He's back . . .

THE MacBETH REPORT: After a brief hiatus, which included a tour around the village of Lake Placid, N.Y., aka Miracle City, Garth MacBeth, who keeps an eye on the European scene, is back with us. . . . And he brings some news. . . . F Sami Sandell (Brandon) has been traded from Ilves Tampere to Espoo Blues (both Finland SM-Liiga). Sandell had four goals and eight assists in 55 games with Ilves last season and had two goals and one assist in 10 games this season. . . . F Marcin Kolusz (Vancouver Giants) signed with Poprad (Slovakia Extraliga). He had one goal and one assist in 43 games with Trinec (Czech Extraliga) last season. . . . F Derek Couture (Saskatoon/Seattle) signed a tryout contract with Alba Volan Szekesfehervar (Hungary, but plays in the Austrian Erste Bank Liga). He was with Quad City (AHL) last season. . . . F Brad Isbister (Portland) signed with Zug (Swiss NL A). He was with the Vancouver Canucks last season.
F Kris Beech (Calgary) signed with HV 71 Jönköping (Sweden Elitserien) for the rest of this season. He was with Columbus, Vancouver, and Pittsburgh last season. . . . D Ross Lupaschuk (Lethbridge/Prince Albert/Red Deer) signed with Sibir Novosibirsk (Kontinental Hockey League). He had nine goals and 13 assists in 45 games with Avangard Omsk (Russia Superliga) last season. . . . D Nolan Pratt (Portland) signed with Amur Khabarovsk (Kontinental Hockey League). He was with Buffalo last season.

Meanwhile, on the 20-year-old front, Brandon has dealt D Matt McCue to Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge has traded F Adam Chorneyko to Saskatoon. More on the 20-year-old game later.