Tuesday . . . early

As was first reported here on Aug. 6, the Tri-City Americans have signed Jim Hiller to a multi-year deal as head coach. . . . Hiller replaces Don Nachbaur on the Tri-City bench, becoming the 19th coach in the franchise's history. . . . Hiller spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins. He has some history with the Americans, having served as an assistant and associate coach (2002-04) under Shaun Clouston and Nachbaur. . . . Nachbaur left to sign on as head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators.
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All 22 of the WHL’s teams now have head coaches in place. So let’s drop the puck and get on with it.
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F Cole Penner, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 bantam draft, has declined an invitation to the Prince Albert Raiders’ training camp. Penner was invited to attend camp and compete for a spot up front. He has chosen to return to junior A. He had 21 points and 235 penalty minutes in 44 games with the AJHL’s Brook Bandits last season.
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F Cam Severson has signed with the Central league’s Mississippi RiverKings. Kevin Kaminski, another former WHLer, is the RiverKings’ director of hockey operations and head coach and was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks when Severson played there in 2000-01. Severson (Kamloops, Swift Current, Lethbridge, Prince Albert, Spokane, 1994-99) played and coached in Romania last season.