Tag: Aaron Portzline

Hockey loses a friend in Seattle . . . Three top seeds open WHL’s second round with victories. . . . Rebels start with win on road

I never had the privilege of meeting Andy Eide, but we certainly communicated on occasion via email and Twitter. I can tell you that no one loved hockey — and hockey in the Pacific Northwest, in particular — more than did Andy. He absolutely loved covering the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds and it was more of his dream come true when he came to be involved in coverage of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. . . . If you aren’t aware, Andy had a stroke on March 18, just prior to a Kraken game against the visiting Edmonton Oilers. He died on Friday. . . . The tributes that flowed  on social media like so many tears revealed what kind of impact he had.

WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:

The second round of the WHL playoffs opened with four series — conference semifinals — on Friday night.

In Winnipeg, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, the Winnipeg Ice, will take a 1-0 series lead into tonight’s Game 2 against the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors.

In Saskatoon, the No. 3 Rebels have a 1-0 lead against the No. 2 Blades. They won’t play a second game until Sunday, because lacrosse’s Saskatchewan Rush has a game in the SaskTel Centre tonight. If you’re confused as to how the Rebels were the second seed and the Blades No. 3 in the first round but now those seeds are reversed, here’s the deal: The Rebels were the No. 2 seed because they finished atop the Central Division in the regular season. The Blades had more points than did the Rebels, but finished second in the East Division. In the first round, a division title gets you the first or second seed. The WHL reseeds for the second round, so the Blades became the No. 2 seed, ahead of the Rebels.

Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds have a 1-0 lead over the Prince George Cougars going into tonight’s second game.

And, in Kamloops, the No. 2 Blazers hold a 1-0 lead over the Portland Winterhawks as they prepared for a second game tonight.

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FRIDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Moose Jaw (4) at Winnipeg (1) — F Matt Savoie had a goal and two assists to WinnipegIcehelp the Winnipeg Ice to a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Ice is 5-0 in these playoffs; the Warriors are 4-1. . . . The Ice jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals from F Owen Pederson (2), on a PP, at 1:04, F Zach Benson (1), at 7:57, and Savoie (7), at 16:42. . . . However, the Warriors scored the next three goals to pull even. F Brayden Yager (3) got it started at 19:38 of the first period, with D Max Wanner (2) scoring at 4:09 of the second and F Jagger Firkus (5) tying it at 13:21, on a PP. . . . F Connor McClennon (4) snapped the tie at 2:59 of the third period, with D Graham Sward (1) adding insurance at 6:04. . . . Benson, who had 36 goals and 62 assists in the regular season, played in his first game March 10. . . . Winnipeg G Daniel Hauser stopped 26 shots, six fewer than Moose Jaw’s Connor Ungar. . . . Each team was 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . The Ice remains without F Carson Latimer, a trade-deadline acquisition from the Prince Albert Raiders, who last played on Feb. 26. . . . Moose Jaw F Robert Baco sat out as he is serving a three-game suspension after taking a goalie interference major and game misconduct in Game 4 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Baco will be eligible to return for Game 4 against the Ice. . . .

Red Deer (3) at Saskatoon (2) — D Christoffer Sedoff had a goal and an assist as RedDeerthe Red Deer Rebels beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . F Jhett Larson (2) gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at 4:28 of the second period, and they nursed that until 14:19 of the third when F Jace Isley (1) scored the eventual game-winner. . . . F Jake Chiasson (3) got Saskatoon on the board at 18:08 with G Austin Elliott on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Sedoff put it away with the empty-netter, his third goal of these playoffs. . . . Each team was 0-for-3 on the PP. . . . G Kyle Kelsey earned the victory with 23 saves, six more than Elliott.

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Prince George (4) at Seattle (1) — F Dylan Guenther’s two first-period goals Seattlegot the Seattle Thunderbirds started to a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Kent, Wash. . . . Guenther, who has seven goals in five games, scored at 1:50 and 15:23, the second one coming on a PP. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer (3) got the Cougars’ goal, on a PP, at 18:14. . . . F Lucas Ciona (4) added insurance for Seattle at 2:48 of the third period, and F Nico Myatovic (1) got the empty-netter at 19:36. . . . F Brad Lambert finished with three assists. . . . Prince George was 1-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-3. . . . G Thomas Milic celebrated his 20th birthday by stopping 23 shots for Seattle, which is 5-0 in these playoffs. . . . The Cougars got 40 saves from G Ty Young. . . .

Portland (3) at Kamloops (2) — F Jakub Demek scored his first two goals of Kamloopsthese playoffs as the Kamloops Blazers skated to a 6-4 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Demek went into the game with six assists and 26 shots on goal through four games, but nothing in the way of goals. Off-season shoulder surgery limited him to 15 regular-season games this season, and he finished with four goals and seven assists. . . . F Emmitt Finnie (4) ran his point streak to 15 games as he gave the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 8:30 of the first period. . . . F James Stefan’s first of three goals tied it at 9:50. . . . Demek put Kamloops back in front at 13:45 of the second period and F Fraser Minten, in his first game of these playoffs, upped the lead to 3-1 at 15:22. Minten hadn’t played since March 22. . . . Those two goals, coming 1:37 apart, were scored with Portland D Luca Cagnoni in the dressing room getting checked out. . . . Stefan got Portland back to within a goal at 17:04; this was his third multi-goal effort of these playoffs. . . . Demek scored his second goal at 19:36. . . . The Blazers put it away with third-period goals from F Matthew Seminoff (1) and F Logan Stankoven (5), the latter via the PP. . . . F Marcus Nguyen (5), on a PP, at 16:48 and Stefan (7), on another PP, at 19:58 completed the scoring. . . . Portland was 2-for-5 on the PP; Kamloops was 1-for-2. . . . G Dylan Ernst earned the victory with 28 stops, four fewer than Jan Spunar of Portland. . . . The Blazers are 5-0 in the playoffs; the Winterhawks are 4-2.

Freedom

When the conversation turns to the best player in the history of the Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice, F Nigel Dawes has to get an early mention. A 38-year-old native of Winnipeg, Dawes apparently has decided to retire after a pro career that began in 2005-06 and which included 12 seasons in Europe. . . . He was with the Kootenay Ice for four seasons (2001-05) and finished with 272 points, 159 of them goals, in 245 regular-season games. He also had 45 points, including 19 goals, in 49 playoff games. . . . He got into 212 NHL games over five seasons, scoring 39 goals and adding 45 assists; in the AHL, he had 233 points, 117 of them goals, in 232 games. . . . He went on to play 10 seasons in the KHL, totalling 267 goals and 238 assists in 543 games. . . . Dawes played the past two seasons with Adler Mannheim of the DEL, totalling 32 goals and 34 assists in 90 games. . . . At 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds, he wasn’t the tallest player on the ice, but he was as gritty as they came, and he was a whole lot of fun to watch.

D Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, earning one assist in a 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 19 minutes 13 seconds. . . . Last night was a bit of a different story, as he was minus-3 in 21:01 during a 5-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres. . . . Svozil, who turned 20 on Jan. 17, is from Prerov, Czechia. The Blue Jackets selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2021 draft.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Parker Bell of the Tri-City Americans has joined the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers for their playoff run. Bell, 19, was a fifth-round selection by the parent Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2022 draft. . . . This season, he had 25 goals and 39 assists in 55 regular-season games with the Americans. . . .

F Carson Golder of the Kelowna Rockets has signed an ATO with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Golder, who played out his junior eligibility this season, was acquired by the Rockets from the Edmonton Oil Kings. This season, he put up 31 goals and 24 assists in 64 games. . . . He had been a defenceman until Edmonton’s championship playoff run last season, when he moved to the forward ranks.

JUST NOTES:

The U of Alaska-Fairbanks has signed head coach Erik Largen to a five-year contract worth US$200,000 per season. . . . Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks, N.D., Herald reports: “Largen’s deal spells out several investments into the hockey program — increased salaries for support staff like the strength and conditioning coaches, equipment manager and operations director, an increased recruiting budget, game guarantees for opponents traveling to Fairbanks and, perhaps most notably, salaries for three assistant coaches. . . . Largen’s contract calls for his associate coach to make $120,000 per year. The other two assistants will make $90,000 and $40,000.”

Snowmen

With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

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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.

Train

Blue Jackets’ prexy: We want our people vaccinated . . . Report: Kraken players all vaccinated . . . U.S. keeping border closed for at least another month

When the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets revealed their training camp roster on JacketsTuesday, F Zac Rinaldo’s name was nowhere to be found even though they had signed him as a free agent to a two-way contract last month — US$750,000 in the NHL, $275,000 in the AHL. . . . John Davidson, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations, explained that Rinaldo “is not vaccinated and because of that — and that’s his decision — the plan is to start him in the American Hockey League and he will not be coming to our training camp.” . . . And wouldn’t you love to know what the other players in the Cleveland Monsters’ camp think about that? . . . Rinaldo, 31, was pointless in five games with the Calgary Flames last season. . . . Davidson also said: “When you read the amount of players, the percentage that have been vaccinated, it’s a big, big number. There’s very few who aren’t, and that’s their own personal choice. I’m not going to sit here and tell them what to do, even though I’d like to see the whole world get vaccinated. My daughter’s a doctor. She believes in this, and I believe in her because she’s a whole lot smarter than I am. I’d like to see the whole world get vaccinated. We have a responsibility as the leaders of the organization. We want our people vaccinated. We want them wearing masks as much as possible.” . . . Earlier this month, the Blue Jackets dumped assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre after he chose not to get vaccinated. . . . It’s interesting, too, that the Blue Jackets’ training camp is presented by Ohio Health, which bills itself as “a family of not-for-profit, faith-based hospitals & healthcare organizations.” . . .

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic later tweeted: “Told the NHL Players’ Association is reviewing the #CBJ decision to ban forward Zac Rinaldo from attending #NHL training camp because he’s not vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.”

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CBC News — “COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, with experts saying the virus is preying largely on a distinct group: 71 million unvaccinated Americans.”

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Meanwhile, Lou Lamoriello, the president of hockey operations and general manager of the New York Islanders, told reporters on Tuesday that everyone in that organization is vaccinated, with the exception of one player. “That is his voluntary decision not to be vaccinated,” said Lamoriello, who didn’t identify the player. Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press tweeted that the Islanders are “looking to assign him to Europe. (He) won’t be invited to camp.”

Taco

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times wrote Tuesday that he has been told that 100 Krakenper cent of the Seattle Kraken’s players are fully vaccinated “even though general manager Ron Francis said he wasn’t authorized to comment.” . . . In an interesting piece, Baker writes: “Given our city’s dark history with pandemics and hockey, it’s a relief to see Kraken players aren’t testing the resolve of both the team and most of the local community. With the 1919 Stanley Cup final in Seattle still the lone major sports championship ever canceled by a pandemic that also killed some players and maybe coaches as well, it’s good to see the league and Players’ Association getting tough about vaccine compliance.” . . . Baker’s piece, which is well worth a read, is right here.

Weight

Officials with a pair of American junior hockey teams said late last month that they had players who chose not to get vaccinated. In a Spokane Spokesman-Review story written by Dan Thompson and published on Aug. 26, Bob Tobiason, the owner of the junior B Spokane Braves of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, and Bliss Littler, the general manager of the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild, both say they experienced that situation. . . . “Some of the kids, they were willing to get vaccinated,” Tobiason said, “but there were quite a few who weren’t gonna do it.” The Braves announced last month that they will sit out their second straight KIJHL season. . . . “Did we lose a player or two? Yeah, we did, a few kids who didn’t wanna get a shot,” Littler said. “But there’s a lot of kids who wanna play in the BCHL.” . . . The Wild sat out last season, but it’s full steam ahead right now, although it is scheduled to play its first eight regular-season games in B.C., as the league hopes for the U.S. to open its border in the near future. The Wild’s home-opener is scheduled for Nov. 12. . . . Thompson’s story is right here.

The U.S. government said Monday that it will keep its land border with Canada closed at least until Oct. 21. It has been closed since March 2020. . . . Interestingly, fully vaccinated Americans have been allowed entry to Canada since Aug. 9. . . . The WHL, of course, is watching this with great interest because the closure already has resulted in major schedule revisions. The league’s original plan for 2021-22 was to have teams playing within their conferences. But because the border is closed to southbound traffic, the WHL has adjusted its schedule for October and now has the 10 Western Conference teams playing only within their divisions.

Organizers of the Brian Steele Early Bird Tournament that is sanctioned by the Greater Toronto Hockey League and scheduled for Toronto, Oct. 25-31, have dropped three age groups — U-10, U-11 and U-12 — because players on those teams are too young to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Athletic reported Tuesday that organizers cited “rising infections, safety concerns and risks to the event itself by having unvaccinated children take part.” . . . Apparently, two teams had pulled out of the tournament because of what they felt was the risk presented by COVID-19. . . . Fitz-Gerald’s story is right here.

Remember when Colin Kaepernick was kneeling and other NFL players were following suit and a whole lot of people were whining about longer watching games on TV because of those actions? . . . Here are a few observations on the NFL’s Week 2 ratings from Sports Media Watch: “Mannings double their Week 1 audience. . . . CBS scores most-watched Sept. doubleheader since 2014. . . . FOX has most-watched Week 2 singleheader since 2016. . . . NBC has most-watched Week 2 SNF game since 2018.” . . . Whatever happened to those people who were done with watching the NFL?

Possum

The Central Plains Capitals have been granted a leave of absence for 2021-22 by the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League. . . . “You can blame the pandemic and a declining number of eligible hockey players in the region for that,” wrote Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press. . . . Nancy Funk, the general manager of the team that plays out of Portage la Prairie, told Sawatzky: “It was an extremely difficult decision, obviously. “We’ve been talking about it for a few days pretty intensely but we were hoping that there would be some kind of heroes come in at the 11th hour and hopefully it would be able to round out the roster. But it just didn’t happen this year.”

Vivaldi

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Citation

WHL makes “commitment” for 24-game schedule; no starting date yet . . . Virus finds Dallas Stars . . . Former WHL coach added to Coyotes’ staff

The WHL’s board of governors chatted on Friday, after which the league announced that it had “made a commitment” to play a 24-game 2021 season.

The news release stated: “The start date for the season will be determined once WHL2final approval has been received from the health authorities in each provincial and state jurisdiction and it is anticipated the approvals will be received soon.”

In other words, there isn’t anything new for a league that has announced starting dates of Oct. 2, Dec. 4 and Jan. 8, only to watch COVID-19 make those goals impossible to reach. The WHL and its fans continue to play the waiting game as they have for almost 10 months now.

As I have written here on numerous occasions, the virus will decide if/when the WHL and other leagues will play, and let’s be honest — short of announcing that it was cancelling the season, what else could the WHL say?

On Dec. 15, when it announced that a Jan. 8 start date wouldn’t be happening, the league said the governors would “meet in January to consider potential start dates.”

That is the meeting that took place on Friday.

When the WHL states that it needs final approval from health officials and that “it is anticipated the approvals will be received soon,” you are free to wonder if someone in the Calgary-based office has some inside information. Again, though, what else would the WHL be expected to say?

But the coronavirus-based numbers in the six jurisdictions in which the WHL operates haven’t exactly provided anyone with warm and fuzzy feelings of late. (See The COVID-19 Chronicles further down in this piece.)

You also wonder if the governors started their meeting yesterday by discussing DallasStarsgoings-on in the NHL where the Dallas Stars shut things down after six players and two staff members tested positive, and the Columbus Blue Jackets held 17 players out of practice.

The Stars were to have opened the NHL’s regular season against the host Florida Panthers on Jan. 14, but that obviously won’t happen. In fact, the Stars also have had to postpone two others games — Jan. 15 at Florida and Jan. 17 at the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Stars’ first game now is scheduled for Jan. 19 in Tampa Bay.

In the meantime, the Stars players and staff who tested positive are self-isolating and the team’s training facilities are closed.

The Blue Jackets, who are scheduled to open on Jan. 14 against the Predators in Nashville, held 17 of 38 players off the ice “out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with NHL COVID-19 protocols.”

Aaron Portzline, who covers the Blue Jackets for The Athletic, tweeted that the non-practising players were: forwards Emil Bemstrom, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Max Domi, Nick Foligno, Nathan Gerbe, Liam Foudy, Mikhail Grigorenko, Boone Jenner, Mikko Koivu, Eric Robinson, Alexandre Texier, and defencemen Adam Clendening, Vladislav Gavrikov, Seth Jones, David Savard, Andrew Peeke, Michael Del Zotto.

After discussing the NHL situation, maybe the WHL govs talked a bit about NCAA hockey where a number of schools have found out that their hockey teams have been bitten by COVID-19.

Nothing explains all of what has happened better than the National Collegiate NCHCHockey Conference (NCHC). It took eight teams into Omaha in early December and played 38 games. They didn’t call it a bubble; rather, it was a pod. Teams were limited to their hotel and the arena. There was regular testing; there weren’t any positive tests.

However, once that experience was over and the teams returned home, well, the virus licked its lips and went to work.

The U of Omaha has been unable to play four straight games against North Dakota, including two scheduled for this weekend. Mike Kemp, an associate athletic director at Omaha, told The Associated Press: “We got it in spades.”

Elsewhere in the world of NCAA men’s hockey, Lowell’s program is on pause and at least its next three games are off the schedule; Canisius has put things on hold due to protocols and contact tracing; Michigan Tech had to put things on hold after positive tests in its program earlier this week; Northern Michigan has been able to play six games, while having eight postponed or cancelled . . . and on and on it goes.

Where it stops . . . only the virus knows.

F Logan Stankoven of the Kamloops Blazers told CFJC-TV’s Chad Klassen that he is looking at going to the USHL.

“I know nothing’s been confirmed yet, but I’ve talked to Fargo Force from down in the States,” Stankoven, 17, said. “I think they’re pretty interested in me, maybe having me come down, but obviously nothing’s set in stone.”

The USHL deadline to add Hockey Canada-released players to team rosters is Sunday. Klassen reported that should Stankoven go that route, he would be required to spend the remainder of the season there.

“As much as I don’t want to head down to the States and play for a whole different team and in a whole different country, things got to be done,” Stankoven said. “It’s part of our development and players need to play hockey. It’s our life. As much as people say it’s not our job, it’s part of our job. It’s our careers.”

You wonder what impact, if any, the WHL’s Friday news release might have on Stankoven’s decision.

Earlier this week, the Dubuque Fighting Saints announced that they were adding F Matt Savoie, 16, of the Winnipeg Ice to their roster. The Fighting Saints played Friday night — they lost 5-2 to the host Youngstown Phantoms — but Savoie has yet to be placed on their roster.

At least two B.C. junior B leagues — the Kootenay International and Vancouver Island leagues — had hoped to return to regular-season play on Jan. 15. However, those hopes were dashed on Thursday when the B.C. government and health officials extended a series of province-wide restrictions until Feb. 5. . . . The junior A BCHL now is talking about starting its regular season on Feb. 8. . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia tweeted that the BCHL couldn’t get approval for its Penticton hub idea from health officials so that idea is dead.

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

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CJOB Radio, Winnipeg: As Manitoba announced nine additional COVID-19-related deaths Friday, the province’s top doctor said hundreds of recent cases have been linked to gatherings over the holidays.

Scott Billeck, Winnipeg Sun: From the province: 355 cases and 1,900 contacts from holiday gatherings to date.

CBC News: Saskatchewan is reporting 336 new cases of COVID-19 and 7 new deaths related to the illness. It’s the highest daily case count since Dec. 6. There are currently 180 COVID-19 patients in the province’s hospitals, including 26 people in intensive care.

Jason Herring, Postmedia: Here are Friday’s COVID-19 Alberta stats: 1,183 new cases (total now 109,652) . . . 24 new deaths (total now 1,241) . . . 851 currently in hospital, 135 in ICU (yesterday: 871 in hospital, 139 in ICU) . . . 13,628 active cases (up from 13,298) . . . 16,765 tests conducted (~7.1% positive).

Justin McElory, CBC Vancouver: 617 new cases of COVID-19 announced in B.C. on Friday, a big drop from Thursday but part of a small rise since Christmas. . . . 18 new deaths, the highest number since Dec. 23. . . . Hospitalizations and active cases down.

Tacome News Tribune: The Washington state Department of Health reported 4,829 new cases of COVID-19 and 65 deaths Friday. . . . Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 268,607 cases and 3,699 deaths. The case total includes 11,160 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 263,778 cases and 3,634 deaths on Thursday.

Daily Hive Portland: The Oregon Health Authority has reported 1,755 new and presumptive COVID-19 cases and seven new deaths. The state has now seen a total of 122,847 COVID-19 cases, and the death toll has risen to 1,575.

Public Health Agency of Canada, Friday, 4 p.m. PT — People tested: 15,420,760 . . . Total cases: 644,348 . . . Active cases: 81,670 . . . Recovered: 545,971 . . . Deaths: 16,707.

CNN, Friday, 3 p.m. PT: 368,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

CNN, Friday, 3 p.m. PT: 21.8 million people in the United States have tested positive for coronavirus.

AFP News Agency, Friday, 8 p.m. PG: US sets new record with nearly 290,000 Covid cases in 24 hours: Johns Hopkins.

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Curling Alberta has cancelled its 2021 men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championships “due to Alberta’s continued state of public health emergency.” All were to have been held in Sylvan Lake, Jan. 25 to Feb. 5. . . .

With the B.C. government and health officials having extended various restrictions, including one restricting adult team sport, through Feb. 5, Curl BC has cancelled the men’s and women’s championships that had been scheduled for Kamloops and the mixed doubles event that was to have been held in Chilliwack. . . .

Holly Rowe, a veteran ESPN sideline reporter, revealed on Friday that she has tested positive, meaning she won’t be working on Monday when Alabama and Ohio State meet in the college football championship game in Miami. . . . Rowe admitted to having some symptoms and not feeling great. . . . She also is a cancer survivor, having battled melanoma. . . .

The Maine Red Claws, a G League men’s basketball team affiliated with the NBA’s Boston Celtics, have opted out of the 2021 season. . . .

Mike Lange, the veteran play-by-play voice of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, won’t start the approaching NHL season out of an abundance of caution. He says he’ll be back once he is able to be vaccinated and when he feels it is safe to return. Lange, who will turn 73 in March, missed the 2019 playoffs due to pneumonia. . . .

Kurt Warner, an analyst with the NFL Network, announced Friday night that he has tested positive so won’t be working on any studio shows this weekend. Warner, 49, has been with the NFL Network for 10 years. . . . Also on the NFL broadcast front, NBC’s Mike Tirico will call the play of the Tampa Bay-Washington game from home because of COVID-19 protocols, while CBS-TV’s Tony Romo will provide analysis of the Chicago-New Orleans game from a remote site for the same reason.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

JUST NOTES: Former WHL coach Jay Varady, who is the head coach of the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners, has been added to the coaching staff of the parent Arizona Coyotes. Varady, 43, spent seven seasons (2003-10) on the coaching staff of the Everett Silvertips. He had been the Roadrunners’ head coach for two seasons. . . . The NHL’s San Jose Sharks has left K-FOX, its play-by-play station since 2020-21, and now will stream its games on the Sharks Audio Network, available on the team’s website and app. . . . Lethbridge has been chosen as the host city for the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier (aka the Canadian men’s curling championship). It is scheduled to run March 4-13, which means the Hurricanes will be out of the Enmax Centre for a couple of weeks in the waning days of the WHL’s 2021-22 season.

More allegations of abuse in junior hockey . . . Lawyer busy adding players to lawsuit . . . Former NHLer likely to join

A spokesperson with the WHL has told TSN that it would open an investigation after a former player alleged “he was a victim of sexual and physical abuse” during stints with two teams.

According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, the player sent an email of his complaints to the WHL and copied the email to TSN.

In the email, the player wrote:

“The abuse transformed me from a driven, happy, engaged young man and a solid NHL hockey prospect into a black mass of anger, untrust of people, self-isolation and alcohol abuse. The recent CHL allegations of abuse triggered anger in me and brought forward flashbacks and anguish.”

The player went into the brutish details of the complaints in the email, all of which is in Westhead’s story that is right here.

At one point, Westhead writes: “The complainant confirmed the identities of the alleged assailants to TSN. Several have prominent roles in the hockey industry.”

The WHL has had at least one opportunity in years gone by to deal with a player who has said he was humiliated and “physically assaulted” during his WHL career.

In the book Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos, which was published in 2012, Peter Soberlak described some of what happened to him during his first WHL season with his hometown Kamloops Blazers.

“It was really horrible,” Soberlak, who was 16 at the time, said. “In a lot of cases, I feared going on the bus, feared going on road trips . . . just because of the humiliation and constant verbal abuse. . . .

“What I went through in Kamloops destroyed my confidence. I can deal with that now, but it was just horrific for me. It sucked the life out of me. . . . I was physically assaulted.

“You think I have not suffered — have not had repercussions from what I went through there — serious, absolutely long-term, continuous major repercussions of what happened to me in that situation. I guarantee you I have.”

Seen by some observers as the best player in his age group in Canada at one time, Soberlak was out of the game at 23.

“That’s the only thing I am bitter about in my hockey career,” he said. “My first year in Kamloops . . . it was the worst year of my life.”

Soberlak, now 51, has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, with a minor in sociology, from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s Degree in sport and exercise psychology from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont. He is a lecturer and works with the athletic department and its teams at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.

No one from the WHL has ever contacted him about his allegations in the book of which I was a co-author.

James Sayce, the lawyer working with Daniel Carcillo and Garrett Taylor on their class-action lawsuit against the CHL, has told Ken Campbell of The Hockey News “a lot” of players have joined the lawsuit since it first was filed. . . . Campbell writes: “If the people who run junior hockey in Canada were taken aback by this lawsuit, shame on them. They should have seen this coming because it’s not as though the warning signs were not there. In fact, in filing a lawsuit against the CHL, both Carcillo and Taylor were simply putting on the legal record things they’ve been saying for years now. Carcillo went public with the humiliation he suffered during his rookie season with the Sarnia Sting in 2002-03 two years ago.” . . . Campbell’s latest column is right here.

Dan Fritsche, a former NHLer, says he likely will be joining the class-action lawsuit filed by Daniel Carcillo and Garrett Taylor against the CHL and the three major junior leagues that operate under its umbrella. The lawsuit alleges “hazing, bullying, physical and verbal harassment, physical assault, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.” . . . Fritsche was a rookie on the 2002-03 Sarnia Sting of the OHL, as was Carcillo. . . . “There’s nothing I’ve read that isn’t true,” Fritsche told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. “I was in that toxic atmosphere. I had to go through all of that rookie shit, all the disgusting things they would make us do. It was so awful, and people knew about it who absolutely could have stopped it. They’d put us in the (charter bus) bathroom, butt-ass naked, six to eight of us (rookies) for 45 minutes as we’re coming home from a road trip. They’d throw a coin in there to make us fight over it, naked, and whoever came up with it got to get out first. Stuff like that, just over and over.” . . . If you are an Athletic subscriber, Portzline’s complete story is right here.

An undisclosed number of Minnesota Twins players have tested positive, although none were at the team’s home park, Target Field, or its spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. . . . Derek Falvey, the president of baseball operations, told Fox 9 Sports: “We have players in many different locations. I don’t think this is necessarily a surprise that we may have some positive cases.” . . .

ESPN reported that the NFL has cancelled its Hall of Fame game that was to have featured the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6. . . . It also is believed that the NFL will delay its induction ceremonies that were to have been held on Aug. 8. . . .

The NBA’s Sacramento Kings have at least three players on their roster who have tested positive — F Jabari Parker, C Alex Len and G Buddy Hield. . . . Sara Hodge of CBS Sacramento has reported that a fourth unidentified player also has tested positive. . . .

Orenburg, a team in Russia’s top soccer league, reported Thursday that it has six players and two staff members who have tested positive. . . . The Russian Premier League returned to play last week. . . . Apparently, Orenburg’s entire team tested negative as recently as Sunday. . . .

The seven-team Canadian Elite Basketball League, which was to have started its season early in May, is planning on opening a month-long tournament without fans in St. Catharines, Ont., on July 15. A single-elimination playoff will end with a championship game on Aug. 9. . . . Devin Heroux of CBC reports: “All seven teams will stay in a bubble-like setting in St. Catharines, playing games at the Meridian Centre and practising at a nearby facility. League officials said players, coaches and personnel will be separated from the general public and strict screening and COVID-19 protocols will be adhered to under the supervision of medical officials.”

Eric Ditto is returning for his seventh season on the coaching staff of the junior B Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League. Ditto is preparing for his sixth full season as head coach and his second as general manager. . . . Anthony Radke will be back for a second season as an assistant coach. . . . Ryan Pilon is the other assistant coach. He joined the Chiefs during last season after serving as an assistant coach with the Beardy’s Blackhawks U18 AAA team.

The RINK Hockey Corp., owner of the Rink Hockey Academy, has bought the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy (POE) and Edge of Excellence (EOE) in a deal that is to close on July 1. The sale is subject to the approval of BC Hockey and the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. . . . There is more right here.