OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE KOOTENAY ICE Volume 18, Issue 30 #21 Matt Alfaro #22 Zak Zborosky #4 Cale Fleury 365 MESSAGES Greetings from the WHL Last year, during the Western Hockey League’s 50th season, we were privileged to reflect on our rich history and honour the many distinguished builders and alumni who have helped to make the WHL the finest junior hockey league in the world today. As we open the 2016-17 WHL season, the same ideals that fostered the growth our great League still serve as its foundation – a commitment to providing our players with a world class experience from both a hockey and education standpoint. The WHL and our 22 member Clubs take great pride in providing our players with the best possible environment in which to succeed both on and off the ice. On the ice, our high calibre of coaching and arena facilities continue to offer an ideal setting to grow and develop as a player. Off the ice, the WHL Scholarship remains the most comprehensive hockey scholarship in North America with a WHL record of over 350 graduates utilizing their WHL Scholarship at post-secondary institutions across the continent last year alone, representing an investment of over $2 million by WHL Club ownership. The WHL Scholarship is one of many commitments WHL Club ownership makes to ensure the success of our players. The WHL Players First support services program expanded last year with the addition of a League-wide WHL Security Network and Police Impact Program which engages local police officers in a liaison capacity with all of our teams to ensure our players are in a safe and respectful environment at all times. This year, the WHL has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to launch the Talk Today program with all of our WHL member Clubs. Talk Today is a proven and important mental health initiative that will help our players and team staff identify and address mental health issues. The development opportunities the WHL provides on the ice and the assistance offered off the ice to our players through the WHL Scholarship and WHL Players First support services programs would not be possible without the support of our great fans as well as our corporate partners, broadcasters and media. The 2016-17 WHL season promises to be another highly entertaining campaign and we look forward to supporting our players and all of our WHL Clubs as they continue to set the standard for development both on and off the ice. Ron Robison Commissioner Western Hockey League F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 2 ICE NOTES VS. EDMONTON ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE enter tonight’s matchup with a 14-43-9-2 record (8-20-5-1 at home, 6-23-4-1 on the road, 2-9 in overtime, 2-2 in shootouts)...After tonight’s action KOOTENAY will visit LETHBRIDGE March 15 before completing the regular season with a home-and- home series with the HITMEN March 17 in CRANBROOK and March 18 in CALGARY. ROSTER BREAKDOWN: KOOTENAY is currently carrying 23 players (two goaltenders, eight defensemen and 13 forwards)...The ICE roster is made up of one 1996-born player, four 1997-born players, nine 1998-born players, six 1999-born players and three 2000-born players... KOOTENAY has ten first-year players on its roster. DID YOU KNOW: KOOTENAY holds a 30-22-5-2 lifetime record versus EDMONTON (18-8-2-1 at home, 12-14-3-1 on the road, 6-7-0 in over- time)...Tonight’s game marks the sixth and final meeting this season between the ICE and the OIL KINGS with KOOTENAY having posted a 1-2-2-0 record in the season series thus far…Forward VINCE LOSCHIAVO was named the STEEPLES CONSTRUCTION PLAYER OF THE MONTH for FEBRUARY March 10…LOSCHIAVO, who is on a three-game goal-scoring streak (4-1-5), led the ICE in FEBRUARY scoring with 12 points (5-7-12)…Defenseman TROY MURRAY surpassed BRAYDEN McNABB to move into third among franchise leaders in games played by a blueliner March 5 in MOOSE JAW…MURRAY has now appeared in 262 career games with KOOTENAY…The Defenseman with the most career games played in an ICE uniform is JAGGER DIRK (310)…DIRK (ST. FRANCIS XAVIER) captured his second consecutive U SPORTS ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY SPORT championship March 8 versus NEW BRUNSWICK…Defenseman DALLAS HINES scored his first career game-winning goal March 1 in EDMONTON…Forward COLTON KROEKER has recorded points in each of his last three games (1-3-4)…Defenseman RYAN POULIOT appeared in his 100th career game March 10 versus RED DEER…Forward BARRETT SHEEN is two outings away from 100 career games played…Defenseman CALE FLEURY is three games away from 200 career appearances…Former ICE Captain LUKE PHILP (UNI- VERSITY OF ALBERTA) captured the U SPORTS CANADA WEST CHAMPIONSHIP March 5 against KOOTENAY alumni LEVI CABLE, TANNER LISHCHYNSKY and the UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN…Both teams will advance to the 2017 UNIVERSITY CUP…Former ICE Forward ELGIN PEARCE (UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY) was named the CANADA WEST CONFERENCE MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER for the 2016-17 season March 2…PEARCE also claimed the SPORTSMANSHIP AND ABILITY award for the third consecutive season. INJURIES: Forward AUSTIN WELLSBY will be out of the KOOTENAY lineup for the remainder of the season with a lower body injury…Defense- man SAM HUSTON will be out of the ICE lineup for the remainder of the season with an upper body injury. ONE YEAR AGO: After 68 games of the 2015-16 season the ICE were 10-52-6-0, after 69 games 11-52-6-0 and after 70 games 12-52-6-0. TONIGHT’S OFFICIALS: The Referees for tonight’s game are JORDAN LIGHTBOWN and WARD PATEMAN…The Linesmen are DUSTIN MINTY and CHRIS MOTTL. F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 3 HEAD TO HEAD Team Record 14-43-9-2 Team Record 20-43-5-1 Division Ranking 6th Central Division Ranking 5th Central Conference Ranking 12th Eastern Conference Ranking 10th Eastern League Ranking 22nd League Ranking 19th Past 10 Games 1-8-1-0 Past 10 Games 0-9-1-0 Streak 0-5-1-0 Streak 0-10-2-0 Last Game 1-6 L at Red Deer Last Game 2-5 L at Calgary Home Record 8-20-5-1 Home Record 11-22-1-1 Away Record 6-23-4-1 Away Record 9-21-4-0 Goals For 172 Goals For 181 Goals Against 314 Goals Against 285 PP % 46/255 - 18.0 PP % 47/269 - 17.5 PP Home % 23/133 - 17.3 PP Home % 17/122 - 13.9 PP Away % 23/122 - 18.9 PP Away 30/147 - 20.4 PK % 77.5 PK % 75.3 PK Home % 80.8 PK Home % 73.9 PK Away % 74.7 PK Away % 76.7 Team PIM/GM 12.4/Game Team PIM/GM 15.1/Game Leading After 1st 6-4-0-1 Leading After 1st 8-5-1-0 Leading After 2nd 9-1-3-1 Leading After 2nd 9-1-0-0 Tied After 1st 5-13-4-1 Tied After 1st 7-9-2-1 Tied After 2nd 3-5-5-1 Tied After 2nd 6-4-2-1 Trailing After 1st 3-26-5-0 Trailing After 1st 5-29-2-1 Trailing After 2nd 2-37-1-0 Trailing After 2nd 5-38-3-0 F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 4 SCORING Kootenay ICE Regular Season Scoring Edmonton Oil Kings Regular Season Scoring GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM 21 Colton Kroeker 66 17 40 57 14 16 Davis Koch 69 20 45 65 20 18 Vince Loschiavo 64 28 25 53 28 27 Trey Fix-Wolansky 68 23 29 52 67 4 Cale Fleury 66 11 26 37 67 21 Tyler Robertson 63 15 18 33 92 22 Brett Davis 55 17 15 32 16 23 Colton Kehler 64 16 15 31 40 8 Dallas Hines 63 4 19 23 35 34 Graham Millar 45 11 16 27 16 10 Barrett Sheen 51 8 10 18 118 37 Conner McDonald 64 8 18 26 45 12 Noah Philp 61 8 10 18 14 4 Will Warm 64 9 15 24 70 17 Austin Wellsby 60 6 12 18 27 18 Kobe Mohr 68 6 18 24 75 2 Troy Murray 63 4 13 17 89 11 Adam Berg 58 5 13 18 12 7 Ryan Pouliot 62 1 15 16 114 3 Brayden Gorda 53 4 11 15 80 27 Jake Elmer 42 6 9 15 24 13 Nicholas Bowman 58 7 7 14 15 23 Max Patterson 59 7 7 14 21 2 Riley Stadel 43 5 9 14 54 14 Keenan Taphorn 67 3 6 9 8 24 Brett Kemp 36 4 10 14 8 20 Michael King 62 2 7 9 10 28 Anatolii Elizarov 64 6 6 12 61 15 Fedor Rudakov 55 5 3 8 35 39 Ty Gerla 43 5 6 11 60 25 Tanner Sidaway 61 2 6 8 61 14 Davis Murray 52 3 8 11 99 26 Kaeden Taphorn 44 4 3 7 6 8 Ethan Cap 59 0 8 8 20 3 Kurtis Rutledge 56 3 4 7 32 10 Tyson Gruninger 31 1 5 6 16 9 Reed Morison 60 2 5 7 12 6 Wyatt McLeod 41 0 6 6 28 6 Sam Huston 45 1 4 5 18 9 Artyom Baltruk 58 3 2 5 20 5 Nikita Radzivilyuk 23 1 0 1 20 17 Jesse Roach 39 2 2 4 22 7 Jordan Dawson 27 0 2 2 19 29 Brian Harris 2 0 0 0 0 12 Liam Keeler 4 0 0 0 0 GP MIN GA SO Svs AVE PCT 5 Jayden Platz 10 0 0 0 2 30 Payton Lee 50 2733 190 0 1613 4.17 .895 29 Jakob Walter 29 1231 100 0 671 4.87 .870 GP MIN GA SO Svs AVE PCT 35 Liam Hughes 7 423 23 0 197 3.26 .895 1 Patrick Dea 54 3058 197 1 1484 3.87 .883 as of March 14, 2017 31 Josh Dechaine 15 667 55 0 410 4.95 .866 as of March 14, 2017 MARCH 14, 2017 MARCH 15, 2017 Swift Current at Brandon, 6:00 PM Brandon at Moose Jaw, 7:00 PM Edmonton at Kootenay, 7:00 PM Kootenay at Lethbridge, 7:00 PM Red Deer at Medicine Hat, 7:00 PM Calgary at Red Deer, 7:00 PM Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 7:00 PM Swift Current at Regina, 7:00 PM Saskatoon at Regina, 7:00 PM Everett at Kelowna, 8:05 PM Victoria at Vancouver, 8:00 PM Seattle at Spokane, 8:05 PM Portland at Tri-City, 8:05 PM F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 6 The KOOTENAY ICE enter tonight’s action with a 14-43-9-2 record The EDMONTON OIL KINGS enter tonight’s action with a 20-43-5-1 (8-20-5-1 at home, 6-23-4-1 on the road, 2-9 in overtime, 2-2 in record (11-22-1-1 at home, 9-21-4-0 on the road, 9-5 in overtime, shootouts), and in sixth place in the CENTRAL DIVISION.