Showing posts with label Nikita Popugaev. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nikita Popugaev. Show all posts

Friday, January 13, 2017

Len Boogaard fights the good fight ... Patrick solid in return ... Americans, Cougars roar back to win


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 F Björn Svensson (Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, 2003-06) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL). Svensson was released by Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden, SHL) on Thursday. He had three goals and three assists in 31 games.
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 The WHL has acknowledged that, yes, Don Hay’s first head-coaching victory occurred on Dec. 18, 1987, but, no, it isn’t going to count it.
If you’re late to this story, everyone thought that Hay had posted his 700th victory on Jan. 6 when his
Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 3-1.
The WHL had said that Hay’s first coaching victory occurred on Dec. 13, 1991, when Hay, then an assistant coach with the Blazers, took over while head coach Tom Renney was with Canada’s national junior team. The Blazers went 6-5-0 under Hay during that stint.
But in conversation after the Jan. 6 game it became apparent that Hay also had taken over the Blazers from head coach Ken Hitchcock in December 1987 when the latter joined Team Canada’s coaching staff.
The Blazers went 2-4-0 with Hay as the head coach of record, twice beating the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2 both times, giving him the first two WHL victories of his career.
That would mean, then, that when the Blazers beat the Giants on Jan. 6, it actually was Hay’s 702nd victory.
Understand that people other than WHL head coaches get credit for victories a number of times each season.
For example, Mark O’Leary, an assistant coach with the Moose Jaw Warriors, ran the bench from Dec. 9 through Jan. 4 when head coach Tim Hunter was with Team Canada. The Warriors went 7-3-2 with O’Leary in charge.
Earlier than that, Lethbridge Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt stepped in when head coach Brent Kisio was at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. The Hurricanes went 2-2-1 under Anholt.
Just this week, Dean Brockman, the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, missed a 5-4 OT victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen because he attended a funeral. Assistant coach Ryan Keller was the head coach of record and earned his first victory.
Last season, the Brandon Wheat Kings played 13 games without general manager and head coach Kelly McCrimmon — one while he was at meetings in Calgary and 12 while he was with Team Canada. David Anning, then an assistant coach, stepped up and was 9-3-1.
You would think, then, that it is obvious that Hay should be given credit for the two 1987 victories.
However, when Earl Seitz, the sports director at CFJC-TV in Kamloops, contacted the WHL office and asked for clarification, here is the response he received:
“Upon further review, Dec. 18, 1987, should serve as Don’s first game as the coach of record. It also happens to be a 5-2 Blazers win at Seattle. While this changes the first game/date on Don’s coaching record, it does not change the number of career victories. We maintain that (the Jan. 6) win versus Kelowna is his 700th career coaching victory.”
All of this is significant because Hay is only the second coach in WHL history to get to 700 victories and now has the career record within reach. Ken Hodge, who coached with the original Edmonton Oil Kings and Portland Winterhawks, is on top, at 742.
It is most likely that Hay, assuming he is back for a fourth season as head coach of his hometown Blazers, will get the opportunity at some point next season to break that record.
It’s up to the WHL to clarify things by crediting Hay with the two victories before then so that the situation isn’t any messier when that time arrives.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have added D Matthew Robertson to their roster and he is expected to play tonight against the host Lethbridge Hurricanes. He had been playing with the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. The 6-foot-1, 170-pounder was the seventh overall selection in the 2016 bantam draft. He has three goals and eight assists in 22 games with the Kings.
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Concussion Report

 Len Boogaard isn’t going away. The father of the late Derek Boogaard continues to work towards getting fighting out of hockey. His son was an enforcer — in the WHL, the AHL, the NHL — and Len knows the hell through which Derek lived.
In an epic piece in The Globe and Mail, Roy MacGregor writes: “Scientists say that the developing brain is most vulnerable and Len Boogaard wonders how, then, junior hockey can justify fighting on any level.”
“Why,” Boogaard wonders, “would you have a 16-year-old fighting a 20-year-old? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Later, MacGregor writes: “If, as the (NHL) itself has said, fighting causes about 10 per cent of the concussions suffered in a season, why not reduce those concussion injuries by 10 per cent immediately by putting an end to fighting?”
Boogaard added: “How do you square the circle where they want to get rid of headshots but they allow fighting in the league?
“What am I missing?”
MacGregor’s complete essay is right here.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Tyler Coulter scored three goals and added three assists but was overshadowed by the return of F Nolan Patrick as the Wheat Kings beat the Kootenay Ice, 8-5. . . . Patrick, who is likely to be
NOLAN PATRICK
the No. 1 selection in the NHL’s 2017 draft, had two goals and two assists in his first game since Oct. 11. . . . Patrick, who began the game on a line with Ty Lewis and Stelio Mattheos, now has 13 points, including six goals, in seven games this season. . . . The Ice took a 2-0 lead as F Colton Kroeker (3) and F Vince Loschiavo (15), on a PP, scored at 1:33 and 6:00 of the first period. . . . The Wheat Kings came back with three goals, from F Linden McCorrister (2), Patrick, on a PP, and Coulter, shorthanded. . . . D Dallas Hines pulled Kootenay into a 3-3 tie at 18:07 of the first, on a PP. . . . Brandon took control with the next three goals, as Patrick got another PP goal, at 6:24 of the second period, Coulter scored again at 8:42 and F Reid Duke (24) counted at 13:31. . . . Still, the Ice didn’t go away and got back to within one when F Brett Davis (8) scored 53 seconds into the third period and D Sam Huston got his first at 3:11. Huston is from Brandon scored his first goal in his 30th game. He was a ninth-round pick by the Ice in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Mattheos added insurance with his 15th, at 8:09, and Coulter completed his hat trick with his 19th goal, on a PP, at 17:52. . . . Brandon got two assists each from D Kale Clague and F Tanner Kaspick, with Mattheos and Duke adding one each. . . . D Troy Murray had two helpers for the Ice and Kroeker had one. . . . G Logan Thompson started for Brandon and gave up three goals on 10 shots in the first period. Travis Child, acquired from the Swift Current at the Broncos, made his Brandon debut with 14 saves on 16 shots over the last two periods to earn the victory. . . . The Ice got 32 saves from Payton Lee. . . . The Wheat Kings were 3-6 on the PP; the Ice was 2-5. . . . The Wheat Kings had Duke in their lineup despite his having taken a kneeing major and game misconduct in a 5-2 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans on Wednesday night. Obviously, the WHL office didn’t feel the hit was worthy of a suspension. . . . Brandon (21-17-4) holds down the Eastern Conference’s first playoff spot, six points ahead of the idle Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Ice (10-26-8) has lost two in a row. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Brandon. . . . Announced attendance: 3,671.
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At Kamloops, G Carter Hart returned to the Everett Silvertips’ lineup and blanked the Blazers, 4-0. . . .
CARTER HART
Hart, who hadn’t played since he was with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, stopped 22 shots for his fifth shutout this season and the 15th of his career. He is in his third season with Everett. . . . Only 13 goaltenders in WHL history have more shutouts than does Hart. . . . F Patrick Bajkov (19) scored the game’s first goal, at 14:20 of the second period. . . . Everett put it away with three third-period goals, two from F Devon Skoleski, who has eight goals, and one from F Matt Fonteyne, who has a dozen. . . . F Dominic Zwerger and F Connor Dewar had two assists each, while Fonteyne and Bajkov each had one. . . . Everett D Kevin Davis, who is from Kamloops, had his 13-game point streak snapped. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Ferguson stopped 24 shots in his 14th straight start. Ferguson is on that run because G Connor Ingram, Hart’s partner with Team Canada, is getting some R&R with his family in Imperial, Sask. . . . Each team was 0-2 on the PP. . . . Everett also had D Noah Juulsen back after the WJC, while D Aaron Irving returned from an undisclosed injury. . . . The Blazers had F Garrett Pilon back after a three-game absence due to a concussion. D Chaz Reddekopp of the Victoria Royals served a two-game suspension under supplemental discipline for the unpenalized hit on which Pilon was injured. . . . Everett (27-5-7) has points in three straight (2-0-1) and is tied for second in the overall standings, one point behind the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Blazers (25-16-3) were 2-0-1 in their previous three games. They are third in the B.C. Division, two points behind the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Announced attendance: 3,575.
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At Lethbridge, F Nikita Popugaev scored the only goal of a shootout as the Prince George Cougars came
NIKITA POPUGAEV
back from a 5-1 deficit to beat the Hurricanes, 6-5. . . . Lethbridge led this one 5-1 with fewer than 15 minutes left in the third period. . . . Cougars F Jesse Gabrielle got things started with his 21st goal, on a PP, at 5:13 of the third period. . . . F Josh Curtis (7) scored shorthanded at 6:55, to get the visitors to within two. . . . F Brogan O’Brien’s sixth goal, at 10:23, cut the deficit to 5-4. . . . O’Brien then tied the score at 15:59. . . . The Hurricanes had taken a 2-0 lead on goals from F Jordy Bellerive (20), at 4:51 of the first period, and D Brennan Riddle (3), at 5:45. . . . Popugaev’s 24th goal got the Cougars on the scoreboard, at 6:33. . . . The Hurricanes then added three straight goals to seemingly take control. F Jadon Joseph (1) scored on a PP, at 16:01 of the first period, with D Brennan Menell (7) counting, shorthanded, at 4:58 of the second period and F Tyler Wong getting his 30th goal, at 11:53. . . . Popugaev also had two assists, while Gabrielle had one. . . . Wong and Menell each had an assist for the Hurricanes. . . . G Nick McBride stopped 37 shots for Prince George, three more than Lethbridge’s Stuart Skinner. . . . Each team was 1-4 on the PP. . . . The Cougars are three games into a trip on which they’ll play four games in five nights. . . . Prince George (30-12-2) has won two in a row and has moved back into first place in the overall standings. . . . Lethbridge (23-15-6) had won its previous three games. The Hurricanes are second in the Central Division, six points ahead of the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Announced attendance: 3,675.
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At Medicine Hat, F Chad Butcher scored three times and added two assists to help the Tigers to a 7-3
CHAD BUTCHER
victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Tigers grabbed control early as they led 5-0 before the second period was five minutes old. . . . The home side got first-period goals from Butcher, on a PP, at 10:33; F Mark Rassell (18), at 11:54; F Zach Fischer (24), on a PP, at 14:54, and F Mason Shaw (14), at 15:51. . . . Butcher upped the lead to 5-0 at 4:08 of the second period. . . . F Riley Stotts (5) scored for the Broncos at 4:29 of the second period, but Butcher completed his hat trick, with his 20th goal, on a PP, at 17:45. . . . The Broncos then got goals from F Aleksi Heponiemi, his 15th, at 3:02 of the third period and F Lane Pederson, his 18th, at 15:17. . . . D Clayton Kirichenko, who also had three assists, scored his fifth goal, into an empty net, at 16:39. . . . F Steve Owre had two assists for the Tigers, with Fischer adding one. . . . Pederson had two helpers for the Broncos. . . . G Michael Bullion stopped 18 shots for Medicine Hat. . . . G Jordan Papirny, in his first start since coming over from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday, was beaten four times on nine shots in 15:51. Taz Burman came on to finish up and stopped 23 of 25 shots in 40:42. . . . Medicine Hat was 3-3 on the PP; Swift Current was 0-2. . . . F Ryan Graham was among Swift Current’s scratches. He is out with an undisclosed injury. . . . Swift Current F Glenn Gawdin didn’t finish the game. . . . The Tigers (30-13-1) are tied for second in the overall standings, one point behind the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Broncos (24-13-7) had won their previous two games. They are third in the East Division, four points behind the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Announced attendance: 3,568.
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At Portland, the Winterhawks built up a 5-1 lead and, unlike a couple of other teams on this night, hung
HENRI JOKIHARJU
on for a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . F Ryan Hughes (15) gave Portland a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 5:03 of the first period. . . . The Chiefs tied it at 16:40 as F Ethan McIndoe got No. 9 on a PP. . . . Portland went back out front just 13 seconds later on F Brendan De Jong’s seventh goal. . . . Second-period goals from F Skyler McKenzie (26), F Colton Veloso (10) and D Caleb Jones (4), on a PP, gave Portland a 5-1 lead. . . . Jones, who has points in 10 straight games, was playing his first game since returning from winning gold with Team USA at the World Junior Championship. . . . Spokane F Kailer Yamamoto’s 26th goal, at 18:06 of the second period, got the Chiefs to within three goals. . . . McIndoe scored again, at 11:54, and D Nolan Reid’s first goal made it 5-4 at 13:19. . . . D Henri Jokiharju had three assists for Portland, while F Cody Glass added two. Jones and Hughes each had one. . . . Yamamoto added an assist to his goal. . . . G Cole Kehler turned aside 28 shots to earn the victory. . . . Spokane starter Jayden Sittler gave up five goals on 23 shots in 33:28. Dawson Weatherill came on in relief to stop the 10 shots he faced, in 25:09. . . . Portland was 2-2 on the PP; Spokane was 1-1. . . . F Hayden Ostir returned to Spokane’s lineup for the first time since Dec. 13. . . . The Winterhawks (22-18-1) hold down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot and are one point out of third in the U.S. Division. . . . . The Chiefs (17-19-7) have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and are four points behind Portland. . . . Announced attendance: 4,338.
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At Prince Albert, the Red Deer Rebels scored the game’s last two goals and beat the Raiders, 4-3. . . .
ADAM MUSIL
The last two goals came from two players who skated for Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship. . . . F Michael Spacek tied the score, 3-3, at 7:01 of the third period, while shorthanded. He’s got 17 goals. . . . F Adam Musil’s PP goal, at 16:52, proved to be the winner. It was his 16th goal. . . . The Raiders had opened a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from F Parker Kelly (6) and F Tim Vanstone (7), on a PP. . . . The visitors tied it on two quick second-period goals from D Alexander Alexeyev (4), on a PP, at 2:24, and F Lane Zablocki (11), at 4:05. . . . F Curtis Miske gave the home side a 3-2 lead with his seventh goal 48 seconds into the third period. . . . Red Deer got two assists from D Colton Bobyk and one each from Alexeyev and Spacek. . . . G Riley Lamb stopped 33 shots for Red Deer, two more than the Raiders’ Ian Scott. . . . Red Deer was 2-5 on the PP; Prince Albert was 1-5. . . . The Rebels (20-17-6) have won two in a row and are third in the Central Division. . . . The Raiders (8-32-4) have lost eight straight (0-6-2). . . . Raiders F Simon Stransky didn’t play the last 10 minutes of the third period after taking a check from Red Deer D Brandon Schuldaus. . . . Announced attendance: 2,127.
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At Regina, the Tri-City Americans erased a 5-1 first-period deficit and beat the Pats, 6-5. . . . Regina scored four times in the game’s first 11 minutes but couldn’t hang on. . . . D Connor Hobbs (17), F Jake
MAX JAMES
Leschyshyn (16), F Bryan Lockner (2) and F Dawson Leedahl (17) had the home side out front 4-0 by 10:51 of the opening period. . . . F Michael Rasmussen, back in Tri-City’s lineup after a two-game absence, made it 4-1 with No. 30, on a PP, at 11:16. . . . Regina F Filip Ahl (19) got that one back at 17:12. . . . F Vladislav Lukin got the Americans’ comeback started with two goals — he’s got 18 — at 18:33 of the first period and 4:32 of the second. . . . F Jordan Topping (10) added a PP goal at 16:08 of the second and F Tyler Sandhu (12) tied it with another PP score, this one at 6:48 of the third. . . . The Americans won it on F Max James’ eighth goal, at 10:27 of the third period. . . . D Juuso Valimaki had three assists for the visitors, with Sandhu and Lukin adding one each. . . . Regina F Adam Brooks had three assists, with Leedahl and Hobbs each getting one. . . . Tri-City G Evan Sarthou gave up three goals on eight shots in 8:40. Rylan Parenteau came on stop 26 of 28 shots in 51:20 and also earn two assists. . . . The Pats started Tyler Brown, who was beaten four times on 17 shots through two periods before leaving with an undisclosed injury. Kurtis Chapman played the third period, giving up two goals on 12 shots. . . . Brown is expected to miss a Saturday-Sunday home-and-home with the Prince Albert Raiders. The Pats have been juggling backup goaltenders with Jordan Hollett (ankle) sidelined. Chapman is expected to start tonight against the visiting Raiders, with Max Paddock of the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings backing him up. . . . The Americans were 3-7 on the PP; The Pats were 1-3. . . . Tri-City (27-17-3) is 5-0-0 on an East Division swing that wraps up Saturday in Swift Current. The Americans are second in the U.S. Division, four points behind Everett, but the Silvertips hold eight games in hand. . . . The Pats (27-5-7) have lost two in a row and slipped into a tie for second in the overall standings. . . . Announced attendance: 5,313. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a game story right here.
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At Langley, B.C., F Thomas Foster turned with a goal and an assist to help the Moose Jaw Warriors to a
THOMAS FOSTER
4-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Foster had been dealt to by the Giants to the Warriors earlier in the week. . . . Foster opened the scoring with his 11th goal, on a PP, at 7:19 of the first period. . . . Vancouver tied it at 12:22 when F Ty Ronning scored No. 17. . . . Moose Jaw F Jayden Halbgewachs, who leads the WHL with 38 goals, broke the tie, on a PP, at 18:25. He also had two assists and now has 70 points, tying him with forwards Adam Brooks and Sam Steel for the WHL scoring lead. . . . The Warriors got insurance from F Brayden Burke when he scored his 13th goal, on a PP, at 2:59 of the third period. Burke also had two assists. . . . Moose Jaw D Colin Paradis finished it with his first goal, shorthanded, at 11:03. . . . G Brody Willms stopped 25 shots for the Warriors, while Vancouver’s Ryan Kubic blocked 21. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-4 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-7. . . . The Giants were without F Tyler Benson with an undisclosed injury for a fifth straight game. . . . D Darian Skeoch (ankle) also was missing from Vancouver’s lineup. . . . The Warriors (26-10-7) were playing the first game of a B.C. Division tour. They have closed to within two points of the East Division-leading Regina Pats, who have four games in hand. . . . The Giants (16-24-4) have lost four in a row and are 10 points out of a playoff spot. . . . Announced attendance: 4,461.
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At Victoria, F Dillon Dube scored three goals and added an assist as the Kelowna Rockets dumped the Royals, 9-2. . . . The Rockets had beaten the host Royals, 4-3, on Wednesday night. . . . D James
DILLON DUBE
Hilsendager gave Kelowna a 1-0 lead with his second goal, at 2:37 of the first period. . . . The Royals tied it on F Jack Walker’s 21st goal, at 5:06. . . . The Rockets followed that with the next seven goals, the first three from Dube, who has six goals this season. . . . Dube has six goals and 13 assists in 14 games. He missed the start of the season with a knee injury. . . . Dube’s last two goals came in the second period when the Rockets counted six times. . . . F Devante Stephens (8), F Tomas Soustal (14), F Reid Gardiner (2) and F Jack Cowell (3) had Kelowna’s other second-period goals. . . . F Ethan Price (4) scored for Victoria at 19:39. . . . Kelowna F Erik Gardiner, Reid’s younger brother, closed out the scoring with his second goal, at 12:58 of the third period. . . . D Cal Foote and F Carsen Twarynski each had two assists for the winners, Cowell, Soustal and the Gardiner boys added an assist each. . . . Walker added an assist to his goal, too. . . . G Michael Herringer stopped 19 shots for the winners. . . . Victoria starter Griffen Outhouse was beaten four times on 19 shots in 30:20. Dean McNabb then made his WHL debut and allowed two goals on four shots in 2:26. Outhouse then came back in and gave up three more goals on 20 shots in 27:14. . . . Kelowna was 2-4 on the PP; Victoria was 1-6. . . . The Rockets (26-15-3) have won three in a row and now are second in the B.C. Division, two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Royals (22-18-4) have lost three straight and are five points behind Kamloops. . . . Announced attendance: 7,006.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Kootenay at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Prince George at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Vancouver at Kamloops 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Portland, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Regina, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Lethbridge at Calgary, 4 p.m.
Regina at Prince Albert, 4 p.m.
Spokane vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 5:05 p.m.
Red Deer at Swift Current, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:59 PM
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Thursday, January 5, 2017

Cougars add Russian sniper . . . Tigers get d-man . . . Benson off the table?

WHL team logo

WHL trades since Dec. 27:
Trades: 14.
Players: 25.
Bantam draft picks: 18.
Conditional bantam draft picks: 1.
(WHL trade deadline is Jan. 10).
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The Prince George Cougars made it clear on Thursday that they see themselves as serious challengers
NIKITA POPUGAEV
for the Ed Chynoweth Cup by acquiring Russian F Nikita Popugaev from the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The 18-year-old Popugaev is seen as a potential first-round selection in the NHL’s 2017 draft.
In exchange for Popugaev, who is from Moscow, the Cougars surrendered two forwards — Yan Khomenko, 18, who is from St. Petersburg, Russia, and Justin Almeida, 17 — along with two WHL bantam draft picks — a fifth-rounder in 2017 and a second-rounder in 2018.
No doubt this deal was in the works before today, but it came on the heels of a move by the Kamloops Blazers in which they acquired F Lane Bauer, 20, a point-a-game skater, from the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Going into this weekend, the Cougars (27-10-2) are leading the B.C. Division by six points over the Blazers (24-15-2) and seven over the Kelowna Rockets (23-14-3). The Cougars are tied with the Everett Silvertips (25-5-6) for first in the Western Conference standings and second in the overall standings, three points in arrears of the Regina
JUSTIN ALMEIDA
Pats (26-3-7).
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Popugaev is a late-1998, with a Nov. 20 birthday. He has 51 points, including 22 goals, in 40 games this season. He is tied for seventh in the WHL points derby. Last season, as a freshman, he finished with 16 goals and 31 assists in 70 games.
Popugaev played for Team Russia in the 2016 CHL Canada-Russia series and will play on Team Orr in the Top Prospects Game in Quebec City on Jan. 30.
According to Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen, the two general managers, Todd Harkins of the Cougars and Alan Millar of the Warriors, first started talking trade during the Mac’s midget tournament in Calgary just after Christmas.
"We coveted a right-hand shot because (Kody) McDonald and (Josh) Curtis are the only two in our forward group," Harkins told Clarke. “Not having that right-hand shot hurt our power play at times, so he brings instant credibility to our power play.”
Popugaev is expected to be in Prince George in time to play tonight (Friday) against the Victoria Royals.
This is the second time this season that the Cougars have made what can justly be referred to as a
YAN KHOMENKO
blockbuster. On Nov. 17, they acquired D Brendan Guhle, 19, from the Prince Albert Raiders for F Kolby Johnson, 18, D Max Martin, 17, a first-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft and a third-round selection in 2019.
Khomenko, 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, played last season with Everett, recording five goals and three assists in 46 games. This season, he has 10 goals and 10 assists in 36 games with the Cougars.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Almeida, from Kitimat, B.C., was taken by the Cougars with the fifth overall selection of the 2014 WHL bantam draft after putting up 147 points, including 80 goals, in 70 games with the North Shore Winter Club’s A1 Tier 1 bantam team.
This season, Almeida has four goals and nine assists in 37 games, after putting up two goals and four assists in 48 games as a freshman last season.
“From our end,” Millar told reporters, “in terms of where our team is at, where we believe we can be now and in the future, the return . . . just fit with what we’re building, how we want to play the game and (it’s) a new opportunity for Popugaev that I think will benefit him.
“It gives a different look to our hockey team. I think we got deeper, I think we got a little bit more responsible, a little bit more validity in terms of our two-way game, and we felt that was important moving forward.”
Millar said that the Warriors feel Khomenko is an import player who is getting his feet under him in his second season and will only get better.
“We think he’s a little bit of an under-the-radar guy and we think he complements our group real well,” Millar said.
As for Almeida, Millar noted his point total in his draft season, saying: “He’s a big part of the deal and a big part of our future. His hockey IQ is high. He’s a smart player and very skilled.”
The Warriors (23-9-7) are second in the East Division, six points behind the Regina Pats, who hold three games in hand, and two ahead of the Swift Current Broncos.
“We’re  still a very young team,” Millar said. “We only have four 19-year-old players on our roster. . . . We banked some picks, which we think is going to be really valuable this year and next.”
The Warriors are expected to have Almeida and Khomenko in their lineup tonight when they play host to the Saskatoon Blades.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers, wanting to add some experience to their back end, have added Jordan
JORDAN HENDERSON
Henderson, 19, from the Saskatoon Blades for a fifth-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft.
The Tigers will be without D David Quenneville, the WHL’s highest-scoring defenceman, for the foreseeable future after he suffered a broken tibia while blocking a shot in the first period of a 6-2 loss to the visiting Regina Pats on Tuesday night. Quenneville has 48 points, including 20 goals, in 38 games.
The 6-foot-0, 180-pound Henderson is going to his third WHL team this season. The Blades had acquired him from the Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 11 for a sixth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. 
Henderson had a goal and three assists in 20 games with the Blades, after recording four assists in 15 games with the Chiefs. In 132 career games, he has two goals and 15 assists.
The Chiefs had selected Henderson, who is from Surrey, B.C., in the fourth round of the 2012 bantam draft.
Henderson is expected to make his Medicine Hat debut against the visiting Vancouver Giants on Saturday.
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If you are wondering what the future holds for F Tyler Benson of the Vancouver Giants, here’s Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal:
“The Vancouver Giants have listened to offers on Oilers second-round draft Tyler Benson before the Jan. 10 Western Hockey League deadline. One Western Conference team made a heckuva offer for the 18-year-old winger (a good 2000-born player and draft picks), then was told he was off the table when it ran up to the owner Ron Toigo.”

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 7:01 PM
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Friday, November 18, 2016

Guhle moves west as Cougars, Raiders deal ... Wheaties, Duke whip Blades ... True sparks T-Birds


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The Prince George Cougars are all-in on this WHL season; the Prince Albert Raiders are all-out.
That became obvious Friday night when the Cougars acquired D Brendan Guhle, 19, from the Raiders for D Max Martin, 17, F Kolby Johnson, 18, and two bantam draft picks — a first-rounder in 2018 and a third-
BRENDAN GUHLE
rounder in 2019.
The trade was announced shortly after the Cougars beat the visiting Raiders, 4-2, on Friday night.
The Cougars (17-4-2) hold a 10-point lead atop the B.C. Division and are in first place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Everett Silvertips (15-2-4), who hold two games in hand.
The Raiders (5-16-1) went 0-5-0 on a B.C. Division trip. They have the WHL’s poorest record and are eight points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card playoff spot.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Guhle, from Sherwood Park, Alta., is one of the WHL’s top defencemen, a smooth-skater who is in his fourth WHL season. He was the third-overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. Buffalo picked him in the second round of the 2015 NHL draft — he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres in July 2015 — and he is seen as one of the Sabres’ prime prospects. In fact, he has had strong showings in each of the Sabres’ last two training camps.
Guhle has two goals and two assists in 15 games this season. Last season, he put up 28 points, including 10 goals, in 63 games. In 201 career regular-season games, all with the Raiders, he has 74
KOLBY JOHNSON
points, 17 of them goals.
MAX MARTIN
Guhle finished last season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, picking up a goal and three assists in six games. He has played five career NHL exhibition games and has two assists.
He is expected to practise for the first time with the Cougars on Monday and is scheduled to be in the lineup on Tuesday when Prince George plays host to the Regina Pats.
Guhle’s arrival will give the Cougars a rather formidable top four on the back end, along with Sam Ruopp, who has signed with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, Tate Olson, whose NHL rights belong to the Vancouver Canucks, and Josh Anderson, a draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche. (Ruopp served Game 5 of an eight-game suspension on Friday.)
Martin, from Winnipeg, was a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder was pointless in 10 games with the Cougars last season. This season, he has three goals and four assists in 19 games.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Johnson, from Kerrobert, Sask., was a third-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. This season, he is pointless in six games. In his freshman season, he had a goal and three assists in 37 games.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:

At Brandon, F Reid Duke scored four times to lead the Wheat Kings to an 8-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Brandon was 5-6 on the PP. . . . Duke has 12 goals this season. . . . F Tyler Coulter added a goal, his eighth, and two assists for Brandon, while D Kale Clague had three assists. . . . Clague has 17 points, 13 of them assists, in 13 games. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 32 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings (11-7-3) have won four in a row. . . . The Blades (9-13-1) have lost two straight and been outscored 13-2 in the process. . . . The same teams meet again today (Saturday) in Brandon. . . . Announced attendance: 4,205.
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At Kelowna, the Rockets scored the game’s first two goals and never trailed as they beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-3. . . . F Nick Merkley had two assists for Kelowna, while F Dillon Dube, who was playing in just his third game since recovering from a knee injury, scored his first goal. . . . Vancouver F Radovan Bondra notched his 16th goal. . . . The Rockets improved to 12-10-0; the Giants are 10-13-0. . . . Announced attendance: 5,616.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., D Anatolii Elizarov scored his second goal of the season, at 2:55 of OT, to give the Edmonton Oil Kings a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . Edmonton F Colton Kehler forced OT with his fifth goal, on a PP, at 13:53 of the third period. . . . F Zak Zborosky scored his 17th goal for the Ice. . . . Edmonton G Patrick Dea stopped 29 shots, six fewer than Kootenay’s Payton Lee. . . . The Oil Kings are 9-10-2, while the Ice is 4-12-6. . . . Announced attendance: 1,749.
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At Prince George, the Cougars scored the game’s first two goals and went on to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Jesse Gabrielle’s 11th goal, at 11:41 of the third period, gave the home side a 3-1 lead and stood up as the winner. . . . After the game, the two teams announced that the Cougars had acquired D Brendan Guhle, 19, from the Raiders for F Kolby Johnson, 18, D Max Martin, 17, a first-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft and a third-round selection in 2019. . . . The Cougars (17-4-2) have won three straight. . . . The Raiders (5-16-1) have lost five in a row. . . . Announced attendance: 5,272.
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At Kent, Wash., F Alexander True struck three times to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . From Copenhagen, Denmark, True is in his third WHL season. This was his first hat trick. He has 29 goals in 122 regular-season games. . . . True, who has nine goals, opened the scoring at 1:35 of the first period. He gave Seattle a 3-1 lead with a PP goal at 8:57 of the second period, then broke a 3-3 tie at 3:13 of the third period. . . . Seattle F Elijah Brown, the 15th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft, drew assists on True’s first and last goals. . . . F Ryan Bowen scored his sixth goal for Lethbridge. It was his first since coming over from the Moose Jaw Warriors in the deal that sent F Brayden Burke the other way. . . . F Tyler Wong got his 10th goal for the visitors. . . . Lethbridge G Stuart Skinner made 35 saves, 17 more than Seattle’s Rylan Toth. . . . The Thunderbirds (10-8-1) have won three in a row. . . . Lethbridge (7-11-3) is 0-4-1 in its past five games. . . . Announced attendance: 4,491. . . . Prior to the game, the Thunderbirds dropped F Dillon Hamaliuk, 16, from their roster. He had one goal in 17 games, but lost his roster spot with the return of veteran forwards Mathew Barzal and Keegan Kolesar. A sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft, Hamaliuk will return to the midget AAA Leduc, Alta., Oil Kings.
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At Spokane, the Chiefs snapped a 1-1 tie with four third-period goals as they dumped the Calgary Hitmen, 5-2. . . . Spokane F Hayden Ostir broke the tie with his first goal, at 2:11, and F Kailer Yamamoto added insurance one minute later. He’s got 17 goals. . . . F Ethan McIndoe had three assists for the Chiefs. . . . Spokane now is 8-7-5. . . . Calgary (7-9-2) has lost four straight. . . . Announced attendance: 4,547.
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At Red Deer, F Matt Bradley scored two goals and added two assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers dumped the Rebels, 7-2. . . . Bradley has 12 goals. . . . Tigers F John Dahlstrom had two goals, breaking a 1-1 tie, on a PP, at 17:01 of the first period and giving his guys a 3-2 lead at 4:31. He’s got 10 goals in his freshman season. He also had an assist. . . . D Clayton Kirichenko helped the winners with his second goal and two assists. . . . F Mason Shaw, one of the WHL’s top scorers, had two assists for Medicine Hat (15-5-4), which has won three straight. . . . The Rebels (10-10-3) are 0-2-1 in their last three outings. . . . Announced attendance: 6,274.
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At Swift Current, F Nikita Popugaev scored twice and set up another as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Broncos, 3-2. . . . Popugaev, who has 16 goals, tied the game 1-1 on a PP, at 15:44 of the first period. . . . He drew the secondary assist on F Noah Gregor’s 10th goal, at 18:55, then added insurance with his second goal at 6:03 of the third period. . . . F Tyler Steenbergen got his 16th goal for the Broncos. . . . G Brody Willms blocked 32 shots for the victory. . . . The Warriors (13-4-4) are 2-0-2 in their last four games. . . . The Broncos (11-7-5) had points in each of their previous three games (1-0-2). . . . Announced attendance: 1,892.
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At Kennewick, Wash., F Quinn Benjafield and F Collin Shirley each had three points as the Kamloops Blazers got past the Tri-City Americans, 6-5. . . . The Blazers erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits en route to victory. . . . Benjafield scored twice, giving him six, and added an assist. He gave Kamloops a 5-4 lead, on a PP, at 11:07 of the third period. . . . Shirley’s 10th goal, at 16:13, proved to be the winner. He also had two assists. . . . Tri-City F Michael Rasmussen scored his WHL-leading 19th goal at 19:56 of the third. . . . The Americans got three assists from D Dylan Coghlan. . . . The Blazers (13-10-1) have won two in a row. . . . The Americans (14-8-1) had won their previous two games. . . . Announced attendance: 3,366.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Lethbridge at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Calgary vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, B.C., 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Seattle at Portland, 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Edmonton vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Regina at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:27 PM
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Wednesday, November 2, 2016

A nightmare for junior teams? . . . Meet Vaughn Karpan . . . Tigers win clash of leaders


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F Toni Rajala (Brandon, 2009-10) has signed a two-year extension with Biel-Bienne (Switzerland, NL A). He has 13 goals and four assists in 19 games.
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These days, the OHL’s London Knights are the most successful of the CHL’s 60 franchises. The defending Memorial Cup champions regularly play in front of 9,000 fans at Budweiser Gardens. Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press has following the OHL and the Knights for a long time and has written a column on the proposed class-action lawsuit filed by current and past players as they attempt to have the CHL teams in Alberta and Ontario pay them at least minimum wage and benefits. Late last week, Justice R.J. Hall of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ordered teams to turn over financial statements and tax records. “It’s a nightmare decision for the junior teams,” Dalla Costa writes. . . . He fully understands that a ruling favouring the players may cause havoc with some franchises. “Some of the junior hockey teams, the small market teams,” Dalla Cost writes, “would be justified with those concerns. But junior hockey is a business and as business partners, teams will have to find a way to help each other survive . . . or not.” . . . His complete column is right here.
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Vaughn Karpan is one of the most impressive and most thoughtful people I have met during more than 40 years around the world of hockey. We both are from northern Manitoba — he was born in Flin Flon and calls The Pas home; I was born in Sherridon and call Lynn Lake home — so perhaps that is why we hit it off. He really is an intriguing guy and had quite a playing career; for one thing, he was on Team Canada when it won the 1987 Izvestia Cup right in Moscow. He is correct when he says “it’s something nobody in Canada talks about.” It should be remembered as one of the greatest moments in Canada’s hockey history. . . . Anyway, Karpan recently left the scouting staff of the Montreal Canadiens to sign on with the expansion Las Vegas franchise as director of player personnel. So why would he leave the Canadiens for an expansion franchise in Las Vegas, which is a long, long way from The Pas? . . . Lucas Aykroyd of iihf.com talks with Karpan about that and a lot more right here.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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Coaching
The BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild has signed Bliss Littler, its general manager and head coach, through the 2020-21 season. The Wild is in its second season in the BCHL, having moved from the NAHL. . . . Last season, the Wild finished 34-16-4-4 and lost a divisional final series. This season, the Wild is 13-2-1-0 and sits atop the six-team Mainland Division. Its .844 winning percentage is No. 1. . . . Littler, one of junior hockey's most successful coaches, has been coaching since 1989 when he was an assistant coach with the SJHL’s Minot Americans.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Nikita Popugaev scored at 2:13 of OT as the Moose Jaw Warriors overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . Popuvaev finished with two goals — he has 11 — and an assist. . . . F Reid Duke had given Brandon a 2-0 lead with goals at 9:35 of the first period and 7:37 of the second. . . . Popugaev cut into that lead at 8:09 of the second and drew the secondary assist when F Brayden Watts tied it, with his second goal, at 19:06. . . . G Brody Willms stopped 28 shots for the victory, while Brandon’s Logan Thompson made 37 saves. . . . The Warriors were 0-7 on the PP; the Wheat Kings were 0-2. . . . Moose Jaw (10-3-2) has won three in a row. . . . Brandon (6-6-3) has lost four straight. . . . The Wheat Kings continue to be without F Nolan Patrick, while the Warriors again scratched injured F Brett Howden. . . . Announced attendance: 2,825.
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At Everett, F Dominic Zwerger scored twice as the Silvertips skated to a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Zwerger, who has six goals, opened the scoring 26 seconds into the game. . . . F Patrick Bajkov’s sixth goal make it 2-0 at 2:13. . . . Everett went up 3-0 when Zwerger scored again, at 6:53 of the second period, on a PP. . . . F Michael Spacek’s ninth goal got Red Deer on the board at 14:07 of the second. . . . Everett F Eetu Tuulola ended the scoring with his fourth goal, via a penalty shot, at 11:11 of the third period. . . . Bajkov added an assist to his goal. . . . G Carter Hart came up with 27 saves for the Silvertips. . . . Red Deer G Lasse Petersen made 28 stops. . . . Everett was 1-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-3. . . . The Silvertips (12-2-2) are 4-0-1 in their last five. . . . The Rebels (8-7-2) have lost four in a row. . . . F Matt Fonteyne returned to Everett’s lineup after missing eight games with a shoulder injury He drew the primary assist on Bajkov’s goal. . . . The Rebels are without D Carson Sass, who left the team to attend a grandfather’s funeral. The Rebels brought in D Jacob Herauf from the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. . . . Announced attendance: 2,657.
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At Kamloops, F Jordy Bellerive scored at 1:44 of OT to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Blazers. . . . Bellerive has four goals. . . . F Collin Shirley’s seventh goal gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 7:27 of the first period. . . . F Giorgio Estephan’s seventh goal pulled the visitors even at 12:26 of the second period. . . . D Kord Pankewicz had two assists for the winners. . . . The Hurricanes got 27 saves from G Stuart Skinner. . . . G Connor Ingram turned aside 30 shots for the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was 1-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-2. . . . The Hurricanes (7-7-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Blazers slid to 9-9-0. . . . Announced attendance: 3,448.
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At Prince Albert, the Seattle Thunderbirds erased a 2-0 deficit with five third-period goals and beat the Raiders, 5-2. . . . Seattle (6-6-1) has won two in a row and now is 3-1-0 on its six-game East Division tour. . . . The Raiders (4-11-1), who have settled into the league basement, have lost four straight. They are 1-6-1 at home. . . . The Raiders jumped out front 2-0 in the first period on goals from F Luke Coleman (5), at 12:03, and F Parker Kelly (3), at 13:41. . . . The Thunderbirds erased that with three goals in 40 seconds, with F Nolan Volcan (5) scoring at 4:26 of the third period, F Ryan Gropp (2) counting at 4:43 and F Dillon Hamaliuk (1) breaking the tie at 5:06. . . . Seattle got insurance from F Ian Briscoe (2), at 10:10, and F Sami Moilanen (4), at 11:04. . . . Moilanen also had an assist for a two-point game. . . . G Rylan Toth stopped 25 shots for the Thunderbirds. . . . Prince Albert starter Ian Scott surrendered five goals on 30 shots in 51:04. Nick Sanders finished up with nine saves. . . . Each team was 0-5 on the PP. . . . Announced attendance: 1,975. . . . Before the game, the Raiders dropped F Dylan Williamson, 18, from their roster. A fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, he had one assist in eight games this season. Last season he had three goals and four assists in 60 games with the Raiders.
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At Prince George, F Steve Owre had a goal and three assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers, the WHL’s highest-scoring team, dumped the Cougars, 6-4. . . . The Tigers (11-4-1) have won three in a row and sit atop the Central Division. . . . The Cougars (13-3-2) had been 5-0-2 in their previous seven games. They continue to lead the B.C. Division and the overall standings. However, their lead atop the overall standings is down to two points over the Everett Silvertips (12-2-2), who hold two games in hand. . . . The Regina Pats (11-0-3) are three points behind the Cougars and have four games in hand. . . . F Jared Bethune put the Cougars out front with his sixth goal, shorthanded, at 2:28 of the first period. . . . The Tigers took control with the next three goals. F Max Gerlach (10) got it started at 12:25 of the first period. Owre, who has two goals, got a shorthanded score at 19:18. F Zach Fischer (9) scored on the PP for a 3-2 lead at 9:50 of the second period. . . . The Cougars got back to within one when D Sam Ruopp scored his second goal, at 17:46. . . . The Tigers then got the next two goals, with D David Quenneville (9) getting a PP goal at 4:09 of the third period and Fischer scoring again, at 6:47. . . . The Cougars made it interesting on goals from F Yan Khomenko (6) at 13:18 and F Jesse Gabrielle (7), on a PP, at 18:20. . . . Medicine Hat F John Dahlstrom iced it with the empty-netter at 19:32. He’s got seven goals. . . . F Chad Butcher had two assists for the visitors. . . . Bethune recorded two helpers for the Cougars. . . . The Tigers got 36 stops from G Nick Schneider, while G Ty Edmonds turned aside 31 for the Cougars. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-3 on the PP; Prince George was 1-2. . . . F Kody McDonald of the Cougars was hit with a slashing major and game misconduct at game’s end. At the same time, the on-line scoresheet indicates that Ruopp took a fighting major and game misconduct. It would appear to have been a one-man fight and that could result in disciplinary action. . . . Announced attendance: 2,737.
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At Regina, the Pats celebrated their move to the top of the CHL rankings with a 10-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Pats (11-0-3) have won seven in a row and remain the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not have been beaten in regulation time. . . . The Ice (3-9-4) was coming off a weekend sweep of the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . D Connor Hobbs had a goal and three assists, with F Filip Ahl, F Nick Henry and F Sam Steel each scoring twice and adding an assist. F Dawson Leedahl and F Adam Brooks each had three assists and F Austin Wagner had two. . . . The Ice got both of its goals from F Fedor Rudakov. . . . G Jordan Hollett stopped 30 shots for Regina. . . . Kootenay starter Payton Lee gave up six goals on 39 shots through 40 minutes. Jakob Walter played the third period, stopping 19 of 23 shots. . . . Regina had a 62-32 edge in shots. . . . Regina was 2-3 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-6. . . . The Pats had D Sergey Zborovskiy, D James Hilsendager and D Brady Pouteau back from injury when they beat the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-3, on Sunday. . . . Hilsendager, who missed five games, and Zborovskiy, who sat out one game, played against the Ice, but Pouteau was scratched. He had suffered an ankle injury in the preseason. . . . Announced attendance: 3,713.
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At Swift Current, D Aaron Irving’s third goal of the season, just 29 seconds into OT, gave the Edmonton Oil Kings a 5-4 victory over the Broncos. . . . The Oil Kings built a 4-0 lead and then watched as the home team tied it with four third-period goals. . . . Edmonton earned its lead on goals from F Davis Koch (3) at 4:56 of the first period, F Branden Klatt (2) at 5:55 of the second period, F Nicholas Bowman (2) at 6:20 and F Lane Bauer (8), on a PP, at 11:49. . . . F Tyler Steenbergen got the Broncos started at 3:47 of the third period, via a PP. . . . D Kade Jensen (2) made it 4-2 at 7:02. . . . Steenbergen (12), on a PP, made it a one-goal game, at 10:44. . . . D Artyom Minulin (4) forced OT when he scored at 19:22, with G Taz Burman on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Koch, Irving and Bauer had an assist each. . . . Minulin, D Max Lajoie and F Aleksi Heponiemi had two assists each for the Broncos, while Steenbergen added an assist to his brace of goals. . . . G Patrick Dea stopped 32 shots for the victors. That included stopping F Arthur Miller on a penalty shot at 7:57 of the second period. . . . Swift Current starter Travis Child was beaten four times on 21 shots in 31:49. Burman came on in relief and allowed one goal on 14 shots in 27:57. . . . Each team was 2-5 on the PP. . . . The Oil Kings (5-8-2) snapped a three-game losing skid. . . . The Broncos are 9-5-3. . . . The Broncos have dropped D Noah King, 17, from their roster and brought in F Josh Baker, 17, who had been with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. An eighth-round pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft, Baker is expected to say with the Broncos through the weekend. King had gotten into only four of their first 16 games. He was pointless. King, from Winnipeg, was a 10th-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Announced attendance: 1,801.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

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

Seattle at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Regina, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Calgary at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Portland vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Lethbridge at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:24 PM
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