Milne gone from Blazers

From The Daily News of Friday, Dec. 14, 2007 . . .

And then there was one.
Andrew Milne was removed from the Kamloops Blazers’ coaching staff
Wednesday, a move the team announced Thursday morning.
That leaves Shane Zulyniak as the only one remaining of the three full-time
coaches who began the WHL season with the team.
Dean Clark, the general manager and head coach, was fired Nov. 7. Greg
Hawgood was named interim head coach the next day.
“I’m not making a comment today,” Tom Gaglardi, the Blazers’ majority owner,
said Thursday evening, refusing to confirm that Milne was fired. “Maybe I’ll
be able to make a comment later in the week.”
Asked if the vacant position would be filled, Gaglardi replied: “No.” He
added that the position likely wouldn’t be filled this season.
When reached by The Daily News, Milne chose not to comment.
As for Zulyniak’s future, Gaglardi said the assistant GM/assistant coach was
safe.
“There’s no changes with Shane,” Gaglardi said. “He’s doing a good job.”
Milne, like Clark and Zulyniak, was signed through 2008-09 with the club
holding an option on 2009-10. The 29-year-old Milne, who was an enforcer
during his WHL playing career, was a favourite among the players, who
nicknamed him Skills prior to last season.
Clark added Milne and Zulyniak to the coaching staff on July 25, 2006. All
three received contract extensions in July, prior to the Kamloops Blazers
Sports Society selling the franchise to Gaglardi and ex-Blazers players
Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor.
The coaching staff still includes two part-time assistants. Steve Gainey,
who played for the Blazers, was named a part-time assistant on Aug. 21.
Larry Robinson, the goaltending coach, has been with the team since Nov. 9,
2006.
Gainey was on the team bus when it left yesterday for Prince George where
the Blazers meet the Cougars tonight and Saturday.
Asked if Gainey was in line for a full-time position, Gaglardi responded:
“That remains to be seen but that is not part of this move.”
After those two games, the Blazers don’t play again until Dec. 27 when they
meet the Giants in Vancouver.
The Blazers were 5-6-1-0 on Oct. 23 when the sale of the franchise was
finalized. Five games later they were 6-9-1-1 and Clark was fired. In the
eight games immediately after the firing, the Blazers went 7-1-0-0. Since
then they are 2-5-0-0 — the two victories were over the Portland Winter
Hawks (5-26-0-1) and Prince Albert Raiders (11-18-3-2) — and have lost three
straight. They have been outscored 14-3 over their last three games.
Today, the Blazers are 15-16-1-1 and in eighth place in the 10-team Western
Conference. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.
The doubleheader in Prince George closes out the pre-Christmas portion of
the regular season. The Cougars (11-22-1-0) are ninth in the conference,
nine points behind the Blazers, and have lost five in a row.
The Cougars are expected to have defenceman Ty Wishart and left-winger Dana
Tyrell in their lineup for the games tonight and Saturday. Both players were
released from the camp of Canada’s national junior team on Thursday.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca