[{"id":268625,"date":"2026-07-08T14:56:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268625"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:56:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:56:48","slug":"mcsweeneys-whl-community-collective-moose-jaw-warriors-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/mcsweeneys-whl-community-collective-moose-jaw-warriors-3","title":{"rendered":"McSweeney’s WHL Community Collective: Moose Jaw Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moose Jaw, Sask.-\u00a0<\/strong>At the end of the 2024-25 season, the Moose Jaw Warriors left veterans Brady Ness and Ethan Semeniuk with a challenge.<\/p>\n

It had nothing to do with point totals or training.<\/p>\n

Rather, the team wanted the billet brothers to identify a cause that held personal meaning.<\/p>\n

One they could support to make a meaningful difference in the lives of Moose Javians.<\/p>\n

The pair decided to team up with Moose Jaw Diversified Services.<\/p>\n

The local non-profit provides vocational, educational, recreational and social programming for individuals living with disabilities.<\/p>\n

On any given day, as many as 100 people access their services.<\/p>\n

Ness and Semeniuk filled afternoons with everything from rounds of foosball and air hockey to community cleanups and simple chats, becoming a consistent and enthusiastic presence at the centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing. Going there at the start of the year, you go and see how happy they are when we\u2019re there,\u201d Ness, who was named Captain of the Warriors in December of 2025, said. \u201cIt also makes our day as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to [be] a positive influence on their life, and I think we did that\u2026 It\u2019s a learning experience; every time I left, I left happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Near the end of the regular season, the pair organized a full team visit to the centre.<\/p>\n

For many, it was an introduction to some of their biggest fans.<\/p>\n

For veterans, it was a reunion.<\/p>\n

After winning the WHL Championship for the first time in franchise history in 2024, the team had brought the Ed Chynoweth Cup to Moose Jaw Diversified Services for a visit and ball hockey game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re our biggest fans,\u201d Semeniuk added. \u201cTo be able to spend time with them, get to know lots of them, and put a little more joy in their life, it was super fun.<\/p>\n

The biggest impact it had (on me) is just seeing the genuine joy and happiness; it\u2019s really awesome to see and be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the season, the Warriors named Ness and Semeniuk Co-Humanitarians of the Year for their time with Moose Jaw Diversified Services and support of other causes within the community.<\/p>\n

They were also named co-finalists for the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the WHL Humanitarian of the Year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to hear about them going up there and giving their time, volunteering, doing it of their own free will,\u201d \u00a0Head Coach Mark O\u2019Leary said. \u201cIt\u2019s another thing to see it and the impact that it has and the influence that it has. We talk so much about being a good person and the importance of that, and we saw it on full display there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moose Jaw, Sask.-\u00a0At the end of the 2024-25 season, the Moose Jaw Warriors left veterans Brady Ness and Ethan Semeniuk with a challenge. It had nothing to do with point totals or training. Rather, the team wanted the billet brothers to identify a cause that held personal meaning. One they could support to make a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":34,"name":"moose jaw warriors","slug":"moose-jaw-warriors","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":306,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1261,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1807"},{"term_id":868,"name":"WHL Community Collective","slug":"whl-community-collective","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":896,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":74,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2134"}],"class_list":["post-268625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-moose-jaw-warriors","tag-whl-community-collective","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/08145539\/Community-Collective-1920_Moose-Jaw.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268641,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268625\/revisions\/268641"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268632,"date":"2026-07-08T11:01:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268632"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:03:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:03:44","slug":"three-whl-bench-bosses-join-canadas-coaching-staff-for-2026-hlinka-gretzky-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/three-whl-bench-bosses-join-canadas-coaching-staff-for-2026-hlinka-gretzky-cup","title":{"rendered":"Three WHL coaches join Canada’s staff for 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta.-\u00a0<\/strong>Three Western Hockey League coaches will join Canada’s quest for gold at the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup.<\/p>\n

Fresh off leading the Prince Albert Raiders to the WHL Championship Series, 2026 WHL Coach of the Year finalist Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Sask.) will join the bench as an assistant coach, alongside Edmonton Oil Kings assistant coach Kyle Chipchura (Westlock, Alta.) and goaltending coach Jeff Harvey (St. Albert, Alta. \/ Saskatoon Blades).<\/p>\n

The OHL’s Ryan Oulahen (Newmarket, Ont. \/ North Bay Battalion) has been named the Head Coach for Canada, while Brad MacKenzie (Charlottetown, PEI \/ Halifax Mooseheads) will come on as an assistant coach and Matthew Smith (Tatamagouche, N.S. \/ Newfoundland Regiment) has locked in as video coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Ryan, Ryan, Brad and Kyle to the staff for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup,\u201d Hockey Canada Program of Excellence General Manager and former WHL executive Alan Millar said. “Each brings a pedigree of coaching experience, particularly in short-term international competition, which will be a tremendous asset as we prepare for the tournament. We\u2019re excited to continue the process of building a team and working with a group of players who will proudly represent Canada and showcase their talent to hockey fans in Edmonton in August.”<\/p>\n

McDonald, 38, coached his hometown Raiders to a staggering 52-10-5-1 record to clinch the East Division title and first seed in the Eastern Conference, while posting the squad’s first 50-win season since 2018-19.<\/p>\n

He took the reins as interim head coach in March of 2025 after parts of five seasons as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n

McDonald has recently gained coaching experience on the international stage with a pair of gold medals at the U17 World Challenge, having won it all as Head Coach of Canada Red in 2025 and as an assistant coach in 2024.<\/p>\n

Chipchura, who played nine seasons in the NHL, recently capped off his second season as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings.<\/p>\n

Edmonton went 45-18-3-2 in 2025-26, marking the club’s most successful regular season since winning the 2022 WHL Championship.<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old has previously worked with Edmonton as a development coach and was an assistant coach with Canada White at the 2025 U17 World Challenge.<\/p>\n

Harvey has been with the Saskatoon Blades as a goaltending coach since the 2020-21 season, helping to develop netminders like top Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Evan Gardner.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old has won gold with Canada Red at the 2025 U17 Hockey Challenge and silver in 2024.<\/p>\n

In addition to a trio of coaches, Taylor Cochrane (Elk Point, Alta. \/ Kamloops Blazers) will also represent the WHL as Canada’s athletic therapist.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s National Men\u2019s Summer Under-18 Team will hold a training camp from July 27-30 at NAIT Arena in Edmonton, which will feature practices and a tune-up game against Sweden on July 30.<\/p>\n

The camp roster will be announced at a later date, but is expected to feature premier WHL talent and some of the top prospects for the 2027 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Canada’s hunt for its 26th gold medal begins on August 3 when it opens the tournament against Switzerland at 5:00 p.m. MT at Rogers Place, home of the Oil Kings and Edmonton Oilers.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup will conclude with medal games on Saturday, August 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta.-\u00a0Three Western Hockey League coaches will join Canada’s quest for gold at the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Fresh off leading the Prince Albert Raiders to the WHL Championship Series, 2026 WHL Coach of the Year finalist Ryan McDonald (Prince Albert, Sask.) will join the bench as an assistant coach, alongside Edmonton Oil Kings assistant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2424,"name":"2026 Hlinka Gretzky Cup","slug":"2026-hlinka-gretzky-cup","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2424,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}],"class_list":["post-268632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-2026-hlinka-gretzky-cup","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/08101450\/HGC-1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268632"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268638,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268632\/revisions\/268638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268627,"date":"2026-07-07T16:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268627"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:30:24","slug":"golden-knights-prospect-noel-pakarinen-signs-whl-scholarship-and-development-agreement-with-vees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/golden-knights-prospect-noel-pakarinen-signs-whl-scholarship-and-development-agreement-with-vees","title":{"rendered":"Golden Knights prospect Noel Pakarinen signs WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement with Vees"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees announced today the signing of 2008-born Finnish forward Noel Pakarinen to a Western Hockey League Scholarship and Development Agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pakarinen was born in Palo Alto, CA but grew up in Espoo, Finland where he played his youth hockey. Last season, in 31 games with Kiekko-Espoo U20, Pakarien registered 13 goals and 17 assists as a 17-year-old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous to joining the Kiekko-Espoo U20 program Pakarinen notched 25 goals and 33 assists in 41 games played with the U18 program. Internationally Pakarinen has represented Finland at the U16, U17 and U18 level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNoel is a player we felt strongly about because of how much he impacts the game away from the puck,\u201d said Vees director of scouting Adam Sergerie. \u201cHe competes hard for inside ice, finishes his checks, and takes real pride in his defensive detail. What stood out to us is that he doesn\u2019t just kill plays, he can turn those stops into quick transitions and extend possession.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is very skilled with the puck on his stick and inside puck protection. His ability to make plays under pressure is outstanding. We see him as a very important player to build around and Vees fans should be excited to watch him next season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pakariene stands at 6-FOOT-2 and 198 lbs. The Vees selected him in the 2nd Round of the CHL Import Draft, with their 88th overall selection. He was also drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 7th Round back on June 27. <\/span><\/p>\n



[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]The Penticton Vees announced today the signing of 2008-born Finnish forward Noel Pakarinen to a Western Hockey League Scholarship and Development Agreement. Pakarinen was born in Palo Alto, CA but grew up in Espoo, Finland where he played his youth hockey. Last season, in 31 games with Kiekko-Espoo U20, Pakarien registered 13 goals and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2423,"name":"Noel Pakarinen","slug":"noel-pakarinen","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2423,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":1911,"name":"Penticton Vees","slug":"penticton-vees","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1911,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":158,"filter":"raw","term_order":"454"},{"term_id":647,"name":"Vegas Golden Knights","slug":"vegas-golden-knights","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":673,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2102"}],"class_list":["post-268627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-noel-pakarinen","tag-penticton-vees","tag-vegas-golden-knights","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/07\/07163014\/Signed-1920_Pikarinen.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268630,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268627\/revisions\/268630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268617,"date":"2026-07-07T13:53:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268617"},"modified":"2026-07-07T13:53:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:53:59","slug":"mcsweeneys-whl-community-collective-regina-pats-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/mcsweeneys-whl-community-collective-regina-pats-3","title":{"rendered":"McSweeney’s WHL Community Collective: Regina Pats"},"content":{"rendered":"

A small contingent of Regina Pats players prepared for their challenge just like any night.<\/p>\n

The protective gear was on, a game plan visualized, and the competitive juices were flowing.<\/p>\n

But as Ephram McNutt, Reese Hamilton, Ellis Miyette and Keets Fawcett stepped into the Western Pizza kitchen, they found themselves slinging a different kind of sauce.<\/p>\n

The teammates found themselves at odds as they each created a unique ‘Pizza for Purpose’.<\/p>\n

Hamilton’s ‘Reese’s Pieces’ concoction, a pie topped with alfredo sauce, spinach, chicken, bacon, mozzarella and BBQ sauce, was voted the fan favourite and made Western Pizza’s menu for the month of February, with all proceeds supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.<\/p>\n

\n

Part 2 of 4 \ud83c\udf55 <\/p>\n

Pats defenceman Reese Hamilton steps into the kitchen to create \u201cReese\u2019s Pieces Pizza\u201d @wpizz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This five-minute video takes you start to finish as Hamilton creates his custom pizza as part of Pizza for Purpose, a charity pizza-making contest. <\/p>\n

Vote for your\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tM5SmJHJmC<\/a><\/p>\n

— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) January 26, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n