OKOTOKS, Alta. (March 25, 2025) — Veteran scouts Dean Malkoc and Jesse Wallin, along with retired broadcaster Dean (Scooter) Vrooman, will be honoured by the Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation at its second annual Wall of Honour induction dinner in Okotoks on July 29.
Malkoc and Wallin will be presented with the Two Glens’ Honourarium, while Vrooman is to be given the Bob Ridley Golden Microphone Honourarium. Each of the recipients also will receive a financial award that is to be given to a charity of their choosing.
The Two Glens’ Honourarium was cast in the memories of Glen Cochrane (left, above) and Glen Dirk, two long-time scouts who passed away from cancer in 2024. It is to be presented annually to a deserving scout, or scouts, who display camaraderie, competitiveness, dedication and humour, all traits that were in ample supply with the much beloved Cochrane and Dirk.
Wallin has been in the scouting game since 2013, first with the St. Louis Blues and now with the Detroit Red Wings. After six seasons as an amateur scout with the Blues, he now is in his sixth season as Detroit’s head amateur scout.
“I was really honoured when I was told I would be receiving this award,” Wallin said. “I had no idea . . . I wasn’t expecting it.”
Wallin had known Dirk and Cochrane for a long time, so this award really carries some meaning with it.
“I met Glen during the draft process in my draft year,” Wallin said, “and when I spent a bit of time with New Jersey. I met Glen Cochrane through Peter Anholt quite a while ago.
“To be associated with them was a real privilege.”
Malkoc was especially close to Dirk, often looking at him as a father figure.
From Vancouver, Malkoc has been scouting with the Boston Bruins since 2007. After 15 seasons as an amateur scout, he now is in his third season as Boston’s director of amateur scouting.
Meanwhile, Ridley called Medicine Hat Tigers’ games on radio, handling more than 4,000 games over 52 seasons — he also drove the team’s bus for 45 of those seasons — before retiring in August 2022.
The Golden Microphone is to recognize a member of the media or broadcasting profession for their dedicated years of service at the major junior level.
Vrooman, who grew up in Beaverton, Ore., was the play-by-play voice of the Portland Winterhawks for more than 30 seasons. He called games from 1982-2007 and was part of the broadcast team, with his son Todd handling play-by-play, from 2012-19. Dean retired after the 2018-19 season.
“I am honoured to have been selected for the Golden Microphone award,” Vrooman said after Ridley informed him of the honour. “I am just very gratified and appreciative that I am being recognized for my career accomplishments.”
“Dean is a terrific choice as the first recipient of this honour,” said Gregg Drinnan, a member of the selection committee who also is the Foundation’s editor and historian. “He had a whole lot to do with establishing the Winterhawks in Portland and for the success the franchise has had. There was a time when he was as much the face of the franchise as anyone.”
Tickets for the second annual induction dinner now are available on the Foundation’s website — hockeyscoutsfoundation.com.
For more information, contact:
Garth Malarchuk, WCPHSF Chairman of the Board
gmalarchuk@torontomapleleafs.com
Tim Lenardon, WCPHSF Co-ordinator
Gregg Drinnan, WCPHSF Editor/Historian
greggdrinnan@gmail.com
Gustafson had been a member of the Portland coaching staff for 18 seasons when he left a year ago to join the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks as assistant coach/special assignment coach. At the time, Travis Green, also a former Winterhawks coach, was the Canucks’ head coach. He was fired during the 2021-22 season, however, and Gustafson was released after the season. . . . With the Winterhawks, he fills the spot created when Don Hay left after four seasons to return to the Kamloops Blazers, this time as associate coach. . . . Gustafson, 41, will work alongside Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ senior vice-president, general manager and head coach, and assistant coach Brian Pellerin. . . . Some observers also feel that Gustafson’s return sets in motion a succession plan whereby he will take over as head coach from the 65-year-old Johnston in a year or two.
veteran of the airwaves in Kamloops who retired in December.
player who started the season as the Regina Pats’ head coach, have been named to the coaching staff of the Canadian team that will play in the IIHF U-18 world championship. . . . That tournament is to be held in Landshut and Kaufbeuren, Germany, from April 23 through May 1. . . . Team Canada’s coaching staff also includes Kori Cheverie, who will be the first female to coach one of the country’s national men’s teams. She spent five seasons (2016-21) as an assistant with Ryerson U’s men’s team and this season worked with the Canadian women’s Olympic team. . . . Baumgartner was a defenceman with the Kamloops Blazers when they won the 1994 and 1995 Memorial Cup titles. He had been part of the Vancouver Canucks organization since 2012 until he was let go in a regime change this season. He was with the Canadian men’s Olympic team at the Winter Games in Beijing earlier this year. . . . Struch spent nine seasons with the Regina Pats before being fired as head coach earlier this season. He played four seasons (1988-92) with the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The U-18 team’s coach staff also includes assistant coach Todd Miller, who is a former head coach of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and was an assistant coach with the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2020-21, and goaltending consultant Brad Kirkwood, who works with the Calgary Hitmen and the U of Calgary women’s and men’s teams. . . . The complete news release is 
a first-round confrontation with the Moose Jaw Warriors (34-22-5). The Warriors, who hold a three-point edge, are scheduled to be in Saskatoon on Friday to conclude the season series. The Blades are 5-2-0; the Warriors, who beat the visiting Blades 7-0 on Saturday, are 2-4-1.
My wife, Dorothy, is fund-raising, again, as she takes part in her ninth straight Kamloops Kidney Walk. Unfortunately, this one will be held virtually, again, but she continues to take it seriously. She is more than a little thankful for having had a kidney transplant more than eight years ago, and this is her way of giving back. . . . As of Tuesday evening, Dorothy is the No. 1 fund-raiser in B.C. . . . If you would like to donate to the cause and become a member of her team, you are able to do so 
Winnipeg Ice went on to beat the Moose Jaw Warriors, 8-1, in the night’s only game. . . . Before the game was eight minutes old, Winnipeg held a 4-0 lead as F Conor Geekie (21), F Zach Benson (22) and F Jack Finley (24) joined the party. . . . Milne finished with three goals — his first WHL hat trick — and an assist. . . . G Daniel Hauser stopped 22 shots to record the victory. He is 29-2-1, 2.03, .913 this season. . . . The Ice (48-9-5) is the first WHL team this season to crack the 100-point barrier. It leads the Eastern Conference by six points over the Edmonton Oil Kings (46-13-3). . . . The Warriors (35-22-5) are fourth, three points ahead of the Saskatoon Blades (34-23-4).
opening home-and-home series on Saturday night. The Broncos won the opener, 2-0, at home on Friday, then completed the sweep with a 3-2 victory in Medicine Hat on Saturday. . . . However, you can bet that the participants recognized that something was missing. Bob Ridley, the radio voice of the Tigers, wasn’t there; he’s in Lethbridge undergoing radiation treatments. . . . Darren Steinke, who keeps track of such things, notes that Ridley has done the play-by-play on 4,021 of the 4,022 games the Tigers have played since entering the WHL for the 1970-71 season. That includes regular-season games, one tiebreaker, playoff games and Memorial Cup games. . . . And let’s not forget that Ridley drove the Tigers’ bus for a lot of those seasons. You don’t even want to think about how much coffee he drank back in those days. . . . In Ridley’s absence, Scott Roblin of CHAT in Medicine Hat is calling the games.
they face the Chiefs in Spokane. The Silvertips won’t play again until Friday when they hold their home-opener, this time against the Portland Winterhawks. . . . With Mike Benton, the Silvertips’ radio voice for the previous six seasons, having left to join Seattle radio station KJR, you are wondering who will be doing the play-by-play for Everett now, aren’t you? . . . Well, a little birdie has told me that Benton will handle the first two games as the Silvertips work to get a new voice into place. . . . With KJR, Benton is handling the pre-game, intermission and post-game shows for Seattle Kraken games.
the WHL. F Bailey Peach, 20, has been added to the Victoria Royals’ roster and was in the lineup on Saturday night. . . . From Falmouth, N.S., he cleared QMJHL waivers after being released by the Charlottetown Islanders. He played three seasons (2017-20) plus five games last season with the Sherbrooke Phoenix before moving on to the Islanders last season. In 184 regular-season QMJHL games, he put up 40 goals and 67 assists. He added one goal and five assists in 26 playoff games. . . . Peach joins F Tarun Fizer and F Graeme Bryks as the Royals’ 20-year-olds. 
WHL’s 2021 developmental season, the Lethbridge Hurricanes showed a profit of $72,250 for 2020-21. The team, which is publicly owned, revealed its financial statement at its annual general meeting on Monday night. . . . At its previous AGM, delayed by the pandemic and held virtually on Jan. 18, the shareholders had been told that in a worst-case scenario, there could be a $1.3-million loss for 2021. That was based on projected expenses of $1.7 million and revenues of $383,000. Obviously, the worst-case scenario didn’t happen. . . . A big part of being able to show a profit was government grant funding that came in at $668,000. . . . Terry Huisman, the team’s general manager of business operations, said that it cost the Hurricanes $850,000 to prepare for and play in 2021’s abbreviated schedule. . . . Dale Woodard of the Lethbridge Herald quoted Huisman as saying: “Had we not gotten that money we would have been probably right back to where we were when I started six years ago and we all know that wasn’t fun. So for me, I sit here and I’m happy about it, but there is a tremendous amount of work that went in behind the scenes. Not only just to secure that money, but also to make sure we ran as lean as possible and we capitalized on every opportunity to increase revenue.” . . . In the period from 2011-15, the Hurricanes lost more than $1.25 million. Starting with 2015-16 and running through 2018-19, the Hurricanes showed profits of $197,000, $737,710, $422,443 and $282,168. . . . With the 2019-20 season halted in March by the pandemic, the Hurricanes announced a loss of $1,030 at their 2020 AGM. . . . Woodard’s complete story is 
hub on April 27, it marked more than the end of a team’s season. It also signalled the end of a career for Phil Andrews, their one-time play-by-play voice who rejoined the team just to call the developmental season’s games. . . . On Friday, in thanking the team and the fans, Andrews revealed that he is joining Athletes in Action at the U of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
they scored five times on special teams en route to a 6-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets in Kamloops on Friday night. . . . Vancouver (11-9-0) had lost its previous two games. . . . Kelowna (8-4-1) has lost three in a row (0-2-1). . . . Nielsen, who turned 21 on Feb. 23, now has 15 goals and 13 assists in 20 games. He scored once on the power play and once while shorthanded, and drew two PP assists. . . . The Giants were 3-for-3 on the PP and 3-for-4 on the PK, while also scoring two shorthanded goals, the eighth and ninth allowed by the Rockets in 13 games. . . . Vancouver scored four second-period goals as it outshot Kelowna 17-5. . . . Nielsen opened the scoring, shorthanded, at 1:52 of the first period. . . . D Tanner Brown (2) made it 2-0 at 5:13 of the second. . . . F Steel Quiring (2) got Kelowna’s first goal at 6:44. . . . Nielsen added a PP goal at 10:10 and F Justin Sourdif then scored twice — on a PP at 10:44 and shorthanded at 14:53. . . . F Adam Hall (7) added another PP goal for the Giants at 9:43 of the third period. . . . D Kaedan Korczak (3) had Kelowna’s second goal, on a PP, at 12:57. . . . Sourdif also had an assist for a three-point outing. . . . In four games with the Rockets, Nielsen and Sourdif have combined for 21 points. Sourdif has four goals and seven assists; Nielsen has five goals and five assist. . . . The Giants got 18 saves from G Trent Miner. . . .
beat the host Tri-City Americans, 5-2. . . . Seattle (9-11-1) has points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . Tri-City (7-10-0) has lost two in a row. . . . F Nick Bowman (4) and F Connor Bouchard (5) had the Americans ahead 2-0 early in the second period. . . . F Jared Davidson, who scored twice and added an assist, got the Seattle comeback started at 5:53 of the second period. . . . F Henry Rybinski tied it with his first of two goals at 7:08. . . . Rybinski (7) gave the Thunderbirds the lead at 9:45 with the club’s first shorthanded goal of the season. . . . F Nico Myatovic (3) upped the lead to 4-2 at 17:46 and Davidson (9) got the empty-netter. . . . Davidson has nine goals and nine assists in 21 games. Last season he had eight goals and eight assists in 59 games. . . . G Scott Ratzlaff, who turned 16 on March 9, stopped 18 shots to earn the victory in his first WHL start. From Irma, Alta., he was a second-round pick in the 2020 bantam draft. . . . The Americans opened up five sections to vaccinated fans and youngsters with proof of negative tests. Unfortunately, they didn’t show an attendance figure on the online game sheet. . . .
as having tested positive.
Raiders in Regina. . . . Alexander, 18, from Okotoks, Alta., earned his first career shutout in his 12th career appearance, five of them this season. . . . He is 3-2-0, 2.01, .926 this season. . . . The Ice (7-4-0) scored the game’s first two goals after Raiders F Dallyn Peekeekoot was tossed with a charging major. . . . F Cole Muir (4) scored at 2:51 of the second period and F Owen Pederson made it 2-0 just 35 seconds later. . . .
Winterhawks to a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Winterhawks lead the WHL with five shorthanded goals. . . . Portland (4-1-2) scored the game’s last five goals. . . . Knak has seven goals this seaosn. . . . F Seth Jarvis (3) had a goal and two assists for Portland. . . . F Sasha Mutala (3) scored twice for the Americans (2-4-0). His second goal, 19 seconds into the second period, gave Tri-City a 2-1 lead. . . . F Jaydon Dureau (1) tied it on a PP at 15:22 of the second and Knak gave Portland the lead at 16:28, also on a PP. . . . D Nick Cicek also had a goal and two assists for Portland. . . . 
Oil Kings’ night included four goals in 82 seconds in the third period and a power-play that was 4-for-5. . . . The Oil Kings (10-1-0) have beaten the Rebels four times in this shortened season. Go back to last season and Edmonton has beaten Red Deer 15 straight times. . . . The Rebels now are 2-7-2. . . . Edmonton got a single-game franchise-record six points, including four assists, from D Logan Dowhaniuk, and a goal and three helpers from D Matthew Robertson. . . . Dowhaniuk now holds the franchise record for most points by a defenceman in one game. . . . F Josh Williams, F Jalen Luypen, F Carter Souch and F Jake Neighbours each had a goal and two assists. . . . The online game sheet shows Dowhaniuk with five points. However, Andrew Peard, the Oil Kings’ play-by-play voice, said an assist will be added to Dowhaniuk on Neighbours’ goal. . . . Dowhaniuk, an 18-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., has a goal and nine assists in 11 games. He had six points, including five assists, in 33 games his freshman season (2018-19), then put up two goals and 10 assists in 62 games in 2019-20. . . . Edmonton was without F Scott Atkinson, its captain, with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Rebels played a lot of the game with five defenceman after Blake Gustafson left with an undisclosed injury. Red Deer already was without D Chase Leslie and D Kyle Masters, both of whom are listed as week-to-week with undisclosed injuries.
The AJHL revealed on Friday that “as the result of a positive COVID-19 test by a member” of the Oilers, team activities had been suspended for at least 14 days. . . . That resulted in the Oilers’ games of April 2, 4 and 6 being cancelled. . . . The Oilers, who last played on Sunday when they edged the visiting Brooks Bandits, 2-1, joined the Drayton Valley Thunder, Grande Prairie Storm and Whitecourt Wolverines, who also have been shutdown because of positive tests. . . . The AJHL has yet to release a schedule of games after April 6.
five different communities. It was playing only exhibition games when things came to a halt in November. . . . Now it’s playing what it is calling a “pod season” with Friday’s games in Alberni Valley, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Penticton and Vernon. . . . On Thursday, the BCHL announced that there weren’t any positives from the first round of testing. All told, 439 players and staff were tested.
TAKING NOTE 