Showing posts with label Kale Clague. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kale Clague. Show all posts

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Nanaimo votes NO! . . . Tigers own Central pennant . . . Cougars set a record . . . Steenbergen gets 50



While the Kootenay Ice was losing 6-1 to the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday night, the franchise’s immediate future was being decided in Nanaimo.
Voters there went to the polls in a referendum through which the City asked for the OK to borrow $80 million that would go towards the construction of an events centre that would include a 5,700-seat arena.
The WHL had entered into a memorandum of understanding under which Nanaimo was to get a franchise in time for next season and a 20-year lease agreement in a new facility if Saturday’s vote was YES.
Scratch that idea.
Unofficial results show that 23,885 people voted, with 19,179, or 80.3 per cent, of those saying NO, and 4,706 saying YES.
Karl Yu of the Nanaimo News Bulletin posted a brief interview with Bill McKay, Nanaimo’s mayor, on Instagram.
“I have to say that I expected to see that based on the conversations I’ve been having with members of the community,” McKay told Yu. “I didn’t believe it was going to be this high. They have made their position very clear on this particular project at this time.”
McKay added that the city is working on five other major projects, but that this one “happened to be the one at the forefront.”  
The News Bulletin reported in a story that is right here that there were “slightly more” than 66,000 eligible voters, so turnout was about 37 per cent.
The result is expected to made official at a city council meeting on Monday.
So . . . what’s next for the WHL and the Ice?
Well, keep in mind that this wasn’t a vote against the WHL; it was a vote against borrowing $80 million
that was to go to a project that would include an arena. The WHL, then, could choose to leave the Ice where it is, be patient, see how things develop in Nanaimo, and try again.
Of course, it’s hard to see the Ice as a profitable enterprise if the status quo is maintained. Fans in Cranbrook and area know that the WHL would prefer to be somewhere else and that the present ownership, the Chynoweth family, wants out and has been trying to get out for a while now.
Taking Note was told last week that a local group has had an offer on the table for about a month, but that it was told everything was on hold pending the Nanaimo referendum.
Well, we know how that turned out, something that just might give the Cranbrook group some leverage.
If the Ice isn’t in Nanaimo and it isn’t in Cranbrook, where then?
You can forget Winnipeg, which is home to the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. You can forget Wenatchee, Wash., where the ownership of the Wild is said to be thrilled with the way things have turned out in the BCHL. You can forget Abbotsford, B.C., which has an arena without a hockey team but is in the Vancouver Giants’ footprint. You can forget Penticton, B.C., which is in the Kelowna Rockets’ footprint.
Where then?
Well, everything seems to point to Cranbrook, a city that not that long ago built an arena to house a WHL team. Sound familiar?
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Steve Ewen, who covers the Vancouver Giants for Postmedia, is working to kick cancer’s butt for a second time. As a result, he has his blog — Crush the Tumour with Humour — up and running. In this latest entry, he writes about everything that sucks, although he does admit “I married well.” . . . Give him a read right here.
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The ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks aren’t going anywhere; they’re just changing their name. Starting on June 1, they will be the Kansas City Mavericks. The change was name official during the Mavericks’ awards celebrations on Saturday. The Mavericks, who are completing their eighth season, play out of Independence, a city that is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
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If the WHL playoffs began today . . . 
Eastern Conference
Regina vs. Calgary
Medicine Hat vs. Brandon
Moose Jaw vs. Swift Current
Lethbridge vs. Red Deer
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Western Conference
Seattle vs. Portland
Prince George vs. Victoria
Kelowna vs. Kamloops
Everett vs. Tri-City
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, the Wheat Kings erased a 2-0 first-period deficit with five straight goals en route to a 5-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . One night earlier, the Raiders had beaten the visiting Wheat
KALE CLAGUE
Kings, 3-1. . . . Last night, the visitors got early goals from F Parker Kelly (19), at 2:39, and F Cole Fonstad (11), on a PP, at 10:03 of the first period. . . . Brandon tied it on PP goals from F Stelio Mattheos, his 26th, at 13:10 of the first and F Reid Duke, his 36th, at 9:32 of the second period. . . . F Connor Gutenberg’s 12th goal gave the Wheat Kings the lead at 10:06 and F nolan Patrick made it 4-2 at 14:33. . . . D James Shearer (8) added insurance at 3:41 of the third period. . . . F Kolten Olynek got the Raiders’ last goal, at 14:01. . . . Brandon got two assists from D Kale Clague and one each from Patrick, Mattheos and Duke. . . . G Logan Thompson stopped 26 shots for the victory. . . . The Raiders got 37 saves from G Ian Scott. . . . Brandon was 2-8 on the PP; Prince Albert was 1-7. . . . F Nikita Krivokrasov, who signed earlier in the week, made his WHL debut with the Raiders. He is the son of former NHL F Sergei Krivokrasov. . . . The defending-champion Wheat Kings (30-28-10) clinched a playoff spot. They are in possession of the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot and seem likely to finish there. . . . Prince Albert is 19-43-7. . . . Announced attendance: 4,339. . . . Prior to the game, the Wheat Kings added six more players to their 50th anniversary Dream Team. Ron Chipperfield (1970-74), Brayden Schenn (2007-10) and Laurie Boschman (1976-79) were selected to the second forward line, with Ryan Pulock (2010-14) and Wade Redden (1993-96) named as the second defence pairing. Glen Hanlon (1974-77) was the first of two goaltenders to be named.
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At Edmonton, G Michael Bullion stopped 28 shots to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-0 victory over
MICHAEL BULLION
the Oil Kings. . . . The Tigers will finish atop the Central Division for the first time since the spring of 2007. . . . Medicine Hat had beaten the visiting Oil Kings, 9-3, on Friday. . . . Bullion has posted the first three shutouts of his career in his last 11 appearances. He is 15-5-0, 2.81, .904 with the Tigers, who acquired him from Portland in January. . . . The Tigers scored once shorthanded and three times on the PP. . . . F Max Gerlach got it started with his 32nd goal, on a PP, at 18:57 of the first period. . . . F James Hamblin (18) added a shorthanded goal at 1:12 of the second period, with F John Dahlstrom (29) scoring on the PP at 9:05. . . . The game’s final goal came from Hamblin, on a PP, at 3:34. . . . Dahlstrom also had an assist. . . . The Oil Kings got 45 saves from G Patrick Dea. . . . Medicine Hat was 3-5 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-5. . . . The Oil Kings were without D Brayden Gorda, who drew a one-game suspension for a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct in Friday’s game. Tigers F Ryan Chyzowski, the victim on that hit, was in the lineup last night. . . . F Zach Fisher was among the Tigers’ scratches. . . . Medicine Hat (49-19-1) has won three in a row. It is second in the overall standings, five points behind Regina. . . . The Oil Kings (20-42-6) have lost 11 in a row (0-9-2). . . . Corey Graham, the voice of the Oil Kings on TSN 1260, called his 500th WHL game. . . . Announced attendance: 15,235.
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At Kamloops, F Rudolfs Balcers scored with 5.1 seconds left in the third period to give the Blazers a 4-3
DYLAN FERGUSON
victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Balcers’ 40th goal of the season finished a game in which Kamloops overcame a 3-0 deficit to win for the third time in four nights at home. . . . Balcers scored the game’s last two goals. . . . The Blazers trailed 3-1 going into the third period. . . . F Quinn Benjafield (16) got the home team to within a goal at 1:00 and Balcers tied it 27 seconds later. . . . F Deven Sideroff, back after serving a one-game WHL suspension, had the Blazers’ other goal, his 36th, at 13:58 of the second period. . . . F Calvin Spencer (15) had given Vancouver a 1-0 lead with 2.3 seconds left in the first period. . . . F Jack Flaman made it 2-0 with No. 15 at 1:17 of the second period and F Bartek Bison (7) upped it to 3-0 at 3:29. . . . Kamloops got two assists from each of Sideroff, D Ondrej Vala and F Lane Bauer. . . . G Dylan Ferguson stopped 42 shots to earn the victory. . . . The Giants got 29 stops from G Ryan Kubic. . . . Kamloops was 0-2 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-4. . . . The Blazers (41-23-6) have won three straight. They have clinched at least third place in the B.C. Division. They are eight points ahead of Victoria, which has three games left, and three in arrears of Kelowna. . . . The Giants (19-43-6) have lost eight straight (0-7-1). . . . Announced attendance: 3,870.
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At Kelowna, F Dillon Dube scored his second goal of the game on a PP in OT to give the Rockets a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . Dube’s 19th goal came 19 seconds into extra time. . . . F Reid
DILLON DUBE
Gardiner had given Kelowna a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 5:08 of the first period. . . . Victoria F Regan Nagy (18) tied it at 7:53. . . . F Dante Hannoun gave the Royals a 2-1 lead, at 1:48 of the second period. . . . Dube, who also had two assists, tied it at 14:51. Dube had two goals and an assist in an 8-1 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants on Friday. . . . F Rod Southam put the Rockets back out front with his 17th goal, on another PP, at 18:15. . . . Hannoun tied it with his 25th goal, on a PP, at 12:50 of the third period. . . . F Calvin Thurkauf had two assists for Kelowna, as did D Cal Foote. Gardiner added an assist to his goal as he ran his point streak to 15 games. . . . G Michael Herringer earned the victory with 24 saves, seven fewer than Victoria’s Dylan Myskiw. . . . Kelowna was 3-7 on the PP; Victoria was 1-6. . . . The Rockets (43-21-5) have won a season-high seven straight games. With three games remaining, they are two points behind B.C. Division-leading Prince George and three ahead of Kamloops. . . . The Royals (37-26-6) have lost four in a row (0-3-1), all in the last five nights on the road. They hold down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot and can finish no higher. . . . Victoria was without head coach Dave Lowry for the second night in a row He and one player have been isolated from the rest of the team after showing symptoms of mumps. They are awaiting results of tests to determine if it is indeed mumps. . . . With Lowry gone, assistant coaches Dan Price and Doug Bodger ran the Victoria bench. One night earlier, Price and general manager Cam Hope were behind the bench for a 6-2 loss in Kamloops. . . . Announced attendance: 5,526.
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At Lethbridge, F Mark Kastelic celebrated his 18th birthday with a pair of goals to help the Calgary
MARK KASTELIC
Hitmen to a 5-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . One night earlier, the Hitmen beat the visiting Hurricanes, 4-3. . . . Calgary (27-31-10) jumped into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, one point ahead of Saskatoon. The Hitmen can stretch that to three points as they play host to Edmonton this afternoon. . . . Kastelic, a second-round selection in the 2014 WHL bantam draft, is from Phoenix. He had five goals and five assists in 59 games as a freshman last season. This season, he has 13 goals and 19 helpers in 63 games. . . . The teams came out of the first period tied, 2-2. . . . F Tyler Mrkonjic (6) gave Calgary a 1-0 lead at 8:57, with Lethbridge D Calen Addison (7) tying it at 13:52. . . . The Hitmen went back out front on F Jakob Stukel’s 23rd goal, at 15:03, and Lethbridge tied it when F Jordy Bellerive got his 26th, at 17:07. . . . The Hitmen won it with the last three goals. . . . F Beck Malenstyn broke the tie with No. 27, at 14:08 of the second period. . . . Kastelic then scored twice, getting his 12th at 14:42 of the third period and adding an empty-netter at 17:00. . . . Stukel also had an assist. . . . Calgary G Kyle Dumba stopped 32 shots, 10 more than Lethbridge’s Stuart Skinner. . . . Lethbridge was 0-1 on the PP; Calgary was 0-2. . . . The Hurricanes were without F Matt Alfaro and F Zak Zborosky for a third straight game. . . . Calgary had F Matt Dorsey in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 6. . . . Lethbridge (43-19-7) is second in the Central Division but can’t catch first-place Medicine Hat. . . . Jason Monnery, Calgary’s equipment manager, worked his 500th WHL game. . . . Announced attendance: 5,178, the Hurricanes’ largest crowd this season.
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At Moose Jaw, F Adam Brooks scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Regina Pats to a 4-3 victory over the Warriors. . . . The Pats had blanked the visiting Warriors, 5-0, on Friday. . . . On Saturday,
ADAM BROOKS
Regina got off to a 3-0 lead. The Pats got two first-period goals, from F Braydon Buziak (10), at 14:09, and Brooks, on a PP, at 16:36. . . . F Filip Ahl got it to 3-0 with his 25th goal at 1:48 of the second period. . . . The Warriors got second-period goals from F Brayden Burke (19), at 9:13, and F Thomas Foster (21), at 10:59, and it was a one-goal game. . . . Brooks stretched the lead to two with his 39th goal, at 11:45 of the third period. . . . F Brett Howden’s 35th goal, at 14:50, pulled the Warriors back to within one. . . . Brooks, the WHL’s defending scoring champ, set a single-season career best in goals. He had 38 last season when he won the scoring title with 120 points in 62 games. This season, he has 117 points in 62 games. . . . Pats F Sam Steel, who leads the WHL scoring race, was held pointless in his 200th regular-season game. He has 123 points. . . . D Connor Hobbs had two assists for Regina. He leads all WHL defencemen in goals (28) and points (80). . . . Burke added two assists to his goal, while Foster also had an assist. . . . Moose Jaw F Jayden Halbgewachs had one assist in his 200th game. . . . G Tyler Brown stopped 32 shots for Regina, while Moose Jaw’s Zach Sawchenko turned aside 18. . . . Regina was 1-2 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-4. . . . Moose Jaw thought it had tied the game late, but the potential goal was waved off for goaltender interference. . . . The Pats (48-12-8) have won four in a row. They lead the overall standings by five points over Medicine Hat. . . . The Warriors (41-19-8) have lost two straight. They are second in the East Division, six points ahead of Swift Current with each team having four games remaining. . . . Regina went 5-3-0 in the season series; Moose Jaw was 3-4-1. . . . Announced attendance: 4,729.
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At Portland, the Seattle Thunderbirds struck for a pair of shorthanded goals and two on the PP to beat the Winterhawks, 6-3. . . . Seattle went up 1-0 when F Matthew Wedman (5) scored at 2:38 of the second
TYLER CARPENDALE
period. . . . Portland tied it on F Skyler McKenzie’s 40th goal, at 3:25. . . . The Thunderbirds’ special teams then went to work in taking a 3-1 lead. F Nolan Volcan’s 14th goal, at 10:56, came while shorthanded, and F Ryan Gropp got No. 32, on a PP, four minutes later. . . . Portland D Shaun Dosanjh got his guys to within a goal with his second score this season, at 18:01. That was his fourth goal in 169 career games. . . . F Alexander True (23) got the second shorthanded goal, 48 seconds into the third period. . . . F Keegan Iverson (23) followed for Portland at 3:01. . . . Seattle put it away with the game’s last two goals. F Sami Moilanen got No. 21 on a penalty shot at 14:48, and D Ethan Bear scored his 28th goal, tops among WHL defencemen, on a PP, at 18:59. . . . That also ran Bear’s points streak to 15 games. . . . Seattle got two assists from F Donovan Neuls and F Keegan Kolesar, with Gropp and True each adding one. . . . D Caleb Jones had two helpers for Portland. McKenzie had one. . . . Seattle G Rylan Toth was scheduled to start, but also was marked as questionable before the game. He got through the first period, stopping all 11 shots he faced, but then left as a precaution because of issues with a lower-body issue. This close to the playoffs, no one is going to fool around with something like that. . . . Toth was replaced by Matt Berlin, who turned aside 17 shots over the last two periods. . . . Shane Farkas made 30 saves for Portland. . . . Seattle was 2-6 on the PP; Portland was 1-6. . . . Seattle F Mathew Barzal, who left after the warmup prior to Friday’s 3-2 victory over visiting Everett, was among the scratches. Seattle continues to be without D Jarret Tyszka, F Scott Eansor and D Reece Harsch. . . . F Tyler Carpendale, who signed earlier in the day, made his WHL debut with Seattle. A sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft, he turned 17 on Jan. 26. From Powell River, B.C., he had eight goals and eight assists in 34 games with the junior B Westshore Wolves of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. . . . Seattle (44-19-6) has won three in a row. It leads the Western Conference by one point over Prince George and Everett. . . . The Winterhawks (37-27-4) had a five-game winning streak end. They hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points behind Victoria. Portland also is fourth in the U.S. Division, a point behind Tri-City. . . . Announced attendance: 7,235.
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At Red Deer, F Lane Zablocki scored once and added three assists to lead the Rebels to a 6-1 victory
LANE ZABLOCKI
over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rebels beat the Ice, 4-1, in Cranbrook on Friday. . . . Last night, the Rebels responded to a 1-0 deficit by scoring four times before the first period came to an end. . . . F Vince Loschiavo (28) gave the visitors the lead at 4:49. . . . Zablock then drew the primary assist on three straight goals, with D Ethan Sakowich (3) scoring at 5:25, F Evan Polei (31) at 14:45, and F Brandon Hagel (25) at 17:31. The latter two goals came via the PP. . . . F Austin Pratt got No. 16 at 18:12. . . . The Rebels closed it out as Zablocki got his 26th goal, at 10:43 of the second period, and F Dawson Martin (9) scored, on a PP, at 13:22. . . . Red Deer got three assists from F Austin Glover and two from D Jared Freadrich. . . . Red Deer had planned to start G Riley Lamb, but apparently had a vision problem in the warmup, meaning Lasse Petersen got the start and made 15 saves. . . . At the other end, Payton Lee turned aside 31 shots. . . . Red Deer was 3-6 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-3. . . . The Rebels (28-28-12) have points in five straight (3-0-2). They are third in the Central Division, four points ahead of Calgary. Each team has four games remaining. . . . The Ice (14-43-11) has lost six in a row (0-5-1). . . . Announced attendance: 5,072.
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At Spokane, the Prince George Cougars built a 3-0 first-period lead and went on to beat the Chiefs, 4-3. .
TANNER WISHNOWSKI
. . The Cougars (44-21-5) set a Prince George franchise record for victories in one season. Prince George had twice won 43 games, in 1997-98 and 1999-2000. The Victoria Cougars won 60 games in 1980-81. . . . F Josh Curtis (9), F Jared Bethune (22) and F Nikita Popugaev, on a PP, scored for the Cougars in the opening period. . . . After a goal-less second period, F Jared Anderson-Dolan scored for the Chiefs, on a PP, 57 seconds into the third. . . . The Cougars got that one back as D Josh Anderson (3) counted at 10:59. . . . Spokane made it interesting with two late goals, as F Kailer Yamamoto got No. 39, on a PP, at 13:39 and F Hudson Elynuik scored his 27th, at 18:47. . . . F Tanner Wishnowski, who moved from Spokane to Prince George in January, played only his third game since Nov. 19. He has an assist in each of his past two games now. . . . Yamamoto also had two assists, with Anderson-Dolan getting one. . . . The Cougars got 27 saves from G Nick McBride. . . . G Jayden Sittler turned aside 36 shots for Spokane. . . . The Cougars were 1-2 on the PP; the Chiefs were 2-6. . . . Prince George leads the B.C. Division by two points over Kelowna. . . . The Chiefs (26-32-10) have lost six straight (0-5-1). . . . Announced attendance: 8,233.
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At Swift Current, F Ryley Lindgren’s second goal, at 19:02 of the third period, gave the Broncos a 3-2
RYLEY LINDGREN
victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Broncos F Tyler Steenbergen had tied the game 2-2 at 14:11 of the first period as he became the first WHLer to reach 50 goals this season. . . . Steenbergen, who turned 19 on Jan. 7, has 86 points in 68 games, after putting up 46 points, 20 of them goals, in 67 games as a freshman last season. . . . Steenbergen is the first Swift Current skater with 50 goals since F Jeremy Williams put in 52 in 68 games in 2003-04. . . . Lindgren, who has 25 goals, gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead at 6:10 of the first period. . . . The Blades took a 2-1 lead on goals from F Mason McCarty (20), at 11:08, and F Logan Christensen (11), at 11:39. . . . D Max Lajoie drew two assists for the Broncos, with Steenbergen and Lindgren getting one each. . . . G Taz Burman stopped 35 shots for the Broncos. . . . The Blades got 27 stops from G Logan Flodell. . . . Swift Current was 0-4 on the PP; Saskatoon was 0-6. . . . The Broncos had beaten the host Blades, 5-3, on Friday. . . . Swift Current (37-21-10) appears likely to finish third in the East Division. . . . The Blades (27-33-9) now are one point out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 2,476, the largest crowd this season in Swift Current.
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At Kennewick, Wash., G Mario Petit stopped 22 shots in helping the Everett Silvertips to a 5-1 victory
MARIO PETIT
over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Petit lost his shutout bid at 8:41 of the third period when F Tyler Sandhu scored his 21st goal. . . . Petit, who caddies for starter Carter Hart, is 11-5-3, 2.77, .899 in 21 appearances this season. . . . Everett took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from F Dominic Zwerger, his 26th, at 2:55, and D Lucas Skrumeda (4), at 16:14. . . . D Kevin Davis scored his seventh goal, on a PP, at 1:00 of the third period for a 3-0 lead. . . . The Silvertips closed it out with late third-period goals from F Patrick Bajkov (28) and F Sean Richards (8), both via the PP. . . . Everett got two assists from Zwerger, F Riley Sutter and D Noah Juulsen, with Davis adding one. . . . G Evan Sarthou stopped 34 shots for the Americans. . . . Everett was 3-6 on the PP; Tri-City was 0-3. . . . Everett D Aaron Irving missed his second game in as many nights. . . . According to the online scoresheet, Tri-City D Dakota Krebs took a high-sticking major at 19:30 of the third period. . . . Everett (41-15-11) is second in the U.S. Division, one point behind Seattle. . . . Tri-City (38-27-3) has lost four in a row. It is third in the U.S. Division, one point ahead of Portland. Each team has four games remaining. . . . Announced attendance: 4,793.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Edmonton at Calgary, 4 p.m.
Everett at Portland, 5 p.m.

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Monday, March 6, 2017

Three WHLers get NHL deals . . . Rebels dealt cruel blow . . . All hail the Golden Bears


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F Reid Duke of the Brandon Wheat Kings was in the headlines on Monday. On Twitter’s What’s Happening? page, Duke was right there with ‘Trump signs new travel ban’ and ‘President Trump is still
Kelly McCrimmon welcomes Reid Duke to the Vegas
Golden Knights.
(Photo: Brandon Wheat Kings)
taping his tie’ and ‘Chrissy Teigen gets real about postpartum depression.’
So . . . what did Duke do that warranted that kind of publicity?
Duke, who turned 21 on Jan. 28, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights in what was the first player transaction in the NHL expansion franchise’s brief history.
According to capfriendly.com, the deal could have a total value of US$2.775 million. It calls for an NHL salary of $742,500 in each of the first two seasons, and $825,000 in the third. The minor-league salary each season would be $70,000. There are annual signing bonuses of $92,500, and performance bonuses of $182,500 in each of the first two seasons and $100,000 in the third.
“Obviously, there is going to be a little more opportunity there,” Duke told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun, “but, at the same time, I’m not going in there expecting them to hand me anything. I’m going to put in as much work as I can this summer to give it my best opportunity to play there (next) season. That’s going to be my goal.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make it a hard decision for them to make me play anywhere else.”
Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner, was the team’s general manager and head coach before joining the Golden Knights as their assistant general manager last summer. So he will be awfully familiar with Duke.
This season, Duke, who is from Calgary, leads the Wheat Kings in goals (35) and points (67), all in 54 games. Last season, he totalled 61 points, 33 of them goals, in 68 games. In the playoffs, he helped Brandon to the WHL championship with 24 points, including eight goals, in 21 games.
Duke began his WHL career with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, playing 132 games there before being deal to Brandon early in the 2014-15 season.
In 306 career regular-season games, he has 249 points, including 113 goals.
He was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2014 draft. However, the Wild never signed him so he was able to join Vegas as a free agent.
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NHLThe Los Angeles Kings have signed two WHLers — D Kale Clague of the Brandon Wheat Kings and F Austin Wagner of the Regina Pats — to three-year entry-level deals.
Clague, 18, is from Lloydminster, Alta. The Wheat Kings selected him sixth overall in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft. Los Angeles took him in the second round, 51st overall, of the NHL’s 2016 draft.
This season, Clague has 38 points, including 33 assists, in 46 games. He missed a few games to open the season after suffering a leg injury while playing for Los Angeles in a rookie game against the Arizona Coyotes. In 139 career regular-season games, he has 94 points, 15 of them goals. He spent part of this season with Canada’s national junior team, earning six assists in seven games at the World Junior Championship.
According to capfriendly.com, the contract could be worth US$2.775 million. The NHL salaries would be $767,500, $792,500 and $817,500, with three signing bonuses of $92,500. There are performance bonuses of $157,500, $132,500 and $107,500. The minor-league salary would be $70,000.
Wagner, one of the WHL’s fastest skaters, has 60 points, including 28 goals, in 58 games this season. In 232 regular-season games, he has 163 points, 77 of them goals.
A 19-year-old from Calgary, he was a fifth-round selection in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. Los Angeles picked him in the fourth round, 99th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
According to capfriendly.com, Wagner also signed a deal that could carry a total value of US$2.775 million. The NHL salary would be $742,500 for each of the first two seasons and $792,500 in the third. There are performance bonuses of $182,500 in each of the first two seasons and $132,500 in the third. Three annual signing bonuses of $92,500 will be paid. The minor league salary in each season would be $70,000.
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When the WHL’s weekly roster report is issued today (Tuesday), F Adam Musil of the Red Deer Rebels is expected to be shown as being out week-to-week.
ADAM MUSIL
Musil, the Rebels’ 19-year-old captain, was injured Sunday in an off-ice incident.
“It was quite a shock to us and a blow to us when we found out he had injured himself away from the rink,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner, general manager and head coach, told reporters. “It’s a significant injury.”
Sutter added that Musil has a “lower-body injury” and that there isn’t a timetable for his return.
The Rebels, who have seven games remaining, are third in the Central Division, three points ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. The Rebels next are scheduled to play tonight against the visiting Saskatoon Blades, who trail Red Deer by four points in what could turn into a wild-card chase.
“Here we are,” Sutter added, “seven games left in the regular season, battling for a playoff spot and your captain and arguably your best player is certainly not going to be able to participate in any of these games.”
Musil has career highs in goals (20), assists (31) and points (51) in 56 games this season. In 251 career games, he has 162 points, including 65 goals.
“The timing is terrible,” Sutter said. “It’s unfortunate for his teammates . . . it’s unfortunate for the organization . . . it’s unfortunate for our fans that something like this has to happen when it should never have happened.
“It was something we didn’t expect. It’s things we don’t want our kids doing and that’s the tough part. But it happened and now we just have to deal with it.
“(Sunday), it was just something . . . he obviously wasn’t thinking.”
Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com has more right here.
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The U of Alberta Golden Bears won another Canada West title on Sunday, beating the host Saskatchewan Huskies, 6-3, in Game 3 of the best-of-three-final. Both teams will play in the national championship tournament. That will be played in Fredericton, N.B., March 16-19. . . . The Golden Bears have won 14 Canada West titles over the past 17 seasons, although the Huskies won it all a year ago. . . . Darren Steinke was at Sunday’s game and blogs about it right here.
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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.
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Coaching

The AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons have signed general manager/head coach Dan Keca to a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2019-20 season. Keca has been GM/head coach since June 2015. The Oil Barons who won 10 games last season, won the North Division with 91 points this season and Keca was named the AJHL’s coach of the year. Keca, who was raised in Fort McMurray, played for the Oil Barons before attending the U of Lethbridge. He returned to the Oil Barons as an assistant coach under Gord Thibodeau in 2003.
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Seth Appert is out as head coach of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Engineers, although his contract runs through 2021. RPI won only eight games this season. Appert was 152-221-48 in 11 seasons at RPI. . . . Collegehockeynews.com reports that Appert signed a seven-year extension in 2011 and got another three-year extension added to it in 2013. . . . Appert had been an assistant coach at Denver when he signed at RPI in 2006. RPI won 18 games in 2009-10 and 20 in 2010-11 when it made its only NCAA tournament appearance. This season, RPI finished 11th in the ECAC and was swept from the conference tournament, losing two games to Clarkson.
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MONDAY’S GAMES:

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

Victoria at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Kootenay at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Spokane vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 9:18 PM
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Monday, January 30, 2017

WHL suspends pair . . . Pats sneak past Blades; Brooks leads way


D David Turoň (Portland, 2002-03) has been released by the Fife Flyers (Scotland, UK Elite). He had three goals and five assists in 30 games. . . .
F J.T. Barnett (Vancouver, Kamloops, Everett, Kelowna, 2008-13) has been released by Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). He was pointless in three games. . . . Earlier this season, Barnett was pointless in one game with CSKA Moscow (Russia, KHL), and seven goals and three assists in 24 games with Zvezda Chekhov (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). . . . Barnett was traded by CSKA to Amur on Dec. 13.
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 The WHL’s Department of Discipline dealt with a couple of players on Monday. . . . F Tadden Rattie of the Vancouver Giants drew a TBD suspension for becoming involved in a one-man fight during a game with the host Victoria Royals on Sunday. . . . Brandon D Kale Clague will sit out one game after taking a charging major and game misconduct during a game in Calgary against the Hitmen on Sunday.
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The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Kade Nolan, 15, to a WHL contract. Nolan was a fourth-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft. Nolan, from Rouleau, Sask., has six points, five of them assists, in 33 games with the Saskatoon Blazers of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. Last season, he had 26 points, including 24 assists, in 38 games with the bantam AAA Notre Dame Hounds.
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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.
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MONDAY’S GAME:


At Saskatoon, the Regina Pats scored a pair of PP goals as they beat the Blades, 2-1. . . . This was the Blades’ third annual Team Up for Respect game and included the teams shaking hands at centre ice
ADAM BROOKS
when it was over. . . . F Adam Brooks gave Regina a 1-0 lead at 18:04 of the first period with his 29th goal. . . . Brooks drew an assist on F Dawson Leedahl’s goal, his 26th, 35 seconds into the second period. Leedahl is from Saskatoon. . . . D Bryton Sayers (5) got the Blades to within a goal when he scored on a PP at 1:24 of the third period. . . . Regina F Sam Steel drew an assist on Leedahl’s goal. Steel leads the WHL with 88 points, two more than Brooks. . . . Brooks is No. 1 in assists, with 57, five more than Steel. . . . The Pats got 22 saves from G Tyler Brown, while Saskatoon’s Logan Flodell stopped 25 shots. . . . Regina was 2-4 on the PP; Saskatoon was 1-5. . . . The Pats (34-6-7) have won five in a row. They have moved back into a tie for first-place overall with the Prince George Cougars. Regina holds six games in hand, too. . . . The Blades (20-25-6) have lost three straight after having won five in a row. They are in possession of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, but are just one point ahead of the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Announced attendance: 8,019.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Everett vs. Portland, 7 p.m. (ppd. from Jan. 7)
Brandon at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Kamloops vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 8:40 PM
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Canada names selection camp roster . . . 'Canes change 20s . . . Tigers perfect 10!


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D Jace Coyle (Spokane, Medicine Hat, 2007-11) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). This season, he had two goals and two assists in 14 games with the Quad City Mallards (ECHL). Coyle played with Sheffield last season. . . .
F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1997-2002) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Amiens (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, he had one assist in four games with the Herning Blue Fox (Denmark, Metal Ligaen) before being released by mutual agreement on Friday.
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There are 12 WHLers on the national junior team selection camp roster that Hockey Canada unveiled Tuesday.
That roster features 32 players — three goaltenders, 10 defencemen and 19 forwards.
The selection camp is to run in Blainville, Que., Dec. 10-14, with the 2017 World Junior Championship set for Toronto and Montreal, Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. A year ago, in Finland, Canada didn’t advance past the quarterfinals.
The WHLers on Canada’s selection camp roster are G Carter Hart, Everett Silvertips; G Connor Ingram, Kamloops Blazers; D Jake Bean, Calgary Hitmen; D Kale Clague, Brandon Wheat Kings; D Noah Juulsen, Everett; F Mathew Barzal, Seattle Thunderbirds; F Dillon Dube, Kelowna Rockets; F Brett Howden, Moose Jaw Warriors; F Nick Merkley, Kelowna; F Nolan Patrick, Brandon Wheat Kings; and F Sam Steel and F Austin Wagner, Regina Pats.
The Canadian roster includes five returnees from a year ago: Barzal; D Thomas Chabot, Saint John Sea Dogs; F Julien Gauthier, Val-d’Or Foreurs; F Mitchell Stephens, Saginaw Spirit; and F Dylan Strome, Erie Otters.
The selection camp will include three exhibition games — against a team of Canadian university starts on Dec. 12 and 13, and against the Czech Republic on Dec. 14.
The goaltending competition will be as interesting as anything in the selection camp. Team Canada will keep two of the three. Ingram has a 2.19 GAA and .932 save percentage, while Hart is at 1.67, .937, and Michael McNiven of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack is 2.29, .920.
There are nine players on the Canadian roster from each of the OHL and QMJHL, and two from NCAA schools. D Dante Fabbro of Boston University and F Tyson Jost of North Dakota both played with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees.
Fabbro’s WHL rights belong to Seattle, which selected him eighth overall in the 2013 bantam draft.
Jost’s WHL rights belong to Regina, the Pats having acquired them from the Everett Silvertips, who took him seventh overall in that 2013 bantam draft. With the Pats the odds-on favourite to be the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup, you are free to wonder if Steel and Wagner, the two Regina players on the selection camp roster, will be whispering in Jost’s ear.
Team Canada will play in Group B, along with Latvia, Russia, Slovakia and Team USA. Canada will open the tournament against Russia on Boxing Day in Toronto.
Group A comprises Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.
Three of the WHL players on the roster — Patrick, Bean and Steel — are injured.
Patrick, the consensus No. 1 pick for the NHL’s 2017 draft, has played in only six games and hasn’t played since Oct. 11. He is listed as being out week-to-week on the WHL’s Nov. 29 roster report. Patrick, who has been bothered by the after-effects of July surgery for a sports hernia, told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun on Monday that “I think my injury is turning a corner.” If Patrick, or any other injured player, doesn’t take part in the camp, he won’t be on the final roster.
Bean, a first-round pick (13th overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL’s 2016 draft, has two assists in three games this season. He hasn’t played since suffering a hand injury on Oct. 14, but is expected to return at some point this weekend.
Steel, the WHL’s leading scorer, has missed the Pats’ last two games with a shoulder injury. He was injured in the second period of a 5-2 loss to the Cougars in Prince George on Nov. 22 and sat out Regina’s next two games. He went into this week with 41 points, tops in the WHL.
Meanwhile, two other players — Dube and Howden — have just returned from the injury list.
Dube has seven points, including six assists, in six games since coming back from a knee injury suffered while in camp with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
Howden has played in two games since returning from a hip injury that cost him a month. He has two goals and four assists in those two games, giving him 20 points, including 11 goals, in 13 games this season.
JUST NOTES: There are a number of tournament-eligible players in the NHL and Team Canada is free to add to its roster until Dec. 19. . . . Among the WHLers who may have been close to being selected: D Connor Hobbs, Regina; D Brendan Guhle and F Jansen Harkins, Prince George Cougars; F Tyler Soy, Victoria Royals; F Tyler Benson, Vancouver Giants; and D Ethan Bear, Seattle. . . . D Cal Foote of Kelowna, who is from Englewood, Colo., has declared for Canada but was ruled ineligible under the IIHF’s residency rules. Foote, whose father is former NHL D Adam Foote, is in his second WHL season. . . . Jon Keen, the radio voice of the Blazers, reports that freshman F Rudolfs Balcers has been named to the Latvian national junior team. He has 28 points, including 15 goals, in 27 games with the Blazers.
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Peter Anholt, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, continued to shake up things with a team that he obviously feels is under-achieving.
Earlier this month, Anholt dealt F Brayden Burke, the team’s leading scorer, to the Moose Jaw Warriors. On Tuesday, Anholt placed D Kord Pankewicz on 20-year-old waivers, and filled that roster spot with D Shaun Dosanjh.
Dosanjh began this season with the Prince George Cougars, before being claimed off waivers by the Kamloops Blazers when they lost D Dallas Valentine, 20, to an elbow injury. Valentine returned from a 19-game absence on Friday, so the Blazers placed Dosanjh on waivers.
The Hurricanes had acquired Pankewicz from the Brandon Wheat Kings in September 2014. This season, he has a goal and eight assists in 24 games. In 155 regular-season games with Lethbridge, he put up 97 points, including 85 assists. Including his 88 games with Brandon, Pankewicz has 112 points, 99 of them assists. Brandon selected him 11th overall in the 2011 bantam draft.
Dosanjh was a third-round pick by the Vancouver Giants in that 2011 bantam draft. This season, he has a goal and three assists in 18 games. In 142 career regular-season games, Dosanjh has three goals and seven assists.
The Hurricanes (11-11-3) have won four straight games. They hold down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, but are just one point behind the third-place Edmonton Oil Kings in the Central Division.
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet filed his weekly 30 Thoughts essay on Tuesday and, as usual, it is highly readable. In this instance, he takes a look at the changes with the Florida Panthers. . . . And if you look hard enough you might even find my name in there somewhere. It’s still a great read and it’s right here.
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If you’ve got a comment, some information you would like to pass along, or if you just want to say hello, feel free to contact me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
If you would like to donate to the cause, please visit the bottom of this post and go right ahead.
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Coaching
The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals have fired head coach Rod Aldoff and brought in Robbie Ftorek, a former NHL head coach, as the replacement. . . . The Admirals were 2-11-4 at the time of the change. . . . Aldoff, who is from Lethbridge, was hired in June to replace Eric Veilleux, now an assistant coach with the AHL;’s San Antonio Rampage. Aldoff had guided the Pensacola Ice Flyers to last season’s SPHL title. . . . Ftorek, 64, last coached in 2013-14 when he was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford, B.C., Heat.
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JUST NOTES:

The Kootenay Ice won’t have D Troy Murray in the lineup tonight when they meet the Silvertips in Everett tonight. Murray drew a TBD suspension after taking a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct for a hit on Edmonton F Artyom Baltruk in a 5-3 loss to the visiting Oil Kings on Sunday. Baltruk is shown on this week’s roster report as being out TBD with an upper-body injury.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:


At Medicine Hat, F Zach Fischer had a goal and two assists to help the Tigers to a 4-1 victory over the
ZACH FISCHER
Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Tigers (21-5-1) have won 10 in a row and now lead the overall standings by three points over the Everett Silvertips and Prince George Cougars. . . . The Tigers are scheduled to play in Everett on Friday. . . . The Raiders (5-19-1) have lost eight straight and have the 22-team league’s poorest record. . . . F Chad Butcher (12) got the Tigers started at 9:28 of the first period. . . . Fischer, who has 17 goals, added to the lead at 10:54 of the second period. . . . F Cole Fonstad (5) got Prince Albert’s goal at 12:04. . . . The Tigers put it away on goals from F John Dahlstrom (13) at 17:17 of the second and F Steve Owre (7) at 9:02 of the third. . . . D Clayton Kirichenko and D David Quenneville each had two assists for Medicine Hat, while Butcher and Owre each had one. . . . G Nick Schneider stopped 28 shots in posting his 12th straight victory. He leads the WHL with 19 of them. . . . The Raiders got 32 stops from Ian Scott. . . . Medicine Hat was 0-3 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-5. . . . F Matt Bradley, one of the Tigers’ five 30-point men, was among the scratches. . . . Announced attendance: 3,167.

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At Langley, B.C., F Brad Morrison’s goal at 1:58 of OT gave the Prince George Cougars a 4-3 victory
BRAD MORRISON
over the Vancouver Giants. . . . D Brendan Guhle had tied the game, with his fifth goal, at 19:18 of the third period. Morrison, who has 10 goals, got the lone assist on Guhle’s goal. . . . F Jansen Harkins had given the visitors a 1-0 lead, with his sixth goal, at 10:27 of the first period. . . . Vancouver F Ty Ronning (10) tied it at 16:33. . . . The Cougars went back out front on F Jesse Gabrielle’s 13th goal, at 18:17, with Harkins getting the assist. . . . The Giants took the lead with second-period goals from D Matt Barberis (4), at 2:34, on a PP, and F Radovan Bondra (17), at 16:28. . . . Bondra and Ronning each had an assist for Vancouver. . . . Gabrielle also added an assist to his goal. . . . G Ty Edmonds stopped 19 shots for the Cougars. . . . The Giants got 42 stops from G Ryan Kubic. . . . Vancouver was 1-6 on the PP; Prince George was 0-5. . . . The Cougars (19-6-2) had lost their previous two games. They are three points behind the WHL-leading Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Giants (10-16-2) have lost six straight (0-4-2). . . . Announced attendance: 2,870.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Kootenay at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Seattle at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Portland at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Brandon at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 9:55 PM
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