F Nikita Popugaev — sometimes it is spelled Popugayev — says he has retired. Popugaev, who is to turn 23 on Nov. 20, is from Moscow. He played two-plus seasons in the WHL, starting with 110 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors (2015-17) and finishing with 44 with the Prince George Cougars (2016-18). . . . He put up 123 points, including 47 goals, in 154 regular-season WHL games. . . . The New Jersey Devils selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2017 draft.
While Popugaev was burning his gear, there were eight WHL games played on Friday night . . .
F Ridly Greig, newly named captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings, scored twice in a 5-2 victory over visiting Prince Albert Raiders (0-3-0). . . . F Ben Thornton also scored twice for Brandon. . . .
D Matthew Gallant’s first WHL goal stood up as the winner as the host Moose Jaw Warriors edged the Regina Pats, 3-2. . . . Gallant, the eldest son of former Pats’ radio voice Kevin Gallant, broke a 2-2 tie at 17:52 of the second period. . . . F Cade Hayes had Moose Jaw’s other two goals. . . .
F Lukas Svejkovsky scored three times to lead the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was Svejkovsky’s first career WHL hat trick. He has five goals in two games. . . . Svejkovsky also had an assist, giving him his first career four-point game. It came in his 141st regular-season game. . . .
D Simon Kubicek broke a 1-1 tie with a PPG at 2:36 of the third period as the Edmonton Oil Kings got past the host Swift Current Broncos, 2-1. . . . Edmonton’s Sebastian Cossa, with 23 saves, won the goaltending duel with Isaac Poulter, who stopped 35 shots. . . .
G Braden Holt blocked 23 shots as the Everett Silvertips beat the visiting Portland Winterhawks, 4-0. . . . F Jackson Berezowski scored twice. . . . Holt, an 18-year-old from Bozeman, Montana, has two career shutouts. On March 6, 2020, he stopped 16 shots in a 6-0 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . Mike Benton worked his final Silvertips’ game as the play-by-play voice. He left the Silvertips for six seasons, and now is with Seattle radio station KJR where he is the host for Kraken pre-game, intermission and post-game shows. He handled the Silvertips’ first two regular-season games while they get a new radio voice in place. There should be an announcement coming shortly. . . .
The Victoria Royals scored four times on five second-period shots and went on to beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 6-3. . . . F Brayden Schuurman, 17, scored three times and added an assist for the Royals. Yes, it was his first hat trick. Yes, it was his first four-point game. . . .
The Seattle Thunderbirds broke a 3-3 tie with two late third-period goals to beat the Chiefs, 5-3, in Spokane. . . . D Tyrel Bauer scored the eventual winner at 13:06, with F Conner Roulette wrapping it up at 17:26. . . . The Chiefs got a goal and two assists from F Bear Hughes. . . .
In Langley, B.C., the Vancouver Giants snapped a 3-3 tie with three straight goals as they beat the Prince George Cougars, 6-4. . . . The Giants got two goals from F Adam Hall, with F Ty Thorpe and F Justin Sourdif each adding a goal and two assists, and D Mazden Leslie drawing three helpers. . . . The Cougars had taken a 3-1 lead into the second period.
The Ontario government has listed some COVID-19-related restrictions so that OHL teams based in the province will be permitted to play before crowds of 100 per cent capacity with everyone fully vaccinated. That all is effective today (Saturday).
There were six fights in WHL games on Friday night. The time for the WHL to get rid of fighting — teens punching each other in the face — passed us by a long time ago.
Plans are in place for a documentary series on the hockey rivalry between Canada and what was the USSR. It has the working title “72” and is to focus on the 1972 Summit Series, “a pivotal set of eight games played between the two nations in 1972 in Canada and Russia where political rivalry equalled the on-field competition,” wrote Naman Ramachandran of variety.com. “The tournament was rife with allegations of dirty play and disputes over officiating. In Canada, the games were set against a backdrop of a home-grown terrorist movement that had turned violent, while KGB agents and Soviet soldiers sat in the stands for the games in Moscow.” . . . . There is more right here.
The Medicine Hat News reported Friday that the Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association is in a state of flux. According to James Tubb of The News, a source “with close knowledge of the situation” has said that some board members “have manipulated tryout evaluations to ensure their children play at a higher level than they are rated. One recently departed board member is backing that claim, and they both say it’s coming at the cost of other children’s development.” . . . The complete story is right here.
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 