As James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail tweeted early Tuesday, the KHL is under financial strain. With the price of oil dropping, the ongoing sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, and the subsequent drop in the Russian economy and value of the ruble, the economics of the league have changed.
Mirtle reported that three KHL teams haven’t paid their players this season and may fold, and that a number of coaches haven’t been paid. He guesses the three teams are Atlant Mytishchi, Slovan Bratislava, and Dinamo Riga, and
writes that “roughly one-third of the KHL has serious problems.” That would be eight of the 24 teams.He goes on to state that “a lot of teams are having payroll issues with players, too.”
Based on reports by Finnish broadcaster YLE, other clubs in financial difficulties include Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, Barys Astana and Sochi.
YLE in October conducted a survey of Finnish players and coaches playing in the KHL this season. From the survey results, YLE concluded that up to eight teams have had difficulties paying salaries on time. According to YLE, Barys Astana was at least one month behind in salary payments, Sochi was having difficulties paying players, and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod was "several months" late with player payments.
One Finnish player with Torpedo said, "I can't deny that I've wondered if I'll ever get all the money I'm due from the club."
Another player said, "At many clubs, money isn't paid on time. Players are badly informed about when salaries are paid. Sometimes, they're paid with the proceeds from three or four home games in a row."
YLE also reported that the Russian state energy corporation Gazprom, a key sponsor for many clubs and the league itself, has missed some scheduled sponsorship payments. This has left a total deficit league-wide running into the tens of millions of euros.
Other Russian media sources report that Atlant may begin selling players in January if finances don’t improve. This is the second season of financial woes for Atlant. In March, five players were declared free agents by the KHL for non-payment of wages.
Finnish media reports indicate that Petri Matikainen, head coach of Slovan Bratislava, has not been paid at all this season.
On Monday, Slovan Bratislava played Jokerit in Helsinki. Helsinki newspaper Iltalehti reported that Matikainen hasn’t received any pay this season and neither have any Slovan players. Matikainen refused to comment on the salary situation but said, "We have had economic problems."
Three players for Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk have refused to practise or play games because they haven’t been paid. The three -- goaltender Ville Kolppanen (Lethbridge, 2009-10) and forwards Dan Sexton and Tim Stapleton -- have refused to practice and didn’t play in games Friday or Sunday. The club announced that they didn’t play due to injury.
Dinamo Riga applied for but was refused funding from the Latvian government last summer, despite a plea from Russian Hockey Federation president Vladislav Tretiak. The Latvian Ministry of Education and Science said that the Law on Sport doesn’t allow distribution of funds from the state budget to professional sports clubs. The club decided to continue in the KHL this season anyway.
Salavat Yuleav Ufa in late October wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for his help in saving the charity organization Ural, the club’s main sponsor. The charity has had its bank accounts frozen as a result of a government investigation. It is unclear from the article whether the focus of the investigation is the bank holding the funds or the charity itself.
A Salavat Yulaev player confirmed at the end of October that they have been paid.
Moscow Regional Sports Minister Roman Teryushkov told the radio station Sport FM that he hopes Vityaz Podolsk will be able the finish this season and that a decision on its future will be made after the season is completed. He ruled out a merger of Vityaz and Atlant.
KHL Chairman of the Board Gennadi Timchenko noted in October that the league is helping Vityaz, Atlant and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
Vityaz president Mikael Golovkov called Tuesday for a reduction of the KHL salary cap for next season from 1.1 billion rubles to 800 million rubles with no exceptions, as part of a move to eventually reduce the cap to 500-600 million rubles. Currently, the 1.1 billion rubble cap is a soft cap with a 20 per cent luxury tax for exceeding it, and four players are exempt from the cap: Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Radulov, Sergei Kostitsyn and Alexander Burmistov. In June, when the KHL set its salary cap, 1.1 billion rubles was US$32 million. Today? $15.9 million.
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THE HURRICANES REPORT:
Pat Siedlecki, the former radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes who is the corporate news director at Clear Sky
Radio, interviewed WHL commissioner Ron Robison on Tuesday morning.Siedlecki then tweeted some highlights . . .
“(Robison) says he had a very candid chat with the Board last week about the state of Lethbridge Hurricanes.”
“Robison says both the Board and the league share the same frustration the Hurricanes aren't seeing the results they would like to see.”
Robison also tells me the WHL has been monitoring the Canes situation closely, especially the financial side of things.
Ron Robison says “there's new private ownership in Regina & PG and that type of model would work well in Lethbridge in our view."
Robison says he would like to see discussion with Canes shareholders on a possible sale of the team to take place "sooner than later."
Robison says the WHL's position is that having shareholders vote on this issue at the next AGM in September doesn't serve much purpose.
Robison says he would hope to see this meeting with shareholders "moved up to sometime early in the new year."
Robison says Board has a chance to assess what they discussed, put some thoughts together and meet with shareholders as soon as possible.
(The complete interview is available on Siedlecki’s blog and is right here. There are some comments posted on Siedlecki’s blog, right after the Robison interview. The third comment is especially astute.)
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Dylan Purcell of the Lethbridge Herald has his take on the Hurricanes right here, and it’s pretty much spot on. Give it a look.
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D Michael Fora and D Patrik Maier of the Kamloops Blazers will be playing in the 2015 World Junior Championship. Both are in their first WHL season. Fora will play for his native Switzerland, while Maier will be with Slovakia. . . . Fora, who has gotten markedly better as this season has moved along, has 20 points, four of them goals, in 35 games with the Blazers, while Maier has six points, including three goals, in 33 games. . . . Fora didn’t play last night in Cranbrook and will miss tonight’s game in Medicine Hat, as well as four games after Christmas. . . . Maier will miss the first four post-Christmas games.
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In an interesting Tuesday transaction, the Calgary Hitmen acquired the WHL rights to G Thatcher Demko from the Spokane Chiefs for conditional draft picks. . . . Guy Flaming (@TPS_Guy) tweeted that the conditional picks are a second-rounder in 2015 and a second- or third-rounder in 2016. . . . Demko, a 19-year-old from San Diego, is playing at Boston College and is likely to be the U.S. national junior team’s starting goaltender. He was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the 2014 NHL draft. . . . This appears to be a simple roll of the dice by Calgary GM Mike Moore as there doesn’t seem to be any indication at this point that Demko is about to leave BC. . . . Moore told Calgary radio station The Fan 960 that “we don’t have any indication he’s coming to play for us. . . . This is still a longshot. we’re taking a flyer here, no doubt.” . . . The Hitmen have two goaltenders on their roster. Mack Shields is 15-8-1/2.74/.899 in 27 games; Evan Johnson is 4-3-2/2.79/.899 in 11 appearances.
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The Portland Winterhawks are going to take a look at F Cody Glass after the Christmas break. Glass, a 15-year-old from Winnipeg, was the 19th overall selection in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. He is playing with the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. Glass has 22 points, including six goals, in 21 games.
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THE BLOG:
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon, the Regina Pats overcame four two-goal deficits and beat the Wheat Kings 6-5 in OT. . . . F Connor Gay won it at 3:24 of extra time with his 15th goal of the season. . . . Brandon F Nolan Patrick gave his side a 5-3 lead with his 14th goal, on the PP, at 3:58 of the third. . . . Regina F Austin Wagner got that one back with his seventh goal, shorthanded, at 8:28. . . . Pats F Patrick D’Amico scored his 12th at 16:55, on the PP, to force OT. . . . Regina F Morgan Klimchuk, cut earlier in the week by Canada’s national junior team, scored his 10th goal and added two assists. . . . Pats F Braden Christoffer got No. 12 and also had two assists. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley scored twice, giving him 22, as he ran his point streak to 12 games. . . . He’s got 14 goals and nine assists in that stretch. . . . Brandon was 3-for-5 on the PP; Regina was 2-for-5. . . . The Wheat Kings again were without F Jayce Hawryluk and F Jesse Gabrielle, both out with undisclosed injuries. . . . Prior to the game, the Pats recalled G Tyler Fuhr from the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins and he was on the bench in support of starter Daniel Wapple. . . . The Pats (20-11-1), who are at home to Lethbridge tonight, have won 15 of their last 18 games, including three in a row over Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings (24-7-4), who lead the East Division by 11 points over Regina, are 3-0-2 in their last five. . . . Regina does hold three games in hand. . . . In Moose Jaw, F Tyler Wong and D Kord Pankewicz each had three points as the Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the Warriors. . . . Wong scored twice, giving him 11 goals, while Pankewicz got his third. . . . Wong’s goals came at 14:23 and 16:35 of the first period, giving Lethbridge a 2-0 lead. The Warriors were never able to catch up. . . . F Tanner Eberle scored his 19th goal for the Warriors. . . . The Hurricanes were 2-for-9 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-3. . . . Lethbridge (7-20-5) went into the game having won once in 16 games. The Hurricanes are in Regina tonight. . . . The Warriors (15-16-3), who play in Prince Albert tonight, have lost two in a row. The Raiders are fifth in the East Division, two points behind the Warriors. . . . This was the second meeting of the season between the White brothers, F Torrin of the Warriors and F Jaeger of the Hurricanes. The season series is 1-1 so no one has bragging rights at the Christmas dinner table. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a game story right here. . . . 
In Edmonton, D Cole Martin had three assists to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 4-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s first two goals and the last two, while going 2-for-4 on the PP. . . . Kelowna F Tyson Baillie scored his 22nd goal on a third-period PP. . . . F Justin Kirkland had two assists for Kelowna. . . . Rockets F Gage Quinney got his eighth goal; it was his second in three games since coming over from the Prince Albert Raiders in a deal last week. . . . Kelowna G Jackson Whistle stopped 31 shots, six more than Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry. . . . The Rockets, who travel to Red Deer tonight, improved to 27-5-3. . . . The Oil Kings, who play in Calgary tonight, are 15-14-5. They have slipped to fifth in the Central Division, a point behind the Kootenay Ice. . . . 
In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice scored three third-period goals to beat the Kamloops Blazers, 5-2. . . . F Collin Shirley scored twice, giving him 13, in the second period as the visitors took a 2-1 lead. . . . Ice F Jaedon Descheneau tied it with his 18th goal at 15:05 of the second. . . . Ice D Tyler King gave the Ice its first lead, with his fourth, at 8:02 and F Tim Bozon stretched it with his 13th goal at 8:55. . . . Shirley and Bozon switched teams in a trade early last season. . . . Descheneau hit the cross-bar on a first-period penalty shot. . . . Kootenay dressed 17 skaters, one under the maximum. . . . Ice G Wyatt Hoflin, who made his 23rd straight start, stopped 30 shots. . . . The Ice (18-17-0) has won three in a row. It also has won 15 of 19. . . . The Blazers slipped to 13-19-5 and fell back into the B.C. Division cellar, a point behind the Vancouver Giants, who hold three games in hand. . . . It’ll be four after tonight as the Blazers are in Medicine Hat, while the Giants are done until after Christmas. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story right here. . . . 
In Vancouver, the Giants scored two first-period goals and held on for a 2-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Vancouver got goals from F Tyler Benson, his seventh, at 8:12, and F Carter Popoff, his 15th, at 19:08. Popoff also had an assist. . . . F Nikita Scherbak got his 15th for Everett at 12:49 of the third. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter stopped 24 shots. . . . The Giants (16-18-0) have won seven in a row. They are 6-0-0 under head coach Claude Noel. . . . Everett is 19-9-4. . . . The Silvertips, who lead the U.S. Division by one point over the idle Portland Winterhawks, return home to face Victoria tonight. . . .
In Prince George, the Spokane Chiefs took a 5-3 with three second-period goals and went on to beat the Cougars, 5-4. . . . F Kailer Yamamoto’s eighth goal, at 13:56 of the second period on a PP, stood up as the winner. . . . Prince George F Jansen Harkins had erased a 2-1 Spokane lead with two goals 24 seconds apart late in the first period. He’s got 11 goals. . . . Harkins also had two assists, while Brad Morrison scored twice, giving him 12, and added an assist. . . . Cougars F Aaron Macklin had two assists. . . . Spokane G Garret Hughson made 38 stops. . . . D Josh Anderson was among the Cougars’ scratches. He suffered a broken wrist on Friday in a game against the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Chiefs (17-12-3) have won three in a row. . . . The Cougars slipped to 17-17-0. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Prince George. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., F Ryan Gropp broke a 4-4 tie at 17:27 of the third period to give the Seattle Thunderbirds a 5-4 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Thunderbirds led this one 3-0 six minutes into the second period, only to have Victoria score the game’s next four goals. . . . Royals F Tyler Soy tied it at 3 with his eighth goal at 11:49 of the third and F Logan Fisher gave his guys the lead just eight seconds later with his fourth goal. . . . Soy and Fisher set a franchise record for fastest two goals. . . . Seattle F Donovan Neuls tied it at 16:15, setting the stage for Gropp to score his eighth goal of the season. . . . F Justin Hickman had a goal, his eighth, and two assists for Seattle. . . . Victoria got three assists from F Greg Chase, but he also took a spearing major and game misconduct at 19:42 of the third period. . . . Royals D Travis Brown had a goal, his 13th, and two assists. . . . Seattle was 2-for-5 on the PP; Victoria was 0-for-3. . . . Seattle (14-15-4) had lost its previous two games. . . . Victoria (17-17-2) has lost three in a row as it goes into Everett tonight.---
.@LWillson_82 addressing team and giving the lineups to the team pic.twitter.com/68kfvByCNp
— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) December 17, 2014
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Players with the Tri-City Americans are making a conscious effort to be careful with how they handle social media. . . . “In today’s day and age, the guys have to be very careful,” head coach Mike Williamson told Annie Fowler of the Tri-City Herald. “They are public figures. They are in the spotlight and sometimes things get misconstrued when you put something out on social media. We haven’t told them not to do it, but we remind them to be smart and represent themselves, their families and the team in a professional manner. Things can get magnified and it stays with them forever.” . . . That story is 
G Eric Comrie stopped 43 shots and F Vladislav Lukin scored twice to lead the visiting Tri-City Americans to a 4-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday night. . . . Lukin, a freshman from Ufa, Russia, isn’t related to former WHL F Jarret Lukin (Kamloops, Medicine Hat, 2000-05), who is from Fort McMurray, Alta. . . . In Kelowna, G Jackson Whistle stopped 18 shots as the Rockets ran their record to 7-0-0 with a 4-0 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. Whistle has four career shutouts, one in each of his first four seasons. Since the start of the 2012-13 season, when he was acquired from the Vancouver Giants, Whistle is 40-6-1. . . . F Carter Rigby had two goals and an assist for Kelowna.
The BCHL’s Penticton Vees announced Tuesday that they have received a commitment from F Tak Anholt, 16, for the 2015-16 season. . . . Anholt’s WHL rights belong to the Brandon Wheat Kings, who acquired them from the Lethbridge Hurricanes last week in the deal that involved F Reid Duke and D Macoy Erkamps also moving to the Wheat City. . . . Anholt is playing at Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, B.C. He has eight points, including six goals, in his first two games with the U-18 prep team. . . . Lethbridge selected him in the second round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft. . . . 
F Josh Green (Medicine Hat, Swift Current, Portland, 1993-98) has signed a one-year extension with Tappara Tampere (Finland, Liiga). In 41 games, he has 29 points, including 20 goals. Seventeen of those 20 goals have come at even strength. Green made the announcement of the extension himself, in Finnish in a video posted on the Tappara website.
In Brandon, the Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s first five goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . Calgary moved back into first place in the Eastern Conference with the victory. . . . The Hitmen have won three in a row and have points in 13 straight. . . . Calgary F Brady Brassart had a goal, his 34th, and an assist as he ran his point streak to 16 games. . . . Calgary D Ben Thomas also had a goal, his sixth, and an assist. He has three goals in four games against Brandon. . . . F Connor Rankin of Calgary, who scored his 20th goal, via the PP, in the second period, left the game favouring a shoulder. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger stopped 23 shots. He lost his shutout bid at 18:31 of the third period when F Rihards Bukarts scored his 24th goal. . . . The Hitmen were 2-for-4 on the PP. They have at least one PP goal in each of their last 13 games. . . . Calgary (44-15-7) is atop the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Brandon (31-27-9) is seventh, four points ahead of the Red Deer Rebels. . . . 
In Swift Current, F Jay Merkley broke a 3-3 tie at 17:04 of the third period as the Broncos beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson had two goals, giving him 32, and an assist for the Oil Kings, his second goal, at 6:50 of the third period, giving them a 3-1 lead. . . . F Nate Burns scored his 24th at 12:58 and F Colby Cave tied the score with his 31st at 13:21. . . . Merkley has 28 goals this season. . . . F Jake DeBrusk had two assists for the Broncos, who got 26 saves out of G Eetu Laurikainen. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots. . . . The Broncos (34-25-9) are sixth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Oil Kings (45-17-3) are two points behind Calgary and hold a game in hand. . . . 
In Prince Albert, D Josh Morrissey and F Leon Draisaitl each scored twice to help the Raiders to a 9-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Draisaitl, who has 32 goals, also had two assists. . . . Morrissey, who has 25 goals, added one helper. . . . Raiders D Tomas Andrlik had three assists. . . . Moose Jaw G Justin Paulic stopped 27 shots. With Zach Sawchenko, their other goaltender, unavailable because of illness, the Warriors had Logan Morhart of the midget AA Prince Albert Raiders on their bench as an emergency backup. The only way they could have lifted Paulic was due to injury. . . . F Brayden Point scored twice, giving him 31, for the Warriors. . . . Prince Albert G Nick McBride, making his third start in the team’s last four games, made 19 saves. He stopped F Torrin White on a first-period penalty shot. . . . The Raiders last scored nine times in a game when they beat the visiting Regina Pats 9-4 on Jan. 9, 2013. . . . The Raiders (31-30-5) are tied with the Red Deer Rebels for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . The Warriors (17-40-9) are 2-7-1 in their last 10. . . .
In Cranbrook, G Patrik Bartosak stopped 32 shots as the Red Deer Rebels beat the Kootenay Ice, 4-0. . . . Bartosak has seven shutouts this season and 13 in his career. He is tied with Tristan Jarry of the Edmonton Oil Kings for the WHL lead this season. . . . Three of Bartosak’s shut outs this season have been against the Ice, all of them in Cranbrook. . . . According to Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, it was the sixth time Kootenay has been shut out this season and the third time on home ice, both of which are franchise records. . . . F Aspen Sterzer and F Rhyse Dieno each had a goal and an assist. Sterzer has 26 goals, while Dieno, who got an empty-netter, has 23. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski turned aside 28 shots. . . . The Ice dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . . Red Deer (31-30-5) is tied with Prince Albert for the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. Each team has five games remaining. . . . The Ice (37-25-4) is fifth in the conference, one point ahead of Swift Current. . . . 
In Everett, the Silvertips scored two first-period goals 22 seconds apart and went on to a 5-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . F Jujhar Khaira, with his 16th, and D Ben Betker, with his sixth, scored at 11:07 and 11:29 of the first period to get the home boys started. . . . Everett F Josh Winquist scored twice, giving him 41, and added an assist. . . . Khaira also had two assists. . . . Winquist is within one of the franchise records for goals in one season (Shane Harper, 2009-10). . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 23 shots, losing his shootout on goal by F Justin Kirkland, his 15th, at 4:49 of the third period. . . . Everett had a 38-24 edge in shots. . . . Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets, called his 1,000th Kelowna game. Back in the day, he also did 360 games with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Silvertips, who have won four in a row, had lost eight straight to the Rockets. . . . Everett (34-23-9) is sixth in the Western Conference, one point behind the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Kelowna (52-10-4) leads the overall standings.
In Calgary, the Hitmen got two goals and two assists from F Brady Brassart as they won their fourth in a row, beating the Prince Albert Raiders, 7-2. . . . Brassart has 27 goals. . . . Calgary F Connor Rankin drew four assists and was plus-6, while F Jake Virtanen scored twice, giving him 35, and added an assist. . . . The line of Brassart, Rankin and Virtanen combined for 11 points and plus-13. . . . Calgary F Pavel Padakin scored his 20th goal. . . . The Raiders held 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first period. Virtanen tied it at 18:23 of the first period with his first goal and the Hitmen went from there, scoring the game’s last five goals. . . . The Hitmen had G Evan Johnson, who plays for the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild, on the bench backing up starter Mack Shields. Johnson is 17-3-2, 1.32, .945 with the Wild. . . . Chris Driedger, Calgary’s No. 1 goaltender, was scratched for disciplinary reasons. Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun reported that Hitmen head coach Mike Williamson said the length of the discipline “is to be determined. . . . All we’re saying is, it’s team discipline.” . . . Prince Albert D Josh Morrissey scored his 20th goal of the season. He is the second Raiders defenceman with 20 goals, behind Emanuel Viveiros, who scored 22 times in 1985-86. . . . If you missed it, Viveiros is the head coach of the Austrian men’s team at the Olympic Winter Games. Former WHL coach Rob Daum is an assistant coach with the Austrian side. . . . The Hitmen (36-15-6) moved to within three points of the Eastern Conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings, who hold three games in hand. . . . The Raiders (25-27-3) remain five points out of a playoff spot. . . . 
In Moose Jaw, F Sam Reinhart scored twice and G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 34 shots to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 3-1 victory over the Warriors. . . . Reinhart, who ran his point streak to 14 games, has 29 goals. Twitter chatter last night suggested that a scoring change might be in order, one that would give Reinhart an assist on the game’s first goal. . . . Reinhart has 32 points, including 13 goals, in that 14-game point streak. . . . On the season, Reinhart has 78 points in 44 games. . . . F Jaedon Descheneau scored his 36th goal and added an assist for the Ice. He got the visitors on the board just 1:01 into the game. . . . Descheneau has 78 points in 54 games and is tied with Reinhart for fourth in the WHL points race. . . . Moose Jaw G Justin Paulic turned aside 35 shots. . . . Ice G Mitch Skapski made his sixth straight start and put up his 10th straight victory. . . . Ice F Ryan Chynoweth returned after missing six games with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Ice (31-21-4), which has won six in a row, is fifth in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Medicine Hat Tigers and four in front of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . .
In Medicine Hat, F Miles Koules had two goals and two assists to lead the Tigers to a 6-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Koules, the son of former Wheat Kings F Oren Koules, has 19 goals. . . . Medicine Hat F Curtis Valk scored the game’s first goal, his 30th of the season. That extended his point streak to 15 games, the third-longest in the WHL this season. He’s got 23 points, 12 of them goals, in that streak. The longest belongs to F Josh Winquist of the Everett Silvertips, who put together an 18-gamer from Oct. 20 to Dec. 3. . . . Medicine Hat F Anthony Ast enjoyed the first two-goal game of his career. He’s got 11 goals this season. . . . Tigers F Cole Sanford wasn’t able to beat Brandon G Curtis Honey on a second-period penalty shot. . . . The Tigers (33-20-3) are fourth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Wheat Kings (28-22-6) are sixth in the Eastern Conference, but are only two points behind the East Division-leading Swift Current Broncos. The East Division pennant winner will be the conference’s No. 2 seed when the playoffs open. 
commissioner said his league is going to take a hard look at the role fighting plays. . . . “I’m convening a special meeting of our competition committee to see whether we’re being too tolerant of fighting,” USHL commissioner Skip Prince told Will Z. Klein of The New York Times. . . . That story is 
Division road swing. . . . Here's Steve Ewen in the Vancouver Province: "Part of Vancouver's slow start can be attributed to injuries, and (GM Scott) Bonner says that forwards Dalton Sward (upper body) and Travis McEvoy (upper body) should be back for Friday against Kamloops. Forward Cain Franson (upper body) is day-to-day, winger Scott Cooke (lower body) should start skating on Friday and winger Rob Trzonkowski (upper body) is probably three weeks away." . . . Ewen's complete story is 
home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday night before playing in Vancouver on Friday. . . . The Blazers, like the Giants, are off to a rather slow start -- they are 3-7-0. . . . Don't forget that the Blazers' first half will be home heavy as they'll be out of their building for the Tim Hortons Brier in late February and early March.
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