Hurricanes' new coach is . . . Robison reacts to Lethbridge vote . . . Ex-Seattle goalie to coach Ravens

The Lethbridge Hurricanes will introduce a new head coach on Thursday afternoon and social media speculation has it that the new man is Brent Kisio. . . . Kisio has spent the past eight seasons with the Calgary Hitmen, moving from video coach/assistant coach to associate coach. . . . The son of former Hitmen head coach Kelly Kisio, Brent played four seasons at the U of Nebraska-Omaha, graduating with a degree in criminology. . . . He has been Calgary’s associate coach for three seasons. . . .
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes and assistant coach Bryan Maxwell mutually decided to go their separate ways on Tuesday. Maxwell, a veteran WHL coach, is a former Hurricanes general manager and head coach (1995-03) who returned as an assistant last summer.
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The fallout and reaction continues from the Hurricanes shareholders’ meeting that took place in Lethbridge on Monday evening.
At that meeting, attendees voted 68 per cent in favour of moving forward with the process to sell the franchise. However, that wasn’t enough as the Hurricanes’ constitution calls for a 75 per cent majority in order to go ahead. Thus, the franchise will remain in the hands of the community.
Interestingly, Mike Moore, the general manager and vice-president of business operations of the rival Calgary Hitmen, attended the meeting. It seems the NHL’s Calgary Flames, who own the Hitmen, own 86 shares in the Hurricanes.
All of which leads to this question: What are the optics of one WHL team, a privately owned team at that, owning shares in a community-owned rival?
The Hitmen, of course, are owned by the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Did the Flames own a piece of the Hurricanes when they purchased the Hitmen in 1997? If they did, why weren’t the Flames forced to divest themselves of those shares at that time?
Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, addressed that issue in an interview with Pat Siedlecki, the news director at CJOC in Lethbridge:
“It’s a historical matter that has not been resolved and we will certainly be addressing that . . . the reality is that the Flames do have shares that were acquired many years ago and remain in a position to exercise those rights under the shareholder agreement. Consequently, they were eligible and had the right to attend the meeting.”
Asked if it was a conflict, Robison replied:
“It is certainly under private ownership, but it remains for interpretation under community ownership. Our view is that the matter needs to be addressed and will be addressed in the near future with both the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Calgary Hitmen.”
Meanwhile, Robison told Siedlecki that the WHL has to “respect the excision of the shareholders.”
Robison added that there was an obvious sign that “the majority wish to go that direction, but at the end of the day the constitution stands with respect to 75 per cent as a requirement. . . . Consequently, the community ownership will continue in Lethbridge and we intend to get fully behind the community ownership and the board to support them to the full extent.”
Robison, who early in May had recommended to shareholders that they sell the franchise to private interests, did admit to being surprised by Monday’s decision.
“I guess I would be a little bit, only because I think there was a strong movement in that direction,” he stated. “Now we need to move on to do what we need to do to support and strengthen the community ownership.”
Asked if the franchise might still be privatized down the road, Robison said: “The only way that would occur is if the club could no longer meet its financial obligations, and we are hopeful that’s not going to be the case. We have to show every confidence in the board and their ability to turn things around. . . . We are going to watch very carefully and ensure that the business plan is realistic.”
The complete interview is right here. It runs five minutes 42 seconds.
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Despite the fact that F Connor McDavid and his Erie Otters weren’t in the Memorial Cup tournament, the championship game, between the Oshawa Generals and Kelowna Rockets, did quite well in terms of TV viewership. In fact, it drew the second largest Memorial Cup audience in Sportsnet history -- an average viewership of 759,000. . . . Chris Zelkovich of Yahoo! Sports Canada has more right here.
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Tom Gaglardi, the owner of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and the majority owner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, wasn’t in court Tuesday as the Crown’s appeal of an earlier judgment was heard. . . . The Crown has asked that fines against Gaglardi and his company, Northland Properties, be doubled after both were convicted of damaging salmon habitat. . . . Tim Petruk of Kamloops This Week has that story right here.
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Don't forget to check out our poll over there on the right, and take a stab at picking the next head coach of the Vancouver Giants.
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THE COACHING GAME:

Danny Lorenz, a former WHL goaltender, has signed on as the head coach of the Seattle Ravens, who are preparing for their first season in the seven-team Northern Pacific Hockey League. . . . Lorenz, 45, played four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds (1986-90) before going on to a 14-season pro career. . . . Of late, he has been the hockey director at the Kent Valley Hockey Association. . . . The NPHL is a junior league with teams playing a 42-game regular season. The other teams are the Cheney Icehawks, Eugene Generals, West Sound Warriors, Wenatchee Wolves, Bellingham Blazers and Tri-City Outlaws.
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The Regina Pats have signed D Dawson Barteaux, who was the 14th overall selection in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. Barteaux, from Foxwarren, Man., played this season with the Yellowhead Chiefs, who play in the Winnipeg bantam AAA league. He had 27 points, including seven goals, in 31 games. . . . Barteaux was one of 34 prospects to attend the Pats’ spring camp last weekend.
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The Kamloops Blazers have signed F James Shepard, who was their first selection in the 2015 bantam draft. He was the 22nd player selected, taken with the first pick of the second round. . . . The 5-foot-8, 155-pound Shepard, who is from West Vancouver, had 111 points, including 32 goals, in 61 games with the North Shore Winter Club’s bantam AAA team that won the Western Canadian bantam championship. . . . It is expected that Shepard will play with the major midget Vancouver-Northwest Giants in 2015-16. . . . The Blazers now have signed their first two picks from the 2015 bantam draft. D Devan Harrison of Dysart, Sask., who was taken three picks after Shepard, signed on May 13.
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In the AHL, a couple of former WHL coaches have guided their teams into the Calder Cup final. . . . Travis Green and his Utica Comets scored a 2-0 victory over the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins last night to win the Western Conference final, 4-2. . . . The Comets (Vancouver Canucks) will meet Mike Stothers and his Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings) in the final. The series will follow a 2-3-2 format with Games 1 and 2 in Manchester, N.H., on Saturday and Sunday. . . . The teams had the AHL’s top two regular-season records. . . . The Comets are in their second AHL season. The Monarchs are moving to Ontario, Calif., after this season. . . . The two teams have never played against each other. . . . Last night, F Cory Conacher scored at 3:16 of the second period and F Alexandre Grenier added an empty-netter at 18:46 of the third. . . . Utica G Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots. . . . Attendance was 3,835.
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F Spencer Asuchak and F Dyson Stevenson, both former WHLers, each had a goal and an assist last night as the host Allen Americans scored a 5-2 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays in Game 2 of the ECHL’s championship final. . . . The series, using a 3-3-1 format, is tied 1-1 with Game 3 in Allen tonight. . . . Stevenson scored his second playoff goal at 6:05 of the first period to open the scoring. Asuchak’s 11th playoff goal, at 4:43 of the third, gave Allen a 4-1 lead. . . . Attendance was 3,804. . . . Asuchak, from Kamloops, played with the Tri-City Americans and Prince George Cougars (2008-12). . . . Stevenson, from Shaunavon, Sask., played for the Regina Pats (2010-13).

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Winterhawks get assistant coach . . . or do they?

SMOKE ON THE WATER: Somewhere through all the smoke over the South
Thompson River near Kamloops stands Mount Martin. Yes, it's been smokin' hot
in Kamloops for the past few days.

D Rory Rawlyk (Medicine Hat, Vancouver, Prince Albert, Red Deer, 2000-03) has signed a one-year contract with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite), he had 40 points, including 32 assists, in 43 games. He was named to the Elite League’s second all-star team. . . . Rawlyk’s season was cut short by a freak training accident in which he suffered a broken nose, fractured cheekbone and cracked eye socket, which required surgery. . . .
F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1997-2002) has signed a one-year extension with Ritten/Renon (Italy, Serie A). Last season, Johansson had 50 points, 14 of them goals, in 38 games with the Italian champions. He led the team in assists and points.
D Garnet Exelby (Saskatoon, Regina, 1998-2001) has signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, as the captain of the Norfolk Admirals (AHL), he had 18 points, all of them assists, in 72 games.
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“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
When you hear that, you think of that great movie Cool Hand Luke.
Well, we ran into a communication problem on Wednesday.
Under the headline ‘Charlottetown native to be an (sic) WHL assistant’, a website that goes by hockeyscene.com reported that “Brad MacKenzie of Charlottetown and the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League have agreed to terms that will see MacKenzie become an assistant coach with the team.”
MacKenzie is quoted in the story as saying: “It is what I want to do. It is a good first step with a terrific organization.”
I tweeted out a link to the 10-paragraph story that didn’t carry a byline.
Moments later, I got an email from a Winterhawks’ official.
“I think there was a miscommunication with the writer of the article,” the official wrote. “He is not an assistant coach, but from what I understand will be an intern or assistant of some sort working with the staff.
“Not sure exactly what his title will be but he won't be our new assistant coach.”
The hockeyscene.com story is right here.
The Winterhawks are looking for an assistant coach to replace Karl Taylor, who left Portland to become an assistant coach with the AHL’s Texas Stars.
The Winterhawks introduced Jamie Kompon as their new GM/head coach last week. He replaces Mike Johnston, now head coach of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kyle Gustafson, the club’s other assistant coach, is back and is preparing for his 11th season with the Winterhawks.
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1. The Vancouver Giants are scheduled to introduce Troy Ward as their head coach this morning. (Yesterday, in this space, I erred in writing that the news conference was to be held Wednesday morning.) . . . Ward spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. In Vancouver, he will replace Don Hay, the Giants’ head coach for the past 10 seasons. Hay now is head coach of the Kamloops Blazers.

2. The Moose Jaw Warriors also will be introducing a new head coach today. They have been looking to fill the void created when Mike Stothers signed on as head coach of the Manchester Monarchs, the AHL farm team of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. . . . There has been speculation that Malcolm Cameron, who was fired last month by the new owners of the Regina Pats, is the No. 1 candidate in Moose Jaw. Cameron guided the Pats to the East Division’s regular-season pennant last season. . . . This is a big day for the Warriors as the organization’s annual meeting is scheduled for tonight at the Heritage Inn.

3. It’s safe to say that the Lethbridge Hurricanes raised some eyebrows on Tuesday with the announcement that they were adding Bryan Maxwell to their coaching staff, as an assistant under head coach Drake Berehowsky. . . . Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald has more on Maxwell right here, including what he’s been doing the last couple of years and how he hopes to help the Hurricanes.

4. The Edmonton Oilers have added Rocky Thompson to their coaching staff. During games, he will serve as their eye in the sky. . . . Thompson, 36, has been an assistant coach with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons for the past four seasons. . . . A former WHL defenceman (Medicine Hat, Swift Current, 1993-97), Thompson also worked as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings (2007-10).

5. No matter where Yvon Barrette roams -- he’s in Prince Albert for a celebrity golf tournament -- he gets the question: “Who own the Chiefs?” . . . Yes, you know the movie. . . . Andrew Schopp of the Prince Albert Daily Herald has more right here.

6. F Casey Pierro-Zabotel, who won the WHL scoring title in 2008-09 while with the Vancouver Giants, has signed on with the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. . . . Pierro-Zabotel, 25, started last season with the Lausitzer Foxes in Germany (DEL2). He joined the Gladiators in January and put up 28 points, including seven goals, in 36 games. . . . In 2008-09, he had 115 points, including 36 goals, in 72 games with the Giants.

7. Arland Bruce III has filed a concussion-related lawsuit against the CFL that is believed to be the first of its kind filed in Canada. This lawsuit was filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. . . . There is more right here.

8. The big story after Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game involved NL starter Adam Wainwright. Did he, or did he not, groove a fastball for AL shortstop Derek Jeter? And, if he did, does it matter? . . . Richard Justice of mlb.com has more right here.

9. Don’t forget to vote in the Memorial Cup poll over there on the right. Just click on where you think the 2016 tournament should be played.


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Giants get their coach . . . Guess who's back with Hurricanes?

It has been quite a while since Taking Note has included a poll. But there is one here today.
With three WHL franchises having indicated they are likely to bid on the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament, I thought it would be fun to see how readers of this blog feel about the subject.
So . . . there’s a poll over there on the right. Please take a moment and make your choice.
Thank you.
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F Jens Meilleur (Brandon, 2010-14) has signed a one-year contract with the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2). He has dual Canadian-German citizenship. Last season, with Brandon (WHL), he had 26 points, including 11 goals, in 67 games.
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Trilight Entertainment, which purchased an option on Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1986 Swift Current Broncos, is still hoping to do some of the filming in the southwestern Saskatchewan city.
Shayne Putzlocher, a producer with Trilight Entertainment, was in Swift Current on Tuesday “doing some preliminary scouting and meetings,” he said via email. “(We are) still trying to do what we can to shoot some of this movie in Swift.”
The book, which was published in November 2012, takes a look at how the Broncos dealt with the aftermath of a bus accident in which four players died and how the team went on to win the 1989 Memorial Cup championship. (If you haven’t read it yet, you may order it over there on the right.)
To date, Trilight Entertainment has received funding from Telefilm Canada and the Alberta Media Fund, and a first draft script is being written.
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1. And then there were two. . . . The Vancouver Giants will introduce a new head coach this morning, leaving only the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats as WHL teams without head coaches. . . . The Warriors are looking to replace Mike Stothers, now the head coach of the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs. The Pats’ new owners created a vacancy when they fired Malcolm Cameron last month. . . . One rumour that just won’t go away has Lorne Molleken and David Struch signing in Regina as head coach and assistant coach. Molleken was the Pats’ head coach in 2000-01 when they were the host team for the Memorial Cup. Most recently, he was the general manager of the Saskatoon Blades, but he was dropped after last season. Struch, Molleken’s long-time assistant coach in Saskatoon, spent last season as the Blades’ head coach and was fired following the season. . . . Meanwhile, Cameron has expressed an interest in the Warriors’ vacancy. . . . Hey, wouldn’t it make things interesting if Molleken and Struch do end up in Regina and Cameron surfaces as the Warriors’ head coach? . . . Now that would add some heat to some rivalries!

2. The Vancouver Giants have signed Troy Ward as their head coach and are scheduled to introduce him at a news conference this morning. Ward will replace Don Hay, who left to return to his hometown of Kamloops and work as the Blazers’ head coach. The Giants have been looking for a new coach since May 1. . . . Ward, a 52-year-old native of St. Paul, Minn., spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames. His contract wasn’t renewed following last season. . . . Ward also spent part of a season (34 games in 2005-06) as head coach of the Victoria Salmon Kings, a now-defunct ECHL franchise. . . . Ward, a coach since 1990-91, hasn’t coached junior hockey since 1993-95 when he was the head coach of the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. He spent three seasons (2002-05) on the coaching staff at the U of Wisconsin.

3. The Abbotsford Heat, of course, have relocated to Glens Falls, N.Y., where they now are the Adirondack Flames. The parent Calgary Flames reached into Kelowna and signed Rockets head coach Ryan Huska to replace Troy Ward as the head coach of their AHL affiliate. . . . Calgary has yet to sign any assistant coaches for Adirondack and a source told me Tuesday night that Mark Ferner will be joining the AHL team’s staff. Ferner, 48, spent last season as the associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers. . . . He and Huska, 39, both played junior in Kamloops.

4. The Prince George Cougars did the expected on Tuesday, naming Todd Harkins as their new general manager. . . . Harkins, 45, had been head scout and director of player personnel at the time of an ownership change earlier this summer. When former GM Dallas Thompson wasn’t kept on, Harkins stepped in as interim GM. . . . According to team president Greg Pocock, “We took the time needed to make sure that we got the best person for the job. We had 17 candidates, talked to eight, interviewed five and hired the best one -- Todd Harkins.” . . . Harkins is a former Miami University player who went on to play in the NHL, with the Calgary Flames and Hartford Whalers. He retired in 2001 after a four-year stretch in Germany. . . . Later, he worked as the hockey director at the North Shore Winter Club. He also coached the major midget Vancouver Northwest Giants to back-to-back provincial titles in 2011 and 2012. . . . Harkins also is the answer to a trivia question: “Who played Russian forward Valeri Kharlamov in the movie Miracle? . . . Harkins’ son Jansen is heading into his second season with the Cougars. Jansen was the second overall pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft. . . . Harkins’ contract is for four years, with an option for a fifth season. . . . The Cougars are expected to name a new director of player personnel in the not too distant future.

5. The Cougars also gave head coach Mark Holick a contract extension. Holick had expressed an interest in the general manager’s position, but it’s believed that he was told as early as April that the new owners, EDGEPRO Sports, preferred to split the general manager and coaching duties. . . . Holick, 45, is preparing for his second full season as the Cougars’ head coach. He replaced Dean Clark in January 2013. Holick, who had two years left on his contract, received a two-year extension and now is signed through 2017-18. . . . Holick’s family spent last season at their home in Penticton, but wife Janet is planning on moving to Prince George this summer. . . . A former WHL player (Saskatoon, New Westminster, 1984-88), Holick was the head coach of the Kootenay Ice for three seasons (2007-10). . . . The Cougars have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and haven’t been out of the playoffs since reaching the Western Conference final in the spring of 2007.

6. The Lethbridge Hurricanes have added Bryan Maxwell to their coaching staff. He will work as an assistant, alongside head coach Drake Berehowsky and fellow assistant Mike Craig. . . . Maxwell, 58, is a veteran WHL coach, having worked in Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Spokane, but he has been out of the game for a while. . . . He was the WHL’s coach of the year with the Spokane Chiefs for 1991-92. . . . Maxwell was the head coach of the 1986-87 Medicine Hat Tigers, who won the Memorial Cup. . . . He then spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, before taking over as head coach of the Chiefs, a job he held for five seasons. . . . He took over as the Hurricanes’ head coach in 1995-96 and also held the job from 1997-2001 and for 34 games in 2002-03. . . . He sat out the 1996-97 season with a suspension following a post-game altercation involving referee Brent Reiber on March 23, 1996.

7. Ed Habetler, one of the founding fathers of the Prince Albert Raiders, died on the weekend. Habetler, 78, had been battling cancer for some time. . . . According to a Raiders’ news release: “Habetler was on the original board of directors of the hockey club established in 1972 by the Northern Hockey Development Association. . . . Habetler (and) his wife Violet have had season tickets with the hockey club for each of the 43 seasons in club history.” . . . A funeral mass is scheduled for Thursday, 10 a.m., in St. Roman’s Catholic Church in Prince Albert. . . . Almost four years ago, the Prince Albert Daily Herald profiled Habetler right here.

8. The NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs have named Gord Dineen as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. . . . Dineen takes over from Steve Spott, who has moved up to the Maple Leafs as an assistant coach. . . . Dineen, 51, has been a Marlies’ assistant coach for five seasons. . . . The Leafs also promoted Marlies assistant coach Derek King to associate coach. King, 47, also has been with the Marlies for five seasons.
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Happy to see @TrilightEnt scouting locations in @City_SC today for the Swift Current Broncos movie! Great to have you in Sask! #skfilm
— SMPIA Office (@SMPIAOffice) July 15, 2014

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Some Saturday stuff . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Ben Clymer (Seattle, 1998-99) signed a one-year contract with Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL). Clymer missed all of this season with a knee injury while under contract with Lugano (Switzerland NL A). In 2009-2010, Clymer had eight goals and 24 assists with Ingolstadt. . . . Ingolstadt GM Jim Boni: "We are very happy to welcome Ben back in Ingolstadt. His knee injury creates some risk, of course. With him, it's a risk that we will be happy with because he is worth it. He is currently on the ice three times a week and the knee feels good and is holding up."
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There is concern in the household from which The MacBeth Report eminates. The man’s wife is from Finland; her parents are visiting.
He writes: “Big game (Sunday) — Finland v. Sweden for the World Championship. With my wife's parents here from Finland, we were all excited to watch the game. Versus has been carrying every game . . . EXCEPT THE FINAL! The final is nowhere to be found on any U.S. network. Go figure that one out . . .”
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Kris Knoblauch of the Kootenay Ice isn’t the first head coach to win a WHL championship in his first season at the controls.
I don’t know how many times it has been done, but the Medicine Hat Tigers won the 1986-87 WHL title with Bryan Maxwell in his first season as head coach.
While Knoblauch spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Ice (preceded by one season with the Prince Albert Raiders), Maxwell worked for one season as a Tigers’ assistant before taking over from Doug Sauter.
In 1986-87, the Tigers went 48-19-5 in the regular season, before going on a 12-8 run to the championship. They then went on to win the Memorial Cup.
The Ice, under Knoblauch, went 46-21-5 in the regular season and 16-3 in the playoffs.
The Medicine Hat lineup in 1986-87 included a second-year defenceman named Dean Chynoweth, whose brother, Jeff, is the president and general manager of the Ice.
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The BCHL announced some rather startling changes the other day, changes that didn’t get nearly their due.
In fact, in a sports world that is bloated with too many teams playing too many games that featured a product that is too watered down, what the BCHL did was beyond startling. It was shocking!
For starters, it has moved the start and finish lines for its regular season.
The 2011-12 regular season will open on Sept. 23; the 2010-11 season began on Sept. 10. It will end on March 11; the most-recent regular season ended on Feb. 20.
Among other things, this will allow the league to have more of its games played after Christmas, when teams traditionally have drawn more fans.
The BCHL also says it will work harder to take advantage of geographical rivalries where possible and that visiting teams will, on occasion, stay over and play doubleheaders in some cities.
More telling, however, is a move to cut the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs from 14 to eight.
In an age where some leagues, including Major League Baseball, are working to get more teams into the postseason, the BCHL has gone the other way.
By cutting the number of qualifiers, the BCHL will lose one complete round of games, thus giving itself more time to complete its playoffs. That should mean no incidents of playoff teams having to play four games in five nights.
Making the playoffs less of a grind should allow teams to stay healthier and be better rested, which should result in better competition on the ice.
All of this should mean the entertainment value is raised, thus providing the fans with a better product.
And, at the end of the day, isn’t that the name of the game.
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If the Boston Bruins are going to play from behind against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it would seem that Guy Boucher’s bunch will end up in the Stanley Cup final.
Giving the Lightning the lead, as the Bruins did in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday night, allows Tampa Bay to play that 1-3-1 defensive formation that looks as though it could have stopped Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during their heyday.
While you are watching it from the comfort of your living room — YAWN! — just be thankful that you’re not paying $200 a ticket to see it in person.
But, as then-New York Jets head coach Herman Edwards, once famously ranted:
"This is what's great about sports. This is what the greatest thing about sports is. You play to win the game. Hello? You play to win the game. You don't play it to just play it. That's the great thing about sports: you play to win, and I don't care if you don't have any wins. You go play to win. When you start tellin' me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out! 'Cause it matters."
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John Branch of The New York Times has today’s good read, and it’s right here. It has to do with nicknames, or lack of same, in the sporting world. Give it a read and it’ll leave you longing for the days of the Chicoutimi Cucumber, the Golden Jet, the Rocket, the Pocket Rocket et al.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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