Two WHL first-rounders opt for BCHL; Hunter up first for Giants

1. The WHL took a hit on Wednesday as the BCHL’s Penticton Vees announced that they have received commitments from F Tyson Jost and D Dante Fabbro, both of whom were first-round selections in the 2013 bantam draft.
Jost, from Leduc, Alta., was selected by the Everett Silvertips with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He played last season with the Kelowna-based Okanagan Rockets, who won the B.C. Major Midget League championship. He won the league scoring title with 88 points, including 44 goals, in 36 games.
Fabbro, from Whistler, B.C., was picked by the Seattle Thunderbirds with the eighth overall selection of that 2013 bantam draft. He played last season with the major midget Vancouver-Northwest Giants. He led the league’s defencemen in scoring, with 61 points, 22 of them goals, in 38 games. That was 22 points more than the second-highest scoring defenceman and placed him sixth in the scoring race. In 2012-13, after playing with the bantam AAA team at Burnaby Winter Club, Fabbro was named Hockey Now’s B.C. Minor Hockey Player of the Year.
News 1130 Sports of Vancouver reported via Twitter on Wednesday: “Agent J.P. Barry places 2 very high #WHL draft picks in Penticton of BCHL - Tyson Jost & Dante Fabbro.”
Of course, that should be 'advisor' J.P. Barry, because we all know -- Wink! Wink! -- that the hiring of an agent will cost a player his NCAA eligibility. Right?

2. "Dante told us that he needed more time to make a decision and so he was going to play this year in the BCHL," Seattle general manager Russ Farwell told Andrew Eide of 730sports.com in Seattle.

3. This week, the Vees also announced having received commitments from D Mike Lee of Hamden, Conn., who has committed to the U of Vermont; D Connor Russell of Guelph; F Josh Laframboise of Regina (Minnesota-Duluth); D Miles Gendron of Shrewsbury, Mass. (Connecticut), F Lewis Zerter of Montreal (Harvard); F Neil Robinson of Montreal; G Brendan Barry of Kelowna; and D Gabe Bast of Red Deer. . . . Barry is on the Kelowna Rockets' 50-player list.

4. Seattle actually had two first-round picks in the 2013 bantam draft. The Thunderbirds used the 22nd overall selection on F Kaden Elder, who is from Saskatoon. Elder signed with the Thunderbirds on Aug. 29. . . . Last season, he played for the midget AAA Notre Dame Argos, putting up 38 points, including 13 goals, in 38 games.

5. It looks like only three first-round selections from that 2013 bantam draft haven’t committed to a WHL team. Jost and Fabbro, of course, have shunned the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds, at least for now, in favour of the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. . . . The other player who hasn’t committed to the WHL is F Jared Legien, who was selected ninth overall by the Kootenay Ice. From White City, Sask., he played last season with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals, earning 30 points, 13 of the goals, in 40 games. Legien has practised with the Ice, and is expected to sign before training camp starts in late August. "He will be close to making our team in the fall," Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth told me yesterday. Chynoweth also pointed out that the Ice "doesn't sign every drafted player . . . you earn your scholarship at camp."

6. The Tri-City Americans have added Nathan MacMaster to their scouting staff. From Calgary, MacMaster will be scouting southern Alberta, including Calgary, for the Americans. MacMaster, 21, played in the WHL with Moose Jaw, Calgary and the Americans. He finished up his career with the Americans in 2011-12. . . . MacMaster’s younger brother, Tanner, was a first-round selection, 19th overall, by the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft. MacMaster has played the last two seasons with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, and has committed to play next season at Quinnipiac U.

7. According to a Wednesday afternoon tweet from Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, the Saskatoon Blades “are down to 3 candidates for GM/coaching vacancies, according to managing partner Colin Priestner. All 3 are outside of WHL.” . . . The Blades are holding their spring prospects camp this weekend, with former players Tim Cheveldae, Jerome Engele and Ryan Keller running things. Cheveldae and Engele also are former Blades assistant coaches.

8. The Everett Silvertips are looking for an assistant coach, having lost Mark LeRose, who has signed with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers as their general manager. Jay Varady, a former Everett associate coach, is Sioux City’s head coach. . . . Varady and LeRose spent two seasons (2007-09) together with the Silvertips. . . .

9. Another Wednesday tweet from Vancouver radio station News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports): “Tim Hunter gets the 1st interview Friday for the #WHLGiants coaching vacancy.” . . . The Giants are looking for a replacement for Don Hay, who left for the Kamloops Blazers after 10 seasons in Vancouver. . . . Hunter is a former NHL player who has NHL assistant-coaching experience with the Washington Capitals, San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

10. There was another headshot in the NHL on Tuesday night, with F John Moore of the New York Rangers drilling an unsuspecting F Dale Weise of the Montreal Canadiens. Moore later was hit with a two-game suspension. . . . The problem, as James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail writes, is that “historically, hitting in hockey has been about separating an opponent from the puck so that a player could get said puck. But somewhere along the way, it became more than that, and players who no longer had the puck were – briefly anyway – fair game.”
Later, Mirtle adds: “The problem, however, is in what hitting is. As long as players are allowed to hammer opponents who no longer have the puck, they’re going to make these split-second mistakes in a game that moves as fast as this one does.
“They’ve learned some important lessons, but this one won’t get through, not when the message from coaches to their role players is to use their 10 to 12 minutes a night to punish those with skill and not when the rulebook’s wishy-washy language protects rather than prohibits the late hit.”
He’s right. And it won’t stop until coaches quit talking about “finishing your check.”
Mirtle’s complete piece is right here.

11. If you caught Wednesday night's Stanley Cup game between the Los Angeles Kings and host Chicago Blackhawks . . . WOW! . . . Now that was a game, especially the first OT period that took 26 minutes of real time to play. . . . And what can you say about the legendary Bob Cole? As his lengthy play-by-play career winds down, he definitely warrants a spot on the pedestal alongside Danny Gallivan and Foster Hewitt.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The ECHL’s Reading Royals have extended Larry Courville’s contract through 2016-17. Courville, 39, is the club’s director of hockey operations and head coach. He took over as head coach on Jan. 6, 2009, and is the winningest coach in franchise history.
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From Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) of Sportsnet: “Per @murraylp, in 2013 #Riders generated $43.8 million in revenue, $10.4 mil profit. Info comes just in time for #CFL and CFLPA negotiations.”
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From former CFL defensive lineman Doug Brown (@DougBrown97): “CFL must B thrilled that on a day of negotiation with the #CFLPA, the Riders announce revenues of $43.8 million & profit of $10.4. Oops.”
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From Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) of Sports Illustrated/@SINow: “Was told today by someone in the know that roughly 50 ESPN employees (talent + execs) make more than $1 million annually.”
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From sports columnist Cathal Kelly (@cathalkelly) of The Globe and Mail: “God love him, but Don Cherry is no longer speaking what I recognize as English.”


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Former WHLer David Rutherford tweeted this photo
after Game 1 of the ECHL final on Monday night.

When F David Rutherford played in the WHL (Vancouver, Spokane, 2005-08), he was known to play on the edge, and he didn’t mind running his mouth.
That mouth, as you can see by the above photo, is a little sore these days.
Rutherford, who plays for the Florida Everblades, was injured in Game 1 of the ECHL final against the host Las Vegas Wranglers on Monday. The Wranglers won that game, 2-1.
Rutherford lost five teeth at 2:28 of the second period. D Mike Madill of the Wranglers was given a double minor for high-sticking on the play, but the Everblades weren’t able to score on the PP.
Last night, despite the missing teeth, Rutherford had a goal and two assists as the Everblades evened the series with a 7-2 victory.
After Game 1, Rutherford (@Rutherford91) put the above photo on Twitter, along with a couple of tweets.
“Thanks for all the love @WheelsHockey!!! This shit doesn't happen in soccer ! Right back at it tomorrow!”
“Tough 1 tonight ! Right back @ it tomorrow! Who needs teeth in the playoffs too @FL_Everblades #QUESTFORKELLY&NewTeeth.”
And then there was this tweet from Stephanie Wilson (@StephW425):
“There's nothing like your bf sending you a pic of all his front teeth knocked out and saying ‘well it's playoffs’ #QUESTFORKELLY #stillhot”
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Casper Carning (Vancouver, 2010-11) signed a one-year contract with Bäcken Gothenburg (Sweden, Division 2). He had eight goals and 20 assists in 39 games for Kungälv (Sweden, Division 1) this season. . . .
F Bostjan Golicic (Calgary, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with Briançon (France, Ligue Magnus). he had five goals and 10 assists in 38 games with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga) this season. . . .
F Jordan Krestanovich (Calgary, 1997-2001) signed a one-year contract extension with Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). He had 29 goals and 40 assists in 50 games as captain of the Clan this season. . . .
F Mark Mieritz (Brandon, 2010-11) signed a one-year contract with Copenhagen Hockey (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had two goals and two assists in 38 games for Esbjerg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga) this season.
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THE COACHING GAME, Part 1:
Kelly McCrimmon, the owner and general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, announced Tuesday that head coach Cory Clouston won’t return for a second season. Clouston, who had been fired by the NHL’s Ottawa Senators after the 2011-12 season, signed a two-year deal with Brandon on Aug. 3.
"I have given a great deal of thought to our coaching situation for the upcoming season," McCrimmon said in a news release. "I do not want uncertainty with this important position and as a result have decided we will not have Cory return next season. He will perhaps have opportunities to coach professionally, failing that, we will honor the second year of his contract."
Clouston, 42, told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun: “I don’t think I expected it, but I definitely understand Kelly’s thinking. He feels the team is in a rebuilding mode for the next couple years and he told me he just doesn’t want to have the coaching position in limbo for the next two months. I have options.
“He doesn’t want me coming in early July, telling him I’m going to the American league or wherever it may be. I’m not saying that was going to happen, but he doesn’t want that as an option and I can understand his reasoning.”
The Wheat Kings finished sixth in the Eastern Conference (39-28-5) and got past the No. 3 Calgary Hitmen in the opening round of playoffs. Brandon was then swept by the eventual-champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
McCrimmon was Brandon’s head coach for the seven seasons prior to his decision to hire Clouston.
McCrimmon doesn’t have a list of potential coaches. When he puts one together, you have to wonder if his name will be on it?
Clouston played four seasons (1989-93) with the U of Alberta Golden Bears, who happen to be in the market for a head coach. In fact, the closing date for applications was yesterday. You have to think, however, that the Golden Bears’ job wouldn’t be Clouston’s first choice.
Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal has more on the Golden Bears coaching situation right here.
Bruce Luebke, the veteran play-by-play man who calls Wheat Kings games on CKLQ, offers up his take right here and it’s rather evident that he feels Clouston wasn’t a good fit.
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THE COACHING GAME, Part 2:
Harvey Smyl, a veteran BCHL head coach, and the Chilliwack Chiefs finally got around to putting together a contract. The new deal covers the just completed season and two more, taking him through 2013-14. . . . “The contract is actually for three years, but the first year is already in the books,” said Chiefs president Glen Ringdal in a news conference. “We were so busy getting the organization set up last year we didn’t get around to such matters until late in the season.” . . . You may recall that Chilliwack became home to the Chiefs – they had been the Quesnel Millionaires – after the WHL allowed the sale and relocation of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria where the franchise now operates as the Royals. . . .
Leigh Mendelson has signed on as associate head coach with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. He was an assistant with the Lancers in 2000-01 and against in 2007-08. The Lancers reached the Clark Cup championship in both of those seasons. In Omaha, he will work alongside GM/head coach Mike Aikens. Mendelson spent this season as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. Mendelson was an assistant coach with the Spokane Chiefs in 2008-09.
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JUST NOTES:
According to the Brandon Sun, the Wheat Kings are close to a new lease with the Keystone Centre. The parties are operating under the terms of a five-year extension that is the continuation of a lease first signed in 1997. It expires on May 31. . . .
D Wil Tomchuk, who turns 18 on Sept. 27, has signed with the Tri-City Americans. Tomchuk had six points and 55 penalty minutes as a freshman with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons this season. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder is from Fort McMurray. He is represented by Turning Point Sports Management. . . .
The Americans also announced Monday that F Nathan MacMaster won’t be returning to Tri-City for his 20-year-old season. MacMaster, who was acquired from the Calgary Hitmen early this season, had 11 points and 41 penalty minutes in 55 games with the Americans. He was a second-round selection by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2007 bantam draft. “Nathan has earned a four-year scholarship from the WHL and will return to Calgary to begin his studies and continue with hockey,” Bob Tory, the Americans’ general manager, said in a news release. . . .
A year ago, brothers Max and Sam Reinhart played in the Memorial Cup with the WHL-champion Kootenay Ice. Now it’s the turn of their other brother, Griffin, who is a defenceman with the Edmonton Oil Kings who won the WHL title on Sunday night. Elliot Pap of the Vancouver Sun checks in with the Reinharts right here. . . .
The QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques are getting a new arena, one that will replace the Robert Guertin Arena. The province will cough up $26.5 million, as will the city of Gatineau, and the 4,000-seat facility, which will include 40 corporate boxes, should be ready for the start of the 2014-15 season. . . . Originally, Gatineau wanted to built a 5,000-seat arena that would cost $67 million. But those plans changed after the feds said they wouldn’t be tossing in any loose change. . . .
The keys to the Edmonton Oil Kings winning the WHL championship in only their fifth season of existence? General manager Bob Green tells Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal that it’s all about the bantam draft and being patient. That story is right here. . . .
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That video that Chris Rumble, the son of Seattle Thunderbirds assistant coach Darren Rumble, put together on the hemoncology floor of Seattle Children’s Hospital had received 1,834,214 views on YouTube as of late last night.
If you haven’t seen it yet – it features patients singing the Kelly Clarkson smash hit Stronger – it’s right here. . . . There’s also an extended look at what went on behind the scenes as well as a message from Kelly Clarkson to the patients at SCH.
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Justin Bourne — no, not that Bourne; he’s Jason — knows a bit about hockey. He’s from a hockey family and he played some puck. Right here, he writes about what a young player goes through as he chooses between the college route and the CHL. Bourne should know what he’s talking about, too, because he went through it.

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The first time I saw Chad Lang, then the general manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors, he was in the press box in the arena in Kamloops. I thought he was one of that night’s scratches from the Moose Jaw lineup. Today, he is the general manager of the Regina Pats. Andrew Matte of the Regina Leader-Post has Lang’s interesting story right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
The Edmonton Oil Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors have advanced to the Eastern Conference final. The Oil Kings go in having won all eight of their playoff games, while the Warriors are 4-1. . . . They’ll begin with games in Edmonton on April 20 and 22. . . .

In Brandon, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored four first-period goals and went on to beat the Wheat Kings, 6-0. . . . Edmonton swept the Eastern Conference semifinal, running its playoff record this spring to 8-0. . . . The Oil Kings now have won 19 straight games. . . . The Wheat Kings scratched their top two forwards, Mark Stone and Michael Ferland. Stone has whiplash, while Ferland has a broken finger. Neither finished Game 3 on Tuesday night. . . . With those two out, F Daniel Asham an d F Tim McGauley made their playoff debuts. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 24 shots for his second shutout of these playoffs. . . . Edmonton got two goals from D Martin Gernat, who was celebrating his 19th birthday. . . . Edmonton F T.J. Foster had a goal and two assists. He and Gernat each finished plus-4. . . . Edmonton F Dylan Wruck left the game in the third period with an apparent shoulder injury. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock is expected to heard for Czech Republic where he will play for Canada at the IIHF U-18 world championship. . . .

In Medicine Hat, F Brayden Point continued to pen an amazing story as his PP goal in overtime gave the Moose Jaw Warriors a 4-3 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Tigers won the Eastern Conference semifinal, 4-0. . . . Point, the 14th overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, has eight points, including five goals, in nine playoff games. He leads the WHL with three game-winners — two of them in OT — in the playoffs. This one came on the PP at 8:50 of OT. . . . D James Bettauer scored twice in the first period as the Tigers got out front 3-1 with three PP goals. . . . Moose Jaw F Kenton Miller scored on a PP at 3:08 of the second and F Sam Fioretti forced OT when he scored at 15:51 of the third. . . . Moose Jaw F Cam Braes had two assists as he ran his point streak to nine games. . . . The Tigers were 3-6 on the PP; the Warriors went 2-4. . . . Medicine Hat scratched D Alex Theriau, while the Warriors remain without D Morgan Rielly (knee). . . .

In Spokane, the Tri-City Americans scored the game’s first two goals and went on to a 2-1 victory over the Chiefs. . . . The Americans take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 in Spokane on Friday. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Saturday in Kennewick, Wash. . . . F Nathan MacMaster scored his first goal at 9:20 of the first period and F Brendan Shinnimin added his fifth at 14:56. . . . Shinnimin, who won the WHL scoring race, has at least one point in each of his last 30 games. . . . Spokane F Steven Kuhn scored at 12:16 of the third period. . . . Tri-City G Ty Rimmer stopped 24 shots, three fewer than Spokane’s Eric Williams. . . . The Chiefs won the opener 3-2 in OT; the Americans have won the last two, both 2-1. . . .  The Americans have won their last four games in Spokane. . . . Spokane F Marek Kalus sat out his second straight game. He has an upper-body injury and may not play again in the series. . . .

In Kamloops, the Blazers scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Portland Winterhawks, 5-4. . . . The Winterhawks, who lead the series 3-1, led 4-0 at 10:58 of the first period. . . . Game 5 is to be played in Portland’s Rose Garden on Saturday. . . . Kamloops F Dylan Willick broke a 4-4 tie with a PP goal at 7:37 of the third period. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford had a goal and two assists, including a faceoff win that led to Willick’s winner. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie left the game 12 minutes into the first period after taking a heavy hit from Kamloops F J.C. Lipon. He was favouring his back as he left the bench and went to the dressing room. He never did return to the game. . . . Kamloops G Cam Lanigan gave up four goals on eight shots but then stopped the last 23 shots he faced. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth turned aside 29 shots. . . . Kamloops was 2-5 on the PP; Portland was 0-5. . . . After the game, the Portland coaching staff was contemplating asking the WHL office for supplemental discipline for two checks delivered by Kamloops players. Check my game story elsewhere on this blog for more details.

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The Tri-City Americans dealt defenceman Brock Sutherland
to the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy John Allen Photography)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) was released from his tryout with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). He had one assist in four games during his tryout. Sindel returned to action last week after missing two weeks with a broken jaw.
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Peter Mansbridge of CBC-TV has spent some time with researchers, including Dr. Ann McKee, who have studied and are studying the brains of deceased athletes.
Mansbridge’s report appeared on CBC’s The National on Wednesday; if you missed it, it’s right here.
The report is especially interesting when Dr. McKee discusses the brain of former Buffalo Sabres sniper Richard Martin. Dr. McKee examined Martin’s brain — he died of a heart attack in March — and found chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Interestingly, unlike Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert, in whose brains CTE also was found, Martin wasn’t a fighter.
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The Tri-City Americans are down to three 20-year-olds after trading D Brock Sutherland to the Calgary Hitmen for F Nathan MacMaster, 19. . . . That leaves the Americans with F Adam Hughesman, F Brendan Shinnimin and F Mason Wilgosh as their three 20-year-olds. The Americans also hold the rights to D Matt MacKenzie, 20, who signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday and is with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. . . . MacMaster, a second-round pick by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2007 bantam draft, has 49 points and 115 penalty minutes in 190 career regular-season games. The Warriors dealt him to the Hitmen last season. . . . Sutherland has 40 points and 155 penalty minutes in 186 regular-season games split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes andthe Americans. . . . The Calgary roster now includes five 20-year-olds — F Jimmy Bubnick, F Kenton Miller, D Ben Wilson, G Mike Snider and Sutherland. Wilson is with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters on a tryout deal.
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JUST NOTES: The Buffalo Sabres signed two more 20-year-olds to three-year contracts on Thursday. F Riley Boychuk of the Portland Winterhawks was a seventh-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft, while F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders was in camp on a free-agent tryout. Both players are with the AHL’s Rochester Americans at present. . . . The Vancouver Giants have assigned G Brendan Jensen, 18, to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. The move came after the Giants acquired G Adam Morrison, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades earlier in the week. . . .
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Earlier this week, I offered up a review of a book written by Don Dietrich, a former defenceman with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
I was remiss in not mentioning that Dietrich spent part of last weekend in Winnipeg, where he was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame . . . not as a player, but as a builder.
Here, from the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame newsletter, is Dietrich’s bio:
“Don Dietrich of Deloraine, a former defenseman and captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings, soaked up a lot of knowledge as a player in the AHL, NHL, East Coast League, with Team Canada and in Germany and Switzerland. He has passed on this knowledge as an assistant coach in Switzerland and, after returning home, as a coach with the Southwest Cougar midgets, the SWHL Deloraine Royals and as a scout for the Spokane Chiefs. Dietrich has been an active member of Canada’s national coach mentorship program, doing ‘one-on-one’ mentoring, as well as clinics. Despite personal health problems, he was instrumental in developing the Breakfast Club where young players have come out twice a week to practise their skill development.”
Hockey in our countries needs more Don Dietrichs. And if you missed it scroll further down on this blog and read all about his book. Then get on the Internet and order one. You won't be sorry.
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Jon Rosen, the former radio voice and PR guru of the Everett Silvertips, is in his first season with Fox Sports West and is in Europe covering the Los Angeles Kings. They open the NHL season in Stockholm today (Friday).
Earlier this week, Rosen blogged from a game in Hamburg and provides a pretty good feel for what it was like in the stands.
That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

There's a Beach in Moose Jaw

So there I was, sitting in the seats at Interior Savings Centre and watching Team WHL go through its practice paces when I got an email. Mr. Anonymous had posted this message to my blog: “Gregg, any truth to the rumor of Beach and Sylvester coming to Kamloops? I hear it’s as good as done.”
I ran that past a member of the Blazers’ hierarchy, who pretty much scoffed at the idea.
And it wasn’t but a few minutes later that word broke that F Cody Beach had been traded, but not to the Blazers.
Beach was part of a five-player deal between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Calgary Hitmen. Each of the five players involved is 18 years of age.
The Hitmen dealt Beach and F Mackenzie Royer to the Warriors for G Brandon Glover, F Nathan MacMaster and F Danny Gayle.
Beach is from Kelowna and Royer is from Spruce Grove, Alta. MacMaster and Gayle both are from Calgary, while Glover is from North Saanich, B.C.
The Hitmen are the WHL’s defending champions, but right now are riding a 12-game losing streak and have the league’s poorest record.
The Hitmen obviously are looking for a fresh infusion of energy and enthusiasm.
They get Gayle, a sophomore who has 10 points in 18 games, which equals his 34-game output of last season, and MacMaster, who has 13 points, including five goals, and 21 penalty minutes in 22 games. In two previous season, he totaled 19 points in 113 games.
Glover left the Warriors early in the season, apparently feeling he deserved more playing time. Last season, he went 9-8-6 with a 3.40 GAA and .890 save percentage while backing up Jeff Bosch. Glover had been with the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals.
His arrival in Calgary will leave the Hitmen with three goaltenders, the other two being Michael Snider, who is 3-10-1, 3.60, .870, and Juraj Holly, who is 1-5-0, 3.92, .872. Snider, 19, backed up Martin Jones each of the last two seasons. Holly, 19, is Slovakian and was selected in the 2010 CHL import draft.
"We'll have to figure that out," GM Kelly Kisio told John Down of the Calgary Herald, in reference to the goaltending situation. "Are we done dealing? If something comes along, maybe there's more but right now we'll let things play out and see how they end up."
Beach is the younger brother of former WHL protagonist Kyle Beach, and the Warriors are hoping he will bring some of that edgy play to their roster.
Beach, a fifth-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 2010 draft, has 15 points and 73 penalty minutes in 17 games. Last season, Beach had 14 points and 157 penalty minutes in 51 regular-season games.
“From our end we’ve been able to add what we believe is a proven top-six power forward in Cody Beach,” Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “We feel that he brings the presence and the scoring . . . we needed in our offence, coupled with the fact that he’s 18 years old and fits in with where we think our team can be this season and beyond.”
Royer has two points in 16 games this season. Over the previous two seasons, he had 16 points and 79 penalty minutes in 82 games.
Interestingly, the Hitmen are scheduled to play in Moose Jaw on Sunday night.
Also interesting is the fact that the Warriors didn’t acquire a defenceman in the deal. With Dylan McIlrath winging his way to New York in order to have an MRI under the watchful eyes of the Rangers’ medical staff, the Warriors are down to five defencemen.
Gourlie reports that the Warriors are going to bring in Travis Brown, a fourth-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft, from the midget AAA Winnipeg Monarchs for the weekend. They will play in Brandon on Saturday before scurrying home to face the Hitmen.
McIlrath, the 10th overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, suffered a knee injury last weekend, the extent of which isn’t yet known.
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The roster for Team West has been announced. Team West, which represents Manitoba and Saskatchewan, is one of the teams that will compete at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that is to be played in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie, Man., starting on Dec. 29. I could put all the names here, but won’t do that because Alan Caldwell has the roster with WHL affiliations over at Small Thoughts at Large.
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Meanwhile, on the ice, the Portland Winterhawks improved to 19-3-1 on Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Portland has won 13 of its last 14 games. It finished its East Division tour at 5-1-0. . . . F Ryan Johansen and F Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist each for Portland. . . . Portland F Oliver Gabriel had two assists. . . . The Wheat Kings, who were only 1-for-8 on the PP, including 0-for-4 in the last half of the third period, fell back to 11-12-1, meaning there now are 16 of the 22 teams at .500 or better. . . . Brandon had won three in a row overall and four straight at home. . . . The Wheat Kings lost D Rene Hunter in the second period with an apparent leg injury. . . . Portland F Brad Ross returned after serving a two-game suspension. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie had one assist, giving him 39 points. He is one behind F Craig Cunningham of the Vancouver Giants, who leads the scoring race. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi was held off the scoresheet. The freshman Swiss sensation had his point streak halted at 16 games. That ties Vancouver Brendan Gallagher for the longest point streak of the season. Gallagher put up 28 points in his streak, which ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 27. Bartschi had 27 points in his streak.
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TUESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
Zero.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
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