Wednesday . . .

Jeff Bromley over at Ice Chips reports that Steve Da Silva, who captained the Kootenay Ice last season as a 20-year-old, will join the San Jose Sharks for rookie camp and that Ice LW Kevin King, 18, will go to camp with the Minnesota Wild rookies. . . . Andy Kemper at After The Whistle has Portland Winter Hawks G Kurtis Mucha getting a look-see from the Phoenix Coyotes. The
Phoenix rookies will play two games against the Los Angeles Kings’ prospects on Sept. 16 (6 p.m.) and 17 ( 2 p.m.), at Jobing.com Arena. Plans are for Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky to be behind the bench, too. The other goaltender will be Joel Gistedt out of Frolunda in Sweden. He was the 36th pick in the NHL’s 2007 draft. Other WHLers on the Phoenix roster: Colin Long
(Kelowna), Daine Todd (Medicine Hat), Tyler Johnson (Spokane), John Flatters (Saskatoon), Nick Ross (Kamloops) and Michael Stone (Calgary).
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The Swift Current Broncos have scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon “to announce a major hockey event planned for Swift Current.” The Prince Albert Raiders also have scheduled a newser for Monday. . . . Hmmm! Gotta think the Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! . . . The CHL again is playing host to the six-game ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and it could be that Prince Albert and Swift Current will play host to the two WHL games.
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James Shewaga, the sports editor at the Brandon Sun, reports that the Wheat Kings are hoping to bit on the 2010 Memorial Cup. The province of Manitoba already has agreed to back the bid, while city officials will hold a special open meeting today to test the waters. The deadline for bids to be in to the WHL is Friday.
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Former Kootenay D Steve McCarthy had signed with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the Contintenal league but it apparently didn’t work out. The New York Times hockey blog (slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com) reports that he now seems likely to sign with SKA St. Petersburg, another Continental league team. St. Petersburg is coached by former NHL assistant coach Barry Smith. Igor Larionov is the team’s manager.
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Dan Kinvig of the Abbotsford News put together a good story on Brandon Regier, a 16-year-old first-round bantam pick who signed with the Brandon Wheat Kings a year ago but now has chosen to put the game behind him. . . . Regier was the 17th pick in the 2007 bantam draft and got into four WHL games last season. . . . "It's never been my favourite thing to do in the world," Regier told Kinvig of playing hockey. "Everyone's telling me they hope I change my mind. But I haven't been on the ice since March, and I haven't missed it at all." . . . Regier added: "I'm just a kid -- my mind can change at any moment. I'm not going to promise I'm never going to play hockey again, but for now, I really don't want to. Right now, I don't think I'll regret it. People who make it to the NHL want to be there (at the rink) every second of the day." . . . A tip of the cap to Regier for following his heart. There isn’t any sense committing to the grind of the WHL and a hockey career if you know going in that you aren’t going to enjoy it. . . . His brother, Jeff, a 17-year-old defenceman, got into 41 games with the Everett Silvertips last season. . . . Kinvig’s entire story is right here.
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Darryl Williams, who played for the Victoria Cougars in the mid-1980s, is the Vancouver Canucks' newest assistant coach. He will be primarily responsible for the video work. Williams spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the QMJHL's St. John's Fog Devils. . . . Canucks general manager Mike Gillis fired assistants Mike Kelly and Barry Smith shortly after taking over from the fired Dave Nonis. Former WHLer Ryan Walter was hired to fill one of the vacancies, and now Williams has filled the other. . . . Smith has signed a three-year deal as head coach of the Kamloops Blazers. Kelly hasn't found coaching work and is back home in Prince Edward Island.