A look at WHL attendance figures

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sean O'Connor (Moose Jaw, 1999-2002) has signed with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, DEL) for the rest of this season. He had been released two weeks ago by Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL). He had six points, five of them goals, in 13 games with Red Bull. O’Connor has dual Canadian-German citizenship, so doesn’t count as an import.
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Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look right here at the WHL’s suspensions to Portland Winterhawks F Brendan Leipsic, who got seven games, and Vancouver Giants D Dalton Thrower, who got two. . . . If you haven’t seen either incident, there is video here.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will recall three players next week to help get them through the post-Christmas roster crunch. . . . F Nolan Patrick and F Tanner Kaspick, both 15, and F Duncan Campbell, 17, will join the Wheat Kings on Dec. 26 and could play against the visiting Regina Pats on Dec. 27. . . . Campbell has 55 points, including 24 goals, leads the Manitoba Midget AAA League in scoring with the midget Wheat Kings. . . . Kaspick, taken in the second round of the 2013 bantam draft, has 38 points, 16 of them goals, with the Wheat Kings and is third in the scoring race. . . . Patrick, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 bantam draft, has 31 points, including 14 goals, in 22 games with the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. . . . Brandon is without F Richard Nejezchleb, who is with the Czech Republic’s national junior team, while F Braylon Shmyr and F Jesse Gabrielle will play for Team Pacific at the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Cape Breton.
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USA Hockey has its winter meetings scheduled for Orlando, Fla., Jan. 16-19. Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times reports right here that USA Hockey’s board of directors “will consider a proposal . . . to ban fighting from all levels of amateur hockey in the United States.”
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With the carnage continuing on an almost nightly basis in the NHL, Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun writes right here that it’s time to start taking “the coach’s lunch money, too. Sit him out for the repeated sins of his players.”
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The Swift Current Broncos dropped a 4-3 OT decision to the visiting Victoria Royals before 1,777 fans a week ago.
Later that night, Brad Brown of the Prairie Post tweeted that the game “was the worst-attended in almost six years — hasn’t been that empty since Jan. 8, 2008, vs. P.A.”
(Brown later columnized on the issue. That column is right here. One of the things that he points out is that attendance is down for 50 of the 60 teams that operate under the umbrella of the Canadian Hockey League.)
Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Broncos, chimed in with: “Pretty sparse crowd again tonight I have to say. How good/exciting a home team do the Broncos have to be to get some support here?”
According to figures compiled at hockeyattendance.com, the Broncos’ attendance is down 5.4 per cent after 19 home games.
In fact, according to hockeyattendance.com, only one of the WHL’s 22 teams has shown an increase in attendance over last season. That team is the Portland Winterhawks, who are averaging 6,970 fans after 16 games, an increase of 4.2 per cent over last season.
Attendance in the WHL, in its entirety, is down 12.9 per cent at the Christmas break.
Here, then, is a team-by-team look at attendance in the WHL, with all numbers from hockeyattendance.com:
EAST DIVISION:
BRANDON: Through 17 home games, The Wheat Kings are averaging 3,548 fans per game, a decrease of 6.3 per cent over last season. And last season’s attendance was down 8.6 per cent from 2011-12.
MOOSE JAW: The Warriors have played 20 homes games, with an average attendance of 3,599. That is down 5.6 per cent. Last season’s average (3,814) was down 2.2 per cent from 2011-12.
PRINCE ALBERT: Through 19 home games, the Raiders are averaging 2,433 fans per game, a decrease of 9.0 per cent over last season. The attendance last season was up 10.2 per cent from 2011-12.
REGINA: The Pats have played only 13 homes games and they are drawing 3,726 fans per game, down 12.2 per cent over last season. In 2012-13, their attendance was up 2.8 per cent over the previous season.
SASKATOON: The Blades’ average attendance is 4,400 through 16 games. That is down 27.2 per cent from last season’s average of 6,040. That was up 19.7 per cent from 2011-12.
SWIFT CURRENT: The Broncos have played 19 home games and are averaging 2,061 fans, down 5.4 per cent from last season. That was down 1.2 per cent from 2011-12.
CENTRAL DIVISION:
CALGARY: The Hitmen have played 20 home games and are showing an average attendance of 7,708, which is down 17.1 per cent from last season’s average of 9,300. The attendance then was up 3.6 per cent from 2011-12.
EDMONTON: The Oil Kings’ attendance is down 21.2 per cent from last season. This season’s average through 17 home games is 5,972, down from 7,575 last season when attendance was up 18.0 per cent from 2011-12.
KOOTENAY: Through 20 home games, the Ice is averaging 2,193 fans, a decrease of 9.0 per cent from last season. In 2012-13, the Ice averaged 2,411 fans per game, down 14.0 per cent from the 2011-12 avearage of 2,805.
LETHBRIDGE: The Hurricanes have averaged 2,940 fans through 21 home games, and that’s a decrease of 19.5 per cent from last season. They averaged 3,650 fans per game in 2012-13, an increase of 11.2 per cent from 2011-12.
MEDICINE HAT: The Tigers have sold out all 16 of their home games, meaning the average attendance is 4,006, as it has been for each of the last several seasons.
RED DEER: Attendance at the Rebels’ 17 home games is averaging 4,797, down 7.3 per cent from last season. That average (5,175) was up 6.5 per cent from 2011-12.
B.C. DIVISION:
KAMLOOPS: In 19 games, Kamloops is averaging 4,011 fans, a decrease of 16.9 per cent. Last season’s average, 4,825, was up 15.5 per cent over 2011-12.
KELOWNA: The Rockets have played 17 home games and are averaging 5,026 fans per game, down 6.2 per cent. Last season, the Rockets averaged 5,358 per game, a decrease of 11.9 per cent from 2011-12 when that number was 6,082.
PRINCE GEORGE: Through 18 games, the Cougars are averaging 1,638 fans, down 11.0 per cent. Last season, attendance was down 10.1 per cent from the 2,047 average of 2011-12.
VANCOUVER: The Giants’ average attendance, through 16 games, is down 17.6 per cent, from 7,205 to 5,936. Last season’s figure was up 3.8 per cent from 2011-12.
VICTORIA: The Royals have played 20 home games and the average crowd is 4,263, down 17.8 per cent from last season’s average (5,189). That was down 8.3 per cent from the 5,660 of 2011-12.
U.S. DIVISION:
EVERETT: The Silvertips, through 18 home games, are averaging 4,494 fans, a decrease of 11.2 per cent from last season. The figure from last season, 5,062, was down 4.1 per cent from 2011-12.
PORTLAND: The Winterhawks have played 16 home games and are averaging 6,970 fans per game. That’s up 4.2 per cent over last season, which was up 10.1 per cent over the 6,075 average from 2011-12.
SEATTLE: Through 17 home games, the Thunderbirds, who play out of Kent, Wash., are averaging 3,887 fans, down 3.7 per cent from last season. In 2012-13, they average 4,036, and that was down 4.0 per cent from 2011-12.
SPOKANE: The Chiefs have played 18 home games, with an average crowd of 5,529. That’s a decrease of 13.2 per cent over last season’s 6,368. Last season’s figure was down 1.2 per cent from 2011-12.
TRI-CITY: The Americans are averaging 4,015 fans through 18 games. That’s down 10.7 per cent from last season, which was down 3.4 per cent from the 4,653 average of 2011-12.

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Les Lazaruk, the ol’ redhead, without the curls?
Apparently, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Saskatoon Blades made something of a hair-losing statement at some point in this WHL season.
And now it seems that he is going to have to pay up.
But, hey, it’s all for a good cause.
Check it out right here and bring your cheque book — or a credit card, or a PayPal account — with you.
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Brad Brown of the Prairie Post covers the Swift Current Broncos so is quite familiar with the WHL.
And, frankly, he’s seen enough.
“What if the first hit from behind or to the head earned the offender an automatic game misconduct — regardless of severity?” he writes.
“What if the subsequent penalties carried an automatic suspension, up to and including a rest-of-the-year ban?
“That would turn some heads — and, for a change, not directly into the boards or the ice.”
His complete thought-provoking piece is right here.
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The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
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SUNDAY’S GAMES:
In Victoria, the Portland Winterhawks clinched first-place overall with a 5-2 victory over the Royals. . . . The Winterhawks, who last won the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy in 1997-98, assured themselves of home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. . . . F Chase De Leo scored three times for Portland, giving him 17, while F Taylor Leier had four assists. . . . It was De Leo’s first career hat trick. . . . The Winterhawks have 109 points with four games remaining, so the franchise record for points in a season (113, 1980-81) is within reach. . . . The Royals continue to be without F Alex Gogolev, their leading scorer, and D Tyler Stahl, their captain. Both are out with undisclosed injuries. . . . The Royals and Winterhawks meet again Tuesday in Victoria. . . .

In Calgary, F Calder Brooks scored at 1:48 of OT to give the Hitmen a 4-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Brooks scored his second goal of the season on the PP. . . . F Jake Virtanen had two assists for Calgary, giving him 31 points in 59 games. He was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba, who was penalized for hooking with five seconds left in the third period, had a goal and two assists, while F Rhyse Dieno drew two assists. . . . The Hitmen have won four in a row. . . . Calgary F Cody Sylvester got his 38th goal and now has scored in four straight. . . . The Hitmen are locked into the No. 3 seed for the first round of Eastern Conference playoffs and will open with home games on March 21 and 22. . . . The Rebels will be the No. 4  seed with a first-round series starting in Red Deer on March 22 and 23. . . . .

In Vancouver, F Cain Franson had a goal and three assists as the Giants dropped the Prince George Cougars, 5-3. . . . The Cougars had won three in a row. . . . The Giants have won five in a row on home ice. . . . Franson has 29 goals. . . . F Colin Jacobs had a goal, his 24th, and two assists for the Cougars. . . . Vancouver lost F Scott Cooke with a boarding major at 17:16 of the second period. . . . The Cougars are four points out of a Western Conference playoff spot with four games remaining.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None
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 From Kelley Robinett (@kdrobinett): “In the words of Diddy ‘can’t nobody take my pride, can’t nobody hold us down.’ Winterhawks are the WHL’s top seed heading into the playoffs”
Robinett is the Winterhawks’ senior vice-president, operations and marketing.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Micki DuPont (Kamloops, 1996-2000) signed a one-year contract
extension with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). DuPont signed a three-year contract extension in January, so this extension keeps him under contract to Kloten through the 2015-2016 season. In 29 games this season, DuPont has five goals and 12 assists. DuPont led all NL A defencemen in assists (35) and points (41), was named to the league all-star team, and was named Defenceman of the Year last season.
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Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune has a few questions for the WHL right here.
Yes, the questions have to do with WHL vs. Portland Winterhawks.
You have to read this if for no other reason than Eggers’ exchange, as brief as it was, with Cory Flett, the WHL’s director of communications.
There’s nothing wrong with ending your week with a good chuckle and this might do it for you. It also sums up the WHL’s approach to this entire mess.
portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/124492-no-appeal-yet-for-winterhawks;-good-luck-abby-chin;-a-big-honor-for-karen-gaffney;-and-more-notes
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An apology to the Portland Winterhawks Booster Club for something that was posted here yesterday.
I read something on an Oregon Live blog that was posted by community blogger Samantha Meese and obviously misinterpreted it.
Samantha wrote, in part:
“I encourage other fans to join me in donating to the Portland Winterhawks Booster Club for the express purpose of financially supporting air travel for the families of our players.”
I took that to mean that the booster club was collecting money for that purpose.
Meese later tweeted that “this was my idea. I’m simply donating to the Booster Club and designating my funds to help families.”
Stuart Kemp, the booster club’s president, later offered this clarification, and also touched on the Free Mike J t-shirts the group is selling:
“First off, the shirts are not to pay for air tickets or anything else. Any profits from these will be designated for the Education Fund. We had a long time fan front the cost of the shirts to be paid back as we sold them. They are only sold at the Booster Club table which is not under the jurisdiction of the Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club or The Western Hockey League. There is no connection whatsoever. . . .
“As the Booster Club is a 501 (c)3 Registered Charity, we are authorized and do accept donations to the Booster Club. Anyone can earmark what they feel the money should go toward and we make every effort to see that this is accomplished. That said, we are also very aware of legalities and as such are checking whether if someone designates the use of the funds for flights or camps or whatever, that we can do so.
“In any case, on any disbursement, we must receive an application to access these funds and release such only based on merit and full approval of the Booster Club board and membership with the exception of the Player's Education Fund as that is mandated by the Booster Club charter.”
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Obviously, the price of playing poker in the WHL this trading season is going to be awfully steep.
On Thursday, the Kamloops Blazers gave up their 2012 first-round bantam draft pick, F Jayden Halbgewachs, a 2015 first-round selection and D Tyler Bell, 18, in order to land D Joel Edmundson, a 19-year-old stay-at-home type, and a fourth-round pick in 2015.
Edmundson, 6-foot-4, 210-pounder from Brandon, has eight points in 29 games this season. He was a second-round selection by the St. Louis Blues in the 2011 NHL draft. He had been a sixth-round selection by Moose Jaw in the 2008 bantam draft.
Dave Hunchak, the Blazers’ associate coach, was the head coach in Moose Jaw when the Warriors drafted Edmundson. Hunchak also was the head coach in 2010-11, Edmundson’s first season in Moose Jaw. With the Blazers, Hunchak handles the defencemen.
In his third WHL season, Edmundson has eight goals, 43 assists and 256 penalty minutes in 156 games.
Bell, a sophomore from Regina, has two goals, 14 assists and 97 penalty minutes in 83 games. This season, he has four points and 36 penalty minutes in 29 games.
Halbgewachs, 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, was the 19th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. He is with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. He has 14 points, including eight goals, in 19 games after scoring twice and being named the away star in a 4-0 victory over the host Swift Current Legionnaires last night. (G Logan Flodell, who returned to Regina this week after a brief stint backing up with the Seattle Thunderbirds, stopped 28 shots for the shutout.)
While a lot of people around the WHL have been pointing a finger at Lorne Molleken, the general manager and head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, for driving up the price of poker, it’s likely that the bar for the Moose Jaw-Kamloops deal was set by a swap between the Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings.
In that one, the Giants dealt D David Musil, 19, to Edmonton for D Mason Geertsen, 17, and the 2013 first-round draft pick. Musil was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 2011 NHL draft.
In the Vancouver-Saskatoon deal, Molleken gave up F Travis McEvoy, 18, a third-rounder in 2013 and a first-rounder in 2014 for F Nathan Burns, 19.
The Blazers now have three 19-year-old shutdown defencemen, with Edmundson joining Tyler Hansen and Sam Grist, the latter acquired earlier in the season from the Tri-City Americans.
Some observers had thought the Blazers might make a pitch for Moose Jaw’s top defenceman, 18-year-old Morgan Rielly. However, after moving Edmundson yesterday, Moose Jaw general manager Alan Millar told a media scrum that he won’t be moving Rielly.
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Former NHLer Todd Harkins, who has won two B.C. Major Midget League titles as head coach of the Vancouver-Northwest Giants, will join the Prince George Cougars as an interim assistant coach next week.
Harkins, the BCMML coach of the year for last season, will take over from assistant coach Jason Becker later this month and stay until early January. Becker will be leaving the Cougars as he is head coach of Team Pacific, the B.C.-Alberta team that will play in the U17 World Hockey Challenge in Drummondville and Victoriaville, Que.
Harkins’ is to join head coach Dean Clark behind the bench for the first time on Dec. 28 when the Cougars play in Victoria against the Royals.
Harkins’ son, Jansen, was selected second overall by the Cougars in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. Jansen made his WHL debut with the Cougars on Nov. 11 in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Giants in Vancouver. Harkins has 30 points in 17 games with the Northwest Giants this season.
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The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League is moving into 100 Mile House, B.C. The Wranglers, who are finishing this season as the Penticton Lakers, will begin play in 100 Mile House in September. A group in 100 Mile House, which is about two hours north of Kamloops, is purchasing the franchise from the Okanagan Hockey Academy. If you’re wondering about the community’s name, it’s located 100 miles up the Cariboo Wagon Trail from Lillooet. The Wranglers will play out of the 700-seat South Cariboo Recreation Centre.
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In a story published today, Brad Brown of the Prairie Post, a Swift Current-based newspaper, has provided a thorough look at the life of a concussed WHL player. That player is F Shea Howorko of the Swift Current Broncos, who hasn’t played a game in a year.
This is a frightening story.
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Brian Toporek of Schooled in Sports has posted a story that should be ready by anyone who has anything to do with youth sports.
Here’s how he starts it:
“A sweeping new study has found evidence that long-term brain damage can occur after playing football for just a few years . . . in high school.
Released Monday by the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, the study found such injuries to six young men who played football in high school, but stopped before college, and did not play professionally.”
This is startling – really, really startling stuff – and his full report is right here.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that the Regina Pats dropped two players from their roster on Thursday. . . . F Ty McLean, 17, who had one assist in 24 games, has joined the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. . . . F Henry Hardarson, 18, who was pointless in 24 games, is off to the U18 Phoenix Firebirds of the North American Prospects Hockey League. Hardarson is from Phoenix.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Kennewick, Wash., the Seattle Thunderbirds scored the game’s last six goals to erase a 4-2 deficit and double the Tri-City Americans, 8-4. . . . Seattle F Connor Sanvido had two goals and two assists, and was plus-4, while F Brendan Rouse drew three assists and was plus-6. . . . Seattle F Seth Swenson also scored twice, and F Robert Lipsbergs had a goal and an assist, running his point streak to 10 games. He has 12 goals and four assists over that stretch. He has scored in nine of his last 10 games. . . . The Americans had won 22 straight home games with the Thunderbirds, a streak that began in February 2008. . . . It was Teddy Bear Night and F Parker Bowles score the goal for the Americans.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None
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From Regan Bartel (@Reganrant), the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets: “So here's the deal WHL GM's. U want to pick up 19 year-old player, despite skill set, be prepared to cough over 1st rounder. #thanksMolleken”
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More from Bartel: “If WHL team wanted to acquire Ryan Murray they would have had to give up first born, key to the city and this weeks winning lottery numbers.”
Bartel may be upset because just last week he all but had Moose Jaw D Morgan Rielly ticketed for Kamloops. LOL!
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And then there was this one from Prince Albert Raiders G Luke Siemens (@siems31), as he and his mates headed for Cranbrook: “well what do ya know our bus may have broke down again with a broken belt #thestreakisalive #4times”

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