D Mike Card (Kelowna, 2002-06) has signed a one-year contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, DEL2), he had nine points, including three goals, in 46 games. Card has dual Canadian-German citizenship. . . .
F Jan Eberle (Seattle, 2006-08) has signed a one-year extension with Kladno (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). Last season, with Kladno in Extraliga, he had eight points, one of them a goal, in 41 games. He was pointless in seven games while on loan to České Budějovice (Czech Republic, 1. Liga). With Kladno in Extraliga relegation and qualification series, he had 13 points, including four goals, in 18 games.
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1. There’s nothing better than a good, old-fashioned pithing match between an ink-stained wretch and a talking head. Right? . . . On Thursday, Regan Bartel, the veteran voice of the Kelowna Rockets, opined on the move by F Tyson Jost to turn his back on the Everett Silvertips, at least for now, and join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. In brief, Bartel wrote that the 16-year-old Jost likely feels that he wouldn’t get much playing time under “defensive-minded” Kevin Constantine, Everett’s head coach. . . . On Friday, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald sat down at his keyboard and poked holes in Bartel’s theory, also pointing out that Constantine hasn’t had any problems putting 16-year-olds on the ice. . . . Bartel’s piece is right there -- it’s the second-last item in a notebook. . . . Patterson’s blog piece is right here. . . . Gentlemen, will it be swords or pistols? . . . OK. OK. So it's not really a big pithing match. But, hey, it helps to kill a slow day, doesn't it?
2. The good people of Prince Albert held a Relay For Life overnight and into this morning. One of the teams taking part is Team Brucester, comprising members of the Prince Albert Raiders’ staff, along with Jessica and Briane Vance. They are the daughters of Bruce Vance, the Raiders’ business manager and director of marketing, who was diagnosed with colon cancer late in 2013. Sarah Stone of paNOW has a piece right here on the Vance girls and their reaction to the support he is receiving.
3. The Prince George Cougars are hoping that Marnie Hamagami is able to recapture the magic and make beautiful music with their fans. Hamagami is leaving her position as general manager of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra to take over as the Cougars’ director of sales and marketing. She beings her new job on Monday. . . . Hamagami spent two seasons with the PGSO. According to a Cougars’ news release: “Since Hamagami took the helm, ticket sales are up 15 per cent, labour relations with the musicians are in excellent shape and the whole feel of the organization is one of positive growth and change.”
4. G Mackenzie Skapski of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. . . . Skapski, from Abbotsford, B.C., was 28-20-4, 2.70, .916 last season, his third with the Ice. . . . He will turn 20 on June 15. . . . People may have forgotten that Skapski was with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins when their bus hit some black ice near Williams Lake, B.C., and ended up on its side. As Dan Kinvig reported in the Abbotsford, B.C., News: “Skapski suffered the most serious injuries of anyone on the team – he sustained a broken nose and a fractured orbital bone, and had surgery to place a couple of plates in (one) cheek and to remove a blood clot beside his brain. During his convalescence, he lost 30 pounds, dropping from 155 to 125.” . . . One of the results of the rehabbing was that he got into only 19 games with the Ice in his freshman season -- of course, he also was playing behind Nathan Lieuwen -- and was bypassed in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . But knowing what Skapski has been through, and how hard he has worked, it makes it awfully easy to pull for him.
5. The Montreal Canadiens have signed D Dalton Thrower (Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2009-14) to a three-year entry-level contract. Thrower was a second-round selection by Montreal in the NHL’s 2012 draft. Last season, one that was ended prematurely by ankle problems, Thrower had 39 points, including 12 goals, in 42 games. The 20-year-old from Squamish, B.C., was the Giants’ captain.6. The Los Angeles Kings lost 4-3 to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks in Friday night’s Stanley Cup game. That series is tied 3-3 with the teams headed to Chicago and Game 7 on Sunday. . . . After the game, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was asked: “What did you say to the team after the loss?” . . . His response: “We fly at 11.”
7. If you’re wondering why anyone would pay US$2 billion for an NBA franchise, which is almost four times the record price for an NBA franchise, Ken Belson and Richard Sandomir of The New York Times have the answer right here.
8. D Nick Nonis, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis, has committed to playing for the BCHL’s Powell River Kings in 2014-15. From Hampton Falls, N.H., Nonis has committed to the U of New Hampshire and is expected to play there starting in 2015-16 or the following season. . . . Nonis, who turns 19 on Dec. 19, has played the past three seasons at The Governors Academy, a prep school in Byfield, Mass. . . . His father was a defenceman with the BCHL’s Burnaby Bluehawks in 1982-83 before going on to play four seasons at the U of Maine.
9. The QMJHL has slashed the amount of money its teams pay 20-year-old players, putting it more in line with the OHL and WHL. Mike Sanderson of Yahoo! Canada Sports has more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Eric Wellwood has joined the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as an assistant coach. Wellwood, the brother of former NHLer Kyle Wellwood, ended his playing career after suffering a serious leg injury in April 2013 while with the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. . . . In the OHL, he played for the Windsor Spitfires, winning two Memorial Cup titles with them.---
Clint Mylymok is the new head coach of the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds, who play out of the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. . . . Mylymok spent last season as the head coach of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association. For two seasons prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Hounds. Mylymok replaces Kevin White, who had been the head coach since the summer of 2010.---
From Sunaya Sapurji (@sunayas) of Yahoo! Canada Sports: “Under the OHL's new contracts overagers would make in the area of $900 per month (that includes $470 monthly reimbursement plan). #QMJHL”
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