Saturday, July 8, 2017

Do Hitmen have their men? ... Big day for Seibel family ... Ice adds a coach


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Scattershoot

 Spent most of Saturday inside taking a break from the smoke, so here’s some scattershooting . . . 
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Mark Recchi, who is from Kamloops and stands about 5-foot-8, played 21  NHL seasons and, according to hockeyzoneplus.com, had career earnings of US$50,943,000.
Kelly Olynyk, who is from Kamloops and is a 7-footer, has played four NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics and, according to sportrac.com, has career earnings of US$9,321,294. A few days ago, he agreed to a four-year deal with the Miami Heat that could pay him $50 million.
Yes, Olynyk will make almost as much over the next four seasons as Recchi made in 21 seasons.
Over his first eight seasons, Recchi was paid $9,133,000. When Olynyk’s four-year deal with the Heat is up, he will have been paid $59,321,294 over eight seasons.
Meanwhile, James Harden, now with the Houston Rockets, has agreed to a four-year extension that, starting in 2019-20, would pay him US$37.8 million, $40.8 million, $43.8 million and $46.8 million.
If you see anything about Harden and $228 million, that total includes his salary over the next two seasons, too. No matter how you look at it, though, that’s a lot of dough. You just wonder where it all ends, though, don’t you?

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Yes, we are burning up in B.C.
The photo was taken off our deck, facing east, on Saturday at 1 p.m. You can’t see it, but Mount
Martin is located through all that smoke.
Yes, this is quite similar to the late summer of 2003 although the fires aren’t (yet?) quite as close to Kamloops as they were in that hot time.
Still, you hear nightmarish stories . . . like the employee of a shop in a local mall who on Saturday, with smoke everywhere, says she noticed a woman in a van smoking while hooked up to a portable oxygen tank.
The smoker flipped the butt out the window, so the employee walked over, ground the butt into the asphalt and reprimanded the smoker. The employee also said that she was going to jot down the licence plate, and walked around to the rear of the van to do just that.
At which point, the smoker started the van and put it in reverse.
Injuries were avoided.
Welcome to the burning of B.C.
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“Cornerback Shareece Wright took a 450-mile Uber ride to Buffalo to make the Bills’ voluntary offseason workout,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “At the very least, he's a lock for the taxi squad.”
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Here’s a great suggestion, as passed along by Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times . . .
Author unknown, with a good argument for calling one’s toilet the Jim instead of the John: “It sounds better when I say I go to the Jim first thing every morning.”
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You make the call, suggests the afore-mentioned Perry . . .
The greatest 99 in history is:
Wayne Gretzky
J.J. Watt
George Mikan
Warren Sapp
Aaron Judge
Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn
Barbara Feldon
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 D William Wrenn (Portland, 2010-12) has signed a one-year contract with Bolzano (Italy, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, he had three goals and six assists in 38 games with the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
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 The next general manager of the Calgary Hitmen?
A well-connected source has told Taking Note that the position is to be filled by Jeff Chynoweth, the
former president, governor and general manager of the Kootenay Ice.
Chynoweth, his mother Linda and brother Dean recently sold the Ice, leaving the WHL without a Chynoweth involved for the first time since 1972.
The Hitmen have been without a general manager since May 15 when Mike Moore, who had been the vice-president of business operations and GM, was named vice-president and alternate governor.
The Hitmen also are in need of a head coach, Mark French having left after three seasons in order to coach in Switzerland.
Jeff Chynoweth also has worked with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Medicine Hat Tigers, Red Deer Rebels and Spokane Chiefs. He was Kootenay’s general manager for 16 seasons (2001-17). The Ice won WHL titles in 2000, 2002 and 2011, also winning the Memorial Cup in 2002.
Meanwhile, it has been suggested to Taking Note that the leading candidate to replace French as Calgary’s head coach is Dallas Ferguson, who has been at the U of Alaska-Fairbanks since 2004. Ferguson, a 44-year-old from Wainwright, Alta., was an assistant coach with the Nanooks for four seasons and has been the head coach since 2008-09.
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If you are wanting to attend the seventh annual TeamSnap Hockey Coaches Conference in Vancouver but haven’t yet registered, well, we have a deal for you.
The conference runs Friday and Saturday and here’s how you can get 20 per cent off your ticket: Simply click right here to register and enter the coupon code TakingNote to receive the discount.
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There was exciting news in the Seibel household on Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps FC announced that Sophia, daughter of Teresa and Steve, has been selected on a full-time basis to the Girls Elite REX (Regional Excel Centre) Program that operates out of Burnaby, B.C. Entrance to this program is by invitation only, so this is a great accomplishment.
From the news release:
“Sophia joined TOFC (Thompson-Okanagan FC) as an intake U12 player in 2014. She is a technically and tactically strong player who has become a perennial BC Soccer High Performance Program selection. She has been part of the Whitecaps FC Prospects Academy in Kamloops for the past three years. Her highly competitive character will serve her well as she moves on to the next level of high performance soccer.”
Sophia’s brother, Sol, was selected by the Swift Current Broncos in the seventh round of the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. A defenceman, he played last season as a 17-year-old with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, putting up eight assists in 49 games.
Teresa is a triathlon competitor and coach, who, among other things, also is a swim coach.
Steve, a lawyer in Kamloops, is a basketball referee who has worked in three Olympic Summer Games, including last summer in Rio de Janeiro, and countless other international games.
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The Kootenay Ice has named Doug Swanson as its mental skills coach. . . . From a news release: “Swanson has more than 20 years of experience as a mental skills coach, working with numerous athletes in diversified sports disciplines including hockey, basketball, figure skating, golf, volleyball, ringette, baseball, swimming, synchronized swimming and gymnastics. (He) has worked with numerous high-performance hockey programs in the WHL, Hockey Alberta and currently supports the U18 and development female high performance program.” . . . Swanson, from Sorrento, B.C., has a masters in educational psychology, along with a bachelor of education in special education, and a mental deficiency nursing diploma. He is a retired teacher, having taught for 32 years.
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I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).
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