Get to know the new general manager of the Raiders: Curtis Hunt pic.twitter.com/xiGVIqeo8z
— PrinceAlbert Raiders (@PARaidersHockey) June 8, 2015
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:
Another extensive Coaching search by Vancouver Giants, candidates narrowed down to a final 5. Steve Spott/Ryan McGill front runners. #Giants
— JAY JANOWER (@DOUBLEJGLOBALBC) June 8, 2015
—— Sheldon Keefe, the OHL and CHL coach of the year, has signed on as head coach of the AHL’s Toronto
Marlies. 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.——
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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.@CurtisLazar95 let me know if you put any thought into your over-age year in the WHL. Sending out camp info. Just checking.
— Steve Hamilton (@hamilton_steve) June 8, 2015
.@hamilton_steve I guess the real question is will you guys also be supplying burgers after each game? 🍔 #dealbreaker #YoungandHungry
— Curtis Lazar (@CurtisLazar95) June 8, 2015
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In Brandon, F Nolan Patrick scored two goals and added an assist to help the Wheat Kings to a 6-4 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Patrick, 16, isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2017. He’s got 42 points in 45 games this season. . . . Patrick got the game’s first goal, at 3:26 of the first period, then added an empty-netter at 18:27 of the third for his 22nd goal this season. . . . Brandon led this one 3-0 going into the second period. The Warriors then scored four times in 13:06, with F Tanner Eberle getting his 26th, F Jack Rodewald getting his 23rd and F Brayden Point getting No. 21. . . . Warriors F Torrin White broke the 3-3 tie with his 11th at 14:57. . . . Brandon F Morgan Klimchuk tied it with his 19th goal at 17:20 of the second. . . . Wheat Kings F Peter Klimchuk snapped the tie at 9:51 of the third, on a PP. He’s got 13 goals. . . . D Ivan Provorov and F Rihards Bukarts each had two assists for Brandon. . . . Brandon D Eric Roy played in his 300th regular-season game. He had one assist. . . . Brandon head coach Kelly McCrimmon won his 400th game, the 14th coach in WHL history to get there. Ken Hodge (742), Ernie McLean (548) and McCrimmon are the only members of the 400 club who got there with one franchise. . . . It was John Quenneville bobblehead night. The Brandon forward was back after missing one game with an undisclosed injury. He scored his 16th goal. . . . Warriors F Tanner Jeannot returned after being out since Dec. 10. He missed 18 games with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Wheat Kings (36-9-5) are 7-0-1 in their last eight and remain three points behind Kelowna, which leads the overall standings. . . . The Warriors (20-26-4) have lost two in a row. . . . The Wheaties and Warriors meet again tonight, this time in Moose Jaw. . . .
In Calgary, F Adam Tambellini scored two goals and added two assists as the Hitmen whipped the Prince Albert Raiders, 10-1. . . . Tambellini has 35 goals this season, with nine of them coming over his last five games. He has 12 points in a six-game point streak. . . . Hitmen F Kenton Helgesen also scored twice, giving him 16, as did F Radel Fazleev, who also has 16 goals. . . . Calgary scored 10 times on 35 shots. . . . Hitmen G Brendan Burke stopped 23 shots. . . . Calgary D Jake Bean had two assists. The 16-year-old from Calgary has 29 points, including 26 assists, in 39 games. He had one point, an assist, in his first 15 games. . . . D Travis Sanheim had three assists for Calgary and was plus-5. . . . Calgary F Pavel Karnaukhov scored his 17th goal and added two assists, while F Jordy Stallard, F Jake Virtanen and F Connor Rankin each had two assists. . . . The Raiders lost D Mackenze Stewart to a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 8:22 of the third period. . . . The Hitmen were 3-for-5 on the PP; the Raiders were 0-for-6. . . . Calgary (28-17-5), which entertains Edmonton this afternoon, has won five straight, outscoring its opposition 25-5 in the process. The afternoon game is part of a hockey doubleheader, with the NHL’s Oilers and Flames playing in the evening. The same thing happened in Edmonton last season on March 1. . . . Calgary has moved into a tie with Red Deer for second in the Central Division. . . . The Raiders slipped to 20-28-1. They will visit Red Deer tonight. . . .
In Red Deer, G Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots to lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Rebels. . . . That was Jarry’s third shutout of the season and the sixth of his career. . . . Edmonton F Andrew Koep, playing his first game since Jan. 2, opened the scoring, with his 11th goal, at 4:49 of the third period. . . . F Lane Bauer had three assists and D Dysin Mayo had two. . . . Edmonton got two goals from Brett Pollock, who has 24. . . . The Oil Kings (24-21-6), who have won two in a row, hold down the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, a point behind Kootenay. . . . Edmonton is in Calgary today for a matinee. . . . The Rebels (27-15-7), who are at home to Prince Albert tonight, were 7-0-2 in their last nine. . . . 
In Cranbrook, D Rinat Valiev banged home a rebound to give the Kootenay Ice a 4-3 OT victory over the Regina Pats. . . . This was victory No. 700 for the Ice franchise, dating back to 1996-97. . . . Valiev’s seventh goal of the season came at 3:27 of extra time. . . . The Ice took a 3-0 lead in the latter stages of the second period, only to have the Pats come back and tie it. . . . Regina F Pavel Padakin scored his 16th goal of the season at 14:01 of the third period to force OT. . . . Regina F Austin Wagner had scored his 14th just 31 seconds earlier. . . . Regina G Daniel Wapple stopped 40 shots. . . . Ice D Tyler King had two assist, while F Sam Reinhart also had a goal, his 12th, and an assist on the winner. He is on a 10-game point streak. . . . Regina D Connor Hobbs drew two assists. . . . The Ice began a seven game homestand with this one. . . . The Pats have brought in F Adam Berg, 17, from the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. . . . Kootenay (27-23-1) is at home to Kelowna tonight. . . . The Pats (26-17-6) are 0-3-3 in their last six outings. They are second in the East Division, seven points ahead of Swift Current. . . . Regina is in Lethbridge tonight. . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has a game story 
In Lethbridge, F Leon Draisaitl scored the game’s first two goals and the Kelowna Rockets skated to a 6-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . Draisaitl, who also had an assist, has six goals. . . . Kelowna F Gage Quinney also scored twice, giving him 12. . . . The Rockets got a goal, his 18th, and two assists from F Justin Kirkland, with F Rourke Chartier and F Tyson Baillie getting two assists each. . . . F Giorgio Estephan scored his 12th goal and added an assist for the Hurricanes. He had 24 points, including 12 goals, in 64 games last season. This season, he has 31 points, 11 of them goals, in 40 games. . . . Kelowna had a 51-25 edge in shots. . . . G Michael Herringer went the distance for the Rockets in his sixth appearance of the season and his first appearance since Jan. 16. He stopped F Jamal Watson on a second-period penalty shot. . . . The Rockets (38-8-4) are 4-0-1 in their last five and will visit the Kootenay Ice tonight. . . . The Hurricanes now are 12-30-6 with Regina coming to town tonight. . . . 
In Portland, F Oliver Bjorkstrand scored once and added two assists, all in the first period, as the Winterhawks posted a 6-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Bjorkstrand has 32 goals. His 32nd allowed Portland to take a 4-0 lead into the second period. . . . Portland F Chase De Leo scored twice, giving him 24, while D Adam Henry and D Layne Viveiros each had two assists. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 29 shots, five more than Cole Kehler of the Blazers. . . . With D Michael Fora and D Patrik Maier injured and D Ryan Rehill serving a one-game suspension, the Blazers had D Conner McDonald, 15, in their lineup. A second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, McDonald plays for the Delta, B.C., midget prep team. . . . The Winterhawks (29-19-3) have won seven straight as they entertain Everett tonight. . . . The Blazers (19-26-6) remain alone in third place in the B.C. Division, two points ahead of Vancouver and Prince George. The Blazers are in Vancouver tonight. . . . 
In Prince George, the Seattle Thunderbirds scored four times in each of the first two periods en route to a 9-2 victory over the Cougars. . . . Seattle F Ryan Gropp broke a 1-1 tie with his 19th goal at 15:16 of the first period and the Thunderbirds ended up taking a 4-1 lead into the second. . . . F Roberts Lipsbergs got his fourth goal at 16:06 and F Scott Eansor scored his seventh at 19:08. . . . Lipsbergs finished with two goals, giving him five, and two assists, while F Mathew Barzal had four assists. . . . F Keegan Kolesar helped out with two goals, giving him 17, and an assist. . . . Eansor also had two assists. . . . The Cougars could have two players suspended for tonight’s rematch, as D Josh Connolly took a slashing major and game misconduct at 2:59 of the second period and D Josh Anderson left with a headshot major and game misconduct at 16:23. . . . Seattle G Logan Flodell made his third career start, all against the Cougars. He is 2-1-0, including a victory in his only Seattle start last season. He stopped 21 shots in this one. . . . Flodell came in from the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks earlier in the week after G Danny Mumaugh chose to retire. . . . Seattle D Jared Hauf sat out a one-game suspension for getting into a staged fight nine seconds into Wednesday’s game in Kamloops. . . . Hauf had played in 193 straight regular-season games. . . . Cougars D Sam Ruopp completed a five-game suspension by sitting out this one. . . . After the game, Tbird Tidbits tweeted: “Winning tonight, TBirds are 3-0 this season when Ryan Gibbons works game and is lower-numbered linesman. They are 0-2 when his number is higher.” . . . The Thunderbirds now are 24-19-6 and are third in the U.S. Division, four points ahead of Spokane and Tri-City. . . . The Cougars (20-30-2) have lost 11 in a two (0-9-2). . . . They’ll play again tonight in Prince George. . . . 
In Spokane, G Coleman Vollrath stopped 29 shots as the Victoria Royals blanked the Chiefs, 3-0. . . . Spokane has been shut out in three straight games and has been outscored 18-1 in their last five outings. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich tweeted: “Spokane has 1 goal on 134 shots in its last 5 games. Seattle has 9 goals on 26 shots tonight.” . . . Vollrath has four shutouts this season and five him his career. . . . The Royals got two goals and an assist from F Tyler Soy. The sophomore has 17 goals. . . . G Greg Chase had two assists. . . . Spokane got D Evan Fiala back from an undisclosed injury, but still had seven regulars out of action with undisclosed injuries. They also scratched G Tyson Verhelst (ill). . . . The Royals (27-20-4) are comfortably ensconced in second place in the B.C. Division. . . . The Chiefs (23-21-4) have lost seven in a row (0-6-1) for the first time since 2006-07. . . . The Royals visit the Tri-City Americans tonight, while the Chiefs are at home to Medicine Hat. . . . 
In Kennewick, Wash., F Curtis Sanford took over the WHL goal-scoring lead as his Medicine Hat Tigers got past the Tri-City Americans, 4-1. . . . Sanford, who also had an assist, has 41 goals, one more than Kelowna F Rourke Chartier. . . . Tigers F Trevor Cox, who leads the WHL scoring race with 85 points, got his 22nd goal and added an assist. . . . F Tyler Sandhu gave the Americans a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal, via the PP, at 4:18 of the first period. . . . Tigers F Matt Bradley tied it with his 11th goal, on a PP, at 9:51. He also had an assist. . . . Cox broke the tie at 19:53 of the first. . . . Tigers G Nick Schneider made 27 saves. . . . Eric Comrie was back in goal for the Americans. Evan Sarthou had made 20 consecutive starts while Comrie was with Canada’s national junior team and then out with an injury. . . . Comrie made 35 saves. . . . The Tigers continue to be without F Steven Owre (jaw), F Anthony Ast (concussion), F Kyle Becker (concussion) and D Kyle Burroughs (suspension), while G Marek Langhamer is nursing a wonky hip. . . . Because of that, the Tigers have D Brad Forrest and F Caleb Fantillo with them on the U.S. trip. Forrest, 17, plays for the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. The Calgary native was an eighth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. Fantillo, 16, was taken in the sixth round of the 2013 bantam draft. He plays for the major midget Vancouver North East Chiefs. . . . The Tigers (35-12-2) are on a six-game winning streak. . . . The Americans (24-24-2) have lost two in a row. . . . The Americans are at home tonight against Victoria, while the Tigers visit Spokane tonight. . . .
In Everett, F Patrick Bajkov scored three times to lead the Silvertips to a 7-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . A sophomore from Nanaimo, B.C., Bajkov has 20 goals this season. He has 38 points in 49 games. Last season, he put up 19 points, nine of them goals, in 56 games. . . . After the game, Bajkov told Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald that his first goal may end up going to D Tristen Pfeifer, who has yet to score a WHL goal. . . . F Ivan Nikolishin scored his 13th goal and drew three assists for Everett, while F Carson Stadnyk scored twice, giving him 20, and added an assist. . . . Everett D Noah Juulsen had three assists and F Matt Fonteyne had two. . . . With G Payton Lee (hand) on the shelf, Vancouver brought in Griffin Baillie to back up Cody Porter. Baillie, an 18-year-old from Merritt, B.C., plays for the junior B Aldergrove Kodiaks. . . . Vancouver also scratched F Matt Bellerive, who was ill. . . . The Silvertips (31-14-4) had lost their previous two games. . . . The Giants (20-28-2) have lost three in a row. . . . The Silvertips are in Portland tonight. Everett leads the U.S. Division by three points over Portland, which has won seven in a row. . . . The Royals are in Kennewick, Wash., to meet Tri-City.
tournament, you can forget it.
5-0. That allowed the Rebels to get into a tiebreaker game with the Prince Albert Raiders. On Tuesday, in Red Deer, the Raiders won that game to get into the playoffs.
EDMONTON (1) vs. PRINCE ALBERT (8)
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