F Jan Dalecký (Swift Current, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract extension with Herning (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). This season, he had 15 goals and 23 assists in 45 games. . . .
F Rudolf Červený (Regina, 2007-09) signed a one-year contract with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL). This season, with Hradec Králové (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had 21 goals and 17 assists in 49 games. He led his team in goals, was second in points, and was fourth in the league in goals. . . .
F Josh Nicholls (Saskatoon, 2008-13) signed a one-year contract with Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL). This season, with Litvinov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had two assists in eight games. He signed with Storhamar (Norway, GET-Ligaen) on Nov. 19 and had 13 goals and seven assists in 22 games.
The Kamloops Blazers are poised to introduce their new general manager at a news conference this morning (Friday).
A source familiar with the situation told Taking Note on Thursday afternoon that Matt 
Bardsley will be the new general manager.
Bardsley, who has been with the Portland Winterhawks since 1999, would replace Stu MacGregor, who has been reassigned to the scouting staff of the NHL’s Dallas Stars. MacGregor took over as the GM in Kamloops after Craig Bonner left six games into the 2015-16 season. Bonner also is on the Stars’ scouting staff.
Tom Gaglardi, who owns the Stars, is the majority owner of the Blazers. The four minority owners, all former Blazers players, are Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi and Darryl Sydor.
Bardsley, 46, has been Portland’s assistant general manager for the past four seasons.
He grew up in San Jose, and moved to Portland in 1987, getting work at the Valley Ice Arena in Beaverton. That facility was Portland’s practice facility. One thing led to another and Bardsley started scouting for the WHL team in 1999.
He moved up to director of player personnel prior to 2008-09, then was named director of hockey operations in time for the 2010-11 season.
In Kamloops, Bardsley takes over a franchise that needs a head coach, lead assistant coach and a director of player personnel.
Don Hay, the head coach for the past four seasons, now is in an advisory role. The Blazers also announced on May 10 that Mike Needham, an assistant coach with the Blazers since 2010, and Matt Recchi, the director of player personnel for 10 seasons, wouldn’t have their contracts renewed.
The present owners have been in control for 11 seasons. In that time, the Blazers have missed the playoffs four times and lost in the first round on five occasions. They have missed the playoffs in three of the past five seasons, including this season.
Since losing in the WHL’s championship final in the spring of 1999, Kamloops has won three playoff series, and has advanced past the second round on one occasion, when it reached the Western Conference final in 2013.
The Seattle Thunderbirds have traded F Nakodan Greyeyes, 17, to the Saskatoon Blades 
for a conditional sixth-round selection in the WHL’s 2020 bantam draft. . . . Greyeyes, from Winnipeg, was a sixth-round pick in the 2016 bantam draft, but has yet to sign a WHL contract. . . . This season, he had 24 goals and 29 assists in 36 games with the Winnipeg-based Rink Hockey Academy midget prep team. He also was pointless in two games with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings.
The Saskatoon Blades have signed D Marek Schneider, 15, to a WHL contract. Schneider was a second-round selection by the Blades in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. From Prince Albert, he had three goals and 22 points in 30 games with the bantam AA Prince Albert Raiders this season. . . . Schneider expects to play with the midget AAA Prince Albert Mintos in 2018-19. He is a younger brother to D Braden Schneider of the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Everett Silvertips have named F Connor Dewar as their captain for the 2018-19 season. Dewar, who will turn 19 on June 26, is preparing for his fourth season with Everett. This season, as an alternate captain, he had 38 goals and 30 assists in 68 games. . . . He succeeds D Kevin Davis and F Matt Fonteyne, both of whom have played out their junior eligibility, as the Silvertips’ captain. Davis and Fonteyne were co-captains this season.
The five-part series — NHL Under Oath — that TSN has been running this week continued Thursday as Rick Westhead, the senior correspondent, continues to shine a light on the league and its reaction to brain injuries. There is a story available right here, along with a video, none of which is at all favourable towards the NHL.
Meanwhile, The Globe and Mail takes the NHL to task in an editorial that is right here.
Ryan Huska, a former WHL player and coach, has moved up to the NHL’s Calgary Flames as an assistant coach where he will work under head coach Bill Peters. Huska, 42, has spent four seasons coaching the Flames’ AHL affiliate — one season with the Adirondack Flames and the past three with the Stockton Heat. Before that, he was with the Kelowna Rockets for 12 seasons, the last seven as head coach. . . . As a player, he spent four seasons (1991-95) with the Kamloops Blazers and won three Memorial Cup titles. . . . He also won one Memorial Cup as a coach — he was an assistant with Kelowna in 2004. . . . There’s more on Huska, from George Johnson of calgaryflames.com, right here.
Todd Nelson, who played four seasons (1986-90) with his hometown Prince Albert Raiders, has signed a three-year contract as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. In the coaching game since 2002-03, Nelson, 49, has spent the past three seasons as head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.
Brad Lauer is out after three seasons as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. The team announced that it “has mutually agreed to part ways” with Lauer. At the same time, the Lightning announced that it had fired associate coach Rick Bowness. . . . Lauer, from Humboldt, Sask., was an assistant coach with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice for five seasons (2002-07). He also has been an assistant coach in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Anaheim Ducks.
Jason Rogers has signed on as director of hockey operations and head coach of the White Rock Whalers, who are preparing for their first season in the junior B Pacific Junior Hockey League, which now features 12 teams. . . . This season, Rogers coached the midget A1 Vancouver Thunderbirds to a provincial title.
the NHL’s Calgary Flames on Sunday. . . . The Royals’ captain, Phillips, 19, is from Calgary. He was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2016 draft. . . . This season, he has 28 goals and 31 assists in 39 games. . . . In 183 regular-season games, all with the Royals, the 5-foot-7, 155-pounder has 228 points, including 116 goals. That includes last season, when he finished with 50 goals and 40 assists in 70 games. . . . How did Phillips celebrate his good news? He and his teammates were in Kamloops, where they are to meet the Blazers in a New Year’s Day matinee.
points in five straight games (4-0-1). . . . The Wheat Kings (25-11-1) have lost three in a row. . . . The Warriors had beaten the host Wheat Kings, 7-4, on Saturday afternoon. . . . Moose Jaw is atop the overall standings, nine points ahead of Swift Current and 12 ahead of Brandon. . . . F Jayden Halbgewachs led the Warriors with two goals and three assists. He’s got a CHL-leading 40 goals in 39 games. F Aaron Luchuk of the Barrie Colts leads the OHL with 31 goals in 36 games, while F Alex Barre-Boulet of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada is tops in the QMJHL with 31 in 34. . . . F Brayden Burke of the Warriors had a goal and two assists, giving him a WHL-leading 77 points. . . . Burke went over 300 regular-season points during the game and now has 302 points, including 229 assists, in 214 games. . . . Halbgewachs, who has seven goals and seven assists in his past five games, gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 15:04 of the first period. . . . F Stelio Mattheos (28) pulled Brandon even at 17:56. . . . Halbgewachs put the Warriors back out front, on another PP, at 10:47 of the second period. . . . The home team went ahead 4-1 on goals from Burke (19), on a PP, at 13:39, and F Tristin Langan, shorthanded, at 1:59 of the third period. . . . F Evan Weinger (18) scored for Brandon at 5:07, but the Warriors put it away on goals from Langan (8), at 6:59, and F Tanner Jeannot (28), at 15:16. . . . F Justin Almeida had two assists for Moose Jaw, giving him six helpers in the two-game series. . . . Jeannot added an assist to his goal. . . . The Warriors were 3-6 on the PP; the Wheat Kings were 0-5. . . . Halbgewachs’ goals came 10 and six seconds into PP opportunities, and Burke’s goal took eight seconds. . . . The Warriors got 25 saves from G Brody Willms, while Brandon’s Logan Thompson stopped 38 shots. . . . Announced attendance: 4,021.
5) have points in seven straight (5-0-2). They are tied for third in the U.S. Division, two points behind Portland with two games in hand. . . . The Chiefs (20-15-3) are two points behind the Americans. . . . The Chiefs had beaten the visiting Americans, 4-3 in OT, on Saturday night. . . . F Isaac Johnson’s ninth goal of the season, on a PP, broke a 3-3 tie at 12:44 of the second period. . . . F Riley Sawchuk had given the Americans a 1-0 lead at 12:07 of the first period. . . . The visitors moved out front 3-1 on goals from F Jake McGrew (6), at 13:09, F Eli Zummack (10), on a PP, at 13:55, and F Zach Fischer (17), at 19:03. . . . D Dylan Coghlan (12) got Tri-City to within one, on a PP, at 5:19 of the second period. . . . F Nolan Yaremko (11) tied the game at 9:30. . . . F Jordan Topping recorded three assists for the winners, with F Kyle Olson getting two. Coghlan and Johnson added one each. . . . Tri-City was 2-4 on the PP; Spokane was 1-4. . . . The Americans got 43 saves from G Patrick Dea. . . . Spokane starter Dawson Weatherill allowed four goals on 13 shots in 32:44. Donovan Buskey came on in relief to stop all 13 shots he faced in 24:40. . . . Announced attendance: 6,011.
reigning champion, improved to 18-14-5 and has points in six straight games (5-0-1). Seattle holds down the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points behind Tri-City and Spokane. . . . The Winterhawks (22-12-3) have points in three straight (1-0-2) and are second in the U.S. Division, one point behind Everett with two games in hand. . . . On Saturday night, the host Thunderbirds beat the Winterhawks, 4-3 in OT. . . . In the season series, Seattle is 2-2-0; Portland is 2-0-2. . . . These two teams will meet each other eight more times this season. . . . Last night, F Skyler McKenzie (27) gave the home side a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 2:22 of the second period. . . . Seattle took a 2-1 lead on goals 37 seconds apart from D Reece Harsch (8), at 7:31, and F Nikita Malukhin (4), at 8:08. . . . F Reece Newkirk (2) got Portland into a 2-2 tie at 14:05. . . . F Matthew Wedman gave Seattle a 3-2 lead at 16:57 of the third period. . . . Portland F Ryan Hughes (5) forced OT at 19:02. . . . Philp, Seattle’s first shooter, won it with the only goal of the shootout. . . . D Turner Ottenbreit had two assists for Seattle. . . . Portland got two assists from F Cody Glass, who returned from a one-game absence due to a leg injury. . . . Seattle was 1-3 on the PP; Portland was 1-4. . . . Seattle G Liam Hughes stopped 33 shots, six more than Portland’s Cole Kehler. . . . Announced attendance: 10,568.
TAKING NOTE 