Noel gets down to work . . . Changes extend scoring streaks . . . Hurricanes, Rebels make a deal

F Cody Almond (Kelowna, 2005-09) was released by the Minnesota Wild (NHL) and returned to Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A). Almond had signed a five-year contract with Genève-Servette in June, then got a one-year NHL deal with the Wild in July. He was pointless in five games with Iowa (AHL). . . .
D Garnet Exelby (Saskatoon, Regina, 1998-2001) has been released by Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He was pointless in 17 games. . . .
F Owen Fussey (Calgary, Moose Jaw, 1999-2003) has been released by the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). He had nine goals and five assists in 19 games.
---

THE COACHING GAME:

Claude Noel worked his first practice as head coach of the Vancouver Giants on Monday. Afterwards, he spent a few minutes chatting with the media.
Interestingly, it seems that Noel didn’t sign a contract. That, he apparently told management, is something that can be worked out down the road.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has the highlights from Noel’s chat right here.
Cam Tucker of Metro Vancouver was there, too. His story is right here.
Vancouver’s first game under Noel is scheduled for Friday against the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
---



A couple of scoring changes after the Kootenay Ice’s 4-3 OT victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds on Sunday extended two scoring streaks. . . . Ice F Sam Reinhart was credited with an assist, allowing him to run his streak to 11 games. He has 23 points, including six goals, over that stretch, which encompasses every game since he was returned by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau also picked up an assist, and he’s on a 10-game streak. He’s got 17 points, including seven goals, over that stretch.
---
Neither D Jordan Thomson (concussion) nor F Wyatt Sloboshan (broken jaw) is with the Saskatoon Blades, who open a B.C. Division swing tonight in Kamloops against the Blazers. . . . As well, the Blades have some illness going through the dressing room. F Sam McKechnie didn’t skate on Monday, and Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that D Amil Krupic “was the first one off the ice because he wasn’t well.” . . . F Luke Gingras and F Landon Welykholowa, both of whom missed a 4-2 loss in Moose Jaw on Saturday, returned to the ice.
---


The Red Deer Rebels have acquired F Riley Sheen, 20, who had been the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ leading scorer. . . . The Rebels get Sheen and a conditional fifth-round 2017 bantam draft pick in exchange for F/D Devan Fafard, 20, and F Brayden Burke, 17. Burke was a seventh-round pick by the Rebels in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Fafard, a defenceman by trade, has been playing up front with the Rebels. He is out with an undisclosed injury and may not play for a week, while Burke has been out since Oct. 5 with an undisclosed injury but is back skating. . . . The draft pick apparently is conditional on Burke reaching a pre-determined number of points. . . . Sheen had 23 points, including 20 assists, in 27 games with the Hurricanes, who have the WHL’s poorest record. Sheen also has played with the Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle Thunderbirds. In 209 regular-season games, he has 115 points, 36 of them goals. . . . Sheen is expected to be in the Rebels’ lineup tonight when they play host to the Calgary Hitmen.
---



The WHL’s Christmas shopping fund has increased by $1,750 as four teams have been asked to make contributions. . . . The Kamloops Blazers were fined $500 after a player (D Ryan Rehill) instigated a fight in the last five minutes of a 7-3 loss to the visiting Regina Pats on Friday. Rehill was hit with a one-game suspension and sat out Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the visiting Victoria Cougars. . . . The Swift Current Broncos were fined $250 “for actions of player at Red Deer” on Saturday. Broncos F Carter Rigby drew a one-game suspension for those actions. . . . The Broncos were fined an additional $500 for their part in a multiple fight situation in that same game. The Red Deer Rebels also were fined $500.
---

Hey @calstampeders, you have to win it to break it, right? #Congrats #GreyCup
— Spokane Chiefs (@chiefshockey) December 2, 2014

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Roman Tomanek (Calgary, Seattle, 2004-06) was released by Banska Bystrica (Slovakia, Extraliga). He had eight goals and four assists in 23 games for Banska Bystrica this season. Tomanek started the season with Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic, Extraliga), going pointless in seven games. . . .
D Aris Brimanis (Brandon, 1992-93) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Hannover Indians (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had six goals and 13 assists in 52 games with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL) last season.
---
If you enjoy your time here, why not make a donation to help the cause. It's simple . . . just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
---
WHL TRADE TRACKER (trades made since Dec. 27):
Trades: 3
Players: 9
Draft picks: 3
---
The Prince George Cougars dealt F Charles Inglis, 19, to the Red Deer Rebels for F Daulton Siwak and a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
Inglis had been sent home by the Cougars following a game on Dec. 2 in Kamloops. From what I understand, he was found in violation of a team rule that, while by itself may not have been considered a big deal, was the last straw.
Inglis, selected fourth overall by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2007 bantam draft, has a lot of talent but hasn’t been able to harness it off the ice. He put up 60 points, including 32 goals, in 69 games with the Cougars last season and had 16 points, nine of them goals, in 16 games when he was sent home this season. He has twice attended NHL camps, first with the Phoenix Coyotes and then with the San Jose Sharks.
Siwak, from Olds, Alta., had seven points, including five gaols, in 18 games. He was in his third season with the Rebels.
---
The Saskatoon Blades have traded D Devan Fafard, 17, and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft to the Red Deer Rebels for D Matthew Pufahl, 18, and F Locke Muller, 18.
Fafard, an eighth-round pick by Saskatoon in the 2009 bantam draft, has two assists and 38 penalty minutes in 23 games. He is from Carlyle, Sask.
Pufahl, who is from Saskatoon, has four points in 30 games. He was a fourth-round pick by Red Deer in the 2008 bantam draft.
Muller, from St. Paul, Alta., has six points in 33 games.
---
JUST NOTES:
F Tyrel Seaman of the Brandon Wheat Kings played Wednesday in a 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Regina Pats. It was his first appearance after missing nine games with a concussion. Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Wheat Kings, reports that Seaman didn’t practice Thursday. “It appears there may have been a whiplash affect on Seaman after he was on the back end of a domino collision involving defenceman Ryley Miller and Regina forward Jordan Weal,” Luebke reported. . . . It wasn’t known Thursday whether Seaman would be able to play tonight against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . .
The Calgary Hitmen boarded their bus in Prince George on Thursday at 10 a.m., and headed south to Kamloops where they are to play the Blazers tonight.
Unfortunately, there was a serious accident on the highway and the Hitmen, along with a whole lot of other people, spent a good part of their day just sitting. The Hitmen arrived at Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops just after 7:30 p.m., what normally is about a six-hour drive turned into almost a 10-hour day.
The Cougars, who beat the Hitmen 3-1 on Wednesday, avoided the accident – they actually left after the game and headed for Vancouver, where they are to play the Giants tonight.
---
It would appear that Portland Winterhawks F Sven Bartschi, who is playing for Switzerland at the World Junior Chamionship, has a concussion and is out indefinitely. Bartschi was injured when he took a hit in a 4-3 shootout loss to Sweden on Wednesday.
Swiss head coach Manuele Celio has said that he doesn’t expect Bartschi to play today against Latvia and that he isn’t sure when he might play again.
“He got a hit in the (neutral) zone,” Celio told reporters. “He wasn’t prepared for it. He didn’t feel really good after the hit. So now the doctors try to check on him, look at what’s going on in neck, head; could be like a concussion now.”
Bartschi, whose NHL rights belong to the Calgary Flames, has already put up an amazing 54 points, including 42 assists, in 25 games with the Winterhawks. . . .
---
A couple of former prominent WHLer signed PTO deals on Thursday. . . . The AHL’s Abbotsford Heat signed F Judd Blackwater, who spent three seasons with the Spokane Chiefs (2005-08). He has 37 points in 31 games with the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wrangers. . . . Meanwhile, the Toronto Marlies have signed D Ray Macias, who played for the Kamloops Blazers (2003-07). The smooth-skating Macias has eight points in 19 games with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. . . .
---
The Vancouver Giants have lost D Luke Fenske (hand). He was injured in a 3-1 loss to the Blazers in Kamloops on Wednesday night.
---
THURSDAY’S GAMES:
In Prince Albert, F Anthony Bardaro drew two assists in his first game with the Raiders as they beat the Saskatoon Blades, 5-2. . . . The Raiders now have won five in a row to close within six points of a playoff spot. . . . The Blades scored the game’s first two goals before the first period was five minutes old. D Duncan Siemens got the first one, his fifth of the season. That matches his career high. He has five goals in 36 games this season; he had five in 72 last season. . . . The Raiders held their annual Toque Toss (fans throw toques, scarves and mitts) and D Matt Waseylenko, playing in his second WHL game, got the goal. . . . The Raiders took 60 of 106 penalty minutes. . . . Saskatoon has lost five in a row. . . .
In Red Deer, F Tyson Ness had two goals and an assist to lead the Rebels to a 4-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Ness has 11 goals on the season. . . . His 16 points in 35 games are two more than he had in 68 games last season when he had seven goals and seven assists. . . . Both Ice goals came via the PP. . . . D Devan Fafard and F Charles Inglis, both acquired earlier in the day, were in Red Deer’s lineup. . . . Red Deer G Deven Dubyk stopped 31 shots. . . .
In Lethbridge, F Hunter Shinkaruk had a goal and two assists to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Shinkaruk, 17, has 51 points, including 31 goals, in 38 games. Last season, he finished with 42 points, 14 of them goals, in 63 games. . . . The Hurricanes took 58 of 74 penalty minutes. The Tigers, who have won four straight, were assessed two fighting majors and three minors. . . . The Tigers were 2-9 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 0-3. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Brendan Shinnimin had three goals and an assist and was plus-4 as his Tri-City Americans beat the Kelowna Rockets, 5-1, for their ninth straight victory. . . . Shinnimin broke open a 1-1 game with back-to-back shorthanded goals at 4:05 and 8:07 of the second period. . . . He added his third goal at 5:11 of the third, giving him a natural hat trick. . . . He has 20 goals now, thanks to his first regular-season three-goal game. This was his 231^st game. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 33 shots. . . .
---
In Tecumseh, Ont., F Sam Reinhart (Kootenay) scored twice as Team Pacific scored a 5-2 victory over Team West in the opening game for both teams at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Macoy Erkamps (Lethbridge), Morgan Klimchuk (Regina) and Curtis Lazar (Edmonton), the latter into an empty net, also scored for the winners. . . . Nick Zajac (Saskatoon) and Remi Laurencelle replied for Team West. . . . Laurencelle plays for the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild. He was an eighth-round pick by Lethbridge in the WHL’s 2010 bantam draft. . . . Eric Comrie (Tri-City) was in goal for Team Pacific and saw only 14 shots. . . . There were 34 WHL players suited up for the game. . . . G Austin Lotz (Everett) stopped 34 shots for Team West.
---
EXTRAS:Greg Wyshynski, over at the Puck Daddy blog, takes a look at the NHL and concussions, and at what the NHL is doing, and perhaps should do, to cut down on them. That piece is right here.
And, yes, there is a lot of talk among hockey people, even at the midget AAA and junior levels, about a need to slow down the game.
---
Puck Daddy also has more on the Don Cherry Piano Desk right here. He talks to the guy who came up with the idea and posted it on YouTube.