Is the WHL in Babey's future? . . . Improvements in Spokane

F Tomáš Karpov (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 2007-09) has signed a three-year extension with the Basingstoke Bison (England, Premier). Last season, in 54 games, he had 76 points, including 37 goals. He was a first-team Premier League all-star, and led the Bison in goals and points, all while working on a degree at the University of Winchester.
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1. On Tuesday, in this space, I mentioned something about Kingston Frontenacs F Sam Bennett’s inability to do one pull-up at the NHL Scouting Combine in Mississauga, Ont., last weekend.
That prompted an NHL scout to relate, via email, a couple of fitness testing-related anecdotes.
“Martin Havlat was at the Combine in his draft year,” the scout wrote. “He couldn’t do a single bench press. He ended up having a pretty good career and immediate success as a young player.
“I heard (Wayne) Gretzky tell a story one day. To paraphrase, he said: ‘Early in my career, we had testing. I did 10 sit-ups, but scored 60-plus goals that season. Near the end of my career, I could do 60-plus sit-ups, but only scored 10 goals during the season!’ ”
In closing, the scout wrote: “This entire Combine thing is about showcasing the league. Many of the tests that they do are irrelevant to hockey, but they ‘look’ good.”
So, kids, if you blow a test or two, don’t lose sleep over it because it’s what you do on the ice that the scouts will remember.

2. BTW, Wayne Gretzky looked good and sounded great as he appeared on Hockey Night in Canada prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday night. . . . The NHL should hang its head in shame because Gretzky is not actively employed in promoting their game. The fact that he isn't working for an individual team or out of the NHL office should be an embarrassment to the commissioner and the owners. . . . Contrast that with Major League Baseball and the NFL, both of which have numerous former players, many of them Hall of Famers, working to better and to promote their games in one fashion or another.

3. Let the speculation begin. The Calgary Hitmen have an opening for a head coach and Ken Babey, the face of athletics at SAIT in Calgary, is leaving the Trojans after 27 years as the hockey team’s head coach. He also has been the school’s athletic director since 1997. According to a news release: “A desire to pursue other interests, and to go out on on top, has been given as reasons for his decision to step down.” . . . Babey took over as the Trojans head coach in 1987. That followed one season as an assistant coach. . . . Under his guidance, the Trojans won 534 of 849 games. He leaves with a .629 winning percentage. . . . Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald has more right here, including the revelation that Babey “hopes to find another coaching gig in the near future.” . . . Let the speculation begin.

4. There are at least three movies in the works involving concussions in football. . . . Will Smith may star in one that is based on the GQ story Game Brain that was written by Jeanne Marie Laskas. . . . Cindy Boren of the Washington Post has more right here.

5. D Evan Morden (Everett, Prince Albert, 2011-14) has committed to attend Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., and play for the Badgers. . . . Morden, from Swan River, Man., will attend the Goodman School of Business at Brock. . . . He played most of last season with the MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampeders. . . . He split 170 WHL games between Everett and Prince Albert, putting up 23 points, including six goals.

6. Yes, the Stanley Cup final started on Wednesday night. John Branch of The New York Times takes a look right here at the rivalry between Los Angeles and New York. Hey, any story in which there are quotes from Ed (Boxcar) Hospodar is a good one.

7. The way NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has it figured, if the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers are worth US$2 billion, “we have plenty of franchises that are worth that, if not more.” . . . OK. Stop laughing! . . . Bettman had that to say and a whole lot more prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final. Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times has more right here.

8. Fans of the Spokane Chiefs should be in for improved wireless service when they attend games in the Veterans Memorial Arena in the fall. Boingo Wireless, which bills itself as “the leading DAS and Wi-Fi provider that serves consumers, carriers and advertisers worldwide,” has been chosen to manage the facility’s Distributed Antenna System (DAS) “from design to deployment, multi-carrier access to ongoing management.” . . . According to a news release: “The DAS networks will provide enhanced cellular capacity, allowing fans to upload videos and photos of their event experiences in real time. Boingo’s neutral host approach to DAS networks allow for multiple carriers to access the network on behalf of their customers, ensuring that more fans are automatically connected to the state-of-the-art cellular network.”

9. Don Zimmer, one of the grand old men of baseball, has died at the age of 83. He played for Casey Stengel. He managed four teams on a full-time basis and was the New York Yankees’ interim manager for a bit. In all, he was involved in baseball for more than 60 years. In The Zen of Zim, written with New York writer Bill Madden and published in 2004, Zimmer says: “All I’ve ever been is a simple baseball man, but it’s never ceased to amaze me how so many far more accomplished people I’ve met in this life wanted to be one, too. What a game, this baseball!” . . . The New York Times obituary is right here.

10. The end of Donald Sterling’s days in the NBA is nigh, and it is going to happen without anyone ending up in court. The end result of his selling the Los Angeles Clippers for US$2 billion could be the raising of the NBA’s age limit to 20. Michael McCann of SI.com has all that and more right here. . . . If you want the inside info on the Sterling affair, this is a great read.

11. The World Cup doesn’t start until next week, but the mind game are underway. With Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo on the limp, a witch doctor from Ghana is claiming responsibility. The Guardian has more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys have signed Brett Hopfe, their director of hockey operations and head coach, and Dana Lattery, the manager of player development and assistant coach, to three-year contract extensions. The contracts run through the next three seasons. . . . Joel Hunter, the business operations manager, got a one-year extension.
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The Detroit Red Wings have signed Jeff Blashill, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, to a three-year contract that runs through 2016-17. Blashill, 40, just completed his second season with the Griffins. They won the Calder Cup as AHL champions in 2012-13. Last season, they finished with 99 points, an increase of seven, then went on to lose a conference semifinal series to the Texas Stars. . . . Last month, Blashill was honoured as the AHL’s coach of the year.

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The Kamloops Blazers assigned F Brock Balson, 19, to an undisclosed junior A team on Monday. Balson was a third-round selection by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2008 bantam draft. He joined the Blazers last season from the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks and had six points in 42 games with the Blazers. . . .
With the move, Kamloops is down to 25 players. That doesn’t include D Austin Madaisky, 20, who has been assigned by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets to the AHL’s Springfield Falcons. That leaves Kamloops with three 20-year-olds — F Brendan Ranford, F Dylan Willick and F Jordan DePape, who finished the exhibition season playing on the same line. . . .
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The Saskatoon Blades are down to 23 players after assigning D Kyle Schmidt, 19, to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars and G Patrick Johnson, 19, to the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. Schmidt, from Waldheim, Sask., was acquired last season from the Calgary Hitmen and had 12 points in 61 games with the Blades. Johnson, from Saskatoon, got into one game with the Blades last season. . . .
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have assigned F Darcy DeRoose, 17, to the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins and F Brayden Cuthbert, 18, to the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires. Cuthbert is awaiting medical clearance after not having played since suffering a concussion on Jan. 22, 2011. . . .
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The Spokane Chiefs assigned F Markson Bechtold, 16, to the midget UFA Bisons, who play out of Strathmore, Alta. Bechtold was a third-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. . . .

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The Brandon Wheat Kings have trimmed G Jordan Papirny, 16, from their roster which means they will open the season with Corbin Boes, 19, and Curtis Honey, 18, as their goaltenders. . . . Papirny was a first-round selection in the 2011 bantam draft. . . . Brandon also released F Dominic Favreau, 20, leaving it with three 20s – F Nick Buonassisi, D Ryley Miller and D Tyler Yaworski. . . . Favreau spent two seasons in Brandon after being acquired from the Regina Pats for D Mark Schneider. Last season, Favreau had 18 points in 42 games with Brandon. . . . The Wheat Kings got down to 26 players by also assigning F Kailum Gervais, F Kyler Hehn, 17, and F Hunter Smith, 17. . . .
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The Vancouver Giants, with one victory in six exhibition games, made some significant moves on Monday, especially considering that they came four days before the start of the regular season.
Vancouver acquired F Tanner Moar, 18, and F Stewart Coyle, 17, from the Kelowna Rockets for a fourth-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft and a sixth-round pick in 2015.
The Giants also picked up F Tristan Sieben, 18, from the Edmonton Oil Kings for a sixth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Sieben, from Edmonton, played 34 games with the Oil Kings last season, picking up 14 points.
Moar, from Canwood, Sask., had eight points in 65 games with Kelowna last season. At 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, he brings some size to the Giants’ forward ranks, something that has been lacking of late.
Coyle, 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, played last season with the junior B Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International league. He had five points in 22 games with the Eagles. In four exhibition game with the Rockets, he had three points. Coyle is from Sicamous.
The Giants now have 29 players on their roster, including injured F Arvin Atwal, so more moves are imminent.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have traded G Cole Holowenko, 19, to the Everett Silvertips for G Andy Desautels, 18, and D Evan Morden, 19.
Desautels, from White City, Sask., played last season with the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers, going 3.64, .899 in 25 games. His arrival leaves the Raiders still with three goaltenders, the other two being Luke Siemens, 20, who was acquired over the summer from the Moose Jaw Warriors, and Rylan Parenteau, a 16-year-old from Saskatoon.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Morden, from Swan River, Man., is prepping for his third WHL season. He had 13 points and 92 penalty minutes in 114 games over the last two seasons.
Holowenko, from Penticton, B.C., was 13-26-2, 3.98, .890 in 47 games as a freshman with the Raiders last season.
The Silvertips then got down to two goaltenders by assigning 6-foot-7 Troy Trombley, 18, to the SHL’s Melville Millionaires. That leaves Holowenko and sophomore Austin Lotz, 17, to mind the twine in Everett.
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The Tri-City Americans got down to 27 players by dropping G Luke Lee-Knight, 19, F Dallin Wolf, 18, and F Dylan Schellenberg, 19. . . . Lee-Knight, from Calgary, played 22 games in the WHL last season, splitting them with the Spokane Chiefs and Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Lee-Knight’s departure means that freshman Brenden Fiebelkorn, 17, of Winnipeg will back up sophomore G Eric Comrie. . . . Wolf has been returned to the junior B Kimberley Dynamiters of the Kootenay International league. He had 14 points and 135 penalty minutes in 39 games there last season. . . . Schellenberg, from Drumheller, split last season between the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons and Camrose Kodiaks. . . . The Americans are carrying two goaltenders, nine defencemen and 16 forwards.
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It would seem that the Seattle Thunderbirds are down to three 20-year-olds — G Brandon Glover, F Luke Lockhart and F Brendan Rouse.
Deagle (@BraDeagle92) tweeted this on Monday: “Was fortunate to meet a lot of great people in Seattle made many new friends and a lot of new brothers! Going to miss it #thunderbeauties.”
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G Keith Hamilton, who has WHL experience with the Portland Winterhawks and Victoria Royals, has signed with the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar. . . . Hamilton, a 20-year-old from Kelowna, was 20-31-5, 4.10, .880 with Victoria last season. He was released by the Royals last week as they worked to get down to the maximum three 20-year-olds. . . . The signing of Hamilton was first reported by Parlons junior, a Quebec-based website.

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