Blades, Chiefs sign imports . . . Pats, Blue Jays to stage promotion

D Mitch Versteeg (Lethbridge, 2006-09) has signed a one-year contract with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga). Last season, with Kaufbeuren (Germany, DEL2), he had five goals and 10 assists with 33 games. . . .

F Carter Proft (Brandon, Spokane, 2010-14) has been assigned on loan by Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL) to the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2) for all of the 2016-17 season. Proft signed a two-year contract with Mannheim in May. Last season, with Kassel, he had 13 goals and 12 assists in 51 games.

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Dorothy, my wife of more than 44 years, is preparing to take part for a third straight year in the Kidney Walk. In Kamloops, the big day is on Sept. 25.

On Saturday morning, Dorothy was informed that she and her friend Margaret Thompson are to be co-honourees for this edition of the Kidney Walk. Both women have had kidney transplants and have played important roles in the formation of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group (KKSG).

If you aren’t aware, Dorothy was born with one kidney. By the time we discovered that, in 1981, it already was malfunctioning. Eventually, she would do peritoneal dialysis for four years before she was able to get a kidney through the Living Donor Paired Exchange program.

These days, she lives a normal life, snapping at me the way she always has. LOL! She loves to bake — yes, Christmas is great in these parts. She was introduced to our first grandchild — Kara Sky Drinnan — in Burnaby on the August long weekend. Yes, she is doing just fine.

And she will be walking to benefit the Kidney Foundation on Sept. 25 at MacDonald Park in Kamloops.

If you would like to support her, please click right here.

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CTV Winnipeg reported Saturday that Braden Pettinger is making progress as he works to recover from a terrible injury suffered in an MJHL game on Nov. 12, 2015. A defenceman with the Portage Terriers, Pettinger was injured when he crashed into the boards during a home game. . . . The CTV report is right here.

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The hockey season is almost upon us, so the gang at dubnetwork.ca started posting its WHL team-by-team previews on Sunday. They’re appearing in reverse order of last season’s standings, which means the Kootenay Ice are first up. That look at the Ice is right here.

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The Regina Pats have unveiled a set of uniforms that they will wear on Blue Jays Night, when they play host to the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 6. . . . “The jerseys went through an approval process with both Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays to ensure a faithful recreation of the Jays uniform in a hockey setting,” reads a news release from the Pats. . . . The sweaters will be auctioned off the night of the game, with proceeds supporting the Jays Care Foundation, which creates opportunities for at-risk children and youth in Canada.

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The Saskatoon Blades have signed Russian D Mark Rubinchuk, 17, just two days after he helped his country to a bronze medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Slovakia. He had three assists in five games at the tournament. . . . Rubinchuk was selected by the Blades in the 2016 CHL import draft. . . . Rubinchuk joins Czech d Libor Hajek, 18, as the Blades’ two import players. Hajek was a second-round selection by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL’s 2016 draft.

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The Spokane Chiefs have signed Czech forwards Pavel Kousal and Ondrej Najman, both of whom were selected in the 2016 CHL import draft. They are expected to be in training camp when it opens in Spokane on Aug. 25. . . . Last season, they were teammates, and often linemates, with the Dukla Juhlava UJ-20 team. Kousal had 43 points, 20 of them goals, in 38 games, while Najman had 18 goals and 26 assists in 38 games. . . . Both played at the IIHF’s 2016 U-18 World Championship. Kousal had three assists in five games, while Najman had three goals and three assists. . . . The Chiefs now have three imports on their roster, the other being veteran F Dominic Zwerger of Austria. Spokane will have to get down to the maximum of two early in the regular season. The options would be to trade or release Zwerger, or release one of the other two. An import player can’t be traded during his freshman season.

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Jim Swanson, the managing partner of baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats, has been named the West Coast League’s executive of the year. The HarbourCats set WCL regular-season records with 40 victories and a 19-game winning streak. They are the first team in WCL history to win 40 games in one regular season. Swanson, who completed his second season as managing partner, is part of a four-person ownership group. . . . The HarbourCats reached the playoffs for the first time, but were swept from a first-round best-of-three series by the Bellingham, Wash., Bells. . . . Swanson covered the WHL and the Prince George Cougars for a number of seasons while sports editor of the Prince George Citizen.

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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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This is a couple of days old, but . . .

The NFL has officially arrived in LA!! https://t.co/9TMzOV2Ttp pic.twitter.com/fXZGHZDXPI

— Shelley Smith (@ShelleyESPN) August 13, 2016

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Who is next head coach of Wheat Kings? . . . Regina Pats mourn death of a friend

1. Were I a betting man, I would put a bob or two on David Anning as the next head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings. An assistant coach in Brandon for four seasons, Anning ran the bench when Kelly McCrimmon was with Team Canada at the 2016 World Junior Championship.

2. The Kamloops Blazers are going to need a third goaltender at the ready because Connor Ingram is firmly in the picture with Canada’s national junior team. He made two appearances with Canada at a summer camp in Plymouth, Mich. He stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first half of a 2-1 OT loss to Finland on Wednesday. On Saturday, he started against the U.S., and gave up three goals in a 5-1 loss. But he played a whole lot better than that — and he looked good doing it — as the U.S. dominated the Canadians. At one point in the first part of the second period, the Americans had 16 straight shots.

3. BTW, Canada went 0-3 in Plymouth. It scored one goal in each of its games. It was 0-for-12 on the PP. Hey, I’m just sayin’ . . .

4. I didn’t watch a lot of hockey from Plymouth, but the one thing I took away from what I did see is that Team USA is big and strong and fast up front. Team Canada, for one, will be young on the back end and is going to have to find a way to deal with those American forwards.

5. The sooner the Frog Lake Indian Band gets a shovel in the ground for its project near Lloydminster, Alta., the better for all concerned.

6. Why am I excited for the start of another WHL season? The No. 1 reason is a chance to watch Victoria Royals forward Matt Phillips in his sophomore season. He may be the most exciting player to come into the WHL since Theo Fleury.

7. When the Brandon Wheat Kings name a head coach, it will mean that seven WHL teams will have turned over that position since the end of last season. I don’t know what it means but only one of those teams — the Saskatoon Blades — promoted an assistant coach to the head job. If the Wheat Kings go with David Anning that would make two.

8. Will this be the last season for the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook? That may depend on the Frog Lake people and that shovel.

9. Does John Paddock have two seasons left as the head coach of the Regina Pats? If the Pats were to be named the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup, it would be perfect for him to guide them through that season and then turn the reins over to Dave Struch and focus on being the general manager.

10. Weren’t the Olympics easier to watch on TV when everything was on one channel?

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Gary Renner, a long-time off-ice official with the Regina Pats, has died. He passed away Friday in Regina at the age of 70. One of hockey’s good guys, Renner worked in the penalty box at Pats’ games for a long time. . . . A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday. . . . There is more information right here. . . . The Pats honoured Renner as a ‘Builder’ on March 12, 2014. He had been a volunteer with them for 44 years.

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The Victoria HarbourCats set a West Coast League record on Sunday as they beat the visiting Yakima Valley Pippins, 11-4, for their 40th victory of the season. The victory, on the final day of the regular season, broke the record for most victories in a season that had been held by the 2011 Wenatchee AppleSox. . . . Jim Swanson, a former sports editor at the Prince George Citizen who covered the Cougars and the WHL for a number of years, is Victoria’s managing partner and runs baseball operations. . . . The HarbourCats finished with a 40-14 record. . . . The game drew 2,506 fans to Royal Athletic Park, allowing the HarbourCats to set a WCL single-season attendance record of 60,466. . . . Victoria opens a best-of-three first-round playoff series against the Bellingham Bells on Tuesday. Games 2 and 3, if needed, are scheduled for Victoria on Wednesday and Thursday.

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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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Just another day in @dtkamloops #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/7mCwAjE0EA

— Green Megs and Spam (@PirateMeghan) August 7, 2016

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Cooper Holick tells his story . . . Habscheid gets four years from Raiders . . . Great day for Thoma

F Ty Morris (Swift Current, Vancouver, Red Deer, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Peiting (Germany, Oberliga). This season, with Landshut (Germany, DEL2), he had 13 goals and 16 assists in 45 games. he is a dual Dual Canadian-German citizen.
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:

No Games Scheduled.
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KELOWNA VS. PORTLAND: The Winterhawks are scheduled to leave for Kelowna this morning. . . . The Winterhawks are the first team to reach five straight conference finals in the WHL’s bantam draft era. . . . Another note from a Winterhawks’ news release: “The five straight appearances in the conference final tie the Winterhawks for the second-longest streak in WHL history, a feat also accomplished by the Medicine Hat Tigers and New Westminster Bruins. The Kamloops Blazers hold the record with 13 straight from 1984-96.” . . . Each team has a first-year head coach. Kelowna’s Dan Lambert moved up from assistant coach when Ryan Huska left for the Calgary Flames’ organization as head coach of the AHL’s Adirondack Flames. In Portland, Jamie Kompon, who had been an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, took over from Mike Johnston, who now is head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

BRANDON VS. CALGARY: These teams last met in the playoffs in the spring of 2012, with the Wheat Kings winning the first-round series in five games. They took Game 5 in OT in a game that was played at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. . . . They last met in the Eastern Conference final in 2010. The Hitmen won that series and went on to earn the WHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup, which was played in Brandon that year. The Wheat Kings beat Calgary in the semifinal game at the Memorial Cup and then lost to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in the final. . . . The Wheat Kings had F Ty Lewis, a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, at practice on Tuesday, and he will be there again today. Lewis started the season with the Wheat Kings, but a broken arm limited him to two games. He spent the latter half of the season with the midget AAA Wheat Kings, who have been done since March 28.
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“The hockey world can be a tough place for a young player, with intense pressure and high expectations,” reads the start of a story on the website of Prince George TV station CKPG. “Cooper Holick walked away from the game at the age of 18. Now, he and his dad are trying to reduce the stigma around young athletes living with mental illness.” . . . Cooper’s father, Mark, is the head coach of the Prince George Cougars. . . . Their story is right here.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have signed head coach Marc Habscheid to a four-year contract. They also picked up one-year options on Dale Derkatch, their director of player personnel, and Duane Bartley, the athletic therapist. . . . Habscheid, 52, replaced the fired Cory Clouston on Nov. 1, and went 24-28-4. . . . The Raiders have yet to re-sign associate coach Dave Manson or assistant coach Kelly Guard. The team holds one-year options on each of those men. . . . The club also holds an option on general manager Bruno Campese. . . . Jeff D’Andrea of PAnow has more right here.
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“The state Senate and House each voted to approve a bill that would clarify that Western Hockey League players are amateur athletes and not employees who should be paid minimum wage and fall under state child labor laws,” reports Steve Hunter of the Kent, Wash., Reporter. . . . Hunter’s complete story is right here.
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Jim Swanson, a former sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, is part of the new ownership group with the West Coast Baseball League’s Victoria HarbourCats. . . . Ownership has been transferred by Bhootan LLC to Shwing Batter Investment Group, which features Swanson, his brother, Ken, Richard Harder and Jim Wilson. The move is subject to approval by the WCL’s board. . . . Ken Swanson of Burnaby is the new group’s president, with Wilson, who is involved at the ownership level with the BCHL’s Victoria Grizzlies and VIJHL’s Peninsula Panthers, as vice-president (business), Harder, from New Westminster, as treasurer and Jim Swanson general manager and vice-president (baseball). . . . Jim Swanson was the team’s general manager in 2014 and the HarbourCats led the WCL in attendance, averaging 1,576 fans per game. . . . The HarbourCats open the exhibition season on May 31; the regular-season home-opener is June 5.
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Here’s sports columnist Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:
“NHL and WHL referees habitually swallow their whistles in the latter stages of playoff games. The ‘let 'em play’ mindset is supposedly employed because referees are reluctant to influence the outcome. Well, guess what? By not calling obvious penalties, they are influencing the outcome.
“A second-round WHL playoff series between the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings showed that officials are far too reluctant to call penalties, period. Too much clutching and grabbing was ignored when the Pats and Wheat Kings collided. And whatever happened to an interference penalty? Or a major penalty for a careless hit near the boards?”
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These are interesting times for the Medicine Hat Minor Hockey Association, where the president, association manager and secretary have resigned. Kevin MacKay, who resigned after just one season as manager, told Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News that “they are quite a few years behind the times.” . . . Rooney’s piece is right here.
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In the QMJHL, the Val d’Or Foreurs, who lost the first three games of the series, beat the host Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-3 in OT to win a second-round series, 4-3. . . . There wasn’t a post-game handshake line as a bit of a tussle broke out just prior to it and the Drakkar left the ice. . . . In the other series, the Moncton Wildcats beat the Halifax Mooseheads 6-3 in Game 7. . . . The Foreurs will meet the Rimouski Oceanic in one semifinal, with the Wildcats and Quebec Remparts in the other one.
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Two forwards and a defenceman from the Victoria Royals have moved up to the professional ranks. F Austin Carroll has joined the NHL’s Calgary Flames as one of the black aces, while F Greg Chase has been assigned by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons. D Joe Hicketts, who signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings, has joined the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
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Sergei Mikhalyov, the head coach of the Russian team that finished second at the World Junior Championship in 2006, has been killed in a car accident. Mikhalyov, 67, had coached the KHL’s Salavat Yulayev Ufa. He had just attended the funeral of former Traktor Chelyabinsk coach Valery Belousov when the accident occurred. . . . The Moscow Times has more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:

It’s doubtful that anyone had a better day than Bryce Thoma, the general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Weyburn Red Wings. Thoma and his wife Jenn welcomed a son, Smith Matthew, to our world on Tuesday morning. He is a brother to Collins Helene, 3, who is thrilled with the new arrival. . . . Later, the Red Wings announced that they have signed Thoma, 32, to a two-year contract. Thoma has been the Red Wings’ head coach for two seasons and the GM for one. They made the playoffs this season for the first time since 2011-12. They won a first-round series with the Humboldt Broncos, then were ousted by the eventual-champion Melfort Mustangs. . . . Thoma, a defenceman, played four seasons (1999-2003) with the Red Deer Rebels. He also spent five seasons on their coaching staff.
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Head coach Jarrod Skalde and the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals “have mutually agreed to part ways,” according to a news release from the team. The Admirals, who are affiliated with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, are relocating to San Diego before another season arrives. . . . Skalde, 44, went 27-39-6-4 in his first season as an AHL head coach. He spent one season as an assistant coach with the Admirals before taking over as head coach.
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Rich Pilon, who played in the NHL and WHL, is the new head coach of the midget AAA Saskatoon Blazers. He had been an assistant coach with the Blazers’ cross-town rivals, the Contacts. . . . Pilon takes over from Curtis Leschyshyn, who decided to step down. Scott Scissons, Leschyshyn’s assistant coach, also has left the Blazers. . . . Pilon’s assistant coaches will be Bobby Braybrook and Dean Seymour. . . . Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has the story right here.
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A newly discovered species of Costa Rican glass frog looks exactly like Kermit the Frog. pic.twitter.com/HXi4mejF3G
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) April 22, 2015

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.

Warriors, Thunderbirds make deal . . . Struch signs with Pats

A sendoff to Robin Williams, from Mark Knight, an editorial cartoonist
with the Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun. Knight posted it on his
Twitter account (@Knightcartoons).

If you haven’t already seen it, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press spent some time Tuesday with the family of Ethan Williams, a young hockey player who committed suicide on July 29.
MacIntyre’s story is right here.

The Williams family wanted their son’s story to be out there in the hopes that it might help prevent such tragedies in the future.
Ethan, who would have been 17 on Aug. 22, was a fifth-round selection by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. He played last season with the midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers. He was to have attended the Warriors’ training camp later this month.
One thing the family told McIntyre is that Ethan had had eight diagnosed concussions during his career. Understandably, Ethan’s family wonders whether those injuries can be connected to his depression.
Sheryl Ubelacker of The Canadian Press writes: “Teenagers who have suffered a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion have a significantly higher risk of attempting suicide, being bullied and seeking help for mental-health issues from crisis help lines, a study has found.”
Ubelacker’s story, which was written in April, is right here.
As research into brain injuries progresses, there are more and more such studies and stories out there.
Unfortunately, the issues of concussion- and mental health-awareness aren’t going to go away.
The death of actor/comedian Robin Williams on Tuesday has shone a light of unprecedented brightness on mental illness. The reaction on social media has been nothing short of amazing, and is likely to provide one more push that will help remove the stigma that rides on the shoulder of someone with such an illness.
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Meanwhile, Shannon Sampert, the Free Press’ politics and perspectives editor, writes right here about suicide and the media’s responsibilities in reporting it.
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One day after losing D Cole Wedman as a 20-year-old, the Moose Jaw Warriors acquired F Jaimen Yakubowski, 20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Warriors also got a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft, while surrendering a 2016 third-round selection.
Yakubowski had 19 points, nine of them goals, in 47 games with the Thunderbirds last season. He was acquired on Oct. 24, along with F Sam McKechnie from the Lethbridge Hurricanes for F Carter Folk, F Riley Sheen and a third-round pick in the 2015 bantam draft.
Yakubowski, a native of Dalmeny, Sask., was used in more of a checking role in Seattle, so the Warriors are hoping he can recapture his scoring touch from 2012-13 when he had 50 points, 32 of them goals, in 66 games with Lethbridge. In 145 games with the Hurricanes, he had 79 points, including 49 goals. (Dalmeny is a few slapshots north of Saskatoon.)
The Warriors now have four 20-year-olds on their roster, all of them forwards. The others are Scott Cooke, Tanner Eberle and Jack Rodewald.
The Thunderbirds, meanwhile, still have six 20-year-olds on their roster -- G Taran Kozun, D Adam Henry, D Evan Wardley, F Justin Hickman, F Connor Honey and McKechnie.
Seattle GM Russ Farwell isn’t likely to take six 20-year-olds to camp next week, so don’t be surprised if there is another move or two in the next few days.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors will add F Reed Low and D Scott Schoneck into the Conexus Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame as players this season, while the late Doug Hetherington will be inducted as a builder. . . . Low, from Moose Jaw, played two seasons (1995-97) with the Warriors, putting up 46 points and 449 penalty minutes in 123 games. He later played 256 NHL games, 250 of them with the St. Louis Blues, who selected him in the seventh round of the 1996 draft. He is retired and lives in St. Louis, where he works for Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers. Low also coaches minor hockey and conducts private lessons. . . . Schoneck, from Abbey, Sask., spent five seasons with the Warriors (1995-2000), putting up 209 points, including 53 goals, in 283 regular-season games. He is the Warriors’ all-time leading point-getter among defencemen. He later spent five years at the U of Saskatchewan, where he played for the Huskies and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business economics. He now is a national account manager in Western Canada for PepsiCo Foods Canada. . . . Hetherington was on the Warriors’ board of directors (2004-11), serving as alternate governor. He also was an original member of the Multiplex Builders Group. He died on Jan. 16, 2011. . . . The Hall of Fame weekend is scheduled for Nov. 28 and 29, with the induction ceremony on Friday and the Hall of Fame game, versus the Saskatoon Blades, on Saturday.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed G Dorrin Luding, the 66th overall selection in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. Luding, from North Vancouver, played last season at North Shore Winter Club, going 34-3-1 with 18 shutouts. He finished with a 0.966 GAA and a .934 save percentage in 38 games. He helped NSWC win the Western Canadian bantam championship. . . . The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Luding is expected to play this season with the major midget Cariboo Cougars, who play out of Prince George.
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F Derek Hulak (Regina, Saskatoon, 2006-10) finished up last season with the Texas Stars, who won the Calder Cup as AHL champions. It was his turn with the trophy on Wednesday and he had it in his hometown of Saskatoon. Yes, he took it by Credit Union Centre, where he had played with the Blades, and Rutherford Rink, where he played with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies. But he also took it to one other special place. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a wonderful story right here.
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With the summer collegiate baseball regular season having wrapped up, it’s worth noting that the Victoria HarbourCats, in just their second season of existence, have made their way into the top 50 of Baseball Business’ annual Summer Collegiate average attendance rankings. . . . The Madison Mallards (Northwoods League) are No. 1, at 6,139, followed by the LaCrosse Loggers (Northwoods), at 3,150, and the Elmira Pioneers (Perfect Game League), at 3,020. The Okotoks Dawgs (Western Major Baseball League) moved up one spot to No. 4, at 2,827. . . . The HarbourCats are No. 28, at 1,576, having led the West Coast League in attendance. Jim Swanson, the former sports editor of the Prince George Citizen, is the HarbourCats’ general manager. . . . Victoria drew 42,563 fans to 27 home games. . . . The HarbourCats finished 25-29, a three-game improvement over last season, but didn’t make the playoffs. . . . The top 50 is right here.
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Ask someone about the best TV show ever and you will get any number of answers. Ask me and the answer will be The Wire.
Click right here and you will be taken to a piece by David Simon, who hadn’t yet
created The Wire when he had an encounter with Robin Williams.
Yes, there are all kinds of pieces out there right now describing meetings with Williams. But without this encounter in a Baltimore morgue, The Wire may never have happened.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Regina Pats announced Wednesday that they have signed Dave Struch as an assistant coach to work alongside John Paddock, the club’s new senior vice-president of hockey operations and head coach. . . . Struch spent the last eight seasons with the Saskatoon Blades, seven as an assistant coach and last season as head coach. The Blades went through an ownership change as the 2013-14 season began and Struch wasn’t re-signed after the season ended. . . . Contract details weren’t announced, but Taking Note has been told that Struch got a four-year deal.
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Mike Brodeur has signed on with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons as their video and goaltending coach. . . . Brodeur, 31, is from Calgary. He played 41 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2003-04, before going on to a pro career that ended after the 2012-13 season. . . . In Fort McMurray, he will work alongside GM/head coach Curtis Hunt, who was the Warriors’ head coach in 2003-04 so is quite familiar with Brodeur. . . . The Oil Barons open camp on Aug. 15.
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I'm running, join me? RT @gdrinnan Isn't Dorothy grand . . . the preparations continue! . . . http://t.co/prY86uyIWq
— Jenn Rensch (@jrensch) August 14, 2014

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The Lethbridge Hurricanes have dealt F Nick Buonassisi, 20, to the Brandon Wheat Kings for a fifth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Buonassisi came over from the Prince George Cougars last season in exchange for D Reid Jackson. Buonassisi had 45 points, including 14 goals, in 45 points with Lethbridge. He had put up four points in 10 games with the Cougars. As he goes into his fifth WHL season, he has 137 points in 270 regular-season games. . . . The move gets the Hurricanes down to three 20-year-olds — G Ty Rimmer, D Daniel Johnston and F Graham Hood. . . . The Wheat Kings will open camp with four 20-year-olds in town — Buonassisi, D Tyler Yaworski, who was acquired earlier in the month from the Prince Albert Raiders, D Ryley Miller and F Dominick Favreau.
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The Tri-City Americans have signed G Evan Sarthou to a WHL contract. He was a third-round pick, 65th overall, in the 2012 bantam draft. . . . Sarthou, from Black Diamond, Wash., played last season with the bantam AAA L.A. Selects, going 2.33 and .910 in 47 games. . . . He was in the Americans’ rookie camp and stopped all 15 shots he faced in helping Team White to a 5-2 victory over Team Blue in the Blue-White game. . . . Sarthou will play for the U-16 L.A. Jr. Kings this season. . . . The Americans have signed four of their first five 2012 draft picks.
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The Americans’ bus is getting a facelift, with a whole lot of help from Kyle Weibold and Noah’s Ark at Getaway Charters.
According to a news release, “The bus, which becomes a second home to the players as they cover over 13,000 miles each season, will feature a striking Canadians Red paint job, with the Americans' primary stars and bars logo printed on both sides of the bus along with the team's website.”
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have signed F Ethan Williams and D Tyler Brown, both of whom are represented by Turning Point Sports Management. . . . Both were fifth-round selections by the Warriors in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. . . . Williams, from Winnipeg, played last season at Pursuit Of Excellent in Kelowna. This season, he will play midget AAA in Winnipeg. . . . Brown also played at PoE last season. This season, he will play for the U-16 AAA Omaha Lancers, who are coached by former WHLer David Wilkie. . . . Interestingly, Carlos Sosa of Turning Point once represented Wilkie, a defenceman with the Kamloops Blazers. In fact, Wilkie was Sosa’s initial first-round NHL draft pick when he was taken by the Montreal Canadiens with the 20th overall selection in 1992. . . . Turning Point also is acting as family advisor for Wilkie’s son, Chris, who has joined USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Chris was selected by the Victoria Royals in the fourth round of the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft.
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Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports that F Ty Ronning will be out for a couple of weeks with “a hairline fracture in his forearm.” . . . Ronning, who will turn 15 on Oct. 20, was selected by the Vancouver Giants with the 15th overall pick of the 2012 bantam draft. According to Ewen, Ronning, the son of former NHLer Cliff Ronnig, “was injured in a collision along the boards at training camp.” . . . “Stuff happens,” Ty Ronning told Ewen. “I’ll be fine.” . . . Later, Ronning plans on going to camp with the major midget North West Giants.
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A Sunday tweet from James Shewaga, the sports editor at the Brandon Sun:
“Wheat Kings F prospect Geordie Maguire, 17, looks ready to commit. He tweeted today he is heading to Brandon on Monday to meet his billets.”
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Team Red beat Team White 5-1 in the Spokane Chiefs’ annual intrasquad game on Sunday. Veterans Mike Aviani and Collin Valcourt each had a goal and two assists. . . . However, the biggest number was 2,877. That was the attendance at the Spokane Arena. . . . The Chiefs are holding out three veterans with undisclosed injuries — G Mac Engel, F Marek Kalus and F Liam Stewart.
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F Brayden Point had three goals and two assists to lead Team Black to a 10-2 victory over Team White in the Moose Jaw Warriors’ final rookie scrimmage of camp. Team White won the Hamonic Cup with the victory. . . . Point will be fun to watch this season. He’s only 16 but is coming off a playoff run in which hs put up 10 points in 14 games. . . . “Confidence is everything,” Point told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “I feel I have a lot more confidence after playing in the playoffs. To be able to come here and have a little bit of success just gives me more confidence.” . . . Gourlie reports that everyone left in camp played in the game, with the exception of F Brayden Cuthbert (concussion), F Tanner Eberle (shoulder) and D Morgan Rielly.
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The Prince George Westcana Electric Axemen, the host team, won the Canadian senior men’s baseball championship Sunday night, beating the Windsor Stars 9-5 before 1,015 fans. . . . The Axemen were managed by Jim Swanson, who spent a number of years covering the WHL’s Prince George Cougars as sports editor of the Prince George Citizen.
Swanson has left the Citizen and now works for Telus in Prince George.
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OK. Enough is enough.
I’m referring to the CHLPA, which I don’t think has any toes left.
The CHLPA has no clothes. It has no credibility. It has nothing. It certainly doesn’t have one good reason as to why David Branch, the CHL president, should give it even the time of day.
And it won’t have any credibility until the people involved in it start telling the world exactly who they are and why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports has the latest right here.
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Three players from the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were charged Saturday with sexual assault.
Brian Nicholas Cousins of Belleville, Ont., Andrew Douglas Fritsch of Brantford, Ont. and American Mark Anthony Petaccio were charged by Sault Ste. Marie police.
Cousins, 19, was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL’s 2011 draft, while Fritsch, 19, went to the Phoenix Coyotes in the
The Philadelphia Flyers drafted Cousins, 19, with the 68th pick in the 2011 NHL draft, while the Phoenix Coyotes took Fritsch, also 19, in the sixth round. Pettaccio, 18, is undrafted.
Randy Miller of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post, a newspaper in New Jersey, has a story right here.

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Riding the bus, from Kelowna to Vancouver.
What? Is that Reg Dunlop on the TV screen?

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Nick Ross (Regina, Kamloops, Vancouver, 2004-09) signed a one-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had five goals and 13 assists in 35 games with the Portland Pirates (AHL) last season.
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Jim Swanson spent a few years covering the WHL’s Prince George Cougars while sports editor of the Prince George Citizen.
He left the newspaper a short while ago and now works for TELUS where he is the manager of a construction team in the Interior north/northeast division.
A life-long baseball player and addict, Swanson, in the mid-1990s, was the general manager of the Grand Forks, N.D., Varmints, who played in the Prairie League of Professional Baseball.
In Prince George, he is one of the pushes behind their successful senior and minor baseball programs. He also is co-chair of the Canadian senior baseball championships, that are scheduled for Prince George, Aug. 23-26, and the chairman of the international World Baseball Challenge that is held every second summer in that city.
These days, Swanson is on the road with some former Blue Jays as they hold Honda Super Camps in B.C. He was in Kelowna earlier this week, along with the likes of Roberto Alomar, Sandy Alomar Sr., Homer Busch, Lloyd Moseby, Rance Mulliniks, Duane Ward and Kelowna native Paul Spoljaric.
After finishing up in Kelowna, they all hopped a bus and headed for Vancouver where a camp begins today at Nat Bailey Stadium.
So . . . what do ex-Major Leaguers do on a bus between Kelowna and Vancouver?
As the photo above shows, they watch — what else? — Slap Shot.
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Seth Zweifler of the Studen Press Law Centre takes a look right here at the lawsuit filed by the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, against the Michigan Daily, writer Matt Slovin and John Doe. . . . Because the newspaper is in the U.S., and the suit was filed in Canada, there are some interesting angles to this.
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D Cody Castro, who played nine games with the Portland Winterhawks last season, found himself involved in a trade on Wednesday. Castro, who has four points in 77 WHL regular-season games, had his junior A rights dealt by the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express to the Yarmouth Mariners of the Maritime Hockey League. . . . Coquitlam is in British Columbia. Yarmouth is in Nova Scotia. Castro, 20, is from Pasadena, Calif. . . . According to Google, Yarmouth is 5,655.5 kilometres by car from Pasadena. . . . Yarmouth, if you take the American route,  is 5,978.7 kilometres from Coquitlam. . . . Now that’s a trade!
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The Regina Pats will retire the number (7) worn by former F Jordan Eberle on Oct. 9 prior to a game against the visiting Portland Winterhawks. Eberle, a former CHL player of the year and a Regina native, now plays for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . The Pats made the announcement Wednesday night at the Centre Ice Celebration in advance of the first Eberle and Friends Golf Classic. The golf tournament, in support of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, begins today. . . . Eberle, who played for the Pats from 2006-10, scored 155 goals and added 155 assists in 254 regular-season games.
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F Brandon Herrod, who finished up a five-year WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers last season, has decided to attend the U of Saskatchewan and play for the Huskies. Herrod, from Meadow Lake, Sask., was acquired by the Blazers from the Prince Albert Raiders. He ended up playing 342 regular-season games, 314 of them with the Raiders. . . . Herrod had career totals of 117 goals and 158 assists. . . . With the Huskies, he will be re-united with former Prince Albert linemate Craig McCallum, who has played two seasons at the U of S.

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