As Riley Ginnell took what would be the final shift of his WHL career on April 10, I wondered it if was the end of a long-running chapter.
After all, it would appear that there won’t be a member of hockey’s Ginnell family involved with the WHL next season; in fact, there apparently isn’t even one in the pipeline.
To date, the WHL has been home to Riley, Brad, Erin, Kevin and Pat (Paddy) — the first four players, the latter a legendary owner, general manager and coach from back in the day.
Riley, 20, played out his junior eligibility with the Regina Pats this season, bringing an end to a four-season stint that also included stops with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors. He has hopes of continuing his career in the professional ranks.
“I enjoyed every single moment of my time in the Western League,” Ginnell told Dante De Caria of the Pats for a story that you will find right here. “It’s pretty difficult to walk away from it, but you gotta be happy that it happened, not sad that it’s over.”
Riley’s brother, Brad, concluded a five-season career in the spring of 2021, having played for the Portland Winterhawks, Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice, Spokane Chiefs and Moose Jaw. Brad, 22, played for the senior Eston, Sask., Ramblers this season.
By playing in the WHL, they were following in the footsteps of their father, Erin, who spent four seasons in WHL arenas. He spent time with the New Westminster Bruins, Calgary Wranglers, Seattle Thunderbirds, Regina and the Swift Current Broncos. Early in 1987, following the bus crash that resulted in the deaths four Swift Current players, Erin was moved from the Pats to the Broncos as teams helped to fill holes in the Swift Current roster.
Erin, 54, has been an NHL scout since 2000, working with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights. He is in his seventh season with Vegas.
The first Ginnell to play in the WHL was Erin and Brad’s older brother, Kevin. He spent four seasons (1978-82) in the league, playing with the Lethbridge Broncos, Medicine Hat Tigers and Calgary Wranglers. After battling health issues for a year, Kevin died in Vancouver on May 2, 2020, at the age of 58.
As I wrote at the time of his death:
“When his mother, Wanda, was battling cancer, he promised that if she beat it he would leave the ice and go back to school.
“Wanda recovered and Kevin . . . resumed his education. Dr. Ginnell went on to leave an indelible impression in the world of academia as a professor at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College.”
The Ginnells are more than a WHL family, though; this is a hockey family.
A third Ginnell brother, Dan didn’t play in the WHL, but has been in the NHL since 2005. Dan, 56, is in his 18th season as an amateur scout with the St. Louis Blues.
Derek, Dan’s son, also didn’t play in the WHL, but he spent time in the Alberta and Saskatchewan junior A and junior B ranks before moving into the scouting game. Derek, 32, has been in the NHL for nine seasons — five seasons with Columbus and the past four with the New York Rangers.
Interestingly, Brad and Derek both got a taste of Flin Flon hockey. Derek played four games with the Bombers in 2009-10; Brad played two games with them in 2020-21.
Of course, it was in Flin Flon where the patriarch of the Ginnell family first made his mark in hockey.
Paddy was a key contributor with the Bombers when they won the 1957 Memorial Cup. And if the Flin Flon Bombers winning the Memorial Cup isn’t one of hockey’s best stories, I don’t know what is!
A true character when the WHL was populated with more than a few of them, Paddy would go on to coach the Bombers, stepping into that role prior to the 1968-69 season and staying there until purchasing the Victoria Cougars during the 1973-74 season. He was in Victoria through 1977 before moving on to spend time with the Lethbridge Broncos, Medicine Hat, Swift Current and New Westminster.
He later moved into the NHL as a scout with St. Louis. He was with the Blues for 14 seasons, until he died of cancer on Nov. 17, 2003, in Vernon, B.C. He was 66.
So . . . what about it? Was Riley’s final game the end of the line for the Ginnell family in the WHL?
When I asked Erin via email, he responded with:
“I guess the next batch will be our grandkids. LOL.”
Time will tell.
A few Twitter tidbits from Wednesday’s WHL playoff games . . .
Geoffrey Brandow (@Geoffrey_Brandow): “Zack Ostapchuk capitalizes on a power play in overtime for Winnipeg as it is back to a best-of-3. Ostapchuk did not have a winning goal with the ICE since being acquired. Ben Zloty helps out on all three tallies, 13 for postseason without a goal.” . . .
Brandow, again: “Saskatoon survives to play another day coming back from two down past the halfway point of regulation (trailed after 2nd break in 8 of 11 games thus far). Defenders Aidan De La Gorgendiere and Tanner Molendyk both turn in a goal and assist.” . . .
More from Brandow: “Kamloops has Portland teetering after earning the win in Game 3. Logan Stankoven and Fraser Minten collect power-play markers, team’s 11th and 12th of postseason to lead the League. Minten tied for 4th with 17 power-play goals in regular season.” . . .
Brandow, again: “Make way for Seattle as it reaches the Western Conference final scoring 16 times in 2 road games in series. Eight different marksmen do the job, including Colton Dach who delivers game-winner in back-to-back tilts, tacks on 2 assists in Game 4.”
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WHL PLAYOFF NOTES:
And then there were six . . .
There was only one game on Thursday night, as the Kamloops Blazers beat the Winterhawks, 10-4, in Portland to sweep that series. The Seattle Thunderbirds are next up for the Blazers, who will be the host team for the Memorial Cup. . . . Seattle and Kamloops both are 8-0 in the playoffs as they head into the Western Conference final for a second straight spring. . . . One year ago, the Thunderbirds beat the Blazers in seven games. . . .
There still are four teams alive in the Eastern Conference, but that could get whittled down with tonight’s lone game. That one has the Red Deer Rebels taking their 3-1 series lead into Saskatoon for Game 5 with the Blades. . . . As of 10 p.m. PT on Thursday, there wasn’t anything on the WHL website to indicate whether Saskatoon F Justin Lies will be suspended after taking a headshot major and game misconduct at 3:24 of the first period on Wednesday night. You would have to think that Red Deer F Kalan Lind won’t be able to play. He left the ice on a stretcher after that hit and was taken to hospital. He was released shortly after game’s end. . . .
In the other series, which is tied, 2-2, the Moose Jaw Warriors will meet the Ice in Winnipeg on Saturday night. They’ll be back in Moose Jaw for a sixth game on Monday night.
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THURSDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Kamloops (2) at Portland (3) — The Kamloops Blazers scored a PP goal 31 
seconds into the first period after Portland was penalized for a lineup infraction on the opening faceoff and went on to beat the Winterhawks, 10-4. . . . The Blazers, who were 10-for-17 on the PP in the series, swept the Winterhawks, 4-0, and will open the Western Conference final with games against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., on April 29 and 30. . . . F Matthew Seminoff scored three times for the Blazers, including the game’s first goal. He has four goals in these playoffs after scoring 31 in the regular season. . . . Goals from D Kyle Masters (1) and F Logan Stankoven (9), on a PP, got the Blazers into a 3-0 lead. . . . Portland closed the gap to one on goals from D Ryan McCleary (1), on a PP, and F Diego Buttazzoni (1) before the first period ended. . . . However, Seminoff, who also had one assist, completed his hat trick with goals at 2:29 and 5:24, the latter via the PP, to start the second period and school was out. . . . Kamloops D Olen Zellweger finished with three goals and three assists, his six points one shy of the WHL record for most points in a playoff game by a defenceman. Darryl Sydor holds the record (7), having scored once and added six assists in an 11-5 victory by the Blazers over the visiting Tri-City Americans on March 22, 1991. Sydor now owns a chunk of the Blazers. . . . Zellweger had 12 points, eight of them assists, in the four games with Portland and now has 20 points in these playoffs. That trails only teammate Logan Stankoven, who had two goals and an assist in Game 4. He leads the WHL with 21 points, 10 of them goals, one more than F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats, whose season ended on April 10. Stankoven, who led last season’s playoff scoring race with 31 points, has put up 52 points in his last 25 post-season games. . . . Stankoven had six goals and six assists in the series with Portland. . . . The Blazers also got a goal and two assists from F Caedan Bankier. . . . F Diego Buttazzoni scored his first two playoff goals for Portland. . . . At one point in the second period, Joshua Critzer (@jjcritzer) tweeted: “6th post of the night for Kamloops and (it has) seven goals on the board.” . . . The Blazers, who had a 48-27 edge in shots, later hit a seventh post. . . . G Dylan Ernst earned the victory with 23 saves. . . . Portland G Dante Giannuzzi made his first start of the playoffs, but left at 10:24 of the first period, having been beaten three times on 11 shots. Jan Špunar finished up, stopped 30 shots.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
D Stanislav Svozil of the Regina Pats has been invited by Czech Ice Hockey to participate in their national team training camp for the 2023 IIHF World Championship. . . . Svozil, 20, made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 13 after the Pats were eliminated from the WHL playoffs. He was a third-round selection in the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . The Czechia camp opens Monday in Brno. The World Championship is to run from May 12-18 in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia.
THINKING OUT LOUD — What do you think? Is it safe to assume that fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs put away the panic buttons, at least for a day or two? . . . Is there anything more predictable than cross-checking being removed from the NHL rule book for the playoffs? . . . You know what NHL playoff games need? More scrums, that’s what.
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games in the second round of playoffs. The other teams involved — the Red Deer Rebels and Saskatoon Blades — are scheduled to play their second game today. They’ll meet in Saskatoon’s SaskTel Centre, where the Rebels opened the series with a 3-1 victory on Friday night. . . . They weren’t able to play there on Saturday night because lacrosse’s Saskatchewan Rush had the facility booked for a NLL game.
in the game’s first 10 minutes, three of them in a span of 1:24 via the PP, en route to a 5-3 victory over the Winnipeg Ice. . . . The Ice’s first loss of these playoffs left the series tied, 1-1, as the scene shifts to Moose Jaw for games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Game 5 is to be played in Winnipeg on Saturday. . . . The Ice had won the opener, 5-3, on Friday. . . . Last night, F Ryder Korczak (2) gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead at 1:02 of the first period. . . . Ice F Evan Friesen was ejected at 7:45 for a headshot on Moose Jaw D Matthew Gallant, who left the game and didn’t return. . . . F Brayden Yager (4) made it 2-0 at 8:07. . . . Ice F Zach Benson went off for high-sticking at 8:22, and Yager (5) upped the lead to 3-0 at 9:11 on the 5-on-3 PP. . . . The Warriors made it 4-0 when F Martin Rysavy (3) added another PP goal just 20 seconds later. . . . The Ice managed to get to within a goal, at 4-3, on third-period scores from F Zack Ostapchuk (4), on a PP, at 1:07, F Connor McClennon (5), at 13:09, and F Carson Latimer (1), at 16:10. . . . Moose Jaw F Josh Hoekstra got the empty-netter with 2.4 seconds left to play. . . . Ostapchuk was back after sitting out Game 1 with a WHL-issued suspension. . . . Latimer was playing in his first game since Feb. 26. . . . The Warriors were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Ice was 1-for-9. . . . G Connor Ungar earned the victory with 33 saves. . . . Warriors F Atley Calvert, who had two assists, was given a slew-footing double minor at 15:07 of the first period. Those penalties often are met with a suspension. . . . Besides losing Gallant, the Warriors also played the third period without D Logan Dowhaniuk, who was hit from behind by F Owen Pederson in the second period.
first three goals as the Thunderbirds beat the Prince George Cougars, 5-1, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle holds a 2-0 lead in the series with the next two games in Prince George on Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Lambert, who had a goal and three assists in this one, had recorded three assists on Friday as the Thunderbirds opened the series with a 4-1 victory. . . . He missed two games in Seattle’s first-round sweep of the Kelowna Rockets, and now has a goal and eight assists in four playoff games. . . . Last night, Seattle scored the game’s first three goals. . . . F Jared Davidson (2) got it started, on a PP, at 13:12 of the first period. . . . Lambert (1) got it to 2-0 at 9:23 of the second, and F Dylan Guenther (8) made it 3-0 at 13:43. . . . Guenther has goals in each of Seattle’s six playoff games, and is riding a 12-game point streak. . . . F Ondrej Becher (1) got the Cougars on the board 14 seconds into the third period, but F Kyle Crnkovic (2) got that one back for Seattle at 4:33. . . . Davidson (3) closed out the scoring on a PP at 19:16. . . . Seattle was 3-for-4 on the PP; Prince George was 0-for-5. . . . G Thomas Milic stopped 26 shots for Seattle. In these playoffs, he is 6-0, 1.00, .959. . . . The Cougars lost F Riley Heidt to a headshot major a game misconduct at 18:03 of the third period. He was a 97-point man in the regular season so a suspension of any length could be truly devastating to the Cougars. . . .
help the Winnipeg Ice to a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Ice is 5-0 in these playoffs; the Warriors are 4-1. . . . The Ice jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals from F Owen Pederson (2), on a PP, at 1:04, F Zach Benson (1), at 7:57, and Savoie (7), at 16:42. . . . However, the Warriors scored the next three goals to pull even. F Brayden Yager (3) got it started at 19:38 of the first period, with D Max Wanner (2) scoring at 4:09 of the second and F Jagger Firkus (5) tying it at 13:21, on a PP. . . . F Connor McClennon (4) snapped the tie at 2:59 of the third period, with D Graham Sward (1) adding insurance at 6:04. . . . Benson, who had 36 goals and 62 assists in the regular season, played in his first game March 10. . . . Winnipeg G Daniel Hauser stopped 26 shots, six fewer than Moose Jaw’s Connor Ungar. . . . Each team was 1-for-2 on the PP. . . . The Ice remains without F Carson Latimer, a trade-deadline acquisition from the Prince Albert Raiders, who last played on Feb. 26. . . . Moose Jaw F Robert Baco sat out as he is serving a three-game suspension after taking a goalie interference major and game misconduct in Game 4 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Baco will be eligible to return for Game 4 against the Ice. . . . 
the Red Deer Rebels beat the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . F Jhett Larson (2) gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead at 4:28 of the second period, and they nursed that until 14:19 of the third when F Jace Isley (1) scored the eventual game-winner. . . . F Jake Chiasson (3) got Saskatoon on the board at 18:08 with G Austin Elliott on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Sedoff put it away with the empty-netter, his third goal of these playoffs. . . . Each team was 0-for-3 on the PP. . . . G Kyle Kelsey earned the victory with 23 saves, six more than Elliott.
got the Seattle Thunderbirds started to a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Kent, Wash. . . . Guenther, who has seven goals in five games, scored at 1:50 and 15:23, the second one coming on a PP. . . . F Koehn Ziemmer (3) got the Cougars’ goal, on a PP, at 18:14. . . . F Lucas Ciona (4) added insurance for Seattle at 2:48 of the third period, and F Nico Myatovic (1) got the empty-netter at 19:36. . . . F Brad Lambert finished with three assists. . . . Prince George was 1-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-3. . . . G Thomas Milic celebrated his 20th birthday by stopping 23 shots for Seattle, which is 5-0 in these playoffs. . . . The Cougars got 40 saves from G Ty Young. . . .
third period and the Regina Pats went on to beat the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 5-3, to tie their series, 3-3. . . . Game 7 is scheduled to be played in Saskatoon on Monday night. . . . F Trevor Wong’s second straight goal, at 1:04 of the third, had gotten the Blades into the 3-3 tie. . . . Bedard’s 11th goal of the series came just 55 seconds later. It came as the Pats caught the Blades on a shaky line change. D Stanislav Svozil made a big-league pass from the Regina blue line to Bedard at the Saskatoon line, and he went in to score. . . . Svozil finished with three assists; he’s got three goal and nine assists in the six games. . . . Bedard also had three assists. . . . There was controversy at 11:24 of the third period as F Zackary Shantz appeared to score his second goal of the series. However, he was in the blue paint and the puck may have gone in off a skate. After a lengthy video review, the goal was disallowed. But after referee Mark Pearce spoke with Regina general manager/head coach John Paddock, there was a second lengthy review after which the goal was allowed to stand. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an explanation offered by the WHL. Yes, the WHL really needs to find a way to post explanations on social media. You know, just to keep fans informed. . . . Saskatoon F Jayden Wiens (4) opened the scoring at 9:42 of the first period. . . . Regina pulled even on a goal from F Alexander Suzdalev
second round with a 3-2 OT victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . Portland will open the next round with games against the Blazers in Kamloops on Friday and Saturday. . . . In four regular-season meetings, Portland was 3-1-0, while Kamloops was 1-1-2. . . . Last night, F Robbie Fromm-Delorme (2) won it, on a PP, at 9:45 of OT. . . . F Gabe Klassen (2) had given Portland a 1-0 lead at 16:39 of the first period. . . . Everett went ahead with two late second-period PP goals, from F Austin Roest (4), at 16:51, and F Jackson Berezowski (4), at 18:36. . . . The Winterhawks tied it when F James Stefan (4) scored, on a PP, at 8:29 of the third. . . . Each team was 2-for-5 on the PP. . . . G Jan Špunar earned the victory with 19 saves, 21 fewer than Everett’s Tyler Palmer. . . . Everett was dogged by injuries in this series; it had seven injured players on the sidelines.
Pats beat the Saskatoon Blades, 7-4.
immunocompromised to navigate through a society filled with politicians, health officials and fellow citizens who couldn’t care less about them, and, furthermore, don’t mind letting them know how they feel just by their inaction.
Tour experienced its first non-sellout in Kelowna. The Pats beat the Rockets, 6-5 in OT, before an announced crowd of 6,407. There were plenty of references on social media to it being a sellout crowd; however, Prospera Place, on its website, lists its capacity for hockey at 6,886. . . . The fans who were in attendance saw F Alexander Suzdalev win it for the Pats with a PP goal at 3:07 of 
OT. . . . The Pats (12-11-2) have won three in a row, all in the B.C. Division. . . . The Rockets (9-10-2) have lost two straight (0-1-1). . . Suzdalev, who has 14 goals, scored twice and added two assists. . . . Bedard kept his point streak alive with the primary assist on the winning goal. That ran his streak to 24 games. . . . Regina D Stanislav Svozil helped out with four assists. . . . The Rockets got two goals and two assists from F Andrew Cristall (18), who is riding a 12-game point streak. D Caden Price (3) had a goal and two assists, and F Gabriel Szturc had three assists. . . . D Tanner Brown, who is from Kelowna, gave Regina a 5-4 lead with his first goal of the season at 17:32 of the third period. . . . Cristall tied it on a 5-on-3 PP with the goaltender pulled for an extra attacker at 19:08. . . . The Rockets were without F Adam Kydd, 20, who is expected to miss up to six weeks with a fractured foot. He has 11 goals and 12 assists in 20 games this season. . . . The Pats are to face the Blazers in Kamloops tonight and then conclude their B.C. swing against the Prince George Cougars on Friday. . . .
They are 3-1-0 on a B.C. Division swing that wraps up tonight with a game against the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Royals (3-18-3) have lost nine straight (0-8-1). . . . F Brayden Schuurman (4) gave the Royals a 1-0 lead just 49 seconds into the first period. The Warriors scored the next seven goals. . . . Mateychuk scored his sixth goal and added four assists, leaving him with 25 points in 21 games. . . . F Atley Calvert (12) scored twice and D Max Wanner had three assists for Moose Jaw. . . . Warriors F Jagger Firkus scored his 15th goal as he ran his point streak to 18 games. . . . Victoria F Marcus Almquist has left to join Denmark’s team that is preparing for the IIHF Division I World Junior tournament in Asker, Norway, Dec. 11-17. . . . The Royals also are without veteran G Tyler Palmer, who is on personal leave with his family.
4 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . The Hurricanes swept the weekend doubleheader, having won 4-3 in Brandon on Friday. . . . Lethbridge (14-10-1) has won two in a row. . . . The Hurricanes are 3-1-0 on a six-game swing that continues Friday in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans. . . . Brandon (8-15-2) has lost two straight. . . . Brent Kisio, the Hurricanes’ head coach, posted his 249th regular-season victory, all of them with Lethbridge. According to Dustin Forbes, the Hurricanes’ radio voice, Kisio is 40th coach in WHL history to get to 250. . . . Laventure, who has eight goals, opened and closed the scoring, and his second goal, at 6:35 of the second period, provided a 4-1 lead and proved the winner. He completed his first WHL hat trick with an empty-netter. . . . F Jett Jones had three assists for the winners. . . . 
Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Rockets, 4-3, in Kelowna. . . . The Warriors (15-9-0) have won two in a row. . . . The Rockets now are 9-10-1. . . . Firkus (14) had two goals and two assists as he ran his point streak to 17 games. . . . Larry Fisher (@LarryFisher_KDC) pointed out that Firkus and the goaltender he beat, Jari Kykkanen, were U15 teammates in Lloydminster, Alta., for two seasons. . . . F Brayden Yager (13) added two goals and an assist — he set up the winner with a terrific pass on a PP — for Moose Jaw. . . . Moose Jaw had a 3-1 lead until F Andrew Cristall (16) and F Colton Dach (7) got Kelowna even in the latter half of the third period. . . . The Warriors were 3-5 on the PP. . . .
2 victory over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. . . . The Hitmen now are 12-6-3. . . . The Tigers (8-11-5) had won their previous two games. . . . Calgary erased a 1-0 deficit with three second-period goals — from F Zac Funk (7), F Sean Tschigerl (5) and F David Adaszynski (2). . . . Fiddler-Schultz’s 13th goal came with the man advantage as the Hitmen were 3-8 on the PP. . . . The Tigers were 0-6. . . .
Blazers went on to beat the Cougars, 4-1, in Prince George. . . . The Blazers (11-5-4) moved into a tie atop the B.C. Division with the Cougars (13-10-0), who had won their previous four games. Kamloops holds three games in hand. . . . Bankier’s 14th goal of the season came at 4:11 of the second period, and F Fraser Minten (7) added insurance, on a PP, at 8:02. . . . Bankier got his second goal of the game, shorthanded, just 40 seconds into the third period. . . . Kamloops F Logan Stankoven now is on a 16-game scoring streak after drawing one assist. . . . The Blazers got 34 stops from G Dylan Ernst, who is 10-4-2, 2.29, .922 this season. . . .
the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Red Deer (17-4-3) has lost its previous three games (0-1-2). . . . The Raiders (9-13-2) had a four-game winning streak snapped. . . . F Kai Uchacz (18) had a goal and two assists. . . . F Arjun Bawa scored his first WHL goal for the Rebels. He is the son of Robin Bawa, who played in the WHL with the Kamloops Junior Oilers, Kamloops Blazers and New Westminster Bruins. Robin was the first person of Indian descent to play in the NHL. He split 61 games between the Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. . . . Prince Albert is 1-1-0 on a five-game road trip that continues today in Medicine Hat as the Raiders play their third game in fewer than 48 hours. . . .
visiting Winnipeg Ice, 5-2. . . . The Blades (16-5-0) gained a measure of revenge on the Ice, which had beaten them, 6-3, in Saskatoon on Friday. . . . The Ice (22-3-0) had won its previous two games. . . . Sidorov completed his hat trick with the game’s last two goals, at 13:11 and 16:24 of the third period. . . . F Trevor Wong had three assists for Saskatoon. . . . Ice F Ty Nash (12) scored the game’s first goal; he has goals in five straight. . . . Sidorov, now with 12 goals, has played in only 10 games this season. He also has nine assists. . . . The Blades held Pride Night for this one, thus the sharp sweaters in the above tweet. . . . 
Edmonton Oil Kings, 5-3. . . . The Broncos (11-11-0) had beaten the visiting Oil Kings, 5-2, on Friday. . . . The Oil Kings (4-20-1) have lost three in a row. The Oil Kings, the WHL’s defending champions, lost 18 games (50-14-4) all of last season. . . . Edmonton overcame one-goal deficits on three occasions, but couldn’t do it a fourth time. . . . F Josh Filmon (12) broke a 3-3 tie at 13:07 of the third period, and F Mathew Ward (12) added insurance at 18:06. . . .
the Spokane Chiefs in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans (9-13-0) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Chiefs (4-15-1) have lost four games. . . . F Carter Streek (6) has goals in three straight after giving Spokane a 1-0 lead at 2:53 of the first period. . . . The Americans scored the next four goals, two of them from Bell (8). . . . Tri-City D Lukas Dragicevic had an assist as he ran his point streak to 15 games.
assuming all goes well and the creek don’t rise. . . . That’s because the Saskatoon Media Group (SMG) and the Blades have agreed to terms on a new three-year agreement that will run through the 2024-25 season. . . . This new agreement has the Blades’ games on CJWW, an AM station, for a second straight season. Being on the AM dial, Tyler Wawryk, the team’s director of business operations, said in a news release, creates “some consistency.” Prior to last season, the Blades had bounced among a handful of FM stations. . . . “We’ve appreciated being on some of the different stations at Saskatoon Media Group,” Wawryk added, “but moving back over to 600, which was the original home of Blades hockey on the radio, just has a wider range to cover.” . . . Lazaruk, who at one time was a pretty fair Strat-O-Matic baseball player, said: “Doing Blades’ radio broadcasts is what makes me want to wake up and greet each day, especially when one considers all we have gone through in the last 30 months! However, as the late, great broadcast legend Vince Scully used to say, ‘I need you more than you need me.’ I look forward to bringing you Saskatoon Blades’ action with all the professionalism and excitement I can muster.” . . . There is a complete news release 
import draft; Washington took him 70th overall in the NHL’s 2022 draft after he put up 51 points, including 15 goals, in 45 games with the HV71 junior club in Sweden. He signed a three-year deal with the Capitals in July. . . . From a Pats news release: “Born in Khabarovsk, Russia, Suzdalev moved to Sweden when he was seven years old after his father Anatoly Suzdalev had signed a bandy contract with Swedish bandy club, Vetlanda Bandyklubb. He holds dual citizenship, but has represented Sweden at the international level, winning a gold medal with Sweden at the 2022 IIHF World U18 Championships, skating in six games.” . . . Suzdalev also is quite familiar with Pats star Connor Bedard, who played in Sweden during a time when the pandemic had shut down the WHL. “When Connor Bedard played in Sweden, he played for my team (HV71 J18 and J20),” Suzdalev said, “so we know each other pretty well, so that’s where it all started. So when the opportunity came, I thought it was a great one.” . . . 
TAKING NOTE 