G Patrik Polivka (Victoria, 2012-14) has signed a two-year contract with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season with the Royals, he was 2.56 and .915 in 43 games. . . . Polivka, who turned 20 on March 4, is eligible to return to Victoria for one more season, but would have been a two-spotter -- a 20-year-old and an import. . . .
G Leland Irving (Everett, 2003-08) has signed a one-year contract with Avangard Omsk (Russia, KHL). This season with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland, Liiga), he was 2.14 and .922 in 55 games.
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1. Dan Kinvig of the Abbotsford News reports right here that the CHL had some people conducting a survey in a local shopping centre on Wednesday. However, Jeff Hubert, the WHL’s director of communications, told Kinvig that the purpose of the survey wasn’t to test Abbotsford’s receptiveness to a WHL team. . . . I wonder how many Chilliwack residents happened to be in that particular shopping centre on Wednesday?
2. The news in The MacBeth Report that G Patrik Polivka has signed to play professionally with his hometown team (he’s from Plzen, Czech Republic) puts G Coleman Vollrath, 19, atop the Victoria Royals’ depth chart. . . . Vollrath had a terrific season (20-8-2, 2.39, .928), really stepping up his game when Polivka missed time in early January and again in early February with a concussion. . . . Michael Herringer, an 18-year-old from Comox, B.C., who was a ninth-round draft pick in 2011, likely is in the Royals’ No. 2 slot, at least at this moment.
3. Wondering what’s in store for the Canadian Hockey League in terms of TV exposure through Rogers Communications over the next few years? Chris Zelkovich of the Eh Game over at Yahoo! Sports has some answers right here.
4. The championship game for the 2014 Memorial Cup is eight days away, but I have no idea what time the puck will drop. On what I believe is the tournament’s official website, there is one place where it has game time as noon Eastern. But I received an email today that contained the entire schedule, with starting times for every game but the final, which is listed as “TBD.” . . . So let’s go with TBD until TV decides when the game will begin.
5. When this season began, F Brendan Ranford was struggling to find playing time with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Things have since changed and Ranford, in his first pro season, is tied for the AHL playoff lead in goals. . . . Alyssa Dombrowski has more right here on Ranford, who played the previous five seasons with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Ranford got his seventh goal last night as the visiting Stars beat the defending-champion Grand Rapids Griffins 3-2 to take a 3-2 lead in that series. Game 6 is Sunday in Texas.6. The Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers open the third round of Stanley Cup play today and the puck drops at 10 a.m. Pacific. Thank you, Gary Bettman, and tell me again how TV doesn’t rule your world. . . . Come on! The Canadiens and Rangers in a Stanley Cup game has to be on CBC-TV on Saturday night.
7. The Drummond men now are involved in the ownership of two hockey teams, father Gary with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes and son Jason with the Regina Pats. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has Jason’s story right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have signed G Cody Porter, a North Vancouver native who turns 17 on Sept. 23. . . . Porter played this season with the midget AAA Vancouver-North West Giants (1.75, .942 in five games) and the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors (3.55, .875 in 16 games).
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THE COACHING GAME:
Craig Mohr is the new head coach of the junior B Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Mohr is quite familiar with the KIJHL, having coached the Ghostriders in their first two seasons (2004-06) in the KIJHL and also worked with the Golden and Beaver Valley franchises. He also has worked with the midget AAA Calgary North Stars. This season, he was the assistant GM and assistant coach with the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks. . . . He also played 17 games with the Flin Flon Bombers in what was then the WCHL in 1971-72. . . . Mohr takes over in Fernie from Dale Hladun, who now is head coach of the KIJHL’s 100 Mile House Wranglers.
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The B.C. Major Midget Hockey League has revealed its list of head coaches for 2004-15. If you are interested, that list is right here.
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MEMORIAL CUP
(at London, Ont., all times Eastern)
(all games televised by Sportsnet)
Friday: Val-d’Or 1 vs. London 0 (8,863)
Saturday: Guelph vs. Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Sunday: London vs. Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Monday: Guelph vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Edmonton vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Wednesday: London vs. Guelph, 7 p.m.
Thursday: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7 p.m.
Friday: Semifinal, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 24: No game scheduled.
Sunday, May 25: Final, TBD.
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FRIDAY’S GAME:
The Val-d’Or Foreurs’ two stars came through in a 1-0 tournament-opening victory over the London Knights. . . . G Antoine Bibeau, whose NHL rights belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs, stopped 51 shots and F Anthony Mantha scored his 87th goal this season at 16:20 of the first period. . . . Mantha has 82 goals in 82 games for the Foreurs this season. . . . London G Anthony Stolarz, playing his first game in seven weeks after also serving an OHL suspension, stopped 27 shots. . . . The Knights were playing their first game after a 34-day layoff. They were eliminated by the eventual-champion Guelph Storm in the second round of the playoffs. . . . Bibeau stopped London F Bo Horvat on a third-period penalty shot. . . . In Saturday’s lone game, the WHL-champion Edmonton Oil Kings will meet the OHL-champion Guelph Storm.
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