F Chris St. Jacques (Medicine Hat, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Kaufbeuren (Germany, DEL2). This season, with Sterzing/Vipiteno (Italy, Serie A), he had two goals and two assists; in 12 games with the Wedemark Scorpions (Germany, Oberliga), he had eight goals and 15 assists; and, in 10 games with the Bietigheim Steelers (Germany, DEL2), he had three goals and six assists.
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Let us get the important stuff out of the way first. . . . There is nothing new on the Kelly McCrimmon situation. . . . Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada tweeted Thursday afternoon: “Checking into Kelly McCrimmon: told there is no deadline today, so no announcement doesn't mean he's declined Toronto's offer.” . . . There is nothing new on the Austin Matthews front, either. . . . There. You are up to date, at least as of 11 p.m. Pacific time.
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It’s no secret that the attendance figures announced at most WHL games are a whole lot different from the number of bums in the seats. The Moose Jaw Warriors have recognized that situation and are preparing
to deal with it.The Warriors early-bird season-ticket deadline has passed, and they saw an increase of 212 over a year ago. They now have 2,154 season-ticket holders and are hopeful of surpassing last season’s total of 2,674.
Here’s Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald: “That strong season-ticket base is great for the bottom line, but the franchise is also hoping that they have more fans actually in Mosaic Place on game nights. Too often last season the paid attendance didn't come close to reflecting how many fans were in the building.”
The Warriors have played four seasons in 4,414-seat Mosaic Place. They averaged 3,898 fans in 2011-12; last season, that figure was 3,312. That is, as Gourlie points out, a decrease of 15 per cent.
As Gourlie writes right here, the Warriors are prepared to work on improving that situation.
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F Chase De Leo, who played the past four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, has signed a three-year
entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets. They selected him in the fourth round, 99th overall, of the NHL’s 2014 draft. . . . De Leo, 20, is eligible to return to the WHL for a fifth season, but is expected to start the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. De Leo, from La Mirada, Calif., had 251 points, including 110 goals, in 279 games with Portland. In 81 playoff games, he had 56 points, 22 of them goals. . . . The contract is a two-way deal, with an average annual value in the NHL of US$875,000.
@SSepich by my count, Hawks are now set to return only 112 of last year's 285 goals. 61% of goals lost, most in the league by far right now.
— Alan Caldwell (@smallatlarge) June 11, 2015
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Regina Pats have added Brad Herauf to their staff as an assistant coach. Herauf replaces Darren McKechnie, who left the club to focus on his responsibilities with the Regina Police Service. . . . The 32-year-old Herauf, who is from Regina, spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the midget AAA Regina Pats Canadians. This season, the Pats finished third at the Telus Cup national championship tournament.——
The NHL’s Anaheim Ducks fired assistant coach Brad Lauer on Thursday, just a short time after they lost the Western Conference final to the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games. . . . Lauer, who played in the WHL with the Regina Pats (1983-86) and was an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice (2002-07), had worked alongside head coach Bruce Boudreau with the Ducks since November 2011. . . . Lauer, 48, was responsible for the Ducks’ power play that ranked 28th in the NHL. . . . According to the Ducks, the other assistant coaches, Trent Yawney and Scott Niedermayer, are expected back.——
Former NHL D Paul Boutilier has signed on as a full-time assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. According to a Sea Dogs’ news release, “Boutilier, 52, joined the team last season as the director of its newly-created Player Development & Analytics program, where he worked primarily with defencemen.” . . . With the Sea Dogs, he will work alongside new head coach Danny Flynn. The other assistant coaches are Jeff Cowan and Jim Fleming.———
The Regina Pats have signed three players — F Riley Woods, F Gary Haden and G Kurtis Chapman. . . . Woods, a list player from Regina, put up 59 points, including 22 goals, in 42 games with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians this season. Woods, who turns 17 on June 25, added 17 playoff points and picked up 14 more at the Telus Cup. . . . Haden, a ninth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft, is from Airdrie, Alta. Haden, 16, had 31 points, 15 of them goals, in 33 games with the midget AAA UFA Bisons this season. He added 20 points in 13 playoff games and eight more in the Telus Cup. . . . Chapman, a seventh-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, played this season with the midget AAA UFA Bisons. The 17-year-old also is from Airdrie.
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F Carter Rigby, who played four seasons in the WHL, will attend the University of Prince Edward Island and play for the Panthers. Rigby totalled 132 points, including 70 goals, while playing for the Kelowna Rockets and Swift Current Broncos. He played out his eligibility this season. After his WHL season ended, he had three assists in four games with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.
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— Ben Haggard (@BenHaggardMusic) June 12, 2015
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In Prince Albert, the Raiders scored three second-period goals en route to a 6-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . .Fittingly, it was Bash The Blades night in Prince Albert. . . . The Raiders scored the game’s first five goals. . . . That included F Sean Montgomery’s first WHL goal, in the 45th game of freshman season, at 9:54 of the second period. . . . F Kris Schmidli had three assists for Prince Albert, while F Reid Gardiner scored his 22nd goal and added an assist. F Simon Stransky and F Austin Glover each had two assists. D Jesse Lees scored his eighth goal — his first since arriving in Prince Albert from Kelowna — and had an assist. . . . Raiders G Rylan Parenteau stopped 32 shots, four fewer than Nik Amundrud of the Blades. . . . This was the final game of the season series between these teams and it ended 4-4-0. . . . The Raiders (20-27-1) had lost their previous four games. They are in Calgary on Friday. . . . The Blades (14-30-3), who play in Swift Current on Friday, had won five in a row. . . . 
In Edmonton, F Lane Bauer’s shootout goal gave the Oil Kings a 2-1 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . F Brett Pollock also scored for Edmonton in the shootout — he extended it with a goal in the third round — while F Nick Merkley scored for the Rockets. . . . D Joe Gatenby scored for Kelowna at 9:33 of the first period. His first WHL goal came in his 85th game. . . . Edmonton F Dysin Mayo tied it with his 10th goal of the season, on a PP, at 6:35 of the second. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry stopped 35 shots, five more than Kelowna’s Jake Morrissey. . . . The Rockets gave the goaltending start to Morrissey, meaning he and his holder brother, D Josh Morrissey, were on the ice together for the first time since the latter was acquired from Prince Albert on Dec. 10. . . . F Leon Draisaitl, who started the season with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, made his return to Edmonton. The Oilers, if you missed it, arranged for Draisaitl to be traded by Prince Albert to the Rockets at the trade deadline. . . . Draisaitl went pointless and wasn’t able to score in the shootout. . . . The Rockets were 0-for-8 on the PP, including the game’s last seven. . . . The Oil Kings were 1-for-3. . . . Edmonton (23-21-6) ended a four-game losing skid (0-3-1). The Oil Kings play in Red Deer on Friday. . . . The Rockets (37-8-4), who visit Lethbridge on Friday, have won their previous three games. They are first in the overall standings, three points ahead of idle Brandon. . . . 
In Portland, the Winterhawks erased a 2-1 deficit with three straight goals and hung on to beat the Victoria Royals, 4-3. . . . Victoria F Alex Forsberg scored his 20th goal of the season at 12:41 of the second period for a 2-1 lead. . . . Portland F Alex Schoenborn tied it, with his 15th goal, at 17:20. . . . D Alex Henry gave the Winterhawks the lead at 3:08 of the third, with his fifth goal, and F Chase De Leo made it 4-2 with No. 22 at 13:21. . . . Forsberg got the Royals to within a goal at 13:39. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 36 shots, four more than Victoria’s Justin Paulic. . . . F Miles Koules and D Blake Heinrich had two assists each for Portland. . . . Portland won despite not getting any points from its big line of Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nic Petan and Paul Bittner. Victoria D Joe Hicketts and his partner, Chaz Reddekopp, were plus-3 while playing as much as possible against the Petan line. . . . Hicketts also had one assist. . . . F Dominic Turgeon was back in Portland’s lineup for the first time since Jan. 17 and scored his 15th goal. Portland F Mitch Walter remains out. Both were injured in fights. Walter hasn’t played since Jan. 14. . . . The Winterhawks (29-19-3) have won six straight and are three points behind U.S. Division-leading Everett, which olds three games in hand. . . . Victoria (26-20-4) had points in its previous seven games (6-0-1). . . . Portland is at home to Kamloops on Friday, while Victoria will play in Spokane. . . . 
In Kamloops, the Blazers scored three PP goals and beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3, to grab sole possession of a playoff spot. . . . Still, it was the only Kamloops goal that wasn’t on special teams that won it, D Brady Gaudet getting his second goal of the season at 14:38 of the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie in the process. . . . Kamloops F Cole Ully scored twice, giving him 24, and had an assist. . . . Kamloops F Deven Sideroff had three assists, all on the PP. . . . F Matt Needham, the third member of that line, had two assists. . . . Seattle D Shea Theodore had two assists. He has 185 career points, two shy of Craig Channell’s franchise record (Breakers/Thunderbirds) for a defenceman. . . . Seattle F Cory Millette had given his guys a 3-2 lead at 14:46 of the second, on a PP, with his 12th goal. . . . Kamloops D Dawson Davidson, who was brought in to add to the PP, scored his third goal at 3:42 of the third. . . . Kamloops was 3-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 1-for-5. . . . Seattle D Jared Hauf and Kamloops D Ryan Rehill, a couple of heavyweights, were tossed nine seconds into the game for becoming involved in a staged fight. . . . The Blazers scored two first-period goals. According to Tbird Tidbits, it was the sixth time in 48 games that Seattle has allowed more than one goal in the first period. The Thunderbirds are 1-5-0 when that happens. . . . Kamloops, already without injured Swiss D Michael Fora, lost Slovakian D Patrik Maier at 15:18 of the third period when he was KO’d in a scrap with Seattle F Nolan Volcan. Maier was wobbly and needed help getting to the dressing room. . . . The Blazers (19-25-6) moved into third place in the B.C. Division, two points ahead of Vancouver and Prince George. . . . The Thunderbirds (23-19-6) are third in the U.S. Division, two points ahead of Spokane and Tri-City. . . . The Thunderbirds are in Prince George for games Friday and Saturday nights. . . . The Blazers travel to Portland for a Friday night game.
Bruins and Victoria Royals, and we’re counting that as one team. Jones also played for the Calgary Hitmen and Everett Silvertips.
Marshall, who was born in Brandon and raised in Virden, was a seventh-round selection (92nd overall) by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 1970 draft. He was the Wheat Kings’ MVP for 1970-71.
In Edmonton, D Ryan Pilon broke a 1-1 tie at 17:42 of the second period and the Brandon Wheat Kings held on for a 2-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The Wheat Kings had lost 14 straight games (regular season and playoffs) in Edmonton. . . . On Sunday, when they beat the Hitmen 5-4, Brandon snapped an 11-game regular-season skid in Calgary. . . . Pilon has seven goals. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny, who is from Edmonton, stopped 25 shots. . . . Brandon F John Quenneville, who also is from Edmonton, got Brandon’s first goal, at 16:55 of the first, on a PP. He’s got 15 goals. . . . That was the first time in six games that the Wheat Kings opened the scoring. . . . F Brett Pollock scored his 19th goal for Edmonton, at 10:56 of the second. . . . Edmonton G Tristan Jarry made 19 saves. . . . The Wheat Kings (31-9-4), who took three of four from the Oil Kings, have won two in a row. . . . Edmonton slipped to 21-18-5. . . . 
In Lethbridge, the Red Deer Rebels outscored their hosts 4-2 in the third period en route to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. . . . D Haydn Fleury came out of the penalty box and scored his second goal of the season on a breakaway, snapping a 1-1 tie at 2:08 of third period and the Rebels were never caught. . . . Fleury also had two assists. . . . Red Deer F Conner Bleackley scored twice, given him 21. . . . F Riley Sheen had two assists for Red Deer. . . . D Kord Pankewicz drew three assists for Lethbridge. . . . F Johnny Wesley, in his first game since being acquired from the Vancouver Giants and making the move from the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles, scored for the Hurricanes. . . . Lethbridge was 1-for-2 on the PP; the Rebels’ PP never got off the bench. . . . The Rebels (24-14-5), who play in Calgary tonight, have won four in a row. . . . The Hurricanes (10-26-6) have lost two straight. . . . 
In Kent, Wash., F Keegan Kolesar scored the only goal of a five-round shootout to give the host Seattle Thunderbirds a 5-4 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Kolesar scored his 14th goal of the season on a first-period PP. . . . Seattle F Nolan Volcan forced OT with his sixth goal at 5:30 of the third. . . . Spokane F Adam Helewka had given his side a 4-3 lead with his 25th goal at 16:46 of the second. He ran his goal-scoring streak to eight straight games, one shy of the franchise record. . . . Spokane F Kailer Yamamoto had one assist, and now is riding an 11-game point streak. . . . D Shea Theodore and D Ethan Bear each had two assists for Seattle. . . . F Ryan Gropp, in his second game since returning from an undisclosed injury, scored his 16th goal for Seattle. . . . Chiefs F Liam Stewart scored his 16th goal. In his fourth season, he has career highs in goals and points (30), all in 42 games. . . . The Thunderbirds (21-16-5) are 2-0-1 in their last three. . . . The Chiefs are 23-16-3.
pretty much the same thing.
The Swift Current Broncos have released F Luca Leone, 18. He was pointless in seven games this season. . . . Over the previous two seasons, the Vancouver native had four goals and seven assists in 70 games with the Vancouver Giants. . . . The Broncos had acquired Leone and a sixth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft from the Giants in May for D Bobby Zinkan. . . . The Giants released Zinkan earlier this season.
The Kootenay Ice could have F Tim Bozon and F Sam Reinhart back in its lineup when it plays the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday night. Bozon, 20, has been out with an undisclosed injury, while Reinhart, 19, has yet to play since being returned by the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Reinhart, who played in nine games with Buffalo, was the second overall selection in the NHL’s 2014 draft. . . . Reinhart also has been added to the WHL team that will play a touring Russian side in the annual Subway Super Series. He will be the WHL team’s captain as he takes part in the series for a third straight season. . . . The games will be played in Saskatoon on Nov. 10 and Brandon on Nov. 11. . . . While Bozon and Reinhart should return to the Ice on Friday, D Tanner Faith is out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury.
1. Followers of the Portland Winterhawks may be sweating a bit as the Vancouver Canucks’ field of coaching candidates narrows. There are rumblings from some corners of the Vancouver media that Willie Desjardins is the leading candidate to replace the fired John Tortorella. However, Desjardins, the former Medicine Hat Tigers’ GM/head coach who guided the Texas Stars to the AHL title, may well end up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. . . . According to a tweet from Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada: “PIT interviewed him by phone Wednesday, now bringing him in. That's a quick-moving romance.” . . . Should Desjardins go to the Penguins, that might move Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, to the top, or near the top, of the Canucks’ list. Johnston has some history in Vancouver, too, having worked for the Canucks as an assistant and associate coach. . . . Dan Bylsma, who was fired the other day as head coach of the Penguins, also has been interviewed for the Canucks’ job. But he may end up with the Florida Panthers. Or will the Panthers sign Gerard Gallant, an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens? . . . What this all means is that the guessing games in the media will continue for another day or two, and Portland fans will continue to hold their collective breath.
2. The Saskatoon Blades have promoted Steve Hildebrand from trainer to assistant general manager. Hildebrand spent 13 seasons on the Blades’ training staff. He also spent time with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers, the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and the U of Manitoba Bisons. . . . According to a news release from the Blades: “Hildebrand's role will include helping manage and track the players on the Blades’ 50-man protected list, and taking care of team travel arrangements, contracts and league paperwork, while also watching players at all levels including bantam, midget, junior A and the WHL.” . . . The Blades also announced the hiring of James McDonald as their athletic therapist. He spent the past two seasons as the trainer/equipment manager with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more 
3. For the first time since 1995, Ron Rumball no longer is the general manager of the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. It was announced at the team’s annual meeting that head coach Bryce Thoma (Red Deer, 1999-2002) also is the GM now. . . . Rumball remains with the Red Wings and will work in player development. . . . For the longest time, Rumball was the GM and Dwight McMillan the head coach with the Red Wings. In fact, it seemed they were partners longer than Hope and Crosby.
5. Former Spokane Chiefs head coach Bill Peters has been signed as the head coach of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. . . . General manager Ron Francis will introduce the first head coach of his regime today at noon EST. . . . Peters, 48, has been on head coach Mike Babcock’s staff with the Detroit Red Wings for the past three seasons. Before that, Peters spent three seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs. . . . Peters was the Chiefs’ head coach for three seasons (2005-08), winning the Memorial Cup in the spring of 2008. . . . Peters and Babcock are former WHL head coaches and both were head coaches with the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns. Peters was a head coach with the Chiefs for four seasons before going to the Pronghorns.
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