The International Ice Hockey Federation has barred Russia and Belarusian teams from its competitions. The decision was made at an IIHF Council meeting on Tuesday. . . . “Based on a detailed risk assessment from a renowned company that specializes in assessing risks due to various global challenges,” the IIHF said in a news release, “the IIHF Council determined that it is not yet safe to reincorporate the Russian and Belarusian teams back into IIHF competitions, and that it will not be safe for the upcoming 2023-24 IIHF championship season. Therefore, the IIHF will move forward with the 2023-24 IIHF championship season without the Russian and Belarusian teams.” . . . You may recall that the IIHF dumped Russia and Belarus from international play in February 2022 because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was to have played host to the 2023 men’s Worlds and the 2023 World Junior Championship. . . . The men’s Worlds will be played in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia, in May. . . . The WJC was to have been played in Novosibirsk and Omsk, Russia, but was moved to Halifax and Moncton.
Hockey Canada has named Peter Anholt, the general manager of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, as part of its Program of Excellence management group for 2023-24. Anholt, according to a news release, “will advise the under-20 program and Canada’s national junior team through the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.” . . . Anholt, who has led the U-18 program for the past two seasons, takes over from James Boyd of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. . . . Canada’s national junior team has won back-to-back gold medals. . . . The 2024 WJC is scheduled to be played in Gothenburg Sweden, from Dec. 26, 2023, through Jan. 5, 2004. . . . There is a Hockey Canada news release right here.
If the WHL playoffs started today (x-locked in):
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Winnipeg (1) vs. Medicine Hat (8)
Red Deer (2) vs. Calgary (7)
Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)
Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
x-Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)
x-Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
x-Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)
x-Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
(NOTE:There are excellent playoff previews available on the WHL’s website.)
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WEDNESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
The Kamloops Blazers coughed up 4-0 and 5-1 leads before getting past the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, 6-5. . . . The Thunderbirds had beaten the Blazers, 6-3, in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday night. It was Pride Night in Seattle for that one, and the Blazers wore Pride Night sweaters last night. . . . The Blazers scored four times in the first period, only to surrender five goals in the second. . . . F Caedan Bankier (36) scored the only goal of the third period, breaking a 5-5 tie at 13:43, scoring off a feed from F Logan Stankoven, who had pilfered the puck in the Seattle zone. . . . Stankoven, a Kamloops native, also scored his 34th goal. As you can see from the above tweet, he had some fans from Royal Inland Hospital in the house. In the end, he answered their request. . . . Blazers D Olen Zellweger scored his 32nd goal of the season. He has 22 goals and 30 assists in 30 games since coming over from the Everett Silvertips on Jan. 8. For the season, he has 80 points in 53 games. . . . F Colton Dach (11), in his second game after being out since March 4, had a goal and two assists for Seattle, as did D Jeremy Hanzel (13), who tied the game, 5-5, with 8.7 seconds left in the second period. . . . Kamloops (48-12-6) will be the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed and play No. 7 Vancouver in the first round. . . . Seattle (53-10-3) had a 19-game point streak (18-0-1) come to an end. The Thunderbirds, No. 1 in the Western Conference, will meet No. 8 Kelowna in the first round. . . .
The Calgary Hitmen scored the game’s last three goals to beat the host Lethbridge Hurricanes, 3-2. . . . F Hayden Smith (13) scored two first-period goals to give the Hurricanes the lead. . . . Calgary tied it before period’s end on goals from F Oliver Tulk (24) and F Sean Tschigerl (26). . . . D Keagan Slaney (5) broke the tie at 8:44 of the third period. . . . Calgary (30-28-8) has won three in a row. It is seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Medicine Hat. . . . Lethbridge (35-25-6) had won its previous two games. It is fifth in the conference, four points ahead of Regina. Each team has two games remaining. If Regina (34-28-4) wins out and Lethbridge loses both its game, the Pats would finish fifth with more victories. . . .
F Brendan Lee scored three times to help the Medicine Hat Tigers to an 8-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Lee, 20, who also had an assist, enjoyed his first career hat trick after five two-goal outings, four of them this season. He has 32 goals in 55 games. Last season, he scored five in 30 games with the Saskatoon Blades and five more in 22 games with the Tigers. . . . Medicine Hat, which scored the first five goals, got a goal (3) and two assists from F Gavin McKenna, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft. McKenna, who won’t turn 16 until Dec. 20, He has 15 points, 12 of them assists, in 14 games. . . . Medicine Hat (29-28-9) is eighth in the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of Swift Current (30-32-4). Each team has two games remaining. . . . Edmonton (9-53-4) has lost six in a row (0-5-1). . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors erased a 3-1 deficit with four straight goals, two from F Brayden Yager, en route to a 6-4 victory over the Ice in Winnipeg. . . . Moose Jaw won the season series, 3-2-1; the Ice was 3-3-0. . . . Yager, who has 28 goals, tied the game with second-period goals at 3:49 and 9:01. . . . F Atley Calvert (38) broke the tie, on a PP, at 10:40, and F Ryder Korczak (27) made it 5-3 at 11:32 of the third period. . . . Korczak also had two assists, with F Jagger Firkus (38) getting the empty-netter, on a PP, and also picking up two assists. . . . F Zack Ostapchuk (31) scored twice for the Ice. . . . Moose Jaw got 34 saves from G Jackson Unger. . . . Moose Jaw (40-23-3) has won 40 games for the eighth time in franchise history. The Warriors will finish fourth in the Eastern Conference, and will face either Lethbridge or Regina in the first roiund. . . . Winnipeg (55-10-1) had won its previous seven games. The Ice leads the overall standings by two points over Seattle with each team having two games remaining.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The junior B Delisle Chiefs of the Prairie Junior Hockey League had hired Mike Zambon as their head coach. He replaces Eric Ditto, who stepped down after 11 seasons with the Chiefs. . . . Zambon has extensive coaching experience, including NCAA, U-18, junior B in Saskatchewan and B.C., SJHL and the PJHL. His most-recent head-coaching job was with the U18 AAA Saskatoon Westleys. He left that position in 2016 to become the PJHL’s president, and now is leaving that post to take over as the Chiefs’ head coach. . . . At the same time, the Chiefs have added former WHL player/coach Randy Smith to their organization as a senior advisor. Smith played for the Saskatoon Blades and was an assistant coach and head coach with the Swift Current Broncos.
THINKING OUT LOUD: I’m old enough to remember when the “blue paint” in hockey was simply called the crease. . . . Would you agree that it appears the NHL really isn’t for everyone? . . . Gotta admit that it would be fun to be living in Regina or Saskatoon if the Pats and Blades end up meeting in the first round of the WHL playoffs. . . . It’s time for organizers to put together a World Cup of Hockey and to do it without Russia and Belarus. Get it done before it’s too late for Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan McKinnon, Cale Makar et al to play together on a big stage even if it means the likes of Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin wouldn’t be there.
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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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Or, for more information, visit right here.
League. The former general manager will be the team’s director of player personnel in what will be his eighth season with the organization. . . . Eric Ditto was named the team’s general manager and head coach on Thursday. . . . If you weren’t aware, Delisle was home to the late Max Bentley, an NHL star who had one of the great nicknames in sports history — the Dipsy Doodle Dandy from Delisle. 
of the WHL’s championship series. . . . They’ll play Game 2 in Prince Albert tonight. . . . Vancouver D Dylan Plouffe (5) opened the scoring from the right faceoff dot at 4:20 of the first period, one-timing a pass from D Bowen Byram while enjoying a two-man PP advantage. . . . F Dawson Holt (6) upped the lead to 2-0 at 6:06 as he pounced on a rebound off the end boards and rifled it home just 10 seconds after Vancouver’s second PP expired. . . . The Raiders cut the deficit in half when F Brett Leason (6) scored on a PP at 3:20 of the second period, beating G David Tendeck through the legs. . . . F Jared Dmytriw (8), the Giants’ captain, restored the two-goal lead at 5:13 as his shot from the top of the circles got past G Ian Scott. . . . The Raiders quickly got that one back as F Noah Gregor (8) made it 3-2 at 6:17 as he split the defencemen at the top of the Giants’ zone, took a pass and scored from 12 feet out. . . . The home team pulled into a tie when F Dante Hannoun (10), a sniper who didn’t score in the six-game semifinal victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings, found the range off a rebound at 16:45 of the second period. . . . Vancouver went back out front with 30.9 seconds left in the period as F Yannik Valenti (2) whipped home a one-timer from high in the slot on a PP. . . . Holt (7), who is from Saskatoon, made it 5-3 with his second goal of the game, this one from a bad angle, with 16.5 seconds left in the period. . . . D Jeremy Massella (1) pulled the Raiders back to within a goal at 2:50 of the third period when he drove to the net from the right side and stuffed the puck past Tendeck. . . . Holt had six goals in 53 regular-season games; he’s got seven in 16 playoff games. . . . F Owen Hardy, Dmytriw, who is from Craven, Sask., and Byram each had two assists for the Giants. Byram leads all playoff scorers with 20 points. . . . F Parker Kelly had two assists for the Raiders, with Hannoun adding one to his goal. . . . Vancouver was 2-4 on the PP; Prince Albert was 1-3. . . . Tendeck finished with 25 stops, four more than Scott. . . . F Aidan Barfoot was among the Giants’ scratches. He hasn’t played since suffering a suspected concussion in Game 4 of a first-round series with the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The referees were Jeff Ingram and Brett Iverson, with Sean Dufour and Tarrington Wyonzek on the lines.
while the Victoria Royals have begun life after Griffen Outhouse. . . . The Winterhawks dealt G Shane Farkas, who is to turn 20 on Dec. 1, and a 2019 fifth-round bantam draft pick to the Royals for a fourth-round pick in 2019 and a conditional selection that could end up being in the fourth round in 2020. . . . The 2019 fourth-rounder that the Winterhawks acquired actually originated with them; it went to Victoria in a deal for D Jared Freadrich last summer. . . . The deal leaves Portland with five 20-year-olds on its roster, with F Lane Gilliss, F Jake Gricius, F Josh Paterson and D Matthew Quigley the others. . . .
This season, he finished 30-12-6, 2.71, .906 in 50 regular-season appearances. . . . His departure leaves the Winterhawks’ depth chart with Joel Hofer, who will be 19 on July 30, and Dante Giannuzzi, who is to turn 17 on Sept. 3, at the top of the goaltending section. . . .
Hurricanes for F Alex Thacker. . . . Wilson, from Swift Current, will turn 16 on Oct. 11. He was a sixth-round pick by Lethbridge in the 2018 bantam draft. This season, he had six goals and 17 assists in 36 games with the elite 15s at the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, B.C. . . . Thacker, 17, is from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. This season, he had 10 goals and 27 assists in 34 games as he captained the midget AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers. He also had one assist in four games with the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines, and was pointless in two games with Swift Current. The Broncos had selected him in the sixth round of the 2017 bantam draft.
exchange for F Fischer O’Brien. . . . Phare, 17, was the 18th-overall selection in the 2017 bantam draft. From Maple Ridge, B.C., he was pointless in 14 games with the Cougars this season. He also had a goal and nine assists in eight games with the prep team at the Delta Hockey Academy, and was pointless in two games with the junior B Ridge Meadow Flames. . . . O’Brien, 16, is from Prince George. Lethbridge picked him in the fifth round of the 2018 bantam draft. Fischer had two goals and five assists in 40 games with the Cariboo Cougars, who won the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League title. His brother, Brogan, played three seasons (2015-18) with the WHL’s Cougars and now is at Carleton U in Ottawa.
host Calgary Hitmen dumped the Swift Current Broncos, 9-3. . . . Calgary (32-22-6) has points in three straight (2-0-1). It is third in the Central Division, six points behind the Lethbridge Hurricanes and three in front of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Red Deer Rebels. . . . Swift Currrent (10-44-5) has lost 12 in a row (0-10-2). . . . This game started at noon as it was Calgary’s third annual Telus Be Brave Anti-Bullying game. . . . The Broncos had taken part in the Edmonton’s Hockey Game on Tuesday, with the Oil Kings winning, 11-1. . . . On Wednesday, Focht made it 1-0 at 4:06 of the first period, and Broncos F Carter Chorney (13) tied it at 5:05. . . . The Hitmen then went ahead 3-1 on goals from Elder, at 6:59, and Focht, at 14:11. . . . D Connor Horning (7) got the Broncos back to within a goal at 17:50. . . . Calgary broke it open with four straight second-period goals, in a span of 6:57. . . . Focht scored 29 seconds into the period, with Elder counting at 2:46, F Luke Coleman (20) scoring at 3:47, and F James Malm (27), at 7:26. . . . Elder (27) and Focht (20) rounded out Calgary’s scoring with third-period PP goals. . . . F Matthew Culling (9) had the Broncos’ other goal. . . . Focht enjoyed the first four-goal game of his WHL career. He has 52 points, including 32 assists, in 60 games this season. . . . Elder, who was acquired from the Broncos on Sept. 27, for a third-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft, recorded his first hat trick. He has 56 points, 29 of them assists, in 61 games. . . . Calgary F Josh Prokop recorded four assists, giving him his first WHL four-point outing. He has 24 points, 18 of them assists, in 57 games. . . . The Hitmen also got three assists from D Vladislav Yeryomenko, while Malm added two assists to his goal. . . . Chorney had three points for the Broncos, as he also had two assists. . . . Calgary enjoyed a 32-14 edge in shots on goal. . . . The announced attendance was 15,084. . . . Calgary F Mark Kastelic completed his two-game suspension by sitting out this one. . . . The Hitmen list F Hunter Campbell and F Jake Kryski as being out indefinitely, with F Cael Zimmerman out week-to-week.
give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 5-4 OT victory over the Raiders in Prince Albert. . . . Lethbridge (33-18-10) is second in the Central Division, two points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Prince Albert (49-8-4) has points in four straight (3-0-1). It leads the overall standings by 14 points over the Everett Silvertips, who have eight games remaining. . . . Elmer, who also had an assist, tied the game 4-4 at 17:43 of the third period, then he won it 20 seconds into OT with his 34th goal of the season. . . . His 10-game goal streak is the longest in the WHL this season. The record? F Cliff Ronning of the New Westminster scored 27 goals in an 18-game run from Nov. 6 through Dec. 15, 1984. . . .Lethbridge opened a 2-0 lead on first-period goals from F Dylan Cozens, at 11:09, and F Logan Barlage (15), at 11:22. . . . The Raiders tied it on PP goals from F Cole Fonstad (28), at 15:03 of the first, and F Justin Nachbaur (16), at 3:37 of the second. . . . Cozens (30) put the visitors back in front at 4:48. . . . F Spencer Moe (8) got the Raiders even at 11:56, and D Kaiden Guhle (3) gave the home boys the lead at 10:45 of the third. . . . All that did was set the stage for Elmer’s heroics. . . . . The Raiders were 2-5 on the PP; the Hurricanes were 0-5. . . . Cozens added an assist to his two goals. . . . Fonstad also had three points as he added a pair of assists to his goal. . . . G Carl Tetachuk stopped 25 shots for the Hurricanes, two more than Ian Scott of the Raiders. . . . F Parker Kelly of the Raiders began serving a three-game suspension by missing this one. . . . F Evan Herman, who signed with the Raiders on Tuesday, made his WHL debut.
victory over the Pats in Regina. . . . Red Deer (31-24-5) has won two straight after ending a five-game skid. It is tied with the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots, two points ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Regina (18-40-3) has lost two in a row. It has lost 40 times in regulation time for the first time since 2004-05. . . . D Alex Alexeyev (10) gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at 10:28 of the first period. . . . Regina tied it at 14:46 on a goal by F Cole Dubinsky (4). . . . Red Deer D Ethan Sakowich scored his third and fourth goals, at 19:18 of the first period and 0:55 of the second for a 3-1 lead, and F Brett Davis upped it to 4-1 at 6:03. . . . D Brady Pouteau (5) scored a PP goal for Regina at 16:45 of the third period. . . . Rebels F Brandon Hagel (37) got the empty-netter at 17:50. . . . G Ethan Anders stopped 32 shots to earn the victory over Max Paddock, who made 22 saves.
Chiefs to a 7-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Spokane (33-19-7) has points in four straight (3-0-1). The Chiefs clinched a playoff spot with the victory. They are third in the U.S. Division, four points ahead of the Tri-City Americans. . . . Prince George (17-37-8) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). This loss eliminated the Cougars from the playoff chase — they have six games remaining and are 13 points in arrears of the Seattle Thunderbirds, who hold the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. . . . The Cougars also have lost a club record 12 straight home games. . . . The Chiefs had beaten the host Cougars, 4-3 in OT, on Tuesday night with Anderson-Dolan scoring the winner at 3:58 of extra time. . . . The Cougars are 1-7-2 since general manager Mark Lamb went behind the bench in place of fired head coach Richard Matvichuk. . . . Spokane took control of this one with four first-period goals, from F Luke Toporowski (18), at 0:18; D Bobby Russell (5), at 9:04; F Connor Gabruch (3), at 16:59; and D Nolan Reid (14), shorthanded, at 19:28. . . . F Josh Maser (26) scored, on a PP, for the Cougars just 24 seconds into the second period. . . . Spokane answered that with two PP goals from Anderson-Dolan, who has 12 goals this season, and one from F Luc Smith (27). . . . Anderson-Dolan, who missed a chunk of the early season with a broken wrist, has 31 points in 24 games. . . . Spokane was 2-6 on the PP; Prince George was 1-8. . . . Anderson-Dolan had his second career five-point game; this was the sixth time he has had at least four points in a game. . . . Smith added two assists to his goal, with D Ty Smith helping out with three assists. . . .
the other day for an interview.
be there, and is expected to stay for the opening of main camp.
roster. He is one of three goaltenders and one of six 20-year-olds on the Pats’ main camp roster. . . . G Max Paddock, 18, is atop the depth chart, with Dumba, who has had stints with the Calgary Hitmen, Kamloops Blazers and Everett Silvertips, on there, along with Matthew Pesenti, 17, of Saskatoon. Pesenti played the past two seasons with the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. . . . Last season, Dumba made stops in Kamloops and Everett, got into 30 games with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks, then was with Regina at season’s end. . . . G Jacob Wassermann, 18, was in the Pats’ plans, but the Humboldt native won’t play after being injured in the Broncos’ bus crash. . . . 
following the hiring of Dean Brockman as director of hockey operations and head coach on June 27 and the subsequent departure of Jamie Porter, who had been director of hockey operations. . . .
than return for his 20-year-old season. Ramsay was acquired by the Blades from the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 19, 2016, in exchange for F Josh Bruce, another 1998-born player. . . . Ramsay, who is from Saskatoon, was a third-round pick by Vancouver in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft. He had 15 goals and 18 assists in 123 games with the Blades. In 166 career WHL games, he put up 18 goals and 18 assists. . . . From a Blades’ news release: “Ramsay plans to use his WHL scholarship as he begins his pursuit of a career in business, starting with classes at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in September and the University of Saskatchewan in the new year.”
junior coach is leaving the Portland Winterhawks to work as an eastern amateur scout for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . Flynn is from Dartmouth, N.S., and joined long-time friend Mike Johnson, the Winterhawks’ vice-president, general manager and head coach, prior to the 2017-18 season. . . . Flynn had spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, guiding them to the league championship in 2016-17. . . . In major hockey alone, Flynn also has coached with the London Knights, Belleville Bulls, Soo Greyhounds and Moncton Wildcats. He also has coached in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders. . . . The Winterhawks are expected to name a replacement within days.
assistant coach, while adding Tyrol (Skip) Deeg as athletic therapist and equipment manager. . . . The Broncos open training camp on Thursday, Aug. 24. . . . Barney, 39, is from Ennismore, Ont. His pro playing career included 24 games with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and three with the Atlanta Thrashers. He retired as a player after spending the past two seasons in the Asia League. . . . Deeg, 37, is from Wynyard, Sask. He joins the Broncos from the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. . . . Mark Cross, the assistant coach last season, and therapist Dayna Brons died in the April 6 crash involving the Broncos’ bus. . . . The Broncos also have added Rhett Blackmur, a former player with them, as a volunteer assistant coach. He is the service manager at Discover Ford in Humboldt, and has experience in minor hockey in the community.
Junior Hockey League as an assistant coach. Cameron, a 29-year-old from Saskatoon, was a third-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2004 WHL bantam draft. He went on to play 87 regular-season games with the Blades before being dealt to the Prince Albert Raiders. He spent three seasons in Prince Albert and was team captain for the last two. In 284 WHL games, he totalled 86 goals and 84 assists. He retired from playing after spending one season in Great Britain and three in Germany. . . . In Delisle, he’ll work with head coach Eric Ditto and assistant coach David Richard. Ditto, from Saskatoon, returns for a fourth full season, while Richard, also from Saskatoon, is back for a second season. Richard played four seasons (2005-09) with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, putting up 42 goals and 60 assists in 256 regular-season games.
TAKING NOTE 