D Chris Schmidt (Seattle, 1992-96) signed a one-year contract with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had one goal and one assist in 33 games this season for Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL). . . .
F Nigel Dawes (Kootenay, 2001-05) and F Dustin Boyd (Moose Jaw, 2002-06) signed one-year contracts with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL). Dawes had one assist in 13 games with the Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens and 41 goals and 31 assists in 66 games with Chicago Wolves and Hamilton Bulldogs (both AHL) this season. Boyd had one goal in 10 games with Montreal and 20 goals and nine assists in 47 games with Hamilton this season. . . .
F Frantisek Mrazek (Red Deer, 1997-99) signed a one-year contract extension with the Landshut Cannibals (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had 10 goals and eight assists in 29 games for tthe Cannibals this season.
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The hockey fans of Winnipeg have gotten back their NHL franchise. Granted, it’s not the same franchise that was taken away from them — that one is in Phoenix now — but
the Manitoba capital is back in the club.Now all that needs be done is for those same fans to cough up for 13,000 season tickets.
That, according to NHL comissioner Gary Bettman, would be a great show of support in advance of the board of governors’ June 21 meeting at which the sale of the franchise is expected to be voted on.
Season tickets are priced from $1,755 to $5,805, and the NHL wants at least a three-year commitment. So, for you and your partner to get in on the cheap, this reignited love affair with the NHL is going to cost you close to $12,000 before you even know the team’s nickname.
As for that nickname, hockey fans everywhere seem to be clamouring for Jets. But if that was going to happen, you would think the announcement would have been made Tuesday. No?
Perhaps the new owners are looking for a commercial tie-in. Does Manitoba Pilseners have a certain ring to it, or what?
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Now that the NHL has moved the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, where does it go next?
The next time an existing NHL franchise is looking for a soft landing place, what city will be used as leverage? In other words, a year from now, when city council in Glendale, Ariz., is under the gun again, what city will be rumoured as the next home of the Coyotes?
Quebec City would love to get back in, but doesn’t have a building.
There is an NHL-calibre building in Portland but only in the last while has there been any sort of movement to attract a franchise. Things are in the preliminary, preliminary stages, though, and there are miles and miles to go. The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers are owned by Paul Allen, who hasn’t shown any serious interest in the NHL. Bill Gallacher, who owns the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and a piece of the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, at one point was attempting to purchase the Dallas Stars.
There is an empty arena in Kansas City but, again, there doesn’t seem to have been much interest shown there. Until now, at least.
Bill Daly, the NHL’s second-in-command, admitted last week that there have been preliminary talks with someone in Seattle, but that city doesn’t have a building that meets NHL standards.
Of course, Atlanta is home to a facility that does.
This is what ESPN refers to as a developing situation.
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My satellite TV provider gives me five Rogers Sportsnet channels.
Five!
On Tuesday afternoon, four of those channels were showing poker. Two of them were carrying Poker After Dark, although it was 1:30 pm., which, I suppose, is after dark. The other two were carrying a program simply referred to on the channel guide as Poker.
No, I didn’t watch. But it has me wondering: Do enough people watch poker on TV that it warrants coverage on four channels at the same time? Or is it such cheap programming that it’s worth it considering the number of viewers of afternoon TV?
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The Rexall Spots Corporation has hired Darryl Porter, a former part-owner of the Tri-City Americans and Chilliwack Bruins, as vice-president of family brands.
According to a news release, he will be “responsible for both the Oil Kings in the Western Hockey League and the Edmonton Capitals of the North American Baseball League. Both teams are part of the Rexall Sports Corporation, which also owns and operates the NHL's Edmonton Oilers . . .“Porter's passion and knowledge in operating minor league teams, including his extensive experience in sponsorship sales, ticket sales and brand building, makes him the ideal leader for the Oil Kings and Capitals.”
Porter is an Edmonton native.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will induct former players Blair Atcheynum and Derek Kletzel, along with ex-radio voice Rob Carnie, into the Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame.
The banquet is Aug. 19 with a golf tournament on Aug. 20, all of it presented by Conexus. . . . Atcheynum (1986-89) had 189 points, including 105 goals, in 143 games with the Warriors. He holds the club record for goals (70) in a season (1988-89). Kletzel (1988-92) is a former Warriors captain who played 190 games with Moose Jaw. He finished with 183 points, including 100 assists. Kletzel is part-owner of Julien's Fitness and Rehab in Moose Jaw and is the analyst on Warriors’ radio broadcasts. . . . Carnie spent 15 years as the voice of the Warriors on CHAB.———
The case of headshots in the Memorial Cup reached the floor of the Ontario Legislature on Tuesday when Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Murdoch called for the resignation of David Branch, who is the president of the OHL and the commissioner of the CHL.
Bill Walker of the Owen Sound Sun Times had that story right here.
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| STU MacGREGOR |
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
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