Sunday . . . really early

The Pipeline Show – there’s a link over there on the left – is reporting that the Edmonton Oilers have signed Saskatoon Blades F Milan Kytnar to a three-year NHL deal. Kytnar was selected by Edmonton in the fifth round of the 2007 NHL draft. They drafted him out of his homeland – Slovakia – after which he reported to the Kelowna Rockets, who later traded him to Saskatoon. . . . The boys at The Pipeline Show also have a good piece speculating on the Oilers’ coaching staff, as in: If the Oilers choose to add another coach to the staff, who might it be? And, yes, Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay figures in that speculation.
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Former NHL goaltender Hank Bassen, who had a stint as a WHL head coach, died Saturday at the age of 76. Bassen stepped behind the bench with the 1985-86 Calgary Wranglers and went 7-15-1. Sandy Hucul began that season as the Wranglers' head coach, and went 9-17-0. He resigned and Ken Southwick took over on Dec. 3, 1985, and went 7-15-1. He was fired and Bassen moved in on Feb. 7, 1986. He, too, went 7-15-1. . . . Bassen's son Bob later played in the WHL (Medicine Hat, 1982-85) before going on to a 14-season NHL career that ended after the 1999-2000 season. . . . According to his family, Hank died in Calgary of a heart attack. He also had been battling cancer. . . . It’s interesting that he played goal for both franchises than now are in the Stanley Cup final. . . . I can remember chatting with Bassen when he coached the Wranglers and walking away thinking: “Now that is a really nice man.”