Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga) announced it won’t offer contracts for next season to seven players, including F Pavel Brendl (Calgary, 1998-2001). He had five goals and three assists in 20 games for Pardubice this season. . . .
F Yannic Seidenberg (Medicine Hat, 2003-04) signed a two-year contract with Munich (Germany, DEL). He had seven goals and 18 assists in 50 games with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) this season.
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Bill Gallacher, the owner of the Portland Winterhawks, has spoken out, at least a little bit, in a question-and-answer session with Paul Buker of The Oregonian.
Gallacher doesn’t comment on specifics involving the whack his franchise took in November when it was fined $200,000 and had a bunch of bantam draft picks taken away. But the one thing he didn’t do was repent.“I am 190 percent behind the guys in Portland,” the Calgary-based Gallacher tells Buker. “It has been disappointing, and frustrating. We've got to be careful about talking in specifics because of the league and where they are but I'm still hopeful, I really am. There is no better human being that I run into than Mike Johnston. So that should say everything that needs to be said about all of that.”
That complete interview is right here.
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There isn’t a better faceoff man in the WHL today than Taylor Peters of the Portland Winterhawks. He is a
primary factor in Portland’s penalty-killing unit being as good as it is. He also is a veteran of 60 playoff games. On top of that, he is a fine writer in his own right. So Paul Buker of The Oregonian asked Peters about the intensity of playoff hockey. . . . Peters’ response, in his own words, is right here.———
The Tri-City Americans have signed F Ty Comrie, who was a third-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft.
He is the younger brother of Tri-City G Eric Comrie. . . . Ty, 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, had 49 points, including 23 goals, in 35 games with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings of the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League. . . . The Comries are from Newport Beach, Calif. . . . The Americans have signed their first five selections from the 2012 draft — D Parker Wotherspoon, F Braden Purtill, D Tyler Fraser and G Evan Sarthou. Comrie and Sarthou were teammates with the Jr. Kings. . . . “Ty is an elite talent at the 1997-age group, turning down five NCAA scholarship opportunities to join our program,” Bob Tory, the Americans’ GM, said in a news release, “and continues to make rapid improvements to his overall game. He is gifted with offensive creativity and, since being drafted, continues to excel among his peers as he has gained size and strength.”———
The Prince George Cougars have signed D Shane Collins, who was a third-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Collins, from Rosetown, Sask., had 24 points, four of them goals, in 39 games with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. . . . The Cougars have signed six of the 11 players taken in the 2012 draft — Collins, F Jansen Harkins, F Brad Morrison, D Tate Olson, F Aaron Boyd and G Matt Kustra.———
F Tim Bozon of the Kamloops Blazers will play for France at the IIHF world championship that is to open in Stockholm and Helsinki on Friday. Bozon, who turned 19 on March 24, was a third-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 2012 draft. He finished this season with 91 points, but suffered a hand injury in the playoffs and missed seven games. . . . France opens against Slovakia on Friday.———
D Marek Hrbas won’t be returning to the WHL for his 20-year-old season. Hrbas, whose return was doubtful anyway because he would be a two-spotter, has signed a two-year contract to play for Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. Hrbas is from Plzen; Sparta Praha plays out of Prague. . . . Hrbas came over as a 16-year-old and played for the USHL’s Fargo Force. He then played one season with the Edmonton Oil Kings before being traded to Kamloops, where he played the last two seasons.———
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have re-signed three members of their on-ice support staff to one-year contracts.
. . . Carolyn Glover returns for a sixth season as the club’s head trainer and athletic trainer. . . . Bob Fretts, the assistant trainer, will be back again. According to a news release, Fretts “has been involved with the team since the beginning.” . . . Steve Szilagyi, the strength and conditioning coach, is coming back for a fourth season.———
The NHL held its draft lottery on Monday and there were only two changes — the Florida Panthers, who were favoured to get the first pick, will select second, with the Colorado Avalanche moving up to No. 1. . . . The Avalanche are expected to select D Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks with that No. 1 pick, and there’s something neat about that. Because it was while his family was living in Denver — his father, Popeye, was playing for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets – that Seth began playing hockey. . . . Mike Chambers of the Denver Post has more right here.———
Don Cherry is the gift that just keeps on giving. . . . By now you are aware of his latest Saturday night rant in which he said female reporters have no place in NHL locker-rooms. . . . Well, back in the day, it seems that Cherry may have been the first head coach in NHL history to open his team’s dressing room to female reporters. Robin Herman, then with The New York Times, tries to tweak Cherry’s memory right here. . . . We can only wait and wonder what Cherry will say, if anything, now that an active professional athlete has stood up and said: “I’m gay.” . . . Herman, by the way, once rode the bus with the Brandon Wheat Kings on a road trip to Flin Flon. You can bet she got some interesting stories on that trek. Come to think of it, she may have been the first female reporter ever to do that, too.
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The Red Deer Rebels are looking for an athletic therapist after Terence Robertson told the team he is leaving. Robertson had been with the Rebels through nine seasons. . . . Robertson will work the Rebels’ prospects camp May 31 through June 2 and then will begin a new job with Collegiate Athletic Therapy & Sports Medicine in Red Deer.———
Jacques Beaulieu, the head coach of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, is facing two assault charges after a weekend incident. On top of that, police are looking to the role his 20-year-old son, Nathan, played in it all. According to Jennifer O’Brien and Patrick Maloney of the London Free Press, the incident occurred Saturday night at a home following a charity golf tournament. Nathan, who spent this season with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, now is with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens for the playoff run. . . . That story is right here.
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PLAYOFF NOTES:
Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal reports that F Trevor Cheek of the Oil Kings is “questionable” for Game 7 tonight. He was injured in Game 5 and played just one shift in Game 6. . . . Daum reports that if Cheek doesn’t play, the Oil Kings are likely to dress seven defencemen, with Stephen Shmoorkoff getting back in the lineup. The Oil Kings already are without D Griffin Reinhart and F Luke Bertolucci due to injuries. . . . The Portland Winterhawks are waiting at home for the winner of tonight’s game. Portland is the seventh team to make three consecutive trips to the WHL final. The Red Deer Rebels (2001-03), Medicine Hat Tigers (1986-88) and Kamloops Blazers (1984-86) appeared in three straight; the New Westminster Bruins (1975-78), Edmonton Oil Kings (1969-72) and Flin Flon Bombers (1968-71) were in four in a row. . . . This will be the Winterhawks' 11th appearance in the WHL final; they won it all in 1982 and 1998. . . . It will be a quick turnaround for the Eastern Conference winner as the final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup begins with games Friday and Saturday in Portland’s Rose Garden.
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Calgary (3)
(Series tied, 3-3; Game 7 in Calgary today, 7 p.m. MT; on Shaw TV, with Dan Russell calling the play.)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Portland wins series, 4-1)
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CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Portland vs. Edmonton/Calgary winner
(Series opens Friday and Saturday in Portland)
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Here is the scheduled for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Game 1: Friday, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Game 3: Tuesday, May 7, at Calgary/Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Game 4: Wednesday, May 8, at Calgary/Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Game 5: Friday, May 10, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x-Game 6: Sunday, May 12, at Calgary/Edmonton, 4 p.m.
x-Game 7: Monday, May 13, at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
x – if necessary
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MONDAY’S GAME:
No Game Scheduled.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (21):
None
CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (6):
None
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