Hurricanes keeping busy . . . Tigers lose assistant GM to NHL

D Mitch Versteeg (Lethbridge, 2006-09) has signed a one-year contract with the Nikkō Icebucks (Japan, Asia HL). Last season, with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, DEL2), he had six goals and 11 assists in 27 games. He also played for Bad Nauheim (Germany, DEL2), picking up 14 points, including two goals, in 24 games. . . .
F Justin Keller (Kelowna, 2003-06) has signed a one-year contract with Bolzano (Italy, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), he had 14 goals and 15 assists in 50 games.
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TRADE WIRE:

THE DEAL: The Lethbridge Hurricanes get G Zac Robidoux, 18, from the Medicine Hat Tigers for a third-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft and a conditional fourth-rounder in 2017. The latter is conditional on Robidoux playing in the WHL in 2016-17. He is the son of Florent Robidoux, who played two seasons (1978-80) with the Portland Winterhawks.
THE SKINNY: The Hurricanes lost G Justin Myles, who retired Friday due to problems associated with a brain injury suffered last season. Thus, they need some depth at that position. . . . Robidoux, from Morden, Man., is 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds. He played last season with the MJHL’s Portage Terriers, finishing with a slash line of 17-9-0/2.19/.924 in 27 appearances. With the Tigers, he was 2-1-0/2.27/891 in three games. He was a sixth-round pick of the Tigers in the 2011 bantam draft.
THE ANALYSIS: The Hurricanes used six goaltenders last season as they stumbled to a WHL-worst 12-55-5. Taking a look at Robidoux can’t hurt because it’s too early for Stuart Skinner, 16, the 17th pick in the 2013 bantam draft, to be the go-to guy. . . . The deal would seem to signal the Tigers’ contentment with a goaltending tandem of Nick Schneider, 17, and Jared Rathjen, 20. Schneider was acquired last season from the Regina Pats; Rathjen came over this summer from the Vancouver Giants.
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All eyes were on the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday, and they didn’t disappoint.
They didn’t trade D Macoy Erkamps, but they did place F Reid Duke on the suspended list, announced that G Justin Myles has retired, and acquired G Zac Robidoux from the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Erkamps, 19, didn’t show up for camp on Thursday and has requested a trade. The native of Delta, B.C., has played three seasons with the Hurricanes.
Duke, 18, was one of Lethbridge’s better players last season, his second with the Hurricanes after being the fifth overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft. (D Ryan Pilon, selected by Lethbridge with the third pick in that draft, asked for a trade last season and ended up with the Brandon Wheat Kings.)
Duke put up 40 points, including 15 goals, in 62 games. In 131 career regular-season games, he has 25 goals and 45 assists.
General manager Brad Robson said Thursday that Duke would be placed on the suspended list if he wasn’t in camp by Friday, at 2 p.m. Duke now is on that suspended list.
Myles, meanwhile, hasn’t played since Jan. 5 when he was with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Since then, he has been traded to the Kamloops Blazers and the Hurricanes.
Robson told Pat Siedlecki of Lethbridge radio station CJOC that doctors advised Myles not to play due to concussions. The conditional draft pick that went to Kamloops in the trade has reverted to Lethbridge.
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Mitch Wilson was a tough hockey player, witness 436 penalty minutes with the WHL’s Seattle Breakers in 1981-82. Now he’s taking on ALS, as documented right here by Mike Morreale of NHL.com. . . . Wilson, a Calgary native, has been sailing the seas for the last 20 years, most recently as a tugboat captain. He played two seasons (1980-82) with the Breakers; he piled up 253 penalty minutes in his first season. . . . In 124 regular-season games, he had 66 points, including 26 goals. He went on to play professionally into the mid-1990s, and got into 26 NHL games, scoring twice, earning three assists, and picking up 104 penalty minutes.
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G Christopher Tai, who turns 19 on Dec. 1, is in camp with the Kelowna Rockets. A native of Delta, B.C., Tai played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes (eight games), Medicine Hat Tiger (1) and Brandon Wheat Kings (1). In 2012-13, he got into 12 games with the Hurricanes. . . . In 22 regular-season games, he is 5-6-0, 4.54, .867. . . . In Kelowna, it’s anticipated that veteran Jackson Whistle will open as the starter, after backing up Jordon Cooke last season. Cooke has used up his junior eligibility.
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The Kamloops Blazers revealed Friday morning that F Carson Bolduc, 18, has decided not to report to training camp. . . . According to a news release, he is evaluating his hockey career. . . . “Carson informed us prior to training camp that he did not want to compete at the level necessary to play in the WHL,” general manager Craig Bonner said in that news release. . . . Bolduc, from Salmon Arm, had 20 points, eight of them goals, in 121 career regular-season games. He was acquired last season from the Prince George Cougars and had 11 points, including three goals, in 44 games with the Blazers. . . . The Cougars selected him in the third round of the 2011 bantam draft.
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The Kamloops Blazers have three sets of twins in their rookie camp. Andrew and Lucas Palladino, from Sturgeon County, Alta., both are forwards, as are Michael and Ryan Van Unen, who are from Kamloops. Benson and Jordan Thorpe are from Saskatoon. Benson is a right winger, while Jordan is a defenceman. All are 15 years of age. . . . Kamloops has D Clint Colebourn of North Vancouver and F Phillip Knies of Phoenix on its main camp roster. Both were 2013 bantam draft picks, Colebourn in the seventh round and Knies in the fourth, but both were injured an unable to attend camp a year ago. . . . F Tyler Ward of Kamloops turned 15 on Tuesday, but had to pull out of the Blazers’ camp with an injury. The 5-foot-6, 130-pound Ward was an 11th-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft.
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Dan Olsen is the new head coach of the Calgary-based SAIT Trojans. Olsen is a former player and assistant coach with the Trojans. . . . He is SAIT’s first new hockey coach in 27 years. Olsen, 53, takes over from Ken Babey, the former head coach and athletic director who resigned from both positions in June. . . . Olsen was Babey’s assistant coach for five seasons (1991-95). . . . Most recently, Olsen has been the head coach of the Calgary Buffalo Hockey Association’s minor midget Triple A Rangers.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Noah Gregor, 16, who was acquired last season from the Victoria Royals. The Royals picked up Gregor and two third-round bantam draft picks, in 2014 and 2016, for D Travis Brown, 19. . . . The Warriors traded that 2016 pick last week when they acquired F Jaimen Yakubowski, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Last season, Gregor played for the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings. In his freshman season, he led the league in scoring, with 51 points, including 21 goals, in 35 games. . . . Victoria had selected him in the third round of the 2013 draft. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that Gregor will take it slow over the weekend, thanks to “a minor back and hip flexor injury.” . . . Gourlie also reports that the Warriors didn’t invite F Brandon Del Grosso, 18, to camp. He was limited to one game last season after suffering a brain injury on Oct. 10. . . .
D Liam Schioler, 16, is taking part in the Regina Pats’ rookie camp. Schioler, from Winnipeg, was a second-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. He plans on returning to Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn., for a second season. . . . The NHL’s Calgary Flames have added Brad McEwen to their scouting staff. He had been working with the Medicine Hat Tigers as their head scout and assistant general manager. McEwen will begin work for the Flames on Sept. 1. A veteran of Western Canadian hockey arenas, he had been the Tigers’ head scout since 2007. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors will donate all proceeds from Sunday’s intrasquad game to the Journey to Hope in memory of Ethan Williams. A fifth-round draft pick by the Warriors in 2012, Williams committed suicide last month in his hometown of Winnipeg. He was to have attended this training camp.
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Why are some of these players quitting? Would u eventually run out of gas too if u were playing/training for hockey 12 months of the year?
— Regan Bartel (@Reganrant) August 22, 2014

Changes in Canes land: the voice of the team hasn't even mentioned the two missing veterans. Controlling the message?
— Dylan Purcell (@dylpurcell) August 22, 2014

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Rockets really rolling

SUDBURY SATURDAY NIGHT:
In Regina, F Myles Bell scored his second OT goal in as many nights as the Kelowna Rockets got past the Pats, 5-4. . . . After a scoreless third period, Bell, who played two seasons with the Pats, scored his 15th goal of the season at 3:07 of extra time. . . . On Friday night, Bell scored in OT as the Rockets beat the Wheat Kings 6-5 in Brandon. . . . Last night, Kelowna F Tyson Baillie had a goal, his 13th, and three assists. He has a goal and six helpers since being snubbed by those who picked the rosters for the Top Prospects game. . . . D Colby Williams scored twice for Regina, which held 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 leads. . . . The Rockets are 4-0 on their East Division swing and have won 11 straight road games. . . . Overall, Kelowna has won 10 in a row and 19 of 20. The Rockets (26-3-2) are atop the overall standings. . . . The Pats have points in five straight and are tied for fifth with Brandon in the Eastern Conference. . . .

In Saskatoon, F Carson Bolduc scored twice to help the Kamloops Blazers to a 3-2 victory over the Blades. . . . The goals were the first for Bolduc with the Blazers since he was acquired from the Prince George Cougars on Nov. 26. . . . Bolduc’s second goal broke a 2-2 tie at 8:19 of the third period. . . . Saskatoon D Nolan Reid had tied the score with a PP goal at 1:17 of the third. Reid, a 15-year-old from Deer Valley, Sask., scored his first WHL goal in his second game. . . . The Blazers have won three in a row for the first time this season. . . . Saskatoon has dropped nine in a row. . . .

In Brandon, the Wheat Kings scored the game’s first two goals and went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1. . . . Brandon D Rene Hunter assisted on each of the first two goals en route to a three-assist game. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny turned aside 37 shots. . . . The Wheat Kings have points in four straight games. . . . The Warriors have lost seven in a row. . . .

In Cranbrook, F Tim Bozon and F Luke Philp had shootout goals as the Kootenay Ice edged the Swift Current Broncos, 3-2. . . . Swift Current F Graham Black broke a 1-1 tie at 5:32 of the third period, only to have Ice F Jaedon Descheneau tie it at 17:54. . . . Black has 17 goals; Descheneau has 23. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski stopped 41 shots and was perfect on two shootout attempts. According to WHL Facts (@WHLFacts), Skapski is 11-for-11 in shootout stops this season, after stopping 24 of 25 last season. . . . The Broncos have lost three in a row. . . .

In Red Deer, the Rebels scored a 3-2 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes by winning a six-round shootout. . . . Red Deer F Nell Meyer, who has one goal in 29 games, scored in the sixth round to win it. . . . Lethbridge F Reid Duke forced OT with his sixth goal at 16:13 of the third period. . . . Red Deer G Patrik Bartosak turned aside 42 shots and was beaten only once in the shootout. . . . Red Deer F Lukas Sutter scored his fifth goal on a penalty shot at 13:31 of the third. . . . The victory left Red Deer at 16-16-2, making it the 17 of the WHL’s 22 teams to have at least a .500 winning percentage. . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the only two goals of the shootout and beat the Victoria Royals, 4-3. . . . F Curtis Valk and F Miles Koules both scored for the Tigers in the shootout. . . . Royals F Austin Carroll forced OT with goals at 8:02 and 9:35 of the third period. . . . He’s got 17 goals. . . . Victoria D Chaz Reddekopp, a 16-year-old from West Kelowna, scored his first WHL goal in his 28th game, 27 of which he has played this season. . . .

In Portland, F Paul Bittner scored three times in the third period to help the Winterhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Bittner tied the score 2-2 with his seventh goal 14 seconds into the third, via the PP. . . . He gave his side its first lead at 10:30, on another PP, and later added an empty-netter. . . . It was his second three-goal game this season, both against Seattle. . . . F Scott Eansor, a 17-year-old from Englewood, Colo., scored his first goal in his 30th game for Seattle. . . . F Chase De Leo and D Garrett Haar each had three assists for the Winterhawks. . . . Portland D Keoni Texeira, a 16-year-old from Fontana, Calif., scored his first WHL goal at 4:43 of the second and it was the Teddy Bear goal. It came in his 32nd game. . . . D Adam Henry had two goals, giving him five, for Seattle, which had won eight straight. . . . The Thunderbirds dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. . . . Portland F Brendan Leipsic took a headshot major and game misconduct for a hit on Seattle F Keegan Kolesar at 9:12 of the third. . . . The score was 2-2 at the time, but Seattle took three minor penalties on Leipsic’s major. . . . The Winterhawks trail the Kelowna Rockets by four points in the race for first overall. . . . Kelowna holds three games in hand. . . .

In Everett, the Vancouver Giants scored five of the game’s last six goals and beat the Silvertips, 6-3. . . . F Jackson Houck had two goals, giving him 17, and an assist for Vancouver. . . . F Josh Winquist got his 24th goal and an assist for Everett. . . . Houck tied the game 2-2 at 5:46 of the second period. . . . F Carter Popoff gave the Giants their first lead with his ninth goal, via the PP, 53 seconds into the third. . . . Houck then stretched the lead to two at 7:04. . . . F Alex Baer drew assists on both Houck goals. . . . The Giants, who have won four in a row, had beaten the visiting Silvertips 3-0 on Friday night. . . . Everett has lost three in a row and five of six. . . . Vancouver is 7-1-2 in its last 10. . . .

In Spokane, the Chiefs struck for four first-period goals and they went on to beat the Prince George Cougars, 6-3. . . . WHL scoring leader Mike Holmberg and F Mike Aviani each had a goal and two assists in the first period. . . . Holmberg finished with two goals and two assists. He leads the WHL in goals (37) and points (74). His first goal, at 4:35 of the first, was the Teddy Bear goal. . . . Aviani finished his 25th goal and four helpers. . . . The Chiefs were 3-for-8 on the PP. . . . The Cougars scored three second-period goals to cut the Spokane lead to 4-3. . . . Former Spokane F Todd Fiddler had a goal, his 15th, and two assists for Prince George. . . . The Chiefs put it away with two third-period goals, from D Jeff Rayman, who scored his first WHL goal in his eighth game, and Holmberg.


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Catching up . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Marek Kalus (Spokane, Brandon, 2010-13) signed a tryout deal with Cracovia Krakow (Poland, Ekstraliga) after being released from a tryout with Västerås (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had two assists in eight games during the tryout. Earlier this season, he had four assists in 12 games with Dukla Trencin (Slovakia, Extraliga). . . .
F Gilbert Brulé (Vancouver, 2002-06) signed for the rest of this season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia, KHL). This season, he had six goals and two assists in eight games with Portland (AHL). . . .
D Jim Vandermeer (Red Deer, 1997-2001) signed a one-year extension with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). At the time of the signing, he had eight points, one of them a goal, in 24 games. . . .
F Brett McLean (Tacoma/Kelowna, Brandon, 1994-99) signed a one-year extension with Lugano (Switzerland, NL A). This season, he has 24 points, 12 of them goals, in 25 games. That left him third in the NL A scoring race. . . .
F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver, 2003-04) signed for the rest of the season with Tychy (Poland, Ekstraliga) after being released by Krynica for financial reasons. This season with Krynica, he had 27 points, eight of them goals, in 19 games. He was fourth in league scoring at the time of his release. Krynica also released three other players, including its leading scorer. . . .
F Clarke Breitkreuz (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) has been loaned to Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL) by Löwen Frankfurt (Germany, Oberliga). This season with Löwen, he had 34 points, including 26 assists, in 13 games. He was leading the team in assists and points. . . .
F Adam Rehak (Medicine Hat, 2011-12) signed for one year plus an option with Cracovia Krakow (Poland, Ekstraliga). Rehak started the season with Meran/Merano (Italy, Austria Nationalliga), putting up 12 points, including seven goals, in 12 games. He Rehak wanted to move closer to hometown of Ostrava. . . .
F Justin Maylan (Moose Jaw, Prince George, Prince Albert, 2007-12) signed for the rest of the season with Herning (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). This season, Maylan had one assists in three games with South Carolina (ECHL) and was pointless in four games with Oklahoma City (AHL).
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You may be aware that 10 former NHL players have filed a class-action lawsuit against the league, the claim being that not enough has been done to protect players from brain injuries.
Eddie Pells of The Associated Press examines that situation right here.
You can bet that the WHL and its owners/operators are paying attention.
Earlier this year, after the NFL had settled a similar lawsuit brought against it by former players, I asked a legal expert if, in his opinion, hockey leagues were open to such action.
His response:
“I think hockey is in a different position than football because there are no allegations that the sport was sitting on information and not sharing it with players. Hockey was first out of the starting blocks with its baseline neurological testing program in 1997-98. “Hockey has not, in my view, had the sort of radical re-writing of the rulebook that the NFL recently undertook and so has not done enough to remove the unnecessary risks from the game.
“I think there will be hockey lawsuits (yeah, there’s already Boogaard but this case is singularly unique) in the NHL.
“I think where the CHL/WHL is vulnerable is that legally minors can’t consent and courts are taking a harsher and narrower view to inherent risks to the game (i.e. Could the game survive without fighting? That is the ultimate test of whether or not a risk is inherent. ‘Are the penalties for headshots sufficient to disincentivize teams, coaches and players? Or does the league consider it part of the game?’) especially now that teams are being bought and sold for nearly $10 million.”
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Was Tuesday’s deal between the NHL and Rogers Communications the death knell for TSN? And maybe for CBC-TV, too? . . . Cam Cole of the Vancouver Sun opines right here.
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Over at the National Post, Scott Stinson writes: “Rogers will collect all of the revenues from the advertisements and sponsorships that are sold on Hockey Night in Canada, even the versions of it that appear on CBC. . . . The executives could talk up the partnership all they want, but it is Rogers that is piloting the ship, and the CBC trailing behind in its dingy. Four years from now, the rope could be cut.”
Stinson’s complete column is right here.
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F Henrik Nyberg, 19, has left the Kelowna Rockets and returned to his home in Danderyd, Sweden. Last season, Nyberg had 17 points, including eight goals, in 54 games. This season, he had three assists in 21 games. . . . "Henrik has come to the realization that playing in North America is not in his future and he wants to move on with his life," Rockets' head coach Ryan Huska said in a news release.
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A few things that occurred while Taking Note was in darkness . . .
The Kamloops Blazers traded F Aaron Macklin, 18, to the Prince George Cougars for F Carson Bolduc, 17, on Tuesday. . . . Bolduc, who is from Salmon Arm, B.C., had left the Cougars and asked for a trade. He had seven points in 54 games last season, and had two goals in 17 games this season. . . . Bolduc played bantam in Kamloops before being selected by the Cougars in the Macklin, from High River, Alta., had seven points, three of them goals, in 20 games this season. Last season, he had four points, one of them a goal, in 62 games.
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The Victoria Royals made two trades, the first one announced immediately following a 2-1 victory over the Blazers in Kamloops on Nov. 19.
In that deal, the Royals sent F Luke Harrison, 18, to the Blazers for a 2014 sixth-round bantam draft pick.
Harrison, from West Kelowna, was in his third season with the Royals. In 92 games, he had six points, including four goals. This season, he had three goals in 23 games with the Royals.
The next day, the Royals announced the acquisition of Swedish forward Axel Blomqvist, 18, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Royals also received an undisclosed conditional 2016 bantam draft pick, while surrendering fourth- and eighth-round selections in the 2014 draft.
The 6-foot-6, 212-pound Blomqvist had 13 points, eight of them goals, in 19 games with the Hurricanes this season. He becomes the Royals’ second import, alongside G Patrik Polivka. Last season, as a freshman, Blomqvist had 33 points, seven of them goals, in 59 games.
Undrafted, Blomqvist went to camp with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and later signed a three-year NHL contract.
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Jim Swanson, who spent a number of years covering the WHL and the Prince George Cougars for the Prince George Citizen, has signed on as the general manager of baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, who play in the West Coast League. . . . Swanson is a long-time baseball guy and was heavily involved in the Prairie League, a now-defunct independent league that had franchises in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Minnesota. . . . He also has been heavily involved in baseball in Prince George and was a major push behind the World Baseball Challenge, the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions having featured tremendous international competition. . . . He was the manager of the Prince George Axemen, who won the 2012 Canadian senior championship. . . . The HarbourCats are preparing for their second season in the WCL.
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The Vancouver Giants dealt F Scott Cooke, 19, to the Moose Jaw Warriors for a sixth-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Cooke, who has yet to play this season after breaking his right leg in the exhibition season, is from White Rock, B.C. He was back practising this week so his return should be imminent. Cooke had one assist in 40 games last season, after putting up a goal and two helpers in 34 games in 2011-12.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings acquired G Christopher Tai, 18, from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft. The Wheat Kings needed some depth behind Jordan Papirny, as Curtis Honey has been out with an undisclosed injury. At the time of the trade, Papirny had made nine straight starts, most of them with an emergency backup on the bench. Tai became expendable in Lethbridge after the Hurricanes acquired G Teagan Sacher, who turns 19 on Dec. 1, from the Regina Pats to work in support of starter Corbin Boes, 20, who was acquired from Brandon over the summer.
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As all are aware, Nov. 22 marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. . . . Right here is the column written by the legendary Jimmy Breslin following the assassination. This is one of the most remarkable newspaper pieces I have ever read. You won’t be wasting your time by giving it a look.
And right here is a piece in which Breslin explains the circumstances involved in his decision to write that particular column.


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Murray charting hockey future

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
Like all 68 players attending this week's Team Pacific Camp, Matt Murray is standing on the edge of his hockey future.
The Team Pacific Camp, featuring 1996-born players from B.C. and Alberta, continues today and Sunday at McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre. From the attending players, Team Pacific will be selected for the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Quebec from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4.
The short-term goal for each and every one of the players is to make the team. But with junior camps scheduled to start in late August, there's a lot more on each of the 15- and 16-year-old players' minds these days.
For Murray, who turned 16 on Monday, it's cracking the roster of the WHL's Kootenay Ice, which selected him in the fourth round, 70th overall, of the 2011 bantam draft.
The Ice's camp starts at the end of August and, for the 6-foot-1, 210-pound defenceman, the strategy is pretty simple.
"I'm going to go in trying to make the team and give 'er my all out there," Murray said Thursday. "I thought I had a really good camp last year — the coaches liked how I played."
Yes, Murray turned some heads at the 2011 camp, which is probably good news for him.
The bad news is that the coaches last season — two of them, anyway — won't be back this season. Kris Knoblauch, who was the Ice's head coach the past two seasons, was let go by the team in the offseason, and assistant Todd Johnson took the head-coaching position with the U of Regina Cougars.
The Ice has since hired Ryan McGill to be its head coach, and recently added Chad Kletzel as an assistant coach.
So Murray has two new people to impress, but he's confident, especially with the time he has put in during the Team Pacific Camp.
"It's a great experience, just to be out and playing with guys who are all high-calibre," Murray said. "It's all-around good players, so it helps."
Pretty well every player at this week's camp is getting ready for a junior camp somewhere, so Murray isn't alone.
And they all have the same goal — make Team Pacific, make a junior team and then, a few years down the road, make the NHL.
Murray, who had six assists and 112 penalty minutes in 31 games for the major-midget Thompson Blazers last season, hasn't stopped working since the season ended in the spring.
"This offseason, I've been training with Greg Kozoris, doing sprints every day at 7 a.m., then going to the gym after that," Murray said. "It's pretty interesting getting to train with pro guys, and Greg does a lot of that. It's been a big help."
Without looking too far ahead, this is a special week for Murray, as it may be one of the last chances for him to play alongside some of his former Jardine's Blazers teammates.
A total of seven members of the team that won the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament in 2011 are in camp this week — Murray, goaltender Liam McLeod, defencemen Carter Cochrane and Joe Hicketts, and forwards Ryan Gropp, Chad Butcher and Carson Bolduc.
"This will probably one of the last times we'll all be together, because we're all going our separate ways and doing what we need to do," Murray said.
But that doesn't mean Murray won't be seeing his friends.
"It will be kind of cool being able to play against these guys in the future," he said. "Hicketts and Bolduc will be playing the (WHL) next year, so I might have the chance to face them."
The camp continues today with practices at 9, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., and 12:45 p.m.
Murray's Team Grey will meet Team White at 6 p.m., before Gropp, Hicketts and Bolduc will lead Team Black in a game against Team Red, featuring McLeod, Cochrane and Butcher, at 8:15 p.m.
Sunday's placement games are scheduled for 9 a.m. (third place) and 11:15 a.m. (gold medal).

(NOTE: I slipped up in not posting this story much earlier. The first-place game on Sunday, 11:15 a.m., will feature White and Grey.)

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Brad Schell (Spokane, 1999-2004) signed a one-month tryout contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Nationalliga). He didn’t play last season, and had 18 assists in 12 games with the Gwinnett Gladiators (ECHL) two seasons ago.
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You may have heard of the EDGE Program — or EDGE Project, as it is sometimes referred to — and wondered what it is.
In brief, it involves various WHL teams who send players to Vancouver’s downtown east side, accompanied by RCMP officers, to experience the other side of life. The players return to their communities and in school visits recount what they have seen and experienced.
What follows, however, explains it better than I could. It is from the parent of a WHL player and it arrived in my inbox on Tuesday morning. More than anything, it sheds some light on what this kind of experience can mean to a teenager who, for the most part, enjoys the good life.
“Reading your column today — re: the Blazers players who took part in the EDGE program with the Vancouver Police — reminded me of my son's experience last year doing the same thing. He was completely overwhelmed by the experience and to this day speaks about it with his friends and anyone who will listen.
“Perhaps the most amazing thing he experienced was speaking with a ‘tired old beaten up guy’ who lived on the street day to day, begging and grovelling for cash to support his crystal meth addiction.
“My son was, at first, judgmental and unable to see how someone could allow himself to fall so far into a life of despair and emptiness. He was even more stunned as the police officer, moments later and once alone with my son, spoke more about the fellow.
“As my son listened in stunned silence, the officer explained why he had spent, what seemed like an unusual amount of time speaking with the guy and just spending time.
“It turns out the guy had been the young officer's science teacher no more than four years earlier — a happily married father of two with a home, a career and a future. Out of sheer curiosity, one evening he decided to see what all the fuss was about and made a fateful, tragic decision. Immediately hooked, he spent the next few weeks sneaking about to feed the dragon. Within months, he was penniless and deeply in debt.
“Upon discovering the terrible truth when the family home was seized, his wife and children moved back in with her family and then she did everything anyone could possibly do to help him find his way back. Nothing worked.
“My son told me that this fellow is completely aware of what he has done. He is obviously bright, yet also knows that for him it is over. He has neither the ability nor strength to fight this demon. It is tragic.
“Until seeing something like that first hand, my son was like many of us. His opinion of street people was that they should just get their shit together, that there is no reason for them to be where they are. All they need to do is put their minds to it and quit bothering everyone.
“He now knows that things are not quite that simple; that it can happen to anyone, and that few ‘choose’ a life of quiet desperation.
“The EDGE Program deserves our utmost respect.”
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The Portland Winterhawks, obviously wondering how many veteran players won’t be returning from NHL camps in the next little while, have acquired F Charles Wells, 20, from the Prince Albert Raiders.
In exchange, the Winterhawks gave up a fourth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.
The Raiders acquired Wells from the Seattle Thunderbirds last season. All told, he put up 36 points in 63 games. He has played 234 regular-season games and has 113 points, including 41 goals.
Portland now shows six 20-year-olds on its roster, with Wells joining F Oliver Gabriel, F Riley Boychuk, D Brett Ponich, D Taylor Aronson and D William Wrenn. Of that group, only Wrenn is back with the Winterhawks after a stint at an NHL camp.
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JUST NOTES: The Prince George Cougars have signed F Carson Bolduc, a 15-year-old from Kamloops who was the 59th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. He had 98 points in 61 games with the bantam Tier 1 Kamloops Jardine’s Blazers. Bolduc is scheduled to make his WHL debut on Jan. 1 when the Cougars meet the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . The Regina Pats have returned D Brody Luhning, 19, to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars. He had three assists in three exhibition games. The Pats are down to 24 players, including two goaltenders and eight defencemen. That total doesn’t include three players at NHL camps — F Jordan Weal (Los Angeles Kings), D Brandon Davidson (Edmonton Oilers) and F Garrett Mitchell (Washington Capitals). . . . F Brenden Walker of the Brandon Wheat Kings has received medical clearance to resume workouts. He hasn’t played since suffering a concussion during the playoffs last spring.
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A few more players headed from NHL camps back to the WHL . . . D Darren Dietz, Montreal to Saskatoon; F Mark Stone, Ottawa to Brandon; D Jordan Fransoo, Ottawa to Brandon; F Kevin Sundher, from Buffalo to Victoria; D Mark Pysyk, from Buffalo to Edmonton; G Nathan Lieuwen, Buffalo to Kootenay; and F Josh Birkholz, Florida to Everett.
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“The Victoria Royals still haven’t played a regular season game,” writes Darren Kloster of the Victoria Times Colonist, “but the Western Hockey League team is already flying high on fan response and an eager corporate community willing to back them.
“In dramatic fashion Tuesday afternoon, a Harbour Air seaplane painted in Royals logo and colours deftly touched down in Victoria Harbour, unloading a dozen smiling players in freshly unwrapped uniforms.”
Check out Kloster’s story and a photo right here.
The Royals also announced that their home-opener — the Vancouver Giants come calling on Saturday night — is sold out.
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Neate Sager at Yahoo! Sports has put up an interesting piece involving David Branch, the commissioner of the OHL, and his views on fighting.
That piece is right here.
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Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail writes about Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron and his thoughts on concussions in hockey. That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Players returning to Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers’ roster inched closer to full strength on Tuesday with the return of three players from NHL camps.
Forwards Chase Schaber and Colin Smith, both of whom had been on free-agent tryouts with the Edmonton Oilers, and Brendan Ranford, a seventh-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL’s 2010 draft, all were back at practice yesterday at the Interior Savings Centre.
Of the eight players who attended NHL camps, the Blazers now are missing only defenceman Josh Caron, who continues to skate with the Minnesota Wild, defenceman Austin Madaisky, who is with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and winger J.T. Barnett, who is with the New Jersey Devils.
Caron, 20, has signed with the Wild and could end up in its organization. Madaisky played for a Columbus split squad which lost 6-1 to the Jets in Winnipeg. Barnett, on a free-agent tryout with the Devils, is expected back in Kamloops on Friday or Saturday.
What isn’t known is whether Barnett will be here in time to play Saturday when the Blazers open the WHL’s regular season against the visiting Prince George Cougars.
Forwards Logan McVeigh and Chase Souto, both of whom are recovering from concussions, remain questionable for that game, although McVeigh is more likely to play than is Souto. Both took part in a regular practice yesterday, but they wore yellow jerseys and didn’t compete in any drills that involved contact.
The Cougars, meanwhile, remain without defenceman Martin Marincin, who is with the Oilers, and forward/captain Brett Connolly, a first-round selection of the Tampa Bay Lightning int he 2010 draft. Marincin was drafted by the Oilers out of Europe so is eligible to play in their organization. If Connolly, 19, doesn’t make the Lightning, he must be returned to the Cougars.
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There is good news and bad news for two Kamloops hockey players.
Forward Carson Bolduc has signed with the Cougars, while the Prince Albert Raiders have released sophomore forward Brock Balson.
Bolduc, the 59th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft, had 98 pints in 61 regular-season games with the bantam Tier 1 Jardine’s Blazers last season.
“We are very happy to officially have Carson as a member of our Cougar family,” Wade Klippenstein, Prince George’s assistant general manager and director of hockey operations, said in a statement. “Carson was a huge part of Kamloops’ success last year as one of the top bantam teams in Western Canada.”
Bolduc is scheduled to make his WHL debut on Jan. 1 when the Cougars meet the Blazers in Kamloops.
Balson, meanwhile, was released on Monday as the Raiders got their roster down to 26 players.
Balson, a third-round selection in the 2008 bantam draft, had three points and 13 penalty minutes in 48 games last season.
“Balson being a second year guy, we were hoping he would take the next step in the line up,” Bruno Campese, the Raiders’ general manager and head coach, told the Prince Albert Daily Herald. “We felt there were some younger guys — 17-year-olds — that came in” and out-performed Balson.
“It was a tough decision,” Campese continued, “because Brock is a real good kid that comes from a good family I can’t stress that enough. It was a very difficult decision to make.”
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Eight is enough for Jardine's Blazers

Seven of the eight Kamloops Jardine's Blazers who were selected in the WHL's bantam draft on Thursday: From left, Mitchell Barker, Ryan Gropp (back), Chad Butcher, Matt Murray, Kyle Michalovsky, Liam McLeod (back) and Joe Hicketts. Missing from the photo is Carson Bolduc, who is from Salmon Arm.
(Photo by Murray Mitchell / Kamloops Daily News)

By MARK HUNTER
Daily News Sports Reporter
The Kamloops Jardine’s Blazers bantam Tier 1 team got pretty good at celebrating throughout the season.
But for some, being chosen in Thursday’s WHL bantam draft was as much a cause to celebrate as it was a relief.
The Blazers had eight players selected in Thursday’s bantam draft, which was held in Calgary. The eight Kamloops-based players chosen marked the most successful draft ever for Kamloops, and equaled the amount of locals selected over the previous six drafts, dating back to 2005.
The week leading up to the draft was quite stressful for the eligible Blazers, what with the actual hockey finished for the season and their fate in everyone else’s hands.
Defenceman Joe Hicketts, who last played in Sunday’s final at the B.C. Cup showcase tournament at Interior Savings Centre, was a popular guy the previous four days. He’s glad it’s over.
“We’ve been getting phone call after phone call,” said Hicketts, who was chosen 12th overall by Victoria. “I think I was on the phone more in this last week than I’m usually on it in a year.
“Team after team calling, asking more questions . . . but it was weird knowing you could do nothing about it. It’s out of your hands.”
The Blazers’ season was absolutely magical, there’s no other way to put it.
Not only did they win major tournaments in St. Albert and Medicine Hat, they also won the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament in April — only the second time a Kamloops team has done so.
And Thursday was a nice reward for nearly half the Blazers’ 17-person roster.
Hicketts was one of two Kamloops players chosen in the first round, following forward Ryan Gropp, who was taken sixth overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Forward Carson Bolduc, a Salmon Arm native who played for the Blazers this season, went 59th overall to the Prince George Cougars, with Chad Butcher, also a forward, going 62nd overall to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Kootenay Ice selected defenceman Matt Murray 70th overall, with goaltender Liam McLeod going 182nd to the Kamloops Blazers, forward Mitchell Barker taken 206th by the Spokane Chiefs and goaltender Kyle Michalovsky chosen 221st by the Calgary Hitmen.
(The WHL website lists Barker as having been chosen by the Prince Albert Raiders, but he was in fact chosen by Spokane).
Hicketts and Gropp didn’t have to sweat through the day not knowing where they would be picked — both boys knew they had been selected before they headed off to school.
“I wasn’t expecting too much,” Gropp said. “I was expecting to go pretty high, but I had no idea where I was going to go.”
Gropp got a congratulatory phone call from Seattle general manager Russ Farwell.
“I just let him speak,” Gropp said. “I didn’t really have much to say — I was kind of in shock about what happened.”
Real life didn’t stop for the others, who spent the day at school, sitting on pins and needles.
Murray was sitting in a social studies class when he got a text message from his mother.
“It just said that Kootenay picked me,” Murray said. “The last four days, I’ve just been waiting. . . . I was curious, but I wouldn’t say I was stressed.”
For McLeod, the timing of his call couldn’t have been worse. He was doing a science test when his cell phone started ringing.
“Got a phone call from my mom and interrupted the whole class — it was a pretty good reason, I thought,” McLeod said. “The teacher understood after I told her what the call was about.”
McLeod really doesn’t know how well he did on the test.
“My mind wasn’t really in it after the phone call,” he admitted. “I was pretty excited, thinking about other stuff.”
He is only the sixth Kamloops player to be selected by the Blazers over the past 16 years, and was pleased to have received a phone call from goaltending coach Dan De Palma yesterday afternoon.
“I’m really glad — I really wanted to play here,” McLeod said. “I’m glad I get to stay at home, and I really like Dan De Palma — he’s a great goalie coach and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
The Blazers had a chance to select Gropp or Hicketts with the fourth pick, but neither boy was disappointed when they selected defenceman Jordan Thomson of Wawanesa, Man.
“I’m really happy that Seattle took me,” Gropp said. “It’s a good opportunity.”
“It would have been cool to have stayed in your hometown,” Hicketts added, “but it’s pretty cool that you get to go live somewhere else for a while and learn from other people’s experiences.”

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca