1. One day after the Memorial Cup tournament ended, the Saskatoon Blades began pruning the tree of 20-year-olds by dealing D Dalton Thrower to the Vancouver Giants for a conditional second-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. The pick is conditional on Thrower, who is from Squamish, playing in the WHL next season. He doesn’t turn 20 until Dec. 20 but, under hockey’s system, 2013-14 will be his 20-year-old season. . . . Thrower was a second-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 2012 draft, but he has yet to sign with the Habs. . . . Thrower found out that he had been traded while doing his exit interview on Friday. . . . The Blades now have 13 potential 20-year-olds on their roster. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.

2. Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts At Large has some closing thoughts on the Memorial Cup and the immediate future of the Saskatoon Blades. Check it out right here.

3. It got lost a bit in the Memorial Cup hoopla, but Hockey Canada dumped its head scout, Kevin Prendergast, and its goaltender coach, Ron Tugnutt, on the weekend. . . . Isn’t it interesting how the coaches and the head scout get shown the door but upper management stays the same?

4. The Montreal Canadiens have hired Shane Churla (Medicine Hat, 1983-85) and named him their chief amateur scout. Churla, 47, had been a scout with the Dallas Stars. After being a sixth-round pick of the Hartford Whalers in the NHL’s 1985 draft, Churla played 11 seasons in the NHL, splitting his career between the Whalers, Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars/Dallas, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. In 488 games, he had 71 points and 2,301 penalty minutes.

5. Meanwhile, Stéphane Leroux of RDS has reported that Ryan Jankowski, an amateur scout with the Canadiens since the summer of 2010, has interviewed with Hockey Canada for the position of head scout. Jankowski is a former assistant GM and director of amateur scouting with the New York Islanders. He moved to the Habs after being dropped by the Islanders.

6. Paul Buker of The Oregonian visited with the Portland Winterhawks after they arrived back home on Monday. He’s got plenty of insight right here on the players’ mindset after losing the Memorial Cup final, along with some thoughts from GM/head coach Mike Johnston on the future of Travis Green, who has been acting GM and head coach since Nov. 28.


7. Earlier Monday, Buker tweeted this quote from Johnston: “We feel quite comfortable that we're going to be a contender for next couple years for sure.”

8. The Memorial Cup grist mill spit out some rumours, as it always seems to do. . . . Among the speculation: (a) Former Regina Pats head coach Pat Conacher may end up as the head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes; (b) Brian Pellerin is the name most-often mentioned in terms of the opening with the Prince Albert Raiders; (c) the Everett Silvertips want to chat with Travis Green, now that the Memorial Cup is over; (d) the job as lead assistant coach with the Kamloops Blazers if Curtis Hunt’s if he wants it.

 9. The KHL held its 2013 junior draft on Monday, with teams selecting only players born in 1996. Two WHLers were selected, with Calgary Hitmen F Jake Virtanen going to Medvescak with the last pick of the second round and Moose Jaw Warriors F Brayden Point being taken by Traktor Chelyabinsk late in the fifth and final round. . . . The complete draft list is right here.
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From former WHL D Brandon Underwood (@BUND3RWOOD): “If ABC wants real entertainment they should try The Bachelorette with 25 junior hockey players competing for one girl #woof”

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THE COACHING GAME:
The Swift Current Broncos have added Andy Schneider to their coaching staff as an assistant. He’ll work with GM/head coach Mark Lamb and assistant coach Darren Evjen. Schneider, 39, played 15 seasons in Europe and is a member of the Broncos Hall of Fame. He played four seasons with the Broncos (1989-93), finishing with 367 points in 300 games. . . . The only other time in franchise history when the Broncos employed two assistant coaches was 1998-2001 when Andrew Milne was in the role as the second assistant. . . . The Southwest Booster has more on Schneider's role right here. . . .
Vladimir Vujtek, 64, is the new head coach of the Slovakian national hockey team. He replaces Glen Hanlon, who was released after the 2011 world championship. Vujtek is the first Czech to coach the Slovakian team, which means this is a big, big story in the world of international hockey. . . . Hanlon now is an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants. . . .
Hockey Canada has hired Ron Tugnutt as its goaltender coach. Tugnutt will work with the national men’s teams on a full-time basis. Tugnutt, 43, is no stranger to Hockey Canada, having been a part-timer for two years. . . . According to a Hockey Canada news release, “Tugnutt will be scouting for Canada’s national men’s teams as well as working with Hockey Canada’s development department to develop and improve resources for goaltenders and goaltending coaches. Tugnutt will continue to work closely with Canada’s National Junior Team and National Men’s Under-18 Team, scouting and assisting goaltenders for Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence.” . . .
Brian Kilrea, the winningest coach in major junior hockey history, has decided to step aside as general manager of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. Kilrea, 76, spent 37 years with the franchise and will continue to do some scouting for them. Chris Byrne, 37, will add the GM’s duties to his role has head coach. He is preparing for his third season as head coach after taking over behind the bench from Kilrea, who won 1,193 games during his coaching career. . . .
The Victoria Royals have rounded out their coaching staff with the hiring of Craig Didmon, who will work home practices and home games. Last season, he was the head coach of the major midget South Island Thunderbirds. . . . He joins GM/head coach Marc Habscheid, assistant coach Enio Sacilotto, who was with the club last season when it was the Chilliwack Bruins, and Ben Cooper, who has worked in video with Hockey Canada and also as an assistant coach with the SAIT Trojans in Calgary. . . .
Bob Dever has signed on as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters. Dever spent the last three seasons coaching in Hungary. . . . He has previous BCHL experience with the Vernon Vipers and Merritt Centennials. Dever and Bill Birks, Trail’s general manager and head coach, played together with Merritt back in the day.
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JUST NOTES: Ben Calkins is the new equipment manager with the Seattle Thunderbirds. He spent last season with the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder. Calkins, 24, replaces Jason Berger, who now is with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. . . . The Victoria Royals have named Jeff Harris the director of hockey operations and communications, with Parry Shockey coming on board as director of WHL and junior A scouting. Harris, 39, spent the last four seasons as assistant GM and director of media and community relations with the now-defunct Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL. Shockey, 57, is well known across the WHL. He will work out of Calgary. Last season he was head coach of the midget AAA UFA Bisons. He has WHL coaching experience with the Spokane Chiefs, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Regina Pats and Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . The Royals also hired Andy Neal and Matt Human as managers of communications and hockey operations co-ordinators. Neal spent the last two seasons in Prince George doing media relations; last season, he also was the team’s play-by-play voice. Human worked in the media relations and communications department with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Wednesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Eric Schneider (Tri-City, 1995-96) signed a two-year contract extension with Munich (Germany DEL). He had 21 goals and 35 assists in 52 games for Munich this season. . . . F Sean O'Connor (Moose Jaw, 1999-2002) signed a one-year contract extension with the Augsburger Panther (Germany DEL). He had six goals and six assists in 33 games for Augsburg this season.
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Mike Williamson, the head coach of the Calgary Hitmen, has been named head coach of the Canadian team that will compete in the 2011 IIHF World U-18 championship in Dresden and Crimmitschau, Germany, , April 14-24.
Also on the coaching staff are assistants Mark Lamb, who is the GM/head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, and Dale Hawerchuk, the director of hockey operations and head coach of the OHL’s Barrie Colts. The goaltending coach will be former NHLer Ron Tugnutt, who works with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes.
Canada opens the tournament against the Czech Republic on April 15 in Dresden. Also in Canada’s preliminary pool are Finland, Norway and Sweden.
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A note from Rich Hammond at lakingsinsider.com points out that Ron Hextall, the Los Angeles Kings assistant GM, completed his first marathon on Sunday when he ran in the Los Angeles Marathon. According to Hammond, runners competed in “cold, dismal conditions.” . . . Hextall, who played goal for the Brandon Wheat Kings (1981-84), was joined by his wife Diane and Kings broadcaster Daryl Evans. The three ran together and finished in four hours 37 minutes 11 seconds. . . . Diane is the former Diane Ogibowski of Minnedosa, Man. In her day, she was one of Canada’s top female figure skaters.
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The Red Deer Rebels made it official Wednesday. They are preparing a bid on the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament.
“It’s something that has been discussed for awhile,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner, told Greg Meachem of the Red Deer Advocate. “Before even considering a bid, you have to feel confident that you will have a quality team at the time, a team that will be able to compete in such a prestigious event.
“I had lengthy discussions with Jesse (Rebels head coach/vice-president of hockey operations) and also with (director of scouting/player development) Randy Peterson, and they both felt very confident and comfortable that we’d be able to compete.”
The Lethbridge Hurricanes also have said they will bid on the host rights, while it is widely believed that the Saskatoon Blades also will be involved.
According to Meachem’s story, “If five or more cities bid for the event, the WHL will review preliminary bid information and shortlist the bids to a maximum of four by June 15.”
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JUST NOTES: Deven Dubyk of the Medicine Hat Tigers is the CHL’s goaltender of the week. Dubyk put up back-to-back shutouts over the Calgary Hitmen last weekend as the Tigers rested starter Tyler Bunz. . . . Those were Dubyk’s first career shutouts. . . . The Tri-City Americans won’t have F Adam Hughesman (knee) back for the opening of their series with the Vancouver Giants. Hughesman, who has been out for a month, is back skating and might return for Game 3. . . . Vancouver F James Henry (knee) didn’t practise Wednesday. . . . The Giants also will be without D Joel Rogers, 20, who suffered a concussion on the weekend on a hit by Kelowna Rockets F Evan Bloodoff. Elliott Pap of the Vancouver Sun reports that Rogers “almost certainly won't play again this season.” That was Rogers’ second concussion in a two-month period. Bloodoff drew a four-game suspension.
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Darren Zary of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a story right here about the Rosetown Redwings, who are 31-0 as they chase a Hardy Cup (senior B) championship. And there are lots of names here that will be familiar to WHL fans.
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Here, for your reading enjoyment, is a great little piece from the Washington Post on the time Liz Taylor took part in the coin flip prior to an NFL game between the Washinton Redskins and the host Dallas Cowboys.
Be prepared to chuckle when you read it. It’s right here.
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The WHL held its draft lottery Wednesday morning and the Kamloops Blazers were the winners. They had just one of the 21 balls in the lottery, but their ball came up, allowing them to move up two spots to fourth.
Here then, courtesy of Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post, is the order of selection for the first round of the draft, which is scheduled for May 5 in Calgary:
1. Calgary Hitmen
2. Swift Current Broncos
3. Lethbridge Hurricanes (From Regina)
4. Kamloops Blazers
5. Lethbridge Hurricanes
6. Seattle Thunderbirds
7. Everett Silvertips
8. Prince Albert Raiders
9. Edmonton Oil Kings
10. Prince George Cougars
11. Brandon Wheat Kings
12. Chilliwack Bruins
13. Swift Current Broncos (From Kootenay/Vancouver)
14. Moose Jaw Warriors
15. Kelowna Rockets
16. Regina Pats (From Tri-City)
17. Kootenay Ice
18. Medicine Hat Tigers
19. Spokane Chiefs
20. Vancouver Giants (From Portland)
21. Red Deer Rebels
22. Brandon Wheat Kings (From Saskatoon)
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter