Took a bit of a break and toured into northern Washington this week. . . . Love traveling and seeing newspapers that I don’t normally get a chance to read. Best line I saw came from columnist John Blanchette of the Spokane Spokesman-Review: “Dana Torres has all my admiration, but when the Olympic Games give us a 41-year-old female gymnast, then I’ll be really impressed.” . . . You spend hockey season covering the Spokane Chiefs and their successful run to the Memorial Cup. So what do you do in the offseason? In the case of the Spokesman-Review’s Jessica Brown, you write about the Spokane Shock of arenafootball2. . . . Of course, traveling and doing the hotel thing means lots of XM Radio and lots of ESPN. Which means, after the last few days, that I hope Brett Favre never plays another down. I mean, geez, is there anyone in the United States who hasn’t voiced their opinion on Favre on TV or radio?
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THE MacBETH REPORT: While I was away, Garth MacBeth continued to keep both eyes glued to the European scene. Here’s what he has noticed over the last few days. . . . F Paul Deniset (Kamloops/Swift Current/Vancouver/Prince Albert) signed with the Belfast Giants (UK Elite Hockey League). He had 13 goals and 22 assists in 46 games with Bietigheim and Schwenningen (Germany 2. Bundesliga) last season. According to the Belfast press release announcing the signing, Deniset also will attend the University of Ulster to work on his Master’s degree while with the Giants. . . . F Curtis Brown (Moose Jaw/Prince Albert) signed with Kloten (Swiss NL A). He was with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks last season. . . . G Scott Langkow (Portland) signed with Krefeld (Germany DEL). He had a 3.16 GAA and .896 save percentage in 13 games last season for Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Russia Superliga). . . . G Kelly Guard (Kelowna) signed with Val Pusteria (Italy Serie A). He played with China Sharks (Asian Hockey League), Vienna Capitals (Austria Erste Bank League), and HC Gomel (Belarus) last season. . . . D Sergei Klimentiev (Medicine Hat) signed with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Continental Hockey League). He had three goals and 11 assists in 51 games with Avangard Omsk (Russia Superliga) last season. . . . F Ty Morris (Swift Current/Vancouver/Red Deer) signed with Miesbach (Germany Oberliga). He had two goals and eight assists in 21 games for Landsberg (Germany 2. Bundesliga) last season.
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JUNIOR JOTTINGS: The Chilliwack Bruins have signed D Mitch Topping, the eighth overall pick in the 2008 bantam draft. Topping, from Red Deer, had 44 points and 100 penalty minutes in 33 games with a bantam AAA team last season. . . . C Chris Bruton, the captain of the Memorial Cup-champion Spokane Chiefs, will be in Calgary on Monday for the Flames’ development camp. Bruton, who has used up his WHL eligibility, will be one of 18 forwards in the camp. Also there will be Spokane C Mitch Wahl, who was Calgary’s second-round pick in the NHL’s 2008 draft. Bruton, an NHL free agent, had 63 points last season, while Wahl had 73. . . . Lethbridge F Zach Boychuk had surgery this week to repair a fractured wrist. The Carolina Hurricanes ordered up the surgery after taking a close look at Boychuk, whom they took 14th overall in the NHL’s 2008 draft. What this means is that Boychuk, who played through the playoffs despite the wonky wrist, will miss the Canadian national junior team’s summer camp, as well as NHL and WHL training camps. It also means he will be back with the Hurricanes for another season, barring a trade, of course.
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THE COACHING GAME: The Kamloops Blazers have fired Greg Hawgood, who finished last season as the team’s interim head coach. Hawgood, who spent five seasons playing for the Blazers, was named interim head coach after GM/head coach Dean Clark was fired on Nov. 7. Hawgood had one year left on his contract. . . . Under Hawgood, the Blazers went 21-32-1-1 and then were swept from the first round of the playoffs by the Tri-City Americans. All told, Kamloops lost 18 of its last 19 games. . . . Kamloops head coach Barry Smith also revealed that part-time assistant coach Steve Gainey won’t be back. Smith said the feeling he got from Gainey was that he might want to resume his playing career. . . . The Blazers hope to have a full-time assistant coach in place early next week. . . . No word yet on whether goaltending coach Steve Passmore will be back with the Blazers. . . . The Peterborough Examiner is reporting that former NHLer Ken McRae “will be introduced in the next week as the Peterborough Petes’ new head coach.” McRae, who played pro hockey for 11 seasons, spent the last six seasons coaching in the Central league with the Corpus Christi IceRayz and Indianapolis Ice. The Petes’ executive decided in May not to renew the contract of head coach Vince Malette. He was 52-75-0-9 in two seasons with the Petes.
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Interesting note in a Dwight Jaynes column in the Portland Tribune earlier this week:
“Too bad, Portland Winter Hawks fans. It appears that Jim Goldsmith and his group may yet get an offer for the team higher than the one former Coach Brent Peterson and his group of investors wants to make.
“Word on the street is that there are two other groups interested in buying the team and both may be prepared to offer more than the $4 million Peterson’s group wants to pay. I just hope the next owners know what they’re doing because paying any more than that for a junior hockey team in this town is courting financial disaster.”
I don’t have any idea who is involved or may be involved in the “two other groups” interested in purchasing the Winter Hawks. But I agree with Jaynes on the potential for financial disaster should someone pay more than $4 million for a franchise that is really, really struggling and appears on the verge of becoming irrelevant in its marketplace. . . . People shouldn’t hold up last summer’s sale of the Kamloops Blazers as the benchmark when it comes to placing a value on any WHL franchise. According to the minutes of the Kamloops Blazers Sports Society extra-ordinary general meeting held Jan. 28, the “net proceeds on sale are $6,133,249.” But there were special circumstances involved in the sale -- the franchise was community-owned (actually, it was owned by 280-plus shareholders) and was being privatized, and the group that purchased it really, really, really wanted it. You may recall that it all began early in the summer of 2006 when Vancouver-based businessman Tom Gaglardi and former Blazers stars Shane Doan, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor offered $6 million. That offer never even got to the shareholders, who voted that the society’s assets weren’t for sale. Gaglardi and Co., then known as River City Hockey Inc., added Jarome Iginla to the group and bought up enough shares to swing the vote in their favour, which is exactly what happened at a meeting in August 2007. And, in the end, the Blazers changed hands for something more than $6 million. But does that mean the Winter Hawks are worth as much? One wouldn’t think so, but time will tell.
