McGeough, ex-referee, dies at 62 . . . Cozens, Addison blow through Brandon . . . Raiders run victory streak to 15


MacBeth

D Alexei Platonov (Medicine Hat, 2015-16) has been assigned on loan by Lada Togliatti (Russia, Vysshaya Liga) to Cheboksary (Russia, Pervenstvo Vysshaya Liga). Platonov was injured during the exhibition season and hasn’t played in the regular season. Last season, he had one goal and two assists in 24 games with Toros Neftekamsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). . . .

G Andrei Makarov (Saskatoon, 2011-13) has been claimed on waivers by Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Russia, KHL) from Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). This season, with Nizhnekamsk, he got into six games and was 1-3-1, 2.64, .897. In seven games with CSK VSS Samara (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), he was 3-2-2, 1.95 GAA, .913.


ThisThat

Former WHL/NHL referee Mick McGeough died Friday night in a Regina hospital. . . . His family revealed earlier in the day that he was to be taken off life support. McGeough, 62, had suffered a stroke on Sunday. . . . According to the Regina Leader-Post, McGeough’s family “made the announcement Friday — one day after a GoFundMe page was set up to assist with medical expenses.” . . . The Leader-Post story, which was written early on Friday and includes a link to a GoFundMe page, is right here.


G Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders is on quite a run.

Consider . . .

On Nov. 14, Scott stopped 43 shots in posting a 2-0 shutout over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, perhaps missing an empty-net goal when his attempt to fire the puck the length of the ice struck the scoreclock.

On Nov. 16, Scott scored an empty-net goal in a 3-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans.

On Nov. 17, Scott blocked 26 shots in a 6-0 beating of the Wheat Kings in Brandon.

On Nov. 20, Scott and the Raiders dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-1.

Last night, Scott stopped 26 shots and had an assist as the Raiders beat the Tigers, 7-3, in Medicine Hat. In earning the assist, his first of the season (and third of his career), Scott corralled the puck behind his goal and fired it off the left boards and right on to the stick of F Brett Leason. The WHL’s leading scorer went in shorthanded and scored, giving the Raiders a 4-0 lead.

This season, Scott is 19-1-0, 1.45, .948.

Scott, 20, is from Calgary. His NHL rights belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2017 draft.


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The Nelson Daily has dubbed it “Twitter-Gate.” That would be the sniping that went on following a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game between the Nelson Leafs and the host Spokane Braves on Sunday. . . . In a story that is right here, The Daily reports that Larry Martel, the KIJHL president, has told both teams to cut it out. . . . The good news for Spokane hockey fans is that the two teams will close out November on Friday at Eagles Ice Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.

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Former WHL D Jonas Harkins has joined the junior B North Van Wolf Pack of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. Harkins, who will turn 18 on Dec. 26, made his debut with the Wolf Pack on Wednesday night. A native of North Vancouver, he played 34 WHL games over four seasons with the Prince George Cougars and Regina Pats.


FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Dylan Cozens scored three goals and set up three others, and D Calen Addison drew Lethbridgefive assists, as the Hurricanes skated to an 8-4 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Lethbridge (11-8-4) has won two straight. The victory moved it into a tie with Brandon in the Eastern Conference standings. . . . The Wheat Kings (10-7-6) have lost three in a row. . . . The Hurricanes were 5-6 on the PP. . . . F Jordy Bellerive (10), who also had two assists, gave Lethbridge a 2-1 lead at 8:13 of the first period, and Cozens upped it to 3-1, on a PP, at 18:04. Cozens made it 4-1 on another PP at 4:06 of the second and the Hurricanes were in control. . . . Cozens enjoyed the first six-point game of his career, and had his third hat trick. This season, Cozens has 30 points, including 12 goals, in 23 games. . . . Addison has four goals and 21 assists in 23 games. . . . Addison, who is from Brandon, had a five-point night last season when he recorded five assists in a 7-2 victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . F Ty Kolle scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him seven goals and four assists since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Stelio Mattheos, who has 21. . . . G Jiri Patera of the Wheat Kings was pulled for the first time in his freshman season. It came in his 19th start. He gave up three goals on 16 shots in the first period. . . . Brandon had D Schael Higson in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 16, but D Braden Schneider remains sidelined.


F Tristin Langan scored his second goal of the game in OT to give the host Moose Jaw MooseJawWarriorsWarriors a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Moose Jaw (11-5-4) has points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . Edmonton now is 14-8-4. . . . The teams exchanged goals until the Warriors scored the last two. . . . F Kaeden Taphorn (2) tied it 3-3 at 15:55 of the third period. It was his first goal in seven games with the Warriors since coming over in a deal with the Kootenay Ice. . . . Langan, who also had an assist, won it with his 17th goal, at 3:08 of OT. . . . The Warriors got three assists from D Josh Brook. . . . F Justin Almeida returned to Moose Jaw’s lineup after missing four games with an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 1 of the CIBC Canada Russia Series. He had a goal, his fourth, and the primary assist on Langan’s winner. . . . F Trey Fix-Wolansky scored his 15th goal 22 seconds into the first period and added two assists. . . . Edmonton was 1-4 on the PP; Moose Jaw’s unit wasn’t given even one opportunity. . . . F Andrei Pavlenko, a freshman from Belarus, as back after sitting out since Nov. 12. . . . This game actually featured four players from Belarus — Pavlenko and F Vladimir Alistrov of the Oil Kings, and F Yegor Buyalski and F Daniil Stepanov of the Warriors. . . . The Warriors will be on the ice again this afternoon as they meet the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes in a game that is to be televised by Sportsnet. Game time is 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. MT, 12:30 p.m. PT). The Hurricanes beat the Wheat Kings, 8-4, in Brandon last night.


F Brandon Hagel’s late goal gave the Red Deer Rebels a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice Red Deerin Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Rebels (16-5-1) have won five in a row. They are 4-0-0 against the Ice this season, having won three times by one goal. . . . The Ice (7-15-4) has lost four straight (0-3-1). . . . The Rebels took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals from D Dawson Barteaux (2), on a PP, and F Jeff de Wit (15). . . . The Ice tied it on two goals from F Cam Hausinger, who has eight. He scored at 15:07 of the first, on a PP, and 5:46 of the third. . . . Nagel, who also had an assist, won it with his 15th of the year, at 19:10. . . . D Alex Alexeyev and F Reese Johnson each had two assists for the Rebels. . . . The Ice remains without F Peyton Krebs.


F Brett Leason had two goals and two assists to help the Prince Albert Raiders to their PrinceAlbert15th consecutive victory, this one by a 7-3 count over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. . . . The Raiders now are 22-1-0. . . . The 15-game victory streak has tied a franchise record set in 1985-86. Next up for the Raiders? They’re in Cranbrook, B.C., tonight to meet the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Tigers slipped to 10-12-3. . . . The Raiders won the season series, 4-0-0, outscoring the Tigers, 19-7. . . . Leason ran his point streak to 23 games — yes, he has at least a point in every game this season — when he gave his guys a 2-0 lead at 9:22 of the first period. . . . His second goal, at 1:30 of the second period, came while shorthanded and gave his club a 4-0 lead. The Raiders now have scored a WHL-leading 15 shorthanded goals; the Red Deer Rebels are next with seven. . . . The Tigers came back to get within a goal, at 4-3, on a goal from F Ryan Jevne (7) at 7:50 of the third period. . . . The Raiders put it away with three goals in a span of 1:26 later in the period. . . . F Parker Kelly scored twice for the winners, giving him nine. . . . Leason leads the WHL in goals (24) and is tied with Edmonton F Trey Fix-Wolansky for the points lead, each with 51. . . . Tigers D Joel Craven missed his 13th straight game with concussion-like symptoms, while F Elijah Brown (shoulder) also is out.


The host Kelowna Rockets scored the game’s first two goals and went on to beat the KelownaRocketsVictoria Royals, 3-1. . . . Kelowna (11-13-1) has won three in a row. . . . Victoria (12-7-0) had won its previous two games. . . . F Kyle Topping (10) gave Kelowna a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 10:47 of the second period. . . . The Rockets nursed that lead until 14:05 of the third when F Liam Kindree (5) made it 2-0. . . . F Kaid Oliver (14) got the Royals to within one at 18:18. . . . F Leif Mattson (9) gave the Rockets some insurance at 19:53. . . . Kelowna got 23 saves from G Roman Basran. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse, who stopped 26 shots, set a franchise record by playing in his 166th game. He had shared the record with Coleman Vollrath (2012-16). . . . The Royals had F Dante Hannoun back in the lineup, but D Ralph Jarratt remains out. . . . D Braydyn Chizen was among Kelowna’s scratches.


The Prince George Cougars scored the game’s first two goals and the last two as they beat PrinceGeorgethe visiting Regina Pats, 5-3. . . . The Cougars (10-10-3) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Pats (8-17-0) have lost two in a row. . . . The Pats went 1-5-0 on their road swing, including 1-4-0 in the B.C. Division. . . . F Jackson Leppard (5) got the home side off to a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded score at 5:58 of the first period. . . . D Joel Lakuska (4) made it 2-0 at 11:40. . . . F Josh Maser (7) gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead at 2:32 of the second period. . . . The Pats got even on F Nick Henry’s three goals, in a span of 6:59 in the second period. It was the third hat trick of his career and the second in eight days. Henry also scored three times on Nov. 16 in a 10-4 loss to the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . Henry’s 15th goal tied the game at 7:41 of the second. . . . Prince George F Ethan Browne (5) broke the tie, on a PP, at 11:57 of the second. . . . F Josh Curtis (6) got the empty-netter at 19:01. . . . Prince George G Isaiah DiLaura stopped 30 shots. . . . The Pats lost F Marco Creta to a boarding major and game misconduct at 9:30 of the second period. . . . Regina F Jake Leschyshyn had his 12-game point streak snapped.


G Carl Stankowski stopped 24 shots for the Calgary Hitmen in his return to Kent, Wash., Calgaryas they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . The Hitmen (10-13-2) have won two in a row in the U.S. Division. They are 4-1-0 on a road trip that wraps up tonight in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Thunderbirds (8-11-3) have lost two straight. . . . “I’ve had this game marked on my calendar for a long time,” Stankowski told Alex Medina of hitmenhockey.com before the game. “I’m pretty anxious to go there and play against some of my old teammates. It’s going to be really fun and exciting to go back in that barn. It’ll bring back a lot of great memories. I want to win that game really bad.” . . . Stankowski, then 16, was Seattle’s starting goaltender in the playoffs as they won the WHL championship in the spring of 2017. After getting into only seven regular-season games, he went 16-4, 2.50, .911 in the playoffs after starter Rylan Toth was injured. . . . Stankowski ran into injury and health issues, and didn’t play last season, then was dealt to Calgary over the summer. . . . With the Hitmen, he now is 6-6-2, 3.72, .879. . . . The Hitmen got two goals from each of F Mark Kastelic, who has 21, and F Luke Coleman, who has seven. . . . Kastelic’s two goals, one on a PP, and one from F Carson Focht (5), at 1:59 of the second period, gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. . . . Seattle got to within a goal as F Matthew Wedman (8) scored, shorthanded, at 7:55 of the second period and F Zack Andrusiak (12) found the range at 10:05 of the third. . . . But F Luke Coleman put it away with two empty-netters, giving him seven goals. . . . Calgary was 1-2 on the PP and 7-7 on the PK. . . . Andrusiak has goals in five straight games.


The Kamloops Blazers scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Tri-City Americans, Kamloops15-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Blazers (9-10-2), who are only 2-6-1 at home, now are 7-4-0 on the road where they have won six of their last seven. . . . The Americans (12-9-0) have lost three straight. . . . The Americans last played at home on Oct. 19. They then went on an 11-game road trip on which they were 7-4-0. . . . F Orrin Centazzo scored the Blazers’ first two goals, giving them a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first period and a 2-1 edge, on a PP, at 4:12 of the second. He’s got six goals. . . . D Montana Onyebuchi (2) had a goal and an assist for Kamloops, with F Zane Franklin and F Luc Smith each getting two assists. . . . The game featured the Schmiemann brothers playing against each other — Dom with the Americans and Quinn with the Blazers. Quinn’s first WHL goal gave the Blazers a 4-1 lead at 14:51 of the second. The goal came in his 20th WHL game, 17 of them this season. . . . Kamloops got 34 stops from G Dylan Ferguson. . . . F Jermaine Loewen, the team captain, was among the Blazers’ scratches. He apparently was ill.


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Habscheid, Sutter moving on up . . . Rybinski takes Express to BCHL . . . McGeough and family needing help


MacBeth

F Jack Walker (Victoria, 2012-17) has been released by the Aalborg Pirates (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). He had one goal and one assist in 16 games.


ThisThat

With the Prince Albert Raiders gotten off to such a terrific start, head coach Marc Habscheid has moved from 13th to ninth on the list of the WHL’s winningest regular-season coaches.

When this season began, Habscheid had 456 victories as a WHL head coach. With the whlRaiders at 21-1-0, Habscheid has vaulted into ninth place, passing Peter Anholt, Jack Shupe, Kelly McCrimmon and Dean Clark, none of whom is still coaching. Anholt, however, will have the opportunity to improve on his 466 victories when he goes behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ bench when head coach Brent Kisio joins Canada’s national junior team in December. Kisio will be an assistant coach under head coach Tim Hunter of the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Meanwhile, Brent Sutter, the owner, general manager and head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, has closed to within 18 victories of 500. The Rebels are 15-5-1, but Sutter wasn’t with them for one of those victories; instead, he was on a father-son trip with his son, Brandon, and the Vancouver Canucks.

Here’s a look at the 23 WHL head coaches who have more than 300 regular-season victories to their credit (includes games of Nov. 21):

1. Don Hay (Kamloops, Tri-City, Vancouver) 750

2. Ken Hodge (Edmonton, Portland), 742

3. Don Nachbaur (Seattle, Tri-City, Spokane) 692

4. Lorne Molleken (Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina) 626

5. Mike Williamson (Portland, Calgary, Tri-City) 572

6. Ernie McLean (Estevan, New Westminster) 548

7. Pat Ginnell (Flin Flon, Victoria, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, New Westminster) 518

8. Brent Sutter (Red Deer) 482

9. Marc Habscheid (Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack, Victoria, Prince Albert) 477

10. Peter Anholt (Prince Albert, Seattle, Red Deer, Kelowna, Lethbridge) 466

       Jack Shupe (Medicine Hat, Victoria) 466

12. Kelly McCrimmon (Brandon) 465

      Dean Clark (Calgary, Brandon, Kamloops, Prince George) 465

14. Bob Lowes (Seattle, Brandon, Regina) 453

15. Doug Sauter (Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Brandon) 417

16. Marcel Comeau (Calgary, Saskatoon, Tacoma, Kelowna) 411

17. Bryan Maxwell (Medicine Hat, Spokane, Lethbridge) 397

18. Shaun Clouston (Tri-City, Medicine Hat) 366

19. Graham James (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Calgary) 349

20. Bob Loucks (Lethbridge, Tri-City, Medicine Hat) 340

21. Willie Desjardins (Saskatoon, Medicine Hat) 333

22. Mike Johnston (Portland) 328

23. Kevin Constantine (Everett) 326



With the WHL schedule having taken Thursday off, perhaps to celebrate American Thanksgiving, here’s a look at what the first-round playoff matchups would be had the regular-season ended yesterday . . . Yes, it doesn’t mean much because teams haven’t played an equal number of games, but, hey, it’s food for thought. . . .

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Prince Albert (21-1-0) vs. Medicine Hat (10-11-3)

Red Deer (15-5-1) vs. Moose Jaw (10-5-4)

Edmonton (14-8-3) vs. Lethbridge (10-8-4)

Saskatoon (14-8-2) vs. Brandon (10-6-6)

Out: Calgary (9-13-2), Kootenay (7-14-4), Regina (8-16-0), Swift Current (3-18-2). . . . Calgary is three points out of a playoff spot, while Kootenay is five back, Regina seven and Swift Current 15.

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Everett (17-7-1) vs. Kelowna (10-13-1)

Vancouver (15-6-2) vs. Tri-City (12-8-0)

Portland (13-8-2) vs. Spokane (12-8-3)

Victoria (12-6-0) vs. Prince George (9-10-3)

Out: Seattle (8-10-3), Kamloops (8-10-2). . . . Seattle is two points out of a wild-card playoff spot, while Kamloops is three points back.


Ask any long-time observer about the best referees in the history of the WHL and Mick McGeough will be in the conversation. McGeough, from Regina, went on to show his outsized personality during a lengthy career in the NHL, too. . . . McGeough has run into some health difficulties this week, and he and his family need help from the hockey world and beyond. . . . There is a GoFundMe page right here.


F Henry Rybinski, who has asked the Medicine Hat Tigers to trade him, has joined the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. Rybinski, 17, is from Vancouver. Last season, he had three goals and nine assists in 63 games with the Tigers, who picked him in the second round of the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. This season, he had one goal and four assists in five games. . . . . . . The Tigers revealed on Nov. 1 that Rybinski had asked to be traded and no longer was with the team. Rybinski was wanting more playing time, something the Tigers said they weren’t able to provide because he was behind veteran centres James Hamblin and Ryan Chyzowski on their roster.


The Kootenay Ice has brought back D Anson McMaster, 16, for another look. McMaster, from Siksika, Alta., was a second-round pick by the Ice in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . He is pointless in three games with the Ice this season. . . . In 12 games with the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers, he has two goals and seven assists.


The Vancouver Giants have dropped F Hunor Torzsok from their roster. He is expected to end up with a junior A team. Torzsok, 18, had one assist in eight games. Last season, he had one goal and one assist in 25 games with Vancouver. He also played 10 games with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers last season, scoring three goals.


TheCoachingGame

The SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs have signed general manager and head coach Trevor Blevins to an extension that runs through the 2021-22 season. He took over as the Mustangs’ head coach during the 2013-14 season. They won the SJHL title in 2015 and 2016. . . . This season, the Mustangs have the league’s second-best record, at 17-6-1.


The AJHL’s Calgary Canucks have fired Darryl Olsen, who had been their general manager and head coach. He had been with the Canucks since August 2017, and had been head coach since November 2017. He was named GM and head coach on April 5. . . . According to a text from Gino De Paoli (@GDP_PXP), it “looks like assistants Brad Moran and Tyson Avery will take over for the time being.” . . . The Canucks are 2-22-1, and in last played in the eight-team Viterra South Division.


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Mondays with Murray – A Nation In Shock: A Dreadful Day in Dallas

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1963, SPORTS

Copyright 1963/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

A Nation In Shock: A Dreadful Day in Dallas

    A sniper crouches behind a parapet. His enemy is himself; so he is going to kill a friend. He is going to clear the shadows out of his own deranged mind by sending a bullet into a clear one.

  A nation is shocked, then shamed. The White House is black. A young widow on a television screen is a reproach to all of us. The fruit of hate is death. People who prey on fears have done their work well. Sanity is sentenced to death. Stability is sent home in a mondaysmurray2coffin. A man who stands on principle, lies on a catafalque. Lunacy gets legions; logic loses its life.

  A promising young statesman who, with his nation, survives a confrontation at the missile-head with the most dangerous power the world has ever known, cannot survive a single shot out of a grooved barrel and a twisted mind. His ultimate enemy is not a foreign despot but a homegrown idiot. The political persuasions of the assassin are a camouflage. His allegiance is to hatred. On a dreadful day in Dallas, he pays his tribute to it, salutes his master in the way he knows will please it best.

  The world of sport is as heartsick as the world, period. The nation does not want to play, it wants to cry. Regardless of political belief, the loss is total because it is the loss of a people’s esteem. Violence is the coin of barbarism, not Americanism.

  This is being written to you on Friday some hours after our president has been flown home for the last time, the tan of the Texas sun still on his cheeks, a widow who must wonder if she won’t soon awake from this terrible dream, alongside.

 All of us will always remember what we were doing when the numbing news came. I was, as I usually am, writing a column. It was about fun and games, cowboys and cow ponies, rodeos and riatas. This weekend is no time for fun and games. It is time for a nation to take stock, not wave pom-poms, yell “push ‘em back!” or care very much who goes to the Rose Bowl.

  It is a time to care what goes into our young’s minds, not what goes into their shoulder pads and cleats. The bullet that put an exclamation point in history and another wreath on a family that has already sacrificed another son in the war for men’s minds, put a moratorium on the frivolities of the playing fields.

  Sport lost a friend in President Kennedy. Fitness was a big a passion with him as freedom. If the free weren’t fit, he held, they wouldn’t long be free. The jokes were about touch football, but games were an obsession with him, not a game. He chided staffers who were fat and unfit as he chided a nation that was morally that way.

  He welcomed athletes to the White House, not for their notoriety but for their example. Ambush is not a sport in this country. There are no P.E. classes in firing squads. You don’t get letters for shooting in the back.

  A period of mourning is altogether fitting, not because our President is martyred because every president is martyred — we exact the ransom of health, family, privacy and, sometimes, sanity, from all of them and especially from the best of them — because there is too little time. Prosperity can’t unite us, maybe tragedy can.

  This country is a volunteer country. Sometimes, that’s just its trouble. But I am proud that sport can find in itself the morality to join in the mourning, put away the footballs and the ice skates, suspend the bucks and stand silent and bareheaded along with the rest of the country. It didn’t just happen to our president, it happened to all of us.

  Lincoln, as usual, said it far better than the rest of us. “It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work . . . that from this honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which he gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that this dead shall not have died in vain.”

  I hope that those of you who know me as a man, who would rather find a wisecrack than wisdom, will not be offended by the emotion. It’s just that I am sorry for the President, for Mrs. Kennedy, for their fatherless children. And I am sorry for all of us. I heard a young man on the television say “Today, I am ashamed to be an American.” That is not right. Because Jack Kennedy was not ashamed to be an American. The man who fired the shot was. And should be.

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

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What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org.

Did Leason make the right choice? . . . Edmonton takes battle of Kings . . . Stankowski, Hitmen win in Portland


ThisThat

Hockey or football? Football or hockey? . . . It’s not that long ago when Brett Leason was PrinceAlbertputting up pretty impressive numbers as a quarterback in peewee football. On top of that, his father, Darryl, was a superb university quarterback and, at 44, continues to play competitively. Still, Brett ended up choosing hockey and it would seem that he made the right decision. . . . After all, the Prince Albert Raiders forward went into Wednesday’s games leading the WHL in goals and points. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more on the Leasons right here.


Kelly Sowatsky, a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, needed a kidney transplant. So she showed up at a Penguins game on March 31 with a sign. She got a new kidney on Nov. 6. . . . Mike Brehm of USA Today has that story right here.


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WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Quinn Benjafield scored twice to help the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory EdmontonOilKingsover the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Edmonton (14-8-3) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Brandon (10-6-6) has lost two in a row. . . . F Stelio Mattheos (19) gave Brandon a 1-0 lead, on the PP, at 2:49 of the first period . . . Edmonton F Brett Kemp (16) got that one back at 4:50. . . . The Oil Kings took control with two more goals before the period ended. . . . Benjafield scored at 16:38 and F Trey Fix-Wolansky (14) made it 3-1, on a PP, at 19:21. . . . Benjafield, who has 10 goals, added an empty-netter at 19:52. . . . Fix-Wolansky also had an assist, moving back atop the WHL scoring race. He’s got 48 points, one more than the idle Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders. Fix-Wolansky also leads the WHL in assists (34). . . . G Dylan Myskiw stopped 30 shots for Edmonton. The Oil Kings acquired Myskiw, 19, from Brandon on Sept 19, giving up a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. With Edmonton, Myskiw is 11-5-2, 2.95, .905. . . . The Wheat Kings are without two of their top defencemen in Schael Higson and Braden Schneider.


G Carl Tetachuk stopped 35 shots to help the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over Lethbridgethe Blades in Saskatoon. . . . Lethbridge (10-8-4) had lost its previous two games. . . . Saskatoon (14-8-2) had a four-game winning streak come to an end. . . . The Hurricanes scored the game’s last three goals after F Tristen Robins (3) gave the home boys a 1-0 lead at 19:07 of the first period. . . . F Jadon Joseph (10) tied it just 35 seconds later. . . . F Ty Kolle (5), who also had two assists, broke the tie at 3:17 of the third period. . . . F Jackson Shepard (1) got the empty-netter at 19:35. . . . Kolle has five goals and four assists in 15 games with Lethbridge after being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Blades will open a five-game B.C. Division swing in Prince George on Saturday night.


F Nolan Foote scored a pair of PP goals to lead the host Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 victory KelownaRocketsover the Regina Pats. . . . The Rockets (10-13-1) have won two in a row. They also have won four straight at home. . . . The Pats (8-16-0) are 1-3-0 on a B.C. Division tour that concludes Friday in Prince George. . . . F Kyle Crosbie (3) and Foote gave the Rockets a 2-0 lead, before F Jake Leschyshyn (16) got the Pats to within one at 13:00 of the second period. That ran his point streak to 12 games. . . . Foote restored the two-goal lead with his 15th score at 18:23. . . . Regina D Aaron Hyman (5) got the Pats to within a goal, on a PP, at 19:01 of the third. . . . Finnish D Lassi Thomson, a freshman, had two assists for Kelowna. He’s got seven goals and 11 assists in 24 games.


The Calgary Hitmen erased a 1-0 deficit with three goals and went on to score a 3-2 Calgaryvictory over the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . Calgary (9-13-2) is 2-1-0 on a five-game trip through the U.S. Division. . . . Portland (13-8-2) has lost two in a row. . . . F Cody Glass (8) ran a point streak to 10 games as he gave his guys a 1-0 lead at 9:28 of the first period. . . . F Jake Kryski (11) got Calgary even, on a PP, at 5:42 of the second. . . . Hitmen F James Malm (12) broke the tie at 3:46 of the third period, and F Riley Stotts (6) made it 3-1 at 7:52. . . . D John Ludvig (1) scored at 15:17 as Portland got to within a goal. . . . Calgary was 1-3 on the PP and its penalty-killers were 5-5. . . . D Brendan De Jong was back in Portland’s lineup after a one-game absence. . . . The Hitmen got 38 saves from G Carl Stankowski. You will recall that Stankowski, then 16, wrote quite a story in the WHL playoffs in the spring of 2017 as he helped the Seattle Thunderbirds to a championship. He ran into injury and health problems and didn’t play last season, then was dealt to Calgary. The Hitmen are scheduled to visit the Thunderbirds on Friday night.


The Vancouver Giants opened a 3-0 lead and went on to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-Vancouver2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Vancouver (15-6-2) had lost its previous two games. . . . Seattle now is 8-10-3. . . . The Giants got first-period goals from D Bowen Byram (7), on a PP, and D Dylan Plouffe (3). . . . F Milos Roman (11) made it 3-0, on another PP, at 3:54 of the second period. . . . F Nolan Volcan (5) got Seattle on the scoreboard, shorthanded, at 14:37. . . . However, F Lukas Svejkovsky (2) restored Vancouver’s three-goal lead at 14:13 of the third period. . . . F Zack Andrusiak (11) got Seattle’s second goal, on a PP, at 17:03. . . . Plouffe, who played in his 200th career game, has two goals and four assists in a four-game point streak. . . . G Trent Miner stopped 23 shots for Vancouver. . . . G David Tendeck was among the Giants’ scratches. With him on the shelf, the Giants had Braedy Euerby backing up Miner. Euerby, from Delta, B.C., was a fifth-round pick by Vancouver in the 2017 bantam draft. He plays for the Delta Hockey Academy prep team. . . . F Lucas Ciona made his WHL debut with the Thunderbirds. Ciona, 15, is from Edmonton. He was a second-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. He has six goals and eight assists in 16 games with the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. He also has one assist in two games with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints.


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OHL deal includes 11 draft picks . . . Leason, Raiders just keep rolling . . . Wolf bars the door on Hitmen

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There was another one of those deals for which the OHL has become so well-known — ohlfour players and 11 draft picks. The Kingston Frontenacs sent two players to the Niagara IceDogs for two players and 11 draft picks. Seriously!

From the Kingston Frontenacs website . . .

The Kingston Frontenacs have acquired defenceman Billy Constantinou, forward Ian Martin, and 11 OHL Priority Selection picks from the Niagara IceDogs in exchange for forward Jason Robertson and defenceman Jacob Paquette.

In addition to Constantinou and Martin, the Frontenacs have acquired a number of OHL Priority Selection picks:

  • Sarnia’s 2nd-round pick in 2019
  • Windsor’s 7th-round pick in 2019
  • Windsor’s 3rd-round pick in 2020
  • Peterborough’s 2nd-round pick in in 2021
  • Niagara’s 5th-round pick in in 2021
  • Niagara’s 2nd-round pick in 2022
  • Kitchener’s 3rd-round pick in 2022
  • Niagara’s 2nd-round pick in 2023
  • London’s 3rd-round pick in 2024
  • Niagara’s 13th-round pick in 2020
  • Niagara’s 11th-round pick in 2021


So . . . the Nelson Leafs dropped a 4-2 decision to the Braves in Spokane on Saturday. These are teams that play in the junior B Kootenay International Hockey League. . . . After the game, things got a little heated on social media. The Nelson Star has that story right here.


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TUESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Brett Leason scored three times and Prince Albert scored two more shorthanded goals PrinceAlbertas the Raiders dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-1. . . . Prince Albert (21-1-0) has won 14 straight games. It now heads out on a seven-game road swing that will feature stops in Medicine Hat, Cranbrook, B.C., Red Deer, Edmonton, Regina, Swift Current and Brandon. . . . The Hurricanes (9-8-4) have lost two in a row. . . . Leason opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season, at 4:30 of the first period, to run his season-opening point streak to 22 games. . . . F Taylor Ross (12) pulled Lethbridge even 28 seconds into the second period. . . . D Brayden Pachal (3), who also had two assists, broke the tie at 18:55. . . . Leason then scored twice, shorthanded at 7:03 of the third, and at 11:35. . . . F Kody McDonald (3) added another shorthanded goal at 17:00. . . . Leason’s first career hat trick left him leading the WHL in goals (22) and points (47). He has two more goals than F Joachim Blichfeld of the Portland Winterhawks, and one more point than F Trey Fix-Wolansky of the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Raiders now have scored 14 shorthanded goals. The Red Deer Rebels are next, with six. The WHL record? The Spokane Chiefs scored 31 of them in 1990-91. . . . At the same time, the Raiders have surrendered only seven PP goals. . . . F Parker Kelly drew three assists. . . . F Sean Montgomery played in his 300th regular-season game, all with the Raiders. He was a sixth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. With 11 goals and 14 assists in 21 games, he is nearing his career highs of 13 goals, 17 assists and 29 points. . . . The Raiders lost Pachal in the second period when he was given a major for interference and a game misconduct for a hit on Lethbridge F Jordy Bellerive.


The Regina Pats erased a 1-0 deficit with two second-period goals en route to a 3-2 victory Kamloops1over the host Kamloops Blazers. . . . Regina (8-15-0) had lost its previous three games. The Pats are 1-3-0) on a seven-game road swing, including 1-2-0 in the B.C. Division. They last played at home on Nov. 10; they next are scheduled to play at home on Dec. 1. . . . Kamloops (8-10-2) had won their previous two games. The Blazers are 2-6-1 at home; they are 6-4-1 on the road. . . . F Zane Franklin opened the scoring, giving the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 3:26 of the first period. That was his career-high 15th goal this season. Last season, he had 14 goals in 67 games with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Acquired from Lethbridge over the summer, Franklin has 15 goals in 20 games with Kamloops. . . . The Pats scored the next three goals. . . . F Marco Creta (2) tied the score at 5:07 of the second period, and F Nick Henry (12) gave the visitors the lead with 16.6 left in the period. . . . Regina took a 3-1 lead as F Riley Krane (3) crashed the net and scored at 9:11 of the third. . . . Kamloops got to within a goal at 13:28 as F Kyrell Sopotyk (2) scored. . . . Regina F Jake Leschyshyn drew an assist on Henry’s goal to run his point streak to 11 games. He’s got 11 goals and 10 assists over that stretch.


G Dustin Wolf stopped 26 shots to help the host Everett Silvertips to a 4-0 victory over the EverettCalgary Hitmen. . . . Everett (17-7-1) has points in three straight (2-0-1). The Silvertips are 6-1-1 in their past eight games. . . . Calgary (8-13-2) had won its previous three games. . . . Wolf posted his second shutout of the season and the sixth of his career. . . . This season, Wolf is 16-7-1, 1.87, .924. . . . F Riley Sutter (10) scored the first goal, at 7:16 of the opening period. . . . Everett’s other three goals came in the third period. . . . F Dawson Butt (6) made it 2-0 at 0:22, with F Martin Fasko-Rudas (4) scoring at 3:36, and F Bryce Kindopp (9) getting a shorthanded tally at 8:02. . . . Butt, who has six goals and five assists in 22 games, went into this season with a goal and two assists in 48 games. . . . This was regular-season Game No. 301 for Calgary F Jake Kryski, who has 69 goals and 122 assists in his career. He has played 136 games with the Kamloops Blazers, 37 with the Kelowna Rockets and 128 with Calgary. . . . F Akash Bains was back in Everett’s lineup after missing six games.

Doerksen talks scheduling and more . . . Pederson on his way back to Edmonton . . . Psst! Want to buy a piece of a hockey team?


MacBeth

F Cam Braes (Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, 2007-12) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Aalborg (Denmark, Metal Ligaen) after obtaining his release from Orli Znojmo (Czech Republic, Erste Bank Liga). With Znojmo, he had three goals and two assists in 16 games. . . .

F Tyler Coulter (Brandon, 2012-17) has signed a tryout contract with Tyringe (Sweden, Division 1). Last season, he had one goal and three assists with the Jacksonville IceMen (ECHL), and two goals and one assist in 11 games with the University of Calgary (Canada West, USports). . . . Coulter had signed a contract with Vimmerby (Sweden, Division 1) on Nov. 3, but was released by mutual agreement on Sunday without playing in a game. . . .

F Zach Boychuk (Lethbridge, 2005-09) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Bern (Switzerland, NL A). Boychuk was released by mutual agreement by Severstal Cherepovets (Russia, KHL) on Nov. 13 after recording two goals and two assists in 25 games. . . .

F Toni Rajala (Brandon, 2009-10) has signed three-year contract extension through April 2022 with Biel-Bienne (Switzerland, NL A). This season, he has nine goals and 10 assists in 20 games. He leads the team in points.


ThisThat

If you’ve ever wondered how the WHL puts together its schedule, you should give a listen to Hartley’s Cat Scan that is right here. . . . This one is 38 minutes long and features Richard Doerksen, the league’s vice-president, hockey, in conversation with Hartley Miller, the analyst on home broadcasts of Prince George Cougars’ games. . . . There’s a lot more here than just talk about the schedule, too.


The Kootenay Ice has returned F Owen Pederson 16 to the OHA-Edmonton prep team after played two weekend games, scoring in both of them. . . . A fifth-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft, Pederson has two goals in eight games with the Ice this season. He has six goals and 14 assists in 12 games with his club team.


Hey, if you have ever wanted to own a piece of a hockey team this may be right up your alley. . . . The BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs are looking for “ownership partners” to help “solidify the long-term success of the franchise in Port Alberni.” The team is owned and operated by the Port Alberni Junior Hockey Society. . . . There’s more on this right here.


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Scattershooting after a football-filled Sunday . . . Peckford and Franklin enjoy five-pointers . . . Woods fills his hat for Chiefs

Scattershooting


It won’t be long until the Oakland Raiders are at their new home in Las Vegas. As Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle noted: “Usually when a high-rolling loser comes to Vegas, the casinos set him up with a comp hotel room. With (owner Mark) Davis, they’re giving him a comp stadium.”


Headline at The Onion (@TheOnion): Sarah Huckabee Sanders Denies Doctoring Footage Showing Jim Acosta in Clown Makeup Blowing Up Gotham Hospital.



After word got out that President Trump was to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley, comedian Argus Hamilton noted: “It was a brilliant move. Trump finally figured out a way to get a sports champion and a member of the entertainment industry not to refuse an invitation to the White House.”


The ex-husband of a good friend died recently. Here’s a line from his obit: “If you wish to honour Rod, boycott Trump by avoiding a trip into the United States. Now that would make him happy.” . . . They — he and his ex, not he and Trump — were friends until the end.


Headline at Deadspin: Most annoying Warriors player says he and second-most annoying Warriors player are cool now.



“Supporters of Rijnsburgse Boys, a soccer team in the Netherlands, hired a porn star named Foxy to run in nothing but shoes and socks across the field to unnerve rival Amsterdamsche FC players, but it didn’t work as first-place AFC breezed to a 6-2 win,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “Now that’s what you call a losing streak.”


There was a report the other day that American CEOs earn 312 times what the average worker takes home. To which Brad Rock of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City wrote: “Latrell Sprewell’s first thought: ‘Hey. They got families to feed.’ ”



The best sit-down/stand-up comedy act in the NHL? That’s easy . . . it’s the play-by-play team of Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley, who give you the most-slanted coverage of an NHL team (Boston Bruins) that you can imagine. . . . Go in knowing what you are going to hear and the whining and whimpering becomes hilarious.



Slava Malamud, aka Twitter’s official Russian sports writer, tweeted this the other day, and it’s impossible to disagree with his premise: “Do any fans, ever, in the history of life, look forward to between-the-periods player interviews? Do you learn anything from them? Are they in any way whatsoever needed at all?”



The owner of Benshot, a Wisconsin company, chose to offer handguns to its 16 employees as Christmas presents because they are “kind of fun and exciting gifts.” . . . Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, offered: “And you thought your office Christmas party got out of control after people get drunk and argumentative.”


Ever wonder what the late Howard Cosell would have thought of today’s sports-media landscape? “He would hate social media,” said Al Michaels, NBC-TV’s top football play-by-play man. “He would hate talk radio. . . . He would describe it as a ‘cacophony of crap.’ ”


ThisThat

Austyn Playfair spent three seasons (2014-17) in the WHL, playing for the Tri-City Americans, while dreaming of following his father Jim’s path to the NHL. However, a shoulder injury derailed those plans and he ultimately left hockey and jumped into the world of fashion design. . . . Audrey Lim of dailyhive.com has that story right here.


The OHL’s Saginaw Spirit fired head coach Troy Smith on Sunday, replacing him with associate coach Chris Lazary. The Spirit is 11-9-2, after losing twice on the weekend — 5-2 to the Rangers in Kitchener on Friday and 5-1 to the visiting Windsor Spitfires on Saturday. Saginaw is tied for second with Windsor (11-10-2) in the five-team West Division, six points behind the Soo Greyhounds. . . . Smith was in his second season as the Spirit’s head coach.


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SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Ryan Peckford scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to MooseJawWarriorsa 9-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Warriors (10-5-4) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Ice (7-14-4) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . The Ice went 0-2-1 in playing three games in fewer than 48 hours. Kootenay lost 5-0 to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Friday night, then dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday. . . . On Sunday, the Warriors scored the game’s first four goals as they took a 4-0 lead on Peckford’s second goal of the game at 12:17 of the opening period. . . . He added his third and fourth goals at 5:05 and 10:56 of the second period. . . . Peckford went into the game with four goals this season and came out with eight. This was his first four-goal game and second five-point outing; he had a six-pointer (one goal and five assists) while with the Victoria Royals in 2016-17. A 19-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta., who was acquired last season from the Royals, Peckford now has eight goals and eight assists in 18 games. . . . F Tyler Smithies added his first two goals and an assist for the Warriors. He went into the day with one goal in 54 career regular-season games. . . . The Ice’s goal came from F Owen Pederson, who has goals in two straight games since being brought in Saturday from OHA-Edmonton’s prep team. . . . Moose Jaw had a 43-20 edge in shots. . . . The Ice scratched F Peyton Krebs, while the Warriors remain without F Justin Almeida.


F Zane Franklin scored once and added four assists to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 7-3 Kamloops1victory over the Cougars in Prince George. . . . The Blazers (8-9-2) have won two in a row. On Saturday night, they beat the host Cougars, 5-1. . . . Prince George (9-10-3) has lost two straight. . . . The Blazers have won their last eight games in Prince George. . . . Franklin, an off-season acquisition from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, assisted on four of the Blazers’ first five goals as they took a 5-0 lead before the second period was 14 minutes old. . . . Franklin, 19, had never had a four- or five-point game in 155 regular-season outings prior to this one. He had three three-point games to his credit. Franklin now has 14 goals and 11 assists in 19 games. He finished last season with 14 goals and 24 assists in 67 games. . . . The Blazers were 2-3 on the PP and also had a shorthanded goal. The Cougars went 1-9 on the PP. . . . F Orrin Centazzo and F Luc Smith each had two goals and an assist for the Blazers, with D Nolan Kneen and D Luke Zazula each recording three assists for the Blazers. Smith has eight goals, while Centazzo has four.


The Victoria Royals scored the game’s last three goals as they skated to a 3-1 victory over VictoriaRoyalsthe Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . Victoria (12-6-0) has won two in a row. This was the Royals’ fifth road game of the season; they are 3-2-0. . . . The Giants (14-6-2) have lost two straight. . . . D Dylan Plouffe (2) gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first period. . . . F Logan Doust (1) got Victoria into a tie at 7:43, and F D-Jay Jerome (11) broke the tie at 13:12. . . . F Dino Kambeitz (4) added insurance with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:47 of the third. . . . Doust, who notched his first WHL point, is from North Vancouver. . . . The Giants had been 9-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal. . . . The Royals got 28 saves from G Griffen Outhouse as he posted his 98th career regular-season victory. . . . Vancouver’s Trent Miner stopped 22 shots. . . . Outhouse made his 165th appearance, which tied Coleman Vollrath’s franchise record (2012-16) for most appearances by a goaltender.


F Riley Woods scored three times to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 OT victory over the SpokaneChiefshost Everett Silvertips. . . . Spokane now is 12-8-3, with Everett at 16-7-1. . . . Woods, who has 18 goals, opened the scoring with two PP goals — at 6:24 and 8:42 of the first period. . . . Everett pulled even on goals from D Wyatte Wylie (5), on a PP, at 11:15 of the first, and F Dawson Butt (5) at 6:00 of the second. . . . Woods won it at 2:27 of the extra period as he completed his first WHL hat trick. . . . Woods, who was acquired from the Regina Pats during 2016-17, has 18 goals and 15 assists in 23 games. Last season, the 20-year-old from Regina finished with 25 goals and 32 assists in 72 games. . . . G Bailey Brkin stopped 38 shots and picked up an assist on the game’s first goal for Spokane. . . . D Ty Smith had two assists for the Chiefs; he’s got three goals and 28 assists in 20 games. . . . For the second straight weekend, Everett played three games in fewer than 48 hours. After going 3-0-0 the first time, the Silvertips were 1-1-1 this time. . . . The Chiefs also went three times in fewer than 48 hours this weekend, finishing 2-1-0.


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Scott, Raiders run win streak to 13 . . . Kastelic sparks Hitmen in Spokane . . . Everett wins battle of division leaders

MacBeth

F Miles Koules (Medicine Hat, Portland, 2012-15) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with HIFK Helsinki (Finland, Liiga) after obtaining his release from the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). He was pointless in two games with Cleveland. . . .

G Marek Langhamer (Medicine Hat, 2012-15) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Maur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). This season, in eight games with Kometa Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he was 2.38 and .916. . . .

D John Negrin (Kootenay, Swift Current, 2004-09) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with MAC Újbuda Budapest (Hungary, Slovakia Extraliga). Last season, with Lørenskog (Norway, GET-Ligaen), he had two goals and 13 assists in 24 games. . . .

F Zack Hamill (Everett, 2003-08) has signed a contract through Jan. 1 with Bad Nauheim (Germany, DEL2). Last season, he had 11 goals and eight assists in 27 games with Lørenskog (Norway, GET-Ligaen), and four goals and five assists in 21 games with Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic, 1. Liga).


ThisThat

Hey, is that a quintessential Canadian photo, or what?

I saw this photo early Saturday and it about knocked me over. What a grand photograph.


The WHL’s Official Guide for 2018-19 now is available for download. You are able to find it right here.

Here are a few dates of note that you will find in the Guide . . .

Dec. 15-27 — WHL trade moratorium for roster players.

Jan. 10 — WHL trade deadline (3 p.m. MT).

Jan. 23 — CHL Top Prospects Game, Red Deer.

March 22 — Start of WHL playoffs.

May 1 — WHL awards luncheon, Red Deer.

May 2 — WHL bantam draft, Red Deer.

May 17-26 — Memorial Cup, Halifax.

June 11-12 — WHL annual meeting, Kelowna.

June 21-22 — NHL draft, Vancouver.

June 26 or 27 — CHL import draft.


By now, you will be familiar with the story of the players from the Ottawa Senators who took a Uber ride and had their conversation go viral when the driver put the video online. . . . Well, there is an interesting story right here about how a lot of the online outrage that was aimed at two Postmedia newspapers turned out to be from fake Twitter accounts. . . . Yes, you may chalk this up as one more sign of the times.


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SATURDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

One night after becoming the eighth WHL goaltender to score a goal, Ian Scott stopped 26 shots to help the visiting Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat PrinceAlbertKings. . . . The Raiders (20-1-0) became the first CHL team to 20 victories this season as they ran their winning streak to 13 games. . . . Brandon (10-5-6) had points in each of its previous three games (2-0-1). . . . Scott has four shutouts this season and seven in his career. He didn’t put up a shutout in 50 appearances last season. He made his 18th appearance of this season last night. He now is 17-1-0, 1.39, .950. . . . The Raiders took control in the first period with a pair of PP goals. F Sean Montgomery started it at 9:34 and F Carson Miller (8) made it 2-0 at 15:44. . . . Montgomery added his second goal, and 11th of the season, on a PP in the third period. . . . D Sergei Sapego had three assists, and F Brett Leason ran his point streak to 21 games with his 19th goal and an assist. . . . The Raiders were 3-8 on the PP and got another shorthanded goal. Prince Albert has scored 22 PP goals, while surrendering one shorthanded score. At the same time, it has struck for 12 shorthanded goals while giving up just seven PP goals. . . . Brandon D Braden Schneider left in the first period and didn’t return.


The host Saskatoon Blades scored three goals in the second half of the third period to beat the Tri-City Americans, 5-3. . . . Saskatoon (14-7-2) has won four in a row. . . . Tri-City Saskatoon(12-8-0) has lost two straight. The Americans went 7-4-0 on an 11-game road trip. They finished 2-4-0 in the East Division. . . . Tri-City, which last played at home on Oct. 19, is scheduled to entertain the Kamloops Blazers on Friday. . . . D Dom Schmiemann (1) pulled the Americans into a 2-2 tie at 9:53 of the second period, and F Parker AuCoin (12) gave the visitors the lead at 10:13 of the third. . . . F Eric Florchuk got the Blades into a 3-3 tie at 13:53. . . . D Randen Schmidt’s first WHL goal, at 15:32, turned into the winner, and Florchuk added insurance with his seventh goal at 17:34. . . . Schmidt, a 18-year-old from Regina, had seven assists in 36 games with the Blades last season. This season, he has one goal and one assists in 17 games. . . . The Blades got a goal and three assists from F Kirby Dach. The second-overall pick in the 2016 bantam draft now has 13 goals and 26 assists in 23 games. He finished last season with seven goals and 39 assists in 52 games. . . . G Nolan Maier stopped 29 shots for Saskatoon. . . . Tri-City Beck Warm blocked 35 shots in his 13th straight start.


Mads Søgaard recorded his first WHL shutout as the Medicine Hat Tigers went into Swift Tigers Logo OfficialCurrent and beat the Broncos, 2-0. . . . Medicine Hat (10-11-3) had lost is previous five games (0-4-1). . . . The Tigers went 1-3-0 in playing four road games in five nights. . . . Swift Current (3-18-2) has lost five straight (0-4-1) and has been blanked in three of its last four outings. . . . Søgaard blocked 48 shots. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski scored both goals, at 8:34 and 13:47 of the first period. He’s got nine goals.


F Nolan Foote scored twice and added an assist to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 3-1 KelownaRocketsvictory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . Kelowna (9-13-1) had lost its previous four games (0-3-1). . . . The Rockets went 2-3-1 on a six-game road trip. . . . The Oil Kings (13-8-3) had points in each of their previous 10 games (8-0-2). . . . F David Kope (4) gave the home boys a 1-0 lead at 9:11 of the first period. . . . The Rockets scored the next three goals, with F Liam Kindree (4) equalizing on a PP at 11:53. Foote, who has 13 goals, counted at 10:06 and 10:38 of the second period. . . . F Leif Mattson had three assists for Kelowna. . . . The Oil Kings held a 27-13 edge in shots. Kelowna had two, seven and four shots, by period. . . . F Zach Russell, a 19-year-old from Calgary, made his Edmonton debut. Russell played one game with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, but spent most of it with the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks, putting up 16 goals and 20 assists in 43 games. In 2016-17, he had three goals and two assists in 40 games with Brandon.


F Tristin Langan scored twice as the Moose Jaw Warriors skated to a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. . . . The Warriors (9-5-4) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Hurricanes are 9-7-4. . . . Langan gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 18:46 of the first period. . . . F Logan Barlage (8) tied it at 1:17 of the second. . . . F Brayden Tracey (6) snapped the tie, on a PP, to put Moose Jaw ahead at 9:57. . . . Langan upped the lead to 3-1 with his 15th goal, at 10:54 of the third. . . . The Hurricanes got back to within one at 16:59 as F Zachary Cox (7) scored on a PP. . . . The Hurricanes got 38 saves from G Carl Tetachuk.


F Reese Johnson completed his hat trick in OT as the Red Deer Rebels beat the visiting KootenaynewKootenay Ice, 5-4. . . . The Rebels (15-5-1) have won four in a row. . . . The Ice (7-13-4) has lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . Johnson, who has 13 goals, scored Red Deer’s last three goals. He broke a 2-2 tie, on a PP, at 13:21 of the second period. . . . F Connor McLennon (4) pulled the Ice back into a tie with his second goal of the game, at 16:07. He also had an assist. . . . Johnson gave Red Deer a 4-3 lead with a shorthanded score at 2:25 of the third. . . . Kootenay D Jonathan Smart (3) tied it, again, on a PP, at 3:40. . . . Johnson won it on another PP, at 2:50 of OT. . . . Red Deer was 3-4 on the PP; Kootenay was 1-2. . . . F Brandon Hagel drew four assists for the Rebels. He now has 14 goals and 23 assists in 37 games. The four-point game also put him over a point a game for his career. In 213 regular-season games, he now has 214 points. . . . F Owen Pederson scored the game’s first goal, giving the Ice a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the first period. Pederson, 16, was brought in earlier in the day from the OHA-Edmonton prep team. This was his seventh game of the season with the Ice; the goal was his first point.


The Kamloops Blazers allowed only 14 shots on goal as they skated to a 5-1 victory over Kamloops1the Cougars in Prince George. . . . Kamloops (7-9-2) had lost its previous four games (0-3-1). . . . Prince George (9-9-3) had won two in a row. . . . The Blazers held a 36-14 edge in shots, giving up only four, four and six by period. . . . Kamloops was 3-7 on the PP. . . . F Jermaine Loewen scored twice for the Blazers, giving them 2-0 and 3-0 leads. He’s got eight goals. . . . F Zane Franklin got his 13th goal fro Kamloops. . . . F Mike MacLean (2) scored for the Cougars at 16:25 of the third period. . . . Kamloops won 39 of the game’s 59 faceoffs.


The Seattle Thunderbirds erased an early 2-0 deficit with five straight goals and went on to beat the Portland Winterhawks, 6-4, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle (8-9-3) had lost its Seattleprevious seven games (0-6-1). . . . Portland had points in each of its previous seven games (6-0-1). . . . F Jake Gricius, with his first of two goals, and D Clay Hanus (2) put Portland ahead before the game was eight minutes old. . . . Seattle tied it before the first period ended, as F Jared Davidson got his first WHL goal and F Samuel Huo scored his third of the season. . . . Seattle F Matthew Wedman put his guys out front, 4-2, with goals at 5:10 and 5:47 of the second period. . . . F Andrej Kukuca (5) made it 5-2 at 4:08 of the third and the writing was on the wall. . . . Gricius got the game’s last goal, his 12th, on a PP, at 19:26. . . . Wedman also had an assist for a three-point night, while teammate Nolan Volcan had three assists. . . . Seattle G Liam Hughes was busy, with 51 saves, 21 more than Portland’s Dante Giannuzzi. . . . Portland D Brendan De Jong was scratched after leaving Friday’s 5-2 victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips in the first period. De Jong went down, needed help getting off the ice and didn’t return. Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, told Joshua Critzer of dubnetwork.ca that De Jong “got a little whiplash with his neck here. It is more of a neck injury . . .” . . . A scoring change after Friday’s game cost Portland F Cody Glass an assist. Originally credited with three, he was left with two. Upon further review, D Matthew Quigley was given the assist, giving him three in the game. Quigley went into the game with two points both assists, in 17 games. In 2016-17, as a freshman, he finished with three assists in 49 games. . . . Glass had two more assists on Saturday night.


F Mark Kastelic scored three times to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the CalgaryChiefs in Spokane. . . . Calgary (8-12-2) has won three straight. . . . Spokane (11-8-3) had won its previous three games. . . . Kastelic gave the Hitmen a 2-0 lead with a pair of PP goals, at 14:26 of the first period and 5:20 of the second. . . . Freshman F Adam Beckman (10) scored a PP goal for the Chiefs at 17:15. . . . Kastelic got that one back as he completed his first WHL hat trick at 19:36. . . . Kastelic, 19, has 19 goals and 11 assists in 22 games. Last season, he finished with 23 goals and 22 assists in 71 games. . . . F Riley Stotts (4, 5) had Calgary’s other two goals. . . . F James Malm had three assists. He’s got two goals and seven assists in seven games since Calgary acquired him from the Vancouver Giants. On the season, he has 11 goals and 13 assists in 20 games. . . . G Carl Stankowski stopped 33 shots for the Hitmen.


F Tanner Sidaway broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period to give the Victoria Royals a 2-1 VictoriaRoyalsvictory over the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Victoria improved to 11-6-0. . . . Regina (7-15-0) has lost three in a row. The Pats are (0-2-0) on a seven-game road trip. They won’t play at home again until Dec. 1. . . . F Jake Leschyshyn (15) gave Regina a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first period. . . . Victoria tied it when F Kaid Oliver (13) scored, on a PP, at 17:19. . . . Sidaway, a 19-year-old from Victoria, won it at 17:15 of the third period with his second goal of the season. . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 17 shots to earn the victory over Max Paddock, who blocked 25. . . . The Royals continue to be without D Ralph Jarratt and F Dante Hannoun.


F Connor Dewar scored twice and added an assist to help the host Everett Silvertips to a Everett6-5 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Everett (16-7-0) leads the U.S. Division. . . . Vancouver (14-5-2) leads the B.C. Division. . . . D Jake Christiansen (6) gave Everett a 4-1 lead, on a PP, at 18:56 of the second period and this one appeared close to being over. . . . D Matt Barberis (1) scored for Vancouver, on a PP, at 10:04 of the third period, but Everett F Sean Richards (6) got that one back at 12:50. . . . F Jared Dmytriw (4), on a PP, and F Davis Koch (5) pulled the Giants to within a goal, before Dewar scored his 18th goal into an empty net at 18:03. . . . The empty-netter turned into the winner when Giants F Dawson Holt (4) scored at 18:49. . . . D Artyom Minulin had three assists for Everett. . . . Vancouver got three assists from F Milos Roman, with Dmytriw adding two assists to his goal.


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Great Scott! Raiders goalie turns sniper as mates run win streak to 12 . . . Blichfeld, Glass (again) lead ‘Hawks . . . Giants romp past Pats

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Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders became the eighth goaltender in WHL history to score a goal when he notched an empty-netter in a 3-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans on Friday night.

On Wednesday, in a 2-0 victory over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, Scott had taken a shot at an empty net, only to have the puck hit the scoreclock in the Art Hauser Centre.

Given another opportunity two nights later, Scott made no mistake.

“He made a liar out of me. I thought it’d be tough in this building,” Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid told Jeff D’Andrea of panow.com. “He got good wood on that one, he hammered it and it went in. Last time it was a two-goal lead, and that time it was one, so I’m glad he hit the net or it would have been a faceoff in our end again. Good for him.”

Scott told D’Andrea: “I mentioned to Habby, maybe I not go so high, just kind of a bullet down the middle. I guess it worked out. I thought it was going to get picked off. It was a pretty congested middle . . . got lucky.”

D’Andrea’s complete story is right here.

——

Here’s a look at the other seven goaltenders who have WHL goals to their credit, in chronological order . . .

Nov. 29, 1989 — Olaf Kolzig, Tri-City Americans 5, Seattle Thunderbirds 2, at Kennewick, Wash. He grabbed a Seattle clearance behind his net and lofted a wrist shot the length of the ice and just inside the left post.

“That was the coolest thing, for sure,” Kolzig, who also had an assist, told Annie Fowler when she looked back six years ago.“Ron Hextall was my idol. He was the first to score. Up to that point, I hadn’t been having a good season. I got back from Washington (Capitals training camp) with a bad attitude. My save percentage and goals against weren’t worth anything at that point.

“They had pulled their goalie, and we were up 4-2. The puck went behind the net. I went back to get it, and I want to say I lifted it 20 feet in the air, but it was about three feet. By the time it was halfway down the ice, it started to curl, and it just went inside the post.”

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Jan. 3, 1991 — Chris Osgood of the host Medicine Hat Tigers scored in a 4-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. Like Kolzig before him, Osgood fired the puck the length of the ice for his goal.
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Dec. 29, 1992 — Jeff Calvert came on in relief for the Tacoma Rockets and scored a goal and added an assist as they erased a 4-0 deficit to beat the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors, 6-4.

Calvert, who is from Moose Jaw, had taken over for starter Todd MacDonald at 9:30 of the first period with Tacoma trailing, 3-0.

Former Tacoma defenceman Dallas Thompson once told me: “I would bet he was the only goalie in history to score in a game he never started.”

——

March 28, 1994 — Jason Clague of the Red Deer Rebels was credited with the winning goal in a 4-2 victory over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes. He is the only WHL goaltender to have scored a goal during a playoff game.

“It will likely get more humorous every time I tell the story, but I think the main thing for us tonight was winning the game,” Clague told Cameron Yoos of the Lethbridge Herald.

Yoos described the goal:

Clague’s historic marker came in the third period with Red Deer clinging to a 2-1 lead, its first lead in the series. On a delayed penalty call, Hurricanes goaltender Slan Matwijiw began skating to the bench for an extra attacker while teammate Dominic Pittis handled the puck behind the Rebels’ goal. Pittis spoiled Ivan Vologjaninov cruising through the slot and fed a pass lo the middle. Vologjaninov wound up for a one-time slapshot, but fanned on the puck, which then slid the length of the ice into the open goal.”

Matwijiw told Yoos: “It was kind of a sick feeling.”

——

March 5, 2004 — Jordan McLaughlin of the Prince George Cougars scored at 19:05 of the third period in a 4-1 victory over the host Vancouver Giants.

“This is definitely a career highlight for me,” McLaughlin said. “Every time a team pulls their goalie, the possibility of scoring is in the back of your mind. We had a two-goal lead and the puck was dumped perfectly into me, so I saw it as a perfect opportunity.”

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Feb. 1, 2014 — Chris Driedger of the Calgary Hitmen was credited with a goal in a 5-2 loss to the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C.

Driedger was awarded the game’s first goal, at 5:45 of the first period, when, during a delayed penalty against Calgary F Jake Virtanen, Ice G Mackenzie Skapski headed to the bench for the extra attacker. Kootenay D Jagger Dirk whipped the puck around the boards to F Zach Franko, who attempted a pass to the point. However, the puck zipped past F Jaedon Descheneau, who had come of the bench as the extra attacker, and into the vacated net. Dreidger had made the save that led to Dirk getting the rebound. As the last Calgary player to touch the puck, Driedger was given the goal.

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March 19, 2016 — Stuart Skinner of the Lethbridge Hurricanes gave his side an 8-3 lead in what would be a 9-3 victory over the host Medicine Hat Tigers.

“It was funny because before the period I (said) ‘If they pull their goalie, give me the puck,’ ” Skinner told Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald. “Surprisingly enough, they dumped it in and I had an open chance. I got it over everyone and somehow it went it. So I’m pretty excited. I definitely felt good when it was in the air and when it went in it was a feeling I can’t really describe right now. It was a really exciting moment. I have shivers going through my whole body, so it’s really cool.”


“In moving on Thursday to free owners of the OHL from treating their employees as such ohlunder law,” writes Cathal Kelly of The Globe and Mail, “Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government congratulated itself on ‘protecting the long-term sustainability of local junior teams.’

“The government’s news release on the matter referred to its support of ‘the People Protecting Amateur Hockey,’ which would be a pretty good name for a secessionist group of Saskatchewan freedom fighters.

“The upshot here is that Ontario Hockey League players are excluded from the Employment Standards Act. They exist legally under the slippery formulation of ‘student athletics.’ ”

Kelly’s complete column is right here.


Byron Hackett of the Red Deer Advocate has joined the club advocating the death of the loser point, at least in the WHL. . . . The column that gained him admittance into the club is right here.


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FRIDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

F Ridley Greig had a goal and two assists to lead the host Brandon Wheat Kings to a 4-1 BrandonWKregularvictory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Brandon (10-4-6) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Medicine Hat (9-11-3) has lost five in a row (0-4-1). . . . The home team took control with two first-period goals, from Greig (3) and F Linden McCorrister (4). . . . F Baxter Anderson (1) scored for the Tigers at 1:34 of the second period. . . . Brandon F Ben McCartney, who has four goals, put it away with a pair of third-period scores, Greig assisting on both of them. . . . Greig was playing his first game since returning from the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. Greig, 16, is from Lethbridge. He was the eighth-overall pick in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. This season, he has three goals and seven assists in 15 games. . . . G Ethan Kruger stopped 34 shots to earn the victory in his fourth appearance of the season. He is 2-0-2, 2.69, .915. . . . The Wheat Kings held a 53-35 edge in shots, including 26-7 in the first period. . . . G Jordan Hollett went the distance for the Tigers. . . . D Schael Higson, who hasn’t played for Brandon since Oct. 16, is back skating so could be nearing a return. He had 12 points, nine of them assists, in eight games when he went out.


G Ian Scott scored a goal and stopped 24 shots to help the Prince Albert Raiders to a 3-1 PrinceAlbertvictory over the visiting Tri-City Americans. . . . The Raiders (19-1-0) have won 12 in a row. . . . The Americans (12-7-0) are 7-3-0 on an 11-game road trip. They are 2-3-0 in the East Division. . . . On Wednesday night, Scott had taken a shot at an empty net, only to have the puck strike the scoreboard (see above tweet). In a similar play last night, Scott reached the promised land for goaltenders. . . . F Krystof Hrabik (6) gave the Americans a 1-0 lead at 1:11 of the third period. . . . D Sergei Sapego (6) tied it, on a PP, at 5:44. The Raiders claimed Sapego, who is from Belarus, on waivers from the Americans last season. . . . Raiders F Brett Leason drew an assist on Sapego’s goal to run his point streak to 20 games. . . . D Brayden Pachal (2) broke the tie at 7:06 and Scott added the insurance at 19:44. . . . This season, Scott is 16-1-0, 1.47, .947.


G Ethan Anders stopped 28 shots to lead the host Red Deer Rebels to a 7-0 victory over Red Deerthe Kelowna Rockets. . . . Red Deer (14-5-1) has won three in a row. . . . The Rockets (8-13-1) have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and are 1-3-1 on a six-game road trip. This was the third time they have been blanked this season and the second time in four games. . . . Anders has two shutouts this season and three in his career. This season, he is 12-4-1, 2.80, .922. . . . F Brandon Hagel (14) got the Rebels started with a shorthanded goal at 11:03 of the first period. Hagel also had two assists. . . . The Rebels got goals from seven different players, including F Dallon Melin (1) and F Jeff de Wit (13). . . . Red Deer was 2-4 on the PP and also scored twice while shorthanded.


G Jack McNaughton turned aside 19 shots as the Calgary Hitmen skated to a 5-0 victory Calgaryover the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Hitmen (7-12-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Ice is 7-13-3. . . . This was the Ice’s first home game since the Green Bay Committee, which had been struck in an attempt to sell tickets and sponsorships to aid the team, ceased operations on Tuesday. The committee cited a lack of engagement by the Ice’s ownership for the decision. . . . The announced attendance was 2,395 as they honoured the Cranbrook Colts, a team that started out in junior B and moved to junior A before folding when the Ice arrived in 1998. . . . McNaughton, a 17-year-old freshman from Calgary, posted his first WHL shutout in his 10th appearance. . . . F Ryder Korczak, who went into the game with two goals, scored twice for Calgary, opening the scoring at 6:26 of the first period and closing it at 19:49 of the third. . . . F Jake Kryski had a goal, his 10th, and an assist in his 299th regular-season game. . . . Calgary had a 42-19 edge in shots, including 19-5 in the third period.


F Taylor Ross scored in the fifth round of the shootout to give the host Lethbridge LethbridgeHurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Lethbridge improved to 9-6-4. . . . Edmonton (13-7-3) has points in 10 straight (8-0-2). . . . The Oil Kings thought they had won it at 1:38 of OT when they believed that F Trey Fix-Wolansky had scored. In fact, the Oil Kings left the Ice in celebration, but had to return when it was ruled no goal. . . . Edmonton took a 2-0 lead on second-period goals from F Vince Loschiavo (11), on a PP, and F Jalen Luypen (3). . . . F Jake Elmer got Lethbridge to within a goal at 4:32 of the third period, and Ross tied it at 18:52, with G Reece Klassen on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Klassen finished with 35 saves. . . . The Oil Kings gave G Dylan Myskiw his sixth straight start and he responded with 29 saves. They also have returned G Sebastian Cossa, who turns 16 on Nov. 21, to the midget AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers.


F Joachim Blickheld struck for three goals and added an assist to help the Portland PortlandWinterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Silvertips had beaten the visiting Winterhawks, 3-2 in a shootout, on Wednesday night. . . . Portland (13-6-2) has points in seven straight (6-0-1). . . . Everett (15-7-0) had won its previous five games. . . . F Jake Gricius (10) scored, on a PP, to give the Winterhawks a 1-0 lead at 3:40 of the first period. . . . F Jalen Price (3) tied it at 8:04. . . . Blichfeld scored the game’s next three goals, giving him a WHL-leading 20 snipes. He scored once in each period — at 10:09 of the first, 18:58 of the second and 3:05 of the third. . . . Blichfeld now has 43 points in 21 games and trails only Edmonton F Trey Fix-Wolansky in the scoring race. Fix-Wolansky has 46 points. . . . F Cody Glass had three assists for Portland. He has 38 points, 31 of them assists, in 18 games. . . . Glass is on an eight-game point streak, with 18 points, including 15 assists, in that stretch. . . . Everett F Connor Dewar had an 11-game point streak snapped. He put up 12 goals and nine assists over that time.


D Nolan Reid scored twice as the Spokane Chiefs doubled the visiting Seattle SpokaneChiefsThunderbirds, 4-2. . . . The Chiefs (11-7-3) have won three in a row. . . . The Thunderbirds ((7-9-2) have lost seven straight (0-6-1). . . . F Carter Chorney (8) got the Chiefs started at 11:13 of the first period, with F Zack Andrusiak (9) scoring shorthanded at 2:52 of the second for Seattle. . . . Reid, who has five goals, broke the tie at 1:26 of the third period and F Adam Beckman (9) provided the Chiefs with a 3-1 lead at 10:50. . . . Seattle F Tyler Carpendale (1) and Reid, with an empty-netter, traded goals down the stretch. . . . The Chiefs remain without injured F Jake McGrew.


F Milos Roman scored twice and added an assist, while F Davis Koch had three assists, Vancouverhelping the Vancouver Giants to a 10-4 victory over the Regina Pats in Langley, B.C. . . . Vancouver improved to 14-4-2, while the Pats (7-14-0) lost their second in a row. . . . The Giants took control with the game’s first four goals, all in the first 15 minutes. . . . Roman now has 10 goals. . . . F Tristen Nielsen scored twice for Vancouver his first goals since coming over from the Calgary Hitmen in a deal that had F James Malm go the other way. . . . F Yannik Valenti also had two Vancouver goals, giving him four. . . . F Nick Henry had three goals and an assist for Regina, with F Jake Leschyshyn getting a goal and two assists. Henry has 11 goals; Leschyshyn has 14. . . . Vancouver outshot Regina, 45-28, including 19-10 in the first period and 17-8 in the second. . . . The Pats were without F Logan Nijhoff, who served a one-game suspension after he took a boarding major and game misconduct during a 5-2 loss to the host Kootenay Ice on Tuesday.


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OHL gets exemption from Ontario gov’t . . . Report: Ice preparing to make announcement next week; team to salute Cranbrook Colts tonight


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The Ontario provincial government skated firmly into the corner with the OHL on Thursday, revealing that major junior hockey players will be excluded from the ohlEmployment Standards Act. As such, those players won’t be classified as employees, therefore won’t be eligible to be paid at least minimum wage.

Ontario is the latest jurisdiction to exempt major junior players from minimum wage-related legislation, joining B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Michigan and the state of Washington.

The CHL is the umbrella under which the OHL, QMJHL and WHL operate. They are facing a class-action lawsuit brought by former and present players asking that they be paid at least minimum wage. Among other things, the lawsuit also asks for vacation pay.

Megan Stacey of the London Free Press has more on this story right here.


All was quiet on the Kootenay Ice front again Thursday, two days after a group that had been working to help the WHL franchise by selling tickets and sponsorships shut it down.

The Green Bay Committee cited a lack of engagement by the Ice ownership in making a Kootenaynewdecision to cease operations and return about $50,000 it said it had raised, mostly from local businesses.

Owners Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, who purchased the franchise from the Chynoweth family prior to the 2017-18 season, chose not to attend committee meetings. That decision meant that no one from the Ice organization was on hand to answer questions and to quell speculation that the franchise will move to Winnipeg once this season ends.

On Thursday, the Winnipeg Free Press reported:

“Late Wednesday, a planned team-hosted media event failed to materialize, but sources told the Free Press that an announcement is being planned for next week.”

John Hudak, the Green Bay Committee’s marketing director, has been the front man since a letter explaining its decision was emailed to Cockell and copied to Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, and members of the WHL’s board of governors.

To date, there hasn’t been any comment from Fettes, Cockell or Robison.

“It’s out of our hands; it’s up to the owners,” Hudak told the Free Press. “Like somebody asked me, ‘What do you think?’ Well, the last time I checked I wasn’t a psychologist and I wasn’t a mind-reader. I don’t know what’s going on in the minds of Matt Cockell and Greg Fettes. They’re the people (who) have to answer that.”

When asked by the Free Press if he thinks Cockell and Fettes have always intended to move the team to Winnipeg, Hudak replied:

“Well, I’ll put it to you this way — there are certain people in town who feel that way. I’m not going to dodge the bullet on that one but as far as the committee was concerned, we felt that if we went out and did our work and helped the present ownership out here, that we could sit down and be able to keep the team here.”

The Ice is scheduled to play at home tonight against the Calgary Hitmen. In a promotion tonight, the Ice will be honouring the now-defunct Cranbrook Colts, a team that started in junior B before moving up to junior A and playing int he Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League.

According to Wikipedia, “The Colts folded in 1998 because of the forming of the Kootenay Ice . . .”


The Kootenay Ice has added F Michael Milne 16, to its roster for what the team says is “the remainder of the season.” From Abbotsford, B.C., the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Milne was leading the major midget Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in goals (18) and points (26), in 14 games. . . . He was an eighth-round pick by the Ice in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft.


The Everett Silvertips have signed F Nate Goodbrandson to a WHL contract. Goodbrandson, a 15-year-old from St. Andrews, Man., has eight goals and 10 assists in 17 games with the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. The 6-foot-0, 160-pounder was a seventh-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft and attended Everett’s training camp prior to this season. . . . Last season, he finished with 31 goals and 46 assists in 34 games with the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks.


If you stop off here and enjoy what you see — or even if you don’t — feel free to click on the DONATE button over there on the right and make a contribution. Thanks in advance.


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