Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Chris Schmidt (Seattle, 1992-96) signed a one-year contract with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had one goal and one assist in 33 games this season for Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL). . . .
F Nigel Dawes (Kootenay, 2001-05) and F Dustin Boyd (Moose Jaw, 2002-06) signed one-year contracts with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL). Dawes had one assist in 13 games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens and 41 goals and 31 assists in 66 games with Chicago Wolves and Hamilton Bulldogs (both AHL) this season. Boyd had one goal in 10 games with Montreal and 20 goals and nine assists in 47 games with Hamilton this season. . . .
F Frantisek Mrazek (Red Deer, 1997-99) signed a one-year contract extension with the Landshut Cannibals (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had 10 goals and eight assists in 29 games for tthe Cannibals this season.
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The hockey fans of Winnipeg have gotten back their NHL franchise. Granted, it’s not the same franchise that was taken away from them — that one is in Phoenix now — but the Manitoba capital is back in the club.
Now all that needs be done is for those same fans to cough up for 13,000 season tickets.
That, according to NHL comissioner Gary Bettman, would be a great show of support in advance of the board of governors’ June 21 meeting at which the sale of the franchise is expected to be voted on.
Season tickets are priced from $1,755 to $5,805, and the NHL wants at least a three-year commitment. So, for you and your partner to get in on the cheap, this reignited love affair with the NHL is going to cost you close to $12,000 before you even know the team’s nickname.
As for that nickname, hockey fans everywhere seem to be clamouring for Jets. But if that was going to happen, you would think the announcement would have been made Tuesday. No?
Perhaps the new owners are looking for a commercial tie-in. Does Manitoba Pilseners have a certain ring to it, or what?
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Now that the NHL has moved the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, where does it go next?
The next time an existing NHL franchise is looking for a soft landing place, what city will be used as leverage? In other words, a year from now, when city council in Glendale, Ariz., is under the gun again, what city will be rumoured as the next home of the Coyotes?
Quebec City would love to get back in, but doesn’t have a building.
There is an NHL-calibre building in Portland but only in the last while has there been any sort of movement to attract a franchise. Things are in the preliminary, preliminary stages, though, and there are miles and miles to go. The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers are owned by Paul Allen, who hasn’t shown any serious interest in the NHL. Bill Gallacher, who owns the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and a piece of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, at one point was attempting to purchase the Dallas Stars.
There is an empty arena in Kansas City but, again, there doesn’t seem to have been much interest shown there. Until now, at least.
Bill Daly, the NHL’s second-in-command, admitted last week that there have been preliminary talks with someone in Seattle, but that city doesn’t have a building that meets NHL standards.
Of course, Atlanta is home to a facility that does.
This is what ESPN refers to as a developing situation.
———
My satellite TV provider gives me five Rogers Sportsnet channels.
Five!
On Tuesday afternoon, four of those channels were showing poker. Two of them were carrying Poker After Dark, although it was 1:30 pm., which, I suppose, is after dark. The other two were carrying a program simply referred to on the channel guide as Poker.
No, I didn’t watch. But it has me wondering: Do enough people watch poker on TV that it warrants coverage on four channels at the same time? Or is it such cheap programming that it’s worth it considering the number of viewers of afternoon TV?
———
The Rexall Spots Corporation has hired Darryl Porter, a former part-owner of the Tri-City Americans and Chilliwack Bruins, as vice-president of family brands.
According to a news release, he will be “responsible for both the Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League and the Edmonton Capitals of the North American Baseball League. Both teams are part of the Rexall Sports Corporation, which also owns and operates the NHL's Edmonton Oilers . . .
“Porter's passion and knowledge in operating minor league teams, including his extensive experience in sponsorship sales, ticket sales and brand building, makes him the ideal leader for the Oil Kings and Capitals.”
Porter is an Edmonton native.
———
The Moose Jaw Warriors will induct former players Blair Atcheynum and Derek Kletzel, along with ex-radio voice Rob Carnie, into the Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame. The banquet is Aug. 19 with a golf tournament on Aug. 20, all of it presented by Conexus. . . . Atcheynum (1986-89) had 189 points, including 105 goals, in 143 games with the Warriors. He holds the club record for goals (70) in a season (1988-89). Kletzel (1988-92) is a former Warriors captain who played 190 games with Moose Jaw. He finished with 183 points, including 100 assists. Kletzel is part-owner of Julien's Fitness and Rehab in Moose Jaw and is the analyst on Warriors’ radio broadcasts. . . . Carnie spent 15 years as the voice of the Warriors on CHAB.
———
The case of headshots in the Memorial Cup reached the floor of the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday when Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch called for the resignation of David Branch, who is the president of the OHL and the commissioner of the CHL.
Bill Walker of the Owen Sound Sun Times had that story right here.
———

STU MacGREGOR

JUST NOTES: The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers have agreed with head scout Stu MacGregor on a three-year contract extension. MacGregor is a former Kamloops Blazers general manager who scouted for the Dallas Stars before joining the Oilers’ scouting staff in 2000. He was named the Oilers’ head scout before the 2007-08 season. . . . The Colorago Eagles are leaving the Central league and moving into the ECHL. The Eagles, who lost the Central league final in seven games to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs on Friday, will begin play in the ECHL in the fall. The Eagles, who spent eight seasons in the Central league, play out of Loveland, Colo. Chris Stewart, a former head coach of the Prince Albert Raiders (1995-98), is the president, GM and head coach of the Eagles. . . . The QMJHL lost a franchise on Tuesday but will get it back in a year. The QMJHL has purchased the Lewiston Maineiacs and is to hold a dispersal draft. The Maineiacs had been in Lewiston since 2003, after having operated as the Sherbrooke Castors. At the same time, the QMJHL announced that a Sherbrooke group that includes former NHL G Jocelyn Thibault has been sold an expansion franchise starting with the 2012-13 season. Lewiston was the QMJHL’s only American franchise and won the league championship in 2007. . . . F Alex Kerfoot will play for the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express in the fall. Kerfoot, 16, had 108 points, including 36 goals, in 38 games as he won the B.C. major midget league’s scoring title with the Vancouver-North West Giants last season. He was selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 12th round of the 2009 bantam draft.

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

The saga of the Chilliwack Bruins — a chronology

What follows is something of a chronology of events leading up to the announcement of the sale and relocation of the Chilliwack Bruins, mostly gleaned from the work of Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times and Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress.
Cast of characters, in order of appearance:
Ron Robison: WHL commissioner.
Moray Keith: Minority owner of Chilliwack Bruins and co-owner of Chilliwack Development Group (CDG), which manages Prospera
Centre.
Jim Bond: Minority owner of Chilliwack Bruins and co-owner of Chilliwack Development Group (CDG), which manages Prospera
Centre.
Darryl Porter: One of the Bruins’ three majority owners; he was the franchise’s governor.
Dave Dakers: President of RG Properties’ sports and entertainment division. RG Properties manages Prospera Place in Kelowna and the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria; it also owns the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings. RG Properties bought the Bruins.
Brian Burke: President and general manager of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs; one of the Chilliwack Bruins’ majority owners.
Glen Sather: President and general manager of the NHL’s New York Rangers; one of the Chilliwack Bruins’ majority owners.
Jim Mullin: Manager of the sports department at CKNW, an AM radio station in Vancouver. He was fired by CKNW on April 20 and tweeted that his dismissal had "everything to do with" his reporting of the sale of the Bruins.
Glen Ringdal: A consultant who works with Moray Keith and Jim Bond.
———
2001: “Our interest in Victoria began in 2001 (and) intensified with the (2005) opening of the new facility (Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre).” — WHL commissioner Ron Robison, on The Hawk 89.5, April 20, 2011.
———
2009: “In 2009, Robison told the league’s board of governors that the WHL might try and move the next team up for sale to Victoria.” — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, April 21, 2011.
———
February 2009: “February of 2009, as part of its strategic plan, the Western Hockey League Board of Governors made a decision to actively pursue securing a WHL franchise for the Victoria market. At that time, the WHL Board of Governors were advised that should a franchise become available for sale, the WHL may elect to relocate the club to Victoria. Although expanding the league beyond 22 teams was not ruled out, the WHL Board of Governors preference was to relocate an existing team. Further expansion was not considered a viable alternative due to the demand it would place on the talent pool of players and the ability for WHL Clubs to remain competitive at the national level.” — WHL press release, April 20, 2011.
———
November 2010: “Keith told the Times that Bond came away (from a Jan. 13 conference call) not thinking that a decision had been made and that no vote was taken. He also said CDG had a standing offer to buy the club dating back to November 2010. Porter said that he knew of no such offer and that there was no ambiguity as to CDG's willingness to sell.” — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, April 21, 2011.
———
December 2010: Darryl Porter asks Chilliwack city council for $175,000 per year to prop up sagging revenues. The request is turned down.
———
Early January 2011: In early January, Keith says that Bruins president Darryl Porter met with Robison during the World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. According to Keith, “Robison told (Porter) point blank that if they wanted to sell, they had to sell to Victoria.” — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, April 21, 2011.
———
January 2011: “Dave Dakers, president of RG Properties sports and entertainment division, said the genesis of the deal was when he met Darryl Porter on a ferry in January.” — Cleve Dheensaw, Victoria Times Colonist, April 20, 2011.
———
Jan. 13, 2011: “Burke and Porter talked about a Jan. 13 conference call in which Jim Bond allegedly gave his and Keith’s approval to the pursuit of a sale, at the same time locking the group into exclusive negotiating rights with Victoria. . . . Keith wasn’t involved in that meeting, but he got a play-by-play from Bond. . . . ‘Burkie talked and he was the only guy that talked, and it was presented as a fait d’accompli that this was done,’ Keith said. ‘Jim is adamant that he didn’t concur in a unanimous way that it should be sold. Porter, Burke and Sather agreed to sell the team. That’s 75 per cent and that’s not unanimous.’ ” — Eric Welsh, Chilliwack Progress, April 20, 2011.
———
March 4, 2011: Western Hockey League commission Ron Robison says Chilliwack remains a viable market for major junior hockey. And with rumours flying about the possible sale of the Chilliwack Bruins, Robison told the Chilliwack Times . . . that the league office hasn't received any notice that a sale is imminent. Robison said "there is tremendous interest in purchasing franchises around the league . . . but right now there's been nothing filed with us to indicate that there's been anything material occurring." — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, March 4, 2011.
———
March 4, 2011: Asked if the league stresses keeping teams in their current markets, Robison said "absolutely." He continued: "It's clearly our desire to keep them where they are. From time to time we have to review relocation but that's been very rare. There hasn't been a relocation in our league for many, many years." — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, March 4, 2011.
———
March 4, 2011: When asked by the Progress whether the team would be playing in Chilliwack in 2011-12, the answer wasn't exactly a resounding yes. “I would be very surprised if the Western Hockey League isn't playing hockey in Chilliwack,” Porter replied. — Eric Welsh, Chilliwack Progress, March 4, 2011.
———
March 4, 2011: Asked whether the Bruins would be playing in Chilliwack in 2011-12, (Robison) offered this. “It is certainly our intent and we haven’t considered anything different at this point.” — Eric Welsh, Chilliwack Progress, April 21, 2011.
———
March 4, 2011: Asked about the league’s strong desire to get into Victoria, (Robison) offered this. “We are very interested in that possibility, and it’s just been a case of whether we can accommodate that. At this point, we’re not in a position to do that.” — Eric Welsh, Chilliwack Progress, April 21, 2011.
———
March 2011: “In March, Porter told the Times that the owners were weighing ‘multiple offers.’ The owners were, however, negotiating with only one other partner. On (April 20) he apologized for the misleading statements, saying that he was trying to respect a confidentiality agreement and that there was still a possibility that the team wouldn’t be sold to RG Properties. ‘I still had some belief that we would be enticing other offers,’ he said.” — Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times, April 21, 2011.
———
March 15, 2011: The Chilliwack Progress reports that Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who “has ties to the area,” is interested in helping keep the Bruins in Chilliwack. "Justin has expressed his interest in being involved with us as an investor in hockey based in Chilliwack," Keith said in an e-mail to the Chilliwack Progress. "We would be honoured to have him involved. It is all predicated obviously in our successfully securing the team.” — Chilliwack Progress, March 15, 2011.
———
March 15, 2011: The Chilliwack Progress reports that “a news article this morning said there is pressure on Burke, Sather and Porter to accept a bid that would land the team in Victoria. That would fly in the face of commments WHL commisioner Ron Robison made in a Chilliwack Progress interview last week.” . . . “The league's position on ownership is always to look for local ownership,” he said. “That is always a priority. We have to make sure we have the right type of ownership, but if there is local interest, that is something we would want to explore.” — Chilliwack Progress, March 15, 2011.
———
March 17, 2011: “On March 17, the WHL Board of Governors granted conditional approval for the sale of the Chilliwack WHL franchise and final agreements were then signed.” — WHL news release, April 21, 2011.
———
March 31, 2011: “Darryl Porter not confirming sale of Chilliwack Bruins at 5:50pm. Says it's not done. Says no sale agreement signed despite speculation.” — Randy Merkley, the radio voice of the Bruins, via Twitter.
———
April 5, 2011: The WHL issues a news release saying it has granted conditional approval to the sale of the Chilliwack Bruins. The news release doesn’t identify a buyer.
———
April 4, 2011: Burke, in a letter through his lawyers to Jim Mullin earlier in the week, claimed that the WHL had “promised” a franchise to Graham Lee, the chief executive officer and president of RG Properties. . . . Burke also wrote that it was “. . . the WHL’s and Mr. Lee’s desire to have an established team in Victoria rather than an expansion team. This will not leave Chilliwack without a WHL team. The WHL is in the process of negotiating the movement of another WHL team to Chilliwack.”
———
April 11, 2011: “Keith cited an April 11 phone conversation between his right-hand man Glen Ringdal and Porter where Porter fingered Robison and the WHL executive as the masterminds behind the Chilliwack-to-Victoria plot.” — Eric Welsh, Chilliwack Progress, April 20.
———
April 18, 2011: The WHL announces that a news conference will be held April 20 in Victoria.
———
April 19, 2011: The deal between RG Properties and the Bruins owners closes.
———
April 20: 2011: The WHL announces the Bruins will be relocated to Victoria.

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

One domino falls . . .

Will moving fans, inside and out, at Prospera Centre 
be the final memory of the WHL in Chilliwack?

Well, the deed is done.
The WHL is in Victoria and the AHL isn’t.
And that’s the name of that game.
But two hockey teams had to be buried in order for the WHL to get across the Strait of Georgia.
The Chilliwack Bruins are dead. Long live the Bruins!
The ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings are soon to be dead! Long may they run in these playoffs!!
———
If you have been paying attention to this saga from the beginning, you didn’t learn a whole lot yesterday.
You learned that the deal closed on Tuesday. You learned that the Victoria franchise has a website and that it is running a name-the-team contest.
The most interesting stuff, however, came out of a news release, a copy of which arrived in my inbox from the Bruins.
In it, the WHL and the franchise’s former owners — at least, the majority owners — tried to explain the “multiple reasons that led to the decision” to sell the Bruins. What they did was lay the corpse at the feet of minority owners Moray Keith and Jim Bond.
To summarize that news release:
1. The WHL’s board of governors decided in February 2009 to “actively pursue securing a WHL franchise for the Victoria market.” The governors decided at that time “that should a franchise become available for sale, the WHL may elect to relocate the club to Victoria.”
2. The WHL chose not to sell an expansion franchise “due to the demand it would place on the talent pool of players.”
3. The Chilliwack market changed after arenas went up in Langley and Abbotsford and the NHL’s Calgary Flames relocated their AHL affiliate, the Heat, to Abbotsford. (What the WHL doesn’t mention is that the Calgary Flames own the Calgary Hitmen, so it seems an NHL team actually had a hand in the death of the Bruins.)
4. With the change in the market “it became obvious to the Bruins ownership group that the franchise needed to be restructured from a medium-size model to a small market-size model.”
5. With that in mind, according to the news release, the Bruins ownership group wanted to renegotiate its lease with the Chiefs Development Group, which holds the management contract for Prospera Centre. “What was requested was a lease concurrent to other small-market privately owned WHL teams,” the news release reads, without providing examples. What is interesting about this is that Keith is president of the Chiefs Development Group.
6. “This inability to secure a new lease contributed to the deterioration of our ownership group and their relationship with the Chiefs Development Group,” continues the release.
7. The Bruins’ ownership group — Brian Burke, Glen Sater, Darryl Porter, Keith and Bond — met on Jan. 13 and “agreed with the WHL to sell its franchise for the purpose of relocating the club to Victoria. Provided the terms of the sale met the conditions . . . the partners agreed no other offers would be considered.” . . . (In other words, the Bruins were sold without being placed on the open market. A source familiar with the situation has told me that RG Properties paid $5.5 million for the franchise.)
8. The WHL board of governors granted “conditional approval” for the sale on March 17. The deal closed Tuesday. According to the news release, “All conditions associated with the WHL's approval of the sale and relocation have been satisfied.”
———
All of this raises a couple of questions:
1. What kind of an arrangement is it that has the franchise’s minority owners controlling the building in which the team plays?
2. If the minority owners were part of the movement not to renegotiate the lease, why didn’t the majority owners simply sell the team to them?
3. How long until Keith and Bond tell their side of the story, including Keith‘s late attempt to purchase the franchise for $6.2 million?
———
Later, on Chilliwack radio station 89.5 The Hawk, Darryl Porter, the Bruins’ governor, pointed a finger at the Calgary Flames:
“There's a code in minor sports and especially in hockey. You don't do what Calgary did here. You don't do that and it's never happened. The fundamental bad break we got was when the city of Abbotsford built a building with no plan and they did that deal with the (AHL's Abbotsford Heat). At the end of the day, we're not contributing to that, we're a victim of that."
The Heat, of course, is the AHL affiliate of the Flames, who own the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen.
Brian Burke, one of the Bruins’ majority owners, added:
"The notion that somehow we changed our mind on Chilliwack, or somehow betrayed the fans there when in fact the American Hockey League moved a competing team in within a very close radius to our operating base . . . the notion that we had any control over that or that that's our fault is crazy. I've never taken a dime out of this team."
———
The afore-mentioned news release also contained this paragraph:
“It should be noted that the WHL Board of Governors govern all matters related to WHL franchises. This includes the right to approve franchise ownership and the relocation and sale of franchises in accordance with its bylaws, constitution and strategic plans.”
You wonder if this wasn’t, at least in part, a shot across the bow of the Regina Pats, who are owned by Diane and Russ Parker of Calgary. Russ was in Victoria for yesterday’s news conference. Their son, Darren, was recently named senior vice-president of sales and marketing with the Victoria Salmon Kings.
The Pats are again embroiled in lease negotiations with Evraz Place, the organization that controls the Brandt Centre, the building in which the WHL team plays.
I was told last weekend that Evraz Place had given the Pats a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer and that the Parkers were seriously considering leaving it.
Of course, the Pats and Evraz Place are no strangers to testy negotiations, and only time will tell how it plays out this time.
———
Marc Habscheid, the Bruins’ general manager and head coach, is two years into what is believed to be a five-year contract. I have been told but haven’t able to confirm that he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave should the franchise be relocated.
When I contacted him via text on Tuesday and asked if he was able to talk, he responded: “Rather not rt now. Thx.”
———
There are stories to be told about what went on in the Bruins organization over the last year, but we may never hear them.
As one former employee wrote in an email to me on Wednesday:
“We are all holding on to the hopes that a team comes here so we don't want to burn any bridges, especially since this is our livelihood. We all invested so much time and energy to make this work and little did we know that we never had a chance.”
———
Paul J. Henderson of the Chilliwack Times reports that in December the owners of the Chilliwack Bruins asked city hall for $175,000 a year “to help with sagging revenues.”
That story is right here.
———
Cory Flett, the WHL’s director, communications, sometimes tweets a song of the day. An emailer has suggested some suggestions for him to send in the direction of Chilliwack fans.
“I would recommend ‘Not Ready to Go’ by the Trews or ‘I'll Keep Your Memory Vague’ by Finger Eleven.
“And, for the new owners and the people of Victoria, I would recommend ‘Bring Everything’ by Jason Plumb.”
The emailer also pointed out that “all songs are Cancon.”
———
SOME NOTES: Don’t forget that the City of Victoria promised to add 10 years to RG Properties’ management contract for SOFMC if it was able to land a WHL franchise. That agreement now runs until 2046. . . . By that time, the WHL may have a franchise in Nanaimo. . . . Former WHL F Josh Aspenlind scored 11 seconds into OT last night to give the host Victoria Salmon Kings a 3-2 victory over the Utah Grizzlies. The Salmon Kings lead the best-of-seven ECHL second-round series 3-0 with Game 4 scheduled for Victoria on Friday. Attendance in the 7,006-seat Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre was 3,691.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

The Chilliwack story continues . . .

THE CHILLIWACK-TO-VICTORIA SAGA, Chapter 22:
Tyler Olsen has a story in Friday’s edition of the Chilliwack Times that is a must-read if you have been following the sale and impending move of the Chillwack Bruins.
"I went through a divorce first, and I don't know which is worse," Andy Van Esch, the owner of AJ Pumps and someone who billeted Bruins players, told the Times on Wednesday at a Keep the Bruins in Chilliwack Rally.
Esch told the Times, a newspaper that publishes twice a week, that with the decision to move the Bruins he felt “kicked in the ass.”
According to Olsen’s story, Van Esch “estimates that he spent around $50,000
on tickets, advertising and other sponsorship deals, over the club's
five-year stay in Chilliwack.”
"I advertise because I feel that hockey is a good thing for Chilliwack; it's
good for keeping kids off the street," he said. "You do it because you want
to give something back and you believe in something."
There’s more, much more, in what is an absolutely scathing story that is critical of the Bruins’ ownership, especially governor and president Darryl Porter, and the WHL. That story is right here.
———
Meanwhile, Glen Ringdal has told Tim Amey of mychilliwacknews.com that the WHL wanted a franchise on Vancouver Island in the worst way. Ringdal has been consulting on behalf of Bruins minority owners Jim Bond and Moray Keith.
Amey writes:
“(Ringdal) says Victoria had been awarded an expansion franchise for the 2012-13 season quite some time ago. Problem is that means 23 teams for the WHL. That forces a 24th expansion team to balance out the schedule when the WHL never really wanted to go beyond 20 teams in the first place.  Moving an existing franchise became the best option.”
Ringdal also opines that Bruins majority owners Darryl Porter, Brian Burke and Glen Sather are selling to the Bruins to RG Properties “at the behest of the league, and so for us to be able to get support from the league level (to keep the franchise in Chilliwack) is not practical.”
Amey’s complete piece is right here.
———
Ringdal told Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times that the WHL has approved the sale of the Bruins, which it revealed in a press release this week, and the relocation of the franchise, which it did not.
Ringdal also told the Times "there is a possibility that another team in the league may wish to relocate to Chilliwack and the only one that I'm aware of is Prince George that has some interest.
"That was reported long ago. That's not news from me, but whether or not that can happen, there's no deal in place . . . but we're prepared to talk and see if that's a possibility and, in the end, that would probably be good for everybody."
However, I have been told by someone who should know that the Cougars “are not in play.”
I also was told that there are people within the WHL who wanted the Cougars to be in play, but owner Rick Brodsky simply isn’t interested.
———
Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald, whose relationship, or lack of same, with Bruins governor/co-owner Darryl Porter goes back to his days with the Americans had some interesting quotes from former Chilliwack mayor Clint Hames earlier this week.
“I don’t know what the word is — the closest is betrayed,” Hames said of the sale and impending move of the Bruins.
Hames then compared it to the situation that developed when Porter wanted to move the Americans to Chilliwack, only to be refused permission. He ended up with an expansion franchise.
“One of the original thoughts was that the Tri-City team was fed up and wanted to move,” Hames told Fowler. “We were told Tri-City wasn’t a hockey market and no one was coming to the games. We were told it was like taking an old dog out of the shelter. That was the story we were told.
“We were disappointed when the league turned the move down. Then we learned quite quickly that what we heard about Tri-City was wrong. Then we got the expansion franchise. The building here is owned privately, but is in a partnership with the city. The city put $1.2 million into the building to add more seating and other things to bring a WHL team here. It not only was an emotional investment, but a monetary one, as well. It’s a little perplexing to have it all pulled away.”
As for Porter, Hames continued: “Darryl has projected a negativity toward the team the last couple of years. He says ‘No one supports us.’ The biggest job I had was settling people down after they met with him. I think he made his mind up shortly after arriving that this wasn’t going to work. He felt he was entitled to a full building. He often criticized the public for not supporting the team.”
At the end of the day, Hames added, “They’ve gone from creating a situation in Tri-City to the same situation in Chilliwack, now other places. When this all shakes out, I don’t think the league looks very good. Neither do Darryl and his partners.”
Fowler’s entire piece is right here.

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

WHL confirms sale. but that's all

By GREGG DRINNAN

Daily News Sports Editor

The WHL has confirmed that the Chilliwack Bruins have been sold.
In a terse two-paragraph news release issued Tuesday afternoon, the league announced that “it has granted conditional approval to a request from ownership of the Chilliwack Bruins for the sale of their WHL franchise.”
Furthermore, the release stated, “Until such time (as) all of the conditions related to the sale have been satisfied the WHL is not in a position to make any further statement on this transaction.”
The announcement arrived one day before Bruins fans had scheduled a rally for the front entrance to the team’s home arena, Prospera Place. That rally is to take place this evening at the front entrance to the arena.
It is believed that the Bruins’ majority owners — Darryl Porter, Brian Burke and Glen Sather each owns 25 per cent — have sold the franchise to RG Properties, a Vancouver-based real estate development and operating company that manages the Save-On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and Prospera Place in Kelowna.
The arena in Victoria is home to the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings, a franchise that is owned by RG Properties. The City of Victoria has a contract with RG Properties to manage the arena. That deal is to expire in 2036 and the City has told RG Properties that the contract will be extended to 2046 if it is able to attract a WHL franchise.
At present, the Salmon Kings are involved in the ECHL playoffs, playing a best-of-five first-round series with the Bakersfield Condors. Once the Salmon King’s season is over, an announcement is expected on the transfer of the Bruins.
Early in March, as speculation on the sale of the franchise heated up, WHL commissioner Ron Robison told the Chilliwack Times: “It’s clearly our desire to keep them where they are. From time to time we have to review relocation but that’s been very rare. There hasn’t been a relocation in our league for many, many years.”
The last franchise to pick up and move was the Edmonton Ice, which relocated to Cranbrook after the 1997-98 season.
Moray Keith and Jim Bond own the remaining 25 per cent of the Chilliwack franchise; Keith also holds the management contract on Prospera Centre, the home to the Bruins for the past five seasons.
Keith and Bond attempted to purchase the Bruins from their partners, reportedly for $7.75 million, but the offer was rebuffed.
Keith later confirmed to Jim Mullin, the sports director at Vancouver radio station CKNW, that the Bruins had been sold.
Meanwhile, Burke, in a letter through his lawyers to Mullin earlier this week, claimed that the WHL had “promised” a franchise to Graham Lee, the chief executive officer and president of RG Properties.
Burke also wrote that it was “. . . the WHL’s and Mr. Lee’s desire to have an established team in Victoria rather than an expansion team. This will not leave Chilliwack without a WHL team. The WHL is in the process of negotiating the movement of another WHL team to Chilliwack.”
The league has since placed a gag order on all WHL and team officials, an order that carried with it the threat of a heavy fine should anyone discuss the situation with the media.
Victoria last was in the WHL in 1993-94, after which the Cougars packed up and moved to Prince George. The Cougars had been in Victoria since 1971-72.
At this point, it isn’t known which WHL franchise, if any, might relocate to Chilliwack.
Dallas Thompson, the general manager of the Cougars, told the Prince George Citizen earlier this week that that franchsie isn’t going anywhere.
“This team is not for sale, and we’ve made that abundantly clear about a hundred times,” Thompson told the Citizen. “We’re exploring a way to make our business work here and relocation is something we don’t want to have happen and it’s not an option.
“We want to make this thing work in Prince George and that’s what we’re trying to do. Chilliwack is not an option. We can’t comment about anything that’s going on there.”
The Cranbrook-based Kootenay Ice is another team that has been rumoured as perhaps being interested in moving.
However, Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s president and GM, told The Daily News last night, via text, that the club is “definitely not going to Chilliwack.”

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

Brian Burke weighs in on Victoria

Brian Burke obviously has too much time on his hands.
The man who runs the Toronto Maple Leafs has found time to write a letter to Jim Mullin, the sports director at radio station CKNW in Vancouver.
Actually, the letter came from Burke via his lawyers.
The letter has to do with Burke being unhappy over some comments Mullin made about Burke “seeking vengeance on the Canucks.”
More interesting than that, at least for WHL fans, are a couple of Burke comments pertaining to the impending move of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria.
If you came late to this story, Burke owns 25 per cent of the Bruins. He, Glen Sather and Darryl Porter, each of whom owns 25 per cent, have a deal to sell the franchise, but not to minority owners Moray Keith and Jim Bond, who own the other 25 per cent.
Rather, they will sell to Graham Lee’s RG Properties, which holds the management contract for the Save-On Food Memorial Centre in Victoria, the home of the ECHL’s Salmon Kings.
In his letter to Mullin, who has been on top of this story from the get-go, Burke writes:
“Graham Lee has been promised a WHL franchise in that city.”
Unfortunately, Burke doesn’t explain why Lee “has been promised” a team for Victoria. Of course, Dave Dakers, who is president of RG Properties sports and entertainment and also operates their ECHL franchise, is tight -- they are fishing pals -- with Bruce Hamilton, the president of the Kelowna Rockets and the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Remember, too, that the City of Victoria, which owns the arena there, has told RG Properties that it will extend its management contract through 2046 if it is able to land a WHL franchise. That contract now is to expire in 2036.
But wait . . . there’s more.
Later, Burke writes that it was “. . . the WHL’s and Mr. Lee’s desire to have an established team in Victoria rather than an expansion team. This will not leave Chilliwack without a WHL team. The WHL is in the process of negotiating the movement of another WHL team to Chilliwack.”
So let’s really upset the apple cart, why don’t we?
Not only do fans of the Bruins have reason to be up in arms, but now fans in Prince George, Cranbrook, Swift Current, Lethbridge, Prince Albert and anywhere else where people might be feeling at all paranoid about the future of their WHL franchise are dragged into the fray.
What this letter from Burke does do is erase all doubt, if there was any remaining, about the fate of the Bruins. While no one in any official capacity with the league or the Bruins or RG Properties has been up front and transparent about any of this -- hey, there may have been tickets to sell to a Game 6 in Chilliwack between the Bruins and Spokane Chiefs -- Burke at least has come clean about part of this mess.
Now if only someone would explain why a franchise that was in its fifth year of existence and was showing signs of becoming competitive for the first time is being sold and moved on down the road.
And, by the way, is there a guarantee somewhere that says the WHL in Victoria will be a rip-roaring success? What if the team struggles for the better part of five years, as have the Bruins?
Mullin’s complete report is right here.

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

Thursday . . .

 Jim Mullin of Vancouver radio station CKNW tweeted late Thursday afternoon:
“Minority owner Moray Keith confirms to #CKNW that the Chilliwack Bruins have been sold to Victoria's RG Properties.”
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Earlier, Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress posted a piece right here on the impending departure of the Bruins to Victoria. And there are some interesting comments here from Clint Hames, a former Chilliwack mayor.
———
Meanwhile, Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times also talked with Hames.
Here is part of what Olsen wrote:
Hames, who was instrumental in bringing the club to the Fraser Valley five years ago, had contacted WHL commissioner Ron Robison and several of the Bruins' owners to try to get to the bottom of rumours about the team's exit.
"I was told by (Bruins co-owner) Brian Burke that (Keith and Bond's) offer would not be considered and that the only offer they are considering is an offer from Victoria," Hames told Postmedia News.
Porter, however, claims the owners were carefully wading through multiple offers to buy the club. Porter also had told fans that the owners were doing what they could to keep the club where it is.
Robison has also said that moving a team is the last resort and that the league preferred to keep the Bruins in Chilliwack. He has refused any further comment on the issue.
A league spokesperson said the WHL will only comment "when there is news to report."
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Obviously, there is a whole lot more going on between the WHL, RG Properties and who knows who else involving franchises on Vancouver Island.
But it doesn’t make any sense at all to have just one team on the Island, so we have questions, questions . . . we have questions:
1. With one team on its way to Vancouver Island, how long before a second one — expansion or otherwise — lands in Nanaimo?
2. Kelly Hrudey, who has ties to the WHL office as president of the WHL Alumni Association, became part-owner of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers earlier this year. Does Hrudey’s sudden involvement mean anything in terms of a WHL franchise landing there?
3. Mike Vandekamp left the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm in March to take over the Clippers’ coaching reins. Let’s assume that Vandekamp, who did a turn as a WHL head coach with the Prince George Cougars a while back, aspires to coach in the WHL or at an even higher level. That brings us to this question: Why does a junior A coach leave one job for a similar position at that particular time of year? Or does Vandekamp know something that we don’t know about the WHL and Nanaimo?
4. Darren Parker, who had been running an independent league baseball franchise in Victoria until it folded over the winter, signed on with the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings on Wednesday. He is the club’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing. He also is the son of Russ Parker, who owns the WHL’s Regina Pats. Why does Darren Parker, whose baseball team folded a few months ago, suddenly surface in the front office of an ECHL team that is owned by RG Properties which is in the process of purchasing a WHL franchise?
Oh, what a tangled web is being weaved.
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By the way, Philip Wolf of the Nanaimo Daily News chimes is on the goings-on with the Clippers right here. He says his “bovine excrement detector” has been going off.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1998-2002) signed a one-year (plus option) contract extension with Szekesfehervar (Hungary, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 20 goals and 27 assists in 38 games this season. . . .
F Owen Fussey (Calgary, Moose Jaw, 1999-2003) signed a one-year contract extension with the Coventry Blaze (UK Elite). He had 24 goals and 15 assists in 34 games. Fussey had his season cut short when he tore his ACL and MCL in December.
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The ugly side of the Internet has reared its face once again.
It is amazing what big ones some people have as they sit in momma’s basement and do stupid things with the aid of a computer and in the cloak of anonymity that is provided by the Internet.
This time it has struck in Saskatoon where the Blades were doing damage control Thursday thanks to comments that were made by a Brayden Schenn impostor on a Facebook page. Police have launched an investigation. There’s more right here from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
Cory Wolfe, who covers the Blades for the StarPhoenix, blogged about the Schenn situation. Wolfe’s piece is right here.
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Merle Haggard sings about White Line Fever. No one, at least not yet, is singing of 50/50 fever. However, Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix takes a look at what went on at last weekend’s Saskatoon Blades’ home playoff games. That story is right here. And having witnessed 50/50 fever at the Memorial Cup in Brandon last spring, I can tell you it’s an amazing thing.
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Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, is in Buenos Aires this weekend. No, he’s not scouting. He’s there for the wedding of part-owner Michael Buble and Luisana Lopilato. . . . Toigo took time to chat with Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun about this season and what’s ahead for his WHL team. . . . That story is right here.
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And if you’re into wedding photos, here you go. . . . Buble and Lopilato were married in a civil ceremony in Buenos Aires on Thursday and there are some photos right here.
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JUST NOTES: Ryan Barrett is the new GM/head coach of the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks, having moved up from assistant coach to take over from Don Phelps, who, it seems, has been there since before ice was invented. Mark Astley and Craig Mohr will work as assistant coaches. . . . Adam Brown of the Kelowna Rockets is the WHL’s goaltender of the month for March. He was 6-2-0, 1.61, .944 for the month. . . . F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels is the player of the month, after putting up 19 points in eight games. . . . D Corey Fienhage of the Kamloops Blazers will be joining the AHL’s Portland Pirates. He was a third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL’s 2008 draft. Fienhage, 20, joined the Blazers after playing 39 games over the previous two seasons with the U of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. . . . The BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings have signed Dave Dupas to a three-year contract as head coach. He took over in November after GM/head coach Ed Dempsey was fired. The Spruce Kings also promoted assistant GM Mike Hawes to GM, although he will work at it on a part-time basis.
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THURSDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES:
In Winnipeg, centre Linden Vey scored at 19:35 of the third period to give the Medicine Hat Tigers a 5-4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 scheduled for Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . The Wheat Kings led 3-0 at 12:47 of the first period after F Matt MacKay scored his third goal of the series, this one via the PP. . . . Brandon led 4-1 at 17:45 of the first after F Shayne Wiebe got his third goal, also on the PP. . . . Medicine Hat F Kale Kessy scored at 18:13 of the first period. . . . The Tigers then counted three times in the third. . . . Vey, who led the WHL in scoring in the regular season, finished with two goals and two assists, while F Emerson Etem had a goal and two helpers. . . . Brandon held a 17-7 edge in first-period shots, but the Tigers outshot the Wheaties 31-12 over the last 40 minutes. . . . Attendance was 6,003. . . . The Wheat Kings are playing first-round home games in the MTS Centre in Winnipeg because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is in Westman Place in Brandon. . . . Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun was at the game last night. His story is right here. . . .

In Prince Albert, the Raiders came up with a gritty effort for the second game in a row and beat the Saskatoon Blades, 5-2. . . . The series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 in Saskatoon on Saturday. . . . Saskatoon won the first two games at home, outscoring the Raiders 13-3 in the process. . . . The Blades finished with the WHL’s best record, their 115 points leaving them 48 ahead of the eighth-place Raiders in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Blades scored first, getting a PP goal from F Curtis Hamilton at 2:32 of the first period, but the Raiders got the next three, the first two from F Todd Fiddler. . . . F T.J. Constant gave the Raiders a 4-2 lead in the third period with his first WHL point. Constant was added to the Raiders’ roster from the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard. . . . Attendance was 3,111. . . . D Duncan Siemens left the Blades’ bench in the second period and didn’t return. He is believed to have a leg injury . . .
In Edmonton, F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist as the Rebels beat the Oil Kings 5-1 to win the series, 4-0. . . . Nugent-Hopkins, who will be an early pick in June’s NHL draft, had nine points over the four games. . . . F Brett Ferguson scored twice for Red Deer, the second into an empty net. . . . Edmonton’s lone goal came from F Curtis Lazar, the second overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. It was his first WHL score. . . . Attendance was 5,938. . . . Red Deer scratched F Adam Kambeitz and D Aaron Borejko, both for undisclosed reasons. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs scored the game’s first three goals and went on to beat the Chilliwack Bruins, 4-2. . . . The Bruins closed to within 3-2 on F Roman Horak’s goal at 3:06 of the third but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Chilliwack F Ryan Howse left the game after the first period and didn’t return. . . . The Chiefs were without F Tyler Johnson, the WHL’s second-leading scorer. . . . The Bruins were without D Tyler Stahl, who got tossed from Game 3 with an elbowing major that knocked Johnson out of the game. Stahl is serving one of those tbd suspensions. . . . The Chiefs also were without F Anthony Bardaro, who drew a tbd sentence under supplemental discipline for a hit in overtime in Game 3. Bardaro wasn’t penalized on the play, but the Bruins asked the WHL to review the play. . . .
In Everett, F Sven Bartschi had a goal and two assists as the Portland Winterhawks beat the Silvertips 6-2 to sweep the first-round series. . . . F Jari Erricson gave the Silvertips a 1-0 lead at 5:22 of the first period, but Portland answered with five straight goals. . . . Attendance was 2,420. . . . Everett F Landon Ferraro was tossed with a cross-checking major as the second period ended. . . . This was the first time Portland has swept a playoff opponent since 1998 when it ousted the Brandon Wheat Kings in the championship final. . . . The Winterhawks had played 13 rounds since then. . . .
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Three of the four Western Conference series ended in sweeps, leaving the Kelowna Rockets, Portland and the Tri-City Americans awaiting a winner in the Spokane-Chilliwack series. . . . Remember that teams are reseeded by regular-season points, so if Spokane wins, the second round will feature Portland vs. Kelowna and Spokane vs. Tri-City. . . . If the Bruins come back from a 3-1 deficit, it’ll be Portland against Chilliwack and Kelowna against Tri-City.
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THURSDAY’S CFB COUNT:
Two minors:
Prince Albert D Harrison Ruopp
Chilliwack F Curt Gogol
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It was Opening Day on Thursday. Yes, we’re talking baseball.
So . . . here’s your good read for the day. Yes, it’s a year old, but it’s by Peter Gammons and it involves baseball and the blues and it doesn’t get any better than that. So take a look right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca

     

gdrinnan.blogspot.com

     

Taking Note on Twitter

There would seem to be ominous news for fans of the Chilliwack Bruins in a Chilliwack Times story written by Tyler Olsen that appeared Tuesday.
In that story, Olsen writes that “owners of the Western Hockey League franchise are considering multiple offers to buy the club, Bruins president Darryl Porter told the Times.”
That, of course, is something that has been public knowledge since last week.
But in the next paragraph Porter tells Olsen that, even though season-ticket holders have been wondering where the renewal forms are, “they're not going to be coming right away because the owners have decided to look into these inquiries."
Olsen’s complete story is right here.
One WHL governor questioned the strategy of waiting to send out season-ticket renewals, noting that it should have been done a month ago, even if the franchise may well be on the move.
“What happens if the franchise doesn’t move?” wondered the governor. “How do you sell season-tickets then?”
Unless, of course, a deal has been cut and is to be announced at season’s end.
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Someone has set up a Facebook page titled Bring Back the WHL to Victoria. If you’re interested, it’s right here.
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If you missed it, Rich Preston, the GM and head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, drew a one-game suspension and a $750 fine for his water bottle-, clipboard- and Gatorade jug-tossing display on Saturday night in Kelowna.
You would have to hope that the manner in which Preston carried this out, with a great degree of calmness seldom, if ever, seen in these situations, saved him a game and at least $250.
It was Preston’s second brush with the long arm of the WHL law this season. He was fined $500 for a game misconduct he incurred during a Nov. 20 game with the visiting Saskatoon Blades.
Preston will miss a visit to Lethbridge by the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight.
The last WHL coach to be suspended?
Marc Habscheid of the Chilliwack Bruins and Don Hay of the Vancouver Giants sat out a game for a line brawl during an exhibition game prior to this season.
The last WHL coach to be suspended for a regular-season game?
Hay got hit with a one-game sentence in January of last season after the Giants were involved in their third line brawl of the season during a game in Prince George.
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There also was an interesting note about the Preston outburst on Regan Bartel’s blog. Bartel, of course, is the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, so had a great seat for the show.
If you have seen the video, you will understand what Bartel is writing:
“I understand the camera crew in the building are getting a bad wrap for the video coverage of Preston's outburst. During the altercation, the camera crew often move away from the Hurricanes bench and show pictures of the goaltenders, the Rockets bench and even the crowd. I am told the video crew has a long document that they must adhere too when 'shooting the game' and when incidents like this occur. I don't have all the details of those guidelines, but not to embarrass the opposition team is roughly part of those requirements. If the camera/video crew had free reign, can you imagine what type of damage they could do with additional graphics?”
So there you have it. Now you know why you were watching a laughing goaltender while Preston was putting on the best coaching show seen in the WHL this season.
———
C Tyler Johnson of the Spokane Chiefs signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning upon his return from a two-game swing to Prince George on the weekend. Johnson, 20, was a free agent. . . . According to cap geek.com, the contract calls for him to be paid $67,500 in the AHL, with NHL salaries of $690,000, $740,000 and $840,000. . . . The signing bonus is $270,000, paid over three years.
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F Wacey Hamilton, 20, of the Medicine Hat Tigers has signed a three-year NHL deal with the Ottawa Senators. Hamilton was in camp last fall with the Colorado Avalanche but never signed. . . . Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen reports that at least 10 other NHL teams were in the hunt for Hamilton. That story is right here.
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If you’re into collecting jerseys, you should know that the Swift Current Broncos are auctioning off their 2010-11 game-worn retro third jerseys. They wore them in Saturday games this season.
According to a release from the Broncos:
“Bidding will start at $50 and additional bids will be accepted in $10 increments. Fans may bid online right here, over the phone at 306-773-1509 or at any home games leading up to and during the March 19 game with the Prince Albert Raiders.”
———
Dylan Bumbarger, who blogs mostly about the Portland Winterhawks, checked out some numbers supplied by the Winterhawks’ front office and takes issue with some of them.
There’s more right here.
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Five brothers playing on the same hockey team? That’s the case in the Whitemud Hockey League in Saskatchewan where the Hunter brothers — Brock, Dusty, J.J., Luke and Ty — all play for the Shaunavon Badgers. There’s more right here from the Shaunavon Standard.
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The WHL lost a friend on Feb. 7 when Louise Kruger died at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital at the age of 68. Fanner, as she was known to anyone who had the good fortune to come into contact with her, and her late husband, Scoof, watched three sons — Darren, Scott and Trevor — play in the WHL, all with the Swift Current Broncos. Scott, of course, died in the accident that involved the Broncos’ bus. . . . Fanner also was a sister to Lorne Frey, who now is the Kelowna Rockets’ assistant GM, director of player personnel and head scout. . . . If you are so inclined, donations may be made to the Swift Current Broncos Hockey Association Memorial Fund, Box 2345, Swift Current SK, S9H 4X6.
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JUST NOTES: G Jim Watt (Spokane, Saskatoon, 2002-06) has signed with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. He had been with the U of Windsor Lancers, who were eliminated from the playoffs late in February. Watt, 24, is from Edmonton. . . . The Vancouver Giants are home to the Chilliwack Bruins tonight, but are likely to be missing six or seven regulars. F Spencer Bennett (hand), D Darren Bestland (back), F Teal Burns (shoulder), F Brendan Gallagher (head), D Tyler Hart (shoulder), F Connor Redmond (shoulder) and D Joel Rogers (concussion) all are on the limp. Of that bunch, only Bestland is possible for tonight. . . . Vancouver has brought in D Dalton Olsen, 17, from the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles, whose season is over. Olsen, from Calgary, is the younger brother of D Dylan Olsen, who played for Canada’s national junior team in Buffalo and now is with the AHL‘s Rockford IceHogs. . . . The Giants also have added D Blake Orban, 16, who was a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. He was with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes. . . .
Also tonight, the Brandon Wheat Kings are expecting a big crowd as they entertain F Brayden Schenn and the Saskatoon Blades, while the Regina Pats hope to keep their playoff push moving forward as they visit the Raiders in Prince Albert. . . .
———
In Prince George on Tuesday night, Red Deer G Darcy Kuemper earned his 12th shutout of the season as the Rebels beat the Cougars, 7-0. . . . Kuemper is one shutout shy of tying the WHL’s single season record that is shared by Bryan Bridges (Seattle, 2004-05) and Kelly Guard (Kelowna, 2003-04). . . . The Cougars have been blanked five times this season. . . . Red Deer F Byron Froese scored four times, giving him 40 goals this season. He had a career-high 29 last season with the Everett Silvertips. Froese is the first Rebels skater to get to 40 since F Matt Ellison scored 40 times in 2002-03. . . . Red Deer F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and three helpers. . . . The victory allowed the Rebels to stay three points ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers in the race for the Central Division pennant, which brings with it the Eastern Conference’s second seed. . . . Prince George has lost four in a row. . . .
The Tigers were beating the visiting Calgary Hitmen 6-2. . . . F Linden Vey had two goals for the Tigers, while F Emerson Etem had one. . . . Vey has 44 goals and a WHL-leading 112 points, six more than Spokane F Tyler Johnson. . . . Etem has 42 goals, 10 of them over his last 11 games. . . . The loss officially eliminated the Hitmen from the playoffs. The Hitmen, the WHL’s defending champions, had a run of 13 straight playoff appearances come to an end. . . .
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored the game’s last six goals and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-2. . . . Attendance was 2,282. . . . Ice D Brayden McNabb scored his 20th goal and added two assists. . . . F Cody Eakin and F Matt Fraser also had a goal and two assists each for the Ice. . . . Kootenay is fourth in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Medicine Hat. . . .
In Spokane, the Chiefs unleashed 50 shots as they opened a five-game homestand by beating the Everett Silvertips, 4-2. . . . Spokane won the season series 7-1-0 and gave up just 10 goals in the process. . . . Everett G Luke Siemens, starting in place of the injured Kent Simpson (ankle), stopped 46 shots. . . . The Chiefs were ahead 3-0 before Everett got goals from F Tyler Maxwell, his 40th, and F Manraj Hayer, his third. . . . Everett scored on the game’s only power play. Referees Sean Raphael and Shane Warschaw handed out only one minor penalty, that to Spokane F Darren Kramer for instigating. Kramer was involved in his WHL-leading 44th fight. He has 11 points, including six goals, and 290 penalty minutes in 62 games. Kramer, who joined the Chiefs early in October from the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm, also has representation. He has signed with Carlos Sosa and Darcy Tucker of Turning Point Sports Management. . . . F Jake Doty of the Seattle Thunderbirds is a distant second, with 24 fighting majors, while F Ryan Hanes of the Kamloops Blazers has 21. . . . The Chiefs, who have won five in a row, are one point behind the Western Conference- and U.S. Division-leading Portland Winterhawks. Each team has six games remaining, including a season-ending meeting in Portland on March 20. . . . The Silvertips, who have lost five in a row, are tied for sixth with the Chilliwack Bruins, three points ahead of the Prince George Cougars and Kamloops Blazers. . . .
In Kamloops, F Justin Feser, playing his 200th regular-season game, scored with 55.4 seconds left in the third period to give the Tri-City Americans a 5-4 victory over the Blazers. . . . Tri-City D Zach Yuen had two goals and an assist, and was plus-4. . . . It was Yuen’s first WHL two-goal game. . . . Kamloops lost F J.C. Lipon with a suspected separated shoulder in the first period. . . . The Americans are eight points behind Spokane so appear headed for a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference. . . . The victory was No. 40 for Tri-City which has won at least that many each of the last five seasons. . . . The Blazers, who have lost four in a row, remain tied with Prince George for the conference’s last playoff spot. Kamloops has four games remaining; the Cougars have five left. . . . They close out the season with a home-and-home set, playing in Kamloops on March 19 and in Prince George on March 20. . . . If they are tied for the last playoff spot at that point, they would play a sudden-death game in the home of the team with the most regular-season victories. At present, each team has 29 victories. The second tiebreaker is the record in games between the teams; the Cougars are 5-1-0 against the Blazers this season.

Victoria Bruins?

One day last week a Chilliwack Bruins’ season-ticket holder -- yes, there are some! -- asked in an email if I might have any idea why the team hadn’t yet sent out season-ticket renewal notices.
Alarm bells went off immediately, although my response was somewhat more tepid. At the time, I was prepared to cut the Bruins some slack and wrote back that perhaps they were waiting to tie them into playoff ticket sales. Then, when I thought about it, I wondered why the playoff vouchers hadn’t already gone out and, if they had, why weren't season-ticket forms with them?
Perhaps we now know the answer.
Because now it would seem that, while they may not have the moving van backed up to the door, the Bruins have at least looked up the phone number.
Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times has spoken with Darryl Porter, one of the franchise’s owners, and there isn’t one speck of hope there if you’re a Bruins’ fan.
Olsen’s story is right here.
At the end of the story, Porter does say that season-ticket renewals are in the works. Although it would seem the horse has left the barn and the Bruins just may want to save on the postage.
You can bet that the denials are soon to start flying from all directions, and we're going to hear words like "due diligence" a lot, too. But there is far too much smoke here to ignore the fact that Victoria is closer to getting a WHL franchise than it has been since the Cougars left for Prince George after the 1993-94 season.
When you combine Porter’s comments with the story that is in Friday’s Victoria Times Colonist, well, how does Victoria Bruins sound?
According to the Times Colonist, the city of Victoria has told RG Properties that it “will extend RG Properties' lease at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to 2046 if the company can secure a Western Hockey League franchise.”
So, when you put two and two together, along with the fact that RG boss Graham Lee apparently was spotted at a recent Bruins' game, well, it would seem things are moving right along.
The problem, of course, is that the WHL has long said it doesn’t want to go back to Vancouver Island unless there are two teams located there. And, at the moment, Victoria is the home of the only arena that meets WHL standards.
However, there now are two people with WHL ties who are involved at the ownership level with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. Bill Gallacher, who owns the Portland Winterhawks, and former WHL goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who also is involved with the WHL alumni, are among the Clippers’ owners, so perhaps a plan is afoot to build a new arena in that city.
And, for what it’s worth, I heard from one WHL insider today who said he had heard that RG Properties has had a deal in place with a WHL franchise since some time in October.
We may never find out whether that is true. We also will never know whether the arrival of the AHL's Abbotsford Heat had anything to do with the predicament in which the Bruins find themselves. If it did, though, Bruins ownership must be just livid with the NHL's Calgary Flames. They, of course, own the WHL's Calgary Hitmen and the Heat is the Flames's top minor league affiliate.
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’Tis the time of the season when NHL teams are trolling the waters in search of signable free agents.
In the last week, we’ve seen the Dallas Stars sign D Brenden Dillon, 20, of the Seattle Thunderbirds. And, on Friday, the San Jose Sharks signed D Sena Acolatse, 20, of the Prince George Cougars.
Next up?
Perhaps it will be C Tyler Johnson, 20, of the Spokane Chiefs. He is said to have at least two offers on the table in front of him, with more than a couple of other teams also circling and checking out the situation.
Johnson’s numbers, his defensive play and his prowess in the faceoff circle make you wonder what’s taken so long?