Wednesday . . .

THE COACHING GAME: The Kootenay Ice has hired Scott Beattie as an assistant coach. He replaces Colin Patterson, who signed May 20 to coach the Peterborough Phantoms of the English Premier League. Beattie spent the last three seasons coaching the junior B Kimberley Dynamiters. . . . The Edmonton Oilers have — finally! — gotten around to making it official. Kelly Buchberger is on the club’s coaching staff as an assistant under head coach Craig MacTavish. Buchberger replaces Rob Daum, who has accepted a pro scouting role with the NHL team. Daum, a former WHL coach, will continue to look for a coaching position over the summer but if nothing pans out will scout and do video work for the Oilers. . . . Former NHLer Denny Lambert is the new head coach of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. Lambert, an assistant coach with the Greyhounds since July 11, 2003, replaces Craig Hartsburg, now the head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Lambert also played three seasons with the Greyhounds.
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The WHL released its preseason schedule on Wednesday. It’s available at whl.ca. . . . The Seattle Thunderbirds’ office staff spent part of Tuesday touring the 6,025-seat Kent Events Center, the facility that will become the team’s home early next season. According to Ian Henry, the club’s director of public and media relations: “As a staff we were excited to see our new administrative office, box office, The Hockey Store and our hockey training facilities begin to take shape. However, the most impressive part of the tour was definitely visualizing the Event Center bowl filled with 6,000 T-Birds fans.” . . . The building won’t be ready for the start of the season, so the Thunderbirds will start play in KeyArena at Seattle Center. . . . A tip of the hat to the Alberta community of Stony Plain for a decision made this week to rename its arena in honour of legendary goaltender Glenn Hall. The Centennial Arena officially will be renamed in September. Hall, who is from Humboldt, Sask., is a long-time resident of Stony Plain.