Should Canadian hockey fans be concerned? . . . Raiders add assistant coach

Nice work Rider Nation. #riderpool pic.twitter.com/YcX2dp7Ct0

— Brad Wall (@PremierBradWall) August 10, 2016

D Jim Vandermeer (Red Deer, 1997-2001) has signed a one-year extension with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, UK Elite). He had two goals and 10 assists in 13 games last season. . . .

D David Němeček (Saskatoon, 2013-14) has signed a tryout contract with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). Last season, with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL), he had two goals and seven assists in 60 games.

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Team Canada, you will recall, finished sixth at the 2016 World Junior Championship in Helsinki.

Last week, Canada went 0-3 in a four-country summer tournament in Plymouth, Mich.

On Wednesday, Canada’s eight-year golden run ended at the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Hey, Canada, what’s wrong?

After the three losses in Plymouth, Team Canada head coach Dominique Ducharme claimed that he isn't worried. “In August?” he said. “Not really. We’re building, putting in the combinations for Christmas.”

However, there are those who get paid to watch these games who feel that Canada should be concerned.

As Bob Duff, who was in Plymouth, wrote in the Windsor Star: “A Hockey Canada veteran, a former Olympian who was among the scores of NHL people here to scout the event, suggested that the Canadians were the victims of over-coaching, that their natural talents were being squeezed out of their game by the obsessive need to play within the system.

“An NHL GM went as far as to suggest that the European teams are better coached in the ways of the game than Canada, and certainly the Swedes and Finns played with much more flow and skill than was exhibited by Canada.

“The Canadians looked rigid, like they were thinking too much instead of reacting to situations. They always appeared to be a step slower than their opponents. Passes went nowhere, or often to the stick on an opponent.”

Duff also had this: “An NHL scout suggested that beyond (Mitch) Marner and Tyson Jost, there might not be another Canadian who thinks the game well, simply because in today’s robotic style of hockey, where blocked shots are a treasured statistic, thinking isn’t in vogue.”

Look, it has become most apparent that Canada’s U-18 and U-20 teams are struggling to stay in the top four of their age groups. In fact, with the Russians and Czechs also in the hunt, you could make a case for their being a top six.

The Canadian way of sticking to a system at all costs and grinding out greasy goals just doesn’t cut it anymore. If you are a regular watcher of major junior games, you know that most teams in your favourite league play those systemic games, too. Cycle. Grind. Crash the net. Cycle. Grind. Crash the net. Gotta get those greasy goals.

The problem, of course, is that there are too many major junior teams for the size of the talent pool. A team without an abundance of skill has a better chance of winning by grinding, blocking shots and limiting the other team’s scoring chances. The stakes are high, too, and jobs are on the line, so better to increase the chances of winning by installing those systems.

However, it is all but impossible for coaches and players to transition from that kind of system to one that allows them to run and gun on offence — all the while showing defensive responsibility — for a month in mid-season. 

Meanwhile, the Swedes, Finns and Americans have chosen to unleash the hounds on offence, something that has put plenty of imagination into that part of their game.

The other day in Plymouth, the Americans dominated the early part of the second period against Canada to the point where at one point they had 16 straight shots on goal.

Still, Ducharme plays the Alfred E. Neuman card — “What, me worry?” — at least on the outside.

Duff’s complete piece is right here.

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The Prince Albert Raiders have added Brandin Cote to their staff as an assistant coach. He fills the spot created when Kelly Guard stepped aside. Cote will work alongside head coach Marc Habscheid and associate coach Dave Manson. Guard remains with the Raiders as their goaltending consultant. . . . Cote, who is from Swift Current, spent the past two seasons as head coach of the midget AAA Red Deer Optimist Chiefs. He spent two seasons (2012-14) coaching the Bentley, Alta., Generals, a senior team that won the 2013 Allan Cup. He also has coached with the Red Deer College Kings and Red Deer College Queens. As a player, he spent 1996-2002 with the Spokane Chiefs, putting up 255 points in 352 regular-season games. . . . There is a complete news release right here.

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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.

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Jeff Woywitka is the new assistant coach with the AJHL’s Sherwood Park Crusaders. He fills the vacancy created when Shawn Belle left to join the Edmonton-based NAIT Oooks as an assistant coach. . . . Woywitka will work with head coach Adam Manah. . . . Woywitka, 32, is from Vermilion, Alta.. He played four seasons (1999-2003) with the Red Deer Rebels before going to a pro career that included 278 NHL games. He last played in Germany, spending two seasons (2013-15) with the DEL’s Augsburger Panther.

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Trump Tower climber is now climbing on Michael Phelps back. 💀 pic.twitter.com/GrmMv4lNd7

— Dylan (@DylansFreshTake) August 11, 2016

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OHL adjusts player benefits; was it a gaggeroo?

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Jeff Woywitka (Red Deer, 1999-2003) has signed a one-year extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). He has eight points, two of them goals, in 30 games this season.
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Darrell Romuld of CTV in Regina tweeted Thursday afternoon that Pats “defenceman Jesse Zgraggen has signed a 2 year deal with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss elite league starting next year.” . . . Zgraggen, 20, is from Lethbridge. He began his WHL career with the Victoria Royals and was moved to the Calgary Hitmen last season. The Hitmen dealt him to Regina early this season. He has 21 points, four of them goals, in 42 games with the Pats. In his career, he has 62 points, including 12 goals, in 246 games.
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Sunaya Sapurji of Yahoo! Canada reported Thursday afternoon that the OHL is making changes to its player benefit packages.
Sapurji writes: “Yahoo Canada has learned that the two most significant amendments to its current program for players focuses on the OHL’s education packages and a new monthly reimbursement plan – covering a number of items like gas, clothing and other incidentals like food – for up to $470. OHL commissioner David Branch, said the initiatives were ratified by the league’s board of governors in August and are now being implemented.”
The biggest news involves giving players who don’t sign NHL contracts another 12 months to decide on using their education packages.
The full report is right here.
From a WHL perspective, it is especially interesting that the OHL also is moving to what Sapjurji refers to as a “reimbursement plan” that involves money to be used for such things as cell phone bills.
As well, “teams will also give each player maximum allowance of $1,000 to put towards their summer training – both on and off the ice. It's another move for the betterment of the players and one that helps relieve some of the financial burdens on parents.”
You may recall that cell phone bills for captains and offseason training expenses were part of the scandal that enveloped the WHL and the Portland Winterhawks in November 2012.
With the OHL having made these moves, you know the WHL won’t be far behind. You have to wonder, though, just how the small-market teams will find room in their budgets to cover even more expenses when new revenue streams are few and far between and attendance isn’t showing much, if any, of an upswing.
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It isn’t often that anyone in the junior hockey world criticizes Hockey Canada.
That wasn’t the case Thursday.
First, Garth Snow, the general manager of the NHL’s New York Islanders, expressed outrage after his team lost F John Tavares for the remainder of this season. Tavares suffered a knee injury in Canada’s 2-1 victory over Latvia at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi on Wednesday.
"Are the IIHF or IOC going to reimburse our season-ticket holders now?" Snow asked rhetorically, according to a report in New York's Newsday.
"It's a joke. They want all the benefits from NHL players in Olympics and don't want to pay when our best player gets hurt. . . . We lost our best player and he wasn’t playing for us.”
Later in the day, Dallas Thompson, the general manager of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, tweeted: “Feeling Garth Snow's feeling. Dana Tyrell was lost for a year. Hockey Canada does not feel for you or the shit u have to deal with.”
Obviously, Thompson still feels the sting of a knee injury suffered by Tyrell prior to the 2009 world junior championship. Tyrell had 40 points, including 19 goals, in 30 games with the Cougars when he left to join Canada’s national junior team. However, Tyrell suffered a season-ending knee injury in a pre-tournament game against Sweden and never played another game for the Cougars, who ultimately were a first-round playoff casualty in the spring of 2009.
It would seem that Thompson hasn’t forgotten.
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If you’re interested in more on Matt Marotta, the peewee hockey player from Prince George, there’s more right here in a story written by Andrea Johnson and Ted Clarke of the Prince George Citizen. Yes, the Prince George Minor Hockey Association is looking into what happened. The team’s head coach chose not to comment.
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A thought or two about a couple of WHL goaltenders, both of whom got some heat in the first half of this season . . .
Taran Kozun, a 19-year-old from Nipawin, Sask., opened the season as the Kamloops Blazers’ go-to guy. In 29 appearances, he was 5-19-3, 3.95, .897.
In January, Kozun was dealt to the Seattle Thunderbirds. In 14 games with Seattle, he is 11-3-0, 1.75, .944. Oh, and he has put up four shutouts, which is four more than he had in Kamloops.
With Kamloops, Kozun was seeing 38.2 shots per game; with Seattle that number is 31.1.
The Thunderbirds have allowed 203 goals, which doesn’t give then a stellar defensive record, but it is better than the 253 goals that have been surrendered by the Blazers. Still, I think it’s safe to assume that Kozun sees not only fewer shots but fewer shots from prime scoring areas in Seattle than he did in Kamloops.
Meanwhile, there’s Corbin Boes, a 20-year-old from Saskatoon. He was 5-24-4, 4.11, .900 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes when he was dealt to the Portland Winterhawks for whom he now is 8-0-1, 2.73, .908.
I think it’s safe to say that Boes’ .900 save percentage with Lethbridge, the poorest defensive team in the WHL, may be one of the most surprising numbers in the WHL this season.
With Lethbridge, Boes was seeing 41.1 shots per game. That number with Portland is 29.6. Granted, Boes’ time in Portland presents us with a small sample size, just 550 minutes over nine appearances. But he has taken over the No. 1 job with Brendan Burke out with an illness.
The bottom line to all of this is that you have to think Kozun and Boes both feel as though they were January lottery winners. It will be interesting to watch both these goaltenders to see how they fare in the playoffs. One thing is for sure . . . you know they will be hungry.
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The Brandon Wheat Kings will be without D Colton Waltz for their next two games as he completes what has been set as a three-game suspension. That is for an unpenalized hit on Regina Pats F Dryden Hunt on Feb. 17 in Regina. Hunt is out indefinitely with a suspected brain injury. Waltz will miss home games Friday (Calgary Hitmen) and Saturday (Moose Jaw Warriors). . . . Meanwhile, Lethbridge Hurricanes F Carter Amson ended up with a two-game sentence for a checking-from-behind major against the Oil Kings in Edmonton. He will complete that suspension on Saturday when the Hurricanes meet the host Medicine Hat Tigers.
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The Everett Silvertips have added G Nik Amundrun to their roster and say that he is expected to stay with them for the remainder of the season. A third-round selection in the 2012 bantam draft, Amundrud has spent ample time with the Silvertips but has yet to make his WHL debut. He will be in uniform this weekend as Everett plays three games in three nights – at home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday and the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday, and at the Tri-City Americans on Saturday. . . . Amundrud, from Melville, Sask., was 9-2-1, 2.81 with the North East Wolfpack, a midget AA team in Saskatchewan Centre Four Hockey League.
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has his take: “Amundrud's presence is required because goaltender Daniel Cotton and winger Darcy DeRoose remain suspended by the team. The duo was suspended indefinitely last week for violating team rules, and their suspensions remain indefinite. Amundrud being called up for the remainder of the season suggests those indefinite suspensions may be lasting a while longer.”
With Cotton suspended, the Silvertips are riding Austin Lotz.
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Greg Gatto (Portland, Regina, Spokane, Brandon, 1990-92) was fired earlier this week after nine seasons as head coach of the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
The Pronghorns were 80-143-20 and made three playoff appearances under Gatto, who also played five seasons at the U of Lethbridge. This season, they went 4-21-3 and missed the Canada West playoffs. . . . The search for a replacement started immediately.
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Some thoughts from one observer on THE women’s hockey game . . .
Yes, the Canadian women won, but they certainly were the beneficiaries of some breaks, so let’s not have any whining if the Canadian men don’t get any today. It could be that the hockey gods already have spoken. . . . Canada’s first goal -- it was Brianne Jenner’s first point of the tournament -- went in off the right knee of American defender Kacey Bellamy. . . . At 2-1, Kelli Stack of the U.S., with a long clearance, hit the left post of a vacated Canadian net. Had that puck been an inch to the right, the game would have been over with 1:25 left to play. . . . Prior to the equalizer, Canadian F Marie-Philip Poulin made a tremendous play along the boards on the left side of the offensive zone that allowed her side to maintain possession. . . . Canadian head coach Kevin Dineen showed absolutely no emotion when Poulin tied the score. Makes you wonder how much fun these coaches have in games such as this one. . . . As for the penalties in OT: Joy Tottman, a British referee in her third Olympics, had no choice but to call Canada’s Catherine Ward for cross-checking at 6:09. The slashing call on American Jocelyn Lamoureux -- CBC-TV play-by-play man Mark Lee referred to her as the “chippy American forward” -- six seconds later was a call to be made early in a game when you are trying to set the tone, not in overtime after numerous infractions have been ignored. . . . Which brings us to the breakaway by Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser and the cross-checking call on the U.S.’s Hilary Knight. Well, it wasn’t cross-checking; calling it that makes you wonder if Tottman saw what actually happened. Knight was in the process of catching Wickenheiser from behind. In striding, Wickenheiser’s left heel struck Knight’s right leg, then both of their right legs bumped. Wickenheiser went down and Canada, practically en masse, screamed: PENALTY SHOT! . . . I don’t think it should even have been a penalty, considering that Wickenheiser’s right leg initiated the original contact. . . . No matter. On the ensuing PP, the U.S. twice had possession of the puck in its zone but wasn’t able to get it all the way down the ice. Instead, the Canadians regained possession in the neutral zone, set up in the offensive zone and Poulin pumped home the winner. She also had two goals four years ago when Canada beat the U.S. in the championship game in Vancouver. She is our golden girl, no doubt about that. . . . Whatever you do, don’t forget about the contribution made by Canadian G Shannon Szabados, whose play in the first period prevented the Americans from running away with this one early. . . . You couldn’t pay me enough to officiate women’s hockey games because of the rule against bodychecking. That rule puts the referee in a no-win situation because he/she has to decide what is/isn’t a bodycheck. . . . The bottom line, however, is that the U.S. had a 2-0 lead with fewer than four minutes remaining and couldn’t hold it. . . . Michael Wilbon of ESPN’s PTI offered: “This felt like a gaggeroo.”
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THURSDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
No games scheduled.
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FRIDAY’S WHL GAMES (all times local):
Medicine Hat at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Victoria at Regina, 7 p.m.
Calgary at Brandon, 7:30 p.m.
Swift Current at Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Spokane at Kootenay, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Red Deer, 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Portland, 7 p.m.
Kelowna at Prince George, 7 p.m.
Prince Albert at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
Seattle at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
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From CellPhones@PlaneTix (@hawkeyblog): “Upon reading @sunayas write about the #OHL teams now being able to pay the kids cell phone bills & cover offseason training . . . I'd sure like those 1st rounders back for the @pdxwinterhawks. Paging @CHLHockey commish Branch: can you help a guy out? #whl”

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Fiddler lands with Cougars

THE MacBETH REPORT:



D Jeff Woywitka (Red Deer, 1999-2003) has signed for the rest of the season with Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). Last season, with the Peoria Rivermen (AHL), he had 11 points, including one goal, in 34 games. . . .





D Ray Macias (Kamloops, 2002-07) has been released by the Braehead Clan Glasgow (Scotland, UK Elite). He had five points, two of them goals, in eight games. Macias was signed as an injury replacement for D Kenton Smith (Calgary, 1995-2000), who was cleared to return to action on Monday.
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This story about the closing of a Waffle House will be the best thing you read today. Maybe the best story you will read this week or this month. Click right here. You won't be disappointed.
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Remember the WHL feature Ask the Commissioner? Well, the show is going on the road.
Ron Robison, the commissioner of the WHL, will be in Kelowna on Thursday where he and Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets president/general manager and the chairman of the WHL's board of governors, will take part in a question-and-answer session.
According to a Rockets news release, "seating will be open to the first 100 season-ticket holders to RSVP . . ."
Regan Bartel, the Rockets' radio voice, will serve as moderator and, on his blog, he reports that "over one hundred Kelowna Rockets season-ticket holders" will get to share in the fun.
Bartel suggests on his blog that "one of the issues that will likely surface is last year's playoffs where officiating, particularly in a second-round series with Kamloops, appeared to be one-sided."
So that's one question for Ask the Commish — why did the officiating suck in that series? With Bartel having suggested one question, here as a public service are a few more:
1. How interested is the WHL in getting a franchise into Winnipeg under the ownership of True North Sport & Entertainment?
2. Assuming the WHL wants into Winnipeg, would it prefer to put an expansion franchise in there or to move one of its existing small-market teams?
3. It seems that team expenses continue to rise while revenues appear to have gone flat. That being the case, is anything being done to help out the small-market teams?
4. Is revenue sharing in the WHL's future?
5. How much concern is there in the WHL office that attendance in Kelowna has dropped by about 1,000 per game from two seasons ago?
6. While it's nice to be able to watch WHL games on Shaw, why does the WHL feel it's important to have its games on TV, especially early in the season?
7. How much impact does having those games on live TV have on the gate for those  televised games?
8. On Oct. 30, the Kootenay Ice played in Red Deer and the game was televised on Shaw. Attendance was announced as 4,209 but anyone who watched knows there weren't nearly that many people in the building. Would the WHL consider having its teams announce true attendance figures (bums in the seats) from games, rather than number of tickets in distribution or whatever it is they announce now?
9. The chances of a franchise landing in Nanaimo appear to be slim and none. Will the WHL or the Victoria Royals consider paying travel subsidies to help teams cover the expenses incurred when having to travel to Vancouver Island?
10. How can the WHL penalize players for checking an opponent to the head — in some instances, players are even suspended for that foul — while allowing two players to stand and punch each other in the head?
11. How many brain injuries have been incurred by WHL players over the last two seasons?
12. What all went into the WHL's decision not to publish its annual Guide?
13. In this video age where teams put their highlights online, why are teams allowed to give phantom assists to players who don't deserve them?
14. Taking Ask the Commissioner on the road is a great idea. Do you have a session planned for Portland?
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Controversy over an apparent brain injury has come to British soccer after a goalkeeper was knocked unconscious during a Sunday game but was allowed to stay in the game. Sam Borden of The New York Times has more right here.
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The Regina Pats have trimmed two players from their roster and added a goaltender. . . . D Stephen Hak, 19, and F Patrick D'Amico, 19, have both been released. Hak came over from the Red Deer Rebels last season. From Winnipeg, he had 10 points in 73 games with Regina.This season, he had five assists in 16 games. D'Amico had three points, including one goal, in 13 games this season. . . . The Pats also added G Nicholas Schneider, 16, from the midget AAA Leduc, Alta., Chrysler Oil Kings. He will support Dawson MacAuley, following the release of G Mac Engel, 20.
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F Todd Fiddler, who scored 42 goals last season for the Spokane Chiefs, has been acquired by the Prince George Cougars. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors got Fiddler from the Chiefs over the offseason, but dropped him last week. He had 10 points in 14 games with the Warriors, but had been a healthy scratch three times. . . . In 228 regular-season WHL games, split among the Medicine Hat Tigers, Prince Albert Raiders, Spokane and Moose Jaw, Fiddler, from Meadow Lake, Sask., has 153 points, including 79 goals. . . . The Cougars gave the Warriors a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . Fiddler's arrival will leave the Cougars with three 20-year-olds, the others being F Klarc Wilson and D Peter Kosterman. . . . The Cougars next play Friday when they meet the Rockets in Kelowna.
Katie Brickman of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more on the trade right here, including Warriors general manager Alan Millar on whether a junior A team may have tampered with Fiddler.
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Former NHL D Jamie Macoun sometimes can't remember the names of his children. He can't remember his dog's name. . . . So he is all for the funding that the Canadian government announced Monday will be used for new research into brain injuries in children and youths. . . . Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press has more right here.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes announced Monday that D Kristian Khenkel will be permitted to join the WHL team after playing for his native Belarus at the IIHF World Junior Championship (Division I Group A) in Sanok, Poland, Dec. 15-21. From Minsk, Khenkel will turn 18 on Thursday. . . . The Hurricanes selected Khenkel in the first round of the CHL's 2013 import draft. However, the IIHF had refused to approve Khenkel's international transfer, choosing to validate a contract he had signed in 2011 at 14 years of age.
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George Johnson of the Calgary Herald is one of our country's best wordsmiths. Right here is a piece on Herm (Ham Hands) Harrison, one of the greatest of all tight ends to have played in the CFL. Harrison, who starred with the Calgary Stampeders, died on Saturday.
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Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports that Saskatoon Blades D Aryton Nikkel, who has been out since Oct. 25, won't play until sometime after the weekend. . . . Steve Hildebrand, the Blades' athletic trainer, told Bowman that Nikkel won't play for "another week or two." . . . Nikkel, 18, suffered an undisclosed injury in a fight with Evan Polei of the Red Deer Rebels.
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F Anthony Ast of the Vancouver Giants isn't expected to play tonight against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . According to Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province, Ast didn't practice Monday thanks to an undisclosed injury. Ast, who has six points, including three goals, in 18 games this season, missed 64 games over his first two seasons.
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From Todd Vrooman (@ToddVrooman), the play-by-play voice of the Portland Winterhawks: "The @pdxwinterhawks have trailed for a grand total of 7:15 during their entire 11-game winning streak."


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