Weber having coffee/Jung a Bird and remembering Richards

• It's not often you take a stroll in downtown Kelowna for a coffee and run into a member of Canada's Olympic gold medal winning men's hockey team. It happen Tuesday when I crossed paths with Shea Weber, who was enjoying a latte at the local Blenz location. Weber is back home for the summer after his short and sweet playoff stint with the Nashville Predators. Despite the quick exit from the playoffs, Weber has the bragging rights of winning gold just a few months back in Vancouver.
• To be honest, I thought Weber would be up for the Norris trophy before Duncan Keith was ever considered. Keith is not only up for the best defenseman award but could also have a nice large Stanley Cup ring on his finger if everything goes according to plan.
• I have to pick the Hawks in the Stanley Cup final. Why? My experience with them last year after a practice prior to a game against Edmonton won me over. The Hawks dressing room was full of familar faces. It felt like a WHL all-star team. A total of 15 former WHL players are competing in the Stanley Cup final this season.
• It was great to catch up with Kyle Beach earlier today. The Kelowna resident has spent over a month in a Chicago hotel room as he follows the Hawks on their long playoff ride.
  The 20 year-old is a first round pick of the Hawks and is practicing with the team during the playoffs. Beach could be used in an emergency capacity if someone gets hurt.
  "We are around the team but we don't skate with them. Just being in the locker room with them after wins and seeing how happy they were when they won the trophy is pretty exciting."
  Beach would love nothing more than to play with the Hawks full time next season.
  It's exciting to watch and it shows that their is a spot on the team and in the NHL for young players. To play alongside players that are old enough to be my dad and then young enough to be my buddies from school...it's a pretty neat experience."
  Beach says winning the Stanley Cup title would be huge for the city of Chicago considering the Hawks haven't won a title since 1961.
• Duncan Keith will renew acquaintances in the Stanley Cup final with Flyers captain Mike Richards. Keith and Richards collided in the 2003 Memorial Cup in Quebec City, when Keith was with the Kelowna Rockets and Richards was a member of the Ontario Hockey League champion Kitchener Rangers. At the time Keith was a 19 year-old d-man while Richards was just 17.
• The year the Rockets met the Rangers in the 2003 Memorial Cup, Richards had 37 goals and led his team in scoring with 87 points. 37 goals. Not bad for a second year player. The Flyers had no choice but to grab him with their 1st round pick in that summers NHL draft.
• Josh Gorges didn't take long to arrive in the Okanagan. Just two days after the Canadiens are eliminated by Philly, Gorges has already touched down in Kelowna for the off-season.
• Congrats to Torrie Jung for joining the UBC Thunderbirds men's hockey team this fall. The Thunderbirds made it official on Wednesday.
• In case you are wondering, it's been 45 days since the Rockets season came to an end.