A note about fighting majors from a follower of this blog . . .
“Kerry Toporowski had 58 fighting majors in 90-91 in Spokane. He had 506 PIMs going into the last game in Portland. Brantt Myhres was 16 and wanted to fight him and he declined. At the time he didn’t want the record of 511 by Brent Gogol. Years later, he told me he wished he had.
“Remember . . . Gogol’s numbers included misconducts which Topper’s didn’t include. If you did, he would have had that year 871 PIMs. My source . . . you! You wrote it several years ago! LOL!!!”
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JUST NOTES: The 2013 Ford World men’s curling championship will be decided in the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. The event runs from March 30 through April 7, 2013, so the WHL’s Victoria Royals will be out of their home arena for a couple of weeks should they qualify for the playoffs next season. . . . The Everett Silvertips have promoted Zoran Rajcic, their longtime director of business operations, to assistant general manager. Rajcic is in his ninth season with Everett. Yes, he has been with the Silvertips since Day 1. . . . The Silvertips now have company in Comcast Arena in Everett. The Everett Raptors, an Indoor Football League team, will play out of the facility in the 2012 season. The league schedule should be released in the near future. . . . Rich Preston, the GM/head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has been nicked by the WHL office for a grand for “comments to officials” after a 2-1 loss to the host Kootenay Ice on Friday. The referees were Chris Crich and Pat Smith. . . .
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D Austin Connor, who was acquired by the Vancouver Giants from the Prince Albert Raiders on Monday, has a shoulder injury. He was injured Oct. 7 as the Raiders beat the host Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0. Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Connor will be examined Friday by the Giants’ medical staff and that, if he is hurt badly enough, the deal may have to be redone. Pap’s story is right here.
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D Dane Phaneuf, who was released by the Prince George Cougars prior to this season starting, is skating with the QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket. Marcel Vander Wier of the Charlottetown Guardian has the story right here.
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SOME TUESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Swift Current, F Victor Rask scored three times to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 7-1 victory over the Broncos. . . . Tickets were $2. Hamburgers were $2. Soft drinks were $2. And beer $2.25. . . . There were 2,521 people in the 2,879-seat iPlex. . . . The Broncos gave up the game’s first goal for the seventh straight game. . . . Swift Current t6ook 86 of the game’s 142 penalty minutes. . . .
In Medicine Hat, F Emerson Etem scored his WHL-leading 14th goal and G Tyler Bunz stopped 31 shots as the Tigers edged the Kootenay Ice, 2-1. . . . Etem gave the Ice a 2-0 lead at 12:16 of the first period. . . .
In Portland, the Winterhawks scored three times in the shootout and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 7-6. . . . The Blades, who got four goals and two assists out of F Josh Nicholls, held a 6-4 lead with 10 minutes left in the third period. . . . Portland D Troy Rutkowski scored on the PP at 10:33 and D Joe Morrow tied it at 14:31. . . . F Brad Ross had two goals and two assists for Portland. . . . Nicholls, who also had the Blades’ lone shootout goal, had never had four goals or six points in a game; in fact, he had never scored more than two goals in a game. He had five points in one game last season. . . . The Winterhawks leave today on a nine-game road trip. They’ll play six games in the Central Division, then stop in Kamloops for one and Kelowna for a doubleheader. Portland won’t play at home again until Nov. 11. . . .
In Kent, Wash., G Brandon Anderson stopped 31 shots and F Darian Dziurzynski had a goal as the Brandon Wheat Kings beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-1. . . . Both players were acquired in trades on Sunday and were making their first appearances with their new team. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone had an assist to run his season-opening point streak to 10 games. . . . Seattle G Daniel Cotton stopped 45 shots in his first WHL start. . . . Seattle had won three in a row. . . . Brandon lost F Bruno Mraz to a suspected head injury in the second period.
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So . . . you’re wondering how things are doing in Chilliwack, the former home of the WHL’s Bruins and now the home of the BCHL’s Chiefs.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has that story right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

Fans of the Portland Winterhawks will get another look tonight at forward
Alessio Bertaggia (13) of the Brandon Wheat Kings, here staying in front
of Tri-City Americans forward Justin Feser in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday night.
(Photo courtesy of John Allen / Tri-City Americans)

F Evan Bloodoff, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Kelowna Rockets, has signed a two-year contract with the AHL’s Portland Pirates.
Bloodoff was a sixth-roud selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2009 draft. The Pirates are the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.
A native of Nelson, B.C., Bloodoff played five seasons with the Rockets. Last season, he had 44 points, including 22 goals, and 76 penalty minutes in 72 games.
Bloodoff is represented by Turning Point Sport Management.
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JUST NOTES: The QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket has claimed D Dane Phaneuf, 17, off WHL waivers. The Prince George Cougars had released him prior to the start of this season. Phaneuf, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, was a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Swift Current Broncos have assigned G Steven Myland to the junior B North Delta Devils of the Pacific International junior league. Myland, from Cloverdale, B.C., had a 5.41 GAA and .818 save percentage in two appearances with the Broncos this season. A 10th-round selection by the Kootenay Ice in the 2009 bantam draft, Myland was acquired by the Broncos in the blockbuster Cody Eakin swap in January. . . . Curtis Hunt, who was dropped as head coach of the Regina Pats after last season, has been named co-coach of the Canadian team that will play in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, Jan. 13-22. This team will comprise 1996-born players. The other co-coach will be Jim Hulton of Kingston, Ont., who is a veteran of the OHL coaching wars. . . . Hunt also is head coach of the team that will represent Saskatchewan at the U-16 Challenge Cup in Moose Jaw, Oct. 27-30.
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A note from a regular reader of this blog:
“The WHL media can write a literal ton of copy about the league's posture toward head shots and concussions, but they post a rock 'em, sock 'em fight clip in the middle of the Oct. 7 ‘Plays of the Week’ video on their website, then you know changing attitudes at the head office has a long way to go.”
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SOME FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, F Elgin Pearce broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 15:30 of the third period to give the Kootenay Ice a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Ice F Drew Czerwonka, named team captain earlier in the week, returned from an injury to score his first goal of the season. . . .
In Edmonton, the Regina Pats got two goals from D Blair Davidson and three assists from D Brandon Underwood in beating the Oil Kings, 6-3. . . . Regina lost F Dyson Stevenson to an apparent leg injury in the third period. He was stretchered off after absorbing a hit from Edmonton D Mark Pysyk, who wasn’t penalized. . . . The Oil Kings had won three in a row. . . . Regina is 5-1-0 on the road. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s first three goals, all in the first period, and beat the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . F Brett Lyon had a goal and an assist for Moose Jaw. Lyon, 20, now has career highs in goals (6), assists (7) and points (13), all in just nine games. . . . The start of the game was delayed by 70 minutes due to an ice problem in one goal crease. . . .
In Everett, F Jesse Paradis scored his third shorthanded goal of the season to help the Saskatoon Blades open a U.S. trip with a 4-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Blades have won four in a row. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski scored his third goal in as many games for Saskatoon. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz made his first WHL debut with 50 saves. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Tyrel Seaman broke a 2-2 tie at 7:36 of the third period to give the Brandon Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . D Ryan Pulock had Brandon’s other two goals. . . . The Wheat Kings are 1-1-0 on their U.S. Division swing. . . . The Wheat Kings, including F Alessio Bertaggia, are scheduled to play the Winterhawks in Portland tonight. Bertaggia may be better known to Winterhawks’ fans as Red No. 23, after his anonymous appearance at one training camp practice prior to the 2010-11 season. Brandon selected the Switzerland native in the 2011 CHL import draft and he has 10 points in eight games. He failed to score on a penalty shot last night and had his seven-game season-opening point streak snapped. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, who leads the WHL with 20 points, is riding an eight-game season-opening point streak. He had two assists last night. . . .
In Victoria, the Royals scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Kelowna Rockets, 7-5. . . . The Rockets, who now have lost four in a row after opening 3-0-0, led this one 5-2 at 8:30 of the second period and 5-3 after two periods. . . . Victoria F Lukas Kralik broke a 5-5 tie at 14:27 of the third period. . . . Kelowna D Kevin Smith (shoulder) was injured in the pregame warmup and didn’t play. . . .
In Vancouver, D Kyle Verdino’s first goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Seattle Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Giants. . . . Verdino’s goal came at 16:53 of the third period. The 20-year-old Verdino recently returned to Seattle after a tryout with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. . . . Seattle outshot the Giants, 37-20. . . . Vancouver D Luke Fenske (broken hand) played his first game since being injured during training camp. . . .
In Spokane, F Anthony Bardaro’s ninth goal of the season gave the Chiefs a 3-2 OT victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Bardardo’s goal came at 3:10 of extra time. . . . Spokane F Collin Valcourt forged a 2-2 tie at 10:00 of the third period.
In Portland, Kamloops G Cam Lanigan stopped two penalty shots as the Blazers beat the Winterhawks 5-4 in OT. . . . F Brendan Ranford had four goals, including the winner 21 seconds into extra time, and an assist. It was his first career five-point night and four-goal game. . . . Lanigan finished with 37 saves. He stopped F Brad Ross on a penalty shot at 14:21 of the second period and F Taylor Peters on a second one at 18:28 of the third. . . . According to Todd Vrooman and Andy Kemper, on the Winterhawks’ postgame show, this was the first time Portland has been involved in a game that featured two penalty shots.

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