Taking Note

Steve Ewen has covered the Vancouver Giants for The Province since the team entered the WHL for the 2001-02 season. A gregarious, fun guy, Ewen has been off the beat for a few weeks now as he fights back against the Big C. It hasn’t been fun, what with a couple of surgeries and the news this week that he will be spending Christmas Day in Vancouver General Hospital.
Ever since this chapter in his and Carol-Ann’s lives, Steve has been blogging about it at a site he named Crush the tumour with humour.
If you haven’t visited there, you might want to check it out right here.
(Of special interest is the photo of John Shorthouse, the long-time voice of the Vancouver Canucks, and his organ.)
And, while you’re out there enjoying the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, take time and have a thought for those people who aren’t able to partake for one reason or another.
---
Swing over to right here and you’ll find Annie Fowler’s take on the game between the Vancouver Giants and Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday night. She covers the Americans for the Tri-City Herald.
According to the WHL website, the Americans were dinged $350 “for actions of players” in that game, while the Giants got touched for $250 “for multiple fight” and $500 for “actions of players.”
Meanwhile, F Brock Montgomery of the Kootenay Ice got a two-game suspension for his interference major against the visiting Red Deer Rebels on Friday night.
---
The NAHL’s Port Huron Fighting Falcons have fired general manager Ernie Hicke and his son, Shane, who was on the coaching staff. Paul Costanzo of the Port Huron Times Herald, reported that Ernie Hicke stepped down as head coach on Thursday and his plan was to have Shane, along with Marty Haddad and Todd Churchill, coach the team. The change came with the Fighting Falcons, who are in their inaugural season, at 1-24-1. . . . Owner Maribeth Hayes installed Bill Warren, the hockey coach at Port Huron Northern High School, as head coach, at least for now, and named Haddad the GM. . . . Ernie Hicke, 63, is a native of Regina who starred with the Pats (1964-67) before going on to a lengthy pro career that included 520 NHL games.
---
Donald Fehr is in as the executive director of the NHLPA. What does that mean for the future of the NHL? Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada has an excellent overview right here. You especially will smile at Marvin Miller’s description of “the management people in hockey.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter