Coaching change in Brandon

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Brent Raedeke (Edmonton, 2007-10) signed a two-year contract with the Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL). He had three goals and six assists in 38 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) and one goal in two games with the Toledo Walleye (ECHL) last season. According to the Iserlohn press release announcing the signing, Raedeke has dual German-Canadian citizenship so he does not count against the Roosters’ import limit of 10 non-EU players.
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The move that most hockey observers thought would take place a year ago occurred on Wednesday.
Kelly McCrimmon, the owner/general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, announced that he is going back behind the team’s bench as head coach.
A year ago, having fired Cory Clouston, many people expected McCrimmon to return to coaching. Instead, he promoted assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk to head coach.
On Wednesday, McCrimmon fired Gylywoychuk and announced that he will be returning to coaching.
Gylywoychuk, who had been on the team’s coaching staff for 10 years but spent just one season as head coach, had one year left on a two-year contract. He also holds the franchise’s career games played record (323 games), having spent five seasons there as a defenceman.
McCrimmon offered him another spot in the organization, but Gylywochuk has chosen to leave the Wheat Kings as he hopes to continue coaching.
The Wheat Kings, under Gylywoychuk, missed the playoffs last season, going 24-40-8.
“After lengthy consideration I decided that this was a necessary change,” McCrimmon said in a statement. “Sometimes in this business you have to make hard decisions on good people and this was one of those times.”
McCrimmon is 294-177-35 as head coach since replacing Mike Kelly in March 2004. McCrimmon hired Cory Clouston as head coach for 2011-12, but fired him after the season and named Gylywoychuk the new head coach on July 19, 2012.
McCrimmon has a 330-260-42 record as the Wheat Kings’ head coach. He is the second-winningest head coach in franchise history, behind only Bob Lowes, who won 370 games during a nine-season stretch (1992-2001).
Darren Ritchie and David Anning will return as assistant coaches. Ritchie is preparing for his seventh season with Brandon, while Anning is going into his second season. Brent Zelenewich is back for a second season as goaltending coach, with Jim Frederickson returning for his 11th season as strength and conditioning coach.
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A game of Monopoly without jail. . . . Playing a game of Monopoly in as little as 30 minutes. . . . Say it ain’t so, Joe. Say it ain’t so. . . . But it is so. . . . Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse. . . . Check it out right here.
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It was just the other day when you were asking yourself: Gee, what ever happened to Craig Butz? . . . Well, for starters he now is Dr. Butz. . . . The Tampa Bay Times reports that Butz, 48, is the new principal of Pepin Academies in Tampa, a charter school for children with learning-related disabilities. . . . Butz played two playoff games with the Portland Winterhawks in 1981-82, then played a season and a bit with the Kelowna Wings before going back to Portland for 54 games and playoffs to end the 1983-84 season. He then went to the U of Saskatchewan and played for the Huskies. . . . Phil Morgan of the Times has more right here and this really is a neat story.
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“Madison Square Garden, home to the Knicks, the Rangers, the Ice Capades, the circus and the ‘Fight of the Century’ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971, received an eviction notice of sorts on Wednesday,” writes Charles V. Bagli of The New York Times. . . . Seriously, New York City Council has voted 47-1 to give MSG 10 years to move from its present location. . . . Bagli’s story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The OHL’s Sudbury Wolves have hired David Matsos as their associate coach. They signed him to a three-year deal. . . . Matsos had spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Windsor Spitfires. . . . Windsor has moved Jerrod Smith from video coach to assistant coach to replace Matsos. Smith also got a contract extension taking him through 2015-16. . . . Interestingly, Matsos and Bob Boughner, the Spitfires’ president and head coach, are brothers-in-law.
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The OHL’s Sarnia Sting has added Andy Delmore to its coaching staff. . . . Delmore will work alongside head coach Trevor Letowski. The two once were teammates with the Sting. Delmore, 36, played last season in Austria and Italy but has decided to retire. . . . Sarnia also has hired Dave Rook as its goaltending coach. . . . The Sting will hire one more assistant coach before the season opens.
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The QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders have hired Connor Cameron as an assistant coach, with Paul Drew coming on board as a goaltending consultant. . . . Cameron, the son of Ottawa Senators assistant coach Dave Cameron, has been an assistant with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies for the past two seasons. . . . Cameron and Drew will work with head coach Gordie Dwyer and assistant coach Luke Beck.

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The Tri-City Americans have signed D Riley Hillis, 16, to a contract. Hillis, from Arvada, Colo., played last season with the U-16 Rocky Mountain Roughriders. The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder picked up 22 points and 60 penalty minutes in 65 games. Hillis is with the Americans through the weekend and then will return home where he will play for the U-16 Colorado Thunderbirds.
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The Swift Current Broncos have signed D Max Lajoie, who was the 95th overall selection in the 2012 bantam draft. Lajoie, 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, had 12 points and 18 penalty minutes in 33 games with the bantam AAA Calgary Royals last season.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have added Sean Brown to their coaching staff. Brown spent six season in the Edmonton Oilers’ organization, playing with the big club and the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs. He retired as a player after spending 2010-11 in Germany. With the Oil Kings, he will work alongside head coach Derek Laxdal and assistant Steve Hamilton. . . . Brown takes over from Jesse Pearson, who spent last season on the coaching staff after ending his playing career due to post-concussion syndrome.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings have a new goaltending coach. The Brandon Sun reports that Brent Zelenewich, a former Brandon U Bobcats goaltender, has taken over from Matt Cockell. Cockell, who is helping the Wheat Kings in training camp, has stepped aside because he also works with the Canadian women’s national team.
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The Vancouver Giants tweeted Friday that F Jordan Martinook, 20, has agreed to terms on a contract with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Martinook, who blossomed into a 40-goal scorer last season, was the 58th overall selection in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports right here that Martinook has been told by the Coyotes that he won’t be back with the Giants.
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JUST NOTES: The Brandon Sun reports that the Brandon Wheat Kings were without two veteran forwards in Friday’s scrimmages. F Dominick Favreau and F Jens Meilleur are out with back woes. That can’t be good for Favreau, who is one of four 20-year-olds on Brandon’s roster. . . . F J.C. Lipon’s three goals helped the Kamloops Blazers to a 5-3 victory over the Victoria Royals in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Friday night. Lipon had a career-high 19 goals last season — he scored three in each of his first two seasons — and this was his first hat trick. In 187 regular-season games, he has four two-goal games.
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Slovakian F Juraj Bezuch had 21 points in 67 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, but, for whatever reason, he was released following the season. Now he’s in camp with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, who now have three import players, one over the limit. Not only that, but according to this story right here, Bezuch has been “dazzling” folks in the Kitchener camp.
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Fans of the QMJHL got good news earlier in the summer. Now it seems there soon may be the same good news for OHL fans. But there is no good news on this subject for WHL fans. . . . The trapezoid, which is gone from the QMJHL, is soon to be gone from the OHL, according to this piece right here. . . . The WHL has shown no signs of following suit and that's too bad. Because all the trapezoid does is penalize goaltenders who have worked hard to develop their puck-handling skills. It also prevents goaltenders from handling pucks in the corners and helping save defencemen from taking a beating from forechecking forwards.

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