THE COACHING/SCOUTING GAME: Curtis Hunt has stepped down as head coach of the Regina Pats and signed a three-year deal as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. So let the speculation begin. . . . Meanwhile, Hockey Regina is looking for a head coach for the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. Former Pats D Mike Wirachowsky coached the team last season. . . . If you missed it earlier this week, another of the Sutter boys is headed back to the west. Duane Sutter has left his job as the Florida Panthers’ director of player development to accept the same position with the Calgary Flames. Duane’s older brother, Darryl, is the Flames’ general manager. Duane was with the Panthers for 11 seasons, even coaching them at one point. Jack Birch, who has been with the Panthers for some time, is their new director of player development. . . . Calgary also named former WHL goaltender Jamie McLennan as its director of goaltending development. This would seem to indicate that McLennan, who spent last season playing in Russia and Japan, has retired as an active player. As the Miami Herald’s George Richards points out on his blog, On Frozen Pond, McLennan still owes the NHL four games. You may recall that during the playoffs in the spring of 2007 he was penalized for slashing Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen and subsequently drew a five-game suspension. McLennan sat out the next game, which Detroit won to take the series, meaning there are four games yet to be served. . . . Former Saskatoon Blades pest Kevin Kaminski is the new head coach and director of hockey operations for the Mississippi RiverKings of the Central league. Kaminski, who spent the last two seasons with the league’s Youngstown SteelHounds, replaces Kevin McClelland, who resigned earlier in the summer.
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LORENZ RETURNS: Former Seattle Thunderbirds G Danny Lorenz has been hired by the Kent Valley Hockey Association as director of hockey. He began work at the Kent Valley Ice Centre on July 7. Lorenz, selected 58th overall by the New York Islanders in the 1988 NHL draft, played five seasons with the Thunderbirds (1985-90) before embarking on a pro career that last 14 seasons. He played in the AHL, the British Superleague, the British National League, the German DEL, the Central league, the ECHL, the IHL, the WCHL and the NHL. He most recently was head coach and director of player development for the Queen City Stream, a junior A team in Cincinnati that plays in the Central States league.
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JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Two former WHLers – F Kevin Undershute and D Mark Louis – are off to school. Both have agreed to attend St. Francis Xavier U in Antigonish, N.S., and play hockey for the X-Men. Undershute, from Medicine Hat, spent three years before the Tigers. He was to have played for the Portland Winter Hawks as a 20-year-old last season but a shoulder injury cost him almost the entire season. Louis, from Ponoka, Alta., spent four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings and finished up his WHL career last season with the Red Deer Rebels. . . . F Jamie Benn of the Kelowna Rockets has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. They selected him in the fifth round, 129th overall, of the 2007 NHL draft. Benn, who turns 19 on July 18, had 65 points, including 33 goals, in 51 games with the Rockets last season. . . . The WHL's Chilliwack Bruins and the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies are at odds over F Evan Pighin. He spent last season with the Bruins; his BCHL rights have been dealt by the Salmon Arm SilverBacks to the Grizzlies, the host team for the 2009 Royal Bank Cup. As well, it seems Pighin, 20, has been granted a tryout with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. Len Barrie owns a piece of the Lightning and also owns the Grizzlies. Anyway, this one is going to be worth watching. The latest from the Chilliwack Progress is here.
