Some Friday stuff . . .

Thanks to whomever it was who saw summer and asked it to stop in Kamloops. This was a fine, fine day . . .
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In case you missed it, the Kelowna Rockets were dominant in the Memorial Cup opener Friday as they whipped the host Rimouski Oceanic, 4-1. . . . The Rockets outshot the Oceanic 42-20 and outchanced them by more than a 2-to-1 margin. . . . As Sportsnet analyst Sam Cosentino kept reminding us, the Oceanic was coming off a long layout after it was eliminated in a QMJHL semifinal. But, still, the Oceanic didn’t seem to put up much resistance against a Kelowna team that played a great pressure game. For a team that was opening the Memorial Cup in front of its own fans, there wasn't much fire. . . I have a feeling that the Oceanic will finish fourth in this tournament and that the Rockets’ toughest games are ahead of them. . . . Still, I would grade Kelowna about a 7.5 out of 10 on their opening-game performance. The Rockets did get too cute around the Rimouski net on occasion, but that may have been a product of the ease with which they controlled play in the offensive zone. . . . Make not mistake about it -- this one could have been 10-1 or worse. . . . Rimouski also failed to score on two lengthy 5-on-3 power plays. . . . Kelowna doesn’t play again until Monday when it faces the QMJHL-champion Drummondville Voltigeurs.
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A couple of notes on the coaching front . . .
Brent Sutter, the head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, is back in Alberta and, while there, he continues to go through his annual self-evaluation.
Sutter, who also owns the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels, has spent two seasons as head coach of the Devils. This offseason there is speculation that he may return to the west.
"I've just got home here," Sutter told the Bergen Record earlier this week. "I haven't even been home a week, so it's going to be a while. I'm not talking about the end of the summer. I just need time. I can't put a timetable on it."
There has been speculation that Sutter could end up as the head coach of the NHL’s Calgary Flames or perhaps the Edmonton Oilers. Or perhaps he might leave the NHL altogether and return to coaching his Rebels, a team that has missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons and three of the last four seasons.
Meanwhile, the Regina Leader-Post’s Greg Harder has the latest on the Pats’ search for a coaching staff, and it would appear that Dean Chynoweth, the GM/head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, isn’t in the picture. The Pats fired head coach Dale Derkatch and chose not to renew assistant coach Terry Perkins’ contract. . . . The favourite to replace Derkatch seems to be former Pats head coach Curtis Hunt, while Jeff Truitt, a former Kelowna Rockets head coach who lost his job with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons this season, and Michael Dyck, late of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, are in the mix, too. . . . Harder’s story is right here.
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JUST NOTES: F Steven Hodges and D Kate Pilton, the Chilliwack Bruins’ first two selections in the 2009 bantam draft, have signed WHL contracts. Hodges, taken ninth overall, player for the bantam AAA South Delta Hawks, for whom he had 142 points in 60 games. Pilton, the 25th pick, played for the bantam AAA team at Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna. . . . The Bruins open training camp Aug. 20. . . . D Morgan Rielly, the second pick of the 2009 bantam draft, has signed with the Moose Jaw Warriors. Rielly, who is from West Vancouver, played this season at the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask., which is not too many slapshots from Moose Jaw. He had 84 points in 43 games with the bantam AAA Hounds of Notre Dame. He is expected to play for the midget AAA team there next season. . . . The Warriors open camp Aug. 20. . . . The BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies are expected to announce a new head coach any day now. Geoff Courtnall resigned, saying he has too many things on the go to be able to give coaching the time it needs.