D Stefan Elliott (Saskatoon, 2006-11) has signed a one-year contract with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL). Last season, with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), he had one goal and seven assists in 20 games. He also had one assist in three games with the Ottawa Senators (NHL), and six goals and 14 assists in 44 games with the Belleville Senators (AHL).
The Kamloops Blazers have signed D Mats Lindgren, who was the seventh overall 
selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft, to a WHL contract. . . . Lindgren, whose father, Mats, is a former NHLer, is from North Vancouver, B.C. Last season, he had four goals and 22 assists in 27 games with the bantam prep team at the Burnaby Winter Club. . . . Lindgren was the first of two first-round picks made by the Blazers in the 2019 bantam draft. With the 20th selection, they took F Connor Levis, who played for the bantam prep team at St. George’s School in Vancouver. . . . Lindgren and Levis, who are close friends, both had made verbal commitments to attend the U of Michigan and play for the Wolverines, starting with the 2022-23 season. . . .
The WHL’s teams now have signed 18 of the 22 first-round selections from the 2019 bantam draft.
——
WHL 2019 FIRST-ROUNDERS
UNSIGNED:
3. Prince George — D Keaton Dowhaniuk
4. Prince George — F Koehn Ziemmer
20. Kamloops — F Connor Levis
21. Swift Current — D Tyson Jugnauth
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SIGNED:
1. Winnipeg — F Matthew Savoie
2. Winnipeg — F Conor Geekie
5. Brandon — F Nate Danielson
6. Brandon — F Tyson Zimmer
7. Kamloops — D Mats Lindgren
8. Seattle — F Jordan Gustafson
9. Saskatoon — F Brandon Lisowsky
10. Seattle — D Kevin Korchinski
11. Moose Jaw — D Denton Mateychuk
12. Medicine Hat — F Oasiz Wiesblatt
13. Calgary — D Grayden Siepmann
14. Swift Current — F Matthew Ward
15. Spokane — F Ben Thornton
16. Brandon — F Rylen Roersma
17. Regina — D Layton Feist
18. Edmonton — F Caleb Reimer
19. Victoria — D Jason Spizawka
22. Prince Albert — F Niall Crocker
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The Vancouver Giants have traded F Dawson Holt, 20, to the Regina Pats for Russian F 
Sergei Alkhimov, 17. . . . Vancouver also received a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2022 WHL bantam draft, with Regina getting a conditional seventh-rounder in the same draft. . . . Holt, from Saskatoon, was the eighth-overall selection in the 2014 WHL bantam draft. . . . He had six goals and 13 assists in 53 regular-season games with the Giants last season, then put up seven goals and nine assists in 22 playoff games. . . . In 200 career regular-season games with the Giants, he had 25 goals and 51 assists. . . . Alkhimov had 13 goals and 14 assists in 66 games with the Pats last season. He joins Slovakian F Milos Roman, 20, as imports on the Giants’ roster. Roman was a fourth-round selection by the Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 2018 draft. He has yet to sign a pro contract. However, because he is a 20-year-old 
drafted player, he is eligible to play professionally, which allows the Giants to use their first pick in Thursday’s CHL import draft. . . . Regina also will be using one selection as it looks for an import to join sophomore D Nikita Sedov, 18, who is from Russia, on its roster. . . .
Going by the last available rosters on the WHL website, the Giants now contains seven 20-year-olds — F Owen Hardy, F Jadon Joseph, F Brayden Watts, Roman, D Landon Fuller, D Dylan Plouffe and D Bailey Dhaliwal — and the Pats have three — Holt, F Austin Pratt and F Sebastian Streu. . . .
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post explains right here why Regina general manager John Paddock made this trade, even though he was really reluctant to part with Alkhimov.
The Victoria Royals have acquired F River Fahey, 18, from the Winnipeg Ice for a 
conditional eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 bantam draft. . . . Fahey is from Campbell River, B.C. . . . He was a fourth-round selection by the Red Deer Rebels in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . In 2017-18, Fahey had one goal and two assists in 26 games with the Rebels. Last season, he had one assist in 21 games with Red Deer, then added two goals and three assists in 24 games with the Ice.
JUST NOTES:
The Edmonton Oil Kings have released Belarusian F Andrei Pavlenko, 19, so will be looking for an import in Thursday’s draft. He had three goals and one assist in 20 games with the Oil Kings in 2017-18, then added nine goals and 17 assists in 58 games last season. . . . The lone import on Edmonton’s roster is Belarusian F Vladimir Alistrov, 18, who had 12 goals and 26 assists in 62 games last season. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers have released Finnish D Joonas Sillanpaa, 18, after just one season. The 6-foot-6, 185-pounder had one goal and four assists in 61 regular-season games last season. . . . The Blazers are bringing back Czech F Martin Lang for a second season. Lang, who will turn 18 on Sept. 15, had 11 goals and 22 assists in 65 regular-season games last season. . . .
F Nolan Foote of the Kelowna Rockets has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which selected him 27th overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. He had 36 goals and 27 assists in 66 games last season while hampered by a wrist injury. In 168 regular-season games over three seasons, he has 68 goals and 70 assists. His brother, Cal, a defenceman who played with the Rockets, is in the Lightning’s organization after being drafted 14th overall in 2017. . . .
The WHL has said that it will release the complete 2019-20 regular-season schedule today. . . .
The midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos have added Tyson Dallman to their staff as an assistant coach. Dallman, from Prince Albert, played two seasons (2011-13) with the Tri-City Americans.
be returning to the WHL for his 20-year-old season. As you will have seen in The MacBeth Report, Mikhalchuk, who is to turn 20 on Oct. 16, has signed with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). . . . From Minsk, Belarus, Mikhalchuk played two seasons with the Cougars. He had 14 goals and 19 assists as a freshman, then added 25 of each this season. . . . Last season, the Cougars also had Czech F Matéj Toman on their roster. Toman, 18, had nine goals and 11 assists in his freshman season.
Raiders in Prince Albert. . . . That evened the Eastern Conference final, 1-1, with Game 3 scheduled for Edmonton on Tuesday night. . . . Prince Albert had posted a 1-0 victory on Friday night. . . . The Raiders led 2-0 early in the first period on goals by F Noah Gregor (5), at 3:28, and F Justin Nachbaur (1), at 6:55. . . . Nachbaur was back in the lineup after serving a two-game WHL suspension. . . . Edmonton tied it on a pair of PP goals before the period ended. D Matthew Robertson (3) scored at 13:58, and F Andrew Fyten (4) tied it at 19:31. . . . F Aliaksei Protas (5) put the home side ahead again, at 2:47 of the third period. . . . The Oil Kings tied it when F Trey Fix-Wolansky (4) scored at 5:38. . . . Neighbours won it with his fourth goal of these playoffs, beating G Ian Scott with a wrist shot from the left-wing boards at 14:49 of the first extra period. . . . This was his second OT goal of the playoffs. On April 6, as the visiting Oil Kings beat the Calgary Hitmen in Game 1 of a second-round series, he forced OT with a goal at 19:47 of the third period and then won it at 3:20 of extra time. . . . Neighbours, who turned 17 on March 29, is from Airdrie, Alta. He will be eligible for the NHL’s 2020 draft. The fourth overall selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft, he had 11 goals and 13 assists in 47 regular-season games. He is having a terrific run in the playoffs, with 11 points in 12 games. . . . Neighbours and Robertson also had an assist each. . . . F Jakob Brook had two assists for the Raiders. . . . Edmonton was 2-4 on the PP; Prince Albert was 0-1. . . . G Dylan Myskiw made 26 saves for the Oil Kings. He is 6-3, 1.88, .921 in the playoffs. . . . Scott finished with 30 saves.
them from the line of Jared Dmytriw, Owen Hardy and Dawson Holt — en route to a 4-2 victory over the Spokane Chiefs in Langley, B.C. . . . The Giants, who have won eight straight games, lead the Western Conference final, 2-0, as the teams head to Spokane for games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . Vancouver had won, 4-1, on Friday night. . . . Last night, the Chiefs took a 2-0 lead on goals from D Noah King (1), with 19 seconds left in the first period, and F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (4), just 19 seconds into the second period. . . . Holt (4) got the Giants started at 5:15 of the third period, and Dmytriw (5) pulled Vancouver even at 7:11. . . . Dmytriw (6) scored again at 7:33 for a 3-2 lead, and F Yannik Valenti (1) made it 4-2, one-timing a pass from the left faceoff dot on a PP, at 8:36. . . . In light of Valenti’s goal, here’s a tweet from Steve Ewen of Postmedia after Game 1: “Interesting to see Yannik Valenti getting some PP1 duty, considering he’s played sparingly at times during the playoffs. He does have that big, righty shot you see teams like to set up in the left faceoff circle.” . . . D Dylan Plouffe recorded two assists for Vancouver, with Holt adding one to his goal. . . . Vancouver was 1-2 on the PP; Spokane was 0-2. . . . Spokane’s PP is 0-4 in the two games; it went into the series with 12 goals in 25 attempts. . . . The Giants held a 24-20 edge in shots through two periods, then exploded in the third period when they outshot the visitors, 20-6. . . . G David Tendeck made his third straight start for the Giants and stopped 24 shots. . . . G Bailey Brkin came up with 40 saves for Spokane. . . . The Chiefs were without F Luc Smith, 20, who left Friday’s opening game early in the first period with an apparent ankle injury.
five-rated North American skaters are out of the WHL. . . . D Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants moved from No. 4 in the midseason rankings to No. 2. F Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades is at No. 3, and F Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes is ranked fifth. . . . F Jack Hughes of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program U-18 team is the top-ranked North American skater. . . . Central Scouting has seven NTDP skaters rated as potential first-round picks. . . . F Kaapo Kakko of TPS in Finland is atop the list of international skaters. . . . All told there are 50 WHLers in the final rankings. . . . The draft is scheduled for Rogers Arena in Vancouver, June 21 and 22. . . . There is more on the rankings 
the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Sutter, who will turn 20 on Oct. 25, was a third-round pick by the Capitals in the NHL’s 2018 draft. . . . This season, Sutter had 14 goals and 27 assists in 38 games. He missed 37 consecutive games with an undisclosed injury, before returning for Game 3 of a second-round series against the Spokane Chiefs. The Chiefs won that series in five games. . . . In 204 career regular-season WHL games, Sutter had 137 points, including 60 goals. . . . Hershey is scheduled to open the AHL playoffs on Friday. . . . If you’re wondering, Riley is a member of the famed hockey family. His father, Ron, is one of the Sutter twins and played 19 seasons in the NHL.
to sign on as the Alberni Valley Bulldogs’ general manager and head coach. Martin, 38, spent four seasons as the Centennials’ general manager and head coach. This season, the Centennials were 36-15-4-3 and finished second in the Interior Division. They lost a first-round series, 4-1, to the Trail Smoke Eaters. . . . Martin had been with Merritt since signing on as an assistant coach prior to the 2011-12 season. . . . In Alberta Valley, Martin replaces Matt Hughes, who, according to the Bulldogs, “resigned his position from the club by mutual agreement” late in March. . . . Taking Note actually was told by a reliable source on April 4 that “Joe Martin is going to Alberni Valley.” On Friday, that same source told Taking Note: “It’s happening. Joe Martin to Alberni Valley.” . . . That same day, when Bulldogs business manager David Michaud was asked about Martin, his response was: “Joe Martin is under contract with the Merritt Centennials. If you want to write gossip about a man who just gave birth to a newborn have at it. Get better sources or call me.” . . . If Martin was under contract to Merritt on Friday and my source was feeding me gossip, it would seem that the deal between him and the Bulldogs got done in a hurry.
was taken to hospital, is on the road to recovery.
and a point ahead of Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. . . . Calgary (21-19-4) has lost three in a row and now is 10 points behind Medicine hat. . . . The Rebels were playing for the third time in fewer than 48 hours; they went 2-1-0. . . . F Brandon Hagel (27) got Red Deer started with a shorthanded goal at 1:49 of the first period. . . . F Alex Morozoff (8) upped it to 2-0 at 14:59, and F Arshdeep Bains (4) got it to 3-0 at 1:40 of the second. . . . Calgary got its goal fro F Hunter Campbell (2), shorthanded, at 9:50. . . . D Carson Sass (7) scored Red Deer’s fourth goal, on a PP, at 14:41. . . . Red Deer was 1-7 on the PP; Calgary was 0-2. . . . The Hitmen lost F Mark Kastelic at 16:32 of the second period when he was ejected with a match penalty for head-butting. . . . At 3:47 of the third period, Calgary D Egor Zamula was hit with a headshot major and game misconduct. . . . G Byron Fancy stopped 23 shots for Red Deer. . . . With G Carl Stankowski still out of action, G Jack McNaughton made his 19th straight start for the Hitmen. He stopped 28 shots. . . . The Hitmen scratched F Jake Kryski and F James Malm. . . . The Rebels were without D Alex Alexeyev. He left Saturday’s game in the second period, but came back and finished. However, he obviously was unable to play yesterday. . . . Red Deer also was without F Jeff de Wit, who was injured Saturday in a goal-mouth collision. . . . F Sean Tschigerl, a 15-year-old from Whitecourt, Alta., made his WHL debut with the Hitmen. The fourth-overall selection in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft, he has 43 points, including 18 goals, with the OHA Edmonton prep team.
the Silvertips in Everett. . . . Victoria (23-19-1) had lost its previous four games. The Royals are third in the B.C. Division, five points ahead of Kelowna with two games in hand. . . . Everett (33-12-2) has lost three straight. It leads the U.S. Division by nine points over Portland. . . . Outhouse stopped 13 shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 14 in the third. . . . F Tarun Fizer (10) put Victoria ahead at 1:40 of the second period. . . . Everett F Bryce Kindopp (23) tied it 57 seconds into the third. . . . F Kody McDonald (10) broke the tie at 7:54. . . . The Silvertips got 20 saves from G Max Palaga. . . . Both teams were playing for the third time in fewer than 48 hours — Victoria went 1-2-0; Everett was 0-3-0. . . . The Royals scratched D Ralph Jarratt, who apparently was injured while blocking a shot on Saturday night. . . . Victoria was able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . . D Gianni Fairbrother, who had been ill, was back in Everett’s lineup after a two-game absence.
Winterhawks in Portland. . . . Tri-City (24-16-3) has points in four straight (3-0-1). It holds down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot by 14 points, and also is fourth in the U.S. Division, just two points behind Spokane. . . . Portland (27-13-5) had won its previous two games. It is second in the U.S. Division, nine points behind Everett. . . . The Americans lead the season series, 5-0-0; Portland is 1-3-1. . . . The Americans played their third game in fewer than 48 hours and finished 3-0-0, with the first two victories both coming in shootouts. . . . Tri-City took a 1-0 lead at 10:49 of the first period when F Kyle Olson scored, on a PP, and never trailed. . . . Olson, who has 13 goals, made it 2-0 at 19:09. . . . F Cross Hanas (6) scored for Portland at 2:49 of the second period. . . . F Paycen Bjorklund (3) restored Tri-City’s two-goal lead at 5:59 of the third. . . . F Joachim Blickheld (40) pulled Portland to within one at 14:31 but the Winterhawks weren’t able to equalize. . . . The Winterhawks outshot the visitors 15-8, 14-5 and 18-5 by period. . . . Boyko, a 16-year-old freshman from Drumheller, Alta., was making his fourth start — his fifth
claimed D Ryan Pouliot, 20, off waivers from the Kootenay Ice and signed Finnish F Joona Kiviniemi. . . . Pouliot is preparing for his fourth WHL season, after playing with the Ice (135 games) and Red Deer Rebels (14 games). Last season, he had two goals and eight assists in 64 games with the Ice. . . . In 169 career games, he had three goals and 27 assists. . . . Kiviniemi, who will turn 17 on Dec. 17, played most of last season with Karpat’s U-18 team in the Jr. B SM-Sarja. He had one goal and two assists in 12 games.
— Czech F Martin Lang, who will turn 17 on Sept. 15, and D Joonas Sillanpää, 17. . . . Lang had 32 goals and 22 assists in 35 games with HC Plzen’s U-18 team last season. He is expected to play Czech Republic at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and Red Deer, Aug. 6-11. . . . The 6-foot-5 Sillanpää had two goals and six assists in 43 games split between HIFK’s U-18 and U-20 teams. . . . Last season, the Blazers’ imports were Czech D Ondrej Vala, who was traded to the Everett Silvertips in January, and Swiss F Justin Sigrist, who won’t be back for a second season.
TAKING NOTE 