Americans get their man . . . Memorial Cup field set

Rufus, a Rufous Hummingbird, stopped for a breather
in our apple on Tuesday. Said he was on his way home
from Portland and Game 7.

 F Denis Tolpeko (Seattle, Regina, 2003-06) has signed a two-year contract extension with Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia, KHL). Tolpeko started this season with Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia, KHL), before being traded to Salavat Yulaev on Jan 13. In 45 games, he had 11 points, including five goals. . . .
F Steven Goertzen (Seattle, 2001-04) has signed a one-year contract with the Coventry Blaze (England, UK Elite). This season, with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite), he had 38 points, 12 of them goals, in 45 games. He was the interim player-head coach for two weeks in February. . . .
D Brett Bartman (Spokane, 2007-10) signed a one-year contract with Gap (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, with the U of Calgary (CIS), he had 11 points, including two gaols, in 26 games. . . .
D Rod Sarich (Calgary, 1996-2002) has signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). Sarich, who has a UK passport, didn’t play this season but stayed in Sheffield, attending university and working. In 2012-13, he had 37 points, seven of them goals, in 57 games with Sheffield. He was pointless in three games with Great Britain’s national team. . . .
D Shaone Morrisonn (Kamloops, 1999-2002) has signed a one-year contract with Medveščak Zagreb (Croatia, KHL). This season, with TPS Turku (Finland, Liiga), he had 16 points, including four goals, in 54 games. He was an alternate captain with TPS Turku. . . .
F Dustin Johner (Seattle, 1999-2004) has signed a contract (one year plus an option) with Västerås (Sweden, Allsvenskan). This season, with Djurgården Stockholm (Sweden, Allsvenskan), he had 37 points, including 17 goals, in 52 games. He tied for the team lead in goals and points.
---
The WHL’s game of coaching musical chairs continued Tuesday as the Tri-City Americans signed Mike Williamson as their head coach.
Contract details weren’t announced, other than it being a multi-year proposition, but I am told that Williamson signed a four-year deal with no club options. He had spent the previous five seasons with the Calgary Hitmen, who chose not to pick up a club option when this season ended.
The Hitmen enjoyed a 103-point regular season -- they finished tied with the Edmonton Oil Kings atop the Eastern Conference, losing top spot on a tiebreaker -- then lost a six-game first-round playoff series to the Kootenay Ice.
Williamson was dropped shortly after that.
With the Americans, Williamson takes over from Jim Hiller, who was dumped last week despite a five-season winning percentage of .619. General manager Bob Tory said at the time that he felt his team was in need of a new face/new voice behind the bench.
Williamson spent seven seasons plus 24 games (1999-07) as the head coach of the Portland Winterhawks, a team with which he had played three seasons. He also spent four-plus seasons as an assistant coach in Portland.
He has 427 victories as a WHL head coach, making him third among active coaches. He is ninth all-time in games coached and 11th in victories.
“I have known (Williamson), personally, since he was a 17-year-old player who I recruited to Portland from Red Deer College,” Tory said in a news release. “He has had tremendous success at the WHL level and is known as a player’s coach who is demanding yet firm and calm. Mike brings a great deal of experience and passion to our hockey club and I look forward to working with Mike moving forward.”
Earlier this month, Don Hay left after 10 years as head coach of the Vancouver Giants, returning to his home in Kamloops as head coach of the Blazers.
All of this leaves the Hitmen, Giants and Saskatoon Blades searching for head coaches.
---


1. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Al Ford, a former general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, after he was mugged by a couple of idiots in Regina on Monday. He should just pretend that he got run over by George Reed during a practice session back in the day. . . . There’s more on what happened right here.

2. D Jordan Thomson has told the Saskatoon Blades that he will join them for the 2014-15 season. Thomson, from Wawanesa, Man., was selected by the Kamloops Blazers with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft. However, he left the Blazers early this season and ended up with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings. He did get into nine games with the Blades, getting a goal and five assists. . . . The Blades acquired Thomson, F Mitch Lipon and a 2015 first-round bantam pick from Kamloops in exchange for F Matt Revel, a third-round 2016 bantam draft pick and a conditional second-round pick in 2014 or 2015. The Blazers will get that 2015 second-round pick if Thomson plays one game for the Blades in 2014-15. . . . Lipon was dropped by the Blades as they made room for new players during the bantam draft on May 1.

3. Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, the stars of the ESPN show PTI, have gotten multi-year contract extensions. If you haven’t seen PTI, Kornheiser and Wilbon sit in front of TV cameras and do what we did in the sports departments of the Winnipeg Tribune and Regina Leader-Post almost every night -- sit around and argue about sports. I think Kornheiser and Wilbon likely are getting paid more than we were.

4. The NFL draft ran for two nights and most of another day, all of it available on TV. If you weren’t aware, the CFL draft was held Tuesday evening and TSN televised an hour of it, right up against Game 7 between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Yes, that’s one more page of that CFL’s manual titled Football Marketing 101. . . . Sheesh, why not hold it on Saturday afternoon and get it all on TV? It’s not like the CFL teams make 268 selections.

5. An afternoon tweet from the Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars): “Robison: The WHL never considered leaving Prince George.” . . . WHL commissioner Ron Robison, in Prince George to take part in a day in which the Cougars’ new owners introduced themselves to the fans, apparently made that statement to the gathering. . . . Rick Brodsky, who sold the franchise last month, certainly thought about it. There were talks with the people who run the arena in Boise, Idaho, and then there were thoughts of relocating to Chilliwack. Yes, there were conversations with at least one of the former owners of the Bruins, although those talks didn’t go too well. Oh, and Brodsky also looked into a move to Fort McMurray, Alta., something that would have involved the construction of a new arena. . . . So perhaps it all depends on how you define “considered.”

6. The Rangers were clinging to a 2-1 lead over the host Penguins when my wife said dinner was two minutes from being ready. There was 3:30 to play, so I asked if it could wait for five minutes. . . . She asked: “Is that real time?” . . . I said: “Yes.” . . . She replied: “It’s a good thing it’s not basketball time or it would take an hour.” . . . Who knew she paid such close attention to NBA games?

7. The Val-d’Or Foreurs went into Baie-Comeau and beat the Drakkar 4-3 in Game 7 of the QMJHL’s championship series on Tuesday night. . . . The Drakkar erased a 3-0 deficit in the third period, only to have Val-d’Or F Anthony Mantha score the GWG at 19:09. . . . It is the Foreurs’ third title (1998 and 2001) and, as Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald noted: “Pretty impressive for a small-market franchise.” . . . Mantha put up 38 points, 24 of them goals, in 24 playoff games, but the QMJHL playoff scoring title went to F Jonathan Drouin of the Halifax Mooseheads. He had 41 points in 16 games.

8. It’s a good day when Stan Van Gundy is back in the NBA as a head coach. As ESPN Stats & Info tweeted: “Stan Van Gundy to coach Pistons. He's had 5 50-win seasons and no losing seasons as an NBA head coach.”

9. One of my favourite people in all of hockey is Troy Mick, the always smiling GM and head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. Unfortunately, we don’t get the opportunity to chat as often as I’d like. This week, Mick is in Vernon watching his son, Logan, play in the RBC Cup with the host Vipers. Yes, Troy, who was part of two junior A national championships with the Vipers, is enjoying being a spectating father this week. . . . There’s more right here.

10. In future seasons, the WHL has to schedule its playoffs so that there is no chance of the final round ending with teams playing Games 6 and 7 on back-to-back nights in different cities. Especially when there were seven days (April 27 through May 2, inclusive) between the end of the third round and the start of the final series. Playing back-to-back games in different cities at that stage of the season isn’t fair to the players, the fans or the product.
---
THE COACHING GAME:
John LaFontaine (Nanaimo Islanders, 1982-83) is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Wichita Wildcats. He had been coaching the Shattuck St. Mary’s bantam team in Faribault, Minn. He also spent seven seasons as head coach of the Bozeman Icedogs, who played in the America West League and the NAHL while he was with them. . . . LaFontaine takes over from Paul Baxter (Winnipeg, 1973-74), who is president and general manager in Wichita.
---
Kevin McClelland, the head coach of the Central Hockey League’s Wichita Thunder, signed a one-year contract extension taking him through the 2015-16 season. . . . McClelland, 51, is preparing for his fifth season in Wichita, having signed with the Thunder on April 26, 2010. . . . The Thunder is 144-94-26 with him behind the bench. . . . McClelland’s resume includes a stint with the Prince Albert Raiders (1998-2000).
---
Josh Hepditch has left the junior B Creston Valley Thunder Cats of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League to join the junior A Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers of the Maritimes Junior League. . . . Hepditch, who is from Fredericton, N.B., and played five seasons at the U of New Brunswick, spent two seasons in Creston, the last one as GM and head coach. . . . Hepditch takes over from Jim Bottomley, who was dumped after this season. Bottomley has since signed on as GM/head coach of the MHL’s Yarmouth Mariners.
Darrell Cole of the Cumberland News Now has more right here.
---

MEMORIAL CUP
(at London, Ont., all times Eastern)
(all games televised by Sportsnet)
Friday: Val-d’Or vs. London, 7 p.m.
Saturday: Guelph vs. Edmonton, 4 p.m.
Sunday: London vs. Edmonton, 7 p.m.
Monday: Guelph vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Tuesday: Edmonton vs. Val-d’Or, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 21: London vs. Guelph, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 22: Tiebreaker, if necessary, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 23: Semifinal, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 24: No game scheduled.
Sunday, May 25: Final, TBA.
---





From former NHL D Nick Boynton (@NICKBOYNTON24): “Hey nhl brilliant letting Matt Cooke play again. Someone have to die first?? No excuse now.”
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From MLB pitcher Mark Mulder (@markmulder20): “You want to stop TJ injuries----then don't play baseball. Kids pitch year round and don't play other sports. Arm only has so many bullets.”
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From Andrew Weiss (@WeissFC): “Surprised to see Kailer Yamamoto ('98) sign w/ Spokane. Regardless, he was one of my NTDP Camp surprises. Packs a lot of skill w/ small size.”
Yamamoto, from Spokane, played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings minor midget team. He was a fifth-round pick by the Chiefs in the 2013 bantam draft. His older brother, Keanu, just completed his first season with the Chiefs.

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Give him Liberty, and give him hockey

Brandon Mistal finished this season as the captain of the BCHL's
Salmon Arm SilverBacks.
(Salmon Arm SilverBacks photo)

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Brandon Mistal just wants to play hockey.
So he’s prepared to travel 4,338 kilometres from his hometown for ice time.
After three-plus seasons in the BCHL, Mistal, a 21-year-old forward from Kamloops, is headed to Liberty University in the fall.
The school, a private Christian university, is located in Lynchburg, Va. The Flames are a Division I hockey team, playing in the 54-team American Collegiate Hockey Association. The ACHA, which has been around since 1991, governs non-varsity hockey in the U.S.
“That would be awesome,” Mistal, 21, said of the opportunity to play four seasons at Liberty U. “As long as the money all works out and I can keep going down there, I will definitely play four years.”
Mistal played in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees, Cowichan Valley Capitals and Salmon Arm SilverBacks. He concluded this season as the SilverBacks’ captain, putting up 36 points, including 13 goals, in 56 games.
“He’s an outstanding young man,” Troy Mick, the SilverBacks’ general manager and head coach, said. “His dedication, his character, his work ethic . . . were so emblematic of being a captain that it was a real no-brainer for us.”
Like a large number of BCHL players, Mistal had his hopes up for an offer from an NCAA Division I school. But as this season wore on it became evident that wasn’t going to happen. All the while, he kept hearing from Liberty.
“It was in the back of my mind,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was hoping for Division I . . . I was keeping all my options open.
“But they were the only ones who were talking to me through the whole season. Then, after the season was over, they really wanted me to come for a visit.”
Mistal traveled to Lynchburg in mid-April, saw the campus, skated with some of the Flames and “stayed with couple guys off-campus.”
“It was a pretty good experience,” he said.
These days, he can hardly wait to get back there and get started.
“It’s not the biggest rink,” he said of the 3,000-seat LaHaye Ice Center that is located on the university campus, “and there’s not that many seats, but they love hockey down there and they pack the barn. They support the team so well.”
Mistal grew up in a Christian home – his family is Pentecostal – and his faith is important to him, so Liberty should be a good fit. It was founded in 1971 by evangelical fundamentalist Jerry Falwell, whose roots were Southern Baptist. Falwell died in 2007.
“It’ll be a bit of a change to have that different environment,” said Mistal, who will set out in pursuit of a business degree, “but it’ll be cool to experience that.”
His connection to Liberty came through the Silverbacks’ chapel program. Kenny Toews, the Silverbacks’ chaplain, reached out to Flames assistant coach Dave Semenyna. The rest, as they say, is history.
The Flames are losing two of their offensive leaders, so Mistal is hoping to make an immediate impact.
“I think I’m an all-around player . . . a pretty smart player,” he said. “I like to get in the corners and cycle and work on the boards and create offence out of that. I’m hoping to go in and contribute offensively right away.
“I think I’m one of those versatile guys who can do everything pretty solidly, hopefully with a decent knack for scoring, too.”
Head coach Kirk Handy also is hoping that Mistal is able to contribute right away.
“He’s someone who can definitely make an impact right away, who can play in a lot of different situations,” Handy said in a news release. “He’s a class act with strong leadership abilities. He’s a very well spoken guy who, just in the time we’ve gotten to know him, I’ve been really impressed with his character and his demeanour.
“On the ice, he’s going to be a guy we can count on on both sides of the rink, a two-way hockey player who has a good scoring knack.”
Mistal also will get to see some new country, as the Flames’ 39-game schedule includes stops in such places as Charleston, W.Va.; Athens, Ohio; Blacksburg, Va.; and Tucson, Ariz.
“I’ll gain experience and exposure so I jumped at the opportunity, for sure,” he said.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Kevin Saurette (Regina, 1997-99) signed a one-year contract extension with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, UK Elite). Saurette started the season with Kaufbeuren (Germany, 2. Bundesliga), where he had 10 goals and 16 assists in 25 games. He then signed with the Giants just before Christmas and had 14 goals and 18 assists in 28 games. You can read about it  right here. . . .



F Konstantin Pushkaryov (Calgary, 2004-05) signed a one-year contract extension with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL). He had four goals and six assists in 28 games with Barys this season.
———


A little of this and some of that . . .
1. The Saskatoon Blades’ season came to an end last night with a 6-1 loss to the London Knights in the tiebreaker game at the Memorial Cup. The Knights will play the Portland Winterhawks in the semifinal game tonight, with the winner meeting the Halifax Mooseheads in the final on Sunday. . . .
2. The Blades’ season was one to remember, but surely for a lot of the wrong reasons. After beating the host Edmonton Oil Kings 3-2 in a shootout on March 12, the Blades finished with one victory in their last 10 games.
3. With the Blades loss, we are left to wonder if we have witnessed the final game of Lorne Molleken’s WHL coaching career. Only Ken Hodge (742) has more WHL regular-season coaching victories than Molleken (603).
4. If Molleken does choose to step aside as head coach — he would, the theory goes, stay on as general manager — who replaces him? Three names you are certain to hear: David Struch, the Blades’ associate coach; Dean Brockman, who just finished his 12th season as head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos (he also is the GM); and Chad Mercier, who resigned as the general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs following the season
5. The moment that Saskatoon D Dalton Thrower raised his left arm, he was done. It was Wednesday night and Thrower was trying to stop an outside-in move by Portland F Taylor Leier. Thrower’s arm made contact with Leier’s head and now neither skater will play again in this Memorial Cup. . . . Thrower, who served a two-game suspension in October for a headshot in a game in Lethbridge, was suspended for the remainder of the Memorial Cup by NHL Hockey Operations (yes, that’s National Hockey League Hockey Operations), which handles disciplinary matters at this stage of the tournament. . . . With Thrower out, the Blades inserted D Kyle Schmidt, 19, into the lineup.
6. Thrower wasn’t penalized on the play, meaning you are free to wonder what it was the four on-ice officials were watching at the time.
7. Also Thursday morning, Portland head coach Travis Green told the media that Leier won’t play Friday and isn’t expected to play again in the tournament, which means he won’t play in Sunday’s final should the Winterhawks get there. Leier obviously has a brain injury after taking a hit to the head and then having his head strike the ice when he went down.
8. Kevin Mitchell, the sports editor of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, has spoken with Jack Brodsky, the Blades’ owner and governor, about the attendance at the Memorial Cup. That story is right here. . . .
“Grumblings have been heard about ticket prices,” Mitchell writes, “which for Wednesday's game between the Blades and Portland Winterhawks ranged from $66.25 (including service charges) to $113.75 in the lower bowl. Most upper-bowl tickets were $66.25, though $37.50 tickets could be had at the back of the arena.”
Brodsky told Mitchell: "I think ticket prices are where they should be. This is the national championship; this is the top teams in Canada playing. If you compare it to some of the NHL exhibition games we have in Saskatoon and the quality of hockey there . . . our prices aren't as high as some of those are. I think we're priced right."
Sorry, Jack, but you are asking some working stiff to pay $37.50 to sit in the Bob Uecker seats to watch a junior hockey game. That’s too much, never mind having to pay more than $100 for one ticket in the lower bowl.
We’re talking junior hockey, a sport whose fan demographic — families and seniors — isn’t rolling in that kind of dough.
Some WHL teams encountered problems selling playoff tickets when the prices got to the neighbourhood of $30 a pop, especially with games on live television.
When you’re talking $100 a ticket, well, that’s a lot of Netflix.
(If you’re a Saskatoon hockey fan who didn’t buy Memorial Cup tickets, either a package or singles, feel free to email me at gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca and let me know your opinion.)
9. I was told Thursday that the deal involving the sale of the BCHL’s Salmon Arms has been completed. “The i’s are dotted, the t’s crossed,” someone with knowledge of the situation told me. “It’s done.” . . . The ownership group, which includes Troy Mick, is to be announced next week. Mick will be the club’s general manager and head coach. . . . Randy and Terry Williams had owned the franchise for six seasons. Mick, who already owned a piece of the franchise, also will serve as the president.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Jay Varady is the new general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, effective immediately. Varady spent the last two seasons in France as head coach of the Les Ducs d'Angers for the last two seasons. . . . Varady is a former associate and assistant coach with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. . . . He also was the video coach with the U.S. team that won the world junior champonship in 2010. . . .

Dale Hladun has resigned as head coach of the junior B Princeton Posse of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Hladun had one season left on a three-year contract. . . . Shortly after posting that on Twitter on Thursday, George Elliott (@PosseWebcrew) followed with: “More resignations from Princeton Posse executive expected in the next few days.” . . . Elliott also tweeted: “In his letter of resignation, Head Coach Dale Hladun claims to be owed $15,000 by the Princeton Posse.” . . . One more tweet from Elliott: “There are a lot of rumours flying around about the Posse. Remember, there are two sides of the story. Be sure to seek the information.” . . .


The Colorado Avalanche has cut a deal with Patrick Roy, who will be the NHL team’s head coach and vice-president of hockey operations. He had been co-owner, general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. . . .



Benoit Desrosiers has joined the QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix as an assistant coach. Desrosiers, 24, spent this season as an assistant coach with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
———




From Portland Winterhawks F Taylor Peters (@thepistolpete25): “Congrats to @Jnicks20 on a great dub career”
@Jnicks20 is the Twitter handle for Saskatoon Blades F Josh Nicholls.

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Hey, all my pals in the Portland media. Yeah, I’m talking to you Paul Buker. And you Scott Sepich and Jason Vondersmith. Yes, and you Kerry Eggers, even though we’ve never met.
Don’t you folks be getting your hopes up. Heck, don’t be putting fresh batteries in the digital recorder. Forget about booking the photographers. You won't be needing a new notebook.
Because I’m told your long-awaited date with the WHL commish is going to have to wait.
A source familiar with all the goings-on has told me that “for the first time in WHL history,” at least to his knowledge, the news conference that has in past seasons preceded the WHL’s championship final “has been cancelled.”
———
Just when you thought we were out of the dinosaur age, along comes Canada’s daft grandpa with an attempt at taking us back to days of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Of course, I am referring to Don Cherry and his Neanderthal-like performance last night on the people’s corpse (aka CBC). . . . Now, to be clear, I didn’t see it – I haven’t watched the man in a long, long time – but I knew something had happened just because Twitter about blew up. . . . At the end of the day, I would suggest that Jeff Blair of The Globe and Mail addressed things as well as anybody, and his column is right here.
And then there was veteran sports reporter Karin Larsen (@CBCLarsen), who tweeted: “I’m embarrassed by and for Don Cherry and for CBC. Sorry.”
Larsen is right. It is sorry. Unfortunately, it isn't unexpected.
———
Dr. Charles Tator is a pre-eminent expert on the brain, brain injuries and the prevention of same. He also has been a lover of the Toronto Maple Leafs for a long, long time. These days, the Leafs are the NHL’s leading practitioners of the pugilistic side of hockey. So what does he think when he’s at a game and there is a fight? “You know what? My heart races,” Dr. Tator told Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post. “I worry about that brain that is being pummelled. It really is a sad event, to me, when it happens. Because virtually every day in my practice, I see people who have had brain injuries of one sort or another, and these folks suffer terribly.” . . . Fitz-Gerald’s column is right here, and be sure to read the comments. Oh, by they way, this piece also includes statistical evidence that fighting has very little to do with the outcome of games.
———
Columnist Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe has an intriguing piece right here that takes a moment-by-moment look at the conclusion of the manhunt in Boston. “What you’re about to read,” he writes, “is how it all ended. The denouement. It is a story of remarkable drama, bravery, and terror, and it is based on interviews with Watertown police and fire officials, State Police and Boston police, including Dan Linskey, the superintendent in chief of the Boston Police Department.”
———
The QMJHL has a donnybrook one night, and the fines and suspensions are announced the following morning.
The QMJHL has a game decided by an overtime goal that was preceded by an uncalled offside and there is a news release in less than 24 hours.
If you missed it, the host Baie-Comeau Drakkar scored a 2-1 victory over the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada on Friday night, with the winning goal coming off a play that was offside, but not called, at the blueline.
Here is the statement from Gilles Courteau, the QMJHL commissioner:
“It is unfortunate that the result of a game was determined by an offside goal without the possibility of a video review. It is for that reason that as a league, we are taking the initiative to bring this addition to the Canadian Hockey League. We will therefore formulate a directive, beginning next season, allowing video review for all offside goals. The QMJHL has a very competent and passionate group of officials; because of the fast-paced nature of hockey sometimes things go unnoticed on the ice. It is for this reason that a technological aid will allow officials, during this type of situation, to make adjustments, if necessary, in order to make the right decision.”
———
THE COACHING GAME:
Former WHL sniper and coach Troy Mick is about to add to his job description with the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks. Randy and Terry Williams are in the process of selling the franchise to a group headed up by Mick, who started this season as general manager and head coach before bringing in Scott Robinson to handle the coaching. . . . Under new ownership, Mick will be president, general manager and head coach. The new group won’t renew Robinson’s contract.

Rick Swan is the new general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs. Swan, who signed a three-year extension, actually was promoted, after serving as the club’s assistant GM and assistant head coach under Chad Mercier. . . . Swan had been the head coach of the midget AAA Edmonton Knights of Columbus team before joining the Pontiacs. . . . Mercier resigned from both positions earlier this month.
———
 
The WHL’s playoff situation:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Edmonton (1) vs. Calgary (3)
(Edmonton leads series, 3-2; Game 6 in Calgary today, 4 p.m. MT; all games on Shaw TV, with Dan Russell calling the play.)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
THIRD ROUND
Portland (1) vs. Kamloops (3)
(Portland wins series, 4-1)
———
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Portland vs. Edmonton/Calgary winner
(Series opens May 3 and 4 in Portland)
———
SATURDAY’S GAMES:
No Games Scheduled.
———
CHECKING-FROM-BEHIND COUNT (21):
None

CHECKING-TO-THE-HEAD COUNT (6):
None

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Sebastian Svendsen (Vancouver, Edmonton, Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, 2009-12) signed a two-year contract with Aalborg (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga). Svendsen started the season with Moose Jaw, getting two goals and two assists in 11 games. He returned to Denmark in December, where he played four games with Hvidovre (Denmark, U20 Liga), getting four goals and two assists in four games, and 12 games with Copenhagen Hockey, (Denmark, AL-Bank Liga), scoring three goals and four assists to go along with 49 PIMs. . . .
F Erik Christensen (Kamloops, Brandon, 1999-2004) signed a one-year contract with Lev Prague (Czech Republic, KHL). He had one goal and four assists in 20 games with the New York Rangers, two goals and one assist in five games with Connecticut Whale (AHL), and six goals and one assist in 29 games with Minnesota Wild this season.
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JUST NOTES:
Rob Morphy of Kamloops has been named director of scouting/head scout by the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. It’s a reunion of sorts for Morphy and Troy Mick, the Silverbacks’ new GM and head coach. The two worked together with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers and won the 1999 Royal Bank Cup. . . . Morphy also is a veteran WHL scout, most recently having worked with the Chilliwack Bruins and Tri-City Americans. . . .
The Tri-City Americans have signed D Tyler Fraser, who was a third-round pick, 55th overall, in the 2012 bantam draft. Fraser, from Surrey, B.C., played for the bantam AAA Cloverdale Colts; in fact, he was the team captain. He also was partnered with Parker Wotherspoon, the Americans’ first-round selection in the 2012 draft. . . .
Hockey Now has named F Mathew Barzal of the Burnaby Winter Club and F Jansen Harkins of the North Shore Winter Club as co-winners of its B.C. minor hockey player-of-the-year award. . . . Barzal was selected first overall by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s 2012 bantam draft. . . . Harkins went second overall to the Prince George Cougars. . . . There’s more right here.
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THE COACHING GAME:
Steve Johnson has signed on as an assistant coach with the U of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. He will work alongside head coach Dean Blais. Johnson and Blais both are former head coaches of the USHL’s Fargo Force. In fact, Johnson replaced Blais for the 2009-10 season. For the last two seasons, Johnson has been an assistant coach at St. Cloud State. . . . Back in the day, Johnson spent four seasons as a player at the U of North Dakota; Blais was an assistant coach with the Fighting Sioux at the time. . . .
Gary Graham is the new head coach of the Southern Professional league’s Pensacola Ice Flyers. Graham is coming off four seasons as an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Komets, who played in the IHL and the Central league and now are making the move to the ECHL. Graham worked under veteran coach Al Sims with the Komets.
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The 2012 Hockey Coaches Conference is all set for July 20-21 at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre. And it promises to be the best one yet, with presenters like Ken Hitchcock, Mike Keenan, Don Hay, Glen Hanlon, Brent Peterson, Milan Dragicevic and Troy Ward.
There’s more on the conference right here. In fact, if you’re a coach — or an aspiring coach — you should have this site bookmarked.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
Starbulls Rosenheim (Germany, 2.Bundesliga) announced that G Norm Maracle (Saskatoon, 1991-94) has retired. He had a 2.56 GAA in 45 games for Starbulls this season. . . .
D Dominik Bittner (Everett, 2011-12) signed a two-year contract with Adler Mannheim (Germany, DEL). He had four goals and 13 assists in 68 games with the Silvertips this season as a freshman. . . . Bittner, who turns 20 on June 10, was selected by Everett with the 51st pick in the 2011 CHL import draft.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Chicoutimi Saguenéens announced Friday that assistant coach Mario Durocher won’t return next season. Durocher apparently exercised his option to leave the club. . . . Durocher, a veteran QMJHL coach, worked alongside head coach Marc-Étienne Hubert in Chicoutimi. . . .
The BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks have hired Brandon West as an assistant coach to work alongside GM/head coach Troy Mick. West spent this season as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Westside Warriors. In 2010-11, he was head coach of the major midget Okanagan Rockets. . . . West also is an assistant coach on Team Pacific for the 2013 U-17 World Hockey Challenge.
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JUST NOTES:
The Chicago Blackhawks have signed G Mac Carruth of the Portland Winterhawks. Carruth, who turned 20 on March 25, was a seventh-round selection in the 2010 NHL draft. . . . Capgeek.com has his contract details right here.
Alan Caldwell, over there at Small Thoughts at Large, has a blog entry on which of the 2010 NHL draft picks has yet to sign. Of course, if a 2010 selection doesn’t sign by June 1, he goes back into the draft.

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THE MacBETH REPORT:
F Johannes Salmonsson (Spokane, 2005-06) signed a two-year contract with Linköping (Sweden, Elitserien). He had five goals and 13 assists in 41 games for AIK Stockholm (Sweden, Elitserien) this season.
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THE COACHING GAME:
The Salmon Arm SilverBacks will introduce Troy Mick as their general manager and head coach today. Owner Randy Williams also is bringing Mick on board as a business partner. . . . Mick has been working as the director of hockey operations and the under-18 boys coach at the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna. . . . In Salmon Arm, Mick will take over from Colin O’Hara, who resigned a week ago as GM and head coach. O’Hara was there for two seasons. . . . Mick is a familiar figure in the interior of B.C., having coached the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers and the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies in recent seasons.
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The Portage Terriers won the MJHL championship on Tuesday night, beating the visiting Winnipeg Saints 2-1 to take the best-of-seven final in five games. . . . The Terriers have won the title four of the last five seasons, including each of the last two seasons. . . . Blake Spiller has been the head coach for all four championships. . . . The Terriers went 12-3 in the playoffs.
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I’m sorry, but are all Portland Winterhawks’ fans paranoid, or is it just a select few?
With Kamloops having scratched G Cole Cheveldave due to what obviously is a concussion, there are those people out there who actually believe the Blazers have done this simply to get Portland F Oliver Gabriel out of the lineup.
Seriously!
Here’s a sample of texts and tweets sent my way over the last couple of days:
“Does it actually make sense in your head that blazers would scratch their most needed player in exchange for a #5 forward?”
“They scratch Cheveldave to make it look good.”
“If you saw infraction you’d shake head at nonsense call.”
“What an absolute joke!”
People! People! People! Take a deep breath and climb down off the roof.
Cheveldave is the Blazers’ No. 1 goaltender. He was selected as a Western Conference second-team all-star. Were it not for the regular season turned in by F Tim Bozon, Cheveldave may well have been the Western Conference’s rookie of the year.
And you’re suggesting that the Blazers would put Cheveldave in the stands with an injury that is the figment of someone’s imagination!
Go back and take a look at the fuzzy video of the hit. Surely, you will at least admit that Cheveldave was the victim of a rather hard check. Surely, you also will admit that the hit sent Cheveldave flying. And, surely, you will admit that there is a least a slim chance, even while viewing it through your Rose City-coloured glasses, that Cheveldave may have been injured on the play.
To suggest that Cheveldave has been told to fake an injury, or that a doctor has been told to invent an injury, in an attempt to get Gabriel out of the Portland lineup is laughable.
Now . . . if we were talking about Ty Rattie or Sven Baertschi . . .
Seriously, ask yourself this. If you’re a Portland fan and one of the Blazers, say Brandon Herrod, had run over Mac Carruth like that, how sharp would you have the guillotine by now?
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TUESDAY’S GAMES:
What is going on in the WHL? Five of the eight first-round series ended in the minimum four games; two others went five games.
Here we are into the second round and three of the four series stand at 3-0. Three road teams won last night to go up 3-0.
All of this follows a 2011 playoff season in which there were six sweeps, three five-game series and six six-game sets.

In Brandon, the Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last five goals and beat the Wheat Kings, 5-1. . . . The Oil King, who have won 18 straight games, including seven in the playoffs, lead this series 3-0 and can wrap it up tonight in Brandon. . . . Brandon D Ryan Pulock scored the game’s first goal, on a PP, at 10:48 of the first. . . . Edmonton scored two second-period goals, the eventual winner coming from F Curtis Lazar, his fourth playoff goal, at 14:21. . . . The visitors had a 19-2 edge in shots in the second period. . .  .The Oil Kings got two assists from F Henrik Samuelsson, who missed a couple of shifts after taking a heavy check from Brandon F Michael Ferland. . . . Edmonton G Laurent Brossoit stopped 25 shots, 12 fewer than Brandon’s Corbin Boes. . . . Edmonton was 2-5 on the PP; Brandon was 1-3. . . . According to the Wheat Kings, F Mark Stone is questionable for Game 4 with an injury. He didn’t come out of the dressing room for the third period. . . . Rob Henderson of the Brandon Sun reports: “Attendance was 3,651, the lowest turnout for a playoff game in Brandon since March 21, 2009 when 3,506 showed up for a first-round game against the Kootenay Ice.” . . .

In Medicine Hat, the Moose Jaw Warriors erased a 1-0 deficit with four straight goals and beat the Tigers, 4-2. . . . Moose Jaw leads the series 3-0 with Game 4 in Medicine Hat tonight. . . . Medicine Hat F Curtis Valk gave his side a 1-0 lead at 8:15 of the first. . . . Moose Jaw F Brayden Point who turned 16 on March 12, got his fourth playoff goal in eight games at 1:49 of the second and D Kendall McFaull gave his guys the lead at 12:40. . . . Moose Jaw F Cam Braes had one assist to run his point streak to eight games. . . . Tigers G Tyler Bunz stopped 48 shots, 24 more than Moose Jaw’s Luke Siemens. . . . The Tigers had F Emerson Etem back from a one-game suspension, but he was held off the scoresheet. . . . Moose Jaw D Morgan Rielly (knee) remains on the sideline. . . .

In Kamloops, F Brad Ross scored four times — even strength, power play, two shorthanded — to lead the Portland Winterhawks to a 5-2 victory over the Blazers. . . . The Winterhawks, with a 3-0 lead, can finish the series tonight in Kamloops. . . . Ross scored four goals in 16 playoff games last spring. He now has seen in seven games in these playoffs. . . . The Winterhawks broke a 1-1 tie with two shorthanded goals 33 seconds apart early in the second period. . . . Ross now holds the franchise record for shorthanded goals (4) in one playoff season. . . . Portland F Taylor Peters drew three shorthanded assists. . . . @WHLFacts tweeted that Ross “has just become the first WHL player in at least 15 years to get 4 Shorthanded Goals in one playoff season.” . . . More from @WHLFacts: “Taylor Peters has become the first WHL player in at least 15 years with 4 Shorthanded Assists in one playoff season” . . . The Winterhawks also set a franchise record with three shorthanded goals in one playoff game. . . . Portland G Mac Carruth stopped 38 shots in running his record this spring to 7-0. . . . Kamloops G Cam Lanigan turned aside 24 shots. . . . The Blazers are without G Cole Cheveldave (concussion). Portland F Oliver Gabriel was suspended for four games for the Game 1 hit on which Cheveldave was injured. Gabriel now has served two games of that suspension. . . . Attendance was 3,712, the third-smallest playoff crowd since the Blazers moved into what now is Interior Savings Centre for the 1992-93 season. The only smaller crowds came on March 25 and 26, 2008, when 2,895 and 2,570 fans showed up for Games 3 and 4 of a first-round sweep at the hands of the Tri-City Americans.

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Rattie fired up; Mick on the move

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
What started out as bad news turned out to be a good thing for Ty Rattie.
It was Dec. 14 when Rattie, who turned 19 on Feb. 5, was told that he wouldn’t be playing for Canada in the world junior championship.
It was a double disappointment because Rattie is from Airdrie, Alta., and the tournament was being held in Calgary and Edmonton.
So it was that he returned to the Portland Winterhawks sporting a chip the size of a Douglas fir on one shoulder.
Three days after being cut by Canada, Rattie had a goal and two assists in an 8-0 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane. He hasn’t slowed down since that night.
“Obviously, that was a big blow,” Rattie said Tuesday before going up against the Kamloops Blazers in Game 3 of a WHL Western Conference semifinal series at Interior Savings Centre. “It was something I won’t forget.
“I used it as motivation to prove them wrong and prove that I should have been there. It has helped me in the long run.”
Rattie wasn’t given a reason for not making Team Canada.
“They call you at 6 a.m.,” he said. “You go in and they just say, ‘We’re going to go a different way this year.’ I went from the hotel to the airport in about 45 minutes and back to Portland. It was quick. But it was disappointing.”
In hindsight, Rattie thinks his days were numbered once Team Canada got Brett Connolly (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Devante Smith-Pelly (Anaheim Ducks) from NHL teams. They both are right wingers, as is Rattie.
“I think they wanted two grinding guys for that third- and fourth-line role,” Rattie said.
He was back in Portland that same day, bound and determined “to make sure they noticed me and noticed that maybe they made a bit of a mistake.”
“That,” he stated, “is just the kind of stuff that adds fuel to the fire for me.”
He went on to put up 121 points, including 57 goals, in 69 regular-season games. He went into last night’s game leading WHL playoff scorers in goals (12) and points (18). That includes 13 points, 10 of them goals, in a first-round sweep of the Kelowna Rockets.
His roommate/linemate Sven Baertschi had 17 playoff points.
“We haven’t played more than a handful of shifts without each other since last year’s training camp,” Rattie said. “We live together. I think the off-ice time together really adds to the on-ice chemistry.”
Of course, the on-ice success also leads to some abuse. Things got a bit nasty late in Game 2 of this series, which the host Winterhawks won, 4-1.
“It’s hockey,” said Rattie, while sporting a cut near his right eye. “We love that kind of stuff. It was bound to happen. It adds to the excitement for Games 3 and 4 here.”
You should know, too, that Rattie has great fondness for the Interior Savings Centre.
As he put it, “It’s my favourite WHL rink.”
Why?
“Because it’s the first WHL rink that I ever played in,” he replied.
That was five years ago, when he played for the Airdrie Xtreme at KIBIHT. Airdrie was beaten 5-4 by the Phoenix Firebirds in a semifinal game.
Rattie was a first-year bantam and has never forgotten that experience.
Just like he won’t ever forget the year he didn’t make Team Canada.
“The bright side,” he said, “is that there’s always next year.”
Unless, of course, he makes the St. Louis Blues, who selected him in the second round, 32nd overall, of the NHL’s 2011 draft.
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On most nights, not a lot happens during pregame warmups. Players skate. Players shoot. Goalies stop some and miss some.
Last night, however, was the exception.
Kamloops winger Ryan Hanes didn’t stray more than 10 feet from the centre red line at any point during the warmup. Shadowed by linesmen Ryan Dawson and Bevan Mills, it was as though Hanes was a security guard protecting a property line.
Hanes yapped at any Portland player within earshot, including G Mac Carruth, Rattie, F Brendan Leipsic, F Brad Ross, D William Wrenn and on and on.
If the Blazers don’t get fined for what the WHL calls a “warmup violation,” it will be because Hanes didn’t appear to cross the red line.
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TROY MICK

Troy Mick, who played for the Winterhawks (1985-89) and was head coach of the Blazers (2002-03), will be named today as the general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm SilverBacks.
Mick has been working as the director of hockey operations and the under-18 boys coach at the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna.
In Salmon Arm, Mick will take over from Colin O’Hara, who resigned a week ago as GM and head coach. O’Hara was there for two seasons.
Mick is a familiar face in arenas throughout the Interior of B.C. He also has coached the BCHL's Vernon Vipers and the junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies, leading both organizations to championship seasons.


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