Some Sunday odds and ends . . .

From the Saturday column in the Vancouver Sun by Dr. Sport (Greg Douglas), who is tight with Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo: “Mike Johnston, former Canucks' assistant coach under Marc Crawford, followed 'The Crow' to Los Angeles and was dismissed this summer as part of the Kings' coaching housecleaning. Within the next week or so, Johnston will be named GM and head coach of the WHL Portland Winter Hawks once the league approves purchase of the franchise by Calgary oilman Bill Gallacher.” . . . A spy reports that Johnston and Travis Green, who will be Johnston's assistant coach, took in some of the Everett tournament over the weekend.
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Cody Beach, the 16-year-old brother of Everett Silvertips agitator Kyle Beach, is in camp with the Calgary Hitmen. So what was it like growing up in the Beach household? "There's always fighting in the family, and he's usually the winner," Cody tells Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun. "Hopefully, that'll change one day." Cody, a third-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, goes 6-foot-4 and 173 pounds. . . . Kyle showed that he’s in midseason form on Saturday when he put up a Gordie Howe hat trick as the Silvertips dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 7-4. He scored late in the first period, drew an assist on earlier goal, and got an automatic game misconduct for a second-period bout with Seattle D Sena Acolatse.
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It’s doubtful that any WHL prospect got the positive reviews to match the ones earned by F Shane McColgan, the Kelowna Rockets’ first pick, 13th overall, in the 2008 bantam draft. The 15-year-old from Manhattan Beach, Calif., left little doubt that were it not for being too young, he could step into the Rockets’ lineup right now. “I felt fine out there; the speed was good and I didn’t feel out of place,” McColgan told the Kelowna Daily Courier’s Doyle Potenteau after the club’s Saturday intrasquad game. “But it was hard to play with some of the guys, simply for the fact that we’ve only had a few practices together, not a full season. The game was a little sloppy, but it was all right. I just tried putting my head down and started making passes, trying to respect some of the veterans by passing to them. We had some chances, but it didn’t go our way.” . . . McColgan is likely to get some time with the Rockets in December when they have players away at national junior team camps. . . . By the way, Team Black won that intrasquad game, 4-2. The prize? Team Black was given Sunday off, while Team White was on the ice at 9:15 a.m.
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And how about Kelowna D Kyle Verdino, a sophomore from Phoenix? A defenceman last season, the Rockets are moving him into the forward ranks. He says that last season he weighed 242 pounds and that he now is down to 205. “Compared to last season, I feel really, really good,” Verdino told Potenteau. “I was 242 pounds last season and now I’m down to 205. So it’s been a big change for me, losing that weight in that short period of time. But, hey, I’m loving it.” . . . Verdino turns 17 on Oct. 27.
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F Tyler Maxwell, a Californian who signed with Everett earlier in the week, had three goals Saturday as the Silvertips beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 7-4. He had a hat trick by the midpoint of the game, by which time the hosts held a 7-1 lead.
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With Michael Maniago, 20, choosing to return to school rather than continue with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who is fighting for the backup goaltender’s job behind Finnish starter Juha Metsola? The Lethbridge Herald reports that there are four other goaltenders in camp -- Michael Tadjdeh, 17, from Calgary; Brandon Anderson, a 16-year-old from Langley, B.C.; Zach Weissbach, 16, of Sherwood Park, Alta.; and, Alex Wakaluk, 15, of Bellevue, Alta. Wakaluk is the son of former NHL goaltender Darcy Wakaluk, a veteran WHL goaltending coach who now works with the Calgary Hitmen.
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D Alex Plante, 19, who was the 15th pick in the first round of the NHL’s 2007 draft has asked the Calgary Hitmen to move him, according to John Down of the Calgary Herald. "He wants to play hockey but not for the Hitmen," Calgary GM Kelly Kisio told Down. Plante, 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, is coming off an injury-filled season and didn’t report to Calgary’s camp when it opened on Saturday. "I guess after last season, he just wants a change of scenery," Kisio said. Plante had 38 points in 2006-07, after which he was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers. Last season, limited to just 36 regular-season games, he had two points. "You sit back and scratch your head and wonder what you have to do to make kids happy," Kisio told Down. "We played him with Karl Alzner so he could have a big draft year, then he gets hurt and has trouble getting back into game shape and we're getting blamed for it." . . . Plante is the son of former Brandon Wheat Kings D Cam Plante and the brother of former Wheat Kings G Tyler Plante.