Wednesday . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: F Frank Banham (Saskatoon) signed with Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia, play in Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 10 goals and 14 assists in 31 games with Salzburg (Austria Erste Bank Liga) and four goals and three assists in eight games with Malmö (Sweden Allsvenskan) last season. . . . F Mike Maneluk (Brandon) signed with Dinamo Minsk (Continental Hockey League). He had 11 goals and 10 assists in 33 games with Basel and Davos (Swiss NL A) last season. . . . F Steven Crampton (Moose Jaw) signed with Esbjerg (Denmark Elitserien). He had 12 goals and 31 assists in 48 games with Lausitzer Fuchse Weisswasser (Germany 2. Bundesliga) last season. . . . F Layne Ulmer (Swift Current) signed with Graz 99ers (Austria Erste Bank Liga). He had 13 goals and 14 assists in 56 games with Frankfurt (Germany DEL) last season. . . .Salavat Yulaev Ufa (Continental Hockey League) released D Steve McCarthy (Edmonton/Kootenay).
———
THE MacBETH REPORT, Part 2: We are getting closer to the start of the season in Europe and camps have opened in some countries. To give you an idea of how early things get rolling there, here are the dates of the first regular-season games:
Russia (Continental Hockey League): Sept. 2
Germany (DEL): Sept. 4
Switzerland (National League A): Sept. 5
Slovakia (Extraliga): Sept. 7
Czech Republic (Extraliga): Sept. 9
Finland (SM-Liiga): Sept. 11
Sweden (Elitserien): Sept. 15
Austria (Erste Bank Liga): Sept. 19
SM-Liiga and Continental Hockey League teams start playing exhibition games on Friday.
————————
JUNIOR JOTTINGS: Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province reports on his blog that the Vancouver Giants are expected to “name Dave Sheldon as their new play-by-play man in the coming couple of days.” Sheldon has spent the last two seasons on the Chilliwack Bruins’ radio crew, doing play-by-play last season and colour the previous season. Before that, he spent three seasons providing analysis on Everett Silvertips’ broadcasts. . . . Sheldon will be replacing Joey Kenward, the radio voice of the Giants for five seasons. Kenward left to become of the Vancouver Canucks’ radio crew. . . . James Shewaga of the Brandon Sun writes that more than 100 former players spanning six decades are expected to attend a Wheat Kings reunion that begins Thursday and runs through Saturday. Among the names dropped by Shewaga are Brian Propp, Ray Allison, Brad McCrimmon, Eric Fehr, Ryan Craig, Wade Redden, Marty Murray, Kelly Glowa, Dave Semenko, John Paddock and Bobby Ash. The highlight for Wheat Kings fans is certain to be the free breakfast and autograph session set for Saturday morning. The reunion was organized by the Wheat Kings’ Alumni Association under president Ken Schneider.
————————
THE COACHING GAME: The Giants continue to search for an assistant coach. They have to replace Craig Bonner, the assistant GM/assistant coach who left to become GM of the Kamloops Blazers. Ewen reports that the Giants have had discussions with former NHL D Bob Rouse, now an assistant in Chilliwack, and former Vancouver Canucks assistant Mike Kelly. The Giants also talked with former NHL D Scott Ferguson, who signed Tuesday as an assistant coach with the Blazers. . . . Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post is reporting that “Dale Derkatch continues to be the front-runner in the Regina Pats’ head-coaching derby. A source close to the negotiations said Thursday night that Pats general manager Brent Parker was leaning toward hiring Derkatch, although a contract agreement had yet to be reached.” . . . According to Vanstone, Parker’s short list featured Derkatch, Marc Habscheid and Pats assistant coach Terry Perkins.
————————
As part of what is a regular interview feature in the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Cory Wolfe spoke with Gordie Howe this week. One of the exchanges went like this:
The SP: Would you put up with Tomas Holmstrom being in your goalie‚s face all night?
Howe: Nope. He’d be wearing tape on his head. (Laughs) That’s the first time in my life that I felt sorry for a defenceman. If he touches (Holmstrom,) he goes off. . . . In my first game, I lost teeth and I got about six stitches. That’s what motivated me to get the lumber up.
————————
GOING CAMPING: D Nick Ross of the Kamloops Blazers is one of three players added to the roster for the Canadian national junior team’s evaluation camp that opens Friday in Ottawa. Ross was selected in the first round of the NHL’s 2007 draft and has signed a three-year contract with the Phoenix Coyotes. . . . Also added to the roster were F Louie Caporusso of the U of Michigan Wolverines and F Eric O’Dell of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. Caporusso was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the third round in 2007; O’Dell went to the Anaheim Ducks in the second round in 2008. . . . Lethbridge Hurricanes F Zach Boychuk (wrist) and D Cody Goloubef of the U of Wisconsin Badgers, who is also injured, will attend the camp’s first couple of days but won’t be on the ice. . . . Also missing will be F Steven Stamkos of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting. He was the first pick in the NHL’s 2008 draft and will be attending a Tampa Bay Lightning prospects camp in Victoria. . . . The development regarding Stamkos is really, really interesting. While he is expected to open the NHL season with the Lightning, what if he doesn’t? Hockey Canada has long had a policy that if you don’t attend the summer camp, you won’t make the national junior team’s final roster. . . . The Ottawa camp — all the action is at the U of Ottawa Sports Complex — will feature four goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 24 forwards. The rosters have been split into two teams and they will play three intersquad games — on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. . . . The 2009 World Junior Championship will be held in Ottawa from Dec. 26, 2008, through Jan. 5, 2009. . . . Benoit Groulx of the QMJHL’s Gatineau Olympiques is Canada’s head coach. Assistants are Dave Cameron (OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors) and Willie Desjardins (Medicine Hat Tigers). . . . Canada’s final roster will be revealed in early December.
———
While Stamkos will be at the Lightning camp in Victoria, two other Tampa Bay prospects — F Dana Tyrell and G Dustin Tokarski — will be at the junior team camp in Ottawa. . . . Other players familiar to WHL fans who will be at the Tampa Bay camp in Victoria include G Riku Helenius and G Torrie Jung, D Andy Rogers and D Ty Wishart, and F Mitch Fadden and F James Wright, all of them Lightning draft picks. Also expected to attend are D Scott Jackson, D Daryl Boyle, D Tyson Marsh, F Brady Leavold, F Evan Pighin and F Taylor Procyshen.