Thursday . . .

The Barrie Examiner is reporting that former NHL star Dale Hawerchuk will be named head coach of the OHL’s Barrie Colts on Friday morning.
The Colts need a head coach after Marty Williamson resigned last week and signed on as GM/head coach of the Niagara IceDogs.
Hawerchuk, who is in the Hockey Hall of Fame, played junior with the QMJHL’s Cornwall Royials. He went on to play in the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and Philadelphia Flyers.
He has coached a junior A team in Orangeville, Ont. — he owns a piece of the Crushers — but has never coached in the major junior ranks.
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The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t sign D Teigan Zahn of the Saskatoon Blades by the June 1 deadline to sign 2008 NHL draft picks, so he will go back into the draft. Zahn, 20, was taken in the fifth-round of the 2008 draft. If he isn’t taken in this year’s draft, he will become a free agent.
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The SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds have signed Jason Tatarnic as their new general manager and head coach. He replaces Darren Evjen, who resigned after the season and has since signed a three-year deal as an assistant coach with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . For the last five seasons, Tatarnic has been the head coach of the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime junior A league.
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The QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres have signed head coach Yanick Jean to a contract extension that runs through 2011-12. Jean, 35, guided the Tigers to a 46-victory season in 2009-10.
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Of course, you’re aware that the NHL final is in full swing, with Game 4 going tonight in Philadelphia where the Flyers trail the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1. . . . But what of the AHL final? Well, it opened Thursday night in Hershey where the Texas Stars edged the Bears 2-1 on an unassisted goal by F Scott McCulloch at 2:10 of the third period. Game 2 is scheduled for Hershey on Saturday. . . . McCulloch, from Lacombe, Alta., played five seasons at Colorado College. He had five goals in this regular season; this was his third goal in 18 playoff games.
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The Chicago Blackhawks have reached the Stanley Cup final in no small part because of Dustin Byfuglien, who played in the WHL with the Brandon Wheat Kings and Prince George Cougars.
On Nov. 25, 2002, the Wheat Kings dealt Byfuglien to the Cougars for F Rick Kozak, who was the 14th overall pick in the 2000 bantam draft. Kozak, however, never did play even one game for Prince George.
He did, however, win a 50-50 draw one night in Kamloops. He was with the Cougars that night during the 2001-02 season, but was a healthy scratch. If memory serves, he pocketed something like $1,700.
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Alistair McInnis of the Prince George Free Press has chatted with Cougars star Brett Connolly since his appearance last weekend at the NHL Scouting Combine in Toronto. That story is right here.
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Steve Verreault is the new head coach of the Kal Tire Sudbury Jr. Wolves of the Northern Ontario junior A league. Verreault, who was a long-time assistant to then-head coach Mike Foligno of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, also will be the assistant GM. . . . Verreault replaces Dave Clancy, who left after his third season as head coach. . . . The Jr. Wolves are affiliated with the major junior Wolves. . . . Verreault began 2009-10 as the OHL Wolves head coach, but Foligno came back after the team got off to a poor start.