Giants get their coach . . . Chiefs deal D-man to Tigers . . . Hitmen, Thunderbirds sign skaters

F Štěpán Novotný (Kelowna, Swift Current, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, with Žilina (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had 13 goals and nine assists in 39 games. He also played 13 games with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga), scoring three goals.
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The Vancouver Giants will introduce Lorne Molleken today as their newest head coach. . . . Molleken, 59, is one of four coaches to have won more than 600 WHL regular-season games. His 603 victories trail only the retired Ken Hodge (742), Don Hay (637), who now is with the Kamloops Blazers, and Don Nachbaur (632) of the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Molleken, who is from Regina, began his coaching career with the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. In the WHL, he has been the head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors, Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades. He also has coached in the AHL and NHL. . . . In Vancouver, he takes over from Claude Noel, who wasn’t retained following the last season. Noel took over from Troy Ward, who was hired last summer and fired after 25 games. . . . Ward was hired after the Giants allowed Hay out of his contract in order for him to return to Kamloops. . . . The Giants have missed the playoffs in two of the past three seasons. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman has more on the Molleken signing right here.
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Steve Ewen, who covers the Giants for the Vancouver Province, takes a look right here at the team’s coaching situation. He says it’s time the organization changed its approach and started grooming future head coaches.
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With the Vancouver Giants having signed Lorne Mollken, it means that all 22 WHL teams now have head coaches in place. . . . Of those teams, three have made coaching changes since the 2014-15 season ended. . . . The Kootenay Ice hired Luke Pierce to replace Ryan McGill, who is believed to have been on Vancouver’s shortlist. . . . The Lethbridge Hurricanes hired Brent Kisio to take over from Peter Anholt, who will focus on his general manager’s duties. . . . Molleken, who turned 59 on June 11, is the third-oldest coach in the WHL, younger than only John Paddock of the Regina Pats, who turned 61 on June 9, and Don Hay of the Kamloops Blazers, who hit 61 on Feb. 13. . . . The youngest? Pierce will be 32 on Aug. 18, with Kisio scheduled to turn 33 on Dec. 15.
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The Spokane Chiefs have dealt D Tamas Laday, 19, to the Medicine Hat Tigers for an eighth-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft. Laday, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound Hungarian, had six assists in 60 games as a freshman last season with the Chiefs. . . . The trade allows the Chiefs, who also have Austrian F Dominic Zwerger on their roster, to select one player in today’s CHL import draft. They go into the draft with the 26th selection. . . . The Tigers also have German F Markus Eisenschmid on their roster. He had 44 points, including 19 goals, in 50 games last season, but at 20 years of age would be a two-spotter in 2015-16.
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The CHL import draft poses a lot of problems for WHL general managers because, in many instances, they don’t control a whole lot about it. So it’s always interesting to see what some of them have to say.
Here’s what John Paddock, the Regina Pats’ GM/head coach, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post:
“It’s like picking a needle out of a haystack. You try to do your work. You have friends or people you know in the pro ranks that see these guys play. You talk to agents. You try to get as much information as you can.”
Paddock also said:
“You hope and pray. There are no guarantees of anything. When I looked around our league last year, there’s not a lot of significant Europeans. There’s the odd top one like (Leon) Draisaitl and (Ivan) Provorov, but with a lot of teams I couldn’t tell you who their Euros are.”
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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The QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders will introduce Jim Hulton as their new head coach on Thursday. . . . He will replace Gordie Dwyer, who was dropped after the Islanders didn’t get through the second round of the postseason. . . . Hulton, 46, has OHL coaching experience with the North Bay Centennials, Mississauga IceDogs, Belleville Bulls and Kingston Frontenacs. . . . He also spent three seasons (2008-11) as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Florida Panthers. . . . Since 2011, Hulton has been the general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
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Josh Hepditch, the former general manager and head coach of the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International junior league, has signed on as head coach of the County Aces, a junior A team that plays out of St. Stephen, N.B., in the Maritime Hockey League. . . . Last season, Hepditch was general manager and head coach of the MHL’s Amherst Ramblers.
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F Patrick D’Amico, who played out his eligibility with the Regina Pats last season, will attend the New Jersey Devils’ development camp. . . . F Tyler Soy, 18, of the Victoria Royals and F Jakob Stukel, 18, of the Vancouver Giants will be in the development camp of the Edmonton Oilers. . . . Tri-City Americans D Brendan O’Reilly, an 18-year-old from Southlake, Texas, will skate with the Dallas Stars. . . . F Terrell Draude, 18, of the Calgary Hitmen will be in camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . F Markus Eisenschmid, 20, of the Medicine Hat Tigers is to attend the Montreal Canadiens’ development camp. . . . D Justin Hamonic, who played with the Tri-City Americans as a 20-year-old last season, is going to camp with the Colorado Avalanche.
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The Calgary Hitmen have signed F Tristen Nielsen, the 19th overall selection in the 2015 bantam draft. Nielsen, from Fort St. John, B.C., played last season at the Edge School in Calgary. He had 97 points, including 59 goals, in 52 games with the bantam prep team.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed D Brandon Schuldhaus, who was a fifth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Schuldhaus, a 17-year-old native of Houston, Texas, who now lives in Calgary, has played two seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, Minn. Last season, with the midget AAA team, he had 12 points, five of them goals, in 31 games.
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D Patrick Wey, 24, has retired from hockey after being unable to return from two concussions incurred less than a year apart. . . . Wey, from Pittsburgh, was a fourth-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the 2009 NHL draft. He had been playing with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. . . . Mike Vogel, who writes for the Capitals, tweeted the news Monday morning. . . . Wey has said he will pursue “educational interests.” . . . Wey played 28 games in 2013-14 and just three games last season. . . . He suffered his first concussion in a fight on March 30, 2014, while up with the Capitals, then suffered the second one in the third game of last season, thanks to an elbow to the head.
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Another year passes with no Clare Drake in the HHOF. Would John Wooden be left out of basketball's Hall?

— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) June 29, 2015

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.

Death of a hockey program . . . RBC Cup final set . . . Putin scores eight goals

There is an interesting note on overage players in the Finnish Nuorten SM-Liiga, which is that country’s top junior league.
A team is effectively allowed nine overagers — eight skaters and a goalie.
The goalie may be either 20 or 21. (In Finnish, it says "toinen maalivahdeista" which translates to "second goalies" or "other goalies.”)
Of the eight skaters, four may be 21, but they must be signed to a contract with the junior club's senior team and registered in the senior league.
In the lower junior leagues (think our Tier 2 and below), the rule is the same except there are no extra overage goalies and no restrictions on being signed to the senior team — just eight overagers with four allowed to be 21.
Imagine the quality of play in the WHL if teams were allowed to play under this rule. Imagine the quality of play in midget hockey, as players who still have midget eligibility would be playing midget.
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Looking at the ‘summer’ roster for Espoo Blues, who finished third last season, they have 32 players listed. The age breakdown is:
 Age 21 (born 94) — zero
Age 20 (95) — five (all skaters)
Age 19 (96) — six
Age 18 (97) — 14 (five returning, nine played midget last season)
Age 17 (98) — six (two returning, four played midget)
Age 16 (99) — one (returning player)
The one 16-year-old who played this season as a 15-year-old is Urho Vaakanainen, a 6-foot-0, 176-pound defenceman. He had 12 points, including four goals, in 30 games. He was born on New Year's Day, 1999, so was just barely a 15-year-old for this season.
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Trevor Bast fought the good fight. But, in the end, he chose to walk away.
Bast’s son, Des, was to have played in 2014-15 for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack hockey team. However, citing financial issues, the TRU athletic department chose to drop the program before the season began.
Almost immediately, Trevor went to work trying to resuscitate the program. When it became evident that he couldn’t save the season, he tried to get the program up and running in time for 2015-16.
However, earlier this week he said that he was done.
“I don't think there was ever a chance of bringing hockey back to TRU but that doesn't mean the fight wasn't worth it,” he wrote in an email to Taking Note. “I think it is very important for someone in Kamloops, preferably a hockey alumni, to keep the torch burning to a small degree. The attitude and climate may change over time and it's important to be ready just in case.”
Despite TRU’s reluctance to get involved again, Bast said he really felt he was on the right road.
“I was close to having three seasons of hockey funded between player fees and private donations,” he explained. “That was without any advertising or fund-raising commitments. It's important to know money was the least of the obstacles to saving or reviving hockey. Once the cause went public, donors came out of the woodwork. We also had a hockey operations department standing by and ready to go.”
Bast also questions whether finances was the real reason that TRU chose to drop hockey. He is of the opinion that it had more to do with eight players becoming academically ineligible all at one.
“That,” Bast noted, “is a black mark on any institution and they needed to separate themselves from it as quickly as possible. . . . Baseball has survived as a club team at TRU for 13  years. They've had their ups and downs financially, but have avoided drawing that type of negative attention to themselves and the school.
“The reality is, hockey started at TRU under an athletic director and an administration that was fully supportive of hockey. The current AD has his preferences and when hockey became difficult to deal with and put itself in this position, it was an easy decision to nudge them off the cliff.”
At the end of the day, though, Bast said the big losers are the potential collegiate hockey players.
“I will always hope hockey comes back to TRU,” he said. “I feel badly for the players aging out of junior hockey who won’t play collegiate hockey because there now is one less place to play.”
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Like so many other observers, long-time WHL watcher Peter Loubardias expected the championship final between the Kelowna Rockets and Brandon Wheat Kings to last six or seven games. Instead, the Rockets swept the series. So . . . what happened? That’s what Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix asks Loubardias right here.
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Dan Lambert has won a Memorial Cup as a player. Now, in his first season as a head coach, he’s going back to the championship tournament. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun takes a look right here at Lambert and how he got to where he is today.
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The host Portage Terriers will meet the CCHL-champion Carleton Place Canadians in the RBC Cup’s championship final tonight. . . . The Terriers, the MJHL champions, got there with a 6-1 victory over the SJHL-champion Melfort Mustangs last night. . . . The Canadians reached the final with a 3-2 victory over the BCHL-champion Penticton Vees. That game was decided at 3:43 of double OT. . . . In the round-robin, Carleton Place beat Portage, 3-0. . . . This is the Canadians’ second trip to the final in two years. At last year’s tournament, in Vernon, B.C., they gave up two goals eight seconds part late in the third period before losing 4-3 in OT to the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . Brian Munz and Craig Button will call the championship final on TSN.
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“The odds are slim for anyone to play a single game in the National Hockey League — let alone make a career of it. But I was one of the few, after playing my heart out in the minors, to reach the pinnacle of my profession,” writes Malcolm Davis in the National Post. “But this success was fleeting. Due to the League’s callous attitude toward head hits and concussions, my NHL days were cut short. The long-term effects haunt me to this day.” . . . And, with that piece, which is right here, another hockey player details his life of trying to deal with post-concussion syndrome. For starters, if he reads something for longer than 10 minutes, he gets a headache. This is not pretty.
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Russia's Putin plays with NHL veterans, scoring 8 goals http://t.co/BiwUOWa7dk

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) May 17, 2015

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Coulter OT hero in Brandon . . . Petan wins it for Portland . . . Johnston staying in Pittsburgh

F Milan Jurik (Prince Albert, 2006-07) has signed a one-year extension with Mulhouse (France, Division 1). This season, in 23 games, he had nine goals and 12 assists. . . .
F Michal Pšurný (Medicine Hat, Kootenay, 2005-06) has signed a one-year contract with Mulhouse (France, Division 1). This season, with the Manchester Phoenix (England, Premier), he had 19 goals and 34 assists in 41 games.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:

Tyler Coulter scores 51 secs into OT. @bdnwheatkings down Calgary 3-2 to take 2-0 lead in @TheWHL East Final. #bdnmb pic.twitter.com/BpuGMMpyAm
— Bruce Luebke (@wheatkingsvoice) April 26, 2015

In Brandon, F Tyler Coulter scored 51 seconds into OT to give the Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. . . . The Wheat Kings won the opener, 9-4, on Friday. The teams now head for Calgary and games Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . Brandon scored nine times on 41 shots in Game 1; last night, it scored three times on 46 shots as Calgary G Brendan Burke was stellar. . . . Coulter, who is from Brandon, tipped in a point shot from D Ryan Pilon for the winner, his fourth goal of these playoffs. . . . Coulter told Rob Henderson, the sports editor of the Brandon Sun, that the goal pretty much came in

self-defence. The puck, Coulter said, “actually hit the shaft of my stick going in. I thought it was coming for my face, so I put (the stick) up to guard it and it just hit me and went in.” . . . The Hitmen now are 4-3 in OT in these playoffs. Seven OT games in one playoff year ties the franchise record from 2013 when they were 5-2. . . . Brandon is 4-0, with each winning score having been 3-2. . . . Calgary D Michael Zipp forced OT with his first playoff goal, at 6:51 of the third period. . . . For the second night in a row, Calgary erased a two-goal deficit. . . . Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk, who opened the scoring early in Game 1, got last night’s first goal at 3:49 of the first period. He’s got seven. . . . F Peter Quenneville upped it to 2-0, at 11:03, while Brandon enjoyed a 5-on-3 PP. He’s got goals in five straight games and six in the playoffs. . . . Calgary F Adam Tambellini got his guys on the board at 16:48 with his 10th goal. . . . The teams played a scoreless second period. . . . Burke, who came on in relief on Friday night, got the start for Calgary after Mack Shield had started six in a row. . . . Burke, who made 43 saves, had last started in Game 6 of Calgary’s first-round series. . . . Brandon G Jordan Papirny turned aside 22 shots as he ran his record to 10-2. . . . Brandon was 1-for-2 on the PP; Calgary was 0-for-1. . . . The referees were Derek Zalaski and Jeff Ingram. . . . Pilon and F Tim McGauley each had two assists for Brandon. . . . This was the sixth straight game in which Brandon had at least 40 shots at the opposing goaltender. . . . The Hitmen were without F Jake Virtanen, who is under a ‘tbd’ suspension for a headshot on Brandon F Tanner Kaspick early in the third period of Game 1. . . . Kaspick was scratched last night, perhaps with a concussion, while D Kale Clague, who left in the first period on Friday, also was out. . . . Brandon added F Mark Matsuba and F Stelio Mattheos for this one. . . . Calgary scratched F Chase Lang, who was injured in Game 1 when he crashed awkwardly into the end boards, and F Connor Rankin. Those two and Virtanen accounted for 187 points, including 78 goals, in the regular season. . . . Attendance was 5,004, down 24 from Friday night. . . . Brandon’s Kelly McCrimmon now has 62 career playoff victories, leaving him alone in ninth spot on the WHL’s all-time list. Next on the list? Don Nachbaur of the Spokane Chiefs, at 65. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has a game story right here. . . . Laurence Heinen filed this game story for the Calgary Herald.

In Kelowna, F Nic Petan broke a 2-2 tie at 19:12 of the second period and the Portland Winterhawks went on to a 3-2 victory over the Rockets. . . . Kelowna had won the opener, erasing a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory, on Friday night. . . . The scene now shifts to the Moda Center in Portland for games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Kelowna on Friday. . . . As it did in Game 1,

Portland opened a 2-0 lead, with F Paul Bittner getting his third goal, on a PP, at 16:33 of the first period and F Dominic Turgeon scoring his seventh goal at 11:46 of the second. . . . The Rockets erased that 2-0 deficit with a pair of second-period PP goals, F Rourke Chartier scoring his ninth goal at 13:29 and F Dillon Dube getting his second at 15:51. . . . Nic Petan ran his point streak to 13 games with his eighth goal, on a Serge/Denis Savard-ian spin-o-rama at 19:12 of the second. . . . Portland G Adin Hill stopped 38 shots, nine more than Kelowna’s Jackson Whistle. . . . Kelowna was 2-for-4 on the PP; Portland was 1-for-4. . . . The referees were Sean Raphael and Reagan Vetter. . . . F Nick Merkley had two assists for Kelowna. . . . In the third period, Larry Fisher of the Kelowna Daily Courier was speculating on Twitter that Rockets F Leon Draisaitl may be playing hurt. At one point, Fisher tweeted that “Draisaitl didn't look right on that shift. Rockets trainer Scott Hoyer went and talked to him on bench after he came off.” . . . Draisaitl had one assist on Friday and was pointless last night. In five games in the second round, he put up 11 points. . . . Kelowna inserted D/F Riley Stadel into the lineup, replacing F Gage Quinney, who apparently suffered an undisclosed injury on Friday. . . . Kelowna F Tomas Soustal struggled to get to the bench after going hard into the end boards in the third period. . . . The last nine times Portland has opened a series with a loss, it has come back to win Game 2. . . . Portland freelancer Scott Sepich reports that Portland now has played 19 straight series without falling behind 2-0. . . . Joe Sakic, the Colorado Avalanche’s executive vice-president and general manager, was in the house. He and Rockets’ head coach Dan Lambert were teammates for two seasons (1985-87) with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Attendance was 5,681, down 190 from Friday.
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For whatever reason, there was recent speculation that Mike Johnston, the former GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, was on the hot seat as his first season as head coach of the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins wound down. Well, Pittsburgh was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the New York Rangers on Friday night, and the Penguins quickly gave Johnston a vote of confidence. . . . Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more right here.
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The U.S. beat Canada 7-2 in one semifinal game at the IIHF U-18 World championship in Zug, Switzerland, on Saturday. . . . Canada, which finished third a year ago, will play Switzerland for bronze today, while the U.S. will meet Finland in the championship game. . . . F Auston Matthews, whose WHL rights belong to the Everett Silvertips, had two goals for the U.S. Boston University F Jack Eichel, who is expected to be the second overall selection in the NHL’s 2015 draft in June, had 10 points, including five goals, in seven games at this tournament last season. Matthews has 14 points, eight of them goals, in six games this time around.
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The Telus Cup, for Canada’s midget AAA championship, will be decided today when the Grenadiers de Châteauguay meet the Toronto Young Nationals in the final in Riviere-du-Loup, Que. . . . Interestingly, the Grenadiers’ head coach is Steve Hartley, the son of Calgary Flames head coach Bob Hartley, who is busy with the Stanley Cup playoffs these days. Steve is in his first season with the Grendadiers. He was an assistant coach with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads when they won the 2013 Memorial Cup. . . . F Owen Sillinger of the Regina Pat Canadians, who lost out in a semifinal, was the tournament’s leading scorer, top forward and MVP. He is the son of former NHLer/WHLer Mike Sillinger.
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Almost two years have gone by since Jordan Chartier of Saskatoon, who had yet to see his 24th birthday, jumped out of a speeding vehicle and died. Chartier’s family, along with friends, including Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, are helping a mental-health program called the Neural Health Project that has been launched in Saskatoon. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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During his NHL career, Mike Peluso was an enforcer. As such, he suffered numerous concussions. . . . “At no time in my NHL career did anyone — a doctor, trainer, coach or league representative — ever tell me that I could be at risk for seizures or other long-term neurological diseases and disorders such as dementia or Alzheimer’s,” he writes in Saturday’s Globe and Mail. “I loved playing hockey, but wish someone had sat us all down to have an honest conversation about how our brains would feel years into the future.” . . . Peluso’s first-person piece is right here.
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Congrats @OBjorkstrand on player of the year! And a little #tbt of me getting 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct😂 pic.twitter.com/WXntXN0BCE
— Brendan Leipsic (@28LEIP) April 23, 2015

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Chiefs to pick first in 2015 bantam draft

The Spokane Chiefs will make the first selection when the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft opens in Calgary on May 7. The Saskatoon Blades won the draft lottery on Wednesday, but the Chiefs hold that pick as part of a January 2013 deal that had F Collin Valcourt join the Blades. . . . This will be the second time in franchise history that the Chiefs have held the first selection. They took D Jared Cowen first overall in 2006. . . . Interestingly, the Blades also won the draft lottery a year ago, but had traded the first pick to the Brandon Wheat Kings, who used it to select F Stelio Mattheos of Winnipeg. . . . Still, the Blades do hold two first-round selections in the 2015 draft. The Blades will pick 12th and 18th, the former having been acquired from the Kamloops Blazers and the latter from the Everett Silvertips. The 12th pick originally belonged to the Kootenay Ice, but went to Kamloops as part of the deal in which F Tim Bozon went to the Ice. The Blades then used it in acquiring F Matt Revel from the Blades. The Everett pick went to Saskatoon in the deal for F Nikita Scherbak.
The first round:
1. Spokane (from Saskatoon); 2. Lethbridge; 3. Vancouver; 4. Moose Jaw (from Kamloops); 5. Prince Albert; 6. Moose Jaw; 7. Tri-City; 8. Prince George; 9. Spokane; 10. Swift Current; 11. Edmonton;
12. Saskatoon (from Kootenay); 13. Victoria; 14. Regina; 15. Seattle; 16. Red Deer; 17. Medicine Hat; 18. Saskatoon (from Everett); 19. Calgary; 20. Prince Albert (from Kelowna); 21. Brandon.
The Portland Winterhawks would have selected 17th, but forfeited that pick as part of the discipline meted out for those unpardonable sins committed in days of yore.
The second and all other rounds will follow the inverse order of the final regular-season standings:
1. Saskatoon; 2. Lethbridge; 3. Vancouver; 4. Kamloops; 5. Tri-City; 6. Prince Albert; 7. Prince George; 8. Moose Jaw; 9. 9. Spokane; 10. Swift Current; 11. Edmonton;
12. Kootenay; 13. Victoria; 14. Regina; 15. Seattle; 16. Red Deer; 17. Portland; 18, Medicine Hat; 19. Everett; 20. Calgary; 21. Kelowna; 22. Brandon. (The order here doesn't include trades, of course. For more on that, visit the blog Small Thoughts at Large where Alan Caldwell has a spreadsheet that tracks all WHL trades that include bantam draft picks.)
From Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix: “Lloydminster’s Ty Smith, who captained the Delta Hockey Academy bantam prep team, is considered a front-runner to be selected No. 1 this year.
“The 5-foot-10, 155-pound defenceman had nine goals and 28 points in 16 games.”
 Nugent-Bowman has more on the Blades and the draft right here.


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Rebels' Musil week-to-week . . . Giants d-man signs with Avalanche . . . WHL draft lottery today

F Andreas Eder (Vancouver, 2013-14) signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Munich (Germany, DEL). This season, with Red Bull Salzburg II (Austria, Molodyozhnaya Liga), he had 21 goals and 25 assists in 54 games. The MHL is the top Russian junior league.
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The Red Deer Rebels will begin the playoffs without F Adam Musil, who suffered an ankle injury in Saturday’s final regular-season game, a 3-2 loss to the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate reports that Musil will miss a first-round series against the Medicine Hat Tigers. That series opens Saturday in Medicine Hat. “It’s a significant injury and he’ll be week to week with it,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ general manager and head coach, told Meachem. . . . The Rebels have added D Ryan Pouliot, 16, from the major midget Vancouver-North West Giants, and G Trevor Martin, 18, who finished the season with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. . . . Pouliot was an 11th-round selection by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2013 bantam draft. Martin was acquired earlier this season from the Blades.
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Despite not making the playoffs, the Moose Jaw Warriors’ braintrust feels the team made considerable progress this season. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more on that story right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades missed the playoffs for a second straight season, but management is convinced that the franchise is on the right track to get back to responsibility. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix takes a look right here at the pros and cons of the season just past and the one ahead.
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The Prince Albert Raiders are playing the “what if . . .” game now that the season is over and they didn’t make the playoffs. In Prince Albert, that games goes like this: “What if Leon Draisaitl had returned for a third season?” . . . Jeff D’Andrea of paNOW has more right here.
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Myles Fish of the Prince Albert Herald writes of the Raiders that “the questions about the team now centre around its staff. Effectively the entire hockey operations staff with the Raiders have contracts that are set to expire in May.” . . . That story is right here.
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If you aren’t aware, I have been writing stories on hockey coaches for The Coaches Site (thecoachessite.com). With that in mind, I recently had occasion to chat with former SAIT athletic director/hockey coach Ken Babey, who now is the head coach of Canada’s national sledge hockey team. . . . That story is right here.
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D Mason Geertsen of the Vancouver Giants has signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Colorado selected Geertsen, 19, in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2013 entry draft. Geertsen, from Rocky Rapids, Alta., had 38 points, 13 of them goals, in 69 games this season. . . . He began his career with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . In 245 regular-season games, he has 78 points, including 19 goals.
F Jackson Houck of the Giants has signed an amateur tryout (ATO) with the Oklahoma City Barons, the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers selected him in the fourth round of the 2013 NHL draft. . . . Houck, who turned 20 on Feb. 27, is from North Vancouver. He had 51 points, including 22 goals, in 65 games this season. In 256 regular-season games, all with Vancouver, he has 189 points, including 87 goals.
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Blades D Brycen Martin and F Brett Stovin will be finishing this season in the professional ranks. . . . Martin is to report to the Rochester Americans, the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate. Buffalo selected Martin in the third-round of the 2014 NHL draft. Martin, who has yet to sign with the Sabres, missed the Blades’ last two games with a back injury, so it’s not certain that he will play for the Americans. . . . After being acquired from the Swift Current Broncos, Martin had 22 points, five of them goals, in 30 games with Saskatoon. . . . Stovin is expected to join the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks, whose head coach is former Blades D Richard Matvichuk. This season, Stovin, 20, had 50 points, including 29 goals, in 72 games. He will finish this season with the Mavericks, then return home and decide whether to chase a pro career or go to school. . . . Nugent-Bowman’s story is right here.
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The WHL is scheduled to hold its draft lottery today. During this draft, the order for the first six selections in the 2015 bantam draft will be decided. The six teams that didn’t make the playoffs take part in the draft lottery — Saskatoon, Lethbridge, Vancouver, Kamloops, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. . . . Keep in mind that Spokane holds Saskatoon’s first-round selection from a January 2013 trade in which the Blades acquired F Collin Valcourt. . . . Also remember that Moose Jaw holds Kamloops’ first-round pick from a January 2013 deal in which the Blazers got D Joel Edmundson. . . . The most a team is able to move up in the draft lottery is two spots. . . . The order of the second round and all subsequent rounds will be the inverse order of the regular-season standings. . . . The bantam draft is scheduled for May 7 in Calgary.
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The Kootenay Ice has signed a new three-year broadcasting deal with The Drive 102.9 FM. The contract runs through 2017-18. . . . It covers all 72 regular-season games and all playoff games, as it has for each of the previous 15 seasons. . . . Jeff Hollick, the play-by-play voice since 1999-2000, will remain in place.
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THE WHL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE:

If you came here looking for a WHL playoff schedule, click right here. You will find the complete first-round schedule, with graphics courtesy of Terry Massey of thirteenletter.com.
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THE COACHING GAME:

The QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats have signed head coach Darren Rumble to a two-year contract that runs through 2016-17. Rumble was working on a two-year deal that was to expire after this season. The club had an option on a third season. . . . The Wildcats are 79-51-0-6 in two seasons under Rumble. They open a first-round playoff series at home to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens on Thursday.
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Here’s a look at the 20 WHL head coaches who have more than 300 regular-season victories to their credit:
1. Ken Hodge (Edmonton, Portland), 742
2. Don Hay (Kamloops, Tri-City, Vancouver) 637
3. Don Nachbaur (Seattle, Tri-City, Spokane) 631
4. Lorne Molleken (Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina) 603
5. Ernie McLean (Estevan, New Westminster) 548
6. Pat Ginnell (Flin Flon, Victoria, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, New Westminster) 518
7. Jack Shupe (Medicine Hat, Victoria) 466
8. Dean Clark (Calgary, Brandon, Kamloops, Prince George) 465
9. Peter Anholt (Prince Albert, Seattle, Red Deer, Kelowna, Prince Albert) 464
10. Mike Williamson (Portland, Calgary, Tri-City) 460
11. Bob Lowes (Seattle, Brandon, Regina) 453
12. Kelly McCrimmon (Brandon) 417
      Doug Sauter (Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Brandon) 417
14. Marcel Comeau (Calgary, Saskatoon, Tacoma, Kelowna) 411
15. Bryan Maxwell (Medicine Hat, Spokane, Lethbridge) 397
16. Brent Sutter (Red Deer) 367
17. Marc Habscheid (Kelowna, Chilliwack, Victoria, Prince Albert) 365
18. Graham James (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Calgary) 349
19. Bob Loucks (Lethbridge, Tri-City, Medicine Hat) 340
20. Willie Desjardins (Saskatoon, Medicine Hat) 333
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Broadcast booth in final reg season game at The Arena. @BobRidley_CHAT on left. @Bladesvoice on the right. #WHL. pic.twitter.com/48jjWfilYF
— Darren Steinke (@StanksSports) March 25, 2015

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