Homecomings in Calgary ... T-Birds poised to name head coach ... Pats' Paddock adds players

Hey folks @gdrinnan Taking Note is working just loading really slowly thanks to a new script from @blogger be patient. #SameGreatWriting

— Terry Massey (@TerryMassey) July 6, 2017

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D Kalvin Sagert (Kamloops, Lethbridge, Prince George, 2002-08) has signed a one-year contract with Gherdëina Selva Gardena (Italy, Alps HL). Last season, he had two goals and four assists in 27 games with Fehérvár AV19 Székesfehérvár (Hungary, Erste Bank Liga). . . .

D Emerson Hyrnyk (Prince Albert, Chilliwack, 2009-11) has signed a one-year contract with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had four assists in 26 games with Mount Royal University (U Sports).

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If they didn’t, the Calgary Hitmen should have had Hagood Hardy’s The Homecoming playing in the background of their Tuesday morning news conference.

After all, Jeff Chynoweth, the Hitmen’s new general manager, is coming back to Calgary for the first time in 31 years, while Dallas Ferguson, the new head coach, is returning to Alberta after coaching in Alaska since 2002. Dallas Thompson, the new director of player personnel, is from Hayter, Alta.

Chynoweth joins the Hitmen after spending 16 seasons as the GM of the Kootenay Ice, a franchise that

The Calgary Hitmen braintrust: Dallas Ferguson (left),
Jeff Chynoweth, Mike Moore and Dallas Thompson.(Photo: Candice Ward/Hitmenhockey.com)

was owned by his family. The Chynoweths sold the Ice earlier this summer to Winnipeggers Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell.

With the Hitmen, Chynoweth takes over from Mike Moore, who now is vice-president and alternate governor. Moore had been the GM since 2013.

Chynoweth spent a good part of his youth in Calgary and, in fact, was the visiting teams’ stick boy at Flames games in the early 1980s. The Flames, of course, own the Hitmen.

Ferguson, meanwhile, takes over from Mark French, who left after three seasons as head coach in order to work in Switzerland.

Ferguson, who is from Wainwright, Alta., has been on the coaching staff of the U of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks since 2004. He has been the head coach since 2008. Before joining the Nanooks’ coaching staff, he was an assistant coach with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for two seasons.

For Hitmen fans wanting to know Ferguson a bit better, right here is a College Hockey News story from when he was named the Nanooks’ head coach. . . . Click right here and you’ll find a Q&A that CHN managing editor Adam Wodon did with Ferguson early last season.

www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2008/05/21_ferguson.php

Assistant coaches Trent Cassan and Joel Otto are returning to work alongside Ferguson.

Thompson replaces Dan Bonar, who spent 14 seasons with the Hitmen, the last four as director of player personnel. Thompson worked for the Hitmen for the past two seasons as B.C. scouting director. He is a long-time WHLer, having spent 10 seasons as the general manager of the Prince George Cougars.

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With the Calgary Hitmen having hired Dallas Ferguson as their new head coach, it leaves the Seattle

Thunderbirds as the only one of the WHL’s 22 franchises without a head coach.

The Thunderbirds, the WHL’s reigning champions, are poised to name a a successor to Steve Konowalchuk who left after six seasons and now is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. That announcement is scheduled for today (Wednesday) at noon PT.

Matt O’Dette, an assistant coach alongside Konowalchuk for the past four seasons, is believed to be the leading candidate as Seattle’s next head coach.

What it all means is that, barring any more changes, six teams will have new head coaches when the new season arrives.

Besides Calgary and Seattle, the Everett Silvertips, Kootenay Ice, Spokane Chiefs and Victoria Royals have made changes.

In Everett, the Silvertips chose not to renew Kevin Constantine’s contract after four seasons, and have replaced him with Dennis Williams.

In Kootenay, Luke Pierce, the Ice’s head coach for two seasons, got caught up in an ownership change and has been replaced by James Patrick.

In Spokane, veteran head coach Don Nachbaur and the Chiefs split up after the season and he has since signed on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.

In Victoria, the Royals lost head coach Dave Lowry to Los Angeles, also for an assistant coaching position. The Royals promoted assistant coach Dan Price to head coach.

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The Regina Pats will be the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament, and GM/head coach John Paddock is having a busy offseason. He picked up F Matt Bradley, a sniper, from the Medicine Hat Tigers in a move that garnered some notice. In a couple of other moves, Paddock has signed F George King, 19, who scored 36 goals with the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard last season, and F Rayman Bassi, who had 49 points with the major midget Okanagan Rockets. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here.

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The Vancouver Giants have signed D Parker Hendren to a WHL contract. From Regina, Hendren was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . Last season, Hendren had 15 points, two of them goals, in 43 games with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians.

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Check out these amazing speakers and their topics for our conference…
STARTS FRIDAY!https://t.co/BO3WcEeFos pic.twitter.com/Y3wS1Fgs8i

— The Coaches Site (@TheCoachesSite) July 11, 2017

If you would like to attend seventh annual TeamSnap Hockey Coaches Conference in Vancouver on Friday and Saturday, Taking Note has a deal for you. Click on The Coaches Site website right here and as you register enter the coupon code TakingNote and you’ll get 20 per cent off the registration fee. . . . Enjoy the weekend!

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If you would like to contact Taking Note with information, have a question or just feel like commenting on something, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com. I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).

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Two men with ties to the WHL moved into the NHL coaching ranks on Tuesday. . . . Kelly Buchberger (Moose Jaw, 1984-86) has left the Edmonton Oilers organization and now is an assistant coach with the New York Islanders. . . . In Pittsburgh, the Penguins moved Mark Recchi (New Westminster, Kamloops, 1985-88) into an assistant coaching role, filling the vacancy created when Rick Tocchet signed on as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes. . . . Buchberger, 50, spent nine seasons with the Oilers, six as an assistant coach before moving into player personnel and player development. . . . Recchi, 49, has been in player development with the Penguins for the past three seasons. He also is a co-owner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. Recchi will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame later this year.

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Ted Nolan has signed on as the head coach of Poland’s national men’s team. Nolan, a former NHL coach of the year, spent four years with the Latvian national team. Tom Coolen, an assistant coach with Nolan in Latvia, will fill the same role in Poland.

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Respect to Alex Ovechkin for being only Russian in Washington who refused to collude with Trump campaign in order to win something.

— randy turner (@randyturner15) July 11, 2017

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Pats have good day at awards bash ... Paddock double winner ... Thunderbirds arrive in Regina

D Andrej Meszároš (Vancouver, 2004-05) has signed a one-year extension with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). The team captain, he had four goals and nine assists in 35 games this season. . . . 

F C.J. Stretch (Kamloops, 2005-10) has signed a one-year extension with Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, DEL2). This season, he finished third in the league scoring race, putting up 60 points, including 34 assists, in 52 games. . . . 

G Patrik Bartošák (Red Deer, 2011-14) has signed a one-year extension with Vítkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, in 41 games, he was 2.22 and 926, with five shutouts. . . .

F Marek Kalus (Spokane, Brandon, 2010-13) has signed a try-out contract with Vítkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, with Havířov (Czech Republic, 1. Liga), he had 12 goals and 13 assists in 41 games. . . . 

D Tomáš Kundrátek (Medicine Hat, 2008-10) has signed a one-year contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). This season, with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL), he had eight goals and five assists in 39 games.

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@Butter_29 @SCBroncos @aleksiheponiemi @T_Steener @TheWHL They need a 'trainer of the year' award.

— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) May 3, 2017

The WHL handed out its postseason awards on Wednesday in Calgary and it turned into the Regina Pats show.

The Seattle Thunderbirds are hoping that doesn’t happen in the championship final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, that opens Friday in Regina.

During the afternoon proceedings, a number of Pats were honoured:

F Sam Steel was given the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as player of the year;

John Paddock received the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the coach of the year, the second time his three seasons in the WHL that he has won this award;

Paddock also picked up the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the executive of the year;

The Pats’ front office was award the WHL Business Award; 

The Pats were presented the Scott Munro Memorial Trophy as regular-season champions; and,

Steel picked up the Bob Clarke Trophy as the regular-season scoring champion.
The last time the same man was coach- and executive-of-the-year in the same season? Brent Sutter of the Red Deer Rebels got both awards for the 2000-01 season.

There is a whole lot more on these award winners and others on the WHL’s website — whl.ca.

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Our friends on the HMCS Regina are ready for the WHL Championship Series! Thanks boys! #WHLPlayoffs #REGvsSEA pic.twitter.com/8n5xYfpGdT

— #JoinTheRegiment (@WHLPats) May 2, 2017

The Seattle Thunderbirds flew into Regina on Wednesday afternoon to begin final preparations for the Friday night opening of the WHL’s championship series for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Last season, the Thunderbirds met the Brandon Wheat Kings in the final, with the Manitoba squad winning the series, 4-1. That series opened in Brandon and was played with a 2-3-2 format. In order to get to Brandon, the Thunderbirds rode their bus to Abbotsford, B.C., then flew to the Wheat City. When the teams flew back, they rode the same charter from Brandon to Abbotsford, then took separate busses to Kent, Wash.

Yesterday, the Thunderbirds flew out of Boeing Field, which I’m told involved a 15-minute bus ride to get there, which beats the two-hour ride to Abbotsford. So the Thunderbirds, you might say, already are ahead of the game.

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The WHL’s bantam draft is scheduled to begin this morning at 7:30 PT in Calgary. There won’t be any running coverage of the draft at this site. They start streaming at whl.ca at 7:30 PT.

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There has been some grumbling about ticket prices for the 2017 Memorial Cup that is scheduled to run in Windsor, Ont., from May 19-28.

Dale Molnar of CBC News writes:

“Tournament packages have sold for as much $885. The cheapest single-game tickets now on sale are $75, compared to around $20 for the cheapest regular season ticket for a Windsor Spitfires game.”

John Savage, the chairperson of the Windsor organization committee and a co-owner of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, the host team, told Molnar that ticket prices cover costs like flights and hotels for the competing teams.

 "Just looking at the work and effort that has to go into this, it's really a break even proposition," Savage told Molnar.

According to financial statements filed in a Calgary court earlier this year, each of the WHL’s 22 teams received $148,913 — a total of $3,276,088 — from the 2013 Memorial Cup that was held in Saskatoon. On top of that, each team got $118,477 — a total of $2,606,494 — from the 2016 Memorial Cup that was held in Red Deer.

Molnar’s story is right here.

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The Southern Professional Hockey League lost a franchise on Wednesday as the Columbus Cottonmouths announced that they will suspend operations, at least for 2017-18. . . . The Cottonmouths had been around for 21 seasons. . . . Jerome Bechard, who played in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors (1986-90), is the Cottonmouths’ general manager and head coach. “The franchise is still there,” Bechard, who has been in Columbus since Day 1 in 1996, told Chuck Williams of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “The league and ourselves are still working to get an ownership group in here. Obviously, not to play ’17-18, but, hopefully, to come back in ’18-19.” . . . Williams’ story is right here.

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The BCHL’s Surrey Eagles have signed Brandon West to a multi-year contract as their head coach. West has coached in the BCHL for more than six seasons, most recently with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He was in his third season with Salmon Arm when he was fired in November. . . . With the Eagles, West, 32, takes over from Blaine Neufeld, the head coach for the past three seasons. Neufeld now is the Eagles’ general manager. . . . It is interesting, too, that Eagles owner Chuck Westgard has taken a hands-on approach again. From a news release: “Three years ago, after having the Eagles win the Fred Page Cup, the Western Canada Cup and eventually lose in overtime in the semi-final of the RBC Cup In Charlottetown, Westgard hired an outside management group to run the team. He has now decided the time is right to get actively involved again.” . . . This season, the Eagles finished 18-36-4-0 and didn’t qualify for the playoffs.

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Ed Patterson will be back for a seventh season as head coach the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay Junior International Hockey League. The Storm made that announcement on Wednesday. . . . The Storm also added Matt Kolle to its staff as the assistant general manager. . . . Patterson, 44, played in the WHL (1988-92) with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Swift Current Broncos and Kamloops Blazers. There had been some doubt as to whether he would return to the Storm after a change of venue — the team moved from McArthur Island to Memorial Arena — wasn’t greeted with gusto by the citizenry. “It . . . comes down to money,” Storm owner/GM Barry Dewar told Kamloops This Week in March. “If I can’t find a source of revenue to pay Ed  . . . then it becomes hard to keep those kinds of talents.” . . . Apparently, Dewar and Patterson found a way to keep making it work. . . . Kolle had tried earlier this year to land a KIJHL franchise for Quesnel, B.C., however other team owners voted down that move in January.

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Former WHL/NHL F Jeff Shantz has been added to the coaching staff at the Edge School in Calgary. Shantz, 43, will be a co-coach, alongside Evan Bak, with the Bantam varsity team that plays in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. . . . Shantz, from Duchess, Alta., played for the Regina Pats (1990-93), before going on to a pro career that included 642 games in the NHL. He retired following the 2010-11 season, after spending eight years in Europe.

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MONDAY-THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

No Games Scheduled.

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FRIDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Seattle at Regina, 7 p.m. (Game 1)

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Anholt responds to Paddock's chatter ... Playoffs resume Friday ... Ex-WHL coach honoured in OHL

Lethbridge Hurricanes GM Peter Anholt on Regina Pats Head Coach & GM John Paddock: "He's got the Regina media fooled and that's fine." #WHL — Taylor Shire (@TShireGlobal) April 20, 2017

Things are heating up as the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats prepare to open the Eastern Conference final in the Saskatchewan capital tonight (Friday). On Wednesday, John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, lit the fire when, in reference to Lethbridge captain Tyler Wong, he told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post: “He‘s a hard-working, inspirational guy who has skill. He’s physical. He jumps a couple feet in the air when he hits guys and doesn’t get called.” On Thursday, Lethbridge GM Peter Anholt tossed a couple of logs on the fire while chatting with Matt Battochio of Global News. “Love the man,” Anholt said of Paddock, “but he’s sly like a fox. “I think really, ultimately, the facts speak for themselves. (Dawson) Leedahl takes (Lane) Pederson out of the Swift Current series. . . . The Regina Pats take runs at top players, I think it’s pretty obvious. Facts speak for themselves.” Anholt went a step further, asking the Lethbridge fans to prepare a welcome for Paddock’s arrival in the Alberta city. “I hope our fans show their ire towards John Paddock when he comes back here for Games 3 and 4,” Anholt said. “It doesn’t make sense to me, but the facts speak for themselves. . . . I think our top players better be very wary and watch because their team has a history of taking runs at top players.”
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 Regina is expected to be without F Adam Brooks, F Jake Leschyshyn and D Dawson Davidson when the series opens. Brooks hasn’t played since suffering a knee injury in Game 2 of the seven-game second-round series with the Swift Current Broncos. He dressed for the last three games and was on the bench, but never got on the ice. That scenario very well may continue in the conference final. Leschyshyn (knee) has been out since February and won’t play again this season. Without Brooks and Leschyshyn, the Pats are missing two of their top three centres. Davidson, meanwhile, suffered an undisclosed injury in the Game 7 victory over the visiting Broncos on Monday night. He isn’t likely to play in this series, so Jonathan Smart will move back to defence. Smart, who was acquired from the Kelowna Rockets during the season, is a defenceman by trade, but has been playing on a forward line. The Hurricanes scratched D Calen Addison, F Matt Alfaro, F Zak Zborosky, F Zane Franklin and F Ryan Vandervlis, all of them regular contributors, from Game 7 against the host Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday.
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 Things are a little quieter in Kent, Wash., where the Seattle Thunderbirds will play host to the Kelowna Rockets tonight in Game 1 of the Western Conference final. The Rockets will be without D Cal Foote, as he completes a three-game suspension left over from the second-round victory over the Portland Winterhawks. Foote was suspended after he elbowed Portland F Skyler McKenzie in the head during Game 3. McKenzie came out of that with a concussion and missed the last two games. Also, it’s not known if Kelowna D Braydyn Chizen is ready to return. He suffered a leg injury in Game 3 against Portland and sat out the last two games of that series. Seattle’s Rylan Toth, who led all WHL goaltenders with 36 victories in the regular season, has yet to dress for a playoff game. In Toth’s absence, G Carl Stankowski has backstopped the Thunderbirds to eight victories in as many games.
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 There won’t be a medal for Team Canada at the IIHF U-18 World Championship. Canada was beaten 7-3 by Sweden in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at Spisska Nova Ves, Slovakia. . . . D Mark Rubinchik of the Saskatoon Blades and Team Russia advanced to a semifinal game with a 3-2 victory over Slovakia. Rubinchik didn’t record any points, leaving him with six in five games. . . . Russia and Finland will meet in one of Saturday’s semifinal games. . . . The other will feature Sweden and Team USA, which got past Switzerland, 4-2. . . . In the best-of-three relegation series, D Vladislav Yeryomenko of the Calgary Hitmen had a goal and an assist as Belarus beat Latvia, 2-0, in Game 1. 
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 Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald used to cover the Everett Silvertips for the newspaper. Now he is a sports columnist there. In both roles, he has seen a lot of Kevin Constantine, who was the team’s head coach for eight seasons — two four-year stints — before being told Tuesday that his contract won’t be renewed. . . . Patterson, using the word “shaft,” opined on the move and that piece is right here.
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 MORE ON THE MOVE: D Noah Juulsen of the Everett Silvertips has joined the St. John’s IceCaps, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. He was a first-round selection in the 2015 NHL draft. Juulsen signed a three-year entry-level contract with Montreal before the 2015-16 season. In this regular season, he had 12 goals and 22 assists in 49 games.
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 Ryan McGill, a former WHL player and coach, has been named the OHL’s coach of the year. McGill guided the Owen Sound Attack to a 49-15-4 record in what was its best season in franchise history. . . . The 49 victories and 102 points broke franchise records of 46 and 97 from 2010-11. . . . McGill is in his second season in Owen Sound. . . . From Sherwood Park, Alta., he played four seasons (1985-89) with the Lethbridge Broncos, Swift Current Broncos and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . He was on the Edmonton/Kootenay Ice’s coaching staff for seven seasons (1996-2002) and later returned for three more (2012-15). . . . The Attack opens the third round of playoffs tonight in Erie against the Otters. 
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 If you enjoy stopping off here and would care to make a donation to the cause, please feel free to do so by clicking on the DONATE button and going from there. If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com. If interested, you also are able to follow me on Twitter at @gdrinnan.
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#Predators 1st #8 seed ever in pro sports to sweep  #1 seed. So will someone in Nashville at least write a country song about Blackhawks? — Janice Hough (@leftcoastbabe) April 21, 2017

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Kelowna vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m. (Game 1) Lethbridge at Regina, 7 p.m. (Game 1)
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Wheat Kings skate without Patrick . . . Estephan expected back for Game 3 . . . Two BCHL series go 7

The defending-champion Brandon Wheat Kings are down 2-0 and on the road again as the WHL playoffs resume Tuesday after taking Monday off. . . . The Wheat Kings lost Games 1 and 2 to the Tigers in Medicine Hat on the weekend, and now are in Dauphin, Man., for two games in the hopes of prolonging things. . . . The Wheat Kings haven’t had F Nolan Patrick in their lineup yet this series after he was injured in the second-last game of the regular season. He didn’t skate on Monday in Dauphin, so isn’t likely to play in Game 3. . . . Brandon G Logan Thompson, who left Saturday’s second game after a goal-mouth collision, was on the ice yesterday. . . . The Tigers, meanwhile, skated in Dauphin yesterday and they did so without D Brad Forrest, who was scratched from Game 2 as D Ty Schultz returned from a broken leg. Schultz was back in the Tigers’ lineup earlier than expected after Forrest suffered an undisclosed injury.

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The Regina Pats won the first two games of their first-round series with visiting Calgary on the weekend, outscoring the Hitmen 10-3 in the process. However, John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, says there is lots of room for improvement. . . . “We’re glad we’re up 2-0, that’s for sure,” Paddock told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post on Monday. “They left us a lot of room for some teaching clips. It starts with intelligence and focus, (including) some of the penalties we took. We’re not playing near the kind of hockey you have to play.” . . . The Pats take a 10-game winning streak into Game 3 in Calgary tonight (Tuesday).

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The Lethbridge Hurricanes expect to have F Giorgio Estephan back in the lineup on Wednesday when they resume their series with the Red Deer Rebels. The teams split the first two games in Lethbridge. . . . Estephan left in the second period of Sunday’s Game 2, a 5-2 Hurricanes’ victory, after taking a high-stick to the face from Red Deer F Michael Spacek. . . . “He’s fine,” Lethbridge head coach Brent Kisio told Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald. “He’s good to go.” . . . Of course, this being the playoffs, nothing will be official until the lineup sheet for Game 3 is posted.

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F Duncan Campbell, who began this season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, had a goal and an assist on Monday as his Penticton Vees beat the visiting Merritt Centennials, 6-2, in Game 7 of a BCHL semi-final series. The game drew 3,774 fans to the South Okanagan Events Centre. The Vees he'd led the series 3-1 before the Centennials won two straight games to force Game 7. . . . The Vees and Vernon Vipers will clash in the next round. . . . Meanwhile, at the Q Centre in Victoria, F Keyvan Mokhtari scored 57 seconds into the second OT to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 victory over the Powell River Kings in another Game 7. This one drew 1,705 fans. . . . Victoria advances to meet the Chilliwack Chiefs in the second semi-final.

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Three coaches with WHL experience have been chosen by BC Hockey to lead the team that will compete at the 2017 U-16 Western Canada Challenge Cup in Calgary and the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. . . . Steve O’Rourke, an assistant coach with the Prince George Cougars, has been named head coach. He spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Red Deer Rebels before joining the Cougars. . . . Jason Becker and Brian Pellerin will serve as O’Rourke’s assistants. . . . Becker, a former WHL player, is an assistant with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. He spent five seasons as an assistant coach with Prince George and two as a head coach at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton. . . . Pellerin, also a former WHL player, is associate coach with the Tri-City Americans. He also has coaching experience in the AHL, the Central league and a sports school. . . . Kevin Pedersen, an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, will be the video coach, with Kim Penner (Merritt Centennials) as trainer and Craig Carter (major midget Okanagan Rockets) as equipment manager.

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If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

If interested, you also are able to follow me on Twitter at @gdrinnan.

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MONDAY GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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TUESDAY GAMES (all times local):

Moose Jaw at Swift Current, 7 p.m. (Series tied, 1-1)

Medicine Hat vs. Brandon, at Dauphin, Man., 7:30 p.m. (Medicine Hat leads, 2-0)

Regina at Calgary, 7 p.m. (Regina leads, 2-0)

Kelowna at Kamloops, 7 p.m. (Kelowna leads, 2-0)

Everett at Victoria, 7:05 p.m. (Series tied, 1-1)

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Advance poll draws in Nanaimo . . . Did Hay reach into bag of tricks? . . . Ex-coach of year Wall of Famer

The City of Nanaimo reports that more than 4,000 voters cast referendum ballots in the advance polls held March 1 and March 8. . . . According to the Nanaimo News Bulletin, “. . . this compared to the 2008 general election which saw 1,390; 2011 which saw 1,663; and 2014 general election which attracted 2,262 advance voters.” . . . The City is holding a referendum on Saturday as it asks for the OK to borrow $80 million for the building of an events centre that would be home to a WHL franchise, presumably the Kootenay Ice. . . . Polls will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with results expected to be available around 9 p.m. . . . Sheila Gurrie, Nanaimo chief election officer, told the News Bulletin: “By using voting tabulator machines, combined with software developed by the City of Nanaimo, the referendum results are normally available within the hour after the closing of the polls.What used to take hours can now be completed in minutes. If all goes well, results should be posted prior to 9 p.m. on Saturday night.” . . . The News Bulletin added that “official results will be declared no later than March 15 at 4 p.m.”

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Did Kamloops head coach Don Hay get his Blazers out of the doldrums by putting F Deven Sideroff in his starting lineup on Wednesday night?

You be the judge . . . 

On Feb. 11, with the Blazers on their way to a 3-1 victory and a split of a doubleheader in Victoria, Royals F Jared Dmytriw was given a checking-to-the-head major and game misconduct for a hit on Sideroff.

DON HAY

Dmytriw ended up with a three-game suspension; Sideroff missed one game.

The teams met Wednesday in Kamloops for the first time since Feb. 11.

When Victoria head coach Dave Lowry filled out his lineup card, he had Dmytriw in the starting lineup, on the left wing alongside Dante Hannoun and Regan Nagy. Lowry made that move even though Dmytriw’s regular linemates have been Vladimir Bobylev and Matt Phillips.

When Hay completed his side, he countered with Sideroff on the right wing, with his regular linemates, Garrett Pilon and Rudolfs Balcers.

Might this have been two old-school head coaches making moves according to the ‘code’?

Perhaps predictably, Dmytriw and Sideroff fought off the opening faceoff, resulting in fighting majors and game misconducts. On Thursday, both players were suspended for one game, meaning they will miss tonight’s rematch in Kamloops.

Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week quoted Lowry as saying: “That’s hockey. The events of the last game carried over. Good on both guys. Deven took exception to it and (Dmytriw) was accountable for it. That should be over now.”

Hay, for his part, claimed that he had forgotten about the Feb. 11 incident.

“If I would have known that, I probably wouldn’t have started Sideroff,” Hay told reporters. “I forgot about that situation. Bad coaching, I guess.”

Hay has more playoff victories than any coach in WHL history and is No. 2 in regular-season victories. His Blazers were coming off 8-4 and 6-1 weekend losses to the Cougars in Prince George, games in which the Blazers were out-everythinged.

After Wednesday’s game, which Kamloops won, 5-2, Hay said his guys were “more engaged from the get-go” than they had been in the two weekend games.

“We were more physical (Wednesday),” Kamloops F Jermaine Loewen said. “Our backcheck was harder. We were more competitive.” 

Now you don’t suppose that was all part of Hay’s plan, do you?

Or had he really forgotten about what happened on Feb. 11?

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——

The Blazers also will be without D Ondrej Vala on Friday against the Royals. He drew a one-game suspension after taking a kneeing major and game misconduct at 1:34 of the first period on Wednesday, for a hit on Victoria F Vladimir Bobylev. . . . Bobylev was helped to the bench, but didn’t miss a shift. . . . The Blazers and Royals were fined $500 apiece because players engaged in a fight to start a game.

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Whatever happened to Jack Sangster, the WHL’s coach of the year for 1981-82? How about Doug Korman, who played for the Regina Pats (1977-78)? . . . They’re doing just fine, thank you. In fact, they are Wall of Famers in Thompson, Man. Ian Graham of the Thompson Citizen has more right here.

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One of the WHL’s top rivalries is back on the ice this weekend as the Regina Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors go home-and-home this weekend. They open tonight (Friday) in Regina and wrap up Saturday in Moose Jaw. . . . The Pats lead the East Division by 10 points over the Warriors, but Moose Jaw has won nine straight games. . . . “It’s bigger for them than for us but it’s big,” John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “For me, they’re the best team in the conference. The nut-heads that pick the (CHL) top 10 finally got them in the top 10 where they should be.” . . . The Pats go into the weekend having won their last two games — beating the Wheat Kings 4-2 in Brandon on Tuesday and dumping the Broncos 4-2 in Swift Current on Wednesday. . . . Regina D Sergey Zborovskiy is listed as questionable after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Swift Current F Owen Blocker on Wednesday. Blocker was hit with a TBD suspension on Thursday.

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When this NHL season, there were 18 banners hanging in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, each honouring one of the greatest players in Toronto Maple Leafs history. On the night that this season opened, the Maple Leafs replaced those banners and the originals are being delivered to the hometowns of those former players. They will pay tribute to former G Johnny Bower tonight in Prince Albert as the Raiders play host to the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Ron Ellis, another former Toronto great, will take part in the delivery of the banner on Bower’s behalf.

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The Moose Jaw Warriors have added F Brayden Tracey, a first-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, to their roster for the remainder of this season. Tracey, from Calgary, won’t turn 16 until May 28. He played this season with the midget AAA Calgary Northstars, putting up 19 points, including eight goals, in 28 games. He added a goal and two assists in five games.

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet filed his weekly 30 Thoughts on Thursday. If you haven’t seen it, it’s right here, and it’s as readable as always.

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If the WHL playoffs began today . . . 

Eastern Conference

Regina vs. Saskatoon

Medicine Hat vs. Brandon

Moose Jaw vs. Swift Current

Lethbridge vs. Red Deer

—

Western Conference

Everett vs. Portland

Prince George vs. Victoria

Kelowna vs. Kamloops

Seattle vs. Tri-City

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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.

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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Lethbridge at Calgary, 7 p.m.

Victoria at Kamloops, 7 p.m.

Vancouver at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.

Red Deer vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.

Edmonton at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.

Brandon at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.

Moose Jaw at Regina, 7 p.m.

Swift Current at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.

Everett vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.

Portland at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.

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

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Wheat Kings move playoff games to Dauphin . . . Is it time pollsters noticed Warriors?

Dauphin's Credit Union Place (Photo: tourismdauphin.ca)

The Brandon Wheat Kings are relocating to Dauphin, Man., for a few playoff games.

The Wheat Kings haven’t yet qualified for the playoffs, but they hold down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot and appear headed to a first-round clash with the Medicine Hat Tigers, who are closing in on the Central Division title.

With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair taking over the Keystone Centre from March 27 through April 1, the Wheat Kings announced Thursday that they will play at least two first-round home playoff games at Dauphin’s Credit Union Place, which contains 1,763 seats and has room for 752 standees. The facility, which is home to the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, opened in April 2006.
Dauphin is located 165 km north of Brandon.

The dates have yet to be confirmed but that likely will involve Games 3 and 4 on March 28 and 29. Game 6, if necessary, would be played in Dauphin on April 2.

“Other potential options,” writes Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun, “included the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, the Portage Credit Union Centre in Portage la Prairie and Tundra Oil and Gas Place in Virden.
“Winnipeg used to be the go-to Plan B, but the MTS Centre has two (Winnipeg) Jets games, two (Manitoba) Moose games and a concert by the Lumineers that week, and the Portage Terriers and Virden Oil Capitals could still be active in the MJHL playoffs.”

In Dauphin, the Kings have four games left in their regular season and remain five points out of a playoff spot.

According to Bergson, “WHL officials did a walk-through in Credit Union Place in the past to clear it. The biggest hurdle is that Brandon has to remove its expensive video replay system from Westman Place and set it up in the Dauphin arena.”

From a Wheat Kings news release: “The announcement was made . . . as  the Wheat Kings rolled out plans for both the playoffs and their 2017-18 season-ticket prices. In addition to holding the line on season-ticket prices next (season), fans who purchase their 2017 playoff packages as well as renew their season tickets by the Monday, March 20 deadline will receive a $5 discount off regular playoff box-office admission prices for all games played in Brandon.”

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The Moose Jaw Warriors have been doing a terrific job of flying under the radar this season.

They are ensconced quite comfortably in second place in the East Division and appear headed to a first-round playoff meeting with the Swift Current Broncos.

The Warriors have won their past four games, including a 4-0 victory over the visiting Regina Pats on Saturday night. The Pats (43-9-7) have the WHL’s best record; the Warriors (36-17-8) trail them by 13 points. The Warriors, however, have proven they can play with Regina.

The Warriors are 6-3-1 in their past 10 outings, and they’ve been without top-end forwards Brayden Burke and Noah Gregor.

But, gee, it’s about that lack of respect.

It was on Nov. 1 when John Paddock, Regina’s GM and head coach, said of the Warriors: 

“I think they’re able to play off the fact that (we’re) all anybody talks about within an hour radius (of Regina). They don’t talk about Moose Jaw. Whoever does the dumb CHL poll has never hardly had them in the top 10.”

That was the case again this week, as Regina fell from first to second, behind the OHL’s Erie Otters, and there was no sign of the Warriors, not even as an honourable mention.

Last week, before losing to the Warriors, Paddock told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:

“They’ve got a really good goalie (Zach Sawchenko). It was sort of shocking that he wasn’t drafted last year.

“With the deals that (GM Al Millar) has made, they’ve got a deep group of forwards. There’s nobody leading the league in scoring, but they have Brett Howden and Brayden Burke, and Jayden Halbgewachs is having a big-time season. They’ve been missing forwards (due to injury), but they’ve probably got the deepest set of forwards in the Eastern Conference.”

It’s hard to argue with that, although, yes, Regina’s group of forwards is pretty good, too.

Here’s hoping that fans get treated to a Regina-Moose Jaw playoff series at some point.

With two games left in the season series, the Warriors hold a 3-2-1 edge, while the Pats are 3-3-0. They will finish the series by going home-and-home on March 10 and 11, starting in Regina and finishing in Moose Jaw.

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Here’s a note from Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:
“Pats head coach/GM John Paddock is a total pro. Too many hockey coaches — not to mention football coaches — are paranoiacs. Paddock, by contrast, gets it. He doesn’t play any games or robotically dispense eye-glazing cliches. Instead, he tells it like it is and treats the media (a conduit to the fans) with respect.”

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Scheduling quirks, quarks . . . CHL's last import goalie makes NHL debut . . . Leedahl leads tired Pats

#NeverForget pic.twitter.com/iMgpRW8n80

— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) February 20, 2017

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The Regina Pats escaped with a 3-2 OT victory over the host Prince Albert Raiders in Monday’s only WHL game.

The Pats, who have been the CHL’s No. 1-ranked team for much of this season, were playing their fifth game in seven days in seven different cities. Yes, that’s absurd, and here’s hoping the teenagers in this league get some relief from the schedule-maker next season.

“When you play five games in seven days, you can’t expect to have the energy,” John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post. “It’s impossible. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Monday . . .

“I’m not making excuses for them or anything . . .”

Paddock admitted to being “happy with the two points,” but, as he added, “when you think of five games in seven days, that’s a tough schedule on anybody.”

The Pats went 2-3-0 in those games.

Go back a bit further and you discover that the Pats have played their past eight games in eight different cities in a span of 13 days. They have had five off days and you wonder how many really good practices Paddock has been able to hold in that stretch. Remember that the WHL is a development league. 

The schedule calls for the Pats to play 15 games in February’s 28 days.

They don’t play on March 1 or 2, but then will play three games in fewer than 48 hours. Oh, and they will finish the season by playing four games in five nights. This time, though, the first three of those will be at home.

What’s that? Oh, you want some more scheduling notes . . . 

The Vancouver Giants have 12 games left in their season.

The first three of those are against the Victoria Royals.

The next three are against the Portland Winterhawks.

Seriously.

Come on . . . you couldn’t make up something like that.

The Giants will play host to the Royals on Friday and then the teams will meet in Victoria on Saturday and Sunday.

On March 1, the Winterhawks will visit the Giants, and the teams are to clash in Portland on March 3 and 4.

A few more scheduling notes . . . 

The Everett Silvertips, who lead the Western Conference by one point over the Seattle Thunderbirds, are to play seven of their final eight games on the road. They will play those eight games over 12 days. The seven road games will be played in six different cities; they’ll make two stops in Kennewick, Wash., for games with the Tri-City Americans. . . .

Everett and Seattle are to meet three more times, two of them in Kent, Wash., the home of the Thunderbirds. The first of those is Sunday in Kent, when Seattle will be enjoying its second straight three-in-three weekend. . . . 

The Americans are third in the U.S. Division, five points ahead of the Winterhawks. They will play Wednesday in Kennewick, Wash. The Americans are to finish up by playing five of six at home. But the last three, two of which are to be against the Spokane Chiefs, will be played in fewer than 48 hours. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers have 11 games remaining, with seven of those to be played at home. They trail the B.C. Division-leading Prince George Cougars by two points. The Cougars also have 11 games remaining. The Blazers and Cougars are to meet four more times, with three of those in Prince George. . . . 

The Cougars’ final 11 games include a one-game trek to Kelowna for a March 1 date with the Rockets, and a swing into the U.S. Division to play three games in four nights. . . . 

Don’t count out the Rockets, who are five points behind Prince George with two games in hand. The Rockets have 13 games left, with five of those against teams unlikely to make the playoffs. The Rockets also will finish up by playing six straight at home — over a 14-day period — before ending their schedule by visiting the Giants. In fact, three of Kelowna’s last five games will be against the Giants, who won’t make the playoffs for a third straight season. . . . 

The Royals, who are four points behind Kelowna, have an opportunity to get on a roll, with their next three games against Vancouver and then two in a row with the Chiefs, who are nine points out of a playoff spot. However, Victoria will finish by playing six of seven games on the road, including two each in Kamloops and Kelowna. The Royals will finish by going home-and-home with Everett. . . . 

The Moose Jaw Warriors will finish by playing nine games in 18 days, but seven of those games will be on home ice. They will go home-and-home with Regina on March 10 and 11 and do the same with the Swift Current Broncos on March 17 and 18. . . .

The Saskatoon Blades are scrambling in the hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since the spring of 2013. The Blades and Calgary are tied for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Saskatoon has 13 games remaining, one of those against the Hitmen — in Calgary on March 8. The Blades also have four games remaining with the Prince Albert Raiders, who won’t be in the playoffs but are 5-4-1 in their past 10 games. Saskatoon is coming off a weekend in which it played three road games in fewer than 48 hours, going 0-2-1, including a 3-2 loss in Calgary. This weekend, the Blades again will play three games, the first two against the Raiders, in fewer than 48 hours, but the last two are at home. . . .

The Broncos are third in the East Division, six points behind the Warriors with a game in hand. This weekend, the Broncos will play three games in fewer than 48 hours, two of them against Regina. The Broncos will finish the season with four games in five nights, only one of them at home. . . .

The Red Deer Rebels, who are 1-6-3 in their past 10 games, are in Prince George tonight (Tuesday) having lost eight in a row (0-6-2). The Rebels are third in the Central Division but are just two points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen, who are 3-0-1 in their past four games. The Rebels are at home to the Kootenay Ice on Friday, then will go home-and-home with the Hitmen on Saturday (Red Deer) and Sunday (Calgary). The Rebels and Hitmen also will meet March 15 in Red Deer. . . .

And now let the fun begin!

——

Connor Hobbs, the leading scorer among WHL defencemen, didn’t play Monday as his Regina Pats beat the host Prince Albert Raiders, 3-2 in OT. The WHL has hit Hobbs with a TBD suspension after he took a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on F Brett Howden during a 4-0 loss to the Warriors in Moose Jaw on Saturday night. . . . Hobbs leads all defencemen in goals (26) and points (69). . . . The Pats are scheduled to meet the Blades in Saskatoon on Wednesday night before returning home to face the Swift Current Broncos on Friday.

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Jake Morrissey, a former WHL goaltender, was credited with a goal on Friday night as his Sherwood Park Crusaders scored a 3-1 victory over the visiting Camrose Kodiaks. He was the last of the Crusaders to touch the puck — he had stopped a shot — when a Camrose player in trying to get the puck to a defenceman had it go all the way down the ice and into a vacated net. . . . Terry Jones of Postmedia has more right here.

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.@ArizonaCoyotes emergency goalie Marek Langhamer: I was doing my best to try to stay calm. pic.twitter.com/i6f8gpSgot

— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) February 21, 2017

G Marek Langhamer, who played three seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, stopped seven of eight shots as he made his NHL debut in relief of Arizona Coyotes starter Mike Smith on Monday night in Glendale, Ariz.

Were this baseball, Langhamer, 22, would have been credited with a save in a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Coyotes. Of his seven saves, one was fantastic as he went post-to-post to beat Anaheim forward Sami Vatanen with his left pad as time expired.

Smith left at 4:29 of the third period after a goalmouth collision with Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg. Smith went into concussion protocol but is fine and is expected to practise on Tuesday.

Langhamer had been with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners before being summoned to backup Smith after Louis Domingue was hurt.

Langhamer, from Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic, was with Medicine Hat from 2012-15. The Coyotes selected him in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2012 draft.

Langhamer played as a 20-year-old with the Tigers in 2014-15. His WHL career ended on April 17 when he stopped 54 shots in a 4-3 double OT loss to the host Calgary Hitmen, who won a second-round series, 4-1.

Langhamer became the last import goaltender to play anywhere in the CHL, which had announced in June 2013 that it was banning such players. Import goaltenders in the CHL at the time were allowed to complete their eligibility.

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If you have some information you would like to share or just a general comment, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

———

@gdrinnan reports in 10 Sea/Port GP BOTH sides have winning record vs other! This might be biggest reason I left Sportstalk.LEGIT fake news!

— Dan Russell (@DanRussellST) February 20, 2017

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MONDAY’S GAME:

#WHL REG/PA:  @WHLPats Dawson Leedahl puts home 2 goals including overtime winner.  23rd multipoint game this year (14 coming into year).

— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) February 21, 2017

At Prince Albert, F Dawson Leedahl scored two goals, including the OT winner, as the Regina Pats beat the Raiders, 3-2. . . . Leedahl’s 29th goal of the season won the game at 2:31 of extra time. . . . Leedahl,

DAWSON LEEDAHL

a 20-year-old from Saskatoon, was acquired from the Everett Silvertips prior to the season. He has career highs in goals, assists (44) and points (73), all in 57 games. Last season, one that was shortened by injury, he finished with 12 goals and 15 assists in 27 games. In 2014-15, he had 14 goals and 19 assists in 52 games. His career high in assists (24) had come in 2013-14. . . . On Monday, F Sean Montgomery (13) had given the Raiders a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 13:13 of the first period. . . . Leedahl tied it at 4:35 of the second period. . . . The Raiders went back in front at 11:07 as F Tim Vanstone scored No. 11, on a PP. . . . Regina D Josh Mahura, who also had an assist, got his guys into a 2-2 tie with his 14th goal, at 19:47 of the second. . . . Regina F Sam Steel, the WHL’s leading scorer, had two assists. He has 105 points, seven more than teammate Adam Brooks, who had one assist. . . . Brooks, the defending WHL scoring king, and Steel are tied for the WHL lead in assists (66). . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post points out that Brooks, who put up 120 points last season, “is poised to become the first Pat in more than a quarter-century to register consecutive 100-point seasons. Mike Sillinger hit triple digits in 1988-89 (131), 1989-90 (129) and 1990-91 (116).” . . . The Pats got 27 saves from G Jordan Hollett. . . . G Ian Scott turned aside 41 shots for the Raiders. . . . Prince Albert was 2-5 on the PP; Regina was 0-2. . . . Regina, already without F Jake Leschyshyn (knee) and D Connor Hobbs (WHL suspension), lost F Filip Ahl to a charley horse during the game. . . . The Pats (42-9-7) had lost their previous two games. They lead the overall standings by six points over the Medicine Hat Tigers and hold two games in hand. . . . The Raiders (16-39-6) are 1-0-1 in their last two games. . . . Announced attendance: 2,461.

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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Edmonton at Kamloops, 7 p.m.

Moose Jaw at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.

Red Deer at Prince George, 7 p.m.

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