Ully to play Russians . . . Wong fills hat in win . . . Oil Kings winless in Spokane

F Cole Ully of the Kamloops Blazers, who is leading the WHL scoring race, has been added to the WHL team that will play a touring Russian side in the Subway Super Series. Games are scheduled for Nov. 10 in Saskatoon and Nov. 11 n Brandon. . . . Ully, a 19-year-old from Calgary, was a fifth-round pick by the Dallas Stars in the 2013 NHL draft. He went into this season as perhaps the most under-rated player in the WHL. However, his start -- he has 26 points, including nine goals, in 16 games -- has taken care of that label. . . . Ully (flu) sat out the Blazers’ 4-1 loss to the visiting Everett Silvertips on Wednedsay night.
---
The Kootenay Ice has released D Jordan Steenbergen, who was pointless in 12 games. Steenbergen, an 18-year-old from Sylvan Lake, Alta., is expected to join the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys. He was a third-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . "It was a mutual parting of the ways," Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth told Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. "He wasn't going to be happy being a No. 6, 7 or 8 defenceman or on the fourth line (as a) forward. He wanted to play more and we couldn't guarantee that. We reached a mutual decision to part ways." . . . The Ice now is carrying 23 players, including seven defencemen and 14 forwards.
---
The Saskatoon Blades have revealed that they will be keeping F Luke Gingras for the remainder of this season. Gingras, a fourth-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft, has played two games with the Blades and is looking for his first point. A 16-year-old from Langley, B.C., he started the season with the major midget Valley West Hawks and had 20 points in eight games before joining the Blades.
---
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have their roster down to 25 after releasing D Michal Holub, an 18-year-old from Mission. B.C. A third-round pick by Seattle in the 2011 bantam draft, he was acquired by Lethbridge at the 2013 trade deadline. He had eight points, including three goals, in 66 games with the Thunderbirds, and had one goal in 20 games with Lethbridge. . . . Holub is expected to join the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors.
---
The Regina Pats have returned D Ryan Krushen, 16, to the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. Krushen, who was brought in a week ago due to injury concerns, played two games with the Pats.
---

WEDNESDAY'S REPORT: 

In Lethbridge, F Tyler Wong scored three times to lead the Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Wong has five goals this season. . . . The Hurricanes have won four of their last five games. . . . F Carter Folk had three assists for the winners. . . . G Zac Robidoux stopped 31 shots for his first victory with Lethbridge. Hurricanes starter Stuart Skinner left Wednesday for the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Veteran F Marcus Messier, 20, scored his first goal with the Raiders. . . . Earlier in the day, the Raiders learned that German F Leon Draisaitl, 18, will be staying with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. He played his 10th game with the Oilers last night. . . .

In Vancouver, the Brandon Wheat Kings broke a 1-1 tie with three second-period goals and went on to a 5-2 victory over the Giants. . . . F Tyler Coulter scored twice for Brandon, giving him eight on the season. . . . Brandon F Jesse Gabrielle added his ninth as the Wheat Kings finished a tour through the B.C. Division at 4-1. . . . They will stop in Lethbridge on Friday and Medicine Hat on Saturday on the way home. . . . Brandon F John Quenneville scored his fourth goal and added two assists. . . . Brandon F Rihards Bukharts, the team's leading scorer, was a healthy scratch for a second straight game as F Richard Nejezchleb played his second straight game. Brandon is carrying three imports -- D Ivan Provorov is the other -- and one will have to be traded or released in the next few days to get down to the maximum of two. . . .

In Kamloops, F Kohl Bauml scored twice to help the Everett Silvertips to a 4-1 victory over the Blazers. . . . The Silvertips took a 2-1 lead into the third period when they tied a franchise record with goals six seconds apart to take control. . . . Bauml scored his second of the game, and seventh of the season, at 4:08 and F Carson Stadnyk got his eighth at 4:14. . . . The franchise record was set last season when D Ben Betker and F Jujhar Khaira scored at 3:32 and 3:38 of the third period in a 7-0 victory in Kamloops on Dec. 7. . . . Everett F Nikita Scherback had two assists. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully, the WHL's leading scorer, sat this one out with the flu. . . . The Blazers also were without F Jake Kryski, who left yesterday for the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Everett is 9-1-3 overall, and 6-0-1 on the road. . . . Everett also won in Kamloops on Oct. 11, beating the Blazers, 5-1. . . . Kamloops visits Everett on Nov. 15 and Nov. 26. . . .

In Spokane, F Calder Brooks scored the lone goal of a three-round shootout as the Chiefs beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . Chiefs F Adam Helewka forced OT with his second goal of the game, and seventh of the season, at 18:39 of the third period. He also had an assist. . . . Spokane G Garret Hughson turned aside 46 shots through OT and was perfect in the shootout. . . . F Cole Benson had two assists for Edmonton, giving him 13 points in 14 games. Last season, he finished with a career-high 13 points in 59 games. . . . The Chiefs lost D Tamas Laday to a kneeing major and game misconduct at 19:37 of the first period. . . . In their history, the Oil Kings have played four times in Spokane and are 0-3-1.
---

@CV_Rockies proud mom moment when youu go on stats page and see your son in top 20! Even if it's top 20 for pims!! @Duncs16 lol
— Rhonda Duncan (@hkymomma) October 29, 2014

This piece right here appeared in The Globe and Mail on Saturday. It is an oral history of the 1972 series between Canada and the Soviet Union. If you are old enough to have watched that eight-game series, this will bring back a lot of memories. If you aren’t old enough to remember, you will read this and wish you were.
———
D Joe Morrow, who played the last four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, got a bit excited Sunday morning and sniped at NHL commissioner Gary Bettman via Twitter.
According to Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Morrow, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft, tweeted: "Bettmen should be the commissioner of a different sport ... Like knitting. What a joke. #stop ruining hockey."
The tweet was gone in less than an hour.
“I was speaking as a fan,” Morrow told Yohe, “not a hockey player.”
Morrow, who will turn 20 on Dec. 9, is expected to open the upcoming season with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He has yet to play in the NHL, so is not a member of the NHLPA.
———
JUST NOTES: The Regina Pats have assigned D Sean Whelan and F Connor Gay to SJHL teams. Whelan, 18, played last season with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals and will join the Estevan Bruins. Gay, 17, spent last season with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers and now will play for the Kindersley Klippers. . . . The Kootenay Ice has its roster down to 25 after assigning two players on Sunday night. D Jordan Steenbergen, 16, will join the midget AAA Red Deer Rebels, while F Douglas Morris, 17, will join a team that has yet to be determined.
———
If you have ever wondered about NCAA Division I hockey and finances, Monica Mendoza of the Colorado Springs Business Journal has taken a look at the Colorado College Tigers and how they feed their bank account. That piece is right here.
———
Who is the WHL’s King of Twitter?
That’s easy.
Here’s Darren Kramer (@DarrenKramer22): “@JtBarnettAZDK teach me and @LiamStewart11 the ropes . . . How do you have so many followers!? #WHLtwitter legend”
To which @JtBarnett AZDK replied: “When you play on every team in the CHL they start to add up hahaha”
J.T. Barnett actually is with only his fourth WHL team, having been claimed by the Kelowna Rockets off waivers from the Everett Silver tips last week.
But he does have a whole lot of Twitter followers — 36,161 as of mid-day on Sunday. That’s down from the 37,095 who were there on Friday when Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier wrote about this phenomenon.
Here’s part of what Fisher wrote:
For those not familiar with Twitter, that's a ton of traffic.
For comparison sake, the Rockets' official team account (@Kelowna_Rockets) had only 2,721 followers. Most of Kelowna's current roster can be found on Twitter, including head coach Ryan Huska and at least 20 players, though none can hold a candle to Barnett. (Colton) Sissons is a distant second at 999, Ryan Olsen third at 843 and Damon Severson fourth at 706. That trio has something in common, all being drafted players who have attracted a bigger following thanks to the NHL fan base.
That's further evidenced by some former Rockets who have found their way to the pro ranks, including Tyson Barrie (4,713), Tyler Myers (1,534) and Brett Bulmer (1,185). Barnett, though, is not drafted nor signed by an NHL team, although he's attended rookie camps in Minnesota . . . and in New Jersey this summer with Severson. Maybe Barnett's just the WHL's version of Paul Bissonnette (323,752), a Phoenix Coyotes enforcer better known as @BizNasty2point0.
But, really, what's the deal? How can Barnett be significantly more popular than his new teammates?
"I don't think I even have a hundred, so that's pretty impressive," said (Dylen) McKinlay, a Langley product who ranks among the bottom three Rockets with 94 followers, ahead of only Mitchell Wheaton (73) and Tanner Moar (39). "It's crazy . . . I don't know how he does it, but I think it's his Instagram."
Instagram is a social-media tool that acts as a free photo-sharing program.
"That's probably the main reason," admitted Barnett, trying to downplay his online fame. "It's funny, but I don't really care too much. I don't go on (Twitter) too much, I took like a month off and went back on and was just like 'wow.' It's a lot more popular down in California, I guess.
"And I go on Instagram a lot, which in the U.S. is like BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) up here, like every person has Instagram."
That makes some sense and might explain why California products Mitchell Callahan and Shane McColgan — two former Rockets — have 2,002 and 1,172 followers, respectively, on Twitter. But with 35,000 more followers than them, it was safe to assume many of Barnett's admirers were strangers or spam accounts, right?
Wrong, apparently.
"Mainly, they're my friends," he said straight-faced. "Most of them are my friends from down in Arizona and California, but some of them I don't know.
"It's just a good way to keep in touch with guys without necessarily having to text them and stuff. You can just read what they're doing and what's going on with them. And also guys that leave the league, you want to stay in touch with them and that's one of the ways you do it."
Fisher’s complete story is right here.
———
Wally Hilgenberg was a mean and miserable football player as a linebacker with the Minnesota Vikings. But his death, at the age of 66, may have been because of repetitive brain trauma. . . . Mike Kaszuba of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has the story of the Hilgenberg family and its feelings towards the game of football. That story is right here and it is an interesting and conflicting read.


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.