Showing posts with label Brett Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brett Smith. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2015

Hunt takes over in P.A. . . . Marlies get a head coach . . . Leafs' offer to McCrimmon has deadline



The Prince Albert Raiders introduced Curtis Hunt as the 10th general manager in franchise history on Monday. Hunt, 48, takes over from Bruno Campese, who had been with the Raiders for eight seasons.
Hunt signed a four-year contract, which puts him in the same time frame as head coach Marc Habscheid and associate coach Dave Manson.
Hunt, a defenceman, played three seasons with the Raiders, starting in 1984-85 when the team won the Memorial Cup. He also coached for seven seasons in the WHL, with the Moose Jaw Warriors (2002-04) and Regina Pats (2004-08, 2009-10).
A native of North Battleford, Sask., he also spent a season (2008-09) in the pro ranks, with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and their AHL affiliate, the Binghamton Senators.
Hunt spent 2014-15 as the general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has more right here.
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A history of Raiders’ general managers:
Alf Poulin (1971-72)
Terry Simpson (1972-1986; 1989-90)
Rick Wilson (1986-88)
Brad Tippett (1988-89)
Dale Engel (1990-94)
Bob Robson (1994-95)
Rick Vallette (1995-2001)
Donn Clark (2001-08)
Bruno Campese (2008-15)
Curtis Hunt (2015- )
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On most Mondays, the Vancouver Province includes a column from Ed Willes that deals with a handful of items.
This week, part of that column dealt with this (the complete column is right here):
In the run-up to the Women’s World Cup, TSN aired a polished hour-long feature on the Canadian team entitled Rise.
It was a revealing portrait of a group of athletes who’ve played their careers in virtual anonymity. It was also first-rate story-telling, establishing the characters who’ll take centre stage in our country for the next month.
So what’s wrong with that? Nothing, unless you’ve grown tired of the two cable giants in this country, TSN and Sportsnet, turning their air time into an ongoing promotion for their properties. TSN is the rights-holder for the Women’s World Cup and, suddenly, they’re all in for the women. Now, ask yourself how many hour-long features they aired on the women’s team before this year?
While we’re on the subject, when was the last time they offered any innovative, self-produced programming to their audience that didn’t involve one of their properties?
It’s the same story at Sportsnet. They force feed the Blue Jays on the country, not because of an insatiable demand to watch a terminally mediocre baseball team, but because Rogers owns the team.
TSN and Sportsnet were granted sports-broadcasting licences by the CRTC but, in reality, they were granted licences to print money. The game is rigged in their favour to an illogical extent. But there’s been little payback to this country in terms of original programming.
They’re also in the process of driving CBC Sports out of business, and that should be a concern.
The Corp. is/was a lot of things but, at its best, it promoted sound journalistic principles and attempted to offer its audience something beyond another panel discussion or top-10 list.
In the end, the audience gets the kind of programming it deserves, and if they’re happy with things as they stand, there’s not much more to say. You’d just like to believe the public expects more from companies that have been given so much.
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THE COACHING GAME:

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Sheldon Keefe, the OHL and CHL coach of the year, has signed on as head coach of the AHL’s Toronto AHLMarlies. Keefe, 34, spent the past three seasons with the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. . . . The announcement was made by Kyle Dubas, an assistant general manager with the Maple Leafs. Dubas joined the Leafs a year ago, after being the Greyhounds’ general manager. . . . This season, the Greyhounds had the OHL’s best record -- 54-12-2, for 110 points. . . . Before moving to the Soo, Keefe was the GM and head coach of the junior A Pembroke Lumber Kings, where he won five straight CCHL titles. The Lumber Kings won the RBC Cup in 2011. . . . Keefe was to have spent part of this summer as an assistant coach with Hockey Canada’s under-18 team. The head coach of that team is Kelly McCrimmon, the owner/GM/head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who is pondering an offer to join the Maple Leafs’ front office.
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The BCHL’s Langley Rivermen have promoted assistant coach Kurt Astle to assistant general manager and associate head coach. Astle has spent the past three season’s as the team’s director of player personnel and assistant coach. . . . He works alongside GM/head coach Bobby Henderson.
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Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings on CKLQ, reported Monday that the Toronto Maple Leafs offer to Wheat Kings owner/GM/head coach Kelly McCrimmon has a June 11 deadline with it. . . . Here’s a note from the Brandon Sun: “McCrimmon has not returned calls from the Sun over the last week.” . . . Check out our latest poll over their on the right and vote for who you think will coach the Wheat Kings in 2015-16. . . .
F Jeremy Leipsic, the 18-year-old brother of former Portland Winterhawks F Brendan Leipsic, will play for the BCHL’s Powell River Kings in 2015-16. Jeremy, 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds, had 84 points, including 20 goals, with the midget AAA Winnipeg Wild this season. His goal is to go the NCAA route.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:30 PM
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Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Commish wants more support for Ice, new rink in P.A. . . . or else!



WEDNESDAY’S GAME:

No Game Scheduled.

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The WHL’s championship final, for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, begins Friday in Brandon with the Wheat Kings meeting the Kelowna Rockets. . . .
Each team is 12-3 in these playoffs. . . . Brandon has won each of its series in five games; Kelowna has won in four, five and six games, which, if you are into omens, might indicate the Rockets will win the final in seven. . . . The Wheat Kings have scored 65 goals in their 15 games; the Rockets have scored 65. . . . Brandon has surrendered 34 goals; Kelowna 39. . . . Kelowna fell behind in five of the six games in its 4-2 Western Conference final victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . As for injuries, Brandon F Reid Duke, F Tanner Kaspick and D Kale Clague have been practising this week. Duke was injured in Game 5 of a second-round series. Kaspick and Clague went down in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final. . . . The Rockets will be without F Tyrell Goulbourne, who underwent surgery last week to repair a skate cut to his left calf. F Rourke Chartier, a 48-goal scorer in the regular season, is day-to-day after missing the last three games against Portland. . . . Here’s an interesting tidbit from Brandon Sun sports editor Rob Henderson: “The combined 226 points that Brandon and Kelowna racked up this season are more than any other pair of finalists except 1979 when the Wheat Kings (with a league-record 125 points) topped the Portland Winterhawks (111) for the WHL title.”
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Last week, you will recall, Avenir Sports & Entertainment, purchased majority ownership of the Kloten Flyers, a team that players in the Switzerland’s NL A. Avenir is owned by Bill Gallacher, who Swiss-NLAalso owns the Portland Winterhawks. Perhaps you are wondering that the move might mean to the Winterhawks. If so, here’s what Winterhawks president Doug Piper told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune:
"When Bill bought the Winterhawks (in 2008), his intention was to also buy an NHL franchise. Those opportunities have come and gone, so we started thinking about the European market. We've always loved Swiss players — the three who have played for us have been fantastic. Switzerland is a great hockey market, almost Canadian-like in its appreciation with the game.
"The WHL allows each team only two imports, but the ones we've had have been impactful. Switzerland has a sophisticated youth program. We've always been tuned into Europe, but we feel this helps us get even more eyes over there and be in line to find more Niederreiter-like talent. The more we understand the world as a whole and start looking at it that way, we felt it was a wise thing to do for the future.”
The three Swiss players to have been with the Winterhawks are Nino Niederreiter, Sven Baertschi and Luca Sbisa.
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Ron Robison, the commissioner of the WHL, was in Lethbridge on Monday, where he met with shareholders of the Hurricanes and urged them to sell the franchise to private owners. . . . On Tuesday, he told Les Lazaruk, the radio voice of the Saskatoon Blades, that the Kootenay Ice and Prince Albert Raiders need help if they are to remain where they are in the long term.
Robison, on the Ice: “The attendance in (Cranbrook) is not where we need it to be. We're addressing that and hopeful that we can get some solution in place here very soon. But, the reality is that in order to continue to operate in markets such as Cranbrook, the Kootenay Ice have to draw more people . . . have to get better support in that community. Otherwise, we may have no alternative but to relocate the franchise.”
Robison, on the Raiders: “There's no question that in order for the Prince Albert Raiders to be viable long term, a new facility is required. I think the city acknowledges that. The Raiders certainly understand that moving forward and I think it would be a major asset to the community. They want to preserve their franchise and, certainly, discussions are underway in that regard.”
Lazaruk’s story is right here.
Brett Smith of the Prince Albert Daily Herald followed up on that story by talking with Raiders officials. That story is right here.
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The WHL bantam draft is scheduled to be held today in Calgary. When it comes to coverage, the day belongs to Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts at Large. So check out his blog for all the happenings. . . . If you click right here, you will find his spreadsheet that features all of the WHL trades that involved draft picks.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that Pats F Braden Christoffer, 20, has signed with the Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. According to Harder, Christoffer, the Pats’ captain, isn’t expected to join the Barons now; rather, he will report next season when the franchise has moved to Bakersfield, Calif. He also will play for the Oilers in a prospects tournament in Penticton, B.C., in September.
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The WHL held its awards luncheon in Calgary on Wednesday. For a look at all the winners, click right here.
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During the WHL’s awards luncheon, former Regina Pats owner Russ Parker was honoured with the 2014-15 Governors Award. Parker and his wife, Diane, purchased the Pats from the WHL in 1995. They sold the franchise prior to this season.
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THE COACHING GAME:

Moe Mantha, a former NHL defenceman, has signed on as the first GM/head coach of the French River Rapids, who will begin play in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League next season. The 54-year-old Mantha is a native of Sturgeon Falls, Ont., which is a short drive from Noelville, the home of the Rapids. Mantha had been working as the head coach of the NAHL’s Michigan Warriors. . . . Randy Russon of Sault This Week has more right here.
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BCHLRyan Donald has signed on as assistant GM and assistant coach with the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. He had been the head coach and assistant GM of the Woodstock Slammers of the junior A Maritime Hockey League. He is a graduate of Yale who captain the Bulldogs. He also played in the AJHL with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders and Camrose Kodiaks. In Trail, he will be working with GM/head coach Nick Deschenes and assistant coaches Craig Clare and Barry Zanier.
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There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:37 PM
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