Never have words like “low-key” and “boring” been as exciting as when they appear in postings from Lindsey Backmeyer, whose daughter Ferris, 6, continues to recover from a kidney transplant.
The Backmeyers — Pat, Lindsey’s husband, and their two other daughters, Tavia and Ksenia — are from Kamloops. They have been in Toronto for a month. Ferris, who was diagnosed with kidney disease early in her young life, underwent a transplant overnight on June 29 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
“Things have been pretty low-key and incredibly boring . . . just the way we like it,” Lindsey wrote on Facebook on Monday. “Happy birthday to my ma yesterday!! We couldn’t be doing this right now as a family if it weren’t for her!! The bigs are definitely keeping her young and busy!!!”
Lindsey’s mother, Leslie Maydaniuk, also is in Toronto, and she has been instrumental in helping with the two oldest girls (aka the bigs).
As for Ferris, it seems she isn’t likely to be discharged from hospital for a few days. She has been experiencing some urine leakage, so the medical team had to put in a catheter.
“Urology is pretty adamant the catheter stays in until Friday so we have a week still at least before a potential discharge,” Lindsey wrote. “Her drain isn’t outputting anything and her kidney is still very happy. I’m cool with waiting if that’s what they think is best.
“It just feels a little dreamy to expect we will get through to discharge without any drama. She threatens it a bit at times but for the most part is behaving herself. Maybe boring is our new jam!!”
Boring hasn’t really been part of the Backmeyer family’s lives for more than five years, so it’s understandable if it’s hard to get used to at this point. Ferris, like most, if not all, six-year-olds, doesn’t do boring well at all.
“Ferris is the least impressed with being bored but the hospital does a decent job of trying to keep her busy,” according to Lindsey. “The days are loooong yet going by quickly. We’ve been here a month now already!! It’s exactly where we need to be right now so settling into that idea and just accepting where we are at.”
Meanwhile, Grandma and the bigs are in for a treat — like 10 days in California, starting on Friday.
Lindsey’s brother “has offered to bring the girls and grandma to California for a visit,” Lindsey wrote. “It was super sweet that the girls were worried about Ferris and felt sad for her, but I reminded them that their lives are super important too and this is an opportunity they won’t want to miss out on!! Hanging out with their auntie, uncle and cousins!! Should be a blast!! They are incredibly excited and I’m super excited for them!”
If anyone deserves a trip like this, it is Tavia and Ksenia. It’s easy to forget about them in all that has gone on around this family over the past five-plus years. But they’ve been part-and-parcel of the entire adventure, too, and they have shown an inordinate amount of bravery, courage and love through it all. So it’s good to see something like this happen for them.
After having spent 52 of his 69 years in junior or pro hockey, John Paddock announced his retirement on Monday in Regina. He had been the Regina Pats’ vice-president of hockey operations and head coach.
Paddock, a native of Brandon, will help the organization as a senior advisor.
He joined the Pats prior to the 2014-15 season. He has been the senior VP of hockey operations, VP of hockey operations, general manager and/or head coach at various times.
Alan Millar, most recently with Hockey Canada after a stint with the Moose Jaw Warriors, has taken over from Paddock as VP of hockey operations. Millar said the Pats’ coaching staff may be in place later this week.
“When I signed a new contract in ’18 after the Memorial Cup, it was for this length of time,” Paddock told a news conference. “That was in the back of my mind that it would be time at age 69.
“I don’t want to talk too much about it but the health issues I had a year-and-a-half ago . . . probably cinched it that this would be the time.”
Early in 2022, while he was being treated for lymphoma, Paddock tested positive for COVID-19. Because of the lymphoma treatments, he was immuno-compromised. All of this led him to a nasty place.
“I got sick,” Paddock told Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post in September 2022, “and then got really sick.”
As a result, Paddock wasn’t able to coach the Pats for the final 10 weeks of the 2021-22 season.
While with the Pats, Paddock twice was named the WHL’s coach of the year (2015, 2017) , and he was the executive of the year in 2017.
He is a former NHL player, assistant coach and head coach. He played in the AHL, winning two Calder Cups, then won three more as a head coach. He is in the AHL Hall of Fame.
Millar, 56, had been working as Hockey Canada’s director of player personnel. He was responsible for Canada’s U18 and national junior teams for the past two seasons. The U18 team won two gold medals during Millar’s time — the 2021 IIHF World Championship and the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup — and the national junior team won the 2022 and 2023 championships.
Before joining Hockey Canada, Millar was with the Warriors for 11 seasons — the first two as director of hockey operations and the last nine as general manager.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
Mat Barrett has joined the Swift Current Broncos as their broadcast and community relations manager. Yes, he will handle their play-by-play. Barrett spent the past six seasons doing play-by-play with the SJHL’s Melfort Mustangs. For the past two seasons, Barrett, who is from Edmonton, also was their manager of marketing, business and office administration. . . . In Swift Current, Barrett will take over from Craig Beauchemin, who left in May after four years with the Broncos. . . .
The QMJHL’s Sherbrooke Phoenix has hired Philippe Sauvé as its new general manager, and Gilles Bouchard as head coach. . . . Sauvé is a former player agent who played in the NHL as a goaltender. Of late, he worked as a player agent with his father Robert. . . . Bouchard, who got a four-year deal, spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. . . . They take over from Stéphane Julien, who now is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. . . .
The BCHL’s Salmon Arm Silverbacks and Tyler Shattock, their head coach and assistant general manager, have agreed to a two-year contract extension. Shattock, who is from Salmon Arm, has been the head coach since stepping up from assistant coach during the 2019-20 season. He joined the organization as an assistant coach in October 2018. . . . With Shattock as head coach, the Silverbacks are 81-47-20 in the regular season. In 2022-23, Salmon Arm reached the Interior Conference final for the first time since 2008-09. . . . He played four seasons (2006-10) in the WHL — three-plus with the Kamloops Blazers and the last 30 games with the Calgary Hitmen as they won the 2009-10 WHL title. . . .
The BCHL’s Penticton Vees have promoted Matt Miller, who had been an assistant coach/video coach, to director of hockey operations. Miller, who is from Penticton, has been with the Vees since 2020. Earlier, he spent a couple of seasons with the West Kelowna Warriors. . . . The Vees also added Matthew Vanden Berg to their staff as an assistant coach. For the past two seasons he was a volunteer assistant coach at the U of Maine. . . . Former WHL D Cam Barker has left the Vees after two seasons as an assistant coach. The Vees won two BCHL titles while he was with them. Barker played four seasons (2002-06) with the Medicine Hat Tigers. . . .
Eric Labrosse is the new general manager and head coach of the MJHL’s OCN Blizzard, a team that plays out of The Pas. According to a news release, Labrosse “has many years of coaching experience ranging from France2, USports and most recently serving as the assistant coach for the Moncton Wildcats in the QMJHL.” . . . Labrosse replaces Doug Johnson, who spent one season with the Blizzard and now is general manager and head coach with the SJHL’s Melville Millionaires.
Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Driver chasing 15-minute traffic delay by parking in middle of road put flashers on so it’s totally fine.
JUST NOTES:
The ECHL added its 29th franchise on Monday with the announcement that there will be a team playing out of Lake Tahoe when the 2024-25 season arrives. Tim Tebow, the former college and NFL quarterback, is part of the ownership. The as-yet unnamed franchise will play out of the soon-to-be completed Tahoe Blue Event Center, which is located in Stateline, Nev., and will seat more than 4,200 for hockey.
——
——
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.
Stampeders went into Ottawa and scored a 17-3 victory over the Redblacks. Dickenson was in COVID-19 protocol, so special teams coach Mark Kilam, who is in his 18th season with the Stampeders, was the acting head coach. . . . Dickenson, who was cleared to return to practice later in the weekend, was in his usual place on the sidelines when the Stampeders dropped a 35-28 loss to the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 30 but missed practices during the following week. . . . And then came word that Dusty Baker, the manager of the Houston Astros, had tested positive prior to a Friday night game. Baker is 73 so you can bet the Astros’ medical staff is keeping a close eye on him.
coach Ryan Marsh left after four seasons to join the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings in Germany as an assistant coach. . . . Rabbit, who is from the Kainai First Nation in Alberta, played four seasons (2002-06) with the Blades and 30 games with the Vancouver Giants in 2006-07. He ended his pro career by playing three seasons (2018-21) with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, while also playing in Czechi and Romania. . . . In 2021-22, he was an assistant coach with the BCHL’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs. . . . From a Blades’ news release: Rabbit “will join head coach Brennan Sonne, assistant coach Dan DaSilva, goaltending coach Jeff Harvey, video coach Karter Parisloff and assistant Jerome Engele on the staff.”
signed him to “a multi-year contract” as head coach. The precise length of the deal wasn’t revealed. . . . Smith was in his second season as the WHL team’s associate coach when head coach Adam Maglio was fired on Feb. 10. Smith was named interim head coach and guided the Chiefs into the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to the Kamloops Blazers. . . . Before joining the Chiefs, Smith spent two seasons on the Medicine Hat Tigers’ coaching staff and was with the Swift Current Broncos for three seasons. . . . The Chiefs also signed Dustin Donaghy as an assistant coach for 2022-23. A part-time assistant when last season began, he assumed a full-time role when Maglio was fired. As a player, Donaghy, now 33, helped the Chiefs to the 2008 Memorial Cup title. . . . Of course, the Chiefs’ decision to stay with Smith throws a wet blanket on the speculation that the job would be going to Kyle Gustafson, who spent 18 years with the Portland Winterhawks but now is a free agent after being released by the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. . . .
Hockey Canada, “an investment group headed by Brad Kwong, a Western Canadian-born investment professional with a long history in the sport of hockey as a player, executive and team owner,” according to a news release. . . . That news release is 
grinding regular season. . . . As an example, I used the junior B Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. . . . Well, the Nelson Leafs and Revelstoke Grizzlies will play in the KIJHL’s best-of-seven championship final, and the schedule was released on Wednesday. . . . If the series goes seven games, the teams will play seven games in nine days. Seriously! . . . The series is scheduled to open Friday in Revelstoke, with Game 2 there on Saturday. The scene shifts to Nelson for games on Monday and Tuesday. If necessary, they then will play three games in as many nights — March 31 in Revelstoke, April 1 in Nelson, April 2 in Revelstoke. . . . Just thinking out loud here but maybe it is time junior hockey players had some kind of players’ association to stand up on their behalf when things like this happen.
things out. You may recall that the BCHL no longer is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League, so won’t take part in the Centennial Cup tournament.
Wednesday by the death of Don Moores, the WHL franchise’s president, chief operating officer and alternate governor. . . . Moores, 65, died at the Kamloops Golf and Country Club. He collapsed on the third hole — he had started on the back nine, so was playing his 12th hole of the day — at around noon. According to Environment Canada, the temperature in Kamloops at noon was 39.1C with a humidex of 42C. . . . Earl Seitz of CFJC-TV in Kamloops reported that Moores died of a heart attack. . . . Alec Hubert, the golf club’s general manager, told Marty Hastings of Kamloops This Week that he and others got to the third hole with cold water and medical equipment. “We went out there and did the best we could,” Hubert said. . . . He added that Moore had stopped at the clubhouse after nine holes and “grabbed a sandwich” and that all appeared to be fine. . . . A native of Kamloops, Moores played for the WHL’s Kamloops Chiefs (1973-76) and later was an assistant coach with the Blazers (1985-90). . . . Moores was introduced as the club president on June 30, 2016, exactly five years prior to his death. . . . As word of Moore’s death spread, the hockey world and fans flooded social media with messages of condolences for Moores’ family and for the Blazers. . . . Hastings’ complete story is 
year contract extension. The news release announcing the signing didn’t indicate the length of the extension. . . . Mallette, 42, joined the Rockets as an assistant coach prior to the 2014-15 season. . . . He was named head coach on March 2, 2020, after a short stint as the interim head coach following the firing of Adam Foote. Because of the pandemic, Mallette has on 25 games as a head coach under his belt, going 15-7-3. . . . He is a former WHL defenceman, having played with the Rockets and Moose Jaw Warriors (1997-2000).
import draft on Wednesday and they took F Niko Huuhtanen of Finland second overall. Huuhtanen turned 18 on Saturday. . . . A 6-foot-1, 200-pound right winger, he played for Tappara’s U20 team in Finland last season, putting up 20 goals and 14 assists in 37 games. He also played at the IIHF U-18 World championship, scoring two goals and adding three assists in seven games. . . . Huuhtanen is eligible for the NHL’s 2021 draft. NHL Central Scouting rated him 49th among European skaters. . . . Interestingly, Huuhtanen signed a two-year contract with Tappara on May 19. That deal runs through 2022-23. Tappara plays in Liiga, the country’s top pro league. . . . In an Everett news release, Dennis Williams, the Silvertips’ interim general manager and head coach, said: “We’re excited to have him, and he’s excited to become a Silvertip.” . . . The news release didn’t mention Huuhtanen’s contractual status with Tappara. . . . You are able to find the complete import draft 
The AJHL, which plans on opening its regular season on Nov. 13, revealed Wednesday morning that “a member” of the Whitecourt Wolverines tested positive and that the Alberta Health Services protocols had been activated.
capacities because of the pandemic, there were a few hints in a news release issued by the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday.
games since opening on Oct. 9, until the province’s numbers started running wild. By Tuesday, the Winnipeg Free Press was suggesting the MJHL’s season might be in doubt.
reporting that “at least one player with the OCN Blizzard has tested positive for COVID-19, putting the club’s season and perhaps even the MJHL’s 2020-21 campaign into doubt.”
International Junior Hockey League have nine additional members of the organization self-isolating until Nov. 11. This comes after the Interior Health Authority completed contact tracing. The Dynamiters’ last exhibition game, scheduled for Friday against the visiting Fernie Ghostriders has been cancelled. . . . The KIJHL plans on opening its regular season on Nov. 13. The Dynamiters are scheduled to be at home to Fernie that night. . . .
gathering on Oct. 15. When the topic of WHL players moving to junior A during the shutdown arose, Trevor Redden of 
reporters: “We’re hopeful that we will be in a position later this month and into July to select a candidate to become the new owner of the Portland Winterhawks. It’s important to have that resolved as quickly as possible. Our target is to have that resolved by sometime in July.”
planning to start the 2020-21 regular season on Dec. 1, pending approval from the Provincial Health Office (PHO).” . . . Here’s Chris Hebb, the BCHL commissioner, from a news release: “We’ve been having discussions with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture since March around a safe return to play. The PHO has indicated to us that waiting until December gives us the best chance at ensuring we have an uninterrupted season, while also maximizing the amount of regular-season games we’ll be able to play.” . . . Teams will be allowed to open on-ice sessions on Sept. 8 — yes, almost three months before they hope to open the season. . . . The BCHL news release is 
TAKING NOTE 