Tigers sign North Dakota commit . . . Blades have company . . . Ast heads to Germany

F Carter Ashton (Lethbridge, Regina, Tri-City, 2006-11) signed a one-year contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). Last season, he was pointless in seven games with the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), had four goals and four assists in 12 games with the Toronto Marlies (AHL), and had three goals and 11 assists in 29 games with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL). . . .
F Stanislav Gron (Seattle, Kootenay, 1997-99) signed a one-year contract with the Manchester Phoenix (England, Premier). Last season, with Cortina (Italy, Serie A), he led his team with 44 points, including 20 goals, in 30 games.
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29 Days @tigershockey Training Camp! pic.twitter.com/kpQJCxUD7Y

— Shaun Clouston (@ShaunClouston) July 21, 2015

The Medicine Hat Tigers have signed F Max Gerlach, a 17-year-old from Flower Mound, Texas, who had committed to North Dakota. Of course, in signing with the Tigers he gives up his NCAA eligibility. He had 42 points in 21 games with the U-16 Colorado Thunderbirds last season. Gerlach was a sixth-round selection in the 2013 bantam draft. . . . Gerlach is about 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, so should fit in well with the Tigers’ offensive game plan, which has been centred on smallish, speedy forwards. . . . The Tigers also signed F Tyler Preziuso, 16, who was a third-round selection in the 2014 bantam draft. Last season, with the South Island Royals of the B.C. Major Midget League, he put up 40 points in 40 games.
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The WHL’s Saskatoon Blades have company in the SaskTel Centre, what with the National Lacrosse League’s Edmonton Rush having relocated and morphed into the Saskatchewan Rush.
The much-rumoured move was made official Tuesday at a news conference at Saskatoon’s Delta Bessborough Hotel. Rush owner Bruce Urban was on hand, along with the NLL’s championship trophy.
The two teams’ schedules will overlap, for sure. The 2015 NLL regular-season schedule ran from Jan. 2 through May 2, with the playoffs concluding June 5.
Colin Priestner, the Blades’ managing partner, moved to Saskatoon from Edmonton when his father, Mike, purchased the Blades almost two years ago. Colin told Taking Note he is looking forward to working with the Rush.
“We don’t have any ties to them from Edmonton,” he told TN, “but we’re always open to anything that could benefit our fans. I’m sure we will find time to have a conversation with them at some point when they are up and running, to see if there’s anything we could potentially do together.”
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The U of Lethbridge Pronghorns, under head coach Spiros Anastas, added three more players to their 2015 recruiting class on Tuesday. D Evan Wardley, F Zane Jones and F Mitch Makin all have committed to the Pronghorns, bringing the number of newcomers on the roster to 15. . . . Wardley, from Vulcan, Alta., played four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds, putting up nine goals and 31 assists in 208 games. He finished the season by playing nine games, six of them in the playoffs, with the ECHL‘s Wheeling Nailers. . . . Jones, from Olds, Alta., played four seasons in the WHL, having stints with the Victoria Royals, Calgary Hitmen, Everett Silvertips, Lethbridge Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants. In 260 games, he scored 77 goals and added 72 assists. . . . Makin, 21, from Lethbridge, played three seasons with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs, finishing with 42 goals and 58 assists in 141 games. . . . Wardley, Jones and Makin all have used up their junior eligibility.
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Dickson Liong (@DLLiong) tweeted Tuesday afternoon that F Anthony Ast “will play in Germany next season. The team that he has signed with will make an official announcement soon.” . . . Ast, 20, is from Richmond, B.C. He was a first-round selection, 19th overall, by the Vancouver Giants in the 2010 bantam draft. His WHL career was hampered by illness and injury. He played 109 games with the Giants over four seasons (2010-14), scoring 15 goals and adding 26 assists. He was dealt to the Medicine Hat Tigers and played 27 games with them in 2013-14 and 21 last season, picking up 16 goals and seven assists.
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Got a tip or some information you feel could be useful to me, feel free to send an email to greggdrinnan@gmail.com.
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The NHL’s Edmonton Oilers have announced that Gerry Fleming will be the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. The franchise has relocated from Oklahoma City where it was the Barons. . . . Fleming, a 48-year-old native of Montreal, had been an assistant coach with Oklahoma City until being promoted to head coach when Todd Nelson moved up to the Oilers to replaced the fired Dallas Eakins as interim head coach.
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The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals, who are affiliated with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, have signed Eric Veilleux as their head coach. Veilleux, 43, was an assistant coach with the Admirals last season when they were in the AHL. Prior to that, he spent nine seasons in the QMJHL. He guided the host Shawinigan Cataractes to the 2012 Memorial Cup title. He then worked as head coach of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for two seasons.
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Last night, in mentioning WHL commissioner’s July 14 visit with the guys at The Pipeline Show, I meant to include a link to the interview. A day late, here it is right here.
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The Vancouver Giants have signed D Kaleb Bulych, who was a second-round selection in the 2015 WHL bantam draft. Bulych is from Yorkton, Sask. Last season, he had 33 points, including 13 goals, in 31 games with the bantam AA Yorkton UCT Terriers.
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F Trent Lofthouse (Everett, Victoria, Vancouver, 2011-14) has decided to attend the U of Regina and play for the Cougars. Lofthouse, from Surrey, B.C., played out his junior eligibility last season with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
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very happy and thankful that i have a chance to be on the swiss cover of #NHL16 @EASPORTSNHL pic.twitter.com/KwI4a1O89F

— nino niederreiter (@thelnino22) July 21, 2015

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
D Shaone Morrisonn (Kamloops, 1999-2002) signed a one-year contract with Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL). He had four goals and 11 assists in 65 games with the Rochester Americans (AHL) last season. . . .
D Sergei Klimentyev (Medicine Hat, 1993-95) signed a one-year contract with Berkut Kiev (Ukraine, Professionalnaya Liga). He had three goals and 17 assists in 24 games with Sokil Kiev (Ukraine, Professionalnaya Liga) last season. Klimentyev was also captain of the Ukraine national team at the World Division 1 Championships held in April. . . .
D Ricard Blidstrand (Regina, Prince George, 2010-12) signed a one-year contract with Västerås (Sweden, Allsvenskan). He had five goals and 21 assists in 62 games with the Pats and the Cougars last season.
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The WHL’s board of governors spent a couple of days this week holding its annual general meeting in Vancouver.
When it was all done, the WHL issued a press release.
And there, slightly more than halfway through the release, is this sentence:
“Despite a slight increase in concussions, the WHL remains confident the Seven Point Plan will assist in reducing concussions in the future.”
That is followed by this explanation from Ron Robison, the WHL’s commissioner:
"We anticipated the rate of concussions may increase this past season as there is more emphasis being placed now than ever before on the care and treatment of concussion injuries. We remain confident that the WHL's Seven Point Plan will address this matter effectively and reduce concussions in the seasons ahead."
If you are late to this party, WHL players experienced more than 100 concussions during the 2010-11 season. During that season, the WHL’s weekly injury report broke down injuries, and concussions were reported as concussions.
But the WHL chose prior to last season to stop reporting on concussions, instead listing all injuries as being of the upper- or lower-body variety.
So, in fact, we don’t know how many concussions there were during the 2011-12 season; nor do we know Robison’s definition of “slight” as in "slight increase."
But we now know that there WAS an increase and that simply is abhorrent.
In case you have forgotten, here is the Seven-Point Plan that was announced a year ago (according to the WHL, it is a comprehensive approach to addressing blows to the head and concussions):
1. The adoption of new playing rules;
2. More severe suspensions for repeat offenders;
3. Production of an educational video on risks of concussion;
4. Educating the players to be more responsible for themselves on the ice;
5. A seminar for all WHL head coaches and general managers;
6. New soft cap elbow and shoulder pads;
7. Expanded research data; and,
8. A review of all WHL arena facilities safety standards.
The news release issued Wednesday contained some different wording from the Seven-Point Plan of a year ago:
1. Continued emphasis on discipline as it applies to repeat offenders;
2. Production of an education video on player safety;
3. Seminar for all general managers and head coaches on September 11, 2012;
4. Continuing to provide players with best available protective equipment;
5. Working with the WHL Arena Advisory Committee to adopt acrylic glass as a standard for all WHL arenas;
6. Continuing to collect and study research data on concussion injuries and their causes.
Note that there aren’t any new playing rules this time, so it’s now a six-point plan. There also is nothing about softening elbow and shoulder pads. Nor is there anything about moving to ban fighting.
Unfortunately, the WHL didn’t provide a breakdown of what is causing the more than 200 concussions its players have suffered over the last two seasons.
Regardless, the WHL has proven it isn’t doing enough to reduce the number of concussions suffered by its players. Yes, hockey is a contact sport, so there are always going to be concussions. But more than 100 in a season, and then there’s an increase the following season? That borders on the ridiculous, especially with all the developments in concussion research in recent times revealing just how debilitating these injuries can be.
Perhaps the folks who run the WHL aren’t aware of what is happening in NFL circles.
Here’s the start of a piece by Darren Heitner that appeared in Forbes Magazine earlier this week:
“On August 17, 2011, the first ‘NFL concussion lawsuit’ was filed by seven former football players and their wives. Roughly 10 months later, there are a total of 89 lawsuits with over 2,400 former NFL players named as plaintiffs, and a consolidated ‘Master Complaint’ that summarizes all of the players' claims against the NFL, NFL Properties (the merchandising and licensing arm of the NFL), and Riddell (the NFL helmet manufacturer).
“The listed defendants have until August 9, 2012 to file a responsive pleading, which will undoubtedly be in the form of a Motion to Dismiss. With the potential of billions of dollars in damages awarded to the thousands of plaintiffs (think Big-Tobacco-like liability), the NFL will pump a lot of money into trying to put the litigation to bed at an early stage.”
Think about that for a moment — “Big Tobacco-like liability.”
Heitner’s complete piece is right here and should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in managing a team or a sports league. By the way, Heitner is an attorney.
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Meanwhile . . . the WHL left its playoff format in place; in fact, it said it will remain the same for the next two seasons. . . . The WHL said it will release its preseason schedule on June 21 and its regular-season schedule on June 27.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Dave Allison is the new head coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen. He replaces Jared Bednar. The NHL’s St. Louis Blues had announced Tuesday that Bednar’s contract wouldn’t be renewed. Allison, 53, is a veteran coach who had been on the scouting staff of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He will stay with the Penguins through June 30. . . . Allison coached the AHL’s Iowa Stars from 2005-08. At that time, he worked under Doug Armstrong, who then was the GM of the NHL’s Dallas Stars and now is the Blues’ GM. . . .
Willie Desjardins, a former GM and head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, is the new head coach of the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. . . . Desjardins, 55, has spent the last two seasons as an associate coach with Dallas. . . . Desjardins replaces Jeff Pyle. He and assistant coach Jeff Truitt were dismissed after a season in which the Stars went 31-40-5 and missed the playoffs. . . .
Sylvain Lefebvre has been hired as head coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. . . . Lefebvre, 44, takes over from Clement Jodoin, who is to meet with Canadiens’ head coach Michel Therrien about an assistant coaching position in Montreal. . . . Lefebvre, who had a 19-season pro playing career, has been an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche for the last three seasons. . . .
Eric Veilleux revealed Wednesday afternoon that he won’t be returning as head coach of the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, who won the Memorial Cup last month as the host team. . . . There has been considerable speculation of late that he was in line for an NHL assistant coaching position.
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There is nothing like baseball when it comes to statistics, trivial and otherwise.
Check out this piece right here from ESPN Stats & Information. It is loaded with interesting numbers and tidbits from the perfect game thrown by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants last night.
For starters, the home plate umpire was Ted Barrett, who now is the only ump in MLB history to have called balls and strikes for two perfectos.


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