THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Oleg Tverdovsky (Brandon, 1994-95) was released by Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia, KHL). He had no points in 12 games this season. Tverdovsky cleared KHL waivers last week but elected not to report to Salavat Yulaev's farm club, Toros Neftekamsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga).
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JUST NOTES: F Filip Vasko, 18, of the Kelowna Rockets will attend the Slovakian national junior team’s selection camp in Three Hills, Alta., Dec. 15-23. Vasko, in his freshman WHL season, has 11 assists in 24 games with the Rockets. . . .
F Geordie Wudrick (Swift Current, Kelowna, 2005-11) is leaving the Rosenheim Star Bulls, a German pro team, to join the U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds, the No. 1 team in Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s latest rankings. . . . Wudrick had 59 points, 43 of them goals, in 71 games with the Kelowna Rockets last season. . . . He will play for the V-Reds after Christmas. . . . Wudrick had nine points in 14 games with Rosenheim, which plays in the 2.Bundesliga. . . .
F Thomas Frazee (Portland, Medicine Hat, Regina, Moose Jaw, Kamloops, 2005-11) will play for the Lakehead University Thunderwolves after Christmas. Frazee, 21, finished up his WHL eligibility with the Kamloops Blazers last season. He went to camp this season with the NHL”s Washington Capitals and began the season with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors, finishing up with a goal and three assists. . . .
F Adam Rockwood of the Northeast Chiefs put up 28 points in eight B.C. major midget league games in November. That broke the record for most points in a month set by F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, now with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Rockwood is on the Medicine Hat Tigers’ list. . . . The Chiefs, who are coached by Doneau Menard (New Westminster, Victoria, 1985-89), are on an 8-0 run. . . . The Federal Hockey League’s Vermont Wild, who played out of Morrisville, have ceased operations. They lasted 10 games, going 3-7-0. . . .
The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets have returned F Oliver Gabriel, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks. He should play Friday against the visiting Everett Silvertips. Gabriel, a free-agent signee of the Blue Jackets, was with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons. He had one goal in 11 games. Last season, he had 32 points in 41 games with Portland before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in January. . . . Gabriel’s arrival leaves Portland with four 20-year-olds, one over the limit. The others are D William Wrenn, the team’s captain, F Dillon Wagner and F Charles Wells. The Winterhawks have two weeks from Gabriel’s arrival to get down to three. . . .
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have assigned G Tanner Kovacs to the AJHL’s St. Albert Steel. That leaves the Hurricanes with Damien Ketlo, 20, and Liam Liston, 18, as their goaltenders. Kovacs, 17, had gotten into only three games.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former WHL player and coach Brad Lauer has joined the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach. The move came as the Ducks fired head coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau, who had been dumped a couple of days earlier by the Washington Capitals. Lauer was an assistant under Cory Clouston with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators last season. After Ottawa cleaned house, he signed as an assistant with the Syracuse Crunch, Anaheim’s AHL affiliate. . . .
The USHL’s Omaha Lancers fired GM/head coach Bliss Littler on Wednesday, replacing him with assistant coach Mike Aikens, at least on an interim basis. The Lancers were 9-8-2 and third in the Western Conference in Littler’s fourth season with them. He was 117-60-22 in Omaha. . . . Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that Littler announced his firing via Twitter. Here’s his tweet: “Fired this morning. Good luck to a bunch of great kids and staff.” . . .
Earlier in the week, Kevin Willison resigned as director of hockey operations and head coach of the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys. Assistant coach Brett Hopfe is the interim head coach. Olds was 9-18-0-3 after going 0-7-1-2 in November. Willison had been with the Grizzlys since August 2010. . . .
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In Saskatoon, the Reinhart brothers combined for seven points as the Kootenay Ice whipped the Blades, 6-1. . . . F Max Reinhart scored three times, while his younger brother, Sam, drew four assists. . . . Ice G Nathan Lieuwen stopped 20 shots. . . . Max Reinhart, 19, has 34 points, including 15 goals, in 24 games. In his career, he has 191 points in 229 games. . . . This was his third WHL hat trick — he had a four-goal game and three-goal game last season. . . . Sam Reinhart, 16, has 26 points, 18 of them assists, in 27 games. He has followed three pointless games by putting up 18 points in his last six games. He has had at least two points in each of those games, as he has alternated two- and four-point outings. . . . The Ice also set a franchise record with its seventh straight road victory. . . . The defending-champion Ice (19-5-3) boasts the WHL’s best record. . . . “That was like some of the girls you used to date, Daniel,” Lorne Molleken, the Blades’ GM/head coach, said to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. . . .

In Brandon, F Brenden Walker had a goal and two assists as the Wheat Kings scored the game’s last three goals and beat the Vancouver Giants, 5-4. . . . F Mark Stone, the WHL scoring leader, got the winner just 38 seconds into the third period. He has 25 goals. . . . Brandon, which had lost three straight, trailed 4-2 when it scored two quick PP goals, the first on the 5-on-3. . . . F Alessio Bertaggia got the Wheaties to within one and D Brodie Melnychuk tied it. . . . F Brendan Gallagher had three goals for the Giants, giving him 22 on the season. . . . Vancouver D Kiefer McNaughton didn’t return after taking a punch from Brandon F Mike Ferland in a second-period bout. . . . The teams became involved in a donnybrook of sorts at games end. It resulted in six fighting majors, which means it was a multi-fight situation. That means — ch-ch-ching! — there will be fines. And just in time for Christmas shopping, too. . . . The Wheat Kings were without G Brandon Anderson (flu), so had Tyrel Heap of a local high school team, the Crocus Plains Plainsmen, backing up Corbin Boes. . . .

In Prince Albert, G Luke Siemens stopped 18 shots to help the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 3-0 victory over the Raiders. . . . Siemens has two shutouts this season. . . . Prince Albert D Tyler Hart took a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 11:02 of the third period. . . . The Warriors had a 35-18 edge in shots. . . . D Dylan McIlrath was back in Moose Jaw’s lineup after sitting out a three-game suspension. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Lethbridge Hurricanes erased a 2-0 deficit and went on to beat the Tigers, 4-3. . . . D James Bettauer had two goals and an assist for the Tigers. He has 12 points, including seven goals, in 16 games. . . . The Hurricanes were one skater short due to injuries. . . . Lethbridge G Damien Ketlo stopped 35 shots. . . . The Hurricanes were without F Graham Hood (suspension), who is awaiting supplementary discipline for a hit on Red Deer F Josh Cowen, who didn’t play last night in a loss to the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Lethbridge did have D Albin Blomqvist and F Juraj Bezuch back after one-game absences (flu). . . .

In Red Deer, F Mitch Holmberg scored twice as the Spokane Chiefs beat the Rebels, 5-2. . . . The Chiefs, who won for the first time in nine road games this season, are 1-1 on their Central Division trek. . . . The Chiefs had a 22-15 edge in shots. . . . Spokane captain Darren Kramer scored his 10th goal of the season in his 22nd game. he had seven in 68 games last season. . . . Chiefs D Brenden Kichton, one of the WHL’s more under-appreciated players, had a goal and two assists. He has 24 points in 23 games. . . . The Rebels have lost seven in a row. . . . Red Deer had four forwards and two defencemen out with injury or suspension. The Rebels dressed F Conner Bleackley of the midget AAA UFA Bisons. He was their first pick in the 2011 bantam draft. F Scott Feser, an eighth-round pick in 2010, played his second straight game. He plays for the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Rebels. . . . All told, the Rebels were without D Alex Petrovic, D Aaron Borejko, F Turner Elson, F Josh Cowen, F Daulton Siwak and F Adam Kambeitz. . . . The Rebels open a four-game road trip in Brandon on Friday. . . .

In Kelowna, F Brett Bulmer scored two goals to help the Rockets dump the Tri-City Americans, 6-2. . . . Bulmer has eight goals. . . . The Rockets are 6-3-1 in their last 10 outings. . . . The Americans had won four in a row and finished November with an 8-2-0 record for the month. . . .

In Victoria, F Chase Schaber’s fourth goal in two games, at 2:30 of overtime, gave the Kamloops Blazers a 6-5 victory over the Royals. . . . Schaber’s goal came with Victoria forward Jesse Pauls in the penalty box for slashing. . . . Schaber had scored three times Tuesday night as the Blazers beat the Royals 4-3 in Victoria. . . . Kamloops has now beaten the Royals four straight times this season, including 4-1 in Kamloops on Friday night. . . . The teams meet for the fourth time in nine nights on Saturday in Kamloops. . . . The Blazers (18-7-1) are 6-1-1 in their last eight games and have won four in a row. They boast the WHL’s best road record (9-2-1) and are 10-2 inside the B.C. Division, which they now lead by a point over the Vancouver Giants. Kamloops also is within a point of the Western Conference-leading Tri-City Americans. . . . The Royals (11-15-2) now have lost six in a row and nine of 10.
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WEDNESDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Justin Weller, Red Deer
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TWEET OF THE NIGHT:
From Edmonton Oil Kings F Tyler Maxwell, who tweets as KingMaxymus23: “I'm proud to be part of a generation that was once mesmerized by Lite-Brites but now complains if we can't stream HD video from our phones.”
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gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

The Swift Current Broncos have sold fewer than 1,500 season tickets, after reaching more than 1,700 last season. 

And you wonder just how long the Broncos can survive, what with expenses continuing to rise across the WHL.

“I’m not sure that there’s a team out there that’s been able to cut costs,” Al Stewart, the chairman of the organization’s board of directors, told Matthew Liebenberg of the Prairie Post. “So as the budgets continue to rise we need to continue to generate higher and higher levels of income and our single biggest lever to income is season tickets and walk-up tickets. . . .

“We have fantastic fans here. On an average night more than 10 per cent of the people of Swift Current come to a hockey game. No other team could brag about that number. The problem that we have is that we have great fans, we just don’t have enough of them.”

The Broncos will hold their annual general meeting on Wednesday.

Liebenberg’s complete story is right here.

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The Spokane Chiefs didn’t take long to get down to three 20-year-olds following the return of F Darren Kramer from the camp of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. On Thursday, the Chiefs dealt F Matt Marantz to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a fourth-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Marantz, who is from Calgary, had 42 points, incouding 20 goals, in 68 games with the Chiefs last season. . . . The Chiefs now have Kramer, F Steven Kuhn and D Corbin Baldwin as their three 20-year-olds. . . . Spokane is carrying 24 players, including three goaltenders and 12 forwards.

Meanwhile, Marantz becomes the fifth 20-year-old on the Hurricanes’ roster, although F Austin Fyten (knee) will be out indefinitely and could end up on the long-term injury list. Apparently, more will be known next week.

But the Hurricanes also have F Cam Braes, the recently named team captain, F Brody Sutter and G Damien Ketlo, who was acquired from the Regina Pats a couple of weeks ago.

WHL teams have until Oct. 13 to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-olds.

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The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Braeden (Bunny) Laroque, 19, from the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for a 2012 bantam draft pick. Neither team disclosed specifics involving the draft pick. Laroque, from Saskatoon, is into his third WHL season. He had six points and 32 penalty minutes in 54 games with Edmonton last season. Edmonton selected him in the fifth round of the 2007 bantam draft. . . . It was interesting that Edmonton players were tweeting their farewells to Laroque about five hours before either team announced the trade.

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Esther Madziya is the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ new communications and public relations manager. She takes over from Ryan Ohashi effective Oct. 1, with Ohashi moving north to join the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Madziya has been working at CJOC 94.1 as half of a morning show — Mark and Esther in the Mornings. . . . She also has worked in the electronic media in Saskatoon where she covered tthe Blades.

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JUST NOTES: F Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who won the WHL’s 2008-09 scoring title, was traded Thursday by the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers to the Bakersfield Condors for future considerations. He is under contract to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2007 draft. Last season, he had 34 points, 14 of them goals, in 42 games with Wheeling. He also had 20 points in 25 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones after being loaned to them by the Nailers. . . . The Condors also have signed F Thomas Frazee, who concluded his WHL career last season with the Kamloops Blazers. Frazee had committed to the U of Calgary Dinos but obviously has decided to forego that at least for now. . . .

There are a couple of important NHL deadlines approaching. NHL teams have until Saturday, 5 p.m. ET, to sign junior-aged players who were drafted in the fourth round or later, otherwise those players can’t play in the NHL. The deadline for those players selected in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 is Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET. . . .
It appears more and more likely that the Portland Winterhawks won’t get D Joe Morrow back, at least not for a while. Morrow, 19, has signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and reportedly has had a fine training camp. The Penguins also are missing veteran D Brooks Orpik, who is recovering from offseason abdominal surgery and Morrow could help fill that hole, at least in the short term. . . . Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos, reports that “F Dillon Wagner isn't with the team as he sustained a knee injury on Wednesday. No word of severity yet.” The Broncos are in Brandon tonight and Moose Jaw on Saturday. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have returned F Gavin Broadhead, 16, to the midget AAA Tigers. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. His father, Curt, also played for the Tigers (1977-81).

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If you have been following the attempt by Tom Gaglardi, the majority owner of the Kamloops Blazers, to purchase the NHL’s Dallas Stars, you may be wondering how a team from Texas ends up in a bankruptcy court in Delaware.

Steven Church and Dawn McCarty of Bloomberg Businessweek explain it all right here.

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F Travis Ewanyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings underwent shoulder surgery on Thursday morning. Shortly thereafter, he tweeted: “Surgery went well. Now the work begins to get back on the ice and be at 100% as soon as possible.”

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It is looking more and more as though F Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars will open the NHL season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. After all, he has been playing on a line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. On top of which, Connolly scored twice on Thursday night as the Lightning beat the host Montreal Canadiens, 4-0.

First, however, Connolly is going to have to visit his favourite tailor.

Why?

Well, here’s a tweet from him right after Thursday’s game:

 “Great game at the bell center. Even better prank the boys pulled. Cut the legs right off my dress pants. Nothing you can do but laugh.”

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Today’s good read comes from Brett Popplewell, who tells the Derek Boogaard story for Sportsnet Magazine, which hit shelves this week.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, click right here and be prepared for an engrossing and sad, sad story.

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

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Zdenek Blatny (Seattle, Kootenay, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) after a successful tryout. He had two goals nad four assists in six games with the Hannover Indians (Germany 2.Bundesliga) and one goal and 10 assists n 16 games with Kosice and Dukla Trencin (both Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
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JUST NOTES: G Brendan Jensen of the Vancouver Giants will attend rookie camp with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Jensen, an 18-year-old from El Granada, Calif., will go into Giants’ camp as the favourite to emerge as the club’s starter. . . . The Giants have been hoping to have Finnish G Jonathan Iilahti as their starter. However, Iilahti, a sixth-round draft pick by the Canucks in 2010, will play in Finland again this season. . . .  Mark Segal, who split time with Jensen last season with the Giants, won’t be back for his 20-year-old season. He plans on attending McGill U in Montreal and playing for the Redmen. . . . The Swift Current Broncos have signed D Brycen Martin, the second overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. From Calgary, Martin played for the Calgary Bisons of the Alberta major bantam league last season, putting up 42 points in 31 games. The Broncos have signed their first four selections from the 2011 draft. . . . The Regina Pats have signed their first two selections from the 2011 bantam draft. F Adam Brooks of Winnipeg was taken 25th overall, while F Dane Schioler, also from Winnipeg, was taken with the 36th pick. Brooks had 111 points in 40 games with the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks. Schioler, whose father Dave played for the Winnipeg Monarchs (1976-77), played on a line with Brooks and put up 77 points. . . .
Cory Cameron is the Kootenay Ice’s new athletic therapist. Cameron, from Revelstoke, B.C., has spent six years as a rehabilitation consultant with Crash Conditioning in Calgary. He has WHL experience with the Vancouver Giants (trainer, 2006-09) and Calgary Hitmen (assistant trainer, 2004-06). . . . Don Clark is the new president of the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ board of directors. Clark was elected Tuesday as the new board held its first meeting. He replaces Brian MmcNaughton, who wasn’t re-elected at last week’s annual general meeting. Also on the new board are Brian Wichers (vice-president), Adele Barrington, Herb Beswick, Rick Braden, Brad Cook, Auke Elzinga, Dick Gibson, Randy Joevenazzo, John Koliaska, George McCrea, Dave Olson, Duane Ptycia, Kelly Shigehiro, Pat Shimbashi and Jim Whittaker. . . . The U of Calgary Dinos announced Wednesday that they have received commitments from three former WHL players. G Jacob DeSerres (Seattle, Brandon, 2007-10) is from Calgary. He played last season for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, who won the Memorial Cup. He will compete for playing time with two other ex-WHLers, Dustin Butler and Kris Lazaruk. Also attending the U of Calgary will be F Dylan Hood (Kelowna, Moose Jaw, 2006-11), who had 83 points in 71 games with Moose Jaw last season, and F Thomas Frazee (Portland, Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Regina, Kamloops), who had 71 points in 70 games split between Regina and Kamloops.
Sophomore F Brayden Cuthbert is in camp with the Moose Jaw Warriors and will skate but won’t take part in scrimmages. He hasn’t yet received medical clearance as he recovers from a concussion suffered on Jan. 22. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald also reports that the Warriors are looking at F Markus McCrea, 19, who played the last three seasons with the Everett Silvertips and F Sean Aschim, 19, who played with the Prince Albert Raiders and Kelowna Rockets in 2009-10 and with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs last season. . . . Slovakian D Filip Vasko has arrived in Kelowna and will be in camp with the Rockets. Vasko, 17, was selected by the Rockets in the 2011 CHL import draft. He will be one of 160 players in the Rockets’ rookie camp. . . . Stu Ballantyne, who resigned earlier this month as the Vancouver Giants’ chief operating officer, now is the chief executive officer of the 2015 Canada Winter Games, which are to be held in Prince George. The Games are scheduled for Feb. 12 through March 1. . . . The Everett Silvertips have their two new imports — Slovakian F Vladimir Dolnik and German D Dominik Bittner — are in town and ready for camp. . . . The Red Deer Rebels have welcomed Czech G Patrik Bartosak to town. He was picked in the 2011 import draft. It turns out he is a nephew of former NHLer Radek Bonk.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former NHL D Mark Hardy, 52, has joined the ECHL’s Ontario Reign as an assistant coach. He’ll work with head coach Jason Christie, who left the Central league’s Bloomington Blaze earlier in the week to sign with the Reign.
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Jane Sims of the London Free Press was in court on Wednesday where she witnessed the sentencing of a former hockey player with a long history of mental illness. Her story is right here.

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

More coaching news . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jaroslav Kristek (Tri-City, 1998-2000) signed a one year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had 14 goals and 32 assists in 55 games for Kosice (Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
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CAMP NOTES: F Jessey Astles of the Kelowna Rockets will attend the Pittsburgh Penguins’ development camp this month and also will be in their rookie camp in Oshawa, Ont., in September. Astles, 18, had six points and 129 penalty minutes in 59 games as a sophomore last season. . . . F Thomas Frazee, who finished up his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers, will attend the Washington Capitals’ development camp later this month, as will F Taylor Stefishen of the Prince George Cougars. Stefishen also completed his junior eligibility last season. . . . Frazee had 72 points in 70 games as he split the season between the Regina Pats (33 games, 37 points) and Kamloops (37 games, 35 points). . . . Stefishen was a fifth-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2008 draft but never signed. He left Ohio State to join the Cougars prior to last season and put up 67 points, including 24 goals, in 68 games. . . . F Dylan Willick of the Blazers had 24 goals last season, not 21 as was referenced here yesterday. He will attend the Minnesota Wild’s development camp.
———
THE COACHING GAME: Steve Spott, the GM/head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, has signed an extension that carries him through the 2017-18 season. Spott, 43, has been with the Rangers since 2002-03 when he came on board as assistant GM/associate coach. He has been GM/head coach since the summer of 2008. The Rangers are 106-77-21 in three seasons with Spott at the helm. . . . Brian Munz of CJOB Radio in Winnipeg reported Monday afternoon that Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) is expected to be named as the next head coach of the AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., which doesn’t yet have a nickname. It is the relocated Manitoba Moose franchise and is affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets. McCambridge has been an assistant with the Moose for the last two seasons after he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. . . . Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports tweeted late Monday night that John Torchetti, an associate coach with the Atlanta Thrashers last season, is expected to be named the head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros. He would replace Mike Yeo, now the head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
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Former Spokane Chiefs F Mitch Wahl missed almost all of last season with a concussion. He’s back on skates now and in the Calgary Flames’ development camp. Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary has that story right here.

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

Madaisky getting back into pre-injury form

AUSTIN MADAISKY

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Austin Madaisky learned how to use a meat thermometer last week.
The Kamloops Blazers defenceman also found out that he has made awfully good progress from the broken neck that ended his 2010-11 WHL season.
Madaisky, a 19-year-old from Surrey, spent the week at the Columbus Blue Jackets’ development camp. He was a fifth-round selection, 124th overall, in the NHL’s 2010 draft.
However, his most recent season came crashing to an end on Feb. 4 when Chilliwack Bruins defenceman Brandon Manning spun him and sent him back first into the boards at Interior Savings Centre. Madaisky was diagnosed with a C-7 fracture (a fractured vertebrae) and missed the season’s last 16 games. Manning was hit with a seven-game suspension.
Madaisky spent some time in an Aspen Cervical Collar, but was able to avoid surgery. He returned to skating in May and said he was feeling great heading into the Columbus camp.
He was feeling even better when it was over.
“In my exit interview,” Madaisky said Monday, “they said they were really happy with me. They said I took a step forward from last season. They were amazed at how far I came considering the injury, so they were happy.
“I thought I went in there and, on any given day, I felt I was one of the better defencemen in camp. I was feeling really good about myself.”
What really had Madaisky feeling good was the fitness testing. Going into the camp, everyone in the organization had been told that the Blue Jackets are moving in a new direction and that, according to Madaisky, one of the goals “is to be the fittest team in the league.”
And when the fitness testing at camp was done and the statistics had been compiled, Madaisky was thrilled to find out that “they said I have gotten back to where I was last year or even better. I have definitely made up a lot of ground.”
Madaisky was especially excited to be involved in physical contact again for the first time since he was injured. He admitted to being a bit apprehensive “in the first skate.”
But, he added, “it was good. Everything was fine. I was throwing a few good bodychecks. I got hit a few times. Everything felt stable which was nice to see.
“We had a full game on the last day (Saturday) and there was no nerves or anything like that. I felt awesome.”
As for the meat thermometer, the Blue Jackets spent some time talking nutrition with their prospects, even going so far as to take them into a kitchen and have experts provide them with some pointers involving cooking.
Asked if he really learned to use a meat thermometer, Madaisky replied: “I sure did.”
Then he laughed and added: “I’ll be cooking chicken and salmon every night now.”
As one might expect when a group of mostly teenagers is turned loose in a kitchen, there was the odd, uhh, moment.
Like when one European player tried cooking chicken.
“After handling raw chicken, he started licking his fingers,” a chuckling Madaisky said. “Everyone was, ‘What are you doing?’
“It was pretty funny.”
And now it’s off to Whistler for a few days of R and R.
As he said, the Columbus camp “was really good. It was a lot of fun but, at the same time, it was probably the toughest seven days of my summer so far.”
The result is that he is pretty sore and feeling run down. But, come Friday, he’ll be right back at it.
JUST NOTES: Kamloops F Dylan Willick has accepted an invitation to the Minnesota Wild’s development camp that is to open Monday. Blazers D Josh Caron, who signed with the Wild as a free agent last summer, also will attend. . . . Blazers F Colin Smith is in the Edmonton Oilers’ development camp that began yesterday. . . . Neither Willick nor Smith was selected in the 2011 NHL draft. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford will be in the Philadelphia Flyers’ development camp later this week. He was a seventh-round selection in the 2010 NHL draft. . . . F Thomas Frazee, who finished up his five-season WHL career with the Blazers after being acquired from the Regina Pats last season, will attend the Washington Capitals’ development camp later this month. . . . The Blazers dropped G John Keeney, 18, from their protected list last week. Keeney, who is from Twin Peaks, Calif., had been on the list since September 2008. He has played the last two seasons with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers and is likely to return there. After the Blazers dropped him, the Red Deer Rebels expressed interest in listing him.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Blazers left to wonder what happened

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The grim reality set in Sunday.
Players with the Kamloops Blazers players knew the nightmare was real when they reported to Interior Savings Centre for exit interviews with the coaching staff.
“It is today, seeing all the bags packed and guys with straight faces . . . not too many smiles at the rink today,” right-winger Jordan DePape said Sunday afternoon.
Goaltender Jeff Bosch added: “I just had my meetings and stuff like that. It definitely has set in that it’s all over and done with . . .”
The Blazers’ WHL season is over; it ended officially with a 5-1 loss to the Cougars in Prince George on Saturday night.
The Blazers went into the season’s final weekend needing two victories to keep their playoff hopes alive. Instead, they lost twice -- the visiting Cougars beat them 3-2 in a seven-round shootout on Friday -- to run their season-ending losing skein to eight games.
Future WHL Guides will show that the Blazers wound up at 29-37-6, placing them fifth in the five-team B.C. Division and ninth in the 10-team Western Conference.
Kamloops is out of the playoffs for only the second time in the franchise’s 30 years in the city. The other time was 2005-06 when it finished 34-33-5.
And it is only the fifth time in those 30 years that the team has won fewer than 30 games.
What happened over those last eight games? How could a team go 4-0-1 on a Central Division swing, scoring 26 goals in the process, and then lose eight in a row?
For starters, the offence, including the power play, dried up. The Blazers scored 12 goals in those games and four of them came in a 5-4 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans on March 8. That was the only game in the final eight in which Kamloops scored more than two goals.
And the Blazers got outscored 10-1 on special teams, their power play going 1-for-27 while the penalty killers were 26-for-36.
“I don’t know if we just took things for granted after that trip and thought success was going to come easily . . . and it just went downhill,” DePape said. “I don’t know. (Brendan) Ranford left the lineup with the suspension, but even before that, I don’t know if we weren’t getting our bounces or pucks weren’t going in, but it just wasn’t there.
“I don’t know if we were holding our sticks too tight or what . . . it just seemed to stop.”
Defenceman Bronson Maschmeyer doesn’t know what was wrong with the power play, just that it “was shot, too.”
“On the road trip we had a really good power play,” he said of a unit that scored 11 times in those five games. “The last games . . . you could feel it. I was out there. I felt it.”
Before those last games, though, Maschmeyer said, “We felt good about ourselves. It’s tough not to when you have a good trip like that. But at the same time I knew, and the team knew, that we also got some good bounces.”
The Blazers scored four third-period goals en route to a 6-5 shootout victory over the Tigers. And then they went into Cranbrook and beat the Kootenay Ice, 8-5.
“The one thing we said going into that game was ‘Try not to get into a run-and-gun’, and we did the exact opposite,” Maschmeyer said. “We knew we had a bit of luck on our side on that trip.”
Bosch, a veteran of four WHL seasons, wasn’t prepared to point the finger at the offence.
“I don’t think you can really pin it on one thing in general,” said Bosch, who watched from the bench Saturday after starting 23 straight games. “It seemed like everything on that Alberta trip went our way . . . every bounce.
“Then we came back and it was kind of our Achilles heel all season long -- we faced a little bit of adversity and our team didn’t handle that very well. That was probably the major factor . . . the adversity thing.”
Maschmeyer said there were five late-season games in which the Blazers let points get away late in the third period.
“We knew we weren’t out of the woods,” Maschmeyer said. “Other teams were looking for spots. It’s not like any games were easy, but you have to find ways.”
In the end, the Blazers found themselves three points behind the Everett Silvertips, who went 28-33-11 and nabbed the conference’s last playoff spot. The Silvertips picked up 11 loser points -- teams are given one point for each overtime or shootout loss -- while the Blazers earned six.
“Lethbridge . . .we had them and they scored that one goal,” Maschmeyer said of a game that was 1-1 in the third period and turned into a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes, one of the Eastern Conference’s weak sisters. “Even just to get a point in that game and start from there . . .
“Even Tri-City, 55 seconds left. Somehow we lost it . . .”
The Americans broke a 4-4 tie in the last minute of the third period to win that one, 5-4.
Perhaps Bosch best summed up the last two weeks when he said: “You couldn’t predict it to go the way it did,” he said.
The Cougars, meanwhile, won the last seven games in the season series, to win it 7-1-0. They will be on the road Friday to open a best-of-seven first-round series against the B.C. Division-championship Kelowna Rockets.
JUST NOTES: Bosch, who is from Martensville, which is just outside Saskatoon, is 20 so his WHL career is over. He said he has heard from a couple of ECHL teams and may finish the season with one of them. But, he added, “I’m thinking school is probably my primary unless I get some sort of good offer.” . . . Maschmeyer, 19, said he definitely wants to return for his 20-year-old season. . . . Prince George got a goal and three assists from D Sena Acolatse and a goal and two helpers from F Brett Connolly on Saturday. F Thomas Frazee had the Blazers’ lone goal. . . . G Cam Lanigan, in his first start since Jan. 19, stopped 24 shots. . . . Last season, the Cougars had the worst record in the 60-team CHL, at 12-56-4. This season, they finished 33-35-4.

Inglis shoots down Blazers' playoff chances

CHARLES INGLIS

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor

The roller-coaster that has been the Kamloops Blazers’ 2010-11 WHL regular season crashed and burned Friday night at Interior Savings Centre, shot down by the stick of Prince George Cougars centre Charles Inglis.
There were 5,088 witnesses as the Cougars beat the Blazers for the sixth straight time — this time the score was 3-2 in a shootout.
The result means the Blazers, for the second time in the franchise’s 30-year history in Kamloops, won’t appear in the playoffs.
The loss was the seventh in a row for the Blazers, who picked the worst possible time to go on their longest skid of the season. They will conclude their portion of the 72-game schedule tonight in Prince George.
The Blazers now have a 29-36-6 record and, with 64 points, find the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot out of reach. The Cougars (32-35-4) moved past the Everett Silvertips and into seventh place. A victory tonight would send the Cougars into a first-round matchup with the No. 2 Kelowna Rockets.
Last night, the Blazers erased an early 2-0 deficit to force overtime and the ensuing shootout, but not one of their seven shooters was able to beat goaltender Ty Rimmer.
That’s right. The shootout went seven rounds and the Blazers’ playoff lives were resting on every shot.
Inglis, the 14th shooter, was able to roof a shot from in tight on Kamloops goaltender Jeff Bosch.
And just like that — PFFFFT! — the air was out of the Blazers’ playoff balloon. Many of the Blazers sat on their bench as though shocked by what had transpired. The Cougars, meanwhile, celebrated.
“It feels pretty good,” said Inglis, a preseason acquisition from the Saskatoon Blades who has 60 points, including 32 goals, this season. “I had lots of confidence going in there.”
Inglis, an 18-year-old Winnipegger, said he turned to head coach Dean Clark and said: “I’m going to score if you put me out there, so he did. I was lucky enough to have it go in.”
It turns out this wasn’t the first time Inglis had tried that tactic.
“The last time he said to me, ‘I got this one,’ ” Clark said, “and he went out and missed.”
Which is why Clark, who was fired as the Blazers’ head coach early in the 2007-08 season, went through six shooters before turning to Inglis on this night.
“He used to coach here,” Inglis said, “so this was huge for him. He was the happiest guy out there.”
Clark chose to take the high road and not say anything about any personal satisfaction he might feel after eliminating the Blazers. But he was smiling when he offered up a “no comment.”
Outside the Blazers’ dressing room, Kamloops head coach Guy Charron was wondering about his club’s energy level.
“Our effort was strong in the third period but in the first two periods we didn’t play with the same energy,” he said. “We allowed them to stay in the game and take the lead, build some momentum.
“I really didn’t think we were going to come out flat. I thought we were going to come out with some energy and enthusiasm and take the play to them.”
Right-winger Brett Connolly, who was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the sixth pick of the 2010 NHL draft, scored the game’s first two goals, scoring on a big-league hesitation shot at 7:58 and then banging home a rebound on a power play just 30 seconds later.
“Connolly’s first goal was a breakdown defensively when the coverage wasn’t there,” Charron said. “We addressed those things prior to the game, that with Connolly we’ve got to make sure he’s not an impact on the game.”
Connolly now has 70 points, including 45 goals, in 58 games.
Kamloops winger Bernhard Keil cut the deficit to one with a highlight-reel goal at 13:19 of the first period, dragging the puck around and past Rimmer while having only one hand on his stick.
The Cougars nursed that 2-1 lead into the third period, only to have Kamloops forward Thomas Frazee tie it with his 30th goal of the season at 2:06.
“We let off the gas a little bit,” Inglis said, “and they stayed in it. We knew they were going to play hard throughout the whole game.
“They tied it up and almost scored a late one at the end there, but we came out with the victory and eliminated them from the playoffs.”
JUST NOTES: Referees Jeff Ingram and Pat Smith gave the Blazers four of seven minors, with each team takig a fighting major. . . . Prince George was 1-for-4 on the power play; the Blazers were 0-for-3. . . . The Cougars had the lone PP of the last 25 minutes and Bosch, who played extremely well in what was his 23rd straight start, prevented a Prince George victory with a gigantic pad save on D Martin Marincin. . . . Bosch finished with 24 saves, three fewer than Rimmer. . . . Kamloops LW Brendan Ranford served the second game of a six-game WHL suspension for physical abuse of an on-ice official. He also will miss tonight’s game and the first three games of next season. . . The Daily News’ Three Stars: 1. Inglis — Finished the Blazers; 2. Bosch — Solid again; 3. Connolly — Fun to watch.
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Friday's stuff . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers played before their 286th straight regular-season sellout (4,006) on Friday night. They were leading the Kamloops Blazers 5-1 midway through the third period, when they gave up four straight power-play goals and eventually lost 6-5 in a shootout. Kamloops scored two PP goals in the last minute, each coming with G Jeff Bosch on the bench for an extra attacker that gave the visitors a 6-on-3 advantage. . . . F Colin Smith had three goals for Kamloops. It was his second hat trick of the season. F Thomas Frazee drew four assists, and F Dylan Willick scored the two late PP goals that forced OT. . . . The Blazers, who have been scuffling along in eighth place in the Western Conference, now are seventh, a point ahead of the Prince George Cougars. . . . On the subject of comebacks, the Brandon Wheat Kings twice overcame three-goal deficits to beat the Blades 7-6 in Saskatoon last night. . . . Brandon F David Toews got the winner with 3:12 left in the third period. . . . Brandon F Matt MacKay had a goal and two assists for Brandon and now has 37 points in 22 games since coming over from the Vancouver Giants. He also is riding a 16-game point streak. . . . Brandon D Brodie Melnychuk (broken leg) was back after missing 16 games. . . . Saskatoon was without F Marek Viedensky (groin) and F Brent Benson (knee). . . . Blades F Jake Trask had his seventh two-goal game of this season. . . .

Former Wheat Kings F Matt Calvert played his 20th game with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets last night. Calvert, who had never experienced a two-goal game, struck for three goals in a 5-3 victory over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes. . . . Calvert broke a 2-2 tie with his first goal, at 2:37 of the second period. He made it 5-2 as he, in fact, scored three straight goals. . . . Calvert, who also had an assist, has 14 points, including nine goals, in his short NHL career. . . . Everett G Kent Simpson stopped 45 shots and the Silvertips scored two shorthanded goals as they beat the visiting Portland Winterhawks 2-0 last night. . . . Everett F Tyler Maxwell got No. 39. . . .

The Washington Capitals have signed G Todd Ford (Swift Current, Prince George, Vancouver, 2000-04) to a one-year deal worth US$500,000 at the NHL level and US$40,000 in the AHL. Ford has played this season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays and the Hershey Bears, who are Washington’s AHL affiliate. . . . F Ryan Howse of the Chilliwack Bruins scored twice in a 6-4 victory over the host Vancouver Giants last night. He has goals in nine straight games to equal Oscar Moller’s franchise record. Howse has 46 goals and is tied for the WHL lead, with Spokane C Tyler Johnson. . . . Howse is one shy of his career high in goals. His 74 points are a single-season high. He had 72 last season. . . . Howse’s second goal, the 135th of his career, was his first empty-netter. . . . The Bruins now are chasing eighth-place Prince George. Chilliwack is four back with three games in hand. . . . The Giants had C James Henry, their captain, back after he missed 22 of the last 23 games with a knee injury. . . . Chilliwack D Brandon Manning, who is the Bruins’ captain, returned after sitting out a seven-game suspension. . . .

C Tyler Johnson of the Spokane Chiefs is the second WHLer to reach 100 points this season. He got there with a goal and three assists in an 8-0 victory over visiting Prince George last night. He and Medicine Hat C Linden Vey are tied, with 102 points, atop the points derby. . . . Johnson is the first Spokane player since 1993-94 to get to 100 points. That season, the Chiefs had three 100-point men — Ryan Duthie, Maxim Betts and Valeri Bure. . . . G Adam Brown stopped 27 shots and F Geordie Wudrick got his 34th goal as the Kelowna Rockets beat the Rebels 1-0 in Red Deer last night. Kelowna, which is 2-1-0 on a Central Division swing, leads the B.C. Division by four points over Vancouver and finishes its trip in Calgary against the Hitmen tonight. . . . Kelowna D Colton Jobke was back after serving a seven-game suspension. . . . Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted early this morning that the Chicago Blackhawks and D Brent Seabrook (Lethbridge, 2000-05) are “on verge of finalizing big contract extension, hearing five years at a shade under $30 million.”

The Regina Pats moved to within three points of the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot by beating the Broncos 4-3 in Swift Current when F Shayne Neigum broke a 3-3 tie at 17:25 of the third period. . . . The Broncos, however, are going the other way. They have lost seven in a row and are six points out of a playoff spot with eight games left. . . . The midget AAA Swift Current Legionnaires have named Jason Johns as their new GM/head coach. He has spent the last two seasons as assistant GM/head coach of the Thorhild Titans of the North Eastern Alberta junior B league. . . . F Blake Geoffrion is expected to make his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators today against the Dallas Stars. If he does, he will become the first fourth-generation player in NHL history. He also will become the first player from the Nashville area to get into the Predators’ lineup. His great- grandfather (Howie Morenz) and grandfather (Bernie ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion) both starred for the Montreal Canadiens. And his father, Dan, played with the Winnipeg Jets and Canadiens.

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Hutt making slow progress

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
While many WHL players spent the days leading up to Monday’s trade deadline wondering where they would end up playing, Killian Hutt was wondering when he might play again.
A 19-year-old forward with the Swift Current Broncos, Hutt has missed 11 games since suffering a severe concussion during a game against the host Kamloops Blazers on Dec. 10.
He said Sunday night that he still has “constant headaches” and, he added, “I still get kind of flashes of migraines.” However, the headaches aren’t “unbearable . . . where I’m just wanting to go to sleep all the time.”
Still, he added, “I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I thought I’d be in worse condition than what I am. I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this.”
The worst thing to deal with now might be the sleepless nights.
“I’ll go a few days where I won’t have any problems,” Hutt explained, “and then I’ll have a couple nights in a row where I get heat flashes and I’m really uncomfortable. That’s still happening.”
He also has nights where he has restless legs, but things are a lot better than when he first returned home and “was vomiting almost every night.”
To complicate matters, he also had a scrap with a flu bug so really had trouble keeping food down.
“I haven’t been vomiting much at all lately,” he said. “Once in a while but I think that’s mostly because I’m sick.”
Hutt was parked in front of the Kamloops net midway through the third period of a game the Blazers would win 3-2 when he was hit from the side by Kamloops forward Jordan DePape.
Hutt went down, tried to rise, then crumpled to the ice on his left side and went into convulsions. He received medical treatment on the ice, left on a stretcher and was taken by ambulance to Royal Inland Hospital where he spent the night under observation. He was released the following morning, rejoined the Broncos in Vancouver and since has returned to the family home on the west side of Edmonton.
Hutt has said he holds no animosity towards DePape, who has returned to play after serving a five-game suspension.
Hutt, who had been acquired from the Regina Pats early in the season, had 18 points in 26 games with the Broncos. There isn’t a timetable for his return.
Doctors, he said, “aren’t really sure. It’s a day-by-day, week-by-week process.”
He also hasn’t had a second CAT scan, so is waiting for another of those tests.
Just last week he tried to go for a five-minute jog.
“A couple of minutes in, I started to get really blurry,” he said, “so I can’t do any physical activity yet.”
That means Hutt, who said he isn’t a big TV watcher, is spending a lot of time sitting around with family and friends.
“The main thing right now,” he said, “is I’m watching what I eat because I can’t do anything.”
--------------------
The Blazers didn’t make any moves at Monday’s trade deadline. General manager Craig Bonner had indicated prior to Christmas that it might be a quiet day for the Blazers and it was.
Of course, he had acquired F Thomas Frazee, 20, from the Regina Pats on Dec. 14 in exchange for F Shayne Neigum, 20, F Lyndon Martell, 17, and a 2012 third-round bantam draft pick.
Frazee has responded with 10 points in as many games for the Blazers.
The Blazers, who are at home Wednesday against the Medicine Hat Tigers, did have two players show up on the NHL Central Scouting midseason rankings.
Central Scouting ranked 210 North American skaters. D Tyler Hansen appears at No. 97, with F Colin Smith at No. 130.
John Keeney, who is on the Blazers’ protected list, is ranked 33^rd among 34 North American goaltenders, Keeney has so far spurned Blazers’ advances and is with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers.
The 2011 NHL draft is scheduled for St. Paul, Minn., June 24-25.

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Blazers, Pats cut a deal

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers continue perhaps the ugliest part of their WHL schedule tonight in Portland against the Winterhawks.
They’ll play tonight without two thirds of the league’s highest-scoring line, but will have a new face in the lineup Friday when they meet the Cougars in Prince George.
The Blazers announced late Tuesday night that they have acquired centre Thomas Frazee, 20, from the Regina Pats in exchange for centre Shayne Neigum, 20, winger Lyndon Martell, 17, and a 2011 third-round bantam draft pick.“He’s a big guy,” Kamloops general manager Craig Bonner said of the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Frazee. “He’s a good skater for a big guy. Obviously, he’s got big numbers this season. We’re getting all our offence from one line. . . . I felt we needed to add somebody and he’s a guy who was available right now.”The trade came less than 12 hours after the WHL announced that Kamloops right-winger Jordan DePape had been suspended for five games and that centre Chase Schaber would sit for one.
DePape was suspended after he incurred a charging major in the third period of the Blazers’ 3-2 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Friday night.
DePape’s hit left Swift Current right-winger Killian Hutt on the ice and needing medical attention. He spent Friday night under observation in Royal Inland Hospital and is out indefinitely with a concussion.
DePape, who plays on a line with Brendan Ranford and Schaber, has 29 points, including 12 goals, in 26 games. He will be eligible to return on Dec. 28 against the visiting Vancouver Giants.
Schaber, meanwhile, drew a one-game suspension after taking a game misconduct in the first period of the Blazers’ 10-5 loss to the Chiefs in Spokane on Saturday. Schaber was tossed for making what was ruled an inappropriate gesture following a fight with Chiefs defenceman Brenden Kichton.
Schaber, the Blazers’ captain, was playing in his sixth game after serving a three-game suspension for making physical contact with an on-ice official during a 6-4 loss in Portland on Nov. 20.
Schaber has 38 points, including 26 assists, in 29 games, but won’t play tonight.
That leaves Ranford as the only member of that line who will play tonight. He leads the WHL in goals (26) and points (50).
Frazee, from North Vancouver, is joining his fifth WHL team since the Winterhawks selected him with the 11^th overall pick in the 2005 bantam draft. He also has played for the Medicine Hat Tigers and Moose Jaw Warriors. The Pats acquired Frazee from the Warriors on Sept. 24.
This season, he has 37 points, including 13 goals, in 33 games with the Pats. He had been playing on Regina’s No. 1 line with wingers Jordan Weal and Carter Ashton.
Bonner said he has been looking for an available 20-year-old forward for a while. He watched Frazee play twice in recent days and “got more serious into it” with Regina GM Chad Lang last week.“I wanted to get it done before Christmas if possible because we’ve got a big stretch of games coming up here,” Bonner said.In 276 regular-season games, Frazee has 153 points, including 99 assists.
Neigum, from Kindersley, had a goal and two assists in 23 games after joining the Blazers from the Chilliwack Bruins. He also had 69 penalty minutes.
Martell had one assist in eight games with the Blazers early in the season, before being assigned to the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings.
After tonight’s game in Portland, the Blazers will climb on their bus and head directly to Prince George where they are scheduled to close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with games against the Cougars on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Blazers return to action after Christmas with a game in Vancouver on Dec. 27.
Kamloops goes into tonight’s game with a 15-15-2 record. That leaves it 10th in the 10-team Western Conference, but it is just two points out of fifth place.
The Winterhawks (24-8-3) lead the conference.The Blazers also may welcome back defenceman Josh Caron tonight. A broken collarbone has kept him out since the second game of the season. If he doesn’t play tonight, he is almost certain to play Friday in Prince George.
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