There hasn’t been a peep from the QMJHL or WHL since the OHL announced that it would be demanding mandatory vaccinations from all team personnel, players, officials, volunteers, billets, etc., and that proof of vaccination had to be presented to the league at least two weeks in advance of the openings of training camps. . . . However, on Tuesday, Allan Walsh, a powerful and outspoken player agent who is co-managing director with Octagon-Hockey, tweeted: “Hearing it will be the same in all 3 Canadian (major) junior leagues. Vaccinations will be required from all players and league personnel.” . . . Walsh has 47,400 followers on Twitter.
The Saskatoon Blades are expected to introduce their new head coach today 
(Wednesday) at a news conference. That new head coach is expected to be Brennan Sonne, 34, a former WHL player and assistant coach who will take over from Mitch Love. He left after three seasons in Saskatoon to step in as head coach of the Stockton Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames. . . . Jon Rosen, a former play-by-play voice of the Everett Silvertips and ex-Los Angeles Kings’ Insider, tweeted: “I’m hearing former Silvertips forward Brennan Sonne is getting a very good look for the vacant WHL-Saskatoon head-coaching job. . . . Sonne has coached in Ligue Magnus-Angers since 2017.” . . . Taking Note later confirmed Rosen’s information. . . . Sonne is from Maple Ridge, B.C. He played two-plus seasons (2005-08) with the Silvertips, then later returned and spent three seasons (2014-17) with them as an assistant coach. While he wasn’t a teammate of Love’s, the two spent those three seasons together as assistant coaches in Everett. . . . More from Rosen: “(Sonne is) part of the Kevin Constantine coaching tree. Constantine coached Everett from 2003-07 and 2013-17, as well as the Ducs d’Angers. Jay Varady, his assistant in Everett, spent last year on Rick Tocchet’s staff and returned to Tucson, where he was a 2020 AHL All-Star coach.” . . . If you’re wondering, Constantine has signed on as head coach with Fehérvár AV19 in Hungary, which plays in the ICE Hockey League. He finished 2020-21 as head coach of Unia Oswiecim in Poland.
As expected, the Kamloops Blazers named Shaun Clouston their general 
manager on Tuesday morning. Clouston also is the Blazers’ head coach, having joined them prior to the 2019-20 season. . . . Under Clouston, the Blazers have twice finished on top of the B.C. Division. But, of course, there weren’t any playoffs in either of those seasons because of the pandemic. . . . Before heading to Kamloops, Clouston spent 16 seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the last seven as general manager and head coach. Who knows? Had the legendary Willie Desjardins not become available in Medicine Hat, Clouston might still be there. . . . As the Blazers’ GM, Clouston takes over from Matt Bardsley, who announced in May that he was leaving after three seasons in order to get his family back to the U.S. Bardsley guided the club through the CHL’s 2021 import draft on June 30 and then left for Portland. He now is an amateur scout for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. . . .
The Blazers haven’t had a GM/head coach since the first couple of months of the 2007-08 season. The Blazers, in their first season under new ownership headed up by Tom Gaglardi, opened with Dean Clark as the GM/head coach. Clark lasted until Nov. 7 when he was fired with the team at 6-9-2. A couple of days later, former Blazers D Greg Hawgood was hired as head coach. By the start of 2008-09, Craig Bonner, who had been with the Vancouver Giants as assistant GM/assistant coach, had been hired as the Blazers’ general manager and Barry Smith was the head coach. . . .
On Tuesday, the Blazers also announced the promotion of Tim O’Donovan from director of hockey operations to assistant GM. O’Donovan started with the Blazers as a volunteer in 2004.
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The Blazers are the second team in a week to add the general manager’s duties to the role of their head coach. The Everett Silvertips named head coach Dennis Williams their interim GM after they chose not to renew the contract of Garry Davidson, who had been the GM through nine seasons. At the time, the Silvertips said that it was a cost-cutting move with the organization re-examining all aspects after two tough seasons. . . . Davidson has since joined the Calgary Hitmen as their director of player personnel. . . . When the Silvertips announced on July 12 that they had removed the ‘interim’ from Williams’ title, they also revealed that they had signed him to a contract extension. . . . The Blazers didn’t do the same with Clouston; at least, they didn’t announce it.
A tip of the Taking Note cap to the Edmonton Oil Kings. They have updated their 
website and have their 2021 preseason roster available for your perusal. Not only that, but it is completely up to date. . . . I’ve mentioned this in previous years, but it is shameful that all WHL teams don’t have their preseason rosters available at least by mid-July. You would certainly think that, coming off the past two pandemic-riddled seasons, every one of the 22 teams would be hungering to create interest and that making preseason rosters available to fans might help accomplish that. . . . Anyway, here’s a big thank you to the Oil Kings.
The Spokane Chiefs have signed German F Yannick Proske to a WHL contract. 
They selected him in the CHL’s 2021 import draft on June 30. Last season, Proske, 18, had one assist in 25 games with the Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL, the country’s top pro league. . . . He added four goals and two assists in six games with Jungadier Mannheim’s U-20 side. . . . Proske also had a goal and an assist in seven games with the German team at the 2021 IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas. . . . From the Chiefs’ news release: “Proske joins G Lukas Parik of the Czech Republic, D David Jiricek (unsigned) of the Czech Republic and D Tsimafei Kauharenia of Belarus on the Chiefs’ import player list. Parik, who starred for the Chiefs during the 2019-20 season, has signed an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign (Los Angeles Kings’ affiliate).” . . . The Chiefs announced Kauharenia’s signing on July 14. . . . Spokane selected Jiricek in the 2020 import draft. He played with HC Plzen of the Extraliga, Czech Republic’s top pro league, in 2020-21, putting up three goals and six assists in 34 games. He was named the Extraliga’s rookie of the year.
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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
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
JUST NOTES: Jean-François Houle is the new head coach the Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate. Houle, 46, had been in the Edmonton Oilers’ organization for the past seven seasons, the last six as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. In Laval, he replaces Joel Bouchard, who left the Rocket to take over as head coach of the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, who are affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. Houle’s father, Réjean, is a former Canadiens’ player and GM. . . . The WHL’s Kelowna Rockets have signed Josh MacNevin, 44, as an assistant coach. He had been with the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the previous six seasons. MacNevin’s hiring fills the vacancy created on June 1 when Vernon Fiddler chose to leave the Rockets after two seasons. . . .
Jean-Francois Plante of leDroit reported Tuesday night that the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s have hired Dave Cameron as their new head coach. Cameron will replace André Tourigny, now is head coach of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Cameron, a former head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, has spent the past three seasons with the Vienna Capitals in the Austrian League. James Boyd, general manager of the 67’s, worked as an assistant coach under Cameron for four seasons (2007-11) with the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.
are implementing a mandatory vaccination policy to prevent against the transmission of COVID-19. Under this policy, we will require that players, along with all members of the OHL community, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide a proof of vaccination to the OHL at least two weeks prior to the start of training camps.”
news conference today (Tuesday) at 10 a.m. PT. . . . They have needed a GM since Matt Bardsley announced on May 25 that he was leaving the organization after three years. He left with three years remaining on his contract, saying that because of travel restrictions he wanted to get his family back to the U.S. They have since relocated to Portland and Bardsley has signed on with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers as an amateur scout. . . . Bardsley had worked in Portland with the Winterhawks since 1999 before joining the Blazers. . . . There has been speculation that Blades head coach Shaun Clouston will add the GM’s role to his duties. He has been the Blazers’ head coach for two seasons. Prior to signing in Kamloops, he spent 16 seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the last seven as GM/head coach. . . . Earlier this month, the Everett Silvertips gave the GM’s title to head coach Dennis Williams and signed him to a contract extension. The Silvertips dumped general manager Garry Davidson after nine seasons, saying it was a cost-cutting move.
20, from the Seattle Thunderbirds for a pair of draft picks — a second-rounder in 2023 and a fifth-rounder in 2024. . . . Mount, a 5-foot-8, 180-pounder from Victoria, was the 19th overall selection in the WHL’s 2017 draft. In 140 regular-season games, he has 23 goals and 45 assists. His best season was 2019-20, when he put up 14 goals and 24 assists in 62 games. . . . The 6-foot-3, 205-pound McNelly, from Westlock, Alta., has six goals and 11 assists in 121 regular-season games. . . . The Giants finished the 2020-21 season with five other 2001-born players on their roster — F Bryce Bader, F Adam Hall, D Connor Horning, G Trent Miner and F Dallon Wilton. . . . At the same time, Seattle has two 2001-born players remaining on its roster from the end of the season — D Ryan Gottfriend and F Henrik Rybinski.
2021-22 WHL season. On Monday, they announced the signing of Slovakian F Jakub Demek, who was picked in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Last season, Demek, 18, had two assists in 10 games with HC Kosice in the Slovak Extraliga, and had six goals and 15 assists in 31 games with the country’s U-18 side. . . . Earlier, the Oil Kings announced that Czech D Simon Kubicek, who turns 20 on Dec. 19, had committed to playing for them. He was acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds.
were selected in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . From the Blades’ news release: “Born and raised in Vitebsk, Belarus, Sidorov spent last year playing and training under his home country’s national U17 and U18 development programs. The majority of his workload came as an underage forward in the U18 ranks, dressing in 24 games and racking up 14 points (7G-7A) along with 10 penalty minutes.” . . . Saskatoon also drafted German F Moritz Elias, 17, last month but has yet to announce his signing.
overall selection in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Huuhtanen, 18, is ranked 49th overall among European skaters eligible for the NHL draft that is to be held Friday and Saturday. . . . In 2020-21, he had 20 goals and 14 assists in 37 games with Tappara’s U-20 side. He also had two goals and three assists for Finland at the IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas. . . . He had signed a two-year contract with the Finnish pro team Tappara on May 19. . . . The Silvertips also hold the CHL rights to Czech F Michal Gut, 19, and Finnish D Kasper Puutio, 19, both of whom finished last season on their roster although choosing to play in Europe.
after revealing that she has tested positive for COVID-19. . . . “I am so disappointed to share the news that I have tested positive for COVID and won’t be able to play in the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” she tweeted. ”It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future.’’ . . . 
“I am hearing that the OHL . . . will be implementing a policy that will require all players, staff, officials, volunteers and, I believe, billet families to be fully vaccinated within two weeks of the start of training camp.
contract. They selected Polshakov, who will turn 18 on Sept. 18, in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . He had nine goals and 17 assists in 38 games with his club team in 2020-21 and also captained his country’s team at the IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas, where he had one assist in three games. . . . His father, Alexander, and grandfather, Valeri, both have been prominent in Belarus’s hockey community. . . . The Wheat Kings hold the WHL rights to two other imports — F Marcus Kallionkieli of Finland and D Yaroslav Busygin of Russia — but both have signed pro contracts. Kallionkieli, 20, has signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, who selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2019 draft. The Wheat Kings picked Busygin, 18, in the CHL’s 2020 import draft and actually signed him, but he played at home in 2020-21 because of the pandemic and is expected to play there again in 2021-22.
Wheat Kings for a seventh-round pick in the WHL’s 2023 draft. . . . Lambos, from Winnipeg, has five goals and 14 assists in 126 regular-season games, all with Brandon. He had two assists in 21 games in the Regina hub earlier this year. . . . He was selected by the Victoria Royals in the third round of the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. Brandon picked him up in a January 2018 trade. . . . His 18-year-old brother, Carson, is a defenceman with the Winnipeg Ice and is likely to be a first-round selection in the NHL’s 2021 draft on July 23. . . . The Silvertips ended the 2021 developmental season with five 2001-born players on their roster — D Zach Ashton, F Hunter Campbell, F Gage Concalves, F Jalen Price and G Dustin Wolf. . . . Brandon still has six such players on the roster with which it finished the season — Finnish F Marcus Kallionkieli, G Ethan Kruger, F Ben McCartney, D Chad Nychuk, D Neithan Salame and D Braden Schneider. Last week, the Wheat Kings dealt D Rylan Thiessen, 20, to the Swift Current Broncos for a conditional ninth-round pick in the 2021 draft.
contract. . . . An interesting note from the Chiefs’ news
contract. They selected him in the first round of the 2021 CHL import draft. . . . From Minsk, the 18-year-old had six goals and five assists in 24 regular-season games with his country’s U-18 team. He also played in the IIHF U-18 World Championship in Texas, putting up a goal and two assists in five games. . . . He also had two goals and two assists in 13 games with Dinamo Molodechno of the country’s top pro league, and one goal in two games with Minskie Zubry of Vysshaya. . . . The Hurricanes didn’t have any imports on the roster with which they concluded the 2021 developmental season. They did have one on their 2019-20 roster — D Danila Palivko of Belarus. He turns 20 on Nov. 30 and signed with Admiral Vladivostok of the KHL earlier this month.
seat in the house for their home-opener at IG Field on Aug. 5. But you will have to be fully vaccinated — meaning you will have to have had your second shot by July 21 — and have a Manitoba immunization card in order to attend. Also, children under 12 will be allowed in, but only if accompanied by at least one fully vaccinated parent. . . . The wearing of facemasks will be optional for fans. . . . The Blue Bombers, who haven’t played since winning the 2019 Grey Cup with a 33-12 victory over Hamilton on Nov. 24 in Calgary, are to entertain the Tiger-Cats in their opener. The stadium in Winnipeg has a capacity of 33,500. . . . Interestingly, provincial governments and health officials in Saskatchewan and Alberta have said the Roughriders, Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Elks are free to open to full capacity and that fans don’t have to be fully vaccinated.
“It set us all back emotionally, and we decided to just take a step back from it all. Zach then made the decision to stick with his chest catheter and won’t agree to any more surgeries, unless it’s a kidney.”
Going into March, Zach had always dealt with a medical team at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. That all changed with a meeting that month during which they learned that his file was being transferred to “the adult world” at Vancouver General Hospital.
Americans, got the day started by announcing that head coach Kelly Buchberger’s contract isn’t being renewed.
Love joined the NHL’s Calgary Flames as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.
“sources confirm that Dennis Williams will become the Silvertips’ full-time general manager.” Williams, who also is Everett’s head coach, had been serving as interim GM since the club parted ways with Garry Davidson.
following the departure of Matt Bardsley, whose last day with them was June 30. He left the Blazers after three seasons as GM and with three years left on his contract. Bardsley and his family have returned to Portland. He now is an amateur scout with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
arena, which is located in Westerner Park, was named the Peavey Mart Centrium on Monday. The two parties have agreed on a five-year sponsorship deal. No financial terms were revealed. . . . The Peavey Mart Centrium is to be home to, among other things, part of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship. . . . Peavey Industries, which has its head office in Red Deer, also becomes an “official agricultural supply partner” to Westerner Park. . . . The Centrium hadn’t had a name sponsor since a contract with Enmax expired a few years ago.
does have a six-game exhibition schedule, including three games in WHL arenas. . . . The Kraken will play its first-ever NHL game in Spokane on Sept. 26 against the Vancouver Canucks. It then will play the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 1 in Everett, and the Calgary Flames in Kent, Wash., the home of the Seattle Thunderbirds, on Oct. 2. . . . The Kraken will play three road exhibition games — in Edmonton on Sept. 28, in Calgary on Sept. 29 and in Vancouver on Oct. 5. . . . The Kraken will take part in an expansion draft on July 21.
Mitch Peacock, its manager, broadcast and communications, had left the organization. On Friday, the Ice announced that Munz would replace Peacock, thus becoming the team’s play-by-play voice. Among Munz’s responsibilities will be media relations . . . Munz is a former radio voice of the Prince Albert Raiders. He also has done play-by-play for the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. . . . Munz had joined Golf Manitoba in April as director of communications. He had been with TSN 1290 AM in Winnipeg, but lost his job when Bell Media shuttered the station in February.
picked in the CHL’s 2001 import draft. . . . Chayka, who turns 18 on Aug. 26, got into three games with Belarus at the IIHF U18 World championship in Texas, going 2-1-0, 2.67, .911. . . . In 29 appearances with Team Belarus in a junior league there, he was 3.60, .870. . . . The Raiders didn’t have any imports on their roster in the Regina hub earlier this year. They finished the 2019-20 season with three on their roster — F Daniil Stepanov, now 20, of Belarus; F Aliaksei Protas, now 20, also of Belarus; and F Ivan Kechkin, now 19, of Russia.
TAKING NOTE 