Tag: Craig MacTavish

WCPHSF adds five more to Hot Stove roster for Wall of Honour dinner

The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation has added five more Hot Stove participants to the roster for its inaugural Wall of Honour induction dinner — Tales From The Road — in Okotoks, Alta., on July 30.

The latest group is led by John Davidson, president of hockey operations, alternate governor and interim general manager of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, and also features Dr. Hayley Wickenheiser, a seven-time World champion who is an assistant general manager with the Toronto Maple Leafs and a practising physician.

Rounding out those taking part in the Hot Stove sessions are Mike Penny, who has scouted for more than 50 years; Brian Skrudland, a former NHL player who turned to scouting; and Al Tuer, who got into scouting in 2000.

Earlier, it was announced that Ken Holland, the Edmonton Oilers’ president of hockey operations and general manager; Craig Button, a former NHL executive who now is TSN’s director of scouting; long-time scout Archie Henderson, who retired in 2022; and former NHL player, coach and general manager Craig MacTavish would be involved in Hot Stove conversations.

The inaugural dinner also will include the induction of 45 past and present scouts into the Wall of Honour, which will feature three video screens and is to be unveiled in its permanent home in the the foyer of the Okotoks Centennial Arena.

Individual tickets and tables of eight will go on sale off the Foundation’s website (hockeyscoutsfoundation.com) on May 1.

JOHN DAVIDSON

A goaltender in his playing days, Davidson played eight-plus seasons in the NHL, split between the St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. The Blues selected him fifth overall in the NHL’s 1973 draft, from the WCHL’s Calgary Centennials, and he became the first goaltender in NHL history to make the jump directly from major junior hockey to the NHL. After his playing career, he turned to broadcasting, a career that included a 30-year stint with the MSG Network as the analyst on Rangers’ telecasts. He was awarded the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions in 2009.

Davidson is in his second stint in the Blue Jackets’ front office, and also has been president of the Blues and Rangers.

DR. HAYLEY WICKENHEISER

As a player, Dr. Wickenheiser, a native of Shaunavon, Sask., won seven World titles with Canada’s national women’s hockey team. She also played in five Olympic Winter Games, winning four golds and a silver, and twice was named the tournament’s most valuable player. In 2019, she was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame.

After retiring in 2017, Dr. Wickenheiser earned a degree in kinesiology from the U of Calgary and then went to medical school there. She has done a residency in the department of family and community medicine at the U of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She continues her career in medicine, while working for the Maple Leafs.

A native of Montreal, Penny is one of the true legends in the scouting game. He got his start in 1969 by working for the NHL’s New York Rangers and their junior affiliate, the Kitchener Rangers, at the same time. He moved to the Vancouver Canucks in 1980 — he was responsible for their drafting Pavel Bure 113th overall in 1989 — before signing on with the Maple Leafs as their director of player personnel in 2000. He still is with the Maple Leafs, now as a pro scout.

Skrudland, a native of Peace River, Alta., who holds the NHL record for the fastest playoff overtime goal, retired as a player after the 1999-2000 season. He later spent six seasons with the Florida Panthers, five as director of player development and one as an assistant coach. He won two Stanley Cups as a player, with the 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens and the 1998-99 Dallas Stars.

Tuer, who was born in North Battleford, Sask., has been scouting since 2001, following a lengthy career as a player, coach and general manager. As a scout, he has worked with the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. He is in his third season as a pro scout with the Rangers. His late father, Graham, will be inducted into the Foundation’s Wall of Honour on July 30.

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The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation is a non-profit organization comprising NHL scouts from Western Canada and a group of committed individuals from the hockey community. It feels a strong obligation to honour scouts, past and present, and a commitment to give back to charities, communities and individuals who could benefit from the support and financial assistance.

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Gregg Drinnan, WCPHSF editor and historian

greggdrinnan@gmail.com

Tales From The Road adds four, including Oilers’ GM, to Hot Stove roster

March 2, 2024

The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation has revealed the first four Hot Stove participants for Tales From The Road, the gala evening it has scheduled for Okotoks, Alta., on Monday, July 29.

The Foundation’s inaugural banquet will be highlighted by the induction of 45 past and present scouts into its Wall of Honour, which will be located in the Okotoks Centennial Arena.

Dennis Beyak, who ended his lengthy and superb play-by-play career at the 2024 World Junior Championship in Sweden, will be the evening’s host. He was a smash hit in filling that role at the Foundation’s startup banquet on Sept. 30.

With the evening dedicated to honouring scouts, the Foundation has chosen the theme Tales From The Road, and the entertainment is to include Hot Stove sessions.

Among those participating will be Ken Holland, the Edmonton Oilers’ president of hockey operations and general manager; Craig Button, a former NHL general manager who now is TSN’s director of scouting; long-time scout Archie Henderson, who retired in 2022; and former NHL player, coach and general manager Craig MacTavish.

KEN HOLLAND

Holland, from Vernon, B.C., was a member of the Detroit Red Wings’ scouting staff for nine seasons, the last seven as director of amateur scouting, before being named assistant GM. He took over as general manager prior to the 1997-98 season and filled that role through the 2018-19 season after which he joined the Oilers as president of hockey operations and GM. His resume includes four Stanley Cup titles with Detroit, an Olympic gold medal, and a World Cup gold medal. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2020.

A goaltender during his playing days, Holland spent two seasons with the WCHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

CRAIG BUTTON

As TSN’s director of scouting, Button is a familiar figure on TV as he is a regular on hockey telecasts and highlight shows. Before landing at TSN, he scouted for the Minnesota North Stars and then the Dallas Stars, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 1999. He joined the Calgary Flames in 2000 as vice-president and general manager, a stint that lasted for three seasons. He also has scouted for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

ARCHIE HENDERSON

Henderson, a Calgarian, is one of the scouting fraternity’s great storytellers. He got into 23 regular-season NHL games as a 6-foot-6 heavyweight. After trying the coaching game, he got into scouting and spent more than 20 seasons on the road — with the Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton. Henderson retired in 2022 after a three-season run as Edmonton’s director of pro scouting. As a junior player with the Lethbridge Broncos, he once had a scrap with Bob Poley of the Regina Pats. Poley went on to play 15 seasons as an offensive lineman in the CFL.

MacTavish, from London, Ont., spent 17 seasons playing in the NHL, making stops with the Boston Bruins, Edmonton, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and St. Louis Blues. Along the way, he won four Stanley Cups. He also was the last player in NHL history to play without a helmet. He went on to coach with the Rangers, Oilers and Blues, and also made coaching stops in the KHL and Swiss NL. His resume also includes two seasons as the Oilers’ general manager and five as senior vice-president of hockey operations.

Also that evening the Foundation will reveal the first recipient of its Ace Award, which is to be presented in honour of the late Garnet (Ace) Bailey, who was aboard the plane that terrorists crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Glen Sather, a Hockey Hall of Famer and long-time friend of Bailey’s, will make the presentation.

Further details about the banquet, including ticket availability and more Hot Stove participants, will be announced in the near future.

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The Western Canada Professional Hockey Scouts Foundation is a non-profit organization comprising NHL scouts from Western Canada and a group of committed individuals from the hockey community. It feels a strong obligation to honour scouts, past and present, and a commitment to give back to charities, communities and individuals who could benefit from the support and financial assistance.

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Gregg Drinnan, WCPHSF editor and historian

greggdrinnan@gmail.com

COVID-19 takes beloved Regina sportscaster . . . Darby Mills loses her father, ex-General, to virus . . . Remember MacTavish vs. Harvey?

I spent 17 years in the Regina Leader-Post’s sports department and had the good fortune of spending time in Warren Woods’ company on more than one occasion. He really was one of those people who had the ability to lift a room. His smile. His laugh. His demeanour. He didn’t work at it; he was just Woodsy.

When you hear the name ‘Woodsy,’ you don’t picture some miserable SOB who prefers the clouds to the sunshine. You think of someone with a lifelong smile and an infectious laugh — well, Woodsy had the smile but his laugh was more of a cackle.

When I was told in early December that Woodsy was in a Regina hospital after having contracted COVID-19, I just knew that he would laugh/cackle and the virus would run for the hills. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Woodsy, 66, died in a Regina hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

The Regina sporting community — indeed, all of Saskatchewan — will be a long time getting over this loss.

Now . . . if you think this pandemic is a hoax, I’ve got news for you. It’s real and we’re in it for a while yet. So wear a mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Again and again and again. Just do your part.

Woodsy’s memory and those of so many others deserve nothing less.

If you didn’t know Woodsy, Rob Vanstone will introduce you to him via the tweet below.

Back in the day, Stan Mills played junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals, alongside the likes of Harry Sinden, Alex Delvecchio and Lou Jankowski. But you perhaps know more about Stan’s daughter, Darby, a Canadian rocker who came to fame with the Headpins. . . . These days, Darby is mourning the loss of her father. Stan, 90, who had dementia, died on Jan. 14 in a long-term care home in Vernon, B.C. He was a COVID-19 victim, gone five days after being diagnosed. . . . “He was a great man and he worked his whole life to supply his four children with everything he and mom possibly could,” Darby told Megan Turcato of Global News. “(He was) just a wonderful guy that we are all going to miss greatly, for sure.” . . . Having lost her father, Darby wants people to know that this pandemic is real. “Before you lose someone to this . . . wash your hands, throw on a mask,” she said. . . . Turcato’s story is right here, and there is a great photo at the bottom of it that shows Stan moments after scoring a goal against Guelph during the 1950-51 OHA season.

One of the great moments in NHL history occurred 18 years ago — on Jan. 20, 2003. That was the night when Craig MacTavish, then the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, reached up and . . . well, you should watch the video. . . . As a point of interest, the coach to MacTavish’s left, the gentleman wearing the headset, is Billy Moores, one of hockey’s truly good guys. Moores spent 17 seasons on staff with the U of Alberta Golden Bears, but left for one season (1985-86) to work as general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Regina Pats.

Beauty

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

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CBC News — The Dutch government has proposed the first countrywide curfew since the Second World War and a ban on flights from South Africa and the U.K.

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg — Manitoba is reporting 154 new cases of COVID-19, and 6 new deaths Wednesday. . . . Totals — Cases: 27,893 . . . Active: 3,137 . . . Deaths: 788 . . . Hospitalized (infectious/total): 129/273 . . . ICU: 25/36 . . . Winnipeg test positivity rate: 6.7% . . . Provincial test positivity rate: 9.5%.

CBC News — Saskatchewan is reporting 234 new cases of COVID-19 and  4 additional deaths. . . . Superspreader event at Saskatoon karaoke bar now linked to over 80 COVID-19 cases. Crackers Restaurant was closed after an outbreak linked to the establishment was declared Jan. 10.

CBC News — Alberta reported 21 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday and 669 new cases of the illness. Laboratories conducted about 14,900 tests over the past 24 hours putting the positivity rate at about 4.5 per cent.

Richard Zussman, Global BC — There are 500 new cases of COVID-19 in BC, for a total of 62,412 cases in British Columbia. There have been 14 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,104 deaths. There are 4,345 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. There are 320 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 66 of whom are in intensive care.

Daily Hive Vancouver — British Columbians petition government to close provincial border. . . . The petition asks Premier John Horgan to ban recreational travel into the province for one month to curb COVID-19 transmission at a time when officials believe new variants could be circulating in the community. . . . It has more than 5,000 signatures so far, and many of the supporters say they’re tired of seeing people from places like Ontario come to BC for vacation at a time when locals are adhering to public health restrictions.

CBC News — Ontario reports another 2,655 cases of COVID-19 and 89 deaths. 54,307 tests completed, 4.9% positivity rate.

CBC News — Quebec is reporting 1,502 new COVID-19 cases and 66 more deaths.

CBC News — The British diplomat whose kidnapping in 1970 by radical Quebec separatists triggered the October Crisis has died. James Richard Cross was 99. His death, from COVID-19 on Jan. 6, was confirmed Wednesday by his son-in-law, John Stringer. Cross spent 59 days in captivity after armed members of the Front de libération du Québec barged into his Montreal home on Oct. 5, 1970.

CBC news — New Brunswick Public Health reports 21 new COVID-19 cases, with new cases in five of the province’s seven zones, and declares an outbreak at a special care home in Edmundston.

CNN, Wednesday, 2:56 p.m. PT — 405,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

CNN, Wednesday, 7:27 p.m. PT — 406,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

CNN, Wednesday, 8:02 p.m. PT — The United States reported at least 4,229 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, the second highest number of new deaths in a single day since the pandemic began.

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The NHL has postponed the Carolina Hurricanes’ games through Saturday as the team deals with COVID-19 and protocols. The Hurricanes, who beat host Nashville, 4-2, on Monday, were to have played the Predators again on Tuesday but that game was postponed. Now two games against the visiting Florida Panthers that had been scheduled for Thursday and Saturday have been scratched and Carolina’s training facility has been closed. The Hurricanes next are scheduled play on Tuesday and Thursday nights when they are to entertain the Tampa Bay Lightning. . . .

Later Wednesday, the NHL added four players from the Washington Capitals, including F Alex Ovechkin, to the COVID-19 list and fined the team $100,000 for violating protocols. F Evgeny Kuznetsov, D Dmitry Orlov and G Ilya Samsonov also went on the list. The Capitals were fined for “social interactions among team members who were in close contact and who were not wearing face coverings.” . . . The players reportedly gathered in a hotel room during a recent road trip and that isn’t allowed under the NHL’s protocols. According to those protocols, each player is “required to stay in a single occupancy room, and no individual shall permit guests or other personnel in their room.” . . . Washington is next scheduled to play on Friday against the visiting Buffalo Sabres. As of Wednesday night it wasn’t clear if the four players would be able to play. . . . The Capitals share their playing facility with the NBA’s Washington Wizards, who were back at practice Wednesday after going through an outbreak that resulted in five postponements. . . .

The number of NBA postponements reached 16 on Wednesday when the league postponed that night’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and host Portland Trail Blazers. . . . The Grizzlies were involved in contact tracing and didn’t have eight healthy players for the game. . . . Fifteen of the postponements have come since Jan. 10. . . . Whoops! Make that 17 total postponements. Late Wednesday night word came that Friday’s game between the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks has been scrubbed. The Wizards, who had six straight games postponed, have six players out because of protocols.

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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.

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Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Tears