Scout
03-08-2008, 07:33 AM
with Gregg Drinnan
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday's news, notes and highlights . . .
The WHL is about to become the only one of the three major junior leagues whose players won’t be wearing neck guards. The QMJHL was mandated to use them a number of seasons ago due to provincial regulations. Following the injury to Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik, who had his throat slashed by an errant skate blade last month, the OHL has ordered its players to begin wearing neck guards starting Monday. However, if neck guards are to become mandatory in the WHL, it won’t be until next season at the earliest. . . . The WHL’s general managers discussed the issue at a meeting in Calgary earlier this week and the matter was put over to the league’s annual meeting in June. Commissioner Ron Robison says there will be dialogue “with other leagues, including the NHL, to see what position they are taking on this subject.” . . . As part of the discussion, Robison points out that “outside the province of Quebec, which was mandated to wear them several years ago, the OHL is the only league above minor hockey to adopt neck guards.” . . . This isn’t the first time that the subject of neck guards has been brought up at the WHL level, but this time it obviously is different, what with the OHL deciding on its own to adopt their use. That move appears to have caught the WHL by surprise. As Robison said: “Our understanding was that we would be consulting with all levels including minor pro before proceeding. That obviously did not happen.” . . .
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D Brendan Stephen has joined the Everett Silvertips for the remainder of the season. The 6-foot-7 Stephen had been with the junior B Princeton, B.C., Posse, whose Kootenay International junior league season ended Tuesday. He played in three games earlier in the season with the Silvertips. . . . Stephen will see some ice-time as the Silvertips go into the weekend without D Chris de la Lande (leg), D Taylor Ellington (foot) and D Tyler Kieffer (upper body). . . .
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C Brandon Sutter, the captain of the Red Deer Rebels, is negotiating — or,
rather, his agent is — a contract with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. They
took him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft. The Rebels won’t make the
WHL playoffs so Sutter will join Carolina’s AHL affiliate, the Albany River
Rats, when the regular season ends. . . .
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LW Jamie Benn is listed as doubtful as the Kelowna Rockets play host to the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. Benn, with 29 goals, has been out with a high ankle sprain since Jan. 29. . . . The Rockets, once a threat on the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants, now are sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Everett Silvertips and 20 behind Vancouver. . . . Kelowna (35-24-2-6) has lost 12 of its last 17 games during which time it has been outscored 61-41. . . .
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FRIDAY IN THE WHL:
In Kamloops, LW Dana Tyrell had a goal and three assists and D Kalvin Sagert had a goal and two helpers as the Prince George Cougars stunned the Blazers, 6-3. . . . Prince George (19-45-1-3) had lost its last two games. . . . The Blazers (26-37-2-2) are 0-9-1-0 in their last 10 games, the third-worst winless stretch in franchise history. . . . Tyrell has 73 points — he has been in on 73 of the team’s 164 goals. . . . Kamloops RW Kenton Dulle scored goals 11 seconds apart early in the third period to give his side a 3-2 lead. . . . The Blazers then took back-to-back penalties and the Cougars got PP goals from Sagert and Parker Stanfield to take a 4-3 lead. . . . Prince George, which dressed only 16 skaters, added two empty-netters. . . .
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In Spokane, G Dustin Tokarski stopped 24 shots to lead the Chiefs to a 4-0 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The result, coupled with the Vancouver Giants’ 5-2 loss to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, left three teams in a tie for the WHL’s overall lead. Tri-City, Spokane and Vancouver each has 98 points. The Giants, as B.C. Division champions, can finish no worse than second in the conference. . . . Spokane holds a game in hand on Tri-City and two on Vancouver. . . . The Chiefs (46-14-1-5) have won four in a row. . . . The Americans (47-16-2-2) have lost two in a row. They are 6-5 against the Chiefs with four of those victories coming in Spokane. . . . Tokarski has six shutouts this season, extending his single-season franchise record. His eight career shutouts are two shy of Jim Watt’s franchise record. . . . Tokarski has blanked the Americans twice this season. . . . Spokane has put up seven shutouts; Tri-City has been blanked three times. . . . Spokane C David Rutherford and Tri-City LW Colton Yellow Horn, who leads the WHL with 46 goals, fought at 4:24 of the first period. . . . The Chiefs got goals from four separate players. . . . Attendance was 9,815. . . . The Americans are bringing out NASCAR-inspired jerseys for Sunday’s warmup prior to a game against the visiting Portland Winter Hawks and will wear those jerseys March 14 against the Kelowna Rockets. The jerseys when will be auctioned off on-line with proceeds to Tri-City’s education fund. . . .
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In Regina, G Linden Rowat stopped 27 shots as the Pats blanked the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-0. . . . The Pats (41-21-4-2) have won four in a row, all at home. They are 4-0 against Edmonton. . . . Regina remains first in the East Division and, as such, the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They are three points ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Oil Kings (20-36-4-7) have lost five straight. . . . Rowat, who posted his 30th victory of the season, has three shutouts this season, two against Edmonton, and eight in his career, one shy of Josh Harding’s career franchise record. . . . The Oil Kings and Portland Winter Hawks have been blanked a WHL-worst 11 times. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice reached the 40-victory mark for the fourth straight season with an 8-2 triumph over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Ice (40-20-5-3) has won seven of nine and is 8-0 against Red Deer this season. . . . Kootenay moved into third in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Lethridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Rebels (18-43-4-3) have lost 10 of 12. . . . Kootenay D Eric Frere and F Michael Stickland each had two goals. . . . Stickland also had two assists. . . . The Ice was 0-for-4 on the PP but scored two shorthanded goals, by F Ben Maxwell and F Steve Da Silva. . . . The Rebels were 1-for-9 on the PP. . . . Da Silva added two assists to his goal and now has 86 points, nine off the league lead. . . . Frere and D Brayden McNabb each was plus-5. . . . The Swift Current Broncos, who are three points behind the Ice, are in Cranbrook on Saturday. . . .
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In Lethbridge, F Levi Nelson scored twice to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Broncos (39-22-1-6) have won four of five and are sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points out of fourth. . . . The Hurricanes (41-20-2-3), playing their first game after six days off, have lost three straight. They went into the night in third place in the Eastern Conference and came out of it tied for fourth with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Down 1-0, the Broncos scored four straight goals. . . . Lethbridge closed to 4-3 before Nelson wrapped it up with a PP goal. . . . Swift Current G Travis Yonkman stopped 26 shots. He beat F Zach Boychuk on a third-period penalty shot with the Broncos leading 4-3. . . . Nelson has 24 goals this season. . . . The Hurricanes slapped the local media in the face as they violated the WHL media policy by not making coaches and players available after the game. The Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association will file a complaint with the WHL office and the Hurricanes almost certainly will be fined. . . . Unfortunately, this ongoing lack of respect for the media, which only magnifies the lack of understanding some organizations have about the role of the media, continues to be a problem for the WHL. . . .
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In Portland, the Everett Silvertips scored the first two goals and hung on for a 2-1 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . Everett (39-25-0-3) has won 10 of its last 11 and is 9-1 against Portland. The Silvertips are fifth in the Western Conference, four points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-55-2-1) have lost 22 in a row. . . . LW Lukas Vartovnik scored on the PP at 3:03 of the first period and LW Clayton Bauer upped the Everett lead to 2-0 late in the second. . . . Portland C Colin Reddin scored his second WHL goal on the PP at 7:13 of the third. . . . Everett G Shayne Barrie stopped 31 shots as Portland held a 32-22 edge in shots. That edge was 24-10 over the last two periods. . . . In this losing streak, the Winter Hawks have been outscored 102-28. . . . The Winter Hawks are certain to set a franchise record for fewest points — they have 21; the record is 36 (1990-91). However, they aren’t anywhere close to the WHL record for fewest points in a season (Victoria Cougars, 12, 1989-90). The Cougars went 5-65-2 that season (ahh, yes, remember when games actually ended in ties and not circuses?). . . .
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In Prince Albert, the Raiders played spoiler with a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Prince Albert (24-39-3-2) is out of the playoff picture and has lost its last two games. . . . The Warriors (35-19-6-7) had won three in a row and were 4-1 against the Raiders. They are tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Raiders got goals from five players. . . . LW Terrance Delaronde scored twice for Moose Jaw. He has a career-high 17 goals. . . .
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In Vancouver, F Ian McKenzie had two goals and an assist and F Bud Holloway added two goals to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Giants. . . . Seattle (39-21-5-2) is fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Giants (45-15-2-6) had been 3-0 versus Seattle this season. . . . Vancouver is tied for first overall with the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Giants are 24-6-2-1 at home. . . . Holloway has six goals in his last four games. . . . Vancouver got a goal from F Chris Cloud at 19:55 of the second period for a 2-2 tie. . . . Holloway’s second goal, his 38th of the season, at 9:47 of the third period stood up as the winner. . . . Seattle then scored three times in the third. . . . Attendance was 12,751. . . . Vancouver held a 30-25 edge in shots. . . . Seattle G Riku Helenius upped his record to 20-11-5-1, while Vancouver’s Tyson Sexsmith slipped to 40-11-2-6. . . . McKenzie has 17 goals this season. . . . It was Vancouver’s 500th regular-season game. They are 243-191-29-37. . . . “Seattle was just more patient than us,” Giants head coach Don Hay told the Vancouver Sun. “It was a heck of a game. A playoff-type game. Both teams played hard, and physical. Seattle was the better team tonight.” . . . Vancouver captain Spencer Machacek played in his 200th game.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades built up a 3-0 lead, watched it disappear and then came back for a 6-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Blades (27-34-3-4), who won’t make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, are 10-4-1-1 since Feb. 1. . . . The Wheat Kings (39-24-3-2) have lost three in a row and are tied for seventh with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the East Division-leading Regina Pats. . . . C Chris Duran had two goals and a helper for Saskatoon as he recorded his 200th career point. . . . Brandon got all its goals from the line of Scott Glennie, Matt Calvert and Brayden Schenn. Glennie had two goals, giving him 21, while Calvert had a goal and two assists, and Schenn had two assists. The line — all three are freshmen — have combined for 181 points, including 73 goals. . . . Brandon is 5-2-1-0 against Saskatoon this season. . . . Calvert tied the game 3-3 with a shorthanded goal, his 24th score this season, at 11:03 of the third period. . . . LW Ondrej Fiala, who had three assists, broke the 3-3 with a PP score at 11:52 then set up an insurance marker by C Chris Langkow at 18:12. . . . Saskatoon freshman F Curtis Hamilton got his 11th goal into an empty net. He now trails his dad, Kelowna Rockets GM Bruce, by 80 goals. . . . Brandon had LW Tyler Dittmer (broken finger) back after a 10-game absence.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Friday's news, notes and highlights . . .
The WHL is about to become the only one of the three major junior leagues whose players won’t be wearing neck guards. The QMJHL was mandated to use them a number of seasons ago due to provincial regulations. Following the injury to Florida Panthers winger Richard Zednik, who had his throat slashed by an errant skate blade last month, the OHL has ordered its players to begin wearing neck guards starting Monday. However, if neck guards are to become mandatory in the WHL, it won’t be until next season at the earliest. . . . The WHL’s general managers discussed the issue at a meeting in Calgary earlier this week and the matter was put over to the league’s annual meeting in June. Commissioner Ron Robison says there will be dialogue “with other leagues, including the NHL, to see what position they are taking on this subject.” . . . As part of the discussion, Robison points out that “outside the province of Quebec, which was mandated to wear them several years ago, the OHL is the only league above minor hockey to adopt neck guards.” . . . This isn’t the first time that the subject of neck guards has been brought up at the WHL level, but this time it obviously is different, what with the OHL deciding on its own to adopt their use. That move appears to have caught the WHL by surprise. As Robison said: “Our understanding was that we would be consulting with all levels including minor pro before proceeding. That obviously did not happen.” . . .
————————
D Brendan Stephen has joined the Everett Silvertips for the remainder of the season. The 6-foot-7 Stephen had been with the junior B Princeton, B.C., Posse, whose Kootenay International junior league season ended Tuesday. He played in three games earlier in the season with the Silvertips. . . . Stephen will see some ice-time as the Silvertips go into the weekend without D Chris de la Lande (leg), D Taylor Ellington (foot) and D Tyler Kieffer (upper body). . . .
————————
C Brandon Sutter, the captain of the Red Deer Rebels, is negotiating — or,
rather, his agent is — a contract with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. They
took him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft. The Rebels won’t make the
WHL playoffs so Sutter will join Carolina’s AHL affiliate, the Albany River
Rats, when the regular season ends. . . .
————————
LW Jamie Benn is listed as doubtful as the Kelowna Rockets play host to the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. Benn, with 29 goals, has been out with a high ankle sprain since Jan. 29. . . . The Rockets, once a threat on the B.C. Division-leading Vancouver Giants, now are sixth in the Western Conference, three points behind the Everett Silvertips and 20 behind Vancouver. . . . Kelowna (35-24-2-6) has lost 12 of its last 17 games during which time it has been outscored 61-41. . . .
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FRIDAY IN THE WHL:
In Kamloops, LW Dana Tyrell had a goal and three assists and D Kalvin Sagert had a goal and two helpers as the Prince George Cougars stunned the Blazers, 6-3. . . . Prince George (19-45-1-3) had lost its last two games. . . . The Blazers (26-37-2-2) are 0-9-1-0 in their last 10 games, the third-worst winless stretch in franchise history. . . . Tyrell has 73 points — he has been in on 73 of the team’s 164 goals. . . . Kamloops RW Kenton Dulle scored goals 11 seconds apart early in the third period to give his side a 3-2 lead. . . . The Blazers then took back-to-back penalties and the Cougars got PP goals from Sagert and Parker Stanfield to take a 4-3 lead. . . . Prince George, which dressed only 16 skaters, added two empty-netters. . . .
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In Spokane, G Dustin Tokarski stopped 24 shots to lead the Chiefs to a 4-0 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The result, coupled with the Vancouver Giants’ 5-2 loss to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds, left three teams in a tie for the WHL’s overall lead. Tri-City, Spokane and Vancouver each has 98 points. The Giants, as B.C. Division champions, can finish no worse than second in the conference. . . . Spokane holds a game in hand on Tri-City and two on Vancouver. . . . The Chiefs (46-14-1-5) have won four in a row. . . . The Americans (47-16-2-2) have lost two in a row. They are 6-5 against the Chiefs with four of those victories coming in Spokane. . . . Tokarski has six shutouts this season, extending his single-season franchise record. His eight career shutouts are two shy of Jim Watt’s franchise record. . . . Tokarski has blanked the Americans twice this season. . . . Spokane has put up seven shutouts; Tri-City has been blanked three times. . . . Spokane C David Rutherford and Tri-City LW Colton Yellow Horn, who leads the WHL with 46 goals, fought at 4:24 of the first period. . . . The Chiefs got goals from four separate players. . . . Attendance was 9,815. . . . The Americans are bringing out NASCAR-inspired jerseys for Sunday’s warmup prior to a game against the visiting Portland Winter Hawks and will wear those jerseys March 14 against the Kelowna Rockets. The jerseys when will be auctioned off on-line with proceeds to Tri-City’s education fund. . . .
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In Regina, G Linden Rowat stopped 27 shots as the Pats blanked the Edmonton Oil Kings, 3-0. . . . The Pats (41-21-4-2) have won four in a row, all at home. They are 4-0 against Edmonton. . . . Regina remains first in the East Division and, as such, the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They are three points ahead of the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Oil Kings (20-36-4-7) have lost five straight. . . . Rowat, who posted his 30th victory of the season, has three shutouts this season, two against Edmonton, and eight in his career, one shy of Josh Harding’s career franchise record. . . . The Oil Kings and Portland Winter Hawks have been blanked a WHL-worst 11 times. . . .
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In Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice reached the 40-victory mark for the fourth straight season with an 8-2 triumph over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . The Ice (40-20-5-3) has won seven of nine and is 8-0 against Red Deer this season. . . . Kootenay moved into third in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the Lethridge Hurricanes and Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . The Rebels (18-43-4-3) have lost 10 of 12. . . . Kootenay D Eric Frere and F Michael Stickland each had two goals. . . . Stickland also had two assists. . . . The Ice was 0-for-4 on the PP but scored two shorthanded goals, by F Ben Maxwell and F Steve Da Silva. . . . The Rebels were 1-for-9 on the PP. . . . Da Silva added two assists to his goal and now has 86 points, nine off the league lead. . . . Frere and D Brayden McNabb each was plus-5. . . . The Swift Current Broncos, who are three points behind the Ice, are in Cranbrook on Saturday. . . .
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In Lethbridge, F Levi Nelson scored twice to lead the Swift Current Broncos to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . The Broncos (39-22-1-6) have won four of five and are sixth in the Eastern Conference, two points out of fourth. . . . The Hurricanes (41-20-2-3), playing their first game after six days off, have lost three straight. They went into the night in third place in the Eastern Conference and came out of it tied for fourth with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Down 1-0, the Broncos scored four straight goals. . . . Lethbridge closed to 4-3 before Nelson wrapped it up with a PP goal. . . . Swift Current G Travis Yonkman stopped 26 shots. He beat F Zach Boychuk on a third-period penalty shot with the Broncos leading 4-3. . . . Nelson has 24 goals this season. . . . The Hurricanes slapped the local media in the face as they violated the WHL media policy by not making coaches and players available after the game. The Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association will file a complaint with the WHL office and the Hurricanes almost certainly will be fined. . . . Unfortunately, this ongoing lack of respect for the media, which only magnifies the lack of understanding some organizations have about the role of the media, continues to be a problem for the WHL. . . .
———
In Portland, the Everett Silvertips scored the first two goals and hung on for a 2-1 victory over the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . Everett (39-25-0-3) has won 10 of its last 11 and is 9-1 against Portland. The Silvertips are fifth in the Western Conference, four points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . The Winter Hawks (9-55-2-1) have lost 22 in a row. . . . LW Lukas Vartovnik scored on the PP at 3:03 of the first period and LW Clayton Bauer upped the Everett lead to 2-0 late in the second. . . . Portland C Colin Reddin scored his second WHL goal on the PP at 7:13 of the third. . . . Everett G Shayne Barrie stopped 31 shots as Portland held a 32-22 edge in shots. That edge was 24-10 over the last two periods. . . . In this losing streak, the Winter Hawks have been outscored 102-28. . . . The Winter Hawks are certain to set a franchise record for fewest points — they have 21; the record is 36 (1990-91). However, they aren’t anywhere close to the WHL record for fewest points in a season (Victoria Cougars, 12, 1989-90). The Cougars went 5-65-2 that season (ahh, yes, remember when games actually ended in ties and not circuses?). . . .
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In Prince Albert, the Raiders played spoiler with a 5-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Prince Albert (24-39-3-2) is out of the playoff picture and has lost its last two games. . . . The Warriors (35-19-6-7) had won three in a row and were 4-1 against the Raiders. They are tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference with the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Raiders got goals from five players. . . . LW Terrance Delaronde scored twice for Moose Jaw. He has a career-high 17 goals. . . .
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In Vancouver, F Ian McKenzie had two goals and an assist and F Bud Holloway added two goals to lead the Seattle Thunderbirds to a 5-2 victory over the Giants. . . . Seattle (39-21-5-2) is fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Giants (45-15-2-6) had been 3-0 versus Seattle this season. . . . Vancouver is tied for first overall with the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs. . . . The Giants are 24-6-2-1 at home. . . . Holloway has six goals in his last four games. . . . Vancouver got a goal from F Chris Cloud at 19:55 of the second period for a 2-2 tie. . . . Holloway’s second goal, his 38th of the season, at 9:47 of the third period stood up as the winner. . . . Seattle then scored three times in the third. . . . Attendance was 12,751. . . . Vancouver held a 30-25 edge in shots. . . . Seattle G Riku Helenius upped his record to 20-11-5-1, while Vancouver’s Tyson Sexsmith slipped to 40-11-2-6. . . . McKenzie has 17 goals this season. . . . It was Vancouver’s 500th regular-season game. They are 243-191-29-37. . . . “Seattle was just more patient than us,” Giants head coach Don Hay told the Vancouver Sun. “It was a heck of a game. A playoff-type game. Both teams played hard, and physical. Seattle was the better team tonight.” . . . Vancouver captain Spencer Machacek played in his 200th game.
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In Saskatoon, the Blades built up a 3-0 lead, watched it disappear and then came back for a 6-3 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . The Blades (27-34-3-4), who won’t make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, are 10-4-1-1 since Feb. 1. . . . The Wheat Kings (39-24-3-2) have lost three in a row and are tied for seventh with the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the East Division-leading Regina Pats. . . . C Chris Duran had two goals and a helper for Saskatoon as he recorded his 200th career point. . . . Brandon got all its goals from the line of Scott Glennie, Matt Calvert and Brayden Schenn. Glennie had two goals, giving him 21, while Calvert had a goal and two assists, and Schenn had two assists. The line — all three are freshmen — have combined for 181 points, including 73 goals. . . . Brandon is 5-2-1-0 against Saskatoon this season. . . . Calvert tied the game 3-3 with a shorthanded goal, his 24th score this season, at 11:03 of the third period. . . . LW Ondrej Fiala, who had three assists, broke the 3-3 with a PP score at 11:52 then set up an insurance marker by C Chris Langkow at 18:12. . . . Saskatoon freshman F Curtis Hamilton got his 11th goal into an empty net. He now trails his dad, Kelowna Rockets GM Bruce, by 80 goals. . . . Brandon had LW Tyler Dittmer (broken finger) back after a 10-game absence.