Name change in Kamloops . . . AIK gives its blessing to Kylington . . . Blades, Royals cut a deal

F Luke Walker (Portland, 2007-10) signed a one-year extension with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, in 51 games, he had 19 goals and 12 assists. He led the team in goals and was second in points. . . .
F Jozef Balej (Portland, 1999-2002) signed a one-year contract with Piešťany (Slovakia, Extraliga). Last season, with Plzeň (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had six goals and six assists in 47 games.
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The arena that is home to the Kamloops Blazers will have its name changed to The Sandman Centre, effective Sept. 1. The Blazers, the Sandman Hotel Group (SHG) and the City of Kamloops have announced a 10-year deal on the naming rights.
For the past 10 years, the arena has been known as Interior Savings Centre. The Interior Savings Credit Union paid $120,000 per year for the naming rights.
The arena is owned by the city, but financial terms of the deal with SHG weren’t revealed.
Tom Gaglardi, the Blazers’ majority owner and the owner of the NHL‘s Dallas Stars, is president of Northland Properties Corp., which owns SHG. Gaglardi also is chief executive officer of SHG.
Interior Savings Credit Union (ISCU) had hoped to keep the rights and, in fact, entered a bid with that in mind. However, Interior Savings was told a few days ago that the rights were going to SHG.
“We were keenly interested in continuing on,” Gene Creelman, ISCU’s senior vice-president, member of community engagement, told Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week. “There is a process the city follows. We had submitted a good proposal.”
SHG has two properties in Kamloops, the newest having opened across from the Interior Savings Centre in 2014.
“If you look at it from a management or a business perspective, we understand what’s needed there, if one reads between the lines,” Creelman told Hastings.
The arena also has been known as Riverside Coliseum and Sport Mart Place since opening in 1992.
Hastings’ story is right here.
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The chances of Swedish D Oliver Kylington playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings improved on Wednesday when AIK said it wouldn’t stand in the way of him playing in North America. . . . Kylington was selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round of last month’s NHL draft. The Wheat Kings later selected him in the CHL import draft. . . . Kylington, who is from Stockholm, had signed a two-year contract with AIK, a Swedish professional team. . . . On its website, AIK general manager Anders Gozzi said: “We do not stop Oliver from the opportunity he has been given.” . . . Kylington is quoted as saying: “I went into this season with a full focus on helping AIK (in the) coming season. I really believe in the venture to which the club is now doing and I wanted to be a part of it.” . . . Kylington, 18, will attend the Flames’ rookie camp and then, presumably, main camp. Because he was drafted out of Europe, he could play for the Flames, their AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, or the Wheat Kings in 2015-16.
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The Everett Silvertips have signed to two players they selected in the CHL’s 2015 import draft -- D Alexander Scherbakov and F Yan Khomenko. . . . Both are 1998-born Russians, although Scherbakov is a late birthday. . . . The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Scherbakov, from Moscow, had five goals and eight assists in 30 games with the U-17 CSKA Moscow side last season. . .  The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Khomenko, from St. Petersburg, had 30 points, 20 of them goals, in 33 games with the U-17 Dynamo Moscow side.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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THE TRADE WIRE:

The Saskatoon Blades have acquired D Bryton Sayers, 19, from the Victoria Royals for a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. Sayers, from Prince Albert, split last season between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Victoria. . . . In 2013-14, he had 11 points, including four goals, with Lethbridge. Last season, he had 10 points, two of them goals, in 38 games with the Hurricanes, and a goal and an assist in 20 games with Victoria. . . . The Royals had acquired Sayers from Lethbridge on Jan. 10, in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft. . . . In 2012-13, he was the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League’s defenceman of the year while with the Prince Albert Mintos.
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The Swift Current Broncos have signed Ryan Smith as their new associate coach. Smith, from Winnipeg, replaces Josh Dixon, who resigned on July 8 and now is director of player development for CAA Sports. . . . Before signing with Humboldt, Smith was the general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers for five seasons. . . . “He’s done a lot of coaching,” Mark Lamb, the Broncos‘ GM and head coach, said in a news release. “Ryan has been a coach and GM in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Ryan was short-listed last year when we were filling this position and is ready for this challenge.” . . . Smith spent last season as the general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, who now are looking for a GM/head coach. . . . Smith went to Humboldt after Dean Brockman left to join the Saskatoon Blades as an assistant coach.
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Randy Cunneyworth has been named head coach of the Rochester Americans, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. . . . This is Cunneyworth’s second stint as head coach of the Americans. He put up a 306-273-61 record from 2000-08. . . . Cunneyworth had been working as Buffalo‘s development coach. . . . He also played 377 games over parts of seven seasons with the Americans.
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Garth Mitchell is returning as head coach of the midget AAA Yellowhead Chiefs, who play out of Shoal Lake, Man. Mitchell, who earlier was the Chiefs’ head coach for eight seasons, was an assistant coach with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals for the past three seasons.
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The NAHL’s Amarillo Bulls introduced Matt Nicholson as their new head coach on Wednesday. He takes over from Jon Rogger, who now is an assistant coach with the Bloomington Thunder. . . . Nicholson has been an assistant coach at Robert Morris U for the past six seasons.
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The Tri-City Americans have signed F Brett Leason, who was a third-round pick in the WHL`s 2014 bantam draft. From Calgary, the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder had 83 points, 43 of them goals, in 30 games with the Calgary Stampeders of the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League last season.
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Best courtroom exchange ever pic.twitter.com/GxnvjiX9fC

— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) July 29, 2015

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'It makes me cry at my computer . . .'

F Tomáš Vincour (Edmonton, Vancouver, 2007-10) has signed a one-year contract with Kometa Brno (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Ak Bars Kazan (Russia, KHL), he had six goals and five assists in 39 games. . . .
F Kyle Beach (Everett, Lethbridge, Spokane, 2005-10) has signed a tryout contract through Sept. 30 with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, he had four goals in seven games with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL), two goals and an assist in seven games with HV71 Jönköping (Sweden, SHL), and two goals and five assists in 39 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL).
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An email arrived in my Inbox on Thursday morning. It was from a former WHL defenceman, who in his playing days could have played on my team, your team or any team. No, he wasn’t an all-star; rather, he was a tough-as-nails, take-no-prisoners defenceman, the kind you can’t win without. Yes, he fought; mostly, though, he played hard, really hard.
“I have had some depression issues in the past,” he wrote, “not to the point where I was thinking of doing anything drastic, but depression none the less.
“Was it from too many concussions? Maybe, not sure.
“My point to all this is, I know there are former players, just like myself, who have the same issues I do, they just hide it. Is it solely a hockey player problem? No, but it makes me cry at my computer when I see these kids killing themselves.
“Keep it in the spotlight, thanks for writing about this topic.”
That email came on the heels of another note, this from the wife of a career coach.
The other day, she wrote: “I read a Facebook status from a player who played for (my husband) on two different teams talking about his battle with depression. I contacted him. He was a tough guy, said he felt the need to live up to that reputation, until now.”
And now I’m wondering just how many former hockey players there are out there who are dealing, or trying to deal, with depression?
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TRADE WIRE:
THE DEAL: The Prince George Cougars acquired D Dominic Thom, 18, from the Brandon Wheat Kings for a conditional sixth-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft.
THE SKINNY: Thom, from Calgary, was a ninth-round pick by Brandon in the 2011 bantam draft. He played in two games with Brandon, both last season, earning one assist. He played 29 games with the AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs, recording a goal and five assists.
THE ANALYSIS: The Wheat Kings get a draft pick, likely conditional on his being on the Cougars’ roster at a particular date, for a player who wasn’t going to stick with them. The Cougars get to look at a 6-foot-3, 185-pound defenceman who could provide them with some depth on the back end.
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F Axel Blomqvist will be a bit late reporting to the Victoria Royals. That’s because he will play for Team Sweden at a Four Nations tournament in Jönköping, Aug. 29-31. Earlier this summer, Blomqvist, who was acquired by Victoria from the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season, attended Sweden’s national junior evaluation camp. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound Blomqvist, 19, hopes to be named to the Swedish team that will play in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. . . . The 2015 tournament will be split between Montreal and Toronto, running Dec. 26 through Jan. 5. . . . Blomqvist put up 43 points, including 16 goals, in 46 games with the Royals last season. He attended the Winnipeg Jets’ rookie and main camps as an undrafted free agent last season and ended up signing a three-year entry-level deal.
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The Saskatoon Blades have signed F Logan Christensen, who was a second-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. Christensen, from Morden, Man., had 79 points, 34 of them goals, in 54 games at the Pursuit of Excellence in Kelowna last season.
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Teams in the QMJHL have been in camp for a few days now. If you’re wondering why that league always starts so early, Willy Palov of the Halifax ChronicleHerald has the scoop right here.
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A story in Thursday’s Ottawa Citizen begins with this: “A 31-year-old recreational hockey player has been sentenced to 18 months’ probation after a rare criminal conviction for an on-ice collision — a decision that his lawyer says has set a dangerous precedent that could chill participation in such hockey leagues.” . . . Meghan Hurley’s complete story is right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Ryan Smith, the MJHL’s coach of the year last season, now is the general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. He replaces Dean Brockman, who now is an assistant coach with the Saskatoon Blades. Smith, from Winnipeg, has a three-year contract with the Broncos. . . . Smith spent five seasons as the GM/head coach with the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers.
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Darren Komonoski is back with the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies, as assistant coach and goaltending coach. Komonoski returns to the Grizzlies after stepping aside for a couple of years. He also works with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. . . . A native of Humboldt, Sask., Komonoski, who lives in Revelstoke, will work with GM/head coach Ryan Parent. The Grizzlies play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.
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Matt Cockell (Saskatoon, Seattle, Regina, Spokane, 1996-99) is back with the Brandon Wheat Kings as their goaltending coach. Cockell, from Winnipeg, spent the past two seasons with Hockey Canada after being part of the Wheat Kings’ coaching staff. He was the goaltending coach with the Canadian women’s team that won gold at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi last season. . . . While Cockell was gone, Brent Zelenwich had served as Brandon’s goaltending coach.
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Fernando Pisani, a native of Edmonton who played 402 regular-season games with the Oilers, has joined the U of Alberta Golden Bears as the lead assistant to head coach Ian Herbers. Pisani, 37, was the club’s part-time assistant last season; he now is full-time. He fills the spot created when Ryan Marsh left the Golden Bears to sign on as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings.
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D MacKenzie Johnston (Kelowna, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, 2009-2014) will attend Mount Royal University and play for the Cougars. A native of Swift Current, Johnston played out his junior eligibility last season, splitting it between the Kelowna Rockets, Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades. . . . D Dylan Busenius (Medicine Hat, Prince Albert, Saskatoon), who also played out his junior eligibility last season, has decided to attend the U of Calgary and play for the Dinosaurs. . . . F Connor Sanvido (Seattle, Swift Current, Saskatoon, 2009-13) will attend St. Thomas U in Fredericton, N.B., and play for the Tommies. Sanvido, the 14th overall pick in the WHL’s 2008 bantam draft, played three seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds. He split last season between the Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades as he completed his junior eligibility. . . . A tip of the hat to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix for tweeting all three of those moves.
The Brandon Wheat Kings revealed Thursday that they have sold 1,907 season tickets, “a slight increase over what the club had sold at the same time last summer.” The Wheat Kings sold more than “2,300 season tickets” last season when their average regular-season attendance was 3,529. . . . The Wheat Kings also announced that Russian D Ivan Provorov, 17, will report to training camp on Aug. 23. Provorov, who played with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids Roughriders last season, was selected in the 2014 CHL import draft. In 2012-13, he played midget hockey in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, Penn.

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Hey @HockeyCanada see this yet ? 30km West of Flin Flon, MB, side of hwy, saluting double gold in Sochi #ourgame pic.twitter.com/9uvADjrnht
— Evan Hammond (@HamWilder) August 15, 2014

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Howlers howling for Canada

We Stand On Guard For Thee
(Painting by Ladd Fogarty)

You will be hard-pressed to find anyone in the sporting world who is more passionate about their sport than Karl Fix is about rugby.
Fix, who has been a fixture in Regina for years and has been involved in the Canadian rugby scene for just as long, loves rugby the way a mother loves her children.
So it comes as no surprise to learn that Fix, or rather one of his babies, has been involved in helping out the Canadian men’s team that is playing at the World Cup in New Zealand.
The Dog River Howlers, a rugby club based out of Regina, has raised $60,000 to help players on the Canadian rugby team while they are at the World Cup in New Zealand.
Karl Fix, the Howlers’ founder and president, says the Howlers spearheaded the 'We Stand On Guard For Thee' fundraising endeavour . . . “for these young men, most of whom are amateurs and needed this support in order to ‘stand on guard for us.’ "
By support, Fix is referring to the players needing to pay the bills over here while they’re playing over there.
According to Fix, the fundraising effort involved selling various ‘We Stand On Guard For Thee’ gear, along with a limited edition print, the original of which was done by Regina artist Ladd Fogarty.
“The idea,” Fix says, “is that the players ‘stand on guard’ for us and in turn we ‘stand on guard’ for them by supporting this fundraising endeavour.”
Fix says that two people who own one of the limited edition prints are Capt. Trevor Greene, one of our Canadian military heroes who was injured by an axe blow to the head during a meeting with villagers in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in 2006 , and Peter MacKay, the Canadian minister of national defence.
Fix also notes that Canadian player DTH van der Merwe, who is a product of Regina’s LeBoldus High School and the Regina Rogues, has worn Capt. Greene’s name around one wrist ever since hearing the captain give “an inspirational speech to some of the team and a room full of Canadian rugby supporters.”
Fix, who was a founding father of the Rugby Canada Super League's Prairie Fire, happened to be in that room, too.
“I witnessed him saying these few words that evening in Victoria and it was probably the most inspiring nationalistic thing I've ever heard,” Fix says. “You could hear a pin drop in that room with some 250 teary-eyed people almost mesmerized by his words.”
The Dog River Howlers are an invitational rugby club founded in early 2007 for the lovers of the game. The club is based in Dog River, Sask., the fictional home of CTV’s popular Corner Gas series.
The team colours are red (colour of the Canadian flag), orange (colour of the Prairie harvest moon) and black (the colour of the Prairie midnight sky).
Five members of the Canadian team have played for the Howlers -- Hubert Buydens, Nanyak Dala, Scott Franklin, the superbly bearded Adam Kleeberger and Ryan Smith. Kleeberger and Smith also have coached with the Howlers.
Canada is 1-0 at the World Cup, having beaten Tonga, 25-20, earlier in the week. Next up for Canada? France, Sunday, 1:30 a.m., Pacific time.
By the way, you will find the Howlers right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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