F Chris Bruton (Spokane, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had two goals and two assists in 52 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL). . . . Braehead head coach Ryan Finnerty said Bruton is "going to take advantage of the MBA course at the University of the West of Scotland." . . .F Brad Schell (Spokane, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with Herning (Denmark, Metal Ligaen), he had 11 goals and 54 assists in 36 games. He led the league in assists, was fourth in the points race and was second in plus-minus, at plus-34. . . .
F Pavel Brendl (Calgary, 1998-2001) signed a one-year extension with Skalica (Slovakia, Extraliga). Last season, he had 13 goals and seven assists in 19 games.
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F Vladimir Bobylev was in the lineup for Spartak Moscow in a 4-3 exhibition loss to SKA St. Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon in Espoo, Finland. Bobylev, wearing No. 47, was listed as the fourth-line centre. A game summary wasn’t available, other than goals, and Bobylev didn’t score. . . . Spartak’s schedule had it practising in Espoo on Thursday and flying to Moscow today, where they will skate on Saturday. Spartak’s next game is scheduled for Thursday against 
Amur Khabarovsk in Moscow.Bobylev, 18, played last season with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, who released him earlier this summer. He then was selected by the Victoria Royals in the CHL’s import draft. They are expecting Bobylev to be at their training camp later in August.
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The ECHL’s Quad Cities Mallards have signed D Kevin Gibson, a 25-year-old out of the U of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is the son of former major league baseball player and manager Kirk Gibson. Marc Nesseler of Quad-Cities Online has more right here.——
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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If you have been paying any attention at all to Tom Brady, the NFL and Deflategate, you should give this right here a read. It’s a column by Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post and it ties it all up rather nicely and puts a big bow on top. Good stuff!
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Hey Kids, this long weekend please stay out of the rink and off the ice. Go to a lake, see your family, have fun. It's a long season.
— Ben Cooper (@MrCoopification) July 30, 2015
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.
In Regina, F Pavel Padakin scored a Teddy Bear goal for the third straight season and the Pats went on to a 4-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Each of the previous two seasons, Padakin scored the Teddy Bear goal in a Calgary Hitmen uniform. He was acquired by the Pats on Sept. 23 and got the goal at 11:21 of the second period. It was his eighth goal this season. . . . F Sam Steel scored twice for the Pats, including an empty-netter. He’s got seven goals. . . . F Peter Quenneville scored both Brandon goals, giving him seven. . . . F Rykr Cole, the pride of Moosomin, Sask., scored his second goal, giving the Pats a 3-1 lead at 6:46 of the third. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny, in his eighth straight start, stopped 37 shots. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple turned aside 26 shots in posting his eighth straight victory. . . . Brandon F Tim McGauley had a five-game goal streak end. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Rihards Bukarts for a third straight game, while D Kale Clague remains out with an injury incurred at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Brandon D Mark Matsuba left in the first period after taking a hit from Regina F Dryden Hunt. . . . The Pats (17-10-1) have won four in a row; they are 9-2-0 in their last 11. . . . The Wheat Kings (21-6-2) had been 4-0-1 in their previous five. . . . Brandon is 7-3-1 over its last 11. . . . In the East Division, Brandon leads second-place Regina by nine points. . . . The Pats and Wheat Kings meet again Friday, this time in Brandon. . . .
In Prince George, D Josh Morrissey scored a goal and added two assists to help the Prince Albert Raiders to a 5-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . It was the opening game of the Raiders’ B.C. Division tour that continues Friday in Kamloops. . . . Former Cougars F Jordan Tkatch broke a 1-1 tie with his sixth goal at 10:44 of the second period and F Gage Quinney, with his fifth, made it 3-1 at 19:06. . . . Raiders F Reid Gardiner added insurance with his 15th at 9:30, before Morrissey scored his seventh into an empty net at 18:50. . . . That was Morrissey’s 60th regular-season goal, tying the franchise record that was held by Emanuel Viveiros (1982-86). . . . F David Soltes had a goal, his ninth, and an assist for the Cougars. He has six PP goals. . . . Prince George had F Chase Witala (leg) and D Marc McNulty (undisclosed) back in the lineup. McNulty had missed nine games, while Witala watched for two. . . . The Raiders, who are 7-5-0 under head coach Marc Habscheid, improved to 14-14-0, while the Cougars slipped to 13-15-0. . . . 
In Kelowna, F Rourke Chartier, the WHL’s leading sniper, scored twice as the Rockets dumped the Saskatoon Blades, 5-1. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s last five goals. . . . Chartier, who is from Saskatoon, has 31 goals. . . . F Nick Merkley had a goal, his ninth, and two assists for Kelowna, while D Madison Bowey drew three assists and D Riley Stadel had two. . . . Chartier also leads the WHL in points (50), one more than Merkley, who is No. 1 in assists (49). . . . In one of the more bizarre moments of this season, the starting goaltenders -- Nik Amundrud of the Blades and Jake Morrissey of the Rockets -- got into a third-period fight at centre ice. They received the only fighting majors during that stoppage in play. The fight happened despite the fact that Amundrud’s backup, Trevor Martin, is fighting a flu bug, while the Rockets had two goaltenders, Jackson Whistle (ill) and Michael Hollinger (injured), unable to play. . . . In fact, the Rockets had an AP on the bench whose name wasn’t on the on-line scoresheet. . . . It turns out it was Sam Bobyn, who, according to Rockets play-by-play man Regan Bartel, became the first Kelowna-born goaltender to play for the Rockets. . . . Morrissey, in his first start on home ice, stopped 20 shots. Bobyn came on at 8:40 of the third, but didn’t face a shot. The Blades were outshot 9-0 in the third period, if the scoresheet is to be believed. . . . The Rockets improved to 23-3-3. . . . The Blades (7-20-2) have lost five in a row (0-4-1), including the first two games on their B.C. Division tour. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix is on the road with the Blades and has a game story 
In Everett, F Nikita Scherbak scored twice and added an assist to lead the Silvertips to a 4-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Scherbak broke a 1-1 tie at 13:16 of the second period and added insurance with a PP goal at 17:00 of the third. He’s got 14 goals. . . . Everett D Kevin Davis had two assists. . . . F Adam Helewka scored his 14th goal for the Chiefs. . . . Everett F Ivan Nikolishin scored his eighth goal and added an assist. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz stopped 31 shots, 10 more than Spokane’s Tyson Verhelst. . . . Everett took two of the game’s three minor penalties. . . . Everett improved to 17-5-4, while the Chiefs, who have lost two straight, are 14-9-3.
Winterhawks will not pay a visit to Saskatchewan this season. That is truly unfortunate for hockey fans who would enjoy watching the league’s highest-scoring team.
In Prince Albert, F Matt Needham had two goals and two assists to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-2 victory over the Raiders. . . . The Blazers, who ended a franchise-record 13-game losing streak in Regina on Wednesday, now have won two in a row. . . . Needham broke a 1-1 tie at 6:17 of the second period and gave his side a 3-1 lead just 21 seconds later. . . . Kamloops D Ryan Rehill was pointless but finished plus-3. . . . Needham was plus-4. . . . Two Raiders — F Dakota Conroy and F Leon Draisaitl — were minus-4. . . . Kamloops G Taran Kozun, who once played for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos, stopped 39 shots. . . . The Raiders, who now have lost five in a row, chose not to start G Cole Cheveldave, who was acquired from Kamloops over the summer. . . . Raiders G Nick McBride stopped 24 shots. . . . D Mackenze Stewart, an 18-year-old from Calgary, scored his first WHL goal for the Raiders and it was the Teddy Bear goal. He has played in 24 games, 18 of them this season. . . . Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has a game story 
In Saskatoon, F Connor Gay broke a 2-2 tie at 5:42 of the second period and the Regina Pats went on to a 5-3 victory over the Blades. . . . Gay, who also had an assist, has six goals. . . . The Pats are 6-2-2 in their last 10. They have moved into fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Regina G Dawson MacAuley stopped 33 shots. . . . F Braden Christoffer had two goals, giving him seven, and an assist for the Pats. . . . F Nikita Scherback scored twice and added an assist for the Blades. He’s got 20 goals in his freshman season. . . . Saskatoon has lost eight straight games. . . . 
In Brandon, the Kelowna Rockets completed an amazing comeback in beating the Wheat Kings 6-5 on F Myles Bell’s goal at 2:25 of OT. . . . The Rockets, who have won nine straight and 10 in a row on the road, actually trailed 5-3 with 40 seconds left in the third period. . . . With G Jackson Whistle on the bench, the Rockets got goals from F Ryan Olsen, at 19:22 of the third, and Bell, at 19:51, to force extra time. . . . The game drew 4,218 fans, the second-largest crowd of this season in Brandon. . . . Bell, who has 14 goals, also had an assist. . . . F Zach Franko, one of two players on the Rockets’ roster who is from Manitoba, helped out with a goal, his eighth, and two assists, while F Tyson Baillie, who somehow didn’t get invited to the Top Prospects Game, had three helpers. . . . Brandon got two goals and an assist from F Peter Quenneville. He’s got 15 points, including eight goals, in 16 games. . . . The Rockets lead the overall standings by four points over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Here’s how Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun began his game story: “Now we know why it’s the fat lady and not Neil Diamond who decides when games are over. With about a minute and a half left in the third period, the Brandon Wheat Kings had a two-goal lead over the Western Hockey League-leading Kelowna Rockets and ‘Sweet Caroline’, normally the hallmark of a victory by the home team, was pumping over the sound system. In the blink of an eye, the Rockets were celebrating a 6-5 overtime victory. . . . Brandon D Rene Hunter scored his team’s Teddy Bear goal 19 seconds into the game. . . . 
In Edmonton, the Oil Kings went 4-for-6 on the PP and beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7-3. . . . These teams have played three times since Nov. 29, with the Oil Kings going 3-0. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored three times for Edmonton, which led 4-1 after one period. . . . Samuelsson, who has 14 goals, will head for the U.S. national junior team’s selection camp. . . . Edmonton got a goal and two assists from F Lane Bauer, who now has eight points, including three goals, in 26 games. . . . F Mitch Moroz got his 20th goal of the season for the Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton has won eight in a row and 17 of 20. The Oil Kings (22-9-1) and Calgary Hitmen (20-7-5) lead the Eastern Conference, each with 45 points. . . . 
In Cranbrook, G Patrik Bartosak turned aside 35 shots to help the Red Deer Rebels to a 4-0 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . He’s got two shutouts this season and eight in his career. . . . The Ice, with F Sam Reinhart and head coach Ryan McGill, in Toronto with Canada’s national junior team, went with 15 skaters. . . . F Brooks Maxwell scored twice, giving him nine, and added an assist for Red Deer, which scored twice in each of the first and third periods. . . . The Rebels (15-16-2) closed to within one point of the Ice (17-16-2), which is tied for seventh with the Prince Albert Raiders in the Eastern Conference. . . . 
In Calgary, F Brady Brassart struck for three goals as the Hitmen dropped the Medicine Hat Tigers, 7-0. . . . Brassart scored three of the game’s first four goals, giving him 13 this season. . . . F Greg Chase drew an assist on each of Brassart’s goals. . . . F Calder Brooks scored twice, giving him eight, and F Jake Virtanen had the other two. He’s got 17. . . . Calgary G Chris Driedger stopped 29 shots in putting up his second shutout this season and the seventh of his career. . . . Calgary is 7-0-1 in its last eight. . . . The Hitmen had five players at plus-3, while F Alex Mowbray and F Chad Labelle of the Tigers each was minus-4. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Todd Fiddler had two goals and an assist to lead the Prince George Cougars to a 5-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Fiddler opened the scoring at 4:48 of the first period and then gave his sde a 3-1 lead at 4:44 of the second, on the PP. . . . He’s got 14 goals. . . . Since joining the Cougars, Fiddler has 23 points, 12 of them goals, in 15 games. . . . Fiddler and the Cougars play in Spokane tonight. He scored 42 goals for the Chiefs last season. . . . F Connor Rankin scored for his Americans, his 12th goal, at 1:31 of the second, serving as the Teddy Bear goal. . . . Cougars G Ty Edmonds, who was named to the Top Prospects game earlier in the day, turned aside 32 shots. Americans F Marcus Messier came up dry on a penalty shot at 11:31 of the third. . . . The Cougars were 3-for-6 on the PP. . . . Prince George (13-17-5) is six points behind the Americans (17-5-3), who hold down the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. . . . Tri-City has lost three in a row. . . . The Americans were without injured forwards Jessey Astles and Phil Tot. . . . 
In Vancouver, G Jared Rathjen stopped 22 shots to lead the Giants to a 3-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . It was the first career shutout for Rathjen, a 19-year-old from Prince George, who was making his 58th WHL regular-season appearance. . . . Vancouver F Trent Lofthouse opened the scoring at 9:04 of the second. His seventh goal this season was the Teddy Bear score. . . . The Giants have climbed to seventh in the Western Conference and now have won three in a row. They are 6-1-3 in their last 10. . . . The teams meet again tonight in Everett. . . . The loss ended an Everett streak of having picked up at least one point in 11 games against Vancouver. . . . The Giants finish their weekend on Sunday against the visiting Prince George Cougars. F Tyler Benson, the first overall pick in the 2013 bantam draft, is expected to play his second game of the season with Vancouver. . . .
In Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds erased a 2-1 deficit and beat the Portland Winterhawks, 3-2. . . . F Chase De Leo scored twice for Portland, giving him 21 goals. . . . His second goal, at 16:01 of the second, gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. . . . Seattle F Justin Hickman tied the game at 4:46 of the third period, with F Branden Troock breaking the deadlock at 7:36, via the PP. Troock, who scored twice and added an assist, has 15 goals. . . . Seattle G Danny Mumaugh stopped 33 shots. . . . The Winterhawks are without F Oliver Bjorkstrand, F Taylor Leier, F Nic Petan, D Derrick Pouliot and D Layne Viveiros, all of whom are off to international tournaments. . . . With them gone, F Colton Veloso, who had an assist, and D Justin Greer made their WHL debuts. . . . Seattle has won eight in a row and is fourth in the Western Conference, just two points behind Everett. . . . The Thunderbirds and Winterhawks meet tonight in Portland in a Teddy Bear toss game that is sold out.
Dillon, 17, and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . According to Edmonton’s news release: “If Dillon plays in the WHL, a fourth-round pick is returned to the Broncos.” . . . Shmoorkoff is pointless in 16 games with the Oil Kings this season. . . . The Edmonton native had four points, one of them a goal, in 34 games last season. . . . “(Shmoorkoff) is a veteran defenceman with experience in a winning organization,” Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, said in a 
Former Moose Jaw Warriors F Brooks Laich, now with the NHL’s Washington Capitals, is obsessed with hockey. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where Washington head coach Adam Oates wants Laich to perhaps rethink things a bit. . . . Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post has a terrific read 
Former Saskatoon Blades F Bob Bourne, who was a terrific player with the New York Islanders as they won four straight Stanley Cups, is part of the concussion-related lawsuit against the NHL. “Life after hockey hasn’t been fun for me. It’s been a struggle,” Bourne told Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star. “I’m articulate. I consider myself a smart guy. But there’s a reason why things haven’t gone as well as they should have.” . . . Feschuk’s piece is 
Old friend Ben Laursen will be in the spotlight in the first intermission Friday as the Brandon Wheat Kings play host to the Prince Albert Raiders. Laursen, who has been a volunteer with the Wheat Kings since before Rudy Pilous was the head coach, will be saluted by the Wheat Kings and Atom-Jet Group as the Innovator of the Month. . . . These days, Laursen is the director of off-ice officials.
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