A zamboni dragged the infield at Royal Athletic Park before @HarbourCats home opener. pic.twitter.com/M2vDJccx79— Tom Hawthorn (@tomhawthorn) June 6, 2017
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F Tomáš Vincour (Edmonton, Vancouver, 2007-10) has signed a one-year extension with Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, in 39 games, he had nine goals and 13 assists.
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The NHL’s Anaheim Ducks announced Friday that Rich Preston would be back for a second season as an assistant coach, alongside head coach Randy Carlyle and fellow assistant Trent Yawney.
Preston and I were in Regina at the same time back in the day — I was at the Regina Leader-Post and he was coaching the Pats — so have known each other for a while.
More recently, he spent four seasons (2009-13) as the general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Anaheim’s announcement gives me reason to re-post one of my favourite stories from my stint with the late Kamloops Daily News.
Here it is, from Oct. 1, 2009 . . .
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Rich Preston has had friends in high places.
Preston, the general manager and head coach of the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes, is friends with Condoleeza Rice, who was the first African-American woman to hold the office of United States Secretary of State.
Preston, a 57-year-old native of Regina, and Rice, a 54-year-old native of Birmingham, Ala., became
friends while both were attending the University of Denver in the early 1970s.
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| RICH PRESTON |
Preston was there on a hockey scholarship; Rice was earning a BA in political science, which she got in 1974 at the age of 19.
Preston said her family — her father, John, was an assistant dean and also taught — followed the hockey team closely and would have the team over to their home for dinner once every season.
At one point, Preston said Rice asked him out.
"It was one of those dances where the girls ask the guys," said Preston, before his squad met the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night at Interior Savings Centre. "Still, it was in 1972-73 . . . but I was Canadian."
In other words, eyebrows were raised when the two of them showed up at the dance.
Later, the two would go their separate ways.
After a stop at Stanford University, Rice ended up in the White House as President George W. Bush's National Security Advisor.
Preston wound up as an assistant coach with the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
And so it was that with the Sharks scheduled to play in Washington, Preston decided it would be nice to
at least say hello.
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| CONDOLEEZA RICE |
To make a long story shorter, Preston eventually got through to Rice's personal assistant and asked to leave a message for Rice.
"I said, 'Just tell her Sergeant Preston called. She'll know who it is,' " a chuckling Preston recalled. His nickname while playing hockey at Denver was Sergeant Preston, after the legendary Mountie, of course. Preston told the assistant when the Sharks were to be in Washington and at what hotel they would be staying.
When the team arrived and he got to his room, there was a message from Rice awaiting him.
"So I called her back," he said, "and we talked for about 20 minutes."
As the conversation wound down, Rice told Preston that she would love to meet him for coffee but that she "had a meeting with the President" at 5:30, which was minutes away, immediately after which she was flying to Europe for a NATO meeting.
Preston's response?
A laughing Preston said: "I told her, 'Can't you postpone the NATO meeting?’ “
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In her biography — Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me — Rice refers to Preston as “the captain of the hockey team and my first real crush.”
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As expected, the Spokane Chiefs announced on Monday that they have signed Dan Lambert as their new head coach. He is the 12th head coach in franchise history. . . . Lambert, 47, will be introduced to the Spokane fans and media at a news conference this afternoon (Tuesday) at Spokane Arena. . . . Lambert, who captained the Swift Current Broncos when they won the 1989 Memorial Cup, was fired by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, on May 26. That was part of a regime change in Buffalo, where Lambert had spent 2015-16 as an assistant coach with the Sabres before being assigned to Rochester. . . . Prior to that, Lambert spent six seasons with the Kelowna Rockets, the first five as an assistant coach. In 2014-15, his one season as Kelowna’s head coach, he guided the Rockets to a WHL title (53-13-6) and into the Memorial Cup, where they lost the final, 2-1 in OT, to the OHL-champion Oshawa Generals. . . . The length of Lambert’s contract wasn’t disclosed. . . . Lambert replaces Don Nachbaur, the Chiefs’ head coach for the previous seven seasons. He and the team went their own ways after their season ended, even though Nachbaur had a year remaining on his contract.
There now are three WHL teams without head coaches — the Calgary Hitmen, Kootenay Ice and Victoria Royals.
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F Boston Maxwell has signed a WHL contract with the Prince George Cougars. From Saskatoon, Maxwell was a fourth-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. This season, with the bantam AA Saskatoon Stallions, he had 22 goals and 21 assists in 30 games. He will play with the midget AAA Saskatoon Contacts in 2017-18.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Peyton McKenzie to a WHL contract. A native of Sherwood Park, Alta., he was a third-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. This season, he had 16 goals and 20 assists in 27 regular-season games with the bantam AAA Sherwood Park Flyers. He added six goals and six assists in 10 playoff games.
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Former WHL scoring champion F Casey Pierro-Zabotel had a goal and an assist and was named the game’s first star as the Colorado Eagles beat the South Carolina Stingrays 2-1 on Monday in North Charleston, S.C., to sweep the ECHL’s best-of-seven championship final. . . . The Eagles won four one-goal games. . . . Pierro-Zabotel, who won the WHL’s 2008-09 scoring title while with the Vancouver Giants, opened the scoring at 17:10 of the first period with his fourth goal of the playoffs. He added an assist, his 11th, on F Luke Salazar’s tie-breaking goal at 1:19 of the second period. . . . Pierro-Zabotel has won back-to-back Kelly Cups, as he was with the Allen Americans a year ago. . . . Colorado’s lineup last night also included former WHLers D Mason Geertsen (Edmonton, Vancouver, 2011-15), D Sean Zimmerman (Spokane, 2003-07), F Johnny Lazo (Tri-City, 2007-10), D Teigan Zahn (Saskatoon, 2006-11), F Cam Maclise (Edmonton, 2009-10), F Ryan Harrison (Prince Albert, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2008-13) and G Kent Simpson (Everett, 2008-12), who backed up last night. . . . Zimmerman is the team captain. . . . F Jackson Houck (Vancouver, Calgary, 2011-16) also is on Colorado’s roster, although he hadn’t played since May 13. . . . The Eagles won their last eight games. They also set an ECHL playoff record with six OT victories. . . . Announced attendance: 5,519. . . . Former Prince Albert Raiders head coach Chris Stewart (1995-98) is Colorado’s president and general manager, while Ryan Tobler, who played with Saskatoon, Calgary, Swift Current and Moose Jaw (1994-97), is an assistant coach.
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If you’re a regular here, and even you aren’t, feel free to contribute to the feeding of the Drinnan family by making a donation to the cause. You are able to do so by clicking on the DONATE button and going from there.
BTW, if you want to contact me with some information or just feel like commenting on something, you may email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).
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The Kootenay Ice’s new owners have set a target of 2,500 season-ticket holders. The Ice went into this season having sold 1,315.
The #Driveto25 continues, with 1029 Season Seats Sold so far. #ICECountry pic.twitter.com/gJhBBZJ8qI— Kootenay ICE (@WHLKootenayICE) June 5, 2017
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
F Zach Pochiro, 20, was returned to the Prince George Cougars by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. Pochiro, who is from Las Vegas, had been with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. He had two assists in eight games. . . . Pochiro, who didn’t play against the visiting Vancouver Giants last night, was selected by the Blues in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL draft. In 128 regular-season games with the Cougars, he had 105 points, including 42 goals. . . . Pochiro’s arrival leaves the Cougars with four 20-year-olds, one over the maximum. They will have two weeks to get down to three. The others are G Jared Rathjen, F Chance Braid and F Jari Erricson.
In Regina, F Connor Gay’s second goal of the game, at 2:45 of OT, gave the Pats a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Gay, who also had an assist, has nine goals this season. . . . Regina D Colby Williams had broken a 3-3 tie with his third goal, via the PP, at 4:00 of the third period. . . . F Lane Bauer scored two PP goals for the Oil Kings, the second one, at 10:41 of the third period, forcing OT. . . . He’s got six goals. . . . F Dryden Hunt had a goal, his 10th, and two assists for the Pats, who got three assists from D Kyle Burroughs. . . . D Ashton Sautner had two assists for Edmonton. . . . The Pats (12-9-1) have won four in a row. . . . The Oil Kings (11-8-3) had won their past two games. . . . 
In Medicine Hat, the Tigers scored the game’s first four goals en route to a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . F Cole Sanford scored his 15th goal of the season for the Tigers (15-4-2), who had lost their previous two games. . . . D Tyler Lewington, F Trevor Cox and F Chad Labelle each had two assists for the Tigers. . . . D Ty Stanton helped out with his fourth goal and an assist. . . . The Rebels got goals from F Preson Kopeck, his seventh, and F Wyatt Johnson, his 10th, in the second half of the third period. . . . Red Deer was 1-for-6 on the PP; Medicine Hat was 0-for-6. . . . Red Deer (11-9-3) had been 3-0-1 in its past four games and 7-1-2 in its last 10. . . . 
In Prince George, the Vancouver Canucks overcame a 3-0 deficit and went on to dump the Cougars, 6-4. . . . The Cougars took a 3-0 lead on F Chase Witala’s 10th goal, via the PP, at 6:16 of the second period. . . . The Giants tied it on D Clayton Kirichenko’s second goal, at 5:18 of the third, on the PP, and took the lead when F Matt Bellerive scored his seventh goal at 9:54. . . . Witala pulled the Cougars into a tie at 17:32, only to have Vancouver D Shaun Dosanjh scored his first goal just 28 seconds later. It stood up as the winner. . . . Vancouver G Cody Porter stopped 21 of 22 shots after replacing Payton Lee after the Cougars’ third goal. . . . F Thomas Foster had three assists for the Giants (9-12-0). . . . Vancouver F Dalton Sward scored his ninth career shorthanded goal, one off the franchise record held by F James Henry (2007-12). . . . The Cougars (11-12-0) have lost four in a row. . . . The same two teams meet in Prince George again tonight. . . . The Giants continue to be without F Tyler Benson, who suffered an undisclosed injury at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. He won’t play in tonight’s rematch either. . . . Vancouver did have F Jakob Stukel (hand) back in the lineup for the first time since the second game of the season. . . . 
In Victoria, F Axel Blomqvist scored at 3:16 of OT to give the Royals a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Royals scored the game’s last three goals. . . . F Tyson Baillie scored twice for Kelowna, giving him 17. . . . Victoria F Austin Carroll got Victoria to within one, at 3-2, with his 15th goal at 6:04 of the third period, on a PP. . . . F Brandon Magee tied it with his seventh goal at 18:03 of the third. . . . Blomqvist has 10 goals. . . . Kelowna F Rourke Chartier, who leads the WHL in goals (23), had his 10-game goal streak snapped. . . . Kelowna F Nick Merkley had one assist; he leads the WHL in assists (34) and points (41). . . . D Travis Brown and F Tyler Soy each had two assists, as did Kelowna D Jesse Lees. . . . Baillie also had an assist. . . . The Rockets (20-1-2) have points in their last 12 (10-0-2). . . . The Royals (11-11-2) have won two in a row.
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