Dmitri Uchaykin died on Sunday.
A player with HC Eris-Pavlodar in Kazakhstan’s top professional league, Uchaykin, 32, died of a cerebral hemorrhage after having taken a headshot during a game.
For some reason, this hasn’t received a whole lot of attention — certainly not the attention it is due — in the mainstream media. But Stu Hackel of SI.com has put together an excellent look at what happened, including two video links. That package is right here.
This incident is just more proof that the people who control hockey at all levels need to do everything in their power to get any and all contact with the head out of the game.
The death of a player in Kazakhstan, while a long way from North America, is proof that the time has come. It is time to penalize all contact to the head at all levels of hockey. And it is time to stop handing out inconsequential suspensions for deliberate headshots.
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JUST NOTES:
D Harrison Ruopp of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Ruopp had 16 points and 132 penalty minutes in 65 games this season. Ruopp, who turned 20 on March 17, was selected by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round of the 2011 NHL draft. . . . The Penguins acquired the Zehner, Sask., native at the 2012 draft, along with a 2012 third-round pick, for D Zbynek Michalek.

Drew Wilson, the radio voice of the Raiders on CKBI, reports that Prince Albert F Leon Draisatl, who just completed his freshman WHL season, will play for his native Germany at the IIHF U-18 world championship in Sochi, Russia, April 18-28. . . . Draisatl, the Eastern Conference’s rookie of the year, told Wilson: "It's going to be another big tournament and as always our goal is not to play with the big guys (Canada, Russia and USA), it's just to avoid relegation." . . . Prince Albert D Josh Morrissey will be playing for Canada. . . . Wilson has more right here.

G Laurent Brossoit of the Edmonton Oil Kings has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames. A sixth-round pick in the 2011 NHL draft, Brossoit put up 33 victories this season, along with a 2.25 GAA and a .917 save percentage. . . . He will lead the Oil Kings against the Medicine Hat Tigers in a second-round playoff series that opens tonight in Edmonton. . . .

F Adam Lowry of the Swift Current Broncos has signed an ATO with the St. John’s IceCaps, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Lowry, who turned 20 on March 29, was a third-round selection in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . He had 88 points, including 45 goals, in 72 games this season. Lowry’s father, Dave, is the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals.

According to Evan Daum of the Edmonton Journal, Oil Kings F T.J. Foster is back skating and could play during the second round. He has been out with a foot injury and hasn’t played since Feb. 9.


If you’re on the sofa tonight, you should know that Game 2 between the visiting Red Deer Rebels and Calgary Hitmen will be televised by Sportsnet. . . . There’ll be Davis Cup tennis from Vancouver on Sportsnet One, followed by the WHL game. The other Sportsnet channels will show the baseball game between the host Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, with the hockey game on when it ends.

Some interesting numbers going into the series between the Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winterhawks. . . . In the regular-season series, Spokane G Eric Williams was 2-5, 4.34, .884, while Portland G Mac Carruth was 6-1, 2.11, .937. . . . Carruth, by the way, has 37 career playoff victories, one fewer than Cam Ward, who won 38 games with the Red Deer Rebels (2001-04).
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The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Medicine Hat (7)
(Game 1, tonight, in Edmonton)
Calgary (3) vs. Red Deer (4)
(Calgary leads series, 1-0; Game 2, tonight, in Calgary)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Spokane (4)
(Game 1, tonight, in Portland, Veterans Memorial Coliseum)
Kelowna (2) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Game 1, Saturday, in Kelowna)
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THURSDAY’S GAME:
In Calgary, F Brady Brassart scored three times and F Cody Sylvester had three assists as the Hitmen opened with a 4-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . It was the second playoff hat trick of Brassart’s WHL career, both of them coming this spring. He had three goals on March 21 when the Hitmen opened with a 6-5 OT victory over the Swift Current Broncos. . . . The Hitmen scored four goals on Red Deer G Patrik Bartosak in the game’s first half; in the first round, the Prince Albert Raiders beat Bartosak five times in four games. . . . Calgary was 2-for-5 on the PP; Red Deer was 0-for-3.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (12):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (4):
None
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From WHLFacts (@WHLFacts): “Apr. 4, 2001 — 12 years ago today, Billy Thompson saved 34 of 37 and Derek Boogaard scored the OT winner as @PGCougars defeated Portland 4-3”
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One more from WHL Facts: “1 — FYI, Boogaard’s OT winner for Prince George was the only playoff goal he scored in his hockey career (WHL, ECHL, AHL, NHL)”

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THE MATCHUPS
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Regina (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Brandon (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Saskatoon (5)
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Victoria (7)
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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The WHL playoffs open tonight with the Brandon Wheat Kings in Calgary to meet the Hitmen. The other seven series will begin Friday night.
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The Seattle Thunderbirds came out of the WHL’s draft lottery with the first pick on Wednesday.
The lottery involved the six non-playoff teams and when it was over, the WHL released this first-round order:
1. Seattle Thunderbirds
2. Prince Albert Raiders
3. Prince George Cougars
4. Lethbridge Hurricanes
5. Swift Current Broncos
6. Red Deer Rebels
7. Everett Silvertips
8. Victoria Royals
9. Kelowna Rockets
10. Kootenay Ice
11. Regina Pats
12. Brandon Wheat Kings
13. Saskatoon Blades
14. Spokane Chiefs
15. Vancouver Giants
16. Medicine Hat Tigers
17. Calgary Hitmen
18. Moose Jaw Warriors
19. Kamloops Blazers
20. Portland Winterhawks
21. Tri-City Americans
22. Edmonton Oil Kings
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The first-round order as released by the WHL doesn't include the four picks that have been traded. Here, courtesy of Alan Caldwell of Small Thoughts At Large, is the first round including trades:
1. Seattle
2. Prince Albert
3. Prince George
4. Lethbridge
5. Swift Current
6. Red Deer
7. Everett
8. Victoria
9. Kelowna
10. Kootenay
11. Prince George (from Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan. 10/12)
12. Brandon
13. Victoria (from Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan. 9/12; Brandon had acquired the selection from Saskatoon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan. 10/11)
14. Spokane
15. Vancouver
16. Medicine Hat
17. Calgary
18. Lethbridge (from Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan. 9/12)
19. Kamloops
20. Seattle (from Portland in Marcel Noebels deal, Jan. 10/12)
21. Tri-City
22. Edmonton
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The bantam draft is scheduled to be held on May 3.
Keep in mind that the order for the other rounds reverts to the reverse order of the final regular-season standings.
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The WHL also announced some of its Eastern Division individual award winners and its first and second all-star teams. For those, check out the WHL’s website.
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Earlier in the week, I reported here that D Cody Carlson of the Prince George Cougars was headed to the Central league’s Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. . . . I was told last night that Carlson and Prince George G Drew Owsley, both of whom completed their junior eligibility this season, are headed for the Central league’s Missouri Mavericks. . . . Meanwhile, F Spencer Asuchak, who was the Cougars’ third 20-year-old this season, apparently may be headed for the ECHL’s Ontario Reign.
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F John Persson of the Red Deer Rebels made his AHL debut last night with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who lost 3-0 to the host Binghamton Senators. Persson had four shots on goal, all in the first period. . . . Persson, a 19-year-old from Mora, Sweden, was selected by the New York Islanders in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2011 draft.
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F Justin Maylan, who played out his eligibility with the Prince Albert Raiders, has signed a tryout deal with the AHL’s Portland Pirates. Maylan is an undrafted free agent. He is joined in Portland by D Harrison Ruopp of the Raiders, who was a third-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft.
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The Kamloops Blazers have announced the signings of two players, including the son of Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston.
D Connor Clouston was a third-round selection in the 2011 WHL bantam draft. He had nine points and 90 penalty minutes in 29 games with the midget AAA Medicine Hat Tigers.
F Brayden Gelsinger, 16, ws listed by the Blazers in September. He had 42 points, including 22 goals, in 41 games with the midget AAA Tisdale, Sask., Trojans.
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There is an interesting line in a story written by Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist that appears in today’s paper and on the newspaper’s website.
Dheensaw, who has covered the Royals all season, noted that F Brandon Magee “appeared in good spirits as he leaned on the glass and offered playful encouragement to his teammates during practice Wednesday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.”
Three paragraphs later, Dheensaw writes:
“The Royals prohibit media from interviewing injured players.”
What we do know is that Magee was injured in the third period of the Royals’ final regular-season game and isn’t expected to play in their first-round series against the Kamloops Blazers.
The Royals may also be without F Robin Soudek and D Zach Habscheid, both of whom missed late-season games with injuries.
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There can be no doubting that the best coaching matchup of the first round is in the series between the Spokane Chiefs and Vancouver Giants.
The two head coaches have combined for 1,073 WHL coaching victories – Don Hay of the Giants is No. 2 on the alltime list, with 556, while Spokane’s Don Nachbaur is sixth, at 517.
Nachbaur has been the WHL’s coach of the year three times, once each with Seattle, Tri-City and Spokane. You know he would trade those for Hay’s three Memorial Cup championships.
According to a Chiefs’ news release: Despite the two having coached against each other for the better part of the last 20-years, “they have met in the WHL playoffs just once – a 3-1 series win in the 1999 Western Conference semi-finals for Hay's Tri-City Americans over Nachbaur's Seattle Thunderbirds.”
The series opens Friday in Vancouver.

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THE MATCHUPS
Eastern Conference
Edmonton (1) vs. Kootenay (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs. Regina (7)
Calgary (3) vs. Brandon (6)
Medicine Hat (4) vs. Saskatoon (5)
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Western Conference
Tri-City (1) vs. Everett (8)
Kamloops (2) vs. Victoria (7)
Portland (3) vs. Kelowna (6)
Vancouver (4) vs. Spokane (5)
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Stefan Ulmer (Spokane, 2007-10) has signed a three-year contract extension with Lugano (Switzerland, NL A). He had one goal and eight assists in 44 games with Lugano this season. The contract extension runs through the 2014-2015 season.
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F Brad Ross of the Portland Winterhawks has signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who selected him in the second round of the NHL’s 2010 draft. Ross had career highs in goals (42) and points (82) this season. He has 245 points, including 109 goals, in 270 games with the Winterhawks. . . . There are four other players on the Portland roster who have NHL contracts — F Sven Baertschi (Calgary), F Oliver Gabriel (Columbus), D Joe Morrow (Pittsburgh) and F Marcel Noebels (Philadelphia).
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G Jon Groenheyde, who concluded his WHL career this season with the Swift Current Broncos, has signed on with the Central league’s Allen Americans. They are coached by former WHLer Dwight Mullins.
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They’ve got a pretty good deal going on in Saskatoon these days where they are choosing some all-time Blades all-star teams.
It’s all the brainchild of the host committee for the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Fans may visit a website and select the Team of the Millennium (200-present) by April 14. After that, fans will have the opportunity to vote for Teams of the Decade  from the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s.
The poll now is open right here.
Cast a ballot and get entered to win game tickets to the 2013 Memorial Cup.
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F Mark McNeill and D Harrison Ruopp of the Prince Albert Raiders will finish up their seasons with AHL teams. . . . McNeill, a first-round selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s 2011 draft, will join the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs, who are six points out of a playoff spot with 12 games left to play. . . . Ruopp, a third-round pick by the Phoenix Coyotes in the NHL’s 2011 draft, is off to join the Portland Pirates, who are two points out of a playoff spot.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will open against the Hitmen in Calgary on Thursday, with Game 2 there on Friday. With the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair having taken over Westman Communications Group Place, the teams will play Games 3, 4 and, if necessary, 5 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on March 25, 27 and 29. . . . The Wheat Kings are 10-4-0 at the MTS Centre; however, in playoff games, they are 3-3. . . . Over the years, the arrival of the Winter Fair has meant the Wheat Kings have played 22 playoff games in Winnipeg. They also played 16 at the Winnipeg Arena, where they were 11-5. . . . Calgary took three of four from the Wheat Kings this season.
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Lorne Molleken, the GM/head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, has told Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that he expects to have D Dalton Thrower, F Michael Burns and F Chris Collins back for their opener against the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Friday. . . . Thrower and Burns have been out with injuries, while Collins missed three games due to personal reasons.

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Silvertips land their man

Doug Soetaert (left), the general manager of the Everett Silvertips,
introduces Mark Ferner as the WHL team's new head coach.
(Photo courtesy Frank Deines III/Everett Silvertips)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Taggart Desmet (Calgary, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy, Serie A). He had 16 goals and 42 assists in 40 games for Brunico (Italy, Serie A) last season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mark Ferner is the new head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Ferner, who spent four years as GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, was introduced to Everett at a news conference there on Wednesday afternoon. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has the story right here. . . .
Guy Carbonneau is out and Marc-Etienne Hubert is in with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Carbonneau, the former NHL player and coach, remains as the club’s president. Hubert is the new head coach after having served as an assistant since 2005. . . . Marc Fortier, a former NHL forward, is the club’s new general manager. . . . Carbonneau had been head coach since February when Richard Martel was fired. . . . Carbonneau’s decision prompted immediate speculation that he would be the next head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils or would be signing on as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He has denied all of that speculation. . . .
Former WHL/NHL D Robert Dirk is the new head coach of the junior B Penticton Lakers. The franchise, which is operated by the Okanagan Hockey Academy, plays in the Kootenay International junior league. Dirk has coaching experience in the United league, as well as the West Coast league and the ECHL. He has been part of the Okanagan Hockey Academy since 2007. . . . Should he so desire, you’ve got to think he will surface in the WHL one of these years. . . .
As was mentioned here on June 14, Sean Gillam (Spokane, 1992-96) is the new head coach of the Southern Professional league’s Fayetteville FireAntz. Gillam was introduced at a Wednesday news conference and Thomas Pope of the Fayetteville Observer was there. His story is right here.
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A Wednesday news release from the ECHL’s Trenton Devils begins:
“Newark, NJ — The ECHL’s Trenton Devils will suspend play beginning with the 2011-12 season. The New Jersey Devils are restructuring the organization’s player development system to be more in line with other NHL franchises. In fact, Trenton was the only ECHL team that was completely owned by an NHL club.
“The Devils purchased a majority interest in the Trenton Titans on Sept. 21, 2006. The team continued to be affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2006-07 season before the Devils took it over as their ECHL – or Class AA – affiliate and changed the name to Trenton Devils.
“Since then, the team has been plagued by steadily declining attendance at Sun National Bank Center. The Trenton Devils finished last in the 19-team ECHL in 2010-11 with an average attendance of just 2,390 in a building that holds 7,605 for hockey. A source said the team has lost money every season since the Devils took over ownership.”
It is somewhat interesting that a press release from a team includes a paraphrased quote from an anonymous source. You don’t see that every day.
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Silvertips have released F Markus McCrea, 19. A native of Canyon Lake, Calif., McCrea had 24 points, including 13 goals, in 175 games over three seasons. . . .
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D Joe Hicketts of Kamloops, who was selected by the Victoria Royals with their first pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft, is the winner of the Hockey Now/B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award. . . . Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has the story right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders report that they have five players scheduled to attend NHL camps. . . . F Mark McNeill, the 18th pick in the NHL’s 2011 draft, will be in the Chicago Blackhawks’ development camp that runs today through Monday. . . . D Harrison Ruopp, a third-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes, is in camp in Peoria, Ariz., from today through Sunday. . . . F Jonathan Parker, 20, is spending this week as an invitee to the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He also has signed an ATO with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. . . . F Brandon Herrod, 20, has been invited to the Coyotes’ camp that opens Sept. 9. . . . D Antoine Corbin has been invited to the San Jose Sharks’ camp that begins Sept. 8.
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Joe Paisley of the Colorado Springs Gazette has the latest on what’s been happening involving U.S. college hockey, including all the rumours of a super league. That piece is right here.
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The AJHL’s Canmore Eagles, under general manager and head coach Andrew Milne, have secured enough capitalization to secure its short-term future.
Daniel Austin of the Canmore Leader has the story right here.

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