MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TAKING NOTE
As many have noted on social media this week, the year 2016 has been a cruel one. One of the people we lost was Merle Haggard. . . . Right here is the Hag with Daddy Won’t Be Home Again For Christmas.
——
It appears that the Saskatoon Blades had some fun with their Christmas message. They also walked a fine line as they brought WHL referees into it all, in a fun way, of course. . . . It’s right here.
———
 |
A story posted Thursday on the Brandon Wheat Kings’ website indicates that F Nolan Patrick “is aiming
to return to the lineup in early January.”
 |
| NOLAN PATRICK |
Patrick, 18, remains the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2017 NHL draft despite not having played since Oct. 11. This season, he has four goals and five assists in six games. Last season, as a sophomore, he finished with 41 goals and 61 assists in 72 games, then added 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 playoff games. He was the WHL’s playoff MVP as he led the Wheat Kings to the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
However, he played hurt for some of the time and had surgery in July for a sports hernia. The Wheat Kings have never said any definitive about the cause of his absence from the lineup, but it has been speculated that it is related to his summer surgery.
Patrick wasn’t directly quoted in the story that doesn’t carry a byline on the team’s website. According to the story, “Patrick says that he is close to returning” to the Wheat Kings’ lineup. The story also reads that Patrick “plans to be back on the ice when the club’s week-long Christmas break comes to an end on Boxing Day.”
——
The Red Deer Rebels announced on Thursday that F Grayson Pawlenchuk will have season-ending shoulder surgery after being injured in a 3-2 OT loss to the host Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 9. . . . Pawlenchuk, 19, is from Ardrossan, Alta. In his fourth season with the Rebels, he has four goals and five assists in 19 games. . . . Last season, the 6-foot-0, 190-pounder finished with 22 goals and 16 assists in 71 games. In 210 career regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 42 goals. . . . The Rebels selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
The Red Deer Rebels announced on Thursday that F Grayson Pawlenchuk will have season-ending shoulder surgery after being injured in a 3-2 OT loss to the host Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 9. . . . Pawlenchuk, 19, is from Ardrossan, Alta. In his fourth season with the Rebels, he has four goals and five assists in 19 games. . . . Last season, the 6-foot-0, 190-pounder finished with 22 goals and 16 assists in 71 games. In 210 career regular-season games, he has 92 points, including 42 goals. . . . The Rebels selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 WHL bantam draft.
——
Tyler Adams has arrived! pic.twitter.com/8mkpShnPcW— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) December 16, 2016
The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired veteran F Tyler Adams, 19, and an undisclosed conditional 2019 WHL bantam draft pick from the Swift Current Broncos for F MacKenzie Wight.
Adams, from Regina, had a goal and six assists in 25 games with the Broncos this season. In 97 career regular-season games, all with the Broncos, he had seven goals and 13 assists.
At one point, the Broncos had six players out of the lineup with injuries. With those players starting to return to play, there was an excess of bodies, so something had to give.
Wight, 17, had five goals and four assists in 12 games with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs before joining the Thunderbirds. He was pointless in six games with Seattle. From Burnaby, B.C., he was a seventh-round pick by the Broncos in the 2014 bantam draft.
——
The WHL trade deadline arrives on Tuesday, Jan. 10, which is fewer than four weeks away. Throw in the WHL's Christmas-related trade moratorium and it’s a lot closer than that.
That moratorium actually began on Thursday and runs through Monday, Dec. 26, at midnight. In other words, there won’t be any trades in the WHL until at least Dec. 27. When the moratorium ends, there will be 15 days left in which trades can be made.
The deal mentioned above between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos that was announced Thursday is dated Dec. 14 on the WHL website, meaning that it was completed on Wednesday.
Interestingly, the Broncos’ release made reference to the deal including “a conditional pick in 2019” going to the Thunderbirds. However, neither Seattle’s news release nor the WHL website makes mention of it.
The same thing happened with a trade announced Wednesday night between the Saskatoon Blades and Spokane Chiefs. The WHL website has the Chiefs sending F Markson Bechtold and D Evan Fiala to the Blades for D Nolan Reid, F Wyatt Sloboshan and a third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. According to the Blades’ release, they also acquired “a conditional sixth-round draft pick,” although the year isn’t specified. Neither the WHL website nor the Chiefs’ release makes mention of a conditional pick.
Hopefully, the WHL office is able to sort this out and clarify things on its transactions page.
———
JUST NOTES:
The Portland Winterhawks have changed the game times for a pair of home games, both of which remain scheduled for Veterans Memorial Coliseum. . . . On Jan. 7, with the Everett Silvertips in town, the game now will begin at 6 p.m. . . . The March 4 game, against the Vancouver Giants, also will begin at 6 p.m. . . . Both games originally were to have started at 2 p.m. . . .
The Victoria Royals have released F Gunnar Wegleitner, an 18-year-old from Vancouver. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder was pointless in 12 games. In 2014-15, he had one goal in 43 games with the Everett Silvertips. Last season, he had a goal and an assist in 14 games with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. . . .
Jeff Holick spent 16 seasons as the radio voice of the Kootenay Ice before leaving his post prior to the 2015-16 season. Now, obviously with some time on his hands, he has turned to blogging. Among other things, he has taken to charting lines and defence pairings on a game-by-game basis. He also posts various lists on a sporadic basis. . . . You are able to find Holick’s blog, Between The Lines, right here.
———
 |
Donald Trump is mad at Vanity Fair for a bad review of Trump Grill restaurant. He’s as fragile as their terrible taco bowl shell!— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) December 16, 2016
———
THURSDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
——
FRIDAY’S GAMES (all times local):
Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Lethbridge at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Kamloops at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Regina at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Prince George at Seattle, 7:35 p.m.
Prince Albert at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
——
TEDDY BEAR, TOQUE AND MITTEN TOSS GAMES:
Friday, Dec. 16: Saskatoon at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 16: Portland vs. Vancouver, at Langley, B.C., 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Portland at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17: Vancouver at Victoria, 7:05 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 21: Vancouver vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Nov. 26: D Micheal Zipp, 19:47 1st period, Lethbridge 4 at Calgary 2.
Dec. 2: D Artyom Minulin, 13:24 1st period, Calgary 1 at Swift Current 5.
Dec. 2: F Jordy Bellerive, 14:00 1st period, Red Deer 3 at Lethbridge 5.
Dec. 3: F Adam Musil, 14:27 1st period, Lethbridge 2 at Red Deer 3 (OT).
Dec. 3: D Ondrej Vala, 10:38 1st period, Vancouver 2 at Kamloops 5.
Dec. 3: F Nick Merkley, 6:54 2nd period, Brandon 1 at Kelowna 3.
Dec. 9: F Austin Glover, 0:32 2nd period, Moose Jaw 7 at Prince Albert 3.
Dec. 9: F Riley Woods, 11:45 1st period, Swift Current 1 at Regina 8.
Dec. 9: F Keanu Yamamoto, 4:01 1st period, Kootenay 3 at Spokane 4.
Dec. 10: D Josh Thrower, 12:13 1st period, Prince Albert 4 at Moose Jaw 5 (SO).
Dec. 10: F Nick Bowman, 13:38 2nd period, Kamloops 3 at Edmonton 2.
Dec. 10: D Troy Murray, 1:51 2nd, Kelowna 7 at Kootenay 3.
Dec. 10: F Max Gerlach, 5:26 1st period, Calgary 4 at Medicine Hat 7.
Dec. 10: F Skyler McKenzie 2:21 1st, Everett 2 at Portland 5.
Dec. 10: F Josh Curtis, 6:02 2nd period, Seattle 4 at Prince George 6.
Dec. 10: F Tyler Sandhu, 0:36 1st period, Victoria 3 at Tri-City 4.
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
Mark Lamb and the Swift Current Broncos have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension. Lamb was entering the last year of a three-year deal. . . . According to a news release, “That year has been expunged in favour of this new contract.” That means he is signed through 2016-17. . . . Lamb spent seven seasons as an NHL assistant coach, one with the Edmonton Oilers and six with the Dallas Stars, before signing with the Broncos. He has been the GM/head coach since the summer of 2009. . . . The Broncos are 164-165-31 in five seasons under Lamb, including 38-25-9 last season when they finished fifth in the 12-team Eastern Conference. They have make the playoffs in three of his five seasons, but haven’t been able to get out of the first round. Last spring, they lost in six games to the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Lamb, one of the WHL’s straightest shooters, has brought stability to the Broncos organization. This season, led by a strong defence, they should be one of the conference’s top four teams.
The Kootenay Ice was short two veteran defencemen when training camp began earlier this week in Cranbrook. Landon Cross and Landon Peel, a pair of 20-year-olds, didn’t show up on Monday. . . . Cross, who was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers last season, had concussion issues. From Brandon, he has decided he would rather finish his junior career in the MJHL and hopes to play for the Steinbach Pistons. . . . “As a parent, not as a general manager, I was concerned about him and what he was going through,” Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s president and general manager, told Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. Cross informed Chynoweth of his decision on June 9. . . . Peel, from Virden, Man., had been expected in camp. “He told me at the end of (last season) he was definitely coming back and wanted to compete for one of the 20-year-old spots,” Chynoweth said. “He caught us a little bit off-guard.” . . . Peel wants to play for the MJHL’s Portage Terriers, who will host the RBC Cup tournament next spring. . . . For now, Cross and Peel are on the Ice’s suspended list. . . . Rocca’s story is 
The Victoria Royals have signed D Scott Walford, the 18th overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft. He will play this season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C. Walford, from Coquitlam, B.C., played with the OHA bantam prep team last season, putting up 48 points, including 12 goals, in 56 games. . . . The Royals also signed 1997-born G Evan Smith, who is from Parker, Colo. Smith played last season with the Pikes Peak Miners U18 team in the North American Prospects Hockey League. The 6-foot-5 Smith went 1.95/.921 in 13 appearances. The Royals had placed him on their protected list in July 2012. . . . The Royals also signed F Ryan Peckford, a second-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. From Stony Plain, Alta., Peckford played last season for the Parkland Athletic Club Saints of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. He had 60 points, 28 of them goals, in 33 games. . . . D Brayden Pachal, a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, also signed with the Royals. From Estevan, Sask., he had 27 points, including 14 goals, in 31 games with the bantam AA Estevan Bruins last season. . . . Victoria also signed Slovakian F Kristian Ferletak, its first-round selection in the CHL‘s 2014 import draft. From Trstena, he played last season with the Slovakian U-18 team, putting up 32 points, including nine goals, in 44 games. At the IIHF World U-18 championship, he had two goals and an assist in five games.
The Kamloops Blazers have signed F Jesse Zaharichuk, 17, to a WHL contract. From Sherwood Park, Alta., the 5-foot-8, 150-pound Zaharichuk was placed on the Blazers’ protected list in September 2012. Last season, with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons, he had 14 points, four of them goals, in 48 games. He added nine points, five of them goals, in 15 playoff games. . . . He likely will see some playing time tonight against the visiting Vancouver Giants or Saturday against the Rockets in Kelowna.
The Everett Silvertips have signed D Jantzen Leslie, the 15th overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Last season, he captained the bantam AAA Lloydminster Heat, which won the provincial championship. He had 40 points, 15 of the goals, in 30 regular-season games. In 12 playoff games, he added two goals and 10 assists. . . . The Silvertips also have signed F Bryce Kindopp, a teammate of Leslie’s who was a third-round pick by Everett.
The Swift Current Broncos signed five players -- F Tyler Adams, 17; D Jaydan Gordon; D Matthew Parsons, 16; F Owen Seidel, 16; and D Colby Sissons, 16. . . . Adams, from Regina, had 50 points, 13 of them goals, in 58 games with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians last season. . . . The 1997-born Gordon, from Cochrane, Alta., had 35 points, including 31 assists, in 36 games with the midget AA Bow Valley Timberwolves last season. He is the younger brother of Broncos F Coda Gordon. . . . Parsons, from Middle Lake, Sask., was a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He had a goal and 11 assists in 54 games with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos last season. . . . Seidel, from Richmond, B.C., was a seventh-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. He had 36 points, 10 of them goals, in 40 games with the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians last season. . . . Sissons, from Edmonton, had 31 points, including nine goals, in 37 games with the minor midget AAA Edmonton-South Side Athletic Club Bulldogs last season.
The Prince Albert Raiders have signed three players -- F Parker Kelly, F Sean Montgomery and D Curtis Roach. . . . Kelly, from Camrose, Alta., was a seventh-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Last season, he had 58 points, including 35 goals, in 31 games with the Camrose Red Wings of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League. . . . Montgomery, from Calgary, was taken in the sixth round of the 2013 bantam draft. He had 37 points, 19 of them goals, in 35 games with the Calgary Royals of the Alberta Midget Hockey League. . . . Roach, 
The Tri-City Americans have signed three players from the 2013 bantam draft -- D Mark Drohan, a third-round pick; F Jordan Roy, who was a fifth-round selection; and G Nicholas Sanders, who was taken in the sixth round. . . . Drohan, from Calgary, had 17 points, six of them goals, with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes last season. . . . From Kimberley, B.C., Roy will turn 16 on Sept. 9. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder had six points, two of them goals, in 26 games with the midget AAA Lethbridge Hurricanes last season. . . . Sanders, from Calgary, was 3.65/.890 in 39 games with the minor midget Calgary Rangers last season.
The Regina Pats have signed four players -- D James Hilsendager, D Ryan Krushen, D Brady Pouteau and F Kyle Westeringh. . . . Hilsendager, from Lloydminster, Alta., was a ninth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder played last season for the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Midget Hockey League, putting up 14 points, three of them goals, in 33 games. . . . Krushen, a list player from Sherwood Park, Alta., had 16 points, four of them goals, in 37 games with the Sherwood Park Squires of the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League last season. . . . The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Pouteau, a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, is from Oak Bluff, Man. He played last season with the Pembina Valley Hawks of the Manitoba Midget Hockey League, earning 14 points, including four goals, in 40 games. . . . Westeringh, an 18-year-old list player from Rosedale, B.C., had 19 points, including 10 goals, in 55 games with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs last season.
The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed five players -- F Wyatt Bear, D Reece Harsch, F Nick Holowko, F Luke Osterman and F Mackenzie Wight. . . . Bear, from Hodgson, Man., was a fifth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He had 51 points, 18 of them goals, in 33 games with the bantam Interlake Lightning last season. . . . Harsch, from Grande Prairie, Alta., was an eight-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He had 14 points, two of them goals, for a bantam team in Grande Prairie last season. . . . Holowko, from Burnaby, B.C., was added to Seattle’s list after its 2012 camp. He had two goals and nine assists in 33 games with the junior B Delta, B.C., Ice Hawks last season. . . . Osterman, from Stillwater, Minn., was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He had 13 points, six of them goals, with a team from Omaha, Neb., that played in the NAPH16 League last season. . . . Seattle has seven of its 10 selections from the 2012 draft under contract. . . . Wight, from Burnaby, B.C., was a seventh-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He played for the bantam A1-T1 team at Burnaby Winter Club last season.
The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Cody Glass, a Winnipegger who was the 19th overall selection in the 2014 bantam draft. He had 77 points, 31 of them goals, in 32 games with the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks. He added 17 points in 11 playoff games.
Posts
