Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the Dub: Silvertips, Thunderbirds planning to play games in front of empty arenas, Winterhawks next?

Written by Ben Dooley on

Silvertips to play their final regular-season home game in front of an empty arena

Due to an order from Washington State Governor Jay Inslee is banning large gatherings of 250+ people in three counties that cover the City of Everett, the Silvertips are planning to play their final regular-season game in front of an empty arena next Friday vs. Victoria. There isn’t an announcement yet on what the playoffs will look like as of yet, but our friend Josh Horton has some insight into what the Silvertips plan to do here.

Thunderbirds to play two of three remaining regular-season games in front of empty arenas 

To comply with the aforementioned ban from Governor Inslee, the Seattle Thunderbirds will plan to play their regular-season games on March 14th against Vancouver and March 17th against Spokane in front of empty arenas. The team did not announce a plan for their final home game on March 21st against Portland.

Oregon Governor bans large gatherings of 250 people+ for next four weeks

Oregon Governor Kate Brown followed Governor Inslee’s lead on Wednesday night announcing a state-wide ban on large gatherings of more than 250 people for the next four weeks. The ban will impact the final two home games on the Portland Winterhawks regular-season schedule against the Everett Silvertips on March 14th and Seattle Thunderbirds on March 22nd. As of this writing, the Winterhawks had not announced a plan for these games.

Foote returns from New Jersey

Nolan Foote has returned to Kelowna after being in New Jersey for the last little while to be evaluated by the Devils medical staff. Foote was not in the lineup for the Rockets on Wednesday and is still considered to be week-to-week.

Lee, Wightman out for Rockets

Jake Lee and Dylan Wightman were out of the lineup for the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday for undisclosed reasons.

Nijhoff, Mitchell out with illness

Logan Nijhoff and Makai Mitchell were both out of the Pats lineup on Wednesday due to illness.

Silvertips practice update

Hunter Campbell (out since February 8th) and Jalen Price (out since March 6th) were both full participants in Everett’s practice on Wednesday. Wyatte Wylie, who has also been out since March 6th did not practice.

CHL Top 10 Rankings

The Portland Winterhawks are back in fourth place in the weekly rankings from the CHL. Everett has fallen to fifth, Edmonton has fallen to eighth and Spokane has climbed into the 10th spot. The Kamloops Blazers earned honourable mention this week.

Hitmen unveiled WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation Jerseys

The Calgary Hitmen unveiled the jerseys they’ll be wearing on Sunday when the Red Deer Rebels pay them a visit for WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation night.

Wheat Kings present Hugh Cowan with Monty Montgomery award

The Brandon Wheat Kings presented long-time off-ice volunteer Hugh Cowan with the Monty Montgomery award on Wednesday night. Cowan has volunteered with the Wheat Kings in some capacity every year since 1986.

Milestones

  • Kelowna’s Kaedan Korczak played his 200th WHL game on Wednesday.
  • Victoria’s Braiden Smith made his WHL debut.

Hagel makes NHL debut

Brandon Hagel (259 GP, 103 G, 176 A with the Red Deer Rebels from 2015-19) made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Kozun wins USports Player and Goaltender of the Year

Taran Kozun (135 GP, 2.73 GAA, .912 Save Percentage with the Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds from 2011-15) has been named the USports Player and Goaltender of the year. Levi Cable (267 GP, 55 G, 62 A with the Kootenay ICE from 2010-15) was given the USports fair play award.

Henry named USports All-Canadian

Adam Henry (239 GP, 27 G, 88 A with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Seattle Thunderbirds, Saskatoon Blades and Portland Winterhawks from 2010-15) has been a USports All Canadian.

Troubling Moment

Victoria’s Jacob Herauf was given a five minute major and game misconduct for this hit on Kelowna’s Trevor Wong.

Three Stars

First Star: Red Deer’s Jaxsen Wiebe scored two goals

Second Star: Winnipeg’s Michael Teply tallied a goal and two assists.

Third Star: Victoria’s Adam Evanoff made 22 saves on 24 shots.