1. One day after the Memorial Cup tournament ended, the Saskatoon Blades began pruning the tree of 20-year-olds by dealing D Dalton Thrower to the Vancouver Giants for a conditional second-round selection
in the 2014 bantam draft. The pick is conditional on Thrower, who is from Squamish, playing in the WHL next season. He doesn’t turn 20 until Dec. 20 but, under hockey’s system, 2013-14 will be his 20-year-old season. . . . Thrower was a second-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 2012 draft, but he has yet to sign with the Habs. . . . Thrower found out that he had been traded while doing his exit interview on Friday. . . . The Blades now have 13 potential 20-year-olds on their roster. . . . Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has more right here.2. Alan Caldwell over at Small Thoughts At Large has some closing thoughts on the Memorial Cup and the immediate future of the Saskatoon Blades. Check it out right here.
3. It got lost a bit in the Memorial Cup hoopla, but Hockey Canada dumped its head scout, Kevin Prendergast, and its goaltender coach, Ron Tugnutt, on the weekend. . . . Isn’t it interesting how the coaches and the head scout get shown the door but upper management stays the same?
4. The Montreal Canadiens have hired Shane Churla (Medicine Hat, 1983-85) and named him their chief amateur
scout. Churla, 47, had been a scout with the Dallas Stars. After being a sixth-round pick of the Hartford Whalers in the NHL’s 1985 draft, Churla played 11 seasons in the NHL, splitting his career between the Whalers, Calgary Flames, Minnesota North Stars/Dallas, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. In 488 games, he had 71 points and 2,301 penalty minutes.5. Meanwhile, Stéphane Leroux of RDS has reported that Ryan Jankowski, an amateur scout with the Canadiens since the summer of 2010, has interviewed with Hockey Canada for the position of head scout. Jankowski is a former assistant GM and director of amateur scouting with the New York Islanders. He moved to the Habs after being dropped by the Islanders.
6. Paul Buker of The Oregonian visited with the Portland Winterhawks after they arrived back home on
Monday. He’s got plenty of insight right here on the players’ mindset after losing the Memorial Cup final, along with some thoughts from GM/head coach Mike Johnston on the future of Travis Green, who has been acting GM and head coach since Nov. 28.7. Earlier Monday, Buker tweeted this quote from Johnston: “We feel quite comfortable that we're going to be a contender for next couple years for sure.”
8. The Memorial Cup grist mill spit out some rumours, as it always seems to do. . . . Among the speculation: (a) Former Regina Pats head coach Pat Conacher may end up as the head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes; (b) Brian Pellerin is the name most-often mentioned in terms of the opening with the Prince Albert Raiders; (c) the Everett Silvertips want to chat with Travis Green, now that the Memorial Cup is over; (d) the job as lead assistant coach with the Kamloops Blazers if Curtis Hunt’s if he wants it.
9. The KHL held its 2013 junior draft on Monday, with teams selecting only players born in 1996. Two WHLers
were selected, with Calgary Hitmen F Jake Virtanen going to Medvescak with the last pick of the second round and Moose Jaw Warriors F Brayden Point being taken by Traktor Chelyabinsk late in the fifth and final round. . . . The complete draft list is right here.———
From former WHL D Brandon Underwood (@BUND3RWOOD): “If ABC wants real entertainment they should try The Bachelorette with 25 junior hockey players competing for one girl #woof”
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In the QMJHL, the Halifax Mooseheads won their 14th straight playoff game, dropping the visiting Baie-Comeau Drakkar 4-3 last night to take a 2-0 lead in the championship final. . . . F Matthew Boudreau had a goal and two assists for the winners. . . . Games 3 and 4 are scheduled for Baie-Comeau on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
F Mike Wirll (Brandon, Prince Albert, Prince George, Lethbridge, 1997-2003) signed a one-year contract extension with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). He had 35 goals and 43 assists in 57 games for the Stars this season; that was good for fifth place in league scoring. . . .
F Radek Duda (Regina, Lethbridge, 1998-2000) signed a two-year contract with Plzen (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He had two goals and 12 assists in 19 games with Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga) and 10 goals and 10 assists in 25 games with Liberec (Czech Republic, Extraliga) this season. . . .
D Jaynen Rissling of the Calgary Hitmen has signed an ATO with the Hershey Bears, the AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. . . . Rissling was selected by the Capitals in the seventh round of the NHL’s 2012 entry draft. . . . The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Rissling has played four seasons with the Hitmen. This season, he had 28 points in 61 games. . . . He is a nephew of F Gary Rissling, who played in the WHL (Edmonton, Calgary, 1974-77) and also for Hershey.
Winterhawks for what the league calls “player benefit violations.”
The OHL final opened last night with the host London Knights dropping a 4-2 decision to the Barrie Colts. . . . London scored first, but the Colts got the next three. Still, it was 3-2 for 10 minutes in the third period, until Barrie F Mark Scheifele iced it with an empty-netter. . . . Attendance was 9,046. . . . Game 2 is scheduled for London on Sunday night. 
In Portland, G Laurent Brossoit stopped 35 shots, 16 of them in the first period, and F Stephane Legault drew three assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings opened with a 4-1 victory over the Winterhawks. . . . The Winterhawks held a 16-6 edge in shots after one period but went into the second period trailing 1-0 on a goal by F Dylan Wruck at 2:03. That goal came on Edmonton’s first shot of the game. . . . F Henrik Samuelsson gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead at 11:17 of the second. . . . F Taylor Leier got Portland to within one at 3:00 of the third, but Samuelsson got his 11th of these playoffs just 47 seconds later. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar got his ninth at 10:03 to put this one away. . . . Portland was 0-for-4 on the PP; Edmonton was 0-for-1. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 25 shots. . . . Referees were Brett Iverson and Brett Montsion. . . . Legault, who turned 20 on March 3, has 22 points, including 16 assists, in 17 playoff games. In the last two seasons, he has 36 points in 37 playoff games. He is coming off a regular season in which he had 41 points in 57 games. . . . The Oil Kings continue to be without injured D Griffin Reinhart and F Trevor Cheek. Reinhart won’t play in the series; Cheek isn’t expected to play in Game 2.
Saints.
Mike Mueller is the new general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. . . . Mueller, who signed a three-year contract, has been on the Thunder’s coaching staff since 2009. . . . He replaces Fran Gow, who resigned in order to move to Edmonton where his wife is pursuing a business opportunity. . . .
Chris Hartsburg has signed on as an assistant coach with the OHL’s Erie Otters. Hartsburg had been with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, until he and head coach Mark Ferner were fired on Jan. 8. . . . Hartsburg will work alongside Erie head coach Kris Knoblauch, the former Kootenay Ice head coach.
The WHL’s championship final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup opens tonight in Portland.
primary factor in Portland’s penalty-killing unit being as good as it is. He also is a veteran of 60 playoff games. On top of that, he is a fine writer in his own right. So Paul Buker of The Oregonian asked Peters about the intensity of playoff hockey. . . . Peters’ response, in his own words, is 
He is the younger brother of Tri-City G Eric Comrie. . . . Ty, 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, had 49 points, including 23 goals, in 35 games with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings of the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League. . . . The Comries are from Newport Beach, Calif. . . . The Americans have signed their first five selections from the 2012 draft — D Parker Wotherspoon, F Braden Purtill, D Tyler Fraser and G Evan Sarthou. Comrie and Sarthou were teammates with the Jr. Kings. . . . “Ty is an elite talent at the 1997-age group, turning down five NCAA scholarship opportunities to join our program,” Bob Tory, the Americans’ GM, said in a news release, “and continues to make rapid improvements to his overall game. He is gifted with offensive creativity and, since being drafted, continues to excel among his peers as he has gained size and strength.”
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Collins, from Rosetown, Sask., had 24 points, four of them goals, in 39 games with the midget AAA Moose Jaw Generals. . . . The Cougars have signed six of the 11 players taken in the 2012 draft — Collins, F Jansen Harkins, F Brad Morrison, D Tate Olson, F Aaron Boyd and G Matt Kustra.
F Tim Bozon of the Kamloops Blazers will play for France at the IIHF world championship that is to open in Stockholm and Helsinki on Friday. Bozon, who turned 19 on March 24, was a third-round selection by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 2012 draft. He finished this season with 91 points, but suffered a hand injury in the playoffs and missed seven games. . . . France opens against Slovakia on Friday.
D Marek Hrbas won’t be returning to the WHL for his 20-year-old season. Hrbas, whose return was doubtful anyway because he would be a two-spotter, has signed a two-year contract to play for Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. Hrbas is from Plzen; Sparta Praha plays out of Prague. . . . Hrbas came over as a 16-year-old and played for the USHL’s Fargo Force. He then played one season with the Edmonton Oil Kings before being traded to Kamloops, where he played the last two seasons.
The NHL held its draft lottery on Monday and there were only two changes — the Florida Panthers, who were favoured to get the first pick, will select second, with the Colorado Avalanche moving up to No. 1. . . . The Avalanche are expected to select D Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks with that No. 1 pick, and there’s something neat about that. Because it was while his family was living in Denver — his father, Popeye, was playing for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets – that Seth began playing hockey. . . . Mike Chambers of the Denver Post has more 
The Red Deer Rebels are looking for an athletic therapist after Terence Robertson told the team he is leaving. Robertson had been with the Rebels through nine seasons. . . . Robertson will work the Rebels’ prospects camp May 31 through June 2 and then will begin a new job with Collegiate Athletic Therapy & Sports Medicine in Red Deer.
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