After being burned to a crisp over the weekend while at the Baseball Saskatchewan Midget AA Tier 1 Provincials at Beavers Lions Stadium, I needed to figure out a way to cool myself off a bit.
Following the consumption of numerous cartons of chocolate milk, I decided to look at what's been happening in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League as of late.
Sure the season doesn't officially start until Sept. 16 with five games on the docket, including the Battlefords North Stars home opener against the Kindersley Klippers.
However, there as been quite a few things that have been taking place as everyone looks to dethrone the Melfort Mustangs and prevent them from winning a third straight title.
Naturally the big move around here is Kevin Hasselberg leaving the North Stars to become the new head coach and general manager for the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
Whoever replaces Hasselberg is going to have some large shoes to fill given the recent success of the North Stars, but there were a pair of moves the team made prior to Hasselberg's departure that might help with that transitional period.
After making it to the semifinals last spring, the North Stars have brought in a pair of 20-year-old forwards in Keaton Holinaty from the AJHL's Drumheller Dragons and Connor Logan of the BCHL's Prince George Spruce Kings.
Now granted, I can't exactly give any hot takes as to how these guys will fit in. After all, I just moved here and I haven't seen either player in person yet.
However, you can't go wrong with veteran leadership, so I think both players will fit right in.
Two guys I have seen are 1999-born forwards Jayden Davis and Kris Bzdel, who have both been acquired by the Estevan Bruins.
Both players were strong in Midget AAA last year, Davis with Moose Jaw and Bzdel with Tisdale, and I expect them to be key cogs in a Bruins squad that is rebuilding after hosting the Western Canada Cup.
Over in Melville, they will have a new head coach and general manager for the 2016-17 campaign as Devin Windle joins the Millionaires after being an assistant coach for the Nipawin Hawks.
However, the biggest news on the coaching side of things until Monday's events in North Battleford was in Weyburn.
After three seasons with the Red Wings, general manager and head coach Bryce Thoma has moved on to the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades where he will be an assistant coach under former Humboldt Broncos bench boss Dean Brockman.
As of writing, the Red Wings have yet to fill that vacancy but some of the names that have been floating around are interesting.
Among the names mentioned are former Melville bench boss Jamie Fiesel, one-time Kindersley head coach Rocky Zinger and Yorkton Terriers assistant coach Casey O'Brien.
It'll be interesting to see who they bring in, especially since both roles will have to be filled quickly before training camp.
However, with the North Stars post now up for grabs, the competition might become even tougher to choose from.
Then there's the rumour mill surrounding the Western Canada Cup tournament, which will be hosted by the Penticton Vees of the BCHL in 2017.
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League are supposed to be the hosts in 2018. However, according to an article in the Portage Daily Graphic last month, no one has stepped forward to host it yet.
According to the article, the AJHL, MJHL and SJHL have all voted in favour of scrapping the format while the BCHL was opposed.
So what does this mean? Are the Anavet Cup and Doyle Cup both coming back?
I think that make sthe most sense, given the current economic situations many teams are facing.
Plus, let's be honest, while it's great to have all four league champions competing in one tournament, having host squad sort of messes things up slightly with a five-team format.
While the runner-up game can be good, such as this year's Brooks Bandits and Portage Terriers encounter, it still feels like an anti-climax after the title was decided a day earlier.
Whether or not everyone agrees on that idea though is another story entirely and one that will be hotly debated in the weeks and months ahead.
