The coaching game

The Cory Clouston deal is done. That was confirmed Monday morning.
He will be leaving after five years as head coach of the Kootenay Ice to take over as head coach of the Binghamton Senators, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
Clouston, who has been with the Ice since 1999, will be introduced as Binghamton’s head coach at some point this week, perhaps even as early as today.
Clouston, a native of Viking, Alta., is the WHL’s reigning coach of the
year, an award he also won two years ago. He will replace Dave Cameron, who
left the Senators after three seasons to become GM and head coach of the
OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael¹s Major.
With Kootenay assistant coach Brad Lauer having resigned last week, the only
remaining member of the Ice coaching staff is part-timer Colin Patterson.
Lauer resigned from the Ice after accepting the position of general manager
and head coach with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. That announcement
will be made once the Bulldogs have completed a juggling of shareholders
with former NHLers Jeff Finley, Alan Kerr and Dixon Ward, who are affiliated
with Okanagan Hockey Schools, in the process of purchasing 60 per cent of
the franchise. Kerr, who is OHS’s vice-president of hockey operations, and
Lauer were linemates with the NHL’s New York Islanders.

In Kelowna, meanwhile, Rockets president/general manager Bruce Hamilton has hung out the Gone Fishin’ sign. He is in northern Saskatchewan this week hoping to hook up with a few of those big Northern Pike, so chances are there won’t be an announcement out of Kelowna this week.
Hamilton has had at least two conversations with Marc Habscheid, the former Rockets head coach who was fired as associate coach by the Boston Bruins last month.
The Rockets are working to replace Jeff Truitt, who signed on as an assistant coach with the Springfield Falcons, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers.
Kelowna assistant coach Ryan Huska, who played four seasons with the
Kamloops Blazers and won three Memorial Cups, would seem to be the leading
candidate. An assistant coach for five seasons, Huska also has one year left
on his contract with the Rockets so is almost certain to stay put even if a new head
coach is signed.
Huska said last night from Kelowna that he isn’t interested in the Ice job
because he has a year left on his deal with the Rockets.

In Portland, the Winter Hawks have yet to re-sign head coach Mike
Williamson, whose contract expired June 30. Williamson took over as
Portland’s head coach with 24 games left in the 1999-2000 season. At the
present time, no WHL head coach has been with his team longer than
Williamson, 34, has been with the Winter Hawks. He also played three seasons
in Portland and was an assistant coach for over five seasons.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS: RW Michal Repik of the Vancouver Giants has signed with the
Florida Panthers, who selected him with the 40th pick of the 2007 NHL draft.
Repik, an 18-year-old Czech, had 55 points, including 24 goals, with the
Giants last season; he is expected back in their lineup for one more season.
. . . The Brandon Sun reports that former Brandon Wheat Kings assistant coach Brad Wells has applied to coach the midget AAA Wheat Kings, a team he coached in 1995-96. He had been
an assistant coach with the WHL’s Wheat Kings for seven seasons before
leaving the team last week.