SilverBacks need some help

The Medicine Hat Tigers have dealt D Garrett Haar, 20, to the Portland Winterhawks for an undisclosed conditional selection in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Haar, who is from Huntington Beach, Calif., played the last two seasons at Western Michigan U. Broncos head coach Andy Murray said Haar had been dropped from his program, adding that he had met more with Haar than with any other player in his coaching career. . . . Haar said that he chose to leave the program. . . . Regardless, the 6-foot-1, 198-pound had been declared academically ineligible for the start of the season. . . . Haar was a seventh round selection by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 2011 draft. . . . Last season, Haar had nine points in 22 games. The previous season, he had eight points in 36 games. . . . The Winterhawks now have two 20-year-olds on their roster. The other is F Shane McColgan, who was acquired earlier this summer from the Saskatoon Blades. McColgan is from Manhattan Beach, Calif. . . . Haar, who was a 10th-round bantam draft pick of the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2005, had been on Medicine Hat’s college list. When he was dropped from the Broncos’ roster, he tweeted that he likely was going to play for Medicine Hat. . . . After this trade, the Tigers are left with five 20-year-olds on their roster — forwards Dylan Bredo, Jake Doty, Boston Leier and Curtis Valk, and D Zach Hodder.
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Both the Winterhawks and Tigers announced that the deal was for a conditional selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Neither team was more specific than that and, as of early this morning, the trade wasn’t listed in the transactions on the WHL website.
There was a time, and not that long ago, when the WHL didn’t allow transactions to be made public without more specifics.
Here’s Dylan Bumbarger at oregonlive.com: “Interesting that the draft pick Portland traded for him was listed as ‘conditional.’ Usually the condition is the player reporting but it seems certain that Haar will come here. Given that he seems to be a bit of a wildcard, is there some way to base the pick on how good he turns out to be, games played or something? I've never heard of that before; I suspect it's not legal, or if it was, the secret rulebook just got updated 20 minutes ago.”
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Meanwhile, over at Small Thoughts at Large, Alan Caldwell has broken down the 20-year-old situation for each of the WHL’s teams. . . . That blog is linked to over there on the right.
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The 2013 Hockey Coaches Conference in Burnaby, B.C., next month will include Dr. Saul Miller, a performance specialist and sports psychologist, who will present ‘The Five Biggest Mistakes that Coaches Make.’ . . . According to a news release: “In this unique and interactive session, delegates will be asked to share their own ideas on what the biggest mistakes coaches make. Delegates of the 2013 Hockey Coaches Conference and other coaches can share their thoughts through Twitter and on our Facebook page. Comments will be gathered and shared with Dr. Miller prior to his presentation at the conference.” . . . Dr. Miller has written eight books on performance and well-being, and has helped businesses, teams and individuals overcome mental obstacles and offers tools to transform stress and pressure into success. He has worked with professional teams across all levels and sports and is one of North America’s top sports psychologists. . . . The conference is scheduled for Aug. 9-11 at the Delta Hotel & Conference Centre in Burnaby. There is more information at www.thecoachessite.com.
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Peggy and Rich Victor of Moses Lake, Wash., started attending some Spokane Chiefs’ games because they are big fans of rock legend Rod Stewart and his son, Liam, plays for the Chiefs.
Flash forward to this summer in Las Vegas.
Paul Turner of the Spokane Spokesman-Review picks up the story right here.
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The BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks continue to search for a trainer for the fast-approaching season. Troy Clifford, the trainer from last season, has had to step aside due to work-related commitments in his other career as a paramedic.
If you are interested in the position, call Troy Mick, the SilverBacks’ GM/head coach, at 250-938-5459 or send him an email at gm@sasilverbacks.com.
Tell him that I sent you!
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THE COACHING GAME:

The BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors have signed Rylan Ferster, their general manager and head coach, to a five-year extension. The Warriors are 52-42-6-16 in two seasons under Ferster.
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If you’re a baseball fan, you may be wondering what has happened to the Los Angeles Angels, especially with the signing of Albert Pujols in December 2011. Well, Pujols’ season may be over and the Angels are struggling. Tyler Kepner of The New York Times takes a look right here.


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Canucks up 2-0 on Bruins!

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Marcel Hossa (Portland, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL). He had 16 goals and 15 assists in 51 games with Ak Bars Kazan (Russia, KHL) last season.
F Ian McDonald (Tri-City, 2000-06) signed a one-year contract with Eaters Geleen (Netherlands, Eredivisie). He had 12 goals and 17 assists in 34 games with the Nottingham Panthers (UK, Elite) and one goal and five games in 10 games with Elmira Jackals (ECHL) last year.
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F David Rutherford (Vancouver, Spokane, 2004-08) has signed with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. Rutherford spent the last two seasons with the Central league’s Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. He helped the Mudbugs to the 2010-11 playoff championship, after which the franchise folded.
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THE COACHING GAME:
A few signings that were mentioned here earlier in the week were announced Tuesday. . . . The Regina Pats introduced Pat Conacher as their new head coach on Tuesday. Conacher, who replaces Curtis Hunt, had been the assistant GM/assistant head coach with the Victoria Royals. The Pats have yet to sign an assistant coach, while the Royals obviously now are in the market for one. . . . The Regina Leader-Post’s Craig Slater has more on the Conacher signing right here. . . .  Of course, this means that the Royals are in the market for an assistant coach. Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has that story right here. . . . The BCHL’s Westside Warriors signed Rylan Ferster as their GM and head coach, and gave him a three-year contract. He takes over from Darren Yopyk, who has joined the scouting staff of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. . . . In the college world, Western Michigan University has signed former NHL coach Andy Murray as its head coach. He got a five-year deal. Murray takes over from Jeff Blashill, who now is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. . . .
Spencer Carbery is the new head coach of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. He was an assistant with the Stingrays last season. Carbery takes over from Cail MacLean, who signed on as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat.
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BC Hockey is holding its U17 provincial camp this week in Salmon Arm, which means the competition for the Ted Hargraves Cup is rolling. . . . In the first game, on Monday, the Canucks beat the Bruins, 3-2, in a shootout. F Curtis Lazar and F Nick Petan gave the Canucks a 2-0 second-period lead, with F Riley Hunt and F Sam Reinhart, the latter early in the third, pulling the Bruins even. The Canucks took the shootout, 2-0, on goals by F Chase Witala and Petan. . . . On Tuesday, the Canucks went to 2-0 with a 4-2 victory over the Bruins. Petan, F Dryden Hunt, D Joseph Carvalho and F Ryan Forbes scored for the Canucks, with Riley Hunt and Jackson Houck replying for the Bruins. Carvalho broke a 2-2 tie at 3:30 of the third period, with Forbes adding an empty-netter. The teams were tied 2-2 after one period and played through a scoreless second period. . . . They’ll play again today at 2 p.m., at the Sunwave Centre.
David Michaud, the assistant director of operations, reports from the camp:
“There are 41 players in camp. We will shortlist 20 or so and will eventually take that down to the 11 players who will combine with 11 players from Alberta to play for Team Pacific at the 2012 World Hockey Challenge.”
As an added note, Hockley Canada is expected to announce one of these days that the WHC is being moved from Winnipeg to Windsor, Ont., thanks to the rebirth of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.
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JUST NOTES: Kelly Moore, a former radio voice of the Kamloops Blazers, is heading back to Winnipeg. Moore, the program director at CJKC-FM (Country 103) in Kamloops, is going back to Winnipeg to work for CJOB as part of its coverage of the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets. Even though it didn’t get the play-by-play rights to the Jets, CJOB apparently is beefing up its hockey coverage. Moore was the radio voice of the Jets for their last two NHL seasons before they relocated to Phoenix. He also called the play for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose before returning to Kamloops to help Country 103 get off the ground. . . . Marc Paquet is the Everett Silvertips’ new athletic therapist. Paquet, 24, has a masters of education in kinesiology from Bowling Green State University. He spent the last two years at Bowling Green, where he was the supervising athletic trainer for men's soccer and softball and an assistant to men's hockey and football. He replaces Chris Walker, who left for the AHL. . . . The Edmonton Oil Kings have signed F Cole Benson, an Edmonton native who was the 178th pick in the 2010 bantam draft. Benson, 5-foot-7 and 148 pounds, played last season with the midget AAA South Side Athletic Club team, putting up 32 points, including 12 goals, in 29 regular-season games.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
     
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Ferster back in BCHL

The BCHL's Westside Warriors are expected to announce in the next few days that they have hired Rylan Ferster as their new general manager and head coach.
Ferster will replace Darren Yopyk, who spent two seasons with the Warriors. Yopyk has taken a scouting job with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
Ferster, a veteran of the BCHL coaching wars, spent last season s GM/head coach of the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies of the Kootenay International junor league. Of late, he has been working in Kelowna at the Pursuit of Excellence alongside former WHL player/coach Troy Mick.
Ferster is no stranger to the BCHL, having spent seven seasons, over two stints, with the Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He also has coached the Victoria Grizzlies.

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