F Mitch Callahan (Kelowna, 2008-11) signed a one-year contract with Augsburger Panther (Germany, DEL). Last season, in 61 games with the Bakersfield Condors (AHL), he had 15 goals and 19 assists. He was an alternate captain.
Jack Redlick, a former WHL player, won’t be coaching in 2019-20 after being injured in a motorcycle accident. Redlick, the head coach of the midget AAA St. Albert Raiders, is the Alberta Midget Hockey League’s reigning coach of the year. . . . He played 75 WHL games over three seasons, split among the Kamloops Blazers, Vancouver Giants and Regina Pats. . . . Redlick was injured on June 29 while riding near Idaho Falls, Idaho. He has since been transferred to the U of Alberta Hospital. . . .
Kristina Lindsay posted this on Redlick’s Facebook page earlier in the week:
“Surgeries 3 and 4 to repair the torn pectoral on the right shoulder and do the skin graft on his left forearm are complete. “Can I please have 2 M&Ms and 1 Crisper?” The comedy show is appreciated. It will be a long week with extremely limited mobility on both arms. They will check his foot again in 2 weeks.”
On July 13, she had posted this:
“Two weeks ago today I got the knock at the door that everyone dreads. Today I got to roll Jack outside for the first time since the accident, it’s a good day. Many of the staples and stitches came out today, the bruising and swelling is gone, he looks great. Monday will be shoulder surgery to repair the detached pectoral on the right side, a skin graft on the left forearm is up next later in the week. The bruised heart, collapsed lung and broken femur are healing as they should. The tib/fib is coming along but will be a long haul. The big question is what will happen with his foot, it’s a waiting game for now until the foot declares what will survive. Another surgery down the line on the foot once decisions have been made, no word yet on how long he’ll be in here but a while yet still. Jack loves visitors to combat the boredom so if you’re in the U of A area between 12-6 come say hi.”
——
The latest from the Raiders on Friday:
“The Redlick family would like to extend a huge thank you to their Raiders family and all those who have supported them through this tough process. On June 29 an oncoming motorcycle crossed the centre line and hit Jack head on while he was on a motorcycle trip with friends in Idaho. Jack sustained various serious injuries but was very lucky and has no head, neck or spinal injuries. The longest part of the recovery will be a partial amputation of his (left) foot, which will keep him from coaching this year. We believe that with Jack’s strength and determination he will make a successful recovery and we will see him back on the bench. We wish the 2019/2020 Raiders luck In the upcoming season and Jack will be in stands as soon as he’s able.”
Geoff Giacobbo will be the Raiders’ head coach in 2019-20, with Rob Hayne, Jeff Leyer and Dave Ridd the assistant coaches.
Scott Burt no longer is on the Spokane Chiefs’ coaching staff, while Adam Maglio has 
been hired as associate coach under new head coach Manny Viveiros. . . . Burt, who had been with the Chiefs for six seasons, was passed over twice in the past two years as the team hired new head coaches. Two years ago, they signed Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons to join the NHL’s Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. The Chiefs announced Viveiros’s signing on July 9. . . . Maglio, a 33-year-old from Nelson, B.C., spent four seasons with the Spruce Kings, two as an assistant coach and two as head coach. He led them to back-to-back BCHL championship series. They won the Fred Page Cup last season, and then won the Doyle Cup, before losing the junior A national championship in the final game. . . . The Spruce Kings immediately promoted Alex Evin, their associate coach, to head coach. . . . The Chiefs’ news release is right here. . . .
The Chiefs also announced the signing of Russian D Matvei Startsev, who will turn 17 on Sept. 4, to a WHL contract. The Chiefs selected him in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. . . . Last season, he had four goals and eight assists in 25 games with the Moskva U-17 team, and added three goals and six assists in 13 games with the U-18 side. . . . His signing leaves the Chiefs with three imports on their roster, the others being Czech G Lukas Parik, who also was selected in the 2019 import draft, and veteran D Filip Kral, who will turn 20 on Oct. 20. Kral, also a Czech, was a fifth-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2018 NHL draft and has signed a contract with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. . . . Parik, 18, was picked by the Los Angeles Kings in the third round of the NHL’s 2019 draft.
The Prince George Cougars have signed F Kyren Gronick, 15, and F Filip Koffer, 18, to 
WHL contracts. . . . Gronick, from Regina, was a second-round selection in the 2019 bantam draft. Last season, he had 27 goals and 26 assists in 24 games with the bantam AA Regina Aces. . . . Koffer was the 10th-overall pick in the CHL’s 2019 import draft. From Czech Republic, he had 10 goals and 28 assists in 38 games with HC Dynamo Pardubice in the Czech U-19 league. He also had one assist in 12 games with Dynamo Pardubice in the Extraliga. Koffer played for the Czechs at the World Hockey Championship in April and led the team with six points, four of them goals, in five games. . . . Koffer joins sophomore Czech F Matej Toman, who is from, as the Cougars’ import players. Toman had nine goals and 11 assists in 66 games last season. . . . Belarusian F Vladislav Mikhalchuk is eligible to return to the Cougars as a 20-year-old for a third season, but he has signed a one-year, two-way contract with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, KHL). If he doesn’t stick with that club, he likely would play with Torpedo Nizhny Nogorod-2 (Russia, VHL). . . .
The Cougars also announced the signing of Mike Matthies as athletic therapist. A Prince George native, he spent the past two seasons with the Victoria Royals, working as a student athletic therapist. . . . He takes over the Cougars’ position from Chico Dhanjal, who has been the team’s athletic trainer and equipment manager for 11 seasons. He remains as the Cougars’ equipment manager. . . . In fact, he will work in that role for Team Canada at the 2019 IIHF U-17 World Hockey Challenge in Medicine Hat and Swift Current, Nov. 2-9. This week, he is in Calgary working at Hockey Canada’s U-17 development camp. . . . Dhanjal, one of the WHL’s really good guys, has been with the Cougars since 2008. How do I now he’s one of the good guys? Because every time he sees me, he asks about my wife, and that means a lot. (Hey, Chico, she is excellent. Thanks for asking.)
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The WHL-champion Prince Albert Raiders will pay $100,000 towards the purchase of a 
new scoreclock for the Art Hauser Centre. The club will play that money over a five-year period. . . . City council has voted to pay about $95,000 of the remaining cost, which will total more than $275,000. . . . The new clock will bring the arena “into full compliance with new WHL facility standards set to come into affect for the 2019-20 season,” reports Jason Kerr of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. Also included in those standards are a new LED lighting system and acrylic boards and new glass. . . . By the way, Kerr also reported that the Raiders’ deep playoff run put $153,402.98 into the city’s offers. . . . Kerr’s complete story is right here.
JUST NOTES:
D Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants has a signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. He was the fourth-overall selection in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . A native of Cranbrook, Byram, 18, had 26 goals and 45 assists in 67 regular-season games with the Giants in 2018-19. He led all playoff scorers by putting up 26 points in 22 games as the Giants reached Game 7 of the championship final. . . . His father, Shawn, played three WHL seasons (Regina Pats, Prince Albert Raiders, 1985-88) and was a fourth-round pick by the New York Islanders in the NHL’s 1986 draft. . . . As an 18-year-old, Byram’s options for the 2019-20 season are the Avalanche or the Giants. . . .
Veteran scout Jeff Finley has joined the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets after spending seven seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, the last three as their chief amateur scout. Finley, 52, fills the vacancy on Winnipeg’s staff created by the retirement of Marcel Comeau. . . . Finley played three seasons (1984-87) with the Portland Winterhawks before going on to a pro career that included 708 regular-season and 52 playoff NHL games. . . . Finley spent two seasons (2007-09) as an assistant coach with the Kelowna Rockets. . . . He is the father to Jack, who plays for the Spokane Chiefs, and Mason, who was a fifth-round pick by the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft.
coach. He takes over from Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons to sign on as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. . . . Viveiros, 53, spent last season as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, but was released when Dave Tippett was hired as the NHL team’s new head coach. . . . Prior to that, Viveiros spent two seasons as the director of player personnel and head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, who won the WHL championship in 2017-18. . . . Viveiros will be introduced to Spokane at a news conference today.
Brandon Wheat Kings as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams still looking for one. The Wheat Kings chose not to renew head coach David Anning’s contract after last season. . . . Anning had been with the Wheat Kings though seven seasons — four as an assistant coach and three as head coach. . . . 
the Spokane Chiefs. . . . Jason Gregor, the host of The Jason Gregor Show on TSN1260 in Edmonton, tweeted the news on Monday evening. . . . Viveiros, who played four seasons in the WHL (Prince Albert, 1982-86), returned from Europe to spend two seasons as the director of player personnel and head coach with the Swift Current Broncos. After winning the WHL championship for 2017-18, he left the WHL for a job as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. That ended after last season, when Dave Tippett was hired as the Oilers’ head coach. . . . A month ago, he told Postmedia’s Jim Matheson that he didn’t have any interest in returning to the WHL. “It’s not really a place for me to go back to and no disrespect to that league,” Viveiros said. “I’ve won in Europe (in Austria) multiple times, I’ve won in the Western League. I had choices last year but (Edmonton) is home, my family, my wife’s parents are here.” . . . In Spokane, Viveiros will replace Dan Lambert, who left after two seasons as head coach to join the NHL’s Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. . . . With Viveiros in Spokane, it leaves the Brandon Wheat Kings as the only one of the WHL’s 22 teams without a head coach. The Wheat Kings also need a general manager.
camp for the national junior team. . . . F Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and F Peyton Krebs of the Winnipeg Ice both are injured and won’t be on the ice during the camp, which is to run July 7 through Aug. 3 in Plymouth, Mich. . . . Cozens had surgery last week after suffering an injury to his left thumb in the Buffalo Sabres’ development camp. He is expected to be sidelined for up to three months. The Sabres had picked him seventh overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Krebs suffered a partially torn left Achilles tendon during a workout and later underwent surgery. He attended the NHL draft and was taken 17th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights. A timeline hasn’t yet been established for his return. . . . F Connor McMichael of the OHL’s London Knights has been added to the camp roster. He was a first-round pick by the Washington Capitals in the NHL’s 2019 draft.
the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him third overall in the NHL’s 2019 draft. . . . Dach had 25 goals and 48 assists in 62 games with the Blades last season. He added five goals and three assists in 10 playoff games. . . . In 2017-18, as a WHL freshman, he had seven goals and 39 assists in 52 games. . . . Under terms of the CBA between the NHL and the NHLPA, Dach, 18, will have to play with the Blackhawks or the Blades in 2019-20.
source familiar with the situation has told Taking Note. . . . Shepard, 17, was a second-round pick by Vancouver in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. . . . Last season, he had seven goals and 17 assists in 53 games with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees. . . . Prior to that, he played at the Delta Hockey Academy. . . . Shepard made a verbal commitment to Harvard U on April 17, 2018, to start with the 2021-22 season. . . . Signing with the Giants will give him the opportunity to play with his brother Jackson, 19, who was acquired from the Lethbridge Hurricanes on May 25.
both of whom were selected in the first round of the 2019 bantam draft, to WHL contracts. . . . Dowhaniuk, from Sherwood Park, Alta., was the third-overall selection. He had eight goals and 27 assists in 25 games with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team last season. . . . The Cougars took Ziemmer with the fourth-overall selection. From Mayerthorpe, Alta., he also played with the OHA Edmonton bantam prep team, putting up 37 goals and 39 assists in 29 games. . . .
Kelowna Rockets. . . . Fiddler, who played three seasons (1997-2000) with the Rockets, was added to Kelowna’s coaching staff on Wednesday. . . . Fiddler, 39, will work alongside head coach Adam Foote, assistant Kris Mallette, Adam Brown, who handles goaltenders, skills coach Kim Gellert, and power-skating coach Evan Marble. . . . Fiddler, from Edmonton, had been working as a skills development coach with Dallas, helping out in the NHL and with the AHL’s Texas Stars. . . . Fiddler was dealt by the Rockets to the Medicine Hat Tigers three games into the 2000-01 season. He finished his WHL career with the Tigers before going on to a pro career that included 877 NHL regular-season games. He last played in 2016-17 when he split the season between the New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators. . . . The Rockets, who didn’t make the playoffs last season, are the host team for the 2020 Memorial Cup.
and conditioning coach, to a contract extension, the length of which wasn’t revealed. . . . Campbell is prepping for his 12th season with the Winterhawks. . . . “Rich Campbell is the longest serving member of our current staff, and we are pleased to announce that he will be returning for several more seasons,” Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ vice-president, general manager and head coach, said in a news release. “One of the key reasons we are able to develop players for the National Hockey League is because of the work Rich does off the ice.” . . . Campbell’s resume includes a stint with the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team that played in the Beijing Games, and working as the head trainer for the NHL’s New York Islanders from 1997 to 2006.
. . Each team is allowed to have two import players on its roster during the season. . . . As you read this team-by-team look, keep in mind that a team with an import on its roster who was a first-round NHL draft pick, or one who has signed with an NHL team, or one who is prepping for his 20-year-old season is allowed to add a player in the draft. Some teams, then, could end up with three imports on their roster, but eventually will have to get down to two. . . . I believe a team has until two weeks after the third import arrives to trim its roster.
whom played last season in the USHL. . . . Finnish F Marcus Kallionkieli played last season with the Sioux City Musketeers, putting up 29 goals and 54 assists in 58 games. He was a fifth-round pick by the Vegas Golden Knights in last weekend’s NHL draft. Kelly McCrimmon, the Wheat Kings’ owner, is the Golden Knights’ assistant general manager; he takes over as GM on Sept. 1. . . . Russian F Vladislav Firstov was picked by the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the 2019 NHL draft. Last season, he had 26 goals and 32 assists with the Waterloo Blackhawks. Firstov has committed to play with the Huskies at the U of Connecticut in the fall. . . . The Wheat Kings’ roster also includes Czech G Jiri Patera, 20, who was a sixth-round pick by the Golden Knights in the NHL’s 2017 draft. The Wheat Kings’ No. 1 goaltender as a freshman last season, he has yet to sign a pro contract.
Jesper Wallstedt, who has been hyped by some observers as perhaps the best in the world in his age group. . . . He will turn 17 on Nov. 14, so isn’t eligible for the NHL draft until 2021. . . . Last season, the 6-foot-3 Wallstedt played in 21 games with Luleå HF J20 of the SuperElit league, going 2.65, .901. He is expected to return to the team for the 2019-20 season, so the Warriors have some work ahead of them. . . . The Warriors have two other imports on their roster — Belarusian D Vladislav Yeryomenko, 20, who was acquired from the Calgary Hitmen on May 2, and F Danill Stepanov, 18, who also is from Belarus. Yeryomenko was a fifth-round pick by the Nashville Predators in the NHL’s 2018 draft, but he has yet to sign a pro contract.
Zaytsev as to his immediate future, but, in the meantime, they are keeping him on their roster. . . . With one pick in the draft, then, they took Finnish D Christoffer Sedoff, 17, out of the HIFK organization. . . . Last season, he had three assists in 32 games with HIFK’s U-20 team. . . . He also played in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. . . . “From everything we know, he’s coming,” Brent Sutter, the Rebels’ owner, general manager and head coach, told Greg Meachem of reddeerrebels.com. “Unless some unforeseen thing comes about, as far as we know he’ll be here.” . . . Russian D Alex Alexeyev, 20, was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round of the NHL’s 2018 draft and is expected to start his pro career in the fall.
from last season — Swedish D Emil Malysjev, 18, who will play at home, and Norwegian F Kristian Roykas Marthinsen, 20, who apparently is planning on beginning his pro career. He was a seventh-round pick by the NHL’s Washington Capitals in 2017 but hasn’t signed. . . . The Blades then grabbed a pair of Czech defencemen — Libor Zabransky, 19, who has played 107 WHL games with the Kelowna Rockets, and Radek Kucerik, who is to turn 18 on Dec. 21. . . . Last season, Zabransky had two goals and seven assists in 35 games with the Rockets, before finishing up with the USHL’s Fargo Force. He had four goals and 12 assists in 30 games with Fargo. In 2017-18, He had two goals and 17 assists in 72 games with Kelowna. . . . Kucerik won’t turn 18 until Dec. 17. He captained HC Kometa Brno’s U1-9 squad last season and, if he doesn’t show up in Saskatoon, he could play with HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Extraliga in 2019-20.
Klassen, the Chiefs picked Czech G Lukas Parik, 18, who was a third-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL’s 2019 draft. This was the first time Spokane has picked a goaltender in the import draft. . . . The 6-foot-4 Parik attended the Kings’s development camp this week. . . . Campbell Arnold, 17, also is in the Chiefs’ picture after being a second-round selection in the WHL’s 2017 bantam draft. From Nanaimo, B.C., he played last season for the junior B Spokane Braves of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. . . . Spokane also selected Russian D Matvei Startsev, who will turn 17 on Sept. 4. He is listed at 5-foot-8 and 132 pounds, but the Chiefs indicated in a news release that “scouting reports indicate Startsev has grown significantly above his listed height and weight over the past year.” . . . Veteran Czech D Filip Kral, who turns 20 on Oct. 20, remains on Spokane’s roster and could return for a third season. He was a fifth-round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the NHL’s 2018 draft, but has yet to sign a pro deal.
Finnish D Kasper Puutio, a 17-year-old from Vaasa. . . . Last season, he had one goal and three assists in 31 games with Kärpät’s U-20 team, and had four goals and eight assists in 10 games with the U-18 side. . . . He also had four assists in six games at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. . . . Puutio is the fourth straight selection from Finland for Swift Current, after F Aleksi Heponiemi (2016), and F Joona Kiviniemi and D Roope Pynnonen (2018). . . . Kiviniemi is returning for a second season, but Pynnonen was released prior to this draft. . . . Puutio is “a 2002 that fits into our mold,” Dean Brockman, the Broncos’ director of player personnel and head coach, said on the team’s website. “He’s a right-handed shot who’s projected to go in next year’s NHL draft. He’s got all the checkmarks we needed. The biggest thing is he wants to be here.”
picked two players — Czech F Michal Teply, 18, and German F Nino Kinder, 18. . . . Teply was a fourth-round selection by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL’s 2019 draft. Last season, he had four goals and six assists in 23 games on loan to HC Benatky nad Jizerou in the Czech2 league. He had been loaned by Bílí Tygři Liberec of the Extraliga, the country’s top pro league. Teply had played 15 games with them, putting up two assists. He also played at the IIHF U-18 Worlds and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. . . . Kinder had 17 goals and 24 assists in 33 games with the U-20 Eisbaren Juniors Berlin. He was pointless in five games with Eisbaren Berlin of the DEL. Kinder is spending this week at the Los Angeles Kings’ development camp. . . . The Ice finished last season with two import defencemen on its roster. Martin Bodak of Czech Republic has used up his junior eliibility, while Valtteri Kakkonen, 19, of Finland has signed with JYP of Liiga, that country’s top pro league.
import draft gets started. The Broncos, who had the WHL’s poorest record last season, cleared room for one pick by releasing Finnish D Roope Pynnonen, 18. . . . A freshman last season, Pynnonen was pointless in 44 games. . . . The Broncos’ other import is Finnish F Joona Kiviniemi, who will turn 18 on Dec. 17. Last season, his first in the WHL, he had 16 goals and nine assists in 25 games.
for a second season, but have chosen to keep him on their roster and make one selection in today’s import draft. . . . In his final 31 Thoughts of the season, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman wrote on Wednesday: “It was (Zaytsev’s) first season in North America, and while he petered out as the (season) continued, you could see the potential. Zaytsev went unselected last weekend, mainly because teams heard he will be signing an entry-level contract with the KHL. (Those contracts are also three years.) But, don’t be surprised if someone tries to get him as a free agent, therefore holding his rights until a return.” . . . Zaytsev’s play may have tailed off but he still put up 13 goals and 30 assists in 66 games as a 17-year-old freshman in a foreign country. . . . D Alex Alexeyev, who will turn 20 on Nov. 15, has played three seasons with the Rebels. A first-round pick by the Washington Capitals in 2018, has signed an NHL contract and is expected to at least start the season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, if he doesn’t make the big club, that is.
Tigers, who is in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ development camp, went down with an injury to his “left knee/leg.” She added: “Hamblin clearly in a lot of pain, covering his head with his hands.” . . . Hamblin, 20, was taken from the ice on a stretcher with the leg immobilized. . . . Bobby Fox, the Tigers’ director of player personnel, late told Ryan McCracken of the Medicine Hat News that Hamblin underwent X-rays and that they came back negative. . . . Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun later reported that Hamblin suffered a “knee cap injury in an apparent skating mishap.” . . . Hamblin has played four seasons with the Tigers and was the team captain for the last two of them.
to be two years in length.
— D Hunter Mayo, D Jace Weir and F Carter Anderson. . . . Mayo, from Martensville, Sask., was selected in the second round. He had 15 goals and 27 assists in 28 games with a bantam AA team in Martensville this season. . . . Weir, from Coldstream, B.C., also was taken in the second round. This season, he had eight goals and 24 assists in 18 games with the North Zone bantams in Coldstream. . . . Anderson, from Thompson, Man., was a third-round pick. This season, with the bantam prep team at the Winnipeg-based Rink Hockey Academy, he had 17 goals and 11 assists in 29 games.
the new head coach of the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. . . . Grimes and George Burnett, the Storm’s general manager and head coach, had been together for 13 years in Belleville and Guelph. . . . Grimes, who is from Dartmouth, N.S., had been the Storm’s associate coach for two seasons. . . . The Screaming Eagles fired Marc-Andre Dumont, their GM and head coach, on April 16. . . . Last month, they named Jacques Carrier as general manager, hockey operations, and John Hanna as assistant GM, hockey operations.
Bardsley about the team’s search for a head coach to replace one-and-done Serge Lajoie.
head coach Marc Habscheid to what a news release says are “multi-year extensions.” . . . The news release adds: “Further terms of the contracts were not disclosed.” . . . Hunt took over as GM prior to the 2015-16 season and is the reigning WHL executive of the year. . . . Habscheid took over as the Raiders’ head coach during the 2014-15 season. The Raiders are 168-134-36 in his time as head coach. . . . This season, he became the eighth head coach in WHL history to get to 500 regular-season victories. . . . Habscheid was name the WHL’s coach of the year for 2018-19, the second time he has been so honoured.
TAKING NOTE 