Tag: Jordan Gavin

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

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

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

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

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

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

Fire

If the WHL playoffs started today:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) vs. Calgary (8)

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

Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)

Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Everett (6)

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

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SATURDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OldAge

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Boss

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Scattershooting on a Sunday night while continuing to wonder what hit the Blue Jays . . .

Scattershooting2

You are able to find Randy’s Vinyl Tap on a Corus radio station near you for two hours every Sunday evening. Check it out!

While watching the Toronto Blue Jays implode on Saturday, I kept seeing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. beating the visiting New York Yankees with a walk-off home run a few weeks ago and screaming something about it being “my house” as he trotted from third to home. . . . Of course, the Yankees won in Toronto the next night to clinch the AL East. And then along came Friday-Saturday and the Seattle Mariners. . . . Let’s not forget that Aaron Judge hit No. 61 there, too. . . . All of that means that the Yankees and Mariners have done a lot of celebrating in Vladdy’s house. . . . Maybe he and the rest of Toronto’s young guns will learn something about humility and the baseball gods from how this season ended . . . Oh, and get rid of that gawdawful jacket thing, too.

Amazon

Joe Posnanski, who writes baseball as well as anyone, had this after Saturday’s marathon between the visiting Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians: “For almost five hours, under the heat of playoff baseball, we watched two teams fail to score a single run. They failed to score a single run off FIFTEEN different pitchers. Until the last batter, Cleveland hit .090 and struck out 20 times. Tampa Bay hit a stouter .122 and struck out only 19 times.”

——

And here’s Posnanski on a key point in the Seattle-Toronto game: “And Blue Jays manager John Schneider, the one who did not play in ‘Dukes of Hazzard,’ went to the mound, pulled (Kevin) Gausman, and brought in lefty Tim Mayza. It didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense when he did it, since Gausman clearly was not gassed and (switch-hitter Carlos) Santana has, throughout his career, been a better hitter against lefties. This year, he hit just .178 and slugged .366 against righties — he hit almost 90 points better and had 150 more OPS points against lefties.

“But, he was 0-for-3 against Mayza, so maybe that’s what Schneider saw. I don’t know.”

Of course, the bases were loaded, Mayza threw a wild pitch and then Santana drilled a three-run homer. The rest, as they say, is history.

Here’s Matt Rhule, the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, after losing, 37-15, to the visiting San Francisco 49ers on Sunday: “We’re not going to win unless we score more points. I’m not going to lie to you.”

Corndogs

“Minnesota Twins pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson made major-league history by having the longest last name on the back of his jersey, supplanting ex-catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “The team seamstress is now on the 10-day injured list with RSI.”

——

Perry also passed along this gem from Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune after Tampa Bay QB Tom Brady threw a tantrum: “Brady broke two tablets vs. the Saints, tying the cherished 3,500-year-old world record set by Moses.”

Here’s Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Herschel Walker isn’t the one who belongs in a concussion tent. No. Anybody who’s still thinking of voting for this guy belongs in the blue tent.”

——

Lupica, again: “One more thing about Herschel. I’m really starting to worry about just the sheer logistics of what next Father’s Day are going to be like for this guy. The more you read, the more you think he hooked up with everybody except Stormy Daniels.”

There are some parts of the world of hockey that really do need to pay more attention to history and, in particular, to the people who put so much into the building of leagues and franchises. So . . . here’s hoping the decision to remove banners from the Regina Pats’ home arena is a temporary measure to accommodate the removal of dust from the rafters or some other house-cleaning item. . . . And here’s hoping, too, that there is a plan in Regina to hang more banners representing names from the Pats’ glorious past to those rafters.

Keith

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Logan Stankoven, the CHL’s player of the year for 2021-22, has been returned to the Kamloops Blazers by the Dallas Stars, who selected him in the second round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. He has signed a three-year deal with the Stars. Last season, Stankoven had 104 points, including 45 goals, in 59 regular-season games, then added 17 goals and 14 assists in 17 playoff games. . . . Remember that the Blazers are to be the host team for the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament. . . . Stankoven, 19, is expected to be in the Kamloops lineup on Friday night against the host Tri-City Americans. . . . While returning Stankoven to his hometown team, the Stars kept F Wyatt Johnston, 19, who was their first pick in that 2021 NHL draft. He played the past two seasons with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, putting up 124 points, 46 of them goals, in 68 games last season. . . .

Meawhile, the Vancouver Giants got back F Zack Ostapchuk, their captain, from the Ottawa Senators. Ostapchuk, 19, was a second-round pick in the NHL’s 2021 draft. Last season, he had 26 goals and 17 assists in 60 regular-season games, then added 23 points, 16 of them assists, in 12 playoff games. . . . The Giants next are scheduled to play on Friday against the Brandon Wheat Kings in Langley, B.C. . . .

The Tri-City Americans, playing their home-opener, got two goals and two assists from F Jordan Gavin in beating the Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-1, on Saturday night. Gavin, from Surrey, B.C., was the second overall selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft, and has two goals and five assists in five games. He won’t turn 16 until Nov. 13. . . .

When host Kamloops dropped Victoria, 3-1, on Saturday night, it was the Blazers’ 23rd consecutive victory over the Royals. . . . Seriously! . . . The loss also left the Royals at 0-7-0, not quite the start the franchise needed. . . . Victoria is the only one of the league’s 22 teams without a victory. . . .

At the other end of the spectrum, the Portland Winterhawks and Seattle Thunderbirds remain unbeaten — the former at 5-0-0, the latter 4-0-0. They’ll go home-and-home on Nov. 4 and 5, opening in Portland and closing the series in Kent, Wash. . . . Before then, the Winterhawks are home to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday, the same night the Thunderbirds entertain the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . According to TBird Tidbits (@TBirdTidbits), this is the first time in franchise history that the Thunderbirds have opened with four straight victories. . . . The Red Deer Rebels, meanwhile, are 5-0-0, the first time that has happened since 2000-01, according to Troy Gillard, their director of broadcasts and media.

Commas

THINKING OUT LOUD — In getting swept from a best-of-three series, the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t get even one pitch out of Jose Berrios or Yusei Kikuchi. Berrios has an average salary of US$18,714,286, while Kikuchi’s annual average is $12 million. . . . Hockey Canada didn’t make a big news dump late Friday afternoon, but Andrea Skinner, the interim chair of the board of directors, did resign on Saturday. Hey, it’s a start. . . . How come I didn’t know before Saturday evening that the Okanagan Sun has a hotshot KR/WR named Mike O’Shea, who just happens to be the son of Mike O’Shea, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach? . . . BTW, the Sun just finished off a 10-0 regular season. . . . ICYMI, the Cincinnati Bengals left three points on the field Sunday night in Baltimore and lost by two to the Ravens. Could it be some of those coaches are spending too much time listening to the analytics people? Sheesh, kick the field goal!

I wish I had seen this trick on Twitter about 50 years ago. . . .

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

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