You have to think that organizers of the 2022 World Junior Championship have their fingers and toes crossed. You will recall that the event actually got started 
in Edmonton in December, but the plug was pulled after a number of players and on-ice officials tested positive for COVID-19. The rescheduled event is to begin Aug. 9 in Edmonton and, well, there has been a player test positive. D David Jiricek wasn’t with Team Czechia when it left for Edmonton after he tested positive. He is in quarantine after which it is hoped that he will join the team. . . . Jiricek, who will turn 19 on Nov. 28, was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the sixth pick in the NHL’s 2022 draft. His WHL rights belong to the Spokane Chiefs, who selected him in the CHL’s 2020 import draft. . . . Jiricek has played the past three seasons with HC Škoda Plzeň of the Czech Extraliga.
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Meanwhile, the Arizona Cardinals will be without QB Kyler Murray for at least five games as they go through training camp. He tested positive on Monday. . . . Oh, and the Seattle Seahawks are without head coach Pete Carroll after he, too, tested positive on Monday. He will continue to communicate with the team virtually.
Wait! What’s that? Oh, Canada just scored another goal against Switzerland at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer.
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times is keeping an eye on NFL training camps for us. Here’s an early report: “Breaking news from Panthers camp: WR Robby Anderson wants to go by Robbie now. Three days in, and we’re already down to stuff like this?”
Here’s Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, with a few words on unvaccinated baseballers: “As they say in baseball, we’ll shoot any random stuff into our bodies, as long as it’s not something that will help stop a worldwide killer pandemic.”
Headline from The Beaverton: Pope Francis closes Commonwealth Stadium mass with 52-yard Hail Mary.
Headline from fark.com: Mike Trout diagnosed with rare spinal condition that’s been aggravated by carrying the Angels for the last 10 years.
A regular reader responds to something I mentioned here the other day:
“You have mentioned how irritating the (Sleeman) 2.0 ads are. I agree but I find the betting ads are bad enough with the amount of them. But when the sports shows give a segment away to talk about the odds is horrible.”
Hard to disagree with him. It also has made it hard, if not impossible, to watch intermission and halftime shows.
Wayne Kartusch, a longtime president of the SJHL, died in Red Deer on Thursday. He was 82. . . . Kartusch played two seasons (1958-60) with the SJHL’s Regina Pats, before going on to attend the U of Michigan. . . . He later was the SJHL president for 25 years. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post has a whole lot more on Kartusch right here.
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.
TAKING NOTE 