Tag: Al Murray

Meet five more Wall of Honour inductees . . .

The non-profit Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation’s inaugural Wall of Honour inductee dinner is almost upon us. It’s all set for the Centennial Arena in Okotoks, Alta., on Tuesday, July 30. . . . Tickets are available at hockeyscoutsfoundation.com. There also is information there about the evening’s entertainment. The theme is Tales from the Road and, based on that, there will be a couple of Hot Stove sessions. . . . Of course, the spotlight will be on the 45 past and present-day scouts who will be inducted into the Wall of Honour. . . . Here’s a look at five more of them. . . . For more bios, visit the Foundation website and click on Wall of Honour.

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ARCHIE HENDERSON

(Feb. 17, 1957 —)

A Calgarian, he was a 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward as a player, and later turned to coaching before getting into scouting. . . . After coaching stints in the IHL, ECHL and British Hockey League and, one with the WHL’s Victoria Cougars, he began his run as a pro scout with the Washington Capitals in 1993. . . . Also spent four seasons as a pro scout with the Ottawa Senators and then filled the same role with the Detroit Red Wings for four seasons. . . . Went from Detroit to Edmonton where he was the Oilers’ director of pro scouting for three seasons before retiring in 2022. . . . Had an 11-season run as a professional player that included 775 games, including 23 regular-season NHL games split between Washington (7), the Minnesota North Stars (1) and the Hartford Whalers (15).

ROSS MAHONEY

(July 21, 1956 —)

A native of Saskatoon, he spent two seasons (1993-95) as assistant coach with the Regina Pats before joining the Buffalo Sabres’ amateur scouting staff. . . . Also worked with the Vancouver Canucks before beginning lengthy association with the Washington Capitals in July 1997 as director of amateur scouting. After 11 seasons was promoted to assistant GM. . . . Won Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018. . . . Was a teacher for 17 years before going scouting. . . . Terrific baseball player. Helped the Melville Elks win the 1973 Canadian midget championship. The all-star right-fielder led tournament by hitting .636. . . . Inducted into the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame (1997) and Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (1999). Also inducted into the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame (2024); was co-head coach of Saskatchewan team that won hockey gold at 1995 Canada Winter Games.

BERT MARSHALL

(Nov, 22, 1943 —)

Born in Kamloops, he started scouting with the Colorado Rockies in 1981. . . . Spent two seasons (1979-81) coaching the New York Islanders’ CHL team, the Indianapolis Checkers, then ran scouting for Colorado in its last season (1981-82) and the New Jersey Devils in their first (1982-83). . . . Scouted for the Islanders (1983-96) and was director of amateur scouting for the last two seasons. . . . After a season with the Hartford Whalers, he began 22-year run as amateur scout with the Carolina Hurricanes. . . . Won Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes (2006). . . . A defenceman in the Original Six era, he split 868 regular-season games over 17 seasons among the Detroit Red Wings, Oakland/California Golden Seals, New York Rangers and Islanders. . . . Won Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings (1963). . . . Inducted into the B.C. Hockey Hall of Fame (2003).

WAYNE MEIER

(Feb. 10, 1944 —)

From Edmonton, he started his scouting career with the Portland Winter Hawks in 1976 after the WHL franchise had relocated from Edmonton. He went on to spend a total of 10 seasons with Portland (1976-82, 1985-89) and was the director of player personnel for seven of those seasons. . . . Spent three seasons (1982-85) in the middle of his Portland run scouting for the Detroit Red Wings. . . . Rejoined Detroit in 1989 and spent seven seasons there before moving on to the Florida Panthers (1996-2001) and the Anaheim Ducks (2002-06). . . . Began a 12-season run with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2006. . . . Retired in 2018 with three Stanley Cup rings, all with Pittsburgh (2009, 2016, 2017).

AL MURRAY

(March 7, 1957 —)

Born in Winnipeg, he began his scouting career with the Los Angeles Kings after serving as head coach of the U of Regina men’s hockey team during its first three seasons (1985-88) in Canada West. . . . Was the Kings’ western scouting co-ordinator for six seasons, then director of amateur scouting for 13 seasons. . . . Took over as Hockey Canada’s head scout in 2007 and stayed for three seasons. Won two World Junior titles with U20 team and one gold with U18s. . . . Joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as director of amateur scouting in 2010 and filled that role through 2018-19 after which assistant GM was added to his responsibilities. The Lightning named him senior advisor after 2022-23 season. . . . Won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning (2020, 2021).

Scouts’ Wall of Honour to open with 45 inductees

The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation will induct 45 members of the scouting fraternity into its Wall of Honour this summer.

The banquet is scheduled to be held in Okotoks, Alta., on Monday, July 29.

Comprising three Matrix screens, the WCPHSF Wall of Honour video presentation will be on permanent display at the Centennial Arena in Okotoks.

The first inductees feature five pioneers of the scouting fraternity, including Danny Summers, who returned from the Second World War to play for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers before getting into scouting, and Murray (Torchy) Schell, who spent summers as an assistant equipment manager with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders while he was scouting.

Also being inducted will be 17 scouts from the Early Era (1968-80), including Elmer Benning, who put more than 1 million miles on one car while on the scouting trail; Pat (Paddy) Ginnell, who was a legendary junior coach before turning to scouting; and Del Wilson, a long-time scout who also was a founding father of the major junior WHL.

There also will be 20 scouts from the Modern Era (1981-present) inducted, including Vaughn Karpan, who has been a key figure with the Vegas Golden Knights; Al Murray, one of the architects of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s success; and Barry Trapp, who retired in August 2023 after more than 60 years in the game.

Rounding out the inaugural class will be Lorne Frey and the late Graham Tuer, both of whom had lengthy scouting careers in junior hockey.

Garnet (Ace) Bailey also will be honoured. Bailey scouted for the Edmonton Oilers and then the Los Angeles Kings. He was en route to the Kings’ training camp aboard United Airlines flight 175 when it crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Our selection committee did an excellent job of recognizing these candidates for the Wall of Honour,” Foundation president Erin Ginnell said. “These scouts are not only builders of the game that put thousands of players into the NHL and pro ranks, but also represented their teams and the game with class, professionalism and determination to succeed.  “A lot of these honorees were real mentors to people like myself when I first started; they were always there with help travelling, directions, and generally just made you feel a part of the fraternity.”

The complete list of inductees (* – denotes deceased):

SPECIAL RECOGNITION: *-Garnet (Ace) Bailey.

PIONEERS: *-George Agar, *-Frank Currie, *-Murray (Torchy) Schell, *-Danny Summers, *-Cecil (Tiny) Thompson.

EARLY ERA (1968-1980): *-Elmer Benning, *-Bart Bradley, *-Lorne Davis, *-Gerry Ehman, *-Barry Fraser, *-Pat Ginnell, Ted Hampson, *-Charlie Hodge, Earl Ingarfield Sr, *-Lou Jankowski, Marshall Johnston, Bill Lesuk, *-Ian McKenzie, *-Gerry Melnyk, Bob Owen, *-Clare Rothermel, *-Del Wilson.

MODERN ERA (1981-present): Scott Bradley, Craig Button, John Chapman, George Fargher, Tony Feltrin, Bruce Franklin, Bruce Haralson, Archie Henderson, Les Jackson, Vaughn Karpan, Ross Mahoney, Bert Marshall, Wayne Meier, Al Murray, Gerry O’Flaherty, Kevin Prendergast, Blair Reid, Glen Sanders, Peter Sullivan, Barry Trapp.

JUNIOR: Lorne Frey, *-Graham Tuer.

As well, five scouts from Western Canada were honoured at the Sept. 30 startup banquet in Okotoks with the WCPHSF’s Recognition and Dedication Service Award. Those five are Ron Delorme, Glen Dirk, Garth Malarchuk, Don Paarup and Mike Penny.

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“Our committee’s selections were primarily based on years of combined service as a scout and/or an association to the scouting process,” Garth Malarchuk, the Chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors, said. “I think everyone who has been associated with the scouting fraternity will agree that this is a pretty impressive group of individuals that we will be honouring. “Trust me, our committee could easily have added another 15-20 deserving individuals to this list, but we had to cut it off somewhere.” Moving forward, we certainly don’t want to miss anyone and the plan is to keep adding individuals to our Foundation’s Wall of Honour on an annual basis.”

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The startup banquet on Sept. 30 was a rip-roaring success, highlighted by a roast of Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean, along with silent and live sweater auctions. If you weren’t fortunate enough to attend, you are able to find a highly entertaining video of Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman roasting MacLean at hockeyscoutsfoundation.com.

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Planning is well underway for the inaugural induction banquet on July 29 in Okotoks. Banquet details, including information on tickets, will be announced in the near future.

Ferris’s transplant day has arrived . . . You got this, girl!!! . . . Some hockey stuff here, too

FerrisLogo

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since we were the parents of a youngster. But I still can remember the helpless feeling that came with having a child who was under the weather because of the flu or a bad cold or even just aches that couldn’t be clearly explained.

So I can’t imagine what it must be like to be waiting and waiting and waiting for your six-year-old to undergo her second kidney transplant, especially knowing that the first one didn’t work.

But that’s where Lindsey and Pat Backmeyer of Kamloops found themselves this week as Ferris, the youngest of their three daughters, was being prepared for a transplant.

Lindsey has kept family and friends up to date while doing a tremendous job of chronicling everything the family has gone through.

Ferris was scheduled for surgery late Thursday night at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

“I can’t even believe we are here and that my girl will be going for a kidney transplant today,” Lindsey wrote on Facebook earlier Thursday. “I think about it in my head and I get full-body goosebumps. To say it feels huge would be such an understatement!!”

The Backmeyers spent a few weeks in Vancouver as Ferris received some attention at BC Children’s Hospital. Then, a couple of weeks ago, they all flew to Toronto to await a transplant.

“Ferris never did convert to Eastern time and fell asleep at 1 a.m. (Thursday),” Lindsey wrote. “So she currently is still asleep and having her final dialysis run.”

After Ferris was to go into surgery, Lindsey said she didn’t “expect to see her until 5 a.m.-ish.”

So what does a mother do while waiting for something of this magnitude to happen?

“I’ve spent the morning just feeling all the support from everyone,” Lindsey wrote. “My feed is literally glowing green. To be so far from home, this really has helped me to not feel alone at all. It’s a big (bleeping) day. Our last attempt at this surgery resulted in the absolute worst day of my life. Let this time, be one of the best.”

Lindsey was writing while waiting for Ferris to awaken to the latest biggest day of her young life.

“She will wake up soon and my phone will get put away,” Lindsey explained. “We plan to hang out as a family. Probably a bunch of FaceTime. She already has a line so won’t need an IV. (Thursday) should be pain/trauma free for her.

“She has been a champ with the admission so far. She’s so much older and it’s a lot different than it was two years ago. This time, we had to prep her for it. Let her know she was going to be admitted and having surgery. That she needed to have a COVID swab. Ughh! She has had at least a dozen of them so knows exactly what they are. . . . She knows this is hard and if it works it means no more dialysis. She’s being so brave.

“I’ll update as I can but want everyone to know that we feel so supported and loved. It’s exactly what we need right now.”

In a decision released on Feb. 3, Justice Paul Perell refused to certify a proposed class-action lawsuit involving hazing, bullying and abuse against the CHL, the CHLthree major junior leagues (the OHL, QMJHL and WHL) and its teams. . . . That suit was filed in June 2020. . . .

Rick Westhead of TSN writes: “In his Feb. 3 decision, Perell wrote he’s convinced that abuse in junior hockey is widespread and has been for decades, and he applauded the bravery of former CHL players, including Dan Carcillo, Garrett Taylor, and Stephen Quirk, for sharing their stories in a public forum. Even so, he said the case was not suitable to proceed as a class-action lawsuit.” Why not? Perell wrote: “The immediate lawsuit is about egregious harms perpetrated on children and the persons or entities at fault should be punished, but even children know, and in their heart Messrs. Carcillo, Taylor, and Quirk in their noble pursuit of cleaning hockey must know it is wrong and fundamentally unjust to punish teams for something that somebody else did.”

On Thursday, Westhead reported that attorneys for those pursuing the lawsuit “have outlined a proposed path to justice for current and former players who want to join the case. In a 560-page motion filed in Ontario Superior Court on June 5, James Sayce, a lawyer with the Toronto firm Koskie Minsky LLP, wrote that any players wanting to pursue a case must be assured that their identities will be kept confidential, unless they choose to share their story publicly.”

Westhead’s complete story is right here.

Cauliflower

THE COACHING GAME:

The Swift Current Broncos lost an assistant coach on Wednesday when Matt Keillor left to join the Northwest Calgary Athletic Association as director of hockey operations. He had been on the Broncos’ staff for two seasons. . . . Keillor, 41, is from Calgary. . . .

The OHL’s Sarnia Sting announced on Wednesday that general manager Dylan Seca and head coach Alan Letang have agreed to three-year contracts. . . . Seca has been with the Sting since 2014-15, first working as the director of player personnel for five seasons. He has been the GM since May 2020. . . . Letang has been the head coach since June 2021. He joined the Sting from the Owen Sound Attack, where he spent five seasons, the last two as head coach. . . . The Sting also said that Brad Staubitz, the associate head coach, assistant coach Michael Haley, equipment manager Dawson Young and athletic therapist Jennifer Love will be returning for another season. . . .

Mathieu Turcotte is the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. Turcotte, 38, has QMJHL experience, having worked as an assistant coach with the Val d’Or Foreurs, Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Drummondville Voltigeurs. Last season, he guided the Blizzard du Séminaire Saint-François to the Canadian U18 AAA Championship. . . . With the Armada, Turcotte replaces Bruce Richardson, who was fired in June after having been there since June 2018.

The biggest news from the NHL draft that wrapped up Thursday in Nashville? I would suggest that it was the decision by the Tampa Bay Lightning to reassign Al Murray, its director of amateur scouting and assistant GM, to senior adviser to the GM. Murray, 66, surely is a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame. He had been running Tampa Bay’s amateur scouting since Aug. 16, 2010.

Pork

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

F Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who spent the past five seasons with the Calgary Hitmen, has signed a two-year deal with the AHL’s Rochester Americans. Last season, as a 20-year-old, he put up 75 points, including 31 goals, and was named the Central Division’s first all-star team. In 246 regular-season games, he totalled 78 goals and 113 assists. . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders will have a new radio voice in 2023-24 with the news that Rob Mahon is leaving CKBI, the station that holds the team’s play-by-play rights. Mahon called the play of Raiders’ games for the past two seasons. . . .

The AJHL’s decision to go to a fully interlocking schedule will cost the Canmore Eagles about $65,000, team president Darryl Lockwood has told Jordan Small of the Rocky Mountain Outlook. As a result, the Eagles are pleading with the community for more support. . . . “We need the increased revenue, which means, unfortunately, that goes back to the customer, it goes back to the providers, back to community; ticket sales have to go up a little bit, sponsorship has to go up,” Lockwood said. “We’re not here saying, ‘Hey, we messed up and we blew some money,’ that kind of thing. We’re here saying that we’re faced with a real challenge and so the support from what everyone can do will be grateful this year. Please understand, we need your support because of the challenge we’re faced with.” . . . Small’s story is right here.

Torch

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

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Or, for more information, visit right here.

Childbirth

Lots of food for thought in losses by Broncos and Warriors . . . QMJHL increases penalties for fighting at government request . . . Mustangs cleared for return to ice

Four of the WHL’s 22 teams are publicly owned and, as such, are obligated to hold annual general meetings and to release their financial statements.

Two of those teams — the Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos — whlannounced combined losses of more than $1 million on Tuesday night, something that should have set off alarm bells among fans hoping for some kind of 2020-21 season.

Moose Jaw finished the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season in last place in the East Division, while Swift Current was in the cellar of the Central Division. So neither team was in line to reap the rewards that come with qualifying for the playoffs.

The Broncos, whose average attendance dropped 444 from the previous season, lost $791,000, ending a run of six straight seasons in which they had shown a profit. Season-ticket sales were down 345, which is a big number for a team that plays in a 2,879-seat facility.

The Warriors, with their attendance down 366 per game, lost $391,299, running their two-season deficit to $556,444.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Randy Palmer of moosejawtoday.com reported that the team attributed $282,286 of its deficit  to “pandemic-related lost revenues.”

The Warriors also had to pay $180,846 as its share of the settlement of a $30-MooseJawWarriorsmillion class-action lawsuit, although that settlement has yet to be approved by the court. Still, assuming that it is, each of the WHL’s Canadian teams will be on the hook for that amount.

The Warriors, Palmer reported right here, still have $610,653 in the bank, but they did defer their annual $200,000 payment that is part of their commitment to the Multiplex. They have two payments left in a 10-year pledge.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that the Warriors Booster Club raised $238,771 in 2019-20.

The Warriors, like all WHL teams, are going to have a different organizational look whenever it is that play resumes. As club president Chad Taylor told Palmer: “We’ll need the help of the community when we get going again and hockey will look different — our staff will look different, we’ll be leaner — but that is the times and we’ll make it work.”

The Broncos, meanwhile, also will be leaner. These days, Dean Brockman, the SCBroncosdirector of hockey operations and head coach, is the only employee working on the hockey side of things, with Nathan MacDonald and Ryan Stricker on the business side. Their retail store — The Stable — is open and management has authorized 10 paid hours per week for communications.

Trent McLeary, a former Broncos player who now is chairman of the team’s board of directors, said after the AGM that “it’s a fight to survive,” stating that it will take the franchise years to recover from the loss.

“It’s like how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” McLeary told Steven Mah of the Southwest Booster. “We don’t think we have to make this up in one year . . . so there’s lots of challenges, lots of things that are going to challenge us as an organization, as a community. But we’re not the only ones, you look at baseball, you look at soccer, you look at everything.”

(Mah’s story is right here.)

The WHL’s two other publicly owned teams — the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders — have yet to hold their annual general meetings.

The Raiders’ meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7. Following the 2018-19 season, one Raiders50in which they won the WHL championship, they announced a profit of $633,314. In the previous five seasons, they had shown losses totalling $806,571 in four of them; the exception being a profit of $3,892 in 2015-16.

When the 2019-20 season was halted, the Raiders were 36-18-10 and had clinched first place in the East Division. They had two home games remaining and may well have had a deep playoff run in their future. Their average attendance also was up 27 over the previous season, meaning the championship love affair in that city still was in full bloom.

The Hurricanes have said they will hold their AGM on a November date that Lethbridgehasn’t yet been announced.

They are coming off four straight profit-making seasons. Last season’s profit of $282,168 allowed the four-season total to grow to $1,639,321. (Don’t forget, though, that they had losses totalling more than $1.25 million in the previous five seasons.)

When the 2019-20 season ended, Lethbridge was 37-19-7 and third in the Central Division. Its attendance was down one fan per game, to 3,970, over 2018-19. Still, it lost three home dates to the cancellation, and who knows how many playoff games were in its future?

The Hurricanes pay the City of Lethbridge an annual maintenance fee of $166,667 for their home arena, the Enmax Centre. Last month, the Hurricanes and the City agreed to a one-year deferment of that payment, in the process adding a year to the arena lease that now runs through 2029-30. The Hurricanes asked for the deferment, citing revenues lost to the pandemic.

We will find out in November just how much they lost.

I would suggest that the four publicly owned franchises are far from being the WHL’s biggest spenders. Of course, the privately owned teams don’t have to share their numbers with the public. But judging by what the Broncos and Warriors reported, and what is surely to come from the Hurricanes and Raiders, you have to think there is some major pain being felt.

And that’s why the WHL can’t afford to start a season without being able to operate at less than 50 per cent capacity in its arenas. The losses from a season played without restrictions, albeit a shortened one, were large. Losses from a season played without fans in the stands would be mind-numbing.

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Here, in summation, is what I believe has happened with the QMJHL and qmjhlnewfighting. . . . The league approached the government and asked for $20 million in subsidies to help its 12 Quebec-based team get through the pandemic. . . . Isabelle Charest, a former Olympic speed skater who is the junior education minister, suggested the league needed to do more to eliminate fighting. . . . On Wednesday, the QMJHL’s board of governors voted to slap a fighter with a major and a misconduct, meaning that player would have to sit out 15 minutes. A player also would face a one-game suspension after accumulating three fights, with more time off for each fight after that. . . . Here is the QMJHL’s Rule 47: “All players involved in a fight will now be assessed a misconduct penalty (duration of 10 minutes) which will be added to the major penalty (five minutes), except if a player involved is considered an instigator or an aggressor. An automatic one-game suspension will be assessed after the third fight, and for any additional fight.” . . . There is a chart right here that explains all possible situations. . . . I guess we can assume the QMJHL now is awaiting an etransfer from the government.

Flushot

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

The SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs said Wednesday that they have been “approved to resume our training hockey-related activities.” Things had been on hold since Sept. 25 when one of their players tested positive. . . . According to the Mustangs, all tests “administered . . . this week have come back negative and there is no risk of the spread of the virus.: . . .

The Tennessee Titans have a reported nine positive tests in their organization, and the NFL has said their game against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers that had been scheduled for Sunday will be played Monday or Tuesday. . . . The Titans have halted football-related activities until at least Saturday. . . . The Minnesota Vikings, who played the visiting Titans on Sunday, haven’t had any positives. They should return to their practice facility today (Thursday). . . .

The CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are forecasting a $10-million loss, revealed Wednesday that they have terminated some employees and laid off others in both business and football operations. . . . In a statement, the team said it “had to make significant adjustments to our workforce including temporary and permanent layoffs in both the Business Operations and Football Operations.” . . . Matt Lowry, a content provider with the team for four years, tweeted that he had been laid off, and added: “There’s too many awesome co-workers to thank, but you know who you are, and you’ll hear from me. And please WEAR A MASK so we can all enjoy the 2021 CFL season from wherever you may be.” . . .

The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group is in the process of terminating 40 per cent of its staff at TD Place. The arena and stadium are home to the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks, both of which are owned by OSEG. However, staff from those teams weren’t included in the terminations. . . .

MLB announced Wednesday that it will allow about 11,500 fans into NLCS and World Series games at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Fans haven’t been allowed into MLB games since spring training. . . . Face masks will be mandatory and, according to MLB, “No seats will be sold within 20 feet of where a player can be located on the field, in the dugouts or in the bullpen.” . . . Some numbers from Deadspin’s Jesse Spector: “In September, there were 6,913 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tarrant County, Texas, including 447 reported on Wednesday, the final day of the month. That brings the cumulative tally for the county to 46,527 people stricken by coronavirus, with 721 dead from the pandemic.”

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.

JUST NOTES: Steve Hogle, who spent six seasons as president of the Saskatoon Blades, has been hired as the general manager of Hockey Edmonton. Hogle is from Edmonton and played minor hockey there. Before joining the Blades, he was with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers as vice-president of communications and broadcasting. He replaces the retiring Dean Hengel with Hockey Edmonton. . . . The Minnesota Twins, who were eliminated from the American League playoffs yesterday, have lost 18 straight post-season games, going back to 2004. Since then, the Houston Astros, who finished off the Twins, have won 43 playoff games. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post has a good look at Al Murray, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s assistant GM and director of amateur scouting, right here. It’s well worth your time.

Books

WHL: Broncos drop $791,000, while Warriors’ losses hit $391,299 . . . Virus finds an NFL team . . . Smith leaves Tigers for Chiefs

The Swift Current Broncos had a tough go of it on the ice last season, putting up a record of 10-48-5.

Things were just as bad in the accounting ledger as the WHL team announced a loss SCBroncosof $791,000 at its annual general meeting on Tuesday night. One year earlier, after a 2018-19 season in which it was 11-51-6, the team announced a profit of $38,196.

After last night’s AGM, the team explained in a statement: “The financial results for (the) season were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the settlement of a CHL-wide class-action lawsuit, an accounting revaluation of the education scholarship liability, and several unexpected reductions in key supplementary revenue streams, amounting to over $470,000 of additional losses for the season.”

The Broncos’ news release is right here.

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Meanwhile, the Moose Jaw Warriors announced a 2019-20 loss of $391,299 at MooseJawWarriorstheir AGM, which also was held on Tuesday night. One year earlier, the team announced a loss of $165,145 for 2018-19.

“In total,” wrote Corey Atkinson of discovermoosejaw.com, “the Warriors lost $391,299 on the season, handing over $282,286 in lost revenues due to COVID and their share of a lawsuit assessment — $180,846 — against the Canadian Hockey League in May.”

Atkinson also reported: “The Warriors have trimmed staff and have been able to get some pay decreases to try to minimize the impact. They’re also taken a deferral of the commitment they made annually to the multiplex — a $200,000 commitment for this season. They pledged $2.5 million in 2011-12 for the building, and have been able to come through on $2.1 million of that over the last 10 years.”

The Warriors finished last in the six-team East Division, at 14-44-4. They lost three home dates to the pandemic, and averaged 2,981 fans for 31 games. That was down from 2018-19 when the average for 34 games was 3,347.

Atkinson also reported that “regular-season receipts were down from $1,661,649 last (season) to $1,356,766.”

Atkinson’s story is right here.

AlMurray
Al Murray and his wife, Lori, celebrated the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup victory with a Tuesday morning walk in Regina. (Photo: Murray McCormick/Facebook)

So . . . you’re Al Murray and you have been with the Tampa Bay Lightning for 10 NHL seasons. You are the assistant general manager/director of amateur scouting, so you have had a lot to do with the construction of the team’s roster. . . . You’re Al Murray and your team won the Stanley Cup on Monday night in Edmonton, while you watched from your home in Regina. So what did you do on Tuesday morning? . . . You went for a walk, that’s what. . . . Murray McCormick of the Regina Leader-Post was out for a morning stroll when he encountered Murray and his wife, Lori. Yes, they both were smiling. . . .

You should know that Al Murray isn’t a stranger to winning. In three years as Hockey Canada’s head scout, his teams won two World Junior titles, one at the IIHF U-18 championship, and three Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament titles. . . . I first met him when he was the head coach of the U of Regina Cougars men’s team, a position he held from 1985-88. Sheesh, Al, that was a long time ago!

A note from the Monday posting by Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon:

“Dr. Harry Edwards is a noted sociologist who has spent a long time as an observer and a critic of sports as they impact Black athletes’ lives. Over the weekend, I ran across a Tweet from him related to the decision by the PAC-12 schools to reverse course and play football this fall:

“ ‘For PAC12 programs to use ‘our student-athletes want to play’ as a PRINCIPAL reason for restarting football/fall sports programs while soft-peddling COVID risks to athletes, denying MONEY considerations significantly driving this decision is disingenuous, delusional,& dangerous.’ ”

Two

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

The NHL announced on Monday that it had completed a ninth week of bubble play without any positive tests. There were 773 tests done from Sept. 20-26. All told, there were 33,174 tests to players and club personnel while the playoffs were conducted in the Edmonton bubble. . . . Of course, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup last night in Edmonton, securing a six-game victory over the Dallas Stars with a 2-0 victory in Game 6. . . . The NHL deserves straight As for getting through these playoffs in two bubble cities — Toronto being the other one — without any positive tests. . . .

The Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings played an NFL game in Minneapolis on Sunday. On Tuesday, the Titans announced eight positive tests — three players and five other employees — and shut things down until at least Saturday. The Vikings have closed their practice facility pending further test results. . . . The NFL also is doing daily testing and monitoring of on-field officials from Sunday’s game. That crew won’t work in Week 4. . . . This all started on Saturday when Titans LB Shane Bowen tested positive and didn’t make the trip to Minneapolis. All other Tennessee players, coaches and staff were negative on Saturday. . . . The Titans are scheduled to meet the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, while the Vikings at to travel to Houston to meet the Texans. . . .

The 2020 Spengler Cup has been cancelled. The tournament, held annually in Davos, Switzerland, had been scheduled to run from Dec. 26-31. . . .

The five-school Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference has cancelled its 2020 soccer season. The decision was made as Winnipeg shifted to a Code Orange response to the pandemic. . . .

After cancelling Saturday’s football game against host Wake Forest because of seven positive tests, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish revealed that they now have 18 positives. . . . All told, there are 25 players in isolation and another 14 in quarantine. . . . Notre Dame’s next scheduled game is Oct. 10 against visiting Florida State. . . .

The KHL has cancelled its all-star game and the week long festivities that accompany it. The party was to have been held in Riga, Latvia, in January.

Blake Anderson, the head football coach at Arkansas State, has admitted to testing positive after the Red Wolves beat host Kansas State on Sept. 12. That likely is no surprise because the Red Wolves have had to postpone their last two games because of positive tests and contact tracing. . . .

Central Arkansas is to play North Dakota State in Fargo on Saturday. NDSU was going to allow more than 8,000 fans into the game, this despite numbers rising in the area and the state having suggested a cap of 250 fans at indoor events. The Fargodome seats 18,700 for football. . . . On Tuesday, however, the school changed plans and will allow only the families of players to watch from the stands.

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

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

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

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

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Or, for more information, visit right here.

Phone

Ryan Smith has left the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, where he was an assistant coach, to join the Spokane Chiefs as associate coach. . . . In Spokane, Smith will work alongside Adam Maglio, who was promoted to head coach to replace Manny Viveiros, who has joined the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights as head coach their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. . . . Smith is coming off two seasons with the Tigers after spending three on the Swift Current Broncos’ coaching staff.

I haven’t seen an announcement from either team — although perhaps I missed it — but Gary Aubin appears to have moved on from the Swift Current Broncos and landed with the Kelowna Rockets. . . . Aubin, from St. Albert, Alta., had been the Broncos’ director of player personnel since July 18, 2018; in fact, he guided them through the 2020 WHL bantam draft. Before joining the Broncos, he spent 11 seasons on the Spokane Chiefs’ scouting staff and before that he worked with the Kamloops Blazers for 15 years. . . . Now he is listed on the Rockets’ website as a member of their scouting staff.

JUST NOTES: Hey, NFL, it’s time to do away with kickoffs. Just spot the ball at the 25 and carry on. . . . I don’t know about you, but I really, really miss the CFL. . . . QB Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs looks like a man playing in a city’s minor football program. . . . Two WHLers — F Lukas Svejkovsky of the Medicine Hat Tigers and G Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips — are among the 39 players invited to USA Hockey’s national junior team evaluation camp. That camp, which will be closed to fans, media and scouts, is scheduled for Oct. 8-13 in Plymouth, Mich. . . . The USHL has released its 2020-21 regular-season schedule. It calls for each of its 14 teams to play 54 games in what the league called a “regionally based schedule.” The regular season is to end on April 24. The USHL also said that its teams “are working with health and government officials regarding spectator policies. Each team will develop its own plan for spectators based on local and state guidelines.” . . . I don’t know about you, but rather than watch last night’s debate, I spent the evening with Statler and Waldorf.

Keys

Former WHL goaltender dies at 64 . . . Recchi stays in NHL . . . Kamloops gets new baseball team

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News posted an interesting piece on Tuesday involving F Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In it, Campbell explained how the Lightning came to draft Point and how Al Murray, the organization’s director of amateur scouting, led the charge. It’s great to see a veteran scout like Murray, who is from Regina, get some acknowledgement. . . . Campbell’s piece is right here.

On Wednesday, Campbell wrote about the Vegas Golden Knights and how George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon were able to shape an expansion into a Stanley Cup contender is such a short period of time. . . . They certainly have done that, and it should be said that they got a considerable amount of help from Vaughn Karpan, their director of player personnel. . . . Karpan, a native of The Pas, Man., and Murray have one thing in common — they both are quiet men who love to work in the shadows. Oh, and one other thing — they may be the best in their field. . . . Campbell’s piece on Vegas is right here.

Plasma

Loosely translating the above tweet: Each of the Canadian major junior teams must pay $266,667 as its share of the settlement of the class-action lawsuit that the CHL decided to settle for $30 million earlier in the summer. The QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar are owned by their respective cities, so the citizens will pay the bill via their municipal taxes.

Blaine Peterson, a former WHL goaltender who played with the Brandon Wheat Kings and New Westminster Bruins, died suddenly on Sept. 3. He was 64 and living in Stonewall, Man. Peterson’s death came less than a month after he was profiled by Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun as part of his excellent series on former Wheat Kings. . . . Peterson is survived by his partner Paulette and two adult children — Teague and Kael. . . . Peterson was with the Bruins for two Memorial Cup tournaments, losing in the 1976 final and winning it all in 1977. . . . He was a real contributor to minor hockey, coaching in Stonewall and doing a stint as president of the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League. . . . In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Manitoba. . . . There won’t be a formal funeral service, but a celebration of life is to be held at a later date. . . . There is an obituary available right here.

TP

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

You will recall that Canadian OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif of the Kansas City Chiefs opted out of the NFL’s 2020 season a while back. During the pandemic, the graduate of McGill U’s medical school has been working as an orderly at a long-term care facility near Montreal. From Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., he is planning to take online classes from Harvard U’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. . . . Julian MacKenzie of The Canadian Press has more right here. . . .

Louisiana Tech and Baylor had to postpone their football game that was set for Saturday. Why? Because Louisiana Tech had 38 players test positive in the days following Hurricane Laura. . . . The game was to have been Fox-TV’s first Big Noon game of the season, but now has been replaced by Arkansas State-Kansas State. . . .

Australian tennis star Ash Barty, ranked No. 1 in the world, has opted out of the French Open, which is scheduled to open on Sept. 27. She is the tournament’s defending champion. She also chose not to play in the U.S. Open because of concerns about COVID-19. . . .

The U of Lethbridge has suspended its women’s soccer program after it was found to be violating some pandemic-related restrictions. With Canada West having cancelled the fall season, teams still are being allowed to practice, but they are to do it in cohorts. The women’s team was allowing players who were from outside to take part in practice sessions. . . . Justin Goulet of lethbridgenewsnow.com has more right here. . . .

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which covers more than 500 high schools, has postponed football, volleyball and cheer seasons until March.

——

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.

JUST NOTES: Mark Recchi, one of five owners of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, is back in the NHL after a rather brief absence. Dumped as an assistant coach by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 12, he has joined the New Jersey Devils in the same role. The Devils gave Recchi a three-year contract. He had been with the Penguins for six seasons — three as development coach and the past three as assistant coach. . . . The BCHL’s Merritt Centennials have signed F Dylan Sydor, 17, whose father Darryl is a former WHL/NHL defenceman who also is a co-owner with the Blazers. Last season, Dylan had 17 goals and 20 assists in 40 games with the U-18 Thompson Blazers, who play out of Kamloops. . . . The Red Deer Rebels’ 15-year lease with Westerner Park, which operates the Centrium, was to have expired this year. Before it got to that, the two parties agreed on a seven-year lease. . . . Baseball’s West Coast League unveiled its newest franchise on Wednesday. The Kamloops NorthPaws will begin play in 2021 — Opening Day is set for June 4 — and it’ll be a 54-game regular season. The WBL is a short-season collegiate league. The NorthPaws are one of four Canadian teams, joining the Kelowna Falcons, Nanaimo NightOwls and Victoria HarbourCats. The NightOwls are another expansion team; they are owned by the group that operates the HarbourCats. The NorthPaws are owned by Norm Daley of the Kamloops accounting firm Daley & Company; Jon Pankuch, who owns a few Tim Hortons franchises; and Neal Perry of Westway Plumbing and Heating.

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