On the fifth day of our annual Christmas countdown, we’ve got Bing Crosby and David Bowie with The Little Drummer Boy (Peace On Earth). It’s right here.
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times reports: “Two nuns have been accused of embezzling about $500,000 from St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., to support their gambling craze. Apparently they put too much money down on the Cardinals this season and not enough on the Saints.”
Whenever I see a reference made to the Moose Jaw Warriors’ merchandise store, it brings a smile to my face. They named it The Crushed Can, something that keeps the old barn’s memory alive. Thank you to whomever was responsible. Well done!
If computers aren’t human, why do they always want to do updates when it’s inconvenient to the user?
The below tweet is from Friday night’s WHL game in Kent, Wash. It begs the question: Why aren’t all of these scouts doctors?
Bob Molinaro, in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot: “I’m still digesting the news that North Carolina gave dismissed football coach Larry (The Hat) Fedora a $12-million buyout. What a deal. But colleges don’t have enough money to pay athletes.”
Headline at TheOnion.com: L.A. adds lanes for cyclists to recover from getting hit by cars.
The World Chess Championship in London was decided in the 13th match, after the first 12 ended in draws. According to Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong: “Norwegian Magnus Carlsen won it just before judges were going to decide the match using penalty kicks.”
——
One more from Chong: “Sesame Street has introduced Lisa, the first homeless Muppet. Really? So does living in a garbage can like Oscar the Grouch count as bona fide housing?”
If you’re looking for an entertaining read, check out Patti Dawn Swansson’s blog The River City Renegade.
You’ll find stuff like this . . .
“Canadian Football League outfits are dumping coaches, scouts and management at an alarming rate. We haven’t seen this kind of cost cutting since the suits at Postmedia lost their minds. I don’t know if the CFL is still a professional sports league or a thrift store.”
And this . . .
“Steve Simmons of Postmedia Tranna calls Hockey Night in Canada play-by-play fossil Bob Cole the ‘voice of a lifetime’ and ‘the Hockey Sinatra.’ Oh, please. Apparently he never heard Danny Gallivan call a game. No one did it like Gallivan. His voice was electric. His vocabulary immense. I still get chills when I hear his call of Guy Lafleur’s tying goal in Game 7 of the 1979 Stanley Cup semifinal. ‘Lafleur, coming out rather gingerly on the right side . . .’ Rather gingerly. Who says that? Only Gallivan. Bob Cole is the Hockey Sinatra like I’m Celine Dion.”
The River City Renegade’s latest piece is right here.
2018 . . .
After Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, suggest that he would like to limit defensive shifts, Janice Hough of LeftCoastSportsBabe.com offered this suggestion: “Uh, here’s a solution: Teach players to bunt.”
If you haven’t read this already, you are going to want to give it some of your time. It’s a story about Charles Barkley — yes, that Sir Charles — and his unlikely friend, Lin Wang. This is a wonderful story and it’s right here.
Jack Finarelli, who can be found at sportscurmudgeon.com, has come bad news for fans of the Baltimore Orioles: “The fact is that the Orioles are going to stink like a bloated rhino carcass in the hot sun on the veldt for at least a couple of years. Maybe those 115 losses in 2018 represented the nadir of this losing cycle; maybe not.”
Mike Vandekamp was behind a junior team bench for the 1,500th time on Saturday night when his Cowichan Capitals met the host Salmon Arm Silverbacks in a BCHL game.
Vandekamp has quite a coaching history, having made stops in his hometown of Fort St. 
John, B.C., as well as Grande Prairie, Alta., and the B.C. hockey havens of Prince George, Vernon, Merritt, Nanaimo and Duncan, the latter being the home base for the Capitals.
These days he’s the GM and head coach of the Capitals, who are 10-20-5 and tied for fourth in the five-team Island Division. He’s in his first season as the Capitals’ GM and head coach, and here’s hoping he gets some time to turn things around there.
And how did No. 1,500 go? The Capitals won, 6-3.
Vandekamp actually posted one of my all-time favourite tweets on March 2. He had started the season with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, but was dumped after an ownership change. So when the BCHL playoffs got started, Vandekamp was on the outside looking in, but, hey, he had a nice view from a beach in Hawaii. Still, like all those coaches who have the hockey disease, he could think of a million arenas in which he would rather have been.
If you stop off here and enjoy what you see — or even if you don’t — feel free to click on the DONATE button over there on the right and make a contribution. Thanks in advance, and Merry Christmas.
SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
The Lethbridge Hurricanes scored four times in the third period en route to a 6-4 victory 
over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . Lethbridge (18-9-6) has points in four straight (3-0-1), is 9-1-2 in its past 12, and is tied with the Red Deer Rebels (20-10-2) and Edmonton Oil Kings (18-12-6) atop the Central Division. . . . Calgary (15-15-4) had points in each of its previous six (5-0-1). . . . The Hitmen scored three times in the second period, taking a 3-2 lead when F Kaden Elder (14) scored, on a PP, at 13:40. . . . F Dylan Cozens (8) got Lethbridge into a tie at 5:29 of the third period, only to have F Riley Stotts (10) shoot Calgary back in front at 8:25. . . . Lethbridge D Ty Prefontaine (1) tied it at 8:49, and F Logan Barlage (9) snapped the tie at 9:49. F Jordy Bellerive (16) provided insurance with his second goal of the game, at 18:53. . . . That was Bellerive’s 100th career regular-season goal and it came in his 239th game. He also had an assist in this one, and now has 39 points, including 23 assist, in 33 games. . . . It was the third game in fewer than 48 hours for Calgary, which went 1-1-1.
F Dylan Guenther, the first selection in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, scored twice to help 
the Edmonton Ice to a 7-4 victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice. . . . Edmonton (18-12-6) has points in three straight (2-0-1) and goes into the break in a tie atop the Central Division with the Red Deer Rebels and Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Ice (8-22-6) is 14 points out of a playoff spot. . . . Guenther, a 15-year-old from Edmonton, has three goals and an assist in seven games with the Oil Kings. . . . A goal from F Brett Kemp and two from Guenther gave the home side a 3-1 lead in the first period. . . . F River Fahey (2) got the Ice to within a goal at 15:54. . . . Kemp, who has 22 goals, scored at 3:01 of the second, for a 4-2 lead, only to have D Martin Bodak (6) score for Kootenay at 4:14. . . . The Oil Kings put it away with three third-period goals, from F Vince Loschiavo (16), F David Kope (7) and F Scott Atkinson (5), the latter into an empty net. . . . Kootenay F Peyton Krebs, the team captain, took a game misconduct at 19:50 of the third period. . . . Kemp also had an assist, for a three-point evening. F Carter Souch had three assists for Edmonton. . . . The Oil Kings were without F Trey Fix-Wolansky and F Quinn Benjafield for a second straight game.
F Kyle Olson’s second goal of the game, a shorthanded snipe in OT, gave the Tri-City 
Americans a 4-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . The Americans (17-12-2) have won three straight. . . . The Winterhawks (19-11-4) have points in three straight (1-0-2). . . . On Saturday, the Americans had scored three late goals, including a tying score with the extra attacker on the ice, to erase a 2-0 deficit and beat the visiting Winterhawks, 3-2 in OT. . . . Last night, Portland D Jared Freadrich (4) forced OT when he scored with the extra attacker on the ice and just 34 seconds left in the third. . . . Olson won it with his eighth goal of the season at 4:37 of extra time. . . . F Joachim Blichfeld gave Portland a 1-0 lead at 1:06 of the second period. He also had two assists and now leads the WHL in goals and points (65), one more than F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders and F Trey Fix-Wolansky of the Edmonton Oil Kings. Leason is with Canada’s national junior team, while Fix-Wolansky has sat out Edmonton’s past two games. . . . Olson tied it at 6:40 and teammate Riley Sawchuk, who had two goals and two assists, gave the Americans the lead at 9:01. . . . F Ryan Hughes (13) pulled Portland into a tie at 9:54. . . . Sawchuk, who has 11 goals, gave Tri-City a 3-2 lead at 12:58 of the third period. . . . This was the first four-point game of Sawchuk’s WHL career; in fact, he had never had three points in a game. This was his 159th regular-season game, all with Tri-City. . . .
F Eli Zummack scored in OT to give the host Spokane Chiefs a 6-5 victory over the Seattle 
Thunderbirds. . . . Spokane (19-11-4) has won three in a row. . . . Seattle (11-16-4) has lost three straight. . . . Spokane has won the first five meetings of the season. . . . Seattle went 0-2-1 in playing three games in fewer than 48 hours. That included a 5-3 loss to visiting Spokane on Friday. . . . Zummack also scored the OT winner in a 4-3 victory over the visiting Kootenay Ice on Dec. 8. . . . Last night, Zummack, who also had two assists, won it with his 11th goal at 1:47 of OT. . . . The lone assist went to F Adam Beckman, who finished with two goals — he’s got 17 — and two assists. Beckman, a 17-year-old rookie from Saskatoon, was a fifth-round pick in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. This season, he’s got 28 points, including 11 assists, in 34 games. . . . Beckman, was in on each of his side’s last three goals, gave the Chiefs a 4-3 lead at 1:04 of the third period. . . . F Matthew Wedman (11) got Seattle into a tie at 8:07. . . . Spokane went back in front at 10:23 when D Noah King (3) scored. . . . The Thunderbirds forced extra time at 17:11 as F Dillon Hamaliuk (11) scored on a PP. . . . Seattle was 2-2 on the PP; Spokane was 1-4. . . . Spokane lost D Bobby Russell to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 6:02 of the second period after a hit on Seattle F Tyler Carpendale. . . . Seattle again was without F Noah Philp.
F Brayden Watts scored twice, including the winner late in the third period, as the 
Vancouver Giants beat the Prince George Cougars, 2-1, in Langley, B.C. . . . Vancouver (22-8-2) had lost its previous two games. . . . Prince George (11-19-3) has lost five straight. . . . The Cougars are five games into an 11-game road trip that will pick up after the Christmas break. They are 0-5-0 in those first five outings. . . . The Giants got 30 saves from G David Tendeck, 17 of them in the second period. . . . F Jackson Leppard (7) gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period. . . . Watts tied it, on a PP, at 9:23 of the second. He won it with his seventh goal, on another PP, with 49.5 seconds left in the third period. . . . D Bowen Byram and F Davis Koch drew assists on both goals. . . . Vancouver was 2-5 on the PP; Prince George was 0-5. . . . The Cougars got 32 saves from G Taylor Gauthier. . . . Prince George last played at home on Dec. 2, and won’t appear there again until Jan. 11. They will return from the break to play six more road games — in Kent, Wash., and Everett on Dec. 28 and 29, in Kamloops and Kelowna on Dec. 30 and Jan. 4, and then back into the U.S. Division against Tri-City and Spokane on Jan. 8 and 9. . . . Vancouver was playing its third game in fewer than 48 hours; it went 1-2-0. . . .
Prior to the game, linesman Nathan Van Oosten was presented with a WHL Milestone Award by Kevin Muench, the senior director of officiating. The award celebrates outstanding achievements by those associated with the WHL. Van Oosten is in his 13th season as a WHL linesman, and has worked in three championship finals and two Memorial Cups. He also has been on the ice for one World Junior Championship, two World Championships and one Olympic Winter Games.
over the visiting Raiders, handing Prince Albert, the CHL’s top-ranked team, its first regulation-time loss of this season.
making the East Division swing with its favourite team.
junior franchise is poised to move to Winnipeg.
host Saskatoon Blades beat the Prince Albert Raiders, 1-0. . . . The Blades (19-10-3) have won two straight. . . . The Raiders (28-2-1) had been 21-0-1 in their previous 22 games. This was their first regulation loss this season. . . . This was the third game in fewer than 48 hours for both of these teams and each went 2-1-0. . . . The Raiders had won the first two meetings with the Blades — 4-1 in Prince Albert and 6-2 in Saskatoon on Sept. 30 and Oct. 14, respectively. . . . Maier posted his second shutout of the season and the fourth of his career. This season, he is 15-8-2, 2.70, .912. . . . Robins’ goal, his fifth of the season, came at 5:14 of the second period and also was the Teddy Bear goal. . . . Raiders F Brett Leason had his 30-game point streak come to an end, despite having five shots on goal. . . . Leason and G Ian Scott, who stopped 26 shots, will be on the ice in Victoria on Tuesday as the selection camp opens for Canada’s national junior team. . . . When the Raiders next play, on Wednesday against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, they will be missing Scott, Leason, F Aliaksei Protas and D Sergei Sapego. The latter two are with the Belarus national junior team at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division I Group A) in Fussen, Germany. . . . Darren Steinke, the travellin’ blogger, was at home Sunday for his third game in fewer than 48 hours, too, and his post is 
route to a 6-3 victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers. . . . Calgary (14-14-3) has won four straight. . . . The Blazers (12-12-3) had points in each of their previous four games (3-0-1). . . . Kamloops now is 0-1-1 on a six-game Central Division trek. . . . Calgary went ahead 1-0 at 4:18 of the first period when F Kaden Elder (12) scored the Teddy Bear goal. . . . F Martin Lang (6), who also had two assists, pulled Kamloops even at 1:42 of the second period, but F Jake Kryski (14) got that one back, on a PP, at 4:11. . . . F Kyrell Sopotyk (4) got the Blazers back into a tie, on a PP, at 10:31. . . . It was all Calgary after that, with F James Malm (15) counting at 10:47, F Tye Carriere (3) at 11:13, and D Egor Zamula scoring twice, at 12:34 and 13:49. . . . Zamula, who has seven goals, enjoyed the first multi-goal game of his WHL career. . . . Kamloops F Zane Franklin (17) closed out the scoring at 13:55 of the third period. . . . Zamula, who also had an assist, enjoyed the first multi-goal game of his career. . . . Calgary F Riley Stotts had three assists. He’s got a goal and seven assists over his past three games. . . . The Blazers were without F Jermaine Loewen and F Kobe Mohr, both of whom were suspended by the WHL earlier in the day. Loewen drew a TBD suspension after taking a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct in a 3-2 OT loss to the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Saturday, while Mohr got one game under supplemental discipline from the same game.
Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett (25-7-1) now has points in 11 straight (10-0-1). . . . Spokane (16-11-4) had won its previous two games. . . . Everett leads the Western Conference by seven points over the idle Vancouver Giants (21-6-2), who have four games in hand. . . . Everett is atop the U.S. Division by 13 points over the Portland Winterhawks (18-10-2), who hold three games in hand. . . . This season, Wolf, a 17-year-old sophomore, is 23-7-1, 1.84, .928. He has three shutouts this season and seven in his career. . . . The shutout yesterday lowered his career GAA to 1.99 in 51 appearances, 31 of them this season. . . . F Bryce Kindopp scored both goals, at 14:34 and 19:48 of the third period. The second one was into an empty net. He’s got 13 goals. . . . Spokane got 38 saves from G Bailey Brkin. . . . The Chiefs were playing their third game in fewer than 48 hours. They went 2-1-0. They also were in their fourth game in five nights. They were 2-2-0 in those four games, with the other loss also at the hands of the Silvertips, 4-2 in Everett on Wednesday. . . . The Silvertips were without F Sean Richards, who drew a TBA suspension after he took a boarding major and game misconduct on Saturday night against the Seattle Thunderbirds. Richards hit D Loeden Schaufler at 10:10 of the second period; Schaufler left the game and didn’t return. . . . The Silvertips also were without F Martin Fasko-Rudas, who has missed two straight games.
Medicine Hat improved to 13-13-3. . . . Regina (8-20-0) has lost five in a row. . . . Regina went 0-3-0 and was outscored 13-5 in playing three games in fewer than 48 hours, one in Brandon and two at home. . . . On Sunday, F Sergei Alkhimov (5) and F Austin Pratt (11) gave the Pats a 2-0 lead before the game was eight minutes old. . . . F Bryan Lockner, who began his WHL career with Regina, got Medicine Hat’s first goal, his eighth, at 1:19 of the third period. . . . The Tigers tied it at 7:13 when F Josh Williams (6) scored off a pass from F Cole Sillinger, who recorded his first WHL point. . . . Sillinger, 15, is from Regina and is the son of former Pats star Mike Sillinger. Cole, the 11th overall selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft, plays for the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. . . . F James Hamblin snapped the tie with his 13th goal at 18:30. . . . Each team was 0-4 on the PP; each team won 36 faceoffs. . . . The Pats got 38 saves from G Max Paddock. . . . Tigers G Jordan Hollett, who also began his WHL career with the Pats, stopped 30 shots.
visiting Victoria Royals. . . . Prince George (11-14-3) had lost its previous four games. With the victory, the Cougars moved back into possession of the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers, who have four games in hand. . . . Victoria (13-10-0) had beaten the host Cougars, 5-1, on Saturday night. . . . The Cougars got two goals from F Vladislav Mikhalchuk, who has eight, and one each from D Rhett Rhinehart (2) and F Josh Maser (8) to lead 4-0 early in the second period. . . . The Royals got to within two on second-period goals from F Tarun Fizer (3) and F Dante Hannoun (10), on a PP. . . . But F Ilijah Colina (5) restored Prince George’s three-goal lead, on a PP, at 17:55. . . . Victoria D Matthew Smith’s first goal rounded out the scoring at 3:32 of the third period. . . . Maser and Colina added two assists each. . . . Mikhalchuk’s first goal, at 7:49 of the first period, was the Un-Teddy Bear goal. The Cougars have moved away from a Teddy Bear game, instead asking fans to bring scarves, toques, etc., and to throw them on the ice after their first goal. . . . The Cougars will play their next 11 games on the road, with eight of them in the U.S. Division on three separate junkets; their next home game is scheduled for Jan. 11.
5-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Calgary (12-14-3) has won two in a row. . . . Moose Jaw (15-6-4) had points in each of its previous 10 games (9-0-1). . . . Both teams were playing their third game in fewer than 48 hours and each went 2-1-0. . . . In fact, Moose Jaw went 3-1-0 in playing four road games in five days. . . . Calgary scored once in the first period and three times in the second to take a 4-0 lead into the third. . . . Elder, who also had an assist, opened the scoring with two PP goals, at 9:04 of the first and 3:25 of the second. He’s got 11 goals. . . . Malm upped the lead to 3-0 at 16:25, and D Egor Zamula (4) made it 4-0 at 17:56. . . . F Justin Almeida (6) scored the Warriors’ goal, on a PP, at 4:43 of the third. . . . Malm finished the scoring, getting No. 14 into an empty net at 19:18. . . . The Hitmen got a big game from F Riley Stotts, who had four assists. . . . G Jack McNaughton stopped 33 shots for Calgary. . . . The Hitmen lost F Luke Coleman 22 seconds into the third period when he was hit with a boarding major and game misconduct.
Americans, 4-2, in Langley B.C. . . . Vancouver (20-6-2) has won six straight. . . . Tri-City (14-11-1) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . On Saturday night, the Giants had beaten the visiting Americans, 5-2. . . . F Blake Stevenson (5) scored shorthanded to give the Americans a 1-0 lead at 12:15 of the first period. . . . F Jared Dmytriw (6) tied it at 5:26 of the second, only to have F Isaac Johnson (11) score on a PP to give the Americans a 2-1 lead at 7:44. . . . Vancouver won it on third-period goals from F Aidan Barfoot (2), at 7:26; F Davis Koch (9), on a PP, at 13:49; and F Milos Roman (16) at 15:16. . . . Roman now has goals in six straight games.
a 9-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Warriors (10-5-4) have points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . The Ice (7-14-4) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . The Ice went 0-2-1 in playing three games in fewer than 48 hours. Kootenay lost 5-0 to the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Friday night, then dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the Rebels in Red Deer on Saturday. . . . On Sunday, the Warriors scored the game’s first four goals as they took a 4-0 lead on Peckford’s second goal of the game at 12:17 of the opening period. . . . He added his third and fourth goals at 5:05 and 10:56 of the second period. . . . Peckford went into the game with four goals this season and came out with eight. This was his first four-goal game and second five-point outing; he had a six-pointer (one goal and five assists) while with the Victoria Royals in 2016-17. A 19-year-old from Stony Plain, Alta., who was acquired last season from the Royals, Peckford now has eight goals and eight assists in 18 games. . . . F Tyler Smithies added his first two goals and an assist for the Warriors. He went into the day with one goal in 54 career regular-season games. . . . The Ice’s goal came from F Owen Pederson, who has goals in two straight games since being brought in Saturday from OHA-Edmonton’s prep team. . . . Moose Jaw had a 43-20 edge in shots. . . . The Ice scratched F Peyton Krebs, while the Warriors remain without F Justin Almeida.
victory over the Cougars in Prince George. . . . The Blazers (8-9-2) have won two in a row. On Saturday night, they beat the host Cougars, 5-1. . . . Prince George (9-10-3) has lost two straight. . . . The Blazers have won their last eight games in Prince George. . . . Franklin, an off-season acquisition from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, assisted on four of the Blazers’ first five goals as they took a 5-0 lead before the second period was 14 minutes old. . . . Franklin, 19, had never had a four- or five-point game in 155 regular-season outings prior to this one. He had three three-point games to his credit. Franklin now has 14 goals and 11 assists in 19 games. He finished last season with 14 goals and 24 assists in 67 games. . . . The Blazers were 2-3 on the PP and also had a shorthanded goal. The Cougars went 1-9 on the PP. . . . F Orrin Centazzo and F Luc Smith each had two goals and an assist for the Blazers, with D Nolan Kneen and D Luke Zazula each recording three assists for the Blazers. Smith has eight goals, while Centazzo has four.
the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . Victoria (12-6-0) has won two in a row. This was the Royals’ fifth road game of the season; they are 3-2-0. . . . The Giants (14-6-2) have lost two straight. . . . D Dylan Plouffe (2) gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 5:03 of the first period. . . . F Logan Doust (1) got Victoria into a tie at 7:43, and F D-Jay Jerome (11) broke the tie at 13:12. . . . F Dino Kambeitz (4) added insurance with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:47 of the third. . . . Doust, who notched his first WHL point, is from North Vancouver. . . . The Giants had been 9-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal. . . . The Royals got 28 saves from G Griffen Outhouse as he posted his 98th career regular-season victory. . . . Vancouver’s Trent Miner stopped 22 shots. . . . Outhouse made his 165th appearance, which tied Coleman Vollrath’s franchise record (2012-16) for most appearances by a goaltender.
host Everett Silvertips. . . . Spokane now is 12-8-3, with Everett at 16-7-1. . . . Woods, who has 18 goals, opened the scoring with two PP goals — at 6:24 and 8:42 of the first period. . . . Everett pulled even on goals from D Wyatte Wylie (5), on a PP, at 11:15 of the first, and F Dawson Butt (5) at 6:00 of the second. . . . Woods won it at 2:27 of the extra period as he completed his first WHL hat trick. . . . Woods, who was acquired from the Regina Pats during 2016-17, has 18 goals and 15 assists in 23 games. Last season, the 20-year-old from Regina finished with 25 goals and 32 assists in 72 games. . . . G Bailey Brkin stopped 38 shots and picked up an assist on the game’s first goal for Spokane. . . . D Ty Smith had two assists for the Chiefs; he’s got three goals and 28 assists in 20 games. . . . For the second straight weekend, Everett played three games in fewer than 48 hours. After going 3-0-0 the first time, the Silvertips were 1-1-1 this time. . . . The Chiefs also went three times in fewer than 48 hours this weekend, finishing 2-1-0. 
5-4 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Tigers (9-7-2) had lost their previous two games (0-1-1). . . . The Hitmen (5-11-2) have lost two in a row. . . . Calgary was playing its third game in as many nights. It beat the visiting Tigers 7-5 on Friday, then dropped a 1-0 home-ice decision to the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. . . . F Kaden Elder got the Hitmen to within a goal, at 3-2, at 6:16 of the second period. . . . Nassen, who has four goals, then stretch the lead to 5-2 with goals at 14:43 and 18:01, the latter on a PP. . . . The Hitmen got close on goals from F Luke Coleman (4), at 18:33 of the second, and Elder (8), at 17:55 of the third. . . . Nassen, a 20-year-old Swedish sophomore, has three three-point outings this season after enjoying two of them last season. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-4 on the PP. . . . Calgary held a 44-33 edge in shots, including 16-1 in the third period. . . . The Tigers got 40 saves from G Jordan Hollett.
Thursday, and that the Tigers sent him home on Friday.
Sunday, the DoD issued three suspensions resulting from incidents in Saturday night games. . . . F Ryley Appelt of the Kamloops Blazers was given a two-game suspension after taking a charging major and game misconduct during a 7-2 loss to the Silvertips in Everett. Originally, Appelt was penalized for a headshot, but was changed to charging. . . . D Josh Brook of the Moose Jaw Warriors got one game after being hit with a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct during a 4-3 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs. . . . F Mike MacLean of the Prince George Cougars also got one game, this one for a boarding major and game misconduct during a 6-5 shootout victory over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes. MacLean sat out the Cougars’ 2-1 OT victory over the host Kootenay Ice on Sunday.
season, beating them, 3-2. . . . The Royals (7-1-0) had beaten the visiting Giants, 3-2 in OT, on Saturday night. . . . The Royals now are 5-1-0 at home. All eight of their games to this point have been against B.C. Division opponents. . . . At 7-0-0, the Royals had tied the franchise record for best start to a season. Last season, they also opened with seven straight victories. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings now are the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams not to have lost in regulation time. The Wheat Kings (5-0-2) are scheduled to entertain the Spokane Chiefs on Tuesday. . . . Vancouver has points in seven straight (6-0-1). . . . The Giants were playing their third game in fewer than 48 hours, having beaten the Kamloops Blazers, 4-3 in a shootout, in Langley, B.C., on Friday night. . . . F Milos Roman (5) scored twice for Vancouver; he’s got goals in four straight games. . . . F Brayden Watts (3) got the winner when he broke a 2-2 tie at 16:21 of the second period. . . . The Giants held a 40-20 edge in shots. . . . Vancouver G David Tendeck stopped 18 shots in his third straight start. . . . Trent Miner, Vancouver’s other goaltender, missed all three games as he travelled home to Brandon after the deaths of both of his grandfathers. . . . According to the online scoresheets, the Giants didn’t dress a backup goaltender for any of the three weekend games.
Portland. . . . The Silvertips (6-3-0) were playing their third game in fewer than 48 hours, having beaten the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-3, on Friday, and the Kamloops Blazers, 7-2, on Saturday. . . . The Winterhawks (5-3-1), who had been 5-0-1 in their previous six games, hadn’t played since Wednesday. . . . Everett got 30 saves from Dustin Wolf, who is the only goaltender the Silvertips have used to this point in the season. Wolf is 6-3-0, 1.90, .922. . . . The Winterhawks were 0-10 on the PP. . . . F Connor Dewar had two assists for Everett, giving him 14 points, including seven helpers, in nine games.
victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Ice held a 46-27 edge in shots, including 21-5 in the third period. . . . Each team was playing its third game in fewer than 48 hours. . . . The Cougars lost 4-1 to the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Friday, then beat the host Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-5 in a shootout, on Saturday. . . . The Ice lost 3-2 to the visiting Regina Pats on Friday night, then dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . On Sunday, F Jackson Leppard (1) gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead at 13:32 of the second period. . . . The Ice pulled even at 3:39 of the third on a goal by F Peyton Krebs (3). . . . F Ilijah Colina (3) won it 33 seconds into extra time. . . . The Ice (3-4-1) has lost three in a row (0-1-2). . . . The Cougars improved to 4-5-1. . . . Prince George was without F Josh Maser and F Mike MacLean, both of whom were serving WHL-issued suspensions.
the Calgary Hitmen. . . . D Aaron Hyman (3) had pulled the Pats (3-6-0) into a 3-3 tie, on a PP, at 11:06 of the third period. . . . Henry, who also had two assists, won it with his second goal of the season. . . . The Hitmen slipped to 1-5-2. . . . F Jake Leschyshyn (4) had a goal and two assists for Regina. . . . F Cole Dubinsky, who won’t turn 16 until Dec. 4, scored his first goal for the Pats. From Ardrossan, Alta., he was a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. . . . F Tristen Nielsen was back in Calgary’s lineup after serving a three-game suspension.
I referred to as “old-fashioned news releases.”
family had told the Petes that he wouldn’t report if they selected him. The Petes rolled the dice and took him anyway, then tried to convince him to report.
exchange for a sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft.
played with the Canadian U-18 team that won the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In fact, Gauthier, from Calgary, was the winning goaltender in the final, coming on with his side down 2-0 and stopping 16 shots as Canada beat Sweden, 6-2.
and one of those, Sebastian Cossa, won’t turn 16 until Nov. 21.
has been placed on their protected list.
on Sunday, also are down to three goaltenders after releasing Connor Ungar, 16.
Calgary, spent 11 seasons scouting with the Portland Winterhawks, so has a connection to Matt Bardsley, the Blazers’ new general manager. Bardsley had been in the Winterhawks’ organization since 1999 before signing on with the Blazers. . . . Pashelka spent the past two seasons scouting southern Alberta for the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Earlier, the Blazers lost scout Mark Blair, who left after 11 seasons with them. He since has joined the scouting staff in Moose Jaw.
TAKING NOTE 