Sunday . . .

Doug Soetaert has been thinking about the Everett Silvertips’ next head coach for a couple of weeks now.
“This rumor of Craig (Hartsburg) moving out has probably been out there for about two weeks now,” Soetaert told Rich Myhre of the Everett Herald on Sunday, “and people have contacted me. I've kind of got a list together in my head of what I'm going to do. I'm going to contact some coaches that are available and I'm hoping to have somebody in place (by) early July.”
Soetaert announced earlier Sunday that Hartsburg, 51, had resigned after two seasons as the Silvertips’ head coach. Hartsburg is expected to be named associate head coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, likely at some point this week.
In the meantime, Soetaert is looking for Everett’s fourth head coach — after Kevin Constantine, John Becanic and Hartsburg — as the franchise prepares for its ninth WHL season.
Soetaert also told Myhre that he will want a three-year commitment from the next head coach because “I'm not going to lose a coach after a year or two.”
Everett went 74-54-16 in the two seasons that Hartsburg was head coach, although he missed a chunk of last season after undergoing open-heart surgery. He was the Western Conference nominee as coach of the year for 2009-10.
If you’re not aware, this is one of the plum head-coaching jobs in major junior hockey. The Silvertips are a first-class organization with some terrific young talent on the way and you can bet Soetaert is going to hear from a lot of potential coaches.
By the way, Soetaert also told Myhre that assistant coach Chris Hartsburg, who is Craig’s son, is expected to return.
Jay Varady, the club’s other assistant coach last season, left earlier in the summer for a head-coaching position in France.
Myhre’s complete story is right here.
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Everett joins the Moose Jaw Warriors and Seattle Thunderbirds as WHL teams without head coaches.
The Warriors parted company with Dave Hunchak after the season, while the Thunderbirds did the same with Rob Sumner.
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JUST NOTES: D Jared Cowen, who has been with the AHL’s Binghamton Senators since the Spokane Chiefs’ season ended, suffered a concussion on Saturday night and won’t play in Game 6 of the Calder Cup final. Cowen was hurt in the first period of the Senators’ 4-2 victory over the visiting Houston Aeros on Saturday. The Senators take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 on Tuesday in Houston. . . . Binghamton assistant coach Steve Stirling also will miss the remainder of the series. He experienced chest pains while at the Binghamton arena on Sunday afternoon and later in the day underwent what the teams is calling “successful” quadruple bypass surgery. Stirling, 51, is from Clarkson, Ont. He spent more than a season as head coach of the NHL’s New York Islanders before ending up with the Senators.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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