'Our Timmy is keeping fighting . . . '

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2004-06) has signed a three-year extension with ZSC Zurich (Switzerland, NL A). His current contract expires in 2015. The extension keeps Wick with ZSC through the 2017-2018 season. This season, in 47 games, he has 48 points, including 23 goals, leaving him second in the league’s scoring race. . . .

Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) won’t renew seven players’ contracts, including F John Lammers (Lethbridge, Everett, 2001-06) and F Tyler Spurgeon (Kelowna, 2001-06). This season, Lammers had 34 points, including 14 goals, in 43 games, while Spurgeon had 22 points, 11 of them goals, in 34 games.
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F Tim Bozon of the Kootenay Ice remains in critical condition in Royal University  Hospital in Saskatoon as he battles Neisseria meningitis.
On Thursday, his parents, using their son’s Twitter account, tweeted: “Our Timmy is keeping fighting but . . . thank you so much for your wonderful wishes. Helene and Phil Bozon.”
The Bozons aren’t expected to offer comment unless Tim’s condition changes.
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Before being hospitalized and diagnosed with Neisseria meningitis, F Tim Bozon of the Kootenay Ice played against the Blades in Saskatoon and also attended a rock concert with one of their players. . . . On the heels of Bozon’s diagnosis, Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix writes, the Blades are taking precautions. That story is right here.
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There’s a story right here (video) from CTV Saskatoon about a hockey fan who was sticken by meningitis 20 years ago and now is offering to help the Bozon family in way he can.
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While Tim Bozon fights meningitis in a Saskatoon hospital, his Kootenay Ice teammates are preparing for weekend games. Trevor Crawley of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has that story right here.
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F Kohl Bauml of the Everett Silvertips has a broken leg and, according to Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald, “is likely done for the rest of the season.” Bauml was injured early in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Kelowna Rockets. Patterson reports that the diagnosis is a compound fracture to a tibia. . . . Bauml, 19, had 28 points, including 14 goals, in 65 games. . . . Patterson also reports that F Tyler Sandhu and F Logan Aasman, both of whom have been out with undisclosed injuries, have been cleared to return to play. . . .

The Regina Pats have brought in G Tyler Fuhr, 18, from the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves. The Pats need a goaltender to back up Dawson MacAuley this weekend after Daniel Wapple was injured in Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. Wapple went down in a goal-mouth collision and was later seen with a walking boot on one foot. . . . Fuhr, a fourth-round selection by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2010 bantam draft, was 13-21-0, 3.68, .903 with the Ice Wolves this season. . . .

F Austin Daae of the Estevan Bruins has won the SJHL’s scoring championship. It’s worth mentioning because Daae, a 20-year-old native of Estevan, played 11 games with the WHL Saskatoon Blades in 2010-11, 52 with the Prince George Cougars in 2011-12 and 30 with the Prince Albert Raiders in 2012-13. Daae, a 10th-round pick by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL’s 2008 bantam draft, also is the first Estevan player in 26 years to win the SJHL scoring crown. . . . Josh Lewis of the Estevan Mercury has more right here.
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IF THE PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY:
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Red Deer (8)
Regina (2) vs. Brandon (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Kootenay (5)
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Western Conference
Kelowna (1) vs. Tri-City (8)
Portland (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Victoria (3) vs. Everett (6)
Seattle (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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FRIDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Calgary at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Edmonton at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Regina at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Seattle at Portland, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Everett at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Kamloops at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES:
No games scheduled.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
Please keep Tim Bozon (@timbozon94) and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:

F Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2004-06) signed a three-year contract with ZSC Zurich (Switzerland, NL A). He had 11 goals and 10 assists in 34 games for Kloten (Switzerland, NL A) last season. . . .
D David Turon (Portland, 2002-03) signed a one-year contract extension with Fassa (Italy, Serie A). He had six goals and 13 assists in 42 games with Fassa last season.
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.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2005-06) signed a three-year contract with Kloten (Switzerland NLA). He had 20 goals and 22 assists in 70 games for the AHL-champions Binghamton Senators and was pointless in seven games with Ottawa Senators (NHL) last season.
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If you’ve been paying attention, you will be aware that there is a huge shakeup going on in the world of NCAA hockey. But what does it all mean? Chris Dilks has some thoughts at the Western College Hockey blog, and it is right here.
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Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports offers his take on the NCAA hockey picture right here.
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JUST NOTES: John MacNeil of the Brandon Sun reports that the King brothers, Wheaton and Sanfred, are on the move. . . . Wheaton, an 18-year-old forward, has been invited to training camp by the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Sanfred, now 21, has committed to attend McGill U in Montreal and play for the Redmen. . . . The King boys finished last season playing on the same line with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. . . . D Riley McIntosh (Kelowna, Tri-City, 2006-10) has committed to attend to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., and play for the Timberwolves. McIntosh finished up last season with the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. . . . F Joel Ridgeway (Tri-City, Portland, 2006-10) will attend Acadia U and play for the Axemen, who play out of Wolfville, N.S. He played most of the last two seasons for the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters has left the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to join the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach. Peters spent three seasons as the IceHogs’ head coach, going 122-97-7-14. The are affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. . . . Peters and Detroit head coach Mike Babcock worked together on the Spokane coaching staff in the late 1990s. . . . The Red Wings also added Jeff Blashill, the head coach at Western Michigan, to their coaching staff. . . . They replace Brad McCrimmon, who will coach in the KHL next season, and Paul MacLean, now the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. . . .
Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that former NHL D Charlie Huddy “has agreed to become an assistant coach on Claude Noel’s staff” with the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Huddy was an assisant coach with the Dallas Stars for the last two seasons. . . . Wiebe also writes that Ray Edwards, the head coach of the AHL’s Portland Pirates, also has interviewed with the Jets. Edwards was the head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage last season. The Phoenix Coyotes shifted their AHL affiliation fro San Antonio to Portland and announced that Edwards would be the Pirates’ head coach.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have revealed that their newest Hall-of-Fame inductees will be former GM Bob Bartlett, D Jamie Pushor and F Jason Ruff.
Bartlett was instrumental in getting the Calgary Wranglers franchise relocated to Lethbridge for the 1987-88 season. He spent 11 seasons scouting for the team and worked as GM for five seasons. Bartlett already is a member of the Alberta and Lethbridge sports halls of fame. . . . Pushor, a former team captain who was born and raised in Lethbridge, played for the Hurricanes from 1988-93. . . . Ruff  holds the club’s career records for goals (183) and points (382).
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Kelly Friesen, who follows the WHL for Yahoo! Sports, chatted with Mike Johnston, the Portland Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, about that franchise’s spectacular results in the last two NHL drafts. Friesen’s piece is right here and it’s a must read if you’re wondering how the Winterhawks went from the outhouse to the penthouse in such short order.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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