F Travis Ewanyk (Edmonton, 2008-13) signed a one-year contract with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL) after a successful tryout. Last season, he had 13 goals and 16 assists in 60 games with the Wichita Thunder (ECHL). Ewanyk holds dual German-Canadian citizenship. . . .
F Konstantin Panov (Kamloops, 1998-2001) signed a one-year contract with SC CsĂkszereda Miercurea-Ciuc (Romania, Erste Liga). Last season, he had two goals and one assist in 43 games with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia, KHL). He was the team captain. . . .
F TomĂĄĆĄ SlovĂĄk (Kelowna, 2001-03) signed a one-year contract with DVTK JegesmedvĂ©k Miskolc (Hungary, Slovakia Extraliga). Last season, with PirĂĄti Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had three goals and eight assists in 48 games. . . . JegesmedvĂ©kâ head coach is Glen Hanlon (Brandon, 1974-77; assistant coach Vancouver 2011-13; GM Vancouver 2016-18). . . . SlovĂĄk, in the JegesmedvĂ©k news release: âIâve been working with Glen Hanlon earlier on the Slovakian team, knowing each other, knowing what to expect.â Hanlon was the head coach of the Slovakian national team when SlovĂĄk played for the team in 2009-10.
The OHL issued a news release on Wednesday, passing along information from the board of governorsâ annual meeting.
For starters, the league is instituting a rule that will limit the trading of draft choices in 
what it calls the OHL Priority Selection. Whereas this used to be wide open, the OHL wants to get to where teams are able to trade draft picks a maximum of four years away.
Starting on Sept. 1, according to the news release, âteams will be allowed to trade draft choices a maximum of six years into the future, transitioning to five years prior to the commencement of the 2020 OHL Priority Selection and four years prior to the 2021 OHL Priority Selection. At the conclusion of the phase-in period, league policy will stipulate that OHL teams may only trade a draft choice four years into the future.â
The OHL news release is right here.
The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired D Payton McIsaac from the Kootenay Ice for a 
ninth-round selection in the WHLâs 2019 bantam draft. . . . McIsaac, who will turn 18 on Dec. 26, is from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. He was a second-round pick by the Saskatoon Blades in the 2015 bantam draft. . . . He had one assist in 10 games with the Blades in 2015-16, then was pointless in one game with Saskatoon in each of the past two seasons. . . . Itâs believed that the Blades dropped McIsaac from their list sometime after Christmas and the Ice added him. . . . On July 13, his Canadian junior A rights were dealt by the AJHLâs Sherwood Park Crusaders to the SJHLâs Humboldt Broncos.
Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds signed F Matthew Rempe, who had been added to their protected list on May 11, 2017. From Calgary, Rempe, 16, spent last season with the Okanagan Hockey Academy Elite 15s, putting up six goals and seven assists in 35 games. . . . According to a news release from the Thunderbirds, Rempeâs âolder twin sisters, Steph and Alley, both play at Brown University in the NCAA.â As Seattle GM Bil La Forge said: âIt is exciting he chose us to develop as a hockey player and to take advantage of the WHL scholarship program.â
A flash from the past . . . Dan Weaver of the Spokane Spokesman-Review on the retirement of Kerry Toporowski:
The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Tyson Kozak, 15, who was a sixth-round selection in the WHLâs 2017 bantam draft. Kozan, who will turn 16 on Dec. 29, is from Souris, Man. Last season, he had 10 goals and 25 assists in 44 games with the midget AAA Southwest Cougars. . . . Kozak is expected to make his WHL debut this weekend at an exhibition tournament in Everett.
The Victoria Royals have signed D Carson Golder, who is from Terrace, B.C., and was added to the teamâs protected list in June. Golder, who will turn 16 on Oct. 29, played last season with the Pursuit of Excellence Elite 15s, putting up eight goals and nine assists in 34 games. He added one goal and two assists in eight games with POEâs midget prep team.
The Regina Pats have signed F Cale Sanders, 16, and D Steven Zonneveld, 17, both of 
whom were free-agent invitees to training camp, to WHL contracts. . . . Sanders, from Claresholm, Alta., played last season with the Calgary-based Edge School Elite 15s, putting up 19 goals and 29 assists in 36 games. . . . Zonneveld, from Calgary, had seven goals and 11 assists in 35 games with the midget AAA Calgary Flames. . . . Both players are with the Pats and could see action during an exhibition tournament in Regina this weekend.
The OHLâs Kitchener Rangers got to Game 7 of a conference final before being eliminated from last seasonâs playoffs. While they didnât win a championship, they won big at the bank, as they showed a profit of $432,080 for their 2018 fiscal year. It was the 23rd straight season that the franchise has shown a profit, but, as Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record writes, âthe club hasnât seen a profit this high since it made about $550K in 2011-12.â . . . Brownâs story is right here and itâs definitely worth a read, just to see where the profits are going.
Dorothy, my wife of 46 years, will celebrate the fifth anniversary of her kidney transplant by taking part in the 2018 Kamloops Kidney Walk. If you would like to support her with a donation â and she is closing in on $2,000 â you are able to do so right here.
The junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League have 
shaken things up a bit, what with Ed Patterson choosing not to return after five seasons as head coach. . . . All told, Patterson worked as the Stormâs head coach for seven seasons, as he also ran the bench from 2007-09. . . . Former Storm F Jassi Sangha is the new head coach, while majority owner Barry Dewar, who had been the general manager, has stepped back, allowing assistant GM Matt Kolle to take over as GM. . . . Sangha, 30, played two seasons (2006-08) for the Storm and also spent three seasons (2009-12) with the now-defunct Thompson Rivers U Wolfpack. . . . Andrew Fisher, who also played at TRU with Sangha, is the assistant coach, with another one yet to be named, while former WHL G Lucas Gore (Chilliwack Bruins, 2008-11) will handle the goaltenders. . . . Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week has the complete Storm story right here. . . . And if you’re like me, you’re wondering how it is that Patterson didn’t end up with a WHL job.
Murray Nystrom has signed on as the 10th head coach in the history of the U of Lethbridge Pronghorns program. . . . Nystrom was the head coach of the St. Catharines, Ont.,-based Brock Badgers for 18 years, going 191-227-18-39 and making the playoffs on 14 occasions. . . . Nystrom left the Brock program in July 2017. . . . In Lethbridge, he will take over from Spiros Anastas, who left the Pronghorns earlier this month to sign on as head coach of the ECHLâs South Carolina Stingrays.
TAKING NOTE 