Taking Note

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.
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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.
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Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports offers his take on the NCAA hockey picture right here.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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
     
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