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F Riley Holzapfel (Moose Jaw, 2004-08) has signed a one-year extension with the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erset Bank Liga). Last season, he had a 22 goals and 31 assists in 54 games, leading the team in goals, assists and points in the regular season. In the playoffs, he had 12 goals and 11 assists in 12 games, leading all league scorers in goals and points. . . . Holzapfel won the Ron Kennedy Trophy as the league’s MVP. That trophy is named after a former Austrian national team head coach. Kennedy played (Estevan/New Westminster Bruins, 1970-73) and coached (Medicine Hat, 1988-90) in the WHL. Kennedy, who passed away on July 9, 2009 from cancer, was Austria’s head coach from 1996-2002. . . .
F Brady Ramsay (Lethbridge, 2010-14) has signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). Last season, he had three goals and eight assists in 42 games with the Indy Fuel (ECHL).
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed D Ty Bauer to a WHL contract. Bauer, who is from Cochrane, Alta., was a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. Last season, with the bantam AAA Airdrie, Alta., Xtreme, he had three goals and 14 assists in 36 games.
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F Alex Swetlikoff, a third-round selection by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft, said Wednesday that he will attend the U of Denver and play for the Pioneers. Swetlikoff, who is from Kelowna, will turn 16 on July 6. Last season, he had 19 goals and 26 assists in 28 games with the Yale Hockey Academy’s prep team in Abbotsford, B.C.
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The WHL released its 2017-18 exhibition schedule on Wednesday. It begins on Aug. 29 when the Swift Current Broncos visit the Moose Jaw Warriors. The WHL’s release and the schedule are right here. . . . According to the WHL, it will release its regular-season schedule later this month.
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F Thomas Foster, who played five WHL seasons, will attend UBC and play for the Thunderbirds in 2017-18. Foster, 21, played most of his WHL career (2012-17) with the Vancouver Giants, who dealt him to the Moose Jaw Warriors last season. In 289 regular-season games, he had 53 goals and 93 assists. Last season, the native of Slave Lake, Alta., had 21 goals and 27 assists in 68 games.
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Former WHL D Bryan McCabe has been promoted by the NHL’s Florida Panthers to director of player personnel. He had been director of player development. McCabe, 42, played in 1,135 NHL games after having played four seasons (1991-95) with the Medicine Hat Tigers, Spokane Chiefs and Brandon Wheat Kings.
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If Don Matthews wasn’t the best defensive co-ordinator and/or head coach in CFL history, he certainly is in the conversation. Matthews died on Wednesday at the age of 77 after a lengthy illness. He truly was one of the great characters in CFL history. I was at the Regina Leader-Post while Matthews was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach, so got to sit through a number of his news conference. At the time, Darrell Davis was on the CFL beat at The Leader-Post; he remembers Matthews, on and off the field, in a wonderful piece that is right here.
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The OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs have added Dave Matsos to their staff as an associate coach. He spent the last four years with the Sudbury Wolves, the last two-and-a-half as head coach. Matsos, 43, also has been an assistant coach for three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires. Earlier, he guided England’s Sheffield Steelers to three straight EIHL championships. . . . In Hamilton, he will work alongside head coach John Gruden.
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The OHL’s Kitchener Rangers have signed Andreas Karlsson as an assistant coach, after announcing that associate coach Jason Fortier’s contract won’t be renewed. Karlsson spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the York U Lions. Prior to that, he was the head coach of Frölunda HC J20 in Sweden’s top junior league. A sixth-round pick by the Calgary Flames in the NHL’s 1993 draft, Karlsson enjoyed a 19-year pro career that included stints with the Atlanta Thrashers and Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . In Kitchener, he will work alongside head coach Jay McKee and assistant coach Matthew Barnaby.
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That moment when Joe Hicketts decides it would be a good idea to put the octopi on his head. @griffinshockey Calder Cup Champs #news8 pic.twitter.com/vYhshzZ9Az— Larry Figurski (@larryfigurski) June 14, 2017
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