Riders pay premium for rapid MRIs

By Angela Hall and Rob Vanstone, Leader-Post

October 21, 2010

Squeezing in an injured pro football player for a speedy after-hours MRI in Regina generates extra revenue and helps the health region address its own waiting list, a health authority official says.

Injuries to Saskatchewan Roughriders players Luca Congi and Rob Bagg on the weekend, and the resulting quickly obtained MRIs, has reignited public discussion about patient wait lists and who should be prioritized for the diagnostic tests.

But Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region spokesman Bill Carney said accommodating the players doesn't translate into longer waits for the general public.

Rather, if a Rider gets an MRI during off-hours or due to a last-minute cancellation, it generates revenue for two more public MRIs because of a premium the team must pay, he said.

The agreement with the Roughriders is similar to the one the health region has had for several years with Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board, Carney said.

"That would be the first option for a Rider -- if there's a cancellation that day we can slip them in. Nobody gets bumped, nobody gets inconvenienced. If we can't do it during the day we'll do it after hours," he said.

Carney said the existing agreement with the football organization has been in place since 2007, prior to that year's provincial election.

The MRI cost averages about $1,500, but can vary depending on issues such as the complexity and whether overtime pay is involved, Carney said. "They pay us three times that cost and that means we can then take two people off the wait list from the public list," he said.

Carney said the MRI program manager takes that additional revenue and "rolls it up until he's got enough that he can say, 'OK, I can now open up an extra hour, say, on the weekend and take some people off the list.' "

About six Riders a year get the last-minute MRIs and, just like anyone getting the test, a player requires a physician's referral, Carney said.

The agreement with workers' compensation generates significantly more revenue -- last year, the region fit in 252 worker's compensation clients for a premium on the same off-hours or cancellation basis, he said.

No other organizations or sports teams have similar arrangements in place with the health region, Carney said.

SGI claimants waiting for MRIs go through the health regions' regular queue process, said Paul McIntyre, the Crown insurer's assistant vice-president of injury claims.

However, SGI on rare occasion sends claimants to Calgary or Edmonton for an MRI if there is deemed to be a cost benefit to doing so, he said. Six people were sent out of province for the diagnostic test in 2009, McIntyre said.

Riders head coach Ken Miller said Wednesday that it might actually be less expensive to fly injured Riders to Alberta to get an MRI versus the premium it pays the local health region, but there are still benefits to having the tests done in Regina when necessary.

"If you can get it done here, it just makes sense to drive down the street or drive to the hospital and have it done, as opposed to doing the logistics of flying and those kinds of things," Miller said.

Regina Pats general manager Chad Lang said the hockey team, which doesn't have a special arrangement with the health region like the Riders, sometimes looks out of province to get timely access to MRIs.

"If a player is injured and we're suspecting something significant with, say, his knee, we would probably fly him to Calgary and go through the private clinics there and get an MRI done that way," Lang said, adding he does wish it was easier to access the services.

"I think, at the end of the day, our priority is to look after these guys. We invest a lot in their development. We want to make sure that they develop and that they are healthy athletes. There's no question that if any of our players suffer an injury, we do our best to provide them with proper medical attention so that they can get back to playing and get back healthy. Any way that we can speed up the recovery, there's no question that we want to look at it."

Carney said the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region is "constantly monitoring" its MRI wait lists. Currently, tests are offered to the public from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 6:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. on weekends and holidays. The hours were expanded in September to include statutory holidays and Sundays.

There are four "urgency classifications," with level four considered elective.

The region says "emergency" cases requiring MRIs, such as someone with an acute injury from a vehicle collision, would receive the test right away.

According to a recent statistical snapshot supplied by the region, half of the "level two urgency" cases were done within 26 days and 90 per cent within 50 days.

The region reported about 800 patients waiting as of the end of September.

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

NHL suspends Canucks' Rypien

By Brad Ziemer, Postmedia News

October 21, 2010

The NHL has suspended Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien indefinitely, pending a hearing, as a result of becoming involved in an altercation with a Wild fan in Minnesota on Tuesday.

Following a second-period scuffle near the Wild bench Tuesday night, Rypien went after a fan sitting near the tunnel behind the Vancouver bench. He received a 10-minute misconduct as well as a double-minor for roughing.

The penalty from the National Hockey League's head office figures to be much more harsh.

Rule 23.7 states that "Any player, goalkeeper or non-playing club personnel who physically interferes with the spectators, becomes involved in an altercation with a spectator, or throws any object at a spectator, shall automatically incur a game misconduct penalty and the referee shall report all such infractions to the commissioner who shall have full power to impose such further penalty as he shall deem appropriate."

Canucks general manager Mike Gillis is awaiting the hearing.

"I think we are going to wait and see how the league views it, get their opinion tomorrow and I'm sure there will be a hearing of some sort and go from there," Gillis said after Vancouver's 6-2 loss to the Wild.

"I haven't talked to Rick, I don't know what happened or what was said. Until that happens, I don't feel it is fair to say anything."

The fan in question appeared to only be clapping his hands as Rypien began walking through the tunnel.

He leaned over the rail and grabbed the fan with both hands. The fan was not ejected, but instead simply moved to another area of the rink.

Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault claimed not to see the incident, but actually appeared to pull Rypien away from the fan.

"I didn't see the incident," Vigneault said. "When the linesman brought him over I was talking to the referee and the linesman. I haven't seen a replay of it."

Rypien -- a former Regina Pats captain -- did not play in the third period and left the bench before the game ended. He was not made available for interviews.

The incident started when Rypien and Brad Staubitz became involved near the Wild bench at 13:36 of the second period. Linesman Don Henderson managed to pull Rypien toward the Vancouver bench. At one point, Rypien appeared to push Henderson.

Vancouver centre Manny Malhotra suggested the fan must have done or said something to prompt Rypien's actions.

"The fan got a little bit too involved and there's just no place for that in the game," Malhotra said.

"There are boundaries that should never be crossed. We are in our area of work and we are all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful out there. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player, we have to make sure we take care of ourselves and are protected."

Vancouver Sun

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Murray liked what Pats had to offer

By Greg Harder, The Leader-Post

October 21, 2010

Al Murray believes in golden opportunities.

The Regina native took advantage of one in the summer of 2007 when he became the head scout for Hockey Canada.

Murray's success on the international stage opened the door to another opportunity this summer when he accepted an offer from Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman -- the head honcho of the 2010 Canadian Olympic team -- to become the NHL club's director of amateur scouting.

"If I was going to leave Hockey Canada, which I wasn't looking to do, it was going to have to be for what I thought were special opportunities," offered Murray.

"Two of them came along in the past year, one that I explored with the (Regina) Pats and also the one with Tampa. With the new ownership involved (in Tampa) ... and then with the people that were coming in ... everything I was able to find out about them was that they were nothing but high-end quality people that were all looking to run an organization the right way and not take any shortcuts. On top of that you had some really good players in place, both veteran players and young players that you could try to win some games now and also build for the future.

"It was one of those opportunities that you look back and say, 'Geez, if I pass this one up, am I really going to regret that down the road? Could this have been the opportunity to be part of something real special?' "

Murray expressed similar sentiments about the Pats, who interviewed him early in the summer for their then-vacant GM position.

"We had good discussions," said Murray. "I think the Regina Pats are poised to not just make a dent in the hockey community but the one thing I always liked about (president) Brent (Parker) and his dad (Russ) was how community oriented they were and that's a big part of what makes a team successful and becomes a part of a community is how they give back to the community. Because it was my hometown and because it was the Parkers I thought it was an opportunity for something really special. I still feel that way about the team. In the end it just didn't come together."

Murray looks back fondly on his time with Hockey Canada. It was a mutually beneficial collaboration which saw Canada win two world junior gold medals and three at the under-18 level during his tenure.

"I don't know if it's just me or most people involved in those situations but you tend to remember the failures more than the successes," Murray noted.

"It was obviously a great opportunity because you got to work with the elite players and coaches and trainers. You spend a lot of time dealing with the general managers in the CHL and NHL people so you get to work with all of the elite people in hockey in our country. Because of that you get the opportunity to be successful at every event that you enter into. There's certainly a lot of enjoyment and some satisfaction in the fact we were able to win some championships but you look back on the ones that didn't go successfully and you probably roll those over in your mind more often trying to think about what could have gone right."

Murray's position with the Lightning is a comfortable one since it's the same post he held for 12 years with the Los Angeles Kings.

The job with Hockey Canada had an element of prestige and profile, but those aren't things he covets.

"I'm more of a background kind of guy," he said with a laugh. "In the scouting business it's not to be front and centre. It's to be kind of under the radar helping out and being part of a successful organization. I'm not one of those guys who really looks for opportunities to be in the media. This is fine for me."

(Centre Ice appears Thursdays.)

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Hurricanes come back

By Greg Harder, Leader-Post

October 21, 2010

Regina Pats netminder Damien Ketlo props himself up after Mark Reners of the Lethbridge Hurricanes slid into the net during Wednesday's game.

Photograph by: Don Healy, Leader-Post, Leader-Post

Turnabout was fair play for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Despite a stellar 40-save effort by Regina Pats goaltender Damien Ketlo, Lethbridge persevered with an entertaining 4-3 shootout win on Wednesday night before a paid attendance of 3,102 at the Brandt Centre.

It was the second time in six days that the Pats and Hurricanes went to a shootout, the other being last Friday in Lethbridge when the visitors came back from a one-goal deficit in the third period to post a 3-2 victory.

The Hurricanes stole a page from that book on Wednesday with a comeback win of their own.

"It was almost an identical storyline, just one less goal," lamented Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "We were the team that was the predator and they were the team on their heels. Tonight they found a way."

Andrew Rieder's bad-angle shot opened the scoring for Regina but the Hurricanes -- who didn't record their first shot until the 10-minute mark -- responded with a goal on their first scoring chance of the night. It came with 5:34 left in the opening frame when defenceman Mike Reddington snuck in from the point, took a centering pass and found the top corner on goalie Damien Ketlo.

After being outshot 13-7 in the first period, Lethbridge turned the tables in the second with a 19-8 advantage. However, the Pats had the edge where it mattered, outscoring the opposition 2-1 on goals by Thomas Frazee and Mikael Jung. Landon Oslanski replied for the Hurricanes, who were down 3-2 heading into the final frame -- a deficit that could have been worse if not for two failed breakaway attempts by Frazee in the final five minutes.

The missed opportunities came back to bite Regina when Mitch Maxwell's 2-on-1 goal tied it up 7:56 into the third period.

Both teams had great opportunities to end it, but none better than Jordan Weal, who stole the puck in overtime and drove to the net. He made a great move cutting to the middle but couldn't get a shot away, so he spun back towards the middle (with goalie Brandon Anderson still down and out) and fired a shot that grazed the goaltender's helmet and went out of play.

Weal responded by slamming his stick to the ice in frustration and looked to the sky in disbelief.

"I don't know how he didn't score there," said Hurricanes head coach Rich Preston, who later added: "It was a hell of a game."

Weal could only shake his head.

"I thought I had it," he said. "My hands were going in the air. I put it where I wanted to. He just dove and it hit him right in the side of the head."

Up until that point, the save of the night had been Anderson's desperation stop in the first period, reaching out to take an open net away from Pats captain Garrett Mitchell.

It was that kind of night for the snakebitten Pats.

"There's a good goalie on the other side," noted Weal, whose team was outshot 44-33. "He really kept them in the game. We maybe didn't have as many shots as them but we definitely had a lot more quality scoring chances."

Ex-Pat Graham Hood scored the lone goal of the shootout to ice the victory.

EXTRAS: Ketlo was making his first start after missing four games -- plus two as a backup -- due to a shoulder injury ... The Hurricanes, who came in with the WHL's 22nd-ranked power play, scored with the man advantage for the first time since the opening night of the regular season. They finished 1-for-3. The Pats were 1-for-6 ... Regina (2-7-1-1) is back on home ice Friday against the Swift Current Broncos.

© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post

Blades move up to No. 3

The StarPhoenix

October 21, 2010

A day after a humbling 5-1 defeat in Moose Jaw, the Saskatoon Blades got some good news.

The team moved up one spot to No. 3 in the Canadian Hockey League rankings released Wednesday. Saskatoon (8-2-0-0) is ranked behind the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts (11-0-0-1) and the OHL's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors (7-1-0-0).

Voting was done by a panel of NHL scouts before Tuesday's games were decided.

The Blades return to home ice Friday when the Lethbridge Hurricanes visit. The Medicine Hat Tigers provide the opposition Saturday. Both games are 7:05 p.m. starts at Credit Union Centre.

The remaing Top 10: No. 4. Owen Sound Attack (8-1-0-0, OHL); No. 5. Drummondville Voltigeurs (10-3-1-1, QMJHL); No. 6 Saginaw Spirit (8-2-1-0, OHL); No. 7 Red Deer Rebels (8-3-0-0,WHL); No. 8 Moncton Wildcats (10-3-0-2,QMJHL); No. 9 Tri-City Americans (8-3-1-0,WHL); and No. 10 Saint John Sea Dogs (10-2-0-1,QMJHL).

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix

Up-and-down start for Oil Kings

By CRASH CAMERON, Edmonton Sun

Last Updated: October 21, 2010 5:04pm

The Edmonton Oil Kings started their fourth season by losing their first two, to the resurging Red Deer Rebels — one at home, one in the Deer.

Then the Kings ripped of a modern-franchise five-in-a-row, starting it on the road and continuing it at home. Then they lost 7-1 last Friday to the slow-starting but growing-strong Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tigers did it to them again the next night in their barn. The Swift Current Broncos gained revenge for a loss here the next night before the negative streak went to four Tuesday night, in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice.

“They’re not as good as they were winning five, and not as bad as they were in losing four,” said Corey Graham, in his first year as the play-by-play voice of the Oil Kings on Team 1260.

“They played pretty good (on the trip) despite the results,” Graham said. “If you saw all of the games, without knowing the scores, you would have thought they won two of them.”

But two things were a common thread: “Giving up the first goal,” said Graham, and “they couldn’t score when they needed to.

“Some guys made some mistakes, as you would expect (of a young team). I’m pretty sure they’re frustrated. They controlled a lot of the play in Medicine Hat.”

After the 7-1 thumping at Rexall, the OKs were torched again by Tyler Pitlick, the Minnesota-born Oilers draft pick in his first year in the WHL.

Pitlick had three assists in front of his future employers Friday and then a goal and two assists during the 6-4 loss the Hat on Saturday.

After keeping Oil King-killer Linden Vey at bay here, he returned to form with four assists and a plus-3 in his own barn.

Blanked by the Broncos 4-0 in the tail end of the three-games-in-three-nights, the Kings showed their youth again, not getting the key saves, not getting a key goal to get back in it, and letting it get to them.

“They’re down 1-0, a goal goes off a defenceman, there’s a breakaway against …,” and there you go.

Tuesday in Kootenay, “It’s 1-1 going into the third …” and there you go again.

To top it off, the Kings were beaten by a 14-year-old in the 4-1 loss. It was the younger brother of prized OK rookie Griffin Reinhart, Sam, who did the deed, cashing in on a 3-on-1 1:19 into the final frame.

•••

The old man couldn’t have dreamed it better.

A Stanley Cup finalist with the Calgary Flames, Paul Reinhart — the Kitchener, Ont.-born defenceman — raised three sons on the Left Coast after retiring as a Vancouver Canuck.

Tuesday in Cranbrook, he sat and watched as all three suited up in a Western Hockey League game.

Max, 18, did what he does, a plus-1 despite being pointless. His on-ice smarts is why dad’s Flames drafted him in the third round this summer.

Griffin — six-foot-four at age 16, the monster of the family — scored the Oil Kings’ lone goal, his second as a junior. Though he was minus-3 on the night he remains the kingpin of the King’s future.

Then comes Sam, who bangs home the winner on his first call-up to the Dub as midget-aged player. The kid doesn’t turn 15 until November.

Mom probably couldn’t look.

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