MONDAY’S GAME:
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NO KABOOM! . . . The Campbell Storm scored a 6-5 victory over the Kimberley Dynamiters in the final of the Cyclone Taylor Cup, B.C.’s junior B championship, in Mission on Monday afternoon. . . . The Storm moves on to the Keystone Cup in Cold Lake, Alta., from April 16 through 19. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story right here.
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Merle Haggard turned 78 on Monday, so there was no better time for Rolling Stone to present the “12 Most Badass Merle Haggard Prison Songs.” . . . Check it out right here.
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A Monday evening tweet from Andy Beesley, the Prince George Cougars’ vice-president, business: “Here's a fun fact. The PG Cougars 50/50 handed out an incredible $194,000+ in cash to lucky winners this season. That's awesome!” . . .
D Haydn Fleury of the Red Deer Rebels will join the Charlotte Checkers, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. Fleury, who was the seventh overall selection in the NHL’s 2014 draft, had 28 points, including six goals, in 63 games with the Rebels this season. Fleury turns 18 on July 8. He has played three full seasons with Red Deer. . . .
Shaw TV was in Calgary for Game 7 between the Hitmen and Kootenay Ice last night. Its crew will be in Kelowna for Games 1 and 2 between the Rockets and Victoria Royals on Friday and Saturday nights.
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“Today, I am 37 years old and unable to play professional hockey because of the symptoms I experience from the multiple blows to the head I suffered while on the ice,” writes former NHL enforcer Dan LaCouture in Monday‘s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But the inability to play hockey professionally is the least of my worries. I have debilitating headaches, nausea and motion sickness every day. I am always irritable. And with recent studies showing the shattering illnesses linked to traumatic brain injury, along with the recent news of National Hockey League legend Stan Mikita’s unfortunate battle with dementia, I fear worse symptoms are yet to come.”
LaCouture’s complete piece is right here.
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Driving to Seattle right now. Not sure if people are honking because they like our new bus/us , or they're just upset with our bus driver..💁
— Chase De Leo (@Dels9) April 6, 2015
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The CHL announced details of the 2014 Subway Series on Thursday. That annual series involves a touring Russian team playing two games each against all-star teams from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.
The aftershocks from some ugliness during Game 5 between the Victoria Royals and the Winterhawks in Portland on Thursday night will be heard for a while yet. The WHL has suspended two of the Royals -- F Steven Hodges, for a game misconduct he incurred, and F Brandon Magee, for a match penalty he was given for attempt to injure. . . . The Winterhawks won the game, 5-1, and the series, 4-1, to advance to the Western Conference final. . . . There is concern in the Portland camp that Magee cross-checked Winterhawks F Nic Petan in the back of the head at 15:10 of the third period as retribution from an earlier incident. . . . Tempers had flared at the end of the second period and, during the ensuing melee, Portland D Derrick Pouliot punched Victoria D Joe Hicketts, who is believed to have been rendered unconscious, at least briefly. Pouliot, Hicketts and Hodges all were ejected at that point.
Glenn (Chico) Resch, one of hockey’s really great guys, announced his retirement from broadcasting during the first intermission of the New Jersey Devils’ game on Friday night. . . . A lot of people forget that Resch, a native of Moose Jaw, did a stint as the general manager and then the head coach of the Tri-City Americans. That was in 1991-92. The Americans were 9-13-2 when his coaching career ended on Nov. 22, 1991. . . . Randy Miller of NJ.com has an interview with Resch 
F Justin Hickman of the Seattle Thunderbirds will finish the season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders. Hickman, who turned 20 on March 18, had 45 points, 22 of them goals, and 154 penalty minutes in 67 games with the Thunderbirds this season. A second-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, Hickman played four seasons with Seattle. He hasn’t been selected in the NHL draft.
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported early Friday evening that F Chandler Stephenson of the Regina Pats has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. They selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . Stephenson, who turns 20 on April 22, is from Saskatoon. He played four seasons with the Pats, putting up 195 points, including 73 goals, in 230 games. This season, he had career highs in goals (30), assists (59) and points (89), all in 69 games. . . . Ross Mahoney, Washington’s head amateur scout, is from Regina, so you know he’s most familiar with Stephenson, who will finish the season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. . . . From Harder: “According to the terms of his contract, Stephenson has the opportunity (if he achieves certain bonuses) to earn the maximum salary under the rookie cap ($925,000 per season) when he reaches the NHL. He received the maximum signing bonus ($92,500 per season) and max AHL salary ($70,000) allowed by the CBA, meaning he will earn $162,500 per season as an AHLer.”
The London Knights, the host team for next month’s Memorial Cup tournament, will have five weeks to prepare after they were eliminated from the OHL playoffs last night. The Guelph Storm dropped the Knights 5-4 to win the second-round series, 4-1. . . . The Memorial Cup runs from May 16 through May 25.
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings scored three times in a span of 2:08 late in the first period and sent on to beat the Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-1. . . . The Oil Kings won the second-round series, 4-1, and now await the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal, which resumes tonight in Medicine Hat. The Kootenay Ice lead the Tigers 3-1 in that one. . . . Edmonton is into the conference final for a third straight season. . . . Edmonton F Henrik Samuelsson opened the scoring at 15:26 of the first period, with F Brett Pollock scoring his fifth goal at 17:11 and F Reid Petryk making it 3-0 at 17:34. . . . D Eric Roy scored a 5-on-3 PP goal for Brandon at 2:55 of the third period. That was Brandon’s first road goal of the series. . . . Edmonton put it away with goals from D Cody Corbett, at 8:44, and F Mitch Moroz, at 11:09. . . . Oil Kings G Tristan Jarry stopped 19 shots. In the three home games in this series, he had a .984 save percentage and a GAA of 0.33. . . . Overall in these playoffs, he is 8-1, 1.78, .933. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 33 shots. . . . Edmonton was 1-for-5 on the PP; Brandon was 1-for-4. . . . Brandon F Richard Nejezchleb was given a clipping major and game misconduct at 16:12 of the third period. That may be worthy of a WHL suspension, but he would be a 20-year-old next season so perhaps Nejezchleb, who is Czech, won’t be back. . . . The Wheat Kings, as it turned out, suffered a blow at practice on Thursday when F Jayce Hawryluk, their top offensive forward, was injured. With him out, Roy saw some time on a forward line. . . . The Oil Kings had F Brandon Baddock back in their lineup for the first time since Feb. 19. 
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