Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Tomá˚ Slovák (Kelowna) signed a one-year contract with Automobilst Ekaterinburg (KHL). He had one goal and seven assists in 34 games with Augsburg (Germany DEL) and one goal and three assists in 16 games with Ko˚ice (Slovakia Extraliga) last season. . . . D Ryan Jorde (Tri-City/Lethbridge/Moose Jaw) signed a one-year contract with the Hull Stingrays (UK elite). He had two goals and 21 assists in 66 games split between Flint (IHL) and Muskegon (IHL) last season. . . . F Johannes Salmonsson (Spokane) signed a one-year contract with Davos (Swiss NL A). He had five goals and four assists in 33 games with Rögle Ängelholm (Sweden Elitserien) last season.
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Former NHL G Ron Tugnutt, 41, has signed on as the goaltending coach with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Tugnutt played for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. . . .
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The New York Islanders have signed LW Jeremy Reich (Seattle, Swift Current, 1995-2000) to a one-year contract. Last season, Reich was captain of the Providence Bruins, the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate. He totaled 34 points, including a career-high 21 goals. . . .
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A shocker in the Central Hockey League on Thursday as the Oklahoma City Blazers informed the league that they won’t play in 2009-10. The New Mexico Scorpions also announced that they won’t play either, but it was the Blazers who really rocked the boat.
The Blazers had operated in Oklahoma City for the last 17 seasons but there won’t be pro hockey there in 2009-10. Rather, the Blazers’ owners are negotiating in hopes of landing an AHL franchise for 2010-11.
It could be that Oklahoma City ends up with an AHL franchise that is owned by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers but is presently inactive.
Doug Sauter, who played and coached in the WHL, is the Blazers’ longtime general manager and head coach.
All New Mexico and Oklahoma City players are free agents, effective immediately.
And the CHL isn’t happy, as you can tell from this press release:
“The request from the Blazers comes as a complete surprise for the league from a franchise that has annually been considered one of the best in all minor professional sports. The team had been approached numerous times about rumors of a switch to the American Hockey League (AHL) but had always denied such claims and had been working on a schedule for the upcoming season with the league.”
CHL commissioner Duane Lewis added: "We feel hurt by this late notice and surprising announcement. Many times as rumors had swirled about another League having interest in the market we asked about their intentions and repeatedly they refuted those claims. Representatives from our office have travelled to meet with team and City officials in Oklahoma City to assist and offer advice towards the Blazers' next lease, which turns out wasn't for a CHL team. This decision did not happen overnight, and to continue to work on the schedule and wait until July to inform us is disappointing. We feel for the Blazers staff and for the team's fans who are some of the best in hockey and who will lose their longtime and close rivals around the CHL.”
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The Chicago Blackhawks have their prospects camp running Monday through July 10 at Johnny’s Ice House in Chicago. WHLers included on the roster are F Kyle Beach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who was their first-round pick in the NHL’s 2008 draft, F Sene Acolatse, who played defence for the Seattle Thunderbirds but is listed as a forward, F Byron Froese of the Everett Silvertips, F Brett Leffler of the Regina Pats and D Teigan Zahn of the Saskatoon Blades. Leffler was a draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2007 who never signed. Chicago drafted Zahn in 2007.
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Big news in Victoria on Thursday, too, as Robin Gomez was found not guilty of assault causing bodily harm. Gomez was charged following an incident while he was playing for the ECHL’s Victoria Salmon Kings. He played last season for the CHL’s Oklahoma City Blazers so now is a free agent. . . . The Victoria Times Colonist’s story on the acquittal is right here.
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The Times Colonist also reports that Len Barrie, one of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s owners, is reconsidering whether to sell his Bear Mountain Resort. That story is right here.

Olynyk, Canada back on track

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Kelly Olynyk and his Team Canada teammates got back on track today at the FIBA U-19 world basketball championship in Auckland, New Zealand.
Still stinging from an 88-77 opening-round loss to Australia, Team Canada took out at least some of its frustrations by hammering on Syria to the tune of 99-53.
Olynyk, a graduate of South Kamloops Secondary, scored 10 points — he was one of five Canadians in double figures — in 21 minutes 32 seconds of playing time. Head coach Greg Francis got all 12 of his players into the game, so no one played more than Tristan Thompson (23:38).
Olynyk also hauled down eight rebounds, as Canada outrebounded the Syrians, 53-27.
Canada, in a pool with Australia, Syria and Spain, next plays Saturday against Spain. That game is to start at 5 p.m., which, due to a 19-hour time difference, is tonight, 10 o’clock, in Kamloops.
As for the game against Australia, which finished late Wednesday night Kamloops time, Olynyk, one of Canada’s co-captains, wrote The Daily News: “It was a tough game and we struggled at the start, going down 15-2.”
“We fought back but could never really get over that hump,” he continued. “They were on fire in the first quarter and for a majority of the game played really well.”
Australia, which led 24-18 after one 10-minute quarter, outscored Canada in the paint, 52-38.
“We didn’t play the way we had hoped and know we can play better,” Olynyk wrote.
Olynyk knows that he, too, can play better. He spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two fouls early and getting hit with a third one just nine seconds after Francis put him back on the floor late in the first half.
“(That) made it hard, because I was on the bench for pretty much the whole first half,” he explained. “I got back into it in the second half and finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds.
“We are going to need a win (over Syria) if we want to stay in contention to get through the preliminaries. I think we will come out really strong today and make up for lost ground.”
Which is exactly what happened.
This is a 16-team tournament, with three teams from each four-team pool advancing to the second round. Chances are that Australia, Canada and Spain will move on from Group C.
Away from the court, Olynyk and fellow co-captain Ty Nurse of Vancouver represented Canada at the pretournament press conference.
“It was for all the teams and media,” noted Olynyk, “and included interviews with various paper and television reporters.”
Olynyk, who has committed to attend Gonzaga U in Spokane in the fall, has had ample media attention over here, so certainly wasn’t out of his element.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Recchi decides to play another season

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Mark Recchi has decided to play at least one more season in the NHL.
Recchi, who is one of the five owners of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, signed a one-year contract worth US$1 million, plus incentive bonuses, with the NHL’s Boston Bruins on Thursday.
A year ago, the Kamloops native signed a one-year free-agent deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning and then, at the trade deadline, he was moved to the Bruins.
Recchi, who turns 42 on Feb. 1, had 16 points, including eight goals, in 18 regular-season games with Boston and added six points in 11 playoff games before the Bruins were ousted in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Recchi, a certain Hall of Famer once he retires, has played 1,490 regular-season games, 14th on the all-time list. Should he play another 60 games in what will be his 21st NHL season, Recchi would move past Phil Housley, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Yzerman, Johnny Bucyk and Alex Delvecchio (1,549) and move into ninth. Of those five, of course, only Shanahan played last season.
Recchi also has 545 career goals, good for 26th on the NHL career list. Ahead of him are Michel Goulet (548), Ron Francis (549), Bucyk (556) and Guy Lafleur (560).
Recchi is 18th in career assists, with 897, four behind Bryan Trottier, and 14th in career points, with 1,442, with Stan Mikita (1,467) next in line.
Recchi also has played on two Stanley Cup-winners — the 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes.
Other players with ties to the Blazers to have signed since Tuesday:
D Scott Niedermayer re-signed with the Anaheim Ducks, getting one year at US $6 million.
(On Thursday, Niedermayer, defenceman Robyn Regehr, centre Shane Doan and right-winger Jarome Iginla, all of them ex-Blazers, were among the 46 players invited to the Canadian Olympic team’s orientation camp in Calgary, Aug. 24-27.)
C Erik Christensen re-signed with Anaheim for US$750,000 over one season.
D Jason Strudwick re-signed (one year, US$700,000) with the Edmonton Oilers.
RW Colton Orr got four years and US$4 million from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had been with the New York Rangers.
D Nolan Baumgartner re-signed with the Vancouver Canucks. He spent the season with the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Shoulder surgery has Christensen feeling positive

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Erik Christensen has a new contract; he just doesn’t know when he’ll be ready for a new season.
Christensen, the last member of the Kamloops Blazers to win a WHL scoring title, signed a one-year deal worth US$750,000 with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, less than a month after undergoing major surgery on his right shoulder.
“I’m going to be questionable for training camp,” Christensen said Thursday from Edmonton, following his first rehab session.
Christensen, who will turn 26 on Dec. 17, said he originally was injured when, while with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was hit by then-Ottawa Senators defenceman Zdeno Chara.
“It happened a couple of weeks before I was traded” to the Atlanta Thrashers, said Christensen, who finished the season after an MRI showed the joint to be only bruised. On Feb. 26, 2008, Christensen, Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a 2008 first-round draft pick were traded to Atlanta for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.
“It felt good,” Christensen said of training camp last fall. “But I hurt it again in camp and was out for a couple of weeks.”
He came back, “played a week or two” and hurt it again in Montreal. Again, an MRI didn’t show any damage.
On March 4, he was traded by Atlanta to the Ducks — for junior-aged centre Eric O’Dell — and, as the season ended, a team doctor decided to go in and take a look. Christensen, who finished the season with 28 points in 64 games, underwent surgery on June 4 in Los Angeles and spent three weeks in a sling.
“It was arthroscopic,” Christensen said, adding that he had three holes — in the front, back and side of the shoulder.
“They basically did four surgeries in one,” he explained. “They found a bunch of things, a bunch of tears . . . it was a mess.
“I was pretty lucky to be playing with the condition my shoulder was in. I’m not a physical guy to begin with but it’s tough to go into a corner not knowing what your shoulder is going to do. I remember reaching for passes and my shoulder would kind of pop out.
“If I got hit a certain way or if I hit someone a certain way and I felt it come out, it would just go dead for like 10 minutes. I’m assuming that something happened when I got hit by Chara, a tear . . . and every time I reinjured it, because it was weak and unstable it would cause another tear or a stretching of the labrum . . . there are a bunch of things that could have happened.”
Now the sling is gone and he is on the long, hard rehab road.
He said his timetable depends entirely on how rehab goes. The physiotherapist with whom he is working “is supposed to be pretty aggressive,” Christensen said, “. . . we’ll see how I feel after the first couple of weeks of rehab.
“I’m hoping a couple of weeks of aggressive rehab will help me come back quicker.”
Christensen, who suffered a slight knee injury late in 2007-08, said this is his first “major injury” and added that he really is looking forward to being healthy, something he really hasn’t been since that hit by Chara.
“Everything was really tightened up and it’s really stiff right now,” said Christensen, who led the WHL in goals (54) and points (108) in 2003-04 while with the Blazers. “I joked with the doctor, ‘Why don’t you do the other one, just for the helluva it, so they both feel equally sound?’
“But once I’m back it’ll feel twice as strong.”
Of course, this means that Christensen, who owned a condo in Aberdeen before selling it last summer, isn’t playing golf these days, so he may not return to Kamloops for the Blazers’ alumni weekend at Sun Peaks, Aug. 7-8. He suggested, however, that he could play should the Blazers move the event to the West Edmonton Mall’s mini-golf course.
“Yeah, I could do that,” he said with a laugh.
With his contract out of the way, Christensen said he is watching closely to see just who else will be back with the Ducks.
“Robbie Niedermayer and Todd Marchant are two guys we’d really like back,” he said. “I keep refreshing my phone to see what’s going on.”
Losing defenceman Chris Pronger, who was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers, is a “big loss,” Christensen said, “but we have a lot of guys who make some pretty good dough so . . . someone had to go who makes that kind of money.”
The Ducks still have Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski on defence, though, and Christensen said he’s watching to see what happens with goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has been rumoured on his way to the Toronto Maple Leafs if they are unable to sign Swedish goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.
“A lot of guys on the team like Brian Burke,” Christensen said, alluding to the former Ducks‚ general manager who now runs the Leafs.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Canadian Tour headed back to Interior and Okanagan?

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Professional golf may be on its way back to the Interior and the Okanagan, and it could happen as soon as the summer of 2010.
Rick Janes, the commissioner and CEO of the Canadian Tour, told The Daily News in a Thursday email that chances appear good that such a tour stop would rotate among a handful of golf courses.
“The Canadian Tour has been investigating the possibility of a stop in the Okanagan beginning in 2010,” Janes wrote. “We have spoken with several golf courses as well as tourism officials and we are now qualifying the availability of local sponsorship dollars.”
Chances are that 2010 stop, should it happen, will occur in the Kelowna area, perhaps at The Bear Course at the Okanagan Golf Club in Kelowna, The Harvest Golf Club in Kelowna, or at Predator Ridge, the site of the 2000 and 2008 Skins Games that is located between Kelowna and Vernon.
“At this juncture most of our effort has been in Kelowna,” Janes said, “but we have definitely not ruled out Kamloops.”
The tour has shown interest in Tobiano, the Kamloops-area track that opened late in the 2007 season and was named the 2008 Canadian course of the year by Golf Digest and Score magazine.
In mid-June, Tobiano played host to some Canadian Tour players as they were en route from two B.C. stops to a pair of Alberta-based tournaments.
This year, the B.C. leg of the Canadian Tour began with the spring qualifying school — at one time, it was held in Kamloops — at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville and followed up with two tournaments.
The Times Colonist Open, with a $200,000 purse, was held at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria, June 1-7, followed by the $150,000 City of Surrey Invitational at Hazelmere Country Club, June 8-14.
The tour then took a week off — which is when some of the pros played Tobiano — before the $150,000 ATB Financial Classic took over the Sirocco Golf Club in Calgary, June 22-28.
This week, the tour is at the Glendale Golf Club in Edmonton for the $150,000 TELUS Edmonton Open.
From Alberta, the tour will head to Saskatoon for the $150,000 Saskatchewan Open presented by Dakota Dunes Casino, and then to Winnipeg for the $200,000 Canadian Tour Players Cup.
Janes said an additional B.C. stop “would be an official 72-hole event on our June schedule with 156 players and part of our regular Golf Channel programming.”
All of the aforementioned tournaments, aside from Q school, will be featured in taped coverage on the Golf Channel. For example, the Times Colonist Open will be shown five times in August and once in November.
“We anticipate the tournament would rotate among several courses within the region,” Janes added. “It would also be sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, attracting players from roughly 15 countries competing for a minimum of $150,000 and world ranking points.”
While a tour stop has to include a minimum $150,000 purse, it is believed that the total sponsorship bill would run close to $350,000.
Dan Halldorson, a former PGA Tour regular who now is the Canadian Tour’s deputy executive director, told the Calgary Sun: “We’re looking at it — it’s still in the works. We had a space for it this year, but it didn’t materialize. And with the way the schedule falls this year, we kind of didn’t want to compete with the U.S. Open.”
The U.S. Open was held June 18-21. Next year, it is scheduled for Pebble Beach, June 17-20.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Olynyk, Canada lose opener

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Kelly Olynyk and Team Canada began their chase for gold Wednesday night at the FIBA U-19 world championship in Auckland, New Zealand.
Unfortunately for followers of the Maple Leaf, it didn't go well.
Canada fell behind early (15-2, 17-4) and never fully recovered as it dropped an 88-77 decision to Australia.
Olynyk, who played last season at South Kamloops, was in foul trouble early — he picked up his third foul with 2:48 left in the second quarter — and played only two minutes 45 seconds in the first half. He finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 22:45.
Mangisto Arop led Canada with 27 points.
Canada and Australia are in Group C, along with Spain and Syria. Earlier in the day, in the group’s first game, Spain beat Syria 79-53.
Canada will play Syria on Friday in Auckland. Game time is 12:30 p.m., which is actually Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.
Before playing Australia, Olynyk was in touch with The Daily News, saying he has seen a lot rain so far.
“The city of Auckland reminds me a lot of Vancouver,” he wrote, adding that “for the first two days we were here it poured rain nonstop. . . . It is their winter which is weird to think because it is about 8-12 degrees out, and not typically what I would consider winter.”
After arriving in Auckland on Sunday, Team Canada practised twice a day and scrimmaged against Greece, the European Zone champions, and the United States.
“We didn't keep a running score but we played our better game against Greece, beating them in two of the three quarters we played,” Olynyk noted.
The Canadians took part in the opening ceremonies — they were pleased to find out that they were “friends” — and now it’s on to the tournament.
“The tournament officially started with an official New Zealand welcoming that included tribal dances and songs that welcome newcomers to the island,” Olynyk observed. “I believe the Haka was performed as well as other ceremonial things that the natives use to determine whether the incomers were friend or foe . . . we were deemed as friends.”
In other opening-round games, the U.S. crushed Iran 106-55, Croatia dropped Kazakhstan 104-74 and Puerto Rico got past Lithuania, 80-73.
After Team Canada left for New Zealand, Canada Basketball announced that it was halting its National Elite Development Academy for budgetary reasons. As a product of that program, Olynyk, who has accepted a scholarship to Gonzaga U in Spokane, admitted sadness.
“This doesn’t affect me too much because I’m off to Gonzaga next (season),” he noted, “but I feel bad for the up-and-coming kids who will no longer have that opportunity. It is really too bad they can't keep it running because I strongly believe it has helped improve basketball in our country.
“The France tournament is proof of that.”
Team Canada, including Olynyk and a handful of other NEDA products, won the prestigious Mondial Juniors de Basket tournament in France last month. Olynyk was named the tournament’s MVP.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

More from Wednesday . . .

I referred to Nathan Green, who was dealt from Brandon to Red Deer on Tuesday, as a defenceman. He is, of course, a 20-year-old forward who had 59 points, including 24 goals, for the Wheat Kings last season. . . . The Rebels now have five 20-year-olds on their roster — Green, D Cullen Morin, F Jordie Deagle, F Cody Esposito and F Cody Gross. . . .
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The NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets have signed D Brett Regner to a three-year contract. Regner, 20, had 67 points in 70 games with the Vancouver Giants last season. Columbus selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 NHL draft. . . .
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The Kelowna Rockets aren’t counting on LW Teemu Pulkkinen, their top pick in the CHL’s import draft on Tuesday, for the 2009-10 season. Pulkkinen, 17, is under contract with Jokerit of Helsinki and it’s expected that he will play there in the country’s top league.
“At 50, I don’t expect to get much,” Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and general manager, told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “I like Finnish players because they always seem to play with a bit of bite to their game, so we picked a skilled guy who is signed. Our goal is to get him for (2010-11). It’d be great to get him over here for training camp, but then . . . if he likes it, he has to get out of that contract. Still, he’ll be a good NHL draft pick (in 2010). Our initial reports are that he could be a fairly early draft pick next year, so rather than pick a guy who we’re going to bring over for a month and a half, then send him home — I can have a North American guy play that position — with European players, you’d like to have them on your first two lines.” . . . Pulkkinen was the 50th selection in the import draft. . . . The Rockets will have RW Stepan Novotny back for a second season. Novotny, who is from Czech Republic, wasn’t selected in the 2009 NHL draft. He will turn 19 on Sept. 24.

Bene excited to be taken by Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
While it wasn’t quite the calibre of an NHL free-agent feeding frenzy, the CHL held its 2009 import draft Tuesday with the 60 teams combining to select 75 players.
The Kamloops Blazers got in on the action by taking Slovakian forward Matej Bene with the 29th overall selection.
“I am very happy that I am (a Blazer),” Bene communicated to The Daily News.
Bene, who turned 17 on April 11, is from Tornal’a, a city of about 8,000 people in the district of Banska Bystrica, which is near the Hungarian border in the south-central part of Slovakia.
The Blazers played last season with two Slovakians on their roster — defenceman Michal Siska and centre Dalibor Bortnak. They released Siska following the season, clearing the way for them to make one selection in the import draft.
“We are friends,” Bene said of his relationship with Bortnak, 18. “He is a good player and a good man.”
Bene has been playing in the HK Nitra organization. He told The Daily News that he played 45 games with the junior team last season, totaling 36 points, including 19 goals. He also has represented his country in various international competitions, including the U-17 World Hockey Challenge that was centred in Port Alberni after Christmas. Bene had eight points in five games there.
Craig Bonner, the Blazers’ general manager, said the scouting report he received on Bene indicates that “he’s a competitive guy . . . a good-skating, skilled player . . . he has good puck skills and the ability to find ice to create good scoring chances. We’re told . . . he’s a skilled forward. He’s a high-end forward as far as Slovakian hockey is concerned.”
Bene is represented by CAA Sports, the Calgary-based firm that is headed up by prominent agent J.P. Barry. Bonner’s contact there is European agent/scout Ales Volek.
“Ales is really high on him,” Bonner said, “and one (NHL) scout we talked to was real high on him. He brings some speed which I like.”
Bonner said Volek told him that Bene was the “second-best Slovak” at a U-17 tournament last season and that he also played in two U-18 tournaments as an underage.
Bene didn’t play in the IIHF’s spring U-18 tournament because of illness but may play for Slovakia in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in August.
“It is not know whether I will play,” Bene explained, adding that he will if he receives an invitation.
Furthermore, Bonner’s scouting reports indicate that Bene is behind only Tomas Jurco among Slovakian forwards born in 1992. Jurco, a late-1992, was taken fourth overall by the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs on Tuesday.
Bene and Jurco played on a line at the U-17 WHC where Slovakia went 1-4. Bene had four points in a 7-4 victory over Finland.
JUST NOTES: The Blazers report that Bene is 6-foot-0 and 180 pounds, although he is shown at 5-foot-9 and 142 pounds on the Slovakian U-17 WHC roster. He likely is somewhere in between. . . . The Blazers dealt their second-round selection, 71st overall, to Vancouver for the Giants‚ second-round pick next year. Vancouver used the pick on Danish C Sebastien Svendsen, who turns 18 on July 31. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes have signed veteran NHL assistant coach Rich Preston as their general manager and head coach. Preston, who turns 57 on Aug. 5, signed a five-year contract.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Wednesday . . .

The Everett Silvertips have revealed that D Shayne Brown, 20, won’t return due to a chronic hip injury. He was acquired last season from the Medicine Hat Tigers but played only 11 games due to injury. . . .
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A couple of trades that were made Tuesday during the import draft: The Kamloops Blazers dealt their second-round pick to the Vancouver Giants for a second-round import selection in 2010. . . . The Tri-City Americans acquired a second-round import pick from the Prince George Cougars for a 2010 13th-round bantam draft pick. . . .
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Ted Nolan is back in the game. Nolan’s three-year contract with the New York Islanders expired Tuesday – they fired him after the 2007-08 season -- and he signed Wednesday with the AHL’s Rochester Americans as their vice-president of hockey operations. Nolan, 51, played for the Americans in 1984-85. . . . Benoit Groulx, a veteran of eight seasons as a QMJHL coach, just completed his first season as the American’s head coach.

Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: D Robby Sandrock (Spokane/Swift Current/Medicine Hat/Kelowna) signed a one-year contract with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, plays in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 11 goals and 28 assists in 46 games with Villach (Austria Erste Bank Liga) last season. . . . F Anders Lövdahl (Calgary/Moose Jaw/Lethbridge) signed a one-year contract with Borlänge (Sweden Division 1). He had no points in 11 games with Mora (Sweden Allsvenskan) and four goals and 20 assists in 26 games split between Borlänge and Tingsryd (Sweden Division 1) last season. . . . D Kenton Smith (Calgary) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy Serie A). He had nine goals and 38 assists in 67 games with Manchester (UK Elite League) last season.
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As expected, the Lethbridge Hurricanes introduced Rich Preston as their GM and head coach at a Tuesday news conference. Preston, who turns 57 on Aug. 5, is a veteran NHL assistant coach, having worked with the Chicago Blackhawks, San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames. He also spent two seasons (1995-97) as head coach of the Regina Pats. . . . Preston replaces Roy Stasiuk, who was fired as GM, and Michael Dyck, whose contract as head coach wasn’t renewed.
It's interesting that Preston got a five-year deal, which seems to have replaced what used to be the standard two or three years with a one-year club option. Kamloops Blazers GM Craig Bonner got a five-year deal last summer and Dean Clark signed a five-year contract as head coach of the Prince George Cougars this offseason. I have a feeling that Marc Habscheid's deal as GM/head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins is for five years (Darryl Porter, the co-owner/governor, has only said it is in excess of three years). . . Interesting!
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When Kelly McCrimmon played for the Brandon Wheat Kings, he was one of the WHL’s top penalty-killing forwards.
But his stickhandling performance during Tuesday’s import draft may have been better than anything he did during his playing days.
McCrimmon went into the draft without a first-round selection, but it wasn’t long before had two of them.
To start, he acquired the Medicine Hat Tigers’ first-round selection (44th overall) in exchange for a 2011 sixth-round bantam draft pick or a flip of 2011 first-round import picks.
McCrimmon then dealt the 44th selection, along with veteran D Nathan Green, 20, to the Red Deer Rebels for the 14th overall pick. McCrimmon used that pick to take RW Toni Rajala, an 18-year-old from Finland.
After that, McCrimmon traded a 2011 third-round bantam draft pick to the Chilliwack Bruins for a 2011 eighth-round bantam draft pick and the 23rd overall pick in the import draft. He used that selection to take D Alexander Urbom, a 19-year-old Swede who was taken by the New Jersey Devils in the third round of the weekend’s NHL draft.
Rajala, 5-foot-10 and 163 pounds, was a fourth-round selection by the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL draft. He played for Finland at the world junior championship in Ottawa and also represented his country at the under-18 championship in Fargo, N.D., in the spring. He set a tournament scoring record – it had been held by Alex Ovechkin – with 19 points in six games and was named the event’s top forward.
Having dealt away Green, Brandon is down to four 20-year-olds, all forwards – Matt Calvert, Del Cowan, Jay Fehr and Aaron Lewadniuk.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors had the second overall selection in the import draft. But that was before Jeff Truitt, their new director of hockey operations, made his first WHL trade.
Truitt dealt the second pick to the Portland Winterhawks for a 2010 fourth-round bantam draft pick, a 2011 sixth-round bantam pick and the fifth overall pick in Tuesday’s import draft.
Portland moved up three spots in order to take Swiss F Nino Niederreiter.
The Warriors, picking fifth, grabbed LW Antonin Honejsek from HC Zlin in the Czech Under-20 Extraliga. According to the Warriors, he had “21 goals and 23 assists in 40 games for HC Zlin. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound left winger also tallied four goals and added two assists in six games at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Fargo, N.D., in the spring.” Honejsek is a late-1991 (Dec. 19) so is eligible for the 2010 NHL draft.
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The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs acquired the first overall pick from the Halifax Mooseheads and used it on Russian F Stanislav Galiev, who played last season for the USHL’s Indiana Ice.
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Veteran coach Dave Allison has signed on as head coach of the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. He replaces former NHLer J.P. Parise, who remains as general manager and director of hockey operations. Allison has been a head coach in the AHL, ECHL, OHL and UHL and also had a stint as head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators in 1995-96.
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Former Vancouver/Regina C Tim Kraus has signed for a second season with the ECHL’s Ontario, Calif., Reign. He led the team with 33 assists as he put up 48 points last season and was named to the National Conference all-star team.
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The Charleston, S.C., Post and Courier is reporting that Jared Bednar is stepping down as head coach of the ECHL-champion South Carolina Stingrays to accept a job with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. Bednar will work as an assistant coach alongside head coach Jim Playfair. Bednar, 37, played three seasons in the WHL (Saskatoon, Spokane, Medicine Hat, Prince Albert, 1990-93). Bednar had been with the Stingrays since 1995, serving as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
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The ECHL’s Los Vegas Wranglers have named Ryan Mougenel as their new GM/head coach. He replaces Glen Gulutzan (Moose Jaw, Brandon, Saskatoon, 1986-92), who signed on as head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars. What makes Mougenel’s signing interesting is that the Wranglers, due to financial reasons, won’t be hiring an assistant coach. Mougenel, 33, was an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder last season after three seasons with the Freson Falcons.

Hurricanes have their man

The Lethbridge Hurricanes will name Rich Preston as their general manager and head coach at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Preston, who has spent the last six seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, is a veteran of the coaching wars. The 57-year-old Preston spent two seasons as head coach of the Regina Pats (1995-97), compiling a 79-60-5 record. . . . The Hurricanes didn’t renew the contract of head coach Michael Dyck after the 2008-09 season and later fired general manager Roy Stasiuk.
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G Kurtis Mucha of the Portland Winter Hawks won’t be attending the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects camp that starts this weekend in the Alberta capital. The Oilers drafted Olivier Roy, an 18-year-old from the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, in the fifth round on Saturday. That combined with a desire to keep down the numbers in camp cost Mucha a spot in the camp. . . . Mucha lives in Sherwood Park, so it’s not like it would have cost them a ton of money to bring him into the camp. . . . Here’s hoping that Mucha lands a tryout with another team. Because after what he’s been through over the last three seasons in Portland, no one deserves it more.
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If you haven’t had your Tuesday chuckle yet, well, hold on because here it comes . . .
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators will play an NHL exhibition game in Regina on Sept. 21. . . . So, you ask, what’s the big deal? . . . Well, according to a press release, “ticket prices are $79.50 to $109.50 plus applicable service charges.” . . . Geez, Mayor Pat Fiacco and the gang must have that Regina economy really booming. After all, we’re talking about an EXHIBITION game. . . . This was quite a press release that was churned out by the folks at Evraz Place which, I think, used to go by the name Regina Exhibition Park. For starters, it referred to Ottawa’s first pick in the 2009 draft as Jared “Cowan” when it is spelled “Cowen.” The kid’s from Allan, Sask., so the least Prairie folks could do is get it right. . . . And then there was this gaffe: “Regina Pats season ticket holders and 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship package holders will have the first opportunity to purchase tickets prior to the Friday, July 3rd general pubic on-sale.” . . . Who knows? Maybe if you are able to prove you’re a member of the general pubic they’ll give you a discount. Maybe get you a ticket for under $50. Plus applicable service charges, of course.
NOTE: I have been informed that the "folks at Evraz Place" didn't have anything to do with the production of this press release, that it was the work of the promoter who is putting on the game.

More from Monday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Martin Bucek (Portland) signed a two-year contract extension with Os´wie˛cim (Poland). He had 34 goals and 27 assists in 34 games for Os´wie˛cim last season. . . . F Josh Olson (Portland) signed a one-year contract with Hannover (Germany 2.Bundesliga). He had 27 goals and 31 assists in 47 games for Bolzano (Italy Serie A) last season. . . . F Steven Crampton (Moose Jaw) signed a one-year contract with Fassa (Italy Serie A). He had 24 goals and 25 assists in 45 games with Esbjerg (Denmark AL-Bank Ligaen) last season.
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D Dylan Olsen, a first-round selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2009 NHL draft, spent last season with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks and now is headed for the U of Minnesota-Duluth. His WHL rights belong to the Medicine Hat Tigers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2006 bantam draft. “I’m still planning to go down to Duluth in August,” Olsen told the Medicine Hat News on Monday. ““I had been talking to them for a couple years and near the end of (last) season I signed my letter of intent. I’ve been set on going their for a while. (When the Tigers) drafted me in the bantam draft, they wanted me to play for them, but growing up I’ve always been set on going to school.”
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In case you missed it, Mr. Anonymous posted this message earlier today: “My wife and I were at a Winterhawks (still getting used to it being one word) game last season, and they had a guy playing organ. My wife — being a fellow musician — went up and talked to him, and he told her they were talking about bringing him in on a more permanent basis this upcoming season. Just thought you'd like to know.” . . . Go for it Winterhawks. Go for it. Your fans will love you for it.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have dropped F Martin Filip, a 20-year-old Slovakian, so will make two selections in Tuesday’s CHL import draft. Filip spent two seasons with the Warriors, totaling 44 points in 118 games. Had he returned, he would have been a two-spotter — a 20-year-old import — and that’s something that Moose Jaw director of hockey operations Jeff Truitt didn’t feel the club could afford. . . . The move leaves the Warriors with three 20-year-olds on their roster — F Jason Bast, F Cody Smuk and D Ryan Stanton.
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Another interesting note was left on the blog — this one by Loft25 — and, in case you missed it, here it is. . . .
“I didn't see anyone determine how many players got drafted after their first year of eligibility (born before the Sept. 15, 1990 cutoff date).
I get:
28 - 1990s
19 - 1989s
1 - 1988
Total 48 players or 23 per cent of the draft. This leaves only 162 spots for first year draftees, which makes it even more impressive to be drafted in your first opportunity.”
By the way . . . that 1988-born player was Finnish G Mikko Koskinen. He was taken by the New York Islanders with the first pick of the second round.
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A news conference in Moline, Ill, on Tuesday will reveal that hockey is staying in the area, despite the departure of the Quad City Flames, the NHL’s Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, to Abbotsford, B.C. A new franchise will be introduced Tuesday and it will play in the IHL.

Bonner prepared for import draft

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Craig Bonner has made his list and checked it twice.
Actually, the Kamloops Blazers’ general manager has checked it three or four times. Maybe more.
It’s all part of his preparations for the CHL’s two-round import draft that began this morning at 6 o’clock with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, having acquired the first pick from the Halifax Mooseheads, making a pick.
The Moose Jaw Warriors will be the first WHL team to make a pick; they’re up at 6:15 a.m.
The Blazers hold the 29th pick and will pick at 11:10 a.m.
Bonner attended the NHL draft in Montreal on the weekend and spent a lot of time talking to agents and hockey people about potential import draft picks.
The Blazers have one import on their roster — centre Dalibor Bortnak, an 18-year-old Slovakian, is preparing for his second season — after releasing Slovakian defenceman Michal Siska, 19.
“I have some names,” Bonner said. “I don’t know . . . it’s getting tougher and tougher.”
More and more WHL team officials are singing the same tune, primarily because this is a draft that is controlled, for the most part, by player agents who in a lot of instances are able to pretty much dictate landing spots for their clients. The result is that the order in which players are selected has more to do with availability than talent.
“We’ll see . . .,” Bonner said.
In the meantime, Bonner said he was pleased to have two players selected in the NHL draft on Saturday.
Right-winger Tyler Shattock was taken by the St. Louis Blues in the fourth round, while forward Jimmy Bubnick went to the Atlanta Thrashers in the sixth round.
“I was really happy for Shattock,” Bonner said. “That was kind of the spot I was hearing but you never know because guys started to fall a little bit.”
Shattock, 19, suffered a leg injury after Christmas 2007 and, perhaps as a result, didn’t get drafted in 2008. He came back and had a 30-goal, 69-point season.
“He had a great start to the (2007-08 season) and then he got hurt,” Jarmo Kekalainen, the Blues’ assistant GM and director of amateur scouting, told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “That was probably the biggest reason he was passed on last year. He had 30 goals this year, he’s 6-foot-3, he can hit . . . he can play physical.”
Bubnick, who went into the draft ranked 55th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, sent somewhat later than that.
“He went a little later than he probably thought,” Bonner said. “I think the consensus before the drat when I was talking to teams is that it was anywhere from the late third to the sixth round. So I don’t think it was that big a surprise from my end.
“I felt pretty confident he was going to get drafted and nowadays, the way the CBA is and everything, it doesn’t really matter what round you get drafted in; the money’s not that big a deal now.”
The key, Bonner said, is that Bubnick has a chance.
“Obviously, somone liked him,” Bonner said. “And to get him in the sixth round could be, at the end of the day, a great pick.”
Bonner is hopeful that the players on his roster who didn’t get drafted will take a close look at what Shattock accomplished.
“For all our guys who didn’t get drafted, or if they don’t get a tryout, they should look right at Tyler Shattock,” Bonner explained. “Here’s a guy who came back and had a good season and he goes in the fourth round. Bortnak and all those guys . . . they have to look at him and say, ‘Hey, it’s not over yet.’”
JUST NOTES: The Lethbridge Hurricanes are expected to name Rich Preston as their general manager and head coach. An announcement could come as early as today. Preston spent two seasons as head coach of the Regina Pats and the last six as an assistant with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. . . . The Vancouver Giants have traded Russian F Mikhail Fisenko, 19, to the Calgary Hitmen for a seventh-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. Fisenko had 28 points, including 12 goals, in 60 games with the Giants last season.
The Red Deer Rebels have confirmed that Finnish D Tommi Kivisto, who was a freshman WHLer last season, won’t be returning. He has signed with Jokerit Helsinki. Kivisto was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the fourth-last pick in the NHL draft on Saturday. . . . There were 23 Swedish players selected in the NHL draft, but don’t expect many, if any, to end up in the WHL. “All of the Swedish kids who were selected early . . . I’ve been told they’ll be staying overseas,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner and president who also is the head coach of the Flames, told the Red Deer Advocate’s Greg Meachem. Presumably that includes D Tim Erixon, the Flames’ first pick on Friday.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Olynyk chasing gold in New Zealand

For the Gonzaga fans in the reading audience . . .

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops is in New Zealand, prepared to write another chapter in his basketball career.
Olynyk, a 6-foot-10 forward who played this season with the South Kamloops Titans, is traveling with Canada’s under-19 basketball team. It will take part in the ninth FIBA U19 world championship that opens Thursday and runs through July 12 in Auckland, New Zealand.
“It’s going pretty good down here,” Olynyk wrote to The Daily News after arriving in Auckland.
Team Canada, coming off a victory in the 23rd annual Mondial Juniors de Basket in Douai, France, held a brief training camp in Hamilton and departed Friday.
“We left for New Zealand on the 26th,” Olynyk wrote, “and arrived here in the morning of the 28th, which was weird because it’s almost like June 27, 2009, never existed in my life.”
There are 16 teams in Auckland, with Canada in a pool with Australia, Syria and Spain. Three teams from each of four pools will move into the second round with the top eight from there advancing to the quarterfinals.
“It all comes down to how you start off and things like that, but we have a chance,” Greg Francis, Canada’s head coach, told Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. “Defensively, I think we have a chance to be as good as the top three or four teams in this tournament.
“Any national team at any level, if our best players are playing well, I think we’ve got a good chance to be in that final eight and have a chance to win a medal.”
Olynyk was named the tournament MVP in France and will be looked to for scoring in New Zealand.
“He can score at will,” centre Mike Allison told Larry Moko of the Hamilton Spectator. “It’s really amazing to watch. He can finish everywhere around the hole and away from it.”
Allison and Olynyk, along with about half the Canadian roster, were teammates at the National Elite Development Academy, which has been based at McMaster U in Hamilton. However, Canada Basketball announced this week that it has had to scrap NEDA because of budgetary reasons.
“The program produced significant results, allowing Canada to develop teams that qualified for this year’s under-19 men’s and women’s world championships,” stated a Canada Basketball press release. “But a change in federal funding criteria meant NEDA would no longer receive the ($500,000) a year promised when the program started.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com

Some Monday stuff . . .

The Vancouver Giants have dealt F Mikhail Fisenko, 19, to the Calgary Hitmen for a seventh-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. Fisenko had 28 points, including 12 goals, in 60 games with the Giants last season. . . .
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More WHLers with potential pro tryouts: LW Tyler Maxwell of the Everett Silvertips, Los Angeles Kings; RW Kellan Tochkin, Everett, Vancouver Canucks; G Travis Yonkman of the Swift Current Broncos, New York Rangers; D Spencer McAvoy of Swift Current, Columbus Blue Jackets. . . .
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Congrats to Barry Webster on being the first inductee into the builders’ wing of the Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame in Moose Jaw. Over the years, no one has breathed Warriors hockey more than Webster. . . . Yes, Barry is the older brother of former NHL head coach Tom Webster. . . . The Warriors will induct Kelly Buchburger and Rob Harvey into the players’ wing when they hold the gala affair at the Heritage Inn on July 10. For tickets, call 306-694-5711. . . .
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D Chad Erb, who completed his WHL eligibility by playing a fourth season with the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2008-09, has decided to head for the U of Manitoba and play for the Bisons. He is a native of Sanford, Man. . . .
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THE COACHING GAME: As expected, Guy Boucher has been named head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. He had been the head coach of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs for three seasons. He also was an assistant coach with Canada’s national junior team at the 2009 world junior championship. . . . Dave Barr is reported to be joining the coaching staff of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild under new head man Todd Richards. Barr spent four seasons with the OHL’s Guelph Storm before leaving to work as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche a year ago. He lost his job there when the Avs cleaned out Tony Granato and his staff. Barr is believed to have talked with the Lethbridge Hurricanes about their GM/head coach position that now seems destined to go to Rich Preston. Look for an announcement, perhaps on Tuesday.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t make a qualifying offer to F Justin Keller, an eighth-round 2004 draft pick off the roster of the Kelowna Rockets. That makes him a free agent.

Sunday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Kiel McLeod (Kelowna) signed a one-year contract with Villach (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 29 goals and 22 assists in 41 games with Cortina (Italy Serie A) last season.
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A source told me early Sunday that Rich Preston is close to signing on as general manager and head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Preston, who coached the Regina Pats for two seasons, had been on the coaching staff of the Calgary Flames for six seasons but lost his job when GM Darryl Sutter cleaned house, dumping head coach Mike Keenan and most of the coaches. . . . “We’ve been talking,” Preston told the Regina Leader-Post’s Rob Vanstone later Sunday, “but there’s nothing concrete yet.”
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An interesting note jumped out at me from a piece by The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek, who wrote: “For all of his skating ability and his knack for making a good first pass, (Jay) Bouwmeester has never played a playoff game, in either the NHL or in junior.” . . . Bouwmeester played three seasons (1999-02) with the Medicine Hat Tigers. In his seven-season pro career, his only playoff experience has been 18 games with the Chicago Wolves in 2004-05, which was the lockout season. . . .
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With the NHL draft over and done with, players are starting to sign free-agent tryout contracts or agreeing to attend prospect camps.
The Minnesota Wild wants to take a look at Kamloops Blazers D Giffen Nyren, 20, while C C.J. Stretch, 20, will get a gander from the San Jose Sharks. . . .
F Cass Mappin, who turns 19 on Dec. 20, was ranked 73rd among draft-eligible North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting but wasn’t drafted. Mappin, 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, will go to rookie camp with the Columbus Blue Jackets. . . .
G Kurtis Mucha, 20, is expected to attend the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects camp that starts next weekend. . . .
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D Kevin Connauton, a third-round pick by the Vancouver Canucks, was a freshman with the Western Michigan Broncos last season. Connauton, a 19-year-old from Edmonton, told Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province that he will talk to the Canucks before deciding where he will play next season. His WHL rights belong to the Vancouver Giants. “I won’t make any decision without talking to (the Canucks),” Connauton said. . . .
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Giants head coach Don Hay told Ewen that he is preparing for next season as though LW Evander Kane won’t be on the roster. Kane, who had 48 goals last season, was taken fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL’s draft. “If he doesn’t come back, we move on as normal,” Hay told Ewen. “If he does, it’s great for us, because he would obviously be a big part of our group. I just think if you keep waiting for him to come back you can lose focus on what you want to accomplish.”
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It looks like C Matt Betker (Portland Winterhawks, 2006-08) will open his 20-year-old season with the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings, They have acquired his BCHL rights in a deal with the Nanaimo Clippers. . . .
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It’s just about time for major junior teams to start scouting in Florida. If you don’t believe that give this story a read.

Keeping Score

Rick Telander, in the Chicago Sun-Times: “I remember sitting right here where I am typing this, in the third row of the open-air Wrigley press box, back on June 3, 2003, the same year that (Sammy) Sosa was failing his drug test, but we didn’t know it. It was the first inning of a night game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Sosa’s corked bat exploded into pieces that I can still see sailing over the emerald grass like kindling. Would Sammy cheat? Let us count the ways.” . . . “According to a report by CNBC,” writes Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post, “former Chicago Cubs steroid-gobbler Sammy Sosa had the sleeves of his jersey altered to make his arms look bigger back when he was playing. There’s no truth to the rumour that he also wore a sombrero to make his ever-expanding head look smaller.” . . . After the New York Islanders made the first selection in the NHL draft on Friday, Hamilton wrote: “the Isles got it right when they took John Tavares. Tough break for the kid, though: He gets to go to his first NHL training camp — and it’s in Saskatoon.”

After the Florida Panthers dealt winger Stefan Meyer to the Phoenix Coyotes for the rights to forward Stephen Reinprecht, Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun noted: “Only in Gary Bettman’s NHL can a team without an owner, Phoenix, make a trade with a team that doesn’t have a general manager, Florida.” . . . One more from Simmons: “I see where Mike Gillis, who often fudged the truth about his professional relationship with disgraced agent David Frost, wants to build the Vancouver Canucks on the values of character and integrity. If that’s the case, maybe he should start by resigning.” . . . Spies report that the Chinese short track speed skating team is returning to Kamloops for a second visit and will hold a training camp, July 18 through Aug. 23, at the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre. . . . On top of that, the Long Blades are to play host to a B.C. provincial camp at Mac Island, Aug. 22-26.

While the junior B Kamloops Storm may not yet have a head coach in place (Greg Hawgood?), the always smiling Tyler Boldt is returning for a second season as the Chase Chiefs’ GM and head coach. . . . It wasn’t one of John Daly’s better driving experiences. He was behind the wheel of his RV and going into the Bankhead Tunnel in Mobile, Ala., when, as he told the Mobile Press-Register, “The sign said ‘No trucks, cargo or hazardous material in the right lane.’ I’m reading the sign and don’t see the (clearance) footage. I’m thinking I’ve got to go to the left lane, and before I know it, the roof is torn out.” . . . One of the pitchers on the U.S. team that will play at the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines World Baseball Challenge in Prince George from July 16-26 will be right-hander Gerrit Cole. He was selected 28th overall by the New York Yankees in the 2008 MLB draft, but chose to attend UCLA instead of signing with the Bronx Bombers. He has a hard slider, a changeup and a 98-mph fastball.

When former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar filed for bankruptcy, among his debts was US$3 million owing to his ex-wife. Which may go down as the last sack of Kosar’s career. . . . Thankfully, talk of the NHL holding two Winter Classics on Jan. 1, one in Boston and the other in Calgary, turned out to be just that. Let’s be honest here — two in one season means these games no longer are Classics. . . . Where is a 50-game suspension not a 50-game suspension? In the world of MLB commish Bud Selig and union boss Donald Fehr. Only in their world could Manny Ramirez be playing in the minor leagues before his 50-game suspension for using performance enhancers was up. . . . Peter King, at si.com: “I don’t know who Jon and Kate are, and I pray to God I never learn.” . . . Ain’t that the truth? . . . With the NHL free-agent signing day arriving Tuesday, you might be wondering about Mark Recchi. He started last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning and finished it with the Boston Bruins. However, he told me Friday that he has yet to decide if he will play another season.

A note from Todd Esselmont, a former Kamloops Blazers forward, following the death of Dale Masson last weekend: “My brother Shea and I played with Mase for a couple of years under Ken Hitchcock. Was shocked to hear the news. We were born and raised in the Loops and used to see him here and there. A truly great guy. . . . He will be truly missed.” . . . Yes, the NHL should take a look at how it is that Brent Sutter bailed out of a valid contract as head coach of the New Jersey Devils and ended up as the head coach of the Calgary Flames, a team whose general manager is his brother, Darryl. . . . You are aware that only three of the seven Sutter brothers — Brian, Gary and Rich — aren’t (yet?) on the Flames’ payroll. But are you aware that the Sutter family doesn’t own the Flames?

Former Blazers coach Ed Dempsey has signed a two-year deal to continue as GM and head coach of the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings. He has been with the Spruce Kings since January 2004. . . . With the news that Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, are expecting, Fark.com came up with his headline: Bündchendeoven. . . . Scott Ostler, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Nick Faldo will be knighted by the Queen of England. Aren’t they handing out a lot of those knighthoods these days? I can understand Paul McCartney, but Nick Faldo? The American equivalent of British knighthood is receiving a nickname from Chris Berman.” . . . After Craig Hartsburg was introduced as the new head coach of the Everett Silvertips on Tuesday, goaltender Thomas Heemskerk told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald: “He seems like a nice guy. As long as everyone works hard it might stay that way.” . . . And we close with a question from the aforementioned Ostler: “We can put a man on the moon, so why can’t the man be Jose Canseco?”

Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Score appears Saturdays.

The draft, one team at a time . . .

Here’s a team-by-team look at the NHL draft, courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
• Anaheim: 1 (15) Peter Holland, C, Guelph (OHL); 1 (26) Kyle Palmieri, RW/C, U.S. U-18; 2 (37) Matt Clark, D, Brampton (OHL); 3 (76) Igor Bobkov, G, Magnitogorsk (Russia, third div.); 4 (106) Sami Vatanen, D, Jyp Jr. (Finnish Jr.); 5 (136) Radoslav Illo, C, Tri-City (USHL); 6 (166) Scott Valentine, D, Oshawa (OHL).
• Atlanta: 1 (4) Evander Kane, C, Vancouver (WHL); 2 (34) Carl Klingberg, F, Frolunda Jr. (Swedish Jr); 2 (45) Jeremy Morin, F, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 4 (117) Edward Pasquale, G, Saginaw (OHL); 4 (120) Ben Chiarot, D, Guelph (OHL); 5 (125) Cody Sol, D, Saginaw (OHL); 6 (155) Jimmy Bubnick, C, Kamloops (WHL); 7 (185) Levko Koper, LW, Spokane (WHL); 7 (203) J. Samuels-Thomas, LW, Waterloo (USHL).
• Boston: 1 (25) Jordan Caron, RW, Rimouski (QMJHL); 3 (86) Ryan Button, D, Prince Albert (WHL); 4 (112) Lane Macdermid, LW, Windsor (OHL); 6 (176) Tyler Randell, RW, Kitchener (OHL); 7 (206) Ben Sexton, C, Nepean (Central Canadian Hockey League).
• Buffalo: 1 (13) Zack Kassian, RW, Peterborough (OHL); 3 (66) Brayden McNabb, D, Kootenay (WHL); 4 (104) Marcus Foligno, LW, Sudbury (OHL); 5 (134) Mark Adams, C, Malden Catholic H.S. (Mass.); 6 (164) Connor Knapp, G, Miami (Ohio) University (CCHA); 7 (194) Maxime Legault, RW, Shawinigan (QMJHL).
• Calgary: 1 (23) Tim Erixon, D, Skelleftea (Sweden); 3 (74) Ryan Howse, F, Chilliwack (WHL); 4 (111) Henrik Bjorklund, RW, Farjestad (Sweden); 5 (141) Spencer Bennett, LW, Surrey (BCHL); 6 (171) Joni Ortio, G, TPS Jr. (Finnish Jr.); 7 (201) Gaelan Patterson, C, Saskatoon (WHL).
• Carolina: 1 (27) Philippe Paradis, C, Shawinigan (QMJHL); 2 (51) Brian Dumoulin, D, Jr. Monarchs (EJHL); 3 (88) Mattias Lindstrom, F, Skelleftea Jr. (Sweden); 5 (131) Matt Kennedy, RW, Guelph (OHL); 6 (178) Rasmus Rissanen, D, Kalpa Jr, (Finnish Jr.); 7 (208) Tommi Kivisto, D, Red Deer (WHL).
• Chicago: 1 (28) Dylan Olsen, D, Camrose (Alta. Jr. A); 2 (59) Brandon Pirri, F, Georgetown (Ontario Prov. Jr. A); 3 (89) Daniel Delisle, C, Totino Grace H.S. (Minn.); 4 (119) Byron Froese, C, Everett (WHL); 5 (149) Marcus Kruger, C, Djurgarden Jr. (Swedish Jr.); 6 (177) David Pacan, C, Cumberland (Central Canadian Junior League); 7 (195) Paul Phillips, D, Cedar Rapids (USHL); 7 (209) David Gilbert, C, Quebec (QMJHL).
• Colorado: 1 (3) Matt Duchene, C, Brampton (OHL); 2 (33) Ryan OReilly, F, Erie (OHL); 2 (49) Stefan Elliott, D, Saskatoon (WHL); 3 (64) Tyson Barrie, D, Kelowna (WHL); 5 (124) Kieran Millan, G, Boston University (Hockey East); 6 (154) Brandon Maxwell, G, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 7 (184) Gus Young, D, Dedham Nobles H.S. (Mass.).
• Columbus: 1 (21) John Moore, D, Chicago (USHL); 2 (56) Kevin Lynch, F, under-18 (USDP); 4 (94) David Savard, D, Moncton (QMJHL); 5 (137) Thomas Larkin, D, Exeter H.S. (N.H.); 6 (167) Anton Blomqvist, D, Malmo Jr. (Swedish Jr.); 7 (197) Kkyle Neuber, RW, Mississauga-St. Michael's (OHL).
• Dallas: 1 (8) Scott Glennie, RW, Brandon (WHL); 2 (38) Alex Chiasson, F, Des Moines (USHL); 3 (69) Reilly Smith, F, St. Michaels (Ont. Prov. Jr. A); 5 (129) Tomas Vincour, C, Edmonton (WHL); 6 (159) Curtis McKenzie, LW, Penticton (BCHL).
• Detroit: 2 (32) Landon Ferraro, F, Red Deer (WHL); 2 (60) Tomas Tatar, F, Zvolen (Slovakia); 3 (75) Andrej Nestrasil, F, Victoriaville (QMJHL); 3 (90) Gleason Fournier, D, Rimouski (QMJHL); 5 (150) Nick Jensen, D, Green Bay (USHL); 6 (180) Mitchell Callahan, RW, Kelowna (WHL); 7 (210) Adam Almqvist, D, HV71 Jr. (Swedish Jr.).
• Edmonton: 1 (10) Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, LW, Timra (Sweden); 2 (40) Anton Lander, C, Timra (Sweden); 3 (71) Troy Hesketh, D, Minnetonka H.S. (Minn.); 3 (82) Cameron Abney, RW, Everett (WHL); 4 (99) Kyle Bigos, D, Vernon (BCHL); 4 (101) Toni Rajala, RW, Ilves Jr. (Finnish Jr.); 5 (133) Olivier Roy, G, Cape Breton (QMJHL).
• Florida: 1 (14) Dmitri Kulikov, D, Drummondville (QMJHL); 2 (44) Drew Shore, F, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 3 (67) Josh Birkholz, F, Fargo (USHL); 4 (107) Garrett Wilson, LW, Owen Sound (OHL); 5 (135) Corban Knight, C, Okotoks (AJHL); 5 (138) Wade Megan, C, South Kent H.S. (Conn.); 6 (165) Scott Timmins, C, Windsor (OHL).
• Los Angeles: 1 (5) Brayden Schenn, C, Brandon (WHL); 2 (35) Kyle Clifford, F, Barrie (OHL); 3 (84) Nicolas Deslauriers, D, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL); 4 (95) J.F. Berube, G, Montreal (QMJHL); 4 (96) Linden Vey, RW, Medicine Hat (WHL); 5 (126) David Kolomatis, D, Owen Sound (OHL); 6 (156) Michael Pelech, C/LW, Mississauga-St. Michael's (OHL); 6 (179) Brandon Kozun, RW, Calgary (WHL); 7 (186) Jordan Nolan, C, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL); 7 (198) Nic Dowd, C, Wenatchee (NAHL).
• Minnesota: 1 (16) Nick Leddy, D, Eden Prairie (USHS); 3 (77) Matthew Hackett, G, Plymouth (OHL); 4 (103) Kristopher Foucault, LW, Calgary (WHL); 4 (116) A. Fallstrom, RW, Shattuck-St. Mary's H.S. (Minn.); 6 (161) Darcy Kuemper, G, Red Deer (WHL); 6 (163) Jere Sallinen, RW/LW, Blues Jr. (Finnish Jr.); 7 (182) Erik Haula, LW, Shattuck-St. Mary's H.S. (Minn.); 7 (193) Anthony Hamburg, C, Dallas Midget Stars (Texas AAA).
• Montreal: 1 (18) Louis Leblanc, C, Omaha (USHL); 3 (65) Joonas Nattinen, F, Blues Jr. (Finland Jr); 3 (79) Mac Bennett, D, Hotchkiss School H.S. (Conn.); 4 (109) Alexander Avtsin, R, Dynamo Moscow (Russia-3); 5 (139) Gabriel Dumont, C, Drummondville (QMJHL); 6 (169) Dustin Walsh, C, Kingston (Ontario Jr. A.); 7 (199) Michael Cichy, C, Indiana (USHL); 7 (211) Petteri Simila, G, Karpat Jr. (Finnish Jr.).
• Nashville: 1 (11) Ryan Ellis, D, Windsor (OHL); 2 (41) Zach Budish, RW, Team South West (MHSEL); 2 (42) Charles-Olivier Roussel, D, Shawinigan (QMJHL); 3 (70) Taylor Beck, F, Guelph (OHL); 3 (72) Michael Latta, F, Guelph (OHL); 4 (98) Craig Smith, C, Waterloo (USHL); 4 (102) Mattias Ekholm, D, Mora Jr. (Swedish Jr.); 4 (110) Nick Oliver, C/LW, Roseau H.S. (Minn.); 5 (132) Gabriel Bourque, LW, Baie-Comeau (QMJHL); 7 (192) Cameron Reid, C, Westside (BCHL).
• New Jersey: 1 (20) Jacob Josefson, C, Djurgarden (Sweden); 2 (54) Eric Gelinas, D, Lewiston (QMJHL); 3 (73) Alexander Urbom, D, Djurgarden (Sweden); 4 (114) Seth Helgeson, D, Sioux City (USHL); 5 (144) Derek Rodwell, LW, Okotoks (AJHL); 6 (174) Ashton Bernard, LW, Shawinigan (QMJHL); 7 (204) Curtis Gedig, D, Cowichan Valley (BCHL).
• N.Y. Islanders: 1 (1) John Tavares, C, London (OHL); 1 (12) Calvin de Haan, D, Oshawa (OHL); 2 (31) Mikko Koskinen, G, Blues (Finland); 3 (62) Anders Nilsson, G, Lulea Jr. (Swedish Jr); 4 (92) Casey Cizikas, C, Mississauga-St. Michael's (OHL); 5 (122) Anton Klementyev, D, Yaroslavl (Russia-3); 6 (152) Anders Lee, C, Edina H.S. (Minn.).
• N.Y. Rangers: 1 (19) Chris Kreider, C, Andover (USHS); 2 (47) Ethan Werek, C, Kingston (OHL); 3 (80) Ryan Bourque, F, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 5 (127) Roman Horak, C, Budejovice Jr. (Czech Rep.); 5 (140) Scott Stajcer, G, Owen Sound (OHL); 6 (170) Daniel Maggio, D, Sudbury (OHL); 7 (200) Mihail Pashnin, D, Mechel (Russia-2).
• Ottawa: 1 (9) Jared Cowan, D, Spokane (WHL); 2 (39) Jakob Silfverberg, F, Brynas Jr. (Swedish Jr); 2 (46) Robin Lehner, G, Frolunda Jr. (Swedish Jr); 4 (100) Chris Wideman, D, Miami (Ohio) University (U.S. College-CCHA); 5 (130) Mike Hoffman, C/LW, Drummondville (QMJHL); 5 (146) Jeff Costello, LW, Cedar Rapids (USHL); 6 (160) Corey Cowick, LW, Ottawa (OHL); 7 (190) Brad Peltz, LW, Avon Old Fames H.S. (Conn.); 7 (191) Michael Sdao, D, Lincoln (USHL).
• Philadelphia: 3 (81) Adam Morrison, G, Saskatoon (WHL); 3 (87) Simon Bertilsson, D, Brynas (Sweden); 5 (142) Nicola Riopel, G, Moncton (QMJHL); 6 (153) Dave Labrecque, C, Shawinigan (QMJHL); 6 (172) Eric Wellwood, LW, Windsor (OHL); 7 (196) Oliver Lauridsen, D, St. Cloud State University (NCAA-WCHA).
• Phoenix: 1 (6) Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, Leksand (Sweden); 2 (36) Chris Brown, F, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 3 (91) Michael Lee, G, Fargo (USHL); 4 (97) Jordan Szwarz, RW, Saginaw (OHL); 4 (105) Justin Weller, D, Red Deer (WHL); 6 (157) Evan Bloodoff, LW, Kelowna (WHL).
• Pittsburgh: 1 (30) Simon Despres, D, Saint John (QMJHL); 2 (61) Philip Samuelsson, D, Chicago (USHL); 3 (63) Ben Hanowski, F, Little Falls HS (Minn.); 4 (121) Nick Petersen, RW, Shawinigan (QMJHL); 5 (123) Alex Velischek, D, Delbarton H.S. (N.J.); 5 (151) Andy Bathgate, C, Belleville (OHL); 6 (181) Viktor Ekbom, D, Oskarshamn (Sweden-2).
• St. Louis: 1 (17) David Rundblad, D, Skelleftea (Sweden); 2 (48) Brett Ponich, D, Portland (WHL); 3 (78) Sergei Andronov, F, Togliatti (Russia); 4 (108) Tyler Shattock, RW, Kamloops (WHL); 6 (168) David Shields, D, Erie (OHL); 7 (202) Maxwell Tardy, C, Duluth East H.S. (Minn.).
• San Jose: 2 (43) William Wrenn, D, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 2 (57) Taylor Doherty, D, Kingston (OHL); 5 (147) Philip Varone, C, London (OHL); 7 (189) Marek Viedensky, C, Prince George (WHL); 7 (207) Dominik Bielke, D, Eisbaren Berlin (Germany).
• Tampa Bay: 1 (2) Victor Hedman,D, Modo (Sweden); 1 (29) Carter Ashton, RW, Lethbridge (WHL); 2 (52) Richard Panik, F, Trinec (Czech Rep.); 4 (93) Alex Hutchings, LW, Barrie (OHL); 5 (148) Michael Zador, G, Oshawa (OHL); 6 (162) Jaroslav Janus, G, Erie (OHL); 7 (183) Kirill Gotovets, D, Shattuck-St. Mary's H.S. (Minn.).
• Toronto: 1 (7) Nazem Kadri, C, London (OHL); 2 (50) Kenny Ryan, F, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 2 (58) Jesse Blacker, D, Windsor (OHL); 3 (68) Jamie Devane, F, Plymouth (OHL); 5 (128) Eric Knodel, D, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (U.S. Major AAA); 6 (158) Jerry D'Amigo, RW, U.S. under-18 (USDP); 7 (188) Barron Smith, D, Peterborough (OHL).
• Vancouver: 1 (22) Jordan Schroeder, C, U. of Minnesota (U.S. College); 2 (53) Anton Rodin, F, Brynas Jr. (Swedish Jr); 3 (83) Kevin Connauton, D, Western Michigan (CCHA); 4 (113) Jeremy Price, D, Nepean (Central Canadian Jr.); 5 (143) Peter Andersson, D, Frolunda Jr. (Swedish Jr.); 6 (173) Joe Cannata, G, Merrimack University (U.S. Hockey East); 7 (187) Steven Anthony, LW, Saint John (QMJHL).
• Washington: 1 (24) Marcus Johansson, C, Farjestad (Sweden); 2 (55) Dmitri Orlov, D, Novokuznetsk (Russia); 3 (85) Cody Eakin, C, Swift Current (WHL); 4 (115) Patrick Wey, D, Waterloo (USHL); 5 (145) Brett Flemming, D, Mississauga-St. Michael's (OHL); 6 (175) Garrett Mitchell, RW, Regina (WHL); 7 (205) Benjamin Casavant, LW, P.E.I. (QMJHL).

Mostly draft stuff . . .

Jim Kelley of Sportsnet takes a look at the move made by Brent Sutter, the owner and president of the Red Deer Rebels, in leaving the New Jersey Devils and ending up as the head coach of the Calgary Flames. It’s an interesting read and it’s right here.
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SOME DRAFT STUFF . . .
The Vancouver Canucks dealt D Shaun Heshka (Everett, 2003-05) to the Phoenix Coyotes for a seventh-round pick that was used on LW Steven Anthony of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads. Heshka played for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. . . . D Jim Vandermeer (Red Deer, 1997-2001) was traded by Calgary to Phoenix for F Brandon Prust, who had played with the Flames in 2006-07 and 2008-09. Vandermeer played under new Flames head coach Brent Sutter with Red Deer but there won’t be a reunion now. . . . The Minnesota Wild picked up C Kyle Brodziak (Moose Jaw, 2000-04) and a sixth-round pick from Minnesota for fourth- and fifth-round picks. Brodziak had 27 points in 79 games with the Oilers last season. . . .
The Pittsburgh Penguins used the 151st selection on F Andy Bathgate of the OHL’s Belleville Bulls. He is the grandson of former NHL great Andy Bathgate, who was an original member of the Penguins in 1967-68. The younger Bathgate had 16 points when a January shoulder injury ended his season. . . . The Toronto Maple Leafs used the 188th selection on D Barron Smith of the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. He is the son of former NHL D Steve Smith. . . .
The Los Angeles Kings took Calgary Hitmen F Brandon Kozun in the sixth round after he put up 108 points last season. "I'm excited, and relieved a little bit," the 5-foot-8, 156-pound Kozun told Scott Fisher of the Calgary Sun. "I was born there and lived there for a while. So it'll be a nice little homecoming for me." He’ll leave Calgary on July 5 for a prospects’ camp in Los Angeles. . . . D Tyson Barrie of the Kelowna Rockets was taken by the Colorado Avalanche with the third pick of the third round. You may have expected him to be picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning, considering that his father, Len, is a co-owner there. That, however, is something Tyson didn’t want. “We have the NHL Network at home, so I was watching the draft and getting a little anxious,” Tyson told Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier. “The second round passed and three picks in, I got selected. I was pretty happy, pretty pumped. But I was texting my dad throughout the whole thing . . . when they were moving up picks and they had a few picks in the second. I was texting him: Don’t do it, don’t do it. Now, I’m happy with how it went.” . . .
C Ryan Bourque was taken by the New York Rangers with the 80th pick. He is the son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and will play for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts next season. . . . The Buffalo Sabres took LW Marcus Foligno with the 104th selection. He is the son of former NHLer Mike Foligno. Marcus plays for the Sudbury Wolves; his father played in Sudbury and also played for the Sabres. . . . Philip Samuelsson, the son of former NHL D Ulf Samuelsson, was taken 61st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ulf won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins. Philip played for the USHL’s Chicago Steel last season, but now is headed for Boston College. . . . The Detroit Red Wings got something of a steal when they nabbed C Landon Ferraro with the second pick of the second round. Ferraro, the son of former WHL sniper Ray Ferraro, scored 37 goals for the Red Deer Rebels, a non-playoff team last season. . . .
C Drew Shore, a 6-foot-3, 190-pounder from Littleton, Colo., was taken 44th overall by the Florida Panthers. He spent last season with the U.S. under-18 team and is expected to attend the U of Denver in the fall. He was a second-round pick by the Chilliwack Bruins in the 2006 bantam draft, while his brother, RW Nick, was taken by the Kelowna Rockets in the seventh round of the 2007 bantam draft. . . .
The final tally will show there were 211 players selected when, actually, the number is 210. Here’s what happened. . . . The New York Rangers were granted a compensatory selection (47th overall) due to the death of 2007 first-round selection Alexei Cherepanov. He had been the 17th pick in that year’s draft. The Rangers used their compensatory pick on C Ethan Werek of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. . . . That extra pick should have brought the overall total to 211 selections. But the 188th selection (the 27th pick in the fourth round) was forfeited by the Toronto Maple Leafs as punishment for their having paid D Jonas Frogren a $755,000 signing bonus, which was in violation of the CBA. (The Leafs also were fined $500,000). . . . So in the end you add the Rangers’ extra pick, subtract the Maple Leafs’ forfeited pick and you come up with 210 selections.
Larry Wigge at nhl.com reports: “Eleven countries combined to have a total of 210 players taken. Of those, 102 were from Canada, 55 from the U.S., 24 from Sweden, 10 from Finland, seven from Russia, five from Slovakia, three from the Czech Republic, and one each from Belarus, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom.”

The NHL draft, WHL style . . .

The WHL had 31 players selected in the NHL’s 2009 draft, led by the Red Deer Rebels, who had four players selected. . . . The rest: Kelowna, Saskatoon, each 3; Brandon, Calgary, Kamloops, Everett, Spokane, each 2; Chilliwack, Edmonton, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Portland, Prince Albert, Prince George, Regina, Swift Current, Vancouver, each 1.
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Here is where the drafted players came from:
OHL: 44
WHL: 31
QMJHL, Sweden: 23 each
U.S. high schools: 19
USHL: 16
U.S. National Team Development Program: 10
Finland: 9
U.S. colleges: 7
Russia: 6
BCHL: 5
AJHL, CJHL, OJHL: 3 each
Czech Republic, U.S. midget AAA: 2 each
EJHL, Germany, NAHL, Slovakia: 1 each
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A look at WHL players selected:
FIRST ROUND (5)
4. Atlanta, C Evander Kane, Vancouver
5. Los Angeles, C Brayden Schenn, Brandon
8. Dallas, RW Scott Glennie, Brandon
9. Ottawa, D Jared Cowen, Ottawa
29. Tampa Bay, RW Carter Ashton, Lethbridge
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SECOND ROUND (3)
32. Detroit, C Landon Ferraro, Red Deer
48. St. Louis, D Brett Ponich, Portland
49. Colorado, D Stefan Elliott, Saskatoon
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THIRD ROUND (7)
64. Colorado, D Tyson Barrie, Kelowna
66. Buffalo, D Brayden McNabb, Kootenay
74. Calgary, LW Ryan Howse, Chilliwack
81. Philadelphia, G Adam Morrison, Saskatoon
82. Edmonton, RW Cameron Abney, Everett
85. Washington, C Cody Eakin, Swift Current
86. Boston, D Ryan Button, Prince Albert
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FOURTH ROUND (5)
96. Los Angeles, RW Linden Vey, Medicine Hat
103. Minnesota, LW Kris, Foucault, Calgary
105. Phoenix, D Justin Weller, Red Deer
108. St. Louis, RW Tyler Shattock, Kamloops
119. Chicago, C Byron Froese, Everett
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FIFTH ROUND (1)
129. C Tomas Vincour, Edmonton
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SIXTH ROUND (6)
155. Atlanta, C Jimmy Bubnick, Kamloops
157. Phoenix, LW Evan Bloodoff, Kelowna
161. Minnesota, G Darcy Kuemper, Red Deer
175. Washington, RW Garrett Mitchell, Regina
179. Los Angeles, RW Brandon Kozun, Calgary
180. Detroit, RW Mitchell Callahan, Kelowna.
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SEVENTH ROUND (4)
185. Atlanta, LW Levko Koper, Spokane
189. San Jose, C Marek Viedensky, Prince George
201. Calgary, C Gaelan Patterson, Saskatoon
208. Carolina, D Tommi Kivisto, Red Deer

Friday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Steve Regier (Medicine Hat) signed a one-year contract with Salzburg (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had three goals and one assist in eight games with St. Louis (NHL) and 22 goals and 28 assists in 73 games with Peoria (AHL) last season.
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An NHL draft note from Garth MacBeth, who pens the MacBeth report for our enjoyment: One note with regards to Edmonton's pick, Magnus Pääjärvi-Svensson. His father, Gunnar Svensson, was my coach in 1979-80 when I played for Örnsköldsviks SK and his older brother is Björn Svensson, who played for Saskatoon and Moose Jaw. Gunnar is now a player agent.
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Forget the NHL draft. The biggest news on Friday came from the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads. They announced that “Gordon Fader, organist from the days of the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, Nova Scotia Oilers and Halifax Citadels, will be making a return to the Metro Centre for eight games this season.” . . . Yes, it’s true. A hockey team actually is bringing back an organist, albeit not for every game. But how great is that? Nothing worse than the canned music that gets played during virtually every stoppage; nothing better than real, live organ music. Now that’ll get the fans pumped. . . . Here’s hoping a whole bunch of teams are paying attention to this one.
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A note from a regular visitor to these parts pretty much summed up the first round of the NHL draft on Friday:
“Gawd! Snooze city! Can I ask the NHL or TSN or Versus to give me back those four hours of life that were just sucked away from me?”
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Shouldn’t some of those talking heads be liable for fraud after all the pre-draft hype that they foisted on a gullible public?
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By the way, if you’re into the NHL’s annual July 1 free-agent feeding frenzy, you should know that the fun begins on TSN2 on Tuesday at noon ET and runs until 5 p.m. From 5 to 6 p.m., it’s on TSN.
Why not more of the Feeding Frenzy on TSN? It seems the network will be occupied with Wimbledon (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.), followed by back-to-back CFL games (Toronto at Hamilton and Montreal at Calgary).
Appearing on TSN2’s coverage along with host James Duthie will be many of the usual suspects, including Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre McGuire, former Tampa Bay Lightning GM Jay Feaster, Gino Reda, Dave Hodge, Michael Farber (Sports Illustrated), Dave Naylor (The Globe and Mail) and Chris Stevenson (Ottawa Sun).
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Back to the NHL draft . . . of the 30 players selected in the first round on Friday, 16 were from the CHL. The OHL had seven players taken, the WHL had five and the QMJHL four. (In 2008, there were 20 CHLers taken in the first round.) . . . F Evander Kane of the Vancouver Giants went fourth overall to the Atlanta Thrashers, followed by Brandon Wheat Kings F Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles Kings, fifth), Brandon F Scott Glennie (Dallas Stars, eighth), Spokane Chiefs D Jared Cowen (Ottawa Senators, ninth) and Lethbridge Hurricanes F Carter Ashton (Tampa Bay Lightning, 29th).
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D Dylan Olsen, who played last season with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks, was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the 28th pick. He has committed to attend the U of Minnesota-Duluth. Olsen was taken by the Medicine Hat Tigers with the 84th pick in the 2006 bantam draft. . . . C Jordan Schroeder, who was taken by the Vancouver Canucks with the 22nd selection, is on the protected list of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Everett GM Doug Soetaert is in Montreal and has said hello to Schroeder, but don’t read too much into that.
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Former WHL coach Ed Dempsey has gotten a two-year contract extension from the BCHL's Prince George Spruce Kings. He's their GM and head coach. Dempsey has been there since January 2004. Mike Hawes, the club's assistant GM and director of player personnel, also got a new two-year deal.