Warriors prospect dies at 16 . . . Former WHL assistant coach to Canucks

F Garrett Festerling (Portland, Regina, 2003-07) has signed a three-year contract extension with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL). Festerling now is under contract with Hamburg through the 2017-18 season. Last season, in 53 games, he had eight goals and team-leading 29 assists. . . .
F Owen Fussey (Calgary, Moose Jaw, 1999-2003) has signed a one-year contract with the Guildford Flames (England, Premier). Fussey didn’t play the last two seasons. In 2011-12, with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite), he had 68 points, including 37 goals, in 60 games. He led the Blazers in goals.
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ETHAN WILLIAMS
(Moose Jaw Warriors photos)

F Ethan Williams, a fifth-round selection by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2012 WHL bantam draft, has died. Williams, who was from Winnipeg, would have turned 17 on Aug. 22.
“Our entire organization is very saddened with the news of Ethan Williams’ passing,” Warriors general manager Alan Millar said in a news release. “Ethan was a fine young man, and a very talented hockey player. Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris and Shannon and the entire Williams family during this difficult time.”
Williams, 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, signed with the Warriors after their 2012 training camp, and he played one game with them in 2012-13. During that 2012 camp, he scored a goal in his first WHL exhibition game, against the Swift Current Broncos.
In his draft season, Williams had 71 points, 25 of them goals, with a bantam AAA team at the Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna.
Last season, he had eight points, four of them goals, in 23 games with the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers.
Williams still was on the Warriors’ protected list and had been expected to attend training camp next month.
“Ethan has all the tools needed to play in the WHL and a great chance to hone those skills to advance to the highest level,” former NHL and WHL forward Darcy Tucker said of Williams shortly after the 2012 bantam draft. “Ethan can use his body, skating ability and hands to create scoring chances almost at will. We are very happy for Ethan’s success, and will be following him closely this season as he progresses.”
Tucker is a partner in Turning Point Sports Management, the firm that represented Williams at the time.
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The NHL’s Vancouver Canucks will have a new video coach when the new season arrives. A source has told Taking Note that the Canucks have signed Ben Cooper as their video coach. He will work with Willie Desjardins, the Canucks’ new head coach. . . . Cooper has been coaching a varsity team at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C., and also was scouting for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . Before that, he was an assistant coach with the WHL’s Victoria Royals. He also has extensive video experience with Hockey Canada.
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Former WHL head coach Jim Hiller has signed on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. Hiller, 45, spent the past five seasons as head coach of the Tri-City Americans, but his contract wasn’t renewed after last season. He was the CHL and WHL coach of the year in 2011-12. Hiller also was head coach of the Chilliwack Bruins for three seasons. . . . As an NHL player, Hiller played 21 regular-season and two playoff games with the Red Wings in 1992-93. . . . Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press has more right here.
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Levi Moon finished his second season of bantam hockey and walked away from the game. He decided he was going to be a baseball player. Moon, 18, attended the Badlands Baseball Academy in Oyen, Alta., and soon he’s off to Niagara County Community College in Sanborn, N.Y., on a baseball scholarship. His father, Cam, is the radio voice of the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Danny Rode of the Red Deer Advocate has more right here.
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The Prince George Cougars have named Bob Simmonds as their director of scouting. Simmonds, who spent 37 years with the RCMP before retiring, works out of Edmonton. He has been part of the Cougars’ scouting staff for seven seasons. . . . Bill Horton of St. Paul, Minn., has been promoted to director of U.S. scouting. Horton, 27, is preparing for his second season with the Cougars. . . . Cougars GM Todd Harkins also announced the addition of Trevor Sprague of Prince George and Tom Hengen of Vancouver to the scouting staff. Sprague, the head coach of the major midget Cariboo Cougars, will work as a travelling scout, while Hengen will focus on B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Sprague had been scouting for the Portland Winterhawks. Hengen is the father of Michael Hengen, the Cougars’ new assistant coach. Tom spent the past six seasons as head scout for the BCHL’s Penticton Vees.
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With the news that Vin Scully will return in 2015 for a 66th year calling baseball games, the Los Angeles Times took a look at his movie appearances. That piece is right here.
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Thoughts and prayers go out today to the friends, family and teammates of Ethan Williams. Gone far too soon... #RIPEthan
— Mike Fraser (@MikeFraser29) July 30, 2014

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Pavel Kubina (Moose Jaw, 1996-97) signed a contract for the rest of this season with Genève-Servette (Switzerland, NL A). He had three goals and 12 assists in 69 games with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia last season. Switzerland has a transfer deadline of Feb. 15. Kubina is represented by former Tri-City F Vladimir Vujtek Jr. . . .

F Garrett Festerling (Portland, Regina, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract extension with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany, DEL). He has 12 goals and 21 assists in 43 games for the Freezers this season. Festerling also has made five appearances with the German National Team this season, getting one goal and one assist. Festerling was under contract with Hamburg through the 2013-14 season, so this extension keeps him under contract through the 2014-15 season.
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From the Brandon Sun: “Brandon native and WHL official Matt Kirk has been chosen as a referee for the IIHF men’s world championship, May 3-19 in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland.”
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For an interesting and, I would suggest, accurate look at a ranking of CHL teams, check out this right here. It’s done by Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports.
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The B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2013 on Tuesday. It includes the 1993-94 and 1994-95 Kamloops Blazers, both of which won the Memorial Cup, and former Blazers F Mark Recchi.
Brad Ziemer of the Vancouver Sun has more right here.
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A couple of interesting items from the Kootenay Ice’s weekly news update. . . . Ryan McGill became the second head coach in franchise history to win 200 regular-season games. He got there with a 4-0 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday. . . . The other Ice head coach with 200 victories? Cory Clouston, with 209. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski has stopped 24 out of 25 shootout attempts this season.
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The matchups if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton vs. Lethbridge
Saskatoon vs. Medicine Hat
Calgary vs. Swift Current
Prince Albert vs Red Deer

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland vs. Seattle
Kelowna vs. Everett
Kamloops vs. Tri-City
Victoria vs. Spokane
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, D Morgan Rielly and F Justin Kirsch each scored twice as the Warriors dumped the Prince Albert Raiders, 4-1. . . . Moose Jaw G Justin Paulic stopped 29 shots. . . . Rielly has nine goals. . . . Kirsch got his 20th of the season into an empty net. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports: “The Warriors were without defenceman Kirk Johnson who has returned home to tend to a personal matter. Fellow defenceman Spencer Morse was out of the lineup due to a coach’s decision.” . . . The Warriors continue to be without G Daniel Wapple (concussion) and have Zachary Sawchenko, who turned 15 on Dec. 30, backing up Paulic. . . . The Warriors are 12 points out of a playoff spot with 15 games to play. . . . The Raiders have lost two straight. East Division leaders for most of this season — that’s worth the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference — the Raiders now are fourth in the conference, and they’re just three points ahead of the fifth-place Red Deer Rebels. . . .

In Regina, F Jacob Doty broke a 3-3 tie at 7:50 of the third period and the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Pats, 4-3. . . . Tigers F Hunter Shinkaruk, in his first game after missing three with a knee injury, had a goal and an assist. . . . Doty’s goal was his 11th; Shinkaruk has 31. . . . The Pats erased a 3-1 third-period deficit on goals by F Marc McCoy at 4:16 and F Morgan Klimchuk, his 28th, just 40 seconds later. . . . Regina, with 15 games remaining, now trails the Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes by 13 points. The Tigers and Hurricanes hold down the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot. . . .

In Saskatoon, the Blades ran their winning streak to nine games with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Blazers F Josh Nicholls forced OT with a goal, his 36th, with 28.8 seconds left in the third period and then got the winner in the circus. . . . The victory lifted the once-struggling Blades into a tie with Prince Albert atop the East Division standings. The Blades hold a game in hand. . . . One supposes there is no more Internet ramblings about yanking the Blades out as the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup. . . . F Graham Black had two goals and two assists for the Broncos. . . . Swift Current F Colby Cave gave his guys a 4-3 lead with his 15th goal, shorthanded, at 11:49 of the third. . . . The Broncos erased a 3-1 deficit on goals by F Chance Lund, Black and Cave. . . . Saskatoon F Matej Stransky got his 30th goal and ran his point streak to nine games. . . . Saskatoon F Michael Ferland also has a nine-game streak going. He had an asist last night. . . . Nicholls was the only one of six shooters to score in the shootout. . . .

In Kennewick, Wash., F Victor Rask scored three times as the Calgary Hitmen dumped the Tri-City Americans, 6-2. . . . Rask has 10 goals. . . . The Hitmen scored the game’s first four goals. . . . F Brooks Macek had a goal, his 27th, and two assists for Calgary. . . . Calgary scored four goals on eight shots in the second period. . . . Tri-City starter Luke Lee-Knight gave way to Troy Trombley in the second period. Trombley made his second appearance since joining the team after Eric Comrie (hip) was shut down in mid-January. . . . Tri-City has lost three in a row. . . . The Hitmen are 4-0 on a five-game U.S. Division swing that ends tonight in Spokane. . . . Calgary has played its last eight games on the road, going 5-3-0. It returns home Saturday against Victoria.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Evan Morden, Prince Albert
F Braden Christoffer, Regina
F Elgin Pearce, Medicine Hat

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
None
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From former Red Deer Rebels G Darcy Kuemper (@dkuemps35): “Thank you so much everyone for all the support! What an experience that was tonight, wish we could have pulled out the win tho. #whatarush”
The Minnesota Wild recalled Kuemper, 22, from the AHL’s Houston Aeros and he made his NHL debut last night, going the distance with 28 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Garrett Festerling (Portland, Regina, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract extension with the Hamburg Freezers (Germany DEL). He had four goals and 15 assists in 50 games for the Freezers this season.
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The WHL has suspended F Evan Bloodoff of the Kelowna Rockets, but the name of Brandon Wheat Kings F Shayne Wiebe doesn’t appear on the list of disciplined players.
Wiebe took a major penalty for boarding during an 8-4 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors on Saturday night. But he won’t be suspended. His penalty was reviewed by the WHL office and it was decided that a suspension wasn’t warranted.
Bloodoff, meanwhile, was hit with a major penalty for a hit on Vancouver Giants D Joel Rogers on Saturday night in Kelowna. Rogers, who recently returned from a concussion, left the ice on a stretcher and was taken to hospital. Rogers is a 20-year-old and it seems doubtful that he’ll return this season.
Bloodoff is shown on the WHL website as having been suspended “tbd” -- to be determined.
Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier described Bloodoff’s hit as a “leaping, high hit.”
On Sunday, Bloodoff told Potenteau: “Whatever the league decides, I’ll be fine with. It’s out of my hands. It was a spur of the moment thing and I’m glad he’s alright.”
Bloodoff told Potenteau that he recognizes that “it’s still all on the player.”
He continued: “You have that last second to decide to hit the brakes . . . I dunno . . . it seems like there’s nothing I could have done there.”
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Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that the Vancouver Giants have some serious injury problems as they prepare to open a first-round series against the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, Wash., on Friday. That story is right here.
According to Pap, the Giants have picked up three more concussions over the last few days, to D Joel Rogers, F Michael Burns and F Anthony Ast, who had been recalled from the major midget Greater Vancouver Canadians.
Three more concussions means the WHL has seen at least 100 concussion/head injuries this season.
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Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail spoke with Dave Adolph, the head coach of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies hockey team, about the concussion problem. Adolph is the father of Kelowna Rockets F Max Adolph, who has been plagued by concussion woes this season. That piece is right here.
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The Saskatoon Blades are hopeful that they’ll have their top offensive unit back together for Game 1 of their first-round series with the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday.
F Jake Trask, who sat out the Blades’ last two games after being hit from the blindside by Moose Jaw Warriors F Brett Lyon on March 16, just might be ready to go Saturday.
Trask, who was acquired from the Kamloops Blazers early in the season for a sixth-round bantam draft, pick, scored a career-high 30 goals. He has 20 goals in his last 25 games.
Cory Wolfe of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Trask will go back onto a line with Brayden Schenn and Curtis Hamilton. That allows Josh Nicholls to rejoin Marek Viedensky and Darian Dziurzynski, with Matej Stransky, Brent Benson and Chris Collins reuniting.
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D Brenden Dillon of the Seattle Thunderbirds will finish the season with the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Dillon, 20, signed a three-year NHL deal with Dallas on March 1. Dillon, Seattle’s captain, spent four season with the Thunderbirds.
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The Regina Pats have had five players leave for the pro ranks. F Garrett Mitchell, who signed with the NHL’s Washington Capitals on the weekend, joined the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Four other players signed amateur tryout deals. D Brandon Davidson will finish up with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, while F Jordan Weal is with the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs, and F Shayne Neigum and D Art Bidlevskii have joined the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Davidson was selected by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2010 draft, while Weal went to the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of that same draft.
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Groups in Kamloops, Ottawa and St. John’s, Nfld., have submitted official bids in hopes of playing host to the 2013 IIHF world women’s championship.
The City of City of Kamloops, Ottawa Senators Sports and Entertainment, and Destination St. John’s/Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador submitted bids to Hockey Canada by the deadline and will make formal presentations in Calgary on April 6.
Originally, the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association and the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association also expressed interest. The VIAHA has since withdrawn, while the OWHA joined forces with Ottawa Senators Sports and Entertainment.
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Ken Campbell, a senior writer with The Hockey News, has an interesting take on the situation involving Max Domi and the apparent decision by he and his family to skip the OHL and move to the USHL in time for next season. Campbell’s piece is right here.
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If you haven’t seen the Rimouski Oceanic’s answer to the defensive trap being played by the Montreal Juniors in a QMJHL game last week, check it out right here.
This comes courtesy of Neate Sager over at Yahoo! Sports and, as he mentions, this serves as some kind of a reminder that, above all else, major junior hockey teams are in the entertainment business.
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JUST NOTES: F Mark McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders is the WHL’s player of the week. He had seven points, including five assists, in three games last week. . . . Deven Dubyk of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the WHL’s nominee as goaltender of the week. He recorded his first two career shutouts as he blanked the Calgary Hitmen in back-to-back games. . . . D Stefan Elliott of the Saskatoon Blades has signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Elliott, who had 81 points, including 31 goals, in 71 games, led the WHL in plus-minus, at plus-62. He was the 49th overall selection in the 2009 NHL draft. Elliott turned 20 on Jan. 30. . . . According to capgeek.com, Elliott gets an AHL salary of US$67,500, with NHL salaries of $790,000, $840,000, and $900,000. His signing bonus is $270,000, payable over three years. . . .
Mike Vandekamp, a former head coach with the Prince George Cougars, has left the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm after four seasons and signed on as director of hockey operations and head coach with the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers. The Clippers have offered long-time head coach Bill Bestwick a position in their front office. Bestwick had a year left on his contract when he was removed by the Clippers’ new ownership group. . . . Blaine Bablitz, an assistant under Vandekamp, has taken over as GM and head coach of the Storm. . . . The BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters also have undergone a coaching change. Jim Ingram stepped down as GM and head coach on Friday, and the Smokies immediately signed assistant Bill Birks to a two-year deal as GM/head coach. . . .
The WHL holds its bantam draft lottery on Wednesday (11 a.m., Calgary time), with the six non-playoff teams taking part. This will establish the order of selection for the first six picks of the first round only. (Rounds 2 through 7 will be done by inverse order of the regular-season standings.) The most a team is allowed to advance is two spots, while the Hitmen are guaranteed at least the second pick. The Lethbridge Hurricanes are guaranteed two of the draft’s top five selections. They own Regina’s first pick, thanks to a deal that had F Carter Ashton go to the Pats last season.
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A couple of interesting notes from Graham Kendrick, the Portland Winterhawks’ director of media and public relations. . . .
1.
2. Winterhawks fans have been coming out on droves in recent weeks, including two sellouts of 10,947 over the teamCraig Cunningham has achieved an incredibly rare feat: he’s won a division title in all five of his seasons in the WHL. He won four straight B.C. Division titles as a member of the Vancouver Giants from 2007-10, and now owns a U.S. Division title with the Winterhawks. One of his former Giants teammates, Lance Bouma, was part of five straight division winners with the Giants from 2006-10, but as a 15-year-old call-up in 2005-06 he played just five games. It’s believed that Cunningham is the first player in modern WHL history to win five straight division titles while playing the majority of his team’s games.’s final four games. The Winterhawks averaged 9,597 fans per game in March, and have averaged 8,382 fans since the start of February. Overall the Winterhawks averaged 5,594 fans per game this season, a 26 per cent increase over last season.