Tag: Gord McIntyre

Robison prepping for final season as WHL commissioner . . . Giants’ owner twice on Titan submersible . . . Hershey kisses Calder Cup in Game 7 OT

The WHL announced Wednesday that Ron Robison, its long-serving commissioner and CEO, will be leaving his position following the 2023-24 season.

The announcement was made via press release following the completion of the WHLleague’s annual general meeting in Calgary. It came five days after the WHL announced that the Winnipeg Ice had been sold and have moved to Wenatchee, Wash. That move came after the Ice’s owners reneged on a promise to build a new arena that would meet WHL standards. Instead, the Ice spent four seasons playing out of the 1,600-seat Wayne Fleming Arena on the campus of the U of Manitoba.

Robison, who was born in 1955, is entering the final season of a three-year contract extension that was announced on June 18, 2021. He is preparing for his 24th season as the WHL commissioner and CEO. The late Ed Chynoweth, who is considered the godfather of the WHL, spent 21 seasons (1973-79, 1980-95) running the league.

Meanwhile, the WHL also announced that it will release its exhibition schedule and the home-opening date and opponent for each team on Monday, and the regular-season scheduled on Tuesday.

As was reported here on Friday night, the Swift Current Broncos will play in the six-team Central Division for the 2023-24 season and then return to the East Division. The Broncos moved to the Central Division when the Kootenay Ice moved to Winnipeg and were positioned in the East Division.

In its news release, the WHL also stated that “attendance levels have returned to pre-COVID levels.”

According to figures compiled by the WHL based on announced attendances, the average for the 2022-23 regular season was 3,895, “up 22 per cent from the average of 3,205 in 2021-22.”

That is a healthy increase but, as Dylan Bumbarger points out in the above tweet, it is still below the pre-pandemic numbers. In 2018-19, the last completed season before the pandemic, the WHL’s average attendance was 4,361. The average in 2019-20, the season that was halted in March by the pandemic, was 4,154.

It is interesting that in 2022-23 the two teams atop the attendance table, the Edmonton Oil Kings (6,501) and Spokane Chiefs (5,842), had two of the poorest regular-season records and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. It’s also interesting that 11 of the 22 teams finished above the average attendance figure, meaning, of course, that 11 finished below it.

The WHL also said the playoff attendance was “up 37 per cent” at 4,689 for 75 games, compared to 3,575 for 72 games a year earlier. (As an aside, the WHL’s website shows the latter figures as 3,935 and 79.)

You are free to wonder just how much of an impact F Connor Bedard of the Regina Pats had on the WHL’s regular-season and playoff attendance figures. While Bedard put up big numbers on the ice and deservedly cleaned up when the awards were handed out, I would suggest that the number of butts he put in the seats after he returned from his amazing performance at the World Junior Championship in Halifax was the biggest story in the WHL in 2022-23. It was nothing short of amazing and I would hope that he was at least toasted during the AGM.

The WHL’s AGM news release is right here.

You no doubt are aware of the submersible — the Titan — with five people aboard that has gone missing while on a voyage to see the wreck of the Titanic, which is in something like 12,500 feet of water about 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. . . . But did you know that Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, has made two trips on the Titan? . . . Gord McIntyre of Postmedia reported that Toigo spent almost 40 hours on the Titan. “On Toigo’s first voyage, in 2021,” McIntyre wrote, “mechanical problems resulted in the sub settling on the ocean floor for four or five hours before it was able to rise to the surface again, with no view of the famous White Star liner. The whole trip took 20 hours.” . . . Toigo told McIntyre: “I really had a great time on that boat trip, even though we got stuck at the bottom.” . . . Last summer, Toigo was back for more and this time he was able to view the Titanic. . . . McIntyre’s story is right here.

The Hershey Bears overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the host Coachella Valley HersheyFirebirds, 3-2 in OT, in Game 7 of the AHL’s championship final for the Calder Cup. . . . The Bears became the first team to win on the road in this season’s final. . . . F Mike Vecchione’s fifth goal of the playoffs won the game at 16:19 of the first OT period. . . . Former Regina Pats D Ryker Evans had a goal and an assist as the Firebirds took a 2-0 lead with goals at 4:41 of the first period and 0:24 of the second. . . . The Bears tied it on second-period goals from F Connor McMichael, at 13:42, and F Hendrix Lapierre, at 17:09. . . . Evans put up two goals and eight assists in the final series. . . . The Firebirds, who were in their first AHL season, sold out each of their last five home playoff games. . . . The Firebirds are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken; the Bears are hooked up with the Washington Capitals. . . . Hershey, the AHL’s oldest franchise, won its 12th championship. . . . The Bears’ Game 7 lineup included former WHLers Lucas Johansen, Vince Iorio, Beck Malenstyn, Garrett Pilon, Riley Sutter, Aliaksei Protas and team captain Dylan McIlrath. Head coach Todd Nelson and assistant Patrick Wellar also are former WHLers.

RedOnions

Two companies operating in Ontario’s internet gaming market have been fined a total of $30,000 by the Registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) for alleged infractions of AGCO’s standards. According to a news release from AGCO, “The operators are alleged to have offered numerous bets on Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League games during the 2022-23 season. In doing so, the operators are alleged to have violated Standards that expressly prohibit offering bets on minor league sports, including the Canadian Hockey League’s three major junior leagues.” . . . Both operators — BV Gaming Limited and Fitzdares Canada Limited — have the right of appeal. Each was fined $15,000. . . . Dave Phillips, AGCO’s chief operating officer, said in a news release: “As the regulator of Ontario’s sports betting industry, the AGCO is resolved to maintain the integrity of sports betting which, in turn, may serve to protect the integrity of sport. This includes a clear prohibition on offering bets in Ontario on minor league sports, including Canadian major junior hockey. We will continue to carefully monitor Ontario’s sports betting markets to ensure the public interest is protected.” . . . All of this causes one to wonder if there really needed to be board advertising from a gambling outfit during the Memorial Cup in Kamloops? And what of the fact that the CHL had a daily in-season item that was posted on social media and sponsored by a sportsbook?

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

The Edmonton Oil Kings have released three players — F Luke Robson, F Hayden Wheddon and D Braeden Wynne. Robson and Wynne are 2004-born; Wheddon is 2005-born. . . . In 2022-23, Robson had three goals and two assists in 60 games, Wynne had a goal and an assist in 52 games, and Wheddon had one assist in six games.

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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.

Eggs

Emotions of a kidney mother: ‘I go from being so sick of dialysis and ready for a better life to full-on terrified.’

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a parent to a youngster with kidney disease? Here’s an emotional posting from Lindsey Backmeyer of Kamloops, whose daughter, Ferris, 3, is in need of a transplant and continues to do daily peritoneal dialysis at home:

“So it’s pretty official and looking like Ferris will be listed on a deceased donor list in early March!!

FerrisJan2020
Ferris Backmeyer, 3, is about to go on a deceased donor list in the hopes of finding a kidney match. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

“I can’t accurately put into words how that makes me feel but I’ll try. I go from being so sick of dialysis and ready for a better life to full-on terrified.

“Literally as soon as a month from now our whole world can get blown apart. Sounds dramatic but that’s how it’ll feel. I’ll have to hand my daughter’s life over to surgeons hoping they do some of their most amazing work. We will fear for her life. Full on fight or flight mode. I don’t know how anybody can feel ‘ready’ for that.”

Lindsey added that her husband, Pat, “should know by end of April whether or not he (can) donate through the paired exchange program. If he is approved we will likely temporarily come off the (deceased donor) list and do a round of that to see if a match can be made.

“A live donor really is what’s best for Ferris so we remain hopeful one can be found. As of our meeting on Friday there aren’t any living donors approved to donate to Ferris.

“Please share to help find my girl the kidney she so desperately needs!”

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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

If you’re a regular here, you are well aware of the travails of Zach Tremblay, 16, and his mother, Jana. They are stuck in what Jana calls “IHA limbo” as they wait until the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital gives the OK for him to begin hemo-dialysis treatments there. . . . They have been in Vancouver since Jan. 6 and it seems they may be there until at least the end of March. . . . Gord McIntyre of Postmedia has more on their story right here.

Dr. Anson Cheung, one of two heart surgeons at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, performed four heart transplants in a 60-hour stretch in the autumn of 2019. . . . “I even did open-heart surgeries during that time,” Dr. Cheung told Susan Lazaruk of Postmedia for a wonderful story that is right here. . . . One of the heart transplants involved Prem Sagar of Surrey, who underwent surgery on his 68th birthday.

Zach’s search for kidney continues . . . Coventry hoped his death will bring change to Yukon

Gord McIntyre of Postmedia chatted with Jana Tremblay the other day and the result — a story on Jana’s son Zach — was in Vancouver’s two daily papers on Friday. . . . The hunt is on for a kidney for Zach, 16, who spends 14 hours a day undergoing dialysis. The Tremblays live in Robson, B.C., just across the Columbia River from Castlegar. . . . McIntyre’s story is right here.

I first wrote about Zach in October. That piece is right here.

NOTE: Just as I posted this on Saturday morning, Jana Tremblay was putting a note on Facebook . . .

“Because life just likes to keep us on our toes, we are currently sitting in Trail Hospital, awaiting air transport to Vancouver. Zach has very high BP , and needs some TLC from his team.
And just to throw an extra kink into things , weather in Van has our flight on hold … that’s a switch 😜
Keep good thoughts for our boy.”

We’re thinking about you, Zach.

Terry Coventry lived in Whitehorse for 61 years; he died of kidney failure in Whitehorse on Friday at the age of 74. . . . Coventry died four weeks after a final dialysis treatment. . . . He had ended up at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver in July and spent four months there. With dialysis treatment unavailable in Whitehorse and not wanting to relocate to Vancouver, Coventry returned to the Yukon city to die.

On Dec. 10, Coventry called reporters to his bedside in Whitehorse General Hospital. “Maybe my death, and my complaint here, will trigger something in the government so the next guy coming along can be here and won’t be shipped down south,” Coventry told reporters. “I’m going to die. That’s it . . . I’m not afraid, I’m just kind of pissed off.”

Steve Silva of CBC News has more right here.

Gabrielle Pivonka of the Whitehorse Star was among the reporters at Coventry’s bedside on Dec. 10. Her story, which is right here, helps to explain why hemo-dialysis isn’t available in Whitehorse.

Those involved with The Kidney Project feel that they are moving ever closer to eliminating the need for dialysis. . . . The team reported in November that U of California — San Francisco “scientists have successfully implanted a prototype kidney bioreactor containing functional human kidney cells into pigs without significant safety concerns. The device, which is about the size of a deck of cards, did not trigger an immune reaction or cause blood clots in the animals, an important milestone on the road to future human trials.” . . . Team member Shuvo Roy, PhD, said in a news release: “This is the first demonstration that kidney cells can be implanted successfully in a large animal without immunosuppression and remain healthy enough to perform their function. This is a key milestone for us. . . . Based on these results, we can now focus on scaling up the bioreactor and combining it with the blood filtration component of the artificial kidney.” . . . The complete news release is right here.