F Ty Morris (Swift Current, Vancouver, Red Deer, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Peiting (Germany, Oberliga). This season, with Landshut (Germany, DEL2), he had 13 goals and 16 assists in 45 games. he is a dual Dual Canadian-German citizen.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.———
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“The hockey world can be a tough place for a young player, with intense pressure and high expectations,” reads the start of a story on the website of Prince George TV station CKPG. “Cooper Holick walked away from the game at the age of 18. Now, he and his dad are trying to reduce the stigma around young athletes living with mental illness.” . . . Cooper’s father, Mark, is the head coach of the Prince George Cougars. . . . Their story is right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have signed head coach Marc Habscheid to a four-year contract. They also picked up one-year options on Dale Derkatch, their director of player personnel, and Duane Bartley, the athletic therapist. . . . Habscheid, 52, replaced the fired Cory Clouston on Nov. 1, and went 24-28-4. . . . The Raiders have yet to re-sign associate coach Dave Manson or assistant coach Kelly Guard. The team holds one-year options on each of those men. . . . The club also holds an option on general manager Bruno Campese. . . . Jeff D’Andrea of PAnow has more right here.
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“The state Senate and House each voted to approve a bill that would clarify that Western Hockey League players are amateur athletes and not employees who should be paid minimum wage and fall under state child labor laws,” reports Steve Hunter of the Kent, Wash., Reporter. . . . Hunter’s complete story is right here.
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Jim Swanson, a former sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, is part of the new ownership group with the West Coast Baseball League’s Victoria HarbourCats. . . . Ownership has been transferred by Bhootan LLC to Shwing Batter Investment Group, which features Swanson, his brother, Ken, Richard Harder and Jim Wilson. The move is subject to approval by the WCL’s board. . . . Ken Swanson of Burnaby is the new group’s president, with Wilson, who is involved at the ownership level with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies and VIJHL’s Peninsula Panthers, as vice-president (business), Harder, from New Westminster, as treasurer and Jim Swanson general manager and vice-president (baseball). . . . Jim Swanson was the team’s general manager in 2014 and the HarbourCats led the WCL in attendance, averaging 1,576 fans per game. . . . The HarbourCats open the exhibition season on May 31; the regular-season home-opener is June 5.
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Here’s sports columnist Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:
“NHL and WHL referees habitually swallow their whistles in the latter stages of playoff games. The ‘let 'em play’ mindset is supposedly employed because referees are reluctant to influence the outcome. Well, guess what? By not calling obvious penalties, they are influencing the outcome.
“A second-round WHL playoff series between the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings showed that officials are far too reluctant to call penalties, period. Too much clutching and grabbing was ignored when the Pats and Wheat Kings collided. And whatever happened to an interference penalty? Or a major penalty for a careless hit near the boards?”
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These are interesting times for the Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association, where the president, association manager and secretary have resigned. Kevin MacKay, who resigned after just one season as manager, told Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News that “they are quite a few years behind the times.” . . . Rooney’s piece is right here.
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In the QMJHL, the Val d’Or Foreurs, who lost the first three games of the series, beat the host Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-3 in OT to win a second-round series, 4-3. . . . There wasn’t a post-game handshake line as a bit of a tussle broke out just prior to it and the Drakkar left the ice. . . . In the other series, the Moncton Wildcats beat the Halifax Mooseheads 6-3 in Game 7. . . . The Foreurs will meet the Rimouski Oceanic in one semifinal, with the Wildcats and Quebec Remparts in the other one.
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Two forwards and a defenceman from the Victoria Royals have moved up to the professional ranks. F Austin Carroll has joined the NHL’s Calgary Flames as one of the black aces, while F Greg Chase has been assigned by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons. D Joe Hicketts, who signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings, has joined the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
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Sergei Mikhalyov, the head coach of the Russian team that finished second at the World Junior Championship in 2006, has been killed in a car accident. Mikhalyov, 67, had coached the KHL’s Salavat Yulayev Ufa. He had just attended the funeral of former Traktor Chelyabinsk coach Valery Belousov when the accident occurred. . . . The Moscow Times has more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
It’s doubtful that anyone had a better day than Bryce Thoma, the general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. Thoma and his wife Jenn welcomed a son, Smith Matthew, to our world on Tuesday morning. He is a brother to Collins Helene, 3, who is thrilled with the new arrival. . . . Later, the Red Wings announced that they have signed Thoma, 32, to a two-year contract. Thoma has been the Red Wings’ head coach for two seasons and the GM for one. They made the playoffs this season for the first time since 2011-12. They won a first-round series with the Humboldt Broncos, then were ousted by the eventual-champion Melfort Mustangs. . . . Thoma, a defenceman, played four seasons (1999-2003) with the Red Deer Rebels. He also spent five seasons on their coaching staff.——
Head coach Jarrod Skalde and the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals “have mutually agreed to part ways,” according to a news release from the team. The Admirals, who are affiliated with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, are relocating to San Diego before another season arrives. . . . Skalde, 44, went 27-39-6-4 in his first season as an AHL head coach. He spent one season as an assistant coach with the Admirals before taking over as head coach.
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Rich Pilon, who played in the NHL and WHL, is the new head coach of the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. He had been an assistant coach with the Blazers’ cross-town rivals, the Contacts. . . . Pilon takes over from Curtis Leschyshyn, who decided to step down. Scott Scissons, Leschyshyn’s assistant coach, also has left the Blazers. . . . Pilon’s assistant coaches will be Bobby Braybrook and Dean Seymour. . . . Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has the story right here.
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A newly discovered species of Costa Rican glass frog looks exactly like Kermit the Frog. pic.twitter.com/HXi4mejF3G
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) April 22, 2015
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The Portland Winterhawks have come a long way in a rather short period of time. And it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be leaving any time soon. . . . Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune takes a comprehensive look 
The Prince Albert Raiders have signed Duane Bartley, their athletic therapist, and Bruce Vance, the business manager and director of marketing, to new deals. Both agreed to contracts that call for two years and an option. Bartley and Vance have been with the Raiders since 2011. . . . The Raiders also have added Prince Albert native Tom Brown to their marketing staff. Brown played four years at Michigan Tech and graduated with a degree in management. Brown played for the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos who won the Telus Cup in 2006 and 2007. . . . The Raiders, who are without a head coach, have yet to announce the return of general manager Bruno Campese, but my understanding is that negotiations are on-going.
Malcolm Cameron is the new head coach of the Regina Pats, Cameron, an assistant coach for two years, replaces Pat Conacher. Cameron has signed a two-year contract with a club option on a third year. . . . It turns out that Conacher informed general manager Chad Lang on April 26 that he would be leaving the organization. Conacher was with the Pats for two seasons as head coach and had one year left on his contract. . . . Conacher joined the Pats from the staff of the then-Chilliwack Bruins. . . . Prior to joining the Pats, Cameron spent nine seasons coaching in the ECHL.
The BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks have signed Brandon West as their associate head coach. He will work alongside Troy Mick, the general manager and head coach. West just completed his first season as an assistant coach in Salmon Arm, after working as an assistant coach with the West Kelowna Warriors, whose head coach, Rylan Ferster, is a former Salmon Arm head coach.
The Red Deer Rebels have dealt F Joel Hamilton to the Vancouver Giants for a third-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Hamilton, who turns 19 on Sept. 9, is from Cochrane, Alta. He had 57 points, including 14 goals, in 114 games with the Rebels over two seasons. . . . He is the younger brother of former WHL F Wacey Hamilton (Medicine Hat, 2007-11).
In the OHL, F Mark Scheifele scored four times in the third period to lead the host Barrie Colts to a 6-4 victory over the London Knights. . . . The Colts hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven final with Game 5 in London on Friday. . . . Barrie trailed 3-1 after the second period and promptly scored five times in the third period. . . . Scheifele now has 39 points in 19 playoff games. . . . London head coach Dale Hunter was not a happy camper after the game. “Actually, we played very well,” he said in a postgame news conference. “We had a 3-1 lead, and the last six minutes or so of the second period, they started diving. Belleville warned us about it, that Scheifele, these guys, love to dive and draw penalties. (They got) three in a row and it changed the course of the game that way.” . . . Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look 
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