With the BCHL having announced that it is leaving Hockey Canada at month’s 
end, the national governing body is giving indications that it isn’t about to bend any of its rules.
Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported Friday that Hockey Canada has written its members in an attempt to let them know just what’s what and what they all can expect.
“Postmedia obtained a copy of the Hockey Canada letter,” Ewen wrote. “Among what is stated is that any player or coach on a non-sanctioned team after Sept. 30 is ineligible to participate in activities sanctioned by Hockey Canada for the remainder of the season pending a hearing from the reinstatement committee, and that’s even if they are released by their non-sanctioned team during the season. That includes ineligibility to be considered for selection to national teams or to attend other Hockey Canada high-performance activities.
“That also means that the BCHL can’t bring in players from junior B leagues to fill in for a game here or there due to injuries and have the players return to their original squads afterward like they have in the past.”
Get out the popcorn, and lots of it, folks, because this is going to be quite a show.
Ewen’s complete story is right here.
The 2023 Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for June 4, and Dorothy is taking part once again. She will celebrate 10 years as a kidney-transplant recipient in September, so the annual Kidney Walk is a big deal for her. In fact, she is participating for a 10th straight year. Yes, that means she is fund-raising, with all donations going to the Kidney Foundation. . . . If you are interested in helping, you are able to do so on her home page, which is right here.
SATURDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kamloops (2) at Seattle (1) — The Kamloops Blazers broke a 1-1 tie with three 
goals early in the third period as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle leads the best-of-seven conference final, 3-2, with Game 6 in Kamloops on Monday. If they need a seventh game, it would be played on Tuesday in Kent. . . . F Jared Davidson (9) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:25 of the second period. . . . F Matthew Seminoff (8) sacred at 16:00 and the teams were all even going to the third. . . . Seminoff (9) broke the tie 43 seconds into the third period. . . . F Ryan Hofer then scored his seventh and eighth goals, the latter while shorthanded, at 1:06 and 5:31, and just like that Kamloops held a 4-1 lead. . . . F Reid Schaefer (5) got Seattle to within two, on a PP, at 5:48. . . . Davidson’s goal set a franchise record for career playoff goals. He has 22, one more than F Scott Eansor (2013-17). . . . D Olen Zellweger and F Logan Stankoven, the Blazers’ offensive stars, each had one assist. . . . Seattle was 1-for-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-2. . . . Kamloops got another big night from G Dylan Ernst, with 36 saves, 10 more than Seattle’s Thomas Milic. . . . D Logan Bairos was back in Kamloops’ lineup, while D Ryan Michael remains sidelined. . . . The Thunderbirds remain without F Jordan Gustafson.
Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News:
“For the last time . . .
“LeBron is the greatest all-around player in the history of the league, whether you’d make Michael the first pick or not if you were choosing up sides to play for the championship of the world or not.
“LeBron could have been an All-Star at all five positions, and has done more positive basketball things, game to game, to help his team win than anybody ever has.
“He has scored more points than anybody in history, he has won titles with three different teams, and he is still playing at this level after two decades, and at the age of 38.
“He’s on my Mt. Rushmore with Michael and Bill Russell and Kareem. Steph can be on the other side of the mountain with Kobe and Magic and Bird.”
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Lupica, again: “Well, at least Gerard Gallant can stop complaining that people are speculating about his job security.”
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The QMJHL final will feature the Quebec Remparts against either the Halifax Mooseheads or Sherbrooke Phoenix. That series will open in Quebec City with Games 1 and 2, and both sold out within a couple of hours of going on sale. The Videotron Centre’s capacity is 18,259. . . . The Mooseheads hold a 3-2 lead in their semfinal, having beaten the visiting Phoenix, 5-0, on Saturday. G Mathis Rousseau stopped 26 shots to record the shutout. They’ll play Game 6 today in Sherbrooke. The two communities are 993 km apart, according to CanadaDistance.com. . . .
The Regina Pats have hired Andrew Kutnikoff as their athletic therapist. He spent the past four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, first as athletic therapist/equipment manager, and then for the past two seasons strictly as athletic therapist. . . . Greg Mayer had filled the position for 19 years before moving to the Saskatchewan Roughriders during this season, with Brennan McConaghy taking over on an interim basis. He now has returned to the CFL’s Edmonton Elks. . . .
The Penticton Vees wrapped up their second straight BCHL championship on Friday night, beating the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks, 7-4, to win the best-of-seven final, 4-1. . . . F Bradly Nadeau had two goals and an assist, giving him 30 points in 13 playoff games. . . . The Vees and Alberni Valley Bulldogs will open the Fred Page Cup final on Friday night in Penticton.
John Fisher, the owner who is trying to move his Oakland A’s to Las Vegas, isn’t awfully popular in the Bay area. Here’s Bruce Jenkins in the San Francisco Chronicle: “I was playing golf just outside the Strip many, many years ago when a hellacious sandstorm appeared, erasing all visibility and driving everyone to cover. Let’s hope that whenever A’s owner John Fisher heads out to inspect the prospective Vegas ballpark, he gets slammed by one of those.”
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.
forget it. . . . You may recall that the Travellin’ Bedards were in Brandon and the attendance was announced as 5,954 and that was said to be a single-game attendance record for the Wheat Kings in Westoba Place. . . . Well, upon further review. . . . it turns out that there was an announced attendance of 6,042 for a March 13, 2010 game in which the Wheat Kings beat the Pats, 3-1. And, on March 10, 2010, there was an announced attendance of 6,022 as the Wheat Kings beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-2. . . . Here’s hoping the printer hadn’t started running off copies of a new record book. . . . BTW, according to the Keystone Centre’s website, Westoba Place has 5,102 seats. So I’m guessing that the higher attendance figures include standing room and seating in private suites.
F Nathan Pilling and D Vojtech Port — will miss the remainder of this season due to undisclosed injuries. . . . Hauf, who turned 19 on Jan. 11, is from Krefeld, Germany. He had 21 points, including five goals, in 45 games. . . . Pilling, 18, is from Calgary and in his second WHL season. He was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors, for whom he had 10 points, including seven goals, in 23 games. With Edmonton, he recorded 13 points, 10 of them goals, in 35 games. He is the grandson of former Oil Kings player/coach Gregg Pilling, who played for the 1963 Memorial Cup champions. . . . Port, 17, is from Jilhlava, Czechia. He had 17 points, four of them goals, in 48 games after coming over from the Red Deer Rebels early in the season. . . . The Oil Kings, the WHL’s defending champions, are 8-44-3, which is the 22-team league’s poorest record. With Hauf and Port, both freshmen, out for the duration the Oil Kings will finish the season without any import players. They have 13 games remaining, including a date with the visiting Winnipeg Ice today.
hard hit in a game with the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on Friday night.
the team’s six owners and the organization’s president.
tonight (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.
Everett 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.
Hockey League, the umbrella under which junior A leagues operate in Canada, more than a year ago. That means that BCHL teams can’t compete for the Centennial Cup that was won this season by the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits at a 10-team tournament in Estevan, Sask. . . . With the BCHL on the outside of the CJHL and looking in, it is at least a bit interesting that the Wenatchee Wild will play four road exhibition games against USHL teams in September, while the Cranbook Bucks will go on the road to play games against the AJHL’s Bandits and the Okotoks Oilers. . . . If you’re wondering, the Wild will play two games against the Fargo Force and singles versus the Sioux Falls Stampede and Sioux City Musketeers.
Junior Hockey League on Monday when it released its regular-season schedule, one that includes the Spokane Braves. . . . Because of the pandemic, the Braves have sat out the past two seasons. . . . From the KIJHL news release: “The Spokane Braves are scheduled to play their first KIJHL regular-season game since February 2020 when they host Osoyoos Coyotes on Sept. 23 to begin their long-awaited 50th season. The league is continuing to monitor circumstances around the Canada-U.S. border and will provide updates.” . . . Taking Note has been told that the Braves have been given until Aug. 1 to declare their intentions for 2022-23. So you have to think that the KIJHL has another schedule ready to be released, one that doesn’t include Spokane. . . . With the U.S. and Canadian governments not allowing anti-vaxxers to cross their borders, the Braves don’t have enough vaccinated players to ice a team. In fact, owner Bob Tobiason and head coach Darin Schumacher aren’t vaccinated, either. That fact prevented Tobiason from attending the KIJHL’s annual general meeting at Fairmont Hot Springs in late June.
Belarus and begin his pro career with Shakhtyor Soligorsk of the Belarusian Extraliga. . . . Lethbridge GM Peter Anholt, from a news release: “We are really disappointed about the news of Klavdiev not returning. It’s disappointing to lose a good player who was going to be a key 19-year-old for us this coming season and someone that we were going to count on. The timing isn’t great for us, but his decision was made, and we respect that and wish him the best in his next step.” . . . Klavdiev had 21 goals and 26 assists in 61 games last season; he was one of three 20-goal scorers on the roster. . . . F Justin Hall led Lethbridge with 34 goals last season, but that was as a 20-year-old. F Jett Jones, who is to turn 20 on Aug. 27, was the other 20-goal man last season, with 20. . . . In the CHL’s 2022 import draft, the Hurricanes selected Slovakian F Alex Ciernik, who turns 18 on Oct. 8, in the first round and then passed on their second pick. The Hurricanes also hold the rights to Swiss F Liekit Reichie, 19, who had two goals and nine assists in 34 games after being claimed off waivers from the Prince George Cougars last season.
the Q.” . . . It has long been a way for observers to shrug off some of the bizarre things that often seem to occur involving the QMJHL and its teams. Take Saturday, for example. The QMJHL’s summer trading period opened and no one was more active than the Cape Breton Eagles. How active were they? Well, they made 10 trades in one day — yes, 10 . . . in one day. When they were done, the Eagles had acquired seven players and nine draft selections while moving out eight players and nine picks. . . . Only in the Q.
Vancouver Giants, posting a 6-0 victory in Langley, B.C., to win their WHL Western Conference semifinal, 4-2. . . . 
over the No, 8 Vancouver Giants. . . . The Blazers won the conference semifinal, 4-2. . . . The Blazers will be in the conference final for the first time since 2013 when they lost in five games to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Kamloops will meet either the No. 3 Winterhawks or No. 4 Seattle Thunderbirds in the final. Portland holds a 3-2 lead in that series going into a game tonight in Kent, Wash. The conference final is to open in Kamloops with games on Friday and Saturday. . . . Minten opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the playoffs at 6:06 of the first period. . . . F Luke Toporowski (8) made it 2-0 at 10:27. . . . Kamloops got second-period goals from F Daylan Kuefler (4), at 12:03, and F Logan Stankoven (10), on a PP at 13:07. . . . Kuefler also had two assists. . . . Toporowski (9) added a PP goal at 1:05 of the third period and F Caedan Bankier (5) closed out the scoring at 12:30. . . . Kamloops was 2-for-6 on the PP; Vancouver was 0-for-3. . . . Vancouver held a 12-10 edge in first-period shots, but was outshot 15-4 in the second. . . . Garand posted his third shutout in 10 playoff games. He is 8-2, 1.51, .940. . . . D Alex Cotton, who left Game 5 with an undisclosed injury, was in the Giants’ lineup, as was F Colton Langkow, who hadn’t played since Game 1 on May 6. F Cole Shepard left after one period on Sunday. He hadn’t played since March 16, then came back for Game 4.
Langley, B.C., for their WHL playoff game with the Kamloops Blazers on Sunday. He was in Las Vegas where he was a presenter during the Billboard Music Awards. . . . But he planned on listening via his phone, even while was on the red carpet. . . . “Forget about being an owner, I love hockey and I’m a proud Vancouver guy,” he told Simon Little of Global News earlier Sunday, “so even if I had nothing to do with the Giants, I’d still be on the red carpet listening to the game.” . . . He also said that he is really proud of the Giants, who went into the playoffs as the Western Conference’s eighth seed and knocked off the No. 1 Everett Silvertips in the first round. . . . “I’m not sure if people realize but it’s the first time in the history of the WHL that an eighth seed has taken out the top seed,” he added. “There’s not a lot of parity in our league, it’s not like the NHL, the No. 1 seed is a goliath. The fact that we’re here, hoping to push it to seven is absolutely wild. . . . I’m surprised more Vancouverites aren’t as excited as I am. I say it all the time, I love my city but sometimes I wonder, are we a hockey town or are we a Canuck town? Prove me wrong Vancouver.” . . . The Blazers beat the Giants, 6-0, on Sunday to win the series, 4-2. The announced attendance was 4,310.
Sunday “a couple players” won’t make the trip for a three-game series in Toronto because of the Canadian government’s vaccine mandate. Servais did not identify which players will be unavailable. . . . Just as the U.S. does for foreign travellers, Canada requires anyone entering the country to have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, the second at least 14 days before entry. . . . From Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times: But per an agreement between MLB and the players union, (Servais) wouldn’t provide any details. He is not allowed to speak of a player’s vaccination status.
Assistant coaches Kurtis Foster and Mike Hedden will run things for the remainder of this season. . . . “We feel our team is underperforming right now,” Roger Hunt, the Generals’ general manager, said in a news release. “We all think the group can benefit from a different voice down in the room.” . . . Miller was in his first season as Oshawa’s head coach. He spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Barrie Colts before working as an assistant coach with the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings last season. . . . The Generals, who dropped a 7-2 decision to the Frontenacs in Kingston on Friday, were 24-24-5 and tied for sixth place with the Ottawa 67’s (23-25-7) in the 10-team Eastern Conference going into Saturday’s games. . . . The Generals beat the visiting Peterborough Petes, 5-4 in OT, on Sunday. Oshawa is to meet the host Hamilton Bulldogs in the OHL’s Outdoor Showcase today.
AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm parted company on Saturday. According to a news release from the team, the parties “mutually agreed to part ways effective immediately.” Vandekamp was the Storm’s general manager and head coach for two seasons. . . . This season, the Storm finished 22-30-8 and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. . . . Until a replacement is hired, the Storm said that business manager Ryan Carter and assistant coach Chris Schmidt will run things.
Winterhawks and Seattle Thunderbirds. Because when these two teams meet now . . . stuff happens. And there often seems to be an aftermath, too.
Rempe, who is listed at 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, was given a kneeing major and game misconduct.
TAKING NOTE 