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MLB became less watchable Monday when the Anaheim Angels put outfielder Mike Trout, the game’s premier player, on the DL with a thumb injury that will need surgery. He was injured on a headfirst slide into second base. Hopefully, at least some players will take notice and stop sliding in that fashion.
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On Oct. 7, 2014, in Game 1 of the NLDS, Bryce Harper of the visiting Washington Nationals hit a 445-foot bomb off pitcher Hunter Strickland of the San Francisco Giants. Harper stood and watched as the ball sailed over the right-field wall and into McCovey Cove. On Monday, the two met up again, and again it was in San Francisco. This time, Strickland drilled Harper in the right hip with a 97 mph fastball and a basebrawl ensued. Talk about carrying a grudge!
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I have lived in B.C. for more than 17 years and thought I had seen everything on the political front. Until now, that is. If you aren’t aware, we had a provincial election earlier this month. In that election, the ruling party won more seats than anyone else and got more of the popular vote. But it was close. The result is that a party that won three seats (out of 87) is calling the shots and is about to enter into a four-year deal with the second-place finisher in an attempt to take over. No word on whether the deal includes a no-trade clause. . . . Only in B.C., folks. Only in B.C.
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“Ringling Brothers has packed its tent after 146 years,” writes Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon Express. “Word is the Trump administration has hired the clowns.” . . . Any clowns still unemployed are free to visit B.C.
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Is there a political or sporting leader out there today who is better at putting lipstick on a pig than NHL commish Gary Bettman? . . . Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star has a piece right here on Bettman’s state-of-the-NHL address that was given prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
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Craig Smith playing without a stick because he broke it...crosschecking a guy.— Ken Campbell (@THNKenCampbell) May 30, 2017
In Gary Bettman’s NHL, a goal is disallowed via video review because a skate was hovering over a blue line a few seconds earlier, thus the play was ruled offside. Meanwhile, referees choose to turn a blind eye to numerous other fouls. Yes, it’s all a head-scratcher, or a forehead-slapper.
I have an idea - call the rule book no matter who player is. https://t.co/0nMwP06lAJ— Ray Ferraro (@rayferrarotsn) May 28, 2017
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You know how the NFL protects its quarterbacks? When will the NHL start doing the same with its goaltenders?
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RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com reports: “Tom Brady is promoting an Aston Martin that starts at US$212,000. Yahoo Sports calls the price ridiculously expensive; Gisele Bundchen calls it chump change.”
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Headline on the front page of Tuesday’s New York Daily News and New York Post: DUI OF THE TIGER. . . . The headlines are accompanied by mugshots of Tiger Woods, of course.
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The 2018 Allan Cup will be decided in Rosetown, Sask., April 9-14. The Allan Cup goes to Canada’s senior AAA hockey champion. Rosetown is the home of the Red Wings, who play in the aptly named Chinook Hockey League. G Taran Kozun, who had a pretty good run with the Seattle Thunderbirds for part of 2013-14 and all of 2014-15 after being acquired from the Kamloops Blazers , played with the Red Wings this season.
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F Mitch Wahl (Spokane, 2005-10) has signed a one-year contract with Innsbruck (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, with Ilves Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had a goal and three assists in 16 games. He also played with Västervik (Sweden, Allsvenskan), putting up six goals and eight assists in 23 games, and had a goal and five assist in eight games with Oskarshamn (Sweden, Allsvenskan).
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Prior to the start of this season, the OHL issued another crackdown on fighting.
The OHL’s board of governors decided that a player would be suspended once he had been involved in three fights and again for every fight after that. That standard had been 10 since the start of the 2012-13 season.
The OHL didn’t have any players with more than 10 fights in 2014-15 or 2015-16. This season, the OHL’s pugilistic leader fought eight times. There was one player with five fights, 11 with four and another 24 with three.
According to hockeyfights.com, the OHL had 167 fights this season, down from 315 in 2015-16 and 359 in 2014-15.
The QMJHL had 288 fights in 2016-17, while the WHL had 394.
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Here, from hockeyfights.com, is a look at the number of fights in the OHL (20 teams), QMJHL (18) and WHL (22) over the past five regular seasons, with the average number of fights per game in parentheses. . . .
OHL:
2012-13: 474 (.697)
2013-14: 473 (.696)
2014-15: 359 (.528)
2015-16: 315 (.463)
2016-17: 167 (.246)
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QMJHL:
2012-13: 408 (.667)
2013-14: 445 (.727)
2014-15: 406 (.663)
2015-16: 309 (.505)
2016-17: 288 (.471)
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WHL:
2012-13: 666 (.841)
2013-14: 679 (.857)
2014-15: 467 (.511)
2015-16: 393 (.496)
2016-17: 394 (.497)
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While fighting has declined markedly in the OHL, that hasn’t quite been the case in the WHL where there aren’t any OHL-like limitations.
This season, according to hockeyfights.com, there were 788 fighting majors handed out in the WHL, meaning that there were 394 fights, an average of half a fight per game.
This season, the WHL had six players with 10 or more fights, with a total of 112 involved in at least three scraps.
If you were wondering, 11 of the WHL’s 22 teams had at least 36 fights, led by the Vancouver Giants (48), Lethbridge Hurricanes (46), Spokane Chiefs (45), and Edmonton Oil Kings and Kelowna Rockets, each 44. The OHL leader, the Oshawa Generals, had 28 fights. The QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres had 46.
It’s worth noting that there were only five fights in the WHL playoffs this season, down from 11 a year ago. In the spring of 2015, there were seven playoff bouts.
This spring, the OHL playoffs featured 20 fights, while there were 22 in the QMJHL.
In the interest of player safety, fighting is slowly leaving the game. While it’s true that fighting isn’t the No. 1 cause of concussions in hockey, there no longer can be any denying that an accumulation of blows to the head can cause brain damage. So it only makes sense that a league comprising teenagers do as much as it possibly can to ensure their safety.
Perhaps some discussion on how to further reduce fighting will take place when the WHL holds its annual meeting in Vancouver, June 13 and 14.
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The Prince Albert Raiders have signed Ron Gunville, their director of player personnel, to a contract extension through the end of the 2018-19 season. . . . Gunville, a 47-year-old Prince Albert native, has been in this role since the 2015-16 season. He joined the Raiders in June 2013 as assistant director of player personnel, after having scouted for the Prince George Cougars. . . . Gunville is a former WHL player, having spent time over three seasons (1987-90) with the Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 91 regular-season games, he had nine goals and 24 assists, along with 233 penalty minutes.
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Might F Tyson Jost end up with the Regina Pats next season as they prepare to play in the 2018 Memorial Cup as the host team? John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, isn’t concerning himself with that, preferring to take a wait-and-see approach. . . . Jost, whose rights the Pats acquired from the Everett Silvertips, started this season with UND and finished it with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here.
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Frank Deford, the greatest sports essayist of our time, died on Sunday night at his home in Key West, Fla. He was 78. In the days before the Internet, as a Sports Illustrated subscriber, I picked up each magazine and hoped there was a Deford piece inside. He was beyond great, wherever that is. . . . Daniel Victor of The New York Times has more right here.
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BTW, if you want to contact me with some information or just feel like commenting on something, you may email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
I’m also on Twitter (@gdrinnan).
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Reports on Monday indicated that Joe Shawhan will be named head coach of the Michigan Tech Huskies today, taking over from Mel Pearson, who now is the head coach at Michigan. Shawhan spent the past three seasons as an assistant alongside Pearson. . . . The first place I saw with the story was techhockeyguide.com. . . . A goaltender, Shawhan played four seasons (1983-87) at Lake Superior State, then began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant under Frank Anzalone and then Jeff Jackson. . . . Shawhan later was the general manager and head coach of the NAHL’s Soo Indians (1995-2005), where he was a three-time coach of the year. After that, he was an assistant at Lake Superior State for three seasons before working as a volunteer assistant with the Northern Michigan Wildcats as he worked on completing a bachelor’s degree. He was named a full-time assistant in 2010, then headed to Michigan Tech in 2014.
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Jane Renaud Mickey Renaud's Mom @SpitsHockey was in Mallorca with us @GoldMedalPlates I dedicated Big League to her well done @SpitsHockey— Tom Cochrane (@TomCochraneMUS) May 30, 2017
There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
The Vancouver Giants are preparing for their first season in the Langley Events Centre after moving over from the Pacific Coliseum. Peter Toigo, the Giants’ vice-president, operations, has told Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province that the team may limit tickets sales to “about 4,500” per game, at least in the early going. The LEC has a listed hockey capacity of 5,276, which includes 700 standing room. The Giants may not sell standing room. According to Ewen, Toigo told him that the Giants want to make sure they have the fan experience nailed down. They want make sure the building and staff can handle the crowd. . . . Toigo also told Ewen that season-ticket sales are up for the first time since 2006-07, although he wasn’t able to supply an exact figure.
F Logan Aasman, who spent three seasons with the Everett Silvertips, has signed with the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits. Aasman is heading into his 20-year-old season. . . . Aasman’s 2014-15 season was interrupted by concussion issues that limited him to 40 games. He had 11 points, two of them goals. . . . Aasman is from Medicine Hat. . . . With Aasman no longer in the picture, Silvertips would appear to have five candidates for their three 20-year-old spots — D Cole MacDonald, F Remi Laurencelle, G Austin Lotz, F Jake Mykitiuk and F Carson Stadnyk.
Canada’s national women’s development team for 2015-16. . . . Gylywoychuk lives in Winnipeg. (If you are wondering, that was him and his two daughters in yesterday’s Tweet of the Day.) . . . Delaney Collins of Pilot Mound, a former national team player, will work as his assistant coach. . . . From a Hockey Canada news release: “Gylywoychuk is no stranger to the national program, having piloted the development team to gold at the 2014 Nations Cup. Gylywoychuk also won gold as an assistant coach with Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2014 Four Nations Cup and gold again at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Under-18 Championship in the same capacity.” . . . Collins played for 12 seasons with the national women’s team. She also is an assistant coach at Mercyhurst U. . . . The NDT will hold a selection camp in Calgary in August, before playing exhibition games against the U.S. U-22 team in Lake Placid, N.Y. . . . The Canadian women are preparing for the Nations Cup in Germany in January. . . . It’s worth noting that Collins’ father, Rod, is opening a hockey academy in Pilot Mound. Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Free Press has more on that story 
Former NHLer Mike Van Ryn is the new head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Van Ryn spent the past two seasons with the Rangers, last season as associate coach. . . . He replaces Troy Smith, who was fired after last season. . . . The Rangers also announced that Jay McKee, like Van Ryn a former NHL defenceman, has been signed as associate coach. He had been an assistant with the Erie Otters. Also coming on board, as an assistant coach, is Daniel Tkaczuk, who was with the Owen Sound Attack for the past three seasons. . . . Meanwhile, Mike McKenzie has moved up from assistant coach to assistant GM, although he also will have some coaching duties.
The Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, made it official on Friday — Todd Nelson is their head coach. Nelson, 46, takes over from Jeff Blashill, who moved up as the Red Wings’ head coach following the departure of Mike Babcock. . . . Nelson had finished last season as the interim head coach of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. He had joined the Oilers from the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, where he was head coach. . . . Nelson, a former Grand Rapids player and assistant coach, signed a three-year deal with the Griffins. From Prince Albert, he played four seasons (1986-90) with the Raiders.
1. There’s nothing better than a good, old-fashioned pithing match between an ink-stained wretch and a talking head. Right? . . . On Thursday, Regan Bartel, the veteran voice of the Kelowna Rockets, opined on the move by F Tyson Jost to turn his back on the Everett Silvertips, at least for now, and join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. In brief, Bartel wrote that the 16-year-old Jost likely feels that he wouldn’t get much playing time under “defensive-minded” Kevin Constantine, Everett’s head coach. . . . On Friday, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald sat down at his keyboard and poked holes in Bartel’s theory, also pointing out that Constantine hasn’t had any problems putting 16-year-olds on the ice. . . . Bartel’s piece is 
2. The good people of Prince Albert held a Relay For Life overnight and into this morning. One of the teams taking part is Team Brucester, comprising members of the Prince Albert Raiders’ staff, along with Jessica and Briane Vance. They are the daughters of Bruce Vance, the Raiders’ business manager and director of marketing, who was diagnosed with colon cancer late in 2013. Sarah Stone of paNOW has a piece 
3. The Prince George Cougars are hoping that Marnie Hamagami is able to recapture the magic and make beautiful music with their fans. Hamagami is leaving her position as general manager of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra to take over as the Cougars’ director of sales and marketing. She beings her new job on Monday. . . . Hamagami spent two seasons with the PGSO. According to a Cougars’ news release: “Since Hamagami took the helm, ticket sales are up 15 per cent, labour relations with the musicians are in excellent shape and the whole feel of the organization is one of positive growth and change.”
4. G Mackenzie Skapski of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. . . . Skapski, from Abbotsford, B.C., was 28-20-4, 2.70, .916 last season, his third with the Ice. . . . He will turn 20 on June 15. . . . People may have forgotten that Skapski was with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins when their bus hit some black ice near Williams Lake, B.C., and ended up on its side. As Dan Kinvig reported in the Abbotsford, B.C., News: “Skapski suffered the most serious injuries of anyone on the team – he sustained a broken nose and a fractured orbital bone, and had surgery to place a couple of plates in (one) cheek and to remove a blood clot beside his brain. During his convalescence, he lost 30 pounds, dropping from 155 to 125.” . . . One of the results of the rehabbing was that he got into only 19 games with the Ice in his freshman season -- of course, he also was playing behind Nathan Lieuwen -- and was bypassed in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . But knowing what Skapski has been through, and how hard he has worked, it makes it awfully easy to pull for him.
5. The Montreal Canadiens have signed D Dalton Thrower (Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2009-14) to a three-year entry-level contract. Thrower was a second-round selection by Montreal in the NHL’s 2012 draft. Last season, one that was ended prematurely by ankle problems, Thrower had 39 points, including 12 goals, in 42 games. The 20-year-old from Squamish, B.C., was the Giants’ captain.
8. D Nick Nonis, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis, has committed to playing for the BCHL’s Powell River Kings in 2014-15. From Hampton Falls, N.H., Nonis has committed to the U of New Hampshire and is expected to play there starting in 2015-16 or the following season. . . . Nonis, who turns 19 on Dec. 19, has played the past three seasons at The Governors Academy, a prep school in Byfield, Mass. . . . His father was a defenceman with the BCHL’s Burnaby Bluehawks in 1982-83 before going on to play four seasons at the U of Maine.
Eric Wellwood has joined the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as an assistant coach. Wellwood, the brother of former NHLer Kyle Wellwood, ended his playing career after suffering a serious leg injury in April 2013 while with the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. . . . In the OHL, he played for the Windsor Spitfires, winning two Memorial Cup titles with them.
Clint Mylymok is the new head coach of the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds, who play out of the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. . . . Mylymok spent last season as the head coach of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association. For two seasons prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Hounds. Mylymok replaces Kevin White, who had been the head coach since the summer of 2010.
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