Tag: Jason Gregor

That night when NW Bruins wouldn’t wear helmets; they won but they lost . . . SHA focusing on September . . . ECHL’s Beast stops snarling

A new post appeared at cougarshockeyproject.ca on Thursday, this one a recap of the Victoria Cougars’ 1972-73 season. . . . A few paragraphs into the post, I came across a piece of WHL history — it was the WCHL in those days — about which I don’t ever recall hearing:

“One of the seasons’ strangest events occurred on Dec. 14. Victoria came away with the victory in a game it actually lost. New Westminster defeated Victoria, 5-4, but the Bruins refused to wear their helmets. After the game, the WCHL awarded Victoria the points, ruling that New Westminster must forfeit the victory because they blatantly violated the league’s helmet mandate.”

So . . . I scurried to newspapers.com and took a look at the Victoria Times Colonist of Dec. 15, 1972. Here’s what I found on the Dec. 14 game that was played in New Westminster:

“Victoria Cougars lost the battle but won the war here Thursday night.

“New Westminster Bruins, erupting for four goals in the second period, edged the Cougars 5-4 but lost two Western Canada Hockey League points because they refused to wear helmets.

“Executive-secretary Tom Fisher of New Westminster announced the forfeiture after officially receiving the game report from referee Al Paradise.

“In addition to losing the points that would have provided the Bruins with undisputed possession of first place in the Western Division, the New Westminster club was fined $320.

“ ‘Our league is bound by Canadian Amateur Hockey Association rules,’ said Fisher, ‘and these rules make it mandatory for players to wear helmets.’

“Fisher fined 16 New Westminster players $20 each. The only ones to avoid fines were New Westminster’s two goaltenders and Denis Anderson, the only Bruin who wore a helmet.

“The Cougars did not lodge a protest. Fisher, who attended the game, took the default action on his own initiative.”

One day later, I found more on this story, with Ernie McLean, the Bruins’ owner-coach, saying that he would appeal Fisher’s ruling.

According to McLean, Fisher “doesn’t have the authority” to take away the points and the Bruins would be taking their case before the league’s governors.

On Dec. 17, the Bruins all wore their helmets as they beat the visiting Centennials, 3-2.

The Bruins also wore their helmets on Dec. 19 as they beat the host Cougars, 6-1.

On Dec. 21, Del Wilson of Regina, the league’s president, said there was “little chance” of the Bruins getting back the two points.

“I’ve talked it over with Fisher,” Wilson said, “and there can be no appeal. New Westminster broke the rules, and the points will remain with Victoria.”

And that was the end of that story, although there doesn’t seem to be any record of whether those Bruins players paid their fines.

In the end, the two points didn’t figure in the final standings as the Bruins (31-22-15) finished fourth in the Western Division, four points behind the Centennials (35-22-11).

Parrot

Kelly McClintock, the Saskatchewan Hockey Association’s general manager, told CBC News on Thursday that “it’s pretty safe to say that we’re not going to be having any hockey games.” . . . That was in reaction to the province extending public health restrictions until at least March 19. Under those restrictions, hockey games aren’t permitted, while players 18 and younger are allowed to practise in groups of eight while physically distancing and wearing masks. . . . According to CBC News, “McClintock said the association is now focusing on becoming as prepared as possible to start in September, if all goes well.” . . . McClintock said: “I’m hoping by September . . . there’s a lot more people vaccinated, there’s a lot less fear. I think and hope that we’re at levels where we can start our September season.” . . . The CBC story is right here.

The NHL’s Dallas Stars, who had their first four games of this season postponed after nhl2having a number of players test positive, now have had four more games scrubbed, all because of the weather conditions and power outages in Texas. . . . The Stars were to have played the Nashville Predators on Monday and Tuesday, and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and Saturday. The latter two games would have been a rematch of last season’s bubbled Stanley Cup final, which the Lightning won in six games. . . . Two of the four early-season games that were postponed also were to have featured the Lightning and Stars. . . . Dallas is scheduled to play five games in eight days starting on Monday, with two of those games in Tampa.

The ECHL’s Brampton, Ont., Beast announced on Thursday that the franchise has folded. In an open letter, Cary Kaplan, the Beast’s president and general manager, said the franchise had “become the latest of many victims of COVID-19.” . . . The Beast played seven seasons in the ECHL. . . . Spiros Anastas, a former U of Lethbridge Pronghorns head coach, was the Beast’s head coach.

Watch

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Wednesday, 10:01 p.m. PT — Canada: 21,439 have died from coronavirus; 839,155 have tested positive.

Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Thursday, 9:48 p.m. PT — Canada: 21,509 have died from coronavirus; 842,590 have tested positive.

Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Wednesday, 10:01 p.m. PT — United States: 490,447 have died from coronavirus . . . 27,825,043 have tested positive.

Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Thursday, 9:48 p.m. PT — United States: 493,082 people have died. . . . 27,896,042 have tested positive.

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CBC News — COVID-19 vaccine deliveries back on track following weeks of delay, says Public Health Agency.

CBC News — In the past week in Canada, there were 20,334 cases, a decrease of 13 per cent. . . . The number of active cases declined 14 per cent. . . . There were 410 deaths, or 1.1 per 100,000 people, a decrease of 29 per cent. . . . Hospitalizations declined five per cent and ICU beds filled declined seven per cent.

CBC News — B.C. records 617 new cases of COVID-19 and 4 more deaths, the highest number of new cases since Jan. 7. There are 224 people in hospital with the disease, 60 of whom are in intensive care.

CBC News — Number of new COVID-19 cases in Ontario rises to 1,038, the 1st time in 5 days the number has exceeded 1,000. Of those, 376 are in Toronto, 142 are in Peel Region and 122 are in York Region. There have also been 44 additional deaths. . . . York Region’s top doctor calls for return to red level as Toronto, Peel seek lockdown extension. A decision on these 3 Ontario areas and North Bay, which also remain under a stay-home order, is expected Friday.

CTV News — Two passengers fined a combined $17,000 for allegedly faking negative COVID-19 tests.

The New York Times — Arkansas has lifted its curfew for bars and restaurants and loosened restrictions on large outdoor venues.

CBC News — Alberta reports 415 new COVID-19 cases, 7 more deaths. There are now more than 2,300 contact tracers in the province and 239 variants of concern have been identified to date.

CBC News — Saskatchewan reports 146 new COVID-19 cases. That’s the most in 5 days but still below the province’s 7-day average of 163.

CBC News — Manitoba announces 139 new cases of COVID-19, the 1st time the number has been over 100 since February 5 and well above the 7-day average of 91. There have also been 2 additional deaths.

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I have a feeling that Ken Campbell of The Hockey News was watching the waning moments of the Minnesota Wild’s 3-1 victory over the host Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night when he posted this tweet . . .

The NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list was down to 13 players on Thursday, the lowest its been since Jan. 17 when it contained 12 players. . . . There were 59 players on the list on Feb. 12. . . . Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the Flyers have six players on the list, none of whom are expected to play in Sunday’s outdoor game at Lake Tahoe against the Boston Bruins. . . . The Flyers played Thursday night, their first game in 11 days, and lost, 3-2 in a shootout, to the visiting New York Rangers. . . . D Justin Braun, F Claude Giroux, F Travis Konecny, F Scott Laughton, F Oskar Lindblom and F Jake Voracek are the Philly players who didn’t play last night and aren’t likely to play Sunday.

Said

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.

Moon

Advertisement

Virus takes bite out of Grizzlies . . . Meet Duvernay-Tardif, a Canadian hero . . . Chiefs goalie wins in USHL debut

The junior B Revelstoke Grizzlies of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey RevelstokeLeague announced Friday night that they “have ceased operations for the remainder of the 2020-21 season after members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19.” . . . The Grizzlies learned on Tuesday that “a potential COVID-19 contact” had occurred at a player’s work place. . . . According to a team statement, “The player . . . subsequently tested positive . . . and additional team members have also since received positive test results.” . . . Here’s Ryan Parent, the Grizzlies’ general manager and head coach: “Earlier this week we elected to temporarily cancel team activities in an effort to keep our billet families, players and greater community safe. “In light of having received multiple positive test results, we have had to make another hard decision. It is with a heavy heart that we have ceased operations for the 2020-21 KIJHL season.” . . . The team’s release is right here. . . . The KIJHL hasn’t played games since Nov. 20.

A year ago, OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif was preparing to play in the Super Bowl, a game he and his Kansas City Chiefs teammates would win. . . . The Chiefs are back in the NFL’s championship game, but Duvernay-Tardif isn’t. He opted out of this season in order to work at a long-term care facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in his his home province of Quebec. He attended McGill U Faculty of Medicine, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery, but hasn’t completed his postgraduate training. . . . Earlier this month, he appeared on the CBC Radio show The Current with Matt Galloway. It’s a 27-minute interview that will be the best 27 minutes you will have invested in anything in the first month of 2021. Give it a listen right here.

While I was away for a couple of days, the WHL announced that it had been WHL2given the OK by the Alberta government to play a few games starting in late February. . . . If all goes well, the league’s five Alberta teams will begin playing games on Feb. 26. A schedule has yet to be announced, but it’ll be weekends only — one team will have a bye, the other four will play two games in home-and-home series, something that will mean no hotel stays. . . . Staff and players are to begin self-quarantining today and report to their teams on Feb. 6. . . . If you missed it, the WHL’s news release is right here. . . . But, please, let’s not call this return to play a season? It’s certainly not a 2020-21 season. Rather, Let’s call it a developmental season, because that’s what these games will be about. . . .

BTW, when I say that I was away for a bit, I wasn’t out of province or even out of town. I was in the backyard working with a shovel after our premier urged all of us to “dig down a little deeper.”

Book

Elemer Jerkovits is a familiar figure on the Regina and Saskatchewan sporting scenes as an umpire and hockey referee. It was in his role as the latter when he believes he contracted COVID-19 while working an adult recreational hockey game in Regina. And, yes, when he went home he passed the virus along to his wife, Kendra. . . . That was in mid-November and the after-effects continue to linger. . . . As a result, Jerkovits isn’t convinced that it’s time to open up the rinks. “People say kids aren’t as susceptible to this virus,” he told Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post. “Well, possibly, but there are kids that are catching it. The rink environment is not the best place to be. From my understanding, it’s the humidity in the air and the ventilation. I was in a 10-year-old building when I got it, so you’d think the ventilation system was fairly up to date.” . . . Jerkovits also has decided that he’ll be staying away from officiating for the next while. “I’m not telling people what to do,” he said. “Who am I to tell people how to raise their kids or what activities they should and shouldn’t do? Just take it from somebody who caught it and (experienced) the impact on our life — as minimal as it was compared to many others. It’s just not worth it.” . . . Harder’s complete story is right here.

G LukĂĄĆĄ Parik, who played last season with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs, made his USHL debut on Friday night, stopping 30 shots in leading the Dubuque Fighting Saints to a 4-1 victory over the host Waterloo Black Hawks. Parik, who played in two games for Czech Republic at the 2021 World Junior Championship, had been playing for HC Benatky and Jizerou in Czech2 before joining the Fighting Saints. . . . He was a third-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL’s 2019 draft..

Car

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

The NHL has scratched two more games involving the Vegas Golden Knights. They were to have played the San Jose Sharks in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 1 and 3, but have run into COVID-19 issues and have had to put things on hold for now. Vegas has three coaches and D Alex Pietrangelo in protocol. . . . Those two games were to have been the Sharks’ first ‘home’ games of the season. They were to play their home games in Glendale, the home of the Coyotes, because Santa Clara Country, their home in California, had prohibited the playing of contact sports. The Sharks now are hoping to play their first home game in San Jose on Feb. 13 with the Anaheim Ducks providing the opposition. . . .

The Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, beat the visiting San Jose Barracuda, 7-3, in an exhibition game on Friday night. Deryk Engelland, the former Vegas defenceman who retired as an NHL player prior to this season, ran the Silver Knights’ bench. He is a special assistant to the owner with the Golden Knights. . . . Manny Viveiros, Henderson’s head coach, and assistants Jamie Heward and Joel Ward have been away from the team since Tuesday when they ran the Golden Knights’ bench with their coaches away because of COVID-19 protocol. . . .

There are problems in the AHL, too, as it struggles to get exhibition games played. It cancelled two weekend games — Binghamton and Hershey on Saturday, Lehigh Valley and Hershey on Sunday. “The decision was made in consultation with medical experts and the AHL and due to the health and safety of players, coaches and game-day personnel,” the league said in a tweet. . . . At that point, it had scratched seven exhibition games. . . .

F Travis Zajac didn’t practise with the New Jersey Devils on Friday, because of what the team said was “a COVID-related absence.” The Devils are scheduled to face the Buffalo Sabres today at 1 p.m. ET. . . . The Devils have Zajac, G Mackenzie Blackwood and G Aaron Dell on the protocol list. . . . The list of NHL players on the protocol list for Friday is right here. . . .

There was good news from the NBA as only one player tested positive in the week beginning Jan. 20. All told, 492 players were tested. . . .

The 2021 Alberta Summer Games that had been scheduled for Lethbridge have been cancelled. They were to have been held there in July 2020, but were postponed. . . .

The National Women’s Hockey League is playing games in a bubble in Lake Placid, N.Y., but it lost the Metropolitan Riveters on Thursday. They pulled out after an undisclosed number of players tested positive. The league will continue to play with five teams.

——

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.

Grandma

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

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering what to do with the day’s extra hour . . .

Scattershooting

JulieHotel
Julie Dodds soaks up some fresh air and sunshine after being discharged from hospital on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Allan Dodds)

Julie Dodds of Kamloops, who underwent a kidney transplant on Wednesday, was discharged from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Sunday. . . . She will spend the next few weeks in Vancouver — for now, she’s staying in a hotel close to St. Paul’s — while her medical team monitors her levels through regular bloodwork. . . . Julie, who has a genetic kidney disease, is from Kamloops. The married mother of three young boys received a kidney from a living donor — her younger brother, Jason Brauer of Port McNeill, B.C. . . . After giving up a kidney on Wednesday, Jason was discharged from hospital on Thursday.

If you haven’t listened to this blurb with baseball fan Bob Costas talking about Game 6 of the World Series and MLB’s pace-of-play issue, this is well worth your time.

The book, from Penguin Random House, is to be published on April 6. The title is Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL’s First Treaty Indigenous Player. . . . The author is Fred Sasakamoose, and if you don’t know who he is, well, Google is your friend. . . . Yes, I eagerly await the arrival of this one.

If you were to take one bite of a hot dog every time you saw a football coach — NCAA or NFL — improperly wearing a facemask you would be as big as the Goodyear Blimp after just one weekend’s viewing.

Here are a couple of hockey chirps left over from the other day when I lifted a few from a Twitter thread started by Jason Gregor of TSN1260 in Edmonton . . .

“Playing junior in PEI and one of the teams had recruited a Newfoundlander who played defence. He got beat 1-on-1 and scored against and while skating past our bench to go off the ice someone said ‘Come by plane, go home by boat.’ ”

“Pushing during faceoff, other guy says, ‘Easy there cheese burger.’ Buddy on my own team was in tears. I was a little portly. Nickname has stuck with me ever since.”

Mess

“At the end of the first half, an all-out physical brawl erupted at midfield between Florida and Missouri football players,” notes Janice Hough, aka the Left Coast Sports Babe. “But, sure, these young men are mature and disciplined enough to play football during a pandemic.”

Disaster

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

MLS postponed one game and cancelled another after more positive tests. . . . Los Angeles FC had three positives so its Sunday night game at San Jose against the Earthquakes was postponed. The league is working to see if it can be rescheduled. . . . Minnesota United had a positive test come up on Wednesday and another one on Saturday. Its game at Sporting Kansas City was cancelled because it wouldn’t have any impact on the playoff picture. . . .

The United Soccer League cancelled its Sunday championship final after what it said were “multiple” positives on the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who were to have played the Phoenix Rising in St. Petersburg, Fla. Head coach Neill Collins was among those who tested positive. . . . The league said it was cancelling the final “for the health and safety of everyone involved.”

“One of the shortest marriages in NFL history was Evelyn Lozada filing for divorce from wideout Chad Johnson after 41 days,” reports RJ Currie over at sportsdeke.com. “Or as football receivers call it — a quick out.”

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.

If the West Van Hockey Academy, which had been the home of the Warriors, is to operate again it seems it won’t be until at least 2022-23. The academy had been running its academics out of Sentinel Secondary in West Vancouver, but the school district didn’t renew its contract after last season. The pandemic then got in the way of a possible relocation to Seycove Secondary in North Vancouver. . . . Jane Seyd of the North Shore News has that story right here.

JUST NOTES: Are you ready for Tuesday night and whatever circus that arrives with it? . . . When a team is really poor, like the Dallas Cowboys, there should be a way for the NFL to keep it off TV. . . . The Cowboys didn’t score even one offensive TD in either of their past two games. They are scheduled to play the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The Steelers are 6-0. The Steelers have the NFL’s best defence. . . . The best nickname in sports today belongs to Damon Harrison, aka Snacks, a veteran nose tackle who is on the Seattle Seahawks’ practice roster. How large is Snacks? About 6-foot-3 and 350 lb. . . . The SJHL concluded its exhibition season Sunday and now will open regular-season play on Friday. All games will be played before a maximum of 150 fans.

Puzzle

Did Branch laugh, slap forehead or roll eyes? . . . Chirpin’ hockey with Jason Gregor . . . Blades add assistant coach

I spent some of Friday afternoon wondering if David Branch, the OHL commissioner, burst out laughing or slapped his forehead when he discovered that Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s sport minister, now is running his league.

ohlIf you missed it, a Canadian Press story indicated that MacLeod, who apparently was speaking to the Empire Club of Canada, stated that the OHL’s teams will play without bodychecking should their season get started on Feb. 4 as planned.

According to CP, MacLeod said that removing purposeful physical contact from the game is a necessary step to preventing the spread of COVID-19. She also said the decision was influenced by the QMJHL, which has had three teams experience a number of positive tests. Two of the QMJHL’s on-ice officials also tested positive.

Surely, Branch, who has been the man in charge of the OHL since 1979, must have had a good laugh, or another forehead-slapping experience. Or maybe he just rolled his eyes.

Anyway, it wasn’t long before the OHL put out this statement: “Until such time as we arrive at an agreed upon Return to Play protocol with the Government of Ontario, the League will have no further comment on the matter of body contact.”

Hopefully, Branch didn’t turn to Twitter to see the reaction. I mean, to say that people lost their stuff, well, that would be too kind.

People . . . people . . . really! Yesterday was Oct. 30. A couple of days ago, you thought the OHL was going to start on Dec. 1. Now it’s Feb. 4. This is, as they say, a fluid situation. If you haven’t learned that the virus is in charge here, you really haven’t been paying attention.

Meanwhile, allow me to share some of Friday’s virus-related headlines and tweets with you, just to, you know, keep you up to date because, hey, stuff is happening and it isn’t good . . .

CBC News: Quebec adds 1,108 new coronavirus cases; that’s the highest daily total in almost 2 weeks and pushed the province’s 7-day average to 961.

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 896 new cases of COVID-19. . . . The province’s 7-day average is now 909, the highest recorded since the pandemic began.

Daily Hive Vancouver: Canada is extending its ban on cruise ships until February of next year.

Bartley Kives, CBC Manitoba: Manitoba announced a record 480 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

Justin McElroy, CBC Vancouver, on Manitoba’s announcement: Per capita, that’s by far the highest any province in Canada has seen in a single day since the pandemic began.

Global News: St. Boniface Hospital intensive care unit officially over capacity.

Global News: Winnipeg closing rec centres, pools, arenas, libraries under new coronavirus restrictions.

680 CJOB: With over 400 new COVID-19 cases reported on Friday in Manitoba, new, tighter restrictions will effectively end sports in the Winnipeg region as of Monday.

Mike Sawatzky, Winnipeg Free Press: “Hockey Winnipeg president Chris Hall says that his organization is ‘shutting down everything effective (Saturday)’ after it was announced city would be under code red status by Monday. Several facilities, including the Iceplex, have already said they are shutting the doors.”

CBC News: Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said there were active alerts or COVID-19 outbreaks at 249 schools in the province.

CBC News: Alberta adds a record 622 new cases of COVID-19, as well as 5 new deaths, bringing the province’s total number of deaths to 323. This is significantly above the average of 450 new cases the province has been seeing for the last 10 days.

CBC British Columbia: B.C. announces 272 new cases of COVID-19 and 1 more death.

Global Okanagan: B.C. has granted regional medical health officers the powers to issue COVID-19 restrictions for their own jurisdictions. It comes as the province topped 6,000 people in isolation due to exposure for the first time.

Keith Baldrey of Global TV: Updating our southern neighbour’s COVID-19 situation: more than 1,000 cases in Washington state today (highest in weeks). In the past week alone: 5,200 cases/70 deaths/291 hospitalizations. 

Associated Press: Confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases surge past 9 million as infections are on the rise in 47 states. (NOTE: There are 50 states in the U.S.)

CNN: The US surpasses 9 million coronavirus cases just 14 days after reaching 8 million. It was the nation’s fastest 1 million-case rise of the pandemic.

The COVID Tracking Project: Our daily update is published. States reported a new record number of cases — 97k — and 1.4 million tests. Currently, 47k people are hospitalized. There were 933 COVID-19 deaths reported.

Detroit News: President Trump claims country is ‘rounding the corner’ amid new COVID-19 surges.

The Globe and Mail: Bobby Orr endorses Donald Trump, calling him ‘the kind of teammate I want’

Hating

Now for something completely different . . .

Jason Gregor of TSN1260 in Edmonton was looking for good hockey chirps on Friday. . . . He tweeted that a texter who had played junior hockey sent him this one: “I started chirping a guy to scrap, and his response was ‘Put a coat on; it might be cold when you wake up.” . . . D Hal Gibb, who played with the Prince George Cougars, said he “slashed Ty Rattie after he scored to complete his hat trick and he said, ‘Don’t touch me. I have more goals this period than you do in your career.’ That was a little hurtful but fair.”

A few others that showed up on Gregor’s timeline . . .

To an opponent wearing an Itech bubble mask: “Nice window . . . can I get fries with that?”

“You better pack a lunch but, ’cause I’ll be beating you for days.”

“Another kid used to call me Shrek every time we played. I scored to make it 7-0 us and skated to his bench and told him, “This is my swamp now.”

“I was filling in as PA Announcer in MedHat for the Tigers. Clarke MacArthur just returned from a Gold Medal performance with Canada at the World Jrs, and was getting chirped about punching a rookie. His answer was . . . ‘How was your Christmas? Did you like watching me on TV?’ ”

“GMAC VS NAIT in playoffs. There’s a big round guy chirping in the stands as we come off the ice. One of our dmen yells back, ‘Hey buddy gravy isn’t a beverage!!’ The crowd on both sides laughed. Priceless.”

“At a high school basketball game in Southern Alberta an elderly lady yelled, ‘Come on Ref! I’ve seen better eyes on a potato!’ ”

“I was chirping a guy who played on the Canadian World Junior Team. I kept using his name and he turned to me and said: ‘Why do you know my name but I don’t know yours?’ That hurt.”

Corona

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

An unidentified member of the junior B Kimberley Dynamiters organization has Dynamiterstested positive, resulting in the postponement of the team’s next two scheduled games. From a Kootenay International Junior League news release: “The individual in question has been placed in a 14-day quarantine and the Kimberley Dynamiters organization is following the direction of the Interior Health Authority relative to further testing and contact tracing, and adhering to all KIJHL Return to Play protocols.” . . . It wasn’t revealed whether this person is a player or staff member. . . . The Dynamiters were to have visited the Fernie Ghostriders on Friday and the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Sunday. . . .

The 10-team Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League has put its schedule on hold until further notice due to a possible exposure and as the province’s numbers continue to climb. There were 480 positives announced on Friday; Manitoba’s previous single-day record had been 193. . . . Kerry Lines, the MMJHL president, told Game On Magazine: “We are taking a cautious approach due to exposure to COVID-19. We will reassess the situation on Monday. Games will be re-scheduled.” . . .

The Manitoba Female Hockey League has postponed all games until further notice. . . .

The MJHL postponed Friday and Sunday games between the Winnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze. A scheduled Sunday assignment between the Steinbach Pistons and host Selkirk Steelers will be played tonight (Saturday). . . . After weekend games, it also will suspend games in its South East Division until further notice. The Blues, Pistons, Steelers and Freeze are in that division. . . .

The Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League has postponed all games involving the Winnipeg Bruins, Winnipeg Thrashers and Winnipeg Wild through Nov. 15. . . .

Nineteen days after testing positive, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has tested negative so is able to return to play with Juventus. He tested positive while with the Portuguese national team, but has missed four Juventus games. Ronaldo is eligible to return Sunday against host Spezia in a Serie A game. . . .

The Hockey Hall of Fame won’t have a Class of 2021. However, the Class of 2020 will be inducted during the 2021 induction weekend (Nov. 12-15, 2021). The Class of 2020 comprises Ken Holland, Marian Hossa, Jerome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre and Doug Willson. . . .

MLB has cancelled its owners’ meetings that had been scheduled for November and the winter meetings that were to have been held in December. Any sessions deemed necessary now will be held virtually.

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.

The Saskatoon Blades have added Tyler Dietrich as an assistant coach. He fills Saskatoonthe void created when Ryan Keller, an assistant coach there since 2016, decided to step back a bit for family reasons. Keller will stay involved as a skills and development coach. . . . Dietrich, 36, spent the past four seasons involved with Hockey Canada’s video coaching program. . . . In Saskatoon, Dietrich will work alongside head coach Mitch Love and associate coach Ryan Marsh. . . . Dietrich is a former WHL player (Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat, Everett, 2000-05). He and Love were teammates in Moose Jaw and Everett.

Orange

QMJHL may have seven teams out of action . . . CHL cancels 2020-21 season . . . Ronaldo, Johnson come up positive

The QMJHL is looking at having seven teams unable to play because they are qmjhlnewlocated in what a provincial government deems to be COVID-19 red or orange zones or because of positive tests. . . . The Victoriaville Tigres are the latest team to be forced to halt operations, but restrictions in their zone don’t start until Monday so they should be able to play on the weekend. . . . If things don’t change, they will join the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, which had 18 positive tests, the Sherbrooke Phoenix, with eight positives, Moncton Wildcats, Gatineau Olympiques, Quebec Remparts and Drummondville Voltigeurs in being idle. . . . The Wildcats are in an orange zone, as deemed by the New Brunswick government, but have been given the OK to return to practice. . . . Kevin DubĂ© of Le Journal de Quebec reported that the QMJHL continues to talk with health officials about tightening “the concept of the bubble. . . . An answer should come in the next few days. If this proposal is rejected, some fear that the QMJHL will put its season on hold until the situation, especially in Quebec, improves.”

I have to wonder how many major junior hockey fans had their heads just about explode when they woke up Tuesday to this headline: “2020/21 CHL Season Cancelled.” . . . In this instance, CHL refers to the Champions Hockey League, a competition that features 32 of the best teams from 12 European countries playing for the European Trophy. . . . The board of directors has decided to cancel the 2020-21 season. . . . From a news release: “Travel restrictions between participating countries had already put several match-ups at risk. Although a number of authorities would potentially issue special permits for travelling sport teams, a vast amount of uncertainty and risks remained. Many discussions and evaluations have taken place in the last few weeks and months with involved parties, taking all available facts and forecasts into consideration.”

Sean Shapiro, who covers the NHL’s Dallas Stars for The Athletic, has detailed the organization’s difficult times in a story headlined “Stars owner’s mounting financial difficulties lead to more furloughs.” . . . Shapiro reported, among other things, that according to sources, “Multiple . . . employees were told this week they are going to be furloughed for a second time this year.” . . . Tom Gaglardi, the Stars’ owner, also is the majority owner of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, who laid off an undisclosed number of employees in March. . . . If you subscribe to The Athletic, that piece is right here.

Password

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

The Portuguese Football Federation revealed on Tuesday that star Cristiano Ronaldo has tested positive. Ronaldo, 35, came up positive while with the national team so won’t play against Sweden on Wednesday. Ronaldo played Sunday in a 0-0 Nations League draw with France, and on Monday posted a photo from a team dinner. . . . According to the national team, he is asymptomatic and in isolation. . . . Ronaldo also plays for Juventus — he has two years left on a four-year contract — and is the captain of Portugal’s national team. . . .

Dustin Johnson, the world’s No. 1-ranked men’s golfer, has tested positive so won’t be playing in this week’s PGA Tour event, the CJ Cup in Las Vegas. . . . Johnson is the 12th PGA player to test positive since June. . . .

The Yale Daily News reported Tuesday night that “Yale Athletics has reverted to Phase 0 following a six-person outbreak on the hockey team.” . . . Phase 0, which means no in-person team activities, will last until at least Oct. 21. . . . The team had been cleared to practice for up to two hours per day. . . . The Ivy League is aiming to start its regular season on Jan. 1. . . .

Fred Dean, a hall of fame defensive lineman in his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, is in an undisclosed hospital with coronavirus. Dwight Hicks, also a former 49ers, posted the information on his Facebook page on Sunday. . . . Hicks posted that Dean is in hospital “on a ventilator in intensive care.” . . .

Baylor and Oklahoma State have had to postponed their football game that was scheduled for Saturday. The game has been moved to Dec. 12 after Baylor had to suspend football operations because of what the Big 12 said was “multiple positive COVID-19 test results.” . . . The game was to have been played in prime time on ABC-TV. . . . Neither team played on Oct. 10. . . .

Vanderbilt and host U of Missouri have postponed their football game that was scheduled to be played on Saturday. The SEC said the game was postponed “due to positive tests and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Vanderbilt football program.” . . . They now are hoping to play on Dec. 12. . . . This is the first game that the SEC has had to postpone due to the pandemic. . . .

Canada’s national women’s soccer team was to have held a camp in England later this month, but Canada Soccer has cancelled it on the advice of medical experts. The camp would have included a friendly with No. 6 England.

Mom

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.

Corey Graham was the radio voice of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings in 2017-18. But it all came crashing down when a tumour was discovered inside his spinal cord and he underwent surgery on June 29, 2018. . . . He was in a wheelchair. He was doing rehab. He was determined to get back on the air. . . . Well, he was able to do 30 home games in the Oil Kings’ 2019-20 season, and last night he opened another chapter, this one as co-host of a three-hour sports show on TSN 1260 in Edmonton. . . . Jason Gregor of oilersnation.com has more on Graham’s wonderful story right here.

Bob Molinaro, in the Hampton Roads Virginia-Pilot: “With everything else going on in America ― and the impact it’s having on sports ― MLB playoff games shouldn’t be high on anybody’s list of complaints. But, man, do these games drag ― averaging about three hours 30 minutes. Pitching changes are relentless. Strikeouts come in comic abundance. Let’s face it, baseball is broken.” . . . The man isn’t wrong. . . .

The Tampa Bay Rays scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning of Game 2 of the ALCS on Tuesday night. Doug Kern (@dakern74) pointed out via Twitter: “Top of 6th: 35 actual pitches, seven of them in play. 31 minutes 48 seconds. #PaceOfPlay.”

Eggs

CHL facing another potential class-action lawsuit . . . Most everything with WHL these days is fluid . . . Former WHL owner, GM, coach dies at 79

These have to be tough days to be the owner of a WHL franchise, don’t they?

The WHL is only a few weeks removed from the CHL, the umbrella under which it, the whlOHL and the QMJHL operate, having settled a civil suit for $30 million. In that suit, players, former and present, were, among other things, asking to be paid minimum wage under labour legislation in various jurisdictions. While not admitting to any wrongdoing or agreeing to pay minimum wage, the CHL settled, with insurance covering half the tab and each of the Canadian teams believed to be on the hook for more than $280,000.

And there is another WHL-related lawsuit before the courts, this one involving concussions, with the parties waiting to see if it will be certified as a class-action.

And another lawsuit dropped on Thursday, this one also seeking to be certified as a class-action. It carries the signatures of two former major junior players — Daniel Carcillo, who played in the OHL, and Garrett Taylor, who split a couple of seasons (2008-10) between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders — and is looking for more co-signees.

This one could prove to be particularly ugly because, as you will see by reading this piece right here from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, Carcillo and Taylor are alleging that they were subject to abuse that is, to be honest, beyond description.

(BTW, you may recall that Taylor and his mother, Kim, were among those who appeared before an Oregon Senate committee on workforce on Feb. 27, 2018. They were opposing a proposed bill that would have exempted the Portland Winterhawks from state labour legislation. Ultimately, that request was denied.)

Geez, we haven’t even mentioned the hot mess that former OHL player Eric Guest hit that league and his old team, the Kitchener Rangers, with earlier in the week. The allegations, which included the forced ingestion of cocaine, are beyond messy, and the league, the team and the RCMP now are said to be conducting investigations.

And let’s not forget about the pandemic, you know, the coronavirus, COVID-19, and all that goes with that.

On Wednesday, following the completion of its annual meeting, the WHL issued a news release in which it said it “has targeted a start date of Friday, Oct. 2, for the 2020-21 regular season, but this date remains contingent on receiving the necessary approvals from government and health authorities in each of the six jurisdictions in WHL territory.”

Those would be Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C., Washington and Oregon. To this point, the citizens of the four Canadian provinces have done a good job of battling this virus. As for the two states, well, let’s just point out that Canada has closed its border with the U.S. until at least July 21 for a reason. And Canadians, especially those in B.C., are pleading with the feds to keep it closed for a whole lot longer.

On Thursday, Ron Robison, the WHL commish, was on a Zoom gathering with various media types and it is obvious that a proposed starting date really is a moving target.

At his point, the WHL hopes to have a 68-game regular season, but . . .

It hopes to open training camps on Sept. 15, but . . .

It’s becoming more and more apparent that it’s all in the hands of the medical community and, as Rafferty Baker of CBC News, reports right here, people like Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, and Adrian Dix, the province’s health minister, aren’t ready to commit to anything just yet.

Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week was on the Zoom call and his report is right here. . . . The word “fluid” appears on more than one occasion and for good reason.

How fluid are things?

Don Moores, the Kamloops Blazers’ president and chief operating officer, told Earl Seitz of CFJC-TV this week that the club isn’t even selling season tickets.

Moores explained: “We actually haven’t sold any season tickets yet. One of the things we don’t want to do is over-promise and under-deliver. It’s important for us to make sure that we know what we’re going to have and what that season will look like before we move ahead with that.”

As for the Winterhawks, who aren’t believe to be experiencing financial difficulties but are in receivership, Paul Danzer of the Portland Tribune reported that Robison “said there has been a lot of interest in acquiring the club.”

Danzer’s piece is right here.

Earlier in the week, the University of Alberta stunned the Canadian sporting community by announcing it has cancelled the 2020-21 seasons for it’s men’s and women’s basketball, hockey and volleyball teams.

Ian Reade, the school’s athletic director, made the announcement, stating in a news release that “the Athletics budget is no longer able to support participation in the 2020-21 season.”

As The Canadian Press reported: “Earlier this year, the provincial government announced cuts to the Campus Alberta Grant and ordered universities to immediately begin balancing their budgets and reducing expenditures.

“Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a ripple effect on revenues.”

In April, the U of Lethbridge dropped men’s and women’s hockey from its program for financial reasons. Might there be more cuts on the way?

With two Alberta schools already having made moves, you are excused for wondering how things are with the U of Calgary, MacEwan U and Mount Royal U, the three other Canada West members based in Alberta.

Of course, it could be that there won’t even be basketball, hockey or volleyball seasons.

U Sports, which oversees Canadian university sports, and three of its four conferences announced last week that football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s field hockey and women’s rugby wouldn’t be played during the first term.

Canada West has said it will make a decision by Oct. 8 on whether basketball, hockey and volleyball will be played after Jan. 1.

Gerry Moddejonge of Postmedia has more on the U of Alberta story right here.

Here’s Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with a Thought for the Day, this one from Will Rogers: “Don’t gamble; take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it.”

Robbers

You may be aware that the Buffalo Sabres’ owners staged a massive house-cleaning this week, sweeping out more than 20 people from the hockey operation, including general manager Jason Botterill. . . . Also caught up in the mess were two men with ties to the WHL. . . . Mark Ferner played with the Kamloops Jr. Oilers/Blazers. He also coached in Kamloops and with the Everett Silvertips. . . . Randy Hansch played with the Victoria Cougars and the Blazers. He later was the Blazers’ director of player personnel before spending 11 seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings, first as assistant GM/director of player personnel, then as general manager.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching staff returned to the NFL team’s facility on Monday. By Thursday, one assistant coach had tested positive for the coronavirus, although he was asymptomatic, and was placed in quarantine. Two other assistant coaches also have bee quarantined.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S.’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, on Thursday that he doubts the NFL will be able to have a season without placing teams in bubbles much like the NBA has planned for next month in Orlando, Fla.

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble — insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day — it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci said. “If there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year.”

The NFL doesn’t have any interest in the bubble format.

Dr. Allen Sill, the NFL’s chief medical officer, told the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that “we do not feel it’s practical or appropriate to construct a bubble. Anyone who tests positive will be isolated until medically appropriate to return.”

Real Turcotte, at one time a WHL owner and coach, died Monday after fighting congestive heart failure. He was 79. . . . Turcotte was born in East Angus, Que., but made a real mark as a coach in the Detroit area. . . . He was the owner and general manager of the Nanaimo Islanders for their only season (1982-83). He took over as head coach when he chose to replace Les Calder during the season. . . . Turcotte was the father of Alfie Turcotte, who played with the Islanders and Portland Winter Hawks (1982-84) and was selected 17th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL’s 1983 draft. . . . There is an obituary right here.

The junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League held its annual meeting on Saturday and revealed in a Wednesday news release that it is aiming for open its regular season on Oct. 2. . . . As with so many other leagues, however, that is contingent on a number of things. As the league said in a news release: “As has been the case since the league’s 2019-20 season was cancelled on March 13, all decisions related to Return to Play will be made with the health and safety of players, staff, fans, volunteers and sponsors as our top priority.” . . . In that same release, Jeff Dubois, the league’s commissioner, said: “There are still a number of obstacles for us to navigate ahead of resuming league play this fall, but I’m confident that we’re trending in a positive direction.” . . . The complete news release is right here.

Herman

Report: Chiefs have signed a coach. . . . Cozens, Krebs scratched from camp. . . . Cougars ink first-rounders. . . . Harden hot on half-mile of hell

MacBeth

F Rudolf ČervenĂœ (Regina, 2007-09) has signed a four-year contract with Hradec KrĂĄlovĂ© (Czech Republic, Extraliga). Last season, with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL), he had 11 goals and 12 assists in 57 games. He also had one goal and four assists in 11 games with BrynĂ€s GĂ€vle (Sweden, SHL). . . .

F Masi MarjamÀki (Red Deer, Moose Jaw, 2002-06) has signed a one-year contract with the Cardiff Devils (Wales, UK Elite). Last season, in 45 games with Piråti Chomutov (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had eight goals and eight assists. . . .

F Adam Rossignol (Kootenay, Swift Current, Regina, Portland, 2010-14) has signed a one-year contract with HK Budapest (Hungary, Erste Liga). Last season, he had five goals and eight assists in 28 games with U of British Columbia (USports, Canada West). . . .

D James Bettauer (Chilliwack, Prince Albert, Medicine Hat, 2008-09, 2010-12) has signed a one-year contract with the Sheffield Steelers (England, UK Elite). Last season, in 49 games with the Krefeld Pinguine (Germany, DEL), he had five goals and 13 assists.

ThisThat

It seems that Manny Viveiros is coming back to the WHL, this time as the head coach of SpokaneChiefsthe Spokane Chiefs. . . . Jason Gregor, the host of The Jason Gregor Show on TSN1260 in Edmonton, tweeted the news on Monday evening. . . . Viveiros, who played four seasons in the WHL (Prince Albert, 1982-86), returned from Europe to spend two seasons as the director of player personnel and head coach with the Swift Current Broncos. After winning the WHL championship for 2017-18, he left the WHL for a job as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. That ended after last season, when Dave Tippett was hired as the Oilers’ head coach. . . . A month ago, he told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that he didn’t have any interest in returning to the WHL. “It’s not really a place for me to go back to and no disrespect to that league,” Viveiros said. “I’ve won in Europe (in Austria) multiple times, I’ve won in the Western League. I had choices last year but (Edmonton) is home, my family, my wife’s parents are here.” . . . In Spokane, Viveiros will replace Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons as head coach to join the NHL’s Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. . . . With Viveiros in Spokane, it leaves the Brandon Wheat Kings as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach. The Wheat Kings also need a general manager.

Hockey Canada has scratched two injured WHL forwards from its summer development Canadacamp for the national junior team. . . . F Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice both are injured and won’t be on the ice during the camp, which is to run July 7 through Aug. 3 in Plymouth, Mich. . . . Cozens had surgery last week after suffering an injury to his left thumb in the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He is expected to be sidelined for up to three months. The Sabres had picked him seventh overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Krebs suffered a partially torn left Achilles tendon during a workout and later underwent surgery. He attended the NHL draft and was taken 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights. A timeline hasn’t yet been established for his return. . . . F Connor McMichael of the OHL’s London Knights has been added to the camp roster. He was a first-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 2019 draft.

F Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades has signed a three-year entry-level contract with Saskatoonthe Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him third overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Dach had 25 goals and 48 assists in 62 games with the Blades last season. He added five goals and three assists in 10 playoff games. . . . In 2017-18, as a WHL freshman, he had seven goals and 39 assists in 52 games. . . . Under terms of the CBA between the NHL and the NHLPA, Dach, 18, will have to play with the Blackhawks or the Blades in 2019-20.

Here’s what was reported here on June 27 . . .

The Vancouver Giants are poised to announce the signing of F Cole Shepard, a Vancouversource familiar with the situation has told Taking Note. . . . Shepard, 17, was a second-round pick by Vancouver in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he had seven goals and 17 assists in 53 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. . . . Prior to that, he played at the Delta Hockey Academy. . . . Shepard made a verbal commitment to Harvard U on April 17, 2018, to start with the 2021-22 season. . . . Signing with the Giants will give him the opportunity to play with his brother Jackson, 19, who was acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on May 25.

The Prince George Cougars have signed D Keaton Dowhaniuk and F Koehn Ziemmer, PrinceGeorgeboth of whom were selected in the first round of the 2019 bantam draft, to WHL contracts. . . . Dowhaniuk, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was the third-overall selection. He had eight goals and 27 assists in 25 games with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team last season. . . . The Cougars took Ziemmer with the fourth-overall selection. From Mayerthorpe, Alta., he also played with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team, putting up 37 goals and 39 assists in 29 games. . . .

There now are only two of the 22 first-round selections who haven’t signed WHL contracts. F Connor Levis, the 20th overall pick, hasn’t signed with the Kamloops Blazers. D Tyson Jugnauth, taken 21st overall, has yet to sign with the Swift Current Broncos. . . . Levis, from Vancouver, won’t turn 15 until Oct. 5. Last season, he had 24 goals and 38 assists in 26 games with the bantam prep team at St. George’s School. He also has made a verbal commitment to the U of Michigan for the 2022-23 season. . . . Jugnauth, from Kelowna, had eight goals and six assists in 16 games with a bantam AA team there.

If it’s the second week in July, it means the Calgary Stampede is in high gear, and that means Chad Harden is driving in the half-mile of hell — aka the Rangeland Derby. . . . Harden, who scouts for the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, is a regular on the chuckwagon racing circuit in Alberta and Saskatchewan. . . . On Monday, he won the first heat in 1:13.73 and won $2,700. For the evening, he was 15th of 36 entries. He goes into Tuesday’s action in fifth place in the aggregate and has won $13,300. . . . Laurence Heinen of Postmedia has more on Harden, aka The Prankster, and the chuckwagons right here.

Seattle has an NHL franchise that is scheduled to begin play for the 2021-22 season. While the team doesn’t yet have a nickname, its owner has a vision. Jerry Bruckheimer has told Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times that he would like to see a USHL franchise and a western version of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program in the area, both playing out of what will be the Seattle team’s training facility. . . . Bruckheimer and CEO Tod Leiweke also would love to see the World Junior Championship tournament played in Seattle, too. . . . Baker’s complete piece is right here.

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JUST NOTES:

Bill Rotheisler has joined the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder as assistant general manager and associate coach. He had been the AGM and associate coach with the St. Stephen Aces of the Maritime Junior Hockey League — the franchise has moved to Fredericton and now is the Red Wings. . . . Prior to moving east, Rotheisler spent five seasons coaching in the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, the last two as GM and head coach of the Castlegar Rebels. . . .

Barry Dewar no longer is involved in the ownership of the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Dewar had owned 51 per cent of Storm before selling to Tracy Mero, who now owns 100 per cent of the franchise. . . . “This is what I wanted,” Dewar told Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week. “It’s been 18 years. The suspension was the final kicker. The league is moving in a direction that I’m not happy with.” . . . Prior to last season, Dewar was suspended for tampering, a decision with which he didn’t agree. . . . Matt Kolle now is the Storm’s governor, business manager, hockey operations manager and general manager. . . . Hastings’ story is right here.

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Lawsuit info for players on WHL site. . . . Oil Kings get forward from Americans. . . . Raiders set to open Memorial Cup tonight

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D Mathew Berry-Lamontagna (Prince Albert, 2010-12) has signed a one-year contract with HK Budapest (Hungary, Erste Liga). This season, with Simon Fraser University (BC Intercollegiate), he had four goals and 16 assists in 24 games. He was named the BCIHL’s MVP and top defenceman, and was a first team all-star. . . .

D Shaun Heshka (Everett, 2003-06) had his contract option year exercised by KÀrpÀt Oulu (Finland, Liiga). This season, he had eight goals and 20 assists in 52 games. . . .

F Mikhail Fisenko (Vancouver, Calgary, 2008-11) has signed a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan (Russia, KHL). This season, with Avangard Omsk (Russia, KHL), he had four goals and four assists in 53 games. . . .

D Tamås Låday (Spokane, Medicine Hat, 2014-16) has signed a one-season contract with the West Auckland Admirals (New Zealand, NIHL). This season, with Fehérvår AV19 Székesfehérvår (Hungary, Erste Bank Liga), he had two assists in 24 games, and six goals and 15 assists in 33 games with Fehérvåri Titånok Székesfehérvår (Hungary, Erste Liga). . . .

F Troy Bourke (Prince George, 2009-14) has signed a one-year contract with the Schwenninger Wild Wings (Germany, DEL). This season, with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL), he had one goal and five assists. In 30 games with the Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), he had 11 goals and 34 assists. He led Orlando in assists and was second in points. . . .

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The WHL’s website has a new section. If you visit the website and click on the tab titled whlTHE WHL, you will note that the top item is WHL Class Action Lawsuit.

Included therein is a Notice of Certification and an Opt-Out Form.

Of course, this all has to do with the class-action lawsuit that has been filed against the CHL, including the WHL, as the notice on the website reads, “alleging that the class members are employees of their clubs and/or of the WHL and CHL, and are therefore entitled to employment benefits including minimum wage and overtime pay.”

The information on the website is aimed at players who were or are with teams located in B.C., Alberta, Manitoba or Saskatchewan during time periods that are specified in the posted information.

The notice reads: “If you fall within one or more of these definitions, you will be included in the class action unless you choose to opt out of the class action by following the steps listed below.”

Players have until July 14 to make a decision.

In other words, if you are or were a WHL player, you need to visit the WHL website and take a look right here.

The Edmonton Oil Kings have acquired F Riley Sawchuk, 20, from the Tri-City Americans EdmontonOilKingsfor a third-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 bantam draft. . . . This season, Sawchuk, who is from Prince Albert, had 20 goals and 33 assists in 67 games. In 195 regular-season games, all with the Americans, he had 37 goals and 47 assists. . . . The Americans selected Sawchuk in the sixth round of the 2014 bantam draft. . . . Sawchuk’s departure leaves the Americans with five 1999-born players on their roster — F Krystof Hrabik, who is from Czech Republic, F Kyle Olson, D Riley Bruce, D Dom Schmiemann, and G Beck Warm. . . . The Oil Kings may lose their top three scorers from this season — F Quinn Benjafield and F Vince Loschiavo have completed their junior eligibility, while F Trey Fix-Wolansky, 20, has signed with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. Sawchuk joins F Zach Russell, D Will Warm, D Parker Gavlas, D Conner McDonald and G Dylan Myskiw as potential 20-year-olds on Edmonton’s roster.

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The Memorial Cup opens in Halifax today (Friday) with the WHL-champion Prince Albert PrinceAlbertRaiders meeting the host Mooseheads. . . . The Raiders will be trying to snap a 10-game losing streak by WHL champions that goes back to 2015 when the Kelowna Rockets beat the host Quebec Remparts, 9-3, in the semifinal on May 29. The Oshawa Generals beat the Rockets, 2-1 in OT, in the final two days later to start the WHL’s lengthy skid. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings went 0-3 in 2016, followed by the Seattle Thunderbirds (0-3, 2017) and Swift Current Broncos (0-3, 2018). . . . Raiders assistant coach Jeff Truitt is behind the bench for a sixth time at the Memorial Cup. He was there with the 1997 Lethbridge Hurricanes, the 2003, 2004 and 2005 Kelowna Rockets, and the 2016 Red Deer Rebels. He was the head coach of the 2005 Rockets; in the other instances, he was an assistant coach. . . . There is speculation that the Kamloops Blazers, looking for a coach to replace Serge Lajoie, want to chat with Truitt once the tournament is over. . . .
If you haven’t seen this piece right here by Jason Gregor, do yourself a favour and give it a read. He was in the stands for Game 7 on Monday in Prince Albert. A radio guy in Edmonton, Jason doesn’t often get to be a fan. But he was on this night because he had a nephew in the game. Oh, and Noah Gregor scored twice and set up the OT winner.

The Prince Albert Raiders have signed F Niall Crocker, who was a first-round pick, 22nd overall, in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. Crocker, from Delta., B.C., will turn 15 on July 31. He had 18 goals and 27 assists in 30 games with the Delta Hockey Academy’s bantam prep team.

The Everett Silvertips have signed G Keegan Karki, 19, who is a native of Sartell, Minn. According to eliteprospects.com, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Karki played only five games this season — three with the NAHL’s Corpus Christi IceRays and two with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks. . . . Karki had committed to the U of North Dakota Fighting Hawks more than three years ago, but later was decommitted. He also had a stint with the U.S. National Development Team Program.

Gary Samis, who had been the corporate sales manager with the Prince George Cougars, has died. Samis was 67 when he died in St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. . . . Hartley Miller has more right here.

Curtis Brolund has been named the head coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Manitoba AAA U-18 Hockey League. The league previously was known as the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League. . . . Brolund, who played two seasons with the team, has been an assistant coach with the Wheat Kings for eight seasons. . . . Brolund takes over from Ken Schneider, who stepped in on an interim basis after head coach Chris Johnston was fired early in January.

Dennis Kubat is the new head coach of the Tisdale Trojans of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. . . . Kubat was an assistant coach with the Trojans this season. . . . Kubat, 31, is from Outlook, Sask. . . . The Trojans also have named Cole Simpson as general manager. Simpson, 33, is from Tisdale. A defenceman in his playing days, he played four seasons (2004-07) in the WHL, splitting time with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Moose Jaw Warriors and Prince Albert Raiders. . . . The Trojans chose not to renew the contract of Darrell Mann, who had been their GM and head coach, after their season ended.

The Kamloops Minor Hockey Association has hired Aaron Keller has its technical director and coach co-ordinator. . . . According to a news release, Keller’s “focus will be the development of KMHA’s players through the development of its coaches.” . . . Keller played in the KMHA before spending four seasons (1992-96) with the Kamloops Blazers and helping them win two Memorial Cup titles. He later spent 17 seasons playing professionally in Japan. Since returning from Japan, he has helped the Blazers’ coaching staff. . . . As well, the KMHA has added Lucas Gore as its goaltending coach. Gore, from Kamloops, played three seasons (2008-11) with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins.

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Graham fighting to get back in booth. . . . Ice unveils plans for its temporary home. . . . Raiders can close out WHL final tonight

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D Martin BodĂĄk (Kootenay, 2017-19) has signed a one-year contract with VĂ­tkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, with Kootenay, he had 11 goals and 14 assists in 58 games. . . .

D Brent Regner (Vancouver, 2005-09) has signed a one-year contract extension with Red Bull Salzburg (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, he had 11 goals and 23 assists in 44 games.

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As he had for more than 650 Edmonton Oil Kings games, Corey Graham was calling the play on March 18, 2018. That was the Oil Kings’ final game of the 2017-18 season because they missed the playoffs. . . . That also was Graham’s last game to date. What happened? . . .

Jason Gregor has the story right here . . .

“I met Corey and his wife Nicole in their new home last month. Corey greeted me at the front door of their newly renovated bungalow. Freshly painted walls and three gorgeous white pillars showcased a welcoming open area for the kitchen and living room.

“Instead of calling Oil Kings games, Corey has been battling to stand up. Literally.

“He moved his wheelchair close to the couch and we talked about the events of the previous 10 months.”

While they were preparing to move from Cranbrook, B.C., to Winnipeg, the owners of the wpgiceteam that now is the Winnipeg Ice had said they would spend $400,000 on dressing up Wayne Fleming Arena, the 38-year-old arena on the campus of the U of Manitoba. On Thursday, Matt Cockell, the Ice’s president and general manager, announced that figure will be closer to $1.2 million. . . . As Paul Friesen wrote in the Winnipeg Sun: “You can buy a lot of lipstick for $1.2 million.” . . . That will allow them, Cockell said, to increase the arena’s capacity by 200, to 1,600, and to add such things as a new clock with video boards, as well as new glass and netting. . . . The Ice has said it will spend two seasons playing in the Wayne Fleming Arena as it awaits construction of a new facility. That new arena is to be built in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald, but a shovel has yet to be put in the ground because some rezoning apparently has yet to be done. . . . Friesen’s complete piece is right here.

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The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies scored a pair of empty-net goals to finish off a 6-3 victory over the visiting Halifax Mooseheads in Game 5 of the QMJHL’s championship final on Thursday night. . . . The Huskies lead the series, 3-2, with Game 6 in Halifax on Saturday. . . . Halifax is the host team for the Memorial Cup so both teams will be playing in the tournament regardless of who wins this series. . . .

The OHL championship series is scheduled to resume tonight in Ottawa with the 67’s and Guelph Storm tied, 2-2. Ottawa won the first two games; Guelph followed by holding serve on home ice. . . . Game 6 is to be played in Guelph on Sunday.


Ken Campbell of The Hockey News pretty much summed up the NHL playoffs with this:

“A blown major penalty that leads to four power-play goals in a crucial game can’t be reviewed, but a play where a guy’s DNA is on the wrong side of the blueline can.”

He’s right, and his entire piece is right here.

Men’s and women’s hockey teams from Trinity Western U in Langley, B.C., and MacEwan U in Edmonton will begin play in Canada West, one of U Sports’ top conferences, in 2020-21. . . . The applications were accepted on Thursday as Canada West’s annual general meeting wrapped up in Whistler, B.C. . . . The TWU Spartans men’s team is coming off back-to-back championship seasons in the B.C. International Hockey League. The women’s team plays in the South Coast Women’s Hockey League. . . . Both of MacEwan’s teams, the Griffins, play in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference where both teams have won three straight championships.

Brad Elliott Schlossman covers the U of North Dakota Fighting Hawks and NCAA hockey for the Grand Forks Herald. He regularly writes a feature that he calls The Daily Skate, and it’s a really good read. . . . On Thursday, he wrote, among other things, about the number of standalone diving calls this season in NCAA Division I hockey. . . . He also had some info on college teams moving the starting times for Saturday games up to 6 p.m. Minnesota State U-Mankato is one of those teams. Here’s what Kevin Buisman, the athletic director, told Schlossman: “This is a strategy that has been effective in other markets and after consulting players, coaches, fans, event staff and other program supporters, we decided to move forward with immediate implementation. I think this change will be particularly appealing to families with younger children and this is a demographic we need to grow as they represent the future fan base of Maverick hockey.” . . . Schlossman’s complete piece is right here.

Rikard Grönborg is one of the hot names in the coaching community these days. Grönborg, the head coach of the Swedish national team, spent one season (2004-05) as an assistant coach with the Spokane Chiefs. These days, it was thought that he was high on the Buffalo Sabres’ list of prospective head coaches. However, his day in the NHL is going to have to wait as he has signed a two-year deal with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League.

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NOTES: The WHL final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup could conclude tonight as the Prince Albert Raiders and Vancouver Giants meet in Game 5 in Langley, B.C. . . . The Raiders, who have posted 4-0 and 1-0 shutouts in two of the past three games, hold a 3-1 lead. In between the shutouts, they beat the Giants, 8-2. . . . Should the Giants win tonight, Game 6 would be played in Prince Albert on Sunday. A seventh game, if needed, would be played on Monday.

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