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. MEDICINE HAT ICE CHIPS: The KOOTENAY ICE enter tonight’s matchup with an 11-29-7-1 record (6-12-5-0 at home, 5-17-2-1 on the road, 1-7 in overtime, 2-1 in shootouts)...After tonight’s action KOOTENAY will continue a three game home stand with matchups versus SPOKANE January 27 and CALGARY January 28. 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 player...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 68-47-11-2 lifetime record versus MEDICINE HAT (42-19-4-1 at home, 26-28-7-1 on the road, 6-7-6 in overtime)...Tonight marks the fourth of seven meetings this season between the ICE and TIGERS with KOOTENAY holding a 0-3-0-0 record in the season series thus far…Defenseman DALLAS HINES leads the ICE in scoring against MEDICINE HAT this season with three points (0-3-3)…Defenseman CALE 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…Goaltender JAKOB WALTER matched his career high for saves in a game (45) January 21 in 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 KURTIS RUTLEDGE and HINES 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…Forwards DAVIS and COLTON KROEKER both scored their first goals in KOOTENAY uniforms January 13 in BRANDON…DAVIS and KROEKER collected their first points with the ICE (both assists) in their KOOTENAY debuts January 11 at SWIFT CURRENT… KROEKER has 12 points (2-10-12) in 12 career games versus the TIGERS…The ICE are operating at a 30.4 percent efficiency on the power play over the past six games (seven goals on 23 opportunities)…The KOOTENAY ICE collected their 700th victory since moving to CRANBROOK in 1998 January 7 in SPOKANE, and hold an all-time record in the EAST KOOTE- NAY of 702-501-141…Including tonight’s action, the ICE will play ten of their next 13 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…Defenseman CALE FLEURY will be out of the ICE lineup day to day with a lower body injury…Forward VINCE LOSCHIAVO will be out of the KOOTENAY lineup day to day with an upper body injury Defenseman RYAN POULIOT will be out of the ICE lineup day to day with a lower body injury. ONE YEAR AGO: After 48 games of the 2015-16 season the ICE were 8-36-4-0, after 49 games 8-37-4-0 and after 50 games 8-38-4-0. TONIGHT’S OFFICIALS: The Referees for tonight’s game are TYLER ADAIR and JASON CRAMER…The Linesmen are CHRIS MOTTL and MIKE ROBERTS. F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 3 HEAD TO HEAD Team Record 11-97-7-1 Team Record 31-15-1-0 Division Ranking 6th Central Division Ranking 1st Central Conference Ranking 11th Eastern Conference Ranking 3rd Eastern League Ranking 21st League Ranking 5th Past 10 Games 4-6-0-0 Past 10 Games 5-5-0-0 Streak 0-2-0-0 Streak 0-1-0-0 Last Game 2-5 L at Spokane Last Game 2-5 L at Brandon Home Record 6-12-5-0 Home Record 15-7-1-0 Away Record 5-17-2-1 Away Record 16-8-0-0 Goals For 126 Goals For 224 Goals Against 211 Goals Against 168 PP % 29/176 - 16.5 PP % 61/218 - 28.0 PP Home % 14/88 - 15.9 PP Home % 27/105 - 25.7 PP Away % 15/88 - 17.0 PP Away % 34/113 - 30.1 PK % 77.1 PK % 81.1 PK Home % 81.4 PK Home % 81.1 PK Away % 73.5 PK Away % 81.1 Team PIM/GM 12.7/Game Team PIM/GM 12.8/Game Leading After 1st 5-2-0-1 Leading After 1st 16-3-1-0 Leading After 2nd 8-1-2-1 Leading After 2nd 22-1-0-0 Tied After 1st 4-10-3-0 Tied After 1st 12-5-0-0 Tied After 2nd 1-4-5-0 Tied After 2nd 5-0-1-0 Trailing After 1st 2-17-4-0 Trailing After 1st 3-7-0-0 Trailing After 2nd 2-24-0-0 Trailing After 2nd 4-14-0-0 F R E E Z E ∙ 2016-2017 EDITION 4 SCORING Kootenay ICE Regular Season Scoring Medicine Hat Tigers Regular Season Scoring GP G A PTS PIM GP G A PTS PIM 21 Colton Kroeker 47 8 26 34 12 21 Chad Butcher 43 21 49 70 49 4 Cale Fleury 48 8 20 28 45 18 Mason Shaw 46 15 51 66 47 18 Vince Loschiavo 44 15 10 25 12 11 Steven Owre 46 17 41 58 46 17 Austin Wellsby 48 6 11 17 19 19 David Quenneville 38 20 28 48 31 22 Brett Davis 35 10 6 16 4 7 Matt Bradley 46 19 29 48 53 10 Barrett Sheen 43 7 8 15 107 12 John Dahlstrom 43 21 23 44 10 12 Noah Philp 48 6 9 15 8 9 Zach Fischer 41 25 16 41 110 8 Dallas Hines 43 3 12 15 18 4 Clayton Kirichenko 47 5 35 40 23 2 Troy Murray 43 3 10 13 58 16 Max Gerlach 47 25 14 39 24 7 Ryan Pouliot 44 1 11 12 71 27 Mark Rassell 47 20 17 37 16 27 Jake Elmer 24 4 6 10 8 10 James Hamblin 47 11 13 24 22 23 Max Patterson 39 5 3 8 16 15 Ty Schultz 44 3 18 21 15 15 Fedor Rudakov 39 4 3 7 26 14 Ryan Jevne 47 6 12 18 21 25 Tanner Sidaway 42 2 5 7 59 5 Kristians Rubins 33 3 13 16 6 14 Keenan Taphorn 47 3 3 6 6 2 Brad Forrest 47 1 10 11 22 3 Kurtis