Pronghorns looking for help . . . Portland fans head north . . . Red Wings in trouble

F Marcel Hossa (Portland, 1999-2001) has signed a two-game contract with Dukla Trenčín (Slovakia, Extraliga). Hossa was released by Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) on Dec. 20 in a cost-cutting move. In 38 games with Dinamo, he had seven goals and nine assists. Hossa also was the team’s captain.
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The players on the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns hockey team are pulling together for two of their own.
In recent weeks, two Pronghorns — G Dylan Tait and trainer Brennan Mahon — have been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
“Our team has decided to set up a website to raise awareness and collect donations,” former Kamloops Blazers F Mark Hall (2006-10) told Taking Note.
The team is taking things a step further than that, too, as it strives to show support.
“At our last home game,” Hall informs, “we will be shaving our heads to join the fight with our two teammates.”
That will take place on Jan. 30.
Tait and Hall both are in their fourth seasons with the Pronghorns. Tait, a 23-year-old native of Lethbridge, played one game with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice (2008-09) and 27 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes (2010-11). Mahon is in his first season with the Pronghorns.
If you would like to help, the website is right here.
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The Tri-City Americans have signed F Michael Rasmussen, who was a first-round selection, eighth overall, in the 2014 bantam draft. From Surrey, B.C., Rasmussen is playing at the Okanagan Hockey Academy where he has 38 points, including 19 goals, in 32 games. Last season, at OHA, he had 85 points, 38 of them goals, in 62 games. . . . Rasmussen is scheduled to play for the Americans when they meet the Blazers in Kamloops on Wednesday. As a 15-year-old, he can play up to five games before his club team’s season ends.
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The Everett Silvertips have added F Cole Chorney, 18, to their protected. Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that Chorney, who has WHL experience with the Red Deer Rebels, is likely to play for the Silvertips on Tuesday and Wednesday when they visit the Prince George Cougars. . . . Chorney played 58 games with the Rebels last season, putting up six goals and five assists. He was released after getting one assist in six games this season. . . . Chorney, from Beaumont, Alta., has been with the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials. He has eight points, including four goals, in 16 games with Merritt.
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The Portland Winterhawks will meet the Cougars in Prince George tonight and Saturday, and the visitors will have some fans in the stands. The Winterhawks Booster Club chartered a bus and 38 fans will be in attendance after the 18-hour trek. While the Portland fans are in Prince George, Andy Beesley, the Cougars’ vice-president of business, will chat with them as he has plans to get a booster club started there. . . . The Prince George Citizen has more right here.
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What happens when you are a WHL player and you get traded twice in the same season? How does it feel when you get traded when you least expect it? Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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The SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings are in debt to the tune of about $180,000 and there are rumblings that they may not be able to operate after this season. . . . There’s more right here.
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F Jaimen Yakubowski of the Moose Jaw Warriors will sit out two games for the headshot major and game misconduct he incurred for a hit on F Sam Reinhart of the visiting Kootenay Ice on Wednesday. Yakubowski won’t play tonight in Swift Current against the Broncos or Saturday against the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The WHL office also has handed out $1,000 in fines and two more games in suspensions. . . . F Devon McAndrews of the Spokane Chiefs will sit for one game after instigating a fight in the last five minutes of a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., on Tuesday. He won’t play tonight in Everett. . . . D Ayrton Nikkel of the Swift Current Broncos drew a one-game suspension “for actions during warm-up” on Sunday prior to a game with the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. He’ll sit tonight against visiting Moose Jaw. . . . McAndrews’ actions also resulted in Spokane being fined $500, while the Broncos and Oil Kings each drew a $250 fine for warm-up violations.
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The @SPCAswift named a cat after Dillon Heatherington. @DHM_2 had to meet him! He was well behaved until picture time.http://t.co/bCD3kKBIeV
— SC Broncos (@SCBroncos) January 16, 2015

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Thursday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Brett Palin (Kelowna, 2000-05) signed a one-year contract with Chomutov (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). He had four goals and 14 assists in 80 games with the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) last season.
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Glen Hanlon, the red-headed former WHL goaltender known throughout the hockey world as ‘Carrot,’ has signed a two-year contract to work as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants.
Hanlon, who lives with his family in Point Roberts, Wash., has worked as a professional coach since 1995, says he was interested in the Vancouver opportunity for family reasons.
Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun has the story right here.
According the Giants, they are the only team in the CHL to have two former NHL head coaches on their coaching staff.
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Hanlon, 54, played three seasons (1974-77) with his hometown Brandon Wheat Kings. In 1976-77, he went 49-7-7 and that may well be the WHL single-season record for single-season victories by a goaltender.
It was while he was with the Wheat Kings that Hanlon was involved in a scrap with F Rocky Saganiuk of the Lethbridge Broncos.
Legend has it that Saganiuk, who may have been 5-foot-8 at the time, ran Hanlon. When none of his teammates rode to his rescue, Hanlon took matters into his own hands.
That led to Brandon head coach Dunc McCallum blasting his charges for not backing up the goaltender. What made things especially bad, McCallum said, was that Hanlon had been hit by a guy who was “a foot shorter than a duck.”
That type of thing never happened again during McCallum’s reign with the Wheat Kings.
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THE COACHING GAME: Dave Cameron and Mark Reeds, who opposed each other as head coaches in the 2011 Memorial Cup, have been named assistant coaches with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. Cameron was with the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, while Reeds was head coach of the Owen Sound Attack. . . . Paul MacLean, a former Detroit Red Wings assistant coach, is the new head coach in Ottawa. . . . Former Tri-City Americans assistant coach Terry Virtue is an assistant in Owen Sound. Attack GM Dale DeGray has told Bill Walker of the Owen Sound Sun Times that he considers Virtue a candidate to replace Reeds. “I think we have a tremendous candidate in Terry Virtue, there’s no question,” DeGray told Walker. “We'll go through the process because quite honestly, you don't know what you're going to get as far as applicants who might be interested. I would be doing a disservice to the organization if I didn't look at applications." . . . The OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs have added two goaltending coaches to their staff in former NHL G Curtis Joseph and David Franco. Franco has coached goaltenders for more than 20 years and included Joseph among those he has tutored. . . . Jim Midgley, who was head coach of the New Brunswick at the 2011 Canada Winter Games, has joined the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads as an assistant coach. He has QMJHL experience as an assistant coach with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
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The U of Lethbridge Pronghorns have landed former WHL goaltenders James Reid and Dylan Tait. Reid, who played three seasons with the Spokane Chiefs, was the WHL Western Conference’s nominee as goaltender of the year. Tait, who is from Lethbridge, played last season with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Pronghorns starter Scott Bowles is heading into his final season of eligibility. . . . F Todd Robinson (Portland, 1994-99) has signed a two-year contract with the Central league’s Evansville IceMen. Robinson, 33, put up 99 points in 62 games with the Central league’s Odessa Jackalopes last season. He is one of the most prolific scorers in minor pro history. Former Portland head coach Rich Kromm is Evansville’s GM and head coach. . . . Former Red Deer Rebels assistant coach Dallas Gaume is the new general manager of the Red Deer Minor Hockey Association.

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