Blades, Pats cut a deal . . . NHL facing another concussion-related lawsuit

THE DEAL: The Saskatoon Blades acquired D Isaac Schacher, 19, from the Regina Pats for an eighth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft.
THE SKINNY: The Pats, who had nine defencemen on their roster, get a draft pick for an older player who was in tough to stick. . . . The Blades continue to shape a roster that didn’t make the playoffs last sesaon.
THE ANALYSIS: Saskatoon hopes that the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Schacher will bring some physical play to their back end. He played 35 games with the Victoria Royals and 25 with Regina last season, putting up nine points, eight of them assists. He also was plus-22. . . . In junior B, playing with his hometown Kimberley, B.C., Dynamiters, he had 63 points in 95 games over two seasons, so there might be more offence there than he has shown. . . . Schacher now is one of 10 defencemen on Saskatoon’s roster.

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Last week, the WHL announced that Yves Lacasse, a retired RCMP superintendent, was being brought on board as its voluntary security officer.
On Wednesday, in a Kamloops courtroom, Lacasse was described as a “bully” who headed up an RCMP detachment that was “dysfunctional in the extreme.”
This was all part of testimony that was heard during a trial B.C. Supreme Court in which RCMP Cpl. Rick Brown is facing a charge of breach of trust by a public officer. It involves his role in an incident that involved two intoxicated women taking part in explicit sex acts while jailed.
Retired Staff Sgt. Gary Kerr testified that Lacasse was “was extremely, extremely difficult to work for. He was an extreme bully.”
Tim Petruk of Kamloops This Week was in the courtroom and his story is right here.
When the WHL announced Lacasse’s appointment, Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week wrote a story in which Lacasse spoke about what he hoped and planned on doing in the new position. That story is right here.
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The Prince George Cougars got down to two goaltenders by releasing G Matt Kustra, 17, who was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. He is expected to join the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . The Cougars, who open against the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday, are carrying 27 players, including goaltenders Ty Edmonds, 18, and Tavin Grant, 16. . . . Prince George has 10 defencemen on its roster, including veteran Raymond Grewal, 19, who is injured, and 15 forwards, including the injured David Soltes.
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Ma’ake Kemoeatu played for the Baltimore Ravens. His brother, Chris, played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Today, neither one is playing football, nor will they. . . . Chris needed a kidney transplant. Ma’ake, the oldest of seven children, was quick to offer up a kidney. . . . The transplant took place on Aug. 27. . . . The complete story, and it’s an interesting one, is right here.
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THE CONCUSSION REPORT:

"A new lawsuit filed against the National Hockey League by two former players alleges that three in 10 retired players have, or will have, brain damage from head injuries or concussions," writes Rick Westhead, TSN's senior correspondent. "The startling allegation is being made in a statement of claim filed by Sasha Pokulok, who was selected by the Washington Capitals with the 14th overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft,  and Simon Danis-Pepin, a 2006 second-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks."
There now have been at least six concussion-related lawsuits filed against the NHL.
Westhead's complete story is right here.
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A story at sciencedaily.com begins: “An experimental positron emission tomography (PET) tracer is effective in diagnosing concussion-related brain disease while a person is still alive, according to a case study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and at Molecular Neuroimaging (MNI) LLC in New Haven, and published September 16 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.”
What this means is that the medical community is that much closer to being able to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a living person.
The Science Daily story is right here.
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David Ash, the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, has given up football due to multiple concussions. He suffered his third concussion in the last year in the Longhorns’ season-opener against North Texas. Ash was held out of Texas’s last two games, but now has retired. . . . Ash is the second NCAA starting QB, joining Uconn’s Casey Cochran, to quit in the last few days because of concussion problems.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have released F Ryan Pruden, 18, getting their roster down to 27 players, including 10 defencemen and 15 forwards. Pruden, a 13th-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2011 bantam draft, was pointless in three games with the Blades last season. A Winnipegger, he also played last season with the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons and OCN Blizzard. He is expected to return to the MJHL. . . .
Scott Sepich, a Portland freelancer, tweeted Tuesday that F Adam de Champlain, 20, had left the Portland Winterhawks for the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. The Winterhawks confirmed it on Wednesday, saying in a news release that de Champlain “has elected” to play in the AJHL. . . .
The Edmonton Oilers’ rookies beat the U of Alberta Golden Bears 4-2 in their annual game last night at Clare Drake Arena. More than 3,000 fans paid $30 a pop to watch the game.
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The NFL is out of control. More arrests in a week than the NHL has had in years. You make millions! How hard is it to not be an idiot?!
— Brody Sutter (@Sutts19) September 18, 2014

The night Fleury was traded to the Pats . . . 2016 Memorial Cup will be in Red Deer or Vancouver

F Layne Ulmer (Swift Current, 1997-2001) has signed a one-year extension with Asiago (Italy, Serie A). Last season, he had 35 points, including 17 goals, in 23 games.
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While tooling around the Internet the other night, I stumbled upon a book that was released this month. Written by David Ward, its title is: The Lost 10 Point Night (Searching for My Hockey Hero . . . Jim Harrison).
Jim Harrison (Estevan, 1966-68) was a terrific hockey player who battled back problems through his career; in fact, there is no doubt that the back woes kept him from being the player he could have been.
A straight shooter who had, and still has, issues with Alan Eagleson, the NHLPA, many of today's well-paid players and on and on, Harrison is a great subject for a book. Yes, there is a lot of straight shooting between the covers of this one. There also are a whole lot of great anecdotes from Harrison and many former WHL, NHL and WHA teammates.
If you are a follower of the WHL, you may recall that after his playing days, Harrison started 1987-88 as the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors.
While Harrison was with the Warriors, their star player was Theo Fleury. He was in his final of four WHL seasons in 1987-88; he would put up 160 points, including 68 goals, in 65 games.
There was a time early in that season, according to Harrison, when Fleury almost became a member of the Regina Pats.
The Pats at the time were owned by a group of Regina businessmen, including Bill Hicke, who had played in the NHL (Montreal Canadiens) and had been a teammate of Harrison's with the WHA's Edmonton Oilers.
So . . . there was this night when Hicke, who loved rum and coke, and Harrison, who was a beer guy, sat down to talk . . .
“Billy owned the Regina Pats when I coached in Moose Jaw,” Harrison tells Ward. “Then, because there are a lot of political things that go on in hockey, suddenly I'm not only coaching but I'm running the show for a couple of months. We knew Theo Fleury was leaving and the team wasn't doing very well. So I decided I was going to trade Fleury to Regina because Regina had a shot at the Memorial Cup, and we needed more guys who could make us better.
“Billy and I made a deal over a bottle of rum. Then ownership got word that I was going to trade Fleury, and I was fired the next day. Fleury never went to Regina, and the Pats didn't make it to the Memorial Cup.”
Ward's book is available right here.
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Here’s more of the Jim Harrison story . . .
Harrison, in his first season as the Warriors' head coach, was fired on Dec. 8, 1987, moments after a 7-4 victory over the visiting Saskatoon Blades, 7-4.
Art Schoenroth, then the team's president, blamed a poor record (12-19-0) and declining attendance. The Warriors replaced Harrison with Gerry James, a former CFL and NHL player who was a legendary owner/coach in the junior A SJHL.
In February 2007, with the Warriors this time having fired head coach Steve Young, Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post would write:
“At least the Warriors got around to telling Young he was dismissed. Such a courtesy was not extended to Jim Harrison. In 1987, the Warriors announced that Harrison had been ashcanned without bothering to deliver the news to the deposed coach. Harrison's wife, Liz, learned of the firing when a newspaper reporter (yours truly) called the family's residence, seeking comment.”
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THE DEAL: The Saskatoon Blades acquired G Michael Herringer, 18, from the Victoria Royals on Tuesday. According to the WHL website, the Blades gave up “conditional draft pick(s).”
THE SKINNY: Herringer was a ninth-round selection in the 2011 WHL bantam draft. From Comox, B.C., he got into two games with the Royals in 2012-13, going 1-0-0/2.39/.925. Last season, he played with the junior B Nanaimo Buccaneers and Kerry Park Islanders.
THE ANALYSIS: The Blades add a third goaltender to the mix, as Herringer joins veteran Troy Trombley, 20, and freshman Trevor Martin, 18. With Trombley being 20, adding another goaltender may provide them with another option in terms of adding a 20-year-old forward or, more likely, defenceman. . . . The Royals get a possible draft pick, or picks, for an asset, while they are prepared to open the season with veteran Coleman Vollrath, 19, and freshman Evan Smith, 17, as their goaltenders. Smith is from Parker, Colo.
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The Victoria Royals have pulled out of the bidding for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament, leaving the Red Deer Rebels and Vancouver Giants to duke it out for the hosting rights.
Combine the Royals’ apparent evolution into a solid team and Victoria’s role as a tourist destination, you have to think it’s a shoo-in somewhere down the road, perhaps in 2019.
“As a wise man once said,” Royals GM Cam Hope told Taking Note last night, “you got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.”
The Royals went into the bidding for 2016 not knowing who else would be involved. Once the bids from Red Deer and Vancouver were made official, the Royals “reassessed and decided to step aside this time,” according to Hope.
You can bet, then, that Victoria will be back in the picture when it comes time to bid on the 2019 tournament.
“We’ll focus on 2019,” Hope added, “and on playing our way into the tournament in the meantime.”
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that the WHL’s board of governors will hear proposals from Red Deer and Vancouver, and will select a host site on Oct. 8.
“Voters will be looking into the financial viability of both (bids),” Ewen writes, “since a percentage of the cash goes to the league. They will also focus on which team should be more competitive, due to the fact the host spot includes that automatic berth to the tournament.
“The Saskatoon Blades beat out the Rebels . . . and the Kelowna Rockets for the 2013 host berth, and proceeded to get eliminated in four straight games in the first round of the WHL playoffs. They ended up sitting idle for 51 days. and wound up last in the Memorial Cup,
“No one will give out exact dollar figures, but Red Deer owner/operator Brent Sutter said last season that that financial guarantee the Blades offered the league to host the event was $900,000 more than what Red Deer offered.”
Vancouver played host to the Memorial Cup in 2007. The Memorial Cup was last held in Alberta in 1974.
The 2015 tournament is scheduled to be held in Quebec City.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province takes a look right here at Victoria Royals F Tyler Soy, who is poised to become a really solid WHL player.
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The Victoria Royals and head coach Dave Lowry have agreed on a multi-year contract extension. The exact length wasn't released, but an educated guess would be three years with a club option on a fourth year.
Lowry is going into his third season as the Royals' head coach, and chances are this was to have been the third year of an original three-year deal. That being the case, and if the extension is for three years, he’ll now be signed through 2017-18.
The Royals are 83-50-11 in regular-season games during his tenure. He is the WHL's reigning coach of the year after going 48-20-4, for the franchise's first 100-point season, in 2013-14. The 48 victories and 100 points set franchise single-season records.
Lowry joined the Royals after spending three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL's Calgary Flames. Prior to that, he was on the coaching staff of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen for four seasons, working as assistant coach, associate coach and head coach.
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The Saskatoon Blades have released veteran F Logan Harland, 19. From Frenchman Butte, Sask., Harland had 22 points, 13 of them goals, in 84 regular-season games with the Blades over two seasons. He had one goal in three exhibition games. . . . Harland also played 10 games, scoring once, with the Vancouver Giants in 2011-12. . . . The Blades' roster is at 27, including three goaltenders and nine defencemen. . . . The SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers hold Harland’s junior A rights.
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The Spokane Chiefs are down to 27 players after releasing two 16-year-old defencemen, Jeff Faith and Jake Toporowski, on Tuesday. . . . Faith was the 16th overall selection in the 2013 bantam draft. He will play for the midget AAA Notre Dame Hounds in his hometown of Wilcox, Sask. . . . Toporowski, from Bettendorf, Iowa, was a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. The Chiefs aren't yet sure where he will play this season. His father, Kerry, played two seasons (1989-91) with Spokane. . . . The Chiefs are carrying three goaltenders, nine defencemen and 15 forwards.
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The Saskatoon Blades haven't had a first-round pick in any of the last four bantam drafts. But they have three players on their roster who were first-round selections of other teams. “Every team in the league, including us, is going to have a situation where it doesn’t work out for a player for whatever reason,” Blades managing partner Colin Priestner told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. “Especially given that we haven’t had any first-round picks for the last (four) years, we opted to look outside the box to find players that some teams might call reclamation projects. We want to get to a position where we do enough homework that we’re confident we’re getting someone at 60 cents or sometimes 10 cents on the dollar if you look at where their talent level might be. It’s believing in our organization that we can put them in a situation where we’re confident we can turn their career around.” . . . Nugent-Bowman's complete story is right here.
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Portland freelancer Scott Sepich tweeted Tuesday: “20-year-old Adam De Champlain is no longer with @pdxwinterhawks and is now on the roster of @camrosekodiaks of the AJHL.” De Champlain is from Sherwood Park, Alta. He was a 10th-round pick by the Winterhawks in the 2009 bantam draft. Over the last two seasons, he put up 14 goals and 14 assists in 103 regular-season games. He had two goals and two assists in 41 playoff games. He played for the Kodiaks in 2011-12, before heading to Portland. . . . His departure leaves the Winterhawks with two 20-year-olds -- D Josh Hanson and D Josh Smith.
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The NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and F Ryan Johansen, who is coming off his entry-level deal, have yet to agree on a new contract. And things are getting nasty, real nasty, with president John Davidson throwing around words like "extortion." . . . Ken Campbell of The Hockey News has more right here.
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"Mental illness is a big topic in the life of a hockey player," writes Ashley March of marchhockey.com. "Once things start to slow down and they take a step back to look at their life, that’s when everything comes spiralling out of control. I’ve read it in way too many player biographies. We’re getting better with the NHL’s Hockey Talks campaign but it needs to (be) more than once a year. It’s important to know that it’s okay to ask for help."
March takes an interesting look right here at what might happen when the dream starts to die.
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Any sports league that gets media coverage and knows what it is doing in terms of marketing plays favourites with the media, especially when it comes to providing some reports with exclusive information in return for positive coverage. Stefan Fatsis of Slate has an interesting piece right here about how the NFL may have burned its favoured reporters during the Ray Rice mess.
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Here's how far along Medicine Hat is on its new 7,000 seat arena; it'll be done for next hockey season. #ymm pic.twitter.com/EGu0b1OIXw
— Tyler King (@tyler_king) September 17, 2014

F Alessio Bertaggia of the Brandon Wheat Kings has signed a two-year contract with EV Zug of the Swiss National League A. The contract covers the next two seasons (2013-14 and 2014-15) so Bertaggia is expected to return to the Wheat Kings after he is finished playing for Switzerland at the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia, early in January. . . . Bertaggia, 19, had 34 points, including 16 goals, in 29 games this season. . . . EV Zug announced the signing on its website yesterday. . . . Bertaggia likely wouldn’t have returned to the WHL next season because he would be a 20-year-old import – aka a two-spotter. “That‘s been my expectation all along,”?Brandon owner and general manager Kelly McCrimmon told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun. “… I think with European players, (in) the 20-year-old season it’s not real common that they play major junior, so it’s not a total shock for us.”
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After six games last night, the WHL now goes dark until Dec. 27 when it returns to action with games in Edmonton (Red Deer), Kelowna (Kamloops) and Regina (Moose Jaw).
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Swift Current, F Adam Lowry scored twice as the Broncos dumped the Saskatoon Blades, 3-1. . . . Lowry, who has 23 goals, ran his point streak to 12 games and his goal streak to seven as the Broncos snapped the Blades’ six-game winning streak. . . . Saskatoon F Matej Stransky had his goal-scoring streak end at seven games, while F Josh Nicholls’ point steak ended at seven games. . . . Saskatoon G Alex Moodie had a four-game winning streak halted. . . .

In Calgary, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last four goals and beat the Hitmen 4-1 to win the latest episode in the Battle of Alberta. . . . Trailing 1-0 after one, the Oil Kings scored three times in the second period. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored twice, both shorthanded, for the Oil Kings, giving him 18 on the season. He also drew an assist. . . . Kristen Odland of the Calgary Herald reports that it was the sixth time in franchise history the Hitmen have been burned for two shorties in the same game. . . . Edmonton’s other goals, from D Cody Corbett and F Curtis Lazar, both came via the PP. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 15 shots. He faced just one shot in the third period. . . . The Oil Kings, who have won five in a row, moved past Calgary into first place in the Eastern Conference. Edmonton (23-7-5) has 51 points, one more than Calgary (23-8-4). . . . From your department of poor scheduling: These two teams won’t meet again in this regular season. Seriously! . . . The Hitmen won the first four games in the series, then dropped the last two. . . .

In Lethbridge, F Morgan Klimchuk scored with 32 seconds left in the third period to give the Regina Pats a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . F Craig Leverton had pulled Lethbridge into a 2-2 tie at 16:01. . . . Klimchuk’s 17th of the season won it just 3:18 later. . . . F Jaimen Yakubowski scored his 21st of the season, just 19 seconds into the game. . . . Regina F Lane Scheidl had two assists. . . .

In Red Deer, F Rhyse Dieno had a goal and an assist to lead the Rebels to a 5-1 victory over the Kootenay Ice. . . . The Rebels scored five times in the first period. . . . Dieno has 15 points, including seven goals, in 14 games since joining the Rebels from the SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves. He also is plus-8. . . . Red Deer G Bolton Pouliot stopped 27 shots. He was backed up by Grant Naherniak, a 16-year-old from Moose Jaw who was a fifth-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. He plays for the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. Patrik Bartosak, Red Deer’s No. 1 goaltender, is with the Czech national junior team, while Spencer Tremblay, who was going to play alongside Pouliot, is out with a knee injury. . . . Red Deer freshman F Jesse Miller, who had been out since Nov. 18 with a concussion, returned with two assists, his first points this season. . . . Ice D Jordan Steenbergen, a third-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft, made his WHL debut. Steenbergen, 16, is from Sylvan Lake, Atla. . . .

In Kent, Wash., F Ryan Chynoweth’s first goal of the season broke a 1-1 tie and the Tri-City Americans went on to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds of Kent. . . . Chynoweth, 17, was acquired from the Everett Silvertips early in the season. It was his first goal in 18 games with Tri-City and his third in 89 regular-season games. . . . F Beau McCue scored twice for Tri-City. He’s got 11. . . . Tri-City F Justin Feser added two assists, giving him 288 career regular-season points. That has him in seventh place on the franchise’s all-time list. . . . Tri-City G Eric Comrie stopped 29 shots. . . . Seattle has lost five in a row. . . . The victory was Tri-City’s 20th of the season, marking the fifth time in six seasons it has gotten there by Christmas. . . .

In Spokane, the Portland Winterhawks ran their winning streak to six games with a 4-3 victory over the Chiefs. . . . F Adam (Samuel) de Champlain broke a 3-3 tie at 10:40 of the third. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 37 shots. . . . Portland (29-5-1) leads the WHL’s overall standings by five points over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Nic Petan scored twice for Portland, giving him 24, and now is second in the WHL scoring race, with 60 points, just two behind Kamloops F Colin Smith. . . . Last season, in 61 games, Petan put up 35 points, including 14 goals. . . . Portland has won 25 of its last 27 games.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Griffin Mumby, Regina

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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From former WHLer Benn Olson (@BennyOlson), who now plays for the Coventry Blaze in Great Britain’s Elite League: “30p to use the toilet at Euston station. What will I have to pay for next. I think I got my money's worth.”
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From Swift Current fan Robert Thomas (@Rhino_Bob): “Wife caught me wearing my new @SCBroncos t-shirt I bought, she doesn't know anything about hockey but she did say it was top notch quality”
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From Portland F Chase De Leo (@Dels9): “Xmmmmaaaaassssssss!!!! Wheeeuuu #Home #Cali #Christmas”


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