F Ryan Menei (Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, 2003-07) signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). He had 34 goals and 48 assists in 66 games with the Tulsa Oilers (CHL) this season. Menei led the Oilers in scoring and finished fifth in league scoring. . . .
F Petr Nedved (Seattle, 1989-90) signed a one-year contract extension with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had 20 goals and 33 assists in 48 games as captain of Liberec this season.
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So it has come to this in the NHL.
All signs point to the Vancouver Canucks hiring John Tortorella as their new head coach. The New York Rangers have hired a smiling Alain Vigneault as their new head coach.
Tortorella was fired by the Rangers last month. Vigneault was fired by the Canucks last month.
Is this a case of two teams, each thinking it is smarter than the other?
This is absolutely bizarre, but it might make the next NHL season worth watching.
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Iain MacIntyre, a sports columnist with the Vancouver Sun, was among the reporters who staked out the airport in Vancouver once word came via social media that John Tortorella had boarded a plane in Denver and was headed for the home of the Canucks. MacIntyre’s column is right here and it would seem that he, like so many others, is trying to figure out how the ex-Rangers coach might be a good fit for the Canucks.
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Meanwhile, at the Vancouver Province, columnist Ed Willes was likening the expected hiring of John Tortorella to “the kind of knee-jerk decision that other organizations make, not the Canucks.” That piece is right here.
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And how did it get to this point with John Tortorella? Right here is Dave Lozo on what it was like covering the New York Rangers for four years under John Tortorella.
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F Carter Rigby of the Kelowna Rockets, limited by injuries to just 34 regular-season games this season, has had both shoulders operated on already this offseason. According to AM1150, the radio voice of the Rockets, Rigby, 19, had surgery on his right shoulder last month and was to have surgery on his left shoulder on Wednesday in London, Ont.———
THE COACHING GAME:
Kris Mallette has signed on with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers as their associate coach. He will work alongside general manager/head coach Jason Williamson. Mallette (Kelowna, Moose Jaw, 1996-2000) had been the head coach of the junior B North Okanagan Knights of the Kootenay International Junior League. The Knights went 69-30-2-3 in two seasons under Mallette. . . . The Vipers, whose staff also includes assistant coach Dave Robinson, will be the host team for the 2014 RBC Cup.
The ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors have hired Troy Mann as their head coach. Mann, 43, has been an assistant coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears for the last four seasons. . . . Mann replaces Matt O’Dette with the Condors and is the first head-coaching hire by new general manager John Olver, who took over on April 11.The QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders have extended the contract of head coach Gordie Dwyer for two seasons. He now is signed through 2015-16. . . . The Islanders are 60-66-0-10 in two seasons under Dwyer, who is a native of Dalhousie, N.B.
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