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.

Stanley Cup gets some new names . . . Rouge rules in CFL game . . . Poljanowski signing means Royals’ Price just coaching now

If you are a fan of the WHL, you may want to count the names with ties to the league among the newest additions to the Stanley Cup. . . . The Golden Knights are the first team to have the names engraved on Lord Stanley’s mug before it goes on its annual summer tour.

Hey, was Thursday night’s CFL game between the Edmonton Elks and Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina great, or what? Let’s be honest . . . it couldn’t have been any more Canadian than it was. And, hey, he who rouges last rouges best. Right? . . . It wasn’t the most-exciting game you ever will have seen, but it left people talking, didn’t it?

If you missed it — I really hope that you didn’t and that you stuck around until the end — the Roughriders beat the Elks, 12-11, despite being out-rouged, 4-1.

The Roughriders now are 3-1; the Elks are — whoops! — 0-5.

Punter Jake Julien accounted for three of the Elks’ rouges, with the other coming off a missed field goal attempt by Dean Faithfull.

The Elks opened up a 3-0 lead on, yes, three rouges, and later led 11-3 with 70 seconds left in fourth quarter. That’s when Saskatchewan QB Trevor Harris hit receiver Mitch Picton with a five-yard touchdown pass. Harris then threw to Kendall Watson for the two-point convert and an 11-11 tie. (And is there a valid reason for Picton, a terrific route runner, not being in Saskatchewan’s starting lineup every game?)

There were 66 seconds left when Saskatchewan’s Brett Lauther drilled a 74-yard kickoff into the Edmonton end zone.

CJ Sims, the Elks’ returner, didn’t run the ball out of the end zone and the game’s final rouge, coming with the game just 62 seconds from OT, won it.

“He knows (he made a mistake),” Chris Jones, Edmonton’s general manager and head coach, said. “The moment was big and he’s a good little player. There will probably be more people talking about this than when he had a great game returning the other day.”

Just a thought, but perhaps Jones and/or Mike Scheper, the Elks’ special teams co-ordinator, forgot to give Sims pre-kickoff instructions?

As for Sims, he faced the music, telling reporters: “It hurts, man. It hurts. I feel like I let the team down. It hurts. It was a boneheaded play by me, but I’ll learn from my mistakes, and it’ll never happen again.”

Sims, a wide receiver and returner from Covington, La., attended New Mexico Highlands University. He had opened his CFL career on June 25 by returning six kickoffs for 181 yards and three punts for 101 yards in a 43-31 loss to the visiting Toronto Argonauts.

Sims’ faux pas in Regina helped take the spotlight off Jones, who was hit with a 10-yard penalty for obstructing an official. Jones was in his usual stance — hunched over, hands on knees — watching a play when one of the game officials, hustling down the sideline, came into contact with him.

Yes, it was one of those nights. . . .

Jeff DeDekker, who covers CFL games in Regina for The Canadian Press, has a story right here. . . .

Rob Vanstone, once a writer/columnist with the Regina Leader-Post, now is the Roughriders’ senior writer and historian. His game story is right here. . . .

Darrell Davis, who once covered the Roughriders for The Leader-Post, was at the game and wrote this piece right here for the newspaper.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Victoria Royals have brought in Joey Poljanowski as vice-president of hockey operations. He had been the manager of hockey operations with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes since 2019. He also has worked with Hockey Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the OHL’s London Knights. . . . According to a news release from the Royals, Poljanowski’s signing means that “Dan Price will shift his focus completely to his role as head coach,” which is how it was from 2017-20, before he added the general manager’s responsibilities to his role. . . .

The Royals have agreed to a three-year extension with The Zone, an FM station owned by Pattison Media Ltd., for play-by-play rights and a new website — RoyalsFan.ca — that, according to a news release, “will bring fresh and behind-the-scenes content as well as exclusive contesting opportunities.” . . . The contract extension also means that Marlon Martens will be back as the team’s radio voice. The Zone has been the rights holder since the franchise moved from Chilliwack to Victoria for the 2011-12 season, and Martens is the only play-by-play announcer the team has known. . . .

Three WHLers who were selected in the NHL draft last month signed three-year entry-level contracts on Thursday. . . . D Tanner Molendyk of the Saskatoon Blades, who was the 24th overall selection, signed with the Nashville Predators. . . . The Predators also signed F Kalan Lind of the Red Deer Rebels. They selected him in the second round, 46th overall, of the draft. . . . The Washington Capitals signed F Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockets. He was taken in the second round, 40th overall, of the 2023 NHL draft. . . . All three are 18 years of age, meaning that each is required to play in the NHL or be returned to his WHL team for the 2023-24 season. . . .

F Sammy May, who spent last season with the Vancouver Giants, has cleared WHL waivers and is a 2003-born free agent. He had one goal and eight assists in 63 games with the Giants in 2022-23. . . .

Rob Mahon, the play-by-play voice of the Prince Albert Raiders for the past two seasons, has joined the Brandon Wheat Kings as their media relations and broadcast director. Yes, that means he will be their radio voice. . . . Mahon was born and raised in Winnipeg. . . . Before heading to Prince Albert, he called the play for the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins for four seasons. . . . In Brandon, Mahon will take over from Brandon Crowe, who left after six seasons for a communications job with Hockey Canada. . . .

The BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks have hired Zach Stewart of their play-by-play voice and communications manager. He spent last season with the Merritt Centennials.

Fishing

THE COACHING GAME:

Éric Veilleux is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, who are the Memorial Cup champions. He takes over from Patrick Roy, who left the organization following the tournament in Kamloops. . . . Veilleux spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

Speed

——

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.

Groceries

Ferris went for a walk. How was your Tuesday? . . . Ball hockey gold for three WHLers . . . SJHL commish gets multi-year deal

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A smiling Ferris Backmeyer continues to recover from a kidney transplant at a Toronto hospital. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Ferris went for a walk on Tuesday. Yes, she did!

Ferris Backmeyer, the six-year-old from Kamloops who underwent a kidney transplant last week, continues her recovery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

As her mother, Lindsey, wrote on Facebook on Wednesday: “Post op day 5 . . . she’s actually slaying all of this. Being sooo incredibly brave.”

That doesn’t mean things have been easy to this point, but everything seems to be pointing in the right direction.

“It’s not been easy at all,” Lindsey wrote, “but it also hasn’t been the hardest thing we’ve ever done. Not so far anyways.”

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Ferris climbed out of bed and enjoyed a stroll down a hospital hallway on Tuesday. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

If you’ve been following along, you know that there were some issues over the weekend. An ultrasound detected a bladder leak. According to Lindsey, that is “a somewhat common complication post-transplant . . . likely a clog in the catheter created back pressure and the leak happened. Catheters in post-op tiny humans are super tricky to manage. The tubing kinks so easily. Clots off so easily. She has a large amount of urine still leaking out of her drain.”

The really good news is that through it all the new kidney is motoring right along. Her creatine readings are good and Lindsey said that Ferris is having “solid labs” and “progressing really nicely otherwise!”

They freed her hands from IV hookups “so she is way less frustrated and can play. In fact, she played until 4:30 a.m. last night!! . . . She made it out for her first walk yesterday and made it look easy.”

Ferris also is eating well enough that Lindsey reported “they’ve stopped all daytime feeds . . . working towards getting all the extra fluid off without upsetting her kidney. She’s 2kg heavier than she was on surgery day and there’s nooooo way it was a 2kg kidney!!”

Adding weight is a really big deal with Ferris because that has been an issue for a lot of her young life and has impeded her route to a transplant in the past.

All-in-all, a tired Lindsey wrote, she “really couldn’t be happier with how things have gone. I feel like looking back we won’t even remember the hard times that much because the payoff is going to be soooo big!

“I’m certain if we make it home to Kamloops with this kidney, people are gonna be floored when they see her! She will be a totally different kid in the best ways possible!!”

A city awaits . . .

Polka

Craig West and the Tri-City Americans announced in April that he was stepping aside as their play-by-play voice. West, 68 this month, says he hasn’t retired, but that he simply is moving along down life’s highway. . . . West, who started in the WHL by calling Spokane Chiefs’ game, ended up doing 2,584 games. . . . Jeff Morrow, the former sports editor of the Tri-City Herald, spent some time with West and also touched base with a few hockey people and friends. It all resulted in a terrific look at West and his career . . . to this point. And that piece is right here.

F Conner Roulette of the Spokane Chiefs was named the tournament MVP after helping Team Canada to a gold medal at the International Street and Ball Hockey Foundation’s U20 Ball Hockey World Championship in Liberec, Czechia. . . . Roulette, Team Canada’s captain, had three goals as Canada beat Slovakia, 10-3, in the final. . . . Canada’s roster also included F Dawson Pasternak of the Brandon Wheat Kings, who had three goals and three assists in the final, and F Evan Friesen of the Wenatchee Wild.

Birds

James Patrick, who was the head coach of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice for the past six seasons, thinks he’ll be taking a season away, with the franchise having relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., where it will play as the Wild. . . . Patrick, whose contract expired with the end of the 2022-23 season, told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he had planned to coach at least one more season in Winnipeg. Sawatzky wrote that Patrick “had heard speculation about the possibility of a franchise move but only found out about the sale following an announcement by the league.” In other words, the Ice’s owners didn’t inform him of the move. Hmmm. . . . Sawatzky’s story is right here.

THE COACHING GAME:

Josh Dixon, an associate coach with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars for the past two seasons, has left the WHL team to take over as head coach of the U of Guelph Gryphons. . . . In Guelph, Dixon takes over from Shawn Camp, who ran the program for 16 seasons. . . . Camp retired following the 2022-23 season. . . .

Benoit Desrosiers has agreed to a three-year contract as the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques. Desrosiers, 34, has worked as an assistant coach with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Sherbrooke Phoenix and Quebec Remparts in past seasons. He spent 2022-23 as an assistant coach with the Memorial Cup-champion Remparts. . . . In Gatineau, he replaces Louis Robitaille, who spent three years in the position. . . .

The AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats have hired Brad Rihela as their head coach. He had been with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs, as assistant GM and associate head coach, for the previous five seasons. . . . In Lloydminster, Rihela takes over from Nigel Dube, who remains with the organization as general manager. Dube had been the head coach since Nov. 12, 2018. . . . The Bobcats also announced that Jeff Woywitka has been named associate head coach and skill development coach. He had joined the team after last season’s Christmas break. . . .

The BCHL’s Coquitlam Express has hired Brett Sonne as an assistant coach. Sonne, from Maple Ridge, B.C., played four seasons (2005-09) with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen. For the past two seasons he has been an assistant coach with the junior B Ridge Meadows Flames of the Pacific Junior Hockey League. . . . Sonne’s brother, Brennan, is the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. . . .

The AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints are in the market for a head coach after six seasons with Bram Stephen at the helm. The Saints announced Stephen’s departure on Wednesday, although no reason was provided. . . . “I will look fondly on my time in Spruce Grove as I look forward to the next opportunities in my career,” Stephen said in a news release. . . . He guided the Saints to the AJHL championship in 2018.

Think

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

Kyle McIntyre has signed a multi-year deal to continue as commissioner of the SJHL. He is heading into his second season leading the 12-team league. . . . From a news release: In 2022-23, “the SJHL improved overall broadcast standards for both the fans and saw significant improvements in followers on all the league’s social media channels. Attendance levels over the season averaged 674 fans per game with over 222,498 fans for the season. In playoffs the average attendance was 1,137 per game and the league saw over 38,641 fans attend playoffs games. The league also saw a record number of NCAA and USport player commitments.” . . .

D Blake Heward, who cleared WHL 20-year-old waivers, has signed on with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins. Heward had four goals and 21 assists in 103 regular-season WHL games, split between the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen. . . .

F Kyle Bochek, who played last season with the Vancouver Giants, has cleared WHL waivers and is a free agent. Bochek, 20, had one goal and three assists in 48 games with the Giants last season. In 2021-22, he had three assists in 30 games. . . . 

F Jared Davidson, who played the past five seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds, has signed a one-year contract with the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. Davidson, who will turn 21 on Friday, had 38 goals and 44 assists in 60 games with the WHL-champion Thunderbirds last season. He was a fifth-round selection by the Canadiens in the NHL’s 2022 draft.

Merge

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.

Cat

Ferris encounters some speed bumps . . . Blades, Broncos swing deal . . . T-Birds lose director of player personnel to NHL

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A chipper Ferris Backmeyer, 6, continues her recovery from a kidney transplant in a Toronto hospital. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

It seems that there almost always will be speed bumps in the recovery process after a kidney transplant.

Ferris Backmeyer encountered a couple on Saturday at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where the six-year-old from Kamloops underwent a transplant overnight Thursday.

With all that her family has been through over the past few years, they knew that this could happen. Still, that didn’t make things any easier.

“I knew there were gonna be bumps but tonight has been way too hard for my FerrisLogomama heart!!” Lindsey wrote on Facebook early, early Saturday morning. “(Friday) night was a bit tough in that I wasn’t able to sleep at her bedside and she woke frequently asking for me. So I didn’t get even a minutes sleep. Pat and I traded out and I slept during the day.”

And then Saturday started out “pretty good” but . . .

“She required (norepinephrine) overnight but weaned off of it when she woke up,” Lindsey continued. “She slept most the morning into the early afternoon. Then was pretty good. Her urine output really slowed down. Was hardly meeting targets but everyone was happy with the bloodwork and the urine output was considered acceptable. She got moved out of ICU in the evening at shift change.

“Well it musta been the elevation because she literally got crumpy as soon as we got upstairs. So much pain. Urine output dropped to less than 10mls an hour for a couple hours and then it was zero for the next two. She had a big jump in the output from her drain. The no urine output and intense pain for hours and then vomiting was breaking me.

“I was frustrated that it didn’t feel like much was being done. We couldn’t give more pain meds yet. No labs. Then the nurse told me they would order an ultrasound for the morning. I had only spoken to the resident that had come by to assess Ferris. She wasn’t a nephrology resident even and I just got incredibly articulate!!

“Magically . . . nephro came to the bedside. Ordered all the things including a stat ultrasound. They have albumin and lasix and she had really decent output. We just nicely got back from ultrasound. The preliminary report mentioned a narrowing in the ureter but good blood flow and no obvious big collections. Sigghhhh.

“Some of her tests aren’t back yet. She could still have a urine leak. But she made pee. She’s finally comfortable and asleep. Hoping for a bit of rest myself. The nurse is pretty busy with her. I suspect she will be in here most the rest of her shift.

“This is the first real bump so far and it scared the crap outta me. Feel better my girl!”

KFC

THE COACHING GAME:

The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs are poised to name Sylvain Favreau as their next head coach. He had resigned as the head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads a week ago. With Drummondville, he takes over from Éric Bélanger, who resigned last month after just 63 games as head coach, 54 of them in the regular season. . . . That leaves six QMJHL teams without a head coach — the Cape Breton Eagles, Gatineau Olympiques, Halifax, Quebec Remparts, Rimouski Oceanic and Sherbrooke Phoenix.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Swift Current Broncos have acquired 2005-born D Tomas Zizka from the Saskatoon Blades for a conditional sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2026 draft. Ziska, from Zlin, Czech Republic, had two assists in 32 regular-season games with the Blades last season. Saskatoon selected him in the CHL’s 2022 import draft. . . . The trade frees up the Blades to make one pick in Wednesday’s CHL import draft. Their second import slot is filled by F Egor Sidorov, who was their leading scorer last season. . . .

Cal Filson, who had been the Seattle Thunderbirds’ director of player personnel, has left the WHL team to work for the Chicago Blackhawks as an amateur scout. He had been with the Thunderbirds for 14 seasons, the last eight as director of player personnel.

THINKING OUT LOUD: Take a few minutes out of your day and track down a Washington Post feature written by Sally Jenkins that carries this headline: Bitter rivals. Beloved friends. Survivors. . . . It’s the story of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, their rivalry and their friendship, their battles with cancer and a whole lot more. . . . And it’ll be the best thing you read today. I guarantee it. . . . ESPN’s NFL coverage without Suzy Kolber and Steve Young? Say it ain’t so. . . . There isn’t much better than watching the Baltimore Orioles on TV with Jim Palmer, the ol’ right-hander, working as the analyst. . . . Is the hockey season over yet?

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.

AlarmClock

Ferris’s journey continues . . . ‘We really couldn’t have asked for a better day’ . . . ‘I’m so proud of her’

How did Ferris Backmeyer handle Friday after having undergone a kidney transplant overnight Thursday?

Ferris, 6, asked to call her friend Amilia.

As Ferris’s mother, Lindsey, wrote: “We really couldn’t have asked for a better day!!”

The Backmeyers — Lindsey and Pat, with daughters Ferris, Ksenia and Tavis — are from Kamloops. They have been in Toronto for a couple of weeks now, first preparing for Ferris to undergo a kidney transplant at the Hospital for Sick Children and now going through the recovery phase.

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Ferris Backmeyer, 6, spent Friday resting up after having undergone a kidney transplant in Toronto. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Ferris has had kidney issues for almost all of her young life, and Lindsey has done a wonderful job of documenting it all on Facebook.

Doing this no doubt is therapy of sorts for Lindsey, but it also is a way to keep in touch with family and friends via one posting, thus cutting out the need for a thousand different messages.

We can only imagine how many hours Lindsey has spent sitting in hospitals or Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver over the past six years, potential scenarios flipping through her mind with uncontrolled randomness.

When she posted in the wee hours of Saturday, it was impossible not to feel the excitement that was coursing through her system.

“I had considered what it might look like for things to have gone smoothly,” she allowed, “but, even then, it didn’t look like (Friday) . . . it was smoooooth!!!”

How smooth was it?

“Urine output amazing all day long. She weaned off really high doses of (norepinephrine) once she woke up! Maintained her (blood pressure) throughout the day, including when she napped this evening! Ultrasound looked great. She hardly skipped a beat.”

Ferris talked with her mother “about the things we played with (Thursday).”

And, yes, she asked “to phone her friend Amilia.”

But wait . . . there’s more!

“She was awake for several hours,” Lindsey continued. “Sat up a bunch of times. Played a bit. Ate some food. Was mostly kept comfortable. If she didn’t have her history she would have definitely been sent out of ICU (Friday) evening! Like holy heck girl!! Way to goooooo!! I’m so proud of her.”

However, you can’t have been on this ride with Ferris for these past years and FerrisLogonot come to expect the worst. You know how it goes . . . hope for the best and . . . It’s only human nature that the Backmeyers have experienced that time and time again.

At one point, Lindsey wrote: “I hate living in this constant fear of all the worst things.”

So why should things be any different this time?

“I’ve found myself holding my breath a lot of the day. Waiting for her to start to crash. But she didn’t,” Lindsey wrote. “Beyond my wildest expectations, we have gotten to the other side. I am constantly checking myself as to not get too excited. Knowing there are going to be some really hard days ahead.”

Lindsey, who has worked as a respiratory therapist at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, knows that her youngest daughter “definitely isn’t out of the woods in terms of clotting and/or bleeding for that matter.”

But there have been so many positive signs since surgery that “I’m gonna choose to celebrate today as a huge (bleeping) win!! Im gonna allow myself to dream a little that things could actually just be amazing. We are coming from such a bumpy world that we were ready for something new if even if it came with a different kind of hard.”

OK. So what’s next?

Lindsey is anxiously awaiting Ferris’s being moved out of ICU and onto a ward, which will mean mother will get to sleep next to daughter.

“I’m exhausted,” Lindsey admitted. “My one-hour attempt at a nap ended up being four solid hours. Ferris napped late in the day so has just fallen asleep. I can’t sleep at her bedside so I’m off to find a ‘parent recliner’ with hopes Ferris is asleep for the night!”

And don’t think for a moment that the Backmeyers, even with all that has been happening, aren’t aware of the thoughts and prayers and love that have been sent their way.

“Once again, thanks so much to everyone for all the support,” Lindsey wrote “It’s been incredible!! It’s been exactly what we didn’t know we needed!! My brain is super fried, so the words really aren’t there to genuinely express how loved we feel! But we feel it! It’s so tangible! Love you guys.”

——

Leah Scott, a mother of three from Kamloops, was involved in Ferris’s transplant via the paired exchange program. Ferris and Leah weren’t matches, but Leah gave a kidney to a stranger in order for Ferris to receive a kidney from someone else, all as part of a chain.

On Saturday, Leah wrote:

“The final part of our journey to donation and transplant was spent finalizing testing, prepping, and a lot of breath-holding while we were continually reminded this could be called off right up to the day. And 20 days before our original surgery date, it was.

“For some painstaking days it all hung in the balance. But we got a new date. In two months. It felt too long. Too far. Yet in the end it set the stage for me to do some very important things at home for my own family and allowed my buddy to be her strongest and most ready that her family had ever seen.

“The timing was indeed perfect. The week was pretty textbook. My recipient took their kidney right away and was doing well. My buddy defied all odds and rocked her surgery better than anyone could have hoped for. It played out just as I had envisioned hundreds of times.

“I am forever changed. My faith is deeper and richer. I am humbled to have been called to something so much bigger than myself. The honour has been mine to be part of giving life to others.”

Ferris stable early after kidney transplant . . . Good news: ‘There is a big bag of pee’ . . . Youngster’s journey enters new chapter

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Ferris Backmeyer, 6, was stable early Friday after undergoing a kidney transplant in Toronto. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Those people following the Backmeyer family’s journey through daughter Ferris’s second kidney transplant were greeted by seven glorious words on Friday morning.

“There is a big bag of pee.”

That was part of a brief update from Lindsey Backmeyer, Ferris’s mother, after her six-year-old daughter had undergone a kidney transplant during the night at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

The Backmeyers are from Kamloops.

“She’s been out for a few hours now. She’s stable,” Lindsey wrote on Facebook. “There is a big bag of pee. The doctors are all very happy with how she’s doing. Her surgeon told me it was a beautiful kidney and it woke up right away!”

All of that is awesome news. The fact that the new kidney quickly sprung into action and began producing urine is as good as things get at this stage.

“Her creatinine was already down to 120s,” Lindsey continued. “She’s breathing kinda fast and looking pretty puffy, but is managing okay at the moment.

“They are only replacing what comes out now. Let today be smooth and not scary!!”

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To date, this has been a year of high stress for the Backmeyers, who had to relocate to Vancouver early on as Ferris encountered some infection issues that resulted in her having to be transitioned from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis. BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver is the only place in the province where children are able to receive hemo.

At the same time, the family was prepping for an April 25 transplant date in Toronto. However, that date was cancelled a week before as there was a break in the chain.

Ferris’s second transplant was done via the paired exchange program. While there was a break in the chain in April that wasn’t the case on Thursday.

The paired exchange program works like this: A donor, in this case Leah Scott of Kamloops, agrees to donate a kidney to a stranger, but only if the person she is acting on behalf of, in this case Ferris, gets one. What it amounts to is that Ferris and Leah weren’t matches, but when a match was found for Ferris, Leah offered to stay in the chain and see the process through to its end.

Due to privacy concerns, we aren’t privy to how many people are in a chain, but it could be four, six, eight . . . so you know that the logistics are something to behold.

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Ferris was looking rather chipper on Thursday before she underwent a kidney transplant. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Lindsey wrote that the family — father Pat and older daughters Ksenia and

Tavia also are in Toronto — enjoyed Thursday before Ferris went into surgery that night.

“Mostly perfect day today,” Lindsey wrote. “(Ferris) would have said today was a great day although I’m not so sure what she’s gonna think of us all when she wakes up. She hopefully had her last hemo run.”

With all the testing behind her, Ferris was able to spend time with her family.

“She had zero tests so we took her for a walk to the park in the afternoon,” Lindsey said. “She FaceTimed auntie Terri and her friend Amilia! The day went by fairly quickly overall. She was a happy little clam all day.”

At the time Lindsey was writing this, Ferris likely was undergoing her second transplant in two years.

“It’s late here and she’s been in for a few hours now. Still a few more to go,” Lindsey wrote. “She had moments of being nervous today but she mostly was just so incredibly brave. Love her soooo much! Can’t wait to hold her again!”

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This was the second time that Ferris underwent a transplant. She went through one on March 6, 2021, at BC Children’s Hospital, but there were complications and the new kidney had to be removed not long after it was put in place.

She has known almost nothing but dialysis, either peritoneal or hemo, for most of her young life. She wasn’t a candidate for a transplant earlier because of her small size and an inability to put on weight and keep it on.

There almost was transplant surgery in December 2020. The Backmeyers were at home in Kamloops when they got the call that a kidney was available for transplant. They left for Vancouver, but the surgery was cancelled at the last minute.

The transplant on March 6, 2021, followed.

After that transplant attempt failed, Lindsey explained:

“Urology basically said the donor kidney was perfect but it was challenging to anastamose to Ferris because of the size of her vessels. He basically said he wouldn’t consider another transplant again until she’s bigger, which terrifies me because she isn’t growing well on dialysis at all.

“He worried they underestimated her heart health and it might not have been strong enough to perfuse the organ. This is big scary stuff.”

But now, about three years after the Backmeyers were given the go-ahead to look for a living donor, here we are.

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While the Backmeyers were in Toronto awaiting Thursday’s surgery, Leah Scott was in an undisclosed location where she had a kidney surgically removed earlier in the week. That kidney was then transplanted into a recipient as part of the chain that also included Ferris.

“I don’t believe that God ever needs us to fulfill His purpose,” Leah, a mother of three, wrote on Facebook on Thursday. “But I do think He chooses to use us when we are willing to say yes. And I think the blessing is that we get to be part of something so much bigger than ourselves. I believe the day is today.

“As hope builds within this sweet child’s community and this wave of green ribbons spreads and the anticipation rises that her win is here . . . I am so thankful I had the opportunity to say yes. It’s your day sweet girl. We all feel it!”

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Perhaps no one summed up the emotions of all this any better than did Andrew Scott, Leah’s husband, who wrote:

“For anyone not already following along on Leah Scott posts, her recipient now has a working kidney.

“Ferris also got her kidney (Thursday) night. The surgery went well and now she begins her recovery.

“Continue to pray for Leah, Ferris and all of the other donors and recipients. This is a truly touching story and I fight back tears every time I read about lives being changed and all of the support and prayer covering these fighters have.

“Truly humbling.”