Tag: Hockey Gives Blood

Silvertips now have interim GM . . . Rockets lose assistant coach . . . QMJHL final all even after four games

Dennis Williams, the head coach of the Everett Silvertips, now is also the WHL Everettteam’s interim general manager. The Silvertips announced on May 21 that the contract of general manager Garry Davidson wouldn’t be renewed. Davidson had a highly successful nine-year run as the team’s general manager, but the team said that cutbacks have been necessitated by the pandemic. The WHL’s 2019-20 season was ended prematurely by the pandemic, and teams haven’t played in front of fans since then. There also haven’t been any playoff games, which are a healthy revenue stream for WHL teams. . . . Williams has spent four seasons as Everett’s head coach, twice being named the Western Division’s coach of the year. . . . Before joining the Silvertips, Williams spent three seasons as the general manager and head coach of the USHL’s Bloomington Thunder. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the NAHL’s Amarillo Bulls for four seasons. At the time, the Thunder and Bulls were owned by Consolidated Sports Holdings, which owns the Silvertips. Bill Yuill of Medicine Hat is CSH’s CEO. . . . In a weekend column by Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald, Zoran Rajcic, CSH’s chief operating officer and the Silvertips’ president and COO, made it clear that the decision not to bring back Davidson was made by “corporate.” . . . “It’s been a very difficult decision that corporate looked at,” Rajcic told Patterson.

Flay

Vernon Fiddler is leaving his position as an assistant coach after two seasons Rocketswith the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. He had signed on with the Rockets on July 3, 2019. In leaving the organization, Fiddler said he wants “to take more time to be with my family.” . . . Before joining the Rockets, he was helped out the coaching staffs with the NHL’s Dallas Stars and the AHL’s Texas Stars. . . . Fiddler is a former Rockets player (1997-2001) who went on to play 14 seasons in the NHL. . . . The Rockets have begun searching for a replacement to work alongside head coach Kris Mallette. Also on staff are goaltender coach Adam Brown and skill development/assistant coach Curtis Hamilton.

Katie Macleod was the Wheat Kings’ director of operations and ticket sales. Also leaving the franchise’s business operation is Rick Dillabough, who had been the director of sponsorship and business development. Dillabough, who had been with the Wheat Kings for more than 30 years, announced his retirement in May and worked his final day on Monday.

It was bright and early on Tuesday morning when a regular reader of this site sent me an email informing that “I did hear the former guy agrees with the Leafs that they didn’t lose their last game, either.” . . . On the subject of Monday night’s Game 7, Jack Todd, who often contributes to the Montreal Gazette, has his biting take on “The team Hockey Night forgot” right here.

In the QMJHL, the Val-d’Or Foreurs beat the Victoriaville Tigres, 4-1, on Tuesday night, evening the best-of-seven championship final, 2-2. . . . They’ll play Game 5 on Thursday. The entire series is being played in Quebec City. . . . On Tuesday night, the Foreurs fell behind 1-0 early in the first period, then scored three times in the second period, the last two of those goals coming at 18:19 and 19:05.

Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on Sunday. If you would like to be part of her team, you still have time to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.

——

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.

JUST NOTES: Bryan Collier is the Tri-City Americans’ new equipment manager. He has WHL experience, having helped out the Seattle Thunderbirds where his father, Brent, has been the assistant equipment manager since 1994. Bryan most recently was with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. . . . Derian Hatcher has stepped aside after five seasons as head coach of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. He and David Legwand, both former NHL players, are co-owners. Hatcher will remain as the team’s governor. . . . Dave Hnatiuk has signed a five-year contract as the general manager and head coach of the junior B Grand Forks Border Bruins of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. He spent three seasons (2016-19) as an assistant coach with the U of Regina Cougars before signing on as head coach of the Selkirk College Saints of the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League. Selkirk College, which is based in Castlegar, announced in March that it was discontinuing the hockey program. Hnatiuk takes over from John Clewlow, who signed a five-year extension in July 2019 but isn’t coming back. The Border Bruins are under new ownership, with Dr. Mark Szynkaruk and his wife, Tracey, have purchased the franchise from the local non-profit group that had owned it.

Jimmy

Bardsley leaving Blazers after three years . . . Dillabough makes retirement official . . . QMJHL final ready to go

Citing family reasons, Matt Bardsley announced his resignation as the Kamloops Blazers’ general manager on Tuesday morning.

Bardsley, who left the Portland Winterhawks to sign with the Blazers on June 1, Kamloops2018, said in a news release: “This was a very difficult decision for me and my wife, but one we needed to make for our young children. When we moved here in 2018, we planned on making this our home for many years. Unfortunately because of COVID-19, it has restricted our ability to see our family as they reside in the United States.”

Bardsley, 50, grew up in San Jose. He and his wife, Stacy, have two children — Brooke, 5, and Vince 2, who was born in Kamloops. There are grandparents in California and Oregon, who, as Bardsley explained to Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week, haven’t seen their grandchildren in more than a year. (Hastings’ story is right here.)

“We’re not sure when things are going to change,” Bardsley told Hastings, “but we just felt it was the right decision to make for our family, for the kids, and if we were going to make it, it was right for the organization to do it now, rather than wait until August or September to see where things are at and change then. . . . In the states, it’s a lot more mobile right now. If we are in Portland, Washington or California, we know we can still get to and from to see family, as opposed to waiting to see when things will be lifted.”

Before signing with Kamloops, Bardsley had spent almost 20 years with the Winterhawks, starting as an area scout in 1999. He took over as director of player personnel inn 2007 and was named assistant general manager in 2013.

With Bardsley in the GM’s office, the Blazers had a regular-season record of 87-54-12; he was the Western Conference’s executive of the year for 2019-20. The Blazers won B.C. Division titles each of the past two seasons but, of course, there weren’t any playoffs in the spring of 2020 and the recently completed 2020-21 season was only for developmental purposes.

So now the two WHL teams that finished on top of the U.S. Division and B.C. Division in the 2020-21 developmental season each is without a general manager.

Last week, the Everett Silvertips parted company with Garry Davidson after a nine-year relationship. The Silvertips said that not renewing Davidson’s contract was part of a restructuring process brought on by the pandemic’s impact on the past two seasons. Perhaps they are going to go outside hockey’s box and not have a general manager.

Bardsley told Kamloops media that he doesn’t have a job to go to, nor does he have any immediate plans. He had three years left on his contract with the Blazers, so another team would have to ask permission before being able to speak with him about employment.

According to Chad Klassen of CFJC-TV, Bardsley said that he’s “not sure what is next for me at this time.”

Klassen’s story is right here.

It’s hard to imagine the Brandon Wheat Kings without Rick Dillabough, the Brandonhardest worker in all of the WHL, not in their office. But he has made his retirement official, writing on LinkedIn that “after more than 30 years of wonderful memories and service to this great organization, I have decided to step down from my position of Director of Business Operations, Sales and Sponsorship with the Brandon Wheat Kings.”

He added: “I can’t describe how exciting it was to be a part of so many highlights over the years. Two WHL championships, three trips to the Memorial Cup and, of course, having the opportunity to be a member of the host committee that brought the Memorial Cup to Brandon and Manitoba for the first time ever.

“I want to especially thank Kelly McCrimmon for seeking me out in 1989 and inviting me to embark on what turned out to be an incredible journey through the WHL.

“Off the ice, some of my proudest days were having the chance to work with so many talented people. From the coaches, the players, the management and staff, I feel fortunate to have spent so many years with some of the brightest minds in the game. What made it more special is that you always felt that you were a member of a big family — one that worked, supported, cheered and celebrated one another.

“My wife and I will continue to call Brandon home and I look forward to seeing what life has in store.”

So . . . what’s ahead for Dillabough? Well, a source familiar with the situation told Taking Note that Dillabough “is looking forward to retirement and helping his neighbour with his horses.”

Hey, Rick, that sounds like a plan. Enjoy!

Bond

Meanwhile, on the COVID-19 front, the province of B.C. unveiled a four-stage re-opening plan on Tuesday. If all goes according to plan, indoor sports could be permitted to play before live crowds starting on Sept. 7. . . . In making the four-stage announcement, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, said: “Once we get to September, if the data still shows that we’re on the right track, we can have larger gatherings where we can have audiences.”

Of course, that is more than three months away and a lot can happen between now and then, as we have seen in recent times. But we still are allowed to hope that more and more people get fully vaccinated so that by then we are allowed to begin building what will be our new normal.

The Victoriaville Tigres beat the host Charlottetown Islanders, 2-0, on Tuesday night to advance to the QMJHL final where they will meet the Val-d’Or Foreurs. . . . Victoriaville won the last two games of the best-of-five series for a 3-2 victory. . . . The Foreurs are 9-0 in these playoffs; the Tigres are 9-2 with both losses coming in OT. . . . The Islanders had finished with the QMJHL’s best regular-season record (35-5-0). Geoffrey Brandow notes that this will be the “first time the No. 1 seed has not competed in the championship series since 2003.” . . . In the regular season, the Foreurs finished 29-3-4, second to the Islanders, while the Tigres wound up 16-9-1. . . . The best-of-seven final is scheduled to open Thursday in Val-d’Or.

Robot

Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on June 6. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.

——

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.

JUST NOTES: The QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs have signed head coach Steve Hartley, 35, to a five-year contract extension through 2025-26. He and general manager Philippe Boucher now have matching contracts in terms of length. Hartley, who has been with the Voltigeurs for five seasons, is the son of former NHL coach Bob Hartley, who is the head coach of the host Latvian team at the IIHF World championship in Riga. Bob also is head coach of Avangard Omsk, which won this season’s KHL championship. Steve was an assistant coach for two seasons in Drummondville before moving up for 2018-19. . . . The SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers have signed assistant coach/marketing director Cole McCaig to a two-year extension and also named him assistant general manager. McCaig, who played 123 games with the Bombers over three seasons (2011-14), has been on staff for three seasons. Jon Klassen, who had been the AGM, has moved over to become director of player personnel. . . . Mark Readman, who had been the associate general manager/associate coach with the Creston Thunder Cats, is the new head coach and assistant GM of the Princeton Posse. The junior B teams both play in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Mark McNaughton, the Posse’s previous head coach, remains as the general manager. . . . Ray Tremblay has signed on as the first general manager and head coach of the junior B Lake Cowichan Kraken of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. Tremblay, 35, was the head coach of the Danville, Ill., Dashers of the Federal Prospects Hockey League in 2019-20.

Jesus

OHL sets opening date, while WHL has some legitimate questions . . . Yankees, Phillies have COVID-19 issues . . . Hulak running back to Saskatoon

Parachute

When you’re trying to figure out who are the powerbrokers in the WHL, you have to know that Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, is among the select few.

He was been a WHL owner since 1991 when he purchased the Tri-City WHL2Americans. He sold that franchise in 2000 and has been the Giants’ majority owner since he paid $2 million for an expansion team and got it on the ice for the 2001-02 season.

The point being that if you’re a WHL fan, you should be paying attention when Toigo speaks, as he did last week in an interview with Postmedia’s Steve Ewen.

This particular Ewen story dealt primarily with Toigo’s reaction to having the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks move their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, into the Abbotsford Centre, which is 34 km east of the Langley Events Centre, the facility the Giants call home.

However, it sounded like Toigo had a lot more on his mind concerning the 2021-22 season than having an AHL team nearby.

“Are people going to be allowed to come to games?” Toigo said as he looked ahead a few months. “If they are, how many will you be allowed to have in the rink? And, if they are allowed to come, how many are going to want to? There are still a lot of question marks.”

If this is what’s on Toigo’s mind, you can bet that this is the kind of conversation that has been happening whenever the WHL’s board of governors — or even the executive committee that includes Toigo — have hooked up for a meeting.

In other words, WHL teams are well aware that they may not be able to open the doors and invite everyone in come October.

The best quote I have seen recently on what’s ahead for all of us came from Gerrit Cole, the New York Yankees’ ace right-hander.

“I don’t think this is going to be over for a few years,” he said one day last week. “I think we’re going to be dealing with this kind of thing for a while. Every time these things come up, we’re gonna have to adapt and learn as a species. So, well, we’re gonna take it one step at a time and do the best we can with it.”

I would suggest that is exactly what the WHL and its teams will be doing — one step at a time and doing the best they can under the circumstances.

BettyWhite

The OHL, which wasn’t able to get in any games in a 2020-21 season that it ohlultimately cancelled on April 20, announced on Thursday that its 2021-22 regular season will open on Oct. 7. . . . Training camps are to open on Sept. 4. The schedule, which hasn’t yet been revealed, will call for each team to play 68 games, with playoffs to begin on April 7 and run through May 30. . . . The OHL release has the Memorial Cup, which is to be held in a QMJHL city yet to be named, running from June 2-12.

Here’s hoping that the OHL is able to meet these dates, which would mean that the WHL would be able to start up about the same time. However, that fly on the wall in the OHL office actually was the virus in disguise. “Hmm,” it buzzed. “We’ll see . . .”

The New York Yankees have reported eight positive tests among players, coaches and support staff. That includes one player — SS Gleyber Torres, who went on the COVID-19 protocol list on Thursday. Torres, who had tested positive during the offseason, has been fully vaccinated, as have each of the other seven people who tested positive. They all were given the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. . . . All eight of them are asymptomatic. That includes pitching coach Matt Blake, third-base coach Phil Nevin, who had symptoms early on, first-base coach Reggie Willits and four members of the travelling staff. All are quarantining  in Tampa. . . . Yankees GM Brian Cashman said: “The one thing I take from this is that the vaccines are working. . . . It will save you and protect you from a lot more than what you think.” . . .

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed C J.T. Realmuto on the COVID-19 protocol list after her reported a stomach ache and fever on Wednesday night. He was tested for COVID-19 and was found to be negative. But he didn’t travel with the team to Florida on Thursday. . . .

Meanwhile, Bill Maher, the host of Real Time With Bill Maher, has tested positive, forcing cancellation of this week’s taping. Maher, who is fully vaccinated, tested positive during weekly staff testing. He was reported Thursday to be asymptomatic.

——

Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on June 6. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.

——

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.

JUST NOTES: Derek Hulak has returned to the U of Saskatchewan, where he spent four seasons (2010-14) as a player, to work as an assistant coach with the Huskies under head coach Mike Babcock. Hulak also spent four seasons (2006-10) in the WHL, the first 19 games with the Regina Pats and the remainder with the Saskatoon Blades. Hulak, a 31-year-old native of Saskatoon, announced his retirement after playing eight games this season with HC Thurgau of the Swiss League.

Octopi

Todd: No vaccine for what ails NHL . . . Bedard, Stankoven, Canada are big in Texas . . . WHL’s Americans opening sections for vaccinated fans

Donkey

When the NHL awoke on Thursday, it should have been awash in T.J. Oshie and Marc Andre Fleury, Anze Kopitar and David Backes.

Oshie, a forward with the Washington Capitals, scored three goals on nhl2Wednesday night. It was his first game back following the death of his father, Tim, at 52, from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Fleury and his Vegas Golden Knights won another game on Wednesday night. This one was Fleury’s 490 regular-season victory, moving him into third place on the career list.

Kopitar, the captain of the Los Angeles Kings, earned his 1,000th regular-season point on Wednesday night.

Yes, there was lots for the NHL to celebrate.

But, by Thursday morning, none of those things mattered unless you were related to one of those three players.

Instead, any NHL-centred conversation was all about the shenanigans that had taken place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. And then the NHL threw more gasoline on the conversation by announcing that it had fined the New York Rangers $250,000 for going public with its disgust over the league’s decision not to hit Washington F Tom Wilson with anything more than a $5,000 fine for his actions in a Monday night game.

And then, not long after announcing it had fined the Rangers, the league, as if to try and prove that this all really was part of a Saturday Night Live skit, announced it has cut a sponsorship deal with Clorox, which now is the “official cleaning and disinfecting product partner of the NHL.”

You just can’t make this stuff up. You just can’t.

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Jack Todd, a regular contributor to the Montreal Gazette, sat down at his keyboard on Thursday morning and wrote this piece right here that kind of explains the NHL in about 1,200 words.

As Todd wrote, “The NHL is a sick league and for this sickness, there is no vaccine in sight.”

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Team Canada won the gold medal at the IIHF U18 World championship in CanadaFrisco, Texas, on Thursday, beating Russia, 5-3, in the final. . . . Canada last won this tournament in 2013 in Sochi, Russia. . . . Sweden won the bronze medal, whipping Finland, 8-0, earlier in the day. . . . Canada got two goals F Shane Wright, its captain, F Brennan Othmann, F Logan Stankoven and F Connor Berard. . . . Stankoven, who plays for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, gave Canada a 4-2 lead at 16:39 of the second period and that goal stood as the winner. . . . Stankoven finished with four goals and four assists in seven games. . . . Russian F Matvei Michkov was named the tournament MVP. He scored his tournament-leading 12th goal in the final. He also led the tournament with 16 points. . . . F Shane Wright, Team Canada’s captain, and Bedard tied for second, with 14 points. Wright, who played five of his team’s seven games, had a team-high nine goals. . . . Bedard had a goal and an assist, to finish the tournament with seven goals and seven assists in seven games. He tied the tournament record for most points (14) by a 15-year-old and now shares it with F Connor McDavid, who did it in Sochi in 2013.

Teleport

The Tri-City Americans didn’t play on Thursday night, but they’ll will be in Americansaction at home tonight against the Seattle Thunderbirds, and they will have five sections open to fans who have been vaccinated. . . . Fans will have to show proof of vaccination. . . . From a news release: “There will not be refunds or exchanges if you cannot show proof of vaccination. A face-covering must be worn at all times except while actively eating or drinking. Children ages 2-15 may sit in the vaccinated section, but only with proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72-hours of the game.” . . . Meanwhile, there were two WHL games last night . . .

G Sebastian Cossa stopped 29 shots as the Edmonton Oil Kings beat the host TigersMedicine Hat Tigers, 3-0. . . . Edmonton finished its season at 20-2-1 with its second straight win, while the Tigers wound up at 14-8-1. . . . This was the final game of the schedule involving the five Alberta teams. . . . Cossa, who is eligible for the NHL’s 2021 draft, put up four shutouts in 19 appearances. Last season, as a freshman, he had four shutouts in 33 games. This season, he finished 17-1-1, 1.57, .941. . . . F Scott Atkinson, the Oil Kings’ captain who was playing his final WHL game, opened the scoring with his sixth goal at 10:26 of the first period. . . . F Logan Dowhaniuk (5) made it 2-0, on a PP, at 16:32 of the second. . . . F Kaid Oliver (11) got the empty-netter. . . . F Ethan Cap, also playing his final WHL game, drew two assists. . . . The Tigers got 25 stops from G Garin Bjorklund. . . .

In Kelowna, the Kamloops Blazers got two goals from each of F Orrin Centazzo Kamloopsand F Matthew Seminoff as they beat the Victoria Royals, 5-1. . . . The Blazers, who have won three in a row, now are 15-4-0. They went 6-0-0 against Victoria in this developmental season. . . . The Royals (2-15-2) have lost three straight (0-2-1). . . . Centazzo, who has five goals, opened the scoring at 4:00 of the first period and made it 2-0, on a PP, at 1:26 of the second. . . . Seminoff made it 3-0 at 6:01 and F Caedan Bankier (9) upped the lead to 4-0 at 7:22. . . . F Tarun Fizer (6) got Victoria’s goal 12 seconds into the third period. . . . Seminoff finished the scoring with his 10th goal at 12:12. . . . F Josh Pillar helped out with three assists. . . . G Dylan Garand stopped 28 shots for Kamloops. He is 13-3-0, 2.36, .915.

Media coverage of the WHL has taken a hit with the news that Greg Harder, the Regina Leader-Post’s man on the Pats beat for more than 20 years, has left sports. Harder, who absolutely owned the Pats/WHL beat in that city, now is the newspaper’s arts and features editor. . . . Rob Vanstone of The Leader-Post has more on Harder right here. . . . Vanstone’s piece doesn’t mention whether Harder will be replaced in the sports department, but recent history would indicate that won’t happen. The Leader-Post sports department that once was home to 10 or 12 writers and copy editors now is down to two.

Yes, today is May 7. And, yes, Green Shirt Day was on April 7. . . . But what’s to keep us from promoting organ donation on the seventh day of every month, saving the really big annual push for April 7? . . . If you have even had a glimmer of thought about registering for organ donation, do the research and ask some questions. . . . And if you have thought about being a living kidney donor, again, please do the research and ask the questions. Be sure to investigate the Living Kidney Donor Program. You will learn, for example, about how you are able to be a living donor without being a blood-type match for any one person in particular. Yes, you can look it up!

And, hey, happy Green Shirt Day for May.

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Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on June 6. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.

——

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.

Lie

Canucks getting hammered by virus; Brazilian variant discovered . . . Oil Kings d-man sets franchise record . . . AJHL shuts down a fourth team

By Friday afternoon, the Vancouver Canucks had seven players on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list and a taxi squad player identified as a close contact. There also was one unidentified coach who was confirmed nhl2as having tested positive.

A few hours later, it became apparent that things are going to get worse for a team that is headquartered in B.C., a province that is having serious issues with COVID-19. How bad is it? Well, we won’t really know until Tuesday because government and health officials don’t provide briefings or news releases on weekends, and this is the Easter weekend. The virus, however, doesn’t take weekends off and this is turning out to be a rough one for the Canucks.

Late Friday night, Darren Dreger of TSN tweeted that “as expected, additional positive cases have been determined with the Vancouver Canucks. It’s also believed a variant has been identified in some of the cases.”

TSN’s Farhan Lalji tweeted that “Brazilian P.1 variant likely in play here,” something that later was confirmed by Patrick Johnston of Postmedia.

Lalji also tweeted he was told “that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments.”

As Johnston wrote: “That variant has been growing in number in B.C. over the past month and was recently identified as a major driver of an outbreak that originated in Whistler. Some research has shown the P.1 variant is as much as 2.5 times more transmissible than earlier strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.”

There have been various reports that more positive tests among the Canucks are expected to be revealed on Saturday.

F Adam Gaudette went on the COVID-19 protocol list on Tuesday, with D Travis Hamonic joining him on Wednesday. Since then, D Alex Edler, G Braden Holtby, D Quinn Hughes, F Zack MacEwen and F Antoine Roussel all have gone on the list.

The NHL has postponed four Vancouver games, and it’s likely that there will be more. The Canucks are scheduled to next play on Thursday and April 10 in Calgary against the Flames.

If you stop off here regularly, or even on occasion, and if you like what you see here, or even if you don’t, feel free to click on the DONATE button over there on the right and help out the Taking Note coffee fund. Thank you in advance. . . . If you are one of the followers who gets my work via email, you are able to donate by going to greggdrinnan.com.

The WHL said Friday that it had eight positives from 897 tests that were administered from March 27 through Friday. . . . The Kelowna Rockets experienced seven of those positives — four players and three staff members — so all team activities have been shut down for 14 days.

The WHL also said that one of its on-ice officials, who hasn’t worked a game since March 20, tested positive on one test, but was negative on a second test.

The league added that it is “awaiting test results for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders and Regina Pats” and will provide an update when they become available.

Through Friday, the WHL has had nine positives from 4,991 tests.

Also on Friday, the WHL announced some schedule changes. You are able to find those changes on the WHL’s website.

Meanwhile, there were six games on Friday . . .

G Gage Alexander turned aside 31 shots to lead the Winnipeg Ice to a 3-0 victory over the Prince Albert WinnipegRaiders in Regina. . . . Alexander, 18, from Okotoks, Alta., earned his first career shutout in his 12th career appearance, five of them this season. . . . He is 3-2-0, 2.01, .926 this season. . . . The Ice (7-4-0) scored the game’s first two goals after Raiders F Dallyn Peekeekoot was tossed with a charging major. . . . F Cole Muir (4) scored at 2:51 of the second period and F Owen Pederson made it 2-0 just 35 seconds later. . . .  The Raiders are 3-6-2. . . . G Max Paddock stopped 15 shots for the Raiders in his first appearance since March 22. While Paddock was sidelined, the Raiders were down to one goaltender. That changed on Friday when they signed Max Hildebrand and had him on the bench in support of Paddock. That mean that Carter Serhyneko was given the night off. . . . Hildebrand, 16, is from Martensville, Sask. He was a 13th-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. His father, Steve, is the Saskatoon Blades’ associate general manager. . . .

G Boston Bilous stopped 29 shots as the Moose Jaw Warriors beat Saskatoon, 4-0, in Regina, handing the Blades (9-1-1) their first regulation loss of this season. . . . The Warriors (5-6-1) went into the game having lost six in a row; the Blades had won seven straight. . . . Bilous, who turned 20 on Feb. 2, has four career shutouts, one of them this season. He had been yanked from each of his previous two starts, stopping four of 10 shots in a total of 10 minutes of play. . . . D Cole Jordan (2) scored the game’s first goal at 16:31 of the first period. . . . The Warriors put it away with three third-period goals, with D Denton Mateychuk and D Lucas Brenton both scoring his first WHL goal. . . . The game was played in 2 hours 7 minutes, the quickest game this season. . . . After the game, Les Lazaruk, the Blades’ radio voice, wrote at cjwwradio.com: “To say that (Blades’) head coach Mitch Love wasn’t happy is severely understating the fact. His post-game media availability lasted for just three questions and 42 seconds in total.” . . .

F Simon Knak scored twice, including his third shorthanded goal of the season, to lead the host Portland PortlandAlternateWinterhawks to a 6-2 victory over the Tri-City Americans. . . . The Winterhawks lead the WHL with five shorthanded goals. . . . Portland (4-1-2) scored the game’s last five goals. . . . Knak has seven goals this seaosn. . . . F Seth Jarvis (3) had a goal and two assists for Portland. . . . F Sasha Mutala (3) scored twice for the Americans (2-4-0). His second goal, 19 seconds into the second period, gave Tri-City a 2-1 lead. . . . F Jaydon Dureau (1) tied it on a PP at 15:22 of the second and Knak gave Portland the lead at 16:28, also on a PP. . . . D Nick Cicek also had a goal and two assists for Portland. . . .

The Everett Silvertips scored two third-period goals to skate away with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds. . . . F Payton Mount (2) gave the Thunderbirds (4-3-0) a 1-0 lead on a PP at 6:27 of the first period. . . . Everett D Gianni Fairbrother (1) tied it on a PP at 8:11 of the second period and F Jacob Wright (3) broke the tie 49 seconds into the third. . . . F Cole Fonstad (4), who also had two assists, got the empty-netter. . . . Everett improved to 6-1-0. . . .

F Lucas Svejkovsky scored the game’s last two goals to help the host Medicine Hat Tigers to a 4-1 victory Tigersover the Calgary Hitmen. . . . Goals from F Ryan Chyzowski (6) and F Corson Hopwo (8) gave the Tigers (8-3-0) a 2-0 lead after one period. . . . F Josh Prokop (5) got Calgary to within one at 14:23 of the second. . . . Svejkovsky, who has eight goals, put it away with a pair of third-period PP scores. . . . The Hitmen are 5-6-1. . . . D Carlin Dezainde made his WHL debut with the Tigers. He is a grandson of Brian Carlin, who played one season (1970-71) with the Tigers. Carlin also played three seasons (1967-70) with the Calgary Centennials. . . . According to Bob Ridley, the veteran play-by-play voice of the Tigers, Medicine Hat has added a familiar name to its coaching staff. Ridley tweeted on Friday that “alumni Derek Dorsett has joined the Tigers’ coaching staff.” Dorsett, 34, played three seasons (2004-07) with the Tigers before going on to a pro career that included 515 NHL games. A neck injury forced him into retirement. He last played in 2017-18 with the Vancouver Canucks. . . .

The Edmonton Oil Kings scored the game’s last nine goals and beat the host Red Deer Rebels, 9-2. . . . The EdmontonOil Kings’ night included four goals in 82 seconds in the third period and a power-play that was 4-for-5. . . . The Oil Kings (10-1-0) have beaten the Rebels four times in this shortened season. Go back to last season and Edmonton has beaten Red Deer 15 straight times. . . . The Rebels now are 2-7-2. . . . Edmonton got a single-game franchise-record six points, including four assists, from D Logan Dowhaniuk, and a goal and three helpers from D Matthew Robertson. . . . Dowhaniuk now holds the franchise record for most points by a defenceman in one game. . . . F Josh Williams, F Jalen Luypen, F Carter Souch and F Jake Neighbours each had a goal and two assists. . . . The online game sheet shows Dowhaniuk with five points. However, Andrew Peard, the Oil Kings’ play-by-play voice, said an assist will be added to Dowhaniuk on Neighbours’ goal. . . . Dowhaniuk, an 18-year-old from Sherwood Park, Alta., has a goal and nine assists in 11 games. He had six points, including five assists, in 33 games his freshman season (2018-19), then put up two goals and 10 assists in 62 games in 2019-20. . . . Edmonton was without F Scott Atkinson, its captain, with an undisclosed injury. . . . The Rebels played a lot of the game with five defenceman after Blake Gustafson left with an undisclosed injury. Red Deer already was without D Chase Leslie and D Kyle Masters, both of whom are listed as week-to-week with undisclosed injuries.

The AJHL now has four teams locked down, with the Okotoks Oilers the latest to experience a positive test. ajhlThe AJHL revealed on Friday that “as the result of a positive COVID-19 test by a member” of the Oilers, team activities had been suspended for at least 14 days. . . . That resulted in the Oilers’ games of April 2, 4 and 6 being cancelled. . . . The Oilers, who last played on Sunday when they edged the visiting Brooks Bandits, 2-1, joined the Drayton Valley Thunder, Grande Prairie Storm and Whitecourt Wolverines, who also have been shutdown because of positive tests. . . . The AJHL has yet to release a schedule of games after April 6.

The BCHL, which hadn’t played any games since Nov. 19, was back in action on Friday, with five games in bchlfive different communities. It was playing only exhibition games when things came to a halt in November. . . . Now it’s playing what it is calling a “pod season” with Friday’s games in Alberni Valley, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Penticton and Vernon. . . . On Thursday, the BCHL announced that there weren’t any positives from the first round of testing. All told, 439 players and staff were tested.

MLB announced on Friday that it had scrubbed the entire opening series between the New York Mets and Washington due to testing and contact tracing involving the Nationals. As of Friday afternoon, the Nationals had four players with positive tests, and five others and one staffer in quarantine after contact tracing. . . . The Mets and Nats were to have played in Washington on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. . . . The Mets will spend the weekend there, working out at Nationals Park, before leaving for Philadelphia on Sunday where they are scheduled to open against the Phillies on Monday. . . . The Nationals are scheduled to play host to the Atlanta Braves on Monday.

——

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.

Zoom

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while eagerly awaiting Opening Day (it arrives on Thursday) . . .

Scattershooting2

Let’s start with a gem from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “A Dodgers fan group is rubbing it in against the Red Sox by paying for a ‘Thank you for Mookie Betts’ billboard next to Fenway Park. ‘Now why didn’t we ever think of that?’ moaned the chairman of the Babe Ruth Preservation Society.”

——

Perry, again: “Ohio State safety Marcus Hooker was arrested on DUI charges after he passed out behind the wheel while waiting in a McDonald’s drive-thru line. Defense lawyers can’t decide whether to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or ‘I deserve a break today.’ ”

The visiting Calgary Hitmen got 41 stops from G Brayden Peters as they handed CalgaryEdmonton its first loss of the WHL’s developmental season, beating the Oil Kings, 2-1, on Sunday. While Calgary improved to 5-5-1, Edmonton now is 9-1-0. . . . The Oil Kings had beaten the Hitmen twice on the weekend — 4-3 in Edmonton on Friday and 5-2 in Calgary on Saturday. . . . F Sean Tschigerl (4) and F Riley Stotts (3) had Calgary ahead 2-0 before F Josh Williams (7) scored for Edmonton at 8:30 of the third period. . . . Calgary remains without D Tyson Galloway, who was injured on Friday, and D Luke Prokop, who was hurt on Saturday.

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco, in a column dedicated to pet peeves:

“The I’m-so-cool NBA arena walk-in, every player wearing headphones. Do you guys ever, like, talk among yourselves, like teammates? . . .

“At college football games in the South, how the head coach always has to have a mean-looking cop in a Mountie hat escort him on and off the field, like he’s the pope or something. Let the cops go do cop stuff. . . .

“TV college game announcers who remind us every four minutes what a ‘well-coached team’ this is. Announcers, many of them former coaches, are insufferable coach suck-ups. Please throw in an occasional ‘crappily coached team.’ ”

The Brandon Wheat Kings ran their winning streak to three games with a 5-2 Brandonvictory over the Swift Current Broncos in Regina. . . . The Wheat Kings now are 6-2-1. . . . The Broncos (2-6-1) opened the schedule with five straight losses, running their two-season skid to 23, then went 2-0-1 before this loss. . . . Swift Current led 2-0 with 13 minutes left in the second period, only to give up the game’s last five goals. . . . D Braden Schneider was back in Brandon’s lineup after sitting out two with an injury.

F Gage Concalves enjoyed his first career three-goal game and also added an assist as the host Everett Silvertips beat the Tri-City Americans, 6-1. . . . The Silvertips, who are 5-0-0 for the first time in franchise history, led 3-0 before the game was 14 minutes old and never looked back. . . . Goncalves has five goals. . . . D Ronan Seeley had a goal and three assists for Everett F Samuel Huo scored his fourth goal for the Americans (2-3-0). . . . G Braden Holt stopped 20 shots for the Silvertips, who have allowed two goals in their five games.

The visiting Portland Winterhawks scored the game’s last four goals and six of the last seven as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 7-4. . . . F Simon Knak (4) tied the game 4-4 tie at 13:50 of the second period and F Seth Jarvis (2) scored while shorthanded at 4:49 of the third to give Portland its first lead. . . . Jarvis finished plus-5. . . . The Winterhawks (3-1-2) have four shorthanded goals in their six games. . . . Seattle (3-2-0) got the game’s opening goal from F Connor Roulette (3) scored on a first-period penalty shot. . . . D Nick Cicek had three assists for Portland.

The QMJHL scrubbed a Sunday game between the Cape Breton Eagles and qmjhlnewCharlottetown Islanders because of COVID-19 protocol. According to the QMJHL, on Sunday morning “a few players from the Eagles experienced flu-liked symptoms and as a precaution, the QMJHL has cancelled the game. In the current context and as per QMJHL protocols, all Eagles’ players and staff will be tested for COVID-19 and put in preventive isolation prior to returning to regular team activities.”

F Oren Shtrom’s first WHL goal, at 4:11 of OT, gave the host Medicine Hat Tigers Tigersa 5-4 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The Tigers (7-3-0) had beaten the Hurricanes 3-0 at home on Friday and 6-3 in Lethbridge on Saturday. . . . Shtrom, a 16-year-old from Gilbert, Ariz., was a third-round pick in the 2019 bantam draft. He has a goal and four assists in nine games. . . . He is believed to be the first Oren to score for the Tigers since Oren Koules struck six times in 33 games in 1979-80. . . . F Ryan Chyzowski (5) had two goals and an assist for the Tigers, while D Cole Clayton had three assists. . . . F Justin Hall scored his eighth goal in 11 games for Lethbridge (3-6-2). He went into the season with 16 goals in 102 games.

F Tristen Nielsen scored three times and added two assists to spark the VancouverVancouver Giants’ 6-0 victory over the Kelowna Rockets in Kamloops. . . . The Giants were the home team, so this was their home-opener. . . . Nielsen scored once on the PP, once shorthanded and once at even strength, all in the first period. . . . F Justin Sourdif drew four assists. . . . G Trent Miner stopped 20 shots for his fifth career shutout. . . . D Mazden Leslie, the 10th overall pick in the 2020 bantam draft, scored twice in his first WHL game. . . . Nielsen turned 21 on Feb. 23; Leslie won’t turn 16 until April 15. . . . The Giants now are 1-1-0, as are the Rockets. Kelowna had blanked the visiting Victoria Royals, 6-0, on Saturday.

Time

F Peyton Krebs had a goal, his sixth, and two assists as the Winnipeg Ice got Winnipegpast the Moose Jaw Warriors, 4-1, in Regina. . . . No less an authority than Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post says that Krebs has been the “best player in the East Division hub.” . . . Krebs has 11 points over his past four games so Vanstone may be correct. . . . Vanstone also pointed out that while there have been 10 shutouts in the WHL this season, none of them have been in the Regina hub. . . . Krebs has six goals and 11 assists as the Ice, which had lost its previous two games, has opened 6-3-0. . . . The Warriors (4-5-0), who have lost four in a row, were without D Daemon Hunt (suspension) and F Ryder Korczak (undisclosed injury). . . . The game was played in 2 hours 3 minutes, the fastest game to date this season.

Tuna

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.

Dogs

Semples on verge of buying out partners in Pats; WHL governors poised to vote on deal . . . MJHL’s Freeze has new GM/coach

Ferris Backmeyer remained in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver on Wednesday, four days after a kidney transplant went awry. The four-year-old from Kamloops was extubated on Tuesday, and late, late that night her mother, Lindsey, wrote:

“At the moment she has an HD line on the right side of her neck, a central line on the left, a JP drain, an 8-inch wound on her abdomen, a femoral artline and a foot IV that has like 6 inches of plastic stopcocks with IV tubings running from it that get tangled in feet and really looks pretty uncomfortable.”

The HD line is for hemodialysis — she has been on 24 hours a day but hopefully will transition to once a day at some point today (Thursday). The JP drain is used to remove excess fluid after surgery.

This, folks, is a gritty four-year-old who has been through oh, so much.

But, hey, this girl’s got some spunk.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, Lindsey wrote: “She’s awake and asking for water and her soother and iPad! She hates that she doesn’t have an ‘outfit’ on. Unfortunately she has no idea it’s 12:30 a.m. She really wanted to sit up tonight and that’s just not a thing quite yet.”

There is a GoFundMe page that will benefit Ferris and her family right here.

Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post reported Wednesday night that the PatsWHL’s board of governors could vote today (Thursday) on a deal involving 50 per cent of the Regina Pats. . . . The sale involves four existing partners, with Gavin Semple and his son, Shaun, having tentatively agreed to buy out Todd Lumbard and Anthony Marquart. . . . As Harder reported, “Marquart is the founder and president of Queen City Sports and Entertainment Group, which purchased the Pats from the Parker family in the spring of 2014 for approximately $7.5 million.” . . . At the moment, the Semples own 50 per cent, with Lumbard, who is the team president, and Marquart holding the other 50 per cent. . . . Gavin and Shaun Semple own the Regina-based Brandt Group of Companies. . . . Harder’s complete story is right here.

You may recall that the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights were to have played the Colorado Eagles in Loveland, Colo., on Monday, only to have the game postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. It turns out that the Silver Knights experienced a false positive, so things are back to normal there.

Twain

The NBA had 465 players tested since March 3 and experienced only two positive tests, both of which came prior to the all-star break. . . . Head coach Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors, who missed two games prior to the break because of COVID-19 protocols, is expected to return to the bench tonight against the Atlanta Hawks in Orlando, Fla. However, the Raptors remain without five players — OG Anunoby, Malachi Flynn, Pat McCaw, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. . . . With the U.S.-Canada border closed to non-essential travel, the Raptors are playing their home games in Orlando.

Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds’ veteran first baseman who is from Toronto, has tested positive. Votto, 36, will be away from spring training for an indefinite period. He was 4-for-9 in four exhibition games.

Clarkson’s men’s hockey team had its season halted on Wednesday. Although the school didn’t offer an explanation in a two-sentence news release, the speculation is that COVID-19 protocols are to blame. . . . Clarkson was to have played in an ECAC semifinal, but the withdrawal means that Quinnipiac will get a bye into the final, with Colgate visiting St. Lawrence in the lone semifinal. . . . Meanwhile, in the WCHA, Denver is going into the playoffs in Grand Forks, N.D., with only 16 skaters because it left eight players at home in quarantine. . . . College Hockey News reports that Colorado College also will have a short roster after having left an “unspecified” number of players in quarantine. . . . CHN has more on the situation right here.

How are things going in B.C.? Glad you asked . . .

CBC News — B.C. records 531 new cases of COVID-19 and 1 more death. There are 244 people in hospital with the disease, 66 of whom are in intensive care.

CBC News — Alberta reports 399 new COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths. 47 new variant cases identified, for a total of 734 to date.

CBC News — 111 new COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, below the province’s 7-day average of 140. One additional death is also being reported.

CBC News — 77 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, highest daily total since February 27. Province’s 7-day average rises slightly to 61. 1 additional death is also being attributed to the virus.

Directions

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.

JUST NOTES: Harry Mahesh is the new general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s Winnipeg Freeze. He replaces Josh Green, who now is an assistant coach with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. Last season, Mahesh was an assistant coach with the MJHL’s Winkler Flyers. The Ice, Freeze and the MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues all are owned by 50 Below Sports + Entertainment.

Sneezy

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while remembering old friend Bob Turner . . .

Scattershooting2

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Two things about Super Bowl LV — 1. QB Tom Brady was solid for Tampa Bay, but it was the Buccaneers’ defence that was great, dominating an offensive line that was forced to play two backup tackles; Brady should at least share the MVP award with defensive co-ordinator Todd Bowles; 2. It’s amazing how many comedians come of the woodwork and do their thing on social media during major sporting events. What did they do before social media? Try out their lines on their dogs?

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Montreal Gazette headline — Former Montreal Expos draft pick wins Super Bowl, named MVP

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Allow me to remember an old friend by pointing out that Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl on the 16th anniversary of the death of Bob Turner, a former NHL defenceman, who was part of five consecutive Stanley Cup championships (1956-60) with the Montreal Canadiens. He also won a Memorial Cup, coaching the Regina Pats to the 1974 title in the Calgary Corral.

Chart

The junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League announced Saturday kijhlthat it has cancelled the remainder of its 2020-21 season. The league last had games played on Nov. 20. . . . The decision to cancel was made after B.C. provincial health officials said Friday that restrictions presently in force will remain in place at least through month’s end. . . . Here’s Jeff Dubois, the KIJHL commissioner, in a news release: “As we approach March and April, we are faced with the reality of arenas removing their ice for the spring and summer, and that leaves us unable to plan for a meaningful conclusion to our season.” . . . Also from the news release: “KIJHL clubs will have the option to continue to train under the current PHO guidelines, and the possibility remains that exhibition games may be played if restrictions are relaxed in the future.” . . . The Kamloops Storm and Kelowna Chiefs both have said they will go on training. . . . The KIJHL features 18 teams, with 17 of them in B.C. The Spokane Braves didn’t start the season because of the U.S.-Canada border being closed to non-essential travel. . . .
There are two other junior B leagues in B.C. — the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and the Pacific Junior Hockey League. Both remain on pause. The nine-team VIJHL hasn’t played since Nov. 20; the 13-team PJHL last played on Nov. 7.

Facebook

Headline at TheOnion.com: Charles Barkley blasts today’s fragile NBA players who can’t just play through COVID like he did.

By now you will have heard that some players, including LeBron James, aren’t at all pleased with the NBA’s plan to hold an all-star game in Atlanta on March 7. Here’s Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, explaining things: “A meaningless exhibition game during a pandemic. Gue$$ the league ha$ it$ rea$on$.”

On the subject of money, here’s a gem from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi’s four-year contract he agreed to in 2017 would have netted him $168.5 million a season if all incentives had been met. That pencils out to roughly $3.7 million per goal.”

So . . . you wake up every morning wondering: What’s wrong with the Vancouver Canucks? Well, they were mediocre last season and then let their starting goaltender, two good defencemen and a scoring forward go elsewhere. I also would suggest that the goaltender and one of those defencemen were two of the team leaders. Looks to me like they haven’t filled those holes in the roster to this point. But, yeah, let’s get rid of the coach.

Gift

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Two former WHL forwards — Dylan Cozens and Curtis Lazar — were added to the Buffalo Sabres’ COVID-19 protocol list on the weekend. The Sabres now have eight players on the list, and let’s not forget that head coach Ralph Krueger is in quarantine after testing positive. . . . The Sabres’ facility has been closed since Tuesday. They next are scheduled to play Thursday and Saturday against the visiting Washington Capitals. . . .

As of Sunday, the NHL had 46 players on the protocol list. . . . That included D Travis Sanheim of the Philadelphia Flyers, who is another WHL grad. . . . Sanheim practised with the Flyers on Saturday, but didn’t play in Sunday’s 7-4 victory over the host Washington Capitals. From an NHL news release on Sunday: “As a result of a Philadelphia Flyers player entering the league’s COVID protocol earlier today, a decision was made by the NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts to have all Flyers players, coaches and staff receive POC tests in advance of this afternoon’s game vs. the Washington Capitals. After all tests returned negative, the league’s, NHLPA’s and clubs’ medical groups determined that it was appropriate to play the game.” . . . The Flyers and Capital are scheduled to meet again Tuesday in Washington. . . .

Public Health Agency of Canada, Sunday, 4 p.m. PT — 804,260 total cases . . . 44,727 active cases . . . 20,767 deaths.

CNN, Sunday, 4:27 p.m. PT — 463,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

Meet my new friend Heather. She isn’t smiling because she had Tampa Bay in Sunday’s Super Bowl. No. She’s smiling because she had a kidney transplant in Edmonton on Wednesday, and she knows she’ll be on her way home early in the week. . . . Heather, who had been on dialysis since March, received a kidney from a good friend.

——

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.

 

Will WHL change bantam draft age? . . . Lowry thinks NBA headed for positive season . . . Sorry! More ugly COVID-19 numbers

Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, appeared on The Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260 in Edmonton on Wednesday night and, at one point, suggested that the annual bantam draft might be pushed back a year. . . . On Thursday, Gregor, writing at oilersnation.com, expanded on that story, and it’s all right here. . . . “The WHL has a wonderful opportunity to make the correct decision and permanently increase the draft age,” Gregor writes. “Doing it for only one year would be close-minded, stubborn and with the new NCAA rule changes completely unnecessary.”

The NBA’s regular season is set to begin on Tuesday night and, yes, things are going to be interesting. . . . Just in case you’re wondering whether the NBA has normalized COVID-19, PG Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors said Thursday that it’s a given there will players testing positive during the season. During a Zoom call with reporters, Lowry said: ”It’s going to happen and we have to adjust, and when it happens, no one’s going to know how guys get it, or coaches get it, or whoever gets it. No-one’s going to understand how it happened . . . it’s going to be like, ‘Damn, OK.’ But the players, the team, the coaches, the league, will have to go on, make adjustments and figure it out as we go and it will be a different year. It’s going to be a tough year, but we got some of the best people in the world working with us, working for us.” . . .  With the teams in training camps and playing exhibition games, the NBA had only one player out of 549 test positive from Dec. 10-16.

Weed

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC News: Canada reported a total of 7,008 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, which is the highest single-day increase the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.

CBC News: Global cases of COVID-19 top 74M: Johns Hopkins University.

CBC News: Manitoba is reporting 221 new cases. That’s the lowest daily total since November 3. The province is also reporting 14 additional deaths.

CBC News: Saskatchewan adds 238 new cases, just above the province’s 7-day average of 231. There have been 7 additional deaths.  Nationally, there are 486,393 cases; 395,980 people have recovered while 76,548 cases are active. The death toll stands at 13,865. . . . Sask. reduces self-isolation period for people who test positive for COVID-19 to 10 days. All international travellers must still self-isolate for 14 days.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw: Over the last 24 hrs, we ID’d 1,270 new cases & completed about 17.5K new tests.  Our positivity rate stands at about 7.3%. 749 ppl are in hospital, incl 139 in ICU. AHS is taking steps to increase capacity & expand the number of acute care & ICU beds. . . . Sadly, 16 new deaths were reported in the last 24hrs. My thoughts are w/ those grieving their loss. Each death is a reminder it is vital to reduce spread quickly. In less than 10 months, more ABs have died from COVID-19 than from influenza in the last 10 yrs combined.

CBC News: Alberta reports record-breaking 30 COVID-19 deaths over past 24 hours. Total number of deaths since pandemic began reaches 790.

CBC News: B.C. reports 673 new COVID-19 infections, 21 more deaths and 587 recoveries, for a provincial total of 44,776 cases, 713 deaths and 32,963 recoveries.

CBC News: Ontario’s hospitals are calling for new 28-day lockdowns in all regions currently in the red tier of the province’s COVID-19 restriction framework. . . . Ontario reported a record-high 2,432 new cases on Thursday.

CBC News: 1,855 new COVID-19 cases in Quebec compared to the 7-day average of 1,817. Health authorities in the province are also attributing 22 additional deaths to the virus.

KOIN News: Gov. Brown extends Oregon state of emergency into March 2021.

NBC News: The U.S. reported 243,645 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, setting a single-day record.

Dr. Tom Frieden: The US reported more Covid deaths Wednesday than Japan has since the start of the pandemic.

CNN: 310,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

Los Angeles Times: Unions for teachers, nurses, grocery and hotel workers call for L.A. County shutdown in January.

ABC7 Eyewitness News: ICU capacity drops to 0% in Southern California as state reports 379 new COVID deaths, shattering daily record.

CBC News: French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said. He plans to continue to work while in isolation for seven days.

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Canada West, which has 17 member schools, has cancelled the 2020-21 swimming and track and field championships, while deferring a decision on its curling championships, which are scheduled for Edmonton in March. . . . The U of Calgary was to have played host to swimming, with the U of Manitoba handling track and field. . . .

The New York Giants will be without CB James Bradberry when they play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night. The Browns’ shutdown corner went on the reserve-COVID-19 list on Thursday. . . . The Giants also will be without Jason Garrett, their offensive co-ordinator, after he tested positive. That means that former Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens, who coaches the tight ends, will call the plays for the Giants on Sunday night. . . . The Las Vegas Raiders were without Greg Olson, their offensive co-ordinator, on Thursday night as they dropped a 30-27 OT decision to the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, he tested positive. . . .

The Baltimore Ravens placed three wide receivers — Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin and James Proche — on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. All three played in Monday’s victory over the Cleveland Browns. . . . The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have placed RB Ronald Jones on the reserve/COVID-19 list. . . . It isn’t known if any of the four tested positive or were identified as close contacts of someone who did. . . .

No. 12 Coastal Carolina won’t get a chance to improve to 12-0 on Saturday because the Chanticleers have run into COVID-19 problems. It was to have played No. 19 Louisiana (9-1) in the Sun Belt’s championship game. . . . The conference has declared the teams to be co-champions. . . . Also cancelled is Saturday’s scheduled game between the Michigan State Spartans and Maryland Terrapins, who had stopped all team activities. It is the second time in a month that a game between these two teams wasn’t played. Two other Big Ten games also have been cancelled — Michigan-Iowa and Indiana-Purdue.

Scott Van Pelt, who anchors ESPN’s nightly SportsCenter, revealed Thursday that he has tested positive. “Won’t be doing shows for a bit after a positive Covid-19 test,” he tweeted. “Thankfully, no fever & I feel fine. Just can’t smell or taste anything which was my clue to go get a test.”

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.

Poe

B.C. restrictions seem to put kibosh on junior game indefinitely . . . Saanich Predators: We all need to do our part for the long-term health of our community . . .

At some point in the near future, the WHL will announce that it isn’t going to be whlstarting its next season on Jan. 8, as it had hoped. It has to make that announcement soon because its previous plan would have meant players travelling on Dec. 26 to begin short training camps on Dec. 27.

But with the three Prairie provinces and B.C. turning into COVID-19 hot spots, with the governments in all four jurisdictions imposing restrictions to one degree or another and with the Christmas season closing in on us, now really isn’t the time to be looking at getting a new season started.

The OHL has said it plans on opening on Feb. 4, so I would guess that the WHL, whose pooh-bahs apparently met earlier this week, will choose to try and do the same.

Of course, the WHL will pretty much have to forget about the five U.S. Divisions teams if there is to be a new season, because the U.S.-Canada border isn’t going to open any time soon. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said earlier this week that the border will remain closed to non-essential travel until “the virus is significantly more under control everywhere around the world.”

In B.C., the hammer came down on hockey and a whole lot of other sports as Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, announced that most sports, whether being played indoors or outside, were being banned.

She explained, too, that it isn’t the games causing the problems.

“I’ve said this many, many times,” she said. “It’s the locker room, it’s the before, it’s the after, it’s the going for a coffee or a beer after a game that has been the most source of transmission.”

According to Dr. Henry, 10 to 15 per cent of all transmissions in her province can be tied to sports or fitness-related activities.

As Postmedia’s David Carrigg wrote: “This came a day after reporting that an oldtimers team from the Interior Health region had travelled to Alberta and come back infected. This led to dozens of cases among family and workmates and has caused an outbreak in at least one long-term care facility.”

It would seem that, at least in B.C., there won’t be any junior hockey games being played at any level for some time.

The latest order from the Provincial Health Officer suspends “all indoor and outdoor team sports for people 19 years of age and older.”

At the same time, “indoor and outdoor sport for people under 19 years of age can continue” but with restrictions. Games, tournaments and competitions for teams aren’t allowed, but group training may occur so long as participants are able to maintain a physical distance of three metres from one another.

The Ministry of Health also explained that “the intention of the restrictions is to minimize the number of people we interact with and to reduce travel in order to significantly reduce COVID-19 transmission.”

There doesn’t seem to have been any time element discussed in terms of these latest restrictions. I have been the word “indefinitely” used, and also saw that Dr. Henry apparently said they will be in place for weeks to come.

A tip of the Taking Note fedora to the Saanich Predators of the junior B saanichVancouver Island Junior Hockey League. Here’s part of a news release issued by owners Edward Geric and Norm Kelly on Thursday:

“The public health order impacts players over 19 years old, which is more than half of our team. Rather than looking for ways to request an exemption for continued practice for our whole team, we have instead decided that it’s best for all of our players, coaches and staff to stop play for now and get those who are currently living with billet families safely home for the holiday season.

“Though we are sad to lose this time during such an exciting season with our new name logo and colours, we feel strongly that it’s time to take a look at the big picture, listen carefully to Dr. Henry and not look for ways to continue playing right now. We all need to do our part for the long-term health of our community, and we know the Saanich Predators can be counted on to do just that.”

Bravo!

Popcorn

The San Francisco 49ers arrived in Glendale, Ariz., where they are likely to spend the remainder of the NFL season. For sure, they will play their next two ‘home’ games there after Santa Clara County, their normal home, banned contact sports.

Ann Killion, one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s terrific sports columnists, writes:

“But (Kyle) Shanahan, an NFL coach who is better than most at seeing the big picture, doesn’t deserve your wrath. It is the NFL that has put the 49ers in this situation, with its demented pursuit of the completion of a 16-game schedule. With its unwillingness to cancel games or pause the season. With its forcing of the Ravens and Steelers to play a game on a Wednesday afternoon, with several starters missing. With its demand that the Broncos take the field without a legitimate quarterback. With its solution to sending the 49ers to a state where virus cases are raging rather than just wait until this long-predicted spike subsides.”

That column is right here.

BTW, in that column, Dr. Jeff Smith, the county executive for Santa Clara County, told Killion this: “If leaders want to protect their teams and communities, they should not play anywhere until it is safe.”

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC News: Manitoba reports 12 more COVID-19 fatalities and 368 new cases. That’s lower than the province’s average for the previous 7-days of 397. Authorities say there are 357 people in hospital with the virus, a record high.

CBC News: Saskatchewan has 259 new COVID-19 cases, which is below the province’s 7-day average of 276. Saskatchewan health authorities are also reporting 1 additional death.

CBC News: Alberta once again shatters COVID-19 record with 1,854 new cases. Province has reported almost 10,000 new cases over the past six days.

Red Deer Advocate: Red Deer has 289 active cases of COVID-19.

CBC News: 12 more people die of COVID-19 in B.C. as 694 new cases confirmed. The number of patients in hospital dips slightly to 325, with 80 in critical condition. . . . Right now, 10,849 people are in isolation and being monitored by public health workers because of exposure to known cases of COVID-19. . . . To date, 35,422 cases of the disease have been confirmed and 481 people have died.

CBC News: 14 more COVID-19-linked deaths reported in Ontario. Critical Care Services Ontario says 203 COVID-19 patients are in ICU. Health officials have said that 150 is the threshold for when unrelated schedules and procedures may be cancelled.

Cynthia Mulligan, Citynews Toronto: Ontario COVID-19 data Thursday: 1,842 new cases; 7 day avg 1770 — highest ever, 1 wk ago at 1427, 2 wks ago at 1370; 14 deaths; Positivity 4.4%, 52,873 tests, Backlog 58,320; Hospitalizations up 10 to 666; ICU 195 – most since May; 122 new cases in schools w 15.6% of all schools showing cases.

CBC News: Quebec is reporting 30 additional deaths and 1,470 new COVID-19 cases. For comparison, the province’s average for the previous 7 days is 1,374.

CBC News: Quebec Premier François Legault has backtracked on his plan to allow gatherings over the Christmas holiday period after a rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

CBC News: Global COVID-19 cases top 65M, with over 1.5M deaths: Johns Hopkins University.

CBS Evening News: In just 24 hours, the U.S. has broken every record set since the pandemic began 10 months ago, with more new infections, hospitalizations and deaths in a single day than ever before.

——

As was expected, the No. 25 Liberty Flames (9-1) won’t be playing football at the No. 14 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (9-0) on Saturday, and the No. 8 BYU Cougars (9-0) will fill the void. ESPN Stats and Info reports that this will be “just the third regular-season or conference championship game between 9-0 or better teams since 2000.” . . . Liberty is in the middle of an outbreak that has included star QB Malik Willis testing positive.

——

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.

JUST NOTES: I met Jim Loria more than a few years ago when he was working in the Regina Pats’ front office. A couple of years later, he was working with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Before joining the Pats, he did a stint with the Billings Bighorns. Recently, we renewed our acquaintance for the first time in a long while. In these pandemic times, you might be interested in checking out his new website where you just might find some inspiration to help you get through these strange times. It’s all right here. Give it a look. . . . If you’re a fan of MLB, you should know that The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma is reporting that Len Kasper is leaving the Chicago Cubs’ TV booth — he has been there since 2005 — to do radio play-by-play of Chicago White Sox’ games. Who will replace Kasper? Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago reports that it will be veteran broadcaster Chris Myers.

Cat