Thursday notes . . .

The first two teams that will compete in the 2008 Memorial Cup tournament have been decided. The Kitchener Rangers and Belleville Bulls have advanced to the OHL final and, with Kitchener as the host team, both will play in the four-team tournament. First of all, though, they will play in the OHL final that will open Wednesday in Kitchener. . . . The Memorial Cup will run May 16-25 in Kitchener. . . . The Rangers finished atop the Western Conference with a 53-11-1-3 record. The Bulls, at 48-14-4-2, won the Eastern Conference with the OHL’s second-best record. . . . Belleville has appeared in one Memorial Cup (1999), while Kitchener has been there five times, winning it in 2003, which was its last appearance. . . . The QMJHL final will feature the Gatineau Olympiques against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. . . .
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RW Bud Holloway of the Seattle Thunderbirds has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. Holloway, who played as a 19-year-old this season, was selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2006 NHL draft. He finished this season with the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ AHL affiliate. . . . Earlier this week, the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers signed G Joey Perricone, who completed his WHL eligibility with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Well, the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes assigned G Daniel Manzato to Las Vegas on Thursday and guess who was released? . . . G Chet Pickard of the Tri-City Americans is the ADT CHL goaltender of the week after going 1-1 with a 0.36 GAA and a .988 save percentage. . . . F Zach Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes is the CHL player of the week. He had four goals and an assist in the first two games of Lethbridge’s four-game sweep of the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Regina Pats D Logan Pyett has joined Team Canada in Quebec City as it begins preparations for the IIHF World championship that opens May 2 in Halifax and Quebec City. Pyett is one of three non-NHLers who are working out with the team, the others being forwards Cory Emmerton of the OHL’s Brampton Battalion and Kyle Turris, who played for the NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers but finished the season with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. . . .
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The USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers have hired former NHLer J.P. Parise as their general manager and head coach. He replaces Todd Knott, who had been the interim GM/head coach since Regg Simon resigned in February. Knott has moved on to the Sioux City Musketeers as their GM and head coach. . . . Most recently, Parise has been the director of prospect evaluation at Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep School in Faribault, Minn. He has two sons, Zach and Jordan, who are playing professionally. . . . And, yes, J.P. Parise played for Team Canada in 1972 when it beat the Soviet Union in the Summit Series. . . .
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WHL players invited to the NHL Central Scouting combine scheduled for May 26 to June 1 in Toronto:
C Kyle Beach, Everett
C Lance Bouma, Vancouver
C Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge
C Joel Broda, Moose Jaw
LW Matt Calvert, Brandon
D Matt Delahey, Regina
G Jacob DeSerres, Seattl
C Jordan Eberle, Regina
C Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat
D Travis Hamonic, Moose Jaw
G Braden Holtby, Saskatoon
C Colin Long, Kelowna
C Brandon McMillan, Kelowna
D Eric Mestery, Tri-City
D Tyler Myers, Kelowna
D Jyri Niemi, Saskatoon
G Chet Pickard, Tri-City
C Kruise Reddick, Tri-City
D Colby Robak, Brandon
D Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge
D Luke Schenn, Kelowna
D Michael Stone, Calgary
D Colten Teubert, Regina
C Mitch Wahl, Spokane
C James Wright, Vancouver
LW Geordie Wudrick, Swift Current
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The positioning of WHL players in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of skaters eligible for the 2008 NHL draft (210 ranked):
North American skaters
4. D Tyler Myers, Kelowna
5. D Luke Schenn, Kelowna
7. C Kyle Beach, Everett
8. C Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge
12. D Luca Sbisa, Lethbridge
13. D Colby Robak, Brandon
18. D Colten Teubert, Regina
24. LW Matt Calvert, Brandon
25. D Jyri Niemi, Saskatoon
30. C Kruise Reddick, Tri-City
31. C Tyler Ennis, Medicine Hat
33. C Jordan Eberle, Regina
35. C James Wright, Vancouver
39. D Michael Stone, Calgary
48. C Brandon McMillan, Kelowna
59. D Eric Mestery, Tri-City
62. C Colin Long, Kelowna
64. C Mitch Wahl, Spokane
67. D Matt Delahey, Regina
68. C Lance Bouma, Vancouver
70. C Joel Broda, Moose Jaw
71. LW Geordie Wudrick, Swift Current
75. D Travis Hamonic, Moose Jaw
92. RW Ian Schultz, Calgary
95. C Neal Prokop, Moose Jaw
96. C Matt Tassone, Swift Current
98. D Chad Suer, Moose Jaw
104. RW Gary Nunn, Vancouver
106. C Brent Raedeke, Edmonton
108. C Zack Smith, Swift Current
110. LW Jan Dalecky, Swift Current
116. RW Matt Ius, Everett
127. C Wacey Hamilton, Medicine Hat
129. C Travis Toomey, Saskatoon
142. D Riley McIntosh, Kelowna
144. LW Shayne Wiebe, Kamloops
151. D Teigan Zahn, Saskatoon
153. RW Dale Weise, Swift Current
168. D Tyler Schmidt, Tri-City
175. RW Craig Cunningham, Vancouver
187. D Mike Reddington, Spokane
188. RW Tyler Shattock, Kamloops
198. D Jared Spurgeon, Spokane
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North American goaltenders (30 ranked)
2. Chet Pickard, Tri-City
4. Braden Holtby, Saskatoon
6. Jacob DeSerres, Seattle
9. Dustin Tokarski, Spokane
12. Steven Stanford, Prince Albert
18. Morgan Clark, Red Deer
21. Martin Jones, Calgary