Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Some Tuesday stuff . . .

The Kelowna Rockets have signed head coach Ryan Huska to a two-year contract extension. He had signed a two-year deal with a club option for a third season in July 2007, so now is signed through 2011-12. Huska, 33, has been with the WHL champions since 2002 when he signed on as a part-time assistant coach. In two seasons under Huska, the Rockets have an 85-47-3-9 regular-season record. . . . The Rockets are looking for an assistant coach with last week’s resignation of Jeff Finley, who had been there through two seasons.
The Rockets also signed Lorne Frey, their director of player personnel and head scout, to a three-year extension that runs through 2011-12. Frey, 59, has been with the Rockets since 1991 when the franchise was born as the Tacoma Rockets. He is one of the WHL’s top talent scouts.
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Sorry, fans, the WHL schedule isn’t nearly ready. The Eastern Conference gang held a scheduling meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, but the Western Conference bunch hasn’t yet met. . . . But the WHL’s regular season will open on Sept. 17 with the Vancouver Giants visiting the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Some Eastern Conference teams will begin releasing their schedules almost immediately. The Brandon Wheat Kings, who will play host to the 2010 Memorial Cup, will release their schedule Tuesday.
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The Everett Silvertips will introduce Craig Hartsburg as their head coach on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. PT. If you are interested in watching, check out the Silvertips’ website Tuesday and you should be able to find an address. . . . A year ago, Bryan Murray, who coached the Regina Pats for one season, winning the 1979-80 championship, hired Hartsburg as head coach of the Ottawa Senators. Murray and Hartsburg then hired Curtis Hunt as an assistant coach. Today, Hartsburg and Hunt both are WHL head coaches, Hunt having returned for a second go-round with the Pats. . . . Strange game, this coaching stuff. No?
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The Montreal Canadiens have cleaned out the coaching staff of the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, informing head coach Don Lever and assistant Ron Wilson that their contracts won’t be renewed. . . . When Montreal GM Bob Gainey is done, perhaps Perry Pearn, who spent one season as head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, will be on the Canadiens’ coaching staff, working under head coach Jacques Martin.
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Various reports have the Vancouver Giants on the verge of signing Morley Scott to fill the spot created when Dave Sheldon’s contract as director of broadcasting and media relations wasn’t renewed. Scott spent many years as the analyst on Edmonton Oilers’ broadcasts but was replaced prior to 2008-09. You heard Scott doing play-by-play if you caught any of Shaw TV’s coverage of the AHL championship series between the Manitoba Moose and Hershey Bears.
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Former WHL head coach Rob Daum will return as head coach of the Springfield Falcons, the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate. The 50-year-old Daum, who was pro scouting for the Oilers, joined the Falcons on Feb. 8 after head coach Jeff Truitt was fired. Truitt now is director of hockey operations with the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Former WHLer Gerry Fleming (Billings, Kelowna, 1981-83) will be one of Daum’s assistant coaches.
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David Quinn, the associate head coach for five seasons at Boston U, is the new head coach of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters. He replaces Joe Sacco, who moved up as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Lake Erie is the Avs’ AHL affiliate.
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The Washington Capitals have added former Brandon Wheat Kings D Bob Woods to their coaching staff. Woods was the head coach of the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ AHL affiliate, and guided them to the Calder Cup earlier this month. . . . Woods took over as the Bears’ head coach after Bruce Boudreau was promoted to the Capitals on Nov. 22, 2007.

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