The WHLâs Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds have vacancies on their coaching staffs after the San Jose Barracudas signed Louis Mass and Kyle Hagel as assistant coaches. . . . The Barracudas are the AHL affiliate of the NHLâs San Jose Sharks. . . . Both men were on the ice with the Sharks at their development camp late last week. . . . Mass, who had been the Silvertipsâ associate coach, spent four seasons with Everett. . . . Hagel had been with Seattle for five seasons. . . . They will be working with Barracudas head coach John McCarthy. . . .
Meanwhile, a couple of former Silvertips coaches were making news on Monday.
The long and winding coaching road finally has led Jay Varady to the NHL. A former assistant coach with the Silvertips, Varady now is an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings. He spent the past four seasons in the Arizona Coyotes organization, one as an NHL assistant and three as head coach of the AHLâs Tucson Roadrunners. . . . Varady, 44, spent eight seasons (2003-11) on the Silvertipsâ staff, the last four as associate head coach. Since leaving Everett, he has coached the Ducs dâAngers in France, the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, the OHLâs Kingston Frontenacs and the Roadrunners. . . .
Kevin Constantine, the Silvertipsâ head coach for eight seasons, has been named the head coach of Hungaryâs national menâs team. Constantine, 63, also is the head coach of FehĂ©rvĂĄr AV19 in the Austrian-based ICE Hockey League, FehĂ©rvĂĄr AV19 plays out of SzĂ©kesfehĂ©rvĂĄr, Hungary. . . . Constantine did two stints as the Silvertipsâ head coach â 2003-07, 2013-17.
A report from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: âA group of farmers and unemployed youngsters have been busted for running a fake Indian Premier League, streaming staged cricket matches online and swindling Russian bettors out of thousands of dollars. But weâll never know how it turned out. The scam was detected before it reached the championship round.â
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Perry, again:
No kidding â Simone Biles got reverse-carded at the airport.
The 4-foot-7 world-champion gymnast was mistaken for a child when she caught a flight home after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom this month.
âThe flight attendant (tried) to give me a coloring book when I board . . .â she wrote on Instagram. âI said, âNo, Iâm good, Iâm 25.â
âThe other flight attendant gave me a mimosa, so weâre in the clear.â
Even better, the pilot stuck the landing.
As you no doubt are aware, the BCHL withdrew from the Canadian Junior 
Hockey League, the umbrella under which junior A leagues operate in Canada, more than a year ago. That means that BCHL teams canât compete for the Centennial Cup that was won this season by the AJHLâs Brooks Bandits at a 10-team tournament in Estevan, Sask. . . . With the BCHL on the outside of the CJHL and looking in, it is at least a bit interesting that the Wenatchee Wild will play four road exhibition games against USHL teams in September, while the Cranbook Bucks will go on the road to play games against the AJHLâs Bandits and the Okotoks Oilers. . . . If youâre wondering, the Wild will play two games against the Fargo Force and singles versus the Sioux Falls Stampede and Sioux City Musketeers.
THINKING OUT LOUD: Canadaâs womenâs soccer team had a chance to clinch a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics on Monday night when it met the U.S. in Monterrey, Mexico, and the game wasnât on Sportsnet or TSN. There is something horribly wrong with that picture. . . . By the way, the Americans won, 1-0. . . . If you were able to watch the Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat the visiting Calgary Stampeders, 26-19, on Friday night, you were treated to the CFL at its best. . . . And then, if you were lucky, you switched over to watch the Milwaukee Brewers and the host San Francisco Giants. OF Mike Yastrzemski won it with a ninth-inning walk-off grand slam, the first time the Giants have managed that since Bobby Bonds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers with one in 1973. The best part, though, was listening to Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow call the game. . . . I donât know when/why the Saskatchewan Roughriders decided to try and become the CFLâs version of Al Davisâs Oakland Raiders but it isnât working.
There was an interesting development in the junior B Kootenay International 
Junior Hockey League on Monday when it released its regular-season schedule, one that includes the Spokane Braves. . . . Because of the pandemic, the Braves have sat out the past two seasons. . . . From the KIJHL news release: âThe Spokane Braves are scheduled to play their first KIJHL regular-season game since February 2020 when they host Osoyoos Coyotes on Sept. 23 to begin their long-awaited 50th season. The league is continuing to monitor circumstances around the Canada-U.S. border and will provide updates.â . . . Taking Note has been told that the Braves have been given until Aug. 1 to declare their intentions for 2022-23. So you have to think that the KIJHL has another schedule ready to be released, one that doesnât include Spokane. . . . With the U.S. and Canadian governments not allowing anti-vaxxers to cross their borders, the Braves donât have enough vaccinated players to ice a team. In fact, owner Bob Tobiason and head coach Darin Schumacher arenât vaccinated, either. That fact prevented Tobiason from attending the KIJHLâs annual general meeting at Fairmont Hot Springs in late June.
After the International Olympic Committee decided â finally! â to give the late Jim Thorpe back his classic pentathlon and decathlon gold medals from the 1912 Olympic Summer Games in Stockholm, comedy writer Alex Kaseberg summed things up: âIn an equally timely move, the IOC strongly feels women should be allowed to vote.â
Mike Lupica, in the New York Daily News: âPhil Mickelson keeps saying how happy he is that he went with that Blood Money Tour. And, boy, he sure looks happy these days, doesnât he?â
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The WHLâs Lethbridge Hurricanes revealed on Monday that F Yegor Klavdiev, 19, wonât be returning for a second season. He has decided to stay at home in 
Belarus and begin his pro career with Shakhtyor Soligorsk of the Belarusian Extraliga. . . . Lethbridge GM Peter Anholt, from a news release: âWe are really disappointed about the news of Klavdiev not returning. Itâs disappointing to lose a good player who was going to be a key 19-year-old for us this coming season and someone that we were going to count on. The timing isnât great for us, but his decision was made, and we respect that and wish him the best in his next step.â . . . Klavdiev had 21 goals and 26 assists in 61 games last season; he was one of three 20-goal scorers on the roster. . . . F Justin Hall led Lethbridge with 34 goals last season, but that was as a 20-year-old. F Jett Jones, who is to turn 20 on Aug. 27, was the other 20-goal man last season, with 20. . . . In the CHLâs 2022 import draft, the Hurricanes selected Slovakian F Alex Ciernik, who turns 18 on Oct. 8, in the first round and then passed on their second pick. The Hurricanes also hold the rights to Swiss F Liekit Reichie, 19, who had two goals and nine assists in 34 games after being claimed off waivers from the Prince George Cougars last season.
The BCHLâs Coquitlam Express is looking for a head coach with Brandon Shaw having left to join the OHLâs Niagara IceDogs as an assistant coach. Shaw, who was with Coquitlam for one season, also was the assistant general manager. . . . Shaw has been coaching in the BCHL for the past five seasons â two with the Merritt Centennials and two with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . .
The OHLâs Soo Greyhounds have extended the contract of general manager Kyle Raftis for four years, taking him through the 2025-26 season. Raftis is preparing for his ninth season with the Greyhounds.
Jason Knight, a former WHL player, died on June 30 in Regina, four days after his 49th birthday. . . . Knight played 56 WHL regular-season games over three seasons (1990-93) â 26 with the Saskatoon Blades, 29 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and one with the Tacoma Rockets. He finished with three goals and four assists. . . . From the obituary: âThere will be no Funeral Service at this time but a Celebration of Life will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made, in memoriam, to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 100 â 119 14 Street NW Calgary, AB, T2N 1Z6 or to KidSport Canada, 423 â 145 Pacific Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2Z6.” . . . That obituary is right here.
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contract. They selected Polshakov, who will turn 18 on Sept. 18, in the CHLâs 2021 import draft. . . . He had nine goals and 17 assists in 38 games with his club team in 2020-21 and also captained his countryâs team at the IIHF U-18 World championship in Texas, where he had one assist in three games. . . . His father, Alexander, and grandfather, Valeri, both have been prominent in Belarusâs hockey community. . . . The Wheat Kings hold the WHL rights to two other imports â F Marcus Kallionkieli of Finland and D Yaroslav Busygin of Russia â but both have signed pro contracts. Kallionkieli, 20, has signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, who selected him in the fifth round of the NHLâs 2019 draft. The Wheat Kings picked Busygin, 18, in the CHLâs 2020 import draft and actually signed him, but he played at home in 2020-21 because of the pandemic and is expected to play there again in 2021-22.
last month after four years as head coach. . . . Williamson is the fifth-winningest regular-season coach in WHL history. . . . The length of Buchbergerâs contract wasnât disclosed. . . . Buchberger, 51, was an assistant coach with the NHLâs New York Islanders last season. However, they chose to clean house following the season. Prior to that, he was with the Edmonton Oilers since 2004, spending six of those seasons as an NHL assistant coach. He also spent three seasons (2014-17) as the Oilersâ director of player personnel. . . . His only head-coaching experience is from 2007-08 when he was with the Springfield Falcons, then the AHL affiliate of the Oilers. . . . From Langenburg, Sask., Buchberger was a ninth-round pick by the Oilers in the NHLâ s 1985 draft. He went on to play 1,182 regular-season NHL games, splitting time with the Oilers, Atlanta Thrashers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins. . . . He played two seasons (1984-86) with the Moose Jaw Warriors, recording 26 goals, 39 assists and 320 penalty minutes. . . . 
spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the U of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach through five seasons with the ECHLâs Alaska Aces. . . . Mahood, from Thompson, Man., played four seasons (1979-83) in the WHL, spending time with the Great Falls Americans, Spokane Flyers, Billings Bighorns and Nanaimo Islanders. Yes, that is an amazing quarter of WHL teams. . . . Mahood, who will turn 56 on Aug. 8, has been in the coaching game since 1996 in Germany. Of late, he coached with Williams with the NAHLâs Amarillo Bulls and USHLâs Bloomington Thunder, both of which were under the umbrella of Consolidated Sports Holdings, which owns the Silvertips. . . . Shane Clifford, who spent a total of 11 seasons, including the last four, as Everettâs goaltending coach, has left to coach goaltenders with the OHLâs Erie Otters. Last season, he also worked with the USHLâs Sioux City Musketeers and Youngstown Phantoms. . . . The Silvertips had room on their coaching staff after Mitch Love, the assistant to the GM and assistant coach, signed on as head coach of the Saskatoon Blades.
contract extension that involves the broadcast rights to the teamâs WHL games. Under the new deal, the broadcasts will move from 92.9 The BULL FM to 98 COOL FM. . . . Thatâs good because no one is cooler than Les Lazaruk, who is preparing for his 25th season as the radio voice of the Blades. . . . The Blades also announced that âLazaruk will host a live one-hour pre-game show from the concourse at SaskTel Centre prior to home games. Fans also will get a chance to hear from the players and staff every Thursday morning on 98COOL FM.â
Schwenninger had 13 goals and 24 assists in 19 games with Zug U-17 in the Elite Novizen. In 20 games with Zugâs U-20 side, he had five goals and three assists. In 15 games with Switzerlandâs U-17 team, he added five goals and four assists. . . . Kvasnica had six goals and 10 assists in 45 games with HC Frydek-Mistek in Czech2. He also played eight games with HC Trinec U-20, putting up five goals and four assits. In seven games at the World U-18 championship, he had two goals and two assists. . . . The Winterhawks finished last season with two imports â Danish F Joachim Blichfeld and Finnish D Henri Jokiharju. . . . Blichfeld, who turns 20 today (Tuesday), is expected to play with the AHLâs San Jose Barracuda this season. . . . Jokiharju has signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him in the first round of the NHLâs 2017 draft. If he doesnât make the Blackhawks, well, hereâs what Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote on Sunday: âThe Winterhawks are moving on without him, so he likely will end up in Chicago or Rockford this season. Itâs also possible Jokiharju will go to the Finnish Elite League for a year. Itâs unlikely, but Jokiharju has some history with it. His father, Juha, played for more than a decade in the Liiga.â . . . The Rockford IceHogs are the Blackhawksâ AHL affiliate. . . . Lazerus’s complete story is 
TAKING NOTE 