Front-office pictures . . . and Monday stuff

With only one WHL team still playing, now is as good a time as any to take a preliminary look at some of the things that may shake out during the silly season. So here’s a team-by-team look at the front-office situations:
BRANDON WHEAT KINGS: Kelly McCrimmon is the owner, general manager and head coach. Nothing is going to change there, at least through the 2010 Memorial Cup for which the Wheaties are the host team.
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CALGARY HITMEN: You can expect Kelly Kisio back as the GM, but what about head coach Dave Lowry? He spent three seasons as an assistant under Kisio and guided the Hitmen to the league’s best regular-season record in his first season as head coach. There are persistent rumblings that the parent Flames may have a spot for him. . . . If Lowry leaves, would assistant Joel Otto, another former NHLer, move up as head coach or might Kisio return to the bench? . . . Or how about Rich Sutter?
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CHILLIWACK BRUINS: Darryl Porter, the team’s governor and one of its owners, has been the acting GM since the firing of Darrell May of Jan. 27. Of course, the Bruins fired head coach Jim Hiller on March 16. . . . Might Porter hire Marc Habscheid as GM and head coach? Or will Porter hold out in hopes of getting Tom Renney?
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EDMONTON OIL KINGS: Bob Green is the GM. Steve Pleau is the head coach. That isn’t likely to change.
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EVERETT SILVERTIPS: Doug Soetaert is trying to put things back together after the ugliest season in the franchise’s six-year history. He fired head coach John Becanic on April 3. There isn’t likely to be a new coach in place until after the NHL draft.
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KAMLOOPS BLAZERS: Craig Bonner has four years left on his deal as GM; the franchise is one year into his five-year plan. Barry Smith has two years left on his contract as head coach. They aren’t going anywhere. Unless majority owner Tom Gaglardi buys the Atlanta Thrashers, that is. And if that happens, all bets are off.
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KELOWNA ROCKETS: GM Bruce Hamilton and head coach Ryan Huska have their club in the Memorial Cup. Enough said. . . . But one has to wonder if assistant coach Jeff Finley, a former NHL defenceman who gets plaudits for the job he has done with the Kelowna defence, has head-coaching aspirations?
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KOOTENAY ICE: GM Jeff Chynoweth and head coach Mark Holick aren’t going anywhere.
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LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES: To paraphrase the late Casey Stengel, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” . . . Just one year ago, the Hurricanes were coming off their first appearance in the WHL final since 1997. Today, they are in a state of disarray. GM Roy Stasiuk announced May 8 that head coach Michael Dyck’s contract wouldn’t be renewed, after which Rich Sutter, who had been brought on board in a consultant’s role by Stasiuk, sliced and diced the GM in a public forum. On May 11, the board of directors fired Stasiuk, saying it had actually reached that decision in the middle of the previous week. . . . And rather than name Brad Robson, the director of scouting and player personnel, as interim GM, the board installed Herman Elfring, the franchise’s governor, in that position. . . . Former Kelowna head coach Jeff Truitt has ties to the area and is available but . . .
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MEDICINE HAT TIGERS: Willie Desjardins is the GM/head coach and one of the most-respected men in the major junior game. He was named head coach of Canada’s national junior team last week. . . . Shaun Clouston is the associate coach and gives the Tigers a top-notch coaching tandem. . . . Clouston, once the head coach of the Tri-City Americans, deserves another shot but he and his family are well ensconced in the Medicine Hat community.
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MOOSE JAW WARRIORS: It wasn’t that long ago when a lot of WHL observers expected GM Chad Lang and head coach Dave Hunchak to be on the move, with Marc Habscheid taking over as GM/head coach. . . . Lang and Hunchak, however, remain in their offices. . . . Such is life with the Warriors, one of the WHL’s four remaining community-owned teams.
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PORTLAND WINTERHAWKS: Mike Johnston is the GM and head coach, and is looking forward to his first full season in the WHL. He took over when the Winterhawks underwent an ownership change early in 2008-09.
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PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS: Bruno Campese is the GM/head coach and he isn’t going anywhere. He is revamping/restructuring the organization and the first major move was the decision not to bring back head scout Dave O’Brien. Campese now will hire a director of player personnel and go from there. . . . The Raiders are another of the WHL’s community-owned teams.
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PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS: Dallas Thompson is the general manager. Veteran WHL coach Dean Clark got a five-year contract as head coach and is anxious to get started after being out of the game since November 2007. He isn’t due in Prince George until August but already is working at rebuilding contacts throughout the hockey world.
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RED DEER REBELS: Jesse Wallin is preparing for his second season as head coach, while Randy Peterson is the vice-president of hockey operations. The Rebels have missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons and three of the last four. Owner Brent Sutter is head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and, until he confirms that he will stay there or go elsewhere at that level (Edmonton? Calgary?), there will be speculation involving a possible return to the Rebels.
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REGINA PATS: Brent Parker is the general manager. Head coach Dale Derkatch and assistant Terry Perkins were swept out the door earlier this month. One of the latest rumours has Curtis Hunt returning as head coach with former Pats D Jamie Heward ending his playing career and signing on as assistant coach. . . . Michael Dyck, shown the door in Lethbridge, is in the picture. Dean Chynoweth, the GM/head coach in Swift Current, isn’t.
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SASKATOON BLADES: You’re in Lorne Molleken country. He’s the GM and head coach of the Blades and isn’t going anywhere, unless he decides to run for mayor.
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SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS (of Kent): Russ Farwell is the long-time GM; Rob Sumner has been the head coach since May 6, 2004.
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SPOKANE CHIEFS: Tim Speltz, the general manager, runs this franchise, which won the 2009 Memorial Cup. Hardy Sauter just completed his first season as head coach. They are in the market for an assistant coach to replace Leigh Mendelson, whose contract wasn’t renewed.
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SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS: Dean Chynoweth is the GM/head coach and has been since June 16, 2004. The Broncos have improved their regular-season point total in each of his seasons there, but playoff success has proved elusive. The board picked up his option for 2009-10 but didn’t offer an extension. . . . Might assistant coach Tim Kehler be ready to make a move into a head-coaching position?
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TRI-CITY AMERICANS: Bob Tory is the GM and he runs the franchise for an ownership group that includes Olaf Kolzig and Stu Barnes. Don Nachbaur has been there since June 16, 2003, and has grown into one of major junior’s best head coaches. He could have left last summer when the Kamloops Blazers came calling. Now, it’s said, pro teams are starting to show interest and one has to wonder how long before he leaves. Nachbaur signed a one-year contract extension, through 2009-10, with the Americans on Nov. 26.
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VANCOUVER GIANTS: It used to be that when the Giants’ season ended, there would be rumours involving the immediate future of head coach Don Hay. Well, the Hay rumours continue to circulate (how about to the Ottawa Senators as an assistant coach to Cory Clouston?), but now there are rumblings that GM Scott Bonner also is hearing interest from NHL teams.
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JUST NOTES: The Portland Winterhawks have signed D Derrick Pouliot, the first overall pick in the 2009 bantam draft. Pouliot, from Weyburn, Sask., will take part in the team‚s prospect camp in Calgary in June, and will join the Winterhawks for training camp in August. He had 63 points in 26 games with Weyburn‚s bantam entry in the South Saskatchewan Minor Hockey League last season. . . . The Vancouver Giants will have a new radio voice when another arrives. The Giants have decided not to renew the contract of Dave Sheldon, their director of broadcasting and media relations. He joined the Giants from the Chilliwack Bruins prior to the start of this season.
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THE MEMORIAL CUP: The Kelowna Rockets, 6-4 winners over the Drummondville Voltigeurs at the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que., on Monday, have booked their spot in Sunday’s final. . . . LW Jamie Benn, who has signed with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, scored four times for the Rockets. He came awfully close to a fifth goal, too, when he had a shot hit a post with the Drummondville net vacated late in the third period. . . . Bruce Boudreau, now the head coach of the NHL’s Washington Capitals, holds the tournament’s single-game record, having scored five goals for the Toronto Marlies in a 10-4 victory over the Sherbrooke Castors in Kitchener. . . . Benn is the first player to score four times in a game since 1997 when Christian Dube did it for the Hull Olympiques in an 8-0 victory over the Oshawa Generals in Hull. . . . Benn has a tournament-leading five goals, three shy of the event’s record. . . . Benn scored two even-strength goals, one while shorthanded and one on the power play. He also had an assist on one of Cody Almond’s two goals. . . . Kelowna D Tyson Barrie and C Colin Long each had three assists. . . . F Yannick Riendeau had a goal and three helpers for Drummondville. . . . Kelowna head coach Ryan Huska is appearing in his seventh Memorial Cup and will be in a final for the fifth time. He is 4-0, have won three championships as a player with the Kamloops Blazers (1992, 1994, 1995) and one as an assistant coach with the Rockets (2004). . . . The Rockets play their final round-robin game Tuesday against the 0-2 Windsor Spitfires. Kelowna then will sit and wait for Sunday’s final. Windsor needs a victory over Kelowna to force a tiebreaker on Thursday. . . . The Spitfires haven’t exactly had a good week thus far. They were fined $1,000 after F Richard Greenop cruised the centre ice area in Sunday’s pregame warmup prior to their meeting the Rimouski Oceanic. He initiated a few verbal exchanges, thus the fine. . . . As well, the Spitfires have lost F Justin Shugg for the remainder of the tournament. He suffered a broken collarbone in what was a 5-4 loss to the Oceanic on Sunday.