Hockey world mourns and mourns

In the past few months, 16 first responders have committed suicide in Canada.
Vince Savoia has founded Heroes are Human, an organization that is working to try and understand just what is happening here.
Savoia has told CBC-TV that he calls this the John Wayne Syndrome -- people who spend their professional lives helping others, but won’t ask for help when they need it themselves.
“It’s seen as a sign of weakness, when in fact it should be seen as a sign of strength,” Savoia told CBC.
Brad Symes is No. 16 on that list. Symes was an Edmonton firefighter who played four seasons (1992-96) as a defenceman with the Portland Winterhawks. A native of Edmonton, he played well enough that he was a third-round selection by his hometown Oilers in the NHL’s 1994 draft.
No doubt the Oilers liked the fact that he put up 73 points in 271 regular-season WHL games, along with 529 penalty minutes. As the numbers indicate, he was a tough, honest player.
Symes never did get to the NHL. According to hockeydb.com, he played three professional seasons totalling 141 games. Of that total, five games were with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs; the rest were split between the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and New Orleans Brass.
Symes retired and later chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a firefighter. His father, Stan, had been a district fire chief in Edmonton.
Late last month, Brad Symes died. He was 38 when he committed suicide, leaving behind his wife of seven months and two young sons.
His family now is trying to come to grips with what went wrong.
The CBC story is right here.
“Our son was No. 16,” Char Symes, Brad’s mother, told CBC. “How many more do we really want this to happen to?”
“We don’t want to see or hear about No. 17,” said Stan Symes, Brad’s father. "We want it to stop.”
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Friends and family will gather one day later this week in a Western Canadian community to say goodbye to another young hockey player.
He is at least the fourth teenage hockey player from the west to take his own life in less than a year.
The impact this young man had on people is evident by the outpouring of emotion on a Facebook page that was set up as a memorial. As you read, there are questions and no answers, and there is pain, real pain, coupled with bewilderment.
Of course, this isn’t just a hockey problem; it’s a societal situation. And it could be that hockey had absolutely nothing to do with the deaths of these four young men.
Spend a few minutes on the Internet and the numbers become mind-numbing.
“Suicide is the second-leading cause of death, following more vehicle accidents, among teenagers and young adults.”
“Teen suicide is the third-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24.”
“In Canada, suicide accounts for 24 per cent of all deaths among 15-24-year-olds. Boys die by suicide two to three times more often than girls.”
It just goes on and on, and it seems there aren’t any answers.
But the fact remains that the four young men who chose to take their own lives all were in regular contact with people in the hockey community. We simply have to find a way to help young people who find themselves in this predicament.
We have to . . . there is no way around it.
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Here’s Cathy Schave Kemp of the Portland Winterhawks Booster Club on Facebook:
“This is the 2nd young player that the hockey world has lost in the past week. Soooo sad. I wish these boys knew and understood that there is help out there. There's sooo much support and always a shoulder.”
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Here’s Sean Moloney of World Pro Goaltending on Facebook:
“If you're ever feeling like you're alone or no one cares about you, REMEMBER that there are family and friends around you who love and care about you. REMEMBER that there are people out there who can relate to how you feel. REMEMBER that the way you are feeling is only temporary and things WILL get better in time. Don't you dare give up.”
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The Regina Pats are expected to introduce John Paddock today as senior vice-president of hockey operations and head coach. Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that Paddock has signed a long-term contract. . . . According to Harder, ". . . the Pats will unveil a new structure for the business and hockey sides of the organization. Paddock will have autonomy in hockey operations, reporting directly to president/part owner Todd Lumbard. Chad Lang has been asked to remain with the team as senior vice-president while relinquishing the GM title. His responsibilities will be split between the hockey and business sides, also working under Lumbard." . . . With the Pats also looking to add two assistant coaches, Harder also reports that former Saskatoon Blades head coach Dave Struch may be in the mix. . . . On Tuesday, the Pats announced that they have hired Gordon Pritchard, a lawyer, as their director of corporate affairs. He has been working as an assistant GM with the SJHL's Yorkton Terriers. . . . If you visit, www.leaderpost.com later today, you'll find Harder's complete story.
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F Pavel Zacha, the first player selected in the CHL's 2014 import draft, has said he will join the OHL's Sarnia Sting. Zacha, 17, is from Czech Republic. Immediately after he was selected by the Sting, one of his agents, Allan Walsh, blasted the Sting, saying the team had wasted a pick. On Tuesday, Walsh tweeted that "Sarnia has done a great job presenting their exemplary program to Pavel and his family."
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Two former WHLers, both of them from B.C., have said they will attend the U of British Columbia and play for the Thunderbirds. . . . G Eric Williams of Langley played with the Prince Albert Raiders and Spokane Chiefs. He completed his eligibility last season with the Chiefs. . . . F Manraj Hayer of Vancouver spent the past four seasons with the Everett Silvertips.
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The Kelowna Rockets have added Travis Crickard to their coaching staff. Crickard, 27, will be responsible for the goaltenders and also will be the video coach under freshman head coach Dan Lambert. . . . Last season, Crickard was on the coaching staff of the OHL's Ottawa 67's. . . . Crickard replaces Kim Dillabaugh who left after 11 seasons and now is a full-time assistant coach/scout with the Stanley Cup-champion Los Angeles Kings.
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Popcorn Bowl 2015 is ours! bring it @WHLGiants ! #newiceage pic.twitter.com/kFcTascGEd
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) August 5, 2014

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Game called because of . . . fog!

A bear peeks over a ridge just off Shuswap Road east of Kamloops on Saturday evening.
Unfortunately, all I had with me was my BlackBerry Bold.

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Robin Kovar (Vancouver, Regina, 2001-04) signed a one-year contract with the Manchester Phoenix (England, Premier). He had 26 goals and 17 assists in 49 games with Slovan Ustecti Lvi (Czech Republic, 1. Liga) last season. The English Premier League opens their regular season Saturday, Sept. 14.
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The Regina Pats are down to two goaltenders after releasing Adam Beukeboom, 19, on Saturday. . . . Beukeboom, from Sundre, Alta., played 19 games with Regina in 2011-12 and spent last season with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons. . . . His release leaves Regina with Teagan Sacher and Dawson MacAuley, both 1994-born players, as its two goaltenders.
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The Medicine Hat Tigers were leading the visiting Swift Current Broncos 3-2 after one period on Saturday night when officials chose to call the game for, according to the WHL website, “player safety (fog).” . . .  The game was being played at the Kinplex in Medicine Hat. This was the only home game the Tigers scheduled for this exhibition season.
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F Adam Rossignol had three assists Saturday as the Portland Winterhawks, the WHL’s defending champions, wrapped up their exhibition season with a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Tri-City Americans’ tournament in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Winterhawks finished the preseason at 3-2; the Thunderbirds are 4-1. . . . Portland opens its regular season at home on Sept. 20 when it hoists its championship banners before a game against the Prince George Cougars.
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F Rourke Chartier, who took a headshot from Kamloops Blazers F Devin Oakes on Friday night, had a goal and two assists Saturday as the host Kelowna Rockets beat the Vancouver Giants, 6-1. . . . Oakes drew one of those TBA suspensions from the WHL office so, for starters, he won’t play Sunday against the Giants in Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena. . . . Chartier played with a full cage to protect a small cut near his right eye. . . . Kelowna F Tyson Baillie also had a goal and two helpers. He’s got eight points in four games. . . . The Rockets finished the preseason at 3-1.
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In Prince George, the Cougars improved to 4-0 with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. Freshman F Jansen Harkins had an assist for the Cougars; he’s got nine points in four games and is tied with Everett F Manraj Hayer atop the preseason scoring leaderboard.
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In another game in Kennewick, the Everett Silvertips got past the Kootenay Ice 8-6 to improve to 5-0. . . . F Manraj Hayer had two goals and an assist for Everett. . . . The Silvertips have outscored the opposition, 27-15.
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Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that Barry Smith, who played more than four seasons (1975-80) for the AHL’s Rochester Americans “died on Saturday of an apparent heart attack in Tennessee, where he had made his home for two decades. He was 58.” . . . Smith was from Surrey, B.C., and played five seasons (1970-75) in the WHL, when it was the Western Canada Hockey League. He played one season with the Estevan Bruins, 71 games over two seasons with the Vancouver Nats, and 162 with the New Westminster Bruins over three seasons. . . . Oklobzija has more right here.
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From Elliott Pap (@ElliottPap) of the Vancouver Sun: “Jackson Houck, Oiler prospect and VanGiant, appears ok after being hit from behind and leaving prospects game vs Jets. Has 3 facial cuts.”
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From Regan Bartel (@Reganrant), the radio voice of the Kelowna Rockets: “Some fans here at Prospera Place in mid season form by leaving early. That ten minute trip back home is a killer.”
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From Medicine Hat Tigers F Chad Labelle (@chad_labelle): “Broken glass in warmy, o canada sung by the crowd, game fogged out after first #SeriesOfUnfortunateEvents”


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A happy Chiefs' head coach

With most WHL training camps rolling and more to start this week, Alan Caldwell over there at Small Thoughts at Large is endeavouring to keep rosters up to date. . . . Feel free to pay a visit to his site for roster info.
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The Victoria Royals open their main camp today without Czech F Jiri Fronk, 19, who was selected in the 2013 CHL import draft. Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist reports that Fronk wants to play for the Royals, but there is a problem in gaining his release. That story is right here.
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Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Everett Silvertips scrimmaged Sunday without three forwards – Manraj Hayer, Ty Mappin and Jujhar Khaira. “Hayer and Mappin are nursing minor injuries,” Patterson writes, “(while) Khaira is home preparing for camp with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers.” . . . Patterson also reported that F Alec Mehr has left Everett’s camp. Mehr, a 16-year-old from Los Angeles, was a 12th-round selection by the Silvertips in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. “It looks like the Tips weren't able to sign the promising 16-year-old forward from California,” notes Patters, “at least not for now. I'm told it wasn't for a lack of trying.”
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I was told Sunday that F Rob Trzonkowski of the Vancouver Giants suffered a shoulder separation during camp on Saturday. Trzonkowski, is coming off a knee injury that ended his 2012-13 season in January. He moved to the Giants from the Kamloops Blazers in a deal last season that had F Kale Kessy move to the Blazers.
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G Andy Desautels, who played last season with the Prince Albert Raiders, is leaving the WHL for the BCHL. As he tweeted Sunday afternoon: “I am very excited to say that I will be joining the West Kelowna Warriors of the BCHL this season. Can't wait to get the season going!” The Warriors obtained his rights from the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers on Saturday.
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F Mitch Holmberg, 20, scored three times as Team Red doubled Team White 4-2 in the Spokane Chiefs’ annual Red-White game on Sunday. The game was played before 2,972 fans.
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F Mason Blacklock has committed to Michigan Tech. A 19-year-old from Surrey, B.C., Blacklock was an eighth-round selection by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL’s 2009 bantam draft. He split last season between the BCHL’s Nanaimo Clippers, Surrey Eagles and Vernon Vipers.
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If you are wondering where the next WHL franchise may end up, you should stroke Yakima, Wash., off the list. Dave Thomas of the Yakima Herald-Republic has more right here.
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Robert Lipsyte, the ombudsman at ESPN, has weighed in with his first piece involving the network’s decision to separate itself from the PBS documentary Frontline. That piece is right here.
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From Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur (@HCChiefs42): “Nothing better than seeing @D_Nachbaur fire a rocket top shelf for the GWG in the PG Coliseum. #Sweet #inmyhouse #Cents”
F Daniel Nachbaur, Don’s son, scored the winner as the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials beat the host Spruce Kings 5-2 on Sunday night. Don Nachbaur is a member of the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame.

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Interesting day in the WHL office

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
The Kamloops Blazers will be without defenceman Austin Madaisky for Games 3 and 4 of their first-round WHL playoff series with the Victoria Royals.
The Blazers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 going into Game 3 tonight at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria. The fourth game is scheduled for there on Wednesday. If necessary, Game 5 will be played at Interior Savings Centre on Friday.
Madaisky, the Blazers best all-around blue-liner, was suspended Monday for two games for a hit that occurred early in the Blazers’ 7-4 victory on Saturday night.
The play in question occurred at 1:28 of the first period when Madaisky checked Victoria forward Zane Jones. Madaisky was given a checking-to-the-head minor penalty for the hit.
At some point after the game, the Royals requested supplemental discipline from the WHL office, meaning they sent in video of the hit and $500. If the league acts on it, as was the case here, a team gets its money back. If not, it pays the money as a fine, which is what happened to the Regina Pats when they requested supplemental discipline for a hit by Moose Jaw Warriors forward Cody Beach in Game 1 of their series. (Beach was suspended for one game Monday, for a comment he directed at the Regina bench during Game 2.)
The Royals had started the series’ first game on Friday by going hard to the body. Madaisky said last night from Victoria that he was expecting the same thing in Game 2, so he was prepared to counter that.
“For the first three or four minutes of (Game 1), it seemed that they were just trying to run us out of the building,” Madaisky said. “The energy level was getting pretty high. I was expecting to be one of the guys they were targeting . . .”
When Game 2 started, he said he “wanted to go out there and take the body to show them that we weren’t going to shy away . . . and it just happened.”
Asked to describe the play, Madaisky recalled:
“It was a 50-50 puck that bounced off the boards and I saw Jones coming. I know he’s one of their players who will always take the body. It seemed that he was reaching for the puck . . . he’s a left-handed player . . . he kind of opened himself up and was in a bit of a vulnerable position.
“I watched the replay and I did make contact with his head. I mean, I didn’t mean to . . . it’s not like I was targeting his head. It just happened to be in a position where I did clip it a bit.”
Jones, a 17-year-old freshman from Olds, Alta., is 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds. He had 30 points, including 14 goals, and 64 penalty minutes in 62 regular-season games. He wasn’t injured on the play.
Madaisky, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, added that he “was definitely surprised to get two games.” But he had been forewarned by head coach Guy Charron and associate coach Dave Hunchak.
“I was told to expect something,” Madaisky said. “I was told to expect one, maybe two, and it happened to be two.”
Madaisky, who turned 20 on Jan. 30, said he was disappointed with the league’s decision.
“Especially at this time of year,” he said. “It’s never fun sitting out. You kind of feel like letting the team down by not being in the lineup. Hopefully, we’re a deep enough squad that we have guys who are able to come into the lineup and do a good job.”
Madaisky played quite well in the first two games, picking up three assists and going plus-4. He and Tyler Hansen have been used in a shutdown role for much of the season, playing against the opposition’s best offensive line. Madaisky also plays a point on the first power-play unit and kills penalties.
Madaisky’s absence means Landon Cross, a 17-year-old in his first WHL season, is likely to check into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three straight games.
This is the second suspension of the season for Madaisky, who served a two-game sentence after taking a cross-checking major against the visiting Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 18.
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Madaisky’s suspension was one of six handed out by Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, on Monday.
* F Manraj Hayer of the Everett Silvertips drew a ‘tbd’ after taking a double minor for checking from behind against the host Tri-City Americans on Saturday night. The teams are scheduled to play in Everett tonight and Wednesday. Tri-City D Drydn Dow, who was hit by Hayer, suffered an injury to his right arm on the play and isn’t expected to play again in this series.
* Everett F Ryan Harrison also won’t play tonight after taking a one-game sentence for an interference major he incurred on Saturday.
* The Silvertips also were fined $500 for being in “violation of the WHL Social Media and Networking Policy” after Saturday’s game. That was for a tweet by Everett F Cody Fowlie, who was ejected with a checking-from-behind major on Saturday. The tweet contained a couple of obscenities, one of which referred to “bullshit refing.” Interestingly, Fowlie wasn’t suspended for the major penalty.
* F Brett Bulmer of the Kelowna Rockets is on a ‘tbd’ after taking a kneeing major in Game 2 against the Winterhawks in Portland on Saturday. He won’t play in Game 3 tonight in Kelowna. Bulmer’s penalty came for a hit on Portland D William Wrenn, who is the Winterhawks’ captain. The WHL may be waiting to see if he plays tonight before deciding on the length of Bulmer’s suspension.
* F Oliver Gabriel of the Winterhawks will sit out tonight after being suspended for one game. He took a slashing minor on Saturday, and then was given a game misconduct. At this point, no one is saying what he did that warranted a game misconduct.
* F Cody Beach of the Moose Jaw Warriors was hit with a one-game suspension for a “derogatory comment to the Regine bench” during Game 2 of that series on Saturday. Interestingly, the Pats had requested supplemental discipline for a Beach-delivered hit during Game 1, a request that was turned down by the WHL. That cost the Pats $500.
Alan Millar, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald that he “received an email from Richard Doerksen saying that (Regina head coach) Pat Conacher had sent in a complaint to the league after the game regarding something Cody had said to their bench and that he asked the league to review the matter,”
No one seems to be too eager to repeat what Beach said and the Warriors chose not to make him available to the media on Monday.
“It was something we thought was over the limit of what would be classified as hockey talk,” Richard Doerksen, the WHL’s vice-president, hockey, told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post.
This is Beach’s fourth suspension of the season. He will have sat out 11 games in suspensions when he misses tonight’s game in Regina.
According to Gourlie, the Warriors are 8-1-1 with Beach serving suspensions.
The Warriors tied the series with an 8-1 victory in Game 2. Beach had two goals and an assist, and was selected as the game’s first star.
Meanwhile, Scott Sepich, writing for Yahoo! Sports, points out that while Fowlie’s tweet was taken down about an hour after it was posted, a tweet from Everett F Jordyn Boyd remains in cyberspace.
That tweet was posted after Game 2 and reads: “This is actually a joke. Never seen a team dive so much in my life.”
And to think the playoffs are only a few days old!

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Dr. Robert Cantu has explained, perhaps clearer than anything else I have read, the relationship between young athletes and concussions.
In his weekly hockey notes, Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe leads with hockey and concussions.
As Shinzawa writes, Dr. Cantu, a co-director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, says that younger brains are not as myelinated, meaning they have less insulation than brains of adults. Also, boys’ necks are weaker than those of adults. Their heads are disproportionately large for their bodies.
“That sets up a younger person to have injuries to the brain that are greater than those sustained at a later age from the same force,’’ Dr. Cantu said. “It takes more force later on to produce the same injury.
“It’s important not to have a head injury at any age. It’s particularly important not to have it at a young age. Fighting is certainly to be discouraged, especially at young ages, for those reasons.’’
This really is serious stuff, and don’t think for a moment that signs are pointing away from fighting as being problematic.
“Presumably,” Dr. Cantu told Shinzawa, “those people were asymptomatic when they died. Presumably, had they lived into adulthood, the early-onset CTE would have progressed. At some point in life, they would have been symptomatic.
“For those with CTE early in life that can cause symptoms later in life, we have no idea of the prevalence of that right now. It’s beginning to be studied.’’
Dr. Cantu pulled no punches in stating that “no head trauma is good head trauma.”
“Avoid all head trauma that you can avoid,” he added. “If that means practising less, practise less. Don’t go out seeking fights. It’s not good to get hit in the head.
“Secondly, if you’re going to play a sport that’s at high risk for head injury like the collision sports — hockey, football, lacrosse — you better have a passion for that sport. Or I would recommend you not play it.’’
Shinzawa’s complete notebook is right here.
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A big story in Canada today will deal with the Canadian Paediatric Society and American Academy of Pediatrics recommending that children and teenagers not be allowed to take part in boxing.
While today’s story centres on boxing, Dr. Claire LeBlanc, one of the authors of a statement that will get considerable play today, says that the CPS “will be making a statement” on youth hockey in the future.
For more, check out this story right here.
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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Wacey Rabbit (Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2001-07) was released by Jesenice (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga).
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JUST NOTES: The Tri-City Americans have signed F Justin Gutierrez. The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder will turn 16 in December. He is from Anchorage, Alaska, and is the younger brother of Moises Gutierrez (Kamloops, Everett, 2002-07). . . . The Swift Current Broncos released G Derek Tendler, 19, on Sunday. The Regina native had brief stints with the Regina Pats and Vancouver Giants, as well as the Broncos. Swift Current dealt a 2011 sixth-round bantam draft pick to Vancouver for Tendler in October 2010. Since 2008, he has appeared in only 22 WHL games. . . . According to Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald, F Manraj Hayer, 19, of the Everett Silvertips has a broken fibula so will be out for a couple of months. He had 12 points in 61 games as a freshman last season. . . .
The Spokane Chiefs had 2,787 fans watch their intrasquad game Sunday, with Team Red beating Team White, 4-3. . . . Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur told Dave Trimmer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review that sophomore F Darren Kramer is “having a hell of a camp.” Kramer, who led the WHL in fights last season, was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the NHL’s 2011 draft. “He’s played hard since the start of camp,” Nachbaur continued. “His passion shows every time he steps on the ice. He scored five goals in one game. I think he scored in every scrimmage. . . . He came in great shape with a great attitude and he portrayed that every time he stepped on the ice. That’s not to say the other guys didn’t but he stood out, he stood out like a sore thumb.”
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The Red Deer Rebels are hoping that Czech G Patrik Bartosak, who was selected in the 2011 CHL import draft, will be their starter this season. The 18-year-old Bartosak hopes so, too.
“The WHL is very good league and in Czech Republic there was no future,” Bartosak told Greg Meachem, the Red Deer Advocate’s sports editor, on Sunday.
Despite being passed over in the NHL’s 2011 draft, Bartosak has his sights set on an NHL career.
“The NHL is my dream from the start. I want to be picked in the NHL draft,” he told Meachem.
And what does he think of the hockey he witnessed early in the Rebels’ camp?
“The hockey is really fast, faster than in Czech Republic,” he said. “The rink is smaller so everything is fast and the players shoot from every angle.”
Check out the Advocate’s Rebels Central page right here.
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G Tyler Bunz of the Medicine Hat Tigers is blogging, at least through training camp, and it's worth a look. You are able to follow him right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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