G Juha Metsola (Lethbridge, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with Amur Khabarovsk (Russia, KHL). Last season, with Tappara Tampere (Finland, Liiga), he had a 1.91 GAA and .936 SP in 57 games. He led the league in SP, was named to the Liiga all-star team and won the Urpo Ylönen Award as the Liiga’s best goaltender. . . .
F Vitali Karamnov (Everett, 2007-08) signed a one-year contract with Sokol Krasnoyarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). Last season, he was pointless in two games with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL), and had five goals and eight assists in 38 games with Yermak Angarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga).
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Cody Smuk, who played with the Chilliwack Bruins, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Moose Jaw Warriors (2006-10) died Thursday morning in a Saskatoon hospital. He was 26 and from Saskatoon. Smuk had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in May 2014. . . . He finished his WHL career with 72 points, 23 of them goals, in 271 games. He then went on to play four seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies, last playing in 2013-14. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald has more right here.
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The OHL’s Erie Otters have sold for US$7.225 million in a bankruptcy court-ordered auction. JAW Hockey Enterprises LP, fronted by James A. Waters, was the only bidding party. . . . Waters has said he has no intentions of moving the franchise. . . . Roy Mlakar, who is a former president of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, is to oversee the Otters. . . . Valerie Myers of GoErie.com has more right here.
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Los Angeles Kings F Jarret Stoll made a plea deal with prosecutors and a felony cocaine charge he was facing has been dismissed. Stoll, who played with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice (1998-2002), pleaded guilty to two misdemeanours and now has 120 days to complete 32 hours of community service. . . . Stoll pleaded guilty to provoking commission of breach of peace and trespass. . . . He had been arrested in Las Vegas on April 17 for possession of cocaine and MDMA. . . . Stoll, 33, will be an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. . . . Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the story right here.
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Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star takes a look right here at the NHL’s expansion plans and why they don’t include a second team in the Toronto area.
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THE TRADE WIRE:
The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Scott Feser, 20, from the Red Deer Rebels for a fourth-round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. Feser, from Red Deer, had 41 points, including 16 goals, in 72 games with the Rebels last season. In 158 WHL games, he has 77 points, 32 of them goals. . . . “He’s a strong two-way player who will bring us veteran leadership.” Mark Lamb, the Broncos general manager and head coach, said in a news release. “He takes faceoffs, kills penalties and can play the power-play. We’re really happy to get him.” . . . Feser was an eighth-round pick by the Rebels in the 2010 bantam draft. . . . Feser joins G Landon Bow and D Griffin Foulk as the Broncos’ likely 20-year-olds at this point. . . . The Rebels’ roster now includes three 20-year-olds — D Kayle Doetzel, F Wyatt Johnson and F Preston Kopeck. The Rebels are the host team for the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament.There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Just click HERE. . . and thank you very much.
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