Two WHLers in KHL camp ... Medicine Hat chasing tournament; Gas City wants U-17 WHC

F Brandon McMillan (Kelowna, 2006-10) had his KHL rights traded by Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL) to Dinamo Riga (Latvia, KHL) for monetary compensation. He started last season with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL), recording nine goals and six assists in 31 games. He moved to Torpedo on Nov. 21, where he had five goals and four assists in 24 games. . . . 

F Brock Montgomery (Kootenay, 2009-13) has signed a one-year contract with the Tilburg Trappers (Netherlands, Germany Oberliga). Last season, he had two goals and four assists in 12 games with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), and eight goals and eight assists in 22 games with the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL).

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With KHL teams having opened training camps in preparation for a new season, at least two WHLers are with one of the teams on a tryout basis. . . . D Anatoliy Yelizarov, 19, of the Edmonton Oil Kings and F Vladislav Lukin, 20, of the Tri-City Americans are skating with HC Salavat Yulaev. . . . Yelizarov, who isn’t expected to return to Edmonton for a third season, had seven goals and six assists in 67 games last season. In 125 games over two seasons, he has nine goals and 13 assists. . . . The Oil Kings likely will opening training camp with sophomore F Artyom Balturak and F Andrei Pavlenko as their imports. Both are from Belarus; Pavlenko was selected earlier this month in the CHL import draft. . . . Lukin, meanwhile, has told the Americans that he wants to come to camp, even though he would be in tough as a two-spotter -- a 20-year-old import. He has played three seasons with Tri-City, putting up 118 points, including 54 goals, in 183 games. Last season, he had 26 goals and 32 assists in 63 games.

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City council in Medicine Hat has given its support to a local group that wants to play host to the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in 2018. . . . Ron Webb, who chairs the committee, appeared before City Council on Tuesday night. . . . The 2018 tournament is scheduled for Nov. 1-12. . . . This year, for a second straight year, the tournament will be played in the B.C. communities of Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, Nov. 5-11. . . . Sean Rooney of the Medicine Hat News has more right here.

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Jordan Smith has signed on as an associate coach with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, where he’ll work alongside head coach Cory Stillman and assistant coach Darryl Moxam. Smith played four seasons (2001-05) with his hometown Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He spent the past four seasons coaching with the NOJHL’s Soo Thunderbirds.

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Adam Redmond is the new head coach of the AJHL’s Olds Grizzlys, who are under new ownership. Redmond is a former Grizzlys assistant coach. For the past two seasons, Redmond has been the assistant GM/associate coach with the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks. . . . Redmond will be joined behind the bench by Joe Murphy, a former Grizzlys player. . . . Dana Lattery had been the director of hockey operations and head coach for the previous two seasons, and now is acting as an advisor. Lattery had worked as an Olds assistant coach for three-plus seasons before that.

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A (fictional, sarcastic) letter to the WHL's fans

Sean Rooney is the sports editor of the Medicine Hat News. He wrote a column for the Saturday paper that appeared under this headline:

A (fictional, sarcastic) letter to the WHL's fans

Dear loyal fans of (insert your home team here):
Thanks for your money, your dedication, your willingness to sit through seasons upon seasons of poorly performing teams (and good teams, as well) and especially for helping fund the arena the team plays in.
For years, you’ve seen top-notch major junior hockey players come through your community, and you’ve welcomed them with loving arms. Some of you have billeted, others have seen them at the local mall and given them some positive encouragement. Most importantly, you have paid to see them -- more on that later.
Well, as of today, things are a bit different. You see, we’ve all but given the all-clear for the Chilliwack Bruins -- a team that’s been in the league only five years but draws better than 3,000 fans a night -- to be sold and moved to Victoria. We didn’t ask the Chilliwack municipal government, and we certainly didn’t ask the fans. The only people who matter in this equation are the guys who own the team. Check that, only the guys who own the majority of the team.
A couple of minority owners wanted to ante up and buy out the guys who wanted to move the franchise, but we said no.
Anyhow, the message to you is simple: No matter how much you support your team, and no matter what other reasons you might have to the contrary, we really don't care what you think. Your loyalty to us is great, but we really don't feel the same way about you.
When people came asking about the possible sale of the Bruins, we told them to shoo off. When one of the Bruins owners confirmed the sale and move, we refused to talk to anyone in the public about it, then muzzled everyone in our league with confidentiality agreements. You'll hear what we want you to hear, when we want you to hear it.
This is all about money. Even though our athletes aren't yet professionals, and most of our owners make money hand over fist, we want as much cash as we can get. Put simply, we think there's more money-making potential in Victoria than in Chilliwack, so off we go.
You'll remember that Chilliwack got its team because the former owner in Tri-City wanted to move that team to Chilliwack. We had some remnants of a soul back then, and forced the owner to sell to a local group so the team could stay. But to make the old owner happy we diluted the entire league's talent pool by creating an expansion franchise in Chilliwack for him to run.
Given that we've set this glorious precedent, we figure there's little to stop us from moving your team as well. If, say, your team goes through a bit of a dry spell, and if, say, the fine folks of a more prosperous city push for a team, we will absolutely pull the plug on your franchise. No number of public rallies, Facebook groups or empty threats will change our mind. You get the picture — it's about whoever wants to plunk down a thicker stack of bills.
Your loyalty is absolutely still worth something to us though. Just not as much as the millionaire owners. Go (insert your team name here) go!

Sincerely,
The Western Hockey League