Author: greggdrinnan

BC Hockey responds to BCHL move by designating 45 junior B teams as junior A; splits it all into two tiers. . . . Royals add associate GM

The BCHL has been operating as an independent entity outside of Hockey Canada since June 1.

On Tuesday, BC Hockey announced a restructuring of junior hockey in the BCHockeyprovince and Yukon, all of this obviously in response to the BCHL’s departure having left the jurisdiction without a junior A league.

BC Hockey’s board of directors voted unanimously to do away with junior B. The 45 teams that had been playing in the province’s three junior B leagues all will be classified Junior A Tier 2 for the 2023-24 season.

The Kootenay International Junior Hockey League features 20 teams, with 14 in the Pacific Junior Hockey League and 11 in the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.

In time, some of those teams will be promoted to Junior A Tier 1.

One of the teams that hopes to make the jump is the Kamloops Storm.

“I think we more than meet pretty much any requirement they’re going to put KamStormnewin front of us, whether it be with our health and safety, our education, our facilities or our level of coaching,” Storm general manager Matt Kolle told Kamloops This Week.“In the last two seasons, we’ve carried 97 per cent B.C. players. In my mind, we’re meeting the criteria by a landslide.

“It’s a void that needed to be filled and I’m excited we get the opportunity to fill it. We want to embrace it. We want to run with it and make hockey a better place in Kamloops, whether it be for the players or the fans. We’re now junior A. When we see what these new enhanced standards required for Tier 1 are, we then need to start working toward those.”

According to BC Hockey, there will be “a rigorous process and analysis, conducted over the next three seasons, allowing individual teams and communities to find the level of Junior hockey most suited to them.”

Also according to BC Hockey, the newly classified teams “will take their place in Hockey Canada’s Canadian Development Model, which strengthens the game at elite levels, in partnership with the Western Hockey League (WHL) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL).”

In a news release, Jeff Dubois, the KIJHL commissioner, offered: “During this kijhlprocess, we looked at the number of players who have left B.C. over the past number of years to play junior A hockey elsewhere in Canada and the United States. Our goal is to provide the type of athlete experience that incentivizes those athletes to grow and develop their game without having to look outside their home province.”

Once the Tier 1 and Tier 2 situation has sorted itself out, the Tier 1 teams will “seek membership with the CJHL. Such membership would open the door to competition for the Centennial Cup . . . and eligibility for players and bench staff” for events such as the World Junior A Challenge.

“BC Hockey is committed to this new Junior A landscape,” Cameron Hope, BC Hockey’s CEO, said in a news release. “These already strong teams and leagues have earned their opportunity to fill this layer of the pathway. It is important that junior-aged players in B.C. and Yukon have opportunities to compete at a high level, and eventually at the national level as part of the CJHL.”

For now, the KIJHL, PJHL and VIJHL will carry on as usual, all the while being evaluated for a potential move up in the ranks.

The KIJHL’s Revelstoke Grizzlies are another team interesting in getting to the Junior A Tier 1 level.

““I think it’s an ideal level for Revelstoke,” Ryan Parent, the Grizzlies’ general manager and head coach, told Josh Piercey of the Revelstoke Review. “The support that we’ve garnered locally in the past 10 years here, I think hockey is really on the map in Revelstoke.”

The BC Hockey news release is right here.

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Some thoughts on BC Hockey’s announcement: Keep in mind that the BCHL has said that it doesn’t want to be referred to as junior A or by any other kind of designation. It just wants to be the BCHL. . . . BC Hockey certainly has delivered a strong message to the BCHL this week. On Monday, CEO Cam Hope told folks in no uncertain terms that on-ice officials who work BCHL games after Sept. 30 won’t be allowed to handle Hockey Canada- or BC Hockey-sanctioned events during the 2023-24 season. And then came Tuesday’s announcement. . . . It would seem that the BCHL now is a non-entity as far as BC Hockey is concerned. . . . It will be interesting to see how many B.C.-born players opt for one of the three Junior A Tier 2 leagues for 2023-24, keeping in mind that players dropped by BCHL teams after Sept. 30 won’t be eligible. . . . There is chatter that the City of Revelstoke might build a new arena that would be home to the Grizzlies. You have to wonder if any other communities might take a look at doing that with a possible move to Junior A Tier 1 on the horizon for its team. . . . It strikes me that the operating costs for BCHL teams will rise, if only because of recruiting costs and the league now having its own officiating staff. And operating costs will go up for any of the Junior A Tier 2 teams that are serious about moving up. So from where will all this money come?

Push

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Jake Heisinger is joining the WHL’s Victoria Royals as associate general manager. He had been with the Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice since 2017, joining the organization as hockey operations co-ordinator while it was located in Cranbrook. Most recently, he was Winnipeg’s vice-president of hockey operations and assistant GM. . . . The Winnipeg franchise has been sold and now operates out of Wenatchee, Wash., as the Wild. . . . In Victoria, Heisinger will work alongside Joey Poljanowski, the Royals’ new vice-president of hockey operations.

Thinking

THINKING OUT LOUD: If you’re a hockey fan, you will be familiar with Cap Friendly (@CapFriendly). On Tuesday, Cap Friendly tweeted: “Patrice Bergeron, who announced his retirement today, has an estimated $96,324,048 in career earnings over his illustrious 20-year career. As part of his new five-year extension, Justin Herbert will earn $100,000,000 next season alone.” One more example of why NHL owners are so in love with their commissioner. . . . Saw a photo today of Ryan Craig, who was an assistant coach with the Vegas Golden Knights, eating pierogies out of the bowl of the Stanley Cup. That got me to wondering: Does anyone sterilize the bowl considering everything that goes into it — from a baby’s butt to beer and champagne — while it’s on tour? . . . The temperature on our gizmo showed in the low- to mid-30s for most of last week. On Tuesday at 6 a.m., it showed 10 C. After being so warm for a week, 10 C felt like it might snow.

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If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Hair

Mondays With Murray: A Peek at 1984

FormerLATimesBuilding
The former Los Angeles Times building in the city’s downtown area.

“What a sad day for sports journalism (and journalism in general). The New York Times announced it has scrapped its sports section entirely. The Los Angeles Times (with which I cut my teeth in journalism) will no long carry baseball box scores and standings. The Southern California News Group just bought the San Diego Union-Tribune, which will diminish the quality of that paper. I hate to say it, though I’ve thought it for awhile, newspapers are dead. They just don’t yet know it.”

— John Strege, veteran journalist

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Today, for your reading enjoyment, we have Jim Murray’s 1978 column that was headlined ‘A Peek at 1984’ — ”noting that “a computer programmed to crank out sports stories is just a couple of transistors away.”

ENJOY!

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1978, SPORTS

Copyright 1978/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

A Peek at 1984

  They changed the phone system and numbers at The Los Angeles Times for the first time since the days of the crank telephone the other day. It’s all in the name of automation, but you’ll pardon all of us ink-stained wretches if it mondaysmurraymakes us a little nervous. I mean, today the phones, tomorrow the staff. 1984 is a little nearer. Big Brother is coming. If they automate the phones, when will they automate the stories? What will become of Hildy Johnson? Will Grantland Rice be made out of tin in the future? Damon Runyon a data bank? Richard Harding Davis just a lot of circuitry with a passport?

  A computer programmed to crank out sports stories is just a couple of transistors away. Of course, it will have to be programmed. First, if they listen to us, it will have to learn a few basics. Such as the questions:

  “What kind of a pitch did he hit?” Which must be asked of a pitcher who has just lost a World Series in the bottom of the 12th, 1-0. The computer must be programmed to duck as it asks. Otherwise, the paper is stuck with the biggest hunk of scrap metal this side of the stretch at Indy.

  The computer will have to learn to enter the dressing room of a fighter who has just been carried in with (1) a broken nose, (2) broken ribs, (3) black eyes, (4) a dented Adam’s apple which will make him sound like a ransom call the rest of his life, (5) hemorrhages on both arms, (6) blood trickling out of an ear, (7) teeth trickling out of his mouth. It will have to ask: “Did he hurt you at any time, Bat?” If the fellow is still conscious, or at least alive, teach your computer to lean down and ask, “Would you like to fight him again?”

  Your computer will have to learn to be resourceful. Look for the pithy quote even when you don’t get it from the athlete. If a golfer shoots 80 and says, “I kept hitting it into sand traps,” you quote him for the headline, ‘Needed Camel, Not a Caddy’ Says One-Putt Of His 80. The quote will make all the anthologies, and within a week, One-Putt will think he actually said it.

  When you go into the locker room with a guy who just went 0-for-5 and struck out in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and he says, “Get outta here, you four-eyed hunk of tin before I take a can opener and make you look like a totalled Toyota!” you make a few subtle changes. “Your headline: ‘Feeling So Strong it Frightens Me,’ Says Slugger, Despite 0 for 5.”

  Your story quotes the guy, “‘Tomorrow we turn these guys into pumpkins. Hope he throws me that knuckler one more time. He’ll be eating it for a week.’”

  Stories without quotes will be even easier. Just keep a stock of standing headlines. “Rams Blow Super Bowl to Minnesota Again” is good any December. Even the story accompanying it will just need blanks to be filled in: “The Los Angeles Rams blew their chances for the Super Bowl again this year when the Minnesota Vikings defeated them because of (choose one) a blocked field goal, intercepted pass, rainstorm, sunshine, heavy overcast, superior coaching, or all six.”

  And with baseball, remember that the fans like figures, and give them to them: “The Los Angeles Dodgers drew their 4 millionth fan, sold their 16 millionth hot dog, tapped their 5 millionth barrel of beer, sold their 3 millionth bobblehead doll and had their 2,709th straight overflowing parking lot yesterday. The message board saluted the 2 millionth septuagenarian couple from Nepal, welcomed the 150,000th Rotary Club, and announced that next Saturday will be ‘Mafia Night,’ with everyone carrying a violin case or horse’s head to be admitted free.”

  Basketball will be no problem. Keep this standing story: “The (leave blank name of franchise) today signed All-American center Tom (Treetop) Tarheeler, the all-time Atlantic Coast Conference scorer with 1,000 points a game, to a multiyear, no-cut contract believed to call for Rhode Island, downtown Dallas, parts of Wilshire Boulevard and the mineral rights to the Gulf of Mexico.

  “The deal also includes his parole officer, the judge who validated the three previous contracts he put his ‘X’ on and the playground director who taught him not to bite people on court.”

  Auto racing? Easy. Just remember death is a mar in auto racing. As in, “Leadfoot Lonergan won the 57th running of the Fireball 500 today in a race marred by the death of . . .” You just have to fill in the number of drivers and/or spectators.

  In bullfighting, remember death is not a mar, it’s a must. If the bull doesn’t die, well, he gets bad notices.

  Don’t worry about statistics. Just feed your machine a daily diet of bubble-gum cards and it will know more sports trivia than a Boston cop.

  After a year or so on the beat, though, your machine will begin to act strange. It will keep its hat on in the office. It will begin to drink. It will begin to speak of the home team as “we.” It will get sick of people asking, “What’s wrong with the Rams?” It will start to complain about box lunches, the Rams offence, and the amount of space it gets for its story. Its mate may start to hope the home team doesn’t make the playoffs so it can stay home for Christmas for a change.

  And then will come the day when it will start to write about a mark being set for right-handed, half-Portuguese, half-Italian third basemen, about the “Z-outs” run by the tight ends, and it will start storing up non-winning fractions in dual meets — and you’ll know it’s the beginning of the end.

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Jim Murray Memorial Foundation | 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY 13326

Ferris’s mom: ‘. . . so many miracles . . . it’s been incredible to watch’ . . . Cougars add veteran coach to staff . . . OHL team hires Finn as head coach

FerrisBeach
Life at the beach is just great for a smiling Ferris Backmeyer these days. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Ferris Backmeyer continues to smile through her days as she enjoys the latest chapter in what has been a short life full of ups and downs . . . mostly the latter.

Ferris, 6, is from Kamloops and, if you’re new to her story, she underwent her second kidney transplant overnight on June 29 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

She has battled kidney disease for most of her life and actually underwent a kidney transplant on March 6, 2021, at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. However, there were complications and the new kidney had to be removed shortly after having been put in place.

Having travelled a whole lot of rough road, the Backmeyer family found itself in Toronto last month and it is nothing short of amazing to read what they are going through these days.

“Well,” mother Lindsey wrote on Sunday night, “I’d a never dreamed that just a few weeks post-op we’d have witnessed so many miracles . . . but here we are!”

It really does a heart good to read Lindsey’s writings and musings these days because of the positive vibe emanating from them. This is a family — including father Pat and daughters Tavia, 11, and Ksenia, 9 — that has been conditioned to expect the worst when it comes to the youngest member of their group.

FerrisFlower
Ferris Backmeyer is finding ways to have all kinds of fun now that she has a new kidney. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

These days, though, it’s an entirely different story.

“It’s been incredible to watch,” Lindsey added. “She’s the same sweet girl but just feels so much better. She’s had zero complaints of pain. She’s happy. She’s hungry. She’s got really good energy levels. She wakes up before us now and wakes me with face tickles. It’s just been such a treat to witness. I can’t wait until her sisters and grandma get back so they can see it, too!”

Tavia and Ksenia along with Lindsey’s mother have been in California for a few days, visiting with an aunt and uncle.

Meanwhile, back in Toronto, the waiting game continues. Keep in mind that the Backmeyers left their Kamloops home early in March as they moved to Vancouver because Ferris had to be transitioned from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis, the former having become mostly ineffective.

At that time, they had planned to head for Toronto with a transplant scheduled for April 25. However, a phone call on April 19 put the kibosh on that. But a new date was quickly settled on and the family headed to Toronto for the transplant. Now, with all of that behind them, it’s a matter of taking one day at a time . . .

“Our only appointment last week after getting discharged went fairly well,” Lindsey related. “Her fluid collection that was seen on the kidney has grown a bit in size. They will continue to watch it and she has another ultrasound this week. They are keeping us here until they are more confident no further surgical interventions will be required.

“I’m hopeful that we will be back in B.C. by mid-August at the latest!! Until then, hoping for a lot more boring hospital days and cramming in some more summer fun!”

Being back in B.C. will mean a return to Vancouver and the familiar surroundings of Ronald McDonald House and BC Children’s Hospital. If all goes well there — and, really, given the last couple of weeks, why shouldn’t it? — the Backmeyers could be back in their Kamloops home shortly after that.

Here’s hoping that they get there soon.

The BCHL, which left the Hockey Canada umbrella earlier this summer, thinks that its on-ice officials should be allowed to work in games sanctioned by Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. . . . BC Hockey says that isn’t going to happen. Cam Hope, BC Hockey’s CEO, put it this way: “The non-sanctioned policy has been in place for a long time. Leagues that have operated outside the system (have) always known that they were doing things like putting officials in a difficult spot by leaving sanctioned hockey.” . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia has the latest on this peeing contest right here.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

D E.J. Emery, a third-round selection by the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL’s 2021 draft, has committed to the U of North Dakota beginning with the 2024-25 season. He is seen as a potential first-round selection in the NHL’s 2024 draft. . . . Emery played last season for the U.S. U-17 team. Born in Surrey, B.C., he played at the Yale Academy in Abbotsford before moving into the U.S. National Team Development Program. . . . Emery’s father, Eric, is an American who played linebacker in the CFL for the B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Rough Riders (1985-87). . . .

The Kamloops Blazers have added Rebecca Kuresh to their staff as athletic therapist. Kuresh spent the past two seasons with the AJHL’s Canmore Eagles. Before that, she was with the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons for three seasons. A native of Calgary, she will work alongside Colin Robinson, the Blazers’ longtime athletic trainer and equipment manager. . . . Kuresh takes over from Morris Boyer, who was with the Blazers for one season.

Science

THE COACHING GAME:

The Prince George Cougars have signed Jim Playfair as their associate coach, replacing Josh Dixon who left to take over as head coach of the U of Guelph Gryphons men’s hockey team. . . . Playfair is from Fort St. James, B.C., and was a part-time coach with the Cougars for part of last season. . . . He has extensive coaching experience, including 15 seasons as a head coach or associate coach in the NHL. He also has coached in the AHL, IHL and ECHL. . . . His playing experience included time with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and Calgary Wranglers. He won a WHL championship (1982) and a Memorial Cup (1983) with Portland. . . . The Cougars’ news release is right here. . . .

The OHL’s Kitchener Rangers have hired Jussi Ahokas, a native of Finland, as their head coach. Ahokas, 42, has been coaching in Europe for 20 years. He made stops in Germany (Deutsche Eishockey Liga — DEL), Finland (Finnish Elite League — Liiga), Sweden (Swedish Hockey League — SHL), and Switzerland  (National League — NL). . . . Under his guidance as head coach, Finland won the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal in Vancouver and the 2016 IIHF U-18 World Championship in Grand Forks, N.D. . . . For the past four seasons, he has been coaching Finland’s Liiga, first with Turku TPS and most recently with Kouvola KooKoo. . . . The Rangers fired head coach Chris Dennis on Feb. 10 with general manager Mike McKenzie and assistant coaches Dennis Wideman, Brandon Merli and Brennan Menard taking over to finish the season. . . .

Jerrod Smith is the new head coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. He has been on the Spitfires’ coaching staff since joining as video coach in 2011. He was an assistant coach from 2013-18 and associate coach for two seasons after that. For the past two seasons, he also has been director of player personnel. . . . He takes over as head coach from Marc Savard, who left to join the NHL’s Calgary Flames as an assistant coach. . . .

Jim Midgley has returned to the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads as head coach. . . . He replaces Sylvain Favreau, who left the organization last month. . . . Midgley spent six seasons (2011-17) as an assistant coach in Halifax and one season (2017-18) as head coach. He was an assistant coach when the Mooseheads won the 2013 Memorial Cup. . . . Midgley spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s New York Rangers. . . . Brad MacKenzie and Liam Heelis are returning as the Mooseheads’ assistant coaches. . . .

The OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads and general manager/head coach James Richmond have agreed on a contract extension that, according to a news release, is to “carry through to the 2029-30 season.” . . . The Steelheads are 194-164-42 during Richmond’s time with them. . . .

The AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons have promoted Sara Diamond to full-time assistant coach. She also will continue as the team’s skating and skills coach, a role she started in last season. . . . With the Oil Barons, the native of Bonavista, Nfld., will work alongside general manager/head coach Adam Manah.

Train

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

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Fire season reaches Kamloops . . . Former WHL enforcer gets into coaching game . . . Everett, Red Deer add assistants

We had visitors in our home for the past week and had occasion to make two trips over the Coquihalla. The lack of respect some drivers show towards construction workers is impossible to understand. Is there any reason for someone to drive 100 km-h in a construction zone that is clearly posted as 70?

On our way back from Hell’s Gate on Wednesday, we took Highway 5A from Merritt to Kamloops. On Thursday, a lightning storm moved through the area and now the city is experiencing its first really nasty skies (smoke, ash, embers, etc.) of the summer. Yes, we had been lucky to get this far into summer with mostly smoke-less skies. But we knew it couldn’t last, especially when the temperature reached 35 C for an extended period.

And now there is a fire — the Ross Moore Lake fire — that is 11 or 13 km (depending on what you’re reading) from Kamloops’ southern border. It is between 5A and the Coquihalla (No. 5) and burning aggressively, and people have been evacuated. There is a lot of grassland between the fire and the city, so only time will tell how it will react with less forest to devour.

In the meantime, cooler temperatures are in the forecast — 29 C for Monday and 23 C with showers (ahh, please!) for Tuesday.

As for our visitors, well, they quite enjoyed their stay. Until Saturday when WestJet dumped on their vacation. The flight to Calgary was to have left at 11 a.m., and was listed as ‘on time’ at 8:30 a.m. But it ended up being an hour late leaving Kamloops and the airline chose not to hold the connecting flight to Brandon. (A  hold of about 15 minutes is all that was needed.) So, after spending a night in the Calgary airport, our guests arrived home Sunday morning.

By coincidence, a WestJet ad showed up on my Facebook page Saturday night. I noted that it had more than 1,000 responses. A quick check showed that about 99 per cent of them were critical of the airline. Should I have been surprised?

FakeDinos

James McEwan, a former WHL enforcer who was one of the original signees of a proposed class-action lawsuit against the CHL, including the WHL, is getting into the coaching racket. McEwan has taken over as general manager and head coach of the junior B Summerland Steam of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.

McEwan, 36, replaces Mark MacMillan, who spent two seasons with the Steam and now is preparing for his first season as an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees.

A Kelowna native, McEwan played four seasons (2004-08) in the WHL, spending two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds and two with his hometown Rockets. A forward, he put up seven goals and 10 assists in 208 regular-season games. He also totalled 540 penalty minutes.

He went on to play five seasons in the ECHL, retiring after spending 2014-15 with the Gwinnett Gladiators. In 150 regular-season games, he had seven goals, six assists and 557 penalty minutes.

McEwan doesn’t have any coaching experience, although he is the president of Infinite Ice, which, according to his LinkedIn page, focuses on “providing players with an inspiring, healthy environment (in which) to develop the skills and qualities to thrive long term in the game of hockey and life. Our mission is to elevate the consciousness of players and unite them with their inner power to be connected, balanced, strong, healthy leaders on and off the ice.”

He also lists himself as a meditation and yoga teacher.

In 2019, McEwan and a number of other former players launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against the CHL, including the WHL, and Hockey Canada, alleging that they were negligent by “perpetuating an environment that permitted, condoned and encourage fighting and violence in the game among the underage players they they are obliged to protect.”

Rick Westhead of TSN reported in May that a judge “has set a date for lawyers to argue whether the case should proceed as a class action: Oct. 25-27 in Vancouver.”

McEwan, according to an affidavit filed as part of the proposed lawsuit, had more than 70 fights during his four WHL seasons. He has said that he believes he now is showing symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive brain disease associated with brain injuries, including concussions.

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — BC Parks to improve campsite reservation system by partnering with Ticketmaster.

Blinker2

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The BCHL, which you will be aware now is operating outside of Hockey Canada’s jurisdiction, has revealed its on-ice officiating staff for 2023-24. In total, the officiating department features four development coaches and mentors, five managers, 26 referees and 24 linespeople. . . . Because the BCHL now operates independently, if any of these officials work in the BCHL after Sept. 30, they won’t be allowed to work in any events that are sanctioned by BC Hockey or Hockey Canada for 2023-24. . . . The BCHL news release, including the names off all on-ice officials, is right here. . . .

Taylor Curry has joined the WHL’s Tri-City Americans as their athletic therapist. From Tacoma, she has been a volunteer assistant athletic therapist with the Seattle Thunderbirds, working with veteran Phil Varney. Curry has a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Washington State and a master’s in sports medicine and injury studies from Cal State Long Beach. . . . With the Americans, Curry takes over from Midge Pearson, who worked with them for one season. . . .

The Vancouver Giants have hired Cord Ivanco as their new equipment manager. Ivanco, 28, spent the past five seasons with the U of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team. . . . In Vancouver, he takes over from Brodie St. Jacques, who joined the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks in June. . . .

F Blake Eastman has joined the Summerside Western Capitals of the junior A Maritime Hockey League after spending four seasons (2019-23) in the WHL. Eastman, from Androssan, Alta., cleared 20-year-old waivers in the WHL after playing with the Prince George Cougars. In 180 regular-season games, he put up 19 goals and 25 assists.

Nonprofit

THE COACHING GAME:

The Everett Silvertips have added Mike Field to their staff as an assistant coach. Field, 39, had been associate head coach with the Arizona State U Sun Devils for eight seasons. He is from Marquette, Mich., and will work alongside head coach Dennis Williams and assistant Dean DeSilva in Everett. . . .

Clayton Beddoes, who is from Bentley, Alta., has joined the Red Deer Rebels as an assistant coach. Beddoes actually is returning to the Rebels, whom he served as skills coach in 2014-15. . . . He played with the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs and the AJHL’s Rustlers before going on to school at Lake Superior State. He played two seasons (1995-97) with the Boston Bruins, then went on to play in the IHL and Europe before retiring in 2002. . . . Beddoes has coaching experience in Germany and Italy, and most recently was with the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star (2021-22) and the Chinese national team program. . . . In Red Deer, he will be working with first-year head coach Derrick Walser and assistant Mike Egener. . . .

Andy Moog won’t be back for an eighth season as the Portland Winterhawks’ goaltending coach. Moog, 63, has chosen to retire. He joined the Winterhawks in time for the 2016-17 season. . . . Brendan Burke, a former Portland goaltender, has been promoted to replace Moog. Burke joined the Winterhawks as assistant goaltending coach prior to the 2022-23 season. Burke, 28, played three-plus seasons (2011-15) with Portland, then finished his WHL career with the Calgary Hitmen. He also got into 19 games with the OHL’s London Knights in 2015-16. After junior, Burke played four seasons with the U of Alberta Golden Bears. . . .

Joël Perrault is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic. Earlier, Perrault, 40, had signed on as an assistant coach with the Victoriaville Tigres. But that was before the opportunity arose with Rimouski. . . . Perreault ended a 13-season pro career after playing in France in 2015-16. His career included 96 games in the NHL, split among the Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks. . . . He spent the past three seasons as head coach of the U18 AAA Saint-Eustache Vikings. . . . In Rimouski, he takes over from Serge Beausoleil, who had been with the organization for 12 years. . . .

Ryan Marsh is the new head coach of the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints. Marsh, 48, has been coaching since 2003-04 when he was an assistant with the AJHL’s Fort Saskatchewan Traders. He was an assistant with the Saints for four seasons (2006-10). He also has coaching experience with NAIT and the U of Alberta Golden Bears. For four seasons, he was an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings, and also spent four seasons as associate coach with the Saskatoon Blades. Last season, he worked with the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings. . . . Marsh takes over from Bram Stephens with the Saints. They had announced on July 5 that Stephens wouldn’t be returning after six seasons as head coach. . . .

The AJHL’s Brooks Bandits are looking for an assistant coach after Nick Prkusic revealed that he is leaving the organization in order to return to playing. Prkusic played three seasons with the Bandits, winning two AJHL titles, then won another in 2022-23 in his only season as an assistant coach. . . . In between, he played four seasons at Robert Morris U in Carnot-Moon, Penn. . . . The Bandits’ news release didn’t indicate where Prkusic would be playing in 2023-24.

Mike Hammond, who won the BCHL’s 2010-11 scoring title, was killed in a single-vehicle car accident near Shawnigan Lake, B.C., on Wednesday. RCMP were on scene at 5:30 a.m., and said the driver of the Porsche Boxter apparently lost control of the vehicle, left the road and hit a tree. . . . Hammond was 33. . . . He played one game with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets in 2006-07. . . . He led the BCHL with 93 points in 2010-11, splitting the season between the Cowichan Valley Capitals and Salmon Arm Silverbacks. . . . After four seasons in the BCHL, Hammond spent four seasons at Lakehead U and one in the ECHL before going to Europe. He played last season with the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers. . . . Born in Brighton, he also represented Great Britain in a number of international competitions, including the 2023 IIHF Division 1A championship, where he had two goals and three assists in five games.

THINKING OUT LOUD: How come I don’t see the ubiquitous Burger King butter chicken or Hyundai ‘We Make Wah’ commercials when I’m watching American TV channels? . . . It’s time for Subway to ditch the hungry momma, too. Give her the No. 12 and send her on her way. Please. . . . And don’t get me started on that family in the Save-On-Foods commercials. Stop paying them and maybe the price of groceries would drop a bit. Or maybe not. . . . Meanwhile, there was another thrilling finish in the CFL as the Ottawa Rough, er, Redblacks went into Calgary and beat the Stampeders, 43-41, in overtime. Yes, that was a fun one. . . . There were at least 1,070 new COVID-19 cases in Canada for the period July 2-8. However, only Ontario (450) and Quebec (620) are bothering to report these days. There were at least nine deaths, with Quebec reporting six and Ontario three. Gee, why would Canadian politicians want to keep their heads in the sand and not pass the numbers along to their constituents?

Wolf

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Grounds

Hospital to Ferris: You’re outta here! . . . She’s ‘a free bird’ . . . Bedard signs his first NHL contract

In the words of her mother, Lindsey, Ferris Backmeyer “is a free bird” today.

Ferris2
Ferris Backmeyer, post-transplant, enjoys time at a Toronto park. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Ferris, a six-year-old from Kamloops, is in Toronto with her family, recovering from a kidney transplant that was done at the Hospital for Sick Children.

The joy this family — it includes Pat, Lindsey’s husband, and older sisters Tavia, 11, and Ksenia, 9 — now is feeling just bursts off the computer screen as one reads Lindsey’s latest Facebook post.

“Nineteen hospital sleeps was 100% worth it to be right where we are. On the other side,” Lindsey writes. “It’s pretty (bleeping) dreamy!! It was the most surreal hospital experience we’ve ever had. A really quick recovery from a post-op/pain perspective and then a kid who is the least sick that she’s ever been in hospital!”

Remember that Ferris hasn’t known much but kidney problems and dialysis — either peritoneal or hemo — for most all of her short life. What she is experiencing now is unbelievably awesome.

Ferris1
Ferris Backmeyer is a swinging young lady in the early days of her post-transplant life. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

After undergoing the transplant, Ferris’s recovery was interrupted a tad by a bladder leak that required the installation of a catheter. But Lindsey reports that the leak “appears to have healed up well” and the catheter has been removed

Lindsey adds:

“The last week she has felt pretty good. No pain meds at all. Just waiting for the catheter and drain to come out. We managed to go out on passes in the afternoon/evening knowing that if the ultrasound looked solid (Sunday) we would get to leave (Monday)! It took allll day but we left at dinner time.

“We’ve been to this park daily and so far it’s filling her cup! That, and the Krispy Crèmes!!”

Now . . . if you’ve been following Ferris’s story for any length of time and are aware of what this family has been through, well, try reading this without things getting a bit misty.

Ferris3
Ferris Backmeyer is loving another Krispy Kreme donut. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

“We’ve had so many sweet moments over the past couple of weeks,” Lindsey writes. “The big one is the eating. She’s no longer getting any tube feeds at all. Eating way too much food and meeting her fluid goals for the day. Watching her try new foods and demolish whole meals puts the biggest smile on my face. It’s unbelievable but also something I just knew was in her future.”

The really good news is that Ferris’s new kidney “continues to be soooo happy. There’s still some fine-tuning to be done with getting her weight down safely. She breathes really fast and her X-ray showed fluid on her lungs. I see it in her (impossible not to with a respiratory rate in the 60s) and it’s really hard to watch but her sats and heart rate are happy. It’s been that way for a couple weeks now and she’s pretty fine otherwise. But something I’d love to improve!”

For now, the Backmeyers will hang around Ronald McDonald House and wait for a transfer to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. If all goes well that move could take place in two weeks. After that, well, it would home to Kamloops for the first time in months.

And they really are going to enjoy the next couple of days because their medical team doesn’t want to see Ferris until Thursday.

“We haven’t had two whole days away from a hospital since the end of February!!” Lindsey notes. “That’s a huge win if you ask me!! It’s been 2.5 weeks since she’s had a dialysis treatment! There are wins falling from the sky lately!”

Lindsey also has maintained a sense of humour through all of this, and you can feel it as she writes: “Hell, I even finally got my first EI cheque . . . I’ve only been off work for four months already but yay for finally getting that sorted out!”

So . . . Lindsey, please tell us how you really feel . . . how you really, really feel.

“Life feels incredibly easy right now,” she writes. “Waiting for the shoe to drop but the longer we go with steadiness that fear settles a bit. This is not how we typically do things! Smoooooth! We literally just do meds and go for bloodwork and ultrasounds.”

FerrisLogoYou may not be aware that there isn’t a cure for kidney disease. Once you have it there isn’t any shaking it. Transplant recipients, while freed from having to do dialysis, are on a rather serious drug regimen.

Here’s Lindsey describing Ferris’s situation as of now:

“The meds are pretty intensive with several being cytotoxic and she’s on a schedule that has us giving meds five times throughout the day and a once daily injection. But it’s not a record amount of drugs for us by any means.

“It was definitely a record amount of money spent though!! Today’s bill was $2,000 for a three-week supply . . . which is trying to be sorted out for us. I’m fairly certain we will pay and then get reimbursed for a big chunk. It’ll be a non-issue once we get back to B.C.

“She’s on immunosuppressants, antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal, blood-thinner injections and a handful of others. I’m just not used to getting such a big bill for meds she’s already been on before and were covered.”

Yes, there are some considerable differences in what is/isn’t covered between Ontario and B.C.

Of course, to see Ferris and where she’s at now, well, everything this family has been through has been worth it.

“I’m like you realize we’ve done all these things for years. Right?” Lindsey concludes. “(It’s) all worth it to be where we are at right now. I can dream dreams that feel so within our reach I can taste it!! Some normalcy. Meds. That’s it!! Okay . . . so far I think we got this!!”

F Connor Bedard, the first overall selection in the NHL’s 2023 draft, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, which just happened to be his 18th birthday. . . . Bedard dominated talk in the first four months of 2023, thanks to his performance with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship and the last three months of what likely have been the last season of his WHL career with the Regina Pats. . . . Bedard, at 17, led the WHL in goals (71) and points (143), and was tied for the lead in assists (72), all in 57 games. . . . At the WJC, he put up 23 points, nine of them goals, in seven games. He led the tournament in points as he set a Canadian single-tournament record. He was fourth in tournament scoring for the 2023 event. . . . Bedard was named the CHL’s player of the year, the IIHF’s male player of the year and won the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence that is presented by NHL Central Scouting to the “draft prospect who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.” . . . Because he’s 18, Bedard will have to be returned to the Pats for the 2023-24 season, unless he makes the Blackhawks’ roster. . . . On which option are you betting? LOL!! . . . Bedard and the Blackhawks open the regular season on Oct. 10 in Pittsburgh against F Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Bettman vows to build a whole new city in Arizona if he has to.

Produce

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Geoff Walker is the new hockey operations general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. . . . In each of the past two seasons, he guided a Superior International Junior Hockey League team to the Centennial Cup tournament, getting there with the Red Lake Miners in 2022 and Kam River Fighting Walleye last season. . . . In Drayton Valley, Walker replaces Corey Bricknell, who stepped up from associate coach to take over from Sean Brown on Jan. 10. The team had announced on June 5 that Bricknell would be returning for a second season, but that apparently isn’t going to happen. . . . Bricknell still shows up on the Thunder website, now as an Edmonton scout. . . .

Cole McCaig is returning to the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers as their assistant general manager and assistant coach. He has agreed to a one-year contract extension. McCaig has been with the Bombers since signing on as assistant coach for the 2018-19 season.

Lew Morrison, who played with the Flin Flon Bombers, died on Saturday. He was 75. . . . A native of Gainsborough, Sask., he grew up in Hartney, Man. . . . He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the eighth overall pick of the NHL’s 1968 draft. He played his first three NHL seasons with the Flyers, then went on to the Atlanta Flames, who claimed him in an expansion draft, Washington Capitals, who also grabbed him in an expansion draft, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished with career totals of 39 goals and 52 assists. . . . Morrison retired after scoring six times and adding 14 assists in 65 games with the AHL’s Binghamton Dusters in 1977-78. . . . In 1966-67, he helped the Bombers to the MJHL championship with 25 goals and 40 assists in 44 games. The next season, Morrison had 26 goals and 23 assist with the Bombers in what was then the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League. . . . He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Thongs

Hitmen part company with GM; Davidson promoted . . . WHL might be Chynoweth-less for first time in more than 50 years . . . Report: Ex-WHLer writes Putin seeking citizenship

The Calgary Hitmen announced on Friday afternoon that they and general manager Jeff Chynoweth “have agreed to mutually part ways.” In a three-paragraph news release that was posted on social media, Mike Moore, the teams’ vice-president and governor, said: “Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation would like to thank Jeff for his six years with the Hitmen and wish him success moving forward.” . . . The third paragraph announced that Garry Davidson, who had been director of player personnel, has been promoted to director of hockey operations. Davidson joined the Hitmen on June 10, 2021, after having spent nine seasons as the Everett Silvertips’ GM. . . .

Chynoweth, his brother Dean and their late father, Ed, have had a long run in the WHL. In fact, if Jeff isn’t working somewhere in the league when the 2023-24 season opens, it will be the first time since the 1970-71 season that the WHL will operate without a Chynoweth involved. . . . Ed got his start as the Saskatoon Blades’ assistant general manager for the 1971-72 season. He was named the Western Canada Hockey League president in November 1972 and was part of the league — in the league office or with the Calgary Wranglers or Edmonton/Kootenay Ice — until his death on April 22, 2008. . . . Dean played three seasons (1985-88) with the Medicine Hat Tigers. He spent four seasons (2000-04) as the Seattle Thunderbirds’ head coach, then was the GM/head coach with the Swift Current Broncos for five seasons (2004-09). He is preparing for his third season as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. . . .

Jeff Chynoweth took over from Moore as Calgary’s GM on July 11, 2017, when the latter moved up to his present position and also added some responsibilities with lacrosse’s Calgary Roughnecks. . . . The Hitmen and Roughnecks are owned by Calgary Sports and Entertainment, which also owns the NHL’s Flames and the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. . . . While Chynoweth was the GM for six years, the pandemic wiped out the 2019-20 playoffs and the 2020-21 season. In the other four seasons, Calgary twice missed the playoffs; it hasn’t been past the first round since 2019. . . . Before joining the Hitmen, he had been with the Edmonton/Kootenay Ice since 1995. That run ended when his family sold the franchise. Before that, Chynoweth had worked with the Brandon Wheat Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers, Red Deer Rebels and Spokane Chiefs.

Tinfoil

Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun has an interesting column right here. . . . He touches on the mess that is the CFL’s Edmonton Elks. . . . He has a bit on what he terms the “unceremonious departure” of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice and how the players found out about it all on social media. Seriously. . . . Friesen tops it all off with an item about F Brendan Leipsic, who played for the Portland Winterhawks (2010-14), writing a letter to Vladimir Putin — yes, that Vladimir Putin — asking for Russian citizenship. Leipsic has played the past three seasons in the KHL. . . . What a time to be alive, eh?

Louis Robitaille is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Eagles. He spent the past three seasons as head coach of the Gatineau Olympiques, going 104-38-25. The Olympiques reached the QMJHL’s final four in 2023 for the first time since 2011. . . . Before moving to Gatineau, Robitaille spent four seasons as head coach of the Victoriaville Tigres. . . . With the Eagles, he takes over from Jon Goyens, who was the head coach for one season. The Eagles and Goyens had one of those mutually agreed upon parting of the ways after the season, which is the same way that Robitaille and the Olympiques parted company on May 23.

Godzilla

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Poor

Will K.C. bring sunshine to Wild? . . . Patience pays off for Herauf . . . Giants confirm that they need head coach

Ferris071223
Ferris Backmeyer’s older sisters, Ksenia (left) and Tavia, were able to take her for a stroll on Wednesday. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Things continue to go swimmingly for Ferris Backmeyer, the six-year-old from Kamloops who underwent a kidney transplant overnight June 29 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. . . . In fact, Ferris and her older sisters — Ksenia and Tavia — were able to go for a bit of a stroll on Wednesday. . . . As for what’s next, her mother, Lindsey, reports that the catheter that was installed because of a urine leak is to come out this morning (Friday). If that goes well through the weekend, Ferris will be discharged to Ronald McDonald House on Monday. And if things continue on the right track next week, the Backmeyers could be looking at a transfer to Vancouver and B.C. Children’s Hospital shortly after that. . . . CFJC-TV has a piece on Ferris with an interview with Lindsey right here.

Thursday was another busy day on the WHL coaching front, what with two new head coaches introduced — one of those was a huge surprise — and a veteran head coach leaving for the AHL. . . . At the end of the day, only one WHL franchise was left without a head coach . . . although Marty Murray, the Brandon Wheat Kings’ general manager who took over as head coach early last season, has yet to say whether he’ll return to the bench.

——

Kevin Constantine is back in the WHL for a third go-round, this time as head coach of the Wenatchee Wild (nee Winnipeg Ice/Kootenay Ice/Edmonton Ice). . . . Constantine, 64, agreed to a four-year contract with the Wild. He spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Hungarian team Fehérvár AV19 that plays in the Austrian-based ICE Hockey League. . . . He has been coaching in Europe for the past six seasons. . . . Before heading overseas, Constantine did two four-season stints (2003-07, 2013-17) as head coach of the Everett Silvertips. . . . He was named the WHL’s coach of the year for 2003-04. That was the Silvertips’ first season and they reached the WHL final. . . . His coaching resume includes seven years as an NHL head coach, split among the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils. . . . Constantine takes over the Wild from James Patrick, the team’s head coach for the previous six seasons while it was in Cranbrook and Winnipeg. . . . Chris Clark, the head coach of the Wild while it was in the BCHL, will work as associate head coach, with a full-time assistant coach yet to be hired. . . . Leigh Mendelson is the goaltender coach and director of recruiting. . . . The Wild’s news release is right here.

——

After eight seasons as an assistant coach with his hometown team, Brad Herauf has been named head coach of the Regina Pats. He takes over from John Paddock, who announced his retirement on Monday. . . . Alan Millar, the Pats’ new general manager, is more than a little familiar with Herauf. Before leaving for a two-year run with Hockey Canada, Millar was in the Moose Jaw Warriors’ front office. . . . Herauf actually took over as Regina’s interim head coach for a bit late in the 2021-22 season with Paddock away as he dealt with some health concerns. . . . Herauf, 40, was on the coaching staff of the Regina Pat Canadians, a U18 AAA team, before joining the Pats. . . . While introducing Herauf as head coach, the Pats also announced that Ken Schneider will be returning as assistant coach and that goaltender coach Daniel Wapple also will be back. Schneider is preparing for his third season in that role. Wapple joined the team during last season. . . . The Pats are looking for another full-time assistant to fill the opening created by Herauf’s promotion. . . . Tyler Shire of the Regina Leader-Post has a story right here.

——

The Vancouver Giants confirmed on Thursday what Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported on Wednesday — head coach Michael Dyck is leaving to join the Toronto Marlies as an assistant coach. The Marlies are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. . . . The Giants now are the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach. . . . Dyck, 54, had been the Giants’ head coach for five seasons. . . . In his first season there (2018-19), the Giants reached the WHL final where they lost Game 7, 3-2 in OT, to the host Prince Albert Raiders. . . . “The Giants are a first-class organization,” Dyck told Ewen, “and a lot of that has to do with the stability (majority owner Ron Toigo) has set up here. The ownership group, the management group, the players . . . it’s been just an amazing experience. And then living in a city like Vancouver. It couldn’t have been any better.” . . . Ewen’s story is right here.

Triathlon

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Climate wondering how much it has to change before humans notice.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Everett Silvertips posted an item on Twitter on Thursday afternoon that featured a photo of a goaltender and this message: “Thank you, Tim!” . . . That would seem to indicate that the Silvertips have released Swiss G Tim Metzger, 18. The 6-foot-6, 205-pounder was picked up in the CHL’s 2002 import draft. He made 17 appearances with Everett last season, going 4-5-0, 3.35, .888. . . . Earlier this week, the Silvertips signed Finnish F Julius Miettinen, 17, who was selected in this year’s import draft. Their roster also includes Czechia F Dominik Rymon, 19, who had two goals and nine assists in 18 games last season. . . .

The BCHL’s Coquitlam Express has signed 2005-born F Grady Lenton, who played last season with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. On June 7, the Rockets dealt Lenton, a first-round WHL draft pick in 2024 and a second-rounder in 2027 to the Seattle Thunderbirds for F Tij Iginla. . . . Last season, Lenton had four goals and four assists in 59 regular-season games with the Rockets. . . .

Chris Price is the new head coach of the junior B Chilliwack Jets of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. . . . Last season, he was on the coaching staff of the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs. Earlier, he spent three seasons as head coach and assistant general manager with the PJHL’s Aldergrove Kodiaks. . . . At the same time, majority owner Clayton Robinson, last season’s head coach, now is the Jets’ full-time president and general manager.

DietCoke

THINKING OUT LOUD: If you haven even the slightest interest in Canadian history — and even if you don’t — and if you are on Twitter, make sure to follow Craig Baird (@CraigBaird). I guarantee that you will learn things every day about this country’s past. The work this guy does is amazing. . . . ICYMI, the Edmonton Elks lost their 20th straight home game on Thursday, dropping an ugly 37-29 decision to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of a whole lot of empty seats. The Elks now share the professional sporting record for most consecutive home losses with the 1953 St. Louis Browns, who moved to Baltimore once that season was over. The Elks will have two weeks to stew over this one. Will Chris Jones still be running things in Edmonton when the B.C. Lions come calling on July 29? He has so many titles there that he likely would have to fire himself and that isn’t going to happen. . . . With head coach Michael Dyck having left the Vancouver Giants, as you will have read here earlier, do you think majority owner Ron Toigo’s first call was to James Patrick, the former head coach of the Winnipeg Ice?

Kidney

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Tortilla

Rebels have their head coach . . . Giants’ guy moving on . . . Pats to introduce new one today

One new coach coming in . . . one veteran coach leaving . . . and another new coach to be introduced today (Thursday) . . . such was Wednesday in the WHL . . .

Derrick Walser is the new head coach of the Red Deer Rebels, replacing Steve RedDeerKonowalchuk who left the organization after his second season with the team. . . . Walser, 45, had been an assistant coach with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes since 2017. The Petes won the OHL title last season. . . . As a player, he spent five seasons in the QMJHL, split between the Beauport Harfangs and Rimouski Oceanic. He then went on to a 19-season professional career before turning to coaching. The coaching career began with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League where he was the playing head coach for two seasons. . . . The Rebels’ news release is right here.

——

Steve Ewen of Postmedia reported that head coach Michael Dyck is leaving the VancouverVancouver Giants after five seasons with the team. Ewen wrote that “multiple sources” indicated that Dyck will be joining the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, as an assistant coach. . . . Dyck took over as the Giants’ head coach for the 2018-19 season and guided them to the WHL final where they lost Game 7, 3-2 in OT, to the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Ewen’s complete story is right here.

——

The Regina Pats are to name their new head coach today (Thursday). The Reginaleading candidate would appear to be Brad Herauf, an assistant coach with the team since 2015-16. From Regina, he spent two seasons as head coach of the U18 AAA Regina Pat Canadians before joining the Pats as an assistant coach. . . . John Paddock, the Pats’ vice-president of hockey operations, general manager and head coach, announced his retirement on Monday. Alan Millar now is the vice-president of hockey ops and GM.

Paddock
Here’s a photo from the late 1980s of a couple of men who went on to coach in the WHL. That’s Don Nachbaur (26) getting a tip from John Paddock, then the head coach of the AHL’s Hershey Bears. Thanks to Craig West for the photo.

Paul Friesen touched base with a couple of Manitobans the other day, both of whom have ties to the WHL and both of whom now have their names on the Stanley Cup. Vaughn Karpan runs the Vegas Golden Knights’ pro scouting department; Bob Lowes is in charge of amateur scouting. And they both were more than thrilled to see their names etched on Lord Stanley’s mug. . . . Friesen’s piece is right here. . . . BTW, I cannot tell a lie. When the photo of the Golden Knights’ place on the Stanley Cup hit social media, the first thing I did was check for three names — Karpan, Lowes and Kelly McCrimmon. It did my heart a lot of good to see them there. Well done, gentlemen!

Things could get interesting when it’s time for the IIHF to hear bids for the 2026 World Junior Championship. KSDK News out of St. Louis reported Tuesday that “the St. Louis Sports Commission and St. Louis Blues have put together a coalition to bid to host” the 2026 event that would open on Dec. 26, 2005. . . . Short afterwards, Gord Miller of TSN, who has a lot of sources in and around the IIHF through his role as the network’s primary play-by-play voice of the tournament, tweeted: “Hearing Seattle, Tampa and Vegas are also interested in hosting the 2026 World Juniors in the US.”

The junior B Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League, which features 11 teams, announced on Tuesday that it has “applied to BC Hockey, asking to reclassify as a junior A league for the 2023-24 season.” . . . This means that two of the province’s three junior B leagues have applied to BC Hockey for junior A status. The 20-team Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, which includes the Spokane Braves, said last month that it wants to move up. . . . At the moment, B.C. doesn’t have a junior A league because the BCHL has chosen to go (a) rogue, (b) outlaw, (c) independent, or (d) all of the above, and operate outside of Hockey Canada. . . . From a VIJHL news conference: “Recent meetings with BC Hockey and the three leagues (VIJHL, PJHL, KIJHL) have assisted to get a better understanding of the issues that need to be addressed and potential course of action to remedy the concern. . . . The focus on the three leagues is to provide an avenue or pathway that our B.C.-born players can choose to follow their hockey aspirations. All three junior B leagues continue to work collaboratively to assist in filling the void.” . . . The 14-team Pacific Junior Hockey League operates on the province’s Lower Mainland. The PJHL hasn’t yet indicated if it, too, wants junior A status.

Wakeupcall

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Portland Winterhawks have acquired G Justen Maric, 19, from the Moose Jaw Warriors for s sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Maric went 16-1-0, 2.39, .934 in 17 regular-season appearances with the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars last season. From Edmonton, Maric got into three games with the Warriors last season (0-1-0, 3.84, .864). . . . He was a fifth-round pick by the Red Deer Rebels in the WHL’s 2019 draft but played in only one game with them in the 2021-22 season. . . .

F Nate Danielson of the Brandon Wheat Kings has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. They selected him ninth overall in the 2023 NHL draft. . . . Danielson, from Edmonton, has 33 goals and 45 assists in 68 games last season. . . . He won’t turn 19 until Sept. 27 and has to be returned to the Wheat Kings unless he plays in the NHL next season. . . .

Eight WHL players have been named to the roster of the Canadian team that will play in the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup that is to be played in Breclav, Czechia, and Trencin, Slovakia. The tournament is scheduled to run July 31 through Aug. 5. Canada opens on July 31 against Finland in Trencin. . . . Kris Mallette, the head coach of the Kelowna Rockets, is one of the team’s assistant coaches. . . . The complete roster is right here.

Snails

THE COACHING GAME:

The NHL’s Anaheim Ducks have added Brent Thompson to their staff as an assistant coach. Thompson, 52, is from Calgary and played three seasons (1988-91) with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . For the past nine seasons, he has been the head coach of the Bridgeport SoundTigers/Islanders, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Islanders. . . . Thompson has two sons playing in the NHL — Tage is with the Buffalo Sabres; Tyce is with the New Jersey Devils.

THINKING OUT LOUD: Major League Baseball really needs to get rid of those ghastly all-star uniforms and put the players back in their team gear. Of course, it won’t happen because it’s all about selling merchandise, isn’t it? . . . Is it true that Jeff Hamilton of the independent Winnipeg Free Press is the only newspaper writer travelling the CFL beat this season? It seems that Postmedia, which owns at least 11 newspapers in CFL cities, isn’t putting any writers on the road. . . . The Edmonton Elks’ 19-game home-field losing skid is on the line tonight against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Should be fun. . . . Interestingly, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had lost seven straight at home before beating the Elks, 12-11, a week ago. . . . And the Ottawa RedBlacks had lost 13 in a row at home before they dumped the Elks, 26-7, two weeks ago.

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Nothing

‘Low-key’ and ‘boring’ exciting for Backmeyer family . . . Pats lose Paddock to retirement; Millar gets half his job . . . ECHL goes into Lake Tahoe

Ferris071023
Ferris Backmeyer is looking happy and satisfied as she recovers from a kidney transplant in a Toronto hospital (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Never have words like “low-key” and “boring” been as exciting as when they appear in postings from Lindsey Backmeyer, whose daughter Ferris, 6, continues to recover from a kidney transplant.

FerrisLogoThe Backmeyers — Pat, Lindsey’s husband, and their two other daughters, Tavia and Ksenia — are from Kamloops. They have been in Toronto for a month. Ferris, who was diagnosed with kidney disease early in her young life, underwent a transplant overnight on June 29 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

“Things have been pretty low-key and incredibly boring . . . just the way we like it,” Lindsey wrote on Facebook on Monday. “Happy birthday to my ma yesterday!! We couldn’t be doing this right now as a family if it weren’t for her!! The bigs are definitely keeping her young and busy!!!”

Lindsey’s mother, Leslie Maydaniuk, also is in Toronto, and she has been instrumental in helping with the two oldest girls (aka the bigs).

As for Ferris, it seems she isn’t likely to be discharged from hospital for a few days. She has been experiencing some urine leakage, so the medical team had to put in a catheter.

“Urology is pretty adamant the catheter stays in until Friday so we have a week still at least before a potential discharge,” Lindsey wrote. “Her drain isn’t outputting anything and her kidney is still very happy. I’m cool with waiting if that’s what they think is best.

Ferris2071023
Ferris has been keeping busy with lots of crafts, including some nice and messy finger-painting. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

“It just feels a little dreamy to expect we will get through to discharge without any drama. She threatens it a bit at times but for the most part is behaving herself. Maybe boring is our new jam!!”

Boring hasn’t really been part of the Backmeyer family’s lives for more than five years, so it’s understandable if it’s hard to get used to at this point. Ferris, like most, if not all, six-year-olds, doesn’t do boring well at all.

“Ferris is the least impressed with being bored but the hospital does a decent job of trying to keep her busy,” according to Lindsey. “The days are loooong yet going by quickly. We’ve been here a month now already!! It’s exactly where we need to be right now so settling into that idea and just accepting where we are at.”

Meanwhile, Grandma and the bigs are in for a treat — like 10 days in California, starting on Friday.

Lindsey’s brother “has offered to bring the girls and grandma to California for a visit,” Lindsey wrote. “It was super sweet that the girls were worried about Ferris and felt sad for her, but I reminded them that their lives are super important too and this is an opportunity they won’t want to miss out on!! Hanging out with their auntie, uncle and cousins!! Should be a blast!! They are incredibly excited and I’m super excited for them!”

If anyone deserves a trip like this, it is Tavia and Ksenia. It’s easy to forget about them in all that has gone on around this family over the past five-plus years. But they’ve been part-and-parcel of the entire adventure, too, and they have shown an inordinate amount of bravery, courage and love through it all. So it’s good to see something like this happen for them.

After having spent 52 of his 69 years in junior or pro hockey, John Paddock announced his retirement on Monday in Regina. He had been the Regina Pats’ vice-president of hockey operations and head coach.

Paddock, a native of Brandon, will help the organization as a senior advisor.

He joined the Pats prior to the 2014-15 season. He has been the senior VP of hockey operations, VP of hockey operations, general manager and/or head coach at various times.

Alan Millar, most recently with Hockey Canada after a stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors, has taken over from Paddock as VP of hockey operations. Millar said the Pats’ coaching staff may be in place later this week.

“When I signed a new contract in ’18 after the Memorial Cup, it was for this length of time,” Paddock told a news conference. “That was in the back of my mind that it would be time at age 69.

“I don’t want to talk too much about it but the health issues I had a year-and-a-half ago . . . probably cinched it that this would be the time.”

Early in 2022, while he was being treated for lymphoma, Paddock tested positive for COVID-19. Because of the lymphoma treatments, he was immuno-compromised. All of this led him to a nasty place.

“I got sick,” Paddock told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post in September 2022, “and then got really sick.”

As a result, Paddock wasn’t able to coach the Pats for the final 10 weeks of the 2021-22 season.

While with the Pats, Paddock twice was named the WHL’s coach of the year (2015, 2017) , and he was the executive of the year in 2017.

He is a former NHL player, assistant coach and head coach. He played in the AHL, winning two Calder Cups, then won three more as a head coach. He is in the AHL Hall of Fame.

Millar, 56, had been working as Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel. He was responsible for Canada’s U18 and national junior teams for the past two seasons. The U18 team won two gold medals during Millar’s time — the 2021 IIHF World Championship and the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup — and the national junior team won the 2022 and 2023 championships.

Before joining Hockey Canada, Millar was with the Warriors for 11 seasons — the first two as director of hockey operations and the last nine as general manager.

Picasso

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Mat Barrett has joined the Swift Current Broncos as their broadcast and community relations manager. Yes, he will handle their play-by-play. Barrett spent the past six seasons doing play-by-play with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. For the past two seasons, Barrett, who is from Edmonton, also was their manager of marketing, business and office administration. . . . In Swift Current, Barrett will take over from Craig Beauchemin, who left in May after four years with the Broncos. . . .

The QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix has hired Philippe Sauvé as its new general manager, and Gilles Bouchard as head coach. . . . Sauvé is a former player agent who played in the NHL as a goaltender. Of late, he worked as a player agent with his father Robert. . . . Bouchard, who got a four-year deal, spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . They take over from Stéphane Julien, who now is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. . . .

The BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks and Tyler Shattock, their head coach and assistant general manager, have agreed to a two-year contract extension. Shattock, who is from Salmon Arm, has been the head coach since stepping up from assistant coach during the 2019-20 season. He joined the organization as an assistant coach in October 2018. . . . With Shattock as head coach, the Silverbacks are 81-47-20 in the regular season. In 2022-23, Salmon Arm reached the Interior Conference final for the first time since 2008-09. . . . He played four seasons (2006-10) in the WHL — three-plus with the Kamloops Blazers and the last 30 games with the Calgary Hitmen as they won the 2009-10 WHL title. . . .

The BCHL’s Penticton Vees have promoted Matt Miller, who had been an assistant coach/video coach, to director of hockey operations. Miller, who is from Penticton, has been with the Vees since 2020. Earlier, he spent a couple of seasons with the West Kelowna Warriors. . . . The Vees also added Matthew Vanden Berg to their staff as an assistant coach. For the past two seasons he was a volunteer assistant coach at the U of Maine. . . . Former WHL D Cam Barker has left the Vees after two seasons as an assistant coach. The Vees won two BCHL titles while he was with them. Barker played four seasons (2002-06) with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . .

Eric Labrosse is the new general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard, a team that plays out of The Pas. According to a news release, Labrosse “has many years of coaching experience ranging from France2, USports and most recently serving as the assistant coach for the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL.” . . . Labrosse replaces Doug Johnson, who spent one season with the Blizzard and now is general manager and head coach with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires.

Misinfo

Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Driver chasing 15-minute traffic delay by parking in middle of road put flashers on so it’s totally fine.

JUST NOTES:

The ECHL added its 29th franchise on Monday with the announcement that there will be a team playing out of Lake Tahoe when the 2024-25 season arrives. Tim Tebow, the former college and NFL quarterback, is part of the ownership. The as-yet unnamed franchise will play out of the soon-to-be completed Tahoe Blue Event Center, which is located in Stateline, Nev., and will seat more than 4,200 for hockey.

——

——

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Grad

Ferris’s kidney ‘happy and making a lot of pee’ . . . Surgeon says thanks for letting team be part of case . . . Mother: ‘Maybe this is miracle we’ve been waiting for’

Sisters
Ferris Backmeyer has been able to get together with sisters Ksenia (left) and Tavia as she recovers from a kidney transplant. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Transplant surgeons are a special breed; they really are.

When Dorothy underwent her kidney transplant almost 10 years ago at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, the surgeon told me there wasn’t any need to hang around the hospital that day. He would, he said, call me at the hotel in which we were staying once they were done.

Yeah, I thought, a busy surgeon is going to take time out of his day to call me! Sure thing!! So I was in the hotel room at 2:30 p.m., when the phone rang. I picked up, fully expecting to hear an assistant or a nurse or a case worker on the other end. But, no, it was the doctor and he had all the time in the world for me and my questions, and that’s something I won’t ever forget.

That brings us to Lindsey Backmeyer and her Kamloops family. Ferris, the six-year-old daughter of Lindsey and husband Pat, underwent a kidney transplant a week ago at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Shortly after the procedure had been completed, Lindsey received a visit from the transplant surgeon.

Among other things, Lindsey wrote on Facebook, “He thanked me from the bottom of his heart and on behalf of everyone involved in her case for trusting them to be a part of her story.”

Is that special, or what? But these angels of the operating room are like that.

Lindsey added: “His thank you was so genuine you can’t help but love the guy. Cutting edge medicine is what i hoped for and this guy and his team delivered.

“Ummm, no sir, the thanks is all to you. For that, and to all of them. Thanks for being so friggin good at what you do!! My girl deserved this shot just as much as the next child and these guys made this happen for her.”

KidneyArt
The surgeon who led the team that performed Ferris Backmeyer’s kidney transplant provided her mother, Lindsey, with a water-colour painting of the new kidney. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

The surgeon also had a photo of Ferris’s new kidney, along with “his beautiful watercolour picture of her transplant.”

Is that amazing, or what?

“I had just fallen asleep when he came in to tell me they were done,” Lindsen wrote. “I was too distracted to really let him know what I thought of that picture . . . it’s beautiful. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. . . . I couldn’t love them more.”

As for Ferris, Lindsey reported late Friday night that “while things haven’t gone super smooth they are still going very well. The kidney is happy and making a lot of pee. Yay for a happy kidney!!”

If you’ve been following along, you will recall that there had been some concern about a urine leak.

Lindsey reported that it means Ferris’s catheter will be in place for another week before being removed. The good news is that “most urine is coming out of the catheter and minimal amounts are coming out of the drain. Seems solid to me!”

According to Lindsey, Ferris “had another great day. From a post-surgical recovery standpoint, she’s ready to bust out. But she’s not ready.”

In fact, Ferris will be in hospital for at least another week because of the catheter and the need to give her heparin via IV.

And now, according to her mother, she’s battling boredom.

“She made three batches of slime today. Did musical therapy and a lot of crafts. She also ate a ridiculous amount of food,” Lindsey wrote. “I forgot just how messy eating can be.”

Sounds like a normal six-year-old to me.

Lindsey’s excitement was more than evident in her latest posting. In fact, it practically leapt from my computer screen, especially at the end.

Ferris, Lindsey said, “is very officially on the other side. Doesn’t mean she’s outta the woods. Or there won’t be any complications. Just means they are post-transplant complications and not due to having end-stage renal disease.”

After six years of dealing with end-stage renal disease, please try to understand just how large this is.

“It’s a new world,” Lindsey added, “and we wouldn’t have been given this opportunity if it weren’t for Leah Scott and the urology team at Toronto Sick Kids.”

Scott, who also is from Kamloops, surrendered a kidney through the paired exchange program so that Ferris could get one via transplant.

Lindsey continued: “Forever friggin grateful for this chance. I’ve listened to this podcast where it says I believe in miracles. Do you? I friggin do. I believe in miracles. I always have.

“Maybe, just maybe . . . this is the miracle we have been waiting for.”

And let’s not forget that there also are two older sisters — Tavia, 11, and Ksenia, 9 — making this journey, too.

“Outside of that,” Lindsey wrote, “Ksenia is sick. Which has me a bit panicked. They won’t visit anymore. Hopefully it’s not already too late.”

It’s true, you know. A mother’s work, and worrying, is never done.