THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) was released by Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga) at the end of his tryout contract. . . .
D Ross Lupaschuk (Lethbridge, Prince Albert, Red Deer, 1996-2001)
signed a tryout contract with the Vienna Capitals (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had two goals and one assist in 15 games with Cologne (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
F Clarke Breitkruez (Regina, Prince George, 2008-10) signed a one-year contract with Duisburg (Germany, Oberliga). He had 31 goals and 37 assists in 51 games for the Yorkton Terriers (SJHL) last season.
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The Everett Silvertips got down to three 20-year-olds on Saturday when F Scott MacDonald was one of the players released from training camp. MacDonald, from Surrey, B.C., has played three WHL seasons, one with the Chilliwack Bruins and two with the Silvertips. Last season, he had 22 points and 40 penalty minutes in 69 games with Everett. . . . His departure leaves Everett with F Josh Birkholz, F Tyler Maxwell and D Brennan Yadlowski as its 20-year-olds.
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The Regina Pats have acquired F Campbell Elynuik, who will turn 19 on Dec. 25, from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft. A seventh-round pick by Everett in the 2007 draft, Elynuik had five points and 54 penalty minutes in 28 games last season, which was shortened by injury. In 76 games with the Silvertips, he had eight points and 135 penalty minutes. Undrafted, he attended the Philadelphia Flyers’ development camp earlier this summer and will attend their training camp next month. His father, Pat, played in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders (1984-87) and also split 506 NHL games between the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
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The Victoria Royals have signed F Logan Nelson, an 18-year-old product of Rogers, Minn. He’s a 6-foot-1, 187-pounder who had 15 points and 69 penalty minutes in 43 games with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers last season.
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If you haven’t yet heard about a concussion-related experiment in which the Saskatoon Blades are involved, check out this story by Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix.
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The Thunderbird Community Sports Foundation, which is supported by fans of the Seattle Thunderbirds, has made a lot of people happy by handing out almost US$65,000 in grants. Steve Hunter of the Kent Reporter has that story right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Brent Hughes is out as head coach of the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays. The club announced Saturday that it “has decided not to retain” his services. Assistant coach Justin Quenneville has been named the interim head coach. . . . Hughes, a former NHL player, had been the IceRays’ head coach since February 2009. . . . Quenneville, who played four seasons in Corpus Christi, spent last season as director of hockey operations and assistant coach.
The Prince George Cougars have hired Phil Guenter as their goaltending coach. Guenter, 31, is based in Lethbridge and has been coaching goaltenders for 12 years. In 10 of those years, he has worked with Prince George G Drew Owsley, 20, who was acquired this summer from the Tri-City Americans. . . . “We want to make Drew's transition to Prince George as easy as possible and Phil has been his goalie coach for a long time, and this will help make things easier,” Cougars head coach Dean Clark said in a news release. "We look forward to also having Phil work with our younger guys." . . .
The WHL-champion Kootenay Ice has picked up the option years on the contracts for Garnet Kaziuk, the director of scouting, head coach Kris Knoblauch and assistant coaches Todd Johnson and Jerry Bancks. All four now are signed through 2012-13. . . . “The success we have maintained over the past 13 years both on and off the ice can partially be attributed to having good people in key positions,” Jeff Chynoweth, the franchise’s president and general manager, said in a news release. “Stability and continuity are the keys to any successful organization and these four gentlemen are a big part of what we are all trying to achieve.” . . . Kazuik has been with the Ice through four seasons. Knoblauch joined the Ice as an assistant coach four years ago and is coming of his first season as head coach, having led the team to its third titlein 11 WHL seasons. Johnson and Bancks both signed on to the coaching staff a year ago.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Showing posts with label Giffen Nyren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giffen Nyren. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2011
Coaching news in the WHL
THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) signed a try-out contract through Sept. 1 with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and six assists in 29 games for the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) and one goal and three assists in 15 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) signed a one-year contract with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had two goals and five assists in 24 games for Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after starting last season with the Houston Aeros (AHL), where he was pointless in five games. . . .
F Martin Ruzicka (Everett, Lethbridge, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). He had 24 goals and 26 assists in 51 games for Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
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It would seem that the last two WHL teams without head coaches have made their decisions.
A source told me early Monday evening — and subsequent reports are all over the Internet — that the Moose Jaw Warriors are expected to name Mike Stothers as their head coach, while the Regina Pats may have settled on Ryan McGill. Regina, by the way, did give strong consideration to hiring Stothers before choosing to go in another direction.
Stothers, a 49-year-old Torontonian, was the 21st selection in the 1980 NHL draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers from the OHL’s Kingston Canadians. He played professionally through 1991-92 when he got into coaching as a player/assistant coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Since then he has coached in the AHL, NHL, and OHL. He spent five seasons (2002-07) as head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
Last season, Stothers was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
In Moose Jaw, Stothers will take over from Dave Hunchak, who was fired after going 40-26-6 and finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. Hunchak has since signed as an associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers.
Of course, it wasn't that long ago when sources had Dave Barr fingered as the Warriors' next head coach. The source I heard from early Monday evening, however, is rather highly placed within WHL circles.
Meanwhile, The Coaches Site tweeted about 9 p.m. PT that “former Calgary Flames assistant Ryan McGill expected to be named the Regina Pats new head coach as early as (today).”
Word out of Regina — see Greg Harder's blog Slap Shots over there on the right — is that the Pats are close to a hire but negotiations continue.
McGill, 42, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Before that, he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliates, first the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and then the Quad City Flames.
A native of Sherwood Park, Alta., he is a former WHL defenceman (Lethbridge, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, 1985-89) who was an assistant coach with the Edmonton Ice (1996-98) and a head coach with Edmonton/Kootenay (1997-2001). He guided the Ice to the 2002 Memorial Cup title and then spent three seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
In Regina, McGill would replace Curtis Hunt, who was fired last month.
The Everett Silvertips (Mark Ferner) and Seattle Thunderbirds (Steve Konowalchuk) also have new head coaches. Craig Hartsburg left Everett and now is an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. Meanwhile, the Kent-based Thunderbirds cut ties with long-time head coach Rob Sumner after last season.
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Dan Bonar, who has scouted for the Calgary Hitmen for eight seasons, is the team’s new head scout. Bonar, from Deloraine, Man., replaces Brad Whelen, who now is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Bonar played for the Brandon Wheat Kings before going on to an NHL career that included stints with the Los Angeles Kings. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) signed a try-out contract through Sept. 1 with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and six assists in 29 games for the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) and one goal and three assists in 15 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) signed a one-year contract with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had two goals and five assists in 24 games for Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after starting last season with the Houston Aeros (AHL), where he was pointless in five games. . . .
F Martin Ruzicka (Everett, Lethbridge, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). He had 24 goals and 26 assists in 51 games for Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
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 |
| Mike Stothers |
A source told me early Monday evening — and subsequent reports are all over the Internet — that the Moose Jaw Warriors are expected to name Mike Stothers as their head coach, while the Regina Pats may have settled on Ryan McGill. Regina, by the way, did give strong consideration to hiring Stothers before choosing to go in another direction.
Stothers, a 49-year-old Torontonian, was the 21st selection in the 1980 NHL draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers from the OHL’s Kingston Canadians. He played professionally through 1991-92 when he got into coaching as a player/assistant coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Since then he has coached in the AHL, NHL, and OHL. He spent five seasons (2002-07) as head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
Last season, Stothers was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
In Moose Jaw, Stothers will take over from Dave Hunchak, who was fired after going 40-26-6 and finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. Hunchak has since signed as an associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers.
Of course, it wasn't that long ago when sources had Dave Barr fingered as the Warriors' next head coach. The source I heard from early Monday evening, however, is rather highly placed within WHL circles.
Meanwhile, The Coaches Site tweeted about 9 p.m. PT that “former Calgary Flames assistant Ryan McGill expected to be named the Regina Pats new head coach as early as (today).”
Word out of Regina — see Greg Harder's blog Slap Shots over there on the right — is that the Pats are close to a hire but negotiations continue.
McGill, 42, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Before that, he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliates, first the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and then the Quad City Flames.
 |
| Ryan McGill |
In Regina, McGill would replace Curtis Hunt, who was fired last month.
The Everett Silvertips (Mark Ferner) and Seattle Thunderbirds (Steve Konowalchuk) also have new head coaches. Craig Hartsburg left Everett and now is an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. Meanwhile, the Kent-based Thunderbirds cut ties with long-time head coach Rob Sumner after last season.
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Dan Bonar, who has scouted for the Calgary Hitmen for eight seasons, is the team’s new head scout. Bonar, from Deloraine, Man., replaces Brad Whelen, who now is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Bonar played for the Brandon Wheat Kings before going on to an NHL career that included stints with the Los Angeles Kings. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
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