1. So who is the 14-year-old — he’ll turn 15 on June 19 — who already has committed to the U of Minnesota-Duluth? F Joey Anderson, a ninth-round selection by the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2013 bantam draft, says: “I was ready for this and now I can just go out and play.” . . . Kevin Pates of the Duluth News Tribune has more right here.

2. Team officials from the Medicine Hat Tigers have seen the plans for a new arena for that city and they like what they saw. A design for a new arena is scheduled to be made public on June 11. Collin Gallant of the Medicine Hat News has more right here.

3. That didn’t take long. Less than a week after negotiations fell apart with their radio home for 19 years, 99.3 The Drive, the Prince George Cougars have a five-year deal with 94X Radio. All games will be carried at 94.3 FM and online at 94xfm.com. Dan O’Connor returns for a third season as the play-by-play voice with Hartley Miller, 94X’s sports director, also in the booth. . . . 94X is owned by Vista Radio; 99.3 The Drive is owned by The Jim Pattison Broadcast Group. . . . Peter James of the Prince George Citizen has more right here.

4. The Vancouver Giants have signed G Ryan Kubic, who was a second-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. Kubic, from Winnipeg, played with the bantam AAA Winnipeg Hawks, putting up a 1.31 GAA and .941 save percentage in 24 games.

5. Darrell Romuld of CTV in Lethbridge tweeted Tuesday that “reliable sources tell me that Drake Berehowsky will be the next head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. We’ll find out next Thursday.” . . . Berehowsky just finished his first season as head coach of the ECHL’s Orlando SolarBears. Prior to that, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. He also spent two seasons (2007-09) as an assistant with the OHL’s Barrie Colts. A defenceman, Berehowsky was the 10th overall selection by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL’s 1990 draft and went on to play 549 NHL games with Toronto, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes.

6. ESPN broke the story yesterday that Major League Baseball may suspend a whack of players for up to 100 games for using whatever it was they were getting from the Biogenesis clinic in South Florida. Michael Rosenberg of SI.com has a good piece right here on the sample collector who got singed by Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers.

7. An assistant coach who also is the team president? Hey, why not? That’s what’s going on in Surrey where the BCHL’s Eagles have named Peter Schaefer (Brandon, 1994-97) as the team president. Schaefer just completed his first season as an assistant coach with the Eagles. "As an ownership group, we were excited to have Peter as a part of the coaching staff last season," said Eagles majority owner Chuck Westgard in a news release. "He showed an interest in having an increased role, and we're extremely pleased that Peter will be taking over the daily operations of the team.”

8. Of course Chicago Blackhawks D Duncan Keith should be suspended for at least one game for reckless use of his stick. Why is this even open for debate? . . . In fact, give him one game for that and another because the stick made contact with an opponent’s head.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jason Becker will be back for another go-round as an assistant coach with the Prince George Cougars. Becker, who has been with the Cougars since December 2009, and the Cougars have agreed on a one-year contract extension, taking him through 2013-14. . . . Becker is a former WHL player (Saskatoon, Red Deer, Kamloops, Swift Current, 1990-95), who went on to spent three seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies before playing nine seasons in Europe.

Steve Turcotte of lapresse.ca reports that Bernard Martin will be the next head coach of the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. . . . He will replace Denis Chalifoux., who left at season’s end despite having two years left on his contract. Chalifoux cited a desire to spend more time with his family. . . . Martin was the head coach of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres (2006-08).


The ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets have named Gary Graham as their new head coach. Graham spent this season guiding the Pensacola Ice Flyers to the Southern Professional Hockey League title. Before that, he worked as an assistant coach for four seasons under Al Sims, who retired following the end of the season. Graham is a native of Fort Wayne.


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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sebastian Svendsen (Vancouver, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, 2009-12) signed a two-year contract with Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). Svendsen started the season with Moose Jaw, getting two goals and two assists in 11 games. He returned to Denmark in December, where he played four games with Hvidovre (Denmark, U20 Liga), getting four goals and two assists in four games, and 12 games with Copenhagen Hockey, (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga), scoring three goals and four assists to go along with 49 PIMs. . . .
F Erik Christensen (Kamloops, Brandon, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL). He had one goal and four assists in 20 games with the New York Rangers, two goals and one assist in five games with Connecticut Whale (AHL), and six goals and one assist in 29 games with Minnesota Wild this season.
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JUST NOTES:
Rob Morphy of Kamloops has been named director of scouting/head scout by the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. It’s a reunion of sorts for Morphy and Troy Mick, the Silverbacks’ new GM and head coach. The two worked together with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers and won the 1999 Royal Bank Cup. . . . Morphy also is a veteran WHL scout, most recently having worked with the Chilliwack Bruins and Tri-City Americans. . . .
The Tri-City Americans have signed D Tyler Fraser, who was a third-round pick, 55th overall, in the 2012 bantam draft. Fraser, from Surrey, B.C., played for the bantam AAA Cloverdale Colts; in fact, he was the team captain. He also was partnered with Parker Wotherspoon, the Americans’ first-round selection in the 2012 draft. . . .
Hockey Now has named F Mathew Barzal of the Burnaby Winter Club and F Jansen Harkins of the North Shore Winter Club as co-winners of its B.C. minor hockey player-of-the-year award. . . . Barzal was selected first overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. . . . Harkins went second overall to the Prince George Cougars. . . . There’s more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Steve Johnson has signed on as an assistant coach with the U of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. He will work alongside head coach Dean Blais. Johnson and Blais both are former head coaches of the USHL’s Fargo Force. In fact, Johnson replaced Blais for the 2009-10 season. For the last two seasons, Johnson has been an assistant coach at St. Cloud State. . . . Back in the day, Johnson spent four seasons as a player at the U of North Dakota; Blais was an assistant coach with the Fighting Sioux at the time. . . .
Gary Graham is the new head coach of the Southern Professional league’s Pensacola Ice Flyers. Graham is coming off four seasons as an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Komets, who played in the IHL and the Central league and now are making the move to the ECHL. Graham worked under veteran coach Al Sims with the Komets.
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The 2012 Hockey Coaches Conference is all set for July 20-21 at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre. And it promises to be the best one yet, with presenters like Ken Hitchcock, Mike Keenan, Don Hay, Glen Hanlon, Brent Peterson, Milan Dragicevic and Troy Ward.
There’s more on the conference right here. In fact, if you’re a coach — or an aspiring coach — you should have this site bookmarked.

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