McLellan gold and new job . . . Former Chiefs star on fire . . . Rimouski wins QMJHL title

This is the first time a country has held the Olympic, World Junior and the World Championship gold at the same time👌 pic.twitter.com/BOWPTUFEeH

— Hockey Posts™ (@HockeyPosts) May 18, 2015

With apologies to Blackie Sherrod, we’re scattershooting on a Monday evening:

1. O Canada!

2. It was great to see head coach Todd McLellan guide Canada to a gold medal at the IIHF World championship in Czech Republic over the past few weeks. Hockey can be a cruel business but, even by those standards, he really got stiffed by the San Jose Sharks. He’ll get over it as the head coach of Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers (aka Young Guns).

3. It also was great to see Bill Peters win gold in Czech Republic too. Peters, always a straight shooter, is a former head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, who now is head coach of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

4. How do you feel if you’re a season-ticket holder with the Prince Albert Raiders? First, a couple of the WHL’s premier players moved from the Raiders to the Kelowna Rockets, with thanks to the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. The Rockets then went on to win the WHL championship, with one of those players named the playoff MVP. The Raiders, of course, didn’t make the playoffs and, on top of all that, the WHL commissioner has told the world that “in order for the Prince Albert Raiders to be viable long term, a new facility is required.” . . . Other than that, Raiders fans, how has your month been?

5. This WHL offseason just might be worth watching, what with the Medicine Hat Tigers not yet having a lease to play in that city’s new building, the Regina Pats’ owners scrapping with their landlord, the WHL hinting that Prince Albert needs a new arena or else, the WHL leaning on Lethbridge Hurricanes’ shareholders to sell to private interests, the WHL pretty much telling Kootenay Ice fans to show up in 2015-16 or else. . . .

6. If Canadian hockey fans ever wondered how much respect the NHL has for them, it was most evident when the Eastern Conference final opened with a Saturday day game. To the NHL, the tradition of Hockey Night in Canada is nothing more than chopped liver.

7. If you are watching an NHL playoff game, please don’t start whining about the number of penalties being called. Please don’t start begging the referees to “let them play.” Please plead with the referees to call the game by the rule book.

8. In Tyler Johnson’s last two seasons with the Spokane Chiefs, he was the best faceoff man and best penalty killer I had seen in a long while. But who knew the Tampa Bay Lightning star would be able to score like this at the NHL level? . . . If you missed it, he had the first playoff hat trick in Lightning history last night in a 6-2 victory over the Rangers in New York. He leads all playoff scorers in goals (11) and points (16). His 11 goals are four more than anyone else.

9. Chris Peters, the hockey writer at cbssports.com, has a good piece right here on Tyler Johnson and all that went on last night.

10. With the governor of Washington state having signed a bill designating WHL players as amateur athletes and non-employees, someone is going to have to explain to me how that works. After all, hasn’t the NCAA proclaimed WHL players as professionals? . . . Hey, perhaps things would be different if WHL players employed advisors and not agents.
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D Nolan Yonkman (Kelowna, Brandon, 1996-2001) signed a one-year contract with JYP Jyvaskyla (Finland, Liiga). This season, with the Adirondack Flames (AHL), he had two goals and 10 assists in 65 games. He was the team captain.
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It was a long weekend in Canada — thank you, Queen Victoria — and still no decision from F Auston Matthews. Matthews, who turns 18 on Sept. 17, is from Scottsdale, Ariz., and he is a game-changer. . . . His WHL rights belong to the Everett Silvertips, who selected him in the third round of the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Matthews is said to be deciding between Everett, the ZSC Lions, a Swiss pro team based in Zurich, and an NCAA school. I’m thinking the NCAA is out, so it’s between Everett and Lions. . . . One thing is for certain: Everett GM Garry Davidson says that, regardless of what you may have heard, the Matthews camp hasn’t asked the Silvertips to trade his WHL rights. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has more right here.
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Jay Inslee, the governor of Washington state, signed Senate Bill 5893 on Monday. That bill designates players on the WHL’s four Washington teams as amateur athletes and non-employees. That exempts the players from laws requiring employees be paid at least the minimum wage.
Jim Camden of the Spokane Spokesman-Revew has more right here.
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The second-round AHL series between the Utica Comets and Oklahoma City Barons will be decided in Game 7 on Wednesday. The Barons won 2-1 at home last night, so Game 7 will be in Utica. . . . F Jake Virtanen of the Calgary Hitmen made his pro debut with the Comets in that game. The Vancouver Canucks selected him with the sixth overall pick in the NHL’s 2014 draft.
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The host Rimouski Oceanic won the QMJHL championship on Monday, beating the Quebec Remparts 2-1 in double OT. . . . F Michael Joly’s 12th goal of the playoffs, via a PP, won the game, at 2:13 of the second OT period before 5,062 fans. . . . Rimouski G Philippe Desrosiers stopped 47 shots. . . . The Oceanic also won Game 6 in OT, that one by a 5-4 count. . . . With the Remparts as the host team for the Memorial Cup, both teams knew prior to the start of the series that both teams would play in the tournament.
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Here is the Memorial Cup schedule (all games on Sportsnet; all times Eastern):
Friday, May 22: Kelowna vs. Quebec, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 23: Rimouski vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 24: Quebec vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Monday, May 25: Rimouski vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 26: Oshawa vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 27: Quebec vs. Rimouski, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 28: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 29: Semifina, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 31: Championship game, TBA
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THE COACHING GAME:

The NHL’s Colorado Avalanche lost two assistant coaches on Monday with the resignations of Mario Duhamel and André Tourigny. . . . Duhamel, the video coach, completed two seasons under head coach Patrick Roy with the Avalanche. Prior to that, Duhamel was the head coach of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs for four seasons. . . . Tourigny, who handled the defence, also spent two seasons with Colorado. Before that, he spent 10 seasons as head coach of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
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The U of North Dakota promoted assistant coach Brad Berry to head coach on Monday, just moments after the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers announced that Dave Hakstol would be their next head coach. Hakstol had been UND’s head coach for 11 seasons . . . Berry and Kamloops Blazers GM Craig Bonner are friends and it wasn’t that long ago when Berry was in the running to be the Blazers’ head coach. Before it got to that, however, Berry asked that his name be taken out of consideration.
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The NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes cleaned house in Portland, Me., on Monday, as they dumped a whole lot of people from hockey operations with their AHL affiliate, the Pirates. . . . Chris Roy of Maine Hockey Journal reported that Ray Edwards, the GM and head coach, has been fired, along with assistant coaches John Slaney and Trent Whitfield. . . . The Pirates, who lost out in the first round of the playoffs, also dumped athletic therapist Bike Booi, equipment manager John Krouse, video coach Alex Loh and assistant equipment manager Joe Morse. . . . The Pirates are to move to Springfield, Mass., before the start of next season.
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I believe Tyler Johnson is 5'8, he just scored his 3rd goal of the game, all G's a combined distance of 2 feet from the crease #gotothenet

— Chris Clark (@clarkyhockey) May 19, 2015

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ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
I visited the WHL’s Facebook page to see what kind of response there has been to the league’s version of Ask the Commissioner. There are some, uhh, interesting comments over there, including this one from John McCarthy:
Why is that even until today, 1 year after the WHL and former Majority Bruins ownership set the wheels in motion to screw over the City of Chilliwack, and the Bruins fans, we the fans of the Chilliwack Bruins have never received an apology for being lied to, fed misleading comments not only from the Commisioners Office, but also from the BoG and even the snakes who sold this team? This underhanded deal, actually violated the WHL's own policy of "not giving up on a market until all avenues are exhausted". You lied and left us all hanging in the breeze when you knew full well that the deal was presented and completed, pending the conclusion of the playoff season. How do you expect the fans of this league to trust you, or any of the BoG's again, when it comes to important information that is released to the very people who keep all these teams afloat, including indirectly your salary Mr. Robison? Can you explain why any WHL fan should trust anything this league tells us again? At least the Weasel Gary Bettman admitted that the NHL screwed up and that Winnipeg and Quebec City deserved teams back in their city. Why are you trying to ignore us in hopes we just go away? Sorry, but unless December 21, 2012 is the end of the world...we are not going away Mr. Robison. I'm gonna stay and remain a pain in your butt until you finally come clean on the "Chilliwack Screw Job".
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Condolences to Derek Laxdal, the head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings, on the death of his father, John, on Sunday morning.
The Oil Kings announced that John Laxdal, who was 75, passed away “peacefully in his sleep with his family at his side in his home in Stonewall, Man.”
A funeral is expected to be held sometime over the weekend in Stonewall.
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Things are heating up on the NCAA/CHL front.
Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald reports that “College Hockey Inc., is working to enact legislation — either with the oversight of the NHL or through the transfer agreement between USA Hockey and Hockey Canada — to bar Canadian major junior teams from stealing a player who has signed a letter of intent until after the player’s freshman year.”
As Schlossman reports, NCAA teams can’t recruit CHL players, because they no longer are eligible to play at a U.S. school.
“We need to have a deal in place with the NHL and with the CHL,” U of North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol said. “We are going into a back-alley brawl. They are bringing guns. We’re coming with no weapon and one hand tied behind our back.”
Paul Kelly, the executive director of College Hockey Inc., told Schlossman that “it is our position that once a kid signs a letter of intent, he’s made up his mind and demonstrated it in written form. He should be off limits and shouldn’t be continually recruited until at least after his freshman year. Continued recruiting of players after they’ve committed in writing to college, we find that conduct to be unacceptable. We’ve communicated that fact to the NHL. We’re hoping to bring some order to the process.”
Schlossman’s complete story is right here, including thoughts from Hakstol on the possibility that the NCAA could re-do its rules regarding the college eligibility of CHL players.
Folks, take cover. The shooting is soon to start.
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Morris Dalla Costa of the London Free Press has taken the OHL to task for the decision to suspend Sarnia Sting F Nail Yakupov for not playing in the Top Prospects Game last week in Kelowna.
“The Ontario Hockey League embarrassed and damaged itself on the weekend,” Dalla Costa writes.
“It acted like the schoolyard bully that didn't get his way and in the process proved what many have known for a while — players are no more than meat passing through the processing plant.
“The suspension of Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov for two games by OHL commissioner David Branch was a clear indication that selling tickets, appeasing sponsors and making money — no matter the cost to the player or his teams — is the No. 1 priority.
“This should be the first story handed to a player in the throes of making a decision about where to play the game at the next level.
“Go ahead, play in the OHL, but be aware that they own you.”
The complete column is right here.
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There’s more on the Yakupov story here as the doctor who treated him as blasted the OHL.
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On the subject of that Top Prospects Game, if you watched the game you will recall a fight between F Tom Wilson of the Plymouth Whalers and D Dalton Thrower of the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Well, it seems that Wilson broke a knuckle in one hand during the fight that occurred after he hit F Lukas Sutter with a rather solid body check. Thrower and Sutter are teammates with the Saskatoon Blades.
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MONDAY’S GAMES:
In Portland, F Sven Baertschi scored three second-period goals and the Winterhawks went on to a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Giants. . . . Baertschi, who has 18 goals, broke a 1-1 tie with an even-strength goal at 7:15, made it 3-1 on a PP at 11:54 and then scored shorthanded, at 19:13, to give his guys a 4-2 edge. . . . He also had an assist. . . . Vancouver got two goals from Marek Tvrdon, who has 22. . . . Vancouver G Adam Morrison stopped 37 shots, two more than Portland’s Mac Carruth, who won his WHL-leading 32nd game. He is three shy of the franchise’s single-season record of 35, held by Brent Belecki (1997-98). . . . The WHL record of 48 victories belongs to Glen Hanlon, who did it with the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1976-77. Hanlon now is an assistant coach with the Giants. . . . Portland F Ty Rattie, the WHL scoring leader, sat this one out after suffering an undisclosed injury in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to visiting Vancouver. . . . The Giants won three of four games from the Winterhawks this season. . . . The Winterhawks also were without D William Wrenn, their captain, for a third straight game. He, too, has an undisclosed injury. . . . Portland did have F Brad Ross back in the lineup after he was scratched twice for disciplinary reasons. . . . The Winterhawks lost F Brendan Leipsic with a fighting major and game misconduct at 16:31 of the first period. . . . I was listening to the Vancouver broadcast and there certainly seemed to be some confusion as to why Leipsic got the ol’ heave-ho. It might be time to give the referees microphones and let them make the announcements, as they do in the NHL. Of course, referees Brett Iverson and Jason Nissen would have received a lot of airtime had that been the case in this one. After all, they dished out 25 penalties. . . .

In Spokane, D Brendan Kichton broke a 2-2 tie at 19:37 of the first period and the Chiefs went on to a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Kichton’s goal, via the PP, was his 13th of the season and 41st of his career, making him the highest-scoring defenceman in franchise history. He broke out of the tie with Sean Gillam (1992-96). . . . F Mike Aviani had a goal and two assists for Spokane. . . . The Chiefs were playing their fifth game in seven nights. . . . The Thunderbirds will play in Spokane again on Friday. . . . The Spokane victory lifted the fourth-place Chiefs two points clear of the Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference. . . . Seattle, which has lost six in a row, is eighth, two points behind the Victoria Royals. . . . The Royals are home to the Everett Silvertips tonight and Wednesday. Everett is 10th, five points behind Seattle.
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MONDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Tyler Wotherspoon, Portland.
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MONDAY’S CHECK-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None.
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For today’s good read, we go to Esquire magazine and a story that has nothing to do with sport. You may recall the day not that long ago when all eyes were on Zanesville, Ohio, where the keeper of numerous exotic animals turned them loose and then shot himself. Chris Jones, who is a terrific writer, delves into that situation right here. . . . It’s a long, long piece, but well worth the time.
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Parents of young hockey players and those players should take a look at this piece by Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail. It’s about John Tavares of the New York Islanders and how lacrosse has help make him a better hockey player. In other words, he didn’t need to play summer hockey.

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