A reminder that former WHLer Andrei Lupandin and his family have left their native Ukraine and are in Saskatoon hoping to start a new life after losing their home in the ongoing Russian onslaught.
Lupandin, 44, and his wife and two sons arrived in Saskatoon “with little more than a hockey bag and one suitcase for the family of four,” according to a GoFundMe page that is up and running.
“They have no work and need to start over. We are raising funds to help them with buying essentials, saving money to live and for future accommodations and household items.”
That GoFundMe page is right here.
FRIDAY IN THE WHL:
F Connor Bedard’s I Can Sell Out the B.C. Division Arenas Tour got started in Langley, B.C., as his Regina Pats beat the Vancouver Giants, 3-0, before an 
announced crowd of 5,276. . . . That is the largest crowd for a Giants’ home game in the Langley Events Centre since they moved there to start the 2016-17 season. . . . The Pats (10-11-2) had lost their previous three games. . . . The Giants now are 8-10-4. . . . G Drew Sim was huge for the Pats, kicking out 47 shots to record his second shutout this season and the third of his career. Sim, 19, was a third-round pick by the Giants in the WHL’s 2018 draft. His first 11 WHL appearances were with the Giants. . . . Vancouver dealt him to Regina on Oct. 21, 13, 2021, for a conditional fourth-rounder in 2024. . . . Bedard, who takes his tour on to Victoria to meet the Royals tonight, was playing in his 100th regular-season game. He had one assist as his point streak reached 22 games. He was blanked in the season’s first game and hasn’t been shut out since then. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in goals (19), assists (30) and points (49). . . . Bedard is from North Vancouver, and this was his first WHL game on the Lower Mainland of B.C. . . . F Borya Valis (10), who had missed the last two games, got Regina’s first goal, on a PP, at 12:47 of the first period. . . . F Riley Ginnell, 20, made his Regina debut after being acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors earlier in the week. . . .
The visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes scored three PP goals en route to a 4-3 
victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Lethbridge improved to 13-10-1. It is 1-2 on a six-game road trip. . . . The Wheat Kings are 8-14-2. . . . These teams will play in Brandon again tonight. . . . The Wheat Kings took a 2-1 lead into the second period, but the Hurricanes scored the next three goals. . . . F Tyson Laventure (5) had two goals and an assist for the winners, with D Logan McCutcheon (1) chipping in a goal and two assists. . . . Lethbridge was 3-4 on the PP; Brandon was 2-5. . . . The Hurricanes got 37 stops from G Harrison Meneghin. . . .
In Calgary, F Sloan Stanick and F Keaton Sorensen each had four points to help 
the Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the Hitmen. . . . The Raiders (9-12-2) have won four in a row. . . . The Hitmen (11-6-3) had points in each of their previous two games (1-0-1). . . . After F Zac Funk (6) gave Calgary a 2-1 lead 48 seconds into the second period, the Raiders scored the game’s last four goals. . . . Sorensen (11) had two goals and two assists, with Stanick drawing four assists. . . . Raiders F Evan Herman, the team’s captain, scored his fifth goal this season — it was the 50th of his career — and added two assists. . . . The Raiders got 32 stops from G Tikhon Chaika. . . .
The Kelowna Rockets struck three times in the second period and went on to 
beat the Silvertips, 4-2, in Everett. . . . Kelowna improved to 9-9-1; the Silvertips, who had been 0-3-1 in their previous four games, now are 12-9-1. . . . F Colton Dach (6), Kelowna’s captain, broke a 2-2 tie at 17:24 of the second period. He also had an assist. . . . F Max Graham (2) iced it with an empty-netter. . . . Kelowna D Jackson DeSouza had two assists and now is on a four-game point streak, with seven points over that stretch. He went into this season with one goal and 10 assists in 70 games. This season, he has three goals and five assists in 17 games, with all eight points having come over the past five games. . . . Everett F Jackson Berezowski, who hadn’t played since Nov. 4 as he missed six games, scored his 13th goal. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors scored the game’s first three goals, two via the PP, and 
hung on to beat the Blazers, 3-2, in Kamloops. . . . The Warriors (14-9-0) are 1-1-0 on this seven-game road swing. . . . The Blazers (10-5-4) had points in each of their previous five games (3-0-2). . . . F Brayden Yager (11) had a goal and an assist for the Warriors, the goal giving them a 3-0 lead at 13:52 of the second period. . . . F Jagger Firkus of the Warriors ran his point streak to 16 games with an assist. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven (14) scored 45 seconds into the third period and later added an assist to extend his point streak to 15 games; he has hit the scoresheet in each game in which he has played this season. . . . The Warriors got a big game from G Connor Ungar, who made 36 stops. . . .
The Medicine Hat Tigers scored three times in the shootout to beat the Rebels, 
3-2, in Red Deer. . . . The Tigers (8-10-5) have won two straight. . . . The Rebels (16-4-3) have lost three in a row (16-4-3). . . . F Kai Uchacz (17) scored while shorthanded to give Red Deer a 2-1 lead at 2:26 of the second period. . . . F Brendan Lee got the Tigers even with his 14th goal at 15:39 of the third. . . . Lee, who also had an assist, has goals in six straight games, putting in eight over that stretch. He also scored Medicine Hat’s first goal in the shootout. . . . The Tigers had a 42-31 edge in shots. . . .
In Saskatoon, the Winnipeg Ice broke a 1-1 tie with three straight goals en route 
to a 5-3 victory over the Blades. . . . The Ice (22-2-0) has won two in a row. . . . The Blades (15-5-0) had a four-game winning streak snapped. . . . The will have a rematch tonight, also in Saskatoon. . . . F Ty Nash (11) gave the Ice a 4-1 lead at 4:16 of the third period. He has goals in five straight games. . . . The Blades got PP goals from F Josh Pillar (4) and F Justin Lies (4) to get within a goal, but weren’t able to equalize. . . . The Ice got a goal and two assists from D Ben Zloty (6), while F Connor McClennon had three assists. . . . Zloty, 20, has 28 points in 24 games this season. . . . G Daniel Hauser made 30 saves to earn the victory. This season, he is 16-0-0, 2.43, .914. In his career, he is a remarkable 57-3-2. . . . F Zach Benson was one of the Ice’s scratches. . . .
The Seattle Thunderbirds have points in six straight games after beating the 
Portland Winterhawks, 6-1, in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (15-3-1) are 5-0-1 in their past six games. . . . The Winterhawks (17-3-1) had points in each of their previous 12 games (10-0-2) and had won nine in a row. . . . F Kyle Crnkovic (10) led Seattle with a shorthanded goal and two assists. . . . The only goal of the first period came from Seattle D Nolan Allan. He has five on the season, but this was his first with Seattle since being acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders on Nov. 16. . . . Seattle outshot Portland, 35-21, including 24-7 through two periods. . . . The Winterhawks had F Jack O’Brien and F Robbie Fromm-Delorme back after one-game absences. Joshua Critzer (@jjcritzer) tweeted that “both are wearing full shields/fish bowls due to coming off illness.” . . . The Thunderbirds remain without injured D Luke Prokop. . . .
F Josh Davies scored the game’s first three goals to lead the host Swift Current 
Broncos to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Broncos (10-11-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Oil Kings (4-19-1) have lost two in a row. . . . The same teams will meet again tonight, also in Swift Current. . . . Davies, who has eight goals, scored twice while shorthanded — at 14:02 of the first period and 9:39 of the second — to complete his first WHL hat trick in his 106th game.
THE TRADING PLACE:
The Regina Pats skated at the Langley Events Centre on Thursday in advance of their Friday night game against the Vancouver Giants. Afterwards, John Paddock, the Pats’ senior vice-president of hockey operations, general manager and head coach, met with the media. Of course, he was asked about the possibility of trading highly touted F Connor Bedard. Paddock’s response: “That’s a stupid question. That’s my response. There’s only one place where that’s come out of all year and that’s in B.C.” . . . You will note that he didn’t say “NO!” Could it be that the Pats are keeping open all of their options? . . . Hey, John, any chance of your trading Tanner Howe? . . .
The Brandon Wheat Kings have acquired F Anthony Wilson, 17, and D Luke Shipley, 18, from the Victoria Royals for F Teydon Trembecky, 17, and three WHL draft picks — a third-rounder in 2023 that originally belonged to the Red Deer Rebels, a fifth in 2024 and a fourth in 2026. . . . Wilson, a third-rounder selection in the 2020 WHL draft, had nine goals and nine assists in 81 games with the Royals. He is from Swift Current. . . . Shipley was a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft. From Powell River, B.C., he had four goals and 18 assists in 105 games with Victoria. . . . Trembecky, a third-round pick by Brandon in the 2020 draft, is from Strathcona, Alta. He had two assists in 24 games with the Wheat Kings. . . .
Since Oct. 25, WHL teams have combined on 13 trades involving 22 players, 30 draft picks and four conditional picks. . . . Only the Calgary Hitmen, Everett Silvertips, Kelowna Rockets, Medicine Hat Tigers, Portland Winterhawks and Vancouver Giants haven’t made at least one deal in the past month.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The Regina Pats got down to three 20-year-olds by releasing F Jakob Brook. He is expected to join the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. . . . The Pats had indicated in Tuesday’s WHL roster report that they had dropped Brook. But there wasn’t an announcement until Thursday. . . . A second-round pick by the Prince Albert Raiders in the WHL’s 2017 draft, Brook had three assists in seven games this season. In 164 career regular-season games, split between the Pats and Raiders, he put up 14 goals and 23 assists. . . . Brook’s brother, Aidan, 19, also is on Dauphin’s roster. Aidan has WHL experience with the Medicine Hat Tigers (24 games) and Prince George Cougars (11). . . .
F Max Streule, a sophomore from Zurich, Switzerland, has cleared WHL waivers and has left the Winnipeg Ice for the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Streule, 19, had two goals and nine assists in 52 games last season; this season, he was pointless in six games. . . . Streule’s departure leaves F Vladislav Shilo, who is from Minsk, Belarus, as the Ice’s lone import. . . .
G Ève Gascon, who made history last season as the third female to play in a QMJHL regular-season game, with the Gatineau Olympiques, has committed to play NCAA hockey for the U of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. . . .
The BCHL’s Penticton Vees ran their season-opening winning streak to 22 games on Friday, as they dumped the host Alberni Valley Bulldogs, 7-1. . . . The Vees are to travel to Powell River to meet the Kings tonight. . . .
Meanwhile, we shouldn’t be ignoring the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, who have opened the season by playing 23 games without a regulation-time loss. . . . They will take a 20-0-3 record into their next game, against the visiting Notre Dame Hounds on Dec. 2.
THINKING OUT LOUD — Just how big is the NFL in the world of TV and sports. Well, you may have noticed that the NHL didn’t have even one game scheduled for Thursday, which was American Thanksgiving and featured three NFL games. One of those games — New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys — averaged 42 million viewers on FOX-TV. It now is the most-watched NFL regular-season game in history. . . . I never cease to be amazed by the number of people on the sidelines of a football game in the U.S., be it NFL or NCAA. Does each one of those people have a particular responsibility, or are they just there? . . . Mask up whenever the situation calls for it. Those people with suppressed immune systems will thank you for it.
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and Victoria Royals. Each organization was fined $500 for a “multiple fight situation” that broke out as the final buzzer sounded. As well, the Royals were fined an additional $500 for “instigator in last five minutes” of the game. F Alex Edwards of the Royals drew the only suspension out of the incident; he will miss one game for being the instigator in the game’s last five minutes. . . .
draft. . . . Ginnell had one goal and two assists in 14 games with the Warriors this season. They acquired him from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Oct. 11 for a fifth-rounder in 2024. In 113 regular-season games over four seasons with Brandon, he had 21 goals and 26 assists. Last season, he had single-season highs in goals (14), assists (20) and points (34). . . . Ginnell’s father, Erin, is a former WHLer who played with the Swift Current Broncos, Calgary Wranglers, New Westminster Bruins, Seattle Thunderbirds and Regina Pats. He played in 27 games with the Pats in 1986-87, putting up 10 goals and 12 assists. . . . Erin is in his seventh season as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. . . . Riley’s grandfather, Pat, was a the WHL’s coach of the year in four different seasons. . . . 
the host Winnipeg Ice. . . . Lethbridge improved to 12-9-1 as it ended Winnipeg’s 15-game winning streak. The Ice now is 20-2-0. . . . Winnipeg is 8-1-0 at home; Lethbridge is 5-5-0 on the road. . . . F Tristan Zandee (2) scored on a PP at 6:14 of the opening period, and F Tyson Zimmer (5) made it 2-0 at 18:20. . . . F Brayden Edwards had the primary assist on each of those goals. . . . F Ty Nash, who was acquired by the Ice from Lethbridge earlier this season, scored his ninth goal of the season, at 1:28 of the third period, to get the home side to within a goal. . . . G Harrison Meneghin, the game’s first star, turned aside 36 shots. . . . The Ice, which was outshot 19-10 in the first period, got 37 stops form Mason Beaupit. . . . Ice F Conor Geekie extended his point streak to 12 games with an assist. . . . These same teams will play again tonight in Winnipeg.
between the visiting Minnesota Wild and Anaheim Ducks. . . . Wild F Connor Dewar, a product of the Everett Silvertips who is a native of The Pas, Man., got into a second-period scrap with D Nathan Beaulieu. . . . A few minutes later, Darren Pang, who was the TNT reporter at ice level, chatted with Wild head coach Dean Evason. “Young kid fighting, too . . . gotta like that,” Pang said. . . . Evason, who wears intensity like a fitted suit, smiled as much as he ever does during a game and replied: “He’s from Manitoba. Right?” . . . Evason, former WHL player and coach, was born in Flin Flon and grew up in Brandon. . . . Dewar let set up former WHL D Matt Dumba for what turned out to be the game-winner in a feisty 4-1 victory.
the visiting Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Rebels arrived in Winnipeg riding a season-opening 15-game winning streak. The Ice beat them, 3-1, on Tuesday, then completed the doubleheader sweep last night. . . . While Winnipeg improved to 17-1-0, Red Deer now is 15-2-0. . . . The Ice took control early, scoring four times before the first period was 16 minutes old. . . . The Ice, which was 4-5 on the PP, got two goals and three assists from F Owen Pederson, two and two from F Connor McClennon, and two and one from Skyler Bruce. . . . Pederson, who enjoyed his first career five-point night, has nine goals and 19 assists in 18 games. . . . 
Oil Kings. . . . F Marshall Finnie pulled Edmonton into a 2-2 tie at 10:51 of the second period, but Regina scored the next five goals with Bedard scoring once and setting up three others. He finished with a goal and four assists in running his point streak to 16 games. . . . This was Bedard’s second five-pointer in three games; he has three goals and nine assists in the three games. He also had two five-point outings last season. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in assists (22) and points (36). His 14 goals are one behind the leaders (F Kai Uchacz of the Red Deer Rebels and F Koehn Ziemmer of the Prince George Cougars). . . . Valis, an 18-year-old sophomore from Boulder, Colo., enjoyed his first career hat trick and his first four-point outing. He has eight goals and seven assists in 15 games. . . . Edmonton F Luca Hauf, an 18-year-old freshman from Krefeld, Germany, had had goal and two assists. . . . The Pats improved to 8-8-1; Edmonton now is 2-14-1. . . . F Zane Rowan, an 18-year-old from Torrence, Calif., was back in Regina’s lineup after not playing since Sept. 29. . . . F Zack Shantz, 17, made his Regina debut after being acquired from the Prince George Cougars in a Nov. 4 deal that had F Cole Dubinsky, 20, go the other way. . . .
a 2-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Hurricanes (9-8-1) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Raiders (4-12-2) have lost three in a row. . . . Lethbridge got goals from F Tyson Laventure and D Joe Arntsen, the latter providing a 2-0 lead at 6:12 of the third period. . . . C Carson Latimer got the Raiders to within a goal at 16:57. . . . G Harrison Meneghin stopped 21 shots for Lethbridge. . . .
Thunderbirds a 2-1 victory over the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . F Caedan Bankier had given the Blazers a 1-0 lead at 18:26 of the first period. . . . F Sam Popowich pulled Seattle even with a shorthanded goal at 1:19 of the second. . . . Seattle (11-3-0) had lost its previous two games. . . . Kamloops (7-4-3) has lost two in a row. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven drew an assist to run his point streak to 10 games. He has 21 points, 10 of them goals, in that stretch. . . . G Thomas Milic stopped 38 shots for the visitors, including a stop on a Stankoven penalty shot attempt in OT. . . . D Luke Prokop, 20, who was added to Seattle’s roster on Tuesday, was in the starting lineup, but the Thunderbirds remain without F Jared Davidson. . . . 
Rockets to a wild 8-6 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . It was the first WHL three-goal game — and first five-pointer, too — for Kydd, who has eight goals. . . . F Andrew Cristall drew five assists for the Rockets, who held leads of 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-3, 5-3, 6-5, 7-6 and, finally, 8-6. . . . F Rilen Kovacevic snapped a 6-6 tie at 16:44 of the third period and F Colton Dach added the empty-netter, his second goal of the game. . . . Cristall has 27 points, including 11 goals, in 14 games this season. This was his second five-point outing; he had two goals and three assists in an 8-4 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants on April 9. . . . F Riley Heidt had four assists for the Cougars, who got two goals and an assist from each of F Chase Wheatcroft and F Koehn Ziemmer. . . . Kelowna (6-7-1) has won two in a row; Prince George (9-8-0) had a three-game winning streak ended. . . . F Cole Dubinsky, 20, who was acquired from Regina on Nov. 4, was in the Cougars’ lineup for the first time. He scored once and added an assist.
of Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championship. . . . The tournament is to open on Dec. 26 in Halifax and Moncton. . . . Williams was an assistant coach on the 2022 Canadian team that won a gold medal in Edmonton. . . . Canada’s assistant coaches will be Stephane Julien of the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix, Brent Kisio of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Alan Legant of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. . . . Kelly Guard of the Prince Albert Raiders will serve as the goaltending consultant. . . . While Hockey Canada hasn’t yet announced a selection camp roster, that camp is scheduled to be held in Moncton, from Dec. 9-12.
in the existence of what now is the WHL.
was on his way to the Manitoba capital from the Spokane Chiefs.
TAKING NOTE 