THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Brent Henley (Saskatoon, Swift Current, Prince George, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers (England, UK Elite). He had three goals and 12 assists in 59 games with the Fort Wayne Komets and Florida Everblades (both ECHL) and had no points in five games on loan to the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) last season.
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The WHL is poised to reveal its exhibition schedule today and then to unveil its regular-season schedule on Wednesday.
The exhibition schedule will open Aug. 27 with the Moose Jaw Warriors visiting the Broncos in Swift Current for a rookies game.
The Everett Silvertips tournament, which also is to include the Seattle Thunderbirds, Tri-City Americans, Spokane Chiefs, Portland Winterhawks and Victoria Royals, is scheduled to run from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1.
The Edmonton Oil Kings tournament is to be held Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, with the Red Deer Rebels, Prince George Cougars, Medicine Hat Tigers, Calgary Hitmen and Swift Current also in attendance.
The following weekend, Sept. 5-8, Portland, Spokane, Seattle, Everett and the Kootenay Ice will join the host Tri-City Americans at their annual tournament in Kennewick, Wash.
As well, Kootenay, Calgary and the Lethbridge Hurricanes will play three games in Crowsnest Pass, Alta., Sept. 13-15.
Calgary and Lethbridge are to play a game in Taber, Alta., on Sept. 5. Also taking their shows on the road will be Edmonton and Red Deer (Lacombe, Sept. 13), Medicine Hat and Red Deer (Stettler, Sept. 14), and Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades (Warman, Sept. 14).
The final exhibition games are scheduled for Sept. 15.
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Some notes on the regular-season schedule:
It is scheduled to begin on Sept. 19 with Swift Current visiting the Regina Pats, whose head coach, Malcolm Cameron, will be making his debut.
There will be eight games the following night, with the defending-champion Portland Winterhawks holding their home-opener in the Rose Garden against the Prince George Cougars.
The Medicine Hat Tigers, whose home arena had four feet of water in it on Monday, are to play their home-opener, against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, on Sept. 21.
The Calgary Hitmen, the Saddledome devastated by floodwaters on the weekend, are to play their home-opener on Sept. 28 against the Red Deer Rebels.
Prince Albert fans will get their first look at new head coach Cory Clouston on Sept. 21 when the Saskatoon Blades are the visitors. The Raiders are to play in Saskatoon on Sept. 20.
Drake Berehowsky, the new head coach in Lethbridge, makes his debut on Sept. 20 against visiting Medicine Hat.
Dave Hunchak, who moved up from associate coach to take over as head coach in Kamloops, gets his first regular-season taste on Sept. 20 against the visiting Kelowna Rockets. Of course, Hunchak was the head coach for four seasons in Moose Jaw before coming to Kamloops two years ago, so it’s not like it will be a new experience to him.
And you know that it will be noisy in Everett on Sept. 21 as the Silvertips, with Kevin Constantine having returned to their bench, play host to Prince George.
Meanwhile, the WHL schedule goes black from Nov. 24 through Nov. 28, with the Grey Cup in Regina on the Sunday and the Subway Super Series in Red Deer and Lethbridge on Nov. 27 and 28, respectively.
It goes black for nine days over Christmas, with no games scheduled from Dec. 18-26, inclusive. Play resumes with 10 games on Dec. 27.
Six teams have scheduled New Year’s Eve home games — Brandon is at Edmonton, Victoria at Everett, Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, Kelowna at Portland, Kamloops at Seattle, and Spokane at Tri-City.
There will be three afternoon games on New Year’s Day — Lethbride at Regina, Swift Current at Saskatoon, and Everett at Victoria.
Victoria and Everett will open their Dec. 31 game at 6:05 p.m., then hustle to Vancouver Island for a 3:05 p.m. start on Jan. 1.
On Jan. 14, Medicine Hat will play in Lethbridge, while Seattle is in Spokane. The CHL Top Prospects game is the following night in Calgary.
There aren’t any games scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 2).
The regular season is to conclude on March 16, with the playoffs to begin on March 21. Should a tiebreaker be needed to decide one of the conference’s final playoff spots, it would be played on March 18.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have named Ron Gunville their new assistant director of player personnel, replacing the recently retired Ray Dudra. . . . The Raiders also added two scouts to their staff — Doug Padget of Saskatoon and Dwaine Hutton of Calgary. . . . Gunville, who played 38 games with the Raiders in the late 1980s, had been on the staff of the Prince George Cougars. In fact, when the Cougars named Todd Harkins their head scout and director of player personnel on June 14, general manager Dallas Thompson also announced that “Gunville and Pacific-area scout Bob Simmonds will have expanded roles as scouting directors in their respective territories.”
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The Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, have signed D Joey Leach to an ATO. Leach played four seasons with the Kootenay Ice, completing his eligibility this season. He was a third-round selection by the Calgary Flames in the 2010 NHL draft, but they never signed him. He actually finished this season with the Barons, getting into one regular-season game.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Salmon Arm SilverBacks have added Kevin Kraus (Kamloops, Tri-City, 2006-08) as an assistant coach. He also will serve as the club’s strength-and-conditioning coach. Kraus, from Garden Grove, Calif., spent the past two seasons as general manager and head coach of the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies of the Kootenay International junior league.
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Matt Erhart has joined the Vancouver Giants as an assistant coach under head coach Don Hay. Erhart replaces Glen Hanlon, who now is the head coach of the Belarusian national team. . . . Erhart spent the last three seasons as head coach of the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, who won the league championship this season.
With Erhart gone, the Eagles named team president Peter Schaefer (Brandon, 1994-97) the new general manager and head coach. Schaefer is coming off his first season as an assistant coach with the Eagles.
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Brad Lukowich (Kamloops, 1993-96) has signed on as an assistant coach with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The announcement came two weeks after Drake Berehowsky was named the club’s new head coach. . . . Lukowich, who is from Kamloops, is a two-time Stanley Cup champ who ended his playing career after the 2012-13 season.
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The NHL’s Minnesota Wild has moved its AHL affiliate from Houston to Des Moines, Iowa. But, as Mark Emmert of the Des Moines Register has pointed out, the team doesn’t have a coaching staff. John Torchetti, the Houston Aero’s head coach for the past two seasons, now is the head coach of the KHL’s CSKA Moscow. As well, assistant coaches Sebastien Laplante and Mike Van Ryn won’t be back. . . . Emmert’s report is right here.
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From former WHL D Brandon Underwood (@BUND3RWOOD): “Officially registered for classes today at UBC. For the first time in my life I'm actually excited for school. #LearningIsFun”


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Michael Grabner (Spokane, 2004-07) signed a lockout contract with hometown team Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 12 assists in 78 games with the New York Islanders last season. Grabner is scheduled to arrive in Austria today and hopes to be in the lineup on Sunday when Villach plays at home against Dornbirn. The Villach club press release thanks six local sponsors for coming up with the funds to pay Grabner, with a special thanks to Kleinen Zeitung, the regional newspaper, which is picking up half the tab. . . .
F Lukas Vantuch (Calgary, Lethbridge, 2005-06) has been reassigned on loan by Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) to Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He has no points in five games with Liberec this season and had no points in one game on loan to Benatky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). Last season, Vantuch had nine goals and five assists in 52 games with Liberec.
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Former WHL D Kevin Kraus (Kamloops, Tri-City, 2006-08) is fortunate to be alive today.
Kraus, a 23-year-old from Garden Grove, Calif., fell asleep while driving on Wednesday night and ended up in the ditch, his truck wrecked. He was on the Trans-Canada Highway, just outside of Sicamous, which is 73km west of Revelstoke.
Kraus now is the general manager and head coach of the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies, who play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
Here’s what he wrote Thursday morning on Facebook: “Fell asleep at the wheel last night and totaled my truck... very lucky to be able to walk away from it and be alive right now, very thankful for the people who helped me last night. Life changing experience.”
On Thursday night, I asked him how he managed to survive.
“I have no idea . . . must be destined to do something!” he told me. “Very lucky and blessed to be alive right now and walk away with no injuries.”
As he dozed off behind the wheel, he said, “I went over a barrier and flipped and landed in between trees.”
If you are at all familiar with the terrain off the Trans-Canada Highway in that neck of the woods, you know just what a disaster this could have been.
The Grizzlies (4-2-0-1) return to action tonight in Armstrong, B.C., against the North Okanagan Knights.
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Followers of the Spokane Chiefs got a taste Thursday afternoon of what Twitter can be like when there’s a race to be first.
Here it is, in order of appearance:
SpokaneChiefsFanPage (@gochiefsgoblog): “Waiting for an official announcement but goaltender Mac Engel is gone from Spokane”
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Ben&StephenTH (@BenStephenTH): “Heading @chiefshockey G Mac Engel has been traded. Wonder if Vancouver may have been interested”
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Foofieq (@Foofiebrown): “@gochiefsgoblog: Waiting for an official announcement but goaltender Mac Engel is gone from Spokane”
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Susie Bush (@AgateShadow): “Is it true that Mac Engel is leaving the Chiefs? @ChiefsHockey)”
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Jess Brown (@jbrown_SRSports): “Just got off the phone with @chiefshockey GM Tim Speltz. Says G Mac Engel HAS NOT been traded. That’s as much as I have right now.”
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Ben&StephentH (@BenStephenTH): “Per @jbrown_SRSports who just got off the phone with Chiefs GM Tim Speltz. Mac Engel has NOT been traded.”
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Through it all, Engel’s name remained on the Chiefs’ roster.
Granted, the Chiefs are carrying three goaltenders, with Engel, a 19-year-old from Red Deer, one of them. Also in the mix are Eric Williams, a 19-year-old from Langley, B.C., who was acquired last season from the Prince Albert Raiders, and Garret Hughson, a 17-year-old freshman from Foremost, Alta.
Chances are the Chiefs will get down to two goaltenders and it very well could happen in the next few days.
But it simply isn’t fair to anyone when people to start spitting out gossip and rumours on the Twitterverse.
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The Regina Pats should have D Colton Jobke, 20, in the lineup tonight when they play host to the Red Deer Rebels. Jobke, who likely will be named Regina’s captain, had been in camp with the AHL’s Houston Aeros but was returned yesterday. That leaves the Pats with four 20-year-olds, the others being F Lane Scheidl, F Andrew Rieder, who is coming off shoulder surgery and has yet to play, and G Matt Hewitt. . . . Tonight’s game in Regina features the return of D Brandon Underwood, 20, to the Saskatchewan capital. Caught with too many 20s, the Pats dealt him to Red Deer late last month.
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So . . . what is wrong with the Vancouver Giants, who lost 7-0 to the Rockets in Kelowna on Wednesday and go into the weekend with the poorest winning percentage in the 22-team WHL?
“I’m not frustrated,” head coach Don Hay was telling reporters on Thursday, and if you believe that you are expecting the NHL to be back in action in 10 days.
As Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province points out, the Giants have picked a bad time to lay an egg, what with the NHL’s Canucks on the sidelines and there being lots of hungry hockey fans to try and get into your building.
The Giants also are walking a bit of a tightrope because they are planning on bidding for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament. Which means they need to hang on to their good, young players in order to ensure that they are competitive then.
Anyway . . . Ewen takes a look at the situation right here.
Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun writes about the Giants’ start right here.
The Giants entertain the Medicine Hat Tigers tonight. Vancouver is expected to start G Tyler Fuhr, who has the club’s only victory, having beaten the visiting Spokane Chiefs 3-2 on Sunday.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes are in Kennewick, Wash., to play the Tri-City Americans tonight, which means it’s something of a Topping family reunion. . . . Mitch, 19, is a defenceman with the Americans. Joel, 17, is a freshman defenceman with the Hurricanes. . . . This will be the first time they’ve lined up against each other. . . . Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald reports right here that Mitch was planning on taking his younger brother for some Baskin-Robbins ice cream on Thursday.
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If you were watching Thursday’s NFL game on Sportsnet, you saw at least two plugs for Friday night hockey, featuring the Calgary Hitmen at the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Unfortunately, Sportsnet got a bit ahead of itself. That game is next Friday (Oct. 12). . . . Tonight, you will have to get by with the Shaw TV game, which features the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Kamloops Blazers.
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THURSDAY:
F Logan McVeigh scored the game’s first goal and finished plus-3 as his Prince Albert Raiders went into Edmonton and beat the Oil Kings, 4-1, in the night’s only game. . . . Raiders G Luke Siemens stopped 33 shots. . . . Edmonton F Dylan Wruck was back in the lineup after recovering from shoulder surgery. He was reunited with T.J. Foster and Michael St. Croix but it wasn’t a night to remember as each was minus-3. . . . The Raiders are 4-0-1 and own the WHL’s best winning percentage (.900). They meet the Hitmen in Calgary tonight and the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook on Sunday. . . . The defending-champion Oil Kings have lost two in a row, both at home. The last time that happened was in January 2011 when they dropped four straight at home. . . . The Oil Kings get back on the horse Saturday against the visiting Saskatoon Blades.
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CHECKING FROM BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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CHECKING TO THE HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Joel Topping (@topping9): “RT if you think @mitchtopping and I should fight tomorrow”

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I have known Glen Erickson for a long time. We first met in the late 1980s when I was the sports editor at the Regina Leader-Post and he was running a hotel in Saskatoon.
Years later, I ended up in Kamloops and Glen wound up in Kelowna where he has worked in the golf industry and written about junior hockey. He is a familiar face in the arenas and on the golf courses in this part of the world. And he has never forgotten Saskatchewan, where he has been known to play the odd round of golf when he visits.
I hadn’t seen Glen since the last hockey season when he was hale and hearty.
So imagine my shock on Tuesday when I discovered that Glen has been diagnosed with cancer, all of which began with a lump on his neck.
Anyway . . . he has started radiation and chemo treatments and is documenting it all on a blog titled It’s A Mental Game.
Meanwhile, in Regina, Shelley Lowes continues to take on the big C with the courage of a champion.
She, too, is documenting the battle and, yes, I am a regular visitor to her blog.
Shelley is the wife of Bob Lowes, a former WHLer player and coach who now scouts for the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
Shelley’s blog is titled We can . . . with love!
And she is proving that, yes, we can. In her most-recent posting, on Tuesday morning, Shelley writes: “WAAAAAHOOO!! 11 of 12 is today! The light is getting brighter!”
You are able to find both blogs over there on the right. Please stop and visit them both and keep Shelley, Glen and their families in your thoughts.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Mike Bayrack (Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Prince George, 1995-99) signed a one-year contract with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite). He had 29 goals and 37 assists in 47 games with the Braehead Clan (Scotland, UK Elite) last season. . . .
F Ty Morris (Swift Current, Vancouver, Red Deer, 2003-05) was released by the Ravensburg Towerstars (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) after his try-out contract had expired. He had one goal in two games during his try-out. Last season, Morris, who holds dual German-Canadian citizenship, had five goals and 24 assists in 31 games with the Bietigheim Steelers (Germany, 2. Bundesliga). . . .
D Michal Rozsival (Swift Current, 1996-98) signed a lockout contract with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had one goal and 12 assists in 54 games with the Phoenix Coyotes last season. Rozsival signed a one-year, $2-million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Sept. 11.
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One year after revealing a loss of $197,226 for the 2010-11 season, the community-owned Swift Current Broncos announced Tuesday night that they are showing a profit of $4,238 on the 2011-12 season.
If there any doubts in your mind about how hard organizations like the Broncos, who play in the smallest market in all of the CHL, have to work in order to survive, consider that the hockey operation lost $964,064.
According to a news release from the Broncos, “Additional revenues from drafted NHL players, the World Junior Hockey Championship and increases in Corporate Sponsorship, Corporate Suites and Fundraising provided enough monetary support.”
For 2010-11, the hockey operation’s deficit was $882,587. I can’t find the story at the moment, but I believe the hockey operation’s deficit was more than $800,000 for 2009-10, as well. This really does show just how hard the good folks of Swift Current work to keep their Broncos.
Here’s more from Tuesday night’s news release:
“Income from ticket sales and per game attendance was slightly greater than the previous year with average attendance at 2,204 (up from 2,136 the previous year). Fundraising events continued to grow this past season as revenue from these events increased from $42,865 to $77,063 this past year. Concession and souvenir sales stayed relatively the same from the previous year. The club also announced that they recorded 797 hours of community service last year (up from recent years).”
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The NHL has cut a deal with the CHL under which players could be recalled from major junior teams should the NHL lockout come to an end.
These would be players who aren’t in their 20-year-old season. These players, all of whom have been drafted, could be recalled and go through training camp with their NHL teams. They then would have to stay with the NHL teams or be returned to their junior teams, as per present regulations.
Bob McKenzie of TSN reported Tuesday that WHL players on that list include D Mathew Dumba, Red Deer Rebels (Minnesota Wild); D Ryan Murray, Everett Silvertips (Columbus Blue Jackets); D David Musil, Vancouver Giants (Edmonton Oilers); D Derrick Pouliot, Portland Winterhawks (Pittsburgh Penguins); F Ty Rattie, Portland (St. Louis Blues); D Morgan Rielly, Moose Jaw Warriors (Toronto Maple Leafs); D Griffin Reinhart, Edmonton Oil Kings (New York Islanders); and F Matej Stransky, Saskatoon Blades (Dallas Stars).
The NHL and CHL will monitor the situation as the lockout continues. Should it run into January, you can bet there will be adjustments made.
Don’t forget that Calgary Hitmen F Victor Rask, 19, is eligible to play in the AHL because the Carolina Hurricanes drafted him out of Sweden.
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The Regina Pats have traded D Brandon Underwood, 20, to the Red Deer Rebels for a fourth-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . Underwood began his career with the Kamloops Blazers, who traded him to Regina prior to last season. He had 13 points and 76 penalty minutes in 54 games with Regina last season. A broken foot from a blocked shot resulted in his missing a chunk of games. . . . In 205 regular-season games, the native of San Marcos, Calif., has 30 points, five of them goals, and 349 penalty minutes. . . . The move leaves Red Deer with four 20-year-olds — Underwood and forwards Turner Elson, who is under contract to the NHL’s Calgary Flames, Charles Inglis and Adam Kambeitz. . . . Regina, meanwhile, also has four on its roster — G Matt Hewitt, D Colton Jobke, F Andrew Rieder and F Lane Scheidl. Jobke, however, is going to camp with the AHL’s Houston Aeros, so his future is up in the air, while Rieder continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. . . . The Rebels are scheduled to visit Regina on Oct. 5.
“It’s unfortunate we have to make decisions based on the kid’s age,” Regina general manager Chad Lang told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “This one was even a little more difficult in the fact that I truly believe the acquisitions of him and Jobke early in the season were huge contributing factors to our success. They really played a significant role in changing the culture of our dressing room and the dynamics of our hockey club. It’s always hard to have to part with those guys. For what (Underwood) has done for our organization it’s almost a bit of reward to find him a spot and ensure he can play out his 20-year-old year in the WHL.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Charles Inglis (@CharlesInglis) of the Red Deer Rebels: “Tweeter feed just got littered with suspensions from the whl, I guess open ice hits arnt apart of the game anymore.”
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JUST NOTES:
The Regina Pats will be without head coach Pat Conacher as they play three games over the next four nights. Conacher has left the team to tend to an undisclosed family matter. Assistant coaches Malcolm Cameron and Josh Dixon will handle the coaching duties. . . . The Pats visit the Swift Current Broncos tonight, the Kootenay Ice on Friday and the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday. . . .

Barclay Parneta

The Tri-City Americans have extended the contract of Barclay Parneta, their prospect development coach and head scout, through 2014-15. Parneta has been with the Americans since August 2010. Before that, he spent seven seasons as an NHL scout, with the St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades have assigned F Drake Bodie, 17, to an unnamed team. Brodie, from Thompson, Man., played in four exhibition games and one regular-season game before the move. He was a seventh-round selection in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . The Blades now are carrying 23 players, including seven defencemen and 14 forwards. . . .
F Jayce Hawryluk, 16, has been medically cleared and was back taking part in a full practice with the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday. He suffered a concussin the Wheat Kings’ intrasquad game. . . . Brandon F Geordie Maguire isn’t expected to play tonight against the visiting Saskatoon Blades. He has the dreaded lower-body injury. . . .
Two players who lost out in the 20-year-old game have, as expected, surfaced in the junior A ranks. F Christian Magnus, who was dropped by the Swift Current Broncos, is with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires, while F Taylor Makin, released by the Vancouver Giants, has joined the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. . . .
D Dylan Kuczek, who had two points in 33 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, has joined the MJHL’s Portage Terriers. Kuczek, 18, is from Winnipeg.
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THE COACHING GAME:
With a new season about to start, the U of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers have announced a coaching change, with Kurt Kleinendorst replacing Chris Luongo. . . . The school didn’t give a reason for Luongo’s departure, other than to say that he resigned. . . . Kleinendorst spent the last two seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. . . . Luongo was the head coach for the last two seasons, going 6-53-3. . . . UAH is the lone independent in U.S. college hockey.
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Might the OHL’s Brantford Battalion be on the move, perhaps to North Bay? Dave Pollard of the Toronto Sun thinks so and his reasoning is right here.


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Some notes and thoughts on the Western Conference semifinal between the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks, which resumes Saturday in the Rose City with the host team holding a 3-1 edge. . . .
1. Dylan Bumbarger, who blogs about all things WHL and Winterhawks at OregonLive.com, did the research and reported that the Winterhawks “hadn't lost a game in which they led by four goals in at least 15 years” prior to Wednesday night. He went back to 1996 on the WHL website and reached that conclusion. . . . On Wednesday, of course, the Winterhawks led 4-0 just past the first-period’s midway point and went on to lose, 5-4.
2. Portland-based writer Scott Sepich pointed out that the Blazers once blew a four-goal lead against the Winterhawks. On April 9, 1989, the Blazers had a 5-1 lead in the third period of a best-of-nine second-round series. Portland, playing in front of 5,102 fans, roared back for a 6-5 victory. The Winterhawks had won the opener 7-3. Portland would go on to take a 3-0 lead in games and would eventually win the series, 5-3.
3. Portland F Oliver Gabriel will sit out the fourth game of his four-game suspension on Saturday. He was suspended for a late-game hit on Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave in the series opener. . . . Kamloops head coach Guy Charron said Thursday evening that Cheveldave won’t be available for Game 5.
4. Charron said that F Cole Ully, who has missed the series with an undisclosed injury, will be available. That being the case, look for the Blazers to insert Ully in place of F Brayden Gelsinger, who made his WHL debut in Game 4 but saw very limited playing time.
5. It is interesting that the Winterhawks players on the bench actually sit while between shifts. I don’t know that there is another WHL team whose players do that, the players preferring instead to stand and hang over the boards. . . . Sure, it’s a case of a team doing something that it thinks might give it an edge somewhere down the road. . . . But when you think about it, it makes sense. Why not take advantage of an opportunity to get off your feet and rest your legs, even if for only a few minutes?
6. The Winterhawks didn’t play on Thursday but F Ty Rattie picked up another goal. A scoring change has given Rattie credit for Portland’s first goal in Game 4. The goal had been given to D Troy Rutkowski. . . . On the goal, Rutkowski rifled the puck from the right side toward the Blazers net. Rattie, fighting off a defenceman, got his stickblade on the puck and directed it into the net. . . . Rattie, who was injured eight minutes later, now has 13 goals in these playoffs. . . . Rutkowski and F Sven Baertschi got the assists on the goal.
7. Rattie left with what appeared to be a lower back problem but may well be a concussion after he was drilled by Kamloops F J.C. Lipon. On Thursday, Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ general manager and head coach, asked the WHL for supplemental discipline on Lipon, who wasn’t penalized on the play. . . . Rattie was fishing for a loose puck in his feet, when Lipon hit him. Rattie’s helmeted forehead bounced off the glass, although when he reached the Portland bench — after Lipon followed up by scoring the Blazers’ first goal — he reached for his left lower back area. . . . I would suggest that Rattie is doubtful for Game 5.
8. Johnston chose not to ask for supplemental discipline on Kamloops D Austin Madaisky, who was given a minor penalty for a check to the head of Portland F Taylor Leieir. Madaisky received a minor penalty but, because Leier wasn’t injured, Johnston chose not to press the issue.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Oshawa Generals announced a changing of the guard on Thursday. General manager Chris DePiero, head coach Gary Agnew and Joe Cirella, the assistant head coach and assistant GM, won’t be back. . . . Agnew took over the coaching reins from DePiero in November. The Generals went into the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed and lost a six-game series to Niagara IceDogs. . . . DePiero had been with the Generals since 2006, first as associate coach. . . . Cirella was an assistant coach with the Generals from 1998-2004 and later returned in 2010. . . .
The NHL’s Calgary Flames have parted company with head coach Brent Sutter and assistant coach Dave Lowry. . . . Sutter owns the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels and is a former Rebels head coach. . . . Lowry coached the Calgary Hitmen for one season, reaching the WHL final where they lost to the Kelowna Rockets, before moving up to the Flames. . . .
The USHL’s Omaha Lancers have named Mike Aikens as GM and head coach, with Michael Zucker staying on as associate head coach. . . . The two have been co-coaches with the Lancers since Bliss Littler was fired on Nov. 30. . . . Omaha is 27-11-1 since the coaching change. . . . Aikens and Zucker are signed through the end of the 2012-13 season. . . .
The U of Alberta is looking for a hockey coach for the Golden Bears. The position is posted right here. . . . Stan Marple was the head coach last season, but now is the general manager after a restructuring took place. . . .
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The Manitoba community of Virden, which is about 80 km west of Brandon, has a new recreation facility that includes a 1,200-seat arena. It appears that also may soon have an MJHL franchise. Should the MJHL’s Winnipeg Saints relocate there, it would leave Winnipeg with just one franchise, the Blues, in the junior A league.
There’s more on that story right here.
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JUST NOTES:
D Brandon Underwood of the Regina Pats will join the Central league’s Texas Brahmas in time to play Sunday in Game 2 of a best-of-seven second-round series with the Wichita Thunder. That series opens tonight in Wichita with Game 2 there on Sunday. . . . Underwood, from San Marcos, Calif., is eligible to return to Regina as a 20-year-old. He had 13 points and 76 penalty minutes in 54 games this season. Underwood missed some time with a broken foot incurred while blocking a shot. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors are expected to have D Morgan Rielly in their line up for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final against the Oil Kings in Edmonton on April 20. Rielly hasn’t played since Nov. 14 when he suffered a knee injury. He had surgery on Dec. 1. Despite not playing, Rielly was ranked at No. 5 by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters eligible for the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . Rielly has been skating with the Warriors for two months and good on them for not rushing him back into the lineup. . . .
F Emerson Etem, whose season with the Medicine Hat Tigers ended on Wednesday night, has joined the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim selected Etem, who is from Long Beach, Calif., with the 29th overall pick in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . .
In case you missed it, D Ryan Pulock of the Brandon Wheat Kings and F Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers have joined the Canadian team at the IIHF U-18 World championship tournament in Czech Republic. . . .
The Vancouver Giants’ website shows Dan Elliott as the director of media relations and broadcasting. But it seems that the Giants and Elliott, who also was the team’s play-by-play man, have parted company. Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun first tweeted that news on Wednesday.

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Rick Brodsky, the owner of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, appeared on CKNW’s SportsTalk with Dan Russell on Thursday night. The three-hour talk show is based in Vancouver.
Brodsky, who has been involved at the ownership level in three cities and also did a lengthy stint as chairman of the WHL’s board of governors, displayed an honesty that really was a breath of fresh air in this day of upper- and lower-body injuries.
He told Russell that the Cougars’ problems in Prince George are, to a large degree, self-inflicted because the team hasn’t been the team management has wanted it to be. He also pointed out that the sinking lumber-based in that city economy has been a major factor in the dropoff in attendance.
Brodsky also admitted to Russell that he talked with Chilliwack interests last spring after the Bruins were sold and in the process of relocating to Victoria.
Furthermore, Brodsky said that the Cougars are solidly in Prince George and that he has absolutely zero interest in selling the franchise. But, he told Russell, he would look into any situation that might arise should there be anything viable out there.
Without that, Brodsky said, the Cougars are rolling up their sleeves and working hard.
Brodsky also talked about Winnipeg, Fort McMurray, Nanaimo . . . from his and the league’s perspective.
As mentioned, this was an interesting interview simply because Brodsky didn’t try to duck and run from any of Russell’s questions.
You are able to listen to the interview right here. It’s in Hour 3 of the Thursday, Jan. 19 program.
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Goodness knows there are enough stories out there about concussions and hazing and headshots and fighting and all the rest.
So how about one about how three players from the Prince Albert Raiders — Shane Danyluk, Josh Morrissey and Carson Perreaux — saved the life of a six-week-old puppy?
Hey, nothing like a warm-puppy story to warm the cockles of your heart on a cold January day.
The complete story is right here.
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WHL players have taken part in 1,004 fights to this point in the season. At the end of the 2010-11 regular season, there had been 1,713 scraps.
What this means is that fighting in the WHL is down marginally, from 2.16 fights per game last season to 2.02 this time around.
In last season’s 70 playoff games, there were 45 fights, an average of 0.64 per game.
Darren Kramer of the Spokane Chiefs led the WHL with 46 bouts last season and is the leader again this season, with 18.
The Chiefs will hold a bobblehead night in his honour on Saturday. Not only will the doll’s head bobble, but so will the gloves.
This is progress?
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JUST NOTES:
F Josh Nicholls is expected to return to the Saskatoon Blades’ lineup tonight as they play host to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Nicholls had 35 points, including 20 goals, in 30 games when he left a Dec. 3 game with a knee injury. Nicholls missed 16 games. . . . He has spent a few games helping the coaches run the Blades’ bench. On Thursday, Nicholls tweeted: “I have decided to step down from my duties as Assistant Coach with the Blades. I will remain with the team in another capacity #reggiedunlop” . . . Nicholls is expected to go right back onto the Blades’ top offensive line, alongside Matej Stransky and Brent Benson. . . . Meanwhile, G Andrey Makarov (concussion) has returned to practice but isn’t expected to play until next week. . . . Alex Moodie, 16, is expected to start for the Blades tonight and perhaps again Saturday against the visiting Victoria Royals. He has made 11 appearances since Dec. 29. . . .
The Regina Pats may have D Brandon Underwood back in the lineup tonight when they meet the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. Underwood has missed 18 games with a fracture ankle. He was injured Dec. 4 when he blocked a shot in a game against the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . .
An interesting tidbit from Dave (Crash) Cameron of the Edmonton Sun, on the Oil Kings line that has Tyler Maxwell with Michael St. Croix and Dylan Wruck: “Since acquiring Maxwell from the Everett Silvertips, the line combo of the Californian with St. Croix and Wruck wracked up 104 points in the 21 games together. Maxwell had 30 points (13G, 17A), Wruck 35 (13G, 22A) and St. Croix 39 (15G, 24A).”
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F Rocco Grimaldi, a second-round selection by the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s 2011 draft, has been shut down by the U of North Dakota hockey team. Grimaldi, who is to turn 19 on Feb. 8, is to have surgery to repair damage to a knee. Grimaldi’s WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks.
The Grand Forks Herald has more on Grimaldi right here.
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D Dougie Hamilton of the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs has been suspended for 10 games for a check to the head of F Michael MacDonald of the Sudbury Wolves on Jan. 13. MacDonald came out of it with a concussion. Hamilton, who has 50 points in 34 games, was taken ninth overall by the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s 2011 entry draft. He played for the Canadian junior team at the recently completed World Junior Championship. . . . He will be eligible to return to the lineup on Feb. 12. . . .
Meanwhile, the QMJHL has suspended D Alex Filiatrault of the Val d'Or Foreurs for seven games after a knee-on-knee hit on F Anthony Duclair of the Quebec Remparts on Saturday. Filiatrault ended up with an automatic one-game suspension and the league added six more on Thursday. Duclair is expected to sit for more than a week with a bruised knee.
By the way, Patrick Roy, the Remparts’ GM and head coach, drew a $2,500 fine for referring to the on-ice officials as a “disgrace” after a Jan. 4 loss to the Victoriaville Tigres. Roy now has been fined three times this season for a total of $7,000.
Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Warriors await word from the WHL office as to the length of suspension to D Dylan McIlrath, who took out Victoria Royals D Jesse Zgraggen with an elbow to the head on Wednesday night.
“I know my thought process coming in wasn’t to hit him up high,” McIlrath told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald on Thursday. “I wanted to ride him into the boards and make a routine hip check, like I’ve done so many times before,” McIlrath said. “It was just a bang-bang play. It’s unfortunate.
“I saw him on the ice. Obviously, I didn’t want to see anyone to get injured. I felt bad right after it happened. He went down pretty hard. It’s tough to see.”
McIlrath is a repeat offender, having sat out three games after a charging major he incurred on Nov. 23 for a hit on F Trevor Cheek of the Calgary Hitmen.
Prior to this season, McIlrath, a first-round selection by the New York Rangers in the 2010 NHL draft, had never been suspended.
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There was some tremendously interesting news out of the BCHL on Thursday after the board of governors held its semi-annual meeting in Richmond.
For starters, the governors voted to trim the number of regular-season games from 60 to 56.
That will cut down on the number of mid-week games, allowing teams to schedule the bulk of their games on Friday and Saturday nights.
The BCHL also will hold a massive showcase event on Sept. 7-9 in which each team will play twice. Those games will count as regular-season games, with the season beginning in earnest on Sept. 14. It will end on March 10, 2013.
What that means is that each team, with the exception of the team that plays host to the showcase, will play 27 home games.
For more, including a new conference alignment and more, check right here.
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David Shoalts of The Globe and Mail is reporting that “the results of an RCMP investigation into Len Barrie’s financial dealings with his former Bear Mountain golf resort and real-estate development” near Victoria have been turned over to the B.C. Attorney General’s office.
That story is right here.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Paul Deniset (Kamloops, Swift Current, Vancouver, Prince Albert, 1989-2002) signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, UK Elite). He had 18 goals and 20 assists in 21 games for Amiens (France, Ligue Magnus) last season.
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Monday in the Western Hockey League:
EDMONTON OIL KINGS—Traded F Cam Reid, 20, to Portland Winterhawks for 2012 eight-round bantam draft pick.
LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES–Traded F Cam Braes, 20, to Moose Jaw Warriors for a 2012 first-round bantam draft pick and a 2013 second-round bantam draft pick.
MOOSE JAW WARRIORS–Traded D Tyler Vanscourt, 19, to Vancouver Giants for a 2012 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
TRI-CITY AMERICANS–Traded D Riley Guenther, 17, to Prince Albert Raiders for a 2013 fifth-round bantam draft pick.
VANCOUVER GIANTS–Traded F Levi Bews, 17, to Swift Current for a 2012 sixth-round bantam draft pick.
VICTORIA ROYALS—Traded F Kevin Sundher, 19, to Brandon Wheat Kings for D Jordan Fransoo, 18, F Dakota Conroy, 17, and a 2012 first-round bantam draft pick.
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DRAFT TRACKER (since Dec. 27):
Trades made: 13
Players: 23
Bantam draft picks: 13
Deadline: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT
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The Brandon Wheat Kings added F Kevin Sundher, 19, from the Victoria Royals but it cost them a 2012 first-round bantam draft pick, as well as D Jordan Fransoo, 18, and F Dakota Conroy, 17. . . . Sundher, a third-round selection by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2010 NHL draft, has 64 points in 40 games this season, leaving him seventh in the WHL scoring race. . . . From Surrey, B.C., Sundher was the seventh overall pick in the 2007 bantam draft, taken by the Chilliwack Bruins. He goes to Brandon with 240 points in 254 career regular-season games. He is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer and is second in games played. . . . “It’s been a crazy day,” Sundher said in a Wheat Kings news release. “The (Royals were) just heading out for the prairies and I was pulled off the bus and told about the trade. I play to win and I'm looking forward to joining a team that has a chance to go far." . . . Fransoo, a seventh-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2011 NHL draft, is in his sophomore season. From North Battleford, Sask., he has 11 points in 41 games this season. A good skater with a big shot, he was a fifth-round bantam pick by Brandon in 2008. . . . Conroy, a third-round bantam draft pick in 2009, Conroy has eight points in 37 games this season. He is from Edmonton and is projected as a top-six forward in time. . . . The Wheat Kings hope to have Sundher in their lineup Wednesday against the visiting Saskatoon Blades. . . . Interestingly, the Royals are scheduled to play in Brandon on Saturday.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors picked up a top-six forward with the acquisition of F Cam Braes, who turns 21 on Thursday, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. But it cost them a first-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft and a second-rounder in 2013. That may seem like a steep price to pay for a player who is in his final season of eligibility. But obviously the Warriors felt they needed at least one more forward — a first-line centre — in order to keep up with the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Braes, from Shawnigan Lake, B.C., was the Hurricanes’ captain. He has 203 points, including 99 goals, in 320 regular-season games with Lethbridge. This season, he has 45 points, 24 of them goals, in 44 games. . . . He was a third-round selection in the 2006 bantam draft. . . . Only Shane Peacock (336) played more games in a Hurricanes’ uniform than Braes.
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The Prince Albert Raiders acquired D Riley Guenther, 17, from the Tri-City Americans for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Guenther, from Calgary, had one assist and six penalty minutes in 10 games with the Americans. He played last season with the midget AAA Calgary Northstars. . . . The Americans selected him in the third round of the 2009 bantam draft.
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The Vancouver Giants acquired D Tyler Vanscourt, 19, from the Moose Jaw Warriors for a 2012 fifth-round bantam draft pick that originally belonged to the Prince George Cougars. He had a goal and three assists in 14 games with Moose Jaw after being acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders. All told, he has 21 points in 40 games this season. . . . Vanscourt is from Corona, Calif., and was a seventh-round selection of the Kootenay Ice in the 2007 bantam draft.
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The Swift Current Broncos acquired F Levi Bews, 17, from the Vancouver Giants for a 2012 sixth-round bantam draft pick. . . . Earlier this season, Bews went from the Saskatoon Blades to the Giants in a four-player deal. . . . He was a second-round pick, 42nd overall, by the Blades in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Giants had assigned him last week to the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers. . . . In 38 WHL games this season, he has nine points, three of them goals. . . . Bews is from Longview, Alta.
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The Portland Winterhawks have dealt a 2012 eighth-round bantam draft pick to the Edmonton Oil Kings for the rights to F Cam Reid, 20, who is with the St. Cloud State Huskies. . . . A sophomore, Reid has 15 points, including six goals, in 22 games this season. Last season, in 37 games, he had 29 points, eight of them goals, in 37 games. . . . The Nashville Predators selected Reid, who is from Delta, B.C., in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL draft. . . . Before heading to St. Cloud State, Reid played 167 BCHL games with the Victoria Grizzlies and Westside Warriors, putting up 138 points. . . . Reid’s WHL rights originally belonged to the Vancouver Giants, who selected him in the seventh round of the 2006 bantam draft. The Giants sent him to Edmonton in lieu of the Oil Kings selecting a player off their roster in the expansion draft prior to the 2007-08 season. . . . Reid’s arrival in Portland — and he is leaving school — will leave Portland with four 20-year-olds, meaning one of D William Wrenn, F Oliver Gabriel or F Dillon Wagner will have to go. Or it could be that Gabriel, who suffered a shoulder injury on Dec. 30 and hasn’t play since then, could be headed to the long-term injury list.
Reid told Mick Hatten of the St. Cloud, Minn., Times that he got a call from Portland on Sunday night, telling him he had 24 hours to make a decision to stay or join the Winterhawks.
“They offered to have me play center on the first line with their top two players,” Reid said. “I talked it over with my parents, and it was something I couldn’t pass up or say no to.”
That being the case, Reid will join Ty Rattie, the WHL’s scoring leader, and Sven Bartschi on Portland’s top line.
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JUST NOTES:
Regina Pats D Brandon Underwood, who hasn’t played since Dec. 4 when he broke a bone in a foot while blocking a shot, has been cleared to skate again. He still is a week or two from getting back in the lineup. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Alex Schoenborn, 16, who is from Minot, N.D. He is expected to finish the season with the Omaha Jr. Lancers, an under-16 AAA team that plays in the North American Prospects league. He has 27 points in 13 games with the Lancers. . . . The Lancers are coached by David Wilkie (Seattle, Kamloops, Regina, 1999-94). . . .
Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress has spoken with D Jesse Pauls, 19, who retired from the Victoria Royals last week. That story is right here. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks will play host to the Kelowna Rockets twice this week, on Wednesday and Friday. The Winterhawks go into the series having won their last 14 home games, two shy of the franchise record that was set in 1993-94. . . .
Don Nachbaur, the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, is on the verge of becoming the sixth coach in WHL history to win 500 games. Nachbaur is at 499 going into two straight games with the Everett Silvertips. They’ll play in Spokane on Wednesday and in Everett on Friday. . . . Ken Hodge (742), Ernie McLean (548), Pat Ginnell (518), Lorne Molleken (543) and Don Hay (541) also have more than 500 victories. . . . Nachbaur also has served as head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds (202 victories) and Tri-City Americans (229). He has three times been named winner of the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as coach of the year, once with each team.
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An interesting observation from columnist Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun, following the move by Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins to submarine Canucks defenceman Sami Salo in a game on Saturday:
“It’s a curious thing, but a current listing of NHL villains will turn up several members of Canada’s world junior squads over the past 15 years or so, which may reveal an unflattering pattern to the way Hockey Canada carefully constructs its rosters. Though some confined their borderline sociopathic behaviour primarily to their junior days, these Team Canada alumni/incendiary devices include Matt Cooke (1998), Raffi Torres (2001), Jordin Tootoo (2003), Steve Downie (2006-07), Brad Marchand (2007-08) — how’s that for a start to the all-cheap-shot-team? — and, more recently, Patrice Cormier (2009-10) and Zack Kassian (2011).
“Cooke, mind you, has renounced his evil ways and joined the choirboys, and Cormier and Kassian haven’t really got their pro careers properly warmed up yet.”
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Paul Kelly, the executive director of College Hockey Inc., was in Winnipeg on the weekend and Arctic Ice Hockey was able to get an interview. Perhaps the battle between College Hockey Inc. and the CHL is heating up again. That complete interview is right here.


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BRIAN SANDY

Brian Sandy is leaving the Tri-City Americans for Portland . . . for the NBA’s Trail Blazers, that is.
Sandy, the Americans’ chief marketing officer and senior vice-president of business operations, is to become the Trail Blazers’ senior director of premium seating sales and service. With the NBA season to open on Christmas Day, Sandy is to start in his new position on Thursday.
Sandy was one of Top Shelf Entertainment’s first hires after taking ownership of the Americans in June 2005 and he played no small role in helping turn around the franchise off the ice. By averaging more than 4,700 fans per game last season, the team once again posted an increase in attendance, as it did in each of his seasons in Tri-City.
According to an Americans’ news release, “Season-ticket sales topped the 2,600 mark for the first time since the club was relocated to the Mid-Columbia.  And, within the community, Sandy and the club have helped raise over $1.5 million for local charities through integrated fundraising nights and promotions.”
The Americans close out their preseason schedule this weekend with a home-and-home series with the Seattle Thunderbirds. They’ll play Friday in Kennewick, Wash., and finish up Saturday in Kent, Wash.
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D Brandon Underwood of the Regina Pats has a hairline crack in his left ankle and is expected to be out of action for a month. “If there’s any time to get hurt it’s around the Christmas break when you get an extra week without missing any time,” Underwood, 19, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. . . . Underwood was injured when he blocked a shot in a 2-0 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Dec. 4. . . . Underwood, who had 13 points and 44 penalty minutes in 29 games, has missed four games. He will wear a protective boot for up to four weeks. . . . The Pats have filled the roster spot by bringing in D Tyler Borstmayer from the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings.
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F Dominik Uher of the Spokane Chiefs will play for the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship that opens Dec. 26 in Calgary and Edmonton. Uher, 19, has 21 points in 24 games with the Chiefs. He was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL draft. He will leave the Chiefs on Saturday and will miss Spokane’s final pre-Christmas game. The Chiefs are scheduled to play host to the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday and then take off for nine days. . . . First, though, Spokane will go home-and-home with the Everett Silvertips. They’ll play tonight in Spokane and Friday in Everett. . . .
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For the second time in recent games, the Everett Silvertips have had a player escape a suspension despite taking a major penalty and game misconduct. First, F Josh Birkholz wasn’t suspended after taking a check-to-the-head major and game misconduct in a game against the host Kamloops Blazers. Now, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that F Cody Fowlie, who was tossed with a major and game misconduct for a hit on D Michal Plutnar of the visiting Tri-City Americans on Saturday, won’t be suspended. . . . “I talked to Tips coach Mark Ferner about the hit after practice (Tuesday),” Patterson writes, “and he said after watching the video he wasn't sure it even warranted a penalty. Apparently the reason why Plutnar was injured is because the visor of his helmet came down and cut him across the bridge of the nose after Fowlie rubbed him out into the boards.” . . . Patterson reports that F Vladimir Dolnik will play against Spokane tonight and then leave for Slovakia’s pre-World Junior Championship camp. . . . F Jesse Mychan of the Silvertips completes a 10-game WHL suspension by sitting out tonight.
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If you’re not aware, the BCHL’s Penticton Vees are on quite a roll. The put up their 16th straight victory on Tuesday night when they beat the Centennials 4-1 in Merritt. . . . The Vees are 28-3-2 (that would be two ties) and hold an 18-point lead over Merritt in the eight-team Interior Conference. . . . Penticton’s next game is Friday when they play host to the Westside Warriors.
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TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, the Red Deer Rebels ended their franchise-record 13-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rebels last won on Nov. 12 when they beat the Royals 7-4 in Victoria. . . . They had been 0-11-2 since then. . . . F Colten Mayor scored twice for Red Deer, while F Chad Robinson had three assists. . . . G Deven Dubyk, in his first game with the Rebels, stopped 31 shots. . . . Red Deer D Mathew Dumba and Kootenay F Max Reinhart both played after being released by Canada’s national junior team earlier in the day. . . . “It’s nice to get that off our back and get rewarded for our effort,” Jesse Wallin, the Rebels’ general manager and head coach, told the Red Deer Advocate. “This is a tough building to come into, always a tough building to play in. And coming in here against a very good hockey team with a full lineup was a little bit intimidating from the outset. But we really dug in and got a solid effort and played a very, very good hockey game tonight.” . . .

In Prince Albert, F Kellan Tochkin scored twice as the Raiders beat the Kamloops Blazers 5-2 . . . . The Raiders have won four in a row at home. . . . Raiders F Mike Winther, the WHL’s reigning player of the week, had a goal and two assists. . . . G Cole Holowenko stopped 29 shots for the Raiders in winning his second straight start. He blanked the Rebels 5-0 in Red Deer on Sunday. . . . Kamloops is 1-2-0 on its East Division tour. . . .

In Brandon, F Darian Dziurzynski had two goals and an assist to help the Wheat Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Wheat Kings won their 20th game, improving to 20-13-2. . . . Swiss freshman F Alessio Bertaggia notched his 17th goal for Brandon before leaving with an undisclosed upper-body injury. Health permitting, Bertaggia is to join the Swiss national junior team in Calgary on Saturday. . . . Dziurzynski now has 21 goals. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 37 shots, two more than Kelowna’s Adam Brown. . . . The Rockets are 0-2-1 on their East Division swing. . . . With G Corbin Boes out with a broken hand, the Wheat Kings had Justin Holder from the midget AAA Wheat Kings on the bench backing up Anderson. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that the Rockets are hurting. “Already without six regulars including RW Brett Bulmer (Canadian junior camp), C Cody Chikie (upper body), C/RW Spencer Main (upper body) and D Myles Bell (lower body), the Rockets lost D Damon Severson and LW Tyrell Goulbourne to injuries during last night’s game.” . . .

In Kent, Wash., G Calvin Pickard stopped 37 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-0. . . . What’s that? You thought Pickard was in camp with Canada’s national junior team? Maybe this was his answer to Don Hay, the Vancouver head coach who also is Canada’s head coach. . . . It was Pickard’s second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. . . . Pickard is 13-12-1, 3.31, .915. . . . Interstingly, each of Seattle ‘s scorers — F Branden Troock, Justin Hickman and Luke Lockhart — has six goals this season. . . . Troock scored the game’s first goal at 15:27 of the third period. . . . The Giants have been blanked twice this season.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Antoine Corbin, Prince Albert.
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For today’s good read we turn to old friend Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail. He writes today about, yes, the puck. Seriously! And he does it as only he can. That piece is right here.
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Blazers lose Schaber, perhaps Needham

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers will play four WHL games over the next five days and they’ll do it without their captain.
Centre Chase Schaber, 20, suffered what head coach Guy Charron called a “lower body injury” early in an 8-4 loss to the Pats in Regina on Sunday night.
“It’s not as bad as was expected initially,” Charron said Monday evening from Saskatoon. “He is very doubtful for the rest of the trip but it’s not a long-term injury where he won’t be able to play after the Christmas holidays.”
Schaber was injured seven minutes into the game when he was checked by Regina defenceman Brandon Davidson and fell heavily into the boards. Schaber left the game and didn’t return. Davidson wasn’t penalized on the play.
“Pushing it would be the wrong thing to do,” said Charron, who added that the rest Schaber will get over the next two weeks won’t hurt. “He has played with a lot of injuries so it is a good time.”
Schaber, who has 28 points in 31 games, was plagued by leg problems last season when he played on 46 games.
The Blazers also may be without forward Matt Needham, 16, for the next while. He took a hard hit at the end of the second period on Sunday and didn’t play at all in the third period. He is being checked for concussion.
Needham, who has 18 points in 29 games, also was injured Wednesday in a 6-1 victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips. Centre Josh Birkholz of the Silvertips was given a major and game misconduct for the hit, that occurred at 2:30 of the first period, but wasn’t suspended. Needham went to the dressing room before returning six minutes into the second period. He saw limited ice time after that and wasn’t on the bench at game’s end.
However, he did play in Saturday’s 5-4 victory over the Broncos in Swift Current. Charron refused to draw a connection between the Wednesday hit and any concussion that may have been incurred Sunday.
Needham is scheduled to play for Team Pacific in the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that runs Dec. 29 through Jan. 4 in Windsor.
Charron said Needham “is doubtful” until the test results are received.
The Blazers are 1-1 after the first two games of an East Division swing that continues tonight against the Prince Albert Raiders and Wednesday against the Saskatoon Blades.
They won’t play Thursday, and then will meet the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Friday and the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Saturday before breaking for Christmas.
The Blazers resume their schedule against the Giants in Vancouver on Dec. 27, with the same teams playing at Interior Savings Centre on Dec. 28.
JUST NOTES: Blazers G Cole Cheveldave will make his 12th start in the last 13 games tonight in Prince Albert. . . . G Cam Lanigan has a .776 save percentage in his last three appearances. In his two recent relief efforts, he has given up seven goals on 20 shots. . . . The loss in Regina snapped the Blazers’ eight-game winning streak. The Blazers last won eight in a row in 2006-07, when they did it twice. The franchise record is 13, something that was accomplished twice -- in 1986-87 and 1989-90. . . . Blazers D Austin Madaisky will play his 200th regular-season game tonight. This will be his 112th game with the Blazers, who acquired him from the Calgary Hitmen during 2009-10. . . . Regina D Brandon Underwood, who was acquired from the Blazers over the summer, didn’t play Sunday. He has missed four games after blocking a shot in a game in Brandon on Dec. 4. He is to be re-examined today but may not play again until January.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Steve McCarthy (Edmonton/Kootenay, 1996-2000) signed a contract for the rest of this season with ZSC Zurich (Switzerland, NL A) after a successful tryout. He had three assists in 10 games during his tryout.
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In Spokane, the Chiefs outshot Everett 55-16 and beat the Silvertips, 8-1. . . . The Chiefs stretched a 3-1 second-period lead with five third-period goals. . . . .It was the end of a nine-game road swing for Everett, during which time it was 2-6-1. . . . The Silvertips, who are at home against the Prince George Cougars on Friday, have lost five straight. . . . Everett D Lucas Grayson was given a charging major for a hit on Spokane F Dominik Uher at 16:04 of the third period. Uher was hit as he scored the Chiefs’ seventh goal, his sixth of the season. . . . As Uher left the ice, he wasn’t able to put any weight on his right leg. . . .
In Regina, defence partners Brandon Davidson and Brandon Underwood each had three assists as the Pats beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-3 in OT. . . . Each team was 3-for-4 on the PP, with only the winning goal scored at even strength. . . . Regina freshman F Morgan Klimchuk won it at 1:34 of OT. . . . Regina freshman F Morgan Klimchuk won it at 1:34 of OT. . . . Tigers F Emerson Etem, who leads the WHL in goals (23) and points (39), had his 17-game point streak snapped. . . . F Mark Stone of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who has 37 points, has points in each of his club’s 18 games this season. . . . The Pats had held a players-only meeting after losing 3-2 to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Saturday night. . . . The Tigers were without F Cole Grbavac, their captain, who took a charging major during Saturday’s 4-3 OT victory in Brandon. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in OT on F Quinton Howden’s fourth goal of the season. . . . He scored on the PP at 1:22 of extra time. Calgary F Jimmy Bubnick was penalized for goaltender interference with 19.1 seconds left in the third period. . . . Moose Jaw D Morgan Rielly had two assists before leaving with an apparent right leg injury in the third period. . . . The Warriors didn’t dress D Dylan McIlrath (undisclosed), who has missed four of the club’s last five games, and D Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), who sat out a month with a high ankle sprain before returning to play four games. McIlrath has played once game since taking an elbow to the head in Cranbrook on Oct. 22 so you have to wonder if he has a concussion. . . .
———
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports, who handles the Buzzing The Net blog, has his BTN Dynamic Dozen posted (in fact, it was up before midnight Pacific time). . . . It’s right here and it’s worth checking out.
———
Jeff Bell of the Victoria Times Colonist has a neat story right here that involves the carpet and logo in the dressing room of the Victoria Royals.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

Blazers mourn loss of den mother

Doris Rubel (left), Dean Clark, Bob Brown, Tom Renney, Ken Hitchcock,
Don Hay and Mark Ferner, who was representing his late father Ed,
watch as the Blazer Legends banner is raised to the rafters on Feb. 19, 2005.
(Photo by Matt Silver/Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

The Kamloops Blazers will play with heavy hearts this weekend.
Doris Rubel, the organization’s den mother seemingly forever, died early Thursday with daughter Kerry at her side. Doris was 75.
Rubel was the WHL team’s long-time billet co-ordinator. She had been involved in the billeting of hockey players here since the 1960s and had worked with the Craft Kings, Braves, Rockets, Chiefs, Jr. Oilers and Blazers.
A funeral service will be held Wednesday, 1 p.m., at the Calvary Temple.
The Blazers will honour Rubel’s memory with a moment of silence prior to tonight’s game at Interior Savings Centre.
The Blazers are at home to the Vancouver Giants tonight and the Victoria Royals on Sunday. Coincidentally, both coaches, Don Hay of the Giants and Marc Habscheid of the Blazers, have ties to Kamloops and the Blazers and were well-acquainted with Rubel.
Wheelchair-bound for the last few years and in failing health recently, Rubel wasn’t able to attend the Blazers’ regular season-opening game on Saturday. But she simply refused to abdicate what she felt were her responsibilities to the hockey club.
“She has been (working), right until early (Thursday) morning,” said Dave Chyzowski, the Blazers’ director of sales and marketing. “Kerry has been helping. Doris refused to give up . . . she still wanted to do stuff.”
Chyzowski, an Edmonton native, played three seasons (1987-90) with the Blazers and lived with Rubel during part of that time.
“I remember living at her house like it was yesterday. If you know her from the outside,” he said, “you see how much she cares. If you live with her, you see how much she loves these kids. Now that I’m a parent, I would love to have my kid be in her hands.
“She instilled discipline. She didn’t take any (crap). She used to charge us 25 cents if we said a bad word. She had a jar in her house and if you said a bad word, you owed her money. She would say, ‘You don’t talk like that around here.’
“Nowadays, with the kids we have, she’d be a multi-millionaire.”
Forwards Brendan Ranford and Ryan Hanes are the longest-serving Blazers presently on the team’s roster.
“She welcomed me to the city when I was 16-years-old . . . she was a great person,” said Ranford, 19, who is from Edmonton. “She was always humble and very nice to every player. This is a tough loss for the organization.
“You could go to her for anything. She was really open for whoever needed help with billets. She was a great person.”
Hanes, who is from Kamloops so lives at home, never had to deal with Rubel in terms of billeting.
“I didn’t see her very often,” he said, “but the guys appreciated the help because she was always there for them. If there was anything they needed billet-wise, she was always there. She was one of the nicest ladies . . .”
Rubel often took in players when situations arose with other billets or if a change was requested.
“She would say, ‘He can come and live with me and I’ll take care of him,’ ” Chyzowski said. “She cared more about kids who came and played for this team. She fed everybody. I don’t think she made under a million sandwiches for this hockey team.
“She was unbelievable and she never wanted anything in return. People don’t realize how special she and Kerry have been. They gave and gave everything.
“Both their lives have been dedicated to all our alumni, the coaches and the hockey team.”
Rubel was honoured as a Blazers Legend in 2005 and was inducted in the Kamloops Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2004, she was named the first recipient of the WHL’s Distinguished Service Award.
“I haven’t called my mom,” Chyzowski said. “She is going to be in tears. She will be devastated.
“It’s a shitty day but it’s a day to celebrate what she has done for us.”
Chyzowski then dug a quarter out of a pocket and went looking for the jar.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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twitter.com/gdrinnan

Former Blazers react, via Twitter, to the death of Doris Rubel:
Jeff Bosch:
“RIP Dorris Rubel, you did so much for the blazers organization. you will be missed. Thank you for everything last year.”
———
Corey Hirsch:
“Doris could always make me smile or laugh when I needed it. The Lord got a kind soul today. I will miss you Doris.”
———
Brad Lukowich:
“Prayers for the Rubel and Kamloops Blazers family. Doris thank you for keeping us all in line and being the mom who was there when ours couldn’t.”
———
Brandon Underwood:
“Very saddened to hear of the passing of Doris Rubel, treated me so well all 3 years I was in Kamloops. May she rest in peace.”
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Taking Note on Twitter

Blazers deal Underwood to Pats

BRANDON UNDERWOOD

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

Brandon Underwood knew from looking at the Kamloops Blazers’ depth chart that someone was going to go.
Little did he know that someone would be him.
The Blazers, with a glut of experienced defencemen, dealt Underwood, a 19-year-old from San Marcos, Calif., to the Regina Pats on Thursday, getting back a fourth-round selection in the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
When the Blazers acquired Marek Hrbas, 18, from the Edmonton Oil Kings in late June, it left Kamloops with seven experienced defencemen, six of whom played regularly on a team that went 29-37-6 last season and missed the playoffs.
“It’s a business and you know in the back of your head that you can get traded any time,” Underwood said. “When the Blazers acquired (Hrbas) I knew someone was on their way out. I felt like someone was going to go; I didn’t think it was going to be me but . . .”
Underwood admitted he was taken aback when first told of the trade. By late afternoon, however, excitement had taken over.
“I was in shock a bit earlier but the dust has settled,” he said. “I’m excited. It’s always good to be wanted. I’m not going to lie. I really like Kamloops and met so many great people there . . . I couldn’t have asked for a better three years. Kamloops is like a second home to me.
“But you have to take things in stride and look at the positives. (The Pats) are excited to have me and I’m excited for the fresh start.”
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Underwood had 10 assists and 97 penalty minutes in 58 games last season. He also was minus-2 — an improvement from minus-18 the previous season — on a team that struggled defensively. He missed the first two games of the season with a concussion, served two one-game WHL suspensions, and then lost 10 late-season games to a knee injury.
In his three seasons with the Blazers, Underwood totalled 17 points, including two goals, and 271 penalty minutes in 149 games.
“I do think the Blazers will have a good team this season,” Underwood said, “and I kind of wish I would have been able to win there because I feel as if the city deserves it and the team deserves it. But it just hasn’t worked out.”
With Underwood’s departure, the Blazers’ roster includes only four players who saw playing time in 2008-09, his first season here. Left-winger Brendan Ranford played 66 games that season, while defenceman Josh Caron played in 21 games, centre Colin Smith eight and winger Ryan Hanes five.
“I wish them the best,” Underwood said, before adding, with a chuckle, “except when they come to Regina.”
Yes, Underwood has been hearing about Regina and winter. In fact, he said, he already is “trying to mentally prepare.”
When the WHL schedule was released, Underwood, like all Western Conference players, checked to see when the Blazers would make their East Division swing.
“I looked at the schedule and I was thinking, ‘Oh, we have to go to Saskatchewan in December,’ ” he said. “Now I guess I’m going to be there the whole time.
“I know it’s not warm there but . . . there were a few times in Kamloops when my hair froze . . . that was pretty bad. But I’ve heard Saskatchewan is not too warm.”
With the Pats, who went 23-39-10 and also missed the playoffs, Underwood joins an organization that is flat-out rebuilding. Pat Conacher, formerly the Victoria Royals’ assistant GM/assistant coach, was hired as Regina’s head coach earlier this week. The depth chart shows Underwood as one of two 19-year-old defencemen, the other being Richard Blidstrand. The Pats also have two 20-year-old defencemen in veterans Art Bidlevskii and Brandon Davidson.
The Blazers are left with six veterans on the back end — Caron and Bronson Maschmeyer, both 20, Austin Madaisky, 19, Hrbas and Tyler Hansen, both 18, and sophomore Brady Gaudet, 17.

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Taking Note on Twitter

Underwood sees movie, avoids Bieber Fever

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
It could be that the worst part of being injured is the boredom.
Just ask defenceman Brandon Underwood of the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, who might return to action tonight against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes after being out four weeks with a knee injury.
"Oh yeah . . . yeah," Underwood replied when it was suggested that he must have been plenty bored earlier this week.
How bored?
He and three teammates - Cam Lanigan, J.C. Lipon and J.T. Barnett - went to see Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, the movie starring the teen heart-throb from Stratford, Ont.
"I saw the first preview and said I was never going to see it," said a laughing Underwood, "but . . . a couple of guys said it was good and, actually, it's a pretty good story."
How good?
"I definitely don't have the Bieber Fever but I appreciate the guy's musical talents," Underwood said. "There were a couple of screaming girls, some dancing in the aisles. I just stayed in my seat."
Underwood has been pretty much in his seat since Feb. 4, when he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. The original prognosis was four to six weeks, so it would appear that he is a bit ahead of schedule.
After being injured, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Underwood, an 18-year-old from Carlsbad, Calif., took about 10 days off. After that, though, he did rehabilitation work every day. That involved riding a stationary bike and a lot of calisthenics.
"Working on the knee," he explained. "Releasing the muscles in the knee."
During his time off, the knee, which was immobilized for a while, stiffened up, so Underwood had to work at "loosening it up and getting the strength back."
Underwood didn't accompany the Blazers on their recent Central Division swing and began light skating while they were away. There was, he said, "a little bit of pain."
By this week, that pain was gone. He returned to practice on Monday, wearing a non-contact jersey, and, along with captain Chase Schaber, took part in a full practice on Tuesday.
"Right now, my knee is good," Underwood said. "It's more about getting my game legs back and getting back in shape."
At the same time, he acknowledged, there isn't any sense in rushing back, not with the Blazers appearing well on their way to clinching a playoff spot.
"I'm hoping to play (tonight) but . . . they don't want to throw me into the fire if they don't think I'm ready," he said. "It's more about being ready for the playoffs. The last couple games will be tuneup games for me to get ready for the playoffs."
In the meantime, perhaps he could work on adding some Bieber tunes to the Blazers' dressing room play list.
After all, those who were outside the New York Islanders' room say they heard the theme from Never Say Never being played following a 4-1 NHL victory over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.
---
The Blazers (29-32-4) go into tonight's game tied with the Prince George Cougars (29-31-4) for seventh place in the 10-team Western Conference. They are three points ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins (27-30-5).
The Cougars are at home to the Spokane Chiefs tonight and Saturday.
For the fourth straight weekend, the Bruins will play a three-in-three. They are in Kelowna tonight, at home to the Blazers on Saturday and entertain the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday.
JUST NOTES: Game time at Interior Savings Centre is 7 p.m. . . . Schaber, who has missed 22 of the last 24 games, also took part in a full workout Tuesday. He took the warmup prior to Wednesday's 6-2 loss to the visiting Kelowna Rockets and might play tonight. . . . The Blazers remain without D Austin Madaisky (neck) and F Chase Souto (concussion). Souto is to be re-evaluated early next week. . . . The Hurricanes, who lost 3-1 to the host Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday, are in B.C. for three games. They'll also play in Kelowna on Saturday before heading home. . . . Lethbridge is ninth in the 12-team Eastern Conference, two points behind the eighth-place Prince Albert Raiders.

Short on defenders, Blazers doing fine on road

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
When the Kamloops Blazers headed into the WHL’s Central Division a week ago, their defensive brigade had more holes in it than a pair of old work socks.
Austin Madaisky and Brandon Underwood, who had evolved into their shutdown defensive pairing, both were gone with long-term injuries.
And while they were in sole possession of the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, they only had a one-point lead on the Chilliwack Bruins and were six back of the Prince George Cougars.
Tonight, as the Blazers (27-31-4) prepare to face the Tigers (38-17-6) in Medicine Hat, they still are eighth, but now they are five points ahead of Chilliwack and the Seattle Thunderbirds. Not only that — Kamloops is just one point in arrears of the seventh-place Cougars.
That’s what happens when you go on the road and earn five of a possible six points in three games.
The Blazers won in Edmonton, beating the Oil Kings 4-3 in overtime, then lost 4-3 in OT to the Rebels in Red Deer. And, on Wednesday night, the Blazers surrendered 3-0 and 4-1 leads before beating the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 in OT.
Kamloops played in Lethbridge without another veteran defenceman, Josh Caron having been hit with a three-game suspension for a hit from behind on Red Deer forward Josh Cowen, who suffered a broken hand and will miss at least three weeks.
So, you’re wondering, what’s been going on?
“Corey Fienhage has really stepped up his game,” offered assistant coach Scott Ferguson from Medicine Hat on Thursday. “He’s been playing really well.”
Fienhage, a 20-year-old in his first WHL season, was plus-3 in Lethbridge. He is plus-7 in nine February games, after going into the month at minus-15.
Fienhage has been partnered a lot with Brady Gaudet, 16, who is deep into his freshman season.  Gaudet was the 10th overall selection in the WHL’s 2010 bantam draft.
“Gaudet has really benefited from the icetime,” Ferguson said. “He’s playing beyond his years right now.”
Gaudet, from Redvers, Sask., had a Gordie Howe hat trick in Lethbridge, scoring his fourth goal, picking up his sixth assist, and getting into his third scrap of the season.
Ferguson also pointed to veteran Bronson Maschmeyer, 19, as a guy “who has always been back there for us.”
“Those three guys,” Ferguson stated, “have really stepped up their games, and that isn’t taking anything away from (Tyler) Hansen and Caron. All of them have really stepped up their games.”
Ferguson played three seasons with the Blazers before going on to a pro career that included 218 NHL games. He remembers being forced to play extra minutes.
“There were times when I had to play every other shift,” Ferguson recalled. “I didn’t mind it. When you’re doing it, you keep it simple. You know you’re going to get out there and you try to limit your mistakes. But you’re not worried about making mistakes because you know you have to play.
“It was just a matter of knowing you’re going to get back out there, so keep it simple and keep your shifts short. You tend to get into a game a little bit quicker that way. Sometimes it can be beneficial.”
And that, he thinks, is pretty much what is happening with the Blazers right now.
That, along with forwards who have become more conscious of their defensive play and goaltender Jeff Bosch, who has been more than solid. Bosch is expected to make his 15th straight start tonight.
“I really believe defence is a five-man unit,” he said. “As a team we’re really focused on the defensive side of it to help out the back end. The forwards are doing a good job of coming back, and Bosch has been playing really well.
“That’s why I love hockey. It’s a team game . . . it’s all six guys on the ice.”
And it’s also special teams.
The Blazers’ much-maligned penalty killers, who have had the WHL’s worst success rate through most of the season, haven’t been torched once on this road trip. They are 16-for-16, the second time this season they have been perfect for three games in a row. (Coincidentally, the first time they had this success also was in the Central Division, in October.)
Of course, they’ll need all they help they can get again tonight as they play the Tigers and again Saturday when this swing wraps up in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice (39-18-4). The Ice and Tigers are tied for third in the Eastern Conference.
The suspended Caron won’t be available for either game, which means right-winger Jordan DePape will be back on defence. He spent most of Wednesday’s game there, moving up only on the power play and in OT, when he scored the winning goal.
DePape, who is from Winnipeg, played some on the back end during his minor hockey days. And when the Blazers ran into penalty problems during an exhibition game, they moved him back.
“It has been a good challenge for him,” Ferguson said. “He’s a smart player. I think he has learned to appreciate the defensive responsibilities.
“He looks fairly strong. He skates backwards well, he reads the ice well, he’s not shy to go back for pucks and take a hit to make a play. He’s a big, physical guy who skates well and sees the ice well.
“He’s done a good job.”
JUST NOTES: The Blazers continue to be without F Chase Schaber (leg), who now has missed 17 games in a row and 19 of the last 21. . . . The Tigers are showing four players as being out with concussions — D Jace Coyle, D Matt Konan, D Scott Ramsay and F Sam Dezman — while D Patrick Parkkonen (shoulder) also is out. . . . Coyle and Konan are day-to-day, Dezman is indefinite, and Parkkonen and Ramsay will be out another week. . . . The Blazers are at home Wednesday when the Kelowna Rockets are scheduled to pay a visit. . . . F Cole Ully, who made his WHL debut with the Blazers on Wednesday, has returned to the midget AAA Calgary Flames. A post-game scoring change Wednesday gave him his first point, an assist on the Blazers’ fourth goal.

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Taking Note on Twitter