The Regina Pats brought one of the most-exciting players in WHL history back 
into the fold on Friday with the announcement that Dale Derkatch has joined the team’s scouting staff. . . . Derkatch, 56, had spent five seasons (2015-20) as an amateur scout with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. . . . Derkatch holds the Pats’ career records for goals (222), assists (269) and points (491). He accomplished that in 204 regular-season games. . . . Derkatch played three full seasons (1981-84) with the Pats, putting up 142, 179 and 159 points. He won the scoring title in 1982-83 with 179 points. . . . He was the Pats’ head coach for one season (2008-09), and spent six seasons (2009-15) with the Prince Albert Raiders as their director of player personnel and skills coach.
The Prince George Cougars have hired Josh Dixon as their associate coach. He replaces Jason Smith, who has left after two seasons to join the coaching staff of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. . . . Dixon has been coaching since 2002, including three seasons (2011-14) as an assistant with the Regina Pats and one (2014-15) on staff with the Swift Current Broncos. He was an associate coach with the Broncos, whose general manager and head coach at the time was Mark Lamb. Lamb now is the Cougars’ GM/head coach. . . . Dixon also spent two-plus seasons (20-17-19) as head coach of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs.
The Saskatoon Blades have signed Dan DaSilva as an assistant coach. From Saskatoon, this will be the former WHL player’s first coaching job. . . . DaSilva, 36, played three seasons (2002-05) with the Portland Winterhawks and then went on to play professionally for 16 years, splitting most of that between the AHL and Europe. He spent his last five pro seasons (2015-20) with the Black Wings Linz of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. . . . With the Blades, he will work alongside new head coach Brennan Sonne, associate coach Ryan Marsh, goaltending coach Jeff Harvey and veteran assistant coach Jerome Engele.
The Vancouver Giants have signed Swedish G Jesper Vikman to a WHL contract. 
Vikman, 19, was a selection in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . The Vegas Golden Knights selected him in the fifth round of the NHL’s 2020 draft. . . . In 2020-21, he was 5-4-0, 4.10, .851 in nine games with AIK’s U-20 side and 2-1-0, 3.42, .885 in five games with AIK in Sweden’s second-highest pro league. He also went 3-5-0, 3.00, .897 in eight appearances while on loan to Tyreso/Hanviken of HockeyEttan, the third tier league in Sweden. . . . From the Giants’ news release: “Vikman is the third Swedish-born player ever selected by the Giants in the CHL import draft, joining Casper Carning (2010) and Fabian Lysell (2020). He’s also the third goaltender ever selected by the Giants in the import draft, joining Jonathan Iilahti (Finland, 2011) and Marek Schwarz (Czech Republic, 2004). . . . Lysell, an 18-year-old forward, was a first-round pick by the Boston Bruins in the NHL’s 2021 draft, and the Giants are hoping that he will end up signing with them.
The Tri-City Americans are poised to introduce their new head coach today (Saturday). The Americans chose not to re-sign Kelly Buchberger, their head coach for the past three seasons, and he has since joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, signing a three-year deal as an assistant coach.
The CFL announced on July 30 that it had completed more than 6,000 COVID-19 
tests in the previous two weeks without even one positive test. . . . On Friday, the Edmonton Elks, who are to open their season at home tonight (Saturday), were found to have two positives in their camp — one a roster player (LB Brian Walker) and the other an unidentified non-roster player. . . . The team all was tested again on Friday morning, with results expected back at any time. . . . The Elks are to entertain the Ottawa RedBlacks in the home-opener. . . . The CFL announced in mid-July that it had 10 positives out of more than 6,000 tests in the early days of training camps. Five of those positives involved a player before he crossed into Canada, while three of the other five turned out to be false positives. . . . On July 30, the league announced that there weren’t any positives from the second round of testing.
Michael Russo, The Athletic — With COVID-19 cases on the rise, the NHL sent a memo to all clubs this week prohibiting all organized corporate, community and charitable interactions with fans (handshake lines, fist bumps, autograph sessions, speaking engagements, etc.).
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NBC News — United Airlines will require its 67,000 U.S. employees to get vaccinated against Covid or risk termination in one of the strictest vaccine mandates from a U.S. company.
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The New York Times — California is now requiring all health care workers who work indoors with or near patients to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, largely removing an option that let unvaccinated employees submit to regular testing instead.
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The Onion — DeSantis threatens to cut hospital funding if surgeons keep wearing masks.
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The New York Times — All students, teachers, staff members and visitors in New Jersey will have to wear masks inside of school buildings when public schools open in a few weeks, Gov. Philip Murphy said Friday.
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CBC News — Ottawa’s Carleton University is the latest post-secondary institution to require students to be fully vaccinated with an approved COVID-19 vaccine for certain activities. . . . Vaccines will be required to live in residence, represent the school in athletics, and for some music instruction like private lessons, ensemble participation and for performances or rehearsals, according to the university update tweeted Thursday afternoon. Theory and history classes related to music do not require proof of vaccination, clarified a university spokesperson.
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Global News — Quebec health officials say the number of COVID-19 vaccine bookings doubled on Thursday after the province announced it would be implementing a vaccination passport system. Health Minister Christian Dubé said on Friday that 11,519 Quebecers booked their first dose Thursday, which he says is double the number from the days before.
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The Associated Press — Starting Monday, Amazon will be requiring all of its 900,000 U.S. warehouse workers to wear masks indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. The move follows steps by a slew of other retailers, including Walmart and Target, to mandate masks for their workers. In many of those cases the mandates apply to workers in locations of substantial COVID-19 transmission.
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department on Thursday. They promoted three veteran scouts — Jamie Novakoski, Nels Eckland and Del Reid — from area scouts to travelling scouts. . . . Novakoski, from Saskatoon, has been with the Oil Kings since they joined the league. He has done two stints as an area scout (2007-13, 2017-21) and also worked as director of scouting (2013-17). He also has scouted for the Kamloops Blazers (1995-2007). . . . From Calgary, Eckland also is an Oil Kings original. He was a long-time coach, including a stint (1994-98) as an assistant coach with the Kootenay Ice, before getting involved in the scouting side of the game. . . . Novakoski and Eckland have been contributors to a pair of WHL championships (2012, 2014) and a Memorial Cup title (2014) in Edmonton. . . . Reid, who is from Edmonton, has been a WHL scout for 31 years. He joined the Oil Kings prior to 2014-15 after working with the Regina Pats for seven years. He also spent 18 years with Kamloops, winning four WHL titles and three Memorial Cups with the Blazers. . . . 
assistant coach, and Brad Guzda has signed on as the new goaltender coach. As well, Jared Crooks has been promoted to assistant general manager. . . . Marquardt, 34, is from North Bay, Ont. He was a player-assistant coach with the EIHL’s Dundee Stars for two seasons (2018-20). Marquardt fills the vacancy created when Castan Sommer left the organization in June after four seasons there. He since has joined Holy Cross U as an assistant coach. . . . Guzda, 48, is from Banff. From the Thunderbirds’ news release: “Guzda played eight seasons of professional hockey and now works with young goalies in Nashville. He has worked with goaltenders at the Hockey Lab for over nine years and is currently the headmaster at Triple V Prep.” . . . Guzda takes over from Ian Gordon, who had been the goaltending coach for eight seasons. Gordon now is with the Red Deer Rebels as director of goaltending/goalie coach. . . . For the past three seasons, Crooks as been Seattle’s skills development and video coach, “as well as host family co-ordinator, player education adviser and travel and logistics director.” . . . The Thunderbirds’ coaching staff also includes head coach Matt O’Dette and assistant Kyle Hagel.
when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in a rematch of the 2019 Grey Cup game. That just happens to have been the last CFL game played because of the pandemic. . . . Winnipeg won that game, 33-12, in Calgary, taking possession of the Grey Cup for the first time since 1990. . . . On Tuesday, the CFL announced a cancellation program that could result in teams forfeiting a game and players not being paid. . . .
Tuesday night in the first American Association baseball game in the Manitoba capital since Sept. 2, 2019. There were 2,716 fans in Shaw Park. You will recall that I had something here yesterday about the problems the Explorers were having fielding a team because a majority of their players aren’t vaccinated and even some of those who are vaccinated didn’t want to come over the U.S.-Canada border for fears of testing positive and having to quarantined. . . . Here’s Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun: “That was a big problem for the Explorers, who had only nine of 24 players on the roster who were vaccinated. Eight of those nine vaccinated players were leery about crossing the border and chose not to travel to Winnipeg. So the Explorers signed a bunch of players from the Pecos League, considered a step down from the American Association, to travel to Winnipeg.”
Saturday at 1 p.m. PT at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans are in need of a new head coach after not re-signing Kelly Buchberger, who had been in the position for the previous three seasons. He has since signed a three-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. . . . On Monday, the Americans’ website still listed Buchberger as head coach. It also shows Don Nachbaur as associate coach and Eli Wilson as goaltending coach. . . . Nachbaur joined the Americans on Feb. 18, but contract terms weren’t announced. Earlier, Nachbar spent six seasons (2003-09) as the Americans’ head coach. He also has worked as a WHL head coach with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs. . . . With 692 regular-season WHL coaching victories, Nachbaur is the winningest active coach in the league. That total also leaves him third on the all-time list, behind Don Hay (750), now an assistant coach with the Portland Winterhawks, and the retired Ken Hodge (742). . . . Hay spent two seasons (1998-2000) as the Americans’ head coach.
Winterhawks, has signed a two-year contract with HC Davos of Switzerland’s National League. Knak, 19, is from Zurich. He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the sixth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. He is expected to attend Nashville’s development camp Aug. 15-20 and then return to Davos. . . . Knak had three goals and five assists in 25 games with Davos in 2020-21, then rejoined the Winterhawks and put up 16 goals and 13 assists in 24 games in the WHL’s development season. In 2019-20, he had nine goals and 25 assists in 49 games with Portland. . . . Knak also is the captain of Switzerland’s national junior team. . . . When it comes to other import players, the Winterhawks hold the CHL rights to Swedish G Jesper Wallstedt, whom they acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors, and Czech D Marek Alscher, who was selected in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. Neither Wallstedt nor Alscher has signed a WHL contract. . . . Danish D Jonas Brondberg was on Portland’s roster when the 2021 development season ended — he had six assists in 20 games — but he’s 20 so would be a two-spotter if he was to return.
Explorers for three American Association games this week — today, Wednesday and Thursday. The Goldeyes didn’t play at all in 2020; until now, they have been playing their 2021 ‘home’ games in Jackson, Tenn. . . . Now they have permission from health officials to return home. . . . However, it seems the Explorers have some, uhh, issues. . . . Tim Hynds of the Sioux City Journal reports that “the majority of Explorers players have decided not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. . . . Due to vaccine and testing requirements for entry into Canada, and a low team vaccination rate, the majority of the Sioux City roster will not be making the trip.” . . . That includes manager Steve Montgomery. . . . “We’re not all going,” Montgomery told Hynds. “There are not many of us going, I can tell you that. It’s definitely going to be a home field advantage. I can’t really comment too much further on it, but I can say that myself and my pitching coach won’t be going, and a lot of the players in that locker room are not going to be going as well.” . . . Wait! There’s more!! . . . Hynds also wrote: “Due to fears of a possible positive test, which would require a 10-day quarantine, most of the current Sioux City roster has decided to not go, including many of the players who are vaccinated.” . . . Bruce Fischback, the team’s trainer who is fully vaccinated, told Hynds: “There are so many misconceptions about the vaccine that are floating around, that that scared a lot of people. You try to present them with the evidence, but there is nothing more powerful than Facebook University. It’s hard to fight that public perception.” . . . Hynds’ complete story on this gong show is 
nickname for Cleveland’s MLB franchise? Well, after noting that team officials said they had considered 1,200 possibilities before narrowing it down to one, he wrote:
Ed (Rusty) Patenaude, who played in each of the WHL’s first four seasons, has died. He was 71 when he passed away from complications due to Guillain Barre Syndrome in Williams Lake, B.C. . . . Patenaude played two seasons (1966-68) with the Moose Jaw Canucks in what was then the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League. He spent the next two seasons with the Calgary Centennials in the Western Canada Hockey League, the CMJHL having changed its name. . . . In 218 regular-season games, he scored 115 goals and added 121 assists. . . . He went on to play six seasons in the WHA — one with the Alberta Oilers, four with the Edmonton Oilers and one with the Indianapolis Racers.
Thunderbirds, has been traded to the Red Deer Rebels for a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2021 draft.
lineup for 2021-22. He was the team’s rookie of the year for 2019-20 after putting up 13 goals and 23 assists in 51 games. . . . Gut, who will turn 19 on Aug. 16, stayed home for 2020-21 and played with HC Banik Sokolov in the Czech2. He finished with 10 goals and 11 assists in 20 games. . . . The Silvertips now have their two imports in Gut and Finnish F Niko Huuhtanen, who was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in last weekend’s NHL draft.
the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive. Kendricks, 28, had won a bronze medal at the 2016 Games. . . . Another pole vaulter, German Chiaraviglio of Argentina, also has tested positive and has been ruled out of the Games. . . . Organizers revealed 24 new positives on Thursday among Olympic personnel, with three of those being athletes. At that point, six American athletes had tested positive. . . . There’s more on the Kendricks story 
Prince George, from March 19-27. The event was to have been held there in 2020 but was cancelled as the pandemic was just getting started. . . . The 2021 championship was decided in a bubble in Calgary. . . . The 2022 event will be held at the CN Centre, the home of the WHL’s Cougars. This means that the Cougars will finish the 2021-22 WHL regular season by playing seven of their last eight games on the road. . . . After entertaining the Victoria Royals on March 11 and 12, the Cougars will hit the road for four games — yes, four in a row — in Victoria on March 18, 19, 25 and 26, and singles against
Kelowna Rockets, so now is a free agent. He got into eight games in the 2021 development season, going 4-2-1, 3.86, .876. . . . Basran, from Vancouver, played 120 games over four seasons with the Rockets, finishing 52-41-11, 2.90, .905. He also put up five shutouts. . . . The Rockets finished that 2021 season with seven other 2001-born players on their roster — D Tyson Feist, D Jake Lee, D Kaedan Korczak, F Mark Liwiski, G Cole Schwebius, F Alex Swetlikoff and F Dallon Wilton. . . . That same roster also included two other goaltenders — Nicholas Cristiano, who will be 17 on Sept. 3, and Cole Tisdale, 19.
Gervais, who will turn 20 on Nov. 4, wrote on his Instagram account on Wednesday: “Thank you for making my dreams of playing in the WHL come true. #RoseCityForever.” . . . From Kamsack, Sask., he was a ninth-round pick in the WHL’s 2016 bantam draft. . . . He had eight goals and nine assists in 31 games in 2019-20, then added a goal and an assist in 19 games in the 2021 development season. . . . The roster with which Portland finished the season contained six more 2001-born players — Danish D Jonas Brondberg, F Jaydon Dureau, G Brock Gould, D Clay Hanus, F Reece Newkirk and D Kade Nolan. . . . 
a Zoom call for invited media members. Interestingly, the English-speaking Montreal Gazette was among those outlets not invited to participate.
least it did in the KHL where Admiral Vladivostok scored a 4-3 shootout victory over Dinamo Minsk in an exhibition game. . . . It was return to the KHL for the winners, who sat out last season after, as Andy Potts wrote at en.khl,ru, “local authorities diverted funds away from the sport to help fight the pandemic.” . . . D Sergei Sapego, who played two seasons in the WHL, made his debut with Dinamo Minsk. Sapego started his WHL stint with three games with the Tri-City Americans to start the 2017-18 season. He finished that season by playing 41 games with the Prince Albert Raiders, whom he helped to a WHL title in the spring of 2019.
contract. The Royals selected his rights in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Wraneschitz, 19, played for the Vienna Capitals in the ICE Hockey League in 2020-21. In the pro league, he was 5-7-0, 3.18, .886 in 12 games. He also played for Austria at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, going 0-3-0, 7.45, .892 in three appearances. . . . The Royals had one import — Swiss F Keanu Derungs — on the roster that finished the 2021 development season. . . . They also have one goaltender who is eligible to return remaining on that roster — Connor Martin, who will turn 19 on Dec. 17.
who are in contact with players,” according to Karissa Donkin of CBC News. . . . The policy also will include members of billet families who are eligible to be vaccinated. . . . Karl Jahnke, the QMJHL’s chief marketing officer, told Donkin that players had been notified of the policy a few weeks ago, adding that should a player choose not to be vaccinated “obviously, it’s a personal decision but they won’t be able to play.” . . . Trevor Georgie, the president and general manager of the Saint John Sea Dogs, said his organization has had “one player (who) won’t be able to meet those guidelines. We have one billet family that won’t be able to meet the guidelines, and we have one staff member (who) may not be able to meet those guidelines.” . . . Donkin’s story is 
22? Or will he go back home to play? Or does he end up in the AHL? . . . Jim Matheson, the veteran hockey writer with Postmedia in Edmonton, tweeted Monday afternoon that he is “hearing” that Wallstedt “might be playing for Portland . . . rather than back with Lulea.” . . . Wallstedt and Sebastian Cossa of the Edmonton Oil Kings were the two best goaltenders available in last weekend’s NHL draft. Cossa was taken by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round; the Minnesota Wild took Wallstedt five picks later. . . . Of course, because Wallstedt, who is to turn 19 on Nov. 14, was drafted from a European team, the Wild could sign him and place him with its AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. . . . The Winterhawks acquired Wallstedt’s WHL rights from the Moose Jaw Warriors on July 6 for a sixth-round pick in the WHL’s 2023 draft. The Warriors had selected him in the 2019 CHL import draft.
department to contract extensions — general manager Jeff Chynoweth, head coach Steve Hamilton and assistant coaches Trent Cassan and Joel Otto. The length of the extensions wasn’t revealed. Chynoweth is preparing for his fifth season with the Hitmen, while Hamilton has been head coach through three seasons. Otto is going into his 15th season, with Cassan entering his sixth.
contract. He was the fifth overall selection in the CHL’s 2021 import draft. . . . Bettahar, 17, played just three games in 2020-21, putting up one assist for the Jungadler Mannheim U-20 side. In 2019-20, he had two goals and 25 assists in 35 games for the program’s U-17. . . . He is the first German player to have been selected by the Broncos in the import draft. . . . Swift Current also selected Russian F Alexei Shanaurin in the June 30 draft. He signed a WHL contract on July 21. . . . The Broncos didn’t have any imports on the roster with which they finished the 2021 development season.
Regina Pats came oh, so close to relocating to Swift Current over the Christmas break. It all began in May when the Regina Leader-Post reported that “Regina Pats fans are going to have to dip into their pockets for an extra dollar to cover parking charges announced by the Pats’ landlord, the Regina Exhibition Association.” . . . You may recall that it ultimately led to Herb Pinder Jr. and his family selling the Pats to a group of Regina businessmen. . . . Anyway, the reason for the flashback was this tweet from the Seattle Times: “The Seattle City Council will consider a proposal Monday to raise on-street parking fees in Uptown during large events at Climate Pledge Arena.” . . . That, of course, will be the home arena for the NHL’s newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken.
Blades, apparently was watching the draft, and he chose to hit Twitter three times with his opinion of what transpired with the Montreal Canadiens and their first pick. Priestner hitting social media with his red-hot reaction really was something when you consider that WHL and team officials rarely offer anything resembling hard-hitting commentary, or anything that might stir the pot, on anything these days. . . . BTW, he wasn’t wrong.
Gotta love John’s sense of humour, because it wasn’t long before he posted the other photo that I put up here, the one with the crows in it.
TAKING NOTE 