Monday . . .

Fans in Kent, Wash., can begin preparing for next season because they now know when the Seattle Thunderbirds will open there.
The Thunderbirds will play one home exhibition game prior to the start of another season. That game, against the Everett Silvertips, will be Saturday, Sept. 12, at 7:05 p.m.
The Thunderbirds — should we start calling them the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent? — have entered into an agreement with the Kent School District for that game. High school and middle school students and teachers will sell tickets to that game, with a portion of sales going to each participating school.
Tickets for the game go on sale today (May 12), surely the earliest in WHL history that ducats for an exhibition game have been made available.
The Thunderbirds confirmed that they also will play in Everett’s preseason tournament over the Labour Day weekend.
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Veteran writer John Down of the Calgary Herald is speculating that the Hitmen may be looking for a new head coach before too long.
As Down put it: “Dave Lowry's name is being kicked around in hockey's rumour mill like a soccer ball on a warm summer day.”
Down’s story continues: “There's considerable speculation that the Calgary Flames might roll Lowry into an assistant’s job, either with the parent club or their new AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, B.C. There are also suggestions the St. Louis Blues might have him on their radar.”
Hitmen GM Kelly Kisio told Down: “I don't doubt there's a chance he could move on. We'd love to have him back. . . . We'll see what happens."
Lowry served as an assistant coach under Kisio for three seasons before taking over as head coach prior to this season.
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In an attempt to spur ticket sales to the 2010 world junior championship, Hockey Canada announced Monday that Team Canada will play a pair of exhibition games in Regina
As Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post points out, “Tickets sales in Regina have been rather sluggish, attributed at least partially to the public perception that the Queen City is getting shafted because Team Canada is playing its most meaningful games in Saskatoon.
“In reality, it’s a standardized arrangement for all co-hosted world junior events in Canada, stating that the city with the larger arena gets Team Canada as well as the medal games.”
Team Canada will hold its selection camp in Regina, Dec. 12-16, and also will play the Czech Republic on Dec. 21 and Sweden on Dec. 23 in a pair of pre-tournament tests.
If you’re interested, ticket packages are available through Ticketmaster.
Harder also reports that “an additional 1,300 seats will go on sale Wednesday (10 a.m.) as a result of new permanent seating that’s being added to the east side of the Brandt Centre, bringing total seating capacity to about 6,800.”
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Ron (Scoreboard) Johnston reminisces about Flin Flon. It’s a piece well worth reading and it’s right here.
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JUST NOTES: I had someone tell me Monday that the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning have trimmed their scouting staffs. In this economy, there likely will be more trimming this offseason. . . . If you were wondering, the Memorial Cup on-ice officiating crew will include veteran WHL refereee Chris Savage. . . . Brian Wiebe, the radio voice of the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials, reports on his blog (Making Cents) that the team has signed Joey Bouchard as head coach to replace Al Glendinning. Bouchard coached the junior B Whitecourt, Alta., Wolverines to the Northwest Alberta league championship this season.