Quiet Thursday rocked by two WHL trades; d-man, goalie on move ... Hey, Tri-City, Eli's coming!

Kelly Olynyk and Connor McDavid now make the same money. Take a drink. A big one.

— Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) July 7, 2017

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G Ville Kolppanen (Lethbridge, 2009-10) has signed a one-year contract with Rögle Ängelholm (Sweden, SHL). Last season, with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL), he was 9-14-3, 2.80, .917 in 30 games. He also had two shutouts. . . .

D Alex Plante (Calgary, 2004-09) has signed a one-year extension with Anyang Halla (South Korea, Asia HL). Last season, he had 12 goals and 12 assists in 48 games. He led all Asia League defencemen in goals. Plante has dual South Korean-Canadian citizenship.

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The Saskatoon Blades have acquired D Seth Bafaro, 17, from the Tri-City Americans in exchange for a

SETH BAFARO

pair of WHL bantam draft picks — a third-rounder selection in 2019 and a fifth-round pick in 2020.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Bafaro, who is from Revelstoke, B.C., had one assist in 28 games with the Americans last season as a 16-year-old freshman. He battled injuries through the season, which limited his playing time.

Tri-City selected him in the third round of the 2015 bantam draft.

With the addition of Bafaro, the Blades could have seven defencemen in training camp with WHL experience. Only Bryton Sayers, who has used up his eligibility, won’t be back.

The Americans, with a surplus of young defencemen, were able to move Bafaro and get a decent return in a pair of draft picks.

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The Spokane Chiefs have acquired G Declan Hobbs from the Kootenay Ice for a seventh-round selection in the 2018 WHL bantam draft.

A third-round pick by the Ice in the 2013 draft, Hobbs, who is scheduled to turn 19 on Aug. 19, got into

DECLAN HOBBS

three games with Kootenay last season, going 0-3, 7.16, .800. He spent most of last season with the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks (1.94, .929 in 13 games).

In 2015-16, Hobbs, who is from Saskatoon, made 24 appearances with the Ice, going 2-14-3, 4.66, .873.

With the acquisition of Hobbs, the Chiefs now have one goaltender from each of five age groups on their depth chart, the others being Dawson Weatherill, 18; Donovan Buskey, 17; Ross Hawryluk, 16; and Campbell Arnold, 15. Hawryluk, a fifth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft, and Arnold, taken in the second round in 2017, aren’t signed to WHL contracts.

Weatherill was 11-14-6 in 36 games last season, while Buskey, in four games, went 0-2-1, 4.25, .866.

Hobbs is the younger brother of Regina Pats D Connor Hobbs, who has signed with the NHL’s Washington Capitals.

Barring more moves, the Ice is expected to go into camp with Mario Petit, 20, and Jakob Walter, 18, scrapping for the starting role. Petit was acquired from the Everett Silvertips in May for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft.

In Everett, Petit backed up veteran workhorse Carter Hart. In 22 games, Petit was 11-5-4, 2.93, .896.

Walter, a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, got into 30 games while backing up Payton Lee, then 20, last season. Walter finished 4-17-2, 5.02, .868.

Also on the Ice depth chart are the likes of Jesse Makaj and Carter Woodside, both 16. Makaj, from North Vancouver, was a second-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft, while Woodside, from Asquith, Sask., was a sixth-round selection in that same draft.

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BTW, if you want to contact me with some information or just feel like commenting on something, you may email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).

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“Former B.C. Lions’ defensive lineman Rick Klassen may have died of lymphoma in December, but an autopsy of his brain has shown extensive chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurological disease that has led to such suspected symptoms as erratic behaviour and dementia,” writes Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail. . . . This one hits close to home, because Klassen’s son, Chad, is an acquaintance as he is a reporter with CFJC-TV here in Kamloops. As well, Rick Klassen played in the CFL while I was involved in coverage for the Regina Leader-Post. . . . One really has to wonder how many more stories like this one will develop as players of Rick Klassen’s generation reach 60 years of age? . . . Maki’s story is right here.

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The Tri-City Americans have hired Eli Wilson as their goaltending coach. He replaces Rejean Beauchemin, who had been with the Americans for two seasons. . . . Wilson is a veteran goaltending coach who has worked with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators. He also has been on staff with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. . . . Jerry Price, the father of G Carey Price of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, remains with the Americans as a goaltending consultant. Carey spent four seasons (2003-07) with the Americans.

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Jason Christie, a former WHL player, is the new head coach of the ECHL’s Jacksonville IceMen, who are affiliated with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Christie is a veteran ECHL coach, having put up a record of 547-349-111 in 14 seasons. He also has a history with the Jets, having worked with previous affiliates in Ontario and Tulsa. He spent the past two seasons as the Tulsa Oilers’ head coach. Prior to that, he was the Ontario Reign’s director of hockey operations and head coach for four seasons. . . . Christie, from Gibbons, Alta., played four seasons (1986-90) with the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Jacksonville franchise has morphed from the Muskegon Fury (1992-2008) to the Muskegon Lumberjacks (2008-10) to the Evansville IceMen (2010-16). The franchise sat out the 2016-17 season.

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Floor is coming along now at the @InnovationCU #iplex. Heat lines in & final layer of sand going down @SCBroncos home opener in 13 weeks! pic.twitter.com/vs5enKNFjN

— Jamie LeBlanc (@Butter_29) July 6, 2017

Brand NEW rinkboards being installed today by the great staff @ProsperaPlace #NewSeason #NewBoards #PuckMarks #Gerry #Kelowna 🚀🐉🌞 pic.twitter.com/eENYQDz59n

— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) July 6, 2017

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Hunchak: I was in the darkest place I'd ever been in

More than a year has gone by since Dave Hunchak left the Kamloops Blazers. They were in Spokane for a Jan. 10 game with the Chiefs when Hunchak, the Blazers’ head coach, left the team and returned home. The team announced that he was on a leave of absence; he never returned. Hunchak has told Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail that his nightmare began with an anxiety attack that ultimately was followed by depression. . . . “The best way I can describe it is: I was in the darkest place I’d ever been in,” Hunchak told Maki. “I was thinking it was possible I could do something I would regret.” . . . Maki’s complete story is right here, and it deals with a lot more than Hunchak, who, by the way, is back to where he was and wanting to get back to coaching. In the meantime, he is working in Kamloops as an electrician.
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“A Canadian lawyer has told Washington state legislators he opposes a bill that might allow Western Hockey League teams to circumvent laws on child labour and minimum wage, a change WHL team executives say is critical for them to stay in business,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN. “In a Feb. 17 letter that was sent to seven Washington state senators and obtained by TSN, Toronto lawyer Ted Charney wrote that he opposes Bill 1930 on behalf of his clients, Lukas Walter and Sam Berg, former major junior hockey players who are now suing the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Charney hopes to have a lawsuit certified as a class action case.” . . . Westhead’s complete story is right here.
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WHL commissioner Ron Robison and the general managers of the four Washington-based teams appeared at a Senate hearing in the state capital of Olympia on Wednesday. Scott Sepich, a Portland-based freelancer, has that story right here.
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The sporting community in Kamloops is coming together to help Peter Friedel, who has done a lot of volunteer work with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior league and the Kamloops Venom junior lacrosse team. . . . The Storm will donate a portion of the gate receipts from its Saturday playoff game to Friedel, and a dinner and dance to benefit him is scheduled for March 7. . . . Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week has more right here.
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F Trevor Cox of the Medicine Hat Tigers has had his suspension set at three games. He was suspended under supplemental discipline for a hit on Calgary F Kenton Helgesen during a game on Saturday. Cox, who already has missed two games, will complete the suspension on Sunday when the Tigers play in Edmonton. . . . Helgesen didn’t play in Calgary’s 2-1 victory over the visiting Tigers on Tuesday.
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F Logan Aasman of the Everett Silvertips doesn’t even know when he first was concussed. He just knows that recovering at home in Medicine Hat wasn’t a whole lot of fun. Aasman, who last played on Nov. 30, finally has been cleared to return and Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has the story right here.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

B.C. DIVISION: Kelowna won at home and now leads the overall standings by two points over idle Brandon. Each teams has 14 games remaining. . . . Vancouver won at home and remains third in the B.C. Division, but now is three points ahead of Kamloops, which lost on the road, and idle Prince George.
U.S. DIVISION: All five teams enjoyed the day off. You have to think players from the four Washington-based teams were watching goings-on in Olympia.
EAST DIVISION: Moose Jaw lost in OT on the road and the loser point lifted it to within seven points of a playoff spot.
CENTRAL DIVISION: Red Deer won on the road. It remains third in the division, four points behind second-place Calgary and nine points ahead of Kootenay, which holds down the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.

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In Vancouver, D Mason Geertsen’s second goal of the game, at 4:11 of OT, gave the Giants a 3-2 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Geertsen, who has 11 goals, had given the Giants a 2-1 lead at 19:28 of the second period. He also drew an assist on his side’s first goal. . . . D Spenser Jensen forced OT with his third goal at 6:06 of the third period. . . . F Jack Rodewald gave Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead with his 27th goal 59 secondsd into the second period. . . . F Thomas Foster scored his 10th at 14:22 of the second, on a PP, to pull the Giants even. . . . F Tyler Benson had three assists for Vancouver. . . . Vancouver was 1-for-2 on the PP; Moose Jaw was 0-for-3. . . . Moose Jaw G Brody Willms stopped 29 shots, six more than Vancouver’s Payton Lee. . . . It was a Hockey Hooky game, meaning a noon start. Moose Jaw had played in a Hockey Hooky game in Victoria the previous day and had come away with a 4-3 victory. . . . F Ty Ronning and D Arvin Atwal were among the Giants’ scratches. News1130 Sports (@News1130Sports) tweeted that “Atwal hasn’t played since off-ice incident last week.” . . . The Giants (25-30-3) have won two in a row. . . . The Warriors (23-30-5) are 2-2-1 on a seven-game road swing that continues Friday in Kamloops. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has a game story right here. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province has a game story right here. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Red Deer Rebels scored two third-period goals and beat the Blades, 4-3. . . . D Amil Krupic’s fifth goal of the season, at 13:41 of the second, had given the Blades a 3-2 lead. . . . D Josh Mahura scored his first WHL goal at 13:56 of the third to tie it and F Preston Kopeck got the winner, his 17th goal of the season, at 15:21. . . . Kopeck, F Riley Sheen and F Wyatt Johnson each had a goal and an assist for Red Deer. Sheen has 17 goals; Johnson has 22. . . . F Wyatt Sloboshan had two assists for the Blades, whose captain, F Brett Stovin, scored his 24th goal. . . . Red Deer G Trevor Martin, who was acquired from the Blades, stopped 30 shots in his first start since being added from the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. He now will return to Melville. . . . Saskatoon G Nik Amundrud turned aside 35 shots. . . . Saskatoon D Brycen Martin had his point streak snapped at 11 games. . . . The Rebels (30-18-9) are 2-0-1 in their last three. . . . The Blades now are 17-37-3. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a game story right here. . . .

In Kelowna, every skater on the roster but one picked up at least one point as the Rockets whipped the Kamloops Blazers, 11-4. . . . Only D Madison Bowey failed to get at least one point. . . . F Tomas Soustal led the way with two goals, giving him eight, and two assists, with F Rourke Chartier adding two goals and one assist. . . . Chartier now leads the WHL with 46 goals, one more than F Cole Sanford of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . D Josh Morrissey also scored twice for the Rockets, giving him 12. They got three assists from F Leon Draisaitl and two from each of F Nick Merkley, F Tate Coughlin and F Cole Linaker. . . . F Collin Shirley scored twice for Kamloops, giving him 20, and added an assist. F Matt Needham also scored his 20th goal this season. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully had two assists. . . . According to a tweet from Kelowna play-by-play voice Regan Bartel: “Last time the @Kelowna_Rockets put up 11 goals on home ice prior to tonight was in an 11-2 win vs. Giants Jan 5/2002.” . . . The Rockets now have beaten the Blazers in 18 straight regular-season meetings. The Blazers last posted a regular-season victory over the Rockets on March 3, 2013, when G Cole Cheveldave stopped 25 shots in a 3-0 shutout in Kamloops. F JC Lipon scored all three Kamloops goals. F Cole Ully and D Ryan Rehill are the only two players off today’s Kamloops roster who played in that game. . . . The Rockets won the last two regular-season meetings that season, all eight last season and another eight this season. The teams will meet twice more this season. . . . The Rockets (45-9-4) have won three in a row. . . . The Blazers (22-31-6) have lost two straight.
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THURSDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)
No Games Scheduled
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FRIDAY’S GAMES
(all times local)
Red Deer at Swift Current, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Prince Albert, 7 p.m.
Saskatoon at Regina, 7 p.m.
Edmonton vs. Kootenay, at Cranbrook, 7 p.m.
Moose Jaw at Kamloops, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Spokane, 7:05 p.m.
Kelowna at Victoria, 7:30 p.m.
Tri-City at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Lethbridge vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
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GM, Head Coach, & Bus Driver. @PeterAnholt guiding us the way for the 1st leg of our trip! #TripleThreat #CaneTrain pic.twitter.com/7gT2xhKXeW
— LethbridgeHurricanes (@WHLHurricanes) February 18, 2015

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jade Galbraith (Saskatoon, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract extension with the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). Galbraith led the league in scoring and assists, was a first team all-star selection, and was the Elite League Player of the Year as he posted 38 goals and 63 assists in 58 games for the Clan last season. . .  .
F Tyker Czuba, who played in one playoff game for Red Deer in 2003, signed a one-year contract with Miskolci Jegesmedve (Hungary, MOL Liga). He had 27 goals and 11 assists in 25 games for Montpellier (France, Division 1) last season. Czuba finished in a tie for most goals in Division 1 last season.
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The latest edition of DubNation is available right here.
It’s more than 70 pages of major junior-related stuff, including some terrific photos, a feature on Portland Winterhawks star Sven Baertschi, a look at the artwork done by Taylor Vause of the Swift Current Broncos, a flashback to when Don Cherry played in the Memorial Cup.
It’s all created by Doyle Potenteau and it’s all free.
So . . . check it out!
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The NHL draft had hardly ended Saturday when the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Post-Dispatch, “notified four amateur scouts that they will not be back with the club — Brian Bates, Andrew Shaw, Artem Telepin and John Williams, who was assistant director of amateur scouting.” . . . Portzline reports that “Bates, Telepin and Williams had been with the Blue Jackets since before they took the ice for their inaugural season in 2000-01. Williams, who scouted Western Canada and especially the Western Hockey League, had a heavy hand in the Blue Jackets' last two No. 1 draft picks, Ryan Johansen (2010) and Ryan Murray (2012).”
It was only a year ago (June 7, 2011) when the Blue Jackets dumped Don Boyd, who was the assistant general manager, and Bob Strumm, their director of pro scouting.
“We believe it was time to make changes in key areas of our organization as we strive to build a championship-caliber team,” Scott Howson, the team’s VP of hockey operations and GM, said at the time.
Boyd had started with Columbus as director of amateur scouting in 1999. Strumm also had been there since 1999.
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It would seem that large goaltenders remain in vogue with NHL teams. The Goalie Guild (@The Goalie Guild) tweeted a draft breakdown by height. . . . Two at 6-foot-5. . . . Five at 6-foot-4. . . . Three at 6-foot-3. . . . Five at 6-foot-2. . . . Seven at 6-foot-1. . . . One each at 6-foot-0 and 5-foot-11. . . .
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Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail reports right here that Hockey Calgary’s desire to remove body checking for peewee players (ages 11 and 12) has been shot down after the city’s 24 associations voted, via secret ballot, to defeat two motions that would have gotten rid of checking prior to next season.
Never mind that a five-year-old study, comparing injuries in this age group between Alberta and Quebec, where hitting isn’t allowed, “showed there was a 33 per cent increase in injuries in Alberta and a higher risk of concussion,” Maki writes.
It will be interesting to see if Hockey Calgary experiences a decrease in registration as those youngsters who don’t want to be banged around gravitate to soccer or baseball or something less physical.


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VIN SCULLY

Every once in a while, you find a real nugget on the Internet.
I mean, a really big chunk of gold.
In this instance, the link arrived via email, sent by Cam Moon, the former WHL goaltender who is the radio voice of the Red Deer Rebels.
Moon, believe it or not, may be a bigger fan of baseball than he is of hockey. Seriously!
Anyway . . . he sent me a link that I am going to share with you. But I am warning you. To enjoy this one, you will need at least three cups of coffee and a headset.
Written and prepared by Daniel Riley, this piece appeared in the October 2011 issue of GQ magazine. It is an interactive story about and with Vin Scully, the greatest play-by-play voice of them all.
There are links to Scully’s actual call  of Sandy Koufax’s perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965, Henry Aaron’s 715th home run on April 8, 1974, Kirk Gibson’s home run on Oct. 15, 1988, and Bill Buckner’s boot on Oct. 25, 1986.
More than that, though, there are conversations with Scully as he reminisces and it doesn’t get any better than that. Chances are you will do what I did — give it all a read and a listen and then file it away for later enjoyment.
Check it all out right here. And you can thank Cam Moon later.
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There is a story in Friday’s Globe and Mail that is headlined: Americans consider ban on fighting in junior ranks, hope Canada follows suit.
Written by Allan Maki, it contains this quote from Jim Johannson, USA Hockey’s assistant executive director of hockey operations:
“Whatever we do there’ll be a fight in junior hockey next season. But if kids are in this level of hockey and fighting x amount of times, then what’s going on? We have a responsibility to safeguard the game at the minor levels. This is not the NHL, and that’s not a criticism of the NHL. These are kids under 20 playing hockey.”
Hallelujah! Someone with some authority understands that it is the responsibility of the adults who are in charge of hockey at this level to safeguard the players.
It seems that during the World Junior Championship there were meetings held that involved USA Hockey, Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and the Canadian Junior Hockey League.
According to Maki, USA Hockey has since held winter meetings and “recommended that fighting be eliminated at the Tier I, II and III levels.”
If the recommendation is adopted — there will be a vote in June — the ban could be in place for next season.
Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to happen in Canada. Well, it isn't going to happen this season or next. But it is going to happen. The writing is on the wall and sooner or later it is going to happen.
Maki quotes Bob Nicholson, the president of Hockey Canada, as saying: “We want to remove fighting from the game, but we don’t want to create other violent acts that may occur. We’ll work hand in hand with USA Hockey.”
Ahh, yes, the creation of “other violent acts” excuse, the thinking being that if players aren’t allowed to punch themselves in the face they’ll hack themselves to death with their sticks.
And then there’s WHL commissioner Ron Robison, who fell back on the old excuse that his league is developing players for the NHL “and we have an understanding to mirror their rules.”
Which, of course, is so much bunkum. For starters, the WHL has no-touch icing; the NHL doesn’t.
“From a WHL/CHL perspective,” Robison told Maki, “we feel strongly our role is to prepare players for the next level and as long as fighting is an element of that, we need to prepare the players so they can protect themselves.”
That ignores the fact that if major junior hockey outlawed fighting, players wouldn’t need to fight to protect themselves.
It also seems that a whole lot of European and NCAA players who have advanced to the NHL are having success while not having done a whole bunch of fighting. Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Toews seem to be making out OK, don’t they?
Of course, Robison has yet to explain how a league that cracked down on headshots as this season started continues to allow its players to punch each other silly.
In Maki’s story, Robison makes the claim that fighting in the WHL is down 10 per cent over a year ago. Maki doesn’t cite any statistics.
But using figures available at hockeyfights.com, it is easy to calculate that fighting in the WHL is on pace to be down less than six per cent.
There were 1,713 fights in 792 games last season. This season, in 529 games, there have been 1,079 fights. That computes to 1,616 fights over an entire season. That would be a reduction of 5.7 per cent.
With the flood of information that has come to light involving brain trauma and concussions and CTE, any hockey league that employs teenagers and continues to allow fighting — and features more than 1,600 fights in a season — should be embarrassed by such numbers.
Let us not forget that there were more than 100 concussions in the WHL last season, a number that resulted in the WHL taking injuries under cover this season and announcing player absences as being due to upper- and lower-body injuries. NHL teams, meanwhile, now are reporting when players are out with concussions.
The WHL’s latest injury report, released Tuesday, lists 49 players as being out with upper-body injuries.
Maki’s complete story is right here.
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Meanwhile, in a story at cbc.ca, Gov. Gen. David Johnston says that fighting shouldn’t be part of the game.
"What other sports say (fighting) is a part of the game?” said Johnston, who played hockey at Harvard. “Least of all in this game, because the essence of this game is the speed and the skill and playmaking. . . .
"If we want our children, both our boys and girls, to be playing this game we don't want them to be subjecting themselves to concussions and so on."
That story is right here.
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Shawn Mullin, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos on The Eagle 94.1 FM, reported Thursday that D Jordan Evans, 19, won’t play again this season.
Evans, from Drumheller, Alta., hasn’t played since Oct. 1.
“At the time,” Mullin reported, “(Evans) apparently took the concussion test and didn’t seem to have one. They thought maybe he had a virus. Since that time he has continued to have concussion-like symptoms and there is apparently not much improvement.
“Evans now is back home in Alberta and his season is apparently done. Given his age and history of concussions this could also mark the end of his WHL career if not his hockey career.”
Evans was in his fourth season in Swift Current. He was pointless in five games this season, but had seven minutes in penalties, five of those coming from a fight with F Dyson Stevenson of the Regina Pats on Sept. 23.
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The Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association is taking body checking out of the game in the rec levels starting next season.
Paul Woods, the executive director of Hockey Winnipeg, has told Doug Lunney of the Winnipeg Sun that “it’s probably long overdue.”
Here’s more from Woods:
“I would like to see it personally. If it’s going to advance the safety of the game and allow some kids to participate in the game a little bit longer, then I would say it would have to be a positive.
“Some of those (negative) comments are coming from traditionalists who don’t want to let the sport go. They feel it’s a man’s game. They grew up in that environment and they’re still holding on to that.”
Woods points out that there are players who leave the game as youngsters and return to recreational leagues in their 20s. So why not make the environment safer in an attempt to keep the children safe and in the game?
Lunney’s story is right here.
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Sharp-eyed hockey fans may recognize Doug Lunney’s name. A goaltender, he played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders, Kelowna Wings and Winnipeg Warriors (1982-84).
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Canalta Cup

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has cut a 10-year deal with Canalta Hotels that has resulted in the junior A league renaming its championship trophy.
The SJHL champion now will win the Canalta Cup.
According to a news release, the deal calls for the hotel chain to “contribute more than $600,000 in partnership revenue” over the 10 years.
Established in 1979, Canalta Hotels has six hotels in five Saskatchewan markets — Humboldt, Melfort, Moosomin, Tisdale and Weyburn — with construction underway in Esterhazy and Shaunavon.
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The OHL has suspended Stan Butler, the head coach of the Brampton Battalion, for eight games. Butler’s crime? He picked up a double game misconduct for abuse of an official after a 2-1 victory over the visiting Sudbury Wolves on Sunday.
Butler is said to have berated referee Mike Marley on the ice and in a corridor in the arena. Butler felt that an instigating penalty should have been given to a Sudbury player following a fight in the third period.
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The Prince Albert Raiders will induct ex-players Robin Bartel and Dean McAmmond, along with builder Gerry Bergen, into their Wall of Honour this season. They will be honoured prior to a Feb. 25 game against the visiting Kootenay Ice. . . . Bartel played three seasons (1979-82) with the Raiders, playing in three Centennial Cup championship games and winning two of them. (The Centennial Cup now is the RBC Cup, which goes to the junior A champion.). . . . Dean McAmmond played 217 games with the Raiders over three-plus seasons (1989-93). A wonderful skater, he left Prince Albert as part of a seven-player trade with the Swift Current Broncos in January 1993. Before leaving, he was the Raiders rookie of the year (1989-90) and playoff MVP (1992). . . . Bergen, a long-time volunteer, has worked as a goal judge, penalty box attendant, spotter, timekeeper and scorekeeper. He also has been the off-ice co-ordinator, managing 14 volunteers. . . . Bartel and McAmmond will be the 13th and 14th former players to be inducted, while Bergen is to be the ninth volunteer. The Wall of Honour is located in the History and Heroes section of the Art Hauser Centre by the Raiders dressing room.
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JUST NOTES: The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Adam De Champlain, a 10th-round selection in the 2009 bantam draft, who is with the AJHL’s Camrose Kodiaks. De Champlain, 17, has 14 points, including eight goals, in 38 games. . . . Regina Pats F Chandler Stephenson, who has missed 14 games with a sprained knee, is expected to return tonight against the visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . .
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If you have followed the BCHL over the years, you may want to go on over to bchl.ca and vote on the players of the decades.
There’s a link on the right-hand side, near the top of the website. Click on there and have some fun

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Another chapter in hockey's ugly summer

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Bernhard Keil (Kamloops, 2010-11) has been assigned on loan by the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL) to Regensburg (Germany, Oberliga). Keil had five goals and three assists in 46 games with the Blazers last season. The DEL starts its regular season on Sept. 16; the Oberliga starts Sept. 23.
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D Yuri Urychev and F Daniil Sobchenko, who died in Wednesday’s crash of the plane carrying the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, played for Team Russia in last season’s Subway Super Series.
They also played for the Russian team that won the 2011 World Junior Championship in Buffalo.
In the Super Series, Urychev had three assists in the six games, including two helpers in a 7-6 shootout victory over the WHL in Kamloops.
Sobchenko finished the six games with a goal and three assists. He scored once in the game in Kamloops and added another in the shootout.
Sobchenko was a sixth-round selection by the San Jose Sharks in the 2011 NHL draft and later attended their development camp.
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For a look at the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl roster, you can click right here.
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For a pictorial look at the roster, you can click right here.
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Jesse Wallin, the GM and head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, talking to Red Deer Advocate sports editor Greg Meachem:
“This hits pretty close to home. Brad was a tremendous human being, a mentor for me when I was growing up. He and Kelly had a cabin at Jackfish Lake near North Battleford and he used to come by and pick up some of us young guys and take us down to the track to train (for the next hockey season). . . .
“Brad was from the Kindersley (Sask.) area where my mom and dad grew up so we kind of had some family connections. My family had known the McCrimmons for some time.
“I spent a lot of time with him as a teen and I know he was a great resource for a lot of young guys coming through Brandon. Kelly (McCrimmon) had him at (Wheat Kings) training camp for a lot of years. He liked working with the young guys. Here was a guy 15 years into his career and he’d walk into a room, see a young guy sitting in the corner and walk over and start a conversation. That’s just the kind of person he was.”
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A tweet from former NHL/WHL/Team Canada goaltender Corey Hirsch: “I’m at a loss for words about this plane crash. Played with or against most of them. Beast, your giant smile will never be forgotten.”
Beast, of course, was Brad McCrimmon's nickname throughout hockey's world.
———
Ron Hextall is the Los Angeles Kings’ assistant GM. He is a former Brandon Wheat Kings goaltender who was a teammate of McCrimmon’s in Philadelphia. Here’s Hextall, to Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times: “When I think of the teammates I had over the years and great teammates, Brad McCrimmon is at the top of the list. Any athlete wants to be remembered as a great teammate. He truly was.”
———
Eric Duhatschek of The Globe and Mail, who knew McCrimmon perhaps better than any other journalist, offers up his thoughts right here.
———
Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail, who like Duhatschek is based in Calgary, says goodbye to McCrimmon right here.
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Craig Custance of Sporting News has a solid read right here.
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Mark Spector of sportsnet.ca takes a look at NHL players and something that goes unspoken as they prepare for yet another in a season’s worth of plane flights. That piece is right here.
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Finally, for a completely different angle on Wednesday’s tragedy check out this entry from a blog named ACHICKSPERSPECTIVE.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Saturday . . .

A Canadian has never won an Olympic shot put medal. Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops is planning on becoming the first as he has his sights set on London and the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. This season, he already has had a six-meet victory string and he’s ranked No. 1 on the Diamond League and No. 3 in the world.
Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail has that story right here.
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Later Saturday, Armstrong broke his own Canadian senior shot put record with a throw of 22.21 metres. That also is the best throw in the world this season. . . . Prior to Saturday, his most-recent Canadian record throw was 21.72m at a meet in San Diego on April 23. Armstrong surpassed that mark four times in Calgary on Saturday.
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Clayton Stoner remembers looking at his cell phone and having a "bad feeling."
That’s how Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune began a story on the Minnesota Wild defenceman who played in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans.
Stoner’s brother, Luke, had been killed in a logging accident on B.C. Island.
The complete story is right here.
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SOME NHL DRAFT NOTES: The first round took almost four hours. Rounds 2-7 were completed in less than that. . . . The Edmonton Oilers selected F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels with the draft’s first pick. He is the first WHL player to be selected first overall since Prince Albert D Chris Phillips was taken by the Ottawa Senators in 1996. . . . D Keegan Lowe of the Edmonton Oil Kings had asked the Edmonton Oilers not to select him. He was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round. His father, Kevin, is the Oilers’ president, hockey operations. . . . Laurent Brossoit of the Oil Kings was the first WHL goaltender selected when he was taken by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round. Interestingly, former Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau scouts for the Flames. Brossoit played three games for Pleau, one in 2008-09 and two in 2009-10. . . . G Nathan Lieuwen of the Kootenay Ice, who was the WHL’s playoff MVP, was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round. . . . Brossoit was taken 164th overall; Lieuwen was No. 167. . . . The Oilers took Vancouver D David Musil with the first pick of the second round. His father, Frank, is a former NHLer who now scouts for the Oilers. . . . The Anaheim Ducks used a sixth-round pick on D Josh Manson of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He is the son of Dave Manson, a former Prince Albert defenceman and coach. . . . The Carolina Hurricanes grabbed the last WHL player selected when they took F Brody Sutter of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the seventh round, 193rd overall. He is the son of former NHLer Duane Sutter, who now is the Calgary Flames’ director of player personnel. . . .
The St. Louis selected F Demitrij Jaskin in the second round. He is from Omsk, Russia, but has played internationally for the Czech Republic's U-18 side. He was taken by the Calgary Hitmen in the 2010 CHL import draft. Sibir Novosibirsk selected him with the first pick of the KHL's 2010 draft. If he comes over here, chances are he'll end up with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen. . . . According to the USHL, “A total of 28 players who skated in the USHL during the 2010-11 season had their names called by NHL clubs.” . . . According to Skip Berry, the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Tri-City Storm, “The impact of the USHL overall on the draft is around 41 players, drafted out of the USHL/played in the USHL, just five players behind the OHL.” . . . The WHL had 33 players selected, with 22 taken from the QMJHL. . . . A year ago, there were 43 WHL players taken in the draft. . . .
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WHL teams and the number of 2011 draft picks:
4 — Edmonton, Portland, Saskatoon.
3 — Spokane, Swift Current.
2 — Prince Albert, Red Deer, Seattle, Vancouver.
1 — Brandon, Kelowna, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Tri-City.
0 — Calgary, Everett, Kamloops, Prince George, Regina, Victoria.
By division:
East — 11
U.S. — 10
Central — 9
B.C. — 3
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Best tweet from the draft came from F Rocco Grimaldi:”I have decided to take my talents to South Beach and join the Florida Panthers. haha.”
Grimaldi, who is listed at 5-foot-6, was taken 33rd overall by Florida. He is out of the U.S. National Team Development Program; his WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks.
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THE COACHING GAME: Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune reported Saturday afternoon that the Houston Aeros, the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, were down to a shortlist of four in a search for a new head coach. According to Russo, that list included Gary Agnew, Ryan McGill, Kirk Muller and Trent Yawney. . . . An hour later, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet reported that Muller is expected to be named head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, who are hooked up with the Nashville Predators. . . . The Aeros are looking to replace Mike Yeo, now the head coach of the Wild. . . . The Admirals need to replace Lane Lambert, now an assistant coach with the Predators. . . . While all this was going on, both Vancouver papers are reporting that Muller is in the running — and perhaps the leading candidate — for the position of head coach of the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate, which it seems will be the Chicago Wolves. . . . The AHL’s Abbotsford Heat also is in need of a head coach, although I’m told assistant Troy Ward has the inside track there. The Heat is looking for a replacement for Jim Playfair, who now is on the Phoenix Coyotes’ staff. . . . The AHL’s Providence Bruins have signed Bruce Cassidy as their head coach. The Boston Bruins affiliate made the announcement Saturday. Cassidy, 46, is the 10th head coach in Providence history. He has been an assistant coach there through three seasons and replaces Rob Murray. . . . Kevin Dineen, the new head coach of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, has said that assistant coach Gord Murphy and goaltender coach Robb Tallas will return. Dineen told George Richards of the Miami Herald that he will hire one more assistant.
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Today’s good read comes from Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal. It involves the Boston Bruins, a Stanley Cup celebration and a $100,000 bottle of champagne.
It’s right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Friday . . .

Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars has his first NHL contract.
(Dub Nation photo)

F Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars has signed an entry-level contract with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. The signing has yet to be announced but a source familiar with the situation tells me that it’s a done deal.
Connolly, 19, was the sixth overall selection in the NHL’s 2010 draft despite the fact that hip problems had limited him to 16 games in the 2009-10 season. He was the first No. 1 selection made by Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman, who was running his first draft with the Lightning.
Connolly, who is from Prince George, enjoyed a healthier 2010-11 and put up 73 points, 46 of them goals, in 59 games. Unfortunately for him and the Cougars, his season ended in the first game of the playoffs when he suffered a shoulder injury in Kelowna against the Rockets. Kelowna went on to sweep the Cougars.
In 144 regular-season WHL games, Connolly has 152 points, including 86 goals.
———
Hockey Canada is running its elite goaltending camp this weekend in Calgary as it continues to evaluate players with an eye towards the 2012 national junior team.
There is some consternation because Canada just isn’t producting goaltenders the way it did in the recent past.
Why not?
Well, Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast has a theory that he explained to Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail:
“Every junior team has a goalie coach. In some cases, midget teams have a goalie coach. All those coaches try to teach a technique. We’re taking the athleticism away from all our kids. We’re turning them into robots. We’ve turned the position into a job rather than just let them play. Dominik Hasek had no technique. Tim Thomas has no technique. We’ve gotten to the point where teaching the position has gotten in the way.”
Maki’s complete story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME: The Simon Fraser University hockey team is looking for an assistant coach to fill a spot that had been occupied by former Tacoma/Kelowna Rockets D Burt Henderson. If you’re interested in joining the SFU staff, check out www.sfuhockey.com or contact GM Jeff Dubois via email at hockey@sfu.ca.
———
As the teams head back to Boston for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, it strikes me, and I’m sure some other sports fans, that this series bears something of a resemblance to the 1960 World Series.
At least, it does if you consider the scores.
That World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had home-field advantage, and the New York Yankees.
The Yankees won Games 2, 3 and 6 by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0.
The Pirates won the other four games — 6-4, 3-2, 5-2 and 10-9, winning Game 7 on Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run.
Add it all up and the Yankees lost the World Series despite outscoring the Pirates, 55-27.
In this Stanley Cup final, the Vancouver Canucks won the first two games — 1-0 and 3-2 in OT — and then took Game 5, 1-0, on Friday night. The Bruins were victors in Games 3 and 4, by 8-1 and 4-0 counts.
So, through five games, the Canucks hold a 3-2 edge, although they have been outscored, 14-6.
Game 6 is to be played Monday night in Boston with a seventh game, if needed, scheduled for Vancouver on Wednesday.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Hockey Canada’s annual general meeting is being held in Calgary this weekend.
Bob Nicholson, the organization’s president, addressed delegates on Friday and, as outlined by Allan Maki of the Globe and Mail, he “made an impassioned speech . . . outlining the need for a rule amendment to address all head contact” in minor and female hockey.
Maki’s piece is right here but, in essence, Nicholson has called for penalties for any contact, intentional or accidental, with an opponent’s head.
What this is is a start, although Hockey Canada has had a rule dealing with headshots since 2004. A more thorough rule, as proposed by Nicholson, would be firmer and give referees more latitude in terms of handing out penalties.
This also might be the first step towards zero tolerance and that, more than anything, is what is needed.
Understand that this is all about eliminating head injuries in hockey — not finding better ways to treat them. There always will be head and facial injuries in hockey, witness the puck to the face that was absorbed by Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
But the concussions that are a result of hits to the head or hits from behind or checks on unsuspecting opponents have to be eliminated. Which, of course, means fighting has to go.
———
I wrote a column that appeared in the Kamloops Daily News and on this blog on Thursday (May 26). It dealt with concussions and some of the potential after-effects.
Early on Thursday I received a note from the parent of a minor hockey player.
“Great article on concussions,” it read. “My 13-year-old is going to play house next season for that reason. Too many injuries in rep.”
I also heard from someone who holds two season tickets with the Kamloops Blazers:
“A quick note to tell you how much I appreciate the series you have been doing on head injuries related to some of the violent aspects of hockey. I'm encouraged by your criticism of the stay-put attitude of the WHL regarding their lack of initiative to institute any rules to mitigate the possibilities of players suffering concussive-type injuries.
“My wife and I have been Blazers season-ticket holders for more than 15 years. We enjoy the games and we delight in watching the young men who play develop their skills both on and off the ice. As former educators we are aware of the social building skills the WHL experience offers them.
“The aspect of Blazers games that is our greatest concern is the needless violence associated with fighting and the sometimes brutal punishment that is meted out in attempts to ‘stop’ opposition players. We cannot watch young men flailing away at each other while so-called fans stand and scream encouragement, only to have the whole debacle replayed on the jumbo screen immediately following.
“We can only think that these boys are somebody's children who seem to be duking it out solely for the satisfaction of an encouraging crowd who, in all likelihood, wouldn't want their kids to be out there running the same risks of debilitating injuries.
“I long for the day that fighting and undisciplined, injurious plays are eliminated from the game.”
This is an issue that simply isn’t going to go away.
You can bet that the WHL’s board of governors and its general managers will be discussing headshots at the league’s annual meeting in Calgary in mid-June.
As much as the neanderthals among us call for fighting and extreme physicality to be left in the game, changes are going to have to be made.
Only time will tell how far the WHL will go. But here’s hoping it is paying attention to what is going on at Hockey Canada’s AGM in Calgary this week.
Because all this talk on concussions isn’t going to go away. In fact, it only will pick up steam as more and more stories are heard and more and more evidence comes out.
If you haven’t already, make sure to read the piece by Toronto Star reporters Rob Cribb and Randy Starkman. The headline is: What killed NHL’s Bill Masterton?
If anything, it shows that concussions aren’t a new problem to the sport of ice hockey.
That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Hockey enforcers paying horrible price

By now it is rather apparent that Derek Boogaard, the New York Rangers’ enforcer, was a troubled young man.
Boogaard was 28 years of age when his body was discovered in his Minneapolis apartment on May 13 at 6:30 pm. One season into a four-year, US$6.5-million contract with the New York Rangers, Boogaard hadn’t played since suffering a concussion in a fight during a game on Dec. 9.
It was the 66th and final bout of his NHL career.
According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiners’ Office, which issued its report on Friday, “Cause of death is mixed alcohol and oxycodone toxicity.”
Oxycodone is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is a narcotic pain reliever and is highly addictive. It has, in fact, been compared to heroin; in some corners, it is referred to as Hillbilly Heroin. It is evil.
What was especially chilling, however, was one sentence in an ensuing statement from Boogaard’s family.
“After repeated courageous attempts at rehabilitation and with the full support of the New York Rangers, the NHLPA, and the NHL,” the statement read, “Derek had been showing tremendous improvement but was ultimately unable to beat this opponent.”
Boogaard, the 6-foot-7, 270-pounder who had laid out many an opposing player, lost his last fight.
On the heels of that statement came a story by Allan Maki in The Globe and Mail in which Kurt Walker, another former NHL enforcer, talked of gobbling pain killers — especially Xanax and Valium — like Christmas candy. It took an intervention and rehab to save Walker.
Boogaard wasn’t so fortunate.
When the Rangers sent Boogaard home in March, it was reported that they wanted him to begin working on his conditioning for next season. However, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported Sunday that “management essentially staged an intervention with Boogaard at the club's practice rink in late March that resulted in (his) re-entry into the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.”
And we now know how that turned out.
What we don’t know is how many concussions Boogaard suffered during a hockey career that, according to hockeyfights.com, included 184 bouts since the fall of 1999, or how much those fights impacted Boogaard’s abbreviated life.
But the fact that he was using Oxycodone is frightening, as is the story that Walker told Maki.
It turns out that a lot of this will be familiar to medical professionals working with patients who are trying to deal with chronic pain.
One such professional, who has been working in the acute side of a B.C. hospital while following the concussions-in-hockey debate, wrote via email:
“I am seeing patients whose lives have been ruined by chronic pain treated with narcotics and then having to deal with the impact of addictions. Many of them having emotional or cognitive issues going into it. Lots of post-traumatic stress and abuse and psychiatric diagnoses.”
In other words, people like Derek Boogaard and Kurt Walker are hardly alone out there. The question, however, is how many former and present-day hockey players are fighting this same battle?
The evidence proving concussions are a horrible hockey problem now is so one-sided as to be laughable. (See the latest issue of Macleans or visit macleans.ca for even more evidence, including the case of Eric Lindros, who had what should have been a hall-of-fame career short-circuited by concussions. In this same story, former WHLer Kevin Kaminski explains how he believes post-concussion syndrome cost him his marriage.)
Boogaard, meanwhile, was working on a book — Meet the Boogey Man: Fighting My Way to the Top — with author Ross Bernstein. Appearing on Puck Daddy Radio last week, Bernstein told of being on a golf course one day last summer when Boogaard called him.
“I need you to come get me,” Boogaard told Bernstein, who promptly asked: “Well, where are you?”
Boogaard’s response was: “I don’t know.”
Devin Wilson, a former teammate of Boogaard’s with the Prince George Cougars, was in the process of purchasing a New York condo with his buddy. Thus, Wilson was able to watch Boogaard as he attempted to deal with his latest concussion.
"It was frustrating because we couldn't go out without his head spinning again,” Wilson told Jason Peters of the Prince George Citizen. “One thing that nobody knows is that riding in cabs through New York, he would just start spinning. He'd have his hands on his head and he'd say, 'I need to get out right now' and we'd end up walking like 60 blocks home. I knew (the concussion) was bad.”
Boogaard’s family has turned his brain over to Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. If, as anticipated, Boogaard’s brain shows signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) it will mean that the veritable flood of evidence has moved closer to the WHL’s doorstep.
At the time of his death, Boogaard was only eight years removed from having played in the WHL, where he was involved in 70 fights in 172 regular-season games.
All of this should be enough to make any parent wonder about sending a child off to play in a league that outlaws neither fighting nor headshots.
Stu Grimson, a former WHL/NHL enforcer who practises law in Nashville and also works as an analyst on Predators’ broadcasts, admitted to Maki that recent developments have him feeling conflicted.
“Part of me says, ‘How does a sport so bent on cutting down blows to the head still allow two players to throw bare-fisted punches at one another's head?’ How do you reconcile that?” Grimson said. “But part of me also says the way the sport is played, if you have someone like me on the bench, the other team knows it could be held accountable. It's a tough issue.”
There is no denying that it is a tough issue.
But is it any tougher than what Boogaard went through? Or what Kurt Walker and who knows how many others are going through?

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Friday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Andreas Lövdahl (Calgary, Moose Jaw, 1999-2000) signed a one-year contract with Falu IF Falun (Sweden, Division 1). He had 15 goals and 36 assists in 35 games for Borlänge (Sweden, Division 1) this season. Lövdahl was captain of Borlänge this season.
———
The Hennepin County Medical Examiners’ Office released a report Friday on the death of former WHL and NHL enforcer Derek Boogaard. Boogaard was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment on May 13. The report indicates that “cause of death is mixed alcohol and oxycodone toxicity.”
Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune has a thorough report right here.
———
Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail has a stunning piece in today’s paper. He has spoken with Kurt Walker, Stu Grimson and Georges Laraque, all of them former NHL enforcers.
Walker's story is mind-numbing; you get the feeling he knows exactly what Derek Boogaard went through. Grimson is conflicted, wondering how a game that is in the process of banning headshots still allows fighting. Laraque talks of how he disliked his role.
Don’t miss giving this a read. It’s right here.
———
As the opening game of the Memorial Cup began on Friday, Damien Cox of the Toronto Star tweeted:
“Big problem for all those who said MemCup in GTA wud be a disaster; Hershey Centre jammed, joint is rockin', game hasn't even started.”
However, with the first period nearing a conclusion, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun tweeted:
“By the way, more than a few empty seats @ Hershey Centre for host team's first game.”
———
Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times has the latest on the situation regarding a facility in need of a team and the BCHL’s Quesnel Millionaires, who seem headed that way.
———
Jeff Marek on Hockey Night in Canada’s iDesk reported in the second intermission of last night’s NHL game that if/when the Atlanta Thrashers relocate to Winnipeg, the Manitoba Moose franchise no longer will be the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. Marek didn’t offer an explanation, but presumably that’s because the Moose are owned by the same people who are buying the Atlanta franchise and relocating it. . . . The Thrashers affiliates are the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. . . . Obviously, this whole story has a ways to go yet before it has played itself out.
———
THE COACHING GAME: John Olver, a former WHL coach, has joined the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors as director of player personnel and assistant to the head coach. Olver, who will work with head coach Marty Raymond, is a veteran of the minor league wars, including stints in the front offices of the Fresno Falcons, Tacoma Sabercats and Idaho Steelheads. . . . Casey Jones, who spent this season as the associate head coach with the Cornell Big Red, is the new head coach of the Clarkson Golden Knights. Jones, a former Clarkson assistant coach, is an alumnus of Cornell and once captained the Big Red. He replaces the fired George Roll. . . . Joe Paterson, who took over as head coach of the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms, has had the interim removed from his job title. The Phantoms are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. Assistant coach Riley Cote will be back for a second season with the Phantoms.
———
JUST NOTES: F Scott Burt (Seattle, Swift Current, Edmonton Ice, Red Deer, 1994-1998) of the Alaska Aces has set an ECHL record for most career playoff games played. He played in No 103 on Friday, breaking the record that had been held by D Chris Valicevic. . . . The Aces beat the host Kalamazoo Wings 7-5 on Friday to take a 3-1 lead in the ECHL final for the Kelly Cup. Game 5 is tonight in Kalamazoo. . . . In the Central league final, F David Rutherford (Vancouver, Spokane, 2004-2008) had three goals to lead the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs to a 7-2 victory over the visiting Colorado Eagles on Friday. The Mudbugs hold a 3-2 edge in the Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup final, with Game 6 Wednesday in Loveland, Colo.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Oscar Möller (Chilliwack, 2006-08) signed a two-year contract with Skellefteå (Sweden, Elitserien). He had one goal and three assists in 13 games with the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and 23 goals and 27 assists in 59 games with the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) this season. . . . Möller said to Skellefteå newspaper Norran when asked if he wanted to return to the NHL: "Absolutely. I've said to all the clubs I talked to. It is my goal to get back to the NHL. I have not given up my dream, and it is certain with Skellefteå that you have that attitude.” . . .
F Joni Lindlöf (Kelowna, Lethbridge, 2002-04) signed a one-year contract with Kristianstad (Sweden Division 1). He had 21 goals and 21 assists in 38 games for Björklöven Umeå (Sweden Division 1) this season.
———
You may have seen F Mikael Granlund score that spectacular goal for Finland in the world championship game against Russia last week. The MacBeth Report points out that he did the same thing during the 2006-07 season while playing for the Kärpät Oulu bantam team. The video isn’t top-flight but you can see it right here. . . . As The MacBeth Report adds: “So in four years, he goes from bantams to scoring possibly the most talked about goal in World Championship history.”
———
Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail writes today about the Kootenay Ice and the Chynoweth connection. That piece is right here.
———
He was the Missing Link. But it turns out that Link Gaetz isn’t missing. Mark Emmons of the San Jose Mercury News talked with Gaetz and that story is right here.
———
JUST NOTES: The U of Regina Cougars have landed a couple of former WHLers in D Mark Schneider (Kamloops, Brandon, Regina, 2006-10) and G Andrew Hayes (Brandon, 2007-10). Hayes played this season with the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. . . . Red Deer city council has supported a $1-million grant that is to be used towards adding seating to the Centrium. Paul Cowley of the Red Deer Advocate has more right here.
———
THE COACHING GAME: Former NHLer Gordie Dwyer is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s P.E.I. Rocket. He had been working with the junior A Summerside Western Capitals as head coach and associate director of hockey operations. . . . The MJHL’s Winkler Flyers have signed John Marks, their director of hockey operations and head coach, to a two-year extension, while the Selkirk Steelers have signed head coach Ryan Smith to a deal that goes through 2013-14. Smith also will serve as the club‘s director of player personnel. The Steelers also will have assistant coaches Justin Harris and Jordan Sobkowicz back for another season.
———
Remember the Gassoff Gang? . . . Curtis Gassoff is working hard to revive the Quesnel Kangaroos, and has applied for entry into the Central Interior Hockey League in B.C. Curtis, if you’re wondering, is Ken’s 25-year-old son. Percy Hebert of the Quesnel Cariboo-Observer has the story right here.
———
TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Regina Pats president Brent Parker: “For those wondering nothing new to report on our ongoing lease negotiations. We are looking forward to a face to face in the coming days!”

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Thursday . . .

JIM MULLIN

It was the day after the Bruins left Chilliwack.
Both Chilliwack papers chimed in with some fine coverage and links are below.
But we also learned that a Vancouver radio personality got caught up in all of this Chilliwack-to-Victoria stuff.
Jim Mullin, who managed the sports department at CKNW in Vancouver, no longer is with the radio station.
If you’ve been following the Chilliwack-to-Victoria story, you will recall that Moray Keith, one of the Bruins’ minority owners, confirmed to Mullin that the sale had occurred.
Mullin also was on the receiving end of a letter from Brian Burke, who was one of the Bruins’ majority owners. And it was in that letter that Burke stated the WHL was working to place another existing franchise in Chilliwack.
That letter from Burke, which came via lawyers, also expressed concern with some commentary from Mullin on the Chilliwack-to-Victoria story.
Mullin told me Wednesday night that he no longer was with CKNW.
Someone on Twitter asked Mullin if it had “anything to do with what went on with Burke and the (Bruins) in the last few weeks?”
Mullin’s response was straight and to the point: “It had everything to (do) with it.”
———
Eric Welsh of the Chilliwack Progress spoke with Moray Keith, one of the Bruins’ two minority owners who had a finger or two pointed at him.
Part of what Keith said, in response to his being blamed for lease problems:
“The percentage used by the league is between 10 and 12 per cent of the gate revenues. The gate last year was $1.1 million. We were asking for $100,000 for the first three years and back to 12 per cent or a minimum $125,000. You can’t convince me a $2.5 million grossing business is going out of business over $125,000.”
That story is right here.
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Welsh also talked with WHL commissioner Ron Robison. In early March, Robison, when asked if the Bruins would be in Chilliwack for 2011-12, had told the Progress: “It is certainly our intent and we haven’t considered anything different at this point.”
Welsh asked Robison about that and some other things and that story is right here.
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Welsh also found time for a session with Darryl Porter, the Bruins’ governor and one of the franchise’s majority owners. Welsh starts with:
“Darryl Porter says the last two months have been the most difficult time in his life.”
The rest of that story is right here.
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Over at the Chilliwack Times, Tyler Olsen takes a crack at rounding up everything in chronological order by talking to the participants. That piece is right here.
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Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist spoke with Marc Habscheid, who spent the last two seasons as the GM and head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins. No one is talking about whether Habscheid will make the move to Victoria, but he talks here about what kind of team Victoria is getting.
That story is right here.
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The national media in Canada is starting to pay some attention to the Victoria Salmon Kings. Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail has written a piece after talking to Mark Morrison, the Salmon Kings’ general manager and head coach. With all the twists to this story, it’s somehow fitting that Morrison played in the WHL for the Victoria Cougars. Maki’s column is right here.
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Dylan Bumbarger, who blogs on all things Winterhawkish and more, writes that Darryl Porter and Brian Burke once looked into purchasing the WHL franchise in Portland.
Read all about it right here.
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It would seem rather apparent that Chilliwack won’t be home to a WHL franchise for the 2011-12 season. But what about 2012-13?
Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings, may have tossed the Wheaties into the mix at his blog, Luber’s Lounge, the link for which is over there on the right.
Here’s part of what he wrote:
“Haven't heard the Wheat Kings mentioned yet, but it's worthwhile to note Brandon's lease with the Keystone Centre runs out at the end of (2011-2012), and the general feeling is the Wheat Kings won't be getting quite as favourable a lease as they did when the last one was signed in February of 1997.”
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The Victoria WHL franchise is asking fans to vote on their preference as the team’s new nickname. Neate Sager, over at Yahoo! Sports, wonders if it isn’t going to be Tide. This is an interesting piece, involving the registering of names and domain names, and is worth a look. It’s right here.
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There was an interesting twist to the Victoria Salmon Kings’ 3-2 overtime victory over the visiting Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday night. That gave the Salmon Kings a 3-0 lead in the ECHL second-round playoff series. . . . The winner, 11 seconds into OT, came from F Josh Aspenlind, who, a Bruins fan informed me today via email, was Chilliwack’s first captain and also the “first inductee to our wall of honour.” . . . Game 4 in that series goes tonight in Victoria.
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MEANWHILE . . .
 The Portland Winterhawks have signed G Brendan Burke, the 49th overall pick in the 2010 bantam draft. He is the son of former NHL G Sean Burke. Brendan played this season with the Phoenix Junior Coyotes of the Midwest Elite Hockey League, going 9-10-3, 3.39, .862. He helped his team to the championship game in the Rocky Mountain District tournament, featuring some of the top midget AAA teams from the western United States. In the tournament, he was 2-1, 1.97, .930, with one shutout. Burke attended a tryout camp for the Under-17 U.S. National Development Team, but chose to sign with the Winterhawks. . . .
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F Carter Ashton of the Tri-City Americans has joined the Norfolk Admirals, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Ashton, who turned 20 on April 1, was the 29th overall selection in the NHL’s 2009 draft and has signed with Tampa Bay. He had 71 points and 106 penalty minutes in 62 games this season, split between the Regina Pats and the Americans. He also played for Canada at the World Junior Championship. Ashton played 11 games with the Admirals last season, scoring one goal. The Admirals are 2-2 with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in an East Division semifinal that resumes tonight. . . .

The gang at capgeek.com reports that F Curtis Hamilton of the Saskatoon Blades, who has signed with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, has a deal that calls for the same AHL salary (US$67,500) in each of three seasons, NHL salaries of $715,000, $790,000 and $900,000. He got a $270,000 signing bonus, payable over three years. . . . Capgeek.com also reports that Regina Pats F Jordan Weal, who signed with the Los Angeles Kings, is down for AHL salaries of $67,500, $65,000 and $62,500, with NHL salaries of $615,000, $640,000 and $665,000. He also got the $270,000 signing bonus payable over three yers. . . . Hamilton was a second-round pick of the Oilers in the NHL’s 2010 draft, while the Kings took Weal in the third round of the 2010 draft. . . . The Oilers also signed F Cameron Abney, 19, to a three-year deal. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Abney, who turns 20 on May 23, was a third-round selection in the 2009 NHL draft. He had 20 points and 72 penalty minutes in 60 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings this season. . . . The Minnesota Wild has signed F Brett Bulmer of the Kelowna Rockets to a three-year deal. Bulmer had 49 points, including 18 goals, and 109 penalty minutes in 57 games with the Rockets this season. He was a second-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft. . . .

F Bernhard Keil, who played this season with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, has returned to the Straubing Tigers. The Tigers, who play in the DEL, announced Thursday morning that they have signed Keil, 19, to a one-year deal with a club option for a second season. Keil played two seasons ago for a junior team in Mannheim and was expected to join the Tigers. However, the Blazers selected him in the CHL import draft and he spent the season in Kamloops. He had eight points, including five goals, in 46 games with the Blazers, who had told him he wouldn’t be coming back for a second season. . . . Keith Cassidy if the new GM/head coach of the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. He coached five seasons in the MJHL and was at the helm of the U of Manitoba Bisons for one season. Cassidy wasn’t involved in coaching last season. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors were honoured as that city’s business of the year at the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Excellence Awrds gala on Wednesday. The Warriors also walked off with the Marketing award. The legendary Rob Carnie of CHAB Radio was the host for the evening. . . .

There is some U of Alberta news as two WHL coaches who played for the Golden Bears prepare to meet up tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. Shaun Clouston, the head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, played under the legendary Clare Drake in the mid-1980s before going on to spend three seasons with the Portlad Winterhawks. . . . Kris Knoblauch, the head coach of the Kootenay Ice, played five seasons with the Golden Bears ater completing his WHL career. Knoblauch played under head coach Rob Daum while at the U of A. . . . The Tigers and Ice open the conference final tonight in Medicine Hat. . . . Interestingly, both Clouston and Knoblauch are in their first seasons as head coach. Clouston, of course, spent six seasons as assistant or associate coach under Willie Desjardins, who joined the staff of the NHL’s Dallas Stars last summer. Knoblauch, 32, was an assistant coach for one season with the Prince Albert Raiders and two with the Ice before taking over from Mark Holick, who left for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . The Golden Bears, meanwhile, may be in the market for a new head coach after Eric Thurston told his players a week ago that he was resigning and then was placed on leave by the university yesterday. Assistant coach Stan Marple has been named acting head coach. There are some unanswered questions here, for sure. Evan Daum, who covers the U of A scene like a blanket, has more right here. Thurston was on the Kamloops Blazers’ shortlist in the summer of 2008, but he withdrew his name before a hire was made. In the end, the job went to Barry Smith.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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