Glen Gulutzan is staying in Alberta after losing his job with the Calgary Flames.

The northern Manitoba product has been hired on by the Edmonton Oilers, and will work under head coach Todd McLellan as an assistant coach.

Gulutzan, who is from The Pas, has four seasons as an NHL head coach under his belt (2011-2013 with Dallas, 2016-2018 with Calgary).

He also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, and two seasons as the head coach of the AHL's Texas Stars. He started his full-time coaching career with six seasons behind the bench of the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers. 

Two northerners have been designated as protected players by the OCN Blizzard for the upcoming Manitoba Junior Hockey League draft.

The Pas natives Keilan Holland and Chase Bertholet, who both spent last season in Thompson with the Bantam AAA Norman Wolves, were officially announced as the Blizzard’s protected players for 2018, though decision was made two months ago.

According to MJHL rules, every team has to protect two local players in March, prior to the draft. These players are then not eligible to be drafted.

Holland had 17 goals and 17 assists for the Wolves during the regular season, and contributed two goals for Team North during the 2018 Manitoba Games male hockey competition.

Bertholet was taken in the recent WHL Bantam Draft in the 5^th round by the Red Deer Rebels, after finishing fourth in tournament scoring (4G, 6A) in the 2018 Manitoba Games and third in league scoring (30G, 38A) during the Winnipeg Bantam “AAA” regular season.

The 2017/2018 season is now officially in the books for the Norman Northstars.

The annual wrap-up banquet and awards ceremony took place Saturday at the Juniper Centre, and included the unveiling of a new jersey and new colour scheme for the logo.

Below is a list of the award winners:

• Barry Patterson Most Popular Player: Mikey Baron
• MacIntyre Defensive Player of the Game: Jordan Pfoh and Braedin Melsted
• McDonald's Offensive Player of the Game: Hunter Rambow
• Most Improved Player: Jamie Valentino
• Terry Murray Most Dedicated Award: Sheldin Howard
• Paul Lafreniere Best Defenseman: Jordan Pfoh
• Cliff Duchesne Hardest Worker: Jon Tagoona
• Top Scorder: Hunter Rambow
• Top Defensive Forward: Keistin Saunders
• Rookie of the Year: Mitchell Reid
• MVP: Hunter Rambow

The Steinbach Pistons are the champions of Western Canada.

The Pistons beat the Nipawin Hawks 2-1 last night to win the 2018 ANAVET Cup over the SJHL Champs in six games.

Steinbach now moves on to the national Junior “A” championship, the RBC Cup. The tournament is taking place in Chilliwack, B.C. from May 12^th through the 21^st.

The RBC Cup will feature the four regional champions, in addition to the host Chilliwack Chiefs. The Ottawa Jr. Senators (CCHL) will represent the East Region, the Wellington Dukes (OJHL) for the Central Region, the Pistons (MJHL) for the Western Region and the Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) for the Pacific Region.

The Cobourg Cougars of the OJHL won the RBC Cup last year. The Portage Terriers won the trophy in 2015, making them the only MJHL team to ever accomplish the feat. The Dauphin Kings and OCN Blizzard both made the championship game once each in from 2000-2010.

Photo courtesy of the Steinbach Pistons on Twitter.

Two northerners are one step closer to their NHL dreams following the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft.

Justin Lies and Chase Bertholet were selected in the 3rd and 5th rounds respectively following impressive 2017/2018 campaigns with the Bantam "AAA" Norman Wolves.

Lies went 56th overall to the Vancouver Giants after finishing 8th in league scoring during the Winnipeg Bantam "AAA" regular season. The Flin Flon native, who served as the Wolves' captain this season, put up 39 goals 23 assists in 35 games before helping Team North win bronze at the recent 2018 Manitoba Winter Games.

Bertholet, who hails from The Pas, went 94th overall to the Red Deer Rebels. The 15-year-old played a big role in Team North's medal at the Winter Games. He put up 10 points (4G, 6A) in the tournament, including a pair of goals and assists in the bronze medal game. Bertholet finished the regular season as the leading scorer for the Wolves and 6th in the league with 30 goals and 38 assists.

2017/2018 was the second season with the Norman Wolves for both Lies and Bertholet, though they only played a combined 12 games in 2016/2017.

Photo courtesy of Shaw TV Thompson