Giants have their next head coach . . . Strumm, Vanstone into Regina Hall of Fame . . . Portland beefs up scouting staff

It would appear that Manny Viveiros is back in the WHL. Steve Ewen of Postmedia, citing “multiple sources,” reported on Monday that the Vancouver Giants are expected to introduce Viveiros as their new head coach during a news conference at their annual golf tournament at Tsawwassen Springs on Thursday. . . . Viveiros 57, spent the past three seasons as head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights. . . . Michael Dyck, who had been the Giants head coach through five seasons, now is an assistant coach with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. . . . Ewen wrote: “According to sources, Viveiros was one of the first people Giants general manager Barclay Parneta reached out to when Dyck signed on with the Marlies. Viveiros was a Giants’ rival in the WHL the season before the Henderson stint, guiding the Spokane Chiefs in the COVID-19-shortened 2019-20 campaign. His top assistant coach there was Adam Maglio, 37, who is currently getting ready for his second season with Vancouver.” . . . Viveiros was the GM and head coach of the 2017-18 Swift Current Broncos, who won the WHL championship. Following that season, his second with the Broncos, he joined the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach. After one season there, he signed with Spokane. . . . With Viveiros in Vancouver it leaves the Lethbridge Hurricanes as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach.


HideSeek


Bob Strumm, whose involvement with the WHL goes back to 1976, is among the Regina Sports Hall of Fame’s newest inductees who were announced on Tuesday. . . . Strumm, who is from Saskatoon, was an assistant to Ed Chynoweth, then the WHL’s president, when it opened its Calgary office in 1976. . . . Now a Las Vegas resident, Strumm was with the Regina Pats for seven seasons (1979-86), at various times serving as co-owner, GM and head coach. . . . Kevin Gallant, the Pats’ play-by-play voice back in the day, points out that Regina won one WHL title and three Eastern Conference championships under Strumm and also had the six highest-scoring seasons in franchise history. . . . Strumm also worked in the WHL with the Billings Bighorns (general manager, 1977-79) and Spokane Chiefs (GM, 1987-90). . . . Also among the 2023 inductees — it’s the 20th anniversary class — is Rob Vanstone, who covered the WHL and the Pats during his lengthy stay at the Regina Leader-Post. He now is the senior writer/historian with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. . . . Strumm will be inducted as a builder, with Vanstone going in as a patron.



The Portland Winterhawks, who lost two senior members of their scouting staff Portlandearlier this summer, have added five scouts to their organization — Rjay Berra, who will be a B.C. regional scout out of Prince George; Josh Bonar, who will do the same out of the Okanagan; Ed Fowler, who also will scout in B.C., but out of Surrey; Alex Overhardt in Colorado; and William Wrenn in Alaska. . . . Overhardt spent four seasons (2014-18) playing for the Winterhawks; Wrenn, who is from Anchorage, joined them from the U of Denver during the 2010-11 season and was team captain in 2011-12 before going pro. . . . Bonar also is a former WHL player, having been with the Kamloops Blazers, Vancouver Giants and Regina Pats (2000-03). . . . Berra played with the BCHL’s Prince George Spruce Kings and the AJHL’s Grande Prairie Storm. . . . Fowler spent nine years with the Victoria Royals, including three (2019-22) as their director of player personnel. . . . On Aug. 4, the Winterhawks announced that Brad Davis, who had scouted out of Manitoba for 16 years, and Ray Payne, who had been with them for six years, both had left the organization.


Spencer Trapp, the 37-year-old grandson of Barry Trapp, has joined the junior B Fort Knox franchise of the Prairie Junior Hockey League as an assistant coach. . . . Spencer’s father, Doug, played with the WHL’s Regina Pats and is a former Fort Knox head coach. . . . As a player, Spencer spent three seasons with the SJHL’s Notre Dame Hounds before going on to player NCAA hockey at Holy Cross.


Kindle


Jack Todd, writing in the Montreal Gazette: “After 115 games, 24-year-old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .265 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs. At that age, his father had 193 hits for the season, including 42 home runs and 37 doubles, drove in 131 runs and hit .316 while swinging at everything in his area code. There is no comparison.” . . .

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Todd, again: “Why are we not surprised to see Angela price wearing a T-shirt touting ‘Kennedy for President’? Meaning anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”


Brains


Morten Kjolby has signed on as the general manager and head coach of the Summerland Steam, who play in the Kootenay International Junior A Hockey League. . . . Kjolby, 33, is from Denmark, and has coached there and in Spain at the U18 and U20 levels. Last season, he was on staff with the Cold Lake, Alta., Aeros of the Canadian-American Junior Hockey League. . . . John DePourcq, who spent seven seasons (2012-19) as the Steam’s head coach, is returning after three years away to serve as an assistant coach and advisor. . . . There isn’t any mention in the Steam’s news release of James McEwan, who was named general manager and head coach on July 23. It would appear that the Steam-McEwan arrangement was rather short-lived.


Brad Flynn, who has WHL coaching experience, has joined the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers as an assistant coach. Flynn, 38, is a rarity in that he has coached in all three major junior leagues. . . . That includes a three-season stint (2018-21) with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. . . . In 2021-22, he was an associate coach with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. Last season, he was an assistant coach with the Brock University Badgers of USports.


Buffalo


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.


Knights

A tip of the fedora to the Windsor Lancers . . . Blades, Thunderbirds swap high-end forwards . . . Rebels lose veteran goalie to ‘congenital defect’

On May 24, I posted this on Taking Note:

The U of Windsor Lancers men’s hockey team is going to spend some time in Merritt, B.C., in August. They will be involved in a hockey academy while there, and they also will play a couple of exhibition games. The big news — really big news — is that they are going to spend time working with First Nations communities who continue on the road to recovery from wildfires and floods that hit them hard in 2021. . . . The Lancers will be helping to erect five emergency homes, a project that should take five days if all goes according to plan. . . . “We’re always looking for opportunities for our student athletes to learn and grow at the rink and away from the rink,” head coach Kevin Hamlin said, “and this just seemed to be a great fit given all the craziness that’s happened and come to light out west.” . . . There’s more on this story from AM800 News right here.


The New Westminster Bruins raised single-game ticket prices prior to the 1985-86 season . . .


The Seattle Thunderbirds have acquired F Kyle Crnkovic, 20, the WHL’s fifth-Seattleleading scorer last season, from the Saskatoon Blades for F Conner Roulette, 19, and a third-round pick in the WHL’s 2026 draft. . . . Crnkovic, a first-round pick by the Blades in the WHL’s 2017 draft, had 94 points, including 39 goals, in 68 games last season. In 210 games over four-plus seasons with Saskatoon, he put up 81 goals and 140 assists. He is from Chestermere, Alta. . . . Seattle now has two 20-year-olds on its roster, the other being F Jared Davidson, who finished last season with 42 goals and 47 assists in 64 games. . . . Seattle selected Roulette, who is from Winnipeg, in the second Saskatoonround of the WHL’s 2018 draft. In 131 games with the Thunderbirds, he had 117 points, including 49 goals. Last season, he put up 24 goals and 42 assists in 65 games. He added 18 points, five of them goals, in 25 playoff games as Seattle reached the WHL final. . . . The Dallas Stars picked Roulette in the fourth round of the NHL’s 2021 draft. . . . The Blades, who open training camp on Thursday, have yet to post a training camp roster on their website. But I believe they now have two 20-year-olds with them — F Josh Pillar and D Aidan De La Gorgendiere. Moving Crnkovic, then, would perhaps indicate that another deal/acquisition is imminent.



G Chase Coward won’t be on the Red Deer Rebels’ roster when the new season gets rolling. Coward, 19, got into 35 games last season, but medical issues now RedDeerhave him on the sideline. . . . “Chase underwent testing this summer and discovered a congenital defect to his lower body,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner, president and general manager, said in a news release. “At this time, Chase has decided he will not attend training camp or be a part of the Rebels’ roster to start the season, and we support him as he navigates through the process.” . . . In 41 regular-season games, 35 of them last season, the Swift Current native was 24-11-3, 2.62, .904. . . . Last season, Coward was 22-10-2, 2.51, .906. . . . As WHL observer Alan Caldwell tweeted: “This leaves the Rebels with no experienced goaltenders since they traded Coward’s 21-22 batterymate Connor Ungar to Moose Jaw in the spring.” . . . Perhaps the Rebels would be interested in one of two veteran OHL goaltenders, both of them 20 years of age, who have been waived. Tucker Tynan was dropped by the Soo Grehyounds, while the Peterborough Petes have dropped Tye Austin. . . . G Kyle Kelsey, 18, who was acquired from the Warriors in the Ungar deal, may get a look. However, the Rebels, who open camp on Thursday, have yet to post a training camp roster.


The MacBeth Report (@MacBethReport) reports that two former WHLers — Brandon Davidson and Tyler Wong — signed contracts with Kunlun Red Star Beijing of the KHL this week. Davidson, who played last season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, signed a two-year deal, while Wong signed a four-year extension after putting up 14 goals and 14 assists in 48 games last season. He has played the past three seasons with Kunlun Red Star. . . . Davidson, 31, played three seasons (2009-12) with the Regina Pats. Wong, 26, spent five seasons (2012-17) with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . The interesting thing about these signings is that Kunlun Red Star will be playing out of Mytishchi, Russia, for a second straight season because of COVID-19 restrictions for foreigners entering China. According to The MacBeth Report, “Mytishchi is an outer northern suburb of Moscow.” . . . Am I the only one who finds it interesting that Canadian players are signing contracts to play in Russia while that country is making war on Ukraine?


Car


THE COACHING GAME:

The AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder announced late Monday that Jeff Shantz, its general manager and head coach, was leaving to join the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes as a development coach. . . . From a news release: “Sean Brown has assumed all head coach and general manager duties for the Thunder, and has begun our search for Jeff’s replacement.” . . . Brown was named associate GM and associate coach on July 18. . . . Shantz was introduced as the GM/head coach on July 13 after a five-year run as a coach at the Edge School in Calgary. Shantz, 48, played three seasons (1990-93) with the Regina Pats before going on to play 642 regular-season NHL games. He finished his pro career by playing eight seasons in Europe. . . .

The BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters have signed Tim Fragle, their general manager and head coach, to a contract extension that runs through the 2024-25 season. . . . Fragile is preparing for his third season with the Smoke Eaters with whom he spent two seasons (1997-99) as a player. . . .

The AHL’s Calgary Wranglers have added former WHL players Mackenzie Skapski and Daniel Johnston to head coach Mitch Love’s staff. . . . Skapski, a former goaltender, will serve as development goaltending coach; Johnston will be the video coach and also work in team services. . . . They will work alongside assistant coaches Don Nachbaur and Joe Cirella. . . . Skapski, 28, played three seasons (2011-14) with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. In a five-season pro career, he got into two NHL games with the New York Rangers, going 2-0-0, 0.50, .978 with one shutout. . . . Johnston, 29, played four full seasons (2009-13) and parts of two others in the WHL, starting with the Portland Winterhawks and finishing with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He spent the past two seasons on the Brandon Wheat Kings’ coaching staff. . . .

Former NHL D Ladislav Smid will be a guest coach when the Edmonton Oil Kings, the WHL’s defending champions, open training camp this week. Smid, from Frydiant, Czech Republic, has retired after a 17-season pro career, the last five with Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czech Extraliga. He spent 11 seasons in the NHL, playing with the Edmonton Oilers, who own the Oil Kings, and the Calgary Flames. . . . The Oil Kings also revealed that Kirt Hill, who is preparing for his fifth season as president of hockey operations and general manager, has signed a multi-year contract extension, but the exact length wasn’t provided. . . . The Oil Kings also revealed that Luke Pierce, who moved from assistant coach to head coach after Brad Lauer left for the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, also has signed a multi-year extension. Again, the exact length wasn’t provided. . . . There is more on the Oil Kings’ hockey operations staff right here.



THINKING OUT LOUD — A reminder to those folks who cover junior hockey: There isn’t any such thing as an overage player; he is a 20-year-old player. Were he overage, he wouldn’t be eligible to play. . . . And while we’re at it, there aren’t any assistant captains; there are alternate captains. . . . If you are a fan of the Oakland A’s or Washington Nationals, I feel for you. Consider that after Tuesday’s games, they had combined for 92 victories. The Los Angeles Dodgers, meanwhile, had won 90 games. . . . Hey, WHL, you’ve got teams opening training camps this week and there still are rosters that aren’t available. Believe it or not, there really are fans and other observers who are interested in these things. . . . Hey, WHL, perhaps you could create a full-time, high-salaried position for Alan Caldwell. You know, Minister of Statistics, Rosters, Draft Picks and Information, or something like that. If you’re interested, Caldwell is posting rosters right here as he is able to locate them. He also will be updating them as camps progress. I checked the spreadsheets there Tuesday night and got a message telling me that “some tools might be unavailable due to heavy traffic.” Yes, WHL, people really are interested in this stuff.


Chicken


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.


Library