Rockets drop opener to Remparts . . . Lowry on Sharks' radar . . . Hiller on move

F Chet Pickard (Tri-City, 2005-09) signed  one-year-plus-option contract with RHW Iserlohn Roosters (Germany, DEL). This season, with Odense (Denmark, Metal Ligaen), he was 2.65 and .909 in 36 games. . . .
F Martin Cibák (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with Zlín (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, with Olomouc (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had 11 goals and nine assists in 48 games. . . .
F Tyler Mosienko (Kelowna, 2000-05) signed a one-year extension with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). This season, he had 26 goals and 37 assists in 60 games.
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As you no doubt are aware, the games began at the Memorial Cup in Quebec City last night. . . . The host Quebec Remparts dumped the WHL-champion Kelowna Rockets, 4-3, before 9,497 fans. . . . In each of the last six tournaments, the host team had lost its opener. . . . The Remparts outchanced the Rockets and, at one point, held a 2-0 lead that could just as easily have been 5-0, but not for some solid play by Kelowna G Jackson Whistle. . . . A key part in this game occurred as the buzzer sounded to end the second period. The Remparts held a 2-1 lead at the time, with Kelowna F Nick Merkley having scored a shorthanded goal at 17:56 of the second period to get the Rockets to within a goal. . . . There was some milling around, some pushing and shoving, at the buzzer and the referees chose to slap misconducts on Kelowna F Leon Draisaitl and Quebec F Marc-Olivier Roy, both of whom are NHL draft picks of the Edmonton Oilers. That took Draisaitl, the WHL’s playoff MVP and Kelowna’s most-dangerous player, off the ice for the first half of the third period. . . . The Rockets didn’t do much offensively with Draisaitl off and, in fact, gave up a shorthanded goal to Quebec F Ryan Graves at 2:08 for a 3-1 Remparts lead. . . . Draisaitl came back and later scored the game’s last goal, on a PP, at 19:24. . . . The Rockets took 44 of the game’s 70 penalty minutes. If they are to win this tournament, they are going to have to stop giving the referees the option to make some of those calls. . . . The Rockets were 2-for-6 on the PP, but gave up that shorthanded goal. . . . Quebec was 0-for-5 on the PP. . . . Quebec G Zach Fucale stopped 26 shots, one fewer than Whistle. . . . Kelowna was 30-for-58 on faceoffs, and that was with Draisaitl struggling — he was 13-for-29. . . . Rockets D Madison Bowey had a game-high six shots, but he can play a lot better than he did. He fought the puck for a good part of this one. . . . The Rockets don’t play again until Monday, so will have some time to think about the loss.
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Here is the Memorial Cup schedule (all games on Sportsnet; all times Eastern):
Friday: Kelowna 3 vs. Quebec 4 (9,497)
Saturday: Rimouski vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Sunday: Quebec vs. Oshawa, 4:30 p.m.
Monday: Rimouski vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday: Oshawa vs. Kelowna, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday: Quebec vs. Rimouski, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7:30 p.m.
Friday: Semifinal, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 31: Championship game, 7 p.m.
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An interesting note from Doyle Potenteau of the Kelowna Daily Courier, who is in Quebec City:
“The Colisée Pepsi is a wonderful, albeit aging, rink, one filled with
history. Located steps away is the city’s newest construction site, the home of Videotron Centre, an 18,482-seat arena that fans in this hockey-mad market hope will soon be home to an NHL team. And steps away from the Videotron Centre is Pavillon de la Jeunesse, a small but outstanding rink of which some WHL teams would be envious. The rink seats 5,000, has a low roof and an ice surface that, with the touch of a button, can be expanded from NHL to Olympic size in only eight minutes. If that sounds crazy, here’s something really crazy: The rink doesn’t have a main tenant, and, according to staff, is mostly used for cultural events.”
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Those of us on the outside really have no idea how serious a contender Dave Lowry is for the head-coaching position with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks. But if you believe that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, the Victoria Royals head coach very well may be in the hunt. . . . It could be that someone like Randy Carlyle or Peter DeBoer will replace Todd McLellan. But, hey, it could be Lowry, who played 143 games with the Sharks back in the day. . . . David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News has more right here. . . . “I tried reaching Lowry through the Royals’ media relations director,” Pollak writes, “only to be told Lowry and Royals general manager Cam Hope — who indicated he thought the moment his coach would get a shot at an NHL job was getting closer — weren’t interested in talking any more about the subject. That, of course, only adds to Lowry’s viability as a serious candidate.”
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The Spokane Chiefs have signed F Koby Morrisseau, who was the ninth overall selection in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. Morrisseau, 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, is from Grandview, Man. He had 61 points, including 39 goals, with the Parkland Rangers, who play in the West Division of the Winnipeg bantam AAA league. . . . The Chiefs had two first-round selections in the 2015 draft. Earlier, they signed D Ty Smith, who was the draft’s first overall selection.
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THE COACHING GAME:

The QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs have signed Danny Flynn to a three-year contract as head coach. Flynn, 57, spent this season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. . . . Flynn, a veteran of the coaching wars, spent six seasons (2007-13) as head coach of the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, guiding them to the 2010 championship. Flynn replaces Ross Yates, the head coach for the past two seasons.
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Ansar Khan, who covers the Detroit Red Wings for MLive.com, reported Friday afternoon that former WHL coach Jim Hiller will be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs coaching staff. . . . Hiller, 46, coached in the WHL with the Chilliwack Bruins (remember them?) and Tri-City Americans. This season, he was an assistant coach under Mike Babcock with the Red Wings. . . . In Detroit, Hiller was responsible for the PP, which was the second most-prolific in the NHL.
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Happy 63rd b'day to former 2-way winger Rich Preston who notched 31 goals in 79-80, his 1st NHL season following WHA. pic.twitter.com/a51aJ6LEme

— O-Pee-Chee Stars (@opeecheestars) May 22, 2015

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Another player done, at least for now . . . Warriors cycle for Ethan

F Lukáš Vartovník (Everett, 2006-08) has signed a one-year contract with Spišská Nová Ves (Slovakia, 1. Liga). Last season, with Liptovský Mikuláš (Slovakia, 1. Liga), he had five goals and 11 assists in 36 games. . . .
F Martin Cibák (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) has signed a one-year contract with Olomouc (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he was the captain of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL), and had 12 points, including six goals, in 38 games. He was traded to Vityaz Podolsk (Russia, KHL), and had two goals and an assist in 16 games.
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CONCUSSION REPORT:

The WHL may have lost another player to post-concussion syndrome.
F Brandon Del Grosso, 18, isn’t with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
“As of right now,” he told Taking Note, “I’m just going to school and taking things day by day. I was not ready to return to Moose Jaw this year as I haven’t played in a hockey game in quite a while.”
Del Grosso played one game last season. On Oct. 9, he took a hit from behind that, he said, left him with whiplash and a concussion. Almost a year later, Del Grosso is still feeling it.
“I still have symptoms (from) time to time,” he said.
A ninth-round pick by Moose Jaw in the 2011 bantam draft, he had 43 points, 13 of them goals, in 43 games with the major midget Vancouver-Northwest Giants in 2012-13. He also got into three games with the Warriors that season.
So, to date, his WHL resume shows four games, with no points.
From New Westminster, he is now attending Douglas College, which is located in his hometown.
“As far as hockey goes,” he said, “I’m not currently playing but that could change in the future.”
Making the decision to leave the game, especially when it wasn’t on his terms, “wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” he said.
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If you missed it, Sean Rooney and Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News reported Wednesday that F Gavin Broadhead of the Medicine Hat Tigers has had to retire due to post-concussion syndrome.
That story is right here.
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Meanwhile, the U of Minnesota Gophers announced Wednesday that Amanda Kessel, the sister of Toronto Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel, won’t play this season because of post-concussion syndrome.
Amanda Kessel didn’t play for the Gophers last season as she was with the U.S. women’s national team. She incurred a concussion while with the national team.
"It’s obviously a difficult decision and one that I’ve taken time to come to terms with,” Kessel said in a news release. “As someone who has played through a lot of injuries, it wasn’t until suffering a concussion that I fully understood the importance of being 100 per cent healthy when I’m on the ice. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case right now.
"My No. 1 priority is my health, and I hope that I’ll be able to return to the ice in the future."
She has been working with doctors and specialists at the Carrick Brain Center in Atlanta.
Kessel, who has one year of eligibility remaining, won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2012 as the NCAA’s top Divison I women’s player.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors lost a member of their organization in July when F Ethan Williams of Winnipeg committed suicide.  Williams, who would have turned 17 on Aug. 22, was to have attended his third Warriors training camp. . . . On Wednesday, Katie Brickman of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports right here, 11 veteran players “participated in the Cycle Around the Globe for World Suicide Prevention Day . . . with a certain person in mind.” . . . Warriors GM Alan Millar told Brickman: ““I think it is very important to be in the community and give back to the Moose Jaw community that supports us so well but, as part of that, there are a number of causes that are so important. This day is close to our hearts with what happened to a young man, Ethan Williams, recently. He was part of our family.”
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It could be that Russian F Nikita Scherbak has played his last game with the Saskatoon Blades. Scherback led the Blades last season in goals (28), assists (50) and points (78). He was selected in the first round of the NHL’s 2014 draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He turns 19 on Dec. 30, so has to play in the NHL or be returned to the Blades. . . . Because he was a first-round NHL pick, the Blades were allowed to pick twice in the CHL’s 2014 import draft, which they did. On top of that, there is a one-year moratorium on trading import draft selections. . . . So, as Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix reports right here, the Blades already are contemplating finding Scherback another WHL team with which to play.
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“Government officials in Washington state, home to four Western Hockey League teams, have been investigating the working conditions of the teams' mostly-teenaged players over the past year, TSN has learned.
“Matthew Erlich, a spokesman for Washington's Department of Labor and Industry, told TSN that officials recently referred the case to the state attorney general's office and added that the labor department is waiting for a legal opinion from the attorney general before pursuing its investigation further.”
Those are the first two paragraphs of a story by Rick Westhead, TSN’s senior correspondent. The complete story is right here.
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TSN posted its first Craig’s List of the 2014-15 season on Wednesday. The list, compiled by TSN’s Craig Button, features his ranking of the top 40 players who are eligible for the 2015 NHL draft. This list, which is right here, includes one WHLer, Seattle F Mathew Barzal, in the top 20, but there are five in the top 30 and 10 in the top 40.
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The Prince George Cougars have hired Craig Hyslop as an athletic therapist. Hyslop, 28, is from Prince George. He spent the last two years with CBI, a health services centre in Prince George. According to general manager Todd Harkins, Hyslop will “take care of (the players’) health and well-being,” while Chico Dhanjal “takes care of their equipment.” . . . Taylor Rocca of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman tweeted Wednesday that D Landon Cross, 20, has received his release and will join the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons. Cross, who is from Brandon, was acquired by the Kootenay Ice from the Kamloops Blazers last season. He didn’t report to the Ice this season, saying he wanted to finish his junior career with the Pistons. . . .
The Saskatoon Blades will open the season with Troy Trombley, 20, and Trevor Martin, 18, as their goaltenders. The 6-foot-7 Trombley, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was 9-30-3/4.08/.899 last season. He also has played with the Kamloops Blazers and Tri-City Americans. Martin, from Ardossan, Alta., split last season between the midget AAA Leduc Oil Kings and the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines. . . . Saskatoon’s roster sits at 29, including two goaltenders and 10 defencemen.

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The new third jersey is here! pic.twitter.com/SifZ5ktKBX
— Kamloops Blazers (@blazerhockey) September 11, 2014

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Martin Cibak (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract extension with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL). He had seven goals and 19 assists in 45 games this season for the Petrochemists. . . .
F Tomas Plihal (Kootenay, 2001-03) signed a two-year contract with Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had 16 goals and 20 assists in 59 games for TPS Turku (Finland, SM-Liiga) this season. . . .
D Brad Cole (Seattle, Kootenay, Saskatoon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had three goals and 11 assists in 49 games with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga) this season. . . .
D Richie Regehr (Kelowna, Portland, 1998-2004) signed a two-year contract with MoDo Örnsköldsvik (Sweden, Elitserien). He had 11 goals and 26 assists in 48 games for Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL) this season. MoDo GM (and ex-Vancouver Canucks captain) Markus Näslund: “Richie is a right-hand shot who is good on the power play. He has won championships and has been one of the best players for several seasons in the German league. We have been looking for an offensive right- handed defenseman, so it feels great that we have signed Richie.” . . .
G Kevin Nastiuk (Medicine Hat, 2001-05) signed a one-year contract with Heilbronner Falken (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had a 3.30 GAA and a .891 save percentage in 14 games for Eisbären Berlin (Germany, DEL) this season.
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G Laurent Brossoit of the Edmonton Oil Kings draws inspiration from his father, John, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago. Jason Hills of the Edmonton Sun has that story right here.
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Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, likes to run high-tempo practices because that’s the way he wants his team to play the game. In search of ways to reach an even higher tempo, he spent some time last fall with head coach Chip Kelly and the Oregon Ducks football team.
Kris Anderson of the Portland Tribune has that story right here.
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D Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips will be joining Team Canada for the IIHF world championship. . . . Murray, who will be one of the first players chosen in June’s NHL draft, is no stranger to a Canadian jersey, having played in three under-18 tournaments. He captained two of those teams.
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WEDNESDAY’S GAMES:
In Moose Jaw, F Kenton Miller scored twice as the Warriors stayed alive with a 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Edmonton holds a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final and will play host to Game 5 on Friday. . . . The loss halted Edmonton’s 22-game winning streak. The Oil Kings hadn’t lost since Feb. 22 when they were beaten 6-4 by the visiting Kelowna Rockets. . . . The Warriors rolled the dice and started Justin Paulic in goal, rather than Luke Siemens who had opened each of their previous 12 playoff games. . . . Paulic, a 16-year-old from Thompson, Man., the hometown of the great Glen Goodall, played one regular-season game, stopping 24 shots in a 7-1 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders on March 17. . . Last night, Paulic turned aside 28  shots. He lost his shutout when F Tyler Maxwell scored at 8:28 of the second. . . . Moose Jaw F Brayden Point, a first-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft, scored his seventh goal of these playoffs as he opened the scoring on a PP at 5:59 of the first period. . . . The Warriors went on to a 4-0 lead, with F Cam Braes scoring his second goal of the playoffs and Miller adding Nos. 6 and 7. . . . Miller’s first goal came at 19:58 of the first. . . . F James Henry had an empty-netter and two assists, while F Cody Beach and F Tanner Eberle also had two helpers each. . . . The Warriors were without D Kendall McFaull, their captain, who was taken to hospital on Wednesday at 4 a.m., and had his appendix removed later in the day. . . . D Brayden Doucette took McFaull’s spot on the back end. The Warriors also added F Torrin White and F Carter Hansen, choosing to scratch F Andrew Johnson and F Justin Kirsch. . . .

In Portland, F Ty Rattie scored a PP goal at 11:21 of the third period and the Portland Winterhawks went on to a 3-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Winterhawks lead the best-of-seven Western Conference final 3-0 and is able to wrap it up tonight at home in the Rose Garden. . . . Rattie has 17 playoff goals this spring, and has tied the franchise record for career playoff goals with 28. He shares that record with Randy Heath. . . . At one point, the Winterhawks held a 16-2 edge in third-period shots. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth made 38 saves, none bigger than when he got a blocker on a shorthanded breakaway attempt by F Brendan Shinnimin late in the third period. . . . Portland F Brad Ross iced it with an empty-netter. . . . F Adam Hughesman opened the scoring on a Tri-City PP just 1:16 into the first period. At that point, the Americans were 6-15 on the PP in the series. . . . Hughesman banged in a rebound after a shot by F Patrick Holland hit a post. . . . Shinnimin drew an assist on that goal to run his point streak to 37 games. . . . The Winterhawks tied the game at 10:40 of the second when F Marcel Noebels stole the puck off Holland and beat G Ty Rimmer for his fourth goal. . . . Rimmer made 44 stops. . . . The Americans received the game’s first five PP opportunities and six of the first seven but only could come up with one goal. . . . The Winterhawks then received five straight power plays, scoring once. . . . Tri-City now has lost three straight games for the first time this season. . . . This also was the first time in these playoffs that the Americans have lost in regulation time. They are 0-5 in OT.


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