Tag: Terry Doyle

Habscheid leaves Pioneers, next steps “uncertain” . . . Ex-WHLer Stanley replaces him . . . Blazers complete sweep of Giants

GreenShirtDay

Habby

Marc Habscheid, the fifth-winningest head coach in WHL regular-season history, is leaving the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg, who play out of Feldkirch, Austria. . . . Habscheid, 60, left the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders in August and took over as head coach of the Pioneers. . . . “Marc recently informed us that he will be leaving the Pioneers at the end of the 2022-23 season and would like to look for another job,” the team said in a news release. . . . This was Habscheid’s first European coaching job and he was guiding a team in its first season in the ICE Hockey League. The Pioneers finished last in the 13-team league, at 8-34-6. . . . “My next steps are currently still uncertain,” Habscheid said in the news release. “I would like to give myself the necessary time to consider various options before I set the course for the future.” . . . Habscheid spent 18 seasons as a WHL head coach, posting 582 victories with the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, Chilliwack Bruins (remember them?), Victoria Royals and Prince Albert. . . . He also has posted 75 playoff victories, including guiding the Kelowna Rockets (2002-03) and Prince Albert (2018-19) to WHL championships. . . .

Pioneers management already has signed a new head coach — former WHLer Dylan Stanley. From Edmonton, the 39-year-old Stanley played five seasons (2000-05) as a forward with the Tri-City Americans. He played in Europe since 2008, spending 2014 through 2022 playing with VEU Feldkirch. He has been a skills coach and director of player development with the Feldkirch organization from 2017-22. In 2022-23, he was with Pioneers Vorarlberg as director of player development, assistant coach and conditioning coach.

A few Twitter tidbits from Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow), all of them WHLinvolving Wednesday night in the WHL . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars scored a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans to even their series, 2-2. “F Koehn Ziemmer and F Jaxsen Wiebe both rack up a pair of tallies. Ziemmer gets on board for first time seeing 4-game goal drought end. Wiebe had a multi-goal game in last season’s playoffs.” . . .

In Kelowna, the Seattle Thunderbirds swept the Rockets with a 3-0 victory. The Thunderbirdsd “sow the final seeds of the series and move on to the conference semifinal. F Jordan Gustafson jimmies a goal and an assist in 3rd period to put game out of reach. G Thomas Milic stops all 19 faced, leaves series with a .958 save percentage.” . . .

In Calgary, the Rebels beat the Calgary Hitmen, 6-1, to go ahead 3-1 in the series. The Rebels “combine for five special teams goals (3 power play, 2 shorthanded) . . . D Mats Lindgren sets up four. Team’s first blueliner to do so in the Internet Era.” . . .

In Lethbridge, the Moose Jaw Warriors completed a sweep of the Hurricanes, winning 5-2. “F Brayden Yager blasted first two goals of playoffs, last into an empty net to complete a 3-goal third. D Maximus Wanner has inverse, setting up first two in final frame. Third career 3+ point competitive contest.” . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Winnipeg Ice completed a sweep of the Tigers with a 3-2 victory. “Winnipeg is outshot in all four games of series yet has more goals and that’s all that matters. F Ty Nash notches tilt’s final tally, scoring back-to-back. F Matthew Savoie starts scoring while shorthanded, 6th goal of series equaling last season’s total.”

In Regina, the Saskatoon Blades won, 4-3 in OT, to even the series with the Pats, 2-2. “The Blades are back to square one after turning around a 3-1 deficit, after conceding two goals in first minute of the final frame.  F Jayden Wiens kickstarts comeback helped by D Charlie Wright who levels match halfway through third. Jake Chiasson finishes job. . . . First playoff goal for Chiasson in 10 career tries and ends a personal nine-game goalless drought. 11th goal since becoming a member of the Blades, fifth game-winning goal. . . . Team also won 2 overtime games in same series to start 2019 against Moose Jaw.”

Meteor

While there was only one game in the WHL playoffs on Thursday night, there will be four played tonight with two of the teams involved facing elimination.

In Red Deer, the Calgary Hitmen trail the Rebels, 3-1, and are without two of their top three scorers in F Riley Fiddler-Schultz and F Sean Tschigerl. Fiddler-Schultz didn’t finish Game 2, while Tschigerl was injured in Game 3. . . .

In Everett, the Silvertips have lost the first three games of their series with the Portland Winterhawks, so need a victory to send the series back to Oregon. . . . A Portland victory will send the Winterhawks into the second round against the Kamloops Blazers, who completed a sweep of the Vancouver Giants last night. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., the Prince George Cougars and Tri-City Americans are 2-2 as they head into a fifth game. They’ll be in Prince George for Game 6 on Sunday, with a seventh game, if needed, scheduled for Tuesday . . .

And, in Saskatoon, the Blades will be looking for a third straight victory as they try to take a 3-2 lead over the Regina Pats. After the Pats won the first two games in Saskatoon, the Blades went into Regina and twice overcame 3-1 deficits to win in OT. . . . Regina will be without F Brayden Barnett, who drew a one-game suspension for a slew-footing double minor he was hit with in Game 4. . . . These teams so far have played in front of 33,861 fans, with more than 10,000 expected again for Game 5. . . . They’ll be back in Regina before another 6,499 fans for Game 6 on Saturday. . . .

Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Warriors will be without F Robert Baco for the first three games of their second-round series. The Warriors completed a sweep of the host Lethbridge Hurricanes on Wednesday night and Baco took a goaltender interference major and game misconduct during the game.

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THURSDAY IN THE WHL PLAYOFFS:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Kamloops (2) at Vancouver (7) — D Olen Zellweger scored his second goal of Kamloopsthe game and third in four games with 1.5 seconds left in OT to give the Kamloops Blazers a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Blazers swept the first-round series. . . . They outshot the Giants, 67-35, last night, including 26-7 in OT. . . . The Giants overcame 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 deficits, forcing OT when F Skyler Bruce (1) scored, on a PP, at 15:00 of the third period. . . . F Ty Thorpe, the Giants’ captain, scored three times and added an assist. He scored at even strength, while shorthanded and on the PP. His third goal of the series, on a PP, came 52 seconds into the third period and tied it 3-3. . . . Zellweger (2) put his guys back out front at 3:45. . . . Zellweger’s winner was the second goal Kamloops scored with 1.5 seconds left on the clock. F Connor Levis (1) put the Blazers in front, 3-2, with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first period. . . . F Ryan Hofer (5) had two goals and an assist for the Blazers, all in the first period. . . . F Samuel Honzek drew three assists for the Giants. . . . Vancouver scored twice in the first period after having been outscored 19-1 through the first three games. . . . Kamloops had a 221-93 edge in shots in the four games. . . . In the series, the Blazers were 6-for-22 on the PP; the Giants were 3-for-10, including 2-for-6 in Game 4. . . . With F Daylan Kuefler injured, Kamloops had F Nathan Behm, 15, skating alongside Logan Stankoven and Levis. Behm, from Calgary, was the 13th overall selection in the WHL’s 2022 draft. . . . The Blazers went back to Kamloops with a little less money in their bank account after being fined $250 for a warmup violation prior to Tuesday’s game in Langley.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

It seems that reports of WHL referee Steve Papp’s retirement were premature. A report in some Black Press newspapers/websites indicated that Papp “officiated his final WHL game on Tuesday night . . . between the Kelowna Rockets and Seattle Thunderbirds.” . . . Papp, 39, is from Kelowna and in his 17th season as a WHL referee. He also spent two seasons as a linesman. . . . But he is not yet done. . . . A WHL official told Taking Note on Thursday night that Papp “is planning on this being his last season . . . he will be continuing to skate in the playoffs.” . . .

In the OHL, the Kitchener Rangers completed a first-round sweep of the Windsor Spitfires, winning 5-1 at home on Friday night. The Spitfires had finished atop the Western Conference, 22 points ahead of the eighth-place Rangers. This is the first time in OHL history that an eighth seed has swept a No. 1 seed. . . . The Spitfires had loaded up in the hopes of a deep playoff run, their acquisitions including the highly touted F Shane Wright.

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With the 10th anniversary of her kidney transplant within in sight, Dorothy is taking part in her 10th straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. So, yes, she is fund-raising. . . . The 2023 Walk is scheduled for June 4. . . . If you would like to donate to her cause, you are able to do so right here.

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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.

Forge

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while eagerly awaiting Opening Day (it arrives on Thursday) . . .

Scattershooting2

Let’s start with a gem from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “A Dodgers fan group is rubbing it in against the Red Sox by paying for a ‘Thank you for Mookie Betts’ billboard next to Fenway Park. ‘Now why didn’t we ever think of that?’ moaned the chairman of the Babe Ruth Preservation Society.”

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Perry, again: “Ohio State safety Marcus Hooker was arrested on DUI charges after he passed out behind the wheel while waiting in a McDonald’s drive-thru line. Defense lawyers can’t decide whether to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or ‘I deserve a break today.’ ”

The visiting Calgary Hitmen got 41 stops from G Brayden Peters as they handed CalgaryEdmonton its first loss of the WHL’s developmental season, beating the Oil Kings, 2-1, on Sunday. While Calgary improved to 5-5-1, Edmonton now is 9-1-0. . . . The Oil Kings had beaten the Hitmen twice on the weekend — 4-3 in Edmonton on Friday and 5-2 in Calgary on Saturday. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (4) and F Riley Stotts (3) had Calgary ahead 2-0 before F Josh Williams (7) scored for Edmonton at 8:30 of the third period. . . . Calgary remains without D Tyson Galloway, who was injured on Friday, and D Luke Prokop, who was hurt on Saturday.

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco, in a column dedicated to pet peeves:

“The I’m-so-cool NBA arena walk-in, every player wearing headphones. Do you guys ever, like, talk among yourselves, like teammates? . . .

“At college football games in the South, how the head coach always has to have a mean-looking cop in a Mountie hat escort him on and off the field, like he’s the pope or something. Let the cops go do cop stuff. . . .

“TV college game announcers who remind us every four minutes what a ‘well-coached team’ this is. Announcers, many of them former coaches, are insufferable coach suck-ups. Please throw in an occasional ‘crappily coached team.’ ”

The Brandon Wheat Kings ran their winning streak to three games with a 5-2 Brandonvictory over the Swift Current Broncos in Regina. . . . The Wheat Kings now are 6-2-1. . . . The Broncos (2-6-1) opened the schedule with five straight losses, running their two-season skid to 23, then went 2-0-1 before this loss. . . . Swift Current led 2-0 with 13 minutes left in the second period, only to give up the game’s last five goals. . . . D Braden Schneider was back in Brandon’s lineup after sitting out two with an injury.

F Gage Concalves enjoyed his first career three-goal game and also added an assist as the host Everett Silvertips beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-1. . . . The Silvertips, who are 5-0-0 for the first time in franchise history, led 3-0 before the game was 14 minutes old and never looked back. . . . Goncalves has five goals. . . . D Ronan Seeley had a goal and three assists for Everett F Samuel Huo scored his fourth goal for the Americans (2-3-0). . . . G Braden Holt stopped 20 shots for the Silvertips, who have allowed two goals in their five games.

The visiting Portland Winterhawks scored the game’s last four goals and six of the last seven as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 7-4. . . . F Simon Knak (4) tied the game 4-4 tie at 13:50 of the second period and F Seth Jarvis (2) scored while shorthanded at 4:49 of the third to give Portland its first lead. . . . Jarvis finished plus-5. . . . The Winterhawks (3-1-2) have four shorthanded goals in their six games. . . . Seattle (3-2-0) got the game’s opening goal from F Connor Roulette (3) scored on a first-period penalty shot. . . . D Nick Cicek had three assists for Portland.

The QMJHL scrubbed a Sunday game between the Cape Breton Eagles and qmjhlnewCharlottetown Islanders because of COVID-19 protocol. According to the QMJHL, on Sunday morning “a few players from the Eagles experienced flu-liked symptoms and as a precaution, the QMJHL has cancelled the game. In the current context and as per QMJHL protocols, all Eagles’ players and staff will be tested for COVID-19 and put in preventive isolation prior to returning to regular team activities.”

F Oren Shtrom’s first WHL goal, at 4:11 of OT, gave the host Medicine Hat Tigers Tigersa 5-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Tigers (7-3-0) had beaten the Hurricanes 3-0 at home on Friday and 6-3 in Lethbridge on Saturday. . . . Shtrom, a 16-year-old from Gilbert, Ariz., was a third-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. He has a goal and four assists in nine games. . . . He is believed to be the first Oren to score for the Tigers since Oren Koules struck six times in 33 games in 1979-80. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski (5) had two goals and an assist for the Tigers, while D Cole Clayton had three assists. . . . F Justin Hall scored his eighth goal in 11 games for Lethbridge (3-6-2). He went into the season with 16 goals in 102 games.

F Tristen Nielsen scored three times and added two assists to spark the VancouverVancouver Giants’ 6-0 victory over the Kelowna Rockets in Kamloops. . . . The Giants were the home team, so this was their home-opener. . . . Nielsen scored once on the PP, once shorthanded and once at even strength, all in the first period. . . . F Justin Sourdif drew four assists. . . . G Trent Miner stopped 20 shots for his fifth career shutout. . . . D Mazden Leslie, the 10th overall pick in the 2020 bantam draft, scored twice in his first WHL game. . . . Nielsen turned 21 on Feb. 23; Leslie won’t turn 16 until April 15. . . . The Giants now are 1-1-0, as are the Rockets. Kelowna had blanked the visiting Victoria Royals, 6-0, on Saturday.

Time

F Peyton Krebs had a goal, his sixth, and two assists as the Winnipeg Ice got Winnipegpast the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1, in Regina. . . . No less an authority than Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post says that Krebs has been the “best player in the East Division hub.” . . . Krebs has 11 points over his past four games so Vanstone may be correct. . . . Vanstone also pointed out that while there have been 10 shutouts in the WHL this season, none of them have been in the Regina hub. . . . Krebs has six goals and 11 assists as the Ice, which had lost its previous two games, has opened 6-3-0. . . . The Warriors (4-5-0), who have lost four in a row, were without D Daemon Hunt (suspension) and F Ryder Korczak (undisclosed injury). . . . The game was played in 2 hours 3 minutes, the fastest game to date this season.

Tuna

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Dogs

Reports have major junior leagues now aiming for Dec. 1 . . . Former Blades captain dies . . . Morden team changing nickname, logo

If you own a junior hockey franchise, you have to be watching the goings-on in MLB and wondering.

While the NBA and NHL have their teams all bubbled up and, at least to date, avoiding the coronavirus, you know that you don’t have the resources to attempt anything like that.

But then you look at MLB, which is attempting to do what you are hoping to do at some point this year — bring your team together and then travel in order to play games in various venues.

It isn’t going all that well for MLB, which is forging ahead despite having had two teams — the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals — decimated by the virus and another (Philadelphia Phillies) also been hit.

Through Tuesday, 23 MLB games involving nine teams had been postponed. The season is 13 days old.

At this point, then, you likely are holding your breath and hoping.

Earlier, the QMJHL and WHL had announced proposed starting dates of Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, respectively, for their 2020-21 regular seasons. The OHL hadn’t gone public with any such date.

Now there are reports that the three major junior leagues will announce perhaps as soon as today (Wednesday) that they hope to start their 2020-21 regular seasons on Dec. 1.

Postponing the start by two more months buys them some more time. The leagues will be able to sit back and watch developments, including the possible opening of schools.

The OHL and WHL also have teams located in the U.S., where, you may have noticed, things aren’t going so well. Two more months gives the leagues time to watch for improvements in that area, although under present leadership that doesn’t seem likely to happen.

And, of course, there’s the little matter of the U.S.-Canada border being closed. Do you think it’ll be open again in 2020?

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COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

On Sunday, the Cincinnati Reds placed 1B Joey Votto, a native of Toronto, on the injury list after he self-reported symptoms of the virus. On Monday, he hit a two-run, go-ahead homer to help the Reds beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2. . . . It turns out that he tested negative and was reinstated. . . .

The much-ballyhooed Field of Dreams game, which was to have featured the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox on Aug. 13, has been postponed to August 2021. A date has yet to be announced. . . .

The Cardinals’ season is on hold after seven players and six staff members tested positive. . . . Six of the players are SS Paul DeJong, RHP Junior Fernández, C Yadier Molina, 1B Rangel Ravelo, SS Edmundo Sosa and RHP Kodi Whitley, each of whom gave the team the OK to release their names. The identity of a seventh player wasn’t released. . . . DeJong and Molina are all-star calibre players. . . . In a statement, Molina said he was “saddened to have tested positive for COVID-19, even after adhering to safety guidelines that were put in place.” . . .

Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, had some thoughts on the mess in which MLB finds itself. He concluded with this: “Baseball in 2020 reminds me of a guy at a poker table who is losing his shirt but keeps dipping into his bank account for another stake because he is ‘due for some good cards.’ It seems to me that MLB thinks it is due for some good news and just keeps on keeping on. . . . Albert Einstein reminded us that insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different outcomes.” . . . You should read the entirety of the curmudgeonly one’s latest post right here.

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The NFL’s Detroit Lions moved QB Matthew Stafford from the Reserve/COVID-19 list and placed him on the regular roster, saying that what was reported as a positive test actually was a false-positive. . . . The Jacksonville Jaguars did the same with QB Gardner Minshew after it was determined that he had tested negative. Minshew joked that the virus “took one look at me and ran the other way.” . . .

At least 48 players have opted out of playing in the NFL’s 2020 season. The league has a deadline of Thursday afternoon for players to make that decision. . . . Barry Wilner of The Associated Press has more right here.

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Rafael Nadal, the No. 2-ranked men’s tennis player, won’t play in this month’s U.S. Open, which is to start on Aug. 31. He said that he doesn’t want to travel during the pandemic. . . . The last time a tennis major didn’t feature either Roger Federer, who is out after having knee surgery, and Nadal? That was the 1999 U.S. Open. . . .

Meanwhile, Bianca Andreescu, who won the women’s U.S. Open title last year, said that she will be in New York to defend her title. . . . Andreescu, 20, from Mississauga, Ont., is the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. . . .

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The 104th running of the Indy 500 will take place without fans. Roger Penske, who owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said earlier in the year that the race, which was postponed from Memorial Day weekend to Aug. 23, would allow some fans to attend. . . . But with numbers rising in Marion County, Indiana, home of the Speedway, Penske has decided not to allow fans. . . .

The AHL has cancelled its 2020-21 All-Star Classic that was to have been played host to by the Laval Rocket on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Instead, Laval will be the site of the 2021-22 Classic on a date yet to be determined. . . . The AHL is hoping to being its 2020-21 regular season on Dec. 4. . . .

Tennis lost the Madrid Open as the 2020 event, which features men’s and women’s draws, was cancelled. Originally scheduled in May, it had been postponed to September. But an increase in COVID-19 cases resulted in the event being cancelled.

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You will recall that the Houston Astros have been branded as cheaters after getting caught up in a sign-stealing scandal that has some baseball folks claiming the team actually stole a World Series title. . . . The other day, with the host Astros playing the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are particularly bitter, Houston’s Jose Altuve, who is really struggling at the plate, happened to strike out. Joe Davis, doing the play-by-play for the Dodgers, said Altuve was “perhaps guessing something else.” . . . Former Dodgers P Orel Hershiser, the analyst on the broadcast crew, disagreed. Said Hershiser: “Guessing’s harder than knowing.”

The QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes announced Tuesday that head coach Gordie Dwyer has left the organization in the hopes of landing a spot with a pro team. . . . Dwyer took over as head coach on Feb. 9, then went 6-6-0 before the league shut down because of the pandemic. . . . At the time, Dwyer took over from the fired Daniel Renaud, who had been the head coach since 2017. He was 23-28-0 last season. . . . The Cataractes will unveil their new coaching staff on Friday.

The Morden Redskins, a men’s team that plays in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League, has said that it will be changing its nickname and logo, which was fashioned after that belonging to the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks. . . . Last month, Brandon Burley, the mayor of Morden, asked the team to make a change.

JUST NOTES: I haven’t watched a whole lot of the NHL since it resumed playing, but I’ve seen enough to realize that, despite what you might read in the rules book, cross-checking continues to be legal. . . . I need to find someone in Alberta to cut me in on the Edmonton Oilers’ 50-50 draw. If you aren’t aware, the winner of Monday’s draw put $1,629,722.50 into his/her bank account. On Saturday night, Danielle McGale won $381,275. Yes, she has a whole lot of new friends. . . . I was watching the MLB game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and host Minnesota Twins on Tuesday afternoon and there was a drone delay. Seriously.

Raiders finished at Memorial Cup. . . . Chiefs, Lambert sign extension. . . . Ex-Breakers winger, Wilson dies at 57

MacBeth

D Kristian Khenkel (Lethbridge, 2013-14) has signed a two-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan (Russia, KHL). This season, with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus, KHL), he had four goals and 10 assists in 59 games.

ThisThat

The WHL-champion Prince Albert Raiders were eliminated from the 2019 Memorial Cup on Tuesday night when they dropped a 5-2 decision to the OHL-champion Guelph Storm. 2019MC. . . The Raiders lost all three of their round-robin games while being outscored 15-6. . . . The Storm (2-1) is guaranteed at least a spot in the semifinal game. . . . The round-robin portion of the four-team event concludes tonight (Wednesday) with the host Mooseheads (2-0) meeting the QMJHL-champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (1-1). The Huskies beat the Mooseheads, 4-2, in the QMJHL’s best-of-seven championship final. . . . Last night, the first period ended in a 2-2 draw, with Guelph scoring twice off the rush, and the Raiders getting two goals on redirections from in tight. . . . The Storm won it with a pair of second-period goals, from F Liam Hawel, at 1:21, on a PP, and F Nick Suzuki, at 5:02. . . . Suzuki, who also had an assist, put it away with another Suzuki goal at 6:42 of the third period. . . . The Storm got a goal and two assists from F Isaac Ratcliffe. . . . F Sean Montgomery, on a PP, and F Dante Hannoun had the Raiders’ goals. . . . The Raiders represented the WHL in the Memorial Cup for the second time in franchise history. In 1985, their third season in the WHL, they won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup. . . . Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW.com was in Halifax and his story is right here.

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JUST NOTES: The Raiders played 94 games this season — 68 in the regular season, 23 in the WHL playoffs and three in the Memorial Cup. It wasn’t until they got to the Memorial Cup that they lost three times in a row. . . .

WHL champions now have lost 13 straight Memorial Cup games. Prince Albert has joined the Swift Current Broncos (2018), Seattle Thunderbirds (2017) and Brandon Wheat Kings (2016) as WHL champs who have reached the Memorial Cup, only to go 0-3. The Kelowna Rockets lost the first game in that skid, falling 2-1 in OT to the Oshawa Generals in the final of the 2015 tournament. . . . What, if anything, is the reason for the recent struggles? If you have an opinion, email Taking Note at greggdrinnan@gmail.com and I’ll have some thoughts at some point this week. . . .

According to the online scoresheet, the Storm won 41 of the game’s 59 faceoffs last night. . . .

The Mooseheads can move to Sunday’s final with a victory over the Huskies tonight. If the Huskies win, the three remaining teams will each be 2-1 and the playoff seedings would be decided via the tiebreaker formula.

Here is that formula, direct from the 2019 Memorial Cup Media Guide:

“In the event three teams should tie for first place at the conclusion of the single round-robin series of games, the game each team played against the fourth place team shall be removed from their records. The tiebreaking formula shall be as follows: Add each team’s goals for with their goals against which sum you divide into such team’s goals for. The team with the highest percentage gains the higher ranking in the standings and an automatic berth as home team in the Memorial Cup championship game. The remaining two teams shall play in the semifinal game. The home team in the semifinal game will be the team that won the round-robin game between the two teams. . . .

“In the event that after using the above mathematical exercise all three teams should still remain tied for first place, the game each team played against the fourth team shall be added to their records. The same formula (as above) will be applied to finalize the rankings of the three teams.

“In the event that two teams still remain tied, the round-robin game between the two teams will determine their order of position.”

Got that? If not, just let tonight’s game play itself out and all will be decided then.

BTW, that Media Guide is available as a PDF right here.

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F Noah Gregor was the best of the Prince Albert Raiders in their three-game Memorial Cup appearance. They scored six goals in their three losses, and he was in on the first PrinceAlbertfive, scoring two of them.

He also figured in each of Prince Albert’s last three goals in the Raiders’ seven-game WHL championship series victory over the Vancouver Giants.

Gregor, a 20-year-old from Beaumont, Alta., also was one of their top players through the regular season and playoffs, after having been acquired from the Victoria Royals on July 25 for what, according to the WHL website, was “cond. VictoriaRoyalscompensation.”

Taking Note was told on Tuesday that those considerations were three-fold:

1. An eighth-round selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft in exchange for Gregor’s rights;

2. A 2019 third-round selection based on Gregor playing in a certain number of regular-season games, which he did; and,

3. A 2020 fourth-round selection based on Gregor playing a certain number of playoff games, which he did.

The third-round pick originated with the Prince George Cougars, and turned out to be 48th overall. The Royals used it to take F Tanner Scott, who is from Sherwood Park, Alta. He played this season with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team, putting up 18 goals and 25 assists in 29 games.

Gregor, a fourth-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the NHL’s 2016 draft, had signed a pro deal prior to this season. At the time the Raiders acquired his rights, there was no guarantee that he would be back in the WHL; in fact, there was ample speculation that he would end up at least starting the season with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.

At the time of the deal, the Royals had already dealt D Jared Freadrich, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks, and Gregor was one of nine other 1998-born players on Victoria’s roster.

One of those players was F Dante Hannoun, who was moved to Prince Albert on Jan. 3, along with a pair of 2019 draft picks — in the fourth and eighth rounds. In exchange, the Royals got F Kody McDonald, who played out his eligibility this season; F Carson Miller, who turned 19 on Feb. 10; and a 2020 third-round selection.

That means the Royals hold Prince Albert’s third- and fourth-round selections in the 2020 bantam draft.

Gregor had 43 goals and 45 assists in 88 regular-season games, then added 13 goals and 11 assists in 24 playoff games.

Hannoun added 10 goals and 21 assists in 28 regular-season games with the Raiders. In the playoffs, he had 14 goals and 10 assists in 23 games, including the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants in Game 7 of the WHL final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

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The Spokane Chiefs announced Tuesday that they have signed head coach Dan Lambert SpokaneChiefsto a contract extension. . . . The Chiefs’ news release didn’t provide the length of the extension. However, Karthik Venkataraman of KREM-TV in Spokane reported: “The Chiefs have not disclosed details of the extension. However, previous extensions have been two years with a club option for a third year.” . . . Lambert has completed two seasons as the Chiefs’ head coach, going 81-46-13 in the process. The Chiefs reached the Western Conference final this season, where they were beaten by the Vancouver Giants. . . . Before joining the Chiefs, Lambert spent one season as head coach of the Rochester Americans, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. He also was an assistant coach with the Sabres for one season. . . . Prior to that, he spent five seasons (2009-14) as an assistant coach with the Kelowna Rockets, and one season as their head coach. . . . Lambert will be the head coach Team Canada at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.

Mitch Wilson, who played two seasons (1980-82) with the WHL’s Seattle Breakers, died SeaBrealerson Saturday at his home in Brinnon, Wash. The native of Kelowna was 57. He had battled ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for a number of years. . . . “Thank you to everyone for your support through this difficult time,” his family posted on his Facebook page. “Mitch fought this battle the best he knew how and did so with courage.” . . . A rugged right winger, Wilson spent two seasons with the B.C. Junior Hockey League’s Kelowna Buckaroos before joining the Breakers. . . . In 1980-81, he had eight goals, 23 assists and 253 penalty minutes in 64 games. The next season, he finished with 18 goals, 17 assists and 436 penalty minutes in 60 games. . . .  He went on to a pro career that included 26 NHL games — nine with the New Jersey Devils and 17 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had two goals, three assists and 104 PMs in those 26 games.

The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Caleb Reimer to a WHL contract. The Oil Kings selected him 18th overall in the 2019 bantam draft. . . . Reimer, who will turn 15 on Oct. 9, is from Surrey, B.C., and played this season with the bantam prep team at the Delta Hockey Academy. He put up 18 goals and 27 assists in 30 games.

The Swift Current Broncos have signed F Braeden Lewis to a WHL contract. The Broncos selected him in the sixth round of the 2018 bantam draft. Lewis, from Virden, Man., turned 16 on Tuesday. . . . He played this season with the midget AAA Southwest Cougars, scoring 10 goals and adding 20 assists in 45 games.

Lee Stone is back with the junior B Campbell River Storm, as the Vancouver Island Hockey League team’s general manager and head coach. . . . Stone left the Storm earlier this season and joined the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles as an assistant coach. At the time, the Storm announced that it and Stone had “mutually agreed to part ways.” . . . Cam Basarab, an assistant coach, took over as head coach, with assistant coach Bill Brett stepping in as GM. . . . In his time with the Storm, the club has totalled 254 victories, 71 losses,18 OTL and nine ties. According to the Storm, “His clubs have captured three league championships, a Cyclone Taylor Cup and a Keystone Cup.” . . . He also served as chairperson on Campbell River’s 2019 Cyclone Taylor Cup organizing committee. . . . The Storm also announced that Travis McMillan has signed on as assistant GM and associate coach. He had been the head coach of the Cochrane, Alta., Generals of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League.

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