Conference finals resume Friday night

D Brett Festerling (Tri-City, Vancouver, 2001-07) signed a four-year contract with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL), where he joins twin brother Garrett. This season with Nuremberg (Germany, DEL), Brett had 11 points, including two goals, in 31 games. The Festerlings hold dual Canadian-German citizenship. . . .
F Daine Todd (Medicine Hat, 2003-08) has signed a two-year contract with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland, KHL). This season, with Portland (AHL), he had 32 points, four of them goals, in 54 games. . . .
F Curtis Huppe (Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Tri-City, 1995-2000) has signed a one-year extension with the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). Huppe missed most of this season due to injury, but did have seven points, including four goals, in eight games with the Flames.
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Queen City Sports & Entertainment has confirmed the names of its partners as it works through the process of purchasing the Regina Pats from Diane and Russ Parker of Calgary.
Anthony Marquart, who heads up QCSE, is joined by former WHL goaltender Todd Lumbard, Jason Drummond of DGC Entertainment Inc., and Shaun and Gavin Semple of Brandt Entertainment Inc., all of Regina. (Gavin and Shaun Semple are father and son, respectively. Jack Semple, a Canadian guitar player of note, is another son.)
According to a QCSE news release, “Marquart also said that in the coming weeks they will be sitting down with all Pats management, coaches, and employees to discuss their needs, their ideas, their goals, and their career aspirations. Once they’ve done that, they’ll be rolling out a business plan that will chart a course for a successful future for all of the Pats stakeholders – especially the fans.”
The WHL’s board of governors is expected to approve the sale on April 30 in Calgary.
(If you are at all curious about the Semple family, you may want to give this right here a read. It’s from the Prairie Policy Centre and details the growth of the Brandt brand.)
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1. If you watched Canada beat Switzerland 3-2 in a quarterfinal game at the IIHF U-18 world championship on Thursday, you saw a prime example of how puck possession is most times more important than playing dump and chase. . . . Canadian D Travis Sanheim of the Calgary Hitmen mishandled a pass at the Swiss blueline and had to retreat into the neutral zone. He got control of the puck, with his head up, then stepped up and then around a Swiss defenceman to create 2-on-1 with F Travis Konecny, who took the pass, deked to the backhand and got the winner. . . . I’m thinking Sanheim’s draft standing, at least with a few NHL teams, jumped a few spots on that one play alone. He was at No. 53 among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s last rankings.

2. I’m still trying to get my mind around the fact that New York Yankees starter Michael Pineda drew a 10-game suspension for using pine tar, while F Matt Cooke of the Minnesota Wild got seven games for a knee-on-knee collision that took an opponent out for what is expected to be four to six weeks.

3. What makes the Pineda suspension even more confusing is that virtually every baseball person who has spoken about this admits that most pitchers use pine tar, or another foreign substance, to help their grip on the baseball, especially in cooler weather.

4. What makes the Pineda suspension even more confusing than that . . . hitters say they don’t mind pitchers using pine tar to improve their grip, something that gives them better control. No pine tar might mean more hit batters and who wants that?

5. The adage “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’ ” used to belong to NASCAR. These days, it apparently belongs to Major League Baseball.

6. Rick Reilly, once of Sports Illustrated, now of ESPN.com, has written a column that is full of some truths that he has discovered over time. Of course, they all are true, including: “The best sports book ever written was Ball Four. Everything else has just been an attempt to copy it.” . . . That column is right here.

7. It was in the third period when TSN’s Gord Miller, calling the Boston at Detroit Stanley Cup game, said it was “Hudson Bay rules” and you knew right then that the Red Wings were done. Detroit GM Ken Holland and head coach Mike Babcock need to admit that the Red Wings won’t win anything unless they find another Bob Probert or Joey Kocur to ride shotgun and create room for the skaters.

8. Detroit F Henrik Zetterberg returned to action for the first time since a back injury took him out of the Sochi Olympics. Can we just give him the Grizzly Adams Award for best beard in the playoffs?

9. If the Portland Winterhawks and Edmonton Oil Kings both win their next games, it will set up the third straight WHL championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup between these two teams. . . . It also will be Portland’s fourth straight trip to the final. . . . Portland is in Kelowna tonight with a 3-1 lead on the Rockets; the Oil Kings are at home on Saturday and hold a 3-1 edge on the Medicine Hat Tigers.

10. Team Canada beat Switzerland 3-2 in a quarterfinal game at the IIHF U-18 world championship in Finland on Thursday. Canada will meet the Czechs in a Saturday semifinal game. The game starts at 9 a.m. Pacific time and will be shown on TSN. The other semifinal features Sweden and the U.S. It starts at 5 a.m. Pacific.
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F Dyson Stevenson, who played out his junior eligibility with the Regina Pats this season, has signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Portland Pirates. Stevenson had 76 points, including 38 goals, in 68 games with the Pats this season. In 252 career regular-season games with Regina, he had 168 points, including 75 goals.
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The OHL’s Owen Sound Attack has signed general manager Dale DeGray, head coach Greg Ireland, assistant coach Drew Bannister and athletic therapist Andy Brown to contract extensions. . . . DeGray now is signed through 2016-17, which will be his 10th season as GM. . . . Ireland, who has been head coach for three seasons, is signed through 2015-16. . . . Bannister has been with the Attack for two seasons. . . . Brown, who has been with the Attack since 2005-06, is signed through 2016-17.
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After playing three seasons (2010-13) with the Edmonton Oil Kings, F Stephane Legault didn’t play hockey in 2013-14, choosing not to play his 20-year-old season. Instead, he attended NAIT in Edmonton. . . . Now, Legault, who had 105 points in 172 regular-season games with the Oil Kings, has committed to attend the U of Alberta and play for the CIS-champion Golden Bears in the fall. Legault, who turned 21 on March 3, is from Edmonton.
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THE THIRD ROUND (best-of-seven; all times local):
(x - if necessary)
EASTERN CONFERENCE
EDMONTON (1) vs. MEDICINE HAT (4)
(Edmonton leads, 3-1)
Season series: Edmonton, 5-0-1; Medicine Hat, 1-5-0.
(All games on Shaw TV)
Friday: Medicine Hat 3 at Edmonton 8 (7,694)
Sunday: Medicine Hat 1 at Edmonton 3 (5,763)
Tuesday: Edmonton 1 at Medicine Hat 2 (3,189)
Wednesday: Edmonton 4 at Medicine Hat 1 (3,832)
Saturday: Medicine Hat at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Monday: Edmonton at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Medicine Hat at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Edmonton: D Blake Orban, day-to-day.
Medicine Hat: F Anthony Ast, day-to-day; F Gavin Broadhead, day-to-day; F Hunter Shinkaruk, indefinite.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
KELOWNA (1) vs. PORTLAND (2)
(Portland leads, 3-1)
Season series: Kelowna, 4-0-0; Portland, 0-4-0.
Friday: Portland 4 at Kelowna 5 (6,218)
Saturday: Portland 5 at Kelowna 3 (6,341)
Tuesday: Kelowna 3 at Portland 4 (OT) (9,259)
Wednesday: Kelowna 1 at Portland 5 (9,744)
Friday: Portland at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
x-Sunday: Kelowna at Portland, 2 p.m.
x-Tuesday: Portland at Kelowna, 7 p.m.
INJURIES
Kelowna: F Myles Bell, week-to-week.
Portland: None.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:
No games scheduled.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Brett Jaeger (Medicine Hat, Vancouver, Saskatoon, 2001-04) signed a one-year contract extension with the Fischtown Pinguins Bremerhaven (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). Jaeger started last season with Copenhagen Hockey (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga), where he had a 3.12 GAA and a .908 save percentage in 27 games, before transferring to the Fischtown Pinguins. With the Pinguins, he had a 3.00 GAA in seven games. . . .
F Mike Wirll (Brandon, Prince Albert, Prince George, Lethbridge, 1997-2003) signed a one-year contract with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). He had four goals and 13 assists in 20 games with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite) last season. . . .
D Brett Festerling (Tri-City, Vancouver, 2001-07) signed a two-year contract with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had three goals and 15 assists in 52 games with St. John's Ice Caps (AHL) and was pointless in five games with the Winnipeg Jets (NHL) last season.
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Another 20-year-old goaltender is on the move with the Brandon Wheat Kings having sent Brandon Anderson to the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Wheat Kings moved Anderson and a 2013 fifth-round bantam draft pick to the Silvertips for F Geordie Maguire, 17, who played last season for the Winnipeg Wild and led the Manitoba midget AAA league in scoring. . . . Maguire, a fifth-round selection by Everett in the 2010 bantam draft, put up 77 points, 40 of them goals, in 42 games with the Wild. . . . Anderson has signed with the NHL’s Washington Capitals; should he be assigned to Everett, the Wheat Kings would get back the fifth-round pick. . . .
Anderson finished up each of the last two seasons with the Hershey Bears, Washington’s AHL affiliate, but didn’t see any game action. . . . Anderson was a free agent when he went to camp with the Capitals two years ago and came away with a contract. The Lethbridge Hurricanes later dealt him to Brandon, where he was 13-14-2, 3.96, .889 in 31 games last season. In six games with Lethbridge before the trade, he went 2-3-1, 3.78, .894. He also missed part of the season as he left the Wheat Kings and went home for reasons that never were disclosed. In 2010-11, after signing with the Capitals, he was 17-26-12, 3.77, .888. . . . Everett is looking for a goaltender to take over from Kent Simpson, 20, who has signed with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and is expected to open in their organization. If neither Anderson nor Simpson is back, Austin Lotz, 17, will get first crack at starting. . . . Should Anderson end up in Everett, he would become the fourth 20-year-old on the roster, along with F J.T. Barnett, F Cody Fowlie and F Ryan Harrison.
The deal leaves the Wheat Kings with Corbin Boes, 19, as the starter going into training camp, which is no surprise. Chances are he’ll be supported by Curtis Honey, 18, although Jordan Papirny, 16, may well be in the picture, too, before all is said and done. . . .
Anderson is the fourth 20-year-old goaltender to be traded this offseason. . . . Luke Siemens, who turns 20 on Nov. 6, went from the Moose Jaw Warriors to the Prince Albert Raiders, while Ty Rimmer moved from the Tri-City Americans to Lethbridge, and Brandon Glover, who will be 20 on Aug. 21, was dealt by the Calgary Hitmen to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
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Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports has the story right here of the Memorial Cup and the beating it has taken at the hands of the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. Hey, don’t sweat it because the Cataractes weren’t partying with the real thing.
But, geez Louise, just because you are passing around a replica is not reason to use it and abuse it.
After all, the Memorial Cup has some history behind it and deserves to be shown a bit more respect than it apparently has been getting.
With all the money a lot of these major junior teams are making, perhaps it’s time the CHL assigned an employee to babysit the Memorial Cup in these situations.
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D Paul Sohor (Everett, Tri-City, 2007-11) played out his junior eligibility last season with the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers and now has decided to attend York University and play for the Lions. . . . He had 32 points in 50 games last season in Selkirk.
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Robbie Ftorek, the 60-year-old head coach of the OHL’s Erie Otters, and his family are in shock after the death Saturday of Anna Ftorek, a 23-year-old daughter. She died suddenly at the family home in Wolfeboro, N.H. There is more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jared Bednar has signed on with the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets, as an assistant coach. Bednar spent the last two seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. In Springfield, he’ll work alongside head coach Brad Larsen and assistant coach Nolan Pratt. . . . Bednar played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders, Medicine Hat Tigers, Spokane Chiefs and Saskatoon Blades (1990-1993). . . . The Falcons announced that Bednar got a “multi-year” deal. They also announced that Pratt has received a “contract extension beyond the 2012-2013 season.” He is heading into his second season on the Falcons’ staff. . . .
Barry Smith is headed for the Netherlands where he will work as head coach of the Tilburg Trappers, who play in the country’s top league. Smith, who coached the Kamloops Blazers (2008-10), replaces Theo van Gerwen, who was named technical director of the Dutch Hockey Association after two seasons with the Trappers. Smith signed a one-year deal with Tilburg. (This signing actually happened late in May and I somehow missed it. Apologies for that.)
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If you’ve got 20 or 30 minutes to invest in a great read, give this right here a look. Jason Schwartz of Boston Magazine takes a look at 38 Studios, the video-game company owned by former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling that imploded and left behind quite a mess.

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