Tag: Jon Rosen

Agent: Mandatory vaccines also coming to QMJHL, WHL . . . Blades set to introduce head coach . . . Clouston also GM in Kamloops

There hasn’t been a peep from the QMJHL or WHL since the OHL announced that it would be demanding mandatory vaccinations from all team personnel, players, officials, volunteers, billets, etc., and that proof of vaccination had to be presented to the league at least two weeks in advance of the openings of training camps. . . . However, on Tuesday, Allan Walsh, a powerful and outspoken player agent who is co-managing director with Octagon-Hockey, tweeted: “Hearing it will be the same in all 3 Canadian (major) junior leagues. Vaccinations will be required from all players and league personnel.” . . . Walsh has 47,400 followers on Twitter.

The Saskatoon Blades are expected to introduce their new head coach today Blades(Wednesday) at a news conference. That new head coach is expected to be Brennan Sonne, 34, a former WHL player and assistant coach who will take over from Mitch Love. He left after three seasons in Saskatoon to step in as head coach of the Stockton Heat, the AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames. . . . Jon Rosen, a former play-by-play voice of the Everett Silvertips and ex-Los Angeles Kings’ Insider, tweeted: “I’m hearing former Silvertips forward Brennan Sonne is getting a very good look for the vacant WHL-Saskatoon head-coaching job. . . . Sonne has coached in Ligue Magnus-Angers since 2017.” . . . Taking Note later confirmed Rosen’s information. . . . Sonne is from Maple Ridge, B.C. He played two-plus seasons (2005-08) with the Silvertips, then later returned and spent three seasons (2014-17) with them as an assistant coach. While he wasn’t a teammate of Love’s, the two spent those three seasons together as assistant coaches in Everett. . . . More from Rosen: “(Sonne is) part of the Kevin Constantine coaching tree. Constantine coached Everett from 2003-07 and 2013-17, as well as the Ducs d’Angers. Jay Varady, his assistant in Everett, spent last year on Rick Tocchet’s staff and returned to Tucson, where he was a 2020 AHL All-Star coach.” . . . If you’re wondering, Constantine has signed on as head coach with Fehérvár AV19 in Hungary, which plays in the ICE Hockey League. He finished 2020-21 as head coach of Unia Oswiecim in Poland.

Victory

As expected, the Kamloops Blazers named Shaun Clouston their general Kamloopsmanager on Tuesday morning. Clouston also is the Blazers’ head coach, having joined them prior to the 2019-20 season. . . . Under Clouston, the Blazers have twice finished on top of the B.C. Division. But, of course, there weren’t any playoffs in either of those seasons because of the pandemic. . . . Before heading to Kamloops, Clouston spent 16 seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the last seven as general manager and head coach. Who knows? Had the legendary Willie Desjardins not become available in Medicine Hat, Clouston might still be there. . . . As the Blazers’ GM, Clouston takes over from Matt Bardsley, who announced in May that he was leaving after three seasons in order to get his family back to the U.S. Bardsley guided the club through the CHL’s 2021 import draft on June 30 and then left for Portland. He now is an amateur scout for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. . . .

The Blazers haven’t had a GM/head coach since the first couple of months of the 2007-08 season. The Blazers, in their first season under new ownership headed up by Tom Gaglardi, opened with Dean Clark as the GM/head coach. Clark lasted until Nov. 7 when he was fired with the team at 6-9-2. A couple of days later, former Blazers D Greg Hawgood was hired as head coach. By the start of 2008-09, Craig Bonner, who had been with the Vancouver Giants as assistant GM/assistant coach, had been hired as the Blazers’ general manager and Barry Smith was the head coach. . . .

On Tuesday, the Blazers also announced the promotion of Tim O’Donovan from director of hockey operations to assistant GM. O’Donovan started with the Blazers as a volunteer in 2004.

——

The Blazers are the second team in a week to add the general manager’s duties to the role of their head coach. The Everett Silvertips named head coach Dennis Williams their interim GM after they chose not to renew the contract of Garry Davidson, who had been the GM through nine seasons. At the time, the Silvertips said that it was a cost-cutting move with the organization re-examining all aspects after two tough seasons. . . . Davidson has since joined the Calgary Hitmen as their director of player personnel. . . . When the Silvertips announced on July 12 that they had removed the ‘interim’ from Williams’ title, they also revealed that they had signed him to a contract extension. . . . The Blazers didn’t do the same with Clouston; at least, they didn’t announce it.

A tip of the Taking Note cap to the Edmonton Oil Kings. They have updated their Edmontonwebsite and have their 2021 preseason roster available for your perusal. Not only that, but it is completely up to date. . . . I’ve mentioned this in previous years, but it is shameful that all WHL teams don’t have their preseason rosters available at least by mid-July. You would certainly think that, coming off the past two pandemic-riddled seasons, every one of the 22 teams would be hungering to create interest and that making preseason rosters available to fans might help accomplish that. . . . Anyway, here’s a big thank you to the Oil Kings.

The Spokane Chiefs have signed German F Yannick Proske to a WHL contract. SpokaneThey selected him in the CHL’s 2021 import draft on June 30. Last season, Proske, 18, had one assist in 25 games with the Iserlohn Roosters of the DEL, the country’s top pro league. . . . He added four goals and two assists in six games with Jungadier Mannheim’s U-20 side. . . . Proske also had a goal and an assist in seven games with the German team at the 2021 IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas. . . . From the Chiefs’ news release: “Proske joins G Lukas Parik of the Czech Republic, D David Jiricek (unsigned) of the Czech Republic and D Tsimafei Kauharenia of Belarus on the Chiefs’ import player list. Parik, who starred for the Chiefs during the 2019-20 season, has signed an AHL contract with the Ontario Reign (Los Angeles Kings’ affiliate).” . . . The Chiefs announced Kauharenia’s signing on July 14. . . . Spokane selected Jiricek in the 2020 import draft. He played with HC Plzen of the Extraliga, Czech Republic’s top pro league, in 2020-21, putting up three goals and six assists in 34 games. He was named the Extraliga’s rookie of the year.

Liquor

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: Jean-François Houle is the new head coach the Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate. Houle, 46, had been in the Edmonton Oilers’ organization for the past seven seasons, the last six as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. In Laval, he replaces Joel Bouchard, who left the Rocket to take over as head coach of the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, who are affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. Houle’s father, Réjean, is a former Canadiens’ player and GM. . . . The WHL’s Kelowna Rockets have signed Josh MacNevin, 44, as an assistant coach. He had been with the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the previous six seasons. MacNevin’s hiring fills the vacancy created on June 1 when Vernon Fiddler chose to leave the Rockets after two seasons. . . .

Jean-Francois Plante of leDroit reported Tuesday night that the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s have hired Dave Cameron as their new head coach. Cameron will replace André Tourigny, now is head coach of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Cameron, a former head coach of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, has spent the past three seasons with the Vienna Capitals in the Austrian League. James Boyd, general manager of the 67’s, worked as an assistant coach under Cameron for four seasons (2007-11) with the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

Joints

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while knowing the hockey world will answer the call to help out a family . . .

Scattershooting2

F Kyrell Sopotyk of the Kamloops Blazers suffered what The Sports Corporation, the agency that represents him, described in a Sunday tweet as “an injury . . . that will be life-changing” in a snowboarding accident. . . . Sopotyk, 19, is from Aberdeen, Sask., which is located 42 km northeast of Saskatoon. He was injured on Friday and is in a Saskatoon hospital. . . . He played two seasons (2018-20) with the Blazers, totalling 22 goals and 23 assists in 107 regular-season games. . . . As a 15-year-old, Sopotyk played for the Prince Albert Mintos and led the Saskatchewan U18 AAA league in goals, with 42 in 42 games. . . . The Blazers selected him in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. . . . The Sports Corporation, which is based in Edmonton, is headed up by by Gerry Johannson, its president and CEO. . . .

Kathleen Zary, the mother of Blazers F Connor Zary, who is from Saskatoon, started a GoFundMe page on behalf of the Sopotyk family on Sunday afternoon. Kathleen wrote that Sopotyk has been “paralyzed,” adding: “We’re raising this money to help support any possible renovations, healthcare costs, and any additional supports they may require.” . . . Shortly after it opened, the fund blew past its initial goal of $10,000. That resulted in the goal being changed to $50,000; as of Sunday night, the fund had surpassed $60,000. . . . If you wish to donate, click right here.

If you were watching Sunday’s NFL conference finals, you will have noticed fans in the stands. . . . There were about 9,000 present as the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers dumped the Green Bay Packers, 31-26, and about 17,000 fans in Kanas City as the Chiefs dropped the Buffalo Bills, 38-24.

Gee, you’re wondering, what’s going on?

Well . . . let’s look at some numbers, all as of Sunday . . .

According to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, Wisconsin has had 580,003 confirmed cases and 6,184 deaths, with Missouri at 459,748 confirmed cases and 6,774 deaths. . . . The U.S. has had 25,124,064 confirmed cases and 419,204 deaths.

Now how about some Canadian comparisons, with numbers from government sites as of Sunday morning . . .

Saskatchewan has had 22,177 cases and 253 deaths. In Ontario, those numbers were 255,002 and 5,803, and in Quebec they were 253,633 and 9,478. . . . Canada has had 747,000 cases and 19,094 deaths.

BTW, some populations — Wisconsin, 5,8 million; Missouri, 6.15 million; Saskatchewan, 1.18 million; Ontario, 14.7 million; Quebec, 8.57 million. . . . The U.S. population is 331 million; Canada’s is 37.7 million.

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, with a Hank Aaron story — Among Aaron’s chilling memories: When he played for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues in ’51, his team had breakfast at a restaurant near the ballpark in Washington D.C. As the players were finishing, they heard the kitchen staff shattering the dishes the players had eaten off. “What a horrible sound,” Aaron recalled years later.

——

“Yogi Berra, the late New York Yankees legend, is about to get his own commemorative postage stamp,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “New U.S. Postal Service motto: It ain’t delivered til it’s delivered.”

Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, isn’t a fan of documentaries, so doesn’t plan on watching HBO’s two-parter about the life and times of Tiger Woods. But the curmudgeonly one did notice HBO plugging the shows with the tagline: “The raw truth about Tiger Woods is about to be revealed.” . . . That got the curmudgeonly one to write: “The reason there might even be ‘raw truth’ to reveal about Tiger Woods is because he has had nothing but fawning coverage — bordering on idolatry — for about 20 years. A major component of the existence of such ‘raw truth’ is the complicity of the toadies who covered golf and Tiger Woods.”

——

Earlier this week, Finarelli began his daily post with what he referred to as a “personal note.” It went like this . . .

“There is a benefit to being an old fart; yesterday afternoon, my number came up and I received my first dose of the Moderna Vaccine. The selection process is the mirror image of ageism; rather than experiencing an adverse action as a result of my advanced age, I received a benefit based on nothing more than my date of birth.

And . . . regarding any worries I might have that I was just ‘microchipped’ such that the chip can be interrogated to locate me and track me, I have two simple responses:

  1. Why would anyone give a damn — hat tip to Rhett Butler — regarding my whereabouts?
  2. My cell phone already does that.”

Jon Rosen spent four seasons (2007-11) as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. So when he writes about what it was like riding a bus through the WHL, he knows of what he remembers. . . . He has written about it of late, and it’s entertaining, and it’s right here. . . . Somehow Rosen managed to write this piece without gloating about his Los Angeles Dodgers and for that he is to be commended!

You may recall that Urban Meyer, the new head coach of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, walked away from NCAA head-coaching jobs with Florida and Ohio State for health reasons. As blogger Chad Picasner points out: “Of course, the best treatment for that is money. . . . I’m sure he feels better already.”

If you’re a fan of the Baltimore Orioles or Washington Nationals, you may be interested in knowing that MASN, the TV station shared by the two teams, has made some cuts. Gone are Gary Thorne, the play-by-play voice of the Orioles, along with the likes of Mike Bordick, Tom Davis, Rick Dempsey, Jim Hunter and Dave Johnson. . . . Also gone are pre- and post-game shows. . . . There are reports that MASN is having cash-flow issues.

A tweet from Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt following the retirement of Indy Colts QB Philip Rivers: “I’ll never forget lining up for a play and Phil pointing to one of our linebackers and telling him he was lined up wrong based off the blitz we were about to run and being 100% correct about it haha.”

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes about the legacy of former RHP Don Sutton, who died on Monday at 75: “Just a friendly reminder to all of the baseball pitchers of today who skip starts because they might have a strained cuticle on their pinkie and for all the NBA players who sit out games because of load management, Sutton was never on the injured list and never missed a turn in the rotation in 756 big-league starts over 23 seasons.”

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Ryan Struyk, CNN, Sunday, 7:38 a.m. PT — The US death toll will reach 569,000 by May 1, according to new coronavirus projections from a University of Washington model.

The New York Times — Mexico’s president, a coronavirus skeptic, is the latest world leader to become infected. Hospitals are overrun as the country’s death toll nears 150,000.

The U of Michigan has suspended all athletics for at least two weeks after cases of the B.1.1.7. variant of COVID-19 were found within the department. There have been five confirmed cases, with another 15 presumed positive cases in the athletic department. . . . The men’s basketball teams is 13-1 and ranked No. 7, with the women’s team (10-1) ranked No. 11.

It is expected that the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., the home of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, will be used as a vaccination site. The city and King County expect to have all the paperwork done within days. The plan is to have the site open six days a week and to provide 500 vaccinations per day.

The NHL’s San Jose Sharks opened the NHL regular-season with an eight-game road trip. Under normal circumstances, they play in Santa Clara County, which has a ban in place on contact sports. That means the Sharks are going to play home games at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., the home of the Arizona Coyotes. The Sharks’ ‘home’ schedule opens with games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 1 and 3.

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.

B.C. moves to protect amateur sports organizations . . . Cranbrook arena getting spruced up for Bucks . . . Bedard tops in clicks

Here is two minutes 20 seconds of hockey heaven. Watch it before putting your head on the pillow because you will have great dreams . . .

John Horgan, the premier of B.C., announced on Wednesday that “the government has passed an order protecting” amateur sports organizations and their volunteers “from any litigation as a result of COVID-19.” . . . As Patrick Johnston and Harrison Mooney of Postmedia reports, the move comes “after many insurance companies refused to cover leagues for coronavirus liability.” . . . The order, they added, “means sports organizations and organizers cannot be sued if someone contracts or transmits COVID-19 as a result of their participation in organized amateur sport, as long as those sports are following provincial pandemic guidelines.” . . . Jake Cabott, a Vancouver lawyer, said that people involved in amateur sports are going to need to “stay current on public health guidance and follow it. Don’t follow it as closely as your sport will allow. Follow it 100 per cent and modify your sport activities accordingly.” . . . The complete story is right here.

Of all the comments I have seen about the decision by U Sports and three of its conferences to cancel some national championships and suspend some seasons until at least January, I thought Blake Nill, the head coach of football’s UBC Thunderbirds, said it best when he told J.J. Adams of Postmedia that it was the correct decision.

“Ultimately,” Nill said, “universities have to provide leadership. They have to set an example. And this is absolutely about that. This is about universities being responsible given the health crisis. . . . It’s about safety of our athletes, it’s about health, and I’m a big believer that we have to be a flagship. We have to be up there at the front in doing that.

“We just have to get through it. Athletes are built to overcome any challenges and, this is a challenge that we need that kind of mindset for.”

Adams’ complete story is right here.

Whenever the BCHL is able to start a new season, the expansion Cranbrook Bucks are going to play in a spruced up Western Financial Place. It is getting a new watertight roof that is in the process of being installed. Work began on May 5. . . . Bradley Jones of myeastkootenaynow.com reports that the work on the roof isn’t expected to have an impact on the start of a new season. . . . According to Jones, several other upgrades are being made to the arena, which used to be home to the WHL’s Kootenay Ice before the team moved to Winnipeg after the 2018-19 season. When the Bucks begin play, there will be new boards and glass, a new chiller and heat exchanger on the ice plant, and a new video scoreboard. . . . Just wondering, but does anyone know if the Ice’s owners have settled their last lease agreement with Cranbrook city council? That lease was to run through 2022-23.

A gem from Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, in reference to the problems MLB and the MLBPA are having in trying to get a season started: “If Rob Manfred called Tony Clark and suggested they have dinner together tonight, I would not be surprised if both men brought food tasters with them. That kind of distrust must stop sometime or MLB as we have come to know it is not going to exist.”

penguin

MLS is planning a 26-team tournament without fans to run from July 8 through Aug. 11 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. . . . The NBA is planning to bring 22 teams into the same complex to begin play with the resumption of its season on July 31. . . . MLS is hoping that it will be able to move back to its regular markets once the tournament is completed. . . .

Manchester United was to have played a friendly with visiting Stoke City on Tuesday, but the game was cancelled after Stoke manager Michael O’Neill tested positive for COVID-19. . . . He had come up negative in five previous tests, but was positive in a test conducted on Monday. . . .

The LPGA has cancelled the Evian Championship that was to have been held in Evian-les-Bains, France, Aug. 6-9. This is the first major tournament cancelled by the LPGA. . . . The LPGA is planning on returning to play with the Marathon Classic in Ohio, July 23-26. . . .

Three of the world’s top soccer leagues are to resume their schedules in the next few days, all of them without fans. The Spanish league is to re-open today (Thursday), with Italy re-starting on Friday as Juventus and AC Milan clash in a semifinal. On June 17, the English Premier League will be back with two games. . . .

The PGA Tour returns today (Thursday) from the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. All players and caddies tested negative for the COVID-19 virus as of Wednesday night. Some players will wear microphones, while CBS-TV’s Jim Nantz will be alone in the broadcast booth. Ian Baker-Finch, Nick Faldo and Frank Nobilo will provide commentary from a studio in Orlando. . . .

The Prince George Cougars have had to cancel their ninth annual Alumni Hospital charity golf tournament that benefits the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation. It had been scheduled for July 10 and 11. The event has raised $558,000 in total, including $75,000 last summer. . . .

The European Badminton Championships have been cancelled. They had been scheduled for Kiev, Ukraine, April 21-26, but were postponed. Unable to find suitable dates, the Badminton World Federation pulled the plug.

The NHL’s Los Angeles Kings revealed Wednesday that Jon Rosen “is no longer a member of our organization,” a victim of cutbacks brought on by the pandemic. Rosen, once the radio voice of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips, spent eight seasons working with the NHL team as the LA Kings Insider. He did a superb job over those eight seasons; in fact, there were none better in his field. . . . What kind of person is Rosen? The Kings’ news release is right here; make sure you go to the end of it and read Rosen’s statement.

Food

Mike McKenzie now is the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. He had stepped in as interim head coach on Nov. 26, replacing the fired Jay McKee when the team was 7-10-4. With him running the bench, they went 33-6-3. . . . “Right now,” McKenzie said in a news release, “this decision makes the most sense for our organization.”

If you are a major junior hockey fan, this story may sound a wee bit familiar. . . . Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday that “Major League Baseball and the 22 teams named as defendants in a landmark lawsuit over minor-league salaries have taken their argument to the U.S. Supreme Court in a final effort to prevent a trial.” . . . Earlier, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the suit could move forward as a class action covering, according to Schulman, “any minor-league who has played in Arizona or Florida — essentlally all who went to spring training.” . . . Schulman added: “The suit, filed in 2004 by Missouri attorney and former Giants pitching prospect Garrrett Broshuis, hopes to compel teams to pay minor-league players at least the state minimum wage during the season and in spring training, when they are not paid aside from meal money.”

Schulman’s story is right here.

Book

CFL delays start until at least July . . . MLB’s Arizona option gets panned . . . Heartfelt tribute to Jack Bowkus

The CFL’s regular season was to have started on June 11. The training season was to have opened in mid-May with rookie camps; main camps were set to start on May 13.

The CFL now says it won’t get started until sometime in July at the earliest.

With the cities of Calgary and Ottawa having locked down all facilities through June 30, the CFL really wasn’t left with much choice.

The league still hopes to play a full season, meaning 18 regular-season games for each team. But that doesn’t seem likely with the Grey Cup game scheduled for Regina on Nov. 22.

Here’s what Pat Neufeld, an offensive lineman with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, told Ed Tait of bluebombers.com:

“It’s tough. I’m still hopeful, but nobody knows how any of this is going to play out. It’s going to evolve over time, but now it’s a matter of keeping people safe.

“This is bigger than sports and entertainment right now. People have to stay patient and stay hopeful and understand this. We’ll get through this and eventually we’ll have football.”

In the meantime, Major League Baseball apparently has been discussing options, one of which would involve taking all of its 30 teams to Arizona, holding mini-training camps of some sort, and then playing regular-season games in empty facilities throughout the state.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has taken a look at MLB, this particular option and the logistical nightmare that would be involved in making it work. That’s all right here.

——

Here’s Larry Stone of the Seattle Times:

“But this possible plan floated by MLB — which likes to send out more trial balloons than the United States Weather Service — is rife with holes, wishful thinking, dangerous assumptions and unsolvable quandaries.

“Beyond that, is it really wise to be putting so aggressive a timeline on baseball’s return at a time when the full scope of coronavirus’ devastation is still being felt?

“As much as we all covet the return of live sports in general, public health is still paramount, and I have a hard time wrapping my brain around how this advances that cause. COVID-19 is not an illness that adheres to the calendar. We’ve already learned in painful fashion, as the reopening of various elements of society keep getting pushed back. To think we can control the timeline borders on recklessness.”

Stone’s entire column is right here.

——

I have to think MLB would have a hard time selling that plan to players and their wives. Here are three tweets from Eireann Dolan, the wife of Washington Nationals’ reliever Sean Doolittle:

“Ok now what about the non-millionaire hotel workers, security staff, grounds crews, media members, team traveling staffs, clubhouse attendants, janitorial workers, food service workers, and the billion other people required to make that 3.5 hour game happen every night?”

“Y’all asking them to stay at their current salaries but also stay locked inside Baseball Biodome for an indefinite amount of time away from their families during a GD pandemic? This is a reckless and irresponsible kernel of an idea. Shut it down.”

“Let me clarify that I really want baseball back. But not if it’s not done safely, not if it requires sacrifices like this from people who make minimum wage, and not if it means redirecting badly needed medical and testing supplies away from the public and to a sports league.”

——

When looking at this one MLB option, the naysayers are forgetting one thing. It was just last month when Agent Orange told some state governors: “The virus that we’re talking about having to do, a lot of people think that goes away in April, with the heat, as the heat comes in, typically that will go away in April.” . . . Well, it gets real hot — REAL HOT! — in Arizona in the heart of the summer. So, if we are to believe Agent Orange, as millions seem to do, well, maybe MLB is on to something here.

Gaugin

The NFL’s 32 teams are to hold their 2020 draft April 23-25. It will be a virtual draft with everyone involved operating from the safety of their own homes.

So how might all of this work out. Here’s Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports:

“It’ll be interesting to see how the NFL approaches a fully virtual draft from a technical standpoint, not to mention how it’ll be covered on TV. I feel like there’s a good chance of chaos here. Are we going to see pets/toddlers/shirtless dads interrupt draft interviews on Skype? What if technology fails? What if Bill Belichick manages to hack the mainframe and rig the whole thing?

“If my experience with fully virtual fantasy football drafts is any indication, most GMs will be way too drunk by the middle rounds and at least two players will be auto picked after the front office loses wifi connection.”

When Pro Football Focus asked “Best defence in sports history?”, the response from @SportsPickle was “O.J. Simpson’s.” . . . Hey, hard to argue with that.

Gator

The plan was for NBC to provide 7,500 hours of content on various platforms from the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo in July. Of course, those Games now are scheduled for 2021. . . . Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, had a couple of ideas on how NBC will fill the time now:

“NBC has a cache of Law and Order SUV episodes that date back about 20 years.  If they play them sequentially as reruns, we can watch Marissa Hargitay’s career progression from Detective through Captain.

“NBC has available reruns of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D and Chicago Med.  Maybe they will have time to produce a few episodes of a new series — Chicago Veterinarian — to augment that line of broadcasting.”

The curmudgeonly one’s Tuesday offering is right here.

——

And here is his Thought of the Day, this one from H.L. Mencken: “A judge is a law student who grades his own examination papers.”

The Canadian Grand Prix that was to have been held in Montreal, June 12-14, has been postponed. Formula One’s first eight races have either been cancelled (two) or postponed (six). The Canadian race is No. 8 on the calendar. . . . A further decision is expected this month. . . .

Former NHLer Craig Ramsay is the head coach of the Slovakian national men’s hockey team. He said Tuesday that he is forsaking his salary while he, like so many others, is unemployed and waiting to go back to work. . . . Ramsay is believed to be earning €140,000 a season, which is about Cdn$213,000. . . .

Hills

Toigo: TV deal “terrible” for WHL. . . . ACC to honour Wheat Kings’ owner. . . . ECHL loses Monarchs

MacBeth

F Juraj Bezúch (Lethbridge, 2011-12) has signed a one-year contract with Košice (Slovakia, Extraliga). This season, with Hradec Králove (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he had three goals and four assists in 30 games. On loan to Slavia Prague (Czech Republic, 1. Liga), he had two goals and two assists in three games, and on loan to Dukla Jihlava (Czech Republic, 1. Liga), he had one goal and two assists in seven games. . . .

F Curtis Valk (Medicine Hat, 2009-14) has signed a two-year contract extension with Barys Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan, KHL). This season, he had nine goals and 18 assists in 50 games. He averaged 19:17 time on ice, the most of all forwards on the team. . . .

G Juha Metsola (Lethbridge, 2007-09) has signed a three-year contract extension with Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Russia, KHL). This season, in 48 games, he was 25-20-1, 2.02, .934, with four shutouts and one assist. He was the KHL’s goaltender of the month for October and April. He also was the KHL’s goaltender of the week in during the quarterfinals and semifinals. . . .

F Chris Collins (Chilliwack, Saskatoon, 2007-12) has signed a one-year contract with Villach (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, with the Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL), he had 28 goals and 37 assists in 60 games. He led the Wings in goals and points. On loan to the Manitoba Moose (AHL), he had two goals in nine games. . . . Collins was named the ECHL’s rookie of the year and to the ECHL’s all-rookie team. . . .

D Neil Manning (Vancouver, 2006-12) has signed a one-year contract with Angers (France, Ligue Magnus). This season, with the Rockford Ice Hogs (AHL), he was pointless in three games. He had two goals and 15 assists in 30 games with the Indy Fuel (ECHL), and seven assists in 13 games with the Kassel Huskies (Germany, DEL2). . . . Angers’ head coach is Brennan Sonne (Everett, Red Deer, Edmonton, 2005-08), who will be entering his third season as head coach after three years as an assistant coach with Everett. . . .

F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver, 2003-04) has signed a one-year contract extension with Podhale Nowy Targ (Poland, PHL). He had three goals and 13 assists in 16 games. . . .

F Alexander Kuvayev (Lethbridge, Vancouver, 2010-12) has signed a one-year contract with Buran Voronezh (Russia, Vysshaya Liga). This season,  with Yermak Angarsk (Russia, Vysshaya Liga), he had one goal and one assist in eight games; two goals and two assists in 17 games with Torpedo Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan, Vysshaya Liga); and no points in three games with Lada Togliatti (Russia, Vysshaya Liga).

ThisThat

Jeff Pearlman is a prominent writer who has produced some terrific football- and baseball-based books. His most-recent work, Football for a Buck, was subtitled The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL. In a word, it is awesome. If you have ever wondered about the role a guy named Donald Trump played in the death of the USFL, well, Pearlman’s book has it all.

But the best thing Pearlman has ever written appeared Wednesday on his blog and carried this headline: My wife donated one of her kidneys to a stranger this morning.

If you have ever wondered what a person’s thought process is as they begin to think about being a kidney donor, or if you have ever wondered what someone goes through along the way to being a donor, you will want to read this.

Heck, even if you have never wondered about either of those things take the time to give this a read.

In the end, it’s about life and the gift of life.

The story is right here.

If you were wondering why Rogers Sportsnet, which owns the television rights to all CHL games, didn’t show any games in the WHL final, it seems you aren’t alone.

Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the Vancouver Giants, isn’t at all enamoured with VancouverSportsnet, either.

The Giants just finished playing in the WHL final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. They took the Prince Albert Raiders to Game 7 before dropping a 3-2 OT decision in the Saskatchewan city on Monday night.

However, Sportsnet, which holds the rights through the 2025-26 season, didn’t televise any games in the final. In fact, Sportsnet didn’t show any games after bringing us the first three games of a second-round series between the Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

On Tuesday, Toigo appeared with Donnie and The Moj on TSN 1040 Radio in Vancouver.

“It was terrible. Absolutely terrible,” Toigo said of Game 7 not being televised. “Sportsnet . . . it’s a terrible deal for the league. We should have gone with TSN.”

At the time Sportsnet landed the CHL rights, it also cut a long-term deal for the NHL rights.

“(Sportsnet) had all that NHL content . . . the capacity to promote our games wasn’t there,” Toigo continued. “We should have realized that.

“TSN didn’t have any NHL content. What they’ve done with the World Juniors, they would have just folded us into that kind of presentation. It would have been a better way to go.

“But it is what it is.”

As for Game 7, Toigo said: “The ratings for Sportsnet to have this game in a market this size would have been off the charts. I don’t know who’s making those decisions but they certainly aren’t very good.”

Bruce Hamilton, the owner of the Kelowna Rockets and the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors, wasn’t nearly as critical.

“They make their decisions,” Hamilton told David Trifunov, writing for the Kelowna Daily Courier.

There has never been a subscription fee for this blog, but if you enjoy stopping by here, why not consider donating to the cause? Thank you very much.

Kelly McCrimmon, the owner of the Brandon Wheat Kings, will be presented with an BrandonWKregularhonourary diploma in Business Administration by Assiniboine Community College. The Brandon-based college will make the presentation during its graduation ceremony on June 13. . . . McCrimmon has been a player, coach and general manager with the Wheat Kings, as well as the franchise’s owner. He also spent four years at the U of Michigan — yes, he played hockey for the Wolverines after playing in the WHL — and later, while working with the Wheat Kings, earned an MBA from Queen’s U in Kingston, Ont. . . . He now is the assistant GM with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights; he will take over as GM on Sept. 1. . . . McCrimmon also will be inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame this year.

The Portland Winterhawks have signed F Jonah Bevington, who will turn 16 on Sept. 7. The Winterhawks selected him in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. . . . This season, Bevington had 13 goals and 13 assists in 29 games with the OHA Edmonton Elite 15s. . . . A native of Yellowknife, NWT, Bevington now is an Edmonton resident.

Former WHLer Giffen Nyren, 30, has been granted bail and has returned to Kelowna from a psychiatric facility in Port Coquitlam. . . . While in Kelowna, doctors will continue to do a mental assessment on Nyren, a defenceman who played in the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Kamloops Blazers and Calgary Hitmen. . . . Nyren was arrested in Kelowna on April 28 after a baby was grabbed from its mother in a downtown Kelowna park. The man eventually let the baby go, then shed his clothes and jumped into Okanagan Lake. Shortly after, he was arrested. . . . Nyren also has been charged with wilfully resisting or obstructing a police officer. . . . His next court appearance has been scheduled for June 13 in Kelowna.

The AJHL’s Calgary Canucks have signed Brad Moran to a three-year contract extension as general manager and he’d coach. Moran has been the Canucks’ head coach since Nov. 27 when he replaced Darryl Olsen. Moran had been in his first season as an assistant coach when he stepped up to head coach. . . . Moran, 40, is a native of Abbotsford, B.C. He played five seasons (1995-2000) with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, putting up 450 points, including 204 goals, in 357 regular-season games.

The Manchester, N.H., Monarchs, an ECHL team affiliated with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, are finished. The Monarchs had been in Manchester, in the AHL or ECHL, for 18 years. . . . “It’s just clear to us minor league is not viable in Manchester at the ECHL level,” Brian Cheek, the Monarchs’ chief executive, told Mark Hayward of the New Hampshire Union Leader. . . . The Monarchs were the Kings’ AHL affiliate until NHL teams began putting those teams in California. The Kings’ AHL affiliate now is the Ontario Reign. . . . Hayward’s story is right here.

Jon Rosen of lakingsinsider.com has lots more right here.

Tweetoftheday

Everett captain gets NHL contract. . . . McKinstry details battles with concussions. . . . Blades continue to roll along

MacBeth

G Patrik Bartošák (Red Deer, 2011-14) has signed a contract beginning next season with Třinec (Czech Republic, Extraliga). This season, in 45 games with Vítkovice Ostrava (Czech Republic, Extraliga), he was 25-17-3, 2.20, .935, with one shutout. He led the league in save percentage. . . . http://iSport.cz reports that with the Třinec contract, Bartošák will make 700,000 Czech crowns (~$31,000 US) a month; 30,000 crowns (~$1,300 US) for each standing point; and 90,000 crowns (~$4,000 US) for each regulation win. . . . Czech Extraliga awards three points for a win in regulation, two points for an overtime or shootout win, one point for an overtime or shootout loss, and no points for a loss in regulation. . . .

F Spencer Machacek (Vancouver, 2005-08) has signed a one-year contract extension with Grizzlys Wolfsburg (Germany, DEL). He has 18 goals and 13 assists in 49 games. . . .

F Johannes Salmonsson (Spokane, 2005-06) has signed a two-year contract extension with Timrå (Sweden, SHL). He has three goals and 15 assists in 31 games.

ThisThat

The NHL’s Minnesota Wild has signed F Connor Dewar of the Everett Silvertips to a NHLthree-year entry-level contract. . . . Dewar, from The Pas, Man., was a third-round pick by the Wild in the NHL’s 2018 draft. The 19-year-old is the Silvertips’ captain. . . . This season, Dewar has career highs in assists (41) and points (75), in 54 games. He has 34 goals, four shy of his career high. . . . In 265 regular-season games, Dewar has 97 goals and 94 assists. . . . He has added 14 goals and 15 assists in 41 playoff games. . . . Everett selected him in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft.

F Mark Liwiski of the Kelowna Rockets has drawn a TBD suspension after taking a boarding major and game misconduct during a 4-3 victory over the visiting Portland Winterhawks on Sunday. . . . Portland F Seth Jarvis, who absorbed the hit from Liwiski, isn’t shown as being injured on the WHL’s weekly roster report that was issued on Tuesday. . . . Kelowna’s next game is scheduled for Friday against the Blazers in Kamloops. The teams also will meet on Saturday in Kelowna. . . . The Winterhawks are to meet the Cougars in Prince George on Friday and Saturday nights.

The WHL roster report is right here.

Ryely McKinstry was selected by the Vancouver Giants in the second round, 23rd overall, of the 2013 WHL bantam draft. A defenceman from Calgary, he played 43 games with the Giants — two in 2013-14, 30 in 2014-15 and 11 in 2015-16. . . . He didn’t play at all in 2016-17. . . . He had to leave hockey behind after playing one game with the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers last season. . . . Yes, he was forced out of the game by concussions. Eight of them, by his count. . . . McKinstry has written a detailed account of what he’s been through and it’s all right here.

TUESDAY HIGHLIGHTS:

D Brandon Schuldhaus scored twice to help the visiting Saskatoon Blades to a 4-2 victory Saskatoonover the Moose Jaw Warriors. . . . Saskatoon (42-14-8) has won five in a row. . . . The Blades won for the 12th time in 13 games and clinched second place in the process. That gives them home-ice advantage in what almost certainly will be a first-round series with the Warriors. . . . Moose Jaw (25-19-8) is third in the East Division, 14 points behind the Blades with six games remaining. . . . F Tristin Langan (48) gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead just 56 seconds into the game. . . . Schuldhaus, who has seven goals, tied the game at 15:02, then put his guys out front at 6:24 of the second period. . . . F Justin Almeida (27) got the Warriors into a 2-2 tie, while shorthanded, at 11:55. . . . Blades D Dawson Davidson broke the tie with his 11th goal, on a PP, at 12:15. . . . F Kirby Dach (24) iced it at 19:17. . . . G Nolan Maier earned the victory with 26 saves. . . . G Brodan Salmond also stopped 26 shots for the Warriors.

G Ian Scott turned aside 24 shots to help the Prince Albert Raiders to a 6-0 victory over PrinceAlbertthe visiting Swift Current Broncos. . . . With the victory, Prince Albert (51-9-4) clinched the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy that goes to the WHL team with the best regular-season record. The only other time in franchise history when the Raiders had the league’s best record was in their Memorial Cup-winning season of 1984-85. . . . The Raiders’ first-round playoff opponent hasn’t yet been decided. . . . Swift Current (10-46-6), the WHL’s defending champion, has lost 15 games in a row (0-12-3). . . . The Raiders and Broncos will meet again Friday in Prince Albert and Sunday in Swift Current. The Broncos also will meet the Blades in Saskatoon on Saturday. . . . Scott put up his sixth shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. He has tied the franchise’s single-season record and shares it with Luke Siemens (2012-13) and Rejean Beauchemin (2003-04). . . . D Sergei Sapego (9) got the Raiders started at 5:30 of the first period. . . . F Dante Hannoun (29) made it 2-0 at 7:00 and the Raiders never were threatened. . . . F Justin Nachbaur, who turned 19 on Monday, added two goals, giving him 18, with F Aliaksei Protas (11) and F Eric Pearce (7) also scoring. . . . Hannoun also had two assists. . . . The Ice got 33 stops from G Riley Lamb. . . . The Raiders had D Max Martin back after he sat out six games, while F Parker Kelly returned after serving a three-game suspension.

FanClub
The booth belonging to the Kootenay Ice’s booster club looks as though it’s ready to lose its hockey team to Winnipeg.

G Jiri Patera put up his first WHL shutout as the Brandon Wheat Kings dumped the BrandonWKregularKootenay Ice, 7-0, in Cranbrook, B.C. . . . Brandon (30-24-8) had lost its previous three games (0-2-1). The Wheat Kings moved into a tie with the Red Deer Rebels for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. . . . Kootenay (12-42-10) has lost three in a row. It has been blanked five times this season, with three of them coming on home ice. . . . The Ice has two homes games remaining, on March 15 and 17, before it leaves Cranbrook for Winnipeg. . . . Patera, an 18-year-old freshman from Praha, Czech Republic, stopped 29 shots. He is 22-15-5, 3.20, .910. . . . The Wheat Kings got two goals from each of F Baron Thompson and F Luka Burzan. . . . Thompson, who has eight goals, made it 1-0 at 9:11 of the first period. . . . Burzan, who has 37 goals, upped it to 2-0 at 16:06. . . . F Ridley Greig (14), F Stelio Mattheos (41) and F Connor Gutenberg (15) also scored for Brandon, which is 1-1-1 on a six-game trip through the Central Division while the Tim Hortons Brier — the Canadian men’s curling championship — is being played in its home arena. . . . Burzan added an assist for a three-point game. . . . Kootenay D Martin Bodak has played his final WHL game. He is returning to his native Slovakia to write a mandatory high school exam, so will miss the Ice’s final four games. . . . Bodak, 20, put up 11 goals and 14 assists in 58 games this season. In 117 regular-season games over two seasons, he had 18 goals and 38 assists.

The Everett Silvertips erased a 1-0 deficit with three third-period goals and beat the host EverettSpokane Chiefs, 3-1. . . . Everett (45-14-4) has points in seven straight games (6-0-1). It leads the Western Conference by two points over Vancouver, but the Giants have one game in hand. While Everett is idle tonight, the Giants are to meet the Blazers in Kamloops. . . . Spokane (35-20-7) had points in each of its past six games (5-0-1). It is third in the U.S. Division, five points behind the Portland Winterhawks. . . . F Jaret Anderson-Dolan (15) gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 8:40 of the second period. He has goals in five straight games. . . . D Ronan Seeley got the Silvertips even with his first career WHL goal, at 1:38 of the third period. . . . F Dawson Butt (8) broke the tie at 3:33, and F Reece Vitelli (10) added insurance at 16:03. . . . Seeley, the 20th overall pick in the 2017 bantam draft, scored in his 48th career game, all of them this season. . . . Everett got 24 saves from G Dawson Wolf, who won for the 40th time this season. He now is 40-13-3, 1.71, .936. . . . G Bailey Brkin turned aside 24 shots for the Chiefs.

Tweetoftheday

Surgery likely for Anderson-Dolan . . . Hurricanes’ prospect going NCAA route . . . WHL opens series with victory

ThisThat

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan of the Spokane Chiefs wasn’t listed on the most-recent WHL roster report, which was released on Oct. 30.

After the host Chiefs beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-1, later that night, Kevin Dudley of SpokaneChiefsthe Spokane Spokesman-Review reported that the Chiefs “were without Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who missed the game for undisclosed reasons.”

When Anderson-Dolan didn’t play in a 6-2 loss to the visiting Spokane Chiefs on Saturday, it was reported that he was out with an upper-body injury.

It all became clear on Monday afternoon when TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the king of hockey insiders, reported via Twitter that Anderson-Dolan has a broken bone in one wrist and is in Los Angeles where it is anticipated that he will undergo surgery.

Anderson-Dolan, 19, was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the NHL’s 2017 draft. He started this season with the Kings and have one assist in five games when he was returned to the Chiefs on Oct. 22.

He got into two games with the Chiefs and scored twice.

Assuming Anderson-Dolan undergoes surgery, he would be out up to two months, Canada’s national junior team is scheduled to open its selection camp in Victoria on Dec. 10. The 2019 World Junior Championships is scheduled to being in Vancouver and Victoria on Dec. 26.

F Carson Dyck of Lethbridge has committed to Penn State where he will play for the Nittany Lions starting in the 2020-21 season. Dyck, 17, is playing with the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers. . . . He was a second-round selection by the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. . . . On Jan. 9, the Broncos dealt his rights and a third-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for F Ryley Lindgren, then 20, and a sixth-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. . . . Carson is the son of Michael Dyck, the first-year head coach of the Vancouver Giants.

The Swift Current Broncos have signed F Ian Briscoe, 19, and added him to their roster. Briscoe, from Winnipeg, had three assists in 25 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds last season. He also played with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings, putting up six goals and nine assists in 17 games. . . . The Thunderbirds selected Briscoe in the fifth round of the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. . . . In 2016-17, he had two goals in 20 games with Seattle. . . . Briscoe could make his debut with the Broncos against the host Prince Albert Raiders on Friday.

F Connor Gutenberg of the Brandon Wheat Kings has been suspended for one game after he was hit with a charging major and game misconduct during a 4-3 loss to the host Kelowna Rockets on Saturday. . . . Gutenberg was tossed after a hit on Kelowna F Leif Mattson in the neutral zone. . . . The teams were 3-3 when Gutenberg was penalized at 15:57 of the third period. Kelowna F Kyle Topping snapped the tie at 18:50, with the Rockets on the PP.

Willie Desjardins spent his first full day as head coach of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings on Monday. If you are wondering how it went, Jon Rosen of lakingsinsider.com has a comprehensive look right here. This is good stuff!

If you stop off here and enjoy what you see — or even if you don’t — feel free to click on the DONATE button over there on the right and make a contribution. Thanks in advance.

F Jordy Bellerive of the Lethbridge Hurricanes scored the winning goal as Team WHL opened the CIBC Canada Russia Series with a 2-1 victory in Kamloops. . . . Game 2 will be canadarussia2017played tonight in Langley, B.C., before the spotlight shifts to the OHL. . . . F Dylan Cozens, who also plays for the Hurricanes, gave the WHL a 1-0 lead at 14:00 of the first period. Cozens is expected to be an early selection in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . The Russians tied it just 26 seconds later when F Pavel Shen scored. Shen, whose NHL rights belong to the Boston Bruins, was named the Russian’s player of the game. . . . Bellerive’s goal, at 10:31 of the third period, broke the 1-1 tie. Bellerive has signed with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. . . . G Ian Scott of the Prince Albert Raiders stopped 27 shots for the WHL. His NHL rights belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs. . . . Russian G Daniil Tarasov, whose NHL rights belong to the Columbus Blue Jackets, wasn’t as busy as Scott, with 21 saves, but he made several top-notch stops. . . . F Justin Almeida of the Moose Jaw Warriors left the game early in the first period — he took a bit of a cross-check to the back from Russian D Alexander Lyakhov — and didn’t return. . . . F Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks, who was selected as the WHL’s player of game, grabbed for his right knee after going awkwardly into the end boards late in the third period. He finished the shift, but looked to be in some discomfort at the bench as time wound down.

Tweetoftheday