F Zdeněk Bahenský (Saskatoon, 2004-06) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Mulhouse (France, Ligue Magnus) after obtaining his release by mutual agreement from Corona Braşov (Romania, Erste Liga). He had one assist in three games. Last season, with Sterzing/Vipiteno (Italy, Alps HL), he had seven goals and 13 assists in 23 games.
(WHL trade deadline: Thursday, Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT)
Thursday’s action:
No. of trades: 4.
Players: 7.
Bantam draft picks: 8.
Conditional draft picks: 0.
——
Total deals (since Nov. 26):
No. of trades: 25.
Players: 49.
Bantam draft picks: 40.
Conditional draft picks: 10.
(Note: On Nov. 30, Kelowna traded F Jack Cowell, 19, to Kootenay for a third-round selection in the 2020 bantam draft. Cowell chose not to report and the deal was voided, so isn’t included in these totals.)
——
The Prince Albert Raiders, already with the WHL’s top offence, added another big gun on Thursday by acquiring F Dante Hannoun from the Victoria Royals.
In exchange for Hannoun and fourth- and eighth-round selections in the WHL’s 2019 
bantam draft, the Raiders surrendered F Carson Miller, 18, F Kody McDonald, 20, and a third-round pick in the 2020 bantam draft. (The fourth-round pick originated with the Brandon Wheat Kings; the eighth-rounder was Prince Albert’s originally, so goes back to the Raiders.)
The Raiders are more than halfway through what has all the signs of being a record-breaking season. With a 34-3-1 record, they lead the WHL’s overall standings by nine points over the Everett Silvertips (29-7-2) and are ranked No. 1 in the 60-team CHL.
On offence, the Raiders have scored 179 goals, 25 more than the Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks.
Before acquiring Hannoun, the Raiders already had five players who are averaging more than a point per game. That figure now is six.
Hannoun, the 11th overall selection in the 2013 bantam draft, played 286 regular-season games with the Royals. From Delta, B.C., he has 19 goals and 17 assists in 28 games this season.
For his career, the 5-foot-6, 160-pound Hannoun has 98 goals and 150 assists, his 248 
points leaving him tied for fourth on the Royals’ all-time list. He also is fourth in assists, fifth in games played and seventh in goals.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Miller, a native of Yorkton, Sask., was the 21st overall pick in the 2015 bantam draft. This season, he has 10 goals and eight assists in 38 games with the Raiders. In 156 career games, he has 20 goals and 27 assists.
McDonald, from Lethbridge, moved from the Prince George Cougars to Prince Albert at last season’s trade deadline. The Raiders gave up D Rhett Rhinehart, F Austin Crossley and a first-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft — the Cougars took F Craig Armstrong, who was added to their roster earlier this week — for McDonald and a conditional third-round pick in the 2018 draft.
McDonald, who was a second-round pick by the Cougars in 2013, has six goals and 12 assists in 30 games this season. In 295 career games, he has 81 goals and 93 assists.
The Royals are to continue their six-game Central Division trip against the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight.
Hannoun could make his Prince Albert debut tonight against the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.
——
John Paddock, the general manager of the Regina Pats, was up early on Thursday.
How early?
Early enough to complete three trades before noon.
By morning’s end, Paddock had acquired two players and two WHL bantam draft picks, 
one of them a third-rounder, for a pair of players and three picks, the earliest a fifth-rounder.
“It’s what we’ve set out to do from the start,” Paddock told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “We got a third-round pick in a deal and two 17-year-old players who are both playing in the league. It’s a little bit harder to get younger players (due to the league’s new trade restrictions) . . . but we know it’s the direction we want to go. It’s up to us as an organization to improve them over the next three to four years.”
The Pats, who are reloading after being the host team in the 2018 Memorial Cup, got D Tyson Feist, 17, and a 10th-round selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft from the Spokane Chiefs for an eighth-round pick in 2019 and a fifth-rounder in 2019. The eighth-round pick originally belonged to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“Tyson has waived his no-trade clause as he is looking for more ice time,” Scott Carter, the Chiefs’ GM, said in a news release.
This season, Feist, 6-foot-3 and 175 pounds, had five assists in 25 games with the Chiefs. He also played five games with them last season, going pointless.
Feist could make his Regina debut tonight when the Pats meet the Blades in Saskatoon.
The Pats also sent F Scott Mahovlich, 19, and an eighth-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a third-round selection in 2019.
Mahovlich, who is from Abbotsford, B.C., had five goals and four assists in 38 games with the Pats this season. In 130 career games — the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder also played with the Kamloops Blazers — he had six goals and 12 assists.
The Hurricanes are at home to the Vancouver Giants tonight.
Paddock’s day began when he dealt D Marco Creta, 18, to the Kootenay Ice for F Blake Allan, 17.
Allan, a 6-foot-1, 165-pounder from Davidson, Sask., was a third-round pick by the Ice in 
the 2016 bantam draft. Last season, he had one goal and one assist in four games with the Ice. This season, he has three assists in 31 games.
Creta is from Oak Bluff, Man., which is practically on the southwestern outskirts of Winnipeg. The Ice, which is reported to be relocating to Winnipeg after this season, has acquired six Manitoba-born players in as many trades since Oct. 8. One of those players, F Jack Cowell, refused to report and his rights reverted to the Kelowna Rockets.
In 66 games with the Pats, Creta had three goals and 11 assists. This season, he put up two goals and seven assists in 33 games.
The Ice is to meet the Tigers in Medicine Hat tonight.
With the WHL’s trade deadline less than a week away, the Portland Winterhawks have added a third goaltender to their roster. . . . Evan Fradette, a fifth-round selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft, has joined the Winterhawks, who open a six-game East Division trip in Swift Current tonight. . . . The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Fradette, 17, has been playing for his hometown midget AAA St. Albert Raiders, who won the prestigious Mac’s tournament in Calgary earlier this week. Fradette was named the tournament MVP and the top goaltender, and also was chosen for the all-star team. . . . Fradette joins veteran Shane Farkas and freshman Dante Giannuzzi as Portland’s goaltenders. Farkas, 19, is 20-9-5, 2.96, .898; Giannuzzi, 16, is 1-2-0, 4.09, .833.
The Saskatoon Blades have signed D Alex Ozar, who will turn 17 on Jan. 24, to a WHL contract. Ozar, from Prince Albert, is in his second season with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos. He is the team’s captain. This season, he has five goals and 16 assists in 21 games. Last season, he finished with five goals and 26 assists in 44 games. . . . Ozar was a fifth-round pick by the Blades in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft.
The Regina Pats have added D Makai Mitchell, 16, to their roster, likely for the remainder of this season. Mitchell, from Fort Collins, Colo., had been playing with the Rocky Mountain Roughriders 16U team. He had a goal and an assist in 11 games. He also was pointless in three games with the Pats earlier this season.
F Ethan Leyh of the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen has committed to Quinnipiac U and the Bobcats for the 2019-20 season. Leyh, 17, has 15 goals and 17 assists in 31 games with the Rivermen. From Anmore, B.C., he was an eighth-round pick by the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft.
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draft picks, I speculated as to what impact the WHL’s new trade regulations might have on the marketplace.
for the 2018 Memorial Cup tournament for which they were the host team.
planned to recall G Matt Armitage from the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks at least for the weekend. . . . It turns out that Armitage was injured on Wednesday night in a 4-3 OT loss to the visiting Langley Rivermen. Armitage went the distance, stopping 45 shots in 63:34, but apparently was injured at some point. . . . The Hitmen now are bringing in Brayden Peters, 16, from the midget AAA Lethbridge Hurricanes. Calgary selected him in the fifth round of the 2017 WHL bantam draft. He is 8-2-0, 1.76, .929 with the Hurricanes. . . . With Stankowski out, the bulk of the goaltending load will fall to Jack McNaughton, a 17-year-old freshman from Calgary. To date, he has made 12 appearances, going 4-6-1, 3.35, .890. . . . The Hitmen will play three games in fewer than 48 hours this weekend. They are in Red Deer tonight before returning home to face Edmonton on Saturday and Moose Jaw on Sunday.
the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. On Dec. 11, the Warriors dealt F Noah Gregor and an eighth-round 2018 bantam draft pick to the Royals for Peckford and a fourth-rounder in 2018.
player with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting continues to grow legs. On Thursday, David Branch, the OHL commissioner, told CBC Sports that his league “failed” Carcillo and “the other players involved.” Branch called Carcillo’s revelations “shocking.” . . . “You know,” Branch said, “I don’t know how else to put it.” . . . This story isn’t likely to go away anytime soon as more and more former junior hockey players are revealing incidents from the past. . . . James Strashin of CBC Sports has the latest story 
Silvertips, replaced Dean Brockman in Saskatoon. Brockman had spent four seasons with Saskatoon, two as an assistant coach and the last two as head coach.
Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, is expected to step aside as head coach at some point this summer. Paddock, 63, would then focus on his duties as general manager, allowing Dave Struch, the assistant GM/assistant coach, to take over as head coach. . . . Paddock and Struch, a former head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, have worked together through four seasons with the Pats. . . . Harder’s story is 
serious WHL connections as they meet the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final.
was part of the off-ice crew that handled Team OAR’s 4-3 OT victory over Germany. He also has been letting us know how things are going. On Saturday, he sent this . . . 
Western Conference by five points over Kelowna. . . . Seattle (28-24-9) has lost four in a row. It holds down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, by six points over Kamloops. . . . Everett is 4-2-2 in the season series; Seattle is 4-3-1. . . . F Nolan Volcan (26) put Seattle ahead 1-0 at 14:18 of the first period. . . . F Connor Dewar (32) tied it at 11:35 of the second period. . . . G Garrett Pilon (31) broke the tie at 2:44 of the third period. . . . Dewar also had an assist. . . . Seattle was 0-1 on the PP; Everett was 0-4. . . . G Carter Hart recorded the victory with 23 saves. . . . Seattle got 37 stops from G Liam Hughes. . . . Announced attendance: 5,452.
Central Division, six points behind Lethbridge. . . . Swift Current (43-14-5) had points in each of its previous eight games (7-0-1). It is second in the overall standings, two points behind Moose Jaw, which holds two games in hand. . . . F Brandon Hagel (12) gave the home side a 1-0 lead at 1:28 of the second period. . . . The Broncos responded with three goals. . . . F Giorgio Estephan (27) scored at 2:39 of the second period, and F Matteo Gennaro (37) put the visitors ahead at 15:26. . . . F Glenn Gawdin (52) ran his point streak to 21 games, giving the Broncos a 3-1 lead at 7:03 of the third period. . . . The Rebels then tied it on two goals from F Grayson Pawlenchuk, who has 18, at 9:05 and 15:53. . . . F Chris Douglas (7) broke the tie at 16:50, and F Kristian Reichel (29) got the empty-netter, at 19:18. . . . The Rebels got two assists from F Mason McCarty, with Hagel adding one. . . . F Tyler Steenbergen had two assists for the Broncos. . . . Gawdin has 20 goals and 20 assists in his 21-game point streak. . . . Swift Current was 0-1 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-2. . . . G Riley Lamb stopped 28 shots for the Rebels, one more than Swift Current’s Joel Hofer. . . . Announced attendance: 4,735.
season that was set in 2011-12. It leads the overall standings, by two points over Swift Current. . . . Regina (33-25-6) had won its previous four games. It is third in the East Division, three points ahead of Brandon. . . . Moose Jaw is 6-2-0 in the season series; Regina is 2-5-1. . . . Head coach Tim Hunter posted the 138th regular-season victory, moving to No. 1 on the Warriors’ career list. He had been sharing the record with Al Tuer. . . . F Tristin Langan (14) gave the home side a 1-0 lead at 6:50 of the first period, with F Justin Almeida (34) adding another, on a PP, at 14:25. . . . F Jayden Halbgewachs made it 3-0 with his WHL-leading 58th goal, at 12:15 of the second period. . . . F Jesse Gabrielle (11) got Regina on the scoreboard at 17:39. . . . F Robbie Holmes (15) pulled the Pats to within one at 7:28 of the third period. . . . Moose Jaw was 1-2 on the PP; Regina was 0-2. . . . G Brody Willms earned the victory with 28 stops. . . . The Pats got 23 saves from G Max Paddock. . . . D Jett Woo served the second of a three-game suspension, while D Dmitri Zaitsev (ill) also was among the scratches. . . . The Warriors have added D Daemon Hunt, 15, to their roster for the weekend. He was a first-round pick in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. Hunt has 40 points, including 36 assists, in 40 games with the midget AAA Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Regina D Liam Schioler completed a two-game suspension by sitting out this one. . . . Announced attendance: 4,701.
in a row. It is two points behind Saskatoon, which holds down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Each team has 10 games remaining. . . . Edmonton (18-35-8) has lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . The Oil Kings had an early 2-0 lead on first-period goals from F Trey Fix-Wolansky (26), at 1:44, and D Conner McDonald (6), on a PP, at 5:47. . . . The Raiders took a 3-2 second-period lead on goals from D Vojtech Budik (10), on a PP, at 5:18; F Curtis Miske (21), at 5:52; and F Brett Leason, at 6:39. . . . Edmonton got back into a tie when D Wyatt McLeod scored his first WHL goal at 7:07. . . . Leason, who has goals in six straight games, broke that tie with his 16th goal at 12:04. . . . F David Kope (11) pulled the Oil Kings into a 4-4 tie at 18:34. . . . Kelly, playing in his 200th regular-season game, won it with his 26th goal, at 8:35 of the third period. . . . F Kody McDonald and F Regan Nagy each had two assists for the winners, with Kelly and Miske adding one each. . . . Fix-Wolansky had two assists and Kope one for Edmonton. . . . The Oil Kings were 2-4 on the PP; the Raiders were 1-7. . . . Prince Albert got 25 stops from G Ian Scott. . . . G Josh Dechaine made 26 saves for Edmonton. . . . Announced attendance: 9,723.
Ice. . . . Spokane (35-21-5) has won two in a row. It is third in the U.S. Division, three points behind Portland. . . . Kootenay (25-36-3) has lost five straight. It is fourth in the Central Division, four points behind Red Deer. . . . As part of the night’s promotion, the Chiefs had nicknames on the backs of their jerseys. Those nicknames are included in the lineup in the above tweet. . . . The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead at 4:55 of the first period on a goal from F Milos (Fafs) Fafrak. . . . F Gillian Kohler (6) tied it for the Ice, at 9:10. . . . The Chiefs went out front 3-1 before the period ended, on goals from F Ethan (Dewey) McIndoe (20) and Yamamoto (18), shorthanded, at 19:06. . . . F Colton Veloso scored for the Ice at 2:10 of the second period, but the home team went up 5-2 on goals from F Jake (McGruber) McGrew (16), at 8:25 of the second, and D Ty (Smitty) Smith (13), at 3:38 of the third. . . . Veloso (23) got the Ice’s final goal, at 14:25. . . . The Chiefs also got two assists from F Riley (Woodsy) Woods, with McGrew and Fafrak each getting one. . . . Kootenay was 1-2 on the PP; Spokane was 0-2. . . . The Chiefs got 12 stops from G Dawson (Weatherman) Weatherill. . . . G Matt Berlin stopped 31 shots for the Ice. . . . Announced attendance: 8,352.
has won three in a row. It holds down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot and is fourth in the U.S. Division, three points behind Spokane. . . . Prince George (20-33-8) has lost three straight. . . . The Americans took control with three goals in the span of 2:34 early in the first period. . . . F Jordan Topping (35) got it started at 4:11, with D Juuso Valimaki making it 2-0 at 4:51 and F Paycen Bjorklund (2) adding another at 6:45. . . . The Americans went ahead 5-0 before the period ended, as Valimaki scored at 11:41 and F Parker AuCoin (17) counted at 19:20. . . . Valimaki completed his second career hat trick with his 11th goal at 10:18 of the second period. . . . The Cougars got their goal from D Ryan Schoettler (6) at 17:42. . . . D Anthony Bishop drew three assists for Tri-City, with F Isaac Johnson and F Nolan Yaremko each getting two. . . . Each team was 0-3 on the PP. . . . G Beck Warm stopped 19 shots for the Americans. . . . The Cougars started G Isaiah DiLaura, who gave up five goals on 14 shots in the first period. Tavin Grant played the last two periods, stopping 15 of 16 shots. . . . Announced attendance: 5,406.
20-4) has won two in a row, having beaten the host Royals, 2-1, on Friday. The Winterhawks have clinched a playoff spot. They are second in the U.S. Division, nine points behind Everett. . . . Victoria (35-23-5) has lost two straight. It is second in the B.C. Division, seven points behind Kelowna and five ahead of Vancouver. . . . The Winterhawks went ahead 1-0 at 3:50 of the first period when F Kieffer Bellows scored on a PP. . . . Victoria F Noah Gregor got that one back, on a PP, at 17:08. . . . Bellows (32) gave the visitors a 2-1 lead 54 seconds into the second period, only to have Gregor (25) tie it, on a PP, at 6:28. . . . Glass got the winner, his 29th goal this season, on a PP. . . . The Winterhawks got three assists from D Dennis Cholowski. . . . Glass now has 200 career points in 190 regular-season games. . . . F Dante Hannoun had two assists for Victoria. . . . F Matthew Phillips of the Royals had his point streak snapped at 22 games. . . . Victoria was 2-4 on the PP; Portland was 2-6. . . . G Shane Farkas earned the victory with 21 saves. He also went the distance for Portland on Friday. . . . The Royals got 39 saves from G Griffen Outhouse. . . . Announced attendance: 7,006.
Conference, five points behind Everett. . . . Kamloops (27-31-5) has lost two in a row. It is six points out of a playoff spot with nine games remaining. . . . Kelowna is 6-0-0) in the season series; Kamloops is 0-5-1. . . . The Rockets actually led this one 3-0, before giving up four goals in a span of 5:57 in the second period. . . . F Dillon Dube, who has 31 goals, scored for Kelowna at 10:51 and 18:46 of the first period, the latter coming via a PP. . . . F Conner Bruggen-Cate (17) made it 3-0, on another PP, at 5:36 of the second period. . . . F Jermaine Loewen (32) got the Blazers’ comeback started at 11:04. F Luc Smith (17), back after a two-week absence, made it 3-2 at 11:25, and F Nick Chyzowski (19) tied it, on a PP, at 14:25. D Nolan Kneen (5) gave Kamloops the lead, at 17:01. . . . The Rockets tied it at 12:50 of the third period as F Leif Mattson scored while shorthanded. . . . Kamloops F Orrin Centazzo (10) gave Kamloops a 5-4 lead, on a PP, at 13:11. . . . The Rockets tied it at 13:40 as F Carsen Twarynski (38) struck, on a PP, then took the lead at 17:47 on Mattson’s 21st goal of the season. . . . The Rockets got two assists from each of D Gordie Ballhorn and F Kole Lind, with Dube and Brutten-Cate adding one apiece. . . . Loewen had two assists for Kamloops, as did Kneen and F Quinn Benjafield. . . . Loewen went into this season with 14 goals and 18 assists in 170 games. This season, he has developed into one of the WHL’s top power forwards, with 32 goals and 24 assists in 57 games. . . . Kelowna was 3-6 on the PP; Kamloops was 2-6. . . . The Rockets got 23 saves from G Brodan Salmond, while G Dylan Ferguson stopped 31 shots at the other end. . . . The Rockets took 62 of the game’s 120 penalty minutes. Eight game misconducts, including one to Salmond, were handed out following a kerfuffle at the final buzzer. . . . Announced attendance: 5,324.
in the East Division, three points behind Regina. The Wheat Kings hold down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot, four points up on Saskatoon. . . . Medicine Hat (31-24-8) is 3-0-1 in its past four games. It leads the Central Division, by four points over Lethbridge. . . . The Wheat Kings got off to a 1-0 lead at 8:44 on a goal by F Stelio Mattheos (37). . . . F Ryan Jevne (17) tied it for the Tigers, on a PP, at 17:31. . . . After a scoreless second period, the Wheat Kings went ahead 3-1 on goals from Reinhardt, at 4:43, and F Evan Weinger (26), shorthanded, at 11:19. . . . D David Quenneville (26) scored at 15:02 to get the Tigers to within a goal. . . . The home team tied it with 38.2 seconds left and the extra attacker on the ice when F Mark Rassell (46) scored the 100th regular-season goal of his career. . . .
known for some time that they won’t finish first or second in the East Division, the Moose Jaw Warriors (40-9-3) and Swift Current Broncos (37-13-4) simply being too far ahead. The Pats (28-22-5) trail the Warriors by 22 points and the Broncos by 17.
preseason tournament in Traverse City, Mich. He subsequently underwent surgery and only recently was cleared to resume skating.
Mile House Wranglers) and Saturday (Kamloops Storm vs. Myles Mattila and his Kelowna Chiefs in a game that also will promote mental health awareness).
Struch, the assistant GM and assistant coach, and assistant coach Brad Herauf to multi-year contract extensions. . . . No further details were released, but Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post reported that all three extensions were “for three-plus years.” . . . Paddock joined the Pats prior to the 2014-15 season. In three-plus seasons, he has a regular-season record of 149-83-31 and the Pats have reached at least the second round of playoffs each season. In 2016-17, the Pats set a franchise record with 52 regular-season victories, before losing out in the WHL’s championship series. He has twice been named the WHL’s coach of the year. . . . Struch is in his 12th season as a WHL coach. Like Paddock, he came to Regina prior to the 2014-15 season. . . . Herauf, a former head coach of the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, is in his third season with the Pats.
including the winner, and an assist in the victory.
TAKING NOTE 