D Nolan Yonkman (Kelowna, Brandon, 1996-2001) has signed a contract through Jan. 20 with JYP Jyväskylä (Finland, Liiga). Last season, with JYP, he had two goals and an assist in 52 games. . . .
D Austin Madaisky (Calgary, Kamloops, 2008-12) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Kölner Haie Cologne (Germany, DEL) after a successful tryout in which he had one goal and two assists in 16 games. . . .
F Geordie Wudrick (Swift Current, Kelowna, 2005-11) has been released by Harzer Falken Braunlage (Germany, Oberliga) after an unsuccessful tryout in which he scored once in seven games.
The Everett Silvertips and Kamloops Blazers will play a doubleheader this weekend.
They will meet in Kamloops on Friday, 7 p.m, and they’ll do it all over again in the 
Sandman Centre on Sunday, 5 p.m.
Nothing unusual about that. The WHL schedule often has teams play two games in a row in the same arena, although it mostly happens on back-to-back nights in places like Prince George and Victoria.
But what if I told you that the WHL has the Silvertips playing a Saturday night game, too? What if I told you that game is scheduled for Kent, Wash., against their arch-rival, the Seattle Thunderbirds?
Would you believe me? Well . . . you should.
The Silvertips will ride the bus to Kamloops today. They will challenge the Blazers on Friday night, then get back on the bus and head for home, then play the Thunderbirds in Kent on Saturday night. After that, it will be back on the bus and back to Kamloops for the Sunday game.
As one interested observer asked Taking Note on Wednesday: “Who signed off on this?”
And you thought the WHL’s wild weekends would go away when the WHL cut back from 72 to 68 games.
But wait . . .
This is just the start of a horrendous bit of scheduling for the Silvertips, who also will play three games in fewer than 48 hours the following weekend, too.
In fact, by the time they get through with playing the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Nov. 18, they will have played seven games in 10 nights. Throw in a visit by the Calgary Hitmen on Nov. 20 and it’s eight games in 12 nights.
When that part of the schedule is over, the Silvertips will have played 11.8 per cent of their schedule in only 12 days.
Maybe the players could be given a bonus when it’s over, like, say, a pay raise to the minimum wage, at least for the 12 days.
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BTW, the Silvertips have another bizarre stretch of schedule to deal with in February. . . . They are to play the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Feb. 13, then travel to Kelowna for a game with the Rockets on Feb. 15. On Feb. 16, they have to be in Kent, Wash., for a game with the Seattle Thunderbirds. That’s a Saturday night. It’ll be on the bus right after that game because they’ll be playing the Cougars in Prince George on Monday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m. . . . They’ll stay in Prince George for a game the next night, too, before returning home to play on Feb. 22 (Seattle) and Feb. 23 (Prince George). . . . At some point in time the Silvertips obviously did something to offend the WHL’s scheduling guru, whoever/whatever that is.
The Kootenay Ice has added D Ben Zloty, a 16-year-old from Calgary, to its roster. He was a sixth-round selection by the Ice in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. This season, he has three goals and 10 assists in 12 games with the midget AAA Calgary Royals.
Dale McFee, a former player with the Prince Albert Raiders, has been named Edmonton’s 
chief of police. He will begin his new duties early in the new year. . . . McFee, 53, is from St. Albert, Alta. He spent four seasons (1982-86) with the Raiders, totalling 270 points, including 118 goals, and 535 penalty minutes in 269 games. . . . McFee also did a stint as the police chief in Prince Albert and has been the president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. He has been Saskatchewan’s deputy minister of justice for six years. . . . McFee was an assistant coach with the Raiders in 1993-94, and served as team president for nine years (2008-17). He remains a member of their board of directors.
The OHL’s Flint Firebirds won their first game of the season on Wednesday afternoon, beating the visiting Sarnia Sting, 7-4, in front of an announced crowd of 3,534 in what was billed as a ‘School Day Game.’ . . . F Jake Durham had three goals for the Firebirds, who now are 1-16-1, having scored 45 goals and allowed 108.
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TAKING NOTE 