THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Petr Nedved (Seattle, 1989-90) signed a one-year contract extension with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He led the Czech Extraliga in scoring and assists with 24 goals and 37 assists in 49 games and was named Extraliga Player of the Year last season. Nedved, who turns 41 in December, has been captain of Liberec the past four seasons and was an alternate captain on the Czech National Team at last year's world championship. He had three goals and two assists in nine games there, helping the Czechs win the bronze medal.
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Bob Duff, a sports columnist with the Windsor Star, weights in right here on the OHL’s decision to whack the Windsor Spitfires for recruiting irregularities. . . . Duff, by the way, knows his way around the CHL. Back in the day, he was at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and his beat was the Saskatoon Blades.
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Jim Parker of the Windsor Star talks right here with a former OHL general manager about the impact disciplinary action taken by the OHL will have on the Windsor Spitfires.
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As he prepares for life in Antigonish, N.S., F Cole Grbavac, who completed his WHL eligibility with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season, has been named a recipient of a Danny Gallivan Memorial Scholarship. The announcement was made by StFX Athletics. Grbavac is on his way to StFX to study business and play for the X-Men. . . . Gallivan, the legendary voice of the Montreal Canadiens, graduated from StFX in 1942. . . . According to a StFX news release: “The Danny Gallivan Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Canadian male and female varsity athletes who combine qualities of leadership with academic excellence. The award is currently valued up to $5,000 per year and is renewable for up to four years as long as the recipient remains on the academic Dean’s List.” . . . F Brennen Wray, who split five WHL seasons between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Red Deer Rebels, is preparing for his fourth season at StFX and was earlier awarded a Gallivan Scholarship.
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Jimmy Watson of the Shreveport Times has an interesting piece here on the subject of concussions in sports. . . . “While the NFL has borne the brunt of the bad PR, maybe it’s not the exposure (in just that league),” Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of neurosurgery at the NorthShore University HealthSystem in Chicago, is quoted as saying. “It might be the exposure in adolescence or youth. The brain between 14 and 17 begins to remodel. There is mounting evidence in humans that sub-concussion may be real.” . . . It also is interesting that concussion-related lawsuits have been filed against the NFL and the NCAA, and that there even are litigious examples involving high school sports.

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The WHL’s arena advisory committee’s next meeting is scheduled for August, at which time, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports, commissioner Ron Robison is going to recommend that all WHL facilities install acrylic glass. . . . The glass has been installed in the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon at a cost of, uhh, $350,000. In Saskatoon’s case, the province kicked in $250,000 with the city good for 100 grand.
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Meanwhile, Nugent-Bowman also reports that WHL fans are going to be able to watch On the Edge: Road to the Memorial Cup on Sportsnet as a lead-up to the 2013 tournament that is to be played in Saskatoon. It sounds like it’s all but a done deal, with the show to be patterned after 24/7, the show HBO has done that leads fans into the NHL’s Winter Classic. . . . The difference being that 24/7 deals with professional adults, not with teenagers. . . . Two questions, if you’re a parent: 1. Do you want your child as a subject of such a show?; 2. If such a show goes ahead and you child is on it, would you like to see some cash coming his way?
Nugent-Bowman’s story is right here. . . . Would have loved to have had a show like this around when Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM/head coach, was playing for the Winnipeg Clubs. Could have called it Full Mooner over Winnipeg. Now that would have been a ratings hit.
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The Edmonton Oilers have hired one of hockey’s good guys to replace another of the good guys. Rick Carriere has been named senior director of player development, replacing the retired Billy Moores. . . . Carriere, 53, was the GM of the Medicine Hat Tigers (2000-04) and scouted for them through last season. He also served as a head coach with the Tigers and Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was Carriere who took the bullets when the Tigers bottomed out, but, Mama, look at them now. The decision to rebuild through the draft and put the faith in the scouting staff has paid off in a full house night after night. . . . Carriere has been teaching at Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton. . . . Interestingly, Carriere played for Moores with the U of A Golden Bears in the early 1980s. . . . Moores will remain with the Oilers, as a consultant in the player development area.
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More WHLers off to NHL development camps. . . . The Philadelphia Flyers have added F Mitch Elliot (Seattle), F Austin Fyten (Vancouver), F Cole Grbavac (Medicine Hat), D Matt Konan (Medicine Hat) and D Justin Hamonic (Tri-City). . . . Hamonic’s name also appears on the camp roster for the Toronto Maple Leafs and I’m told that he will attend both development camps. It sounds something like a rock star on tour. No? Here’s hoping he keeps a diary as there might be a good book there. . . . F Adam Hughesman (Tri-City) will join the Maple Leafs. . . . D Joey Leach (Kootenay) is going camping with the Winnipeg Jets, while F Trevor Cheek (Calgary) is headed for the Carolina Hurricanes. . . . F Taylor Peters (Portland) will camp out with the Florida Panthers. . . . G Mackenzie Skapski (Kootenay) is to join the Minnesota Wild.
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F Max Moline, 19, won’t be back with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, deciding instead to attend the U of Lethbridge. Moline, who is from Lethbridge, began his career with the Tri-City Americans and finished with the Hurricanes. However, injuries limited him to 75 games, during which he earned eight points, two of them goals. . . . He got some publicity last season when his fiancee, Kaylee Lyon, gave birth to Ronald James Winston Moline in January.
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The San Francisco Bulls are getting closer to their debut in the ECHL. Their first player, Czech F Peter Sivak, was introduced to fans on Thursday. Oldtimers may be incredulous to learn that the Bulls will play, yes, in the Cow Palace, which apparently has had something of a makeover.
Steve Langsam of the Martinez News-Gazette has more right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have hired Alex Grebenyuk as their new director of media relations and broadcasting, which means he will be the team’s play-by-play voice. For the last four seasons, he has been the radio voice of the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials. Grebenyuk replaces Dan Elliott, who was dropped after last season and now is at his alma mater, the U of British Columbia, as the manager of media relations.
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After five seasons in the ownership game, the Okanagan Hockey Academy is unloading the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The OHA has reached an agreement with the Port Alberni Junior Hockey Society that will have 100 per cent of the franchise change hands. Ron Rauch of the Victoria Times Colonist has more right here.
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The UBC Hornets minor hockey coach who got caught on video tripping an opposing player? It seems that he is going to live in infamy because all signs point to this incident become a teaching moment for minor hockey coaches. Sarah Boesveld of the National Post has more right here. And if you haven’t there’s a link to the video there, too.
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THE COACHING GAME:
D.J. Smith is the new head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. . . . He has been with the Windsor Spitfires since 2005, first as assistant and then associate coach. . . . Smith, a defenceman, played for the Spitfires before going on to a pro career that included stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche. His playing career was halted by post-concussion syndrome. . . . Smith takes over from Gary Agnew, who was dropped in April. . . .
Former NHLer Rick Vaive is getting into the coaching game. He is taking over as head coach of the minor midget AAA Oakville Rangers, a team that comprises 1997-born players. Vaive, 53, is a longtime resident of Oakville, Ont. He has pro coaching experience in the ECHL (East Carolina Stingrays), AHL (Saint John Flames) and OHL (Mississauga IceDogs). He also has coached minor hockey, and once had a team whose roster included Jeff Skinner and Tyler Seguin, both of who now are NHLers.

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The St. Francis-Xavier X-Men made it official Monday — they will have G Drew Owsley, D Bronson Maschmeyer, F Chase Schaber, F Steven Kuhn and F Cole Grbavac in the lineup next season. All are products of the WHL. . . . Owsley finished his career with the Prince George Cougars. . . . Maschmeyer and Schaber were with the Kamloops Blazers, while Kuhn was with the Spokane Chiefs and Grbavac the Medicine Hat Tigers.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings announced Monday that F Bruno Mraz, who had 18 points in 63 games last season, won’t be returning for a second season. Mraz, 19, has signed to play professionally in his native Slovakia. . . . Brandon has the 35th pick in Wednesday’s CHL import draft and will use it. . . . The Wheat Kings’ lone import at the moment is F Alessio Bertaggia, 19, who is from Switzerland and had 50 points in 64 games as a freshman last season.
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Alan Caldwell, over there on the right at Small Thoughts At Large, takes a team-by-team look at WHL teams as the import draft approaches. Check it out.
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More undrafted WHL players heading to NHL development camps. . . . G Andrey Makarov of the Saskatoon Blades will join the Florida Panthers. . . . F Miles Koules, who is to play for the Medicine Hat Tigers, has accepted an offer from the Phoenix Coyotes, as has Victoria Royals F Austin Carroll. . . . F Cain Franson of the Vancouver Giants and D Corbin Baldwin of the Spokane Chiefs are to go to camp with the Vancouver Canucks.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jeff Blashill, an assistant coach with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, has been named head coach of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. . . . They are the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings. . . . Blashill, 38, joined Detroit’s coaching staff a year ago after two seasons as head coach at Western Michigan.

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Taylor Vause of the Swift Current Broncos, with the sweater that he designed.
(Photo courtesy of Swift Current Broncos)

ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Mr. Commissioner, do you read all the comments left by fans on the WHL’s Facebook page?
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The Swift Current Broncos will wear themed sweaters on Saturday when the Regina Pats came calling.
The sweaters were designed by Broncos captain Taylor Vause, who obviously is rather talented when it comes to graphic design, and remembers the four Broncos who died when the team’s bus crashed on Dec. 30, 1986.
Leading up to Saturday night, the Broncos will auction off the game-worn jerseys with all proceeds going to the team’s education fund.
Fans will be able to bid online (www.scbroncos.com) or by phone (306-773-1509) leading up to the game, or in the lobby of the Credit Union iPlex during the game. The bidding will start at $150 for each jersey, with additional bids accepted in $10 increments.
A live auction is scheduled to be held after the game. That auction will involve sweaters worn by Vause, Andy Blanke, Coda Gordon and Graham Black.

All of which allows me to plug a book that is to be published by Dundurn Press in November.
Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos tells the story of the team that survived that horrific bus accident and went on to win the 1989 Memorial Cup championship with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Blades in Saskatoon.
Yes, I was involved in writing the book, along with Leesa Culp, who happened to witness the accident, and Bob Wilkie, a defenceman who was on that bus and who also was on the Memorial Cup-winning team.
You may pre-order the book from right here at amazon.ca or McNally Robinson.
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Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s minister of justice, delivered something of a wakeup call on Tuesday morning by handing out 25 games in suspensions to four players.
D Brennan Yadlowski of the Everett Silvertips will watch for 10 games after receiving a game misconduct on Friday in Portland. “The player’s off-ice actions following removal from game in the third period were unacceptable,” read Doerksen’s written reasons.
F Brendan Hurley of the Medicine Hat Tigers and F Brett Lyon of the Kelowna Rockets each drew a six-game sentence for hits that left opponents concussed.
Hurley hit D Duncan Siemens of the Saskatoon Blades on Saturday. The Blades have said Siemens is likely to be out 10 days. “The player checked the opponent, who was in a vulnerable position, from behind,” Doerksen wrote. “The opponent was injured on the play. The player has received several checking from behind penalties this season.”
Lyon delivered a check to the head of Cougars F Jarrett Fontaine on Friday in Prince George. “Primary contact was made to the head of a vulnerable player,” Doerksen wrote. “This is the third suspension the player has received in the past three seasons for this type of hit.”
Lyon was suspended under supplemental discipline as there wasn’t a penalty on the play. Neither Lyon nor Fontaine played in Saturday’s rematch in Prince George.
Finally, F Kristians Pelss of the Edmonton Oil Kings was suspended for three games for a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday.
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So . . . let us try and piece together the Yadlowski suspension.
As stated above, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, wrote: “The player’s off-ice actions following removal from game in the third period were unacceptable.”
Yadlowski was given a major and game misconduct at 19:41 of the third period. That was after a fight with F Jason Trott, who received an instigating minor, fighting major and game misconduct.
So what happened after that? Well, it seems that Yadlowski may have gone somewhere he wasn’t welcome.
Scott Sepich, a freelancer who follows the Winterhawks, tweeted: “Yadlowski apparently tried to enter Portland's dressing room, upset with Portland's Jason Trott, with whom he had just fought.”
There may be some truth to that as Portland F Taylor Peters, again via Twitter, offered his services as tour guide.
"If the guy wants a tour of the room all he has to do is ask,” Peters tweeted.
There were other tweets, too:
From Portland D Troy Rutkowski: “@BigBadYads keep the ginger rage down a bit sir #deepbreaths #gingersdohavesouls”
Yadlowski, 20, responded with “not a fan of getting jumped #classless."
Rutkowski and Yadlowski, by the way, are pals from Edmonton.
The Silvertips played the Royals in Victoria last night and Everett head coach Mark Ferner confirmed before the game that Yadlowski, indeed, had made his way into Portland’s dressing room.
“It was silly,” Ferner told Travis Huntington, the radio voice of the Silvertips, on the pregame show. “The game was over . . . (late in the game we were) 4 on 4, they sent over a player who maybe got three or four shifts. . . . (Yadlowski) said the kid jumped him. Yads took his skates off and ended up going in their dressing room.”
In Portland’s Memorial Coliseum, the dressing rooms are on opposite sides with an expanse of concrete between them. Thus, Yadlowski had to take off his skates to make the trek. He must have been one upset dude.
Of course, as always seems to happen in these instances, Doerksen had the last word.
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JUST NOTES:
The WHL held meetings in Las Vegas on the weekend, it being Super Bowl weekend and the Las Vegas WHL franchise and that city’s hotels needing the help that might be generated from holding meetings there. . . . You are free to visit the Las Vegas Sun’s website for coverage of the meetings. . . . If you don’t find any coverage, it will be because the WHL believes in that old saying that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. . . .
The hits just keep coming for the Red Deer Rebels. They now have lost F Colten Mayor, 18, for up to four weeks with an undisclosed injury. . . . Mayor, in his third season, has 38 points, including 14 goals, in 52 games this season. . . . He is from St. Alberta, Alta. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks will be without D William Wrenn, their captain, for another couple of weeks. He suffered a broken bone in his right hand during a Jan. 28 game in Seattle. He should be back in two to three weeks. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie, who continues to lead the scoring race, took a rap on the head in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants and hasn’t played since. He is listed on the WHL injury report as being out for another week with an “upper-body” injury. . . .
In the BCHL, the Penticton Vees dumped the host Chilliwack Chiefs 7-0 on Tuesday night to run their winning streak to a league-record 30 games. That broke the record of 29 they had shared with the 1989-90 New Westminster Royals. . . .
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Edmonton, F Michael St. Croix broke a 1-1 tie at 7:42 of the third period and the Oil Kings went on to beat the Kootenay Ice, 3-1. . . . F Sam Reinhart scored the game’s first goal, his 23rd, at 11:36 of the first, via the PP. . . . His brother, Griffin, got that one back for Edmonton at 17:52 of the second. . . . St. Croix got his 34th on the PP. . . . F Rhett Rachinski put it away with an empty-netter at 19:16. . . . Ice F Max Reinhart (foot) returned from a five-game absence. That meant all three Reinhart brothers were in the game, Sam and Max with the Ice and Griffin with the Oil Kings. . . . Griffin holds bragging rights as the Oil Kings have won three of four meetings this season. . . . Sam, who isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2014, has 23 goals. He is trying to become the first 16-year-old with 30 goals since F Brett Connolly scored 30 for the Prince George Cougars in 2008-09. Connolly was the first to do it since F Patrick Marleau scored 32 for the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1995-96. . . . The game was a rare midweek morning affair, with a start time of 11:30 a.m. Attendance was announced as 8,850. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 32 shots, six more than Edmonton’s Laurent Brossoit. . . . The Oil Kings pulled into a tie with the Tri-City Americans for second place in the overall standings. Both teams are two points behind the Kamloops Blazers. The Americans visit Kamloops tonight. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Cole Grbavac broke a 3-3 tie at 8:10 of the third period and the Tigers went on to a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 40 shots, including 15 in the first period and 17 in the second. . . . Grbavac, the Tigers’ captain, has nine goals. . . . Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 49th goal on a PP at 17:49 of the third. He has 49 goals in 48 games. . . . The Tigers are third in the Eastern Conference and now are three points ahead of the Hitmen. . . . Medicine Hat was 3-for-3 on the PP. . . .

In Victoria, the Everett Silvertips climbed out of the Western Conference basement with a 3-2 victory over the Royals. . . . The Silvertips are three points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold down the conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, and five behind the seventh-place Royals. . . . The Silvertips play in Victoria again tonight. . . . F Cody Fowlie, with his ninth goal, and D Dominik Bittner, with his third, gave Everett a 2-0 lead late in the second period. . . . Victoria F Ben Walker scored his seventh at 5:24 of the third, but Everett F Ryan Harrison, with his 14th, got that one back at 11:41. . . . F Brandon Mageen got the home team to within one with his 19th goal at 19:12 of the third on the PP. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 29 shots. . . . The Silvertips had F Carson Stadnyk, an eighth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft, in their lineup for the first time. Stadnyk, who turned 17 yesterday, has 55 points in 38 games with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . Everett was without D Brennan Yadlowski, who was suspended for 10 games earlier in the day. In his absence, D Josh Caron had an ‘A’ on his sweater. . . . The Royals were without D Zach Habscheid (ankle), who was injured while unloading the team bus on Sunday and may be out for a while. Marc Habscheid, the Royals’ GM/head coach and Zach’s father, told the Victoria Times Colonist that “it’s not good . . . it might be the season.” . . . Habscheid said he has only had two games all season when he has had a healthy corps of defencemen. . . . Victoria did welcome back D Tyler Stahl, who hadn’t played since the fourth game of the season. He took a headshot from then-Prince George Cougars F Charles Inglis on Oct. 1 and has been out with a concussion. Inglis drew a 10-game suspension for the hit; he now is with the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Stahl didn’t finish, however, and now is looking at a suspension. He took a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on F Jordyn Boyd at 4:11 of the second period.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
F Trent Lofthouse, Everett.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Kamloops G Cole Cheveldave: “I just dropped my laptop off the boat...its a dell, rolling in the deep.”

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DEPT. OF CH-CH-CHING:
Pat Conacher, the head coach of the Regina Pats, has been fined $500 for comments he made to the Regina Leader-Post’s Greg Harder after a 3-2 OT loss to the visiting Kootenay Ice on Wednesday.
It always is interesting when someone associated with a team is critical of the officials because it hardly ever happens in the vanilla world of the WHL.
In the interests of clarity, here’s what happened. . . . The Pats lost 3-2 on a PP goal by Sam Reinhart scored on a back-door play at 3:32 of exta time. Regina D Brandon Davidson was in the penalty box at the time.
Anyway, here’s what Harder wrote (that applause you hear is coming from other WHL coaches, none of whom are likely to help Conacher pay the fine despite their feelings):
Afterwards, Pats head coach Pat Conacher was less-than impressed with the work of referees Chris Crich and Cole Hamm.
“Those guys don’t work hard enough to get down the ice and they’re definitely not together. They’re lazy getting up the ice,” said Conacher, who referred to the penalty against Davidson as a “very bad call both ways.”
“There should have been an interference call on Jordan Weal (late in the third) and there could have been a holding call on Dyson Stevenson at the blue line. Then they come down and call that on Brandon. I’m going, ‘Come on guys, give us a break.’ ”
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DEPT. OF JUSTICE:
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, hit D Dylan McIlrath of the Moose Jaw Warriors with an eight-game suspension on Friday, the result of a check to the head of Victoria Royals D Jesse Zgraggen on Wednesday.
As a result, McIlrath sat out the Warriors’ 6-5 OT victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice on Friday night. Zgraggen, who is concussed, sat out the Royals’ 6-4 victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert.
The WHL doesn’t do video explanations, but here is what was posted: “Primary contact was made to the head of the opponent. The hit resulted in an injury to the opponent. This is the second suspension the player has received this season.”
Doerksen is going to be busy for the next day or two, as well.
Three players left games last night with major penalties and game misconducts.
In Swift Current, Broncos D Colby Cave took a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on Edmonton Oil Kings F Mason Geertsen, who left the ice on a stretcher and was taken to hospital.
In Prince Albert, Raiders F Austin Bourhis was given a charging major and a game misconduct.
In Calgary, D Alex Roach of the Hitmen took a major and game misconduct for a check to the head.
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You often hear WHL players say something about “Living the life.” Oftentimes it is said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Like this Friday afternoon tweet from Edmonton Oil Kings D Mark Pysyk before a game in Swift Current against the Broncos:
“If you absolutely love pasta I challenge you to join a hockey team for a year, and see if you still feel the same. #breakfast #lunch #dinner”
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And then there was this Twitter exchange between Regina D Brandon Davidson and Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz, both of whom are Edmonton Oilers’ draft picks . . . It went like this:
Bunz: “Game in Regina tonight against @bdavy3 . Keep your head up kid;) #throwingbows”
Davidson: “@tylerbunz wondering where to shoot tonight? Ill see if u got a quick chest first and go from there #cheese?;)”
Bunz: “@bdavy3 last time you went Chee it didn't go to well;) maybe if you shoot through screens like you always do you'll bury again #shothaseyes”
Davidson: “@tylerbunz ahhh true...true. Don't remind me :s #seeyaafter”
So what happened later? Well, Davidson had one assist and Bunz stopped 32 shots. And the Tigers won 3-2 in OT.
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JUST NOTES:
In the OHL, F Brody Silk of the Sudbury Wolves drew a 12-game suspension for a “blow to the head of an unsuspecting player.” Silk punched F Ryan Strome of the Niagara IceDogs in the head during a scrum on Jan. 13. Strome, selected fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the NHL’s 2011 draft, ended up with multiple facial fractures and a broken nose. He has undergone surgery. Strome played for Canada at the recently completed World Junior Championship. . . . In the BCHL last night, the Penticton Vees ran their winning streak to 24 games with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Westside Warriors. The Vees next play Sunday when they are at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings. . . .
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F Brett Connolly of the Tampa Bay Lightning played six minutes 28 seconds over 11 shifts in a 2-1 victory over the host Dallas Stars last night. He played six shifts in the first period, three in the second and two in the third. He didn’t have any shots on goal, but took two tripping minors. . . . Hello, Steve, this is Bob Tory calling. Yeah, Tri-City Americans. . . .
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 FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Regina, F Cole Grbavac’s OT goal gave the Medicine Hat Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Pats. . . . Grbavac, the team captain, scored his seventh goal of the season at 2:07 of extra time. . . . Regina F Lane Scheidl forced OT with his 16th goal at 8:18 of the third. . . . F Emerson Etem got his 40th goal of the season for the Tigers. . . . Emerson now has at least one goal in nine straight games, the longest such streak in all of the CHL this season. . . . The Tigers are at home to the Swift Current Broncos tonight. . . . F Jordan Weal had a goal, his 29th, and an assist for Regina. . . . The Pats have lost three in a row. . . .

In Swift Current, D Mark Pysyk scored twice and added an assist to help the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . The victory was Edmonton’s 31st of the season, tying the modern franchise record that was set last season. . . . Pysyk has five goals this season. . . . The Oil Kings scored the game’s first six goals and took a 5-0 lead into the second period. . . . Edmonton F Tyler Maxwell opened the scoring for the fourth straight game. He finished with two goals, giving him 27. . . . Edmonton F Mason Geertsen was injured late in the game when he took a hit from D Colby Cave in front of the Oil Kings’ bench. Geertsen received attention from both trainers, a doctor and EMT personnel before leaving the ice on a stretcher. . . . Cave was given a charging major and game misconduct, so almost certainly is looking at a suspension. . . . The Broncos took 93 of the game’s 151 penalty minutes as handed out by referee Nathan Wieler. . . . There were eight fighting majors. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry, getting into his eighth game of the season, stopped 21 shots. Jarry, 16, is 5-2-0, 2.60, .906 . . . Shortly after the game had ended, the Oil Kings tweeted: “Mason Geertsen has gone to the hospital, hes conscious and alert the early indications seem positive.” . . . That was followed shortly after by: “Word from the Trainers is everything is OK with Mason Geertsen will remain in observation over night. #GetWellSoonMase” . . .

In Moose Jaw, F Andrew Johnson scored twice, including the OT winner, as the Warriors dumped the Kootenay Ice, 6-5. . . . Johnson, who has 13 goals, got the winner at 2:27 of OT. . . . Moose Jaw D Joel Edmundson tied the game with 51 seconds left in the third period. That was his first goal of the season. . . . F Brock Montgomery, who is from Moose Jaw, had given the Ice a 5-4 lead on the PP at 18:53 of the third. . . . F Jonathon Martin of the Ice had two goals, giving him four. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart scored his 16th goal of the season, setting a franchise record for 16-year-old skaters. F Nigel Dawes had scored 15 in 2001-02. . . . The Ice was 2-3 on the PP; the Warriors were 2-4. . . . For a second straight game, the Warriors went without G Luke Siemens. After he sat out Wednesday’s game, head coach Mike Stothers said Siemens needed to get “re-focussed.” . . . Hmmmm. . . . G Spencer Tremblay is expected to make his third straight start for the Warriors tonight in Regina, with Siemens backing him up. . . .

In Prince Albert, the Victoria Royals scored the game’s last two goals and beat the Raiders, 6-4. . . . F Austin Carroll broke a 4-4 tie at 7:48 of the third period and F Logan Nelson added insurance at 12:30 with his 19th score this season. . . . The Raiders had pulled into a 4-4 tie with two goals early in the third period, F Anthony Bardaro getting his 21st goal 40 seconds in and D Tyler Yaworski equalizing at 1:27. . . . Nelson and F Jamie Crooks each had a goal and two assists for the Royals, who are 2-3-0 on an East Division swing that wraps up tonight in Saskatoon. . . . Raiders F Justin Maylan celebrated his 21st birthday with three assists. He has 59 points, including 40 helpers, in 46 games. . . . The Royals were without F Tim Traber, who was injured in a fight on Wednesday in Moose Jaw, and D Jesse Zgraggen, who was injured on that hit from Moose Jaw D Dylan McIlrath. But D Zach Habscheid, who also left Wednesday’s game early, was back in the lineup. . . . Raiders F Austin Bourhis was given a charging major and game misconduct nine minutes into the second period. . . .

In Saskatoon, D Kyle Schmidt’s first goal of the season stood up as the winner as the Blades edged the Brandon Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . The teams split a doubleheader, as Brandon had won 6-4 there on Wednesday. . . . That was Schmidt’s first goal in 36 games this season. He had three goals in 65 games with the Calgary Hitmen last season. Oh, he turned 19 on Friday. . . . Brandon G Brandon Anderson stopped 43 shots. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone got his 31st goal. . . . The Blades had a 20-8 edge in shots in the second period. . . . Saskatoon had F Josh Nicholls (knee) back in the lineup, but G Andrey Makarov (concussion) remains out. . . . G Alex Moodie stopped 33 shots for the Blades and was named the game’s first star. He is expected to rejoin the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild next week when Makarov returns to game action. . . .  Moodie has beaten Brandon twice in three starts while filling in for Makarov. . . .

In Calgary, F Victor Rask scored twice to help the Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Rask has 19 goals this season. . . . Prince George F Jordan Tkatch got his side to within one at 2:55 of the second period, but F Alex Gogolev scored his 19th at 8:46 on the PP and the Hitmen were on their way. . . . The game featured two former Tri-City Americans goaltenders, with Chris Driedger stopping 18 shots for the Hitmen and Drew Owsley making 39 saves for the Cougars. . . . The Cougars took 62 of 105 penalty minutes. . . . Calgary D Alex Roach took a major and game misconduct for a check to the head at 6:57 of the third period. . . . According to the online game sheet, Calgary F Rob Trzonkowski took a fighting major by himself at 16:11 of the first period, while Prince George F Campbell Elynuik took a fighting major and game misconduct by himself at 17:36 of the third period. Interesting. . . .

In Kelowna, F Brody Sutter scored twice to lead his Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory over the Rockets. . . . Sutter now has 20 goals on the season. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Lethbridge D Landon Oslanski set up two goals as the Hurricanes finished a B.C. Division swing at 2-3. . . . The Hurricanes scored the game’s first five goals. . . . The Rockets cut the deficit to 5-3 before Lethbridge F Graham Hood iced it with an empty-netter. . . . F Colton Sissons got his 25th goal of the season for the Rockets. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., D Brenden Kitchton broke a 1-1 tie at 10:56 of the third period and the Spokane Chiefs went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The loss was only the third of the season for the Americans on home ice. . . . F Brian Williams gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at 7:19 of the first period. . . . Spokane G Mac Engel, who finished with 37 saves, shut the door after that goal. . . . F Dominik Uher added insurance with a shorthanded goal at 17:20 of the third period. . . . G Eric Comrie stopped 20 shots for the Americans. . . . F Connor Rankin returned to the Americans’ lineup for the first time since Dec. 17. . . .

In Kent, Wash., the Kamloops Blazers ran their winning streak to eight games as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3. . . . The victory lifted the Blazers into first place overall, one point ahead of the Tri-City Americans. Those two will meet tonight in Kennewick, Wash. . . . They have played twice before this season — the Americans won 3-2 in OT at home on Nov. 19; the Blazers won 3-2 at home in regulation on Jan. 11. . . . F Chase Schaber scored twice for Kamloops, the second one into an empty net after Seattle had closed to within one, at 4-3, on F Seth Swenson‘s goal at 17:07 of the third. . . . F Colin Smith and D Bronson Maschmeyer each had a goal and an assist for Kamloops. . . . G Cam Lanigan stopped 30 shots for Kamloops. It was Lanigan’s 11th start this season, but just his first since Dec. 30 and his third over the Blazers’ last 27 games. . . . F Chance Lund scored twice for Seattle, which got 36 saves from G Daniel Cotton. . . . Seattle was 0-for-6 on the PP, including a 5-on-3 that took up the last 40 seconds of the second and the first 1:20 of the third. . . .

In Vancouver, G Payton Lee made 19 saves in his WHL debut as the Giants beat the Everett Silvertips, 4-3. . . . Lee was a second-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft by the Giants, who are without G Adam Morrison (concussion). . . . D Brett Kulak scored twice for the Giants, giving him six on the season. His second goal, at 16:50 of the second on a PP, gave the Giants a 4-2 lead. . . . Down 2-0 in the first period, the Silvertips took advantage of a 5-on-3 PP to score twice. . . . In an interesting piece of numerology, the scorers bagged goals No. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 in this game. . . . Vancouver F Riley Kieser got his third, Giants F Anthony Ast got his fourth, Kulak looked after five and six, Everett F Cody Fowlie got his seventh and eighth, and Everett F Kohl Bauml got his ninth. . . . The Giants continue to be without F Brendan Gallagher (shoulder), F Dalton Sward (shoulder), D David Musil (wrist) and Morrison. . . . During the game, the Giants’ twitter account carried this: “Big Brett Kulak with the HOWITZER from the point! Puts in his 5th on the PP. Giants lead 2-0, 12:18 into the 1st.” . . . Dear Mr. Giant: Please look up howitzer in your dictionary. Thank you. . . .
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Dylan Bumbarger, who blogs on all things Portland Winterhawks with a lot of WHL-related sidebars, has plotted the Western Conference race through games of Feb. 6. . . . His figurings make for an interesting read. Check it out right here.
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The NFL has been hit with another class action law suit with former players claiming long-term problems associated with post-concussion syndrome. This news release goes so far as the provide the symptoms with which some of the former players are suffering.
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If you’re looking for a good read, try this right here. It’s from Gene Pereira and the Barrie Examiner, and it’s all about the return of Bill Stewart, a coach who had been away from the OHL for 10 years. Why? Well, you could start with his twice putting a Ukrainian player in the luggage hold under the bus to get him over the U.S. border. . . . And it gets better from there.


There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Monday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Brad Moran (Calgary, 1995-2000) signed a two-year contract with the Växjö Lakers (Sweden Elitserien). He had 20 goals and 51 assists in 79 games for the Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) this season. Växjö won promotion to Elitserien, Sweden's top league, earlier this month. Växjö GM Henrik Evertsson: "Brad is a skilled centre with Elitserien experience. We feel he is an important and exciting piece for our team." Moran played two seasons in Elitserien for Skellefteå (2008-10), where he had 25 goals and 57 assists in 110 league games and was an assistant captain during his second season there.
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JUST NOTES: D Martin Marincin of the Prince George Cougars has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. He was a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft. Marincin had 56 points, including 14 goals, in 67 games in his freshman season with the Cougars. . . . F Cody Eakin of the Kootenay Ice is the WHL’s player of the week. He had two goals and two assists as the Ice opened the Eastern Conference final with two victories over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. The series resumes tonight in Cranbrook. . . . The Ice goes into that game having won a franchise-record nine straight playoff games. It also has set a franchise record by winning six of those on the road. . . . The Ice will have F Sam Reinhart in the lineup from now through season’s end. Reinhart, the 15th overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft, is fresh off the Telus Cup in St. John’s Nfld., where he put up 20 points, including seven goals, in seven games for the Vancouver-North West Giants. . . . As of late Monday night, the WHL hadn’t changed the suspension to Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac from ‘tbd’ to a definite length. He was suspended under supplemental discipline for a hit on Ice F Steele Boomer in Game 1. Neither player dressed for Game 2, and Boomer is expected to miss at least two more games with a suspected concussion.
———
Dave Shoalts of The Globe and Mail reports that Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, “has agreed to a price and most of the terms for buying the Dallas Stars – and if he can steer it through bankruptcy court with the bankers in charge of the sale, the Vancouver businessman will be the NHL team’s new owner.”
That story is right here.

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

NATHAN LIEUWEN

SATURDAY’S PLAYOFF GAME:
In Medicine Hat, G Nathan Lieuwen earned the shutout and F Cody Eakin had three points as the Kootenay Ice dumped the Tigers, 3-0. . . . The Ice leads the series 2-0 as the teams head to Cranbrook for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Lieuwen stopped 25 shots for his franchise-record third shutout of these playoffs. He and Dan Blackburn share the career record with three shutouts. . . . Lieuwen, a 19-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., has three shutouts in 12 games in this postseason after putting up three in 55 regular-season games. . . . Eakin opened the scoring at 3:57 of the first period, then drew assists on goals by F Kevin King, his first, at 14:32 of the second, and F Joe Antilla, his seventh, into an empty net, at 18:41 of the third. . . . Eakin had 13 points, including five goals, in 12 playoff games. . . . Medicine Hat G Tyler Bunz stopped 37 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . The Ice was 0-for-5 on the PP; the Tigers were 0-for-3. . . .
The Tigers were without G Cole Grbavac, who drew a ‘tbd’ suspension for a hit on Ice F Steele Boomer late in the third period of Game 1. Boomer, who is believed to have a concussion, isn’t expected to play in Games 3 and 4 in Cranbrook on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . F Sam Reinhart, who has been playing in the Telus Cup in Newfoundland, will be joining the Ice on Monday. Reinhart was the 15th overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft.
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ELSEWHERE . . .
Marc Habscheid was in the house Friday when the Victoria Salmon Kings beat the visiting Utah Grizzlies 2-1 in double overtime to advance to the third round of the ECHL playoffs. Habscheid met with the Victoria media on Saturday. Habscheid spent the last two seasons as the GM/head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins, who have been sold and are relocating to Victoria. And, although there hasn’t been an announcement made as regards Habscheid future, he will run the team’s table at the bantam draft and sure sounds like he’ll be moving to the B.C. Capital.
Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has that story right here.
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The Salmon Kings, the Western Conference’s seventh seed, now will meet the Anchorage Aces, who had the ECHL’s best regular-season record. . . . . They’ll open with the best-of-seven series with games Wednesday and Thursday at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, then head for Victoria and Games 3 and 4 on April 30 and May 2. A fifth game, if necessary, is scheduled for May 4 in Victoria. If needed, Games 6 and 7 will be played in Anchorage on May 7 and 8.
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Derek Spalding of the Nanaimo Daily News takes a look at the situation in that city in terms of the WHL and a new arena. He also mentions  that the “Nanaimo Clippers' owners have the first right of refusal to any incoming franchise.” . . . According to Tourism B.C., Nanaimo has a population of more than 84,000. There are more than 138,000 people in the regional district.
That story is right here.

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

Some Saturday stuff . . .

Goaltender Drew Owsley of the Tri-City Americans looks for the puck, while Spokane Chiefs
forward Matt Marantz tries to get a stick on it.
(Photo by Gary Peterson / www.actionsportsimages.smugmug.com)

The ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings have lived to play another series.
The Salmon Kings went on the road to beat the Bakersfield Condors 2-0 on Friday and 3-2 in overtime on Saturday to win the best-of-five first-round series, 3-1.
The Condors (41-27-4) had finished second in the Western Conference; the Salmon Kings (32-36-4) were seventh. Victoria actually finished 18 points behind Bakersfield, which won the Pacific Division so was the conference’s No. 2 seed, behind the Alaska Aces, who received a first-round bye.
The Salmon Kings next will play either the No. 3 Stockton Thunder of No. 6 Utah Grizzlies in a best-of-seven conference semifinal.
We mention this, of course, because it could be that the WHL won’t announce the transfer of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria until the Salmon Kings are done.
The WHL has confirmed the conditional sale of the Bruins, but hasn’t yet stated officially just who has purchased the franchise or where it is headed.
It is generally believed that Vancouver-based RG Properties, which owns the Salmon Kings, has bought the Bruins and will move the WHL team to Victoria in time for the 2011-12 season.
It is doubtful that an announcement would be made while there still are Salmon Kings’ tickets to sell.
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If you are interested in signing a petition aimed at keeping the Bruins in Chilliwack, you are able to do that right here.
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The Ottawa Senators didn’t waste time in letting Cory Clouston know that he wouldn’t be back as the NHL team’s head coach. Bryan Murray, the team’s general manager, got a three-year extension on Friday. He dumped the head coach Saturday, after a 3-1 loss to the Bruins in Boston.
Clouston is the third Ottawa head coach to be dismissed by Murray since he returned to Ottawa in 2007 from a stint with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Senators finished 32-40-10, which left them 19 points out of a playoff spot.
Clouston, 41, spent five seasons as head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. He left the Ice for the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, and moved up as head coach of the big club on Feb. 2, 2009. He replaced Craig Hartsburg, who now is head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
Clouston was 95-83-20 with Ottawa.
And you can bet that there are some WHL teams — some with a head coach, some without — keeping an eye on Clouston.
As the NHL season wore on, and as speculation grew that Cloutson was in trouble, his name was mentioned with more and more frequency in WHL circles.
Who knows whether Clouston will return to the WHL or not, but right now there are two teams, the Moose Jaw Warriors and Seattle Thunderbirds, without head coaches.
Assistant coach Brad Lauer, a former WHL player who has ridden shotgun with Clouston for a while now, also lost his job Saturday in Ottawa.
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OK. What’s going on? Is it the water? . . . There have been six games played in the second round of the WHL playoffs and the road team has won every one of them. . . . There will be two games played today, with the Kelowna Rockets meeting the Winterhawks in Portland and the Tri-City Americans in Spokane to play the Chiefs. The visiting team in both series is up 1-0. . . . The Winterhawks will be without suspended F Brad Ross, who took a charging major for a hit on Kelowna F Zach Franko in the first period. Franko was left with a broken nose, a scraped face and a suspected concussion. He won’t play tonight. . . .
Meanwhile, on Saturday night . . .
In Saskatoon, F Joe Antilla scored at 18:32 of OT to give the Kootenay Ice a 3-2 victory over the Blades. . . . The Ice had won the opener 4-1 in Saskatoon on Friday. . . . They’ll play Games 3 and 4 in Cranbrook on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . The Blades were 32-3-1 at home in the regular season; the Ice, which lost all four of its regular-season games against Saskatoon, was 20-13-3 on the road. . . . The Blades forced OT when F Brayden Schenn scored at 18:56 of the third period. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 50 shots, nine more than Saskatoon’s Steven Stanford. . . . The Ice was 0-or-2 on the PP; the Blades were 0-for-6. . . . Attendance was 8,064. . . . F Max Reinhart had a goal and two assists for the Ice. . . . His younger brother, Sam, who played Friday, wasn’t in the Ice lineup for Game 2. Hockey Canada ruled that should Sam Reinhart play he would be ineligible to rejoin his major midget team, the Vancouver-North West Giants, for the national championship tournament later this month in St. John’s, Nfld. Reinhart, 15, was a first-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. WHL rules allow 15-year-olds to play five games before their club team’s are done; Reinhart player his fifth game in the series opener. Of course, their are loopholes; for example, F Matt Needham, Kamloops’ first pick in 2010, played 13 games with the Blazers this season, some under emergency conditions. . . . Gotta think Ice management will have been most unhappy with this ruling, especially when you consider the number of players and coaches it has given up to various Hockey Canada-sanctioned teams and events. . . . Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, has his take on the Reinhart situation right here. . . . The Ice scratched F Brock Montgomery (mononucleosis), F Drew Czerwonka (upper body) and Sam Reinhart, and had D John Neibrandt helping out up front. . . . Saskatoon, which had F Ryan Olsen back from injury and used D Tanner Sohn as a forward, went without F Levi Bews, D Tommy Stipancik and F Alex Elliott.
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In Red Deer, G Tyler Bunz stopped 33 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 5-0 victory over the Rebels. . . . The Tigers won the opener 9-1 on Friday. . . . Now it’s down to Medicine Hat for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-4 on the PP; the Rebels were 0-for-9. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves. . . . Medicine Hat F Cole Grbavac had two goals and an assist. He has 14 points, including seven goals, in eight playoff games. He had 28 points in 67 regular-season games. . . . F Linden Vey had a goal and an assist, and now has a WHL-leading 18 points. Grbavac, Medicine Hat F Emerson Etem, Tigers D Jace Coyle and Kelowna Rockets F Shane McColgan are next, at 14. . . . Vey and Kootenay Ice F Matt Fraser lead in goals, each with eight. . . . Attendance was 6,091. . . . The Rebels went 26-7-3 at home during the regular season, while the Tigers were 22-9-5 on the road. . . .
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In Spokane, G Drew Owsley turned aside 34 shots to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 3-1 series-opening victory over the Chiefs. . . . They’ll play again tonight in Spokane. . . . Tri-City has won its last eight games, five of them in the playoffs. . . . The Americans took a 2-1 lead out of the first period and nursed it until F Jordan Messier provided some insurance at 9:38 of the third. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 15 shots. That included a third-period penalty shot by F Carter Ashton. The Americans were leading 2-1 at the time. . . . F Kruise Reddick had a goal and an assist for Tri-City. . . . F Tyler Johnson, who had missed Spokane’s last two games with a concussion, was back in the lineup. . . . The Chiefs were 27-7-2 at home, while the Americans were 17-16-3 on the road during the regular season. . . . Attendance was 8,215. . . . The Americans had been 0-3 in their last three trips to Spokane. The Chiefs had outscored the visitors 15-4 in those three games. . . . “That was a real good playoff game,” Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “Both teams battled like a bugger for space. We had the chances to make a game of it. . . . The difference was that they buried their chances and we didn’t. We had some pretty good looks.”
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.
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Today’s good read comes from George Vecsey of The New York Times. It deals with the high price of tickets to sporting events in the Big Apple. And it’s right here.

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

Monday . . .

MONDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES:
In Winnipeg, F Shayne Wiebe and F Matt MacKay had a goal and two assists each as the host Brandon Wheat Kings doubled the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3. . . . The Wheat Kings lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for Winnipeg on Thursday. . . . With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair in Westman Place in Brandon, the Wheat Kings were forced to move first-round games to the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. It is the home of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. . . . The Tigers got a goal and two helpers from F Cole Grbavac. . . . Attendance was 5,063. . . . Medicine Hat F Kale Kessy sat out this one. He was suspended for one game after taking a double minor for checking from behind in Saturday’s Game 2. . . . The Tigers also were without G Tyler Bunz (concussion), F Tyler Pitlick (ankle) and D Dylan Busenius (foot). . . . Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun has a story on the game right here. Included is a bit on a third-period hit by Medicine Hat F Hunter Shinkaruk on Brandon F Brenden Walker. The hit went unpenalized, but Walker left the game. . . . Interesting. Penton’s father, Bruce, covered the Wheat Kings for the Brandon Sun in the early 1970s. . . .
In Edmonton, the Red Deer Rebels erased a 1-0 deficit with three third-period goals and beat the Oil Kings, 3-1. . . . F Byron Froese, with two, and F Daulton Siwak scored for Red Deer. Siwak broke a 1-1 tie at 18:08 and Froese provided insurance 20 seconds later. . . . F T.J. Foster had given Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 1:45 of the third. . . . The Rebels lead the series 3-0 with Game 4 scheduled for Thursday in Edmonton. . . . Red Deer F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists, giving him a WHL-high seven points in the series. . . . There were something like 23 NHL scouts on hand for the game.
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MONDAY’S CFB COUNT:
None.
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JUST NOTES: The 50/50 draw in Saskatoon on Sunday night was won by former WHL players Dan Hulak (Swift Current, Portland, 1997-2001) and Scott McQueen (Red Deer, Saskatoon, 1997-99). They ended up splitting around $44,000. Hulak is the brother of former Blades captain Derek Hulak. . . . F Brett Ferguson of the Red Deer Rebels is the WHL’s player of the week. He had a goal and four assists in the first two games of the Rebels’ series with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Mac Carruth of the Portland Winterhawks is the WHL’s goaltender of the week after going 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .972 save percentage in the first two games of a series with the Everett Silvertips. . . . The NAHL is adding a franchise in Minot, N.D., and there are some former WHLers involved. The Minot Daily News has more right here.
———
Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun speculates on whether the Vancouver Giants will have F James Henry (knee) back for Game 3 of their series with the Tri-City Americans. That game goes tonight in Vancouver; the Americans hold a 2-0 lead. . . . The Giants haven’t allowed Henry to chat with the media. . . . Pap’s story is right here.
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The best play-by-play man in the history of sports is about to start another season. To get you prepped, here’s a column on Vin Scully by T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times. Don’t miss the good read of the day.

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

Some Thursday notes . . .

The rumour has been out there for three weeks or more.
“There will be an announcement,” according to the rumour, “that the WHL is returning to Victoria. And the announcement will be made on Feb. 28.”
I thought the rumour died with February, but an NHL scout asked me about it on Wednesday night.
Seeing as it’s now March 4, and there hasn’t been an announcement, it’s safe to say the rumour is dead. At least for now.
Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times-Colonist was at an ECHL game in his city on Wednesday. Here’s a note from his story:
ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna, in town recently, addressed the increasing speculation Victoria may soon announce a jump to the junior Western Hockey League. “These (WHL) rumours have been there since Day 1 of Victoria joining the ECHL and are nothing new and we hear it on an annual basis,” said McKenna, who has astutely positioned the ECHL as the main development league in pro hockey below the AHL.
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As anticipated, Regina Pats head coach Curtis Hunt has been fined by the WHL for comments he made following a 5-3 loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Tuesday night.
If you missed it, here’s what Hunt told the Regina Leader-Post:
"It's really hard to compete against two teams. The Moose Jaw Warriors are a good hockey team and I thought our guys worked hard. We just couldn't overcome the striped team tonight."
For that, Hunt was fined $500.
———
Chase Martin has pads and will travel.
On Tuesday, Martin was the backup goaltender for the Tri-City Americans in a 6-5 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks. He was there in support of Chris Driedger, who has been starting while Drew Owsley recovers from a knee injury.
But now it seems that Martin, 18, is off to join the Medicine Hat Tigers, who lost backup Deven Dubyk to a shoulder injury during a 7-3 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday.
The Tigers had Dawson MacAuley, 16, backing up Tyler Bunz in a 4-2 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer on Tuesday, but he has gone back to the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos.
Martin played his minor hockey in Medicine Hat. He’s available for spot duty now because his Cowichan Valley Capitals didn’t qualify for the BCHL playoffs.
Darren Steinke in the Medicine Hat News reports that Martin will be with the Tigers for two games through the weekend.
As well, F Cole Grbavac, who is having a solid season, suffered a head injury on Tuesday and is listed as questionable for the weekend.
Of course, the Tigers also have lost F Tyler Pitlick for up to eight weeks with a broken ankle.
If Grbavac is diagnosed with a concussion, he would become the fifth Tigers’ skater to be sidelined with that injury. Steinke reports that D Matthew Konan and D Jace Coyle are day-to-day, while D Scott Ramsay is week-to-week and F Sam Dezman remains out indefinitely.
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The Everett Silvertips might have F Landon Ferraro back in the lineup tonight when they meet the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash. He had hernia surgery in January and returned to practice earlier this week. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald says that F Josh Birkholz, who has been out with a head injury, also might return tonight.

It seems that the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel is skating on rather thin financial ice. Jeff Hansen of the St. Albert Gazette takes an in-depth look at the situation right here.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, the Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Broncos, 3-1. . . . The Blades had dumped the visiting Broncos 6-3 on Friday night. . . . F Brad Hoban got the game’s first goal, his 16^th, at 5:39 of the first period. . . . Saskatoon’s line of Brayden Schenn, Jake Trask and Curtis Hamilton then scored twice. Schenn got his fourth at 7:31, with Trask getting his 14^th, via the PP, at 10:09. . . . Each of those three, all of whom were blanked Friday, had two points. . . . The Broncos have lost six in a row. . . . Attendance was 2,117. . . . Saskatoon G Steven Stanford stopped 35 shots as he improved his record to an amazing 26-3-0. . . . The Blades, winners of five straight, maintained their three-point lead atop the Eastern Conference, while the Broncos are seventh, three points up on the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Brandon Wheat Kings. . . .
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In Regina, F Jordan Weal scored at 1:20 of OT to give the Pats a 4-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Warriors had beaten the Pats 4-3 in Moose Jaw on Friday. . . . One night later, the Warriors opened up a 3-0 lead in the second period, then watched the Pats score four straight goals. . . . Weal forced OT with his 24^th goal at 19:24 of the third period. . . . D Myles Bell had three assists for Regina. . . . F Sebastian Svendsen scored twice for the Warriors before the game was eight minutes old. He’s got 21. . . . Attendance was 5,014. . . . The Pats vaulted into a tie for 10^th with the Prince Albert Raiders in the Eastern Conference, one point out of a playoff spot. . . . The Warriors are fifth, a point behind the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . .
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In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-2. . . . F Dylan Wruck scored twice for Edmonton, giving him 28. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 36 shots. . . . It was Michale Jackson Night and apparently one of the highlights came when Edmonton F T.J. Foster moonwalked after scoring his 19^th goal at 18:36 of the third period to provide some breathing room at 4-2. . . . Attendance was 6,682. . . . This was a big victory for Edmonton as it moved the Oil Kings into sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Raiders, who meet the Hitmen in Calgary today, are tied with the Regina Pats for 10^th, but are just one point out of eighth. . . .
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In Cranbrook, F Elgin Pearce’s 10^th goal, at 3:31 of OT, gave the Kootenay Ice a 4-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice scored the game’s first three goals and led 3-0 at 8:11 of the second period. . . . F Mitch Maxwell forced OT with his 13^th goal at 11:15 of the third period. . . . D Reid Jackson scored his first goal of the season for Lethbridge. It came in his 36^th game this season. The 17-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., had four goals in 50 games last season. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 30 shots in his first WHL start. . . . Attendance was 2,701. . . . The Ice, with two straight victories, are third in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The loser point allowed the Hurricanes to move into a tie with the Brandon Wheat Kings for eighth. . . .
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In Medicine Hat, the Tigers opened up a 4-1 lead and hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . F Cole Grbavac’s 10^th goal, at 6:52 of the second period, stood up as the winner. . . . F Shayne Wiebe, with his 28^th, and F Mark Stone, with his 26^th, got Brandon to within one late in the second period. . . . Attendance was 4,006. . . . Medicine Hat F Linden Vey scored his 34^th goal. He and Spokane Chiefs F Tyler Johnson are tied for the WHL scoring lead, each with 83 points. . . . Medicine Hat F Wacey Hamilton had a goal and two helpers. . . . The Tigers, with four straight victories, are fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Kootenay Ice and a point ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Tigers hold two games in hand on Kootenay and three on Moose Jaw. . . .
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In Red Deer, the Rebels won their 11^th straight game, beating the Calgary Hitmen, 5-2. . . . Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper stopped 18 shots in running his record to 32-8-3. . . . F Byron Froese scored three times for the Rebels, giving him 27, as the home side was forced to erase a 2-0 deficit. . . . Red Deer F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists. . . . Attendance was 5,395. . . . The Rebels are first in the Central Division and just three points behind the Eastern Conference-leading Saskatoon Blades. However, the Blades hold two games in hand. . . . Red Deer is 11-0-1 in its last dozen games. . . . The Hitmen have lost four in a row. . . .
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In Chilliwack, F Dylan Willick and F Thomas Frazee each scored twice to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-1 victory over the Bruins. . . . The Blazers snapped a five-game losing streak as it won for the fourth time in its last 19 road games. . . . F Brendan Ranford added three assists for the Blazers, while F JT Barnett had a goal and two assists. . . . Willick, perhaps the Blazers’ most consistent player this season, has 16 goals, while Frazee has 22. . . . The Bruins took 59 of 110 penalty minutes. . . . Attendance was 3,748. . . . These two teams will play a home-and-home series on the weekend, opening Friday in Kamloops and finishing Saturday in Chilliwack. . . . The victory moved Kamloops into a tie for seventh with the Everett Silvertips in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Bruins. . . .
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In Spokane, F Mason Wilgosh broke a 4-4 tie at 19:23 of the third period to give the Tri-City Americans a 5-4 victory over the Chiefs. . . . Wilgosh scored his 11^th goal off a backdoor feed from F Patrick Holland. . . . The teams meet again Friday night, this time in Kennewick, Wash. . . . F Connor Rankin gave the Americans a 4-2 lead at 15:43 of the third period. . . . The Chiefs tied it on goals by F Tyler Johnson, his WHL-leading 38^th, at 16:05, and F Stephen Kuhn, his third of the game and 17^th of the season, at 18:51 on a PP. . . . F Justin Feser had three assists for the Americans. . . . The Chiefs were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Americans were 0-for-4. . . . Johnson’s goal ran his point streak to 17 games. . . . Attendance was 10,474. . . . The Chiefs slipped three points back of the Western Conference-leading Portland Winterhawks, with Spokane holding two games in hand. . . . The Americans, 8-1-1 in their last 10, are three points behind Spokane. Tri-City holds three games in hand on Spokane and five on Portland. . . .
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In Everett, the Silvertips opened up a 3-0 lead early in the second period and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . F Tyler Maxwell scored twice for Everett, giving him 33. He ended up with his WHL-leading 11^th game-winner of the season. . . . Maxwell has 88 career goals, passing F Zach Hamill on Everett’s all-time list and leaving him second only to F Shane Harper (100). . . . The Cougars made it interesting on goals by F Charles Inglis, his 20^th, and F Brett Connolly, his 28^th, at 11:44 and 12:04 of the third period. . . . Maxwell iced it at 16:02. . . . D Ryan Murray had three assists for Everett. . . . F Brendan Rowinski had two goals for Vancouver, while F Spencer Bennett had two assists and Brendan Gallagher, the third member of that line, added two helpers. . . . Attendance was 6,179. . . . The Silvertips meet the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., today. . . .
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In Kelowna, F Geordie Wudrick scored three times to help the Rockets to a 7-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The victory lifted the Rockets into first place in the B.C. Division, a point up on the Giants. . . . Wudrick has 29 goals. . . . F Cody Chikie, who had a goal and three assists in a 7-3 victory over the visiting Prince George Cougars on Friday, had three assists. . . . Attendance was 6,184. . . . The Rockets have won six in a row. . . .
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In Kent, Wash., G Mac Carruth stopped 43 shots to help the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Portland D William Wrenn had a goal, his first, and an assist, and was plus-4. He is plus-18 in 12 games since leaving the U of Denver and joining the Winterhawks over the Christmas break. . . . F Ty Rattie, F Brad Ross and F Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist for Portland. . . . Portland F Craig Cunningham scored once, giving him seven goals in four games against Seattle since being acquired from the Vancouver Giants. . . . Attendance was a ShoWare Centre record of 6,158. It was Teddy Bear Night and the fans tossed 5,031 stuffed animals onto the ice when F Travis Toomey scored for Seattle in the first period. . . . The Thunderbirds fell into the Western Conference cellar, one point out of ninth and two out of eighth. They are at home to the Everett Silvertips today.
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SATURDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Two minors:
Calgary D Peter Kosterman
Tri-City D Matt MacKenzie

The Medicine Hat Tigers were on their way to a 5-2 victory over the host Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night when the visitors were awarded what would be their only full power play of the game.
Head coach Shaun Clouston responded by sending out five forwards. A member of the Tigers’ entourage said it was the first time the team had done that this season.
The move involved having Linden Vey, Wacey Hamilton, Tyler Pitlick and Emerson Etem on the ice, along with newcomer Kellan Tochkin, who had just arrived via trade from the Everett Silvertips.
Those forwards, all with great skill and good speed, basically moved the puck around the outside, looking for the long pass to set up a one-timer, with the odd foray in the direction of Kamloops goaltender Jeff Bosch.
The Tigers didn’t score, but it was an intriguing couple of minutes and it will be interesting to see how often Clouston goes with that PP alignment.
Of course, it is the acquisition of Tochkin that allows Clouston to do that. Tochkin is a highly skilled player who should fit right in -- he played his first game with the Tigers on a line with Vey and Etem, two of the WHL’s premier performers.
The Tigers acquired Tochkin, 19, and defenceman Alex Theriau, 18, from Everett for forward Ryan Harrison, 18, and a 2011 second-round bantam pick.
Tochkin has signed an NHL contract, as a free agent, with the Vancouver Canucks. Theriau, who was taken sixth overall by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2007 bantam draft, was selected by the Dallas Stars in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2010 draft. Theriau (ankle) won’t play for a couple of weeks.
Brad McEwan, now the Tigers’ general manager, was running the Lethbridge draft table when the Hurricanes selected Theriau.
“We believe he has a lot of upside,” Clouston said earlier this week. “This is a bit of an off season for him, but last season was pretty good for him.”
Clouston is excited with the new additions because, as he put it, “One is signed and one is drafted.”
“You always want guys excited about the future,” he added, “and pushing and working and trying to get better every day. We’ve added two guys who can help us right now.”
As for how the deal went down, Clouston explained: “Both sides were interested in the other guys. Everett was definitely interested in a (1992-born) forward. With Harrison leaving, getting Tochkin in to fill that position for right now made a lot of sense. I think the deal made sense for both sides.”
Theriau is only the second 1992-born defenceman on the Tigers’ roster. The other is Scott McKay, who spent most of Wednesday’s game on a forward line.
“Yes,” Clouston said, “looking to next season on the back end, we’ve definitely got some room with the ’92 defencemen. It helps us in that area next season.”
As for this season, the Tigers would appear poised to make a run.
They’ve got two forward lines -- Vey between Etem and Tochkin, Hamilton with Pitlick and 16-year-old Hunter Shinkaruk -- that can score. They’ve got a beef line, in Dylan Bredo with Cole Grbavac and Kale Kessy. And the acquisition of Scott Ramsay from the Seattle Thunderbirds at the deadline will help them in their zone. He’s a solid 6-foot-4 defender with some sandpaper in his game, who will fit in well alongside the likes of 6-foot-4 Sebastian Owuya and 6-foot-3 Matthew Konan.
Yes, indeed, the Arena just may be rocking well into April or early May this spring.
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The Prince George Cougars’ chances of finishing atop the B.C. Division, thus earning the second seed in the Western Conference, took a hit Wednesday when F Brett Connolly went down with a knee injury during a 5-2 loss to the Bruins in Chilliwack.
He has been diagnosed with a sprained right knee and is expected to be out from three to six weeks.
Connolly, recently returned from helping Team Canada to a silver medal at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo, was injured late in the first period when he went knee-to-knee with F Steve Oursov of the Bruins.
Oursov wasn’t penalized but has since been suspended by the WHL under its supplemental discipline rule. The length of the suspension has yet to be determined.
"He just came to hit (Connolly) and kind of stood in his path a little bit -- it ended up being knee-on-knee and (Oursov) didn't do a lot to get out of the way," Cougars head coach Dean Clark told Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen. "He tried to turn his body but left his knee there and there was no call on the play, which was really disappointing. The league has the video of it now. . . . Regardless of who's getting hit, we just can't go knee-on-knee, it's too dangerous. We want to take that right out of hockey, whether it's our level, minor hockey or the NHL."
Connolly, 18, was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the sixth overall pick of the 2010 NHL draft. Hip problems limited him to 16 games last season. This season, he has 40 points, including 25 goals.
The Cougars (21-18-3) were beaten 5-2 by the Bruins, who are in Prince George for games tonight and Saturday.
Prince George and the Vancouver Giants (20-18-5) are tied atop the B.C. Division, with the Kelowna Rockets (22-19-0) just one point back. The Kamloops Blazers (20-22-2) are three points off the pace, with the Bruins (19-18-3) in fifth, one point behind the Blazers.
The Cougars also lost F Charles Inglis on Wednesday. He took a high stick to the face, left for repairs and then finished the game. But he didn’t practise Thursday and may not play tonight. . . . Chilliwack D Brandon Manning (groin) took Wednesday’s pregame warmup but didn’t play. Manning, 20, isn’t expected to play this weekend.
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The Regina Pats will honour Mike Sillinger tonight. He is a Regina native who lived a dream by excelling for his hometown team for four seasons (1987-91). . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post talks with Sillinger right here.
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Craig Stancher of nhl.com takes a look at former Portland Winterhawks F Luke Walker, who now is with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, an affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. That story is right here.
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The 2012 World Junior Championship, which will be held in Calgary and Edmonton, already is sold out. But, boy, are there some unhappy people, none of whom are scalpers! There is a story right here from CBC News.

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers were double losers on Wednesday night - they lost a hockey game and their leading scorer no longer leads the WHL point parade.
The Medicine Hat Tigers, who skate as well as any team in the league, jumped out to a 2-0 lead and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Blazers before 3,857 fans at Interior Savings Centre.
Medicine Hat centre Linden Vey had a goal and an assist, giving him 67 points on the season, one more than left-winger Brendan Ranford of the Blazers, who was held off the scoresheet.
“I don't think it's something you worry about,” Vey, a 19-year-old from Wakaw, Sask., said of a potential scoring title. “It just happens. You go out there and focus on winning. At the end of the day, they don't remember who wins the scoring race; they remember who wins the championship.”
The Tigers (27-12-2) kept pace with the top bunch in the Eastern Conference - they are fourth, a point out of third - while the Blazers (20-22-2) remain tied for seventh in the Western Conference, two points out of sixth and one ahead of the Chilliwack Bruins.
Kamloops leaves today at 9 a.m., for Kennewick, Wash., and a Friday night date with the Tri-City Americans. Kamloops is at home to the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday night.
The Blazers had their chances last night - they outshot the visitors, 28-17 - but were done in by a wonky power play and the goaltending of Medicine Hat's Tyler Bunz.
“I thought we had chances,” offered Kamloops right-winger Jordan DePape, who said he isn't concerned over an offence that has two goals in its last two games, both losses. “We hit a couple of posts. We just needed a couple of bounces to go in.”
The Blazers ended up 1-for-7 on the power play, the goal coming off the stick of left-winger JT Barnett with the Tigers ahead 3-0 midway though the second period. The Kamloops power play also was torched for a shorthanded goal, as Vey set up the speedy Emerson Etem for the team's WHL-leading 12th such score.
That goal rounded out the night's scoring.
“Again, we generated some chances,” DePape said of a power-play unit that is ranked sixth in the WHL. “But we have to be better, especially defensively. They scored a shorthanded goal and we can't let that happen.”
The Blazers started OK but Medicine Hat's first goal, winger Tyler Pitlick's 17th just 5:43 in, seemed to set them on their heels. Even though the Blazers came out of the period with a 10-7 edge in shots, the Tigers dominated play.
“They came out with a lot of intensity,” Vey said. “Right off the bat they were after us. But we got pucks in and then we stuck to our game plan. We played simple, got pucks on net, got a few breaks and ended up with the win.”
It wasn't quite that simple, but that about sums it up.
Cole Grbavac, who began his WHL career with Kamloops, got his eighth goal in typical garbageman fashion, with the Tigers piling into the crease and hacking away until the puck got behind goaltender Jeff Bosch.
That would stand up as Grbavac's first game-winner this season.
The visitors went up 3-0 at 6:34, as winger Kellan Tochkin, acquired Monday from the Everett Silvertips, found Vey alone on the right side of the Blazers' zone. He zigged and zagged and beat Bosch for his 27th goal this season.
Not quite 10 minutes later, Bosch made a blocker save on Vey. As often happens, the play moved into the Medicine Hat zone and Barnett was able to shovel the puck under Bunz.
That goal gave the Blazers a lift, as did a glove save by Bosch on Medicine Hat captain Wacey Hamilton on a late Tigers' power play.
However, Kamloops wasn't able to put any more pucks behind Bunz, who finished with 27 saves in winning for the 20th time this season.
“He's played real well,” Vey said of Bunz, 18, who was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the fifth round of the 2010 NHL draft. “He gives us confidence.
“We capitalized on our opportunities. We tried to keep pucks to the outside and our goaltender played well for us. He's played well the whole season and is a big part of the reason why we're winning.”
The Blazers had centre Chase Schaber back after their captain missed two games with a leg injury. But he obviously is still hurting and wasn't nearly as effective as he normally is.
And they welcomed back defenceman Josh Caron after a 41-game absence. Against a Medicine Hat team with tremendous speed, Caron was used sparingly as he returned from a broken collarbone suffered in the second game of the season.
JUST NOTES: Referee Steve Papp gave Medicine Hat seven of nine minors. . . . The Tigers were 0-for-2 on the power play with the first of those lasting just 11 seconds. . . . The Daily News Three Stars: 1. D Sebastian Owuya: The 6-foot-4 Swede was a tower of power back there; 2. Bunz: 20 victories; 3. Barnett: Had some chances. . . . Oilers head scout Stu MacGregor was upstairs, no doubt watching Bunz and Pitlick, both of whom were 2010 Edmonton draft picks.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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