Could lawsuit be a game-changer?

THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Garry Nunn (Vancouver, Edmonton, 2007-10) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy, Serie A). He had 17 goals and 32 assists in 65 games with the Alaska Aces (ECHL) last season.
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A former Bishop’s University defensive end has launched a lawsuit, alleging “team coaches . . . kept him in the game when he was already dizzy from a hit,” reports Steve Lambert of The Canadian Press. . . . Kevin Kwasny of Winnipeg ended up in hospital on Sept. 10, 2011, in critical condition with bleeding on the brain. . . . Lambert’s complete story is right here.
And right here is another take on the same story from cbc.ca
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Andrew Bucholtz of Yahoo! Sports writes right here that the lawsuit filed by Kevin Kwasny may be a game-changer for football in Canada.
I would go one step further and suggest that coaches in all sports should be following this situation, and that this lawsuit, no matter how it turns out, may be the one thing that catches the attention of coaches and has them paying attention, if they aren't already, to the issue of putting injured players back into a game. At the end of the day, this really could be a game-changer for sports in Canada.
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The Red Deer Rebels have released D Spencer Morse, 18, getting their roster down to 29. . . . Morse, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder from Winnipeg, was acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors on Aug. 20. in exchange for a 10th-round selection in the 2016 bantam draft.
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The WHL’s Dept. of Discipline has handed out its first two suspensions of the new season. . . . F Pavel Padakin of the Calgary Hitmen drew a three-game suspension for a match penalty he took in a game against the Red Deer Rebels on Friday. . . . Kamloops Blazers F Devin Oakes also will sit for three games, this for a headshot on Kelowna Rockets F Rourke Chartier on Friday. . . . Padakin and Oakes each will miss two exhibition games and one regular-season game.
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From Chris Dilks (@ChrisDilks): “Bemidji HS junior forward Mike Sauer will play for Tri-City (WHL) this year. 30 points last year for BHS. Huge loss for the Jacks.”


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Seaman not expected in Brandon camp

THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Leland Irving (Everett, 2003-08) signed a one-month try-out contract with Jokerit Helsinki (Finland, SM-Liiga). He had a 3.33 GAA and a .883 save percentage in six games with the Calgary Flames (NHL) and a 3.40 GAA and a .884 save percentage in 12 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .

F Brad Schell (Spokane, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Milan Rossoblu (Italy, Serie A). He had 15 goals and 49 assists in 44 games with Lillehammer (Norway, GET-Ligaen) last season to finish fifth in league scoring and second in the league in assists. . . .

F Ales Kilnar (Vancouver, 2012-13) signed a one-year plus option contract with Orli Znojmo (Czech Republic, Austria Erste Bank Liga) after a successful tryout. He had two goals and one assist in five exhibition games during his two-week trial. Last season, Kilnar had no points in one game with the Vancouver Giants, no points in three games with Jokipojat Joensuu U20 (Finland, A-Junior SM-Liiga), four goals and seven assists in 15 games with Vitkovice Ostrava U20 (Czech Republic, Extraliga U20), and three goals and three assists in seven games on loan to Poruba (Czech Republic, 2. Liga). . . .

F Jaroslav Kristek (Tri-City, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract extension with Neman Grodno (Belarus). He had 21 goals and 33 assists in 42 games last season to finish second in league scoring for the league champions from Grodno.
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Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports that F Tyrel Seaman won’t be with the Brandon Wheat Kings when they open camp on Aug. 28.
Henderson writes: “Wheat Kings head coach/GM Kelly McCrimmon said . . . Seaman, who hasn’t played since Nov. 18, 2012 due to concussion issues, won’t be at training camp next week.”
Seaman, a 19-year-old from Choiceland, Sask., had eight points in 24 games last season, after putting up 19 points in 32 games as a sophomore. In 2010-11, he had eight points in 52 games.
Seaman suffered a brain injury in late November 2011, came back after the Christmas break and was re-injured in his first game back. He returned to play in the regular-season’s last four games.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors selected two Russian players — D Alexei Sleptsov and F Alexander Chirva — in the CHL’s 2013 import draft. They expect Sleptsov to arrive today, but Chirva’s arrival has been delayed. It seems a strike by Canada’s foreign service workers is causing problems with the visa process.
Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
Gourlie also has reported that F Jordan Wyton, 20, won’t be returning to the Warriors, choosing instead to play for the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. That leaves the Warriors with two 20-year-olds on their roster — F Todd Fiddler and F Sam Fioretti.
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The Moose Jaw Warriors have traded D Spencer Morse, 18, to the Red Deer Rebels for an undisclosed conditional selection in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. Morse, from Calgary, was a second-round selection by Moose Jaw in the 2010 bantam draft. The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder had five points in 46 games with the Warriors last sesaon. The pick starts out as a 10th-rounder and can improve from there, depending on what Morse brings to Red Deer.
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Kevin Sawyer is back with the Spokane Chiefs, this time as a part-time assistant coach working in the areas of player development and player evaluation. Sawyer, a former Chiefs captain (1994-95) and assistant coach, will work on a monthly basis. Last season, he filled a similar role while Spokane head coach Don Nachbaur was away as an assistant coach with Canada’s national junior team. Sawyer also was an assistant with the Chiefs from 2004-06. He also has worked on Chiefs’ broadcasts on SWX and WHL telecasts on Root Sports.
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Elmore Leonard died Tuesday at the age of 87. If you don’t know Leonard’s writing, it isn’t too late. . . . Right here is The New York Times obituary on Leonard.
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Steve Fainaru and John Barr of ESPN.com have written another incisive piece that involves a doctor, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue and the concussion-related lawsuit filed by more than 4,800 retired players against the NFL. That piece is right here.
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The Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Charlie Manuel earlier this week, replacing him with Ryne Sandberg (who really should be managing the Chicago Cubs, shouldn’t he?). . . . Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes right here about what it was like covering Manuel’s Phillies.
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From Corey Graham (@CoreyGraham): “Oil Kings have scheduled a presser with GM Randy Hansch and HC Derek Laxdal for (today). Just speculation, contract extension for HC?”

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F Cory Millette of the Red Deer Rebels, out with a concussion since Jan. 9, has been cleared to begin off-ice workouts. There is no timeline for a return to action, though.
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Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald reports that the Moose Jaw Warriors have sent home freshman D Spencer Morse, 17. In 40 games, he had five points and 70 penalty minutes.
“He’s been sent home for disciplinary reasons and we will re-evaluate as we go along,” Warriors head coach Mike Stothers told Gourlie.
Morse, from Calgary, was a second-round selection by the Warriors in the 2010 bantam draft.
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The Kelowna Rockets have revealed that neither F Carter Rigby nor D Mitchell Wheaton will play again this season. Both have shoulder injuries that will require surgery and are expected to be sidelined for up to five months. . . . Rigby, an 18-year-old from Penticton, B.C., had 20 points, including 12 goals, in 34 games. He hasn’t played since Jan. 31. . . . Wheaton, a 17-year-old freshman from Sherwood Park, Alta., had eight points in 39 games. Wheaton last played on Jan. 24.
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I meant to post this link earlier, and it slipped through the cracks.
Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province wrote Saturday about the Vancouver Giants having signed F Alec Baer, a 15-year-old who is rated as one of the best players in his age group in Minnesota.
That story is right here.
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The matchups, if the WHL playoffs opened today:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Edmonton vs. Kootenay
Saskatoon vs. Swift Current
Calgary vs. Medicine Hat
Prince Albert vs Red Deer

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Portland vs. Everett
Kelowna vs. Seattle
Kamloops vs. Victoria
Spokane vs. Tri-City
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MONDAY’S GAMES:
In Saskatoon, the Blades scored five straight goals in beating the Brandon Wheat Kings, 5-1. . . . Saskatoon now has won 12 in a row and holds a four-point lead atop the East Division. . . . F Josh Nicholls scored his 38th goal of the season for the Blades, while F Matej Stransky got his 32nd. . . . Saskatoon is one victory shy of the franchise record for consecutive records set by the 1987-88 team. The Blades are at home to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday. . . . Brandon had D Tyler Yaworski back in the lineup after he served a six-game suspension for a checking-to-the-head major. He took a checking-from-behind minor in the second period last night. . . .

In Swift Current, F Jaedon Descheneau scored three times to lead the Kootenay Ice to a 5-2 victory over the Broncos. . . . The victory lifted the Ice past the idle Lethbridge Hurricanes and into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. . . . Descheneau has 18 goals this season. . . . F Adam Lowry scored twice for the Broncos, giving him 39 goals. . . . Ice G Mackenzie Skapski, in his 54th appearance, stopped 23 shots as he won for the 28th time. Among goaltenders, only Lethbridge’s Ty Rimmer (55) has been in more games this season. . . .

In Edmonton, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 20 shots and F Michael St. Croix the career 300-point plateau as the Oil Kings beat the Prince George Cougars, 6-0. . . . Brossoit has 10 shutouts in his career, five of them this season. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson scored the game’s first goal, his 30th. . . . St. Croix had a goal, his 31st, and two assists. In his career, he has 302 points in 268 games. . . . F Curtis Lazar added two goals, giving him 32. . . .

In Portland, the line of Taylor Leier, Chase De Leo and Oliver Bjorkstand combined for 16 points as each enjoyed a career game in the Winterhawks’ 8-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Leier scored twice, giving him 25, and added four assists. . . . De Leo had five assists. . . . Bjorkstand, a 17-year-old freshman from Denmark, struck for four goals and added an assist. He has 27 goals this season, including two hat tricks. . . . Leier had the first six-point game by a Portland player since Chad Wolkowski on Dec. 1, 2002. He had four goals and two assists in a 6-1 victory over the visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . . Portland players have enjoyed four four-goal games this season. . . . The Winterhawks’ high-scoring line of Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie didn’t pick up even one point.
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CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT:
D Tyler Yaworski, Brandon
D Colton Waltz, Brandon
F Taylor Cooper, Brandon

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT:
F Blake Gal, Spokane
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From former Swift Current Broncos F Sheldon Kennedy (@ShelKenn): “Feel very honored to drop puck at #swiftcurrent broncos hockey game today. In recognition of #SheldonKennedyDay. Thx to City and Broncos”


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