Blades for sale? GM says 'zero' truth to report . . . Petit big for Silvertips . . . Butcher cuts up Rockets

F Tyler Mosienko (Kelowna, 2000-05) has signed a one-year contract with Frederikshavn (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). Mosienko was released at his request by the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite) on Oct. 28 after putting up five goals and 10 assists in 13 games. . . . 

F Tomáš Kopecký (Lethbridge, 2000-02) has signed a one-year contract with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). Kopecký had signed with Dukla Trenčín (Slovakia, Extraliga) on Oct. 18 and recorded two assists in five games. . . . 

D Filip Novák (Regina, 1999-2002) has signed a one-year contract with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). This season, he had a goal and two assists in nine games with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). . . . 

F David Vrbata (Calgary, 2000-01) was released by Neumarkt/Egna (Italy, Alps HL) by mutual agreement. He had five goals and six assists in 12 games.

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Colin Priestner has spent his weekend trying to pour water on a fire that he had nothing to do with starting.

Priestner, the general manager of the Saskatoon Blades, is adamant that the WHL franchise isn’t for sale.

Priestner’s father, Mike, purchased the Blades from the Brodsky family prior to the 2013-14 season. At

that point, the Blades were pretty much tapped out, having spent a lot in young players and bantam draft picks in an attempt to load up as the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament.

Since then, the Priestners have been fighting what to now has been an uphill battle for success on the ice and to get fans back into their home arena.

And then came Friday. . . .

What started all of this was a tweet, at 7:13 a.m., from Regina broadcaster Rod Pedersen: “Friday morning rumour from a solid Saskatoon hockey and business source: The Blades are for sale. @Chasenpucks39”

The latter part of the tweet, which goes unexplained, is the Twitter handle for former Blades forward Kelly Chase, who went on to an NHL career and now is part of the St. Louis Blues broadcast crew. Originally, Chase, who is a highly popular part of Blades history, was from Porcupine Plain, Sask.

In response to Pedersen, a former radio voice of the Regina Pats who now is perhaps best known as the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ play-by-play voice and chief sympathizer, Chase later tweeted: “To clear this up I have no idea what’s going on in Saskatoon. If you are trying to contact me, save a call. No interest in this rumor.”

On Saturday, an exasperated Colin Priestner told Taking Note:

“It’s silly we would even have to respond to such an absurd rumour. Obviously, there is zero truth to it . . . we would never sell the Blades and we are all working tirelessly to bring a championship to Saskatoon.

“It was really disappointing to read something like that . . . we all live here, our wives and families live here, and we couldn’t be more proud to be part of the Blades and the community and what we are building.”

Priestner said Friday started out like any other game day — the Blades played in Regina that night — until the tweet showed up.

“When we saw the tweet in the office,” he said, “we all kind of looked at each other and laughed. . . . But once it was out it got a life of its own, and parents and media are calling to see if it is true. Such is life in the 21st century!”

On Saturday, at 10:59 a.m., Pedersen tweeted: “The word from Saskatoon Blades ownership regarding the rumour the club is for sale: ‘It’s totally false.’ ”

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It may have been Saturday but that didn’t keep the WHL court from being in session. . . . D Ethan Bear of the Seattle Thunderbirds was suspended for one game after taking a spearing major and game misconduct during the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday night. Bear served that on Saturday night as the Thunderbirds completed an East Division swing against the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The WHL also has fined the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats each $500 for a “multiple-fight situation” (aka a line brawl) in Regina on Friday night. Ch-ch-ching! Just in time for some early Christmas shopping.

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JUST NOTES:

Former Brandon Wheat Kings F Duncan Campbell made an immediate impact with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees on Friday night. Campbell, who lost his spot on Brandon’s roster when the Wheaties cut down to the maximum three 20-year-olds, scored twice in the first period of his first game with the Vees, helping them to a 4-1 victory over the Silverbacks in Salmon Arm. . . . On Saturday, Campbell had another goal and was the game’s first star as the Vees beat the visiting Prince George Spruce Kings, 3-2.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

At Brandon, the Edmonton Oil Kings erased a 3-0 deficit en route to a 6-3 victory over the Brandon

Wheat Kings. . . . Two goals from F Reid Duke, who has eight, and one from F Tyler Coulter, who has six, gave Brandon a 3-0 lead early in the second period. . . . The Oil Kings got rolling as two players — F Davis Murray and F Ty Gerla — scored their first goals 59 seconds apart, shortly after Coulter had scored. . . . D Aaron Irving pulled the visitors even with his fourth goal, at 14:28 of the second period — he also had two assists — and they put it away with three goals in the third period. . . . F Colton Kehler’s fourth goal, on a PP at 16:37, stood up as the winner. . . . F Davis Koch, who also had two assists, added insurance with his fifth goal, at 17:19, and F Lane Bauer’s ninth goal, into an empty net, iced it at 18:48. . . . Coulter also had an assist. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 24 shots, one fewer than Brandon’s Logan Thompson. . . . Edmonton was 1-7 on the PP; Brandon was 0-6. . . . The Oil Kings improved to 6-9-2, while Brandon slipped to 7-7-3. . . . Announced attendance: 3,645.

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At Calgary, the Hitmen got two goals 30 seconds apart early in the third period to beat the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . F Jakob Stukel’s fourth goal got Calgary into a 2-2 tie at 2:07, with F Andrei Grishakov’s second goal, at 2:37, snapping the deadlock. . . . F Lane Pederson gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead with his sixth goal at 13:02 of the first period. . . . Calgary F Tyler Mrkonjic’s third goal, at 18:06, tied the score. . . . Swift Current F Tyler Steenbergen’s 14th goal, on a PP at 17:29 of the second period, put his guys back in front. . . . Steenbergen added an assist to his goal. . . . Swift Current was 1-7 on the PP; Calgary was 0-3. . . . G Kyle Dumba stopped 20 shots to earn the victory over Taz Burman, who turned aside 30. . . . On Friday, the Broncos had beaten the visiting Hitmen, 3-2, in OT. . . . The Hitmen (6-5-2) have points in four straight games (3-0-1). . . . The Broncos (10-6-3) were 2-0-1 in their previous three games. . . . The Hitmen open a six-game road trip in Seattle on Friday. . . . Announced attendance: 9,580.

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At Everett, G Mario Petit stopped 41 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 5-2 victory over the Portland

MARIO PETIT

Winterhawks. . . . Petit, who normally backs up Carter Hart, is 3-0-1, 2.57, .915 this season. . . . Portland got on the board first when F Skyler McKenzie notched his 11th goal at 10:27 of the first period. . . . However, Everett scored the next three goals, the first two via the PP. . . . D Kevin Davis (2) tied the game at 15:58 and D Noah Juulsen (6) gave the home side the lead at 16:55. . . . F Patrick Bajkov’s seventh goal, at 9:41 of the second period, would prove to be the winner. . . . F Keegan Iverson got Portland back to within a goal, with his eighth, at 6:51 of the third period. . . . Everett put it away with empty-netters from F Dominic Zwerger (7) and F Riley Sutter (8) in the game’s last minute. . . . Bajkov, Sutter and Zwerger each added an assist. . . . G Michael Bullion stopped 24 shots for Portland. . . . Everett was 2-7 on the PP; Portland was 1-4. . . . The Silvertips (13-2-2) have points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . The Winterhawks (8-10-0) have lost seven in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 6,743.

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At Kelowna, F Chad Butcher scored twice and added an assist to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 6-2 victory over the Rockets. . . . Butcher scored his sixth goal just 56 seconds into the game. . . . Tigers F Max Gerlach made it 2-0 with his 11th at 10:13. . . . Kelowna halved the deficit at 15:37 when F Kole Lind scored his eighth goal. . . . Medicine Hat F Zach Fischer got that one back just 2:03 later. He’s got 11. . . . The Rockets again closed to within one on F Kyle Topping’s fourth goal, at 17:23 of the second period. . . . The visitors put it away with three third-period goals, the first two coming 28 seconds apart. D David Quenneville got No. 10 at 12:23 and F John Dahlstrom scored his eighth at 12:51. . . . Butcher finished the scoring on a PP at 15:31. . . . F Steve Owre drew two assists for the Tigers, as did F Mark Rassell. Quenneville, and Fischer had one each. . . . Lind added an assist to his goal. . . . The Tigers got 23 stops from G Nick Schneider, while Michael Herringer of the Rockets blocked 34. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-5 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-2. . . . The Tigers (12-5-1) went 4-1-0 on a five-game jaunt that included three games (2-1-0) in the B.C. Division. . . . The Rockets are 10-9-0. . . . Announced attendance: 5,509.

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Shout out to these amazing new friends from Russia!!.parents of #71 Nikita Popugaev...Mom of #95 Dmitri Zaitsev.  Go Warriors! @MJWARRIORS pic.twitter.com/szvnRhaXyX

— Derenda Cummins (@Derenda72) November 6, 2016

At Moose Jaw, F Scott Eansor scored three times to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-1 victory over

MATT BERLIN

the Warriors. . . . It was Eansor’s second career hat trick. . . . The Thunderbirds (7-7-1) went 4-2-0 on their East Division swing. . . . The Warriors (11-4-2) had a four-game winning streak end. . . . Eansor, who has six goals, opened the scoring at 7:37 of the first period, scored again at 2:20 of the second for a 2-0 lead, and got the game’s last goal, at 17:43 of the third. . . . D Reece Harsch had his first goal and added an assist for Seattle. . . . F Zack Andrusiak, a native of Yorkton, Sask., scored his second goal of the season, but first since being acquired by Seattle from the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Seattle D Matthew Wedman had two assists. . . . G Matt Berlin, in his Seattle debut, stopped 29 shots. He lost his shutout bid when F Brayden Watts (3) scored at 12:07 of the third period. . . . Berlin was acquired from the Spokane Chiefs on Oct. 7. . . . Moose Jaw G Brody Willms stopped 24 shots. . . . The Thunderbirds were 1-3 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-7. . . . The Warriors lost F Jayden Halbgewachs with a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct at 19:43 of the first period. . . . The Thunderbirds were without D Ethan Bear, who served his one-game suspension. . . . Announced attendance: 3,204.

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At Prince George, the Cougars scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Kamloops Blazers, 4-2. . . . This was the first of eight meetings between these teams this season. . . . D Max Martin (3) put the Cougars in front 1-0 at 4:40 of the second period. . . . The Blazers took the lead on goals from F Rudolfs Balcers (10) at 5:50 and F Collin Shirley (9), shorthanded, at 16:01. . . . F Bartek Bison’s PP goal, at 17:35, forged a 2-2 tie. . . . Cougars F Jesse Gabrielle (8) scored shorthanded, at 1:45 of the third period, to give the home side a 3-2 lead and Bartek added insurance, with his fifth goal, at 15:25. . . . G Ty Edmonds earned the victory with 37 saves, three more than Dylan Ferguson of the Blazers. . . . The Cougars were 1-7 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-4. . . . The Cougars were without D Sam Ruopp, who served Game 1 of an eight-game suspension, F Kody McDonald (Game 1 of a three-game suspension) and F Colby McCauley (undisclosed injury). . . . Prince George (14-3-2) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . The Blazers (10-9-1) had been 2-0-1 in their previous three games. . . . Announced attendance: 3,870.

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At Saskatoon, F Braylon Shmyr’s second goal of the game, a PP score 35 seconds into OT, gave the

BRAYLON SHMYR

Blades a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Shmyr has five goals. . . . Four of the game’s five goals came via the PP. . . . Shmyr got the game’s first goal, at 4:49 of the first period, on the PP. . . . The Ice tied it when F Vince Loschiavo scored at 4:10 of the second period. . . . The Blades went back out front on F Mason McCarty’s 11th goal, via a PP, at 8:54. . . . Kootenay pulled even at 18:11 on F Zak Zborosky’s 13th goal, also on the PP. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan drew three assists for Saskatoon, while McCarty added one to his goal. . . . The Ice got two assists from F Matt Alfaro. . . . G Logan Flodell turned aside 36 saves for Saskatoon, two more than the Ice’s Jokob Walter. . . . The Blades were 3-7 on the PP; the Ice was 1-5. . . . The Blades have beaten the Ice in each of their last 10 meetings — five at home and five on the road. . . . The Blades (8-9-1) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Ice (3-10-5) has lost three in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 5,172.

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At Spokane, D Juuso Valimaki scored 55 seconds into OT to give the Tri-City Americans a 5-4 victory

JUUSO VALIMAKI

over the Chiefs. . . . It was the third game in a row in which Spokane lost in OT. . . . Valimaki, who has three goals, also had two assists. . . . Spokane had erased a 3-1 deficit with three goals from the Yamamoto brothers in the third period, only to have Tri-City F Vladislav Lukin force OT with his ninth goal, at 19:54. . . . F Kailer Yamamoto pulled the Chiefs even with goals at 2:49 and 4:07 — he’s got 13 goals — and F Keanu Yamamoto, who also had an assist, put the home guys out front with his fifth goal, at 13:58. . . . The game’s first four goals all came via special teams. . . . Tri-City F Morgan Geekie (9) got a PP snipe at 16:18 of the first period. . . . Spokane F Taylor Ross’ first goal came while shorthanded, at 7:00 of the second period. . . . The Americans took the 3-1 lead with PP goals from F Michael Rasmussen (15) at 7:23 and D Dylan Coghlan (3) at 10:58. . . . G Evan Sarthou returned to Tri-City’s lineup for the first time this season and came up with 36 stops. He suffered an undisclosed injury while in a summer camp with the U.S. national junior team. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill stopped 20 shots. . . . Tri-City F Kyle Olson, who had two assists, came up short on a first-period penalty shot. . . . F Tyler Sandhu and Geekie also had two assists each for the Ams. . . . The Americans were 3-5 on the PP; the Americans were 0-4. . . . Tri-City (11-6-1) has won three in a row. . . . Spokane (6-6-5) has points in six straight (3-0-3). . . . Announced attendance: 8,278.

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.@WHLGiants set a season high for goals in a game and margin of victory. They beat @WHLHurricanes 7-3 tonight at the LEC.

— Brendan Batchelor (@Batchelor1040) November 6, 2016

At Langley, B.C., F Radovan Bondra and F Ty Ronning scored two goals each as the Vancouver Giants dumped the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7-3. . . . Bondra, who has 11 goals, snapped a 2-2 tie at 15:14 of the second period and Ronning provided insurance with his sixth and seventh goals at 18:59 of the second and 3:45 of the third. . . . Bondra opened the third period with a PP goal at 5:13. . . . Lethbridge got goals from F Giorgio Estephan (8), F Brayden Burke (5) and D Brennan Menell (3), who asked out of Vancouver and was dealt to the Hurricanes last month. . . . Vancouver F Tyler Benson picked up his eighth goal and added two assists. . . . F Jack Flaman also got his eighth goal for Vancouver. . . . The Giants got two assists from each of D Dylan Plouffe, F Brendan Semchuk and F James Malm. . . . F Egor Babenko and F Jesse Zaharichuk had two assists each for Lethbridge. . . . G David Tendeck blocked 19 shots for the winners. . . . Lethbridge got 25 stops from Ryan Gilchrist. . . . Vancouver was 2-3 on the PP; Lethbridge was 2-6. . . . The Giants improved to 8-11-0. . . . The Hurricanes (7-8-3) had been 2-0-1 in their previous three outings. . . . Announced attendance: 4,137.

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LEADERS

POINTS: F Sam Steel, Regina, F Mason Shaw, Medicine Hat, each 28; F Kailer Yamamoto, Spokane, 26; F Chad Butcher, Medicine Hat, 25; F Nikita Popugaev, Moose Jaw, F Cody Glass, Portland, each 24.

GOALS: F Michael Rasmussen, Tri-City, 15; Steel, F Tyler Steenbergen, Swift Current, each 14; Yamamoto, F Zak Zborosky, Kootenay, each 13.

ASSISTS: Shaw, 23; F Brayden Burke, Lethbridge, Butcher, each 18; Glass, 17; D Chase Harrison, Regina, F Steve Owre, Medicine Hat, F Aleksi Heponiemi, Swift Current, each 16.

VICTORIES: Nick Schneider, Medicine Hat, 11; Ty Edmonds, Prince George, Griffen Outhouse, Victoria, each 10; Carter Hart, Everett, Michael Herringer, Kelowna, each 9.

GAA: Hart, 1.89; Connor Ingram, Kamloops, 2.01; Ty Edmonds, Prince George, 2.29; Logan Flodell, Saskatoon, 2.34; Cody Porter, Calgary, 2.46.

SAVE %: Ingram, .937; Flodell, .932; Hart, .926; Edmonds, .921; Outhouse, Porter, Ian Scott, Prince Albert, each .920.

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SUNDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Tri-City at Portland, 5 p.m.

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Cougars' home getting enhancements . . . Get your 'He's Back' t-shirt here

Mike Johnston and the Portland Winterhawks haven’t been the most popular parts of the WHL's operation in recent seasons. But I don't thank they lose any sleep over it. Johnston was the general

manager and head coach when the WHL thrashed the Winterhawks for “violations related to player benefits” in November 2012. Since then, he had a stint as head coach of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, before returning to the Winterhawks in May as vice-president, general manager and head coach. . . . And now the Winterhawks’ store is selling “He’s Back” t-shirts at US$20 a pop. In a league where blandness often seems to be the rule, this is a stroke of marketing genius. . . . If you want one of these t-shirts, click right here. . . . No, I’m not in on the action. I just think this is a terrific marketing idea.

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The CN Centre, the home of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, is getting something of a different look, all of which should be completed by some time in October. According to a news release: “The CN Centre is being enhanced with new flooring in the lobby, a new score clock, enhanced media 
experiences for patrons, and new seating arrangements.” . . . The City and the Cougars are picking up the tab. . . . When a decision was made to replace the score clock, the cost estimate was $390,000, but that price ended up at $546,000 after a request for proposal. “The City will provide these funds and the Cougars will invest additional funds to enhance graphics capability and increase the number of camera locations and other media inputs,” according to a news release. “These improvements will tie in with the enhanced digital goal judge system recently installed by the Cougars to provide the same quality and type of automatic replays used in the NHL.” . . . There also will be change to some of the seating. As the news release explains: “The Cougars have worked with the City to renovate an existing area of seats to provide a new seating arrangement that is emerging in many modern arenas and stadiums. Called loge seating, this renovation consists of high-end chairs arranged along a table or small counters and provides an option between regular seating and suites. The loge seating renovation is being funded by the Prince George Cougars and will involve 44 seats.” . . . Greg Pocock, the Cougars’ governor and president, said his organization has put more than $1 million into the facility. “Most recently,” he said, “my partners and I asked the City to go beyond just replacing what we had before, and the Cougars stepped up to pay the additional costs for a vastly improved system. These investments, along with the new loge seating, the digital goal judge system, additional speakers for the sound system, upgrades to the media box, and renovations to the Cougars office and dressing room, have all been done to enhance the experience for our fans and players. Our investment in the CN Centre over the last 28 months totals more than $1 million.”

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The Calgary Hitmen have welcomed their two new imports to the Alberta city. D Vladislav Yeryomenko, 17, is from Vitebsk, Belarus, while F Andrei Grishakov, 17, is from Chelyabinsk, Russia. You can learn more on both players right here. . . . Last season, Calgary’s imports were Belarusian F Pavel Karnaukhov, now 19, and Russian F Radel Fazleev, now 20. The Hitmen revealed prior to the CHL’s 2016 import draft that Karnaukhov had signed with CSKA Moscow of the KHL. He had 31 points, 12 of them goals, in 49 games with Calgary last season. One season earlier, as a freshman, he put up 20 goals and 22 assists in 69 games.. . . Fazleev is expected to play in the Philadelphia Flyers organization this season.

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Fans of the Medicine Hat Tigers will be able to watch their favourite WHL team in training camp later this month, which is something they weren’t able to do a year ago. . . . Back then, the Canalta Centre wasn’t completely ready for occupancy and the Tigers and City of Medicine Hat hadn’t agreed on a lease. Thus, for insurance reasons, fans weren’t allowed into the arena to watch training camp. . . . This year, the Tigers, who open camp on Aug. 26, are inviting fans to come out and watch through next weekend. With the Tigers not having scheduled any home exhibition games, it will be the only opportunity for fans to see their favourites in action before the regular season opens.

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The major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of Prince George, are making strides as they work to make everyone associated with their organization aware of issues involving mental health. . . . They are calling their program MindRight and it is all-encompassing — they have a Twitter page (@CCMindRight) that states “MindRight is a mental health lifestyle program designed to educate and support (Cougars) players, coaches, parents and supporters.” . . . You should consider giving the page a follow — @CCMindRight. . . . They also are on Facebook — just search for MindRight — and have a website (mindright.info) that is under construction. . . . The Cougars also have Myles Mattila involved as their spokesperson, and that is a splendid move. . . . This is an organization that obviously is a step ahead of the game when it comes to mental health awareness. A tip of the hat to Trevor Sprague, the Cougars’ GM and head coach, his staff and the volunteers involved in all of this. Well done!

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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London Knights are having a parade to celebrate getting Memorial Cup rings? What's next, a press conf. to announce a sweater retirement?

— Neate Sager (@NaitSAYger) August 17, 2016

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