with Gregg Drinnan

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Tuesday's highlights . . .
The Prince George Cougars have brought in three of its top prospects and all are expected to make their WHL debuts this week. C Brett Connolly, C Nick Buonassisi and D Bruin McDonald are expected to see action Wednesday against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers or in a Friday/Saturday series with the visiting Kamloops Blazers. . . . Connolly was the 10th overall pick in the 2007 draft, while McDonald was the 142nd player selected and Bounassis went 230th overall. . . . Connolly plays for the major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of Prince George, and is likely to play for the WHL Cougars Wednesday and Friday. . . . Buonassisi and McDonald play for the major midget Vancouver-North East Chiefs. . . . The Cougars are without LW Dana Tyrell and D Ty Wishart, who are in Calgary at the national junior team selection camp. . . . The Prince George Citizen reports that D Jesse Dudas, who didn’t play Saturday against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders for disciplinary reasons, will be back in the lineup Wednesday.

There has been a coaching change in the OHL where former NHL G Greg Stefan, 46, has taken over the reins of the Plymouth Whalers. He replaces Mike Vellucci, who remains as governor, president and general manager. Stefan had been on the coaching staff of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, but resigned to take over the Whalers. Both teams are owned by Peter Karmanos. Last season, Vellucci was named the OHL’s coach of the year. . . . The Whalers are 18-8-1-2 and third in the OHL West Division.

TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
In Moose Jaw, the Warriors beat the Kelowna Rockets in a shootout for the second time this season. The Warriors beat the Rockets 4-3 in Kelowna on Oct. 27; this time, the Warriors won 3-2. . . . The shootout went eight rounds, with LW Frazer McLaren winning it for Moose Jaw. . . . The Warriors (17-9-4-2) are 8-0-1-1 in their last 10 games and have won six in a row. . . . The Warriors got a big game from G Todd Mathews, who stopped 26 shots through overtime and seven more in the shootout. Mathews, 17, is from Covina, Calif. He was making his eighth WHL appearance. . . . The Rockets (17-11-2-4) trailed 2-0 in the second period before goals from F Brandon McMillan and Jamie Benn pulled them even. . . . Kelowna is 0-1-0-2 on its Prairie swing. . . . RW Brady Leavold played for Kelowna, after leaving a Monday practice on a backboard following a head-first tumble into the boards. . . . Kelowna F Colin Long had an eight-game point streak snapped. Long is from Santa Ana, Calif., and is friends with Mathews. . . .

In Edmonton, F Craig McCallum scored power-play goals 18 seconds apart in the second period to lead the Oil Kings to a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Oil Kings (12-17-2-3) had lost four in a row. . . . The Hitmen (21-10-1-2) went into the game with one regulation loss in their last 12 games. That other loss also was to Edmonton by a 2-1 count. . . . Calgary got its goal from F Kyle Bortis, who has 11 points, including eight goals, in his last eight games. . . .

In Kamloops, the Medicine Hat Tigers, who had scored four road power-play goals in 14 games, scored twice with the man advantage and beat the Blazers, 3-1. . . . Medicine Hat (18-12-3-1) is on an eight-game road trip with curling’s Continental Cup in its building this week. . . . The Tigers were 2-for-4 on the PP and now are 6-for-70 in 15 road games. . . . The Blazers (15-16-1-1), who got the game’s first goal from former Tigers C Scott Wasden, have lost three in a row. . . . Medicine Hat F Thomas Frazee left in the middle of the second period with an injury to his left leg. He didn’t return.