Change in Raiders' office . . . Attempt to save team is over . . . Montador had CTE

BOOK REVIEW:

Remember when hockey cards were the thing?
It really wasn’t that long ago, like in the 1990s and for a while after the turn of the century.
But the real feeding frenzy was in the 1990s. In fact, while I was the Regina Leader-Post’s sports editor, I came to know one person who paid off his mortgage

through hockey cards. He built up a supply — at one time, he had more than one million cards in his basement — and spent many weekends a year at card shows in southern and central Saskatchewan.
For most collectors, though, it isn’t about paying off a mortgage. Early on in He Shoots, He Saves: The Story of Hockey’s Collectible Treasures, author Jon Waldman quotes Hersh Borenstein, president of the Toronto-based memorabilia company Frozen Pond:
“More than anything it’s the pursuit . . . it’s not about the value.”
You will be aware of that if you have ever been a collector of anything. Yes, it’s about the chase.
In this book, Waldman goes back in time to the beginning of hockey-based collectibles. He also looks at everything from autographs — what to get autographed; what not to get autographed — to game-worn jerseys to programs and tickets and everything in between.
Still, cards are at the heart of hockey collectibles. Early on, Waldman provides a timeline of the history of hockey cards that shows just how crazy the industry was as it built to a peak and then came down the other side.
In chronicling the collectible industry, Waldman also provides something of a history of professional hockey, especially at the NHL level. He offers up a team-by-team look, including expansion and defunct franchises, always pointing out unique collectibles.
Should you give this book a look, it will bring back a million memories. It may even cause you to go on the hunt in your own home. Perhaps you have an H.M. Cowan painted tile or two hanging around somewhere. It could be that you had no idea what they were, other than small paintings of former players like, say, Harry Howell and Tom Johnson. Maybe you will find them, go on the Internet and find out that they are worth more than a few dollars.
But you won’t even attempt to sell them. No. Because it isn’t about the money, is it?
(He Shoots, He Saves: The Story of Hockey’s Collectible Treasures; ECW Press, 274 pages, soft cover, $19.95)
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F Eric Johansson (Tri-City, 1997-2002) signed a one-year contract with Riessersee (Germany, DEL2). This season, with Ritten/Renon (Italy, Serie A), he had 25 goals and 19 assists in 37 games. He led the team in goals and points while it won the Italian championship. . . .
D Jace Coyle (Spokane, Medicine Hat, 2007-11) signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). He had two goals and 17 assists in 36 games with Aalborg (Denmark, Metal Ligaen) this season. . . .
F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver, 2003-04) signed a two-year extension with Tychy (Poland, PHL). He had 40 points, including 16 goals, in 42 games this season. His club won the Poland championship. Kolusz captained Poland at the World Championship Division 1A, where he was named to the all-star team and named best player on his team.
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TUESDAY’S GAME:

No Game Scheduled.

The Kelowna Rockets get their first chance to win this season’s WHL championship when they meet the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings tonight. The Rockets hold a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. . . . The Rockets have won their last six games, beating the Portland Winterhawks three straight to close out the Western Conference final and now having opened the league final with three victories. . . . Wondering why the teams didn’t play on back-to-back nights when the series headed to Kelowna? Diana Krall was playing Prospera Place last night.
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Bruce Vance is leaving the Prince Albert Raiders after 14 years with the WHL franchise. Vance, who has been involved in the WHL for 21 years, is leaving the Raiders to work as the City of Prince Albert’s marketing and sponsorship co-ordinator. Vance joined the Raiders as director of marketing, and has been the Raiders’ business manager for the past four years. . . . Michael Scissons will replace Vance as the Raiders’ business manager, effective June 1. Scissons has been with the Saskatoon Blades through 12 seasons, most recently as their vice-president of business operations.
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The attempt at resuscitating the men’s hockey program at Thompson River University in Kamloops is dead. Trevor Bast of Victoria, who had been attempting to revive a program that was discontinued by TRU prior to this season, tells Taking Note that “I have stopped working towards reviving TRU hockey.” . . . With the TRU athletic department having said it no longer was interested in a hockey program, Bast approached the TRU Students’ Union in an attempt to form a link there. However, the TRUSU didn’t get back to him. At the same time, a deadline imposed by the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League went by, so Bast feels he has no choice but to walk away. . . . Don Schulz, the head coach of the WolfPack when the program collapsed, is preparing for his first season as head coach of the Kamloops-based Thompson Blazers, who play in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
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The junior B Kimberley Dynamiters, champions of the Kootenay International Junior League, have changed the responsibilities of assistant coach Mike Reid and general manager Dave Smith. . . . Reid will take over as GM/director of player personnel, with Smith move to assistant GM-hockey operations. . . . “We’ve just taken the workload and divided it into two,” team president Chad Koran explained to Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman. “It’s a pretty demanding and time-consuming job. We’re just trying to divide it between the two guys and lighten the load for the both of them.” . . . Head coach Jerry Bancks is set for another season, with Reid, Jeff Keiver and Todd White all back on staff, too. . . . Rocca's story is right here.

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Does the NFL really concern itself more with deflated footballs and artificially inflated players? In light of Tom Brady’s suspension and Deflategate, Jere Longman of The New York Times examines the NFL and a history of deceit in sports right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:

The Prince Albert Raiders have re-signed associate coach Dave Manson and assistant coach Kelly Guard. Contract terms weren’t released. They will work under head coach Marc Habscheid, who signed a four-year contract earlier this spring. . . . The Raiders have yet to reveal whether they will retain general manager Bruno Campese, whose contract is soon to expire. . . . Manson, who is from Prince Albert, will be entering his 11th season on the Raiders’ coaching staff. He also is a former Raiders defenceman (1983-86). . . . Guard, who also is from Prince Albert, is preparing for his fourth season with the Raiders. He started as the team’s goaltending coach, then was promoted to assistant coach prior to this season. . . . Both men have been part of Memorial Cup championship teams, Manson with the 1984-85 Raiders and Guard with the 2003-04 Kelowna Rockets.
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Former NHLer Jeremy Roenick, who now is in the broadcast business, said Tuesday that Travis Green, the former Portland Winterhawks assistant GM/assistant coach, should be considered for the head-coaching vacancy with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. . . . "He is a no-nonsense coach and I think a coach that's ready for the National Hockey League and that's waited for a National Hockey League job," Roenick said Tuesday on Comcast SportsNet's Breakfast on Broad. "He turned down an assistant job in Pittsburgh last year because of his craving to be a head coach. If there's a young guy out there that's ready for that jump, I think Travis Green would be that guy.” . . . Green now is the head coach of the Utica Comets, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . . There’s more right here on Roenick and Green. . . . The Comets hold a 2-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Barons in a second-round series with Game 4 tonight in Oklahoma City.
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D Mackenze Stewart of the Prince Albert Raiders has signed with the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Stewart, who turns 20 on Aug. 10, is from Calgary. The Canucks selected him in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2014 draft. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Stewart had 11 points, five of them goals, with the Raiders this season. . . . The Canucks apparently plan on turning Stewart into a left winger. . . .
The best baseball book you’ve never read? In a piece written for Rolling Stone, Dan Epstein makes a case for Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud. That is the story of former Major League first baseman Joe Pepitone, and it was on bookshelves before Jim Bouton’s Ball Four. The good news is that Joe, You Could Made Us Proud is being reissued. . . . Epstein’s piece is right here.
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“The family of Steve Montador is planning to launch a lawsuit against the NHL in the wake of news the late defenceman suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, widely known as CTE,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN. “The Krembil Neuroscience Centre’s Canadian Sports Concussion Project announced results on Tuesday of autopsies conducted on Montador, former CFL player John Forzani, and an anonymous donor. CTE was detected in the brains of Montador and the anonymous donor, but not Forzani, a former lineman with the Stampeders.” . . . Montador, who was 35 when he died in February. As a hockey player, he had a long history of concussions. . . . Westhead’s piece is right here.
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Hopefully Euro hockey notices that when #TeamCanada wins there is no big goal celebrations or hand slaps down the bench. #RespectOpponents

— Jeff Ulmer (@Ulms44) May 12, 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.

If WHL playoffs started today . . . Ch-ch-ching! . . . Rids can't believe it!

D Colton Jobke (Kelowna, Regina, 2009-13) has reassigned by the Minnesota Wild (NHL) from the Alaska Aces (ECHL) to the Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). This season, with Alaska, he had four assists in 20 games. . . .
F Tyler Spurgeon (Kelowna, 2001-06) has signed a contract for the rest of this season with Thurgau (Switzerland, NL B). This season, with the Ontario Reign (ECHL), he had two goals and eight assists in 12 games. He was pointless in one game with the Adirondack Flames (AHL). . . .
G Alexander Pechursky (Tri-City, 2009-11) has been traded by Metallurg Magnitogorsk to Amur Khabarovsk (both Russia, KHL) for G Alexei Murygin. This season, in nine games with Magnitogorsk, Pechursky was 2-6-0, 2.40, .910.
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THE PLAYOFF PICTURE:

In case you have forgotten, the WHL has redone its playoff format.
This season, it is using a formula that involves conference standings, division standings and wild cards.
Yes, it’s wild.
With the league on its Christmas break -- the next games are scheduled for Dec. 27 -- let’s take a look at what would happen were the playoffs to start today.
Under the new format, eight teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs. It all starts with the top three teams from each division advancing. After that, the remaining two spots on each side go to wild-card entries -- the two teams in each conference with the most points.
As of this moment, here are the qualifiers, with their point totals:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
East Division
Brandon         52
Regina         42
Swift Current     38
Central Division
Medicine Hat    50
Calgary        41
Red Deer        40
Wild cards
Edmonton        37
Kootenay        36
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
B.C. Division
Kelowna        59
Victoria        37
Prince George    34
U.S. Division
Everett        44
Portland        41
Spokane        39
Wild cards
Tri-City        35
Vancouver        32
(Note: Vancouver and Seattle are tied, with 32 points, for what right now is the Western Conference’s last playoff spot. Were this the end of the regular season, they would meet in a play-in game in Vancouver. For the sake of this exercise, I have given the spot to Vancouver on the basis of more victories -- 16-14.)
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In the first round of the playoffs, the division winners go up against the wild-card entries, with the team with the most points meeting the team with the fewest points. All playoff series are best-of-seven affairs.
In the Eastern Conference, that would be:
Brandon vs. Kootenay
Medicine Hat vs. Edmonton
In the Western Conference, that would be:
Kelowna vs. Vancouver
Everett vs. Tri-City
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Meanwhile, the second- and third-place teams in each division would meet:
Regina vs. Swift Current
Calgary vs. Red Deer
Victoria vs. Prince George
Portland vs. Spokane
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For the second round, the teams stay within their brackets with the winners meeting. Home-ice advantage in each series goes to the team with the most regular-season points. . . . And on it goes.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers have done their bit for Christmas. Give it a look right here.
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There were issues with a gate early in a Wednesday night game between the Kamloops Blazers and the host Medicine Hat Tigers. Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News covered that story like a blanket and it’s all right here. Yes, it’s worth reading. (Kamloops head coach Don Hay suggested that the game, which was delayed almost an hour, should have been forfeited to the Blazers. Whoa! He was joking.)
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If you are interested in the KHL and the latest developments, make sure you are following Slava Malamud on Twitter. You are able to do that right here. . . . On Thursday, he live-tweeted the KHL owners’ meeting. ---
Neil Doef, a promising young hockey player with the Smiths Falls, Ont., Bears, suffered a serious injury during a Junior A Challenge game in Kindersley, Sask., on Sunday. . . . Don Butler of the Ottawa Citizen has more right here, including various avenues open should you wish to make a donation in support of Doef and his family.
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Peter Anholt says his Lethbridge Hurricanes aren’t quite the 1977 Montreal Canadiens. Yes, the Hurricanes’ new general manager and head coach brought his sense of humour to Lethbridge with him. Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.
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Sy Berger, who was the father of the modern baseball card, died Sunday at the age of 91. If you are of a certain age, you will remember when Topps was the only name in the area of collectible baseball cards. Tyler Kepner of The New York Times remembers right here.
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And now for something completely different. . . . If you’ve been wondering what’s going on with Sony, North Korea, hackers, the movie The Interview . . . well, Mike Fleming Jr. of deadline.com has spoken with George Clooney. That story is right here and it’s a good read.
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The WHL has suspended two players for a game each and fined two teams a total of $2,000 following a line brawl on Wednesday night. The Moose Jaw Warriors and host Prince Albert went at it in the final minute of the Raiders’ 5-1 victory. . . . Moose Jaw F Jaimen Yakubowski and Prince Albert D Mackenze Stewart won’t play on Dec. 27 as each sits out a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in the last five minutes of a game. The Warriors are at home to the Brandon Wheat Kings, while the Raiders are scheduled to entertain the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Meanwhile, the Warriors and Raiders each was fined $500 for having a player instigate a fight in the last five minutes and another $500 for being involved in their first multi-fight situation of the season. . . . Ch-ch-ching! The cheques should arrived in the WHL office just in time for some last-minute Christmas shopping.
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THE BLOG FUND:

The way things are going, the shopping trip for a new computer will happen before too long. If you are a regular in these parts and feel like chipping in, don’t be bashful. Just click on the donate button and away you go. . . . As of late Thursday, the blog master’s computer fund was at $1,015, thanks to the generosity of 19 readers just like you.
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Can't believe the audacity of fans requesting money. Back as a result of the delay at the tiger game last nite.
— Bob Ridley (@BobRidley_CHAT) December 18, 2014

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.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Lukas Bohunicky (Kootenay, 2005-07) signed a two-year contract with Mlada Boleslav (Czech Republic, 1.Liga). He had three assists in 32 games with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, Extraliga) and three assists in 12 games with the Missouri Mavericks (CHL) last season. . . .
F Ned Lukacevic (Spokane, 2001-05) signed a four-game tryout contract with Eispiraten Crimmitschau (Germany, 2. Bundesliga). He had two goals and 10 assists in 17 games with the Las Vegas Gamblers (ECHL) and five goals and one assist in 12 games with Sundsvall (Sweden, Allsvenskan) last season.
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The Kelowna Rockets, with injuries having taken out two of their 20-year-olds, have added F Cody Fowlie, 20, who had been released by the Everett Silvertips. Fowlie had 40 points in 72 games with Everett last season. . . . Fowlie, from Airdrie, Alta., is expected to be in Kelowna’s lineup on Wednesday when it opens a four-game Central Division trip in Medicine Hat against the Tigers. . . . The Rockets now have four 20s on their roster, although D Mitchell Chapman (ankle) and F J.T. Barnett (knee) are on the shelf. Also on the roster is F Dylen McKinlay.
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The Kamloops Blazers returned from a 5-0-0 Central Division swing and promptly traded D Brady Gaudet, 18, to the Red Deer Rebels for a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Gaudet, from Redvers, Sask., was the 10th overall selection in the 2009 draft. . . . Gaudet was scratched from the Blazers’ 6-3 victory over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook on Saturday, leading one to think the deal was close to being made, if not completed, at that time. . . . A move had been imminent in Kamloops, simply because the Blazers had been carrying nine defencemen and two freshmen, Ryan Rehill and Jordan Thomson, have shown they are more than capable. . . . D Austin Madaisky, 20, who is eligible to return to the Blazers, remains with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, although he has been scratched from each of their first four games.
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When F Daniel Asham, 18, informed the Brandon Wheat Kings late last week that he has had enough of hockey and chose to leave the team and when F Jason Swyripa (wrist) suffered a long-term injury, the Brandon Wheat Kings were left a bit short of experienced forwards. So the Wheat Kings reached out Monday and picked up F Chad Robinson, 19, from the Red Deer Rebels for a conditional 2014 seventh-round bantam draft pick. . . . Robinson is from Minnedosa, Man., which is located three slapshots north of Brandon. . . . Robinson has two points in nine games with the Rebels this season. In 129 career games with Red Deer, he has 44 points, including 11 goals. . . . “It was sort of a mutual agreement, I guess you could say,” Robinson told James Shewaga of the Brandon Sun. “I just wasn’t in the team’s plans for this year and moving forward I thought it would be more beneficial to ask for a trade out of there and move on … And absolutely, (Brandon) was at the top of the list.” . . . Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner and GM, told Shewaga that Swyripa is to see a specialist in Calgary today but that the could be out for two months.” . . . The Wheat Kings continue their road swing in Victoria against the Royals tonight. Brandon is 1-2-0 with four games left on the trip. . . . David Anning, Brandon’s new assistant coach, has joined the club and will work tonight’s game.
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The Tri-City Americans will visit the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday and the teams will play in Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, the first game in that facility this season. According to a Winterhawks news release, the teams will play “for the first time on the refurbished ice surface at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Construction crews have spent several months replacing the ice plant in the building and bringing the ice sheet to regulation size. In addition, both the Coliseum and Rose Garden have new boards, glass and benches this season.”
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The Prince Albert Raiders have assigned D Mackenze Stewart, 17, to the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs. Stewart, who is from Calgary, had two penalty minutes in six games with the Raiders. . . . Prince Albert is carrying 23 players, including 13 forwards and eight defencemen.
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F Andrew Rieder, who was released by the Regina Pats earlier this month as they got down to three 20-year-olds, has surfaced with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. . . . He will be wearing No. 9 on Thursday when the London Knights visit the Petes.
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G Payton Lee, 16, was on the ice with the Vancouver Giants on Monday, but head coach Don Hay won’t say if he will start Wednesday against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. . . . Hay did tell Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province that “"he's going to get an opportunity some time." . . . Lee is expected to be back with his regular team, the junior B Richmond Sockeyes, for a Friday game. With the Sockeyes, he is 4-1-0, 1.81, .939. . . . Interestingly, the Giants other two goaltenders, Liam Liston and Tyler Fuhr, both have been in Brandon’s organization. . . . The Giants take a 2-8-0 record into Wednesday’s game.
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Kevin Constantine, a former NHL head coach who was the first head coach of the Everett Silvertips (2003-07), has been fired as head coach of Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League A. . . . Ambri-Piotta is last in the league standings, with seven points from 14 games. Serge Pelletier was hired to replace Constantine. . . . Constantine, 54, was in his third season with Ambri-Piotta. He is signed through 2013-14.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
From Alan Caldwell (Alan@smallatlarge): “Since September 24 (exactly 4 weeks ago), Red Deer has made eight trades. EIGHT. Clearly G.M. Sutter is not happy with his roster.”
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“We’re not going to educate the invertebrates of professional hockey or fans who see the game as a surrogate for the Roman arena any time soon,” writes columnist Stephen Hume in the Vancouver Sun. “But perhaps we can do something about changing the culture gradually by eliminating such stuff from minor hockey, where parents and the public have a say.”
Hume’s complete piece is right here.


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