F Zdeněk Okál (Medicine Hat, 2008-10) has signed a one-year extension with Zlín (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, in 47 games, he had 11 goals and nine assists. . . .
F Ondřej Veselý (Portland, Tri-City, 1996-98) has signed a two-year extension with Zlín (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, he had 10 goals and 10 assists in 51 games.
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FRIDAY’S GAMES:
In Brandon, F Peter Quenneville scored at 6:15 of OT to give the Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Regina Pats. . . . Brandon won the series, 4-1, and next goes against the Calgary Hitmen in the Eastern Conference final. . . . Brandon was 3-1-0 against Calgary in the regular season. . . . The series will open with games in Brandon on April 24 and 25, before moving to Calgary for games on April 28 and 29. . . . Quenneville’s fourth playoff goal was set up by his brother, John. . . . Peter also had two assists. . . . Brandon F Nolan Patrick forced OT with his second goal of the game, and fourth of the playoffs, at 13:39 of the third period. . . . Patrick had opened the scoring at 12:52 of the first, while shorthanded. . . . Regina D Jake Leschyshyn tied it with his first goal at 13:41 of the second, and F Taylor Cooper gave the Pats the lead at 18:58, with his fourth goal. . . . Each team was 0-for-5 on the PP. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny stopped 25 shots. Regina G Daniel Wapple put on a clinic, turning aside 48 shots. . . . In the third period, Wapple stopped 19 of 20 shots. . . . F Morgan Klimchuk was back in Brandon’s lineup after a six-game absence. He drew one assist. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk, F Rihards Bukarts and D Colton Waltz sat out for a third straight game. . . . The Pats scratched D Sergey Zborovskiy, D Chase Harrison, D Connor Hobbs, F Rykr Cole and F Sam Steel, meaning they played without three of their top four defencemen. . . . Attendance was 4,333, the smallest crowd of the series.
In Calgary, D Travis Sanheim scored in the second OT period to give the Hitmen a 4-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Calgary won the series, 4-1, and will meet the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Eastern Conference final. . . . Calgary was 1-2-1 against Brandon in the regular season. . . . Sanheim’s fifth goal of these playoffs came at 7:45 of the second OT. . . . The loss means that Wednesday’s game in Medicine Hat, which the Hitmen won 2-1 in OT, was the last game in the Arena. The Tigers will be in the new Regional Event Centre when next season gets here. . . . This was the third game in the series to go to OT; the Hitmen won two of them. In all, Calgary has played in six OT games in these playoffs, winning four of them. . . . F Jake Virtanen scored twice for Calgary, his second goal came with 44.9 seconds left in the third period and forced OT. It came on a PP with G Mack Shields on the bench for the extra attacker. . . . Virtanen has four goals in these playoffs. . . . Tigers F Markus Eisenschmid, who was serving a hooking penalty when Virtanen tied it, had given the Tigers a 3-2 lead at 12:03 of the third. . . . F Cole Sanford gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead at 3:22 of the first, but Virtanen tied it at 15:03. . . . The Tigers took a 2-1 lead 59 seconds into the second on F Dryden Hunt’s fifth goal. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean, playing for the first time since March 27, scored his second goal at 17:31 of the second. . . . Bean hadn’t played since Game 1 of the first round. . . . F Adam Tambellini also returned to the Calgary lineup — he had one assist — but F Chase Lang remained out. . . . Shields stopped 55 shots, four more than Medicine Hat’s Marek Langhamer. . . . Calgary was 1-for-2 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-for-1. . . . Attendance was 7,290. . . . Laurence Heinen wrote
this game story for the Calgary Herald.
In Kelowna, D Josh Morrissey returned to the Rockets lineup with two goals and three assists as they dumped the Victoria Royals, 7-3. . . . The Rockets won the series, 4-1. . . . Morrissey, who sat out the previous two games, scored his first two goals of these playoffs. . . . Kelowna F Leon Draisaitl scored the game’s first goal, his fourth, at 1:24 of the first period. . . . Victoria got the next two goals, from F Jack Walker at 17:54 and F Brandon Fushimi at 18:17. . . . But the Rockets tied it on Morrissey’s first goal at 19:28. . . . The Rockets then pulled away with three second-period goals, from F Rodney Southam, F Tyson Baillie and Morrissey, the latter two scoring on the PP. . . . Baillie’s goal was his seventh; he’s got points in nine straight playoff games. . . . F Rourke Chartier, with his seventh, and F Cole Linaker, with his second, scored for Kelowna in the third, with D Travis Brown getting his second, on a PP, for Victoria. . . . Kelowna D Madison Bowey had three assists, with Draisaitl and F Nick Merkley each getting two. . . . Draisaitl had 11 points in the series, while Morrissey put up eight in two-plus games. . . . Kelowna opened with Jackson Whistle in goal, but head coach Dan Lambert took him out after the first period in an attempt to fire up his team. The game was tied 2-2 with Whistle having allowed two goals on nine shots. . . . Michael Herringer came on in relief and stopped 11 of 12 shots. . . . Victoria starter Justin Paulic gave up five goals on 26 shots, with reliever Coleman Vollrath giving up two on 13. . . . Kelowna was 2-for-4 on the PP; Victoria was 1-for-6. . . . Victoria F Jared Dmytriw took a boarding major and game misconduct for a hit on Kelowna D Cole Martin at 11:54 of the second period. The WHL will review the play and Dmytriw, a 16-year-old from Craven, Sask., could open next season under suspension. He had 13 penalty minutes in 49 regular-season games, and was hit with 15 minutes worth last night. . . . Kelowna had F Justin Kirkland back in the lineup after a nine-week absence. Kirkland, who had 51 points in 50 regular-season games, hadn’t played since Feb. 14. . . . Attendance was 5,226.
In Portland, D Blake Heinrich scored at 5:40 of OT to give the Winterhawks a 2-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. . . . The Winterhawks take a 3-1 lead into Game 5 in Everett on Sunday. . . . Heinrich has three playoff goals. . . . F Chase De Leo got Portland on the board with his third goal at 1:15 of the second period. . . . Everett D Ben Betker tied it with his first goal at 12:54 of the second. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 29 shots, as did G Carter Hart of the Silvertips. . . . Portland was 0-for-3 on the PP; Everett was 0-for-2. . . . Among Everett’s scratchers were D Noah Juulsen, D Tristen Pfeifer and F Dawson Leedahl. Leedahl, who had missed the previous five games, played two periods in Game 3 on Thursday, but didn’t come out of the dressing room for the third. Last night, Everett F Jake Mykitiuk left in the third period. . . . Attendance was 8,590. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has a game story
right here.
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The story broke in the middle of night No. 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A CBS-TV outlet in Los Angeles reported that F Jarret Stoll of the Los Angeles was arrested in Las Vegas on Friday on suspicion of possession of cocaine and Ecstasy. He is reported to have been at the MGM Grand’s Wet Republic pool.
Stoll, a 32-year-old native of Melville, Sask., played four seasons (1998-2002) with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. He has spent the past seven seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, helping them win two Stanley Cup titles. His contract expired with the conclusion of this season and he appears headed for unrestricted free agency.
The Kings released this statement: “We are aware of police reports out of Clark County, Nevada, regarding Jarret Stoll. Our organization is concerned and has begun conducting a thorough internal investigation. While we continue to actively gather facts, we are withholding further comment at this time.”
Bill Daly, the NHL’s deputy commissioner, told the Los Angeles Times: “We are aware of the reports tonight, and we obviously will follow up to understand the nature of the allegations that are being made. "We are not in a position at this time to comment further until we have more information.”
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The NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs are three nights old and we have seen starting goaltenders from Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden. . . . Unfortunately, we won’t see anything like that in the CHL because it has chosen to ban European goaltenders from its three leagues — the OHL, QMJHL and WHL. . . . Marek Langhamer of the Medicine Hat Tigers had his WHL career come to an end last night. From the Czech Republic, he will go down in history as the WHL’s last European goaltender.
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The OHL named its coach of the year on Friday, with the award going to Sheldon Keefe, the head coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. If you are at all familiar with Keefe’s story — to refresh your memory, he was one of David Frost’s boys — you know just what all of this means. For a good read on Keefe, pick up a copy of Bob McKenzie’s book Hockey Confidential. One chapter, a terrific chapter, tells Keefe’s story, warts and all. . . . In the meantime, Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports has a story
right here on Keefe winning the coach-of-the-year award.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed F Josh Paterson, the team’s first selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Paterson, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Edmonton, was the 25th overall pick in that draft. Last season, Paterson led the Alberta bantam AAA league in scoring when he put up 97 points in 33 games for the South Side Athletic Club. This season, he played for the SSAC midget AAA side, picking up 19 points, including nine goals, in 32 games. . . .
The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Brett Clayton, 16, a list player who played this season with the B.C. major midget league’s Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. The 6-foot-3, 197-pounder had 34 points, 16 of them goals, in 40 games with the Thunderbirds. The Winterhawks placed him on their list after they liked what they saw of him in training camp in August. . . .
D Shea Theodore (Seattle Thunderbirds) had a goal and an assist last night, helping the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In eight AHL games this season, Theodore has nine points, four of them goals. . . . Theodore began the season with the Admirals and had three goals and four assists in five games. He joined Norfolk when Seattle’s season ended, and has a goal and three helpers in three games. . . .
F Cole Ully (Kamloops Blazers) made his pro debut last night, earning one assist as the Texas Stars beat the host San Antonio Rampage 3-2 to clinch an AHL playoff spot. Ully, who has signed with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, drew the primary assist on F Brendan Ranford’s 17th goal of the season. Ranford also played in Kamloops. . . .
F Sam Reinhart (Kootenay Ice) drew two assists and was chosen the second star last night as his Rochester Americans dropped a 3-2 AHL decision to the visiting Utica Comets. Reinhart was selected by the parent Buffalo Sabres with the second pick of the NHL’s 2014 draft. Earlier this season, he played nine games with the Sabres; this was his first game with the Americans. . . .
F Liam Stewart (Spokane Chiefs) scored his first pro goal to help the visiting Quad City Mallards to a 3-2 victory over the Rapid City Rush in an ECHL game. It was Stewart’s first pro game. . . .
The Penticton Vees won the BCHL championship last night when F Dakota Conroy (Brandon, Victoria, Prince Albert, 2010-15) scored at 2:06 of OT to give them a 3-2 victory over the host Nanaimo Clippers. . . . The Vees lost the first two games of the series, then won four in a row. . . . In the AJHL, the Brooks Bandits posted a 6-4 victory over the host Spruce Grove Saints. Spruce Grove takes a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 in Brooks on Sunday.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Geoff Goodman is the new general manager and head coach of the junior B Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Goodman spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with the KIJHL’s Osoyoos Coyotes. . . . Goodman replaces Bill Rotheisler, whose contract wasn’t renewed after two seasons there.
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