Frog Lake plans moving forward . . . Wenatchee not ready now . . . T-Birds, Royals await test results

Coun. Hong: "I want to apologize to the community..." over heated interactions during events centre process. "This was rushed." #nanaimo

— Dominic Abassi (@domabassi) March 14, 2017

Coun. Thorpe: "we will take this as a lesson," on a message sent by voters of council's poor behaviour.

"It's a shame" the WHL rushed us

— Dominic Abassi (@domabassi) March 14, 2017

More than 48 hours after the taxpayers of Nanaimo resoundingly defeated a referendum that would have led to the relocation of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice to the Vancouver Island city, the WHL has yet to comment.

Presumably, the high foreheads are huddled together and studying options after that referendum — the City wanted the OK to borrow $80 million for an events centre that would house a WHL team — was soundly rejected. If you missed it, 80 per cent of the 23,885 people who voted said NO.

So . . . if places like Winnipeg, Wenatchee, Wash., Penticton and Abbotsford aren’t options, what’s left?

You may recall that it was eight months ago when Alberta’s Frog Lake First Nation announced that it wants to build a complex just west of Lloydminster, Alta., that would include an arena. It also revealed that it wanted a WHL franchise for that arena.

It seems that those plans continue to move forward but there isn’t yet a shovel in the ground. In fact, mylloydminsternow.com reports right here that it all is moving through the regulatory process with Vermilion River County and the City of Lloydminster.

The plans for the complex also include a casino and that awaits direction from Alberta Gaming and Liquor, which presently has in place a moratorium on any new casinos. With the proposed site just off Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway), there also is traffic-impact study in progress.

In other words, an arena there is a long ways away.

The difference between that site and Nanaimo is that the Vancouver Island community has a facility — the 2,400-seat Frank Crane Arena — that would have housed the WHL team until the new arena was ready. In Lloydminster, the Centennial Civic Centre, with 1,700 seats, likely is seen as being too small, even on a temporary basis. It is home to the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats.

It’s interesting that the WHL went so far as to sign a memorandum of understanding with Nanaimo that guaranteed a team and a 20-year lease had the referendum passed and a new arena been built.

Bruce Simms, the project manager for Frog Lake, told mylloydminsternow.com:

“What we’re hearing is ‘if you build a building, and you talk to us to apply, we’ll be very interested.’

“They’re not really going to talk to you seriously until you’ve taken concrete steps to build a facility. But the fact that we are talking to them, and hearing what they have to say about arena size and equipment, etc., they understand we’re serious.”

The WHL has to hope they’re serious, because that flat, undeveloped piece of land just west of Lloydminster, Alta., may be their only hope right now.

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Coun. Bestwick says unless there is a different model, events centre discussion likely won't come up again for 10+ years in #Nanaimo

— Dominic Abassi (@domabassi) March 14, 2017

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Just because Wenatchee isn’t an option for the WHL at the moment, doesn’t mean it won’t re-enter the picture at a later date.

Bliss Littler, the BCHL’s franchise’s general manager and head coach, told Taking Note on Monday evening: “We’re not there as an organization yet. We should catch up soon.”

The Wild plays out of the 4,300-seat Toyota Town Center.

The Wild had the BCHL’s best record (45-9-4) during the regular season and eliminated the Prince George Spruce Kings from a first-round series on Sunday. The Wild is preparing to face the Chilliwack Chiefs in the second round.

According to announced attendances, the Wild drew 73,837 fans to 29 home regular-season games this season, an average of 2,546 per game.

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F Mathew Barzal of the Seattle Thunderbirds has been isolated while the team waits to see if he does have mumps.

Russ Farwell, the WHL team’s general manager, said Monday morning that “we are being careful but will not know for three days. We are treating it as mumps until we learn otherwise.”

Barzal has undergone tests and it is those results which the team awaits.

If it turns out that Barzal has mumps, the Thunderbirds will become the fourth WHL team to have been stricken, along with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Medicine Hat Tigers and Swift Current Broncos.

The Victoria Royals are awaiting tests on head coach Dave Lowry and defencemen Ralph Jarratt and Mitchell Prowse, who have been isolated since late last week after showing symptoms.

There is an outbreak of mumps in the state of Washington and it has spread to the U of Washington, where at least a dozen students have been diagnosed.

According to KING 5, a Seattle TV station, the Washington State Health department has reported 563 cases of mumps, with more than 200 each in King and Spokane counties. That is quite an increase from 2016 when 154 confirmed and probable cases were reported statewide.

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The Swift Current Broncos have signed F Ethan Regnier, 16, who is a native of Prince Albert. He played this season with the midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires, recording 18 goals and 36 assists in 44 games. Last season, he had 10 goals and eight assists in 41 games with the Legionnaires. . . . He was an 11th-round selection in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. . . . Regnier was on the bus with the Broncos when it left Monday for Brandon and a game tonight (Tuesday) with the Wheat Kings.

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F Tate Popple, who turned 17 on March 3, has joined the Moose Jaw Warriors for the remainder of this season. Popple, from Brandon, played the past two seasons with the midget AAA Wheat Kings. He had 30 points, including 12 goals, in 44 games last season. This season, he put up 22 goals and 32 assists in 41 games. . . . He is the son of Lavern Popple, who played 18 games with the WHL’s Wheat Kings (1977-80).

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The Kootenay Ice has shut down D Austin Wellsby and D Sam Huston for the remainder of the season, both with undisclosed injuries. . . . Wellsby, 19, had six goals and 12 assists in 60 games in what was his second full season with the Ice. From Chilliwack, B.C., he was a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. . . . Huston, 17, had a goal and four assists in 45 in his freshman season. From Brandon, he was a ninth-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft.

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The Everett Silvertips have added F Dawson Butt to their roster. He has been playing for the Everett Jr. Silvertips 16UAAA club (NAPHL), who are coached by former WHL/NHL F Turner Stevenson. A native of Buckley, Wash., Butt was a sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. He has played two games with the Silvertips this season. . . . In 22 regular-season games with the Jr. Silvertips, Butt had 18 goals and 11 assists. . . . He is the son of Jamie Butt, who played four WHL seasons (1992-96) with the Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets.

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The Kamloops Blazers have added three 16-year-olds — D Devan Harrison, G Max Palaga and F Brodi Stuart — to their roster for the remainder of this season. . . . Harrison, a second-round pick in the 2015 WHL bantam draft, had five goals and 24 assists in 44 games with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. . . . Palaga, who is from Kamloops, played this season with the Thompson Blazers of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. . . . Stuart had 44 points, including 18 goals, in 34 games with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.

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Dave Burkholder won’t be back for a 17th season as head coach of the Niagara U Purple Eagles. The move comes after a 5-31-3 season. That included three regular-season victories and two more in a first-round upset of RIT in an Atlantic Hockey quarterfinal series. Canisius eliminated Niagara from playoffs last weekend. . . . The school is saying the decision for change was “mutual.” . . . In a news release, athletic director Simon Gray said: "Both Dave and the university have decided that a change in leadership is best for the program.” . . . Burkholder’s record at Niagara was 247-279-68.

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If the playoffs began today . . . 

Eastern Conference

Regina vs. Calgary

Medicine Hat vs. Brandon

Moose Jaw vs. Swift Current

Lethbridge vs. Red Deer

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Western Conference

Seattle vs. Tri-City

Prince George vs. Victoria

Kelowna vs. Kamloops

Everett vs. Portland

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MONDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Swift Current at Brandon, 7 p.m.

Edmonton vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.

Red Deer at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.

Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Saskatoon at Regina, 7 p.m.

Portland vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Victoria vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7 p.m.

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Broncos add veteran forward . . . Nanaimo may get new hockey team . . . Pats get back on track

F Ryan Graham, who played at least five games with the Saskatoon Blades in each of the past six

RYAN GRAHAM

seasons, got caught up in the WHL’s 20-year-old game on Sunday and now is on the roster of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . In return for Graham, the Blades acquired a second-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018. . . . Graham, from Calgary, has a goal and four assists in 11 games with the Blades this season. He missed the start of the season with an undisclosed injury. . . . A fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, Graham has 116 points, including 59 goals, in 248 regular-season games, all with the Blades. He scored 20 goals in 2014-15 and added 22 last season. . . . The Broncos now have two 20-year-olds on their roster, F Calvin Spencer being the other, so still have room to add another one. . . . With F Jesse Shynkaruk, 20, due back this week after being out with an undisclosed injury, the Blades had to trim one 20-year-old to get down to the maximum of three. Their other 20s are F Kolten Olynek and D Bryton Sayers. . . . Interestingly, the Blades are to visit the Broncos on Tuesday night.

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The City of Nanaimo, according to CHEK News, “has completed an initial study looking into the building of an event centre with up to 8,300 seats, depending on the event.” . . . Apparently, a new facility would seat up to 5,700 for hockey. . . . But a new facility — it would cost somewhere between $62 million and $83 million, and financing isn’t in place — is a long way from reality. . . . In fact, going by the report by CHEK’s Kendall Hanson, the puck may well have been passed back to the WHL. “We need to have a team that has a stake in the building if we choose to go to a WHL team,” Mayor Bill McKay told Hanson. “We need to have investors that have a stake in the building, otherwise they’re completely immobile and we’re the ones taking all the risk.” . . . In other words, the Kootenay Ice will be in Cranbrook for a while yet. . . . Hanson's story is right here.

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While the WHL isn’t likely to land in Nanaimo any time soon, there could be a new hockey team on the way to the Vancouver Island city. . . . VIU Hockey Inc., a non-profit group, is hoping to land a franchise in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League that would begin play out of the Ice Centre in September. . . . Dominic Abassi of the Nanaimo News reports that a team in Nanaimo would play “under the banner of Vancouver Island University athletics.” A hockey team wouldn’t be a full-fledged member of the athletic department, but would play as a club team. . . . The BCIHL’s next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7 and more light could be shed on the situation at that time. . . . The BCIHL features teams at Selkirk College in Castlegar, B.C., Trinity Western U in Langley, B.C., Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Simon Fraser U in Burnaby, B.C., and the U of Victoria. . . . There had been a club team associated with Thompson Rivers U in Kamloops, but it folded when the athletic department dropped its support when it wasn’t able to come up with a suitable business plan. Club teams are responsible for their own budgets, something the Nanaimo group figures will run about $80,000 per season. . . . Abassi’s story on the Nanaimo project is right here.

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It has been a long time — a long, long time — since I was an avid reader of comic books. Since those days, I really haven’t had occasion to read any, especially since our son, who also loved them, vacated the premises what seems a long time ago.

But just the other day I kind of reconnected with the genre when the graphic novel Hockey Karma landed on my desk.

Granted, Hockey Karma isn’t a comic book, although I would suggest it is a comic book for adults.

Never mind, though, because the important thing is that I quite enjoyed the experience and you can bet that I will be revisiting the genre.

Hockey Karma was written by Howard Shapiro, illustrated by Andres Mossa and lettered by Ryan Ferrier. It is the final installment in what a news release refers to as a “graphic triptych.” Hockey Karma completes Shapiro’s Forever Friends Trilogy, along with The Stereotypical Freaks and The Hockey Friends.

It details the final season in Jeremiah (Jake) Jacobson’s professional career. There’s a new kid in town and a transition is underway — Barclay Pedersen is replacing Jacobson as the face of the Can Am Hockey League’s Bay City Blades, who happen to have a female head coach.

It isn’t easy for Jacobson to hand over the torch as he battles with the realization that the end of his 14-year CAHL career is nigh. There also is a bad back with which to deal, something that really — really! — complicates things.

There is an agent, Tom Leonard, who is the centre piece in a couple of subplots that only add to the story.

Interestingly, each of the 12 chapters is preceded by a two-, three- or four-tune playlist featuring the work of various artists including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Cure, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Joe Walsh, and Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, just to name a few.

All in all, devouring Hockey Karma was a terrific experience and a great introduction to its genre. Yes, I will be back.

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SUNDAY’S GAMES:

At Portland, F Tyler Wong scored 18 seconds into OT to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a wild 6-5 victory

TYLER WONG

over the Winterhawks. . . . Portland (10-12-1), which had won its previous two games, took a 5-3 lead into the third period after F Evan Weinger, who had two goals, scored his ninth goal at 19:18 of the second. . . . Lethbridge cut into the deficit when F Ryley Lindgren (9) scored at 9:24 of the third. . . . F Giorgio Estephan (9) tied it with a PP goal at 17:45. . . . Wong won it with his second goal of the game and 13th of the season. . . . Lindgren also finished with two goals, while F Colton Kroeker had two assists. . . . The Winterhawks got a goal and two assists from D Caleb Jones, who has three scores, with F Keegan Iverson and Ryan Hughes each chipping in two assists. . . . Lethbridge starter Stuart Skinner was beaten three times on seven shots in 14:34. Ryan Gilchrist came on to stop 28 of 30 shots in 45:03. . . . The Winterhawks got 25 saves from Michael Bullion. . . . Lethbridge was 2-6 on the PP; Portland was 1-7. . . . The Hurricanes (9-11-3) have won two in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 3,049.

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At Langley, B.C., less than 24 hours after losing for the first time in regulation time, the Regina Pats

CONNOR HOBBS

dismantled the Vancouver Giants to the tune of 8-3. . . . On Saturday, the Victoria Royals had beaten the visiting Pats, 5-3. . . . On Sunday, Regina (16-1-3) scored four first-period goals and coasted to victory. . . . The Giants (10-14-0) have lost two in a row. . . . F Luc Smith gave Regina a 1-0 lead with his fourth goal at 9:26. . . . Regina then struck three times in 4:50, with F Adam Brooks (8) scoring at 13:50, F Nick Henry (9) counting on a PP at 16:43 and D Connor Hobbs getting his 10th at 18:40. . . . Henry finished with two goals, while F Sam Steel, the WHL’s leading scorer, had three assists to become the season’s first 40-point man. With 41 points, Steel holds a seven-point edge over F Mason Shaw of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Regina F Filip Ahl scored his 18th goal, 10 of which have come via the PP, as did this one. He also had an assist. . . . Regina D Chase Harrison drew an assist on Ahl’s goal to run his point streak to 15 games, the longest in the WHL this season. . . . Brooks added three assists to his goal. The WHL’s defending scoring champion has at least a point in all 14 games in which he has played. Overall, he has eight goals and 24 helpers. . . . Smith and Hobbs each added an assist to their goals. Hobbs has 28 points, tops among WHL defencemen. He also has goals in four straight games. . . . F Johnny Wesley (5) had a goal and an assist for Vancouver. . . . Regina starter Jordan Hollett stopped 21 of 24 shots in 51:55, leaving with an undisclosed injury after Vancouver’s third goal. Tyler Brown finished up, stopping the only shot he faced in 8:05. . . . The Pats next play Tuesday when they meet the Cougars in Prince George. If Hollett can’t dress, Regina will have to bring in a backup goaltender. . . . Vancouver starter Ryan Kubic was beaten three times on six shots in 16:43. David Tendeck came on to stop 16 of 21 shots in 43:17. . . . Regina was 2-6 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-5. . . . The Pats have scored at least eight goals in five of 20 games this season. . . . Announced attendance: 4,130.

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At Victoria, the Kelowna Rockets scored four times in the first period and went on to beat the Royals, 5-1.

ROD SOUTHAM

. . . One night earlier, the Royals had beaten visiting Regina, 5-3, handing the Pats their first regulation-time loss in 19 games. . . . F Rod Southam, Kelowna’s captain, led the way with two goals, both of them in the first period, giving his six this season. Southam was playing in his 199th regular-season WHL game. . . . F Leif Mattson (1) got the visitors started at 2:21, with Southam scoring a 4:44 and F Kole Lind (11) finding the mark at 11:03. . . . Southam’s second goal, at 12:55, sent the Rockets into the second period with a 4-0 edge. . . . D Nolan Foote (3) upped Kelowna’s lead to 5-0 at 8:26 of the second period. . . . F Dante Hannoun (10) got Victoria’s only goal, at 9:40 of the second. . . . Kelowna got 25 saves from G Michael Herringer. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse allowed two goals on five shots in the first 4:44 and gave way to Dylan Myskiw, who finished the opening period, giving up two goals on seven shots. Outhouse was back for the start of the second and finished the game. In total, he stopped 22 of 25 shots. . . . Kelowna, which will play in Victoria again on Tuesday, was 1-4 on the PP; Victoria was 1-7. . . . F Jake Kryski was among Kelowna’s scratches. . . . The Rockets (13-10-0) have won two in a row. . . . Victoria (13-9-2) had won its previous two games. . . . Announced attendance: 3,084.

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MONDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.

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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Red Deer at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Medicine Hat at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.

Regina at Prince George, 7 p.m.

Edmonton vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

Saskatoon at Swift Current, 7 p.m.

Kelowna at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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