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F Jakub Rumpel (Medicine Hat, 2006-07) has signed a one-year extension with Preussen Berlin (Germany, Oberliga). This season, he had eight goals and 15 assists in 12 games. He started the season on a tryout with Schönheide (Germany, Oberliga). He had a goal and two assists in four games, then was released on Nov. 23. He signed with Preussen on Jan. 20. . . .
F Jan Eberle (Seattle, 2006-08) has signed a one-year extension with Olomouc (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had seven goals and 10 assists in 51 games this season.
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#WHL @WHLPats (353) and @tigershockey (350) are League's first teams to have 350+ goals in a season since Brandon (369) in 1995-1996.— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) March 21, 2017
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Here’s a look at the 22 WHL head coaches who have more than 300 regular-season victories to their credit (following 2016-17):
1. Ken Hodge (Edmonton, Portland), 742
2. Don Hay (Kamloops, Tri-City, Vancouver) 720
3. Don Nachbaur (Seattle, Tri-City, Spokane) 692
4. Lorne Molleken (Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina) 626
5. Ernie McLean (Estevan, New Westminster) 548
6. Mike Williamson (Portland, Calgary, Tri-City) 534
7. Pat Ginnell (Flin Flon, Victoria, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, New Westminster) 518
8. Peter Anholt (Prince Albert, Seattle, Red Deer, Kelowna, Lethbridge) 466
Jack Shupe (Medicine Hat, Victoria) 466
10. Dean Clark (Calgary, Brandon, Kamloops, Prince George) 465
11. Kelly McCrimmon (Brandon) 456
12. Bob Lowes (Seattle, Brandon, Regina) 453
13. Brent Sutter (Red Deer) 441
14. Marc Habscheid (Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack, Victoria, Prince Albert) 424
15. Doug Sauter (Calgary, Medicine Hat, Regina, Brandon) 417
16. Marcel Comeau (Calgary, Saskatoon, Tacoma, Kelowna) 411
17. Bryan Maxwell (Medicine Hat, Spokane, Lethbridge) 397
18. Graham James (Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Calgary) 349
19. Bob Loucks (Lethbridge, Tri-City, Medicine Hat) 340
20. Willie Desjardins (Saskatoon, Medicine Hat) 333
21. Kevin Constantine (Everett) 326
22. Shaun Clouston, Medicine Hat 320
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#WHL Kootenay is first in "Internet Era" to suffer from 10 overtime losses in a single season. RD and EVT were at 9, most since SEA in 2004— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) March 21, 2017
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Colin Priestner, the general manager of the Saskatoon Blades, says the team’s coaching staff will be back for another go-round next season.
When Taking Note queried Priestner on that subject, he quickly responded: “For sure. They did an
Dean Brockman was in his first season as head coach, after spending two seasons working with Bob Woods, the previous head coach, who now is an assistant with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Bryce Thoma and Ryan Keller completed their first seasons as Saskatoon’s assistant coaches. Of course, Jerome Engele, the other assistant coach, is a Blades lifer.
The Blades have yet to appear in the postseason during the Priestner era. Mike Priestner, who is based in Edmonton, purchased the team prior to the 2013-14 season. The Blades had been the host team for the 2013 Memorial Cup tournament.
This season, they dealt with a number of long-term injuries, but were in the playoff chase right to the final weekend.
Meanwhile, Steve Ewen of Postmedia points out that “Jason McKee is the longest-serving (head) coach that the Vancouver Giants have had among the past four bench bosses. He’s lasted an entire season.”
The Giants missed the playoffs in McKee’s first season behind their bench, but they went all-in for the future at the trade deadline and also paid the price when F Tyler Benson and D Darian Skeoch, two key performers, had their seasons cut short by injuries.
Vancouver is on the outside looking in for a third straight season, and the fourth time in five springs,
Still, as Ewen writes, “By all accounts, owner Ron Toigo is bringing back McKee, 37, and general manager Glen Hanlon, 60, for a second season. There’s a calm. They need to capitalize on that.”
Ewen’s piece is right here.
McKee has two seasons left on his contract.
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#WHL @EdmOilKings sets new @TheWHL record for most wins in overtime with 11, passing '04-05 BDN, '89-'90 POR (9), 47.8% of wins came in OT.— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) March 21, 2017
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The Spokane Chiefs joined the Vancouver Giants as the other Western Conference team not to make the playoffs. Don Nachbaur, the Chiefs’ head coach and the third-winningest coach in WHL regular-season history, has one season left on his contract.
In the Eastern Conference, the other non-playoff teams are the Edmonton Oil Kings, Kootenay Ice and Prince Albert Raiders.
Steve Hamilton, the Oil Kings’ head coach, signed what was announced as a “multi-year” deal in July 2014, and you would think he isn’t going anywhere. He spent four seasons as an assistant under Derek Laxdal and moved up when Laxdal left for a job with the AHL’s Texas Stars. Hamilton has Oil Kings bloodlines — his father, Al, is a former team captain who also captained the Oilers. The Oil Kings committed to a rebuild when they dealt D Aaron Irving and F Lane Bauer, two key 20-year-olds, at the deadline.
The future of Luke Pierce, who has completed two seasons as head coach of the Kootenay Ice, may hinge on what appears to be the impending sale of the franchise. Pierce signed a three-year contract, so has a year left on his deal. The Ice went young two seasons ago and has paid a steep price, going 26-99-19 during Pierce’s stint in Cranbrook.
In Prince Albert, veteran WHL coach Marc Habscheid has a contract that runs through 2018-19. He took over from the fired Cory Clouston on Nov. 1, 2014.
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#WHL 5 players (Wong, Steenbergen, Steel, Halbgewachs, Phillips) record 50+ goals this season, most in League since 1997-1998 (8).— Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow) March 21, 2017
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Rick Westhead, a senior reporter with TSN, has filed his latest piece on the proposed class-action lawsuits that more than 400 present and former major junior players have filed. The lawyers were in a Calgary courtroom last month and, while there hasn’t been a decision rendered from there just yet, the scene now has shifted to Toronto.
“The Ontario Hockey League says its teams may have to pare back their drug education, anti-doping, concussion management, and medical and dental programs if the league loses a minimum-wage lawsuit, according to a new court filing,” Westhead writes.
“The OHL made the claims days before it appears in Ontario Superior Court on Tuesday to begin a hearing into whether a lawsuit filed against the league by former players should be certified as a class action.”
According to a rebuttal filed by the plaintiffs: “. . . The vast majority of the benefits which the defendants claim are threatened are not true player benefits. It would be impossible for the league to operate without coaches, away games, billeting, equipment, etc. Accordingly, the likelihood of these ‘benefits’ being cut is virtually nil.”
Westhead’s latest story is right here.
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MONDAY-THURSDAY GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
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FRIDAY GAMES (all times local):
(Game 1, best-of-seven series)
Swift Current at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary at Regina, 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Victoria at Everett, 7:35 p.m.
Tri-City vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:35 p.m.
Portland at Prince George, 7 p.m.
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SATURDAY GAMES (all times local):
(Game 2, best-of-seven series)
Red Deer at Lethbridge, 7 p.m.
Swift Current at Moose Jaw, 7 p.m.
Brandon at Medicine Hat, 7:30 p.m.
Calgary at Regina, 7 p.m.
Kamloops at Kelowna, 7:05 p.m.
Victoria at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Tri-City vs. Seattle, at Kent, Wash., 7:05 p.m.
Portland at Prince George, 7 p.m.
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process of hiring a head coach to replace the one-and-done Dan Lambert.
it yet, but you can bet it will be going to 3-on-3 overtime in the upcoming season. Why? Because it mirrors the NHL, that’s why.”
Greg Ireland has resigned as head coach of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack in order to accept a coaching position elsewhere. However, no one is saying just where that position is. . . . Ireland had been with the Attack since 2011-12. . . . Ireland’s departure leaves the Attack with at least three vacancies on its coaching staff. Earlier this summer, assistant coach Drew Bannister left to become head coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and assistant coach Daniel Tkaczuk now is on the Kitchener Rangers’ coaching staff.
Dave Brown is the new general manager of the OHL’s Erie Otters. He replaces long-time GM Sherry Bassin, who was moved out as the franchise changed hands. . . . Brown has been with the Otters for four seasons, serving most recently as director of hockey operations. . . . The Otters also are working on a contract extension with head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose current deal runs through 2015-16.
1. There’s nothing better than a good, old-fashioned pithing match between an ink-stained wretch and a talking head. Right? . . . On Thursday, Regan Bartel, the veteran voice of the Kelowna Rockets, opined on the move by F Tyson Jost to turn his back on the Everett Silvertips, at least for now, and join the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. In brief, Bartel wrote that the 16-year-old Jost likely feels that he wouldn’t get much playing time under “defensive-minded” Kevin Constantine, Everett’s head coach. . . . On Friday, Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald sat down at his keyboard and poked holes in Bartel’s theory, also pointing out that Constantine hasn’t had any problems putting 16-year-olds on the ice. . . . Bartel’s piece is 
2. The good people of Prince Albert held a Relay For Life overnight and into this morning. One of the teams taking part is Team Brucester, comprising members of the Prince Albert Raiders’ staff, along with Jessica and Briane Vance. They are the daughters of Bruce Vance, the Raiders’ business manager and director of marketing, who was diagnosed with colon cancer late in 2013. Sarah Stone of paNOW has a piece 
3. The Prince George Cougars are hoping that Marnie Hamagami is able to recapture the magic and make beautiful music with their fans. Hamagami is leaving her position as general manager of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra to take over as the Cougars’ director of sales and marketing. She beings her new job on Monday. . . . Hamagami spent two seasons with the PGSO. According to a Cougars’ news release: “Since Hamagami took the helm, ticket sales are up 15 per cent, labour relations with the musicians are in excellent shape and the whole feel of the organization is one of positive growth and change.”
4. G Mackenzie Skapski of the Kootenay Ice has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers, who selected him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. . . . Skapski, from Abbotsford, B.C., was 28-20-4, 2.70, .916 last season, his third with the Ice. . . . He will turn 20 on June 15. . . . People may have forgotten that Skapski was with the major midget Fraser Valley Bruins when their bus hit some black ice near Williams Lake, B.C., and ended up on its side. As Dan Kinvig reported in the Abbotsford, B.C., News: “Skapski suffered the most serious injuries of anyone on the team – he sustained a broken nose and a fractured orbital bone, and had surgery to place a couple of plates in (one) cheek and to remove a blood clot beside his brain. During his convalescence, he lost 30 pounds, dropping from 155 to 125.” . . . One of the results of the rehabbing was that he got into only 19 games with the Ice in his freshman season -- of course, he also was playing behind Nathan Lieuwen -- and was bypassed in the NHL’s 2012 draft. . . . But knowing what Skapski has been through, and how hard he has worked, it makes it awfully easy to pull for him.
5. The Montreal Canadiens have signed D Dalton Thrower (Saskatoon, Vancouver, 2009-14) to a three-year entry-level contract. Thrower was a second-round selection by Montreal in the NHL’s 2012 draft. Last season, one that was ended prematurely by ankle problems, Thrower had 39 points, including 12 goals, in 42 games. The 20-year-old from Squamish, B.C., was the Giants’ captain.
8. D Nick Nonis, the son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis, has committed to playing for the BCHL’s Powell River Kings in 2014-15. From Hampton Falls, N.H., Nonis has committed to the U of New Hampshire and is expected to play there starting in 2015-16 or the following season. . . . Nonis, who turns 19 on Dec. 19, has played the past three seasons at The Governors Academy, a prep school in Byfield, Mass. . . . His father was a defenceman with the BCHL’s Burnaby Bluehawks in 1982-83 before going on to play four seasons at the U of Maine.
Eric Wellwood has joined the OHL’s Oshawa Generals as an assistant coach. Wellwood, the brother of former NHLer Kyle Wellwood, ended his playing career after suffering a serious leg injury in April 2013 while with the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms. . . . In the OHL, he played for the Windsor Spitfires, winning two Memorial Cup titles with them.
Clint Mylymok is the new head coach of the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds, who play out of the Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask. . . . Mylymok spent last season as the head coach of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association. For two seasons prior to that, he was an assistant coach with the Hounds. Mylymok replaces Kevin White, who had been the head coach since the summer of 2010.
The Vancouver Giants have dropped F Andreas Eder, 17, from their roster and he has returned to his home in Munich, Germany. He had three points, two of the goals, in 19 games with the Giants. Of late, he had found himself a healthy scratch. He was pointless in his last six games and last played on Nov. 11. . . . The Giants selected Eder with their second pick in the CHL's 2013 import draft. . . . Last season, the Giants dropped F Ales Kilnar, 19, in the early going. Kilnar, from Czech Republic, got into one game before departing.
The Brandon Wheat Kings are expected to have D Ryan Pilon, 17, in their lineup tonight when they meet the Broncos in Swift Current. Pilon, who was acquired Saturday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, practised with his new teammates on Monday in Brandon. . . . Pilon was the third overall selection in the 2011 bantam draft, but left the Hurricanes and asked to be traded. . . . “I couldn’t wait to get here . . . I’m real excited to be here and it looks good,” Pilon told James Shewaga, the Brandon Sun's sports editor. “I think I feel really comfortable. The guys on the back end have been really good to me. (Ryan) Pulock, (Eric) Roy and (Rene) Hunter, they have been nothing but great for me and the coaching staff have really brought me in good, so I am really excited for (tonight).” . . . Pilon had been at home in Duck Lake, Sask., and was skating with the midget AAA Beardy's Blackhawks.
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