F Drew Englot was in the Kamloops Blazers’ starting lineup for Game 3 of their first-round series with the Spokane Chiefs on Monday night. . . . Englot had been assessed a match penalty for attempt to injure late in the Blazers’ 6-2 victory over the visiting Chiefs on Saturday night. The incident occurred during a scrum at 19:28 of the third period and included Englot hitting referee Corey Koop. Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week wrote: “Among the combatants was Blazers’ forward Drew Englot, who struck an official in the head during the rumble.” . . . Englot told Hastings: “Obviously, there was no intention. The guy hit me in the face. My hand just came up to protect myself and came down and hit him in the face. Obviously, it’s an accident, right? You don’t mean to, but stuff happens.” . . . On Monday the WHL turned the match penalty into a game misconduct, a move that allowed Englot to start Game 3 on the right side of Kamloops’ top line, alongside Luke Toporowski and Logan Stankoven. . . . Englot had one assist in the Blazers’ 5-1 victory.
The Everett Silvertips will be without F Alex Swetlikoff, who led them in points this regular season, for Games 3 and 4 of their first-round series with the Vancouver Giants. He has been hit with a two-game suspension for a check from behind on Vancouver F Payton Mount in Game 2 in Everett on Saturday. Swetlikoff was given a double minor on the play. Mount left the game, didn’t return, and wasn’t on the ice with the Giants on Monday. . . . “We’re concerned about Mount,” Vancouver head coach Michael Dyck told Steve Ewen of Postmedia. “He took a pretty heavy hit. He got his head slammed into the glass. He’s had some concussion issues. . . . It’s not about him getting back in the series. We’re concerned about his health.” . . . Swetlikoff put up 84 points, including 51 assists, in the regular season. . . . The Silvertips were without F Jackson Berezowski, who led them with 46 goals in the regular season, for Games 1 and 2. He is out with an undisclosed injury. . . . The series is tied 1-1 and will resume with Games 3 and 4 in Langley, B.C., on Wednesday and Friday. Game 6 is set for Everett on Saturday. . . . Ewen sets the stage for Game 3 right here.
During the just-completed NBA regular season, only five players got into all 82 of their teams’ games. As Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel put it: “In the NBA, they call it ‘load management.’ In other jobs, it’s called ‘not showing up for work.’ ”
MONDAY IN THE WHL:
There was only one playoff game on Monday’s schedule, with the Spokane Chiefs in Kamloops for Game 3 of their first-round series with the Blazers. . . . There are six games on tap tonight, with five of the visiting teams holding 2-0 leads. The exception? The Red Deer Rebels go into Brandon for a game with the Wheat Kings and the series is 1-1. . . . Meanwhile, last night . . .
In Kamloops, F Logan Stankoven had a goal and two assists as the Blazers 
skated to a 5-1 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Blazers lead the series, 3-0, having swept all three games in Kamloops, outscoring the Chiefs, 20-3, in the process. They’ll resume hostilities in Spokane on Friday. The reason for the 3-3-1 format and the time off before Game 4? Sir Paul McCartney is in Spokane for a Thursday night concert so the building has been tied up. . . . With four goals and six assists in the three games, Stankoven has figured in half of the Blazers’ goals. He leads the playoff points derby by two points over linemate Luke Toporowski, who had a goal and an assist last night. . . . F Fraser Minten scored the eventual game-winner, giving Kamloops a 2-0 lead at 18:44 of the first period. He has a goal in each of the three games. . . . The Blazers got 25 saves from G Dylan Garand. . . . Kamloops was 2-for-6 on the PP; Spokane was 0-for-6. . . . G Cooper Michaluk stopped 34 shots for the Chiefs. G Mason Beaupit, who left Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury, wasn’t dressed. Manny Panghli, who is from Kamloops, backed up Michaluk.
“Mike Tyson unloaded on an obnoxious airplane passenger who was harassing him, repeatedly punching the guy and bloodying his face,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “The man was identified only as ‘George’ — presumably not George Foreman.”
My wife, Dorothy, is preparing to take part in her ninth Kamloops Kidney Walk. . . . It will be held on June 5, but thanks to the pandemic it again will be a virtual event. . . . If you would like to sponsor her, you are able to do so 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
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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.
are implementing a mandatory vaccination policy to prevent against the transmission of COVID-19. Under this policy, we will require that players, along with all members of the OHL community, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide a proof of vaccination to the OHL at least two weeks prior to the start of training camps.”
news conference today (Tuesday) at 10 a.m. PT. . . . They have needed a GM since Matt Bardsley announced on May 25 that he was leaving the organization after three years. He left with three years remaining on his contract, saying that because of travel restrictions he wanted to get his family back to the U.S. They have since relocated to Portland and Bardsley has signed on with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers as an amateur scout. . . . Bardsley had worked in Portland with the Winterhawks since 1999 before joining the Blazers. . . . There has been speculation that Blades head coach Shaun Clouston will add the GM’s role to his duties. He has been the Blazers’ head coach for two seasons. Prior to signing in Kamloops, he spent 16 seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the last seven as GM/head coach. . . . Earlier this month, the Everett Silvertips gave the GM’s title to head coach Dennis Williams and signed him to a contract extension. The Silvertips dumped general manager Garry Davidson after nine seasons, saying it was a cost-cutting move.
20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds for a pair of draft picks — a second-rounder in 2023 and a fifth-rounder in 2024. . . . Mount, a 5-foot-8, 180-pounder from Victoria, was the 19th overall selection in the WHL’s 2017 draft. In 140 regular-season games, he has 23 goals and 45 assists. His best season was 2019-20, when he put up 14 goals and 24 assists in 62 games. . . . The 6-foot-3, 205-pound McNelly, from Westlock, Alta., has six goals and 11 assists in 121 regular-season games. . . . The Giants finished the 2020-21 season with five other 2001-born players on their roster — F Bryce Bader, F Adam Hall, D Connor Horning, G Trent Miner and F Dallon Wilton. . . . At the same time, Seattle has two 2001-born players remaining on its roster from the end of the season — D Ryan Gottfriend and F Henrik Rybinski.
2021-22 WHL season. On Monday, they announced the signing of Slovakian F Jakub Demek, who was picked in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Last season, Demek, 18, had two assists in 10 games with HC Kosice in the Slovak Extraliga, and had six goals and 15 assists in 31 games with the country’s U-18 side. . . . Earlier, the Oil Kings announced that Czech D Simon Kubicek, who turns 20 on Dec. 19, had committed to playing for them. He was acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds.
were selected in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . From the Blades’ news release: “Born and raised in Vitebsk, Belarus, Sidorov spent last year playing and training under his home country’s national U17 and U18 development programs. The majority of his workload came as an underage forward in the U18 ranks, dressing in 24 games and racking up 14 points (7G-7A) along with 10 penalty minutes.” . . . Saskatoon also drafted German F Moritz Elias, 17, last month but has yet to announce his signing.
overall selection in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Huuhtanen, 18, is ranked 49th overall among European skaters eligible for the NHL draft that is to be held Friday and Saturday. . . . In 2020-21, he had 20 goals and 14 assists in 37 games with Tappara’s U-20 side. He also had two goals and three assists for Finland at the IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas. . . . He had signed a two-year contract with the Finnish pro team Tappara on May 19. . . . The Silvertips also hold the CHL rights to Czech F Michal Gut, 19, and Finnish D Kasper Puutio, 19, both of whom finished last season on their roster although choosing to play in Europe.
after revealing that she has tested positive for COVID-19. . . . “I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” she tweeted. ”It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future.’’ . . . 
action, the NHL scrubbed at least one of their upcoming games.
for further analysis of a potential positive COVID-19 test result,” the league announced. . . . All team members, who have been tested once a week since the BCHL returned with a pod-type season, went into isolation until results are confirmed one way or the other. . . . The league said it would “provide an update once further analysis has been completed.” There wasn’t an update as of Thursday at 10 p.m. PT. . . . The Clippers were to have played the Alberni Valley Bulldogs last night, but that game was postponed. . . . The Clippers, Bulldogs, Victoria Grizzlies and Cowichan Valley Capitals have been playing in Alberni Valley under the cohort format. . . . Victoria and Cowichan Valley are scheduled to play tonight, with Nanaimo and Victoria on tap for a Saturday afternoon game, followed by the Capitals and Bulldogs that night.
victory over the Pats in the Regina hub. . . . Rhinehart, who went into the game with one goal, came out of it with his first career hat-trick. Interestingly, Regina’s lone goal went in off one of Rhinehart’s skates. It was credited to F Logan Nijhoff. . . . The last Saskatoon defenceman with three goals in one regular-season game? Ryan Flaherty (@RFlahertyGlobal) tweeted that Darren Dietz had four goals in a 7-3 victory over Swift Current on Feb. 17, 2012. . . . Rhinehart scored his first two goals at 8:07 and 11:41 of the first period. . . . Nijhoff counted his ninth goal at 3:08 of the second, but Rhinehart got that one back at 18:23. . . . Saskatoon F Kyle Crnkovic (8) got the empty-netter. . . . Saskatoon had a 35-21 edge in shots, including 16-3 in the third period. . . . The Blades (14-2-2) have points in six straight (5-0-1). . . . The Pats, who are 0-3 since F Connor Bedard left to join Canada’s U18 team, are 6-9-3. . . . The Pats were without F Zack Smith, who absorbed a headshot from D Landon Kosior of the Prince Albert Raiders on Tuesday. Kosior has been suspended for three games. . . . 
Raiders beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 2-0. . . . The Warriors (7-10-1), who have lost three in a row, outshot the Raiders, 45-25, including 21-8 in the second period. . . . The Raiders now are 7-8-3, with points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . This was Paddock’s first shutout of the season and the eighth of his career. . . . Prince Albert’s goals came from F Michael Horon (4), at 17:41 of the first period, and F Eric Pearce (7), at 16:37 of the second. . . . 
Victoria Royals, 4-0, in Kamloops. . . . Sim, who is 2-1-0, was making his fourth appearance of the season. . . . Vancouver had a 40-16 edge in shots, including 14-5 in the second period and 17-5 in the third. . . . The Giants are 6-3-0 and have posted shutouts in four of those victories. . . . The Royals (1-7-1) have lost four in a row. . . . Vancouver was 2-for-2 on the PP. . . . F Justin Sourdif (4), D Alex Kannok Leipert (3) and D Mazden Leslie (5) had second-period goals, with F Tristen Nielsen (8) scoring in the third. . . . Leslie, who turned 16 on Thursday, scored his fifth goal in eight games for the Giants. He was the 10th overall selection in the 2020 bantam draft.
stretcher after a Tuesday night game against the visiting Tri-City Americans, was back with his billets on Wednesday morning. . . . According to the Thunderbirds, “All of Mount’s diagnostic tests at the hospital showed positive results and he was diagnosed with a contusion from the impact of the puck.” . . . Mount was seated on the Seattle bench near game’s end when he was struck on the neck by a puck that glanced off the back wall. . . . The Thunderbirds are next scheduled to play tonight against the visiting Everett Silvertips.
World championship that opens April 26 in Frisco and Plano, Texas. Holt is the only player on Team USA’s roster who isn’t out of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. . . . Holt, 17, is from Bozeman, Mont. The Silvertips selected him in the 12th round of the 2018 bantam draft. . . . This season, Holt is 1-1-0, 2.75, .862. Last season, in eight games backing up Dustin Wolf, Holt was 4-2-0, 1.82, .926. . . . With Holt gone, the Silvertips are left with Wolf and Evan May, a 16-year-old from Nanaimo, as their goaltenders. An 11th-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft, May has yet to appear in a WHL game.
TAKING NOTE 