F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Piráti Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga) after obtaining his release from Benátky nad Jizerou (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). This season, he had three goals and three assists in 10 games with Benátky nad Jizerou.
The Tri-City Americans have acquired D Dom Schmiemann, 19, from the Calgary Hitmen 
for a fourth-round selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft and a conditional fifth-rounder in 2020. . . . “With a long-term injury to Anthony Bishop, we felt it was necessary to add a veteran defenceman,” Americans general manager Bob Tory explained in a news release. . . . The Swift Current Broncos selected Schmiemann in the first round of the 2014 bantam draft. . . . From Wilcox, Sask., he had one assist in four games this season. Last season, he put up a goal and 10 assists in 47 games with Calgary after being acquired from the Broncos. In 135 regular-season career games, he has two goals and 22 assists. . . . His younger brother Quinn, 17, is in his first season with the Kamloops Blazers. He, too, is a defenceman.
Three players were suspended by the WHL on Saturday afternoon, all for infractions committed on Friday night. . . . F Sean Richards of the Everett Silvertips and F Jermaine Loewen of the Kamloops Blazers drew TBD sentences and didn’t play last night. Both players drew headshot majors and game misconducts on Friday, Richards for a hit on D Reece Harsch of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Loewen for a hit on D Matthew Quigley of the Portland Winterhawks. Neither Harsch nor Quigley played last night. . . . Loewen’s family was in Kamloops from Arborg, Man., for the weekend, so likely got a bit more quality time with Jermaine than they had anticipated. . . . F Reid Perepeluk of the Prince George Cougars was given a one-game suspension for a charging major and game misconduct during Friday’s 5-0 loss to the visiting Vancouver Giants. He sat out last night’s rematch in Prince George.
The Moose Jaw Warriors have released F Tristyn DeRoose, 19. . . . From Ceylon, Sask., DeRoose was pointless in three games with the Warriors this season. Last season, he had four goals and three assists in 47 games. . . . The Warriors acquired DeRoose from the Vancouver Giants for a sixth-round pick in the 2020 WHL bantam draft on Sept. 12, 2017. . . . In 108 regular-season games, he has five goals and eight assists.
F Mackenzie Wight has left the Swift Current Broncos. Wight, 19, is from Burnaby, B.C. 
He was a seventh-round selection of the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. . . . He was pointless in two games with the Broncos this season, after recording one goal and three assists in 55 games last season. . . . “Basically, he decided that he wanted to play closer to home,” Dean Brockman, the Broncos’ director of hockey operations and head coach, told David Zammit of swiftcurrentonline.com, “and felt he wanted to go back there, and we certainly weren’t going to stop him.” . . . In 74 career regular-season games, including six with Seattle, had had two goals and three assists.
Tyler Lowey is a former Thompson Rivers U baseball player, who dabbles in sports writing. While seated beside me in the press box as the Portland Winterhawks skated to a 5-3 victory over the host Kamloops Blazers on Friday night, he casually mentioned that he had written a story on G Carl Stankowski that would be posted at dubnetwork.ca sometime on Saturday. . . . Well, that story is right here, and it is outstanding as it outlines in minute detail exactly what Stankowski has gone through to get back on the ice and, in fact, what he goes through in order to keep on playing, now with the Calgary Hitmen.
SATURDAY NIGHT NOTES:
And then there was one . . .
When the evening began, there were two WHL teams with perfect records; there was one left standing at night’s end.
The Victoria Royals ran their record to 6-0-0 with a 2-1 victory over the Blazers in 
Kamloops. This one was 1-1 when a point shot by D Mitchell Prowse changed directions off the shaft of F Dante Hannoun’s stick and beat G Dylan Garand at 9:21 of the third period. . . . Hannoun has four goals this season. . . . The Royals got 26 saves from G Griffen Outhouse, who has played every minute of all six victories. . . . Garand, a 16-year-old from Victoria, made his first start of the season, stopping 20 shots. Garand, a third-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft, made two starts last season at the age of 15. . . . Kamloops D Nolan Kneen played in his 200th regular-season game on Friday in a 5-3 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Blazers, who opened the season with a home-and-home sweep of the Kelowna Rockets, now have lost five in a row. . . . The Royals are 3-0-0 against Kamloops, having beaten the Blazers 3-2 and 6-3 in Victoria on Sept. 28 and 29. . . .
Meanwhile, in Red Deer the host Rebels ran their winning streak to five games, with a 4-3 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders, who lost for the first time in eight outings this season. . . . The Raiders held a 52-21 edge in shots on goal. . . . Red Deer G Ethan Anders stopped 49 shots. . . . Red Deer F Reese Johnson broke a 3-3 tie with his fourth goal of the season, at 17:44 of the third period. . . . F Brandon Hagel of the Rebels played in his 200th regular-season game. . . .
There is one other team that has yet to taste defeat in regulation time . . .
The Brandon Wheat Kings are 4-0-1 after scoring five second-period goals en route to a 7-
3 victory over the Pats in Regina. . . . Brandon’s second-period explosion included short-handed goals 28 seconds apart from F Caiden Daley and F Lynden McCallum. . . . The Pats, last season’s Memorial Cup host team, slid to 1-5-0. . . .
Victoria has a week off to enjoy perfection before playing host to the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 13 and 14. . . . Brandon is at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday night.
F Tristin Langan scored three goals and added an assist to lead the Moose Jaw Warriors to 
a 5-4 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Broncos, the reigning WHL champions, are 0-6-0 and one of two teams in the 22-team league without a victory. The Calgary Hitmen, who were idle last night, are 0-4-1 after going 6-0-0 in the exhibition season. . . . In those six losses, they have scored 12 goals and given up 31. . . . Langan, who has five goals, scored three in a row, with the final one giving his guys a 4-1 lead 13 seconds into the third period. . . . The Broncos made it close with two goals late in the third. . . . F Justin Almeida had three assists for the winners. . . . The Broncos next play on Friday when they are at home to the Spokane Chiefs.
F Kirby Dach shot first and scored the only goal of a shootout to give the Saskatoon Blades a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes in Lethbridge. . . . The Blades (6-2-0) were playing their fourth game in Alberta in five nights — they went 3-1-0. . . . It also was Saskatoon’s sixth game in eight nights; they went 4-2-0. . . . Saskatoon F Riley McKay (3) tied the game 2-2 at 19:57 of the second period. . . .
F Dillon Hamaliuk of the Seattle Thunderbirds ran his goal-scoring streak to five games in a 4-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets in Kent, Wash. . . . Hamaliuk has a goal in each 
of his five games this season. Going back to last season, he has scored in six straight regular-season games. . . . According to Tbird Tidbits (@TBirdTidbits), Hamaliuk is believed to be the first Seattle player “to score a goal in the team’s first five games . . . since Petr Nedved” in 1989-90. . . . G Liam Hughes, back in action after sitting out one game with an undisclosed injury, stopped 44 shots for Seattle. . . . The Rockets now are 1-7-0. . . . With D Reece Harsch out after taking a high hit on Friday night, the Thunderbirds brought in D Luke Bateman, 16, from the major midget Thompson Blazers, who are based in his hometown of Kamloops. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. . . . Kelowna G Roman Basran, who stopped 28 shots, was in the thick of things for a lot of the night. He took three minor penalties in the first period — a minor for high-sticking at 7:32 and a double minor for high-sticking at 20:00 — and another in the third period (leaving the crease). . . . At 10:45 of the second period, Basran was involved in a collision that resulted in Seattle F Nolan Volcan getting ejected with a goaltender interference major and a game misconduct. . . . In the third period, Basran skated from his net well over the centre red line as players scrummed in the Seattle zone. Linesmen intercepted him before anything could happen. . . . The Thunderbirds and Rockets will meet again Wednesday, this time in Kelowna.
G Bailey Brkin stopped 28 shots to help the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . After starting with five victories, the Oil Kings have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . F Eli Zummack’s second goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie at 14:44 of the second period and stood up as the winner. . . .
G Jordan Hollett stopped 26 shots for the shutout as the Medicine Hat Tigers dumped the Tri-City Americans, 2-0, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . Hollett has three career shutouts, but this was his first with the Tigers. The other two came with the Regina Pats. . . . F Elijah Brown (3) scored the game’s first goal, at 12:08 of the first period. . . .
The Vancouver Giants ran their road record to 4-0-0 with a 3-2 victory over the Prince 
George Cougars. . . . On Friday, the Giants had beaten the host Cougars, 3-0. . . . G Trent Miner stopped 33 shots last night for Vancouver. . . . The Giants took a 3-1 lead at 19:22 of the second period when D Bowen Byram (2) scored. . . . The Cougars lost F Josh Maser to a major penalty for a slewfoot on F Justin Sourdif at 0:11 of the second period. . . . The Giants have won four games in a row and have allowed only 11 goals in seven games. . . . Joey Kenward, a former radio voice of the Giants who now works for Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, pointed out via Twitter on Saturday morning that the Giants, in their 17th season, “have posted back-to-back road shutouts for the first time in franchise history.” . . . Miner posted a 5-0 shutout over the Rockets in Kelowna on Wednesday, and David Tendeck followed that up by beating the Cougars on Friday.
The Portland Winterhawks got two goals and two assists from F Joachim Blichfeld — both goals were empty-netters — as they skated to a 4-1 victory over the Silvertips in Everett. . . . The Winterhawks (4-2-1) are 4-0-1 in their last five games. . . . Blichfeld now leads the WHL in goals (8) and points (15). He has played seven games. . . . F Seth Jarvis had given the visitors a 2-1 lead with a PP goal at 12:40 of the first period. . . . Portland played without D Matthew Quigley, who left in the first period of a Friday game in Kamloops after taking a high hit from Blazers F Jerome Loewen.
him in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2016 NHL draft and have signed him to a three-year entry-level deal. . . . Gregor, from Beaumont, Alta., had been in camp with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. . . . The Raiders acquired Gregor from the Victoria Royals on July 25 for a conditional third-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2021. The conditions are triggered by point totals and games played. The Royals could end up with none, one or both picks depending on how Gregor does this season. . . . The Royals selected him in the third round of the 2013 bantam draft, later dealt him to the Warriors, then re-acquired him. . . . He split last season between Victoria and the Moose Jaw Warriors, totalling 29 goals and 36 assists in 60 games. In 194 career regular-season games, he has 205 points, including 86 goals. . . . Gregor also has played in 28 playoff games, recording 11 goals and 12 assists. . . . The Raiders open a Central Division swing tonight (Wednesday) in Medicine Hat and should have Gregor in their lineup against the Tigers.
acquired D Ty Ettinger, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings on Monday, added D Ryan Pouliot, 20, off waivers.
period deficits en route to a 5-4 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Blades have lost two in a row after opening the season with three straight victories. . . . The game featured two PP goals by each team. . . . F Jeff de Wit scored twice for Red Deer. He’s got five goals in six games; he finished last season with 11 goals in 43 games split among the Regina Pats, Kootenay Ice and Victoria Royals. . . . Red Deer D Alex Alexeyev had two assists to run his point streak to six games.
I referred to as “old-fashioned news releases.”
NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights returned F Cody Glass, 19, to the WHL team. . . . Glass, from Winnipeg, put up 102 points, including 37 goals, in 64 games last season. In three seasons with the Winterhawks, he has 223 points, 79 of them goals, in 201 games. . . . Glass will provide a huge boost to a Portland offence that is without F Ryan Hughes. He will sit for at least a month with a leg injury; at present, he is getting around with the help of a walking boot. Hughes had 17 goals and 24 assists in 46 games last season, his third in Portland, during which he missed time with a broken leg that required surgery. . . . The Golden Knights selected Glass with the sixth overall pick in the NHL’s 2017 draft. . . .
conditional fifth-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft. . . . The Royals also got a ninth-round pick in the 2019 draft in the deal. . . . McNabb, from Davidson, Sask., has been in one game this season, stopping the three shots he faced in relief. Last season, as a freshman, he was 4-10-0, 4.52, .870. . . . McNabb, the younger brother of D Brayden McNabb of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, was a third round pick by Victoria in the 2015 bantam draft after playing two seasons with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. . . . In Regina, McNabb presumably will back up starter Max Paddock, an 18-year-old sophomore from Brandon. However, Matthew Pesenti, 17, also is on the Pats’ roster. Pesenti backed up Paddock as the Pats dropped two games to the Prince Albert Raiders on the weekend. . . . Kyle Dumba, 20, had been on the Pats’ roster but his name disappeared sometime on Tuesday. . . . 
goaltender, thus the deal with the Brandon Wheat Kings for Dylan Myskiw, 19. . . . Myskiw and Boston Bilous, 17, are the Oil Kings’ two active goaltenders at the moment. . . . They also have veteran Todd Scott, 18, on the roster, but he is out week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. . . . Edmonton also had Sebastian Cossa, who turns 16 on Nov. 21, in camp and he remains on their roster, but he, too, is injured and out for up to six weeks. . . . Myskiw got off to a good start with Edmonton, stopping 28 shots as the Oil Kings beat the host Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. The Oil Kings are back in action tonight against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Derek Van Diest of Postmedia has more on Edmonton’s goaltenders 
Jaw Warriors, winning 2-1 in the Wheat City and 4-2 on the road. . . . G Jiri Patera, a 19-year-old rookie from Praha, Czech Republic, recorded both victories. A sixth-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL’s 2017 draft, Patera stopped 56 of 59 shots in the two victories. . . . Patera is the first European goaltender to play for the Wheat Kings in the franchise’s 52-year history. . . . The Wheat Kings have had at least one American-born goaltender in their history — Scott Olson, from Bloomington, Minn., got into 63 games over three seasons and was a part of the 1978-79 championship team that lost only five regular-season games.
for a hit in the corner and went awkwardly into the boards. Blocker was taken off the ice on a stretcher after a lengthy delay and did not return.” . . . However, after being checked out at hospital and released, Blocker returned to the arena and returned to Lethbridge with his teammates after the game.
showed on opening weekend that things are different now. Kamloops swept a home-and-home series, winning 4-1 at home on Friday and 3-1 in Kelowna on Saturday. . . . Serge Lajoie, the Blazers’ first-year head coach, picked up his first WHL victory on Friday and his family — wife Kelly and their children (Isabelle, 17, and Marc, 15) were there to witness it, having made the trip from their home in St. Albert, Alta. . . . “Up until (Thursday) night, I was texting with my daughter and my son and they made me believe they were both getting ready for bed and they were going to get up to go to school this morning,” Lajoie told Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week. “It’s nice to be able to share this with them. I’m not here if it isn’t for them. I don’t lose sight of that.”
the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft from the Red Deer Rebels for F Dallon Melin, 16, and a fifth-rounder in 2019. . . . Cutler, from Spruce Grove, Alta., was a ninth-round pick by the Rebels in the 2015 bantam draft. Last season, he had six goals and five assists in 68 games with the Rebels. As a freshman, in 2016-17, he had a goal and two assists in 38 games. . . . Melin, from Camrose, Alta., has yet to sign a WHL contract. . . . He had six goals and 14 assists in 27 games with the midget AAA Sherwood Park Kings last season. He also had one assists in three games with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. . . . Victoria selected Melin in the second round of the 2017 bantam draft.
for a conditional 10th-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft. . . . Pouliot had one goal in 16 games with the Rebels last season. He also got into 16 games with the BCHL’s Powell River Kings, drawing three assists. In 2016-17, he had a goal and 12 assists in 36 games with the major midget Vancouver Northwest Giants. . . . Pouliot joins his brother, Ryan, 20, on the Broncos’ roster. Ryan, a 20-year-old defenceman, played the previous two-plus seasons with the Kootenay Ice. The Broncos claimed him on waivers during the summer.
Ferster, who had been the general manager and head coach for seven seasons, left the organization on Aug. 21. He had helped the Warriors win a national championship in 2016. . . . Geoff Grimwood, the assistant GM and associate head coach, was named the interim head coach on Aug. 21. However, Grimwood was dismissed on Monday night. . . . Assistant coach Matt Miller also is gone, having left on Monday, while athletic therapist Mike Bois, who had been there through four seasons, chose leave, as well. . . . Asked if he was surprised at being fired, Grimwood told Wayne Moore of 
their front office that was created when Barclay Parneta, who had been the assistant GM, left to join the Vancouver Giants as general manager. . . . Stasiuk, 55, is quite familiar with the WHL, having worked with the Prince Albert Raiders, Red Deer Rebels, Calgary Hitmen and Edmonton/Kootenay Ice. . . . He spent 10 seasons (1995-2005) as the Ice’s head scout. While with the Ice, Stasiuk worked with Bob Tory, the Americans’ co-owner and general manager. . . . Stasiuk also worked as the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ general manager for four seasons (2005-09) and scouted for the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs (2009-15).
owner, GM and head coach, told Greg Meachem of 
me last week, stating his wife is unable to continue to work her current job in Alaska while moving to Calgary as originally planned. As a father to two young girls he does not want to live apart from his family again this (season). We respect this decision, supporting that family comes first and wish Dallas all the best in the future.”
draft. . . . F Jayden Grubbe, the seventh overall selection, had 29 goals and 37 assists with the bantam AAA Calgary Bisons. . . . D Kyle Masters, the 16th overall pick, had seven goals and 17 assists in 29 games with the OHA-Edmonton bantam prep team. . . . D Trey Patterson, a second-round pick, had one goal and 24 assists in 36 games with the bantam AAA Calgary Bisons. . . . F Josh Medernac, from Lloydminster, Alta., had 16 goals and 20 assists in 30 games with the OHA-Edmonton bantam prep team.
TAKING NOTE 