Fans of the Portland Winterhawks will get another look tonight at forward
Alessio Bertaggia (13) of the Brandon Wheat Kings, here staying in front
of Tri-City Americans forward Justin Feser in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday night.
(Photo courtesy of John Allen / Tri-City Americans)

F Evan Bloodoff, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Kelowna Rockets, has signed a two-year contract with the AHL’s Portland Pirates.
Bloodoff was a sixth-roud selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2009 draft. The Pirates are the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.
A native of Nelson, B.C., Bloodoff played five seasons with the Rockets. Last season, he had 44 points, including 22 goals, and 76 penalty minutes in 72 games.
Bloodoff is represented by Turning Point Sport Management.
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JUST NOTES: The QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket has claimed D Dane Phaneuf, 17, off WHL waivers. The Prince George Cougars had released him prior to the start of this season. Phaneuf, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf, was a third-round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. . . . The Swift Current Broncos have assigned G Steven Myland to the junior B North Delta Devils of the Pacific International junior league. Myland, from Cloverdale, B.C., had a 5.41 GAA and .818 save percentage in two appearances with the Broncos this season. A 10th-round selection by the Kootenay Ice in the 2009 bantam draft, Myland was acquired by the Broncos in the blockbuster Cody Eakin swap in January. . . . Curtis Hunt, who was dropped as head coach of the Regina Pats after last season, has been named co-coach of the Canadian team that will play in the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, Jan. 13-22. This team will comprise 1996-born players. The other co-coach will be Jim Hulton of Kingston, Ont., who is a veteran of the OHL coaching wars. . . . Hunt also is head coach of the team that will represent Saskatchewan at the U-16 Challenge Cup in Moose Jaw, Oct. 27-30.
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A note from a regular reader of this blog:
“The WHL media can write a literal ton of copy about the league's posture toward head shots and concussions, but they post a rock 'em, sock 'em fight clip in the middle of the Oct. 7 ‘Plays of the Week’ video on their website, then you know changing attitudes at the head office has a long way to go.”
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SOME FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
In Cranbrook, F Elgin Pearce broke a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 15:30 of the third period to give the Kootenay Ice a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Ice F Drew Czerwonka, named team captain earlier in the week, returned from an injury to score his first goal of the season. . . .
In Edmonton, the Regina Pats got two goals from D Blair Davidson and three assists from D Brandon Underwood in beating the Oil Kings, 6-3. . . . Regina lost F Dyson Stevenson to an apparent leg injury in the third period. He was stretchered off after absorbing a hit from Edmonton D Mark Pysyk, who wasn’t penalized. . . . The Oil Kings had won three in a row. . . . Regina is 5-1-0 on the road. . . .
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors scored the game’s first three goals, all in the first period, and beat the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . F Brett Lyon had a goal and an assist for Moose Jaw. Lyon, 20, now has career highs in goals (6), assists (7) and points (13), all in just nine games. . . . The start of the game was delayed by 70 minutes due to an ice problem in one goal crease. . . .
In Everett, F Jesse Paradis scored his third shorthanded goal of the season to help the Saskatoon Blades open a U.S. trip with a 4-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Blades have won four in a row. . . . F Darian Dziurzynski scored his third goal in as many games for Saskatoon. . . . Everett G Austin Lotz made his first WHL debut with 50 saves. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., F Tyrel Seaman broke a 2-2 tie at 7:36 of the third period to give the Brandon Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . D Ryan Pulock had Brandon’s other two goals. . . . The Wheat Kings are 1-1-0 on their U.S. Division swing. . . . The Wheat Kings, including F Alessio Bertaggia, are scheduled to play the Winterhawks in Portland tonight. Bertaggia may be better known to Winterhawks’ fans as Red No. 23, after his anonymous appearance at one training camp practice prior to the 2010-11 season. Brandon selected the Switzerland native in the 2011 CHL import draft and he has 10 points in eight games. He failed to score on a penalty shot last night and had his seven-game season-opening point streak snapped. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone, who leads the WHL with 20 points, is riding an eight-game season-opening point streak. He had two assists last night. . . .
In Victoria, the Royals scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Kelowna Rockets, 7-5. . . . The Rockets, who now have lost four in a row after opening 3-0-0, led this one 5-2 at 8:30 of the second period and 5-3 after two periods. . . . Victoria F Lukas Kralik broke a 5-5 tie at 14:27 of the third period. . . . Kelowna D Kevin Smith (shoulder) was injured in the pregame warmup and didn’t play. . . .
In Vancouver, D Kyle Verdino’s first goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Seattle Thunderbirds a 3-2 victory over the Giants. . . . Verdino’s goal came at 16:53 of the third period. The 20-year-old Verdino recently returned to Seattle after a tryout with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. . . . Seattle outshot the Giants, 37-20. . . . Vancouver D Luke Fenske (broken hand) played his first game since being injured during training camp. . . .
In Spokane, F Anthony Bardaro’s ninth goal of the season gave the Chiefs a 3-2 OT victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Bardardo’s goal came at 3:10 of extra time. . . . Spokane F Collin Valcourt forged a 2-2 tie at 10:00 of the third period.
In Portland, Kamloops G Cam Lanigan stopped two penalty shots as the Blazers beat the Winterhawks 5-4 in OT. . . . F Brendan Ranford had four goals, including the winner 21 seconds into extra time, and an assist. It was his first career five-point night and four-goal game. . . . Lanigan finished with 37 saves. He stopped F Brad Ross on a penalty shot at 14:21 of the second period and F Taylor Peters on a second one at 18:28 of the third. . . . According to Todd Vrooman and Andy Kemper, on the Winterhawks’ postgame show, this was the first time Portland has been involved in a game that featured two penalty shots.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Wednesday . . .

James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail wonders today if the Memorial Cup tickets aren’t just a bit over-priced. The tournament opens Friday in Mississauga, Ont. Mirtle, by the way, is from Kamloops and grew up as a big fan of the Blazers. His blog entry is right here.
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As of early this morning, there hasn’t been an announcement from the SJHL, but it seems the junior A league has found its new president.
Wade Klippenstein, the Prince George Cougars’ assistant GM and director of player personnel, tweeted Wednesday evening: “Congrats to Spokane Chiefs scout Bill Chow, the next president of the SJHL. A fantastic choice!”
Besides scouting for the Chiefs, Chow has been a Staff Sargeant with the Prince Albert Police Service, most recently working as administrative NCO/media liaison.
The SJHL has been searching for a president to replace Laury Ryan, who resigned in March after spending eight years in that office.
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THE COACHING GAME: Former NHLer Corey Millen is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Alaska Avalanche, which plays out of Palmer, Alaska. Millen replaces Brian Huebel. He and assistant coach Sean Fish will work on the coaching staff of the NAHL’s Wichita Falls Wildcats, who are owned by Rick Brodsky, who also owns the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. . . . Former WHL and NHL goaltender Glen Hanlon has been dismissed as head coach of Slovakia’s national team. Slovakia didn’t qualify for the playoff round at the recently completed world championship. Hanlon, the first foreign head coach of the Slovak team, had been under contract through the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He was hired after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
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JUST NOTES: The Swift Current Broncos have signed G Steven Myland, 17. He was acquired as part of the deal in which Swift Current sent F Cody Eakin to the Kootenay Ice. Myland played this season with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. major midget league, going 15-4 with two ties and a 1.94 GAA. . . . F Austin Wuthrich of Anchorage has committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after spending this season with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U-18 team, although he was injured for much of this season. He was a 12th-round selection by the Everett Silvertips in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Kelly McCrimmon, the owner/GM/head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, has told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun that, other than trainer Cam McGhee, he expects the club’s hockey staff back for another season. That includes assistant coaches Dwayne Gylywoychuk and Darren Ritchie. McGhee, McNeil reports, is headed for the U of Manitoba “to complete his physiotherapy degree.” McGhee was with the Wheat Kings for three seasons.
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Kootenay Ice D Brayden McNabb has signed a three-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2009 draft. The Sabres had to sign McNabb, who turned 20 on Jan. 21, by June 1 or he would have gone back into the draft. McNabb, 6-foot-5 and 216 pounds, has played four seasons with the Ice, who took him in the second round of the 2006 bantam draft. This season, he had 72 points in 59 regular-season games. . . .
John Vogl of the Buffalo News has more right here, including a mention of the Sabres planning to sign Portland Winterhawks F Riley Boychuk.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
“@USAHockey surpassed 100K members in 8&under category for 1st time in 2010-11 & finished season w/105,394. Goal for 2011-12: 110K!”
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Those are rather interesting figures and should make Canadian hockey people sit up and take notice.
If you are wondering, Hockey Canada had 584,679 registered players in 2008-09. That figure slipped to 577,077 for 2009-10.
I couldn’t find figures for 2010-11 but apparently they were expected to decline another one per cent.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter