5,373.
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At Swift Current, the Broncos erased a 1-0 deficit with three straight goals and went on to a 5-2 victory
TYLER STEENBERGEN
over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . D Kolten Olynek (8) gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead at 11:02 of the first period. . . . The Broncos took control with goals from F Calvin Spencer (10), at 13:54, F Arthur Miller (5), at 19:28, and F Ryan Graham (12), at 1:24 of the third period. . . . F Simon Stransky’s 13th goal, on a PP, pulled the Raiders to within one at 6:20. . . . Broncos F Tyler Steenbergen became the league’s third 30-goal man, at 12:51 of the third period, and F Aleksi Heponiemi wrapped it up with his 12th goal, at 16:56. . . . Steenbergen, Heponiemi and Spencer added an assist each. . . . Swift Current got 24 saves from G Taz Burman, while Ian Scott stopped 33 at the other end. . . . The Raiders were 1-3 on the PP; the Broncos were 0-4. . . . Swift Current (23-12-7) is third in the East Division, four points behind the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Raiders (8-31-3) have lost six in a row (0-5-1). . . . Announced attendance: 1,870.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Medicine Hat at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Vancouver vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 4 p.m.
Kamloops at Portland, postponed, weather.
Seattle at Spokane, 5:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:52 PM
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