Cancer claims former WHLer . . . OHL franchise sells in bankruptcy court . . . Broncos, Rebels deal

G Juha Metsola (Lethbridge, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). Last season, with Tappara Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had a 1.91 GAA and .936 SP in 57 games. He led the league in SP, was named to the Liiga all-star team and won the Urpo Ylönen Award as the Liiga’s best goaltender. . . .
F Vitali Karamnov (Everett, 2007-08) signed a one-year contract with Sokol Krasnoyarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). Last season, he was pointless in two games with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL), and had five goals and eight assists in 38 games with Yermak Angarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga).
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Cody Smuk, who played with the Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors (2006-10) died Thursday morning in a Saskatoon hospital. He was 26 and from Saskatoon. Smuk had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in May 2014. . . . He finished his WHL career with 72 points, 23 of them goals, in 271 games. He then went on to play four seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies, last playing in 2013-14. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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The OHL’s Erie Otters have sold for US$7.225 million in a bankruptcy court-ordered auction. JAW Hockey Enterprises LP, fronted by James A. Waters, was the only bidding party. . . . Waters has said he has no intentions of moving the franchise. . . . Roy Mlakar, who is a former president of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, is to oversee the Otters. . . . Valerie Myers of GoErie.com has more right here.
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Los Angeles Kings F Jarret Stoll made a plea deal with prosecutors and a felony cocaine charge he was facing has been dismissed. Stoll, who played with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice (1998-2002), pleaded guilty to two misdemeanours and now has 120 days to complete 32 hours of community service. . . . Stoll pleaded guilty to provoking commission of breach of peace and trespass. . . . He had been arrested in Las Vegas on April 17 for possession of cocaine and MDMA. . . . Stoll, 33, will be an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. . . . Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the story right here.
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Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star takes a look right here at the NHL’s expansion plans and why they don’t include a second team in the Toronto area.
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THE TRADE WIRE:

The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Scott Feser, 20, from the Red Deer Rebels for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. Feser, from Red Deer, had 41 points, including 16 goals, in 72 games with the Rebels last season. In 158 WHL games, he has 77 points, 32 of them goals. . . . “He’s a strong two-way player who will bring us veteran leadership.” Mark Lamb, the Broncos general manager and head coach, said in a news release. “He takes faceoffs, kills penalties and can play the power-play. We’re really happy to get him.” . . . Feser was an eighth-round pick by the Rebels in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Feser joins G Landon Bow and D Griffin Foulk as the Broncos’ likely 20-year-olds at this point. . . . The Rebels’ roster now includes three 20-year-olds — D Kayle Doetzel, F Wyatt Johnson and F Preston Kopeck. The Rebels are the host team for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F David Hruska (Red Deer, 1995-96) signed a one-year contract extension with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 22 goals and 17 assists in 49 games with Chomutov this season.
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Something extra from The MacBeth Report:
Game 5 of Finland’s Sm-Liiga final, Ässät Pori at Tappara Tampere. Series is tied 2-2 and has been a"homer" series. Each team trade goals in the second period and that is how it ends in regulation, 1-1. Shots were 34-28 Ässät in regulation.


Apparently, Ässät was just getting started with the shooting gallery.
The first overtime period is scoreless with Ässät getting two power-plays and Tappara one, but Ässät decided to crank it up as the shots were 20-4 Ässät.
In the second overtime, Tappara had two power-play opportunities but was unable to connect on either one, so we head into the third overtime period.

Tappara got a few more shots on goal in the second overtime but was still outshot 21-11 by Ässät. Ässät got a power-play early in the third overtime. Tappara killed it off, but Ässät scored at 8:59, just
six seconds after the power-play ended, to win the game and take a 3-2 lead home to Pori for Wednesday's Game 6.
The shots in the third OT were 11-5 Ässät. Total shots on goal in the 49 minutes of OT were 52-20 Ässät; 86-48 Assat for the game.
The Tappara goalie making the 84 saves was former Lethbridge Hurricanes G Juha Metsola (2007-09).
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Former WHL coach Curtis Hunt helped Canada win gold at the world men’s sledge hockey championship in Goyang, South Korea, last week. And he had a “fantastic” time doing it. . . . Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.
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The Victoria Times Colonist and Nanaimo Daily News are reporting that WHL commissioner Ron Robison addressed “an in-camera meeting of Nanaimo city council Monday.” . . . Graham Lee, who owns the WHL’s Victoria Royals and whose company, RG Properties, manages Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria and Prospera Place in Kelowna, and Ken Wagner, one of the owners of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, also were in the meeting. . . . After the session, Robison told the newspapers: “It is up to Nanaimo council to see if it wants to proceed. We left it for them to determine.” . . . According to the Times Colonist, “Robison said the WHL would not expand but that an existing team would be relocated to Nanaimo. He did not specify which team that could be.” . . . The problem of course, is the lack of a WHL-calibre facility in Nanaimo. It is no secret that this is a case of ‘Build It and They Will Come’ — if Nanaimo had a 5,000-seat arena, it already would have a WHL franchise.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Brampton Beast, a Central league team that will begin operations next season, has hired Mark DeSantis as its head coach. . . . DeSantis spent this season as head coach of the Fayetteville FireAntz of the Southern Professional  League. . . . DeSantis, who was honoured as the SPHL’s coach of the year this season, is from Brampton. . . .

Barry Wolff is the new head coach of the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. Wolff spent this season has head coach of the junior B Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior League. He was the KIJHL’s coach of the year after going 35-13-1-3. . . . He also has coached in the BCHL, with the now-defunct Quesnel Millionaires and Surrey Eagles. . . . With Coquitlam, Wolff replaces Jon Calvano, who was dropped after the season despite having a year left on his contract.
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The Eastern Conference final resumes in Calgary tonight with the Hitmen and Edmonton Oil Kings even at 1-1. . . . The Hitmen almost certainly will be without F Jake Virtanen. The first overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft was hit was one of those ‘tbd’ suspensions for a hit on Edmonton D Cody Corbett at 5:43 of the second period in Game 2 on Friday. Corbett didn’t return to the game after the hit. . . . Corbett is expected to miss at least Games 3 and 4. . . . The Oil Kings are expected to get D Dysin May bacvk into the linup tonight. . . . Virtanen has six points, two of them goals, in 12 playoff games this spring.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Calgary (3)
(Series tied 1-1; Game 3 tonight in Calgary; all games on Shaw TV, with Dan Russell calling the play.)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Portland leads series, 2-0; Game 3 tonight in Kamloops.)
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MONDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (19):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (6):
None


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Juha Metsola (Lethbridge, 2007-09) has been assigned on loan to Ilves Tampere (Finland SM-Liiga) by HPK Hämeenlinna (Finland SM-Liiga). Metsola has a 2.57 GAA and a .924 save percentage in three games with HPK this season. In an earlier loan assignment to LeKi Lempäälä (Finland Mestis), he had a 3.05 GAA and a .907 save percentage in two games. Ilves did not announce the length of the loan agreement but it is dependent on the injury situation with Ilves' goaltenders. Ilves has five goalies under contract. Their No. 1 goalie, former NHLer Jani Hurme, injured a knee on Nov. 30 and is out indefinitely; their No. 2 goalie, Miika Wiikman, injured his back in practice Monday; their No. 3 goalie, 18-year-old Sami Aittokallio, is with the Finnish national junior team in Buffalo; their No. 4 goalie, 19-year-old Jaakko Simola, is on loan for the season to LeKi; and the No. 5 goalie, 18-year-old Ville Kolppanen (Lethbridge, 2009-10), has been playing with the Ilves junior team all season.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, who has covered the Vancouver Giants since they entered the WHL, continues his battle against cancer -- you will have to see the medical term to understand why I won’t attempt to spell it. Anyway, Steve’s latest blog entry is right here. Give it a look.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors dealt F Nathan Smith, 17, to the Vancouver Giants for F Brett Lyon, 19, on Tuesday. Smith, a third-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, is with the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder and he will remain there, at least for now. He had 34 points in 38 games at the time of the trade. . . . The Giants acquired Lyon from the Kamloops Blazers last season. He had 10 points and 198 penalty minutes in 67 games with Vancouver (44) and Kamloops (23) last season. Lyon took three assists and 105 penalty minutes in 25 games into last night’s game against the Blazers in Kamloops.
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F Tyler Johnson of the Spokane Chiefs is the Husky WHL player of the month for December. He had 22 points in 12 games. . . . Drew Owsley of the Tri-City Americans is the Vaughn WHL goaltender of the month. He was 6-2 with a 1.75 GAA and a .945 save percentage. . . . The WHL hammered F Josh Cowen of the Red Deer Rebels with an eight-game suspension on Tuesday. Cowen was disciplined for sucker-punching Saskatoon Blades D Stefan Elliott in a 7-3 loss in Saskatoon on Jan. 1. . . .
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With the WHL trade deadline arriving on Monday, you know that Brandon Wheat Kings F Brayden Schenn knows he may well be on the move. Schenn, of course, goes for gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo later today. Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun has a bit on trade rumours right here.
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM TUESDAY’S GAMES:
Has any game this season had a more bizarre ending than the one in Brandon, where the Prince Albert Raiders edge the Wheat Kings, 6-5? . . . Brandon took a 4-3 lead into the third period and, in fact, led 4-3 with three minutes to play. . . . F Todd Fiddler pulled the Raiders even at 17:19. . . . F Shayne Wiebe restored Brandon’s lead, at 5-4, at 19:06. . . . F Igor Revenko got the Raiders back into a tie, at 19:20. . . . And, finally, the Raiders won it on F Jonathan Parker’s 24th goal of the season, at 19:45. . . . Parker and Fiddler each had two goals, with F Brandon Herrod getting three assists. . . . This was a tough loss for Brandon, because the Raiders hold the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. The Wheat Kings, 11th in the 12-team conference, now are five points behind the Raiders. . . . A tip of the cap to Brandon D Brodie Melnychuk, who played in his 200th consecutive game. Think about that for a second or two. . . . From Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun: “Prince Albert dressed two affiliate players including OCN Blizzard C T.J. Constant, the son of former Wheat Kings F Chris Constant.” . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Neal Prokop scored twice to lead the host Tri-City Americans to an 8-4 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Tri-City got a goal and three assists form each of D Tyler Schmidt and F Justin Feser, while F Brendan Shinnimin had a goal and two helpers, and F Patrick Holland had three assists. . . . F Travis Toomey scored twice for Seattle. . . . Tri-City G Drew Owsley stopped 24 shots for his 60th career victory. That moved him into a tie with Brian Boucher for No. 4 on the Ams’ career list. . . . The Americans have won six in a row over Seattle this season. The Thunderbirds, in fact, have lost 15 straight at the Toyota Center in Kennewick. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Wacey Hamilton and F Tyler Pitlick each scored once and set up two others as the Tigers got past the Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-2. . . . Pitlick has nine points in three games against Edmonton. His NHL rights are held by the Edmonton Oilers. . . .


In Kamloops, the Moose Warriors won for the fourth time in five road games, beating the Blazers, 4-2. . . . The Warriors have won in Calgary, Vancouver, Chilliwack and now Kamloops, while losing in Prince George on this swing. Moose Jaw plays Thursday in Kelowna and Friday in Cranbrook. . . .

In Saskatoon, G Adam Morrison stopped 29 shots to help the Blades to a 5-0 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Morrison has two shutouts this season and four on his career. . . . The Blades have put up three blank jobs this season; the Hitmen have been zeroed four times. . . . D Stefan Elliott had a goal and three assists, while F Marek Viedensky had a goal and two assists. . . . From Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “With a goal and three assists during Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the visiting Calgary Hitmen, Elliott became just the second defenceman in franchise history to register 200 regular-season points. He reached the milestone in 250 games and is now 37 points behind Pat Price, the Blades’ most prolific pointman of all-time. Price registered 239 points in 266 games from 1970-74.”
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
THREE MINORS:
Prince Albert D Ryan Button
Saskatoon F Darian Dziurzynski (double minor)