Thursday, July 15, 2010

WHL Notes July 15

Two WHL players will play for USA at next month's U-18.
http://whl.ca/two-whl-players-named-to-u-s-under-18-select-team-p143309
The Canadian Hockey League announced that five CHL players will compete for Team USA at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament August 9-14, 2010, in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia. Of the five players named two currently play in the Western Hockey League, Tanner Mort of the Spokane Chiefs and Lukas Sutter of the Saskatoon Blades.

Giant's Head Coach Don Hay has turned down the Oilers to be an assistant coach.
Cranbrook native Tom Renney is the Oilers Head Coach and he worked with Hay with the Blazers during the 80's.
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/dubhub/archive/2010/07/15/toigo-hay-returning-to-giants-after-turning-down-nhl-gig.aspx
Vancouver Giants’ fans didn’t need to fret. Don Hay’s flirting with a return to the NHL didn’t last long.
Giants owner Ron Toigo said Wednesday night that Hay had turned down an assistant coaching job with the Edmonton Oilers and opted to return for a seventh straight season at the helm of Vancouver’s WHL entry.
There was a time that Toigo wondered whether his club was going to lose both Hay and general manager Scott Bonner to the Oilers. Edmonton wanted Bonner to run their new AHL team in Oklahoma City, but the Edmonton native was more interested in a player personnel position. There was some negotiating, but talks eventually broke off.

Warriors Make Small Profit In 09-10
http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Sports/Hockey/2010-07-14/article-1562424/Warriors-report-a-healthy-bottom-line-at-AGM/1
The Warriors posted a modest profit of $16,987 in net earnings. In 2009, they posted a modest loss of $3,120. More significantly, the franchise has $487,768 cash in reserve and $677,463 in retained earnings.

Minor trade between Portland and Vancouver that could end up being a major trade.
http://www.oregonlive.com/hawks/index.ssf/2010/07/winterhawks_acquire_rights_to.html
The Portland Winterhawks have acquired the rights to forward Rocco Grimaldi from the Vancouver Giants for a conditional Western Hockey League bantam draft pick.
Grimaldi, a California native, was on the Giants' protected list and spent last season with the United States National Team Development Program. On Tuesday, he committed to the University of North Dakota beginning in 2011, so there's no guarantee he will ever play for the Winterhawks.
"Our philosophy is to acquire the best players in our territory, and Rocco is not only an elite player, but we've heard nothing but good things about his character off the ice," said Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach Mike Johnston. "We may or may not successfully recruit Rocco to join the Winterhawks, and in the end if he decides to go to college we will respect his decision, but we hope he keeps an open mind about our program and the opportunity here."
Last season, the 5-foot-6, 165-pound Grimaldi was captain of the USNTDP Under-17 team and registered 11 goals and nine assists in 32 games in the United States Hockey League.
Grimaldi also suited up for the gold medal-winning Team USA in the 2010 World Under-18 Championship in Belarus. He tied for the team lead with 10 points in seven games, including a goal and an assist in the championship game victory over Sweden.

Silvertips Assistant Coach Jay varady on USA U-18 Staff.
http://everettsilvertips.com/news/story.cfm?ID=1819
Everett, WA - USA Hockey revealed Wednesday that Associate Head Coach Jay Varady has been named to the coaching staff for its U-18 Select Team that will compete at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament from August 9-14 in Breclav, Czech Republic, and Piestany, Slovakia. Varady will serve as an Assistant Coach under Head Coach Tim Army.
Varady, 33, won a gold medal with USA Hockey at the 2010 World Junior Championships, where he served as a Video Coordinator. He also has experience coaching at USA Hockey's 2008 National Junior Evaluation Camp.