Tuesday . . .

Chris Heisenberg, who keeps close tabs on college recruits, reports that F Evan Witt of the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers has committed to Michigan Tech starting in 2009-10. Witt, a native of Spokane, was selected by the Spokane Chiefs with the 78th pick of the 2004 bantam draft and spent last season with the junior B Spokane Braves. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Witt has eight points in 21 games with the Vipers. . . .

Bill Maluta, who has been involved in junior hockey in the west for a long, long time, will be honoured by Manitoba Blue Cross and the Brandon Wheat Kings during the first intermission of Friday's game with the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings at Westman Place. Western Manitoba hockey fans have chosen Maluta as October’s Manitoba Blue Cross Performer of the Month. Maluta, 82, has been involved in hockey for five decades, coaching at the minor level from bantam to juvenile in Flin Flon from 1958-82. He also spent eight years coaching high school teams in Rochester, N.Y., from 1983-'91, and served as manager of the midget AAA midget Wheat Kings. He has scouted for the Regina Pats since 1995. Last month, Maluta was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in Winnipeg.