Tag: Martin Merk

Vanstone gives us Bedard by the numbers . . . Rockets’ coach gets vote of confidence . . . Ex-WHLer takes over German national team

Some numbers on Regina Pats F Connor Bedard from Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post:

“By opening the scoring at 9:15 of Sunday’s first period, Bedard extended his Reginagoal-scoring streak to nine games. The Pats’ record of 15 was set by Dale Derkatch during the first 15 games of the 1982-83 season. Over the past nine games, Bedard has 20 goals. He also has 23 goals over his past 11 games.

“The game-opening goal also fattened Bedard’s point-scoring streak to 33. The Pats’ record of 47 was set in 1981-82 by linemates Jock Callander and Wally Schreiber. (The Prince Albert Raiders’ Jeff Nelson set the league record of 56 during the 1990-91 season. Bedard’s ceiling is 52, because the Pats have 19 regular-season games remaining.)”

Vanstone’s complete story, with even more numbers, is right here.

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The Travelling Bedards take their show into Red Deer where they are to meet the Rebels tonight. This will be the first of four games for them in Alberta this week. . . . Yes, tonight’s game will be played in front of a sellout crowd. The Rebels tweeted Monday that they would be releasing about 300 “seating/standing room tickets” at some point today. . . . The road show moves into Calgary on Wednesday for a game with the Hitmen that is expected to draw about 17,000 fans to the Saddledome. . . . Then it’s on to games against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday and the Medicine Hat Tigers on Sunday, both of which also are expected to draw sellouts. . . . At home, the Pats’ last two games were played in front of sellouts (6,499). They have drawn their five largest crowds of the season to their past five games.

Multi

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, after the 49ers were drubbed by the host Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday: “First of all, 49ers’ fans, be good sports and wish all the best for the Philadelphia Eagles’ fans. Nothing but mad props for a fan base proud of its rep as the most foul-mouthed, drunken bullies in the NFL! Egging the 49ers’ buses arriving before the game? That’s called a Philly Omelet.”

Ostler also wrote: “On TV, Terry Bradshaw reported that (48ers’ QB Brock) Purdy suffered a nerve injury and that his arm would be fine, sensation would return, though not necessarily during the game. Had I been in Philly, I would’ve tracked down Bradshaw to ask him about this painful lump on my knee.”

Kids

Bruce Hamilton, the owner, president and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets, has given head coach Kris Mallette a vote of confidence. . . . “Kris KelownaMallette is going to coach this hockey club,” Hamilton told Regan Bartel, the radio voice of the Rockets on The Lizard. “He is a good, young coach. He has been very lucky coaching here because of lots of talent, and now this is a great challenge for him to make our team better.” . . . The Rockets (15-26-3) are tied with the Victoria Royals (14-28-5) for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. They are nine points out of seventh place so it would seem that one of those teams will miss the playoffs. . . . Hamilton made no bones about who needs to get things together. “I am standing beside him,” Hamilton said. “We have to make sure the players aren’t running the show. This generation of players at times gets thinking they have more input than they do. This group should just worry about playing right now and less about everything else.” . . . Bartel’s piece is right here. . . .

The Rockets announced on Monday that F Max Graham is out for three to four weeks with an undisclosed injury. Graham, 18, has nine goals and six assists in 40 games. . . . He joins F Andrew Cristall and F Ty Hurley, both of whom are week-to-week, and D John Babcock and D Marek Rocak, both day-to-day, on the Rockets’ injury list. . . . In the meantime, they have added F Scott Cousins, who turned 19 on Jan. 6, from the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings to their roster. He has played 52 games with the Rockets over three seasons. This season, he has two goals and five assists in 24 games with the Spruce Kings.

Jan Ludvig, the head coach of the junior B Kamloops Storm of the Kootenay KamStormnewInternational Junior Hockey League, has been suspended for three games after receiving a gross misconduct during a 4-2 loss to the Posse in Princeton on Saturday night. Ludvig was penalized after putting a towel on a stick and waving it at 12:01 of the third period. . . . Ludvig is in his first season as the Storm’s head coach. He played one season (1981-82) with the Kamloops Jr. Oilers, before going on to play in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. He also was a long-time scout with the Devils and later the Boston Bruins. . . . The Storm, it seems, already is planning a Towel Power promotion.

Harold Kreis, who played 68 games with the WHL’s Calgary Wranglers in 1977-78, is the new head coach of Germany’s national men’s hockey team. . . . Kreis, originally from Winnipeg, played 18 seasons of professional hockey in Germany, always in Mannheim. . . . Kreis, 64, is the head coach of the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings. . . . Martin Merk of iihf.com has more right here.

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

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.

Tombstone

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Let’s get Chipperfield on the 40 at 16 list . . . WJC in Edmonton has its dates . . . Mateychuk sets up six for Warriors

Hey, WHL, gotta add another name to the list of 16-year-olds in your 40-Goal Club.

That’s right. And, no, I didn’t figure it out by myself. I received an email on WHLSaturday pointing out that F Ron Chipperfield of the Brandon Wheat Kings struck 40 times in 64 games in 1970-71.

He was born in Brandon — his home actually was in Minnedosa, just up No. 10 highway — on March 28, 1954, so, yes, he was 16 for the 1970-71 season.

Could Chipper score? Hey, does a bear, well, you know . . .

He went on to play three more seasons with the Wheat Kings, scoring 59, 72 and 90 goals.

Chipperfield finished with 470 points, including 261 goals, in 252 games. Yes, he averaged more than one goal per game over a four-season career. In his final season, 1973-74, he counted for 90 of Brandon’s 305 goals. Add his 72 assists and he was in on 162 goals, or 53 per cent of them.

Amazing!

When you consider that the Wheat Kings were anything but a powerhouse in those days — they won 20, 35, 29 and 27 games during Chipperfield’s four seasons with them — his accomplishments are all the more amazing.

So let’s add Chipperfield to the list that also features Glen Goodall, Jeff Friesen, Mark Pederson, Dave Pasin and Bedard.

The WHL had Kimbi Daniels on the list when it was posted, but it turns out that he was 17 years of age when he hit the 40-goal mark. As a 16-year-old, he scored 30 goals for the 1988-89 Swift Current Broncos.

Diner

So . . . the Minnesota State Mavericks thought they had won the CCHA championship on Saturday night in Mankato, Minn. In fact, they were in their locker room celebrating what they thought was a 2-1 OT victory over the Bemidji State Beavers. However, well after the game, officials reviewed the winning goal and decided that it shouldn’t have counted. The CCHA said in a statement that “additional TV production camera angles made available to the officials provided conclusive evidence that the goal net was elevated and the puck entered underneath the frame.” . . . After the game, Don Lucia, the CCHA commissioner, told reporters: “I don’t want to end someone’s career on a goal that is not a goal.” . . . The game was restarted from 3:02 of OT, more than an hour after it had ended. The ice was resurfaced, teams had a five-minute warmup and then away they went. . . . After all that, the Mavericks got a goal from Jack McNeely at 5:11 to end it for a second time.

G Ève Gascon became the third woman to play in a QMJHL game on Saturday when her Gatineau Olympiques dropped a 5-4 OT decision to the visiting Rimouski Oceanic. . . . Gascon, 18, stopped 18 shots. . . . F Xavier Cormier scored the winner, his 20th goal of the season, at 1:10 of OT. . . . Gascon’s presence helped the Olympiques set a single-game attendance record (4,700) in their new facility — the Slush Puppie Centre. . . . Two other female goaltenders — Manon Rheaume and Charline Labonté — have played in the QMJHL, while Shannon Szabados, also a goaltender, had a taste of WHL action with the Tri-City Americans in September 2002. . . . Wayne Scanlan has more on Gascon’s day right here.

Spelling

My wife, Dorothy, who underwent a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013, is taking part in her ninth kidney walk, albeit virtually, on June 5. She has been involved in every walk since she had her transplant. If you would like to sponsor her, you are able to do that right here.

We have dates! The 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship now is scheduled for Aug. 9-20 with it all to be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton. You will recall WJC2022that the tournament actually got started in Red Deer/Edmonton on Dec. 26 but was cancelled four days later because of positive tests among players and on-ice officials. . . . All players who were eligible to play in December will be eligible for August. . . . Latvia has been added to the 10-team field, replacing the Russians, who were turfed after their dictator attacked Ukraine. . . . Group A will comprise Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S. Canada is in Group B, with Czechia, Finland, Latvia and Slovakia. . . . The tournament will start from scratch on Aug. 9, meaning results from December won’t count for anything. . . .

The IIHF also revealed on Saturday that the U18 Women’s World Championship is to be played in June in the U.S. It was to have been played in January in Sweden — Linkoping and Mjolby — but was scrubbed because of the pandemic. Dates and locations for June have yet to be announced. . . .

The men’s U18 Worlds will be held in Germany — Landshut and Kaufbeuren — from April 23 through May 1. Canada, Czechia, Germany and the U.S. will be Group A, with Group B comprising Finland, Latvia, Sweden and Switzerland. . . .

Martin Merk has more on the IIHF and various tournaments and schedule changes right here.

SATURDAY IN THE WHL:

The Moose Jaw Warriors got six assists from D Denton Mateychuk as they dropped the visiting Regina Pats, 10-4. . . . Regina had a 45-33 edge in shots. . . . The Warriors got singletons from 10 players. . . . Mateychuk has 56 points, including 47 assists, in 57 games. . . . Regina F Connor Bedard scored his 41st goal as he ran his point streak to 20 games, the longest in the WHL this season. . . .

F Briley Wood scored in the 11th round of a shootout to give the Lethbridge Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Rebels in Red Deer. . . . The Rebels forced OT when F Arshdeep Bains scored his 34th goal at 16:09 of the third period, via the PP. . . .

F Reece Vitelli scored twice and added an assist to lead the host Prince Albert Raiders to a 4-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . Vitelli has 22 goals this season. . . .

G Daniel Hauser stopped 19 shots to help the Winnipeg Ice to a 5-0 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. . . . Hauser has a WHL-leading seven shutouts. His other numbers this season: 24-2-1, 2.07, .913. . . . F Skyler Bruce had two goals, giving him 16, and an assist. . . . Winnipeg, which has clinched the East Division pennant, won the season series, 8-1-1. Brandon was 2-7-1.

G Isaac Poulter turned aside 19 shots as the Swift Current Broncos beat the Tigers, 2-0, in Medicine Hat. . . . F Josh Filmon’s 22nd goal, at 3:50 of the first period, stood up as the winner. . . . Poulter has four shutouts this season and five in his career. . . .

F Bailey Peach scored all three goals as the host Victoria Royals beat the Prince George Cougars, 3-0. . . . Peach, who has 33 goals, counted once in each period, the final one into an empty net. . . . The Royals got 35 saves from freshman G Tyler Palmer, who earned his third shutout of this season. . . .

F Sasha Mutala and F Parker Bell each scored twice and added an assist as the Tri-City Americans got past the Chiefs, 6-3, in Spokane. . . . Mutula  and Bell each has 16 goals. . . . Tri-City scored four of the game’s final five goals. . . . F Yannick scored two goals — he’s got 11 — and added an assist for Spokane. . . .

F Niko Huuhtanen had two goals and two assists to lead the Everett Silvertips to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Vancouver Giants. . . . Huuhtanen, who has 32 goals, gave the Silvertips a 2-0 lead by scoring at 2:22 and 16:39 of the first period. . . . Everett also got three assists from D Olen Zellweger. . . . The Giants were without F Adam Hall, who was hit with a three-game suspension for a hit on Everett D Ronan Seeley at 2:17 of the second period of Friday’s game. Hall was given a minor for boarding on the play in which Seeley suffered an apparent shoulder injury. He left the game and didn’t return. Hall later scored the Giants’ second and fourth goals in the Giants’ 5-3 victory. . . . Seeley didn’t play in this one. . . .

F Logan Stankoven scored twice and Dylan Garand recorded the shutout as the Kamloops Blazers beat the visiting Kelowna Rockets, 4-0. . . . Kamloops has won eight in a row, with five of those victories over Kelowna. . . . Stankoven, who has 35 goals, opened the scoring at 2:41 of the first period and that was all the offence Garand would need. . . . He finished with 33 saves as he posted his third shutout this season and the 11th of his career. This season, Garand is 29-7-0, 2.04, .926. . . . F Fraser Minten added his 18th goal and two assists. . . . After the game, Regan Bartel, the Rockets’ radio voice, tweeted: “When you play each other four straight games, tempers flare. Coaches doing some shouting at one another late in the third.” . . . They’ll go home-and-home again next weekend, too. . . .

F Jaydon Dureau scored Portland’s first three goals as the Winterhawks skated to a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Blades in Kent, Wash. . . . Dureau, who has 17 goals, scored three times on the PP — 22 seconds into the first period for a 1-0 lead, 59 seconds into the third for a 2-0 lead and at 3:27 for a 3-1 edge. . . . Portland was 3-for-5 on the PP; Seattle was 0-for-4. . . . Seattle was able to dress only 16 skaters, two under the maximum allowed.

Scraps

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.

Couples

Hey, coach, you should wear that mask properly because world is watching . . . Words of emotional advice from Emily Cave . . . Blues, Freeze say they’re sorry, but . . .

A friendly reminder to hockey coaches everywhere. . . . If you are required to wear a facemask while behind your team’s bench or anywhere else in the arena, make sure you wear it properly — covering your mouth and your nose. . . . Someone emailed me a nice big photo of a coach that got prominent play in his local newspaper — unfortunately, he was using his mask as a chin diaper, and that’s just not a good look. . . . So make sure to wear it properly because in this day and age there are cameras everywhere, and part of your job is to set a good example. . . . Thank you!

Colby Cave, a former WHLer (Swift Current, 2011-15), died on April 11, a few days after suffering a brain bleed. He and Emily had been married for nine months when he died in Toronto. Due to hospital restrictions brought on by the pandemic, Emily wasn’t with her husband at the end.

On Thursday, she took to her Instagram account to express some feelings, words that have echoed around the globe and been picked up by all kinds of media outlets.

Here are Emily’s words:

“I have kept my opinions regarding COVID to myself or people in my close circle but today I hit my breaking point with Alberta making new restrictions. I personally see & hear so many people complaining. I understand a lot of people feel that they won’t get it & if they did they would survive it.

“However, what would happen if your loved one became sick very fast with something else, was in a car accident, or was dying . . . & then because of the COVID restrictions you weren’t allowed to be with them?!?!

“My 25-year-old husband died alone. . . . I have no clue what his last breath was like. . . . I have yet to be able to have a funeral. . . . because of this global pandemic.

“So for goodness sake wear a mask, wash your freaking hands & it’s not the end of your world if you can’t go to house parties or do things that are essentially a ‘luxury’ in your blessed world because let me tell you . . . it’s not a luxury having your husband die alone. It’s not a luxury getting a phone call saying he’s dead compared to being there holding his hand. It’s not a luxury losing a loved one during a freaking global pandemic.

“If this insults any of my followers, unfollow me or grow up because until you’re in my shoes . . . which I pray to God you never have to be . . . your opinion can eat sh*t.”

Wear a mast. Social distance. Wash your hands. Please.

The MJHL’s Winnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze, both of whom are under fire for holding unsanctioned practices in Warren, Man., last week, issued a lengthy apology on Friday. . . . Both teams are owned by 50 Below Sports and Entertainment, which also owns, among other properties, the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice. . . . Matt Cockell, the Ice’s president and general manager, is the president and governor of both the Blues and Freeze. . . . The apology, which doesn’t include any names and isn’t signed, runs to 1,511 words. . . . It goes to great lengths to rationalize what occurred. If you are one of us who takes this pandemic seriously, you might see all of this as a weak explanation about looking for loopholes. . . . Carter Brooks of gameonhockey.ca has more right here, including the entire, uhh, apology.

Columnist Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun read the, uhh, apology and wrote: “Two Manitoba Junior Hockey League teams who flouted public health guidelines by staging practices just outside the city early this week have both apologized for and justified their actions.” . . . Perhaps the headline on Friesen’s column — “MJHL teams offer apology, but remain in hiding” — says more than anything. . . . His column is right here.

The Vancouver Giants have signed Keith McCambridge as their new associate Vancouvercoach, replacing Jamie Heward, who left “to pursue a different hockey opportunity.” . . . Heward, who spent two seasons with the Giants, is expected to join the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights as an assistant coach under Manny Viveiros. . . . McCambridge, a native of Thompson, Man., the hometown of former WHL coach of the year Jack Sangster, played four seasons in the WHL (Swift Current, Kamloops, 1991-95). He was a defenceman on the Blazers team that won the 1994 Memorial Cup. . . . The 46-year-old McCambridge coached in the AHL for 10 seasons, most recently as the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack (2016-19). The Wolf Pack is the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers, who chose to let McCambridge go after the 2018-19 season. . . . In Vancouver, McCambridge will work with head coach Michael Dyck, who leaves this weekend for Red Deer to join Canada’s national junior team for its selection camp. He is an assistant coach so will be gone until the World Junior Championship ends on Jan. 5. . . . WHL teams plan on bringing players in for brief training camps right after Christmas, and then hope to open their season on Jan. 8. . . . Steve Ewen of Postmedia has more on the Giants’ story right here.

Bob

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Karel Houde-Hébert of Radio-Canada in Regina reports that the SJHL “would FlinFlonlike” the Flin Flon Bombers to play out of Creighton, Sask., which is located two km west of the Manitoba city. . . . The Bombers have put their season on hold because of Manitoba being on a province-wide lockdown. The Bombers were to have played a weekend doubleheader against the visiting Kindersley Klippers. When the restrictions came in this week, the Bombers announced that they would play the two games in Kindersley. However, they announced Thursday that the games would be postponed. . . . Travis Rideout, the Bombers’ president, says the organization is “still looking at all the possibilities to continue our season.” . . . Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief medical officer of health, doesn’t like the Creighton option at all. “Sanitation measures were put in place for a reason. They save lives,” he said. “I encourage all Manitobans to play by the rules and not try to bend them.” . . . Houde-Hébert’s story is right here.

CBC Saskatchewan: The province is rolling out more COVID-19 rules including mandatory masking in 59 communities, limits on when alcohol can be served and the reduction of fitness-class sizes. The restrictions come into effect on Nov. 16.

CBC Saskatchewan: COVID-19 in Sask.: 81 new cases, 53 people in hospital on Friday. There are now 1,427 active cases, out of a total of 4,513 reported since the start of the pandemic.

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CBC News: Alberta is reporting 907 new cases of COVID-19 and 5 additional deaths related to the virus. 240 people are in hospital, including 54 in ICU. The province has 8,593 known active cases.

Troy Gillard, rdnewsNOW: Friday’s numbers are in and Red Deer is back to 94 active cases of COVID-19.

Mo Cranker, Medicine Hat News: Medicine Hat now has 34 active cases of COVID-19, meaning we have been added to the watch list.

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Janet Brown, CKNW Vancouver: Latest covid19: 617 new cases, 2 deaths for total 290, 167 people hospitalized, 50 ICU, just about 6000 active cases and nearly 12000 in self isolation.

James Peters, CFJC-TV, Kamloops: B.C. records daily record 617 new cases of COVID-19 (Friday), including 42 in Interior Health. Hospitalizations up to 167 with 50 in ICU.

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CBC News: Number of daily coronavirus cases in Ontario drops to 1,396, down from Thursday’s all-time high of 1,575. But the number still exceeds the province’s average from the previous 7-days of 1,299.

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CBC News: 30 additional deaths due to the coronavirus are being reported by health authorities in Quebec. The province also has 1,301 new cases, the lowest in 3 days but still above the average of the previous 7-days of 1,263.

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CBC News: Nunavut confirms a new case of COVID-19; the territory reported its 1st case on November 6; there are now 4. The latest one is in Arviat, a community of about 2,600 people on the west coast of Hudson’s Bay just north of the Manitoba border.

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CBS2 News: The Washington State Department of Health reported 2,142 new COVID-19 cases, 88 additional hospitalizations and 12 more deaths due to the virus.

oregonlive.com: Oregon governor orders 2-week coronavirus freeze, restricting bards and restaurants to takeout, closing some businesses.

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North Dakota has shut down all winter high school sports until at least Dec. 14. Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald writes that “the shutdown includes all extracurricular K-12 school activities and applies to all association, community and club sports for youth and adults.” The fall sports that now are wrapping up will be allowed to complete their championships. . . .

Jeremy Turley, inforum.com: North Dakota has enacted a statewide mask mandate and occupancy limits on restaurants, bars and event venues as the state’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak keeps spiraling out of control. Violators of the mask order could be charged with infractions.

680 CJOB Winnipeg: North Dakota is now allowing health-care workers who are COVID-19 positive, but asymptomatic, to continue working in corona virus units.

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I think it’s fair to say that’s quite a circus going on south of the 49th. Consider the case of the Cal Golden Bears football team. Cal was to have opened its season last weekend against the visiting Washington Huskies. But a positive test led to Cal coaches and players going into quarantine as close contacts and the game was cancelled. This weekend, Cal was scheduled to visit Arizona State, but that game was cancelled on Friday because of positive tests, including head coach Herm Edwards, among the Sun Devils. Instead, Cal will meet the UCLA Bruins on Sunday at the Rose Bowl. . . . The Bruins were to have played host to Utah but the Utes pulled out because of — you guessed it — positive tests. . . . As of Friday, Cal still had its entire defensive line, some coaches and other players in quarantine. The Golden Bears practised this week with one defensive lineman. . . . Rusty Simmons, in the San Francisco Chronicle: “As California eclipsed 1 million coronavirus cases this week and counties throughout the state rescind plans to reopen businesses and still can’t operate in-person schools, it’s difficult to find a reason to play a football game.” . . .

The U of Alaska-Anchorage cancelled its indoor winter sports season on Friday, meaning the Seawolves hockey team won’t be playing this winter. Also shut down are men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s indoor track, and women’s gymnastics. . . . Volleyball and cross-country teams found out in July that their fall seasons wouldn’t be happening. . . . This decision could signal the end of the Seawolves’ hockey program as the school said in mid-August that the 2020-21 season would be its final one. . . .

The NCAA hockey season that is to start this weekend lost one game on Friday when Long Island U’s first-ever game was postponed. It was to have played Army at West Point. However, the game was postponed due to an outbreak on the Army team. . . . Army also postponed its Nov. 20 game against visiting Holy Cross. . . . 

Golden Gate Fields, a thoroughbred race track in the San Francisco Bay area, has suspended live racing until at least Nov. 20. That’s because it has experienced 24 positive tests since Oct. 30.

Job

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.

Roger Bader, the head coach of Austria’s national men’s hockey team, has stepped in as head coach of the country’s national junior team. He takes over from Marco Pewal, who is an assistant coach with VSV Villach of the Erste Bank Hockey League. His club team could play as many as 15 games while Pewal would have been away, so it chose not to release him to the national junior team. Last season, with Pewal as head coach, Austria earned promotion. . . . Martin Merk has more right here. . . . The World Junior Championship is scheduled to open Dec. 25 in an Edmonton bubble.

Dogs

Four WHL teams looking for head coaches. . . . Wheat Kings latest to start search. . . . Anning’s contract not renewed

MacBeth

F Joel Broda (Tri-City, Moose Jaw, Calgary, 2004-10) has signed a one-year contract with Innsbruck (Austria, Erste Bank Liga). This season, with Dornbirn (Austria, Erste Bank Liga), he had nine goals and nine assists in 22 games. . . .

D Mário Grman (Red Deer, Kootenay, 2014-16) has signed a one-year plus option contract with SaiPa Lappeenranta (Finland, Liiga). This season, with Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia, KHL), he had four goals and four assists in 54 games. . . .

D Travis Brown (Moose Jaw, Victoria, 2010-15) has signed a one-year contract with Esbjerg Energy (Denmark, Metal Ligaen). This season, he was pointless in one game with the San Antonio Rampage (AHL), had 10 goals and nine assists in 29 games with the Wichita Thunder (ECHL), and had five goals and eight assists in 17 games with the Indy Fuel (ECHL). . . .

Some KHL news . . . Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) has withdrawn from the KHL due to inability to find financing to fund the club in the KHL for the 2019-20 season. All players under KHL contracts have been released. Players with WHL ties who played for Slovan this season are D Mário Grman (Red Deer, Kootenay, 2014-16), D Andrej Meszároš (Vancouver, 2004-05) and F Kyle Chipchura (Prince Albert, 2001-06). . . . The club has applied to re-join Slovakia’s Extraliga but the application hasn’t yet been accepted. Slovan must pay all outstanding salaries from this season before being accepted. Per the KHL, Slovan was more than 150 days late in paying player salaries at some point this season. . . . Slovan says that the club’s current owner has promised to pay the outstanding player salaries and fund the team in Extraliga for next season. The club also is behind on paying arena rent to the city of Bratislava and will enter into negotiations with the city on this. . . . Slovan has a coaching staff in place but no players under contract for next season.

ThisThat

And then there were four . . .

The Brandon Wheat Kings joined the ranks of WHL teams without a head coach on Tuesday morning when they announced that David Anning’s contract, which expired on BrandonWKregularMay 31, won’t be renewed.

The news release didn’t mention assistant coach Don MacGillivray, whose contract also ran out on May 31.

Anning, 34, spent seven season with the Wheat Kings, first as an assistant coach and then as head coach for the past three seasons. From Winnipeg, Anning joined the Wheat Kings from the MJHL’s Steinbach Pistons.

Anning put up a 102-87-23 regular-season record as Brandon’s head coach. That has him fourth on the club’s all-time victory list, behind McCrimmon (423), Bob Lowes (363) and the late Dunc McCallum (251).

The Wheat Kings missed the playoffs this season for the first time in six years.

MacGillivray, also from Winnipeg, was a long-time MJHL coach. He just completed his third season as an assistant coach with the Wheat Kings.

Earlier this spring, Wheat Kings owner Kelly McCrimmon also relieved general manager Grant Armstrong of his duties.

There has been speculation that former Victoria Royals head coach Dave Lowry could be Brandon’s next general manager. Anning’s departure will have people wondering if Lowry could be hired to do both jobs.

However, McCrimmon has told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun that he is leaning towards hiring two people to fill those roles.

Lowry spent five seasons as the Royals’ head coach before joining the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach prior to the NHL’s 2017-18 season. The Kings dismissed Lowry on April 17 following the hiring of Todd McLellan as their new head coach.

In the WHL, the Kamloops Blazers, Prince George Cougars and Spokane Chiefs also are looking for a head coach.

Matt Bardsley, the Blazers’ general manager, is expected to meet with Shaun Clouston, the former Medicine Hat Tigers GM/head coach, this week. Kamloops is working to replace Serge Lajoie with whom it parted company after the season.

The Cougars are looking for a replacement for Richard Matvichuk, who was fired late in his third season as head coach. Muddying the waters in Prince George is that Mark Lamb, who is preparing for his second season as general manager, is rumoured to be in line for an assistant coach’s position with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.

The Chiefs need a replacement for Dan Lambert, who left last week after two years as their head coach. Lambert now is an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators.

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The Tri-City Americans have signed F Jake Sloan to a WHL contract. From Leduc, Alta., Sloan was a third-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft. . . . He played this season with the bantam AAA Leduc Oil Kings, putting up 40 goals and 34 assists in 33 games, and was honoured as the league’s MVP.

Robert Petrovicky is the new head coach of Slovakia’s national U-20 team. Petrovicky replaces Ernest Bokros, the team’s head coach for the past eight years. . . . Petrovicky, 45, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with Slovan Bratislava of the KHL and with the Slovakian national team, which is coached by former NHL’er Craig Ramsey. As you will have seen in The MacBeth Report, Slovan Bratislava has withdrawn from the KHL due to financial issues. . . . Petrovicky is the older brother of former WHL F Ronald Petrovicky (Tri-City, Prince George, Regina, 1994-98). . . . Rastislav Stana, a former WHLer (Moose Jaw, Calgary, 1998-2000), is the Slovakian team’s goaltending coach. . . . Slovakia’s U-20 team is to gather on Sunday in Namestovo for a week-long summer camp. . . . The 2020 World Junior Championship is scheduled for Ostrava and Trinec, Czech Republic. . . .

Martin Merk of iihf.com has more right here, including news involving the Slovakian federation having taken the U-20 team out of the top Slovak league in order to focus funding on the U-18 program. . . .

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