Thursday, July 19, 2007

Are the Kelowna Rockets Mad About Mike?/Fiddler a Father

Now that Mike Williamson is on the open market, would the Kelowna Rockets be interested?
I can't see why they wouldn't be.

Williamson has over 500 games under his belt as a Western Hockey League head coach with the Portland Winter Hawks, and now that Williamson is no longer in the Hawks plans after failing to have his contract renewed, Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton surely would like to have a conversation with him.
I could see both Williamson and assistant Ryan Huska co-existing on the Rockets bench, as the duo would comprise two of the youngest coach/assistants in the WHL. While Williamson is just 34, Huska is just a touch younger after turning 32 on July 2nd.
Williamson is a smart hockey man, and likely saw the writing on the wall that his days in Portland were numbered. The fact that he pressed ahead by spending time this summer attending and essentially running a prospects camp for the Hawks in Calgary, despite being without a contract, shows what type of guy he really is.
Williamso
n will undoubtedly inquire about the Rockets coaching opening, and will surely give Kootenay GM Jeff Chynoweth a call to see what type of interest they have in him as the bench boss of the Ice. Maybe Williamson will have no need to pick up the phone, as Hamilton and Chynoweth race to see who can lock him up first to guide their respective hockey club?
You've heard the saying 'Good things happen to good people'. If that is indeed the case, look for Williamson to resurface in the WHL in the not so distant future.
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Summer in the Okanagan has it's good points, and it's bad. The bad has to do with the traffic problems at this time of the year. Highway 97 is a disaster, as holiday travelers combine with Kelowna commuters, resulting in lengthy delays in a frustrating attempt getting from one end of

the city to the other. During these extended periods of time in the car, you often pass the time listening to the radio. I did just that Wednesday, and had to chuckle at a local radio stations sportscast. The announcer was reading a story about the Pan American games where a rower from a community in Saskatchewan known as Coronach (Cor-a-nack) was pronounced cor-nich. Trust me I've butchered my fair share of names since I've moved to BC (hello Osoyoos), but being a former Saskatchewan resident, the mispronunciation of Coronach made my drive home just a little more enjoyable.
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Vernon Fiddler is now truly a family man.
The former Kelowna Rocket and his wife celebrated the birth of a baby boy (Blake), and are now celebrating a new contract with the Nashville Predators. Fiddler signed a new deal with the Pred's on Wednesday. Fiddler is a regular at the Rockets Alumni weekend, but had to opt out this summer with his wife just days away from the birth of the couples first child. The new deal will pay him 1.7 million dollars over the next two years. You can buy a lot of diapers with that kinda coin!

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