Tag: Hayden Smith

Bedard almost fills Saddledome; Pats escape with shootout victory . . . Sydor, Ernst spark Blazers . . . Raiders enjoying B.C. tour

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BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard ran his point streak to 35 games on Wednesday night as his Regina Pats got past the Calgary Hitmen, 6-5 in a shootout. . . . He also scored the only goal of the shootout but, of course, goals scored in the circus don’t count in individual statistics. . . . Bedard was blanked in his first game of the season but has at least one point in each game since then. He leads the WHL in goals (44), assists (46) and points (90). . . . Bedard has a 21-point lead over F Zach Benson of the Winnipeg Ice, a five-goal edge on F Kai Uchacz of the Red Deer Rebels, and a two-assist lead on Regina D Stanislav Svozil. . . . Bedard also has scored 22 goals in an 11-game goal streak. . . . Since returning from the World Junior Championship, where he lit up the junior hockey world, Bedard has 20 points, including 13 goals, in seven games.

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The Travellin’ Bedards put 17,223 fans into the Saddledome in Calgary and entertained them with that 6-5 shootout victory over the Hitmen. . . . The game was televised nationally by TSN. . . . Hey, were you not entertained? . . . The Saddledome’s capacity is listed as 19,289, so despite what you may have seen on social media or heart on TV, the game wasn’t sold out. . . . The announced attendance was more than 2,000 fans away from the WHL’s single-game attendance record for an indoor game; there were 19,305 fans on hand as the Hitmen beat the Kootenay Ice, 6-1, on March 16, 2008, in the Saddledome. . . . The Travellin’ Berards had played in front of a single-game franchise record 7,287 fans in Red Deer on Tuesday night as they dropped a 6-5 OT decision to the Rebels. . . . Next up? They’ll meet the Hurricanes in Lethbridge on Friday night — the 5,900-seat Enmax Centre is expected to be sold out — and then entertain about 7,000 fans as they meet the Tigers in Medicine Hat on Sunday.

CandyCanes

WEDNESDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

The Regina Pats moved into sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-5 shootout victory over the Hitmen in Calgary. . . . The Pats (23-21-3) now are four points behind the Hitmen (23-17-7) and two ahead of the Swift Current Broncos (22-20-3). . . . The Pats and Hitmen combined for six third-period goals. . . . Calgary went into the period with a 3-1 lead, but the Pats tied in goals by D Tanner Brown (4), at 1:07, and F Alexander Suzdalev (26), at 7:37. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (16) got Calgary back into the lead, at 9:17, only to have F Braxton Whitehead (6) pulled Regina even, at 10:21. . . . Calgary went back in front on F London Hoilett’s 10th goal, at 12:00. . . . Whitehead’s seventh goal, at 19:26, forced extra time. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard won it with the only goal of the shootout. . . . Calgary has lost four in a row but has points in three of those games (0-1-3). . . . Todd Saelhof of Postmedia was at the game and his report is right here. . . .

F Dylan Sydor scored twice to help the host Kamloops Blazers to a 5-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Sydor, 19, has eight goals in 44 games this season. He is the son of former Blazers D Darryl Sydor, who is one of the Blazers’ four minority owners. . . . Kamloops got 45 stops from G Dylan Ernst, 25 of them in the third period. . . . F Logan Stankoven had a goal (26) and an assist as he ran his point streak to 30 games. Stankoven, with 67 points in 30 games, has at least a point in every game in which he has played this season. . . . Portland F Chaz Lucius, with 15 points in his first six games with the Winterhawks, was scratched with an undisclosed injury. . . . The announced attendance of 5,389 was the Blazers’ third-largest crowd this season. . . . Kamloops (28-10-6) has a 20-point lead atop the B.C. Division. . . . The Winterhawks (34-9-3) lead the Western Conference by one point over the Seattle Thunderbirds (34-8-2). . . .

The Lethbridge Hurricanes scored the game’s first three goals and went on to a 4-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Lethbridge ran its winning streak to four. . . . F Hayden Smith (10) and F Blake Swetlikoff (9) scored first-period goals and that was all Lethbridge would need as G Bryan Thomson stopped 35 shots. . . . The Hurricanes (27-16-5) closed to within four points of the third-place Warriors (30-16-3) in the Eastern Conference. . . .

The Tri-City Americans scored five times in eight PP opportunities as they beat the Swift Current Broncos, 6-1, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans scored four PP goals — three of them in the first period — to take a 4-0 lead early in the second period. . . . F Jake Sloan (17) and F Ethan Ernst (27) each scored twice. . . . Sloan also had an assist, while F Reese Belton had three helpers. . . . Tri-City G Tomas Suchanek, who now has won 11 straight decisions, stopped 30 shots. . . . The Americans (24-16-5) are comfortably in fourth in the Western Conference. . . . The Broncos (22-21-3) are eighth in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers (19-21-8). . . .

The Prince Albert Raiders continued their romp through the B.C. Division with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Giants in Langley, B.C. . . . The Raiders are 3-0-0 in B.C., including a 4-1 victory over the Prince George Cougars and a 6-3 triumph over the Victoria Royals. . . . The Raiders’ tour continues Friday night in Kamloops. . . . F Keaton Sorensen (17) snapped a 1-1 tie at 6:14 of the second period and D Landon Kosior (14) added insurance at 5:32 of the third period. . . . Prince Albert outshot the hosts, 43-24, including 18-3 in the second and 14-4 in the third. . . . The Raiders (19-25-3) are making a late push for a playoff spot; they are 11th in the Eastern Conference, six points out of a playoff spot. . . . The Giants (18-22-6) are tied for seventh with the Prince George Cougars (19-21-4) in the Western Conference. . . .

The host Winnipeg Ice erased a 2-0 second-period deficit with four goals, the first two 17 seconds apart, as they skated to a 5-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Winnipeg, which has won four straight, held a 48-29 edge in shots, including 39-18 through two periods. . . . F Zach Benson (27) and F Connor McClennon (26) scored two each for the winners. . . . Benson’s first, at 11:17 of the second period, tied the score, 2-2, and McClennon’s first game the Ice a 3-2 lead at 14:21. . . . Benson also had an assist, and now has 69 points in 42 games this season. . . . He finished last season with 63 points, including 25 goals, in 58 games. . . . The Ice (36-6-1) leads the Eastern Conference by three points over the Red Deer Rebels. . . . Saskatoon (30-12-4) is third, one point ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Saginaw Spirit was one of four OHL teams that officially have submitted bids in the hopes of playing host to OHLthe 2024 Memorial Cup tournament. . . . The Spirit, Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs, who play out of St. Catharines, and Soo Greyhounds all submitted bids by the deadline. . . . The Spirit, of course, plays out of the Michigan city of Saginaw. The Memorial Cup last was played in an American city in 1998 when the four-team tournament was held in Spokane and won by the Portland Winter Hawks. . . . The 2023 tournament is to be played in Kamloops.

Spackle

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.

Physical

Pats waste Bedard’s four-pointer . . . KIJHL coach waves white towel . . . Americans complete three-win weekend

BEDARD
CONNOR BEDARD

THE BEDARD REPORT — F Connor Bedard scored three times and added an assist on Sunday afternoon but it wasn’t enough as his Regina Pats dropped a 6-4 decision to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Bedard gave his guys a 2-0 lead in the first period and a 4-1 edge at 13:47 of the second period. But it all went for naught. . . . The 17-year-old leads the WHL in goals (42) and points (85). . . . Bedard and teammate Stanislav Svozil are tied for the lead in assists (43). . . . Bedard has 20 goals in a nine-game scoring streak; the WHL has a total of 40 20-goal scorers at this point. . . . This was Bedard’s fifth hat trick this season. . . . He is riding a 33-game point streak, having picked up at least one point in all but the first game he played in this season. . . . In 111 regular-season games, he has 213 points, including 105 goals. . . . In six games since returning from the World Junior Championship, Bedard has 21 points, including 15 goals. . . . The Pats now head into Alberta for four games in six days — Red Deer on Tuesday, Calgary on Wednesday, Lethbridge on Friday and Medicine Hat on Sunday. . . . The Pats and Hitmen drew 3,279 fans in Calgary on Oct. 2. This time they’re talking about perhaps 17,000.

Hockey fans in the state of Washington were out in full force on Saturday night . . .

Former NHLer Jan Ludvig now is the head coach of the junior B Kamloops kijhlStorm of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. He also will be soon to hear from Jeff Dubois, the KIJHL commissioner, if he hasn’t already.

That’s because Ludvig is on the other end of the stick in the below tweet, the one with the white flag on the end of it.

Ludvig was given a gross misconduct at 12:01 of the third period as his Storm was dropping a 4-2 decision to the Posse in Princeton.

The Storm next is scheduled to play Friday against the Grizzlies in Revelstoke with a return match the following night in Kamloops.

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D Zach Peitsch of the KIJHL’s Kelowna Chiefs is in Kelowna General Hospital after being injured during a Friday night game against the host Grand Forks Border Bruins. . . . Peitsch, a 17-year-old from Kelowna, was hit in the throat by an opponent’s stick, suffering damage to his windpipe. He was taken by ambulance to KGH where he underwent surgery. . . . On Saturday night, the Chiefs tweeted: “Zach’s surgery was successful, although the damage was worse than the doctors initially believed. He is awake and will remain in ICU for tonight at least.” . . . The Chiefs added: “On behalf of Zach and the Peitsch family, we thank everyone for their comments wishing him well.”

Demons

SUNDAY’S WHL HIGHLIGHTS:

The Medicine Hat Tigers overcame a 4-1 deficit and beat the Pats, 6-4, in front of a sellout crowd (6,499) in Regina. . . . What did John Paddock, the Pats’ general manager and head coach, think about the outcome? “I’ll call it stupidity,” he said, according to the Regina Leader-Post’s Rob Vanstone. . . . The victory lifted the Tigers (19-21-8) into an eighth-place tie with the Pats (22-21-2) in the Eastern Conference. That is the conference’s final playoff spot. They are one point behind the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Medicine Hat is 5-1-2 in its past eight games as it makes a run for a playoff spot. . . . Regina led 4-2 after the second period; it went into the game with a 19-0-0 record when leading after 40 minutes. . . . The Tigers scored the last five goals, four of them in the third period, with D Bogdans Hodass (9) getting two of them. . . . F Tomas Music (7) broke the 4-4 tie at 16:41 of the third period and F Brayden Boehm (18) added the empty-netter. . . . Regina D Stanislav Svozil had two assists. He has five goals and 43 assists in 33 games, after putting up 41 points, including 31 assists, in 59 games last season. . . . Vanstone’s game story is right here. . . .

G Dante Giannuzzi stoned the Spokane Chiefs on a 3-on-0 break in OT that allowed the Portland Winterhawks to scored a 4-3 victory on home ice. . . . Shortly after Giannuzzi’s save, F Marek Alscher (7) won it at 3:09 of extra time. . . . F Chaz Lucius had pulled Portland into a 3-3 tie at 19:43 of the third period. He also had an assist. . . . Lucius has at least two points in each of the six games he has played since joining Portland. All told, he has five goals and 10 assists. . . . The Chiefs held a 3-1 lead before D Ryan McCleary (11) got Portland to within one at 14:31 of the third. . . . F James Stefan added his 18th goal and two assists for the winners. . . . The Chiefs got 41 saves from Cooper Michaluk. . . . Portland (34-8-3) leads the Western Conference by three points over the Seattle Thunderbirds (33-8-2), who hold two games in hand. . . . The Chiefs (9-32-4) are 11 points from a playoff spot. . . . The Winterhawks were 3-0-0 in a three-game weekend, while the Chiefs were 0-2-1. . . .

F Owen Pederson scored at 2:42 of OT as the Winnipeg Ice beat the Hitmen, 5-4. . . . That was his 21st goal of the season. . . . The Hitmen had forced OT on late third-period PP goals from F Oliver Tulk (19), at 14:25, and F Sean Tschigerl (15), at 15:45. . . . Pederson and Tschigerl each scored twice. Tulk also had two assists. . . . The Ice (35-6-1) now leads the Eastern Conference by three point over the Red Deer Rebels (32-10-4). Winnipeg has four games in hand. . . . The Hitmen (23-17-6) are sixth in the conference. . . . Winnipeg went 2-1-0 in playing three games in fewer than 48 hours in Alberta. . . . Calgary also played three times in fewer than 48 hours, that last two at home. It finished 0-1-2 in those games. . . .

F Hayden Smith scored three times and added an assist as the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oil Kings, 10-2. . . . Smith, 18, went into the game with eight goals in 119 career regular-season games. This season, he has nine goals and four assists in 47 games. He has four goals and two assists in his past two games. . . . F Anton Astashevich (5) and F Jett Jones (17) each had a goal and two assists. . . . Lethbridge had a 51-24 edge in shots. . . . The Oil Kings took 72 of the 104 penalty minutes that were doled out. . . . The Hurricanes (26-16-5) are fifth in the Eastern Conference. . . . The Oil Kings (7-36-3), the WHL’s defending champions, won’t be in the playoffs this time around. . . .

The Tri-City Americans erased a 1-0 deficit with three straight goals and went on to beat the Silvertips, 3-2, in Everett. . . . F Jalen Luypen’s seventh goal, at 15:41 of the second period, proved to be the winner. . . . F Ethan Ernst got No. 25 for the Americans. . . . F Jackson Berezowski (30) scored his 112th career regular-season goal for Everett. That ties him with F Patrick Bajkov (2013-18) for the franchise record for most career goals. . . . Berezowski, who also had an assist, has 207 points in 251 games. . . . Bajkov, who is from Nanaimo, is playing professionally in Sweden. He put up 288 points in 342 games with Everett. . . . The Americans (23-16-5) went 3-0-0 on the weekend, beating Everett twice and Spokane once. G Tomas Suchanek went the distance in all three games. . . . Tri-City, fourth in the Western Conference, now is four points ahead of Everett (23-22-1). The Silvertips had a 1-2-0 weekend.

Idiots

Jack Todd, in the Montreal Gazette: “Not buying Novak Djokovic’s claim that his father was ambushed into a Down Under photo op by a bunch of pro-Putin Serbs. Everyone in Eastern Europe knows what the ‘Z’ T-shirts are about. Ditto the Wagner Group gear. Srdjan Djokovic knew what he was doing.”

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Todd, again: “So the dysfunctional Vancouver Canucks organization has followed the awkward mess of the Bruce Boudreau firing by hiring Rick ‘Toxic’ Tocchet, who pleaded guilty in New Jersey in 2007 to charges of promoting gambling and conspiring to promote gambling. What could possibly go wrong?”

Treadmill

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Planets

WHL asks players to opt out of lawsuit. . . . Yes, Matvichuk wants to keep coaching. . . . Blades sign three 2019 draft picks

MacBeth

D Nick Ross (Regina, Kamloops, Vancouver, 2004-09) has signed a one-year contract with Jegesmedvék Miskolc (Hungary, Slovakia Extraliga). This season, with Innsbruck (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), he had nine goals and 31 assists in 52 games. He was second on the team in assists. . . .

F Dalibor Bortňák (Kamloops, 2008-11) has signed a one-year contract with Košice (Slovakia, Extraliga). This season, with Nitra (Slovakia, Extraliga), he had 10 goals and 21 assists in 54 games. . . .

F Parker Bowles (Tri-City, 2011-16) has signed a one-year contract with Orli Znojmo (Czech Republic, Erste Bank Liga). This season, with Lillehammer (Norway, GET-Ligaen), he had 20 goals and 25 assists in 48 games. . . .

F Gilbert Brulé (Vancouver, 2002-06) has signed a two-year contract with Kunlun Red Star Beijing (China, KHL). This season, with Sibir Novosibirsk (Russia, KHL), he had seven goals and 15 assists in 30 games. . . .

D Clint Filbrandt (Tri-City, Kootenay, 2012-14) has signed a one-year contract with DEAC Debrecen (Hungary, Erste Liga). This season, with U of Lethbridge (USports, Canada West), he had two goals and five assists in 25 games. . . .

F Calder Brooks (Calgary, Prince Albert, Spokane, 2011-15) has signed a one-year contract with Lyon (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, with St. Mary’s U (USports, Atlantic University Sport), he had six goals and 15 assists in 29 games. He also had three goals and one assist in three games with the Wichita Thunder (ECHL). . . .

F Danis Zaripov (Swift Current, 1998-99) has signed a one-year contract extension with Ak Bars Kazan (Russia, KHL). This season, he had nine goals and 23 assists in 48 games. He was third on his team in points. . . .

F Milan Jurík (Prince Albert, 2006-07) has signed a one-year contract extension with Mulhouse (France, Ligue Magnus). An alternate captain, he had six goals and 17 assists in 42 games this season. . . .

F Brendan Shinnimin (Tri-City, 2007-12) has signed a two-year contract extension with Växjö Lakers (Sweden, SHL). This season, he had 17 goals and 16 assists in 47 games. He tied for the team lead in goals and points. . . .

F Marek Kalus (Spokane, Brandon, 2010-13) has signed a one-year contract with the Linz Black Wings (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, with Orli Znojmo (Czech Republic, Erste Bank Liga), he had 20 goals and 30 assists in 50 games. He led the team in goals and points.

ThisThat

Rick Westhead, TSN’s senior correspondent, reported Tuesday that the WHL “is asking current and former players to opt out of a class-action minimum-wage lawsuit against the league, suggesting that the future of amateur sports in Canada is at risk. The WHL shared its message in an e-bulletin that was sent Tuesday by email to a distribution list that includes current and former players. The group email was obtained by TSN.” . . . Westhead’s complete story is right here.

It began with a report in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette that had Richard Matvichuk, the former head coach of the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, as a candidate for the head-coaching position with the ECHL’s Komets.

Matvichuk wasn’t the favourite, reported Justin A. Cohn, but he was believed to be in the chase.

Then came a rumour that, no, Matvichuk didn’t want to coach, and that he would stay in Prince George and get involved with minor hockey.

Well, it turns out that Matvichuk, a 46-year-old native of Edmonton, isn’t through with coaching. At least, he hopes he isn’t.

As he told Taking Note: “Yes, I want to coach.”

And why shouldn’t he?

A defenceman, Matvichuk played three seasons (1989-92) with the Saskatoon Blades before going on to a professional career that included 796 regular-season NHL games and another 123 in the playoffs. His name is on the Stanley Cup (Dallas Stars, 1998-99).

His coaching career includes two seasons as assistant GM/assistant coach with the Texas-based Allen Americans, who then were in the CHL. He then spent two seasons (2014-16) as director of hockey operations and head coach of the ECHL’s Missouri Mavericks. He was the ECHL’s coach of the year in the second of those seasons.

Matvichuk brought that track record to the Cougars, and he guided them to first place in the B.C. Division with a franchise-record 45 victories in his first season. That marked the first time the franchise had won a WHL banner.

But the Cougars went all-in that season, then were upset in six games by the Portland Winterhawks in the first round of the playoffs.

The Cougars spent the past two seasons trying to get back on track, as often happens to teams that try to seize the moment by going all-in.

General manager Mark Lamb, who was nearing the end of his first season with the Cougars, fired Matvichuk with 16 games remaining this season. Matvichuk’s three-year contract was to have expired following the season.

At the time, the Cougars were 16-30-6 and on an 11-game losing skid. Lamb stepped in as head coach and the slump reached a franchise-record 17 games before it finally ended. The Cougars went 3-11-2 under Lamb to finish at 19-41-8 and out of the playoffs.

During the season, the Cougars’ ownership, having surveyed the damage, reached the conclusion that it would never again go all-in, that the price to be paid just isn’t worth it because, as they found out, there aren’t any guarantees.

It also has to be pointed out that the Cougars’ 2018-19 season, at least in terms of grabbing a playoff spot, was done in by perhaps the worst stretch of scheduling in WHL history.

The Cougars were 11-14-3 in December when they headed into an absolutely bizarre 11-game road trip that was broken up by the Christmas break and included three separate treks into the U.S. Division.

Here’s a bit of what I wrote in February:
“If you’re wondering why things went south in Prince George this season, it may have had something to do with the schedule. As bad as 16-30-6 may sound now, the Cougars were 11-14-3 as they began an insane 11-game road trip that was interrupted by the Christmas break and included three separate jaunts into the U.S. Division. They went 3-8-0 on that trip, came home and beat Kelowna twice, and are 0-8-3 since those victories.

“Team management has since gone on the record as saying it will never again accept such goofy scheduling.”

The Cougars split with the visiting Victoria Royals on Dec. 1 and 2, then didn’t play at home again until Jan. 11 and 12 when they swept Kelowna.

It’s no wonder that Matvichuk doesn’t feel that he is done with coaching.

The WHL will have three of its coaches working benches during the U-17 World Hockey Challenge in November. . . . Michael Dyck, the head coach of the Vancouver Giants, has been named by Hockey Canada as head coach of Team Canada White. . . . Ryan Marsh, the associate coach with the Saskatoon Blades, will be an assistant coach alongside Dyck. . . . Steve O’Rourke, an assistant coach with the Prince George Cougars, is to be an assistant coach on Team Canada Red. . . . The tournament is to be held in Medicine Hat and Swift Current, Nov. 2-9.

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The Saskatoon Blades have signed three 2019 bantam draft selections to WHL contracts. . . . F Brandon Lisowsky, from Coquitlam, B.C., was taken in the first round, ninth overall. He is the eighth of the 22 first-round selections to sign a WHL contract. This season, Lisowsky had 61 goals and 48 assists in 53 games with the Burnaby Winter Club’s bantam prep team. . . . F Hayden Smith, from Kamloops, was selected in the second round. He had 24 goals and 23 assists in 30 games with the Yale Hockey Academy’s bantam prep team. . . . G Ethan Chadwick, from Saskatoon, was a third-round pick. He had a 2.83 GAA and a .920 save percentage in 22 games with the bantam AA Saskatoon Stallions.

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The Regina Pats have signed D Layton Feist to a WHL contract. Feist, from Coldstream, B.C., was selected in the first round, 17th overall, of the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. This season, he had eight goals and 14 assists in 20 games with the OMAHA (Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association) North Zone Kings. . . . His older brother, Tyson, is a defenceman with the Pats.

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The Medicine Hat Tigers have signed F Brayden Boehm to a WHL contract.  He was a second-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft. . . . From Nanaimo, he had 16 goals and 24 in 30 games with the Delta Hockey Academy’s prep green team this season.

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The Swift Current Broncos have signed F Caleb Wyrostok to a WHL contract. From Medicine Hat, he was a ninth-round selection by the Broncos in the 2018 bantam draft. . . . Wyrostok, 16, played this season for the Northern Alberta X-Treme elite 15 team, putting up 20 goals and 15 assists in 30 games.

The MJHL’s Swan Valley Stampeders have signed Geoff Grimwood as their new general manager and head coach. Grimwood, from Victoria, spent 2018-19 as the GM and head coach of the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors. Prior to that, he was the GM and head coach of the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers for three seasons.

Bob Beatty, a veteran junior A coach, has signed on with the AJHL’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons as an associate coach. For the past two seasons, Beatty has been the head coach of the bantam prep team at the Shawnigan Lake, B.C., School. In Fort McMurray, Beatty will be working alongside Dave Dupas, who is preparing for his first season as general manager and head coach.

Pierre-Paul Lamoureux is the new head coach of the USHL’s Fargo Force. A native of Grand Forks, N.D., he played three seasons (2004-07) with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels and worked as their associate coach in 2016-17. Lamoureux was the Force’s associate head coach for the past two seasons. . . . Lamoureux, 31, will be the youngest head coach in the league. He takes over from Cary Eades, who stays on as general manager and president of hockey operations.

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