F Luke Lockhart (Seattle, 2007-13) has signed a one-year contract extension with Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL). Last season, he had one goal and nine assists in 41 games. He also had one goal in one game with KRS-ORG Beijing (China, Vysshaya Liga). . . .
D Jagger Dirk (Kootenay, 2009-14) has signed a one-year contract with the Dundee Stars (Scotland, UK Elite). Last season, he had one assist in nine games with the Utica Comets (AHL), and had four goals and 17 assists in 49 games with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL). . . .
F Ned Lukacevic (Spokane, Swift Current, 2001-06) has signed a one-year contract with the Manchester Storm (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the Odense Bulldogs (Denmark, Metal Ligaen), he had four goals and three assists in 19 games. He also had four goals and five assists in nine games with Tours (France, Division 1). . . .
G Jackson Whistle (Vancouver, Kelowna, 2011-16) has signed a one-year contract with the Nottingham Panthers (England, UK Elite). Last season, with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite), he was 3.20, .898, with two assists, in 50 games. . . .
F Dylan Willick (Kamloops, 2009-13) has signed a tryout contract with Podhale Nowy Targ (Poland, PHL). Last season, he had eight goals and seven assists in 68 games with the Worcester Railers (ECHL). . . .
D Brady Gaudet (Kamloops, Red Deer, 2010-15) has signed a one-year contract with Annecy (France, Division 2). Last season, with the Redvers Rockets (Big Six Hockey League), he had nine goals and eight assists in 13 games. . . .
F Marek Škrvně (Kelowna, 2017-18) signed a tryout contract with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, in 18 games with Kometa Brno Junioři (Czech Republic, Extraliga Juniorů), he had eight goals and 12 assists. On loan to Horácká Slavia Třebíč (Czech Republic, 1. Liga), he had one goal in 16 games. . . .
F Radovan Bondra (Vancouver, Prince George, 2015-18) signed a tryout contract with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL), he was pointless in two games. In 66 games with the Indy Fuel (ECHL), he had 10 goals and 25 assists. . . .
F Denis Tolpeko (Seattle, Regina, 2003-06) signed a try-out contract through the end of August with AIK Stockholm (Sweden, Allsvenskan). Tolpeko didn’t play last season. In 2017-18, with Spartak Moscow (Russia, KHL), he had one assist in four games.
I have spent the past couple of days trying to keep up with a three-year-old. So if I fall asleep in the middle of this, you’ll understand why. . . . In the meantime, here’s something of a potpourri. . . . A little Scattershooting, a little of this, and some of that. . . .
I don’t know about where you live, but there sure are a lot of vehicles with faulty turn signals in Kamloops. I mean, drivers are smart enough to use them if they work, right? Right?
The Portland Winterhawks have signed Swiss F Simon Knak, 17, and Danish D Jonas 
Brøndberg, 18. . . . Just last week I wrote this about the two of them: Knak has played in the EHC Kloten organization. Last season, he had 14 goals and 11 assists in 37 games with the U-20 team. He also had five goals and eight assists in five games with the U-17 side, and had one assist in three games with the Kloten team in the NLB. Knak also played 26 games with the U-18 national team. He was the captain, and put up 10 goals and six assists. . . . Brondberg played in Sweden last season, splitting 28 games between two U-18 teams (Växjö Lakers), totalling three goals and six assists. He also had one assist in 21 games with a U-20 team. In 14 international games, he had four assists. Brondberg captained Denmark’s U-18 team at the U-18 IIHF World championship tournament.
“Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Leaf and Lance Armstrong — three disgraced pariahs not that long ago — are suddenly high-profile TV commentators,” notes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “Pundits said they’d never seen anyone land on their feet like that since Mary Lou Retton.”
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One more from Perry: “Hungary swamped host South Korea 64-0 in the women’s water polo world championships, breaking the mark for biggest victory margin by 27 goals. Even the U.S. women’s soccer team urged the Hungarians to tone it down a bit.”
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Here’s Perry, one more time: “A message in a bottle — dropped overboard by a teen boy in 1969 — finally washed up on shore in South Australia. In other words, aimlessly adrift at sea only two years less than the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
Kris Knoblauch is the new head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers. . . . He takes over from Keith McCambridge, who was fired in April. . . . Knoblauch spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers, who fired head coach Dave Hakstol mid-season and hired Alain Vigneault earlier this summer. Scott Gordon, who took over as interim coach when Hakstol was fired, now is the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ AHL affiliate. . . . . . . Knoblauch, 40, worked in the WHL as an assistant coach with the Prince Albert Raiders (2006-07) and Kootenay Ice (2007-10). He was the Ice’s head coach for two seasons (2010-12), and spent four-plus seasons (2012-17) as head coach of the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Jack Finarelli, the Sports Curmudgeon, on NBC Sports Network hiring Lance Armstrong as an analyst for its Tour de France coverage: “The analogy that leaps to mind is that Lance Armstrong doing color commentary for the Tour de France is about as apropos as the Food Network naming Hannibal Lecter as its next Iron Chef.”
If you haven’t yet seen this editorial from the Baltimore Sun, take a couple of minutes out of your day and give it a read.
The junior B Grand Forks Border Bruins of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League had agreed to a five-year contract extension with head coach John Clewlow, 30. He is heading into his second season as the team’s head coach. Last season, the Border Bruins finished third in the Neil Murdoch Division. . . .
Grant Sheridan, the president and general manager of the junior B Kelowna Chiefs of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, has died. Sheridan passed away on Sunday night in Kelowna General Hospital. . . . Sheridan’s health problems began during the KIJHL playoffs when he was ended up in hospital in Revelstoke with bacterial meningitis. He was transferred to Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, then was moved to Kelowna General Hospital.
pair of 18-year-old defencemen on Friday. As a follower of the WHL — or maybe even as a fan of either team — you may be wondering where Jordan Chudley and/or Mike Ladyman fit in on the roster of their new team. . . . Unfortunately, neither the Chiefs nor the Ice appear to have posted a pre-season roster. Of course, neither have 18 of the WHL’s other 20 teams. . . . And that’s a shame. There really is no excuse for teams not to have made rosters available, especially with training camps about a month away. . . . The WHL and its teams really need to understand that there are fans out there with a real thirst for information. From where I sit, not having roster info available at this stage is a real slap in the face to those fans. . . . So post those pre-season rosters and give those fans something about which to talk. . . .
a news release, Mahood said: “Returning this season became difficult after moving to New York for an opportunity of a lifetime, for my wife Sarah within the airline industry, and this allows for continued work in hockey with development consulting and player representation.” . . . Mahood, 56, played for four WHL teams back in the day (1979-82) — the Great Falls Americans, Spokane Flyers, Billings Bighorns and Nanaimo Islanders. . . . 
Edmonton selected him in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. . . . The 17-year-old, who is listed at 5-foot-8 and 148 pounds, had 17 goals and 31 assists in 42 games with Tappara’s U-18 team last season. He also had four goals and eight assists in 24 games with Finland’s U-17 team. . . . The Oil Kings also have Belarusian F Vladimir Alistrov, 18, on their roster. He had 12 goals and 26 assists in 62 games as a freshman in 2018-19. . . . Edmonton released F Andrei Pavlenko, 19, who also is from Belarus. He had 12 goals and 18 assists in 78 games over two seasons with the Oil Kings.
was their lone selection in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. . . . Last season, with Pirati Chomutiov’s U-19 team, he had 14 goals and 20 assists in 34 games. . . . He also had five goals and 13 assists in 25 games with the Czech U-17 side. . . . Gut is in camp with the Czech Republic’s U-18 team this week as it prepares for next month’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup (Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia, Aug. 5-10). As you can see from the above tweet, he scored the winning goal in a 4-1 victory over host Switzerland in Romanshorn on Wednesday. Gut also had an assist. . . . Everett’s second import is veteran F Martin Fasko-Rudas. A Slovakian, Fasko-Rudas, who turns 19 on Aug. 10, is preparing for his third WHL season. He had 15 goals and 16 assists in 60 games last season.
F Michal Teplý, 18, and German F Nino Kinder, 18. . . . Teplý, the fourth-overall selection, was a fourth-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s 2019 draft. He had four goals and six assists in 23 games with HC Benatky and Jizerou (Czech2) last season. He also had four goals and seven assists in 23 games split between two Billy Tygri Liberec sides. On top of that, he played 38 international games, with U-18, U-19 and U-20 sides, totalling 13 goals and 22 assists. . . . Kinder had 17 goals and 24 assists in 33 games with the U-20 Eisbären Juniors in his hometown of Berlin. He was pointless in five games with the DEL’s Eisbären. He also had seven goals and 11 assists in 16 games with German’s U-18 team. . . . Last season, the Ice used Swiss F Gillian Kohler (one game), D Valtteri Kakkonen and Slovakian D Martin Bodak as imports. . . . Kakkonen, from Finland, had one goal and nine assists in 52 games as a freshman. The 19-year-old has signed with JYP of Finland’s Liiga. . . . Bodak, in his second season, had 11 goals and 14 assists in 58 games as he played out his junior eligibility. Bodak has signed with HC Vitkovice of Czech Republic’s top pro league.
has signed on with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads as their goaltending/video coach. . . . He replaces Marco Raimondo, who left after one season in order to return to Montreal where he will be closer to family. . . . Perricone, 32, worked with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (2014-17) and Moncton Wildcats (2017-19). . . . Perricone, from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., played five seasons (2003-08) with the Warriors. He holds their career records for victories (93), shutouts (10) and games played (211).
out that Finnish D Lassi Thomson won’t be back for a second season. Instead, he will play with Ilves in Liiga, Finland’s top professional league. . . . Thomson, who is to turn 19 on Sept. 24, has signed a contract (two years plus an option for a third) with Ilves. He is from Tampere, and has played for Ilves’ U-16, U-18 and U-20 sides. . . . The Ottawa Senators selected Thomson with the 19th-overall pick in the NHL’s 2019 draft, then signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on July 15. . . . Last season, Thomson put up 17 goals and 24 assists in 63 regular-season games with the Rockets. He was named the Western Conference’s rookie of the year and to the conference’s second all-star team. . . . Thomson is spending this week playing for a Finnish team in a U-20 tournament in Vierumaki, Finland. Teams from Czech Republic and Switzerland also are taking part. . . . 
that Don MacGillivray and Tyler Plante will return and that Mark Derlago has been added as a second assistant. . . . MacGillivray is entering his fourth season as an assistant coach, as is Plante, the goaltending coach. . . . Derlago, a former Wheat Kings captain, has signed on as the team’s second assistant coach having chosen to end his playing career. He played last season with Esbjerg Energy in Denmark, scoring 17 goals and adding 18 assists in 36 games. . . . Plante is the son of Cam Plante, who played four seasons (1980-84) with the Wheat Kings; Derlago’s uncle, Bill, spent three-plus seasons (1974-78) with Brandon and was one of the most-prolific scorers in WHL history. . . . The coaching staff is headed up by Dave Lowry, who was named head coach on July 18. . . . Darren Ritchie, the Wheat Kings’ general manager, also is preparing for his first season in a new role. He was named GM on July 12. A former Wheat Kings forward, he also worked as an assistant coach for 10 seasons and was their director of scouting for the past three seasons. . . . The Wheat Kings’ complete news release is 
Norway, has signed with HC Dalen Norrahammar (Sweden, Division 1). . . . He had 29 points, including 13 goals, in 62 games with the Blades last season. . . . Røykås Marthinsen was a seventh-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 2017 draft but wasn’t signed. . . . Saskatoon also lost its other import from last season as D Emil Malysjev has chosen to remain in Sweden. He had three goals and 14 assists in 63 games last season, then added one goal in 10 playoff games. . . . The Blades, who knew well in advance that neither would return, selected Czech D Libor Zabransky and Czech F Radek Kucerik in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. . . . Zabransky, 19, has WHL experience, having played with the Kelowna Rockets in 2017-18 and for part of last season. He finished it with the USHL’s Fargo Force. . . . Kucerik, who won’t turn 18 until Dec. 21, had six goals and 17 assists in 43 games with HC Kometa Brno’s U-19 team last season. He was the team captain. He also had two goals and three assists in 22 games with the national U-18 team. . . . Zabransky also is a product of the Kometa Brno organization.
get used to speed.” I said. “Then, we’ll send him to basic training. We’ll put him in a simulated automobile and show him visions of cars driving at high speeds — up to 30 miles an hour — at him.
been hired as associate coach under new head coach Manny Viveiros. . . . Burt, who had been with the Chiefs for six seasons, was passed over twice in the past two years as the team hired new head coaches. Two years ago, they signed Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons to join the NHL’s Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. The Chiefs announced Viveiros’s signing on July 9. . . . Maglio, a 33-year-old from Nelson, B.C., spent four seasons with the Spruce Kings, two as an assistant coach and two as head coach. He led them to back-to-back BCHL championship series. They won the Fred Page Cup last season, and then won the Doyle Cup, before losing the junior A national championship in the final game. . . . The Spruce Kings immediately promoted Alex Evin, their associate coach, to head coach. . . . The Chiefs’ news release is 
WHL contracts. . . . Gronick, from Regina, was a second-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft. Last season, he had 27 goals and 26 assists in 24 games with the bantam AA Regina Aces. . . . Koffer was the 10th-overall pick in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. From Czech Republic, he had 10 goals and 28 assists in 38 games with HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech U-19 league. He also had one assist in 12 games with Dynamo Pardubice in the Extraliga. Koffer played for the Czechs at the World Hockey Championship in April and led the team with six points, four of them goals, in five games. . . . Koffer joins sophomore Czech F Matej Toman, who is from, as the Cougars’ import players. Toman had nine goals and 11 assists in 66 games last season. . . . Belarusian F Vladislav Mikhalchuk is eligible to return to the Cougars as a 20-year-old for a third season, but he has signed a one-year, two-way contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). If he doesn’t stick with that club, he likely would play with Torpedo Nizhny Nogorod-2 (Russia, VHL). . . . 
new scoreclock for the Art Hauser Centre. The club will play that money over a five-year period. . . . City council has voted to pay about $95,000 of the remaining cost, which will total more than $275,000. . . . The new clock will bring the arena “into full compliance with new WHL facility standards set to come into affect for the 2019-20 season,” reports Jason Kerr of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. Also included in those standards are a new LED lighting system and acrylic boards and new glass. . . . By the way, Kerr also reported that the Raiders’ deep playoff run put $153,402.98 into the city’s offers. . . . Kerr’s complete story is 
David Anning, whose contract wasn’t renewed after three seasons. . . . No terms of Lowry’s contract with the Wheat Kings were released. . . . Lowry, 54, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. He wasn’t retained when Todd McLellan took over as the Kings’ head coach. . . . Before that, Lowry was the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals for five seasons (2012-17), going 209-124-27. . . . After his playing career ended — he split 1,084 regular-season NHL games with five teams — he started his coaching career with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. He was an assistant coach for two seasons (2005-07), the associate coach for one and the head coach for one. He then worked for three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Calgary Flames, before signing with Victoria. . . . The Wheat Kings’ news release is 
overall selection in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. Puutio, 17, had a goal and three assists in 31 games with Kärpät’s U-20 team last season, and also had four goals and eight assists in 10 games with the U-18 side. He got into 13 games with Finland’s U-17 team, scoring once and adding eight assists, and had two assists in five games with the U-18 team. . . . He joins F Joona Kiviniemi, who also is from Finland, as the Broncos’ two import players. Kiviniemi, who will turn 18 on Dec. 17, also played for Kärpät before joining the Broncos. Last season, as a freshman with Swift Current, he had 16 goals and nine assists in 62 games.
George and was a highly popular player through his four-plus seasons (2002-07) with the Cougars. In 281 regular-season games, he put up 77 goals and 137 assists. He added nine goals and 10 assists in 24 playoff games. . . . A sixth-round pick by the St. Louis Blues in the NHL’s 2005 draft, Drazenovic went on to play nine seasons of pro hockey, including 12 regular-season NHL games — three with St. Louis, eight with the Columbus Blue Jackets and one with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Injuries forced his retirement after the 2015-16 season. . . . Todd Harkins, then the Cougars’ general manager, hired Drazenovic on Feb. 17, 2017. . . . Drazenovic wasn’t mentioned on Tuesday when the Cougars announced the hiring of Jason Smith as associate coach. In fact, Drazenovic’s head shot and bio were on the Cougars’ website on Tuesday but had been deleted by Wednesday afternoon. . . . When contacted by Taking Note, Drazenovic said: “I love Prince George. I love the Cougars. I love the players. I love the fans. It’s sad.” . . . Drazenovic also told Taking Note that he is staying in Prince George and will be starting a business venture — Northern Elite Hockey — that will “support the north in hockey development.”
TAKING NOTE 