Kegling, hockey, cross-country skiing. . . .

Doug Soetaert, the general manager of the Everett Silvertips, is smiling these days. That’s because his uncle, Jules, is in the kegling headlines — also the record book — for having accomplished an incredible feat at the West Edmonton Mall lanes on Monday night. Jules, 77, bowled two perfect games in a mixed league. Not only that, he bowled CONSECUTIVE perfect games. He is the sixth person in Canadian bowling history to do that and now is the oldest person in North American to have done it. . . . “Yes, he is my uncle . . . my Dad’s brother,” Doug wrote in an email. “He has been 10-pin bowling for as long as I can remember.” . . . You will recall, of course, that Doug was a pretty good goaltender a year or two back with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Turns out Jules knows his way around a rink, too. “He was a pretty good hockey player way back when he was a kid,” Doug added, “and signed a C card with the Montreal Canadiens.” . . . By the way, Jules now has bowled 12 perfect games. . . .

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If you’re wondering what Prince George Cougars owner Rick Brodsky has planned for his franchise, check out Jim Swanson’s piece in Friday’s Prince George Citizen. . . . You can read it here and there’s video with it, too.

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As a long-time hockey fan, I can remember reading about the old Western Hockey League — the pro league that ran up and down the West Coast — in The Hockey News. It was in the days of the six-team NHL and I would wonder why some of the players in that league could put up what were big numbers for then and not get into the WHL. Hey, what did a 12-year-old know? Which brings us to the Portland Winter Hawks, who will salute the Portland Buckaroos on Saturday. The Winter Hawks are playing the Seattle Thunderbirds that night, but it will be Buckaroos’ night. According to a release from the Winter Hawks: “The event will feature on-ice introductions of former Buckaroos players and team management, meet-and-greet opportunities for fans during both game intermissions and a post-game live auction of all Buckaroos jerseys worn by the Winter Hawks that night. The following Buckaroos players and representatives have confirmed attendance: Roger Bellerive, Rick Dunbar, Jim Hay, Art Jones, Norm Johnson, Dave Kelly, Ken Laufman, C.J. Lindsay, Jim McLeod, Neal Muller, Mike Roddy, Len Ronson, Bill Saunders, Arnie Schmautz, Dennis Seymour, Tom McVie, Bob Vroman and team founder Harry Glickman.” . . . A fun time will be had by all. . . . Oh, and a few stories might be told . . . You can check out the Buckaroos at www.portlandbuckaroos.com . . .

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THE MacBETH REPORT, Part 1: Garth MacBeth, our man on the European scene, is keeping close watch on the Jere Karalahti situation and reports that the Finnish media is giving this drug-related story big coverage. “It’s a major story in that drug crimes are fairly infrequent, and any case connected to the Bandidos would make some news. Karalahti is a well-known sports figure, having played on the national team a number of times, and he’s a repeat offender, having been nailed in the mid-1990s for marijuana and heroin possession. Some papers carry it more than others (the Helsinki tabloids, for one, are giving it great play) and it has been the lead hockey story all week on the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s TV channels.” . . . Finland, a country near and dear to MacBeth as he played hockey there and his wife is from there, is experiencing another drug scandal today as cross-country skier Katri Varis has tested positive. Again. . . . MacBeth reports that Karalahti “has been bumped off the lead sports story by a cross-country skier, Katri Varis. She was caught in 2003 using EPO at the world Nordic championships in Italy. She switched to biathlon after she served her two-year suspension and tested positive for EPO on Jan. 6 in a biathlon competition in Austria. Her B sample came back positive today. It is likely that she will be banned for life.” . . . Cross-country skiing, of course, is a way of life in Finland so we can only imagine how big this story is. As MacBerth reports: “This is a big deal in Finland — front page news, lead story in tonight’s national TV news — because cross-country skiing is something Finns are pretty good at (Example 1: The Second World War, when Finnish troops on skis took apart the Soviet Army fairly well). Also, when the world Nordic championships were in Finland in 2001, there was a big doping scandal when at least six Finns tested positive for doping (using a prohibited plasma expander).” . . . By the way, MacBeth reports there may be some good news for Karalahti, as “Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia Extraliga) is interested in signing him, according to his agent.” . . . No word on whether the team also is interested in Varis. . . .

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THE MacBETH REPORT, Part 2: F Andrej Podkonicky (Portland) has moved from Vityaz Chekhov (Russian Superliga) to Liberec (Czech Extraliga), where he will be a teammate of F Zdenek Blatny (Seattle/Kootenay), F Petr Sachl (Tri-City) and F Milan Bartovnic (Brandon/Tri-City). Podkonicky had played three seasons with Liberec before moving to Russia at the start of this season. He had six goals and four assists in 36 games for Vityaz.

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THURSDAY NOTES: Swedish RW Robin Figren of the Edmonton Oil Kings scored his team-leading 18th goal in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors. And now he‚s out for perhaps a month. Figren, 19, has had surgery on a wrist to repair an injury that occurred earlier in the season but wasn’t discovered until recently. . . . The Saskatoon Blades have lost C Gaelan Patterson, 17, for the rest of the season after he was scheduled for surgery Thursday to repair a wrist injury. Patterson’s was injured Wednesday night in Swift Current when he hit Broncos D Jesse Dudas and one of Dudas’s skateblades came up and cut one of Patterson’s wrists. Meanwhile, the Blades are awaiting the results of tests on rookie F Curtis Hamilton before they’ll know how long he’ll be out. Hamilton played the last three games with what was believed to be the flu but now appears to be more than that. Tests for mononucleosis came back negative and he now is being tested for pneumonia. . . . The Blades are expected to have D Jyri Niemi (foot, groin) and LW Garrett Klotz (knee) in the lineup tonight when they meet the Pats in Regina. Klotz hasn’t played since the middle of December.

The Spokane Chiefs will go home-and-home with the Kootenay Ice this weekend, starting Friday in Cranbrook. LW Drayson Bowman, who leads the Chiefs in goals (30) and points (60), will be a game-time decision. He has been out with a shoulder injury. . . . Spokane F Curtis Kelner, however, won’t play. He, too, has a shoulder injury and will be re-evaluated next week. . . . Brandon’s Andrew Clark, the club’s top centre, is back skating but won’t play tonight when the Wheat Kings are at home to the Red Deer Rebels. Clark (broken ankle) is expected back towards the middle of the month. D Theran Yeo (ankle), D Chad Erb (shoulder) and LW Tyler Dittmer (groin) didn’t take part in Brandon’s Thursday practice. Brandon LW Daniel Bartek (knee) has missed six games but may return Friday. . . . Nick Patterson of the Everett Herald reported on his blog Thursday afternoon that the Silvertips “were walking along the highway near Hope, B.C., after their bus broke down, so needless to say their arrival back in Everett had been delayed.” The Silvertips had weather-related problems getting to Kelowna for a Wednesday n ight game — the Rockets beat them 5-1 — and then couldn’t get out of town after the game. And then, once they did get headed home, their bus had mechanical problems. . . .

They’ll be skating on pink ice Saturday when the Prince Albert Raiders meet the host Tri-City Americans in the Toyota Center in Kennewick, Wash. The Americans also will be wearing pink jerseys as they hold their third annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night. The game will benefit the Tri-Cities Cancer Center. . . . Kelowna C Cody Almond will play with a full shield Friday as the Rockets play the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. He suffered a broken nose in a Wednesday night bout with D Dane Crowley of the Everett Silvertips. . . .

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And if you’re looking for a Super Bowl treat, something that is a little bit different than the usual non-smiling Belichick versus Coughlin stuff, check out Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel here. You’ll love it! Guaranteed!