“Insurance companies are threatening to withhold coverage from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League and its three major junior leagues and teams,” writes Rick Westhead of TSN, “as they battle a high-stakes hazing, bullying, and abuse lawsuit, court documents say.
“Hockey Canada filed a lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court in Milton, Ont., on June 9 alleging AIG Insurance Company of Canada and TIG Insurance Company have indicated they may not honour their policy obligations in connection with the lawsuit.
Hockey Canada, which argues that its insurance companies should help pay to defend the lawsuit as well as any costs related to judgments and settlements, filed a similar claim in a Toronto court on Aug. 11 against Lloyd’s of London, which runs an insurance market of syndicate members that includes AIG and Allianz Global Risk US Insurance Company.
“If the insurance companies successfully argue that they should not have to cover costs and potential damages related to the lawsuit, it’s unclear how the CHL and its teams would come up with the funds.”
Westhead’s complete story is right here.
This is one of four lawsuits in which the WHL is involved.
It has yet to settle one filed by the City of Cranbrook against the league and the Kootenay Ice for allegedly breaking its lease when the franchise moved to Winnipeg.
A proposed class-action lawsuit against the CHL, Hockey Canada and the WHL filed in 2019 involves players who, according to a story by Westhead from May 2021, “allege in affidavits . . . that they were typically not given proper medical attention after suffering concussions in games and that they still suffer from the long-term effects of repeated brain trauma.” Lawyers are to provide arguments pertaining to this as a class-action suit on Oct. 25-27 in Vancouver.
Another lawsuit, a class action suggesting that players are student athletes or employees and should be paid minimum wage, involved the CHL and teams in the WHL, OHL and QMJHL. After six years, it was settled in May 2020, with the agreement calling for the CHL to pay out $30 million by Oct. 20, 2020. However, judges in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec chose not to approve the settlement. The parties were to renegotiate or reapply for approval of the settlement. Since then . . . silence.
The Vancouver Giants introduced Manny Viveiros as the ninth head coach in franchise history on Thursday. With the opening of training camp a week away, Steve Ewen of Postmedia wondered why it took the Giants so long to name a successor to Michael Dyck, who left for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on July 13. . . . It turns out that it all had to do with Viveiros having fought off colon and prostate cancer over the past two years, all the while working as the head coach of the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. Viveiros actually was contemplating taking a year away from coaching. But then the phone rang . . . and rang . . . and rang. And he decided that his mental and physical health were A-OK. . . . Ewen’s story — and it’s terrific — is right here.
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The Vancouver Giants completed their coaching staff for the approaching season with the hiring of Kayden Jarvis as video and skill development coach. From Winnipeg, Jarvis, 27, has been working at the RINK Hockey Academy in Winnipeg for the past seven seasons. He also was a skills coach with the MJHL’s Niverville Nighthawks last season. . . . With the Giants, he will work alongside head coach Manny Viveiros and associate coach Adam Maglio.
The Victoria Royals have added two more former members of the Winnipeg Ice organization to their front office. Earlier, Jake Heisinger signed on with the 
Royals as associate general manager. Then they hired former Ice head coach James Patrick as director of player development. . . . On Friday, Heisinger announced that Tanner McCall and Tyler MacDonald, both of whom worked with the Ice before the franchise was sold and relocated to Wenatchee, Wash., have joined Victoria’s scouting department. McCall now is the Royals’ head scout after two years as a scout with the Ice. MacDonald, who was with the Kootenay Ice for three seasons before it moved to Winnipeg, will work as the senior regional scout for Manitoba. . . . Returning scouts are Scott Fukami of Calgary, who is back for a seventh season; Glen Naka of Kelowna, returning for his 11th season; Peter Kasowski of Edmonton, who is prepping for his eighth season; and Claude Aucoin of Victoria, back for a fifth season. . . . Matt Hanak of Calgary is a newcomer to the staff. . . . No longer on the Royals’ staff are long-time WHLers Stu MacGregor and Garry Pochipinski.
Sam Williams, a defensive end with the Dallas Cowboys, was arrested this week in Frisco, Texas, and charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of a weapon. This wasn’t his first run-in with the law. . . . So what was Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones’ reaction? “Everything I know about it, won’t impact his time on the field. This sounds a little hollow but he does and is maturing. And he is. What was he going, 66? Was he going 66 miles an hour? This year? So he’s 34 mph less than he was . . . so that’s improvement.” . . . Williams, a second-round NFL draft pick in 2021, was nailed for speeding in December after a two-car accident. It was determined that he had been doing 98 mph prior to the crash. . . . You’re right. Jones’ math is about as solid as the work he has done signing bad news footballers.
Rhyah Stewart became the fifth female in CHL history to get into an exhibition or regular-season game on Friday when she stopped all 24 shots she faced in 30 
minutes for the Cape Breton Eagles against the visiting Moncton Wildcats. . . . She was named the game’s first star after Moncton’s 5-3 victory. . . . Stewart, 16, is from Antigonish, N.S. Earlier this month, Stewart won her only start with Canada’s U18 team in a series against the U.S., at Lake Placid, N.Y. . . . Last season, she became he first female to play in the Nova Scotia U18 Major Hockey League, going 3.67, .899 in 21 appearances with the Cape Breton West Islanders. . . . Manon Rheaume (Trois-Rivieres Draveurs, 1991), Charline Labonte (Acadie-Bathurst Titan) and Eve Gascon (Gatineau Olympiques) preceded Stewart in the QMJHL. . . . Shannon Szabados (Tri-City Americans, 2002) is the only female to have played in the WHL.
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earlier 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.
Konowalchuk who left the organization after his second season with the team. . . . Walser, 45, had been an assistant coach with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes since 2017. The Petes won the OHL title last season. . . . As a player, he spent five seasons in the QMJHL, split between the Beauport Harfangs and Rimouski Oceanic. He then went on to a 19-season professional career before turning to coaching. The coaching career began with the Belfast Giants of the Elite Ice Hockey League where he was the playing head coach for two seasons. . . . The Rebels’ news release is right here.
Vancouver Giants after five seasons with the team. Ewen wrote that “multiple sources” indicated that Dyck will be joining the Toronto Marlies, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, as an assistant coach. . . . Dyck took over as the Giants’ head coach for the 2018-19 season and guided them to the WHL final where they lost Game 7, 3-2 in OT, to the Prince Albert Raiders. . . . Ewen’s complete story is 
leading candidate would appear to be Brad Herauf, an assistant coach with the team since 2015-16. From Regina, he spent two seasons as head coach of the U18 AAA Regina Pat Canadians before joining the Pats as an assistant coach. . . . John Paddock, the Pats’ vice-president of hockey operations, general manager and head coach, announced his retirement on Monday. Alan Millar now is the vice-president of hockey ops and GM.
end, the national governing body is giving indications that it isn’t about to bend any of its rules.
goals early in the third period as they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-2, in Kent, Wash. . . . Seattle leads the best-of-seven conference final, 3-2, with Game 6 in Kamloops on Monday. If they need a seventh game, it would be played on Tuesday in Kent. . . . F Jared Davidson (9) gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 6:25 of the second period. . . . F Matthew Seminoff (8) sacred at 16:00 and the teams were all even going to the third. . . . Seminoff (9) broke the tie 43 seconds into the third period. . . . F Ryan Hofer then scored his seventh and eighth goals, the latter while shorthanded, at 1:06 and 5:31, and just like that Kamloops held a 4-1 lead. . . . F Reid Schaefer (5) got Seattle to within two, on a PP, at 5:48. . . . Davidson’s goal set a franchise record for career playoff goals. He has 22, one more than F Scott Eansor (2013-17). . . . D Olen Zellweger and F Logan Stankoven, the Blazers’ offensive stars, each had one assist. . . . Seattle was 1-for-4 on the PP; Kamloops was 0-for-2. . . . Kamloops got another big night from G Dylan Ernst, with 36 saves, 10 more than Seattle’s Thomas Milic. . . . D Logan Bairos was back in Kamloops’ lineup, while D Ryan Michael remains sidelined. . . . The Thunderbirds remain without F Jordan Gustafson.
major junior, 17 junior A and 43 junior B. As of this moment, those teams all play under Hockey Canada’s umbrella. However, the BCHL — with 17 teams in B.C. and one in Washington state — has said it plans on leaving Hockey Canada when this month is up. . . . What will that mean for junior hockey in B.C.? Well, Cam Hope, the former Victoria Royals’ general manager who now is the CEO of BC Hockey, has told Steve Ewen of Postmedia that it may result in a new junior A league starting up. In fact, Hope told Ewen that such a move was “probable,” adding that no one is in a rush to get it done because “I’d much rather make sure we do it right than do it fast.” . . . Presumably, a new junior A league could include a number of junior B teams moving on up, along with any organizations that might decide to leave the BCHL. Ewen reported that “several sources” had told him the vote to leave Hockey Canada was 14-2 with two abstentions.
goals, three of them in the first 11 minutes, en route to a 5-1 victory over the Saskatoon Blades. . . . The Ice now holds a 3-0 lead in the conference final and gets its first chance to wrap it up tonight in Saskatoon. . . . F Matt Savoie (11), on a PP at 2:46, F Zach Benson (4), at 9:48, and F Evan Friesen (4), at 10:33, had those first-period goals. . . . F Connor McClennon (11) made it 4-0, on another PP, at 1:13 of the second period. . . . F Justin Lies (3) got the Blades on the scoreboard at 5:40. . . . That was as close as the Blades were to get. . . . Ice F Owen Pederson (4) closed out the scoring with a PP goal at 19:26 of the third period. . . . Winnipeg was 3-for-6 on the PP; Saskatoon was 0-for-2. . . . The Ice held a 34-18 edge in shots, including 10-4 in the third period. . . . Winnipeg got three assists from D Ben Zloty, and Savoie added two helpers to his goal. . . . Zloty has a WHL-leading 19 assists. . . . G Daniel Hauser earned the victory with 17 saves. His career record, including regular season games, now is 97-10-3. . . . The Blades continue to be without injured defencemen Blake Gustafson and Ben Saunderson, and they also scratched F Egor Sidorov from this one with an undisclosed injury. . . . Winnipeg remains without D Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the first round.
goals as they beat the Regina Pats, 4-1, in Game 7 of their first round series. . . . The Blades will open the second round at home to the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night. . . . This game was goalless until Saskatoon D Spencer Shugrue scored on a redirection off a 3-on-2 break with 13.3 seconds left in the second period. The 19-year-old Vancouver native had one goal and six assists in 55 regular-season games. He was pointless in the first six games of the series. . . . The Blades went ahead 2-0 at 7:56 of the third period when F Jake Chiasson (2) scored. . . . F Stanislav Svozil (4) got the Pats to within a goal at 13:10. . . . The Blades put it away on goals from F Vaughn Watterodt (3), at 17:50, and F Trevor Wong (3), into an empty net, at 18:11. . . . Wong finished the series with 10 points, as did Saskatoon F Egor Sidorov, who had five goals. . . . Saskatoon got 25 stops from G Austin Elliott, while Regina’s Drew Sim blocked 36. . . . Saskatoon was 0-for-2 on the PP to finish 5-for-18. Regina’s PP didn’t get on the ice in Game 7 and finished 5-for-14. . . . If you were wondering who was the WHL Supervisor for this game, it was Kevin Muench, the league’s veteran senior director of officiating. . . . The announced attendance at Monday’s game was 14,768. The four playoff games in Saskatoon drew 47,729 fans. The seven-game series finished with a total attendance of 67,226. . . . The Pats’ last six trips to Saskatoon drew 77,265 fans to SaskTel Centre.
TAKING NOTE 