Swift Current, Everett make deal . . . Broncos, Raiders sign imports . . . Ex-Tigers forward now coaching

MacBeth

F Marek Viedenský (Prince George, Saskatoon, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he had 11 goals and 10 assists in 42 games with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). . . .

F David Rutherford (Vancouver, Spokane, 2004-08) signed a one-year contract extension with the Belfast Giants (Northern Ireland, UK Elite). Last season, he had 17 goals and 23 assists in 31 games. . . .

F Jamie Crooks (Saskatoon, Chilliwack/Victoria, 2008-13) signed a one-year contract with the Guildford Flames (England, UK Elite). Last season, he had 16 goals and nine assists in 28 games with the University of Alberta (Canada West, USports).

ThisThat

If you are here looking for coverage of the Summer Showcase, I’m sorry but . . .

It’s July, and soon to be August. The temperature in B.C.’s Interior is sizzling . . .

Teenage hockey players should be waterskiing, fishing, golfing, playing beach volleyball . . . anything but playing hockey, especially with their junior teams about three weeks away from opening training camps . . .

I’m retired and there is no way that I am going to spend part of my summer in an arena watching hockey. Not when I don’t have to . . . not a chance.

So if you’re looking for Summer Showcase coverage, I’m sorry, but you’re in the wrong neighbourhood.

The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Ethan O’Rourke, 19, and a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for D Sahvan Khaira, 20. . . . O’Rourke split last season between the Prince George Cougars and Everett, totalling six goals and 12 assists in 66 games. He was a third-round pick by the Cougars in the 2014 bantam draft. . . . The 6-foot-4 Khaira has played four WHL seasons after being selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the ninth round of the 2013 bantam draft. In 77 games with Seattle over two seasons, he had one goal and six assists. . . . In 168 regular-season games with the Broncos, he totalled eight goals and 42 assists. . . . Last season, he had career bests in goals (6), assists (20) and points. He added two goals and five assists in 26 games as the Broncos won the WHL title. . . . Khaira’s older brother, Jujhar, played one season (2013-14) with Everett and now is with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. . . . Sahvan has attended NHL camps with the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton. . . . The Broncos’ then-braintrust emptied the cupboard last season in building the championship team, so the acquisition of draft picks is important these days.

The Silvertips now have two 20-year-olds on their roster — Khaira and F Sean Richards. . . . F Spencer Gerth, 20, also had been on Everett’s roster but has chosen to leave the WHL and attend Trinity Western U in his hometown of Langley, B.C., and play for the Spartans. . . .

The Broncos still have six 20-year-olds on their roster — F Kaden Elder, F Andrew Fyten, F Kole Gable, Russian D Artyom Minulin, F Tanner Nagel and D Ryan Pouliot, who was claimed on waivers from the Kootenay Ice last week.

Meanwhile, the Broncos also announced that they have signed D Roope Pynnonen, who is from Finland and was one of their two selections in the CHL’s 2018 import draft. . . . Pynnonen, 17, had two assists in 16 games with HPK’s U-18 team last season. . . . Last week, the Broncos signed their other 2018 import draft selection, Finnish F Joona Kiviniemi. . . . Swift Current also has Minulin on its roster. Minulin, 20, would count as a two-spotter should he return.

The Prince Albert Raiders have signed Belarusian F Alexei Protas, their only selection in PrinceAlbertthe CHL’s 2018 import draft. Protas, 17, and the Raiders other import, D Sergei Sapego, are from Vitebsk, Belarus. . . . Last season, Protas had nine goals and 11 assists in 48 games with the U-17 Team Belarus. . . . Sapego, who will turn 19 on Oct. 9, will be returning for a second WHL season, after being acquired from the Tri-City Americans early last season. He had two assists in three games with the Americans, then put up four goals and 13 assists in 41 games with the Raiders. Injuries limited his playing time with the Raiders, who obviously are hoping he is in for a healthy season. . . . Trevor Redden of paNOW.com has more right here.

As you can see by the above tweet, Zenon Herasymiuk now is working for the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . He had been with the Kootenay Ice, but they split in May.

Matt Summers is the new head coach of the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard. Summers, who is from Savage, Minn., played three seasons (2003-06) with the Blizzard. He spent last season in Bay City, Mich., as head coach of the Tri City Ice Hawks, who play in the Premier Division of the U.S. Premier Hockey League. . . . With the Blizzard, Summers takes over from Doug Hedley, who left after last season and now is the GM/head coach of the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings.

Darren Reid has joined the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder as an assistant coach. Reid, 35, played two-plus seasons (2001-04) with the Medicine Hat Tigers before going on to a pro career that included 21 games in the NHL and 259 in the AHL. . . . Before joining the Tigers, he played three seasons with the Thunder, helping them to the 2002 AJHL championship. . . . In Drayton Valley, he will work alongside GM/head coach Eric Thurston.

Tweetoftheday

Dorothy has reason to celebrate . . . It’s fifth anniversary of transplant . . . She invites you to join her team

It is almost impossible to believe but it soon will be the fifth anniversary of Dorothy’s kidney transplant.

If you’re a regular here, you will have followed my wife’s incredible journey and will know full well why family and friends often refer to her as Wonder Woman, with

Karablog
That’s Dorothy and granddaughter Kara preparing for a newscast at Kidtropolis in Richmond, B.C. The lead story? Kara’s second birthday. (Todd Drinnan photo)

apologies, of course, to Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot.

It was on Sept. 23, 2013, when Dorothy underwent the transplant at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.

How has she done since then?

Well, if you know Dorothy you know that she continues to stroll and chat her way through life, always with a smile on her face. Since undergoing the transplant, she has co-founded the Kamloops Kidney Support Group, something that allows her to share her experiences with other people and family members who are having to deal with kidney disease, be it dialysis, pre- or post-transplant situations, and anything else that might accompany it. She also helps put together a Christmas luncheon for kidney patients and their families.

Through all of this she continues to be a terrific wife, mother and grandmother. Oh, how she loves being a grandmother, something the transplant has allowed her to thoroughly enjoy.

So how will Dorothy spend the fifth anniversary of her transplant? By taking part in the 2018 Kamloops Kidney Walk, of course. It is scheduled for Sept. 23 at McDonald Park in Kamloops.

This will be the fifth straight year in which she has been part of the Kamloops Kidney Walk, and once again she is asking friends, acquaintances and Taking Note readers to be part of her team and allow her to walk for them.

Dorothy already has been joined by old friend Norm Weseen. We stopped off to visit with Norm this weekend while on the Lower Mainland and, as usual, he couldn’t wait to climb on the bus.

You can join Team Dorothy by making a donation, something that can be done by clicking right here, then clicking on the ‘Donate’ button in the upper right corner of Dorothy’s personal page.

Thank you, in advance, for your generosity.

Mondays With Murray: Dandy Koufax

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1965, SPORTS

Copyright 1965/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

Jim Murray

Dandy Koufax

   There was this night when we were sitting around trying to imagine what would happen if a lot of history’s characters had had Jewish mothers. Like, “My Son, the Traitor” (Benedict Arnold’s mother); “My Son, the Ape” (Tarzan’s mother); “My Son, the Doctor and Mr. Hyde” (Dr. Jekyll’s mother).

  There would be a “My Son, the Channel Swimmer,” “My Son, the Bullfighter,” “My Son, mondaysmurray2the Spy.” But all of us overlooked the most obvious one of all: “My Son, the No-Hit Pitcher” (Sandy Koufax’s mother).

  There’s an old saying that when a thing happens once, it’s an accident. Twice, it’s a trend. Three times, and it’s a habit. Four times, and it’s a rut.

  Sandy Koufax is in a rut. A no-hit rut. Every year, as regularly as summer, he pitches a no-hit game. There have been 160 no-hit games in major league history. If Sandy Koufax had stuck to architecture (“My Son, the Planner”), there would only be 156 of them. The only way he could improve now is to pitch so well some night the other team ends with a minus-two. He has now added a “perfect” game to go with his first three mere no-hitters. He’s getting the hang of the thing.

  A pattern has now been established for a Sandy Koufax no-hitter which is getting as recognizable to aficionados as a Rembrandt, a Picasso, or a Warhol. It has to (1) be night; (2) have Eddie Vargo umpiring behind the plate; and (3) have Harvey Kuenn as the last batter. The opposing team doesn’t matter. There have now been four different ones. When Sandy’s fastball is crackling it could be the 1927 Yankees — or the 1914 German Army for all of that.

  A no-hit game is often as freakish as snow in July. Some great pitchers never pitched one. Lefty Grove, for instance. Dizzy Dean. (But his brother Paul did.)

   Warren Spahn threw two. So did Virgil Trucks. Bobby Feller and Cy Young threw three. So did somebody named “Lawrence J. Corcoran” who did not otherwise grace the record books. But most of the names in the no-hit record books comprise the great nobodies of our time. Johnny Vander Meer threw two in a row (including the first night one) but he never did much of anything else. Guys like Bill Dietrich, Ed Head (surely, you remember him!?), William McCahan, Donald P. Black, Robert C. Keegan are a few recent no-hit nobodies. Robert Belinsky threw one, you may recall.

  A bon vivant named Alva (Bobo) Holloman threw one in his first major league start. He was back in the bush leagues before the month was up, but since his club was the St. Louis Browns, he hardly noticed the difference. As long as they didn’t water the drinks.

  In his merry book, “Now Wait a Minute, Casey!” the New York Post’s Maury Allen alluded to a jingle the Manhattan baseball writers sang at their annual dinner. “Sandy, You’re a Dandy, You’re a Jewish Walter Johnson.” But now that Sandy has thrown his fourth no-hitter, the chances are better that Walter Johnson (one measly lifetime no-hitter) may come to be known as the Gentile Sandy Koufax. And don’t forget Walter Johnson could pitch on Rosh Hashanah.

  When Sandy first came up to the Dodgers, it was the private guess of most that, if he ever went down in history as the game’s foremost no-hitter, it would be with the bat. There is a prevailing opinion that Sandy, as a

human being, is almost too good to be true — and I have never seen him do anything to dispute it. But when he first took a pitcher’s mound, he was too true to be good. If he hit anybody with a baseball, it was an accident. If Don Drysdale missed anybody, it was an accident.

  The incident in Candlestick Park last month served the purpose of illustration. It was before Juan (The Enforcer) Marichal (one lifetime no-hitter) had taken, so to speak, his cuts with the bat (the cuts, by the way, bled) but he had knocked down two Dodger batters.

  When Willie Mays came up, everybody in the ballpark (including Willie) knew the first pitch was going to be a ball — high and inside, way inside. Willie knew if he lingered in the batter’s box he would have two lumps in his throat — one of them with Warren Giles’ signature on it. He started to run out of the batter’s box before the jewish Walter Johnson completed his windup. He need not have worried. Like the other Walter Johnson, this one doesn’t believe in attempted murder — with a ball or bat. The pitch was more of a threat to a low-flying jet than to Willie Mays.

  Of course, someone recently checked into the myth that the real Walter Johnson never brushed a batter back because he was afraid he would kill him, and found to his dismay that Walter led the world in hit batsmen — a cool 204 in his lifetime. This puts him almost 200 ahead of Sandy Koufax. That may be the only department he will lead Sandy in when Sandy finally goes back to the drawing board.

  As teammate Don Drysdale said the other night when Sandy came in from his annual no-hit game, “Do you think they’ll take the uniform off him before they bronze it or will they leave him in it?”

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

———

What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org. 

Hurricanes captain back on ice . . . Three teams sign import picks . . . Schaefer back in coaching game

MacBeth

F Curtis Hamilton (Saskatoon, 2006-11) signed a one-year contract with the Graz 99ers (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). Last season, he was pointless in five games Tappara Tampere (Finland, Liiga), and had three goals and five assists in 16 games with SaiPa Lappeenranta (Finland, Liiga).

ThisThat

Slightly more than a month after F Jordy Bellerive of the Lethbridge Hurricanes was in hospital with burns, he has returned to the ice. Steve Ewen of Postmedia reports that Bellerive, the Hurricanes’ captain, skated at Canlan Ice Sports in North Vancouver this week. . . . Ewen’s story is right here.

The Swift Current Broncos added two players to their roster on Thursday, as they SCBroncosclaimed D Ryan Pouliot, 20, off waivers from the Kootenay Ice and signed Finnish F Joona Kiviniemi. . . . Pouliot is preparing for his fourth WHL season, after playing with the Ice (135 games) and Red Deer Rebels (14 games). Last season, he had two goals and eight assists in 64 games with the Ice. . . . In 169 career games, he had three goals and 27 assists. . . . Kiviniemi, who will turn 17 on Dec. 17, played most of last season with Karpat’s U-18 team in the Jr. B SM-Sarja. He had one goal and two assists in 12 games.

The Kamloops Blazers have signed their two selections from the CHL’s 2018 import draft Kamloops1— Czech F Martin Lang, who will turn 17 on Sept. 15, and D Joonas Sillanpää, 17. . . . Lang had 32 goals and 22 assists in 35 games with HC Plzen’s U-18 team last season. He is expected to play Czech Republic at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton and Red Deer, Aug. 6-11. . . . The 6-foot-5 Sillanpää had two goals and six assists in 43 games split between HIFK’s U-18 and U-20 teams. . . . Last season, the Blazers’ imports were Czech D Ondrej Vala, who was traded to the Everett Silvertips in January, and Swiss F Justin Sigrist, who won’t be back for a second season.

The Kootenay Ice has signed D Valtteri Kakkonen of Finland, who was its only selection in the CHL’s 2018 import draft. Last season, Kakkonen, 18, had five goals and seven assists in 47 games with JYP’s U-20 team that played in the Jr. A SM-Liiga.

Peter Schaefer, the WHL’s player of the year for 1996-97 while with the Brandon Wheat Kings, has returned to the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles as an assistant coach. . . . Schaefer, 41, was the Eagles’ general manager and head coach in 2013-14. This time, he will work alongside head coach Brandon West and assistant coach Linden Saip.

F Branden Klatt won’t be returning to the WHL for his 20-year-old season. He has cleared WHL waivers and chosen to sign with the SJHL’s Yorkton Terriers. . . . Klatt, who is from Moose Jaw, was a sixth-round pick by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL’s 2013 bantam draft. . . . In 184 regular-season WHL games, 85 of them with Edmonton and 99 with the Moose Jaw Warriors, he had 15 goals and 30 assists. . . . Last season, with the Warriors, he had seven goals and eight assists in 69 games.

Nathan Oystrick is the new general manager and head coach of the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. He reported to work on Wednesday and Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix spent some time with him. . . . That piece is right here.

The Texas-based USA-Central Hockey League, which bills itself as a “non-tuition” junior A league, announced Thursday that Tory Mick is its first president. . . . Mick is a former WHL coach and player, who spent the past five seasons in the front office of the BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks. . . . Kevin Mitchell of Black Press has more right here.

Tweetoftheday

Gregor’s rights now with Raiders . . . Royals get d-man from Oil Kings . . . Hurricanes sign two draft picks

MacBeth

F Waltteri Hopponen (Everett, 2013-14) signed a one-year contract with Peliitat Heinola (Finland, Mestis). Last season, he had five goals and 14 assists in 46 games with Espoo United (Finland, Mestis). Espoo United declared bankruptcy after last season and was dissolved. . . .

F Anthony Bardaro (Spokane, Prince Albert, 2009-13) signed a two-year contract extension with Asiago (Italy, Alps HL). Last season, he had 31 goals and 25 assists in 39 games. He was the Alps HL’s most valuable player. He led the league in goals, and also led in playoff assists and points, putting up six goals and 17 assists in 14 games.

ThisThat

Some reaction off my Twitter timeline from yesterday’s report here about the WHL working to restrict the trading of younger players . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders have acquired F Noah Gregor, who is to turn 20 on July 28, from the Victoria Royals.

PrinceAlbertAccording to a news release from the Raiders, “Terms of the trade were not disclosed.”

According to a news release from the Royals, they received “conditional compensation.”

Gregor was a fourth-round selection by the San Jose Sharks in the NHL’s 2016 draft, so is eligible to start the season with their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracudas.

Chances are that Victoria received a bantam draft pick that is conditional on Gregor playing with Prince Albert, with the round changing depending on the number of games he plays. Or perhaps there is a big bag of cash  involved? Hey, just kidding.

The Royals selected Gregor in the third round of the 2013 WHL bantam draft. They dealt him to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Jan. 6, 2014, in exchange for D Travis Brown. The Warriors also got third-round selections in the 2014 and 2016 bantam drafts, and an undisclosed conditional pick, as well.

On Dec. 11, 2017, the Royals reacquired Gregor from Moose Jaw, getting him and a 2018 eighth-round bantam draft pick for F Ryan Peckford and a fourth-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft.

Last season, he had 14 goals and 22 assists in 36 games with Moose Jaw, and 15 goals and 14 assists in 30 games with Victoria.

In 194 career regular-season games, Gregor has 86 goals and 119 assists.

The Raiders have three other 20-year-olds on their roster — F Kody McDonald, F Sean Montgomery and G Curtis Meger.

I think the Royals still have five 20-year-olds on their roster — F Braydon Buziak, F Dante Hannoun, D Ralph Jarratt, G Griffen Outhouse and F Lane Zablocki.

Later in the day, the Royals announced that they have acquired D Brayden Gorda, 19, VictoriaRoyalsfrom the Edmonton Oil Kings for a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft.

Last season, Gorda had one goal and three assists in 30 games with Edmonton. In 151 regular-season WHL games, all with the Oil Kings, he had six goals and 26 assists.

Edmonton selected him in the third round of the 2014 bantam draft.

Gord was late reporting to the Oil Kings last season as he took time away from hockey to deal with the death of a close friend.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes have signed the two players they selected in the CHL’s 2018 Lethbridgeimport draft — Swiss G Akira Schmid and D Danila Palivko of Belarus. . . . Schmid, 18, was a fifth-round pick by the New Jersey Devils in the NHL’s 2018 draft. Last season, he put up a 2.60 GAA in 32 games with the U-20 Langnau club. Schmid will get a chance at being the Hurricanes’ starter in 2018-19 as they have to replace Logan Flodell, who played out his eligibility last season. . . . Palivko, who turns 17 on Nov. 30, played 40 games with Belarus’s U-17 team, putting up six goals and 20 assists. In 12 games with the U-18 team, he had six assists. The Hurricanes saw him at the Mac’s tournament in Calgary, where he had two assists in four games. . . . The Hurricanes finished last season with Russian F Egor Zudilov and D Igor Merezhko, who is from Ukraine, on their roster. The Hurricanes announced prior to the 2018 CHL import draft that Zudilov wouldn’t be back for a second season. Should Merezhko return, he would be a two-spotter as a 20-year-old import.

A third WHL player has had to bow out of Hockey Canada’s World Junior Showcase Canadabecause of an undisclosed injury. F Justin Almeida of the Moose Jaw Warriors has been replaced by F Serron Noel of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. . . . Noel was a second-round pick by the Florida Panthers in the NHL’s 2018 draft. . . . Earlier, D Josh Brook of the Warriors and F Jordy Bellerive of the Lethbridge Hurricanes were scratched because of injuries. Brook apparently has a wrist injury, while Bellerive continues to recover from burns suffered in an accident involving a bonfire. . . . There now are eight WHLers on Canada’s roster — D Cale Addison of Lethbridge, D Ty Smith of the Spokane Chiefs, D Jett Woo of Moose Jaw, F Jaret Anderson-Dolan of Spokane, F Connor Dewar of the Everett Silvertips, F Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks, F Stelio Mattheos of the Brandon Wheat Kings and F Michael Rasmussen of the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Showcase opens Saturday in Kamloops and runs through Aug. 4. It features teams from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the U.S.

Mike Needham has returned to the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton. Needham, who was fired by the Kamloops Blazers on May 10, has been named OHA’s skills and development co-ordinator. . . . Needham, 48, spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Blazers. Prior to that, he was the head coach of OHA’s bantam prep team for three seasons.

Tweetoftheday

Cst. Curtis Warner, who works traffic with the Regina Police Service, is worth a follow on Twitter. Would love to see someone working traffic like this, and tweeting about it, in Kamloops.

WHL to restrict trading of youngest players . . . Royals, Pats make deal . . . Pedersen service set for Friday

MacBeth

F Brock Montgomery (Kootenay, 2009-13) signed a one-year extension with the Tilburg Trappers (Netherlands, Germany Oberliga Nord). Last season, he had 26 goals and 25 assists in 40 games. He led the league in PIM, with 134. . . .

D Richard Nedomlel (Swift Current, 2010-13) signed a tryout contract with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, he had two assists in 34 games with Sparta Prague (Czech Republic, Extraliga). He also was pointless in four games while on loan to Mladá Bloeslav (Czech Republic, Extraliga). . . .

F Peter Quenneville (Brandon, 2013-15) signed a one-year contract with Sparta Sarpsborg (Norway, GET-Ligaen). Last season, he had two goals and an assist in 13 games with Pardubice (Czech Republic, Extraliga); three goals and one assist in nine games with SaiPa Lappeenranta (Finland, Liiga); and six goals and four assists in 12 games with the Aalborg Pirates (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). . . .

F Dylan Hood (Kelowna, Moose Jaw, 2006-11) signed a one-year contract with Cergy (France, Division 1). Last season, he had five goals and three assists in 13 games with the Huntsville Havoc (SPHL).

ThisThat

Taking Note has been told that the WHL has acted in an attempt to put a halt to the number of young players who get traded within the league.

The move is a reaction to the number of deals that were made in the period leading up to last season’s Jan. 10 trade deadline.

To refresh your memory, from Nov. 13 through Jan. 10, the WHL’s 22 teams combined to whlmake 58 trades that involved 110 players, 77 bantam draft picks and 12 conditional bantam draft picks. (I started counting on Nov. 13 because that was when the Regina Pats, the host team for the 2018 Memorial Cup, made the first big deal, acquiring D Cale Fleury from the Kootenay Ice.)

You may recall that many observers commented in the deadline’s aftermath.

There obviously was concern at the league level. In May, WHL commissioner Ron Robison told Brandon Rivers of dubnetwork.ca:

“We are looking at that very seriously. We were concerned about the level of trade activity this year. We will be coming out soon with a decision. We want to make sure that these players are not concerned about that at that age and we are focusing on restricting moving players at a younger age.”

Taking Note has been told that the league has decided that its teams won’t be allowed to trade any 15- or 16-year-old players who have signed WHL contracts. On top of that, the only time the trading of a 17-year-old player will be allowed is if that player has requested a trade.

The 17-year-old player will have had to approach the team’s general manager to ask for a trade; a team won’t be able to make the first move, asking said player to waive his no-trade clause. Taking Note was told that the WHL will approach a 17-year-old player’s parents to make sure the procedure was followed.

“It’s going to be interesting to see teams that have top-end players to sell . . . when they can’t get another team’s stud prospects or 16-year-olds,” one WHL insider told Taking Note. “All you’ll be able to trade for really is (bantam draft) picks and unsigned players.”

Had these rules been in place prior to the Jan. 10 deadline, you have to wonder if the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes would have combined on perhaps the biggest deal of the season.

In that one, the Hurricanes landed F Logan Barlage, F Owen Blocker, D Matthew Stanley, G Logan Flodell, a 2020 first-round bantam draft pick, a third-rounder in 2020 and a conditional second-rounder in 2021, with the Broncos getting F Giorgio Estephan, F Tanner Nagel and G Stuart Skinner.

Barlage was the key component from Lethbridge’s perspective, but he was 16 years of age. Blocker, meanwhile, was 17.

How much might something like this change the face of the WHL? Well, if that Lethbridge-Swift Current trade isn’t made, do the Broncos win the Memorial Cup? At the very least, it’s food for thought.

Up until now, there always have been teams wanting to trade short-term players — rentals, if you will — to teams that are going all-in, and take back young prospects in return. Now, it seems, they won’t be able to make those moves.

Under these new rules it will be interesting to see how those teams who become “sellers” at the deadline choose to go through the rebuilding process.

For example, the Regina Pats spurred a rebuild by acquiring F Jake Leschyshyn, then 15, from the Red Deer Rebels on Jan. 5, 2015, and F Nick Henry, then 17, from the Everett Silvertips at the 2016 bantam draft. Under these new rules, the Pats would have been able to deal for Henry, who hadn’t signed with Everett, but couldn’t have had Leschyshyn, who had signed with the Rebels.

This means, of course, that a team’s bantam draft picks will take on added significance, meaning there will be more pressure on the scouting staffs to make the right selections.

As one WHL scout told Taking Note on Tuesday: “Good . . . make us more accountable.”

The Victoria Royals have acquired F Tanner Sidaway, 19, from the Regina Pats for an VictoriaRoyalseighth-round selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft. . . . Sidaway, who is from Victoria, split last season between the Kootenay Ice and Regina. He had a goal and an assist in five games with Kootenay, then recorded three assists in 58 games with the Pats. In 2016-17, he had two goals and six assists in 65 games with the Ice. An undrafted player, he originally was listed by the Red Deer Rebels. . . . On Jan. 3, 2016, the Ice acquired Sidaway, F Presten Kopeck, 20, D Ryan Pouliot, 17, and second- and third-round picks in the 2016 bantam draft from Red Deer for F Luke Philp, 20. . . . On Oct. 10, the Ice dealt Sidaway and a seventh-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft to Regina for F Jeff de Wit, 19.

Jim Pedersen, a long-time hockey scout, died on Saturday. He was 81. . . . “He was always very helpful, even though he worked for a different team,” Ross Mahoney, the Washington Capitals’ Regina-based assistant general manager told the Regina Leader-Post. “I know he was an extremely hard worker because every time I went to a game, there was Jim Pedersen. I thought that maybe there were four or five Jim Pedersens, but there was only one.” . . . A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, 2 p.m., at the Memorial Centre in Milestone, Sask. . . . The Leader-Post’s story is right here.

Tweetoftheday

WHL’s winds of change: Coaches and scouts on the move . . . and more news, too

MacBeth

F Justin Sigrist (Kamloops, 2017-18) signed a one-year contract with the GC Küsnacht Lions (Switzerland, NL B). Last season, he had three goals and seven assists in 50 games with Kamloops (WHL). . . .

F James Wright (Vancouver, 2005-09) signed a one-year plus option contract with Linköping (Sweden, SHL). Last season, he had two goals and six assists in 26 games with Admiral Vladivostok (Russia, KHL), and three goals and two assists in 15 games with Barys Astana (Kazakhstan, KHL).

ThisThat

Luke Pierce has signed on as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Pierce, 34, spent last season as an assistant coach with the Canadian men’s Paralympic sledge hockey team after working for two seasons as head coach of the Kootenay Ice. . . . He lost his job with the Ice when he got caught up in an ownership change. . . . Prior to that, he was the general manager and head coach of the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials for five-plus seasons. . . .

In Edmonton, Pierce will work alongside head coach Brad Lauer, who is preparing for his first season in that role. Pierce replaces Ryan Marsh, who was fired on May 29, along with head coach Steve Hamilton, and has since joined the Saskatoon Blades as an assistant coach. Hamilton now is the head coach of the Calgary Hitmen.

Meanwhile, the Oil Kings also announced that Jamie Novakoski, their director of scouting, won’t be back. He had been with the Oil Kings since 2007, working as director of scouting for the past five seasons. . . . According to the Oil Kings, he “will assist with the transition to a new director of scouting before leaving to pursue an opportunity outside of hockey.”

The Prince Albert Raiders announced Monday that they have added Jeff Truitt, Dan Gendur and Mike Brodeur to their coaching staff. . . . Truitt, 53, fills the vacancy created when associate coach Dave Manson left to join the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Truitt and Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid know each other well, having worked together with the Kelowna Rockets from 2000-04. When Kelowna won the 2004 Memorial Cup, Habscheid was the Rockets’ head coach and Truitt was associate coach. Truitt spent the past six seasons as the associate coach with the Red Deer Rebels. He also has AHL coaching experience, having worked with the San Antonio Rampage and Texas Stars. . . . Last season, Gendur, 31, was the head coach of the midget AAA Airdrie CFR Bisons of the Alberta Midget Hockey League. He joined the Raiders late in the WHL season and worked with them through the playoffs. He is a former WHL player, having played with the Prince George Cougars and Everett Silvertips (2004-08). . . . Brodeur, 35, is the Raiders’ new goaltending coach. He spent one season  (2003-04) playing with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors. Last season, he was an assistant coach with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons. With the Raiders, Brodeur takes over from Kelly Guard, now an assistant coach with the AJHL’s Lloydminster Bobcats.

Veteran coach Willie Desjardins has signed on to work with the Prairie Rose School Division in establishing a new hockey academy that will involve three schools in the Medicine Hat Area. The 61-year-old Desjardins, who was the head coach of Canada’s national men’s team last season, continues to live in Medicine Hat, where he coached the Tigers for eight seasons (2002-10). . . . Collin Gallant of the Medicine Hat News has more right here.

The Seattle Thunderbirds have added Craig Goebel and Jared Crooks to their scouting staff. . . . Goebel spent the past 10 seasons scouting for the Regina Pats. His main assignment will be pre-scouting Seattle’s opponents. . . . Crooks, who played four seasons at MacEwan U in Edmonton, is the head instructor at the Mount Carmel Hockey Academy in Edmonton. He will scout for the Thunderbirds in northern Alberta.

The Brandon Wheat Kings have added Mark Sauer and Brennen York to their scouting staff. . . . Earlier this summer, the Wheat Kings lost veteran scout Mike Fraser when he left to sign on as the Everett Silvertips’ head scout. . . . Sauer, from Calgary, had been on the scouting staff at ISS for three years. . . . York is from Edmonton where he founded DraftGeek.

It’s official. The Vancouver Giants have added Jamie Heward to their coaching staff. The team announced Monday morning that Heward has been signed as the associate coach. . Vancouver. . He replaces Dean Chynoweth, who left after one season and has signed as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. . . . As a player, Heward spent parts of nine seasons in the NHL, after playing four seasons (1987-91) with his hometown Regina Pats. . . . Heward, 47, spent the past six seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, as an assistant coach and the director of player development. . . . This means that the Broncos, the WHL’s reigning champions, have lost three coaches since the season ended. Head coach Manny Viveiros now is an assistant with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, while assistant coach Ryan Smith has joined the Medicine Hat Tigers.

During his playing days in Regina, Heward was a member of what was known as the PUP Line. Its other members also were Regina natives — Frank Kovacs and Mike Sillinger. All three played as 16-year-olds, thus the PUP moniker.

On Monday, while Heward was busy with the Giants, Kovacs was busy, too, as you can see from this tweet . . .

The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Robbie Fromm-Delorme, who was a seventh-round pick in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. From Richmond, B.C., Fromm-Delorme played last season in Byfield, Mass., at The Governor’s Academy in the USHS-Prep league. He had seven goals and 10 assists in 27 games. . . . He attended the Winterhawks’ training camp prior to the 2017-18 season.

Bill Reddick will chair the committee that will prepare the bid by the Lethbridge LethbridgeHurricanes and the City of Lethbridge for the 2020 Memorial Cup. . . . Terry Huisman, the Hurricanes’ general manager of business operations, will be the co-chair. . . . Reddick is a partner with Mercer Wilde Group Chartered Accountants in Lethbridge and has long been involved with minor hockey in that city. . . . Huisman has been the general manager of business operations since 2012 and has played an integral role in leading the franchise out of the financial mess it was in not that long ago. . . . The Hurricanes, Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals all are preparing bids for the 2020 Memorial Cup. They are scheduled to present those bids at a meeting of the WHL’s board of governors in Calgary on Oct. 3. A host city is expected to be named at the conclusion of that meeting.

The AJHL’s Calgary Mustangs have added Alex Mandolidis, Josh Watson and Richie Hubbell to a coaching staff this is headed up by GM/head coach Tyler Drader. . . . Mandolidis has spent the past five seasons with either the midget AAA Calgary Flames or midget AAA Calgary Northstars, while Watson has worked with the midget AAA Calgary Buffaloes. . . . Hubbell has been the goaltending coach with the women’s team at Olds College.

Tweetoftheday

Mondays With Murray: This Selection Didn’t Just Come Out of Left Field

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1988, SPORTS

Copyright 1988/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

Jim Murray

This Selection Didn’t Just Come Out of Left Field

   COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — I half expected Babe Ruth to come down off the wall and say, “Get that guy outta here!” I thought Ty Cobb would spike me. I figured Don Drysdale would throw at my head.

 I would expect an alarm to go off or a wake-up call to sound. Except, I wouldn’t even dream this.

 What am I doing in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown? I mean, there goes the mondaysmurray2neighborhood, right?

 Me! One of the great non-athletes of our time. I was practically born with one foot in the bucket. I couldn’t hit a curveball if you diagrammed it for me beforehand. I wouldn’t recognize a slider from 10 feet away.

  I’m the guy who used to get a headache the day fastball pitchers were going to throw, a guy who’d pretend to fall down under hard line drives. I’d wait for a walk. I don’t think I got to third base five times in my life. Some guys have been on the moon more than I’ve been on third.

 You’ve heard of people who couldn’t hit the curveball? I couldn’t hit a straight ball. You’ve heard of guys who couldn’t hit the fastball? I couldn’t hit the slowball. To tell the truth, I couldn’t hit, throw, or catch anything going more than 5 m.p.h.

 So, what am I doing here in a shrine with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax?

 Good question. I’m glad you asked. If you’ll get my guitar, I’ll sing you the haunting ballad of that most long-suffering, patient, loyal group of people who ever stood and served–the baseball fans.

 You see, baseball is not all hits, runs and errors, ticker-tape parades and the keys to the city. Does a falling tree make a sound if there’s no one there to hear it? Would Shakespeare be Shakespeare if no one came to hear the lines?

 Baseball is a guy sitting with a beer and a hot dog and a bag of peanuts in the third deck hollering, “Call yourself a pitcher, Drysdale? You couldn’t get a fastball past Helen Keller!”

 Baseball is love. Baseball is probably the ultimate in sports caring. No one bleeds like the baseball fan whose team is in a long slump.

  Baseball is an affection, but it’s also an affliction. The home team loses and the coffee tastes bitter, food becomes cardboard, life becomes a study in the morose.

  It’s no accident that the most famous poem in baseball history is about defeat, failure. Baseball fans understand. Baseball fans deal in disappointment. Baseball fans jeer so they won’t sob. They boo to insulate themselves against disappointment.

  It has been said that to be a baseball fan is to remain 12 years old all your life. It’s to have heroes, and no one over 12 has room for heroes.

 The baseball writer is the ultimate fan. He’s the surrogate for the fan. He’s as important to the game as umpires. He and the fan are a partnership. The fuel that drives the ship.

 Baseball was built by Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Willie Keeler, Cy Young, Rogers Hornsby, Walter Johnson, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. They are American royalty. They should be buried in a Westminster Abbey when they’ve gone.

 But who would they be if there were no one to tell you about them? Would there even be this magnificent Hall in this picturesque little town in Upstate New York, ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ country, if there hadn’t been a Ring Lardner, Grantland Rice, Damon Runyon, Red Smith, Jimmy Cannon or Jimmy Breslin to tell you about them? To bring imagination, a sense of the dramatic?

  Would you know that Willie Keeler once said he would “hit ’em where they ain’t” if a reporter hadn’t had a nice ear for a quote? Where would the game be if us guys grew up?

  What’s the sense in Ruth “calling his shot” if there’s no typewriter present? Who called him the Sultan of Swat? How did Gehrig become the Iron Horse? How come so many people, when Mickey Mantle struck out, feel as if they had struck out?

 I rest my case. If love of baseball gets you here, I should have made it long ago. I should have gone in with Ruth and Cobb.

 Baseball is not about winning. Baseball is about “Wait till next year!” Baseball is about hope, if not charity. And faith.

  I told the Hall of Fame crowd I didn’t see how Yankee fans stayed fans all those years when they won everything — in four straight. What fun is a game when every card you pick up is an ace? How do you recognize joy if you never experience adversity?

 That’s how baseball hooks you. Losing is such sweet heartache. Losers close ranks. There are no bonds like those of the bleacher crowd of a losing team. There are no tears as salty as those of the fan whose favorite pitcher just walked in the winning run — and maybe the pennant.

 Even the players learn to live with frustration. Even the best of them fail seven of 10 times with the bat. Even Sandy Koufax gave up home runs with the bases loaded.

 So, I like to think they put writers and broadcasters in this thing as stand-ins for the fans. We also stand in for every beat writer who ever had to go down to a locker room and ask a pitcher who has just thrown the home run ball that lost the World Series why he didn’t curve it and got told, “Take a hike, ya four-eyed creep, before I curve you!”

  Together, we form a partnership that has made child’s play into a billion-dollar industry. As far as I’m concerned, the writers’ wing has its own Murderers’ Row. Lardner, Runyon, Grantland Rice, Bob Broeg, Dan Daniel, J. Roy Stockton, Jack Lang. I’m just glad to be in there to bunt them along, pinch-run for them, pick up the bats.

 We are all boys of summer. The years drop off, the step gets lighter, the heart beats faster when we step through the turnstile and hear the bats cracking and smell the hot dogs cooking. It’s summer again and Casey’s coming up and the bases are loaded and this time he’ll hit it. “Outta the lot, Hack?” implores the fan.

 I once said to Pete Rose, everybody’s kid brother and the next unanimous Hall of Fame inductee-to-be, “Aren’t you glad, Pete, there’s a game like baseball that lets you make all this money?”

  Pete looked at me as if I were a 3-and-2 pitch and curving. “Yeah,” he said. “Aren’t you?”

 You better believe it, Pete.

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

———

What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org. 

Giants soon to add assistant coach? . . . Blades’ announcement today . . . Hockey world mourns death of long-time scout

ThisThat

Steve Ewen of Postmedia is reporting that that much-speculated about signing of Jamie Heward is soon to happen. . . . “The Vancouver Giants,” Ewen writes,“will announce the hiring of former NHL defenceman Jamie Heward as their assistant coach in the coming days, according to sources.” . . . Heward, a former WHL and NHL defenceman, is a native of Regina. He has been the director of player development and an assistant coach with the Swift Current Broncos for six seasons. . . . Ewen’s story is right here.

The Saskatoon Blades are expected to announce today (Monday) that they have added Brian Leavold to their scouting staff. Leavold, who lives in Port Coquitlam, B.C., had been a B.C. scout with the Swift Current Broncos. With the Broncos going through numerous front-office changes, Leavold and other scouts chose to leave the organization. . . . In Saskatoon, Leavold will be working with Dan Tencer, the Blades’ director of scouting.

The AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder is looking for an assistant coach following the resignation of Derek Wiest. Instead of working on the coaching staff, Wiest will be the Thunder’s head scout for southern Alberta. The switch is effective Aug. 1. . . . In making the change, Wiest cited family and work considerations. He and his wife are expecting their third child, and he recently landed a full-time job close to home. . . . Eric Thurston is the Thunder’s general manager and head coach, and said the search for a replacement has started.

Tweetoftheday

Veteran coach to join Raiders? . . . Leavold lands new scouting job . . . Votto: Eight-plus seasons, seven pop ups!

Scattershooting

The Prince Albert Raiders need to replace associate coach Dave Manson, who left to sign on as an assistant coach with the the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. . . . Taking Note has been told that spot with the Raiders may go to long-time coach Jeff Truitt. It makes sense because Truitt, who spent the past five-plus seasons with the Red Deer Rebels, and Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid have a history together. Truitt was an assistant coach in Kelowna during Habscheid’s time as the Rockets’ head coach. After four season’s as an assistant there, Truitt took over as head coach when Habscheid left after the 2003-04 season.

It’s Friday night and Sportsnet, coming off a Toronto Blue Jays telecast, has Sports Central showing on four channels. At 8 p.m. Pacific, it is to switch to a game between the Houston Astros and Mike Trout’s Los Angeles Angels. Finally, at 8:12 p.m., the switch is made. It’s the top of the fourth inning and Houston holds a 3-0 lead. . . . Here’s the deal Sportsnet. When you start showing viewers the respect they deserve and stop joining these games in progress, I’ll return to watching you again. See ya!

It’s Saturday night, and I just assumed Sportsnet would join the Houston Astros and host Seattle Mariners at 8 p.m. Pacific. So I watched the end of the game between the visiting St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Turns out that Sportsnet started the game in Seattle on time. Oh well, maybe next time. Sheesh, who knew this could be so confusing?

Taking Note has been told that veteran WHL scout Brian Leavold now is working with the Saskatoon Blades. Leovold was one of those who left Swift Current as the Broncos went through a regime change.

I stumbled on this Twitter thread on Saturday morning. For the purposes of this tweet, a pop up is a flyball that lands or is caught within 140 feet of home plate. This, then, is amazing. . . . BTW, it seems that Joey Votto has yet to hit a pop up to a catcher, pitcher or first baseman. Seriously!

With so many Major League Baseball players in swing mode, why do pitchers throw fastballs in the strike zone? Why not one slider after another? Hey, just asking.

“Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and model wife Kate Upton are expecting their first child,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “In lieu of Johnson’s baby powder, they plan to use a rosin bag.”

One more from Perry: “The minor-league Savannah Bananas’ rained-out game against the rival Macon Bacon — in which Bananas players will wear kilts — has been rescheduled for Wednesday, July 25. But why stop there? Kilt the umpire!”

Perry has a hat trick: “Canada will legalize marijuana nationwide on Oct. 17, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced. “Coming soon to an NHL trophy case near you: the Lady Bong Trophy.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared on PTI early in the week and made the comment that Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout could raise his profile by putting himself out there more. To which Janice Hough — she’s over there at LeftCoastSportsBabe.com — commented: “What about if ESPN and Fox showed other teams beside the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs?” . . . Hey, hard to argue with her.

“Alabama coach Nick Saban isn’t sure whether Jalen Hurts or title-game hero Tua Tagovailoa will be his starting QB,” writes RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “Note to Saban: Love Hurts.”

Tweetoftheday