There were three trades made involving veteran players on Thursday during the WHL’s annual draft. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades dealt G Ethan Chadwick, 19, to the Everett Silvertips for 
two draft picks — a 2023 second-round pick that originally belong to the Kamloops Blazers and Everett’s fourth-rounder in 2025. . . . From Saskatoon, Chadwick was selected by the Blades in the third round of the 2019 draft. In 46 games with the Blades, he was 29-12-2, ???, .895. . . . In this season’s playoffs, he was 5-4, including victories in Games 3, 4 and 5 against the Regina Pats. He also won back-to-back games in the second round as the Blades came back from a 0-3 deficit to oust the Red Deer Rebels in seven games. . . . Chadwick and Austin Elliott, also 19, shared the Blades’ goaltending duties this season. . . . “This was not an easy situation to navigate with two great goalies who each played a pivotal role in our success this year,” Colin Priestner, the Blades’ general manager, said in a news release. “With two 19-year-old starting goalies who are both deserving of being starters in the league, we made this move to give Ethan the opportunity he deserves with a great franchise in Everett.” . . . The Blades used the 2023 second-round selection to take G Ryley Budd from the Calgary Northstars. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks traded F Aidan Litke, 20, to the Edmonton Oil Kings 
for a third-round selection in Thursday’s draft. That pick originated with the Prince George Cougars. . . . Litke, from Winnipeg, was one of five potential 20-year-olds on the Portland roster, the others being F Gabe Klassen, D Ryan McCleary, F Jack O’Brien and F James Stefan. . . . In 123 games with the Winterhawks, Litke had 31 goals and 36 assists. This season, he put up 13 goals and 23 assists in 50 games. . . . Portland selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. . . . The Winterhawks’ used the third-round pick to take F Owen Chapman of Saskatoon, who played with the Northern Alberta Xtreme U15 prep team. . . .
The Oil Kings also acquired D Marc Lajoie, another 20-year-old, from the Tri-
City Americans for two draft picks — a 2025 second-rounder that originally belonged to the Americans and a fifth-rounder in 2026. . . . The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Lajoie, who will turn 20 on May 21, is from St. Albert, Alta. He was the Americans’ captain this season. . . . “We have an abundance of quality (2003-born) players returning,” Bob Tory, Tri-City’s general manager, said in a news release, “which forces us to make some hard decisions. Recouping quality draft capital was a priority as we can only carry three (20-year-old) players each season.” . . . Lajoie played four seasons with the Americans after being the 14th overall selection in the 2018 draft. He had 26 goals and 67 assists in 215 regular-season games. This season, he had five goals and 32 assists in 65 games. . . . His father, Serge, works with the Oil Kings as an assistant coach and the manager of player development.
WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:
When the Winnipeg Ice plays host to the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 1 of the WHL’s championship final tonight, Canada Life Centre’s upper bowl won’t be open. The lower bowl has a capacity of about 8,800. . . . Carter Brooks (@CBrooksie84) reported Tuesday that tickets for Games 1 and 2 “range in price from $31 to $62.” . . .
The Ice and Thunderbirds each is 12-2 in these playoffs, including 8-2 in their past 10 games. . . . Winnipeg finished with a 57-10-1 regular-season record; Seattle was 54-11-3. . . . There are a combined 17 players on the two rosters who already have been selected in the NHL draft. Of those, 10 play for the Thunderbirds. . . .
Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow), after the Seattle Thunderbirds won the Western Conference title in Kamloops on Monday: “Blazers F Logan Stankoven is held off the scoresheet for sixth time in 62 games this season (and a minus player for just the 13th). Finishes playoffs with 30 points to become one of three players with consecutive 30+ point outputs in a postseason.
“Players to Record 30+ points in 2 WHL playoffs:
Chuck Arnason, Flin Flon (32 in 1970; 37 in 1971)
Ty Rattie, Portland (33 in 2012; 36 in 2013)
Logan Stankoven, Kamloops (31 in 2022; 30 in 2023)
Dale Derkatch, Regina, had non-consecutive years of 34 points in 1982 and 53 in 1984.”
Thunderbirds radio voice Thom Beuning (@ThomBeuning): “Jared Davidson now sits alone in career playoff goals as a Thunderbird with 23 and is third in career playoff points (50), trailing only Ethan Bear (55) and Mat Barzal (65). From undrafted to unbelievable!” . . .
Games 3 and 4 of the WHL final are to be played in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. They will be televised in the Seattle area by Fox 13+. . . . Meanwhile, TSN has announced that it will show Games 3-7 from the OHL, QMJHL and WHL finals. . . .
The OHL final opened Thursday night as G Zach Bowen stopped 24 shots to lead the London Knights to a 3-0 victory over the visiting Peterborough Petes. F Ryan Winterton had a goal and an assist; he has goals in seven straight playoff games. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for London on Saturday night. . . . Games 3 and 4, both of which are to be televised by TSN, are to be played in Peterborough on Monday and Wednesday nights. . . .
Games 1 and 2 of the QMJHL final, featuring the Quebec Remparts and Halifax Mooseheads, are scheduled for Quebec City tonight and Saturday night. . . . Games 3 and 4 in Halifax, both of which are to be shown by TSN, are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The 2023 Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for June 4, and Dorothy is taking part once again. She will celebrate 10 years as a kidney-transplant recipient in September, so the annual Kidney Walk is a big deal for her. In fact, she is participating for a 10th straight year. Yes, that means she is fund-raising, with all donations going to the Kidney Foundation. . . . If you are interested in helping, like maybe pushing her past $4,000, you are able to do so on her home page, which is right here.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The Victoria Royals will be sharing their facility, the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks for a few days in September. The Canucks announced Thursday that they will hold their five-day training camp there from Sept. 21-25. . . . This will be first time since 2019 that the Canucks have trained in Victoria.
THE COACHING GAME:
Mike Kelly, a former WHL coach, has lost his job as the NHL’s New York Rangers continue to make changes. Kelly joined the Rangers as an assistant coach after Gerard Gallant signed on as head coach. Gallant was fired a few days ago; Kelly was released on Tuesday. . . . Kelly had worked with Gallant with the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, and with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Kelly coached the Rangers’ PP, which finished fourth in the NHL at 24.6 per cent over the past two seasons. . . . Kelly was the head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings for one season (2003-04).
THINKING OUT LOUD — Bob Huggins, the men’s basketball coach at the U of West Virginia, had an annual salary of US$4.2 million that made him the state’s highest-paid employee. But then he had a radio rant that included homophobic slurs so the school knocked $1 million off his salary. Now he’s No. 2 on the state payroll. Who’s No. 1? That would be Neal Brown, the school’s football coach. What? You thought it would be doctor? . . . D Radek Gudas played without a conscience when he was with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. And he shows even less of one now that he is with the Florida Panthers. But I really want him on my team. . . . RCMP on the Coquihalla Highway near Merritt, B.C., stopped a Washington state driver behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo on Wednesday. The speed limit is 120 km-h; he was clocked at 262. Yes, 262! Had to have been a Seattle Thunderbirds fan still celebrating from the previous night. . . . If you are watching the NHL series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, I have to ask if you are more tired of the stick work or the WAH? . . . It became apparent on Wednesday night that Vegas D Shea Theodore missed the NHL memo legalizing cross-checking. Edmonton F Klim Kostin gave him three hard unpenalized shots before Theodore responded with a spear to the groin for which he was given a minor penalty. Surely he wouldn’t have retaliated had he known that cross-checking now is a legal ploy. Right?
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
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
Prince George Cougars beat the visiting Tri-City Americans, 5-4, to advance to the second round. . . . The Cougars won the series, 4-2, by winning the last three games, the first two of which were played in Kennewick, Wash. . . . This will be the Cougars’ first time in the second round since 2007. . . . Wheatcroft’s third goal of the series came from the right side off a 2-on-1 break at 2:31 of OT. This was Wheatcroft’s 50th goal this season; he had 47 in the regular season. . . . The Cougars’ victory means the Western Conference’s top four seeds all have advanced. The No. 1 Seattle Thunderbirds will meet the No. 4 Cougars in the second round and will follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format, while the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers face the No. 3 Portland Winterhawks. . . . Those series will open Friday in Kent, Wash., and Kamloops. . . . The Cougars took a quick 2-0 first-period lead on goals from F Riley Heidt (2), at 4:51, and F Cole Dubinsky (3), at 7:57. . . . Heidt also had two assists. . . . F Reese Belton (2), who was celebrating his 21st birthday, got the Americans to within a goal at 12:23, but F Fischer O’Brien (1) got that one back for the Cougars at 17:05. . . . Tri-City tied it on second-period goals by F Ethan Ernst (1), at 0:17, and F Tyson Greenway (5), at 17:18. . . . Prince George F Zac Funk (4) broke the 3-3 tie at 2:02 of the third period. . . . The Americans pulled even again at 13:34 on a goal by F Jake Sloan (3). . . . Each team was 0-for-1 on the PP. For the series, the Cougars were 1-for-15; the Americans were 1-for-17. . . . G Ty Young recorded the victory with 34 saves, two more than Tri-City’s Tomas Suchanek. . . . The announced attendance was 5,383, the third-largest crowd in Prince George this season. A visit by F Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats on Dec. 2 drew 6,027, 5,880 showed up for the Cougars’ last home game of the regular season against the Kamloops Blazers on March 25.
three goals, the last one coming in OT, to beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-5, and win the series, 4-1. . . . F Ben King (3) ended it at 4:56 of OT. . . . D Mats Lindgren (2) had given the Rebels a 3-2 lead with PP goals at 19:23 of the first period and 7:32 of the second. . . . Calgary then took a 5-3 on goals from F Maxim Muranov, at 12:19 of the second, F Oliver Tulk (1), on a PP, at 2:46 of the third, and Muranov (2), shorthanded, at 9:32. . . . D Matteo Fabrizi (2) pulled Red Deer to within a goal at 15:32, and D Christoffer Sedoff (2) tied it at 17:18. . . . Lindgren added two assists — including the primary on the winner — to his two goals and finished the series with eight points. . . . Red Deer had a 44-24 edge in shots, including 4-0 in OT. . . . The Rebels were 3-for-6 on the PP; the Hitmen were 2-for-5.
period was five minutes old and went on to a 5-0 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The series, which Portland leads, 3-1, is to resume tonight in Portland. . . . If Portland wins this series, the Winterhawks will open the second round in Kamloops on Friday. . . . G Tyler Palmer stopped 27 shots for his first WHL playoff shutout. In the four games, he is 1-3, 3.32, .891. . . . F Caden Zaplitny (1) got Everett started at 2:49 of the first period, and F Beau Courtney (1) upped it to 2-0 at 4:14. . . . F Jackson Berezowski and F Austin Roest each scored his third goal of the series. . . . The Silvertips were never headed after that and enjoyed a 36-27 edge in shots. . . .
before a sold-out crowd of 10,541. That increased their average attendance to 5,842 and allowed them to pass the Everett Silvertips (5,840) and move into the No. 2 slot.
Western Conference playoffs, but there still are 11 teams in the hunt in the Eastern Conference.
announced attendance last season was 3,390. This season, through 28 home games, that average was at 3,876. . . . That number is going to go up simply because F Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats have two games left to play in Saskatoon. . . . Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix talked with Colin Priestner, the Blades’ president and general manager, about how things have gone this season. . . . That story is 
Chiefs, says his club isn’t going anywhere and the WHL isn’t moving into the Chilliwack Coliseum.
allowing unvaccinated foreigners into the country. Despite all that, Djokovic wants in so that he can play tournaments in in California and Florida in March.
forget it. . . . You may recall that the Travellin’ Bedards were in Brandon and the attendance was announced as 5,954 and that was said to be a single-game attendance record for the Wheat Kings in Westoba Place. . . . Well, upon further review. . . . it turns out that there was an announced attendance of 6,042 for a March 13, 2010 game in which the Wheat Kings beat the Pats, 3-1. And, on March 10, 2010, there was an announced attendance of 6,022 as the Wheat Kings beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-2. . . . Here’s hoping the printer hadn’t started running off copies of a new record book. . . . BTW, according to the Keystone Centre’s website, Westoba Place has 5,102 seats. So I’m guessing that the higher attendance figures include standing room and seating in private suites.
TAKING NOTE 