F Matt Seminoff of the Kamloops Blazers put up eight points — four goals and 
four assists — on Wednesday night in an 11-1 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals.
The next day, the WHL tweeted that only two other players “in the Internet era” had had eight-point games — D Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs on Feb. 28, 2020, against the Seattle Thunderbirds, and F Peter Schaefer of the Brandon Wheat Kings on Dec. 6, 1996, against the Calgary Hitmen.
Smith scored three times and drew five assists in a 9-2 victory over the Thunderbirds in Spokane.
Schaefer had three goals and five assists as the host Wheat Kings dumped the Hitmen, 10-2.
But what of players who played in the WHL in the 30 years prior to “the Internet era”?
Once again, the WHL should be embarrassed by not being able to acknowledge the accomplishments of those who played back in the day. The time is long past for the WHL to remedy the situation so that the players from the league’s first 30 years can be given their due when necessary.
Players like Rob Brown. A prolific scorer with Kamloops, Brown, according to Blazers’ radio voice Jon Keen, had two nine-point games in 1986-87.
That was the season in which Brown totalled 212 points, including 136 assists, in 63 games.
It didn’t take long for me to learn that Brown enjoyed a pair of nine-point games just 10 days apart.
On Nov. 11, 1986, Brown struck for six goals and three assists in a 10-3 victory over the visiting Chiefs.
On Nov. 21, he had three goals and six assists in a 15-8 victory over the Victoria Cougars in Kamloops.
In between, he had a goal and an assist in a 5-3 victory in Spokane, two goals and four assists in a 10-5 victory in Spokane, and a goal and two assists in an 8-5 victory over visiting Seattle.
In those five games, Brown put up 29 points, including 16 assists.
He had missed the start of the season while in camp with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. But after that second nine-point outing, Brown had 64 points, 25 of them goals, in 14 games.
Without looking too hard, I also found two other nine-point games.
On Jan. 27, 1985, F Cliff Ronning of the New Westminster Bruins scored six times and added three assists in a 16-4 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.
On Feb. 11, 1984, F Al Conroy of the Medicine Hat Tigers scored five times and had four assists in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Warriors.
Of course, the WHL record for points in one game is 10, something that has been accomplished on five occasions, most recently by F Brian Sakic of the Tri-City Americans. On Oct. 3, 1990, he had two goals and eight assists in a 19-3 victory in Seattle.
F Gerry Pinder of the Saskatoon Blades was the first to enjoy a 10-point game. He had six goals and four assists in a 17-5 victory over the visiting Calgary Buffaloes on March 12, 1967.
On Dec. 30, 1971, F Tom Lysiak of Medicine Hat had four goals and six assists in a 12-6 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.
On Jan. 19, 1973, F Dennis Sobchuk of the Regina Pats scored six times and added four assists in an 11-3 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings.
On Jan. 9, 1983, F Kelly Glowa of the Wheat Kings had five goals and five assists in a 12-6 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders in Brandon.
I have a feeling that Bobby Clarke of the Flin Flon Bombers may have had a nine-point game or two, and there likely are three or four others from back in the ‘live puck’ era. But I’m only guessing.
THE BEDARD REPORT: F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats recorded his eighth hat trick of the season but it went for naught as his club dropped a 9-5 decision to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors before a sold-out crowd of 6,499. . . . Bedard also had two assists, meaning he figured in all five of the Pats’ goals. . . . Bedard, who has played 53 games this season, leads the WHL in goals (66) and points (134). He and F Riley Heidt of Prince George are tied for the lead in assists (68). . . This was the ninth time Bedard has scored at least five points in one game. He has seven five-pointers and one six-point outing. . . . He is the first WHLer with 66 goals since F Jayden Halbgewachs scored 70 with the Warriors in 2017-18. Halbgewachs was 20 that season; Bedard won’t turn 18 until July 17. . . . From Rob Vanstone (@robvanstone): “With 4:21 left in the second period, it is Moose Jaw Warriors 6, Connor Bedard 2. Bedard’s 65 goals are the most by someone who has played an entire season with the Pats since Tim Iannone scored 65 times in 1985-86.” . . . Bedard has nine points in his past two games; he had two goals and two assists in a 6-3 victory over visiting Brandon on Wednesday. . . . A note from a Regina friend on Thursday afternoon: “You should see the tickets from ‘verified resellers’ for the last two Regina Pats games. I looked today . . . and found one set for $750 per ticket.”
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)
——
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)
Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)
Prince George (4) vs. Tri-City (5)
——
FRIDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:
F Sloan Stanick’s second goal of the game and 25th of the season, at 17:37 of the third period, gave Prince Albert a 4-2 lead and the Raiders went on to a 4-3 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Prince Albert (27-34-3) is five points from a playoff spot with four games remaining. . . . Brandon (26-31-8) has lost three straight and is two points from a playoff spot. . . .
F Tyson Laventure had a goal and two assists to lead the Hurricanes to a 6-4 victory over the Calgary Hitmen in Lethbridge. . . . Laventure has 21 goals. . . . The Hurricanes erased a 3-2 deficit with three goals within 7:10 in the third period. . . . The Hitmen had beaten the visiting Hurricanes, 7-1, on Wednesday. . . . Lethbridge (34-24-6) is fifth in the Eastern Conference and appears headed for a first-round matchup with Moose Jaw. . . . Calgary (27-28-8) holds down eighth in the conference, two points ahead of Swift Current and Brandon. . . .
G Kyle Kelsey stopped 34 shots, 20 of them in the third period, as the host Red Deer Rebels beat the Swift Current Broncos, 2-0. . . . Kelsey has put up two straight shutouts. . . . Red Deer (42-17-6) has points in six straight (4-0-2) and will be the second seed in the Eastern Conference for the first round of playoffs. . . . Swift Current (28-32-4) has lost six in a row (0-5-1) and is two points out of the playoffs. . . .
F Jagger Firkus scored three times and added an assist to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to a 9-5 victory over the Pats in Regina. . . . He’s got 36 goals this season. . . . Moose Jaw (39-22-3) has won four in a row. It is fourth in the Eastern Conference, seven points ahead of Lethbridge, which has four games remaining. . . . Regina (32-28-4) is sixth, three points ahead of Medicine Hat. . . .
D Dru Krebs scored three times, all in the third period, to lead the Medicine Hat Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . Krebs, who has eight goals, recorded his first WHL hat trick. He scored once while shorthanded, once on the PP and once at even strength. . . . The Tigers (28-26-9) have won two in a row and are seventh in the Eastern Conference, three points behind Regina and three ahead of Calgary. . . . The Oil Kings (9-50-4) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . .
G Dylan Ernst stopped 24 shots for his WHL-leading 38th victory of the season as the Kamloops Blazers dumped the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 5-2. . . . Kamloops F Caedan Bankier, who had three goals and three assists in an 11-1 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals on Wednesday, had two assists. . . . The Blazers (46-11-6) have won eight in a row and 19 of 20. With five games remaining, they are seven points behind Western Conference-leading Seattle. . . . Kelowna (26-36-3) has lost two straight. With three games left, it is eighth in the conference, five points behind Vancouver. . . .
D Hudson Thornton, F Riley Heidt and F Chase Wheatcroft each had a goal and two assists to lead the host Prince George Cougars to a 7-1 victory over the Victoria Royals. . . . The teams combined for 120 minutes in penalties, with the Cougars taking 68 of those. . . . Prince George (35-24-6) has points in eight straight (6-0-2) and is fourth in the Western Conference. . . . Victoria (15-43-7) has lost 12 in a row (0-11-1). . . .
F Dylan Guenther had a goal (8) and two assists to help the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks in Kent, Wash. . . . Guenther has 23 points in 16 games since joining the Thunderbirds from the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. . . . Seattle (51-9-3) has points in 17 straight (16-0-1). It is two points behind the idle Winnipeg Ice in the race for the WHL’s best record. Each team has five games remaining. . . . Portland (39-18-7) had points in each of its previous five games (3-0-2). The Winterhawks will be Western Conference’s No. 3 seed when the playoffs begin. . . .
G Tomas Suchanek stopped 23 shots to help the Tri-City Americans to a 3-1 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . Tri-City (30-26-8) has points in three straight (2-0-1). It is fifth in the Western Conference, three points ahead of Everett. . . . Spokane (14-41-9) has lost five in a row (0-3-2). . . .
G Jesper Vikman stopped 32 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Vancouver Giants beat the Everett Silvertips, 3-0, in Langley, B.C. . . . Vancouver (26-29-8) has won two in a row. It is seventh in the Western Conference, five points ahead of Kelowna. . . . Everett (31-30-3) is five points ahead of Vancouver.
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——
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——
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teams getting back into their playoff series. . . . In Moose Jaw, the Warriors got past the Winnipeg Ice, 3-2, while, in Langley, B.C., the Vancouver Giants beat the Kamloops Blazers, also by a 3-2 count. . . . The Ice and Blazers hold 2-1 leads in those conference semifinals. . . .
and went on to beat the No. 1 Winnipeg Ice, 3-2. . . . The Ice leads the series, 2-1, with Game 4 in Moose Jaw tonight. . . . Game 5 is scheduled to be played in Winnipeg on Friday. . . . Last night, the Warriors got 38 saves from G Jackson Unger, who was making his first WHL playoff start. Unger, who turned 17 on Jan. 13, is a Calgarian who got into 18 regular-season games. He has played in all three games of this series, coming on in relief of starter Carl Tetachuk in each of the first two. . . . F Zach Benson (7) gave the Ice a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 3:37 of the first period. . . . The Warriors tied it when F Jagger Firkus (4) scored at 7:48 of the second, and took control with third-period goals from F Eric Alarie (2), who is from Winnipeg, at 3:12, and F Calder Anderson (2), shorthanded, at 9:42. . . . The Ice made things interesting when F Jack Finley (5) got it to within a goal at 19:00. . . . Winnipeg was 1-for-6 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-2. . . . The Warriors dodged a bullet in the second period when F Robert Baco was ejected with a charging major. . . . The Ice got 28 saves from G Daniel Hauser.
8 Vancouver Giants beat the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers, 3-2. . . . The Blazers lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 in Langley on Thursday night. They’ll play Game 5 in Kamloops on Friday. . . . This was the Blazers’ first loss in seven games in these playoffs. . . . F Justin Lies (1) put Vancouver out front at 11:55 of the first period. . . . F Fraser Minten (4) got Kamloops even at 9:45 of the second period. . . . Vancouver went back in front at 15:55 as F Ty Thorpe (2) struck, on a PP. . . . The Blazers scored on the PP at 8:38 of the third period with F Drew Englot (3) getting the goal. . . . Cotton’s sixth playoff goal, on a PP at 16:36, stood up as the winner. . . . The Blazers thought perhaps they had scored off a wild scramble with 3.2 seconds left in the third, but the referees didn’t signal a goal and a lengthy video review didn’t produce a goal, either. . . . G Jesper Vikman earned the victory with 34 saves, five more than Dylan Garand of the Blazers. . . . The Giants were 2-for-2 on the PP; the Blazers were 1-for-6. . . . Kamloops F Caeden Bankier had his 16-game point streak come to an end. . . . Kamloops had F Luke Toporowski back in the lineup. He left early in Game 1 with an apparent shoulder injury and sat out Game 2.
first-round NHL playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. McAvoy had missed Game 4 on Saturday because he had been placed in COVID-19 protocol. He cleared all protocols on Monday in time to play in the game. . . . Interestingly, the Bruins won, 5-2, without him in Boston, on Saturday, then lost, 5-1, with him in the lineup last night in Raleigh. . . .
to win a series remains at 15 . . . 
Giants lit up the Silvertips to the tune of 11-6 to forge a 2-2 series tie. ICYMI, Vancouver scored the game’s last five goals in that one. . . . Should Everett win the series, it would face the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round, with the Kamloops Blazers and Portland Winterhawks facing off in the other one. . . . A Vancouver series victory would put Kamloops against the Giants, while Portland clashed with Seattle. . . .
Vancouver Giants to a 3-0 victory over the Silvertips. . . . The Giants hold a 3-2 series lead and get their first chance to end it on Monday in Langley, B.C. . . . In the regular season, Everett finished atop the Western Conference with 100 points (45-13-10); the Giants (24-39-5, 53) tied for sixth but wound up eighth after going through two tiebreakers. . . . Everett scored 95 more goals than Vancouver in the regular season, while allowing 64 fewer. . . . Vikman, who turned 20 on March 11, is from Stockholm. The Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2020 draft. . . . This season, with the Giants, he was 17-15-2, 3.05, .903 with three shutouts. However, he didn’t play after March 4 before returning for the playoffs. He has appeared in four of the first-round games, going 3-1-0, 3.85, .887. . . . Last night, F Adam Hall, who scored 17 times in 60 regular-season games, opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the series, at 10:42 of the first period. . . . F Fabian Lysell (4) made it 2-0 at 7:48 of the third, and D Connor Horning (1) added a PP score at 18:33. . . . Hall also had an assist on Lysell’s goal. . . . G Braden Holt blocked 28 shots for Everett.
season, have added an assistant coach and a goaltender over the past few days. . . . With head coach Michael Dyck on the coaching staff for Canada’s national junior team, the Giants are bringing in former WHL/NHL D Brent Seabrook to help associate coach Keith McCambridge behind the bench. Seabrook, who is from Delta, B.C., won three Stanley Cups while with the Chicago Blackhawks. . . . The Giants also cut a deal with the Seattle Thunderbirds, acquiring G Connor Martin, 18, for an eighth-round pick in the 2024 bantam draft. As Steve Ewen of Postmedia reports, Vancouver G Jesper Vikman, 19, is expected to be on the roster of Sweden’s national junior team when it is announced today. If that’s the case, the Giants will use Martin and Will Gurski, 19, while the World Junior Championship is being played in Edmonton and Red Deer, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. . . . This was the second trade of the season for Martin. On Nov. 4, Seattle got him from the Victoria Royals for an eight-rounder in the 2022 draft. . . . Ewen’s piece is 
newest acquisition in action. On Monday, the Ice acquired F Jack Finley, 19, and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 WHL draft from the Spokane Chiefs for F Chase Bertholet, 18, F James Form, 19, and a second-round pick in 2024. . . . Before reporting to the Ice, Finley, 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, will attend the selection team for the Canadian team that will compete in the World Junior Championship. The tournament runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5, so should he make the team, he won’t be in Winnipeg for about a month. . . . Finley was the Chiefs’ captain. The Tampa Bay Lightning has signed him to a contract after selecting him in the second round of the 2020 NHL draft. His father, Jeff, played three seasons (1984-87) with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks before going on to a lengthy pro career. After two seasons as an assistant coach with the Kelowna Rockets, he spent 10 seasons as an amateur scout with the Detroit Red Wings. He now is in his third season as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. . . . Although they hadn’t been added the Spokane’s online roster as of Tuesday night, Bertholet and Form could play Friday in Portland.
of the KHL. His club has won its last two games, both of them in OT, by using an innovative tactic that has yet to reach the NHL. . . . On Dec. 1, Fedorov exchanged his goaltender, Ivan Fedotov, for the extra attacker in the middle of OT and F Mikhail Grigorenko scored to give CSKA Moscow a 1-0 victory over Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. . . . Then, on Monday, Fedorov did it again. This time D Nikita Nesterov scored for a 3-2 victory over Moscow Dynamo. . . . When you think about it, why not? The 3-on-3 OT has turned into a game of puck possession. So why not outnumber the other guys in their zone and run plays as though you’re on the PP? . . . Now we will watch to see which NHL coach has the jam to be the first. Or would someone — hello, Mike Johnston — give it a whirl in the WHL?
Kamloops Blazers, made his NHL debut on Sunday with the Nashville Predators. And he did it in style, turning aside 33 shots in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. . . . The Wild went into the game as one of the NHL’s unbeaten teams, at 4-0. . . . Dean Evason, one of the Blazers’ all-time great players, is the Wild’s head coach. . . . The Predators are 2-4-0. They recalled Ingram from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals on Oct. 16 because G David Rittich was added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. . . .“I still don’t think it’s hit me a little bit,” Ingram, 24, told reporters. “Ignorance is bliss at this point where you don’t really realize what’s going on yet, but it felt good.’’ . . . Ingram was beaten for the first time when F Nick Bjugstad beat him at 11:30 of the second period. . . . “My first shot in the Western League, my first shot in the American League both went in, so I was kind of half-expecting it to go in today, but it didn’t so that’s a nice way to start.’’ . . . The Predators next are scheduled to play on Tuesday night against the visiting San Jose Sharks. . . .
impact the 2022 World Junior Championship that is scheduled for Red Deer and Edmonton, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5
Saskatchewan Huskies and Regina Cougars was postponed. According to a Canada West news release, “Positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed within the Cougars.” The two teams had played in Saskatoon on Friday night. . . . Earlier in the week, Canada West postponed a series between the Calgary Dinos and MacEwan after positive tests were found in the Griffins’ program. . . . 
opening home-and-home series on Saturday night. The Broncos won the opener, 2-0, at home on Friday, then completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory in Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . However, you can bet that the participants recognized that something was missing. Bob Ridley, the radio voice of the Tigers, wasn’t there; he’s in Lethbridge undergoing radiation treatments. . . . Darren Steinke, who keeps track of such things, notes that Ridley has done the play-by-play on 4,021 of the 4,022 games the Tigers have played since entering the WHL for the 1970-71 season. That includes regular-season games, one tiebreaker, playoff games and Memorial Cup games. . . . And let’s not forget that Ridley drove the Tigers’ bus for a lot of those seasons. You don’t even want to think about how much coffee he drank back in those days. . . . In Ridley’s absence, Scott Roblin of CHAT in Medicine Hat is calling the games.
they face the Chiefs in Spokane. The Silvertips won’t play again until Friday when they hold their home-opener, this time against the Portland Winterhawks. . . . With Mike Benton, the Silvertips’ radio voice for the previous six seasons, having left to join Seattle radio station KJR, you are wondering who will be doing the play-by-play for Everett now, aren’t you? . . . Well, a little birdie has told me that Benton will handle the first two games as the Silvertips work to get a new voice into place. . . . With KJR, Benton is handling the pre-game, intermission and post-game shows for Seattle Kraken games.
the WHL. F Bailey Peach, 20, has been added to the Victoria Royals’ roster and was in the lineup on Saturday night. . . . From Falmouth, N.S., he cleared QMJHL waivers after being released by the Charlottetown Islanders. He played three seasons (2017-20) plus five games last season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix before moving on to the Islanders last season. In 184 regular-season QMJHL games, he put up 40 goals and 67 assists. He added one goal and five assists in 26 playoff games. . . . Peach joins F Tarun Fizer and F Graeme Bryks as the Royals’ 20-year-olds. 
WHL exhibition schedule on Friday night and admittance was $5 “or free with food donation.” The Broncos also had a vaccine clinic on site. Anyone getting a vaccination was given free entry to the game. Well done!
Vancouver Giants. Don Sweeney, the Bruins’ general manager, told reporters at a prospects tournament in Buffalo on Sunday that “in all likelihood” Lysell will play in Vancouver.
schedule is as fluid as the South Thompson River and it likely will continue that way for a while yet. . . . From a WHL news release that was issued on Wednesday: “Due to ongoing border restrictions preventing non-essential bus travel from Canada to the U.S., WHL clubs in the U.S. Division will compete exclusively against U.S. Division opponents, while WHL clubs in the B.C. Division will compete exclusively against B.C. Division opponents during the month of October.” . . . The original plan was to have teams in each conference playing only within their conferences in 2021-22. That plan remains in place for the 12 Eastern Conference teams. . . . As things now stand, the U.S. and B.C. division teams will play within their divisions until Nov. 3 when the Kamloops Blazers are scheduled to visit the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Unless COVID-19 decides otherwise, of course. . . . Fans of the 10 Western Conference teams are advised to consult online schedules for changes that have been made. . . . 
scheduling another one in Prince George against the Cougars. . . . Interior Health, which covers Kamloops, won’t allow more than 50 fans to attend indoor events. Northern Health, which governs Prince George, will allow teams to play in front of crowds that are 50 per cent of capacity. . . . Why the difference? How do they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar? . . . Anyway, Adrian Dix, B.C.’s health minister, told Radio NL in Kamloops that “this is why we’re bringing in the vaccine card. So that if we’re going to Blazer games — and there will be people going to Blazer games this year — will be able to do so safely. Knowing that everyone in the rink is vaccinated . . . vaccine cards don’t stop people from doing things, they enable people to do things.” . . . It all means that the Victoria Royals won’t play in Kamloops on Sept. 15, and the Cougars won’t visit on Sept. 17. . . . The Blazers, however, will play in Prince George on Sept. 15. Kamloops also will play in Prince George on Sept. 18 in a game that was on the original exhibition schedule.
Wenatchee, Wash., Wild play a complete season after sitting out what there was of a 2020-21 regular season. . . . The Wild is the BCHL’s only American franchise. . . . The league announced Wednesday that because the U.S.-Canada border is closed to non-essential travel going north, the Wild will play only road games “in the early part of the season.” That means its four scheduled October home games have been dropped, hopefully to be rescheduled later in the season. . . . The Wild will open the season on Oct. 9 in Penticton against the Vees. It then will play five more road games from Oct. 16 through Oct. 30 and two in Vernon against the Vipers on Nov. 5 and 6. The Wild now is scheduled to play its home-opener on Nov. 12 against the West Kelowna Warriors. . . . “The BCHL’s Return to Play Task Force continues to investigate solutions if the land border remains closed beyond October,” the league said in a news release.
Braves pulling out of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League for a second straight season. . . . If you’re a regular here, you will recall a piece I posted here on Aug. 29 that included snippets of a conversation between Bruce Hamilton, the owner of the Kelowna Rockets and chairman of the WHL’s board of governors, and Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets. In that conversation, Hamilton said that having teams cross the U.S.-Canada border remains “in question.” He added: “To have our team travel (to the U.S.), we would have to take a rapid test going down and a PCR test coming home, so you are looking at $5,000 to $6,000 each time for every trip you make across the border.” . . . Taking Note was told that KIJHL teams weren’t about to pay that kind of money to go south, and that contributed in large part to the Braves’ decision. . . . You can bet that expense will impact WHL and BCHL teams, too, if the U.S. chooses not to open the border to Canadians for non-essential travel over the next two or three months.
to have a street in the Wheat City named after him. City Council has voted unanimously to honour Dietrich by naming a street in the Bellafield development after him. . . . Dietrich was from Deloraine, a community south of Brandon. He spent three seasons with the Wheat Kings (1978-81), playing on a WHL championship team in 1978-79 and captaining the club in 1980-81. . . . According to the Brandon Sun, Coun. Shawn Berry said: “This was a man who through his life battled cancer twice and Parkinson’s disease most of his life from 30 on, and never once felt pity or sorry for himself. He went back to his hometown, gave back to the community, started a breakfast program for kids to come out and learn hockey before school started on his own time. . . . He left us way too young, but even through he wasn’t a Brandon boy, Don’s legacy in Westman is well known and I know the short time he was in Brandon here he was very well respected.” . . . Brandon also is home to other streets named after former Wheat Kings, including forwards Ray Allison, Laurie Boschman, Ron Chipperfield, Bill Fairbairn and Ray Ferraro, and G Glen Hanlon. . . . Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be a street named after the late Brad McCrimmon. Perhaps the City of Brandon is preparing to name its next new development after the McCrimmon brothers, Brad and Kelly.
Kamloops locations. . . . Ownership is closing both restaurants from Sept. 13 through Sept. 20 for “a mental health break.”
into the fold on Friday with the announcement that Dale Derkatch has joined the team’s scouting staff. . . . Derkatch, 56, had spent five seasons (2015-20) as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. . . . Derkatch holds the Pats’ career records for goals (222), assists (269) and points (491). He accomplished that in 204 regular-season games. . . . Derkatch played three full seasons (1981-84) with the Pats, putting up 142, 179 and 159 points. He won the scoring title in 1982-83 with 179 points. . . . He was the Pats’ head coach for one season (2008-09), and spent six seasons (2009-15) with the Prince Albert Raiders as their director of player personnel and skills coach.
Vikman, 19, was a selection in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . The Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2020 draft. . . . In 2020-21, he was 5-4-0, 4.10, .851 in nine games with AIK’s U-20 side and 2-1-0, 3.42, .885 in five games with AIK in Sweden’s second-highest pro league. He also went 3-5-0, 3.00, .897 in eight appearances while on loan to Tyreso/Hanviken of HockeyEttan, the third tier league in Sweden. . . . From the Giants’ news release: “Vikman is the third Swedish-born player ever selected by the Giants in the CHL import draft, joining Casper Carning (2010) and Fabian Lysell (2020). He’s also the third goaltender ever selected by the Giants in the import draft, joining Jonathan Iilahti (Finland, 2011) and Marek Schwarz (Czech Republic, 2004). . . . Lysell, an 18-year-old forward, was a first-round pick by the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s 2021 draft, and the Giants are hoping that he will end up signing with them.
tests in the previous two weeks without even one positive test. . . . On Friday, the Edmonton Elks, who are to open their season at home tonight (Saturday), were found to have two positives in their camp — one a roster player (LB Brian Walker) and the other an unidentified non-roster player. . . . The team all was tested again on Friday morning, with results expected back at any time. . . . The Elks are to entertain the Ottawa RedBlacks in the home-opener. . . . The CFL announced in mid-July that it had 10 positives out of more than 6,000 tests in the early days of training camps. Five of those positives involved a player before he crossed into Canada, while three of the other five turned out to be false positives. . . . On July 30, the league announced that there weren’t any positives from the second round of testing.
TAKING NOTE 