Monday's notes

Here we are in mid-January and two WHL teams have dumped their general managers.
The Kamloops Blazers fired Dean Clark, who was also the head coach, on Nov. 7; the Prince Albert Raiders fired Donn Clark a month ago, but asked him to stay through the trade deadline and got around to announcing the move Monday. (It says something about Donn Clark that he didn’t walk out the door a month ago, doesn’t it?)
The Blazers named Greg Hawgood the interim head coach on Nov. 8. They later took longtime scout Brian Fortin and named him the interim director of hockey operations, a title that changed to interim general manager early in January.
By the time another season gets here, the Blazers are expected to have a whole new look, with a new general manager, head coach, head scout, etc. Former Blazers defenceman Craig Bonner, the assistant GM/assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants, is the leading candidate to take over as the GM in Kamloops. Bonner also coached in Kamloops, serving as an assistant under Marc Habscheid and then Dean Evason.
While it isn’t known just who will be the Blazers’ head coach next season, the new man can expect to have Hawgood and goaltending coach Steve Passmore on his staff.
In Prince Albert, head coach Bruno Campese will double as the GM through May when things will be reviewed. In the meantime, while he coaches, Campese also will do a general review of the entire organization and, presumably, help prepare it for the May 1 bantam draft and the CHL import draft, which is tentatively scheduled for June 25.
Campese, who spent three seasons running the BCHL franchise in Penticton, was hired last summer. He replaced veteran coach Peter Anholt, whose contract wasn’t renewed following last season.
Anholt now is the general manager at Candle Lake Golf Resort, which is located about 50 miles northeast of Prince Albert. Sources have told me that Anholt was approached in December about the possibility of his returning to the Raiders as general manager; at that time, he indicated that he wasn’t interested.

The weekly poll of WHL teams as released by the Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association, showing ranking, last week’s ranking, first-place votes and total points (22 points for a first, 21 for second, etc.):
1. (1) Spokane Chiefs (14) 350
2. (2) Vancouver Giants 328
3. (3) Calgary Hitmen (2) 321
4. (4) Tri-City Americans 310
5. (7) Kelowna Rockets 291
6. (8) Regina Pats 267
7. (6) Lethbridge Hurricanes 248
8. (5) Brandon Wheat Kings 240
9. (9) Kootenay Ice 236
10. (11) Moose Jaw Warriors 200
11. (10) Medicine Hat Tigers 196
T12. (13) Everett Silvertips 168
T12. (12) Seattle Thunderbirds 168
14. (14) Swift Current Broncos 148
15. (15) Chilliwack Bruins 129
16. (16) Kamloops Blazers 104
17. (17) Edmonton Oil Kings 99
18. (18) Prince Albert Raiders 78
19. (19) Saskatoon Blades 67
20. (20) Red Deer Rebels 52
21. (21) Prince George Cougars 32
22. (22) Portland Winter Hawks 16

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League will induct Eric Desjardins, Pierre Turgeon, Michel Deziel and Orval Tessier into its Hall of Fame on April 2. Desjardins is a former defenceman with the Granby Bisons who played more than 1,000 NHL games. Turgeon was a big-time scorer (268 points in 128 games ) with Granby who also played more than 1,000 games in the NHL. Tessier was one of the league’s greatest coaches and won 320 regular-season games. He went on to be named the NHL’s coach of the year for 1982-83 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Deziel played four seasons for the Sorel Eperviers, totaling 457 points in 241 games. . . . The WHL doesn’t have a Hall of Fame. You are free to ask: Why not? Just don’t ask me because I have wondered that very question for years now.