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. CALGARY ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE enter tonight’s matchup with a 12-30-7-1 record (7-13-5-0 at home, 5-17-2-1 on the road, 1-7 in overtime, 2-1 in shootouts)...After tonight’s action KOOTENAY will begin a home-and-home series in MEDICINE HAT January 31 before hosting the TIGERS February 1 and MOOSE JAW February 3. 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. ICE NAME CAPTAIN: The KOOTENAY ICE named Defenseman CALE FLEURY as the 21st Captain in franchise history January 17…FLEURY is only the fourth 18 year-old player (STEVE McCARTHY, NIGEL DAWES, SAM REINHART) and sixth blueliner to serve as Captain of the ICE in their 21-year history…Forwards VINCE LOSCHIAVO, AUSTIN WELLSBY and Defensem- an KURTIS RUTLEDGE will serve as Alternates. DID YOU KNOW: KOOTENAY holds a 65-70-14-6 lifetime record versus CALGARY (41-33-5-1 at home, 24-37-9-5 on the road, 5-12-8 in overtime)...Tonight marks the fifth of seven meetings this season between the ICE and HITMEN with KOOTENAY holding a 0-2-1-1 record in the season series thus far…Defenseman CALE FLEURY leads the ICE in scoring against CALGARY this season with two points (1-1-2)…FLEURY will represent KOOTENAY at the SHERWIN-WILLIAMS CHL TOP PROSPECTS GAME January 30 in QUEBEC CITY… FLEURY, who is the 12th ICE player and sixth Defenseman to represent the Club, will be the first KOOTENAY player since SAM REINHART (2014) to appear in the TOP PROSPECTS GAME…FLEURY (74th – NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS) and Forward BRETT DAVIS (142nd – NORTH AMERICAN SKATERS) were both listed on the NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING MID-TERM RANKINGS for the 2017 NHL ENTRY DRAFT January 18… Forward COLTON KROEKER scored his first career game-winning goal January 27 against SPOKANE…KROEKER, who com- piled his first three-point game as a member of the ICE January 27 against the CHIEFS (1-2-3), has ten points (3-7-10) in eight games since being acquired by KOOTENAY January 9… Goaltender JAKOB WALTER matched his career high for saves in a game (45) January 21 against SPOKANE…His previous career best also came against the CHIEFS on January 7… Forward AUSTIN WELLSBY recorded his first career multi-goal game January 20 at TRI-CITY…WELLSBY appeared in his 150th career game January 18 against PRINCE ALBERT… Forward JAKE ELMER registered his first career multi-point game (0-2-2) January 20 against the AMERICANS…Forward PEYTON KREBS scored his first career WHL goal as part of a four-point outing (1-3-4) January 18 versus the RAIDERS…KREBS’ goal was the game-winner…Goaltender PAYTON LEE surpassed 5,000 career saves January 18 against PRINCE ALBERT…LEE appeared in his 200th career regular season game January 14 in BRANDON…Forward MAX PATTERSON recorded his first career multi-goal game January 18 against the RAIDERS…PATTERSON played in his 100th career WHL game January 14 versus the WHEAT KINGS…Defensemen DALLAS HINES and KURTIS RUTLEDGE both played in their 100th career games January 18 versus PRINCE ALBERT…RUTLEDGE recorded his first point as a member of the ICE (assist) January 18 against the RAIDERS… Defenseman TROY MURRAY is six appearances away from 250 career games played…Including tonight’s action, the ICE will play eight of the next 11 games at home. TRANSACTIONS: The ICE returned Forward PEYTON KREBS (January 26, 2001) to the FOOTHILLS BISONS of the ALBERTA MIDGET HOCKEY LEAGUE January 22…KOOTENAY returned Defenseman LOEDEN SCHAUFLER (April 27, 2000) to the NOTRE DAME HOUNDS of the SASKATCHEWAN MIDGET HOCKEY LEAGUE January 22…The ICE acquired Forward BRETT DAVIS (June 1, 1999), Forward COLTON KROEKER (January 21, 1997) and second and fourth round selections in the 2018 WHL BANTAM DRAFT from the LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES in exchange for Forward MATT ALFARO (August 6, 1996), Forward ZAK ZBOROSKY (October 15, 1996) and a sixth round pick in the 2018 WHL BANTAM DRAFT January 9. INJURIES: Forward BARRETT SHEEN will be out of the KOOTENAY lineup four to five weeks with an upper body injury…Defenseman NIKITA RADZIVILYUK will be out of the ICE lineup two weeks with an upper body injury…Defenseman SAM HUSTON will be out of the KOOTENAY lineup one week with an upper body injury. ONE YEAR AGO: After 50 games of the 2015-16 season the ICE were 8-38-4-0, after 51 games 8-39-4-0 and after 52 games 8-40-4-0. TONIGHT’S OFFICIALS: The Referees for tonight’s game are CHRIS CRICH and ADAM GRIFFITHS…The Linesmen are SEAN DONNELLY and ANTHONY GUZZO. F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 3 HEAD TO HEAD Team Record 12-30-7-1 Team Record 17-21-7-2 Division Ranking 6th Central Division Ranking 5th Central Conference Ranking 11th Eastern Conference Ranking 9th Eastern League Ranking 21st League Ranking 18th Past 10 Games 4-6-0-0 Past 10 Games 3-3-4-0 Streak 1-0-0-0 Streak 0-1-3-0 Last Game 3-2 W vs. Spokane Last Game 5-6 OTL vs. Regina Home Record 7-13-5-0 Home Record 10-9-3-1 Away Record 5-17-2-1 Away Record 7-12-4-1 Goals For 130 Goals For 134 Goals Against 221 Goals Against 188 PP % 31/185 - 16.8 PP % 35/198 - 17.7 PP Home % 16/97 - 16.5 PP Home % 19/102 - 18.6 PP Away % 15/88 - 17.0 PP Away % 16/96 - 16.7 PK % 77.7 PK % 76.3 PK Home % 82.4 PK Home % 82.7 PK Away % 73.5 PK Away % 70.6 Team PIM/GM 12.5/Game Team PIM/GM 13.1/Game Leading After 1st 5-2-0-1 Leading After 1st 6-3-2-0 Leading After 2nd 8-1-2-1 Leading After 2nd 9-1-1-1 Tied After 1st 4-11-3-0 Tied After 1st 7-2-2-0 Tied After 2nd 2-4-5-0 Tied After 2nd 5-2-1-1 Trailing After 1st 3-17-4-0 Trailing After 1st 4-16-3-0 Trailing After 2nd 2-25-0-0 Trailing After 2nd 3-18-5-0 F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 4 SCORING Kootenay ICE Regular Season Scoring Calgary Hitmen Regular Season Scoring GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM 21 Colton Kroeker 49 9 27 36 12 21 Matteo Gennaro 44 29 27 56 41 4 Cale Fleury 49 8 22 30 45 11 Beck Malenstyn 45 19 15 34 50 18 Vince Loschiavo 46 16 11 27 16 10 Jakob Stukel 45 15 19 34 28 17 Austin Wellsby 50 6 11 17 19 16 Jake Kryski 46 15 17 32 45 22 Brett Davis 37 11 7 18 8 2 Jake Bean 18 6 17 23 8 10 Barrett Sheen 43 7 8 15 107 19 Andrei Grishakov 45 5 15 20 27 12 Noah Philp 50 6 9 15 8 28 Tyler Mrkonjic 47 4 15 19 2 8 Dallas Hines 45 3 12 15 20 4 Micheal Zipp 46 4 15 19 79 2 Troy Murray 45 3 10 13 60 12 Mark Kastelic 44 8 11 19 42 7 Ryan Pouliot 46 1 11 12 73 24 Luke Coleman 48 9 8 17 29 27 Jake Elmer 26 4 7 11 10 29 Brady Reagan 43 3 10 13 26 23 Max Patterson 41 6 4 10 16 8 Vladislav Yeryomenko 37 4 8 12 22 15 Fedor Rudakov 41 4 3 7 26 26 Andrew Fyten 41 4 5 9 57 25 Tanner Sidaway 44 2 5 7 59 14 Lucas Cullen 28 3 4 7 8 14 Keenan Taphorn 49 3 3 6 6 3 Jakob LaPointe 28 0 5 5 29 3 Kurtis Rutledge 40 2 4 6 21 18 Murphy Stratton 34 1 3 4 9 20 Michael King 44 2 4 6 8 6 Jaydan Gordon 45 0 4 4 12 6 Sam Huston 31 1 4 5 7 9 Matt Dorsey 29 1 2 3 23 9 Reed Morison 43 1 4 5 8 22 Justyn Gurney 15 2 1 3 11 26 Kaeden Taphorn 25