Showing posts with label Dusty Imoo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dusty Imoo. Show all posts

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Former WHLer talks about lawsuit . . . Lewis, Zablocki, Topping fill hats . . . AHL's father-son act has WHL flavour


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 Ian Mulgrew, a columnist with the Vancouver Sun, now has written back-to-back columns regarding the former and present major junior hockey players who are attempting to get class-action status for a lawsuit that has been filed in the hopes of having CHL teams ordered to pay minimum wages to players. . . . In Saturday’s newspaper, Mulgrew writes about Lukas Walter, who is one of the players involved in the lawsuit. Walter spent two seasons with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans and then played for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. . . . “I think they need to clean the league up,” Walter told Mulgrew.“In Saint John (N.B.), I was getting $500 a week. Out here, I was getting $250 a month. It’s a little bit of nonsense when it’s the same league.” . . . Mulgrew’s column is right here.
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F Nolan Patrick, the consensus No. 1 selection for the 2017 NHL draft, didn’t play on Friday night as his Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes, 6-1.
He wasn’t in the lineup on Saturday night, either, as the host Wheat Kings beat the visiting Spokane
Chiefs, 6-0.
In fact, Patrick now has missed four straight games and the speculation is rampant.
Patrick, you’ll recall, has said that he was injured during last spring’s Eastern Conference final against the Red Deer Rebels. He played with the injury — it turned out to be a sports hernia — through the Memorial Cup. Then, when it didn’t respond to rest, he had surgery in July.
The Winnipeg native, who turned 18 on Sept. 19, missed a lot of the Wheat Kings’ training camp but was in the lineup on Sept. 23 when they opened the season with a 3-2 loss to the host Moose Jaw Warriors.
To this point in the season, he has played in six games, putting up four goals and five assists. He last played on Oct. 11 when he had a goal and an assist in a 7-6 loss to the visiting Portland Winterhawks.
On Saturday morning, it was suggested to me that Patrick’s “hernia has flared up again . . . he’ll be out awhile.”
The Wheat Kings continue to list Patrick as being out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. But, of course, WHL teams stopped providing transparent injury-related information a number of seasons ago so . . .
You can bet that Patrick wants to be healthy enough to play for Team Canada at the 2017 World Junior Championship that is scheduled to open Dec. 26 in Montreal and Toronto.
So, in the hopes that he can attend Canada’s selection camp early in December, perhaps Patrick will be held out until then.
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You can write Dusty and Jonah Imoo into hockey’s history books after father and son were the two goaltenders dressed by the AHL’s Ontario Reign on Saturday night.
This all came about as the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings lost two goaltenders — Jonathan Quick and Jeff Zatkoff — to groin injuries. After Zatkoff was hurt in Saturday’s morning skate, They had recalled Peter Budaj after Quick went down, which resulted in Jonah Imoo being brought in to back up Jack Campbell with the Reign. On Saturday, when Zatkoff was injured, Campbell moved up to the Kings, who were at home to the Vancouver Canucks, which left the Reign without a backup.
So it was that Dusty, in his second season as the Kings’ goaltender development coach, was recruited in a backup role as his son made his AHL debut on Saturday against the visiting San Jose Barracuda.
The visitors won the game, 5-4, in OT. Jonah, wearing No. 35, stopped 26 shots in front of 8,282 fans. His father wore No. 70.
Dusty, 46, has some WHL in his past. He split four WHL seasons between the New Westminster Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats (1987-91). He made 47, 48 and 50 appearances over his last three seasons. He also spent two seasons (2011-13) with the Seattle Thunderbirds as their goaltending coach.
His professional career took him to Japan for 12 seasons (1994-2006), split between the Seibu Bears Tokyo and the Oji Eagles. He played for Japan at the Nagano Olympic Winter Games in 1998 and was on Japan’s roster for three World Championships.
Jonah, 22, played junior B with the Richmond Sockeyes, then moved into the BCHL where he played two seasons (2012-14) with the Powell River Kings and one (2014-15) with the Merritt Centennials. He played in only three games last season, in the Southern Professional and Federal leagues, but had been with the Reign through development and training camps.
Mike Stothers is Ontario’s head coach. He spent three seasons (2011-14) as the head coach of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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SATURDAY’S GAMES:


At Brandon, F Ty Lewis was the scoring star and Logan Thompson provided the goaltending as the Wheat Kings blanked the Spokane Chiefs, 6-0. . . . Thompson stopped 30 shots in recording his first
TY LEWIS
career shutout. It came in his 31st regular-season appearance, his fourth this season. . . . Lewis, meanwhile, enjoyed his first three-goal game, running his season goal total to eight. He scored three of the game’s first four goals — at 3:39 of the first period, and at 0:33 and 14:44 of the second. He also drew an assist. . . . Lewis, a Brandon native, had 10 goals and 13 assists in 48 games as a freshman last season. This season, he has eight goals and four assists in 11 games. . . . Brandon got two goals from F Connor Gutenberg, while F Reid Duke had a goal and an assiset. D Kale Clague, in his second game of the season, drew three assists, while F Tanner Kaspick had two. . . . Spokane G Dawson Weatherill was beaten three times on 17 shots in 21:05. Reliever Jayden Sittler also stopped 14 of 17 shots. . . . Brandon was 1-5 on the PP; Spokane was 0-4. . . . The Wheat Kings (5-3-2) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Chiefs slipped to 3-6-2 as they opened their East Division swing. . . . The Wheat Kings were without F Tyler Coulter, who has drawn a TBD suspension for a check from behind on F Giorgio Estephan of the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday night. . . . With four 20-year-olds on their roster, the Wheat Kings again scratched F Duncan Campbell, choosing to dress Duke and G Jordan Papirny. With Coulter suspended, the Wheat Kings aren’t allowed to dress a 20-year-old in his place. . . . Announced attendance: 4,604.
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At Kamloops, F Deven Sideroff scored twice, including the winner at 2:05 of OT, as the Blazers beat
DEVEN SIDEROFF
the Tri-City Americans, 4-3. . . . Sideroff has seven goals for Kamloops, which is 5-0-0 at home. . . . The Blazers (7-6-0) have won three in a row. . . . The Americans (6-6-0) have lost two straight. . . . F Morgan Geekie, who also had two assists, gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 12:13 of the second period. He has four goals. . . . The Blazers pulled even at 17:49 when F Collin Shirley got his fifth goal, a shorthanded effort. . . . Sideroff gave Kamloops its first lead at 5:17 of the third, only to have D Parker Wotherspoon pull the visitors even with his third goal on a PP, at 5:51. . . . Shirley’s second goal gave the Blazers another lead, at 10:57, but Tri-City F Kyle Olson tied it at 13:55. . . . F Rudolfs Balcers had two assists for Kamloops. . . . F Tyler Sandhu drew two assists for Tri-City. . . . Kamloops G Dylan Ferguson stopped 21 shots in his first game since Sept. 24 when he injured an ankle. Connor Ingram had started the Blazers’ previous 10 games. . . . Tri-City G Rylan Parenteau blocked 33 shots. . . . The Americans were 1-3 on the PP; the Blazers were 0-2. . . . Kamloops D Joe Gatenby was ejected at 16:17 of the second period with a headshot major and game misconduct after a hit on Tri-City D Juuso Valimaki. . . . Valimaki didn’t return for the third period. . . . Announced attendance: 3,683.
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At Medicine Hat, F Lane Zablocki scored three times to lead the Regina Pats to an 8-5 victory over the Tigers. . . . The Pats (9-0-3) continue to be the only one of the CHL’s 60 teams not to have lost a
LANE ZABLOCKI
game in regulation time. . . . The Tigers (8-4-1) are 3-1-1 in their last five. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski’s third goal of his freshman season, at 14:58 of the second period, gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead. . . . The Pats scored the next three goals, with Zablocki getting his second of the game at 17:10 and F Dawson Leedahl notching his fourth of the season at 19:16. F Austin Wagner’s sixth of the season upped the lead to 5-3 at 4:00 of the third period. . . . The Tigers got to within one when F Mark Rassell got his second goal, and ninth of the season, at 8:55, but Regina F Filip Ahl stretched the lead at 12:45. . . . Again, the Tigers closed the gap, this time on D David Quenneville’s sixth goal, on a PP, at 16:03. . . . The Pats put it away with goals from F Adam Brooks, his fourth, at 18:02, and Zablocki, into an empty net, at 19:09. . . . Zablocki, a sophomore, enjoyed his first WHL hat trick. He has five goals this season. . . . Zablocki also had an assist, while Wagner had three of them. . . . The Tigers got a goal and an assist from F Max Gerlach and two assists from D Clayton Kirichenko. . . . The Pats got 35 stops from G Tyler Brown. . . . Medicine Hat G Nick Schneider stopped 32 shots. . . . Medicine Hat was 2-6 on the PP; Regina was 0-3. . . . Regina D Sergey Zborovsky didn’t play. He left Friday’s 6-1 victory over the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes with an undisclosed injury in the second period. . . . Announced attendance: 4,094.
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At Prince George, F Brad Morrison scored twice to give the Cougars a 2-1 victory over the
BRAD MORRISON
Saskatoon Blades. . . . Morrison, who has six goals, scored at 19:03 of the second period, then broke a 1-1 tie at 16:56 of the third. . . . F Jansen Harkins and F Jesse Gabrielle had the assists on both goals. . . . F Josh Paterson scored for the Blades, getting his third goal at 4:07 of the third. . . . The Cougars (11-2-1) have points in four straight (3-0-1). . . . The Blades (6-5-1) have lost two in a row. They finished a B.C. Division trip at 2-3-0. . . . G Ty Edmonds stopped 29 shots for the Cougars. . . . The Blades got 34 saves on 36 shots from G Brock Hamm, with Logan Flodell coming on during an equipment malfunction and making five saves in 4:45 in the first period. . . . Hamm left for skate repairs after losing a blade. . . . Announced attendance: 5,577.
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At Red Deer, the Rebels ran their winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Prince
LASSE PETERSEN
Albert Raiders. . . . Goals by F Michael Spacek, his seventh, at 3:34 of the second period, and F Brandon Hagel, his third, at 14:54, gave the home side a 2-0 lead. . . . The Raiders got a PP goal from F Tim Vanstone, his third, at 5:49 of the third period. . . . Red Deer D Josh Mahura finished the scoring with a PP goal at 19:32. . . . Hagel added an assist to his goal. . . . The victory improved the Rebels’ record to 7-3-2. . . . The Raiders (3-7-1) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . G Lasse Petersen, in his Red Deer debut, stopped 29 shots. He was acquired last week from the Everett Silvertips. . . . G Nick Sanders turned aside 32 shots for the Raiders. He was making his first start since being acquired last week from the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Raiders were 1-4 on the PP; the Rebels were 1-5. . . . Announced attendance: 4,788.
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At Kent, Wash., F Kyle Topping scored his first three WHL goals to lead the Kelowna Rockets to a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . Topping, who is to turn 17 on Nov. 18, is the younger brother of Tri-City Americans F Jordan Topping, who is injured and has yet to play this season. Kyle’s hat trick came in his 11th game; he has one more WHL hat trick than does Jordan, who scored 33 goals last season. . . . The Rockets scored the game’s first five goals, the first two in the second period. . . . F Kole Lind had a goal and an assist, while D Lucas Johansen and F Jordan Borstmayer each had two assists for Kelowna (6-7-0), which has won three in a row. . . . Rockets G Michael Herringer stopped 36 shots, losing his shutout at 19:40 of the third period when F Ian Briscoe scored his first goal. . . . G Rylan Toth blocked 25 shots for Seattle (3-5-1). . . . The Rockets were 0-2 on the PP; the Thunderbirds were 0-4. . . . F Zack Andrusiak, acquired Thursday from the Prince Albert Raiders, was in Seattle’s lineup for the first time. . . . The Thunderbirds scratched F Ryan Gropp for a second game with an undisclosed injury. . . . Announced attendance: 3,688.
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TY RONNING
At Langley, B.C., F Ty Ronning scored at 2:31 of OT to give the Vancouver Giants a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Ronning has five goals this season. . . . F Lane Pederson gave the Broncos a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 11:49 of the first period. He’s got four goals. . . . Vancouver D Matt Barberis tied it with his first goal, on a PP, at 19:57. . . . The Giants improved to 6-8-0. . . The Broncos (8-4-2) have lost three in a row (0-2-1). They went 2-2-1 on their B.C. Division tour. . . . Vancouver G Ryan Kubic stopped 28 shots, while Swift Current’s Taz Burman turned aside 35. . . . Swift Current was 1-3 on the PP; Vancouver was 1-4. . . . Announced attendance: 3,924.
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NOAH JUULSEN
At Victoria, D Noah Juulsen, playing his 200th regular-season game, had two goals to help the Everett Silvertips to a 3-1 victory over the Royals. . . . Juulsen, who has four goals, opened the scoring at 14:46 of the first period. It was the 10th time in their 13 games that the Silvertips have scored first. . . . Victoria F Regan Nagy’s fifth goal, on a PP, tied the game at 4:05 of the second period. . . . F Dominic Zwerger, who also had an assist, broke the tie at 13:25. . . . Juulsen put it away with a shorthanded empty-netter at 19:18 of the third period. . . . Everett now is 9-2-2. . . . The Royals (7-6-0) had a three-game winning streak snapped. . . . Everett G Carter Hart stopped 37 shots. . . . Victoria G Griffen Outhouse turned aside 10 shots. . . . The Silvertips were outshot 8-4, 10-5 and 20-4 by period. . . . The Royals were 1-5 on the PP; the Silvertips were 0-3. . . . The Silvertips had F Devon Skoleski and F Eetu Tuulola back in the lineup after both were out with injuries. . . . Announced attendance: 4,424.
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SUNDAY’S GAMES (all times local):

Prince Albert at Calgary, 4 p.m.

Tri-City at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 10:52 PM
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Friday, July 17, 2015

Everett draft picks to Austria . . . Warriors show profit again . . . Benson off to school








F Johannes Salmonsson (Spokane, 2005-06) signed a one-year contract with the Cologne Sharks (Germany, DEL). Last season, with Linköping (Sweden, SHL), he had five goals and four assists in 46 games.
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It could be that we are on the verge of some interesting moves in the world of hockey.
On Friday morning, Over The Boards (@OTBPuckWatch) revealed via Twitter that two — and perhaps three — Aus-HLWHL draft picks are headed to Austria.
According to two tweets, F Carson Dimoff and F Ryan Savage are to join the EC Red Bull Salzburg organization, while F Riley Stotts is “rumored to be joining them . . . as well.”
The Everett Silvertips selected Dimoff in the seventh round of the 2014 bantam draft. In the 2015 draft, the Silvertips took Savage in the fourth round. Dimoff and Savage are from Scottsdale, Ariz.
Savage is the son of former NHLer Brian Savage, who is working with Red Bull Salzburg in the area of skill development.
Stotts, from Winnipeg, was selected by the Swift Current Broncos with the 10th pick of the 2015 bantam draft.
We have grown so accustomed to European players coming to North America when the pipeline runs the other way it is a bit of a shock.
Of course, earlier this summer, we heard that F Auston Matthews, an 18-year-old from Scottsdale, had signed to play professionally with the Zurich-based ZSC Lions, a Swiss team.
Since then, it has come to light that Matthews, whose WHL rights are owned by Everett, has been unable to get a work permit that would allow him to play for the Lions. In Switzerland, a soccer or hockey player has to have played professionally for one season in order to receive the OK.
Matthews, who is a prospective No. 1 selection in the NHL’s 2016 draft, and his representatives are believed to be working to resolve that situation.
And let’s not forget that Bill Gallacher, the owner of the Portland Winterhawks, has purchased the Kloten Flyers, who play in the same Swiss league as the Lions.
How long before the Winterhawks have prospects playing over there?
Dimoff had 17 points, 10 of them goals, with the U-16 Phoenix Jr. Coyotes last season, after putting up 21 points, including 12 goals, in 18 games with the bantam AAA Jr. Coyotes in 2013-14.
Savage had 13 points, including six goals, in 23 games with the U-16 Jr. Coyotes last season. In 2013-14, he had 17 points, nine of them goals, in 18 games with the bantam AAA Jr. Coyotes.
Last season, Stotts scored 39 goals and added 29 assists in 29 games with the the bantam AAA Winnipeg Monarchs. In 2013-14, he had 76 points, including 43 goals, in 30 games with the Monarchs’ bantam AAA Division 2 team.
Red Bull Salzburg has U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-20 teams, among others, as part of its organization.
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Despite missing the playoffs for a third straight season, the Moose Jaw Warriors showed a profit of $306,136 in 2014-15. That was the word at an annual general meeting that lasted 30 minutes on Thursday evening. . . . The financial report also showed retained earnings of $917,270. . . . “A community-owned team with the revenues that we bring in, we do a great job of managing our expenses,” said Warriors president Chad Taylor is quoted as saying on radio station CHAB’s website. “At the end of the day, salaries are in a good spot, expenses are in a good spot, but there is more opportunities for us to generate more revenue on the ticket side. We've got to go find them though, they're not going to come to us.” . . . Taylor also talked about the attendance challenges that may be in the team’s future. “From a league side, this is something that the 21 other teams are all talking about,” he said. “Some of the bigger franchises are seeing their season-ticket holders go away. I don't think the Moose Jaw market is that way, but we definitely have to be prepared for it.” . . . The Warriors reported $1,529,119 in ticket revenue, down about $60,000 from 2013-14. They also got $320,600 from their booster club, an increase of $115,290 from the previous season. . . . On the education front, the Warriors paid out $142,000 to 25 recipients. . . . The Warriors have shown a profit for at least five straight seasons now — $144,457, $394,646, $343,890, $61,566 and $306,136.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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Coaching Game

Mike Gabinet is the new head coach of the NAIT Ooks. He had been the associate coach under Serge Lajoie, who was named Thursday as the head coach of the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . . Gabinet, who is from Edmonton, has been the Ooks associate coach for three seasons. He is a grandson of Canadian coaching legend Clare Drake.
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F Cole Benson, who played the past four seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings, has decided to leave the WHL and attend the U of Western Ontario in London where he will play for the Mustangs. . . . All told, Benson, 20, played in 216 regular-season and 43 playoff games with Edmonton. He was a 10th-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . He finishes with 58 regular-season points, including 27 goals. . . . An Edmonton native, he was part of one Memorial Cup-winning team and two WHL championship sides. . . . Without Benson, the Oil Kings’ roster would appear to contain four 20-year-olds — F Brandon Baddock, F Luke Bertolucci, D Ben Carroll and D Marshall Donald.
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After posting a link here last night to a story on the life and career of Herb Wakabayashi, I heard from Dusty Imoo, via Twitter: “Herb helped me decide to go to Japan. Sad to hear of this. I did not know that he had passed:( #Seibu4ever”
Imoo played in the WHL (1987-91) with the New Westminster Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats. He later went on to play in Japan, spending nine seasons with the Seibu Lions and three with the Oji Eagles. His journey to Japan paid off in one appearance in the Olympic Winter Games. He also played in four IIHF World championships.
After ending his playing career following 2005-06, Imoo got into coaching. He now is the Los Angeles Kings’ goaltending development coach.
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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 11:47 PM
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Coaching moves in Seattle and Regina

THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Kevin Nastiuk (Medicine Hat. 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with Dresdner Eislöwen (Germany, DEL2). He had a 2.21 GAA in 26 games with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) last season. . . .
D Bohdan Visnak (Saskatoon, 2006-07) signed a one-year contract extension with Montpellier (France, Division 1). He had four goals and 13 assists in 26 games last season. Montpellier opens their training camp on Aug. 12.
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It doesn’t seem to be getting much play in North America, but it could be that the biggest story in hockey this summer is playing out in Finland.
If you are a regular here, you will recall that The MacBeth Report filled us in a couple of weeks ago on the goings-on involving the Finnish hockey team Jokerit and its home arena.
Here’s more . . .
“The whole Jokerit Helsinki to the KHL thing is getting uglier. It has been reported that Harry Harkimo, Jokerit owner and former majority shareholder of Hartwall Areena, went to the minority owners in Hartwall Areena and bought their shares without telling them that he was buying up all the minority interests nor what he planned to do.
“At the same time, he created a shell company and transferred the rights to the Jokerit name to it and then transferred the ownership of Hartwall Areena to it, all without any resolutions from the respective boards of directors.
“If I understand this correctly, it was this shell company that Harkimo sold to Russians Gennady Timchenko and the Rotenberg family. Legal scholars in Finland speculate that these transfers may be illegal under Finnish law.
“As if that wasn’t enough, the other 13 members of SM-Liiga are alleging that Jokerit’s actions to unilaterally leave SM-Liiga and move to the KHL are ‘a breach of the (SM-Liiga’s) shareholder agreement and did harm to the image of the league.’
“All 14 clubs are bound by this SM-Liiga shareholders’ agreement. The 13 clubs are considering kicking Jokerit out of SM-Liiga immediately and some clubs are saying anonymously that such a vote would probably carry unanimously, with one club executive saying ‘Jokerit playing in SM-Liiga this season is far from certain. To consider allowing Jokerit to continue in SM-Liiga this coming season is likely to be even more damaging to our own credibility.’
“A press release from SM-Liiga dated July 16 says that Jokerit’s transfer to the KHL requires consent of the Board of Directors. Such authorization has not been asked of SM-Liiga, and no binding agreements allowing the transfer have been made. The Liiga Board of Directors and shareholders are considering the follow-up to the situation in the near future.’
"Jokerit is scheduled to play its first exhibition game on Aug. 8. The regular season is set to open on Sept. 14, but SM-Liiga has removed its 2013-2014 regular-season schedule from its website."
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It is doubtful if anyone in Canada knows more about concussions than Dr. Charles Tator, who is a neuroscientist at Toronto Western Hospital. Laura Kane of the Toronto Star writes right here that Dr. Tator “has published a new guide to treating and preventing concussions in the Canadian Medical Journal.” . . . Kane’s complete story, which deals mostly with the long-term effects of these brain injuries, is right here. . . . At the end is a list of “10 things you should know about concussions — but probably don’t.”
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If you’re an NFL fan, perhaps you are a regular reader of Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback. And now he has a football-themed website. Right here is a look at how King got here from there.
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The concussion noose may well be starting to tighten around the NCAA. As Nathan Fenno of the Washington Times writes right here, “This is an organization, after all, founded in 1905 to protect the safety of college athletes. Email after eye-opening email, however, reveals a bureaucratic wasteland that’s strayed far from the original mission.” . . . The emails to which he refers are part of a lawsuit that has been filed against the NCAA in federal court.
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So . . . how did they miss it? As Gordon Rayner of The Telegraph writes, “The world’s media had been camped outside St. Mary’s for weeks in the hope of being first with the news of her hospital admission,” but when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at the hospital not one photographer got the picture. . . . How did that happen? . . . Rayner’s story is right here.
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That mother in Romania who said she had burned seven works of art that were worth millions of dollars? She now says she didn’t do it. But where are the paintings? It seems we may never find out. . . . That story is right here.
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Outfielder Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, who vehemently denied any wrongdoing not that long ago, was hit with a 65-game suspension by MLB on Monday for multiple violations of baseball’s drug program and labour contract. . . . Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports has more right here.
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Ryan Braun a cockroach? Well, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports thinks he is. That piece is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed Matt O’Dette to work as an assistant coach with head coach Steve Konowalchuk and assistant Jim McTaggart. . . . O’Dette spent the past two seasons as director of hockey operations and head coach of the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Before that, he worked as assistant GM/assistant coach with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder.
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Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds are looking for a new goaltending coach after Dusty Imoo, 43, signed on with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. He will serve as the Jets' developmental goaltending coach. Imoo, a former WHL goaltender (New Westminster, Lethbridge, Regina, 1987-91), spent two seasons with the Thunderbirds.
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The Regina Pats have completed their coaching staff with the hiring of Bill McGuigan as an assistant. He will work alongside head coach Malcolm Cameron and assistant Josh Dixon. . . . McGuigan is a veteran of the Maritime junior leagues. Last season, he was the head coach of the Summerside, P.E.I., Western Capitals, who reached the RBC Cup final. . . . He also has worked with the Canadian men’s sledge hockey team. . . . Bo Ford of the Charlottetown Guardian has more right here.
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Bryan Helmer has joined the OHL’s Peterborough Petes as an assistant coach under head coach Jody Hull. . . . Helmer will work alongside assistant Andrew Verner. . . . Helmer is the AHL’s alltime leader in games played, assists and points by a defenceman. He played 24 games last season with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons.
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Kurt Kleinendorst is the new head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild today. . . . The Wild is the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, which relocated the team team from Houston after last season. . . . Kleinendorst was a finalist for the Aeros’ head-coaching job in 2010, but it went to Mike Yeo. He now is the head coach in Minnesota. . . . Kleinendorst, the head coach at the U of Alabama-Huntsville last season, replaces John Torchetti, who now is head coach the KHL’s CSKA Moscow.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Vancouver journalist Jim Mullin (@Jim_Mullin): “I called world class badminton on Shaw today and a fist fight broke out between two players & RCMP were called in. Go figure!”
If you haven’t seen the video, you are able to watch it right here.
The scrap featured former doubles partners Maneepong Jongjit and Bodin Issara, who played in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London. Jongit is alleged to have struck Issara with a racket. Issara then chases Jonglit, catches him, and punches and kicks him. Jongrit ends up shirtless and is led away.
Issara needed two stitches to repair some damage. The WHL would list him day-to-day with an upper body injury.


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Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 1:39 AM
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Friday, October 14, 2011

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Denis Sergeyev (Calgary, Swift Current, 2001-03) was traded by Vityaz Chekhov (Russia, KHL) to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). He was pointless in two games for Vityaz this season. Last season, Sergeyev had four goals and three assists in 38 games for Vityaz.
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There won’t be any video explanations of suspensions coming out of the WHL office.
The WHL announced Thursday that it “will be providing an explanation on any player suspensions of five or more games. The text explanation will be provided in the WHL Discipline section of the website.”
The WHL’s board of governors made this decision during meetings in Calgary on Tuesday and Wednesday. And it made the decision despite the fact that the the two other leagues under the Canadian Hockey League umbrella — the Ontario and Quebec Major Junior leagues — have both gone to video explanations.
The National Hockey League and the Kontinental Hockey League also are using video to explain suspensions.
The WHL’s board of governors also has upheld the decision to have teams report all injuries as either lower body or upper body. The third option is illness.
If not backward steps, both of these are a definite failure to grow with the times and make good use of the technology available to help educate all involved, including fans.
Today’s players, being of the video-game generation, are especially amenable to video teaching and it’s really too bad the WHL won’t take advantage of this, the way other leagues are. It would have been nice to see the WHL go to video explanations of suspensions over three, four or five games and make sure that every player in the league watched each video.
Meanwhile, the reporting of injuries as lower body or upper body is embarrassing.
Consider:
1. A player leaves a game with an obvious leg injury;
2. After the game, a reporter asks the head coach about the player’s leg injury.
3. The coach, with a sheepish look on his face, replies: “Lower body.”
4. It is pointed out to the coach that the player left with an obvious leg injury.
5. The coach shrugs and says: “All I can say is lower body.”
6. Never mind that every person in attendance at the game knows it’s a leg injury, the coach is put in the position of looking foolish and it isn’t of his doing.
And that’s too bad.
The WHL’s explains that this is “an effort to further provide a safer environment for players.”
As if the players — many of whom are in constant contact with each other via text, Twitter, Facebook, etc. — don’t know who is hurt and exactly what the injuries are.
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What is really unfortunate about all of this is that the face of hockey is changing and the WHL had an opportunity, after its transparency in terms of concussions last season, to be in the forefront.
Last season, WHL teams listed concussions on their weekly injury reports. When the regular season and playoffs were over, it turned out that WHL players had experienced more than 100 concussions.
That is what spurred the WHL to come up with its seven-point plan aimed at reducing concussions.
Now, however, the WHL has chosen to pull the curtains closed, to shut the drapes, as it goes into damage and spin control.
And when the season is over the WHL is likely to tell us how much success it had in lowering the number of concussions and that the seven-point plan deserves much of the credit.
But with no in-season numbers to use as reference points, how will we be able to believe any of it?
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Here’s James Shewaga, the sports editor of the Brandon Sun, from Friday’s paper:
Memo to WHL commissioner Ron Robison:
If the WHL wants to be taken seriously about addressing concussions, the league needs to be open about how many players are actually suffering from them.
The league’s new policy to hide the nature of player injuries resorting to ridiculous upper- and lower-body labels only makes it impossible to know if the WHL’s new crackdown on headshots is having any effect.
According to the Edmonton Sun, WHL players suffered more than 100 concussions last season. League VP Rick Doerksen said the league will document how many occur this season but “our position is that’s not information that should be made public.”
Since the start of the season, 44 players have been labelled with upper-body injuries on the league’s official report. How many of those are concussions? Even more disturbing is the fact that Brandon native Brayden Cuthbert does not even appear on the WHL’s injury report after he was sent home from Moose Jaw Warriors training camp suffering from post-concussion symptoms resulting from a hit in a WHL game last season. Has the league completely forgotten about Cuthbert?
WHL officials claim they are just following the NHL’s lead in not reporting injuries. But in the case of concussions, many NHL teams now realize they need to be open about the condition of players like Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, New York Ranger Marc Staal and Boston Bruins forward Marc Savard. The WHL needs to follow suit.
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Shewaga also could have included Max Adolph of the Kelowna Rockets along with Cuthbert. Adolph went home to Saskatoon after suffering another concussion — he had three last season — during training camp. Adolph doesn’t appear on the Rockets’ injury report.
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It seems that the MJHL commissioner is investigating what appears to have been a hazing incident involving the Neepawa Natives. Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun has more right here.
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JUST NOTES: The Vancouver Giants have listed Jonah Imoo, the 17-year-old son of former WHL G Dusty Imoo. Jonah plays for the junior B Richmond Sockeyes, who posted shutouts in each of their first six games Jonah was in goal for four of those games. . . . The Sockeyes ran their record to 7-0 on Thursday night as they beat the visiting Delta Ice Hawks 5-3. Those were the first goals given up by the Sockeyes this season.
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The Winnipeg Jets returned to the NHL on Sunday with a 5-1 loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens. There was a definite WHL angle to the officiating crew, as all four worked in the WHL, and there also were some heavy hearts. Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun has that story right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter
Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 1:47 AM
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Thursday, September 1, 2011

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Björn Svensson (Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, 2003-06) was released from his tryout contract by Eisbären Berlin. He was pointless in six exhibition games for Eisbären during the tryout. . . .
F Justin Taylor (Red Deer, 2003-04) signed a two-month tryout contract with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 10 goals and 19 assists in 51 games with the Idaho Steelheads and Ontario Reign (both ECHL) last season.
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On a day when Peter Chiarelli, the general manager of the Boston Bruins, said forward Marc Savard’s career may be over because of post-concussion syndrome, the OHL announced that all of its players will wear soft cap shoulder and elbow pads this season.
According to the OHL, its board of governors is adamant that stiffer penalties will be handed out to repeat offenders when it comes to checks to the head.
This all is most admirable and a definite step forward in the drive to cut down on concussions — and it is a move the WHL announced it was making on June 15.
However, as one Twitterer tweeted: “What about fists to the face/head? Where's that crackdown?”
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The Kootenay Ice will have eight players off its roster attending NHL camps. That includes six drafted players — D Brayden McNabb and G Nathan Lieuwen (Buffalo), F Drew Czerwonka (Edmonton), F Cody Eakin (Washington), and F Max Reinhart and D Joey Leach (Calgary). As well, D James Martin (Calgary) and F Joe Antilla (San Jose) have accepted training camp invitations. . . . The Ice, the WHL’s reigning champion, opened training camp on Wednesday. Their annual Blue-White game ends camp on Sunday at noon.
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D Ben Fanelli is returning to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers after not playing at all last season. The Rangers will hold a news conference today with Fanelli in attendance. Fanelli, 18, hasn’t played since Oct. 31, 2009, when he suffered a fractured skull and various facial fractures after being hit from behind by D Mike Lambas of the Erie Otters.
Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Sports has a good look at what Fanelli has been through — and the good things he has accomplished of late — right here.
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JUST NOTES: The Tri-City Americans have signed D Clint Filbrandt, 16, who was a 10th-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft. Hehad 29 points and 86 penalty minutes with the CNHA Blazers of the Alberta Minor Midget league last season. Filbrandt attended the Americans’ rookie camp and now is in main camp. “Clint had an excellent rookie camp and continued his strong play into main camp,” Americans GM Bob Tory said in a news release. “He will participate in both the Everett and Tri-City tournaments and then return home to Calgary to play this season with his AAA Midget club.” . . . The Prince George Cougars have signed D Marc McNulty of Medicine Hat. The 6-foot-5, 181-pounder was a 10th-round bantam draft pick in 2010. He played last season with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Alberta Midget league. “He might be the most improved player in our entire camp,” Wade Klippenstein, the Cougars’ assistant general manager, said in a news release. “Initially, he was a 10th-round draft-pick. If the bantam draft was held again tomorrow, I guarantee you he wouldn’t be a 10th round pick.” McNulty will be in the Cougars’ lineup for games in St. Albert, Alta., this weekend. . . .
The Kamloops Blazers have signed F Devin Oakes, 16, and D Tyler Bell, 17, both of whom are listed players. Oakes, from Prince Rupert, B.C., played last season for the midget AAA Pursuit of Excellence prep team in Kelowna, putting up 24 points, including 10 goals, in 41 games. Bell, who is from Regina, is another listed player. Bell has played two seasons with the midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians. He had 22 points, including five goals, and 58 penalty minutes in 44 games last season. . . . G Jamie Tucker, who played last season with the Prince Albert Raiders, has cleared WHL waivers and will play this season with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies. Tucker, now 20, is from Victoria. . . .
TSN made it official on Wednesday. Dennis Beyak, a former radio voice of the Flin Flon Bombers, Saskatoon Blades, Victoria Cougars and Seattle Thunderbirds, will call the play of Winnipeg Jets games on TSN Jets and on Sports Radio 1290 in Winnipeg. . . . Beyak also did a turn as GM of the Tri-City Americans and the Thunderbirds. . . . Brian Munz, a former radio voice of the Prince Albert Raiders on CKBI, will call Jets games on Sports Radio 1290 when Beyak is providing the TV call. . . . Shane Hnidy (Swift Current, Prince Albert, 1991-96) has retired from playing and joined the Jets broadcast crew as an analyst. . . . The Victoria Royals drew a crowd of 1,756 fans to their intrasquad game Wednesday night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Seattle Thunderbirds have signed Dusty Imoo as their goaltending coach. Imoo played in the WHL (New Westminster, Lethbridge, Regina, 1987-91) before moving on to play in the IHL, ECHL and Japan for a total of 15 seasons. He also played for Japan in the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Imoo takes over from Paul Fricker in Seattle. . . .
The Victoria Times Colonist is reporting that owner Len Barrie is expected to name himself head coach of the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies on Friday. Barrie stepped behind the bench late last season, with then-head coach coach Vic Gervais stepping down to assistant coach, a position he continues to hold.
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Here’s a note from a story written by Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News:
“Though the Tigers don't release their training camp rosters publicly, they did cut a dozen or so players between Monday and Tuesday night and had 46 players between the two teams that played Tuesday. Most of the cuts were 15- and 16-year-olds.”
The Tigers don’t release their training camp rosters publicly? And the WHL office allows this to happen?
Hey, WHL, this is 2011. Isn’t it time all of your teams started to treat their fans with the respect that most businesses give to paying customers?
The Tigers don’t release their training camp rosters publicly? Do they have something to hide? You wouldn’t suppose one of your teams would have an undrafted European practising with it, do you? Nah, that would never happen.
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F Trevor Moore, whose WHL rights are held by the Tri-City Americans, has committed to attend Denver U and play for the Pioneers beginning with the 2013-14 season. The 5-foot-6, 165-pound Moore will play this season for former WHL player/coach Drew Schoneck with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. The Storm selected Moore with the eighth overall pick in the USHL’s 2011 futures draft. Moore, who was listed by the Americans, is from Thousand Oaks, Calif. He had 41 points in 35 games with the L.A. Selects last season.
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Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star has a call for action following Wednesday’s startling death of former WHLer/NHLer Wade Belak. That piece is right here.
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F Matt Kassian hopes to crack the lineup of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild this season. He is an enforcer who played with the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers. He also is highly intelligent and great conversationalist. And, despite recent happenings, he isn’t about to change his game, nor does he feel there is a need to. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has that story right here.
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Today’s good read comes from Tim Panaccio of csnphilly.com. He writes about former WHLer Todd Fedoruk and the demons he battles on a daily basis. Fedoruk, an NHL enforcer, didn’t play at all last season as he worked to regain his health. He will attend the Vancouver Canucks’ camp as a free agent. Panaccio’s story is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter
Posted by Gregg Drinnan at 1:55 AM
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