Winterhawks' owner buys Swiss pro team . . . What does it mean to 'Hawks?

Avenir Sports and Entertainment has purchased majority ownership in the Kloten Flyers, a professional hockey team that plays in Switzerland’s National League A.
ASE also owns the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.
Bill Gallacher, the chairman of Avenir Consolidated Corporation, owns ASE.
ASE purchased majority ownership in the Flyers from Philippe Gaydoul, who had bought in more than two years ago when the Flyers were experiencing some difficulties. Gaydoul will remain on the team’s board of directors.
“The Avenir Sports and Entertainment group wants to ensure the Kloten Flyers continue to develop at a high level,” Gaydoul said in a news release from the Flyers. “Back when I launched my rescue mission, my goal . . . was to help ensure this historic ice hockey club could continue to play the key role in our society that it has performed for more than 80 years.
“But I always saw my involvement as a transitional solution, so I am now very happy that an experienced group like ASE wants to commit to the Kloten Flyers.”
ASE, which is based in Calgary, purchased the Winterhawks in 2008 when Portland was the WHL’s poorest franchise, both on and off the ice. Today, it is hoping to play in its fifth straight WHL championship final.
The Winterhawks hold a 2-1 lead on the Kelowna Rockets going into Game 4 of the Western Conference final tonight in Portland.
But what does all of this mean to the Winterhawks?
Here is a key sentence in a news release issued by the Winterhawks: “The Flyers also boast one of the leading youth development programs in Europe, with a pipeline of young talent that has produced many professional players.”
The Winterhawks are no strangers to Swiss players. In past seasons, their roster has included the likes of D Luca Sbisa, F Nino Niederreiter and F Sven Baertschi, all of whom were terrific WHLers and went on to become first-round NHL draft selections.
It sounds as though the pipeline to Portland has just had another tap installed.
When I suggested to someone with knowledge of the situation that it would be interesting to watch Portland’s involvement in the CHL import draft a couple of years from now, the response was: “No need to wait.”
The CHL’s 2015 import draft is scheduled for June 30.
Meanwhile, ASE has set up a management team to oversee the Flyers. This team features Doug Piper, who is the Winterhawks’ president, Ken Stickney, the president of ASE and Gallacher’s right-hand man in this area, and Bob Strumm, who works for ASE out of Las Vegas.
Strumm is no stranger to the WHL, having worked in the league office as well as with the Regina Pats and Spokane Chiefs.
The Flyers are expected to retain Sean Simpson as head coach.


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The WHL and Portland, Day 3 . . .

T-shirts bearing this graphic were available at the Portland
Winterhawks' home game on Friday night.

Someone contacted me on Friday, asking if I could “ever recall a WHL team getting into a PR battle with the league like this before?”
My immediate reaction was, uhh, NO!
But then I got to thinking . . . and there was this time in January 1975.
Ed Chynoweth was the president of the WHL at the time. Pat Ginnell was the owner and head coach of the Victoria Cougars.
The Cougars had been involved in back-to-back road games with the Winnipeg Clubs and Brandon Wheat Kings and – get this! – there had been a bench-clearing brawl in each game. Yes. They dumped the benches in each game. Imagine that! (Were that to happen today, there might be year-long suspensions and it would take the on-ice officials two days to figure it all out.)
When the dust had settled, Chynoweth hit Ginnell with a three-game suspension and a $1,000 fine.
Ginnell said he wouldn’t pay the fine.
Chynoweth set a deadline and said if the fine wasn’t paid a scheduled game that was to have the Kamloops Chiefs play in Victoria the next night would be cancelled.
Just hours before the deadline, Ginnell was still saying he wouldn’t pay the fine “but I suspect there will be a game Tuesday.”
And then Ginnell told Dale Eisler of the Regina Leader-Post:
“Chynoweth has no business threatening me that way. Nobody closes down a business because one employee has done something wrong. That, in effect, is what Chynoweth wants to do. It becomes a matter of principle. I’m not going to pay the fine until I can appeal to the board of governors.”
The Cougars also were hit with a six-game suspension for defenceman Kim Clackson, while forward Eric Sanderson was suspended indefinitely and defenceman Larry Gloeckner got a one-game suspension.
“What did Winnipeg and Brandon get? Nothing,” Ginnell continued. “I gues sour team must have been fighting with itself.
“This is not a National League and a $1,000 fine is utterly ridiculous. If this is the way it’s going to continue, I might as well hire a coach. I’ve got enough to do as owner and manager of the club.”
Ginnell had been fined and suspended for what Chynoweth said was a lack of control over his team.
“I’ve coached teams for nine years and I’ve got about 50 guys playing in the National League,” Ginnell said. “I must be able to control something.”
Ginnell then added that he was thinking of hitting Chynoweth with “the quickest injunction in legal history if he tries to cancel the game.”
And so what was the outcome?
Well, for one thing, Chynoweth was mostly silent through all of this.
Not long after talking with Eisler, Ginnell informed Del Wilson of Regina, who was then the chairman of the board of governors, that he intended to pay the fine but that he would appeal it.
The game between the Cougars and Chiefs went ahead as scheduled.
The outcome of the appeal has been lost in the annals of history. But how do you think it turned out?
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Kerry Eggers, who has been writing in the Portland area for a long, long time, wasn’t able to get anyone from the WHL office to return his phone calls. (Did he really end up speaking with an intern? Seriously?)
So the Portland Tribune columnist scorched the WHL’s earth with an open letter to the commissioner and it’s right here.
Read this and it makes one wish the WHL would re-start that Ask The Commissioner feature on Facebook. Wouldn’t that be fun?
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If you haven’t heard it, Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, came out of the cone of silence Friday and went on the Damage Control Tour. He started with Darren Millard, Doug McLean and Scott Morrison on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central at Noon.
That piece of audio is right here.
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On my way home last night, I was listening to WHL commissioner Ron Robison on Vancouver-CKNW’s Sportstalk with Dan Russell.
And the whole time I was thinking, “If Mr. Commissioner had only done this on Wednesday a lot of what has happened over the latter half of the week could have been avoided.”
Because after listening to a couple of Robison’s interviews, you don’t have to agree with the discipline handed the Winterhawks, but at least there now is an explanation.
That interview is on a podcast (Hour 3) right here.
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Jordan Shifman of CBC Sports takes a look at the whole situation right here.
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Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province talked to some “sources” and filed a column in which Bob Strumm’s name surfaces. That piece is right here.
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The Oregonian’s Paul Buker went to Friday’s game in which the host Winterhawks dumped the Seattle Thunderbirds, 5-2. Buker’s report is right here.
www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2012/11/winterhawks_beat_seattle_5-2_i.html
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And a Free Mike Johnston page is up and running on Facebook. It is right here.
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If you have read most of what has been posted here over the last few days, you should have be able to put together the pieces and figure out why the Winterhawks’ paid such a steep price for what might seem like minor transgressions. (You may also be surprised at the number of anonymous sources in a lot of this, but that's what happens when the WHL commissioner places a gag order on everyone but himself.)
All that’s missing, it seems, is for us to hear from Winterhawks owner Bill Gallacher, who has been silent, at least publicly, through all of this.
If you are wondering why that is, it may be because he never really has played an active role in the day-to-day operation of this franchise. He rarely, if ever, attends WHL meetings, so apparently hardly even knows the other owners and governors.

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Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tomas Karpov (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 2007-09) has been loaned to Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic 1.Liga) by Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the 2011-12 season. He had two goals and five assists in 41 games for Sparta and one goal in 10 games on loan to Berounsti Medevedi (Czech Republic, 1.Liga) this season. . . .
D Jame Pollock (Seattle, 1995-99) signed a one-year contract with the Nuremburg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had five goals and 10 assists in 44 games with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) this season. . . .
F Dale Hunt (Prince George, Everett, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg II (Austria, Nationalliga). He had 14 goals and five assists in 26 games for the Surrey Eagles (BCHL) this season. . . .
D Kevin Young (Medicine Hat, Portland, Kelowna, 1998-2002) signed a one-year contract with Strasbourg (France, Ligue Magnus). He had 17 goals and 48 assists in 40 games for Eindhoven Kemphanen (Netherlands, Eredivisie) and six assists in eight games with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (Central Hockey League) this season. Young was named Best Defenceman in the Netherlands this season. . . .
F Mario Bliznak (Vancouver, 2005-08) signed a two-year contract with Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 11 goals and 16 assists in 74 games with the Manitoba Moose (AHL) and one goal in four games with the Vancouver Canucks (NHL) this season.
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Two former WHL coaches are unemployed after the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets opted not to renew their contracts. Don Boyd, the Blue Jackets’ assistant GM, had been with Columbus since 1999, as had Bob Strumm, the 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," said Scott Howson, the vice-president of hockey operations and general manager, in a news release. . . . .Strumm, once the WHL’s statistician, is a former GM and head coach of the Regina Pats and Spokane Chiefs. Boyd once was the Pats’ head coach, with Strumm as GM.
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has that story right here.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed D Aaron Irving, the ninth overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. Irving, who is from Edmonton, played last season with the South Side Athletic Club's bantam AAA team, the Southgate Lions, who won the provincial championship. In regular-season play, he had 18 points in 33 games. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have signed F Blake Penner, who was the 18th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. A native of Medicine Hat, Penner had 68 points in 24 games with the Notre Dame Hounds last season. . . .
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The AHL season ended Tuesday in Houston as the Binghamton Senators beat the Aeros 3-2 to win the Calder Cup final in six games. . . . F Ryan Keller (Saskatoon, 2001-05) broke a 2-2 tie with a PP goal at 9:09 of the third period. It was his 10th goal of these playoffs. . . . Attendance was 10,125. . . . Binghamton is the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators; the Aeros are hooked up with the Minnesota Wild. . . . Bingham G Robin Lehner was named playoff MVP.
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JUST NOTES: The QMJHL’s governors, owners and head coaches are holding their annual session and agreed Tuesday, according to a news release, “that certain measures must be taken in order to eliminate hits to the head and other dangerous hits.” While the league will up its emphasis on education, it also said in the news release that “the severity of suspensions in terms of number of games resulting from a hit to the head would be increased.” . . .
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THE COACHING GAME: The ECHL’s Stockton Thunder has exercised its option on head coach Matt Thomas and signed him to a two-year extension that runs through 2013-14. The Thunder was 37-23-12 this season. . . . Chad McLeod has signed on as assistant GM/assistant coach with the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. He will work under GM/head coach Doug Johnson. The two were together with the NAHL’s Billings Bulls.

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The tall and the short of it

An interesting story is developing with the midget AAA team in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. (I have always wondered if there is a Fort Alberta in Saskatchewan?)
Anyway . . .
I am told that the midget AAA Fort Saskatchewan Rangers have two goaltenders — one is 6-foot-6, the other is 5-foot-6. One has signed a WHL contract with the Kamloops Blazers; the other has a brother who is a veteran defenceman with the Blazers.
The tall one is Troy Trombley, a third-round pick by the Blazers in the 2009 bantam draft. The short one is Emerance Maschmeyer, the first female to play in the midget AAA league since Shannon Szabados was with the Maple Leaf Athletic Club in 2002-03. Szabados, of course, later attended camp with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, played in the AJHL and won gold with Canada’s Olympic women’s team in Vancouver in February.
Emerance is the younger sister of Bronson Maschmeyer, who plays with the Blazers.
The two goaltenders both are 16 years of age and I am told that they have, to this point in the season, split the playing time with a team that goes into the weekend at 2-6-5.
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I was musing yesterday on the time when Pat Ginnell, then the GM and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, borrowed goaltender Ron Popplestone from the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Well, I was able to find a clipping in my files from the Brandon Sun of Jan. 4, 1980. Here’s what I wrote:
“Regina Pats general manager Bob Strumm was most upset on Dec. 21, when his Western Hockey League club came out on the short end of a 5-4 count with the Medicine Hat Tigers.
“Medicine Hat . . . was using goaltender Ron Popplestone, who belongs to the Brandon Wheat Kings, and all the rookie net minder did was kick out 64 shots as the Tigers won in overtime. Both Medicine Hat goaltenders -- Kelly Hrudey and Randy Jaycock -- apparently had the flu.
“So Tigers general manager and head cocah Pat Ginnell apparently got permission from WHL president Dave Descent and Brandon general manager Jack Brockest to use Popplestone.
“Strumm immediately protested the game, because the Pats never did give permission for the move. But Descent threw the protest out the door.
“The Pats, though, have appealed and that will be heard by the WHL’s grievance committee, likely in February at the league’s next meeting.”
Popplestone as backing up Brandon starter Scott Olson during the 1979-80 season.
I don’t know that Strumm’s appeal was ever heard. But I have this feeling that if it was he lost.
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As was mentioned here earlier in the week, the owners of the independent Golden Baseball League’s Victoria Seals pulled the plug on the franchise. Those owners happen to be Russ Parker, who also owns the Regina Pats, and his son, Darren. . . . I meant to follow up on the earlier post with a mention of the news conference that Darren held in Victoria to make it all official. The Victoria Times Colonist’s story is right here. . . . Cleve Dheensaw of the Times Colonist provides some opinion on the situation right here.
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F Colin Jacobs of the Seattle Thunderbirds is from Coppell, Texas. So why is he in the WHL and not playing football somewhere in the U.S.? Adam Kimelman of nhl.com answers that question and more right here. . . . The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Jacobs is in his draft season and, yes, the scouts are taking notice of him.
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The Calgary Herald has been all over the story involving Flames F Brett Sutter and the charges he is facing in Scottsdale, Alta. There’s a story right here on what all is in the police report. And there’s a story right here on how the team is standing by Sutter, who is the son of Flames’ GM Darryl Sutter.
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Glenda Luymes of the Vancouver Province has taken a look at what the City of Abbotsford, B.C., came up with in order to land the Abbotsford Heat, the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, and how the hockey fans in the area have responded. Or not. . . . That story is right here.
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The Kootenay Ice (13-4-0-2) meet the Oil Kings in Edmonton tonight before turning to Calgary to face the Hitmen on Sunday. Kootenay, which won 4-2 in Calgary on Thursday, already has beaten the Hitmen four times this season. . . . The Ice has added F Ryan Bloom, a second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, and F Jarrett Zentner, a fourth-rounder in the same draft. Bloom was brought in from the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons; Zentner plays for the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers. Both will stay with the Ice through the weekend. . . . The Ice lost F Brock Montgomery with a head injury during Wednesday’s practice. . . . He joined D James Martin (facial injury), F Drew Czerwonka (shoulder) and F Brendan Hurley (hand) on the shelf. . . . G Alex Pechurskiy, who lost out in the 20-year-old game with the Tri-City Americans, has signed with the Central league’s Mississippi RiverKings. Pechurskiy, who is from Magnitogorsk, Russia, went 13-10-1, 2.61, .912 with the Americans last season. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2208 draft. . . . F Brendan Shinnimin of the Americans is eligible to return to their lineup Saturday when they meet the Chiefs in Spokane. He sat out the 12th game of his 12-game suspension on Friday night as the Americans played the visiting Everett Silvertips. Shinnimin was suspended for a hit from behind on Saskatoon Blades F Josh Nicholls on Oct. 6. . . . In practice this week, Shinnimin, who had 13 points in seven games when he was suspended, was working on a line with Adam Hughesman and Kruise Reddick. . . . The WHL may rule Monday on the length of suspension to Vancouver Giants D Wes Vannieuwenhuizen, who picked up a major penalty and a game misconduct for a Thursday hit on Chilliwack Bruins F Robin Soudek. . . . Soudek left the ice surface on a backboard but the Bruins didn’t update his condition on Friday. . . . F Brendan Rowinski, acquired by the Giants from the Moose Jaw Warriors, practised with Vancouver on Friday and should play tonight against the visiting Prince George Cougars.
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The last fan had barely left Friday night’s final game when the email chimed. And here’s what had arrived:
“As Forrest Gump once said, I may not be a smart man, but can you help explain how an entire conference can be at or above .500 at 20 games into the regular season?
“Your insight is much appreciated Professor.”
It’s true. Each of the Western Conference’s 10 teams is at .500 or better.
Seriously.
Congratulations are in order to whomever is responsible for the format that allows this to happen.
All told, 17 of the WHL’s 22 teams went to bed safe in the knowledge that they were at .500 or better.
That, folks, is no mean feat.
Of course, what it all means is that the old axiom “For every winner there is a loser” no longer holds water or anything else.
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In Friday’s most-anticipated game, the host Saskatoon Blades scored a 4-3 victory over Portland, snapping the Winterhawks’ 10-game winning streak. The Blades (14-5-0-1) scored the game’s last two goals, with F Josh Nicholls scoring on the Pp at 11:09 of the third period and F Curtis Hamilton getting the winner at 18:01. . . . The Blades got a goal and three assists from F Marek Viedensky, while Hamilton and Nicholls each had a goal and two assists. . . . The Winterhawks, at 16-3-0-1, still boast the WHL’s best record. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 33 shots, including 18 of 20 in the first period. . . . Saskatoon opened with Adam Morrison in goal. He stopped 12 of 14 shots, but left after F Riley Boychuk broke a 2-2 tie on the PP just 59 seconds into the third. . . . Steven Stanford came on to stop 13 of 14. Stanford had been out since Oct. 26 when he suffered a concussion in practice. . . . Portland F Sven Bartschi had one assist to run his point streak to 14 games. . . . The much-ballyhooed game — the Blades debuted the denim look, Shannon Tweed and Gene Simmons were in the crowd — drew 8,812 fans. . . .

In Moose Jaw, Warriors D Collin Bowman scored two first-period goals but Medicine Hat F Ryan Harrison struck three times — including twice on the same shift — in the second period and the Tigers went on to a 6-3 victory. . . . Harrison has nine goals this season. . . . Medicine Hat F Tyler Pitlick broke a 3-3 tie with his fifth at 12:27 of the third. . . .


In Brandon, F Scott Glennie’s goal 53 seconds into OT gave the Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. F Shayne Wiebe, the team captain, scored twice for Brandon. He has 10 goals this season. . . .

In Regina, the Seattle Thunderbirds scored the game’s last four goals, three of them in a span of 7:07 in the third period, and beat the Pats, 5-4. F Charles Wells broke a 4-4 tie at 14:20 of the third period. . . . The first three goals of Seattle’s comeback all came via the PP. . . . F Colin Jacobs had two goals and an assist for Seattle, while D Brendan Dillon had three assists. . . . F Carter Ashton scored his ninth and 10th goals for the Pats. . . . Seattle G Calvin Pickard stopped 38 shots. . . . Seattle was 3-for-4 on the PP. . . . The Thunderbirds are 3-1-1 on their East Division trip and have won the last three. . . . Seattle wraps up its trip tonight in Swift Current against the Broncos. . . .

In Swift Current, the Broncos blew a 2-0 lead and then got a PP goal from F Brad Hoban at 10:29 of the third period for a 3-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Hoban had two goals, giving him 10. . . . G Mark Friesen stopped 45 shots for the Broncos. . . . The Raiders, who have lost three in a row, were without F Igor Revenko, who was out with an undisclosed injury. Apparently, he will be going to Edmonton for tests next week. . . .

In Spokane, F Tyler Johnson scored twice and G James Reid had 37 saves as the Chiefs beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 4-3. . . . The Chiefs are 4-0-0 all-time against the Oil Kings. . . .


In Kelowna, the Rockets won their sixth straight game, beating the Prince George Cougars, 4-1. . . . F Mitchell (Dirty Harry) Callahan had a goal and an assist for Kelowna, which has gone from 4-10-0 to 10-10-0 with the winning skein. . . . D Tyson Barrie had two assists for the Rockets, who play the Blazers in Kamloops tonight. . . . Callahan’s 11th goal was into an empty net. He has 15 points in the six-game streak, which includes five victories over B.C. Division opponents. . . .

In Chilliwack, the Red Deer Deer Rebels’ scored the game’s first three goals and went on to beat the Bruins, 4-3. . . . The Bruins scored those three goals on eight shots in the game’s first 8:30. . . . F Ryan Howse scored his 17th goal of the season for the Bruins, tying him for the WHL lead with F Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants and F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers. . . . F Turner Elson had a goal and an assist for the Rebels. The goal, his seventh, gave the Rebels a 4-2 lead and stood up as the winner. . . . Red Deer went 3-1-2 on its swing through B.C. and into the U.S. . . .

In Everett, F Josh Birkholz scored three times and added two assists as the Silvertips scored a 5-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . Birkholz has nine points, six of them goals, in 18 games. In other words, he more than doubled his points output in one game. . . . Birkholz was on a line with Scott MacDonald, who had two goals and an assist, and Clayton Cumiskey, who had an assist. . . . Cumiskey appeared to dislocate a finger at one point in the game. He left for repairs and then returned to action. . . . Everett G Luke Siemens, in a rare start, stopped 45 shots. . . . The Silvertips meet the visiting Chilliwack Bruins tonight and then travel to Kamloops for a Sunday encounter with the Blazers.
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FRIDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
One double minor:
Brandon F Mark Mieritz
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Six minors:
Seattle F Jacob Doty
Spokane F Blake Gal
Spokane F Tyler Johnson
Everett D Brennan Yadlowski
Red Deer D Alex Petrovic
Tri-City F Kruise Reddick

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