Canes Country, a Carolina Hurricanes community

Peter Karmanos Jr., owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, will be given the Bill Long Award by the Ontario Hockey League for his contributions to the league. Karmanos has been an OHL owner for 26 years, most recently with the Plymouth Whalers. The award is given to "an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the OHL." Karmanos, who will be honored at the league's annual award ceremony June 9 in Toronto, is the 16th person to receive the award since its inception in 1989 and the first American.

Defenseman Beau Schmitz — who was an unsigned invitee to the Hurricanes' prospect conditioning camp and is currently playing in the Traverse City Tournament for Carolina — recently signed a two-way AHL/ECHL deal with the Albany River Rats, the Canes' AHL affiliate. Schmitz, who played for the Peter Karmanos-owned Plymouth Whalers last season, is an undersized (5-9, 185 pounds) blueliner who has some offensive upside. Although he went undrafted in the June, International Scouting Services ranked him No. 175 and had him as the fifth-most underrated player in the draft. A big thanks to Rat Byte at The Infestation for the heads up.