Very meaningful memorial will be erected here in the near future as the 30th anniversary of the Broncos bus crash approaches on Dec 30. 🍀 pic.twitter.com/4HBK5GJHSq— Candace (@c_woodside) November 2, 2016
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F Toni Rajala (Brandon, 2009-10) has signed a two-year extension with Biel-Bienne (Switzerland, NL A). He has 13 goals and four assists in 19 games.
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These days, the OHL’s London Knights are the most successful of the CHL’s 60 franchises. The defending Memorial Cup champions regularly play in front of 9,000 fans at Budweiser Gardens. Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press has following the OHL and the Knights for a long time and has written a column on the proposed class-action lawsuit filed by current and past players as they attempt to have the CHL teams in Alberta and Ontario pay them at least minimum wage and benefits. Late last week, Justice R.J. Hall of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench ordered teams to turn over financial statements and tax records. “It’s a nightmare decision for the junior teams,” Dalla Costa writes. . . . He fully understands that a ruling favouring the players may cause havoc with some franchises. “Some of the junior hockey teams, the small market teams,” Dalla Cost writes, “would be justified with those concerns. But junior hockey is a business and as business partners, teams will have to find a way to help each other survive . . . or not.” . . . His complete column is right here.
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Vaughn Karpan is one of the most impressive and most thoughtful people I have met during more than 40 years around the world of hockey. We both are from northern Manitoba — he was born in Flin Flon and calls The Pas home; I was born in Sherridon and call Lynn Lake home — so perhaps that is why we hit it off. He really is an intriguing guy and had quite a playing career; for one thing, he was on Team Canada when it won the 1987 Izvestia Cup right in Moscow. He is correct when he says “it’s something nobody in Canada talks about.” It should be remembered as one of the greatest moments in Canada’s hockey history. . . . Anyway, Karpan recently left the scouting staff of the Montreal Canadiens to sign on with the expansion Las Vegas franchise as director of player personnel. So why would he leave the Canadiens for an expansion franchise in Las Vegas, which is a long, long way from The Pas? . . . Lucas Aykroyd of iihf.com talks with Karpan about that and a lot more right here.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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The BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild has signed Bliss Littler, its general manager and head coach, through the 2020-21 season. The Wild is in its second season in the BCHL, having moved from the NAHL. . . . Last season, the Wild finished 34-16-4-4 and lost a divisional final series. This season, the Wild is 13-2-1-0 and sits atop the six-team Mainland Division. Its .844 winning percentage is No. 1. . . . Littler, one of junior hockey's most successful coaches, has been coaching since 1989 when he was an assistant coach with the SJHL’s Minot Americans.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
What a shot by Nikita Pop-Pop-Popugaev and the Warriors win 3-2 in OT. pic.twitter.com/HUvDxsjI3L— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) November 3, 2016
At Brandon, F Nikita Popugaev scored at 2:13 of OT as the Moose Jaw Warriors overcame a 2-0 deficit and beat the Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . Popuvaev finished with two goals — he has 11 — and an assist. . . . F Reid Duke had given Brandon a 2-0 lead with goals at 9:35 of the first period and 7:37 of the second. . . . Popugaev cut into that lead at 8:09 of the second and drew the secondary assist when F Brayden Watts tied it, with his second goal, at 19:06. . . . G Brody Willms stopped 28 shots for the victory, while Brandon’s Logan Thompson made 37 saves. . . . The Warriors were 0-7 on the PP; the Wheat Kings were 0-2. . . . Moose Jaw (10-3-2) has won three in a row. . . . Brandon (6-6-3) has lost four straight. . . . The Wheat Kings continue to be without F Nolan Patrick, while the Warriors again scratched injured F Brett Howden. . . . Announced attendance: 2,825.
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At Everett, F Dominic Zwerger scored twice as the Silvertips skated to a 4-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Zwerger, who has six goals, opened the scoring 26 seconds into the game. . . . F Patrick Bajkov’s sixth goal make it 2-0 at 2:13. . . . Everett went up 3-0 when Zwerger scored again, at 6:53 of the second period, on a PP. . . . F Michael Spacek’s ninth goal got Red Deer on the board at 14:07 of the second. . . . Everett F Eetu Tuulola ended the scoring with his fourth goal, via a penalty shot, at 11:11 of the third period. . . . Bajkov added an assist to his goal. . . . G Carter Hart came up with 27 saves for the Silvertips. . . . Red Deer G Lasse Petersen made 28 stops. . . . Everett was 1-4 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-3. . . . The Silvertips (12-2-2) are 4-0-1 in their last five. . . . The Rebels (8-7-2) have lost four in a row. . . . F Matt Fonteyne returned to Everett’s lineup after missing eight games with a shoulder injury He drew the primary assist on Bajkov’s goal. . . . The Rebels are without D Carson Sass, who left the team to attend a grandfather’s funeral. The Rebels brought in D Jacob Herauf from the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings. . . . Announced attendance: 2,657.
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Wishing @TheWHL referee and #Kelowna's Steve Papp a solid start to season tonight in Kamloops. Has been out after undergoing hernia surgery.— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) November 2, 2016
At Kamloops, F Jordy Bellerive scored at 1:44 of OT to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 2-1 victory over the Blazers. . . . Bellerive has four goals. . . . F Collin Shirley’s seventh goal gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 7:27 of the first period. . . . F Giorgio Estephan’s seventh goal pulled the visitors even at 12:26 of the second period. . . . D Kord Pankewicz had two assists for the winners. . . . The Hurricanes got 27 saves from G Stuart Skinner. . . . G Connor Ingram turned aside 30 shots for the Blazers. . . . Kamloops was 1-5 on the PP; Lethbridge was 0-2. . . . The Hurricanes (7-7-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Blazers slid to 9-9-0. . . . Announced attendance: 3,448.
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Raiders forward Cavin Leth shares a laugh pre-game with two ex-teammates, T-Birds Matt Berlin and Turner Ottenbreit pic.twitter.com/b2Ca6SJ1iV— Jeff D'Andrea (@Jeff_paNOW) November 3, 2016
At Prince Albert, the Seattle Thunderbirds erased a 2-0 deficit with five third-period goals and beat the Raiders, 5-2. . . . Seattle (6-6-1) has won two in a row and now is 3-1-0 on its six-game East Division tour. . . . The Raiders (4-11-1), who have settled into the league basement, have lost four straight. They are 1-6-1 at home. . . . The Raiders jumped out front 2-0 in the first period on goals from F Luke Coleman (5), at 12:03, and F Parker Kelly (3), at 13:41. . . . The Thunderbirds erased that with three goals in 40 seconds, with F Nolan Volcan (5) scoring at 4:26 of the third period, F Ryan Gropp (2) counting at 4:43 and F Dillon Hamaliuk (1) breaking the tie at 5:06. . . . Seattle got insurance from F Ian Briscoe (2), at 10:10, and F Sami Moilanen (4), at 11:04. . . . Moilanen also had an assist for a two-point game. . . . G Rylan Toth stopped 25 shots for the Thunderbirds. . . . Prince Albert starter Ian Scott surrendered five goals on 30 shots in 51:04. Nick Sanders finished up with nine saves. . . . Each team was 0-5 on the PP. . . . Announced attendance: 1,975. . . . Before the game, the Raiders dropped F Dylan Williamson, 18, from their roster. A fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, he had one assist in eight games this season. Last season he had three goals and four assists in 60 games with the Raiders.
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At Prince George, F Steve Owre had a goal and three assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers, the WHL’s highest-scoring team, dumped the Cougars, 6-4. . . . The Tigers (11-4-1) have won three in a row and sit atop the Central Division. . . . The Cougars (13-3-2) had been 5-0-2 in their previous seven games. They continue to lead the B.C. Division and the overall standings. However, their lead atop the overall standings is down to two points over the Everett Silvertips (12-2-2), who hold two games in hand. . . . The Regina Pats (11-0-3) are three points behind the Cougars and have four games in hand. . . . F Jared Bethune put the Cougars out front with his sixth goal, shorthanded, at 2:28 of the first period. . . . The Tigers took control with the next three goals. F Max Gerlach (10) got it started at 12:25 of the first period. Owre, who has two goals, got a shorthanded score at 19:18. F Zach Fischer (9) scored on the PP for a 3-2 lead at 9:50 of the second period. . . . The Cougars got back to within one when D Sam Ruopp scored his second goal, at 17:46. . . . The Tigers then got the next two goals, with D David Quenneville (9) getting a PP goal at 4:09 of the third period and Fischer scoring again, at 6:47. . . . The Cougars made it interesting on goals from F Yan Khomenko (6) at 13:18 and F Jesse Gabrielle (7), on a PP, at 18:20. . . . Medicine Hat F John Dahlstrom iced it with the empty-netter at 19:32. He’s got seven goals. . . . F Chad Butcher had two assists for the visitors. . . . Bethune recorded two helpers for the Cougars. . . . The Tigers got 36 stops from G Nick Schneider, while G Ty Edmonds turned aside 31 for the Cougars. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-3 on the PP; Prince George was 1-2. . . . F Kody McDonald of the Cougars was hit with a slashing major and game misconduct at game’s end. At the same time, the on-line scoresheet indicates that Ruopp took a fighting major and game misconduct. It would appear to have been a one-man fight and that could result in disciplinary action. . . . Announced attendance: 2,737.
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#1 in the country, #1 in your hearts! #JoinTheRegiment https://t.co/5PPcejPouQ— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) November 2, 2016
At Regina, the Pats celebrated their move to the top of the CHL rankings with a 10-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Pats (11-0-3) have won seven in a row and remain the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not have been beaten in regulation time. . . . The Ice (3-9-4) was coming off a weekend sweep of the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . D Connor Hobbs had a goal and three assists, with F Filip Ahl, F Nick Henry and F Sam Steel each scoring twice and adding an assist. F Dawson Leedahl and F Adam Brooks each had three assists and F Austin Wagner had two. . . . The Ice got both of its goals from F Fedor Rudakov. . . . G Jordan Hollett stopped 30 shots for Regina. . . . Kootenay starter Payton Lee gave up six goals on 39 shots through 40 minutes. Jakob Walter played the third period, stopping 19 of 23 shots. . . . Regina had a 62-32 edge in shots. . . . Regina was 2-3 on the PP; Kootenay was 0-6. . . . The Pats had D Sergey Zborovskiy, D James Hilsendager and D Brady Pouteau back from injury when they beat the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-3, on Sunday. . . . Hilsendager, who missed five games, and Zborovskiy, who sat out one game, played against the Ice, but Pouteau was scratched. He had suffered an ankle injury in the preseason. . . . Announced attendance: 3,713.
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.@SCBroncos F Tyler Steenbergen (@T_Steener) has 30 goals in his last 53 games since coming back from Christmas break last season— Shawn Mullin (@shawnmullin) November 3, 2016
At Swift Current, D Aaron Irving’s third goal of the season, just 29 seconds into OT, gave the Edmonton Oil Kings a 5-4 victory over the Broncos. . . . The Oil Kings built a 4-0 lead and then watched as the home team tied it with four third-period goals. . . . Edmonton earned its lead on goals from F Davis Koch (3) at 4:56 of the first period, F Branden Klatt (2) at 5:55 of the second period, F Nicholas Bowman (2) at 6:20 and F Lane Bauer (8), on a PP, at 11:49. . . . F Tyler Steenbergen got the Broncos started at 3:47 of the third period, via a PP. . . . D Kade Jensen (2) made it 4-2 at 7:02. . . . Steenbergen (12), on a PP, made it a one-goal game, at 10:44. . . . D Artyom Minulin (4) forced OT when he scored at 19:22, with G Taz Burman on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Koch, Irving and Bauer had an assist each. . . . Minulin, D Max Lajoie and F Aleksi Heponiemi had two assists each for the Broncos, while Steenbergen added an assist to his brace of goals. . . . G Patrick Dea stopped 32 shots for the victors. That included stopping F Arthur Miller on a penalty shot at 7:57 of the second period. . . . Swift Current starter Travis Child was beaten four times on 21 shots in 31:49. Burman came on in relief and allowed one goal on 14 shots in 27:57. . . . Each team was 2-5 on the PP. . . . The Oil Kings (5-8-2) snapped a three-game losing skid. . . . The Broncos are 9-5-3. . . . The Broncos have dropped D Noah King, 17, from their roster and brought in F Josh Baker, 17, who had been with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. An eighth-round pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft, Baker is expected to say with the Broncos through the weekend. King had gotten into only four of their first 16 games. He was pointless. King, from Winnipeg, was a 10th-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Announced attendance: 1,801.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Seattle at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Medicine Hat at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Kootenay at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Regina, 7 p.m.
Red Deer at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Calgary at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Portland vs. Tri-City, at Kennewick, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Lethbridge at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
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The KHL ‘Junior Fair’ or entry draft was held on Saturday, and two players with WHL connections were selected. . . . F Jordan Weal (Regina, 2007-12) went in the third round (69th overall) to Sochi. This season, with the Manchester Monarchs (AHL), he had 20 goals and 49 assists in 73 games. Weal was third in the AHL scoring race and was named a second-team all-star. . . . G Patrik Bartosak (Red Deer, 2011-13) was taken in the fifth round (125th overall) by Dynamo Minsk. This season, with Manchester, he was 2.23 and .919 in 28 games. . . . The KHL draft is open to Russian players age 17 and non-Russian players ages 17-23 who don’t have any contractual ties to any KHL or other Russian club.
Bradley Flynn has joined the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan as an assistant coach under head coach Mario Pouliot. . . . Flynn, the son of Saint John Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn, will work with fellow assistant Jean-François Grégoire. . . . Bradley Flynn had been an assistant coach with the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays. . . . The Titan also has added Nathan Dunnett as its goaltending coach. He played in the QMJHL with the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Most recently, he has been with the Maritime Hockey League’s Miramichi Timberwolves.
The OHL’s Peterborough Petes are expected to announce today that they have added Jake Grimes to their coaching staff as an assistant under head coach Jody Hull. . . . Grimes spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach with the Belleville Bulls. The Belleville franchise has been sold and the Bulls now are the Hamilton Bulldogs.
F Zach Pochiro, 20, was returned to the Prince George Cougars by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Pochiro, who is from Las Vegas, had been with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. He had two assists in eight games. . . . Pochiro, who didn’t play against the visiting Vancouver Giants last night, was selected by the Blues in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL draft. In 128 regular-season games with the Cougars, he had 105 points, including 42 goals. . . . Pochiro’s arrival leaves the Cougars with four 20-year-olds, one over the maximum. They will have two weeks to get down to three. The others are G Jared Rathjen, F Chance Braid and F Jari Erricson.
In Regina, F Connor Gay’s second goal of the game, at 2:45 of OT, gave the Pats a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Gay, who also had an assist, has nine goals this season. . . . Regina D Colby Williams had broken a 3-3 tie with his third goal, via the PP, at 4:00 of the third period. . . . F Lane Bauer scored two PP goals for the Oil Kings, the second one, at 10:41 of the third period, forcing OT. . . . He’s got six goals. . . . F Dryden Hunt had a goal, his 10th, and two assists for the Pats, who got three assists from D Kyle Burroughs. . . . D Ashton Sautner had two assists for Edmonton. . . . The Pats (12-9-1) have won four in a row. . . . The Oil Kings (11-8-3) had won their past two games. . . . 
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s first four goals en route to a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . F Cole Sanford scored his 15th goal of the season for the Tigers (15-4-2), who had lost their previous two games. . . . D Tyler Lewington, F Trevor Cox and F Chad Labelle each had two assists for the Tigers. . . . D Ty Stanton helped out with his fourth goal and an assist. . . . The Rebels got goals from F Preson Kopeck, his seventh, and F Wyatt Johnson, his 10th, in the second half of the third period. . . . Red Deer was 1-for-6 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-for-6. . . . Red Deer (11-9-3) had been 3-0-1 in its past four games and 7-1-2 in its last 10. . . . 
In Prince George, the Vancouver Canucks overcame a 3-0 deficit and went on to dump the Cougars, 6-4. . . . The Cougars took a 3-0 lead on F Chase Witala’s 10th goal, via the PP, at 6:16 of the second period. . . . The Giants tied it on D Clayton Kirichenko’s second goal, at 5:18 of the third, on the PP, and took the lead when F Matt Bellerive scored his seventh goal at 9:54. . . . Witala pulled the Cougars into a tie at 17:32, only to have Vancouver D Shaun Dosanjh scored his first goal just 28 seconds later. It stood up as the winner. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter stopped 21 of 22 shots after replacing Payton Lee after the Cougars’ third goal. . . . F Thomas Foster had three assists for the Giants (9-12-0). . . . Vancouver F Dalton Sward scored his ninth career shorthanded goal, one off the franchise record held by F James Henry (2007-12). . . . The Cougars (11-12-0) have lost four in a row. . . . The same two teams meet in Prince George again tonight. . . . The Giants continue to be without F Tyler Benson, who suffered an undisclosed injury at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. He won’t play in tonight’s rematch either. . . . Vancouver did have F Jakob Stukel (hand) back in the lineup for the first time since the second game of the season. . . . 
In Victoria, F Axel Blomqvist scored at 3:16 of OT to give the Royals a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Royals scored the game’s last three goals. . . . F Tyson Baillie scored twice for Kelowna, giving him 17. . . . Victoria F Austin Carroll got Victoria to within one, at 3-2, with his 15th goal at 6:04 of the third period, on a PP. . . . F Brandon Magee tied it with his seventh goal at 18:03 of the third. . . . Blomqvist has 10 goals. . . . Kelowna F Rourke Chartier, who leads the WHL in goals (23), had his 10-game goal streak snapped. . . . Kelowna F Nick Merkley had one assist; he leads the WHL in assists (34) and points (41). . . . D Travis Brown and F Tyler Soy each had two assists, as did Kelowna D Jesse Lees. . . . Baillie also had an assist. . . . The Rockets (20-1-2) have points in their last 12 (10-0-2). . . . The Royals (11-11-2) have won two in a row.
With two injured goaltenders healthy again, the Portland Winterhawks have returned G Michael Bullion to the NAHL's Wenatchee, Wash., Wild. In four appearances with Portland, Bullion is 2-2-0/3.22/.900. . . . He joined the Winterhawks with Brendan Burke and Adin Hill both injured. They are healthy again, so the Winterhawks moved out Bullion and Bolton Pouliot, 20. Pouliot, who went from the Kamloops Blazers to Portland, was released last week. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers might be without two veteran defencemen when they play host to the Spokane Chiefs on Friday. The Blazers had neither Josh Connolly nor Brady Gaudet in their lineup on Saturday when they lost 4-3 in OT to the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . Both defenders sat out with undisclosed injuries. . . . Kamloops will have F Jake Kryski, 16, back in its lineup as he has returned from the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. He's got 11 points, including five goals, in 16 games. In Kryski's last game, the Blazers beat the host Tri-City Americans, 2-0. Since then, the Blazers are 0-3-2. . . .
D Evan Wardley of the Seattle Thunderbirds is awaiting word from the WHL office on what will be his second suspension in less than a month. Wardley was hit with a seven-game suspension for a headshot major during a game against the Winterhawks in Portland on Oct. 11. On Saturday, Wardley was ejected from a game in Saskatoon with the Blades for a checking-from-behind incident. . . . The Thunderbirds are 1-1-0 on an East Division swing that continues Wednesday in Moose Jaw. . . .
The Red Deer Rebels have released F Cole Chorney, 18, who is expected to play in the AJHL. Chorney, from Beaumont, Alta., had 11 points, including six goals, in 58 games with the Rebels last season. This season, he had one assist in six games as he had trouble getting into the lineup. . . .
G Zach Sawchenko has started each of the Moose Jaw Warriors' past six games. He won't make it seven. Sawchenko suffered an injury to his right leg late in the third period of a 4-2 loss to the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . He is expected to be out for at least week. . . . G Justin Paulic is expected to start against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday. . . .
On Sept. 23, the Calgary Hitmen traded F Pavel Padakin, a 20-year-old Ukrainian, to the Regina Pats for a third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. Last season, Padakin had 54 points, including 27 goals, in 66 games. . . . On Nov. 4, the Brandon Wheat Kings traded F Richard Nejezchleb, a 20-year-old Czech, to the Tri-City Americans for two third-round bantam draft picks, one in 2015 and the other in 2017. Last season, Nejezchleb had 57 points, including 32 goals, in 66 games. . . . Perhaps all of that explains why Brandon's Kelly McCrimmon is the WHL's best general manager. As a former WHL general manager once told me: "I wouldn't buy a used car from him." . . .
On the weekend, Cody Nickolet tweeted: “Mathew Barzal roaming around on crutches. Have heard the diagnosis of ‘a couple of weeks’ is very optimistic. Tough news if that's true.” . . . Barzal was the No. 1 selection by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. . . . If what Nickolet heard is correct, you have to wonder if Barzal will be back before Christmas. The Thunderbirds have four games left on an East Division tour that continues Wednesday in Moose Jaw. All told, Seattle has 15 games remaining before the 10-day Christmas break, with eight of those at home and eight of them inside the U.S. Division. . . . Barzal has 18 points, including seven goals, in 16 games. Last season, his first in the WHL, he had 54 points, 14 of them goals, in 59 games. . . . Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds should have D Shea Theodore, 19, back in their lineup on Wednesday in Moose Jaw. He was returned to them by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks over the weekend. Theodore played five games with the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, scoring three times and adding two assists. . . . He played for the WHL in the Super Series game last night in Saskatoon. . . .
Former WHL D Wil Tomchuk, 20, is back with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Tomchuk was released last week when the Prince George Cougars acquired G Jared Rathjen, 20, from the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Oil Barons were at the maximum of six 20-year-olds and to make room for Tomchuk they dealt G Jesse Gordichuk to the Olds Grizzlys. Gordichuk had requested a trade -- see, it doesn’t only happen in the WHL! . . . Tomchuk played with the Oil Barons in 2011-12 before moving on to the Tri-City Americans and then to Prince George. . . .
F Mikhail Yakubov (Red Deer, 2001-02) has signed a one-year contract with Vityaz Podolsk (Russia, KHL). This season, with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia, KHL), he had 13 points, two of them goals, in 32 games. He was the team captain. . . .
F Alexander Kuvaev (Lethbridge, Vancouver, 2010-12) has signed a two-year extension with Severstal Cherepovets (Russia, KHL). This season, with Severstal, he had two assists in 10 games. He also played with Almaz Cherepovets (Russia, MHL), leading the team in scoring with 39 points, including 17 goals, in 35 games. . . . The MHL is Molodezhnaya Hokkeynaya Liga or Junior Hockey League, Russia's national junior league. . . .
F Toni Rajala (Brandon, 2009-10) has signed a three-year contract with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia, KHL). This season, with HV71 Jönköping (Sweden, SEL), he had 30 points, including 13 goals, in 37 games. He was drafted in the fourth round of the KHL’s 2009 junior draft by Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, which traded his rights to Yugra on Wednesday for Yugra's first-round selection in the 2015 KHL draft.
The Allen Americans, who won the Central league championship earlier this month, have signed head coach Steve Martinson through 2015-16. He just completed his second season with the Americans and has won back-to-back championships.
Scott Hillman has resigned as head coach and director of hockey operations of the Central league’s Missouri Mavericks, who play out of Independence. He had filled those positions since the Mavericks began play in the league in 2009-10. . . . The Mavericks made the playoffs in each of Hillman’s five seasons with them. This season, they won a franchise-record 44 games and had the league’s best regular-season record.
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