Hockey Canada juggles assignments . . . Broncos trim three . . . Are Giants close to coach?

Rapperswil-Jona (Switzerland, NL B) signed F Jared Aulin (Kamloops, 1997-2002) and F Andrew Clark (Brandon, 2005-09) to one-year contracts. . . . Last season, with Orebro (Sweden, SHL), Aulin had seven goals and 17 assists in 47 games. . . . Clark, last season with Esbjerg (Denmark, Metal Ligaen), led the league in points, with 75, including 25 goals, in 36 games. . . .
D Shaone Morrisonn (Kamloops, 1999-2002) signed a one-year extension with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). Last season, he had seven assists in 48 games. . . .

F Jesse Schultz (Tri-City, Prince Albert, Kelowna, 1999-2003) signed a one-year contract with Riessersee Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with the Rapid City Rush (ECHL), he had 77 points, 34 of them goals, in 70 games. An alternate captain, he finished third in the ECHL scoring race.
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With the move by DJ Smith from the OHL’s Oshawa Generals to the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Hockey Canada had to make an adjustment to the coaching staff of its national junior team. . . . Smith, who was the head coach of the Memorial Cup-champion Generals, was to have been an assistant coach under head coach Dave Lowry of the Victoria Royals. . . . Hockey Canada announced Tuesday that Kelly McCrimmon, the owner, general manager and head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, will move from his post as head coach of the U-18 team into Smith’s vacated position. . . . Stan Butler, the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s North Bay Battalion, has moved in as head coach of the U-18 team that will play in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in August. . . . Shaun Clouston, the general manager and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, has joined the U-18 team as an assistant coach. He replaces Sheldon Keefe, who had been the head coach of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, but now is head coach of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
On Monday, McCrimmon announced that was turning down an offer to join the Toronto Maple Leafs’ front office, choosing instead to remain with the Wheat Kings. . . . With Canada’s national junior team, he will be away from the team for about a month, from its selection camp through the end of the tournament, which runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Helsinki, Finland.
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Canada's roster for WJC summer camp. Most interesting invite? Jake Walman who was also invited to Team USA's camp. http://t.co/Q6Gn0O1yIs

— Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) June 23, 2015

Hockey Canada also has announced the roster for its national junior team’s summer camp. That roster is right here.
The U-18 summer camp roster is right here.
The U-17 summer camp roster is right here.
All three camps, totalling 194 players, will be held in Calgary, July 29 to Aug. 6 in what Hockey Canada is calling its Summer Showcase.
——
The Swift Current Broncos have released three 20-year-old skaters — F Tanner LeSann, D Ayrton Nikkel and F Linden Penner. . . . LeSann, from Yorkton, Sask., had 36 points, including 16 goals, in 195 games over three seasons with the Broncos. . . . Nikkel had two goals and nine assists in 67 games with Swift Current. From Kelowna, he was acquired early last season from the Saskatoon Blades. He also has played with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Everett Silvertips. . . . Penner, from Sherwood Park, Alta., played 36 games with the Broncos last season, putting up four goals and two assists. He also played with the Calgary Hitmen and Moose Jaw Warriors last season. . . . All three have cleared WHL waivers and are free agents. . . . The Broncos now have three 20-year-olds on their roster — G Landon Bow, D Griffin Foulk and F Zac Mackay.
——
The USHL’s board of governors decided at its annual meeting in Colorado Springs on the weekend to go to seven-minute overtime periods in regular-season games. They will play 4-on-4 until the first stoppage of play after three minutes of play, then will switch to 3-on-3. If the game remains tied after that, the game will be decided in a shootout, starting with three players from each team. . . . From a USHL news release: “The USHL previously tested the hybrid overtime period during the 2013 and 2014 preseasons with 3-on-3 overtime play. Over the past five seasons, 39 per cent of games were decided during 4-on-4 overtime in the USHL. Over the past two pre-seasons, 71 per cent ended in a 3-on-3 overtime.”
———

THE COACHING GAME:

Dallas Eakins, Ryan McGill, Lorne Molleken are the #Giants Final 3. Interesting thing about Eakins, he's never Coached Jr

— JAY JANOWER (@DOUBLEJGLOBALBC) June 23, 2015

If Molleken or Eakins are 1st choice, it will be soon. McGill hasn't ruled out pro, so it will be a bit if it's him. https://t.co/1LC5qSMhCG

— Steve Ewen (@SteveEwen) June 23, 2015

Some observers are expecting the Giants to make a coaching announcement before week’s end.
Eakins was fired last season as the head coach of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. McGill and Molleken are veteran WHL coaches. McGill’s contract as head coach of the Kootenay Ice wasn’t renewed after last season. Molleken last coached in 2013-14 when he was the GM/head coach of the Saskatoon Blades.
Whoever signs on will be Vancouver’s fourth head coach in three seasons. The Giants let Don Hay out of his contract after 10 seasons as head coach, allowing him to return to the Kamloops Blazers in time for last season. Troy Ward, hired as Hay’s replacement, was fired early in the season and replaced by Claude Noel, whose services weren’t retained after the season ended. . . . The Giants missed the playoffs last season, the second time in three seasons that has happened.
——
Brent Heaven has moved up and taken over as head coach of the Selkirk College Saints of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. They are based in Castlegar, B.C. . . . Heaven, a 35-year-old from Kamloops, had been an assistant coach with the Saints. He takes over from Alex Evin, who now is on the staff of the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . . The Saints won the BCIHL championship last season.
———



The Saskatoon Blades have signed F Chase Wouters and D Payton McIsaac. . . .  Wouters, from Lloydminster, Alta., was the 18th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Last season, with the bantam AAA Lloydminster Heat, he had 57 points, including 19 goals, in 32 games. . . . McIsaac, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., was a second-round pick by the Blades in the 2015 bantam draft. He had 45 points, 11 of them goals, in 33 games with the bantam AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers.
——

@SeattleTbirds sign their 2015 1st rd bantam pick @elijah_brown5. Earliest they've signed their 1st overall pick since @Jared_Hauf in 2010

— Thom Beuning (@ThomBeuning) June 23, 2015

The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed F Elijah Brown, who was the 15th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Brown, from Edmonton, had 41 points, including 18 goals, in 31 games with the bantam AAA South Side Athletic Club team last season.
——
Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
——
Braeden Pistawka is the new general manager of the Okanagan Rockets of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. He takes over from David Michaud, who left after five years to join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. Michard now is the Vees’ director of player personnel and corporate sales.
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http://t.co/tleIjmGH7f is pleased to have Willie Desjardins HC @VanCanucks as our Key note speaker at the #TSCC2015 http://t.co/jdeL47BNR8

— The Coaches Site (@TheCoachesSite) June 23, 2015

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Oil Kings sign assistant coach . . . Clouston, Speltz to U-18 team

F Juraj Rožník (Swift Current, Regina, 2010-11) has signed a tryout contract with Dukla Trenčín (Slovakia, Extraliga). Last season, with Martin (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had 10 points, including six goals, in 41 games. . . .
F David Hruška (Red Deer, 1995-96) has signed a one-year contract with Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic, Extraliga) after Karlovy Vary negotiated his release from Orli Znjomo (Czech Republic, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had 32 points, 18 of them goals, in 52 games. . . .
F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) has signed a one-year contract with Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Duda played last season with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga), leading the team in scoring with 41 points, including 17 goals, in 47 games. He was second in the league with 141 penalty minutes. . . .
F Grant Toulmin (Swift Current, 2005-07, 2008-09) has signed a one-year contract with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with Nipissing University (CIS) in North Bay, Ont., he had 38 points, including 16 goals, in 28 games. . . .
D Kalvin Sagert (Kamloops, Lethbridge, Prince George, 2002-08) has signed a one-year contract with Miskolci Jegesmedvék (Hungary, MOL-Liga). Last season, he had one assist in 11 games with the Wichita Thunder (CHL), 10 assists in 24 games with the San Francisco Bulls (ECHL), and a goal and three assists in 32 games with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL).
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1. Ryan Marsh has signed on with the Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings as an assistant coach. Marsh (Tri-City, 1992-95) played four seasons at the U of Alberta in Edmonton before going on to a brief pro career. He has been with Vimy Ridge Academy in Edmonton for 15 years, the past 10 as campus director. He also was an assistant coach with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . . The 39-year-old native of Quesnel, B.C., moves into the spot created when Steve Hamilton was promoted from assistant coach to head coach. Hamilton took over from Derek Laxdal, now the head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars. . . . Sean Brown also is on the Oil Kings’ staff as an assistant coach.
---
2. Shaun Clouston, the general manager and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, has been added to the coaching staff of the Canadian U-18 team that will play in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament next month. . . . Clouston replaces Eric Veilleux, who now is the head coach of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals. . . . Clouston, 46, has been with the Tigers since 2003-04. He has been the head coach for four seasons and the GM for the past two. . . . At the same time, Tim Speltz, the general manager of the Spokane Chiefs, has been added to the Program of Excellence management group. Speltz, 56, replaces Mark Hunter, the GM of the OHL’s London Knights, who isn’t available for the Ivan Hlinka Memorial. Speltz has been the Chiefs’ GM since 1990. . . . Team Canada’s selection camp is scheduled for Calgary’s Markin MacPhail Centre, Aug. 2-5. There should be 44 players in attendance, with 22 of them going on to play for Canada. The tournament is to run Aug. 11-16 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia.
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3. It’s hardly scientific and it’s a far cry from being official, but readers of this blog have spoken. Asked which of three teams should play host to the 2016 Memorial Cup, 47.9 per cent of respondents voted for the Red Deer Rebels. The Victoria Royals drew 34.1 per cent, with the Vancouver Giants at 17.9 per cent. . . . The 2016 Memorial Cup tournament is to be played in a WHL city; those three teams have said they will be involved in the bidding. . . . The Memorial Cup hasn’t been decided in Alberta since 1974 when the Regina Pats won it in the Calgary Corral.
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4. F Tim Bozon of the Kootenay Ice, who spent March in a Saskatoon hospital battling Neisseria meningitis, is preparing to play in a competitive game for the first time since Feb. 28. Bozon, 20, will play for France’s U-23 team at a tournament in Ostrava, Czech Republic, next week. . . . Tal Pinchevsky of nhl.com has more right here.
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5. Earlier in the week, Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada posted his final 30 Thoughts of the season, which means 2013-14 finally is over. Because it was his last post for the season, Friedman actually had at least 54 thoughts. . . . It’s all right here.
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6. So there’s this beer league in Buffalo . . . it’s the Performax Hockey League. And when the guys got together the other night, they had a visitor. This guy lit it up for five goals. He also had five assists. Patrick Kane. You may have heard of him. . . . There’s more right here, including a great post-game tweet.
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7. Running back Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens has been suspended for, uhh, two games for precipitating an incident of domestic abuse. The disciplinary move has come in for considerable criticism, none of it any harsher than this column right here by Michael Powell of The New York Times.
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Alan Caldwell, over at Small Thoughts at Large, tweeted this on Thursday: “The annual WHL prospects postings are coming to the blog soon, likely starting later today.” You will find them on his blog and there’s a link over there on the right. . . . Former Portand Winterhawks D Brad Symes has died in his hometown of Edmonton, where he was a firefighter. He was 38. There is more right here. . . . The Simon Fraser U men’s hockey team will play exhibition road games against the Bowling Green Falcons on Oct. 4 and the Miami U RedHawks on Oct. 5. Those games are scheduled for Bowling Green, Ohio, and Oxford, Ohio.
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Flights delayed cause the president wants to fly home out of LAX.. Your world we're just living in it #ThanksObama
— Mitch Callahan (@Mcally15) July 24, 2014

Looks like I will be wearing black and green next year at U of S! #huskies
— Jordon Cooke (@jordoncooke30) July 25, 2014

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.

Bob Ridley just keeps on driving and smiling. Yes, here he is — the man, the
myth, the legend — taking the Medicine Hat Tigers out on the playoff trail
one more time. Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News passed along these
photos as the Tigers headed to Edmonton last week to begin a second-round
series. If you aren't aware, Ridley also is the radio voice of the Tigers.
(Darren Steinke / Medicine Hat News)

We are into the second round of the WHL playoffs and things really are starting to heat up.
Of course, there is some friction between the Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets. As you read here yesteday, the Rockets don’t think that F Tyson Baillie should have been suspended for his hit on Kamloops F Colin Smith.
And now we have the Edmonton Oil Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers talking about whether to use the three-metre board or go straight to the tower.
“They’ve gone down easy all year,” Derek Laxdal, the Oil Kings’ head coach, told Dave (Crash) Cameron of the Edmonton Sun after Game 2 of that series, “and I don’t know if it’s a coaching technique or what. My teams don’t play like that so I’ll worry about myself.
“But at the end of the day, if we’re going to engage with stick position, we can’t get too close to the feet. We’ve got to keep it stick-on-puck or stick-on-stick and have a really good mindset of where we are because they are trying to draw penalties and if that’s what they have to do to try and win a series, that’s what they have to do.”
When asked about that, Shaun Clouston, the Tigers’ GM/head coach, told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News: ““I didn’t really play much soccer growing up.”
Clouston then caught himself and continued: “I just prefer to take the high road. They are a great team with great players. I think their coaches have done a great job.”
Medicine Hat F Boston Leier told Steinke: “I don’t think we are really a diving team. We just go hard. “I don’t think we really consider ourselves that. I don’t know why we would.
“(Laxdal) can have his own opinion, right. I don’t necessarily agree with it.”
———



The Red Deer Rebels were without F Matt Bellerive for last night’s 2-1 OT victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen. The WHL suspended Bellerive for two games earlier in the day, that for a hit on Calgary F Pavlo Padakin. . . . Padakin (knee), a freshman from Kiev, Ukraine, is expected to be out up to six weeks. . . . The Hitmen also are without D Kenton Helgesen (hand). . . .


The WHL also suspended F Tyson Baillie of the Kelowna Rockets for two games for a hit on F Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers in Game 1 of their series. Baillie sat out Game 2 and won’t play tonight in Kamloops. . . . Smith, who has a suspected concussion, didn’t play in Game 3 and isn’t expected to play tonight. . . .


The WHL also finalized the suspension of Seattle Thunderbirds F Justin Hickman at four games. He drew a checking-to-the-head major for a hit on Kelowna Rockets D Jesse Lees in Game 6 of their first-round series. Lees hasn’t played since the hit. . . .
F Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks leads the WHL with nine playoff goals. That leaves him with 39 career playoff goals, good for third spot on the career list. He is two goals behind Reggie Leach (Flin Flon, 1967-70) and eight behind Mark Pederson (Medicine Hat, 1983-88).
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Paul Buker takes a look right here at freshman F Paul Bittner of the Portland Winterhawks. And I have a feeling Bittner may be the only player in the WHL who knows who Frankie Yankovic is. . . . Seriously, this is an interesting story because Bittner’s father, Jon, is a member of the Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame. When his son left for the WHL, Jon resigned as chairman of the executive board of the coaches’ association and stepped down as a high school coach. . . . Yes, this is an interesting read.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mike Aikens won’t be back as general manager/head coach of the USHL’s Omaha Lancers. The team has two games remaining this season and assistant coach Brian Kaufman will run the bench. . . . The Lancers are 34-27-1 and won’t qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 24 seasons. . . . Aikens replaced Bliss Littler on Nov. 30, 2011, and went 63-38-2 as head coach.
———


The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Edmonton leads, 2-0; Game 3, tonight, in Medicine Hat)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads, 2-1; Game 4, tonight, in Red Deer)
———
WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Portland leads 2-0; Game 3, tonight, in Spokane)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Kamloops leads 2-0; Game 3, tonight, in Kamloops; also on Shaw TV)
———
MONDAY’S GAME:
In Red Deer, D Mathew Dumba scored in OT as the Rebels beat the Calgary Hitmen, 2-1. . . . Dumba got his second goal of these playoffs at 6:33 of extra time while on the PP. . . . Calgary D Spencer Humphries was off for high-sticking Red Deer F Rhyse Dieno. . . . “I didn’t think it was a great call at all,” Calgary head coach Mike Williamson told Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun. “Their guy was reaching for the puck, so he ended up basically two or three feet off the ice. But he sold it. Regardless, we have to kill it off.” . . . Calgary D Peter Kosterman gave his guys the lead at 7:05 of the first period. . . . Red Deer F Brooks Maxwell tied it with a shorthanded goal at 14:29 of the first. . . . Red Deer G Patrik Bartosak stopped 38 shots, four fewer than Calgary’s Chris Driedger.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (15):
D Brady Gaudet, Red Deer
D Spencer Humphries, Calgary

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (5):
None

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
AIK Stockholm (Sweden, Elitserien) announced that they will not re-sign three players to contracts for next season, including F Kris Beech (Calgary, 1996-2001). Beech had three goals and two assists in 23 games with AIK. He started the season with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga), where he had two goals and six assists in 21 games before being released in mid-November and joining AIK. . . .


Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) announced they will not re-sign D Brad Cole (Seattle, Kootenay, Saskatoon, 2003-07) for next season. Cole had three goals and 12 assists in 42 games for Villach this season.


———
A week ago, the Saskatoon Blades were skating on top of the world.
They had finished the regular season on a 22-2-3 run that included an 18-game winning streak.
The trials and tribulations of a horrible 2-7-0 start to this season were well behind them.
The host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup was ready for bear. Or so it seemed.
However, a closer look at that 22-2-3 run shows that 11 of those games were against the Moose Jaw Warriors and Brandon Wheat Kings, neither of whom qualified for the playoffs. The Blades were 10-0-1 in those 11 outings.
Granted, a team can’t do anything about its schedule but play it. However, when the Blades finished the regular season by losing twice to the host Prince Albert Raiders, who didn’t finish strongly at all, perhaps we should have heard the warning bells.
But just three days before the first of those losses, the Blades had gone into Edmonton and beaten the Oil Kings, 3-2.
Talk about mixed messages — the Blades were handing those out all season long.
Somewhere in all of this, Lorne Molleken, the general manager and head coach, had to be wondering just which team was the real Blades. Was it the team that beat the Calgary Hitmen 6-0 and 3-2 or the one that lost 9-5? Was it the one that beat the Medicine Hat Tigers twice – 4-3 and 6-3 – after the Jan. 10 trade deadline?
Or is it the one that lost four straight games to the Tigers and now is on the outside looking in and waiting for the Memorial Cup to arrive?
Yes, it all came crashing down on the the Blades in a matter of six nights. The 18-game winning streak? The 22-2-3 finish? None of it means a thing today.
There was Molleken addressing the Saskatoon media on Thursday.
"It's disappointing,” he said. “We didn't get the job done. We thought we were peaking at the right time."
(Amazingly, there were people who, upon hearing that owner Jack Brodsky and Molleken would hold a news conference yesterday, actually thought there would be a coaching change.
“I’m not going to let a game or a series or a year be a measure of what this hockey club is about or what my life is about,” Brodsky told the gathering. “I’m not talking about changes. I’m not going to talk about that today because the guy that’s behind the bench for our hockey club is my guy and I’ve got all the trust and respect in the world or him. Period.”)
I also wonder about the impact starring in their own TV show has had on the Blades during this tumultuous season. The TV camera has been there from Day 1 and it has been relentless, following the players everywhere, from shopping trips to hospital gurneys. If they had it to do all over again, I really wonder whether the Blades’ management would be all-in with this project.
Anyway . . . it is what it is and now the Blades are out, having been swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Tigers. This wasn’t just your average sweep, either. This was a SWEEP! The Blades never held a lead, not even for one second. They were outscored 15-4 by a Medicine Hat team that entered the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed. The No. 2 Blades were supposed to be the ones with the brooms.
But it didn’t happen.
Let’s pause here and forget about the Blades for a moment. Let’s not forget that the Tigers won this series. Sheesh, they must have done something right.
So perhaps some credit should be given to Shaun Clouston, the general manager and head coach of the Tigers, his staff and the players. Obviously, they got superb goaltending from Cam Lanigan, and that always helps. But the Tigers also have two of the league’s top forwards in Hunter Shinkaruk and Curtis Valk, and their back end, led by Derek Ryckman, has proven to be solid, too.
And now, while the Tigers prepare to play in the second round, perhaps against the Edmonton Oil Kings, Saskatoon’s players are going home.
Those who are in high school will return on April 8, with the others coming back on April 15. They don’t play until May 17 when they are to open their Memorial Cup schedule against the OHL champions.
By the time May 17 arrives, they will be awfully tired of trying to explain what happened during those six days in late March.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix was at the news conference. His story is right here.
———



The Kelowna Rockets, already without F J.T. Barnett (ill), F Carter Rigby (shoulder, foot), F Colton Sissons (shoulder) and D Mitchell Wheaton (shoulder), may be down two more players for Saturday’s game against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier writes that D MacKenzie Johnston and F Rourke Chartier, both of whom suffered undisclosed injuries in Games 3 and 4 in Kent, Wash, this week, might not play in Game 5 on Saturday. The Rockets trail 3-1 in the series. . . . If they can’t answer the bell, F Nick Merkley and D Joe Gatenby, the Rockets’ first two selections in the 2012 bantam draft, may draw in. Merkley, who is from Calgary, has played in one regular-season game; Gatenby, who played for the major midget Okanagan Rockets, has yet to make his debut. . . .
The Everett Silvertips have lost F Manraj Hayer for the remainder of the season. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Hayer broke a finger in blocking a shot by Portland Winterhawks D Seth Jones on Wednesday night. The finger will require surgery. . . . Everett F Ryan Harrison (concussion) won’t play in Games 4 and 5 of that series this weekend. . . .
If you’re wondering what’s happening in Medicine Hat regarding a new arena. Colin Gallant of the Medicine Hat News tackles the subject right here. . . .
The BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings have signed general manager Mike Hawes to a contract extension that runs through 2014-15. He has been the GM since November 2010. (A tip of the cap to Hartley Miller.)
———

The WHL’s first-round situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
(Edmonton leads 3-1; Game 5 tonight in Edmonton)
Saskatoon (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Medicine Hat wins 4-0)
Calgary (3) vs. Swift Current (6)
(Calgary wins 4-1)
Red Deer (4) vs Prince Albert (5)
(Red Deer wins 4-0)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland (1) vs. Everett (8)
(Portland leads series 2-1; Game 4 tonight in Everett)
Kelowna (2) vs. Seattle (7)
(Seattle leads 3-1; Game 5 on Saturday in Kelowna)
Kamloops (3) vs. Victoria (6)
(Kamloops leads 3-1; Game 5 on Saturday in Kamloops
Spokane (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
(Spokane leads 3-1; Game 5 on Saturday in Kennewick, Wash.)
———
In the East, if Edmonton takes out Kootenay, the second round will feature Edmonton against Medicine Hat and Calgary versus Red Deer.
———
THURSDAY’S GAMES:
In Calgary, G Chris Driedger stopped 34 shots as the Hitmen dumped the Swift Current Broncos, 3-1. . . . Driedger had a solid season, going 1.91 and .942. . . . F Jake Virtanen and F Elliott Peterson each scored his first postseason goal for Calgary. . . . The elimination of the Broncos means there aren’t any East Division teams left in the playoffs. The Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders bowed out on Wednesday night. . . . A tweet from Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge): “Since the WHL went from 2 divisions to 3 (and later to 4) in 1995-96, one division has never been completely eliminated this early” . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Blake Gal scored at 5:10 of OT as the Spokane Chiefs beat the host Tri-City Americans, 4-3. . . . This was the 16th time in the past 29 playoff games between these teams that OT has been needed. . . . Tri-City D Drydn Dow forced extra time when he scored his third goal of the series at 17:17 of the third period. . . . Americans G Luke Lee-Knight stopped 41 shots before leaving at 2:02 of OT with an undisclosed injury. Lee-Knight was holding his left arm as he left the ice after Spokane F Adam Helewka slid into him. G Troy Trombley finished up. . . . Gal scored his third game-winner against the Americans this month. He got the OT winner in the last meeting of the regular season and then scored the winner in Game 2 of this series. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser had a goal and an assist. He now has 402 career points, including regular-season and playoff games. . . . A scoring change has given the OT goal in Tri-City’s 5-4 victory on Tuesday to F Connor Rankin. Originally, it was credited to F Parker Bowles. . . .

In Victoria, F Dylan Willick scored at 17:47 of OT to give the Kamloops Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Royals. . . . That was the only time the Blazers led in this game. . . . Kamloops D Marek Hrbas forced OT with a goal at 15:42 of the third period. . . . Hrbas and Victoria G Patrik Polivka, who made 43 saves, grew up friends in Plzen, Czech Republic. . . . F Kale Kessy scored Kamloops’ first three goals. . . . The Blazers got three assists from each of F JC Lipon and F Colin Smith. Lipon now leads all WHL scorers in assists (7) and points (10). . . . F Jamie Crooks, F Logan Nelson, F Brandon Fushimi and F Ben Walker replied for the Royals, who led 1-0, 2-0. 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3. . . . Fushimi played his first game in the series. He was inserted when the Royals scratched F Brandon Magee, their second-leading scorer, with an undisclosed injury. . . . Kamloops scratched F Tim Bozon (undisclosed) after he took the warmup. . . . The Blazers last appeared in a playoff overtime game on March 23, 2010, when they lost 5-4 to the visiting Vancouver Giants in Game 3 of a first-round series. F Brett Breitkreuz scored the winner, at 2:28. . . . The Blazers last won an OT playoff game on March 25, 2005, when F Terrance Delaronde scored 16 seconds in for a 4-3 victory over the host Kootenay Ice.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (9):
F Alessio Bertaggia, Spokane

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (4):
None


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This column appeared in Wednesday's Kamloops Daily News:

In the days before the WHL’s regular season opened, the league summoned its general managers and head coaches to Calgary for a meeting.
During said gabfest, there was much talk about the respect factor, or lack of same, between opposing players on the ice, about not hitting players who find themselves, for whatever reason, in vulnerable positions, about headshots and about hits from behind.
Guy Charron, the head coach of the Kamloops Blazers, put together a video presentation showing, among other things, players who were in vulnerable positions absorbing hits. He didn’t have to dig too deeply to find examples of players not protecting themselves and of some bad hits. He looked at one game and found instances of both on the first two shifts.
After the meeting, the coaches, who all are in agreement that these hits have to be removed from the game, returned home and immediately set about spreading the word.
Unfortunately, it seems to have fallen on some deaf ears.
In the regular season’s first 22 games, referees handed out 13 checking-from-behind minors and one major. There also were three minors and three majors for checks to the head.
There were other instances when what could have been checking-from-behind penalties were called boarding. There was a checking-from-behind incident in a Friday night game in Kamloops that was ignored by the officials.
And when the weekend was done, nine players were awaiting possible suspensions, each of them having been tossed from a game for one indiscretion or another.
These players included Mathew Dumba, a defenceman with the Red Deer Rebels who was a first-round selection by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL’s 2012 draft, and forward Ty Rattie of the Portland Winterhawks, a second-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in 2011 who is seen as a potential WHL scoring champ this season.
On Friday night, forward Andrew Johnson of the Moose Jaw Warriors won a game by scoring on a penalty shot in overtime. The next night, he was ejected with a major penalty for charging.
In Medicine Hat, Tigers forward Kale Kessy, who turns 20 in December, took out Lethbridge Hurricanes defenceman Ryan Pilon, who turns 16 next month. Pilon was the third pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft. Kessy was given a major and game misconduct for the headshot; Pilon didn’t return to the game and may be out for a while.
“We lose one of the top young defencemen in the league to a headshot elbow,” Rich Preston, the Hurricanes’ general manager and head coach, told Darren Steinke of the Medicine Hat News. “What are you going to do?
“You have to try and take that out of the game.”
Later in the same game, Lethbridge defenceman Spencer Galbraith dropped Medicine Hat forward Hunter Shinkaruk, who is likely to be an early selection in the NHL’s 2013 draft, with a headshot and was tossed from the proceedings.
“It is frustrating as a league and as a coach,” Shaun Clouston, the Tigers’ GM/head coach, told Steinke. “We had a meeting in Calgary, the coaches and the GMs.
“It is just something that we have to keep stressing to the players. We have to have a little bit more respect for each other and stay away from those headshots and stay away from the dangerous plays.”
Charron, for his part, sounds at least a bit frustrated.
“It’s up to us as coaches,” Charron said. “There are no other people to blame. There are certain things about encouraging the physical play for our team. We always say we have to finish our checks. . . . I tell the players, ‘If you see his number and you hit a player you’re apt to get a penalty and perhaps injure a player.’
“Just tell your players, ‘I want you to be physical but if you hit a guy from behind expect to be penalized. Perhaps you will injure a player and then you’re going to be suspended.’ ”
Kamloops defenceman Tyler Hansen was hit with two checking-from-behind minors on Friday night. On Saturday, he took an inadvertent shot to the head and ended up being taken to hospital in an ambulance. The game is physical enough, then, without players drilling other players from behind.
“It’s my role to be physical and tough but there are rules in this league that protect guys,” Hansen said of the two penalties he took. “When you see those numbers you have to steer (the player) into the boards and rub him out; you can’t put all your weight into him and try to finish him.”
Charron added: “Our thing is to make the players aware. But it’s an intense game. I tell our players, ‘If you see the number, don’t hit him.’ We have to teach them how to play to avoid those injuries. We constantly say, ‘Now it’s one hand on your stick, stick on puck and ride them off.’
“We don’t want our players to be hurt. We understand that these things need to be addressed.”
As of Tuesday evening, Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, had doled out 11 games in suspensions to six different players. There may be more to come, perhaps even today.
This is just like when you’re building a deck with hammer and nails and that first nail keeps bending. You can’t quit. You have to keep hammering away.

(Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, gdrinnan.blogspot.com and twitter.com/gdrinnan.)

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