Tag: Kelowna Rockets

Things are sparking in Riderville . . . Rebels (8-0-0) set franchise record . . . Bjarnason, Wheat Kings enjoy Kelowna stop

MondayMorning
This was the scene from our deck in Campbell Creek at 8 o’clock on Monday morning, looking east down the South Thompson River valley. The picture, taken with my cheap phone, really doesn’t show how pink the sun was as it fought through some smoke and, yes, that’s a fog bank over the river.

There is stuff going on in and around the Saskatchewan Roughriders and it isn’t going to end well for someone. The Roughriders are 6-10 — 2-9 in their last 11 Ridersoutings — as they come out of a bye week and prepare to meet the visiting Calgary Stampeders on Saturday. . . . The fun began on Tuesday when Cody Fajardo, the starting quarterback, didn’t take an active role in practice. Head coach Craig Dickenson, whose job would seem to be on the line, said that Fajardo was taking a “vet” day and that he would start on Saturday. Headline at leaderpost-com — Cody Fajardo given ‘vet day’; will start Saturday against Calgary. . . . On Wednesday, however, Dickenson said that backup Mason Fine will start. On top of which, Fajardo told the newshounds that he had been told five days previous that he wouldn’t be starting. . . . “Cody Fajardo has absorbed more than his fair share of hits during the 2022 CFL season,” writes Murray McCormick of The Leader-Post, “but even he was blindsided by his demotion from starting quarterback to second string with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.” . . . As for Fajardo, he told those same newshound: “I hope there’s somebody out there that might still want me. I don’t think this is the end of the Cody Fajardo book. But it might be the end of this chapter.” . . . With two games remaining — they finish up next weekend in Calgary — the Roughriders haven’t yet been eliminated from the playoff picture, but time is of the essence. . . . “We need a spark,” Dickenson said in giving his reason for the QB switch. . . . Well, take a trip around social media and check out the Saskatchewan fans. I think Dickenson’s spark has started a fire. Yes, they do take their football seriously on the flatlands.

Beer

G Talyn Boyko, 20, was back on the ice with the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go particularly well as they were Kelownabeaten, 3-0, by the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Rockets find themselves with three goaltenders on their roster after the NHL’s New York Rangers returned Boyko on Monday. Boyko, selected in the fourth round of the NHL draft, has signed with the Rangers, who had assigned him to the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. . . . The Rockets acquired the 6-foot-8 Boyko from the Tri-City Americans early last season. With Kelowna, he was 28-12-4, 2.79, .913 in 46 games. In 102 career WHL regular-season games, he is 43-43-8, 3.56, .899. . . . The other two goaltenders on the Rockets’ roster are both 18-year-old freshmen — Nicholas Cristiano of Langley, B.C., and Jari Kykkanen of Lloydminster, Alta. Kykkanen, a sixth-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 draft, is 3-3-1, 3.71, .883 in seven appearances; Cristiano, who has been in three games, is 0-1-0, 2.61, .879. . . . The Rockets now are carrying two 20-year-olds — Boyko and F Adam Kydd. . . .

The Rockets also announced that they have placed F Colton Dach, their captain, in concussion protocol, although I can’t find anything on the WHL website that indicates exactly what that means. Dach, who has experienced two concussions in about a month, is shown on the WHL roster report as being out week-to-week. The first of those two concussions came while he was in camp with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Red Deer Rebels ran their record to 8-0-0 on Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Rebels set a franchise record with the victory. The 2000-01 team, which won the Memorial Cup in Regina, opened 7-0-0 before dropping a 9-2 decision to the Warriors in Moose Jaw. Red Deer will try to run its record to nine in a row when it meets the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . F Ben King, 20, had two goals and an assist in last night’s victory; he’s got four goals and four assists in three games since returning from the camp of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. . . .

The WHL has two other unbeaten teams, with the Portland Winterhawks and Seattle Thunderbirds both at 7-0-0. The Winterhawks are scheduled to visit the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. That same night, the Thunderbirds are to entertain the Spokane Chiefs. . . .

D Andrei Malyavin scored his first WHL goal for the Brandon Wheat Kings as they dumped the host Kelowna Rockets, 3-0, on Wednesday night. He also has five assists in 10 games. . . . Last season, Malyavin, an 18-year-old Russian, scored twice and added 11 assists in 44 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. . . . The Wheat Kings got 29 saves from G Carson Bjarnason, who record his first WHL shutout. A 6-foot-4 sophomore who is eligible for the NHL’s 2023 draft, he is 5-2-1, 2.12, .942 this season. . . . Lucas Punkari of the Brandon Sun reports that the Wheat Kings last won a game in Kelowna on Oct. 26, 2010. He adds: “Brandon blanks the Rockets for the first time since the franchise moved from Tacoma in 1995.” . . .

F Kyle Bochek of the Vancouver Giants ended up with a four-game suspension for the hit that resulted in F Ben Thornton of the Brandon Wheat Kings ending up in Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, B.C., on Friday night. Thornton, who suffered a concussion and a hip injury, is listed on the WHL roster report as being out week-to-week. He was released from hospital on Monday and is at home with family in Chilliwack. . . . F Brett Hyland of the Wheat Kings was given a three-game suspension for a high hit on Vancouver D Mazden Leslie in that same game. Leslie wasn’t injured on the play and, in fact, scored once and added an assist as the Giants dropped a 4-3 decision to the Winnipeg Ice in Langley, B.C., on Wednesday night. . . .

The Medicine Hat Tigers released F Alex Drover, 20, on Wednesday after acquiring D Kurtis Smythe, 20, from the Portland Winterhawks for an eight-round pick in the WHL’s 2023 draft. Drover had two goals and two assists in six games with the Tigers after being released by the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic. . . . Smythe played 121 games over four seasons with the Winterhawks, putting up two goals and 29 assists. . . . Smythe joins F Dallon Melin and F Brendan Lee as the Tigers’ 20-year-olds. . . . The Winterhawks have only two 20-year-olds on their roster — G Dante Giannuzzi and F Robbie Fromm-Delorme — so it could be that another move is imminent. . . . FYI: These aren’t overage players — if they were overage, they wouldn’t be eligible; they are 20-year-old players and each team is allowed to have a maximum of three on its roster.

Gnome

Headline at fark.com — “What are you in for? Bank robbery. You? Murder. You? Cheating at fishing.”

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Headline at The Onion (@TheOnion) — Study Links Binge Eating to Stress, Contentment, Depression, Joy, Boredom, Anger, Relaxation.

YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER — From Reuters: China’s capital, Beijing, has dialled up measures to stop COVID, strengthening public checks and locking down some residential compounds after a quadrupling of its case load in recent weeks, just as a key Communist Party congress entered full swing. The city of 21 million people on Thursday reported 18 new locally transmitted cases for the previous day, bringing the tally for the past 10 days to 197. That is four times more than the 49 infections detected in the previous 10-day period.

Clowns

THE COACHING GAME:

Rick Bowness, in his first season as the head coach of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, remains MIA after testing positive for COVID-19 last week. He wasn’t with the club on Wednesday for a 4-3 OT victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver, and he’ll be missing again tonight when the Jets meet the host Vegas Golden Knights. The team is hopeful that Bowness will back on the bench for the home-opener on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. . . .

Former NHL D Ladislav Smid has been hired by the Edmonton Oil Kings as a development coach. Smid, 36, has retired after 17 seasons as a pro, the last five in his home country of Czechia. He also played 474 NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, whose parent company owns the Oil Kings. . . . Smid was a guest coach during the Oil Kings’ training camp prior to the start of this season.

THINKING OUT LOUD — OK, Sportsnet, we get it . . . you’ve put together a new set for Sportsnet Central, featuring Evanka Osmak and Ken Reid. We’ve seen the spot a few times by now, and I have a question: Why does Reid refer to her by her last name, while she calls him by his first name? . . . Sorry, fans of the New York Yankees, but your guys are done. Seventeen strikeouts! Yikes!! And Josh Donaldson looks completely lost, like a thirsty man wandering in the Gobi Desert. . . . BTW, the Houston Astros struck out twice in that game. Yes, twice! . . . The Vancouver Canucks have lost their first four games. They are the first team in NHL history to hold a multi-goal lead in each of its first four games and lose them all. They will go against the host Minnesota Wild tonight, and here’s hoping Vancouver wins so that Canucks Nation finally can get some sleep. Hey, it’s been ugly. Four games in and the fans want everyone replaced, from the owner to the head coach to F J.T. Miller, who signed to a seven-year extension a couple of months ago.

Universe

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

http://www.transplant.bc.ca/health-info/organ-donation/living-donation

Bears

Wheat Kings’ Thornton released from hospital, now with family at home . . . Health of Rockets’ Dach a concern . . . WHL still has three unbeaten teams

F Ben Thornton of the Brandon Wheat Kings was released from Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, B.C., on Sunday afternoon and now is at home with his family in Chilliwack.

Thornton, an 18-year-old sophomore, was taken to hospital after absorbing a Brandonhard hit in a game with the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on Friday night.

The Wheat Kings, who beat the Vancouver Giants, 4-2, tweeted on Saturday that all of “Ben’s CT scans came back clear.”

On Sunday evening, Erin Thornton, Ben’s father, told Taking Note that Ben is dealing with concussion-related issues — a bad headache and dizziness — and also has a “hip that needs attending to.”

It sounds as though Ben won’t be rejoining his team for at least a few days, and could know more after seeing a doctor today (Monday).

“We are extremely grateful the situation isn’t worse and that he will be back with the team in the near future,” added Erin, who played 52 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds over two seasons (1990-92). “The support from the team and messages from friends and family have been overwhelming.”

Vancouver F Kyle Bochek was given a charging major and game misconduct for the hit. The WHL suspended Bochek, with the length yet to be determined. At the same time, Brandon F Brett Hyland was given a TBD suspension after taking a boarding major and game misconduct for a hit on Vancouver D Mazden Leslie in Friday’s game.

The Wheat Kings, without Thornton and Hyland, surrendered the game’s last five goals in losing 5-3 to the Royals in Victoria on Saturday night. Brandon is to play the fifth game of an eight-game road swing in Kamloops against the Blazers on Tuesday.

Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen has taken a long look at the Cougars and their attendance woes. That includes a conversation with John Pateman, one of PrinceGeorgethe team’s six owners and the organization’s president.

At one point, Clarke wrote:

“Pateman doesn’t like to think about how much money the owners have lost since they bought the Cougars but it is substantial, and it’s getting more expensive to run a junior hockey team. Hotel rooms have doubled in price and hotel managers are refusing to cut hockey teams deals that used to allow them to check out after the pre-game nap. Restaurants are still trying to recoup their losses from the pandemic years and the higher cost of food is showing up on menus. Then there’s the price of diesel fuel for the bus, which only seems to go up.

“ ‘We’ve got to get more of the business community on board just as much as the fans,’ said Pateman. ‘In terms of dollars, we probably need 50 per cent more fans at the game and probably 50 per cent more sponsorship revenue. We think we have a playoff team and you never know what happens in the playoffs. We’d like to get to the stage of maybe breaking even in the season and then maybe getting a bit ahead of the game in the playoffs.’

“So where does that leave the Cougars? Despite their losses, there’s no indication ownership is going to move the team to greener pastures or sell it to somebody that might want to build a rink a rink in Nanaimo. The Cougars’ braintrust has faith the bleeding will stop eventually and a winning team on a lengthy playoff run would do wonders to make that happen. But it is up to the fans to show whether they want a WHL team to continue waving the P.G. flag.”

Clarke’s complete piece is right here.

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Sportsnet apologizes for interrupting gambling commercial with hockey.

The sons of two former NHLers, both of whom own chunks of the Kamloops Blazers, scored newsworthy goals on Friday night. . . . F Tij Iginla, the 16-year-old son of Jarome, counted his first WHL goal as the Seattle Thunderbirds dumped the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-0. Iginla, the ninth overall pick in the WHL’s 2021 draft, scored the game’s final goal. . . . Meanwhile, in Tempe, Ariz., F Josh Doan, the son of Shane, scored the first goal in the school’s new hockey facility — Mullett Arena — and the Sun Devils went on to a 2-0 victory over the Colgate Raiders. Doan, ASU’s captain, scored on a breakaway at 19:15 of the first period, banging in his own rebound. “I couldn’t have made it harder on myself to put it in,” Doan told Jenna Ortiz of the Arizona Republic. “A great pass from (Lukas Sillinger) and it was a pretty special moment. You get an opportunity to score the first in this rink and that’s pretty special. That goes up to a lot of guys that played in the program before me.” . . . Doan, 20, was selected by Kamloops in the WHL’s 2017 draft, but chose the NCAA route. The Arizona Coyotes grabbed him in the second round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . BTW, Lukas Sillinger, 22, is the son of former WHL/NHL F Mike Sillinger.

Rick Bowness, the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, won’t be behind the bench COVIDtonight (Monday) when they visit his former club, the Dallas Stars. Bowness tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and missed that night’s home game, a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers. The Jets are hopeful that Bowness will be available on Friday when they meet the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. . . . With Bowness sidelined, associate coach Scott Arniel is in charge.

Meeting

You have to think the Kelowna Rockets are concerned about the health of their captain, Colton Dach, who took a high hit during a 5-4 loss to the Silvertips in KelownaEverett on Friday night. Dach, 19, needed help getting off the ice after a hit from D Dexter Whittle, who was given a major and game misconduct. On Saturday, he was hit with a three-game suspension.

Regan Bartel, the longtime radio voice of the Rockets, wrote at rocketfan.ca: “You hope Dach suffered nothing more than a neck injury on the play when he was struck by Whittle just outside the Tips’ blueline. The concern is the injury is worse.”

Dach recently returned to Kelowna after a stint in camp with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. And it turns out that he missed time there after suffering a concussion during a prospects’ game with the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 16. He was placed in concussion protocol the next day.

Dach told Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune: “For me it’s still a mystery, I kind of just hit someone. Having just one shift I was going out there running around hitting some guys and came back to the bench and got a little headache.

“During intermission, it didn’t go away. I was going to try and just play through it but it kept getting worse and worse and never went away. (Those are the) kind of things you need to tell the training staff. . . . (It’s) pretty serious.”

As for symptoms, Dach told Thompson: “A lot of headaches, a lot of neck pain and dizziness, sensitive to the light a little bit. So everything was kind of normal. There (were) no weird things going on.”

The Rockets are scheduled to entertain the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday and the Winnipeg Ice on Saturday, and then will be off until Oct. 28.

Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: “Phil Mickelson was in Saudi Arabia this week, singing the praises of that LIV Tour, and I was just happy to see Phil back with his people. Mickelson can’t play a lick any more, but he still can talk.”

Workout

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The WHL goes into a new week with three undefeated teams . . . the same three that were unbeaten when the weekend games began. . . . The Red Deer Rebels, Portland Winterhawks and Seattle Thunderbirds all are 7-0-0. . . . The Rebels went on the road and beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-2, on Friday and the Swift Current Broncos, 4-3, on Saturday. This is the second time in franchise history that the Rebels have opened with seven victories. They also did it in 2000-01, a season in which they won the Memorial Cup. Red Deer next is scheduled to play Wednesday against the visiting Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Winterhawks played once on the weekend; they beat the visiting Kamloops Blazers, 5-4, in a shootout. Portland erased a 4-1 deficit with three goals in the latter half of the second period. Kamloops had won its previous four games. The Winterhawks are scheduled to visit the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. . . . Seattle, meanwhile, dumped the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings, 7-0, on Friday and then went into Everett and thrashed the Silvertips, 11-3, on Saturday. The Thunderbirds got four goals and five assists from F Lucas Ciona in the two games. Next up for the Thunderbirds will be a visit by the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday. . . . BTW, TBird Tidbits (@TBirdTidbits) points out that the Thunderbirds are the first visiting team ever to score 10 goals in Everett. The Chiefs had held the record, having scored nine in a 9-1 victory on Jan. 28, 2009. . . . It’s worth noting that the host Silvertips bounced back Sunday with a 7-3 victory over the Chiefs behind three goals from F Jackson Berezowski and three assists from F Austin Roest. . . .

The WHL’s Dept. of Discipline (whl.ca/discipline) has been busy of late. Including discipline handed down on Oct. 9, the league issued 13 games in suspensions through Sunday, with two other sentences yet to be determined. As well, the Regina Pats were fined $250 for a warmup violation against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on Oct. 12; the Edmonton Oil Kings paid $500 for “instigator in last five minutes” of a game against the host Seattle Thunderbirds on Oct. 14. . . .

F Gabe Klassen of the Portland Winterhawks struck for seven goals in his first three games before suffering an undisclosed injury. Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ veep/GM/head coach told Joshua Critzer, who covers the Winterhawks for @pnwhockeytalk, that Klassen is back skating and “I would expect he’ll play next week as long as he has a good week in practice.” Sounds like he could return Saturday in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans.

Slugs

THE BEDARD UPDATE — F Connor Bedard scored twice on Friday — he had eight shots on goal — as the Pats beat the Broncos, 4-3, in Swift Current. Bedard, the likely No. 1 selection in the 2023 NHL draft, broke a 3-3 tie at 19:52 of the third period. The announced attendance was 1,922, the largest Swift Current crowd through four games this season. . . . On Sunday, Bedard ran his point streak to 10 games with one assist as the Pats, who erased a 3-0 deficit with three third-period goals, dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. Bedard drew the primary assist on F Tanner Howe’s tying goal at 9:34 of the third period. Announced attendance was 3,211, the second-largest crowd through five games in Regina this season. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in goals (9) and points (20). F Austin Roest of the Everett Silvertips has 17 points; Roest, teammate Jackson Berezowski and F Reid Schaefer of the Seattle Thunderbirds each has eight goals. . . . Bedard leads the WHL in shots on goal, with 73, in 11 games. Berezowski has 43 in nine games.

Jon Runyan Jr., a guard with the Green Bay Packers, was fined US$5,215 by the NFL after leg-whipping an opponent during the 27-22 loss to the New York Giants in London on Oct. 9. The letter he got informing him of the fine read “further offenses will result in an escalation of disciplinary action, up to and including suspension.” . . . The letter was signed by Jon Runyan Sr. Yes, Junior’s father is the NFL’s vice-president of football operations. . . . “My dad and I always joked about this happening, but I never thought my style of play would ever warrant what he deemed to be unnecessary roughness, but it happened,” Junior told ESPN. “I thought since I left for college, I wouldn’t have to deal with him punishing me anymore, but I was wrong about that.”

Fateddy

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Urinal

No Ray of sunshine for Mariners . . . Report takes aim at Hockey Canada’s operation . . . Time for MLB to get Rose into Hall

Once again we are left to wonder why a major league manager gets into a playoff game and operates differently than he did during the regular season? A MLBteam spends 162 regular-season games defining roles and a manager blows it all up during a playoff game. Why?

I was left to wonder again on Tuesday as Scott Servais, the manager of the Seattle Mariners, went to the bullpen for starter Robbie Ray, bring him in with a two-run lead and two out in the bottom of the ninth inning in Houston.

By now you are aware that it didn’t work out. And, yes, this kind of thing will happen again. Likely before the first week of November expires.

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Joe Posnanski, looking back at THE decision in the Houston Astros’ victory over the visiting Mariners on Tuesday:

“When Mariners manager Scott Servais faced his nightmare scenario — having to get Yordan Alvarez out to seal a game that the Mariners had led by four runs on three different occasions — he decided to bring in left-handed starter Robbie Ray. I’m not going to lie, even in the moment this seemed like the worst of all options. Robbie Ray is a fine pitcher, he won the Cy Young Award just last year, but in his extensive baseball career he had never once been brought into anything even close to a situation like this. Not once.

“In fact, even as a starter he’s never faced a situation like this. He’s only completed one game in his entire career, and that was a complete -game shutout he threw in Pittsburgh back in 2017. He’s never had to get one guy out in the ninth inning to win the game. This seemed a hell of a time to ask him to do it.

“Even beyond that, Ray’s most glaring flaw as a pitcher is his tendency to give up the long ball — he gave up 32 of them this year, second-most in the league. He has not, even in a tiny sample size, shown any noticeable ability to get Alvarez out (in five previous encounters, Alvarez went one-for-three with two walks). Alvarez, as mentioned, hits lefties about as well as he hits righties.”

(Check out Posnanski’s substack site right here.)

Truck

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith honours oppressed anti-vaxxers by marking 2 minutes of coughing.

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Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Update: Next 6-8 months will feel like a decade in Alberta.

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Some interesting numbers from Dan Gartland and Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, involving Aaron Judge, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth, the American League’s three single-season home-run leaders. They point out that Judge got into 161 games this season and faced 230 pitchers. . . . Ruth saw 230 pitchers in 10 years with the Yankees. . . . In seven years with the Yankees, Maris faced 270 pitchers. . . . Of course, Judge hit 62 home runs, one more than Maris (1961) and two more than Ruth (1927).

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BTW, only 11 players who qualified for a batting title this season hit more than .300, the third fewest in MLB history — ahead of only 1960 (10) and 1968 (6).

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More from Gary Cavalli, who blogs at The Inside Track: “There were only 36 complete games pitched in the major leagues this year. Seriously. . . . Consider that the Giants’ Juan Marichal completed 30 by himself in 1968. . . . This year teams used an average of 8.71 pitchers per game, second-highest total in history after last year’s 9.09. And starting pitchers averaged only five innings.”

Movie

On Sunday night, I posted a quote from then Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule here — “We’re not going to win unless we score more points. I’m not going to lie to you.” That was after a 37-15 loss to the visiting San Francisco 49ers that left Carolina at 1-4. Rhule was fired Monday morning. No need for a tag day, though, as he is still owed more than US$40 million on the seven-year, $62-million deal he signed on Jan. 7, 2020. It’s pocket change to owner David Tepper, a billionaire who manages a global hedge fund.

“A new report commissioned by Hockey Canada says that a controversial reserve fund it used to settle a multi-million-dollar lawsuit alleging a 2018 HockeyCanadagroup sexual assault involving World Junior players was necessary, but there were serious problems with how that fund was administered, CBC News has learned,” writes Ashley Burke of CBC News. “CBC News has viewed and verified parts of a 100-page-plus preliminary report written by retired Supreme Court justice Thomas Cromwell that recommends sweeping changes. The report found Hockey Canada didn’t have policies and procedures in place to govern use of its reserve funds, didn’t fully disclose its funds in financial records, and broke the rules by failing to notify members of large payouts.”

Burke’s complete story is right here.

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THINKING OUT LOUD — If you are watching the NLDS between the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies this week, pay special attention to the umpiring crew because it includes Stu Scheurwater, the 39-year-old pride of Regina. Scheurwater, a full-time MLB umpire since December 2017, was at second base in Game 2 on Wednesday. . . . Does anyone else find it a bit off-putting that the Canadian Hockey League, whose players are mostly teenagers, appears to have cut a sponsorship deal of some kind with BetRivers Canada, an online casino and sports book? . . . When the 2023 MLB season gets here, the Cincinnati Reds will have a BetMGM sportsbook operating right in their home stadium. That being the case, it would seem that it’s time for MLB to induct Pete Rose into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Fiftycent

A SIGN OF THE TIMES — If you’ve been watching sports on TV lately, surely you have seen the commercial pushing Google Pixels. Although it’s a phone — at least, I think it is — the word ‘phone’ is heard/seen exactly once in the 30-second spot. All the rest of time is spent telling us that this is the best camera of them all.

Before arriving in Prince George for a Tuesday night date with the Cougars, the Brandon Wheat Kings apparently merged with the Portland Winterhawks . . . The Wheat Hawks, er, Wheat Kings went on to post a 2-1 victory over the Cougars before an announced crowd of 1,671. . . .

Rome

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Dylan Guenther, who played the past three seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings, is on the season-opening roster of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. He was the ninth overall pick in the NHL’s 2021 draft. Guenther, 19, could get an early-season taste of NHL play and then be returned to Edmonton. The first year of his contract doesn’t kick in until he plays a 10th NHL game. . . . He put up 45 goals and 46 assists in 59 regular-season games in 2021-22, then scored 13 goals and added eight assists in 16 playoff games. . . .

F Fraser Minten of the Kamloops Blazers remains with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he has a wrist injury. Minten, 18, is expected to be back in Kamloops by Sunday. He was a second-round selection by Toronto in the NHL’s 2022 draft. Last season, he finished with 20 goals and 35 assists in 67 regular-season games, then added 16 points, six of them goals, in 17 playoff outings. . . .

G Talyn Boyko, who finished last season with the Kelowna Rockets, has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL draft. The 6-foot-7 Boyko is to turn 20 on Sunday. The Rockets acquired the 6-foot-7 Boyko from the Tri-City Americans during the 2021-22 season. . . . As a 20-year-old, he is eligible to play in the WHL, but, at least for now, he is with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen.

Animals

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Homeless

Hockey Canada delays election, heads to court to keep gov’t from seeing some numbers . . . Sponsors running for the hills . . . Blazers’ Clouston gets to 500 victories

So . . . it was late on the Friday afternoon of a long weekend and I really was expecting one of those late news dumps from Hockey Canada. I know! I know! I should have known better.

Those people aren’t leaving of their own volition, are they?

Instead, as CBC News reported, “The next election for members of (Hockey HockeyCanadaCanada’s) board of directors is being delayed by a month.” That election had been scheduled for next month, but now is to be held on Dec. 17.

CBC News also got a look at minutes from an August board meeting, and reported this gem: “Hockey Canada is frustrated with the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the facts occurring in the public. Efforts need to be focused on our members and key stakeholders to provide them with accurate information.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that the people at the top of Hockey Canada are “deluded.”

“If these individuals continue to be deluded enough to think there is a pathway forward for them to continue to run Hockey Canada,” he said on Friday, “then Canadians will have no choice but look for another structure to run our national winter sport.”

That came one day after he offered this:

“There needs to be wholesale change. They need to do it. They need to realize that if we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada, and create an organization called ‘Canada Hockey’ instead, people will look at doing that. There is a lack of understanding that they’ve lost the confidence of Canadians. And the sooner they get to that, the better it will be for everyone.”

On top of all that, Alexander Pratt of the Montreal-based newspaper La Presse reported on Friday: “Hockey Canada has gone to court to stop the federal government from releasing sensitive financial information to the organization. The publication of this data ‘would cause serious difficulties,’ argued Hockey Canada, in documents filed in the Federal Court that La Presse consulted.

Anthony Housefather, Liberal MP for Mount Royal on the island of Montreal, tweeted on Friday that “Hockey Canada is taking the Government of Canada to court now to stop disclosure of financial information. Perhaps Hockey Canada prefers our Heritage Committee to summon the documents and have us ask them questions at a public hearing.”

Uhh, Mr. Housefather, yes, please. And on live TV, too.

While all of this has been going on, sponsors have been scurrying to distance themselves from Hockey Canada, either terminating agreements completely or limiting sponsorship to women’s program and/or minor hockey. Those include Tim Hortons, Canadian Tire, Nike, Telus, Sobeys, which is the parent company of Safeway and Thriftys, Skip the Dishes, Scotiabank, Esso, Chevrolet Canada, BDO, BFL Canada, and Recipe Unlimited, the parent company of The Keg and Swiss Chalet.

Also cutting ties — CBC reported that it was done “quietly” in June — was Predator Ridge, a golf resort near Vernon. B.C., that has advertised itself as “The Official Summer Home of Hockey Canada.”

Brad Pelletier, senior vice-president of Wesbild Okanagan, told castanet.net that Predator Ridge did “suspend all activities back in June” and now has “taken the next step this week to terminate our relationship.”

Castanet’s Jon Manchester wrote: “Predator Ridge became an ‘exclusive partner’ with Hockey Canada in 2012, naming itself Hockey Canada’s ‘summer home.” Several hockey events were held at the resort, including visits from the national men’s and women’s teams. Those events included player and sponsor meetings and charitable events.”

——

Let’s be honest. There is something rotten — really, really rotten — in the state of Canadian sports.

Here’s a chunk of what Myles Dichter wrote in The Buzzer for CBC on Wednesday:

“Hockey Canada isn’t alone. More than 90 current and former sliding athletes have called for the resignation of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton CEO Sarah Storey and high-performance director Chris Le Bihan over an alleged toxic culture. Over the weekend, Storey abruptly adjourned the organizations annual general meeting in Calgary at which a leadership vote had been set to occur. BCS later said the meeting was halted over irregularities in voter verification. An independent report released (Tuesday) detailed similar athlete mistreatment at Rowing Canada. Gymnastics Canada is facing a class-action lawsuit over claims of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Boxing Canada’s leadership was also called on to resign over allegations of widespread abuse.”

——

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Experts debate who is faster: Connor McDavid or The Sponsors fleeing Hockey Canada.

Target

You are Tom Gaglardi. You own the NHL’s Dallas Stars and you are the majority Kamloopsowner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. F Logan Stankoven of the Blazers was the CHL player of the year last season. He was a second-round selection by the Stars in the NHL’s 2021 draft and has signed with them. These days, Stankoven, 19, is in camp with the Stars. . . . If Stankoven continues to show well, does Gaglardi keep him with the Stars or does he return him to the Blazers, who will play host to the 2023 Memorial Cup?

Here’s Matthew DeFranks, who covers the Stars for the Dallas Morning News: “If the Stars carry 13 forwards, and they are choosing from the 14 forwards remaining in camp . . . one of the teenagers have made the NHL roster. Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven remain entering the final preseason game Saturday in Minnesota.”

Acne

This ad appeared in the Regina Leader-Post just as the 1973-74 season was about to start. The Pats, under head coach Bob Turner and with Ed Staniowski starring in goal, would go on to win the Memorial Cup that season.

An adult season-ticket was $60. I have a feeling that it might cost about that much for an adult to attend one game this season, including parking and a trip or two to a concession stand.

Hartley Miller’s weekly Cat Scan podcast features Bob Simmonds who, besides being a fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is the Prince George Cougars’ director of scouting. It’s an entertaining listen and it’s right here.

Parents

Czech F Pavel Novak, 20, played two seasons (2019-20, 2021-22) with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. He was a fifth-round pick by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL’s 2020 draft. On Wednesday, he posted a rather poignant message on Twitter on Wednesday:

On Friday, the Rockets posted the following video:

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Shaun Clouston of the Kamloops Blazers recorded his 500th regular-season victory as a WHL head coach on Friday night as his guys dumped the visiting Victoria Royals, 5-2. Clouston, who also is Kamloops’ general manager, is the 10th member of the WHL’s 500 Club, which is led by Don Hay (750), who now is the associate coach with the Blazers. . . . Pat Ginnell is No. 9 on the list, at 518. . . .

Willie Desjardins, the general manager and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, grabbed his 401st regular-season victory in a 6-3 defeat of the host Everett Silvertips on Friday night. . . . Desjardins has 391 victories with the Tigers and 10 from a stint as head coach of the Saskatoon Blades in 1997-98. . . .

Andrew Peard, the radio voice of the Edmonton Oil Kings, called the team’s game against the host Spokane Chiefs on Friday. That game, Peard noted on Twitter (@AndrewPeard), was the Oil Kings’ first visit to Spokane since Oct. 4, 2018, or 1,462 days ago. . . . The Oil Kings posted a 3-1 victory on Friday, giving Luke Pierce his first victory as their head coach. He had 26 victories to his credit from a two-season stint as head coach of the Kootenay Ice (remember them?). . . .

Curling Canada has announced that the 2023 Canadian mixed championship will be held in Swift Current, from Nov. 5-11. That means the Broncos will spend at least the first two weeks of November 2023 on the road. . . .

Steve Staios has left the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs to join the Edmonton Oilers as special advisor to hockey operations. He had been the Bulldogs’ president and general manager. Matt Turek, the Bulldogs’ assistant GM, has taken over as interim GM. . . . Staios had been president since 2015 and had held both titles since prior to the 2016-17 season. With Staios in charge, the Bulldogs won OHL titles in 2018 and 2022. . . . He played 573 games over eight seasons with the Oilers.

Milk

THINKING OUT LOUD — First, they gave us the Indy Colts and Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Then it was the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats stumbling around on Friday night. The football gods will start smiling on us today. Won’t they? . . . Is it just me or are a number of NHL teams playing a whole lot of exhibition games this time around? . . . The most amazing part of Friday was watching the St. Louis Cardinals fall apart in the ninth inning as they saw a 2-1 lead turn into a 6-3 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Lottery

Broncos reveal six-figure loss for 2021-22 . . . Third straight season of red ink . . . Pats, Royals each add forward via swap shop

Neekas, Heiltsuk Territory, is located on B.C.’s central coast.

The Swift Current Broncos’ board of directors informed shareholders at the organization’s annual general meeting on Tuesday that the 2021-22 WHL SwiftCurrentseason resulted in a net loss of $349,000. . . . “The Broncos had expected to endure another challenging financial year because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Broncos said in a news release. “With restrictions limiting fan participation and revenue generation, the organization was required to navigate the difficult year as best as possible, and work towards positioning the club for the exciting years to come. While undesirable, the overall deficiency of revenue over expenses was better than expected, due to key support from the 2021-22 season-ticket holders, the dedicated fan base throughout the year, corporate stakeholders, government programs, and strategic cost management.” . . . The Broncos now have lost money for three straight seasons. They dropped $791,000 for 2019-20, a season that was prematurely ended by the pandemic, and $129,968 for 2020-21, a season that comprised 24 games, all played in Regina. That 2020-21 figure would have been much worse were it not for the $600,000 the Broncos got from the provincial government. . . . According to figures compiled by the WHL, the Broncos drew an average of 1,480 fans to 34 games last season, the lowest figure in the league. That was down from the 1,954 average for 32 games in 2019-20. . . . The Broncos won the WHL’s championship in 2018, but didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2018-19 or 2021-22. There weren’t any playoffs in 2019-20 or 2020-21 because of the pandemic. . . . The Broncos play their home games in the 2,879-seat Innovation Credit Union iPlex. . . .

Four of the WHL’s 22 teams are community-owned and, as such, are required to present financial statements to shareholders at annual general meetings. The Broncos are the last of the four to hold their AGM. . . . Earlier, the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced a profit of $248,000, and the Prince Albert Raiders said they made $152,191. The Moose Jaw Warriors, meanwhile, reported a loss of $106,719.

Crypto

The Regina Pats paid a big price to bring F Sam Oremba home from the Seattle ReginaThunderbirds on Tuesday. Oremba, 17, who is eligible for the 2023 NHL draft, cost the Pats three WHL draft picks — a second-rounder in 2023, a first in 2024 and a third in 2025. . . . Regina obviously is hoping that playing in his hometown will spark Oremba’s offensive game. . . . Oremba was the seventh overall selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft after putting up 133 points, including 75 goals, in 31 games with the U15 AA Regina Monarchs. . . . Last season, in 56 games with the Thunderbirds, he had four goals and 10 assists. In two games this season, he recorded two assists. . . .

Meanwhile, the Victoria Royals have five 20-year-olds on their roster — two over the limit — after acquiring F Jake Poole from the Kelowna Rockets on VictoriaRoyalsTuesday. . . . The Royals surrendered an eighth-round selection in the 2024 WHL draft in the exchange. . . . Poole, from McAuley, Man., was a sixth-round pick in the 2017 draft. He has 59 points, including 21 goals, in 124 games with Kelowna, including a goal and an assist in three games this season. . . . The Royals, in a news release, admit — with tongue planted firmly in cheek — that they will benefit from the deal simply because they won’t have to face Poole again. Last season, he totalled 14 goals and 18 assists in 48 games, with eight of the goals and 12 of the assists coming against the Royals. . . . The Royals’ other 20-year-olds are G Campbell Arnold, F Riley Gannon, D Anson McMaster and F Caleb Willms, who is out week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Rockets show two 20-year-olds on their roster — G Talyn Boyko and F Adam Kydd. However, Boyko went to camp with the NHL’s New York Rangers and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, last week. He was a fourth-round pick by the Rangers in the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . Each of the WHL’s 22 teams is allowed to carry three 20-year-old players, with the deadline to declare arriving on Oct. 12. . . . The Royals expect to have Poole in their lineup tonight (Wednesday) when they play in Kelowna.

Costco

Mention was made here yesterday about the rough start to the existence of the junior B Ponoka Stampeders, who were trying to make a go of it in Alberta’s Heritage Junior Hockey League. . . . Well, the Twitter account Inside The HJHL (@latesthjhl) was quick to inform us that the Stampeders “have completely folded.” . . . The note added that “all stats from Ponoka games are thrown out . . . it will be a 38-game schedule this season now instead of 40 . . . no changes to divisions; six teams each now . . . no change to playoff format.”

THINKING OUT LOUD — It would be nice to see an NHL club give F Matthew Phillips a real chance. Put him on the second PP unit. Let him play in the top nine forwards. He has scored at every level, but too many NHL people only see his size — somewhere around 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds. Phillips, who had a terrific WHL career with the Victoria Royals, had 31 goals and 37 assists in 65 games last season, his fourth with the AHL’s Stockton Heat. That franchise now is the Calgary Wranglers, the Flames’ AHL affiliate, and Phillips already has been assigned there. . . . When a WHL team lists a player as being out with an “illness” are we to assume it is/isn’t COVID/19? . . . If you haven’t listened to Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, you should. . . . Hockey Canada? The reign is over; the royal court just doesn’t seem to realize it yet.

ITguy

The OHL’s Guelph Storm has a new head coach in Chad Wiseman, who moved up from associate coach with Scott Walker having left due to health concerns. . . . “In a phone interview,” Tony Saxon of guelphtoday.com, writes, “Walker made it clear that the health concerns are serious, but not critical. He said they are an extension of the health concerns that started in Vancouver when he was an assistant coach with the Canucks but had to step away, namely vertigo linked to blood pressure issues.” . . . Walker also is one of the team’s owner and serves as its president.

Josh Ciocco, an assistant coach with Merrimack College, passed away suddenly on Monday. He was 38. The school announced his death on Tuesday. . . . Ciocco, from Atco, N.J., spent three seasons (2000-03) in the BCHL, playing with the Prince George Spruce Kings (57 games), Vernon Vipers (19) and Salmon Arm Silverbacks (57). . . . He went on to play four seasons at the U of New Hampshire, captaining the team for the last two of those. . . . He was in his fifth season on Merrimack’s coaching staff. Merrimack is located in North Andover, Mass.

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Knee

Checking in on WHL coaching game — one signing and some scuttlebutt . . . 2022 WJC “a turd in a punch bowl”? . . . Rockets’ voice moves to The Lizard

Luke Pierce was introduced Monday as the new head coach of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings. Pierce, 38, spent the past four seasons as an assistant Edmontoncoach with head coach Brad Lauer, who has joined the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets as an assistant alongside head coach Rick Bowness. . . . From an Oil Kings’ news release: “In his four seasons behind the Edmonton bench as an assistant coach, Pierce helped guide the club to a record of 154-46-13-10, four straight Central Division championships and the 2022 WHL championship while overseeing the team’s defence and penalty-kill unit.  During his tenure, the Oil Kings have finished in the top 10 in penalty killing each season and had the best penalty kill during both the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.” . . . Pierce has previous WHL head-coaching experience from two seasons (2015-17) with the Kootenay Ice (remember them?). . . . From Merritt, B.C., he was the general manager and head coach for his hometown Centennials of the BCHL for five-plus seasons (2009-15). . . . It also must be pointed out that Pierce has served as vice-president and chairman for Hockey Gives Blood since 2018.

Scam

With the Edmonton Oil Kings and Prince Albert Raiders — Jeff Truitt taking over from Marc Habscheid — having named new head coaches over the past few days, the 22-team WHL doesn’t have any openings for head guys. . . . But there are some teams with vacancies on their coaching staffs. . . .

The Kamloops Blazers, for example, have an opening after associate coach KamloopsMark Holick left the club on June 10, citing personal reasons. Now there are rumblings that Don Hay, the winningest head coach in WHL history, is returning to the Blazers to work alongside Shaun Clouston, the general manager and head coach. . . . The Blazers will be the host team for the 2023 Memorial Cup tournament, and wouldn’t it be fitting for Hay to conclude his long coaching career in his hometown? . . . You may recall that Tom Gaglardi, the Blazers’ majority owner, announced Hay’s retirement on May 10, 2018. “Don Hay is a legend and it is only fitting that he is able to retire with his hometown Kamloops Blazers as the winningest coach in WHL history,” Gaglardi said in a news release. . . . Not so fast, though. Hay, it turns out, wasn’t finished. He has spent the past four seasons (2018-22) with the Portland Winterhawks, the first three as assistant coach and last season as associate coach. . . . All told, Hay has spent 13 seasons on the Blazers’ coaching staff — six (1986-92) as an assistant coach and seven (1992-95, 2014-18) as head coach. . . .

So . . . if Hay returns to Kamloops, the Winterhawks would have an opening. PortlandWell, it just so happens that Kyle Gustafson, who spent 18 seasons in their organization, is available. Gustafson, 41, is from Portland. He was an assistant coach with the Winterhawks for 14 seasons (2003-17), the associate coach for one (2017-18), and the assistant general manager and associate coach for three (2018-21). . . . He spent last season as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, but lost his job in the offseason as the NHL team shuffled its coaching staff. . . . A return by Gustafson to Portland also would allow the Winterhawks to put in place a plan of succession that could see him take over the head-coaching duties from Mike Johnston, 65, in a year or two. . . . Johnston, who has been with the Winterhawks for a total of 12 seasons covering two stints, also is the franchise’s vice-president and general manager. . . .

And then there are the Vancouver Giants, who have a vacancy on head coach VancouverMichael Dyck’s staff because associate coach Keith McCambridge, 48, left after two seasons to join the Bakersfield Condors, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, as an assistant coach. . . . Don’t be surprised if the Giants sign Adam Maglio, 36, to fill that spot. He joined the Spokane Chiefs as the associate coach for 2019-20, then was promoted to head coach on Aug. 27, 2020, replacing Manny Viveiros, who had moved on to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. . . . The Chiefs fired Maglio on Feb. 10, and named assistant coach Ryan Smith the interim head coach. Smith has since had the interim tag removed and is preparing for his first season as the Chiefs’ head coach. . . . Maglio, who is from Nelson, B.C., spent four seasons with the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings, the last two as head coach, before signing with the Chiefs.

In digesting all of this buzz just remember that it wasn’t that long ago when Gustafson was rumoured to be ticketed for Spokane as the Chiefs’ head coach.

OK?

Last week, it was the Saskatchewan Roughriders who discovered that COVID-19 COVIDhad made its way into their locker room. This week, it’s the Calgary Stampeders. . . . The Roughriders had at least 11 players, including starting QB Cody Fajardo, test positive and had to push back their game against the visiting Toronto Argonauts from Saturday to Sunday. . . . Now the Stampeders have a problem. Five players, three of them starters, missed Tuesday’s practice. Danny Austin of Postmedia reported that head coach Dave Dickenson “confirmed there was at least one case of pneumonia and several in COVID protocol.” . . . The Stampeders (4-1) are scheduled to entertain the two-time defending Grey Cup-champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-0) on Saturday night.

With the Hockey Canada mess on centre stage in Ottawa and with the warm HockeyCanadasummer weather — on Tuesday, at 8 p.m., it was 32 C in Kamloops — it’s easy to forget that the 2022 World Junior Championship is scheduled to open in Edmonton on Aug. 9. . . . It’s hard to disagree with Dan Barnes of Postmedia who wrote on Tuesday that the tournament “seems much less like a potential money-maker and far more like the proverbial turd in the punch bowl.” . . . Yes, it seems ticket sales for games not involving Team Canada are in the dumper. Because, as Barnes wrote, “it seems the boys of winter are not the same kind of draw in the dog days of summer.” . . . He also wrote: “Two weeks out, the tournament does not have an overt presence in the city. Officials from Hockey Canada and the IIHF have not answered interview requests from Postmedia regarding the tournament.” . . . Could it be that there is some ducking and running going on, what with Hockey Canada neck deep in other things these days? . . . Barnes’ column, which is well worth a read, is right here.

RedBull

Just like the Kelowna Rockets, Regan Bartel, their play-by-play voice, is taking Lizardhis show to The Lizard. . . . Bartel, the Rockets and Kelowna radio station 104.7 FM — aka The Lizard — announced on Monday that he will continue as the play-by-play voice of the local WHL team, a job he has held for 22 years. . . . The Rockets had been with Bell Media’s AM 1150 for more than 20 years, but announced earlier this month that they were making the move to The Lizard, which is owned by Pattison Media. At the time, Gavin Hamilton, the Rockets’ vice-president of business development, said in a news release: “We especially want to recognize Regan Bartell (sic). Regan has an incredible voice and his dedication to our fans to produce a first-class broadcast for all Rockets games will always be appreciated.” . . . In a news release on Monday, The Lizard offered that Bartel’s signing is “all part of a strategy to restore the Rockets profile in the city.”

The BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs have signed former WHL D Ryan Rehill as an assistant coach. Rehill, 26, is from Edmonton. He played four seasons (2012-16) with the Kamloops Blazers, before going on to the U of Alberta for four years. . . . Last season, while working as a teacher, Rehill spent time on the ice with the Bulldogs and the junior B Port Alberni Bombers of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. . . . With the Bulldogs, Rehill will be working alongside general manager/head coach Joe Martin.

THINKING OUT LOUD: ICYMI, the St. Louis Cardinals, without their two best players, who couldn’t get into Canada because they aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19, dropped a 10-3 decision to the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. The Cardinals will play in Toronto again tonight and they’ll again be without 1B Paul Goldschmidt and 3B Nolan Arenado, who are back home, presumably doing more research. . . . The Cardinals are clinging to the NL’s last wild-card spot by half-a-game over the Philadelphia Phillies. . . . If you’re a fan of the Boston Red Sox, you have to be wondering what happened! Your Sox now are in the AL East cellar, the first time that has happened in a full season since 2015. Yes, they are trailing the Baltimore Orioles. . . . BTW, Boston’s payroll is at $243,815,233, while Baltimore is at $46,217,169. . . . It was great to see Buck Martinez back in the broadcast booth for the Blue Jays’ game Tuesday night. And wasn’t that a welcome back that he received from the fans!

Bears

And there isn’t any such thing as “first annual.” The first one is the “inaugural;” the second one is the “second annual.” Thank you!

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

GolfBalls

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering if the Calgary Wranglers are coming back . . .

scattershooting

Camper2

Hello, friend. Yes, you . . . from the white one-ton truck that was pulled in off Wittner Road east of Kamloops on Saturday morning. You know, on the south side of the South Thompson River, just across from the Lafarge plant.

I was wondering if you lost your camper?

When I walked past your truck with the white camper on the back I didn’t see anyone, so I assumed you were fishing off the shore. I even wondered if you might be camping there for the weekend.

Then when I went for my Sunday morning stroll, I noticed your truck was gone but the camper was still there, albeit on its roof.

I can only assume that it slid off the back of your truck as you drove away and that you didn’t notice it. I mean, you wouldn’t be ignorant enough just to dump the old camper right there now, would you? Perhaps you were too busy trying to figure out how to use your turn signals to notice that the camper was gone. Hey, it happens to all of us.

Anyway . . . by now you likely have noticed that it’s missing and now you know where it is, so I’m sure you’ll drop by one day this week and pick it up.

Right?

Camper3

Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Jon Berti of the Miami Marlins leads all of baseball in steals, with 25,  at the season’s halfway point. Unless you count the former treasurer of the Oakville, Ont., Minor Baseball Association, who is accused of  embezzling $468,000 from the league.”

——

Perry, again: “Green Bay Packers QB  Aaron Rodgers has a new tattoo on his left arm — intricate astrological designs by Hungarian artist Balazs Bercsenyi. What were you expecting, a bull’s-eye with the words ‘insert vaccination here?’ ”

THINKING OUT LOUD: If you were on Twitter the afternoon of July 4, I think you’ll admit it was kind of surreal with tweets about the mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., and a hot dog-eating contest in Coney Island, N.Y., seemingly alternating in that particular social media universe. . . . During the NHL’s 2022-23 regular season, the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames will meet three times — none once in the season’s second half. Seriously! In the CFL this season, the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos meet on four occasions. . . . Battle of Alberta? Not in the NHL, I guess. . . . In the WHL, the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen will clash on eight occasions. . . . Still with the NHL’s 2022-23 schedule, the New York Rangers and New York Islanders will see each other only three times, all before Christmas. . . .

Hey, Blue Jays fans, how did you survive Friday night with your favourites and the host Seattle Mariners available only on Apple TV+? In its attempts to find new fans, MLB does that every once in a while just to remind some of us that at the end of the day it really does take those of us who are regular viewers for granted. . . . Don’t look now but here come the Baltimore Orioles. . . .

Yes, the Saskatchewan Roughriders should release DT Garrett Marino after that embarrassing performance on Friday night. Will they? Marino, in his second season with the Roughriders, has proven he can be a productive player, so I would be shocked if he is cut loose. . . . Until Sunday night, I haven’t been eagerly awaiting the arrival of robo umps in Major League Baseball. But after watching Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees take six pitches, all of which were balls, and be called out on strikes, well, I guess it’s time.

“Kevin Durant is turning into the Taylor Swift of baseball,” writes Janice Hough, aka the Left Coast Sports Babe. “But at least her breakups result in good songs.”

Lazuli
I had company for a brief time on my Sunday morning walk. Lazuli buntings are frequent visitors to our neighbourhood in Campbell Creek.

After I posted a story here the other day about the Kelowna Rockets switching radio stations — they left AM 1150 after more than 20 years and now are with 104.7 The Lizard — one reply to the tweet about the piece had me chuckling. . . .

BTW, some WHL fans really are waiting anxiously to find out if Regan Bartel, the long-time radio voice of the Rockets, will ever pitter-patter and get at ‘er again. . . . Hey, TSN, do you still need a play-by-play voice for your Winnipeg Jets telecasts?

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Brandon Wheat Kings have promoted Chris Moulton to director of hockey operations. He had been the director of player personnel since joining the organization on July 2, 2021. Before signing on with Brandon, Moulton spent 13 seasons with the Spokane Chiefs as director of scouting and director of player personnel. . . . Moulton’s promotion follows the May 6 announcement that general manager Doug Gasper had resigned for personal reasons. He had been with the Wheat Kings for three seasons, the first two as assistant general manager and the last one as GM. . . .

The OHL’s board of governors has approved the sale of the Niagara IceDogs to a group headed by majority owner Darren DeDobbelaer and including minority owner Wayne Gretzky. . . . DeDobbelaer and Gretzky both are from Brantford, Ont. . . . They purchased the IceDogs from Denise and Bill Burke, who had bought the franchise from the late Eugene Melnyk. . . . Ken Campbell of Hockey Unfiltered has reported that the price the DeDobbelaer group paid is “believed to be $18 million, which is actually 10 percent less than the $20 million owners Bill and Denise Burke were seeking for the franchise.” . . . The IceDogs play out of St. Catharines, Ont. . . . This isn’t Gretzky’s first time being involved in the ownership of a major junior franchise. He was involved in the ownership of the OHL’s Belleville Bulls (1982-84) and  owned a piece of the QMJHL’s Hull Olympiques (1985-92).

DeerApple
We had a visitor to our Jon Gold apple tree at noon on Sunday. She helped herself — without asking, I might add — and then laid down under the tree and digested her meal.

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Posters

Rockets take their show to The Lizard . . . Thank Bartel as they make move . . . Thunderbirds add potential key piece of puzzle

Lizard

A WHL season without the dulcet tones of Regan Bartel on the airwaves?

Who knows?

But the Kelowna Rockets, the team whose play-by-play Bartel has handled for 22 seasons, announced Wednesday that they are changing radio stations, moving from Bell Media’s AM 1150 to Pattison Media’s 104.7 The Lizard.

That’s right! A team that has the Ogopogo lake monster on its primary logo now will have its games heard on a radio station that calls itself The Lizard.

And, at least for now, it appears that Bartel won’t be making the move with the Rockets.

“We especially want to recognize Regan Bartel,” Gavin Hamilton, the Rockets’ vice-president of business development, said in a statement. “Regan has an incredible voice and his dedication to our fans to produce a first-class broadcast for all Rockets games will always be appreciated.”

The Rockets, who have been in Kelowna for 27 seasons, were on AM 1150 for 23 years, with Bartel, who also works in the AM 1150 newsroom, calling the play for 22 of those seasons. Prior to that, he was the voice of the Swift Current Broncos for five seasons.

The Rockets and AM 1150 signed what turned out to be their final contract, a three-year deal, in March 2019.

“The decision to move was one that required much deliberation and thoughtful consideration,” the Rockets said in a statement.

Ken Kilcullen, Bell Media’s general manager for stations in B.C.’s Interior, said in a statement: “The Kelowna Rockets have elected to end our long-time association, having not renewed a play-by-play agreement with Bell Media. I believe we at Bell Media made a very competitive offer in return for a new three-year agreement, but in the end, Rockets’ management is moving in a different direction.”

sneeze

The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed F Gracyn Sawchyn, who was the first Seattleoverall selection in the inaugural two-round draft of U.S. players that was held in 2020. Sawchyn, who had never made a commitment but was believed to be NCAA-bound, actually was selected by the Red Deer Rebels. They dealt his rights to Seattle for a conditional second-round bantam draft selection on May 14, 2021. It’s likely safe to assume that the pick was conditional on Seattle signing Sawchyn. . . . Thom Beuning, the long-time radio voice of the Thunderbirds, explained the trade on Twitter on Wednesday: “The 2nd Red Deer gets could be Van’s (acquired last summer by Seattle). Seattle already owes a 2023 2nd to Med Hat from the (Lukas) Svejkovsky deal. Of course, the deal really ends up being Seattle trading Kai Uchacz for Sawchyn, as a 2nd round pick went both ways in those separate deals.” . . . Sawchyn, 17, is from Edmonton but spent the past five years in Minnesota. In 2021-22, he had 10 goals and 23 assists with the U.S. national U-17 team, and had eight goals and 14 assists in 35 games with a U.S. National Team Development Program team in the USHL. . . . The Thunderbirds selected Lukas Sawchyn, Gracyn’s younger brother, with the sixth-overall pick in the 2022 U.S. draft in May. Lukas put up 35 goals and 50 assists in 52 games with a 14U AAA team at Shattuck St. Mary’s in 2021-22.

CovidWar

From Shanifa Nasser of CBC News: Ontario has officially entered its seventh wave of COVID-19, driven this time by the Omicron BA.5 subvariant, the province’s top doctor confirms. “Sadly yes, we’re in another wave,” Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer, told CBC News Wednesday after Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table pointed to exponential growth in most public health units.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Kamloops Blazers will make a tour of the Central Division in February with the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — the Canadian women’s curling championship — in their home arena. The curling is scheduled to run from Feb. 17 through Feb. 26. The Blazers, the host team for the 2023 Memorial Cup (May 26-June 4), are to play at home on Feb. 11 and then not again until March 3. . . .

On Tuesday night, I wrote in this space that Norm Daley was introduced as the Blazers’ president and alternate governor at a Tuesday news conference. It actually was held on Monday morning. Hey, don’t laugh. When you’re retired and every weekend is a long one, there will be times when you won’t know what day it is either. . . .

We now know why the Winnipeg Ice is to open the 2022-23 season on a 13-game road trip. Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press tweeted on Wednesday that “Wayne Fleming Arena is getting a new ice plant and ventilation system to replace the 40-year-old infrastructure. Installation was delayed by Ice playoff run.” He added that the U of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey team won’t play there until Nov. 4; the men’s team is out until Nov. 11. . . . All three of those teams are to hold their training camps at the RINK Training Centre in Oak Bluff, Man. The Ice also will play two exhibition games there. . . . As for that new arena that Ice ownership said would be built after the franchise was moved out of Cranbrook after the 2019-20 season, well, Sawatzky tweeted: “No news to report on arena.” 

Anxiety

THE COACHING GAME: Chadd Cassidy has resigned as head coach of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles. “It was my every intention that my family would be moving with me to Cape Breton when I took the job,” Cassidy, 48, said in a statement, “but my family situation has changed and we are unable to relocate to Cape Breton. After getting back home with my family it became more and more clear to me that I can’t be without them.” . . . Cassidy, whose home is in Lake Placid, N.Y., joined the Eagles in January, replacing Jake Grimes who resigned on Nov. 30 citing “personal/family reasons.” . . .

Grady Nursey, who spent the past four seasons playing for the junior B Westshore Wolves, is staying with the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League team as an assistant coach. He was the team captain for the past two seasons. . . . With the Wolves, he will work alongside general manager and head coach Derek Sweet-Coulter.

Tat

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Wisdom

Seattle goalie stars in Game 1 win . . . Kelowna paper reports Rockets’ home needs more than $7 million in work . . . Ex-WHL assistant now head coach in AJHL

All three major junior hockey leagues are into their best-of-seven championship series. . . . The WHL final got started on Friday night with the WindsorSeattle Thunderbirds in Edmonton against the Oil Kings. . . . In the OHL, the Windsor Spitfires opened in Hamilton against the Bulldogs on Friday night. Windsor won, 4-3 in OT, getting the winner from former Bulldogs D Michael Renwick at 9:30 after Hamilton had been assessed a checking-from-behind major at 6:56. Hamilton went into the game with a 12-0 record in these playoffs and, including the regular season, had won 24 in a row at home. They’ll play Game 2 on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton. . . . In the QMJHL, the Shawinigan Cataractes will face the host Charlottetown Islanders in Game 1 tonight (Saturday). . . . The QMJHL’s opening playoff rounds all were best-of-five because the league got off to a later start than its two counterparts. But it now is caught up, so the final is best-of-seven. . . .

TSN will televise all three series, starting with the third game in each — Hamilton at Windsor on Monday, 4 p.m. PT; Edmonton vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., Tuesday, 7 p.m. PT; and Charlottetown at Shawinigan, Wednesday, 4 p.m. PT. . . . There is a complete telecast schedule right here. . . . TSN also will show all games in the Memorial Cup, which is to run in Saint John, N.B., from June 20 through June 29.

——

FRIDAY IN THE WHL:

Championship Final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup

In Edmonton, the Seattle Thunderbirds, fresh off a Game 7 victory in Kamloops, opened the best-of-seven WHL final with a 2-1 triumph over the Oil Kings. . . . SeattleEdmonton went into the game with a 7-0 record at Rogers Place in these playoffs. . . . They are scheduled to play Game 2 in Edmonton on Sunday, before shifting to Kent, Wash., for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Remember that because of issues with building availability in Kent, Games 5, 6 and 7, as needed, would be played in Edmonton. . . . Last night, F Matt Rempe (6) got the scoring started for Seattle, backhanding home the rebound off a shot by F Reid Schaefer at 1:59 of the second period. . . . F Conner Roulette (4), who had an assist on Rempe’s goal, upped Seattle’s lead to 2-0 at 8:55 of the third period, tipping in a shot by D Tyrel Bauer. . . . Edmonton got on the board at 11:40, on a PP, as F Carter Souch (10) found the range with a redirect of a shot by D Luke Prokop. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-for-2 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-1. Referees Chris Crich and Fraser Lawrence handed out only three minor penalties. . . . Seattle G Thomas Milic, who was named the game’s first star, continued his strong playoff run with 43 saves. . . . Edmonton got 20 stops from G Sebastian Cossa.

Music

According to a report prepared by consultants hired by the City of Kelowna, Prospera Place, the home of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets, is in need of about Kelowna$7.7 million worth of upgrades. The report, acquired by the Kelowna Daily Courier through a Freedom of Information request, was prepared by Toronto-based Stadium Consultants International. . . . The arena, which opened on March 28, 1999, is owned by GSL Group, which also owns, among other things, the WHL’s Victoria Royals and that city’s Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. In Kelowna, an agreement between GSL Group and the city calls for ownership to be turned over to the city in 2029. . . . According to the SCI report, 6,500-seat Prospera Place should have its roof and outer walls replaced within seven years. There also should be improvements made to ventilation, vinyl and carpeted floors, among other things. . . . Ron Seymour of The Daily Courier wrote: “Issues are said to include some water leakage on the roof, outdated and undersized food and beverage facilities, small dressing rooms, and a cramped concourse. But other aspects of the building are said to be in surprisingly good condition given their age.” . . . The consultants suggest replacing the roof would have an estimated cost of $2.4 million, while upgraded lighting would come in at $1.5 million. . . .

The Rockets were to have been the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup; however, that event was cancelled because of the pandemic. Many observers expected Kelowna to be awarded the 2023 tournament, but the Kamloops Blazers were named the host team on May 27. As that announcement was being made in Kamloops, the Rockets issued an open letter stating that they weren’t able to bid on the 2023 Memorial Cup because of “significant deficiencies” in Prospera Place. . . . Seymour wrote that GSL Group issued a statement this week saying it “had complied with all the terms and conditions for building maintenance set out in the agreement with the city.” . . . From that statement: “Prospera Place and GSL Group have been and continue to be in compliance with our obligations and contractual agreements. That will not change, nor will our commitment to Kelowna.”

Seymour has stories right here and right here.

The Minnesota Twins opened a three-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays on Friday, and the visitors were missing four players. The U.S. and Canada both have pandemic-related restrictions that don’t allow unvaccinated people to cross their borders. Thus, the Twins placed four players on the restricted list before flying into Toronto after losing four of five games to the Tigers in Detroit. . . . OF Max Kepler and pitchers Trevor Megill, Emilio Pagán and Caleb Thielbar were left behind presumably because all four are unvaccinated. . . . The Twins also are without SS Carlos Correa, who tested positive for COVID-19 while in Detroit. . . . The Twins beat the Blue Jays, 9-3, on Friday night. . . .

Bob Weeks of TSN tweeted on Friday afternoon: “According to Golf Canada, Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar are not able to play the RBC Canadian Open ‘due to current Government of Canada travel restrictions . . .’ Both are RBC ambassadors.” . . . Neither the American nor Canadian governments allow unvaccinated travellers into their countries.

Banjo

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Brad Flynn has signed a three-year contract as the head coach of the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs. Flynn, 37, spent the 2021-22 season as an associate coach with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Red Deer Rebels for three seasons (2018-21). . . . In Bonnyville, Flynn takes over from Rick Swan, the winningest coach in franchise history. Swan left the organization early in April in one of those mutually-agreed-upon parting of the ways. . . . There is a news release right here. . . .

The junior B Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League’s board of governors has cut the regular-season schedule from 52 games to 48. According to a news release from the 11-team league: “The decision to drop to 48 games will provide VIJHL players with a little more rest in-season and allow clubs to have more prime night home games.” . . . The league also is going to hire a “head of player and safety discipline.” Again, from a news release: “The paid position will be in charge of reviewing all major penalties and determining what supplemental discipline, if any is required.” . . . That news release, which covers the board’s annual meeting, is right here.

My wife, Dorothy, is taking part in her ninth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk, which will be held (virtually) on Sunday. As usual, she is fund-raising on behalf of the Kidney Foundation. . . . If you would like to support her, you are able to do so right here.

Marley

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Bishop

Blazers or T-Birds? Who’s going to Edmonton? . . . Seattle d-man gets off-day treat . . . Shedding light on arena deficiencies in Kelowna

The combatants for the WHL’s championship final will be known tonight (Tuesday) after the Seattle Thunderbirds and host Kamloops Blazers meet in WHLplayoffs2022Game 7 of the Western Conference final.

The winner of tonight’s game will open the championship series for the Ed Chynoweth Cup against the Oil Kings in Edmonton on Friday night.

Kamloops, the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed, opened this series by winning, 5-2, at home on May 20, and since then the teams have alternated victories. The No. 4 Thunderbirds tied the series, 3-3, with a 2-1 victory in Kent, Wash., on Sunday.

Seattle has won two of the last three games while holding Kamloops F Logan Stankoven to two assists and shutting out F Luke Toporowski. Stankoven leads all playoff scorers in goals (17) and points (30), while Toporowski is tied for second in points (23).

The Thunderbirds also have been in this position before in this playoff season. In their conference semifinal, they went seven games with the No. 3 Portland Winterhawks. In fact, the Thunderbirds won Game 6 at home, 2-1, and then went into Portland and won Game 7, 6-3, on May 17.

Will history repeat? We’ll find out tonight.

Lucas Punkari of the Brandon Sun informs us via Twitter that this will be the first Game 7 in a conference final since 2013 when the Oil Kings, behind 26 saves from G Laurent Brossoit, beat the Calgary Hitmen, 2-0, at Rexall Place in Edmonton on April 30. . . . The last Western Conference final to go the distance featured the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs in 2008. The Chiefs won Game 7, 4-1, in Kennewick, Wash., on April 29 to end a series that featured five games that went to OT, with three of those going to double OT.

Treat

One day before playing in Game 7 of the Western Conference final, D Tyrel nhl2Bauer of the Seattle Thunderbirds signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. He was selected by Winnipeg in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. . . . Bauer turned 20 on March 23. If he doesn’t earn a spot with the Jets, he is eligible to return for one more WHL season, or he could end up with the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate.

Three other NHL draft picks who played in the WHL this season have to sign NHL deals by Wednesday or they will go back into the draft or become unrestricted free agents.

F Connor McClennon of the Winnipeg Ice was a sixth-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers but hasn’t signed. He is eligible to return to the WHL for his 20-year-old season.

D Alex Cotton of the Vancouver Giants and F Bear Hughes of the Spokane Chiefs completed their 20-year-old seasons so have used up their junior eligibility. Cotton was a fifth-round selection by the Detroit Red Wings, while Hughes went to the Washington Capitals in the fifth round. Neither has signed an NHL deal, although Hughes has signed with the AHL’s Hershey Bears for 2022-23. Still, if he doesn’t sign with Washington, he will become an NHL free agent.

Franklin

More light has been shed on the mystery of the deficiencies at Prospera Place in KelownaKelowna. According to the Kelowna Rockets, those deficiencies prevented them from putting in a bid to host the 2023 Memorial Cup.

The Rockets were to have been the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup only to have it cancelled by the pandemic. On Friday, the CHL announced that the 2023 event will be played in Kamloops with the Blazers as the host team.

Anyway . . . Regan Bartel, the longtime radio voice of the Rockets, posted four tweets on Monday that added some clarification to things:

  1. GSL, the owner and operator of Prospera Place, have some explaining to do on Kelowna’s inability to bid for the 2023 Memorial Cup. Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, “City of Kelowna taxpayers shouldn’t be (footing) a bill that could potentially reach the millions of dollars . . .”
  2. “. . . to host this event (for upgrades to building) when the partner (GSL), who stands to gain the most revenue because of this event, was not coming to the party as a full partner.” Substandard lighting was a concern heading into 2020 tournament. City/Rockets paid for it.
  3. “GSL, which is in care and control of the arena until 2029, was not willing to pay the cost to change the lighting. This has been a long standing issue. One just needs to walk through the building. Tell me what has changed since that facility opened in 1999?”
  4. “This is not a facility that is in the care/control of the City of Kelowna”, Basran added. “I truly believe the CHL wants to bring the event back, but it’s clear we have a partner that’s not quite as accepting to make that happen.”

I have a feeling there’s more to come on this story. Stay tuned!

——

The Chicago White Sox are scheduled to open a series in Toronto against the Blue Jays today, and they’ll be without two of their key pitchers. Starter Dylan Cease and reliever Kendall Graveman, both right-handers, have been placed on MLB’s restricted list, which would indicate that they aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 so are able to cross the U.S.-Canada border. . . . Players don’t get paid while on MLB’s restricted list.

My wife, Dorothy, a kidney transplant recipient in 2013, will take part in the 2022 #kamloops Kidney Walk for a ninth straight year on Sunday. Yes, it’s virtual again. You are able to sponsor her right here.

——

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Senators