Showing posts with label Pavel Kousal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pavel Kousal. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Välimäki feted in Finland . . . Brooks' streak at 20 . . . Blades stun Warriors

Juuso Välimäki (centre) of the Tri-City Americans shakes hands
with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who is behind his
wife Jenni Haukio (in purple). (YLE screen grab)
Juuso Välimäki is greeted by Finnish First Lady Jenni Haukio.(YLE screen grab)
D Juuso Välimäki of the Tri-City Americans was in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday where he was among those feted in that country’s Independence Day celebrations that included the Linnan Juhlat — Palace Ball — which, according to The MacBeth Report, “is a REALLY big deal . . . it is televised live and garners high ratings.
Välimäki was among the honourees because he captained the Finnish team that won the U-18 IIHF world championship in Grand Forks, N.D., in April.
Here’s more from The MacBeth Report:
It begins with the reception line, where everyone is individually greeted by the President (currently Sauli Niinistö) and spouse/significant other (wife in this case, Jenni Haukio).
The first people through the line are war veterans, led this year by 91-year- old General Jaakko Valtanen, former Commander of the Finnish Armed Forces. These are veterans of the Winter War and Continuation War, two wars fought during the Second World War, when the Soviet Union twice attacked Finland. The veterans are dwindling in number every year, just like here.
Afterwards, it's dinner, then dancing. 
Anyway . . . 
From Turun Sanomat (Turku's daily newspaper), a story that includes a picture of Välimäki arriving at the Palace is right here.
There are more pictures of the reception line right here.
And there is more coverage right here, in Finnish, from the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE).
As best as we can tell, Välimäki was the youngest guest at age 18. A Finnish singer named Robin Packalén also is 18, but Välimäki is about six weeks younger. The oldest was a veteran aged 101.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have acquired F Meyer Nell, 19, from the Red Deer Rebels for a conditonal 10th-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. Nell is from Boissevain, Man., which is south of Brandon and is playing for the Boissevain Border Kings of the Tiger Hills Hockey League while attending the U of Manitoba in Winnipeg. He spent two seasons with the Rebels, picking up nine goals and 15 assists in 121 games. . . . The Rebels selected Nell in the fifth round of the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Nell is expected to join the Wheat Kings after the Christmas break.
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F Vladimir Bobylyov chose to return to Russia this season, rather than play a second season with the Victoria Royals. Now, according to News 1130 Sports, a Vancouver radio station, Bobylyov, 19, may be coming back to Victoria. Bobylyov — he was Bobylev in his first stint in the WHL — had 67 points, including 28 goals, in 72 games with the Royals last season, after putting up three goals and six assists in 52 games with the Vancouver Giants in 2014-15. After last season, he was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2016 draft. . . . He hasn’t been productive in Russia, recording one goal and two assists in 20 games with Spartak Moskva of the KHL before being sent to the VHL’s Khimik Voskresensk. He has a goal and an assist in two games there. . . . The Royals have only one import — Russian D Marsel Ibragimov — on their roster so there is room for Bobylyov.
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The WHL handed out 16 games worth of suspensions and $500 in fines on Tuesday. . . . F Zach Fischer of the Medicine Hat Tigers was given a five-game suspension for becoming “engaged with an unsuspecting opponent.” He hit F Matt Fonteyne of the host Everett Silvertips during a Friday game. Fischer has missed two games and will be eligible to return on Dec. 13 against the visiting Kelowna Rockets. He will miss games divisional games against the Red Deer Rebels, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen. . . . F Baron Thompson of the Brandon Wheat Kings was hit with a three-game suspension after taking a headshot major and game misconduct for a hit on F Connor Bruggen-Cate against the host Kelowna Rockets on Saturday. He already has sat out one game and will miss another tonight (Wednesday) when the Wheat Kings play the Cougars in Prince George. . . . F Kolby Johnson of the Prince Albert Raiders was given four games for a headshot major and game misconduct after hitting D Chase Harrison of the host Regina Pats on Saturday. Harrison began this week in concussion protocol. Johnson began his suspension by missing Tuesday’s game against the visiting Calgary Hitmen. . . . D Ryan Gagnon of the Victoria Royals will sit for four games after taking a charging major and game misconduct in a Saturday game against the Cougars in Prince George. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle Thunderbirds each were fined $250 for warm-up violations prior to their Saturday game in Kent, Wash. Ch-ch-ching! Just in time for the WHL office’s Christmas party!
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that the Vancouver Giants were missing two players from Monday’s practice. F Radovan Bondra suffered a leg injury on Friday night against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings and is expected to return Friday against the visiting Everett Silvertips. D Darian Skeoch watched with his right foot/ankle in an air cast. According to Ewen, Skeoch is week-to-week.
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F Pavel Kousal of the Spokane Chiefs will be leaving the team to play for his native Czech Republic at the World Junior A Challenge in Bonnyville, Alta., Dec. 11-17. Kousal, who is eligible for the 2017 NHL draft, has seven goals and two assists in 24 games in his first season with the Chiefs.
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Patrick Conway offers up his latest look at the KHL and its teams and it’s all 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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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

At Cranbrook, B.C., F Riley Woods scored at 2:20 of OT to give the Regina Pats a 5-4 victory over the
RILEY WOODS
Kootenay Ice. . . . Woods has four goals this season. . . . Regina F Adam Brooks ran his point streak to 20 games with a third-period goal. He leads the WHL with 46 points, two more than teammate Sam Steel. . . . F Jake Leschyshyn (11) gave Regina a 1-0 lead at 10:47 of the first period. . . . The Ice then took a 3-1 lead on second-period goals from F Vince Loschiavo (7), at 0:33; F Noah Philp (4), at 1:01; and F Zak Zborosky, on a PP, at 5:02. . . . Zborosky has 22 goals and is tied for the WHL lead with F Jayden Halbgewachs of the Moose Jar Warriors. . . . Steel pulled Regina even with two goals, giving him 19, at 10:55 and 15:39. . . . Brooks gave the Pats a 4-3 lead with his 13th goal, at 3:27 of the third period. . . . Loschiavo forced OT with a goal at 11:07. . . . Regina D Sergey Zborovskiy had three assists, giving him 12 points, including nine assists, over his past three games. . . . The Pats got two assists from D Jonathan Smart, who has five points in three games since being acquired from the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Leschyshyn added an assist to his goal. . . . Zborosky added two assists to his goal. . . . It was Zborovskiy versus Zborosky and each had three points. . . . The Pats got 46 saves from G Tyler Brown, while Payton Lee stopped 39 for the Ice. . . . Kootenay was 1-8 on the PP; Regina was 0-1. . . . The Pats (20-2-4) are 4-0-1 in their past five games and now are tied with the idle Everett Silvertips for first place in the overall standings. . . . The Ice (6-17-8) has points in three straight (1-0-2). . . . Announced attendance: 1,538.
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At Moose Jaw, the Saskatoon Blades scored twice in the last two minutes of the third period and then
MICHAEL FARREN
beat the Warriors, 4-3, in a shootout. . . . F Michael Farren scored in the fifth round of the shootout to give the Blades the victory. . . . It was the first shootout of the season for both teams. . . . With the Warriors leading 3-1, Saskatoon F Chase Wouters (3) scored a PP goal at 18:05. . . . The Blades tied it when F Jesse Shynkaruk got No. 8 at 19:01. . . . The last two goals came with G Brock Hamm out for the extra attacker. . . . The Warriors had taken a 2-0 lead into the third period on goals from F Brett Howden (13), at 11:34 of the first period, and F Noah Gregor (13), on a PP, at 19:06 of the second period. . . . F Caleb Fantillo’s second goal of the season allowed the Blades to halve the deficit at 1:36 of the third period. . . . Warriors F Jayden Halbgewachs gave his guys a 3-1 lead, on a PP, at 12:34. The goal gave Halbgewachs the WHL’s goal-scoring lead. F Zak Zborosky of the Kootenay Ice scored his 22nd later in the evening. . . . Halbgewachs also had an assist, while F Nikita Popugaev had two of them. . . . Farren, a 16-year-old from Surrey, B.C., also had two assists for the Blades, as did F Kolten Olynek. . . . Hamm finished with 33 saves through OT and added four more in the shootout as he won for the second time this season. He hadn’t gotten a victory since Oct. 1. . . . Zach Sawchenko stopped 31 shots for the Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw was 2-3 on the PP; Saskatoon was 1-2. . . . The Blades (11-17-2) had been 0-2-1 in their previous three games. . . . Moose Jaw D Matt Sozanski missed his second game with what is believed to be a shoulder injury. . . . The Warriors (16-6-5) had D Matthew Benson, 16, make his WHL debut. Benson has two goals and six assists in 14 games with the Delta Hockey Academy team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. . . . The Blades had F Tyler Lees, 16, in their lineup. He has six goals and 14 assists in 19 games with the midget AAA Regina Pats Canadians. He was a fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Some notes from Les Lazaruk, the youthful radio voice of the Blazers: “The victory ended a three-game winless streak, was the Double Blue's first win over the Warriors after five straight losses and was the first win at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw after eight consecutive setbacks, dating back to Nov. 8, 2013. Add in the fact that the Blades were 0-14-0 when trailing after two periods this season and had only won once previously in 18 games when the opposition opened the scoring, and the result was remarkable.” . . . Announced attendance: 2,808.
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At Prince Albert, F Jordy Stallard broke a 2-2 tie at 15:47 of the third period as the Calgary Hitmen got
JORDY STALLARD
past the Raiders, 3-2. . . . Stallard scored his fourth goal on a PP. . . . F Carsen Twarynski (9) gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 2:29 of the second period. . . . The Raiders tied it when F Sean Montgomery scored his eighth goal at 4:36. . . . Calgary took the lead right back, with F Beck Malenstyn (7) scoring at 7:07. . . . That lasted until 19:10 when F Simon Stransky (12) pulled the Raiders into a 2-2 tie. . . . Stransky also had an assist. . . . The Hitmen got 22 saves from G Cody Porter, while Ian Scott of the Raiders blocked 39 shots. . . . Calgary was 1-6 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-3. . . . The Hitmen (9-14-2) had lost their previous five games. . . . The Raiders 6-22-1 have lost two in a row. . . . F Justyn Gurney, 16, made his WHL debut with the Hitmen. From Delta, B.C., he has 25 points, including eight goals, in 17 games with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. Gurney was a sixth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Announced attendance: 1,824.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Tri-City at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Seattle at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Regina at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Medicine Hat, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Victoria at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
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TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:

Friday, Dec. 9: Moose Jaw at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9: Swift Current at Regina, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 9: Kootenay at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Kamloops at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Kelowna at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Calgary at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Everett at Portland, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Seattle at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 10: Victoria vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Portland at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.
Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.
Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.
Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).
Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.
Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Disgruntled Paddock sounds off . . . Tigers roar in Brandon . . . Graham hot for Broncos


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F Lukáš Králík (Victoria, 2011-12) has signed a "monthly contract" with Šumperk (Czech Republic, 2. Liga). Last season, he had one assist in two games with Epinal (France, Ligue Magnus), one goal in four games with Brest (same), and two goals and nine assists in 16 games with Mulhouse (France, Division 1). . . .
F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) has been released after an unsuccessful tryout with Schönheide (Germany, Oberliga). He had a goal and two assists in four games. . . . 
F T.J. Galiardi (Calgary, 2007-08) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). Last season, he had three goals and 12 assists in 29 games with Malmö (Sweden, SHL). He was in camp with the St. Louis Blues (NHL) on a PTO but was released on Oct. 1.
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Defeat doesn’t rest easily on the shoulder of John Paddock, the general manager and head coach of the Regina Pats.
Paddock knows how good his hockey team can be and has been for most of this season. However, he didn’t think it was very good during a 5-2 loss to the Cougars in Prince George on Tuesday night.
Never mind that it was only the Pats’ second regulation-time loss this season.
Chatting with play-by-play man Phil Andrews after the game, Paddock didn’t bother hide his
JOHN PADDOCK
disappointment and frustration.
“For probably 50 of 60 minutes we had no inclination to play at all,” Paddock said. “We did not want the puck. We could not move it hard. We didn’t want it if it was coming to us. It was really bad.”
When Andrews ventured that perhaps the way the Cougars played had something to do with the Pats’ performance, Paddock was quick with his response.
“No,” he said. “We didn’t want the puck. We didn’t want to play. (The Cougars) have a disciplined system in the neutral zone. They turn the puck over and they go quick. But I couldn’t tell you because we never gave ourselves a chance.”
Paddock pointed to a 5-on-3 break in the latter half of the game when “we couldn’t put a pass on a stick . . .”
He also pointed a finger or two at goaltender Tyler Brown, who started out by surrendering three shots on nine shots.
“He made some good saves in the second and third periods,” Paddock said, “but he’s just like the other players. Two short side goals go in . . . he did not help us in the first period, just like he didn’t have any help from 18 skaters.”
When Andrews ventured that perhaps the game was a learning opportunity, Paddock scoffed.
“I don’t think there’s anything to learn,” he said, “other than if you don’t want to play . . . that means you have to get the puck and you have to make plays with it and you have to play hard with the puck. . . . There’s nothing else to learn.”
Regina F Sam Steel, the WHL’s leading scorer, left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury, although he returned in the third. Asked about Steel’s condition, Paddock simply replied: “I got nothing on nothing.”
Paddock certainly was consistent with his opinion, as he told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post:
“We didn’t want to play. You have to have the puck for a game of hockey and we didn’t want to touch it or make a play with it. We didn’t give (the Cougars) any resistance in any area at all. They just did what they wanted to do. If we would have played like that against anybody in the league we would have lost.”
Referring to the Cougars, Paddock told Harder:
“They had a good neutral-zone transition. If you don’t do the right things and get the puck by them they counter-attack really good. Past that, I don’t know (how to evaluate them) because we didn’t do anything. They could have played in their sweat pants and probably won the game easily.”
A night’s sleep — assuming that he slept — didn’t cause Paddock to soften his approach, either.
“Two or three people have asked me how good Prince George is,” Paddock told Harder on Wednesday.“I don’t have any idea because we didn’t compete. We may as well have not come to the rink.
“This is a self-inflicted thing that should never happen. There are a whole bunch of situations or adversity that we know we’re going to go through during the season that make you stronger. I hope it will but this is completely unexplainable.”
The Pats ventured into the B.C. Division as the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not have tasted defeat in regulation time. They now have two of those on their record, having lost 5-3 to the Royals in Victoria on Saturday before Tuesday’s setback in Prince George. In between, the Pats dropped the host Vancouver Giants, 8-3, on Sunday.
Next up for the Pats will be the Kamloops Blazers on Friday, before the long trip comes to an end in Kelowna with a Saturday date with the Rockets.
The Pats (16-2-3) were the CHL’s top-ranked team when they left home. But they slipped to No. 2 on Wednesday, with the Cougars moving from fifth to first.
The Cougars (18-4-2) now lead the WHL’s overall standings by one point over the Medicine Hat Tigers (18-5-1), who seem to flying under the radar despite having won seven straight and being 10-1-0 in their past 11 games. Regina is fourth, three points in arrears of the Cougars.
The Cougars next will play on Saturday when they meet the host Everett Silvertips (16-3-4), who are just two points out of top spot.
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Just wondering:
On Nov. 11, Peter Anholt, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, was fined $1,000 by the WHL “for public comments” he had made two days earlier. In those comments, Anholt was critical of a player whom he had just traded away.
If being critical of one player is worth a grand, what’s it worth when a general manager/head coach rips into 19 players?
Hey, just asking.
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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.
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Coaching Game
Mark McNaughton has taken over as the general manager and head coach of the junior B Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey  League. A former associate head coach with the Posse, McNaughton has agreed to fill the positions for the remainder of this season. Dan Hillman and Connor Martin remain on staff as assistant coaches. . . . McNaughton replaces Geoff Goodman, who was fired on Nov. 16.
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JUST NOTES:

The Everett Silvertips have dropped D Mackenzie Dwyer, 19, from their roster. He is expected to report to the MJHL’s Portage Terriers. From Winnipeg, Dwyer was an 11th-round selection by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2012 bantam draft. He was pointless in 13 games this season.In 35 career games, 33 of them with Everett, he has one goal and three assists.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:

At Brandon, the Medicine Hat Tigers erased a 2-1 second-period deficit with three straight goals and
CHAD BUTCHER
went on to score a 5-3 victory over the Wheat Kings. . . . The Tigers (18-5-1) have won seven in a row. They lead the Central Division by 11 points. They also lead the Eastern Conference by two points over Regina, although the Pats hold three games in hand. . . . The Wheat Kings (12-8-3) had won their previous five games. . . . F Chad Butcher, who also had two assists, gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the game. He’s got nine goals. . . . The Wheat Kings took a 2-1 lead on two goals by F Reid Duke (15), who scored a PP goal at 4:50 of the first and scored again at 6:37 of the second. . . . Medicine Hat D David Quenneville tied it with his 12th goal, on a PP, at 16:26. . . . F Steve Owre put the Tigers out front with No. 5, at 1:52 of the third, and F Mark Rassell added another at 7:05. . . . Brandon F Stelio Mattheos got his 11th goal, on a PP, at 13:00, before Rassell (14) finished the scoring shorthanded at 19:11. . . . Owre and Quenneville each added an assist to their goals. . . . G Nick Schneider stopped 21 shots in winning his WHL-leading 17th game. . . . Brandon got 32 stops from Jordan Papirny. . . . The Wheat Kings were 2-4 on the PP; the Tigers were 1-5. . . . Brandon continues to play without F Nolan Patrick. He last played on Oct. 11 and now has missed 17 games this season. . . . Announced attendance: 4,135.
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At Everett, G Carter Hart stopped 37 shots to lead the Silvertips to a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Hart has two shutouts this season and 12 for his career. . . . He turned aside 18 shots in the first period and 10 in the third. . . . F Matt Fonteyne scored what turned out to be the winning goal at 5:57 of the first period. He has five this season. . . . F Riley Sutter, who also had an assist, added his ninth at 14:46 of the first and F Orrin Centazzo got his second at 2:04 of the third period. . . . G Rylan Toth started for Seattle and allowed two goals on eight shots. Matt Berlin played the last two periods, stopping 15 of 16 shots. . . . The Silvertips were 1-5 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-3. . . . Everett (16-3-4) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Seattle (11-9-2) had points in its previous five games (4-0-1). . . . Announced attendance: 4,434.
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At Kamloops, the Spokane Chiefs got all their goals from import players in a 3-2 victory over the Blazers.
PAVEL KOUSAL
. . . F Pavel Kousal scored twice, giving him six goals, and F Ondrej Nalman got his second of the season. Both are from Jihlava, Czech Republic. . . . Najman put Spokane ahead 48 seconds into the first period, with Kousal making it 2-0 at 9:25. . . . Kamloops F Rudolfs Balcers, a Latvian freshman, scored his 15th goal at 14:07. . . . Kousal restored the two-goal edge at 5:24 of the second period, with F Garrett Pilon (5) pulling the home side back to within one at 12:32. . . . The Chiefs put up a strong defensive front in the third period, limiting the Blazers to six shots. . . . G Jayden Sittler turned aside 25 shots for the Chiefs. . . . Kamloops got 25 saves from Connor Ingram. . . . Spokane was 1-2 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-4. . . . The Chiefs, who had lost seven in a row to Kamloops, improved to 9-8-5. . . . The Blazers (14-11-1), who beat the host Chiefs 6-4 on Saturday, had won their previous three games. . . . Blazers F Collin Shirley played in his 300th regular-season game — 71 with the Kootenay Ice and 229 with Kamloops. . . . The Chiefs scratched injured forwards Ethan McIndoe, Markson Bechtold, Jake McGrew, who won’t play again this season, Kailer Yamamoto and Tanner Wishnowski. They brought in F Eli Zummack from the major midget Okanagan Rockets, who play out of his hometown of Kelowna. Zummack has 20 points, including six goals, in 10 games with the Rockets. . . . Kamloops head coach Don Hay has 689 victories, second in WHL history behind former Portland head coach Ken Hodge. Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur is third on the WHL’s career list, with 674. . . . Mike Moore, the general manager and vice-president of business operations with the Calgary Hitmen, and Dallas Thompson, their B.C. director of scouting, were in the house. . . . Announced attendance: 3,259.
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At Cranbrook, B.C., F Jake Elmer’s shootout goal gave the Kootenay Ice a 6-5 victory over the Red Deer
JAKE ELMER
Rebels. . . . Elmer, who was acquired from the Regina Pats on Monday, was playing his first game with the Ice. He also had an assist. Before driving to Cranbrook, Elmer had been with the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. . . . The Ice erased a 4-2 deficit in the third period and actually led 5-4 with fewer than four minutes to play in the third period. . . . Kootenay F Matt Alfaro (8) scored at 3:28 of the third to cut the deficit to one. . . . D Cale Fleury (5) tied the score at 11:08 and F Noah Philp (3) put the home boys ahead at 12:29. . . . Red Deer F Michael Spacek (14) forced OT at 16:15. . . . Kootenay F Zak Zborosky continued his outstanding season with a goal, his 19th, and two assists. . . . The Ice got a goal, his fourth, and an assist from F Barrett Sheen and two assists from F Vince Loschiavo. . . . F Evan Polei (9) and F Brandon Hagel (9) each had a goal and an assist for Red Deer, while D Austin Strand had two assists. . . . Polei was ejected at 1:06 of OT with a charging major and game misconduct after a hit on Ice G Payton Lee. . . . Lee stopped 38 shots for the victory. . . . Riley Lamb turned aside 34 for the Rebels. . . . Red Deer was 1-2 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-6. . . . The Ice (5-13-6) has lost its last two games (0-1-1). Kootenay is five points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-cart spot. . . . The Rebels now are 11-10-4. . . . Announced attendance: 1,506.
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At Portland, F Cody Glass scored twice to lead the Winterhawks to a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil
CODY GLASS
Kings. . . . Glass has 35 points, including 12 goals, in 24 games. Last season, as a freshman, he finished with 27 points, 10 of them goals, in 65 games. . . . Glass scored the game’s first goal, at 8:04 of the first period. . . . Edmonton F Lane Bauer (12) tied it at 10:05. . . . Portland then took control with three straight goals. . . . Glass counted at 16:33 of the first and F Ryan Hughes got his 10th at 16:32 of the second. D Keoni Texeira (6) made it 4-1 at 3:51 of the third period. . . . Edmonton got its second goal from F Trey Fix-Wolansky (7) at 14:26 of the third. . . . Portland got three assists from F Keegan Iverson. . . . G Cole Kehler turned aside 22 shots for the Winterhawks, while Edmonton’s Patrick Dea blocked 36. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-6 on the PP; the Winterhawks were 0-5. . . . The Winterhawks (11-12-1) are 3-0-1 in their last four games. . . . The Oil Kings (10-12-2) have lost two in a row. They are 2-2-0 on a season-long seven-game road trip that continues Friday in Everett, Saturday in Spokane and ends Sunday afternoon in Cranbrook. . . . Announced attendance: 6,549.
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At Prince Albert, F Ryan Graham scored two goals to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 3-1 victory over the Raiders. . . . Graham, who was acquired Sunday from Saskatoon, had a goal and three assists in his Broncos debut on Tuesday, a 5-1 victory over the visiting Blades. . . . Graham has four goals this season. He scored 37 seconds into the second period in this one. . . . F Cavin Leth (5) tied it at 12:14, on a PP. . . . Graham scored a PP goal at 12:10 of the third period and that one stood up as the winner. . . . D Max Lajoie (4) added an empty-netter at 19:43. . . . Lajoie also had an assist. . . . Last season, while with the Blades, Graham scored seven times against the Raiders. . . . G Taz Burman stopped 33 shots for the Broncos, while the Raiders got 28 saves out of Nic Sanders. . . . The Broncos were 1-3 on the PP; the Raiders were 1-7. . . . Swift Current (13-7-6) has points in each of its past three games (2-0-1). . . . The Raiders (5-17-1) have lost six in a row. . . . F Kolby Johnson and D Max Martin, acquired by the Raiders from the Prince George Cougars in a deal that had D Brendan Guhle go the other way, made their Prince Albert debuts. . . . Announced attendance: 1,901.
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At Kennewick, Wash., D Juuso Valimaki scored three goals, all in the third period, to help the Tri-City
JUUSU VALIMAKI
Americans to a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Giants, who are 2-11-2 in their last 15 trips to Kennewick, took a 1-0 lead on F Tyler Popowich’s second goal at 3:11 of the first period. . . . Tri-City F Brett Leason tied it with his first goal, at 8:22. . . . F Tyler Sandhu gave his guys the lead with his fourth goal at 5:00 of the second period. Sandhu is riding a 10-game point streak. . . . Valimaki, who has nine goals, scored at 1:44, 8:22 and 11:21 of the third period for his first WHL hat trick. . . . Valimaki, a sophomore from Nokia, Finland, has nine goals and 20 assists in 25 games. He finished last season with seven goals and 25 assists in 56 games. . . . Tri-City F Kyle Olson had three assists. . . . Tri-City G Rylan Parenteau had a big night with 39 saves, 14 more than Vancouver’s Ryan Kubic. . . . Tri-City was 0-2 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-4. . . . The Americans (15-8-2) had lost their previous two games (0-1-1). They are 2-1-1 with five games left on a nine-game hometand. . . . The Giants (10-15-0) have lost three straight. . . . The same teams will meet in Kennewick again on Saturday. . . . Announced attendance: 2,854.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

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

Moose Jaw at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Regina at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Portland, 3 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Vancouver at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Seattle vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:54 PM
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Monday, August 15, 2016

Blades, Chiefs sign imports . . . Pats, Blue Jays to stage promotion

D Mitch Versteeg (Lethbridge, 2006-09) has signed a one-year contract with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga). Last season, with Kaufbeuren (Germany, DEL2), he had five goals and 10 assists with 33 games. . . .
F Carter Proft (Brandon, Spokane, 2010-14) has been assigned on loan by Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) to the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2) for all of the 2016-17 season. Proft signed a two-year contract with Mannheim in May. Last season, with Kassel, he had 13 goals and 12 assists in 51 games.
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Dorothy, my wife of more than 44 years, is preparing to take part for a third straight year in the Kidney Walk. In Kamloops, the big day is on Sept. 25.
On Saturday morning, Dorothy was informed that she and her friend Margaret Thompson are to be co-honourees for this edition of the Kidney Walk. Both women have had kidney transplants and have played important roles in the formation of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group (KKSG).
If you aren’t aware, Dorothy was born with one kidney. By the time we discovered that, in 1981, it already was malfunctioning. Eventually, she would do peritoneal dialysis for four years before she was able to get a kidney through the Living Donor Paired Exchange program.
These days, she lives a normal life, snapping at me the way she always has. LOL! She loves to bake — yes, Christmas is great in these parts. She was introduced to our first grandchild — Kara Sky Drinnan — in Burnaby on the August long weekend. Yes, she is doing just fine.
And she will be walking to benefit the Kidney Foundation on Sept. 25 at MacDonald Park in Kamloops.
If you would like to support her, please click right here.
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CTV Winnipeg reported Saturday that Braden Pettinger is making progress as he works to recover from a terrible injury suffered in an MJHL game on Nov. 12, 2015. A defenceman with the Portage Terriers, Pettinger was injured when he crashed into the boards during a home game. . . . The CTV report is right here.
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The hockey season is almost upon us, so the gang at dubnetwork.ca started posting its WHL team-by-team previews on Sunday. They’re appearing in reverse order of last season’s standings, which means the Kootenay Ice are first up. That look at the Ice is right here.
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The Regina Pats have unveiled a set of uniforms that they will wear on Blue Jays Night, when they play host to the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 6. . . . “The jerseys went through an approval process with both Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays to ensure a faithful recreation of the Jays uniform in a hockey setting,” reads a news release from the Pats. . . . The sweaters will be auctioned off the night of the game, with proceeds supporting the Jays Care Foundation, which creates opportunities for at-risk children and youth in Canada.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed Russian D Mark Rubinchuk, 17, just two days after he helped his country to a bronze medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Slovakia. He had three assists in five games at the tournament. . . . Rubinchuk was selected by the Blades in the 2016 CHL import draft. . . . Rubinchuk joins Czech d Libor Hajek, 18, as the Blades’ two import players. Hajek was a second-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2016 draft.
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The Spokane Chiefs have signed Czech forwards Pavel Kousal and Ondrej Najman, both of whom were selected in the 2016 CHL import draft. They are expected to be in training camp when it opens in Spokane on Aug. 25. . . . Last season, they were teammates, and often linemates, with the Dukla Juhlava UJ-20 team. Kousal had 43 points, 20 of them goals, in 38 games, while Najman had 18 goals and 26 assists in 38 games. . . . Both played at the IIHF’s 2016 U-18 World Championship. Kousal had three assists in five games, while Najman had three goals and three assists. . . . The Chiefs now have three imports on their roster, the other being veteran F Dominic Zwerger of Austria. Spokane will have to get down to the maximum of two early in the regular season. The options would be to trade or release Zwerger, or release one of the other two. An import player can’t be traded during his freshman season.
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Jim Swanson, the managing partner of baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, has been named the West Coast League’s executive of the year. The HarbourCats set WCL regular-season records with 40 victories and a 19-game winning streak. They are the first team in WCL history to win 40 games in one regular season. Swanson, who completed his second season as managing partner, is part of a four-person ownership group. . . . The HarbourCats reached the playoffs for the first time, but were swept from a first-round best-of-three series by the Bellingham, Wash., Bells. . . . Swanson covered the WHL and the Prince George Cougars for a number of seasons while sports editor of the Prince George Citizen.
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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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This is a couple of days old, but . . .




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 10:19 PM
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