Dave Sheldon is leaving the AHL’s Abbotsford. Sheldon has been the Heat’s play-by-play man and director of communications for two years. He has WHL ties, having called the play for the Chilliwack Bruins, Everett Silvertips and Vancouver Giants. . . . Cam Tucker of the Abbotsford Times has more right here.
———
D David Dotan, who is from Richmond, B.C., has decided to attend Simon Fraser U and play hockey there. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Dotan played 45 games with the Prince Albert Raiders (2007-09) before playing for the BCHL’s Burnaby Express and the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints.
———
They’re throwing a party in Shaunavon, Sask., this weekend and well they should. The good citizens there are opening their $14-million recreation complex — the Crescent Point Wickenheiser Centre. . . . If you have ever lived on the Prairies, you know the value of such a facility to a community like Shaunavon. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has more right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Jenny's back on the block
How bad are the mosquitoes in Edmonton these days? “You have to be careful when coaching third base at our ball park that you don’t put on the hit and run at the wrong time because you were slapping a mosquito on the indicator sign,” Edmonton Capitals manager Orv Franchuk told Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun. . . . “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Eskimos GM Eric Tillman told Jones. “The next thing that’s going to pop up on our injury report is malaria. It’s like we’re practising in a jungle!” . . . The skeeters were so bad on Thursday that the Eskimos moved their practice inside. . . . Those mosquitoes likely have more bite than the 0-2 B.C. Lions, who are in Edmonton tonight. . . .
Here’s one from blogger R.J. Currie: “The Daily Mail reports the Seattle Mariners are one of the teams planning to have nut-free games this year. I thought they did that when they released Milton Bradley.” . . . With the Dodgers having filed for bankruptcy protection, ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel offered: “I don’t know how an organization that sells a beer for $12 runs out of money, but they did.” . . . Comedy writer Jim Barach noted: “Who knew that the old Dodgers mantra of ‘Wait ’til next year!’ would have to do with trying to meet payroll?” . . . Iowa Speedway, the site of a recent IndyCar race, is known for its really bumpy corners. When the Des Moines Register asked driver Danica Patrick about her propensity for taking those corners at full throttle, she replied: “That took some ovaries to do.” . . .
A Tuesday tweet from the PGA of B.C., during a tournament in Pemberton: “Bear on the 4th hole just ripped apart a players bag at Big Sky in Assistants Championship.” . . . Which goes to prove the golf adage that some days you eat the bear and other days the bear eats your bag. . . . Having baseball’s all-star game decide home-field advantage in the World Series, notes Len Berman of thatssports.com, “makes as much sense as moving the Super Bowl to the home city of one of the teams based on the Pro Bowl! They’ve gotta change this.” . . . The man has a point. . . .
It’s almost as if the rats are deserting a sinking ship. First, it was Jeff Marek leaving Hockey Night in Canada for Sportsnet and now Pierre LeBrun has bailed for TSN. Marek used to be on HNIC’s iDesk, while LeBrun, who will continue to work for ESPN.com, was part of the After 40 Minutes gang. . . . And, if you missed it, Rogers Sportsnet cut ties with hockey play-caller Peter Loubardias on Wednesday. No explanation given. . . . Loubardias was the TV voice of the Calgary Flames and also handled the Memorial Cup for Sportsnet. . . . Say it ain’t so, J-Lo! Say it ain’t so! . . . It’s a wonder that the Internet didn’t implode from all the bad jokes after J-Lo and her third husband, ol’ what’s his name, announced they had visited Splitsville. . . .
Ty Davidson and the Golden Rockets are hoping the DeFrias brothers from Kamloops will burn up the KIJHL in the fall. Brett, a defenceman, had 32 points in 43 games with the Rockets last season. The other day, Davidson acquired Colten, a forward, from the Kelowna Chiefs. He had 36 points, including 22 goals, in 34 games last season. . . . In Saskatchewan, where it’s all Roughriders all the time, they have unveiled Darian’s Darios, a cereal named after QB Darian Durant. . . . “To boost first-week sales for the cereal,” writes Dave Deibert of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, “grocery stores around the province were offering a Roughriders special: 13 boxes for the price of 12.” . . .
Our man Dylan Armstrong got some publicity in Toronto on Tuesday, before winning the National Track League shot putting title there the next evening. “Press has been crazy,” he said via text on Tuesday evening. “Did Canada AM on CTV at studio. Was really good.” . . . Armstrong was in Victoria on July 2 to honour old friend Gary Reed, Canada’s best-ever 800-metre man and an Olympian. A lot of Reed’s friends gathered for a retirement dinner; they also named the Victoria Track Classic’s main event The Gary Reed 800m. . . . Mike Bianchi, in the Orlando Sentinel: “Did you see where Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, has been barred from coaching a youth league baseball team in the San Francisco area? Too bad because he would have given a whole new meaning to the term ‘juice boxes.’ ” . . .
Catharine Pendrel, the reigning World Cup champion who trains in Kamloops, is in Canmore today for the Canadian cross-country mountain bike championships. She will be working to keep rival Marie-Hélène Prémont from her seventh Canadian elite title, which would tie Alison Sydor’s record. . . . Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “Weather records indicate Seattle has been getting wetter and warmer, which at least ought to provide some new material for people who gripe that it’s only been getting richer and ruder.” . . . Jeff Speedy, a former interim athletic director and women’s basketball coach at TRU, will be back on campus later this year. He is bringing his U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds to the annual BDO Canada preseason tournament. . . .
In case you missed it, the legendary Joey Chestnut won the Nathan’s hot dog-eating contest on July 4. The inaugural women’s title went to Sonya (The Black Widow) Thomas. He downed 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes; she handled 40. . . . The Left Coast Sports Babe would like to see a division for super models. “The winner would be the first to finish a cocktail weiner,” she scribbled. . . . Pat Hickey, in the Montreal Gazette: “It’s comical to see Matthew Hulsizer pop up as the possible owner of the St. Louis Blues. Here’s a guy who was only willing to put up $70 million of his own money to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and now he’s going to pony up $165 million for the Blues?” . . .
You may not be interested in hearing this but quarterback Brett Favre is said to be thinking about playing some more football. Here’s Greg Couch of FanHouse.com: “Brett Favre is like a piece of gum you’ve chewed too long and can’t find a place to spit out. Once you finally do — thank God! — you accidentally step in it and can’t get it off your shoe.” . . . During the second round of last week’s John Deere Classic, John Daly came up with a 13 on the par-3 fourth hole. “Two-putted,” he explained. “(I missed a) 20-footer for 12.” . . . Hey, golfers, have you heard about the Rupert Murdoch Invitational? Comedy writer Alan Ray explains it: “Not a lot of good golfers involved. Mostly a bunch of hackers.”
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, twitter.com/gdrinnan, and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Scoreappears sporadically over the summer months.
Here’s one from blogger R.J. Currie: “The Daily Mail reports the Seattle Mariners are one of the teams planning to have nut-free games this year. I thought they did that when they released Milton Bradley.” . . . With the Dodgers having filed for bankruptcy protection, ABC-TV’s Jimmy Kimmel offered: “I don’t know how an organization that sells a beer for $12 runs out of money, but they did.” . . . Comedy writer Jim Barach noted: “Who knew that the old Dodgers mantra of ‘Wait ’til next year!’ would have to do with trying to meet payroll?” . . . Iowa Speedway, the site of a recent IndyCar race, is known for its really bumpy corners. When the Des Moines Register asked driver Danica Patrick about her propensity for taking those corners at full throttle, she replied: “That took some ovaries to do.” . . .
A Tuesday tweet from the PGA of B.C., during a tournament in Pemberton: “Bear on the 4th hole just ripped apart a players bag at Big Sky in Assistants Championship.” . . . Which goes to prove the golf adage that some days you eat the bear and other days the bear eats your bag. . . . Having baseball’s all-star game decide home-field advantage in the World Series, notes Len Berman of thatssports.com, “makes as much sense as moving the Super Bowl to the home city of one of the teams based on the Pro Bowl! They’ve gotta change this.” . . . The man has a point. . . .
It’s almost as if the rats are deserting a sinking ship. First, it was Jeff Marek leaving Hockey Night in Canada for Sportsnet and now Pierre LeBrun has bailed for TSN. Marek used to be on HNIC’s iDesk, while LeBrun, who will continue to work for ESPN.com, was part of the After 40 Minutes gang. . . . And, if you missed it, Rogers Sportsnet cut ties with hockey play-caller Peter Loubardias on Wednesday. No explanation given. . . . Loubardias was the TV voice of the Calgary Flames and also handled the Memorial Cup for Sportsnet. . . . Say it ain’t so, J-Lo! Say it ain’t so! . . . It’s a wonder that the Internet didn’t implode from all the bad jokes after J-Lo and her third husband, ol’ what’s his name, announced they had visited Splitsville. . . .
Ty Davidson and the Golden Rockets are hoping the DeFrias brothers from Kamloops will burn up the KIJHL in the fall. Brett, a defenceman, had 32 points in 43 games with the Rockets last season. The other day, Davidson acquired Colten, a forward, from the Kelowna Chiefs. He had 36 points, including 22 goals, in 34 games last season. . . . In Saskatchewan, where it’s all Roughriders all the time, they have unveiled Darian’s Darios, a cereal named after QB Darian Durant. . . . “To boost first-week sales for the cereal,” writes Dave Deibert of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, “grocery stores around the province were offering a Roughriders special: 13 boxes for the price of 12.” . . .
Our man Dylan Armstrong got some publicity in Toronto on Tuesday, before winning the National Track League shot putting title there the next evening. “Press has been crazy,” he said via text on Tuesday evening. “Did Canada AM on CTV at studio. Was really good.” . . . Armstrong was in Victoria on July 2 to honour old friend Gary Reed, Canada’s best-ever 800-metre man and an Olympian. A lot of Reed’s friends gathered for a retirement dinner; they also named the Victoria Track Classic’s main event The Gary Reed 800m. . . . Mike Bianchi, in the Orlando Sentinel: “Did you see where Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, has been barred from coaching a youth league baseball team in the San Francisco area? Too bad because he would have given a whole new meaning to the term ‘juice boxes.’ ” . . .
Catharine Pendrel, the reigning World Cup champion who trains in Kamloops, is in Canmore today for the Canadian cross-country mountain bike championships. She will be working to keep rival Marie-Hélène Prémont from her seventh Canadian elite title, which would tie Alison Sydor’s record. . . . Ron Judd, in the Seattle Times: “Weather records indicate Seattle has been getting wetter and warmer, which at least ought to provide some new material for people who gripe that it’s only been getting richer and ruder.” . . . Jeff Speedy, a former interim athletic director and women’s basketball coach at TRU, will be back on campus later this year. He is bringing his U of New Brunswick Varsity Reds to the annual BDO Canada preseason tournament. . . .
In case you missed it, the legendary Joey Chestnut won the Nathan’s hot dog-eating contest on July 4. The inaugural women’s title went to Sonya (The Black Widow) Thomas. He downed 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes; she handled 40. . . . The Left Coast Sports Babe would like to see a division for super models. “The winner would be the first to finish a cocktail weiner,” she scribbled. . . . Pat Hickey, in the Montreal Gazette: “It’s comical to see Matthew Hulsizer pop up as the possible owner of the St. Louis Blues. Here’s a guy who was only willing to put up $70 million of his own money to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and now he’s going to pony up $165 million for the Blues?” . . .
You may not be interested in hearing this but quarterback Brett Favre is said to be thinking about playing some more football. Here’s Greg Couch of FanHouse.com: “Brett Favre is like a piece of gum you’ve chewed too long and can’t find a place to spit out. Once you finally do — thank God! — you accidentally step in it and can’t get it off your shoe.” . . . During the second round of last week’s John Deere Classic, John Daly came up with a 13 on the par-3 fourth hole. “Two-putted,” he explained. “(I missed a) 20-footer for 12.” . . . Hey, golfers, have you heard about the Rupert Murdoch Invitational? Comedy writer Alan Ray explains it: “Not a lot of good golfers involved. Mostly a bunch of hackers.”
Gregg Drinnan is sports editor of The Daily News. He is at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca, twitter.com/gdrinnan, and gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Keeping Scoreappears sporadically over the summer months.
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sean Selmser (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, 1991-95) signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Nationalliga). He had 16 goals and 25 assists in 58 games for the Coventry Blaze (UK Elite) last season. . . .
D Mark Isherwood (Medicine Hat, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Cortina (Italy, Serie A). He had 15 goals and 20 assists in 70 games for the ECHL-champion Alaska Aces last season. Isherwood was also named to the ECHL All-Rookie team. . . .
D Vladimir Mihalik (Red Deer, Prince George, 2005-07) signed a one-year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had one goal and eight assists in 66 games with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) last season.
———
Peter Loubardias hasn’t had time to change the message on his voice mail, which indicates that he is employed by Rogers Sportsnet.
Unfortunately, that no longer is true.
Loubardias, who knows as much, if not more, about major junior hockey than anyone else in this country, lost his job Wednesday.
Loubardias, 43, told Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald that he is “devastated. Heartbroken. Hurt.”
Major junior hockey has no greater friend — or fan — than Loubardias, who was Sportsnet’s play-by-play voice at the Memorial Cup. He also called the play of Calgary Flames’ games for three seasons.
But you can bet that not getting to call games at the Memorial Cup has cut him to the bone.
"I have treasured the opportunity to cover eight Memorial Cups," he told Hall. "That's hard for me to even talk about. I have been so lucky to be involved with the national broadcast of that tournament.
"To think next year in Shawinigan that's going to be somebody else, that one really hurts. That one really stings."
Hall’s complete story is right here.
What is rather strange about the Loubardias story is that Bruce Dowbiggin, who keeps an eye on the sports media for The Globe and Media, wrote Wednesday that there is a “shortage of available sports TV talent.”
Scott Woodgate, Rogers’ vice-president of news and information, told Dowbiggin: “There are all these rumours of an implosion at Sportsnet. I don’t know where they’re coming from. We’re building our team at the moment. We haven’t got enough people to do all the things we want to do.”
You figure it out!
———
Back in the day, I spent a couple of WHL seasons working alongside Loubardias on broadcasts of Regina Pats’ games.
I don’t know what amazed me more — his photographic memory (I don’t know that he ever misidentified a player, and he knew every player on both teams) or his love for the game of junior hockey.
I would suggest that the number of hockey games he saw over the course of any one season rivalled the total witnessed by any NHL scout.
———
F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers acknowledges that he fought weight and conditioning problems in the second half of last season. There’s more on his story right here.
The Blazers will open 2011-12 by playing four straight home games. Ranford will miss the first three of those as he completes a WHL-issued suspension. You may recall that he drew a six-game suspension after cross-checking linesman Kris Hartley in a late-season game.
———
F Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Reinhart had 79 points, including 34 goals, in 71 games with the WHL-champion Ice last season. He had 27 points, 15 of them goals, in 19 playoff games. He was Calgary’s first selection in the 2010 NHL draft — the Flames didn’t have a first- or second-round pick, and took him in the third round (64th overall). . . . He is one of three brothers expected to play in the WHL in 2011-12. . . . Griffin, a defenceman, is heading into his second season with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Sam, a forward, will join Max with the Ice.
———
F Craig Cunningham, who played out his WHL eligibility last season, has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Boston Bruins. They selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL draft. He played more than four seasons with the Vancouver Giants before he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks in December. . . . Cunningham finished his WHL career with 264 points in 330 regular-season games. Over his last four seasons, he played in 67, 72, 72 and 71 games.
———
D Josh Hanson of the Portland Winterhawks is the lone WHL player (and one of three CHLers) to have been selected to play for the U.S. U-18 team at the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, from Aug. 8-13. . . . He had three points in 43 games with Portland last season. . . . Canada’s selection camp runs July 30 through Aug. 2.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The yet-to-be nicknamed AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., has named Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) as its head coach. McCambridge was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for the last two seasons. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Anchorage Aces. . . . With the relocation of the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, the Moose has moved to St. John’s, Nfld. The Moose will be the AHL affiliate to the Jets.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F Sean Selmser (Moose Jaw, Red Deer, 1991-95) signed a one-year contract with Dornbirn (Austria, Nationalliga). He had 16 goals and 25 assists in 58 games for the Coventry Blaze (UK Elite) last season. . . .
D Mark Isherwood (Medicine Hat, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Cortina (Italy, Serie A). He had 15 goals and 20 assists in 70 games for the ECHL-champion Alaska Aces last season. Isherwood was also named to the ECHL All-Rookie team. . . .
D Vladimir Mihalik (Red Deer, Prince George, 2005-07) signed a one-year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had one goal and eight assists in 66 games with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) last season.
———
Peter Loubardias hasn’t had time to change the message on his voice mail, which indicates that he is employed by Rogers Sportsnet.
Unfortunately, that no longer is true.
Loubardias, who knows as much, if not more, about major junior hockey than anyone else in this country, lost his job Wednesday.
Loubardias, 43, told Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald that he is “devastated. Heartbroken. Hurt.”
Major junior hockey has no greater friend — or fan — than Loubardias, who was Sportsnet’s play-by-play voice at the Memorial Cup. He also called the play of Calgary Flames’ games for three seasons.
But you can bet that not getting to call games at the Memorial Cup has cut him to the bone.
"I have treasured the opportunity to cover eight Memorial Cups," he told Hall. "That's hard for me to even talk about. I have been so lucky to be involved with the national broadcast of that tournament.
"To think next year in Shawinigan that's going to be somebody else, that one really hurts. That one really stings."
Hall’s complete story is right here.
What is rather strange about the Loubardias story is that Bruce Dowbiggin, who keeps an eye on the sports media for The Globe and Media, wrote Wednesday that there is a “shortage of available sports TV talent.”
Scott Woodgate, Rogers’ vice-president of news and information, told Dowbiggin: “There are all these rumours of an implosion at Sportsnet. I don’t know where they’re coming from. We’re building our team at the moment. We haven’t got enough people to do all the things we want to do.”
You figure it out!
———
Back in the day, I spent a couple of WHL seasons working alongside Loubardias on broadcasts of Regina Pats’ games.
I don’t know what amazed me more — his photographic memory (I don’t know that he ever misidentified a player, and he knew every player on both teams) or his love for the game of junior hockey.
I would suggest that the number of hockey games he saw over the course of any one season rivalled the total witnessed by any NHL scout.
———
F Brendan Ranford of the Kamloops Blazers acknowledges that he fought weight and conditioning problems in the second half of last season. There’s more on his story right here.
The Blazers will open 2011-12 by playing four straight home games. Ranford will miss the first three of those as he completes a WHL-issued suspension. You may recall that he drew a six-game suspension after cross-checking linesman Kris Hartley in a late-season game.
———
F Max Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Reinhart had 79 points, including 34 goals, in 71 games with the WHL-champion Ice last season. He had 27 points, 15 of them goals, in 19 playoff games. He was Calgary’s first selection in the 2010 NHL draft — the Flames didn’t have a first- or second-round pick, and took him in the third round (64th overall). . . . He is one of three brothers expected to play in the WHL in 2011-12. . . . Griffin, a defenceman, is heading into his second season with the Edmonton Oil Kings. . . . Sam, a forward, will join Max with the Ice.
———
F Craig Cunningham, who played out his WHL eligibility last season, has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Boston Bruins. They selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL draft. He played more than four seasons with the Vancouver Giants before he was traded to the Portland Winterhawks in December. . . . Cunningham finished his WHL career with 264 points in 330 regular-season games. Over his last four seasons, he played in 67, 72, 72 and 71 games.
———
D Josh Hanson of the Portland Winterhawks is the lone WHL player (and one of three CHLers) to have been selected to play for the U.S. U-18 team at the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, from Aug. 8-13. . . . He had three points in 43 games with Portland last season. . . . Canada’s selection camp runs July 30 through Aug. 2.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The yet-to-be nicknamed AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., has named Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) as its head coach. McCambridge was an assistant coach with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for the last two seasons. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Anchorage Aces. . . . With the relocation of the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, the Moose has moved to St. John’s, Nfld. The Moose will be the AHL affiliate to the Jets.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Thursday, July 14, 2011
No Kuvaev in Kootenay
F Alex Kuvaev’s stay on the Kootenay Ice’s roster was rather short.
Kuvaev, from Moscow, had 24 points in 58 games as a 17-year-old freshman with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season.
However, the Hurricanes dropped Kuvaev prior to the CHL’s 2011 import draft. A short while later, his rights were picked up by the Ice.
But word got out Wednesday that Kuvaev has signed with Dynamo Moscow so the Ice has dropped him off its list.
It turns out that Dynamo has acquired Kuvaev’s rights from HC Vityaz Chekhov, another KHL team, and signed him to a three-year contract.
Dynamo gave up F Nikita Dvurechensky in the exchange. He was part of the Russian team that won the 2011 World Junior Championship. He also played on the Russian team that won the 2010 Subway Series.
Of course, all of this means the Ice, the WHL’s defending champion, may end up playing another season without an import player on its roster.
“Don Cherry will once again be happy with the Kootenay Ice. LOL!” Ice president/GM Chynoweth told me via email.
———
There is an interesting tidbit in a piece by Bill Meltzer of nhl.com on young import players and the decisions with which they are faced about where they should play.
Deep in the story was a bit on German F Marcel Noebels, who put up 54 points in 66 games as a freshman with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season.
The Philadelphia Flyers selected Noebels, who played with the Krefeld Penguins in the German DEL in 2009-10, in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL draft. And now, it seems, Noebels, who had three points in 33 games with Krefeld, has received another offer from the German team.
"I will do whatever the Flyers want me to," Noebels told Meltzer during Philly’s development camp. "It would be great to play for Krefeld, but whatever helps my chances of playing in the NHL is what I'll do."
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Mike Stothers is the new head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. He signed a
multi-year deal and was introduced on Wednesday. Stothers, 49, spent last season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. A former NHL defenceman who has been coaching since 1991, Stothers was the head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack for five seasons (2002-07). . . . The Warriors also re-signed assistant coach Mike Vandenberghe to a multi-year contract, while choosing not to excercise their option on Trevor Weisgerber, their other assistant coach. . . . Stothers replaces Dave Hunchak, who was fired following last season and has since signed on as associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers. . . .
The signing of Stothers means the Regina Pats are the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach in place. It was speculated earlier in the week that they were close to signing former Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill. That hasn’t happened, though, but the odds of it coming to pass may have increased Wednesday because the AHL’s Texas Stars named Jeff Pyle as their new head coach. Pyle had been head coach of the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. . . . Pyle replaces Glen Gulutzan, now the head coach of the parent Dallas Stars. . . . Pyle had been the Gladiators’ director of hockey operations and head coach for eight seasons. . . .
The ECHL’s Alaska Aces, who won the Kelly Cup last season, have named Rob Murray as their new head coach. Murray, 44, spent the last eight seasons on the staff of the AHL’s Providence Bruins, the last three as head coach. . . . Murray replaces Brent Thompson (1988-91), who now is head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who are affiliated with the New York Islanders. . . .
The Central league’s Bloomington Blaze has named Jason Christie (Saskatoon, 1986-90) as its head coach. . . . The Blaze used to be the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. Christie was the CHL’s coach of the year with the Prairie Thunder last season.
———
Ken Schott of the Schenectady, N.Y., Daily Gazette writes that a goaltender who played 20 minutes for the Portland Winterhawks during an exhibition game has had his plans for a U.S. college gig altered. That piece is right here.
———F Tyler Redenbach, who won the WHL’s 2003-04 scoring title while with the Swift Current Broncos, has signed with EHC Olten, which plays in the Swiss National League B. Redenbach, 27, had 36 points, including 30 assists, in 43 games with Finnish team SaiPa Lappeenranta (SM-Liiga) last season. His season ended prematurely thanks to a hand injury. That was his second season with that club. Redenbach played in Denmark in 2008-09.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Kuvaev, from Moscow, had 24 points in 58 games as a 17-year-old freshman with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season.
However, the Hurricanes dropped Kuvaev prior to the CHL’s 2011 import draft. A short while later, his rights were picked up by the Ice.But word got out Wednesday that Kuvaev has signed with Dynamo Moscow so the Ice has dropped him off its list.
It turns out that Dynamo has acquired Kuvaev’s rights from HC Vityaz Chekhov, another KHL team, and signed him to a three-year contract.
Dynamo gave up F Nikita Dvurechensky in the exchange. He was part of the Russian team that won the 2011 World Junior Championship. He also played on the Russian team that won the 2010 Subway Series.
Of course, all of this means the Ice, the WHL’s defending champion, may end up playing another season without an import player on its roster.
“Don Cherry will once again be happy with the Kootenay Ice. LOL!” Ice president/GM Chynoweth told me via email.
———
There is an interesting tidbit in a piece by Bill Meltzer of nhl.com on young import players and the decisions with which they are faced about where they should play.
Deep in the story was a bit on German F Marcel Noebels, who put up 54 points in 66 games as a freshman with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season.The Philadelphia Flyers selected Noebels, who played with the Krefeld Penguins in the German DEL in 2009-10, in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL draft. And now, it seems, Noebels, who had three points in 33 games with Krefeld, has received another offer from the German team.
"I will do whatever the Flyers want me to," Noebels told Meltzer during Philly’s development camp. "It would be great to play for Krefeld, but whatever helps my chances of playing in the NHL is what I'll do."
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Mike Stothers is the new head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. He signed a
multi-year deal and was introduced on Wednesday. Stothers, 49, spent last season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers. A former NHL defenceman who has been coaching since 1991, Stothers was the head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack for five seasons (2002-07). . . . The Warriors also re-signed assistant coach Mike Vandenberghe to a multi-year contract, while choosing not to excercise their option on Trevor Weisgerber, their other assistant coach. . . . Stothers replaces Dave Hunchak, who was fired following last season and has since signed on as associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers. . . .The signing of Stothers means the Regina Pats are the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach in place. It was speculated earlier in the week that they were close to signing former Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill. That hasn’t happened, though, but the odds of it coming to pass may have increased Wednesday because the AHL’s Texas Stars named Jeff Pyle as their new head coach. Pyle had been head coach of the ECHL’s Gwinnett Gladiators. . . . Pyle replaces Glen Gulutzan, now the head coach of the parent Dallas Stars. . . . Pyle had been the Gladiators’ director of hockey operations and head coach for eight seasons. . . .
The ECHL’s Alaska Aces, who won the Kelly Cup last season, have named Rob Murray as their new head coach. Murray, 44, spent the last eight seasons on the staff of the AHL’s Providence Bruins, the last three as head coach. . . . Murray replaces Brent Thompson (1988-91), who now is head coach of the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who are affiliated with the New York Islanders. . . .
The Central league’s Bloomington Blaze has named Jason Christie (Saskatoon, 1986-90) as its head coach. . . . The Blaze used to be the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. Christie was the CHL’s coach of the year with the Prairie Thunder last season.
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Ken Schott of the Schenectady, N.Y., Daily Gazette writes that a goaltender who played 20 minutes for the Portland Winterhawks during an exhibition game has had his plans for a U.S. college gig altered. That piece is right here.
———F Tyler Redenbach, who won the WHL’s 2003-04 scoring title while with the Swift Current Broncos, has signed with EHC Olten, which plays in the Swiss National League B. Redenbach, 27, had 36 points, including 30 assists, in 43 games with Finnish team SaiPa Lappeenranta (SM-Liiga) last season. His season ended prematurely thanks to a hand injury. That was his second season with that club. Redenbach played in Denmark in 2008-09.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Revenue sources are up, but . . .
One year after showing a profit of $16,987, the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors have reported a loss of “nearly $150,000” for the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to Myles Fish of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. . . . The Warriors held their annual general meeting on Tuesday night and Fish was there. . . . He reported that “all revenue sources were up” for the Warriors, but they still lost money. . . . How does that work? . . . Fish writes that the net loss “was largely due to a payment of $157,500 the team had to make as part of a court settlement it was involved in as one entity included in a case involving the Western Hockey League relating to a historic claim.” . . . The start of Fish’s story is right here.
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The Warriors have a news conference scheduled for this (Wednesday) morning at which they are expected to introduce Mike Stothers as their head coach.
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Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that “Ryan McGill is not the new head coach of the Regina Pats.”
Furthermore, Harder writes: “Contrary to recent online reports, the Pats haven't hired the former Calgary Flames assistant, nor have they offered him the job.”
There’s more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch named Brad Lauer and Marty Wilford as assistant coaches on Tuesday. The Crunch is hooked up with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Lauer, a former WHL player and coach, and Wilford will work alongside head coach Mark Holick, who is a former Kootenay Ice head coach. . . . Lauer, 44, was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators for the last two seasons. . . . Wilford, 34, played in Italy last season. . . .
Chris Shaw has been hired as assistant coach by the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. Jason Williamson, the former assistant, was named GM and head coach to fill the office that was emptied when Mark Ferner signed on as head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Shaw is a former GM/head coach of the junior B Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International junior league.
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They used to be the Montreal Juniors, now they are the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The QMJHL team, which was purchased last month by a group led by former NHL D Joel Bouchard, has vacated the Verdun Auditorium and will out of the Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau in Boisbriand, Que. Boisbriand and Blainville are suburban municipalities north of Montreal. Quebecor, a media company, owns 70 per cent of the franchise, with Pierre Gendron and Bouchard and NHLers Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Daniel Briere and Ian Laperriere owning the rest.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Fish of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. . . . The Warriors held their annual general meeting on Tuesday night and Fish was there. . . . He reported that “all revenue sources were up” for the Warriors, but they still lost money. . . . How does that work? . . . Fish writes that the net loss “was largely due to a payment of $157,500 the team had to make as part of a court settlement it was involved in as one entity included in a case involving the Western Hockey League relating to a historic claim.” . . . The start of Fish’s story is right here.———
The Warriors have a news conference scheduled for this (Wednesday) morning at which they are expected to introduce Mike Stothers as their head coach.
———
Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reports that “Ryan McGill is not the new head coach of the Regina Pats.”Furthermore, Harder writes: “Contrary to recent online reports, the Pats haven't hired the former Calgary Flames assistant, nor have they offered him the job.”
There’s more right here.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch named Brad Lauer and Marty Wilford as assistant coaches on Tuesday. The Crunch is hooked up with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Lauer, a former WHL player and coach, and Wilford will work alongside head coach Mark Holick, who is a former Kootenay Ice head coach. . . . Lauer, 44, was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators for the last two seasons. . . . Wilford, 34, played in Italy last season. . . .
Chris Shaw has been hired as assistant coach by the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. Jason Williamson, the former assistant, was named GM and head coach to fill the office that was emptied when Mark Ferner signed on as head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Shaw is a former GM/head coach of the junior B Nelson Leafs of the Kootenay International junior league.
———
They used to be the Montreal Juniors, now they are the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.
The QMJHL team, which was purchased last month by a group led by former NHL D Joel Bouchard, has vacated the Verdun Auditorium and will out of the Centre d'Excellence Sports Rousseau in Boisbriand, Que. Boisbriand and Blainville are suburban municipalities north of Montreal. Quebecor, a media company, owns 70 per cent of the franchise, with Pierre Gendron and Bouchard and NHLers Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Daniel Briere and Ian Laperriere owning the rest.gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Bozon hoping to follow in father's footsteps to NHL
 |
| Tim Bozon, with the HC Lugano juniors. (Photo courtesy Tim Bozon) |
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Tim Bozon knows where he wants to play hockey in 2011-12.Daily News Sports Editor
“Kamloops,” Bozon told The Daily News during a texting exchange on Tuesday.
Bozon, the Kamloops Blazers’ lone selection in last month’s CHL import draft, is an interesting study.
The 17-year-old son of former NHL forward Philippe Bozon, Tim — “My name is Timothé, but everybody calls me Tim,” he wrote — was born in St. Louis while his father was playing for the Blues. The family now lives in Lugano, Switzerland, but Tim has played internationally for France, despite never having played minor hockey in that country.
“It’s just because all my family are French, and my grandfather and my father played for France’s national team,” Bozon explained. “It’s why I play, too.”
The 6-foot-1, 182-pound Bozon, who is fluent in English, Italian, French and German, played his minor hockey in Switzerland, the location dependent upon where his father was playing or coaching.
“I lived one year in Kloten and I learned German, and three years in Lugano and I learned Italian,” he noted. “I learned English at school.”
Naturally, Philippe has been rather important in the shaping of his son’s career.
“He has a lot of experience and is a good example for me and I try to learn from him,” Tim said. “He coached me when we were in Geneva.”
Not that it was always fun . . .
“It was not so easy for us,” the son stated. “He was hard with me but, finally, I learned a lot and I will always learn with him.”
Right now, the family is vacationing in France. That includes mother Hélène and the other two children — Allison, 19, and Kevin, 16.
Philippe was the first French-trained player to reach the NHL. An international legend, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2008. Right now, he is between coaching jobs, having been fired by HC Lugano on Nov. 29. Former NHL assistant coach Barry Smith now is Lugano’s head coach; the roster includes ex-Blazers forward Hnat Domenichelli.
Tim said he was “really excited” to be selected by the Blazers and added that he has chatted with Domenichelli, who has played in Switzerland for eight seasons, the last three in Lugano.
“He said to me that it’s a very good team . . . so I’m very happy to play in the WHL,” Bozon continued. “It’s one of my dreams to play in this league. It’s a very good level and you get more chance to play one day in the NHL.
“It’s going to be a great experience.”
Asked to look in a mirror and describe his game, Bozon replied: “I like to have the puck to control the game. I have a good vision of the game. I like to play physical and I have good skills. I can score goals.”
Last season, he had 29 points, 16 of them goals, in 27 games with Lugano’s U20 team.
In December, France’s U20 team will play in the Division I Group B tournament in Tychy, Poland, but Bozon said that isn’t his first concern.
“No, not really,” he stated. “I told the coach and we agreed that if I go play in Canada he let’s me be free. But if he asks me to play in the World championship, I will say ‘yes,’ of course.
“But I just want to focus on Kamloops. That is most important for me right now.”
At 17, it’s more likely he would be invited to play for France at the IIHF Division I Group A U18 championship in Piestany, Slovakia, Dec. 11-17. That tournament also will include Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy and Japan.
Bozon already has played with France’s U18 side on two occasions, most recently at the Division I Group B tournament in Maribor, Slovenia, in April.
“We finished third and it was the first time that France’s U18 team has brought back a medal,” he noted. Bozon had six points, three of them goals, in five games.
Bozon is the second Swiss player selected by the Blazers in the import draft. The first, forward Janick Steinmann, played one season (2005-06) here, picking up 18 points in 55 games. He played this season for Davos in the Swiss-A league.
The Portland Winterhawks, however, have had great success with Swiss forwards Nino Niederreiter and Sven Bartschi, both of whom have signed NHL contracts after being first-round draft picks. Niederreiter has played two seasons in Portland, while Bartschi was the Western Conference’s rookie of the year in 2010-11.
Bozon knows both players. He also knows “very well” sophomore defenceman Dave Sutter of the Seattle Thunderbirds, having played two years with him in Geneva.
Bozon also is “very good friends” with forward Alessio Bertaggia, who was selected by the Brandon Wheat Kings in last month’s import draft.
Bertaggia’s father, Sandro, was an assistant coach with the Lugano team that fired Bozon’s father.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Monday, July 11, 2011
Coaching news in the WHL
THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) signed a try-out contract through Sept. 1 with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and six assists in 29 games for the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) and one goal and three assists in 15 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) signed a one-year contract with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had two goals and five assists in 24 games for Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after starting last season with the Houston Aeros (AHL), where he was pointless in five games. . . .
F Martin Ruzicka (Everett, Lethbridge, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). He had 24 goals and 26 assists in 51 games for Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
———
It would seem that the last two WHL teams without head coaches have made their decisions.
A source told me early Monday evening — and subsequent reports are all over the Internet — that the Moose Jaw Warriors are expected to name Mike Stothers as their head coach, while the Regina Pats may have settled on Ryan McGill. Regina, by the way, did give strong consideration to hiring Stothers before choosing to go in another direction.
Stothers, a 49-year-old Torontonian, was the 21st selection in the 1980 NHL draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers from the OHL’s Kingston Canadians. He played professionally through 1991-92 when he got into coaching as a player/assistant coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Since then he has coached in the AHL, NHL, and OHL. He spent five seasons (2002-07) as head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
Last season, Stothers was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
In Moose Jaw, Stothers will take over from Dave Hunchak, who was fired after going 40-26-6 and finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. Hunchak has since signed as an associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers.
Of course, it wasn't that long ago when sources had Dave Barr fingered as the Warriors' next head coach. The source I heard from early Monday evening, however, is rather highly placed within WHL circles.
Meanwhile, The Coaches Site tweeted about 9 p.m. PT that “former Calgary Flames assistant Ryan McGill expected to be named the Regina Pats new head coach as early as (today).”
Word out of Regina — see Greg Harder's blog Slap Shots over there on the right — is that the Pats are close to a hire but negotiations continue.
McGill, 42, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Before that, he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliates, first the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and then the Quad City Flames.
A native of Sherwood Park, Alta., he is a former WHL defenceman (Lethbridge, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, 1985-89) who was an assistant coach with the Edmonton Ice (1996-98) and a head coach with Edmonton/Kootenay (1997-2001). He guided the Ice to the 2002 Memorial Cup title and then spent three seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack.
In Regina, McGill would replace Curtis Hunt, who was fired last month.
The Everett Silvertips (Mark Ferner) and Seattle Thunderbirds (Steve Konowalchuk) also have new head coaches. Craig Hartsburg left Everett and now is an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. Meanwhile, the Kent-based Thunderbirds cut ties with long-time head coach Rob Sumner after last season.
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Dan Bonar, who has scouted for the Calgary Hitmen for eight seasons, is the team’s new head scout. Bonar, from Deloraine, Man., replaces Brad Whelen, who now is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Bonar played for the Brandon Wheat Kings before going on to an NHL career that included stints with the Los Angeles Kings. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
D Giffen Nyren (Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Calgary, 2006-10) signed a try-out contract through Sept. 1 with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had four goals and six assists in 29 games for the Utah Grizzlies (ECHL) and one goal and three assists in 15 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
D Bryce Lampman (Kamloops, 2002-03) signed a one-year contract with the Hannover Scorpions (Germany, DEL). He had two goals and five assists in 24 games for Ingolstadt (Germany, DEL) after starting last season with the Houston Aeros (AHL), where he was pointless in five games. . . .
F Martin Ruzicka (Everett, Lethbridge, 2003-05) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). He had 24 goals and 26 assists in 51 games for Trinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
———
 |
| Mike Stothers |
A source told me early Monday evening — and subsequent reports are all over the Internet — that the Moose Jaw Warriors are expected to name Mike Stothers as their head coach, while the Regina Pats may have settled on Ryan McGill. Regina, by the way, did give strong consideration to hiring Stothers before choosing to go in another direction.
Stothers, a 49-year-old Torontonian, was the 21st selection in the 1980 NHL draft, going to the Philadelphia Flyers from the OHL’s Kingston Canadians. He played professionally through 1991-92 when he got into coaching as a player/assistant coach with the AHL’s Hershey Bears.
Since then he has coached in the AHL, NHL, and OHL. He spent five seasons (2002-07) as head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack.
Last season, Stothers was an assistant coach with the NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers.
In Moose Jaw, Stothers will take over from Dave Hunchak, who was fired after going 40-26-6 and finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. Hunchak has since signed as an associate coach with the Kamloops Blazers.
Of course, it wasn't that long ago when sources had Dave Barr fingered as the Warriors' next head coach. The source I heard from early Monday evening, however, is rather highly placed within WHL circles.
Meanwhile, The Coaches Site tweeted about 9 p.m. PT that “former Calgary Flames assistant Ryan McGill expected to be named the Regina Pats new head coach as early as (today).”
Word out of Regina — see Greg Harder's blog Slap Shots over there on the right — is that the Pats are close to a hire but negotiations continue.
McGill, 42, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames. Before that, he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Flames’ AHL affiliates, first the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and then the Quad City Flames.
 |
| Ryan McGill |
In Regina, McGill would replace Curtis Hunt, who was fired last month.
The Everett Silvertips (Mark Ferner) and Seattle Thunderbirds (Steve Konowalchuk) also have new head coaches. Craig Hartsburg left Everett and now is an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. Meanwhile, the Kent-based Thunderbirds cut ties with long-time head coach Rob Sumner after last season.
———
Dan Bonar, who has scouted for the Calgary Hitmen for eight seasons, is the team’s new head scout. Bonar, from Deloraine, Man., replaces Brad Whelen, who now is with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. Bonar played for the Brandon Wheat Kings before going on to an NHL career that included stints with the Los Angeles Kings. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
The 2011 MLB All-Star game is set to be played tonight in Phoenix. . . . So let's take a look back at Jim Murray's take on the All-Star Game from 1985.
It was a time when baseball was just a few years past a season-stopping strike (1981) that resulted in the cancellation of 713 games. That season, the All-Star Game was played on Aug. 9, the day before regular-season play resumed.
THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1985, SPORTS
Copyright 1985/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
JIM MURRAY
An All-Star Blunder Is What It Would Be
I don't know what the definition of consummate arrogance is, but I think I've got an example.
Try this on for major league disdain. This is a line that could only be delivered by Basil Rathbone in his heyday. You can't say it, you have to sneer it:
"There is no contractual obligation ever for a player to play in an All-Star game. You could refuse to play in that game without engaging in a strike. There is nothing in a player's contract or in the Basic Agreement that requires players to play in an All-Star game."
Could Marie Antoinette have delivered those lines any better? Louis XIV? Any Czar? Does this make "Let 'em eat cake" sound like a concerned participant?
The lines were delivered in their virginal hauteur by Marvin Miller, who, the last time I looked, was the retired director of the players' association in baseball. He was commenting on the advisability of boycotting the annual All-Star baseball game in Minneapolis this summer.
I hope these guys do boycott. I'd be curious just to see how far the public tolerance goes with these dunderheads of baseball, management and player reps.
Now, about the All-Star game. It's my recollection that this extravaganza was brought into being originally by the late Arch Ward, a sports editor in Chicago, in 1933, for two reasons.
• Baseball was in trouble that Depression year. Attendance was down, the Yankees were dominating, and prospects looked gloomy.
• He thought it would be a good way to build up a pension fund for the players, who had none in those days.
The game caught on. Baseball was more uniquely suited to the All-Star format than any other sport, precisely because it is not a team game but a kaleidoscope of solo performances by the artists on the order of Heifetz on the violin.
It was such a nice idea, that they started to play two of them a year. That was not such a nice idea, but my recollection is that the two games were scheduled at the urging of the players themselves. More money for the pensions.
All this, of course, was before players got millions of dollars a year for mediocre pitching, indifferent hitting and questionable lifestyles.
There's a syllogism in modern sports philosophy that goes something like this: (a) all ballplayers are in it for the money; (b) all owners are in it for the money; (c) therefore, all sport is in it for the money.
Well, the major premise (a) may be so. The minor premise (b) is not so. All owners are not in it for the money. I don't believe George Steinbrenner is. Other motivations drive him. I know the late Phil Wrigley was not. I know the late Tom Yawkey was not. I know Gene Autry is not.
Players are in baseball because that is what they do well. Marvin Miller is in labor negotiations because that is what he does well. The only owner I can think of who is in baseball because that is what he does well is Peter O'Malley. The Chicago Tribune owns the Cubs, but baseball is not really the Tribune's bag. Ted Turner owns the Atlanta Braves, but baseball is not his bag, either. It's not Bob Laurie's, John Galbreath's, nor Nelson Doubleday's.
I just don't see this as a labor dispute between the Colorado miners and John D. Rockefeller. It's not the UAW vs. the stockholders of General Motors. As I said, ballplayers are not the girls in the Triangle shirtwaist fire.
But, regardless, the All-Star game is hardly the proper vehicle for aggressive unioneering. It's kind of like dynamiting baby carriages.
The All-Star game is a kind of harmless little sideshow drummed up to call attention to the main event. It's the circus parade that used to move through town the morning they put up the big top.
I don't see it as a proper hostage at all in this warfare between owners and players. I mean, what do you do for an encore — burn bubblegum cards?
Labor negotiations are studies in brinkmanship. But why dangle the All-Star game over the precipice? It's as if the player reps were interested in showing their seriousness, like kidnapers mailing fingers to the family if the ransom isn't forthcoming.
If it's a show of force, we baseball fans don't need it. We remember the strike of 1981 all too well. If these guys are going to keep this game in thrall every few seasons, one of these years the little old fan is going to get fed up and tell them, "Keep it."
Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times.
Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Armstrong slingin' in the rain
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| DYLAN ARMSTRONG |
By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Rain? What rain?Daily News Sports Editor
Dylan Armstrong, the Kamloops strongman, ignored the driving rain Sunday in Birmingham, England, as he continued his dominance of the Samsung Diamond League shot putting competition.
Armstrong, 30, threw 21.55 metres with his fourth and final attempt to win the shot put at the Aviva Grand Prix in Alexander Stadium.
He had thrown 20.70, 20.45 and 21.34, in order, with his first three attempts.
“It rained like crazy,” Armstrong said. “It wasn’t pretty. There was a lot of rain.”
He said the downpour “probably wasn’t as bad as Edmonton . . . it was just consistent rain, a real downpour.”
Armstrong was to have competed at a meet in Edmonton on June 29, but a heavy storm cancelled that meet and also shut down the airport, preventing him from getting to Lausanne, Switzerland, for a Diamond League meet there on June 30.
He competed in Vancouver on July 1 and in Victoria on July 3 before heading to Birmingham.
This was the first time the Diamond League has stopped in Birmingham and a new 5,000-seat section for fans was unveiled prior to the meet. A sold-out crowd of more than 12,700 attended Sunday’s action.
“The stands were packed. There were a lot of people there,” Armstrong said. “These meets are packed; there’s thousands of people at them.”
Tomasz Majewski of Poland was second, at 20.90, with American Christian Cantwell, the reigning world champion, third at 20.86. Cantwell set the meet record of 22.45 on June 11, 2006.
After five of seven meets, Armstrong leads the Diamond League standings with 12 points, well ahead of Majewski and Cantwell, who are tied for second, each with five.
A victory is worth US$10,000 and four points in the standings, with $6,000 and two points for second place and $4,000 and one point for third. Points will be doubled for the league’s final meet, in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 16.
At season’s end, the overall winner will get $40,000 and the Diamond Race Trophy.
Armstrong went into July ranked second in the world, behind Cantwell, with American Reese Hoffa in third spot. Armstrong has the longest throw in the world this year, having set a Canadian record of 22.21 as he won his sixth national title at the Canadian championships in Calgary on June. 25.
Of the eight competitors in the shot put on Sunday, only Armstrong and Majewski didn’t foul. Hoffa, who is one of Armstrong’s main rivals, finished seventh. He threw 20.09, fouled, threw 18.20, then fouled again.
“I think the weather got into a lot of guys’ heads,” Armstrong stated before laughing and adding: “I’m used to training in that.
Armstrong said he knew the weather was coming so “I was prepared for it. It rains here a lot. I just stayed focused throughout the whole competition and I was happy with it.
“In those conditions, I was extremely happy with how I threw. It was good.”
Armstrong was scheduled to catch a morning flight to Brussels and then fly to Toronto, where he will compete Wednesday in the International Games, a National Track League (NTL) meet, at the U of Toronto’s Varsity Centre.
Toronto will mark his final competitive appearance in Canada this year.
“Hopefully, I’ll put on a good performance there,” he said. “It’s the last meet of the NTL. Then I’ll gear up for Monaco and Stockholm.”
After Toronto, he plans to come home for five days to train, before leaving for Diamond League meets in Monaco (July 22) and Stockholm (July 28).
After that, he will return to Kamloops for a few more days and then he will leave for San Diego where he will train for a month in preparation for the World championships in Daegu, South Korea. The shot put competition is scheduled for Aug. 27.
“It’ll be nice to get back to basics and get in some good training,” Armstrong said.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Germany is in the cards . . .
THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Mike Card (Kelowna, 2002-06) signed a one-year contract with Alleghe (Italy, Serie A). He had one goal and three assists in 48 games for Kölner Haie (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
F Levi Nelson (Swift Current, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract with ESV Kaufbeuren (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had seven goals and four assists in 34 games with the Providence Bruins and Norfolk Admirals (both AHL) last season.
———
Six of the top college hockey programs will form a new league in 2013-14, meaning the sport is headed for another conference shake-up. The schools involved will hold a news conference in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. In the meantime, they issued a joint statement confirming their plans on Saturday.
There’s more right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
D Mike Card (Kelowna, 2002-06) signed a one-year contract with Alleghe (Italy, Serie A). He had one goal and three assists in 48 games for Kölner Haie (Germany, DEL) last season. . . .
F Levi Nelson (Swift Current, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract with ESV Kaufbeuren (Germany, 2.Bundesliga). He had seven goals and four assists in 34 games with the Providence Bruins and Norfolk Admirals (both AHL) last season.
———
Six of the top college hockey programs will form a new league in 2013-14, meaning the sport is headed for another conference shake-up. The schools involved will hold a news conference in Colorado Springs on Wednesday. In the meantime, they issued a joint statement confirming their plans on Saturday.
There’s more right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Saturday, July 9, 2011
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2005-06) signed a three-year contract with Kloten (Switzerland NLA). He had 20 goals and 22 assists in 70 games for the AHL-champions Binghamton Senators and was pointless in seven games with Ottawa Senators (NHL) last season.
———
If you’ve been paying attention, you will be aware that there is a huge shakeup going on in the world of NCAA hockey. But what does it all mean? Chris Dilks has some thoughts at the Western College Hockey blog, and it is right here.
———
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports offers his take on the NCAA hockey picture right here.
———
JUST NOTES: John MacNeil of the Brandon Sun reports that the King brothers, Wheaton and Sanfred, are on the move. . . . Wheaton, an 18-year-old forward, has been invited to training camp by the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Sanfred, now 21, has committed to attend McGill U in Montreal and play for the Redmen. . . . The King boys finished last season playing on the same line with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. . . . D Riley McIntosh (Kelowna, Tri-City, 2006-10) has committed to attend to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., and play for the Timberwolves. McIntosh finished up last season with the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. . . . F Joel Ridgeway (Tri-City, Portland, 2006-10) will attend Acadia U and play for the Axemen, who play out of Wolfville, N.S. He played most of the last two seasons for the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Former Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters has left the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to join the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach. Peters spent three seasons as the IceHogs’ head coach, going 122-97-7-14. The are affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. . . . Peters and Detroit head coach Mike Babcock worked together on the Spokane coaching staff in the late 1990s. . . . The Red Wings also added Jeff Blashill, the head coach at Western Michigan, to their coaching staff. . . . They replace Brad McCrimmon, who will coach in the KHL next season, and Paul MacLean, now the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. . . .
Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that former NHL D Charlie Huddy “has agreed to become an assistant coach on Claude Noel’s staff” with the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Huddy was an assisant coach with the Dallas Stars for the last two seasons. . . . Wiebe also writes that Ray Edwards, the head coach of the AHL’s Portland Pirates, also has interviewed with the Jets. Edwards was the head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage last season. The Phoenix Coyotes shifted their AHL affiliation fro San Antonio to Portland and announced that Edwards would be the Pirates’ head coach.
———
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have revealed that their newest Hall-of-Fame inductees will be former GM Bob Bartlett, D Jamie Pushor and F Jason Ruff.
Bartlett was instrumental in getting the Calgary Wranglers franchise relocated to Lethbridge for the 1987-88 season. He spent 11 seasons scouting for the team and worked as GM for five seasons. Bartlett already is a member of the Alberta and Lethbridge sports halls of fame. . . . Pushor, a former team captain who was born and raised in Lethbridge, played for the Hurricanes from 1988-93. . . . Ruff holds the club’s career records for goals (183) and points (382).
———
Kelly Friesen, who follows the WHL for Yahoo! Sports, chatted with Mike Johnston, the Portland Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, about that franchise’s spectacular results in the last two NHL drafts. Friesen’s piece is right here and it’s a must read if you’re wondering how the Winterhawks went from the outhouse to the penthouse in such short order.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F Roman Wick (Red Deer, Lethbridge, 2005-06) signed a three-year contract with Kloten (Switzerland NLA). He had 20 goals and 22 assists in 70 games for the AHL-champions Binghamton Senators and was pointless in seven games with Ottawa Senators (NHL) last season.
———
If you’ve been paying attention, you will be aware that there is a huge shakeup going on in the world of NCAA hockey. But what does it all mean? Chris Dilks has some thoughts at the Western College Hockey blog, and it is right here.
———
Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports offers his take on the NCAA hockey picture right here.
———
JUST NOTES: John MacNeil of the Brandon Sun reports that the King brothers, Wheaton and Sanfred, are on the move. . . . Wheaton, an 18-year-old forward, has been invited to training camp by the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Sanfred, now 21, has committed to attend McGill U in Montreal and play for the Redmen. . . . The King boys finished last season playing on the same line with the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers. . . . D Riley McIntosh (Kelowna, Tri-City, 2006-10) has committed to attend to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., and play for the Timberwolves. McIntosh finished up last season with the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express. . . . F Joel Ridgeway (Tri-City, Portland, 2006-10) will attend Acadia U and play for the Axemen, who play out of Wolfville, N.S. He played most of the last two seasons for the MJHL’s Selkirk Steelers.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Former Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters has left the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs to join the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach. Peters spent three seasons as the IceHogs’ head coach, going 122-97-7-14. The are affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. . . . Peters and Detroit head coach Mike Babcock worked together on the Spokane coaching staff in the late 1990s. . . . The Red Wings also added Jeff Blashill, the head coach at Western Michigan, to their coaching staff. . . . They replace Brad McCrimmon, who will coach in the KHL next season, and Paul MacLean, now the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. . . .
Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that former NHL D Charlie Huddy “has agreed to become an assistant coach on Claude Noel’s staff” with the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Huddy was an assisant coach with the Dallas Stars for the last two seasons. . . . Wiebe also writes that Ray Edwards, the head coach of the AHL’s Portland Pirates, also has interviewed with the Jets. Edwards was the head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage last season. The Phoenix Coyotes shifted their AHL affiliation fro San Antonio to Portland and announced that Edwards would be the Pirates’ head coach.
———
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have revealed that their newest Hall-of-Fame inductees will be former GM Bob Bartlett, D Jamie Pushor and F Jason Ruff.
Bartlett was instrumental in getting the Calgary Wranglers franchise relocated to Lethbridge for the 1987-88 season. He spent 11 seasons scouting for the team and worked as GM for five seasons. Bartlett already is a member of the Alberta and Lethbridge sports halls of fame. . . . Pushor, a former team captain who was born and raised in Lethbridge, played for the Hurricanes from 1988-93. . . . Ruff holds the club’s career records for goals (183) and points (382).
———
Kelly Friesen, who follows the WHL for Yahoo! Sports, chatted with Mike Johnston, the Portland Winterhawks’ GM/head coach, about that franchise’s spectacular results in the last two NHL drafts. Friesen’s piece is right here and it’s a must read if you’re wondering how the Winterhawks went from the outhouse to the penthouse in such short order.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Kootenay, Victoria cut a deal
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Todd Dutiaume (Brandon, 1991-94) signed a one-year contract extension as player-head coach with the Fife Flyers (UK Elite). He had six goals and 12 assists in 14 games for the Flyers last season as they played in the UK Northern Ice Hockey League. . . .
F Igor Valeev (Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Swift Current, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan, Russia Vysshaya Liga). He had no goals and three assists in 24 games for Molot-Prikamie Perm (Russia, Russia Vysshaya Liga) and two goals and three assists in nine games with Arystan Temirtau (Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Vysshaya Liga) last season. . . .
D Darrell Hay (Tri-City, 1996-2000) signed a one-year contract with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had five goals and 10 assists in 52 games for Mlada Boleslav (Czech Repoublic, Extraliga) last season. Liberec GM Ctibor Jech: "Last year in Mlada Boleshla, he was one of the best defencemen. After the season, we decided to make him an offer and we are very pleased that he accepted. We expect that in addition to the typical Canadian style, as a right-hander, he will also contribute on the power play." . . .
F Jeremy Boyer (Seattle, Saskatoon, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Valence (France, Division 1). He had 42 goals and 45 assists in 50 games with the Humboldt Broncos and Yorkton Terriers (both SJHL) last season.
———
The Kootenay Ice, with a glut of potential 20-year-olds on their roster, have made a move to at least partially alleviate that situation. They dealt D Hayden Rintoul, 20, and an undisclosed conditional bantam draft pick to the Victoria Royals for F Dylen McKinlay, 19.
The Ice, the WHL’s reigning champion, still has six 20-year-olds on that roster, but Kootenay isn’t expecting D Brayden McNabb (Buffalo Sabres) or F Cody Eakin (Washington Capitals) to return.
The other four 20s are F Joe Antilla, F Jesse Ismond, G Nathan Lieuwen and D James Martin.
“Victoria wanted a puck-moving d-man and we wanted a forward who could possibly play in our top six,” Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s president and general manager, told me via text message. “We have liked him for a long time and inquired about him two years ago.”
McKinlay, from Langley, B.C., is heading into his fourth WHL season. His first three all were with the Chilliwack Bruins. He had a break-through season in 2009-10, with 43 points, including 20 goals, in 72 games. Last season, he struggled with some injuries and finished with 20 points, six of them goals, in 55 games. He also has some sandpaper in his game and you can bet B.C. Division teams won’t be sad to see him in another division.
McKinlay was a seventh-round selection by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL’s 2010 draft but wasn’t made a qualifying offer, so is a free agent.
Rintoul, from Calgary, also is going into his fourth WHL season. He played his first three seasons with the Ice, totalling 93 points, including 19 goals, in 188 regular-season games. Last season, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder had 26 points, eight of them goals, in 67 games. He had four points in the Ice’s 19-game run to the championship.
The Royals, then in Chilliwack, carried two 20-year-old defencemen — Jeff Einhorn and Brandon Manning — last season, so were looking for some experience on the back end.
Included among eligible 20-year-olds on the Bruins’ season-ending roster were G Braden Gamble, F Curt Gogol and F Robin Soudek.
———
Cleeve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has more on the trade right here.
———
Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, reported later Thursday that Kootenay has added Russian F Alex Kuvaev, 18, to its protected list. Kuvaev had 24 points, including 11 goals, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season but was dropped by them prior to the CHL’s 2011 import draft.
The Ice won the WHL championship last season with a roster that didn’t include any import players. As well, president/GM Jeff Chynoweth chose not to take part in the import draft for a second straight year.
Asked if Kuvaev would report, Chynoweth told me, again via text: “Don’t know that for sure. All indications are he is, but I have not been able to confirm everything with his new agent.”
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Murray Baron, who played 988 regular-season NHL games, has signed on as an assistant coach with the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International junior league. Baron, 44, will work alongside new head coach Geoff Smith, who joined the Storm after his contract wasn’t renewed by the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. . . . Also on the Storm’s coaching staff are Brent Fritz and Brad Priestlay. . . .
Dave King, a one-time head coach of the WHL’s Billings Bighorns, has stepped aside as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes and has been named the NHL team’s development coach. . . . Jeff Truitt, another former WHL head coach (Kelowna, Moose Jaw) was on the ice helping run the Coyotes’ development camp on Thursday. Truitt was an assistant coach with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, which was affiliated with the Coyotes last season but now is hooked up with the Florida Panthers.
———
F Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars has moved to Toronto and is working
with a personal trainer as he tries to shake the injury bug that has plagued him the last two seasons. Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune has that story right here. These days, Connolly, the sixth overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, is in camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning prospects.
———
Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald is reporting that an official announcement is expected Wednesday regarding a new conference for some of the NCAA’s top college hockey schools.
That story is right here.
———
Remember the Detroit Red Wings fan who was charged for taking part in the age-old tradition of tossing octopi during the playoffs?
Well, he was back in court on Thursday.
Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports has the latest on the Puck Daddy blog right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F Todd Dutiaume (Brandon, 1991-94) signed a one-year contract extension as player-head coach with the Fife Flyers (UK Elite). He had six goals and 12 assists in 14 games for the Flyers last season as they played in the UK Northern Ice Hockey League. . . .
F Igor Valeev (Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Swift Current, 1998-2000) signed a one-year contract with Kazzinc-Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan, Russia Vysshaya Liga). He had no goals and three assists in 24 games for Molot-Prikamie Perm (Russia, Russia Vysshaya Liga) and two goals and three assists in nine games with Arystan Temirtau (Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Vysshaya Liga) last season. . . .
D Darrell Hay (Tri-City, 1996-2000) signed a one-year contract with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had five goals and 10 assists in 52 games for Mlada Boleslav (Czech Repoublic, Extraliga) last season. Liberec GM Ctibor Jech: "Last year in Mlada Boleshla, he was one of the best defencemen. After the season, we decided to make him an offer and we are very pleased that he accepted. We expect that in addition to the typical Canadian style, as a right-hander, he will also contribute on the power play." . . .
F Jeremy Boyer (Seattle, Saskatoon, 2005-10) signed a one-year contract with Valence (France, Division 1). He had 42 goals and 45 assists in 50 games with the Humboldt Broncos and Yorkton Terriers (both SJHL) last season.
———
The Kootenay Ice, with a glut of potential 20-year-olds on their roster, have made a move to at least partially alleviate that situation. They dealt D Hayden Rintoul, 20, and an undisclosed conditional bantam draft pick to the Victoria Royals for F Dylen McKinlay, 19.
The Ice, the WHL’s reigning champion, still has six 20-year-olds on that roster, but Kootenay isn’t expecting D Brayden McNabb (Buffalo Sabres) or F Cody Eakin (Washington Capitals) to return.The other four 20s are F Joe Antilla, F Jesse Ismond, G Nathan Lieuwen and D James Martin.
“Victoria wanted a puck-moving d-man and we wanted a forward who could possibly play in our top six,” Jeff Chynoweth, the Ice’s president and general manager, told me via text message. “We have liked him for a long time and inquired about him two years ago.”
McKinlay, from Langley, B.C., is heading into his fourth WHL season. His first three all were with the Chilliwack Bruins. He had a break-through season in 2009-10, with 43 points, including 20 goals, in 72 games. Last season, he struggled with some injuries and finished with 20 points, six of them goals, in 55 games. He also has some sandpaper in his game and you can bet B.C. Division teams won’t be sad to see him in another division.McKinlay was a seventh-round selection by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL’s 2010 draft but wasn’t made a qualifying offer, so is a free agent.
Rintoul, from Calgary, also is going into his fourth WHL season. He played his first three seasons with the Ice, totalling 93 points, including 19 goals, in 188 regular-season games. Last season, the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder had 26 points, eight of them goals, in 67 games. He had four points in the Ice’s 19-game run to the championship.
The Royals, then in Chilliwack, carried two 20-year-old defencemen — Jeff Einhorn and Brandon Manning — last season, so were looking for some experience on the back end.
Included among eligible 20-year-olds on the Bruins’ season-ending roster were G Braden Gamble, F Curt Gogol and F Robin Soudek.
———
Cleeve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has more on the trade right here.
———
Jeff Hollick, the radio voice of the Ice, reported later Thursday that Kootenay has added Russian F Alex Kuvaev, 18, to its protected list. Kuvaev had 24 points, including 11 goals, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes last season but was dropped by them prior to the CHL’s 2011 import draft.
The Ice won the WHL championship last season with a roster that didn’t include any import players. As well, president/GM Jeff Chynoweth chose not to take part in the import draft for a second straight year.
Asked if Kuvaev would report, Chynoweth told me, again via text: “Don’t know that for sure. All indications are he is, but I have not been able to confirm everything with his new agent.”
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Murray Baron, who played 988 regular-season NHL games, has signed on as an assistant coach with the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International junior league. Baron, 44, will work alongside new head coach Geoff Smith, who joined the Storm after his contract wasn’t renewed by the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers. . . . Also on the Storm’s coaching staff are Brent Fritz and Brad Priestlay. . . .
Dave King, a one-time head coach of the WHL’s Billings Bighorns, has stepped aside as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes and has been named the NHL team’s development coach. . . . Jeff Truitt, another former WHL head coach (Kelowna, Moose Jaw) was on the ice helping run the Coyotes’ development camp on Thursday. Truitt was an assistant coach with the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, which was affiliated with the Coyotes last season but now is hooked up with the Florida Panthers.
———
F Brett Connolly of the Prince George Cougars has moved to Toronto and is working
with a personal trainer as he tries to shake the injury bug that has plagued him the last two seasons. Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune has that story right here. These days, Connolly, the sixth overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, is in camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning prospects.———
Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald is reporting that an official announcement is expected Wednesday regarding a new conference for some of the NCAA’s top college hockey schools.
That story is right here.
———
Remember the Detroit Red Wings fan who was charged for taking part in the age-old tradition of tossing octopi during the playoffs?
Well, he was back in court on Thursday.
Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports has the latest on the Puck Daddy blog right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Silvertips land their man
 |
| Doug Soetaert (left), the general manager of the Everett Silvertips, introduces Mark Ferner as the WHL team's new head coach. (Photo courtesy Frank Deines III/Everett Silvertips) |
F Taggart Desmet (Calgary, 2000-01) signed a one-year contract with Valpellice (Italy, Serie A). He had 16 goals and 42 assists in 40 games for Brunico (Italy, Serie A) last season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Mark Ferner is the new head coach of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Ferner, who spent four years as GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, was introduced to Everett at a news conference there on Wednesday afternoon. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald has the story right here. . . .
Guy Carbonneau is out and Marc-Etienne Hubert is in with the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens. Carbonneau, the former NHL player and coach, remains as the club’s president. Hubert is the new head coach after having served as an assistant since 2005. . . . Marc Fortier, a former NHL forward, is the club’s new general manager. . . . Carbonneau had been head coach since February when Richard Martel was fired. . . . Carbonneau’s decision prompted immediate speculation that he would be the next head coach of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils or would be signing on as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings. He has denied all of that speculation. . . .
Former WHL/NHL D Robert Dirk is the new head coach of the junior B Penticton Lakers. The franchise, which is operated by the Okanagan Hockey Academy, plays in the Kootenay International junior league. Dirk has coaching experience in the United league, as well as the West Coast league and the ECHL. He has been part of the Okanagan Hockey Academy since 2007. . . . Should he so desire, you’ve got to think he will surface in the WHL one of these years. . . .
As was mentioned here on June 14, Sean Gillam (Spokane, 1992-96) is the new head coach of the Southern Professional league’s Fayetteville FireAntz. Gillam was introduced at a Wednesday news conference and Thomas Pope of the Fayetteville Observer was there. His story is right here.
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A Wednesday news release from the ECHL’s Trenton Devils begins:
“Newark, NJ — The ECHL’s Trenton Devils will suspend play beginning with the 2011-12 season. The New Jersey Devils are restructuring the organization’s player development system to be more in line with other NHL franchises. In fact, Trenton was the only ECHL team that was completely owned by an NHL club.
“The Devils purchased a majority interest in the Trenton Titans on Sept. 21, 2006. The team continued to be affiliated with the Philadelphia Flyers for the 2006-07 season before the Devils took it over as their ECHL – or Class AA – affiliate and changed the name to Trenton Devils.
“Since then, the team has been plagued by steadily declining attendance at Sun National Bank Center. The Trenton Devils finished last in the 19-team ECHL in 2010-11 with an average attendance of just 2,390 in a building that holds 7,605 for hockey. A source said the team has lost money every season since the Devils took over ownership.”
It is somewhat interesting that a press release from a team includes a paraphrased quote from an anonymous source. You don’t see that every day.
———
Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reports that the Silvertips have released F Markus McCrea, 19. A native of Canyon Lake, Calif., McCrea had 24 points, including 13 goals, in 175 games over three seasons. . . .
———
D Joe Hicketts of Kamloops, who was selected by the Victoria Royals with their first pick in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft, is the winner of the Hockey Now/B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame Minor Hockey Player Achievement Award. . . . Cleve Dheensaw of the Victoria Times Colonist has the story right here.
———
The Prince Albert Raiders report that they have five players scheduled to attend NHL camps. . . . F Mark McNeill, the 18th pick in the NHL’s 2011 draft, will be in the Chicago Blackhawks’ development camp that runs today through Monday. . . . D Harrison Ruopp, a third-round selection by the Phoenix Coyotes, is in camp in Peoria, Ariz., from today through Sunday. . . . F Jonathan Parker, 20, is spending this week as an invitee to the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He also has signed an ATO with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors. . . . F Brandon Herrod, 20, has been invited to the Coyotes’ camp that opens Sept. 9. . . . D Antoine Corbin has been invited to the San Jose Sharks’ camp that begins Sept. 8.
———
Joe Paisley of the Colorado Springs Gazette has the latest on what’s been happening involving U.S. college hockey, including all the rumours of a super league. That piece is right here.
———
The AJHL’s Canmore Eagles, under general manager and head coach Andrew Milne, have secured enough capitalization to secure its short-term future.
Daniel Austin of the Canmore Leader has the story right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F John Lammers (Lethbridge, Everett, 2001-06) signed a one-year contract with Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had 10 goals and 11 assists in 49 games for Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season. . . .
D Vladimir Sicak (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) and D Josef Melichar (Tri-City, 1997-99) signed one-year contracts with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Sicak had five goals and 12 assists in 49 games for Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga); Melichar had five assists in 41 games with Linköping (Sweden, Elitserien) and one assist in 12 games on loan to Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
———
First came the news Tuesday afternoon that Mark Ferner had resigned after four seasons as general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers.
Then came the news that the WHL’s Everett Silvertips had scheduled a news conference for this afternoon, at which they will introduce their new head coach.
And then came a news release from the BCHL that contained this opening paragraph:
“The British Columbia Hockey League announced Wednesday that the Vernon Vipers have hired Jason Williamson as their new head coach after Mark Ferner accepted a job with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League.”
So much for Everett’s secret.
Ferner, 45, played three seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Junior Oilers/Blazers before going on to a pro career. He later turned to coaching and was on the Blazers’ staff for one season as an assistant coach and two as associate before taking over as head coach early in the 2004-05 season.
The Blazers finished 19-27-6 under Ferner that season. He was fired early the next season with the Blazers at 16-16-0.
The Vipers, in four seasons under Ferner, went 165-51-7, winning three straight BCHL titles (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2009-11) and national titles in 2009 and 2010. They lost in the RBC Cup championship game in 2011.
Williamson, 30, Ferner’s assistant for all four seasons, already has taken over as the Vipers’ GM and head coach.
In Everett, Ferner, who is a Regina native, replaces Craig Hartsburg who left after two seasons to accept the position as associate coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
Ferner’s signing leaves only the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats as WHL teams without head coaches.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
I was told Tuesday evening that Brad Lauer, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach alongside Cory Clouston with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, is to be named an assistant coach with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Mark Holick just completed his first season as head coach of the Crunch, which is affiliated with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. . . . Holick is a former head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice; Lauer was an assistant coach with the Ice when Clouston was the head coach. . . .
Clouston, who has yet to find a coaching job after being fired by the Senators following the end of last season, was interviewed by the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL draft. The Red Wings have an opening for an assistant coach or two. . . .
As expected, John Torchetti is the new head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros. The parent Minnesota Wild made the announcement Tuesday. . . . Torchetti, 46, had been an associate coach with the Atlanta Thrashers, who, of course, now are the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Torchetti replaces Mike Yeo, who now is head coach of the Wild. . . .
Colin O’Hara is the new GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He signed a three-year contract. O’Hara replaces Tim Kehler, who resigned last week despite having two years left on his three-year deal. . . .
Tom McCarthy is the new head coach of the North Bay Trappers, who play in the junior A Northern Ontario junior league. McCarthy was the 10th overall selection in the NHL’s 1979 draft, taken by the Minnesota North Stars.
———
JUST NOTES: F Sven Bartschi of the Portland Winterhawks signed a three-year deal with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. He was the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL draft. Bartschi is in Calgary attending the Flames’ development camp. Bartschi, from Switzerland, had 85 points, including 34 goals, in his freshman WHL season, then added 27 points in 21 playoff games. . . .
One WHL team has offered season tickets to William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are touring around Canada these days. In fact, the Duke took time out for a little street hockey on Tuesday in Yellowknife. . . . Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the season-ticket offer right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F John Lammers (Lethbridge, Everett, 2001-06) signed a one-year contract with Klagenfurt (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). He had 10 goals and 11 assists in 49 games for Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season. . . .
D Vladimir Sicak (Medicine Hat, 1998-2000) and D Josef Melichar (Tri-City, 1997-99) signed one-year contracts with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Sicak had five goals and 12 assists in 49 games for Kärpät Oulu (Finland, SM-Liiga); Melichar had five assists in 41 games with Linköping (Sweden, Elitserien) and one assist in 12 games on loan to Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic, Extraliga) last season.
———
First came the news Tuesday afternoon that Mark Ferner had resigned after four seasons as general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers.
 |
| MARK FERNER |
And then came a news release from the BCHL that contained this opening paragraph:
“The British Columbia Hockey League announced Wednesday that the Vernon Vipers have hired Jason Williamson as their new head coach after Mark Ferner accepted a job with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League.”
So much for Everett’s secret.
Ferner, 45, played three seasons with the WHL’s Kamloops Junior Oilers/Blazers before going on to a pro career. He later turned to coaching and was on the Blazers’ staff for one season as an assistant coach and two as associate before taking over as head coach early in the 2004-05 season.
The Blazers finished 19-27-6 under Ferner that season. He was fired early the next season with the Blazers at 16-16-0.
The Vipers, in four seasons under Ferner, went 165-51-7, winning three straight BCHL titles (2008-09, 2009-10 and 2009-11) and national titles in 2009 and 2010. They lost in the RBC Cup championship game in 2011.
Williamson, 30, Ferner’s assistant for all four seasons, already has taken over as the Vipers’ GM and head coach.
In Everett, Ferner, who is a Regina native, replaces Craig Hartsburg who left after two seasons to accept the position as associate coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
Ferner’s signing leaves only the Moose Jaw Warriors and Regina Pats as WHL teams without head coaches.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
 |
| BRAD LAUER |
Clouston, who has yet to find a coaching job after being fired by the Senators following the end of last season, was interviewed by the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL draft. The Red Wings have an opening for an assistant coach or two. . . .
As expected, John Torchetti is the new head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros. The parent Minnesota Wild made the announcement Tuesday. . . . Torchetti, 46, had been an associate coach with the Atlanta Thrashers, who, of course, now are the Winnipeg Jets. . . . Torchetti replaces Mike Yeo, who now is head coach of the Wild. . . .
Colin O’Hara is the new GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He signed a three-year contract. O’Hara replaces Tim Kehler, who resigned last week despite having two years left on his three-year deal. . . .
Tom McCarthy is the new head coach of the North Bay Trappers, who play in the junior A Northern Ontario junior league. McCarthy was the 10th overall selection in the NHL’s 1979 draft, taken by the Minnesota North Stars.
———
JUST NOTES: F Sven Bartschi of the Portland Winterhawks signed a three-year deal with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. He was the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL draft. Bartschi is in Calgary attending the Flames’ development camp. Bartschi, from Switzerland, had 85 points, including 34 goals, in his freshman WHL season, then added 27 points in 21 playoff games. . . .
One WHL team has offered season tickets to William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who are touring around Canada these days. In fact, the Duke took time out for a little street hockey on Tuesday in Yellowknife. . . . Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at the season-ticket offer right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
More coaching news . . .
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Jaroslav Kristek (Tri-City, 1998-2000) signed a one year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had 14 goals and 32 assists in 55 games for Kosice (Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
———
CAMP NOTES: F Jessey Astles of the Kelowna Rockets will attend the Pittsburgh Penguins’ development camp this month and also will be in their rookie camp in Oshawa, Ont., in September. Astles, 18, had six points and 129 penalty minutes in 59 games as a sophomore last season. . . . F Thomas Frazee, who finished up his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers, will attend the Washington Capitals’ development camp later this month, as will F Taylor Stefishen of the Prince George Cougars. Stefishen also completed his junior eligibility last season. . . . Frazee had 72 points in 70 games as he split the season between the Regina Pats (33 games, 37 points) and Kamloops (37 games, 35 points). . . . Stefishen was a fifth-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2008 draft but never signed. He left Ohio State to join the Cougars prior to last season and put up 67 points, including 24 goals, in 68 games. . . . F Dylan Willick of the Blazers had 24 goals last season, not 21 as was referenced here yesterday. He will attend the Minnesota Wild’s development camp.
———
THE COACHING GAME: Steve Spott, the GM/head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, has signed an extension that carries him through the 2017-18 season. Spott, 43, has been with the Rangers since 2002-03 when he came on board as assistant GM/associate coach. He has been GM/head coach since the summer of 2008. The Rangers are 106-77-21 in three seasons with Spott at the helm. . . . Brian Munz of CJOB Radio in Winnipeg reported Monday afternoon that Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) is expected to be named as the next head coach of the AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., which doesn’t yet have a nickname. It is the relocated Manitoba Moose franchise and is affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets. McCambridge has been an assistant with the Moose for the last two seasons after he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. . . . Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports tweeted late Monday night that John Torchetti, an associate coach with the Atlanta Thrashers last season, is expected to be named the head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros. He would replace Mike Yeo, now the head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
———
Former Spokane Chiefs F Mitch Wahl missed almost all of last season with a concussion. He’s back on skates now and in the Calgary Flames’ development camp. Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary has that story right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F Jaroslav Kristek (Tri-City, 1998-2000) signed a one year contract with Lev Poprad (Slovakia, KHL). He had 14 goals and 32 assists in 55 games for Kosice (Slovakia, Extraliga) last season.
———
CAMP NOTES: F Jessey Astles of the Kelowna Rockets will attend the Pittsburgh Penguins’ development camp this month and also will be in their rookie camp in Oshawa, Ont., in September. Astles, 18, had six points and 129 penalty minutes in 59 games as a sophomore last season. . . . F Thomas Frazee, who finished up his WHL career with the Kamloops Blazers, will attend the Washington Capitals’ development camp later this month, as will F Taylor Stefishen of the Prince George Cougars. Stefishen also completed his junior eligibility last season. . . . Frazee had 72 points in 70 games as he split the season between the Regina Pats (33 games, 37 points) and Kamloops (37 games, 35 points). . . . Stefishen was a fifth-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2008 draft but never signed. He left Ohio State to join the Cougars prior to last season and put up 67 points, including 24 goals, in 68 games. . . . F Dylan Willick of the Blazers had 24 goals last season, not 21 as was referenced here yesterday. He will attend the Minnesota Wild’s development camp.
———
THE COACHING GAME: Steve Spott, the GM/head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, has signed an extension that carries him through the 2017-18 season. Spott, 43, has been with the Rangers since 2002-03 when he came on board as assistant GM/associate coach. He has been GM/head coach since the summer of 2008. The Rangers are 106-77-21 in three seasons with Spott at the helm. . . . Brian Munz of CJOB Radio in Winnipeg reported Monday afternoon that Keith McCambridge (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95) is expected to be named as the next head coach of the AHL team in St. John’s, Nfld., which doesn’t yet have a nickname. It is the relocated Manitoba Moose franchise and is affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets. McCambridge has been an assistant with the Moose for the last two seasons after he spent two seasons as head coach of the ECHL’s Alaska Aces. . . . Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports tweeted late Monday night that John Torchetti, an associate coach with the Atlanta Thrashers last season, is expected to be named the head coach of the AHL’s Houston Aeros. He would replace Mike Yeo, now the head coach of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
———
Former Spokane Chiefs F Mitch Wahl missed almost all of last season with a concussion. He’s back on skates now and in the Calgary Flames’ development camp. Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary has that story right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Madaisky getting back into pre-injury form
 |
| AUSTIN MADAISKY |
Daily News Sports Editor
Austin Madaisky learned how to use a meat thermometer last week.
The Kamloops Blazers defenceman also found out that he has made awfully good progress from the broken neck that ended his 2010-11 WHL season.
Madaisky, a 19-year-old from Surrey, spent the week at the Columbus Blue Jackets’ development camp. He was a fifth-round selection, 124th overall, in the NHL’s 2010 draft.
However, his most recent season came crashing to an end on Feb. 4 when Chilliwack Bruins defenceman Brandon Manning spun him and sent him back first into the boards at Interior Savings Centre. Madaisky was diagnosed with a C-7 fracture (a fractured vertebrae) and missed the season’s last 16 games. Manning was hit with a seven-game suspension.
Madaisky spent some time in an Aspen Cervical Collar, but was able to avoid surgery. He returned to skating in May and said he was feeling great heading into the Columbus camp.
He was feeling even better when it was over.
“In my exit interview,” Madaisky said Monday, “they said they were really happy with me. They said I took a step forward from last season. They were amazed at how far I came considering the injury, so they were happy.
“I thought I went in there and, on any given day, I felt I was one of the better defencemen in camp. I was feeling really good about myself.”
What really had Madaisky feeling good was the fitness testing. Going into the camp, everyone in the organization had been told that the Blue Jackets are moving in a new direction and that, according to Madaisky, one of the goals “is to be the fittest team in the league.”
And when the fitness testing at camp was done and the statistics had been compiled, Madaisky was thrilled to find out that “they said I have gotten back to where I was last year or even better. I have definitely made up a lot of ground.”
Madaisky was especially excited to be involved in physical contact again for the first time since he was injured. He admitted to being a bit apprehensive “in the first skate.”
But, he added, “it was good. Everything was fine. I was throwing a few good bodychecks. I got hit a few times. Everything felt stable which was nice to see.
“We had a full game on the last day (Saturday) and there was no nerves or anything like that. I felt awesome.”
As for the meat thermometer, the Blue Jackets spent some time talking nutrition with their prospects, even going so far as to take them into a kitchen and have experts provide them with some pointers involving cooking.
Asked if he really learned to use a meat thermometer, Madaisky replied: “I sure did.”
Then he laughed and added: “I’ll be cooking chicken and salmon every night now.”
As one might expect when a group of mostly teenagers is turned loose in a kitchen, there was the odd, uhh, moment.
Like when one European player tried cooking chicken.
“After handling raw chicken, he started licking his fingers,” a chuckling Madaisky said. “Everyone was, ‘What are you doing?’
“It was pretty funny.”
And now it’s off to Whistler for a few days of R and R.
As he said, the Columbus camp “was really good. It was a lot of fun but, at the same time, it was probably the toughest seven days of my summer so far.”
The result is that he is pretty sore and feeling run down. But, come Friday, he’ll be right back at it.
JUST NOTES: Kamloops F Dylan Willick has accepted an invitation to the Minnesota Wild’s development camp that is to open Monday. Blazers D Josh Caron, who signed with the Wild as a free agent last summer, also will attend. . . . Blazers F Colin Smith is in the Edmonton Oilers’ development camp that began yesterday. . . . Neither Willick nor Smith was selected in the 2011 NHL draft. . . . Kamloops F Brendan Ranford will be in the Philadelphia Flyers’ development camp later this week. He was a seventh-round selection in the 2010 NHL draft. . . . F Thomas Frazee, who finished up his five-season WHL career with the Blazers after being acquired from the Regina Pats last season, will attend the Washington Capitals’ development camp later this month. . . . The Blazers dropped G John Keeney, 18, from their protected list last week. Keeney, who is from Twin Peaks, Calif., had been on the list since September 2008. He has played the last two seasons with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers and is likely to return there. After the Blazers dropped him, the Red Deer Rebels expressed interest in listing him.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Monday, July 4, 2011
Have a safe and happy July 4!
Too all of Taking Note's American friends, have a safe July 4. And enjoy the fireworks wherever you may be.
Now . . . the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation wishes everyone a safe and happy 4th of July holiday! Happy Birthday, America! And, for you reading enjoyment, here is Jim Murray's July 4 column from 1986.
FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1986, SPORTS
Copyright 1986/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY
JIM MURRAY
Liberty's Torch Has Lighted Our Playing Fields
We all come from huddled masses yearning to breathe free in the final analysis. Or we wouldn't be here.
She is 100 years old today, yet as young as tomorrow. Liberty doesn't age, tyranny does. She is as beautiful today as she was when the first waif spotted her through a crack in the hull of a packet boat a century ago.
The world of sport has as much reason to salute her as the worlds of commerce, art, entertainment or politics. The sons and daughters of immigrants have flourished on the playing fields of America as surely as they have in the counting houses, courtrooms, ateliers, surgeries, theaters or councils of government.
Although Babe Ruth's origins are the least bit obscure, it is a fact that he spoke fluent German well into his adulthood. Lou Gehrig's parents never spoke anything else but. Neither did Lou until he was five and enrolled in Public School 132 in New York.
Joe DiMaggio's parents probably sailed under Liberty's torch on their way from Sicily to Martinez, Calif. Joe's sister, Nellie, the last one of the clan to be born in the old country, was with them.
If it was hard for immigrant parents to come to grips with the fact that their sons could make money hitting, catching, throwing or running with a ball, it was horrifying to some that their sons could do it fist-fighting. The well-worn legend, the staple of the silver screen, of the prizefighter whose parents wanted him to become a violinist probably sprang up over the career of the classy Benny Leonard, a cerebral fighter from the ghetto who used to talk — and jab — his opponents into defeat, while his parents prayed in their shawls. Gene Tunney's parents wanted him to become a priest.
Jack Dempsey, despite his Irish surname, was probably one of the few American athletes whose forbearers were not only here before the Statue of Liberty but also before the Mayflower. Dempsey, whose family called him "Harry," was part Red Indian. So, as a matter of fact, was Joe Louis.
It was possible to trace the waves of immigration by a study alone of the rolls of boxing champions. There were the Irish and the Germans to the turn of the century, then the rush of Jewish fighters till the '20s, followed by the Italians and then the Latin Americans.
Athletic prowess ministered to group esteem in ways no other successes could. Whose Irish heart did not beat faster over the exploits of the mighty John L. Sullivan — or take comfort in the fact that another broth of a lad, Gentleman Jim Corbett, proved to be the one man in the house he couldn't lick?
Wasn't Honus Wagner a hero to every transplanted Rhinelander in North America? Didn't Benny Leonard's and Hank Greenberg's pictures hang in every living room in the Bronx? Weren't Little Italy's buttons popping over the headlines on the doings of the great DiMaggio and Poosh 'em Up Tony Lazzeri and Frank Crosetti and Yogi Berra? Didn't the Italian flag fly in the left-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium in their heyday?
Sports forced a respect for the new Americans hardly any other achievement could. How could any resident snob convince his offspring that these aliens were inferior beings when they were flattening his representatives in the prize ring, thrashing them in football, outhitting them in baseball, outrunning, outjumping or outsmarting them in other areas?
The Constitution proclaimed equality. The fists, arms, legs and guile of the sons of immigrants proved it. Even the epithets faded away. Who was going to call Rocky Marciano dago? Who was going to call Joe Louis anything but Mister?
Rockne at Notre Dame gave the Republic a lesson it would not forget. An immigrant himself, he took teams made up of the sons of immigrants and ran roughshod over the societal stereotypes of West Point and Annapolis. And, even though Red Grange was as American as a flapjack, his wily old coach, Bob Zuppke, had an accent right out of Baron Munchausen. Babe Ruth made the Yankees, but it was the German-born brewery owner, Col. Jacob Ruppert, who brought him to the Yankees.
When blacks came along to seize athletic hegemony, the ethnics of America nodded wisely. They had been there.
The people who had passed Miss Liberty to get here not only wrote our songs, cracked our jokes, danced our dances — and built our railroads, mined our coal, grew our grain, and fought our wars — but they also won our Rose Bowls, captured our World Series, led our Opens, piled up our gold medals and became the greatest athletes in the world. In one stretch, the heavyweight championship of the world was held by immigrants or sons of immigrants who were Irish, Lithuanian, Italian, Jewish and Irish (Tunney, Sharkey, Carnera, Baer, Braddock).
The inscription on the base of the lady's garment should not only read, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . the wretched refuse of your teeming shore." It could also read, "Give me your swift, your strong, your sure, the pride and glory of your lives and times."
For them the lamp was lifted — and lit — beside the golden door, all right. For them, the melting pot overflowed.
Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times.
Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | P.O. Box 995 | La Quinta | CA | 92247
Goalie puts house on market
THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Matt Keith (Spokane, Red Deer, 1998-2003) signed a one-year contract with Örebro (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had 20 goals and 15 assists in 77 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
F Rob Niedermayer (Medicine Hat, 1990-95) signed a one-year contract with Lugano (Switzerland, NLA). He had five goals and 14 assists in 71 games for Buffalo Sabres (NHL) last season. . . .
F Paul Vincent (Seattle, Swift Current, 1993-95) signed a one-year contract with Eindhoven Kemphanen (Netherlands, Eredivisie). He had 18 goals and 37 assists in 35 games for the Friesland Flyers (Netherlands, Eredivisie) last season. . . .
F Petr Sachl (Tri-City, 1996-97) signed a one-year contract extension with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 24 goals and 32 assists in 55 games for Olimpija last
season.
———
JUST NOTES: F Dylan Willick of the Kamloops Blazers will attend the Minnesota Wild’s development camp on July 11. Willick, heading into his third WHL season, wasn’t selected in the 2011 NHL draft. Willick had 44 points, including 24 goals, last season. He is represented by CS Sports Management. . . . D Alex Roach of the Calgary Hitmen has accepted a tryout offer from the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, while F Jacob Doty of the Seattle Thunderbirds will go to camp with the Florida Panthers in September. . . . Roach, 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, had 21 points and 77 penalty minutes in his freshman season with the Hitmen. Roach, a native of Quesnel, B.C., is scheduled to attend the Kings’ development camp that opens July 10 and also is to be at the Kings’ main camp in September. . . . Doty, from Billings, Montana, had seven points and 176 penalty minutes in 70 games last season, his first in the WHL. He was second in the league with 25 fighting majors. . . . Roach and Doty are represented by Turning Point Sports Management, which also had former WHL D Brad Lukowich (Kamloops, 1992-96) sign a one-year deal with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Lukowich, who turns 35 on Aug. 12, played 67 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars and five with Dallas last season. He has played 658 NHL games during his career.
———
The Edmonton Oilers signed F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first pick in the 2011 NHL draft, to a three-year contract on Saturday. Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal has the story right here.
———
If you need more convincing about the danger of concussions, or even if you don’t, here’s a great read from Eliott C. McLaughlin of CNN about former NFLer Dorsey Levens, who is making a documentary about concussions and the NFL. The name of the doc is “Bell Rung.” Give it a read right here.
———
If you’re looking for a home in the Tri-City area of Washington State, former NHL G Olaf Kolzig has his home for sale. Check it out right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
F Matt Keith (Spokane, Red Deer, 1998-2003) signed a one-year contract with Örebro (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had 20 goals and 15 assists in 77 games with the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) last season. . . .
F Rob Niedermayer (Medicine Hat, 1990-95) signed a one-year contract with Lugano (Switzerland, NLA). He had five goals and 14 assists in 71 games for Buffalo Sabres (NHL) last season. . . .
F Paul Vincent (Seattle, Swift Current, 1993-95) signed a one-year contract with Eindhoven Kemphanen (Netherlands, Eredivisie). He had 18 goals and 37 assists in 35 games for the Friesland Flyers (Netherlands, Eredivisie) last season. . . .
F Petr Sachl (Tri-City, 1996-97) signed a one-year contract extension with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 24 goals and 32 assists in 55 games for Olimpija last
season.
———
JUST NOTES: F Dylan Willick of the Kamloops Blazers will attend the Minnesota Wild’s development camp on July 11. Willick, heading into his third WHL season, wasn’t selected in the 2011 NHL draft. Willick had 44 points, including 24 goals, last season. He is represented by CS Sports Management. . . . D Alex Roach of the Calgary Hitmen has accepted a tryout offer from the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, while F Jacob Doty of the Seattle Thunderbirds will go to camp with the Florida Panthers in September. . . . Roach, 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, had 21 points and 77 penalty minutes in his freshman season with the Hitmen. Roach, a native of Quesnel, B.C., is scheduled to attend the Kings’ development camp that opens July 10 and also is to be at the Kings’ main camp in September. . . . Doty, from Billings, Montana, had seven points and 176 penalty minutes in 70 games last season, his first in the WHL. He was second in the league with 25 fighting majors. . . . Roach and Doty are represented by Turning Point Sports Management, which also had former WHL D Brad Lukowich (Kamloops, 1992-96) sign a one-year deal with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. Lukowich, who turns 35 on Aug. 12, played 67 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars and five with Dallas last season. He has played 658 NHL games during his career.
———
The Edmonton Oilers signed F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first pick in the 2011 NHL draft, to a three-year contract on Saturday. Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal has the story right here.
———
If you need more convincing about the danger of concussions, or even if you don’t, here’s a great read from Eliott C. McLaughlin of CNN about former NFLer Dorsey Levens, who is making a documentary about concussions and the NFL. The name of the doc is “Bell Rung.” Give it a read right here.
———
If you’re looking for a home in the Tri-City area of Washington State, former NHL G Olaf Kolzig has his home for sale. Check it out right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Friday . . .
You have to think that things are out of control in the NHL when teams like the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets are driving the free-agent market.
And when some teams are spending like drunken sailors just to get to the salary cap floor you only can shake your head and wonder how we will react a year from now when owners are involved in CBA negotiations and pleading poverty.
Bizarre, or what?
Sheesh, the Dallas Stars, who don’t even have an owner, signed five players, spending almost US$20 million in the process.
All told, teams spent more than $260 million and, you’re right, F Brad Richards has yet to sign. When he does, likely this morning, that will take the total to more than $300 million; in fact, more than $320 million.
If major junior players need motivation, all they have to do is remember that 20 goals and 50 points in the same season now will get you at last $4 million per season in The Show.
I didn’t follow the free-agent frenzy on TV; instead, I kept pace, or tried to, via Twitter.
Here, then, are some of my favourite tweets (the last one features the day's best statistics):
From: @Proteautype
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 4:13p
Some say NHLers are overpaid; compared to the real world, of course they are. But Gary Bettman makes $7+ million a yr. Perspective, people.
———
From: @Russostrib
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 4:02p
Christian Ehrhoff makes $1.3 million more than Sidney Crosby next year. These next labor talks should be a doozy
———
From: @DamoSpin
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 3:06p
RT @yyzsportsmedia: Panthers prez sounds pretty giddy today. Guarantee he will site to today as a key reason when he eventually fires talon years from now
———
From: @DarrenDreger
Kris Versteeg doesn't have a twitter acct, so he asked me to post this quote," I'm takin my toe drag to south beach". Not much else to say.
———
From: @dshoalts
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 3:21p
Serious problem with priorities here. RT @darrenrovell: Avg US consumer drank 476 cans of soda and 243 bottles of beer in 2010.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Colin O’Hara is expected to be named the new head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He was the club’s associate coach last season. Prior to that, he was the GM/head coach of the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks until resigning on Feb. 10, 2010 with the club in last place in the Bauer Conference. O’Hara, who had a year left on his contract when he left Nipawin, will replace Tim Kehler, who resigned earlier this week with two years left on a three-year contract signed July 1, 2010.
———
JUST NOTES: In the middle of Friday’s free-agent silliness, the St. Louis Blues announced that they have signed F Cody Beach of the Moose Jaw Warriors to a three-year contract. He was a fifth-round pick by the Blues in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning announced the signing of Prince George Cougars F Brett Connolly, something that you read about here a couple of weeks back. Connolly was the sixth overall selection in the 2010 NHL draft. For details on Connolly's contract or, for that matter, any of the other myriad of deals that were signed on Friday, head on over to capgeek.com. . . . F Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers, another player who wasn’t selected in the NHL draft, will attend the Edmonton Oilers’ prospect camp next week. He is from Edmonton. . . . D Benn Olson (Kamloops, Seattle, 2004-08) has signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Last season, Olson, 24, played with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones (43-1-3—4-153), the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals (1-0-0—0-0) and Bridgeport (17-0-3—3-78).
———
Former WHL D Victor Bartley continues to chase the NHL dream. Check out this story by Robert Mangelsdorf of the Maple Ridge News.
———
It looks as though the U.S. college hockey scene is in for a seismic change. The Big Ten Hockey Conference is scheduled to begin play in 2013-14 and a lot of schools with big-time hockey programs now are exploring their options.
Brad Elliott Scholssman of the Grand Forks Herald has more right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
And when some teams are spending like drunken sailors just to get to the salary cap floor you only can shake your head and wonder how we will react a year from now when owners are involved in CBA negotiations and pleading poverty.
Bizarre, or what?
Sheesh, the Dallas Stars, who don’t even have an owner, signed five players, spending almost US$20 million in the process.
All told, teams spent more than $260 million and, you’re right, F Brad Richards has yet to sign. When he does, likely this morning, that will take the total to more than $300 million; in fact, more than $320 million.
If major junior players need motivation, all they have to do is remember that 20 goals and 50 points in the same season now will get you at last $4 million per season in The Show.
I didn’t follow the free-agent frenzy on TV; instead, I kept pace, or tried to, via Twitter.
Here, then, are some of my favourite tweets (the last one features the day's best statistics):
From: @Proteautype
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 4:13p
Some say NHLers are overpaid; compared to the real world, of course they are. But Gary Bettman makes $7+ million a yr. Perspective, people.
———
From: @Russostrib
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 4:02p
Christian Ehrhoff makes $1.3 million more than Sidney Crosby next year. These next labor talks should be a doozy
———
From: @DamoSpin
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 3:06p
RT @yyzsportsmedia: Panthers prez sounds pretty giddy today. Guarantee he will site to today as a key reason when he eventually fires talon years from now
———
From: @DarrenDreger
Kris Versteeg doesn't have a twitter acct, so he asked me to post this quote," I'm takin my toe drag to south beach". Not much else to say.
———
From: @dshoalts
Sent: Jul 1, 2011 3:21p
Serious problem with priorities here. RT @darrenrovell: Avg US consumer drank 476 cans of soda and 243 bottles of beer in 2010.
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Colin O’Hara is expected to be named the new head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He was the club’s associate coach last season. Prior to that, he was the GM/head coach of the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks until resigning on Feb. 10, 2010 with the club in last place in the Bauer Conference. O’Hara, who had a year left on his contract when he left Nipawin, will replace Tim Kehler, who resigned earlier this week with two years left on a three-year contract signed July 1, 2010.
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JUST NOTES: In the middle of Friday’s free-agent silliness, the St. Louis Blues announced that they have signed F Cody Beach of the Moose Jaw Warriors to a three-year contract. He was a fifth-round pick by the Blues in the NHL’s 2010 draft. . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning announced the signing of Prince George Cougars F Brett Connolly, something that you read about here a couple of weeks back. Connolly was the sixth overall selection in the 2010 NHL draft. For details on Connolly's contract or, for that matter, any of the other myriad of deals that were signed on Friday, head on over to capgeek.com. . . . F Colin Smith of the Kamloops Blazers, another player who wasn’t selected in the NHL draft, will attend the Edmonton Oilers’ prospect camp next week. He is from Edmonton. . . . D Benn Olson (Kamloops, Seattle, 2004-08) has signed a one-year deal with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Last season, Olson, 24, played with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones (43-1-3—4-153), the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals (1-0-0—0-0) and Bridgeport (17-0-3—3-78).
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Former WHL D Victor Bartley continues to chase the NHL dream. Check out this story by Robert Mangelsdorf of the Maple Ridge News.
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It looks as though the U.S. college hockey scene is in for a seismic change. The Big Ten Hockey Conference is scheduled to begin play in 2013-14 and a lot of schools with big-time hockey programs now are exploring their options.
Brad Elliott Scholssman of the Grand Forks Herald has more right here.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday . . .
THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Joel Martin (Lethbridge, Tri-City, Vancouver, Calgary, 2000-03) signed a one-year contract with Herlev (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had a 3.54 GAA and a .880 save percentage in 18 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) and a 3.53 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 21 games with the Odessa Jackalopes (Central Hockey League) last season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former Kamloops Blazers D Darryl Sydor, who now owns a piece of the team, has been added to the NHL-Minnesota Wild’s coaching staff. Last month, the Wild hired Mike Yeo as its head coach to replace Todd Richards. Yeo had been the head coach of the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, and Sydor, who retired after the 2009-10 season, was on his coaching staff. . . . Former Prince Albert Raiders head coach Rick Wilson remains on the Wild coaching staff. He was on the Dallas Stars’ staff when Sydor played there. During his 18-year pro career, Sydor also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had Yeo on their staff at the time. . . . Former Wild assistant coach Dave Barr is expected to be named head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . .
The Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, has named assistant coach Troy Ward is its head coach. He takes over from Jim Playfair, who left to join the coaching staff of the Phoenix Coyotes. . . .
James Boyd is the new GM/head coach of the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Boyd, 35, spent the last four seasons with the Majors, as the assistdant GM and co-coach, working alongside Dave Cameron. Cameron now is on the coaching staff of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . .
Tim Kehler has resigned as GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. His coaching experience includes a stint as head coach of the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters and with the Swift Current Broncos as an assistant coach. Kehler had signed a three-year contract with the Silverbacks on July 1, 2010. . . . For more on the Kehler resignation, check out Shawn Mullin’s blog over there on the right. . . .
The NAHL’s Fairbanks Ice Dogs have signed Trevor Stewart as their head coach. Stewart was an assistant coach with the St. Louis Bandits last season. He replaces Josh Hauge, who now is an assistant coach under Drew Schoneck with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
G Joel Martin (Lethbridge, Tri-City, Vancouver, Calgary, 2000-03) signed a one-year contract with Herlev (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). He had a 3.54 GAA and a .880 save percentage in 18 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) and a 3.53 GAA and a .890 save percentage in 21 games with the Odessa Jackalopes (Central Hockey League) last season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Former Kamloops Blazers D Darryl Sydor, who now owns a piece of the team, has been added to the NHL-Minnesota Wild’s coaching staff. Last month, the Wild hired Mike Yeo as its head coach to replace Todd Richards. Yeo had been the head coach of the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, and Sydor, who retired after the 2009-10 season, was on his coaching staff. . . . Former Prince Albert Raiders head coach Rick Wilson remains on the Wild coaching staff. He was on the Dallas Stars’ staff when Sydor played there. During his 18-year pro career, Sydor also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had Yeo on their staff at the time. . . . Former Wild assistant coach Dave Barr is expected to be named head coach of the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . .
The Abbotsford Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, has named assistant coach Troy Ward is its head coach. He takes over from Jim Playfair, who left to join the coaching staff of the Phoenix Coyotes. . . .
James Boyd is the new GM/head coach of the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Boyd, 35, spent the last four seasons with the Majors, as the assistdant GM and co-coach, working alongside Dave Cameron. Cameron now is on the coaching staff of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. . . .
Tim Kehler has resigned as GM/head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. His coaching experience includes a stint as head coach of the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters and with the Swift Current Broncos as an assistant coach. Kehler had signed a three-year contract with the Silverbacks on July 1, 2010. . . . For more on the Kehler resignation, check out Shawn Mullin’s blog over there on the right. . . .
The NAHL’s Fairbanks Ice Dogs have signed Trevor Stewart as their head coach. Stewart was an assistant coach with the St. Louis Bandits last season. He replaces Josh Hauge, who now is an assistant coach under Drew Schoneck with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com
Taking Note on Twitter
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