In the
OHL, the biggest announcement yesterday was the re-signing of
Sudbury Head Coach
Mike Foligno. After all sorts of speculation, it was announced that
Foligno signed a "multi-year" agreement. With his youngest son one of the team's newest draftees, I am not at all surprised that this occurred.
Foligno would like to coach in the NHL and was hoping that the offers that came his way after the Wolves playoff run last season would include something at that level, but they did not. And given the choice of a lower professional league and coming back to
Sudbury to coach another son, he chose the Wolves. For now. We shall see how this plays out over the course of this season and next.
In less earth shattering news, it was announced yesterday that two
OHLers will be playing for the University of Carleton next season.
Andrew Gibbons, the overage winger who was a member of the
Belleville Bulls for the last 2 seasons, and
Andy Self, the 20-year old who split the 2006-07 season between
Belleville and
Sudbury, will both be joining the Carleton hockey team in its inaugural non-exhibition season this Fall.
Pat Maroon also finally inked an educational contract with the London Knights. After talking to Maroon last week, there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to happen. As I previously said, this was the right choice for him and will benefit London, although probably not as much as it will help develop the big winger.
Signings and non-signings have occupied all followers of the Greyhounds in the
Soo the past few days. First the non-signing.
Jordan Mayer, the Hounds' first round
selection in June's Priority Draft has decided not to join the
OHL team this season. According to all reports, the Mayer family decided that the
Soo was too far from home for the young centre, and have decided that he will play tier 2 hockey for
the time being. One has to believe that, despite the team's official announcement, the team is very disappointed that Mayer has changed his mind about becoming an
OHLer. But frankly, it is not that surprising. It was expected
pre-draft that the Kingston Fronts would select Mayer 9
th overall. When the Fronts took
Ethan Werek instead, and Guelph was already committed to choosing
Peter Holland, that set up either
Sarnia or
Sault Ste. Marie as possible Mayer
draftors. Neither was as good a possibility distance-wise for him.
Belleville would have been optimal at that point, but by the time the Bulls got to their selection, Mayer was gone. So the question is, who in the Greyhounds organization failed to do his homework, to really understand what the situation was with the player? Losing a first round pick (even temporarily, although I think the Hounds will have to eventually trade his rights) for these reasons is inexcusable. Unless of course the family did not tell the truth when interviewed by the team. Expect the whole story to come out over time. I am sure the Hounds do not want to reveal it now in the hopes that Mayer will eventually show and all will be forgiven.
As for the Greyhounds
signees, third round 2007 selections
Michael Fine and
Bryce O'Hagan both signed educational contracts over the past week or so. The announcements were timed so that they would mute the non-signing talked about above.
In the WHL, the big news is that long-time Kootenay Ice Head Coach
Cory Clouston resigned his position yesterday. This was not requested by the team as Clouston was WHL Coach of the Year for the 2006-07 season and has done an excellent job over the last eight seasons with the WHL team. Expect further annoucements of where Clouston will wind up shortly.
As far as national and provincial teams go, this past week saw two teams and cut-down lists announced. First in the US, the U-18 team that will play in the Czech Republic in August includes four
CHLers.
Defenceman Tyler Myers of the
Kelowna Rockets, Plymouth Whalers winger
AJ Jenks, Portland Winter Hawks centre
Tristan King, and London Knights centre
Phil McRae will all participate.
The U-18 selection camp for the team that will represent Canada in the Czech Republic will be held in Calgary from August 4-9
th.
Last week, the Hockey Development Centre of Ontario published its short list of 35 players that are still being considered for U-17 Team Ontario. While none of the players selected have appeared in
OHL uniforms yet, first round 2007
OHL Priority draftees include:
Andrew Agozzino, Casey Cizikas, Matt Duchene, Taylor Hall, Zach Kassian, Joey Hishon, Peter Holand, Colton Kennedy, Michael Latta, Daniel Maggio, Jordan Mayer, Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Randall, Justin Shugg, Ethan Werek, and
Michael Zador.
