By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Dan Russell isn’t sure what the future holds.
What he does know is that he’ll be a free agent when his contract at Vancouver radio station CKNW runs out on Aug. 31.
“I have absolutely no plans,” said Russell, prior to Wednesday’s WHL playoff game between the Kelowna Rockets and Kamloops Blazers at Interior Savings Centre. “I have a commitment to finish out my contract at CKNW.”
Tom Plasteras, CKNW’s program director, revealed in mid-March that Russell’s contract won’t be renewed.
For now, Russell continues as the host of Sportstalk, the station’s nightly three-hour show that is heard throughout B.C. He has been behind that microphone for 21 of the past 22 years.
These days, Russell also is doing the play-by-play of WHL games for Shaw TV.
When the WHL season is over, he said, “I’ll focus on the next step. Who knows? I may have to re-invent myself and, if that’s the case, I’m looking forward to it.”
Russell, 52, is married with three children.
“The youngest is six,” he said, “so I’m too young for retirement.”
He also admitted to feeling some excitement over the uncertainty.
“I don’t know where it’s going to take me,” he said.
Russell admitted he would prefer to stay on the Lower Mainland but that he isn’t opposed to leaving the area.
“If the right opportunity comes along . . .,” he said.
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On April 6, 1996, F Jarome Iginla scored at 13:23 of OT to give the host Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans.
On April 9, 2013, F JC Lipon scored at 3:43 of OT to give the Blazers a 5-4 victory over the visiting Rockets.
In between those two games, the Blazers lost seven consecutive OT games on home ice. (Interestingly, the Blazers lost each of the series in which they were beaten in OT at home.)
On March 29, 1998, F Jarrett Smith got the winner in a 4-3 victory by the Prince George Cougars.
On May 5, 1999, F Jordan Krestanovich scored in triple OT to give the Calgary Hitmen a 4-3 victory.
On March 30, 2005, F Dale Mahovsky scored at 1:25 as the Kootenay Ice won, 3-2.
On March 23 and 24, 2007, the Cougars won in OT, thanks to goals from F Nick Drazenovic and F Devin Setoguchi.
On March 24, 2009, F Cody Almond gave the Rockets a 3-2 OT victory.
On March 23, 2010, F Brett Breitkreuz scored in OT to give the Vancouver Giants a 5-4 victory.
Over that same time period, the Blazers were 4-6 in OT games on the road.
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Goaltender Dustin Butler, who holds the Blazers’ single-season shutout record, made his NHL debut last night with the Vancouver Canucks.
The 25-year-old Butler, who has played five seasons with the U of Calgary Dinos, was on the bench in support of starter Roberto Luongo after Cory Schneider became ill.
Butler, who is from Calgary, set the Blazers’ single-season shutout record with seven in 2006-07.
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Former Blazers F C.J. Stretch has joined the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons for the second time this season.
Stretch, 23, put up 62 points in 60 regular-season games with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign, then added five points, all goals, in four first-round playoff games.
Earlier this season, he had six points in 10 games with the Barons.
The Reign is between series, having swept the Utah Grizzlies in a first-round series. Stretch set a franchise single-game record with four goals in a 7-2 victory in Game 2.
The Reign, which finished off the Grizzlies on Saturday, won’t play again until April 19, so Stretch may well be back by then.

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Brendan Ranford set up two goals Sunday as the
Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Kelowna
Rockets in what was his 343rd regular-season
WHL game.
(Keith Anderson / Kamloops Daily News)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Brendan Ranford is glad that he stayed in Kamloops, after all.
Ranford now has played in more games than anyone in the history of the city’s WHL franchise. However, he may well have left over the summer when the Blazers let other teams know they were willing to trade him.
They didn’t, and now Ranford, a left winger, has played in 343 regular-season games, two more than centre C.J. Stretch (2005-10), who now is with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign.
Ranford broke the record Saturday as he scored once in a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants at Interior Savings Centre. He extended the record Sunday, as the Blazers, getting three goals from right-winger JC Lipon, two assists from Ranford, and 25 saves from goaltender Cole Cheveldave, dismissed the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 3-0.
The Blazers (44-18-5) swept their three-game weekend — they started with a 4-1 victory over the Cougars in Prince George on Friday — and are within three points of the B.C. Division-leading Rockets (46-16-4), who hold a game in hand. The Blazers are at home to the Victoria Royals, who have lost nine straight, on Tuesday, then will play the Rockets here on Friday and in Kelowna on Saturday.
“Definitely, it was a good decision, but I don’t know that I really had any thoughts of leaving,” Ranford said, adding that it was all part of the game that plays out every summer and early each season as teams and players try to sort out which 20-year-olds will stay.
“Yeah, definitely, that was the biggest thing,” the Edmonton native said. “It is (part of) the game.”
Ranford has missed only 15 games in five seasons, something for which he was quick to credit veteran trainer Colin (Toledo) Robinson.
“I have to to thank Toledo,” Ranford said. “He’s done an unbelieveable job of keeping me healthy.”
Last night, the Blazers were in complete control pretty much from the drop of the puck as they shut down the WHL’s second-highest scoring team.
“We didn’t compete tonight,” offered Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska. “That petty much sums it up. They worked much harder than we did. . . . At the end of the day, we didn’t compete the way we need to compete. It’s plain and simple.”
Ranford figured in Lipon’s first two goals, the initial one coming on a rebound. Ranford drilled goaltender Jordon Cooke in the logo and Lipon deposited the rebound, at 4:58 of the first period.
They were back for more five minutes later, this time Lipon whipping home a wrist shot from the slot.
Lipon completed his second career hat trick — three or four hats and one fedora hit the ice in response — at 1:48 of the third with a one-timer from the slot that zipped past Cooke catching mitt.
“He’s got an unbelieveable one-timer,” Ranford said of Lipon. “He’s one of the top two guys in the league with the one-timer. Bell from Kelowna has a pretty good one, too.”
That would be forward Myles Bell, who leads the Rockets in goals (36), assists (51) and points (87). He left the game at 17:50 of the first period after suffering a leg injury when he went knee-to-knee with Kamloops defenceman Sam Grist in a collision that was more accidental than anything.
Asked how badly Bell is injured, Huska replied: “I don’t know.”
Cheveldave, meanwhile, was rarely pressured as he record his fifth shutout this season and the ninth of his career.
As for Ranford, he has 347 points in his 343 regular-season games. Only six players in franchise history have put up more points than that and one of them — Hnat Domenichelli — is at 349.
Ranford was selected by Philadelphia in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL draft, but wasn’t able to cut a deal with the Flyers. Prior to the start of this season, he went to camp with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. However, he returned to the Blazers and is again a free agent.
He said he hasn’t heard anything about a pro contract.
“I’m just hoping for a really good playoff run,” he said. “NHL teams want winners. . . and I think we have the team that can do it.”
On Saturday, the Blazers also got goals from Marek Hrbas, Dylan Willick and Kale Kessy (shorthanded), while Brett Kulak and Cain Franson replied for the Giants, who had a 26-22 edge in shots.
JUST NOTES: The attendances were 4,542 on Saturday and 5,756 on Sunday, the latter being a Rain Check Night. . . . Lipon also scored three goals in a 5-1 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Dec. 5. . . . The Daily News Three Stars for Sunday: 1. Lipon: Hot trigger finger; 2. Cheveldave: Made the saves; 3. F Chase Souto, Kamloops: Hard work and good decisions. . . . The Daily News Three Stars for Saturday: 1. Grist, Kamloops: Two assists and physical; 2. Willick: Getting close to where he was before injury; 3. F Colin Smith, Kamloops: 100 points no small feat. . . . Vancouver D Reid Zalitach, who left Wednesday’s game here with a knee injury, has returned home to Winnipeg. He apparently won’t need surgery but his season is over.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Brothers D Logan (Tri-City, 2001-06) and F Shay (Red Deer, 2000-04) Stephenson have been released from their tryout contracts by Jesenice (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga).
———
 JUST NOTES: The U of Alberta Golden Bears have added eight WHL products for the 2011-12 season. According to a U of A news release: “Forwards Levko Koper (Spokane 2006-11), Kruise Reddick (Tri-City 2006-11), Brett Ferguson (Red Deer 2008-11), Jordan Hickmott (Medicine Hat/Prince Albert/Edmonton 2005-11), James Dobrowolski (Prince Albert/Prince George 2007-11) and Travis Toomey (Saskatoon/Seattle 2005-11) will bolster the Golden Bears attack, while defencemen Jordan Rowley (Kamloops/Prince Albert 2005-11), Thomas Carr (Medicine Hat 2008-11), and Barron Smith (London/Peterborough 2008-2011) bulk up the blue-line.” . . . The Golden Bears, the defending Canada West champions, open camp on Sept. 1 under interim head coach Stan Marple. . . . The U of Regina Cougars have added three more former WHLers to their roster. G Lucas Gore (Chilliwack, 2008-11), D Joel Kot (Red Deer, 2007-09) and D Blaine Tendler (Prince Albert, 2006-09). . . . C C.J. Stretch, who holds the Kamloops Blazers’ career games played record (341), has signed on for a second season with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign. Stretch, who is from Irvine, Calif., had 21 points in 46 games last season.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

ALESSIO BERTAGGIA

It seems there is a second WHL team with a roster that doesn’t include even one player who was acquired via the trade route.
A note from Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spoksman-Review points out that the Spokane Chiefs are carrying 23 players, with 12 of them acquired in the bantam draft, two in the CHL import draft and nine by being listed.
When the season began, D Bruin McDonald was on the Chiefs’ roster and he had been acquired from the Prince George Cougars. However, he was released early in the season and now is with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.
———
F C.J. Stretch (Kamloops, 2005-10) is with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign, waiting for the opportunity to get more playing time and working on his defensive play and playing without the puck. There’s more right here.

———
Alessio Bertaggia is back in the news (thanks to @ukrainetzd for the tweet). . . . With the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation having released the names of the 28 players it is considering for its national junior team roster, I was interested only in forwards Sven Bartschi and Nino Niederreiter of the Portland Winterhawks. Yes, both of them are on that roster, as expected. . . . But I forgot all about Alessio Bertaggia, who was the subject of some attention in these parts about three months ago. . . . You may recall that it was Bertaggia who somehow, despite not having been selected in the CHL import draft, made his way to Portland and was on the ice during the Winterhawks’ training camp. . . . In the end, the WHL disciplined the Winterhawks, thus ending another colourful chapter in league history, The Saga of Red No. 23. . . . Anyway, Bertaggia is on that 28-player roster. . . .
———
Some countries have released national junior team preliminary rosters that include WHL players. . . .
The Czech Republic roster includes Marek Hrbas (Edmonton Oil Kings) and David Musil (Vancouver Giants) among its 13 defencemen. The preliminary roster also features 21 forwards, including Antonin Honejsek (Moose Jaw Warriors), Roman Horak (Chilliwack Bruins) and Robin Soudek (Chilliwack). . . .
Slovakia will open a camp in Bratislava on Monday. The 23-player roster for this camp doesn’t include any WHL players. The Slovaks will trim that number to 15 and open another selection camp in Jamestown, N.Y., on Dec. 16. . . . The Slovaks will add eight CHL players to their roster for that camp, and then will play pre-tournament games against Norway (Dec. 21) and Russia (Dec. 23). . . .
Germany’s preliminary roster includes F Marcel Noebels (Seattle) and F Bernhard Keil (Kamloops). Germany will open a short camp in Fussen on Dec. 15 and then set up shop in Buffalo/Niagara Falls, on Dec. 18. . . .
Finland will open a camp in Vierumaki, Dec. 12-16, before moving to Toronto on Dec. 18. . . .
F Mark Mieritz of the Brandon Wheat Kings will play for Denmark at the IIHF Division 1, Group B U-20 championship in Slovenia, Dec. 12-18. Mieritz, who has six points in 27 games with the Wheat Kings, will play two games this weekend and then leave for home.
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The 2012 World Women’s curling championship will be played in Lethbridge, March 17-25. That will put the Hurricanes on the road as the WHL regular season winds down or early in the first round of the playoffs. You may recall that the World championship was decided in Swift Current last spring, with the Broncos playing first-round ‘home’ games in Regina. . . . The Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers will meet in Whitehorse on Feb. 12. The Whitehorse Star reports that tickets for that game will go on sale Saturday. They’re priced at $30 a pop with a limit of two per customer. . . . Bogdan Rudenko, a former OHL player who bounced around the minor pro leagues for a few years, is facing a murder charge in North Carolina. That story is right here. . . . F Randy McNaught, 20, of the Vancouver Giants had surgery on an ankle Monday. He was injured Oct. 9 during a game in Kamloops. He isn’t expected back before February. He got into only eight games with the Giants, who acquired him from the Saskatoon Blades.
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CH-CH-CHING! Just about missed this one. Kelly Kisio, the general manager of the Calgary Hitmen, was dinged for $500 for “comments to officials following game at Edmonton on Nov. 24.” . . . Not sure what was said or two whom, but the Hitmen were on the short end of a 4-3 count with the Oil Kings.
———
SOME TUESDAY GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
There were three games played, all in the homes of Western Conference teams, and Eastern Conference visitors won all three. . . .
In Vancouver, G Adam Morrison’s 23 saves sparked the Saskatoon Blades to a 2-1 victory over the Giants. . . . The Blades were opening a B.C. Division swing that continues tonight in Chilliwack. . . . F Chris Colins, at 18:53 of the first, and F Josh Nicholls, with his 12th on the PP at 6:17 of the second, gave the visitors a 2-0 lead. . . . Vancouver got closer when F Brendan Rowinski, while shorthanded, got his first goal with the Giants at 17:51 of the second. . . . Rowinski had been acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors earlier in November. . . . The Giants have lost three in a row, meaning head coach Don Hay is stalled at 499 WHL coaching victories. . . . The Giants meet the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Friday night. . . . Attendance was 5,649. . . .
In Kent, Wash., the Medicine Hat Tigers ran their winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Tigers, who meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., tonight, took a 3-0 lead on F Emerson Etem’s 18th goal, shorthanded in the first, and third-period goals from F Hunter Shinkaruk and D Matthew Konan. . . . F Marcel Noebels of Seattle ruined Tyler Bunz’s shutout bid at 12:41 on a penalty shot. Bunz finished with 28 saves, 12 fewer than Calvin Pickard. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey had one assist. He leads the WHL with 48 points, four more than F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Attendance was 2,726. . . . The Thunderbirds meet the Rockets in Kelowna tonight and then head for Prince George and Friday and Saturday dates with the Cougars. . . .
In Everett, F Kevin King and F Steele Boomer each set up two goals as the Kootenay Ice beat the Silvertips, 3-1. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen made 26 saves. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart broke a 1-1 tie with his 10th goal just 28 seconds into the second period. . . . Ice F Jesse Ismond added insurance with his ninth at 1:15 of the third. . . . Everett F Landon Ferraro (concussion) was back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 12. He had an assist. . . . Attendance was 3,663. . . .
———
TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One minor:
Everett D Rasmus Rissanen
———
Jim Kelley lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Tuesday.
Kelley, 61, is in the Hockey Hall of a Fame, mostly for his work with the Buffalo News. Of late, he wrote for sportsnet.ca and worked for Toronto all-sports radio station The Fan 590. There was a time when he often appeared on Hockey Night in Canada.
Kelley, who always had an opinion, filed a column to sportsnet.ca on Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. It would be his last one.
That column is right here.

Friday . . . early

The Medicine Hat Tigers may be close to adding a potential impact forward to their roster for next season. Tyler Pitlick, a 6-foot-1, 190-pounder from
Centerville, Minn., turns 19 on Nov. 1. He played this season as a freshman at Minnesota State-Mankato, earning 19 points, including 11 goals, in 38 games. A nephew of former NHLer Lance Pitlick, Tyler was ranked 21st among North American skaters eligible for the NHL draft in Central Scouting’s mid-term ratings. . . . Pitlick apparently is about to visit Medicine Hat and check out things before deciding whether to leave school and join the Tigers.
---
The Kamloops Blazers’ three 20-year-olds all will be getting at least a taste of the pro game. . . . D Ryan Funk flew out of Kelowna Friday morning to join the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. He is expected to be in the lineup Friday night against the Victoria Salmon Kings. . . . C C.J. Stretch is heading home to California on Sunday and will skate with the ECHL’s Ontario Reign. . . . G Kurtis Mucha is expected to join the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder at some point on the weekend. The Thunder is affiliated with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Mucha went to camp with the Oilers and was offered a minor-league contract; instead of signing, he chose to return to the Portland Winterhawks, hoping to finish his WHL career there. However, they dealt him to Kamloops in November.

Blazers trying to find consistency

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Reporter
Like Indiana Jones hunting for the Ark of the Covenant, the Kamloops Blazers’ search for consistency continues.
Head coach Guy Charron is hoping that his team found its trail in Alberta on the weekend where it posted two straight victories, including a 6-3 triumph over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday.
The Blazers hadn’t won in Medicine Hat since Dec. 12, 2003, a stretch of five games during which time they were beaten 5-3, 7-3, 7-0, 6-1 and 4-0 in the Gas City.
“With the last games you have (before playoffs),” Charron said Sunday, “you are hopeful that you get some consistency in your play because that will lead to the playoffs. We were inconsistent; now we played a real strong game.”
The Blazers took a 3-2 lead into the third period, only to have freshman forward Emerson Etem tie it with his 34th goal of the season at 5:04.
The score stayed that way until late, when the Tigers had two players — forwards Linden Vey and Taylor Gal — penalized for checking from behind less than a minute apart.
Kamloops centre C.J. Stretch scored on the 5-on-3 at 18:08 — it held up as his ninth game-winner of the season — and forwards Chase Schaber and Jordan DePape added empty-netters.
The goal was Schaber’s third of the game, as he enjoyed his first WHL hat trick in his 165th game. It was his 23rd game with the Blazers, who acquired him from the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 10.
Schaber has three multi-goal games in his 165-game WHL career, two in his last four games.
“We are very fortunate to pull out a win like this," Schaber told the Medicine Hat News. "The Tigers are just a great hockey team. They are a run-and-gun team. They can score goals. We knew we had to be ready coming into tonight’s game.
"All we did was put pucks on net and good things happened."
DePape, meanwhile, had a goal and two assists, and now has 10 points in five games since he missed three games with a rib injury.
Mark Hall also scored for the Blazers, getting his second goal of the season and ending a 34-game drought in the process.
Zdenek Okal and Gal also scored for the Tigers.
“Our last two games on the road were two wins,” said Charron, whose club had scored a 4-3 overtime victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Friday. “Now we’re at home; if we can establish something good, something positive to lead into the playoffs . . . That’s our goal.”
The Blazers began the Alberta trip by losing 5-1 to the Oil Kings in Edmonton, after which Charron said he was “annoyed” with his players, who paid a price the next day at practice.
“Our thing was,” Charron explained, “if you’re not going to work in the games, you’re going to have harder practices. And they responded. This team . . . has always practised hard. It was a harder practice, more skating than usual, but they responded and they pushed themselves.”
Charron also said the Blazers got a strong effort from goaltender Jon Groenheyde, who stopped 26 shots. Groenheyde, who was outstanding in Friday’s victory in Lethbridge, has won two straight starts for the first time since Sept. 19 and 25.
The Blazers returned home immediately after Saturday’s game and will meet the Everett Silvertips here on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers scratched D Ryan Funk (ankle), who missed his eighth straight game, and F Jake Trask. Funk skated by himself late last week but has yet to practice with his teammates. . . . The Blazers are 12-21-1-1 on the road with one game left away from home, that on March 13 in Vancouver. . . . Sometime after Friday’s game in Lethbridge, at least three scoring changes were made to Blazers goals. Schaber was given an assist on his club’s first goal. D Travis Hansen lost his assist on the team’s second goal, as it went to D Austin Madaisky. As well, F Colin Smith was given an assist on DePape’s game-winning goal. . . . Madaisky finished with three assists in what was the second three-point game of his WHL career. . . . For Smith, it was his first two-point game since the first game he played this season on Nov. 6 after returning from a broken arm suffered in training camp.