Ryan Pilon and Reid Duke signed with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Thursday.
Both players were early first-round picks in the 2011 WHL bantam draft.
(Photo courtesy of Lethbridge Hurricanes)

THE MacBETH REPORT:
G Garrett Zemlak (Saskatoon, Prince Albert, 2006-10) signed a one-year contract with the Fife Flyers (Scotland, UK Elite). He had a 3.48 GAA and a .877 save percentage in 26 games with the Kalamazoo Wings, Stockton Thunder, Elmira Jackals and Gwinnett Gladiators (all ECHL) last season. Zemlak also played one game with the Binghamton Senators (AHL), giving up four goals on 28 shots. The UK Elite regular season begins Saturday.
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The Lethbridge Hurricanes had two of the top five selections in the WHL’s 2011 bantam draft. And they now have signed both of those players.
They took D Ryan Pilon with the third overall selection and grabbed F Reid Duke two picks later.
Pilon, from Duck Lake, Sask., had 45 points in 20 games with the bantam AA Warman Wildcats of the Centre Four Hockey League.
Duke, from Calgary, put up 64 points, including 28 goals, in 30 games with the Calgary Royals of the Alberta Major Bantam league.
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The WHL’s Office of Discipline has been rather busy as it attempts to deliver its message in the preseason.
Here is a look at what has transpired since the exhibition season opened:
F Caleb Belter, Prince George Cougars, two games for checking to the head major and game misconduct, in game against Calgary Hitmen in Edmonton tournament on Monday.
F Dexter Bricker, Red Deer Rebels, three games for charging major and game misconduct in game against the Swift Current Broncos on Monday.
F Jesse Mychan, Everett Silvertips, two games for checking to the head major and game misconduct against the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday in the Everett tournament.
D Dallas Ehrhardt, Moose Jaw Warriors, three games for cross-checking major and game misconduct in game against the host Regina Pats on Sept. 2.
F Mike Aviani, Spokane Chiefs, four games for a boarding major and game misconduct in a game against the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Everett tournament on Sept. 2.
Meanwhile, the Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals have the dubious honour of paying the season’s first fines. Each team was fined $250 for a fight between F Mitchell Chapman of the Rockets and F Curt Gogol of the Royals at the start of the second period in Kelowna on Friday. . . . Chapman and Gogol each drew a one-game suspension.
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JUST NOTES: G Deven Dubyk, 20, has left the Medicine Hat Tigers and joined the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos, who are to be the host team for the 2012 RBC Cup. . . . The Moose Jaw Warriors will be without D Morgan Rielly, 17, for a bit after he underwent an emergency appendectomy on Sept. 1. He was released from hospital on Sunday and already is back in the gym. He is hoping to play in the season-opener on Sept. 22. . . . Matthew Gourlie of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald also reports that the Warriors are down to two goaltenders — veteran Brandon Stone, 18, and Spencer Tremblay, a 16-year-old freshman from Winnipeg. . . . Jason Berger has signed on as equipment manager with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. He spentthe last four years as the Seattle Thunderbirds’ equipment manager.
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Alarm bells have to be going off in Swift Current where Broncos’ season-ticket sales are lagging well behind last season’s, when the final total was 1,707. That is scary news for the franchise that operates in the smallest community in all of the CHL. The Southwest Booster has more right here.
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F Brayden Cuthbert of the Moose Jaw Warriors is out indefinitely and, in fact, has returned to his home in Brandon. He continues to suffer from post-concussion syndrome after being injured in January. Alan Miller, the Warriors’ director of hockey operations, told Goulie that they don’t expect Cuthbert back before Christmas, if at all.
As for Cuthbert, here’s what he had to say to Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun:
“I was feeling pretty good throughout the second half of the summer and it was looking like I was going to hopefully be able to make a run into maybe October, start of November and be able to play then, so I came back (to Moose Jaw) early for camp with the rest of the guys and we started practising.
“The first skate I had, I felt pretty good for 45 minutes or so and then I got a little fuzzy so I just went off the ice, trying not to take anything too seriously. But when I woke up the next morning, my head was just pounding. Throughout the next eight to nine days, I just followed up with headaches and I realized I wasn’t anywhere near to where I have to be if I want to play in the league.”
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Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times has written a story about fighting in hockey. In it, he talks with Steve Konowalchuk, the new head coach of the Seattle Thunderbirds. And three cheers to Konwalchuk for pointing out that fighting “is part of the game, but there's a lot more to being tough than just fighting.”
That column is right here.
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Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who has done such a terrific job of covering the death of Derek Boogaard, has written another great piece, this one looking at Boogaard and his problems with addictions. You’ll find it right here.
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Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail writes elegantly of the crash of the plane carrying Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on Wednesday and of hockey’s horrible summer. That piece is right here.
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Gary Lawless of the Winnipeg Free Press talked with Kelly McCrimmon, the owner and general manager of the Brandon Wheat Kings, about his relationship with his brother, Brad. Lawless also touched bases with Brian Propp and Ray Allison, both of whom played with McCrimmon on powerful Wheat Kings teams in the late 1970s. Those stories are right here.
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Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province talked with Glen Hanlon, who now is an assistant coach with the Vancouver Giants. Hanlon has a lot of coaching experience in Europe and has some interesting, and positive, things to say about the KHL. Willes’s column is right here.
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Slava Malamud writes for Sport-Express, a Russian daily newspaper, and is based in North America. James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail spoke with him about Wednesday’s tragedy and the interview is right here. It is especially insightful in terms of explaining just how big this story is in Russia and especially in Yaroslav, where, according to Malamud, hockey actually is bigger than soccer.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Saturday . . .

A Canadian has never won an Olympic shot put medal. Dylan Armstrong of Kamloops is planning on becoming the first as he has his sights set on London and the 2012 Olympic Summer Games. This season, he already has had a six-meet victory string and he’s ranked No. 1 on the Diamond League and No. 3 in the world.
Allan Maki of The Globe and Mail has that story right here.
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Later Saturday, Armstrong broke his own Canadian senior shot put record with a throw of 22.21 metres. That also is the best throw in the world this season. . . . Prior to Saturday, his most-recent Canadian record throw was 21.72m at a meet in San Diego on April 23. Armstrong surpassed that mark four times in Calgary on Saturday.
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Clayton Stoner remembers looking at his cell phone and having a "bad feeling."
That’s how Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune began a story on the Minnesota Wild defenceman who played in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans.
Stoner’s brother, Luke, had been killed in a logging accident on B.C. Island.
The complete story is right here.
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SOME NHL DRAFT NOTES: The first round took almost four hours. Rounds 2-7 were completed in less than that. . . . The Edmonton Oilers selected F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Red Deer Rebels with the draft’s first pick. He is the first WHL player to be selected first overall since Prince Albert D Chris Phillips was taken by the Ottawa Senators in 1996. . . . D Keegan Lowe of the Edmonton Oil Kings had asked the Edmonton Oilers not to select him. He was taken by the Carolina Hurricanes in the third round. His father, Kevin, is the Oilers’ president, hockey operations. . . . Laurent Brossoit of the Oil Kings was the first WHL goaltender selected when he was taken by the Calgary Flames in the sixth round. Interestingly, former Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau scouts for the Flames. Brossoit played three games for Pleau, one in 2008-09 and two in 2009-10. . . . G Nathan Lieuwen of the Kootenay Ice, who was the WHL’s playoff MVP, was taken by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round. . . . Brossoit was taken 164th overall; Lieuwen was No. 167. . . . The Oilers took Vancouver D David Musil with the first pick of the second round. His father, Frank, is a former NHLer who now scouts for the Oilers. . . . The Anaheim Ducks used a sixth-round pick on D Josh Manson of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. He is the son of Dave Manson, a former Prince Albert defenceman and coach. . . . The Carolina Hurricanes grabbed the last WHL player selected when they took F Brody Sutter of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the seventh round, 193rd overall. He is the son of former NHLer Duane Sutter, who now is the Calgary Flames’ director of player personnel. . . .
The St. Louis selected F Demitrij Jaskin in the second round. He is from Omsk, Russia, but has played internationally for the Czech Republic's U-18 side. He was taken by the Calgary Hitmen in the 2010 CHL import draft. Sibir Novosibirsk selected him with the first pick of the KHL's 2010 draft. If he comes over here, chances are he'll end up with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen. . . . According to the USHL, “A total of 28 players who skated in the USHL during the 2010-11 season had their names called by NHL clubs.” . . . According to Skip Berry, the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Tri-City Storm, “The impact of the USHL overall on the draft is around 41 players, drafted out of the USHL/played in the USHL, just five players behind the OHL.” . . . The WHL had 33 players selected, with 22 taken from the QMJHL. . . . A year ago, there were 43 WHL players taken in the draft. . . .
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WHL teams and the number of 2011 draft picks:
4 — Edmonton, Portland, Saskatoon.
3 — Spokane, Swift Current.
2 — Prince Albert, Red Deer, Seattle, Vancouver.
1 — Brandon, Kelowna, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Moose Jaw, Tri-City.
0 — Calgary, Everett, Kamloops, Prince George, Regina, Victoria.
By division:
East — 11
U.S. — 10
Central — 9
B.C. — 3
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Best tweet from the draft came from F Rocco Grimaldi:”I have decided to take my talents to South Beach and join the Florida Panthers. haha.”
Grimaldi, who is listed at 5-foot-6, was taken 33rd overall by Florida. He is out of the U.S. National Team Development Program; his WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks.
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THE COACHING GAME: Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune reported Saturday afternoon that the Houston Aeros, the AHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, were down to a shortlist of four in a search for a new head coach. According to Russo, that list included Gary Agnew, Ryan McGill, Kirk Muller and Trent Yawney. . . . An hour later, Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet reported that Muller is expected to be named head coach of the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, who are hooked up with the Nashville Predators. . . . The Aeros are looking to replace Mike Yeo, now the head coach of the Wild. . . . The Admirals need to replace Lane Lambert, now an assistant coach with the Predators. . . . While all this was going on, both Vancouver papers are reporting that Muller is in the running — and perhaps the leading candidate — for the position of head coach of the Vancouver Canucks’ AHL affiliate, which it seems will be the Chicago Wolves. . . . The AHL’s Abbotsford Heat also is in need of a head coach, although I’m told assistant Troy Ward has the inside track there. The Heat is looking for a replacement for Jim Playfair, who now is on the Phoenix Coyotes’ staff. . . . The AHL’s Providence Bruins have signed Bruce Cassidy as their head coach. The Boston Bruins affiliate made the announcement Saturday. Cassidy, 46, is the 10th head coach in Providence history. He has been an assistant coach there through three seasons and replaces Rob Murray. . . . Kevin Dineen, the new head coach of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, has said that assistant coach Gord Murphy and goaltender coach Robb Tallas will return. Dineen told George Richards of the Miami Herald that he will hire one more assistant.
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Today’s good read comes from Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal. It involves the Boston Bruins, a Stanley Cup celebration and a $100,000 bottle of champagne.
It’s right here.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
     
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Taking Note on Twitter

Sunday . . .

Michael Russo of the Minneapolis StarTribune attended a memorial service for Derek Boogaard on Sunday evening at the Xcel Energy Center. Boogaard’s family was there, as were former teammates, friends, officials from the Minnesota Wild and fans.
Russo’s story is right here, along with a photo gallery.
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Russo, who has done such a terrific job of writing about all that has transpired since Friday, blogged about the memorial service. That piece is right here.
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And there’s more right here from the Hockey Wilderness blog.
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“We shouldn't require reminders. We should know, innately, that death plays no favorites, that not even the strongest escape this planet alive.” . . . That is how Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis StarTribune began his Sunday column.
It’s today’s good read and it’s right here.
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AND IN OTHER NEWS . . .
F Alexandre Beauregard’s first goal was the last one.
Beauregard, a 19-year-old winger, scored his first goal of the QMJHL playoffs at 15:45 of the second OT on Sunday, giving the Saint John Sea Dogs a 3-2 victory over the host Gatineau Olympiques. . . . The Sea Dogs, who went 9-0 in playoff road games, won the QMJHL final 4-2 and have advanced to the Memorial Cup. . . . Former WHL G Jacob DeSerres stopped 36 shots for the Sea Dogs. He will make his second straight trip to the Memorial Cup, having played for the host Brandon Wheat Kings a year ago. . . . The Sea Dogs, who went 58-7-1 in the regular season, forced OT when Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 16th goal of the playoffs with 23.3 seconds left in the third period. . . . Attendance was 4,000.
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Earlier Sunday, the visiting Owen Sound Attack got a goal from F Jarrod Maidens at 3:27 of OT to beat the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3-2 and win the OHL championship in seven games. . . . Attendance was 5,517 with an estimated 3,000 of those from Owen Sound, which won its first OHL title since the franchise relocated there from Guelph in time for the 1989-90 season. . . . Both teams will play in the Memorial Cup — Owen Sound as OHL champion and Mississauga as the host team. . . . Terry Virtue, a former WHL defenceman who later was an assistant coach with the Tri-City Americans, is on the Owen Sound coaching staff.
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The Memorial Cup opens Friday in Mississauga, with Saint John going up against Mississauga. Owen Sound and the WHL-champion Kootenay Ice get into action on Saturday.
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Matt Coxford of the Cranbrook Daily Townsman has written a piece on how much winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup meant to Jeff Chynoweth, the president and general manager of the Kootenay Ice. That story is right here.
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Jim Matheson, the Edmonton Journal’s Hall of Fame hockey writer, takes a look at Kootenay Ice head coach Kris Knoblauch, who played five seasons with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. It was while playing for Rob Daum with the Golden Bears that Knoblauch first had thoughts of coaching. Matty’s piece is right here.
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If you missed it, Finland won the IIHF world championship on Sunday, beating arch-rival Sweden 6-1 in Kosice, Slovakia. It is Finland’s first world title since 1995. . . . Interestingly, the on-ice officials all were from Canada. The referees were Brent Reiber, a former WHL official who has lived in Switzerland for a number of years now, and OHL veteran Darcy Burchell. The linesmen were Keil Murchison and Chris Carlson, both of whom are WHL officials.
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THE COACHING GAME: Chris Brooks, a native of Stratford, Ont., is the new head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He replaces Wil Nichol, who resigned to accept an NHL front-office position. Brooks was the head coach of the Central league’s Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for the last three seasons.

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