Fiddler lands with Cougars

THE MacBETH REPORT:



D Jeff Woywitka (Red Deer, 1999-2003) has signed for the rest of the season with Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). Last season, with the Peoria Rivermen (AHL), he had 11 points, including one goal, in 34 games. . . .





D Ray Macias (Kamloops, 2002-07) has been released by the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). He had five points, two of them goals, in eight games. Macias was signed as an injury replacement for D Kenton Smith (Calgary, 1995-2000), who was cleared to return to action on Monday.
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This story about the closing of a Waffle House will be the best thing you read today. Maybe the best story you will read this week or this month. Click right here. You won't be disappointed.
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Remember the WHL feature Ask the Commissioner? Well, the show is going on the road.
Ron Robison, the commissioner of the WHL, will be in Kelowna on Thursday where he and Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets president/general manager and the chairman of the WHL's board of governors, will take part in a question-and-answer session.
According to a Rockets news release, "seating will be open to the first 100 season-ticket holders to RSVP . . ."
Regan Bartel, the Rockets' radio voice, will serve as moderator and, on his blog, he reports that "over one hundred Kelowna Rockets season-ticket holders" will get to share in the fun.
Bartel suggests on his blog that "one of the issues that will likely surface is last year's playoffs where officiating, particularly in a second-round series with Kamloops, appeared to be one-sided."
So that's one question for Ask the Commish — why did the officiating suck in that series? With Bartel having suggested one question, here as a public service are a few more:
1. How interested is the WHL in getting a franchise into Winnipeg under the ownership of True North Sport & Entertainment?
2. Assuming the WHL wants into Winnipeg, would it prefer to put an expansion franchise in there or to move one of its existing small-market teams?
3. It seems that team expenses continue to rise while revenues appear to have gone flat. That being the case, is anything being done to help out the small-market teams?
4. Is revenue sharing in the WHL's future?
5. How much concern is there in the WHL office that attendance in Kelowna has dropped by about 1,000 per game from two seasons ago?
6. While it's nice to be able to watch WHL games on Shaw, why does the WHL feel it's important to have its games on TV, especially early in the season?
7. How much impact does having those games on live TV have on the gate for those  televised games?
8. On Oct. 30, the Kootenay Ice played in Red Deer and the game was televised on Shaw. Attendance was announced as 4,209 but anyone who watched knows there weren't nearly that many people in the building. Would the WHL consider having its teams announce true attendance figures (bums in the seats) from games, rather than number of tickets in distribution or whatever it is they announce now?
9. The chances of a franchise landing in Nanaimo appear to be slim and none. Will the WHL or the Victoria Royals consider paying travel subsidies to help teams cover the expenses incurred when having to travel to Vancouver Island?
10. How can the WHL penalize players for checking an opponent to the head — in some instances, players are even suspended for that foul — while allowing two players to stand and punch each other in the head?
11. How many brain injuries have been incurred by WHL players over the last two seasons?
12. What all went into the WHL's decision not to publish its annual Guide?
13. In this video age where teams put their highlights online, why are teams allowed to give phantom assists to players who don't deserve them?
14. Taking Ask the Commissioner on the road is a great idea. Do you have a session planned for Portland?
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Controversy over an apparent brain injury has come to British soccer after a goalkeeper was knocked unconscious during a Sunday game but was allowed to stay in the game. Sam Borden of The New York Times has more right here.
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The Regina Pats have trimmed two players from their roster and added a goaltender. . . . D Stephen Hak, 19, and F Patrick D'Amico, 19, have both been released. Hak came over from the Red Deer Rebels last season. From Winnipeg, he had 10 points in 73 games with Regina.This season, he had five assists in 16 games. D'Amico had three points, including one goal, in 13 games this season. . . . The Pats also added G Nicholas Schneider, 16, from the midget AAA Leduc, Alta., Chrysler Oil Kings. He will support Dawson MacAuley, following the release of G Mac Engel, 20.
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F Todd Fiddler, who scored 42 goals last season for the Spokane Chiefs, has been acquired by the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors got Fiddler from the Chiefs over the offseason, but dropped him last week. He had 10 points in 14 games with the Warriors, but had been a healthy scratch three times. . . . In 228 regular-season WHL games, split among the Medicine Hat Tigers, Prince Albert Raiders, Spokane and Moose Jaw, Fiddler, from Meadow Lake, Sask., has 153 points, including 79 goals. . . . The Cougars gave the Warriors a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Fiddler's arrival will leave the Cougars with three 20-year-olds, the others being F Klarc Wilson and D Peter Kosterman. . . . The Cougars next play Friday when they meet the Rockets in Kelowna.
Katie Brickman of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more on the trade right here, including Warriors general manager Alan Millar on whether a junior A team may have tampered with Fiddler.
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Former NHL D Jamie Macoun sometimes can't remember the names of his children. He can't remember his dog's name. . . . So he is all for the funding that the Canadian government announced Monday will be used for new research into brain injuries in children and youths. . . . Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press has more right here.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes announced Monday that D Kristian Khenkel will be permitted to join the WHL team after playing for his native Belarus at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division I Group A) in Sanok, Poland, Dec. 15-21. From Minsk, Khenkel will turn 18 on Thursday. . . . The Hurricanes selected Khenkel in the first round of the CHL's 2013 import draft. However, the IIHF had refused to approve Khenkel's international transfer, choosing to validate a contract he had signed in 2011 at 14 years of age.
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George Johnson of the Calgary Herald is one of our country's best wordsmiths. Right here is a piece on Herm (Ham Hands) Harrison, one of the greatest of all tight ends to have played in the CFL. Harrison, who starred with the Calgary Stampeders, died on Saturday.
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Saskatoon Blades D Aryton Nikkel, who has been out since Oct. 25, won't play until sometime after the weekend. . . . Steve Hildebrand, the Blades' athletic trainer, told Bowman that Nikkel won't play for "another week or two." . . . Nikkel, 18, suffered an undisclosed injury in a fight with Evan Polei of the Red Deer Rebels.
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F Anthony Ast of the Vancouver Giants isn't expected to play tonight against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . According to Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, Ast didn't practice Monday thanks to an undisclosed injury. Ast, who has six points, including three goals, in 18 games this season, missed 64 games over his first two seasons.
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From Todd Vrooman (@ToddVrooman), the play-by-play voice of the Portland Winterhawks: "The @pdxwinterhawks have trailed for a grand total of 7:15 during their entire 11-game winning streak."


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I’ve been at this a long time. In fact, I can’t remember the last day when I didn’t post something here.
So I’m taking the weekend off.
Back early next week.
While I’m away, if you haven’t already, pay a visit to two blogs, both of which you will find over there on the right.
Ladies first . . .
We can . . . with love! is the work of Shelley Lowes, who has been fighting cancer and, not unlike the late Howard Cosell, has given us the blow-by-blow. Down goes cancer! Down goes cancer!
It’s A Mental Game is penned by Glen Erickson, a golfer and hockey writer who also is taking on the Big C. He, too, is allowing us to tag along.
Both blogs are more than worth your time.
Not to be overly dramatic, but you should read the latest offerings from Shelley and Glen, and then see if you feel the same way about the NHL lockout.
Seriously. Who cares? They’re negotiating. It’ll be over when it’s over. Wake me then.
In the meantime, I’m with Shelley and Glen. Hopefully, the bandwagon continues to fill up.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Bernhard Keil (Kamloops, 2010-11) signed a two-year contract extension with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). The extension runs through the end of the 2014-2015 season. Keil has no points in five games with the Tigers this season and has one assist in one game on loan to Regensburg (Germany, Oberliga) this season.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers have assigned G Dawson MacAuley, 18, to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . MacAuley is the odd-man out after the Tigers acquired G Cam Lanigan, 20, from the Portland Winterhawks on Wednesday. . . . MacAuley was 1-3 with a 3.84 GAA and a .881 save percentage. . . . The Tigers, who are in Edmonton Saturday, now have Lanigan and Czech freshman Marek Langhamer has their goaltenders.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have added David Anning, 27, to their coaching staff. Anning, who had been working as assistant GM/assistant head coach with the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons, will join the Wheat Kings on Sunday as they continue a seven-game road trip. He will work alongside head coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk, fellow assistant coach Darren Ritchie and goaltender coach Brent Zelenewich. . . . Anning was the GM/head coach of the MJHL’s Winnipeg Saints before moving to Steinbach. He also spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings and has worked with various Hockey Canada programs.
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The Regina Pats have acquired F Colten Mayor, 19, and D Stephen Hak, 18, from the Red Deer Rebels for two 2015 bantam draft picks -- a fourth-rounder and a conditional sixth-rounder. . . . Mayor has three goals in 11 games this season with the Rebels after putting up 38 points in 52 games last season. He has played 168 WHL games so adds some experience to the Regina lineup. . . . Hak had six points in 55 games last season, but had been assigned to the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons this season. . . . Mayor and Hak were expected to arrive in Regina Thursday night. The Pats are at home to the Tri-City Americans tonight.
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The Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades have swapped a pair of 19-year-old skaters. F Brent Benson, who is from Weyburn, Sask., is joining the Broncos in exchange for D Graeme Craig, who is from Red Deer. . . . Benson sat out Saskatoon’s 2-1 OT victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans on Wednesday night with what the team said was the flu. He had three assists in 11 games with the Blades this season. Last season, he had 37 points in 72 games. He was the sixth overall selection in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Craig had one assist in 11 games with the Broncos this season, after putting up 10 points in 56 games last season. The 64th overall selection in the 2008 bantam draft brings some size to Saskatoon’s back end, at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds. . . . Interestingly, the Blades play in Swift Current tonight and both players are expected to play for their new clubs. . . . Having added a defenceman, the Blades assigned D Nelson Nogier, 16, to the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts. Nogier, the son of former WHL G Pat Nogier, was a fourth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft.
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The Calgary Hitmen promoted assistant coach Brent Kisio to associate coach. . . . Kisio is in his sixth season with the Hitmen. He joined them in August 2007 as video/assistant coach after spending four seasons at the U of Nebraska-Omaha and graduating with a degree in criminology.
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The Everett Silvertips have signed G Nik Amundrud, who was a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. Amundrud, who turns 15 on Saturday, is from Melfort, Sask. He practised with the Silvertips on Thursday in Saskatoon. He is 2-1, 3.33, .872 in three appearances with the midget AAA Tisdale Trojans this season.
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Former NHLer Mike Busniuk is the interim head coach of the CIS Lakehead Thunderwolves (3-1-0) after Joel Scherban was dismissed on Thursday. Scherban was in his fourth season as the university team’s head coach. The 60-year-old Busniuk, who is from Thunder Bay, which is home to Lakehead U, spent two seasons as an assistant coach on Scherban’s staff. . . . Leith Dunick of tbnewswatch.com reported that “Scherban was let go for what team officials deemed internal issues, problems neither management nor the players would speak when pressed after the news broke.”
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If you like the loser point, this one’s for you.
Robert Tychowski of the Edmonton Sun points out that the Oil Kings “managed just one win in their last five games, but still salvaged five of 10 points in that span thanks (?) to three of those losses coming in overtime or the shootout.”
So if you’re Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal perhaps you are telling your players that things aren’t going so well because you’ve lost four of five.
But if you play for the Oil Kings you reply that you’re still point points in your jeans.
By the way, after Thursday’s game, 15 of the WHL’s 22 teams have a winning percentage of .500 or better.
The Oil Kings, who have lost six of 10 games (5-3-3), are at .591.
Go figure!
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THURSDAY’S STUFF:
G Jordon Cooke, making his 10th start in 11 games, posted the shutout as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Prince George Cougars, 3-0. . . . Cooke stopped 32 shots for his second shutout this season and the second of his career. . . . Kelowna F Colton Sissons scored the game’s first goal, on a penalty shot, at 12:37 of the first period. . . . The Rockets were shorthanded at the time. . . . Prince George G Mac Engel, in his first start since being acquired from the Spokane Chiefs, stopped 23 shots. . . . Attendance was 4,781. . . . One of the big stories early in this WHL season may be the attendance in Kelowna, considering that franchise automatically drew at least 6,000 fans per game for the longest time. . . . The Cougars now head for Spokane and a Friday date with the Chiefs, who are in Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Victoria, F Alex Gogolev scored twice against his former team as the Royals dumped the Calgary Hitmen, 3-1. . . . Gogolev, who has five goals, scored his second goal into an empty net. . . . Victoria F Steven Hodges scored his club’s other goal as he returned from an eight-game absence due to injury. He hadn’t played since Sept. 28. . . . F Zack Jones, whom the Hitmen acquired for Gogolev, scored for Calgary. . . . Victoria was 0-for-5 on the PP, while Calgary didn’t receive even one opportunity with the man advantage.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
D Marc McNulty, Prince George
F Colton Heffley, Kelowna
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“The Minnesota Department of Health has begun tracking concussions at 42 high schools in an attempt to gauge how the injuries affect students,” writes Alejandra Matos of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Within the first seven weeks, 373 students were diagnosed as having had a concussion. Leslie Seymour, an epidemiologist with the Health Department, said tracking the injuries in fall sports, such as football and volleyball, is only the beginning.”
The complete story is right here.
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The best story I saw yesterday is right here. It has nothing to do with hockey; in fact, it has nothing to do with sports. It's a love story involving a big bull elk and a cow. Seriously! Give it a read; it just might make your day.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From TC sports desk (@tc_vicsports): “60 minutes & not a single PP for @WHLHitmen who suffered a similar fate just 8 months ago in Victoria in a 5-3 win #WHL #strangebuttrue”

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Simon Ferguson (Lethbridge, Kelowna, 1999-2004) was released by Olimpia Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had three assists in 10 games with Olimpia this season. . . .
F Adam Courchaine (Medicine Hat, Vancouver, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga). He was pointless in three games while on a try-out contract Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) earlier this season. Courchaine played for Duisburg in 2007-08, when the club was in the DEL, the top German league.
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Independence is something all journalists crave.
Why?
Because without independence a journalist doesn’t have credibility. And without credibility, a journalist doesn’t have anything.
Which brings us to the case of Rich Hammond.
Hammond used to cover the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings for the Los Angeles Daily News. In time, the Daily News chose not to cover Kings’ road games.
So the Kings ended up hiring Hammond to write for their website.
The Kings provided him with total independence and Hammond, in his three years there, wrote with honesty and integrity. While he was a Kings’ employee, there was no cheerleading and no dirt swept under the carpet.
Hammond left that job the other day. He will be writing about USC basketball and football for the Orange County Register. No, he didn’t want to leave the Kings. But he felt he had no other choice.
You see, Hammond interviewed Kevin Westgarth, a Kings forward who also is the team’s NHLPA representative, and posted the story on the Kings’ website. Someone from the NHL office saw the posting and told the Kings to take it down.
That’s because Hammond, as an employee of the Kings, was an NHL employee and, as such, was not allowed to be in contact with any players during the lockout.
The NHL makes such rules at times like these. While the NHLPA allows its players to talk to anyone during the lockout, the NHL has muzzled all of its owners and employees, allowing only its leaders, Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, to speak.
The bottom line, though, is that Hammond is gone and the Kings and their fans are the poorer for it.
All because the NHL wants to control the message during a lockout that it has forced upon the hockey world.
For more on the Hammond saga, click right here.
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JUST NOTES:
The Red Deer Rebels trimmed two players from their roster on Thursday. F Scott Feser, 17, is off to the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, while D Stephen Hak, 18, is going to the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons. . . .
F Dryden Hunt of the Regina Pats, who has been out with a concussion since Sept. 6, has been cleared and could return tonight against the visiting Swift Current Broncos. Hunt was injuried during an exhibition game with Brandon when he hit his head on the ice late in a scrap with F Rene Hunter of the Wheat Kings. . . .
The WHL returns to Sportsnet tonight with the Edmonton Oil Kings playing host to the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Hitmen (4-0-2) are one of three teams not to have lost in regulation time and they already own two victories over the defending-champion Oil Kings (5-2-1). . . . The Hitmen beat the Oil Kings 6-5 in overtime on Sunday in Calgary. But Edmonton F T.J. Foster almost stole the show with the first four-goal game in the modern history of the Oil Kings.
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THE 20-YEAR-OLD GAME:
As expected, D Connor Cox wasn’t without a team for long. Placed on waivers by the Saskatoon Blades on Wednesday, Cox, 20, was claimed by the Everett Silvertips in the WHL’s draft of available 20-year-olds. . . . The Silvertips then released F Cody Fowlie, who turns 20 on Nov. 5, in order to stay at three 20-year-olds. Fowlie, from Airdrie, Alta., had 40 points, including 14 goals, in 72 games last season. . . . Cox joins F Ryan Harrison and D Landon Oslanski as Everetts 20s. . . . The Silvertips open their East Division swing against the Wheat Kings in Brandon tonight. They will play in Saskatoon on Oct. 20, which will be the sixth and final game of the trip. . . .
The Vancouver Giants have released D John Neibrandt, 20. The Giants had acquired Neibrandt from the Kootenay Ice over the summer for a fifth-round bantam draft pick in 2013. . . . The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Neibrandt, who is from Yorkton, Sask., had one goal and was minus-6 in six games. . . . With Neibrandt gone, D Reid Zalitach, 16, is likely to get more playing time. He has played in just two of the club’s first seven games. Zalitach was a second-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. . . .
It’s not that long ago that F J.D. Watt was the Vancouver Giants’ leading goal scorer in a Memorial Cup championship season. Today, Watt’s pro career is over — he’s back in school and playing for the SAIT Trojans in Calgary. Scott Mitchell of the Calgary Sun has that story right here, and it’s one every young hockey player should read.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
D Josh Morrissey (@Morrissey_10) of the Prince Albert Raiders, who is from Calgary: “Hard to believe but for once there is more snow at home than in PA . . . Must be because the Raids are so HOT! #wehavefun.”
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TWEET OF THE DAY II:
D Brandon Underwood (@BUND3RWOOD) of the Red Deer Rebels: “Finally settled into my new billets. Only took 50 days before I could unpack my bags. Hope the Nuge left some skill in his old room!??”

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