Tag: Alan Caldwell

Trapper calls it a career after 60-plus years . . . Ex-WHLer now Russian citizen . . . Warriors, Giants swap some assets

The man known throughout the hockey world as Trapper has announced his retirement.

Barry Trapp said on Friday that “after more than 60 years involved with fronthockey, I have decided to step away from the game I love so much. It has been a great ride for this guy from the small town of Balcarres, Sask.”

Trapp, who will turn 82 on Aug. 14, was a defenceman in his playing days and saw time in the WHL, AHL and CPHL.

But it was in the world of coaching and scouting that he really made his mark.

He got into the coaching business with the U-18 Regina Pats Capitals and the Regina Pats Canadians.

By 1981-82, he was working as the head coach of the SJHL’s Regina Pat Blues. At the same time, he was with the Regina Pats as assistant general manager and assistant coach.

He moved to the Moose Jaw Warriors as general manager and head coach for 1985-86, before spending six seasons with Hockey Canada as its director of scouting.

His scouting career also included 10 years with NHL Central Scouting, the last five as their chief scout; four years with Toronto Maple Leafs as director of amateur scouting; and one year scouting for the Phoenix Coyotes.

The last years of his career were spent scouting for the Pats.

“It is,” he wrote, “only fitting to end up where I started.”

Trapp continued:

“I have met so many great people during this time travelling Canada, the U.S., and Europe — managers, coaches, players, media, agents and, of course, fans.

“I have many great memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life, plus many lifelong friendships. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the people who were important parts of my journey.”

He went on to salute Bob Strumm, John Paddock and Dale McMullin, Regina Pats; the late Jim Gregory and Frank Bonello, NHL Central Scouting; Bob Nicholson and Denis Hainault, Hockey Canada; the late Pat Quinn and Mike Penny, Toronto Maple Leafs; and, from the media, the late Bob Hughes, Mal Isaac and Warren Woods, along with Bob McKenzie, Jim Swanson, Gregg Drinnan, Tim Wharnsby, Chris Clarke, Rob Vanstone, Glen Reid, Marc Lachapelle and Peter Loubardias.

“There are so many others,” he added, “but these are the ones who supported me the most.

Thanks to you all and may God bless.

Yours in hockey,

Trapper”

Bathroom

The Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reports that D Brennan Menell, a former WHLer, has received Russian citizenship. According to the newspaper, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, “granted Menell citizenship with a decree he signed” on Thursday. . . . The Moscow Times and Sport-Express also reported on the story. . . . Menell, 26, is an American from Woodbury, Minn., who signed a three-year contract with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow in April. Menell apparently has expressed a desire to play for the Russian national team, thus the request for citizenship. . . . After signing with Dynamo, Alexei Sopin, the team’s athletic director, told RIA Novosti that Menell “really likes Russia and Moscow, so he’s ready to stay for a long time.” Sopin also said that Menell getting Russian citizenship “will be good PR for Russian sports.” . . . According to Sport-Express, Menell applied for citizenship “immediately” upon arriving in Russia early in July. The newspaper also reported that Menell is “actively” learning to speak Russian. . . . Menell played three seasons (2014-17) in the WHL, the first two with the Vancouver Giants and the third with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  . . . Last season, he had two goals and 22 assists in 44 games with Dynamo. He split the 2021-22 season between the AHL’s Toronto Marlies and Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

The Moose Jaw Warriors and Vancouver Giants got together on Friday and cut a deal that included six assets. . . . The Warriors acquired F Ethan Semeniuk and three WHL draft picks — a first in 2024, a fifth in 2024 and a second in 2025. . . . The Giants got back D Marek Howell and a fourth-round pick in 2024. . . . Semeniuk, 18, is from Fort St. John, B.C. Last season, his second in Vancouver, he had 12 goals and 10 assists in 54 games. In 2021-22, he finished with eight goals and five assists in 56 games. . . . The Giants selected him in the third round of the 2020 WHL draft. . . . Howell, a 17-year-old from Calgary, was a freshman last season and finished with one goal and three assists in 44 games. Moose Jaw selected him 16th overall in the 2021 WHL draft. . . . Howell was one of four Warriors who sat out the final 17 games of the 2022-23 regular season for what the WHL said was violations of team rules and the league’s standard of conduct.

Contraceptive

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Wenatchee Wild has acquired F Gabe Ludwig, 19, from the Prince Albert Raiders for an eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2027 draft. The Raiders had acquired Ludwig from the Seattle Thunderbirds last season. He had two goals and seven assists in 37 games with Prince Albert. . . . The Wild also added F Luka Shcherbyna, 17, getting him from the Spokane Chiefs for a third-round pick in the 2007 WHL draft. From Vancouver, Shcherbyna played one game in each of the past two seasons with the Chiefs. He has yet to record his first WHL point. . . . Spokane selected him in the second round of the WHL’s 2021 draft. . . .

Nolan Kowal, who had been the play-by-play voice of the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins, will be calling games for the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in the upcoming season. Pattison Media made the announcement on Friday. Kowal, from Winnipeg, was the Bruins’ radio voice for two seasons. . . . In Prince Albert, he takes over from Rob Mahon, who now is with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . .

F Zach Benson of the Wenatchee Wild has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him 13th overall in the NHL’s 2023 draft. . . . Benson, 18, had 36 goals and 62 assists in 60 games with the Winnipeg Ice in 2022-23. His 98 points left him third in the WHL’s scoring race. . . . Because he’s 18, Benson will have to be returned to the Wild unless he cracks the Sabres’ roster. . . .

The NHL has signed referee Graedy Hamilton for the 2023-24 season. He will work primarily in the AHL, but also is expected to get some NHL games early in 2024.  Hamilton, 23, has worked AHL games for the past two seasons and has been in the WHL for four seasons. He also worked in the BCHL for six seasons. . . . Hamilton, from the Cowichan Valley Minor Hockey Association, was BC Hockey’s official of the year for 2022-23.

Forget

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.

Grandma

WHL adds team to U.S. Division . . . Winnipeg Ice on way to Wenatchee, Wash. . . . Wild becomes sixth American team after sale . . . Governors approved deal on Tuesday

Whites
Lisa and Dick White have purchased the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice and will move the franchise to Wenatchee where it will play as the Wild. (Photo: wenatcheewild.com)

The WHL’s vision of having a franchise in each of the four western Canadian province’s capital cities — Victoria, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg — lasted four seasons.

The dream was realized in 2019 when the Kootenay Ice, a franchise that had changed hands on April 27, 2017, moved from Cranbrook to Winnipeg.

But it all went up in smoke on Friday with a terse four-paragraph statement from the WHL office stating that the franchise has been sold again and that it will be relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., where it will play as the Wild.

Darren Dreger of TSN broke the news Friday morning.

The WHL is leaving a city of more than 800,000 people for a city of about Wenatchee35,000. Wenatchee is located in Chelan County, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau had a population of 79,646 in 2021. Neighbouring Douglas County’s population was 43,696.

The franchise has been purchased by David and Lisa White, who also own the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild. The Wild is operated by the Shoot the Puck Foundation, a non-profit organization based in California.

The sale and relocation was approved by the WHL’s board of governors on Tuesday.

The WHL’s news release, which didn’t include any quotes from Ron Robison, the commissioner, or Bruce Hamilton, the Kelowna Rockets’ owner and general manager who is chairman of the board of governors, stated: “Unfortunately, multiple attempts by the ICE ownership to construct an arena facility of acceptable WHL standards in Winnipeg, based on the agreed upon timeframes, were unsuccessful, leading to the relocation to Wenatchee.”

It would seem that the mistake the WHL made was allowing 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc., headed up by owner and governor Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, the president and general manager, to move the franchise to Winnipeg without having put a shovel in the ground for a new facility.

The WHL, Fettes and Cockell appear to have spent Friday under a cone of silence. The Winnipeg Sun reported that it wasn’t able to get messages returned from the WHL or Cockell.

The Canadian Press reported Friday that “interview requests left with the team and league were not immediately returned.”

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that it has been shut out for months in attempts to reach WHL and Ice officials.

“Despite repeated attempts by the Free Press to get answers in recent months, the club and league remained silent — until Friday,” the Free Press reported Friday.

The Free Press also reported:

“A source told the Free Press last weekend that the Ice informed game-day production staff, such as camera operators and sound/lighting technicians, to find work elsewhere next season.

“Yet, as recently as last Wednesday, the Ice continued to market season-ticket packages on its social media platforms.

“Repeated attempts to reach Fettes through communications staff from both the hockey club and his business were unsuccessful last week when it became apparent the team was about to be sold.

“A WHL spokesman didn’t return multiple messages seeking comment, either.”

The Free Press had reported a few months ago that the WHL and team governors had soured on the Ice ownership and had, according to sources, hit it with a $500,000 fine because of a failure to address the arena issue. The WHL and Ice issued denials — the WHL never did post its statement on its website — but that was the beginning of speculation that the Ice was in its final season in Winnipeg.

On Friday, the Free Press also reported:

“As recently as this past December, the WHL released a statement that read as follows: ‘The Winnipeg Ice have assembled a highly competitive team this season and the WHL continues to work with the Ice regarding a solution to the club’s long-term plans for a suitable facility in Winnipeg.’

“The league said more information would be released in 2023. No new information followed.”

Until Friday, that is.

——

On Jan. 29, 2019, Fettes told a Winnipeg news conference: “We’re building a 4,500-seat arena. We’re expecting it to be full.”

That facility was to have been ready for the start of the 2021-22 season; however, they didn’t even get one shovel into the ground. Thus, the Ice ended up playing four seasons in the 1,600-seat Wayne Fleming Arena on the U of Manitoba campus.

“Despite our success in building the organization,” Fettes said in a stateWinnipegIcement, “we were unable to confirm our ability to build a new facility in Winnipeg that met the WHL standards on a timeline that was acceptable to the WHL. Unfortunately, we were never able to get the project on solid footing due to the changing landscape (during and post-pandemic). Simply put, we ran out of time.”

The original plan apparently was to build an arena in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald, just off the southwest corner of Winnipeg.

Brad Erb, a reeve for the RM, told the Winnipeg Sun in February that he was excited four years ago when he heard about the Ice moving to Manitoba.

“I thought it was pretty exciting for the area and for the municipality . . . that they’d be putting up this entertainment facility within our jurisdiction,” Erb told The Sun. “From that day forward, it was radio silence and I haven’t heard a darn thing about it.”

In Wenatchee, the team will play out of the 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center. During the 2022-23 BCHL regular season, according to figures compiled by hockeydb.com, the Wild averaged 2,672 fans per regular-season game, second to the Penticton Vees (3,102). The Cranbrook Bucs were third, at 2,310.

——

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Naturally, Wenatchee will play in the U.S. Division, which now has six teams. The relocation leaves the Western and Eastern Conference each with 11 teams.

Taking Note was told early Friday that the East Division schedule was finalized on Thursday with five teams involved and the Brandon Wheat Kings again serving as the league’s eastern border. The Swift Current Broncos moved from the East to the Central Division to accommodate Winnipeg, and apparently will remain there for one more season. After 2023-24, the Broncos will move back, giving the East Division six teams and the Central Division five.

“It’s been a contentious issue with the arena building in Winnipeg and trying to find a place to play,” Jared Jacobson, the Wheat Kings’ owner and governor, told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun. “It’s been going on for a few years. “It’s sad because we had quite the rivalry going since before the hub. They started getting stronger and stronger and they had their run at it this year and we were becoming pretty good rivals.

“They were our closest WHL partner. Having another team in Manitoba was  nice in that market but it obviously didn’t work for them.” 

——

The Wild has been in Wenatchee since 2008 when it operated in the North American Hockey League. The owners relocated the team to Hidalgo, Texas, after the 2012-13 season and the Whites moved the Fresno Monsters — they had purchased the NAHL team in 2009 — from California to Wenatchee. The Whites own a fruit distribution operation in Fresno.

The Wild moved into the BCHL in 2015. Wenatchee won the Fred Page Cup as BCHL champions and the Doyle Cup as the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Pacific region champion in 2018.

Bliss Littler, a veteran junior hockey man who was head coach of the Wild for its first five seasons in the BCHL, is the organization’s general manager. He signed a 10-year contract extension on June 4, 2021.

Chris Clark, the Wild’s head coach and assistant GM, has been on staff since 2008. He was named head coach prior to the 2020-21 season, although the team didn’t operate that winter due to the pandemic.

Troy Mick, a former WHL player and coach, also is part of the Wild’s organization. He is the director of its development teams and is the head coach of the 16U Wilderness and 18U AAA Wolves. There also are 12U and 14U development teams.

Late Friday afternoon, the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy posted on social media that “it is business as usual for our academy and development teams for the 2023-24 season and beyond. We feel this is another step in developing our players for the next level!”

Around 4 p.m. PT, the Wild was on social media: “We’re on the hunt for a full-time equipment manager and a certified athletic trainer for the 2023-24 season – to apply, email General Manager Bliss Littler at blittler@wenatcheewildhockey.com.”

——

There wasn’t any mention in the Wild’s news release about the future of the BCHL franchise. However, the BCHL issued a statement early Friday afternoon stating that the Wild franchise “will not operate in the BCHL in 2023-24.”

Graham Fraser, the owner of the Penticton Vees and the chairman of the BCHL’s board of governors, said: “As a league, we are assessing our next steps, including reviewing the best options for players currently on the Wenatchee Wild’s roster and addressing schedule implications for the 2023-24 season.”

The BCHL, now a 17-team league with all franchises located in B.C., recently completed its 2023-24 schedule — it calls for each team to play 54 games — and was soon to release it. It now has been sent back to the drawing board.

As for the players on the Wild roster, Steve Cocker, the BCHL commissioner, told Castanet that there won’t be dispersal draft and that they now are free agents.

Cocker also admitted to Castanet that the BCHL was caught off guard by the news.

“What they have found moving to the WHL provides them with a long-term solution that will give them an instant rivalry with the U.S. Division so you can’t fault them for making that business decision,” Cocker told Castanet. “Is it tough not having an organization like the Wild in our league? Sure. They were one of our top organizations but we have a lot of positive momentum going right now with and we’re excited to move forward.”

——

The Ice has been the WHL’s top club each of the past two regular seasons, going 110-20-6. This season, it finished atop the standings, at 57-10-1. After losing to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference final in 2021-22, the Ice fell to the Seattle Thunderbirds in the championship final in 2022-23.

Winnipeg paid a steep price for the team it iced in 2022-23, though. As Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun reported in February: “According to WHL blogger Alan Caldwell, who tracks these things, the Ice has traded away picks in the first, second and fourth rounds in this year’s draft, all its picks from Rounds 1 through 6 in 2024, its top four picks in ’25 and its first six picks in ’26.”

Still, Wenatchee should have starry forwards Zach Benson, Conor Geekie and Matt Savoie, and starting goaltender Daniel Hauser, back when it opens its first training camp south of the border in August.

But decisions about trading high-end talent to restock the cupboard with draft picks likely will have to be made at some point during the season.

——

This is the third time that the WHL has failed in the Manitoba capital. The Winnipeg Jets/Clubs/Monarchs ended a 10-season run when they moved to Calgary and became the Wranglers over the summer of 1977. The Winnipeg Warriors, an expansion team spent four seasons there before moving to Moose Jaw in 1984.

Will there be a fourth attempt?

——

Here’s Jeff Bromley, a Cranbrook resident who once covered the Kootenay Ice for the Kootenay Advertiser: “(The WHL) becomes more bush by the year. Relocating to a city similar in size to Cranbrook. (Wenatchee) fans don’t get too attached; as soon as there’s another arena at a bigger centre built & ur drawing (fewer than) 2,800, the moving trucks won’t be far behind.”

Here’s Matt Coxford, a former Cranbrook Townsman writer: “I hope the previous owner is sufficiently embarrassed. Did everything he could to get out of town, sold to some bad-faith operators, and now his father’s HHOF banner hangs in a rink twice removed from the franchise.”

——

How did players on Winnipeg’s roster find out that they now belonged to a team in another country? The same way you and I did. On social media.

Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun reported that F Conor Geekie learned of the sale by checking his Instagram account after a workout. He said his teammates were in the same boat.

“The most frustrating thing is how we found out,” Geekie told The Sun. “There wasn’t much notice. We all found at the same time. I’m sure they were swamped but I think we just expected a little bit more in that category.”

——

JUST NOTES: Trevor Crawley of the Cranbrook Townsman tweeted Friday that “a lawsuit filed by the City of Cranbrook against the Western Hockey League and the Winnipeg Ice for breach of contract remains outstanding, as far as I know, based on court records.” That lawsuit was filed by the City of Cranbrook in December 2020. . . . Unaddressed is whether the BCHL’s move to operate outside of Hockey Canada had anything to with the decision by the Whites to leave that league and jump into the WHL. . . . 50 Below Sports + Entertainment Inc., still owns two MJHL franchises, theWinnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze. . . . This is the 10th sale of a WHL franchise since 2007, which is when the Kamloops Blazers went from community to private ownership.

Bedard to share WHL assists lead; scoring change to give Heidt 72nd helper . . . Oil Kings triumphant in season finale . . . Whitney Forum will be hopping on Tuesday

While F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats has won the WHL Triple Crown — he led the league in goals, assists and points — it seems that he is going to have to share the lead in one of those categories.

Some time today (Monday), the WHL website is expected to indicate a scoring change from a Friday night game.

That change will award an assist to Prince George F Riley Heidt on the Cougars’ fourth goal in a 7-2 victory over the Blazers in Kamloops. That goal was scored by F Koehn Ziemmer, giving the Cougars a 4-1 lead at 5:06 of the second period.

That assist means Ziemmer, a native of Saskatoon who turned 18 on Saturday, will finish with 97 points, 72 of them assists, in 68 games. He was the second overall selection in the WHL’s 2020 draft.

Bedard, who played in 57 games this season, had the outright lead in goals (71) and points (143). As the points leader, he will be awarded the Bob Clarke Trophy.

The WHL’s draft lottery is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, with teams in the lottery able to move up a maximum of two spots.

That’s it. Another WHL regular season is in the books. The Edmonton Oil Kings beat the host Calgary Hitmen, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the 2022-23 regular season. . . . The announced attendance of 7,905 lifted the WHL’s average per game to 3,877, an increase of 672 over last season. . . . Could it be that the WHL is on the way back at the gate after taking a two-season beating from the pandemic? . . . You will recall that the 2019-20 season was brought to a premature end by the pandemic. When it ended in March, each of the 22 teams had played between 30 and 34 games, and the average attendance was 4,154. The 2020-21 season was wiped out, although teams did play some games in what was a developmental situation. . . . In the 20 seasons from the turn of the century through 2019-20, the lowest average attendance was 4,115 in 2000-01. The other seasons all averaged between 4,251 (2001-02) and 4,817 (2012-13). . . .  So while this season’s average still was under 4,000, it just might be showing us that pre-pandemic crowds are on the way back. We certainly will hope that’s the case.

Pete

SUNDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

It took until the final game of the WHL’s 2022-23 regular season, but the defending-champion Edmonton Oil Kings finally got to double digits in victories as they beat the Hitmen, 2-1, in Calgary. . . . That lifted Edmonton’s record to 10-54-4 as it snapped a seven-game losing skid (0-6-1). Still, the Oil Kings, who went 50-14-4 last season, now hold the dubious distinction of having the poorest record in WHL history in the season after winning a championship. The 2018-19 Swift Current Broncos had held the record, having finished 11-51-6. . . . The Hitmen (31-29-8) had won their previous four games. . . . F Loick Daigle (9) broke a 1-1 tie at 19:33 of the third period to give the Oil Kings the victory. Daigle, who turned 21 on Jan. 31, was playing in his final junior game. . . . F Marshall Finnie (8) had given Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 12:45 of the first period. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (27) tied it, shorthanded, at 9:11 of the second period. . . . The Oil Kings got 32 saves from G Logan Cunningham. . . . Calgary lost F Ethan Moore to a boarding major and game misconduct at 6:08 of the second period.

——

OK . . . what’s next in the WHL?

All eight first-round best-of-seven playoff series are scheduled to open on Friday, which means that the rumours of TSN showing Game 1 between the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats on Thursday were just that — rumours.

THE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) vs. Medicine Hat (8) — Opens with games in Winnipeg on Friday and Saturday. . . . The Ice won the season series, 3-1-0, outscoring the Tigers, 20-12. . . . The Tigers beat the Ice, 6-4, in Medicine Hat on March 1.

Red Deer (2) vs. Calgary (7) — They’ll start with games in Red Deer on Friday and Saturday. . . . Red Deer was 6-1-1 in the season series; Calgary was 2-4-2. . . . In their most-recent meetings, the Hitmen won, 4-3, in Red Deer on March 10, with the Rebels winning, 9-0, in Calgary on March 11.

Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6) — Games 1 and 2 are set for Saskatoon on Friday and Sunday. The ice isn’t available on Saturday because of an NLL game. . . . The season series went to the Blades, 4-2-0. . . . Saskatoon is 15-4-2 versus Regina over the past five seasons. . . . This season, the Blades held a 25-18 edge in goals. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard had five goals and four assists in five games against the Blades, but he was blanked in two of those games. . . . The Pats’ last two visits to Saskatoon drew sellout crowds of 14,768.

Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5) — They are scheduled to open in Moose Jaw with games on Friday and Saturday. . . . The Warriors won the season series, 3-1-0, and held an 18-14 edge on the scoreboard. . . . The Warriors lost four players to suspension on Feb. 11; they went 9-8-0 since then, including 6-2-0 in their last eight games. Assuming those players — G Conner Ungar, D Max Wanner, D Marek Howell and F Lynden Lakovic — carried out the terms of their suspension, they will be eligible to play on Friday.

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8) — Games 1 and 2 are to be played in Kent, Wash., on Friday and Saturday. . . . The Thunderbirds swept the season series, 4-0, outscoring the Rockets, 15-7, but they haven’t played each other since Dec. 30 and 31. . . . After losing 1-0 in Everett on Feb. 4, the Thunderbirds closed by going 19-2-1. The two regulation losses — 6-5 in Kamloops and 3-1 to visiting Portland — occurred in their past three games.

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7) — They’ll open in Kamloops on Friday and Saturday. . . . Kamloops dominated the season series, going 6-1-1; the Giants were 2-6-0. . . . The Blades outscored the Giants, 33-19. . . . In their last meeting, on March 11 in Kamloops, the Blazers won, 6-0.

Portland (3) vs. Everett (6) — It opens with games in Portland on Friday and Saturday. . . . The season series went to Portland, 6-1-1; Everett was 2-6-0. . . . The Winterhawks held a 34-25 edge in goals. . . . Everett won, 10-3, at home on March 3, but then lost, 3-1, in Portland on March 5.

Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5) — This series is the only one that will be played under a 2-3-2 format. The first two games are to be played in Prince George on Friday and Saturday before the scene shifts to Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans won the season series, 3-1-0; the Cougars were 1-2-1. . . . Tri-City led 17-14 on the scoreboard, but these teams last met on Dec. 9 and 10. . . . These were two of the hottest teams in the league as the regular season wound down. The Cougars closed on an 8-0-3 run; the Americans went 6-0-1.

(NOTE:There are excellent playoff previews available on the WHL’s website.)

UFO

Gardiner MacDougall, who coached teams to the 2022 Memorial Cup and 2023 Canadian university men’s hockey titles, has a lot of fans out there. One of them has reminded me that I shortchanged him here when I dropped a few sentences after his U of New Brunswick Reds won another championship. “I’d like to add to Mr. Gardiner MacDougall’s list of championships in the past several months,” the email read. “He guided the Canadian university all-star squad to a gold medal performance in the World University Games in January in Lake Placid, N.Y.” . . . Yes, he certainly did. It’s worth pointing out that it was his second Universiade championship; he also was head coach of the Canadian team that won in 2013 in Trentino, Italy. . . . At some point in the not too distant future, MacDougall should be an inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

THINKING OUT LOUD — The Penticton Vees concluded a 50-3-1 regular season on Sunday, setting a BCHL record for best points percentage (.935) in the process. So now they go into the playoffs with opponents knowing that if they are to advance they will have to beat the Vees four times in seven games, which would be as many losses as they suffered in the 54-game regular season. . . . BTW, in their last 109 games, including last spring’s 16-1 playoff run, the Vees are 109-12-3. . . . I’m not positive about the previous record, but the 2011-12 Vees went 54-4-2 and that’s a .917 points percentage. . . . If you need to contact me this week, please do so before Thursday. It’s Opening Day and I will be kind of busy all day and into the night. . . . There’s something wrong with the NHL’s Dept. of Discipline when a deliberate cross-check to the face that inflicts damage draws only a one-game suspension. F Blake Lizotte of the L.A. Kings got just that for taking his stick to the face of Winnipeg Jets D Josh Morrissey, who needed stitches inside his mouth and to his chin. Maybe one day the NHL will get serious about shots to the head, but it won’t be today or tomorrow. . . . Noticed some followers of the Vancouver Canucks celebrating the fact they their favourite team reached the .500 mark with Sunday’s 4-2 victory in Chicago. That lifted Vancouver’s record to  34-34-5. That tells me the Canucks have 34 wins and 39 losses, and that’s not .500 in my book. . . . Unfortunately, the Canucks still aren’t going to make the playoffs. . . . The place to be on Tuesday night? The Whitney Forum in Flin Flon. It’ll be the Bombers and Estevan Bruins in Game 7 of a first round SJHL series. Flin Flon forced the series to the limit with a 4-1 victory in Estevan on Sunday night.

——

My wife, Dorothy, will be taking part in the 2023 Kamloops Kidney Walk on June 4 and, for a 10th straight year, is fund-raising. In September, she will celebrate 10 years as a transplant recipient. . . . If you would like to make a donation and be part of Team Dorothy, you may do so right here.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

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.

Bear

The night Ed Chynoweth coached Wranglers to victory . . . Would you pay 13 grand for Bedard sweater? . . . Stankoven, Zellweger spark Blazers

The WHL’s latest available Guide and Record Book, one that was made available last season, shows Dean Chynoweth, now an assistant coach with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, with 272 regular-season head-coaching victories from stints with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos.

EdChynoweth3
ED CHYNOWETH

What the WHL’s record book doesn’t show is that his late father, Ed, the godfather of major junior hockey, is 271 victories behind his son.

That’s because, for some reason, the record book doesn’t list Ed in its coaching statistics.

But he should be there. With one victory.

There was a time when Ed, the WHL’s long-time president, left the WHL’s Calgary office for a spot with the Calgary Wranglers as minority owner and general manager.

That brings us to Dec. 5, 1979, with the Wranglers in Medicine Hat to play the Tigers.

The score was 1-1 in the third period when F Brad Kempthorne scored for the Tigers. The Wranglers, however, were of the opinion that referee Ken Wheler shouldn’t have allowed the goal to stand.

Calgary goaltender Warren Skorodenski claimed that Kempthorne knocked the puck into the net with an arm. Doug Sauter, the Calgary head coach, agreed with his goaltender.

By the time the debate was over, Skorodenski had been given a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, Calgary had been hit with a bench minor and Sauter had been ejected.

“Warren said the puck went in off the guy’s arms and it did,” Sauter said. “There were two guys in the crease as well.”

With Sauter gone, Chynoweth moved from the press box to the Calgary bench for what would be the only coaching appearance of his many years in the WHL.

With Chynoweth calling the shots, the Wranglers killed both minor penalties and then got a PP goal from D Jim Crosson at 9:50 for a 2-2 tie. It should be noted that the Wranglers were skating with a two-man advantage when Crosson scored.

And the Wranglers won it in OT on a PP goal from F Dan Bourbonnais, who beat G Kelly Hrudey at 5:37, after the Tigers had been called for too many men.

It may not mean anything, but the Tigers were given the only four minor penalties handed out after Chynoweth moved behind the bench.

The announced attendance was 1,948 and they watched the Wranglers win their sixth in a row and run their record to 20-5, the best in the league at the time.

The WHL book shows Sauter with 417 regular-season victories. Perhaps that figure should be 416, with Chynoweth being given credit for one.

Living

THE BEDARD REPORT: F Connor Bedard ran his point streak to 32 games with a pair of goals as his Regina Pats dumped the visiting Swift Current Broncos, 5-2,

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

on Saturday night. . . . The announced attendance was 6,499, the Pats’ first sellout in the Brandt Centre this season, as Bedard Fever seems finally to have taken over Regina and area. . . . The Pats now have played 21 home games; their past four games have drawn their four largest crowds of the season. . . . Bedard was kept off the scoresheet in his first game this season — a 5-4 loss to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 23 — but since has been on a tear. . . . He leads the WHL in goals (39), assists (42) and points (81), all in 33 games. . . . In five games since returning from the World Junior Championship, he has 12 goals and five assists. . . . Bedard also has scored in eight straight games, seven off the franchise record set by Dale Derkatch to open the 1982-83 season. Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post also reminds us that the Pats’ record for longest point streak is 47 games and is shared by Jock Callander and Wally Schreiber from 1981-82. . . . The Pats wore SpongeBob SquarePants-themed sweaters for this one, and they were made available via auction. Bedard’s went for $13,025. (Proceeds from the auction are going to Children’s Miracle Network.) . . . The Pats now are off for a week. They next are scheduled to play on Jan. 29 against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Vanstone’s story from Saturday’s game is right here.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Regina Pats (aka the Travelling Bedards) are scheduled to play in Calgary on Feb. 1. Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) advises that “the Hitmen have opened the upper bowl. . . . The lower bowl is sold out and looks like about the first 15 rows of the upper bowl as well. Looking at 14,000-15,000 fans at this point I think. Could be a sellout by game time???” . . .

With the Travelling Bedards scheduled to meet the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Feb. 5, James Tubb (@ReporterTubb) of the Medicine Hat News advises: “. . . if you haven’t gotten a ticket . . . you should act fast.” . . . According to WHL figures, the Tigers average announced attendance is 2,211 through 21 games. Co-op Place has a listed capacity of 7,100.

Truckfire

SATURDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

The host Prince Albert Raiders scored the game’s last three goals, all in the third period, as they beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . On Friday night in Saskatoon, the Blades, playing as the Saskatoon Bananas as part of an annual promotion, had beaten the Raiders, 6-1. . . . Last night, the Raiders were 2-for-2 on the PP with D Landon Kosior drawing the primary assist on each of them. . . .

F Alexander Suzdalev had a goal and two assists to help the host Regina Pats to a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Pats also got three assists from D Stanislav Svozil. . . . Suzdalev, a Russian freshman, has 24 goals and 33 assists in 42 games. . . . Svozil, a sophomore from Czechia, has five goals and 41 assists in 32 games. Last season, he finished with 41 points in 59 games. . . .

F Chase Wheatcroft scored in OT as the visiting Prince George Cougars got past the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . Wheatcroft won it with his 28th goal just 46 seconds into extra time. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer scored twice for the Cougars, giving him 26 goals on the season, including six in his past three games. . . . F Jaxsen Wiebe, who was acquired from Edmonton, drew the primary assist on the winner. . . . F Noah Boyko, who was dealt to Edmonton in the same deal, had a goal (11) and an assist. . . . The Cougars went 2-3-1 in their swing into the Central Division. . . .

F Kalan Lind’s OT goal gave the host Red Deer Rebels a 2-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Lind won it with his 14th goal at 0:39 of OT. . . . He has a goal in five straight games. . . . F Jayden Grubbe (12) pulled Red Deer into a 1-1 tie with a PP goal at 17:51 of the third period. . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers got two goals from F Shane Smith as they ran their winning streak to three games with a 7-1 victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen. . . . Smith, who turned 18 on Jan. 14, has 16 goals in his freshman season. . . . The Tigers had two players — D Kurtis Smith and D Josh Van Mulligen — score their first goals of the season in the final minute of the third period. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers erased a late 5-3 deficit and beat the visiting Tri-City Americans, 6-5, in OT. . . . F Logan Stankoven scored three times for Kamloops, including the winner at 2:47 of OT. Stankoven, who has 23 goals, forced OT with a goal at 16:47 of the third period. . . . Stankoven also had two assists, for the second five-point game in his past five games. He has four such outings in his career. . . . He also is riding a 27-game point streak. He has at least a point in every game he has played this season, totalling 23 goals and 38 assists. He and F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats are the only two players averaging more than two points per game; Bedard is at 2.45 with Stankoven at 2.26. . . . D Olen Zellweger scored his 14th goal and added four assists for Kamloops. It was the second five-point game of his WHL career; he had one last season while with the Everett Silvertips. . . . F Ethan Ernst’s second goal of the game and 23rd of the season had given the Americans a 5-3 lead at 14:05 of the third period. . . . The Americans had won, 8-2, in Kamloops on Friday night. . . .

The Seattle Thunderbirds scored the game’s first six goals, the first three in the first period, en route to a 6-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips in Kent, Wash. . . . D Jeremy Hanzel had three assists for the winners, with F Kyle Crnkovic scoring twice (22). . . . The Thunderbirds held a 48-15 edge in shots. . . . Seattle F Brad Lambert missed his second straight home game as he works to get a visa situation straightened out. . . . Seattle is 6-0-0 against Everett this season, with a 31-10 edge in goals. . . .

F Matt Savoie scored the only goal of a shootout as the host Winnipeg Ice beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 3-2. . . . They’ll play again today in Winnipeg. . . . F Zach Benson (25) had one of Winnipeg’s goals as he ran his point streak to 13 games. He has 11 goals and 17 assists over that stretch. . . . Moose Jaw F Atley Calvert went into this season with 18 goals in 102 career regular-season games; he scored his 26th of this season last night. . . . Ice G Daniel Hauser recorded the victory. He is 23-2-1 this season and 64-5-3 in his career. . . .

F Robbie Fromm-Delorme had two goals and an assist to help the Winterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Portland. . . . Fromm-Delorme, 20, had 15 goals and 19 assists in 38 games last season; this season, he’s got 25 goals and 29 assists in 40 outings. . . . F Gabe Klassen helped out with his 25th goal and an assist. . . . F Chaz Lucius, playing his second game with Portland, scored his first goal and added an assist. He’s got a goal and three assists in those two games. . . . The Hurricanes went 0-1-2 on a quick trip into the U.S. Division. . . .

The Spokane Chiefs scored three third-period goals and beat the visiting Victoria Royals, 6-3. . . . D Mac Gross (6) broke a 3-3 tie at 1:41 of the third period and F Cade Hayes added insurance with his eighth and ninth goals at 9:36 and 16:18. . . . F Jake Poole had a goal (24) and an assist for Victoria. He has put together a run of six straight multi-point games — one three-pointer and five deuces. . . . The Royals went 0-2-1 in a U.S. Division trip. . . .

The Vancouver Giants erased a 1-0 deficit with three goals and hung on to beat the Rockets, 4-3, in Kelowna. . . . G Brett Mirwald stopped 25 shots for the Giants, who scored two PP goals. . . . F Adam Kidd (13) scored twice for the Rockets, the second one getting them to within one at 13:20 of the third period.

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.

Donate

Another WHL trade deadline here and gone . . . Seattle gets golden boy’s rights . . . Blades grab Chiasson

The WHL’s trade deadline arrived on Tuesday. Here are the trade numbers since Oct. 25:

No. of trades — 48.

No. of players traded — 83.

No. of WHL draft picks traded — 81.

No. of WHL conditional draft picks traded — 29.

Teams involved in trades — 11: Edmonton; 6: Everett, Kamloops, Kelowna, Seattle, Victoria, Winnipeg; 5: Brandon, Lethbridge, Prince George, Regina, Tri-City; 4: Portland, Prince Albert; 3: Red Deer, Spokane, Swift Current; 2: Moose Jaw; Saskatoon, Vancouver; 1: Calgary; 0: Medicine Hat.

Why did I start with Oct. 25? Because that was the day that the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings, signalling to me that the countdown to deadline day had started.

Late Tuesday afternoon, just before the trade deadline whizzed past, the Edmonton Oil Kings announced that they had acquired the rights to F Koji SeattleGibson, 15, six conditional WHL draft picks and a fourth-round pick in the 2004 draft from the Seattle Thunderbirds for the rights to F Dylan Guenther, 19, the rights to F Jordan Ramsay, who will turn 16 on Jan. 24, and a 2023 eighth-round pick. . . . The conditional picks — a second in 2023, sixth in 2024, fourth in 2025, and first, fourth and fifth in 2026 — all hinge on the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes assigning Guenther to Seattle. . . . Guenther, a first-round pick by the Coyotes in the NHL’s 2021 draft, has three goals and eight assists in 22 games with Arizona this season. . . . He scored the OT goal on Thursday as Team Canada beat Czechia, 3-2, in the World Junior Championship final in Halifax. . . . The Oil Kings selected Guenther with the first overall pick of the WHL’s 2018 draft. He helped the Oil Kings to the WHL championship last season as they beat the Thunderbirds in the championship final. . . .

Gibson, from North Vancouver, plays for the U18 prep team at the Burnaby Winter Club. Seattle selected him in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2022 draft. . . . Ramsay, from Victoria, is with the U18 prep team at the Pacific Coast Academy. He was an eighth-round pick by the Oil Kings in the 2022 draft.

The Saskatoon Blades, perhaps the most under-appreciated team in all of the SaskatoonCHL at the moment, acquired F Jake Chiasson, 19, from the Brandon Wheat Kings for a first-round WHL draft pick in 2023, a second-rounder in 2025 and a conditional second in 2026. . . . Chiasson, from Abbotsford, B.C., was a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2021 draft. The Wheat Kings selected him in the first round of the WHL’s 2018 draft. . . . He was in his fourth season with Brandon, having put up 30 goals and 41 assists in 141 regular-season games. . . . This season, he has 10 goals and 18 assists in 37 games. . . . From the Saskatoon news release: “Chiasson made international news earlier this winter as he and three teammates, who were driving over a bridge in Brandon, helped save the life of a distressed man.” . . . The 2023 first-round pick was Saskatoon’s and not the one the Blades acquired from Seattle in the deal that had F Brad Lambert’s rights move to the Thunderbirds. . . .

The Blades (26-6-3) are rather quietly putting together a solid season. In fact, their points percentage of .786 trails only the Winnipeg Ice (.853) and Seattle Thunderbirds (.806). . . . BTW, the Thunderbirds and Ice are to meet tonight (Wednesday) in Winnipeg.

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In a second deal, Brandon acquired F Dawson Pasternak, 19, and a conditional fourth-round pick in an undisclosed WHL draft from the Portland Winterhawks for the rights to F Colin Frank, a sixth-rounder in 2025 and a second in 2026. . . . Pasternak, from Winnipeg, was a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2018 draft. This season, he has 17 points, five of them goals, in 28 games. Last season, as a freshman, he had five goals and nine assists in 34 games. . . . Pasternak had an assist on Brandon’s first goal Tuesday night as the Wheat Kings beat the visiting Thunderbirds, 4-2. . . . Frank, from Ladera Ranch, Calif., will turn 17 on March 3. He was taken by Brandon in the 2021 U.S. prospects draft. He plays for the U16 AAA Anaheim Jr. Ducks and has 34 goals and 39 assists in 45 games.

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In a third deal, the Wheat Kings acquired F Nolan Flamand, who will turn 19 on Thursday, from the Kelowna Rockets for F Trae Johnson, 17, and two picks — a third-rounder in the 2023 WHL draft and a fifth in 2024. . . . Flamand, from Saskatoon, had four goals and 12 assists in 35 games with Kelowna this season. He was a second-round pick by Kelowna in the 2019 draft. . . . Johnson, from Martensville, Sask., had two goals and four assists in 37 games with Brandon this season. He was a second-round pick in the 2020 draft.

Just before the deadline, the Winterhawks acquired the rights to F Ozzy PortlandWiesblatt, 20, from the Prince Albert Raiders for three conditional draft picks — a first in 2025 and two seconds in 2026. . . . The picks — one of the second-round picks was acquired from Brandon earlier on Tuesday —  are conditional on Wiesblatt being assigned to Portland by the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. . . . Wiesblatt, a first-round pick by the Sharks in 2020, is with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda with whom he has a goal and four assists in 17 games. . . . Prince Albert picked him in the second round of the WHL’s 2017 draft. He put up 179 points, including 58 goals, in 195 regular-season games with the Raiders. . . .

The Winterhawks also dealt G Donavan Bodnar and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2024 WHL draft to the Everett Silvertips for a fourth-rounder in 2024. . . . Bodnar, from West St. Paul, Man., won’t turn 18 until Nov. 22. He was a seventh-round pick by Portland in the 2020 draft. . . . Bodnar now is playing for the Seven Oaks Raiders in the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. . . . Earlier this season, the Portage Terriers acquired Bodnar’s rights from the Selkirk Steelers for D Jacob Ziegler, 18. . . .

In another move, the Winterhawks traded D Nicholas Andrusiak, 18, to the Red Deer Rebels for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 WHL draft. . . . Andrusiak, from Tisdale, Sask., is with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires, and has two goals and an assist in 20 games. He got into two games with Portland early this season.

The Prince George Cougars announced their presence on Deadline Day by PrinceGeorgeacquiring F Zac Funk, 19, from the Calgary Hitmen for F Carter MacAdams, 18, and three WHL draft picks — second-rounders in 2023 and 2024, and a fourth in 2024. . . . Funk, from Coldstream, B.C., had 13 goals and 19 assists in 33 games with the Hitmen this season. In 129 career games, he has 78 points, 39 of them goals. . . . He was a second-round pick by Calgary in the 2018 draft. . . . MacAdams, from South Surrey, B.C., was picked by the Cougars in the fourth round of the 2019 WHL draft. He has 18 goals and 30 assists in 117 regular-season games over three seasons with Prince George. This season, he has six goals and 15 assists in 36 games.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes reacquired G Jared Picklyk, 19, from the Tri-City Americans for a 10th-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. The Hurricanes had traded him to the Americans for a 2024 sixth-round pick on Nov. 17, but he got into only two games with Tri-City. . . . Before that deal, he was 4-5-0, 3.50, .877 with Lethbridge this season. . . . Picklyk, from Kelowna, will report to the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos.

The Kelowna Rockets acquired D Landon Cowper, 16, from the Prince Albert Raiders for a conditional fifth-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. Cowper, from Whitehorse, was a fourth-round pick by the Raiders in the 2021 draft. . . . He is playing for the U18 team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, and has one goal and 15 assists in 18 games.

The Kamloops Blazers picked up the rights to D Daylan Weigel, 19, from the KamloopsSwift Current Broncos for a ninth-round pick in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Weigel, from Warman, Sask., is with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and, according to the Blazers, “will remain with the Broncos for the 2022-23 season and become an affiliate player.” . . . He has six goals and 18 assists in 31 games with Humboldt this season. . . . Weigel has played in 25 WHL games — one with the Regina Pats and 24 with Swift Current. He has six assists in those games. . . . Regina picked him in the sixth round of the WHL’s 2018 draft.

The Vancouver Giants have acquired the rights to D Ben Feenan, 18, from the Tri-City Americans for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 WHL draft. . . . Feenan, a sixth-round pick by the Americans in the 2019 draft, is from Surrey, B.C. He had three assists in 22 games this season when he left the team and joined the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs.

In the final trade before the deadline, announced more than three hours after it Reginahad passed, the Regina Pats acquired F Steel Quiring, 19, from the Everett Silvertips for a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Quiring, from Vernon, B.C., had three goals and three assists in 30 games with Everett. He also has played for the Kelowna Rockets and Calgary Hitmen. The Silvertips acquired him from the Hitmen on Sept. 30. . . . The Rockets selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. . . . Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) pointed out on Twitter that “the Pats are Quiring’s 4th WHL team in the last  year and five days.”

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Edmonton Oil Kings have claimed F Loick Daigle, 20, off CHL waivers from the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. In 108 QMJHL regular-season games, he has 24 goals and 26 assists. . . . F Brad Lambert wasn’t in Seattle’s lineup on Tuesday night in Brandon, nor was F Chaz Lucius with Portland in Prince Albert. . . . The junior B Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that Briar McNaney has signed on as their interim head coach. . . . The AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder have announced that Sean Brown, its general manager and head coach, has stepped down for “family reasons.” Corey Bricknell, who had been assistant GM and associate coach, has stepped in as interim GM/head coach. The Thunder (11-27-2) is eighth in the eight-team North Division.

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.

Phone

A quieter Monday in the WHL . . . Six more deals as deadline nears . . . Portland, Seattle add AHL assignees

As Monday disappeared over the horizon, there had been nothing in the way of WHLSunday’s craziness and with the WHL’s deadline now only hours away.

One supposes that some teams took time to count their remaining draft picks after what had transpired on Sunday.

Still, there were a handful of trades made on Monday, one of which involved a player who had been part of one of those Sunday blockbusters.

And two U.S. Division teams had players who began the season in the AHL assigned to them by the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.

Read on . . .

——

The Swift Current Broncos were involved in a couple of trades. . . .

First, they and the Brandon Wheat Kings swapped a pair of defencemen, with SwiftCurrentMason Ward, 20, moving to the Broncos for Kayden Sadhra-Kang, 19. . . . The Wheat Kings acquired Ward from the Red Deer Rebels prior to the 2021-22 season. From Lloydminster, the 6-foot-5 Ward had four goals and six assists in 38 games with Brandon this season. . . . The 6-foot-4 Sakhra-Kang, from Richmond, B.C., was acquired by Swift Current from the Lethbridge Hurricanes early last season. In 90 games with the Broncos, he had four goals and 19 assists. . . .

The Broncos also made a deal with Everett, getting F Drew Englot, 20, from the Silvertips for F Raphael Pelletier, 20, and a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2024 draft. . . . This was the second time Englot was traded in fewer than 24 hours. On Sunday, he was part of the massive trade between the Kamloops Blazers and Everett. . . . Englot, from Candiac Sask., had three goals and 11 assists in 34 games with the Blazers this season. Kamloops had acquired him from the Regina Pats last season. . . . Pelletier, from Legal, Alta., had 37 goals and 53 assists in 162 games with the Broncos over the past four seasons. This season, he has 11 goals and 17 assists in 28 games. . . .

Ward and Englot are expected to be in the Broncos’ lineup tonight (Tuesday) when they meet the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers.

——

The Everett Silvertips acquired F Nolan Chastko, 17, from the Prince George Cougars for a conditional sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2025 draft. . . . Chastko, from Brandon, wasn’t picked in the WHL draft. He signed with the Cougars, and has been playing with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals. He has 10 goals and 14 assists in 29 games with Virden.

——

The Tri-City Americans also were involved in a couple of Monday deals. . . . They Tri-Citygot D Ethan Peters, 19, from the Edmonton Oil Kings for a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. From Moose Jaw, Peters was in his third season with Edmonton. He recorded 28 points, including 24 assists, in 119 regular-season games. . . . Following last season, he was presented with the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy as the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year. . . .

The Americans also acquired D Jackson Romeril, 17, from the Kelowna Rockets for a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft. . . . From Calgary, the Rockets selected him in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. . . . This season, he is pointless in 13 games with Kelowna.

——

——

Edmonton was involved in another Monday exchange when it got D Jacob Hoffrogge, 19, from the Everett Silvertips for a seventh-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. . . . He had two goals and two assists in 23 games with Everett this season. He also has played with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

——

The WHL’s trade deadline arrives on Tuesday. Here are the trade numbers since Oct. 25:

No. of trades — 36.

No. of players traded — 65.

No. of WHL draft picks traded — 65.

No. of WHL conditional draft picks traded — 16.

Teams involved in trades — 10: Edmonton; 6: Victoria, Winnipeg; 5: Kamloops, Seattle; 4: Everett, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Prince George, Regina; 3: Spokane, Tri-City; 2: Brandon, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Red Deer; Swift Current; 1: Saskatoon, Vancouver; 0: Calgary, Medicine Hat, Portland.

Why did I start with Oct. 25? Because that was the day that the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings, signalling to me that the countdown to deadline day had started.

The Seattle Thunderbirds and Portland Winterhawks each has added a player to their roster who began this season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. The NHL’s Winnipeg Jets assigned F Brad Lambert to Seattle and F Chaz Lucius to Portland. Neither has played since they were in the 2023 World Junior Championship in Moncton and Halifax.

Lambert, 19, had two goals and an assist in 14 games with the Moose. He had Seattleone goal in five games with Finland at the WJC. . . . Seattle acquired his WHL rights from the Saskatoon Blades on June 30 for fourth- and sixth-round picks in the WHL’s 2023 draft, a conditional first-rounder in 2023 and a conditional second-rounder in 2024. . . . With Lambert having been assigned to Saskatoon, the Blades now are in possession of those two conditional draft picks. . . . Might the Blades spend some draft capital today before the trade deadline arrives?

Lucius, 19, is a native of White Bear Lake, Minn. He had two goals and three Portlandassists in 12 games with the Moose. The Jets selected him with the 18th pick of the NHL’s 2021 draft. Portland grabbed his WHL rights in the fourth round of the 2018 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he played at the U of Minnesota, putting up 19 points, including nine goals, in 24 games. . . . Last week, he helped Team USA to a bronze medal at the WJC. He finished with seven points, five of them goals, in as many games. He had three goals, including the OT winner, as the Americans beat Sweden, 8-7, in the third-place game.

Portland and Seattle both are in the midst of East Division road trips.

Lucius is expected to join the Winterhawks once they return home. He could make his Portland debut on Jan. 20 against the visiting Victoria Royals.

Seattle general manager Bil La Forge said in a news release that his club looks “forward to getting (Lambert) in a Thunderbirds jersey soon.”

THINKING OUT LOUD: Look, I’m not a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, but those baby blue outfits they were wearing on Monday night should be sent to Mars. Sheesh, who is responsible for the Habs wearing those things instead of their traditional outfits? . . . If you were wondering, the Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds will meet three more times this season. They’ll play March 7 and 21 in Kent, Wash., and March 22 in Kamloops. . . . How much of the NCAA’s championship football game did you watch on Monday night? . . . Today’s WHL trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, 3 p.m. in Alberta, and 2 p.m. in B.C.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

In the middle of all the trading frenzy, the Erie Otters chose to fire head coach BJ Adams on Monday. Adams, who was in his second season as the head coach, had been on the Otters’ staff since 2015. . . . The Otters, who are 1-9-0 of late, are 12-20-3 and in last place in the 10-team Western Conference. . . . The plan is for assistant coaches Vince Laise and Wes Wolfe to run the team while management searches for a head coach. . . .

The junior B Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay Junior International Hockey League are believed to be poised to introduce Briar McNaney as their new head coach. He would replace Adam DiBella, who resigned this week after the league suspended him for the remainder of this season for his role in a New Year’s Eve line brawl in a game against the visiting Beaver Valley Nitehawks. . . . McNaney, 30, spent five seasons on staff with the KIJHL’s Columbia Valley Rockies; he finished last season as general manager and head coach. . . . From Kamloops, he began this season as an assistant coach with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers

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.

Trust

Blazers rock WHL world in landing Zellweger . . . Giants’ captain off to Ice for eight assets . . . Bedard back lighting it up with Pats

The WHL’s trade deadline arrives on Tuesday. Here are the trade numbers since Oct. 25:

No. of trades — 31.

No. of players traded — 59.

No. of WHL draft picks traded — 62.

No. of WHL conditional draft picks traded — 12.

Teams involved in trades — 8: Edmonton; 6: Victoria, Winnipeg; 5: Kamloops, Seattle; 4: Lethbridge, Prince George, Regina; 3: Everett, Kelowna, Spokane; 2: Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Red Deer; 1: Brandon, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Tri-City, Vancouver; 0: Calgary, Medicine Hat, Portland.

Why did I start with Oct. 25? Because that was the day that the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings, signalling to me that the countdown to deadline day had started.

January 8, 2023.

It will be remembered as the day when discretion being the better part of valour no longer was entrenched in the WHL’s trade deadline-related thinking of those making the deals.

It was the day the Kamloops Blazers, the host team for the 2023 Memorial Cup, and the Winnipeg Ice, the Eastern Conference’s top team to date, combined to give up eight players, 13 WHL draft picks, including seven first-round selections, and a conditional pick for three players.

First things first . . .

Observers have been waiting for weeks to see what kind of impact the Blazers would have as Tuesday’s trade deadline approaches. Well, they found out on Sunday.

Kamloops acquired D Olen Zellweger, 19, and F Ryan Hofer, 20, from the Everett KamloopsSilvertips but the cost was off the charts.

All told, Kamloops coughed up two roster players (F Drew Englot, 20, and D Kaden Hammell, 17) and two prospects (D Rylan Pearce, 17, and F Jack Bakker, 15), along with nine draft picks and a conditional pick. Kamloops surrendered four first-rounders (2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026), one second (2023), one third (2025), one fourth (2023), one fifth (2024) and one sixth (2026). The Blazers also threw in a conditional second-rounder in 2026.

No, Kamloops didn’t get any picks back.

Zellweger, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., is fresh off a run as perhaps Team Canada’s best defenceman in a gold medal-winning performance at the World Junior Championship that ended Thursday in Halifax. In Kamloops, he will be Everettreunited with Team Canada teammates Caedan Bankier and Logan Stankoven,

A second-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL’s 2021 draft, Zellweger has 28 points, including 10 goals, in 23 games with Everett this season. He has signed a three-year entry-level contract with Anaheim so is unlikely to return to the WHL for a 20-year-old season.

Last season, Zellweger led WHL defencemen with 78 points in 55 games and was named the league’s top defenceman.

Hofer, a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder from Winnipeg, is one of the WHL’s premier power forwards. This season, his third, he has 23 goals and 13 assists in 36 games. The Washington Capitals selected him in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2022 draft.

Englot, from Candiac, Sask., is in his fourth WHL season. The Blazers acquired him from the Regina Pats midway through the 2021-22 season. This season, he has three goals and 11 assists in 34 games.

Hammell, from Langley, B.C., was a first-round pick by the Blazers in the WHL’s 2020 draft. Last season, he put up 14 points, 11 of them assists, in 57 games. This season, he has six goals and four assists in 36 games.

Pearce, from Martensville, Sask., was a fourth-round pick by the Blazers in the WHL’s 2020 draft. He got into two games with Kamloops this season and earned two assists. Pearce now is with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers.

Bakker, from White Rock, B.C., is playing for the U18 side at the Delta, B.C., Hockey Academy. He was a third-round selection by the Blazers in the 2022 WHL draft.

The Blazers (22-8-6) are third in the Western Conference, eight points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds (28-5-2) and five behind the Portland Winterhawks (26-6-3). The Silvertips (18-18-1) are tied for fifth with the Tri-City Americans (17-16-3), one point behind the Vancouver Giants (16-16-6).

Kamloops, which beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 5-1, on Saturday night, is next scheduled to play Wednesday against visiting Vancouver. Hofer will sit out that one with a one-game suspension.

You can bet he’ll be in the lineup on Friday, though, when the Blazers are to play in Everett. The Silvertips are scheduled to visit the Blazers on March 10.

——

Meanwhile, shortly after Winnipeg beat visiting Portland, 6-3, on Sunday night, the Ice announced it had acquired F Zack Ostapchuk, the Giants’ 19-WinnipegIceyear-old captain and another member of Canada’s national junior team.

In exchange, the Ice surrendered two roster players (F Skyler Bruce, 19, and F Connor Dale, 17), two prospects (D Owen Brees, 15, and F Hudson Landmark, 15), and four WHL draft picks — firsts in 2024, 2025 and 2026, and a fifth in 2024.

Ostapchuk, from St. Albert, Alta., had 10 goals and 19 assists in 21 games with the Giants this season. In 153 career regular-season games, he put up 96 points, 48 of them goals. Vancouver selected him 12th overall in the WHL’s 2018 draft, Vancouverand the Ottawa Senators grabbed him in the second round of the NHL’s 2021 draft.

Ostapchuk has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Senators so is unlikely to be back in the WHL for his 20-year-old season in 2023-24.

Bruce, from Winnipeg, had 22 points, seven of them goals, in 33 games with the Ice this season. He has 70 points, including 26 goals, in 136 regular-season games. The Kootenay Ice picked him in the second round of the WHL’s 2018 draft.

Dale, a freshman who also is from St. Albert, has three goals and five assists in 24 games. He was a ninth-round pick in the WHL’s 2020 draft.

Brees, from Lethbridge, was picked by the Ice in the fifth round of the 2022 draft. He is playing with the U15 Northern Alberta Xtreme.

Landmark, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was an eighth-round pick in that same draft. He is playing with the U15 AAA Sherwood Park United Cycle Flyers.

The Ice (29-5-0) leads the Eastern Conference by two points over the Red Deer Rebels (26-8-4), with Winnipeg holding four games in hand.

The Giants (16-16-6) are fourth in the Western Conference, 12 points behind third-place Kamloops.

The Ice and Giants aren’t scheduled to meet again during this regular season. In their only clash, the Ice posted a 4-3 victory at the Langley Events Centre on Oct. 19.

Vancouver next will play Wednesday when it is to visit Kamloops.

Winnipeg’s next game is scheduled for Wednesday when it is to play host to the Seattle Thunderbirds, another organization that has gone big in this season’s arm race.

Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) pointed out that the Thunderbirds have acquired F Colton Dach (Kelowna Rockets), D Nolan Allan (Prince Albert Raiders) and D Luke Prokop (Edmonton Oil Kings) for a total of four first-round picks, two seconds, three thirds, a fourth, two sixths, and five players.

——

It was 11 years ago today (Monday) when the Swift Current Broncos and WHLKootenay Ice rocked the WHL’s world with what was then seen as a huge deal.

Mark Lamb, the Broncos’ general manager and head coach, and Ice GM Jeff Chynoweth got together and cooked up a deal that included six players and three WHL draft picks.

The Broncos dealt F Cody Eakin, 19, to the Ice for roster F Christian Magnus, four list players (F Ryan Bloom, F Colby Cave, G Steven Myland and F Jarett Zentner) and three picks — a first and a second in 2011 and a third in 2012.

The Ice went on to win the WHL championship that spring, ousting the Portland Winterhawks from a five-game final series. Eakin, who put up 44 points in 26 regular-season games with the Ice, scored 11 goals and added 16 assists in 19 playoff games. Eakin, F Matt Fraser and F Max Reinhardt each finished with 27 playoff points.

The Ice went 2-3 at the Memorial Cup, losing 3-1 to the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in the semifinal. Eakin totalled six points, three of them goals, in the five games.

I’ll let you decide who won the exchange between the Broncos and Ice.

The World Junior Championship ended in Halifax on Thursday. Since then, Seattlethere has been speculation that Finnish F Brad Lambert will be joining the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. That speculation heated up Sunday when his name was dropped from the roster of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Lambert, who had two goals and one assist in 14 AHL games, is listed as inactive on the Moose’s stats page. He had one goal in five games with Finland at the WJC.

Lambert, who turned 19 on Dec. 19, was born in Lahti, Finland. The Winnipeg Jets, the Moose’s parent club, selected him 30th overall in the NHL’s 2022 draft.

Lambert’s father, Ross, spent one season 1982-83) with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, putting up 106 points. Brad’s uncle, Lane, is the head coach of the NHL’s New York Islanders.

Meanwhile, F Connor Bedard, fresh off lighting up the WJC on behalf of Team ReginaCanada, returned to the Regina Pats’ lineup on Sunday. All he did was score four goals and add two assist as the Pats beat the visiting Calgary Hitmen, 6-2. . . . The announced attendance was 4,761, the Pats’ largest home crowd this season. . . . Bedard’s first career six-point outing included a pair of shorthanded goals. . . . Despite missing 11 games while with Team Canada, Bedard’s 70 points, in 29 games, has him leading the points race by eight points over F Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockets. With 31 goals, Bedard is two behind F Kai Uchacz of the Red Deer Rebels, and Bedard’s 39 assists are two more than D Lukas Dragicevic of the Tri-City Americans. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post was in attendance; his story is right here. . . .

Now take a minute or two, think about the packages that Kamloops and Winnipeg traded away today, then try to figure out what it would cost an organization to get Bedard from the Pats. . . . were he available, that is.

Hurricanes grab Swetlikoff from Chiefs . . . Rebels, Cougars swap forwards . . . Wallace now a Blazers Legend

The Lethbridge Hurricanes let the WHL’s other Eastern Conference teams know LethbridgeThursday that they are serious about this season by acquiring F Blake Swetlikoff from the Spokane Chiefs. . . . In the exchange, the rebuilding Chiefs (7-24-3) picked up the rights to F Jack Lackas and two draft picks — a second-rounder in 2026 and a fifth in 2025. . . . Swetlikoff, a 19-year-old from Regina, was a third-round selection in the 2018 WHL draft. He has 19 points, 14 of them assists, in 34 games with Spokane this season. . . . In 128 career regular-season games, he has 22 goals and 39 assists. . . . “We feel that (Swetlikoff) will help our top nine,” Lethbridge general manager Peter Anholt said in a news release. “It was a steep price for us to pay, but our team deserved to be added to with the way we’ve played this season.” . . . Swetlikoff is expected to make his Lethbridge debut on Saturday against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Hurricanes (21-15-1) are sixth in the 12-team conference, having won six of their past 10 games. They are one point behind the Calgary Hitmen (20-11-4) and three in arrears of the Moose Jaw Warriors (23-13-0). . . . Lackas, who turned 16 on Dec. 26, is from Las Vegas. Lethbridge selected him in the WHL’s 2021 U.S. draft, but he is unsigned. Lackas is playing with the U16 AAA Phoenix Jr. Coyotes this season.

——

The Red Deer Rebels and Prince George Cougars swapped a pair of 17-year-old RedDeerforwards on Thursday. Ryker Singer is on his way to Red Deer, with Arjun Bawa moving to Prince George. The Cougars also got second- and seventh-round picks in the WHL’s 2023 draft in the exchange. . . . Singer, the 20th player chosen in the WHL’s 2020 draft, has three goals and six assists in 34 games this season. He is from Paradise Hills, Alta. . . . “He’s got speed, skill and good hands, and he’s a smart player,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner and general manager, told Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com. “It’s a trade for both teams (where) we wanted to add more speed to our team with skill, and they wanted a player who has some size.” . . . Bawa, from Richmond, B.C., had two goals and three assists in 34 games this season. Red Deer took him in the PrinceGeorgesecond round of the 2020 draft. . . . “Arjun . . . is a big physical player (who) will fit well with our forward core,” offered Mark Lamb, the Cougars’ general manager and head coach, in a news release. . . . The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Bawa is the son of Robin Bawa, a former WHLer (Kamloops Jr. Oilers, Kamloops Blazers, New Westminster Bruins, 1982-87) who went on to play 61 NHL games. He was the first player of Indian descent to play in the NHL. . . . The Rebels are scheduled to play the Raiders in Prince Albert tonight, while the Cougars are at home to the Everett Silvertips.

——

The WHL’s trade deadline arrives on Jan. 10. Here are the trade numbers since Oct. 25:

No. of trades — 27.

No. of players traded — 43.

No. of WHL draft picks traded — 47.

No. of WHL conditional draft picks traded — 9.

Teams involved in trades — 8: Edmonton; 6: Victoria; 4: Kamloops, Lethbridge, Prince George, Seattle, Winnipeg; 3: Regina, Spokane; 2: Everett, Kelowna, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Red Deer; 1: Brandon, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Tri-City; 0: Calgary, Medicine Hat, Portland, Vancouver.

Why did I start with Oct. 25? Because that was the day that the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings, signalling to me that the countdown to deadline day had started.

One of my favourite sports columns every year comes from the keyboard of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier. His 39th annual Trite Trophy column, in which he examines a whole lot of trite phrases from the sporting press, is right here.

It includes a whole lot of stuff like this awesome paragraph:

“And Just To Put A Button On this tribute to minor annoyances, ‘False start, offense’ is redundant. All false starts are on the offense. It’s like saying 7 a.m. in the morning, which people do Time and Time Again, even though all 7 a.m.’s are in the morning.”

Ahh, yes, one of my pet peeves . . . tonight’s game will begin at 7 p.m.

Along with the first annual golf tournament, which actually is the inaugural golf tournament.

Anyway . . . give Collier’s piece a read. I just know that you’ll enjoy it.

Mute

THINKING OUT LOUD: Is there a way to take two spoonfuls of adult cough syrup without getting it on the bottle and ending up with at least one sticky hand? . . . It’s a good thing Canada won the World Junior Championship in Halifax on Thursday night because the last thing Hockey Canada needs on its plate is another investigation. Just imagine the outcry had Canada, which led 2-0 with seven minutes remaining in the third period, lost the final to Czechia. I mean, early on in the tournament there were folks questioning Canada’s goaltending development record. . . . No, your favourite WHL team isn’t going to end up getting F Connor Bedard from the Regina Pats before next week’s trade deadline. Perhaps the Pats, with the likes of Bedard, F Tanner Howe and D Stan Svozil on their roster, should be buyers. What say you, John Paddock? . . . BTW, the Pats had F Cole Temple, the fifth overall pick in the WHL’s 2022 draft, in their lineup for their past two games. From Brandon, he is the son of former Wheat Kings F Jeff Temple. As well, Cole’s grandfather, Ted, one of hockey’s really good guys, played goal for the Wheat Kings (1967-69). . . . If you are so inclined, please think about clicking on the DONATE button over there on the right. Thank you!

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

G Jesse Sanche was backing up Dylan Ernst on Wednesday night when the Kamloops Blazers dropped a 3-2 OT decision to the visiting Everett Silvertips. Sanche, 16, is from Kelowna and was a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2021 draft, but has yet to play in a WHL game. He was on the bench because I’m guessing that Czech G Michael Schnattinger, 18, was placed on waivers following the acquisition on Tuesday of G Matthew Kieper, 18, from the Regina Pats. Kieper hadn’t yet arrived in Kamloops, thus Sanche got a prime seat for the game. . . .

During that Wednesday game, the Blazers elevated Greg (Spike) Wallace to legendary status as they put his name on one of their Legends banners and lifted it into the arena rafters. On March 7, 2012, the WHL presented Wallace with a Distinguished Service Award. The following morning, the Blazers announced that Wallace was leaving the team “by mutual agreement . . . to pursue other initiatives. The Blazers and Spike have agreed that now would be an appropriate time for (him) to . . . pursue new opportunities.” . . . Wallace had been part of the Blazers since 1984, serving as trainer and equipment manager, then later as community liaison. He was a part of three Memorial Cup champions and five WHL titles. . . . Former Blazers players Jerome Iginla and Darryl Sydor, now two of five owners of the franchise, were on hand to salute Wallace on Wednesday night.

Vultures

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.

ATMfees

Bedard tour sure to sell out B.C. arenas . . . Wheat Kings make coaching change . . . Oil Kings still wheeling, dealing

F Connor Bedard’s I Can Sell Out the B.C. Division Arenas Tour will wrap up with Reginaa game against the Prince George Cougars on Friday night.

Taking Note was told that as of late Monday afternoon there were fewer than 100 tickets remaining for the game that will be played in the 5,971-seat CN Centre. Through 12 home games, the Cougars’ average announced attendance is 2,551.

A sellout in Prince George will mean that Bedard and his Regina Pats will have sold out all five games on their B.C. Division swing.

The trip opened Friday in Langley, B.C., with a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants. The announced attendance was 5,276, the largest crowd for a Giants’ home game since they left the Pacific Coliseum for the Langley Events Centre prior to the 2016-17 season. Going into Friday night, the Giants’ average announced attendance through nine home games had been 3,017.

One night later, Bedard and his travelling show went into Victoria and dumped the Royals, 9-5, before an announced crowd of 7,006. That was the largest crowd in Victoria since Feb. 22, 2020, when 7,006 fans watched the Royals beat the Kelowna Rockets, 4-3 in OT. . . . The Royals had been averaging an announced attendance of 2,956 through 11 home games prior to Saturday’s game.

The Pats are to meet the Rockets in Kelowna tonight in 6,886-seat Prospera Place. Through 11 home games, the Rockets’ average announced attendance has been 4,021.

On Wednesday, Bedard and his mates will face the Blazers in Kamloops’ 5,464-seat Sandman Centre. Through 10 home games, the Blazers, the host team for the 2023 Memorial Cup, have average an announced attendance of 4,650 fans.

If the five B.C. Division teams aren’t prepared to offer up a cut of their gate receipts to Bedard, they should at least present him with keys to their arenas. Or coupons good for free meals whenever he should happen to visit their cities. He should never have to pay for a meal again in any of those communities.

That’s the least they could do to show their appreciation.

Right?

BTW, Bedard has three goals and two assists through the first two games of his trek through B.C. However, he has been overshadowed somewhat by F Tanner Howe, who turned 17 — yes, 17!!! — on Monday. Howe scored five times and added two assists in those two games, and was named the WHL’s player of the week on Monday.

The Brandon Wheat Kings became the first of the WHL’s 22 teams to make a coaching change this season when they fired head coach Don MacGillivray on BrandonMonday morning. . . . Marty Murray, who is in his first season as the team’s general manager, has taken over behind the bench. . . . This is the first firing in Brandon since Kelly McCrimmon announced on Sept. 8, 2020, that he had sold the franchise to the J&G Group of Companies, under Jared Jacobson. . . .

MacGillivray, 57, had been with the Wheat Kings since signing on as an assistant coach prior to the 2016-17 season. . . . He was working on a contract that is to run through 2023-24. . . . This season, the Wheat Kings are last in the six-team East Division, at 8-15-2, after being swept in a weekend doubleheader by the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes — 4-3 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday. . . .

Since taking over as head coach on Nov. 24, 2020, prior to the pandemic-forced developmental season, MacGillivray had a 61-47-9 record. He replaced Dave Lowry, who left for the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. . . . Before joining the Wheat Kings, MacGillivray spent five seasons as the GM/head coach of the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues. . . . He also worked as the head coach of the MJHL’s St. James Canadians (1989-91), Southeast Blades (1992-93), and Neepawa Natives (1993-96); the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders (1996-98), the MJHL’s Portage Terriers (1998-2006) and the U of Manitoba Bisons (2006-09). . . .

Murray played four seasons (1991-95) with the Wheat Kings, putting up 392 points, including 260 assists, in 264 games. His time there included 114- and 128-point seasons. He has head-coaching experience from his time in the NAHL and USHL. He was the GM/head coach of the NAHL’s Minot Minotauros from 2011-20 and then spent two seasons with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. . . .

Mark Derlago and Del Pedrick, the Wheat Kings’ assistant coaches, remain on the coaching staff. . . .

The Wheat Kings, who have lost two in a row and are 2-7-1 in their past 10 outings, will be at home to the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday and the Swift Current Broncos on Saturday.

Umbrella

THE TRADING PLACE:

At 2:30 p.m. PT, Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) tweeted: “Will the last member of the 2021-22 Oil Kings to leave please turn out the lights? 18 players got a Edmontonpoint for the Oil Kings in the 2022 playoffs. Only 3 of them are still on the team today after the Golder trade. (Dowhaniuk, Wiebe, Seitz).”

At 3:10 p.m. PT, he followed up with: “This tweet was accurate for 37 minutes. Wiebe is gone now.”

Yes, the Edmonton Oil Kings, the WHL’s defending champions, made two more trades on Monday afternoon.

They started by sending F Carson Golder, a 20-year-old who also can play on Kelownathe back end, and a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2023 draft to the Kelowna Rockets for F Riley Kovacevic, 18.

It wasn’t long after that when Edmonton dealt F Jaxsen Wiebe, 20, and a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2026 WHL draft to the Prince George Cougars for F Noah Boyko, 20, a third-round pick in the 2023 draft and a conditional third-rounder in the 2026 draft.

This season, Golder, who is from Smithers, B.C., has eight goals and seven assists in 24 games. Last season, he scored three goals and added nine assists in 46 regular-season games, then scored three times and set up five others in 16 playoff games in helping the Oil Kings win the WHL championship. . . . Kovacevic, from Kelowna, has five goals and four assists in 20 games this season. Last season, he recorded three goals and four assists in 49 games. The Rockets selected him in the 10th round of the WHL’s 2019 draft. . . .

Meanwhile, the Cougars traded Boyko, who was acquired from the Saskatoon Blades for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft on May 19. From Fort PrinceGeorgeSaskatchewan, Alta., Boyko had five goals and five assists in 23 games with the Cougars. He was a first-round selection by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the 2017 bantam draft. In 198 career regular-season games, he has 94 points, including 48 goals. . . . Wiebe, from Moose Jaw, has three goals and one assist in six games with Edmonton this season. He is six games into a seven-game suspension that was handed down after he, a repeat offender, took a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct in Saskatoon on Nov. 12. Earlier, he sat out four games after being suspended following a knee-on-knee hit on Saskatoon F Josh Pillar. . . . In 130 regular-season games, the first 73 with the Red Deer Rebels, Wiebe has 60 points, 22 of them goals. Last season, he finished with 10 goals and 26 assists in 41 games, then added two goals and six assists in 13 playoff games. He also had three goals and one assist in three games at the Memorial Cup. . . . Obviously, he brings more edge to the game than does Boyko, and that would seem to be what the Cougars want. . . .

After all this, the Oil Kings are left with two 20-year-olds — Boyko and D Logan Dowhaniuk. Their roster also includes only one 19-year-old — D Ethan Peters. . . . The Rockets now have three 20-year-olds on their roster, with Golder joining F Adam Kydd and G Talyn Boyko. . . . And the Cougars also have three — Wiebe, F Cole Dubinsky, who was acquired from the Regina Pats on Nov. 4, and F Chase Wheatcroft, who came over in a June 10 deal with the Winnipeg Ice.

——

On Monday night, the Victoria Royals announced that they had acquired G VictoriaRoyalsNicholas Cristiano, 18, from the Kelowna Rockets for a fifth-round selection in the 2023 WHL draft. . . . With veteran G Tyler Palmer, 19, not having played since Nov. 12, the Royals needed a goaltender to pair with Logan Cunningham, 17. . . . Cristiano, from Langley, B.C., started this season with the Rockets — he was 0-1-0, 2.61, .879 — before being released and joining the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors. In three games with the Warriors, he was 1-2-0, 4.42, .867. . . . According to Dan Price, the Royals’ general manager and head coach, Palmer is “on personal leave and with his family.” . . . Palmer, who is 3-10-3, 4.22, .876 this season, is from Fernie, B.C. . . . The Royals (3-17-3) are scheduled to entertain the Moose Jaw Warriors (15-9-0) tonight.

——

Since Oct. 25, the WHL has featured 16 trades involving 27 players, 33 draft picks and six conditional picks.

Gate

With the Edmonton Oil Kings in rebuilding mode just months after winning the WHL championship, Guy Flaming (@TPS_Guy) tweeted the records last week of the four teams who appeared in the 2022 Memorial Cup tournament that was won by the host Saint John Sea Dogs. I have updated their records going into tonight’s games:

Edmonton, 4-20-1, last in six-team division.

Hamilton Bulldogs, 9-10-1, fourth in five-team division.

Shawinigan Cataractes, 11-12-2, last in four-team division.

Saint John Sea Dogs, 6-15-1, last in six-team division.

Ticket packages for the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament that is scheduled to be held in Kamloops are to go on sale Thursday through Ticketmaster. . . . According to a news release, one tournament package covering eight games plus a possible tiebreaker will set you back “$600 plus GST and applicable fees.” . . . The tournament is to run from May 26 through June 4. . . . There is more info, along with a tournament schedule, right here.

I have referred to Andrei Lupandin and his family a couple of times over the past few days. You will recall that Lupandin, who spent four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings, his wife and their two sons have left Ukraine and now are in Saskatoon hoping to get a fresh start. . . . Jim Matheson of Postmedia takes a really good look right here at Lupandin and the situation in which he and his family find themselves.

Pets

A couple of tweets about a former WHL player from The MacBeth Report (@MacBethReport):

“Antti Boman (Kamloops, 1991-1992) refereed his 800th Liiga (Finland) game on Friday evening. He is the third referee in Liiga history to reach the 800-game mark and is first among active referees. Timo Favorin is the leader with 1,000 games and Jari Levonen is second at 979.

“Boman is in his 15th season as a referee in Liiga, Finland’s top pro league. He ended his playing career in 2004-05 with Frisk Asker (Norway, GET-Ligaen). He also played in Germany, France, Sweden, and Scotland, in addition to Finland and the WHL.”

Boman played one game with the Kamloops Blazers in 1991-92. He didn’t record a point.

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.

Pizza

Michigan-based OHL team wants to host Memorial Cup . . . Winterhawks equal franchise record . . . Bedard, Pats selling out B.C. tour

There was an interesting development out of the OHL on Wednesday when it OHLwas announced that the Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, Saginaw Spirit and Soo Greyhounds all have expressed the intent of bidding to play host to the 2024 Memorial Cup. . . . You will be aware that Saginaw is in Michigan; the Memorial Cup hasn’t been played in an American city since 1998 when the Spokane Chiefs were the host team. . . . Bids are to be submitted by Jan. 31 with the winning bid to be announced in March. . . . Kingston, Niagara Falls and Saginaw haven’t served as the host city for a Memorial Cup tournament; it was held in Sault Ste. Marie in 1993. . . . The OHL last played host to the tournament in 2017 when it was in Windsor. . . . The 2023 tournament is scheduled to be held in Kamloops.

You can bet that some WHL teams are paying close attention to the NHL’s RedWingsDetroit Red Wings and the organization’s goaltending situation these days. . . . That’s because the Red Wings claimed G Magnus Hellberg on waivers from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. . . . WHL teams are going to be watching to see how Hellberg slots into the goaltending depth chart and just how the dominoes will fall. That’s because the Red Wings already have Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic on their NHL roster, with Victor Brattstrom and Jussi Olkinuora with the AHL-Grand Rapids Griffins. The guy some WHL teams are interested in, Sebastian Cossa, is one of three goaltenders with the ECHL’s Toldeo Walleye. Cossa, 20, was a first-round selection by the Red Wings in the NHL’s 2021 draft. He then backstopped the Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2021-22 WHL championship. . . . The Oil Kings are in a rebuilding mode and haven’t been shy about trading players off that team’s roster; F Jakub Demek, F Shea Van Olm, D Luke Prokop and F Jalen Luypen all have been dealt as Edmonton stockpiles draft picks and younger players. . . . So if the Detroit dominoes fall in such a way that the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Cossa is returned to Edmonton, you have to think his stay there won’t last long.

Run

WEDNESDAY IN THE WHL:

The Portland Winterhawks remain the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams with one Portlandregulation-time loss after they skated out of Everett with a 5-2 victory over the Silvertips. . . . Portland (17-1-2) now has points in 12 straight (10-0-2). . . . Everett (12-8-1) had lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . . Portland erased a 1-0 first-period deficit with the next four goals. . . . F Dawson Pasternak (4) and F Josh Zakreski (4) each had a goal and an assist for Portland, which held a 45-26 edge in shots, including 18-4 in the second period. . . . The Winterhawks had F Cole Cairns, 15, and F Hudson Darby, 15, in their lineup for the first time, having lost F Kyle Chyzowski and F Diego Buttazzoni to injury. Cairns plays for the U18 team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, while Darby is with the U18 Swift Current Legionnaires. . . . Portland also scratched F Robbie Fromm-Delorme, its leading scorer, and F Jack O’Brien, neither of whom was shown in Tuesday’s roster report. . . . F Jackson Berezowski, who last played on Nov. 4, and D Aidan Sutter were among Everett’s seven scratches. . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers got goals from six players as they skated to a 6-1 MedicineHatvictory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Tigers (7-10-5) had lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . The Oil Kings (4-18-1) had won their previous two games. . . . F Mason Finley (5) gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead in the first period. . . . The Tigers scored the last six goals, two of them via the PP. . . . F Brendan Lee had a goal (13) and an assist as he ran his goal streak to five games and a point streak to six games. He has 22 points in 22 games this season. Last season, he totalled 21 points in 52 games split between Medicine Hat and the Saskatoon Blades. . . . F Tyler MacKenzie and F Andrew Basha each had three assists. . . .

The Prince George Cougars ran their winning streak to four games with a 5-2 PrinceGeorgevictory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Cougars, who lead the B.C. Division, are 13-9-0. Prince George holds a five-point lead on Kamloops with the Blazers having five games in hand. . . . The Warriors (13-9-0) had won their previous two games. This was the start of their swing through the B.C. Division. . . . The Warriors led 2-0 late in the first period, but the Cougars tied it on two goals from F Caden Brown (6) before the period ended. Brown also had an assist for a three-point night. . . . F Chase Wheatcroft’s 17th goal, at 2:14 of the third period, broke a 2-2 tie and stood up as the winner. . . . The Cougars outshot the visitors 46-21, including 24-4 in the second period when they were unable to solve G Connor Ungar. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer of the Cougars had an assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . F Jagger Firkus of the Warriors also had an assist as he ran his point streak to 15 games. . . . The Warriors had F Riley Niven back in the lineup after he hadn’t played since Oct. 8. . . .

F Jared Davidson scored twice to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 4-2 victory Seattleover the Kelowna Rockets in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (14-3-1) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Rockets (8-9-1) had won their previous two games. . . . Davidson, who has 10 goals, gave his guys 1-0 and 2-1 leads. . . . Kelowna D Jackson DeSouza scored his third goal in two games to get Kelowna into a 2-1 tie. Before this mini-hot streak, he had one career goal in 84 regular-season games. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (9) scored at 11:12 of the second period and that one was the winner. . . . F Ty Hurley made his Seattle debut after being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos last week. . . . The Thunderbirds were without D Luke Prokop, who is listed on this week’s roster report as being out week-to-week. . . . Kelowna F Colton Dach sat out with a one-game suspension. . . .

F Zack Ostapchuk broke a 3-3 tie with his second goal of the game to help the VancouverVancouver Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . The Giants (8-9-4) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Chiefs (4-14-1) have lost three in a row. . . . Ostapchuk, the Giants’ captain, gave his side a 4-3 lead at 17:15 of the second period with his ninth goal. . . . F Colton Langkow, who has four goals, scored two PP goals, one at 5:38 of the third period for a 5-3 lead and an empty-netter at 19:59. Langkow also had an assist. . . . The Giants got 34 stops from G Brett Mirwald, who was making just his second start — and third appearance — in November. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers have points in five straight games after beating the Tri-KamloopsCity Americans, 6-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Blazers (10-4-3) are 3-0-2 in their past five games. . . . The Americans (8-13-0) have lost two in a row. This was the first of seven straight home games for them. . . . F Caedan Bankier (13) scored twice for the Blazers, while F Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists to run his scoring streak to 14 games. He has played in 14 games since being returned by the NHL’s Dallas Stars and has multiple-points in nine of them. . . . Tri-City D Lukas Dragicevic had a goal to run his point streak to 15 games. . . .

F Zach Benson figured in the game’s last two goals to help the host Winnipeg WinnipegIceIce to a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice improved to 21-2-0; the Hurricanes are 12-10-1. . . . The Hurricanes had beaten the host Ice 2-1 on Tuesday night, snapping Winnipeg’s 15-game winning streak. . . . Benson drew the primary assist as F Ty Nash (10) tied the score, 2-2, at 17:29 of the second period. Benson’s 14th goal, at 5:16 of the third, stood up as the winner. . . . Lethbridge is two games into a six-game road trip that continues with games in Brandon on Friday and Saturday nights. . . . Ice F Conor Geekie had his point streak snapped at 12 games. . . . G Dan Hauser started for the Ice after a two-game absence. He missed one game due to illness, than backed up Mason Beaupit on Tuesday. Hauser got the victory with 19 saves as he improved his record this season to 15-0-0. He is 56-3-2 in his career.

Snow

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

According to the WHL’s weekly roster report that was posted on Tuesday, the Regina Pats have deleted F Jakob Brook, 20, from their roster. Such a move would allow the Pats to get down to the maximum of three 20s, although Brook still was listed on their roster on Wednesday afternoon. . . . Dropping Brook leaves the Pats with D Luke Bateman, D Tanner Brown and F Erin Ginnell, who was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors this week, as their 20-year-olds. . . .

BTW, according to figures compiled by the WHL, the Pats, whose roster includes F Connor Bedard, are ninth in announced attendance in the 22-team league, averaging 3,297 fans per home game. . . . Bedard, likely to be the first selection in the NHL’s 2023 draft, and his Pats are two games into a 10-game road trip that will take them through the B.C. Division. . . . The Kelowna Rockets announced Wednesday that their game against the Pats on Tuesday already is sold out. . . . The Vancouver Giants, who play out of the Langley Events Centre, have announced that their game with the Pats on Friday is sold out, and the Victoria Royals have said the same for the Pats’ visit on Saturday. . . . The Pats are in Kamloops on Wednesday and that game is down to scattered singles and some standing room being available. . . .

The Red Deer Rebels have acquired D Marek Schneider, 19, from the Saskatoon Blades for a fourth-round selection in the WHL’s 2023 draft and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2026. . . . The 2023 selection originally belonged to Red Deer. . . . Schneider, from Prince Albert, was a second-round pick by the Blades in the WHL’s 2018 draft. . . . In 78 games with Saskatoon, he has two goals and six assists. This season, he has one goal and one assist in 14 games. . . .

Two former WHLers are to head up the off-ice staff for Canada’s entry at the 2022 Spengler Cup. Shane Doan, who played for the Kamloops Blazers and now is one of the team’s five owners, will be Canada’s general manager, while Travis Green is to serve as the head coach. . . . Green played with the Spokane Chiefs and Medicine Hat Tigers, and later coached with the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Spengler Cup is to run from Dec. 26 through Dec. 31 in Davos, Switzerland. . . .

The BCHL’s Penticton Vees ran their season-opening winning streak to 21 games on Wednesday night with a 5-3 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (11-8-1). . . . Salmon Arm led this one 2-0 after the first period. . . . Russian F Aydar Suniev, a sophomore from Moscow, figured in each of the Vees’ goals, with two goals and two assists. . . . The Vees are scheduled to visit the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (9-9-2) on Friday and the Powell River Kings (6-11-3) on Saturday.

Vaccine

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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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