P.G. gang comes through for evacuees ... Slovak signs with Chiefs ... Warriors sign an AGM

Hey folks @gdrinnan Taking Note is working just loading really slowly thanks to a new script from @blogger be patient. #SameGreatWriting

— Terry Massey (@TerryMassey) July 6, 2017

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F Curt Gogol (Kelowna, Saskatoon, Chilliwack, 2007-11) signed a one-year contract with Rubin Tyumen (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). Last season, with the Florida Everblades (ECHL), he had six goals and 11 assists in 37 games.

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A tip of the cap to the Prince George Cougars Alumni Association, the Prince George Cougars Society and the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation for their generosity in support of wildfire evacuees from their area. . . . The announcement was made before the alumni association’s annual Hospital Charity Golf Tournament got started. . . . A lot of the province of B.C. is burning up and you can bet that kind of generosity is greatly appreciated. . . . Should you want to donate to the Red Cross you are able to do so right here.

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F Milos Fafrak, a Slovakian, has signed a WHL contract with the Spokane Chiefs. He was a first-round selection in the CHL’s 2017 import draft. Fafrak, 18, had 39 points, 11 of them goals, in 44 games with the Slovkian U-18 team that played in the Slovak U-20 Extraliga last season. . . . The Chiefs also selected Czech D Filip Kral in the 2017 import draft. Kral, who is to turn 18 on Oct. 20, played last season with HC Kometa Brno in the Czech U-20 league and also got into 23 games with Kometa Brno in the Czech Extraliga. He has yet to sign with the Chiefs.

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The Moose Jaw Warriors have hired Jason Ripplinger as assistant general manager after losing Doug Gasper, their director of scouting, to the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . . Ripplinger, who is from Regina, spent the previous 17 years with the Vancouver Giants, first as head scout and then as director of player personnel, a position he had filled since 2008. . . . Gasper joined the Warriors in 2007. He was named assistant head scout in 2012 and had been director of scouting since 2015. According to the Warriors, Gasper has “accepted a scouting position” in the NHL. . . . Shortly after the Warriors issued their news release, Rick Dhaliwal of News 1130 Sports in Vancouver reported that Gasper will be joining the Canucks’ scouting staff.

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Todd Gill is the new head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. He replaces Ryan McGill, the OHL’s reigning coach of the year, who left after two seasons to join the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights as an assistant coach. . . . A former NHL defenceman, Gill spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Stockton Heat. Before joining the Heat, Gill spent three seasons as the head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. . . . Alan Letang, an assistant coach under McGill, will stay on with the Attack and work alongside Gill.

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A couple of notes involving junior teams from the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League . . . The Kimberley Dynamiters and the WHL’s Kootenay Ice have joined forces in a deal that will provide ticket discounts to fans. Season-ticket holders for Ice games will get 15 per cent off individual tickets to Dynamiters’ games, while Kimberley season-ticket holders will get the same discount on tickets to Ice home games. . . . On Thursday, NASCAR promoted Brent Dewar from vice-chairman to president. Hired as the chief operating officer in 2013, he had been moved to vice-chairman in 2015. Dewar is only the fourth president in the history of NASCAR, which began under Bill France Sr. in 1948. Dewar is the brother of Kamloops Storm owner/general manager Barry Dewar.

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Luke Strand is the new head coach of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Strand, who spent last season as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, takes over from Jay Varady, who was introduced Thursday as the head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. . . . Strand is quite familiar with Sioux City, having worked as the Musketeers’ GM/head coach for two seasons (2009-11) and as GM in 2013-14. . . . He also has coached with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and Madison Capitals, the AHL’s Houston Aeros, the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat and the U of Wisconsin Badgers.

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After the Calgary Hitmen filled out their coaching staff and front office earlier in the week, Hartley Miller had some fun with it all, especially the promotion of, as he calls him, The Dallas Thompson. . . . Yes, that Dallas Thompson! . . . Miller’s piece, from myprincegeorgenow.com, is right here.

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If you would like to contact Taking Note with information, have a question or just feel like commenting on something, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com. I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).

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Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan who missed out on a $1-million prize won't leave empty-handed after all https://t.co/5UyMNUXXY8 pic.twitter.com/azoFYY0woi

— CBC News (@CBCNews) July 15, 2017

Karen Kuldys denied $1-million jackpot by a penalty call in last nights CFL game.  A few years ago her husband won about $700K in lottery.

— Earl J. Seitz (@EarlCFJCsports) July 14, 2017

The CFL could have turned the Kuldys mess into a bonanza for $111,111.11 per club but they'd rather nickel-and-dime her. Bullet to the foot.

— Jack Todd (@jacktodd46) July 14, 2017

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Ex-Storm forward dies in auto accident

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
The Kamloops Storm is in shock after a former player was killed in a car accident in Idaho on Tuesday.
Taylor Ward, a forward with the KIJHL team in 2012-13, was killed in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday evening near Rockford, Idaho. Ward, 19, was three months into a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
There were conflicting early reports about whether Ward had died, but Storm owner and general manager Barry Dewar said that he received an email from Ward's father on Wednesday morning confirming the bad news.
"It's sad. He was a good guy and a good teammate," Dewar said. "He will be sorely missed."
Ward, from Vacaville, Calif., came to the Storm after trying out for the BCHL's Prince George Spruce Kings. He appeared in 25 games with Kamloops, scoring five goals and assisting on nine others. He last played on Dec. 14, after which he went home to California to begin training for his church mission.
"He wanted to go home so he could go on his mission," Dewar said. "We totally supported him in that."
Police in Idaho said Ward was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his mission companion, John Floyd, who apparently failed to yield at a stop sign and T-boned a pickup truck. All three people were wearing seatbelts. Both the driver of the truck and Floyd escaped with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police originally announced that Ward had died, but later said that he was in "extremely critical condition" and on life support.
Dewar said he emailed Ward's father upon hearing the news, and got a response Wednesday morning.
"Every member of the church feels the loss of a missionary," read a statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "We are deeply saddened, and share with his family, friends and fellow missionaries in their grief. We extend to them our love, our prayers and our deepest sympathy."
Dewar, whose Storm played host to the 100 Mile House Wranglers last night, said the teams held a moment of silence for Ward.
"All the guys are upset," Dewar said. "It's awful when a young man loses his life."
During his time in Kamloops, Ward billeted with Tracey Louvros, the team's trainer.
There are at least 10 players on the Storm's current roster who played with Ward last season, but none was closer to him than Spencer Schoech, a 20-year-old defenceman from Dublin, Calif.
Schoech, who started last season with the Storm but ended up with the Spruce Kings, recently re-signed with the Storm. He and Ward had spent some time with the midget Tri-Valley Blue Devils in California, and came to the Storm together.
"(Schoech) was shocked to hear," Dewar said. "They were close. . . . He's upset, but he wanted to play (last night)."

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca


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