Cancer claims former WHLer . . . OHL franchise sells in bankruptcy court . . . Broncos, Rebels deal

G Juha Metsola (Lethbridge, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). Last season, with Tappara Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had a 1.91 GAA and .936 SP in 57 games. He led the league in SP, was named to the Liiga all-star team and won the Urpo Ylönen Award as the Liiga’s best goaltender. . . .
F Vitali Karamnov (Everett, 2007-08) signed a one-year contract with Sokol Krasnoyarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). Last season, he was pointless in two games with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL), and had five goals and eight assists in 38 games with Yermak Angarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga).
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Cody Smuk, who played with the Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors (2006-10) died Thursday morning in a Saskatoon hospital. He was 26 and from Saskatoon. Smuk had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in May 2014. . . . He finished his WHL career with 72 points, 23 of them goals, in 271 games. He then went on to play four seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies, last playing in 2013-14. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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The OHL’s Erie Otters have sold for US$7.225 million in a bankruptcy court-ordered auction. JAW Hockey Enterprises LP, fronted by James A. Waters, was the only bidding party. . . . Waters has said he has no intentions of moving the franchise. . . . Roy Mlakar, who is a former president of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, is to oversee the Otters. . . . Valerie Myers of GoErie.com has more right here.
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Los Angeles Kings F Jarret Stoll made a plea deal with prosecutors and a felony cocaine charge he was facing has been dismissed. Stoll, who played with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice (1998-2002), pleaded guilty to two misdemeanours and now has 120 days to complete 32 hours of community service. . . . Stoll pleaded guilty to provoking commission of breach of peace and trespass. . . . He had been arrested in Las Vegas on April 17 for possession of cocaine and MDMA. . . . Stoll, 33, will be an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. . . . Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the story right here.
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Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star takes a look right here at the NHL’s expansion plans and why they don’t include a second team in the Toronto area.
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THE TRADE WIRE:

The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Scott Feser, 20, from the Red Deer Rebels for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. Feser, from Red Deer, had 41 points, including 16 goals, in 72 games with the Rebels last season. In 158 WHL games, he has 77 points, 32 of them goals. . . . “He’s a strong two-way player who will bring us veteran leadership.” Mark Lamb, the Broncos general manager and head coach, said in a news release. “He takes faceoffs, kills penalties and can play the power-play. We’re really happy to get him.” . . . Feser was an eighth-round pick by the Rebels in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Feser joins G Landon Bow and D Griffin Foulk as the Broncos’ likely 20-year-olds at this point. . . . The Rebels’ roster now includes three 20-year-olds — D Kayle Doetzel, F Wyatt Johnson and F Preston Kopeck. The Rebels are the host team for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament.

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Cougars looking for buskers . . . Skinner skins Oil Kings . . . Silvertips edge short-staffed Chiefs

As I write this, more than 48 hours has passed since the end of Super Bowl XLIX in which the New England Patriots scored a 28-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Like many observers, I remain in a state of shock over the way it ended. But, at the same time, I will admit that I wasn’t surprised. If being shocked but not surprised is even possible . . .
The vast majority of football coaches, and not just in the NFL, are as predictable as the sun coming up in the east. It’s why they carry those colour-coded laminated sheets on the sidelines — if it’s first-and-10 from wherever, here are the options.
It’s why they spend so much time watching video — they are watching the next opponent and looking for tendencies.
Football, especially at the professional level, is about matchups. Teams work hard to get preferable matchups and then to exploit it when it happens in their favour.
So in the moments before the biggest play of the NFL season, with the Seahawks second-and-goal from inside the Patriots’ one, New England trotted out its goal-line defensive elephants. The Seahawks had three receivers on the field and, because of the Patriots’ personnel, knew they would see man-to-man coverage.
What the Seahawks didn’t count on was a perfect storm . . . receiver Jermaine Kearse got a piece of defensive back Brandon Browner but didn’t impede Malcolm Butler’s progress. Butler, who obviously had done his video homework, knew what was coming and let his instincts take over. Seattle’s Ricardo Lockette, quarterback Russell Wilson’s intended target, didn’t anticipate Butler being there, so the New England DB was able to go right through him to the ball.
Game over.
A TV camera happened to be on New England quarterback Tom Brady, who simply couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. (Brady was named the game’s MVP, but the award should have gone to Butler, even if only for his impact on that one play.)
It is surprising that so many people who watch a lot of football were amazed that the Seahawks tried to throw the ball, rather than hand it off to running back Marshawn Lynch. But the matchups simply didn’t favour the  Seahawks in that situation and their coaching staff knew it.
In hindsight, though, I wonder why the Seahawks didn’t fake a handoff to Lynch to their left side and then have Wilson run a naked bootleg the other way. Wilson runs as well as any quarterback in the game today, and he would have been lined up under centre, rather than back in the shotgun.
They didn’t, though, and the rest is history.
Don’t forget, too, that professional football coaches are akin to generals. Every game is a war and the two leaders are the smartest men in the room. They don’t care what you or I think; all they know is that if you aren’t “for” them, then you’re “against” them.
And if you’re waiting for one of them to admit to a mistake, you will wait a long, long time.
BTW, it is games like that one that provide all the evidence needed to prove that sports is the ultimate reality TV.
If you don’t believe it, well, the Buffalo Sabres beat the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night to end a 14-game losing skid. So there’s that, too.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings list F John Quenneville and G Alex Moodie as being out week-to-week. Both players suffered concussions as the Wheaties swept a weekend home-and-home series with the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Rob Henderson reports that G Justin Holder, “a 19-year-old former member of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines and Virden Oil Capitals and of the Brandon Midget AAA Wheat Kings, practised with the Wheat Kings on Tuesday.” . . . D Kale Clague (wrist) is close to returning to Brandon’s lineup. He hasn’t played for Brandon since Oct. 28 after being injured at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in November. . . . Brandon leads the Eastern Conference and is three points behind the Kelowna Rockets, who lead the overall standings. The Wheat Kings are in Medicine Hat tonight as they open a stretch of four games in five nights.
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The OHL now has five head coaches who have put up at least 600 victories, with Stan Butler of the North Bay Battalion having joined the club on Sunday.
Butler, who turned 59 on Monday, trails Brian Kilrea (1,194), Bert Templeton (907), Larry Mavety (658) and George Burnett (604). . . . Burnett, the head coach of the Belleville Bulls, leads all OHL active coaches in victories.
Butler was the head coach of the Oshawa Generals for two seasons (1994-96) before joining the Battalion in 1998. He was the head coach in Prince George in 1996-97 as the Cougars went 28-39-5, with the five representing ties. Ties? Oh, those were the days!
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It has been almost a year since Cody Smuk was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Smuk, who played with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors (2006-10) before spending four seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies, now is undergoing chemotherapy. Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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The Prince George Cougars are in the process of unveiling a Buskers’ Corner stage at home games. Andy Beesley, the Cougars’ vice-president of business, says there won’t be any charge for buskers to perform and it will give the performers a chance to “earn some change from appreciative fans.” If you are interested, call Beesley at 250-561-0783. . . .
F Troy Brouwer (Moose Jaw, 2001-06) scored twice last night to help the Washington Capitals to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings. That turned Brouwer’s 500th regular-season NHL game into a memorable one. . . . Interestingly, Washington assistant coach Lane Lambert was on the Warriors’ coaching staff for two of Brouwer’s seasons in Moose Jaw. . . .
A tip of the hat to friend Dan Russell, who will be saluted on Friday when the Paul Carson Awards are handed out at the Lamplighter Pub in Gastown in Vancouver. Russell, who spent 30 of his 35 years in media as the host of Sportstalk, will receive the Milestone Award. . . . Tickets to the event, presented by The Stadnyk Foundation and supported by Morguard and Steamworks Brewery, are available for $30, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society and KidSport. Tickets can be reserved by emailing friendsofpaulcarson@gmail.com.
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The WHL has suspended five players for infractions in Friday and Saturday games. . . . D Josh Connolly of the Prince George Cougars drew a one-game sentence for a slashing major and game misconduct against the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night. He served the suspension on Saturday. . . . Cougars D Josh Anderson got two games for a headshot major and game misconduct on Friday. He didn’t play Saturday, so has one game remaining. The Cougars are at home to the Edmonton Oil Kings on Friday. . . . D Mackenze Stewart of the Prince Albert Raiders got a two-game suspension for a cross-checking major and game misconduct in Calgary on Friday night. He didn’t play Saturday in Red Deer, so has one game remaining. He will serve that tonight when the Raiders play in Moose Jaw. . . .
Two other players are sitting with ‘tbd’ suspensions. F Jesse Shynkaruk of the Moose Jaw Warriors took an interference major and game misconduct for a hit on F John Quenneville of the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday. Quenneville is believed to have a concussion. The Warriors next play Wednesday when they entertain the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Jacob Cardiff of the Spokane Chiefs was hit with a headshot major and game misconduct against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday. Cardiff didn’t play last night against the visiting Everett Silvertips.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

In Regina, G Daniel Wapple stopped 25 shots to help the Pats to a 4-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . F Pavel Padakin scored his 17th goal just 17 seconds into the second period to give Regina a 2-0 lead. He also had an assist. . . . Raiders F Reid Gardiner got his 25th goal, on a PP with the extra attacker on, at 17:56 of the third period. . . . That got the Raiders to within one, at 3-2. . . . Regina F Sam Steel scored his 13th goal at 19:59 of the third. . . . Pats F Luc Smith, who turned 17 on Jan. 20, scored his first WHL goal in his 48th game. . . . Regina D Colby Williams had an assist and was plus-4. . . . The Pats (28-17-6) have points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . The Raiders (21-29-1) are in Moose Jaw tonight. . . .

In Edmonton, G Stuart Skinner turned aside 49 shots to lead the Lethbridge Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . Skinner, who turned 16 on Nov. 1, stopped 23 shots in the second period when Edmonton scored twice. . . . F Ryley Lindgren scored twice for Lethbridge, giving him four goals this season. . . . After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes scored twice in the first two minutes of the second period, with F Carter Folk getting his seventh at 0:51 and Lindgren scoring at 1:46. . . . The Oil Kings tied it on goals by F Edgars Kulda, his first since Oct. 26, and F Brandon Baddock, his 13th, on a PP at 17:22. . . . Kulda, who has seven goals this season, scored for the first time since Oct. 26. Plagued by injuries, he was out from Nov. 2 until Jan. 9. The Latvian 20-year-old had played 15 straight games without scoring. . . . Lethbridge F Ryan Vandervlis, a 16-year-old from Red Deer, scored his first WHL goal in his fifth game this season. It came at 3:14 of the third and gave his side a 3-2 lead. . . . Vandervlis plays for his hometown midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. . . . Assists on Vandervlis’ goal went to F Zane Franklin, who turned 16 on Jan. 5 and was playing in his third game, and F Mike Winther, 20, who was in his 281st regular-season game. . . . Lindgren got his second of the game at 5;47 of the third. . . . F Brett Pollock scored his 25th, shorthanded at 18:30, to make things interesting at the end. . . . Winther finished with two assists. . . . D Dysin Mayo had two assists for Edmonton, which got 17 saves from G Tristan Jarry. . . . “The offence wasn’t what concerned me tonight. It was our defence that concerned me,” Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said on the team’s website. “Four or five times, we go off the grid, and that’s the end of the game. I think everybody’s disappointed tonight. You’d think 52 (shots) would get it done, but obviously it didn’t.” . . . The Hurricanes dressed 17 skaters, one under the limit. Among their scratches were D Nick Walter and F Tyler Wong. . . . The Hurricanes (13-31-6), who had lost their previous two games, won 12 games all of last season. . . . The Oil Kings (24-23-6) have lost two in a row. . . .

In Spokane, F Remi Laurencelle broke a 2-2 tie in the second period and the Everett Silvertips beat the Chiefs, 3-2. . . . Laurencelle, who has 13 goals, scored at 11:27, with F Nikita Scherbak drawing his second assist of the game. . . . Earlier, the teams combined for four goals in the first period. . . . F Keanu Yamamoto got the Chiefs on the board first, scoring his ninth goal, on a PP, at 5:07. . . . The visitors equalized when F Ivan Nikolishin got his 15th goal, at 8:00. F Brayden Low got his 12th at 10:10 to give Everett the lead. . . . Spokane F Dominic Zwerger tied it with his 11th goal at 12:30. . . . After two periods, Everett had a 10-7 edge in shots. . . . Early in the third period, Cody Nickolet (@DubFromAbove) tweeted: “The shots in this Everett-Spokane game right now are 13-9. There is 14 minutes left in the 3rd period. How is that even possible?” . . . The Chiefs scratched nine players, including G Tyson Verhelst (ill). Spokane didn’t list a backup goaltender on the game sheet, something that regularly happens throughout the WHL these days. . . . The Chiefs dressed 16 skaters, two under the maximum. That included 10 forwards. . . . Spokane was 1-for-2 on the PP, but couldn’t score on a late one after Low was penalized for checking from behind at 17:28 of the third. . . . The Silvertips (32-15-4), who have won three in a row in Spokane, lead the U.S. Division by three points over the idle Portland Winterhawks. . . . The Chiefs (24-22-4) open an East Division swing in Moose Jaw on Friday.
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NHL logic: #shots edition @wyshynski pic.twitter.com/EamToJONLs
— ZoSo (@ZoSoNuck) February 4, 2015

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Depression doesn't have to be the end of the road

This has to be a tough time to be involved at the management level of a junior hockey team, or even a midget AAA team.
In fact, it must be hard to be involved with the operation of any competitive hockey team.
Aside from the winning and the losing and putting bums in the seats, you have to be concerned about the concussion factor. As we have seen in recent days, you also need to be concerned about something like smokeless tobacco infiltrating your dressing room.
But perhaps the biggest issue of all involves mental health and, yes, that is intertwined with the concussion situation.
I have wanted to write something about hockey and mental health for a few months now, but haven’t been able to find the words.
My late mother dealt with mental health issues for much of the last half of her life. Because of that I have seen the inside of a mental health centre on more than one occasion. I also have seen the inside of more than one hospital psychiatric ward. It was through all of this that I came to know about valium and lithium and placebos and a whole lot more.
I hardly consider myself an expert, but I know something about what my mother went through.
So when something happens in hockey that involves someone’s mental health -- be it a coach or player or anyone else associated with the game -- my heart bleeds.
Such was the case when Terry Trafford, a player with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, was found dead in the cab of his truck in March.
The situation involving Trafford received a lot of play at the time, with the best media piece perhaps being this one right here that was written by former player Gregg Sutch for Yahoo! Canada Sports.
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After the Sutch piece appeared, someone from a WHL city tweeted in the direction of Yahoo’s Sunaya Sapurji: “Please make sure the WHL sees this! As a former billet of a player with depression issues, I know how important this is.”
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Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun weighed in with this column right here, on Trafford’s father searching for answers and trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
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The afore-mentioned Sapurji took the time to chat with Dr. Cal Botterill, a sports psychologist who is most qualified to speak on the subject because he also played hockey at a high level, including a stint with Canada’s national team in the late 1960s.
That piece is right here, and includes this from Dr. Botterill: “It becomes an all-or-nothing feeling because of the status that hockey has and how obsessed young people get with thinking this is their destiny and the only thing that’s worthwhile. I think when we think that way it’s dangerous.”
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Another meaningful story that appeared at the time was written by Gene Pereira and detailed the trials and tribulations of Rich Clune, a forward with the NHL’s Nashville Predators.
Clune, who played for the OHL’s Barrie Colts, said the Trafford situation hit awfully close to home because, as Pereira wrote, “he also has battled depression. Clune self-medicated using alcohol and later drugs, leading to an addiction that not only could have cost him his hockey career, but possibly his life.”
The difference between Trafford and Clune may be that “some three years ago, Clune reached out and got the help he needed.”
The Clune story is right here.
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The story involving hockey and mental health touched more than the family, friends and teammates of Terry Trafford during the 2013-14 season.
At one point, Regan Bartel, the long-time radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets, posted this on his blog:
“Am I the only one concerned about two teenage hockey players taking their lives over the last three weeks? . . . These two players, one in the Central and one who was involved with a South Okanagan team, have been put to rest.
“Is it just coincidence or part of a bigger problem? Mental illness is all around us without question. It makes me wonder what pressures these players faced from coaches and parents as they moved up the ranks.
“If they fail in reaching the goals many people envisioned for them, what safety nets are in place to help these individuals deal with disappointment? Maybe that wasn't a factor at all. I don't know.
“I am saddened to see this loss of life, as a father of twin 11-year-old boys. My heart goes out to the families and friends of these two individuals.”
Like Bartel, I was stunned at the time I heard of the deaths of these two young hockey players, young men who should have had so much for which to live.
But, obviously, something went wrong, something that no one recognized, through no fault of their own. Oh, you can bet that there is a lot of looking back and wondering, but is that really fair?
It is one thing to expect adults to recognize the signs that something is wrong; if only it was that easy.
Somehow, young people, and not just those playing hockey, have to come to understand that it’s OK to ask for help. They have to know that help is available, that life, the most precious gift of all, is worth living.
Unfortunately, the stigma associated with mental health hasn’t gone anywhere, as this piece right here from The Globe and Mail’s Gayle MacDonald clearly states.
As we attempt to remove that stigma, perhaps one thing we can do is pay more attention to those people who have dealt successfully with mental health issues . . . people like Garett MacDonald.
MacDonald is the subject of a wonderful story that appeared in Sunday’s Vancouver Province. Written by Steve Ewen, it deals with the story of MacDonald, a former junior hockey player who fell into depression as he struggled with an injury suffered in an Adult Safe Hockey League game that ultimately cost him one eye.
Ewen’s story is right here. It is a wonderful read; it really is, although it also is quite painful. I just hope a whole lot of teenagers read it and come to understand that there are people out there who love you and who can help you.
And please understand that depression doesn’t have to be the end of the road.
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1. The CHL’s import draft, which is scheduled for July 2, is a real crapshoot, one that long has been dominated by agents.
But in all my years of being around the WHL, I don’t know that I have ever read a better description of it than one I found this weekend.
Here’s Cam Hope, the general manager of the Victoria Royals, in conversation with Andy Neal:
“The import draft is one of the strangest animals that you get in hockey. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced in the pros or junior hockey.
“The mine-field and the quicksand that’s out there is almost indescribable and this year even moreso.
“We’re doing our homework; we had a long meeting for hours and hours and hours going over players who have come to our attention through our research or through their agents. But, in the end, there’s only so much homework you can do.
“There’s a shift in the political landscape; we know there’s problems for some Russian players getting visas as a result of things happening over there so there’s all kinds of things that have nothing to do with hockey that make this dangerous.”
Neal’s filing also takes a look at the Royals’ 20-year-old situation. It’s all right here.

2. “In theory,” writes Alan Maki of The Globe and Mail, “banning body checking for minor hockey players ages 13 to 17 should be an easy exercise. It’s about safety, and most everyone can appreciate that. And yet when to introduce body checking remains a hot-button issue.” . . . The reason for Maki’s piece, which is right here? . . . The Greater Toronto Hockey League and the association that governs minor hockey in Newfoundland and Labrador have voted against banning body checking for players more than 13 years of age. . . . One doctor in Maki’s piece points out that concussion research still is in its infancy. But considering the direction in which that research is headed, it is mind-numbing that some adults still don’t understand the risk involved.

3. I’m still laughing about the CFL’s attempt to change the adjectives ‘import’ and ‘non-import’ into ‘international’ and ‘national’. . . . Of course, this is the same league that has an expansion team with the nickname Redblacks.

4. Darren Gusdal, who played two seasons (1978-80) with the Brandon Wheat Kings, has died. Gusdal, who was born in Erickson, Man., just north of Brandon, was 53. He could skate like the wind, although he had a funny style, and was a terrific penalty killer on one of the greatest teams in WHL history, the 1978-79 Wheat Kings who went 58-5 with nine ties.
 
5. Former WHLer Cody Smuk (Chilliwack, Lethbridge, Moose Jaw, 2006-10) is battling cancer, and funds are being raised to help him pay the bills. If you would like to donate, you are able to do so right here.
Smuk posted this message last week:
“Hey All. I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for donating. It has been very touching to see all the support I have received in the past 24 hours. I am truly grateful and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Day 1 went well but it will be a long road ahead. Thanks for making this easier for my family and myself. Take care.”

6. It’s Canada week at MMQB, and you should give it a look right here. That is The Monday Morning Quarterback site that is edited by Peter King, the best-connected football writer on the planet. Today, MMQB has former Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman as a guest writer, and they’ll be all-Canadian all the time this week. . . . MMQB plans on staffing three CFL games this week, with King himself traveling to Calgary and, yes, Regina.
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The Vancouver Canucks are expected to announce today that they have signed Willie Desjardins as their head coach. Desjardins is a former GM/head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Kevin Parnell, who manages the website and media relations for the Kelowna Rockets, tweeted Sunday night that the club will make a “major announcement” at a news conference today at 1 p.m. Bruce Hamilton, the governor, president and general manager, will be there, along with head coach Ryan Huska and assistant coach Dan Lambert. Gotta wonder if Lambert is about to be named associate coach?
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The Everett Silvertips have taken scouting to a new level, witness this from assistant coach Mitch Love . . . 

Maui will work for a few days #scoutinghawaiianhockeytalent pic.twitter.com/VHZYbNXY0e
— Mitch Love (@mlovehockey) June 23, 2014

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