A little of this and some of that . . .
1. Most observers have the matchup they were hoping for as it’ll be the QMJHL-champion Halifax Mooseheads against the WHL-champion Portland Winterhawks in Sunday’s Memorial Cup final. . . . The Winterhawks advanced with a 2-1 victory over the OHL-champion London Knights on Friday night. . . . Sunday’s game starts at 5 p.m. That’s Saskatoon time.
2. I’m thinking that should Paul Brandt ever decide to quit his real job, he could get work as an anthem singer. If you aren’t aware, Brandt is a true Canadian hero thanks to all the charitable work he does and the work done by his Build It Forward Foundation.
3. Lorne Molleken, the general manager and head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, will spend the next while pondering his future. He will be back next season, but will he return as head coach? . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, who did such a bang-up job of covering the Blades through a difficult season, has that story right here.
4. There were at least some $20 tickets available for last night’s semifinal, and it seems there are some available for Sunday’s game, too. A friend from Regina sent me a note from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association. . . . “Let’s PACK the HOUSE” for the semifinal and final, it reads. “A limited number of $20 seats are available in the upper bowl.” . . . It also provided a link to Ticketmaster.
5. I don’t know if those $20 tickets had any impact on the gate, but attendance for last night’s semifinal was 9,161.
6. What thoughts were going through Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower’s head when he couldn’t play in the Blades’ 6-1 loss to London in Thursday night’s tiebreaker? . . . The aforementioned Daniel Nugent-Bowman has that story right here.
7. A postgame tweet from Portland freelancer Scott Sepich (@SSepich): “Ty Rattie after the game: ‘We aren't done yet. We're doing this for Portland, for Mike Johnston and everything that happened this year.’ ”
8. Sepich is in Saskatoon covering the tournament for The Oregonian. His complete story is right here.
9. The line of the night belongs to Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino. Late in the first period, Portland F Chase De Leo blocked a shot deep in his zone and was on the limp. Moments later, however, he was zipping up ice with the puck. “De Leo,” Cosentino said, “looked like he got touched by Oral Roberts when that puck came to his stick.”
10. If they are to win on Sunday, the Winterhawks are going to have to manage the puck better than they did last night. They had some shoddy moments in their zone and were bailed out by G Mac Carruth, who is back in the zone. . . . Only Carruth had more of an impact on the semifinal game than did Portland D Derrick Pouliot, who was terrific. Pouliot was plagued by a high ankle sprain during the regular season and played in only 44 games. You wonder if he’s feeling a bit fresher now, and perhaps his recovery time is a bit quicker, because of his time off the ice during the regular season.
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An email from one fan after Friday’s post:
“The prices you quoted are close to half the seats at a Winnipeg Jets game. My seats in the bottom row of the upper bowl behind the net go for 60 bucks. Remember, Jets tickets are among the highest in the NHL, and the Blade's owners attitude is that people should expect those kinds of prices, after all it is the Memorial Cup. I say, yes, but it is still junior hockey.”
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And this email from a fan in the Portland area:
“I'm a fan of hockey in general and I follow the Portland Winterhawks. I go to a few games a year, recently took my son to Game 5 of the final against Edmonton. Cost for two good seats in the lower bowl including service fees was under $70. Lots of families in attendance.
“If the Memorial Cup was held in Portland or another WHL city I would surely be tempted to get a tournament ticket package. I am a fan of hockey, having grown up in Ontario and played as a youth. But, at $600 to $800 a ticket package, how in the world would a family be able to afford that? Even one game in the least attractive seats is going to be a minimum of $150 for a family of four.
“I am not sure an average fan would shell out that kind of money, especially if the host team is not able to compete with the other three elite teams in the tourney.
“As for me, I am thrilled to have purchased a streaming package for all the games for $25 and have watched all the games live on my computer. Clearly many fans even in the host city would choose this option as the best bang for the buck.
“I say the Memorial Cup ticket prices should be the same as the host city's regular pricing structure. Fill that arena, and keep fans buzzing all week long about the amazing live hockey they get to see. It is appalling to see so many empty seats for such amazing hockey.”
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F Brendan Ranford, who set the Kamloops Blazers’ record for career regular-season games played this season, has signed a contract with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
Ranford, who completed his junior eligibility as a 20-year-old this season, signed a professional tryout deal (PTO) with the Stars and will attend their training camp. The Stars are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who are owned by Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi.
Ranford had 87 points, including 65 assists, for the Blazers this season. He then added 20 points, 15 of them assists, in 15 playoff games.
The Edmonton native, who is a nephew of former NHL goaltender Bill Ranford, played in 348 regular-season games with the Blazers, finishing with 357 points, including 137 goals.
Ranford was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the seventh round of the 2010 NHL draft but wasn’t signed and became a free agent.
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Paul Danzer of The Columbian, a newspaper in Vancouver, Wash., reports that Edmonton Oil Kings F Trevor Cheek has “three torn oblique muscles and a partially torn trapezius muscle.” . . . Cheek was injured in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final against the Calgary Hitmen and didn’t play again. . . . Danzer’s story is right here.
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Hockey Canada, which is holding its annual general meeting in Charlottetown, P.E.I., this weekend, has dropped head scout Kevin Prendergast and goaltender coach Ron Tugnutt. . . . Prendergast had been the head scout since September 2010. Since then, Canada placed second twice at the world junior championship, while also finishing third and, this year, fourth. . . . Tugnutt had been with Hockey Canada since 2011.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Moose Jaw Warriors have re-signed assistant coaches Mike Vandenberghe and Mark O’Leary. . . . Vandenberghe is preparing for his third season on the Warriors’ coaching staff after joining them during 2010-11. He played with the Warriors in the late 1980s, and also has worked as an assistant coach with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . O’Leary joined the Warriors prior to last season. He had played in the OHL with the Mississauga IceDogs and Guelph Storm before going on to a five-year pro career. . . .

The USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks have fired head coach Jim McKenzie, who had one year left on a two-year contract. McKenzie joined the Lumberjacks during 2011-12, replacing the fired Kevin Patrick. . . . Muskegon was 32-23-10 this season, but was swept from the first round of the playoffs. . . . McKenzie played in the WHL with Moose Jaw (1984-88) and Victoria (1988-89).

Matt Kabayama, the associate coach with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, won’t be returning. The WHL team made that announcement on Friday. . . . Kabayama spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Hurricanes before being named associate coach prior to 2009-10. . . . The Hurricanes also are looking for a head coach, having fired Rich Preston in March. . . . The Hurricanes have yet to announced whether Chris Chisamore, an assistant coach who also works with goaltenders, will return. . . .

Jean-Guy Trudel has signed on as head coach of the Peoria Rivermen, who will debut next season in the Southern Professional Hockey League. Trudel signed a one-year contract that includesd a mutual option on a second season. . . . Kevin Tucker has a one-year contract as assistant coach. . . . Both are former Rivermen players. . . . Trudel has been coaching with the Peoria Mustangs of the NA3HL. . . . With Peoria no longer in the AHL, the Rivermen are preparing for their first season in the SPHL.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Mike Wirll (Brandon, Prince Albert, Prince George, Lethbridge, 1997-2003) signed a one-year contract extension with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). He had 35 goals and 43 assists in 57 games for the Stars this season; that was good for fifth place in league scoring. . . .


F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a two-year contract with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had two goals and 12 assists in 19 games with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga) and 10 goals and 10 assists in 25 games with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) this season. . . .



D Tomas Voracek (Prince Albert, 2007-09) signed a three-year contract with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had one goal and three assists in 51 games with Vitkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga) this season. . . .




D Brett Palin (Kelowna, 2000-05) has declined a contract extension offer for next season from Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Palin had seven goals and 13 assists in 50 games for Chomutov this season.
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 Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail is following the NHL playoff series between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. . . . MacGregor, as only he can do, breaks down the reaction to the hit by Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba on Montreal forward Lars Eller. . . . That piece is right here.
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D Jaynen Rissling of the Calgary Hitmen has signed an ATO with the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. . . . Rissling was selected by the Capitals in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2012 entry draft. . . . The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Rissling has played four seasons with the Hitmen. This season, he had 28 points in 61 games. . . . He is a nephew of F Gary Rissling, who played in the WHL (Edmonton, Calgary, 1974-77) and also for Hershey.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Shane Kuss and Roger Ross will serve as co-head coaches with the junior B Delta Ice Hawks of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League. . . . "You're going to see a scenario where Shane will be at 90-95 percent of our games," Peter Zerbinos, the Ice Hawks’ general manager and director of hockey operations, told Mark Booth of the Delta Optimist. "That's why we went with the co-coaching roles." . . . Booth’s story is right here.

Fran Gow, who resigned this week as general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder, has signed on as the AJHL’s vice-president of hockey operations. . . . Gow had spent more than 20 years and 1,000 games coaching in the AJHL, the last four of them with the Thunder.
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Ron Robison, the commisioner of the 22-team WHL, met with the media in Portland prior to Game 1 of the championship final between the Winterhawks and Edmonton Oil Kings.
It was Robison’s first communication with the Portland press corps since before the WHL disciplined the Winterhawks for what the league calls “player benefit violations.”
So how did the tête-à-tête go?
Here’s Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune:
“Taking in WHL commissioner Ron Robison's response Friday night to reporters' questions about the ruthless sanctions imposed on the Winterhawks early this season brought to mind the famous line of distempered tennis legend John McEnroe: You can't be serious!"
At one point in his column, Eggers comes awfully close accusing Robison of not telling the truth.
Eggers apparently has seen the regulations that Robison says “are internal.”
“The regulations are absolutely not clear,” Eggers writes. “I looked through the WHL rulebook, which prohibits teams from paying for flights for family members during a team's annual ‘Parents Weekend.’ There is nothing, however, that specifically addresses any other time of year.
“The Hawks' contention was, ‘We didn't know flying in family members at other times wasn't legal.’ The league's contention was, ‘You should have known. It was understood by everyone in the league.’
“When asked a second time about the specific rules violations, Robison answered, ‘The regulations are internal. The information has been made very clear. There were violations. They're written down in the regulations, absolutely. The information was provided to the club, but for internal purposes only.’
“Wait a minute. They are written into the regulations, but kept secret from the general public? For what reason? It's like NBA Commissioner David Stern saying the Trail Blazers broke a rule for tampering with a player, and it's in the rulebook, but we're not going to let the public see it. You just have to take our word for it. Robison's stipulation is not only nonsensical, but untrue.”
Eggers’ complete column is right here.
Paul Buker of The Oregonian also was in attendance, and wrote:
"After arriving fashionably late — 10 minutes or so — for Friday’s scheduled WHL Finals series media availability, Robison was quickly inundated with questions about the sanctions levied against the hometown team on Nov. 28.
"'I’m hoping we don’t have to go into a lot of detail,' said Robison, who was true to his word on that one.
"No new ground was broken, and if anything, local media were left scratching their heads once again."
Buker's piece is right here.
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The OHL final opened last night with the host London Knights dropping a 4-2 decision to the Barrie Colts. . . . London scored first, but the Colts got the next three. Still, it was 3-2 for 10 minutes in the third period, until Barrie F Mark Scheifele iced it with an empty-netter. . . . Attendance was 9,046. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for London on Sunday night.
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The QMJHL final also opened last night. G Zach Fucale stopped 28 shots to lead the host Halifax Mooseheads to a 4-0 victory over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. . . . Attendance was 10,595. . . . Game 2 is to be played tonight in Halifax.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Portland vs. Edmonton
(Edmonton leads, 1-0)
(All times local)
Game 1: Friday — Edmonton 4 at Portland 1 (10,097)
Game 2: Today, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, May 7, at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Wednesday, May 8, at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Game 5: Friday, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x-Game 6: Sunday, May 12, at Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Game 7: Monday, May 13, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x – if necessary.


All games are being televised by Shaw in Canada. They also will be televised in Portland, with Games 3, 4, 5 and 6 on Comcast SportsNet, and Games 2 and 7 on Root Sports.
Comcast and Roots will pick up the Shaw telecast that feature play-by-play man Dan Russell, along with Bill Wilms, Peter Loubardias and Andy Neal.
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FRIDAY’S GAME:
In Portland, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 35 shots, 16 of them in the first period, and F Stephane Legault drew three assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings opened with a 4-1 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . The Winterhawks held a 16-6 edge in shots after one period but went into the second period trailing 1-0 on a goal by F Dylan Wruck at 2:03. That goal came on Edmonton’s first shot of the game. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead at 11:17 of the second. . . . F Taylor Leier got Portland to within one at 3:00 of the third, but Samuelsson got his 11th of these playoffs just 47 seconds later. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar got his ninth at 10:03 to put this one away. . . . Portland was 0-for-4 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-for-1. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 25 shots. . . . Referees were Brett Iverson and Brett Montsion. . . . Legault, who turned 20 on March 3, has 22 points, including 16 assists, in 17 playoff games. In the last two seasons, he has 36 points in 37 playoff games. He is coming off a regular season in which he had 41 points in 57 games. . . . The Oil Kings continue to be without injured D Griffin Reinhart and F Trevor Cheek. Reinhart won’t play in the series; Cheek isn’t expected to play in Game 2.
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“The Portland Winterhawks might want to file a police report,” writes Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal. . . . His story is right here.
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“Game 1 of the WHL Finals was a bucket of cold water in the faces of the Portland Winterhawks,” writes Paul Buker of The Oregonian right here.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (21):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (7):
None
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From Lethbridge Herald sports writer Dylan Purcell (@dylpurcell), after the Portland Winterhawks had a goal disallowed last night: “Ron Robison waves off the Portland goal.”
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From Calgary Sun sports writer Randy Sportak (@SUNRandySportak), after a late San Jose Sharks goal forced OT last night: “And writers on deadline swear. Sharks tie it 2-2 with 55.1 seconds remaining. Patrick Marleau with the tally.”
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From Portland fan Larisa Strode (@Hawkiemom): “I haven't been this excited to wear white since my wedding day #1997 #WhlFinals #whiteout #adversity hawks#"

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THE MATCHUPS
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8) — Overall leaders face defending champs.
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Regina (7) — The Trans-Canada Rivalry heats up.
Calgary (3) vs. Brandon (6) — Brandon draws first blood.
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Saskatoon (5) — Will the Tigers Etem up? Or are Blades equal to the Trask?
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Everett (8) — Can Silvertips handle Ams’ all-star line?
Kamloops (2) vs. Victoria (7) — This one’s on Shaw TV.
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6) — To tell the Carruth, Portland’s favoured.
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5) — The battle of the two Dons.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Chad Bassen (Regina, Vancouver, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2000-04) signed a one-year contract extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He had nine goals and 16 assists in 52 games for Augsburg this season.
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There was more than one full page of copy and photos dedicated to the Western Hockey League in Thursday’s edition of the Kamloops Daily News.
In fact, about half the editorial space that was provided to the sports department was filled with WHL-related copy.
In one story, the Victoria Royals were referenced on one occasion as the Victoria

Grizzlies. The Royals, of course, are the team that the WHL allowed RG Properties to purchase and move to Victoria after five seasons as the Chilliwack Bruins; the Grizzlies are the BCHL’s Victoria franchise.
And so it came to pass that Dave Dakers, the president and alternate governor of the Bruins, er, Royals, chose to get up on his hind legs during a Thursday news conference in Kamloops — he was the guy who someone suggested looked as though he’d slept on a Greyhound bus and arrived just before the talking started — and whined about the lack of respect his club was getting.
Yes, the Bruins, er, Grizz . . . ahh, Royals are in full ‘woe is me’ mode. Rodney Dangerfield never had it this bad.
Victoria, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, got into the playoffs with 24 victories — the Bruins, er, Royals also lost 48 games, although they earned loser points for seven of those setbacks.
Were they in the Eastern Conference, they would have missed the playoffs by 27 points. (By the way, WHL commissioner Ron Robison spent part of his address yesterday talking about his league’s competitive balance. Ahh, we won’t go there, not when the final standings show 14 of 22 teams at better than .500, not when three Eastern Conference teams are out, despite having far superior records to three Western Conference teams that are in.)
But we digress . . .
So far the Royals have played the experts-are-picking-Kamloops-in-three card, the we-beat-Portland-twice-last-week-and-didn’t-get-any-respect card, the we-don’t-know-why-we’re-playing-this-series card, the nobody-knows-our-name card. . . .
All of which means the playoffs have arrived.
Here’s Marc Habscheid, the Bruins’, er, Royals’ GM/head coach, to the Victoria Times Colonist earlier in the week:
“Some people are picking them in three games, not just four. We shouldn't even go to Kamloops, the way it sounds. All I know is, we’ll show up Friday when the puck is dropped.”
Here’s Habscheid, to Travis Paterson of the Victoria News:
“We beat Portland and we’ve heard, ‘Well, they didn’t have (Sven) Baertschi.”
Here’s Dakers, at Thursday’s news conference:
“We’re not sure why we’re playing this series.”
One of the reasons the WHL held the news conference, as it put it in a news release, was to launch the 2012 playoffs.
The news conference was held in the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, but only one team — the Blazers — had a coach and players in attendance.
Here’s hoping the Bruins, er, Grizzlies or whoever they are — the Salsa? — show up tonight and for five or six games after this one.
Hey, at least we didn’t call them the Cougars! Or did we?
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If you're looking for the Western Conference individual award winners and all-star teams that were announced yesterday, you will find them at www.whl.ca.
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Calgary, F Mark Stone broke at 2-2 tie late in the second period and the Brandon Wheat Kings went on to a 6-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . This was the first game of a first round series, with Game 2 scheduled for tonight in Calgary. . . . The teams then head to Winnipeg for as many as three games, if necessary. With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Brandon, the Wheat Kings have again had to take their first-round show on the road. . . . Stone, who is playing with a thumb injury, got his first playoff goal at 16:13 of the second period. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski scored twice for Brandon, which got two assists from F Paul Ciarelli. . . . After Brandon took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by F Jason Swyripa and Dziurzynski, Calgary tied it when F Brooks Macek scored at 19:01 of the first and F Alex Gogolev scored at 1:16 of the second, on a PP. . . . Brandon G Corbin Boes stopped 34 shots. . . . Calgary was without F Cody Sylvester (undisclosed) and F Victor Rask (leg), two of its top three regular-season scorers.
Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun was at the game and filed this story.
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On the eve of opening a playoff series in Edmonton, Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice, talked with Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal about what might have been. The Ice, you’ll recall, began life as the Edmonton Ice and spent two seasons there before relocating to Cranbrook.
That story is right here.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has all but guaranteed the series between Don Hay’s Giants and Don Nachbaur’s Spokane Chiefs — it opens tonight in Vancouver — will be a goaltender’s nightmare.
Here’s some of what Ewen wrote:
“Hay is an old school guy. Don Nachbaur is  an old school guy. They are defence first guys and this is going to a series of 2-1 and 3-2 games. The regular season match-ups this year, which saw Vancouver win 2-1 in Spokane on Feb. 15 and 3-2 at home in a shoot-out on Oct. 5 certainly suggest that. The team that sticks with its plan the best should win. Another point to ponder? Vancouver is 11-1 in playoff series under Hay when it has home-ice advantage like it does in this one, and 1-5 when it does not.”
Ewen also has a piece today on Vancouver G Adam Morrison who, it turns out, has a relative on the Chiefs’ roster. Morrison and Spokane F Steven Kuhn are cousins.
For more from Ewen, scoot on over to The Province’s website.
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It has been almost 23 years since Duncan MacPherson, a former Saskatoon Blades defenceman, disappeared while traveling in Austria. You will recall that his body was found 14 years after his disappearance. His parents, Lynda and Bob, were convinced that there was more to this story than authorities were letting on. Now there’s a book about the case — Cold a Long Time: An Alpine Mystery — and author John Leake has spoken about it with Kevin Mitchell, the sports editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
That story is right here.
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F Turner Elson of the Red Deer Rebels has signed an ATO with the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Elson, a free-agent signee of the Flames after their last training camp, had 46 points and 59 penalty minutes in 56 games with the Rebels. Elson turned 20 on Wednesday.
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Dave (Crash) Cameron of the Edmonton Sun writes that the bandwagon is filling up. Of course, that would be the Edmonton Oil Kings’ bandwagon. That piece is right here.
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If there is a model franchise in the CHL today, it very well may be the Tri-City Americans. The franchise is operated by general manager Bob Tory, who is profiled right here by Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald.
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Pat Conacher, the first-year head coach of the Regina Pats, is the Eastern Conference nominee as the WHL’s coach of the year. When he heard the news, he was surprised, honoured and uncomfortable.
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.
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And finally . . . I’m sorry but this just slays me. Mac Engel, a writer with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, has a blog — The Big Mac Blog. . . . No, he isn’t related to Mac Engel, the Spokane Chiefs goaltender. . . . But Mac the Blogger is keeping tabs on Mac the Goaltender, “the greatest goalie in the history of hockey” as it says here. . . . The latest entry is right here.


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