Bozon back on skates; USA Hockey comes down on fighting

F Dylan Stanley (Tri-City, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with Feldkirch (Austria, Inter-National-League). Last season, with Gherdëina (Italy, Inter-National-League), he had 77 points, 31 of them goals, in 36 games. He led the league in assists and points, and was third in goals.
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1. The new owners of the Regina Pats, who officially took over the franchise on Monday, have a vision for the future, and that vision includes a code of conduct. All of this is to be put in writing and it is something that will guide the franchise and all of its people into the future. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has that story right here.

2. The Prince Albert Raiders have signed G Ian Scott, the ninth overall selection in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. Last season, Scott was 3.12 and .916 with the bantam AAA Calgary Northstar Sabres. He was the Alberta bantam league’s top goaltender for the South Division.


3. The Calgary Hitmen have signed F Mark Kastelic, the 41st overall selection in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. Kastelic, from Phoenix, had 38 points, including 22 goals, in 38 games with the Tier 1 Bantam AAA Phoenix Junior Coyotes last season. He has been invited to USA Hockey’s U-15 camp in Amherst, N.Y., July 14-20.

4. Two months after spending a month in a Saskatoon hospital, F Tim Bozon of the Kootenay Ice was back on the ice somewhere in France. Bozon was stricken with Neisseria Meningitis during an Ice road swing and, at one point, was in critical condition and in a medically induced coma. . . . There is more on his return to the ice right here. . . . While Bozon was in hospital, the WHL put out a plea for donations to help the Bozon family meet mounting expenses. Maybe one day the WHL will issue a news release and let everyone know just how much money the people donated.

5. From The Junior Hockey News: “Multiple sources attending the USA Hockey summer meetings in Colorado are reporting that we have seen the end of fighting as it has been known to exist in junior hockey. While it has not been made clear if the rule will take effect in the 2014-2015 season or 2015-2016, fighting is for all intents and purposes, done. The new rule will mandate that players who fight will now get a game ejection. Escalating penalties such as additional suspensions are also expected to be part of the new rule for those (who) continue to fight.”

6. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN is one of the most-respected of all the reporters who cover Major League Baseball. When he started out, he was covering the Texas Rangers, a team managed by Don Zimmer, the “Buddha of Baseball.” . . . Kurkjian remembers Zimmer, who died Wednesday at 83, in a good read that is right here.

7. When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gave his state-of-the-league address prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday, Vancouver Sun columnist Cam Cole was in the room. Right here, Cole looks at the love-hate relationship between Bettman and Canadian hockey fans.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Dwight Mullins (Lethbridge, Calgary, Saskatoon, 1982-88) has left the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals and joined the ECHL’s Evansville IceMen. . . . Mullins, 47, had been the Jackals’ head coach for two seasons. . . . He now is Evansville’s director of hockey operations and head coach. . . . Elmira has an affiliation with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres; Evansville has been affiliated with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the past two seasons. . . . In Evansville, Mullins will replace Jeff Pyle, who was fired after just one season with the IceMen.
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John Goodwin has signed on as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, where he will work alongside Paul McFarland. . . . Goodwin spent last season as an assistant coach with the North Bay Battalion. . . . He has previous OHL coaching experience as an assistant coach and head coach with the Oshawa Generals. . . . As a player, Goodwin put up 389 points, including 133 goals, in 201 games over three seasons (1978-81) with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
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Pat Mikesch has moved up to become head coach of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, taking over from Derek Lalonde, who on Monday was named head coach of the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. . . . Mikesch, who has been with the Gamblers for three seasons, was the director of player personnel and associate coach under Lalonde.
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Yup, the Grizz are most certainly very close to being sold to a new ownership group! We will have more info as it becomes available. #gogriz
— Revelstoke Grizzlies (@RevelstokeGriz1) June 6, 2014

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If you haven’t seen The Flame in action, well, you’ve missed out on one of the great moments in Canadian sports.
But it’s not like you won’t have another opportunity to see him blow his stack.
That’s because The Flame will be in action in Regina on Saturday, May 12, as the Prairie Fire take on the Wolverines in the inaugural Ultra 7’s rugby game.
All the fun will be at the Regina Rugby Union Club House and Fields and the fun begins at 4:30 p.m.
The Flame first came to fame at Saskatchewan Roughriders games and later spent a number of years doing his thing at Rugby Canada Super League games involving the Prairie Fire RFC in Regina.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Brothers Shay and Logan Stephenson each signed a one-year contract with Karlskrona (Sweden, Allsvenskan). F Shay (Red Deer, 2000-04) had 28 goals and 42 assists in 44 games, good enough for third place in league scoring, and D Logan (Tri-City, 2001-06) had eight goals and 15 assists in 28 games with Vålerenga Oslo (Norway, GET-Ligaen) this season.
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THE PHARMACEUTICAL GAME:
Hockey players have long looked for a buzz prior to games and for a way to get rid of the buzz after games.
I can remember one player with the Regina Pats who would drink at least five cups of coffee before games.
Another time, about 20 years ago, a player with the Pats came back from an NHL camp expressing amazement at the availability of Sudafed in the pro team’s dressing room. I remember him telling me it was in glass bowls “just like candy.”
Sean Gordon of The Globe and Mail takes a look right here at how modern pharmaceuticals are part of the culture in the NHL.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Central league’s Allen Americans announced Friday that the contracts of GM/head coach Dwight Mullins and associate coach Bill McDonald won’t be renewed. . . . The Americans also announced that former NHLers Mike Modano, Ed Belfour, Richard Matvichuk and Craig Ludwig all have joined the organization. According to a news release, “Modano, Belfour and Ludwig have partnered as minority owners with current majority owner Doug Miller, owner Steve Duchesne, and minority partner and team president Matt Canavan. Richard Matvichuk will join the Americans in a hockey operations role.”
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 THE WHL FINAL:
Game 2 . . .
In Edmonton, G Mac Carruth stopped 38 shots to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-1 victory over the Oil Kings. . . . The championship final now is tied 1-1 with Games 3 and 4 in Portland’s Rose Garden on Sunday and Tuesday. . . . Game 5 is scheduled for Edmonton on Thursday. . . . The Winterhawks were without F Ty Rattie, who leads the playoff scoring race. He suffered an undisclosed injury – the Winterhawks are saying it isn’t a concussion – when he landed awkwardly after a collision with Edmonton F Mitch Moroz in Game 1. . . . F Brendan Leipsic scored the game’s first two goals, at 2:37 of the first period and 9:30 of the second, to give him six in these playoffs. . . . Portland F Sven Baertschi also scored twice, the second into an empty net at 18:34 of the third. He’s got 10 goals and now has 28 points, two fewer than Rattie. . . . F Taylor Peters also scored for Portland. His first playoff goal, at 18:38 of the second, gave Portland a 4-0 lead. . . . Carruth lost his shutout at 4:44 of the third when F Kristians Pelss got his fifth playoff goal. . . . Portland D Troy Rutkowski, who is from Edmonton, continued his stellar playoff season. He had two assists and was plus-3. He has eight points in 17 playoff games and is plus-14. He also is a shot-blocker supreme. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 22 shots. . . . Portland was 1-3 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-4. . . . This was Edmonton’s first loss at home in these playoffs. . . . Attendance was 10,720.
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Here is the schedule for the WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup (all times local):
Thursday, May 3: Portland 2 at Edmonton 3 (7,466)
Friday, May 4: Portland 5 at Edmonton 1 (10,720)
Sunday, May 6: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 8: at Portland (Rose Garden), 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 10: at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
x-Saturday, May 12: at Portland (Rose Garden), 6 p.m.
x-Sunday, May 13: at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
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Chris O’Leary of the Edmonton Journal checks out the Ty Rattie situation right here.
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O’Leary has a blog item right here on a play in Game 2 that involved video review of a potential Oil Kings goal. Portland was leading 3-0 at the time so it was an important review and it seems the reviewers got it wrong.
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John MacKinnon of the Edmonton Journal takes a look at the attendance situation involving the Oil Kings and their playoff games. That piece is right here.
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After Friday’s game, the Oil Kings issued this news release:
The Edmonton Oil Kings and partner ATB Financial announced a special ticket offer for the remainder of the 2012 WHL Championship Series presented by Kal Tire and Husky.
As a thank you to fans for their continued support throughout the entire season, ATB Financial and the Oil Kings will offer 10,000 tickets for both Games 5 and Game 7 of this series versus the Portland Winterhawks for just $20. Tickets for both future games will go on sale Monday, May 7, 2012 at 10 a.m.
Game 5 of the series is scheduled for Thursday, May 10, 7 p.m. Game 7, if necessary, will be played Sunday, May 13, 7 p.m., at Rexall Place.
Tickets will be available at oilkings.ca, at the Oil Kings ticket office at TELUS Field (10233-96 Avenue) during regular business hours Monday through Friday, by calling (780) 414-GOAL (4625) or at the door.


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