Deal between Ice, Rockets voided . . . Fix-Wolansky, Woo trying to prove point? . . . Silvertips double up on Chiefs


MacBeth

G Barry Brust (Spokane, Calgary, 2000-04) has been released by Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL). In nine games, he was 4-3-1, 3.11, .895. . . .

D Tomáš Kundrátek (Medicine Hat, 2008-10) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) after requesting and receiving his release from Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL). He had three assists in 25 games while averaging 20:05 TOI. . . .

D Marek Hrbas (Edmonton, Kamloops, 2010-13) a signed contract for the rest of this season with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL) after obtaining his release from Vítkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had one goal and three assists in 22 games with Vítkovice this season.


ThisThat

Taking Note has been told that a Nov. 30 trade between the Kelowna Rockets and Kootenay Ice has been stamped null and void.

On Nov. 30, the Rockets traded F Jack Cowell, a 19-year-old from Winnipeg, to the Ice for Kootenaynewa third-round pick in the 2020 WHL bantam draft.

Cowell, however, chose not to report. Rather, Taking Note was told Wednesday night that he has gone home to Winnipeg.

As a result, although nothing has been announced by the league or either team, the trade has been voided and, in fact, has been removed from the transaction page on the WHL’s website.

The Ice was at home to the Lethbridge Hurricanes last night. There was no mention of Cowell anywhere in the Ice’s digital pre-game notes package.

This season, Cowell had two goals and three assists in 26 games. In 182 career games with Kelowna, he had 18 goals and 38 assists.


In the lead up to Hockey Canada naming the selection-camp roster for its national junior team, many observers of the WHL anticipated that F Trey Fix-Wolansky of the Edmonton Oil Kings and D Jett Woo of the Moose Jaw Warriors would be on the list.

However, their names were conspicuous by their absence when the camp roster was revealed on Monday.

Judging by their performances on Wednesday night, both players are using the snubs for motivation.

Fix-Wolansky had a goal and three assists to lead the host Oil Kings to a 6-1 victory over the Regina Pats. Meanwhile, in Moose Jaw, Woo had a goal and three assists in the Warriors’ 6-5 OT loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Fix-Wolansky, who has six four-point games to his credit, moved back into a tie for the WHL scoring lead. He and F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders have 61 points apiece. Leason leads the WHL in goals (28); Fix-Wolansky has a WHL-leading 41 assists in 31 games.

This was Woo’s first career four-point outing. He’s got five goals and 15 assists in 22 games.

Woo was a second-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL’s 2018 draft. The Columbus Blue-Jackets took Fix-Wolansky in the seventh round.


COUNTDOWN TO DEADLINE

(WHL trade deadline: Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT)

Wednesday’s action

No. of trades: 0.

Players: 0.

Bantam draft picks: 0.

Conditional draft picks: 0.

——

Total deals (since Nov. 26):

No. of trades: 9.

Players: 30.

Bantam draft picks: 17.

Conditional draft picks: 4.

(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.)


Jeremy Fraser of the Cape Breton Post wrote an interesting piece this week about American players in the CHL. . . . It seems that QMJHL teams are struggling to attract Americans, especially from the New England area. . . . Using rosters as of Monday afternoon, Fraser reported that the QMJHL’s 18 teams had only seven American players on rosters. . . . The 20-team OHL, Don Cherry’s favourite junior league, was home to 52 American players at that point, while the WHL’s 22 teams had 37 on rosters as of Monday. . . . Fraser’s complete story is right here.


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WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Ryan Jevne’s second goal of the game gave the Medicine Hat Tigers a 6-5 OT victory Tigers Logo Officialover the Warriors in Moose Jaw. . . . Medicine Hat improved to 14-14-3. . . . Moose Jaw (15-7-4) has lost two in a row. . . . D Jett Woo had a goal, his fifth, and three assists for the Warriors. . . . D Joel Craven, playing only his third game after being out since Oct. 19, scored his first goal of the season for the Tigers. . . . F James Hamblin (14) gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead, on a PP, at 16:10 of the second period. . . . D Josh Brook (9) got Moose Jaw to within a goal, on a PP, at 18:08. . . . F Keennan Taphorn (7) pulled the Warriors into a tie at 4:01 of the third. . . . Jevne, who has 12 goals, won it on a PP at 1:16 of OT. He also had an assist. . . . D Daniel Baker scored his first career goal and added two assists for the Tigers. A 17-year-old freshman from Edmonton, Baker’s first goal and first multi-point night came in his 42nd game, 31 of them this season. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski had three assists for Medicine Hat. . . . Warriors F Tristin Langan scored his 19th goal and added an assist as he played his 200th regular-season game. . . . F Kjell Kjemhus, who was acquired this week from the Prince George Cougars, and F Luke Ormsby, who came over from the Everett Silvertips, both made their Moose Jaw debuts. . . . They started on a line with F Tate Popple, who was back after a one-game absence. . . . Ormsby’s fourth goal of the season, at 19:44 of the first period, cut into the Tigers’ 3-1 lead. . . . Medicine Hat, which held a 46-45 edge in shots, was 2-3 on the PP. The Warriors were 3-4.


The host Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last six goals as they beat the Regina Pats, EdmontonOilKings6-1. . . . Edmonton (15-11-5) had lost its previous five games (0-3-2). . . . Regina (8-21-0) has lost six in a row. . . . F Riley Krane (4) gave the Pats a 1-0 lead at 8:00 of the first period. . . . But it was all Oil Kings after that point. . . . F Trey Fix Wolansky, who also had three assists, tied it with his 20th goal at 19:47. . . . F Dylan Guenther, the first overall selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft, broke the tie with his first career goal at 5:47, on a PP. Guenther scored in his third game; he also played on Nov. 2 and 3. . . . Guenther, from Edmonton, has 20 goals and 18 assists in 18 games with the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. . . . The Oil Kings were 3-5 on the PP. . . . F Vince Loschiavo scored his 13th goal and added two assists. . . . The Oil Kings were without F Vladimir Alistrov and F Andrei Pavlenko, both of whom are with the Belarusian team at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division 1 Group A) that opens Sunday in Fussen, Germany. . . . Regina F Sebastian Streu also is there as he hopes to crack Germany’s roster.


F Dylan Cozens scored in OT to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the LethbridgeKootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . Lethbridge (15-8-5) has points in seven straight (6-0-1). . . . Kootenay (7-20-5) has lost 10 in a row (0-8-2). . . . The visitors took a 1-0 lead when D Alex Cotton (2) scored at 8:24 of the first period. . . . The Ice went in front on second-period goals from F Cole Muir (6) and F Jakin Smallwood (2). . . . F Jake Leschyshyn (18) got Lethbridge into a tie at 16:28 of the second. . . . Cozens won it with his 15th goal at 1:17 of extra time. . . . Leschyshyn also drew the primary assist on the winner. . . . The Hurricanes got 28 saves from G Reece Klassen, eight fewer than the Ice’s Jesse Makaj. . . . The Ice is without F Connor McClennon, who has one foot in a walking boot.


F Josh Pillar broke a 2-2 tie at 8:53 of the third period as the host Kamloops Blazers beat Kamloops1the Victoria Royals, 3-2. . . . Kamloops (12-11-2) has won three in a row, all at home where it is 5-6-1 after starting 2-6-1. . . . Victoria (13-11-0) has lost two in a row. . . . The Blazers overcame a 2-0 deficit to win this one. . . . Victoria led 2-0 on first-period goals from F D-Jay Jerome (12) and F Phillip Schultz (5). . . . F Kyrell Sopotyk (3) got the Blazers on the scoreboard at 7:07 of the second period. . . . F Jermaine Loewen (11) tied it, on a PP, at 8:53 of the third period. . . . Sopotyk set up the winner with a pass off a spin-o-rama in tight that Pillar was able to tuck into the net. . . . Kamloops lost F Jeff Faith to a checking-from-behind major and game misconduct for a hit on Victoria F Dante Hannoun after Pillar’s goal. . . . Moments after Pillar scored, Hannoun shoved him into the boards. Faith then came in and hit Hannoun from behind. . . . Kamloops was 1-6 on the PP; Victoria was 0-5, including a two-man advantage for 1:51. . . . The game featured a battle of two young goaltenders. With starters Griffen Outhouse (Victoria) and Dylan Ferguson (Kamloops) injured, Brock Gould, who turns 17 on Dec. 11, and Dylan Garand, 16, were the starters. . . . Garand, who is from Victoria, stopped 19 shots, while Gould turned aside 26. . . . Ferguson sat out a third straight game since being injured during a 3-1 loss to the Chiefs in Spokane on Nov. 24, while Outhouse also has missed three in a row. . . . Garand has won five straight starts and now is 5-1-1, 2.41, .912. . . . After the game, the Blazers returned G Rayce Ramsay to the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, signalling that Ferguson is ready to return. . . . The Royals also continue to play without D Ralph Jarratt, who has gotten into only 11 games. For this one, they also scratched F Igor Martynov, who is in Fussen, Germany, with the Belarussian team that will play in the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division I Group) that begins Sunday in Fussen, Germany. Martynov snapped an 18-game goal-less drought in a 5-1 victory over the Cougars in Prince George on Saturday, then was blanked in a 5-3 loss on Sunday. . . . Victoria F Tanner Sidaway left the game in the last minute of the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards while killing a penalty. He looked to injury his left shoulder and crawled off the ice. . . . The Blazers won’t play at home again until Dec. 28. In the meantime, they’ll play six games in eight days on a Central Division trip that opens in Edmonton on Saturday.


The Kelowna Rockets scored the only two goals of a shootout to beat the visiting Tri-City KelownaRocketsAmericans, 4-3. . . . Kelowna (13-15-2) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Tri-City has lost four in a row (0-2-2). . . . The Rockets held a 3-0 lead late in the second period on goals from F Erik Gardiner (5) and F Liam Kindree (6) in the first period, and F Nolan Foote (17), at 1:54 of the second. . . . The Americans got back into it with two PP goals from F Parker AuCoin, at 19:56 of the second and 8:53 of the third. He’s got 15 goals. . . . D Aaron Hyman (6) forced OT with a goal at 17:24. . . . That was Hyman’s first goal with the Americans, who acquired him from the Regina Pats. . . . Kelowna held a 3-1 edge in OT shots. . . . Kelowna shot first in the shootout and got goals from Foote and F Leif Mattson, their second and third shooters. . . . Tri-City was 2-7 on the PP; Kelowna was 0-2. . . .The Rockets got 28 saves from G James Porter. . . . G Talyn Boyko, who turned 16 on Nov. 16, made his second career start for the Americans. He made 24 saves. Boyko was a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft.


In Everett, the Silvertips built a 3-0 lead en route to a 4-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. Everett. . . Everett (23-7-1) has points in nine straight (8-0-1) and has closed to within six points of the Prince Albert Raiders (26-1-1), who lead the overall standings. The Raiders do hold three games in hand. . . . Spokane (14-10-4) has lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . The Silvertips grabbed a 3-0 lead on goals from F Jackson Berezowski (5), at 17:33 of the first period, and F Bryce Kindopp (11), at 1:47 of the second, and D Jake Christiansen (7), on a PP, at 14:48. . . . The Chiefs made it interesting with third-period PP goals from Ethan McIndoe (8), at 0:48, and F Riley Woods (21), at 9:26. . . . F Sean Richards (9) gave Everett some breathing room with an empty-netter, at 18:25. . . . F Max Patterson, acquired this week from the Swift Current Broncos, made his Everett debut and drew an assist on Berezowski’s goal. . . . G Dustin Wolf stopped 25 shots for Everett. He now is 21-7-1, 1.93, .923. . . . The Silvertips lost F Martin Fasko-Rudas aat 15:31 of the first period after he was hit in the neutral zone by Spokane F Egor Arbuzov, who was penalized for interference. . . . Former NHL D Kevin Bieksa took part in the ceremonial faceoff. He has been skating with the Silvertips as he prepares to play for Canada at the Spengler Cup that begins on Dec. 26 in Davos, Switzerland.


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‘Tips get Patterson from Broncos . . . Warriors add two forwards . . . WHL has seven on camp roster


ThisThat

COUNTDOWN TO DEADLINE

(WHL trade deadline: Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT)

Monday’s action

No. of trades: 3.

Players: 4.

Bantam draft picks: 3.

Conditional draft picks: 0.

——

Total deals (since Nov. 26):

No. of trades: 8.

Players: 21.

Bantam draft picks: 18.

Conditional draft picks: 3.


The Everett Silvertips have acquired F Max Patterson from the Swift Current Broncos for F Dawson Springer, 16, and a fourth-round selection in the 2020 WHL bantam draft.

Patterson, from Kamloops, is the third member of the Broncos’ championship team from Everettlast season now on Everett’s roster, along with D Artyom Minulin and D Sahvan Khaira, both of whom are 20 years of age.

The Broncos beat the Silvertips in six games in last spring’s WHL final. This season, the  Broncos have the 22-team WHL’s poorest record (4-21-2), while the Silvertips lead the U.S. Division, at 22-7-1.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Patterson will turn 19 on Dec. 27. He is the son of former WHL/NHL F Ed Patterson.

Max was selected by the Kootenay Ice in the fourth round of the 2014 bantam draft. He had 15 goals and 10 assists in 127 games with the Ice, before being dealt to the Broncos on Sept. 10, 2017, for G Bailey Brkin and a fifth-rounder in the 2018 bantam draft.

Last season, Patterson had nine goals and 15 assists in 72 games. He had five goals and SCBroncostwo assists in 26 playoff games. This season, he had eight goals and 11 assists in 27 games.

With his size, Patterson will give the Silvertips more grit along the boards and on the forecheck, and more net-front presence in the offensive zone.

Springer, from Yorkton, Sask., was listed by Everett last month. He was in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ training camp prior to the 2017-18 season.

Springer is playing for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos and is tied for the league lead with 18 goals. In 21 games, he has put up 25 points

Last season, Springer had 35 goals and 16 assists in 36 games with the midget AA Melville Millionaires.


The Moose Jaw Warriors were involved in two trades on Monday, acquiring F Luke Ormsby, 19, from the Everett Silvertips and getting F Kjell Kjemhus, 17, from the Prince MooseJawWarriorsGeorge Cougars.

In exchange for Ormsby, who is from Everett, the Warriors gave up a sixth-round selection in the 2022 bantam draft.

The Warriors gave up a seventh-round pick in the 2020 bantam draft for Kjemhus. The pick originally belonged to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

This season, Ormsby has three goals and three assists in 25 games. In 150 regular-season games, he has 11 goals and 13 assists. He was a ninth-round selection by Seattle in the 2014 bantam draft. The Silvertips acquired him from the Thunderbirds on Nov. 2, 2017, for a ninth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft.

Kjemhus, from Grande Prairie, Alta., was a fourth-round selection by the Regina Pats in the 2016 bantam draft. He was dealt to Prince George in January in a deal that had F Jesse Gabrielle, then 20, join the Pats.

This season, Kjemhus had two assists in five games with the Cougars and had been a frequent healthy scratch. In 36 career games, six of them with Regina, had has two goals and four assists.


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Seven WHL players were among the 34 invitees by Hockey Canada to the selection camp for the country’s national junior team.

The WHL contingent includes F Jaret Anderson-Dolan of the Spokane Chiefs, who is Canadasidelined with a broken wrist and may not have medical clearance in time for the selection camp.

Also on the camp roster are G Ian Scott and F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders, D Calen Addison of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, D Josh Brook of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Spokane D Ty Smith and F Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks.

The roster, which is right here, includes 14 players from the OHL, eight from the QMJHL, seven from NCAA teams and one from the NHL. F Gabe Vilardi is with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings but is expected to be assigned to the camp.

The roster features three goaltenders, 12 defenceman and 19 forwards.

The selection camp is to run Dec. 11-14 at the Q Centre, the home of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies.

The 2019 World Junior Championship runs from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Victoria and Vancouver.

NOTES: Finland’s selection camp roster includes D Lassi Thomson of the Kelowna Rockets. He is one of 10 defencemen on the roster. . . . Finland’s roster also includes F Aleksi Heponiemi, who played the past two seasons with the Swift Current Broncos but now is with Kärpät in Finland’s top pro league. Heponiemi, 19, put up 204 points, including 148 assists, over two seasons with the Broncos. He has six goals and 16 assists in 25 games with Kärpät. . . . Jiri Patera of the Brandon Wheat Kings is one of three goaltenders on Czech Republic’s selection camp roster. Also listed are D Filip Kral of Spokane, D Libor Zabransky of Kelowna and F Krystof Hrabik of the Tri-City Americans. D Daniel Bukac also is on the roster. He played two seasons with Brandon, and now is with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs.

——

At least three WHL players will be playing in the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division 1 Group A) that begins Sunday and runs through Dec. 15 in Fussen Germany.

F Aliaksei Protas and D Sergei Sapego of the Prince Albert Raiders will play for Belarus, while F Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen of the Saskatoon Blades is to be in Norway’s lineup.

The Division I Group A tournament features the national junior teams from Austria, Belarus, France, Germany, Latvia and Norway. The winner of the tournament will be promoted to play with the big boys in the 2020 World Junior Championship.

All three players are expected to miss six games, but should be back by Dec. 27 when both teams return from the Christmas break for a game in Saskatoon.



Veteran NHL assistant coach Rick Wilson, who spent eight seasons on the coaching staff of the Prince Albert Raiders, is joining the Philadelphia Flyers. Wilson, 68, is from Prince Albert. . . . He was an assistant coach with the Raiders for six seasons (1980-86) and the head coach for two seasons. . . . He then went on to an NHL career that has included stints with the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues. He actually had two stints with Dallas — 1993-2009 and last season. . . . With the Flyers, he will fill the void created by last week’s firing of Gord Murphy. Wilson be working under head coach Dave Hakstol, a former U of North Dakota head coach. Wilson played at UND and also spent two seasons (1978-80) there as an assistant coach. . . . The Wilson signing was first reported by Brad E. Schlossman of the Grand Forks, N.D., Herald.


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Ice, Rebels make 11-piece trade . . . Officiating has Brockman upset . . . Dewar gives Everett another victory

MacBeth

D Colton Jobke (Kelowna, Regina, 2009-13) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after a successful tryout. He had two goals and an assist in 22 games. He had been signed in July to a tryout contract that ran through Nov. 30.


ThisThat

COUNTDOWN TO DEADLINE

(WHL trade deadline: Jan. 10, 3 p.m. MT)

No. of trades: 6.

Players: 17.

Bantam draft picks: 15.

Conditional draft picks: 3.


Does this mean the next move is up to the Edmonton Oil Kings?

On Thursday, the Lethbridge Hurricanes acquired F Nick Henry and F Jake Leschyshyn, both 19, from the Regina Pats in a monster deal.

On Friday, the Red Deer Rebels picked up F Brett Davis and F Cam Hausinger, both 19, Red Deerfrom the Kootenay Ice, who acquired four players and as many as five bantam draft picks in the exchange.

Going into Friday’s games, the Rebels (16-8-1) led the Central Division by one point over the Oil Kings (14-10-4) despite having lost three straight. Red Deer was six points ahead of Lethbridge (11-8-5).

It would seem that the trading puck now is in Edmonton’s possession.

On Friday, here’s what went down between Red Deer and Kootenay . . .

The Rebels acquired . . .

  • F Cam Hausinger, 19
  • F Brett Davis, 19

The Ice acquired . . .

  • F River Fahey, 17
  • F Austin Schellenberg, 18
  • F Justin Svenson, 17
  • F Chase Bertholet, 15
  • 2019 first-round bantam draft pick
  • 2019 third-round bantam draft pick
  • 2019 sixth-round bantam draft pick
  • 2020 second-round bantam draft pick
  • 2022 conditional third-round bantam draft pick.

——

While not all-stars, Davis and Hausinger are experienced players who will score a bit and provide terrific depth to the Rebels’ forward ranks.

The Ice, meanwhile, add two more Manitoba prospects in advance of what is anticipated Kootenaynewwill be a move to Winnipeg before the 2019-20 season.

Davis, from Oakbank, Man., was selected by the Dallas Stars in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL draft, but has yet to sign. In 211 regular-season WHL games — 85 with Lethbridge and 126 with Kootenay — he has 55 goals and 65 assists. This season, he has seven goals and 12 assists in 24 games. Lethbridge selected him in the fourth round of the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft.

Like Davis, Hausinger, who is injured at the moment, is in his fourth WHL season. In 216 games, he has 42 goals and 44 assists. From Anchorage, he was a seventh-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2014 bantam draft. He played 78 games with the Blades before being dealt to the Rebels early in the 2016-17 season. Hausinger was in his second season with the Ice. This season, he has eight goals and nine assists in 17 games.

Fahey, from Campbell River, B.C., was a fourth-round pick by the Rebels in the 2016 bantam draft. He has one assist in 21 games after putting up one goal and two assists in 26 games with the Rebels last season.

Schellenberg is in his second season with the Rebels, and has one goal and five assists in 19 games. Last season, Schellenberg, a list player from Grande Prairie, Alta., had two goals and one assist in 46 games.

Svenson, from Ile Des Chenes, Man., has six goals and five assists in 15 games with the MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampeders. He was a third-round pick by the Rebels in the 2016 bantam draft. He is pointless in 19 games with the Rebels, 18 of them last season.

Bertholet was a fifth-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft. From Thompson, Man., he has five goals and 11 assists in 21 games with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos.

——

Later on Friday, the Kootenay Ice acquired F Jack Cowell, 19, from the Kelowna Rockets for a third-round selection in the 2020 bantam draft.

Cowell, a list player, had two goals and three assists in 26 games with the Rockets. In 156 career games with Kelowna, he had 16 goals and 35 assists.

With all signs pointing to the Ice relocating to Winnipeg before another season gets here, it’s worth noting that Cowell is from the Manitoba capital.


It seems that there are issues in the USA-Central Hockey League, a junior league that popped up in Texas over the summer and was to have included at least four teams.

Zach Duncan of the Wichita Falls Times Record News reported that the Wichita Falls Force had to postpone a Friday game against the host Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees because of problems with a bus company.

Duncan also reported that the Texas Lawmen, one of those four teams, had announced via its Facebook page that it was folding.

According to that page, “The three players that were left have decided to pursue other options in other leagues. . . . Earlier this week, the coaching staff resigned.”

It turns out that the Lawmen and Killer Bees played a game last week, but it was 3-on-3 due to a shortage of players. The Lawmen apparently had only four skaters.

Interestingly, the Force’s first head coach, Misko Antisin, resigned on Oct. 13 and was replaced by Troy Mick, who was the USA-CHL’s president. However, it could be that Mick no longer is with the Force or the league.

“USA-CHL president Troy Mick, who was heavily involved in the league’s day-to-day operations and station in Wichita Falls,” Duncan wrote, “hasn’t been heard from in weeks.”

Spies tell Taking Note that Mick, who is no stranger to B.C. hockey circles, was spotted on Tuesday at a BCHL game game in the home arena of the West Kelowna Warriors, who beat the Langley Rivermen, 4-3. Yes, he was seen chatting up Warriors’ owner Kim Dobranski.


“Todd Ewen was posthumously diagnosed earlier this year by a Boston University neuropathologist with the brain-withering disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a development that contradicts the findings of a Toronto doctor two years ago that the former National Hockey League player didn’t have the disease,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN.

“Ewen, who fought his way through a dozen NHL seasons, battled depression, anxiety and memory loss for the last 20 years of his life. He was certain he had CTE. On Sept. 19, 2015, he killed himself in the basement of his family’s home in St. Louis.”

Before playing in the NHL, Ewen fought his way through three WHL seasons with the New Westminster Bruins, recording 771 penalty minutes in 187 games.

In the NHL, Ewen had 1,914 penalty minutes in 518 games.

Ewen’s widow, Kelli, has gone public in demanding that the NHL “stand up and admit that CTE is real, that CTE exists . . .”

Westhead’s story is right here.


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FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

G Ethan Kruger stopped 29 shots to help the host Brandon Wheat Kings to a 5-1 victory BrandonWKregularover the Regina Pats. . . . Brandon (12-7-6) has won two in a row. . . . Regina (8-18-0) has lost three straight. . . . The Pats ended a seven-game road swing with this one. The trek included a trek through the B.C. Division. All told, they went (1-5-0). . . . The Pats won’t have much time to do laundry, though, as they are at home to the Prince Albert Raiders tonight. . . . In six appearances, Kruger, a freshman from Sherwood Park, Alta., is 3-1-2, 2.95, .910. . . . F Linden McCorrister (5) gave Brandon a 2-1 lead at 10:14 of the first period. . . . F Luka Burzan (16) made it 3-1, on a PP, at 6:21 of the second. . . . F Ty Kolle (8) scored Regina’s goal, his first with the Pats since coming over in a Thursday deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . F Jadon Joseph, the other player Regina got in that deal, drew an assist in his Pats debut. . . . F Brett Clayton, acquired from the Tri-City Americans on Monday, also was in the Pats’ lineup for the first time. . . . The Pats headed home to play the Prince Albert Raiders tonight, while the Wheat Kings are off to Swift Current where they will meet the Broncos tonight.


The Moose Jaw Warriors scored the game’s last three goals as they beat the host MooseJawWarriorsEdmonton Oil Kings, 3-1. . . . Moose Jaw (14-5-4) has points in nine straight (8-0-1). . . . Edmonton (14-11-4) has lost four in a row (0-3-1). . . . F Brett Kemp (18) gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 15:17 of the first period. . . . Freshman F Brayden Tracey (9) got Moose Jaw even at 10:55 of the second and F Yegor Buyalski (5) snapped the tie at 13:22. . . . F Justin Almeida (5) provided the insurance at 2:57 of the third period. . . . The Warriors got 35 saves from G Adam Evanoff, including 14 in each of the last two periods. . . . Edmonton G Todd Scott was in uniform for the first time this season as he backed up Dylan Myskiw, who finished with 19 saves. . . . F Peyton McKenzie, 16, made  his debut with the Warriors and drew the primary assist on Buyalski’s goal. A third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft, McKenzie plays for the Edmonton-OHA prep team. . . . The Warriors are in Red Deer tonight, while the Oil Kings face the Hitmen in Calgary.


F Zach Cox broke a 1-1 tie at 14:28 of the second period and the Lethbridge Hurricanes Lethbridgewent on to a 3-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Lethbridge (12-8-5) has points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . Swift Current (4-20-2) has lost two in a row. . . . F Justin Hall (1) gave Lethbridge a 1-0 lead with his first WHL score, at 4:07 of the second period. . . . F Max Patterson (8) tied it at 11:54. . . . Cox’s ninth goal turned into the winner. . . . F Jake Elmer (12) added insurance at 6:38 of the third. . . . F Nick Henry and F Jake Leschyshyn, who were acquired Wednesday from the Regina Pats, made their Lethbridge debuts on a line with F Jordy Bellerive, the team captain. . . . Leschyshyn drew an assist on Hall’s Teddy Bear goal. . . . Broncos F Alec Zawatsky, who drew an assist on their goal, didn’t finish the game. . . . Dean Brockman, the Broncos’ GM/head coach, wasn’t pleased about the officiating and likely will be making a contribution to the WHL office’s Christmas fund. After the game, Shawn Mullin, the Broncos’ radio voice, tweeted this from Brockman: “I didn’t like the way the game was called at all. It was awful. The third goal . . . I’m not sure what you’re looking at. When your team is battling the way it is and there’s some missed and non-calls . . . to me that’s really not acceptable. The third goal (Broncos G Joel Hofer) gets knocked into the net. It’s hard to make a save when you’re getting planted . . . we just hope the vision is little a bit broader in the next couple games.” . . . The Broncos headed home after the game to face the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight. . . . The Hurricanes are in Medicine Hat tonight.


The host Red Deer Rebels scored the game’s first five goals en route to a 6-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Red Deer (17-8-1) had lost its previous three games. . . . Calgary (10-14-3) had points in its previous three games (2-0-1). The Hitmen finished 4-2-1 on a seven-game road trip. They will entertain the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight. . . . F Jeff de Wit, F Brandon Hagel and F Chris Douglas each scored twice for Red Deer. . . . De Wit now has 19 goals, with Hagel, who also had an assist, at 17 and Douglas at eight. . . . De Wit left in the third period with an undisclosed injury. . . . F Luke Coleman (8) and F Mark Kastelic (22) scored for Calgary to get the Hitmen to within three, at 5-2, in the third period. . . . Calgary had a 45-23 edge in shots, as Red Deer G Ethan Anders stopped 43 shots. . . . The Rebels had D Alex Alexeyev back in their lineup after a two-game absence. . . . The Rebels are at home again tonight, this time against Moose Jaw. . . . The Hitmen also will play at home as they meet Edmonton.


D Quinn Schmiemann scored in OT to give the Kamloops Blazers a 3-2 victory over the Kamloops1visiting Saskatoon Blades. . . . Kamloops improved to 10-11-2. It now is 1-4-2 in one-goal games. . . . The Blades (16-9-3) are 2-1-1 in their trip through the B.C. Division. . . . Saskatoon led this one 2-0 in the second period on goals from D Emil Malysjev (1) and F Max Gerlach (17), the latter on a PP. . . . F Jermaine Loewen (9), back after a two-game absence, scored Kamloops’ first goal, at 15:45 of the second period, and F Connor Zary (6) tied it on a breakaway at 9:15 of the third. . . . Schmiemann (2) won it at 1:29 of OT, beating Saskatoon G Nolan Maier with a quick shot under the cross-bar from the right wing. . . . G Dylan Ferguson was among the Blazers’ scratches. He was injured in a goal-mouth collision during a game in Spokane on Nov. 24. With Ferguson out, Royce Ramsay of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos was backing up Dylan Garand, who finished with 23 saves. . . . D Jackson Caller and F Jeff Faith, acquired in deals on Monday, were in the Blazers’ lineup. . . . D Nolan Kneen, who went to Saskatoon in the deal that had Caller land in his hometown, played his third game with the Blades. . . . With East Division teams playing in B.C. only once every two seasons, this was Blades D Dawson Davidson’s first game in Kamloops since the Blazers dealt him to the Regina Pats on Dec. 27, 2016. The Blades got him from the Pats on Jan. 8. . . . This game featured an interesting coaching matchup in that the head coaches — Mitch Love of Saskatoon and Serge Lajoie of Kamloops — are in their first seasons and were the last two candidates on the Blades’ shortlist during the off-season. . . . After the game, the Blades ate at Frankly Coffee and then it was off to Kelowna where they will meet the Rockets tonight. . . . The Blazers will be at home against the Seattle Thunderbirds tonight.


F Andrej Kukuca broke a 4-4 tie in the third period and the Seattle Thunderbirds went on Seattleto a 7-4 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Kent, Wash. . . . The Thunderbirds (9-12-3) had lost three in a row and were 1-8-1 in their last 10. . . . The Ice (7-18-4) have lost seven straight (0-6-1). . . . F Peyton Krebs, who scored three times for the Kootenay, erased a two-goal deficit by scoring at 8:38 of the second period and 3:41 of the third. Krebs completed his first WHL hat trick with a PP goal. Krebs is seen as a likely first-round selection in the NHL’s 2019 draft and he put on a show for the scouts in the house. . . . Kukuca gave Seattle a 5-4 lead with his sixth goal at 4:49. . . . F Zack Andrusiak’s 18th goal, his third of the night, upped the lead to 6-4 at 9:50, and F Tyler Carpendale (2) added more insurance at 14:17. . . . Andrusiak, who has four career hat tricks, has goals in seven straight games, including six over his past two games. He also had an assist for a four-point evening. . . . The Ice got three assists from F Brad Ginnell. . . . Seattle F Noah Philp, back after a nine-game absence, scored his 10th goal and added an assist. . . . The Thunderbirds boarded their bus after the game and headed for Kamloops where they will meet the Blazers tonight. . . . The Ice will move on to Everett and a game against the Silvertips tonight.


F Leif Mattson scored in OT to give the Kelowna Rockets a 3-2 victory over the Tri-City KelownaRocketsAmericans in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Kelowna (12-15-1) had lost its previous two games. . . . Tri-City (13-9-1) had won its previous two outings. . . . F Kyle Olson (5) gave Tri-City a 1-0 lead at 16:00 of the first period. . . . Mattson tied it at 5:58 of the second period and F Kyle Crosby (4) gave the visitors a 2-1 lead at 15:39. . . . Tri-City F Krystof Hrabik (8) pulled his guys even with 10.2 seconds left in the third period. . . . Mattson won it with his 11th goal just 20 seconds into extra time. . . . The Rockets lost F Ted Brennan to a checking-from-major and game misconduct for a hit on D Bryan McAndrews at 5:53 of the first period. . . . The Rockets headed home after the game because they are to play the travelling Saskatoon Blades tonight. . . . The Americans also are on the road today. They’ll face the Vancouver Giants at the Pacific Coliseum.


F Connor Dewar scored in OT to give the host Everett Silvertips a 5-4 victory over the EverettSpokane Chiefs. . . . Everett (21-7-1) has points in seven straight (6-0-1). The Silvertips went 11-2-1 in November. . . . Spokane (14-8-4) has point four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Chiefs held a 3-1 lead early in the third period but weren’t able to hold it. . . . D Filip Kral (2) gave Spokane that 3-1 lead, on a PP, at 4:38 of the third. . . . The Silvertips responded with three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead. . . . D Wyatte Wylie (6) scored at 10:23. F Akash Bains (5) tied it at 13:26. F Martin Fasko-Rudas (8) put Everett ahead at 17:33. . . . The Chiefs forced OT when F Ethan McIndoe (7) scored with 15.2 seconds left in the third. . . . Dewar’s 23rd goal won it 53 seconds into OT. . . . The Chiefs were 3-6 on the PP. . . . The Silvertips are at home tonight to the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Chiefs are off to Portland for a date tonight with the Winterhawks.


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McGeough, ex-referee, dies at 62 . . . Cozens, Addison blow through Brandon . . . Raiders run victory streak to 15


MacBeth

D Alexei Platonov (Medicine Hat, 2015-16) has been assigned on loan by Lada Togliatti (Russia, Vysshaya Liga) to Cheboksary (Russia, Pervenstvo Vysshaya Liga). Platonov was injured during the exhibition season and hasn’t played in the regular season. Last season, he had one goal and two assists in 24 games with Toros Neftekamsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). . . .

G Andrei Makarov (Saskatoon, 2011-13) has been claimed on waivers by Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg (Russia, KHL) from Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). This season, with Nizhnekamsk, he got into six games and was 1-3-1, 2.64, .897. In seven games with CSK VSS Samara (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), he was 3-2-2, 1.95 GAA, .913.


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Former WHL/NHL referee Mick McGeough died Friday night in a Regina hospital. . . . His family revealed earlier in the day that he was to be taken off life support. McGeough, 62, had suffered a stroke on Sunday. . . . According to the Regina Leader-Post, McGeough’s family “made the announcement Friday — one day after a GoFundMe page was set up to assist with medical expenses.” . . . The Leader-Post story, which was written early on Friday and includes a link to a GoFundMe page, is right here.


G Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders is on quite a run.

Consider . . .

On Nov. 14, Scott stopped 43 shots in posting a 2-0 shutout over the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers, perhaps missing an empty-net goal when his attempt to fire the puck the length of the ice struck the scoreclock.

On Nov. 16, Scott scored an empty-net goal in a 3-1 victory over the visiting Tri-City Americans.

On Nov. 17, Scott blocked 26 shots in a 6-0 beating of the Wheat Kings in Brandon.

On Nov. 20, Scott and the Raiders dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 5-1.

Last night, Scott stopped 26 shots and had an assist as the Raiders beat the Tigers, 7-3, in Medicine Hat. In earning the assist, his first of the season (and third of his career), Scott corralled the puck behind his goal and fired it off the left boards and right on to the stick of F Brett Leason. The WHL’s leading scorer went in shorthanded and scored, giving the Raiders a 4-0 lead.

This season, Scott is 19-1-0, 1.45, .948.

Scott, 20, is from Calgary. His NHL rights belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who selected him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2017 draft.


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The Nelson Daily has dubbed it “Twitter-Gate.” That would be the sniping that went on following a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League game between the Nelson Leafs and the host Spokane Braves on Sunday. . . . In a story that is right here, The Daily reports that Larry Martel, the KIJHL president, has told both teams to cut it out. . . . The good news for Spokane hockey fans is that the two teams will close out November on Friday at Eagles Ice Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.

——

Former WHL D Jonas Harkins has joined the junior B North Van Wolf Pack of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. Harkins, who will turn 18 on Dec. 26, made his debut with the Wolf Pack on Wednesday night. A native of North Vancouver, he played 34 WHL games over four seasons with the Prince George Cougars and Regina Pats.


FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Dylan Cozens scored three goals and set up three others, and D Calen Addison drew Lethbridgefive assists, as the Hurricanes skated to an 8-4 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Lethbridge (11-8-4) has won two straight. The victory moved it into a tie with Brandon in the Eastern Conference standings. . . . The Wheat Kings (10-7-6) have lost three in a row. . . . The Hurricanes were 5-6 on the PP. . . . F Jordy Bellerive (10), who also had two assists, gave Lethbridge a 2-1 lead at 8:13 of the first period, and Cozens upped it to 3-1, on a PP, at 18:04. Cozens made it 4-1 on another PP at 4:06 of the second and the Hurricanes were in control. . . . Cozens enjoyed the first six-point game of his career, and had his third hat trick. This season, Cozens has 30 points, including 12 goals, in 23 games. . . . Addison has four goals and 21 assists in 23 games. . . . Addison, who is from Brandon, had a five-point night last season when he recorded five assists in a 7-2 victory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . F Ty Kolle scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him seven goals and four assists since being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Stelio Mattheos, who has 21. . . . G Jiri Patera of the Wheat Kings was pulled for the first time in his freshman season. It came in his 19th start. He gave up three goals on 16 shots in the first period. . . . Brandon had D Schael Higson in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 16, but D Braden Schneider remains sidelined.


F Tristin Langan scored his second goal of the game in OT to give the host Moose Jaw MooseJawWarriorsWarriors a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Moose Jaw (11-5-4) has points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . Edmonton now is 14-8-4. . . . The teams exchanged goals until the Warriors scored the last two. . . . F Kaeden Taphorn (2) tied it 3-3 at 15:55 of the third period. It was his first goal in seven games with the Warriors since coming over in a deal with the Kootenay Ice. . . . Langan, who also had an assist, won it with his 17th goal, at 3:08 of OT. . . . The Warriors got three assists from D Josh Brook. . . . F Justin Almeida returned to Moose Jaw’s lineup after missing four games with an undisclosed injury suffered in Game 1 of the CIBC Canada Russia Series. He had a goal, his fourth, and the primary assist on Langan’s winner. . . . F Trey Fix-Wolansky scored his 15th goal 22 seconds into the first period and added two assists. . . . Edmonton was 1-4 on the PP; Moose Jaw’s unit wasn’t given even one opportunity. . . . F Andrei Pavlenko, a freshman from Belarus, as back after sitting out since Nov. 12. . . . This game actually featured four players from Belarus — Pavlenko and F Vladimir Alistrov of the Oil Kings, and F Yegor Buyalski and F Daniil Stepanov of the Warriors. . . . The Warriors will be on the ice again this afternoon as they meet the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes in a game that is to be televised by Sportsnet. Game time is 2:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. MT, 12:30 p.m. PT). The Hurricanes beat the Wheat Kings, 8-4, in Brandon last night.


F Brandon Hagel’s late goal gave the Red Deer Rebels a 3-2 victory over the Kootenay Ice Red Deerin Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Rebels (16-5-1) have won five in a row. They are 4-0-0 against the Ice this season, having won three times by one goal. . . . The Ice (7-15-4) has lost four straight (0-3-1). . . . The Rebels took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals from D Dawson Barteaux (2), on a PP, and F Jeff de Wit (15). . . . The Ice tied it on two goals from F Cam Hausinger, who has eight. He scored at 15:07 of the first, on a PP, and 5:46 of the third. . . . Nagel, who also had an assist, won it with his 15th of the year, at 19:10. . . . D Alex Alexeyev and F Reese Johnson each had two assists for the Rebels. . . . The Ice remains without F Peyton Krebs.


F Brett Leason had two goals and two assists to help the Prince Albert Raiders to their PrinceAlbert15th consecutive victory, this one by a 7-3 count over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. . . . The Raiders now are 22-1-0. . . . The 15-game victory streak has tied a franchise record set in 1985-86. Next up for the Raiders? They’re in Cranbrook, B.C., tonight to meet the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Tigers slipped to 10-12-3. . . . The Raiders won the season series, 4-0-0, outscoring the Tigers, 19-7. . . . Leason ran his point streak to 23 games — yes, he has at least a point in every game this season — when he gave his guys a 2-0 lead at 9:22 of the first period. . . . His second goal, at 1:30 of the second period, came while shorthanded and gave his club a 4-0 lead. The Raiders now have scored a WHL-leading 15 shorthanded goals; the Red Deer Rebels are next with seven. . . . The Tigers came back to get within a goal, at 4-3, on a goal from F Ryan Jevne (7) at 7:50 of the third period. . . . The Raiders put it away with three goals in a span of 1:26 later in the period. . . . F Parker Kelly scored twice for the winners, giving him nine. . . . Leason leads the WHL in goals (24) and is tied with Edmonton F Trey Fix-Wolansky for the points lead, each with 51. . . . Tigers D Joel Craven missed his 13th straight game with concussion-like symptoms, while F Elijah Brown (shoulder) also is out.


The host Kelowna Rockets scored the game’s first two goals and went on to beat the KelownaRocketsVictoria Royals, 3-1. . . . Kelowna (11-13-1) has won three in a row. . . . Victoria (12-7-0) had won its previous two games. . . . F Kyle Topping (10) gave Kelowna a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 10:47 of the second period. . . . The Rockets nursed that lead until 14:05 of the third when F Liam Kindree (5) made it 2-0. . . . F Kaid Oliver (14) got the Royals to within one at 18:18. . . . F Leif Mattson (9) gave the Rockets some insurance at 19:53. . . . Kelowna got 23 saves from G Roman Basran. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse, who stopped 26 shots, set a franchise record by playing in his 166th game. He had shared the record with Coleman Vollrath (2012-16). . . . The Royals had F Dante Hannoun back in the lineup, but D Ralph Jarratt remains out. . . . D Braydyn Chizen was among Kelowna’s scratches.


The Prince George Cougars scored the game’s first two goals and the last two as they beat PrinceGeorgethe visiting Regina Pats, 5-3. . . . The Cougars (10-10-3) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Pats (8-17-0) have lost two in a row. . . . The Pats went 1-5-0 on their road swing, including 1-4-0 in the B.C. Division. . . . F Jackson Leppard (5) got the home side off to a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded score at 5:58 of the first period. . . . D Joel Lakuska (4) made it 2-0 at 11:40. . . . F Josh Maser (7) gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead at 2:32 of the second period. . . . The Pats got even on F Nick Henry’s three goals, in a span of 6:59 in the second period. It was the third hat trick of his career and the second in eight days. Henry also scored three times on Nov. 16 in a 10-4 loss to the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . Henry’s 15th goal tied the game at 7:41 of the second. . . . Prince George F Ethan Browne (5) broke the tie, on a PP, at 11:57 of the second. . . . F Josh Curtis (6) got the empty-netter at 19:01. . . . Prince George G Isaiah DiLaura stopped 30 shots. . . . The Pats lost F Marco Creta to a boarding major and game misconduct at 9:30 of the second period. . . . Regina F Jake Leschyshyn had his 12-game point streak snapped.


G Carl Stankowski stopped 24 shots for the Calgary Hitmen in his return to Kent, Wash., Calgaryas they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. . . . The Hitmen (10-13-2) have won two in a row in the U.S. Division. They are 4-1-0 on a road trip that wraps up tonight in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Thunderbirds (8-11-3) have lost two straight. . . . “I’ve had this game marked on my calendar for a long time,” Stankowski told Alex Medina of hitmenhockey.com before the game. “I’m pretty anxious to go there and play against some of my old teammates. It’s going to be really fun and exciting to go back in that barn. It’ll bring back a lot of great memories. I want to win that game really bad.” . . . Stankowski, then 16, was Seattle’s starting goaltender in the playoffs as they won the WHL championship in the spring of 2017. After getting into only seven regular-season games, he went 16-4, 2.50, .911 in the playoffs after starter Rylan Toth was injured. . . . Stankowski ran into injury and health issues, and didn’t play last season, then was dealt to Calgary over the summer. . . . With the Hitmen, he now is 6-6-2, 3.72, .879. . . . The Hitmen got two goals from each of F Mark Kastelic, who has 21, and F Luke Coleman, who has seven. . . . Kastelic’s two goals, one on a PP, and one from F Carson Focht (5), at 1:59 of the second period, gave the visitors a 3-0 lead. . . . Seattle got to within a goal as F Matthew Wedman (8) scored, shorthanded, at 7:55 of the second period and F Zack Andrusiak (12) found the range at 10:05 of the third. . . . But F Luke Coleman put it away with two empty-netters, giving him seven goals. . . . Calgary was 1-2 on the PP and 7-7 on the PK. . . . Andrusiak has goals in five straight games.


The Kamloops Blazers scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Tri-City Americans, Kamloops15-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Blazers (9-10-2), who are only 2-6-1 at home, now are 7-4-0 on the road where they have won six of their last seven. . . . The Americans (12-9-0) have lost three straight. . . . The Americans last played at home on Oct. 19. They then went on an 11-game road trip on which they were 7-4-0. . . . F Orrin Centazzo scored the Blazers’ first two goals, giving them a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first period and a 2-1 edge, on a PP, at 4:12 of the second. He’s got six goals. . . . D Montana Onyebuchi (2) had a goal and an assist for Kamloops, with F Zane Franklin and F Luc Smith each getting two assists. . . . The game featured the Schmiemann brothers playing against each other — Dom with the Americans and Quinn with the Blazers. Quinn’s first WHL goal gave the Blazers a 4-1 lead at 14:51 of the second. The goal came in his 20th WHL game, 17 of them this season. . . . Kamloops got 34 stops from G Dylan Ferguson. . . . F Jermaine Loewen, the team captain, was among the Blazers’ scratches. He apparently was ill.


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Did Leason make the right choice? . . . Edmonton takes battle of Kings . . . Stankowski, Hitmen win in Portland


ThisThat

Hockey or football? Football or hockey? . . . It’s not that long ago when Brett Leason was PrinceAlbertputting up pretty impressive numbers as a quarterback in peewee football. On top of that, his father, Darryl, was a superb university quarterback and, at 44, continues to play competitively. Still, Brett ended up choosing hockey and it would seem that he made the right decision. . . . After all, the Prince Albert Raiders forward went into Wednesday’s games leading the WHL in goals and points. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more on the Leasons right here.


Kelly Sowatsky, a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, needed a kidney transplant. So she showed up at a Penguins game on March 31 with a sign. She got a new kidney on Nov. 6. . . . Mike Brehm of USA Today has that story right here.


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WEDNESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

F Quinn Benjafield scored twice to help the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings to a 4-1 victory EdmontonOilKingsover the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Edmonton (14-8-3) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Brandon (10-6-6) has lost two in a row. . . . F Stelio Mattheos (19) gave Brandon a 1-0 lead, on the PP, at 2:49 of the first period . . . Edmonton F Brett Kemp (16) got that one back at 4:50. . . . The Oil Kings took control with two more goals before the period ended. . . . Benjafield scored at 16:38 and F Trey Fix-Wolansky (14) made it 3-1, on a PP, at 19:21. . . . Benjafield, who has 10 goals, added an empty-netter at 19:52. . . . Fix-Wolansky also had an assist, moving back atop the WHL scoring race. He’s got 48 points, one more than the idle Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders. Fix-Wolansky also leads the WHL in assists (34). . . . G Dylan Myskiw stopped 30 shots for Edmonton. The Oil Kings acquired Myskiw, 19, from Brandon on Sept 19, giving up a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. With Edmonton, Myskiw is 11-5-2, 2.95, .905. . . . The Wheat Kings are without two of their top defencemen in Schael Higson and Braden Schneider.


G Carl Tetachuk stopped 35 shots to help the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 3-1 victory over Lethbridgethe Blades in Saskatoon. . . . Lethbridge (10-8-4) had lost its previous two games. . . . Saskatoon (14-8-2) had a four-game winning streak come to an end. . . . The Hurricanes scored the game’s last three goals after F Tristen Robins (3) gave the home boys a 1-0 lead at 19:07 of the first period. . . . F Jadon Joseph (10) tied it just 35 seconds later. . . . F Ty Kolle (5), who also had two assists, broke the tie at 3:17 of the third period. . . . F Jackson Shepard (1) got the empty-netter at 19:35. . . . Kolle has five goals and four assists in 15 games with Lethbridge after being acquired from the Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Blades will open a five-game B.C. Division swing in Prince George on Saturday night.


F Nolan Foote scored a pair of PP goals to lead the host Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 victory KelownaRocketsover the Regina Pats. . . . The Rockets (10-13-1) have won two in a row. They also have won four straight at home. . . . The Pats (8-16-0) are 1-3-0 on a B.C. Division tour that concludes Friday in Prince George. . . . F Kyle Crosbie (3) and Foote gave the Rockets a 2-0 lead, before F Jake Leschyshyn (16) got the Pats to within one at 13:00 of the second period. That ran his point streak to 12 games. . . . Foote restored the two-goal lead with his 15th score at 18:23. . . . Regina D Aaron Hyman (5) got the Pats to within a goal, on a PP, at 19:01 of the third. . . . Finnish D Lassi Thomson, a freshman, had two assists for Kelowna. He’s got seven goals and 11 assists in 24 games.


The Calgary Hitmen erased a 1-0 deficit with three goals and went on to score a 3-2 Calgaryvictory over the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . Calgary (9-13-2) is 2-1-0 on a five-game trip through the U.S. Division. . . . Portland (13-8-2) has lost two in a row. . . . F Cody Glass (8) ran a point streak to 10 games as he gave his guys a 1-0 lead at 9:28 of the first period. . . . F Jake Kryski (11) got Calgary even, on a PP, at 5:42 of the second. . . . Hitmen F James Malm (12) broke the tie at 3:46 of the third period, and F Riley Stotts (6) made it 3-1 at 7:52. . . . D John Ludvig (1) scored at 15:17 as Portland got to within a goal. . . . Calgary was 1-3 on the PP and its penalty-killers were 5-5. . . . D Brendan De Jong was back in Portland’s lineup after a one-game absence. . . . The Hitmen got 38 saves from G Carl Stankowski. You will recall that Stankowski, then 16, wrote quite a story in the WHL playoffs in the spring of 2017 as he helped the Seattle Thunderbirds to a championship. He ran into injury and health problems and didn’t play last season, then was dealt to Calgary. The Hitmen are scheduled to visit the Thunderbirds on Friday night.


The Vancouver Giants opened a 3-0 lead and went on to beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-Vancouver2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Vancouver (15-6-2) had lost its previous two games. . . . Seattle now is 8-10-3. . . . The Giants got first-period goals from D Bowen Byram (7), on a PP, and D Dylan Plouffe (3). . . . F Milos Roman (11) made it 3-0, on another PP, at 3:54 of the second period. . . . F Nolan Volcan (5) got Seattle on the scoreboard, shorthanded, at 14:37. . . . However, F Lukas Svejkovsky (2) restored Vancouver’s three-goal lead at 14:13 of the third period. . . . F Zack Andrusiak (11) got Seattle’s second goal, on a PP, at 17:03. . . . Plouffe, who played in his 200th career game, has two goals and four assists in a four-game point streak. . . . G Trent Miner stopped 23 shots for Vancouver. . . . G David Tendeck was among the Giants’ scratches. With him on the shelf, the Giants had Braedy Euerby backing up Miner. Euerby, from Delta, B.C., was a fifth-round pick by Vancouver in the 2017 bantam draft. He plays for the Delta Hockey Academy prep team. . . . F Lucas Ciona made his WHL debut with the Thunderbirds. Ciona, 15, is from Edmonton. He was a second-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. He has six goals and eight assists in 16 games with the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. He also has one assist in two games with the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints.


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Scott, Raiders run win streak to 13 . . . Kastelic sparks Hitmen in Spokane . . . Everett wins battle of division leaders

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F Miles Koules (Medicine Hat, Portland, 2012-15) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with HIFK Helsinki (Finland, Liiga) after obtaining his release from the Cleveland Monsters (AHL). He was pointless in two games with Cleveland. . . .

G Marek Langhamer (Medicine Hat, 2012-15) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Maur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). This season, in eight games with Kometa Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he was 2.38 and .916. . . .

D John Negrin (Kootenay, Swift Current, 2004-09) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with MAC Újbuda Budapest (Hungary, Slovakia Extraliga). Last season, with Lørenskog (Norway, GET-Ligaen), he had two goals and 13 assists in 24 games. . . .

F Zack Hamill (Everett, 2003-08) has signed a contract through Jan. 1 with Bad Nauheim (Germany, DEL2). Last season, he had 11 goals and eight assists in 27 games with Lørenskog (Norway, GET-Ligaen), and four goals and five assists in 21 games with Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic, 1. Liga).


ThisThat

Hey, is that a quintessential Canadian photo, or what?

I saw this photo early Saturday and it about knocked me over. What a grand photograph.


The WHL’s Official Guide for 2018-19 now is available for download. You are able to find it right here.

Here are a few dates of note that you will find in the Guide . . .

Dec. 15-27 — WHL trade moratorium for roster players.

Jan. 10 — WHL trade deadline (3 p.m. MT).

Jan. 23 — CHL Top Prospects Game, Red Deer.

March 22 — Start of WHL playoffs.

May 1 — WHL awards luncheon, Red Deer.

May 2 — WHL bantam draft, Red Deer.

May 17-26 — Memorial Cup, Halifax.

June 11-12 — WHL annual meeting, Kelowna.

June 21-22 — NHL draft, Vancouver.

June 26 or 27 — CHL import draft.


By now, you will be familiar with the story of the players from the Ottawa Senators who took a Uber ride and had their conversation go viral when the driver put the video online. . . . Well, there is an interesting story right here about how a lot of the online outrage that was aimed at two Postmedia newspapers turned out to be from fake Twitter accounts. . . . Yes, you may chalk this up as one more sign of the times.


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SATURDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

One night after becoming the eighth WHL goaltender to score a goal, Ian Scott stopped 26 shots to help the visiting Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-0 victory over the Brandon Wheat PrinceAlbertKings. . . . The Raiders (20-1-0) became the first CHL team to 20 victories this season as they ran their winning streak to 13 games. . . . Brandon (10-5-6) had points in each of its previous three games (2-0-1). . . . Scott has four shutouts this season and seven in his career. He didn’t put up a shutout in 50 appearances last season. He made his 18th appearance of this season last night. He now is 17-1-0, 1.39, .950. . . . The Raiders took control in the first period with a pair of PP goals. F Sean Montgomery started it at 9:34 and F Carson Miller (8) made it 2-0 at 15:44. . . . Montgomery added his second goal, and 11th of the season, on a PP in the third period. . . . D Sergei Sapego had three assists, and F Brett Leason ran his point streak to 21 games with his 19th goal and an assist. . . . The Raiders were 3-8 on the PP and got another shorthanded goal. Prince Albert has scored 22 PP goals, while surrendering one shorthanded score. At the same time, it has struck for 12 shorthanded goals while giving up just seven PP goals. . . . Brandon D Braden Schneider left in the first period and didn’t return.


The host Saskatoon Blades scored three goals in the second half of the third period to beat the Tri-City Americans, 5-3. . . . Saskatoon (14-7-2) has won four in a row. . . . Tri-City Saskatoon(12-8-0) has lost two straight. The Americans went 7-4-0 on an 11-game road trip. They finished 2-4-0 in the East Division. . . . Tri-City, which last played at home on Oct. 19, is scheduled to entertain the Kamloops Blazers on Friday. . . . D Dom Schmiemann (1) pulled the Americans into a 2-2 tie at 9:53 of the second period, and F Parker AuCoin (12) gave the visitors the lead at 10:13 of the third. . . . F Eric Florchuk got the Blades into a 3-3 tie at 13:53. . . . D Randen Schmidt’s first WHL goal, at 15:32, turned into the winner, and Florchuk added insurance with his seventh goal at 17:34. . . . Schmidt, a 18-year-old from Regina, had seven assists in 36 games with the Blades last season. This season, he has one goal and one assists in 17 games. . . . The Blades got a goal and three assists from F Kirby Dach. The second-overall pick in the 2016 bantam draft now has 13 goals and 26 assists in 23 games. He finished last season with seven goals and 39 assists in 52 games. . . . G Nolan Maier stopped 29 shots for Saskatoon. . . . Tri-City Beck Warm blocked 35 shots in his 13th straight start.


Mads Søgaard recorded his first WHL shutout as the Medicine Hat Tigers went into Swift Tigers Logo OfficialCurrent and beat the Broncos, 2-0. . . . Medicine Hat (10-11-3) had lost is previous five games (0-4-1). . . . The Tigers went 1-3-0 in playing four road games in five nights. . . . Swift Current (3-18-2) has lost five straight (0-4-1) and has been blanked in three of its last four outings. . . . Søgaard blocked 48 shots. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski scored both goals, at 8:34 and 13:47 of the first period. He’s got nine goals.


F Nolan Foote scored twice and added an assist to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 3-1 KelownaRocketsvictory over the Oil Kings in Edmonton. . . . Kelowna (9-13-1) had lost its previous four games (0-3-1). . . . The Rockets went 2-3-1 on a six-game road trip. . . . The Oil Kings (13-8-3) had points in each of their previous 10 games (8-0-2). . . . F David Kope (4) gave the home boys a 1-0 lead at 9:11 of the first period. . . . The Rockets scored the next three goals, with F Liam Kindree (4) equalizing on a PP at 11:53. Foote, who has 13 goals, counted at 10:06 and 10:38 of the second period. . . . F Leif Mattson had three assists for Kelowna. . . . The Oil Kings held a 27-13 edge in shots. Kelowna had two, seven and four shots, by period. . . . F Zach Russell, a 19-year-old from Calgary, made his Edmonton debut. Russell played one game with the Brandon Wheat Kings last season, but spent most of it with the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks, putting up 16 goals and 20 assists in 43 games. In 2016-17, he had three goals and two assists in 40 games with Brandon.


F Tristin Langan scored twice as the Moose Jaw Warriors skated to a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. . . . The Warriors (9-5-4) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Hurricanes are 9-7-4. . . . Langan gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 18:46 of the first period. . . . F Logan Barlage (8) tied it at 1:17 of the second. . . . F Brayden Tracey (6) snapped the tie, on a PP, to put Moose Jaw ahead at 9:57. . . . Langan upped the lead to 3-1 with his 15th goal, at 10:54 of the third. . . . The Hurricanes got back to within one at 16:59 as F Zachary Cox (7) scored on a PP. . . . The Hurricanes got 38 saves from G Carl Tetachuk.


F Reese Johnson completed his hat trick in OT as the Red Deer Rebels beat the visiting KootenaynewKootenay Ice, 5-4. . . . The Rebels (15-5-1) have won four in a row. . . . The Ice (7-13-4) has lost two in a row (0-1-1). . . . Johnson, who has 13 goals, scored Red Deer’s last three goals. He broke a 2-2 tie, on a PP, at 13:21 of the second period. . . . F Connor McLennon (4) pulled the Ice back into a tie with his second goal of the game, at 16:07. He also had an assist. . . . Johnson gave Red Deer a 4-3 lead with a shorthanded score at 2:25 of the third. . . . Kootenay D Jonathan Smart (3) tied it, again, on a PP, at 3:40. . . . Johnson won it on another PP, at 2:50 of OT. . . . Red Deer was 3-4 on the PP; Kootenay was 1-2. . . . F Brandon Hagel drew four assists for the Rebels. He now has 14 goals and 23 assists in 37 games. The four-point game also put him over a point a game for his career. In 213 regular-season games, he now has 214 points. . . . F Owen Pederson scored the game’s first goal, giving the Ice a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the first period. Pederson, 16, was brought in earlier in the day from the OHA-Edmonton prep team. This was his seventh game of the season with the Ice; the goal was his first point.


The Kamloops Blazers allowed only 14 shots on goal as they skated to a 5-1 victory over Kamloops1the Cougars in Prince George. . . . Kamloops (7-9-2) had lost its previous four games (0-3-1). . . . Prince George (9-9-3) had won two in a row. . . . The Blazers held a 36-14 edge in shots, giving up only four, four and six by period. . . . Kamloops was 3-7 on the PP. . . . F Jermaine Loewen scored twice for the Blazers, giving them 2-0 and 3-0 leads. He’s got eight goals. . . . F Zane Franklin got his 13th goal fro Kamloops. . . . F Mike MacLean (2) scored for the Cougars at 16:25 of the third period. . . . Kamloops won 39 of the game’s 59 faceoffs.


The Seattle Thunderbirds erased an early 2-0 deficit with five straight goals and went on to beat the Portland Winterhawks, 6-4, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle (8-9-3) had lost its Seattleprevious seven games (0-6-1). . . . Portland had points in each of its previous seven games (6-0-1). . . . F Jake Gricius, with his first of two goals, and D Clay Hanus (2) put Portland ahead before the game was eight minutes old. . . . Seattle tied it before the first period ended, as F Jared Davidson got his first WHL goal and F Samuel Huo scored his third of the season. . . . Seattle F Matthew Wedman put his guys out front, 4-2, with goals at 5:10 and 5:47 of the second period. . . . F Andrej Kukuca (5) made it 5-2 at 4:08 of the third and the writing was on the wall. . . . Gricius got the game’s last goal, his 12th, on a PP, at 19:26. . . . Wedman also had an assist for a three-point night, while teammate Nolan Volcan had three assists. . . . Seattle G Liam Hughes was busy, with 51 saves, 21 more than Portland’s Dante Giannuzzi. . . . Portland D Brendan De Jong was scratched after leaving Friday’s 5-2 victory over the visiting Everett Silvertips in the first period. De Jong went down, needed help getting off the ice and didn’t return. Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, told Joshua Critzer of dubnetwork.ca that De Jong “got a little whiplash with his neck here. It is more of a neck injury . . .” . . . A scoring change after Friday’s game cost Portland F Cody Glass an assist. Originally credited with three, he was left with two. Upon further review, D Matthew Quigley was given the assist, giving him three in the game. Quigley went into the game with two points both assists, in 17 games. In 2016-17, as a freshman, he finished with three assists in 49 games. . . . Glass had two more assists on Saturday night.


F Mark Kastelic scored three times to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 victory over the CalgaryChiefs in Spokane. . . . Calgary (8-12-2) has won three straight. . . . Spokane (11-8-3) had won its previous three games. . . . Kastelic gave the Hitmen a 2-0 lead with a pair of PP goals, at 14:26 of the first period and 5:20 of the second. . . . Freshman F Adam Beckman (10) scored a PP goal for the Chiefs at 17:15. . . . Kastelic got that one back as he completed his first WHL hat trick at 19:36. . . . Kastelic, 19, has 19 goals and 11 assists in 22 games. Last season, he finished with 23 goals and 22 assists in 71 games. . . . F Riley Stotts (4, 5) had Calgary’s other two goals. . . . F James Malm had three assists. He’s got two goals and seven assists in seven games since Calgary acquired him from the Vancouver Giants. On the season, he has 11 goals and 13 assists in 20 games. . . . G Carl Stankowski stopped 33 shots for the Hitmen.


F Tanner Sidaway broke a 1-1 tie late in the third period to give the Victoria Royals a 2-1 VictoriaRoyalsvictory over the visiting Regina Pats. . . . Victoria improved to 11-6-0. . . . Regina (7-15-0) has lost three in a row. The Pats are (0-2-0) on a seven-game road trip. They won’t play at home again until Dec. 1. . . . F Jake Leschyshyn (15) gave Regina a 1-0 lead at 12:57 of the first period. . . . Victoria tied it when F Kaid Oliver (13) scored, on a PP, at 17:19. . . . Sidaway, a 19-year-old from Victoria, won it at 17:15 of the third period with his second goal of the season. . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 17 shots to earn the victory over Max Paddock, who blocked 25. . . . The Royals continue to be without D Ralph Jarratt and F Dante Hannoun.


F Connor Dewar scored twice and added an assist to help the host Everett Silvertips to a Everett6-5 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Everett (16-7-0) leads the U.S. Division. . . . Vancouver (14-5-2) leads the B.C. Division. . . . D Jake Christiansen (6) gave Everett a 4-1 lead, on a PP, at 18:56 of the second period and this one appeared close to being over. . . . D Matt Barberis (1) scored for Vancouver, on a PP, at 10:04 of the third period, but Everett F Sean Richards (6) got that one back at 12:50. . . . F Jared Dmytriw (4), on a PP, and F Davis Koch (5) pulled the Giants to within a goal, before Dewar scored his 18th goal into an empty net at 18:03. . . . The empty-netter turned into the winner when Giants F Dawson Holt (4) scored at 18:49. . . . D Artyom Minulin had three assists for Everett. . . . Vancouver got three assists from F Milos Roman, with Dmytriw adding two assists to his goal.


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Letter-writing time in Ontario . . . Jones close to KIJHL milestone . . . Raiders’ victory streak now at 10


ThisThat

So . . . early in the week, David Branch, the OHL’s commissioner, penned an open letter directed at the Ontario government, stating that his league’s players should be exempt ohlfrom the province’s minimum-wage legislation because they are student-athletes and not employees.

On Tuesday, Michael Tibollo, Ontarios’ minister of tourism, culture and sport, wrote an open letter pledging his support and, presumably, that of the provincial government.

Then it seems it was the turn of Goldblatt Partners, the Toronto law firm that represents an untold number of former and present players who filed a class-action lawsuit against the OHL — and the WHL — asking that, among other things, players be paid minimum wage.

Joshua Mandryk, a lawyer with Goldblatt, wrote that OHL teams are owned by companies “who make money, big money in most cases, from the players’ work — work that the owners and the media like to call ‘play’ . . . Virtually all (OHL teams) are owned by private companies that are able to hide their books, and their profits, from the players, from their employees.

“Other multi-million dollar employers don’t get to avoid paying the employees who drive their revenue. Paying wages is part of doing business. Why should the OHL be any different?”

Rick Westhead of TSN has more on this story right here.


Terry Jones, the head coach of the junior B Beaver Valley Nitehawks, who play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, went into Friday night with 998 career victories — 759 of the regular-season variety and 239 from playoff games. . . . Jones, 52, is in his 23rd season with the Nitehawks. Imagine that . . . 23 seasons with one team. Amazing! . . . As a player, he spent two seasons (1982-84) with the Portland Winterhawks.

“When I started coaching, well before the Nitehawks, it was a ‘winning is everything’ attitude,” Jones told Jim Bailey of the Trail Times. “Now I’ve flip-flopped and believe coaching is more about developing young men into adults and good citizens, and hockey is the vehicle we do that. As a result of that attitude, we’ve won a lot of games, we’ve won some championships.

“When you change your goals of winning to just building a good team, a good group of guys that care about each other, I think anything can happen.”

Bailey’s complete story is right here and it is a great read about a remarkable man.


The Edmonton Oil Kings have acquired D Parker Gavlas, 19, from the Regina Pats for an eighth-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. . . . The Pats, who acquired D Kyle Walker, 18, from the Everett Silvertips on Thursday, were carrying nine defencemen, so this kind of move was hardly a surprise. At the same time, the Oil Kings’ roster included only six healthy defencemen. . . . Gavlas, from Saskatoon, had one assist in 12 games with the Pats. Last season, he was pointless in eight games with Regina.


The AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats have fired general manager/head coach Travis Clayton. He was in his second season with the Bobcats. . . . According to a post on the team’s website, “IHD and Lance Ward will provide interim coaching support . . . while the organization seeks a new head coach and general manager.” . . . IHD is Impact Hockey Development and Ward, a former WHLer (Red Deer Rebels, 1994-98), is a lead instructor in Lloydminster. . . . At the time of the move, the Bobcats were 5-13-1 and in last place in the eight-team Viterra AJHL North Division. . . . On Friday night, the Bobcats dropped a 6-2 decision to the host Sherwood Park Crusaders.


Dinamo Minsk of the KHL has fired head coach Gordie Dwyer, along with assistant coaches Sergey Stas and Konstantin Koltsov, goaltending coach Andrey Kudin and trainer Gennady Lyango. . . . Dinamo was seven points out of a Western Conference playoff spot at the time. . . . Dwyer, 40, was in his second season as Dinamo’s head coach. . . . No replacements were named.


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FRIDAY NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS:

In Brandon, the Wheat Kings erased a 2-0 second-period deficit with five straight goals BrandonWKregularen route to a 6-3 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Brandon improved to 9-4-5. This was Brandon’s first home game since Oct. 20. The Wheat Kings went 2-3-2 on a seven-game trek that included a 2-2-1 record in the B.C. Division. . . . Red Deer (11-5-1) had won its previous three games. . . . F Brandon Hagel (13) and F Arshdeep Bains (3) gave Red Deer a 2-0 lead early in the second period. . . . F Lynden McCallum (4) got the Wheat Kings started at 10:10 and F Stelio Mattheos (17) tied it on a PP at 15:26. That was his 100th regular-season goal. Mattheos also had two assists. . . . D Neithan Salame’s first goal, at 17:04, made it 3-2 and F Marcus Sekundiak (2) scored what proved to be the winner at 8:41 of the third. . . . The Wheat Kings got 40 stops from G Jiri Patera. . . . Brandon lost F Linden McCorrister to a charging major and game misconduct for a hit on Red Deer F Jacob Herauf at 4:47 of the first period. Herauf needed help getting off the ice and was taken to hospital “where he remained for several hours” with an undisclosed injury, according to Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com. . . . Meachem’s story is right here.


F Noah Gregor, F Kody McDonald and F Sean Montgomery each scored twice as the PrinceAlbertPrince Albert Raiders beat the visiting Swift Current Broncos, 6-2. . . . The Raiders (17-1-0) have won 10 in a row. . . . The Broncos (3-15-1) had points in each of their previous three games (2-0-1). . . . F Eric Houk (2) got the Broncos to within a goal, at 3-2, at 18:17 of the second period. The Raiders, who had a 43-19 edge in shots, put it away with the next three goals. . . . Houk’s father, Rod, was a goaltender who played two seasons (1987-89) with the Regina Pats. . . . McDonald (3), playing his first game after missing eight, got his second of the night at 18:31 of the second. . . . Gregor (8) upped it to 5-2 at 2:11 of the third period. . . . Gregor also had three assists for a five-point outing. . . . F Brett Leason of the Raiders ran his point streak to 18 games with an assist on F Sean Montgomery’s eighth goal just eight seconds into the second period. Leason has at least one point in each of the Raiders’ 18 games this season. . . . Montgomery scored his ninth goal at 14:13 of the third period, on a PP. . . . The Raiders brought in D Nolan Allan for his fourth game and he picked up his first WHL point, an assist, on McDonald’s first goal. Allan, 15, was the third overall selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. From Davidson, Sask., Allan plays for the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. . . . The Broncos were without D Matthew Stanley (ill) and D Garrett Sambrook (undisclosed injury). . . . Jeff D’Andrea of panow.com was at the game and has a story right here.


F Jake Leschyshyn scored three goals and F Nick Henry had four assists to lead the host PatsRegina Pats to a 5-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Regina (6-12-0) has won two in a row. . . . Tri-City (10-5-0) had won its previous six games. This was Game 6 of an 11-game road trip for the Americans, who are 5-0-0 since last playing at home on Oct. 19. They next are scheduled to play at home on Nov. 23. . . . The Pats got started 30 seconds into the first period when F Austin Pratt (9) scored. . . . Leschyshyn made it 2-0 at 2:36, scored his second at 15:53 of the second period, for a 4-0 lead, and completed the hat trick with his 12th goal of the season at 7:27 of the third. . . . Regina got 39 saves from G Max Paddock. . . . Pats D Aaron Hyman had three assists; he’s got four goals and 16 assists in 18 games. Last season, in 26 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds and 28 with Regina, he totalled three goals and 10 assists.


F Liam Keeler broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period and the Edmonton Oil Kings went EdmontonOilKingson to beat the Kootenay Ice, 5-2, in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . The Oil Kings (11-7-1) have points in seven straight (6-0-1). . . . The Ice (6-10-3) has lost three in a row. . . . Kootenay erased a 2-0 deficit to tie the game on F Jaeger White’s 11th goal at 9:01 of the second period. . . . Keeler’s third goal, at 19:01 of the second, stood up as the winner. . . . F Quinn Benjafield had a goal, his eighth, and two assists for Edmonton. . . . F Vince Loschiavo returned to Edmonton’s lineup after a five-game absence. . . . F Tyler Horstmann, 16, scored his first WHL goal in his first game with the Oil Kings, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2017 bantam draft. From Richmond, B.C., Horstmann plays for the Delta Hockey Academy’s prep team.


F Jadon Joseph of Lethbridge ran his point streak to 11 games as the Hurricanes doubled Lethbridgethe visiting Calgary Hitmen, 4-2. . . . Lethbridge (8-5-4) had lost its previous two games (0-1-1). . . . Calgary (5-12-2) has lost three in a row. . . . Joseph scored the game’s first goal, his ninth, at 1:01 of the first period. He has nine goals and six assists during his streak. . . . D Calen Addison (4) gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 8:13 of the second period and D Alex Cotton (1) made it 3-1 at 12:31. . . . Each team was assessed one minor penalty. . . . Calgary had a 36-19 edge in shots, but Lethbridge G Reece Klassen was solid.


F Max Gerlach and F Gary Haden scored against their former team as the Saskatoon SaskatoonBlades beat the Tigers, 3-1, in Medicine Hat. . . . Saskatoon improved to 11-7-2. . . . The Tigers now are 9-8-2. . . . F Josh Williams (3) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead at 10:03 of the first period. . . . Gerlach, who was acquired from the Tigers in January, got his 13th goal, on a PP, at 17:57 of the second period. . . . Haden’s fifth goal — his fourth with the Blades since being acquired in a deal this season — turned into the winner at 5:31 of the third. . . . This was the first appearance in Medicine Hat as visiting players by Gerlach and Haden. . . . F Logan Christensen, who went the other way in the Haden deal, was pointless. . . . The Blades got 35 stops from G Nolan Maier.


The Everett Silvertips scored five PP goals as they beat the Blazers, 6-1, in Kamloops. . . . EverettEverett (12-6-0) has won two straight. . . . Kamloops (6-8-2) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . At 10:32 of the second period, the Silvertips had a 6-0 lead and had outshot the Blazers, 22-3. . . . F Sean Richards (3) got Everett rolling, on a PP, at 4:02 of the first period. . . . F Akash Bains then scored twice, at 10:29 on a PP, and at 1:41 of the second, for a 3-0 lead. He’s got four goals. However, he wasn’t on the bench for the third period after leaving while appearing to favour a knee in the second. . . . Everett finished 5-for-8 on the PP. . . . The Silvertips got four assists from D Gianni Fairbrother. . . . When Max Palaga entered the game for Everett to start the second period, it marked the first time this season that a goaltender other than Dustin Wolf was in the Silvertips’ goal. . . . Palaga, who is from Kamloops, spent last season with the Blazers, but was cut early this season. He was with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers when the Blazers dealt him to Everett on Oct. 29 for a sixth-round selection in the 2020 bantam draft. . . . Palaga stopped seven of eight shots, after Wolf turned aside all six shots he faced. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Ferguson was beaten six times on 22 shots. He came out at 10:32 of the second, with Rayce Ramsay going in to make his WHL debut. He was perfect in stopping 14 shots. . . . Ramsay, 17, is with the Blazers while G Dylan Garand is at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. When Garand returns, Ramsay will go back to the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. . . . D Artyom Minulin, 20, had one assist in his debut with the Silvertips. He had been acquired from the Swift Current Broncos. This was Minulin’s first game after he had off-season shoulder surgery. . . . Part of the game was played with two referees and one linesman after Nick Bilko left with a knee injury. He was injured when he got caught up in traffic along the boards in the middle of the first period. Nick Panter entered late in the second period to replace Bilko. . . . Former Blazers head coach Guy Charron was in the press box, helping the team’s new coaching staff as an eye in the sky. He also has been on the ice during recent practices. . . . The Silvertips left immediately after the game as they are to meet the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., tonight. Everett then returns to Kamloops for a Sunday evening game. The Blazers don’t play tonight.


The Kelowna Rockets scored the game’s first three goals en route to a 3-1 victory over the KelownaRocketsSeattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. . . . The Rockets (8-10-0) have won four in a row and seven of their last nine. . . . Five of Kelowna’s victories have come on the road. . . . Seattle (7-7-2) has lost four in a row. . . . F Kyle Topping scored Kelowna’s first goal, on a PP, at 10:44 of the first period. He ran his goal-scoring streak to five games and his point streak to 12 games. . . . D Libor Zabransky (2) upped it to 2-0 at 3:10 of the second period. . . . F Nolan Foote (11) made it 3-0 at 4:57. Foote has eight goals in a six-game goal-scoring streak. . . . F Zack Andrusiak (7) scored for Seattle at 15:03 of the second. . . . Kelowna D Dalton Gally was hit with an interference major and game misconduct at 7:59 of the second period after a hit on Seattle F Jaxan Kaluski. . . . Kelowna is 4-0 since Adam Foote replaced the fired Jason Smith as head coach. . . . The Rockets opened a six-game road trip with this one; they’ll play those six games in nine nights. . . . The trip continues with games in Portland tonight and Sunday.


The host Victoria Royals scored nine seconds into the game and went on to a 7-5 victory VictoriaRoyalsover the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Royals (10-5-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Chiefs (8-7-3) have lost three in a row. . . . F Tarun Fizer (2) got the Royals going with the early goal. . . . The WHL record for fastest goal to start a game? Dean Sexsmith of the Seattle Thunderbirds scored five seconds into a 7-6 victory over the visiting Victoria Cougars on Jan. 30, 1987. . . . The Royals went ahead 2-0 when F D-Jay Jerome scored at 1:55. . . . The Chiefs would trail 2-1, 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4, but weren’t able to equalize. . . . Jerome, who also had an assist, got his second goal of the game, and 10th of the season, at 10:20 of the third period for a 6-4 lead and D Scott Walford (1) added insurance at 13:43. . . . The Royals got three assists from F Sean Gulka, who, as you will have noticed from the above tweet, had some fans in the stands. He went into the game with two assists in 11 regular-season games, eight of them with the Chiefs. . . . F Brandon Cutler added a goal, his fifth, and two assists for Victoria. . . . F Riley Woods scored twice and added an assist for Spokane. He’s got six goals and three assists over his past four games. . . . Victoria D Ralph Jarratt (foot) is on the shelf for the second time this season. According to the team, this one could keep him out for up to six weeks. . . . F Dante Hannoun, who missed three games, and F Kaid Oliver, who missed one, both were back in the Royals’ lineup. . . . Hannoun scored his seventh goal and added an assist.


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Humboldt mourns loss of legend . . . Goaltenders shine in WHL games . . . Broncos win second OT in row


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SATURDAY NIGHT NOTES:

G Ethan Anders stopped 34 shots to lead the visiting Red Deer Rebels to a 1-0 victory over Red Deerthe Calgary Hitmen in an afternoon affair. . . . Red Deer (11-4-1) has won three in a row. . . . Calgary (5-10-2) is 0-3-1 against Red Deer this season, having lost three of those games by one goal. . . . Anders was especially busy in the third period when the Hitmen, helped by three straight PP opportunities, held a 16-1 edge in shots. He has one shutout this season and two in his career. . . . F Jeff de Wit (10) scored the game’s only goal, on a PP, at 17:34 of the first period, redirecting a point shot by D Dawson Barteaux past G Jack McNaughton. . . . D Alex Alexeyev had an assist to run his point streak to seven games. He has four goals and seven assists over that stretch. For the season, he has 21 points, 14 of them assists, in 16 games. Alexeyev is the only WHLer on the Russian roster for the first two games of the CIBC Canada-Russia series in Kamloops and Langley, B.C., on Monday and Tuesday nights. . . . G Cam Ward of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, who played with Red Deer, was in the Saddledome and stopped by to see the Rebels before the game. The Blackhawks played the host Flames last night.


F Keenan Taphorn scored two goals to help his new team, the host Moose Jaw Warriors, MooseJawWarriorsbeat his old team, the Kootenay Ice, 5-1. . . . The Warriors improved to 7-5-3. . . . The Ice (6-9-3) has lost two in a row. . . . Taphorn’s fourth goal, at 7:14 of the second period, gave the home team a 2-0 lead, and his fifth goal of the season, on a PP, handed Moose Jaw a 4-1 edge. . . . This was the first matchup between these teams since a mid-October trade in which F Nick Bowman joined the Ice and twins Kaeden and Keenan Taphorm moved to the Warriors. Kaeden, however, is out with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Warriors had a 43-18 edge in shots, including 21-7 in the second period and 14-4 in the third. . . . Warriors D Josh Brook had two assists. He’s got 15 points, including 10 assists, in 12 games.


The Regina Pats scored the game’s last two goals and beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, Pats6-5. . . . The Pats improved to 5-12-0, while the Blades slipped to 10-7-2. Saskatoon was 1-2-0 in playing three games in as many nights. . . . The Blades erased a 4-2 deficit and took a 5-4 lead with three second-period goals in a span of 3:14, the scores coming from D Seth Bafaro (1), F Max Gerlach (12) and F Chase Wouters (2). The latter two came via the PP. . . . The Pats tied it when F Jake Leschyshyn (9) scored at 9:03 of the third period, and F Nick Henry (8) won it, on a PP, at 15:48. . . . The Pats were 2-for-2 on the PP; the Blades were 3-for-6. . . . D Aaron Hyman had three assists for Regina, with Leschyshyn and Henry each scoring twice and adding an assist. . . . The Blades got three assists from F Kirby Dach. . . . Regina F Scott Mahovlich was awarded a penalty shot at 12:27 of the third period, with the score 5-5, but wasn’t able to beat G Dorrin Luding. . . . Gerlach scored twice for Saskatoon, giving him 198 career regular-season points, including 111 goals. . . . The Pats had F Logan Nijhoff back for a second straight game after he recovered from a concussion, but F Korby Morrisseau (concussion) and F Robbie Holmes (knee) remain out. . . . Darren Steinke, the travellin’ blogger, was on hand and his post is right here.


F Andrew Fyten, playing in his 200th regular-season game, scored in OT to give the Swift SCBroncosCurrent Broncos a 4-3 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . The Broncos (3-14-1) have points in three straight (2-0-1). They have won two OT games in as many nights. Their other victory came in a shootout. . . . The Oil Kings (10-7-2) have points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . Fyten’s fourth goal of the season came 41 seconds into OT. He was playing in his 45th game with the Broncos, after spending 155 with the Calgary Hitmen. . . . F Alec Zawatsky (7) gave Swift Current a 3-1 lead at 17:53 of the second period. . . . F Brett Kemp (11) pulled Edmonton to within a goal at 19:26, and D Matthew Robertson (2) tied it at 6:18 of the third. . . . Swift Current was outshot, 45-20, including 21-2 in the third period. . . . The Broncos got 42 saves from G Isaac Poulter, who recorded his first WHL victory. . . . F Trey Fix-Wolansky had three assists for the Oil Kings. In his last three games, he’s got one goal and 10 assists. He has at least a point in seven straight games and has moved into a tie for the WHL scoring lead. Fix-Wolansky and F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders, who had the night off, are tied, with 39 points. Fix-Wolansky has a WHL-leading 28 assists.


F Nolan Foote and F Kyle Topping scored third-period PP goals to give the host Kelowna KelownaRocketsRockets a 4-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Rockets (7-10-0) are 3-0-0 under new head coach Adam Foote and have won five of six. . . . The Wheat Kings (8-4-5) went 2-3-2 on a seven-game road swing. That includes a 2-2-1 record in the B.C.Division. . . . Brandon, which was 3-for-6 on the PP, went ahead 3-2 when D Braden Schneider (3) scored at 11:55 of the second period. . . . Foote (10) tied it with his second goal of the game, at 3:46 of the third. . . . Brandon lost F Connor Gutenberg to a charging major and game misconduct at 15:57, and Topping broke the 3-3 tie with his seventh goal at 18:50. . . . F Luka Burzan (11) scored Brandon’s first two goals.


G Shane Farkas stopped 34 shots to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 2-1 victory over Portlandthe visiting Victoria Royals. . . . The Winterhawks, who had beaten the Royals 7-3 in Portland on Friday, are 9-6-1. . . . The Royals now are 9-5-0. . . . The Winterhawks took a 2-0 lead on second-period goals from F Cross Hanas (2), at 2:10, and F Joachim Blichfeld (12), on a PP, at 8:46. . . . F Dino Kambeitz (3) got Victoria’s goal, on a PP, at 5:31 of the third period. . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 36 shots for Victoria. . . . F Cody Glass had two assists for Portland. He’s got 29 points, including 23 assists, in 14 games. . . . The Royals, already without F Dante Hannoun due to an undisclosed injury,  scratched F Kaid Oliver and D Ralph Jarratt, both of whom played on Friday. . . . F Ryan Hughes of the Winterhawks left in the first period after absorbing a hard hit. He didn’t return.


G Taylor Gauthier stopped 37 shots to lead the Prince George Cougars to a 2-0 victor over PrinceGeorgethe visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Cougars (7-7-3) had beaten the Thunderbirds, 4-1, on Friday night. . . . Seattle (7-6-2) has lost three in a row. . . . D Cole Moberg (5) opened the scoring at 6:19 of the first period, and F Jackson Leppard (4) added insurance, on a PP, at 6:57 of the second. . . . Gauthier was especially sharp in the third period when his guys were outshot 17-5. That was his first career shutout and came in his 45th appearance, 13 of them this season. He is 5-5-2, 2.90, .909 this season.


The visiting Everett Silvertips opened up a 5-0 second-period lead and cruised to a 6-2 Everettvictory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Everett now is 11-6-0. . . . The Chiefs are 8-5-3. . . . The Silvertips scored only two goals on 55 shots in a 4-2 loss to the visiting Tri-City Americans on Friday night. Last night, Everett scored six times on 23 shots. . . . F Connor Dewar (12) got Everett started at 12:36 of the first period and F Jackson Berezowski (2) made it 2-0 at 13:56. . . . F Sean Richards (2) upped the lead to 3-0, on a PP, at 7:35 and the Silvertips were in clear control. . . . D Sahvan Khaira had three assists for the Silvertips. . . . Everett G Dustin Wolf stopped 23 shots. He is 11-6-0, 1.84, .924. . . . The Chiefs remain without F Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who has an undisclosed injury. . . . Spokane D Filip Kral played his second game since returning from an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the early part of the season.


G David Tendeck stopped 30 shots to help the Vancouver Giants to a 2-1 victory over the VancouverKamloops Blazers in Langley, B.C. . . . The Giants (12-3-2) have won two in a row. . . . The Blazers (6-7-2) had points in five straight (4-0-1). . . . F Milos Roman (8) gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 19:18 of the first period as he ran his goal streak to three games. . . . F Yannik Valenti (2) made it 2-0 at 12:49 of the second period. . . . F Tristen Nielsen, acquired from the Calgary Hitmen in a swap for F James Malm earlier in the week, played his first game with Vancouver and drew an assist on Valenti’s goal. . . . The Blazers got to within a goal when F Zane Franklin (12) scored, on a PP, at 17:20 of the second. He’s got 12 goals in 15 games this season, after totalling 14 in 67 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season. . . . Tendeck, who is on the roster of the WHL team that will play against a Russian side on Monday and Tuesday in Kamloops and Langley, is 8-3-1, 2.33, .907. . . . The Giants, with three defencemen out with injuries, have added D Landon Fuller, 19, to their roster, at least for the short term. From 100 Mile House, B.C., he played 16 games with the Tri-City Americans over the previous three seasons. This season, he had one assist in eight games with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. . . . Vancouver GM Barclay Parneta was with the Americans when they selected Fuller in the WHL bantam draft. . . . The Giants remain without D Dylan Plouffe, Matt Barberis and D Joel Sexsmith.


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Broncos, Pats pay price of going all-in . . . Rockets get Wong signed . . . Leason and Raiders continue to dominate

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Is it too early to wonder if it is worth it for a major junior hockey team to really — make that really, really, really — go all-in as it attempts to win a championship?

Is it worth it even if that team wins the championship?

What about the host team for the Memorial Cup tournament? Is it worth it for that team to do the same thing?

Yes, this is all about the Swift Current Broncos and Regina Pats.

The Broncos, of course, wheeled and dealed their way to the 2017-18 WHL SCBroncoschampionship. As one observer told Taking Note the other day, “They sold the farm, animals, crop and the dirt.”

And now the Broncos are paying the price. After dropping a 4-1 decision to the visiting Everett Silvertips on Saturday night, they are 1-13-0 and have lost six in a row. They are 0-4-0 at home; they are 1-9-0 on the road, the only victory a 3-2 shootout triumph over the Wheat Kings in Brandon on Oct. 13.

Surely, the Broncos won’t challenge the WHL record for fewest victories in a season, but early indications are that they will be hard-pressed to win 20 games. That is the number of victories posted by the 2010-11 Calgary Hitmen, to date the fewest in one season by a defending champion. (The 1998-99 Portland Winterhawks are No. 2, with 23.)

Meanwhile, the Pats, who lost in the Memorial Cup final last spring, were 6-2 losers to Patsthe Raiders in Prince Albert last night. The Pats are 3-11-0 and have lost five straight games. They are 0-8-0 at home and 3-3-0 on the road.

The Pats and Broncos have met once this season, with Regina posting a 6-5 victory in Swift Current on Oct. 5.

They will play Game 2 of the six-game season series in Regina today, with the teams having a combined 4-24-0 record.

Of course, the question remains as to just how long the Broncos and Pats will pay for all the moves leading into last season’s playoffs?

The Saskatoon Blades went all-in as they prepared for their role as the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup. Some people will tell you that the franchise still is in the process of recovering.


The Kelowna Rockets announced the signing of F Trevor Wong on Saturday, hours before they met up with the visiting Prince George Cougars. Wong, 15, made his WHL debut in KelownaRocketsthat game. . . . From Vancouver, the 5-foot-8, 135-pound Wong was selected by Kelowna with the 18th overall pick in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. Many observers felt he would have been selected sooner had he not made a verbal commitment to attend the U of Denver and play for the Pioneers starting in 2020-21. . . . Last season, Wong had 64 goals and 77 assists in 30 games with the bantam varsity team at St. George’s School in Vancouver. . . . This season, he has four goals and seven assists in 10 games with the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians. . . .

With Wong signed, you can bet that the Rockets, who will be the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup, will turn their attention to attempting to sign F Ethan Bowen, who was a second-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. . . . The 6-foot-2, 160-pound Bowen, 16, is from Chilliwack and is playing in his hometown for the BCHL’s Chiefs. He went into last night with six goals and five assists in 11 games. . . . Bowen has made a verbal commitment to the U of North Dakota Fighting Hawks for 2020-21. . . . His older brother, Ryan, began this season with Kelowna but was released as the Rockets got down to the league-mandated maximum of three 20-year-olds.


No one in the WHL is having a better season than F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders. Leason, a 19-year-old Calgarian, had a goal and an assist, both in the first period, as the host Raiders beat the Regina Pats, 6-2, on Saturday night. That put him at 34 points in 16 games, breaking his career high of 33 from last season when he had one goal in 12 games with the Tri-City Americans and 32 points, 15 of them goals, in 54 games with the Raiders. . . . This season, Leason leads the WHL in goals (15), assists (19) and points (34). . . .

The Raiders acquired Leason from the Americans on Oct. 26, 2017, giving up a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. That pick had originated with the Americans, who traded it to the Raiders as part of a deal in which G Rylan Parenteau moved to Tri-City. . . . In 2016-17, as a freshman, Leason had eight goals and 10 assists with the Americans, who picked him in the third round of the 2014 bantam draft.


SATURDAY NIGHT NOTES:

The Prince Albert Raiders ran their winning streak to eight games as they bounced the PrinceAlbertvisiting Regina Pats, 6-2. . . . Prince Albert scored the game’s first six goals as it improved to 15-1-0. . . . Regina (3-11-0) has lost five in a row. . . . The Raiders’ last two goals both were of the shorthanded variety, from F Eric Pearce (2) and F Jakob Brook (4). Brook drew an assist on Pearce’s goal and, yes, Pearce had an assist on Brook’s tally. Those goals came 2:58 apart midway through the second period. . . . Prince Albert got 19 saves from G Ian Scott, who now is 13-1-0, 1.57, .943.


F Connor Dewar scored two goals and added two assists in leading the Everett Silvertips Everettto a 4-1 victory over the Broncos in Swift Current. . . . Everett (10-5-0) has won three in a row; it went 4-2-0 on its East Division tour. . . . The Broncos (1-13-0) have lost six in a row. . . . This was the first meeting between these two franchises since last season’ WHL championship final. The Broncos won that best-of-seven series in six games. . . . Dewar, Everett’s captain, was playing his first game after serving a four-game suspension. He opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 2:15 of the first period. . . . F Tanner Nagel (3) pulled the Broncos even at 11:43. . . . D Gianni Fairbrother (1) of the Silvertips broke the tie with another shorthanded goal, at 16:54 of the second period. . . . Dewar scored his 10th goal of the season, on a PP, 15 seconds into the third period.


F Trey Fix-Wolansky had a goal and two assists as the host Edmonton Oil Kings scored a EdmontonOilKings5-2 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Oil Kings (8-7-1) have won three in a row. . . . The Blades (8-5-2) have lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . Edmonton took control with the game’s first three goals. . . . F Quinn Benjafield got the first two, scoring on a PP at 18:33 of the first period and shorthanded at 5:16 of the second. He’s got five goals. . . . Fix-Wolansky got his 10th goal into an empty net at 19:06 of the third period. He has 28 points in 16 games this season, including four goals and six assists over his past four games. His 28 points trail only the 34 of F Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Gary Haden, who was acquired Thursday from the Medicine Hat Tigers, scored both Saskatoon goals, the first while shorthanded. He’s got three goals this season. . . . D Keegan Slaney, the 20th overall pick in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft, made his WHL debut with the Oil Kings. From Airdrie, Alta., he has six assists in 11 games with the Edge School prep team in Calgary this season.


The Moose Jaw Warriors erased a 3-0 deficit and got past the host Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-MooseJawWarriors3, in a shootout. . . . The Warriors (6-4-3) had lost their previous two games (0-1-1). . . . The Tigers (8-6-2) have points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . F Tristin Langan won this one with the only goal of the shootout. He was the second shooter in the third round. . . . F Brayden Tracey (4) pulled the Warriors into a 3-3 tie at 19:41 of the third period. . . . F Jaxon Steele (2) had given Medicine Hat a 3-0 lead at 2:25 of the third. . . . F Tate Popple (3) got Moose Jaw started at 4:39, and D Josh Brook (5) got the Warriors to within a goal at 12:13. . . . Moose Jaw took the game’s only two penalties — both minors.


F Nolan Foote scored on a PP just 43 seconds into OT to give the host Kelowna Rockets a KelownaRockets4-3 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Rockets (6-10-0) have won two in a row. . . . The Cougars (5-6-3) have lost three straight (0-1-2). . . . Foote was back in the Rockets’ lineup after a brief absence. This was his first game with his father, Adam, as the Rockets’ head coach. The senior Foote is 2-0-0 as a WHL head coach since taking over from the fired Jason Smith on Tuesday. . . . F Kyle Topping (6) had given the hosts a 3-2 lead, on a PP, at 1:08 of the third period. . . . D Ryan Schoettler (3) got the Cougars into a tie at 4:52.


F Jermaine Loewen scored three goals to lead the Kamloops Blazers to a 6-2 victory over Kamloops1the Winterhawks in Portland. . . . The Blazers (5-6-1) are on their first three-game winning streak of the season. . . . The Winterhawks (7-5-1) have lost two in a row. . . . The same teams will play again today in Portland as they conclude their season series. The Winterhawks won twice in Kamloops early in October. . . . Loewen was playing his second game after serving a four-game suspension for a high hit on Portland D Matthew Quigley in a 5-3 loss to the visiting Winterhawks on Oct. 5. Loewen returned Friday with a goal and an assist in a 7-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash. That was Loewen’s first game as team captain; he was named captain while he was suspended. . . . F Joachim Blickfeld (10) gave Portland a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 6:20 of the first period. . . . The Blazers scored the next four goals, three of them before the first period ended. . . . Loewen scored PP goals at 8:19 of the first period and 2:10 of the second, the latter providing a 4-1 lead. He completed his first career hat trick at 5:17 of the third. . . . Kamloops F Connor Zary had a goal, his fifth, and an assist, giving him six points over two games. . . . Portland lost D Jared Freadrich to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 18:40 of the first period.


The Tri-City Americans erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits in beating the Chiefs, 5-3, in Spokane. . tri-city. . The Americans (9-4-0) have won five straight. . . . The Chiefs slipped to 7-4-3. . . . F Jaret Anderson-Dolan’s second goal of the game, on a PP, at 7:39 of the third period gave the home team a 3-2 lead. . . . F Sasha Mutala (3) scored a PP goal to pull Tri-City even at 9:59, and F Isaac Johnson (6) got what proved to be the winner at 15:32. . . . F Nolan Yaremko (10), who also had two assists, got the empty-netter. . . . Anderson-Dolan’s goals were his first of this season and came in his second game since being returned by the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.


The Seattle Thunderbirds got 41 saves from G Liam Hughes as they skated to a 5-1 Seattlevictory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Thunderbirds (7-3-2) had lost their previous three games (0-2-1). . . . The Giants (10-3-2) had points in their previous two (1-0-1). . . . The Giants had 17 shots in each of the last two periods but could only muster one goal, that from F Milos Roman (6) at 4:36 of the third period. . . . Seattle jumped out to a 4-0 lead on two goals in each of the first two periods. The outburst featured F Noah Philp’s ninth goal of the season, two from F Matthew Wedman, who has five, and F Samuel Huo’s first of the season.


F Kaid Oliver scored twice to help the host Victoria Royals to a 3-1 victory over the VictoriaRoyalsBrandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Royals (9-3-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Wheat Kings (6-3-4) have lost four in a row (0-2-2). Brandon now is 1-1-1 on a seven-game road swing that continues today against the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . F Stelio Mattheos (13) put Brandon ahead 1-0, on a PP, at 14:50 of the first period. . . . Oliver, who has nine goals, tied it at 19:53 of the first, then broke the tie at 9:46 of the third. . . . Victoria D Ralph Jarratt (2) got the empty-netter while shorthanded. . . . G Griffen Outhouse stopped 28 shots for the Royals. He returned after missing some time with an undisclosed injury. It’s believed that he tweaked something during practice nine or 10 days ago. . . . The Royals are without F Dante Hannoun, a key offensive contributor, as well as F Phillip Schultz, a freshman import from Denmark, and F Logan Doust, all out with undisclosed injuries.


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They’ll talk Ice in Cranbrook . . . Foote’s in the door in Kelowna . . . Raiders just keep on winning


MacBeth

F Justin Sigrist (Kamloops, 2017-18) has been recalled by ZSC Zurich (Switzerland, NL A) from GC Küsnacht Lions (Switzerland, NL B). This is Sigrist’s second call up by ZSC this season. He was called up on Sept. 21 for three games, in which he went pointless. This season, he has two goals and two assists with GC Küsnacht Lions, and three goals and one assist in one game with GCK Lions U20 (Switzerland, Junior Elite A).


ThisThat

They’ll be holding one of those ‘town hall’ meetings in Cranbrook on Thursday evening and the only topic on the agenda is the future of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice.

There has been ample speculation over the past couple of years that the Ice, who are Kootenaynewowned by Greg Fettes and Matt Cockell, both of Winnipeg, will be relocating to the Manitoba capital at some point in time. Things heated up again last week with a story in the Winnipeg Free Press on that topic.

According to a story on the Summit 107FM website, the meeting also will “launch a new season-ticket campaign.”

A Cranbrook group known as the Green Bay Committee will play host to the meeting. It said in a news release that it “will be discussing the Winnipeg article, including how it affects our campaign and how our community leaders should respond to it. . . .

“We all understand the economic, social and entertainment value that the Ice brings to Cranbrook and the Kootenays. Like the Ice, we are concerned that the current season-ticket total is about 1,700, which is about 200 less than last (season).”

Another Summit 107 story, this one by Bradley Jones, indicates that the radio station “reached out to the WHL” and the Ice in an attempt to get reaction to the relocation speculation.

“The WHL is looking forward to the Kootenay Ice continuing to operate this season in Cranbrook,” Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, said in a statement given to Summit 107. Robison apparently chose not to address the future beyond the end of this season.

As for the Ice, Jones reported that Summit 107 was told “no comment will be given.”

If you are in the Cranbrook area, the meeting is scheduled for the Heritage Inn at 6 p.m.


After firing head coach Jason Smith on Monday, Bruce Hamilton, the president and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets, told a media scrum that there were “a couple KelownaRocketsof guys that I’ve zeroed in on and I’ll probably have a good idea by (Tuesday). I’m dealing with a couple people and hopefully by (Tuesday) we’ll have somebody in place. Whether they’ll be here or not by then, time will tell.”

Late Monday night, Sportsnet’s John Shannon, one of Hamilton’s good friends, tweeted that former NHL D Adam Foote would be introduced as the Rockets’ head coach on Tuesday morning.

And, lo and behold, Foote was on the ice with the Rockets for a Tuesday morning practice. He made his game debut later Tuesday against the visiting Swift Current Broncos.

According to Alistair Waters of the Kelowna Capital News, Hamilton said Tuesday that Foote “was his only call when he went looking for a new head coach.”

Foote, 47, becomes the Rockets’ fifth head coach over the past six years.

He was a rugged defenceman in an NHL career that included three teams, and 1,154 regular-season and 170 playoff games.

“Our hope is that Adam can come in and take over a team that is in transition,” Hamilton said in a news release. “Because we host the 2020 Memorial Cup, we know a number of personnel moves will have to be made. We are confident Adam will be able to help us move forward, not just this year but next season also.”

On July 7, 2016, Hamilton had introduced Smith as the Rockets’ head coach, replacing Brad Ralph, who was one-and-done despite getting the team into the Western Conference final in the spring of 2016.

“I’m really excited that we have found a new head coach and I think that he will fit in really well with the team we have and the existing coaching staff,” Hamilton said at the time. “I  think our players will be really excited to have a coach of this calibre, with this kind of experience as a player and as a coach.”

Smith also had been a rugged NHL defenceman in a career that encompassed five teams, and 1,008 regular-season and 68 playoff games.

After retiring, Smith spent four seasons with the Ottawa Senators, the last team for which he had played, two as a scouting and development consultant and two (2014-16) as an assistant coach.

Those two seasons accounted for Smith’s only coaching experience. But that’s two more seasons than Foote, who hadn’t coached at all before Tuesday morning.

The Rockets, who were 4-10-0 when Smith was fired, will be the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup. Smith was in the final year of a three-year contract and Hamilton’s decision made it clear that he wasn’t comfortable having Smith take the team into next season and, ultimately, the Memorial Cup.

Foote, who has a deal covering the remainder of this season and next season, will handle that, barring the unexpected.

Before Hamilton brought in Ralph as head coach, the Rockets had become known for having success by promoting from within. Foote is the third straight head-coaching hire from outside the organization.

Foote’s hiring also delivers a message to assistant coaches Travis Crickard and Travis Mallette, both of whom are in their fifth seasons with the Rockets and are signed only through this season.

Both were passed over when Hamilton hired Smith before the 2016-17 season, and now it has happened again, and they know that, all things being equal, the head-coaching post is filled until at least May of 2020.

Hamilton said on Monday that the future of the assistant coaches will be left up to the new head coach.


D Tylor Ludwar, who was released by the Kamloops Blazers on Oct. 12, has been traded by the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers to the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers. Ludwar, 19, is from Regina. The Vipers got F Ben Sanderson and future considerations in the deal. . . . Ludwar was pointless in two games with the Vipers, after getting into only one game with the Blazers. . . . Sanderson, 18, is the son of former WHL/NHL F Geoff Sanderson. Ben has committed to Colorado College for 2019-20.


The Medicine Hat Tigers are likely to have D Damon Agyeman, 16, in their lineup tonight (Wednesday) against the visiting Red Deer Rebels. With D Joel Craven and D Trevor Longo sideline by injuries, the Tigers have brought Agyeman, a list player, in from the midget AAA Airdrie CFR Bisons. Agyeman, from Cochrane, Alta., has one assist in eight games with the Bisons.


TUESDAY NIGHT NOTES:

F Brett Leason scored twice and G Ian Scott record the shutout as the host Prince Albert Raiders blanked the Everett Silvertips, 3-0. . . . Leason scored the game’s first two goals, at PrinceAlbert13:17 of the second period and 17:20 of the third. He leads the WHL in goals (13), assists (17) and points (30), and has at least one point in each of the team’s 14 games this season. . . .  Scott stopped 24 shots in earning his second shutout of the season and the fifth of his career. This season, he’s 11-1-0, 1.50, .947. . . . The Raiders now are 13-1-0 and have won six in a row. They are 7-0-0 at home. . . . Everett (7-5-0) is 1-2-0 on its East Division tour. . . . The Silvertips were without F Connor Dewar, their captain, as he served the second of a four-game suspension. . . . With D Sergei Sapego (ill) out and D Max Martin suspended, the Raiders had D Nolan Allan, the third-overall pick in the 2018 bantam draft, make his WHL debut. . . . Everett F Alex Moar played his third game of the season; he spent the previous two seasons with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos.


G Carl Tetachuk stopped 34 shots to earn his first WHL victory in his first start as the LethbridgeLethbridge Hurricanes beat the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings, 2-1. . . . Tetachuk, who is from Lethbridge, is a list player who spent last season with the midget AAA Hurricanes. He was especially sharp in the third period as his guys were outshot, 16-3. . . . Lethbridge (6-4-3) has points in five straight (3-0-2). . . . The Wheat Kings (6-2-3) are 1-1-1 in their past three. This was Game 1 of a seven-game swing that will take them through the B.C. Division. They next will play at home on Nov. 9. . . . All the goals were scored via the PP. . . . F Jadon Joseph (5) gave the home side a 1-0 lead at 17:19 of the first period. . . . Brandon F Stelio Mattheos (12) tied it at 19:00. . . . F Taylor Ross (9) of the Hurricanes broke the tie at 18:05 of the second period.


D Alex Alexeyev scored the game’s first two goals and the Red Deer Rebels went on to a 3-Red Deer1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Rebels (8-3-1) have won three in a row. . . . The Hitmen (4-7-2) had won their previous three games. . . . Alexeyev, who has six goals, scored at 2:14 and 14:14 of the first period. . . . The Rebels got 30 saves from G Ethan Anders. . . . G Carl Stankowski stopped 27 shots for Calgary. His night’s work included stopping Red Deer F Josh Tarzwell on a penalty shot at 19:14 of the third period with the Rebels leading 3-1.


The Tri-City Americans scored the game’s last four goals to beat the Cougars, 5-1, in Prince George. . . . The Americans (7-4-0) have won three in a row. They are 2-0-0 on an 11-game road trip. . . . The Cougars (5-6-1) had won their previous three games. . . . There’ll be a rematch tonight. . . . The Americans got the game’s first goal from F Wil Kushniryk (1), who was acquired Monday from the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Tri-City F Brett Clayton (1) broke a 1-1 tie at 3:52 of the second period. . . . The Americans got 35 stops from G Beck Warm. . . . As for the above tweet, Americans F Nolan Yaremko had two assists and was named the game’s second star.


F Jack Cowell got the game-winner as the host Kelowna Rockets got past the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . Kelowna won in Adam Foote’s first game as head coach. He replaced Jason Smith, who was fired on Monday with the Rockets at 10-4. . . . Kelowna had lost six in a row at home. . . . The Broncos (1-12-0) have lost five in a row. They went 0-5 on their B.C. Division trip. . . . Cowell broke a 2-2 tie with his second goal of the season at 10:12 of the second period. . . . Kelowna got the game’s first goal from F Lane Zablocki, 20, who played his first game with the Rockets on Friday, then was scratched from the next two because of an undisclosed injury. . . . The Rockets had a 33-25 edge in shots, but it was 21-5 in the first period. . . . G James Porter stopped 23 shots for Kelowna in his first start since Oct. 5. . . . With his father making his head-coaching debut, Kelowna F Nolan Foote was scratched with an undisclosed injury.


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