F Killian Hutt (Portland, Regina, Swift Current, 2008-11) has signed a one-year contract extension with Herford (Germany, Regionalliga). This season, in 32 games, he put up 49 goals and 83 assists. He led the league in assists and points. . . .
D Dan Gibb (Prince George, 2009-13) has signed a one-year contract with Amiens (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, with Gap (France, Ligue Magnus), he had two goals and 12 assists in 43 games. . . .
D Ryan Button (Prince Albert, Seattle, 2007-11) has signed a two-year contract with Grizzlys Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL). This season, with Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL), he had three goals and 14 assists in 48 games. He is a dual German-Canadian citizen.
F Tyler Hinam’s second goal of the game, at 15:28 of the third period, broke a 3-3 tie and sent the QMJHL-champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on their way to a 6-3 victory over the 
WHL-champion Prince Albert Raiders at the Memorial Cup tournament in Halifax. . . . The Raiders (0-2) are to play the OHL-champion Guelph Storm (1-1) tonight. A loss would eliminate the WHL champs. . . . The Raiders haven’t lost three straight games this season. . . . The host Mooseheads (2-0) and the Huskies (1-1) conclude the round-robin portion of the tournament on Wednesday. . . . With the score 3-3, Huskies D Noah Dobson seized a neutral zone turnover and took the puck down the right side and go it to the net, from where Hinam, who is from Cole Harbour, N.S., beat G Ian Scott. . . . F Peter Abbandonato added insurance at 16:53, and Dobson got the empty-netter at 18:19. . . . F Noah Gregor, perhaps the best player on the ice, had a goal and two assists for the Raiders. . . . F Cole Fonstad and D Brayden Pachal added a goal each for the Raiders. . . . The Huskies were 1-3 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-3. . . . Each team hit three or four posts in a game that featured a lot of scoring chances. . . . Huskies G Sam Harvey blocked 30 shots, three more than Scott.
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Here’s how Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW.com explained the situation in Halifax: “If the Raiders beat the Storm on Tuesday and the Huskies (1-1) defeat the Halifax Mooseheads (2-0) on Wednesday, then the Raiders and Storm would play a tiebreaker on Thursday. But if the Raiders defeat the Storm and the Mooseheads beat the Huskies, then there would be a three-way tiebreaking scenario between the Storm, Raiders and Huskies who would all have records of 1-2. A Raiders loss would be the end to their tournament.”
D’Andrea’s complete story is right here.
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JUST NOTES: When the CHL regular-season ended, Rouyn-Noranda was 59-8-1 and ranked No. 1, with the Raiders at 54-10-4 and in the No. 2 slot. . . . WHL champions now have lost 12 straight games at the Memorial Cup. It all started when the Kelowna Rockets were beaten, 2-1 in OT, by the Oshawa Generals in the 2015 final. . . . In 2016, the Brandon Wheat Kings went 0-3, while the host Red Deer Rebels were going 2-2. In 2017, the Seattle Thunderbirds went 0-3 in Windsor, Ont. In 2018, the Swift Current Broncos went 0-3 in Regina, while the host Pats were 3-2. The Raiders now are 0-2. . . . Add up the records of the WHL champions and you get 0-12. . . . The WHL champs have been outscored 58-22 in those losses. . . . OHL teams have won five of the past 10 tournaments, with QMJHL teams winning four times and the WHL once (Edmonton Oil Kings, 2014). . . . The Raiders are 0-7 on the PP through two games. . . . Mario Poulliot, Rouyn-Noranda’s general manager and head coach, was with the Memorial Cup-winning Acadie-Bathurst Titan in Regina a year ago. Huskies D Noah Dobson also was with the Titan. The Huskies acquired Dobson early this season.
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The MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues are looking for a head coach after announcing on Monday that they and head coach Billy Keane “have agreed to part ways.” . . . Keane had been an assistant coach with the Blues for six seasons (2010-16) when he took over as head coach prior to the 2016-17 season. He was the general manager and head coach each of the past two seasons. . . . Keane, who is from Winnipeg, is a brother to former WHL/NHL F Mike Keane. . . . The Blues were purchased in April by 50 Below Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. On May 14, Taras McEwen, the Ice’s manager of scouting and hockey operations, was named the Blues’ GM. . . . At that time, Keane told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that “I’m definitely interested” in staying on as head coach.
Todd Watson, a former OHL coach, is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes. . . . Watson, 52, was an assistant GM/assistant coach with the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers for two seasons (2005-07) and the head coach of the Saginaw Spirit for three-plus seasons (2007-11). He was the Spirit’s general manager for the last two-plus seasons of his stint there.
TAKING NOTE 