Ferris went for a walk on Tuesday. Yes, she did!
Ferris Backmeyer, the six-year-old from Kamloops who underwent a kidney transplant last week, continues her recovery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
As her mother, Lindsey, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday: “Post op day 5 . . . she’s actually slaying all of this. Being sooo incredibly brave.”
That doesn’t mean things have been easy to this point, but everything seems to be pointing in the right direction.
“It’s not been easy at all,” Lindsey wrote, “but it also hasn’t been the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Not so far anyways.”
If you’ve been following along, you know that there were some issues over the weekend. An ultrasound detected a bladder leak. According to Lindsey, that is “a somewhat common complication post-transplant . . . likely a clog in the catheter created back pressure and the leak happened. Catheters in post-op tiny humans are super tricky to manage. The tubing kinks so easily. Clots off so easily. She has a large amount of urine still leaking out of her drain.”
The really good news is that through it all the new kidney is motoring right along. Her creatine readings are good and Lindsey said that Ferris is having “solid labs” and “progressing really nicely otherwise!”
They freed her hands from IV hookups “so she is way less frustrated and can play. In fact, she played until 4:30 a.m. last night!! . . . She made it out for her first walk yesterday and made it look easy.”
Ferris also is eating well enough that Lindsey reported “they’ve stopped all daytime feeds . . . working towards getting all the extra fluid off without upsetting her kidney. She’s 2kg heavier than she was on surgery day and there’s nooooo way it was a 2kg kidney!!”
Adding weight is a really big deal with Ferris because that has been an issue for a lot of her young life and has impeded her route to a transplant in the past.
All-in-all, a tired Lindsey wrote, she “really couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. I feel like looking back we won’t even remember the hard times that much because the payoff is going to be soooo big!
“I’m certain if we make it home to Kamloops with this kidney, people are gonna be floored when they see her! She will be a totally different kid in the best ways possible!!”
A city awaits . . .
Craig West and the Tri-City Americans announced in April that he was stepping aside as their play-by-play voice. West, 68 this month, says he hasn’t retired, but that he simply is moving along down life’s highway. . . . West, who started in the WHL by calling Spokane Chiefs’ game, ended up doing 2,584 games. . . . Jeff Morrow, the former sports editor of the Tri-City Herald, spent some time with West and also touched base with a few hockey people and friends. It all resulted in a terrific look at West and his career . . . to this point. And that piece is right here.
F Conner Roulette of the Spokane Chiefs was named the tournament MVP after helping Team Canada to a gold medal at the International Street and Ball Hockey Foundation’s U20 Ball Hockey World Championship in Liberec, Czechia. . . . Roulette, Team Canada’s captain, had three goals as Canada beat Slovakia, 10-3, in the final. . . . Canada’s roster also included F Dawson Pasternak of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who had three goals and three assists in the final, and F Evan Friesen of the Wenatchee Wild.
James Patrick, who was the head coach of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice for the past six seasons, thinks he’ll be taking a season away, with the franchise having relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., where it will play as the Wild. . . . Patrick, whose contract expired with the end of the 2022-23 season, told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he had planned to coach at least one more season in Winnipeg. Sawatzky wrote that Patrick “had heard speculation about the possibility of a franchise move but only found out about the sale following an announcement by the league.” In other words, the Ice’s owners didn’t inform him of the move. Hmmm. . . . Sawatzky’s story is right here.
THE COACHING GAME:
Josh Dixon, an associate coach with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars for the past two seasons, has left the WHL team to take over as head coach of the U of Guelph Gryphons. . . . In Guelph, Dixon takes over from Shawn Camp, who ran the program for 16 seasons. . . . Camp retired following the 2022-23 season. . . .
Benoit Desrosiers has agreed to a three-year contract as the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Desrosiers, 34, has worked as an assistant coach with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Sherbrooke Phoenix and Quebec Remparts in past seasons. He spent 2022-23 as an assistant coach with the Memorial Cup-champion Remparts. . . . In Gatineau, he replaces Louis Robitaille, who spent three years in the position. . . .
The AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats have hired Brad Rihela as their head coach. He had been with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, as assistant GM and associate head coach, for the previous five seasons. . . . In Lloydminster, Rihela takes over from Nigel Dube, who remains with the organization as general manager. Dube had been the head coach since Nov. 12, 2018. . . . The Bobcats also announced that Jeff Woywitka has been named associate head coach and skill development coach. He had joined the team after last season’s Christmas break. . . .
The BCHL’s Coquitlam Express has hired Brett Sonne as an assistant coach. Sonne, from Maple Ridge, B.C., played four seasons (2005-09) with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. For the past two seasons he has been an assistant coach with the junior B Ridge Meadows Flames of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. . . . Sonne’s brother, Brennan, is the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. . . .
The AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints are in the market for a head coach after six seasons with Bram Stephen at the helm. The Saints announced Stephen’s departure on Wednesday, although no reason was provided. . . . “I will look fondly on my time in Spruce Grove as I look forward to the next opportunities in my career,” Stephen said in a news release. . . . He guided the Saints to the AJHL championship in 2018.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
Kyle McIntyre has signed a multi-year deal to continue as commissioner of the SJHL. He is heading into his second season leading the 12-team league. . . . From a news release: In 2022-23, “the SJHL improved overall broadcast standards for both the fans and saw significant improvements in followers on all the league’s social media channels. Attendance levels over the season averaged 674 fans per game with over 222,498 fans for the season. In playoffs the average attendance was 1,137 per game and the league saw over 38,641 fans attend playoffs games. The league also saw a record number of NCAA and USport player commitments.” . . .
D Blake Heward, who cleared WHL 20-year-old waivers, has signed on with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. Heward had four goals and 21 assists in 103 regular-season WHL games, split between the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen. . . .
F Kyle Bochek, who played last season with the Vancouver Giants, has cleared WHL waivers and is a free agent. Bochek, 20, had one goal and three assists in 48 games with the Giants last season. In 2021-22, he had three assists in 30 games. . . .
F Jared Davidson, who played the past five seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has signed a one-year contract with the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. Davidson, who will turn 21 on Friday, had 38 goals and 44 assists in 60 games with the WHL-champion Thunderbirds last season. He was a fifth-round selection by the Canadiens in the NHL’s 2022 draft.
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.
end, the national governing body is giving indications that it isn’t about to bend any of its rules.
goals early in the third period as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle leads the best-of-seven conference final, 3-2, with Game 6 in Kamloops on Monday. If they need a seventh game, it would be played on Tuesday in Kent. . . . F Jared Davidson (9) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:25 of the second period. . . . F Matthew Seminoff (8) sacred at 16:00 and the teams were all even going to the third. . . . Seminoff (9) broke the tie 43 seconds into the third period. . . . F Ryan Hofer then scored his seventh and eighth goals, the latter while shorthanded, at 1:06 and 5:31, and just like that Kamloops held a 4-1 lead. . . . F Reid Schaefer (5) got Seattle to within two, on a PP, at 5:48. . . . Davidson’s goal set a franchise record for career playoff goals. He has 22, one more than F Scott Eansor (2013-17). . . . D Olen Zellweger and F Logan Stankoven, the Blazers’ offensive stars, each had one assist. . . . Seattle was 1-for-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-2. . . . Kamloops got another big night from G Dylan Ernst, with 36 saves, 10 more than Seattle’s Thomas Milic. . . . D Logan Bairos was back in Kamloops’ lineup, while D Ryan Michael remains sidelined. . . . The Thunderbirds remain without F Jordan Gustafson.
added an assist as the Winnipeg Ice beat the Saskatoon Blades, 6-2. . . . The Ice, having won Friday’s opener, 3-0, leads the series, 2-0, with Games 3 and 4 in Saskatoon on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . McClennon, who has 10 goals, completed his hat trick at 1:08 of the third period, giving the Ice a 5-0 lead. . . . He had scored the game’s first two goals, at 6:09 and 17:31, the latter via the PP, of the first period. . . . F Zach Benson (3) and F Owen Pederson (3) added second-period goals. . . . F Justin Lies (2) and F Jayden Wiens (8), on a PP, scored for the Blades in the third period. . . . Ice F Matt Savoie (10) closed the scoring with an empty-netter at 16:27. . . . Benson and Savoie added two assists each. . . . McClennon recorded his first hat trick of these playoffs; he had two in the regular season. . . . Winnipeg was 1-for-3 on the PP; Saskatoon was 1-for-5. . . . G Daniel Hauser stopped 27 shots for the Ice. . . . G Austin Elliott turned aside 27 shots for the Blades. . . . Saskatoon continues to play without injured defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson. The Blades also scratched F Jordan Keller and inserted F Misha Volotovski.
5-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers in Kent, Wash. . . . They’ll play Game 2 today in Kent, then head for Kamloops and games on Tuesday and Thursday. . . . Seattle held period leads of 1-0 and 2-1, then put it away with three goals in the second half of the third period. . . . F Jared Davidson (6) scored at 17:00 of the first period and F Nico Myatovic (2) got the 2-0 goal at 13:44 of the second. . . . D Olen Zellweger (8) got the Blazers’ goal at 16:11. . . . Seattle’s third-period goals came from F Dylan Guenther (11), Davidson (7) and F Gracyn Sawchyn (2), on a PP. . . . Davidson also had an assist, for a three-point night. . . . Seattle was 1-for-3 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-2. . . . G Thomas Milic stopped 24 shots for the Thunderbirds, while G Dylan Ernst, at the other end, blocked 30. . . . Milic is 9-0, 1.11, .953 in the playoffs. In 34 appearances over the past two seasons, he is 23-11, 1.98, .931. . . . Kamloops lost D Logan Bairos to an undisclosed injury and he isn’t likely to play in Game 2, which means Ryan Michael will play. . . . The Thunderbirds are 9-0 in the playoffs. They also opened the 2017 playoffs with nine victories before dropping a 4-3 OT decision to the visiting Kelowna Rockets.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek offer up some speculation about the BCHL perhaps preparing to leave the Hockey Canada umbrella.
Twitter account of Geoffrey Brandow. . . . If you’re not following him, you should because he has information like this after every single OHL, QMJHL and WHL game. . . . He’s at @GeoffreyBrandow. . . .
to help the Winnipeg Ice to a 5-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Ice had won Game 1, 5-3. . . . The series will resume in Medicine Hat with games on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . McClennon’s first goal gave the Ice a 3-1 lead at 15:50 of the second period. He gave them a 4-2 lead at 13:49 of the third. . . . F Matt Savoie, who had three goals and an assist in the opener, had a goal and two assists for the Ice. . . . Tigers D Rhett Parsons left with a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct after a hit on F Josh Medernach at 12:09 of the second period. . . . The Ice remains without F Zach Benson, its leading scorer in the regular season. . . .
Calgary Hitmen a 2-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Rebels had opened with a 3-0 victory on Friday. . . . They’ll play the next two games in Calgary on Monday and Wednesday, then return to Red Deer for Game 5 on Friday. . . . D Christoffer Sedoff (1) gave Red Deer a 1-0 lead at 11:20 of the third period. . . . F Sean Tschigerl, who drew an assist on the winner, scored Calgary’s first goal of the series with 1:37 left in the third period to tie the game, 1-1. . . . Adaszynski, a 17-year-old sophomore from Coquitlam, B.C., won it at 16:42 of OT. He finished the regular season with 12 goals in 64 games. . . . F Carter MacAdams assisted on both Calgary goals. . . . The Hitmen got 38 saves from G Brayden Peters. . . . Red Deer G Kyle Kelsey turned aside 36 shots. In his last five starts, he has put up three shutouts and allowed three goals. . . . F Ben King, who led the WHL with 52 goals last season, remains out for Red Deer. . . . The Hitmen may have lost F Riley Fiddler-Schultz as he didn’t finish the third period. . . . Calgary F Maxim Muranov sat out as he served a one-game suspension after taking a slew-foot double minor in Game 1. . . . Red Deer F Craig Armstrong was hit with a two-game suspension for the same infraction. It was his second slew-footing penalty, so he got the extra game. . . . Calgary D Keagan Slaney missed this one, too, as he completed a three-game suspension for a charging major and game misconduct he incurred on March 25 at Edmonton. . . . 
first three goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Warriors had won the opener, 2-1 in double OT, on Friday. . . . The teams now head to Lethbridge for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . F Atley Calvert (1) got Moose Jaw started on a PP at 13:06 of the first period. . . . F Ryder Korczak (1) upped it to 2-0 at 8:28 of the second period. . . . F Martin Tysavy (1) got it to 3-0 at 11:18 of the third period. . . . That was more than enough for G Connor Ungar, who earned the victory with 21 saves.
assists as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Kelowna Rockets, 4-1. . . . Seattle won the opener, 3-2, on Friday. . . . The series picks up in Kelowna with games on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Seattle Dylan Guenther (3) opened the scoring, on a PP, at 12:02 of the first period. . . . F Dylan Wightman (1) scored for Kelowna at 7:38 of the second. . . . F Lucas Ciona (1) broke the tie at 9:35 of the third and D Nolan Allan (1) added insurance at 15:35. . . . Davidson (1) put it away with the empty-netter. . . . Seattle held a 48-26 edge in shots on goal. . . . Things got interesting late in the game. As TBird Tidbits tweeted: “Maybe a little message sending here with Seattle’s top power-play unit out on a 5-on-3 with a 4-1 lead.” . . .
game, had two first-period goals in Game 2 to send the Portland Winterhawks on their way to a 4-0 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Portland had won the opener, 4-3. . . . They’ll play Game 3 in Everett on Monday and Game 4 there on Friday. . . . Three days off between games? It seems Paw Patrol Live has the arena in Everett booked. . . . F Jack O’Brien (2) had Portland’s other two goals, the second one into an empty net. . . . The Winterhawks got 23 saves from G Jan Špunar, who earned his first WHL shutout. He is an 18-year-old freshman from Olomouc, Czechia. He was 17-7-3, 2.61, .908 in 31 regular-season appearances. . . . 
George Cougars a 2-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Americans had won Friday’s opener, 6-4. . . . The series will resume in Kennewick, Wash., with games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Remember that this series is being played under a 2-3-2 format in order to ease the travel. . . . The Cougars, who had a goal disallowed late in Game 1, thought they had opened the scoring early in Game 2, only to have that one disallowed on review, too. . . . F Adam Mechura (1) gave the Americans a 1-0 lead at 7:22 of the second period. . . . F Cole Dubinsky (1) tied it at 12:02. . . . Wiebe’s first goal of the series won it at 4:52 of extra time. . . . The Cougars outshot the Americans, 38-18.
Memorial Cup tournament after an audit found that the team’s home arena, 24-year-old Prospera Place, wasn’t up to standards. As the Rockets posted on their website shortly after the Kamloops Blazers were named as the host team, an audit discovered “significant deficiencies that needed to be upgraded for the facility to meet the Canadian Hockey League standards for hosting the Memorial Cup.” . . . Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ majority owner, president and general manager, has told Rob Munro of 
Wanner, 19, D Marek Howell, 16, and F Lynden Lakovic, 16 — “have been suspended for the balance” of the regular season.
incident that occurred in Edmonton where the Warriors beat the Oil Kings, 4-1, on Feb. 3. The four players were in the lineup again on Feb. 5 when the Warriors beat the Hitmen, 2-1, in Calgary. But all four were scratched from a Feb. 8 game against Edmonton in Moose Jaw.
15 on Dec. 20, to their roster and he is expected to play tonight against Bedard and the Pats. . . . McKenna, who plays at the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy, is fresh off the Canada Winter Games, where he played for Yukon and set a tournament scoring record with 29 points in six games. . . . In 26 games with SAHA’s U18 prep team, he has 37 goals and 38 assists. . . . The first overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft, McKenna already has played 11 games with the Tigers. He has eight assists, four of them coming in his first game.
March 19 and 24. On Thursday, the Blades posted on social media: “We’ve surpassed 10,000 tickets sold for our game against the Regina Pats on March 19 and more than 9,000 tickets sold for our final game of the regular season on March 24.” . . . Those are the Blades’ last two home games of the regular season. . . . The Pats and Blades played in front of 7,868 fans on Nov. 13, with Saskatoon winning, 5-2. That is the Blades’ largest home crowd of this season. . . . Meanwhile, Regina will entertain the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight and the Pats announced on Friday afternoon that the game is “officially SOLD OUT!” . . . The ticket-buying public, of course, is wanting to see Regina F Connor Bedard, who leads the WHL in goals (45) and points (91).
their way?
TAKING NOTE 