New/Old Radio Voice, Coaches Conference Wrap

It'll be officially announced soon but I'm told Marlon Martens in Lethbridge is the new (and 2nd voice) of the Victoria Royals. Martens has previous WHL experience with the Lethbridge Hurricanes a few seasons ago. Martens lost his gig when the broadcasts rights were switched to 94.1 FM The Lounge in Lethbridge. The station then went in another direction hiring Pat Siedlecki.

Martens is the 2nd voice of the Royals in their very short history. Dave Sawchuk was originally hired in Victoria. The Music Director for The Zone FM stayed around long enough to get quoted in a news release. He later accepted a job in the music industry.

Randy Merkley was the voice of the Chilliwack Bruins before the franchise moved to the Island. He really wasn't given an opportunity to move with the team. He's exploring other options.

-----------

It was a good weekend at the 5th annual Kamloops Coaches Conference. Nashville Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz closed out the conference with his presentation Sunday afternoon.

I hosted the Saturday night Hot Stove segment with guests Garry Davidson - the Director of Player Personnel for the Portland Winterhawks, Player Agent/CMG Sports Shane Corston, Montreal Canadiens Assistant Coach Perry Pearn, Former Assistant Coach in Kamloops/Vancouver/Tri City Terry Bangen, Former Blazer Steve Gainey and Kootenay Ice Head Coach Kris Knoblauch.

Of all the topics of conversation... it seemed the "what is PK Subban like to coach?" discussion drew the most interest. It was good to hear some stories from Perry Pearn on the subject.

A good conference, lots of time to chat with some of the guests and coaches taking it in KMHA's George Cochrane deserves some credit for bringing in a pretty good line-up over the three day event.

-------------

Kamloops Blazer d-man Tyler Hansen and the Lethbridge Giants won the Prairie Big League championships (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) and have advanced to the Canadian Big League championships in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

During the 15 game summer tournament schedule Tyler batted .594 with 3 - HR, 3 - triples, 9 - doubles, 22 singles and 2 strike outs. The Canadian Championships run from July 19 to July 24th with the winner advancing to North Carolina for the Big League World Series. Pic below:

----

A dream come true for Winnipeg native Jordan DePape.

DePape has received an invite to attend Winnipeg Jets development camp. He received word over the weekend.

----

Blazer F Dylan Willick and D Josh Caron spent the past week at Minnesota Wild development camp.

There's some highlights of them action here.

Both players scored in the post-game shootout. Caron's goal is 4:10 into the video, Willick's goal at 4:40.

-------