For most of our 17 years in Regina, Dorothy and I lived across Grosvenor Street from Marilyn and Bill Morrison and their three children — Tracy, Cindy and Cory. . . . All of us quickly became friends and then best friends. . . . To say that Cory was a sports fan would be something of an understatement. As a youngster, Cory never met a sports question he didn’t want to know the answer to, and having a guy living across the street who worked in The Leader-Post’s sports department and just might have some of the inside info, well, our conversations started with 20 questions and quickly grew from there. . . . He never did lose his love for sports as he journeyed through a life that would include diabetes and kidney disease. We spent an evening with him late in the summer of 2019, trying to answer any questions he might have about a potential kidney transplant and to offer him comfort. . . . Yes, there also were sports-related questions and lots of conversation. . . . We were heart-broken to wake up Saturday to learn that Cory won’t ever get to have that transplant because he died on Friday. He was 47. . . .
His sister, Tracy Morrison Johnson, who is responsible for the collage above, wrote this:
“Dad. Son. Brother. Uncle. Coach. Friend. Dog Lover. Comedian. Como. This is my brother. And it is with a most heavy heart that I write to say he lost his battle with Diabetes and Kidney Disease. He was 47. He was also passionate, stubborn, goofy, feisty, wicked smart and loving. He never forgot a sports stat in his life. And he made a unique and lasting impression on anyone he met. We will miss him and his loving heart and bad jokes terribly.”
Cory was all of that and more. I only hope that wherever he is he is able to find someone who will answer the questions and chuckle at his giggle.
The QMJHL has had to do some juggling of its playoff schedule after what it 
says is a “possible positive COVID-19 test within the Rimouski Océanic organization.” . . . The Océanic and Val-d’Or Foreurs and officials who worked the first two games of their series on Friday and Saturday are in “precautionary isolation.” . . . The Océanic and Foreurs were to have played tonight (Monday), but that game has been postponed. They also are scheduled to play on Wednesday. . . . A game between the Victoriaville Tigres and Blainville-Boisbriand Armada that was to have been played Sunday now will be played this afternoon. . . . All four teams are playing in Quebec City.
Meanwhile, there were three games in the WHL on Sunday night, with two of the teams completing their seasons. . . . There now are only three nights — and five games — remaining in this developmental season. . . .
In Kennewick, Wash., the Portland Winterhawks struck for five second-period 
goals and then coasted to a 9-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Winterhawks, who have won two in a row, are 11-8-3. . . . The Americans, who have lost three straight, slipped to 7-11-0. . . . These two teams will wrap things up in Portland on Tuesday. . . . F Robbie Fromm-Delorme (2) and F Cross Hanas gave the Winterhawks a 2-0 first-period lead. . . . They followed that with five more goals before the second period was 14 minutes old — from F Seth Jarvis (15), F Simon Knak, Hanas (2), F Jaydon Dureau (9) and D Nick Cicek (4). . . . D Luke Zazula (4) scored for the Americans before the period ended. . . . Knak (16) and F Marcus Nguyen (1) finished Portland’s scoring in the third period. Nguyen, an 11th-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft, scored his first WHL goal in his 16th game. . . . Dureau and Jarvis each had two assists, with Knak adding one, giving them three-point outings, and D Clay Hanus drew three assists. . . . Portland got 31 stops from G Brock Gould. . . . The Americans had only one goaltender dressed, so Mason Dunsford went the distance, stopping 28 shots. . . .
The Seattle Thunderbirds unleashed a 58-shot attack as they skated to a 3-0 
victory over the Spokane Chiefs in Kent, Wash. . . . It was the final game of the season for both teams. Seattle finished 10-12-1; Spokane wound up at 6-9-5 after losing its last four games (0-2-2). . . . Interestingly, Seattle G Jackson Berry stopped 21 shots and would have recorded his first WHL shutout had he not become embroiled in a fight with Spokane G Mason Beaupit at 19:29 of the third period. Scott Ratzlaff took over for the last 31 seconds but didn’t face any shots. Geoffrey Brandow (@Geoffrey Brandow) reports that it’s the “club’s first two goalie shutout in Internet Era.” . . . Beaupit had made 55 saves by the time he left, with Campbell Arnold finishing up. . . . F Keltie Jeri-Leon, playing his final WHL game and the 250th regular-season game of his career, had a goal and an assist. His 17th goal of the season, on a PP just 33 seconds into the second period, stood up as the winner. He finished the season with 27 points in 23 games. . . . F Mekai Sanders (1) and F Sam Oremba (2) also scored second-period goals. . . .
In Kamloops, the Kelowna Rockets scored a pair of first-period goals and went 
on to a 2-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars. . . . Kelowna (9-4-1) had lost its previous three games (0-2-1). . . . Prince George (9-9-3) has lost two straight. . . . F Alex Swetlikoff (4) opened the scoring, on a PP, at 9:24 of the first period, with F David Kope (6) making it 2-0 at 13:15. . . . F Trevor Wong drew an assist on each Kelowna goal. . . . D Majid Kaddoura (2) scored for the Cougars, on a PP, at 6:37 of the third period. . . . The Rockets got 30 saves from G Cole Schwebius, with Taylor Gauthier stopping 23 for the Cougars.
When you’re looking for the top sports columnist these days, Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post is in the discussion. Here she is starting a column earlier this week:
“Somewhere along the line Baron Von Ripper-off and the other gold-plated pretenders at the International Olympic Committee decided to treat Japan as their footstool. But Japan didn’t surrender its sovereignty when it agreed to host the Olympics. If the Tokyo Summer Games have become a threat to the national interest, Japan’s leaders should tell the IOC to go find another duchy to plunder. A cancellation would be hard — but it would also be a cure.”
Still with the Washington Post, I subscribed because of one writer — Thomas Boswell, a hall-of-fame baseball writer and a wonderful wordsmith on any other subject he chooses to tackle. . . . I once attended a gathering of sports editors in Reston, Va., and Boswell led a session on column writing. Later, around a lunch table, I asked him how he reacted when a copy editor would want to change his copy. He replied: “I want a phone call.” . . . “No matter the time of day or night?” I asked. . . . “Definitely,” he replied. . . . From that point on, I never objected to being called at home about anything. . . . Boswell is retiring as of June 30. Oh boy, will I miss his words, especially on baseball. If you don’t know of Boswell, find a copy of Why Time Begins on Opening Day or How Life Imitates the World Series. You’ll be glad you did.
Hey, you . . . yeah, you. The guy who struggles to get off the couch on a lot of days . . . this one’s for you.
“The Atlanta Falcons signed undrafted Jack Batho IV, a 6-foot-7, 315-pound tackle from South Dakota School of the Mines,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “Hey, if a guy from there can’t open a hole, who can?”
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One more report from Perry: “Ian Nepomniachtchchi can’t play under the Russian flag in his upcoming world-championship match because of his country’s ban from international sporting competitions by the World Anti-Doping Agency. For the record, Nepomniachtchchi plays chess.”
An interesting note from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: “How often has this been true? There are three Canadian men in the top 20 of the ATP Tour — Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic and Felix Auger-Aliassime — and no Americans in the Top 30.”
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One more note from Simmons: “Marc-Andre Fleury has moved into third place all-time in wins for a goaltender. That’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s also skewed somewhat over time. There are no ties anymore in the NHL. Terry Sawchuk played in 171 tie games. Glenn Hall had 163. To place Fleury and Roberto Luongo ahead of Sawchuk and Hall in wins is true just not necessarily accurate.”
Rod Carew — now there’s a man who could hit! — remembers facing the great Bob Gibson one time: “When I was 20, I faced Gibby at an exhibition (game) in Florida. I tried to fill in a hole in the batter’s box and he told me, ‘Get in the box. I’m double parked!’ He knocked me down four times and walked me. As I walked to first base, he said, ‘Don’t even try to steal.’ I didn’t.”
Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on June 6. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.
——
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
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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
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
.
traded by the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Everett Silvertips on Tuesday, bringing back a veteran forward, a prospect, two WHL bantam draft selections and a conditional pick.
212 career games, he has 41 goals and 67 assists. He began his WHL career by playing 54 games with the Regina Pats, who had listed him. The Pats traded Richards and a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft to Everett for F Dawson Leedahl and the rights to F Tyson Jost, who went to the U of North Dakota, then joined the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.
2019 bantam draft to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for F Keltie Jeri-Leon, who will turn 19 on Jan. 19, F Michael Horon, 17, and a 2019 fourth-round bantam draft pick.
Dec. 28; losing 2-1 in Kelowna on Dec. 29; and edging the visiting Prince George Cougars, 2-1, on Sunday.
at least for the rest of this season. Smith, 40, was in his second season as head coach of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit when he was fired on Nov. 18. . . . He had coached in the OHL since 2006-07. . . . In Humboldt, Smith will work alongside Scott Barney, who took over as interim head coach last week after the departure of general manager/head coach Nathan Oystrick. . . . The Broncos (21-13-3) are third in the four-team Global Ag Risk Solutions Division, two points out of second and five from first. However, they are 2-7-1 in their past 10 outings.
score a 6-3 victory over the visiting Victoria Royals in a game played on Tuesday afternoon. . . . Calgary (17-16-4) has won two straight. It now is in possession of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Victoria (18-15-1) is 2-2-0 on its six-game Central Division tour. It remains tied with the Kelowna Rockets for second in the B.C. Division. . . . The Royals were playing their fourth game in five days and their second in fewer than 24 hours. While the Hitmen were enjoying a quite New Year’s eve, the Hitmen were beating the Kootenay Ice, 4-3 in OT, on Monday in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . F James Malm (16) and F Carson Focht gave Calgary a 2-0 first period lead, with Victoria F Kaid Oliver (17) halving the deficit at 18:40. . . . The Hitmen took control with three second-period PP goals — from F Mark Kastelic, at 0:25; Focht (9), at 9:58; and F Luke Coleman (9), at 10:17. . . . F Brandon Cutler (8), at 13)1 of the second, and F Dante Hannoun (19), at 1:11 of the third, got Victoria two within two goals, but Calgary F Kaden Elder (15) put it away with an empty-netter at 19:41. . . . G Jack McNaughton stopped 23 shots for the Hitmen. F Tarun Fizen wasn’t able to beat him on a first-period penalty shot. . . . Calgary was 3-5 on the PP; Victoria was 0-3.
Broncos, 5-2. . . . Saskatoon (23-11-5) has won two in a row. It is second in the East Division, five points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who hold five games in hand. . . . Swift Current (7-27-3) has lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . The Blades, who held period leads of 1-0 and 2-1, outshot the Broncos 10-7, 16-6 and 20-6 by period. . . . F Max Gerlach (22), on a PP, put the home side ahead at 13:33 of the first period. . . . F Josh Paterson (12) made it 2-0 at 2:31 of the second. . . . D Billy Sowa, with his second career goal and second in two games, got the Broncos on the scoreboard at 19:46. . . . Saskatoon went ahead 4-2 on third-period goals from F Chase Wouters (7), at 8:58, and F Kirby Dash (16), at 13:13. . . . F Alec Zawatsky (13) pulled the Broncos within two at 15:05, but F Riley McKay (7) made it 5-2 at 18:58. . . . D Nolan Kneen, who had a goal and three assists when the Blades won 9-3 in Swift Current on Sunday, had two assists. . . . Broncos G Joel Hofer stopped 41 shots, 24 more than Nolan Maier of the Blades.
the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Edmonton (21-12-7) has points in seven straight (5-0-2). It leads the Central Division by four points over the Lethbridge Hurricanes and five on the Red Deer Rebels. Lethbridge has four games in hand on Edmonton, while Red Deer has five. . . . Vancouver (23-10-2) is 1-2-0 on a six-game Central Division trip. . . . F Carter Souch (7) got Edmonton started at 1:29 of the opening period, and F Trey Fix-Wolansky (24) made it 2-0, on a PP, at 12:45. . . . D Bowen Byram (10) scored for the Giants, on a PP, at 12:52 of the second. . . . F David Kope (8) scored Edmonton’s other goal, at 13:10 of the second. . . . Vancouver won 32 of 51 faceoffs and held a 35-17 edge in shots. . . . The Oil Kings got a solid game from G Dylan Myskiw, with 34 saves. . . . F Dylan Guenther, the first overall selection in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, is back with the Oil Kings, who were without seven players, including three forwards. Despite being 15, Guenther has played in eight games — he has three goals and an assist — with the Oil Kings. A player his age is limited to five games while his club team’s season is in progress, unless brought up under emergency conditions. . . . Guenther has 38 points, 20 of them goals, in 18 games with the Northern Alberta X-Treme prep team. . . . The Oil Kings scratched G Boston Bilous, D Jacson Alexander, whose season is over, D Matt Robertson, D Will Warm, F Quinn Benjafield, F Jake Neighbours and F Brett Kemp.
the Pats, 5-3, in Regina. . . . Prince Albert (34-3-1) had dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting Pats on Sunday night. The Raiders now are 5-1-0 in the season series. . . . Regina (12-25-1) had won its previous three games. . . . The Raiders took a 1-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period as F Parker Kelly scored while shorthanded. . . . The Raiders have scored a WHL-leading 18 times while shorthanded; the Red Deer Rebels are second, with eight. . . . F Robbie Holmes (8) pulled Regina into a tie at 18:37. . . . The teams combined for six third-period goals. . . . F Cole Fonstad gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead, on a PP, at 4:04. . . . Regina tied it 14 seconds later when D Liam Schioler (3) scored, and took the lead at 5:40 on a goal by F Riley Krane (7). . . . However, the Raiders scored the game’s last three goals. F Sean Montgomery (17) tied it at 11:04. D Sergei Sapego (7) got the winner, on a PP, at 15:39. Kelly (17) got the empty-netter, at 19:59. . . . The Raiders outshot their hosts, 56-23. By periods, it was 18-4, 15-12 and 23-7. . . . Yes, Regina G Max Paddock stood tall in this one. . . . Raiders G Brett Balas, a third-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft, stopped 20 shots to win his first WHL start. . . . Parker added an assist to his two goals, while Montgomery had two helpers. . . . F Noah Gregor drew three assists for the Raiders. He has 53 points, including 29 assists, in 33 games. He has 17 points, 10 of them goals, in a seven-game point streak.
first- and third-round picks in the 2020 WHL bantam draft, and second-rounders in 2018 and 2019.
signed with the Red Wings. The Cougars selected him in the 10th round of the 2013 bantam draft. . . . The Winterhawks selected Taylor’s brother Trey in the ninth-round of the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. Neither Taylor has signed a WHL contract. . . . Colina, from Delta, B.C., was an eighth-round pick by Portland in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Bowie, from Fort St. John, B.C., was a seventh-round pick by Portland in the 2016 bantam draft.
on Dec. 17, first-round selections in the WHL’s 2019 and 2021 bantam drafts, and a second-round pick in 2018.
Canada at the WJC in Buffalo; he won silver with Team Canada at the previous year. The Wheat Kings selected him in the first round, sixth overall, of the 2013 bantam draft. Clague was picked by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the NHL’s 2016 draft and he has signed with them. . . . Moose Jaw selected Burzan, who is from Surrey, B.C., with the sixth overall pick of the 2015 bantam draft. In his draft season, he had 80 goals and 51 assists in 62 games with a bantam A1-T1 team at the North Shore Winter Club. . . . Hartje was listed by the Warriors. Last season, he also played in 16 games with Great Plains of a U.S. high school league and had two goals and four assists in nine games with the NAHL’s Bismarck Bobcats.
this season. Last season, he had 19 goals and 26 assists in 49 games with his hometown team. In 191 career games, he has 45 goals and 86 assists. . . . MacDonald has 22 goals and 14 assists in 20 games with the West Valley Hawks of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. The 5-foot-8, 160-pounder also has two assists in four games with the BCHL’s Powell River Kings. . . . 
Kamloops Blazers for a seventh-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft.
for a seventh-round selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft.
Warriors for a sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft.
for F Owen Williams, 17, and a second-round pick in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft.
TAKING NOTE 