THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Dale Hunt (Prince George, Everett, 2005-10) was released by Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). . . .
F Richard Mueller (Brandon, Saskatoon, Calgary, 1998-2003) signed a two-week tryout contract with the Straubing Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had three goals and one assist in 18 games for Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) and five goals and five assists in 15 games for Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) last season. . . .
F Mikhail Fisenko (Vancouver, Calgary, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Russia, KHL). He had eight goals and 32 assists in 64 games for the Hitmen last season.
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While a funeral mass for the late Brad McCrimmon will be held Saturday in Farmington, Mich., there also will be a memorial service held in Saskatoon. It is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 25, at Knox United Church, 838 Spadina Crescent East.
The service is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., with a reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Cavalier Saskatoon Hotel, 612 Spadina Crescent East.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Emanuel Viveiros (Prince Albert, 1982-86) is the new head coach of Austrian national team. He has signed a three-year contract. . . . Viveiros, 45, played in Europe for 17 years, 13 of them in Austria. . . . An Austrian citizen, he has spent two years as an assistant coach under Bill Gilligan, whom he is sucdeeding. Viveiros will continue as head coach of Klagenfurt. . . . Viveiros has two hockey-playing sons — Landan, 17, played on Austria’s U-18 team last season; Layne, 16, just transferred from Klagenfurt to the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Rob Daum, who has coached with the Prince Albert Raiders, Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes, signed on as an assistant coach. . . . Daum, a long-time coach at the U of Alberta, also has coached in the AHL and NHL. He is in his first season as head coach of Black Wings Linz, an Austrian club team.
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The Winterhawks are more than pleased with Layne Viveiros, a defenceman who was a ninth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. He was born in Edmonton.
“He turned out to be way better than we thought he would be,” Portland GM/head coach Mike Johnston told Jason Vondersmith of the Portland Tribune. “Very smart, puck-moving defenseman. Good intelligence and hockey sense.”
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JUST NOTES: There is word out of the Tacoma area that there is interest in seeing whether it’s viable to have NHL and/or NBA franchises in the city. King 5 News has reported that Tacoma city council will cough up $100,000 for a study to see what the cost would be to renovate the Tacoma Dome and to gauge public support. Tacoma, of course, once was home to the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Saskatoon Blades are down to two goaltenders after assigning Adam Todd, 17, to the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. That leaves the Blades with veteran Adam Morrison, 20, and Russian freshman Andrey Makarov, 18, who was picked up in the 2011 CHL import draft. . . . The Blades are down to 25 players, including six defenceman and 17 forwards. Of that number, seven are at NHL camps. . . . The Kamloops Blazers have assigned F Devin Oakes, 16, to the Pursuit of Excellence midget AAA prep team in Kelowna. Oakes, a list player, had 24 points in 41 games with the PoE midget AAA team last season.
F Mark Stone, 19, and D Jordan Fransoo, 18, of the Brandon Wheat Kings have made the move to the Ottawa Senators’ main camp after playing for the rookie team in a tournament in Oshawa, Ont. . . . F Ryan Johansen and F Oliver Gabriel, teammates with the Portland Winterhawks, each had a goal Wednesday as the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie team dropped a 4-3 OT decision to the St. Louis Blues in the Traverse City, Mich., tournament. . . . Johansen put up six points, including three goals, and was plus-7 in the tournament, while Gabriel had four points, two of them goals, and was plus-4. . . . The Swift Current Broncos have assigned F Ryan Bloom, 18, to the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons. Acquired from the Kootenay Ice in the deal for F Cody Eakin in January, Bloom had two points in 29 games split between the Broncos and Ice last season. The Broncos also signed F Jordan Wittman, the 46th overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, and assigned F Denis Bosc, the 121st selection in the 2010 draft, to the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons. Bosc has signed with the Broncos. . . .
The Moose Jaw Warriors have claimed G Deven Dubyk, 20, off waivers from the Medicine Hat Tigers. After being dropped by the Tigers last week, Dubyk joined the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, who are the host team for the 2012 RBC Cup. An 11th-round pick by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2006 bantam draft, Dubyk actually got into 35 games with the Warriors in 2008-09. He was 7-15-1, 4.57, .866. Last season, he went 11-5, 2.89, .908 while backing up Tyler Bunz in Medicine Hat. . . . The Warriors also have two other goaltenders — Brandon Stone, 18, and Spencer Tremblay, 17. Should Dubyk join them, they also will have five 20-year-olds, the others being F Brett Lyon, F Jesse Paradis, F Sebastian Svendsen and D Collin Bowman. . . . The deadline for WHL teams to get down to a maximum of three 20-year-olds is Oct. 13. . . .
F Parker Stanfield, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Everett Silvertips, has signed with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Stanfield, who is from Anaheim Hills, Calif., had 34 points in 64 games last season, the first four games and four points with the Prince George Cougars, the rest in Everett. He played three seasons (2007-11) with Prince George. . . . According to the Fredericton Daily Gleaner, F Taylor Procyshen (Tri-City, 2004-09) won’t be back with the U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds “due to concussion-related issues.” The Varsity Reds are the reigning champions in Canadian university hockey. . . . F Jeff Topilko, who had 54 points in 66 games as a 20-year-old with the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2006-07, has signed with the ECHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers. After graduating from the Wheat Kings, Topilko went on to attend NAIT in Edmonton. . . .
Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review reports that the Chiefs still have four freshman forwards in camp and one of them is Liam Stewart, the 17-year-old son of actress Rachel Hunter and rocker Rod Stewart. . . . F Travis Ewanyk of the Edmonton Oil Kings didn’t make the trip to Penticton with the Edmonton Oilers’ rookie team. And now we know why. Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal tells Corey Graham, the radio voice of the Oil Kings who also does TEAM 1260’s Sports Night Live, that Ewanyk “may have to have surgery and if he does he may be lost to us for a 4-to-5 month range, depending on rehab." It has been speculated that Ewanyk has a shoulder injury. Ewanyk was a third-round pick by the Oilers in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . F Spencer Edwards, who spent the last two seasons with the Moose Jaw Warrors, has signed with the Central league’s Allen Americans. He will start the season by going to training camp with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Edwards had 66 points with the Warriors last season when he won the Canadian Hockey League’s humanitarian-of-the-year award.
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Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun has written a piece on Vancouver Giants assistant coach Glen Hanlon.
Pap asked Hanlon about the biggest difference between professional and junior players and here is the response:
“Passing skills. I mean, they can stand still and make a pass but being able to receive a pass and give a pass at full speed, the completion rate through your whole group, top to bottom, is not as high as a team of professionals. The skating speed of the players is actually not that much different, it’s the ability to make and receive a pass.”
Pap’s complete story is right here.
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The mask of former WHL goaltender Josh Harding (Regina, Brandon, 2001-04) will remember the late Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Pavol Demitra, all former teammates. For a look, click right here.
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Sean Gordon of The Globe and Mail has a piece right here that includes Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty’s thoughts on the ongoing headshot/concussion debate in hockey.
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Today’s good read – and it’s a great one – comes from Chris Jones (again), who wrote a piece on hockey enforcers for the website Grantland. Jones chatted with Stu Grimson, who was known as The Grim Reaper during his playing days. You don’t want to miss this one right here.

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

Tuesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Tomas Karpov (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 2007-09) has been loaned to Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic 1.Liga) by Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga) for the 2011-12 season. He had two goals and five assists in 41 games for Sparta and one goal in 10 games on loan to Berounsti Medevedi (Czech Republic, 1.Liga) this season. . . .
D Jame Pollock (Seattle, 1995-99) signed a one-year contract with the Nuremburg Ice Tigers (Germany, DEL). He had five goals and 10 assists in 44 games with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) this season. . . .
F Dale Hunt (Prince George, Everett, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg II (Austria, Nationalliga). He had 14 goals and five assists in 26 games for the Surrey Eagles (BCHL) this season. . . .
D Kevin Young (Medicine Hat, Portland, Kelowna, 1998-2002) signed a one-year contract with Strasbourg (France, Ligue Magnus). He had 17 goals and 48 assists in 40 games for Eindhoven Kemphanen (Netherlands, Eredivisie) and six assists in eight games with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (Central Hockey League) this season. Young was named Best Defenceman in the Netherlands this season. . . .
F Mario Bliznak (Vancouver, 2005-08) signed a two-year contract with Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 11 goals and 16 assists in 74 games with the Manitoba Moose (AHL) and one goal in four games with the Vancouver Canucks (NHL) this season.
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Two former WHL coaches are unemployed after the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets opted not to renew their contracts. Don Boyd, the Blue Jackets’ assistant GM, had been with Columbus since 1999, as had Bob Strumm, the director of pro scouting. "We believe it was time to make changes in key areas of our organization as we strive to build a championship-caliber team," said Scott Howson, the vice-president of hockey operations and general manager, in a news release. . . . .Strumm, once the WHL’s statistician, is a former GM and head coach of the Regina Pats and Spokane Chiefs. Boyd once was the Pats’ head coach, with Strumm as GM.
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has that story right here.
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The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed D Aaron Irving, the ninth overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. Irving, who is from Edmonton, played last season with the South Side Athletic Club's bantam AAA team, the Southgate Lions, who won the provincial championship. In regular-season play, he had 18 points in 33 games. . . . The Medicine Hat Tigers have signed F Blake Penner, who was the 18th overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft. A native of Medicine Hat, Penner had 68 points in 24 games with the Notre Dame Hounds last season. . . .
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The AHL season ended Tuesday in Houston as the Binghamton Senators beat the Aeros 3-2 to win the Calder Cup final in six games. . . . F Ryan Keller (Saskatoon, 2001-05) broke a 2-2 tie with a PP goal at 9:09 of the third period. It was his 10th goal of these playoffs. . . . Attendance was 10,125. . . . Binghamton is the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators; the Aeros are hooked up with the Minnesota Wild. . . . Bingham G Robin Lehner was named playoff MVP.
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JUST NOTES: The QMJHL’s governors, owners and head coaches are holding their annual session and agreed Tuesday, according to a news release, “that certain measures must be taken in order to eliminate hits to the head and other dangerous hits.” While the league will up its emphasis on education, it also said in the news release that “the severity of suspensions in terms of number of games resulting from a hit to the head would be increased.” . . .
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THE COACHING GAME: The ECHL’s Stockton Thunder has exercised its option on head coach Matt Thomas and signed him to a two-year extension that runs through 2013-14. The Thunder was 37-23-12 this season. . . . Chad McLeod has signed on as assistant GM/assistant coach with the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks. He will work under GM/head coach Doug Johnson. The two were together with the NAHL’s Billings Bulls.

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