Blades, Pats runnin’ back to Saskatoon all even . . . Three WHL teams have seasons end . . . Cougars tie it up in Kennewick


Some Twitter tidbits from Tuesday’s WHL playoff games, thanks to Geoffrey WHLBrandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) . . .

F Parker Bell had a goal and two assists in the Tri-City Americans’ 4-2 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Kennewick, Wash. It was his “sixth 3-point game of season, 3 in Dec., 3 since.”

The Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Rockets, 4-1, in Kelowna. The Thunderbirds “claim a 2nd straight 4-1 win and 3-0 series lead. 2nd win in series when trailing after 2, after 4 in season. . . . F Jordan Gustafson scores in return after missing 11 (and 29 of 31).”

The Kamloops Blazers beat the host Vancouver Giants 5-0 as they rolled “to 2nd shutout of the series with Dylan Ernst matching clean sheet number from regular season. F Caedan Banker closes with final two goals . . . is up to 22 points vs. Vancouver this season.”

The Saskatoon Blades beat the host Regina Pats, 4-3 in OT. “F Egor Sidorov kickstarts comeback and finishes with winner 5 minutes in. Struck twice in OT during the regular season.”

In Medicine Hat, the Winnipeg Ice beat the Tigers, 7-2. “The Ice is scoring at nearly a 21 per cent rate through three games. . . . D Ben Zloty adds another three helpers to total, up to combined 76 this season.”

The visiting Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-2. “F Jagger Firkus figures in four goals, including a natural hat trick to outscore Lethbridge. Up to 10 goals, 20 points in playoff career. Team’s first natural hat trick in Internet area, 4th total.”


Office


The Thursday WHL schedule features only one game. It has the Kamloops KamloopsBlazers, with a 3-0 series lead, in Langley, B.C., for Game 4 with the Vancouver Giants. . . . All you really need to know is that Kamloops G Dylan Ernst is 3-0, 0.33, .983. . . . On Wednesday, Chad Klassen of CFJC-TV in Kamloops tweeted: “Just checked with the WHL and since 2006 the lowest goals-against in a series is two (Vancouver vs. Everett, 2006 Western Conference final). The Kamloops Blazers have a chance to tie or break that mark in Game 4 on Thursday.” . . . Yes, the Blazers have outscored the Giants, 19-1, in the three games. . . . Remember, though, that the WHL doesn’t seem to have any records handy from the 30 years prior to 2006. So who knows what the league record might be.


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WEDNESDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard continued his terrific playoff run as he scored two goals. . . . However, his Regina Pats dropped a 4-3 OT decision to the visiting Saskatoon Blades. . . . Bedard got his guys into a 1-1 tie at 19:35 of the second period, then gave them a 2-1 lead 13 seconds into the third. . . . But for the second night in a row the Pats weren’t able to hold a third-period lead. . . . Through two periods, Bedard had six of Regina’s 12 shots on goal. He finished with 10 of his team’s 26 shots. . . . The Pats have scored 18 goals in the four games; Bedard has eight goals and five assists. . . . He leads the WHL playoffs in goals and points (13). . . . The game drew a second straight sellout crowd (6,499) to Regina’s Brandt Centre.

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EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) at Medicine Hat (8) — F Ty Nash broke a 2-2 tie in the third period as the Winnipeg Ice beat the Medicine Hat Tigers, 3-2. . . . The Ice, winners of the Eastern Conference title, swept the first-round series against the No. 8 Tigers. . . . Nash scored his second goal of the series at 1:10 of the third period. . . . F Matt Savoie’s sixth goal of the series, shorthanded, gave the Ice a 1-0 lead at 1:14 of the first period. . . . D Dru Krebs (1) of the Tigers tied it just 16 seconds later while on a PP. . . . F Owen Pederson (1) put Winnipeg back out front at 10:50 of the second period. . . . Medicine Hat tied it at 14:59 when F Hunter St. Martin (1) scored. . . . The Tigers outshot the Ice in each game of the series, including 32-21 in Game 4. . . . Winnipeg G Daniel Hauser was 2.25, .925 in the four games. In 90 regular-season appearances over last season and this, he is 90-9-3. . . . Winnipeg lost F Zack Ostapchuk to a cross-checking major and game misconduct just 55 seconds into the game. . . .

Red Deer (2) at Calgary (7) — The Red Deer Rebels scored twice while shorthanded and three times on the PP en route to a 6-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Rebels lead the series, 3-1. They’ll now head for Red Deer and Game 5 on Friday. . . . Red Deer broke a 1-1 tie with shorthanded goals from F Ollie Josephson (1), at 9:07 of the second period, and F Jhett Larson (1), at 18:31. . . . F Ben King scored his first two goals of these playoffs for the Rebels, both on the PP, and added an assist. . . . D Mats Lindgren earned four assists; F Jayden Grubbe had three. . . . F Kai Uchacz got his fourth goal of the series on a third-period PP. . . . The teams combined to take 23 minor penalties, 13 of them to Red Deer. . . . Red Deer was 3-for-7 on the PP; Calgary was 1-for-11. . . . Rebels G Kyle Kelsey continued his stellar play with 36 saves. . . . The Rebels had F Craig Armstrong back after he served a two-game suspension for slew-footing. . . . The Hitmen continued to be without F Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who didn’t finish the second game of the series. They also scratched F Sean Tschigerl, who didn’t finish Game 3. . . . Fiddler-Schultz, with 75 points in 64 games, and Tschigerl, with 57 in 60, were two of Calgary’s top three scorers in the regular season. . . .

Saskatoon (3) at Regina (6) — F Jake Chiasson’s OT goal gave the Saskatoon Blades a 4-3 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . The series is tied, 2-2, with Game 5 in Saskatoon on Friday and Game 6 back in Regina on Saturday. . . . The road team has won all four games in this series. . . . This was the third straight game in the series to go to OT. The Blades won Games 3 and 4 in Regina by erasing 3-1 third-period deficits. . . . Last night, Saskatoon F Egor Sidorov, who scored the OT winner in Game 3, opened the scoring, on a PP, at 7:18 of the second period. . . . Regina took a 3-1 lead with three goals 1:18 apart. F Connor Bedard (8) scored twice — at 19:35 of the second period and 13 seconds into the third — and F Tanner Howe got his first of the series at 0:53. . . . The Blades pulled even on goals from F Jayden Wiens (3), at 2:42, and D Charlie Wright (1), at 10:01. . . . Chiasson, who was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings in January, won it at 7:20 of extra time. . . . The Blades got 23 saves from G Ethan Chadwick, with G Drew Sim stopping 33 shots for the Pats. . . . Who wins on Friday? Including the regular season, the road team has won seven of 10 games between these teams. . . .

Moose Jaw (4) at Lethbridge (5) — The Moose Jaw Warriors struck for three third-period goals as they beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-2. . . . The Warriors swept the first-round series. . . . F Tyson Zimmer (1) gave Lethbridge a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first period. . . . F Brayden Yager (1), at 13:56 of the first, and D Max Wanner (1), at 5:15 of the second, gave the Warriors the lead. . . . F Hayden Smith (1) pulled the hosts even at 19:00 of the second. . . . The Warriors put it away with third-period goals from F Lynden Lakovic (1), D Denton Mateychuk (2) and Yager (2), the latter into an empty net. . . . Yager also had an assist for a three-point night. . . . G Connor Ungar stopped 28 shots for Moose Jaw. . . . Interestingly, three of the four Warriors who served 17-game WHL-issued suspensions to end the season got on the scoresheet in this one. Wanner had a goal and two assists, Lakovic scored once, and Ungar again was solid in goal. In the four games, Ungar was 4-0, 1.29, .953. . . . The Warriors lost F Robert Baco with a major and game misconduct for goaltender interference at 7:35 of the second period.

——

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) at Kelowna (8) — G Thomas Milic stopped 19 shots as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Kelowna Rockets, 3-0. . . . The Thunderbirds, who finished atop the Western Conference, swept the series, outscoring the Rockets, 17-4. . . . F Lucas Ciona (3) scored Seattle’s first goal, at 8:42 of the second period, and that’s all Milic would need. . . . F Dylan Guenther (5) and F Jordan Gustafson (2) added third-period goals. . . . Milic went 4-0, 1.00, .958 in the series. . . . After G Jari Kykkanen played the first three games, the Rockets turned to Talyn Boyko for Game 4. Boyko, a fourth-round pick by the New York Rangers in the NHL’s 2021 draft who is signed, stopped 35 shots. For the fourth straight game, the Rockets were very much in the game in the third period but just couldn’t close it out. . . .

Prince George (4) at Tri-City (5) — F Koehn Ziemmer and F Jaxsen Wiebe each scored twice as the Prince George Cougars beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-2, in Kennewisk, Wash. . . . The series is tied, 2-2. This is the lone first-round series to be using a 2-3-2 format, which is why Game 5 will be played in Kennewick on Friday, with Game 6 scheduled for Prince George on Sunday. A seventh game, if needed, would be played in Prince George on Tuesday. . . . Ziemmer’s second goal of the game and the series gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead at 1:50 of the second period and they were never headed. . . . Wiebe has three goals. . . . G Ty Young got the start for the Cougars after Tyler Brennan left Game 3 with an undisclosed injury. Young made 26 stops. . . . Brennan wasn’t dressed, so the Cougars had Madden Mulawka on the bench in support of Young. Mulawka, who turned 17 on March 8, is from Edmonton. He was a fifth-round pick by the Cougars in the WHL’s 2021 draft. He got into three games with Prince George earlier in the season.


Cow


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Lee Stone is the new general manager and head coach of the junior B Nanaimo Buccaneers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. . . . He spent the previous 10 seasons with the VIJHL’s Campbell River Storm. . . . Stone takes over from Andy Hellweger, whose mother, Nicole Brandbenburg, purchased the Buccaneers in April 2022. . . . This season, Nanaimo finished 5-41-2. . . .

The BCHL’s Penticton Vees beat the Smoke Eaters, 5-1, in Trail on Wednesday night to sweep their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. Penticton, the BCHL’s defending champion, has won 20 straight playoff games going back to last season.



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With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

——

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.


Phone

Advertisement

Another five-point night for Bedard; he’s got 14 in three games . . . Two WHLers get NHL deals . . . Ice hangs on to lead atop overall standings

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT: It was only a few short days ago that I was wondering if fatigue was catching up to F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats. After all, he had had a four-game stretch during which he had only two points, both goals. . . . Since then? Well, he had another five-point outing — three goals and two assists — on Saturday night as the Pats beat the Warriors, 7-3, in Moose Jaw. One night earlier, in Regina, Bedard also had three goals and two assists, but the Warriors won that one, 9-5. . . . Prior to the back-to-back five-pointers, he had a four-point outing, so he now has 14 points in a three-game stretch. . . . He also now has nine hat tricks this season — seven three-goal games and two four-goal outings. Of the WHL’s 21 other teams, only the Saskatoon Blades have as many hat tricks. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in goals (69) and points (139). He and F Riley Heidt of the Prince George Cougars are tied for the lead in assists, with 70. . . . The last WHLer to score 70 goals in a season was F Jayden Halbgewachs of the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2017-18. . . . Up next? The Pats are in Saskatoon to play the Blades today and somewhere around 15,000 are expected to show up for that one. Yes, that will a single-game attendance record for Saskatoon.


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The NHL’s Dallas Stars have signed F Chase Wheatcroft of the Prince George Cougars to a three-year entry-level contract. Wheatcroft, 20, was an NHL free agent. . . . Wheatcroft, from Calgary, is second in the WHL scoring race, his 105 points trailing only F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, who has 139. Wheatcroft has 47 goals and 58 assists. . . . He went into this season with 82 points, 31 of them goals, in 137 games split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes (104) and Winnipeg Ice (33). . . .

The Edmonton Oilers have signed F Jake Chiasson of the Saskatoon Blades to a three-year entry-level contract. The Oilers selected Chiasson in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . Chiasson, an 18-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., was picked by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the first round, 15th overall, of the WHL’s 2018 draft. . . . The Wheat Kings dealt him to Saskatoon in January. He has 10 goals and 18 assists in 30 games with the Blades this season, after putting up 10 goals and 18 assists in 37 games with Brandon. In 170 career regular-season games, he has 40 goals and 67 assists.


Fire


If the WHL playoffs started today:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) vs. Calgary (8)

Red Deer (2) vs. Medicine Hat (7)

Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)

Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)

Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)

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SATURDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

F Matt Savoie drew three assists to lead the host Winnipeg Ice to a 4-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . G Daniel Hauser recorded the victory with 19 saves. This season, he 36-4-1, 2.31, .915. In 89 career appearances, he is 77-7-3, 2.24, .913. . . . Winnipeg (54-9-1) has won six straight and leads the overall standings by two points over Seattle. Each team has four games remaining. . . . Prince Albert (27-35-3) was eliminated from the playoff chase after Saturday’s games. . . .

The Lethbridge Hurricanes scored the game’s last four goals as they beat the Oil Kings, 6-1, in Edmonton. . . . F Tyson Laventure had a goal (22) and an assist. . . . Lethbridge (35-24-6) is fifth in the Eastern Conference and headed to a first-round clash with Moose Jaw. . . . Edmonton (9-51-4) has lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . .

G Brayden Peters stopped 23 shots to help the Calgary Hitmen to a 2-0 victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. . . . Peters, a 20-year-old from Taber, Alta., has three shutouts this season and seven in his career. This season, he is 16-14-6, 2.88, .908, pretty good numbers for a Calgary team that had something of a roller-coaster season. . . . F Carter Yakemchuk (17) gave Calgary a 1-0 lead with a PP goal at 16:14 of the second period, and the Hitmen nursed that until F Sean Tschigerl (24) got the empty-netter at 19:26 of the third. . . . Calgary (28-28-8) is eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Medicine Hat and two ahead of Swift Current. . . . Medicine Hat (28-27-9) had won its previous two games. . . .

G Drew Sim stopped 45 shots as the Regina Pats beat the Warriors, 7-3, in Moose Jaw. . . . F Connor Bedard had three goals (69) and two assists, while F Braxton Whitehead added a goal (10) and two assists. . . . Attendance was announced at 4,965, the largest crowd in Moose Jaw this season, well above the 4,011 fans who watched the Pats win 6-3 there on opening night. According to its website, the Moose Jaw Events Centre seats 4,465 for hockey. . . . Regina (33-28-4) clinched a playoff spot with the victory. It is sixth in the Eastern Conference and likely to face Saskatoon in the opening round. . . . Moose Jaw (39-23-3) had won its previous four games and will finish fourth in the conference. . . .

G Reid Dyck turned aside 31 shots as his Swift Current Broncos came out of Red Deer with a 3-1 victory over the Rebels. . . . F Josh Filmon scored his 45th goal of the season for the Broncos. . . . The Broncos led 2-1 after the first period and it stayed that way until F Mat Ward (25) scored into an empty net at 19:18 of the third. . . . Red Deer lost F Frantisek Formanek to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 15:33 of the first period. . . . Swift Current (29-32-4) snapped a six-game losing skid (0-5-1). It is ninth in the Eastern Conference, two points from a playoff spot with three games remaining. . . Red Deer (42-18-6) had points in each of its previous six games (4-0-2). It will be the No. 2 seed in the conference and is awaiting an opponent. . . .

F Justin Lies broke a 2-2 tie at 16:04 of the second period as the Saskatoon Blades beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, 3-2. . . . Lies has eight goals. . . . F Jake Chiasson, whom the Blades acquired from Brandon in January, had two assists on the day he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Saskatoon (46-14-5) has won two straight and will be Eastern Conference’s third seed when the playoffs open. . . . Brandon (26-32-8) has lost four in a row and is four points from the conference’s last playoff spot with only two games remaining. . . .

D Aidan Sutter had a goal and two assists to help the host Everett Silvertips to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . He’s got six goals. . . . The Silvertips scored the first two and the last two goals. . . . Sutter’s PP marker, at 18:20 of the first period proved to be the winner. . . . Everett (32-30-3) is sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind Tri-City. . . . Vancouver (26-30-8) had won its previous two games. It is seventh in the conference, four points ahead of Kelowna but with two games in hand. . . .

F Kyle Crnkovic broke a 2-2 tie with two late third-period goals as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Winterhawks, 4-2, in Portland. . . . Crnkovic scored his 29th goal of the season at 16:46, then added No. 30 into an empty net at 18:31. . . . It was Seattle’s club-record 24th road victory of the season, breaking a record that was set last season. . . . Seattle (52-9-3) has points in 18 straight games (17-0-1), but trails Winnipeg by two points atop the overall standings. . . . Portland (39-19-7) has lost two in a row. It will be the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed when the playoffs begin. . . .

F Logan Stankoven’s goal at 2:19 of OT gave the Kamloops Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Rockets in Kelowna. . . . Stankoven, playing in his second game since returning from an undisclosed injury, also had an assist. He’s got 33 goals. . . . F Ryan Hofer of the Blazers forced OT with his 40th goal, at 15:55 of the third period. . . . Kamloops D Olen Zellweger scored his 29th goal of the season, tops among WHL defencemen. . . . Kamloops got two goals and an assist from F Connor Levis, who now has 26 goals. . . . F Carson Golder had a goal (30) and two assists for the Rockets, as did F Dylan Wightman (15). They also got two goals from F Andrew Cristall (38). . . . Kamloops (47-11-6) has won nine in a row and 20 of 21, but is seven points behind Seattle atop the Western Conference standings. Each team has four games remaining. . . . Kelowna (26-36-4) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). It is eighth in the conference and appears headed to a first-round meeting with Seattle. . . .

F Brayden Schuurman scored in the second-round of a shootout to give the Victoria Royals a 7-6 victory over the Cougars in Prince George. . . . The Royals had tied the game with two PP goals in the final minute of the third period. F Teague Patton (14) scored at 19:15 and Schuurman got his second of the game and 15th of the season at 19:54. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer reached the 40-goal plateau with a pair for the Cougars. . . . Victoria (16-43-7) has lost its previous 12 games (0-11-1). . . . Prince George (35-24-7) has points in nine straight (6-0-3) and will finish fourth in the Western Conference. . . . 

F Jordan Gavin and F Parker Bell each had two goals and an assist to help the Tri-City Americans to an 8-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Gavin, the second overall selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft, has 22 goals and 30 assists in 59 games. He won’t turn 17 until Nov. 13. . . . Bell, 18, has 24 goals and 39 assists in 53 games. Last season, in 64 games, he finished with 18 goals and 31 assists. . . . Tri-City (31-26-8) has points in four straight (3-0-1). It is fifth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Everett with each team have three games remaining. . . . Spokane (14-42-9) has lost six in a row (0-4-2).


OldAge


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.


Boss

Coyotes add to T-Birds’ arsenal; Canada’s Golden Boy on way to Seattle . . . Tigers move into playoff spot


OK . . . prior to Sunday you didn’t have the Seattle Thunderbirds as the favourites to win the WHL’s 2022-23 championship. You weren’t quite ready to go that far, were you?

But how about now that the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes have sent F Dylan Guenther Seattletheir way?

Yes, that’s the same Dylan Guenther who scored the golden goal at the 2023 World Junior Championship in Halifax just last month.

The Coyotes announced Sunday that Guenther, 19, has been assigned to the Thunderbirds, who had acquired his rights from the Edmonton Oil Kings on Jan. 10.

The Oil Kings, who beat Seattle in the 2021-22 championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, have spent the past few months unloading veteran player assets while loading up on draft picks to facilitate their rebuild. With an 8-37-3 record, they won’t make the playoffs this time around.

Edmonton had selected Guenther with the first overall pick in the WHL’s 2018 draft.

In order to land Guenther, F Jordan Ramsay, who turned 16 on Jan. 24, and an eighth-round pick in the WHL’s 2023 draft, the Thunderbirds gave up F Koji Gibson, who is to turn 16 on March 10, a first-round pick in 2026, a second in 2023, fourths in 2024, 2025 and 2026, a fifth in 2026 and a sixth in 2024.

Yes, the price was steep and now we will find out if it was worth it.

The Coyotes selected Guenther in the first round, ninth overall, of the NHL’s 2021 draft. He is the fifth first-round draft pick on the Seattle roster, joining D Kevin Korchinski (Chicago Blackhawks, seventh overall, 2022), D Nolan Allan (Chicago, 32, 2021), F Reid Schaefer (Edmonton Oilers, 32, 2022) and F Brad Lambert (Winnipeg, 30, 2022).

All told the Thunderirds now have 10 NHL draft picks on their roster, the others being F Jordan Gustafson (Vegas Golden Knights, 79, 2022), F Jared Davidson (Montreal Canadiens, 130, 2022), F Colton Dach (Chicago, 62, 2021), F Lucas Ciona (Calgary Flames, 173, 2021) and D Luke Prokop (Nashville Predators, 73, 2020).

The Thunderbirds acquired Allan from the Prince Albert Raiders on Nov. 16 in a deal that included five draft picks — first in 2023 and 2024, a third in 2024, a sixth in 2025 and a second in 2026 and a conditional pick (sixth in 2026) going the other way.

Seattle had picked up Lambert’s rights from the Saskatoon Blades on June 30, giving up a 2023 first-rounder, a second in 2024, and fourth- and sixth-rounders in 2023.

In the other deal that had people sitting up and paying attention, Seattle acquired Prokop from the Oil Kings on Oct. 25 in exchange for a third in 2023 and two 2025 picks (first and third).

The Thundebirds also added Dach and a 2024 fifth-rounder from the Kelowna Rockets in a Jan. 7 deal that included three conditional picks going the other way — a first in 2024, fourth in 2023 and second in 2025. Dach, who had been the Rockets’ captain, was injured (shoulder) while playing for Canada at the World Junior Championship and has yet to return to action.

And let’s not forget that on Aug. 30, Seattle sent F Connor Roulette and a third in 2026 to the Saskatoon Blades for F Kyle Crnkovic, who has put up 54 points, including 25 goals, in 47 games.

Last season, Guenther had 91 points, including 45 goals, during Edmonton’s regular season, then added 21 points, 13 of them goals, in the playoffs. He suffered a knee injury — in the WHL final against Seattle — and missed the Memorial Cup.

So why did Arizona decide to assign him to Seattle at this particular point in time? He has 15 points, including six goals, four on the PP, in 33 NHL games this season, but has been on the roster for 38 games. Once a player hits 40 he accrues one season toward unrestricted free agency. By sending him to Seattle now, the Coyotes shove Guenther’s potential UFA eligibility a further year down the road.

Late last month, Craig Morgan, who covers the Coyotes for The Athletic, wrote: “The key for Guenther was to see how he would perform on a nightly basis in the lineup. Since his return (from the WJC), it has been a mixed bag. There have been nights where he has looked strong, driven offense and even scored goals. There have been nights where he looks like he is swimming in water above his head.”

In Halifax, you may recall, Guenther scored at 6:22 of three-on-three OT to give Canada a 3-2 victory over Czechia in the WJC’s championship final. He finished that tournament with seven goals and three assists in seven games.

The Thunderbirds are hoping he will bring some of that magic to their lineup.

After beating the visiting Spokane Chiefs, 3-1, on Sunday, the Thunderbirds are 36-9-2 and lead the Western Conference by one point over the Portland Winterhawks (35-10-3).

The Thunderbirds have 21 games remaining and six of them will be against the Winterhawks. The first of those will be Saturday in Portland. Seattle also has three games remaining with the Kamloops Blazers, who will finish atop the B.C.Division.

Before then, the Thunderbirds will entertain the Red Deer Rebels on Friday. That game could mark Guenther’s debut with his new club.


Bag


Jack Todd, in the Montreal Gazette, and he’s not wrong:

“Why is the Canadian Olympic Committee so cowardly in the face of Russian brutality and war crimes? Why is craven Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker vowing to work with the IOC to help find a way for Russian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics?

“Thugs like Vladimir Putin are always probing for weakness: If we invade Crimea and no one acts to stop us, then let’s take all of Ukraine. The IOC’s willingness to skirt the rules and let Russians compete despite systematic, state-sponsored doping helped give Putin the impression he can get away with anything, including mass murder. It’s time to draw a line in the sand. If Shoemaker won’t do it, find someone who will.”

——

Todd, again:

“As a measure of where the sports world is at any given time, Kyrie Irving will do as well as anyone.

“Spoiled, entitled, inclined to believe himself the centre of the universe and somehow able to convince team after team to throw tens of millions his way, World B. Flat is a symbol of everything that has gone wrong with the sports we love to watch.”

Todd’s complete column is right here.


Screwdriver


SUNDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

F Atley Calvert’s 30th goal snapped a 1-1 tie and gave the Moose Jaw Warriors a 2-1 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . The winner came at 16:17 of the third period. . . . F Ryder Korczak (21) had Moose Jaw’s other goal and drew an assist on Calvert’s winner. . . . Calvert, who is from Moose Jaw, has 30 goals and 25 assists in 51 games, after totalling 15 goals and 25 helpers in 65 games last season. . . . G Connor Ungar stopped 35 shots to earn his 26th victory of the season. He is 26-7-3, 2.58, .925 this season. . . . Moose Jaw (32-16-3) has won two straight. It is fourth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Calgary (23-19-7) has lost six in a row (0-3-3); it is sixth in the conference, two points ahead of the Regina Pats. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips scored three times in the game’s second half and beat the Red Deer Rebels, 4-2. . . . D Aidan Sutter (4) got Everett into a 2-2 tie at 10:56 of the second period, and F Austin Roest (28) shot the home boys into the lead at 16:51. . . . F Jackson Berezowski (33) added the empty-netter at 18:39 of the third. . . . Red Deer F Ben King, who scored his 10th goal of the season, got tossed for a boarding major at 4:55 of the third. . . . Everett (25-22-2) is fifth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Tri-City Americans. . . . Red Deer (34-11-4) is second in the Eastern Conference, three points behind the Winnipeg Ice, which has four games in hand. . . .

The host Kamloops Blazers scored twice in the game’s final four minutes to beat the Victoria Royals, 4-3. . . . Kamloops, which clinched a playoff spot with the victory, trailed 3-1 midway through the game before tying it with two PP goals. . . . F Caedan Bankier (25) got the Blazers to within a goal at 14:23 of the second period, then tied it at 16:40 of the third. . . . D Olen Zellweger (16) won it at 19:37. He’s got 18 points, six of them goals, in 12 games since coming over from the Everett Silvertips at the trade deadline. . . . F Matthew Seminoff finished with three assists as he was in on each of the final three goals. . . . Kamloops outshot the visitors, 50-24. . . . The Blazers were without F Logan Stankoven, their scoring leader, as he served a one-game suspension after taking a checking-from-behind major in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over the host Vancouver Giants. . . . Kamloops (31-10-6) has won four in a row. . . . Victoria (14-32-5) has lost four in a row and is four points from a playoff spot. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers shrugged off an early goal by F Connor Bedard and skated to a 5-1 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Bedard scored his WHL-leading 45th goal at 1:13 of the first period. . . . D Pavel Bocharov (11) got the Tigers even at 4:32 and D Kurtis Smythe (2) gave them their first lead at 14:44. . . . F Gavin McKenna, the first pick in the WHL’s 2022 draft, had two assists for the Tigers. He now has played 11 games this season and has eight points, all assists. . . . The announced attendance was 6,178, the Tigers’ largest crowd in 7,000-seat Co-op Place. They had drawn 5,947 to their first game there, a 5-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sept. 26, 2015. . . . With Sunday’s victory, the Tigers (21-21-8), with points in eight straight (6-0-2), moved past the Swift Current Broncos and into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Tigers now are one point behind Regina. . . .

The Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s last four goals and beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, 4-2. . . . Saskatoon trailed 2-0 doing into the last two minutes of the second period. . . . D Charlie Wright (4) got the Blades started at 18:07 of the second period. . . . F Jordan Keller (8) pulled Saskatoon into a tie at 7:28 of the third, with Wright getting the primary assist. . . . The Blades took the lead at 11:58 on F Jake Chiasson’s 14th goal of the season, on a PP. Saskatoon had acquired Chiasson, who also had two assists, from the Wheat Kings at the trade deadline. . . . Keller added his ninth goal of the season at 13:41. . . . The Blades are 5-0-0 against the Wheat Kings this season. . . . Saskatoon (32-12-4) is third in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Moose Jaw. . . . Brandon (19-22-7) now is five points out of a playoff spot. . . .

F Jared Davidson drew three assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Spokane Chiefs, 3-1, in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds scored one goal in each period — D Jeremy Hanzel (8) in the first, F Brad Lambert (4), on a PP, in the second, and F Kyle Crnkovic (25) in the third. . . . F Lucas Ciona was back in Seattle’s lineup after a two-game absence. He picked up one assist. . . . Seattle held a 52-21 edge in shots, including 26-3 in the second period, as Chiefs G Cooper Michaluk was kept hopping. . . . The Chiefs lost F Carter Streek to a spearing major at 1:21 of the second period. . . . Seattle (36-9-2) moved back atop the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Spokane slipped to 9-34-5. . . .

The Vancouver Giants celebrated a Grammy victory by part-owner Michael Bublé with a 4-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Langley, B.C. . . . F Ethan Semeniuk (10) scored while shorthanded to break a 1-1 tie at 14:23 of the second period. . . . The Thorpe boys took it from there. D Tyler Thorpe (3) added insurance at 14:41 of the second and F Ty Thorpe (26) added the empty-netter at 18:44. . . . Vancouver G Jesper Vikman, who is from Sweden, stopped 24 shots. . . . Tri-City G Tomas Suchanek lost for the first time in 13 decisions. He last tasted defeat on Nov. 23 when the visiting Kamloops Blazers dumped the Americans, 6-1. . . . The Giants lost F Kyle Bochek to a checking-from-behind major at 18:38 of the second period. . . . Vancouver (19-24-6) is seventh in the Western Conference, two points behind the Prince George Cougars, who have three games in hand. . . . Tri-City (25-18-5) is fourth, three points ahead of Everett.


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.


Jogging

Another WHL trade deadline here and gone . . . Seattle gets golden boy’s rights . . . Blades grab Chiasson


The WHL’s trade deadline arrived on Tuesday. Here are the trade numbers since Oct. 25:

No. of trades — 48.

No. of players traded — 83.

No. of WHL draft picks traded — 81.

No. of WHL conditional draft picks traded — 29.

Teams involved in trades — 11: Edmonton; 6: Everett, Kamloops, Kelowna, Seattle, Victoria, Winnipeg; 5: Brandon, Lethbridge, Prince George, Regina, Tri-City; 4: Portland, Prince Albert; 3: Red Deer, Spokane, Swift Current; 2: Moose Jaw; Saskatoon, Vancouver; 1: Calgary; 0: Medicine Hat.

Why did I start with Oct. 25? Because that was the day that the Seattle Thunderbirds acquired D Luke Prokop from the Edmonton Oil Kings, signalling to me that the countdown to deadline day had started.


Late Tuesday afternoon, just before the trade deadline whizzed past, the Edmonton Oil Kings announced that they had acquired the rights to F Koji SeattleGibson, 15, six conditional WHL draft picks and a fourth-round pick in the 2004 draft from the Seattle Thunderbirds for the rights to F Dylan Guenther, 19, the rights to F Jordan Ramsay, who will turn 16 on Jan. 24, and a 2023 eighth-round pick. . . . The conditional picks — a second in 2023, sixth in 2024, fourth in 2025, and first, fourth and fifth in 2026 — all hinge on the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes assigning Guenther to Seattle. . . . Guenther, a first-round pick by the Coyotes in the NHL’s 2021 draft, has three goals and eight assists in 22 games with Arizona this season. . . . He scored the OT goal on Thursday as Team Canada beat Czechia, 3-2, in the World Junior Championship final in Halifax. . . . The Oil Kings selected Guenther with the first overall pick of the WHL’s 2018 draft. He helped the Oil Kings to the WHL championship last season as they beat the Thunderbirds in the championship final. . . .

Gibson, from North Vancouver, plays for the U18 prep team at the Burnaby Winter Club. Seattle selected him in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2022 draft. . . . Ramsay, from Victoria, is with the U18 prep team at the Pacific Coast Academy. He was an eighth-round pick by the Oil Kings in the 2022 draft.


The Saskatoon Blades, perhaps the most under-appreciated team in all of the SaskatoonCHL at the moment, acquired F Jake Chiasson, 19, from the Brandon Wheat Kings for a first-round WHL draft pick in 2023, a second-rounder in 2025 and a conditional second in 2026. . . . Chiasson, from Abbotsford, B.C., was a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL’s 2021 draft. The Wheat Kings selected him in the first round of the WHL’s 2018 draft. . . . He was in his fourth season with Brandon, having put up 30 goals and 41 assists in 141 regular-season games. . . . This season, he has 10 goals and 18 assists in 37 games. . . . From the Saskatoon news release: “Chiasson made international news earlier this winter as he and three teammates, who were driving over a bridge in Brandon, helped save the life of a distressed man.” . . . The 2023 first-round pick was Saskatoon’s and not the one the Blades acquired from Seattle in the deal that had F Brad Lambert’s rights move to the Thunderbirds. . . .

The Blades (26-6-3) are rather quietly putting together a solid season. In fact, their points percentage of .786 trails only the Winnipeg Ice (.853) and Seattle Thunderbirds (.806). . . . BTW, the Thunderbirds and Ice are to meet tonight (Wednesday) in Winnipeg.

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In a second deal, Brandon acquired F Dawson Pasternak, 19, and a conditional fourth-round pick in an undisclosed WHL draft from the Portland Winterhawks for the rights to F Colin Frank, a sixth-rounder in 2025 and a second in 2026. . . . Pasternak, from Winnipeg, was a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2018 draft. This season, he has 17 points, five of them goals, in 28 games. Last season, as a freshman, he had five goals and nine assists in 34 games. . . . Pasternak had an assist on Brandon’s first goal Tuesday night as the Wheat Kings beat the visiting Thunderbirds, 4-2. . . . Frank, from Ladera Ranch, Calif., will turn 17 on March 3. He was taken by Brandon in the 2021 U.S. prospects draft. He plays for the U16 AAA Anaheim Jr. Ducks and has 34 goals and 39 assists in 45 games.

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In a third deal, the Wheat Kings acquired F Nolan Flamand, who will turn 19 on Thursday, from the Kelowna Rockets for F Trae Johnson, 17, and two picks — a third-rounder in the 2023 WHL draft and a fifth in 2024. . . . Flamand, from Saskatoon, had four goals and 12 assists in 35 games with Kelowna this season. He was a second-round pick by Kelowna in the 2019 draft. . . . Johnson, from Martensville, Sask., had two goals and four assists in 37 games with Brandon this season. He was a second-round pick in the 2020 draft.


Just before the deadline, the Winterhawks acquired the rights to F Ozzy PortlandWiesblatt, 20, from the Prince Albert Raiders for three conditional draft picks — a first in 2025 and two seconds in 2026. . . . The picks — one of the second-round picks was acquired from Brandon earlier on Tuesday —  are conditional on Wiesblatt being assigned to Portland by the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. . . . Wiesblatt, a first-round pick by the Sharks in 2020, is with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda with whom he has a goal and four assists in 17 games. . . . Prince Albert picked him in the second round of the WHL’s 2017 draft. He put up 179 points, including 58 goals, in 195 regular-season games with the Raiders. . . .

The Winterhawks also dealt G Donavan Bodnar and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2024 WHL draft to the Everett Silvertips for a fourth-rounder in 2024. . . . Bodnar, from West St. Paul, Man., won’t turn 18 until Nov. 22. He was a seventh-round pick by Portland in the 2020 draft. . . . Bodnar now is playing for the Seven Oaks Raiders in the Winnipeg-based Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League. . . . Earlier this season, the Portage Terriers acquired Bodnar’s rights from the Selkirk Steelers for D Jacob Ziegler, 18. . . .

In another move, the Winterhawks traded D Nicholas Andrusiak, 18, to the Red Deer Rebels for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 WHL draft. . . . Andrusiak, from Tisdale, Sask., is with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires, and has two goals and an assist in 20 games. He got into two games with Portland early this season.


The Prince George Cougars announced their presence on Deadline Day by PrinceGeorgeacquiring F Zac Funk, 19, from the Calgary Hitmen for F Carter MacAdams, 18, and three WHL draft picks — second-rounders in 2023 and 2024, and a fourth in 2024. . . . Funk, from Coldstream, B.C., had 13 goals and 19 assists in 33 games with the Hitmen this season. In 129 career games, he has 78 points, 39 of them goals. . . . He was a second-round pick by Calgary in the 2018 draft. . . . MacAdams, from South Surrey, B.C., was picked by the Cougars in the fourth round of the 2019 WHL draft. He has 18 goals and 30 assists in 117 regular-season games over three seasons with Prince George. This season, he has six goals and 15 assists in 36 games.


The Lethbridge Hurricanes reacquired G Jared Picklyk, 19, from the Tri-City Americans for a 10th-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. The Hurricanes had traded him to the Americans for a 2024 sixth-round pick on Nov. 17, but he got into only two games with Tri-City. . . . Before that deal, he was 4-5-0, 3.50, .877 with Lethbridge this season. . . . Picklyk, from Kelowna, will report to the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos.


The Kelowna Rockets acquired D Landon Cowper, 16, from the Prince Albert Raiders for a conditional fifth-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft. Cowper, from Whitehorse, was a fourth-round pick by the Raiders in the 2021 draft. . . . He is playing for the U18 team at the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, and has one goal and 15 assists in 18 games.


The Kamloops Blazers picked up the rights to D Daylan Weigel, 19, from the KamloopsSwift Current Broncos for a ninth-round pick in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Weigel, from Warman, Sask., is with the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos and, according to the Blazers, “will remain with the Broncos for the 2022-23 season and become an affiliate player.” . . . He has six goals and 18 assists in 31 games with Humboldt this season. . . . Weigel has played in 25 WHL games — one with the Regina Pats and 24 with Swift Current. He has six assists in those games. . . . Regina picked him in the sixth round of the WHL’s 2018 draft.


The Vancouver Giants have acquired the rights to D Ben Feenan, 18, from the Tri-City Americans for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 WHL draft. . . . Feenan, a sixth-round pick by the Americans in the 2019 draft, is from Surrey, B.C. He had three assists in 22 games this season when he left the team and joined the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs.


In the final trade before the deadline, announced more than three hours after it Reginahad passed, the Regina Pats acquired F Steel Quiring, 19, from the Everett Silvertips for a fourth-round pick in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Quiring, from Vernon, B.C., had three goals and three assists in 30 games with Everett. He also has played for the Kelowna Rockets and Calgary Hitmen. The Silvertips acquired him from the Hitmen on Sept. 30. . . . The Rockets selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. . . . Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) pointed out on Twitter that “the Pats are Quiring’s 4th WHL team in the last  year and five days.”



JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Edmonton Oil Kings have claimed F Loick Daigle, 20, off CHL waivers from the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. In 108 QMJHL regular-season games, he has 24 goals and 26 assists. . . . F Brad Lambert wasn’t in Seattle’s lineup on Tuesday night in Brandon, nor was F Chaz Lucius with Portland in Prince Albert. . . . The junior B Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League announced Tuesday that Briar McNaney has signed on as their interim head coach. . . . The AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder have announced that Sean Brown, its general manager and head coach, has stepped down for “family reasons.” Corey Bricknell, who had been assistant GM and associate coach, has stepped in as interim GM/head coach. The Thunder (11-27-2) is eighth in the eight-team North Division.


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.


Phone

Taking Note’s pick as sportsmen of the year . . . Come on, folks, mask up . . . Rockets, Giants stung by WJC injuries

As another old year gives way to a new one, numerous organizations hand out end-of-year awards. That doesn’t happen at Taking Note, but if it did I would Brandonbe quick to salute Calder Anderson, Jake Chiasson, Nolan Ritchie and Ben Thornton of the Brandon Wheat Kings as this site’s sportsmen of the year. . . . In case you missed it, in the words of the Brandon Sun’s Perry Bergson, they “successfully interceded to help a distressed man who was contemplating suicide on the First Street Bridge” on the evening of Nov. 29. . . . “We’re very happy that we were able to save him and get him some help,” Thornton told Bergson, who added: “They also learned another lesson when 30 or 40 vehicles drove by without stopping in the short span they were trying to help the man. Yet they never considered leaving until the man was safe.” . . . Gentlemen, I salute you. . . . Bergson’s complete story is right here.


Let’s be honest. We are part of a society that is putting together an absolutely Covidabysmal record unless being selfish and uncaring is the objective. Really, had you told me four years ago that the time was coming when our children would by dying, when our children would be unable to get much-needed surgical procedures, when our hospital’s emergency rooms would be over-run and that society would refuse to help by doing something as simple as masking up, well, I would have told you that you were crazy. . . . But, well, here we are.

——

After avoiding COVID-19 for almost three years, it caught up with me almost five weeks ago. Ironically, I tested positive on a day when I was to have visited a pharmacy for my fifth shot. Thankfully, the boosters did what they were supposed to, leaving me with a bit of a cough and some fatigue. The strangest thing is that there have been good days followed by bad. Just when you think you’re over the rough road, it reappears. Kind of like city streets, if you know what I mean. . . . As for that fifth shot, well, it’ll have to wait until May. . . . In the meantime, I will be here as fatigue’s curtain allows.

——

André Picard wrote this in The Globe and Mail last week:

“In some ways, these more recent viral challenges have distracted us from the main event: COVID-19. While we largely returned to ‘pre-pandemic’ normalcy this year, this has actually been the deadliest year yet for COVID-19; in 2022, Canada will surpass 17,000 deaths, more than the 14,642 deaths we recorded in 2020 or the 16,489 in 2021. A fifth wave of Omicron is just beginning.

“We still don’t know if SARS-CoV-2 will mutate further. We do not know if it will become seasonal, like most respiratory viruses. And we definitely do not yet have a handle on what it will mean if we suffer repeated COVID-19 infections — but it certainly won’t be good news.

“Viruses are ubiquitous, and will continue to pose new threats. We can’t live a virus-free existence, nor can we place our children and seniors in a protective bubble.

“But we also cannot hang them out to dry on a viral firing range, without any protection. We need to use the mitigation tools (vaccinations and masks) we have while we develop new ones. That’s what ‘living with COVID’ really needs to mean, moving ahead into a new year.”

——

The Angus Reid Institute released results of an online survey early in December that showed of 5,013 participants 54 per cent would be prepared to mask up if it was made mandatory if COVID-19 levels increase. But only 31 per cent are wearing masks more than half the time when they are in indoor public places. Sheesh, people, that just doesn’t make any sense.

Get vaccinated and wear a mask when appropriate, like when shopping or anywhere in a crowded area. . . . Just because the politicians and health officers won’t do their part by mandating masks doesn’t mean you can’t do the right thing and be part of the solution.



Look, F Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is not the greatest goal scorer nhl2in NHL history. So stop trying to tell me that he is. He’s still 88 behind Wayne Gretzky. Have people already forgotten just how great Gretzky was? . . . Allow me to point out that Gretzky also scored 92 goals in the WHA, which was a better league than many of those same people seem to recall. As for Gordie Howe, well he scored 801 NHL goals and another 174 in the WHA. . . . But when Ovechkin puts in No. 895, then you can call him the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. OK?

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While some hockey fans celebrate Ovechkin’s scoring accomplishments, there are those who don’t and never will go that way. Why? Because of Ovechkin’s long-time support of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, who, of course, is responsible for the ongoing war on Ukraine. Luke Fox of Sportsnet took a look at the Ovechkin-Putin situation the other day and it really is an interesting read. That piece is right here.

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BTW, did Gretzky really have to throw mud on his legacy by jumping on the gambling gravy train?


It is every general manager’s worst nightmare . . . a top player leaves for an international assignment and then suffers a serious injury. . . . That is what has happened with the Kelowna Rockets and Vancouver Giants, each team having had a player seriously injured at the 2023 World Junior Championship. Those injuries may well have an impact on the WHL’s Western Conference playoff race from which eight teams will qualify. . . .

F Colton Dach, the Rockets’ captain, initiated a hit during a Saturday game — KelownaCanada beat Sweden, 5-1 — and left the game in obvious discomfort thanks to an injury to his right shoulder area. Dach, who turns 20 on Wednesday, has 17 points, nine of them goals, in 14 games with the Rockets this season. Earlier, he missed some time with a concussion. . . . The Rockets (12-18-3), who have lost five in a row, are eighth in the conference, seven points ahead of the Victoria Royals (8-24-4). . . .

Meanwhile, freshman F Samuel Honzek, the Vancouver Giants’ leading scorer, Vancouversuffered a skate cut to the back of his left leg on Wednesday as his Slovakian side beat the U.S., 6-3. The 18-year-old Honzek, who is expected to be out as long as six weeks, leads the Giants in assists (26) and points (43) in 31 games. . . . Vancouver (14-16-6) is tied for fourth in the conference with the Tri-City Americans, who hold two games in hand. They are one point ahead of the Everett Silvertips. . . .

The WHL’s trade deadline arrives on Jan. 10.


The Everett Silvertips and Victoria Royals swapped 19-year-old goaltenders on Dec. 28. Tyler Palmer, who had left the Royals for what the team said was WHLpersonal reasons, was dealt to Everett in exchange for Braden Holt. . . . Palmer, from Fernie, B.C., was in his second season with Victoria. He left the Royals sometime after a 7-4 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Nov. 12. . . . Holt, from Bozeman, Mont., was in his fourth season with Everett. In his first start with Victoria, he stopped 35 shots in a 3-0 victory over the host Vancouver Giants. . . . Having acquired Holt, the Royals then traded G Logan Cunningham, a 17-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., to the Edmonton Oil Kings for a fifth-round pick in the 2025 WHL draft. . . . After adding Cunningham to their roster, the Oil Kings dropped G Ronin Geraghty, 18. From Burnaby, B.C., he was 0-5-0, 6.48, .819 in seven games with Edmonton. . . .

Still with goaltending, the Swift Current Broncos lost starter Gage Alexander on Dec. 30 when the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks signed him to an entry-level deal and assigned him to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. Alexander, 20, had played in 15 games for the Broncos this season, two more than Reid Dyck. Alexander was 8-5-1, 3.47, .898. . . . The Ducks had selected Alexander in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . The Broncos had acquired him from the Winnipeg Ice on July 28, giving up a third-round pick in the WHL’s 2025 draft in the exchange. . . . The move left the Broncos with Dyck, an 18-year-old from Winkler, Man., and Joey Rocha, 17, from Nanaimo, B.C., as their goaltenders. . . . Dyck, in his third season, was 4-10-0, 4.07, .880 at the time of the deal; Rocha, a freshman, had been in four games. . . .

And while we’re on the subject of goaltending, how about the run Scott Ratzlaff is on with the Seattle Thunderbirds while starter Thomas Milic is with Team Canada at the WJC? Thom Beuning, the veteran radio voice of the Thunderbirds, points out that Ratzlaff’s December looked like this: 8-0-1, 1.65, .941, with two shutouts. . . . Ratzlaff, 17, is from Irma, Alta. He was a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 draft. This season, the 6-foot-2, 170-pounder is 14-2-1, 2.04, .925. In 42 career appearances, he is 32-4-2, 2.31, .912. . . .

And let’s not forget about Daniel Hauser of the Winnipeg Ice. An 18-year-old from Chestermere, Alta., Hauser recorded his 20th victory of the season the other night. This season, in 22 games, he is 20-2-0, 2.36, .912. He has made 70 regular-season appearances over three seasons, going 61-5-2, 2.24, .911. Not at all shabby, eh?


The junior B Nelson Leafs and the visiting Beaver Valley Nitehawks of the kijhlKootenay International Junior Hockey League took time out from chasing a puck to exchange Happy New Year greetings as they began the second period on Saturday evening. . . . The Leafs are the team in white in the above video, and the video evidence would seem to indicate that they were first off the mark. . . . The puck now has been passed to Jeff Dubois, the KIJHL commissioner. . . . Happy New Year, Mr. Dubois.


MyWay


THINKING OUT LOUD — The best part of the World Junior Championship? That’s easy. Having the opportunity to listen to Dennis Beyak do play-by-play again. It says here that he is the best in his field even if he is semi-retired. . . . The other day, the choice was Beyak calling Slovakia and Switzerland from the WJC on TSN or Jack Edwards handling the Buffalo Sabres against his beloved Boston Bruins on Sportsnet. Sorry, Sportsnet. . . . The most annoying commercial on TV these days (pick one) — Clay Matthews for Tide, Rogers’ Wrapped in Red spots, the Subway ads featuring the Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, or the Sobeys’ family of four. . . . If you enjoy your time on this site, and even if you don’t, you may want to consider clicking on the DONATE button over there on the right side. Thanks in advance. . . . Dan Russell, the now-retired host of the long-running Vancouver-based radio show Sportstalk, release his memoir — Pleasant Good Evening: A Memoir — My 30 Wild and Turbulent Years of Sportsnet — in 2022 and now is thinking of spinning off a podcast. “My plans,” he writes on his blog, “now are to add more content to this site, especially in the audio vault. And I will update this blog from time to time. I’m also considering a podcast as my 2023 project. One that will combine what is happening today with the large archive of Sportstalk audio I have saved over the years.” If you haven’t seen his blog, it’s right here.


Here’s Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, after the final game in soccer’s World Cup: “If you watched this game and came away from it with the idea that it was not a good expenditure of your time, then you simply do not like soccer and should make a note to yourself not to waste any more time trying to appreciate the sport.” . . . Hey, he is correct!


How many WHLers do you know of, past or present, who have put together and released an album? Yes, an album of their own music. . . . F London Hoilett of the Calgary Hitmen is quite a story, having made the team prior to this season despite never having been drafted. He also is something of a musician and has his first album — Can’t Sit Still — ready for release on Jan. 10. . . . Cami Kepke of Global Calgary has more right here.


Mitts


JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

A few things of note that popped up while I was away from here . . .

D Ethan Samson, the captain of the Prince George Cougars, has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, who selected him in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. Samson, 19, is from Delta, B.C. He had two goals and an assist as the Cougars beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers, 10-6, on Saturday night. This season, Samson has 11 goals and 16 assists in 28 games. . . .

The Kelowna Rockets have added former player Curtis Hamilton, 31, to their front office as assistant general manager. Yes, his father, Bruce, is the Rockets’ owner, president and general manager. There is a news release right here. . . .

Gilles Courteau, who took over as the QMJHL’s president during the 1985-86 season, will retire at the end of this season. A replacement is expected to be named in May, with Courteau staying on into 2024 to help with the transition. . . . The league has changed the name of its championship trophy from the President’s Cup to the Gilles Courteau Trophy. . . . Courteau first worked in the QMJHL office in 1977 as a statistician. . . .

The junior B Spokane Braves of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League announced that they will ice a team for the 2023-24 season. The Braves have sat out the past two KIJHL seasons for reasons related to the pandemic. . . .

Another high-end WHL forward changed teams on Dec. 31 when the Winnipeg Ice acquired Carson Latimer, 19, from the Prince Albert Raiders for F Aiden Quiring, 17, and third-round selections in the 2024 and 2025 WHL drafts. . . . Latimer, a fourth-round selection by the Ottawa Senators in the NHL’s 2021 draft, had 22 goals and 38 assists in 75 regular-season games with the Raiders. This season, he had 10 goals and 18 assists in 31 games when he was dealt. . . . Quiring, a freshman who was a third-round pick in the 2020 WHL draft, had five goals and three assists in 26 games at the time of the trade. . . .

The Tri-City Americans revealed on Dec. 30 that D Ben Feenan “has left the team for personal reasons and will join the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs.” . . . Feenan, 18, is from Surrey, B.C. He had three assists in 22 games this season, after recording six helpers in 48 games in 2021-22. . . . The Americans selected him in the sixth round of the WHL’s 2019 draft. . . .

The Americans got past the visiting Spokane Chiefs, 7-6 in OT, on New Year’s Eve. And wouldn’t you know it . . . Americans D Lukas Dragicevic didn’t pick up so much as one point, thus ending his 27-game point streak. He put up seven goals and 30 assists during that stretch.


Grinch


Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press recently wrote a piece in a newsletter about things he would change if he ruled the hockey world for a day. Here’s one item with which I completely agree:

“Severely limit betting/gambling advertisements. Heck, I might just consider an outright ban. I could tolerate them when they first began, in small doses. But it’s to the point now of being completely obnoxious. Seemingly every second commercial is for some website, and now even hosts such as Ron MacLean are routinely shilling for these services. To be clear, I’ve got absolutely nothing against gambling. If you have the means and can do it responsibly, knock your socks off. It’s the idea of having it shoved down my throat everywhere I turn that I find so offensive.”


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.


Dinner

Ice, Oil Kings continue to dominate in WHL’s east with shutouts . . . Blazers get past Giants . . . Winterhawks open with victory

There was a full slate of WHL playoff games on Saturday night, meaning all WHLplayoffs2022eight surviving teams were in on the action. When the smoke cleared, three teams, all playing at home, held 2-0 leads in the best-of-seven conference semifinal series. . . . In the other series, the Portland Winterhawks opened with a 4-2 victory over the host Seattle Thunderbirds. They will resume that series today in Portland. This series has a 1-2-1-1-1-1 format. It wasn’t able to open with two in Portland because the Winterhawks’ home arena was busy with grad ceremonies. . . .

At this point, it would seem that if you are looking for close games, you best pay attention to the Western Conference. In the Eastern Conference, through four games, the winners hold a 22-1 edge in goals scored, including 12-0 last night.

——

THE WHL ON SATURDAY:

Eastern Conference

In Winnipeg, F Jack Finley scored the game’s first two goals and G Daniel WinnipegIceHauser recorded the shutout as the No. 1 Ice steamrolled the No. 4 Moose Jaw Warriors, 7-0, in Game 2 of their semifinal. . . . The Ice had won the opener, 6-1, on Friday night. . . . The teams now head for Moose Jaw and Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Finley, who has four goals in these playoffs, struck at 2:49 and 3:35 of the first period. . . . F Connor McClennon (5) made it 3-0, on a PP, at 9:01 and the Ice was off to the races. . . . F Matt Savoie (3), F Mikey Milne (7), F Zach Benson (6) and F Chase Wheatcroft (1) also scored. . . . Savoie and Benson, who also had three assists, scored while shorthanded; Milne struck on a PP.  . . . The Ice was 2-for-5 on the PP; the Warriors were 0-for-3. . . . Hauser finished with 27 saves in earning his first playoff shutout after putting up eight in the regular season. In seven playoff games, he is 6-1, 1.29, .936. . . . The Warriors are playing without D Daemon Hunt, their captain, who is out with an undisclosed injury. He hasn’t played since being injured on March 19, missing the Warriors’ final eight regular-season games and their seven playoff games to date. . . .

In Edmonton, F Jaxsen Wiebe scored his first two playoff goals as the No. 2 Oil EdmontonKings held serve on home ice with a 5-0 victory over the No. 3 Red Deer Rebels. . . . The series will resume in Red Deer with games on Monday and Wednesday, and with the Rebels still looking for their first goal. They were beaten 4-0 in Thursday’s opener. . . . Wiebe, who played the previous two seasons with Red Deer, opened the scoring with his first playoff goal at 11:45 of the second period. . . . F Dylan Guenther (6) upped the lead to 2-0 at 17:02. . . . F Justin Sourdif (1) counted Edmonton’s third goal on a penalty shot at 2:56 of the third period. . . . F Jakub Demek (2), on a PP, at 7:10, and Wiebe, while shorthanded, at 9:22, completed the scoring. . . . G Sebastian Cossa stopped 26 shots in posting his second straight shutout. In these playoffs, he is 6-0, 1.00, .957, with three shutouts.

——

Western Conference

In Kamloops, the No. 2 Blazers got past the No. 8 Vancouver Giants, 4-3, to take Kamloopsa 2-0 lead in their semifinal. . . . Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for Langley, B.C., on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . F Drew Englot (2) gave the home team a 1-0 lead at 11:04 of the first period, but the Giants took a 2-1 lead into the second on goals from D Alex Cotton (5), at 12:49, and D Evan Toth (2), while shorthanded at 19:53. . . . Kamloops responded with three straight second-period goals, from F Connor Levis (2), at 1:21, F Caedan Bankier (3), at 6:41, and F Daylan Kuefler (3), on a PP, at 14:21. . . . Kuefler’s goal turned into the winner after F Ethan Semeniuk (2) pulled the Giants to within one at 15:53. . . . Bankier’s goal ran his point streak to 16 games — 10 to close out the regular season and six playoff games. . . . G Dylan Garand stopped 23 shots for Kamloops, 12 fewer than Vancouver’s Jesper Vikman. . . . Kamloops was 1-for-9 on the PP, with five of those coming in the third period. . . . Vancouver was 0-for-5 after going 0-for-3 in Game 1. When they eliminated the No. 1 Everett Silvertips in six games, Vancouver was 12-for-32 on the PP. . . . The Blazers were missing F Luke Toporowski, who left in the first period of Game 1 with an apparent shoulder injury. . . . The Giants lost D Mazden Leslie and F Colton Langkow to undisclosed injuries in Game 1. Vancouver already was without forwards Payton Mount, Cole Shepard and Jacob Boucher, none of whom travelled to Kamloops. . . .

In Kent, Wash., D Clay Hanus struck for a PP goal late in the third period, Portlandbreaking a 2-2 tie and sending the Portland Winterhawks on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for today in Portland, with a third game to be played there on Wednesday. . . . F Jared Davidson (4) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 9:28 of the first period. . . . Portland took a 2-1 lead on goals from F Marcus Nguyen (1), at 8:44 of the second period, and F James Stefan (3), at 14:44. . . . F Matthew Rempe (4) pulled Seattle even at 19:00. . . . OT was on the horizon when Hanus scored his first goal of these playoffs, at 16:21 of the third period, on Portland’s fourth PP opportunity. The Winterhawks finished 1-for-4; Seattle was 0-for-1. . . . Portland F Robbie Fromm-Delorme (1) iced it with the empty-netter. . . . G Taylor Gauthier stopped 23 shots for Portland, three more than Seattle’s Thomas Milic.


Informer


JUST NOTES: F Niko Huuhtanen of the Everett Silvertips has joined the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch for the remainder of the season. Huuhtanen, who will turn 19 on June 26, was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. From Finland, he had 37 goals and 40 assists in 65 regular-season games with the Silvertips. He added 10 points, including five goals, in five playoff games. . . .

F Jake Chiasson of the Brandon Wheat Kings now is with the Bakersfield Condors, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Chiasson, who will turn 19 on May 25, was a fourth-round pick by the Oilers in the 2021 NHL draft. He was limited to 20 games this season by shoulder surgery, and finished with six goals and 12 assists. . . .

The Brooks Bandits won the AJHL championship on Saturday night, beating the visiting Spruce Grove Saints, 2-0, to win the best-of-seven final, 4-1. . . . G Ethan Barwick recorded a 21-save shutout. . . . The Bandits now move on to the Centennial Cup tournament in Estevan, Sask., that is to run from May 18-29. . . .

The Niverville Nighthawks, an MJHL expansion team, have signed Ethan Maertens-Poole as an assistant coach to work alongside head coach Kelvin Cech. Maertens-Poole spent the 2021-22 season as an associate coach with the junior B Golden Rockets of the KIJHL.


Cereal


My wife, Dorothy, is preparing to take part in her ninth Kamloops Kidney Walk. . . . It will be held on June 5, but thanks to the pandemic it again will be a virtual event. . . . If you would like to sponsor her, you are able to do so right here.

——

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.


Bengay

Remembering when Ginnell left the Bombers . . . Blades’ Maier king of WHL goaltenders . . . Bedard sets two Pats’ records

These days I am spending time going through more than 40 years worth of files. As pages and pages of clippings, news releases and more, most of them related to the WHL and various teams, go into the recycling bin there are memories, lots of memories involving personalities.

Like Patty Ginnell, or Paddy Ginnell, who was Pat Ginnell when he took over as head coach of the Flin Flon Bombers on June 1, 1966. Quick now . . . who did he succeed? That would be Tom Baird, who stayed on as the general manager.

The Bombers were in the SJHL at the time, but that changed when they moved FFBombersto what was then the Western Canada Junior Hockey League for its second season (1967-68). It had been the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League for its inaugural season (1966-67).

Anyway, Ginnell was 29 when he took over the Bombers. He had spent the previous three seasons playing for the IHL’s Des Moines Oak Leafs. You know that putting Ginnell behind the bench was a popular choice in Flin Flon because he had played for the Bombers when they won the 1958 Memorial Cup.

Ginnell coached the Bombers through Dec. 9, 1973, his final game a 6-3 victory over the visiting Regina Pats.

Why was that his final game?

He had purchased 40 per cent of the Victoria Cougars and was about to step in as general manager and head coach.

PatGinnell
PAT GINNELL

Ginnell told Mal Isaac of the Regina Leader-Post that he had been trying to purchase a piece of the Bombers but hadn’t met with any success.

“I’ve been manager-coach in Flin Flon for nine years,” he told Isaac, “and I don’t have a thing to show for it. I don’t even own a stick.” (If you did the math, you know that he actually was in his eighth season with the Bombers, but, hey, facts didn’t get in the way of a lot of stories back in the day.)

“It’s always been my desire to own and operate my own club and that was something I was unable to do in Flin Flon,” Ginnell continued. “Now I’ll have my own team.”

Interestingly, Ginnell’s impending move leaked with the Bombers on the road and before he was able to inform the team’s board of directors.

With the Cougars, Ginnell bought out Eric Bishop, who said he was quitting as the team’s general manager. The Cougars, who started that season with Ollie Dorohoy as their head coach, were in their third WCHL season, hadn’t made the playoffs in their first two and were struggling again.

Victoria finished that season at 22-40-6, which left it fifth in the six-team Western Division.

At some point before Ginnell bought a piece of the Cougars, he had been asked how long it would take him to turn the team into a contender. “One year minimum,” he replied.

Well, the Cougars, led by Mel Bridgman, finished the 1974-75 season atop the West Division with a 47-18-5 record but dropped a best-of-seven semifinal series to the New Westminster Bruins, 4-2.

The Bombers’ board of directors, meanwhile, accepted Ginnell’s recommendation that Mel Pearson, a teammate on the 1958 Memorial Cup-winning team, be the next GM/head coach. Pearson had spent the 1972-73 season with the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints.

Pearson didn’t get to Flin Flon in time for the Bombers next game, on Dec. 13 against, yes, the Cougars. So trainer Nick Oklobdzija — he was known as Nick Alphabet — served as the interim head coach and posted one of his dozen or so career coaching victories, this one by a 10-2 score. Ginnell watched from the Whitney Forum stands as Dorohoy continued for the moment as the Cougars’ coach.

(Bruce Penton, writing in the Brandon Sun of March 7, 1974, noted that Oklobdzija “is undefeated in 12 tests as coach of the WCHL Bombers.”

“That goes back about eight or nine years,” Oklobdzija told Penton. “I’ve filled in here and there when (Ginnell) was away or suspended, or something. And we’ve never lost while I’ve coached.” The WHL’s coaching records show Oklobdzija with a 2-0-0 coaching mark.)

Pearson made his Flin Flon coaching debut on Dec. 18 with a 7-3 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. (One of Brandon’s goals came from John Paddock, now the Pats’ vice-president of hockey operations, general manager and head coach.)

Pearson, who had signed a contract taking him through 1974-75, was gone early in the 1975-76 season, fired on Oct. 29. At the time, the Bombers had two victories in 12 games.

The Bombers then hired Mickey Keating to replace Pearson, thus ending Ginnell’s connection to the Flin Flon franchise.

As an aside, my favourite Keating quote emerged late in the 1976-77 season. At one point, I wrote a few stories detailing the history of the WHL and it included this:

A nine-hour meeting in Calgary resulted in a new playoff format. Under the original format, the Flin Flon Bombers, third in the East, were 20 points ahead of Regina and all but had a playoff spot locked up. Suddenly, there was a new format and the Bombers were fighting for a spot. Oh yes, they were also on a 15-game West Coast road trip.

“In this league, you need two pieces of equipment,” said Flin Flon boss Mickey Keating. “You need a face-guard when you play some of the teams on the ice and a back protector for the committee room. I had inklings that there may be changes in the playoffs but I had confidence there were intelligent hockey men in this league. I was shown different.”

Ahh, yes, those were the days.


Cats


If you have time on your hands, you could track down the Twitter account belonging to the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs (@OHLIceDogs) and check out the ‘apology’ from the Burke brothers — Billy and Joey. And then see if you can find the screen shot of the WhatsApp chat that got them into trouble with David Branch, the OHL commissioner. . . . And after you have done all that, you are free to wonder why the Burke boys weren’t suspended for life.

Meanwhile, there is ample speculation that the IceDogs are soon to be sold to, as Ken Campbell of Hockey Unfiltered reported, “a group headed by Darren DeDobberlaer, an insurance magnate from nearby Brantford, who owns both the Brantford 99ers Jr. A team and the Brantford Bandits Jr. B team.”

Campbell also wrote: “Oh, yes, and the selling price is rumoured to be in the range of $20 million, which should disavow anyone of the notion that major junior hockey operators in Canada are mom and pop operations that require millions of dollars in tax money to meet their scholarship commitments and provincial government laws to help them skirt minimum wage requirements. Teams make money when they are strong and struggle financially when they aren’t. If the operators know what they’re doing, they can make it work. And as we’re seeing with the IceDogs, they can cash out when they sell the team.”

Campbell’s piece is right here and it’s because of reports like this that I subscribe to his site.



“The Greater Toronto Hockey League has hired a private investigator to scrutinize allegations that Jewish players with the U-13 Avenue Road Ducks and their family members were targeted with anti-Semitic slurs during games this season,” reports Rick Westhead of TSN. . . . That story is right here.

——

Meanwhile, CBC Ottawa reports that “after some Black minor hockey players in western Quebec alleged they were racially abused, a Gatineau, Que., team has suspended six of its players and the provincial governing body cancelled weekend games.” . . . That story is right here.

——

And, from Oakland, Mich., comes this from clickondetroit.com: “A 15-year-old boy is suing three players on an under 16 youth hockey team, their parents and the coach after he said he endured antisemitic bullying until he quit the team.” . . . That story is right here.


Dorothy is preparing to take part in the annual Kidney Walk for a ninth straight year. She has participated in every one since she underwent a kidney transplant at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Sept. 23, 2013. . . . The 2022 Kidney Walk will be held on June 5, but thanks to the pandemic it again will be a virtual event. . . . You are able to support her by making a donation right here.


Spider


FRIDAY IN THE WHL:

Eastern Conference:

G Nolan Maier became the winningest regular-season goaltender in WHL Saskatoonhistory as the host Saskatoon Blades beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 2-0. . . . Maier stopped 20 shots in posting his 121st career regular-season victory, breaking a record he had shared with Tyson Sexsmith (Vancouver Giants, 2004-09) and Corey Hirsch (Kamloops Blazers, 1988-92). . . . Hirsch tweeted: “Congrats Nolan! Your perseverance, resilience and dedication is nothing short of inspirational. Enjoy the moment; you’ve earned it!” . . . The Blades won it with two third-period goals, from F Egor Sidorov (23), at 12:17, and F Trevor Wong (16), at 18:01. . . . Maier has three shutouts his season; he holds the franchise career record, with 11. . . . Saskatoon (37-26-4) moved into fourth place, one point ahead of the idle Moose Jaw Warriors, who hold three games in hand. . . . The Raiders (26-34-5) are 10th, two points out of a playoff spot. . . .

F Jake Chiasson had two goals and two assists as the Brandon Wheat Kings Brandondoubled the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, 6-3. . . . Chiasson, who has six goals, struck twice in the second period as Brandon took a 5-1 lead. Chiasson missed a huge chunk of the season with an injury and only began play on March 4. He now has 15 points in 16 games. . . . D Mason Ward added two goals, giving him six, and an assist for Brandon, with D Chad Nychuk getting a goal, his 21st, and two assists. Nychuk has 68 points in 60 games. . . . Brandon (34-25-5), which has won four in a row, is sixth, four points behind Moose Jaw. Each team has four games remaining. . . . Medicine Hat (11-50-4) has lost nine straight games. . . .

In Red Deer, F Ben King, who leads the WHL in goals, scored in OT to give the RedDeerRebels a 5-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . King, who also had two assists, scored his 49th goal of the season at 2:56 of OT. . . . King has a WHL-leading 15 game-winning goals this season. F Brian Propp of the 1978-19 Brandon Wheat Kings holds the WHL record of 16. . . . F Logan Wormald scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him 14. His second goal, at 8:33 of the third period, gave his side a 4-3 lead. . . . D Christoffer Sedoff (7) forced OT with a goal at 12:04. . . . Red Deer (44-17-4) is third, four points behind the idle Edmonton Oil Kings, who have a game in hand. . . . Lethbridge (30-30-5) is headed for a seventh-place finish. . . .

F Connor Bedard set two franchise records as his Regina Pats beat the Broncos, Regina4-2, in Swift Current. . . . Bedard scored twice to give him 47 this season. His 46th goal, a shorthanded effort, set the Pats’ record for most goals by a player in his 16-year-old season. F Jeff Friesen scored 45 times in 1992-93. . . . Bedard now has 89 point in 58 games, and that also is a Pats’ franchise record for a player in his 16-year-old WHL season. F Doug Wickenheiser finished the 1977-78 season with 88 points. . . . Regina got 37 saves from G Kelton Pyne. . . . Regina (25-34-5) is 11th and, with four games remaining, trails the eighth-place Broncos (26-34-7) by four points.

——

Western Conference:

F Matthew Seminoff scored with four seconds remaining in the third period to Kamloopsgive the Blazers a 4-3 victory over the Victoria Royals in Kamloops. . . . The goal came one second after the end of a Victoria PP opportunity. . . . F Logan Stankoven had three assists for the Blazers, including the only one on the winner. . . . Seminoff has 25 goals. . . . F Bailey Peach (36) scored twice and added an assist for Victoria, which came back to tie the score three times but wasn’t able to grab the lead. . . . Stankoven now has 99 points, leaving him three behind F Arshdeep Bains of the Red Deer Rebels, who leads the points race. . . . Stankoven, who has played 56 games, leads the WHL in points-per-game (1.77). . . .  Kamloops (47-16-2) is second, four points behind the Everett Silvertips. Each team has three games remaining. . . . Victoria (22-37-6) is tied for seventh with the Vancouver Giants, one point behind the idle Spokane Chiefs. . . .

F Alex Swetlikoff scored three times and added an assist as the host Everett EverettSilvertips dumped the Tri-City Americans, 5-2. . . . The Silvertips, who clinched the U.S. Division regular-season pennant, scored the game’s last four goals, the first two from Swetlikoff, who has 33 goals. . . . Everett was 3-for-9 on the PP; Tri-City was 0-for-2. . . . Everett had a 50-13 edge in shots. According to the online game sheet, shots were 10-0 in the third period. . . . F Jackson Berezowski had an empty-net goal and two assists for Everett. He’s got 46 goals. . . . Everett (45-10-10) leads the conference by four points over Kamloops. . . . Tri-City (18-42-7) has been eliminated from playoff contention. . . .

F Jack O’Brien had two goals to help the Portland Winterhawks to a 7-2 victory Portlandover the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . O’Brien has 13 goals. . . . F Cross Hanas scored his 25th goal and added two assists for the winners. . . . There was something of a brouhaha at 19:17 of the third period that resulted in 97 penalty minutes being handed out. . . . Portland (44-16-5) is third, three points behind Kamloops. . . . Vancouver (23-36-4) is tied for seventh with Victoria, one point behind Spokane and one ahead of the idle Prince George Cougars.


JUST NOTES: F Logan Nijhoff, the Regina Pats’ captain, has signed a two-year contract with the San Diego Gulls, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks. Nijhoff, 20, had 20 goals and 23 assists in 52 games when the signing was announced on Thursday. He is completing his fifth season with Regina. Nijhoff attended the Ducks’ rookie camp in September. . . . The EIHL’s Cardiff Devils have fired head coach Jarrod Skalde, who was in his first season there. Assistant coaches Brodie Dupont and Neil Francis will run things through the end of the season. With four games left in the regular season, the Devils are third at 27-15-3.


War


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.


Dog

Fan’s enthusiasm for WHL returns after visit to Everett . . . Maier ties WHL career record . . . Seattle star signs with Penguins


When the Portland Winterhawks visited the Silvertips in Everett on Friday at least one fan was in the Angel of the Winds Arena for the first time.

This individual is a long-time WHL fan and a season-ticket holder who rarely misses a game. After being in Everett for what he said was his first game “in many years” outside his home city, he sent me some of his thoughts . . .

“Wasn’t sure what to expect, but what a great experience it was compared to Everettwhat I’m used to. . . . Angel of the Winds Arena is a great facility . . . it feels like a smaller version of an NHL arena with two levels, and a nice concourse to walk around in. The concourse is open at one end so you can see the ice from that part of it, too. The lower level is only 12 rows deep, but close to the ice all the way around so fans are right on top of the action. Not to mention it has more concessions than I could count — you couldn’t walk more than about 50 feet without coming to another place to buy food or drinks . . . lots of variety and no long lineups.

“The announced attendance was about 6,800 and unlike other cities that number wasn’t inflated by too much . . . definitely well over 6,000 in the building, eyeballing the empty seats.

“I showed up at the rink at about 5:50 (10 minutes before the doors opened to non-season ticket holders). There already were numerous season-ticket holders going into the building, and by 6 p.m. the line for the general public to get in was over a block long.”

That, he added, was quite a contract to his home team’s games this season “where at 6 p.m. there might be a dozen or two people there.”

In Everett, he wrote, “not long after 6 p.m., the team store was packed with a lineup of about 20 people for the cash register.” That, too, was “a big contrast” to his home team’s games.

“The crowd had a real energy to it, too. It was a pretty young crowd (lots of people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, which is a great thing to see). Lots of Silvertips jerseys in the crowd, something I’m not used to seeing. . . . Anything that happened in the game got a reaction — whenever the Silvertips took the puck away from Portland, cleared it out of their zone, or started a rush up the ice out of their own zone, the crowd was making noise.”

That, he wrote, was “a welcome change” from crowds in his home arena “that for the most part sit on their hands the whole game other than when a goal is scored. And when Everett scores the entire crowd is on its feet.

“I’ve seen NHL games in a number of cities, and some crowds are just different — at a Rangers game, for example, there’s just a very different energy you feel compared to an L.A. Kings or Anaheim Ducks game and that’s the distinction I’d draw between Everett and (my home arena), a crowd where people were there to be part of the game rather than just sit and watch.

“It was just a fantastic experience, and none of it felt manufactured. There wasn’t anything on the scoreboard telling fans to make noise or anything. Even the fan contests during the intermission were fun and different than I’d seen before.

“If I were involved with running a WHL team I’d be sending my marketing team to Everett to learn something.”

When I wrote about the WHL and attendance last month, this fan told me that he was thinking about perhaps switching from a full season-ticket to a half. He changed his mind after his Everett experience.

“Attending that one game probably did more to bring back my enthusiasm for WHL hockey after the lost COVID season than an entire season of attending (my team’s) games,” he wrote.


Deer1
It must have been a tough shift at the factory on Sunday afternoon because the 16 or 17 deer in the field behind our humble abode all were laying down after having eaten. The light was fading and the ol’ peepers aren’t what they used to be so I couldn’t make an accurate count. And there were more there than I could fit into one frame.

Deer3


Dorothy-040719Dorothy is preparing to take part in the annual Kidney Walk for a ninth straight year. She has participated in every one since she underwent a kidney transplant at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Sept. 23, 2013. . . . The 2022 Kidney Walk will be held on June 5, but thanks to the pandemic it again will be a virtual event. . . . The Kidney Walk is a huge fund-raising venture for the Canadian Kidney Foundation and its provincial branches. By participating, Dorothy is able to give something back to an organization that has been such a big part of our lives. . . . If you would like to be on her team by making a donation you are able to do so right here.


Groceries


If you haven’t noticed, the honeymoon appears to be over in Vancouver where the vultures are starting to circle. . . . There was this from Jeff Paterson on the CanucksSekeres and Price podcast this week: “Bruce has to wear some of this, too. The shine is coming off of this team with 3 wins in 13 games at crunch time. 1 win in their last 8 at home. Bruce always wants to flush this thing about slow starts.” . . . Carol Schram of Forbes Sports tweeted: “It’s crunch time. The Canucks season could depend on 3 games in the next 9 days against Vegas, starting Sunday. Bruce Boudreau’s future may also hang in the balance.” . . . The Canucks lost that Sunday game, and they are in Vegas tonight in the opener of a doubleheader there. . . . Just a short time ago, Boudreau could do no wrong, but that doesn’t seem to be the case these days. . . . Where the fans in Vancouver used to chant “Bruce, there it is!,” now it seems that “Bruce, there it isn’t” would be more topical. And the whisperers are wondering: “Where is Paul Maurice?” . . . Gee, maybe the Canucks’ problems haven’t had a whole lot to do with coaching.


Back in the day, if a player tried to skill it up in the NBA this might happen . . .


TUESDAY IN THE WHL:

Eastern Conference:

Saskatoon’s Nolan Maier tied the WHL record for career goaltending victories Saskatoonas the Blades beat the Tigers, 4-0, in Medicine Hat. . . . Maier, 20, has 120 victories in his five seasons with the Blades, including 29 this season. He now shares the mark with Tyson Sexsmith (Medicine Hat, Vancouver Giants, 2004-09) and Corey Hirsch (Kamloops Blazers, 1988-92). . . . Maier’s second shutout of this season was the 11th of his career. . . . The Blades are to meet the Hurricanes in Lethbridge tonight. . . . Don’t forget that Maier played only 17 games in the 2021 development season when he earned 12 victories, so only the pandemic kept him from smashing this record. . . . D Ryan Nolan drew three assists. . . . The Blades (26-25-4), with three games remaining, are two points behind the fourth-place Moose Jaw Warriors, who have four to play. . . . The Tigers (11-49-4) have lost eight in a row. . . .

F Jake Chiasson and F Nolan Ritchie each had a goal and two assists as their BrandonBrandon Wheat Kings beat the visiting Regina Pats, 5-4. . . . Chiasson, who has four goals, tied it 2-2 at 16:46 of the second period and Ritchie, with 31 goals, broke the tie at 19:40. . . . D Mason Ward (4) upped the lead to 4-2 at 1:23 of the third period and the Pats never could equalize. . . . Regina got three goals from F Logan Nijhoff, whose first WHL hat trick left him with 20 goals. . . . Brandon (33-25-5) is sixth, five points behind Saskatoon. The Wheat Kings appear headed to a first-round matchup with the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Regina (24-34-5) is six points from a playoff spot with five games remaining.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

In Prince George, D Tyson Feist scored at 1:02 of OT to give the Kelowna Rockets Kelownaa 1-0 victory over the Cougars. . . . He’s got 15 goals this season. . . . Kelowna G Talyn Boyko blocked 21 shots for his second shutout of the season. . . . The Cougars got 35 saves from G Ty Young. . . . They’ll play again tonight in Prince George. . . . The Rockets (38-19-6) are fifth, four points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Cougars (22-37-5) are tied for the conference’s last playoff spot with the Spokane Chiefs, one point behind the Vancouver Giants and Victoria Royals.


Clam


JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Mark Bomersback is the new general manager of the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. Bomersback, 39, was the Storm’s GM from 2017-20, before stepping down. From a news release: “Mark was an elite player in the AJHL, his 394 career points still stands as the all-time record.  Upon finishing his junior career Mark moved on to Ferris State University in the NCAA.  Mark’s professional hockey career saw him play in the East Coast and American Hockey Leagues before finishing his career in Europe, including a season in the KHL.” Mike Vandekamp was the Storm’s general manager/head coach for the past two seasons, but they parted company at the conclusion of their season. A new head coach has yet to be hired. . . . Billy Keane has joined the Pilot Mound, Man., Hockey Academy as the male U18 head coach and the academy’s assistant general manager. He spent the previous two seasons as the general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard. His contract wasn’t renewed when their season ended. . . .

Brandon Switzer is the new general manager and head coach of the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Switzer, from Brandon, had been the club’s associate coach and assistant GM since June 26. He takes over from Bill Rotheisler, who had filled both positions for the past two seasons. . . . The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins have signed F Lukas Svejkovsky, 20, of the Seattle Thunderbirds to a three-year entry-level contract that is to begin next season. It carries an annual average value of $859,167 at the NHL level — salaries of $750,000, $775,000 and $775,000 with a $92,000 signing bonus each year. There is an $80,000 minor-league salary in all three years. The Penguins selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL draft. . . .

The NAHL announced on Tuesday that the Wichita Falls Warriors are on the move to Oklahoma City where they will play out of the Blazers Ice Center. They will continue with the Warriors nickname. There was a time when the NAHL franchise in Wichita Falls was known as the Wildcats and was owned by Rick Brodsky, a former WHL chairman of the board and owner of the Victoria/Prince George Cougars.


Sessions


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.


Dads

Hey, Silvertips, does Wolf give up goals in practice? Three games. Three wins. Three shutouts . . . Stankowski adding new chapter to career

Silvertips
Goaltender Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips has his eyes on the prize during a 3-0 victory over the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday night. Wolf has gone the distance in each of Everett’s three games and has yet to surrender even one goal. (Photo: Chris Mast/mastimages.com)

G Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips put up his third straight shutout on Wednesday night, stopping 30 shots in a 3-0 victory over the visiting Tri-City EverettAmericans. . . . The Silvertips are 3-0-0 this season, with Wolf yet to allow even one goal. . . . If you’re wondering, Chris Worthy of the Flin Flon Bombers posted four straight shutouts in 1967-68, and that’s the WHL record. . . . Wolf now has 23 career shutouts, three off the WHL record that is shared by Tyson Sexsmith (Vancouver, 179 games, 2005-09) and Carter Hart (Everett, 190 games, 2013-18). Wolf now has appeared in 130 games. . . . Wolf, a seventh-round pick by the Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2019 draft, has stopped all 70 shots he has faced this season, having earlier blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 2-0, and the Americans, 7-0. . . . Wolf lowered his career GAA to 1.82, second to the 1.73 of Kelly Guard (Kelowna, 115 games, 2002-04). . . . The Silvertips are next scheduled to play Friday against the host Portland Winterhawks. . . .

The Brandon Wheat Kings were without D Braden Schneider as they dumped the Moose Jaw Warriors 8-2 in the Regina hub. Schneider was injured in the second period of a 6-4 loss to the Saskatoon Blades when his right knee appeared to get twisted underneath him in a collision. Last night, the Wheat Kings, who were 5-for-7 on the PP, got two goals and an assist from F Jake Chiasson, a goal and two helpers from F Nate Danielson, and three assists from each of F Ridly Greig and D Rylan Thiessen. . . . The New York Rangers selected Schneider with the 19th overall pick of the NHL’s 2020 draft. They have signed him to an NHL contract. . . . 

The Saskatoon Blades scored the game’s last three goals to beat the Swift BladesCurrent Broncos, 6-5 in OT, in the Regina hub. . . . F Tristen Robins got the winner just 29 seconds into OT. That was his second goal of the game and fifth of the season. . . . Saskatoon D Aidan De La Gorgendiere had tied the scored with 42.8 seconds left in the third period. . . . F Josh Filmon’s first WHL goal gave the Broncos (1-5-1) a 5-3 lead at 12:01 of the third period. . . . F Blake Stevenson scored for Saskatoon at 16:31. . . . G Nolan Maier picked up his 84th career victory and now is one away from the franchise’s career record (Tim Cheveldae, 1985-88). Cheveldae spent six seasons (2013-19) as the Blades’ goaltending coach. . . . The Blades now are 6-0-1. Les Lazaruk, the long-time radio voice of the Blades, reports that the franchise’s best seven-game start (6-0-1, with the 1 being a tie) came in 1985-86. The 1975-76 Blades, Lazaruk tweeted, won their first six games before dropping a 7-3 decision to the Kamloops Chiefs.


Sheep 2
It’s a sunny Wednesday afternoon and a couple of old guys are strolling along Shuswap Road east of Kamloops. One of their pals was just over the edge of the road. The other three regulars weren’t anywhere in sight.

Tim Peel, the former NHL referee, really didn’t give the league any choice when he spoke out loud without realizing his mic was live.

After saying what he said, the NHL, I suppose, had no choice but to bring a nhl2premature end to his career.

But I would suggest that the NHL really over-reacted.

Peel, who worked more than 1,400 regular-season and playoff games during his NHL career, was doing a game between the Detroit Red Wings and host Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Early on, with his mic live, he uttered these words: “It wasn’t much, but I wanted to get a f—— penalty against Nashville early in the . . .“ The mic got cut off at that point, so the rest of the sentence went unheard.

Just before that, Peel had given F Viktor Arvidsson of the Predators a minor penalty for tripping.

So the guy said the quiet part out loud. What’s the big deal? And don’t try to tell me that this is about gambling or the integrity of the game. After all, this is a league that hides player injuries more than any of the other big four sports. This is a league that doesn’t put any pressure on a coach to name his starting goaltender. So let’s forget the gambling/integrity part of it.

Simply put, this was a case of the NHL over-reacting.

Peel, 54, was scheduled to work his last game on April 24, after which he planned to skate off into the sunset.

So why couldn’t the NHL bring him in behind closed doors, slap him on the wrist, tell him to take a few days off, like maybe three weeks, and then have him work that final game?

What would have been the harm in that?

Instead, the NHL chose to scapegoat a veteran referee, and for what?

Because if you think Peel’s misstep is going to result in a change to the way NHL games are officiated, well, that’s just not going to happen.

Referees will continue to watch defencemen cross-check forwards into submission in the defensive zone, and the standard of officiating will change in the playoffs.

Besides . . . if it wasn’t like that what would we have to complain about?


There was an interesting goaltending matchup in the NHL on Wednesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins dumped the visiting Buffalo Sabres, 5-2. Tristan Jarry, who earned the victory, backstopped the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2014 Memorial Cup title; Dustin Tokarski, who was in goal for the Sabres, won the 2008 Memorial Cup with the Spokane Chiefs. . . . According to Jay Stewart (@jaystewie), the Chiefs’ vice-president of business operations: “From what I can tell, this is the first time since Feb. 13, 2002, that goaltenders who won Memorial Cups in the WHL played in the same NHL game.” Stewart’s research shows that Trevor Kidd, who won with Spokane in 1998, played for the Florida Panthers against Steve Passmore and the Chicago Blackhawks. Passmore won the 1994 Memorial Cup with the Kamloops Blazers.


There always are a lot of good stories in and around a hockey season. I don’t think there was a better story to the WHL’s 2016-17 season than G Carl Stankowski, then of the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Back then, the Calgary native was a 16-year-old freshman who got into only seven regular-season games. But then G Rylan Toth, 20, was injured. Toth had played in 58 games, going 36-18-1, so there wasn’t any doubt about who was No. 1. But now he couldn’t answer the bell and the torch was passed — GULP! — to Stankowski. All the kid did was go 16-2-2, 2.50, .911 in leading the Thunderbirds to the WHL championship. . . . Since then, he has dealt with some serious health issues that he now hopes he has learned to handle as he plays with the Winnipeg Ice in the Regina hub. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post caught up with Stankowski this week and his column is right here.



How are things in B.C.? Thanks for asking. . . . Here are Wednesday’s numbers, thanks to Janet Brown of CKNW: “716 new cases, 383 Fraser Health, 303 hospital (-11), 85 ICU (+2), 3 deaths, 71 new variant cases for total 1,581, 148 active.” . . . That’s right, 716 newbies. But, hey, they’re only numbers, so party on, Garth!


Jesus


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.



JUST NOTES: Kierra Lentz is the new director of marketing for the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. From Salmon Arm, she recently graduated with a diploma in broadcasting from SAIT in Calgary. . . . The AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers have named Tyler King as their assistant general manager of business operations. According to a news release, King “will oversee the Oilers’ day-to-day off-ice operations, reporting to the organization’s board of directors as well as head coach and general manager Tyler Deis.” He was the Brooks Bandits’ business manager from 2017-19, during which time they play host to the 2019 national junior A championship. He also spent 14 months with Hockey Canada as logistics manager for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship that was held in the Edmonton bubble.


Morons

AJHL, QMJHL, PJHL teams have positives . . . B.C. leagues awaiting clarification on travel restrictions . . . USHL moves more games

Coming Friday: Part 2 of a look back at the history of the WHL.


The AJHL revealed Thursday that “a member of the Canmore Eagles has tested ajhlpositive for COVID-19.” . . . According to a four-sentence news release, the team has activated the required protocols, schedule adjustments will be made, and “for privacy reasons, no further comments will be provided.” . . . Four minutes after the AJHL released the news, the Olds Grizzlys tweeted that “our games this weekend vs the Drumheller Dragons now are cancelled.” They were to have played in Drumheller on Friday and in Olds on Saturday. . . . In their last game, the Eagles beat the Dragons, 6-3, in Drumheller on Saturday night. . . . According to the AJHL schedule, Canmore’s games scheduled for Nov. 27 (vs. Brooks Bandits) and Nov. 28 (at Brooks) have been “cancelled.”


The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs have had a staff member come up positive so qmjhlnewhave suspended “team in-person activities.” . . . According to the team, “players and staff now will be isolated” and “members of the organization who have been in contact with the infected person will be tested.” . . . The Cape Breton Eagles, who played the visiting Sea Dogs on Wednesday night, won’t play again until public health officials have completed their investigation. According to the Sea Dogs, the infected person didn’t travel with the team to Wednedsay’s game. . . . All told, the QMJHL has had to postpone five games through Nov. 25. . . . There is a news release right here.


Protip


The Fort Knox junior B team that plays in the Prairie Junior Hockey League announced Thursday that “an individual within” its organization has tested positive. As it awaits directions from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the team has postponed its Friday-Saturday home-and-home series with the Regina Capitals. . . . Fort Knox plays out of Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask.


With the B.C. government and health officials having announced increased BCHLtravel restrictions on Friday, the BCHL has decided to cancel its weekend exhibition games as it awaits what it calls “further clarification.” . . . The one game scheduled for Friday — the Merritt Centennials were in Cranbrook to play the Bucks — was played. . . . The league has three Saturday games on its schedule, along with one on Sunday. . . . The BCHL has been aiming for a Dec. 1 start to its new season. However, the new travel restrictions are to run through at least Dec. 7. . . . Late Thursday, it seemed that the junior B leagues in the province also were awaiting further clarification on the impact these restrictions will have. It could be that one part of Thursday’s edict — “no spectators and no travel outside your community for sports games” — may not have meant what the words would seem to mean. Yes, we’re talking about mixed messages.


Thanksgiving


COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

——

CBC News: Manitoba reports 8 more coronavirus deaths and 475 new cases. That’s the province’s 3rd-highest daily total during the pandemic, and raises the 7-day average to 386. Manitoba also has a 14% test positivity rate, the highest in the country.

680 CJOB Winnipeg: The Manitoba government is adding teeth to province-wide COVID-19 restrictions, banning gatherings at private residences and limiting retail sales to essential items only.

CBC News: Saskatchewan reports 98 new COVID-19 cases, lowest in 6 days and significantly below the province’s previous 7-day average of 175.

CBC News: With 1,105 new COVID-19 cases, Alberta sets another single-day record. Eight more people died from the disease, four in Edmonton and four in Calgary.

Troy Gillard, rdnewsNOW: Alberta sets another daily record with 1,105 new COVID-19 cases. . . . Active cases in Red Deer sit at 110 (up one).

CBC News: B.C. reports 538 new cases of COVID-19 and 1 more death.

BC Government News: Mandatory mask mandate for workers & customers in indoor public & retail spaces – & in workplace common areas; no events or social gatherings with anyone outside your household or core bubble (if you live alone); COVID-19 travel advisory in BC: essential travel only; spin classes, hot yoga, and high-intensity interval training are suspended; no spectators — and no travel outside your community — for sports games.

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 28 additional deaths due to COVID-19 and 1,210 new cases. That’s lower than the previous 7-day average, which drops to 1,365 from 1,418. 361 of the new cases are in Peel Region, 346 in Toronto and 143 in York Region.

CBC News: 34 additional COVID-19 deaths are being reported in Quebec along with 1,207 new cases. That drops the province’s 7-day average for new cases to 1,221 from 1,243.

CBC News: New COVID-19 case confirmed in Whitehorse as Yukon imposes travel restrictions; everyone except critical services workers now required to self-isolate for 14 days when entering territory.

CBC News: 4 new COVID-19 cases detected in Nunavut. 3 are in Arviat, an isolated fly-in community on the west coast of Hudson’s Bay; that brings the number there to 57. Across the territory, which is now in a 2-week lockdown, there are 74 cases.

The New York Times: Our survey of more than 1,900 U.S. colleges and universities has revealed more than 321,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, with most of them announced since students returned to campus for the fall term.

The New York Times: New coronavirus infections in Europe appear to be slowing for the first time in months, the WHO said on Thursday. Restrictions re-imposed late last month on businesses and public gatherings appear to be working, and schools have generally remained open.

CBC News: Sweden’s health agency says a number of people who work in the mink industry tested positive for COVID-19. Authorities are analyzing the virus from the infected people and from infected minks to see if there is a link between the strains.

——

The USHL continues to have problems trying to play its schedule. A news release from the league on Thursday revealed that Waterloo Black Hawks games against the Lincoln Stars (Nov. 20 and 25), Des Moines Buccaneers (Nov. 21), Dubuque Fighting Saints (Nov. 26) and Green Bay Gamblers (Nov. 28) “have been declared No Contests.” . . . Lincoln’s Nov. 18 game against the Tri-City Storm also “has been declared a No Contest.” . . . From the release: “Per league safety protocols, minimum standards were not met to play these upcoming games.” . . .

WR J.J. Arecega-Whiteside of the Philadelphia Eagles tested positive and is on the reserve/COVID-19 list, along with close contacts WR John Hightower and WR Deontary Burnett. The Eagles are to play the host Cleveland Browns on Sunday. . . .

The San Francisco 49ers placed OL Hroniss Grasu and LB Joe Walker on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. They join DL Arik Armstead, who tested positive, and DT Javon Kinlaw who were added earlier in the week. . . . The 49ers have a bye this week. . . .

Yahoo!Sports reports: “As of Thursday afternoon, 15 games scheduled for Week 12 of the college football season have been canceled or postponed because of coronavirus cases. There have been 40 games either canceled or postponed over the past three weeks of the season as virus cases have surged across the country.” . . . That includes a scheduled game between Maryland and Michigan State. Maryland wasn’t able to play last weekend against No. 3 Ohio State because of eight positive tests. On Thursday, Maryland said that number over the past week is up to 15. . . . On top of that, there are seven Maryland staff members, including head coach Mike Locksley, who have tested positive. . . . Also cancelled on Thursday was a Mountain West game between the Fresno State Bulldogs, who have had at least one positive test, and the visiting San Jose State Spartans. . . .

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, 83, has tested positive. He also is a former ESPN football analyst. . . . You may recall that it was Holtz in August who, in explaining why he thought college football should get on with playing, said: “When they stormed Normandy, they knew that there were going to be casualties, there was gonna be risk. Two percent of the people that go to the emergency room go for COVID-19. But young people . . . they think it’s like cancer. They think they’re gonna die.” . . .

The DePaul men’s basketball team is pausing all team activities, according to the Chicago-based school, “following positive COVID-19 test results among its Tier 1 group.” The team’s first three games of a new season — scheduled for Nov. 25, 28 and Dec. 1 — have been cancelled. . . .

Juan Domingo Roldan, who three times challenged for the world middleweight boxing title, died on Wednesday of COVID-19. He was 63 when he died in his hometown of San Francisco, Argentina. In the 1980s, he lost title bouts to Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Michael Nunn.



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.


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