The Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades have qualified for the WHL playoffs and have playoff tickets/packages available for purchase.
It’s interesting to see the different approaches these organizations have taken.
The Blades (34-23-4) are fifth in the Eastern Conference and appear headed for 
a first-round confrontation with the Moose Jaw Warriors (34-22-5). The Warriors, who hold a three-point edge, are scheduled to be in Saskatoon on Friday to conclude the season series. The Blades are 5-2-0; the Warriors, who beat the visiting Blades 7-0 on Saturday, are 2-4-1.
Saskatoon has made available what it calls a Playoff Pass. One adult Playoff Pass sells for $79. “This will guarantee your seat through the entire post-season, no matter how far we make it,” reads a news release on the Blades’ website. “That means you could enjoy as many as 16 playoff games for less than $80!”
So here’s the deal . . . this is an opportunity for you to roll the dice.
If you purchase one adult Playoff Pass and the Blades bow out in a first-round sweep, meaning two home games, well, that will have cost you $39.50 a game. But if they get into the second round and end up playing six home games, it’s $13.17 per game. A third-round appearance and, say, nine home games and it’s $8.78 per game.
“Or,” as Colin Priestner, the Blades’ president and general manager, told me, “you can just buy game-to-game and get the same seat with credit card on file but you’ll pay a higher price each round.”
OK, Blades fans, which will it be?
BTW, a youth Playoff Pass can be yours for $39, with a child’s going for $29.
The Blades haven’t yet revealed single-game playoff ticket prices but a regular-season adult ticket is $25.
Meanwhile, the Winterhawks are third in the Western Conference and could be 
headed for a first-round matchup with the Vancouver Giants or Victoria Royals.
The Winterhawks are selling 11-game packages for various prices, running from US$152 to $362.
Single-game tickets will go on sale once opening-round matchups are set. But a seat will cost anywhere from $18 to $63.50 in the first round. Should the Winterhawks get to the championship final, the prices will run from $20 to $66.50. (BTW, the priciest seats are the ones along the glass.)
Portland’s info, including a seating diagram, is right here.
The IIHF has released the schedule for the U18 men’s World Championship that is to run April 23 through May in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany. . . . With Russia and Belarus having been suspended from international competition, this will be an eight-team tournament. Canada (1), the U.S. (4), Czechia (5) and Germany (8) will be in Group A, with Sweden (2), Finland (3), Switzerland (6) and Latvia (7) in Group B. . . . There are more details right here.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were without head coach Brad Larsen and assistant coach Steve McCarthy, both former WHLers, when they met the visiting New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Yes, both coaches tested positive and entered COVID-19 protocol. With them gone, associate coach Pascal Vincent ran things at the bench. . . . The Blue Jackets dropped a 4-3 decision to the Islanders. . . . Just wondering, but do you think the WHL would let the public know if a team or teams had staff members, say a coach or even an athletic therapist, out of action because of COVID-19? Hey, just thinking out loud.
My wife, Dorothy, is fund-raising, again, as she takes part in her ninth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. Unfortunately, this one will be held virtually, again, but she continues to take it seriously. She is more than a little thankful for having had a kidney transplant more than eight years ago, and this is her way of giving back. . . . As of Tuesday evening, Dorothy is the No. 1 fund-raiser in B.C. . . . If you would like to donate to the cause and become a member of her team, you are able to do so right here.
TUESDAY IN THE WHL:
F Mikey Milne scored his 33rd goal just 24 seconds into the game and the host 
Winnipeg Ice went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-1, in the night’s only game. . . . Before the game was eight minutes old, Winnipeg held a 4-0 lead as F Conor Geekie (21), F Zach Benson (22) and F Jack Finley (24) joined the party. . . . Milne finished with three goals — his first WHL hat trick — and an assist. . . . G Daniel Hauser stopped 22 shots to record the victory. He is 29-2-1, 2.03, .913 this season. . . . The Ice (48-9-5) is the first WHL team this season to crack the 100-point barrier. It leads the Eastern Conference by six points over the Edmonton Oil Kings (46-13-3). . . . The Warriors (35-22-5) are fourth, three points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades (34-23-4).
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald, who once upon a time was that newspaper’s man on the Silvertips’ beat, tweeted Tuesday that “the Snohomish County-led effort to make pickleball Washington’s official state sport came to fruition Monday when Governor Jay Islee signed the bill into law.” Take that baseball, football and hockey. . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia posted this tweet on Tuesday: “(The Vancouver Giants’) injury report, which had been listing C Ty Halaburda (upper body) as sidelined week-to-week, has him now at indefinite. D Alex Cotton (LBI, week-to-week), LW Cole Shepard (LBI, week-to-week), G Jesper Vikam (LBI, week-to-week) and C Zack Ostapchuk (UBI, day-to-day).” The Giants have eight regular-season games remaining, starting with a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader against the visiting Spokane Chiefs. The Giants are tied for sixth in the Western Conference with the Victoria Royals, who have five games left. . . . G Tavin Grant, who played with the Prince George Cougars (2014-18), was the EBUG for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Tuesday night as they met the Canucks in Abbotsford. Due to injuries, the Marlies signed G Talor Joseph, 27, who plays for the BCIHL’s Trinity Western Spartans and started him. Grant didn’t get into the game, as Joseph turned aside 34 shots in the Marlies’ 5-3 victory.
Former WHLer Ryan Pilon is the new coach of the Estevan Bears, a U18 AAA men’s hockey team. He takes over from Riley Hengen, who had been the interim head coach since Nov. 24 when Jeff Smith was fired. . . . The Bears just completed their second season in the SMAAAHL. . . . Pilon, 25, played parts of five seasons (2011-15) in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Brandon Wheat Kings. He has been an assistant coach with the U18 AAA Beardy’s Blackhawks, who were dropped from the SMAAHL by Hockey Saskatchewan and replaced by the Bears, and the junior B Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League.
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.
personnel. . . . Davidson has been a free agent since May 21 when the Everett Silvertips announced that his contract wouldn’t be renewed after nine mostly successful seasons. . . . In Calgary, Davidson replaces long-time WHL player, scout and executive Dallas Thompson, who had been Calgary’s director of player personnel since July 11, 2017. The Hitmen announced on May 26 that “Thompson will not be returning next season.” . . . Prior to signing with Everett, Davidson spent four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, serving as director of player personnel and head scout. . . . “With the number of drafts in the WHL this year,” Hitmen general manager Jeff Chynoweth said in a news release, “scouting is more important than ever and we are thrilled to add Garry Davidson to our organization. He has a tremendous amount of experience, a winning pedigree and a diverse background with a proven track record of not only identifying but also recruiting players.” . . . The Hitmen also announced that Gary Michalick will be back for a five season. He is the organization’s travelling scout. . . . Thompson, 47, played three seasons (1992-95) with the WHL’s Tacoma Rockets. He later spent 16 seasons with the Prince George Cougars, 10 as general manager. He spent two seasons (2015-17) as Calgary’s director of scouting before being named director of player personnel.
Thursday, one in which the rights to F Chase LaPinta, an unsigned prospect from Frisco, Texas, moved to Vancouver Island. . . . The Royals got LaPinta and a seventh-round pick in the WHL’s 2022 prospects draft, an eighth-round pick in 2022 and a second-rounder in 2024. The eighth-rounder originated with Victoria, so the Royals actually got back a pick that they had traded away. . . . In exchange, the Hurricanes acquired D Nolan Bentham (2003). . . . Bentham, from Victoria, was the 13th overall pick in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. As a freshman, he had one goal and two assists in 52 games with the Royals in 2019-20. He didn’t play with them in 2020-21. . . . LaPinta, a 2004-born skater, had six goals and six assists in 12 games with the 16U AAA Dallas Stars elite team this season. Lethbridge had selected him in the eighth round of the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. . . . However, on Oct. 5, LaPinta announced his commitment to play NCAA Division 1 hockey at Arizona State for 2022-23. He also is an affiliate with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. . . . 
organization as the director of broadcasts and media. He had been filling the role on an interim basis following the departure of Cam Moon, who now is with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Gillard was the play-by-play voice for the Rebels’ 23 games in the 2020-21 season. . . . He has been the news and sports director for Jim Pattison Media in Red Deer since 2012, during which time he also served as the host of the Rebels’ broadcasts. . . . Greg Meachem of 
four additions. . . . Branden Crowe steps in as director of social sales and strategic marketing. He also is the team’s play-by-play voice and will remain in that role. . . . Grady Manson, a former WHL player, now is the Wheat Kings’ director of corporate sales. He spent four seasons in the WHL (Moose Jaw Warriors, Tri-City Americans, 1992-96). He has spent the past 24 years in the golf and hospitality industry, most recently with the Wheat City Golf Course. He also has worked with the Clear Lake Golf Course in Onanole, Man., Bel Acres Golf Course in Winnipeg and the Elkhorn Resort, which also is in Onanole. . . . Wyatt Garden and Jordan Kaspick, both with ties to the Wheat Kings, have signed on with the Wheat Kings as account executives. Garden is the son of former Wheat Kings F Graham Garden. Of late, Wyatt has been in real estate and also owns The Media Garden, a video marketing frm. . . . Kaspick’s older brother, Tanner, is a former Wheat Kings captain and has been working in sales and marketing with the Wheat City Golf Course. . . . The complete news release is 
TAKING NOTE 