Tag: Willy Palov

Warriors double Hurricanes . . . Cougars complete doubleheader sweep . . . Myatovic fills hat for Thunderbirds

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The Seattle Thunderbirds ran their winning streak to eight games on Tuesday Seattlenight, beating the Royals, 8-0, in Victoria. That victory followed on the heels of a 7-0 triumph in Victoria on Monday afternoon.

After Monday’s game, Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist wrote:

“Too fast, too big, too good. Basically, too everything.

“The Seattle Thunderbirds are all that with 10 NHL draft picks, including five first-rounders, and another five players ranked for this year’s NHL draft. “The Thunderbirds are on another planet than most Western Hockey League teams, and in another solar system entirely, than also-rans like the Victoria Royals.”

BankErr

If the WHL playoffs started today:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Winnipeg (1) vs. Medicine Hat (8)

Red Deer (2) vs. Calgary (7)

Saskatoon (3) vs. Regina (6)

Moose Jaw (4) vs. Lethbridge (5)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Seattle (1) vs. Kelowna (8)

Kamloops (2) vs. Vancouver (7)

Portland (3) vs. Prince George (6)

Tri-City (4) vs. Everett (5)

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TUESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

The Moose Jaw Warriors struck for the game’s first five goals en route to an 8-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . F Eric Alarie (17) got it started 17 seconds into the first period and the Warriors, who had lost three in a row, went on from there. . . . The Warriors got a goal and three assists from each of F Ryder Korczak (22) and Jagger Firkus (29), with F Atley Calvert scoring twice (33) and adding one assist. F Martin Rysavy helped out with a goal (7) and two assists. . . . F Blake Swetlikoff scored twice (13) and added an assist for Lethbridge. . . . Chances are this was a playoff preview because Moose Jaw (34-19-3) and Lethbridge (30-20-6) are comfortably settled into fourth and fifth in the Eastern Conference, each with 12 games remaining. . . .

In Prince George, the Cougars completed a doubleheader sweep by beating the Portland Winterhawks, 3-1. . . . The Cougars had won, 1-0 in a shootout, on Monday. . . . The home boys got second-period goals from F Jaxsen Wiebe (13), at 4:32, and F Carlin Dezainde (4), at 14:09. . . . F Cole Dubinsky (16) made it 3-0 at 12:39 of the third. . . . F Luca Cagnoni (14) got Portland on the board at 16:54 of the third. . . . The Cougars got 34 saves from G Tyler Brennan, while G Dante Giannuzzi stopped 29 shots at the other end. . . . These two teams could well meet up in the first round of the playoffs. . . . Prince George (26-23-4) is sixth in the Western Conference, two points behind the Everett Silvertips. . . . Portland (36-14-5) is third in the conference, but is 0-4-1 in its last five games. . . .

The Seattle Thunderbirds completed a three-game sweep of a series with the Victoria Royals, winning 8-0 on Vancouver Island. . . . The Thunderbirds had won, 7-0, in Victoria on Monday and 8-1 in Kent, Wash., on Saturday. . . . Last night, Seattle took a 3-0 lead in the first period, getting the first one from F Brad Lambert at 8:02 and later scores from D Nolan Allan (9) and F Mekai Sanders (4) just six seconds apart. . . . F Nico Myatovic, who turned 18 on Dec. 1, enjoyed this one with his first career three-goal game. Last season, he had four goals in 67 games. This season, he has 23 in 54 outings. . . . Allan also added three assists. . . . Lambert finished with two goals. He’s got 11 goals and 10 assists in 13 games. . . . F Reid Schaefer had a goal (20) and two assists. . . . G Scott Ratzlaff blocked 21 shots to post his fifth shutout of the season. He is 20-6-1, 2.07, .922. . . . Seattle lost F Kyle Crnkovic to a headshot major and game misconduct at 9:21 of the first period. . . . Seattle’s victory allowed the idle Tri-City Americans to clinch a playoff spot. They are fourth in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Everett Silvertips. . . . Seattle (43-9-2) has won eight in a row. It leads the Western Conference by 10 points over the Kamloops Blazers and is 11 points ahead of Portland atop the U.S. Division. . . . Victoria (15-36-6) has lost four in a row. It is seven points from a playoff spot with 11 games remaining.

Coffee

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 WHL draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers, had four points on Tuesday as Yukon beat host P.E.I., 5-3, at the Canada Winter Games. McKenna has put up 21 points in three games. . . . McKenna, who plays at the South Alberta Hockey Academy, turned 15 on Dec. 20. From Whitehorse, he has played in 11 games with the Tigers, earning eight assists. . . .

G Rhett Stoesser of the Red Deer Rebels will miss the remainder of this season. The Rebels announced on Tuesday that he suffered an undisclosed injury “last week in practice that will require season-ending surgery.” . . . Stoesser, 17, is from Cremona, Alta. A freshman, he went 19-6-0, 2.35, .910 and put up two shutouts. . . . The Rebels have added G Chase Wutzke, 17, from the U18AAA Saskatoon Contacts to their roster for the remainder of the season. He was a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft. . . . Wutzke will team with G Kyle Kelsey, who turned 19 on Jan. 22 and is is 17-8-4, 2.68, .908 as a freshman. . . .

Former NHL and OHL star Bobby Smith has sold his 85 per cent share in the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads to Sam Simon, a Detroit-based businessman. Smith was the majority owner for 20 years. . . . “I wasn’t going to own the team forever,” Smith explained, “and none of my kids who have their own lives . . . was interested so when a good buyer presented himself and he saw the Mooseheads as the team he wanted to buy and this guy was going to be a real asset to the team, there was a deal to be made. We put one together and here we are.” . . . Willy Palov has the complete story 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.

WTF

Huskies win their first Memorial Cup. . . . Matvichuk in hunt for ECHL position? . . . Americans’ home getting improvements

MacBeth

F Jesse Gabrielle (Brandon, Regina, Prince George, 2012-18) has signed a one-season contract with CBR Brave Canberra (Australia, AIHL). This season, with the Atlanta Gladiators (ECHL), he had five goals and 10 assists in 25 games. He also had four goals and two assists in 11 games with the Wichita Thunder (ECHL). . . .

F Petr Dvorak (Regina, 2002-03) has signed a one-year contract extension with Valašské Meziříčí (Czech Republic, 2 Liga). This season, he had 18 goals and 31 assists in 38 games. He led the team in points.

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The QMJHL-champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies erased a 2-0 deficit and beat the host 2019MCHalifax Mooseheads, 4-2, on Sunday to win their first Memorial Cup title. . . . The Huskies entered the QMJHL for the 1996-97 season. . . . This was the eighth meeting in the last while between these teams and the Huskies won six of them, including four in a six-game QMJHL championship final. . . . The Mooseheads led 2-0 on goals from F Samuel Asselin, on a PP at 19:16 of the first period, and F Raphael Lavoie, at 5:26 of the second. . . . F Felix Bibeau got the Huskies started with his fifth goal of the tournament, at 10:27 of the second period. . . . F Joel Teasdale, the tournament’s MVP, tied it at 15:11. . . . F Peter Abbandonato’s goal at 3:02 of the third period stood up as the winner. . . . F Vincent Marleau added insurance at 5:03. . . . The game had a WHL flavour to it, too, with two of its officials working the game — referee Chris Crich and linesman Tarrington Wyonzek. Also working were two QMJHL officials — referee Mario Maillet and linesman Maxime Chaput. . . . This was the second time in Memorial Cup history that two QMJHL teams met in the final. In 2006, the Quebec Remparts beat the host Moncton Wildcats, 6-2. . . . Huskies head coach Mario Pouliot is the first head coach to win back-to-back Memorial Cup championships with different teams. Last season, he was the head coach of the Acadia-Bathurst Titan, who won the QMJHL title and then won the Memorial Cup in Regina. . . . Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald has a game story right here. . . . The 2020 Memorial Cup is scheduled for Kelowna with the Rockets as the host team.

The ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets are closing in on a new head coach and Richard Matvichuk, who was fired this season as the head coach of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, is believed to be a candidate. . . . Justin A. Cohn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported Saturday that an announcement could come in the next few days. . . . Cohn has Ben Boudreau, the son of Bruce Boudreau, the head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, as the leading candidate. . . . Matvichuk joined the Cougars for the 2016-17 season after spending two seasons as director of hockey operations and head coach with the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks. He was the ECHL’s coach of the year for the 2015-16 season. . . . The Cougars fired Matvichuk late in what was his third season as head coach. . . . The Komets’ previous head coach, Gary Graham, was fired on May 13 after going 251-130-51 in six seasons. . . . Cohn’s complete story is right here.

The Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash., the home of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, will tri-cityhave a new ice plant and two large LED screens in place before another season arrives. . . . These improvements come after the lighting was revamped prior to this season. . . . Each screen will be eight feet high and 41 feet wide. . . . As Wendy Culverwell writes in the Tri-City Herald: “The ice plant and video boards were key to keeping the Americans as tenants after the WHL set the 2019-20 season as the deadline to comply with its new standards for player safety and fan amenities.” . . . When all the work is finished, the cost will be about US$4 million. . . . The Americans’ lease expires after the 2019-20 season. . . . Culverwell’s story is right here.

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The Medicine Hat Tigers have signed F Cayden Glover to a WHL contract. He was a second-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft. From Brandon, Glover had 47 goals and 19 assists in 36 games with the midget AAA Wheat Kings this season.

The MJHL’s OCN Blizzard will have two men running its bench in 2019-20. The team announced Sunday that Ryan Wood and Chris Perchaluk will be associate head coaches. Wood also will be assistant general manager, under GM Greg Hunter. . . . The Blizzard also has signed Nick Rusak as assistant coach. . . . Wood spent the past two seasons as the GM/head coach of the Kirkland Miners of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League. . . . Perchaluk played two seasons with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs and one with the Blizzard. He has been coaching minor hockey in The Pas, Man., since 2005. . . . Rusak, from Cranberry Portage, Man., has been an assistant coach with the Thompson-based bantam AAA Norman Wolves.

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