F Ryon Moser (Lethbridge, Swift Current, 2008-13) signed a one-year contract with Freiburg (Germany, DEL2). Last season, with the University of Lethbridge (Canada West, U Sports), he had five goals and 10 assists in 28 games. Moser has dual German-Canadian citizenship so he doesn’t count as an import. . . .
F T.J. Foster (Edmonton, 2008-13) has been released by Sport Vaasa (Finland, Liiga) after an unsuccessful tryout. Foster signed a one-year contract with Sport in March but the contract had a tryout clause through the end of September. He was pointless in one game this season. . . .
F Dustin Boyd (Moose Jaw, 2002-06) has been released by mutual agreement by Dynamo Moscow (Russia, KHL). He was pointless in five games this season.
The Calgary Hitmen scored something of a coup on Wednesday as they announced the signing of F Josh Prokop, 18, who had been with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. . . . Prokop, 
from Edmonton, had made a commitment on Nov. 17 to attend Ohio State next season and play for the Buckeyes. . . . Prokop, who will play among Calgary’s top six forwards, was a fifth-round selection by the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL’s 2015 bantam draft. The Hitmen acquired his rights from the Broncos on Nov. 25 in a deal in which Calgary also got F Conner Chaulk, D Dom Schmiemann, F Riley Stotts, G Ethan Hein and a second-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft. In exchange, the Broncos got F Matteo Gennaro, F Beck Malenstyn and a fifth-round selection in the 2018 bantam draft. . . . Last season, Prokop had 21 goals and 15 assists in 48 games with the Vipers. He battled shoulder injuries last season, starting when he was hit from behind on Nov. 25. Then, in January, Prokop suffered a shoulder injury with four seconds left in a January game in Trail, had surgery and didn’t play again last season. This season, he had one goal and four assists in six games. . . . In Calgary, Prokop will get to be teammates with his younger brother, Luke, who is in his freshman season. . . . The last brother act to play with the Hitmen? Travis and Taylor Sanheim (2014-16). . . . The Hitmen next play Friday when they meet the Rebels in Red Deer.
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The Swift Current Broncos have acquired F Owen Blocker, 18, from the Lethbridge 
Hurricanes for an eighth-round selection in the 2019 WHL bantam draft. . . . Blocker, a second-round pick by the Broncos in the 2015 bantam draft, was sent to the Hurricanes on Jan. 9 as part of the deal in which G Stuart Skinner, F Giorgio Estephan and F Tanner Nagel landed in Swift Current. . . . From Oakbank, Man., Blocker totalled two goals and five assists in 58 games last season. He added three assists in 16 playoff games with Lethbridge. . . . The deal came one day after the Broncos claimed D Matthew Stanley, 20, on waivers from the Hurricanes. Stanley also was part of that Jan. 9 exchange, moving from Swift Current to Lethbridge.
The Kelowna Rockets got their roster down to 23 players on Wednesday by releasing 
sophomore D Kelvin Hair, an 18-year-old from North Vancouver. He was a sixth-round pick by the Rockets in the 2015 WHL bantam draft. . . . Last season, he was pointless in 30 games with Kelowna. . . . The Rockets now are carrying two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. . . . Later on Wednesday, the Rockets fell to 0-3-0 after dropping a 4-2 decision to the visiting Prince George Cougars.
Head coach Dave Matsos won’t be working the bench this weekend as his Hamilton 
Bulldogs resume the OHL’s regular season. Matsos collapsed late in a 4-2 victory over the host Barrie Colts on Saturday and was taken to hospital by ambulance. He has since been released and spent time with players and staff on Tuesday. However, he won’t be returning to the bench while he rests and undergoes further testing. . . . In his absence, assistant coach Vince Laise will take over as head coach, with help from Ron Wilson, also an assistant coach, and Patrick Jarrett, who is an assistant coach/video coach. . . . The Bulldogs are scheduled to meet the Petes in Peterborough on Saturday, then return home to face the Ottawa 67’s on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Teri Pecoskie of the Hamilton Spectator reported that Matsos had been felled by “a seizure brought on by severe dehydration and a virus.”
According to Pecoskie, Shelly Boudah, Matsos’s sister, “posted the diagnosis on her Facebook page.”
Boudah also posted that her brother was “on his feet, eating and feeling pretty good.”
Pecoskie’s piece is right here.
TAKING NOTE 