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Coeur d’Alene High freshman
football camp set for next week
A football camp for incoming freshmen planning to play football at Coeur d’Alene High is scheduled for June 10-14.
Those interested are asked to contact Shawn Amos, Coeur d’Alene High head football coach, at samos@cdaschools.org.
Chiefs’ coach leaves to
take NHL assistant job
Dan Lambert, head coach of the Spokane Chiefs the past two seasons, has accepted an assistant coach position with the Nashville Predators of the NHL, as announced by the Predators on Tuesday.
The Predators attempt to boost a power play that struggled throughout the 2018-19 season.
Predators general manager David Poile said Tuesday in a release announcing the hire that Lambert “has had success at every level running the power play, and we look forward to adding his knowledge and insight in this area to the organization.”
Nashville had the NHL’s worst power play during the regular season and followed that up by failing to score on any of its 16 power-play opportunities during a first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Stars.
Spokane scored on 29.1 percent of its power-play chances last season to lead the WHL. The Chiefs converted on 36.1 percent of their power-play opportunities in the playoffs.
Lambert led the Chiefs to an 81-46-5-8 regular season record. He led the team to its deepest playoff run since 2011 this season, reaching the 2019 Western Conference Championship. Prior to his time in Spokane, Lambert spent one season (2016-17) as head coach with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (AHL) and one season (2015-16) as an assistant coach with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
Lambert joins former Chiefs coaches Bill Peters (Calgary Flames) and Mike Babcock (Toronto Maple Leafs) in the NHL. Peters and Babcock are head coaches.
The Chiefs will begin the search process for a new coach immediately.
Parker Executive Search hired to
lead U of I athletic director search
MOSCOW — The University of Idaho has hired Parker Executive Search, a national search firm specializing in intercollegiate athletics, to lead the search for a permanent athletic director.
U of I President-designate C. Scott Green initiated the search and is leading the relationship with the firm. Pete Isakson has served as interim athletic director for the past year following the firing of athletic director Rob Spear in August.
Representatives from Parker will be on the Moscow campus this week to gather input from faculty, staff and students on the desired qualities of a permanent athletic director.
Input from the visit will be used to finalize the athletic director job description before it is posted on Parker’s website. All search efforts will be led by Parker with the goal of naming an athletic director later this year.
Idaho to break ground
on new arena Thursday
MOSCOW — The University of Idaho will break ground on its Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) Arena during a ceremony Thursday at 11 a.m.
The ceremony will take place outside on the northeast corner of the Kibbie Dome.
The 4,200-capacity engineered wood mass-timber facility is slated to open in 2021 as home court for Vandal basketball programs and campus and community events. Thursday’s groundbreaking signifies the next major step for the project that has been envisioned for the past 50 years.
Estimated cost for the arena is $51 million.
Parking for the ceremony is available in the lots west of the Kibbie Dome.
ICCU is the naming sponsor of the arena with a $10 million donation and naming rights to the arena for 35 years. Other key donations of $2.5 million sponsor the practice gym and the performance floor.
Information: www.uidaho.edu/arena
Pieces of Boise State’s
previous blue turf on sale
BOISE — Boise State athletics will sell a limited number of pieces of the previous edition of the blue turf from its football field, athletic director Curt Apsey announced.
“We’re excited to be able to do this,” Apsey said. “We didn’t initially think it was going to be possible, but our operations crew was able to save some rolls, get them cut and prepare them for sale.”
The turf will be sold through the Bronco Shop on the Hall of Fame Patio at an unveiling event for the new turf today. The event will first open to members of the Bronco Athletic Association and season ticket holders at 5 p.m. MDT, and then to the general public at 6.
The turf will be sold in square-foot sections for $39.95, and there are currently 500 pieces available. Depending on how sales go, there may be an additional opportunity to purchase pieces in the future.
Gonzaga’s Legumina selected in
eighth round of MLB Draft
Gonzaga pitcher Casey Legumina was drafted in the eighth round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday afternoon.
The 239th overall pick, Legumina was the first Gonzaga player drafted this year as 10 rounds are complete through Tuesday. Rounds 11-40 will take place today beginning at 9 a.m. on MLB.com.
Legumina, a native of Chandler, Ariz., completed his junior season with the Zags in 2019, going 1-0 in four starts with a 1.50 earned-run average before missing the remainder of the season. A preseason All-American, Legumina entered the year after a standout sophomore season as the team’s closer, saving a school-record 13 games and compiling a 2.77 ERA in 26 appearances. For his career, he struck out 117 batters in 130.1 career innings, while walking just 31.