Jesse Pearson was an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings last season, his playing career having been derailed by post-concussion syndrome.
But just the other day, the Oil Kings added Sean Brown to their coaching staff, filling a spot that had been held by Pearson.
So . . . whatever happened to Jesse Pearson?
“Things are going well, just working, trying to make money and figuring out classes for next semester,” Pearson, a 21-year-old native of Winnipeg, told me. “Nothing too exciting.”
Pearson actually has returned to Winnipeg where he plans to attend the U of Winnipeg.
Unfortunately, he still has remnants of post-concussion syndrome.
Asked if everything had cleared up, he replied: “No, not really. My head is good but, regardless, I'm always gonna have headaches that I can't get rid of sometimes.”
Pearson’s WHL career amounted to 53 games with the Oil Kings. He played 35 in 2008-09, sat out the 2009-10 season and played 18 games in 2010-11. His career ended after a fight with F Curt Gogol of the Chilliwack Bruins.
But Pearson has a championship ring, thanks to his stint on the coaching staff last season.
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Mark Ferner, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, went to sleep Saturday night with a smile on his face. He woke up today and the smile was still there.
That’s because D Ryan Murray is to report to the Silvertips this week.
TSN reported Saturday that Murray will report despite concerns from his agent, Rick Valette. Yes, Valette was once the GM of the Prince Albert Raiders.
According to TSN, “Valette is concerned that if there is an NHL lockout that lasts several months, when and if the NHL season does begin, Murray will not be allowed to join the Blue Jackets.”
The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Murray with the second pick of the NHL’s 2012 draft.
Bob McKenzie of TSN reported earlier that “there is an agreement in principal between the NHL and the CHL that will allow players to join their NHL clubs should the season start late, but there may be a time limit involved.”
Valette is attempting to get a guarantee in writing that Murray will be allowed to move to the Columbus Blue Jackets whenever the NHL season gets started. That guarantee hasn’t been forthcoming, but Murray will head for Everett regardless.
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The Calgary Hitmen have five 20-year-olds on their roster after having released F Danny Gayle. Gayle, from Calgary, had 39 points, including 15 goals, in 61 games last season. In fact, he had career highs in goals, assists (24) and points. . . . Gayle played 34 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2009-10 and was dealt to the Hitmen early in 2010-11. He has 70 points in 162 career regular-season games. . . . F Trevor Cheek, F Alex Gogolev, D Spencer Humphries, F Brooks Macek and F Cody Sylvester are the 20s remaining on Calgary’s roster. . . . Gogolev, who is from Moscow, would be a two-spotter (20-year-old import) should the Hitmen keep him. Cheek won’t turn 20 until Dec. 29.
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JUST NOTES: The Red Deer Rebels are down to 26 players after assigning two on Saturday night. G Grant Naherniak, 16, is from Moose Jaw and will join the midget AAA Moose Jaw Warriors. D Kevin Pochuk, 17, is from Winnipeg and is off to the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals. . . . Naherniak was a fifth-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft; Pochuk was taken in the fifth round of the 2010 bantam draft.
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The ECHL’s Elmira Jackals are looking for a head coach following the resignation of Pat Bingham on Saturday. . . . "Pat made this decision solely on what was best for his family,” Elmira GM Matt Hufnagel said in a news release. “An opportunity outside of professional hockey presented itself and he took it. While unfortunate that Pat won't be coaching the Jackals this season, we wish him, his wife, and his son the best," said Jackals general manager Matt Hufnagel.” . . . Bingham, 44, is a Vancouver native who played in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers and New Westminster Bruins (1985-89). He was head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers in 2010-11 and the Jackals last season.

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Another player leaves the game

Max Adolph retired on Tuesday.
You can bet the news didn’t cause even a ripple in Shawinigan, Que., where major junior hockey is playing out its season at the Memorial Cup tournament.
Max Adolph?
He was a fourth-round selection by the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft. Adolph’s WHL career ended after just 97 regular-season games, 36 of them in 2010-11, none of them this season. He leaves with 16 points and 52 penalty minutes to his credit.
In the summer of 2009, his parents sent him to Kelowna as a 17-year-old centre with big dreams. He returned to the family home in Saskatoon three years later, having experienced six concussions.
“After assessment from our doctors, we’re doing what is in the best interest of Max,” Bruce Hamilton, the Rockets’ president and general manager, said at the time. “Our medical team has advised Max to avoid body contact and shut his season down for now.”
Adolph, the son of U of Saskatchewan Huskies head coach Dave Adolph, never played again.
Concussion-related problems limited Max to 36 games in 2010-11. He suffered a concussion on Oct. 30, 2010, in Portland, returned in January and was knocked out of the lineup again with another head injury. He tried to return in February but was gone again after just two weeks.
Adolph attended training camp prior to this season but suffered yet another concussion in an exhibition game and was sent home.
“At the time,” Adolph, who turned 20 on April 1, told Regan Bartel, the veteran radio voice of the Rockets, “(going home) didn’t seem like the best decision. But now, (after) going to school and looking back at it, I think it was the better decision rather than risk more injuries and turning into a vegetable.”
It is inconceivable that a WHL player, a young man who has so much to live for, is even thinking about “turning into a vegetable.”
Yes, the time has come for the WHL to take its head out of the sand and get serious about head injuries.
You may recall almost a year ago that the WHL, with great fanfare, announced a seven-step plan aimed at addressing the issues of headshots and concussions.
“The WHL is fully committed to addressing head blows and concussions in a comprehensive manner,” WHL commissioner Ron Robison said in a news release.
The WHL, whose teams had experienced more than 100 concussions during the 2010-11 season, immediately stopped reporting specific injuries on its weekly injury report. Instead, every injury was either of the lower- or upper-body variety. You can bet, however, that concussions didn’t decrease this season in the WHL.
It is time, then, for the WHL to stop with the lip service and do something about the concussions. It is time to start walking the walk.
Any contact with an opponent’s head, no matter how incidental, should be greeted with at least a minor penalty. Referees need to stop erring on the side of caution — more major penalties and game misconducts need to be assessed for headshots.
Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, handles discipline. He needs to stop with the one- and two-game suspensions; he needs to start with five and work up from there.
It also is time for the WHL to outlaw fighting. Granted, a small number of concussions are the result of fights, but even one is too many. A fighting major should be accompanied by a game misconduct. There also should be a sliding suspension scale for those inclined to fight on a regular or semi-regular basis.
And please don’t try feeding me the nonsense about how getting rid of fighting will lead to an increase in stickwork. There are referees on the ice who should be calling the penalties.
Remember, too, that as the Edmonton Oil Kings play through the aforementioned Memorial Cup, their roster is missing two players.
Veteran forward Colton Stephenson retired without playing even one game this season. Five concussions meant his career line ended with 17 points in 70 games. Stephenson will turn 20 on July 16.
Jesse Pearson, a defenceman who turned 21 on March 13, got into 18 games last season. He never played again after suffering a concussion in a fight on Dec. 17, 2010. Pearson now is an assistant coach with the Oil Kings.
The list of players who have retired due to concussion-related issues grows longer and longer. It includes Jesse Wallin, the Red Deer Rebels’ general manager and head coach, Kelowna assistant coach Ryan Cuthbert, former Tri-City Americans forward Taylor Procyshen and on and on.
That list now includes Max Adolph. It soon may include Joey Hishon.
Joey Hishon?
You may remember him from the 2011 Memorial Cup. It was May 21, 2011, when Hishon, a forward in his fourth season with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, was on the receiving end of an ugly elbow to the head from Kootenay Ice defenceman Brayden McNabb.
McNabb was suspended for one game. This season, he played 25 games with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, and another 45 with their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Joey Hishon?
A first-round selection by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2010 NHL draft, Hishon hasn’t played since May 21, 2011.

ASK THE COMMISSIONER:
Mr. Commissioner, do you really think it is appropriate for the WHL to have a Facebook page on which fans are permitted to unceremoniously rip players by name?
(Example: What a joke . . . Gotta bench (player name) . . . Worst defenceman ever in the whl. Who else tries too go thru 2 (other team’s) players in front your own net. Do us a favor (player name). Retire now before you screw up our chances of making the playoffs.)
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JUST NOTES:
I meant to mention this yesterday in report on the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 9-5 victory over the host Calgary Hitmen. . . . Calgary D Brock Sutherland scored his first goal of this season, in his 53rd game. He played two games with the Tri-City American and 51 with the Hitmen. . . . He now has eight goals in 237 career games. . . . As he tweeted: “Me, Chris Phillips, and Scotty Gomez all just takin' a casual year off before we decide we're due to score! #iamwhatiam #worldjs” . . . Sutherland had last scored on Feb. 19 as the Americans lost 6-2 to the visiting Spokane Chiefs.
Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that F Dominick Favreau of the Brandon Wheat Kings didn’t practise Thursday. Favreau came back from a shoulder injury to play in a 3-2 victory over the host Regina Pats on Wednesday, but left in the first period after absorbing a check. . . . Brandon is at home to the Swift Current Broncos tonight. . . .
The Wheat Kings will honour two players prior to tonight’s game. D Brodie Melnychuk, 20, became the eighth player in franchise history to play 300 regular-season games in a Wheat Kings uniform last weekend. The others? Randy Ponte (300), Ryan Craig (302), Dale McMullin (309), Aaron Goldade (310), Tim Konsorada (311), Lance Monych (319) and current assistant coach Dwayne Gylywoychuk (323). . . . As well, the Brandon Sun will present F Mark Stone with the prestigious 2011 H.L. Krug Crawford Memorial Medal. It goes annually to a sportsperson of the year in southwestern Manitoba. . . . Stone is the 13th player from the Wheat Kings organization to be so honoured, joining Brayden Schenn, Mark Derlago, Eric Fehr, Jordin Tootoo, Cory Cyrenne, Marty Murray, Trevor Kidd, Ray Ferraro, Glen Hanlon, Ron Chipperfield and Juha Widing. As well, Kelly McCrimmon, Dunc McCallum, Jack Brockest and Jake Milford, all members of Brandon’s front office, were recipients of the medal. . . .
The Calgary Hitmen have lost three of four after winning 14 of 15. The Hitmen are at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors tonight and Kootenay Ice on Sunday before heading into the B.C. Division and games in Victoria, Kelowna and Kamloops. . . . The Hitmen, who won 9-3 in Victoria on Jan. 3, will have a travel day between the games in Victoria and Kelowna. . . .
The Vancouver Giants have signed F Carter Popoff, 16, who was placed on their protected list in October. Popoff, from Richmond, B.C., has 52 points in 35 games with the junior B Richmond Sockeyes. . . .
F Brendan Gallagher of the Vancouver Giants needs one goal to tie F Adam Courchaine’s franchise career record of 126. Gallagher needs 10 points to equal Courchaine’s franchise record of 273 and is 17 assists short of D Jonathon Blum’s franchise record 155. . . . The Giants are at home to Everett tonight.
Alistair McInnis of the Prince George Free Press reports that the Cougars may get some of their injured plays back for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . G Drew Owsley, F Alex Forsberg, F Jarrett Fontaine and F Caleb Belter should all be back in action. However, D Dan Gibb is questionable, while D Reid Jackson and D Shane Pilling won’t play. As well, F Brock Hirsche and F John Odgers both have shoulder injuries that may have ended their seasons. . . .
The Everett Silvertips are 7-9-1 since D Ryan Murray returned from the World Junior Championship. . . . The Silvertips now are three points out of a playoff spot. They go home-and-home with the Vancouver Giants tonight and Saturday. They are north tonight and south on Saturday. . . . Of the Royals’ next 13 games, six will be against Prince George and Everett. The Royals will spend next weekend in Prince George. . . .
Medicine Hat Tigers F Emerson Etem has 49 goals in his first 48 games this season. He also takes a 16-game point streak into a game against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders tonight. He has 21 goals and seven assists in those 16 games. . . .
A tip of the cap to Andy Neal, the former radio voice of the Prince George Cougars who now works with the Victoria Cougars, for some of the info and stats here today. . . . Check out his latest Neal’s Notes right here. Lots of good stuff in this package. . . .
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F Ryan Johansen, who could still be playing with the Portland Winterhawks, was a healthy scratch for a fourth straight game last night. He plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team with the NHL’s poorest record. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch blogged about Johansen’s situation on Thursday. That is right here.
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In an open letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Ralph Nader (yes, that Ralph Nader) has called for an end to fighting.
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Just when you thought you have heard/seen everything, you gain access to a YouTube video from an Ontario junor A game that goes to a shootout. But one goaltender gets tossed and the first shooter gets to take four shots. It’s all right here, and you can decide for which team the play-by-play guy is cheering.
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports has more on this debacle right here.
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Cam Tait of the Edmonton Journal has a piece right here on Jesse Pearson. His career was cut short by concussion-related problems and he now is an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings.


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