The Tri-City Americans dealt defenceman Brock Sutherland
to the Calgary Hitmen on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy John Allen Photography)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jakub Sindel (Brandon, 2004-05) was released from his tryout with Kloten (Switzerland, NL A). He had one assist in four games during his tryout. Sindel returned to action last week after missing two weeks with a broken jaw.
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Peter Mansbridge of CBC-TV has spent some time with researchers, including Dr. Ann McKee, who have studied and are studying the brains of deceased athletes.
Mansbridge’s report appeared on CBC’s The National on Wednesday; if you missed it, it’s right here.
The report is especially interesting when Dr. McKee discusses the brain of former Buffalo Sabres sniper Richard Martin. Dr. McKee examined Martin’s brain — he died of a heart attack in March — and found chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Interestingly, unlike Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert, in whose brains CTE also was found, Martin wasn’t a fighter.
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The Tri-City Americans are down to three 20-year-olds after trading D Brock Sutherland to the Calgary Hitmen for F Nathan MacMaster, 19. . . . That leaves the Americans with F Adam Hughesman, F Brendan Shinnimin and F Mason Wilgosh as their three 20-year-olds. The Americans also hold the rights to D Matt MacKenzie, 20, who signed a three-year deal with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday and is with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. . . . MacMaster, a second-round pick by the Moose Jaw Warriors in the 2007 bantam draft, has 49 points and 115 penalty minutes in 190 career regular-season games. The Warriors dealt him to the Hitmen last season. . . . Sutherland has 40 points and 155 penalty minutes in 186 regular-season games split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes andthe Americans. . . . The Calgary roster now includes five 20-year-olds — F Jimmy Bubnick, F Kenton Miller, D Ben Wilson, G Mike Snider and Sutherland. Wilson is with the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters on a tryout deal.
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JUST NOTES: The Buffalo Sabres signed two more 20-year-olds to three-year contracts on Thursday. F Riley Boychuk of the Portland Winterhawks was a seventh-round pick in the 2010 NHL draft, while F Jonathan Parker of the Prince Albert Raiders was in camp on a free-agent tryout. Both players are with the AHL’s Rochester Americans at present. . . . The Vancouver Giants have assigned G Brendan Jensen, 18, to the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. The move came after the Giants acquired G Adam Morrison, 20, from the Saskatoon Blades earlier in the week. . . .
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Earlier this week, I offered up a review of a book written by Don Dietrich, a former defenceman with the Brandon Wheat Kings.
I was remiss in not mentioning that Dietrich spent part of last weekend in Winnipeg, where he was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame . . . not as a player, but as a builder.
Here, from the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame newsletter, is Dietrich’s bio:
“Don Dietrich of Deloraine, a former defenseman and captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings, soaked up a lot of knowledge as a player in the AHL, NHL, East Coast League, with Team Canada and in Germany and Switzerland. He has passed on this knowledge as an assistant coach in Switzerland and, after returning home, as a coach with the Southwest Cougar midgets, the SWHL Deloraine Royals and as a scout for the Spokane Chiefs. Dietrich has been an active member of Canada’s national coach mentorship program, doing ‘one-on-one’ mentoring, as well as clinics. Despite personal health problems, he was instrumental in developing the Breakfast Club where young players have come out twice a week to practise their skill development.”
Hockey in our countries needs more Don Dietrichs. And if you missed it scroll further down on this blog and read all about his book. Then get on the Internet and order one. You won't be sorry.
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Jon Rosen, the former radio voice and PR guru of the Everett Silvertips, is in his first season with Fox Sports West and is in Europe covering the Los Angeles Kings. They open the NHL season in Stockholm today (Friday).
Earlier this week, Rosen blogged from a game in Hamburg and provides a pretty good feel for what it was like in the stands.
That piece is right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Wednesday . . .

James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail wonders today if the Memorial Cup tickets aren’t just a bit over-priced. The tournament opens Friday in Mississauga, Ont. Mirtle, by the way, is from Kamloops and grew up as a big fan of the Blazers. His blog entry is right here.
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As of early this morning, there hasn’t been an announcement from the SJHL, but it seems the junior A league has found its new president.
Wade Klippenstein, the Prince George Cougars’ assistant GM and director of player personnel, tweeted Wednesday evening: “Congrats to Spokane Chiefs scout Bill Chow, the next president of the SJHL. A fantastic choice!”
Besides scouting for the Chiefs, Chow has been a Staff Sargeant with the Prince Albert Police Service, most recently working as administrative NCO/media liaison.
The SJHL has been searching for a president to replace Laury Ryan, who resigned in March after spending eight years in that office.
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THE COACHING GAME: Former NHLer Corey Millen is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Alaska Avalanche, which plays out of Palmer, Alaska. Millen replaces Brian Huebel. He and assistant coach Sean Fish will work on the coaching staff of the NAHL’s Wichita Falls Wildcats, who are owned by Rick Brodsky, who also owns the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. . . . Former WHL and NHL goaltender Glen Hanlon has been dismissed as head coach of Slovakia’s national team. Slovakia didn’t qualify for the playoff round at the recently completed world championship. Hanlon, the first foreign head coach of the Slovak team, had been under contract through the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. He was hired after the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
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JUST NOTES: The Swift Current Broncos have signed G Steven Myland, 17. He was acquired as part of the deal in which Swift Current sent F Cody Eakin to the Kootenay Ice. Myland played this season with the Valley West Hawks of the B.C. major midget league, going 15-4 with two ties and a 1.94 GAA. . . . F Austin Wuthrich of Anchorage has committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish after spending this season with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s U-18 team, although he was injured for much of this season. He was a 12th-round selection by the Everett Silvertips in the 2008 bantam draft. . . . Kelly McCrimmon, the owner/GM/head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings, has told Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun that, other than trainer Cam McGhee, he expects the club’s hockey staff back for another season. That includes assistant coaches Dwayne Gylywoychuk and Darren Ritchie. McGhee, McNeil reports, is headed for the U of Manitoba “to complete his physiotherapy degree.” McGhee was with the Wheat Kings for three seasons.
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Kootenay Ice D Brayden McNabb has signed a three-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres, who selected him in the third round of the NHL’s 2009 draft. The Sabres had to sign McNabb, who turned 20 on Jan. 21, by June 1 or he would have gone back into the draft. McNabb, 6-foot-5 and 216 pounds, has played four seasons with the Ice, who took him in the second round of the 2006 bantam draft. This season, he had 72 points in 59 regular-season games. . . .
John Vogl of the Buffalo News has more right here, including a mention of the Sabres planning to sign Portland Winterhawks F Riley Boychuk.
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TWEET OF THE DAY:
“@USAHockey surpassed 100K members in 8&under category for 1st time in 2010-11 & finished season w/105,394. Goal for 2011-12: 110K!”
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Those are rather interesting figures and should make Canadian hockey people sit up and take notice.
If you are wondering, Hockey Canada had 584,679 registered players in 2008-09. That figure slipped to 577,077 for 2009-10.
I couldn’t find figures for 2010-11 but apparently they were expected to decline another one per cent.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Monday . . .

It’s game night in the WHL, with Game 3 of the championship final scheduled for Cranbrook.
The series is tied 1-1, with the Portland Winterhawks having opened with a 4-3 OT victory on home ice. The visiting Kootenay Ice won the second game, 7-5, after opening up a 6-1 lead.
The Winterhawks, of course, ran into some penalty problems in that game and now will be without two veteran forwards tonight.
F Tayler Jordan has been suspended for one game after taking a checking-from-behind major for a hit on Ice F Steele Boomer in Game 2.
F Brad Ross drew one of those ‘tbd’ suspensions under supplemental discipline, following a collision with Ice F Matt Fraser. Fraser needed help getting off the ice and was unable to put any weight on his left leg.
If you haven’t seen them already, the Jordan-Boomer hit is right here, with the Ross-Fraser collision right there.
It seems the league has decided not to suspend Portland F Riley Boychuk, who drew an elbowing major and game misconduct for a hit on Ice D Hayden Rintoul. That check is right here.
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Condolences to the family of former WHL D Clayton Stoner (Tri-City, 2002-05), whose brother Luke, 30, was killed Friday morning in a logging accident near Mahatta River on Vancouver Island. . . . According to a press release issued by the Port Alice RCMP, the death is being attributed to a workplace incident. . . . The Stoners are from Port McNeill. . . . Teresa Bird of the North Island Gazette has more right here. . . . Clayton Stoner, 26, spent this season with the NHL's Minnesota Wild.
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D Jared Cowen left the Spokane Chiefs when their season ended and joined the Binghamton Senators, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . . He played for Binghamton on Friday night and earned an assist on the first shift of his professional career. Binghamton went on to beat the Portland, Me., Pirates, 3-0, to win a playoff series 4-2. . . . Binghamton will meet the Charlotte Checkers in the Eastern Conference final. . . . Former Seattle Thunderbirds C Jim O’Brien scored one of the Senators’ goals in that victory.
In an AHL game on Monday night, F Dustin Boyd (Moose Jaw, 2002-06) scored six seconds into the third OT period to give the host Hamilton Bulldogs a 2-1 victory over the Manitoba Moose. It was Game 7 of a Western Conference semifinal. Boyd won the period-opening faceoff, dumped the puck off the end boards, beat a defender to it and whacked it past G Eddie Lack for the winner. Hamilton F Nigel Dawes (Kootenay, 2001-05) forced the OT with a goal at 6:24 of the third period. . . . Boyd and Dawes both are from Winnipeg.
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F Sven Bartschi of the Portland Winterhawks is the WHL’s player of the week. He had seven points, including five goals, in three games last week. . . . All signs point to the BCHL’s Quesnel Millionaires being sold and on the move to Chilliwack where they will be rebranded as the Chiefs. Tyler Olsen of the Chilliwack Times has that story right here.
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Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun has an interesting piece right here on the OHL draft that was held on Saturday.
“The changing face of hockey in this province made startling history on Saturday,” Simmons writes, “when three of the first six selections — four of the first 12 players picked — in the Ontario Hockey League priority draft were players of colour.”
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In the QMJHL final, G Jacob DeSerres stopped 17 shots to help the visiting Saint John Sea Dogs to a 5-0 victory over the Gatineau Olympiques in front of 4,000 fans. . . . Saint John, which has won eight straight road games in these playoffs, leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Gatineau on Wednesday night. . . . DeSerres (Seattle, Brandon, 2005-10) is 10-2 in the playoffs.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter

Sunday . . .

SUNDAY, ON THE ICE:
Finally, a couple of home teams put up second-round victories, meaning the visitors now hold a 6-2 edge. . . . No games tonight. . . .
In Portland, F Ryan Johansen scored three times to lead the Winterhawks to a 6-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. . . . The series is 1-1 as it heads to Kelowna for games Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . Johansen has five goals in these playoffs. . . . D Joe Morrow and F Ty Rattie each added a goal and two assists for Portland, with F Riley Boychuk getting three helpers. . . . Kelowna G Adam Brown stopped 46 shots, while Portland’s Mac Carruth turned aside 25. . . . Attendance was 8,053. . . . The Rockets were in this at 2-2 late in the second period. . . . But Portland got two late goals from Johansen, at 15:29 and 19:52, to go out front 4-2 and take control. . . . Portland was without F Brad Ross, who is suspended, while the Rockets were without F Zach Franko, who was hit by Ross in Game 1 on Thursday. . . . The length of Ross’s suspension might be known today. . . .
In Spokane, F Mitch Holmberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 6-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . That series is 1-1 as it heads to Kennewick, Wash., for games Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. . . . Holmberg scored on the PP at 19:00 of the first period, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Chiefs then scored the only three goals of the second period. . . . Spokane was 3-for-5 on the PP; the Americans were 1-for-4. . . . Spokane D Jared Cowen had four assists, three of them on the PP. . . . Spokane G James Reid stopped 12 shots, as his guys outshot the visitors 26-8 through two periods. . . . The Americans started Drew Owsley in goal. He stopped 21 of 26 shots before giving way to Eric Comrie, who made his WHL debut by turning aside 13 of 14 shots. Comrie, a first-round bantam pick who signed with the Americans on Thursday, was beaten only by F Tyler Johnson, who scored on the PP at 10:35 of the third. . . . Attendance was 5,026. . . . Tri-City D Tyler Schmidt was hit with a major for clipping and a game misconduct in the third period, a penalty that certainly will be reviewed by the WHL office.
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SUNDAY’S CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
None.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
Taking Note on Twitter