With the BCHL having announced that it is leaving Hockey Canada at month’s 
end, the national governing body is giving indications that it isn’t about to bend any of its rules.
Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported Friday that Hockey Canada has written its members in an attempt to let them know just what’s what and what they all can expect.
“Postmedia obtained a copy of the Hockey Canada letter,” Ewen wrote. “Among what is stated is that any player or coach on a non-sanctioned team after Sept. 30 is ineligible to participate in activities sanctioned by Hockey Canada for the remainder of the season pending a hearing from the reinstatement committee, and that’s even if they are released by their non-sanctioned team during the season. That includes ineligibility to be considered for selection to national teams or to attend other Hockey Canada high-performance activities.
“That also means that the BCHL can’t bring in players from junior B leagues to fill in for a game here or there due to injuries and have the players return to their original squads afterward like they have in the past.”
Get out the popcorn, and lots of it, folks, because this is going to be quite a show.
Ewen’s complete story is right here.
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, you are able to do so on her home page, which is right here.
SATURDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kamloops (2) at Seattle (1) — The Kamloops Blazers broke a 1-1 tie with three 
goals early in the third period as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle leads the best-of-seven conference final, 3-2, with Game 6 in Kamloops on Monday. If they need a seventh game, it would be played on Tuesday in Kent. . . . F Jared Davidson (9) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:25 of the second period. . . . F Matthew Seminoff (8) sacred at 16:00 and the teams were all even going to the third. . . . Seminoff (9) broke the tie 43 seconds into the third period. . . . F Ryan Hofer then scored his seventh and eighth goals, the latter while shorthanded, at 1:06 and 5:31, and just like that Kamloops held a 4-1 lead. . . . F Reid Schaefer (5) got Seattle to within two, on a PP, at 5:48. . . . Davidson’s goal set a franchise record for career playoff goals. He has 22, one more than F Scott Eansor (2013-17). . . . D Olen Zellweger and F Logan Stankoven, the Blazers’ offensive stars, each had one assist. . . . Seattle was 1-for-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-2. . . . Kamloops got another big night from G Dylan Ernst, with 36 saves, 10 more than Seattle’s Thomas Milic. . . . D Logan Bairos was back in Kamloops’ lineup, while D Ryan Michael remains sidelined. . . . The Thunderbirds remain without F Jordan Gustafson.
Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News:
“For the last time . . .
“LeBron is the greatest all-around player in the history of the league, whether you’d make Michael the first pick or not if you were choosing up sides to play for the championship of the world or not.
“LeBron could have been an All-Star at all five positions, and has done more positive basketball things, game to game, to help his team win than anybody ever has.
“He has scored more points than anybody in history, he has won titles with three different teams, and he is still playing at this level after two decades, and at the age of 38.
“He’s on my Mt. Rushmore with Michael and Bill Russell and Kareem. Steph can be on the other side of the mountain with Kobe and Magic and Bird.”
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Lupica, again: “Well, at least Gerard Gallant can stop complaining that people are speculating about his job security.”
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The QMJHL final will feature the Quebec Remparts against either the Halifax Mooseheads or Sherbrooke Phoenix. That series will open in Quebec City with Games 1 and 2, and both sold out within a couple of hours of going on sale. The Videotron Centre’s capacity is 18,259. . . . The Mooseheads hold a 3-2 lead in their semfinal, having beaten the visiting Phoenix, 5-0, on Saturday. G Mathis Rousseau stopped 26 shots to record the shutout. They’ll play Game 6 today in Sherbrooke. The two communities are 993 km apart, according to CanadaDistance.com. . . .
The Regina Pats have hired Andrew Kutnikoff as their athletic therapist. He spent the past four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, first as athletic therapist/equipment manager, and then for the past two seasons strictly as athletic therapist. . . . Greg Mayer had filled the position for 19 years before moving to the Saskatchewan Roughriders during this season, with Brennan McConaghy taking over on an interim basis. He now has returned to the CFL’s Edmonton Elks. . . .
The Penticton Vees wrapped up their second straight BCHL championship on Friday night, beating the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks, 7-4, to win the best-of-seven final, 4-1. . . . F Bradly Nadeau had two goals and an assist, giving him 30 points in 13 playoff games. . . . The Vees and Alberni Valley Bulldogs will open the Fred Page Cup final on Friday night in Penticton.
John Fisher, the owner who is trying to move his Oakland A’s to Las Vegas, isn’t awfully popular in the Bay area. Here’s Bruce Jenkins in the San Francisco Chronicle: “I was playing golf just outside the Strip many, many years ago when a hellacious sandstorm appeared, erasing all visibility and driving everyone to cover. Let’s hope that whenever A’s owner John Fisher heads out to inspect the prospective Vegas ballpark, he gets slammed by one of those.”
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
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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.
Canada’s) board of directors is being delayed by a month.” That election had been scheduled for next month, but now is to be held on Dec. 17.
owner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. F Logan Stankoven of the Blazers was the CHL player of the year last season. He was a second-round selection by the Stars in the NHL’s 2021 draft and has signed with them. These days, Stankoven, 19, is in camp with the Stars. . . . If Stankoven continues to show well, does Gaglardi keep him with the Stars or does he return him to the Blazers, who will play host to the 2023 Memorial Cup?
the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League was dealing with a hazing incident.
to be played next month. This is the tournament that got underway in Red Deer and Edmonton in December before being cancelled following a number of positive COVID-19 tests. . . . Neighbours, 20, told Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic: “I’ve made the decision I’m not going to go. With how long my season went and how my body is feeling right now, I’ve made Hockey Canada aware of that. We had a good discussion about it.” . . . The Oil Kings won the WHL championship and went on to play in the Memorial Cup in Saint John, N.B. . . . The St. Louis Blues selected Neighbours in the first round, 26th overall, of the NHL’s 2020 draft. He opened the 2021-22 season with them, scoring one goal and adding two assists in nine games. Back with the Oil Kings, he totalled 17 goals and 28 assists in 30 games. . . . Neighbours has turned 20 but is eligible to play in the WJC because the IIHF has chosen to allow those who were on rosters in December to play in Edmonton next month. . . . The tournament is scheduled to run Aug. 9-20.
(Tuesday). Prior to the series opener, the Phillies will place four players on the restricted list because they aren’t vaccinated so won’t be allowed into Canada. . . . Catcher J.T. Realmuto, 3B Alec Bohm and starters Aaron Nolan and Kyle Gibson won’t be making the trip to Toronto. Bohm may not have played anyway, after suffering a hand injury on Monday while sliding into second base. Nolan started Monday and Gibson on Saturday, so they likely wouldn’t have pitched in Toronto had they been eligible. . . . The Athletic’s Matt Gelb tweeted: “J.T. Realmuto said he consulted with doctors he knew and decided he did not need a COVID vaccine. He will forfeit close to $260,000. ‘I’m not going to let Canada tell me what I do and don’t put in my body for a little bit of money,’ Realmuto said. ‘It’s just not worth it.’ ” . . . One would hope that someone explained to Realmuto that the U.S. has the same restriction as Canada — you have to be vaccinated to get into the country, which is why Novak Djokovic isn’t likely to play in tennis’s U.S. Open. He would have to get vaccinated to play and says that isn’t going to happen. . . . The Phillies apparently have more than four players who aren’t vaccinated, as Gelb also tweeted that “other potential absences were mitigated through demotions to minors/injuries.”
learned a long time ago not to pay a lot of attention to post-season awards.
through when asked about injuries to any of their players, especially during playoffs. . . . Take the case of Dennis Williams, the general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, who will open their first round tonight against the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Everett didn’t have Olen Zellweger, the WHL’s highest-scoring defenceman, for its last two games, while F Jackson Berezowski, a 46-goal man, sat out the last game. . . . Asked on Wednesday about their status, Williams told Steve Ewen of Postmedia: “You’re just going to have to wait and see on Friday. I won’t be commenting on any injuries.” . . . That came a day after Williams, when asked about Zellweger, told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald: “Olen will be set to play.” . . . The betting here is that Berezowski and Zellweger both are in the lineup.
victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Oil Kings lead the best-of-seven first-round series, 1-0, with Game 2 scheduled for Edmonton on Saturday. . . . Cossa lost his bid for his first playoff shutout when F Tyson Laventure scored, on a PP, at 18:12 of the third period. . . . Cossa has 14 regular-season shutouts in his career. But with the playoffs being cancelled each of the previous two seasons, this was his first post-season appearance. . . . F Carter Souch scored the game’s first goal, at 9:30 of the second period, with F Dylan Guenther upping the lead to 2-0 at 14:47. . . . The Hurricanes got 44 saves from G Bryan Thomson. . . . There are seven playoff games scheduled for tonight, with eight set for Saturday.
and he watched last Sunday’s Grey Cup game while comfortably ensconced in his home in the Washington, D.C., area. He actually spent Sunday watching NFL games, of course, while recording the Grey Cup game for Monday viewing. . . . He then took to the keyboard and provided some thoughts on what he had seen. All of that is 
Kamloops Blazers, made his NHL debut on Sunday with the Nashville Predators. And he did it in style, turning aside 33 shots in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. . . . The Wild went into the game as one of the NHL’s unbeaten teams, at 4-0. . . . Dean Evason, one of the Blazers’ all-time great players, is the Wild’s head coach. . . . The Predators are 2-4-0. They recalled Ingram from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals on Oct. 16 because G David Rittich was added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. . . .“I still don’t think it’s hit me a little bit,” Ingram, 24, told reporters. “Ignorance is bliss at this point where you don’t really realize what’s going on yet, but it felt good.’’ . . . Ingram was beaten for the first time when F Nick Bjugstad beat him at 11:30 of the second period. . . . “My first shot in the Western League, my first shot in the American League both went in, so I was kind of half-expecting it to go in today, but it didn’t so that’s a nice way to start.’’ . . . The Predators next are scheduled to play on Tuesday night against the visiting San Jose Sharks. . . .
impact the 2022 World Junior Championship that is scheduled for Red Deer and Edmonton, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5
Saskatchewan Huskies and Regina Cougars was postponed. According to a Canada West news release, “Positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed within the Cougars.” The two teams had played in Saskatoon on Friday night. . . . Earlier in the week, Canada West postponed a series between the Calgary Dinos and MacEwan after positive tests were found in the Griffins’ program. . . . 
TAKING NOTE 