Showing posts with label Noah Juulsen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noah Juulsen. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Ferguson writing great story . . . Silvertips make moves . . . Patrick's return is nigh


F Björn Svensson (Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, 2003-06) has been released by Färjestad Karlstad (Sweden, SHL). He had three goals and three assists in 31 games.
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 Dylan Ferguson hasn’t received a lot of attention during a WHL career that is in its second season.
But he has written one of the 2016-17 regular-season’s best stories over the past month.
Ferguson, an 18-year-old from Lantzville, B.C., is expected to make his 14th consecutive start for the
DYLAN FERGUSON
Kamloops Blazers tonight (Friday) when they entertain the Everett Silvertips. With starter Connor Ingram enjoying some downtime after playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship, Ferguson also is expected to start Saturday against the visiting Vancouver Giants.
Last season, Ferguson had 11 starts among his 16 appearances as he went 4-10-0, 4.13, .875.
This season, before Ingram left to join Team Canada, Ferguson had started only six games and hadn’t played at all between Nov. 18 and Dec. 10. Prior to this stretch, Ferguson had never started more than two games in a row.
Kamloops head coach Don Hay admits that the Blazers really didn’t know what they had in Ferguson before Ingram left. Ferguson began his run with six straight starts on a pre-Christmas swing through the Central Division.
“We were all wondering how he would respond with the opportunity, and I don’t think anybody thought the response would be what he’s done and where it’s at,” Hay said. “It’s really nice to see because he’s worked so hard behind Connor and competed so hard in practice. When (Ferguson) got his opportunity he’s gotten better and better.”
The Blazers went 4-1-1 on that road trip as Ferguson allowed only 14 goals. That was enough to bring out the NHL scouts when play resumed after Christmas, and the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Ferguson hasn’t disappointed.
Since Christmas, he is 4-2-1. Overall, he is 11-6-2, 2.74, .922.
He also has backstopped the Blazers into the heart of the B.C. Division race. The Blazers (25-15-3) are tied for second with the Kelowna Rockets (25-15-3), with both teams seven points behind the Prince George Cougars (29-12-2), but just three games back in the loss column.
Not bad for an eight-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft.
So . . . how will Hay handle the goaltending situation when Ingram returns next week?
“Connor is No. 1 and Dylan is No. 2,” Hay said. “But we’ll definitely get some more (time for Ferguson) . . . we’ll pick some games and they’re both going to play.”
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The Everett Silvertips made two roster moves on Thursday, returning D Gianni Fairbrother, 16, to the B.C. Major Midget League’s Vancouver Northwest Giants and G Dorrin Luding to that league’s Valley
West Hawks.
Fairbrother, a fourth-round pick in the 2015 WHL bantam draft, is pointless in three games with the Silvertips this season.
Luding made the last five saves in a 5-0 shutout over the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday night. He made his WHL debut with 7:24 left in the third period and ended up sharing the shutout with Mario Petit.
The two moves would seem to indicate that D Noah Juulsen and G Carter Hart are back with the Silvertips for the first time since playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship.
The Silvertips, who also were without D Aaron Irving and D Lucas Skrumeda on Wednesday, are scheduled to visit the Kamloops Blazers tonight (Friday). No, the game won’t feature Hart against his Team Canada goaltending partner, Connor Ingram. That’s because Ingram was given the week off and has been at home in Imperial, Sask.
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D Chaz Reddekopp had an 11-game point streak snapped on Wednesday when his Victoria Royals dropped a 4-3 decision to the visiting Kelowna Rockets. Still he set a franchise record for longest point steak by a defenceman, breaking the mark of eight games that had been shared by Travis Brown (Victoria, 2015-16) and Brandon Manning (Chilliwack Bruins, 2010-11). You will recall that the Royals once were the Bruins, right? . . . The Rockets and Royals meet again tonight in Victoria.
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F Tyler Ho is set to make his WHL debut tonight as the Vancouver Giants play host to the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Langley, B.C., Events Centre. . . . Ho, 16, was acquired from the Prince George Cougars in a deadline deal that had F Radovan Bondra go north. . . . Ho, from North Vancouver, was a third-round pick by the Cougars in the 2015 bantam draft after putting up 87 points, including 30 goals, in 64 games with the North Shore Winter Club’s top bantam team. . . . This season, he has 35 points, 14 of them goals, in 26 games with the major midget Valley West Hawks.
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F Nolan Patrick, the consensus No. 1 pick for the NHL’s 2017 draft, is scheduled to return to the Brandon Wheat Kings’ lineup tonight for the first time since Oct. 11.
NOLAN PATRICK
Patrick has played only six games this season, and has nine points, including four goals. He has maintained that No. 1 position because of what he accomplished in his first two WHL seasons.
The son of former WHL/NHL F Steve Patrick, and the nephew of former NHL D James Patrick, Nolan had 56 points, including 30 goals, as a freshman in 2014-15. Last season, he put up 102 points, 41 of them goals, in 72 games. He then added 30 points, including 13 goals, in 21 games as the Wheat Kings won the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Patrick was named the WHL’s playoff MVP.
However, he was injured during the playoffs and, although he played through the final game, he underwent surgery in July for a sports hernia. He missed training camp but started the season, only to be shut down shortly thereafter.
The Wheat Kings have never explained why Patrick hasn’t played. Bob McKenzie of TSN reported this week that Patrick “had to shut it down when his other groin started to bother him.”
The Wheat Kings (20-17-4) go into this weekend in fourth place in the East Division, 11 points behind the third-place Swift Current Broncos. Brandon holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, four points ahead of the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Brandon is at home to the Kootenay Ice tonight and Saturday.
The Wheat Kings likely will be without F Reid Duke, at least for the first game of the doubleheader. Duke was tossed from Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Tri-City Americans with a kneeing major and game misconduct.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:

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

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

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 8:24 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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Tuesday, November 8, 2016

McKenzie looks at Canada's prospects . . . Benson leads WHL to win . . . Blades' analytics guru gets NHL gig

F Adam Courchaine (Medicine Hat, Vancouver, 2001-05) has signed a one-year contract with Dusseldorf (Germany, DEL). He had been released by Székesfehérvár (Hungary, Erste Bank Liga) by mutual agreement after scoring five goals and adding six assists in 16 games.
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Bob McKenzie of TSN, hockey’s ultimate insider, took time out from his busy schedule on Tuesday to post a good look at the prospects for the Canadian national junior team’s roster.
Hockey Canada is to issue selection camp invitations on Nov. 29, with the camp scheduled for Dec. 11-15 in Blainville, Que.
Of course, a lot of hockey fans are wondering about the status of C Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who hasn’t played since Oct. 11.
“Patrick isn't expected back for another two-to-three weeks,” McKenzie writes. “He had sports hernia surgery in the off-season. There were fears he would need the same procedure done on the other side, but the prognosis now is for some rest and rehab. It's expected he will be ready before Dec. 11, but how much hockey will he have played?”
As for the goaltending, McKenzie offers:
“Tampa Bay’s 19-year-old prospect Connor Ingram of Kamloops and Philadelphia’s 18-year-old prospect Carter Hart of Everett have been the best Canadian goalies in junior hockey this season. And it really hasn't been close either. Barring unforeseen developments, they are expected to be Team Canada's tandem.”
McKenzie’s complete piece, including all kinds of information, is right here.
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At Edmonton, F Tyler Benson of the Vancouver Giants had a goal and two assists to help Team WHL to a
4-1 victory over a touring Russian side in Game 2 of the CIBC Canada-Russia series. . . . The Russians had won, 3-2, in overtime one night earlier in Prince George. . . . Last night, Team WHL scored three third-period goals for the victory. . . . D Noah Juulsen of the Everett Silvertips, who was Team WHL’s captain, broke a 1-1 tie, taking a nifty cross-ice pass from F Nick Merkley of the Kelowna Rockets and scoring from the back door, at 6:30 of the third period. . . . F Austin Wagner of the Regina Pats added insurance at 7:34, taking a lead pass from Benson and speeding down the right side to beat G Anton Krasotkin to the glove side. . . . Benson, whose NHL rights belong to the Edmonton Oilers, iced it with the empty-net goal at 19:12. . . . Merkley, who also drew an assist on Benson’s goal, was terrific in both games. . . . D Kale Clague of the Brandon Wheat Kings had opened the scoring at 9:18 of the second period. . . . Russian F Danila Kvartalnov tied the score at 19:55 of the second. . . . G Carter Hart of the Everett Silvertips was solid, with 33 stops. . . . The Russians got 15 saves on 19 shots from Krasotkin in 28:26, with Vladislav Sukhachev stopped 18 of 19 shots in 30:56. . . . Sukhachev started but exited a couple of times with apparent equipment issues. . . . The series resumes Thursday with the Russians meeting Team OHL in North Bay. . . . The WHL handed over a 4-2 points lead to Team OHL, thanks to three points for the victory and the loser point for the OT loss. Team Russia earned two points for the OT victory. . . . Announced attendance: 9,641.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will be without F Jaxan Kaluski, 17, for an indefinite period that could stretch through the end of this season.
Kaluski suffered a fractured ankle during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. He underwent surgery in Saskatoon on Monday.
According to the Warriors, “The surgery was a success and he’s expected to make a full recovery.”
The Warriors say Kaluski will be out indefinitely. He is unlikely to play again this season.
A freshman from Lloydminster, Alta., Kaluski had one assist in 16 games with the Warriors.
A tip of the cap to the Warriors for the update on Kaluski’s condition.
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Cody Nickolet, the Saskatoon Blades' analytics guy, now will spend some of his time working with the NHL's Florida Panthers. It isn’t that long ago when he was keeping track of WHL forward lines and defensive pairings and making them available to media and WHL fans. Yesterday, he tweeted: “Thrilled to be joining the Florida Panthers to track games and prospect data.” . . . He also will continue on as the Blades' director of analytics and one of their scouts.
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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet posted his lastest 30 Thoughts on Tuesday. As usual, this is a must read for any hockey fan, and it’s right here.
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LEADERS

POINTS: F Sam Steel, Regina, F Mason Shaw, Medicine Hat, each 28; F Kailer Yamamoto, Spokane, 26; F Chad Butcher, Medicine Hat, F Cody Glass, Portland, each 25.
GOALS: F Michael Rasmussen, Tri-City, 16; Steel, F Tyler Steenbergen, Swift Current, each 14; Yamamoto, F Zak Zborosky, Kootenay, each 13.
ASSISTS: Shaw, 23; F Brayden Burke, Moose Jaw, 19; Butcher, Glass, each 18; F Tyler Sandhu, Tri-City, 17.
VICTORIES: Nick Schneider, Medicine Hat, 11; Ty Edmonds, Prince George, Griffen Outhouse, Victoria, each 10; Carter Hart, Everett, Michael Herringer, Kelowna, each 9.
GAA: Hart, 1.89; Connor Ingram, Kamloops, 2.01; Ty Edmonds, Prince George, 2.29; Logan Flodell, Saskatoon, 2.34; Cody Porter, Calgary, 2.46.
SAVE %: Ingram, .937; Flodell, .932; Hart, .926; Edmonds, .921; Outhouse, Porter, Ian Scott, Prince Albert, each .920.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):


No Games Scheduled.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:05 PM
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Saturday, October 22, 2016

Former WHLer talks about lawsuit . . . Lewis, Zablocki, Topping fill hats . . . AHL's father-son act has WHL flavour


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 Ian Mulgrew, a columnist with the Vancouver Sun, now has written back-to-back columns regarding the former and present major junior hockey players who are attempting to get class-action status for a lawsuit that has been filed in the hopes of having CHL teams ordered to pay minimum wages to players. . . . In Saturday’s newspaper, Mulgrew writes about Lukas Walter, who is one of the players involved in the lawsuit. Walter spent two seasons with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and then played for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. . . . “I think they need to clean the league up,” Walter told Mulgrew.“In Saint John (N.B.), I was getting $500 a week. Out here, I was getting $250 a month. It’s a little bit of nonsense when it’s the same league.” . . . Mulgrew’s column is right here.
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F Nolan Patrick, the consensus No. 1 selection for the 2017 NHL draft, didn’t play on Friday night as his Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-1.
He wasn’t in the lineup on Saturday night, either, as the host Wheat Kings beat the visiting Spokane
Chiefs, 6-0.
In fact, Patrick now has missed four straight games and the speculation is rampant.
Patrick, you’ll recall, has said that he was injured during last spring’s Eastern Conference final against the Red Deer Rebels. He played with the injury — it turned out to be a sports hernia — through the Memorial Cup. Then, when it didn’t respond to rest, he had surgery in July.
The Winnipeg native, who turned 18 on Sept. 19, missed a lot of the Wheat Kings’ training camp but was in the lineup on Sept. 23 when they opened the season with a 3-2 loss to the host Moose Jaw Warriors.
To this point in the season, he has played in six games, putting up four goals and five assists. He last played on Oct. 11 when he had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
On Saturday morning, it was suggested to me that Patrick’s “hernia has flared up again . . . he’ll be out awhile.”
The Wheat Kings continue to list Patrick as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. But, of course, WHL teams stopped providing transparent injury-related information a number of seasons ago so . . .
You can bet that Patrick wants to be healthy enough to play for Team Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championship that is scheduled to open Dec. 26 in Montreal and Toronto.
So, in the hopes that he can attend Canada’s selection camp early in December, perhaps Patrick will be held out until then.
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You can write Dusty and Jonah Imoo into hockey’s history books after father and son were the two goaltenders dressed by the AHL’s Ontario Reign on Saturday night.
This all came about as the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings lost two goaltenders — Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff — to groin injuries. After Zatkoff was hurt in Saturday’s morning skate, They had recalled Peter Budaj after Quick went down, which resulted in Jonah Imoo being brought in to back up Jack Campbell with the Reign. On Saturday, when Zatkoff was injured, Campbell moved up to the Kings, who were at home to the Vancouver Canucks, which left the Reign without a backup.
So it was that Dusty, in his second season as the Kings’ goaltender development coach, was recruited in a backup role as his son made his AHL debut on Saturday against the visiting San Jose Barracuda.
The visitors won the game, 5-4, in OT. Jonah, wearing No. 35, stopped 26 shots in front of 8,282 fans. His father wore No. 70.
Dusty, 46, has some WHL in his past. He split four WHL seasons between the New Westminster Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats (1987-91). He made 47, 48 and 50 appearances over his last three seasons. He also spent two seasons (2011-13) with the Seattle Thunderbirds as their goaltending coach.
His professional career took him to Japan for 12 seasons (1994-2006), split between the Seibu Bears Tokyo and the Oji Eagles. He played for Japan at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998 and was on Japan’s roster for three World Championships.
Jonah, 22, played junior B with the Richmond Sockeyes, then moved into the BCHL where he played two seasons (2012-14) with the Powell River Kings and one (2014-15) with the Merritt Centennials. He played in only three games last season, in the Southern Professional and Federal leagues, but had been with the Reign through development and training camps.
Mike Stothers is Ontario’s head coach. He spent three seasons (2011-14) as the head coach of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
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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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SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Ty Lewis was the scoring star and Logan Thompson provided the goaltending as the Wheat Kings blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 6-0. . . . Thompson stopped 30 shots in recording his first
TY LEWIS
career shutout. It came in his 31st regular-season appearance, his fourth this season. . . . Lewis, meanwhile, enjoyed his first three-goal game, running his season goal total to eight. He scored three of the game’s first four goals — at 3:39 of the first period, and at 0:33 and 14:44 of the second. He also drew an assist. . . . Lewis, a Brandon native, had 10 goals and 13 assists in 48 games as a freshman last season. This season, he has eight goals and four assists in 11 games. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Connor Gutenberg, while F Reid Duke had a goal and an assiset. D Kale Clague, in his second game of the season, drew three assists, while F Tanner Kaspick had two. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill was beaten three times on 17 shots in 21:05. Reliever Jayden Sittler also stopped 14 of 17 shots. . . . Brandon was 1-5 on the PP; Spokane was 0-4. . . . The Wheat Kings (5-3-2) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Chiefs slipped to 3-6-2 as they opened their East Division swing. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Tyler Coulter, who has drawn a TBD suspension for a check from behind on F Giorgio Estephan of the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night. . . . With four 20-year-olds on their roster, the Wheat Kings again scratched F Duncan Campbell, choosing to dress Duke and G Jordan Papirny. With Coulter suspended, the Wheat Kings aren’t allowed to dress a 20-year-old in his place. . . . Announced attendance: 4,604.
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At Kamloops, F Deven Sideroff scored twice, including the winner at 2:05 of OT, as the Blazers beat
DEVEN SIDEROFF
the Tri-City Americans, 4-3. . . . Sideroff has seven goals for Kamloops, which is 5-0-0 at home. . . . The Blazers (7-6-0) have won three in a row. . . . The Americans (6-6-0) have lost two straight. . . . F Morgan Geekie, who also had two assists, gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 12:13 of the second period. He has four goals. . . . The Blazers pulled even at 17:49 when F Collin Shirley got his fifth goal, a shorthanded effort. . . . Sideroff gave Kamloops its first lead at 5:17 of the third, only to have D Parker Wotherspoon pull the visitors even with his third goal on a PP, at 5:51. . . . Shirley’s second goal gave the Blazers another lead, at 10:57, but Tri-City F Kyle Olson tied it at 13:55. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers had two assists for Kamloops. . . . F Tyler Sandhu drew two assists for Tri-City. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Ferguson stopped 21 shots in his first game since Sept. 24 when he injured an ankle. Connor Ingram had started the Blazers’ previous 10 games. . . . Tri-City G Rylan Parenteau blocked 33 shots. . . . The Americans were 1-3 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-2. . . . Kamloops D Joe Gatenby was ejected at 16:17 of the second period with a headshot major and game misconduct after a hit on Tri-City D Juuso Valimaki. . . . Valimaki didn’t return for the third period. . . . Announced attendance: 3,683.
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At Medicine Hat, F Lane Zablocki scored three times to lead the Regina Pats to an 8-5 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Pats (9-0-3) continue to be the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost a
LANE ZABLOCKI
game in regulation time. . . . The Tigers (8-4-1) are 3-1-1 in their last five. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski’s third goal of his freshman season, at 14:58 of the second period, gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead. . . . The Pats scored the next three goals, with Zablocki getting his second of the game at 17:10 and F Dawson Leedahl notching his fourth of the season at 19:16. F Austin Wagner’s sixth of the season upped the lead to 5-3 at 4:00 of the third period. . . . The Tigers got to within one when F Mark Rassell got his second goal, and ninth of the season, at 8:55, but Regina F Filip Ahl stretched the lead at 12:45. . . . Again, the Tigers closed the gap, this time on D David Quenneville’s sixth goal, on a PP, at 16:03. . . . The Pats put it away with goals from F Adam Brooks, his fourth, at 18:02, and Zablocki, into an empty net, at 19:09. . . . Zablocki, a sophomore, enjoyed his first WHL hat trick. He has five goals this season. . . . Zablocki also had an assist, while Wagner had three of them. . . . The Tigers got a goal and an assist from F Max Gerlach and two assists from D Clayton Kirichenko. . . . The Pats got 35 stops from G Tyler Brown. . . . Medicine Hat G Nick Schneider stopped 32 shots. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-6 on the PP; Regina was 0-3. . . . Regina D Sergey Zborovsky didn’t play. He left Friday’s 6-1 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury in the second period. . . . Announced attendance: 4,094.
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At Prince George, F Brad Morrison scored twice to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory over the
BRAD MORRISON
Saskatoon Blades. . . . Morrison, who has six goals, scored at 19:03 of the second period, then broke a 1-1 tie at 16:56 of the third. . . . F Jansen Harkins and F Jesse Gabrielle had the assists on both goals. . . . F Josh Paterson scored for the Blades, getting his third goal at 4:07 of the third. . . . The Cougars (11-2-1) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Blades (6-5-1) have lost two in a row. They finished a B.C. Division trip at 2-3-0. . . . G Ty Edmonds stopped 29 shots for the Cougars. . . . The Blades got 34 saves on 36 shots from G Brock Hamm, with Logan Flodell coming on during an equipment malfunction and making five saves in 4:45 in the first period. . . . Hamm left for skate repairs after losing a blade. . . . Announced attendance: 5,577.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels ran their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Prince
LASSE PETERSEN
Albert Raiders. . . . Goals by F Michael Spacek, his seventh, at 3:34 of the second period, and F Brandon Hagel, his third, at 14:54, gave the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . The Raiders got a PP goal from F Tim Vanstone, his third, at 5:49 of the third period. . . . Red Deer D Josh Mahura finished the scoring with a PP goal at 19:32. . . . Hagel added an assist to his goal. . . . The victory improved the Rebels’ record to 7-3-2. . . . The Raiders (3-7-1) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . G Lasse Petersen, in his Red Deer debut, stopped 29 shots. He was acquired last week from the Everett Silvertips. . . . G Nick Sanders turned aside 32 shots for the Raiders. He was making his first start since being acquired last week from the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Raiders were 1-4 on the PP; the Rebels were 1-5. . . . Announced attendance: 4,788.
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At Kent, Wash., F Kyle Topping scored his first three WHL goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Topping, who is to turn 17 on Nov. 18, is the younger brother of Tri-City Americans F Jordan Topping, who is injured and has yet to play this season. Kyle’s hat trick came in his 11th game; he has one more WHL hat trick than does Jordan, who scored 33 goals last season. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s first five goals, the first two in the second period. . . . F Kole Lind had a goal and an assist, while D Lucas Johansen and F Jordan Borstmayer each had two assists for Kelowna (6-7-0), which has won three in a row. . . . Rockets G Michael Herringer stopped 36 shots, losing his shutout at 19:40 of the third period when F Ian Briscoe scored his first goal. . . . G Rylan Toth blocked 25 shots for Seattle (3-5-1). . . . The Rockets were 0-2 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-4. . . . F Zack Andrusiak, acquired Thursday from the Prince Albert Raiders, was in Seattle’s lineup for the first time. . . . The Thunderbirds scratched F Ryan Gropp for a second game with an undisclosed injury. . . . Announced attendance: 3,688.
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TY RONNING
At Langley, B.C., F Ty Ronning scored at 2:31 of OT to give the Vancouver Giants a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Ronning has five goals this season. . . . F Lane Pederson gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 11:49 of the first period. He’s got four goals. . . . Vancouver D Matt Barberis tied it with his first goal, on a PP, at 19:57. . . . The Giants improved to 6-8-0. . . The Broncos (8-4-2) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). They went 2-2-1 on their B.C. Division tour. . . . Vancouver G Ryan Kubic stopped 28 shots, while Swift Current’s Taz Burman turned aside 35. . . . Swift Current was 1-3 on the PP; Vancouver was 1-4. . . . Announced attendance: 3,924.
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NOAH JUULSEN
At Victoria, D Noah Juulsen, playing his 200th regular-season game, had two goals to help the Everett Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Royals. . . . Juulsen, who has four goals, opened the scoring at 14:46 of the first period. It was the 10th time in their 13 games that the Silvertips have scored first. . . . Victoria F Regan Nagy’s fifth goal, on a PP, tied the game at 4:05 of the second period. . . . F Dominic Zwerger, who also had an assist, broke the tie at 13:25. . . . Juulsen put it away with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:18 of the third period. . . . Everett now is 9-2-2. . . . The Royals (7-6-0) had a three-game winning streak snapped. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 37 shots. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse turned aside 10 shots. . . . The Silvertips were outshot 8-4, 10-5 and 20-4 by period. . . . The Royals were 1-5 on the PP; the Silvertips were 0-3. . . . The Silvertips had F Devon Skoleski and F Eetu Tuulola back in the lineup after both were out with injuries. . . . Announced attendance: 4,424.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Prince Albert at Calgary, 4 p.m.

Tri-City at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:52 PM
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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Cougars on top of CHL heap . . . Blades add veteran forward . . . Tigers stun Warriors in OT

The Prince George Cougars went to bed on Wednesday night knowing — apologies to Frank Sinatra — they are kings of the hill, top of the heap. . . . At No. 8 in the CHL rankings a week ago, the 
Cougars were No. 1 when the latest list was released yesterday. . . . Under new head coach Richard Matvichuk, who must be the most popular man in Prince George these days, the Cougars are 6-0-0, the first such season-opening streak in franchise history. They won their first four games on the road, then took a doubleheader from the visiting Kelowna Rockets last weekend. . . . Next up for the Cougars? A visit from the Vancouver Giants. They’ll play Friday and Saturday nights. The Giants, who lost 3-2 to the visiting Victoria Royals last night, now are 1-5-0. . . . Other WHL teams in the top 10: 5. Brandon Wheat Kings (1-1-1); 8. Regina Pats (3-0-1). . . . The Everett Silvertips, who beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 3-1 last night to go to 4-0-1, garnered an honourable mention. . . . The rankings are selected by a panel of anonymous NHL scouts.
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The Prince Albert Raiders placed F Kolten Olynek, 20, on waivers and the arch-rival Saskatoon Blades claimed him on Wednesday. The two teams are scheduled to meet tonight (Thursday) in Saskatoon and Olynek, who skated with the Blades on Wednesday, is expected to play. . . . This season, Olynek, who is from Saskatoon, had two goals and an assist in three games with the Raiders. . . . Olynek was a second-round selection by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2011 bantam draft. He also has played with the Hurricanes, Moose Jaw Warriors and Spokane Chiefs. In 189 regular-season games, he has 20 goals and 31 assists. . . . With Olynek’s arrival, the Blades have four 20-year-olds on their roster, although F Ryan Graham has yet to play this season, thanks to an undisclosed injury. He is likely to be out for a few more weeks. . . . The two other 20s are D Bryton Sayers and F Jesse Shynkaruk. . . . Olynek and Shynkaruk were teammates with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. . . . The Raiders put Olynek on waivers in order to get down to the maximum three 20s — F Austin Glover, G Rylan Parenteau and F Tim Vanstone. The Raiders also have F Reid Gardiner on their roster, but he is in camp with the AHL’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Penguins.
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The Regina Pats have dropped F Erik Gardiner, 17, from their roster and he will join the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. Gardiner was a second-round selection in the 2014 WHL bantam draft. . . . Last season, the Humboldt native led the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League in scoring, with 59 points, including 21 goals, in 43 games. . . . Gardiner was pointless with the Pats this season, having dressed for two of their four games. . . . He is the younger brother of F Reid Gardiner, 20, who played the past four seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders.
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BCHLRich Murphy, a Minnesota-based businessman, is in the process of finalizing the purchase of majority ownership of the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. For $600,000, Murphy will get 90 per cent of the franchise; the non-profit society that has been operating the team will retain 10 per cent. The Smoke Eaters are about $400,000 in debt. . . . The team has been community-owned, but the society wasn’t able to find a local buyer. Murphy is the president and CEO of Midwest Railcar Corp. . . . His son, Ryan, 18, has two goals in eight games in his freshman season with the Smokies. . . . Kari Lee Campbell has more right here from the Nelson Daily.
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JUST NOTES:

The Everett Silvertips have named F Noah Juulsen as the 13th team captain in franchise history. Juulsen, 19, is from Surrey, B.C. He is into his fourth season with the Silvertips. . . .
Nathan Van Oosten of Vancouver, who is a WHL linesman, has been selected to work at the 2017 World Junior Championship. The tournament runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Montreal and Toronto. . . . 
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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
BCHLRick Lanz, a former assistant and head coach with the Tri-City Americans, has joined the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles as an assistant coach. He replaces Colin Hemingway, who left the team for family reasons. . . . Lanz, who also is a former Eagles head coach, will work with Blaine Neufeld, Surrey’s GM and head coach. . . . Nick Greenizan of the Peace Arch News has more right here.
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Check out this video of illusionist Darcy Oake in action . . .  

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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:


At Everett, D Noah Juulsen, named the captain earlier in the day, had a goal and an assist to help the Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . This was the second of three straight games between these teams. The Americans won 3-2 at home on Sunday. They will play the third game on Friday in Everett. . . . Last night, F Max James gave the Americans a 1-0 lead at 14:41 of the first period. . . . The Silvertips pulled even when F Dominic Zwerger scored a PP goal at 1:31 of the second period. . . . Everett (4-0-1) won it with two third-period goals. F Graham Millar’s fifth goal, at 14:40, proved to be the winner. . . . Juulsen added an empty-netter at 19:32. . . . Everett G Carter Hart blocked 15 shots. At the other end, Back Warm turned aside 30. . . . The Americans (2-3-0) were 0-2 on the PP; the Silvertips were 1-4. . . . Everett is without F Eetu Tuulola (shoulder). He was injured in a game against the host Americans on Sunday and will be out for up to a month. . . . Announced attendance: 2,733.
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At Lethbridge, the Kelowna Rockets exploded for five goals in the third period as they beat the Hurricanes, 6-3. . . . Rockets F Calvin Thurkauf’s PP goal forged a 2-2 tie at 2:33 of the third. . . . Lethbridge F Tyler Wong snapped the tie with a PP goal at 9:05. . . . Kelowna F Kole Lind tied it at 11:23 and Thurkauf’s second goal of the game, at 13:22, proved to be the winner. . . . Thurkauf added an assist to his brace of goals, while F Tomas Soustal had a goal and an assist. . . . The Rockets (2-4-0) welcomed F Nick Merkley back to their lineup. He picked up one assist. Merkley, 19, last played on Feb. 5 against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. He suffered a torn ACL during that game and needed surgery on his right knee. He did play in two exhibition games with the Arizona Coyotes, who selected him in the first round of the NHL’s 2015 draft. . . . At the same time, though, the Rockets are without F Dillon Dube, 18, who suffered a sprained knee while with the Calgary Flames. He could be out for a month. . . . Kelowna G Michael Herringer stopped 24 shots, three more than Stuart Skinner of the Hurricanes (3-2-0). . . . The Rockets were 2-4 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 2-8. . . . Announced attendance: 3,099.
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At Medicine Hat, the Tigers, who trailed 4-0 early in the third period, got a goal from F Max Gerlach at 1:25 of OT to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 5-4. . . . Moose Jaw F Jayden Halbgewachs’ fourth goal, at 19:37 of the second period, gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. . . . The Tigers got rolling with three goals in a span of 43 seconds in the third period. F Zach Fischer got it started with his fourth goal, at 5:03. F John Dahlstrom scored at 5:24 and F Mason Shaw got the home boys to within a goal at 5:46. . . . Fisher tied it with a PP goal at 17:48. . . . Shaw added an assist to his goal, while F Steve Owre had two assists. . . . The Warriors got a goal and an assist from F Nikita Popugaev and two assists from F Noah Gregor. . . . G Nick Schneider stopped 18 shots for the Tigers (4-1-0), while Zach Sawchenko turned aside 56 for Moose Jaw (3-0-2). . . . The Tigers held a 27-6 edge in shots in the third period. . . . Each team was 1-2 on the PP. . . . Announced attendance: 3,845.
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At Prince Albert, F Cody Glass scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Raiders. . . . The Winterhawks (4-2-0) are 1-1-0 on their East Division tour. They lost 7-3 to the Swift Current Broncos on Tuesday. . . . Glass, a 17-year-old sophomore, had 27 points, including 10 goals, in 65 games last season. This season, he has a WHL-leading 12 points, nine of them assists, in six games. . . . The Winterhawks scored the game’s first four goals and took a 4-0 lead into the third period. . . . The Raiders (2-3-0) then scored three times, cutting the deficit to 4-3 on F Simon Stransky’s fourth goal at 10:28. . . . Portland F Joachim Blichfeld got the empty-netter at 18:39. . . . Blichfeld also had an assist, while F Keegan Iverson had two assists. Portland F Colton Veloso ran his goal streak to three games. . . . The Winterhawks got 25 saves from G Cole Kehler. . . . Prince Albert starter Rylan Parenteau gave up four goals on 22 shots in 33:17. Ian Scott came on to block all 17 shots he saw. . . . Portland was 1-3 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-3. . . . Raiders D Loch Morrison was back after missing three games with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Winterhawks scratched Latvian F Rodrigo Abols, 20, for a third straight game. . . . Portland D Jake Hobson, in his first WHL season, is from Prince Albert. He is the son of Doug Hobson, who played on the Raiders’ 1985 Memorial Cup-winning team. . . . Announced attendance: 1,859.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels erased a 3-0 first-period deficit with five straight goals en route to a 5-4 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . The Blazers led this one 2-0 on two goals by F Deven Sideroff in the first five minutes of the first period. . . . Kamloops F Matt Revel upped the lead to 3-0 at 19:37. . . . Red Deer F Austin Pratt cut into the lead with goals at 10:11 and 10:50 of the second period. . . . F Akash Bains pulled the Rebels (2-2-2) even with 57.9 seconds left in the period. . . . Red Deer F Brandon Hagel scored shorthanded at 5:36 of the third period, and D Josh Mahura got the eventual winner at 9:32. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers got the Blazers (2-4-0) back to within a goal at 18:38. . . . Red Deer G Riley Lamb, an 18-year-old freshman from Rivers, Man., came on in relief to start the second period and stopped 32 of 33 shots. Starter Trevor Martin gave up three goals on 14 shots. . . . Kamloops got 34 saves from G Connor Ingram. . . . Each team was 0-2 on the PP. . . . Announced attendance: 4,123.
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At Langley, B.C., F Jack Walker scored three goals to lead the Victoria Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Walker, who went into the game without a goal in his first two games, opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the game. . . . The Giants then took a 2-1 lead on second-period goals from F Ty Ronning, at 3:40, and F Brendan Semchuk, his third, at 5:45. . . . Walker tied the score on a PP at 10:29 of the second. He got the eventual winner at 2:04 of the third period. . . . It was the third three-goal game of Walker’s career. The 20-year-old from Edina, Minn., had one in each of the past two seasons. . . . D Ryan Gagnon had two assists for the Royals (2-4-0). . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 28 shots for Victoria, while Ryan Kubic blocked 25 for the Giants (1-5-0). . . . Victoria was 1-2 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-3. . . . Announced attendance: 3,127.
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THURSDAY’S GAME (all times local):

Prince Albert at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:56 PM
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